Elliott, No. 9 Team Score Runner-Up Finish at Bristol

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 LLumar team qualified 10th for Saturday evening’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Elliott earned valuable points in each of the first two stages, finishing ninth and 10th, respectively.
• In the final stage, the 28-year-old driver came on strong, earning a runner-up finish in the 500-lap race.
• Elliott advanced to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series Playoffs. He heads to Kansas Speedway seventh in the standings, six points above the elimination line.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 LLumar team scored a runner-up finish in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway, advancing to the Round of 12. After starting the 500-lap race from the 10th position, the 2020 Cup Series champion was scored in 11th when the first caution of evening came out on lap five. Elliott settled into the 12th spot after the restart and began reeling in the cars ahead of him as the run went on. He re-entered the top 10 on lap 89 and advanced to ninth on lap 115, remaining there to end the first stage on lap 125.

Under the stage-ending caution, Elliott brought the No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the attention of his pit crew for four tires and fuel. He was ninth to choose his lane for the lap-136 restart, opting for the outside. After dropping back to 11th on lap 141, Elliott started making gains over the longer run. He was scored in the eighth position when the yellow flag waved on lap 243 for an on-track incident. Elliott visited pit road for four fresh tires and fuel under the caution. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native restarted from the inside of row five for the two-lap dash to end the second stage, finishing it in the 10th position.

Staying out during the stage-break, Elliott lined up ninth for the choose, this time opting for the outside lane. From the drop of the green flag for the final stage on lap 261, the 28-year-old driver powered forward. He reached the fifth position by lap 318 and was in that same spot when an incident brought out the caution on lap 330. Elliott was happy overall with the No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet’s handling, so the team opted for no adjustments during its four-tire pit stop. A fast stop by the pit crew gained Elliott a position on pit road, and he ended up third to choose his lane for the restart after a car ahead of him was given a speeding penalty. Getting an excellent restart from the outside of row two on lap 338, Elliott improved to second in a hurry. The remainder of the race went without a caution, making it difficult for Elliott to track down the leader in lapped traffic. He held strong in the closing laps of the race, scoring a runner-up finish at Bristol when the checkered flag waved.

“I felt like our car was really, really good, and I was proud of the effort and proud of the execution all night,” Elliott said when asked what more his team needed to catch the No. 5. “Kyle [Larson] did a better job than I did to get through traffic and that was the difference. He got a few cars gap on me, and there was one point in time where we were able to make [up] some time. I pushed really hard when he was hung up with the 19. Once he got by the 19, it was going to be tough. There were always three or four cars in between us and by the time I got there, we were later in the run and it just gets tough. He did a great job, and credit to his team and to Kyle, as well. Proud of our effort; felt like we were right there in the mix and had a great shot at it. We keep doing that, and we’ll be okay.”

With the second-place result, Elliott advanced to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series Playoffs. He heads to Kansas Speedway next weekend seventh in the standings, six points above the elimination line.

Start / Finish: 10 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 7th / 3,014 pts.

Next Race: Sunday, September 29, Kansas Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN or SiriusXM

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