CONCORD, N.C. – Chase Elliott has been named to NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list, the sanctioning body revealed on Friday afternoon.
He is the second driver in the current four-car lineup for Hendrick Motorsports to be selected to his prestigious list. Kyle Larson’s inclusion was revealed last week.
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Elliott has driven for Hendrick Motorsports for his entire NASCAR Cup Series career that began with a limited five-race schedule in 2015. Since 2016, he has run full time in the series – first driving the No. 24 from 2016 to 2017 before moving to the No. 9 in 2018. That was the same number that his dad, Bill, drove to 38 wins during his career. With a fast start to his Cup Series career, Elliott joins his dad on NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers list.
After several close calls, Elliott won his first Cup Series race in August 2018 at Watkins Glen International. He would total three wins each in 2018 and 2019 before writing his own chapter in the team’s record books in 2020. That year, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native won five times as well as earning the victory in the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Clutch back-to-back wins in the playoffs at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway propelled Elliott to the 2020 title. The Cup Series championship was the 13th for team owner Rick Hendrick and saw Elliott become the third-youngest driver in history to accomplish the feat.
In 2021, Elliott won twice with wins in the first Cup Series races at Circuit of The Americas and Road America. He reached the Championship 4 for the second straight season. The 2022 season saw Elliott win a series-best five times and he was also the regular-season champion. For the third straight year, he made the Championship 4.
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Elliott was sidelined for six races in the 2023 season due to a fractured tibia but returned last weekend at Martinsville. He has long been a popular driver among the fans with five consecutive National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award wins.
To date, the younger Elliott has won 18 races in the sport’s top series. He ranks third on the all-time wins list at Hendrick Motorsports behind multi-time champions Jeff Gordon (93 wins) and Jimmie Johnson (83 wins) in the organization’s storied history. Road racing has been one of Elliott’s strengths as he has seven wins on serpentine tracks, which is the most among active drivers and third-most among all drivers. In addition, Elliott won the 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports.
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The 27-year-old is tied for 48th on the all-time Cup Series wins list with former Hendrick Motorsports drivers Geoff Bodine and Kasey Kahne among those with the same total. Both of those drivers are also on the 75 Greatest Drivers list as well.
In honor of NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season, the sport is revealing a list of the 75 Greatest Drivers leading into the throwback race weekend at Darlington Raceway on May 12-14. Twenty-five names will be added to the 50 Greatest Drivers that were announced in 1998 as part of NASCAR’s 50th anniversary season.
