Elliott chases first Cup win at Chicagoland
JOILET, Ill. — Chase Elliott arrived at Chicagoland Speedway with a blister on his hand and a certain level of satisfaction.
The blister was the product of shifting with his right hand while driving with his left on a hot, sweaty weekend at Sonoma. The positive feeling stemmed from a gratifying fourth-place finish on a challenging road course that frustrated him in the past.
Heading to the midpoint of his third season on the NASCAR Cup Series, the 22-year-old Elliott remains in search of his first win. But he is learning more and more about what it takes to compete at the highest level of stock car racing.
“One thing I’ve realized this season is when you have things that are on your side you need to make the most of them while you have them,” Elliott said Thursday. “I feel like in my career thus far, I’ve had some portions of seasons that were really good car-wise and we were really strong, had some great things going for us, things that if I knew then what I know now I would love another shot at them.
“I think that’s the biggest thing is you just have to kind of pick your battles and you know for us, there’s been races to this point throughout the year that we haven’t been the fastest car at the end of practice or at the end of qualifying and you have to really just kind of sit back and make the most of what you have.”
Elliott takes another shot at his first win this Sunday when the Cup Series returns to a mid-summer date at Chicagoland for the first time since 2010. The track hosted the opening round of the playoffs the past seven years, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway gets the honor this season.
“The past two races here at Chicago have been really good for us,” Elliott said. “We had some great things going on.”
Elliott’s success at Chicagoland was part of 22 top-five finishes in the previous two seasons. A similar showing this weekend could provide a big lift for the son of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott.
Chase Elliott is just 13th in the series standings. But he appears to be picking up some momentum, finishing in the top 10 in his last three races.