For those looking from the outside, Dawsonville's Chase Elliott’s single-win season in 2024—following a winless, injury-plagued 2023—might appear to be a study in mediocrity.
To the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, however, it was a year of progress that foreshadowed his victory in the season-opening Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Feb. 2.
It’s also a source of optimism as Elliott approaches the first points event of the season, Sunday’s DAYTONA 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on WDUN AM 550 & FM 102.9)
“The end of last year, I think, was really encouraging for us,” said the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who posted top 10s in three of his last four events of the season and finished second after leading 129 laps in the fall Martinsville race.
“I thought we ended on a really good note—we were just a little late to the party, I think, really and truly. We were starting to run better, led some laps there at the end of the year, and had a great shot to win a couple of races during the last month. I thought all that was really encouraging.
“To be able to build on those things, come out and perform the way we did on Saturday (at Bowman Gray)… Yes, the race went well, but all that started over the offseason was the things we were focused on, talking about, and thinking about.”
With a victory in the Great American Race, Elliott would be the sixth driver to start the season with wins in both the Clash and DAYTONA 500, joining Bobby Allison (1982); Bill Elliott, his father (1987); Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000); Jeff Gordon (1997) and Denny Hamlin (2016).
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/2/1286175/chase-elliott-says-impetus-for-clash-win-surfaced-late-last-year