Chase Elliott snaps long drought at Texas
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas — Chase Elliott held off the field in a thrilling, wildly-popular double overtime victory in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon to earn his first victory in 42 starts – dating back to the 2022 season.
By no means was it an easy win for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the sport’s perennial Most Popular Driver, but that’s part of what made it so special to 28-year old Georgia-native. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet prevailed in three late race restarts – including two in overtime – to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series win on the 1.5-mile Texas high banks and first trophy since a Playoff victory at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October 2022.
“Oh man, it couldn’t feel any better,” said a smiling Elliott, who did a “reverse” victory lap around the track in homage to the late series champion Alan Kulwicki, whose car was also sponsored by the Hooters restaurant chain that Elliott’s car carried on Sunday.
“Couldn’t be any more grateful for this journey and the fact, it hasn’t always been fun but certainly I have enjoyed working with our guys,” he continued. “We’ve been working really hard and really well together and that’s always been fun. We’ve enjoyed the fight together.”
RFK Racing owner/driver Brad Keselowski finished a season-best runner-up in a race that lasted more than three and a half hours and had a track record 16 caution periods.
On a restart with two laps of regulation to go, Elliott and Denny Hamlin were vying for the lead side-by-side when Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota got loose and into the wall, putting the race into a two-lap overtime shootout. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain started alongside Elliott but couldn’t pass him before another caution came out a lap into overtime, forcing another restart.
On that restart, Elliott got ahead of Chastain again and took the white flag signaling one lap to go, when Chastain was tagged from behind by Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron – officially ending the race. Chastain, who led 33 laps on the day was credited with a 32nd-place finish. Hamlin, who led 37 laps, ended up 30th.
Elliott conceded the afternoon was a full-on day of drama and high competition. There were 23 lead changes among 13 drivers – seven of whom led double digit laps.
“It was crazy,” he said, “And I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”
Bryon, a three-race winner this season, was third, followed by 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez.
“We didn’t have a ton of speed, I was more frustrated than anything because I feel like we have a great team and we don’t have the speed to go with it and we’re doing all we can do to overcome that,” Keselowski said, adding. “So proud of the team for the pit stops, the strategy and the execution [today].”
Differing pit strategies and plenty of pit road issues played into the late race push to the checkered flag.
With 60 laps remaining Reddick pulled away to the biggest lead of the race – more than six seconds on the field, but a slow pit stop – trouble with the left rear tire
– forced him into a game of catch-up. His top five was impressive considering the setback.
Similarly, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr., who has led the championship standings this year, was running up front when he had trouble on pit road – forced to make two stops on the final pit stop cycle to correct a loose wheel. He finished 14th despite the woes.
And the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson also had to rally from a setback. He started his No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet from the pole position for the third consecutive week and led a race best 77 of the 276 laps early – winning the opening stage, only to have a right rear tire fall of his car during an early caution period.
He was penalized two laps for the tire situation – per the rulebook – and spent much of the remainder of the race trying to make up ground. He got back on the lead lap and was moving forward when he was caught in an accident with only eight laps remaining.
