Chase Elliott Wins Martinsville To Make Cup Title Round

Chase Elliott went to Martinsville Speedway needing nothing less than a win to make the move to the Championship round next weekend at Phoenix.

The Dawsonville, Georgia speedster left town not only with a coveted Grandfather Clock Trophy for the win at the historic speedway, but with a berth into the title round for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Elliott led 236 of 500 laps en route to his first career win at the tight half-mile raceway, getting around Martin Truex, Jr. with 43 laps to go before driving off to the win.

It’s the fourth win of 2020 for the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet and the 10th series victory of his career. It also is the first time a member of the Elliott family in the Northeast Georgia hills has scored a Cup Series win Martinsville.

More importantly, it also marks the first time Elliott has moved to the Championship round for the first time in his career.

“Oh, my gosh. This is the biggest win ever for us,” said Elliott. “I’m just so proud to be able to be backed into a corner like that and have to win tonight. I feel like that’s what we’ve been missing these past four or five years and perform when we don’t have a choice. And, to do that tonight, we couldn’t ask for a better night. This is unreal.”

Elliott had to battle back from a pair of pit road incidents, including one that initially drew a penalty from NASCAR for a crew member coming over the wall too soon. That was reviewed by officials and was rescinded, allowing Elliott to hold his track position.

“Yeah, I didn’t think our car was driving as good there at the end as it was at the beginning of the race,” said Elliott. “But those last couple of pit stops made some really good changes and had a good pit stop on that last one and a good last restart. And that was the difference. Everybody makes this possible. This is unbelievable. I’m just at a bit of a loss for words. Like I said, this is the piece we’ve been missing. I feel like we’ve had the group to do this. We just have to go make it happen and we did tonight.”

Elliott came into Martinsville in a must-win situation to make the cut to get into the Championship round after a flat tire left him finishing 20th last week at Texas.

Elliott powered to the front, running in the top three and leading at times before finishing fourth in the first segment. He backed that out with a win in the second segment.

The wheels almost came off for Elliott when, on a pit stop under caution on lap 352, NASCAR issued a penalty for the No. 9 team for the jack man coming over the wall too soon.

NASCAR reviewed the penalty, finding that the crew member moved back to the pit wall, which is within the rules should someone step off to early. Officials rescinded the penalty, allowing Elliott to keep his position as he raced off pit road.

Elliott also had to overcome a slow pit stop on lap 400 under caution that left him in 10th position on the restart.

Elliott raced his way back into contention, and after taking the lead for the final time, moved out to a 6.577 second advantage at the checkered flag.

“This is unreal. Thanks to the fans for coming out. They’re here and I love to see it,” said Elliott. “I’ve just got to catch my breath. This is just unbelievable. We’re going to Phoenix with a shot to win a championship and have a beautiful blue NAPA Camaro headed out there with a shot to win a title. What more could you ask for?”

Meanwhile, a hard day for presumed title contender Kevin Harvick had to pit early due to a cut tire, and fought most of the day to get back on the lead lap. He also fought an ill-handling race car.

As the laps wound down, Harvick found himself racing with Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin to make the cut. With Hamlin and Keselowski ahead by one point going into the last lap, Harvick tried to get one more spot, making contact with Kyle Busch coming off turn 4 on the final lap. That sent both cars spinning, with Busch crossing the line ahead of Harvick, who made hard contact with the inside wall.

Harvick finished in 17th, leaving him outside of the Championship 4 after having one of the most dominant seasons of the sport’s modern era, with nine wins and some 67 playoff points collected.

“That’s the system that we work in and it’s obviously skewed more towards entertainment than the whole year, so it’s exciting to watch and has that format that goes with it and you take them as they come and we race within the system that they give us and do our best,” said Harvick. “It just didn’t work out for us. The last three weeks didn’t go exactly how we needed them to and you’ve got to be right when you get to this Round of 8.”

It was also a near miss for Truex, Jr., who also came into the day needing a win to make the cut. At times, Truex, Jr. appeared to have the only car faster than Elliott’s.

After taking the lead on the final restart, it appeared that Truex, Jr. might pull away. But a loose left front wheel left his No. 19 Toyota with a vibration. After Elliott bypassed him, Truex, Jr. tried to hang onto his position. But he ended up having to hit pit road with 25 laps to go, ending his win and title hopes with a 22nd place finish.

“We had a great car all day long and just kept making adjustments waiting for it to cool off and get dark,” said Truex, Jr. “That last run there before the final pit stop, the thing was on rails and it was perfect and we were driving away. I felt really good about it. Then we pitted and had a pretty good pit stop. Came out with the lead and right away I knew something was wrong. I was really, really tight and had a vibration. The 9 (Elliott) car passed us and we started dropping and had to pit for a loose wheel. Unfortunate. I think we should be the one in victory lane right now, but you have to do it all. Just a little mistake there.”

