Chase Elliott Earns Top Rookie Honors at The Brickyard
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports, finished 15th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.
Elliott rolled off the grid in 15th, though by Lap 23 he had fallen outside of the top 20 while battling the handling of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS. As competitors began to make green-flag pit stops, Elliott moved all the way up to seventh before heading to pit road. When the field cycled through, he was in 19th on Lap 44. Following a trip to pit road during a caution on Lap 54, Elliott was back inside the top 20, and he reached the top 10 once again while remaining on the track as competitors made green-flag pit stops. On Lap 87, however, he made his own stop, and at Lap 100 he was in 20th. That’s where he remained following another green-flag stop and a caution, but on the ensuing restart with 33 laps to go he gained six places up to 14th.
When another caution flag flew with 30 laps to go, Elliott headed to pit road again, and he restarted 13th. During a caution for debris with 10 laps to go, Elliott visited pit road once again and restarted 15th. He avoided a multiple-car incident on the ensuing restart and was in 12th after a red flag. The race went to overtime, and on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, Elliott took the green flag in 10th. He ultimately finished 15th.
Elliott’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, led the four-car Hendrick Motorsports contingent to the checkered flag finishing third, and the organization reached a milestone in the process. The No. 48 Lowe’s Red Vest Chevrloet SS earned Hendrick Motorsports its 1,000th top-five result since the team was founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984.
Jeff Gordon subbing in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. took home a 13th-place result and Kasey Kahne finished 18th.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule will be at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 31st. The event begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with live coverage provided by NBCSN.
Chase Elliott 2016 Stats after Indianapolis
| Ranking | Points | Starts | Poles | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 525 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 118 |
2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings (Top 16 after 20 of 36 races)
| Postion | Driver (wins) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kevin Harvick (1) | 671 |
| 2. | Brad Keselowski (4) | 647 |
| 3. | Kurt Busch (1) | 627 |
| 4. | Joey Logano (1) | 606 |
| 5. | Kyle Busch (4) | 601 |
| 6. | Carl Edwards (2) | 593 |
| 7. | Martin Truex Jr. (1) | 573 |
| 8. | Jimmie Johnson (2) | 552 |
| 9. | Matt Kenseth (2) | 545 |
| 10. | Denny Hamlin (1) | 542 |
| 11. | Chase Elliott | 525 |
| 12. | Austin Dillon | 520 |
| 13. | Ryan Newman | 507 |
| 14. | Jamie McMurray | 496 |
| 15. | Kyle Larson | 472 |
| 16. | Kasey Kahne | 462 |
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 24 Team: @Hendrick24Team
Hendrick Motorsports View All
Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (308) and laps led (over 80,000). Headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, the team fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.