August 16, 2020 | By Lee Spencer

Chase Elliott prevails in debut of Daytona road course

Chase Elliott distinguished himself as NASCAR’s ultimate road warrior at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

Elliott scored his eighth-career Cup win in the inaugural Go Bowling 235 and his fourth victory on a road course.

The 24-year-old driver enjoyed a 10-second lead prior to the fourth and final caution but held off Denny Hamlin over the final three laps by .202-seconds at the line.

“Good work today boys,” Elliott said after scoring his second win of 2020. “What a car!”

For Hamlin, the second-place finish was his 10th podium of the season.

“I just would have liked to have stayed closer to him (Elliott) to put a little pressure on entries,” Hamlin said. “My entries were the strong point against him, but I was giving him four car lengths so he could kind of drive the entries the way he wanted to make sure he got a good exit.

“I wasn’t quite clean enough the last few laps, but I definitely gave myself a chance. Those last couple of corners, I felt like I did as much as I could to get to him and tried to do it the right way.”

Martin Truex Jr. recovered from a pit road speeding penalty to finish third. Jimmie Johnson, Chris Buescher, Clint Bowyer, Kaz Grala, William Byron, Joey Logano and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10.

Hamlin led the first lap on the NASCAR designed 3.61-mile, 14-turn course and took turns with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Truex prior to Elliott taking the point for the first time on Lap 13. The first 15 laps went caution-free with Elliott collecting his sixth stage win this season. Logano, Johnson, Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto, Byron, Truex, Cole Custer and Ryan Preece completed the top 10.

Hamlin led the field to green for the second stage on Lap 18. Truex passed the No. 11 Toyota on Lap 22. Kyle Busch’s issues began Lap 24 when he spun off the track near Turn 1 while running seventh but no caution was called. Green-flag pit stops started on Lap 25. Truex, who pitted from the lead on Lap 28, was busted for speeding. With two laps remaining prior to the end of Stage 2, NASCAR had closed the pits and Truex was forced to serve his penalty once the caution was called.

Hamlin won Stage 2 followed by Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Preece, Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Corey LaJoie.

Elliott held the point for the start of the second stage on Lap 33. Harvick, who restarted second, was punted by Christopher Bell. After flat-spotting his tire during the incident, Harvick elected to pit on Lap 34 and dropped to 29th.

Elliott continued in the lead when the third caution was called for lightning followed by rain. After a 31-minute delay for weather, the race continued on Lap 40. With 26 laps remaining, Elliott lined up alongside Kurt Busch. In five laps, Elliott held a six-second lead over the field. Harvick spun again and dropped to 39th. The Cup points leader recovered to finish 17th—ending a streak of nine-straight top fives that included four wins.

Kyle Busch pitted on Lap 48 but ended up in the garage with a broken brake rotor. With nearly an eight-second lead, Elliott pit on the next lap turning over the point to rookie Kaz Grala, who was filling in for Austin Dillon. Richard Childress Racing announced on Friday that Dillon had contracted the coronavirus and would miss the race.

Grala led three laps in his Cup debut before pitting on Lap 53 and turning the lead over to Elliott. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was in command of the race when Kyle Busch, who returned with his wounded car on Lap 54 and was running 37th, spun in Turn 8 to trigger the fourth and final caution.

The race returned to green for a three-lap shoot-out, but Elliott never flinched. Despite a challenge by Hamlin, Elliott out-dueled the veteran leading a race-high 34 circuits for his first win at the “World Center of Racing.”

"Our guys did a phenomenal job," Elliott. "We just had a phenomenal car. I don’t think I did anything very special today. I think Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and all our guys did a really good job pitting there at the start. We made a couple really small adjustments, I felt like, there, at that first stop and I was really kind of able to leave it after that. So, I just appreciate everybody that makes this happen.

"Thanks to the fans. Good to see you guys back. Appreciate you all coming out. And, just thanks to all our partners and Chevrolet. I spent a lot of time with them this past week. A special thanks to Jordan Taylor and Boris Said for reaching out and being willing to help this weekend; some road course ringers. I tried to lean on them and luckily everything worked out.”