CONCORD, N.C. – Chase Elliott appeared on SEC Network’s “Marty and McGee” before kickoff of the LSU-Georgia SEC Championship Game last weekend in Atlanta.
The die-hard Georgia Bulldog fan also shared how he became a fan from a young age and continued to support his home-state team.
“I’ve always been a Georgia fan, and I feel like if you’re growing up in Georgia you are either a Georgia fan or a Georgia Tech fan, and I am certainly not a Georgia Tech fan,” he laughed.
The driver and the hosts discussed a wide variety of topics from his Watkins Glen win to the 2019 Most Popular Driver honor and what his fans mean to him.
He also shared some thoughts on his “roval” win celebration that saw him burn out on the same tire barrier that he ran into earlier in the race.
“I’m typically not very quick-witted, but that one hit me, and I just had to do it,” Elliott said.
The cool moment when he stood with his arms raised as his car began moving backward, however – that was not quite as planned.
“I did forget to put it in gear after the burnout,” he smiled. “That whole moving thing – completely on accident.”
The visit to Mercedes-Benz Stadium came just after the 2019 NASCAR awards banquet in Nashville, Tennessee, where the driver received the Most Popular Driver Award for the second year in a row.
He thanked the fans of his home state of Georgia for constantly being behind him.
“I think there’s something really genuine with it, where you are from and kind of what you are about,” the driver said. “I’ve been really lucky to be able to live here as I’ve started racing and kind of got going. It’s home. Georgia’s been home for me forever, and I just hope I can keep it that way.”
Although the Elliott family has a total of 18 Most Popular Driver awards, the driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will never get used to seeing the fans at the track decked out in his gear.
“At a race you have all kinds of people you can pull for,” he said. “When they choose you as that one person to pull for, it hits home. When you see those hats and T-shirts and people making noise for you, I feel like that goes a really long way.
“That’s beyond any trophy you could get.”