RPW Column: Aidan Elliott Making The Jump In ’20 From Slingshots To Rookie Sportsman At Accord & OCFS

RPW Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – One of the great things that we see in racing is how it passes from one generation to another. Fans at the Accord Speedway and the Orange County Fair Speedway will see that again in 2020 as 3rd generation racer Aidan Elliott will be racing in the Rookie Sportsman division at both tracks.

The Elliott family has a long history in racing. Aidan’s grandfather, the late Don Elliott, raced at OCFS for many years in the Limited Sportsman and Modified divisions. After his driving years ended, he did towing and supplied OCFS’s ambulance service for many years.

Aidan’s father, Donnie, is a long time racer at area tracks and has had his share of wins at OCFS in both the 358 Modified and Modified divisions. Donnie hasn’t officially retired from driving, but hasn’t raced the past couple of seasons to devote more time to Aidan’s racing efforts.

Aidan already has 5+ years of racing experience. From go karts to slingshots, he has had success at those levels. He has collected many feature wins at Oakland Valley and was the 2019 Track Champion. Aidan finished 5th in the points at the Hamlin Speedway in 2019.

Both son and father felt the time was right to make the transition from the slingshots to the rookie sportsman.

“We had 2020 as our tentative plan, but we wanted to make sure that 2019 went well,” Aidan said. “With the success we had this year, we feel that we are ready.”

“I felt that he had gone as far as he could with the slingshots,” Donnie said. “We feel that he is ready for the next challenge.”

The team is preparing a pair of HigFab cars for 2020 competition, one for each track.

“We originally were only going to run the Rookie Sportsman at Accord,” Donnie said. “When Orange County announced they were going back to having some Rookie Sportsman races, we added that to our team’s schedule.”

When asked what his biggest thrill was in racing, Aidan didn’t give the answer of any win or even his championship. But his answer is one that I’m sure that many racer’s can identify with.

“To me, the biggest thrill is just being out there racing,” he said. “That feeling of driving it hard into the turn and making it stick, making a pass and the speed of it all is the best.”

The Elliott Motorsports team has for sponsors Extreme Energy Solutions (Sam Burlum), Scotty’s Barber Shop in Middletown (Scotty Perry), Spiro and Spiro Electric (Jeff and Terry), Quality Heating and A.C. (Terry Randolph), Rebecca Elliott Licensed Massage Therapist and Elliott’s Automotive.

The team’s crew is his father Donnie, mother Rebecca, brother Donald, Jeff Brown and Russell ‘Duwat’ Brown.

Fans have gotten accustomed to seeing an Elliott #49 stock car at the nearby tracks over the years and that returns in 2020. It’s pretty awesome to see what a close knit family the Elliott’s are and Aidan is a very personable young man. Fans should enjoy seeing this up and coming racer in 2020.