Chase Elliott: Winless streak taught me to value NASCAR success more

Chase Elliott says his 44-race victory drought in the NASCAR Cup Series gave him a deeper appreciation for winning after he ended the barren run at his home race in Atlanta last weekend.

Driving the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Eliott pulled off a last-lap pass on the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford of Brad Keselowski to win the opening race of NASCAR’s inaugural ‘In-Season Challenge’ by 0.168s.

This was the 20th Cup Series triumph of Elliott’s career, but more importantly his first since the Texas race more than a year ago.

While the Georgia native said that the recent near-misses didn’t bother him, he does give more value to every major achievement in his career now.

“I think there’s definitely been lessons throughout that that certainly have made me enjoy them,” he said in the post-race press conference.

“But truthfully, I was already to a point even before Texas or the road to that, even the road to tonight, that I think I knew that to a pretty large degree.

“Truthfully, I think the road to one was long enough, and there had been enough close calls and enough just gut-wrenching losses, all those second places that led to Watkins Glen.

“Fortunately, I think I got a pretty good taste of that. Or unfortunately, however you want to look at it. But I got a pretty good taste of it early on.

“I don’t think that has necessarily bothered me. I just want to be competitive. It’s like I told you guys before, for me satisfaction and showing up on a weekend is 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 tonight 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 tonight, 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.”

Following his first victory in nearly 15 months, Elliott has climbed from fifth to second in the drivers’ standings, 38 points down on championship leader and teammate William Byron.

The result also boosts his chances of securing a safe passage into the Playoffs.