9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 10th
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No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
SIX-RACE ROUNDUP: In the first six events of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott has collected two top-five finishes – tied for the third-most among all drivers – and led a total of 73 laps. He has spent 269 laps inside the top five and 672 laps running in the top 10.
DOWN AND DIRTY: Elliott heads into the Bristol Motor Speedway race weekend with some dirt experience under his belt. Last week, the 25-year-old driver participated in the Bristol Dirt Nationals where he advanced to the super late model main event on Friday night. He was collected in an accident that ultimately ended his night. During the offseason, Elliott was behind the wheel of a midget dirt car at the Chili Bowl Nationals where he finished seventh in the F-Main.
BRISTOL STATS: Elliott has made 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway. In those 10 events held on the .533-mile concrete oval, the driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE garnered three top-five finishes, five top-10s and led 310 laps. In addition, Elliott also led 60 laps en route to winning the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race held at Bristol last July.
NAPA KNOW HOW: This weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, the No. 9 Chevrolet will don the familiar blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for 25 NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
CHECK OUT THOSE HATS: During the month of March, the No. 9 team will wear special limited-edition NAPA hats at the track. The hats are part of NAPA AUTO PARTS’ March in-store promotion. Throughout the month when customers spend $25 in store, they will receive the No. 9 NAPA Racing/Chase Elliott hat while supplies last.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on potential challenges at Bristol: “The track surface, to me, is the biggest question and just how the event is going to look from the beginning of the weekend to the end. The racetrack is going to change a lot throughout the week. Weather can play a factor into that (and) how they water and keep up the track, if they do any track prep. That, to me, is probably the biggest question mark in just how they’re going to go about that. Two hundred fifty laps in the sun is a lot on a dirt track. What little bit of experience I have, those tracks lose their moisture very fast when the sun’s out, so if it’s sunny and you’re racing with that many heavy cars on it, I can see the track degrading very quickly.”
Elliott on who he’s been leaning on for advice for Bristol dirt race: “I just think the really tough thing is no one knows a ton about our cars on dirt. To me, it’s going to be very different from your average dirt event that you see on a Friday or Saturday night across the country because these cars aren’t really made for that. It’s just going to be different. Dustin (Shoulders, No. 9 team engineer) has a dirt racing background. Kyle (Larson) and Rudy Fugle both having experience with the truck event up in Eldora, which is probably the most similar thing you can go off of.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what he’s expecting at Bristol: “We don’t know what to expect this weekend. Rudy (Fugle) has a lot of experience. He’s really good at it, had some success – and he doesn’t know either. It’s just a different animal. I think we’re all learning a little bit together and just trying to use Rudy’s experience and the experience of the guys at the shop that have run on dirt. The biggest thing is that you can’t just take our car and go race it at a dirt track. You have to do a lot of different things to it and we are just continuously looking through all the different possibilities. This will be something that we will learn from, I’m sure, and take away some good experience.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
