Elliott Advances to Round of 12 Following Eventful Bristol Night Race

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 16th for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Tire wear played a major role in the race, with teams needing to pit more frequently than originally anticipated.
• Elliott finished stage one in 22nd and stage two in 18th. In the final stage, he had worked his way up to the top 10. Elliott was running 10th when contact with another car sent the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet into the outside wall.
• The team tried to make repairs, but Elliott’s Chevy was too damaged to continue. The 29-year-old driver was relegated to a 38th-place finish.
• Despite the early exit from Saturday night’s race, Elliott had enough points to advance to the Round of 12 in the playoffs.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 16th for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was established early in the race that there was significant tire wear, which had teams visiting pit road more frequently than originally anticipated. Elliott was 12th when he brought the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet in for the team’s first stop of the night on lap 49. He returned to the track in 33rd and was up to 19th when a caution came out on lap 80 for a car on fire on pit road. He was trapped one lap down with only eight cars on the lead lap. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott in for four tires and fuel. He restarted 23rd and ended the stage in 22nd on lap 125.

During the stage break, Elliott came to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. He took the green flag for stage two in 22nd on lap 137 and was up to 19th when an incident brought out the caution on lap 147. Staying out, Elliott restarted 18th on lap 155 but unfortunately got up into the tire marbles, causing him to lose momentum. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native dropped back to 30th but began working his way forward once he got settled in. Elliott pitted from the 26th position on lap 186 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He advanced from 34th to 20th before another yellow flag was displayed on lap 237. Still one lap down, the team opted not to pit in order to take the wave around to get back on the lead lap. Elliott restarted 18th and remained there to finish the stage on lap 250.

The team opted to reverse the previous chassis adjustment during a pit stop for four tires and fuel at the stage break. Elliott lined up 16th to start the final stage and drove to 10th before a caution slowed the race at lap 269. Staying out, he restarted in the same position on lap 277. The field didn’t get many green flag laps before another incident brought out the yellow flag. Elliott pitted from 12th under the caution and restarted 17th on lap 289. He advanced to 12th before yet another caution period. Opting to stay out, he lined up 10th for the restart and was up to eighth on lap 303. Elliott was running 10th when contact with another car sent the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet into the outside wall. The team tried to make repairs, but the damage was too significant for the NAPA Chevrolet to continue. Elliott was relegated to a 38th-place finish.

“The No. 22 (Joey Logano) got position on me,” Elliott said of the accident that ended his race early. “I thought I was doing the smart thing just trying to get back to the bottom. I guess I thought I was clear back down in line. I visually saw the gap, so I just tried to get back in line and I got a huge shot from behind. I’m not sure if the No. 42 (John H. Nemechek) got pushed in there or he wasn’t expecting me to come back to the bottom or what the reasoning was, but nonetheless, it happened and it’s done.”

Despite the result, Elliott managed to advance to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series playoffs. He enters the round seventh, five points above the cutline.

Start / Finish: 16 / 38
Points Standing / Total: 7th / +5 above cutline

Next Race: Sunday, Sept. 21, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 2:00 p.m. ET on USA, SiriusXM or PRN

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