Chase Elliott, the runaway leader in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle, has three wins and the NASCAR Nationwide Series points lead. He’s zeroing in on the single-season wins record of five, held by Greg Biffle (2001), Kyle Busch (2004) and Carl Edwards (2005). No rookie has ever won the Nationwide Series championship.
But more immediately, there’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Chase and his father Bill can become the first father-son winners in NASCAR’s 21-year history at the track.
The Dawsonville, Ga., native will be making his series debut at Indianapolis this weekend, the track at which his father and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bill Elliott won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in 2002.
“It’s one of the places I look back on, I do have memories of The Brickyard win he (Bill Elliott) had, I think it was 2002,” Chase Elliott said. “That’s a special race track for me. I always love going back there ever since then knowing he has been to Victory Lane. We are going to give it our best shot.”
JR Motorsports now has won seven of the 18 races this season – Chase Elliott (Texas, Darlington and Chicago), Kevin Harvick (Richmond, Kentucky), Regan Smith (Daytona-1) and Kasey Kahne (Daytona-2). The team has led the driver points after 17 of 18 races this season (Elliott Sadler was the lone outlier, leading the points after Kentucky).
- NASCAR WIRE: Weekend Preview: Talladega Superspeedway - April 18, 2024
- Journey back to the top has brought Elliott and the No. 9 team closer - April 16, 2024
- Chase Elliott wins in double overtime, snaps 42-race winless streak at Texas - April 15, 2024