Trackhouse Racing Team announced that Travis Mack will be serving as crew chief for the team’s No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team and driver Daniel Suarez for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The announcement comes approximately a week after the 2020 NASCAR season concluded, where Mack is coming off his second full-time season as an Xfinity Series crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team.
Mack, a native from Louisville, Kentucky, joins Trackhouse Racing with an extensive resume of working on race cars and for racing teams. Starting his career working as a car chief for 10-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel in the early 2000s, Mack joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2005 and worked as a shock specialist. From there, his career blossomed as he was also a member of Hendrick Motorsports’ Nos. 24 and 88 teams before becoming a car chief for JR Motorsports and HMS in 2012-2017, working with names like Regan Smith, Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mack made his first two appearances as a crew chief late in the 2017 Cup Series season for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Chevrolet SS team before being announced as a full-time crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team for the 2018 Cup season. Midway through the 2018 season, Mack returned to JR Motorsports to serve as crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro team.
In February 2019, Mack achieved his first win as a crew chief when Annett also achieved his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Daytona International Speedway in February after leading a race-high/final 45 laps of the race. They went on to achieve a total of six top-five results and 19 top-10 results along with a pole as they made the Playoffs, where they concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings.
This past season, Annett and Mack achieved four top-five results and 22 top-10 results as they made the Playoffs before concluding the season in ninth place in the final standings.
The move to Trackhouse Racing will mark Mack’s return to the Cup Series as a crew chief since June 2018 when he was with Kasey Kahne and Leavine Family Racing.
Trackhouse Racing Team is a newly formed NASCAR Cup Series team created by Justin Marks, an entrepreneur and former competitor, that announced its entrance into the sport in October. During the announcement, the team revealed that Daniel Suarez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and Cup Series veteran from Monterrey, Mexico, will be serving as their driver for the 2021 season. The team will be technically aligned with Richard Childress Racing and operate in Welcome, North Carolina. The team is also guaranteed an entry for every Cup race next season after being leased a charter from Spire Motorsports.
Catch Mack’s return and Trackhouse Racing Team’s debut at Daytona International Speedway for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14, 2021.
1. Chase Elliott: Elliott failed pre-race inspection and started from the back of the field, but powered his way to the win at Phoenix to capture the Cup championship.
“Now,” Elliott said, “I can call myself Cup champion just like my dad. And when we reminisce, he can tell me about the glory days when cigarettes sponsored the Cup. I, in turn, can talk about the times when the Cup had no sponsorship.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano led 125 laps at Phoenix and finished third.
“Winning a championship is in Chase Elliott’s blood,” Logano said. “His dad Bill is a former champion. So, take it from the driver they call ‘Sliced Bread,’ Chase was ‘born and bred‘ to be a champion.”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin took fourth at Phoenix as Chase Elliott raced to the front for his first Cup championship. Hamlin is now 0-4 in title races.
“That’s something I’m gonna have to live with,” Hamlin said.”That’s people saying, ‘Denny Hamlin can’t win the big one.’ That’s gonna start to sound like a broken record. What’s also a broken record? An 0-4 record in title races.”
4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished second at Phoenix, coming up short of winning his second Cup championship.
“We really needed a caution there at the end,” Keselowski said. “Where’s a teammate like Clint Bowyer when you need one?”
5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished seventh in the Season Finale 500 at Phoenix.
“This just proves that I can produce a top-10 finish in my sleep,” Harvick said. “It also proves that Chase Elliott can dominate in such a fashion that it induces sleep also.”
6. Aric Almirola: Almirola came home 13th at Phoenix.
“Congratulations to Chase Elliott,” Almirola said. “To start at the rear, race to the front, and dominate for the win with everything on the line takes a lot of intestinal fortitude. So not only does Chase have ‘all the marbles,’ he’s got two of the biggest.”
7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 10th at Phoenix, posting his 23rd top 10 of the season.
“Congratulations to Chase Elliott,” Truex said. “I imagine there has to be some sweet deals at Hooters to celebrate the championship. If objectifying a 24-year-old is your thing, then go for it.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 11th at Phoenix, followed by older brother Kurt in 12th.
“Chase Elliott is 24 years old,” Busch said. “And he’s the oldest of the three champions in NASCAR’s main series. That makes me even more of a crotchety old man, and I’m only 35.”
9. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 16th at Phoenix.
“It was a special day for Hendrick Motorsports,” Bowman said. “Chase Elliott was crowned champion, while Jimmie Johnson said ‘farewell.’ It’s enough to bring a grown man to tears, and an even grown-er man to Indy Car.”
10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished fifth at Phoenix in his last Cup race as a full-time driver.
“It was time to move on,” Johnson said. “I’ve been doing this for 19 years, so my parting words are ‘So long.’”
One for the ages on a cloudy afternoon in the desert state of Arizona.
Nine months after the start of what would be a bizarre season of racing and on a day where a number of icons led by Jimmie Johnson made their final full-time starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Chase Elliott etched his name as a NASCAR Cup Series champion.
The Dawsonville, Georgia, native, who started at the rear of the field and methodically worked his way to the front, led seven times for a race-high 153 of 312 laps, took the lead for the final time with 42 laps remaining and pulled away from title rivals Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano to claim his first title by winning the Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway as he also claimed his fifth victory of the season and the 11th of his Cup career. Above all, Elliott was able to come back around and celebrate as the 2020 Cup Series champion.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, the four championship finale contenders started first through fourth led by pole-sitter Chase Elliott and followed by Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.
Prior to the race, however, Elliott started at the rear of the field due to his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE failing pre-race inspection twice. Brennan Poole also dropped to the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice.
Moments before the race started and during the pace laps, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson moved to the front of the grid as he received a final salute from the fans and the NASCAR community before he moved back to start in 26th place.
When the final race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced under green, Logano, who started at the front, jumped ahead with the lead and was followed by teammate Keselowski, Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch as the field battled early for positions through the dogleg turn and entering Turns 1 and 2. The early start for Logano was enough for him to lead the first lap of the race.
The following lap, Keselowski and Hamlin battled dead even for the runner-up spot and in front of Blaney and Kurt Busch. Alex Bowman was in sixth followed by Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, teammate Aric Almirola and Matt DiBenedetto. Elliott, meanwhile, was in 31st after starting at the rear of the field.
By the fifth lap, Logano was leading by nearly a second over teammate Keselowski while Hamlin was in third ahead of Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bowman and Kyle Busch. By then, Elliott moved up to 25th place.
Following the first 10 laps of the finale, Logano continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Keselowski, who had Hamlin pressuring on him for the runner-up spot.
The following lap, Hamlin went wide in Turn 2, which allowed Keselowski to make a crossover move and retain the runner-up spot as teammate Blaney joined the battle. By then, Elliott moved his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the top 20. In addition, Ryan Preece, who made contact with the wall, pitted under green.
By Lap 15, Logano extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Keselowski, who had Hamlin closing in for position. Blaney and Kurt Busch continued to run in the top five followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Almirola. By then, Elliott made his way into the top 15.
Five laps later, on Lap 20, Logano stabilized his advantage in the race and in the title battle by more than two seconds over Keselowski with Hamlin still in third and Elliott in 13th behind Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Cole Custer.
Another five laps later, on Lap 25, Elliott was in 11th place and pressuring Almirola for a spot in the top 10 on the track. By then, Logano was still leading by more than a second and a half over teammate Keselowski and Hamlin, both of whom continued to battle one another for the runner-up spot.
Two laps later, Elliott made his way into the top 10 after passing Almirola, though he was more than 10 seconds behind race leader and title contender Logano and his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Logano was ahead by more than a second over teammate Keselowski and Hamlin, with Blaney and Kurt Busch in the top five. Bowman, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Bowyer and Elliott were in the top 10. By then, Harvick was in 11th ahead of teammates Cole Custer and Almirola, Jimmie Johnson was in 16th behind Erik Jones and William Byron, Martin Truex Jr. was in 18th in between Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon, Matt Kenseth was in 21st ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman and Bubba Wallace was in 24th. Christopher Bell, racing in Leavine Family Racing’s final race in NASCAR, was in 20th while Ty Dillon, racing in Germain Racing’s final race in NASCAR, was in 29th.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Logano retained the lead following the first round of pit stops. Hamlin exited in second place followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch, Bowyer and Blaney. During the pit stops, Keselowski dropped six spots in eighth place following a slow pit stop, where his jack man ran into the tire changer during the service. Elliott exited in 11th place behind Harvick. Following the pit stops, John Hunter Nemechek was assessed a speeding penalty.
The race restarted under green on Lap 36 with Logano and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Logano retained the lead after driving through the dogleg turn to block Kyle Busch and entering Turns 1 and 2. Hamlin also retained the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch and Bowman battle for third ahead of Bowyer and Keselowski.
By Lap 40, Logano was ahead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Bowman while Elliott, who made a bold three-wide move on Keselowski and Kyle Busch for positions earlier, battled Bowyer for additional spots in the top five.
A lap later, Elliott moved his No. 9 Chevrolet into fourth place over Bowyer. Another lap later, Keselowski overtook Bowyer and Kyle Busch to move into fifth place with the four final title contenders running in the top five. By then, Logano was still leading by nearly two-tenths of a second over Hamlin with Bowman trailing by two seconds.
