Elliott Maintains Points Lead Following Top-15 Finish at Indianapolis

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 30th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• Elliott improved his position to 17th to finish the first stage and followed that up with a 13th-place effort in stage two.
• In the final stage, Elliott was in 18th with less than 10 laps to go when weather at the track brought the race to a temporary halt. Once the red flag was lifted, the team made a pit stop for four fresh tires and fuel. The race went into double overtime with Elliott finishing 13th.
• The 2020 Cup Series champion continues to lead the points standings, now by just four markers over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 30th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Undeterred by starting deep in the field, Elliott worked to improve his position once the green flag waved for the Brickyard 400. He was up to 27th when the first caution of the race came out on lap 17. After pitting for four tires and fuel, Elliott restarted 27th and advanced to 22nd by lap 41. With some teams opting to pit under green prior to the end of the stage, Elliott was up to 17th when the green-and-white checkered flag waved at lap 50.

During the stage break, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Due to varying pit strategies, Elliott was 23rd to choose his lane for the lap 56 restart, opting for the outside. Getting a good restart, he powered his way to 18th by lap 57. Teams that didn’t pit during the stage break began visiting pit road, putting Elliott in the 15th position on lap 66. Roughly 12 laps later, more teams began making their green-flag pit stops, with Elliott visiting pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 81. He was in 22nd when a caution came out on lap 90. Staying out, Elliott gained several positions, putting him 12th to choose his lane for the lap 97 restart. He opted for the outside lane and battled hard to try to improve his position, ultimately finishing stage two in 13th at lap 100.

Under the stage-ending caution, the team opted not to pit. Elliott took the green flag for the final stage in 10th on lap 106 but didn’t quite get the momentum he needed, dropping back to 16th. On lap 116, green-flag pit stops began. Elliott remained on track until lap 122 when he brought the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet to the attention of his crew for four tires and fuel. He got back out on the track in 24th and was up to 18th when rain brought out the caution flag with just six laps to go. The weather ultimately forced officials to red flag the race to dry the track. The race was sent into overtime, and multiple teams visited pit road for fresh tires and fuel before the restart. Gustafson called his driver in for four tires and fuel, and Elliott lined up 20th for overtime. Before the field could take the white flag, an incident brought out the caution flag. The 29-year-old driver was up to 15th at the time of the yellow. After taking the green flag for the second overtime attempt, Elliott advanced to 13th to end the race.

Elliott remains the Cup Series regular season points leader, now by just four markers over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.

Start / Finish: 30 / 13
Points Standing / Total: 1st / 726 pts. (+4)

Next Race: Sunday, August 3, Iowa Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:30 p.m. ET on USA, MRN or SiriusXM

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