As Chase Elliott is set to make his fourth Camping World Truck Series start this weekend, he heads to a track where he has had success before. Last year in the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series, Elliott picked up a win at Iowa Speedway. This weekend, he hopes to repeat that success in a truck.
“I think this racetrack is a lot of fun,” Elliott said. “I think it puts on some great racing, and the place is known for that in the past. I feel like if we can get up there and just put together a mistake-free weekend and just have everything go our way, I think we’ll be just fine.”
While most rookies are focused on solid finishes, Elliott is ready to step up to that next step and put a truck in victory lane.
“I feel like everything is where it needs to be to have success,” he said. “I feel like our trucks are fast and all the guys do a really good job. I feel like if we can just get to Iowa this weekend and I can do my job and know what I want when we unload and just put together a mistake-free race, I think we are right there, man.”
In his three starts so far this year, Elliott has finished sixth, fifth and fourth. He looked to have the truck to win in his last start at Dover International Speedway, however a pair of pit road speeding penalties took him out of contention for the win.
“The biggest thing is just me learning,” Elliott added. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes these past three races, and if I can just put a mistake-free race on my end and if the guys can do their job, I think we are right there.”
Elliott went on to say that the biggest challenge he has faced so far is green flag pit stops and to get back at it, you just have to practice more.
“You watch guys do it on Sundays, and it doesn’t do it justice,” he commented. “It’s just such a different feel, and there’s so much time to be gained getting on and off pit road, making sure you slow down to pit road speed; that that’s a big piece of the race.
“Nowadays where we don’t see a lot of cautions like we have in the past, green flag stops are very, very important. You see guys like Kyle Busch do such a good job and gain a lot of time on guys on pit road; you can gain half a second on a guy in front of you on pit road, that’s huge. That’s hard to get on the racetrack. So there’s a lot to be gained or last.”
Elliott said that he was trying to get too much coming on to pit road at Dover, wanting to be aggressive and not lose time to others.
“It is tough to weigh the cost and benefits, and you’ve just got to really be careful there, but at the same time, you’ve got to be aggressive, too,” he said.
If Elliott can win this weekend at Iowa Speedway, he will become the youngest series winner at the age of 17 under the new rule that allows 16 and 17 year old drivers to compete on tracks a mile and a smaller.
“For me we are just there to win like everybody else is and try to do a better job than the next guy,” he commented on the age question. “So haven’t really put a whole lot into my age and how old I am and how old the rest of these guys are. Just more so our personal program and what we need to do to be a little bit better.”
A win would definately put more eyes on the young driver, however there are eyes already watching as Rick Hendrick has commented that he would like to put Elliott in a Nationwide Series car next year.
“I feel like I’m ready for it personally,” Elliott said. “I think given the right opportunity, I feel like I can do a good enough job behind the wheel to be competitive at that level, and hopefully that’s what works out.”
Chase Elliott is impressive and I am sure with Hendrick backing he will look good in the 24 car.