Three laps later, on Lap 46, Elliott overtook teammate Bowman exiting the backstretch and entering Turn 3 to move into third place as he was three seconds behind title rivals Logano and Hamlin. By then, Keselowski also started to close in on Bowman’s No. 88 Truck Hero/ChevyGoods Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for fourth place.
By Lap 50, the final four title contenders were running first through fourth on the track, with Logano leading Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry by nearly eight-tenths of a second. Elliott was in third, trailing by more than three seconds, while Keselowski, racing in his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, was in fourth place.
Behind, Bowman was in fifth followed by Kyle Busch, Blaney, Bowyer, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto. Jimmie Johnson was in 12th in between Erik Jones and Byron while Kenseth was in 21st in between Bell and Bubba Wallace.
By Lap 60, Logano stabilized his advantage to more than half a second over Hamlin. Behind, Elliott, the fastest car on the circuit, remained in third place, trailing by more than three seconds, while Keselowski remained in fourth place. Meanwhile, Blaney moved into fifth place.
With five laps remaining in the first stage, the final four title contenders continued to run first through fourth on the track, with Logano leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Hamlin, Elliott running in third and Keselowski settling in fourth. Blaney was the highest-running non-title contender in fifth while Bowman and Kyle Busch battled for sixth place. Bowyer, making his final start, was in eighth followed by Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto, both of whom were ahead of Johnson.
Down to the final laps of the first stage and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Hamlin started to close in on Logano’s No. 22 Ford for position as he was two-tenths of a second behind.
Despite being pressured for the lead, Logano was able to hold off Hamlin and win the first stage on Lap 75 by more than half a second as he collected his seventh stage victory of the 2020 Cup season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Elliott, Keselowski and Blaney while Kyle Busch, Bowman, Bowyer, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto settled in the top 10. By then, Johnson was in 11th and Kenseth was in 24th.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Logano retained the lead over Hamlin following the pit service. Elliott and Keselowski followed behind along with Bowyer, who received a stellar stop from his No. 14 crew to move into the top five.
The second stage started on Lap 83 with Logano and Hamlin on the front row followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Bowyer and Blaney. At the start, Logano retained the lead while Kyle Busch made a low dive through the dogleg turn in an effort to move into the top five.
Entering Turns 1 and 2 and the backstretch, Hamlin and Elliott battled for second behind Logano while Keselowski was shuffled back to sixth behind Kyle Busch and Bowyer.
Shortly after, Elliott battled Hamlin for second, but the latter persevered as he went to work on challenging Logano for the lead. Elliott retained third place in front of Kyle Busch and Bowyer while Keselowski went to work on Bowyer for more. Keselowski would eventually take over fifth place and was followed by teammate Blaney, thus dropping Bowyer to seventh.
By Lap 90, Logano was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who was closing in for the lead, while Elliott was trailing by approximately seven-tenths of a second. Though Logano caught a piece of debris on his front grille not long after, he continued to lead by nearly half a second over Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota with Elliott in third and Keselowski in fifth.
At the Lap 100 mark, Logano remained in the lead, but he had Hamlin closing in on him in another bid for the lead as the leaders started to catch lapped traffic. By then, Logano used the lapped car of Quin Houff to remove the debris off of his grille. Elliott was in third in front of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry while Keselowski was in fifth ahead of teammate Blaney. Bowyer and Johnson were in seventh and eighth while DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch settled in the top 10 ahead of Erik Jones, Truex, Byron, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Harvick.
Five laps later, the final four title contenders were running first through fourth on the track, with Logano leading by a narrow margin over Hamlin as Elliott continued to run in third ahead of Keselowski. Blaney overtook Kyle Busch for fifth place while Johnson overtook Bowyer for seventh place.
On Lap 110, Logano continued to lead by a narrow margin over Hamlin as he made another bid for the lead in the race and the championship battle while Logano radioed vibrating concerns on his car.
Shortly after, Elliott caught the top-two title contenders for the lead as he battled Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Eventually, Elliott prevailed for the runner-up spot, though he, Hamlin and Logano battled for the lead.
On Lap 115, Kyle Busch, who was running near the top five, made an unscheduled four-tire pit stop to address a vibrating concern on his No. 18 Toyota.
Five laps later, Elliott muscled his No. 9 Chevrolet into the lead following a hard on-track battle with Logano as Hamlin continued to linger behind the two leaders. Eventually, Hamlin overtook Logano for the runner-up spot with the latter losing ground on the lead. Keselowski, meanwhile, was more than three seconds behind in fourth place. Behind, Blaney was in fifth while Johnson was in sixth.
On Lap 128, Keselowski surrendered fourth place on the track to pit under green following vibrating concerns.
Past the Lap 130 mark, Elliott was leading by nearly a second over Hamlin with Logano, teammate Blaney and Jimmie Johnson in the top five. Bowyer and DiBenedetto battled for sixth while Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron were in the top 10.
Nearing the Lap 140 mark, pit stops under green started to occur as Blaney and Bowman pitted. Logano also pitted along with Custer, Harvick, Hamlin and Elliott, the race/title leader.
Back on the track, Jimmie Johnson, who had yet to pit, assumed the lead followed by DiBenedetto, Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Christopher Bell. By then, Bowyer and Byron pitted.
Three laps later, Johnson surrendered the lead to pit. DiBenedetto, who briefly took the lead, also pitted along with Kurt Busch and Bell while Aric Almirola took the lead over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Keselowski and Elliott.
By Lap 150 and with most of the leaders having completed a pit stop under green, Almirola was still at the front of the field and by four-tenths of a second over Elliott with Hamlin in third, Keselowski in fourth and Logano in sixth. A lap later, Elliott reassumed the top spot.
At the halfway mark on Lap 156, the final four title contenders were running first through fourth on the track, with Elliott leading by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin with Keselowski in third and teammate Logano in fourth. Blaney was in fifth while Almirola, racing on old tires, was in sixth. Johnson was in seventh while Kenseth was mired outside the top 20.
Just past the Lap 160 mark, the caution flew when James Davison made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kurt Busch exited in first following a two-tire pit stop. Elliott, the first car on four fresh tires, exited in second place followed by Austin Dillon, who pitted for two fresh tires. Hamlin, Logano and Keselowski exited in fourth through sixth. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was assessed a pit road speeding penalty as he dropped to the rear of the field.
Under caution, Bowman received the free pass while Christopher Bell, Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher, Ty Dillon, Nemechek and Stenhouse took the wave around to return to the lead lap.
With 23 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, a majority of competitors racing on the inside lane made the low dive below the dogleg turn and entering Turns 1 and 2. At the front, Elliott reassumed the lead over Kurt Busch while Hamlin, who slipped entering Turns 1 and 2, fell back to fifth place as teammates Keselowski and Logano overtook him for position.
With 20 laps remaining in the second stage, Elliott was ahead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Keselowski while Logano was in third, though he had Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Johnson and Blaney pressuring him for more.
Three laps later, Keselowski assumed the lead, though he had Elliott pressuring him for the top spot. Though Elliott ran into the rear end of Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford entering Turns 1 and 2, Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet wiggled, which allowed Keselowski to retain the lead. By then, the final four title contenders were back running first through fourth on the track.
With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Keselowski stretched his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Elliott with third-place Logano trailing by more than a second and fourth-place Hamlin trailing by more than two seconds. Blaney moved into fifth place followed by Johnson while Kurt Busch continued to hold strong on two fresh tires in seventh place. Kyle Busch rallied his way back into eighth place followed by William Byron, DiBenedetto, Harvick and Bowyer.
Two laps later, Elliott muscled his No. 9 Chevrolet into a heated battle for the lead against Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford Mustang. While Elliott led the following lap, Keselowski fought back, but the former prevailed by a narrow margin. By then, Logano was still behind by more than a second while Hamlin was behind by more than two seconds.
With three laps remaining in the second stage, the battle for the lead between Elliott and Keselowski continued to intensify as the latter made a charge on the former through the corners. Despite the challenge, Elliott continued to lead by a narrow margin as he also started the final lap of the stage.
On the final lap of the second stage, Keselowski gained a run on the backstretch to draw himself dead even beneath Elliott. In Turn 3, he emerged ahead and managed to move up and clear Elliott entering Turn 4 to win the second stage on Lap 190 and claim his eighth stage victory of the season. Logano settled in third followed by Hamlin, who emerged with the most stage victories of this season (11). Blaney was scored in fifth while Johnson, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Byron settled in the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th behind teammate Kevin Harvick while Kenseth, meanwhile, was back in 27th behind Chris Buescher.
Under the stage break, Ryan Preece’s car, which stalled while trying to enter pit road, was pushed back to the garage. Not long after, the leaders pitted and Elliott reassumed the lead after beating Logano off of pit road in first place following a four-tire stop. Hamlin exited in third place followed by Blaney while Keselowski, who received a slow pit stop, lost four spots and fell back to fifth ahead of Harvick.
With 112 laps remaining, the final stage started with Elliott and Logano on the front row. At the start, Elliott and Logano battled dead even for the lead through the dogleg turn and through Turns 1 and 2 before Elliott prevailed on the backstretch. Logano retained second place over Hamlin while Keselowski moved up to fourth place.
Three laps later, Elliott was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Logano with Hamlin and Keselowski battling behind. Blaney settled behind in fifth while Byron moved up to sixth. Johnson and Harvick battled for seventh while the Busch brothers were scored in the top 10.
