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 The Atlanta native 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 standings this year, 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 is 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 racetrack 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 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 second at Michigan after failing to hold off
Kyle Busch in 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."
JONES HOPES TO HARVEST ANOTHER WIN AT IOWA
No one in his right mind would bring Erik Jones to a casino right
now.
His NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season can be summed up with
one word: Unlucky.
Despite dominating races, the NASCAR Next alum has yet to visit
Victory Lane. Jones' latest unfortunate event unfolded at Gateway
last week. He led a race-high 84 laps at the St. Louis-area track
before an accident on Lap 145 forced him out of the 160-lap race for
good.
The week before, he led 68 of the first 84 laps before battery
issues took him out of contention. In mid-May, Jones lost to Kasey
Kahne by the second-smallest margin in NCWTS history -- again after
leading the most laps. The week before that, Jones ran out of fuel
after pacing the field for a track-record 151 laps.
Jones will attempt turn his luck around Friday in the American
Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1), where
he is the defending race winner.
"Iowa has been a pretty fun place for me," Jones said. "I ran well
in the XFINITY Series race there earlier this year, so I'm pretty
excited to get back there this weekend and I think the whole team is
as well. It's a place that has been pretty good to me since I went
there for the first time in 2013, when we ran second in the spring.
And then we were able to get the win there last year."
Just how bad has Jones' luck been?
He leads the NCWTS in nearly every statistical category yet ranks
fourth in the standings, 33 points behind Matt Crafton. Jones sits
atop the series in average start (2.5), average mid-race position
(2.1), average running position (3.8), number of fastest laps (333),
laps led (480) and driver rating (124.7). His average finish is 8.3,
a stark drop from his average start and mid-race positions.
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Heading into Friday, Jones' sole focus is on taking the checkered
flag.
"I'm looking forward to having another short-track race this
weekend," Jones said. "We showed some good speed in our Special
Olympics World Games Tundra last week at Gateway and we have a
really good short-track program overall. I think we have a good shot
at defending our title this weekend."
NASCAR SCHEDULE
XFINITY Series
Race: Owens Corning AttiCat 300
Track: Chicagoland Speedway
Date and Time: Saturday, June 20 at 9:30 p.m. (ET)
On Air: FOX Sports 1, 9:30 p.m. (ET), MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 300 miles (200 laps)
What to Watch For: Five sons of current/former NASCAR drivers will
compete on Father's Day weekend at Chicagoland: Chase Elliott, Ross
Kenseth, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon. Kenseth will make
his NASCAR national series debut. ... Chris Buescher will try to
further his 25-point lead in the driver standings. ... Defending
NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott will return to
Chicagoland as the defending race winner. Elliott leads the series
with 11 top-10 finishes. ... Erik Jones will travel to Chicagoland
for double duty after competing in Friday's NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series race at Iowa. ... New England Patriots tight end Rob
Gronkowski, his father and brothers will serve as grand marshals
Saturday.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: American Ethanol 200
Track: Iowa Speedway
Date and Time: Friday, June 19 at 8:30 p.m. (ET)
On Air: FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. (ET), MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 175 miles (200 laps)
What to Watch For: Erik Jones will return to Iowa Speedway as the
defending champion and continues to search for his first victory of
2015. ... Cole Custer will attempt to win his second consecutive
race after visiting Victory Lane at Gateway last weekend. ...
Timothy Peters, the only driver in the field with two NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series wins at Iowa tries to join Brad Keselowski and
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as the only three-time winners at the track in a
NASCAR national series. ... Open-wheel dirt standout Christopher
Bell will make his NASCAR national series debut for Kyle Busch
Motorsports.
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