Elliott brings simpler type of strategy: Win a race

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Chase Elliott is making his return to racing this weekend at Martinsville Speedway with one thing on his mind: Winning.

And that approach won’t change the rest of the season.

Elliott has missed the last six Cup Series races after breaking his left leg during a freak snowboarding accident in Colorado, leaving him so far behind in the points race that his only realistic shot of making the NASCAR playoffs is winning a race.

“We are in a position where we are going to have to win, or at least that is how I have been looking at it,” Elliott said. “You miss a few weeks and you’re pretty much going to have to win.”

Elliott said while the setup of his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro and how he drives won’t change, the overall strategy of how his team approaches Sunday’s 400-lap race will be different.

“We see guys shorten stages to try to get the win or whatever, going for points. Obviously, we don’t need to go for points,” Elliott said. “So any time you have decisions to make, the decision is going to be very easy — you play the long game and try to win the event.”

Elliott doesn’t anticipate any modifications to the inside of the racecar to accommodate his surgically repaired leg. For the most part, it should be racing as usual.

“The leg is kind of tightly packed in there between the seat, the leg board, and the knee-knocker. All of those have your left pretty tight,” said Elliott, who won the 2020 fall race in Martinsville. “I feel like things are already the way I want them.”

Qualifying didn’t go as well as hoped for Elliott. He will start 24th after brushing the wall on his second lap of qualifying.

“It actually felt pretty good," Elliott said. “I had an abysmal qualifying lap, but I can't blame my leg on that one. I had a pretty good last and then messed up.”

He then quipped, “Judging off of practice, starting in the back is going to be a lot of fun.”

Ryan Preece put his No. 41 Ford on the pole for Sunday’s race, capping a strong day of qualifying for Stewart-Haas Racing. All four SHR cars qualified in the top seven.

Daniel Suarez and Preece’s teammate, Aric Almirola, were tied for the best qualifying lap before Preece took the half-mile track last among the top-10 drivers in the final round and zipped around the paper clip-shaped course in 94.78 miles per hour, besting the effort of 94.298 shared by Suarez and Almirola.

Because Saurez's team has the edge in car owner points over Almirola, he'll start second ahead of Almirola in third.

...

Joe Hunter Nemechek held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith to win his second Xfinity Series race of the season. He then raised some eyebrows — and some level of concern — when the back of his No. 20 Toyota became engulfed in flames after he celebrated with burnouts on the track.

At first, Nemechek tried to drive away from the fire, but then was asked to stop as safety officials raced onto the track and used fire extinguishers to douse the flames. The fire left burn marks on the racetrack.