"Jeff Gordon's son came over to give me a high five": Chase Elliott makes feelings known about his first Daytona 500

2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott has shared that the standout moment of his first Daytona 500 was receiving a high-five from Jeff Gordon's son. The Hendrick Motorsports driver replaced Gordon full-time in the No. 24 car in 2016.

During a recent conversation with NASCAR reporter Claire B. Lang, Elliott talked about the Daytona 500, which he started in first place after winning the pole.

"And then I think the biggest one that was pretty wild for me was Jeff Gordon's son coming over, you know, to give me a high five before the race started. And, you know, here I was filling in for Jeff, right? He just retired, and now his kids coming to give me a high five as I'm fixing the climb at the 24 car," Chase Elliott said (01:25 onwards).

"So it was just, it was a lot. It was a lot for me to process and handle. I don't even know that I did process at all, but I, you know, tried to process as much as I could and enjoy the moment as much as I could because it was special. And it's hard to believe that's been 10 years ago."

Elliott, who was 20 at the time, was the youngest driver to score a pole position for the Daytona 500. He finished the race 37th but went on to win the Rookie of the Year award that year, beating other rookie drivers, including Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher.

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Chase Elliott shares his "biggest motivating factor" for Daytona 500 win

Chase Elliott has two top-10 finishes at the 'Great American Race' in nine starts. He finished second in 2021 and also has two pole positions at the Daytona 500. During the same interview with Claire B. Lang, the 29-year-old talked about winning the Harley J. Earl Trophy for his crew chief, Alan Gustafson.

"I hope one day we can put our name on that trophy and be able to hang your hat on that. It'd be, it'd be a big deal to me and to our team, you know, especially Al [Alan Gustafson], and a guy from the area who's been so close and has never won this race, you know, I know that's big on his list," Chase Elliott said (02:05 onwards).

"Honestly, now, at this point in my career, that's my biggest motivating factor to want to win this race is the guy, you know, giving a guy like that, someone who is that deserving, you know, something he's never done, I think is a great honor to be a part of."

Elliott will start the Daytona 500 in 17th position today, February 16. The 67th running of the event will begin at 1:30 pm ET.