RIDGEWAY, Va. – Chase Elliott led the way for Hendrick Motorsports in Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway.
Elliott finished second on the heels of leading a total of 49 laps and scored the organization's best finish of the 2019 season.
He was followed to the finish line by teammates Alex Bowman in 14th, William Byron in 22nd and Jimmie Johnson in 24th.
Brad Keselowski captured the win.
Below is a closer look at how the four Hendrick Motorsports teammates finished Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 2nd
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Taking the green flag in eighth, Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 jumped up to third by Lap 12. Halfway through Stage 1, the first caution of the race brought Elliott to pit road and with quick work by the No. 9 team he advanced to second. With 20 laps left in Stage 1, Elliott continued to hold onto second as he battled to take the lead. Ultimately, he finished Stage 1 in second, earning nine extra points.
- Elliott started Stage 2 in second and was able to hold his position until the ensuing caution where the team elected not to pit. He ran around a half-a-second behind the leader for most of the stage but ultimately fell to fourth when the green-white-checkered flag waved, earning another seven extra points.
- The final segment saw Elliott restart second and quickly hustled to the lead 325 laps into Sunday’s race. A caution brought Elliott to pit road for tires, fuel and adjustments and led the field to green upon returning to the track. Another caution brought the No. 9 team to pit road for four tires and fuel with Elliott restarting second on the final restart. After fighting for the top spot throughout the final stage, including chipping away at the leader's time in the closing laps, Elliott crossed the finish line second.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 22nd
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Starting the race from the rear of the field after his qualifying time was disallowed, Byron quickly gained positions and found himself in 25th by Lap 31. Unfortunately, the leader caught up to Byron just past halfway in the stage and put him one lap down. For the remaining laps in Stage 1, including a trip to pit road, Byron fought to be the first car one lap down, ending Stage 1 in 28th.
- Byron and his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 began Stage 2 from the 28th position and the second-year Cup Series driver was able to return to the lead lap after being the first car one lap down when a caution came out on Lap 147. Quickly advancing through the field upon the restart, Byron raced as high as 19th but fell to 21st and one lap down by the conclusion of Stage 2.
- The final segment saw Byron returning to the track 21st after visiting pit road during the stage break for adjustments to tighten up the No. 24 Axalta Chevy. On Lap 312, Byron’s Chevy got spun coming out of the fourth turn with minimal damage to the vehicle. Byron ultimately fell two laps down to the leader, running 24th, while fighting handling issues. On the next caution, Byron received four new tires, fuel and adjustments in hopes to fix the handling issues he had throughout the race. With 45 laps to go, the No. 24 team opted for the wave around and restarted 22nd during another caution, but the driver remained one lap down for the remainder of the race. In the end, Byron finished Sunday’s race in 22nd.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 24th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson rolled off the grid 11th Sunday afternoon and maintained his position in the early goings of the race. During the race's first caution, Johnson headed to pit road and returned his Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back on track in 11th. He soon began to fade as the handling in the turns were an issue and finished Stage 1 in 16th.
- Taking the green flag 16th at the start of Stage 2, Johnson went back to work battling to gain positions but the handling of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 made it difficult for him to turn in the corners. He ultimately fell victim to the leader and went one lap down, resulting him to drop to 23rd by the completion of the second stage.
- Starting the final segment in 23rd after receiving adjustments to his Ally Chevy during the stage break, Johnson returned to competition one lap down where he raced between the 22nd and 23rd positions. After falling two laps down, crew chief Kevin Meendering chose to keep Johnson on track two cautions later in order to regain one of their laps back and race to be the first car one lap down. With 100 laps to go, Johnson was scored 22nd and in the Lucky Dog position. Unable to get his machine turning how he needed it to, Johnson fell two laps down as the laps began to wind down and he took the checkered flag 24th.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
FINISHED: 14th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Starting Sunday’s race 23rd, Bowman maintained his position until the race's first caution where he was able to net four positions thanks to quick work from the No. 88 pit crew. Bowman restarted 19th and held that position until Stage 1 was complete.
- At the start of Stage 2, Bowman quickly jumped inside the top 15 and overtook 14th by Lap 180. Eighteen laps later, his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 started feeling loose that resulted in Bowman moving to 19th by the end of Stage 2.
- Bowman began the final segment in 15th thanks to the speedy service provided by the No. 88 Nationwide crew. He advanced to 13th by Lap 299 and then the top 10 at Lap 319. After a caution on Lap 372, Bowman returned to green-flag racing and advanced to eighth before a tight-handling No. 88 Chevy moved him to 15th with 55 laps to go. He restarted 13th after the race's last caution and ultimately took the checkers 14th.