Maggie Hendricks

USA TODAY Sports

CHICAGO — When Tony Stewart first met Chase Elliott, he didn’t predict the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott would qualify as a rookie with a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. All he wanted to was to get the young man to talk.

“For the first three years I knew Chase, I didn’t even know he could talk!” Stewart said. “Every week, Bill would bring him at the car, because every week, he’d want to come down to see us, but he would never say anything. I got him to smile maybe three or four times in the three years. But I knew he wanted to be there, and I knew he was engaged. I could see it in his eyes.”

Now the two men are passing each other in different phases of their careers. Elliott is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year after an impressive debut season. Stewart, the three-time Cup champion, is set to retire at the end of the season. Both will race in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the first round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

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“Tony was the first guy other than my dad that I was OK pulling for,” Elliott said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. It’s kind of funny watching him with Kevin (Harvick’s) son Keelan. I kind of remember that, and that’s how he was with me, which is kind of cool.”

Stewart has high expectations for Elliott as he moves forward with his NASCAR career.

“He’s gone to a lot of places for the first time and done spectacular in his first attempts there. He’s going to be a marquee guy,” Stewart said. “He’s already a marquee guy in his first season. As time goes on, and some of the guys who are getting up there in age are retiring, he’s going to be the guy who is going to carry the torch for NASCAR.”

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While Stewart was Elliott’s hero growing up, he doesn’t treat him any differently when they’re both on the track.

“I’ve enjoyed racing with him. I don’t necessarily look at him any different than anybody else when it comes to a competitor, or how you treat anyone. He’s obviously done a good job, and I have a lot of respect for him,” Elliott said.

Stewart said he was surprised by how much it meant to him to come back for one year and get in one more season of competing. What really stands out for him is racing against rookies like Elliott.

“You never dream at that time these boys are going to grow up and follow in their father’s footsteps. I have to say Chase has got an extremely good chance of being as good as his father, and his father was great,” Stewart said. “It’s cool to say I know these guys then. You don’t realize how old you are, until you see how old they are and start doing the math.”

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