Former Brickyard Champ Elliott Hoping Son Gets Chance to Kiss the Bricks
July 18, 2016 | By Phillip B. Wilson
Bill Elliott proudly mentions how he still has a memorable picture from 2002, one of his Brickyard 400-winning team kissing “The Yard of Bricks” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
What stands out about that particular picture is his 6-year-old son, Chase, who had a bewildered facial expression when watching grown men celebrate victory by kissing bricks.
“He was about that tall,” Elliott said, holding his hand below his shoulders.
“It’s hilarious. He was looking at us like, ‘You all must be nuts. What are you doing?’ He didn’t even get down and do it. He just watched everybody else do it.”
My how time flies. Chase is now 20 and an impressive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet previously driven by five-time Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon. Bill’s son is 11th in the series points entering Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard.
It goes without saying, 14 years later, Chase Elliott wouldn’t mind kissing those bricks come Sunday.
“He’d love to kiss ‘em now,” Bill said.
The elder Elliott, 60, last raced in the series in 2012 and the 44-time Cup race winner was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015. He was back at IMS with retired NASCAR crew chief/team owner Ray Evernham for June’s SVRA Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational.
“This race track always seemed to be special for me from the first time I showed up here in 1992,” Bill said. “Ever since, I ran well here in a lot of those races. Winning with Ray (in 2002) was a very exciting time and then to come here and watch my son run here in the XFINITY race, just to see the evolution of the Speedway and what it’s come to … there’s a lot of excitement here. I really enjoy this racetrack. I’ve always had a lot of fun and there are a lot of great race fans here.”
“Awesome Bill” from Dawsonville, Georgia, won a 1988 Cup title as well as two Daytona 500s and was named the series’ most popular driver 16 times. He has vivid memories from winning the 2002 Brickyard 400 while driving for Evernham Motorsports.
What does he remember?
“Everything,” he said. “If you ask anybody about racing, they especially know where Indy is and they know where Daytona is. Indy has been around for 100 years, so everybody knows Indy. For us to come here as stock car guys, it was kind of a very special day for all of us.”
Much of Bill’s time these days is spent watching Chase run. He genuinely enjoys it.
“When Rick Hendrick announced a year and a half ago that (Chase) was going to take Jeff Gordon’s place for this season, I had a lot of mixed emotions,” Bill said. “I’ve said this numerous times: You live with your kids and you die with your kids. If they do good, you have a good time. If they do bad, it’s tough.
“I’ve been very impressed with how well he’s done to this point. He’s seemed to step up to the plate. He’s run well pretty much every weekend. He and (crew chief) Alan Gustafson have really fallen into together really well.”
Now the Elliotts eagerly anticipate another Brickyard run, this time the first for Chase.
“We’re looking forward to coming back here and running the Brickyard again,” Bill said. “I know they came here and tested, but that never is an indication of what they’re going to do because I know NASCAR has been changing some of the rules on spoiler heights, downforce and so on and so forth. You never know who’s going to be the guy to beat when it comes down to the end of the day.
“I’m truly proud of where he’s at and what he’s done and really looking forward to coming back and running here.”
Chase has said from day one he’s got his own shoes to fill and not those of the legendary Gordon, a four-time series champion who retired from full-time racing after last season. Bill modestly suggests the son has already surpassed the father in terms of racing accomplishment, when factoring in Chase’s success at other racing levels.
Bill proudly says of Chase, “He’s kind of beyond me for where his career is now.”
Wouldn’t it be something if Chase Elliott could win a Brickyard 400, too?
“That’s beyond my crystal ball’s capability,” Bill said. “It would be nice and neat.
“For him as a kid to do what he wanted to do, it seemed like ever since he was no bigger than he was when we won here in 2002, he wanted to drive a race car. There was no talking him out of it. His sights were set on driving a race car. After watching the number of races I’ve watched this year, I’m thinking, ‘Well, he’s pretty good at it. Maybe he has a future in it.’”