Chase Elliott is back. Hendrick Motorsports announced this week that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion will return to the No. 9 car for the race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 16. Elliott has missed the last six races due to a fractured tibia he suffered while snowboarding on March 3. Following the injury, Elliott underwent surgery at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. He was medically cleared on Tuesday and tested in the Chevrolet Driver-in-the-Loop simulator in Concord, North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
“We’re looking forward to having Chase back in his race car to pick up where he left off,” Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement. “Since the injury, he’s worked extremely hard and focused all his time and energy on returning to the No. 9 team. Throughout the last six weeks, he’s stayed fully engaged with everything we’re doing, and we know he’s chomping at the bit to get on the racetrack and compete for wins.”
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When speaking to reporters on Thursday, Elliott revealed that the injury was towards the top part of his tibia, and he avoided a more series injury such as a torn ACL or meniscus. He also defended his decision to go snowboarding before race weekend.
“I think you have to have that way to escape and let your mind rest a little bit,” Elliott said, per CBS Sports. “Look, the accident could’ve happened tripping down stairs or on a jog or anything. Snowboarding is something that I’ve been doing for a long time, I’m comfortable with 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’ve happened 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 than 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 a perfect storm and an unfortunate accident.” Elliott has only competed in two NASCAR Cup Series races this season, finishing 38th in the Daytona 500 and second and Pala Casino 400.
