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Chase Elliott 1-on-1 with FOX 5
The Dawsonville native talked about winning on the Daytona road course, his advice for other pro athletes and an outdoors-focused partnership with Mountain Dew
Coming off a victory at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, NASCAR star Chase Elliott sat down for a 1-on-1 interview with FOX 5. He touched on a variety of topics, from what it will take to make a run for a Cup Championship to being a sports fan during COVID-19 and his outdoors-focused partnership with Mountain Dew.
With his second Cup Series victory in hand, Elliott sits in fourth place in the Cup Standings with only three races to go before the playoffs. The driver of the #9 Chevrolet has put together an impressive run recently on road courses, but says that must carry over to the more familiar type of NASCAR tracks if he is going to content for a championship.
"Road courses are very different from the ovals," said Elliott. "The ovals have been our struggle, for sure, over the past month-and-a-half, two months now. Our focus right now is looking ahead to these ovals, these mile-and-a-half racetracks where we've been kind of stuck in thie 8th to 12th situation. That just isn't going to cut it, we all know that."
The Dawsonville native also talked about being one of his home state's best known sports fans -- especially of the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs. As a pro athlete competing during COVID-19, he can empathize with athletes in other sports getting used to a very different way of life if they are able to compete with safety protocols in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
"It's been great to have baseball back on TV, I know they've been hanging on by a thread [because of COVID-19 cases]," said Elliott. "Luckily the Braves haven't been involved in any of that for the most part. Hope Georgia [Bulldogs football] plays. Selfishly as a fan, but there's decisions being made there that are far, far above me. I'm just a fan that wants to watch them play."
Elliott spoke to FOX 5 to promote a new partnership with Mountain Dew, one of his NASCAR sponsors, and their program called "Claim the Outdoors." The initiative aims to get motorsports fans doing outdoor activities safely during the pandemic, and gives them chances to win prizes, including seeing a NASCAR race live next season.
Elliott says boating and the occasional round of golf have been his main outdoor escapes during COVID-19.
"Trying to get people fired up to get outside," said Elliott of the partnership with Mountain Dew. "This is a time we've all been trapped in our homes a little more than normal. Just an activation trying to get people outdoors, post about it and share it. I think it's a great idea."
"Claim the Outdoors"