Talladega NASCAR: Chase Elliot gets Chevrolet’s first 2019 win – NASCAR

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Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott scored his and Chevrolet’s first win of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Talladega in a race blighted by two big accidents.

As the Chevrolet runners grouped together in their green-flag pit strategy, Elliott was able to rise from 13th on the grid to take fourth in stage one, before going on to win the second 55-lapper.

With the Ford and Toyota teams pitting a lap after their rivals, Elliott was able to cycle to the lead of the pack, and engage in a slipstreaming battle with the likes of Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s Roush Fenway Racing machine and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch.

This continued until lap 182 of 188, when the race was red-flagged following a violent accident involving Chris Buescher’s JTG Daugherty Racing car and Matt DiBenedetto of Leavine Family Racing.

The #37 of Buescher was tipped into the outside wall by the Stewart-Haas Ford of Aric Almirola, and was subsequently rammed broadside by DiBenedetto, with Buescher’s car riding over the top of the #95 Toyota.

Martin Truex Jr and Justin Haley were also involved, with the 2017 champion being the only one able to take the restart.

After a short delay, racing resumed, with Elliott in fifth place and reigning champion Joey Logano leading.

Elliott hit the front with three laps to go, before a caution on the final lap secured his victory as Kyle Larson’s #42 Chip Ganassi Chevrolet somersaulted on the infield.

Larson and Jeffrey Earnhardt had been fired across the track as William Byron rebounded into them after being tapped into the wall, with Larson’s car then becoming airborne.

All the drivers involved managed to extricate themselves from their car.

Elliott’s Hendrick team-mate Alex Bowman took second, as rookie Ryan Preece made it a Chevrolet 1-2-3 by taking third for JTG Daugherty.

Daniel Hemric was fourth for Richard Childress Racing, ahead of Logano, who led 37 laps – the second highest after Elliott’s 44.

Kurt Busch (Chip Ganassi), Ryan Newman (Roush Fenway) Brendan Gaughan, Almirola and Kyle Busch (the leading Toyota runner) rounded out the top 10.

Stage one fell to German Racing underdog Ty Dillion, who was able to save fuel after an early caution to narrowly pip Bowman.

That caution was caused by Darrell Wallace Jr spinning and sending Michael McDowell into the wall, with Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin also unable to continue much further having sustained heavy damage in the ensuing pile-up.

Race results

Pos Driver Team Car Laps
1 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188
2 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188
3 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 188
4 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 188
5 Daniel Hemric Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 188
6 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 188
7 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 188
8 Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 188
9 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 188
10 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188
11 Corey LaJoie Go FAS Racing Ford 188
12 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 188
13 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 188
14 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 188
15 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 188
16 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 188
17 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 188
18 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 188
19 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188
20 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188
21 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188
22 Jeffrey Earnhardt XCI Racing Toyota 187
23 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 187
24 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 187
25 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 187
26 Ross Chastain Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 187
27 Parker Kligerman Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 186
28 Cody Ware Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 184
29 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 182
30 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 181
31 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 181
32 J.J. Haley Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 180
33 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 178
34 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 154
35 Stanton Barrett Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 132
36 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 80
37 Matt Tifft Front Row Motorsports Ford 11
38 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11
39 Darrell Wallace Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 10
40 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 10

Drivers’ standings

Pos Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 430
2 Joey Logano 415
3 Denny Hamlin 367
4 Kevin Harvick 350
5 Brad Keselowski 337
6 Martin Truex Jr. 328
7 Chase Elliott 324
8 Kurt Busch 323
9 Ryan Blaney 306
10 Clint Bowyer 288
11 Aric Almirola 288
12 Daniel Suarez 266
13 Austin Dillon 253
14 Ryan Newman 251
15 Alex Bowman 239
16 Jimmie Johnson 238
17 Paul Menard 234
18 Erik Jones 230
19 William Byron 226
20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 223
21 Kyle Larson 221
22 Ty Dillon 202
23 Chris Buescher 174
24 Ryan Preece 160
25 Matt DiBenedetto 149
26 Daniel Hemric 132
27 David Ragan 123
28 Darrell Wallace Jr. 111
29 Corey LaJoie 107
30 Michael McDowell 95
31 Matt Tifft 81
32 Reed Sorenson 26
33 Jamie McMurray 19
34 Quin Houff 15
35 Stanton Barrett 2
36 Casey Mears 1
37 Brendan Gaughan 0
38 Ross Chastain 0
39 Parker Kligerman 0
40 B.J. McLeod 0
41 Jeffrey Earnhardt 0
42 Landon Cassill 0
43 Tyler Reddick 0
44 Cody Ware 0
45 Bayley Currey 0
46 Jeb Burton 0
47 Garrett Smithley 0
48 D.J. Kennington 0
49 J.J. Haley 0
50 Joey Gase 0
51 Timmy Hill 0
52 Gray Gaulding 0
53 Ryan Truex 0



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