The Chase is over for Elliott as 42-race winless streak ends Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway
Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
FORT WORTH — Chase Elliott’s extended NASCAR nightmare is over.
Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag under caution to win the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Elliott snapped a 42-race Cup Series winless streak with a “double-overtime,” green-white-checkered flag victory in Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Elliott held off Ross Chastain during OT restarts on Laps 270 and 275 in a race originally scheduled for 267 laps/400.5-miles around TMS’ high-banked/1.5-mile oval.
Elliott had cleared Chastain and was distancing himself from the Trackhouse Racing ace on Lap 276 when contact on the backstretch initiated by William Byron — Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate — dropped Chastain into the spin cycle en route to a 32nd-place finish.
Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Elliott, meanwhile, returned to Victory Lane for the first time since Oct. 2, 2022, at Talladega Superspeedway. The 2020 series champion, Elliott earned his 19th victory in 295 Cup starts, first win at TMS and first on a 1.5-mile oval in NASCAR’s Next Gen car.
Elliott struggled through a winless 2023 season after fracturing the tibia in his left leg in a snowboarding accident in Colorado in early March. Forced to miss six races after surgery and rehab, Elliott placed 17th in the final standings after compiling seven top-five and 15 top-10 results in 29 starts. Despite questions about his judgement and career commitment outside the HMS compound, Elliott won the 2023 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award for the sixth straight year.
Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Elliott’s previous best finish this season was third last Sunday at the half-mile Martinsville Speedway.
“Ah, man, it couldn’t feel any better,” said Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 prepped by crew chief Alan Gustafson. “Couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and kind of the path that hasn’t always been fun. But certainly have enjoyed working with our guys. We’ve been working really hard and really well together. Like I said, hadn’t always been fun but we’ve enjoyed the fight together.”
Elliott also gave a shout-out to team-owner Rick Hendrick, whose organization now has won five of the schedule’s first nine races during its 40th Anniversary season.
Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, lead the field to a restart during the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
“Boss, thank you!” said Elliott, 28-year-old son of 1988 Cup champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott. “Thank you for sticking with me, and just really, really proud of this and (I) appreciate all the folks back home that have stuck with me and helped us get back on track.”
Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champ, barged into a season-best second-place finish after Chastain’s spin-o-rama, notching his seventh top-10 in 14 races at TMS. Keselowski, owner/driver of the No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang, earned his fourth top-10 of 2024 for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Remarkably, Keselowski was not among the 13 drivers involved in 23 lead changes.
Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, lead the field to a restart during the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“We didn’t have a ton of speed,” said Keselowski, teammate to former Prosper resident Chris Buescher in the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford. “Honestly, I’m more frustrated than anything because I feel like we have a great team and we don’t have the speed to go with it. And we’re doing all we can do to overcome that. As a driver, it’s frustrating because I feel like these are races I’m good enough to win and we don’t have the speed to do it. And then, RFK … is mad as hell because it’s my fault for not making the cars faster.
“But still proud of the team that we had the pit stops and the strategy and execution to put ourselves in a position to get a finish we probably didn’t deserve but earned with some never-give-up spirit.”
Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Interstate Batteries Toyota, lead the field on a pace lap prior to the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Byron, winner of a series-leading three races including last Sunday at Martinsville, finished third. The top-five also included Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE fielded by 23XI Racing in fourth and Trackhouse’s Daniel Suarez fifth wheeling the No. 99 Kubota Camaro.
Byron’s front-end contact with the left side of Chastain’s rear bumper initiated the spin that sealed Elliott’s win. “I just had a big run,” said Byron, driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro. “Ross and I race really well and I didn’t want to wreck him there. But he blocked me late, which is understood. It’s racing at the end, but I was already there and unfortunately, we made enough contact to where it got him squirrelly and it happened.
Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota, and Chase Briscoe, driver of the #14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“So, I hate that that happened, but it’s the last lap and I had the run so I’m going to just take the run. I didn’t expect it, but I don’t want to do that to a fellow-Chevy guy, and we always race really well.
