Chase Elliott was announced Thursday as the new driver of the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2016. Current driver Jeff Gordon announced he was retiring from the seat after the 2015 season. Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
The identity of Jeff Gordon’s successor in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet didn’t remain a mystery for long.
Not that it was much of a mystery in the first place. When Gordon announced Jan. 22 that he would retire from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing after the 2015 season, the immediate assumption was that reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott would take his place in the No. 24 Chevy.
On Thursday, Hendrick Motorsports confirmed it, fleshing out the details of Elliott’s ascension to what Gordon has established as one of the sport’s iconic rides.
Elliott will take over the No. 24 full-time at the start of the 2016 season. This year he will race five times in the Cup series under sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts, at Martinsville (Mar. 29), Richmond (Apr. 25), Charlotte (May 24), Indianapolis (July 26) and Darlington (Sept. 6).
Elliott won at Darlington in the XFINITY Series last year in his first race at the track.
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“I don’t look at it as me trying to fill somebody’s shoes or me trying to replace Jeff Gordon, because I don’t think you’re ever going to replace Jeff Gordon in any way,” Elliott said on Thursday at the Charlotte Convention Center during the Hendrick Motorsports stop on the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour.
“That’s the best way to look at it for me, and the best thing I can do is go and try to be myself and just try to do the best job that I can behind the wheel. That’s really all you can ask for. Like I said, Jeff Gordon’s Jeff Gordon, and I have all the respect in the world for him, but I have to go and just try to do my job.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick said he, Gordon and fellow HMS drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (who fields Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy in the XFINITY Series through JR Motorsports), Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne all were quick to spot Elliott’s formidable ability in a race car.
“A few years ago, when I saw Chase race and we decided we would get back in the driver development business, I never dreamed that he would have the success he’s had (so soon),” Hendrick said. “He’s such a fine young man, and I’ve been so impressed with what he did last year in the (XFINITY) car, winning the championship in his rookie year.
“(We all) recognized his talent and that one day he was going to be ready. … Just the kind of young man he is, and the way these guys feel about Chase and the respect we have for him in and out of the car, I couldn’t be happier to have someone of this kind of quality coming into our organization. He’s mature way beyond his years, and I can’t wait to see him strap in.”
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