INDY REWIND: Chase Elliott nearly captured his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2023 last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The 27-year-old driver rolled off the grid from the third position and steadily ran inside the top five throughout the first stage, ending it in third. Elliott followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the second stage. Late in the race, the 2020 Cup Series champion was in the second position, closing in on the leader but ultimately ran out of time. Elliott's runner-up finish marked his second top-five finish in just three starts on the 2.439-mile road course.
BACK WHERE IT STARTED: Watkins Glen International was the site of Elliott’s first premier series win. He led 52 of 90 laps en route to victory in 2018. In just six starts on the 2.45-mile road course, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has three top-two finishes, including two wins. Elliott’s most recent trip to victory lane at Watkins Glen came in 2019 after he swept the stages and led all but 10 laps of the race. His average finish of 5.67 is not only the best among active Cup drivers but also the best all-time among drivers with more than two starts. Among his other track-leading marks are stage wins (three) and points earned (220) in the stage racing era. Elliott is tied with teammate Kyle Larson for the longest active streak of top-10 finishes at the track (four).
KEEP THE TOP FIVES ALIVE: This season, Elliott has three road course starts in the Cup Series and has finished inside the top five in each of them. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet earned a fifth-place result at Sonoma Raceway, a third-place effort in the inaugural Chicago Street Course event and most recently finished as the runner-up at Indianapolis – making him the only driver to finish inside the top five in the three most recent events on road courses. Elliott holds a series-leading average finish (3.33) across those three races. He also has the second-most points earned in that span (115).
ROAD RACING RUNDOWN: Since the start of 2022, Elliott’s best finish on a road course is second (twice) – Road America in 2022 and last weekend at Indianapolis. In that span, he leads the series in top-five finishes (six) and is tied for the second-most top-10s (seven) across nine starts on serpentine tracks. Since the start of last season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has paced the field for a series-high 129 laps on road courses. He has also earned two pole awards (Road America and Watkins Glen in 2022) and has a series-leading average finish of 7.11. Despite missing the race at Circuit of The Americas in March 2023 due to his leg injury, Elliott has the third-most points earned (311) in that time frame.
LEGEND IN THE MAKING: In 28 Cup Series starts on road courses, Elliott has an average finish of 7.64, with seven wins, 17 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s. His average finish is the best among active drivers and ranks second all-time among drivers with five or more starts, behind NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts.
WINNING WAYS: Elliott has proven his road-racing prowess, leading all active drivers with seven wins on road courses – most recently at Road America in 2021. He is also third on the overall list of drivers with road course victories, trailing only NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight). Elliott has victories across five different road courses, which is the most in series history.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson has plenty of experience on tracks where left and right turns are made. Across 49 Cup Series races on road courses, the Ormond Beach, Florida, native has led his team to seven wins (all with Elliott) – a series-high among active crew chiefs – 20 top-five finishes and 27 top-10s.
WIN AND IN: Elliott sits 19th in the driver points standings, 80 markers below the provisional playoff cutline with just two races remaining in the regular season. A victory would lock Elliott into the postseason. Between the two remaining tracks, Elliott and the No. 9 crew have two wins at Watkins Glen and a best effort of second (twice) at Daytona International Speedway. Currently, the No. 9 squad is the final team in the provisional playoff field for the owner’s title, 51 points above the cutline.
GET UP AND GO: NAPA Auto Parts is back on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Watkins Glen. The Atlanta-based company was the primary partner for Elliott’s 2019 victory at the track. Get a look at all the angles of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet here.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on how meaningful Watkins Glen is to him: "Watkins Glen (International) always stands out to me because of the first win. That one will always be special because of that. Will it always be good to us? Probably not, but I do enjoy going up there. It is a very nice part of the country – a very underrated part of the country. Just the memories I have from that first win weekend are super special and something that I will hold onto forever."
Elliott on his outlook with two opportunities left to lock himself into the playoffs: "Certainly, don’t want to have yourself in a position to have to win at Daytona (International Speedway), but that’s a possibility at this point. I feel way better about going to Watkins Glen (International) than I do Daytona because there is more in my control going there verses a plate race." | 
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