Chase Elliott Is Done Being Quiet About It

It’s time to take Chase Elliott seriously.

Though that assertion runs the risk of stating the obvious, it bears remembering that Elliott hasn’t exactly been front of mind when it comes to the last three NASCAR Cup Series championships.

In the three years after his five-win season in 2022, Elliott failed to qualify for the Championship 4 Race. In 2023, he raced only 29 times and won no races, thanks to a snowboarding injury and a one-race suspension for rough driving.

In 2024, he won at Texas Motor Speedway. In the following season, the last under the elimination playoff format, he took checkered flags at Atlanta in June and Kansas in September.

The 2026 season has been vastly different. Elliott won at Martinsville in the seventh race of the season. On Sunday at Texas, in the 11th Cup race, he triumphed again in convincing fashion. Never before in his career has Elliott won that early or that often.

It’s almost as if Elliott is announcing himself as a contender. What should alarm other elite Cup drivers is Elliott’s feeling that the No. 9 team still hasn’t reached its full potential.

“We fired off the year, and truthfully, I think as a group haven’t been as strong as we want to be or expect to be,” Elliott said after the victory at Texas. “Have just dug in and put our heads down and gone to work.

“We tested at (North) Wilkesboro earlier in the year, and then (Hendrick Motorsports teammate) Kyle (Larson) tested at Chicago last week, or maybe a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, in the last couple of weeks. I think all those things, you start putting pieces together and improving and getting to a good place.

“Then you combine that with just a really good day of execution for our team in particular and wound up with a great result. Really proud of that.”

Under the leadership of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 9 team’s execution on Sunday wasn’t just “really good.” It was impeccable. Elliott’s redoubtable pit crew pulled off its three fastest stops of the season under pressure to keep the driver out front.

Gustafson made the winning call to keep Elliott on the track and in the lead for a restart with four laps left. That allowed Elliott to choose the bottom lane for the restart, and though the usable racing surface at the Texas track has widened out nicely since its reconfiguration in 2017, the bottom prevailed consistently on restarts.

The bottom line? On a day when rotten luck and solo spins eliminated several top competitors—among them Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and Larson—Elliott and his team performed flawlessly.

Deservedly, they reaped the reward of victory—and simultaneously asserted they are to be taken seriously in any championship discussion.

Competition for Most Popular Driver this year?

Chase Elliott has won the National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver award for the last eight years, but the 2025 vote reportedly was closer than usual between Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, the reigning Cup champion.

This year, you can add rising star Carson Hocevar to the equation. After his breakthrough victory April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway, Hocevar captivated fans with his celebratory “Ghost Ride” on the driver’s-side window ledge of his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

At Texas, Hocevar won Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race and drove to Turn 1 to provide a burnout for fans who wouldn’t ordinarily get to see the celebration up close. On Saturday, he edged teammate Daniel Suarez for the pole position in Sunday’s Cup Series race by 0.003 seconds.

Afterwards, Hocevar charmed the crowd at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track as infield master of ceremonies for the High Limit Racing sprint car event across the parking lot from the big track.

Hocevar finished seventh in Sunday’s Cup race. If he hopes to be in the mix for Most Popular Driver, he’ll have to maintain his presence through performance. All the other elements are there. At age 23, Hocevar is guileless and genuine—with a broad smile that radiates good will.

“I’m shocked and humbled and every adjective that sounds good from a PR person, I guess,” Hocevar said of fans’ reactions to his recent successes and celebrations. “It does mean a lot…

“I don’t, truthfully, care if that grandstand is full of No. 77 shirts or not. I just want to see it full, honestly. Whether that’s loving me or hating me to show up, I’m doing something.”