Elliott Finishes Fifth at Charlotte Roval, Advances in Playoffs

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst team started Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL from the seventh position.
• Elliott ended stage one in third and stage two in fourth en route to a fifth-place finish in the 109-lap race.
• The effort was good enough for the 2020 Cup Series champion to advance to the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs. He enters the three-race round as the seventh seed, nine points below the elimination line.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst team qualified seventh for the NASCAR Cup Series playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Elliott entered the weekend 13 points above the elimination line to advance to the Round of 8. After taking the green flag on Sunday afternoon, the 28-year-old driver continued to race inside the top 10. He was up to sixth before cars began short pitting the stage. With stage points being important in the No. 9 team’s quest to advance in the playoffs, Elliott remained on the track and ended stage one in the third position on lap 25.

Prior to pitting for four tires and fuel during the stage break, Elliott reported to crew chief Alan Gustafson that the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was good. The Hendrick Motorsports driver lined up 28th to start the second stage on lap 30. He made quick work of the cars ahead of him, advancing to 20th by lap 35. Just one lap later, the caution flag came out for debris. Elliott opted not to pit and lined up 14th for the restart on lap 39. Less than 10 laps later, he was up to seventh. Once again, Elliott remained on the track while some cars opted to short pit the stage. When the green-and-white checkered flag waved, he was scored with a fourth-place finish in stage two.

Under the stage-ending caution, Elliott visited pit road for four tires and fuel. Due to pit strategy, he was deep in the field to start the final stage on lap 55. Undeterred, he went to work when the green flag dropped. By lap 62, he reached the 19th position and was up to 15th when green flag pit stops got under way on lap 70. On lap 73, Gustafson called Elliott in for four tires and the team packed the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet with fuel. He cycled back up to 10th in the running order before the yellow flag was displayed on lap 81 for debris. Staying out, Elliott lined up eighth for the lap-84 restart. From there, he only advanced forward, ultimately taking the checkered flag in the fifth position.

“Really, really proud of the effort today by this No. 9 UniFirst Chevy team,” Elliott said after the top-five result. “We put ourselves in the worst possible position you could for a good finish. To get back into the top five there, it was definitely a solid day. It’s nice to get through to the Round of 8. There was a little bit of craziness here and there, but it’s nice to make it happen.”

The fifth-place result was good enough for Elliott to advance to the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs. He enters the three-race round as the seventh seed, nine points below the elimination line.

Start / Finish: 7 / 5
Points Standing / Total: 7th / 4,014 pts.

Next Race: Sunday, October 20, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN or SiriusXM

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