Elliott Leads Laps en Route to Top-15 Finish at Michigan

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst team qualified 17th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
• The 29-year-old finished stage one in 14th. He led 19 laps in the second stage. However, cautions marred stage two and ultimately threw off the team’s initial strategy. Elliott finished it in 15th.
• In the midst of the final stage, a pit road mishap put Elliott deep in the field. Undeterred, the driver rallied to finish the race in 15th.
• Elliott remains fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 112 markers behind leader and teammate William Byron.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 UniFirst team qualified 17th for the 200-lap NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway. After initially losing ground when the green flag waved, Elliott found his rhythm and began regaining positions. The 2020 Cup Series champion was back inside the top 20 by lap 13 and continued to gain ground on the cars ahead. He reached 14th before the end of the 45-lap first stage.

Under the stage-ending caution, Elliott reported to crew chief Alan Gustafson that the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet was “edgy.” He visited pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. As part of strategy, the team opted for track position over a full fuel tank, which gained Elliott nine positions on pit road. He started the second stage from the third row on lap 52 and quickly advanced to second before taking over the lead on lap 57. Just a few laps later, an incident brought out the caution. Elliott relayed that the UniFirst Chevy handled much better in clean air. Staying out, he led the field back to green and was still out front when another caution came out on lap 67. Once again, the team decided not to visit pit road.

Once the race was back underway, Elliott continued to pace the field. However, when yet another yellow flag waved just two laps later, the team’s strategy got thrown off, leading the team to pit under the yellow when most did the caution prior. Elliott restarted deep in the field on lap 77 and drove up to 17th before another caution came out on lap 108. After pitting for four fresh tires and fuel, Elliott lined up 14th to choose his lane for the restart, opting for the outside. The field went back to green with less than 10 laps to go in the stage. Elliott did his best to reach the top 10 but ultimately crossed the line in 15th.

During the stage break, Elliott visited pit road for right-side tires and fuel. He started the final stage in the 18th position and was running in 15th when the yellow flag was displayed on lap 147. Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for fuel and four tires. At the completion of the stop, the team thought there was an issue, leading to a longer amount of time on pit road. The UniFirst Chevy was ultimately fine, but Elliott lost several positions in the process. Because of that, Elliott visited pit road a second time under caution to top off the fuel tank. He restarted 31st on lap 151 and gained several positions to finish 15th in the 200-lap race.

Elliott remains fifth in the driver points standings, 112 markers behind the leader, teammate William Byron.

Start / Finish: 17 / 15
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 464 pts. (-112)

Next Race: Sunday, June 15, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on Prime, MRN or SiriusXM

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