What Was the NASCAR Cup Series’ Biggest Surprise for Chase Elliott?

There’s a reason why the NASCAR Cup Series is the elite division of stock car racing in the United States, and arguably, the whole world. The level of talent, the competition, and the stakes are just that high. This was something that Chase Elliott also described in an interview from 2020.

Elliott was asked about the biggest surprise he faced when he stepped up to the Cup from the Xfinity. “I think the big thing first off was how big the step was from Xfinity and we have all these feeder series, it’s kinda how it’s viewed. And you’re taking all these stepping stones, and you’re stepping on, but that last step to Cup is elite,” Elliott said.

The #9 driver pointed to the high level of competition that is there in the Cup along with the other factors that are there in a healthy balance. Elliott explained, “All the fast guys are really good. They don’t make many mistakes. And all those things aren’t necessarily pieced together in the lower series. You might have a little bit of one thing or a little bit of the other.”

“You might have a good driver here and not so a good team or a decent driver here on a really good team, a team that runs solid and doesn’t make mistakes.”

Elliott emphasized that one needs to put all those things together and multiply it by “10 guys that are on the list every week” who aren’t just gonna be fast and not make mistakes, but they’ll also have a fast car. “So piecing it together and being better than that top 10 group is gonna be a challenge, and when you get in that world, all those things are finally there and are there every week,” he added.

Does Chase Elliott have the most wins in NASCAR since his first full-time year in the Cup?

Ever since his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series back in 2016, Chase Elliott has remained in the conversation to be one of the top drivers among his peers. So far in his Cup tenure, Elliott has also achieved the title of NASCAR Cup champion (2020) along with 18 wins to his name.

But is Elliott’s 18 wins the most of all drivers since 2016?

The answer is no, and the answer will only further Elliott’s point about the level of competition in the Cup. Since 2016, the driver who has won the most is Martin Truex Jr. with 31 wins. After him, there’s Kyle Busch (29) and Kevin Harvick (29), followed by Denny Hamlin (25), Kyle Larson (23), and Joey Logano (21).

So clearly, the level of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series is pretty high at the top.

About the author

Shaharyar

Shaharyar is a NASCAR journalist at the SportsRush. Along with two years of experience covering the sport, he is also a filmmaker and a big fan of soccer. His favorite NASCAR drivers in the modern era of the sport are Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch but when it comes to the GOAT debate, he believes no one is or will ever be as great as Dale Earnhardt.

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