“Happy for Chase and those guys. They did a great job; executed really well and had a good car. We struggled all day and had to fight tooth-and-nail just to keep our track position. We just had a few restarts go our way at the end.”
The overtime scenario developed following a restart with two laps remaining in the scheduled 267-lapper. Elliott took the lead on that opening restart lap. But Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing, closed to within his rear bumper in Turn 4. The rear end of Hamlin’s car suddenly broke loose, spun and hit the wall to send the race into OT. The top four at that point were Elliott, Chastain, Keselowski and Byron.
A general view of racing during the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“It was crazy. This place is just so sketchy and I haven’t seen a replay of Denny and us,” said Elliott, who posted his third consecutive top-five finish. “I didn’t feel like I did anything super-crazy there any more than anybody’s ever done to me. Just had to run forward. I want to look at it. I didn’t feel like I did anything to crash him. I think just the circumstances. But nonetheless, apologies to him if so.”
A two-time race-winner this season, Hamlin led twice for 37 laps before finishing 30th. “Yeah, just got loose in Turn 3,” said Hamlin, alluding to his dice with Elliott. “It’s something that I had been fighting all day. When you have to push it most — on a great-white-checkered — I knew that was the likely scenario, that I wasn’t going to make it out of the corner with how much speed that I was carrying. Trying to go for the win with our Yahoo Camry — got loose and spun-out.”
Media Center Interviews
NCS Race Winner Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) –
NCS Race Winning Crew Chief Alan Gustafson (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) –
Jeff Andrews (President and General Manager – Hendrick Motorsports) –
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas
Sunday, April 14, 2024
1. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 276.
2. (22) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 276.
3. (6) William Byron, Chevrolet, 276.
4. (4) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 276.
5. (17) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 276.
6. (5) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 276.
7. (10) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 276.
8. (15) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 276.
9. (35) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 276.
10. (16) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 276.
11. (20) Joey Logano, Ford, 276.
12. (26) Ryan Preece, Ford, 276.
13. (2) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 276.
14. (9) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 276.
15. (19) Chris Buescher, Ford, 276.
16. (36) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 276.
17. (3) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 276.
18. (21) Noah Gragson, Ford, 276.
19. (27) Erik Jones, Toyota, 276.
20. (38) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 276.
21. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 276.
22. (23) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 276.
23. (31) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 276.
24. (32) Justin Haley, Ford, 276.
25. (8) Austin Cindric, Ford, 276.
26. (18) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 276.
27. (33) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 276.
28. (29) Harrison Burton, Ford, 276.
29. (37) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, 276.
30. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 276.
31. (28) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 276.
32. (12) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 275.
33. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 268.
34. (30) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 226.
35. (13) Michael McDowell, Ford, Accident, 143.
36. (25) Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 136.
37. (14) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 100.
38. (34) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, Steering, 98.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.492 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 33 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 16 for 72 laps.
Lead Changes: 23 among 13 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Larson 1-35;T. Gibbs 36-40;C. Elliott 41-52;K. Larson 53-54;C. Bell 55;K. Larson 56-84;R. Blaney 85-87;*. Hill(i) 88;R. Blaney 89-99;K. Larson 100;R. Blaney 101-103;T. Gilliland 104-106;K. Larson 107-116;D. Hamlin 117-138;R. Chastain 139-167;B. Wallace 168-172;H. Burton 173-179;T. Reddick 180-213;R. Chastain 214-217;J. Logano 218-231;T. Reddick 232-234;C. Elliott 235-244;D. Hamlin 245-259;C. Elliott 260-276.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson 5 times for 77 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 39 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 37 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 37 laps; Ross Chastain 2 times for 33 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 17 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 14 laps; Harrison Burton 1 time for 7 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 5 laps; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 5 laps; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 3 laps; * Austin Hill(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Christopher Bell 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,20,11,45,14,12,9,34,24,23
Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,23,12,43,14,6,21,47,54,9
