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Hey!

Yeah!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Yes!

Oh, my God.

Are you kidding me?

I mean, what? What? [ Chuckles ]

You're champion. Champion.

I don't believe it. I don't believe it.

Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you.

Didn't I say it was just 10 years ago when you were 14?

Yeah, has it been that long?

Yeah. Dang, we're getting old.

No, you'renot. I'm getting old.

Earnhardt: So, it's November 2020,

and the eyes of the NASCAR universe

are laser-focused on Phoenix Raceway.

And what do they see?

This guy right here,

Chase Elliott, with the biggest smile you ever saw,

raising the Bill France Cup high above his head.

But who is this guy?

In this moment, he's the almost 25-year-old champion

of the NASCAR Cup Series.

But I want to go beyond that

to see how he grew up from a little kid

following his dad up and down pit road

to the next big thing in racing

to the man holding that trophy.

The Chase Elliott story begins with a family legacy

that ties him to NASCAR legend

and a town his father put on the map.

You know the nickname.

I wanted to see for myself the town that's brought us

two of the best drivers in the last 40 years,

a rare father-and-son combination.

It's a tiny community set among the north Georgia mountains.

So, where we at now?

Oddly enough, this is Elliott Road. [ Chuckles ]

And who better to show you than the man himself?

Me and you together, though, man, we are dynamite.

I agree.

So I'm off to Dawsonville to get the full

Chase Elliott experience.

**

Here he comes.

**

**

What are you doing here?

Come to see you, man. Come to see Dawsonville.

Good to see you. This is nice.

It's beautiful here. Hello.

God's country.

You got your own airport?

Well, Idon't have my own airport,

but my family does, I suppose.

It says "Elliott Field." Yeah.

Who built all this?

So my dad and his brothers.

So your dad, did he always want to be a pilot?

Yeah, so he started flying in the late '70s,

kind of right when he was getting started.

His best friend is in the paving business,

so, yeah, paved it.

Made all the sense in the world.

Yeah, why not?

And so you're still using it? Yeah.

You fly out of here pretty much to every --

Every week. You don't fly the big airport.

And I was lucky, right, because I grew up kind of around that.

I mean, he's been flying a lot longer than

I've been alive, so... Right. It was natural.

It was very natural and, you know,

it was just really cool as a kid,

to kind of go fly with your dad and kind of do those things.

So, of course, yeah, I was interested in it,

and now it's something we can share

completely away from racing. Yeah.

And we talk way more about airplanes

than we do about racing, so it's cool.

So, this is right below the shops. Yep.

We drove by a couple shops up there. Yep.

Is that where they raced out of back in the --

Yeah, basically, yeah.

You have three buildings.

That was where they did everything.

Did everything. Man.

In the '80s, especially, like, around '85 when they were flying

and whupping everybody so bad, you're like,

"Man, what are they doing? What are they doing down there?"

So this is a really big deal for me to finally say

I've been here to check it out. Well, look,

it's not much, but it's home for us,

and I think that's what makes it cool.

You're modest, man. It's much. It's a lot.

I'm excited to learn about it, so let's get going.

Yeah, let's go take a look. Alright.

This land has been in the Elliott family for generations.

Chase's grandfather, George, worked hard,

and raised his three boys,

Ernie, Dan, and Bill, to do the same.

By the mid '80s, the family dominated NASCAR.

Announcer: Bill Elliott is racing into the record books.

Bill Elliott is going toward immortality.

Bill Elliott has won an additional $1 million in 1985.

Earnhardt: They built some of the fastest cars

in the history of the sport,

and, in 1988, raced all the way to the title,

doing it all out of this little shop in Dawsonville.

**

So this is the shop. Yeah.

This is where --

This is where they really did all the work on the cars.

Can we look at this Ford over here?

Yeah.

This was his first Cup-race car.

This ain't a remake car?

No, no, no. This is it.

Just looking at this thing

and imagining it going around the track.

Imagine driving this thing around Darlington.

I can't.

I mean, there is no way.

Your hands would be full.

This thing's probably got, like, six pounds of Bondo in it.

Oh, six, I think, is kind. It's a lot.

Thing weighs about 10,000 pounds.

Dude, no kidding. [ Chuckles ]

As you get older, are your curiosities

kind of piquing about just what it was like?

'Cause you missed out

on a big chunk of your dad's career,

but you were there for another big chunk of it.

I do appreciate those conversations.

You know, I wasn't around for the heyday,

you know, so to speak.

So, for me, his career was the Dodge number 9 Evernham car.

Announcer: Bill Elliott joins the list of winners

of the Brickyard 400 at Indy.

There's his wife, Cindy, son, Chase.

"Point me to victory lane."

[ Cheers and applause ]

At that age, I was old enough to at least understand races

were just these big events,

and, like, if you weren't at the race,

then you just weren't living that weekend, you know?

That's how I thought.

And they were having success, you know, and they were winning

and things were going really good.

So, although I didn't understand the racing side at that age,

I could tell how much fun and how much he was enjoying,

you know, what he was doing.

So that's what made me want to race.

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

Chase, when he was a little boy,

I remember him coming to the racetrack.

What kind of kid was Chase

when he was home, running around the house?

What was he like?

All he ever did was play with racecars. Really?

He would practice signing his name... [ Laughs ]

and I think about that quite often now because --

We still have paper. Oh, my God.

Yeah, like, he'd sign his name 100 times, you know?

But he always was focused on wanting to drive a racecar.

My focus was his education.

He had to have a "B" average to race.

Really? That's pretty high.

That wasn't myrequirement. It was mine.

A "B"? Man. A "B," yeah.

