When Chase Elliott was growing up in the NASCAR garages, tagging along with his father, Bill, he became friends with some of the top drivers, such as Tony Stewart, who once bought him a racing kart.
One he didn’t get to know very well was Jeff Gordon, which is quite ironic given the fact that Elliott will take over the No. 24 Chevrolet from Gordon beginning with the 2016 season.
“Jeff just wasn’t one of the guys I knew that well,” Elliott said. “But how could you not respect him?”
The feeling seems to be mutual. Both Gordon and team owner Rick Hendrick seem plenty confident that Elliott can keep the No. 24 Chevrolet among the elite teams in racing.
The general feeling in the NASCAR garage is that Gordon won’t ride quietly off into the sunset. Although he already has 92 career Cup victories — third on the all-time list — he’s plenty capable of grabbing a few checkered flags — and possibly a fifth championship — in his 23rd and final full year on the Cup circuit.
He indicated at Daytona’s media day that he would like to race again at certain tracks, specifically naming Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway.
Gordon said that despite the obvious distractions related to his final full-time season, he plans to run just as hard as he did last year. He said that requests from his friends and family to attend races this year have been pouring in, but he’s trying to deal with them ahead of time so he can focus on his driving.
“There has been some planning of trying to coordinate (credential requests) and do it in a way that it’s least disruptive to my routine at the track,” Gordon said. “I want them to be there. I want them to enjoy it, and I want to have fun with them … after the race is over.
“But prior to that, I just want to stay focused and do my thing because I’ve got a great team with a great opportunity to go win a lot of races and win this championship this year, and I don’t want to take that for granted. I want to go out on top. So I’m doing all I can to stay focused on that.”
Gordon also said he’s asked track operators to hold off on the presentations of rocking chairs and other retirement events to allow him to race without distraction.
“We have already reached out to all the tracks to talk to them about what we would like to see happen when we get to the tracks … and just express to them how important it is to be competitive this year,” he said.
Elliott also plans to try to keep the hoopla surrounding the upcoming driver change from affecting his 2015 season, although preparing for it will be a big part of his job this year.
He will defend his title in the second-tier Xfinity Series driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports and plans to make five starts in the Sprint Cup Series: Martinsville Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Darlington Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He’ll drive a No. 25 Chevrolet prepared by veteran crew chief Kenny Francis, who most recently worked with Kasey Kahne.
“That will allow me to experience Cup racing first-hand,” Elliott said. “The Cup level obviously is elevated from what I’m used to. I’ll be racing with people I haven’t raced with before. I’ll try to keep in mind that we’re all still racing, still after the same thing. The difference is I’ll be going faster. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel.”
When he’s not racing the No. 25 car, Elliott plans to shadow his future team so he can learn more about how crew chief Alan Gustafson and the team approach the race weekend.
“The biggest thing is to be around the team as much as possible and watch from a distance,” Elliott said. “I don’t want to be a distraction.”
Elliott’s rapid rise to the Cup level is consistent with of his young racing career. Since he started, he’s not run any type car for long. As soon as he mastered one type of car, his father, Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott, moved him up a notch. Unlike other drivers who stayed too long at one level and developed habits that hindered their advance, Elliott moved on and adapted quickly.
“I hope to come up with good habits and keep them,” he said, adding that taking a step back to a lower division like Late Models for an occasional run appeals to him.
“If I had a chance to race trucks I would take it,” he said. “I like to jump around as much as I can. You learn something every time you race.”
