Kevin Harvick reacts to emotion shown by Chase Elliott following Atlanta win

Chase Elliott is usually pretty reserved when it comes to showing emotion on the race track. However, something was different when he won at EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway) this past weekend.

The Hendrick Motorsports star was filled with emotion after his first win of the season, his first since April 2024. He climbed into the stands to celebrate with his fellow Georgians, and they responded by starting a “Let’s Go Chase” chant.

“Unbelievable. Unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott told TNT‘s Marty Snider on Saturday night. “I’ve never in my life. This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much. What a special car.

“Just a huge thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. … It was a lot of fun. This right here is something I will never forget, so thank you guys so much.”

Kevin Harvick saw Elliott’s win, and what it meant to him. On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the fellow former champion tried to make sense of Elliott’s reaction, and why everything bubbled up for the No. 9 Chevrolet wheelman.

“There haven’t been very many of those victories for Chase. To put that victory in the win column? I’s just different when you win at home,” Harvick explained. “With everything that he had going on, with his charity and the hospital and the child being there, and winning in your home state and not having won a lot over the past few years.

“There’s a lot of emotion that goes with this sport, and the passion to win is there. But the pressure to win in the situation like a Chase Elliott has? It’s different than what everybody else is dealing with, in my opinion. There is so much pressure on him to go out and win, because he’s looked at as the face of the sport. He’s got that pressure. He hears that stuff.

“He’s at Hendrick. He’s got all the marquee titles in the sport. It’s not easy for him to go out and not win, and have all that pressure on him. I can’t imagine dealing with it. There’s only a couple of guys that I know that have had to deal with that, and that’s Chase Elliott and Dale Jr., just from that level of fandom.”

Now that the pressure to make the playoffs is off his back, perhaps Chase Elliott can go on a little run this summer, notching another victory or two. One thing is for sure, he impressed Kevin Harvick this past weekend by getting back to the top of the mountain and celebrating accordingly.