“Race guys how they race me”: When Chase Elliott shared his unfiltered take on keeping a payback list of NASCAR drivers

Chase Elliott doesn’t forget how other drivers race him, and he’s not shy about saying so. In an August 2017 interview, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion openly admitted that he keeps track of both the favors and the fouls on the track. The topic came up during a Q&A session as part of Jeff Gluck’s "12 Questions" series where Elliott acknowledged whether he mentally tracks drivers who owe him one, or those he might owe a little something back.

In response to question nine - whether he keeps a mental list of drivers who’ve either helped or wronged him Elliott didn’t hesitate.

“I definitely do, 100 percent. Racing is something that always comes full circle,” Chase Elliott said.

Elliott explained that racing, to him, is cyclical. If someone cuts him a break early in the race and the same situation arises later on, he’ll often return the favor, if it makes sense. However, the further into the race things get, the less room there is for forgiveness.

“We all understand that we’ve got to race and it’s hard to be as forgiving toward the end toward the end of the races because you’ve trying to fight for what you have,” he added.

Chase Elliott stressed that sometimes letting a faster car go early in the race isn’t just respectful, it’s strategic. He summed it up by saying,

“It’s something that we’re all kind of conscious about as the race goes on, so I definitely pay attention to that and try to race guys how they race me.”

It has been an eventful 2025 season for Chase Elliott, who has been involved in multiple incidents. At the Circuit of the Americas, he was involved in an early-race incident. On March 3, while starting third on the grid, Elliott was spun out in Turn 1 by an aggressive move from Ross Chastain.

The contact forced him into the pits for a toe link repair during Stage 1. Despite that, a smart tire call from crew chief Alan Gustafson helped him climb back through the pack and get a fourth-place finish. After the race, Elliott called out the over-aggressive driving but held back from going into details until he had reviewed the footage.

Before that, on February 23, during the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, on Lap 150, a chain reaction triggered by contact between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe sent Stenhouse into Elliott. The impact slammed Elliott into the wall, snapping his right-rear toe link.

Elliott's car then hit Corey LaJoie and Brad Keselowski, knocking both of them out of the race. He managed to continue and finish 20th, while LaJoie and Keselowski ended their day in 38th and 39th place, respectively.

Most recently, on August 4 at the Iowa Corn 350, Elliott found himself at the center of intra-team drama. After making contact twice with teammate Kyle Larson, once after the Stage 2 restart and again about 20 laps later, Larson slipped from fifth to 12th. Elliott finished 14th, while Larson dropped to 28th by the checkered flag.

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Chase Elliott eyes consistency and credits luck as playoffs approach

Despite the chaos on track, Chase Elliott’s performance in 2025 has been stronger than in the previous season. He ended a winless streak with a big win at Atlanta, which secured his place in the playoffs. Since then, the Hendrick Motorsports star has been consistently running up front.

In his last seven starts, Elliott has had four top-10 finishes, including three inside the top five. That’s not counting his Atlanta win, where he ran the field. This uptick in performance has come after a tough 2024 season where Elliott struggled.

Still, Elliott is the first to admit that NASCAR success isn’t all about speed or strategy, luck plays a big role. Speaking to Frontstretch, he admitted that this season’s relative success has partly come down to being in the right place at the right time.

“It’s not like we haven’t gotten in wrecks this year...they just happened to be in a position where we could kind of patch it together and keep going,” Elliott said.

Chase Elliott added that he tries to focus on what he can control and accept. He added that sometimes things just won’t go his way.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl