Getty Chase Elliott celebrates a win at Road America on July 4.
The defending Cup Series champion is about to take center stage on the Peacock streaming platform. NASCAR has announced a new documentary, “Chase,” which focuses on Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott. Created in partnership with NBC Universal, the in-depth look will premiere in August.
NASCAR and NBC Sports released the first trailer for the upcoming special on Friday, July 9. The brief clip revealed that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be the host of the documentary and showed the two NASCAR drivers as they headed down to Dawsonville, GA. Elliott showed Earnhardt his dad’s first Cup Series car, as well as the iconic pool room where local fans tune in for races.
COMING IN AUGUST to @peacockTV. 👀
“CHASE” takes @DaleJr to @ChaseElliott’s hometown of Dawsonville, Georgia for a personal walk through his rise in @NASCAR and all the people who helped him along the way.
In order to provide an in-depth look at Elliott, Earnhardt and the camera crew sat down with several important people in his life. The NBC Sports NASCAR analyst talked to seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, team owner Rick Hendrick, and Elliott’s parents among others to learn more about the 2020 Cup champion’s rise to prominence.
The Documentary Covers More Than Racing Stock Cars
The trailer provided a brief look at the upcoming documentary, which will primarily focus on Elliott’s time as a race car driver. However, there will also be segments revolving around how he spends his free time. The clip provided a glimpse of Earnhardt and Elliott riding around a lake on a boat.
Elliott is a fan of wake surfing, which he showcases with posts on his Instagram profile. However, he revealed during the sitdown with Earnhardt that he has tried to get other members of his family involved. Specifically, Elliott said that he tried teaching his dad, Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, how to properly wake surf.
The trailer did not detail if Bill found success on the lake, but the full-length documentary should provide some answers. If nothing else, it will showcase one of the ways how Elliott spends his time away from the number of race cars that he uses to pursue checkered flags on dirt and concrete tracks.
‘Chase’ Joins a Growing List of NASCAR Documentaries
⚡@NASCAR has struck a deal with @NBCUniversal and @USA_Network to green-light a new docu-series revolving around this year’s Cup Series playoffs.
➖ The series will be called “Race for the Championship,” be stretched over eight episodes on USA Network and debut in 2022.
The documentary about Elliott is only the latest among the announced projects on the horizon for NASCAR fans. Racing’s sanctioning body is putting an emphasis on media releases that tell a different story than simple wins and losses. “Chase” is only the latest example.
NASCAR and USA Network announced on Thursday, July 8, an upcoming eight-part docuseries focusing on the 16 drivers as they pursue the Bill France Cup. “Race for the Championship” will follow the teams and drivers during the 2021 playoffs, showcasing how the crew members and drivers balance their personal and work lives.
There is no current release date for the upcoming documentary series, but the collaboration between NASCAR and NBC Universal will debut sometime in 2022. Adam Stern, who first broke the news of the docuseries, reported that a likely option is around the Daytona 500 in February 2022. It will air on the USA Network, along with several of the 2022 Xfinity and Cup Series races.
Additionally, NASCAR will partner with Netflix to showcase one of the first-year teams. 23XI Racing and Bubba Wallace will be the focus of an upcoming documentary series for the streaming giant. Little information is available about the project other than that it will track the team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamin through its first Cup Series season.