Elliott Finishes 13th at Richmond Raceway

- Chase Elliott, who qualified fourth for Sunday’s event at Richmond Raceway, finished 13th in the 400-lap race.
- The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion finished fourth in stage one and 14th in stage two.
- Elliott is 20th in the driver point standings with four races left in the regular season. He is currently 40 markers below the provisional cutline to advance to the playoffs.
Chase Elliott, who qualified fourth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, ran in the top five for the entirety of the 70-lap first stage. The driver of the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 finished fourth in the caution-free stage.
Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for fuel and new tires during the stage break with the Dawsonville, Georgia, native restarting from the fourth position. Elliott quickly maneuvered up to third on lap 80, but had fallen to sixth by lap 117 while struggling with “drive off” – the loss of traction in the rear tires off the corners – in the No. 9 entry. On lap 121 during green-flag conditions, Elliott stopped for four new tires and fuel. Several teams elected to run longer on older tires in an effort to pit only once in the second stage while the No. 9 team’s strategy was to pit twice and take advantage of the faster new tires. But Elliott’s Camaro still struggled with traction off the corners, and he was scored 11th on lap 174 when Gustafson radioed for the 2020 Cup Series champion to visit pit road for fuel and new tires. Elliott returned to the track in 20th and gained six spots before stage two ended at lap 230.
After visiting pit road again during the stage break, Elliott restarted 14th on lap 239 and quickly moved up to ninth. The driver of the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet completed his first stop of the final stage on lap 286 but, again, other teams elected to stop much later. Elliott maneuvered up to 14th while still battling a loss of traction on corner exit. With 65 laps to go in the 400-lap event, Gustafson radioed Elliott to visit pit road for his final green-flag stop of the race. With four new tires, Elliott worked his way up the scoring pylon from 20th to 13th before the day’s final caution waved on lap 390. All the leaders pitted for new tires, and the race restarted with three laps to go. Elliott gave it his all in the final laps but was not able to advance his position before the checkered flag waved, and he finished 13th.
Following the 13th-place finish at the Virginia venue, Elliott is 20th in the Cup Series point standings. He is 40 markers below the provisional cutline to advance to the playoffs with just four races left in the regular season.
Start / Finish: 4 / 13
Points Standing / Total: 20th / 430 pts. (-314)
Next Race: Sunday, August 6, Michigan International Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 2:30 p.m. ET on USA, MRN or SiriusXM
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 9 Team: @Hendrick9Team
Hendrick Motorsports View All
Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (312) and laps led (more than 82,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 40 different seasons, including an active streak of 39 in a row (1986-2024). Headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, the team fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.