NASCAR superstar Chase Elliott attends the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl LIX party in New Orleans

Chase Elliott is taking a detour ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season opener. The NASCAR star attended the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl LIX party in New Orleans as the championship game is set to take center stage.

Elliott is a 29-year-old professional stock car racing driver from Dawsonville, Georgia. He is slated to enter his 10th season in the premier series driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports.

But for now, Chase Elliott has made his way to New Orleans to watch the Super Bowl LIX featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Chase Elliott's story at the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl LIX Party - Source: via @chaseelliott9 on Instagram

Chase Elliott is joined at the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl LIX party by NFL personalities such as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, former receiver Dale Moss, and eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick (as a coach). Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit models also joined the fun in NOLA.

The Super Bowl LIX will witness the Kansas City Chiefs defend their championship against the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Chiefs win the NFL's big game, they will become the first team in the Super Bowl era to record a three-peat.

After the Super Bowl, NASCAR will return for the prestigious Daytona 500 race on February 16. Elliott is still chasing his maiden win in the "Great American Race", though he already scored two pole positions in 2016 and 2017.

Chase Elliott kicked off the year with a race win at Bowman Gray Stadium - Source: Imagn

Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron will enter the season-opening race as the defending winner.

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Chase Elliott was once compared to NFL star Patrick Mahomes after 2020 championship

After Chase Elliott won the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship, former NFL guard Kyle Long compared the driver to Patrick Mahomes. Long said the two then-young stars showed versatility and showed up when it mattered the most to win their first championships.

In 2020, Elliott needed a strong race to advance to the championship. Coming off a P20 finish at Texas, the Dawsonville native won the final race of the Round of 8 to punch his ticket to the Championship 4. He later won the season finale ahead of veteran championship contenders Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin.

It was the same year Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, drafted in 2017, won his first Super Bowl championship.

On a 2020 episode of The Kyle Long Show, the former Chicago Bears star said:

"I loved, there's a post-race interview where you're talking about you backs being against the wall and you guys don't do it often enough. And I was watching you do the interview and I'm thinking to myself, this dude [Chase Elliott], understands the importance of the moment and is going to try to capitalize and he thrives on it." [6:07 onwards]

He added:

"I mean Patrick Mahomes, who thrives in adverse situations and he's versatile, you're a road course guy, you could dominate there, you're an oval guy, you can dominate there and now you're a champion."

Elliott looks to win his second NASCAR Cup Series championship following missing the title fight in the last two years. Meanwhile, Mahomes can become a four-time champion if he and the Chiefs win the Super Bowl LIX.