CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Cup Series returns this week with a race at Bristol Motor Speedway and Chase Elliott knows exactly what challenges the track will bring.
“Bristol is a physical place,” Elliott said. “You don’t have a lot of time down the straightaways to think about things. You very much so get into a rhythm of just running.”
Sunday’s race will mark Elliott’s third trip to the “The Last Great Colosseum” in the Cup Series, where his best finish was in the spring race of 2016. He earned a top-five, finishing fourth. Elliott plans to reflect on that finish while preparing for the weekend ahead.
“I look back more at the spring race last year,” Elliott said. “I’m going to kind of look back at some of the things I was doing then to try to translate to this weekend, because I think obviously it’s the same weekend.”
Bristol always makes for some exciting and challenging races. For Elliott, one of the biggest challenges revolves around lapped traffic.
“Knowing how quickly the leader can get back to you to put a lap down, I think, is one thing that keeps everybody on their toes and probably keeps the intensity up,” Elliott explained. “I think that it just makes the racing that much more entertaining.”
Sunday’s race at Bristol begins at 2 p.m. ET on FOX.