Chase Elliott’s Championship Trophy
by Tom Jensen April 26, 2024
Among the many “firsts” in the NASCAR Hall of Fame is Chase Elliott’s first NASCAR championship trophy.
Here at the NASCAR Hall of Fame we pride ourselves in having a lot of “firsts,” most of which are very old.
For example, in our Heritage Speedway, we have the trophy from the very first NASCAR race, a Modified Division battle on the pristine sands of Daytona Beach on February 15, 1948.
In our Whelen Hall of Champions, we have the first NASCAR Modified Division championship trophy from its inaugural season of 1948, and the first Strictly Stock Division (now Cup Series) championship trophy from 1949. Interestingly, all three of those events, the first race and the first two championships, were won by Hall of Famer Red Byron (Class of 2018).
In 2014, Chase Elliott captured his first of two NASCAR championships, this one in the Nationwide Series. Photo courtesy of Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR
In addition to those three trophies from the 1940s, we have hundreds of artifacts from the 1940s to the the present on display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. But not everything in our building represents distant history. In fact, some of it is fairly recent.
One of the myriad trophies in Heritage Speedway is the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series) championship trophy won by Chase Elliott. The youngest champion in series history, Elliott was a mere 18 years, 11 months and 11 days when he sewed up the 2014 title with a fifth-place finish in the Day 200 Honoring America’s Veterans at Phoenix Raceway on November 8, 2014.
Joined by his mother Cindy and father Bill, Chase Elliott was feted at the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series banquet in South Florida. Photo courtesy of Jerry Markland/Getty Images
Elliott had quite a 2014 season in NASCAR’s No. 2 division, winning three races and posting 16 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes in 33 starts. And the Dawsonville, Georgia, native had some Hall of Fame help on his side, including his father, Bill Elliott (Class of 2015), and two of his three car co-owners at JR Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Class of 2021) and Rick Hendrick (Class of 2017). Collectively, their efforts led to the first of three series championships for the team, which still competes today.
“I feel very fortunate to have not just this year with Greg (Ives, crew chief) and with Dale and Kelley (Earnhardt Miller, co-team owner) and Mr. Hendrick,” Elliott said after taking his title. “And just honestly, the best group of people that you could possibly have surrounding you in racing in the past five years that I’ve been short track racing and whatnot. I feel like I’ve had the absolute best possible people there, too, and I feel like all these people along the way have made me look a heck of a lot better than I really am, and they’re the reason we’re up there tonight.”
Becoming the youngest series champion in NASCAR history was quite an honor for Chase Elliott. Photo courtesy of Chris Graythern/Getty Images
Since earning his first NASCAR championship, Elliott’s put together quite a NASCAR career.
In addition to the 2014 Nationwide title, Elliott finished second in points the following season, before moving up to the Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports in 2016. There, Elliott won Rookie of the Year honors his first season, a Cup Series title in 2020 and he’s working on a string of six consecutive Most Popular Driver awards. He’s also posted 19 Cup race victories as of April 14, 2024. Like his father before him and his car owners, Elliott is rapidly building his own Hall of Fame resume.
A splendid burnout was the perfect way for Chase Elliott to conclude his 2014 championship run. Photo courtesy of Sean Gardner/Getty images
Plan your visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and purchase tickets by visiting nascarhall.com/tickets.
