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| Chase Elliott struggling during his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo CREDIT: NASCAR.com) |
Well, this was unexpected.
Rick Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt JR., and Chase Elliott held a press conference at the Hendrick Motorsports team shop in Charlotte, North Carolina where they delivered some news that shocked the NASCAR nation.
Chase Elliott, who was supposed to drive the No. 24 car starting in 2016 as a fill-in for Jeff Gordon, who will be retiring at the end of this season, will no longer be driving the car.
“It's not his finishing position, it's the fact that he had such a hard time keeping up with his competitors,” said Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick, “I personally don't think that he is ready for this responsibility, and the fact that it is the 24 that he's going to start driving, that's going to just put a lot of unneccessary attention on the kid. He's got talent, but I don't think he's ready for the Sprint Cup Series.”
Chase Elliott then spoke out and said this, “Obviously, i'm a little upset, but I think Rick Hendrick only wants what's best for his team, and if he doesn't think that I'm ready, then so be it. That just motivates me to try harder and harder. Me and my XFINITY Series team are gonna continue to go for our second XFINITY Series championship this year.”
It's actually pretty funny, how Elliott kept saying Nationwide instead of XFINITY, having to correct himself every time he said “Nationwide.”
“I'm sorry, I'm still getting used to the series' name change. It's harder if you actually a driver or a team member, because you say it so many time in a day that you forget that the name has changed.”
Dale Earnhardt JR. sounded pretty optimistic though.
“I had the talk with Elliott, about him not driving the 24, and he was upset, but he understood that Rick didn't think that he was ready, and he really impressed me with his ability to cope with this and his ability to shake it all off and keep his mind on the XFINITY Series season.
Elliott has NOT been withdrawn from the other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races he was supposed to race in this season.
Rick Hendrick said that he has found another “replacement driver” for the No. 24 car starting in 2016. The driver, drumroll please, is GOTCHA REALGOOD, because if you fell for this, I have one thing to say to you, “APRIL FOOLS!”
Have a happy April Fools Day!
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