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SNOWBALL AND SNOWFLAKE WINNER CHASE ELLIOTT

CONTINUES WITH A NASCAR NATIONWIDE WIN

Story courtesy of AI.com

As a 14-year-old, Chase Elliott won the Sunoco Gulf Coast championship in 2010 as the best super late model driver at Mobile International Speedway and Five Flags Speedway. As a 15-year-old, Elliott won the Snowflake 100, Five Flags' pro late model showcase that he's since won twice more. As a 16-year-old, Elliott won the Snowball Derby, Five Flags' Super Bowl of super late model racing. As a 17-year-old, Elliott won a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. And as an 18-year-old, Elliott won a NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Elliott's Nationwide victory came on Friday night as he captured the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in only his sixth outing in the series. He became the second-youngest driver in Nationwide Series history.

Elliott won driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in JR Motorsports' No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet - a familiar number for Elliott fans since it's the one his father, Bill Elliott, drove as a NASCAR star.

"I can't believe it," Elliott said. "Just to have the opportunity to race with these guys at JR Motorsports, just to have this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any racer who wants to make it to the top. It just means the world for me to be here."

Current NASCAR stars Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were among those coming to Victory Lane to congratulate Elliott.

"I'm about speechless," Bill Elliott said in Victory Lane. "I felt like Chase could do it. I've watched him on late-model team too much -- I know how good the kid really is."

Current Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano was about four months younger than Elliott when he won his first Nationwide race in 2008.

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