Chase Elliott had to wait until Thursday evening to put last Wednesday’s Darlington race and Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 behind him, but it was worth the wait.
Elliott took the lead from Kevin Harvick late in the race and led the final 28 laps of the event to secure his 7th career Cup Series victory and his first of 2020. Elliott won on the Roval configuration at Charlotte Motor Speedway last fall.
“It feels awesome,” Elliott told FOX Sports following the race. “It was a tough week for sure, we’ve had some tough losses, but the deal on Sunday night was a heartbreaker. It’s not the Coca-Cola 600, but any win in the Cup Series is hard to get.”
On the tense moments in the final few laps of the race, Elliott remarked, “I was just waiting for the caution to come out, or I was going to break something or crash.”
Harvick, who led 63 laps with a dominant car on the short run, fell to tenth place at the checkered flag.
Denny Hamlin rebounded from Sunday’s ballast issue with a strong second-place showing. Hamlin struggled on short runs due to the splitter hitting the race track, but once the tire pressures were optimal, so was the No. 11 car.
Without crew chief Chris Gabehart, Hamlin struggled with ride-height adjustments with interim crew chief Sam McAuley, but the duo fought hard and earned a solid result.
Ryan Blaney finished third after being passed by Hamlin for second on the final lap. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. turned in an excellent fourth-place finish as Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
Joey Logano and Alex Bowman won the first and second stages, respectively.
NASCAR heads to Thunder Valley for a 500-lap race on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on FS1.
Written by Greg Atkins
Photo Credit: Chris Graythen | Getty Images
