Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott took the first Stage Win of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season on Monday in the Daytona 500. Elliott and the Hendrick Motorsports quartet came to the front of the field late in the Opening Stage, and showcased great speed down the stretch.
As a result of winning the Stage, Elliott will receive 10 NASCAR Cup Series championship points and he will also receive one Playoff point, which will carry over throughout the 2020 Playoffs if Elliott qualifies for the post-season championship hunt.
Alex Bowman ended the Stage in second, while Aric Almirola, Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five from Stage 1.
Ryan Blaney was sixth in Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford.
Polesitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up seventh, but he was the controversial figure in Stage 1 as he made contact with William Byron. The contact sent Byron hard into the inside wall on the backstretch with seven laps left in the Stage (View Byron’s crash here). Byron’s day is done.
Matt DiBenedetto was eighth in his first Stage with Wood Brothers Racing.
Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon also scored Stage points in ninth and 10th.
