NASCAR star Chase Elliott seeks resurgence after inability to...

NASCAR star Chase Elliott’s popularity has become a given.

The success at the root of the 28-year-old’s ascension is something he aims to earn back.

Elliott won his sixth straight award as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver in 2023 but nothing else.

The 2020 Cup Series champion did not win a race for the first time since 2017 and missed six races after he broke his leg snowboarding last March along with another race due to a suspension. When he returned, Elliott did not resume his winning ways following 18 trips to Victory Lane during the previous five seasons.

Few doubt he will rejoin the sport’s elite in 2024, beginning with Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“It’s one of the biggest stories we’re going to be watching,” said Larry McReynolds, a former Daytona 500-winning crew chief and current analyst on Fox Sports. “My belief is you don’t win 18 races and a Cup Series championship and overnight forget how to drive a race car.”

Elliott is taking nothing for granted nor looking for excuses, saying, “My injuries were not why we struggled.”

Watching from afar, Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, the lead analyst at Motor Racing Network radio, wasn’t so sure.

“That just really screwed up his rhythm,” he said. “I don’t really think he ever hit his stride.”

Whatever the case, Elliott set out to find solutions during the offseason.

“There’s a realistic understanding that your problems don’t disappear because of the calendar change from ’23 to ’24,” he said Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway. “We know that we need to be better, and I need to be better, and intend on continuing to build on what we were working on at the end of last year, and just keep our heads down and keep pushing.”

Elliott said he’s been in a tug of war with the Next Gen car despite five wins during its 2022 debut season.

“I have some bad habits that this car doesn’t like,” he said. “I have to address it ultimately.”

Asked specifics, Elliott replied, “Things we talk about behind closed doors.”

Elliott, the son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, is immensely private despite his connection with the fan base.

He also does not look to hide from the facts, including a less-than-stellar record at the Daytona 500.

Other than a runner-up finish in 2021, Elliott’s attempts to win the sport’s show race have been forgettable.

“The rest of them we’ve pretty much crashed,” he said. “So there hasn’t really been a lot of good outside of that day, unfortunately.”

Elliott hopes better days are ahead. But he wonders whether the current setup of the Next Gen car — the sports’ 7th-generation vehicle — will come along for the ride on a superspeedway like Daytona’s iconic 2.5-mile oval.

The car’s aerodynamics encourages two-by-two racing and a heavier reliance on the cars in front and behind a driver.

“We really had a good speedway package with the old car. It kind of worked out toward the end where you could have some big runs,” Elliott said. “It seemed like there was more energy transfer, and the cars weren’t so draggy as to what the cars are now. It has changed quite a lot.

“They’re always adjusting little things here and there, getting back to what it was. It might take some time.”

The timing is perfect for the ever-popular Elliott to break out at Daytona International Speedway. Sunday kicks off the 40th season of Hendrick Motorsports, Elliott’s longtime team.

Hall of Fame owner Rick Hendrick has been stuck on eight Daytona 500 wins, one shy Petty Enterprise’s record nine, since Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2014 victory.

“That’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Elliott said. “It’s a hard race to win. You have to have quite a few things go your way.”