Chase Elliott Upsets Toyota Reign of Terror in Nashville

Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports

NASCAR

Chase Elliott Steals Nashville Victory from Toyota Trifecta

LEBANON, Tenn. – While Toyota drivers led for a majority of the day, Chase Elliott’s Chevrolet took the Nashville victory. Taking his second win of the year, the points leader took command from Kyle Busch after a late restart. Even though the Toyota trio led all but 50 laps, Chase Elliott was out front when it counted.

Split up by two separate weather delays totaling three hours, both Stages were won by Martin Truex Jr. over Denny Hamlin. Coming off announcing his return to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2023, Truex had arguably his best showing of the season, taking home valuable Playoff bonus points. For both Stages, the 19 had to fight off a late duel from the 11. These two Toyotas quickly asserted themselves as the class of the field, as another rallied forward.

After crashing out of qualifying, Kyle Busch started last and quickly moved forward. The 18 managed to get 10th in Stage 1, and third in Stage 2. Once the 18 took command on lap 194, he looked tough to beat, just like his teammates. A few consecutive laps of three-wide racing for second behind Busch allowed the 18 to scoot away into a large lead.

With 55 laps to go, Chase Elliott ran Busch down and took the lead for the first time. This immediately brought the 18 down pit road seemingly for his final stop, as Busch leapfrogged the 9 on track here.

At 39 laps left, Busch and Elliott lined up door-to-door on the restart, with the 9 getting the upper hand here. As laps ticked off, Elliott drove off into the night, appearing well on his way to victory. However, a late caution for Josh Bilicki blowing up changed the landscape of the front runners.

While Elliott stayed out, Busch and many others opted to pit inside of 10 laps left. Since nine other drivers stayed out with Elliott though, Busch’s 18 was buried in traffic, only rallying to finish 21st. Elliott nailed the last restart and drove off to a commanding win over Kurt Busch.

“I was figuring that (a late caution) was coming, but was hoping not,” Elliott said. “Ryan (Blaney) gave me a great shove and I appreciate him doing me a solid there in getting us out front. Just so proud of our team because we kind of had a setback there about halfway and we were able to get our NAPA Chevy dialed back in and get back in the mix.”

“It was a long day, a fun day. Thank you guys so much for hanging out. Just so proud of our team. We have had a pretty rough month and month-and-a-half, so just nice to get going back in the right direction. Getting a win is always huge, but to do it in a really cool city like Nashville is even better. Looking forward to that guitar.”

Elliott’s other win this season came on Nashville’s sister track at Dover. Is driver 9 the new concrete king? Concrete Chase aims for a season sweep now at the Bristol Night Race in September.

Behind Elliott and Kurt Busch, top finishers were Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Kevin Harvick. See post-race reactions from some of these drivers below.

Elliott’s 9 team is now tied for the top seed entering the Playoffs, as nine weeks remain in the regular season. Next week is another great chance for Elliott to end up in victory lane; the Cup Series visits Road America for the second time. The Kwik Trip 250 Presented by Jockey goes green at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. As the defending Road America winner, Chase Elliott goes into this weekend as a favorite again.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports