CONCORD, N.C. - Do anything eight times in a row and understandably, it could lose some of its luster, no matter how special the accomplishment might be.
Chase Elliott, however, is determined not to let that be the case.
So, after taking home NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award for the eighth year in a row, he continued to express gratitude in the ensuing days, carrying into an appearance on SiriusXM late last week.
"Just always want to make sure everybody understands how grateful I am for their time and voting and taking time out of their day to do that," Elliott said.
The driver of the No. 9 has been a darling of the NASCAR fanbase dating back to his early days in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2014. Carrying the last name of his legendary father, Bill Elliott, that attention could certainly bring with it, pressure, especially in the early days when Chase Elliott tried to find footing in the sport on his own.
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Now just a couple weeks short of his 30th birthday and with 10 full time seasons and a Cup Series championship (2020) under his belt, there is a greater sense of perspective and appreciation for his place in the sport.
"It's those interactions we have at the track, whether it's me or somebody else, I don't even care about that, it's more just having the ability to make or break somebody's day sometimes," Elliott said. "It can be a lot to carry, but I do think there's a responsibility in some of those things and at least doing your best. And we are competitors and we are humans and there's times I definitely want time alone, but I definitely think there's times we have to go enjoy those moments and help make somebody's day better if you have that ability to do so.
"I just appreciate those interactions at the race track so much because I think it's a great reminder of what we're doing, how cool it is to do what we do. To see little kids coming up wearing your firesuits they got outside, all that little stuff. It's priceless. I just always try to make sure that's emphasized and I appreciate the people who've been so good to me and so good to my family for so long and that's the fans of this sport."
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Certainly, Elliott understands that in a heightened position such as his, not all of the feedback will be supportive. And that's fine with him as Elliot also understands that NASCAR fans that may not necessarily list him as their favorite driver, also still tune in and show up at race tracks every week.
"I have some of the most passionate fans, I think, in the world. Just NASCAR fans in general, just, it's an overwhelming amount of support," Elliott said. "It's not always good either, and that's totally fine. There are definitely people that don't like me or don't like another driver but there's still passion there and I think that passion is to be appreciated. It's healthy. It's a good thing. It's a good thing for the sport."
"I love seeing people fired up for whatever it is when you're at the race track. I think there's definitely somebody out there for everybody, but we definitely have some extreme passion out there in what we do week to week across the country."
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Pretty much since he was born, Elliott has been part of the touring life in some fashion, spending time as a child following his father from race track to race track around the United States. With 36 regular season races and two exhibition events now on the 38-date NASCAR Cup Series schedule, that has continued throughout his racing career.
And yet still, it remains a point of awe that no matter where Elliott shows up, No. 9 hats, shirts and diecasts seem to follow.
"That's another thing that blows me away. I could kind of understand going to Atlanta or going to Talladega (Superspeedway) and having a lot of support. Geographically, that would make sense. But when we go out to Sonoma, California and I see three or four kids wearing firesuits or see somebody out at dinner wearing a hat of mine, I'm like, 'Man, this is pretty surreal.'
"It's pretty cool of that person to be in-tuned and care about what we're doing enough to go and support me like that. I see those things. I appreciate them and I find a lot of those things a lot of fun to be a part of."