Elliott Rallies to Fourth-Place Finish at Circuit of The Americas after Early Incident

• Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified third for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas.
• The 29-year-old driver unfortunately got turned in the first corner of the first lap of the race and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet suffered a bit of left rear damage. He stayed out during the first stage to finish fifth and earn valuable stage points before pitting for repairs.
• Elliott followed that up with a 15th-place finish in the second stage and ultimately bounced back to take the checkered flag in the fourth position.
• The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is now tied for fourth in the Cup Series points standings, just 21 points behind the leader.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team qualified third for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas. The 29-year-old driver had a fast No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, but he had his work cut out for him after getting turned in the first corner of the first lap. Elliott reported that he thought there was some damage to the left rear of his Chevy, but he remained on the track. The first stage went caution-free, with some cars pitting just before the end of the stage as part of a strategy. Elliott stayed out and collected valuable stage points after finishing fifth in the first stage on lap 20.

During the stage break, the team surveyed the damage to the NAPA Chevy. It was determined that the toe was off, but the team was able to correct it and stay on the lead lap, even with multiple pit stops. After pitting for the final time under the yellow flag, Elliott was unable to catch up to the field before the green flag, making it difficult to gain positions during the second stage. Still, he managed to finish stage two in 15th, with several teams again opting to pit before the end of the stage.

Under the stage-ending caution, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. The driver of the No. 9 Chevy started the final stage deep in the field on lap 50 and was up to 19th by lap 58. Gustafson radioed for Elliott to pit on lap 64, earlier than most of the field. He climbed to 13th before a caution came out on lap 78. The team chose to pit for four fresh tires and fuel, giving Elliott an advantage over some competitors on older tires. He restarted 22nd and powered through the field to finish fourth after a last-lap pass.

The top-five result and solid points day on the 2.4-mile road course propelled Elliott into the top five in the Cup Series standings. He is now tied for fourth, just 21 points behind the leader.

Quoting the No. 9 Team – Chase Elliott

You really had to work for it. How much more did your car give you there at the end?

“Yeah, it was just a crazy day, really. I got run over, I felt like, there in the first corner. I’m curious to see it. I still haven’t seen it to know whether or not I did something wrong. I’m happy to own it, if I did. I just felt like it was the first corner of the first lap, and it’s just a bummer to get behind and then we had damage. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys did a great job fixing it and getting it that close. We got behind on a restart there and just had to play major catchup there. Alan made a great call there at the end to put tires on it. We were rolling up through there really good at the end. Obviously when you have a good car like that, I would have liked to have been in the fight with those guys, but it was a great recovery from where we were at during the end of the second stage.”

Start / Finish: 3 / 4
Points Standing / Total: 4th (tied) / 95 pts. (-21)

Next Race: Sunday, March 9, Phoenix Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN or SiriusXM

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