Elliott hopes Daytona’s race will help at 'Dega

Chase Elliott has been nothing short of amazing this season – his first in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Through the first eight races, he’s posted two top 10s, including back-to-back wins at Texas and Darlington. His only non-top-10 finish came in the season opener at Daytona, where he finished a respectable 15th in his series debut. This weekend, however, could be a little speed bump in his stellar start.

If there is one thing Elliott took from the Daytona race that he could learn and apply to Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Talladega Superspeedway, it’s that he’ll need to improve on his ability to draft, which is important at the two restrictor-plate tracks on the schedule.

“Continuing to learn the draft will be key for me this weekend at Talladega,” Elliott said. “The notes my guys have from Daytona this year will also come in handy.”

Those notes gleaned from the Daytona event will be of the utmost importance this weekend since the 18-year-old driver from Georgia has never competed in a NASCAR national series race at the track.

Heading to the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Elliott holds a 19-point advantage over JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith in the championship standings. In addition, he leads Ty Dillon in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 34 points.

JRM is having a renaissance-like year with the organization off to their best start in its history. Between Elliott, Smith and Kevin Harvick the three have won half of the season’s events.

In the most recent race, at Richmond, Harvick held off a hard-charging Elliott over the final laps to give JRM its first 1-2 finish in the series.

Regardless of how he runs at Talladega, Elliott is excited about the opportunity to race at one of the most challenging and unpredictable tracks on the schedule.

“I’m looking forward to getting to Talladega and putting on a show.”