Elliott and No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Team Finish Second at Martinsville

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified second for Sunday’s penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway.
• He led laps in the opening portion of the race, earning the stage one victory. An issue during a pit stop placed him a little deeper in the field, but the 28-year-old driver battled to a 12th-place finish in stage two.
• During the final stage, the team’s pit strategy helped put Elliott back in contention for the win. He took over the lead late in the final stage but was unable to hold off Ryan Blaney in the closing laps and ultimately finished the race in the second position.
• The second-place finish was not enough for Elliott and the team to advance to the Championship 4 for the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team entered the penultimate race weekend of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Raceway knowing they’d essentially have to win to advance to the Championship 4 of the playoffs. The team unloaded a fast No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet with Elliott qualifying second for the race. When the green flag dropped on Sunday afternoon, Elliott’s Chevrolet continued to show speed. He took over the lead on lap 42 and was still out front when the first caution of the race came out on lap 78. After pitting for four tires and fuel, Elliott was the first driver off pit road. He lined up alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for the lap-85 restart and took back over the lead on lap 87. He continued to hold point and drove on to win stage one on lap 130.

Under the stage-ending caution, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Once again, he won the battle off pit road and lined up alongside Byron to start the second stage. This time, Byron was able to hold off Elliott for the lead. The 28-year-old driver remained in the second position until pitting for four tires and fuel under the lap-185 caution period. An issue on the right rear during the pit stop placed Elliott deep in the field for the restart on lap 190. He advanced from 26th to 22nd before another caution came out on lap 197. Once back under green, he continued his climb forward and advanced to 12th before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end stage two on lap 260. 

Elliott pitted for fuel and four tires during the stage break. He lined up 11th to choose his lane for the final stage and opted to start on the outside. After taking the green on lap 271, he improved to 10th by lap 279. He was battling for the ninth position when he made contact with a car that was slowing ahead of him. Elliott continued to run in 10th during the long green-flag run and after the handling started going away on the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Gustafson called Elliott to pit road a little earlier than a majority of the field for fresh tires and fuel. The race continued to go green through the full round of pit stops for the field, with the strategy call working in Elliott’s favor as he took over the lead on lap 380. He was still out front when the caution came out on lap 399. 

The team made its final pit stop of the race for four tires and fuel under the yellow. With two cars staying out and a few others taking only two tires, Elliott was the seventh driver to choose his lane for the restart. He opted for the outside of row three. Just after the green flag waved, the yellow flag was displayed due to a car losing a wheel. This time, Elliott was scored in the fifth position and picked the bottom of the third row for the restart on lap 413. He methodically worked his way forward, advancing to fourth on lap 416 and third on lap 419. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native took over the runner-up position with 78 laps to go and then set his sights on the leader. Elliott made the pass for the lead with just under 25 laps to go. He drove his heart out in the final laps, but eventual race winner Ryan Blaney worked his way by with just 14 circuits remaining. Elliott took the checkered flag in the runner-up position, coming up just short of advancing to the Championship 4 in the Cup Series playoffs.

Chase Elliott on the Martinsville Speedway Playoff Race

How do you sum up the strategy call?
“It was a great call. It got us right there in the mix and we had an opportunity. I just made a couple mistakes there past halfway and got some damage on our car. I think that hurt a little bit. Just little things started stacking up. I was pushing really hard trying to get to the No. 5 (Kyle Larson). I just felt like Ryan (Blaney) had been really good. I was scared to give him an opportunity to get to the No. 5 first. I just really wanted to try to get the lead. And then you never know, maybe a caution comes out or something. It just didn’t work out for us. We’ll go to Phoenix (Raceway) and try to put together a good weekend.”

Start / Finish: 2 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 7th / 2,304 pts.

Next Race: Sunday, November 10, Phoenix Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN or SiriusXM

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