Chase Elliott strikes opposing view on Iowa repave ahead of this weekend's race

When the images of the Iowa Speedway repave emerged online, NASCAR fans and drivers like Chase Elliott, were skeptical. Ahead of this weekend’s races, Elliott revealed his feelings on the new, Frankenstein-esque repave.

A lot of the NASCAR Cup Series drivers who are Chase Elliott’s age raced at Iowa in the lower series. Whether that was in the Truck Series or Xfinity Series or ARCA, there is a little bit of experience at this track in the field.

Talking to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Elliott shared that he has slowly started to come around on the repave. It might not be such a disaster after all.

“Originally, I thought it was just like literally the width of a car and I was like, ‘Man, this is just silly. Why did we even repave it?’ It looks like you could potentially at least have a second groove, which would be better than one,” Elliott explained. “But anything outside of that bottom area of fresh asphalt, it’s too aged at this point (to race on).”

As I mentioned, drivers like Elliott have raced at Iowa before, just not in the Cup Series. While it isn’t the largest facility on the schedule, it should be a lively atmosphere.

“I remember going there (in the lower series) and for whatever reason, I remember fans always talking about how bad they wanted a Cup race,” Elliott said. “So I’m just excited they finally got a Cup race. It’s been a worthy facility for a long time and whatever the reason may be or however long we go, it’s good they have done things right over the years. They got one and hopefully they make the most of it.”

Chase Elliott is hoping for a win, regardless of the surface.

Chase Elliott quietly vying for regular season championship

Looking at the season for Elliott and the No. 9 team, it is far from their disappointing 2023 season. Things have been going very well for Elliott this year. The win at Texas let him get that cloud off his back and now he’s focused on running well each week.

On the season, Chase Elliott has been by far the most consistent driver in the Cup Series. It took him a while to find true speed. However, the 9 car has never finished worse than P19 on the season and that is major.

Six top-5s, eight top-10s, and only 14 points behind Kyle Larson for the points lead. Now, Larson has been the definition of greatness this season. He has had his moments where the results slip, but three wins, 675 laps led, seven stage wins – there’s a reason why he’s the points leader after missing the Coke 600.

Chase Elliott has been showing up and doing his job, and the results have spoken for themselves. In the Xfinity Series, Elliott raced at Iowa four times and never finished worse than P9. He is one to watch this weekend as he is most weekends.