“Certainly grateful”: Chase Elliott makes feelings clear on HMS crew’s support through his long winless stretch

Chase Elliott never enjoyed shouldering his 44-race winless streak. Ahead of last week’s race at Atlanta, which Elliott won, it was all “buts” and “what ifs” for the Hendrick Motorsports ace. Thankfully, he had excellent support.

Recently, during an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Elliott expressed his gratitude towards his crew for always having his back. There was a lot of learning throughout the way, which the Dawsonville native thinks should be celebrated.

“You know, it's not every day that you encounter people like that that just have your back no matter what,” Chase Elliott said. “And I just think that those things should be celebrated and those things should be, you know, emphasized and held on to as long as everybody's willing to do it.”

Elliott's relationships with the guys on the No. 9 team are special. Some of these men have been working with Elliott for a decade, and the former Xfinity Series champion is currently in his ninth full season in Cup.

“It'd be hard-pressed to find a group of people that knows you better than the folks that have been loyal to you and had your back for this entire time. So, you know, certainly grateful for that,” he added.

Chase Elliott now has the opportunity to log a back-to-back sweep. He sits second in driver standings, 37 points behind the current points leader and Elliott’s teammate, William Byron.

Next up is The Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Road Course. Scheduled for this coming Sunday, June 6, the 75-lap event will be televised on TNT (2 p.m. ET onwards), with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Elliot’s other teammate, Alex Bowman, is the defending winner of the event.

Chase Elliott highlights “sketchy” aspect of Atlanta Motor Speedway

Last week in Atlanta, drivers like Chase Elliott witnessed firsthand what was probably the biggest wreck of the 2025 season. More than 20 cars were involved in the big one on Lap 69.

Per reports, Atlanta was revamped back in 2021, making it a superspeedway-style racetrack with increased banking in the corners. But Elliott never felt any difference. Reflecting on his last three runs at the 1.5-mile quad oval, the driver said (quoted by Yardbarker):

“It hasn’t really changed a ton. I don’t know if you experienced this, but really, probably the last three races there, I feel like the first run is super sketchy, for whatever reason.”

Following the incident, more than seven cars were entirely out of the race. Even Joey Logano, who started the race from pole position, was unable to continue. NASCAR halted the race momentarily to clean up the racetrack.

“This time even more so than it has been, it was so, you know — everybody’s so far into the corner of having the back of the cars down, and superspeedway-esque setups. We started that first run of the race and I’m like, ‘Man, we have messed up,’ you know, bad,” Elliott added.

However, Chase Elliott’s team pulled through and logged their maiden win of the season. Thanks to that, the #9 driver is now in the playoffs. As things stand, only Alex Bowman is left to qualify for the postseason.