Elliott Earns Top-10 Result in Atlanta Playoff Race

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team qualified 16th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• The driver of the No. 9 NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 finished seventh in stage one and eighth in stage two.
• A late-race caution sent the race into overtime, with Elliott ultimately taking the checkered flag in the eighth position.
• The result was the 28-year-old driver’s 13th top-10 finish of the 2024 season.
• Elliott leaves Atlanta eighth in the Cup Series playoff standings, 24 points above the elimination line.

Chase Elliott had the 16th fastest lap in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway. From the drop of the green flag in Sunday’s opening race of the playoffs, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 showed speed. By lap 28, he was in the 10th position and made moves to get to eighth on lap 32. As the stage continued to go caution-free, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native remained inside the top-10 running order. When the first yellow flag of the race was displayed on lap 56, he was scored in the seventh position. The stage ultimately ended under the caution, with Elliott collecting four stage points for his seventh-place result.

Under the yellow flag, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to fine tune the No. 9 Chevrolet’s handling. The 28-year-old driver lined up ninth to choose his lane, opting for the outside. Taking the green flag for stage two on lap 68, Elliott ran as high as eighth before relaying that he liked the adjustment made. He continued racing among the top-12 running order and was scored in the eighth spot when a caution came out for debris on lap 115. He reported to Gustafson that he was “pretty happy” with his No. 9 NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet. After pitting for right side tires and fuel, Elliott restarted from the sixth position on lap 120. After temporarily dropping out of the top 10 on lap 141, the 2020 Cup Series champion powered his way to eighth place to end stage two on lap 160, adding three more stage points to his total.

During the stage break, Elliott brought the No. 9 Chevrolet to the attention of his crew for four fresh tires and fuel. He lined up 14th to start the final stage on lap 167 and was battling for the 10th position when a caution flag came out on lap 175. Elliott pitted for fuel only and restarted in 11th on lap 182. He continued to race inside the top 12 and came on strong on lap 205, powering his way to sixth just prior to another caution. The team opted not to pit, which gave Elliott the opportunity to restart from the second row on lap 212. He held strong inside the top five for several laps, running as high as third. As the laps started to wind down, the intensity started to heat up and there were several three-wide battles for position. Elliott was scored just inside the top 10 when the yellow flag was displayed with 10 laps remaining. Staying out, he was ninth to choose his lane and decided to go with the high line. The race went back to green with just five laps to go. Elliott maneuvered his way to fifth before another caution flag waved with just two laps left, sending the race into overtime. He restarted from the third row and battled hard, ultimately taking the checkered flag in the eighth position.

Elliott is now eighth in the Cup Series playoff standings, 24 points above the elimination line with two races left in the Round of 16.

Q&A with Chase Elliott:

Is there just relief getting through today?
“Yeah, for sure. It’s nice to just have a solid day. We needed a good, solid day for this No. 9 NAPA / Children’s Chevy team. I’m looking forward to getting up to Watkins Glen and seeing how it goes.”

Overall, how did you feel about the race today?
“Yeah, it was fine. I think as time goes on, everybody gets better at it, and then it makes everybody just more the same and harder to be different. So, then we just end up clogging up the lanes and you just hope you have track position. Unfortunately, we had that most of the day.”

Going into next weekend, your thoughts on that. Watkins Glen is a pretty good track for you.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to getting up there. Just going to have to qualify well. It’s going to be really, really tough to make any ground on that track. You better bring your A-game on Saturday because I’d say the race is probably going to be lost there.”

Start / Finish: 16 / 8
Points Standing / Total: 8th / 2,050 pts.

Next Race: Sunday, September 15, Watkins Glen International
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN or SiriusXM

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