Elliott Earns 10th-Place Finish at Las Vegas

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team started 16th in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Elliott finished stage one in third and came back from a pit road speeding penalty to finish stage two in 15th.
• Early in the final stage, Elliott raced as high as second. As the race went on, pit strategy didn’t go the team’s way, but the 29-year-old driver rallied, coming from deep in the field to finish 10th in the 267-lap race.
• It was Elliott’s third consecutive top-10 finish, and he’s now tied for third in the Cup Series points standings, just 48 markers behind the leader.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team started Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the 16th position. After initially losing a couple spots in the opening laps, Elliott methodically worked his way forward, breaking into the top 10 on lap 23. Not long after, some teams began making green flag pit stops. Elliott was still out on track, running in the second position when the first caution of the race came out on lap 34. Under the yellow flag, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native reported he had overbuilt the right rear, but that it was manageable. After pitting for four tires and fuel, he restarted fourth and advanced to third to end the first stage on lap 80.

Under the stage-ending caution, the team made a fast stop for four tires and fuel. Elliott won the battle off pit road but was unfortunately hit with a speeding penalty for going too fast in the first section. Because of the penalty, the team decided to call the driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet back to pit road to top off with fuel. He took the green flag for stage two from 31st on lap 89 and pressed forward, driving up to 22nd before a caution came out on lap 108. After pitting for four fresh tires and fuel, he lined up 17th for the restart and powered to 15th before another incident quickly brought out the yellow. Once the race got back under way, he advanced to 12th on lap 120 but faded to 18th after reporting a tight handling condition. When the caution came out on lap 148, the team put on a set of scuffs and made a chassis adjustment during the pit stop. With some teams taking two tires, Elliott restarted 20th on lap 153 and powered to 15th before the green-and white checkered flag waved to end stage two on lap 165.

During the stage break, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for four tires and fuel. Elliott started the final stage from 16th and was running 20th when the caution came out on lap 188. The team made a strategy call to put right-side tires on the No. 9 NAPA Chevy while pitting for fuel. The call gained Elliott valuable track position, and he lined up fourth for the restart. He drove to second before the caution came back out. The team pitted for two tires and to get the No. 9 Chevrolet full of fuel, but several other teams stayed out, putting Elliott deep in the field. With the loss of track position, Gustafson made the call for his driver to come back to pit road for two more tires, a chassis adjustment and to top off the fuel tank before the field went back to green. On the lap-201 restart, Elliott made quick work of the cars ahead of him, driving up to 22nd by lap 212. When the caution came out on lap 242, he was running 18th. Under the yellow, the team made its final pit stop for four tires and fuel. A fast stop helped Elliott restart from the 12th position, and he drove up to 10th to take the checkered flag in the 267-lap event.

The top-10 result helped Elliott advance in the Cup Series points standings. He’s now tied for third, just 48 points behind the leader, Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.

Start / Finish: 16 / 10
Points Standing / Total: 3rd (tied) / 159 pts. (-48)

Next Race: Sunday, March 23, Homestead-Miami Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN or SiriusXM

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