NASCAR: Chase Elliott returning for Martinsville race?

Chase Elliott is set to return for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway after missing the last six events.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott has not competed in a NASCAR Cup Series race since Sunday, February 26, when the series competed at Auto Club Speedway. Less than a week later, he was involved in a Colorado snowboarding accident which left him with a broken left tibia.

Elliott was ruled out from the following weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and it was later revealed that he had undergone a three-hour surgery and would miss “several weeks”.

Hendrick Motorsports later estimated that he would be out for six weeks, and Elliott missed his sixth straight race this past Easter Sunday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Now Chase Elliott is set to return for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Josh Berry, who has filled in for the 2020 champion behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet in all of the oval races since he suffered his injury, was initially listed as the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet for the NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway, but Elliott is indeed set to return.

The fact that Berry was initially listed, however, wasn’t all that surprising or alarming, even though that would have put Elliott’s return beyond the initial six-week estimate.

First of all, updates about Elliott’s recovery have been few and far between. This six-week estimate was a very early estimate. It was never an official timetable, and everybody heals differently.

Secondly, this six-week estimate was given after Elliott had already missed a race. So technically this Sunday’s 400-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Ridgeway, Virginia oval would have been his sixth missed race since Hendrick Motorsports gave this rough estimate, thus keeping it in the initial window.

And finally, Martinsville Speedway is probably the worst track — aside from road courses — for a driver who just suffered a broken left leg to make a return, given the fact that it is a brake-heavy track — and drivers use “left foot braking”.

On paper, Talladega Superspeedway, which is scheduled to host the following race on Sunday, April 23, would make far more sense as an option for Elliott to make his return, provided he ended up being medically cleared to do so by then.

But Elliott tested in the Chevrolet simulator and determined that he was ready to return for this coming Sunday afternoon’s race at Martinsville Speedway, and that is what he is set to do. NASCAR has also announced that Elliott has been granted a playoff waiver, which keeps him eligible to qualify for the playoffs despite missing six races.

Hendrick Motorsports do have a backup plan in case he isn’t at 100% at any point this weekend, with Josh Berry set to be on hand. Berry replaced him in the five oval races he missed.

The NOCO 400 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 16, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. If you have not begun a free trial of FuboTV, do so now!