Elliott is the Highest Finishing Rookie at Martinsville
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports, finished 12th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway Sunday afternoon after securing a second-place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race the day prior.
Elliott took the green flag in the Cup race on Sunday in fifth after having the additional seat time under his belt from the Truck Series race Saturday. When the first caution flag of the race waved, Elliott elected not to pit and instead restarted in the third positon. The driver of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS got caught on the outside during the restart, however, and fell to the back of the top 10 for a few laps before falling all the way outside of the top 20 just before a caution. Elliott restarted 25th on Lap 67 and began to work his way back through the field. He found the top 15 on Lap 150, and advanced to 13th by the midway point of the race. As green-flag pit stops started on Lap 355, Elliott headed to pit road, but a caution flag flew shortly thereafter, trapping him two laps down. He took a wave-around to regain one lap and on Lap 387 restarted just outside of the top 10 down one lap. As the second car a lap down in 12th, Elliott held his ground and as the race went green the rest of the way, he ultimately finished 12th.
“Good job today guys,” the highest-finishing rookie of the race, Elliott, said as he climbed out from his NAPA Chevrolet.
Elliott’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson led the four-car Hendrick Motorsports contingent winning the Goody’s 500 closely followed by sixth-place finisher Jeff Gordon subbing in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne finishing 11th.
The next event on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will be Sunday, Nov. 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. The event will be broadcast live on NBC at 2 p.m. ET. Also, be sure to vote for Elliott as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver.
Chase Elliott Stats after Martinsville (October race)
| Ranking | Points | Starts | Poles | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 2185 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 355 |
2016 Sprint Cup Standings (top 12 after 33 of 36 races; top 8 competing for championship)
| Postion | Driver (wins) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jimmie Johnson (4) | 4044 |
| 2. | Denny Hamlin (3) | 4039 |
| 3. | Matt Kenseth (2) | 4039 |
| 4. | Kyle Busch (4) | 4037 |
| 5. | Joey Logano (2) | 4033 |
| 6. | Kevin Harvick (4) | 4021 |
| 7. | Kurt Busch (1) | 4019 |
| 8. | Carl Edwards (2) | 4005 |
| 9. | Martin Truex Jr. (4) | 2226 |
| 10. | Brad Keselowski (4) | 2207 |
| 11. | Austin Dillon | 2187 |
| 12. | Chase Elliott | 2185 |
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 24 Team: @Hendrick24Team
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 (308) and laps led (over 80,000). 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 Camaro ZL1 driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.