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Hendrick Motorsports driver of the #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Chase Elliott finally managed to bounce back to his winning ways last weekend in Texas. The 2024 AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at the 1.5-mile-long Texas Motor Speedway saw Elliott snap his 42-race-long winless streak in NASCAR.
The former Cup Series champion was on the back foot ever since breaking his leg during a snowboarding accident during the start of the 2023 season. However, the Dawsonville, Georgia native managed to fend off Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain during overtime and cross the checkered flag in P1.
Chase Elliott was later seen celebrating by driving slowly around the 1.5-mile-long track in the opposite direction, waving to the fans with his window net down. This is what is referred to as a Polish Victory Lap in NASCAR.
The victory lap is named after the late NASCAR Cup Series driver and champion Alan Kulwicki.
The Polish-American driver was the first one to drive around Phoenix Raceway after winning his first-ever Cup Series (called Winston Cup back then) race. In a bid to be remembered for a unique celebration in the sport, Kulwicki waved to the crowd as he drove clockwise around the track, engaging with the fans.
Chase Elliott mentioned his celebration from last week as a symbol of respect for the 1992 Winston Cup champion as the #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver got out of his car.
Chase Elliott's teammate Kyle Larson congratulates him on Texas Cup Series victory
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson was one of many to congratulate Chase Elliott on getting back to winning ways at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend. The #5 Chevrolet driver took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his happiness for his teammate and wrote:
"Just wasn’t our day. Happy for @chaseelliott and the 9 team getting back to VL."
Larson was hinting at how he and the #9 crew suffered from a loose wheel during the 400-mile-long race last weekend. The incident resulted in multiple crew member suspensions and monetary fines for the #5 crew at Hendrick Motorsports.
Meanwhile, the drivers are currently preparing for this Sunday's GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. The race goes live at 3:00 pm ET.
