Chase Elliott wins in Nashville

C’est un coup de poker gagnant qui a mené Chase Elliott à la Victory Lane, lorsque le pilote Chevrolet a fait le choix de rester en piste lors de l’ultime neutralisation provoquée par l’explosion du moteur de Josh Bilicki. Il a su résister au retour des Toyota en pneus neufs lors des 4 dernières boucles pour remporter sa seconde victoire de la saison, la 15ème de sa carrière.

A Rock'n Roll victory for Chase Elliott © Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

However, the race got off to a bad start with Elliott delayed in his pit box halfway through the race. Pushed back to 25th place, the Hendrick Motorsports driver led a wise race, avoiding the pitfalls to move back towards the lead at the start of the final sprint. “I am so proud of our team”, said Elliott upon arrival. “We had a problem halfway through the race, but we managed to get back into the game. It was a long day, a fun day… I'm so proud of our team. We are coming out of a difficult 18 months. It's just nice to get back in control. »

Champion Nascar Cup Series 2020 is ahead of three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas who had until then led the debates, including that of pole sitter Denny Hamlin, certainly the most prominent driver this weekend. With Kyle Buscht Martin Truex Jr. who celebrated the renewal of his contract for 2023 by winning the two intermediate segments, the Camrys led no less than 250 of the 300 laps of the race. These three drivers chose to stop in the pits during the last yellow flag, counting on an identical choice from the peloton, which was not the case. If Hamlin was able to take a good 6th place, his teammates, faced with heavy traffic during the last 4 laps, failed in 21st place for Kyle Busch, 22nd for Truex Jr.

It's never easy finding your place in the middle of the pack in the Nascar Cup Series © Logan Riely/Getty Images

Second in the race, Kurt Busch made the same strategic choice as Elliott and offered valuable points to 23Xl Racing.

The rain was therefore the star of this race, causing an interminable interruption of more than two hours on lap 140. With 11 more small loops, half of the race would have been covered and the event would certainly have been interrupted, because it The halfway mark authorizes the allocation of all the points at stake. But a winner was needed because in Nashville, a historic temple of music, it is traditional to pay the orchestra only at the end of the concert.

Chase Elliott now has a 30-point lead over Ross Chastain in the regular season standings. the big loser of the evening was Alex Bowman who had to retire after 50 laps following contact with Corey LaJoie. 

Big trouble for @TeamHendrick!

Both @WilliamByron and @Alex_Bowman have issues soon after the restart! pic.twitter.com/6ZXtnYV03X

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 26, 2022

Apart from these climatic disturbances, well beyond the control of the organizers, this second round in the history of the Cup Series held on the Tennessee oval kept all its promises, and remains to this day the preserve of Hendrick Motorsports. after Kyle Larson's victory in 2021.

Head to Wisconsin and Elkhart Lake next weekend for the always highly anticipated Road America road round.

Rankings for the Ally 400 in Nashville: