By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com

Classifying snowboarding as a “nice escape” from the weekly grind of his NASCAR career, Chase Elliott remains largely unapologetic for the leg injury that interrupted his 2023 Cup Series season last month.

“I feel like you have to enjoy your life and go and do things that are…I don’t want to say a ‘distraction,’ but like a nice escape from this every week,” Elliott said Thursday during a news conference previewing NASCAR’s spring weekend at Martinsville Speedway. “There’s a lot that goes into the racing thing and I think you have to have that way to escape and let your mind rest a little bit.”

The 2020 Cup Series champion, Elliott will return to the cockpit of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 today in preparation for Sunday’s NOCO 400 on the famed half-mile/paperclip-shaped layout in Virginia. Elliott, 27, suffered a fractured tibia while snowboarding in Vail, Colo., on March 3. The tibia is the shinbone, the larger of the two bones in the lower leg. The top of the tibia connects to the knee joint and the bottom connects to the ankle joint. Although this bone carries the majority of the body’s weight, it still needs the support of the fibula.

Elliott _ son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott _ underwent surgery to repair the fracture in Vail and began his rehabilitation in Colorado before returning home to Dawsonville, Ga., in late March to continue physical therapy. 

After being medically cleared Tuesday, Elliott tested Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in the Chevrolet Driver-in-the-Loop simulator in Concord, N.C., before making the decision to return at Martinsville. Scheduled for 400 laps/210.4 miles, the race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 2 p.m. (EDT) with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“Look, the accident could have happened tripping down stairs, on a jog or anything,” said Elliott, who has 18 career Cup wins. “Snowboarding is something that I’ve been doing for a long time. I’m comfortable doing it. I wasn’t out doing anything that was wild or crazy. I don’t have a cool story to tell…it was just that perfect storm that could happen at any point in time, honestly.

“It’s one of those things that I’ve used as a training tool over the years, as well. No different from riding bikes or any of the above. I don’t agree with that viewpoint of, ‘Well, you shouldn’t have been doing this or you shouldn’t have been doing that.’ I feel like I make decisions with my career in mind first and I always have. This was no different. It was just the perfect storm and an unfortunate accident.”

Hendrick Motorsports has been granted a waiver from NASCAR that will allow Elliott to remain eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. If Elliott wins a race before the Playoffs begin at Darlington Raceway in September, he will be locked into the postseason.

Here is an edited transcript from Elliott’s Thursday presser at the track:

QUESTION: CAN YOU GIVE US ANY DETAILS ON THE SURGERY, LIKE DO YOU HAVE A ROD OR ANYTHING IN YOUR LEG? ALSO, CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH THE REHAB AND IF THERE ARE MORE SURGERIES PLANNED?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, obviously had surgery on my tibia in a couple of different places. I have a few screws in the top of my tibia there. It’s really more I guess knee-located than it is lower leg. So yeah, I guess that kind of answers that. Rehab has been I guess pretty standard for that type of injury. It’s not an uncommon injury by any means. It certainly could have been a lot worse. Fortunately, there wasn’t an ACL tear, meniscus or any of that, so that was all very positive and like I said, could have been a lot worse. Unless I injure it or hurt it again, there shouldn’t be any lingering surgeries to have to remove any of that stuff.”

QUESTION: HOW COMFORTABLE DO YOU EXPECT TO BE IN THE RACE CAR THIS WEEKEND, AND HAS THE TEAM DONE ANYTHING TO HELP WITH THAT?

ELLIOTT: “I don’t anticipate it being any different really from a comfort standpoint. Really the way that you sit in the car and kind of the way I like to sit _ I guess as it revolves around my leg and my knee _ all of that stuff is really stable and kind of tightly packed in there between the seat, the leg board, the knee knocker. All of those things really already have your left leg pretty tight anyways, so if I was going to change anything, I would really want that. And that was something the doctors and I talked about, too, kind of coming back in. I think that’s a really positive thing that was already the case, so I feel like things were already like I would want them. So yeah, nothing really special from the interior standpoint that we worked on this week. I felt good about just where I had it previously.”

QUESTION: HOW HARD WAS IT TO BE OUT OF THE CAR ESPECIALLY INITIALLY, AND IS IT TOO SOON TO RETURN? HOW DID YOU DECIDE WHEN TO COME BACK?

