"I always admired Matt Kenseth": When Chase Elliott spoke candidly about his respect for a fellow driver’s ability

NASCAR driver Chase Elliott discussed his admiration for fellow driver Matt Kenseth's skill in the pit lane in an interview during the 2021 season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver specifically spoke about the Hall of Famer's efficiency during his time in the pit lane being the ability he admires.

Elliot, in an interview with the New York Times, answered a series of questions which included a question regarding a quality in another driver that the #9 driver might be envious of. He responded:

"One that I always admired was Matt Kenseth. I don’t feel like he ever got enough credit for getting on and off pit road. For years, they used to call his pit crew the Killer Bees. And they just killed it on pit road. But Matt had a lot to do with that."

Elaborating further on Kenseth's skill as compared to the other drivers in the field, Elliott said:

"I really think at the time he was maximizing things on pit road that other guys weren’t doing. As time went on and we started getting these timesheets (that broke down pit road entry/exit and pit stop times), Matt was at the top of the board. My first couple years, he was always the fastest guy on and off pit road and a lot of times down pit road as well."

The 2020 Cup Series Championship winner's admiration of his fellow driver's skill has come from a place where he feels is lacking in his own driving ability. He continued:

"So that’s been an area I feel like I need to do a better job. And it’s a tough thing to maximize, because you miss pit road and you’ve really hurt yourself bad. So it’s like, “What’s the cost/benefit?” But whatever technique he had going on and used through his time was impressive. I always admired a lot of things about Matt, but that was one of them."

Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth raced against each other during the 2016 to 2020 seasons, after which Kenseth retired. He finished his career after racing 18 full-time seasons, which included a Cup Series Championship win in 2003, along with 39 race victories.

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Chase Elliott discusses his least favourite part of the race weekend

Chase Elliott (9) during the NASCAR Awards Banquet at Charlotte Convention Center - Source: Imagn

In the same interview from October 2021, Chase Elliott also discussed what he dislikes about the race weekend. Speaking in response to a question posed by Xfinity Series driver Jeremy Clements about what the 2014 Xfinity Champion's least favourite part of the weekends during the season is, Elliot said (via New York Times):

"Sunday nights are honestly a tough part of the week just because, you amp yourself up in a way. [...] So when the checkered flag is out or you crash or your day is over, it’s like, “All right, we’re going home and wait six more days and do it again.” So really, one of the bigger challenges is just turning that off and turning it on. Learning how to not carry it home with you too much and go on down the road. I feel like I’ve gotten better at that as time has gone on."

Chase Elliott finished his 2021 season fourth in the points standings after he won two races, and scored fifteen Top 5s and twenty-one Top 10s. He finished his most recent season in the Cup Series 7th in the standings, scoring a single win at the Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year.