DAWSONVILLE, Ga. (October 18, 2009) - Thirteen-year-old Chase Elliott was excited to return to Indiana's historic Winchester Speedway for his second start at the half-mile asphalt oval and his first start in the 38th annual Winchester 400.  After starting sixth in the No. 9 Aaron's Dream Machine Ford, Elliott took the checkers with a very respectable eighth place finish behind race winner Kyle Busch.  But the real story for the Bill Elliott Racing team lies in what happened in the garage and the pits during the three-day event.

After running near the top of the charts during Friday's practice, a mechanical failure sent Elliott into the wall and forced the team to load up the primary car.  Elliott made his first practice laps in the back-up car Saturday morning and then qualified sixth out of 36 cars.  Although Elliott spent the entire race in the top-10, a loose wheel and subsequent tire issues took him off of the lead lap with 52 laps to go and left him four laps down to the leaders at the finish.

"It was another exciting weekend of adversity in racing, but we continue to learn more and more so I can't complain," said Elliott.  "I got to make pits stops for the first time in my career and learned how important it is to stay caught up with the cars pitting so you can make up spots on the track.  I also learned what a loose wheel feels like and that, as much as I wouldn't want to pit, it is the only thing you can do or you could really mess up your car when the wheel goes flying off and you have to drag all the way around to your pits or worse, get put on a hook.  The most important thing is that we finished the race and have a car to work on for the next couple of weeks to take to Nashville which I am very excited about!" 

On Friday, the Aaron's Dream Machine team unloaded fast at Winchester, posting the second quickest time during the weekend's first practice round.  Elliott went back out for the second session and sat fifth on the speed charts before bad luck struck the No. 9. 

Heading into turn three, a coilover nut in the right front shock broke, sending Elliott into the turn three wall and causing enough damage to pull out the back-up car.  The team had just installed an Ernie Elliott, Inc. (EEI) engine in the back-up car on Thursday, just before loading up and heading north for Winchester.

Saturday's first practice marked Elliott's first laps in the back-up car and first laps with the new EEI motor.  The No. 9 Aaron's Dream Machine ran 10th during the first practice and improved to eighth during final practice.

During qualifying for the 38th annual Winchester 400, Elliott rolled off fifth out of 36 cars.  After laying down a fast lap of 15.284 seconds/117.770 mph, Elliott waited to see where he would stack up.  After all was said and done, Elliott sat sixth in the line-up, only 0.349 seconds behind fast qualifier Chris Gabehart, who set a new track record with a 14.935-second lap.

Elliott rolled off the starting grid in sixth place and established his rhythm running in the top-10.  On lap 100, the Aaron's Dream Machine pitted for right side tires, and Elliott resumed his pace on the track.

Soon after the half-way mark of the 400-lap race, Elliott reported a vibration on the No. 9 Ford.  The crew told him to stay out, hoping for a caution, but his laps times quickly slowed, and the car had visible handling issues.  Elliott told his crew that it felt like the rear bar was unhooked.

A timely caution fell shortly after, allowing the crew more time to work on the car.  They found that the left rear lug nuts had worked themselves almost completely off the wheel bolts.  The crew worked on the bolts enough to put another used tire back on and sent the Aaron's Dream Machine back onto the track without losing a lap. 

While the caution was a blessing, the crew had to re-think their tire strategy.  The CRA only allows three sets of tires, including the qualifying set to start the race, and the crew knew they had to save their last set of fresh tires for the end of the race.

Elliott stayed on the lead lap and pitted for a regularly scheduled stop for right sides only, hoping to get back on track with tire strategy to put fresh left sides on just in time to race for the win.

With about 50 laps to go, Elliott reported another vibration.  Having the prior knowledge of what a loose tire felt like, Elliott knew it wasn't a repeat - but still a bad vibration nonetheless. 

This time, the yellow flag would not grace the No. 9 Aaron's Dream Machine team.  After going a lap down to leader Kyle Busch, crew chief Ricky Turner and spotter Bill Elliott called the young driver to pit road.  Knowing they had replaced the loose left rear with a used right front, Turner knew there couldn't be any tread left on the tire, likely causing the vibration.

While pitting under green, the crew had trouble getting the left rear tire off because of the cross threads on the wheel bolts from the earlier troubles.  After going four laps, down Elliott rejoined the field with fresh left tires, five laps down to the leaders.

Elliott was able to make up one lap under green flag racing and record a hard-fought eighth place finish in his first start in the historic Winchester 400. 

Up next on Elliott's schedule is the 27th annual All American Weekend, October 30 through November 1, at the Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville (Tenn.).  Elliott will wrap up the 2009 Georgia Asphalt Series where he currently leads the championship standings and could capture his first Late Model title.  Elliott will also run in the CRA Super Series 250-lap feature.

For the most up-to-date Chase Elliott news, including his racing schedule and weekly podcast, please visit www.ChaseElliott.com.

Be sure to vote for Chase Elliott in the 2009 Late Model Most Popular Driver Award presented by Aluminum Racing Products.  You can vote daily now through December 6th by following the link at www.ChaseElliott.com.