Down to the final 100 laps of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the final four title contenders were running first through fourth on the track, with Elliott leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Logano as Hamlin and Keselowski trailed behind. Blaney was in fifth followed by Byron, Johnson, Harvick and the Busch brothers. Bowyer was in 13th behind Truex while Kenseth was in 24th behind McDowell.
With less than 90 laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Logano. Meanwhile, Keselowski overtook Hamlin for third place, with the latter struggling with loose conditions and keeping pace with his title contenders.
With 80 laps remaining, Elliott stabilized his advantage in the overall race and the championship battle by more than seven-tenths of a second over Logano while Keselowski and Hamlin continued to run in third and fourth. Blaney remained in fifth place while Jimmie Johnson overtook teammate Byron for sixth place. Harvick, DiBenedetto and the Busch brothers were scored in the top 10. Bowyer was in 12th while Kenseth was in 24th.
Ten laps later, with 70 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than a second over Logano with Keselowski and Hamlin trailing behind, though final pit stops were expected for the lead lap competitors to complete the race to its scheduled distance.
Another 10 laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Elliott remained in the lead by more than six-tenths of a second over Logano with Keselowski trailing by less than a second and Hamlin trailing by more than three seconds. Blaney continued to run as the highest-running non-title contender in fifth followed by Johnson, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Byron and Kurt Busch.
Not long after, pit stops under green occurred as Blaney pitted. Kurt Busch also pitted along with Kyle Busch, Byron, Hamlin, Harvick, Almirola, Johnson, Logano, Keselowski and Elliott, the leader.
Back on the track, Stenhouse, who has yet to pit, was the leader followed by Logano, Elliott, Hamlin and Keselowski.
With 50 laps remaining, Logano emerged with the lead in the overall race and the championship battle after Stenhouse pitted. Elliott trailed by one and a half seconds while Hamlin and Keselowski were in fourth and fifth, trailing by more than four seconds. Shortly after, Hamlin moved into third place over Keselowski, who suffered another slow pit stop.
Seven laps later, Elliott cut the deficit down to a tenth of a second behind Logano. In Turns 1 and 2, Elliott gained a run on Logano as they battled through the backstretch. Riding behind Logano’s rear bumper, Elliott made a move to the inside of Logano in Turn 3 and cleared him to reassume the lead in Turn 4 with 42 laps remaining.
With 40 laps remaining, Elliott was leading the overall race and the championship battle by nearly half a second over Logano. Hamlin was in third, trailing by nearly four seconds, while Keselowski was in fourth, trailing by more than four seconds. Blaney continued to run in fifth place followed by Jimmie Johnson, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Byron and Kyle Busch. By then, Bowyer was in 15th while Kenseth was in 23rd.
Ten laps later, with 30 laps remaining, Elliott stretched his lead in his No. 9 Chevrolet to more than a second over Logano’s No. 22 Ford. Keselowski muscled his No. 2 Ford into third place, trailing by less than four seconds, while Hamlin faded back to fourth place, trailing by nearly five seconds, in his No. 11 Toyota.
Another five laps later, with 25 laps remaining, Elliott continued to stretch his advantage to two and a half seconds over Logano. Keselowski and Hamlin remained in third and fourth, though both were slowly seeing their title hopes vanquish.
With 20 laps remaining, Elliott remained as the leader in the overall race and the championship battle by nearly three seconds over Logano with Keselowski and Hamlin running third and fourth. Behind the final four title contenders, Jimmie Johnson overtook Blaney to move into fifth place. Harvick was in seventh behind Blaney while DiBenedetto, Byron and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Bowyer was in 14th while Kenseth was in 23rd behind Erik Jones and Ryan Newman.
Five laps later, with 15 laps remaining, Keselowski started to close in on teammate Logano for the runner-up spot. By then, Elliott was still leading by less than three seconds while Hamlin was behind by nearly eight seconds. Jimmie Johnson continued to run in fifth place in front of Blaney.
With 10 laps remaining and a championship within sight, Elliott was still leading by more than three seconds over Logano, who had teammate Keselowski challenging him for second place. Hamlin was in fourth while Johnson was in fifth. By then, 12 of the 39 competitors on the track were scored on the lead lap, with Harvick, DiBenedetto, Byron, the Busch brothers, and Truex running on the lead lap.
Shortly after, Keselowski overtook teammate Logano for second place. By then, Elliott was still leading the race and the title battle by more than three seconds. Hamlin was behind by more than eight seconds while Johnson remained in fifth, nearly 11 seconds behind.
With five laps remaining, Elliott remained in the lead by less than four seconds with a championship grower closer and closer towards his grasp. Keselowski continued to run in second place followed by teammate Logano and Hamlin while Johnson continued to run in fifth place ahead of Blaney.
Despite closing in on lapped traffic, Elliott continued to methodically lead the race by a comfortable margin over his title rivals. When the white flag waved, he was ahead by more than three seconds over Keselowski.
For one final lap, Elliott was able to navigate the turns and the straightaways at his own cautious pace as he came back to the finish line and claimed the checkered flag to win both the season finale and his first Cup title.
With his accomplishment, Elliott became the third-youngest Cup champion at age 24 years, 11 months and 11 days. He also became the 34th different driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series title, fourth to do so while driving for Hendrick Motorsports and the eighth in the last 10 seasons. In addition, Elliott became the first Chevrolet competitor to win the Cup title since teammate Jimmie Johnson won his record-tying seventh title in 2016.
This marked the seventh consecutive year since the inception of the current Playoff-elimination format where the final Cup race of the season was won by the champion.
Elliott’s championship achievement was one that was well-received by the limited fans attending the race, his crew members, his family headlined by his father and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Bill Elliott, team owner Rick Hendrick, and his fellow competitors, many of whom drove alongside Elliott to congratulate him, including seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished fifth in his 686th and final race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor.
“I’m not sure that I still even know [what it means to win the championship],” Elliott said on the frontstretch while emotional. “I’m at a loss for words. This is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh. We did it. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. Unreal. Championship crew chief, Alan Gustafson, is now a NASCAR Cup Series champion, and very deserving. I just can’t say enough about our group. I felt like we took some really big strides this year, and last week [at Martinsville Speedway] was a huge one. To come out of that with a win and a shot to come here and have a chance to race is unbelievable.”
“All you can dream for is an opportunity, and I’ve been very fortunate to have that over the years,” Elliott added. “You know, and that’s all thanks to some great people. You know, my parents obviously have played a huge role. The past year has been tough. I lost my best friend about a year ago tonight. Lost my grandmother last year. And all those things bring families closer, so I really can’t thank them enough.”
During the final laps of the race, Elliott mentioned how he was anticipating a caution to fall and have his stable lead and road to the title nearly vanquished.
“Yeah, just waiting on the caution, as always,” Elliott said. “You know, I saw Joey was pretty loose there and felt like I needed to get to him while I could. I knew I’d been kind of tight on a longer run and he was probably going to get a little better. Just unbelievable. I mean, I just never would have though that this year would have gone like it has. I mean, NASCAR Cup Series champion. Are you kidding me? Unreal.”
Ironically, Elliott achieved his first NASCAR Cup championship the same season the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series and the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship, a feat both teams also made during the same year back in 1988 when Bill Elliott also won his first NASCAR Cup title.
Following the 2020 finale, Chase and Bill Elliott joined the Pettys (Lee and Richard) and the Jarretts (Ned and Dale) as the only father-son combo to win a Cup title.
“I couldn’t breathe during Martinsville [last weekend],” Bill Elliott, along with wife, Cindy, said. “Today was, I just said we’ve had a heck of a year and whatever Chase does today, we’re so proud of him. We’re gonna make the best of it. When [Logano] got ahead of us during that last stop, I didn’t think we’d ever do it…Chase dug it in and came by and was able to pull it off. Unbelievable. If it wasn’t for Rick Hendrick, we would not be here today.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
The 2020 Cup championship was the 13th for Hendrick Motorsports led by team owner Rick Hendrick and the first for veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson.
“It was a nail-biter,” Hendrick said. “You saw all the action when the race starts and you get swept up in a wreck. [Elliott] came through there like a champ…I’m excited about next year with our young guns. It’s just a roller coaster. You’re happy, sad, jubilant, teary. It’s all of that rolled up in one, but it couldn’t be any better other than Jimmie [Johnson] could’ve won the race and Chase won the championship. I’m so proud of Chase and I’m very thankful that Jimmie got to race with me his career and I look at all the championships and look at what a great guy he is off the track. That Chase is unbelievable. I don’t know how many he’s gonna win, but it’s gonna be a bunch…To finish [this season] with a championship, it’s just unbelievable. I don’t think it’s gonna sink in.”
“We’ve been close,” Gustafson added. “Man, a lot of good people have done a lot of good things for me. Got to thank all of them. Certainly, a great day. Sweet win here at Phoenix, which is a track I’ve won with three other guys with, so that’s cool, too. In the Playoffs, you’ve got to win. I think that’s the key. You got to win races. It’s different than the regular season. Everybody brings their best stuff and everybody’s on their A game. We knew we had to win. Last week was the big one. We knew we had to win to transfer. Winning when you have to like that when you’re back’s against the wall is a tough thing to do, but when you do it, it just brings a lot of momentum, a lot of confidence to the team. We knew coming here was a great track for us. We’re ready. We’ve been through a lot and we just knew it was our time.”
Behind Elliott, Keselowski finished in second place and emerged as the championship runner-up for his best points result since winning the 2012 Cup title. Teammate Logano finished in third place on the track and in the final standings despite leading 125 laps and displaying competitiveness on the track for his second Cup title.
