Elliott returns to Iowa Speedway as defending K&N race winner

NEWTON, Iowa – Chase Elliott is hoping for another memorable trip to Iowa Speedway when he lines up for Friday night’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combo event.

Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, went to Victory Lane at the .875-mile track on May 19 in the K&N Pro Series East-West combo event, which marked his first career win in NASCAR competition. That win also combines with Elliott’s impressive late model season, which includes seven victories so far this year.

“When looking at all my wins this year, the Iowa K&N win is definitely the most memorable,” Elliott said. “It meant a lot to me, and it also meant a lot to (crew chief) Lance (McGrew) and all the guys on the No. 9 team. It was definitely a big confidence booster, and I think that was something that we needed to do.”

Elliott enters the Iowa weekend ranked second in the 2012 championship standings, 22 points behind leader Brett Moffitt. This 150-lap event will be broadcast on SPEED on Thursday, Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. ET.

“I’m really, really excited to go back to Iowa,” Elliott said. “Obviously, that win makes you more excited to go back to a racetrack that you won at previously. We’ve been at a lot of these little short tracks lately, so I’m just excited to go back to a bigger racetrack, and I think one that we have a really good chance of running well at.”

Elliott has posted one win, three top-five finishes, six top-10s, earned one pole award and has led a total of 70 laps in nine K&N Pro Series East starts so far this season. In 23 career K&N Pro Series starts, he has posted one win, seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10s.

Elliott will participate in the K&N Pro Series East-West autograph session at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 3 from 4:30-5:15 p.m. local time.