The Bizarre Reason Involving Chase Elliott That Forced his Father Bill Elliott to Miss Landmark Moment of his NASCAR Career

Former NASCAR driver Bill Elliott is a legend in the field and a 16-time winner of the Most Popular Driver award. The 1988 Cup Series champion began his Most Popular Driver streak in 1984 and won consecutively till 1988. Unfortunately, Darrell Waltrip broke the streak in 1989 and 1990. However, Elliott was able to pick up where he left off, astonishingly winning the award from 1991 until 2000 and his last one in 2002. However, in 1995, Elliott was absent from that year’s ceremony, even though he won, and it was thanks to Chase Elliott.

Incidentally, this was supposed to be his 10th Most Popular Driver award, which was a record. So, it surprised many when the driver was absent, but he had a valid reason for skipping the ceremony. The answer was none other than future NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott.

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What does Chase Elliott have to do with his father missing the ceremony?

Apparently, Bill Elliott was away because his wife had just given birth. So he obviously weighed his priorities and skipped the ceremony to be with his newborn son. That son was none other than William Clyde Elliott Jr., also known as Chase Elliott. Who would have thought that 25 years later, he would grow into a NASCAR Cup Series champion?

Of course, in the following year, all the way until 2000, Bill Elliott made up for his 1995 absence. Obviously, NASCAR would have understood his reasons for giving that year’s edition a miss. After all, the birth of one’s child is far more important than this ceremony. Furthermore, he would have had to stay in his hometown of Georgia to help his wife take care of their newborn son.

Later on, it would not be long before young Chase Elliott grew up and followed in his father’s footsteps. Bill currently has 44 Cup wins, 320 Top 10s, and 55 poles to his name. Meanwhile, Chase has 18 wins, 137 Top 10s, and 12 poles in the Cup Series. Although Chase’s tally pales in comparison with his father, he still has a long way to go in his career.

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