Chase Elliott through the years
By Staff Report | Monday, August 5, 2019
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
1 of 37
Chase Elliott has had quite a rise up the NASCAR ladder, a journey that has included wins at hallowed Talladega Superspeedway and a repeat at Watkins Glen in 2019. The following is a look through Elliott's life in NASCAR, including some classic shots of him with Hall of Famers, his dad Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt.
Twitter
2 of 37
From a young age, Chase Elliott was a fixture at NASCAR race tracks around the country, often seen with his racing father 'Awesome Bill' Elliott. Here, he's pictured in the lap of the legendary Dale Earnhardt.
Jamie Squire | Getty Images
3 of 37
2002: Young Elliott made another race track cameo with father Bill before the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway on July 28.
Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images
4 of 37
2002: The future racer got an early taste of Victory Lane, celebrating with his father in the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway Victory Lane after the elder Elliott's 2002 Brickyard 400 win.
Sara D. Davis | Getty Images for NASCAR
5 of 37
2011: Elliott began racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at the age of 15, making his first start in the series on April 2, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. He finished fourth in his K&N debut.
Jamie Squire | Getty Images
6 of 37
2012: He earned his first K&N Pro Series win on May 19, when he beat future fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney to the start/finish line by .844 seconds at Iowa Speedway.
Rainier Ehrhardt | Getty Images
7 of 37
2013: His racing career on the upswing, Elliott was named as part of the NASCAR Next class in 2013. His classmates included Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez (all pictured here).
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8 of 37
2013: Elliott began competing in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series on a part-time schedule in 2013, making his series debut at Martinsville Speedway on April 6. He only raced one part-time season in the series, driving the No. 94 Chevrolet.
Geoff Burke | Getty Images
9 of 37
2013: Elliott earned his first Gander Trucks victory on Sept. 1 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, leading 22 of 64 laps around the road course and making contact with Ty Dillon at the finish.
Robert Laberge | Getty Images
10 of 37
2014: Before the start of the 2014 season, JR Motorsports announced that Elliott would drive the No. 9 Chevrolet for the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned team in the Xfinity Series.
.jpg)
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11 of 37
2014: It didn't take Elliott long to start tallying wins; he drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to Victory Lane on April 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was just his sixth series start.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12 of 37
2014: Elliott's rookie year in the Xfinity Series also marked his first major series NASCAR championship. Having won three times that year, Elliott did the infamous yellow burnouts at Homestead-Miami Speedway after securing the title for JR Motorsports, the team's first Xfinity championship.
Bob Leverone | Getty Images
13 of 37
2015: Before the start of the 2015 season, Hendrick Motorsports announced that veteran driver Jeff Gordon would retire following the 2015 season and Elliott would take his place as the driver of the legendary No. 24 Chevrolet beginning in 2016.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14 of 37
2015: The 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Jan. 30 was a family affair, as Elliott's father Bill was inducted into the 2015 class.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15 of 37
2015: To prepare for his full-time stint in the No. 24 ride, Elliott made five Cup starts in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2015. His best result came at Richmond Raceway, when he finished 16th.
Chris Trotman | Getty Images
16 of 37
2015: Elliott earned the 2015 Most Popular Driver award in the Xfinity Series at the end-of-season banquet. His JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. also earned the award in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17 of 37
2016: Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson kicked off his rookie season with a bang, earning the season-opening pole award at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 14. Elliott, who became the youngest Daytona 500 pole winner in series history, drove the No. 24 Chevrolet at 196.314 mph to secure the top spot for 'The Great American Race.'
.jpg)
Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images
18 of 37
2016: Elliott's father Bill was in attendance for his son's first NASCAR Cup Series pole at Daytona. The elder Elliott still holds the record for fastest qualifying speed at the Florida track, having reached 210.364 mph during 1987 qualifying for the Daytona 500.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
19 of 37
2016: Inching closer and closer to Victory Lane, Elliott earned his first runner-up result in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 11, leading 35 laps around the 2-mile track. He would notch another runner-up finish at the 2-mile track on Aug. 28.
Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
20 of 37
2016: In preparation for his road course debut at Sonoma Raceway on June 26, Elliott ran the K&N West Series race to gain experience -- and took home the checkered flag in the process.
Patrick Smith | Getty Images
21 of 37
2016: Elliott took home Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors for the season beating out fellow rookies Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher for the award. On the season, Elliott notched 10 top fives, 17 top 10s and led 358 laps, while making the postseason field.
Getty Images
22 of 37
2017: Elliott opened his second full-time season the same way he began his rookie campaign, with the Daytona 500 pole. The Georgia native became the fifth driver to win consecutive Daytona 500 poles -- joining Fireball Roberts, Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott (his dad) and Ken Schrader in that exclusive club.
Chris Trotman | Getty Images
23 of 37
2017: His third career NASCAR Cup Series start at Michigan yielded a runner-up result in June. That made it three starts, three second-place finishes for Elliott at Michigan.
.jpg)
Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports
24 of 37
2017: In August 2017, Hendrick Motorsports announced Elliott would drive the No. 9 in 2018. The number was famously driven by his father, Bill Elliott.
Sarah Crabill | Getty Images
25 of 37
2017: The sophomore driver made his second career appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after 14 top-10 finishes in the 26-race regular season. Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson (left) and Kasey Kahne (right) also advanced.
Robert Laberge | Getty Images
26 of 37
2017: Elliott came very close to his first NASCAR Cup Series win again toward the end of the season at ISM Raceway at Phoenix. The 21-year-old was racing for the fourth spot in the Championship 4 season finale and was leading until Matt Kenseth passed him with nine laps remaining, foiling his chance at a remarkable first victory.
David Becker | Getty Images
27 of 37
2017: In his first playoffs appearance, Chase Elliott finished the season in fifth place and celebrated during Champion's Week at Las Vegas.
Getty Images
28 of 37
2018: After eight runner-up finishes, Elliott finally broke through. He held off defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. by 7.56 seconds at Watkins Glen as the No. 78 ran short of fuel on the final lap. Elliott led 52 of the race's 90 laps en route to his first win in his 99th career start in NASCAR's premier series.
Getty Images
29 of 37
2018: Let the celebration begin!
Getty Images
30 of 37
2018: Chase Elliott won his second career NASCAR Cup Series race on Oct. 7 at Dover.
Getty Images
31 of 37
2018: When Elliott couldn't quite knock off wins in years past, he was known for saying, "I hate it for my guys." It was appropriate to see him celebrate with his No. 9 Chevrolet teammates at Dover.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
32 of 37
2018: Make it three! Elliott's win at Kansas Speedway in the 2018 Playoffs gave him a trio of wins for the season.
David Becker | Getty Images
33 of 37
2018: Chase Elliott takes over the Most Popular Driver mantle from Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he officially wins the award during Champion's Week in Las Vegas.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
34 of 37
2019: Chase Elliott navigated treacherous Talladega beautifully, winning his first superspeedway race at NASCAR's top level on April 28.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
35 of 37
2019: Chase Elliott returned to the scene of his first Cup Series win -- Watkins Glen -- and won it again on Aug. 4. The No. 9 Chevrolet led 80 (of 90) laps on the day and held off veteran Martin Truex Jr. in a spirited final laps battle -- just like last year.
Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
36 of 37
Elliott went on to win at Charlotte Motor Speedway and again at Kansas Speedway. He qualified for the 2019 playoffs and made it to the Round of 12. Elliott finished 12th this season.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
37 of 37
For the second year in a row, Elliott won the 2019 Most Popular Driver at the NASCAR Monster Energy Awards. Is anyone surprised?
