When Chase Elliott celebrated his NASCAR triumph with Dawsonville locals in a rare way

NASCAR on NBC took a trip down memory lane to revisit Chase Elliott’s hometown celebration after his 2020 Cup championship win. After winning the title, the #9 HMS driver drove his championship-winning car back to Dawsonville, Georgia, where he received a hero's welcome.

Elliott outperformed the likes of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano in the final race of the season, which was held for the first time at the 1-mile Arizona oval. While Hamlin was gunning for his first Cup Series title, Team Penske's Keselowski and Logano each aimed to add a second championship to their resumes.

By winning the championship in the sixth Cup season of his career, Chase Elliott etched his name as the third-youngest Cup Series champion in NASCAR history. He was just 24 years, 11 months and 11 days old when he won the NASCAR Cup championship.

Only Jeff Gordon, who seized his first title at 24 years, three months and eight days old in 1995, and Bill Rexford, the 1950 champion at 23, were younger when they claimed their crowns.

Following his back-to-back wins at Phoenix and Martinsville, Elliott drove his championship car through the streets of his hometown, Dawsonville, making his fans happy with some celebratory burnouts. NASCAR on NBC captured the momentous occasion and shared the four-year-old video of Elliott's burnouts, captioning it:

"How cool was this? Chase Elliott took his championship-winning car to Dawsonville and did some burnouts for fans."

Three months following his victory, Chase Elliott was celebrated by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame with a dedicated exhibit. He expressed his pride in representing the Dawsonville community and bringing a Cup title back home to his supporters.

The exhibit displayed various memorabilia from Elliott's racing career, featuring personal items he's collected over the years. It also spotlighted his 2020 season, during which he clinched five points-paying races, including the crucial penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway and the Championship 4 showdown at Phoenix Raceway.

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Chase Elliott's resurgence from a disappointing winless season

In 2023, despite a solid car, the most popular driver of NASCAR couldn't secure a victory.

It had been a frustrating stretch of 42 races without a win since his last triumph at Talladega in October 2022. However, Elliott shattered this winless spell with a victory at the Texas Motor Speedway in April 2024, racing through multiple overtime restarts to win his first NASCAR Cup Series race since 2022.

In a surprising finish, Chase Elliott surged ahead of Ross Chastain on the penultimaate lap. The lead solidified when Chastain collided with William Byron's bumper on the final stretch.

Currently, Chase Elliott is a close second in the driver standings with 739 points, just 10 points behind leader Kyle Larson. In 22 starts this regular season, Elliott not only celebrated a victory but also finished seven races in the top-5 and 11 in the top-10.