Chase Elliott Makes First Visit to Watkins Glen Road Course
Heel-and-toe, Elliott
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 5, 2014) – Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet, will see plenty of unique turns as he navigates around the tricky, 11-turn road course of Watkins Glen International this weekend.
As Elliott enters the tracks back-straightaway he’ll carousel through the “inner loop,” and then the “outer loop,” all before he powers through the “chute” of turn six. Turn seven is called the “toe,” turn-eight is known as the “heel,” both being a part of the mini-straightaway referred to as “the boot.” This portion of Watkins Glen is where Elliott will use the heel-and-toe method of working the brake and throttle simultaneously while focusing his left foot on the clutch. In return, it will allow Elliott to blip the throttle and increase revolutions per minutes to shift into a lower gear while trail-braking his NAPA Chevy through the exit of each corner.
Indeed, the 2.45-mile circuit will be a challenging test for the 18-year-old-rookie as he makes his first visit to Watkins Glen. It will be the Nationwide Series’ second road-course race this year. In the first, Elliott qualified 12th and finished fourth at Road America.
The NAPA Know How driver enters the weekend as the Nationwide Series points leader, with a two-point edge over teammate Regan Smith. He leads Ty Dillon by 40 points in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
Saturday’s Zippo 200 will start at 2 p.m. ET and be broadcasted live on ABC and MRN/Sirius XM.
Driver Quotes | Chase Elliott
On this weekend at Watkins Glen:
“I’m excited to climb back in my NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet this weekend at Watkins Glen. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about the track and have always wanted to race on it. This weekend, I’ll have my shot. I plan on shifting gears better than I did at Road America and putting my team in a position late in the race. We are ready to rebound from back-to-back disappointing weekends (Indianapolis and Iowa). Sometimes you have to step back and relax, and refocus your attention on the bigger picture and not beat yourself up over ‘what ifs.’ I think getting away from the track, really away from racing, will only better prepare myself for upcoming races.”
NASCAR Nationwide Series TV Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Friday, August 8
9:30 AM NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice FOX Sports 1
2:10 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice FOX Sports 1
Saturday, August 9
9:40 AM NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying ESPN2
2:15 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Race ABC
RADIO: MRN & Sirius XM Ch. 90 (1:45 pm ET)
2014 NATIONWIDE SERIES DRIVER POINTS
1. Chase Elliott…………………………………….. 714
2. Regan Smith……………………………………….. -2
3. Elliott Sadler…………………………………….. -12
4. Ty Dillon…………………………………………… -12
5. Trevor Bayne…………………………………….. -41
2014 SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POINTS
1. Chase Elliott…………………………………….. 258
2. Ty Dillon…………………………………………… -40
3. Chris Buescher………………………………….. -79
4. Ryan Reed………………………………………. -120
5. Dylan Kwasniewski…………………………… -120
NAPA AUTO PARTS:@theNAPAnetwork
CHASE ELLIOTT:@ChaseElliott
JR MOTORSPORTS: @JRMotorsports