The world watches in awe as drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series speed around ovals at speeds greater than 200 miles per hour. Pushing a car to such speeds is the biggest dream that an enthusiast can have. It is fun, dangerous, and delivers a strong shot of adrenaline. But what if someone said that even the professionals, who race for a living, lose the thrill of speed over time?
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Chase Elliott explained in a recent conversation on the MeatEater Podcast Network that drivers with experience aren’t always extremely excited about blind, raw speed. They all cross that initial stage of infatuation and move on to become more mature individuals who focus on the little things that make the car better.
That, Elliott believes, is the difference between what makes a driver good or great. “The details that can make someone great versus someone that’s good are the most minuscule things that you could ever… I can’t even hardly sit here and describe them to you because a lot of it’s just tiny little feel things in the car,” he continued.
Drivers need to get past speed and process the little things right to juice the maximum out of their machines. For someone of Elliott’s caliber and experience, this is second nature.
Chase Elliott wins the Cup Series race in Atlanta
The Hendrick Motorsports icon broke a 44-race winless streak in front of a packed home crowd at the EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta on Saturday night. It was Elliott’s first win of the season and has secured him a spot in the playoffs. He survived an action-packed race that ended with a dramatic last-lap pass over Brad Keselowski.
Elliott took the lead with a huge inside pass on the entry into Turn 1. His teammate, Alex Bowman, then made sure that Keselowski couldn’t fight back and helped Elliott reach Victory Lane. “What a crazy race,” he told the press. Keselowski came home in second place and Bowman finished third. Tyler Reddick finished fourth and Erik Jones rounded off the top-five.
