Will Chase Elliott be able to maintain the momentum of multiple race wins in 2025 and carry it over to the 2026 season?
Chase Elliott, the popular NASCAR driver, reflects on how his performance is perceived compared to his own experiences and feelings on the track. The 2025 season started promisingly for Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports team, with a victory in the exhibition event at Bowman Gray Stadium. Although the numbers at the end of the season were similar to those of 2024, with 19 top-ten finishes and 11 top-five finishes, Elliott had one of his best seasons since 2022, considering the laps led and multiple victories.Elliott feels that his performance didn’t reach its peak until the last month or month and a half of the season, at which point he felt more competitive and with more opportunities. This perspective contrasts with what is seen from the outside. Elliott, champion of the series in 2020, does not get carried away by statistics, whether favorable or unfavorable. Some might point out that his performance hasn’t been the same since his tibia fracture in 2023. However, Elliott argues that the decline began at the end of 2022, and that it has taken time to regain his rhythm. What’s crucial for Elliott isn’t the statistics, but the feeling that he and his team are achieving respectable performances, getting closer to the form he showed between 2018 and 2022, when he won multiple races per season.Obviously, the Clash went very well, which has nothing to do with the numbers. But that part went well. I think some of the initial races on speedways went well. Honestly, I think some of the numbers were reflected in the fact that we weren’t involved in the accidents. And that skews things, right?, when you have fewer numbers at the beginning of the season.
Chase Elliott
Jeff Gordon, vice president of Hendrick Motorsports, understands the expectations that come with racing for an organization of this caliber. Gordon recognizes that Elliott and his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, have the ability to ignore the external noise. Gordon noticed a different version of Elliott last year.I think we were getting close, for sure. You always have high expectations for yourself and your team, so it’s always hard for me to answer that. I guess defining the form is difficult. It’s always a “What have you done lately?” That’s in life and certainly in sports.
Chase Elliott
Gordon highlighted that the season finale at Phoenix Raceway was Elliott’s best performance, who led 30 laps and finished tenth. Gordon felt that Elliott was the best Hendrick car that day, based on his performance on the track. Elliott’s fans hope that multiple race wins will continue in 2026. Elliott won three times last year, including the triumph at Bowman Gray (which did not award points). His two points-paying wins, at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, gave him multiple wins in a season for the first time since 2022. Elliott has achieved three victories in the last two seasons, a significant change after having achieved 18 victories in five seasons (2018-2022).More committed, stepping up, elevating the team, the information he brings, and really feeling like this is his home. I tell him all the time: ‘You’re a franchise guy. This team is your team.’ He and Alan have a very powerful relationship. Alan is an incredibly talented guy, and I think sometimes it’s just about having all the right pieces in the right place at the right time.
Jeff Gordon
Elliott is proud of his efforts and looks forward to more weekends like those in Atlanta and Kansas. NASCAR has reintroduced the Chase format this season, with the last 10 races determining the championship. A race win awards 15 bonus points. Elliott believes that top-level drivers and teams will always find their way to where they belong.It’s been a lot of hard work. There have been many weekends and really bad days where you go home miserable, and you just want, not to give up, but to figure it out. And I don’t even say figure it out tomorrow, but one step. One step at a time.
Chase Elliott
