William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.
Chase is the son of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion and 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bill Elliott. The Elliotts are one of many father-son duos in NASCAR history, joining Lee and Richard Petty, Buck and Buddy Baker, Ned and Dale Jarrett, Bobby and Davey Allison, as well as Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (all NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees). Before Chase's stock car racing career, Elliott had an extremely highly successful career in late model racing, with wins in several prestigious events, including completing the "unofficial grand slam of super late model racing", with wins in the Snowball Derby in 2011 & 2015 (including three prelude wins in the Snowflake 100 in 2010, 2012, & 2013), the Winchester 400 in 2010, the World Crown 300 in 2012, and the All American 400 in 2013.
Elliott began his NASCAR career by winning the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year and the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, becoming the first rookie and the youngest driver to win a national series championship in NASCAR history. Elliott began racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2016, taking over the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, previously driven by Jeff Gordon. That same year, he earned the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year award.
In 2018, he began driving the No. 9 (in honor of his father) NAPA Auto Parts sponsored Chevrolet, and won his first career Cup Series race at the road course of Watkins Glen. In 2020, Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series championship, marking Hendrick Motorsports' thirteenth overall Cup Series Championship, their first title since 2016, and Chase joining his father Bill Elliott as the third father-son duo in NASCAR history to win NASCAR Cup Series Championships (joining Lee & Richard Petty, and Ned & Dale Jarrett). Elliott has won exhibition races in the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol, and the 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, while currently amassing an additional 23 career Cup Series victories, including seven on road courses. He is currently NASCAR's reigning 8x Most Popular Driver Award winner, and in 2023 was named as one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers.
Early career and short track racing
At the age of thirteen, Elliott was featured in the July 13, 2009, issue of Sports Illustrated alongside 13 other athletes, including future world number one golfer Jordan Spieth and future NBA second overall pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, as potential stars. In 2010, Elliott competed in forty races across various series, winning twelve events and finishing in the top-ten 38 times. During his third season of racing, he won the Blizzard Series, Miller Lite, and Gulf Coast championships and was named the Georgia Asphalt Pro Late Model Series Rookie of the Year. He capped off the season by winning the prestigious Winchester 400. Sports Illustrated recognized Elliott as its High School Player of the Week in April 2011. That year, he competed in the Champion Racing Association, claiming the National Super Late Model championship. Shortly after turning 16, Elliott made history as the youngest winner of the Snowball Derby, edging out D.J. Vanderley by a record 0.229 seconds. In 2012, Elliott added to his achievements by winning the Alan Turner Snowflake 100, the Snowball Derby's prelude race, for the second time in three years.
In November 2013, Elliott won the All American 400, becoming the first driver to capture all four of the nation's premier short-track races: the All American 400, the Snowball Derby, the World Crown 300, and the Winchester 400. The following month, Elliott initially appeared to make history by sweeping the Snowball Derby and Snowflake 100 in the same weekend. However, during a post-race inspection, his car was found to contain a prohibited piece of tungsten, resulting in his disqualification and the victory being awarded to Erik Jones. Elliott later claimed the Snowball Derby title in 2015 after the original winner, Christopher Bell, was disqualified.
Elliott competed in six ARCA Racing Series races in 2012 and five in 2013, driving the No. 9 car to gain experience on larger circuits. At the time, ARCA permitted seventeen-year-old drivers to race at Pocono Raceway and Kentucky Speedway, which both have a minimum age of eighteen in NASCAR. For ARCA, the minimum age for ovals longer than 1.25 miles (2,000 meters) is eighteen, while shorter tracks and road courses allow drivers as young as sixteen. On June 8, 2013, Elliott made history at Pocono Raceway by becoming the youngest winner in ARCA superspeedway history.
Elliott signed a three-year driver development contract with Hendrick Motorsports in February. In 2012, he competed in the K&N Pro Series East, driving the No. 9 car and finishing ninth in the season standings. Later that year, he returned to the series and secured his first career victory at Iowa Speedway in May, ultimately finishing fourth in the championship standings.
Elliott competed in three NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races at Phoenix Raceway, once in 2011 and twice in 2012. In his 2011 race, he finished third. In 2012, he placed 17th in one race due to a crash and fourth in the other.
In January 2013, it was announced that Elliott would compete in nine NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races for Hendrick Motorsports during the 2013 season, using trucks prepared by Turner Scott Motorsports. During qualifying for the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott earned his first career NASCAR pole position with a lap speed of 125.183 mph (201.463 km/h), becoming the youngest pole-sitter in Truck Series history.
Elliott secured his first career win in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the first road course race for the Truck Series held outside the United States. At the time, he became the youngest winner in Truck Series history at seventeen years, nine months, and four days. This record stood until September 2014, when Cole Custer won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway at just sixteen years, seven months, and 28 days. Elliott's victory, however, was not without controversy. On the final corner, he made contact with leader Ty Dillon, causing Dillon to hit the tire barrier. Elliott veered into the grass but managed to recover and cross the finish line ahead of Chad Hackenbracht from Kyle Busch Motorsports. After the race, Dillon expressed his frustration, stating that the next time they raced, "he won't finish the race." Elliott later mentioned that he tried to apologize to Dillon but received no response. The following week at Iowa Speedway, Elliott cut down a tire early in the race and crashed, with no involvement from Dillon.
In October 2016, Elliott competed in the Alpha Energy Solutions 200 at Martinsville Speedway, marking his first Truck Series race since 2013. Driving the No. 71 for Contreras Motorsports, which leased owner points and a truck chassis from JR Motorsports, he led a race-high 109 laps and finished second. In 2017, Elliott joined GMS Racing, driving the No. 23 truck in two races at Atlanta and Martinsville, where he secured a win at Martinsville. Three years later, he returned to the series with GMS Racing in the No. 24 truck. This effort was prompted by Kevin Harvick's bounty challenge, offering a reward to full-time Cup Series drivers who could beat Kyle Busch in a Truck Series race. Originally scheduled for Atlanta, Elliott's attempt was postponed to Charlotte in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Elliott ultimately won the race, finishing ahead of Busch and claiming the bounty. The victory came amidst lingering tensions between the two drivers following an earlier incident that season.