WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Like father, like son.
Mired in a confounding losing streak since the start of his NASCAR Cup Series career in 2016, Chase Elliott finally broke into the win column, holding off road-course ace Martin Truex Jr. on Sunday at Watkins Glen International.
The son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, whose first Cup Series win also came on a road course – Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California, in 1983 in his 124th start – Chase celebrated a triumph he will cherish forever.
Out of fuel after the finish, the 22-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native was pushed to victory lane by the banged-up No. 48 Chevrolet of seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson – a Hendrick Motorsports teammate and one of his staunchest supporters – as Bill Elliott raced to join the celebration after working as his son’s spotter.
Toss in the raucous cheers of the sellout crowd, and it doesn’t get much better than that.