Breaking: Chase Elliott to Miss Vegas Race; Berry to Sub

What Happened?

Friday night just before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Las Vegas it was announced that 5-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver and 2020 Cup Series Champion, Chase Elliott, will miss the Cup Series race at Las Vegas due to an injury he received to his left leg while snowboarding in Colorado on Friday.

He is expected to undergo surgery later this evening. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Josh Berry (driver of the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for JR Motorsports) will sub in.

You Need To Know:

• The extent of Elliott’s injury is unknown but the veteran Cup driver and champion will be recieving same-day surgery.
• Since going full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2016, this will be the first weekend Elliott will miss a race in his young career and it is unclear how this will effect the rest of his season or his playoff hopes, though one would believe NASCAR will grant him a waiver like they have to other drivers in years past.
• With Elliott being a fan-favorite by a large margin, it is unclear how the fans will react on Sunday. JR Motorsports driver, Josh Berry, will be subbing in and, with JRM and Hendrick Motorsports having a lot of crossover in their fan bases, it will be interesting to see how fans react to him getting his big break.

Main Characters

Obviously, Chase Elliott at the center of this breaking story as he injured his left leg in a snowboarding accident earlier this evening. He is scheduled to undergo surgery later to night and hopefully everything goes well. The severity of the injury is unclear but we will update the story as more news begins to roll in.

Josh Berry is also a key factor in the story as he will be keeping the seat warm in the Napa No. 9 machine this weekend, making his third start in the Cup Series, his first for Hendrick Motorsports.

Hendrick Motorsports had long had the reputation of being strict on their driver’s activity outside the sport of NASCAR. In recent years, however, and with the signing of 2021 Champ, Kyle Larson, the drivers have had a little more freedom to race and participate in things outside the sport. It will something to watch and see if after this Mr. H. reigns in his drivers a little more.

Around The Garage

Brad Keselowski took to Twitter shorty after the story broke to send Chase Elliott his well wishes.

When asked about a restrictive activity clause in NASCAR contracts by fan, Gregg McClelland, Bad Brad responded with this quote tweet:

JR Motorsports took to Twitter to send out their well-wishes Chase Elliott as well as wishing their driver, Josh Berry, good luck in the No. 9 ride.

In The Stands

Jaun on Twitter wishes Chase Elliott a speedy recovery from his surgery tonight.

Mitchell Gosse wishes Elliott luck in tonight’s operation but also expresses excitement at watching Berry’s debut with HMS.

Chase Holden telling Elliott to be well rested so he can be ready to ride for Pheonix next week.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Nothing sums up the situation like what DennyYT delivers.

On Your Screen

NASCAR YoutTube documentarian, posts HMS’s statement from the front office.

OOTG’s Eric Estepp hopes Elliott will only miss this weekend but also states that he’s interested to see how Josh Berry will perform in the HMS #9.

Eric Estepp uploaded a late-night edition of OUT OF THE GROOVE to discuss this breaking story.

Black Flag Matter’s Darian Gilliam expresses his concern, noting that the leg injury could keep Elliott out of the car for several weeks.

From The Pressbox

Bob Pockrass was one of the first to report on this breaking news story. Here he states that since the incident happened before qualifying, Berry should be able to roll off this Sunday where he qualifies tomorrow.

The extent of Elliott’s injury is unknown but we hope to hear more about it soon. All of us here at DDF wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he’ll be back on the track sooner rather than later.