Elliott Earns Runner-Up Finish at Martinsville

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst team qualified ninth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
• Elliott finished the first stage in 10th and followed that up with a runner-up effort in the second stage.
• In the final stage, Elliott remained in contention for the win, ultimately finishing second. It was his sixth consecutive top-five finish at Martinsville.
• With just one race remaining, Elliott sits 10th in the Cup Series standings.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst team qualified ninth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott’s No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet showed speed from the start of the 500-lap race. He was up to eighth by lap 10 and was in that same position on lap 40 when he reported that his No. 9 Chevy could get snug at times. Shortly after, the first round of green-flag pit stops began. Elliott visited pit road on lap 66 for four fresh tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. He returned to the top 10 on lap 104 and improved to seventh on lap 116 before ultimately ending the first stage in the 10th position on lap 130.

Under the stage-ending caution, Elliott relayed that his entry got better with the previous adjustment but his center got tighter. The team opted to pit for four tires, fuel and an adjustment to help fine-tune his handling. He lined up seventh to start the second stage and raced his way to fifth before another round of green-flag pit stops commenced. Elliott remained on track and was close to visiting pit road when an incident brought out the caution flag on lap 198. He was scored third under the yellow flag and restarted in that same position after pitting for four tires and fuel. The 30-year-old driver improved to second before another incident slowed the race on lap 215. Elliott restarted from the front row and held onto second through two more caution periods, the second of which brought an early end to the stage on lap 253.

After a four-tire stop, Elliott started the final stage in second on lap 263 before a yellow flag quickly waved for an incident. After restarting from the front row on lap 271, Elliott held onto second behind teammate William Byron. He continued to run in second, even after catching the tail end of the field and working through lap traffic. As a long green-flag run ensued, teams began visiting pit road on lap 337. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott in on lap 342 for four tires and fuel. Elliott was back up to second on lap 354 and remained there as the race continued to go green. He visited pit road for the final time on lap 420 and returned to the runner-up spot on lap 430. Elliott stayed close to Byron as they continued to work through traffic in the closing laps. The two drivers carried enough speed that by the time the checkered flag waved, only seven cars were on the lead lap. Elliott came home with a second-place finish. It was his sixth consecutive top-five finish at Martinsville.

“I just needed some rear tires (in the closing laps),” Elliott said after the race. “I was running as hard as I could go. I really fell off hard on the run before, and I think that’s probably what hurt me the most with having to make up that gap. William (Byron, race winner) had that gap to play with and he did a great job managing that. He saved and he knew I was pressing. We played some games there with each other, just kind of knowing what I had to do. I’m really proud of our No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet team. I thought we got our car better and better all day. That last run, I was really happy with it, but I just needed to be a little further up the road.”

With just one race remaining in 2026, Elliott is 10th in the Cup Series standings.

Start / Finish: 9 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 10th / 2,268 pts. (-201)

Next Race: Sunday, November 8, Homestead-Miami Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC, SiriusXM or MRN

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