ELLIOTT: “Listen, to the fans that have reached out in any form…I haven’t seen all of them but I certainly appreciated it. And it was very evident from the get-go that any true fans just care about you and your well-being, and are looking forward to having you back whenever that is. I think that’s been one of the best parts about this all process. From the fans, to our partners, to Rick (Hendrick), to everyone at HMS, to my teammates there, to my peers and other competitors at the racetrack _ everyone has just been nothing but supportive and are behind me 100 percent in everything that has gone on and just want me to get back to feeling good before I come back to the racetrack. There hasn’t been a rush on it. Everyone has been just very supportive and very positive about the whole situation. So for that, I’m very grateful.

“I think you have to step back and look at the situation. I think everybody needs to recognize that I wouldn’t go this weekend if I didn’t feel like I could do it. Ultimately, that’s my decision. The doctors and I have been in conversations the whole time really, and we just feel like I’m to a point now where the integrity of the bone is to a point where I’m not going to hurt it in that manner. It’s about building that strength back and getting to a point where you’re comfortable with your range of motion and things of that nature to get in there and do a good job, and I feel like this is the right week to do it.

“I feel good and the doctors got to a point where they were comfortable with it, and they left it up to me to decide when I was ready. We had a good couple of days in the sim and that led to building some confidence in wanting to go ahead and move forward and go to Martinsville.”

QUESTION: THE DAYS IN THE SIM, DID YOU EXPERIENCE ANY DISCOMFORT? DID THAT GIVE YOU ENOUGH PROPER FEEDBACK ON YOUR LEG?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, for sure. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t going to be tough. I was non-weight bearing for a number of weeks. When you’re not using a muscle on your body, you lose a large percentage of your muscle mass in just the first couple of weeks, so all of those things are very normal. So yeah, it’s going to be tough, for sure. But I feel like I’m to a point where I’m comfortable to go do it; I think I can go do it. We’ll have Josh (Berry) up there. He’s going to be hanging out and around in case I get to a point where I get uncomfortable or I have pain, all of those things that I didn’t experience yesterday.

“I felt really good driving. Just all of the normal things post-surgery I feel like I have going on and nothing beyond that. So that’s why we made the decision and like I said, Josh is going to be up there to help us out if I get to a point where I don’t feel confident or don’t feel comfortable in running, then he can jump in and help. But as of now, I feel good about it.”

QUESTION: THIS NEXT STRETCH OF RACES, YOU’VE WON AT EACH OF THE FOUR NEXT TRACKS. WAS THERE ANY EXTRA MOTIVATION TO GET BACK FOR THIS STRETCH, OR DID YOU HAVE A RACE CIRCLED THAT WAS YOUR RETURN GOAL?

ELLIOTT: “No, I honestly didn’t even know that. That’s a good question and a good thought, but that didn’t go into my decision. When all of this happened and just in talking to the doctor and things post-surgery, I knew it was going to be about this time. I knew it was going to be around Martinsville or Talladega, which frankly I don’t think would have been my first two choices if I could have picked them based on the braking pressure at Martinsville and obviously your risk of high-impact at Talladega. But yeah, things progressed really well. All of the decisions were based off direction directly from the surgeon, doctors and everyone that has been involved this whole time.

“The way I look at it is those people know a lot more about bones, injuries, surgeries and the rehabilitation aspect of it than I do _ even now or ever will. So at their direction, if they were comfortable and as long as those guys are comfortable, then I’m comfortable. When you’re working with great doctors and people that have taken such good care of you over the last six weeks, it helps me have a lot of confidence in the decisions that they make and the decisions that they then put in my hands to make on my end, too. All of those things being said, I just feel confident in the group of people I’ve been working with and they all led to going here and now, so here we go.”

QUESTION: YOU SAID THE FRACTURE WAS CLOSE TO YOUR KNEE. YOUR LEAD DOCTOR WITH ORTHO CAROLINA IN CHARLOTTE, KNEES ARE HIS SPECIALITY AND HE’S THE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS PHYSICIAN. WHY DID YOU ELECT TO REMAIN IN COLORADO FOR REHAB BEFORE RETURNING?

