NASCAR driver Chase Elliott faces Daytona with faith in his team after ‘tough season’

DAYTONA, Fla. (WGHP) — Chase Elliot and his team had a difficult year in 2023, but, this year, he says his team is ready to get back in the game.

Kevin Connolly and Danny Harnden of Nexstar’s WGHP, and WFLA’s JB Biunno spent Wednesday afternoon catching up with drivers as they get ready to hit the speedway this Sunday for the Daytona 500.

Elliot, of Dawsonville, Georgia, drives the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He has eight full seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series behind him, including championship wins in 2020.

In the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series, he came in 16th after a string of absences, according to NASCAR. He missed six races due to injury and one due to a suspension. It was his first season without a win since 2017.

“Anytime you have a tough season like that, it can destroy a race team,” Elliot said. “It can destroy any team, any sports team out there that goes through a bad year. I think it’s really easy to be torn apart, and typically it happens from the inside out. I’m just really, really proud of our group for sticking together.”

Elliot says, however, that his team came out of that hard year with the drive to climb back on top.

“The will and the desire and the want to be better and to fight for one another and to get back to where we feel like we can be and where we’ve been in the past is as high as it’s ever been,” Elliot said.

This will be his ninth Daytona 500.

DraftKings puts Elliot’s odds of winning the 2024 championship at 17-2.