INDY REWIND: Last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Chase Elliott started eighth and overcame an early race spin to earn a fifth-place finish in stage one. He followed that up with a fourth-place result in the second stage. In an eventful final stage, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native raced as high as second and was in that spot when a caution came out with five laps to go for debris. On the restart, Elliott was collected in a multi-car incident in turn one but was able to battle his way to 16th after the race was sent into overtime. In the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural road racing event at Indianapolis in 2021, Elliott drove to a fourth-place result. In the two races at the 14-turn layout, he holds the best average running position (7.91).
KEEP THE TOP FIVES ALIVE: This season, Elliott has two road course starts in the series and has finished inside the top five in each of them. The 27-year-old driver paced the field for seven laps at Sonoma Raceway en route to a fifth-place result and followed that up with a third-place effort in the inaugural Chicago Street Course race. Elliott’s average finish (4.00) across those two races is the second-best mark in the series.
ROAD RACING RUNDOWN: Since the start of 2022, Elliott’s best finish on a road course is second, achieved at Road America last season. In that span, he has five top-five finishes and six top-10s (tied for second-most) across eight starts on serpentine tracks. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has paced the field for 128 laps on road courses since the beginning of last season, which is tied for the most circuits out front. He has also earned two pole awards (Road America and Watkins Glen International in 2022) and has a series-leading average finish of 7.75. Despite missing the race at Circuit of The Americas in March 2023 due to his leg injury, Elliott has the sixth-most points earned (262) in that span.
LEGEND IN THE MAKING: In 27 Cup Series starts on road courses, Elliott has an average finish of 7.85, with seven wins, 16 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s. His average finish is not only the best among active drivers, but third all-time among drivers (with four or more starts), behind NASCAR legends Fireball Roberts and Buck Baker.
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.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: Aug. 5 marked the five-year anniversary of Elliott’s first career Cup Series win, which came at a road course. The five-time National Motorsports Press Association’s Most Popular Driver Award recipient emerged victorious at Watkins Glen in 2018, leading 52 of 90 laps.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson has plenty of experience on tracks where left and right turns are made. Across 48 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 – 19 top-five finishes and 26 top-10s.
WIN AND IN: Elliott sits 22nd in the driver points standings, 55 markers below the provisional playoff cutline with three races remaining in the regular season. A victory would lock Elliott into the playoffs and the team is up to the task. Across the three tracks remaining, Elliott and the No. 9 crew have two wins at Watkins Glen, a best effort of second (twice) at Daytona International Speedway and a best finish of fourth at the road course in Indianapolis. Currently, the No. 9 team is in the provisional field for the owner’s title as the team ranks 14th in those standings.
GET UP AND GO: NAPA Auto Parts is back on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Indianapolis. The Atlanta-based company was the primary partner for one other road course race this season. NAPA’s yellow and blue colors were on Elliott’s Chevrolet when he drove to a fifth-place finish at Sonoma. 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 racing on the Indianapolis Road Course: "For me personally, I feel like it is one of the harder ones, if not the toughest for me. Most road courses that we go to have a little bit of character at some point, little bit of banking or a little bit of something. That place is just flat. Not really a lot of character to the road itself. Imperfections, bumps. Things like that. Just a very flat road course, which I find challenging because it’s hard to find ways to be different."
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team's outlook for the remainder of the regular season: "Our goal is the same as it’s always been. Go out and execute to the best of our ability, minimize mistakes and be in position to battle for the win at the end. We have three great opportunities coming up to be able to do that and Chase (Elliott) is one of the best at being able to tune out all the noise and focus on the task at hand."
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