Chase Elliott Finishes Season with Back-to-Back Victories
Press Box
Eleven-year-old Chase Elliott finished his rookie year of Legends Car racing with a bang. Coming off his first victory last week, Elliott drove the No. 9 ABF Bandolero to victory lane for his second consecutive win in the final weeks of the Thursday Thunder Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Elliott drew 25th in the Bandits field, which started the ABF Bandolero fourth in the Zaxby’s Bandits heat race. In the eight-lap sprint, Elliott gained two positions and posted a second place finish. With no inversion in the final night of the series, Elliott would start the Bandits feature race in third.
The ABF Bandolero started on the second row, in the preferred inside line. At the drop of the green flag, Elliott joined a three-car pack with the No. 41 of Davey Matthews and the No. 199 of Kyle Plott that broke away from the rest of the field. On lap seven, Elliott took the lead by passing the 41 on the inside; the 199 was not able to make the pass. As the two battled for second position, Elliott pulled away. For the second week in a row, Elliott drove the No. 9 ABF Bandolero to Victory Lane.
“This has been a great way to finish my first season racing in the No. 9 ABF Bandolero,” said Elliott during celebrations in Papa John’s Victory Lane. “Winning in front of my hometown track fans has been a lot of fun, and I’m thankful for all of the support every week. I’m also thankful for all of my sponsors, ABF, Aaron’s Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, the Dawsonville Pool Room and VP Racing Fuels, and everything they have done for this team. Mr. Pirkle from the Pool Room and Mr. Holder from the Hall of Fame were here tonight, and it was nice for them to be here to celebrate with us.
“We have one race left in Charlotte next week, and then we’ll start racing in the Winter Flurry Series here in Atlanta. It took us a while to figure out how these cars run, but I think we’ve got it now. And hopefully we can use that next season.”
Elliott, who drives in his father’s Bill Elliott Racing driver development program, finished the ten-week Thursday Thunder Series with two wins, three top-fives and eight top-tens. His posted an average start of 5.9 and finish of 7.3. In the final championship standings, Elliott claimed the seventh position with 846 points, 72 behind first.
