Chase Elliott’s introduction to NASCAR’s Next Gen Cup car in 2022 yielded favorable results with him bagging five victories that year. However, since then, Elliott and the #9 crew’s performances languished. He went without a win throughout the season, only to break his 42-race winless streak in 2024 after a much-needed victory at Texas Motor Speedway. He later evaluated his grasp of the seventh-generation Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Cup car and his tumultuous experience with it.
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The Hendrick Motorsports driver stated, “I think my understanding of it is certainly higher than it’s been probably been since it was introduced. Does that mean it’s perfect? No. Does that mean I know everything about it? No, it definitely doesn’t. But I think that as you just keep progressing through these years with this thing and trying to figure out what it likes.”
While Elliott started on the right foot adapting to the Next Gen concept, he believes the competition in the sport’s top tier has moved along at a rapid pace. He elaborated on how despite winning with the machine in its debut year and improving on his understanding of the same, victories are much harder to come by as the sport gets ready to head into the 2025 season.
“There was a point in time (in 2024) where I’m like, ‘Man, we are so much better than we were.’ Even at the beginning of ’22 when won a handful of races and had a great stretch, I’m like, ‘Man, if we were this good then, you would be just destroying everyone.’ And I think it just goes to show you that everyone is taking those steps as well,” said the 29-year-old.
With the 2025 season approaching fast, it remains to be seen if further steps are required from Elliott and his team to regain his hallowed status in the sport.
How the 2024 season was “refreshing” for Elliott after the 2023 slump
Elaborating on his return to form after a broken leg caused Elliott to essentially write off the 2023 season, the 2020 Cup Series champion spoke on how last year set the record straight once again in terms of his career trajectory.
He said, “There was definitely a lot of high spots there in the closing weeks. Just thought we were right in the mix and right where we needed to be in a lot of categories. So, it was just refreshing I think for all of us just to kind of get in a really good groove there.”
While he fell short of the Final Four round in the Playoffs last year, Elliott carried himself and his team deep into the postseason with consistent finishes after bagging his much-needed victory in Texas. With the 67th running of the Daytona 500 kicking off the 2025 regular season, the #9 HMS crew will be looking to build on this momentum this year.
