Chase Elliott is out indefinitely after breaking his leg while snowboarding on Friday, which has led to questions about his activities away from the track.
Elliott underwent surgery on Friday and is out of the hospital. He has returned home and is ready to begin physical therapy on Monday.
Elliott won the Cup Series in 2020 and was the 2022 Cup Series regular season champion, so losing him to an injury is not a good thing. But will Hendrick Motorsports ask Elliott to stop snowboarding? The organization’s president Jeff Andrews says no.
“These guys have to go out and live a life outside of the race track. What Chase was doing was not anything abnormal for him. He’s an experienced snowboarder … it was an accident, and our guys have to go out and live their life,” Andrews said Saturday.
Hendrick Motorsports President Jeff Andrews said Chase Elliott is an experienced snowboarder and they view what happened as an accident and not something they would prohibit him from doing in the future. pic.twitter.com/Z1necZJUOz
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 4, 2023
Hendrick Motorsports had Josh Berry drive the No. 9 Chevrolet on Sunday in Las Vegas in place of Elliott, and Berry finished 29th. But the organization had a 1-2-3 finish in the race with William Byron, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman.
Hendrick Motorsports has applied for a waiver for Elliott to be eligible for the playoffs when he recovers. They have not yet said who will be driving the No. 9 car next weekend at Phoenix.