When we first moved to Colorado,

we were trying to homeschool him,

and it was like -- God, it was --

What subject did Bill teach?

None. Zero. [ Laughs ]

I didn't get any help from him.

Yeah, I was a total school dropout, you know?

Earnhardt: When Bill's career came to an end,

the Elliotts moved to Vail, Colorado.

Are you ready, dude?

Yeah.

Well, get your junk on.

Alright, go.

Second gear.

Okay, go.

The plan was to retire, but Bill can never sit still.

For Chase, the chance to bond with his dad

in the great outdoors was priceless.

Well, you ready to head back?

Yeah.

But you didn't get too dirty this time.

No, he missed some mudholes this time.

What was up with that? I don't know.

He wanted to get back, get his homework done.

I know he did.

Do it later.

Earnhardt: Before long, the Elliotts were back at a racetrack,

with Chase tearing up the Colorado go-kart scene.

We would go to the races and, you know,

Bill would drive the truck with the trailer and everything.

We'd drive back all night long,

but sometimes we'd be gone three or four days.

That was probably some of the best memories we'll ever have.

As soon as he got his foot in the window

for the first time, he's never looked back.

It seems like he's never looked back.

I mean, you know, I was watching for accuracy,

and I was thinking,

"Well, this guy is running here and this guy is running there."

And Chase goes out there and runs a totally different line,

runs faster than all of them. I was like...

I mean, what do you say, you know?

So he seems like he's always ready to take that next step.

Announcer: And your winner wears the number 9, Chase Elliott.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Congratulations.

Chase: Kind of got to a point for me where there just really

wasn't much else to race out in Colorado. In Colorado.

Who made the decision to come back?

I guess it was kind of a joint decision.

You know, I was still very young, but I, you know,

thought I wanted to race and wanted to try to do it.

So started racing Legend cars out of here,

and then when we started racing late models and stuff,

I mean, heck, you couldn't ask for a better place.

So you raced out of here? Yeah.

Where'd you race this at?

Kind of really just all in Georgia.

Atlanta Motor Speedway a bunch

on the quarter-mile there on the front stretch.

Mainly just around here.

And then you got a Legends car?

Yeah, those things are cool.

I mean, I do think you learn

some pretty good lessons driving. Yeah.

When you got out of your Legends car, what was the next car?

Pro Late Model. A Pro Late Model?

Did you just kind of run wherever you wanted,

or did you go for track championship somewhere?

Well, when I first started,

it was wherever they would let me

'cause I was 13, I guess.

Oh, my God. Yeah, so --

You were young. Yeah.

Earnhardt: Racing against guys old enough to be his dad,

Chase found success on the Late Model circuit,

but the end of the road was approaching.

As a family operation, the Elliotts were about to run

headlong into the financial realities of racing.

When you were racing Late Models with your dad,

did you and him ever have a conversation about,

like, how were you going to make it?

Yeah, basically, right there

towards the end of Late Model,

he was like, "Look, you know, I can only take this so far."

And we were stretched pretty thin here as it was,

I mean, to do an operation like that.

So that was kind of it.

He wanted to be somewhere where he felt like

he had a shot to win.

And I get it from his side,

but sometimes it just don't work.

Woman: Alright, so, Chase,

where do you see your career going?

Do you have any kind of timeline in your head?

I think, you know, by the time I'm 18,

hopefully be running some kind of Nationwide race

or something like that, or truck or just anything.

And like I said, any opportunity

that I might have would be great.

Hendrick: Well, I knew Chase was running Late Models.

James Finch, a friend of mine, said,

"Have you watched, you know, Chase Elliott?"

And I said, "I've watched some tapes."

I saw a video of him racing Kyle when he was, like, 14 years old,

and so that was enough for me looking at his record.

I called Bill, and I said,

"Hey, I'd like to talk to you about Chase."

He said, "Look, you know, I've spent a lot of money

getting him to this point."

And he said, "Now he's got to find it on his own."

And Bill said, "This is what I think he ought to do."

And at the end of that conversation, I said,

"Bill, then you keep directing him,

and I will support you guys."

And that's the way it started.

I knew that Bill had a son,

but I didn't even know what his name was at the time.

And here, Mr. H approached me and said,

"Hey, we've got a talent that we want to work on.

It's Bill's son, Chase,

and we want to put him in some cars and see what he can do."

And just from the first time I ever met the kid,

he's just wise beyond his years and super focused

on being a racecar driver.

Earnhardt: Chase's first steps with Hendrick Motorsports

was the K&N Series.

He wasted no time pulling into victory lane.

His win at Iowa, that put the racing world on notice.

Announcer: Rick Hendrick has got to be freaking out right now,

along with Bill and Cindy and the team.

Look at this. I just can't believe this.

Announcer #2: Great job.

Earnhardt: Were you thinking in your mind, "Man, I just want to race

for a living for the rest of my life.

It's really my dream to race for a living,"

or were you thinking, like, championships, wins, Cup racer?

I just admired, you know, guys like Jimmie,

and watching them have all that success.

I mean, I think I'd be lying if I didn't sit there

and be like, "You know, I really want to do that.

You know, I want to have that success."

So, yeah, absolutely.

I guess I was thinking about trying to do good.

I didn't just want to be there.

I made myself available to him,

and the coolest thing is, through all of that,

you know, he would come to test sessions he didn't need to.

He would come to races he didn't need to.

And I was just always impressed

with how important being at the racetrack was for him.

His awareness from growing up around it

and being involved in it at a young age

was very evident straight away.

Hendrick: Most young guys that you have will drive over their head,

they'll wreck a bunch and they'll, you know,

make mistakes,

and he doesn't make many mistakes.

