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What Is NASCAR Champ Chase Elliott’s Real Name?

Published 04/27/2021, 1:26 PM EDT

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Chase Elliott is the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion. A Hendrick Motorsports driver, he is the son of a former NASCAR champion. Bill Elliott. Currently driving the Hendrick No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, Chase was the first rookie to win a title in NASCAR and the youngest champion in that series.

Elliott started racing in the Cup Series as a full-time driver in 2016. He was named the 2016 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year. In 2020, he won the Cup Series title, the first for Hendrick Motorsports since 2016.

His father, Bill, was the 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott. Chase is the son of Bill Elliott. Bill won the Cup Series Most Popular Driver award 16 times in his career, while his son Chase has won the honor five times.

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Coming from a racing family, Chase Elliott spent his entire childhood near cars, garages, and victory lane. So, people know quite a lot about him and his life.

However, there is one thing that most people don’t know about him – Chase isn’t his real name!

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The story behind the name ‘Chase Elliott’

While in most cases like this a person’s stage name is somewhat similar to their real name, that isn’t the story with Chase; his real name sounds nothing like Chase!

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The actual name of ‘Chase’ Elliott is William Clyde Elliott II. He is named after his dad, Bill Elliott, a.k.a. William Clyde Elliott.

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The story behind ‘Chase’ is very interesting. A family friend of Elliott’s once said that the name William Clyde Elliott II didn’t fit a little fellow. So, he nicknamed the “little fellow” Chase, and that’s how the NASCAR Cup series champion Chase Elliott.

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Indeed, even Chase’s teammate from his rookie season at the Hendrick Motorsports didn’t know his complete name. The NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt jr. once revealed on his podcast that even he didn’t realize that Chase’s actual name is William and found out through Wikipedia.

So, did you know Chase’s real name? Or were you like us? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Abhay Aggarwal

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Abhay Aggarwal is sports analyst at EssentiallySports. Having joined ES in early 2020, he has over 300 NASCAR, Formula 1, and Tennis articles to his name. Abhay has been an avid motorsports fan for over a decade, and he even attended the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
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