Seventeen-year-old Chase Elliott became the youngest superspeedway winner in ARCA Racing Series history Saturday, winning the Pocono ARCA 200 at Pocono Raceway. Elliott, in the #9 Aarons Dream Machine-Hendrickcars.com Chevy, raced his way from the 32nd starting position, took the lead with 21 laps to go, and then held back a hard charge from fellow 17-year-old driver Erik Jones to earn his career-first ARCA victory. ‘This was a lot of fun’ Elliott said. ‘This means a ton to me. It was about 10 years ago that I was sitting in victory lane here with my dad.” Elliott, who had to test at Pocono beforehand just to be eligible to enter the race, is a few months younger than Shelby Howard was when Howard won at Kansas Speedway in 2003. Despite an event-filled race, Elliott was the story of the show, setting the age mark on a track that his father won five career NASCAR races at. The elder Elliott stood alone atop the Hendrick Motorsports ARCA team transporter for most of the race watching his son make laps, take the lead, and then hold on for the victory. ‘He definitely helped me out a lot’ Chase said. ‘He wasnt here Wednesday, but we talked on the phone. It was strange coming here because I am so used to coming here with dad and watching him race. Being able to come to the ARCA series and run at Pocono Raceway is huge for me. It definitely opens some doors for us and enables us to do something different.”( ARCA )
