Chase Elliott isn’t convinced anyone has a true advantage entering NASCAR’s long-awaited return
For the first time since 2019, the NASCAR Cup Series is back at Chicagoland Speedway.
That means drivers are returning to one of the sport’s most popular intermediate tracks, but according to Chase Elliott, nobody should assume previous success will automatically translate into speed this weekend.
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Even drivers with years of experience at the 1.5-mile oval are essentially learning the track all over again.
After Friday’s practice, Elliott said seven years away, an aging racing surface, and the Next Gen car have combined to make Chicagoland feel like a brand-new challenge.
“I think it’s going to take a minute to get up to speed for everybody who wasn’t at the test,” Elliott said. “Hopefully, we can do that quickly and get to a place that we feel confident in making a change from there.”
Only three Cup Series drivers participated in Goodyear’s tire test at Chicagoland earlier this year: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney. Everyone else entered the weekend relying on limited data and old notes from a racetrack that hasn’t hosted NASCAR’s national series in seven years.
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Even Kyle Larson’s feedback can only go so far
Hendrick Motorsports has one advantage over much of the garage. Larson participated in April’s tire test, giving the organization firsthand information before race weekend.
But Elliott said there are limits to what one driver can communicate.
“I think all the fine details you have to experience firsthand, and there is really no way he can verbalize that to any of us and make complete and total sense,” Elliott said. “But I think he can hit the high spots of what he saw, what he felt, and what he thought was good and bad, where our cars need to be better or where they did a job. Then from there it’s like, OK, we have to go make laps and see.”
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Those comments carry extra weight considering Elliott’s own history at Chicagoland.
Before NASCAR left the track after the 2019 season, Elliott had established himself as one of its most consistent performers. In four Cup Series starts, he finished third in 2016, runner-up in 2017, 19th in 2018, and 11th in 2019. He also captured the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Chicagoland in 2014.
Despite those results, Elliott believes past performance means less than many fans might expect.
“A little,” Elliott said when asked whether the track still felt familiar. “Watching some of the onboard and listening to the comments, it sounds like Chicago, and having that experience in having some laps here is nice. It’s been a long time, but I do remember it. But certainly this car has some different tendencies, as we have probably well documented at this point.”
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Saturday could help shorten the learning curve
Elliott may have one opportunity to make up ground before Sunday’s Cup race.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver is also scheduled to compete in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race for JR Motorsports, giving him valuable extra laps around the resurfaced-feeling oval.
He admitted adapting to both cars after such a long absence hasn’t been easy.
“It’s been a little bit of a challenge coming back to this place and thinking through the Cup car and what I think is going to be expected on that side, or my best educated guess, and then also trying to piece together the Saturday race stuff, too, and not having done that in so long,” Elliott said.
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“I feel like I have a lot of catch-up to play on that front, so I’m glad we get a little longer practice for this weekend with those guys. They didn’t cancel practice. I was getting really nervous that I was going to have to go out there and make a qualifying lap in that thing after a year plus, and that would have been interesting. So, glad we got a practice and hope it plays out in our favor.”
For a driver whose résumé suggests he should be among Sunday’s favorites, Elliott isn’t counting on history to provide an advantage.
Instead, he believes Chicagoland’s return has effectively reset the playing field, forcing nearly the entire garage to learn one of NASCAR’s classic venues all over again.
