By
NAPA
Chase Elliott qualified 15th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
He made steady progress in the first stage, ending it in the eighth position. Elliott followed that up with a ninth-place finish in the second stage.
In the final stage, the 30-year-old driver spent most of it in the top five. Following a caution, he restarted from the second row and settled into third before making the pass for second with 34 laps to go. He closed the gap to the leader but ultimately ran out of time, taking the checkered flag in second.
The runner-up result was Elliott’s second top-five finish of the season and tied his previous-best effort at the track.
Elliott leaves Las Vegas fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 87 markers behind the leader.
Chase Elliott and the No. 9
link hidden, please login to view team qualified 15th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet showed speed early in the 267-lap event. He battled for 10th in the opening laps before settling into 11th. Prior to making a scheduled green-flag pit stop, the 30-year-old driver reported that the No. 9 Chevy “could get a little snug at times in the center of turns one and two.” Elliott visited pit road on lap 34 for four fresh tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. Once the field cycled through pit stops, Elliott was scored in the 10th position. He continued to gain ground, finishing stage one in eighth place and collecting three stage points.
Under the stage-ending caution, the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts crew completed a fast pit stop for four tires and fuel, allowing Elliott to gain three positions on pit road. After a car ahead of him received a pit road penalty, Elliott started the second stage from row two on lap 89. He was in a four-car battle for the lead before settling into third. Elliott slipped to fourth prior to the start of green-flag pit stops. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called the Dawsonville, Georgia, native to pit road for fuel and four tires on lap 122. Unfortunately, there was an issue on the left rear that caused a long pit stop. Elliott lost some track position but was still scored inside the top 10 once pit stops for the field were complete. Elliott held strong in seventh before slipping to ninth to end the second stage.
During the stage break, Elliott relayed that he had “overbuilt the right rear just a little too much.” He visited pit road for four tires and fuel under the caution, gaining two positions. Elliott restarted seventh for the final stage on lap 173 and improved to fifth by lap 180. He was running in that same spot when a caution came out for an on-track incident on lap 212. The driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy reported that “it was building to a nice spot.” After pitting for fuel and four tires, he lined up fourth for the choose, restarting from the inside of row two with just 50 laps to go. He held strong, running in third before making a pass for the second position with 34 laps remaining. Elliott gained ground on the leader in the closing laps but ultimately ran out of time, taking the checkered flag in the runner-up position.
“I felt like our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was a little better there on the longer run,” Elliott said after the race. “I thought Denny (Hamlin, race leader) was starting to fall off, and I was just trying to be as tidy as I could and give myself an opportunity. We just came up a little bit short. But honestly, with where we’ve been to how we ran today, it was not even comparable. As bummed as I am, I have to check myself back to reality and understand how big of an improvement that was from past races (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway). Just proud of this team. It’s a lot of fun to be right there in the mix with those guys that have won a lot of races out here. Excited about that and hopefully we can keep building on it.”
Elliott is now fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 87 markers behind the leader.
Start / Finish: 15 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 168 pts. (-87)
Next Race: Sunday, March 22, Darlington Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, SiriusXM or MRN
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By elizabeth
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