Chase Elliott quickly rose to the top of NASCAR popularity and Hendrick Motorsports’ top driver spot from his first full-time season in 2016. Since then, he has won 18 races, a championship, and the title of NASCAR’s most popular driver 5 times.
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However, in 2021, things began to change for Elliott. This is because Kyle Larson joined HMS, and challenged the #9 driver from a results and performance standpoint, because of course, Larson didn’t take away Elliott’s popularity. But he did take away the crown of being HMS’ top driver.
At least that’s what the major statistics suggest.
Kyle Larson has displaced Chase Elliott as Hendrick’s top driver since his arrival
Before Kyle Larson joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, Chase Elliott won 11 races. But since Larson’s arrival, he has won 7 races.
Elliott has managed to get 18 career wins in the Cup Series and a championship to his name in his eight full-time seasons, which is an amazing achievement undoubtedly. But Larson, in 3 full-time seasons with HMS, has won 16 races and a Cup title in which he broke a few all-time standing records.
Larson’s superiority over Elliott has stood out more so this season considering Elliott is still winless and out of the playoffs as a driver, but Larson is competing for the championship and has 3 wins to his name.
So clearly, Larson has the edge over Elliott in terms of performance and results. But does that mean NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver is jealous of NASCAR’s current most prolific driver?
Larson doesn’t think his teammate is jealous of him
After their incident at Kansas last week, and the incidents involving the two at Watkins Glen & Fontana in the past, many have begun to wonder if Elliott is jealous of his teammate, whether the frustration of no longer being the No.1 at Hendrick is getting the better of him and hence his reaction in Kansas. This was a question posed to Kyle Larson ahead of the playoff race at Bristol.
In Larson’s opinion, Chase Elliott is absolutely not jealous of him. He has no reason to be. Larson explained, “No. I can’t say any of us know his personality. I doubt that. He is super successful, and he’s got a championship and he’s won tons of races. But I don’t feel that way.”
The #5 driver backed his response by adding that he has spent more time around Chase Elliott than those who are floating the jealousy narrative as he put this notion to bed.
