When Chase Elliott revealed the “first thing” he desired before beginning his debut NASCAR Cup Series race

Chase Elliott entered the NASCAR Cup Series in 2015, driving a part-time schedule for Hendrick Motorsports. But before debuting, he revealed the foremost thing he wanted to attain. Following the Georgian native's five-race slate, he was promoted to a full-time driver, replacing four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon in the #24 Chevrolet.

Elliott wasn't new to NASCAR when he entered the premier level. At that time, he ran his second consecutive full-time Xfinity Series schedule for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports. He finished his rookie Xfinity season in 1st place and settled in 2nd during his sophomore season.

However, the Cup Series is a different ballgame, and Elliott was about to debut at Martinsville Speedway, where Hendrick Motorsports was and is the most dominant team. In 2015, they had 22 wins with Dale Jr.'s 2014 triumph being the latest, and they now have 29 wins, with William Byron being the most recent.

Before kicking off his debut run, Chase Elliott emphasized that his biggest goal is to make it through the qualifying in the five-race slate and enter every race, at the least.

"The biggest goal, first, is to try to get into all of them. That is the first thing – you don't want to get ahead of yourself. Just try to have good qualifying efforts at all of them but not forget about the race. We definitely want to focus on that and try to be good there," Elliott said via HMS' official release.

The then 19-year-old had a fateful maiden Cup Series race and salvaged a 38th-place finish after being marred by predicaments.

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"I've got some work to do": Chase Elliott reflected on his debut Cup Series race

Chase Elliott began his debut Cup Series race in 27th place, fielding the #25 Chevrolet. However, it didn't take much time for his day to turn worse as the sheet metal on his Chevy was extensively damaged following a contact on Lap 75.

Elliott was trapped in a stack-up that resulted in a collision with Brett Moffitt, sending the former's ride behind the wall. The damage was so severe that the HMS driver dropped some debris on the asphalt and entered the pit lane to fix multiple issues in his car.

Steering issues, damaged left compounds, and repairing the dented car cost valuable duration, and by the time Elliott returned to the field, he was already a staggering 69 laps down. He finished his debut race in P38 and 73 laps down.

“This is a different ballgame. These guys are here in the Sprint Cup Series for a reason, and I’ve got some work to do," Elliott said of his debut via NASCAR.

Following his Martinsville race, Chase Elliott battled at Richmond Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Darlington Raceway. The HMS driver tasted his first Cup victory in the 2018 Go Bowling! at the Glen.