CONCORD, N.C. – With the off weekend behind them, the focus of the Hendrick Motorsports teams is set on the race this Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
So far this season, Hendrick Motorsports has won three poles and led 269 laps. Chase Elliott accounts for one of those poles and 122 of the laps led, and the driver of the No. 9 Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is ready for more success this weekend at Talladega.
"It definitely seems like a little bit of a home race for me, which I think is really cool,” the Dawsonville, Georgia, native said. “I’m not sure if that’s because we’re close to home or if that’s just random or happenstance or what it is, but that’s really neat. Just hearing, after the race, people saying that the crowd was fired up or whatever when we took the lead or something happened, I think that’s pretty neat. So, that may not always be the case. I’ve enjoyed it on days when it has been that way.”
This year, for the first time since 1987, the Talladega race will be competed without restrictor plates. The new rules package features a smaller tapered spacer designed to have a similar effect on horsepower, though Elliott said he's unsure how different the racing will be, and "until we get there it's really hard to say."
Regardless, he's excited to get back to a track where he has never started outside the top 10 and has picked up two top-five finishes. Not to mention, the environment the fans create makes each trip memorable.
“I feel like I have a nice connection with a lot of people that live around the Southeast," Elliott said. "There’s a lot of fans from Georgia there and a lot of friends that want to come over there for that race. I feel like Atlanta is certainly a home track for me, but I feel like Talladega kind of has that same feel in a lot of ways and I’ve enjoyed that part of going over there more than anything.”
Sunday's race at Talladega is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on FOX.