Oct 6, 2018; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (9) competes during practice for the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover at Dover International Speedway. Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
October 7, 2018
Chase Elliott took the lead by restarting on old tires after a caution flag waved with eight laps to go, held it through an overtime restart and went on to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Raceway.
The victory in the Gander Outdoors 400, the opening race of the Round of 12 playoffs, locks Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet into the Round of 8, which begins in three weeks at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Dover gave Elliott, son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, his second win of the season. The other came on the Watkins Glen road course.
“We had a penalty (for speeding in pit lane) there early,” Chase Elliott said, “got behind and luckily had a good enough car and a good strategy to get back. What a day.”
Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing — a non-playoff driver — finished second while playoff driver Joey Logano of Team Penske was third.
Rounding out the top five were non-playoff driver Erik Jones of JGR and playoff driver Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing.
For three quarters of the race, it looked as if Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing would notch his second dominating win at Dover in 2018. He won the first two stages and was leading when his crew sheared off a valve stem during a pit stop with 80 laps to go. He had led 286 laps at that point.
Late race problems also robbed two of his playoff entrant teammates of shots at the victory.
SHR’s Aric Almirola had the lead with eight laps to go, but his bid to end a 143-race losing streak ended when teammate Clint Bowyer crashed to bring out a caution.
On the ensuing restart, Almirola was involved in a wreck, and his hopes for a victory ended.
Next up in the playoffs is a race at always-crazy Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, a 2.66-mile, high-banked track.
–Field Level Media
