Strong strategic move puts Elliott in Xfinity Series Victory Lane at Charlotte
Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images
CONCORD, N.C. — With a masterpiece of strategy and modicum of good fortune, Chase Elliott won Saturday’s BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season.
Saving a set of new tries for the final run in the 200-lap event at the 1.5-mile track, Elliott grabbed the lead after a Lap 183 restart and held it the rest of the way.
Driving a No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a paint scheme reminiscent of the signature look of the late Ricky Hendrick’s car, Elliott crossed the finish line 0.500 ahead of Brandon Jones, who recovered from early brake problems to finish second after pressing Elliott in the closing laps.
The victory was Elliott’s first at Charlotte and the sixth of his career. Jones finished ahead of two of his JR Motorsports teammates, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer, in third and fourth, respectively.
Elliott started 30th after a lackluster qualifying effort. After Riley Herbst crashed hard on the backstretch to cause the first of eight cautions, Elliott, Jesse Love, Anthony Alfredo and Kyle Sieg stayed on the track on old tires, saving a set of stickers for later in the race.
That call by crew chief Greg Ives proved to be the winning move. Though Elliott pitted on Lap 48 and fell to 26th in the running order for a restart on Lap 53, he regained the lost track position on new tires and was a factor near the front the rest of the way. An opportune caution on Lap 169 gave Elliott the chance to make full use of his final set of new tires.
“Greg made a good call, and I think ultimately that’s what won us the race,” Elliott said. “I felt like I needed a little bit with my balance to make as much pace as the
7 (Justin Allgaier) and a couple of those guys.
“Hats off to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Super special to win with the 17 on the car for the boss (Rick Hendrick) and (wife) Linda. It’s a great honor here with the Ricky Hendrick scheme. It means a lot to all of us to be a part of this whenever it runs.”
One by one, other contenders for the win fell by the wayside. Justin Allgaier won the first two stages in perhaps the fastest car in the race, but he sped on pit road during the Stage 2 break.
Allgaier’s race came to an end when he and pole winner Ty Gibbs crashed off Turn 4 after a restart on Lap 176. Reigning series champion Cole Custer and current Xfinity Series leader Austin Hill wrecked on the backstretch on Lap 184 after door-to-door contact a half-lap earlier.
A slow pit stop on Lap 170 cost Kyle Busch track position and relegated him to a sixth-place result behind fifth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger, who made a late-race charge on one-lap scuffed tires.
That left Jones to put the pressure on Elliott at the end, but the race ended before Jones could get closer than a half-second back.
“Talk about an up-and-down day and coming back from it,” said Jones, who had to replace brake fluid in his No. 9 Chevrolet during a long pit stop on Lap 76. “That was really fun to come from the back to the front, I think three or four times there.”
Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Gibbs and Noah Gragson completed the top 10. New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen was 15th in his first run on a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 12
Race Results for the BetMGM 300 - Saturday, May 25, 2024
Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/25/2024 @ 04:31 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 30 17 Chase Elliott(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200 0 Running 1 18
2 10 9 Brandon Jones Menards/CharBroil Chevrolet 200 4 42 Running
3 16 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 200 6 39 Running
4 13 1 Sam Mayer Tire Pros Chevrolet 200 4 40 Running 5 44
5 11 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 200 5 38 Running
6 2 33 Kyle Busch(i) BetMGM/Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet 200 3 2 0 Running 7 34
7 21 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 200 9 7 36 Running
8 36 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 200 29 Running
9 1 20 Ty Gibbs(i) He Gets Us Toyota 200 2 6 0 Running 3 27
10 18 30 Noah Gragson(i) Auto Parts Centres Ford 200 10 0 Running 2 9
11 27 91 Kyle Weatherman MyRadar/DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 200 26 Running
12 15 19 Taylor Gray(i) Operation 300 Toyota 200 0 Running
13 24 51 Jeremy Clements Spartan Waste/Fox Sports 98.3 Chevrolet 200 24 Running
14 12 31 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 200 23 Running
15 29 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # Focused Health Chevrolet 200 22 Running
16 17 5 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 200 21 Running
17 5 27 Jeb Burton Puryear Tank Lines Chevrolet 200 20 Running
18 3 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 200 8 8 25 Running
19 34 28 Kyle Sieg Night Owl National Contractors Ford 199 18 Running 1 5
20 32 15 Hailie Deegan # AirBox Ford 199 17 Running
21 38 14 JJ Yeley Engine Parts Plus Chevrolet 199 16 Running
22 33 4 Dawson Cram # TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet 199 15 Running
23 25 42 Leland Honeyman # Professional Builders Supply Chevrolet 199 14 Running
24 20 6 Garrett Smithley TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet 199 13 Running
25 8 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 198 7 3 24 Running
26 14 38 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Ford 198 11 Running
27 22 43 Ryan Ellis MacLean Power Systems Chevrolet 198 10 Running
28 4 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 198 9 11 Running 2 14
29 37 92 Natalie Decker Bikini Zone Chevrolet 196 8 Running
30 35 07 Patrick Emerling Liberty Brew Chevrolet 191 7 Running
31 23 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 190 6 Running
32 6 00 Cole Custer Fanttik Ford 184 10 6 Accident
33 9 7 Justin Allgaier Hellmann's/Round Canopy Team Chevrolet 176 1 1 24 Accident 2 40 2
34 26 26 Dean Thompson(i) MCM Transportation Toyota 137 0 Fuel Pump
35 31 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 135 2 Suspension
36 7 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 119 5 7 Oil Cooler 1 9
37 28 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 71 1 Accident
38 19 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 29 1 Accident
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 36 Mins, 27 Secs. Average Speed: 115.053 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.500 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 20, 33, 9, 16, 8, 21, 81, 39, 00
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 33, 21, 1, 18, 20, 39, 81, 2, 30
Caution Flags: 8 for 45 laps; Laps: 31-36 (No. 98, 16 Incident Backstretch [15]); 47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [92]); 74-79 (No. 48 Spin Turn 4 [16]); 92-97 (Stage 2 Conclusion [5]); 109-113 (No. 28 Spin Turn 2 [5]); 170-175 (No. 43 Incident Turn 2 [5]); 177-182 (No. 7, 20, 17, 43 Incident Frontstretch [51]); 185-188 ( [27]).
Lead Changes: 23 among 9 drivers; T. Gibbs(i) 1-21; K. Busch(i) 22-32; J. Love # 33-36; T. Gibbs(i) 37-41; J. Allgaier 42-75; K. Busch(i) 76; S. Creed 77-85; K. Busch(i) 86; J. Allgaier 87-92; N. Gragson(i) 93-97; J. Love # 98-107; K. Busch(i) 108-120; S. Mayer 121; K. Busch(i) 122-124; S. Mayer 125; K. Busch(i) 126; S. Mayer 127-146; K. Busch(i) 147-150; K. Sieg 151-155; S. Mayer 156-170; T. Gibbs(i) 171; N. Gragson(i) 172-175; S. Mayer 176-182; C. Elliott(i) 183-200.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: June 1, 2024 - Portland International Raceway
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