Chase Elliott hurts leg snowboarding, out of NASCAR race Sunday

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Chase Elliott injured his leg in a snowboarding accident in Colorado on Friday and can miss this weekend’s NASCAR race at Las Vegas.

Hendrick Motorsports mentioned NASCAR’s hottest driver was scheduled to have surgical procedure Friday night. No extra particulars about Elliott’s situation or the accident have been supplied.

Josh Berry will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet on Sunday rather than Elliott.

“Chase’s health is our primary concern,” group proprietor Rick Hendrick mentioned. “He’s spoken with several members of our team and is understandably disappointed to miss time in the car. Of course, he has our full support and we’ll provide any resources he needs.”

Hendrick mentioned he hoped to offer an replace on Elliott this weekend.

Elliott is a second-generation driver and the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott. The Georgia native is NASCAR’s five-time fan-voted hottest driver.

Elliott is part of NASCAR’s shrinking group of true superstars and was signed to a developmental deal by Hendrick when he was 14 years outdated.

He blossomed right into a bona fide elite racer and gained the Cup title in 2020. The 27-year-old has 18 profession Cup victories and has superior into the championship finale the final three consecutive years.

The damage comes at a time when Hendrick dramatically shifted his stance on the extracurricular actions. He was a agency believer in that his drivers couldn’t race in different collection or partake in daredevil conduct for worry of damage.

But he did a whole U-turn after signing Kyle Larson for 2021. Larson runs at small tracks all around the nation and persuaded Hendrick to not power him to give up.

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That transfer opened the door for all 4 Hendrick drivers to start out racing different occasions, and Elliott has taken the supply. But this accident occurred throughout a bodily exercise, and it is not publicly identified what Elliott can and might’t do underneath his Hendrick contract.

Elliott is a licensed pilot and since he is by no means left his Dawsonville, Georgia, hometown he typically helicopters himself to conferences at Hendrick’s North Carolina race store.

Berry, in the meantime is 32, and usually drives for Hendrick affiliate JR Motorsports within the second-tier Xfinity Series. He is a five-time winner for JRM and has two earlier Cup begins.