Chase Elliott is not going to give up his passion for snowboarding just because he was injured this one time.
A snowboarding accident left the 2020 champion with a fractured tibia. He missed six weeks of racing and now will be back in the coming weekend’s Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.
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While he has received a waiver to be playoff eligible, Elliott lost valuable points to fight for his second championship. However, he is not discouraged by this particular incident towards his love for snowboarding.
“I wasn’t out doing anything that was wild or crazy,” Elliott said. “I don’t have a cool story to tell. It was just that perfect storm that could happen at any point in time.”
Elliott added that snowboarding helps him from getting away from the pressure he is under with week after week of racing in NASCAR’s top tier. Also, he downplayed the significance of the accident saying that it was more an acrcident than anything else.
“I feel like you have to enjoy your life and go do things that are a nice escape from this every week,” Elliott said. “There’s a lot that goes into racing and I think you have to have that way to escape and give your mind a rest.
“The accident could have happened tripping down stairs, or on a jog. Snowboarding is something that I’ve been doing for a long time. I am comfortable doing it. It’s one of those things that I’ve used as a training tool over the years — no different than riding bikes.”
Since his 2020 Cup wins, Elliott has made it to the Championship 4 race. However, having missed six races, it will be a big challenge for the driver to make it again. But given his talent, one wouldn’t want to count him out.