CONCORD, N.C. -- Chase Elliott raced hard Sunday night and posted a runner-up finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his sixth top-five result of the season.
Despite nearly three hours' worth of lightning delays, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE remained in the top three for the majority of the final stage before crossing the finish line in second place.
"Proud of the effort," Elliott said. "We're bringing fast cars right now. ... (We need to) keep putting ourselves in a good position and do a better job getting through lap traffic."
William Byron notched another top-10 result with his ninth-place finish. Jimmie Johnson followed in 16th place and Alex Bowman rounded out the Hendrick Motorsports group in 18th.
Denny Hamlin won the race.
Below is a closer look at how Sunday's race at Homestead unfolded for the four Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 2nd
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Elliott started in fifth and moved up to fourth within the first two laps. He stayed in that position when the first caution came out on lap four due to lightning.
- After the caution was lifted, Elliott fell to seventh. He moved up to sixth by lap 14 and three laps later was back in his original starting position of fifth.
- The competition caution came early on lap 21 and Elliott was in sixth at that point. He came off pit road in fifth and quickly moved up to third by lap 25.
- In lap 30, Elliott was able to slide ahead of the leader and close him out. Three laps later, the third caution came out due to another bout of lightning. At the restart, Elliott was in a battle for first. He dropped back to second by less than a quarter of a second.
- By lap 45, he fell back to third and was in fourth by lap 53. Elliott soon was in fifth but rallied to fourth at the end of the first stage.
- Elliott was proficient on pit road and was in second place coming out to start Stage 2.
- He took over the top position in lap 89. By lap 91, he fell back to second, then fell to third. Elliott was in seventh place by lap 104. He pushed up to fifth by lap 125 and 12 laps later he edged up to fourth.
- By lap 154, he moved up to third place and ended Stage 2 in that spot. After heading to pit road, Elliott was in second to start Stage 3. He was riding in second when the sixth caution came out.
- With 92 to go, Elliott was riding in third place. It took another 20 laps before he was able to move up to second place. He took the lead with 46 to go after the field cycled from going to pit road.
- Elliott fell back to second after he was held up in race traffic. He remained in the position for the rest of the race.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 9th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Byron was in 22nd starting out and was in 21st when lightning halted the race. When racing resumed, he slipped to 28th. Byron moved up two spots to 26th by lap 14.
- By the time the competition caution came out, he was still in 26th. Coming out of the pits, Byron was in 21st. He was in that position when another caution for lightning game out. Byron moved up to 15th after the restart and by lap 41 was in 13th. Another lap later, he was in 12th.
- Byron’s climb continued and the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was in 11th place by lap 49. He broke into the top 10 by lap 60 and, at the end of Stage 1, was in eighth place.
- Byron battled to sixth place at the start of the second stage. He broke into the top five behind Chase Elliott 13 laps into Stage 2. One lap later, Byron passed Elliott for fourth place.
- By lap 142, Elliott passed Byron for fourth place. Byron rode in fifth until the end of Stage 2.
- By the time the sixth caution occurred, Byron moved back up to fourth. He was in seventh by lap 203 and dropped another couple of spots to ninth with 57 laps left. He kept that position after heading to pit road.
- Byron was in eighth with 34 laps to go. Twenty laps later, he was in 10th. Byron was able to scoot up one more spot and finish the race in ninth.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 16th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson was ninth when the green flag first waved. He dropped to 12th by the time the first caution was called. When the field went green again, Johnson was in 13th. He fell further to 17th by lap 17 and was in 18th when the competition caution came out.
- Johnson came off pit road in 23rd and was in 24th when another lightning delay brought on a red flag on lap 33. He was in 25th after the restart and was in 27th several laps later.
- He bumped himself back up to 25th, which is how he finished the first stage. Johnson needed to stay on pit road to fix a roof flap after cars headed to pit road.
- He was in 23rd by lap 90 but dropped down to 26th several laps later. Johnson remained there as he crossed the finish line to end Stage 2.
- Johnson was in 29th when the sixth caution occurred. He moved up to 24th with 91 to go and was up another position to 23rd by lap 200.
- In the closing laps, Johnson started to move up. With six left, he was in 18th place. Johnson jumped up another two spots to 16th and finished the race there.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 LLUMAR WINDOW FILMS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 18th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bowman was in eighth at the start of the race and had slipped to 11th when the lightning caution on lap four was called.
- He was in 10th a couple of laps into the restart but slipped to 12th by lap 13. When the competition caution came out, he was in 13th. Bowman moved up to eighth coming out of pit road, which is the position he was in when the second red flag dropped.
- Another hour later, the race restarted and Bowman moved up to fifth. By lap 54, he was riding in seventh and maintained that position through the rest of Stage 1.
- For the start of Stage 2, Bowman jumped up to fourth place. Less than a lap later, he was riding in third. He dropped to fifth by lap 89 and soon was passed by teammate William Byron.
- By lap 104, Bowman was riding in fifth behind Byron. Bowman soon dropped to seventh. He slid up to sixth by lap 142 and finished Stage 2 there.
- He held on to sixth for a large chunk of Stage 3, but dipped to seventh, then eighth. With 68 to go, Bowman dropped to 10th. He decided to pit nearly halfway through the stage and came out in 24th.
- With 45 to go, Bowman was in back in 10th. Bowman dropped four spots to 14th with 35 laps left in the race. Twenty laps later, he was riding in 18th, which is how he finished the race.