Racing’s high-banked, blacktopped circle of life was aroar Thursday. One day before Dawsonville’s Bill Elliott was to be enshrined in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, his son, Chase, was announced as the successor to one of the more famed car/driver ensembles of this era.
The 19-year-old Chase Elliott will take over for four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon at the start of the 2016 season. And he will be behind the wheel of the same No. 24 car that Gordon made famous.
“I cannot think of a better driver out there to take over the 24 car and make all the 24 fans proud of who’s handling the car,” Gordon said Thursday.
Elliott’s reaction when he learned of this golden opportunity was disbelief, even if the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team obviously had groomed him for such a moment. “It’s unbelievable, something I wasn’t expecting,” he said of his initial reaction. Then added modestly: “I didn’t think I deserved it. I still don’t.”
“It’s not me replacing Jeff Gordon,” he said. “I don’t believe anyone can. I’ll just try to be myself and do the best job possible behind the wheel.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick pointed to both Elliott’s pedigree and his uncommon maturity as reasons for thrusting him into such a high-profile position at such a tender age. Elliott also has a resume of great promise, having last year won the championship of the sport’s Triple-A level Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series.
He will answer to two legacies, first as the son of Bill Elliott, “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville,” winner of 44 races and one series championship. The younger Elliott recalled Thursday spending many weekends of his childhood on some track infield, lining up die-cast cars in the same order they were set to start that day’s race. He is a third-generation member of Georgia’s leading racing family.
Elliott will work closely with another son of a legend, Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose father Dale Sr. was a seven-time series champion. Elliott will have a ready source of advice on handling life in the paternal shadow.
“One of the things I was most proud about was to be able to add to the Earnhardt legacy, and that’s what I probably put more pressure on myself than anything, being able to add to the legacy,” Earnhardt said.
“I love it that (Chase) is able to add to the Elliott legacy. That makes the sport a lot more healthy to have those storylines, and have that connection to the past. I love that,” Earnhardt said.
And then there is the Gordon connection that will follow Elliott into the 24 car. That brings with it some precedent for precociousness. Gordon was only 21 when he began his first full big-league racing series campaign.
“Jeff is the reason a lot of younger guys got a chance to run (at the ultimate level), so, really, I owe a lot to him for allowing me to be here,” Elliott said.
First, though, there is an entire season to wait in the wings. The plan for Elliott is to defend his Xfinity title with JR Motorsports while also appearing in five Sprint Cup events for Hendrick. He will begin at Martinsville in March, then run at Richmond, in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Labor Day weekend event at Darlington.
“The biggest thing is to not lose track of this season; 2016 is a long way off,” he said, displaying the maturity that first caught his team owner’s eye.
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