HAMPTON, Ga. – A friendship that spans nearly two decades will allow Chase Elliott the opportunity to compete in Saturday’s Active Pest Control 200 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
In addition to his driving duties in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Elliott will drive the No. 23 Allegiant Travel / NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing as part of the organization’s All-Star driver lineup this season.
“It was really kind of a no-brainer for me,” said Elliott. “I think they are a team that is doing a lot of things, I think, in the right direction. They seem to be building their program the right way. I have known some of those guys over there for a long time. Mike (Beam, GMS Racing general manager) used to work at Dad’s shop back when he did his own deal and what not.”
Elliott will make his 11th career Truck Series start Saturday afternoon as part of a double-header with the XFINITY Series. The Dawsonville, Ga. will make just his second series start within the past year after running nine races in 2013 for Hendrick Motorsports.
The 2014 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion said the opportunity didn’t come from an approach from himself or Hendrick Motorsports, but rather a phone call from a longtime friend.
“It was something those guys approached me about I guess about a month or so ago and asked me if I had an interest in running here,” added Elliott. “I said, absolutely, I thought it would be fun. There was really no more thought put into it than that. It was a phone call. I got a phone call from Mike Beam and asked me if I would be interested and I said yes. And we started working it out.
“From that side, it’s pretty cool and once I got the okay from all the folks at Hendrick Motorsports it was straight forward.”
Currently a one-race deal with GMS Racing which won the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opener last Fri. night at Daytona International Speedway with rookie Gaz Krala, the 21-year-old says he would be open to running more truck races this season.
“I would be open to it for sure,” said Elliott. “Obviously, we will see how this weekend goes and if they want to have me back or not, I’m not sure. We haven’t really talked about any other races. I have expressed interest in doing some other races, unfortunately, it is not that easy. We will see.”
No matter if there is more of a double-duty role for Elliott in his future or not, he certainly wants to make the best of the opportunity to drive for the 2016 championship team.
“I hope we can have a good run for those guys,” he said. “We will have, I think, Allegiant on board and NAPA on the truck this weekend too. Hopefully, we can have a good run for them and maybe that will offer some more opportunities to do it again in the future with them.”
In three practice sessions on Friday at the 1.54-mile oval, Elliott turned in the fifth, 13th and fastest times overall giving his team and growing fan-base potentially a lot to look forward to in the 130-lap race.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
