Chase Elliott has a long ways to go to defend his Würth 400 win at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Chase Elliott hopes the good times keep rolling at Texas Motor Speedway like in last year’s Würth 400. Starting 24th, the native of Dawsonville, Georgia, hovered inside the top 10 before taking the lead on Lap 260 en route to a double-overtime victory.
On the surface, Elliott’s path toward defending his Texas victory seems daunting. He posted the 23rd-fastest overall time in Saturday’s practice but ranked 10th in the 10-lap average, showing promise in long-run pace.
Prior to qualifying on the track, Elliott was hopeful that his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts 100th Anniversary Chevrolet would muster respectable one-lap pace.
“Well, we just got done practicing about 10 minutes ago, so I don’t think necessarily that it’s going to change a ton in that amount of time,” Elliott said to NASCAR on Prime Video’s Regan Smith. “And looking at the lap times, it’s pretty similar.
“It wasn’t a huge pickup like Ryan [Blaney] and the 22 [Joey Logano] there, at least from a couple of the guys that I saw ago. It’s interesting. I’m sure it’ll get faster as we go, it seems like it always does for the guys in the second round. We’ll see if we can get our NAPA 100 Chevy a good starting spot.”
However, Elliott did not have the speed in qualifying trim, posting the 29th fastest overall effort. If there is any solace with his starting position, he charged from 23rd to capture his only victory of the 2024 season, a testament to his smooth, methodical approach and crew chief Alan Gustafson’s attention to the nuances.
While smooth and steady often wins the race, the former does not apply to describing Texas’ track surface.
Although it has aged in the past eight years, it has not seen the same effects seen at other intermediates that have either been repaved or refit in the past 22 years. Likewise, Elliott lamented the changes made to Texas ahead of the 2017 season.
Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet celebrates the 100th anniversary of NAPA. (Photo: Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t know. It’s interesting because Kansas isn’t a beach either,” he shared during a midweek pre-race availability. “And it’s widened out quite a lot. I see his [Kyle Larson] point on that, for sure, when you look at Darlington and Homestead and I could see the argument that that might speed some things up from an aging perspective.
“But I really think it really comes down to how the track was designed and they, instead of making chicken salad, went the other way. It was a shame to see what it was and how good it was.”
On the other hand, Elliott tried to put himself in the Speedway Motorsports, Inc.’s shoes with the refit. In the years leading up to its changes, weepers became an issue on the track’s corners, greatly hindering drying efforts.
With Turns 1 and 2 differing with Turns 3 and 4, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion knows that racing at Texas is no picnic for any driver who dares to conquer her.
“And I just think that track was designed a certain way, back whenever it was years ago to be a certain thing and its distance and the banking and all of that engineering that went into it,” he considered. “And what they did for the shape of the track, it’s gonna be tough.
“Will it ever widen out? I don’t know. I could see [Turns] 3 and 4 maybe widening out some, but it’s just so fast. You’re still running a lot of throttle on that end.”
Chase Elliott cannot be dismissed as a contender for Sunday’s Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
Elliott’s charge toward the front will be an interesting storyline going into Sunday’s race as his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, William Byron (2nd), Kyle Larson (4th) and Alex Bowman (11th) start toward the front of the field. Along with his adept skills behind the wheel, Elliott’s No. 9 wrap will feature some unique colors for a special anniversary with his team’s anchor partner.
“This weekend is 100 years of NAPA. They’ve been a huge piece of my career, a vital piece of the puzzle to, truthfully, my career even becoming a career,” Elliott said in a team press release. “I really can’t say enough about them and what they’ve done for me and my family and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports as well.
“I think we’ve all kind of become a part of one another’s families over the years. And it’s been a really nice and natural fit.”
For the past 11 years, the partnership between Elliott and NAPA has benefited both sides from unique activations near a track’s marketplace to those memorable commercials on TV. If Elliott can defend his victory at Texas with the same poise and performance he showed last year, it would further highlight the strength of his bond with NAPA.
“It’s a pretty cool thing, when you have that type of relationship with the partner and the people within the company, too,” he added. “I can’t say enough about them. I appreciate them and they always treat me like they appreciate me.”
