“You’re going to get your turn”: Chase Elliott reflects on the evolving definition of ‘success’ at this point of his NASCAR career

Chase Elliott is one of the star drivers of the Hendrick Motorsports roster, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet in the Cup Series. As we gear up for the upcoming 2025 season, the 29-year-old was asked to define "success" at this point of his stock car racing career where he has two championship titles and 28 wins in all the touring series of NASCAR.

The 2024 season turned out to be a bounceback year for NASCAR's Most Popular driver Elliott. The Dawsonville, Georgia native snapped his 42-race winless streak at the 2024 Texas Motor Speedway race that propelled him into the post-season. While Elliott only managed to secure a single win, his consistent finishes throughout the season also stood out. He amassed 11 top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes in 36 starts of the 2024 NASCAR season.

On the brink of starting his 10th season with Rick Hendrick-owned HMS, Elliott reflected on the "definite of success" in a conversation with Hendrickmotorsports.com.

"Just being competitive," Elliott said. "I love the wins, love getting in the (Championship Four) and racing for a championship and doing all those things, don't get me wrong. But I think for me it's just about being competitive and I'm a believer that if you're competitive and you're putting yourself in those positions, you're going to get your turn and you've just got to keep yourself there."

Elliott continued:

"For our whole team, I think that last month or so was a good example of that. You know, it didn't necessarily make the pill any easier to swallow when you miss (the Championship Four) by a spot, but I do think it does give you something to be proud of as you progress through the offseason and get ready for next year."

Looking back on his past year, Chase Elliott highlighted the point when the No. 9 Chevy team stepped up after facing an unfortunate situation in the first race of the Round of 8 last season.

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"Not quite close enough": Chase Elliott opens up on his win-or-go-home situation in the 2024 playoff rounds

NASCAR: NASCAR Cup Series Championship - Source: Imagn

Despite making it to the Round of 8 playoffs in the 2024 season, Chase Elliott believes it wasn't "close enough" even after the team delivered impressive results under pressure.

On a January 5 conversation with Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott looked back on the time when he got wrecked at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, thus, adding pressure on the No. 9 team to perform to qualify for the Championship 4 race in Phoenix.

"(It was) a little bit of everything, in my opinion. I just think everyone stepped up," Elliott said via Hendrick Motorsports. "I think Alan[Crew Chief] was calling great races, felt like our prep work throughout the week on the car and just our race overlook was at an all-time high. I think I was doing a better job."

In the following two races after Elliott's wreck at Las Vegas, the No. 9 Chevy car finished inside the top five and even managed a runner-up spot. However, it wasn't enough to qualify for the final race at Phoenix Raceway.

"It's never one thing. I'm sorry, but it's just not. And there's always so many pieces to the puzzle and fortunately for us, I think they just all got better at a very similar time, and everyone stepped up at the right time and it was close, just not quite close enough," Elliott added.

Meanwhile, Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team are set to start the high-octane racing at the season-opener race at Daytona International Speedway on February 16.