Chase Elliott's Atlanta victory celebration was emphatic and enlightening

NBC Sports

19 hours ago

HAMPTON, Ga. — One didn't need to know if a 44-race winless drought weighed on Chase Elliott or that he ranked third among the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in Cup wins since 2023.
His reaction Saturday night showed what it meant to win again.
Elliott punctuated his last-lap victory with a pair of smokey doughnuts and a burnout in front of a frenzied home crowd, whose cheers rivaled the fireworks show that took place at the same time.
As Elliott emerged from his No. 9 car, designed for this race by an 11-year-old girl who has endured 19 surgeries, he sat on the window opening and pounded his right hand on the car's roof four times. Elliott threw both arms in the air, stood atop the car, raised his arms again and punched the sky twice with his right hand before he leapt back to earth. He then headed to the stands to high-five fans.
His most recent Cup celebration before Saturday came in April 2024 at Texas when he ended a 42-race winless streak. His reaction that day was muted compared to his celebration at EchoPark Speedway.
Go back to his first Cup win at the track formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. There was no pounding of the roof or going through the fence to be with the fans that day. That didn't make it less special — as Elliott said then 'to win at your home track is a really big deal, I think, to any race car driver.'
But Saturday night meant everything. It was clear based on how he reacted even if he couldn't put it into words.
About two hours after the race, Elliott was asked where the 20th Cup win of his career ranked.
'It's up there for sure. … It's always such a whirlwind from the time the race ends to the time I get in (the media center),' he said. 'I just haven't had a minute, you know what I mean? Sometimes it takes a minute.
'I'm going to get to drive home, have a minute to myself. I'm looking forward to that.'
Dustin Long,
That drive would have given him the chance to think about so much from Saturday night. There were big runs and bold moves drivers made to gain positions, the scramble to get to second coming to the white flag and the push from teammate Alex Bowman that launched Elliott past Brad Keselowski for the lead.
The sight of the checkered flag for him and the roar of the crowd will be hard to forget. Each voice that screamed for the Georgia driver sounded as if it came from 10 people not one.
'A pretty surreal moment,' Elliott later described it. ' … I've never, like, been onstage and been a singer or anything like that. I would have to imagine it would feel something like that. It was such an incredible experience.'
Winning is difficult in NASCAR's premier series — a saying uttered by so many drivers.
Kyle Busch, the winningest active driver in Cup, hasn't won in the series in two years. Denny Hamlin is three wins away from his goal of 60 career victories and admits that when races he could've won get away, they sting more because he knows he has fewer starts left in his career.
Nate Ryan,
Elliott has had his challenges. After winning 12 times from 2020-22 — including a Cup championship — he has won twice in the 83 Cup races since the 2023 season. He missed the playoffs in 2023, finished seventh last year and his Atlanta victory moved him into second place in the standings with eight races left in the regular season.
'I just want to be competitive,' Elliott said of what drivers him. 'It's like I told you guys before, for me satisfaction and showing up on a weekend is 'Were we relevant? Were we in contention? Did we actually have a shot? Were we up there with pace, doing the right things?'
'I believe that in this sport, if you're doing all those right things, A, that's something to be proud of, and B, if you're doing them regularly, you're going to get a return. I thought (Saturday night) was a great example of that. Truthfully, the past three or four weeks have been a good example of that.
'We've had some good runs. We've put together some great races, had some good finishes. Just had ourselves in the hunt (Saturday night), and the cards fell our way. That's the goal every week, is to just keep yourself in the hunt, be right there in the mix.
'Certainly if things work out, I'll always cherish and enjoy them as much as possible, because they are hard to win. Nobody has anything promised to them. I recognize that. I'll never take that for granted in those moments, especially to do that here at home.'
Through it all, the fan support has been there for Elliott, who has won the National Motorsports Press Association's Most Popular Driver Award seven consecutive seasons.
'I think it just kind of goes to show how great our fans have been to me and to us,' Elliott said early Sunday morning. 'It just kind of really makes you appreciate them even more for really sticking with us and not giving up hope, ultimately being able to give both me and my team an experience like that, because their determination and unwillingness to quit on us is really cool.'
Elliott also delighted in praise for his burnout.
'It was, yeah, very much in the moment,' he said.'Tried to do what I could to make it cool, hoped that everybody enjoyed it.'
It was something else he could reflect upon on his drive home after winning against in Cup.