After a fifth place finish, Eighteen-Year-Old William Clyde Elliott II, more widely known as Chase Elliott, left the Phoenix International Raceway as NASCAR's Youngest National Series Champion. The son of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott and Cindy Elliott also made history as the first rookie to win a NASCAR national series championship.
Chase's Father had not expected such a remarkable season. “Absolutely no way,” Bill reported. “To be able to set foot in his first Nationwide car in January this year, to be here at the end of November as a Nationwide champion, it’s an incredible feat, not only for him but for the team.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of Elliott's JR Motorsports race team, has said that his driver is likely to run another full season on NASCAR's No. 2 circuit next year. However, Hendrick, also a co-owner at JRM, sounded as if a few premier series starts would also be sprinkled into that mix.
Congratulations Chase Elliott on graduating from King's Ridge
Christian High School in Alpharetta, Ga. this morning
Nationwide Points leader, Chase Elliott was the fastest in the first of three Nationwide Series practices Friday at Iowa Speedway.
Driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Elliott’s top lap on the .875-mile long oval was 134.690 mph.
This 18-year-old has won two races in this season’s nine races thus far. He is the son of NASCAR great Bill Elliott.
Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge Intrepid R/T,
talks with son Chase during the 2002 Pennsylavania 500 at Pocono Raceway.
(Jamie Squire-Getty Images North America)
Young Chase Elliott has been burning up the NASCAR Nationwide Series ranks in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, which he's put into Victory Lane in each of the last two races.
But in the long history of what we now call the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, it's Chase's dad, Bill Elliott, who has had the most success driving the No. 9.
From Bob Dillner’s interview with Chase Elliott in regards to Chase's disqualification that stripped the win from the young racer. Seventeen-year-old Elliott is the son of racing legend William Clyde "Bill" Elliott. (read more from the Dillner/Elliott interview – click here)
A rule is a rule and we broke it
"Well, they are consistent. I am a little biased because of what happened to us. At the same time I
Chase Elliott in Victory Lane before
DQ - (Speed51.com Photos)
respect what they did. It was our fault. It was a mistake on our end that should not have happened. That's something we have to accept and move forward with. Bottom line, it shouldn't have been there. I respect Ricky and the fact that he is consistent with what he does. They had a rule and they stuck to it. If it was us in second place and it was the (winning) car that had a piece of tungsten on it, then I would want things to be done fair. You have to put the shoe on the other foot. You have to look at not only Ricky Brooks, but Tim Bryant (Promoter, Five Flags Speedway). Their position is tough because had they let something like that slide, then it would have been a huge black eye on them. They have to be fair and consistent. A rule is a rule and we broke it." (Chase Elliott)
One of the biggest NASCAR-oriented charity events of the season will take place Wednesday night as 12 Sprint Cup drivers participate in the 26-driver field for Prelude To The Dream invitational at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway.
Competing in Dirt Late Model cars on the half-mile track, the race will raise funds for the charity Feed The Children. The funds are raised through sales of the telecast on HBO Pay-Per-View.
The three-time Cup champion Stewart has held the event for charity since 2005. He owns Eldora Speedway.
“It’s great for us as competitors because we get a chance to go out and do something that we don’t get the chance to do all season long with each other,” Stewart said.
“There are a lot of us drivers who get a chance to race at dirt tracks or run at Late Model pavement tracks across the country, but we never get to do it together as a group.”
The Cup drivers participating are Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, David Gilliland, Dave Blaney and J.J. Yeley.
Other drivers scheduled to participate are part-time Cup drivers Kenny Schrader and Bill Elliott; former team owner and crew chief Ray Evernham; Nationwide Series drivers Danica Patrick, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier and Kenny Wallace; Camping World Truck Series drivers Jason Leffler and Ty Dillon; IndyCar Series driver Tony Kannan; NHRA drivers Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon; and World of Outlaws drivers Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz.
Patrick, who is in the midst of her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR, has never raced a car on dirt.
“When I heard that you get sideways when you get out of the throttle, I thought, ‘Well, that just sounds like fun,’” she said. “So I think it’s just going to come from running it.
“And, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how I do. It just matters that we’re all there, and that we’re putting on a good show.”
