Late-Race Cautions Spoil Chase Elliott’s Consistent Run at New Hampshire
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports, finished 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.
Rolling off the grid inside the top 10, Elliott inched toward the top five for the majority of the long, green-flag run that began the race. Following a cycle of green-flag pit stops, he returned to the track in eighth, making his way up to sixth after the first caution of the day for debris on Lap 124. On the restart, he jumped inside the top five for the first time, racing ahead to third just behind teammate Jimmie Johnson. After another caution for debris, he maintained his top-five position, running fourth with 100 laps remaining.
Elliott had just made a green-flag pit stop when another caution flag flew for debris. That allowed him to stay on the track for the ensuing restart, lining up fourth and moving up to third with 52 laps to go. He remained in the top five when another caution flag flew with 37 to go, and once again Elliott stayed on the track. He settled into fourth on the restart and after a caution with 16 laps to go, he elected to stay on the track once again and lined up fifth. He fell outside of the top five, however, on the ensuing restart and through one more caution with less than 10 laps remaining, Elliott held on to finish 13th.
“I had a good car and the cautions didn’t fall our way,” Elliott said after the race.
Elliott’s teammate, Johnson led the four-car Hendrick Motorsports contingent finishing eighth closely followed by Kasey Kahne in ninth while Alex Bowman subbing in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th. Kevin Harvick captured the win in the second race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The next event on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will be Oct. 2 at Dover International Speedway. The event will be broadcast live on NBCSN at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Chase Elliott Stats after New Hampshire (September race)
| Ranking (Chase for the Sprint Cup) | Points | Starts | Poles | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2068 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 239 |
2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup Standings (after 2 of 10 playoff races)
| Postion | Driver (wins) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Brad Keselowski (4) | 2087 |
| 2. | Martin Truex Jr. (3) | 2086 |
| 3. | Kyle Busch (4) | 2085 |
| 4. | Matt Kenseth (2) | 2078 |
| 5. | Joey Logano (1) | 2073 |
| 6. | Kevin Harvick (3) | 2071 |
| 7. | Denny Hamlin (3) | 2071 |
| 8. | Jimmie Johnson (2) | 2070 |
| 9. | Chase Elliott | 2068 |
| 10. | Carl Edwards (2) | 2068 |
| 11. | Kurt Busch (1) | 2067 |
| 12. | Kyle Larson | 2057 |
| 13. | Jamie McMurray | 2052 |
| 14. | Austin Dillon | 2052 |
| 15. | Tony Stewart (1) | 2046 |
| 16. | Chris Buescher (1) | 2027 |
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 24 Team: @Hendrick24Team
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 (312) and laps led (more than 82,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 40 different seasons, including an active streak of 39 in a row (1986-2024). 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 driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.