June 26, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Chase Elliott comes alive in the wee hours at Nashville

LEBANON, Tenn.— Nighttime was the right time for Chase Elliott at Nashville Superspeedway.

While the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas dominated the Ally 400 in the early stages of the race, after two weather delays totaling more than three hours, the No. 5 NAPA Chevrolet came alive over the final 40 laps.

Despite his march to victory being slowed by two additional cautions, Elliott held off Kurt Busch over the final four green laps for his 15th Cup win and his first in Music City.

“I was figuring that it was coming, but was hoping not,” Elliott said of the final yellow flag. “Ryan (Blaney) gave me a great shove and I appreciate him doing me a solid there in getting us out front.

“Just so proud of our team because we kind of had a setback there about halfway and we were able to get our NAPA Chevy dialed back in and get back in the mix.

Kurt Busch finished .551-seconds behind Elliott. Ryan Blaney, defending winner Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.

Hamlin was dominant in the early going and led a race-high 114 laps. He held a 5.2-second lead over Daniel Suarez when the first caution was called on Lap 41 after Josh Bilicki slowed on the track. Before the race could get back to speed, NASCAR flew the red flag for over an hour due to lightning strikes in the area.

The race restarted on Lap 48 with 24 cars on the lead lap. William Byron experienced an issue with his steering on the restart and was forced to go to the garage. The problems for Hendrick didn’t stop there. One the next lap, Alex Bowman spun entering Turn 1 after contact with Corey LaJoie. He finished 36th. Hamlin retained the lead on Lap 56 but Martin Truex Jr. was coming. After Chase Briscoe and Ty Dillon made contact in Turn 2 to trigger the third caution six circuits later, Truex blew by Hamlin on the Lap 67 restart and held serve for the Stage 1 win.

Truex remained at the point when Stage 2 started on Lap 97 until the race stopped for rain on Lap 119. When the cars initially came to pit road, Tyler Reddick plowed into the back of Bubba Wallace’s car. Both Wallace and Elliott had issues on pit road before the Lap 125 restart. Elliott dropped to 21st and Wallace to 31st, respectively. Blaney had the lead on the restart but it was short-lived as Hamlin came from fourth and took Truex and the No. 12 Ford three-wide before regaining the point. Kyle Busch battled back to third as a JGR parade led the field before the sixth caution for lightning on lap 139.

Following 11 laps under caution, the top 10 drivers remained on the track while the field pitted. Hamlin claimed the lead on lap 152 but 19 laps later, Truex took charge and held on for the second stage win on Lap 186 with Hamlin and Kyle Busch in tow—but Elliott, who finished the stage fourth, was coming. A 13.2-second stop dropped Hamlin to eighth. Truex had the lead on the restart but was quickly passed by Kyle Busch on Lap 194.

Ten laps later, Blaney tapped the Turn 4 wall and spun into the grass while running 20th to bring out the eighth caution. A battle ensued between Truex, Kevin Harvick and Chastain as Kyle Busch checked out. On fresher tires, Elliott passed Busch for the lead for the first time on Lap 245. The No. 18 team elected to pit Busch a lap later.

On Lap 251, Chris Buescher pitted but five laps later, his right rear tire came off as the driver was coming through Turn 4. He hit the wall and limped to pit road as NASCAR called the ninth caution on Lap 256. Kyle Busch cycled back to the lead but Elliott passed him a lap later.

The 10th caution ignited by the No. 77 leaking fluid on the track with seven laps remaining, set up the final gamble for the teams. While Elliott and Kurt Busch stayed out with Blaney, Larson, Cindric, Logano, Cole Custer and Bell, 15 cars from the lead lap pitted including Truex, Kyle Busch and Hamlin which would prove to be their undoing.

Despite running on older tires, Elliott maintained his position with Kurt Busch in his wake.

“I got soft on him,” Busch said. “I should have been throwing some fenders and moving some momentum around. I didn’t stick with our strength. We didn’t have many strengths tonight. We just executed really well. The restarts were so-so and long-run speed was good. I just needed to stick with our strength and I messed up.

“I want to thank all my guys at 23XI. We have a great group of guys and girls. The way that we’re running, a second is cool, but we’re here for wins with the Playoff situation. Thanks to Monster Energy, Toyota and all of our associate sponsors. This Camry and all the TRD Camrys were awesome. I just hate it when we don’t get into victory lane and I was right there.”

Although Brad Keselowski wrecked on the restart coming through Turns 3 and 4, the race remained green until the No. 9 seized the checkered flag.

“It was a long day, a fun day,” Elliott said. “Thank you guys so much for hanging out. Just so proud of our team. We have had a pretty rough month and month-and-a-half, so just nice to get going back in the right direction. Getting a win is always huge, but to do it in a really cool city like Nashville is even better. Looking forward to that guitar.”

Elliott extended his lead by 30-points over Chastain in the standings.