Chase Elliott 2025 NASCAR preview: Strong 2024 finish has No. 9 team aiming high

CONCORD, N.C. - More than not, no matter the track, date or situation, Chase Elliott and his No. 9 car were around at the end in 2024. 

And that in itself nearly took the team all the way to the season finale. 

Still, despite coming up one position short of advancing to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, there was plenty last season to build on for Elliott and the team. First was a season's worth of consistency. Then came a late-season spike with the No. 9 team showing an extra gear, one that had it on the brink of a second title. 

"There was definitely a lot of high spots there in the closing weeks," Elliott said. "Just thought we were right in the mix and right where we needed to be in a lot of categories. So, it was just refreshing I think for all of us just to kind of get in a really good groove there. Wish we had gotten one spot better there, one of those weeks, but I think just being in the mix and having that type of run in the closing weeks was a big deal for us." 

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Certainly, there was an undeniable boost for the No. 9 team and right in the nick of time. Elliott's playoffs started with an eighth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and he came home as the runner up to teammate Kyle Larson two races later at Bristol Motor Speedway. 

He remained steady through the Round of 12 but opened the Round of 8 with a crash at Las Vegas, putting the No. 9 team in a virtual win-or-go-home situation over the next two races. And perhaps that pressure brought out the best in the squad. Despite not quite breaking through, Elliott led 81 laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway before finishing fifth and added 129 more at Martinsville Speedway, ultimately coming home second, just one spot away from the win necessary for advancement. 

"(It was) a little bit of everything, in my opinion. I just think everyone stepped up," Elliott said. "I think Alan was calling great races, felt like our prep work throughout the week on the car and just our race overlook was at an all-time high. I think I was doing a better job. It's never one thing. I'm sorry, but it's just not. And there's always so many pieces to the puzzle and fortunately for us, I think they just all got better at a very similar time, and everyone stepped up at the right time and it was close, just not quite close enough."

And maybe that's a good assessment of the entire season. Undoubtedly, 2024 was an improvement from the year prior. Elliott began the year with 19 straight top-20 finishes and led the Cup Series in the category with 32, three more than any other driver. His average finish of 11.7 was also best among full-time competitors. 

Elliott picked up a victory at Texas Motor Speedway in April, not only ending a winless drought of 42 races but at a track the team had historically struggled with.

And yet for Elliott, who will enter his 10th full time season in the Cup Series this year, all with Hendrick Motorsports, finally breaking through again was more a reflection of his team's overall performance than a singular, triumphant moment. 

"Truthfully, I was expecting it to feel a little differently than it did," Elliott said. "I think it was just a nice, validating point of the season for our team and, and the work that we had put in. But truthfully, I've gotten as much validation out of races that we were in contention to win and had opportunities to win and maybe one little thing didn't go our way as I did from actually getting across the finish line first. 

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"So, I look at Texas and it was a great weekend for us. That was a track that we've struggled at a lot over the last two or three years. So, to kind of get over the hump there was really cool. But I think again, more of the same in the sense of it's just about putting yourself in that position more often and even the days that they don't go well, I think that that's a solid thing to take home with you." 

There's no denying that his presence at the front of the field was certainly felt more at the end of the season than at the beginning. He closed with an eighth-place run at Phoenix Raceway, giving him seven top 10s in 10 postseason races. And the team has reached the peak before, having won a championship in 2020. 

But with the Gen-7 car evening the playing field more than ever since its debut in 2022, along with continued tweaking of rules packages and the playoff schedule/format, championships are more difficult to win than at any point in the sport's history. And entering any season with a title-or-bust mentality, especially in this era, is a dangerous proposition. 

So, entering 2025, Elliott is taking solace in the fact that his team has proven its more than capable. And he believes if it can continue on the trajectory it left off on at the end of 2024, the No. 9 team should be right where it needs to be. 

"Honestly, I think from my perspective and where I'm at in my career right now is just trying to get more competitive on a weekly basis," Elliott said. "And if, if we're accomplishing my goals and our team's goals on a week-to-week basis, then I think the championship stuff is going to fix itself. You know, you're eventually going to get your turn. But you've got to keep putting yourself in those positions and I think for us, it's just about having a little more pace, leading some more laps, being more aggressive."

Chase Elliott 2024 NASCAR Cup Series statistics