Full Throttle

Chase Elliott could have used some help from the Aaron’s Lucky Dog on the hood of his No. 9 Ford during Sunday’s 26th Annual World Crown 300 at the new Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga.

After leading Friday’s practice and blistering the track record during Saturday’s qualifying, 13-year-old Elliott, the youngest driver in the 38-car field, started Sunday’s race from the pole and ran up front until a tire vibration and subsequent pit stops took him off the lead lap, resulting in a 13th place finish.

Elliott led the field to the green and quickly settled into third behind Jeff Choquette and Augie Grill, two of the Southeast’s best Late Model drivers. After slipping deeper in the top-ten, Elliott and the Aaron’s team decided on some race strategy. Assuming that the leaders would pit under the lap 200 competition caution, the team elected to short pit the field for four fresh tires under caution on lap 169, knowing they would cycle back to fifth or sixth following all pit stops. The strategy worked, and Elliott drove his way up to second place by lap 243.

With about 50 laps left on the board, Elliott was forced to pit due to a severe vibration while running second to race leader Max Gresham. After checking the lug nuts, the crew sent the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine Ford back out on the track, but the vibration worsened.

After pitting for four fresh tires during the lap 267 caution, Elliott raced to put himself the first car one lap down, hoping for a “Lucky Dog” break to get back on the lead lap. Unfortunately, in a race that saw double-digit cautions, the final 24 laps ran green, and Elliott finished 15th in the 38-car field.

Following post-race inspection, however, race winner Choquette and runner-up Gresham were disqualified for rules violations, giving the 2009 title to Paul Kelley and moving Elliott up to 13th in the official results.

Kelley, who previously won the 2001, 2006 and 2007 versions of the ‘Crown,’ is now the only four-time winner of the prestigious late model stock car event.

“Our race strategy was great, and we were right up front with 50 to go, exactly as planned, when I felt the vibration,” Elliott said. “I knew I had to bring the car in, it just wasn’t worth taking a chance on wrecking with the Snowball Derby in two weeks and putting us behind for the biggest event of the year.

“I am disappointed,” Elliott continued. “I think I had something for them and would have liked nothing better than to show them that here at home, but it just wasn’t my day”

Car chief Jim Barfield diagnosed the problem back at the Dawsonville shop, “When we got back to the shop, we put the tires and wheels on the tire balancer, and the left front tire that developed the vibration was 14.5 ounces out of balance. To relate this to what you and I might feel in our own cars, one ounce is extreme, and you would feel a vibration and a shimmy to your alignment bad enough to have your tires balanced.”

Elliott’s spotter, team owner, and dad, NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, was encouraged by the team effort.

“We ran good all day, and I was proud of how Chase ran with mainly veteran competition,” the elder Elliott commented. “He really showcased our team’s ability and equipment all weekend. We just didn’t get the finish we were hoping for at the end of the day, but all in all, we learned a lot.”

While Elliott’s finish wasn’t what the team had hoped for, the second-generation driver left no doubts about his talent behind the wheel of the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine Ford.

During Friday’s practice, Elliott topped the leader board with a lap of 16.546 seconds among 50 cars attempting to make the World Crown field. The practice speed alone beat the old Peach State Speedway track record of 16.830 seconds for Late Model stock cars.

But on Saturday, the youngster shattered that previous record during qualifying with a 16.178-second/111.262 mph lap to set a new track record and claim the pole ahead of Late Model heavyweights Choquette, Augie Grill, Austin Hill and T.J. Reaid to make up the top-five starting positions.

Sunday’s World Crown 300 marked Elliott’s 29th Late Model start since his stock car debut in March. With wins in PASS South, ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour and Georgia Asphalt Series and the GAS series Championship, Elliott has recorded four wins, 13-top-5’s and 23 top-10’s overall.

Elliott and the team will work on the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine Ford over the next two weeks as they prepare for 42nd Annual Snowball Derby, December 2-6, at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.

Considered one of – if not the – biggest Late Model races in the country, the entry list includes NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch, David Stremme, Kevin Harvick and Steve Wallace, as well as Late Model stars Johanna Long, Augie Grill, Jeff Choquette and Ross Kenseth, son of NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth, among many others.

The legendary race will mark Elliott’s first attempt to qualify as a 14-year-old, as Elliott will celebrate his birthday on November 28th.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 WORLD CROWN 300
GRESHAM MOTORSPORTS PARK

1. Paul Kelley
2. Colt James
3. Beau Slocumb
4. Taylor Satterfield
5. Tanner Berryhill
6. Michael Lance
7. Scott Sutherland
8. Stephen Nasse
9. Tyler Milwood
10. Dylan Presnell
11. Jason Hogan
12. Michael Phelps
13. Chase Elliott
14. David Hole
15. Chuck Barnes
16. Tim George Jr.
17. Frederick Moore
18. Austin Hill
19. Cassius Clark
20. TJ Reaid
21. Augie Grill
22. Brandon Johnson
23. Greg Simpson
24. Bubba Pollard
25. Shane Hall
26. Johnny Brazier
27. Jerick Johnson
28. Lee Langford
29. Jimmy Garmon
30. Ryan Sieg
31. Will Thomas
32. Russell Fleeman
33. Johnny Henderson
34. Dakota Stroup
35. Tommy Joe Martins
36. Chris Davidson
37. Jeff Choquette
38. Max Gresham