CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Chase Elliott, son of a NASCAR Hall of Famer and the sport's most popular driver, has 19 career Cup Series wins and championship titles in both the Cup and Xfinity Series.
But if not for one critical partnership, Elliott is convinced he may not have ever made it as a professional racer.
That pairing is with sponsor NAPA Auto Parts, which this Sunday will celebrate its 100th year as a company with gold cars at Texas Motor Speedway to commemorate its anniversary. NAPA joined Elliott in 2014 when he raced in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports and has been his primary sponsor ever since.
NAPA was his primary sponsor in the races where he clinched his Xfinity and Cup championships, and for all but six of his Cup Series wins. If not for the company taking a chance on the then-18-year-old son of Bill Elliott, he's not sure what path his career might have taken.
“NAPA has defined my entire career, I've said it a lot,” Elliott told The Associated Press. “I've tried to express my appreciation for them, but if they don't come on board, I don't think 2014 happens. You're essentially looking at the Xfinity championship never happening. We were going to run a handful of races had NAPA not signed on. We were talking about a part-time season and going full-time wasn't going to be possible without that money, without that deal coming. So, yeah, it was more than a little career defining.”
Although NAPA is a 100-year old company, its involvement in race car sponsorships didn't begin until 2001 when it joined Dale Earnhardt Inc. with Michael Waltrip. Waltrip won his debut race with the brand — the Daytona 500 in which Earnhardt was killed on the final lap.
NAPA stayed with Waltrip through his time at DEI and then moved with him when he started his own team. The brand then shifted to Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex Jr., but cut its ties after MWR was involved in a 2013 late-season cheating scandal.
That made the company available for a new NASCAR driver and settled on unproven Elliott, who is from Georgia, where NAPA is headquartered.
Jeff Gordon, now vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports, wasn't involved in Rick Hendrick's courtship of turning NAPA into the largest supplier of Hendrick Automotive and also a NASCAR sponsor. But he was a keynote speaker at NAPA's convention in Las Vegas a little over a week ago and understands how much the company means to the Hendrick brand and Elliott's career.
“When Chase says that NAPA defined his career, he means that,” Gordon told the AP. “He doesn't say anything he doesn't 100% mean. We all have these moments in our career where things could have gone either way. For me it was DuPont (sponsorship) and for Chase it was NAPA. I can't even imagine Chase on track without NAPA some part of his car.”
NAPA's racing portfolio has expanded over the years. NAPA signed on as an associate partner with Ron Capps and Don Schumacher Racing in 2007 and the next year NAPA became Capps' primary sponsor. NAPA became the official auto parts store of the NHRA this year.
Capps ran the gold commemorative car in last weekend's NHRA event.
NAPA also partnered with Andretti Autosport in IndyCar in May 2016 with Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi. That sponsorship has ended. In NASCAR, NAPA initially sponsored Waltrip and then Truex Jr., then moved to be primary sponsor of Elliott the next season.
As part of the centennial celebration this weekend, the gold cars will also be run by Daniel Hemric in the Truck Series and sprint car racer Brad Sweet, who is racing at Texas' dirt track this weekend. NAPA plans to bring all the gold cars together for a photo opportunity.
Based on his age — Elliott is now 29 — he doesn't associate the NAPA traditional blue and gold paint scheme with any driver but himself. After all, NAPA has backed his entire NASCAR national series career.
“I've spent so much time with them at this point that it feels like home,” Elliott said. “It feels like a true partnership and they definitely feel like part of my family.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
