Connect with us

NASCAR

Chase Elliott Clocks in for Clutch Martinsville Victory

Chase Elliott Clocks in for Clutch Martinsville Victory
Photo Credit to Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

NASCAR

Chase Elliott Wins Martinsville after Late Short Pit Gamble

RIDGEWAY, Va. – Most of Sunday in Martinsville belonged to Denny Hamlin, but Chase Elliott was in command when it counted most. The No. 9 Chevrolet picks up win one of the year for Hendrick Motorsports at their best track, after an undercut pit call paid off late. Elliott now rides a winning high into the Easter off week thanks to a daring strategy-driven win.

Denny Hamlin looked as deft as ever after starting on the pole. The No. 11 Toyota led all but six of the opening 200 laps en route to a stage sweeping day. Hamlin would continue to lead 292 laps total on the day.

Hamlin’s Martinsville march showed no signs of stopping when the final Stage went green. Amid his 21st full-time NASCAR season, Hamlin eclipsed a personal record for laps led in the opening seven races. The 11 remained out front unopposed until Ross Chastain opted to stay out on a restart, and assumed the lead with slightly older tires.

Hamlin was unable to get position back by the 1, with the lead instead being inherited by Chase Elliott. The No. 9 Chevrolet opted to make a green flag stop 14 laps sooner than the 11, and maintained out front over the entire final run. Try as hard as Hamlin could, he never closed in on Elliott’s bumper. The 2020 Cup champion is now a two-time Martinsville winner and vaults up to fourth in points with this victory.

“How about that? That was awesome, man,” Elliott said. “We’ve never had a win this early in the season. So just a great team effort. So proud of Alan [Gustafson, crew chief] and the entire UniFirst team, they did a great job. We took a gamble. We were going to two-stop that last stage, I honestly think it was going to work out really good for us either way. Just so proud of them. They put up with a lot, and they got to put up with me all the time. I just appreciate them for sticking with me, sure is a lot of fun when days like this work out. Definitely really appreciate it. Boss, I told you I thought we were ok. I didn’t know if we were this good or not, but thanks for the opportunity as always. Wish you were here but we’ll see you next time. Say hey to my mom at home, hope she’s having a good evening.”

Behind Elliott and Hamlin at the checkers were: Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, and William Byron. The rest of the Martinsville top-10 were: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Josh Berry. Hear from a few of these drivers below.

Short track tempers were in full force at Martinsville, with late contact between Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar triggering the race-altering caution. Wallace made heavy contact with Hocevar into turn three, spinning the No. 77 and many other bystanders.

Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney also traded paint while racing in the top-five. Blaney called this contact unnecessary while Hamlin took the blame for the issue.

Tyler Reddick is still top dog in the standings, leading Ryan Blaney by 82 markers. Denny Hamlin now occupies third, 94 points back, and Chase Elliott is -104 in fourth.

Following the first off weekend of 2026, NASCAR Cup Series teams will return to action at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Food City 500 goes green Sunday, April 12 at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Written by Peter Stratta

Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X

Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X

Photo credits to Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

Related Topics

More in NASCAR