William Clyde "Chase" Elliott Jr. (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 35 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. He won the 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, becoming the first rookie to win a national series championship in NASCAR and the youngest champion in that series.
Elliott began racing in the Cup Series on a full-time basis in 2016, replacing the legendary Jeff Gordon behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, during which he was named the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. In 2020, he won the Cup Series championship in Phoenix, Arizona, the first for Hendrick Motorsports since 2016. He has 18 career wins in the Cup Series, including seven on road courses.
He is the son of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott; the Elliotts are the third father-son NASCAR champions in history, along with Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett.
Racing career
Early career and short track racing
At age 13, Elliott was featured alongside thirteen other athletes, including future world number one golfer Jordan Spieth and future NBA 2nd overall pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, as potential stars in the July 13, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated. Elliott raced in 40 races in various series in 2010, winning twelve events over the course of the year and finishing in the top ten 38 times. It was the third season of his racing career, and he won the Blizzard Series, Miller Lite and Gulf Coast championship en route to being named the Georgia Asphalt Pro Late Model Series Rookie of the Year. He ended the season by winning the Winchester 400. Sports Illustrated named Elliott as the high school player of the week in April 2011. During the year, he competed in the Champion Racing Association, winning the series' National Super Late Model championship. Later that year, just after his sixteenth birthday, he won the Snowball Derby and became the race's youngest winner. He beat the second place driver, D.J. Vanderley, by a record 0.229 seconds. In 2012, he won the Alan Turner Snowflake 100, prelude to the Snowball Derby, for the second time in three years.
In November 2013, Elliott won the All American 400, becoming the first driver to win all four of the country's largest short-track races: the All American 400, the Snowball Derby, the World Crown 300 and the Winchester 400. In December, it appeared as though Elliott had become the first driver to sweep the Snowball Derby and Snowflake 100 in the same weekend. Upon post-race inspection, however, a piece of tungsten was found in Elliott's car, which was prohibited by the Derby rulebook. Elliott was accordingly disqualified and the victory awarded to Erik Jones. Elliott won the Snowball Derby in 2015 after initial winner Christopher Bell was disqualified.
ARCA Menards Series
Elliott competed in six ARCA Racing Series races in 2012 and five races in 2013 with number 9, in order to gain experience at larger circuits. ARCA allows 17-year old drivers to race at Pocono Raceway and Kentucky Speedway, two circuits where NASCAR has a minimum age of 18; the minimum age for ovals longer than 2,000 meters, or 1.25 miles, is 18 years of age; shorter tracks and road courses have a minimum age of 16. On June 8, 2013, Elliott became the youngest winner in ARCA superspeedway history following his Pocono victory.
NASCAR
K&N Pro Series
Elliott signed a three-year driver development contract with Hendrick Motorsports in February. He competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2012 with number 9, finishing 9th in season points. Elliott returned to the K&N Pro Series East in 2012, winning his first career race in the series at Iowa Speedway in May. He finished fourth in series points.
In 2011 and 2012, Elliott competed in three NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races (once in 2011, twice in 2012), all at Phoenix Raceway. In his lone 2011 event, he finished third, and in the 2012 races, he finished 17th (due to a crash) and then fourth.
Craftsman Truck Series
In January 2013, it was announced that Elliott would compete in nine NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for Hendrick Motorsports during the 2013 Truck Series season, using trucks prepared by Turner Scott Motorsports.
In qualifying for the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott won his first career NASCAR pole position with a lap speed of , and became the youngest pole-sitter in Truck Series history.