December 6, 2011
By Doug Demmons
Bill Elliott leaned across the concrete wall separating the frontstretch from pit road at Five Flags Speedway on Sunday to give his son a hug.
Chase Elliott -- barely old enough to have a driver’s license -- had just driven the wheels off a super late model to win one of the most prestigious short track races in the country and his famous dad wanted to congratulate him.
But the former NASCAR champion stayed away from all the photos and high fives and interviews and left the spotlight to his son.
One day that won’t be necessary. One day Chase Elliott’s star will shine in NASCAR on its own. And that day is rapidly approaching.
Elliott -- who like his father is also from Dawsonville, Ga., and just as awesome -- is already a development driver for Rick Hendrick. And he already has an impressive collection of first-place trophies from short tracks around the Southeast.
But the Snowball Derby trophy is special.
On Sunday in Pensacola the younger Elliott beat an impressive field that included such NASCAR drivers as David Ragan, Steve Wallace, Erik Darnell and hometown favorite Johanna Long.
He beat drivers who have years of experience at the half-mile track.
He did have the benefit of a professional crew, good equipment and a primetime sponsor in Aaron’s. That’s been the knock on Elliott so far in his young career -- that he pulls into a local short track with his tricked out hauler with his great equipment to race against guys who haul their cars to the track with open trailers.
Elliott’s crew proved its worth during the Saturday night 100-lap race, the Snowflake 100, when he wrecked and the crew managed to replace his radiator and still salvage a fifth-place finish. On Sunday, he was caught up in an early wreck and his crew -- headed up by 2002 Snowball Derby champion Ricky Turner -- again came through.
But Sunday at Pensacola Elliott was up against other drivers who brought pros and top-flight equipment.
But the big names in the field ended up not being Elliott’s major competition at the end.
Wallace, the 2004 Snowball Derby winner who had motor problems all weekend and had to start in the back, was penalized two laps for intentionally bringing out a caution.
Ragan’s car was set back by a loose wheel and he quickly went several laps down.
Long, who won the Derby in 2010, wrecked out early. Ross Kenseth, the son of former NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth, finished third and might have challenged for the lead if he had not had to start in the back.
In the end, the challenge to Elliott came not from the high-dollar teams, but from D.J. VanderLey, a 19-year-old local track champion from Mobile.
VanderLey brought a crew that was mostly a collection of his friends. The amateur crew proved costly when he lost the lead during a pit stop, but VanderLey stormed back to battle Elliott for the win over the last five laps and finish second.
Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at ALABAMA MOTORSPORTS
Follow Doug on Twitter: @dougdemmons
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Doug Demmons at ....