When you can be smooth and aggressive and fast,

I mean, that's the key to success.

Earnhardt: In 2013,

Chase climbed the ladder to the Truck Series,

and he got a chance to show off those road-racing skills

he picked up all the way back at go-karts.

Announcer: White flag is out.

Here comes Elliott, side-by-side for the lead.

Ty Dillon with the advantage.

Elliott right on his back bumper.

Look at the inside in 10.

They make contact.

Elliott spins the three, the three into the tires.

And Chase Elliott, across the stripe he'll go.

Elliott wins in Canada.

[ Cheers and applause ]

He left the door open, and Chase was going for the win.

Got a little bit ugly there for a little while,

but there is no pain in victory lane, they say.

[ Chuckles ]

Announcer: Chase Elliott gets his first win

in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Chase: That's not how I race

and it's never been how I've raced before,

but we only have so many shots to win these things

and sometimes you've got to do

what you've got to do to try to get to victory lane,

and just really looking forward to things to come.

Ryan: I remember interviewing Rick Hendrick in 2013,

and Rick Hendrick said then

if he put Chase Elliott in a Cup car,

he felt he could finish in the top 20.

I think he absolutely thought that Chase Elliott definitely

had superstar potential as a 17-year-old.

Chase reminds me a lot of Dale Jr.

You could tell both of them grew up in the sport,

both watching, absorbing,

because they drive older than their years.

They even have a little bit of an old-school feel to them.

So when he went to JR Motorsports,

I think it was a great moment for his career

and kind of his identity.

Earnhardt: The next year, Rick Hendrick moved Chase

up to my Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports.

That 2014 season took a lot of people by surprise,

even within the team itself.

Ives: You know, when we first started out,

Mr. H and Bill were kind of like,

"Hey, let's just go into there, learn as much as we can."

And I remember the first race at Daytona,

Mr. Hendrick advised Chase

to maybe stay on the bottom and not risk crashing the car,

just bringing it home in the top 15,

and then fast-forward to Darlington when we won

and then Texas,

and, all of a sudden, it you know, goes from,

"Hey, let's just stay on the bottom,"

to being a contender in the championship.

Announcer: I tell you what. This young man, Chase Elliott,

he drives and acts like a seasoned veteran.

Letarte: When you look at JR Motorsports, they always ran well,

but Chase elevated what they were able to do.

Announcer: Off of turn number four comes the second-generation driver,

Chase Elliott, in his first trip to the Chicagoland Speedway,

takes the checkered flag.

Chase: Awesome job, guys. That a way.

Everybody did their job tonight.

That's what we got to do from here on out.

Awesome job. Thank you very much.

Letarte: It was the first time that he was put on the national stage

to kind of perform what I think is the most difficult thing,

which is, you know, a championship run.

Earnhardt: By the end of the season, Chase had a chance to capture

the Xfinity Series championship in just his first year.

Phenom?

That might be an understatement when it comes to this guy.

Announcer: All eyes are on 18-year-old Chase Elliott.

Only has a couple of laps to go to wrap it up.

Man: NASCAR champion right there, bud.

Chase: Awesome job, man.

Thank you guys so much.

Announcer: Chase Elliott, the youngest NASCAR champion

in series history.

Petty: Rick has an uncanny ability to find the people,

but what Rick has a better ability

is to find multiple people

and put them together to be successful.

Now, if you go there and you don't look good,

you're not going to get a second chance.

I mean, we can rattle off 100 people

who have been superstars in that Xfinity Series

and couldn't hit a bull in the butt with both hands

when they get to the Cup level.

Earnhardt: Dawsonville's about 250 miles

from the Hendrick Motorsports shop,

which is right outside of Charlotte, North Carolina,

but Chase Elliott wouldn't think of living anywhere else.

And that pilot's license,

that comes in handy on the commute.

Earnhardt: When you came into the Xfinity Series,

I remember when you got an apartment up in Mooresville.

And I know that you had tried to go up there

and make that work, but it didn't last long.

And we had these competition meetings

that they wanted us there in-person for,

and you were like, "Well, alright.

But I'm going to have to fly every day, every week."

And I'm like, "Wow. He's going to..."

And then you were like, "Well, it's no different

than you driving from your house."

It takes me about the same amount of time.

-That's true, yeah. -I'm like, "Okay."

You know, it requires a little more effort, I guess.

To be home, to be kind of away from the racing scene

all the time, I enjoy.

And also I think there's a little bit of a sense of pride

in kind of continuing to do things the way my dad did it.

**

In 2015, Chase was back in the Xfinity Series

to defend his title,

but he was already looking toward the future

with the announcement that he would be moving up

to the Cup Series to replace the retiring Jeff Gordon

the following season.

Chase: The learning curve's definitely going to be steep.

That's a whole 'nother world there,

I think, up at Cup series.

It's an unbelievable opportunity,

but at the same time, you got to get the job done.

Earnhardt: As Chase took over the 24 car,

he began one of the most anticipated

and hyped rookie seasons in NASCAR history.

Nothing about his first year in Cup was going to be easy.

Knaus: I can't begin to think of what the pressure would be

like coming into the Cup Series.

A lot of eyes on you,

taking over Jeff Gordon's racecar,

the prodigy child of Bill Elliott, right?

I would have to assume that that would be a daunting task

to be able to even set foot in the garage area at Daytona

for the Daytona 500 in those conditions.

Chase: I mean, just because of Dad and his career,

there's always been times throughout my career

where I've felt like I got attention that I didn't deserve. Right.

And I don't ask for that, right? No.

