Larry Wayne “Chipper” Jones Jr. is as iconic as they come in the world of baseball. Jones played for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. Being born near Daytona meant that he was bound to be drawn towards the sound of engines and thus came his inevitable connection with NASCAR. Currently 52, he has one name on his lips every Sunday – Chase Elliott.
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Jones admitted in a recent interview with Fox Sports that he was a big fan of the 2020 Cup Series champion. He said, “I’m a huge Chase fan. He’s a big Braves fan. We’ve been buddies for a long time. I go to races. He goes to Braves games. We kind of scratch each other’s backs.” Away from Elliott, he is a big supporter of Jeff Gordon and the entirety of Hendrick Motorsports.
Elliott is a fan of the Atlanta Braves and has been seen cheering for them in games often. The team is well-supported by fans in the south and being a native of Georgia, he doesn’t hold back on expressing his emotions. Earlier this week, the MLB announced that a regular season game between the Braves and the Cincinnati Reds would be held inside the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Elliott was a part of this announcement. Humbled to be invited, he told the press, “I told those guys, ‘Look. I’m really just a fan and I have no ties to baseball or anything.’ I’ve said that for years and they’ve really always treated me with a lot of respect. Far more than I deserve just to watch like everyone else. So, proud to represent them in a small way like that.”
The favorite drivers of Chipper Jones
Back to Jones, who revealed that the first Daytona 500 that he’d been to was the 200th race that Richard “King” Petty won. President Ronald Reagan had been at the venue that day. Jones wasn’t a big fan of Petty then but he sure is now after getting to know him personally. So, whom did he want to win back then?
“Back in the day, I was a big Cale Yarborough fan,” he said. “I liked to see him and [Bobby] Allison mixing it up on the backstretch.”
For the 2024 Cup Series Championship, he picks Kyle Larson to win over his friend Elliott. It is an understandable choice considering the hot form that the No. 5 driver has been throughout the year.
