Gifts for NASCAR Fans
Chase Elliott revealed during a recent interview that he gives his former Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr, credit for “nudging” him to switch car numbers prior to the 2018 season.
Chase Elliott is known as a fan favorite, a NASCAR Cup Series champion, and the long-time driver of the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports.
Of course, from 1976 to 1991, and 2001 to 2003, his dad, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, drove the No. 9 to a championship and two Daytona 500 wins. However, after the elder Elliott retired from full-time racing in 2003, the No. 9 floated drivers following the merger of Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises.
Ultimately, the No. 9 would race with Richard Petty Motorsports for a final season in 2015 with Sam Hornish Jr. behind the wheel. During this time, Elliott, who drove the No. 9 to a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2014, would make the transition to the Cup Series in 2016, driving Jeff Gordon’s No. 24.
But, amid a major shake-up ahead of the 2018 season, in which the team brought on Alex Bowman and William Byron to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kasey Kahne, Elliott would make a change as well. Hendrick would renumber the then No. 5 team to the No. 24, with William Byron behind the wheel, and Elliott, would switch to the No. 9.
Since then, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion’s career has blossomed, scoring his first three career wins during that 2018 season. But, in a recent interview on Bobby Bones Podcast BobbyCast, Elliott revealed that none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr played a role in him making this now iconic change.
During the episode, Elliott told Bones that Earnhardt was the one who pushed him to change his number, telling the then 22-year-old driver that the 2018 shake-up at Hendrick was the perfect time to do so.
“Dale Jr really deserves the credit for the number switch from my perspective, because he’s like, ‘Hey if you’re going to make this change,’ which he knew I wanted to do it, but I never really said, ‘Hey, you need to speak up about this right now because you’re probably not going to have another opportunity to do it.’ He knew there was some change coming.” — Chase Elliott
Elliott said that with this nudge from his former Xfinity Series team owner, he approached Rick Hendrick about the move, and Hendrick then acquired No. 9 from Richard Petty Motorsports. Since the swap, Elliott has scored 20 NASCAR Cup Series wins, the second most of any driver in the No. 9 behind his father.
While the number change likely did not boost his on-track performance, it did create an iconic driver, number, and sponsor combination between Elliott, the No. 9, and anchor sponsor NAPA Auto Parts for the current generation of NASCAR fans; and according to Elliott, the sport has Dale Earnhardt Jr. to thank.
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