Caution after caution, the top cars in Texas found themselves out of contention for the win.
A treacherous 400 miles of racing, saw 16 cautions during Sunday’s event. Many of these cautions involved several drivers that had great speed heading into the weekend. Unfortunately for several of these competitors, they say their hopes of winning were crushed from second place. Who knew racing for the lead could be so scary?!
However, one of the most consistent cars of the day was able to avoid the calamity and take his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to victory lane.
Thats right! NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, is finally back in victory lane breaking a 42-race winless streak.
After claiming the 15th fastest practice time and producing a qualifying effort of P24, it was hard to tell if the No. 9 was even going to be a contender at Texas Motor Speedway. Gambling with strategy, crew chief Alan Gustafson kept his driver on the track longer than his competitors hoping for a caution in the opening Stage. When Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 84 machine, spun around on track to bring out the first caution, their wish was granted. With a masterful call by Gustafson, this gave Elliott critical track position that the team was able to maintain through the remainder of the race.
So far this season, we have seen a hungry, gutsy, and aggressive energy from the Hendrick Motorsports veteran. This is an incredible welcome sight from the season we saw the No. 9 team have a year ago with an injury and a suspension. So, to say a win from the the Dawsonville, GA. is relieving, is an understatement. However, it’s not surprising that his first win of the year came this early looking at his stats. What could this mean for Elliott? Well, some of his most successful years in the NASCAR Cup Series came with early trips to victory lane, including his championship year.
Join Taylor Kitchen in the latest episode of Above The Yellow Line to predict Elliott’s season. Plus, tune in to talk about the racing product at Texas Motor Speedway.
