NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon believes it is just a matter of time before Chase Elliott starts building some momentum after a slow start to the 2025 NASCAR season.
At the start of the decade, Chase Elliott was a 99th-percentile racer in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2020, he broke through to the upper echelon of the sport when he brought home his first Cup Series championship. The next two seasons he finished in the top four of the standings and was in the thick of the chase for another title. However, he has hit some harder times the last few years.
In 2023, he shockingly finished 17th. Last season, he ended his 2024 campaign seventh. And the Henrick Motorsports star has gotten off to a slow start over the first six races of the new season. Despite winning the Busch Light Clash last month, he has not reached the winner’s circle in 2025 and has only led two laps this season.
His performance is a stark contrast to teammates Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and William Byron, who have had standout moments in 2025. Much more is expected of the former Cup Series champion, and it was something NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon spoke about following another disappointing finish at Homestead-Miami.
Jeff Gordon expects a bounce-back for Chase Elliott in upcoming NASCAR races
“I think the last couple of weeks probably were a little bit frustrating for them,” Gordon said. “I think today is probably going to be a little bit frustrating for them, too. But they’re a really solid team. Just a lot of depth and a lot of belief in one another.”
“…You know, you’ve got to get through the rocky times. I think, hopefully, some of their better tracks and better performances… again, it’s a high standard at Hendrick. What everybody brings, like the 5 team did today. And so a lot of times you’re really measuring yourself against the best that there are out there,” he said. “And a lot of times, that’s right in your own stable.
“So if you’re not achieving what you want to achieve, then you know you’ve got to go to work. And you know that you’re not meeting expectations. So those guys have high expectations, Alan [Gustafson], Chase. It’s not unusual for them to get down a little bit on, ‘Hey, this isn’t good enough?’ But I’ve seen them react really well and positively to that too.”
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