Chase Elliott will join the Camping World SRX Series for the season finale on July 17 at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and race against his father, Bill Elliott, for the second time their careers. The race that will air live at 8 pm ET on CBS.
Chase holds the advantage in their single showdown, having won the 2013 Alabama Pro 125 Late Model race at South Alabama Speedway. Bill finished fourth in that race.
“Racing is such a big part of our lives and I’m genuinely excited to compete with my dad in the SRX race at Nashville,” Chase said in a release. “We’ve been together at racetracks hundreds of times and only once before have we competed on the same track together. It’s an awesome opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.”
See you on the track old man.@SRXracing @BillElliott9 pic.twitter.com/PdYozIMDI8
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) July 6, 2021
Father and son both have laps around this .6-mile short track. The same year they raced head-to-head in Alabama, Chase won the 2013 All American 400. Three years previous, he finished second in a CRA Super Series race on this track.
Bill’s experience is a little more dated. He raced seven times at Nashville in the Cup series with three top-10s and a best of fifth for his effort. He started on the outside pole and finished seventh in July, 1984 - the last time NASCAR visited the track.
“My experience at Nashville is pretty dusty, so I might have to lean on Chase to give me some pointers from his time there in a Late Model,” Bill said. “It could be a bit of a role reversal with him teaching me.
“But it truly is a wonderful opportunity to be able to race with my son at Nashville. Obviously, I’m incredibly proud of all that he’s accomplished. For years, he watched me and now I’m watching him. But for one night in Nashville, we’ll both have the same viewpoint.”
Despite being on track together only once, the similarities in their careers go deeper. Chase and Bill each have one Cup championship to their credit. Bill won his in 1988; Chase is the defending Cup champion from 2020.
Both father and son won their first Cup race on a road course. Bill’s first win came in the 1983 season finale at Riverside (Calif.) International Speedway; Chase’s first win was at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in 2018.
And both have the distinction of winning NASCAR’s most popular driver award multiple times. Bill won from 1984-1988, 1991-2000, and finally in 2002. Chase has won the award in the last three years, from 2018-2020.
Bill is one of 10 fulltime drivers in the SRX Series and after four of six rounds, he sits ninth in the standings.
With a Cup race at the Nashville Fairgrounds popping up in the rumor mill from time to time, Chase could also get a leg up on his competition.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - MAY 23: NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott and Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Llumar Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on May 23, 2021 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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