Dawsonville, Georgia's Chase Elliott had to sit out the NASCAR Cup Series race at his "home track" on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Elliott won last summer's race at the 1.5-mile track in Hampton, Georgia, but had to miss the first visit to AMS since teh win as he continues to recover in Colorado from a broken tibia suffered while snowboarding earlier this month.
Elliott posted regrets on his Twitter account for being unable to participate in Sunday's race.
“This is gonna be a tough one today not being in atl for obvious reasons, but I can’t wait to see everyone down there in July," the 27-year-old posted to his account.
When Hendrick Motorsports tweeted to Elliott “Not the same without you here,” Elliott replied with hopes he would return “hopefully sooner than later my friends.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Josh Berry drove Elliott's car on Sunday, and was racing in the lead pack when he was gathered up in a multi-car crash on lap 189 when leader Kevin Harvick spun at the front of the field off turn 2. He would soldier home to an 18th place finish.
Odds and Ends
Atlanta Motor Speedway announced a multi-year contract extension with Quaker State for its July 9 race. Quaker State also will be the primary sponsor for Daniel Suarez's car in Atlanta's summer race as well as in Richmond on April 2. ... Tyler Reddick started 16th and finished fifth after pre-race concerns he was sick and might not be able to compete in his Toyota. Reddick was excused from the pre-race drivers' meeting. John Hunter Nemechek, who finished eighth in Saturday night's Xfinity race, was available to fill in if Reddick couldn't complete the race.
Up Next
The NASCAR Cup series moves to Austin, Texas and the Circuit of the Americas next Sunday. Ross Chastain scored his first career Cup win on the road course last year.
