“It’s All a Mixed Bag” – Chase Elliott Expresses His Concerns About Racing at Chicago and North Wilkesboro

Last weekend, the 2023 NASCAR Cup season officially got underway. As has been since last year, the season began with the Clash at the Coliseum, a quarter-mile track built inside the Los Angeles Coliseum. However, this race has cropped up a few issues that the drivers want to get addressed. Chief among them is how the Next Gen cars would behave on the new Chicago track and the returning North Wilkesboro Speedway. One such driver is Chase Elliott.

Elliott was reported by Motorsports Tribune as saying, “When you look at Chicago, that’s an event. We need to step back and take a look at that for what it is, and that’s an event. The way that event is laid out for attendees and spectators, you want people to enjoy the event and whatever you get from the race is a bonus, right?

“I think Wilkesboro will have so much (tire) falloff, because the surface is so old, that it’s going to chew up tires because it was abrasive when I last raced there in 2011.”

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Chase Elliott compared those tracks with the regular short tracks

The 2020 Cup Series champion acknowledged that the drivers are used to racing at the more in-use tracks. However, at North Wilkesboro and Chicago, they will be taking steps into the unknown. Sure, the excitement is definitely there, especially for the former. But the lack of data on how the cars will perform is a cause for concern.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver continued, “We were okay at Martinsville after about 80 laps when the tires finally fell off, so we just have to find a way to get there maybe a little bit sooner. I’m not smart enough to have all the answers but I can certainly provide feedback when asked, and I do.

“It’s all a mixed bag because I thought there were other areas of our racing with this car that was maybe better, too.”

For now, the #9 driver will train his focus for the upcoming Daytona 500. Although the racing season began at the Clash at the Coliseum, the real action begins at Daytona—the Clash being a zero-point race.

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