“Man, just didn’t have the speed at the right time,” Logano said. “Early in the race, our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang was really fast and no one really did anything wrong. Our pit crew was on it. Our strategy got us out front there at the end. [Elliott] seemed like he really lit off pretty good there. That last run was able to go really fast. And got another vibration towards the end of the run and lost the turn. Still a little free. Yeah, we were close, and you know, everyone executed and did their job, and that’s what we should be most proud of. And also how far we’ve come from the beginning of the season until now as a team. A lot to be proud of. It stings not winning, I’m not going to lie, it hurts, but at the same time we’re stronger because we went through it…You either win or get stronger, and unfortunately we are the stronger ones today and we’ll get stronger, but we’ll be better for next year.”
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.
“I would have liked to have had one of those late race yellows like we saw in the Truck and Xfinity race,” Keselowski said. “I thought we were pretty good there, just didn’t have the track position to make it show. I thought we had a shot at the end of the second stage and just couldn’t keep it up in spot to keep it where we could have a lead. Really proud of the speed we had. Just a solid day and just wish we had one more spot.”
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.
Finally, Hamlin, who entered the finale while making his 15th attempt in winning his first Cup title, finished in fourth place on the track and in the final standings for the second year in a row after struggling with speed and keeping pace with his title rivals.
“We were a little off handling, but I think just overall car speed, just didn’t quite have enough,” Hamlin said. “We just, as an organization, got to get a little bit better, especially on the short tracks. It just seems like we were a little bit off all year and that was all I had, that’s for sure. I was pushing for everything I had. The FedEx Camry just didn’t quite have enough today. We ended up fourth…Pretty proud what this team’s doing and what we’re building forward. Proud of the effort. We’ll come back and do it again next year. Looking forward to it. We’ll win as many races as we possibly can to get ourselves back in Phoenix again with another shot. Proud of this whole Joe Gibbs FedEx team for giving me cars that are capable of winning every week.”
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.
While Elliott celebrated a championship, Jimmie Johnson emerged with a smile upon exiting his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the final time as he wrapped up his 19-year illustrious career in NASCAR with seven championships, 83 career wins, 36 poles, 232 top-five results, 374 top-10 results and over 18,000 laps led, all while driving the No. 48 car for Hendrick Motorsports.
“Man, my heart’s full,” Johnson said. “I’m just so happy to have this wonderful career and so many great people behind me. First and foremost, my wife, Chandra, [she’s] been with me every step of the way. My kids. This has just been quite a journey for all of us. I’m very thankful for today. [I] Had a great run on the track. I just can’t go without congratulating Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports on another championship. It’s been a great run. I’ve had 19 years in the Cup Series, two years in the Xfinity Series. I’ve met so many wonderful people, I’ve worked for great people, with great people. I learned so many lessons inside and out of the car. I’m full. This has been a great journey. I’m ready to spend my time a little bit differently instead of 38 weeks a year being on the road, racing in the Cup Series. Just ready for it and very full…I’ll be around.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
Along with Johnson, Clint Bowyer finished 14th in his 541st and final Cup career race while Matt Kenseth finished 25th in his 697th and final scheduled race of his illustrious career. Bowyer will be succeeded by Chase Briscoe while Kenseth will be succeeded by Ross Chastain.
Seven-time championship-winning crew chief Chad Knaus called his 708th and final NASCAR Cup Series race as he will step down from the No. 24 team driven by William Byron and serve as Vice President of Competition for Hendrick Motorsports, beginning next season. Veteran Ryan “Rudy” Fugle will take over as Byron’s crew chief next season.
Christopher Bell finished 17th in the final NASCAR race for Leavine Family Racing while Ty Dillon finished 21st in the final NASCAR race for Germain Racing.
Bubba Wallace finished 15th in his 112th and final Cup race in the Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43 Chevrolet, Alex Bowman finished 16th in his 118th and final race in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet before he takes over the No. 48 HMS Chevrolet, Erik Jones finished 22nd in his 110th and final race in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Daniel Suarez finished 31st in his 35th and final race in the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota.
Cole Custer was officially named the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year in a year where he won his first Cup career race and made the Playoffs.
There were 19 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps.
Results.
1. Chase Elliott, 153 laps led
2. Brad Keselowski, Stage 2 winner, 16 laps led
3. Joey Logano, Stage 1 winner, 125 laps led
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Jimmie Johnson, four laps led
6. Ryan Blaney, one lap led
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led
9. William Byron
10. Martin Truex Jr.
11. Kyle Busch
12. Kurt Busch, four laps led
13. Aric Almirola, one lap down, seven laps led
14. Clint Bowyer, one lap down
15. Bubba Wallace, one lap down
16. Alex Bowman, one lap down
17. Christopher Bell, one lap down
18. Austin Dillon, one lap down
19. Tyler Reddick, one lap down
20. Chris Buescher, one lap down
21. Ty Dillon, one lap down
22. Erik Jones, one lap down
23. Michael McDowell, one lap down
24. Ryan Newman, one lap down
25. Matt Kenseth, one lap down
26. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down
27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down, one lap led
28. Cole Custer, two laps down
29. Brennan Poole, three laps down
30. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
31. Daniel Suarez, six laps down
32. Joey Gase, 10 laps down
33. James Davison, 10 laps down
34. Ryan Preece, 13 laps down
35. Josh Bilicki, 16 laps down
36. Timmy Hill, 24 laps down
37. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Rear end
38. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Suspension
39. Quin Houff – OUT, Handling
Final standings.
1. Chase Elliott
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Joey Logano
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Alex Bowman
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Kyle Busch
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Kurt Busch
11. Austin Dillon
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Matt DiBenedetto
14. William Byron
15. Aric Almirola
16. Cole Custer
Bold indicates Championship finale contenders.
The NASCAR Cup Series enters its off-season period before returning for the 2021 Daytona Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, beginning on Tuesday, February 9, for the Busch Clash on the Daytona Road Course and leading up to the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 14.
The NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series all head to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for the 2020 championship season finale.
Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin will be competing for the Cup Series Championship while Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley vie for the Xfinity Series title.
Brett Moffitt, Sheldon Creed, Grant Enfinger and Zane Smith will contend for the Truck Series 2020 championship.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, November 6 8 p.m.: Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 race (Stages 45/90/150 Laps = 150 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pole: Grant Enfinger
Saturday, November 7 2 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Arizona Lottery 100 race (100 Laps, 100 Miles) Trackpass/MRN 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 race (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 200 Miles) NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pole: Justin Allgaier
Sunday, November 8 3 p.m.: Cup Series Season Finale 500 race (Stages 75/190/312 Laps = 312 Miles) NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pole: Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott will start on pole position for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 8.
Elliott, who won last weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway and led a race-high 236 of 500 laps, was awarded the pole for Phoenix based on four stats: current owner points standings, the driver’s results from a previous Cup race, the owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap established from a previous Cup race.
This marks Elliott’s first appearance in the Championship 4 round in his fifth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, all with Hendrick Motorsports, as he will contend for his first Cup Series championship.
Joey Logano, the 2018 Cup champion who won at Phoenix in March, will start alongside Elliott on the front row. Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, will start in third and Denny Hamlin reigning three-time Daytona 500 champion, will start in fourth, with the final four contenders occupying the top-four starting spots.
Ryan Blaney, who finished in the runner-up spot last weekend at Martinsville, will start in fifth place. Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and teammate Aric Almirola will start in the top 10. Bowyer is set to make his 541st and final career start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Starting in positions 11-26 are Kevin Harvick, Matt DiBenedetto, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Cole Custer, Matt Kenseth, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ty Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, William Byron and teammate Jimmie Johnson, who will be making his 686th and final start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Starting in positions 27-39 are John Hunter Nemechek, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, J.J. Yeley, Timmy Hill, Quin Houff, Brennan Poole, James Davison, Joey Gase, Josh Bilicki and Garrett Smithley.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway will occur on Sunday, November 8, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
1. Chase Elliott: Elliott raced his way into the playoff finale with a commanding win at Martinsville.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Elliott said. “If I can still say that after the race at Phoenix, then you’ll know I’m not the 2020 Cup champion.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano finished third at Martinsville and will be joined by Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski in battle for the Cup at Phoenix.
“2020 has been one of the most trying years in racing,” Logano said. “But if I take the championship in Phoenix, I’m gonna party like it’s 2019.”
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s championship hopes were dashed with a 17-place finish at Martinsville,
“I turned Kyle Busch on the last lap in a last-ditch effort to gain a position,” Harvick said. “Or maybe I just wrecked Kyle because it makes me feel so darn good.”
4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 12th at Martinsville and squeaked his way into the playoffs.
“Luckily,” Hamlin said, “my Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones didn’t pass me there at the end. If he would have, it would have been the first time a driver was fired twice from a race team.”
5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski overcame a late speeding penalty to finish fourth and qualify for the championship finale at Phoenix.
“The tension was noticeable at Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “You could feel it. You could taste it. You could smell it. Interestingly enough, you could say the same thing about a Martinsville hot dog, often two days after you’ve eaten one.”
6. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished sixth at Martinsville.
“Bubba Wallace will be driving the No. 23 for Michael Jordan’s race team next season,” Bowman said. “It’s currently unknown who will sponsor the No. 23 car in 2021. I’m sure Jordan will have some big-name sponsors for that car. By the way, when a sponsor places its paint scheme on that No. 23 car, Jordan calls it ‘putting money on.
7. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished seventh in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville.
“It was a disastrous day for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Almirola said. “Kevin Harvick missed a shot at the Cup championship and Clint Bowyer and myself spun each other. And it all means Tony Stewart won’t be bringing donuts to the drivers’ meeting, or at least to share with others.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished ninth at Martinsville.
“Kevin Harvick spun me just before the finish line,” Busch said. “It’s okay. I know he was trying to make a kamikaze move to miraculously make the championship final. But I guess God wasn’t looking out for Kevin. While he wasn’t touched by an angel, I was ‘touched by an a-hole.’”
9. Kurt Busch: Busch finished fifth at Martinsville.
“Kyle Larson has been reinstated,” Busch said. “He’ll be driving the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports next season. I’m not sure what the paint scheme will look like, but I’m guessing the colors will be ‘muted.’”
10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led as late as lap 457 at Martinsville but a loose wheel forced a pit stop under green, and Truex finished 22nd.
“Congratulations to the four drivers with a chance to win the Cup,” Truex said. “I guess I’m pulling for my JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. I’m not Denny’s biggest fan, but team orders dictate that I have to say that. And I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud, like you would, say, on a radio.”
Nine wins, earning the 2020 Regular Season Championship, capturing 20 top fives with 1,531 laps led; it’s been an impressive season by any standard. But it was not enough for Kevin Harvick to advance to the Championship 4.
Even his rivals were stunned.
“It’s hard to fathom,” Kurt Busch said.
Martin Truex Jr. agreed, saying, “It’s insane.”
After having arguably the best year of his career, Harvick came up short when it mattered most. But while disappointed, he still characterizes this as “a great year.”
“We had a great year. Like I said earlier, they aren’t won the same way that Earnhardt and Petty did,” Harvick said. “You have to put together a few weeks and we didn’t put together these last few weeks like we needed to and just came up short.”
Harvick was one of the favorites heading into the race, ranked second in the standings. However, things began to go wrong in Stage 2 after contact with Matt Kenseth caused damage to his tire and he had to make an unscheduled pit stop. After going two laps down, Harvick fought to work his way through the field and finally was able to get back on the lead lap and into the top 10.
As it became apparent that he could not compete for the win, Harvick set his sights on gaining one point over Brad Keselowski to claim the last spot in the Playoffs. In a last ditch effort, he put his bumper to Kyle Busch, hoping to pass him and gain that one elusive point. Unfortunately, he spun out himself and Busch, ending his title run with a 17th place finish.
Though it was certainly not the ending he wanted, he is proud of what he and his team accomplished. From his point of view, losing the chance to compete for the championship title does not diminish his dominant performance on the track this season.
“We won nine races, had a great year, and, like I said, the championship is kind of a bonus,” Harvick explained. “It would be great to win it, obviously, but I’d rather go through the year and win races and do the things that we did and just came up short.”
With one race left in the 2020 season, Harvick has two goals – to win next week at Phoenix and to say goodbye to what has been a tumultuous year for everyone.
“It’s been a great racetrack for us and obviously that’s what we want to do. I just want to get the season over with.”
With a championship spot on the line and his back against the wall in the final laps and in a “must-win” scenario, Chase Elliott rose to the occasion and walked it off in style after dominating and pulling away late to win the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway and race his way into the Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway, where he will contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. The victory was Elliott’s first at Martinsville, fourth of the season and the 10th of his career in his 184th start in NASCAR’s premier series.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Brad Keselowski started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Martin Truex Jr. Garrett Smithley was the lone competitor who started at the rear of the field due to a driver change.
Prior to the race, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin faced early adversity when a travel packer was left in the shock of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry during pre-race inspection. Hamlin’s team, however, opted to not remove it to not fall to the rear of the field as he will start in fourth place.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Brad Keselowski jumped ahead with the lead as he led the first lap ahead of Martin Truex Jr. Behind, Alex Bowman settled in third place in front of Denny Hamlin while Kurt Busch and Joey Logano overtook Kevin Harvick for fifth and sixth. Not long after, Chase Elliott joined the party along with Kyle Busch.
On the fourth lap, Truex emerged with the lead and Hamlin made contact with Keselowski’s No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang entering Turn 4 to move into second place. Kurt Busch, facing a “must-win” situation, also made a move for third beneath Keselowski, who was able to settle in front of Bowman.
By Lap 10, Truex, racing in his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry, continued to lead the race over teammate Hamlin with Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Bowman in the top five. By then, Elliott, Logano, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Harvick were in the top 10. Way behind the leaders, Michael McDowell was back in 28th place and he continued to fall below the leaderboard while dealing with a major left-rear tire rub on his No. 34 Ford Mustang.
A few laps later, the left-rear tire on McDowell’s car flattened, but he was able to nurse his car back to pit road as the race proceeded under green. The situation went from bad to worse for McDowell, who was hit with a commitment line violation and was hit with a speeding penalty while serving a pass-through penalty, thus pinning him multiple laps behind the leaders.
By Lap 20, Truex stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hamlin, who had Kurt Busch and Keselowski closing in on him for the runner-up spot. Elliott was in fifth followed by teammate Bowman, Logano, Blaney, Kyle Busch and Harvick. By then, Clint Bowyer was in 12th ahead of Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron while Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were in the top 20. Tyler Reddick was in 21st ahead of Ryan Preece, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson were in 25th and 26th, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez were in 28th and 29th and Chris Buescher was in 30th.
By Lap 30, Truex continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin while Kurt Busch, racing in his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, continued to pressure Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Elliott muscled his way into fourth place over Keselowski while Bowman, Logano, Blaney, Harvick and Kyle Busch continued to run in the top 10.
When 40 of 500 laps were complete, Truex stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Hamlin, who had Kurt Busch and Elliott closing in for the runner-up spot. Keselowski continued to run in fifth place followed by teammates Blaney and Logano. Bowman fell back to eighth in front of Harvick and Kyle Busch.
With 50 laps complete, Truex continued to lead while Elliott, who bumped Hamlin a lap earlier, made a move beneath Hamlin to move his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into second place. Kurt Busch dropped back to fourth place as Keselowski closed in for more. Logano was in seventh behind teammate Blaney while Bowman and Harvick were in ninth and 10th behind Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry.
With the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Elliott was able to narrow the deficit between himself and Truex to as close to two-tenths of a seconds. It was not enough, however, to overtake Truex, who retained the lead when the competition caution flew on Lap 60. By then, the remaining eight Playoff contenders remained in the top 10 on the track, with Harvick and Bowman mired back in ninth and 10th.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead following a stellar four-tire pit stop and exiting pit road in first place ahead of Elliott, Logano, Keselowski, Bowman, Hamlin and Harvick. Kurt Busch, who entered pit road in the top five, fell all the way back to 12th place for the restart.
The race resumed under green on Lap 68 with Truex and Elliott on the front row followed by Logano, Keselowski, Bowman and Hamlin. At the start, Truex cleared the field and retained the lead while Elliott and Logano battled for second. Behind, Clint Bowyer suffered a left-rear tire rub, but he continued to run inside the top 15.
By Lap 70, Truex was at the front while Elliott, who lost second place to Logano, reassumed the spot following contact with Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang while Keselowski and Hamlin were in the top five ahead of Bowman and Blaney.
Three laps later, the caution returned when contact from teammate Aric Almirola entering Turn 1 sent Bowyer spinning sideways and Austin Dillon had to slam on the brakes to avoid making contact into Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford Mustang.
The race restarted under green six laps later with Truex and Elliott on the front row. At the start, Truex retained the lead over Elliott while Hamlin retained third place on the outside lane over Logano. Keselowski was in fifth in front of Bowman and Blaney while Kurt Busch was in eighth ahead of Kyle Busch and Harvick.
By Lap 85, the front-runners settled into a single-file line of racing with Truex leading by a narrow margin over Elliott while Hamlin and Logano battled for third place. Keselowski continued to race in fifth while teammate Blaney overtook Bowman for sixth. Kurt Busch and Harvick continued to run in eighth and 10th with Kyle Busch mired in ninth.
On Lap 88, the No. 9 Chevrolet of Elliott blasted by Truex’s No. 19 Toyota for the lead in Turn 4 while Hamlin and Logano continued to battle for third place with teammates Keselowski and Blaney in fifth and sixth.
When the race reached its 100-lap mark, Elliott was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Truex with Hamlin in third. Behind, Team Penske’s Logano, Blaney and Keselowski battled for fourth place while Bowman and Kurt Busch continued to run in seventh and eighth. Harvick, meanwhile, was mired back in 11th in between William Byron and Almirola. Cole Custer was in 13th followed by Ryan Newman and Matt DiBenedetto.
The caution returned on Lap 104 when the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Garrett Smithley stopped on the track in Turn 4. Under caution, most of the leaders led by Hamlin and Logano pitted while Elliott and Truex were among six competitors who remained on the track. Following the pit stops, however, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Bubba Wallace was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for removing equipment from his pit box.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 109, Elliott retained the lead over Truex. In Turn 2, Bowyer ran into the rear bumper of teammate Almirola and moved him out of the racing groove as a possible payback from their earlier on-track altercation and incident. Following the contact with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Almirola made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entering Turn 4 while trying to fall back in line amid a tight pack of racing.
