Chase Elliott High School Graduation Slated for Iowa Race Weekend
Newton, Iowa. (May 14, 2014) – It’s not every day that a professional race car driver has to take time out of his weekend schedule to attend his high school graduation. But Chase Elliott is no ordinary, every-day driver. He’s a two-time winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and currently the series points leader.
Come Saturday, he’ll be a graduate of Kings Ridge Christian School, class of 2014. Here is how Elliott plans to attend his graduation with minimal track time lost:
He’ll participate in all three practice sessions on Friday at Iowa Speedway before embarking on a 2-hour flight (882 miles) to Georgia. He’ll graduate Saturday morning and immediately after the ceremony concludes, he’ll catch a flight back to Iowa Speedway in time to qualify his No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Saturday evening. The race is on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN and MRN/SIRIUSXM. If all goes according to plan, all he will miss at Iowa is Saturday morning’s final practice.
The .875-mile Iowa Speedway is a track Elliott is familiar with. In three K&N Pro Series East races, the Dawsonville, Ga., native has one victory and two top-five finishes. Also, Iowa was site of Elliott’s fourth-ever start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, in which he finished fifth in 2013. More recently, Elliott took part in a test session in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet.
With the trip to Georgia looming, Elliott will certainly rely on constant communication with his crew chief, Greg Ives, during his absence. Ives’ plan for the No. 9 Chevrolet is to sit out Saturday morning’s practice and not rely on a fill-in driver.
Elliott enters the weekend not only as the championship points leader, but he also holds a 32-point lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
Driver Quotes | Chase Elliott
“I think it’s good to have change and not just go exactly where the Cup schedule goes. I think it’s good for the Nationwide Series to go to different places like Iowa. It’s going to be fun. I’m excited to get out there. I’ve raced there a few times. We’ve had some good runs, some bad runs, some runs in between, so hopefully our NAPA team can try and put a good one together and just try to keep growing.
“Graduation will be exciting to participate in. I mean, I’m really excited for both parts (graduation and racing.) It will be a different weekend than normal for sure.”
TV SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN STANDARD TIME):
Friday, May 16
10:00 AM NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice NO TV
2:00 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice NO TV
4:30 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice NO TV
Saturday, May 17
12:30 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice NO TV
7:10 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying NO TV
Sunday, May 18
2:00 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Race ESPN
RADIO: MRN & Sirius XM Ch 90 (1:30 pm ET)
2014 NATIONWIDE SERIES DRIVER POINTS
1. Chase Elliott…………………………………….. 339
2. Elliott Sadler………………………………………. -1
3. Regan Smith……………………………………….. -3
4. Trevor Bayne…………………………………….. -31
5. Ty Dillon…………………………………………… -31
2014 SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POINTS
1. Chase Elliott…………………………………….. 136
2. Ty Dillon…………………………………………… -32
3. Chris Buescher………………………………….. -56
4. Dylan Kwasniewski…………………………….. -66
5. Ryan Reed…………………………………………. -71
NAPA AUTO PARTS: @theNAPAnetwork
CHASE ELLIOTT: @ChaseElliott
JR Motorsports: @JRMotorsports