NASCAR

Chase Elliott Sends Warning Shot With Nationwide Title

By Ryan Pritt on November 10, 2014

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Amid the drama and chaos of NASCAR‘s Chase for the Sprint Cup this weekend at Phoenix, one has to wonder if the drivers in stock car racing’s highest circuit heard the warning shot that was fired on Saturday. It came in the form of a Nationwide title-clinching fifth-place finish and was fired by an 18-year-old driver with NASCAR success running through his veins.

Chase Elliott claimed the 2014 Nationwide crown on Saturday, becoming the youngest driver to ever win a championship in NASCAR and also becoming the first driver to win a Nationwide championship in his first year on the circuit. The son of former NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, Chase’s triumph made waves across the sport on Saturday and for good reason — it should have Sprint Cup drivers shaking in their fire suits.

The youth movement has already started arriving in the Sprint Cup circuit. The first wave crashed to shore with Trevor Bayne‘s 2011 Daytona 500 win, and the tide of change has slowly continued with drivers like Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Kyle Larson all landing full-time Sprint Cup rides.

Larson has impressed week in and week out in his rookie season, doing everything but winning a race. Dillon and Stenhouse Jr. have had their moments too, but Elliott’s Nationwide title overshadows all of that.

In winning the championship, Elliott accumulated 26 top 10 finishes in 32 races, had exactly zero DNFs, and finished outside the top-20 just once. His run to a title included wins at Texas, Darlington and Chicagoland. But race wins are one thing, the consistency and mental toughness to win a series title is quite another.

Elliott won the title while driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s JR Motorsports, giving Jr. his first championship. The team is co-owned by Rick Hendrick, and both were equally impressed with the season Elliott turned in this year. However, it was perhaps Kyle Busch, who competed against Elliott in several Nationwide races this season, who made the most accurate observation, saying that the youngster will be a “force to be reckoned with for many years.”

Hendrick has a history of finding young talent and grooming them at the Sprint Cup level, including six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Despite a stable of drivers that includes Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, it’s hard to imagine that Elliott won’t kick down the Sprint Cup door soon — and that could be really bad news for the competition.

Ryan Pritt is a NASCAR writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @RPritt, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.