On March 3 heading into the Las Vegas race weekend, Hendrick Motorsports announced Elliott, 27, had suffered a fractured left tibia in an snowboarding accident in Colorado.
He underwent successful surgery that night and has not competed since. Josh Berry (ovals) and Jordan Taylor (Circuit of the Americas) drove the No. 9 Chevrolet in his absence.
Elliott was medically cleared by NASCAR on Tuesday and ultimately made the decision to return this weekend after two days of testing in the Chevrolet simulator.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t going to be tough. It’s going to be tough,” Elliott said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. “I sat around. I was non-weight-bearing for a number of weeks. When you’re not using a muscle on your body you lose a large percentage of your muscle mass in just the first couple weeks.
“All those things are pretty normal. It’s going to be tough for sure but I feel like I’m at a point where I’m comfortable to go do it and I think I can go do it.”
Berry remains on standby
Berry, who will compete in Saturday night’s Xfinity Series race, will remain at the track on Sunday in case Elliott needs a relief driver.
“He’ll be around in case I get to a point where I get uncomfortable or I have pain – all those things I didn’t experience (this week),” Elliott said. “But as of now I feel good about it.”
Elliott said he had no “cool story” about his snowboarding accident, which required surgery to implant a couple screws near where the tibia meets the knee in his left leg.
“It was just a perfect storm that could’ve happened at any point in time,” he said.
Elliott said one positive out of the experience was the outpouring of support.
“From the fans, from our partners, top Rick (Hendrick, team owner), to everyone at HMS and my teammates, to my peers at the race track, my fellow competitors, everyone has just been nothing but supportive and behind me 100-percent and just wanted me to get back to feeling good,” he said.
“Everyone has been very supportive and very positive about the whole situation and for that I’m very grateful.”
Before his accident, Elliott was 14th in the Cup series standings, having wrecked out of the season-opening Daytona 500 but finished second the following week at Auto Club Speedway.
Elliott has been granted a medical waiver by NASCAR and remains eligible for the championship.
Although he could still mathematically earn enough points to make the playoffs the traditional way in the races remaining, he’ll likely have to win in order to secure a spot in the postseason.
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
That work begins Sunday at Martinsville, where Elliott has one win, five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 15 races during his career.
“I wouldn’t go this weekend if I didn’t think I could do it. Ultimately, that’s my decision,” Elliott said. “The doctors and I have been in conversations the whole time. We just feel like I’m at a point now where the integrity of the bone is to a point where I’m not going to hurt it.
“It’s just about building your strength back and getting comfortable enough with your range of motion and things of that nature to get in there and do a good job. I felt like this was the right week to do it.
“I feel good. We had a good couple days in the sim and that built some confidence and that led in wanting to move ahead and go to Martinsville.”