"It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done": When Bill Elliott opened up about raising Chase Elliott in NASCAR

Bill Elliott, a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee once talked about raising his son Chase Elliott, who is among the finest drivers in the sport at present. The latter has followed his father's footsteps and has already won the Cup Series as well as the Xfinity Series.

In a February 9, 2021 interview with The New York Times, Bill Elliott talked about his experience raising Chase and supporting his racing career. When asked what it’s like watching Chase follow Bill Elliott’s footsteps in racing, Ben reflected on the challenging nature of the sport and said:

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know how my parents did it with me. Because the thing you’ve got to look at is when your kid falls down and gets hurt, do you run over there and pick them up and cuddle them? Or do you say “Shake it off?”

To further add to this, he also mentioned the difficulty of helping the child cope with the heartbreaks that accompany the pursuit of a career in the sport. Making a comparison with child actors and drug users, Bill Elliott talked about the emotional toll this sport takes on a person.

“I can understand the racing. But the emotional toll it takes? It’s like when you see child actors and people have their drug issues. Now, I do think racing keeps you better grounded because of restraints you have around you. So that is a plus to me. But it’s a tough sport. And people are brutal.”

Chase Elliott, followed his father’s path in motorsports to become a NASCAR driver and went on to win the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship. He has made quite a mark on the NASCAR fans, winning the NASCAR Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver’s award six times between 2018 and 2024.

---

Bill Elliott's son Chase Elliott talks about his childhood and upbringing

Chase Elliott, a six-time Most Popular Driver award winner and one-time NASCAR champion has not had an isolated NASCAR career. His father Bill is also a very well-known name in NASCAR racing. In a 2023 episode of The Pure Athlete podcast, Chase talked about his upbringing and how he got early exposure to racing.

When the Elliott family moved from Georgia to Colorado for a short duration, Chase got interested in motorsports. He said,

“I had just started to race go-karts around home. So when we moved out west, I felt like that was where my childhood really got going. I was getting involved in sports and starting to understand a little more about what was going on,” he said (5:30 onward).

When in Colorado, Chase started participating in racing events but the state did not have enough resources to help Chase further his career in racing. This prompted his family to move back to Georgia where his racing career started to take shape.

“I was racing full-time every weekend from middle school until now,” he added (7:30).

Talking about what would’ve become if they had stayed in Colorado, Elliot said it was more likely that he would’ve become a basketball player there rather than a NASCAR driver.