And that's the worst thing, you know, getting attention

that you're not asking for or you don't deserve.

Earnhardt: But he did deserve at least some of the attention,

because right out of the gate,

Chase won the pole for the Daytona 500.

Announcer: And the Sprint Cup rookie goes to the top.

45.84. Announcer #2: Wow!

Wow. That's the fastest lap yet.

The youngest driver ever to start on the pole

for the Daytona 500 is Chase Elliott.

Chase: Opportunities like this don't come twice,

and I certainly want to make the most of this one.

This is very, very special, a very, very cool way

to start our 2016 season with HMS and the 24 car.

And like I said, just very honored

and blessed to be with the group of guys that we have.

Ryan: The Daytona 500 pole position

is much more about car than it is driver,

but I think it was good for Chase Elliott

to be thrust into the spotlight immediately.

Earnhardt: As the season went on,

Chase's talent was on full display,

but he wasn't winning,

and that spotlight was starting to feel pretty hot.

Ryan: There were these enormous expectations

and this enormous pressure of,

"Well, when are you going to win?"

We had a lot of chances to win, you know?

We finished second a lot, and there was more that,

you know, weren't seconds that we were in position to win.

Either the caution would come out at the wrong time

and take him out of the lead, or there'd be a late restart

and he would get snookered on the restart.

20-year-old Chase Elliott with the lead.

Oh, no.

Spun the tires or missed a shift did Chase Elliott.

Man: You had the lead and you didn't get a very good start.

What happened? I just did something dumb.

You can't do dumb stuff and win these races.

That one was on me.

Rice: I was at Chicagoland Speedway with a bunch of friends.

We were up in the box, walking down

because Chase was going to win his first Cup Series race.

Announcer: Young Chase Elliott just 10 laps away

from his first-ever Sprint Cup Series win.

By the time we get down to the infield,

we look up at the leaderboard,

and Chase is in third, so we're just like,

"Oh, my God. What happened?"

Man: [ Speaks indistinctly ]

Caution's out.

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

Announcer: Martin Truex Jr. out first, then Chase Elliott.

Martin Truex Jr. looking for win number three

and a spot in round two.

We get down to the garage area,

and Chase was walking by, the way his face was,

the way he looked, how fast he was walking,

it didn't matter we were buddies.

I wasn't going up to say a damn word to him

because he was pissed off.

Gustafson: We struggled to get over the hump.

And, you know, at that point in time,

I do feel like it was wearing on him.

In those interviews afterward,

it almost kind of became a running joke

the way Chase Elliott would just beat himself up.

I didn't do a good enough job that second time to get back,

so we'll go to work.

My restarts were probably some of the worst restarts

you could possibly have.

It's time for me to step up.

Been around here long enough to ought to be

able to figure it out.

You'd run second and be like, "I let everybody down."

I did. [ Chuckles ] Dude.

Do you still feel that much failure and pressure

when you don't deliver the prize every weekend?

I feel like I do, but it's really more I feel like when,

you know, something was in my hands

and it was directly my fault.

That's when I'm the most angry. Yeah.

Announcer: Look at the 18. He's closed the gap.

Chase Elliott fighting for his first win in the Cup Series.

Here comes the 18 on the outside.

Kyle Busch is going to pass him for the lead.

What did you need there to hold him off on that final lap?

Do something different. I don't know.

I'm just so disappointed in myself.

Golly, that was -- couldn't have had it any easier.

Gave it away.

Johnson: I remember being the first one to the car.

I didn't even know what to say,

but I just feel like standing there,

just for him to have somebody to vent to.

I can't say what he said on TV,

but you can only imagine the frustration.

And just agreeing, just be like, "Yeah, bro.

I mean, that's -- I hear you. And you're going to be fine.

You're going to get through this.

You will win. But, you know, I hear you."

He holds himself to a standard

that may be an unobtainable standard.

It may be.

I mean, he may do this every race.

We just don't know it.

That's just kind of how he is, you know?

I do think he's realized that he can't carry

the whole burden of it on his shoulders,

but he still does focus on what he can control,

which I think is a positive thing,

and I think he's learned to temper that slightly.

Earnhardt: Still winless near the end of 2017,

Chase was in position to go to victory lane at Martinsville

and advance to the championship race,

but, again, fate had other ideas.

Announcer: Oh, Elliott spins!

Man: Oh, he just wrecked us.

Chase: Yep, he definitely wrecked me.

Did what happen what I think happened, or am I skewed?

No, he drove onto your bumper and crashed you.

That's what I figured. 10-4.

Good to know. Thanks.

Announcer #2: Take a look at this.

The 24 of Chase Elliott and the 11 having a difference.

Announcer: And you can hear the crowd.

The place just came unglued.

Ryan: He didn't go there swinging fists

and looking to start a fight, but he was very resolute

in letting Denny Hamlin know that,

"Hey, youwrecked me,"

and I think that sent a message to his peers

that he wasn't there to be pushed around.

I like to think that was the Chase Elliott wake-up call.

That tragedy that day turned into motivation for him

to go get better, go finally win a race, and win the Cup.

Earnhardt: Alright, you knew it was coming.

You can't go to Dawsonville and not visit the Pool Room.

I've heard about this place for years

anytime Bill Elliott's hometown was mentioned.

Now, it's really just a greasy-spoon burger joint,

but it's also a huge part of the Elliott story.

Back when Bill was dominating the Winston Cup circuit,

the owner of the Pool Room wanted a cool way

to celebrate those wins, so he found an old siren,

or "cy-rene," as they say in these parts.

Every time Bill won, they fired that thing up loud and proud,

and the tradition continues with Chase.

