Chase Elliott Rolls to Victory at Nashville Superspeedway

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LEBANON, TN – RIS – Chase Elliott came on after rain caused delays on Sunday night, to rally and win the NASCAR Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway. With rain in the area, officials started the race early to avoid the weather, but before the end of the second stage, parked the cars.  The race resumed at 10:00 pm with Kyle Busch leading. The 300-lap contest came down to a restart with five laps remaining. Elliott, the only driver inside the top five before the final caution to opt out of pitting, led each of the final 39 laps to claim his second victory of the season.

Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. — all teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing who each spent time dominating the event — chose to pit under the yellow flag and couldn’t rebound to challenge Elliott for the win.

In the beginning of the race, showers On the last restart, Elliott fended off charges from Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney to score his 15th career win. Farther back, Brad Keselowski and Cole Custer collided off Turn 4, sending both into the outside wall in Turn 4. Keselowski’s car was heavily damaged but the 2012 champion continued without necessitating a caution.

The first delay came at Lap 42 after lightning strikes forced a mandatory pause. That delay lasted a little more than an hour. The second stoppage came with 139 laps complete, 11 laps short of halfway. Lightning caused the initial red flag, but heavy rain doused the track, resulting in a delay that lasted over two hours.

About the time of the first delay, .Alex Bowman’s day came to a premature end. Contact from Corey LaJoie sent his No. 48 Chevrolet spinning into the Turn 2 SAFER barrier. Bowman was able to drive away from the scene, but a flat-spotted right-front tire tore away critical body panels. The team couldn’t repair the car before the damaged vehicle policy’s six-minute clock expired, adding to the list of disappointing summer results for Bowman. There were others on this long night.

The lightning and rain came again for the longer per4ios mentioned above.  After the delay, Elliott passed Kyle Busch for the lead and moved away.  Several stoppages (cautions) and he maintained his lead, but with few laps remaining, once again the race came under caution.  With four laps to go, Elliott lined up beside second place Kurt Busch and drove on to victory. 

“I figured (the last caution) was coming but I was hoping not,” Elliott said. “Ryan (Blaney) gave me a great shove. I appreciate him doing me a solid there and getting us out front. So proud of our team. We had a setback there about halfway (he had to pit twice under caution for a loose wheel). But we able to get our Chevy dialed back in and get back in the mix. It was a long day, a fun day. Thanks to the fans for hanging out.

“We’ve had a pretty rough month, month-and-a-half. So, it’s nice to get back going in the right direction and getting a win is huge. To do it in a really cool city like Nashville is even better.Looking forward to that guitar (trophy).”

Ryan nBlaney finished third, Kyle Larson fourth and Ross Chastain rounded out the top-five.  Completing the top-10 were Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.

The late caution and subsequent pit strategy calls spoiled what had been a tremendous race by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, who led 250 of the 300 laps. Hamlin led the most with 114.

Unofficial Results: 2nd Annual Ally 400, Nashville Superspeedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 300, 8, 4, 2, 42, 5, 50, Running
2) 19, Kurt Busch, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 300, 10, 5, 1, 3, , 42, Running
3) 6, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, 300, 3, 9, 1, 1, , 44, Running
4) 3, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 300, 6, 6, , , , 43, Running
5) 7, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet, 300, , 7, , , , 36, Running
6) 1, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 300, 2, 2, 5, 114, , 49, Running
7) 24, Austin Cindric #, No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford, 300, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 9, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 300, 4, , , , , 36, Running
9) 2, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 300, , , 2, 4, , 28, Running
10) 8, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford, 300, 5, 8, , , , 36, Running
11) 23, Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 30, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Root Insurance Toyota, 300, 7, , , , , 29, Running
13) 18, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 300, , 10, , , , 25, Running
14) 20, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 5, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 25, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Entenmann's Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 11, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Haas Automation Ford, 300, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 16, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 14, AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16 Gold Fish Casino Slots Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 0, Running
20) 22, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 36, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Pedigree Toyota, 300, 9, 3, 2, 54, , 26, Running
22) 10, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 300, 1, 1, 6, 82, 2, 35, Running
23) 21, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 33, Todd Gilliland #, No. 38 Boot Barn Ford, 300, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 26, Harrison Burton #, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 300, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 17, Cole Custer, No. 41 Dixie Vodka Ford, 300, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 31, Cody Ware, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford, 298, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 32, JJ Yeley(i), No. 15  Ford, 298, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 27, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 King's Hawaiian Ford, 298, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 15, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 297, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 29, Ty Dillon, No. 42 Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet, 297, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 35, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Motorsport Games XBOX Ford, 295, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 34, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, 285, , , , , , 0, Engine
34) 28, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 269, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 13, William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 262, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 12, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Music City Chevrolet, 49, , , , , , 1, DVP
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 300 Laps, 399. Miles

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 35 Mins, 15 Secs.
Average Speed: 111.22 MPH
Margin of Victory: .551 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 11, 12, 20, 4, 5, 23, 9, 18, 45
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 11, 18, 9, 45, 5, 1, 4, 12, 34

Comments: Chase Elliott won the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, his 15th career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear: No.18 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 10 for 57 laps;
Laps: 42-47 (Lightning and Debris [41]);
51-55 (No.48 into turn 2 [31]);
62-65 (No.14 and No.42 wrecked into turn 2 [7]);
92-96 (End of stage 1 [42]);
119-124 (Weather - Rain [38]);
140-150 (Weather - Lightning [23]);
187-192 (End of stage 2 [51]);
206-209 (No.12 spun into turn 4 [2]);
256-261 (Debris on track. [20]);
293-296 (No.77 possible fluid leak in turn 4 [7]).

Lead Changes: 18 among 7 drivers;
D. Hamlin 1-65;
M. Truex Jr. 66-93;
J. Logano 94-96;
M. Truex Jr. 97-124;
R. Blaney 125;
M. Truex Jr. 126;
D. Hamlin 127-129;
M. Truex Jr. 130;
D. Hamlin 131-150;
M. Truex Jr. 151;
D. Hamlin 152-170;
M. Truex Jr. 171-193;
K. Busch 194-244;
C. Elliott 245-247;
D. Hamlin 248-254;
K. Busch 255-257;
J. Logano 258;
K. Busch 259-261;
C. Elliott 262-300.

Busch Light Pole Award:  Denny Hamlin, No.11
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Austin Cindric, No.2