MADISON, ILL. - With eight cautions for cause and a bevy of varying fuel strategies, there was something to be said for just being solid in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 race at WWT Raceway.
Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy team, were certainly that.
Elliott was able to score points in both stages and then remained a fixture in the top five throughout the stretch run, coming home third to improve his margin on the playoff bubble heading to the Round of 16 finale next week at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The No. 9 bunch now has a 28-point buffer above the cutline with the bottom four drivers in the 16-team field set to be eliminated at the conclusion of next week's race.
"Really proud of our effort, thought we had really good pace in our NAPA Chevy today and was able to be on good offense and put ourselves in some good spots throughout the course of the race," Elliott said. "We probably weren't the very best, but I thought we were really close."
It was a solid day for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron as well. Byron tallied seven stage points to go with an 11th-place run. Larson piled up 16 stage points in turning in a 12th-place day.
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With those points, Larson all but locked himself into the Round of 12. Larson will enter Bristol 60 points above the bubble, needing only one playoff point or to finish 35th or better to punch his ticket. Byron is also in good shape, 39 points to the good.
Larson flashed some of the best speed on the race track right from the jump. After starting second, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet overtook Denny Hamlin shortly after the green flag flew to grab the lead. The day's first caution waved shortly after as Kyle Busch spun, splitting the field into different fuel strategies.
Crew chief Cliff Daniels brought Larson in and Byron, who also qualified in the top 10, came in for service as well. On the ensuing restart, Larson catapulted back toward the front picking his way all the way to second by the time the stage ended. Byron followed closely behind, coming home fourth and scoring seven stage points with Elliott picking up a single bonus point in 10th.
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A large portion of the field came to pit road on the stage break, but Larson, Byron and Elliott stayed out with all three restarting in the top five. Two more cautions would mix strategies even further with the first waving with 79 circuits left in the segment and the second with 63 to go. A lengthy green flag run ensued with the Hendrick Motorsports entries picking their way back through the field. However, the yellow was waved once again with just five laps to go as Larson and Ryan Blaney made contact, sending Blaney spinning. After a round of stops, Larson was able to tally seven more playoff points with a fourth-place stage finish with Elliott coming home eighth.
Three more cautions would fly in stage three. The last of those, coming with 32 laps to go after Ty Dillon suffered a brake failure, came amidst a green-flag pit cycle. Elliott had pitted a handful of laps before and was able to stay out during the yellow, gaining valuable track position. Mired in mid-pack traffic and dirty air, Byron and Larson were able to follow each other up to the cusp of the top 10 by the time the checkered flag waved.
Alex Bowman finished 26th and will need to make up 35 points or win at Bristol to advance.
The NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 will conclude on Saturday night at Bristol. The race is set for a 7:30 p.m. start and will air on USA Network.
Who won the NASCAR race today?
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- William Byron, No. 24 Z by HP Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
- Ryan Preece, No. 60
- Michael McDowell, No. 71
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Cole Custer, No. 41
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Cody Ware, No. 51
- Noah Gragson, No. 4
- Riley Herbst, No. 35
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34
- Zane Smith, No. 38
- Ty Dillon, No. 10
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Josh Berry No. 21