Back towards the front, Hamlin moved into third place over Bowyer while Bowman was in fifth. By then, Keselowski and Logano were in the top 10 while Kurt Busch and Harvick were running outside of the top 10 on the track.
On Lap 113, Hamlin, racing on four fresh tires compared to Elliott and Truex, emerged with the lead after passing Elliott. Not long after, the caution returned when Joey Gase spun in Turn 4 following contact with Quin Houff.
With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, the race resumed under green with Hamlin and Elliott on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead and Elliott retained the runner-up spot. Behind, Bowman, racing on fresh tires, muscled his way into third place over Truex with Keselowski in fifth.
With the laps in the first stage coming to a close, Bowman overtook teammate Elliott for second place while Keselowski made his way into fourth place over Truex with Logano joining the party. By then, Hamlin was gone as he led by more than a second over Bowman’s No. 88 Planters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
With the on-track battles ensuing behind, Hamlin was able to cruise away from the field and claim the first stage on Lap 130 for his 11th stage victory of the season. Bowman crossed the line in second place followed by Keselowski while Elliott held off Logano for fourth. Truex fell back to sixth followed by Kyle Busch, Byron, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson. Harvick settled in 14th in between Bowyer and Matt Kenseth.
Under the stage break, most of the leaders pitted and following the pit stops, Elliott exited in first place followed by Hamlin and Truex. Back on the track, Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after remaining on the track followed by brother Kurt Busch, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, Almirola and Bubba Wallace. Following the pit stops, Kenseth was penalized for improper fueling.
The second stage started on Lap 139 with the Busch brothers on the front row. At the start, brothers Kyle and Kurt battled dead even for the lead. Following an intense battle for the next several laps, Kurt cleared his brother Kyle for the lead with Custer in third. Behind, Elliott and Hamlin, both on fresh tires, carved their way int the top five.
On Lap 145, just as Elliott and Hamlin were up in third and fourth behind Kyle Busch, the caution returned when Buescher’s No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang spewed fluid and smoke on the track following an earlier contact with Suarez, an issues that ended Buescher’s race up in smoke and in the garage. Buescher’s engine issues occurred in front of Harvick, who was mired back in 25th and currently scored outside of the top-four cutline for the Championship 4 finale.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 158, Kurt Busch retained the lead ahead of Elliott while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Hamlin were in third and fourth. Behind, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer and Almirola battled for fifth place in front of Truex. Logano was 10th behind Ty Dillon and Wallace while Bowman was in 12th. Keselowski was in 15th while Harvick was back in 26th.
On Lap 162, Elliott reassumed the lead following a pass on Kurt Busch in Turn 4. Shortly after, Hamlin made his way into second place while Kurt Busch remained in third place in front of brother Kyle. By then, Keselowski was mired back in 17th while Harvick could only work his way up to 24th place behind DiBenedetto.
By Lap 170, Elliott extended his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin while Kurt Busch continued to run in third place ahead of teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Behind, Logano moved into sixth place over Almirola while Custer, Johnson and Byron were in the top 10 ahead of Bowman.
On Lap 180, Harvick made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat left-rear tire on his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang as a result of an earlier contact with Kenseth. The misfortune cost Harvick two laps from the leaders.
Back at the front, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Hamlin with Truex, Kurt Busch and Logano in the top five.
On Lap 185, the caution returned for Brennan Poole, who made contact into the outside wall due to a flat left-front tire. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Elliott exited the pits with the lead over Hamlin, Truex, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. Following the pit stop, Erik Jones made another pit stop due to removing equipment from his pit box.
When the race restarted on Lap 192, Elliott retained the lead over Truex with Hamlin settling behind his teammate for the spot. Kurt Busch retained fourth while Kyle Busch and Bowman battled for fifth. Logano moved up to seventh while Blaney, Byron and Custer were in the top 10.
With the race reaching its 200-lap mark, Elliott stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Hamlin with teammate Truex in third. The Busch brothers were in the top five followed by Logano, Bowman, Blaney, Custer and Bowyer were in the top 10. Keselowski was in 11th ahead of Byron while Harvick was in 31st, the first car a lap down to the leaders.
By Lap 210, Elliott continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Truex with teammate Hamlin trailing by more than two seconds. Kurt Busch and Logano were in the top five while Keselowski and Bowman were in eighth and ninth. Harvick was still mired back in 31st place.
Six laps later, the caution returned when Ryan Preece spun in Turn 3 following contact from John Hunter Nemechek. At the time of caution, Elliott lapped Timmy Hill and Hill received the free pass to return to the lead lap, leaving Harvick still trapped a lap behind the leaders. Under caution, some of the leaders led by Elliott and Truex pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
The race restarted on Lap 221 with Hamlin and Logano on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead while Blaney challenged and overtook teammate Logano for second place. Teammate Keselowski was in fourth followed by Bowman while Byron was in sixth. Behind, Elliott, racing on fresh tires, muscled his way into 10th place while Truex was stuck in 13th.
While Elliott continued to carve his way back to the front, Hamlin continued to lead Penske’s three-car lineup of Blaney, Keselowski and Logano with Bowman in fifth. Shortly after, Elliott overtook teammates Byron and Bowman to move back into the top five. Truex was in eighth place while Kurt Busch was in 14th behind Erik Jones.
Just as the field passed the Lap 230 mark, Elliott worked his way back to third place while Hamlin continued to lead by nearly half a second over Blaney. Keselowski and Logano dropped back to fourth and fifth while Truex overtook Bowman for sixth place. By then, Kurt Busch returned to the top 10. Harvick was still back in 31st place.
On Lap 239, Elliott carved his way back into the lead after passing Hamlin. Blaney settled in third behind Hamlin while Truex worked his way back to fourth place. Keselowski fell back to fifth ahead of Kyle Busch, Logano, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Byron.
By Lap 245, leader Elliott started to catch lapped traffic. He went on to lap J.J. Yeley and Timmy Hill, which placed Harvick in another deficit as he was no longer scored the first car a lap behind and currently scored outside of the cutline to the championship finale round. Behind Elliott, Hamlin continued to run in second place while Truex moved into third place. Blaney fell back to fourth while Kyle Busch was in fifth place ahead of brother Kurt.
With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage and with the overall race surpassing its halfway mark, Truex passed teammate Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Elliott was ahead by more than three seconds. He soon started to catch teammate Jimmie Johnson to place him a lap behind while Blaney mounted a challenge on Hamlin for third place.
With no challengers closing in behind his No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott coasted across the start/finish line to win the second stage on Lap 260 and for his 10th stage victory of the season. Truex settled in second while Hamlin held off Blaney and Kurt Busch, all of whom settled in the top five. Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Logano, Bowman and Newman settled in the top 10. Harvick was mired back in 31st place and scored the third car a lap down to the leaders.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead following a stellar pit stop and exiting the pits ahead of Truex, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Logano. During the pit stops, Hamlin suffered a slow pit stop due to issues getting the left-front tire on his No. 11 Toyota as he exited in eighth place. Afterwards, Hamlin made another pit stop to have the lug nuts on his car tightened as he dropped all the way towards the tail end of the field.
With 233 laps remaining, the final stage commenced with Elliott and Truex on the front row. At the start, Elliott retained the lead over Truex while Kurt Busch retained third place. Logano moved into fourth place over teammate Blaney and Kyle Busch while Bowman and Keselowski were in seventh and eighth.
With 220 laps remaining, Elliott stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Truex with Kurt Busch, Logano and Blaney in the top five. Kyle Busch was in sixth followed by Bowman, Keselowski, Bowyer and Almirola. Hamlin was mired back in 24th while Harvick was trapped in 30th, a lap behind the leaders and still scored outside of the championship finale cutline, with Elliott currently in by leading the race.
Ten laps later, with 210 laps remaining, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Truex with Logano, Blaney and Kurt Busch still in the top five. Kyle Busch retained sixth place while Keselowski closed in on Bowman for seventh. Bowyer and Byron rounded out the top 10 ahead of Almirola, Newman, Jones, Custer and Corey LaJoie. By then, Hamlin was in 21st behind Stenhouse.
Down to the final 200 laps of the race, Elliott continued to lead by less than a second over Truex with Blaney trailing by less than three seconds. Logano and Kurt Busch were in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Bowman, Bowyer and Almirola. By then, 28 of 39 competitors on the track were on the lead lap, with John Hunter Nemechek scored the first car a lap behind in 29th and Harvick mired back in 30th place. Hamlin, meanwhile, was in 18th behind Christopher Bell, but he remained above the top-four cutline to the championship finale round.
Twenty laps later, with 180 laps remaining, Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet was still out in front of the pack as he approached lapped traffic. Truex, who nearly closed in on Elliott for the lead, dropped to nearly a second of a deficit behind Elliott. Blaney was back in third place followed by Logano and Kurt Busch while Keselowski overtook Kyle Busch for sixth. Bowman, Almirola and Bowyer continued to run in the top 10 while Hamlin was in 17th behind Ty Dillon. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 28th.
As the laps progressed, Harvick was far from being the first car a lap down as Daniel Suarez, Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon were all lapped by Elliott.
Another 20 laps later, with 160 laps remaining, Elliott’s advantage grew to more than a second over Truex while Logano overtook teammate Blaney for third place. Kurt Busch and Keselowski were in fifth and sixth while Bowman was in eighth. Hamlin was in 16th behind Corey LaJoie while Harvick was still in 28th, a lap behind. By then, 20 cars were scored on the lead lap with 21st-place competitor Kenseth being lapped.
