Elliott’s growth has him battling for title
Hall of Famer’s son makes NASCAR’s next playoff round
DOVER, Del. – Chase Elliott conquered the monster, figuratively and literally, Sunday at Dover International Speedway.
Elliott secured his berth in the third round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs by overcoming adversity, maintaining his poise and learning from experience.
That experience included the heightened expectations thrust upon the young son of a NASCAR Hall of Famer. It included starting his Cup career by going nearly 100 races before recording his first victory, in August at Watkins Glen International. It included racking up eight runner-up finishes, including a gut-wrenching one at Dover one year ago, before closing the deal. It included forging through a 2018 season that saw Chevrolet drivers struggle with speed compared to their counterparts at Ford and Toyota.
Sunday at the Monster Mile, Elliott, 22, rode that experience to victory lane, becoming the first driver to clinch a berth in the Round of 8.
“Yeah, everybody said — we struggled for obviously a couple years to win a race — and they said, ‘Oh, once you get one, they all come easier.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way that’s true at all.’ It certainly didn’t come easy (Sunday), but just so glad we could get a win.”
At Dover a year ago, Elliott was on the cusp of his first victory, only to see Kyle Busch pass him with two laps remaining in the race. Sunday, Elliott was an afterthought for most of the race, but this time fortune fell his way after the leaders crashed with four laps remaining.
Still, it was up to Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity to challenge for the win.
Gustafson left Elliott on the track as other cars came to pit road for fresh tires, trusting his driver, and their car, was strong enough to take off on the restart and hold off the field.
“You know, you can second-guess a lot of things,” Gustafson said, “but all in all, I think we all learned from that experience (last year at Dover), and certainly I think he learned from that experience, and that enabled him to race a little bit better. There’s all those little lessons. It takes putting it all together to win these races, and he certainly did that.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick and re- tired driver Jeff Gordon, the man Elliott replaced at Hendrick Motorsports, have watched alongside Gustafson the continued maturation of Elliott as he endured the near-misses, close calls and a tougher-than-expected regular season. Neither lost confidence in their young protégé’s ability.
“I’ve been so impressed with him in the last couple of years, and we just could not put it together,” Hendrick said. “I mean, we’d lose it on pit road. We’d stay out and everybody pitted. It was almost like he was snake-bit.
“I think we were behind this year, but we’ve caught up a little bit. And he’s just got an awesome amount of talent.”
Gordon, who won four titles before leaving the cockpit for the broadcast booth after the end of the 2015 season, thinks things are starting to click for Elliott and the No. 9 team.
“It’s great momentum, and that’s all you need as a confidence booster, as a driver, is just to start getting the W’s and getting the things you worked so hard for to start going your way,” Gordon said. “I’m a big believer that it doesn’t happen on sheer luck, it happens through hard work and commitment, dedication.”