Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, will not compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway due to a leg injury.

Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, suffered the injury to his left leg today while snowboarding in Colorado. He is scheduled to undergo surgery this evening.

Josh Berry, 32, will fill in for Elliott in Sunday’s event at Las Vegas. Driving for Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports, he is a five-time race winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, native has made two previous starts at the Cup level.

“Chase’s health is our primary concern,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “He’s spoken with several members of our team and is understandably disappointed to miss time in the car. Of course, he has our full support, and we’ll provide any resources he needs. We hope to share another update later this weekend.”

This is a massive blow to not just the team, but the series as well. Elliott is a 5-time Most Popular Driver and without him racing, it’s the loss of the current face of NASCAR. Undoubtedly, Elliott brings eyeballs to the sport and him being out is a massive loss.

There’s also the aspect of how much Hendrick allows his drivers to do extra curricular activities. In most contracts, there’s things that are forbidden to do. This could possibly be one.

Hendrick as an example used to frown upon his drivers racing outside of a Cup car. I’m getting Kyle Larson, he’s since laxed that line of thinking. Now I wonder…

Elliott is going to have to get a waiver and win a race in order to get into the playoffs.