Chase Elliott Finishes Third at New Jersey ARCA Race

MILLVILLE, NJ – Chase Elliott earned his third top-five finish of ARCA Racing Series season on Sunday at the twisting turns of New Jersey Motorsports Park. In three ARCA starts this season, Elliott has recorded one win and three top-five finishes.

The driver of the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet took full advantage of the two Saturday practice sessions to get reacquainted with the 2.25-mile road course. Elliott earned runner-up honors during his debut at New Jersey in the 2012 ARCA season. The Dawsonville, Ga., native worked with crew chief Lance McGrew to fine-tune the handling of the No. 9 Chevrolet throughout the practice sessions. The hard work paid off when Elliott secured the outside pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session.

Elliott jumped to an early lead when the green flag was waved for the 67-lap event on Sunday afternoon. The 17-year-old driver battled with road course veteran Andrew Ranger to maintain the lead and ultimately led a race-high 34 laps at New Jersey. As the laps ticked down at the Thunderbolt Raceway, Elliott radioed that he needed more rear grip in the No. 9 Chevrolet. Unfortunately, the opportunity for a late-race pit stop to address handling did not arise. Despite starting to lose a left-rear tire in the closing laps, Elliott was able to hold on for a third-place result, making his average finish in the ARCA series 2.6 this season.

“I didn’t know it, but we had a left-rear tire going down,” Elliott said. “We were probably a little too free. I’d like to think we could have kept up with Andrew Ranger there if we wouldn’t have had that issue.”

Next up, Elliott will drive his No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet to defend his win when the ARCA Series returns to Pocono Raceway on Aug. 2.