CONCORD, N.C. – Chase Elliott enters the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series on the heels of three straight Championship 4 appearances and top-four finishes in the season standings. The 2020 champion has been a steady hand behind the wheel of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.
The 2022 season saw the Dawsonville, Georgia, native win his first regular-season championship, earn the top seed for the playoffs and reach the Championship 4 for the third consecutive season. His five wins were tops in the Cup Series and his second five-win campaign over the last three seasons. A run of five straight top-two finishes highlighted a sparking summer run that included wins at Nashville Superspeedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway. On the season, the 27-year-old driver also topped the Cup Series with 857 laps led and an average finish of 12.47.
2022 RECAP: Plenty of high marks for Elliott
Despite the multitude of statistical categories led in 2022, a tough finish to the season leaves a feeling of unfinished business for Elliott.
"I was super proud of our year," Elliott said. "I thought we had a better summer stretch than we’ve ever had. It had been a struggle point over the course of my first handful of seasons. Unfortunately, I felt like we have finished stronger in any seasons than we did in this past season.
"If you can tie those two things together – some of the strong finishes that we’ve had over other seasons with the summer stretch we had this year – I would say we’ve accomplished a lot. The good news is we’ve had both. We just need to bring them both together at one time."
The 2023 season marks Elliott’s eighth full-time season in the sport’s top series. All of those seasons have seen him paired up with Alan Gustafson. In fact, they are the second-longest tenured driver-crew chief combination in the Cup Series behind only Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers. The key to Elliott and Gustafson’s long-lasting success is simple, according to the driver.
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"I’ve always enjoyed working with Alan and I am super thankful for his work ethic," Elliott said. "He gives it his all and really that’s all you can ask for from a teammate and somebody you go to battle with each week. I always feel like I’m getting his best and he’s always given me the freedom to go about my job the way I want to go about it. Same for him. I don’t question him and the things that he does and he doesn’t question me. We have a very simple, straightforward working relationship."
Elliott’s 18 wins place him eighth among active full-time drivers. Last year, he entered into the top 50 on the all-time Cup Series wins list. A three-win season in 2023 would move him into the 40. The five-time National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award winner also only needs 100 laps to reach 5,000 led in the Cup Series.
RELATED: See all of Elliott's wins at Hendrick Motorsports
With the start of the 2023 Cup Series regular season approaching, Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team have their eyes on a fourth straight Championship 4 appearance and sixth consecutive multi-win campaign. See the key story lines for the squad as they seek to earn their second championship in four years.
SEAL THE BIG DEAL AT DAYTONA: Elliott has had a variety of success at Daytona International Speedway. He has two poles, two Duel wins and a win on the track’s road course layout. The 27-year-old is one of five active drivers to score a runner-up finish in the DAYTONA 500 (2021) but not yet win the sport’s biggest race. He enters this year’s event as one of two drivers with back-to-back top 10s in the DAYTONA 500. In last year’s six races at drafting tracks, Elliott found victory lane twice (the summer race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway) and led the second-most laps with 166 circuits out front.
"I would love to check off the list," Elliott said of someday winning the DAYTONA 500. "I hope to end my career and have checked that box at some point. We’ll see. The DAYTONA 500 is certainly a huge event on our schedule and one I always look forward to. It is a great way to start our season."
2023 PAINT SCHEMES: NAPA Auto Parts | Kelley Blue Book | Hooters | LLumar | UniFirst
THE GREAT GUSTAFSON: Veteran crew chief Gustafson is second on the wins list for active crew chiefs with 38 – just two behind Childers. Elliott and Gustafson have hit their stride with 18 wins over the last five seasons. The top spot on the active wins list is very much within reach for the only crew chief Elliott has known as a full-time driver in the sport’s top series.
READY FOR THE ROAD: Elliott’s road course success has been well documented. His seven wins on this type of circuit are the most among active drivers and the third-most among all drivers (behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart). However, the 2022 season marked the first season since 2017 that he did not win a road course race. Strong runs at Road America and Watkins Glen International yielded top-five finishes, but not victories. With six serpentine layouts on the schedule, there will be plenty of opportunities for Elliott to add to his road course win total.
PHOTOS: All of Hendrick Motorsports' wins on road courses
BRISTOL BREAKTHROUGH: At 439 laps led, the concrete layout of Bristol Motor Speedway stands as the track where Elliott has led the most but has yet to win a points-paying race at. Yes, Elliott took the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at the venue. He has success on concrete tracks with three wins combined at Dover Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway. Elliott’s certainly come close to victory at "The Last Great Colosseum" in recent years with a runner-up finish last September. He also led 129 laps in the 2021 playoff race before contact with Harvick impacted his finish. The driver of the No. 9 has been knocking on the door of winning the night race with four top-seven finishes in his last five starts in that event. A breakthrough win on the famous Bristol concrete would go a long way towards his 2023 championship bid as the track hosts the final race in the Round of 16.
FANTASTIC FOUR: Elliott is the only driver to reach the Championship 4 in each of the past three seasons and will be looking to make it four straight in 2023. He is also one of five drivers to reach at least three consecutive Championship 4’s – Kyle Busch holds the record with five straight from 2015 to 2019. The first of Elliott’s title race appearances resulted in the Cup Series championship in 2020 and he has finished fourth in the standings in each of the past two seasons. A second title would put him in elite company as one of 18 multi-time champions in the sport’s history.
