Chase Elliott Had “Low Expectations” While Paying Hendrick Motorsports Rival Kyle Larson The Ultimate Compliment on ‘Hardest Race in the World’ in 2021

Last year, the word was out that Hendrick Motorsport star Chase Elliott was about to race in the iconic Chili Bowl Midget race. Following the news, Elliott was asked a bunch of questions regarding his expectation going into this unique format of racing.

Elliott stated, “For me. I just felt like, I’m still in my twenties, and I feel like as you get older, it gets harder to learn new disciplines. I didn’t grow up doing that kind of thing, but I just felt like if I was gonna step out and try something new, I need to do it before you know, you get too old and get’s harder to learn things and you get older for sure.”

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“So I just felt like the opportunities were right and fortunately, this was the time to go give it a shot, so I’m looking forward to it. My expectations are low for sure. But I’m excited to try to go learn and honestly try to learn it the right way. I think it’s a very different thing and I’m excited to go and I’d say give it a shot.“

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Elliott was also asked how would he feel if was not able to exceed expectations surrounding his racing at the Chili Bowl. He also kind of paid an indirect compliment to his Hendrick Motorsport teammate.

Elliott responded, “I think for me like looking at it like, you know, being a fan of the event and watching the event, like, I see how hard it is. I mean, that’s had to be one of the hardest, you know, of odds, that would have to be one of the hardest races to win in the world.”

His Hendrick Motorsport teammate, Kyle Larson had previously won the Chili Bowl race, and Elliott calling it to be one of the hardest races, might have been an indirect compliment to Larson’s achievement.

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“I mean, from how many cars are entered and how there’s no guarantees and your prelim nights and just all the racing so I completely get the challenge. I think I understand it enough to know that it’s going to be very difficult,” Elliott concluded.