[ Siren blaring ]

[ Cheers ]

That a way, Chase!

**

Earnhardt: I had to see this piece of NASCAR history in-person,

and maybe grab a burger, too.

Let's check it out. This is it.

Yeah, siren that goes off.

I've never been here to witness it. You've never heard it?

I've never heard it in-person.

That won't even turn it on for you?

I mean, I know they would,

but they haven't even said,

"Hey, you want to hear it? Let me turn it on."

Yeah, no.

**

How you doing? I brought a visitor.

Finally getting to check this place out.

Never been here.

Heard about this since I was a little boy.

You're looking at years before me.

Yeah, I know. I'm just seeing --

I guess that's your dad up there, isn't it?

Yeah. But that's the car that we were just --

That's the same car.

Yeah, that blue one is the one we was looking at.

Yes.

Pretty dang cool, man.

That iscool. Yeah.

I mean, it is cool of them to keep all this stuff.

I know it. Yeah.

You know, when you tell people about this place, right,

and they always think it's this, like, bar.

Dude, yeah, I thought it was a bar.

"Pool hall" sounds like a place where you go play pool

and drink buckets of beer.

Right. There isa pool table.

There is apool table, yeah. Yeah.

I wanted to eat there with Chase,

but he didn't want to eat lunch there... [ Both chuckle ]

...so I still ain't eaten my burger in that place.

Do you know that was his first job?

No. Yeah, he washed dishes.

Washing dishes. No.

Yeah. He did not say that.

Why didn't he tell me that? I don't know.

Oh, my God. I guess he didn't want you to know.

So he don't talk about his first job.

What else is he hiding from me?

I don't know. There's no telling.

See, y'all.

Thanks for showing me that. Hey, any time.

Yeah. That was cool.

It is cool. They're good folks.

Yeah.

Woman: I'm happy to introduce Chase Elliott,

joined by his dad.

Earnhardt: For his third year in the Cup Series,

Chase was set for a new look and to carry on a family tradition.

Your dad made the number 9 famous.

You used the number 9 through a majority of your career.

Now that you've had a couple seasons with that number,

like, how comfortable does that feel, right?

Yeah, it feels like home.

I mean, it felt like home from the first race

just like I never left,

I mean, 'cause that's always been my number.

But I think much like kind of not wanting anything

that you didn't feel warranted or was earned,

I felt the same way about asking for that number.

Who am I to sit here and be like,

"I want my number," you know?

Yeah. "I want mynumber."

I was in no position, I felt, to ask for that.

Do you think about adding to your dad's legacy,

or are you making your own mark

entirely different, you know, entirely separate?

The history of it, I feel like, is known.

I respect that.

You know, like, that was why I picked the number.

That's why I've always liked the number.

I definitely feel like it carries that on. Yeah.

And it being with an Elliott, I think, is special.

Hopefully it can stay that way for a long time. Yeah.

Woman: Welcome to Upstate New York

and one of the most historic tracks in racing,

Watkins Glen International.

Man: A winless Chase Elliott,

he's had a decent car all weekend.

Perhaps he can get his first career

win at a road course just like his

Hall of Fame father.

Announcer: Checkered flag coming out for Bill Elliott,

who has just won his first race in his

Winston Cup Grand National career.

Announcer #2: Hold-your-breath time at Watkins Glen.

Announcer #3: Chase Elliott has been so hard on himself.

Announcer #4: He's been passed for the win 3 times

with 10 laps to go or less, and we're in that window now.

Martin Truex Jr. getting closer and closer.

Announcer #5: Bill Elliott spotting for Chase.

Man: Got some time on him right there.

He's done got a little loose.

You watched him run those last few laps.

Are you a nervous dad?

Train wreck. Train wreck.

You just can't put it in words

because, you know, you know all the things that can happen.

Announcer: Final time into turn number one,

and he's got the mark, and he drove it off the track.

He went wide in turn number one.

Man: It's still good, all clear, all clear.

Running out of gas.

Announcer #2: Truex is out of fuel.

Announcer #3: Truex is out.

Man: Baby, that's how you do it.

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

Man #2: That's one of many right here.

Announcer: Chase Elliott is going to Victory Lane.

Man: Yeah, baby! Yeah!

Hell yes!

Chase: Burn that son of a gun down, boys.

No, just kidding, I'm out of gas.

Announcer: And he runs out of gas at the furthest place

away from the start/finish line.

Chase: I need a push.

I had a tough race and was on my way back to the pits,

and I just thought he was getting ready to do donuts,

and when I drove by, I could tell his engine was off,

and I thought, "Man, this is no way

to celebrate your first race."

So I backed up and was able to push him off.

Chase: I got my man, Jimmie Jam, coming to push me.

Man: That's a pretty cool victory lap right there.

Man #2: That's badass, man.

Callie, I don't know what to say, just so thrilled.

So much relief, you know,

I was working on three years and hadn't won one,

and I came here with a good opportunity today,

and I was able to get it done.

I hope all my buddies back home are ready to get rowdy tonight

'cause it's going to be a good one.

Johnson: To see Chase with that smile of doing it,

you know, there's just a different smile

and a different energy once you check that box

that I just personally was so proud.

Bill: I can't describe it.

It's just beyond words.

You know, we knew he could do it.

We knew the team could do it.

I mean, I'm sitting over there and kind of letting,

you know, the laps wind down,

and I'm thinking, you know, "What's going to go wrong now?"

And, you know, and he held it together, and lo and behold,

Truex runs out of gas, so, you know, it was one --

just luck went our way today.

Announcer: On start 99, Chase Elliott is a winner

at the NASCAR Cup Series level.