Down to the final 150 laps of the race, the No. 9 Chevrolet of Elliott was leading by nearly two seconds over Truex with Logano behind by more than two seconds. Moments after, the caution flew due to Timmy Hill cutting a right-rear tire in Turn 2. Prior to the caution, Jimmie Johnson made a pit stop due to a flat tire.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano edged Truex to assume the lead upon exiting pit road followed by Blaney, Elliott and Kurt Busch. Following the pit stops, however, the situation went from bad to worse for Elliott, who was tagged with an over the wall penalty thanks to his Jackman upon his pit stop. For the moment, Elliott remained on the track as his team went to work in appealing the penalty. Moments before the restart, NASCAR rescinded the penalty due to his Jackman running back to the pit stall upon jumping over it too soon.
The race restarted under green with 142 laps remaining with teammates Logano and Blaney on the front row. At the start, Logano retained the lead over teammate Blaney with Kurt Busch in third ahead of Elliott and Keselowski. By then, with Logano leading, Harvick moved back into the top-four cutline by a narrow margin over Elliott.
With 132 laps remaining, Blaney passed teammate Logano for the lead. By then, Elliott moved into third place ahead of Keselowski and Kurt Busch, Truex was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Hamlin was in 12th and Harvick was in 23rd, the second car a lap behind with Bubba Wallace in front of him.
Twelve laps later, with 120 laps remaining, Blaney continued to lead by nearly a second over teammate Logano as Elliott continued to close in on Logano for the runner-up spot. Truex was in fifth behind Keselowski, Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Hamlin was back in 14th and Harvick was in 22nd, the first car scored a lap behind.
With 110 laps remaining, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Logano with Elliott trailing by more than two seconds as he started to have Keselowski close in for position. Truex was back in fifth place and in front of Kurt Busch and Bowman while Byron, Bowyer and Almirola were in the top 10. Hamlin retained 14th while Harvick settled in 22nd, a lap behind.
With 100 laps remaining, the caution returned when James Davison stopped on the track in Turn 2. The caution served as a well-timing welcome for Harvick, who was able to return to the lead lap after being scored the first competitor a lap behind in 22nd.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano reassumed the lead following another strong pit stop, with teammates Blaney and Keselowski, Truex and Bowman exiting in the top five. Elliott, who entered in third place, fell back to eighth place following a slow pit stop. Following the pit stops, disaster struck for Keselowski, who was busted with a speeding penalty and sent to the rear of the field. After returning to the lead lap, Harvick was scored back inside the top-four cutline by a decent margin.
With 92 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Logano and Truex on the front row. At the start, Truex bolted ahead with the lead on the outside lane. Logano retained the runner-up spot and Blaney muscled his way into third place while Kyle Busch retained fourth place over Bowman. Behind, teammates Bowyer and Almirola battled for sixth in front of Elliott while Jones and Hamlin were in the top 10.
Down to the final 80 laps of the race, Truex, facing a “must-win” situation, was leading the field and over Penske teammates Blaney and Logano while Kyle Busch and Bowyer were in the top five. Elliott, Bowman and Hamlin were in sixth, seventh and eighth while Kurt Busch was in 11th. Keselowski, following his pit road speeding penalty, was in 16th and a few points below the cutline while Harvick was in 19th and currently inside the cutline by a narrow margin.
Five laps later, with 75 laps remaining, Truex stabilized his advantage by more than a second over Blaney with Logano trailing by more than two seconds. Elliott carved his way back into fourth place while Bowyer was in fifth ahead of Bowman. With Hamlin in eighth, Keselowski was in 15th behind Byron while Harvick was in 18th behind Ryan Newman.
Another five laps later, with 70 laps remaining, the deficit between Keselowski and Harvick to the cutline to the championship finale round was down to a single point with Harvick, running in 18th, retaining the spot for a moment as Keselowski was in 14th behind Byron.
As the run under the lights progressed, Elliott, who was now scored outside of the cutline, passed Logano for third place while Kurt Busch faded back to 10th place, two spots behind Hamlin. While Keselowski moved up to 12th, Harvick was still mired back in 18th behind Newman, who refused to surrender his spot.
With 59 laps remaining, the caution returned when William Byron spun due to a flat tire and made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall, thus demolishing the rear end of his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Logano, Elliott, Blaney, Bowman and Kyle Busch. Back on the track, Corey LaJoie remained on the track to assume the overall lead.
The race restarted under green with 51 laps remaining with LaJoie and Truex on the front row. At the start, Truex bolted ahead of LaJoie and the field for the lead while Logano and Elliott made a three-wide move on LaJoie in Turn 4 to move up with Elliott in second. While LaJoie was shuffled out of the picture, Elliott started to close in on Truex for the lead and a spot for the championship finale round. Logano was in third followed by Bowman and Kyle Busch while Kurt Bush was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bowyer, Hamlin and DiBenedetto.
With 45 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Elliott shoved his nose beneath Truex for the lead, though Truex retained his spot. Behind, Bowman started to challenge Logano for third place.
Two laps later, the No. 9 Chevrolet of Elliott returned to the lead. By then, Elliott moved back into the cutline while Truex was shoved out. In addition, Harvick, who was back in 14th, was scored a single point ahead of Keselowski, who was in 10th, for another spot in the finale.
Down to 40 laps remaining, Elliott started to stretch his advantage to more than a second over Truex with Logano, Bowman and Blaney in the top five. The Busch brothers were in sixth and seventh while Hamlin, Bowyer and Keselowski were in the top 10. Harvick was in 14th behind Jones and following on-track contact with Jones’ No. 20 Toyota Camry.
With 30 laps remaining, Elliott continued to stretch his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex, who radioed concerns about a possible loose right-front tire on his No. 19 Toyota Camry. Logano, Blaney and Bowman continued to run in the top five while Kurt Busch and Hamlin were in sixth and 11th. Keselowski carved his way to eighth behind Kyle Busch while Harvick was in 13th behind DiBenedetto.
A few laps later, Truex surrendered his spot on the track to pit under green to address the loose wheel on his car. The pit stop all but evaporated Truex’s hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 round and contending for his second Cup title.
Back on the track, Harvick was in 12th behind Hamlin and scored below the cutline by a narrow margin while Keselowski, who was in fifth, moved back into the top-four cutline. Meanwhile, Elliott continued to flex his muscles as he led by more than four seconds over Blaney with Logano, Bowman and Keselowski in the top five.
Down to the final 20 leaps of the race, Elliott was still leading by more than four seconds over Blaney with Logano, Bowman and Keselowski in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Almirola, Bowyer and DiBenedetto while Harvick passed Hamlin for 11th. By then, Hamlin’s hopes of advancing to the finale started to become dim as Hamlin, who was overtaken by Harvick for position, retained the final transfer spot to the finale by a narrow margin.
With 10 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Blaney with Logano, Bowman and Keselowski in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth, Harvick was in 11th and Hamlin was in 12th while trying to fend off teammate Erik Jones for position.
Shortly after, Keselowski passed Bowman for fourth. By then, Keselowski and Hamlin were inside the cutline by a narrow margin while Harvick was outside by a narrow margin.
Down to the final five laps of the race, Elliott’s advantage grew to nearly six seconds as he was on his way to the finale. Keselowski continued to run in fourth, Harvick continued to battle DiBenedetto for 10th while Hamlin was still in 12th in front of Jones. By then, Harvick was scored out of the cutline by a single point behind Keselowski and Hamlin. In addition, Hamlin had teammate Jones and Custer close in for position.
When the white flag waved, Elliott was leading by more than six seconds. Keselowski was still in fourth behind teammates Blaney and Logano, Harvick was in 10th and Hamlin was in 12th.
With no challengers close behind his No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott was able to smoothly navigate his way back to the finish line and claim his fourth checkered flag of the season.
By winning his first grandfather clock at Martinsville and earning his career-best fourth victory of the 2020 campaign, Elliott, who was in his fourth appearance in the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, earned a one-way ticket to the Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway, the site of the finale, for the first time in his career. Elliott’s victory was also the record-leading 25th at Martinsville Speedway for Hendrick Motorsports as this also marks the first time since 2016 where a HMS and Chevrolet competitor will be a part of the Championship 4 round for the season finale.
“Oh, my gosh,” Elliott said on the frontstretch. “This is the biggest win ever for us. I’m just so proud to be able to be backed into a corner like that and have to win tonight. I feel like that’s what we’ve been missing these past four or five years and perform when we don’t have a choice. And, to do that tonight; we couldn’t ask for a better night. This is unreal. Thanks to the fans for coming out. They’re here and I love to see it! I’ve just got to catch my breath. This is just unbelievable. We’re going to Phoenix with a shot to win a championship and have a beautiful blue NAPA Camaro headed out there with a shot to win a title. What more could you ask for?”
Moments after Elliott won, all eyes were focused on Harvick, who closed in on Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota for ninth place. Needing Busch’s spot to have any hopes of making the finale, Harvick made contact with Kyle Busch entering Turn 4. Harvick’s plan to gain the spot, however, did not work as he also spun and came to rest on the inside wall and short of the finish line. His wreck allowed Keselowski and Hamlin to claim the final spots to the Championship 4 round while Harvick, who won a season-high nine races and was a potential title favorite, was left out of the title picture by eight points.
