No stranger to the spotlight, Chase Elliott has faced a season filled with both quiet consistency and growing pressure to deliver. He entered the 2025 Cup Series season following a 36-race winless streak that dated back to April 2024. Despite the drought, the #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver has shown remarkable consistency, logging 13 top-5 finishes and finishing inside the Top-20 in all 17 races of the season. His strong performances have kept him solidly inside the playoff picture, currently hanging around 4th in the standings, but the absence of race-winning pace has left him searching for an edge while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron dominate much of the laps at the front.
One of Elliott’s more emotional highs in 2025 came at Atlanta, his home track, where he broke through with a stirring victory that snapped another lengthy winless run, stretching across 44 races. The win was a moment of relief and celebration, with Elliott soaking in the crowd’s energy and fireworks. Yet it also emphasized how rare such triumphs have become; since his Texas win in 2024, victories have been elusive.
That breakthrough only intensified scrutiny on the rest of his season: is he back in form, or was this a one-off resurgence? While the hate may be pouring in, Elliott does not let himself be carried away; instead, he merely says, “I don’t ask.” Now, as he heads deeper into the season, Elliott’s main challenge remains turning the negativity upside down into more checkered flags.
Can Chase Elliott flip the script once again?
During his recent appearance in Jeff Gluck’s New York Times “12 Questions” feature, Chase Elliott addressed a familiar topic head-on, about the widespread misconception fans have about who he really is, especially when it comes to his personality and approach to racing. “I don’t really ask enough to care to know, honestly — and that’s fine,” said Elliott. “I’m totally OK with that. You have the folks who are around you — your team and the people you go to battle with each week — and it’s about showing up for them at the end of the day. I have really learned to put less and less stock in that.”
For Elliott, it’s not about public approval, but about showing up day in day out for the people who matter most, his crew and the core group battling alongside him. The mindset isn’t just talk; it’s rooted in reality. Elliott maintains that those closest to him, including his Hendrick Motorsports team and core fans, are the ones worth investing in. “You do have some true fans out there who are going to support you and appreciate you on your good days and your bad days,” continued Elliott. “Those folks have got your back all the time. Outside of that, the outside stuff just is what it is.”
The authenticity plays a critical role in Elliott’s on-track performance. Following his win at Atlanta, he spoke about wanting to ‘bottle up’ the crowd’s thunderous roar, proving just how much emotional fuel he draws from genuine moments with fans. “It was for me (the loudest cheers), for sure. I can’t think of one that was any louder than that. That one was different,” Elliott said in a post-race interview about the overwhelming reception. Yet he is careful to separate performance-riven emotion from public image, as he knows that some level of dissatisfaction will always exist, and that’s just part of the sport.
His real focus remains on building consistency and commitment within his own circle. By prioritizing this trusted team, Elliott channels his energy into performance and mutual support rather than external validation. “I don’t ask,” said Elliott. “I just try to do my thing and be me, and to make sure I’m showing up for the folks who show up for me, who are ultimately going to be in your life beyond all this stuff. That’s important to me, and I don’t go too far past that.”
Behind that calm exterior lies a deep obsession with racing. Chase Elliott‘s passion began around age 10, far from inherited celebrity, which became more of a testament to intrinsic drive. It’s the same fervor that carried him through a winless streak toward a last-lap victory in Atlanta, showcasing resilience born not from pressure but genuine love for the craft. Elliott’s tight grip on what he controls, including his mindset, team relationships, and performance, reveals why he is more than a driver, but a champion by choice, not by chance.
Elliott takes ownership of 2025 qualifying woes
Chase Elliott’s first victory of the year, at EchoPark Speedway, silenced all questions about his form and timing. It came in front of a home crowd in Georgia, and after surviving a chaotic 23-car crash early in stage 2, one of the largest pileups in Cup Series history by car count. With nearly half the field wiped out and ten cars not returning to the tracks, Elliott capitalized on the reduced field, making every move count. In the final moments, he made a gutsy call to stay out on older tires during the last caution, then passed Brad Keselowski on the last lap with the help of teammate Alex Bowman to seal the win and clinch a Playoff berth.
Credit: HendrickMotorsports.com
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for Elliott, who was fighting at the top of the standings on points alone prior to the race. It also bumped him up to 2nd in the Cup Series points, trailing only his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron by 37 points. Despite a solid season, Elliott acknowledged a glaring weakness in his qualifying performance. Speaking to Kevin Harvick on ‘Victory Lap,’ he reflected on how his starts outside the Top 10 in 14 to 18 races had forced him to race through the pack each week.
“I think I’m asking for the right things,” Elliott told Harvick. “And we just have to keep trying to squeeze a little bit more and just put together solid weekends from start to finish. Qualifying, you really need to qualify better. I would put that one at the top of our list of biggest weakness.” He also went on to stress how much impact qualifying has in the current Cup Series landscape, especially with the level of competition and track position strategy.
“And just the whole qualifying thing can shape your day. As silly as that is to say, nowadays, it’s very true,” Elliott added. “And so we need to do better there. And I think a lot of that falls on my shoulders. And, you know, looking forward to that challenge. And certainly there’s still a lot of racing left to get it all right.” With HMS now having 3 of its 4 drivers locked into the postseason, only Alex Bowman remains in the bubble. Yet, even Bowman played a crucial part in the #9 car’s win, holding back from pushing Keselowski on the final lap, allowing Elliott to take control and cross the line first, and therefore, the team plans to having all its 4 cars into the playoffs as few more races decide the fate of the remaining drivers.
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