“Important Part Of Our Sport”: Chase Elliott Urges NASCAR Not To Go Overboard With Short-Track Plan

Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott recently spoke his mind on what has been a persistent issue in the world of American stock car racing for the past few years. Ever since the advent of the Next Gen Cup car, short-track racing in the highest echelon of the sport has left something to be desired in terms of the quality of racing and passing on the track.

The #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 native spoke his mind during a media advance published by Speedway Media ahead of this weekend’s All-Star Race. Elliott touched on how the sport should keep concentrating on the short-track package offered by the seventh-generation racecar alongside inherent strengths of the car such as intermediate tracks, aiming to strike a balance between the types of venues NASCAR visits.

He elaborated, “The races at the mile-and-a-half tracks have been really good. But I don’t think that’s always a reason to get more of them. I always feel like less is more. We just need to be careful and put enough emphasis and importance into making our short-track package better because we do have great short tracks around the country that we can lean into and race at.”

“We just need to make our cars structured into a position that we can put on better shows. I would rather see a better product on the short-track stuff than taking them away. I don’t think they’re taking them away, but I would hate to see a movement away from that, just because it’s an important part of our sport.”

NASCAR has had multiple attempts at improving the short-track package with the Next Gen car, with subpar levels of success over the past two seasons. Many drivers have called out for more tire falloff at such events, which might just be the key the sport has been looking for all along.

Chase Elliott “excited” to race at newly repaved North Wilkesboro Speedway ahead of 2024 All-Star Race appearance

Elliott also recently previewed the upcoming 2024 NASCAR All-Star weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway as the Dawsonville, Georgia native spoke about the quality of short-track racing ahead of the sport’s visit to the 0.625-mile-long track.

Touching on the recent repave of the historic venue along with the sport’s return to the facility for the second consecutive year, Elliott spoke of the venue in a media advance by Speedway Media and said, “This place has been around for a long time. It’s kind of in the heart of ‘NASCAR land’. I was excited to see whoever spent a bunch of money to repave the place because that just told me that it was going to around for a while.”

The 2024 All-Star Race kicks off this Sunday at 8:00 pm ET, with drivers trying their hands to win $1 million in prize money.