HAMPTON, Ga. – Friday afternoon, Atlanta Motor Speedway presented Chase Elliott with one final lucky charm.
The driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 received a personalized football jersey from the University of Georgia Bulldogs – his favorite team.
“Oh, wow,” Elliott said. “That’s awesome! Very cool. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.”
While he appreciated the gesture, it wasn’t the only reason Elliott is excited about being at his home track this weekend.
He has never finished outside of the top 10 at Atlanta in any NASCAR national series – and it’s just a track where he loves to race.
“It’s just a fun place to come,” he said. “I think anywhere you run three or four laps and the lap times have fallen off significantly like they are here all the time, I think that makes it fun. It makes it fun from a strategy standpoint and it makes it fun for the racers.”
He agreed with the sentiment that the venue is “a racer’s track,” adding that drivers’ feedback is “just worth a little more here.”
“I think that a lot of guys feel that way,” he said.
Sunday, he’ll look to become just the second Georgia-born driver to find Victory Lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway, joining his father – NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who won five times at the track.
The race is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.