LAS VEGAS -- Chase Elliott went from hitting the slopes in Colorado to hitting the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Wednesday for his first Goodyear test session of 2017.
"It was really good to get back in and kind of get acclimated and just try to sharpen up your skills and prepare for next season," the 21-year-old driver said.
Straight off a successful rookie campaign, including the 2016 Rookie of the Year honor, Elliott said Las Vegas was the perfect place to jump back into his No. 24 Chevrolet SS.
"This is a good place to do it," Elliott said of the 1.5-mile speedway. "It’s similar to a lot of tracks we’ll go to next season, which is helpful I think in a lot of ways."
Elliott commended Goodyear and the way in which they approached the test session.
"Of all the tests I’ve done with them, this is as aggressive as I’ve seen them with making changes and being willing to try new things with the tire," he said. "It think that’s encouraging and I hope that they take some good data for their side to try to help us down the road and produce some better racing."
In the March 2016 race at Las Vegas, Elliott took the green flag just outside the top 10 in 13th and ran up front most of the day. However, he was caught in an incident with less than 50 laps remaining that ended his day early and resulted in a 38th-place finish.
Looking ahead to his second visit to the Nevada track in just a few months, Elliott is looking forward to racing on the track whose character is increasing with time.
"I think the surface is aging each year," Elliott said, "and I think that’s adding character to the racetrack and allowing us to move around, which I think is important and as drivers we really like to do. That’s one thing about Vegas -- I’ve enjoyed watching that change over the past couple years and just having options as the race goes on and I hope this race will bring some more of that. We saw some of that last year and I thought it was good."
As far as Elliott's goal for his sophomore appearance at Las Vegas?
"I obviously would like to finish this one this year," the driver said. "That would be good, so that’s my goal first and foremost.”