Elliott eyes points lead, readies to roll at Chicagoland

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In: Xfinity Series News

Despite being from Atlanta, over 700 miles away from Chicago, Chase Elliott happens to really like the Windy City.

He grabbed his latest win there last July, vaulted to the top of the standings, and stayed there, using the momentum to run away with the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.

Ranked third in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings, 35 points behind leader Chris Buescher, Elliott hopes to win at Chicagoland Speedway again as he returns to the 1.5-mile track for Saturday’s Owens Corning AttiCat 300 (9:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). The 19-year-old JR Motorsports driver goes in riding a four-race top-10 streak and a visit to Victory Lane could snowball into another NASCAR XFINITY Series title.

“Chicago is a fun race track that has many grooves, which makes for a lot of exciting racing,” Elliott said. “I really enjoyed going there last season. We had some success there in July which really gives me a confidence boost heading into the weekend.”

Don’t be fooled by Elliot’s 35-point deficit in the standings. He has the field right where he wants it. Elliott leads the NASCAR XFINITY Series with 11 top-10 finishes and could easily be in first if not for wrecks at the two restrictor plate tracks – Daytona and Talladega. Elliott finished 28th at Daytona and 37th at Talladega, his only showings outside the top eight this season.

Elliott has been closing in on Victory Lane for the last month. Most recently, he placed runner-up at Michigan after failing to hold off Kyle Busch on the closing laps. In Iowa in May, he paced the field for a career-best 114 laps, but ceded the lead to Buescher on a late restart for another second-place finish.

Elliott understands he cannot gain all of his points back at once and that consistency is the key to another XFINITY Series crown.

“We are in this for the long haul and understand it’s a lengthy season,” he said. “My NAPA team and I are committed to getting better each time we go out and race, that’s where it has to begin.”

NASCAR Wire Service
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