6-year-old Chase Elliott’s picture re-emerges celebrating father Bill’s victory at Pocono in 2002

Chase Elliott's moments from Pocono Raceway in 2002 have resurfaced ahead of the race weekend at the Tricky Triangle. The then-six-year-old joined his father, Bill Elliott, in victory lane following a 175-lap race shortened by rain.

At the time, Bill drove the #9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports, a team formed after selling his own team to Ray Evernham. He started on pole and battled Sterling Marlin for the lead before securing his first of two wins of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup season.

Chase Elliott was in attendance with his mother, Cindy, and celebrated the win in victory lane with his father, Ray Evernham, and the #9 crew. The father-son moment was shared by NASCAR Classics on X as NASCAR is set to return to the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track on Sunday.

“Soaking it all in,” NASCAR Classics wrote.

The following year, Bill Elliott registered his last career victory at Rockingham Speedway before retiring from full-time competition. He concluded his career with the 1988 Winston Cup championship, 44 wins, and the Hall of Fame induction in 2015.

This weekend, Chase Elliott is entering the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway following a third-place finish in the inaugural Mexico City race. The 160-lap Pennsylvania race will kick off on June 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver may still be searching for his first win of the year, but he ranks fourth in the points standings, giving him a breather in making the playoffs. He has amassed four top-5s and eight top-10s without a single DNF.

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“That’s all I care about”: Chase Elliott on winning Most Popular Driver award with foundation laid by family

Last year, Chase Elliott won his seventh Most Popular Driver award. He attributed the recognition to the foundation laid by his family, including his father, Bill Elliott, and grandfather, George, who ran a NASCAR team in the 1970s.

“If you do have the honor to receive the award, I think it’s just representing that the right way, and by right way I mean by the way I think they would wanted to be represented. Really for me, that’s all I care about because they laid the foundation for me to be here and to have some of the opportunities that I’ve had throughout my career,” the 2020 Cup Series champion said in an interview at the NASCAR Awards Banquet in Charlotte.

He also expressed gratitude towards the fans for their support.

“Certainly grateful for the fans across the board, they’ve been great to me throughout my career. I’ve had the fortunate experience of seeing all that, living all that first hand, it means a lot to me, I’ll never take it for granted,” he added.

Bill Elliott is the winningest driver in the Most Popular Driver award list with 16, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 15. Third on the list is Richard Petty (9) ahead of Chase Elliott (7) and Bobby Allison (7). The young Elliott started winning the award consecutively after Dale Jr. retired from the stock car racing series in 2017.

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Edited by Rupesh