Chase Elliott joined the NASCAR Prime preshow on FOX before the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway to meet Carl Edwards for the first time
NASCAR fans were blown away when it emerged Carl Edwards was excited to meet Chase Elliott, having seemingly never developed any sort of relationship with the sport’s Most Popular Driver.
Two of NASCAR’s most celebrated drivers from different generations appeared on Amazon Prime Video together, where a revelation about their history raised eyebrows. Their paths did cross briefly in the Cup Series garage, but it was seemingly the first time they had properly interacted.
As momentum built before the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, which experienced a brief halt due to a terrifying crash and was won by Denny Hamlin, risking the wrath of fans with his celebration, Elliott appeared on the pre-race show where he made a simple comment on his future.
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As he made his entrance, to join Edwards and Corey LaJoie, host Danielle Trotta warmly welcomed Elliott, declaring: “We’ve been waiting for you, and Carl is so psyched to meet you, man.”
Fans were thrown into a frenzy of speculation online, puzzled over the timeline of events and the pair not having met before. Elliott added some clarity as he referenced his rookie year, 2016, which was Edwards’ final season before his shock retirement, which led to him walking away from the sport before returning this year.
Trotta took to social media afterwards to point out that they were actually referring to when the drivers appeared on air together at the FOX Sports desk in Charlotte. But Edwards was certainly excited to properly meet Elliott on air for the first time.
With evident respect, Edwards leaned forward and exclaimed how cool it was to finally meet the 2020 Cup Series champion, adding: “In every meeting, it’s ‘Do we get Chase this week, do we get Chase?'”.
Despite receiving accolades, Elliott stayed down-to-earth as he reflected on his career and life choices, choosing to remain in his beloved Dawsonville, even though he races for Hendrick Motorsports located in Charlotte, the center of racing action.
“The biggest one is, home is home, you know? That’s just important to me. Sometimes, you can get too caught up in everything. I had a lot of admiration for how you did things… You have folks that you look up to and admire. I always appreciated that about Carl,” he said.
Edwards was born in Missouri, attended the University of Missouri in his hometown of Columbia, and admitted to staying close to home throughout his career. Edwards and Elliott may have finally “met” at a television desk in 2025, but their competitiveness on the track dates back to the 2010s.
Elliott and Edwards shared the NASCAR Cup Series stage for 41 races according to Racing-Reference. They clashed for the first time during the 2015 STP 500 where Edwards took the 17th spot and Elliott trailed at 38th, while the victory went to Denny Hamlin, who also snagged the win at Michigan on Sunday.
Their last recorded race against each other was the Ford EcoBoost 400 in 2016; Edwards’s race ended in a crash from the 10th position, and Elliott finished 11th for Rick Hendrick in the NAPA Auto Parts Chevy. Over the course of their competitive history, Edwards often had the upper hand, outperforming Elliott in 21 of their 41 races together.