Fresh off his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship, Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott will compete in the 2021 running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 in January at Daytona International Speedway.
Elliott will return to the site of one of his five 2020 wins when he teams with Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani and Mike Conway in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R to run the twice-around-the-clock race for the first time in his young career.
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“The Rolex 24 is such a major event, and it’s a race that anybody across any type of motorsports really respects,” Elliott said in a team release. “I think everyone wants to win a watch before their career is over. It’s something different and a completely different element of racing that I haven’t really tried before. I’m trying to branch out and be more diverse as a driver and this is another part of that experience. I appreciate Action Express giving me this opportunity and I am looking forward to learning and running my first Rolex 24 next month.”
While the Rolex 24 may be a new experience for Elliott, he’s proven to be an elite road-course racer throughout his NASCAR career with five of his 11 career Cup wins coming on them and claiming his only Camping World Truck Series win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
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“Recently we were able to spend a day with Chase in the simulator, running the Dallara, Cadillac model on the Daytona Road Course,” said Gary Nelson, Action Express Racing team manager, in the release. “We were amazed at how quick Chase got up to speed, his feedback, and how easy he was to work with. We are very excited to work with him again next month in Daytona at the Roar and the Rolex 24.”
The 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season will kick off with the traditional Roar Before the 24 on Jan. 22-24 at Daytona International Speedway and with the Rolex 24 Hour At Daytona taking place the following weekend, Jan. 29-31.