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By Anthony Rhoads
Staff Correspondent

ATLANTA — Fresh off a victory Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, Georgia’s own Chase Elliott paid a visit to the College Football Hall of Fame for a special event.

Elliott was given a special tour of the Hall of Fame, saw his 2020 NASCAR Cup championship trophy in a special display with the Georgia Bulldogs football 2021 national championship trophy and the Atlanta Braves 2021 World Series trophy, and held a Q&A session for fans Wednesday.

“I’m just a fan of Georgia and of the Braves like everyone else,” he said of his trophy being displayed alongside the other trophies. “For them to kind of consider me a small part of the family here in Georgia and for the fans to be as good to me as you all have … that means a lot to me and it makes me proud to be from here and to still call Georgia home. I do think it’s special.”

This weekend, Elliott heads to Road America in Wisconsin for the Kwik Trip 250 Presented by Jockey Made in America. With Road America being a road course, Elliott is a considered one of favorites since seven of his 15 NASCAR Cup victories have been on road courses.

After Road America, NASCAR returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway the weekend of July 9 for the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart.

Elliott, of Dawsonville, finished sixth in the March race at AMS, the first race on the reconfigured track and the first in the NextGen car.

“It’s different but I think, from a fan’s perspective, they enjoyed it,” Elliott said of the March race. “It’s an entertaining event. Speedway racing isn’t something I’m always a huge proponent of but I just feel like what we had in Atlanta (in previous years) to go from that to the kind of event we had here in March I haven’t heard one fan that was at the race or anybody watching on TV that they didn’t have fun watching or have fun attending.”

What does he think of how the racing will be in the July race?

“I think the event will be exciting again; I don’t see why it wouldn’t be and I think the teams will be better prepared,” he said. “We were just getting our season started and now I think everything’s a bit more caught up (than in the March race). I think we’re a bit more knowledgeable on the set-up side of things. I’m sure everybody will be better and everybody’s going to have a better understanding of how the race will be played out and to be successful and everyone will have to do their homework and be ready come race time.”

Elliott is currently in first place in the points standings and has two wins (March 2 in Dover and Sunday in Nashville).

“It’s hard to believe we’re halfway (through the season),” he said. “The season’s flown by; the year’s gone by really fast. I think our team’s in a good spot. I think we’re still learning this car and trying to figure out what we need to do at certain tracks.”

At this point in the season, Elliott said the goal is to accumulate more playoff points and getting the set-ups more dialed in with the car, adding there has been a learning curve for everyone with the NextGen car.

“Every weekend that goes by you’re just going to continue to develop set-up ideas and tweaks here and there and making the car more favorable to drive you hope,” he said. “I do think having Atlanta with the new layout and it being kind of a mini-speedway, I think the cars will drive better from a mechanical grip standpoint. I think the cars will be a little more forgiving to drive (compared to March).”

Another topic Elliott touched on during the Q&A session was how he handles Atlanta traffic.

“I try to stay out of Charlotte and I try to stay north of Atlanta when I am here so that’s the best way to avoid the traffic — to not get in the city limits if you can,” he said. “Honestly though, I am a slow driver on the road. It’s probably not very exciting but I just kind of cruise on the road. I get my fix on the weekends so I’m good. I’ve gotten a ticket before and when you start paying for your own insurance and stuff it’s just not worth it.”

Elliott added that his speeding ticket was in Charlotte.

“That’s why I stay out of Charlotte,” he said. “I hope I don’t run into that guy again. He definitely wasn’t a fan.”

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