“I always knew how much that race meant to him”: Chase Elliott reveals his heartfelt ambition to emulate father Bill Elliott at Indianapolis 

Chase Elliott shared the importance of the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race. He described his father, Bill Elliott's Brickyard 400 victory in 2002, as the big win he remembers firsthand.

Chase grew up on racetracks while his father raced in the Cup Series until 2012. Bill, who had also collected other major wins in the series, including three Southern 500s, two Daytona 500s, and one Winston 500 win. However, most of these wins came in the 1980s, when Chase was not yet born.

"This race has always been important because it was one of the few races that I was old enough to be around that dad had won. So I think because of that, it's always been just a little more special than the rest. And certainly, one of the few wins that I was around for. But more than that, it was the only marquee, major if you will, win that I was around for," Chase Elliott said (via Speedway Media).

Bill Elliott won the Brickyard race at age 46. He led 93 laps, including a decisive pass for the lead with 12 laps remaining to take the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That win made him the oldest NASCAR Cup Series winner at Indy.

"So, it's always been really special. I always knew how much that race meant to him. And you know because of that, I've always had a lot of admiration for the event. It’s always been something in my mind that I would love to match and be able to share that moment with the shoe on the other foot. I feel like that would be really, really cool," he added.

Meanwhile, Chase Elliott has an average finish of around 16.7 in about seven starts at the Indianapolis oval. In his most recent races, he earned two top‑10 finishes. Last July, he finished in 10th place after overcoming a penalty and strategy shifts.

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Chase Elliott leads in points after sixth-place finish at Dover

Chase Elliott has an average finish of 10 across the 21 races so far this season. He also leads Hendrick Motorsports teammates in laps run in the top 20.

The NASCAR Cup points leader, who was awarded the pole position for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway last weekend, led a race-high 238 laps and won the first stage of the 407-lap race. However, a late-stage pit call for only two tires allowed Denny Hamlin to overtake him. Elliott slipped from the lead and crossed the finish line in sixth place after two overtime restarts.

The race added 48 points to Elliott's total and pushed him 16–17 ahead of teammate William Byron with five races left before the playoffs.