Chase Elliott recalls dad Bill's NASCAR career

By the time Chase Elliott was born, his dad, Bill Elliott, had already become a two-time Daytona 500 champion and 1988 Cup Series champion.

Unfortunately for Chase, born in 1995, he missed out on the bulk of his dad’s career, which culminated in him becoming one of the all-time greats. There was, however, one time period during Bill’s career where Chase was present. Fast forward to 2001 — Bill’s first season driving the No. 9 car for Evernham Motorsports. He spent three full-time seasons with the race team, winning four races.

Chase recently looked back on his dad’s time with Evernham Motorsports, and said it was the first time he was able to understand “how cool racing was.”

Chase Elliott looks back on father’s time with Evernham Motorsports

“This era of his career was one of very few years that I was around to get to watch him race,” Chase told NASCAR.com. “A lot of his career was prior to me being born. Those couple years he spent over at Ray’s place in the early 2000s was really the time that I was just old enough to kinda start to learn what was going on and realizing how cool racing was. And those are the years that made me want to do it.

“I have some memories of him winning at Pocono. I don’t remember him winning at Homestead, but I remember the year he was leading and blew a tire on the last lap and then Bobby Labonte went on to win because I remember how mad everyone at our camp was. But it was a special couple years and he was having a lot of fun. Had come after a not so good experience doing his own team and got back with a really good situation there with Ray [Evernham] and Dodge coming in and all those things. The stars just kind of aligned.”

Chase Elliott carving out own legacy in NASCAR

Suffice to say, Elliott made the right decision by choosing to go the same route as his father. Just 27, Elliott has already cemented his legacy as one of the best drivers of his generation. Driving the No. 9 for Hendrick Motorsports, Elliott has raced his way to victory 18 times in eight full-time seasons. The 2020 Cup Series champion was named a member of NASCAR‘s 75 Greatest Drivers list earlier this year — the same list the elder Elliott made in 1998.