Chase: Dad had eight second-place finishes, too,

and then he won his first race on a road course, as well,

which is kind of funny,

really weird how that worked out,

but all makes a hell of a story.

Earnhardt: At the end of the season,

I got to pass a title over to Chase

that I was honored to carry for many years,

one that was in his family long before it was ever in mine.

He's carrying on a legacy started by his father,

who won the award a record 16 times.

Please welcome the winner

of the 2018 Most Popular Driver Award, Chase Elliott.

Chase: So cool that it stayed

between Elliott and Earnhardt for so long.

I am glad, though, that you quit a year before you broke

Dad's record, so that's pretty cool.

We got it back in the right name.

I'm a little biased, so sorry.

Knaus: Obviously, what makes him so popular

is obviously his father to begin with,

but then when you start to look at Chase as a person

and how good of a racecar driver he is, it's easy to establish

a pretty deep following at that point.

He's got the overall package

of what the fans are looking for.

He's an excellent driver.

Not to mention he's cute, real cute.

He's going to be a Hall of Famer for sure.

He's got one championship underneath his belt.

He's going to win more.

I wear my Chase gear always, no matter where I'm at.

Man: What's the biggest way you've shown off your

Chase Elliott fandom?

[ Chuckles ] This tattoo right here.

Rice: These days, when people talk about Chase Elliott,

they're not saying, "Oh, that's Bill's kid."

They're like, "No, that's Chase Elliott."

He's earned it his own way, and he's created his own path.

Earnhardt: After that first win,

when NASCAR returned to Watkins Glen in 2019, Chase,

he was the odds-on favorite, and he didn't disappoint.

Announcer: The 23-year-old from Dawsonville

got his first win at this racetrack.

He's going to win again at the Glen.

Earnhardt: Two straight wins at the Glen turned some heads.

Like, is Chase Elliott secretly the best road racer in NASCAR?

Well, that idea was put to a true test

at the Charlotte Roadville a couple of months later.

He was pressing to get the lead, locked up the front tires.

I thought we were going to be done.

Announcer: But Elliott locks up the tires,

and he noses into the tire barriers.

The dominant car of the day has crashed in turn one.

Chase: Cannot believe I just did that.

Man: Don't worry about it. The car's going to be okay.

But he backed it right out, and the damage was so little,

I was like, "Man, we just got lucky."

We got him in, got the hood fixed and the tires changed,

and then basically we were fast enough

just to drive right to the front, which was pretty crazy.

Announcer: Watching Chase Elliott back here battle, it's fun

because he has passed a plethora of cars.

Announcer #2: Chase Elliott showing some aggression

that we're not accustomed to seeing out of him.

Here comes Elliott, trying to make the move to the outside.

He takes the lead in the Chicane.

Rack them up in the Pool Room.

Here comes Chase Elliott.

Chase: Hell yeah! Let's go!

Gustafson: I really think we were in a great position

to contend for the championship.

We just had a lot of tough circumstances.

Woman: Problems for playoff driver Chase Elliott.

They think there is a broken axle.

Man: Somebody get on the truck and get a [bleep] axle.

Announcer: Trouble, trouble.

Chase Elliott, one of our playoff contenders,

into the turn-two wall.

Chase: I'd say she's done.

Man: Yeah, 10-4.

Chase Elliott hard into the wall,

the back of the car's gone.

Announcer #2: And that's the end of the possibility

of being a part of the championship four.

Announcer #3: Just a horrible round of eight for this team.

Gustafson: That round was really tough for us.

You know, I feel like we had the pace,

you know, really for three years to make it out of that round

and just didn't do it.

Earnhardt: Once again, Chase came up short in the round of eight.

Even with all the growth he'd shown since finally winning,

he still had a lot to prove.

Dad and them used to drag race around here back in the day.

They would come out here, and somebody would put oil down

on the square, and they'd crash.

Earnhardt: [ Chuckles ] People used to always go,

"What'd your daddy tell you about racing?"

I'm like, "Nothing." Yeah, no.

Like, we didn't talk racing.

You know, if we talk about the race, like,

I'll have a bad day or run like [bleep] or whatever,

and I'll get in the car,

and typically it's something along the lines of,

"Well, that looked like fun."

He seems to have a way of letting you know

that it wasn't great... Letting you know that you sucked

without telling you it sucked. ...without hurting your feelings.

[ Both laugh ]

He'll say, "I don't know that I'd have done that."

Yeah. That's funny. You know, or whatever.

You know what's on his mind. Yeah.

And a lot of times, he doesn't even have to say anything,

and I know what he's thinking.

Earnhardt: We all know that 2020 was unusual.

For Chase Elliott, it must have felt like those days

before he started winning.

In the month of May, he saw a surefire win

slip through his fingers in back-to-back races.

You never know, but as much as you can know,

I felt like we had that race won.

I mean, we passed Kyle.

Unless we crashed passing him, you know,

I feel like we win the race.

Announcer: Here comes Chase Elliott.

He gets turned hard.

Gustafson: Oh, he just flipped us.

What the [bleep]

You okay?

Chase: Yep. I am good.

Yeah, that is the most [bleep] [bleep] thing

I've seen in a long [bleep] time.

Announcer: The man of the night has been Chase Elliott.

Even, door.

Announcer: Door to door, Elliott to the bottom.

Keselowski to the outside.

The number 9 is going to take the lead on four.

Good, take it. Take it.

That was good. That shut him off.

Alright. Clean track.

Announcer: Chase Elliott tiptoeing out of turn number four,

three laps left.

Announcer: Trouble in turn two, William Byron has spun,

and he will bring out a caution flag.

