Chase Elliott is on a path that could rank him with Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick as a Sprint Cup champion. That's a lofty expectation for a driver entering his first season in NASCAR's highest level of competition.
Elliott goes off in pole position for the 58th Daytona 500, Sunday's opening race of the Cup season. Despite the pressure of replacing Jeff Gordon in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 24 car, he is no typical 20-year-old NASCAR rookie.
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Hype might be in overdrive, but there are also plenty of racing veterans telling Elliott how life in the big show will be.