ELLIOTT: “I didn’t have any dialogue with him. Obviously, I work with the Ortho Carolina guys through HMS and they’ve been open to helping as much or as little as I need. Fortunately, I was in a place where the Steadman Clinic out there in Colorado is a very well-known orthopedic surgery center. I had been aware of some other athletes in different disciplines having surgeries there, even traveling there to get the surgery done. So a combination of that and some local folks in the area that I personally know and just building that confidence in knowing that was the right place. And I think some of it too is just kind of a feeling _ like to me, it was the right place. Obviously you don’t want to ever have that happen, but to have it happen and have access to a facility like that, I’m very grateful for that.

“So it just felt like the right place for me and at the time, I thought that was going to be not only as good of a location to get the surgery done, but I thought the rehab center and how closely they work with the clinic, I thought that was going to be my quickest road back and the best road back for my long-term health, too. All of those decisions were made by me, with my health in mind and what I felt like was going to be the best thing for me now and down the road. Part of it was professional; part of it was just that personal feeling of what you think is right.”

QUESTION: YOU REFERENCED TALLADEGA AND THE INCREASED RISK OF IMPACT THERE. HISTORICALLY, DRIVERS RETURNING FROM INJURY AT TALLADEGA HAVE TAKEN A CAUTIOUS APPROACH; MAYBE STARTED THE RACE AND HANDED IT OFF TO A RESERVE DRIVER. IS THERE ANY CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO TALLADEGA?

ELLIOTT: “I think a lot of it depends on this weekend. I anticipate things to be fine and to continue forward next weekend. But look, this whole process has been week-to-week for quite some time. I think we’re at a position where we can do whatever we think is best for my health and for the team’s success and we’re going to make that decision. I don’t know what that is right now or today, but we’re going to focus on Martinsville right now. We have a tough race ahead; a tough weekend up there getting me back in the saddle and getting back in the swing of things. My focus is there right now. We’ll assess how I feel Sunday night and how I feel Monday. Look, if I’m feeling good after the race this weekend, then I anticipate that I’m going to go next week back to normal. If there’s something other than that, then we’ll re-assess and go from there.”

QUESTION: HOW LONG DO YOU ANTICIPATE IT WILL TAKE TO GET BACK INTO “RACE SHAPE?” AND DO YOU THINK MISSING OUT ON THE FIRST HANDFUL OF RACES WITH THE NEW SHORT-TRACK AERODYNAMIC PACKAGE IS GOING TO PUT YOU AT A SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGE THIS WEEKEND?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, for sure. I’ve tried to stay working out as much as I can. Obviously, my legs were a big part of my routine and the things that I like to do to get my heart rate up and to work on those things. But yeah, there are other ways you can do it. The physical therapists that I’ve been working with have really helped guide me in a direction to try and stay on top of that stuff. I’m certainly not doing the things that I would normally do, but I think I’m in a position where I’m comfortable to go and I think I’ll be fine from that standpoint. We’ll just have to work through it. I don’t know what the timeline will be to go on runs or go on a bike ride _ I don’t know what that’s going to look like just yet. I would imagine that I’m still a little way off from those types of activities, but yeah, we’ll just assess it as it comes.”

QUESTION: WE SAW YOU IN THE BOOTH VIRTUALLY AT CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE THE OTHER FIVE RACES AND HOW TOUGH WAS IT TO SEE JOSH (BERRY) AND JORDAN (TAYLOR) DRIVING YOUR RACE CAR?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, I appreciate FOX having me. They were first-class. There was probably too many of us in the booth that day, but it was nice to be there and nice of them to want to include me. That was cool I thought. I just watched the rest of the races on TV, like everyone else. That was really about it. I certainly had my little station where I had a lot of the things that go on behind the scenes and conversations amongst our team. But just from a broadcast standpoint, I watched it on FOX or FS1 like the normal broadcast would be.”

QUESTION: YOU MENTIONED YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THE NORMAL ACTIVITIES OF RUNNING, BIKING, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO TO REMAIN FIT?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, I mean I think a lot of it so far in my process has been focused on upper body. My arms are fine and my core is fine, things like that. But from a PT standpoint, it’s been just trying to get that range of motion back in your knee. That’s a very common thing with that injury; getting your quad to fire, getting your patella to move and get that stuff back going. I’ve never had a surgery, so it’s been pretty eye-opening at just how some of that stuff works and how your body reacts to being cut on. It was not super-fun.

