Chase Elliott Returns to the Team That Launched His NASCAR Career

Chase Elliott is heading back to North Wilkesboro Speedway next month for a race that carries more weight than just another date on the calendar. JR Motorsports confirmed Tuesday that the 2020 Cup Series champion will drive the No. 8 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour event on July 17.

It marks his first time racing for the organization since 2015, giving fans a rare chance to see Elliott behind the wheel of the team that first put him on the national stage.

Elliott raced full-time for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series during 2014 and 2015, winning four races and taking the championship as an 18-year-old rookie. That made him the youngest champion in series history at the time. Now, more than a decade later, he’ll run a one-off late model race in the same familiar No.

8 car that Dale Earnhardt Jr. made famous.

The race also gives Elliott a chance to reconnect with grassroots short-track racing, something he’s never lost his passion for. , Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks. The timing works out nicely—Elliott will race at North Wilkesboro on Friday night, then return to his Hendrick Motorsports No.

9 Chevy for the Cup Series Window World 450 at the same track the following weekend. For JR Motorsports, it’s a reunion with one of its most successful alumni. For Elliott, it’s a trip back to where it all started.