RICHMOND, Va. – Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, Chase Elliott started second, and after an event that went to overtime, he finished second.
It marked the eighth runner-up result of Elliott’s career -- the same number his father, Bill Elliott, amassed before capturing his first NASCAR Cup Series win.
“It wasn’t pretty, for sure,” the driver of the No. 9 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 said. “We had a lot of fight from this NAPA Brakes team tonight.”
Jimmie Johnson joined him inside the top 10 with a sixth-place finish.
William Byron narrowly missed the top 10 with a 12th-place result, and Alex Bowman took home an 18th-place finish.
Kyle Busch captured the win.
Below is a closer look at how the four Hendrick Motorsports teammates fared Saturday night in Virginia.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA BRAKES CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 2nd
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Starting on the outside pole, Elliott continued running inside the top five until there were less than 30 laps to go in Stage 1, when tire fall-off saw him begin to drop back. He maintained a top-10 position, however, finishing the first segment seventh.
- Starting Stage 2 in seventh once again, Elliott maintained his top 10 position for the majority of the segment until he radioed to his team that he was battling the handling of the No. 9 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he might have used up the tires too quickly. He fell to 15th before the green-checkered flag waved to end Stage 2.
- Beginning the final segment in ninth, Elliott continued to push inside the top 10, even through two cycles of green-flag pit stops. On a restart with 39 laps to go following a caution, he lined up eighth, and following one more caution shortly thereafter, he jumped up to sixth.
- When the race went green with six laps to go following a caution, Elliott lined up fifth and quickly jumped up to third with a move to the inside. After one more caution, that is where he would line up to take the green flag in overtime. He followed the leader on the inside lane up to second place and held the position to earn a runner-up result.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 12th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Rolling off the grid ninth, Byron moved up to seventh within five laps, and after settling into sixth for much of Stage 1, he picked up two extra spots with 14 laps to go in the segment to finish Stage 1 in fourth.
- Thanks to quick work by the No. 24 team, Byron gained a position on pit road to start Stage 2 in third. Midway through the segment, he had fallen to sixth and held steady in that position until just before the green-checkered flag waved, when he jumped back up to fifth to finish Stage 2 inside the top five once again.
- On pit road prior to the start of the final segment, Byron was penalized for speeding, sending him from the top five to the rear of the lead lap in 18th as the final segment got underway.
- He got back to work, moving back inside the top 10 with less than 40 laps remaining and jumping as high as sixth for a restart with 22 laps to go following a caution.
- As another caution flag waved to send the race to overtime, Byron was bumped into the wall by a competitor. He stayed on the track to maintain his eighth-place position for the restart, but he fell to 12th before the checkered flag waved.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 6th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After beginning Saturday’s race 17th, Johnson made contact with the wall on Lap 24 and dropped to 20th by Lap 50. He fell a lap down with 14 laps to go in Stage 1 and finished the segment 24th.
- The second segment of the race went without a caution – just like the first segment – leaving Johnson without a chance to regain his lost lap in Stage 2. He still worked to gain as many positions as possible, however, and finished Stage 2 in 22nd, still down one lap.
- In the final segment, Johnson worked his way up to 20th in the free pass position. When a caution flag flew with fewer than 45 laps to go, other cars had been lapped ahead of Johnson, pushing him out of the free pass position. However, the No. 48 team elected to take a wave-around to put the driver back on the lead lap.
- After another caution shortly afterward, Johnson restarted 13th with four fresh tires and 22 laps to go in the race. Before the next caution, the driver was inside the top 10 in ninth, which is where he would take the green flag in overtime. Before the checkered flag waved, he had used three-wide racing to get all the way up to sixth.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 18th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Starting Saturday night’s race from the 11th position, Bowman was still inside the top 15 midway through Stage 1. As tires began to fall off, however, Bowman began to fall back in the pack, dropping outside of the top 20 and losing a lap to the leader with 14 laps remaining in the first segment. He finished Stage 1 in 26th.
- In the second segment, Bowman pushed back inside the top 20 before tire fall-off once again began to cost him positions. As the leaders caught back up to Bowman during another full segment without a caution flag, he lost a second lap and finished Stage 2 in 26th.
- Bowman pushed forward to 22nd early in the final segment, and when multiple caution flags waved with fewer than 45 laps to go, he was able to take multiple wave-arounds to get back on the lead lap.
- As the race went to overtime, Bowman continued his drive forward, ultimately taking the checkered flag 18th.