Elliott Leads Laps, Earns Top-10 Finish in Season Finale

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 17th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
• Elliott finished the first stage in 18th and followed that up with a 10th-place finish in the second stage.
• The 29-year-old driver led 30 laps in the final stage. Unfortunately, Elliott was issued a pit-road speeding penalty but still battled back for a 10th-place finish.
• Elliott and the No. 9 team ended the season with two wins, 11 top-five finishes, and 19 top-10s.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 17th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway. After losing some ground on the initial start of the race, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet’s handling started coming to him. He improved to 18th by lap 57, which is where he’d finish the first stage at lap 60.

After pitting for four fresh tires and fuel under the stage-ending caution, he lined up 18th to start the second stage on lap 69. He was scored 18th when the race was slowed for a caution on lap 72. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott in for four tires and fuel while some other teams opted to stay out. Elliott restarted 21st on lap 79 and was up to 13th when the caution flag was displayed on lap 106. After pitting for four tires and fuel, he restarted from the fifth row on lap 115 and was running in ninth when another incident brought out the yellow flag on lap 149. After a fast four-tire stop, Elliott was eighth to choose his lane for the restart, opting for the inside. Following the lap-155 restart, the 29-year-old driver continued to race inside the top 10, ending stage two in 10th.

During the stage break, Elliott brought the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet to the attention of his crew for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. Another fast stop by the team positioned Elliott out as the fourth car off pit road. He took the green flag for the final stage from the second row and held strong inside the top five. Elliott was running in third when the caution flag was displayed at lap 220. Once again, the team knocked out a fast four-tire stop, this time with Elliott winning the battle off pit road. He led the field back to the green flag on lap 226 and held onto the top spot until his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron worked his way by on lap 253. When the caution flag was displayed next, Elliott was scored third. He pitted for four tires and fuel under the yellow and was the second driver off pit road; however, he was issued a speeding penalty.

Due to the loss of track position, the team opted to come back to pit road for a set of scuffs in order to save the fresh tires they had just put on. Elliott restarted 27th on lap 266 and was up to 26th at lap 278 when the yellow flag was displayed. This time, the team put its set of fresh tires back on the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy. Elliott lined up 21st for the lap-284 restart and was 14th at the time of the final caution with just three laps to go. After pitting for right-side tires, Elliott chose the outside of row five for the overtime restart. He battled hard in the final two laps, taking the checkered flag in the 10th position.

On Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports secured its 15th Cup Series title, with Kyle Larson being the best-finishing Championship 4 driver.

Start / Finish: 17 / 10
Final Points Standing / Total: 8th / 2,310 pts.

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