Chase Elliott reveals Bristol racetrack “one of the main reasons” why he wanted to become a NASCAR driver

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has divulged the Bristol Motor Speedway as one of the primary factors behind his pursuit of becoming a NASCAR racer.

The upcoming Cup Series race, the Food City 500, is scheduled to kick off on Sunday, March 17, at 3.30 PM ET, and a tally of 36 drivers will be fighting for the podium spots. One among them is the HMS driver Elliott, whose footing into the current season hasn't been satisfactory. His best finish in 2024 came at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he secured the P12 spot.

Son of Bill Elliott, the Georgian boy has inherited a racing pedigree as he used to witness his father tame the asphalt of stock car racing. So, it's safe to say that the thought of becoming a racer one day must've crossed his mind several times.

However, apart from his father's outing, Chase Elliott's love for the Bristol Motor Speedway was a major contributor to where the 28-year-old stands today. Ahead of his 500-lap run at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the #9 Chevrolet driver elucidated why the 0.533-mile track ignited the flame of becoming a NASCAR driver.

Chase Elliott said (via NBC Sports):

“When I was a kid, Bristol was one of the main reasons I wanted to be a racecar driver. I mean, just that environment was unbelievable.”

The highly located grandstands, filled with enthusiastic spectators rippled an energy that the HMS driver absorbed to fulfill his NASCAR dream.

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Chase Elliott takes a jibe at the newly devised short track package for Phoenix

The debate around increasing the horsepower of the stock cars has not seemed to have settled. To curb the speed problem and intensify the thrill of racing, NASCAR came up with a new short-track package for the NextGen Cup Series cars.

To achieve low downforce to make the cars unstable at slow speeds, the diffuser was reduced to a smaller size and the number of vertical planks also saw a drop in count. Furthermore, an increase of one inch has been applied to the rear spoiler from last season's two inches.

All the modifications were apparently promising on the paper but on track, the story was in extreme contrast. Chase Elliott took a jibe at the developments, saying that he forgot what modifications took place until he was prompted by his crew on the same.

Motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass shared the 2020 Cup Series champion words on X (formerly Twitter):

"I forgot they did anything until after practice they were talking about some of the real diffuser stuff. I don't think so it looked much different."