Q&A with Chase Elliott in Bristol

Chase Elliott

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) and discussed his season thus far, his earliest memories of coming to BMS, his fitness regimen and many other topics.

YOU WILL BE MAKING YOUR FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES START AT BRISTOL THIS WEEKEND. TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ANTICIPATION OF COMING HERE IN THE CUP CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME:
“I’m excited. What a cool place Bristol is. It is a track I’ve always enjoyed coming to watch as a fan, and one that I certainly never wanted to miss watching at home. Very neat to be here and be here and be a part of the Cup Series race this weekend. We have had some good runs and some not so good runs on the Xfinity side. We ran a Truck race here and I think a Pro Cup race here. I’ve been fortunate enough to race here a handful of times over the past four or five years. Hopefully, we can take a little bit of that knowledge that we have gathered over those races and try to apply it this weekend."

HOW DO THINGS STAND WITH YOU AS TO WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED AT THIS POINT? WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE TO YOU SO FAR?
“I think for me, I still look at a lot of areas for improvement. We have had our ups and downs for sure. We are still working through things and trying to get better. We are still getting used to each other and things along those lines. The relationship has been good. I think I have a great group of guys around me. They are certainly a great group, they have been great to me at the racetrack when we are working on the car, going throughout practice, or away from the racetrack building some of those friendships have been great as well. Definitely, there have been lots of surprises. It’s hard to nail down one. I would say…I’m trying to think of one that really jumped out at me. As you go along throughout each weekend, one thing is these races are so long and so much can happen throughout a race. No matter how you start I think you have so much time to try to work on your car and make it better throughout the day, where as in races in the past you might not necessarily of had that time to work on your car as long. It seems like in these Cup races if you are off a little bit in the beginning, it’s obviously not good, but it’s also not the end of the world. And kind of work through that stuff and kind of keep clawing through it and hope you can find the balance at some point."

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF COMING TO BRISTOL AS A KID WITH YOUR DAD? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF COLOSSUS?
“It’s a really cool place. What a cool atmosphere. I didn’t realize how big that thing (the Colossus TV screens hanging high above Bristol Motor Speedway) was until I got here a minute ago. I bet it was a project getting that big speaker in. That is pretty cool. Hopefully, it will offer some good views and information for the fans sitting around the racetrack. Like I said it’s such a cool place.

“My first memory coming here I always remember this being such a tough race. Coming to watch my Dad run I remember him getting out of the car here and just being so worn out, so dehydrated and hot. This race always took such a physical toll on him. I can remember guys getting out of the cars here and having to have oxygen after the races to try to get to feeling better. Those are kind of my first memories. That really stood out in my mind that every time I came to Bristol I knew he was going to be wore out. Obviously, as a little kid that wasn’t the most comforting feeling knowing that your Dad was going to run this race and not be feeling good after. That was kind of my first memories coming here, but always such a cool place. He loved coming here. I enjoyed coming to watch. I loved watching the races. I remember that specifically just how much of a physical toll it took on him."

HOW MUCH EMPHASIS HAVE YOU HAD TO PUT ON CONDITIONING, WORKING OUT WITH THESE EXTRA LONG RACES SO YOU FEEL GOOD SO YOU MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS LATE IN A RACE?
“I do think it is important. As you run these races they are so long. You want to try to give it your all throughout the race, but the most important part as you touched on is the end of the race and trying to be around at the end and give yourself a chance. If you are not both physically and mentally there 100 percent at lap 500 mile or however long the race might be you are not doing anybody any favors and that is not fair to your group. I try to focus on a lot of cardio stuff away from the racetrack. I’ve been getting more involved in mountain biking and that sort of thing over the past month I would say. I’ve been enjoying that and I definitely think it helps. To me if nothing else it makes you feel better. Anytime you can feel better, no matter what you are doing, I think that is an improvement. If you can go somewhere and feel better when you get there, mentally, physically, across the board I think that is a good thing. The conditioning in the racecar, I think just running these races is conditioning in itself. The more you do it certainly I think the more your body will get used to what it takes to run these races and how you feel when you get towards the end."

DID YOU HAVE ANY TYPE OF WAKE UP CALL MARTINSVILLE OR CHARLOTTE LAST YEAR SINCE YOU RAN THE FULL DISTANCE THERE?
“Yeah, Charlotte was definitely a long race. I had thought about it so much as to just how long that race was before I kind of talked myself into thinking it wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it was going to be when we got going. That race to me I don’t know if it was just I was expecting it to be so long that it didn’t feel like a 600-miler or it kind of felt like a normal 500 mile race. This year I would say the longest race that to me felt longer than the Coke 600 last year was probably Fontana. That seemed like a long race that day for whatever reason. I guess it’s just perspective and how you look at your race day and how things are going too. That makes a big difference."

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH EDDIE D’HONDT (SPOTTER) IN YOUR EAR? DO YOU LIKE THE INFORMATION HE HAS BEEN GIVING YOU? WHERE DO YOU STAND ON HAVING A NEW SPOTTER IN YOUR EAR THIS YEAR?
“I think our relationship is definitely grown. We’ve both been making tweaks throughout the year. We certainly had a lot of conversation at Daytona. That is such an interesting place to start from a driver and spotter’s relationship from that perspective is interesting because so much conversation is going back and forth between him and I. The way the lanes move back and forth that becomes such a trusting situation. So, for me I think my trust level has grown a lot since then. We’ve made small adjustments here and there of things I like and don’t like. I feel like we’ve got to a pretty good spot where we are both comfortable with each other and the information that is going back and forth. I feel good about it now and I don’t really have any issues."

DO YOU THINK THE NEW LOWER DOWNFORCE PACKAGE WILL HAVE AN AFFECT HERE AT BRISTOL? IF SO WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE?
“I think you might see some difference. I don’t know, as you said, being a half-mile racetrack I’m not sure just how much it will play a role. Looking back to Martinsville, I do think on the braking side of things you didn’t have as much downforce and as much drag helping you get stopped, whereas here you have a lot of the banking to catch you. I don’t know that you will see a big difference in that this weekend."

WILL IT AFFECT ANY CARS TRYING TO RUN THE TOP LANE?
“I think you are going to see cars wherever the grip is. If the grip is up top that is where you are going to see them and if it’s around the bottom that is where it’s going to be. The way the races have gone here the past few years, I’m sure, maybe not today or tomorrow, but definitely Sunday and I would expect by tomorrow afternoon you will see everybody up to if I had to guess."

WHEN YOU COME TO THESE TRACKS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A CUP CAR IS THERE A ROUTINE THE FIRST TIME YOU HIT THE TRACK?
“I don’t know that I have a routine necessarily any different than I would approach it if I was coming back for the second time. Other than maybe just having some more notes to lean back on. I still look at a lot of my notes that I’ve gathered over the past couple of years on the Xfinity side. I look at things there and just try to apply it from a race track’s perspective, not so much the car, just kind of some of the things that you saw throughout the race or how things moved around. What you thought moving around did for your car. I think that still applies. I try to take some of that stuff and just keep it in mind as you roll into the weekend. It’s definitely not easy and certainly is some differences as you come in. These cars have more horsepower and you are going a little faster. That does change the characteristics of how the cars are driving and maybe what exactly you are looking for throughout practice, more than an Xfinity car. I think the biggest thing is just kind of looking back the notes you’ve gathered. Even if it’s not the same race car, at least you have some to look back on from these racetracks."