“We’ve been struggling! I’m definitely in the boat with the guys that are hanging on right now.” Chase Elliott’s worrisome words during the red flag period at the Quaker State 400 were misleading. The Hendrick Motorsports driver had stayed winless since his April 2024 win in Texas, and the chaotic conditions in Atlanta seemed poised to derail yet another opportunity to excel. However, Elliott overcame his hurdles perfectly.

Chase Elliott snapped his 44-race winless skid at EchoPark Speedway, but that victory did not come easily. Elliott tackled months of hard work and rumors of a hot seat to get back his mojo. And he has no qualms about admitting that either.

Chase Elliott is proud to show his sweat

Remember the 2023 season? Well, that was a year to forget for Chase Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 team. Following a snowboarding accident and race suspension, it was clear that Elliott was off his pace. The 2020 Cup Series champion struggled with his lowest season, failing to make the playoffs without a single race victory. But during the off-season, Elliott quietly worked on himself and his team. This silent resolve had an invisible force that burst into the open after he won in Texas. He was happy to have overcome the struggle in 2023, but he also cherished it. That is because Elliott learned he was capable of overcoming a rough patch.

That is why, although the victories took a pause, Chase Elliott knew he would resurge, nonetheless. In a recent interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 20-time Cup Series race winner frankly talked about the optimism his team had amidst the chaos. Elliott said, “Man, we’ve just been doing this long enough to know like it all kind of starts and ends with us. We have to make sure we’re doing our part, and I’m doing my part, and just bringing everything I can possibly bring every single week. It’s the honest conversations that we have on Monday mornings that are either going to make us better or make us fail. All of the pieces of the puzzle are there. We’re working on the right things. I think I’m asking for the right things out of the car. I’m really proud of our team for just sticking together.”

Questions about Chase Elliott’s potential flooded fans’ comments just a few weeks ago. Such a long winless streak was unbecoming of a former champion, but Elliott persevered. He continued how he and his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, welcome the toughest of battles: “I think there’s been so many times that we could have thrown in the towel and really kind of fractured from the inside. It’s a really important thing for me to have climbed that mountain and stood on top of it with AG, and we’ve kind of fallen off that hill, getting back to the top with him and with our group and doing it together. I think is a really important thing to do, we have so much respect for another as a team that we’re going to continue to make each other better as we push forward.”

Despite the loss of faith on fans’ part, Chase Elliott never lost faith in himself. What is more, another NASCAR veteran also never missed the spark in him.

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Tracking his progress all along

There has been no dearth of struggles for Chase Elliott. He rarely had a winning pace, leading only 95 laps until two weeks ago, while his teammates crossed 750 laps. Mishaps like the Kansas Speedway pit road mistake scuttled potential victories. However, there has also been no dearth of achievements for the star either. Across 19 races in the 2025 Cup Series season, Elliott has never finished outside the top 20. The former champion’s deft racing skills have been visible as he expertly dodged all crashes. This impeccable race finishes, along with 1 win, 10 top tens, and 6 top fives, are what landed him in the 2nd rank in the championship standings. This remarkable pace missed the gaze of many fans, but it definitely did not miss Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s attention.

In mid-April, the NASCAR veteran boldly said that the No. 9 HMS team was on track. Dale Jr. said back then, “He got injured in a snowboarding deal; I know that was a while ago, but that little disruption sort of set him back and the team just couldn’t ever find their groove or find their speed and some consistency and get him comfortable. For a while, it was really a struggle.”

He added, “They still have some tough days; I think Bristol, they were probably disappointed for sure to be not in the top 10. It was just a track position thing more than likely. But I think there’s a glimmer of what can be for that team. I know he’s probably disappointed, but I think they’ve improved and are starting to head in the right direction.”

A sharper perspective, like Dale Earnhardt Jr., easily gleaned the positives from Chase Elliott’s struggle. With a big chunk of the 2025 season left, we can only imagine the magic Elliott will conjure next.