“Just going at their guidance, honestly. I’ve had a great group. Man, I’ve gotten to know some of these guys and can certainly call a couple of them friends now. It’s obviously not been fun, but looking back on it, those relationships that you gain over the years will be something that you respect and appreciate down the road.”

QUESTION: RIGHT AFTER THE INJURY AND GOING TO THE HOSPTIAL _ ARE YOU THINKING CAN I WALK AGAIN? ARE YOU THINKING CAN I RACE AGAIN? ARE YOU THINKING HOW AM I GOING TO TELL MY TEAM AND MR. H? WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS RIGHT AFTER THE INJURY?

ELLIOTT: “I think you know me, I don’t get super-up or super-down, for the most part. But kind of called it like I saw it. I knew when I got hurt that it was not good and I knew that pretty quickly. So I knew that those conversations were inevitably going to happen in the next couple of hours. I didn’t want to have those conversations for sure, but it was just something that had to be done.

“I was just super-honest and straight-up with everyone. I told Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) exactly what was going on. I told Rick (Hendrick) exactly what was going on. I talked to both of them while I was in the ER and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t have all of the answers yet, but I don’t think this is good and I think you need to be looking at getting somebody to fill-in this weekend. I really don’t think I’m going to be able to get to Vegas and I don’t know that I’m going to be able to drive, but I’ll let you know as soon as I get X-rays back and get information, I’ll share.’ And I did.

“It was very transparent. I tried to not be dramatic about it, I just told them like it was. I knew my knee was messed-up. I can’t say I ever had the thought of not walking again. I didn’t think it was that severe. I think it could have been a lot worse but I certainly knew it wasn’t right and it was probably going to take a surgery. And to what extent it was, obviously I didn’t know at that point and was just hoping for the best. Whatever it was going to be, it was going to be. It was done at that point, right? I was more just thinking about tackling what it was and doing what the doctors told me to do to get back to 100 per cent as soon as I could.”

QUESTION: FROM THE TIME THE INJURY TOOK PLACE, DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG OF A PAUSE YOU HAD WITHOUT GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL OF CAR? AND WAS THIS PERIOD THE LONGEST YOU’VE HAD WITHOUT GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL?

ELLIOTT: “Well, it was right there at the beginning of March, so you’re over a month since then. But our offseason is longer than a month. I didn’t race anything over the winter this year, so I went from Phoenix to Daytona without being in a car. We didn’t get any offseason tests this year, just with the way the OEM hands out tests and the way that cycled through our group at HMS. I didn’t have any tests or anything, so I went from Phoenix last November to Daytona 500 (in February), and that was longer than this. So I guess no _ I’ve been out of the car longer than that, but it does kind of feel like an offseason a little bit. Not quite that long but it has a similar feeling to me, just because Daytona isn’t a real downforce racetrack, so I really only ran Fontana. I had one weekend at it and then a six-week break, so it’s kind of like restarting the year for us. Obviously, we’re in a position where we have to win, so yeah, just a fresh start.”

QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH NOW TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? GETTING IN ON POINTS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, SO YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO WIN. DOES THAT MAKE YOU MORE AGGRESSIVE? HOW DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR APPROACH?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, I haven’t even looked at the points. I think for us, we’re in a position where we’re going to have to win. That’s at least how I’m looking at it and how I’ve been thinking about ever since this happened. I figured you miss a few weeks and you’re pretty much going to have to win. So yeah, that’s how I’m looking at it. I don’t think I really change my approach. Does that change how we call races from a strategic-standpoint? Yeah, it probably does. But does it change how I drive or how I want the car setup for the weekend? No, we’re always out there trying to win events. But I certainly think it can change your plan, as far as a particular race day. You see guys shorten stages to try and get the win, or whatever going for points. Obviously, we don’t need to go for points so anytime you have those decisions to make, the decision is going to be very easy. You play the long game and try to win the event.”

QUESTION: WAS IT MENTALLY TOUGH TO BE OUT OF YOUR CAR? ALSO, PEOPLE ASKED ABOUT JOSH BERRY, WOULD OR SHOULD HE GET A CHANCE? WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE JOB JOSH DID IN YOUR CAR?

