When Chase Elliott cleared the notion of being “hard on myself”
Chase Elliott once defended himself over the notion of him being hard on himself throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career. In a press conference in July 2022, Elliott said he was not hard on himself but rather honest.
At the time, Elliott, driver of the #9 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, was fresh from a four-week stretch of finishing outside the top 20 (including the Texas All-Star race). His attitude before winning his first Cup race in 2018 was also questioned, with the media speculating he was being hard on himself.
In response, the 2020 Cup Series champion said (via Noah Lewis on YouTube):
"I'm not hard on myself, I'm just honest about the facts of the matter and what happened," Elliott said. [0:15]
"There's no one that knows that goes on in the event more than myself and my team," he stated. "Not you all. Not anybody watching at home."
Elliott concluded by admitting to his on-track mistakes, arguing he was just being honest about the race results.
"I appreciate the kind words here and there, but the reality is what it was, and I stated that. I made too many mistakes and felt like, you know, took a chance to win away, and that's really as simple as that."
Chase Elliott went on to win five races that year, including 12 top-5 and 20 top-10 finishes. He also qualified for the Championship 4 fight, but only finished 28th. Notably, Joey Logano won the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to secure his second of three championships.
The following season was arguably his worst as he missed multiple races due to injury from a snowboard incident and a one-race suspension. He was suspended for deliberately wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway before concluding the year in a career-worst ranking of 17th.
This year, Elliott has had a strong start by winning the Busch Light Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. He has amassed two top-5s and five top-10s in nine races thus far.
"I really don't think we're at our best": Chase Elliott on Hendrick Motorsports' 2025 campaign
Hendrick Motorsports may be a strong contender so far this year, but Chase Elliott is uncertain about their performance. He is optimistic that the team can do better in their fight against teams like Joe Gibbs Racing.
Ahead of the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, Elliott said (via Speedway Digest):
"The company as a whole has done a great job over the winter to build really, really fast race cars. I think there's some areas that we can be better. I really don't think we're at our best, really any of us, honestly."
Nine weeks into the 2025 season, Hendrick Motorsports has won three races courtesy of Kyle Larson (2) and William Byron (1). Joe Gibbs Racing has earned five victories, three from Christopher Bell and two from Denny Hamlin. Josh Berry is the only driver outside the two big teams to park a car in victory lane.