PHOENIX – Chase Elliott led Hendrick Motorsports with an 11th-place finish Sunday at Phoenix Raceway as NASCAR closed out its 2022 West Coast swing.
Elliott was in contention for the win with less than 30 laps remaining, but a late-race caution shuffled his No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from second back to sixth. After a spin at lap 304 of 312, he rallied to make up ground in the closing moments.
Alex Bowman finished 14th and William Byron 18th. Defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who started from the rear because of adjustments to address a steering problem, was forced to leave the race early due to an engine issue and netted a 34th-place result.
Hendrick Motorsports was fast all day at Phoenix with Byron winning the first stage followed closely by Elliott in third, Bowman fifth and Larson seventh. Stage two was a similar story with three of the organization’s cars finishing in the top five.
Three Hendrick Motorsports drivers led laps Sunday. Elliott posted 50 circuits out front with Byron leading 12 and Larson two. It was the 28th consecutive NASCAR Cup Series event the team has led.
The three-race West Coast swing saw victories from Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and teammate Bowman at Auto Club Speedway. A Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has won two of the four races thus far in 2022.
The next stop for the NASCAR Cup Series is Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Catch all the action on FOX, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.