HAMPTON, GA :: With his Sprint Cup debut looming on the horizon, Chase Elliott knows he may have dwindling opportunities to participate in the same number of short track events that he did in his formative years.

With that in mind, Elliott has filed an entry to compete in the Southern Super Series Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway on March 15.

Elliott joins an all-star short track entry list for the the event that already includes John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Ross Kenseth and defending Southern Super Series champion Bubba Pollard.

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The defending NASCAR XFINITY Series champion will open that weekend by competing at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13 (Friday) and 14 (Saturday). He will then immediately fly east to Kinston, Alabama to participate in the storied short track event on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re running Phoenix the day before so it’s all weather dependent,” Elliott told Race22.com on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “If the weather is good, we’ll try to make it down.”

Elliott will be unable to qualify the car as time trials take place on the same afternoon as the XFINITY Series race. As a result, Elliott will still have to find someone to qualify his No. 9 Rocky Ridge Chevrolet.

“That’s a good question,” Elliott said. “We’ll figure it out.”

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Elliott is the only driver in the history of Super Late Model racing to have won all four crown jewel events which includes the Snowball Derby, All-American 400, Winchester 400 and World Crown 300. Despite his rich accomplishments in the discipline, Elliott has not yet won the Rattler 250 and thus wants an opportunity to pose in Victory Lane with the fabled Opp rattlesnake.

He has not competed in the Rattler since 2011 — the same year he won the Baby Rattler Pro Late Model race at South Alabama Speedway.

“Yeah, I do enjoy racing at South Alabama Speedway,” Elliott said. “It’s been a fun place to run. I haven’t run the Rattler in a few years and I saw the chance to go run and I took it.

“The track and facility is really first class and John Dykes is a great promoter that makes you look for chances to go run with them so I’m looking forward to it.”

Elliott most recently competed in his Super Late Model on January 25 at CRA Speedfest at Watermelon Capital Speedway, leading 60 laps en route to his second-consecutive victory in the event.