NASCAR Driver Chase Elliot previews upcoming season

NASCAR's Chase Elliot talks new season

NASCAR's Chase Elliot sat down with FOX 5's Kelly Price to preview his upcoming season.

DAWSONVILLE, Ga. - NASCAR is digging out of the snow just like the rest of the Southeast following the weekend's winter storm.

The Cup Series' preseason exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC, was postponed from Sunday until Wednesday, Feb. 4, due to snow and ice.

While that type of weather delay isn't typical for this sport, Chase Elliott says he remembers the last time it happened, at the 2018 STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

"I guess that's the chance you kind of take in February, but it's all good," he told FOX 5 on Monday. "Not a lot has changed. Everybody's ready to go. The cars have been locked in a room in Winston-Salem from what I understand."

Elliott said he's been waiting it out back home in Dawsonville.

"I wasn't expecting it to go all the way until Wednesday, but it's OK. We were prepped and ready Friday night going into Saturday, so that doesn't make me feel any different about it," he said.

The No. 9 Chevrolet found victory lane in last year's Bowman Gray Clash, but he said this team won't just be resting on its laurels this time around.

"It's tough because when you have success at an event, it's always really easy to go back and think 'Let's do this like we did it last year,' but that's not always the best way to get better. The Clash is not a points race. I can attest first hand, it did not change our season one way or another," he said. "I don't think it defines your year. But there's not many opportunities that we get in an competitive environment that we get to go and try a little something different here or there that you might be a little afraid to do on a normal race weekend. So I do think it lends some opportunity to try and make yourself better, to make your team better. So some of that has gone into our thought process this weekend."

On deck after The Clash is the 68th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. Elliott said the condensed timeline after the Bowman Gray race going into Daytona shouldn't be an issue, though it is more for his team to handle logistically, with varying car parts, pit box setups, and equipment that needs to be packed and prepped differently before it can be driven down to Florida in the No. 9 hauler.

Elliott and the No. 9 team often find success in qualifying and early on in the Daytona 500, but he's never won the sport's crown jewel.

"Always look forward to Daytona. It's been a race that's been near misses, had a couple really great opportunities to win that kind of fell through the cracks, and we've crashed a lot and had a lot of disappointment down there too, so really, the 500 has not been the greatest of events for me," he said. "I feel like we have as good to go and win a shot as anybody. A lot of things have to go your way, as you know, but that's just part of the event. Hopefully we find ourselves in a good position in the closing laps."