Elliott Secures Top-10 Finish at Pocono
- Chase Elliott, who spun during Saturday’s qualifying session and did not set a time, started Sunday’s 400-mile event at Pocono Raceway from the 35th position
- The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion finished 33rd in stage one – pitting just prior to the stage end – and 13th in stage two before ultimately placing 10th
- Elliott is 21st in the driver point standings with five races left in the regular season. He is currently 56 markers below the provisional cutline to advance to the playoffs.
Following a spin during Saturday’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway, Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team started Sunday’s 400-mile race from the 35th position. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native made moves early and often, maneuvering up 10 positions before the event’s first caution waved on lap four. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for a change of right-side tires and to add fuel to the Hendrick Motorsports entry with Elliott returning to the track in 31st. Once the race restarted, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion moved up the scoring pylon to 22nd before Gustafson again radioed his driver to visit pit road, this time for fuel and a four-tire stop at at lap 27. Elliott returned to the track in 33rd, where he finished stage one.
The strategy call by Gustafson to pit before the end of the stage paid dividends during the stage break. When the leaders made their stops, Elliott stayed out and leapfrogged his way to 10th for the ensuing restart on lap 35 of the 160-lap race. The driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 raced his way to sixth by lap 51 and was scored fifth on lap 79 before making his way to pit road for service one lap later. Elliott exited pit road in 26th but, as green-flag pit stops continued, he continued moving up the leaderboard with every passing lap. When stage two ended at lap 95, he was scored 13th.
Gustafson elected not to pit during the break while seven of the leaders were forced to stop for fuel. Elliott restarted sixth in the final stage and was running in that position when he was called to pit road for a four-tire stop at lap 121. Although he returned to the track in 23rd, Elliott was able to battle back to 11th before a caution waved at lap 142. While many of the leaders stayed out for track position, Gustafson called for four new tires on the No. 9 Chevrolet for the sprint to the checkered flag. Elliott lined up 15th for the restart with 13 laps to go and was up to 10th two laps later when a caution came out. He was unable to gain any more spots during two more restarts before the checkered flag waved.
Following his 10th-place finish at “The Tricky Triangle,” Elliott is 21st in the Cup Series point standings. He is 56 markers below the provisional cutline to advance to the playoffs with just five races left in the regular season.
Start / Finish: 35 / 10
Points Standing / Total: 21st / 399 pts. (-312)
Next Race: Sunday, July 30, Richmond Raceway
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
Hendrick Motorsports View All
Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (308) and laps led (over 80,000). Headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, the team fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.