AVONDALE, Ariz. -- In a race that saw 12 yellow flags and overtime, Chase Elliott and William Byron finished inside the top 10 at Phoenix Raceway Sunday.
Elliott earned a seventh-place finish, while Byron crossed the finish line in 10th.
Elliott started on the pole position in Phoenix and led for a race-high 94 laps, but a loose wheel on lap 130 caused him to pit early and lose time.
Teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman ended the race in 12th and 14th place, respectively.
Joey Logano won the race.
Below is a closer look at how Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway unfolded for the four Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 7th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Elliott snagged the pole position for the first time this season and maintained the No. 1 spot through lap 59, which saw the first caution of the race and allowed Elliott to head to pit road.
- He wasn’t as quick on the track and Elliott fell to second place. A few seconds later, another caution was brought out, which allowed Elliott to reset and earn back the top spot. He fell back to second again, which is how he ended Stage 1.
- Elliott found himself in a battle for second place, then dropped to fourth 120 laps in. He was in sixth by lap 54 and decided to pit after a caution came out 57 laps in Stage 2. He zoomed off and was back on top coming off pit road. Some near contact with Elliott’s car saw him fall back to second place again, but he surpassed the leader 142 laps in.
- A loose tire 32 laps left in Stage 2 resulted in an unscheduled pit stop, which saw Elliott fall to 29th place and he ended the stage in 25th.
- After a restart early in Stage 3, Elliott worked his way up to 12th. By lap 210 his aggressive tactics saw him inside the top 10 in ninth place. A caution allowed Elliott to move up another spot.
- With 85 laps left, Elliott was fifth and continued to climb the leaderboard. He was in fourth with 80 laps left, but was back in fifth with 61 laps to go. A little bit of trouble on pit road saw Elliott drop down further to eighth.
- Elliott moved to fourth before he pitted for four fresh tires after the ninth caution. On the 10th restart, he was in 15th and moved up to seventh before another caution came out.
- In overtime, Elliott stayed in seventh and earned his second top-10 finish of the season.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 10th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Byron rolled off the grid in 17th in the fourth race of the season. He slid up to 16th, which he maintained through the first 40 laps of the race before he moved up again to 15th.
- After he pitted on lap 59, Byron inched up to 14th and was 12th by the time the field was given the green to restart after the second caution was brought out. He fell back to 14th at the end of the first stage.
- Byron decided to pit after Stage 1, which saw him fall back to 22nd. He started moving up the field quickly and was in 13th by the 16th lap of Stage 2.
- Forty laps into the second stage, Byron was holding steady in 14th. He moved up two spots to 12th again, where he was scored at the end of Stage 2.
- He kicked off Stage 3 in 10th place and hovered around 11th with 100 laps left in the race. Byron decided not to pit when another caution came out and moved all the way up to fifth place. He edged up to fourth with 39 to go, but contact with the wall caused him to drop back to sixth.
- Byron pitted after the ninth restart of the race and by the 10th restart he was in 17th. He moved up two spots in the final 10 laps and the 11th caution saw him in 10th place.
- In overtime, Byron maintained that position and finished inside the top 10.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 12th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson started 21st, but pushed up a spot early. After the first caution lap, he fell to 26th place, but popped back up to 20th after the second caution. Johnson finished Stage 1 outside the top 15 in 16th place.
- Stage 2 started with Johnson leaping up to 13th, but then fell to 14th at the 13th lap of the stage. After the third caution of the race, Johnson was inside the top 10 in ninth place. He inched up to eighth place in the last third of the second stage. He battled it out to maintain a position inside the top 10 in the last laps of the stage, but finished 11th.
- Johnson was able to enter the top 10 again in Stage 3 after another restart with 55 laps left, but he dropped a spot coming out of the lap. He decided not to pit during the caution with 47 laps left and moved to fourth.
- When the ninth race caution came out, Johnson was in eighth and another caution allowed him to move up to sixth. With older tires, Johnson fell out of the top 10 and was in 15th by the 11th restart.
- In the overtime laps, he stayed in 12th place, which is how he finished the race.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 14th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After starting eighth, Bowman moved up to seventh by 22nd lap of the race. Forty one laps in, he was inside the top five in fifth place, but fell back to eighth by the 53rd lap.
- Rolling off of pit road after the caution, Bowman dropped another two spots to 10th. At the end of Stage 1, he was in sixth.
- At the start of Stage 2, Bowman found himself in fifth for the second time in the race. However, he fell out of the top five and was riding eighth 20 laps into Stage 2. He was in 11th place 120 laps in and dropped to 12th by the third caution of the race.
- With 43 laps left in Stage 2, Bowman was riding in 18th place. He finished Stage 2 in 20th.
- The sixth caution of the race allowed Bowman to move up five spots to 15th and he surged to eighth during the restart with 40 laps to go. After the ninth caution, Bowman was in ninth, then he jumped to fifth after he decided not to pit.
- With 15 laps in the race, he was in 10th place. He fell to 15th by the start of overtime, but in the final three laps he edged up a spot to finish in 14th.