JOLIET, Ill. — After spending about 30 minutes in the infield care center to receive two bags of IV, Chase Elliott said he felt “a lot better” and will be fine for Sunday’s Cup race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).
Elliott soon was back in his Cup car qualifying after exiting the infield care center. He qualified third.
Elliott drove the No. 23 for GMS Racing Saturday in place of Spencer Gallagher, who remains under indefinite suspension for violating NASCAR’s Substance Abuse Policy. Elliott finished 10th on a steamy day. Kyle Larson won.
Temperatures were in the 90s Saturday and a temperature gauge in Justin Allagier’s car got so hot it quit working. NASCAR had extra bottles of water and medics on pit road for drivers who needed it.
Elliott’s team alerted NASCAR that he might need medical attention after the race.
After parking the car on pit road, Elliott sat up on the door and leaned over the roof. He eventually climbed out and sat on the ground, leaning against his car as medics were with him. After a few minutes, he walked to a nearby ambulance.
Elliott said after exiting the infield care center that he received two bags of IVs.
“Those IVs make you feel like a million bucks,” Elliott said. “Just really hot this afternoon. Those cars seem to always be a little bit hotter than the Cup cars. Just working hard, I guess. It was a rough one.”
Does Elliott wish he hadn’t of run the Xfinity race?
“I don’t question running it,” he said. “That stuff happens. We sign up for this stuff. It’s hot and not easy. The good news is we have places like this (infield care center) to come to get bags of IVs and get going.”
Elliott said he was not using a cool suit in the race.
“I still don’t really care for it,” he said. “I think there are other ways to do it and go that route but we’ll see.”