Larson ultimately finished 21st, but holds a 17-point edge over Truex atop the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe finished sixth. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon earned his best finish of the season with a seventh-place run. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, RCR’s Kyle Busch and Spire Motorsports rookie Carson Hocevar rounded out the top-10.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves East for next Sunday’s GEICO 500 at the famed Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kyle Busch is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 9
Race Results for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 - Sunday, April 14, 2024
Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 276 Laps - 414. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 4/14/2024 @ 07:51 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 24 9 Chase Elliott Hooters Chevrolet 276 7 10 45 Running 3 39 5
2 22 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 276 6 40 Running
3 6 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 276 9 36 Running
4 4 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Unleashed Toyota 276 4 40 Running 2 37
5 17 99 Daniel Suarez Kubota Chevrolet 276 32 Running
6 5 14 Chase Briscoe Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford 276 5 5 43 Running
7 10 23 Bubba Wallace Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota 276 10 2 40 Running 1 5
8 15 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 276 29 Running
9 35 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 276 28 Running
10 16 77 Carson Hocevar # Premier Security Chevrolet 276 27 Running
11 20 22 Joey Logano AAA Insurance Ford 276 26 Running 1 14
12 26 41 Ryan Preece HaasTooling.com Ford 276 25 Running
13 2 54 Ty Gibbs Interstate Batteries Toyota 276 9 26 Running 1 5
14 9 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 276 23 Running
15 19 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 276 22 Running
16 36 16 Ty Dillon(i) Sea Best Seafood Chevrolet 276 0 Running
17 3 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 276 2 29 Running 1 1
18 21 10 Noah Gragson Overstock.com Ford 276 19 Running
19 27 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 276 4 25 Running
20 38 31 Daniel Hemric South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet 276 17 Running
21 1 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 276 1 26 Running 5 77 1
22 23 7 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Chevrolet 276 15 Running
23 31 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Boost by Kroger/Blue Buffalo Chevrolet 276 8 17 Running
24 32 51 Justin Haley Jacob Construction Ford 276 13 Running
25 8 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 276 12 Running
26 18 71 Zane Smith # Ambetter Health Chevrolet 276 11 Running
27 33 15 Kaz Grala # N29 Capital Partners Ford 276 10 Running
28 29 21 Harrison Burton Freightliner Ford 276 7 13 Running 1 7
29 37 84 * Jimmie Johnson AdventHealth Toyota 276 8 Running
30 11 11 Denny Hamlin Yahoo! Toyota 276 3 15 Running 2 37
31 28 38 Todd Gilliland Long John Silver's Ford 276 6 Running 1 3
32 12 1 Ross Chastain Worldwide Express Chevrolet 275 1 15 Accident 2 33 1
33 7 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Insulation Ford 268 6 3 17 Running 3 17
34 30 42 John Hunter Nemechek Romco Equipment Co. Toyota 226 3 Accident
35 13 34 Michael McDowell Love's/Fleetguard Ford 143 8 5 Accident
36 25 4 Josh Berry # Miner DOCKS DOORS AND MORE Ford 136 1 Accident
37 14 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 100 1 Accident
38 34 33 * Austin Hill(i) United Rentals Chevrolet 98 1 Steering 1 1
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 33 Mins, 14 Secs. Average Speed: 116.492 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 20, 11, 45, 14, 12, 9, 34, 24, 23
Stage 2 Top 10: 1, 23, 12, 43, 14, 6, 21, 47, 54, 9
Caution Flags: 16 for 72 laps; Laps: 51-55 (#84 Spin Turn 4 [17]); 82-88 (Stage 1 Conclusion [8]); 102-106 (#20, 42, 48 Incident Turn 4 [51]); 115-118 (#8, 77 Incident Turn 1 [16]); 122-125 (#4 Incident Turn 2 [84]); 138-142 (#4 Incident Turn 2 [20]); 144-149 (#34 Incident Turn 4 [5]); 167-172 (Stage 2 Conclusion [5]); 174-177 (#14, 23 Incident Turn 4 [15]); 182-184 (#12, 41 Incident Turn 2 [15]); 230-234 (#42 Incident Turn 4 [71]); 255-259 (#47 Incident Turn 2 [19]); 261-265 (#5, 71 Incident Turn 1 [47]); 267-270 (#11 Incident Turn 4 [12]); 272-274 (#15, 21 Incident Turn 1 [12]); 276-276 (#1, 24 Incident Backstretch [None]).
Lead Changes: 23 among 13 drivers; K. Larson 1-35; T. Gibbs 36-40; C. Elliott 41-52; K. Larson 53-54; C. Bell 55; K. Larson 56-84; R. Blaney 85-87; *. Hill(i) 88; R. Blaney 89-99; K. Larson 100; R. Blaney 101-103; T. Gilliland 104-106; K. Larson 107-116; D. Hamlin 117-138; R. Chastain 139-167; B. Wallace 168-172; H. Burton 173-179; T. Reddick 180-213; R. Chastain 214-217; J. Logano 218-231; T. Reddick 232-234; C. Elliott 235-244; D. Hamlin 245-259; C. Elliott 260-276.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: April 21, 2024 - Talladega Superspeedway
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