Chase Elliott’s popularity remained high even throughout the worst season of his career last year. He received the Most Popular Driver award for the sixth year in a row. And now that he’s found his stride again, Elliott’s popularity has skyrocketed in comparison to other drivers.
This was reflected in the absence of his characteristic Coca-Cola flavor compared to that of his rival NASCAR racers. Elliott is one of five NASCAR drivers now sponsored by Coca-Cola, the other four being Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, and Austin Dillon.Chase Elliott shared a video on his X account that a friend showed him, in which he made a witty remark about the other four Coca-Cola sponsored drivers.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick on the importance of Chase Elliott to NASCAR
After Chase Elliott snapped his long winless streak at Texas, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin opened up on the importance of the win and the #9 driver to NASCAR. Hamlin even suggested what Elliott needs to do for the greater good of the sport.Harvick deemed Elliott’s win as a “huge win for our sport”, claiming that everyone in NASCAR needs Chase Elliott to be successful. But Harvick wondered if sometimes the Hendrick driver feels “that pressure” on his shoulders, assuming that it “probably weighs on him” slightly.
Hamlin too pointed to the importance of Elliott to NASCAR.
“Chase Elliott is a very important person in our sport. I think he knows it but I don’t think he understands how big his influence is on our sport,” Hamlin said (via 5 Goats).
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver then mentioned how Elliott, along with NASCAR, needs to show the other side of the superstar racecar driver, the personality, and who he is outside of the racetrack. Hamlin claimed that for it to work, the driver has to be more open.
“The sport has to do its own due diligence on promoting it, that’s a whole other subject. But the drivers themselves have to be accessible to get to understand the personalities,” Hamlin said talking to Kevin Harvick.
He claimed that fans love watching sports because of the superstars and because they can do the things that fans cannot do. Hamlin added that NASCAR should aspire to show fans “how great Chase Elliott is at his craft” but also give insight into what makes him great so they can know it better and understand it.
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