The question around Chase Elliott is whether his first NASCAR Cup victory Sunday satisfied his the appetite or has simply made him hungrier for more.

Almost assuredly the latter.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Bill Elliott, who was voted the most popular driver a record 16 times, the affable, 22-year-old Chase Elliott quickly became a fan favorite during his first three seasons as a full-time driver in the Cup series. Chase Elliott is favored to win Most Popular Driver for 2018, and fans suffered with him through eight second-place finishes until he got his breakthrough victory in his 99th Cup series start.

“Holy cow, I don’t know what to say – just so thrilled, so emotional, so much relief,” Elliott said Sunday. “Working on three years, I hadn’t won one. I came here with a great opportunity today, and I was able to get it done.”

Getting it done, however, shows only that Elliott is capable of living up to the high expectations that come from being a legacy driver.

Like Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. before him, Chase Elliott began his career with the pressure of having the surname of a NASCAR legend. That can simultaneously be a blessing and a burden.

Bill Elliott, who worked as a spotter for Chase on Sunday, had 44 victories and won the 1998 Cup championship over a 37-year run in the Cup Series that did not officially end until 2012.

Chase Elliott has his first and everyone, including himself, is already looking for the next one and the one after that and the one after …

“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and I just want you all to know that,” Elliott told a crowd at Watkins Glen that went wild after his win. “And I am very grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Let’s go get some more.”

TONY STEWART is considering a return to the Indianapolis 500 next year.

Stewart, a three-time NASCAR champion and Indiana native, grew up chasing a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won twice there in NASCAR’s Brickyard 400, but was never able to win the Indy 500.

He last entered the event in 2001. Now retired from full-time racing, Stewart said he’d like another crack at the Indy 500. But he has one caveat: Stewart will only drive a competitive car.

“If I go, I’m not going just to run it,” he said. “I don’t want to be a sideshow like Danica (Patrick, a former teammate) was at Indy this year. If I go, I want to go feeling like I’ve got the same opportunity to win that everyone else in the field does.”

Stewart has five starts in the Indianapolis 500, starting on pole as a rookie in 1996 and leading 64 laps in a career-best fifth in 1997.

Patrick made the Indy 500 the final race of her career. Although she qualified in the Fast Nine she was in an accident during the race and finished 30th.

“It’s an insult to the guys who do it every week to show up and think you’re going to be as good as those guys are,” Stewart said.

NASCAR CHAIRMAN and CEO Brian France registered a blood-alcohol level of .18, more than twice the legal limit, when he was arrested Sunday night in New York.

France was charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to documents released by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. The 56-year-old grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France was pulled over for running a stop sign by police in the Village of Sag Harbor, located in The Hamptons area of Long Island. He spent the night in jail and was released Monday morning.

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