One year ago, Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) was about to become a very special place for Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet. At the time, he was an 18-year-old rookie, and on the verge of the improbable. By the race’s conclusion, Elliott would become the youngest champion in NASCAR national touring series history, clinching the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) title with a fifth-place effort.
The championship was the first for JR Motorsports at the NXS level and third for NAPA AUTO PARTS since becoming a NASCAR team sponsor in 1996. NAPA won previous championships with Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) and driver Ron Hornaday, Jr. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 1996 and 1998.
As special as Phoenix was to the No. 9 team in 2014, it could become even more so this weekend should Elliott cut into the 24-point deficit in the championship standings. In three starts there, Elliott has one top-five, three top-10s and an average finish of 7.0.
Further, the statistics at tracks a mile in length are in his favor. Out of the top-three drivers in the championship standings, Elliott holds the highest average finish between the four one-mile dates (Dover, Loudon and Phoenix) the series has visited in 2015. The defending champion has put up a strong 7.3 average finish, two positions higher than Chris Buescher’s 9.3 and five spots better than Ty Dillon’s 12th – place average.
JR Motorsports PR
