NASCAR: When will Chase Elliott return from his injury?

After suffering a leg injury in a snowboarding accident, Chase Elliott is set to miss the next several NASCAR Cup Series races.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott suffered a leg injury in a snowboarding accident a few weeks ago in Colorado, resulting in him being ruled out for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It was later revealed that Elliott had undergone a successful three-hour surgery and that he had suffered a fractured left tibia. He was ruled out for “several weeks”.

JR Motorsports Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry, who has two Cup Series replacement starts to his name already, replaced the 2020 Cup Series champion behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He also replaced him at Phoenix Raceway and is set to replace him in this Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, plus any other oval races he misses. Jordan Taylor is set to replace him in the road course race at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 26.

Chase Elliott’s absence, which ended a streak of 254 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series starts, is expected to last for roughly six weeks.

If you include the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in this estimate, then he could return for the race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 16, with the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Easter Sunday, April 9 being his last race out. If not, then he could return for the race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 23.

Of course, this six-week estimate is still just that — an estimate. The official number will depend on the extent of the injury and the recovery period associated with it. Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is set to be his third missed start.

In two starts this season, Elliott was involved in a Daytona 500 wreck but bounced back with a second place finish in the final race at Auto Club Speedway, marking his best ever result at the track.

No official announcement has been made on whether or not Elliott will receive a playoff waiver, as NASCAR will likely wait until he is medically cleared since that will give everyone an idea of how much time he will miss.

Given past NASCAR decisions on playoff waivers, and the variety of reasons for which they have been granted, there is no reason to believe they won’t give Elliott one, especially if he does only end up missing six races.