Chase Elliott is catching up to speed in the 2024 season. The first four races witnessed him roaming around in the top 20s field. But last weekend Elliott finally secured his first top 10 spot of the season. Amidst the mind-boggling tire dilemma, Elliott swerved to an 8th-place finish. 

However, last year’s bitter memories are still fresh in Elliott’s mind. In March 2023, he had run into an unexpected debacle. An accident high up in the mountains left him injured enough to miss out on six races. Recently, Elliott expanded in detail about the scary incident.

Chase Elliott shares raw details about his 2023 medical mishap

When Chase Elliott slipped and broke his knee barely two races into 2023, many people criticized his carelessness. But Elliott firmly defended his stance. He justified his mountaineering activities as something he used as a training tool. However, his racing career did take a small hit, and even Dale Jr was concerned.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had drawn a parallel with his own story. When other drivers drove in his stead, he lost out on precious race points. Additionally, the mere idea of letting somebody else drive his car and possibly perform better hit him hard. 

Recently, Dale Jr sat down with Chase Elliott and pricked him into sharing all about the snowboarding fiasco. Elliott explained, “If you jumped off this table, you know you’re like fixing it to the ground. So you would bend your knees and absorb the bump in the road. So I had my knee basically locked straight. So when I rolled over this, I basically sent the shock up my leg. That part of my knee, where the bones come together, took a shock…That was the fall.”

Then Dale Jr asked if Chase immediately became aware of the problem. Elliott said, “Oh yeah, it hurt pretty bad. Right when it happened, I felt something in my knee go wrong…it was more of a sharp pain I guess at first, and then I knew it was messed up cuz I got like sick to my stomach…so it was a rough morning, no doubt.”

Chase Elliott’s future in 2023 turned bleak after this accident. Josh Berry covered for him in five oval races while IMSA champion Jordan Taylor took over at the Circuit of The Americas. In the meantime, Elliott underwent surgery at the Steadman Clinic, a U.S. Olympic National Medical Center in Vail, Colorado. Despite the setback, his team owner supported Elliott in his recovery efforts.

Hendrick reversed his ideals to support Elliott

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Rick Hendrick used to be a hardliner in ensuring his racers maintained decorum and discipline. He firmly believed that they could not partake in any daredevil activity for fear of injury. But Kyle Larson first changed this viewpoint, convincing Hendrick about pursuing his short-track ambitions. Hendrick was lenient with Chase Elliott as well, supporting his path to recovery.

“Chase’s health is our primary concern,” Hendrick said ahead of Elliott’s surgery. “He’s spoken with several members of our team and is understandably disappointed to miss time in the car. Of course, he has our full support and we’ll provide any resources he needs.”

Chase Elliott will hopefully not run into any more untoward accidents this year and bring his first season win soon.

Read More: After HMS’ All-Star Tease, Chase Elliott Will Pay Tribute to Dale Jr’s Daytona Glory in Darlington