{"id":881193,"date":"2026-09-02T22:02:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/881193\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T22:02:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:02:21","slug":"chase-elliott-targets-nascar-crown-jewel-southern-500-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/881193\/","title":{"rendered":"Chase Elliott targets NASCAR crown jewel Southern 500 win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chase<\/p>\n

By Andrew Clarke<\/p>\n

Date posted: 3 September 2026<\/p>\n

Chase Elliott enters NASCAR\u2019s new-look Chase this weekend with a championship on his mind, but there is another prize at Darlington Raceway that carries a significance well beyond points.<\/p>\n

He wants a Southern 500.<\/p>\n

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has won a NASCAR Cup Series championship and more than 20 races, but victory in one of the sport\u2019s great traditional events remains missing from his CV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would just love to check that box,\u201d Elliott said ahead of this weekend\u2019s Chase opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Southern 500, Darlington as a racetrack and the challenge that that is, it just has a lot of my respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a really cool event and just one of those races that you want to check off, if you can. I would love to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Huge<\/p>\n

The field gets away in the inaugural Southern 500 at Darlington in 1950. A remarkable 75 cars started NASCAR\u2019s first 500-mile stock car race, beginning a tradition that would grow into one of the sport\u2019s great crown-jewel events. Image: GettyImages<\/p>\n

Why the Southern 500 matters<\/p>\n

There are NASCAR races, and then there are races which define careers.<\/p>\n

The Southern 500 belongs firmly in the second group.<\/p>\n

First held in 1950, the race helped establish Darlington Raceway as one of the foundations on which modern NASCAR was built.<\/p>\n

Darlington was NASCAR\u2019s first major paved superspeedway and the inaugural Southern 500 became the sport\u2019s first 500-mile stock car race.<\/p>\n

It quickly developed into one of the races every driver wanted on their record.<\/p>\n

The Daytona 500 became NASCAR\u2019s biggest event, while Charlotte\u2019s Coca-Cola 600 developed its own reputation as a brutal endurance test, but the Southern 500 earned its place alongside them as one of NASCAR\u2019s traditional crown jewels.<\/p>\n

Its significance comes not simply from age, but from where it is held.<\/p>\n

\"Historic<\/p>\n

Darlington was selling the scale of its new event from the beginning, with this promotional car advertising the Labor Day 500-mile race at Darlington International Raceway. The inaugural Southern 500 in 1950 helped establish the circuit and the race as pillars of NASCAR history. Image: GettyImages<\/p>\n

The track too tough to tame<\/p>\n

Darlington Raceway is unlike almost anything else on the NASCAR calendar.<\/p>\n

The 1.366-mile oval is famously asymmetrical, with its two sets of corners carrying different shapes and radii.<\/p>\n

That forces teams into a compromise because a car which works perfectly through Turns 1 and 2 may not behave the same way through Turns 3 and 4.<\/p>\n

The abrasive surface adds another complication.<\/p>\n

Tyre wear is significant, the quickest racing line migrates towards the outside wall and drivers routinely run within centimetres of the barrier searching for speed.<\/p>\n

Get it slightly wrong and the right-hand side of the car receives one of NASCAR\u2019s most famous badges of honour: the \u201cDarlington stripe\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is why the circuit\u2019s nickname, \u201cThe Track Too Tough To Tame\u201d, has survived generations of cars and drivers.<\/p>\n

A Southern 500 victory therefore carries an extra dimension.<\/p>\n

It is not simply about surviving 500 miles. Drivers must manage tyres, changing track conditions, traffic and one of NASCAR\u2019s most unforgiving racing lines for almost four hours.<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/p>\n

Bill Elliott celebrates his 1985 Southern 500 victory at Darlington with the $1 million Winston Million cheque. The win completed victories in three of NASCAR\u2019s four nominated crown-jewel races that season and earned \u2018Awesome Bill\u2019 a new nickname: Million Dollar Bill. Image: GettyImages<\/p>\n

A special Elliott connection<\/p>\n

There is also considerable family history attached to the race for Elliott.<\/p>\n

His father Bill Elliott won the Southern 500 three times, including one of the most famous victories of his career in 1985.<\/p>\n

Elliott arrived at Darlington that year having already won the Daytona 500 and the Talladega 500, giving him the opportunity to claim NASCAR\u2019s Winston Million.<\/p>\n

The bonus offered $1 million to any driver who could win three of four nominated major events during the season.<\/p>\n

Elliott delivered at Darlington, defeating Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt to win the Southern 500 and collect the enormous bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwesome Bill from Dawsonville\u201d had another nickname by the end of the afternoon: \u201cMillion Dollar Bill\u201d.<\/p>\n

More than four decades later, Chase Elliott would dearly like to add his own name to the Southern 500 winners list.<\/p>\n

Championship Chase starts at Darlington<\/p>\n

There is considerably more at stake this weekend than family history.<\/p>\n

The Southern 500 opens NASCAR\u2019s 10-race Chase, adding championship pressure to an event which hardly needs help creating drama.<\/p>\n

Elliott believes getting away strongly will be important, even though one poor race does not necessarily destroy a championship campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a slip-up this weekend, you better be able to win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou better have the ability to win and do it often to climb out of a bad race or two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott has also admitted Hendrick Motorsports has endured an inconsistent spell after showing considerable speed earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

He believes the gap between struggling and running at the front can be much smaller than results sometimes suggest.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re never as far off as you probably think you are,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a great start, I thought, to the season. We had a lot of performance in the opening month, month-and-a-half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of had a summer stretch that we didn\u2019t want to have to see. But we did, and we\u2019ve seen both sides of the coin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darlington would be quite a place to rediscover that early-season form.<\/p>\n

Winning the Southern 500 would give Elliott an ideal start to his championship campaign.<\/p>\n

More importantly, it would give him something that will still matter long after the points have been forgotten.<\/p>\n

A victory in one of NASCAR\u2019s true crown jewels.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a>\"\"\/<\/a>
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