© Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn
For seven years running, Hendrick Motorsports superstar Chase Elliott has been voted the most popular driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. But that could be set to change this season after Elliott made a controversial comment about the series’ annual throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway.
Darlington, the fourth-oldest track on the current Cup Series schedule, began holding the throwback weekend in 2015 to honor the sport’s history. As part of the weekend, teams often design retro paint schemes for their cars that honor iconic looks of years past. In recent years, however, fewer and fewer teams have continued the tradition, and Elliott believes that’s a good thing.
“I feel like it got old 4-5 years ago. Not to be a downer. … If we kept doing it down the road we’re gonna be throwing it back to me in 2018. … I think we’ve rode the horse to death.” – @chaseelliott when I asked about Throwback Weekend#NASCAR #Goodyear400 pic.twitter.com/Nl6UYcfCUr
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) April 5, 2025
Chase Elliott Angers NASCAR Fans With Comments On Throwback Paint Schemes
“I thought I lost it (its luster) about four or five years ago, so I was way too early to that conversation, I think,” Elliott said of the throwback weekend. “Not to be a downer — I joked about this years ago, but if we kept going down the road, we’re going to be throwing it back to me in 2018. At some point, I think we’ve got to chill on it a little bit. I think we’ve rode the horse to death, and we tend to do that a little bit too much.”
Now, to some extent you could argue that Elliott has a point. It does lose its novelty the more you do it. But it’s also a once-a-year-deal and NASCAR has 75 years of history. You will never run out of iconic paint schemes. And sure, at some point someone will inevitably throwback to 2018. But that’s how time works. When that time comes, 2018 will be significantly in the past.
NASCAR fans called out Elliott over his controversial take, and even criticized his Most Popular Driver status.
“I don’t believe he’s the most popular driver,” one said. “He is the most boring guy on the grid. His entire personality is bare minimum engagement, only here so I don’t get fined. It’s like he got drug into the family business when he really wanted to be a ski instructor in Vale.”
Even Elliott’s fans were disappointed.
“This makes me sad to be a #9 fan 😞 connect with your fans and collect a personality big dog,” @TreeTopFlyer21 tweeted.