ELLIOTT: “I don’t know that it ever made me crazy, but it was certainly odd, I’m not going to lie, to watch your car go around the track and have your name on it. And watch your guys and everybody there and you’re the only piece missing of what was normal. So there was certainly an aspect that was definitely strange. That became more normal _ you kind of get over that a little bit as time went on. But yeah, I think it’s just something that seeing that for the first time was a bit weird, but I definitely got used to that over the course of the last six weeks.

“I think Josh has done a really good job. I thought Jordan (Taylor) did a great job. Those are really tough things to jump in there and have to fill in like that, and do it on short notice. Like all of the above, that’s difficult and probably more difficult than people give them credit for. I’m not sure what Josh’s future plans are or what he has in the works behind the scenes, but I would assume that he wants to go Cup racing one day if the right opportunity presents itself. He’s done a great job with the opportunities that he’s had at Junior Motorsports and I thought he did a great job with the opportunity he had to drive with our group.

“I asked him how one of the races went and he said, ‘Man, those (Cup) guys are so good.’ I said, ‘I’ve been trying to tell everybody that for eight years how good they are, and I don’t do anything special and I just have a really good team. I’ve been trying to tell everybody that for a long time and nobody listens.’ So I’m glad to see somebody else gets to witness that first-hand. It’s been a pleasure working with him, and I hope if he has something in the works or if he as aspirations down the road to go Cup racing, I hope those solid runs that he’s had helps propel him and gets him the opportunity he deserves.”

QUESTION: COMPETITION-WISE, DO YOU EXPECT TO COME BACK AND NOT MISS A BEAT OR ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE YOURSELF A BIT OF A GRACE PERIOD TO GET BACK UP TO SPEED?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, I don’t really have the answer to that, honestly. But I think it’s going to be tough. What challenges are going to be presented this weekend, I don’t 100 per cent know until I get there and kind of get going through it. But anytime you miss a period and your competitors are sharpening their skills and you’re not _ I do think you’ve missed out, for sure. The good news is _ as Josh (Berry) alluded to _ our team is really talented and we have a great group. I think if we have our ducks in a row and we’re prepared, I think we can go and jump in and have a really solid run. That’s obviously my goal. We’ll just have to get up there and see what the challenges are and what they bring. Whatever it is, we’re going to work through it and continue to fight; make the most of not only this weekend but the weeks to come. We’re going to have 17 races or so to get a win, so we’ve got plenty of time. Just have to get after it, execute at a high level and I think we’re very capable of doing that.”

QUESTION: ANY NUMBER OF CUP SERIES DRIVERS HAVE DEALT WITH INJURIES. DID YOU REACH OUT TO ANYBODY TO LEARN WHAT THEIR REHAB PROCESS WAS LIKE?

ELLIOTT: “Yeah, I talked to Kyle Busch a good bit through that. We’ve texted back-and-forth some and just kind of quizzed him. His injury was much different than mine and way worse too. I think it was a good bit worse. They were just different, but I do think his was worse in the break and things. But yeah, just kind of quizzing him. We worked with different doctors right, so just kind of quizzing him on what his guys were telling him and comparing that with what I’m being told. Just gathering information for myself, personally, just to understand kind of what he went through _ that rehab process, how he felt when he was getting back in the car, what things he was looking for, what was comfortable and what wasn’t, if anything. Just kind of talked through as much of it that I can to gather information. Like I said, very different injury, but always good to get a second opinion on a somewhat similar situation.”

(Editor’s Note: John Sturbin is a Texas-based journalist specializing in motorsports. During a near 30-year career with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he won the Bloys Britt Award for top motorsports story of the year (1991) as judged by The Associated Press; received the National Hot Rod Association’s Media Award (1995) and several in-house Star-Telegram honors. He also was inaugural recipient of the Texas Motor Speedway Excellence in Journalism Award (2009). His list of freelance clients includes Texas Motor Speedway, the Dallas Morning News, New York Newsday, Rome (N.Y.) Daily Sentinel, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller Times, NASCAR Wire Service, Ford Racing and Used Car Dealer magazine).

 

No Comment