Often referred to as ‘The Great American Race,’ winning the Daytona 500 holds immense importance in the careers of those who have done it, and for those who haven’t, it remains an unfulfilled dream. However, for Chase Elliott, it is a dream that has come close to getting fulfilled but has never really found fruition.
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But this year could be different for the #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver. It is perhaps safe to say that by now, he and his crew chief Alan Gustafson have had enough time to regain their lost mojo and learn from their mistakes last year. And the 2020 Cup champion has his eyes fixed now on winning the iconic race. But why is winning this race so important for him?
This is what the 6x Most Popular Driver Award winner recently explained. In a recent interview, the Dawsonville native said, “It has held such a large place in NASCAR’s history and the 500 is a huge weekend for our sport. Obviously, just the crowd that it draws, the event that it is, always has a lot of hype around it.”
But that’s not the only reason. Elliott is excited to fly to the significantly warmer climate of Florida. “It (Daytona 500) kicks off our season, which is an exciting time of the year,” he admitted.
“For those of us that live a little further north, it can still be cold down there, but it’s usually nicer than what it is at home, so I look forward to that aspect, too.”
Chase Elliott came too close yet so far from winning ‘The Superbowl of NASCAR’
In his first-ever Daytona 500 race in 2016, Chase Elliott won the pole position where he registered a blazing fast lap of 196.314 mph. Just the following year, he won the pole again. But despite grabbing the pole flag, Elliott simply couldn’t grab the checkered flag in the event.
In 2021 though, Elliott came the closest to winning the race with a second-place finish after escaping a last-lap accident. He started 12th in the race and scurried through the pack to fifth within the first lap itself. However, he fell just short of bagging the victory and lost it to Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell.
It’s worth mentioning that Hendrick Motorsports, as a team, has a total of eight victories at the famed race. But none of them were through the hands of Elliott, or any of the current drivers. It seems like every time, this racer comes close to winning and still falls short of something. Will this year’s event be any different from those of the previous years?
Only time will tell.
