Elliott Finishes Third at WWT Raceway
- Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 19th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at WWT Raceway.
- Elliott placed 10th in stage one and eighth in stage two, earning four valuable stage points.
- In the final stage, the 29-year-old continued to put together a strong race, ultimately taking the checkered flag in third.
- Following Sunday’s race result, Elliott is now 28 points above the cutline in the Cup Series playoffs heading into the final race of the Round of 16.
Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 19th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at WWT Raceway. Once the green flag waved, Elliott held strong inside the top 20 after reporting a well-balanced No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet while conserving his tires. After a mix of strategies and restarts, Elliott cracked the top 15 and continued his climb forward in the closing laps of the first stage. The 2020 Cup Series champion powered his way to 10th before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end stage one.
Having pitted under a caution in the first stage, the team opted to stay out during the stage break. Elliott restarted in the sixth position and advanced to the fourth position before a caution flag slowed the field on lap 60. On the next restart, Elliott powered to the runner-up position before another yellow flag waved on lap 76. The NAPA Auto Parts team elected to pit for four tires and fuel. Elliott restarted in the 19th position and made his way back to the top 15 before an incident brought out the caution on lap 135. Crew chief Alan Gustafson again called Elliott in for four tires and fuel. Elliott lined up 12th for the restart and got a good run, advancing to eighth to end the second stage.
After staying out under the stage-ending caution, Elliott took the green flag for the final stage from the eighth position. Following a caution for debris on lap 150, Elliott got a great restart, climbing to third before another yellow flag waved on lap 157. Staying out, he restarted third and held his position until green-flag pit stops got underway. Elliott took over the lead before visiting pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 202. The caution came out in the middle of the pit cycle with Elliott having just a few laps on his tires. The No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team kept Elliott out on the track, which allowed him to line up fifth for the choose. Opting for the outside, Elliott restarted in sixth with 25 laps to go and powered to third to finish to the race.
“It felt good to just have a solid day for this No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet team,” Elliott said after the finish. “I thought we were really good at times; certainly more competitive than we’ve been in a minute. It was a lot of fun to be up in the mix. We just needed a little bit more there at the end, but we were way, way better than we’ve been here lately, so that’s nice.”
Elliott improved to ninth in the Cup Series playoff standings, 28 points above the cutline with one race remaining in the Round of 16.
Start / Finish: 19 / 3
Points Standing / Total: 9th / +28 above cutline
Next Race: Saturday, Sept. 13, Bristol Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, SiriusXM or PRN
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 (15), points-paying race victories (320) and laps led (more than 85,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 41 different seasons, including an active streak of 40 in a row (1986-2025). Headquartered on more than 150 acres in Concord, North Carolina, the team fields four full-time Chevrolet entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.