Two notable pieces of Chase Elliott news surfaced in the past week, with the Dawsonville native participating in two unique events.

Elliott will make an appearance in the Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona on Friday, Feb. 17, in the NextEra Energy 250.

He is set to drive the No. 35 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST owned by McAnally Hilgemann Racing — a team that has a long-standing relationship with NAPA.

For Elliott, it will be his maiden Truck Series appearance at Daytona and his first entry in a truck competition since last year’s Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race at Bristol. 

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“This will be the first time I’ve driven a truck at Daytona, let alone a superspeedway,” Elliott said in a team press release. “There’s no better team owner than Bill McAnally to do it with as he’s been involved in racing and been associated with NAPA for a long time.”

Last Friday, Elliott returned to his driving roots by participating in a Super Late Model race in Cordele.

Elliott — alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron — featured at the SpeedFest event held at Watermelon Capital Speedway.

A three-time winner at SpeedFest, Elliott was unable to finish this year’s event after an incident with 20 laps to go. Senoia native Bubba Pollard would win the SpeedFest 150 while fellow Georgia-based racers Corey Heim, Jake Garcia and Dusty Williams also participated. 

“I always enjoyed racing at SpeedFest and we’ve had lots of success through the years,” Elliott said. “It has been fun trying different types of racing the last couple years, including rallycross, sprint, and midget cars, but I look forward to getting back to my Late Model roots.”

On Sunday, Jan. 29, racing legend Ken Schrader made his way to Dawsonville, making stops at the Pool Room and the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame as well as taking photos with Bill Elliott and Gordon Pirkle.