Elliott Leaves Daytona Seeded Eighth in the Chase

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 22nd for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
• Elliott finished the first stage 24th and led laps in stage two before ending it in the ninth position.
• In the final stage, multiple fuel strategies unfolded. Elliott raced as high as second but ultimately needed to pit under green. He was running 29th when a multi-car incident with just five laps to go sent the race into overtime. The 30-year-old driver finished the race in the 23rd position.
• He enters The Chase eighth in the standings, 60 points behind the leader.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 22nd for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. In the opening stage, the field went to racing three wide in a hurry. Elliott utilized the middle lane to advance as high as 15th. By lap eight, the middle lane began to lose momentum and fizzled out. Elliott was shuffled deeper in the field and tried to make moves towards the end of the stage but didn’t get much opportunity to progress forward. There was a multi-car incident on the final lap of the stage, but Elliott was able to avoid it. He took the green-and-white checkered flag in 24th on lap 35.

Under the stage-ending caution, Elliott relayed positive feedback about the handling of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called him in for four tires and fuel, and Elliott took the green flag for stage two from the 12th position on lap 44. From there, he strategically worked his way closer to the front, taking over the lead for the first time of the night on lap 64. He led off and on over the course of the next several laps before the inside lane gained enough momentum to overpower Elliott’s top lane on lap 82. He continued to run inside the top five and retook the top spot on lap 91. He held onto the lead until getting surpassed on the final lap of the stage, ultimately ending it in the ninth position.

During the stage break, Elliott brought the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet to the attention of his crew for four fresh tires and fuel. The team had Elliott return to pit road to top off the fuel tank prior to the start of the final stage. He restarted 26th on lap 102 and methodically worked his way forward using the draft. On lap 109, he returned to the top 10 and found himself back up inside the top three on lap 115. Shortly after, a group of cars opted to pit under the green flag for fuel while a majority remained on the track. Elliott continued to run towards the front of the field, eventually taking over the second spot behind teammate William Byron and just ahead of teammate Kyle Larson. The trio remained out front until pitting for fuel on lap 143 along with four other teams. This spread the field into three different packs on the track, as some were still in fuel saving mode and trying not to have to pit. With just five laps to go, an incident brought out the caution, sending the race into overtime. Elliott was scored 29th at the time of the yellow flag. The team opted to pit for fresh tires to try to gain an advantage on those with older tires. Elliott restarted near the tail of the field and advanced to 23rd to end the race.

“It’s all eyes on Darlington (Raceway) now,” Elliott remarked after the race. “We got through tonight. We had a couple shining spots, I feel like. We led some laps and we were in an okay spot there a time or two. We got caught out there on the strategy there at the end, and I felt like we were in a lot of trouble there pretty quickly. Unfortunately, that ended up being true; we got behind and the caution came out. Hopefully, we can put this one behind us, reset for next weekend, have a good week of preparation and get ready to start The Chase at Darlington.”

Elliott will head into the first race of The Chase next weekend eighth in the standings, 60 points behind the leader.

Start / Finish: 22 / 23
Points Standing / Total: 8th / 2,040 pts. (-60)

Next Race: Sunday, September 6, Darlington Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 5:00 p.m. ET on USA, SiriusXM or MRN

NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 9 Team: @Hendrick9Team