Bruce: Having Elliott take over the No. 24 car from Gordon is fitting
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR's present and its future collided on stage at the Charlotte Convention Center Thursday with Jeff Gordon and Chase Elliott among the five Hendrick Motorsports drivers closing out this week's Charlotte Motors Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom.
A week ago, Gordon announced his plans to run one more full season in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series.
With four championships and 92 career wins, the desire to perform at the highest level is still there, but Gordon often said he'd step down before time took its toll, and he's proven to be a man of his word once again.
Thursday, Gordon's successor was introduced as Hendrick Motorsports officials announced that Elliott would make five Sprint Cup starts this season before taking over Gordon's familiar No. 24 Chevrolet in '16.
Elliott, 19, won NASCAR's XFINITY Series title this past year. He also graduated high school.
It's fitting. Gordon's premier series debut came in a race won by Elliott's father, 1988 series champion Bill Elliott, in 1992.
The elder Elliott is headed for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, one of five inductees to be honored Friday evening. The son will be there. No doubt Gordon will be as well.
Along with his five Cup starts this season, Elliott will also attempt to defend his '14 title with JR Motorsports. The organization has become a successful proving ground for talent between the JRM and Hendrick organizations.
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"I knew Jeff at some point would retire," Hendrick said Thursday, "but I had no idea Chase would mature as fast and be as good as quick.
"The thing that I really didn't know about him was could he handle success? When you're 18, 19 years old, can you handle success? Does it go to your head? Do you get smarter than everybody else?"
Elliott, he said, has proven to be "rock solid."
Former car owner James Finch had told Hendrick to keep an eye on Elliott nearly five years ago, and Hendrick watched as the youngster progressed from one series to the next.
The team owner has a remarkable record of identifying talent and pairing a driver with the right combination of personnel to form a winning combination on the track. Rarely have his hunches failed to pay off.
"I've got a horseshoe on that one, I'll tell you," he said, probably only half joking. Unearthing talent is, after all, often a combination of both timing and luck.
He found Gordon at Atlanta Motor Speedway, enamored with the youngster's car control during a second-tier event.
More than two decades later, he was paying Gordon, 43, the highest of compliments as the two prepare to team up for a final season.
"I want to thank Jeff publicly for all that he's done for me personally, for NASCAR, for Hendrick Motorsports," Hendrick said. "We all owe him so much.
"He has been like a member of my family. I can't put into words what the guy means to me."
Much will be expected of Elliott due to his father's success and the seat he's scheduled to fill.
But there is no hesitation in Hendrick's voice when he says Elliott will be a good fit for his organization as well as for the sport.
From a competitive standpoint, he said he expects the transition to go smoothly.
The Sprint Cup stars that often drop down a series to compete don't intimidate him and "he races them clean," Hendrick said. "He's not trying to prove anything.
"The biggest endorsement is when a Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick or Clint Bowyer comes up to me and says, 'hey, that kid is the real deal. I've raced around a lot of young people and I'd rather race against him than half the veterans out here.'
"When you have guys like that endorse him for no reason, you know he's respected on the track."