For 18-year-old NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie Chase Elliott, racing on familiar tracks has not been a part of this year’s agenda. However, what has been a part of the agenda is winning two races, earning six top-five finishes and ranking third in driver points through the season’s first 13 races.
The majority of the Nationwide Series circuit is new territory for Elliott, which certainly hasn’t slowed him down in the slightest. Elliott, working with crew chief Greg Ives, is soaking up knowledge from the former lead engineer on the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team like a Ives will miss the weekend’s at-track activities as he and his wife, Jessica, are expecting their third child. Veteran crew chief Ernie Cope will oversee the NAPA team’s effort in Ives’ absence.
This weekend, Elliott will take his No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., where he has raced before. He started third and led five laps en route to a fourth- place finish in the 2013 ARCA Racing Series event at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course. Elliott dazzled in last season’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series road course race in Bowmanville, Ontario. Elliott led 22 laps on his way to his first NASCAR-sanctioned race victory. That success provides optimism for a successful race at Road America this Saturday, where the No. 9 NAPA team will be searching for its third win of the season.
Elliott enters the weekend third in driver standings, trailing JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith by 20 points. He still leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 37 points over Ty Dillon. ABC’s coverage of the Gardner Denver 200 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
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