CONCORD, N.C. – As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Wisconsin to race at Road America this weekend, the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is looking to recreate their car's pace from the most recent road course event at Sonoma Raceway. For No. 48 lead engineer Chais Eliason, a homecoming to the Midwest is a return to his roots and a return to where his passion for racing developed.
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The 14-turn, 4.048-mile venue is the closest on the circuit to his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota.
Growing up in a racing family, Eliason took an interest in the sport from a young age. Between driving and working on race cars, he started to understand what changes he could make to get the most out of his equipment. Due to his geographic location, his knowledge base was in dirt racing, not asphalt. As an intern at Hendrick Motorsports in 2012, Eliason quickly learned the ropes of how to succeed on a different type of surface.
"Dirt is definitely my background." Eliason said. "The fundamentals across all racing platforms apply. A Cup car is very different than a dirt car but the basic fundamentals still work out very well. I think on top of that, working with a team, working with a driver, working with a diverse group of teams has really applied."
As the lead engineer with the No. 48 team, Eliason’s work relies on taking feedback from his driver, Alex Bowman, to help get the most speed out of the car. This has carried added importance with the debut of the Next Gen car this season and the new car being run for the first time at every venue. With the return of practice and qualifying, Eliason has more data and feedback to work from to get the car dialed in to help put his team in a position to win. In the season's third points-paying race of the season, Bowman and the No. 48 team won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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During his time at Hendrick Motorsports, Eliason's talents have been used in several different ways around the shop. Prior to working with Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives on the No. 48 team, he was a member of the No. 5 team during Kyle Larson's championship run in 2021. He was also a part of the 2016 title-winning team with driver Jimmie Johnson, which he regards as his favorite memory from his time at Hendrick Motorsports as it was his first championship with the organization.
"It was kind of an up-and-down year," Eliason said of the 2016 title. "We came to Homestead, and we were able to pull it out of a hat and won the championship. That was pretty cool to be there for the first championship."
With one win already this season, Eliason and the entire No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team are looking to Road America as an opportunity. Bowman has a solid record on road courses, including a runner-up showing this year at Circuit of The Americas. Tune into the 250-mile race on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network as well as MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.