HAMPTON, Va. – Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, will compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event at Langley Speedway on June 23. The 175-lap race will broadcast on SPEED on Thursday, June 28 at 3 p.m. ET.

Elliott, 16, enters the halfway point of the K&N Pro Series East season this Saturday still ranked first in the 2012 championship standings, three points over second-place Kyle Larson.

The Dawsonville, Ga., native scored two top-five finishes in his two previous starts at the Langley track. Elliott made his debut there in May 2011 in the CARS Pro Cup Series and adapted quickly to the .396-mile track. He started that race second and went on to finish fourth.

In June 2011, Elliott drove his No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet from a seventh-place starting position and crossed the finish line fifth in the K&N Pro Series East event.

“We were fortunate enough to be able to participate in the Pro Cup race at Langley just a couple weeks prior to the K&N event race there last year,” Elliott said. “I feel like that helps a lot to already have the experience there. That will definitely help the Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com team when we go there this Saturday.”

With eight K&N Pro Series East events remaining in 2012, Elliott looks to gain more experience as a driver and also improve as a team.

“I feel like our season has been okay,” said Elliott, who has posted one win, five top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in 18 career K&N Pro Series East starts. “We have had some good races, but at the same time we have had our struggles, such as Gresham. If we can become more consistent and continue to learn, I feel like we will be really close to where we need to be.”

Elliott will participate in the K&N Pro Series East autograph session at Langley Speedway on June 23 at 5:30 p.m. local time. For race weekend updates, please follow Cindy Elliott on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CindyElliott9 and Chase Elliott at www.twitter.com/ChaseElliott.