Announcer: Oh, my goodness.

Chase: That's got to be a joke.

Gustafson: I am [bleep] beside myself.

It's unreal.

Announcer: It's going to be an overtime.

It's going to be two laps.

If you're up there inside the top five,

you cannot come to pit road.

What do you think you need here?

[Bleep] if I know, bud. I mean, I'm serious.

Those guys, they're going to stay, don't you think?

We had been in a similar position earlier,

albeit not leading, where we were on a set of old tires,

and we just got put into some really bad spot.

I let that dominate my perception

on what was going to happen.

Come on, 202.

Announcer: Looks like he's coming to pit road.

Announcer: And that should put Brad Keselowski back in the lead.

Didn't see that coming.

Gustafson: I mean, you're [bleep] kidding me.

Chase: Yeah, tell me about it, dude. [Bleep] sucks.

Gustafson: I certainly know that we lost that race

on my call with the best car.

That's one, you know, I'm going to eat that thing

for the rest of my life.

You know, I mean, it sucks, but it's over.

Announcer: Brad Keselowski will claim the Coca-Cola 600.

Brad Keselowski won a race

that Chase Elliott really should've won,

and this had sort of been the narrative for Chase Elliott

throughout his career.

When these big moments would arrive,

Chase Elliott and the team couldn't quite close it out.

But I look back at the Coca-Cola 600,

and I think that was where that team realized,

"Hey, how do we change that narrative

and take the necessary steps to become a champion?"

Announcer: Greetings from Charlotte Motor Speedway

on this Thursday.

Chase Elliott has this race in hand very much,

like last Sunday.

Chase Elliott is just thinking, "No yellow flags, no cautions."

Earnhardt: Just four days after leaving the 600 heartbroken,

Chase bounced back and got his first win of 2020.

For the second, he had to dust off those road course skills

at a track making its first appearance

on the cup series schedule.

Knaus: I think Chase has developed

a lot of confidence at the road courses,

so he feels like he's going to perform well,

and we all know that that psyche of knowing

you're going to be good at something contributes highly.

The ability to be smooth and duplicate

what you've done every lap,

I think that's given him the edge.

Chase Elliott, he's going to win at Daytona.

Three road-course wins in a row.

How do you explain how good you are at the road courses?

I honestly don't know how to answer that question,

I never really have.

You go to any schools?

Bondurant, or anything like that?

I did go to Bondurant, and there's lessons,

like, to this day, I remember my instructor

teaching me at Bondurant when I was,

you know, whatever, 13, 14,

and you might go spend three days driving a car

and you might learn, like, one thing.

Yeah. You know?

Like, and it might be itty-bitty,

but you might see it again down the road.

I used to dread going to the road courses,

but I imagine if you're as successful as you are at them,

it's something you look forward to, and there's --

they've added more to the schedule this year.

Were you pretty excited about that?

Yeah, I honestly didn't really care one way or the other.

You know, like, there was no part of me

that looked at the schedule

and saw seven road courses and was like,

"Aw yeah, man, we got them now."

Right? [ Laughs ] Like, no, that's just not --

I didn't, like, honestly, it had never crossed my mind.

So I really just don't care where we go or what we do,

I just want to go and do good.

You know, whatever it is, whatever kind of track.

Announcer: NASCAR cup series playoffs, starting tonight.

**

There wasn't really any pipe around the 9 team

or Hendrick Motorsports at the time,

and here comes Alan and Chase.

It made a statement that you can count out the 19 team.

Announcer: Chase Elliott proves that he's NASCAR's king of the road.

Earnhardt: Chase was back in the round of eight,

which, for three straight seasons,

had been the end of his playoff journey.

Gustafson: Getting through the last round was key.

That round's been the one that killed us.

We were just trying to put ourself in the best position

we could to make it through.

Announcer: Martinsville Speedway, the final race of the round of eight,

the final chance at making the championship four.

Knaus: Going into Martinsville, I think they went in there

with the expectations of running well

and knowing that they had to run well.

Petty: Any time you're in that must-win,

it's easy to use the excuse,

"Man, there was just so much pressure."

You know, these guys, they weren't looking for an excuse,

they were looking for a way.

Gustafson: When he got in that car at Martinsville,

he was game on from the word go.

He's going to win or crash.

Like, you just kind of get that impression.

Announcer: Chase Elliott knows he's got to get up front.

He's got to basically win this race now.

Announcer: He is working the traffic, doing a nice job.

Announcer: Truex has to win. Elliott has to win.

Hendrick: I don't care how many times you've been

in a must-win situation, it's always stressful to wait

and hope that you can pull it off.

Announcer: Chase Elliott back to the lead.

Announcer: Elliott is going to win his way into the championship four.

Ryan: Chase Elliott being able to win with his back against the wall

just showed that they were championship caliber.

Gustafson: I think, in that point in time,

I felt like we were the favorite.

I didn't feel that anybody had an advantage,

Earnhardt: Chase Elliott takes a lot of pride in his hometown,

and one of the perks of staying in Dawsonville

is getting to live on the shores of the beautiful Lake Lanier.

Yeah, this is it.

The docks are serious.

Just unhook that. Don't fall in the lake.

I ain't going to fall in.

Just two guys uncovering a boat.

[ Chuckles ]

Earnhardt: Is this top hobby?

Top three?

I would say top three.

I mean, I like getting out here.

I like -- I mean, I love wakeboarding,

kind of coming from the snowboard thing.

It's funny, so I was teaching my dad

how to do it, like, last summer.

How was that? It was tough.

