Hendrick Motorsports has added a fifth event to the organization's NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule for this season, announcing Wednesday that the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro will enter the Explore The Pocono Mountains 250 on July 22.
Former champion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Chase Elliott, will get behind the wheel of the HendrickCars.com-sponsored entry, marking his first start in the second-tier series since August 2021.
The 27-year-old driver is the defending winner of the NASCAR Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway, and will hopefully translate the extra on-track time to a repeat of that triumph, which would lock him into the playoffs at NASCAR's top level.
In 82 Xfinity Series starts Elliott is a five-time winner, three of which came in his championship season with JR Motorsports in 2014.
So far this season, Hendrick Motorsports has entered the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro in a pair of Xfinity Series events this season at Circuit of The Americas, and Sonoma Raceway.
At Circuit of The Americas, William Byron brought the entry home in second place, finishing only behind fellow NASCAR Cup Series competitor AJ Allmendinger. Kyle Larson piloted the entry at Sonoma, but came home third, after dominating every on-track session at the California road course.
As previously announced, Alex Bowman is scheduled to take a turn behind the wheel of the No. 17 entry at Watkins Glen International before Larson takes it for a second spin at Darlington Raceway, the final scheduled Xfinity race for Hendrick Motorsports in 2023.
Since the return of the organization's Xfinity Series program in 2022, the No. 17 entry has competed in six events, scoring three runner-up finishes, and five top-fives.
Image Courtesy of Craig White, Racing America
