Chase Elliott ready to end Daytona 500 nightmare

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It may be The Great American Race to most. For Dawsonville’s Chase Elliott, it’s more like The Great American Nightmare.

“We ran second here one time, so that was kind of cool. The rest of them, we’ve pretty much crashed, so there hasn’t really been a lot of good outside of that day,” Elliott said as he prepared for the now-postponed Daytona 500. Weather forced NASCAR to move the 66th running of the Great American Race to Monday at 4 p.m.

(WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of the Daytona 500 on Monday, beginning at 4 p.m. on FM 102.9 and streaming online.)

Elliott, who will start in the 5th position as the top Chevrolet in the field, is still looking for his first-ever Daytona 500 win. He had his most frustrating year to date in 2023, battling injuries and his car. 

He suffered a broken left leg in a snowboarding accident on March 3rd, missed six weeks, and also went winless. He then had surgery on an old shoulder injury in the offseason.

“My injuries were not why we struggled,” he stated. “I just think I have some bad habits that this car doesn’t like, and I have to address it ultimately.”

He is ready to put last year behind him and get a solid jumpstart to the 2024 season as he tries to capture his second NASCAR Cup championship. He won the 2020 Cup with one of the more dominating seasons in recent memory, with five wins, 15 top-five finishes, and 22 top-10 finishes.

He was asked if winning races matter more now than championships.

“No. I think at this point, when you get a number of championships, it’s going to trump that,” he said. “Certainly, winning more is going to mean you had probably more fun over the course of the entirety of your career. It means you had some good weeks. More often, having good weeks is a good thing.”

With this year’s race also coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports, Elliott also will be looking to end a 10-year drought for HMS in the winner’s circle at Daytona. He also understands that it takes more than skill to snag the checkered flag at Daytona and would love nothing more than to kill three birds with one victory.

“Obviously, it’s a big year for HMS,” he said. “I don’t think it would matter if it were the second anniversary or whatever. He wants to win, and we do too. I wanted to win it pretty bad before. I don’t think it changes anything from that standpoint.”

“It’s a hard race to win. You have to have quite a few things go your way. Unfortunately for HMS, it’s just been a while, but I think it’ll come back around.”