[ Chuckles ] It was tough. [ Laughs ]

You ever see a time where you won't --

you'll move out of here or go anywhere else?

Maybe. Like, you never know.

I don't know what life might bring,

but maybe I might move one day.

Yeah. But right now, I don't --

I have no desire or intentions of being anywhere else.

Announcer: The 2020 season

is about to come to an end here.

Announcer: It is something that we have all been waiting for.

Time to settle a championship.

Letarte: What I remember from Chase,

every time you talked to him about the pressure, he was like,

"This is why I do it."

The guys that succeed are the ones that say,

"No, this isn't another day, it's not another race,

it's not another lap. This is the biggest of the big.

The difference is, I worked all year long

to be in this spot, so I am excited."

Earnhardt: You said, "This is incredible to be here

with an opportunity to do this." Chase: Yeah.

"I can't believe that I got this chance."

And it blew me away, because all of the really great athletes

relish this opportunity, right?

It looks like pressure, but the really great athletes

want to be in that spot.

Were you just bringing in that energy

just especially because of that moment?

Yeah, I just felt like that was the only option.

The only option for me was to enjoy that

and embrace the opportunity,

and I just really felt like if that didn't happen

and if I didn't have that mind-set,

then we were done from the get-go.

You were lost before it started.

Announcer: He's starting in a hole already

by having to go from a pole position to tail back

because he failed the pre-race inspection.

Johnson: Once you're at the final four at the one track,

anything can happen,

and those guys, even starting in the back of the field,

I mean, carved through the field,

put it on everybody, and got the job done.

Announcer: Looking in the back of the pack, and here comes Chase Elliott.

He is just mowing to the front.

Gustafson: You know, I'm not Brad, Joey, or Denny, but I know

if I was leading the race and the guy came from the back

and run us down in a short period of time,

I'd be like, "Ooh."

Announcer: This could be for the race win and the championship.

Announcer: What a pass.

Chase Elliott leading once again in Phoenix.

Announcer: Crowd jumping up and down and cheering.

Seemed like everybody had an opportunity to run up there

and lead and run up there and see the front.

They had their moments, but Chase had all day.

Announcer: Right now, it is all Chase Elliott.

Announcer: Final time, Chase Elliott on his way to the final.

Announcer: The 24-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia,

is about to join his father, "Awesome Bill,"

in elite company.

Chase Elliott is a NASCAR Cup Series champion.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Gustafson: We are the champions.

Chase: Yes!

Aah!

Yes!

Yeah!

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

[ Cheers ]

**

Chase: In years past, you know, I leave there,

and I'm mad and pissed off and mad 'cause the other guy's

happy, you know, a lot of days,

but to me, there's only one person

that goes home at the end of the season

and feels like they accomplished everything they should,

and that's the guy who wins it all.

**

Chase: I mean, I got to drive a show car

from the shop to where we're going.

You drove down this road in your car?

Yes. All the way to town.

I didn't really care if there was one person there

or if there was 1,000 people there.

Did you guys know what was in town?

Well, I did. You did, and Chase didn't?

No. [ Chuckles ]

I bet you were sitting there like,

"Chase is going to drive around -- over this hill.

This thing's going to make his heart explode, right,

with joy, right?" Exactly, mm-hmm.

As he's coming around the square,

people are just running over to the car and high-fiving him,

and it was amazing.

There were people everywhere, man, it was crazy.

I don't really know how to describe the moment,

but I didn't expect that type of turnout.

Ryan: Every cup champion comes from somewhere,

but, like, I don't remember Mark Truex Jr.

getting a parade in Mayetta, New Jersey,

or Kyle Busch being fetted in the same way in Las Vegas.

It's something that is definitely unique, I think,

to Chase Elliott.

Just a huge thank you.

I guarantee there's not another driver in NASCAR

that would have this to come home to,

and I think it says a lot about y'all.

[ Cheers and applause ] Yeah, absolutely.

[ Crowd chanting "Chase!" ]

Amazing.

[ Chanting continues ]

I think the high is over at this point. [ Laughs ]

I think we have moved on from that.

Or I have, at least. Alright, the high's over,

but that championship trophy, where is it?

It's in a museum here in Dawsonville.

Not in your home? Not in my home.

I felt like there was a time

through the off-season to enjoy it.

I feel like that time has passed.

There will be another day down the road

where you can re-appreciate. Ah, yeah.

And while I'm competing and kind of in the middle of the fight,

I feel like you have to push forward.

Announcer: From Dawsonville, Georgia,

in the number 9, Chase Elliott!

Earnhardt: The Chase Elliott story is the continuation of a tale

that's been told for decades, the story of a town,

a community, a family, a father, and now a son.

Ryan: This was a coronation

that feels like it's been years in the making.

Chase: Growing up around it was the biggest thing to me,

and a lot of people expect more out of you,

but, I mean, I can only do as good as I can, and that's it.

And I'm going to work as hard as I can to do that.

Earnhardt: The story is really just getting started.

At only 25 years old,

Chase is set to write a bunch of chapters of his own.

I would always say, you know, this is Chase Elliott,

son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.

That's the line. No longer, any more.

No, now you're going to say, "Ah, defending NASCAR champion."

His career's now all his own.

Earnhardt: After more than a dozen wins and a championship,

there's so much more to come.

At his age, you know, he has so much runway left.

I think, professionally, he can do anything he wants.

Earnhardt: I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

I bet this story's going to continue to be, well, awesome.

What is next for you? I don't know.

Just take it a day at a time. Try to enjoy life.

What's missing? Anything missing?

Man, to be real honest with you,

I feel like I've got way more than

I ever deserve in the first place,

so I really like the adventure.