FORT WORTH, Texas – The 2018 Camaro ZL1 has officially hit the racetrack, and Chase Elliott has liked what he’s seen.
“The car looks great,” he said. “I don’t know how you could not identify the Camaro with the Camaro on the street. It looks the same. I think that is something to be very proud of from Chevrolet.”
Elliott has spent the past two days at Texas Motor Speedway for a Goodyear tire test, giving him the chance to get a feel for what the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be like when the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas in April.
But he wasn’t ready to point out any differences between how the Camaro feels versus how the Chevrolet SS felt.
“Behind the wheel it’s really hard to tell what changes are when you are out there by yourself,” he explained. “I think until we get into those situations and kind of get some races under our belt as not only an organization, but as a manufacturer as a whole to see exactly how we stack up, I think it will be tough to say until then.”
In the meantime, he has enjoyed getting back behind the wheel with Daytona 500 qualifying and The Clash a little more than a month away.
And he and his team are still getting used to the switch from the No. 24 to the No. 9.
“I saw it,” the driver said of his team’s unique pit stall marker at the moment. “I got a pretty good laugh out of that, too. I rounded the corner and saw that nice tape-job No. 9.”
The tire test wraps up Wednesday.
“Excited to get home and spend these last few weeks at home before we get back going and get to Daytona here real soon,” Elliott said.