Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Chase Elliott Interview after The Clash | Victory Lap

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

On this week’s Victory Lap, Chase Elliott joins Kevin Harvick to break down his winning performance in The Clash at Bowman Gray. Chase shares his thoughts on the intense short-track battles, how he adapted to the unique challenges of Bowman Gray, and what this win means for his momentum heading into the season.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, Chase, thanks for taking the time to join us today on the victory lap. And I think, you know, for me as I watch this race and I look at everything that happened this weekend at Bowman Gray, it was spectacular and everything that went with the event. So how did you view it? Obviously, you won, and congratulations on that first off. But how did the event feel to you with everything that went on this week? I mean, yeah, anytime you win, you have a bias opinion of. of how things went. But, you know, if I take that out of the equation and just kind of look at how,

just how the whole thing felt, I thought it felt really good. And I thought the environment felt really good. The pre-race atmosphere, I thought, was incredible. Felt a lot to me like Supercross does when I've been to those events. And in my opinion, I think Supercross is one of the best. motorsports that we have in the world to view just from the standpoint of, you know, the athleticism of the riders, I think is on full display, the types of venues that they can get into, and then obviously the intimacy that, you know, the crowd can have with, with the riders

and with the action. And to me, that was as close to that as we're probably ever going to get and not be too, you know, on too tight of a racetrack. I think the Coliseum is a little small after experiencing that last night, you know, and I think Bowman Gray probably is about as small as I would want to go. But overall, it felt really good. And if I kind of take out the winning aspect of it, it still felt like it was a win for the industry, in my opinion. So one of the things for me that really added it to another level was the fact that the fans were so interactive with pumping their fist and flipping people off and booing and cheering and doing all the things that I'm sure you grew up watching as a race fan was those super energetic, well-educated race fans that

were able to know what was going on. And to me, that was a different level last night in very old school. But when you were doing your burnout backwards, could you hear the fans? I hope you could hear them because they were going nuts. And that was pretty cool to see. I couldn't hear them, but I could certainly see them. And that was kind of my, I guess my goal on that. I was kind of sitting there and I was waiting on everybody to get off the racetrack. And I just felt like something like that, you know, to just get as close to the crowd as I possibly could because, you know, they're not far away. And what other atmosphere or place would you ever have opportunity to do something like that?

So, yeah, I hope it was a good show. It was really cool for me. I couldn't hear them, but I could certainly see them. And everybody was jacked up, you know, and it was just one of those moments as a competitor that you never take for granted and you always try to soak in because they happen so quick. You know, those moments happen so fast. And it's like, man, I want to stop and like pause this moment and really enjoy it. But you can't. And you just try to soak that stuff in as much as you can.

But I think you said it part of the reason why I made the comments that I did about Bowman Gray earning that race. over the years is because those fans are well-versed and they have supported Bowman Gray when through all these years that Cup wasn't racing there and has made it a successful race track on a Saturday night level and to do that on an asphalt track in the United States is kind of hard to come by you know on a regular weekly show basis so I just think it's really special they know what's going on and I hope we treated them with a good show. Were you surprised in how well the racetrack raced? Because I was really surprised in the second groove and just how racy the track was. What do you attribute that to compared to the Coliseum? It was. And I think even more than I thought it was going to be as well, I attribute that to just the age of the surface, in my opinion. And it took, you know, it took a little bit of time for the tire wear.

to get to a position that you did have an option to move off the bottom, but it did happen. You know, it did happen. And I think the straightaway is being a little longer. The corners being a little more sweeping, not, you know, not such a tight little apex that you had to work with at the Coliseum gave you some of those options. And then obviously, you know, whatever tire good year brought, it did have some fall off to it and it had some wear. and it took it 60, 70 laps, but after a bit of time, you could hurt it. You could hurt the tire,

and I think that was where you really saw the racing get good. Well, Good year's done a great job in kind of stepping out of the box with a lot of you drivers and teams pushing them to do that at NASCAR as well. When you go back and you look at 2012, and I look at the race last night, do you realize how many of you guys

were in that Bowman Gray, race and now you look at the cup field. I mean, who would have imagined at that time? Because it seems like that generation of guys that you race with, not only did you guys race against each other, now you're in Cup, but you guys all have a pretty good bond and have stuck together through that whole time. Yeah, it's a great point. And honestly, you know, that Bowman Gray experience was, you know, kind of right in the heyday, I guess, of all of us coming along and really, I think the K&N series was the first time that all of our different paths really collided. You know, you had guys coming in from the dirt world, you know, Daniel coming in from another country.

And then you had guys like me and Ryan kind of from the southeastern asphalt late model world that were, that had been racing with each other. But that series was really where we all came together. And it is crazy to look at. And even more so when I think about just the cup field back then and how, you know, you guys that were dominating the Cup series at, you know, in the 2010, 2012 era, you would have never thought that a lot of y'all would be gone or I wouldn't have. You know, you guys would have been retired at this point.

So it just, it is crazy to think about and just how fast time goes by and how much things have changed. and the faces have changed, but it is really cool to see that enough of, you know, a lot of those guys that were in that race have had great opportunities and have made the most of them to still be racing there on the cup level, at least, you know, 10 plus years down the road is not something you see every day. Yeah, and it's sure it's fun to watch the bond that, that, you know, you and Blaney and Bubba and all you guys have created from that area and kept that through all the fame and wins and competition and everything that goes with that. One last question.

I think as you start the year, I know this is an exhibition race, but what does this mean to your team to have this momentum to start the season? Well, and you bring up a good point, and I know it's not a points race. I certainly understand that. I wish it was for sure. But look, everyone shows up at those exhibition. races and they bring their best. So the field was just as competitive last night as it is going to be in two months. And that's just the reality. The race was just as hard to win yesterday as it's going to be

when we are racing for points here in just a few weeks. So I think there's a lot to be proud of over the weekend, not just from the race result, but when I just look at how our team executed Saturday practice to Saturday qualifying to Saturday heat race to overnight prep to execution throughout the race, getting to that halfway mark and making our car better. All of those things are attributes that we're going to have to have throughout the entire season to be what I would consider successful. And I think we have a really strong group. And I don't think we have got to our best yet.

and that's really exciting for me. But I do think it's a great boost for our group and Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. I think it doesn't carry the weight of the points and all that. But man, it sure is nice to start the year off on a good note and on a positive note and something that I think we can all take a lot of pride in and putting an entire weekend together like we did. So it's been a long time since we've done that. and, you know, just feels good to be up there in the mix and have a shot and be putting ourselves

in those situations that really matter. And, you know, hopefully we can do a lot more of that throughout the year. Well, you seem to be in a really good place from a personal standpoint. And, you know, I think from, you know, the race team standpoint, there's nothing better than momentum. And you guys have it and you executed everything like champions. So go out there and have a great year. I'm happy for you guys, and congratulations once again. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.