HAMPTON, Ga. -- On Thursday, Chase Elliott hit his hometown track for testing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He piloted his No. 25 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS, which saw action in five points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2015, and it got him thinking about what 2016 will bring.
"Definitely excited -- and I don't think it's all quite set in just yet," he said. "I'm really looking forward to next season, and the more days we spend doing tests like this, the more it kind of starts to set in for me that the next time we come to this track will be next year in the No. 24 car and we'll be racing Sprint Cup full-time.
"All those are things I dreamed of doing for a long time, so I'm very, very excited and honored to have the opportunity come and race at a racetrack like this and a circuit like the Sprint Cup Series. I just hope to try to make the most of a great opportunity that's in front of me."
Elliott was at Atlanta to help test the 2016 rules package that was announced earlier this month.
The low-downforce package for next season is similar to the one utilized at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway in 2015.
After racing at Darlington, watching at Kentucky and testing at Atlanta and previously Michigan International Speedway, Elliott said the 2016 rules package "has great potential."
"I do know from watching the Kentucky race, I felt like that was a great show, and I hope that turns into great races throughout the entire season at these racetracks," he said. "A place like Atlanta and a lot of the mile-and-a-halfs that we go to have such potential to put on a really, really good show. I think that can happen, and I think that is a good step in the right direction."
Elliott still has his sights on success in the remainder of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season, but he knows what he wants to accomplish next season as well, when he's piloting the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS.
"I have goals and things that I'd like to achieve," he explained. "I think the first thing I'd like to achieve is just getting better. Those five races that we ran this year were not where I wanted to be by any means."
He maintained that he will look to continue improving as he gets behind the wheel for a team that has made it all the way to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this season.
"I know for a fact, going into that No. 24 team next year, I'm going to be by far the weakest link in the chain," he continued. "I just really feel like that's a good group, and I feel like if I can step up and do my job, there's no reason why we can't give ourselves a chance to go compete for a win."