Chase Elliott isn’t sure if this is his last start in the Snowball Derby but he wants to make it a memorable one nevertheless.

Come Daytona Speedweeks in February, Elliott will have inherited the iconic No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from Jeff Gordon, an occupation that will limit his seat time in a Super Late Model moving forward.

Despite his newfound NASCAR superstar status, Elliott says he’s just as passionate about short track racing as ever before and hopes this isn’t an end for him in the discipline.

“I hope it’s not our last one,” Elliott said of the Derby. “Regardless of how the NASCAR stuff goes, there is still an opportunity to be here, I think. You never know if schedules may change or if something could be different next year.

“We might have the opportunity to come back, so you never want to rule anything out. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve always loved coming down here to Pensacola and the Gulf Coast.”

Elliott has enjoyed a lot of success in Pensacola over the years. Long before he captured the 2014 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship, Elliott was a 14-year-old, cutting his teeth at Mobile and Pensacola, winning track championships at both venues back in 2010.

He won the Pro Late Model Snowflake 100 in 2010 before winning the Snowball Derby itself in 2011. He thought he won his second Tom Dawson Trophy in 2013 before having it taken away via a post-race disqualification in technical inspection.

Despite the heartbreak, Elliott has attended this race every year since 2010 and is hoping to sweep the weekend in 2015.

“This is a big weekend by itself but my feelings about this place run deeper than just this weekend,” Elliott said. “It’s been fun to race at this race track over the years. I feel like we’ve had a lot of up anf downs and we’re going to focus on ending this year on the up side and on the here and now.”

The 20-year-old second-generation driver will start second on Sunday afternoon. He initially praised Christopher Bell as the favorite, but that may have changed now that he was disqualified in post-qualifying inspection and will have to race his way in.

“I think we have room for improvement,” Elliott said of the famous No. 9 entry. “We could stand to be a little better … I think we need to focus on our own weekend. It’s a long race so it’s important to focus on our own race.

“It’s so hard to even be in position to be there at the end so we need to get our car where it will be good on Lap 300 and be there at the end to give ourselves a chance.”