NASCAR Champ Chase Elliott Discusses Fans, Father & Talladega Experience

TALLADEGA, AL — Reigning NASCAR Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott, 25, has lived his entire life immersed in the sport. But as a return to full capacity approaches this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, the 2016 NASCAR Rookie of the Year and son of "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville" said this week that one of the great things about the overall experience at the world-famous track is that it's seen little change over the last couple of decades.

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"Ever since I’ve been alive, NASCAR has been super fan-friendly," Elliott said in response to a question from Patch during a brief availability with local media on Thursday. "Fans can get wherever they want and that’s always been the thing as long as I can remember. It's maybe a boring answer, but I'm not sure it’s really changed a lot. I’ve always known it to be that and I don’t see how [the overall experience for fans and drivers] is any different now than it was 10-15 years ago."

As Patch reported on Wednesday following an interview with Talladega Superspeedway President Bill Crichton, the track has already outpaced sales trends ahead of this weekend compared to 2019 figures — the last time the track hosted a race in front of a full crowd before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to run without fans or with limited attendance.

ALSO READ: Talladega Tops 2019 Ticket Sales Ahead Of Return To Full Capacity

Elliott pointed out the proximity to Talladega from his home in Atlanta — a little over 100 miles — as being a reason the track feels like home, along with the atmosphere made possible by dedicated race fans.

In a time for the sport where many fans have expressed frustrations in connecting with the new generation of drivers, Elliott has proven a fan-favorite and was named the Most Popular Driver in the Cup Series in 2018 and 2019. It's a fitting award for the NASCAR legacy, considering his father holds the recording for winning the distinction 16 times.

"A lot of times, [Talladega] feels like a home race for me because it's so close to home and it's always nice to not have to go far and be able and go and do your job," he said. "For a job that requires a lot of traveling, any time you can be close to the house is a major win in my opinion. I’ve always enjoyed going over there and feel like the fans have been super supportive over there, too. So I appreciate all those guys and girls and look forward to seeing them this weekend."

Driving the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports — the same car number his father, former NASCAR Cup Series Champion Bill Elliott, made famous during his Hall of Fame career — Elliott has 13 career Cup Series wins and a win in the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race ahead of his 2020 Cup Series title.

With respect to the race itself coming up on Sunday on the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Elliott described it as both straightforward and "crazy." He is set to start in the third position on Sunday, as positioning is determined on the driver's last finish and fastest lap from the last race, along with their position in the points competition.

During the 2021 season, Elliott has notched two Cup Series wins at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in May and most recently in June at Road America in Wisconsin.

"In my time in Cup, the restrictor plate tracks have always been chaotic and wild ... which I guess maybe that's better for people to watch," he said. "But it's just a wild event and being where it is in the playoff schedule and this time of year and this round — it's a tough round — and it’s a track that can make or break you. And unfortunately, there’s sometimes a lot of things that are just out of your control, like whether or not you’re going to make it through the event and get a good finish or not. So that's the toughest part of Talladega, in my opinion. You can do everything perfect, everything right and still have a terrible day. From a competitor, that's difficult and can be a hard thing to get over sometimes, but that’s part of what it is."

While he has established himself as one of the sport's most promising young drivers in his own right, it is rare that his legendary father's legacy doesn't loom over the conversation. But when asked if he had received much in the way of advice from Million Dollar Bill, he gave another "boring answer."

"Not a ton really," Elliott commented. "From a driver’s standpoint, it's super straightforward until you get in the draft and until you start mixing it up and understand the runs. And the tough part is, the cars have changed so much since the last time he raced there. It's kind of hard to compare."

The younger Elliott also commented on the ever-changing rules governing the cars and the race as being aspects that differentiate his era of racing from his father's.

"Every time they go and change the spoiler height or change how big of a restrictor plate we have, or how much horsepower we have, all of those things can change the dynamic and feel and just the cadence of a race, how fast runs are coming and going, how much you can do with a run," Elliott said. "All of those things kind of vary and the rules change so much, it's really hard to find consistency. So it would be difficult for [Bill Elliott] to know, because he hasn’t done it in a while and sometimes it's difficult for me to know. They changed rules this year for Daytona and the cars were completely different, I thought, at that race than they had been in the last couple of years."

The YellaWood 500 will begin at 1 p.m. central and will be broadcast on NBC.

Be sure to follow Patch for more coverage from the race weekend.

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