Blaney finished in second place followed by Logano, Keselowski and Kurt Busch. Bowman, Almirola and Bowyer finished sixth, seventh and eighth while Kyle Busch limped across the line in ninth. Hamlin finished 11th while Harvick salvaged a 17th-place result, the final car on the lead lap. Truex came home in 22nd.
Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski will compete for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
“Just lost the handling there as soon as it went night,” Hamlin, who made it into the finale by nine points, said. “We were not very good. A lot of that too, I got up into sixth or seventh and some guys teammates were kind of rubbing up against you and it’s like, ‘yeah, I don’t want to cut a tire,’ so I backed out of that. Then we just fell to a spot that was a little more open. Proud of this whole FedEx Shipathon Toyota team. I feel bad for Kevin [Harvick], they probably deserve better than that. It’s just the format, I guess. Everything you do for eight innings doesn’t matter if you don’t have a great ninth inning. It’s just tough to see. I really wish we were going to race those guys next week. It will be a tough battle with those other three that we’re going to have to race. We’re definitely going to have to step up our short track program…If you have a bad race or two in a three-race series, you’re out. We’re very fortunate with our FedEx team to be able to lean on all the work that we did in the regular season, to get Playoffs points, win the most stages throughout the season than anyone else. We’re optimistic. We’ll see.”
“There was nothing I could do other than just pass as many cars as I could, look forward,” Keselowski, who transferred by eight points, said. “The last two runs, I don’t know if we were the best car, but we were close to it. Credits to [crew chief] Jeremy Bullins and the team. They just kept adjusting on it at the end. It was just frustrating because that pit road speeding penalty, I just did not see that coming. The place where I got the penalty was right outside my box. I didn’t even think it was possible to speed right there, but I was wrong. I know we’ve got great cars on these short tracks and one-mile track. We bring this kind of effort at the end of the race at Phoenix, we got a great shot at [the title].”
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch have been eliminated from the Playoffs and will set their title hopes for next season.
“Everybody kept battling there,” Harvick said. “I tried to run into the door of [Kyle Busch] as a last-ditch effort there and spun him out. Sorry to put him in a middle of trying to gain a point. Not a great three weeks. Didn’t go our way. We fought for everything we had and just came up short. These championships aren’t like winning like Petty and Earnhardt use to win them. You have to put them together three weeks at a time. It comes down to one race and it came down to one race for us tonight, and came up short.”
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
“We had a great car all day long and just kept making adjustments waiting for it to cool off and get dark,” Truex, who fell 52 points shy, said. “That last run there before the final pit stop, the thing was on rails and it was perfect and we were driving away. I felt really good about it. Then we pitted and had a pretty good pit stop. Came out with the lead and right away I knew something was wrong. I was really, really tight and had a vibration.[Elliott] passed us and we started dropping and had to pit for a loose wheel. Unfortunate. I think we should be the one in Victory Lane right now, but you have to do it all. Just a little mistake there.”
“I drive this place so wrong,” Bowman, who fell 28 points shy, said. “I try to roll the centers really fast. We get it turned in and I’m like, ‘Oh, now, I don’t have any drive off.’ I look at the data and know what I need to do differently. Still can’t seem to figure out how to do it. All in all, a good day for our Planters Camaro. Really proud of Chase to make the Final Four…Bummed we’re not a part of that, but I think we have a solid shot at getting fifth in points. The progress this team’s made over the last two months has been incredible and I think that’s something they really deserve. We’ll go do all we can to make that happen at Phoenix. Driving this No. 88 car’s been special. Being a part of the Round of 8 was great. I think we had one of the best, if not the best average finish over the past three races. Just didn’t have the Playoff points coming in. We gotta perform every week like we have the last 12 or 13 weeks. We gotta do that all season long to be in contention to go to Phoenix. We gotta do a better job of that next year, but looking forward to the challenge.”
“We gave it all we had,” Kurt Busch, who fell 86 points shy, said. “Real proud of my guys. Chip Ganassi Racing put up a really good fight this year to get this far. To win and post top fives throughout the Playoffs, we crossed over a threshold. Last week, we finished seventh at Texas, fifth tonight and we’re walking around kicking the ground. When I started here two years ago, we finished in the top five and we’re celebrating. We’ve come that far in this short amount of time and I’m really proud of everybody back at the shop. To come here with a shot at it, we knew we had to win. It takes a team all the way through…Our weakest area was pit road and we know we need to work on that, but all in all, I can’t thank everybody enough. It’s cool to see the evolution of where we’ve come in two years.”
For other notables on the field, Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson finished eighth and 30th in their penultimate runs at Martinsville while Kenseth finished 14th in his penultimate run of this season with his racing status for the future uncertain. Christopher Bell finished 15th in the penultimate Cup run for Leavine Family Racing while Ty Dillon finished 16th in the penultimate Cup run for Germain Racing.
With one race remaining to the 2020 Cup Series season, Ford wrapped up the manufacturers’ title for the 17th time, first since 2018 and the first with the Ford Mustang stock car in the Cup circuit.
There were 20 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 83 laps.
Results.
1. Chase Elliott, 236 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Ryan Blaney, 36 laps led
3. Joey Logano, 19 laps led
4. Brad Keselowski, three laps led
5. Kurt Busch, 23 laps led
6. Alex Bowman, one lap led
7. Aric Almirola
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Kyle Busch, five laps led
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Denny Hamlin, 42 laps led, Stage 1
12. Erik Jones
13. Cole Custer
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Christopher Bell
16. Ty Dillon
17. Kevin Harvick
18. Ryan Newman, one lap down
19. Ryan Preece, one lap down
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. one lap down
21. Bubba Wallace, one lap down
22. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down, 129 laps led
23. Austin Dillon, two laps down
24. Tyler Reddick, two laps down
25. Corey LaJoie, two laps down, six laps led
26. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
27. Daniel Suarez, three laps down
28. Michael McDowell, three laps down
29. Timmy Hill, five laps down
30. Jimmie Johnson, five laps down
31. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
32. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps down
33. Quin Houff, 11 laps down
34. Joey Gase – OUT, Electrical
35. William Byron – OUT, Accident
36. James Davison – OUT, Electrical
37. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident
38. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident
39. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Electrical
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff Standings
1. Joey Logano – Advanced
2. Chase Elliott – Advanced
3. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
4. Brad Keselowski – Advanced
5. Kevin Harvick – Eliminated
6. Alex Bowman – Eliminated
7. Martin Truex Jr. – Eliminated
8. Kurt Busch – Eliminated
The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to Phoenix Raceway for the season-finale 500-mile race and where the 2020 Cup champion will be crowned. The finale will occur on Sunday, November 8, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Veteran Mike Wheeler will be serving as crew chief for Bubba Wallace and the newly formed 23XI Racing for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Wheeler, a native from Southold, New York, and a graduate of Michigan’s Kettering University with a degree in mechanical engineering, currently works as a competition director for Leavine Family Racing, which is set to cease operations following this season. He carries an abundant of experience as a crew chief as he has called 148 Cup Series races and 33 Xfinity Series races atop the pit box. He made his debut as a crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team on a six-race interim role in 2014, served his first full-time season as a Cup crew chief in 2016 with Hamlin and last served as crew chief for Matt DiBenedetto with Leavine Family Racing in the 2019 Cup season. He also served as a full-time crew chief in the 2015 Xfinity Series season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team that was piloted by eight different competitors.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season will serve as Wheeler’s fifth full-time season as a crew chief in the sport’s premier series.
The move for Wheeler to 23XI Racing reunites him with Denny Hamlin, whom Wheeler worked with as a crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing for 112 races in the Cup Series (2014, 2016-2018) and six races in the Xfinity Series (2015). Together, Wheeler and Hamlin have won five Cup races, the 2016 non-point Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway and three Xfinity races, with a best points result of sixth place occurring twice in the 2016 and 2017 Cup Series seasons. Their biggest accomplishment was winning the 2016 Daytona 500 following a photo finish, where Hamlin edged Martin Truex Jr. at the finish line by a nose to claim one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel events. They also won the 2017 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
23XI Racing is a newly formed NASCAR Cup Series team owned by three-time reigning Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan that is set to make its debut in 2021, beginning at Daytona International Speedway for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14, with Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s lone African-American competitor, to serve as the team’s driver. Plans of the team’s formation was first announced on September 20 and the team name, 23XI Racing, was revealed on October 22 as Wallace is set to sport the No. 23, Jordan’s number in NBA, on his car next season.
The announcement of Wheeler joining 23XI Racing served as one of two major announcements for the team on Friday, October 30. Earlier, Toyota announced their support for the team along with Joe Gibbs Racing, which will be forming a technical alliance with 23XI Racing.
Catch Wheeler’s return and 23XI Racing’s debut at Daytona International Speedway for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14, 2021.
NASCAR heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend to determine who will advance to the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Joey Logano is the only Cup Series driver already locked into the Playoffs, leaving three open spots. In the Xfinity Series Chase Briscoe is the only driver that has clinched a spot with his win at Kansas Speedway. Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt have secured their place in the Truck Series, leaving two available spots for the Playoffs.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, Oct. 30
8 p.m.: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 Race (Stages 60/120/200 Laps = 175 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pole: Sheldon Creed
Saturday, Oct. 31
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Draft Top 250 race (Stages 70/140/250 Laps = 131.5 Miles) NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pole: Austin Cindric
Sunday, Nov. 1
2 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 (Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles) NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pole: Brad Keselowski
