Chase Elliott had successful surgery on a broken tibia that was broken while snowboarding. Elliott is undergoing physical therapy, and enough time has passed that Hendrick Motorsports has given a timeline on when fans can expect NASCAR’s most popular driver to return.
The team revealed that Elliott is expected to miss six weeks as he rehabilitates in Colorado. Six weeks puts Elliott on track to return around the Martinsville/Talladega part of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. While away, Josh Berry will pilot the NAPA Chevrolet for the oval races, while IMSA star Jordan Taylor will drive the car at Circuit of the Americas.
Berry races for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and is eighth in points. Berry raced in Las Vegas as driver of the #9. Things didn’t quite go Berry’s way, as he finished 29th while his teammates went 1-2-3, but it was a decent run for someone who had to learn a vastly different car on the fly. The short track ace will have races at Richmond, Bristol, and Martinsville coming up, where Berry should be able to show off what he can do.
Taylor is an interesting wildcard. He hasn’t raced in Cup but does know how to drive sports cars, which the Next Gen car is somewhat similar. Taylor also is aligned with Hendrick as their coach and backup driver for NASCAR’s Le Mans Garage 56 project. It might be Taylor’s first NASCAR race, but he’s got a great chance to win at COTA.
