Is Chase Elliott at a Disadvantage Heading Into His Home Race at Atlanta This Weekend?

Of the 18 races so far this season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott has missed 7 of them. He first missed 6 in a row because of his accident and the surgery he had to go undergo because of it, and then he missed another a few weeks later because of a penalty. In other words, Elliott’s year has been quite disappointing so far. But he can turn it around in his home race in Atlanta this weekend.

Having said that, Atlanta’s character as a racetrack could take Elliott by surprise as it now produces superspeedway-like racing. Of course, he ran there last year and ended up with a win and a 5th place finish in two races.

But this year, considering he missed the first race at Atlanta, could Elliott be at a slight disadvantage?

Chase Elliott doesn’t feel he is at a disadvantage for Atlanta

During an interview with journalist Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Elliott was asked whether he feels behind the curve or ahead of the curve heading into Atlanta considering he missed the race in March. “No,” the #9 driver replied.

“I don’t honestly feel any different going into it. I think, yes I missed the event but I did get to run Talladega, shortly thereafter I got back which is another speedway event, not the same but similar in a lot of ways.”

“So I don’t feel behind at all personally going this weekend. I know it was pretty cold there in the first race, they had a lot of issues in qualifying and things like that, so I anticipate a lot of that will be better this weekend just with it being hot. It’s really hot this week which is a good thing.”

Chase Elliott says he doesn’t feel behind going into Atlanta even though he missed the race in March. He explains: pic.twitter.com/GttE6Ekrrg

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 6, 2023

Elliott will be running in Atlanta with a special paint scheme

Ahead of the weekend in Atlanta, Chase Elliott opened up on his paint scheme which was recently unveiled as part of the ‘DESI9N TO DRIVE’ campaign which aims to raise money to benefit the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s. Speaking about the 7th edition of this campaign, Elliott opened up on his hopes and expectations for the campaign considering the Atlanta race will be run at night.

#Desi9nToDrive is around the corner. Get to know Alex, whose smores design inspired my @theNAPANetwork race uniform for July 9 @ATLMotorSpdwy Night Race. Help support @childrensatl cancer center at https://t.co/KmUbFfPJfv. pic.twitter.com/yFIK3z9JYp

— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) June 28, 2023

“I’m excited for the return of the DESI9N TO DRIVE program to my home track since it really shines a light on the positive impact Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has on the greater community,” Elliott said as per Hendrick Motorsports. “With the race being run at night, I hope it creates an even greater atmosphere than years past. I can’t wait for everyone to see theses summer nights-themed designs come to life at the racetrack.”

In the last 6 years, this campaign has already raised donated over $300,000 to the Children’s. This year too, the goal would be to raise a big sum for the great cause which Elliott can maximize by trying to take his #9 Camaro with the special paint scheme to the victory lane.