CONCORD, N.C. – On Tuesday, it was announced that a contract extension will keep Chase Elliott behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports through the 2022 season.
“It’s definitely been an exciting week,” Elliott said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. “I’m thankful for the opportunity and the chance to stay at Hendrick Motorsports for another five-and-a-half years. I’m really excited about it.”
Elliott’s previous contract ran through 2018.
But even with his excitement surrounding the new contract, Elliott won’t be approaching his job any differently.
In fact, he said he feels “very passionate” that a contract shouldn’t affect anything on the track.
“I think you have to bring the same amount of intensity and drive each weekend whether your contract is good for 10 years or this is your last race,” he explained. “I think that’s how you need to go about it or anything that you do. So, I’m not changing how I race or how well I want to do. We want to win and run well more than anybody else wants us to or thinks they want us to. We are certainly very driven to want to continue to do well, regardless.”
That starts this weekend at Daytona, with Elliott and the No. 24 team in the midst of a streak of four consecutive top-eight finishes, including two inside the top five.
Most of all, he wants to continue striving for success for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, and that starts with owner Rick Hendrick.
“It’s been an honor to work with the men and women that make Hendrick Motorsports go around every day,” he said. “And as I’ve told everyone before, I owe so much to Mr. Hendrick and what he’s done for me and really just kind of believing in me from the time I met him, for some reason, and still does and has continued to do that as time has gone along.”
Elliott originally signed with the organization as a 15-year-old high school freshman back in 2011, and he said he has felt Hendrick’s support every step of the way since then.
“I owe an awful lot to him, not just for the opportunities he’s given me, but for the faith he’s had in me over the years,” the 21-year-old driver said. “Even when nobody else does, he does; and he’s made that very apparent for everybody else to see. That means a lot to me. You don’t see people like that in this world very often these days that are willing to go out of their way to help you. And he’s one of those guys.
“I’m very lucky to have him on my team to do that.”