Chase Elliott Takes Advantage of Pit Strategies for Second Career Martinsville Win
Chase Elliott obtained his first victory of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Elliott began the race from 10th, but struggled to maintain his place inside the top 10 throughout the first stage. He eventually finished the stage in 12th and failed to earn stage points. The second stage was similar in the fact that Elliott could not reach the top 10 and ended the stage in 14th, leaving him with no stage points for the entire race. In the final stage, Elliott's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, made a call to pit the No. 9 Chevrolet driver early for tires on lap 261 and gained track position after late race cautions bunched the field back up. Elliott then took the lead from Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin and never looked back, leading 84 laps for the second win of his Cup career at Martinsville. With his victory this past weekend, Elliott is now ranked fourth in the regular-season standings after seven races.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
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