When Chase Elliott and Greg Ives met for the first time since news broke of Ives' departure to become Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief in 2015, it could have been intense. "I think he was kind of worried that I was going to be mad and what-not," Elliott said of his outgoing crew chief. Turned out it was a good ice-breaker and could be an important unifying moment as Ives attempts to help bring home a championship for Elliott, who is atop the standings and leads JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith by four points entering Saturday night's U.S. Cellular 250 Presented by New Holland (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). But with the job as crew chief for NASCAR's most popular driver looming, the word distraction did crop up, even if for just a brief moment in Chase's mind. More...