Chase Elliott says NASCAR's grueling 10-month season can 'eat you up' without an escape

Chase Elliott spends most of his year trying to go faster than everyone else.

So when he finally gets a chance to slow down, you'll probably find him with a fly rod, on a golf course, hiking somewhere in Colorado or strapped to a snowboard.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORS And according to the former NASCAR Cup Series champion, those escapes aren't just a nice way to kill time between races.

They're almost a necessity.

NASCAR's schedule is a grind.

But Elliott says it's not necessarily the number of races that wears on drivers — it's how much of the calendar the season consumes.

"You tell people, ‘Oh, well how many races are in a year?’ And you say, ‘Well, there’s 38,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh wow, that’s a lot,’" Elliott told OutKick OutDoors .

"But in my mind, it’s not.

It’s not the 38 races that’s a lot.

It’s the time span from February to November." That's nearly the entire year spent traveling, preparing, racing and trying to keep pace in one of the most competitive garages in motorsports.

And Elliott believes drivers who don't find some way to occasionally get away from it can pay the price.

"If you don't have ways to escape and ways to reset and do the things that you need to do to show up with the right mindset, I think it has a high potential to really eat you up," he said.

"Especially when things aren't going good." Watch Chase Elliott's full interview with OutKick OutDoors here : For Elliott, a lot of that reset happens outdoors.

He's an avid fly fisherman , a hobby he picked up after growing up around his dad's best friend and his uncle Ernie, who were both heavily into the sport.