Chase Elliott‘s legacy in NASCAR goes beyond race wins and championships. Over the last decade, the sport’s Most Popular Driver has built a reputation for giving back. He does this through the Chase Elliott Foundation and its long-standing partnership with NAPA Auto Parts.
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As the foundation’s biggest charitable program reaches its 10-year milestone, Elliott admits he is incredibly proud of how much it has grown.
Chase Elliott’s proudest accomplishment
“Proud of everyone on our team that has helped grow it over the years,” Elliott said. “Obviously, NAPA has had a huge hand in helping it grow and become a program that’s highlighted on the car, like there is no better way to do it than that. To have a partner that was willing to help us take it to that level, to me, really changed the whole game of what we were trying to do, but just really proud of kind of where it started and where it’s come to now.”
These remarks by Chase Elliott have nothing to do with competing for titles or winning races. Rather, they were about Desi9n to Drive. The foundation launched the yearly program in 2017. It was to support pediatric healthcare and cancer research at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Every year, Elliott asks CHOA patients to draw artwork for his No. 9 Chevrolet. The team picks a winning design, turns it into a full NASCAR paint scheme, and races it during a Cup Series weekend.
“We send out sheets of blank paper right that has a car and a suit and a helmet and gloves on it and basically give the kids there an opportunity to put their imaginations to work,” Elliott explained in a video last year.
Over its first nine years, Desi9n to Drive raised and donated more than $545,500 to CHOA. Now in its 10th year, the 2026 campaign asked patients to submit sports and recreation-themed artwork. Out of dozens of entries, Elliott’s foundation selected designs from 8-year-old Maximus Peace and 9-year-old Noelle Springer. The team merged their drawings into a baseball-themed paint scheme. Elliott will wear a matching driver suit and race the car in the NASCAR Cup Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 12.
Maximus developed Type 1 diabetes at age two and relies on insulin. Noelle faced acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) starting at age five. More than a year ago, following several rounds of treatment, including chemotherapy, she finally had her end-of-treatment.
NAPA’s support plays a massive role in the program’s success. The longtime sponsor gives the program a huge platform each season. They make the artwork the primary paint scheme, not just another side project.
For Chase Elliott, however, the artwork has never been the biggest reward.
“Just really proud of kind of where it started and where it’s come to now,” Elliott said. “The recognition I think that it receives throughout the course of the season as we build up to it and then the support that it gets on the race weekend… it’s all for a great cause.”
As the Chase Elliott Foundation closes in on $600,000 raised, Elliott isn’t looking at the milestone as the culmination of the journey. Instead, he’s already thinking about what comes next.
“I’m really proud of everyone for kind of where it’s come to,” he said. “And hopefully we can have ten more.”