The 2002 Brickyard 400 win by Bill Elliott was a special one. An 8-year-old Chase watched along as his father held off Rusty Wallace to clinch the victory and proceed to kiss The Yard of Bricks. Bewildered, young Elliott drummed up a dream that day. He wanted to become a hero, just like his father. But little did he know that a sobering realization awaited him 19 years later, one that made him never want to race against his ‘Awesome Bill from Dawsonville’ ever again.

“I want to say yes. I want those moments. I want more of those moments because I do think that is a really special thing to be able to share with somebody who, there’s not many people in your life that totally get what you’re going through that you do on a weekly basis. And when that person is your dad, that is a very rare thing, and something that I know not everyone understands,” he explained while speaking to Kevin Harvick. Yet, as much as Elliott appreciates having his old man by his side, there are times when things can easily turn sideways.

“But the moment we had in Nashville at the SRX race was so top tier, that I don’t almost want to do it again. It was like everything I could ever dream of from racing against him. The environment, the energy, the crowd, like he laid it out there. I felt like he was racing, he got out of that car, and he looked like he had just run 875 laps here in like 1985. And you could just tell that he wanted to beat me so bad that it was killing him,” Elliott added.

Elliott is essentially referring to the season finale race at Nashville Fairgrounds, where he and Bill Elliott put on a show for the fans as they battled for a large chunk of the 77-lap race. Chase took the lead from Bill for the first time on lap 53, only for Bill to take it back a lap later. Despite the back and forth, Chase took the lead on lap 55, eventually winning the race. But this doesn’t mean he wasn’t challenged at all.

Tony Stewart passed Bill for second place on lap 61 and promptly set his sights on Chase. Yet, the HMS driver never lost his focus and managed to win the race, albeit against his heroes. Even in defeat, Bill, who finished third, couldn’t help but share how gratifying the feeling was to race against his son. “I had not seen that in him in years. It was amazing and a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be between he and I. I think he just got a little high into one and missed that restart. Other than that, it was so much fun.” Yet, there’s another reason why Chase isn’t too sold on the idea of racing against his dad.

“We had so much fun with that and I just don’t know that we could ever top that up and have a night be more fun,” he added. “I got to share the podium with with him and Tony Stewart. … I just don’t think we’re going to top that. Like, let’s I’m I’m good with it.”

The 2021 SRX race was the first time Chase and Bill Elliott competed against each other since 2013. And this rare occasion is devoured by the race fans for a reason. The Nashville race, which Chase Elliott won, attracted 1.3 million viewers. The following year, the same event dropped to 980K, which is a 25% drop over the year. So you see, just how fascinated the race fans are to see the Elliotts trade paint on the racetrack.

And this isn’t the only case where a father-son duo has delivered some memorable moments to the fans.

Father-son duos of NASCAR who have raced alongside each other

While Chase Elliott ruled out the possibility of having a third race where he and his father race alongside each other, there have been plenty of times in the past where a father-son duo from NASCAR battled it out on the track.

Arguably, the most famous of those names is Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The duo raced alongside each other in 36 Cup races between 1999 and 2001.

Then there’s the Allison duo of Bobby Allison and Davey Allison, who raced against each other in the 1980s and 1990s.

But in the future, there could be another superstar father-son duo who potentially get to race against each other in NASCAR. That would be Kyle Busch and Brexton Busch. While the 2x Cup champion’s son is only 10 years old, he has expressed a desire to race alongside him one day.

Another name that could join that list in the future is Kevin Harvick and his son Keelan Harvick. Harvick Junior has already started racing competitively and has even beaten his father on track very often.

All of these storylines go to show that NASCAR is a family sport and one where fans’ allegiance to a driver can be passed down to their sons, as was the case with the Elliotts, the Earnhardts, and in the future, the Buschs.