July 14, 2025

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott finished third in this past weekend's race at Sonoma Raceway, the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Elliott started the race from the 13th position, and during the first stage, he quietly worked his way into the top 10 until he went to pit road before the end of the stage. Despite pitting, Elliott still managed to finish the first stage in the 10th position and score one stage point. In the second stage, Elliott continued to quietly compete for a top-10 spot and, much like the first stage, waited until just before the end of the stage to head to pit road again. This time, Elliott shuffled outside of the top 10 and despite his best efforts, he fell short of finishing stage two in the top 10 and ended up 11th, missing out on further stage points. In the final stage, Elliott, through the use of a pit strategy, finally ended up inside the top five and then decided to take a bold pit strategy on lap 97 by pitting for tires, which was a different strategy from Shane Van Gisbergen, who stayed out on older tires. Then, through the last few restarts, Elliott charged up through the field, making it to third and looking to pass Chase Briscoe for second, but went off course, allowing Christopher Bell to pass him back for third. Elliott soon regained the position, but did not have enough time to catch Briscoe and Van Gisbergen by the end of the race. The No. 9 Chevrolet driver settled for third, earning his fifth consecutive top-10 finish at Sonoma.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com