“I would get to hang out with her more”: When Chase Elliott assigned LeBron James & Taylor Swift roles in his team

Chase Elliott once answered a hypothetical question about which roles he would assign to celebrities Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Tom Hanks on the #9 Hendrick Motorsports team. He thoughtfully assigned each a position — crew chief, spotter and motorhome driver — and elaborated on his choices.

In a 2018 interview with Jeff Gluck for the 12 Questions segment, Elliott was presented with a fun hypothetical scenario. Gluck asked NASCAR's Most Popular Driver how he would assign the roles of crew chief, spotter and motorhome driver to three famous Americans if they were to join his team as part of a publicity stunt.

Chase Elliott found the question amusing and assigned the role of crew chief to Lakers legend LeBron James, reasoning that his exceptional memory for basketball plays would translate well to making strategic calls. He then chose Tom Hanks as his spotter, explaining that the Academy Award-winning actor would communicate only when necessary, ensuring minimal distractions over the radio.

Elliott cheekily chose pop star Taylor Swift as his motorhome driver, reasoning that it would give him the chance to hang out with the Grammy-winning artiste. He said in the interview:

"That’s pretty funny. I’m going to say LeBron on the crew chief side because his ability to remember plays in a game is very impressive to me. I’m going to say Tom Hanks spotting because I think he’ll keep his mouth shut. And Taylor Swift can drive the motorhome just because I would get to hang out with her more in that sense, so that would be a good option for her."

In real life, Alan Gustafson serves as the crew chief for the #9 Hendrick Motorsports team and has worked with Elliott since his rookie season in 2016. Veteran spotter Eddie D’Hondt used to spot for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver until 2023, with Trey Poole taking over the role.

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When Chase Elliott revealed an F1 driver he would like to host

In the aforementioned 2018 interview with Jeff Gluck, Chase Elliott was asked to name one celebrity he would like to host for a NASCAR race. Elliott chose former F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo. Having spent time with the ex-Red Bull Racing driver in Texas in 2017, he said that he would like to return the favor.

"I had a chance to hang out with Daniel Ricciardo from the F1 side (at Texas last fall). He’s not a celebrity — a California celebrity — but obviously a very well-known racer. Had a lot of fun with that," Elliott said.

Elliott further explained that he would prefer to host a popular racing driver rather than a celebrity who isn’t interested in NASCAR. The #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver added that he would love to discuss the differences and similarities between their respective racing series.

Ricciardo is no stranger to American culture and NASCAR, as he took Dale Earnhardt's #3 Wrangler Chevy for a spin at the 2021 United States Grand Prix race weekend at COTA. He exited F1 midway through the 2024 season, making his final start in Singapore.