Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday afternoon that Josh Berry will remain the fill-in driver for the team’s No. 9 Chevrolet on upcoming oval-track races for the NASCAR Cup Series.
Jordan Taylor has been asked to race the car in the March 26 event at Circuit of the Americas, substituting for the injured Chase Elliott, who fractured his tibia in a snowboarding accident.
“We’re focused on getting Chase back to 100%, so we’ll take however much time is necessary and make sure he has the best resources available,” Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, said in a release. “Josh was impressive this weekend under difficult circumstances, and we look forward to having him drive the oval tracks until Chase is able to return. Jordan is a world-class road racer and has recently been working with our Garage 56 team preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He’ll be able to step in and do a great job at COTA.”
Elliott’s approximate recovery window is expected to last six weeks, according to the release.
That timeline would put Berry in the car for the March 12 race at Phoenix, the March 19 race at Atlanta, the April 2 race at Richmond, the April 9 race at Bristol Dirt and the April 16 race at Martinsville – a track where Berry has won in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The following race after the six-week recovery time is at Talladega, however, nothing has been set in stone as far as a hard date for Elliott’s return.
