Chase Elliott Reveals His “Tardy Slip” From 14 Years Ago in Honor of Dale Earnhardt Jr at HMS

Hendrick Motorsports had everyone on the edge of their seats with a teaser about an announcement due Wednesday morning, and well, they did deliver. Chase Elliott is set to rock a special throwback paint scheme, nodding to Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s 2014 Daytona 500 win.

Elliott will be debuting this look at Darlington Raceway on May 12, just in time for the ‘Throwback Weekend’ festivities. Despite the fact that the news has already been broken by Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott couldn’t contain his excitement and took to his official Instagram to spread the word, even throwing in a Tardy Slip for a fun twist.

Do you know Chase Elliott was in school when Dale Earnhardt Jr drove that scheme?

NASCAR’s golden boy took a trip down memory lane on his Instagram, sharing a bunch of snaps. There’s one of him and Dale Earnhardt Jr side by side, another showing a tardy slip with Chase Elliott’s name on it, a third capturing Earnhardt Jr’s win in that iconic paint scheme, a fourth of Elliott next to the #9 car decked out in the same design, and a final shot showing the car’s front.

In his post, Elliott shared a little backstory: he snagged a tardy slip for being late to school because he couldn’t tear himself away from watching the race. The slip even listed “watching the race” as the reason for his tardiness. He captioned it, “Missed school to watch @dalejr win the 500 in this scheme. Even got the tardy slip to prove it 😂. Ten years later, who ever thought we’d be running this throwback scheme in Darlington👊🏼.”

He opened up about how this paint scheme took him back to being a kid who got busted for being late to school because he was up all night, glued to the TV, cheering on Earnhardt Jr to win. “When I first learned about it, the first thing I thought of was I got in trouble. I was late to school Monday morning because I stayed up all night watching you win this race.”

Chase Elliott also expressed his gratitude, saying, “I think I’m the one that’s honored here. Pretty awesome! It looks like it’s going to be fast. Let’s get a win!” But it’s not just Dale Earnhardt Jr’s winning car scheme making a comeback on the track; there’s buzz that he might swing by Hendrick Motorsports to give his fans a sweet surprise.

Junior himself might be suiting up for Hendrick Motorsports this May

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Just a day ago, Hendrick Motorsports dropped an enticing teaser on their Twitter with a heads-up, “Something’s coming. Tomorrow. 9 a.m. ET. Dale Jr Download.” They showed their fans just enough to see someone in a National Guard suit, adjusting pants, and sporting those signature skeleton gloves once sported by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Putting two and two together, it seems Dale Jr could be gearing up for a spin in the NASCAR Cup Series, likely eyeing the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, slated for May 17th to 19th. The puzzle pieces seem to fit—he might step in for Kyle Larson, who’s expected to be busy with Indy 500 qualifiers on May 18–19.

Read More: Focused Chase Elliott Shuts Down Interest in NASCAR: Full Speed Role With an Unpopular Verdict

Kyle Larson himself threw in a curious twist by retweeting a fan’s speculation about Dale Jr stepping in for him at North Wilkesboro, all with a pondering “🤔” emoji. It’s clear he’s enjoying the buzz and keeping the mystery alive.