Chase Elliott grows up fast and can make NASCAR history

Chase Elliott had no plans to race in NASCAR in 2014. Heck, he hadn’t even graduated from high school.

But NAPA Auto Parts, which had pulled out of its Sprint Cup sponsorship in the wake of last year’s controversial finish at Richmond, decided last December to fund the No. 9 JR Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet and put Elliott in the seat.

And now, Elliott, son of 1988 Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott, has a chance to make history by becoming the first rookie to win a NASCAR national touring championship.

When Elliott, 18, competed in the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series a year ago, he wasn’t old enough to enter the race at Kansas Speedway. He’ll make his debut at the track in Saturday’s Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 with a 26-point lead on teammate Regan Smith with five races to go.

“An opportunity came late for us, and it’s been a lot of fun just to be able to be here and compete at this level,” said Elliott, who graduated from Alpharetta (Ga.) King’s Ridge Christian School in May. “To get a couple of wins has been great and a little bit of a surprise. Going into the season, I knew I didn’t have to worry about our guys and the cars they were going to bring. I thought they would bring cars that were capable of winning.

“It was up to me to do my part, and as long as I can do my job on my end, we’ll have as good a shot as anybody each week.”

Elliott has been precocious from the time he was 13 and became the youngest winner in the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour. At 15, he became the youngest driver to start a race and the youngest pole winner in K&N Pro Series East history.

Last year, he won the inaugural trucks race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and won his ARCA debut at Pocono.

And this season, Elliott won Nationwide races at Texas, Darlington and Chicago, beating Sprint Cup regulars Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick to the checkered flag.

“He’s phenomenal,” said former Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett, now an analyst for ESPN. “You would think he’s been driving these things at these tracks for five or six years to watch him.

“A lot of it has to do with the coaching he gets from his dad. Having the opportunity to race against Bill, he was so smooth, he very seldom put himself in bad spots, and you watch Chase … it looks so much like watching his dad. Chase is going to be something special.”

The younger Elliott has taken cues from his dad as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of the No. 9 Chevy.

“His input on a day-to-day basis is like any other dad, really,” Elliott said. “I think that’s the best role he’s played, especially this year, is just playing a dad. I think that’s all you can ask for.

“It’s good to ask questions, but in your own way, you’ve got to figure out things. I try to keep it as simple as possible and stress-free as I can and take it a week at a time. I put a lot of emphasis on that, and hopefully we’re still in the hunt when it counts.”

Elliott is already assured of full-time sponsorship from NAPA in the Nationwide Series next year, and Hendrick Motorsports, which has a stake in JR Motorsports, plans to put Elliott in some Sprint Cup races next season. Elliott just might be the heir apparent to Jeff Gordon, whenever he retires.

“He has a lot of talent,” Rick Hendrick said. “I’ve been working with him since he’s been about 15 years old. Usually young guys, you see them make mistakes. They drive over their head, they get into wrecks … they do some things they have to learn. I don’t see him making those mistakes.”

For now, Elliott is just concerned with holding off Smith.

“It’s no different than racing anybody else,” Elliott said. “Regan’s a great teammate, and he’s a good racer, a very smart racer, and he’s helped me a lot this year. Each week, we share information, and that’s great and all, but when the green flag comes out, he’s a competitor. I look at it that way; he looks at it that way.”

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Chase Elliott grows up fast and can make NASCAR history."