At first glance, Chase Elliott’s 2025 season may have looked similar to his 2024 campaign. After all, he finished seventh in 2024 and eighth last year. But a closer look shows that Elliott actually made meaningful progress, which could point to bigger things ahead.
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Elliott wrapped up the 2024 season in seventh place with one win, 11 top-five finishes, 19 top-10s, one pole, and 431 laps led. Last year, he improved those numbers with two wins, 11 top-fives, 19 top-10s, and 454 laps led, despite finishing one spot lower in the standings.
The statistics alone do not fully reflect that growth, but his on-track performance in 2025 told a more encouraging story. That progression was also noticed by Jeff Gordon, the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.
Gordon pointed to the World Wide Technology Event, in which Elliott finished 10th after starting 17th. More notably, he highlighted how Elliott took the lead on lap 226 and held it until lap 253, leading 30 laps before eventually being passed by teammate William Byron.
While running inside the top three, Elliott was slapped with a pit-road speeding penalty during a late caution. But despite tumbling to 27th due to the infraction, he clawed back through the field to secure a top-ten finish in overtime.
That’s why Gordon stated he could see Elliott becoming “More engaged, stepping in, elevating the team, the information he’s bringing, and really feeling like this is home for him.”
“I tell him all the time, ‘You’re a franchise guy. This team is your team.’ He and Alan have a very powerful relationship. Alan is an incredibly talented guy, and I think sometimes it just takes getting all the right pieces in place at the right times. But I was very impressed with what they did last year.”
“More engaged, stepping in, elevating the team, the information he’s bringing, and really feeling like this is home for him,” Gordon said. “I tell him all the time, ‘You’re a franchise guy. This team is your team.'”https://t.co/5dWntUk2My
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) February 1, 2026
Gordon felt that Elliott was the strongest Hendrick car on the finale day in Phoenix based on how he navigated throughout the field. “When you put a race like that together, and you do that over enough races, it builds confidence. And when you have the final race of the season go like that, even though you’re not in the championship hunt, you build on that over the offseason,” he continued.
If Elliott can carry that same momentum into 2026, he could be unstoppable. Elliott picked up three wins last season, including the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. His two points-paying victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway marked the first time since 2022 that he recorded multiple wins in a single season, signaling a clear return to elite form.
Given that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Champion has been one of the most consistent drivers in the field, the new Chase format will hopefully play in his favor this year.
