Chase Elliott Gets First Cup Victory at the Glen

AP Photo

WATKINS GLEN, NY – RIS – Chase Elliott won his first race Sunday just like his father won his first race—on a road course.  After nearly three years of trying, the younger Elliott won at Watkins Glen’s road course just like his famous father, Hall of Famer Bill Elliott won his first race at Riverside, California in 1983.

Elliott celebrated a triumph he will cherish forever. Out of fuel after the finish, he was pushed to victory lane by the banged-up No. 48 Chevy of seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, a teammate and one of his staunchest supporters, as his father raced to join the celebration after spotting for him all day..

“It’s something I’ll never forget,” said Elliott, who has finished second eight times in Cup. “I was going to do a burnout, but I ran out of gas. I’m glad that we were on the front end today.”

Elliott’s victory came in his 99th Cup start and was the 250th win for Hendrick Motorsports, breaking a 37-race losing streak for one of NASCAR’s signature teams. It also assured Elliott a spot in the playoffs as he became only the fifth driver to win a race outside of the “Big 3” of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Truex, who have combined to win 16 of 22 races.

Truex ran second to Elliott for most of the final stage and began to steadily close as both drivers tried to save enough gas to reach the end of the 90-lap race. It was a two-car breakaway as the rest of the field was more than 11 seconds back.

Truex closed to the back bumper of Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy as his car bobbled slightly out of the first turn on the final lap around the 2.45-mile natural terrain layout. But Truex’s No. 78 Toyota skidded, Elliott regrouped and pulled away and Truex sputtered home, out of fuel.

“I just tried all I could to chase him down, and I got there with plenty of time,” Truex said. “It’s just every time I’d start putting together some good corners and get close enough to him to even think about making a move, I’d get sideways behind him. He did a good job of putting his car exactly where it needed to be and not making a mistake.”

Truex was bidding to become the first Cup driver to win three straight road races since Tony Stewart accomplished the feat just over a decade ago (2004-05). Kyle Busch finished third, 20 seconds behind, followed by Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones, a triumvirate of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin finished 13th.

Elliott won the race’s second stage and brought the crowd to its feet with a pass of Busch. Elliott pulled out to a half-second lead while Truex was fighting to get back to the front after a restart mired him in 12th.

Midway through the segment, the Big 3 were running in the top 10, but Elliott dominated and beat Busch by 1.3 seconds.

Unofficial Race Results for the 33Rd Annual Go Bowling At The Glen - Sunday,
August 5, 2018
Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY - 2.45 Mile Road
Total Race Length - 90 Laps - 220.5 Miles
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 3 9 Chase Elliott SunEnergy1 Chevrolet 90 1 50 Running 2 52 6
2 4 78 Martin Truex Jr. 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota 90 1 5 51 Running 1 4 1
3 2 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Crunchy Mint Toyota 90 2 43 Running 4 31
4 21 19 Daniel Suarez STANLEY Toyota 90 10 34 Running
5 9 20 Erik Jones buyatoyota.com Toyota 90 4 39 Running
6 5 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank/DC Solar Chevrolet 90 8 34 Running
7 14 1 Jamie McMurray GEARWRENCH Chevrolet 90 6 35 Running
8 16 24 William Byron # Hertz Chevrolet 90 3 37 Running
9 36 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford 90 28 Running
10 15 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford 90 7 31 Running
11 18 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers Ford 90 26 Running
12 11 12 Ryan Blaney PPG Ford 90 9 27 Running
13 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 90 3 32 Running 2 2
14 22 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Children's Hospital Chevrolet 90 7 27 Running
15 8 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 90 22 Running
16 23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Ford 90 21 Running
17 17 2 Brad Keselowski Wabash National Ford 90 5 26 Running
18 12 34 Michael McDowell K-LOVE RADIO Ford 90 4 26 Running
19 19 31 Ryan Newman Lucas Oil Chevrolet 90 6 23 Running
20 20 37 Chris Buescher Velveeta Chevrolet 90 8 20 Running
21 10 95 Kasey Kahne Procore Chevrolet 90 16 Running
22 7 10 Aric Almirola Go Bowling Ford 90 15 Running
23 30 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 90 14 Running
24 27 96 * Parker Kligerman(i) Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 90 0 Running
25 29 43 Bubba Wallace # Medallion Bank/Petty's Garage Chevrolet 89 12 Running
26 25 38 David Ragan Bad Boy Mowers Ford 89 11 Running
27 24 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet 89 10 Running
28 37 21 Paul Menard Menards/Sylvania Ford 89 9 11 Running
29 26 6 Matt Kenseth NESN Ford 89 10 9 Running
30 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 89 2 16 Running 1 1
31 35 00 Landon Cassill StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 88 6 Running
32 32 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet 77 0 Suspension
33 28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Zynga Poker Ford 75 4 Running
34 31 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 73 3 Running
35 34 23 Spencer Gallagher(i) Allegiant Toyota 73 0 Running
36 33 51 Josh Bilicki(i) Jacob Companies Ford 69 0 Electrical
37 6 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 1 1 Accident
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 44 Secs. Average Speed: 98.928 MPH Margin of Victory: 7.560 Seconds
78,48,24,34,2,31,88,37,21,6
9,18,11,20,78,1,4,42,12,19
Race Comments: Chase Elliott won the 33rd annual Go Bowling at The Glen, his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Caution Flags: 4 for 11 laps: Laps: 5-5 (#10 Incident Turn 7 [None]); 22-24 (Stage 1 Conclusion [10]); 42-44 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]); 55-58 (#32 Stopped on Track [00]).
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers: D. Hamlin 1; Kyle Busch 2-17; M. Truex Jr. 18-21; J. Johnson 22; Kyle Busch 23-26; C. Elliott 27-44; Kyle Busch 45-54; D. Hamlin 55; Kyle Busch 56; C. Elliott 57-90.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award : Chase Elliott, #9 Busch Pole Award : Denny Hamlin, #11 125.534 mph
Fastest Lap : Kyle Busch, #18 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Hendrick Engines, #9
Moog Go the Extra Mile : Daniel Suarez, #19 crew chief Scott Graves, 0.336 seconds Sunoco Rookie of the Race : William Byron, #24
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series