Chase Elliott adds Daytona truck race to his 2023 NASCAR schedule
Good news for NASCAR fans and Chase Elliott fans, who are basically interchangeable.
NASCAR’s most popular driver has added a race to his 2023 plans, and what’s more, it’s the first points-paying race of the season — the Feb. 17 Truck Series opener at Daytona.
McAnally Hilgemann Racing is fielding a Chevy Silverado this season for Jake Garcia, who is graduating from the late-model world to the nationally touring Truck Series. Problem is, Garcia doesn’t turn 18 until early March, which makes him too young to run the Daytona opener.
Elliott, who ran full time in the Xfinity Series before becoming a Cup Series full-timer in 2016, has 17 Truck Series starts, and three wins, dating back to 2013.
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This, however, will be his first truck start on a superspeedway. He’ll do it in a truck that shares NAPA sponsorship with his Cup Series team.
“There’s no better team owner than Bill McAnally to do it with,” Elliott said via team press release. “... He’s been involved in racing and been associated with NAPA for a long time.”
Daytona’s truck race hasn’t been won by a moonlighting Cup racer since Kyle Busch won it in 2014.
Elliott, the 2020 Cup champ, has four career wins at Daytona — a road-course Cup Series win, one in Xfinity and two in the 150-mile Daytona 500 qualifying race.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Chase Elliott driving NASCAR's Truck Series opener at Daytona