Meanwhile, Keselowski had to come back from a pit road speeding penalty to battle with Harvick and Hamlin point-by-point with every car the three passed. With the white flag in the air, each driver was separated by one point, with Hamlin and Keselowski ahead of Harvick. After Harvick’s crash, Hamlin made it by 10 points, with Keselowski in by nine.

“It was tough. Our car was fading a little bit,” said Hamlin. “I was also getting into some spots where I was getting roughed up by some teammates, not really ours, just some of the guys that are in the battle. I didn’t even want to be a part of it, so I would just get out of it and then I put myself in an interesting spot where the 4 (Harvick) was going for it a little bit and we were very fortunate he didn’t go for it any further than he did. We did just enough. That’s what we needed to do – is do enough to make it to Phoenix and give ourselves a shot at the championship. This FedEx team definitely deserves to be in the top four and glad that we are able to give it a shot next week.”

“There was nothing I could do other than just pass as many cars as I could and look forward,” said Keselowski. “The last two runs, I don’t know if we were the best car, but we were close to it. Credit to (Crew Chief) Jeremy Bullins and the team. They just kept adjusting on it at the end and we got good when it counted. It was just frustrating because that pit road penalty I did not see it coming, to be honest with you.”

With the win, Elliott makes the Championship 4, along with Kansas winner Joey Logano, Hamlin and Keselowski. Harvick joins Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch and Truex, Jr. wondering what might have been.

Ryan Blaney finished in second on Sunday, with Logano in third, Keselowski in fourth, and Kurt Busch in fifth.

Bowman, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10.

NASCAR Cup Series
Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, VA
Xfinity 500 – November 1, 2020

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2. (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500.
3. (7) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 500.
4. (1) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 500.
5. (5) Kurt Busch (P), Chevrolet, 500.
6. (3) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 500.
7. (20) Aric Almirola, Ford, 500.
8. (16) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 500.
9. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500.
10. (12) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 500.
11. (4) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 500.
12. (19) Erik Jones, Toyota, 500.
13. (15) Cole Custer #, Ford, 500.
14. (31) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 500.
15. (11) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 500.
16. (25) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 500.
17. (6) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 500.
18. (21) Ryan Newman, Ford, 499.
19. (22) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 499.
20. (18) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 499.
21. (32) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 499.
22. (2) Martin Truex, Jr. (P), Toyota, 499.
23. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 498.
24. (17) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 498.
25. (26) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 498.
26. (23) John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 498.
27. (29) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 497.
28. (24) Michael McDowell, Ford, 497.
29. (34) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 495.
30. (27) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 495.
31. (38) J.J. Yeley(i), Ford, 494.
32. (33) Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 490.
33. (35) Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, 489.
34. (39) Joey Gase(i), Ford, Electrical, 447.
35. (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 439.
36. (37) James Davison, Ford, Electrical, 422.
37. (30) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, Accident, 184.
38. (28) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 146.
39. (36) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 100.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 71.581 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 40 Mins, 27 Secs. Margin of Victory: 6.577 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 12 for 83 laps.

Lead Changes: 20 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: B. Keselowski (P) 1-3;M. Truex Jr. (P) 4-88;C. Elliott (P) 89-112;D. Hamlin (P) 113-133;A. Bowman (P) 134;K. Busch 135-139;K. Busch (P) 140-162;C. Elliott (P) 163-217;D. Hamlin (P) 218-220;J. Logano (P) 221;D. Hamlin (P) 222-239;C. Elliott (P) 240-266;M. Truex Jr. (P) 267;C. Elliott (P) 268-353;J. Logano (P) 354-368;R. Blaney 369-404;J. Logano (P) 405-407;M. Truex Jr. (P) 408-442;C. LaJoie 443-448;M. Truex Jr. (P) 449-456;C. Elliott (P) 457-500.

Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Chase Elliott (P) 5 times for 236 laps; Martin Truex Jr. (P) 4 times for 129 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 3 times for 42 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 36 laps; Kurt Busch (P) 1 time for 23 laps; Joey Logano (P) 3 times for 19 laps; Corey LaJoie 1 time for 6 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 5 laps; Brad Keselowski (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Alex Bowman (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,88,2,9,22,19,18,24,1,48

Stage #2 Top Ten: 9,19,11,12,1,18,2,22,88,6

Top 8 in Points: 1. Joey Logano* – 5000 (3 Wins); 2. Chase Elliott* – 5000 (4 Wins); 3. Brad Keselowski* – 5000 (4 Wins); 4. Denny Hamlin* – 5000 (7 Wins); 5. Kevin Harvick – 2380 (9 Wins); 6. Alex Bowman – 2346 (1 Win); 7. Martin Truex, Jr. – 2314 (1 Win); 8. Kyle Busch – 2307 (1 Win).

*Locked into the Championship 4