Will Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson Team Up for the Rolex 24 Race in 2021?

Published 11/15/2020, 7:00 AM EST

The 2020 NASCAR Cup season may be over, but none of the drivers are staying idle in the offseason. To be precise, Chase Elliott still has some racing left in him this year. In order to get some practice to defend his title, he is likely to participate in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2021.

However, he won’t be alone, as newly-retired Jimmie Johnson could partner him one final time. Admittedly, the IMSA season is concluding this weekend with the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2021 though, the season kicks off with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 30th.

As per reports, Action Express Racing will enter a second DPI Cadillac for Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson.

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“Both of our guys, Chase and Jimmie, will be in the 24-hour race [at Daytona], so I’m looking forward to that,” Hendrick said. However, he later confessed that he probably ‘jumped the gun’.

Chase Elliott headlines a star-studded lineup at Daytona in 2021

It is worth noting that there have been a number of NASCAR drivers winning at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Apparently, Jimmie Johnson is one of those racers, so Chase Elliott has a chase to etch his name alongside them. However, Johnson has yet to win a race, a statistic that he intends to correct posthaste.

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Meanwhile, the likes of Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray have tasted victory at Daytona. Even Jeff Gordon can proudly say that he is a Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona race winner. Gordon even won the race while driving a DPI Cadillac, which just adds a little more pressure on the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

The good news is that Chase Elliott is regarded as one of the best road course NASCAR drivers. To make matters even better, he has won the Daytona road course race this year. However, the newly-crowned Cup Series champion will have to quickly adapt to the sports prototype.

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In essence, he has never been in a car that is faster than a NASCAR machine. There is no doubt that he is capable of winning road course races, but adaptability will be key.

Chase Elliott Reveals How Jimmie Johnson Constantly Motivated Him ahead of NASCAR Championship Race

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.