All four Hendrick drivers have won races and are virtual locks for NASCAR Playoffs.
Now the Hendrick Motorsports checklist is complete.
Chase Elliott ran away from the rest of the field in the closing miles Monday and won the DuraMAX Drydene 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway. With Elliott’s win, his first since last July, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers have reached victory lane this season.
After rain stopped the 400 Sunday afternoon, the final 322 laps were run under bright skies Monday.
Elliott, the series point leader, finished in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who scored his best run of the season), Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell.
“We had some good circumstances finally,” Elliott said. “I really appreciate Alan (crew chief Alan Gustafson) and our entire team for just sticking with it. We’ve had some tough races over the last, I don’t know, four, five months.”
Elliott’s teammates – Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman – won races earlier this season.
Although Elliott had no challengers on the last lap, there was action behind him as Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. fought for third place. Chastain, in third, moved up the track to block Truex, sending him into a slide and putting the race under caution for the finish.
Truex fell to 12th place and was not happy about it. He and Chastain had a tense discussion about the incident after the race.
NASCAR Cup Series Race
53rd Annual DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyneDover, Delaware
1. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 400.2. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 400.3. (7) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 400.4. (17) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 400.5. (6) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 400.6. (3) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400.7. (10) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400.8. (1) Chris Buescher, Ford, 400.9. (11) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 400.10. (25) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 400.11. (14) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 400.12. (18) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 400.13. (23) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 400.14. (8) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 400.15. (30) Cole Custer, Ford, 400.16. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 399.17. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 399.18. (21) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 399.19. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, 399.20. (20) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 399.21. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 399.22. (33) William Byron, Chevrolet, 399.23. (24) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 398.24. (35) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 398.25. (13) Ryan Preece(i), Ford, 398.26. (5) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 397.27. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 396.28. (34) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 396.29. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 396.30. (26) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 390.31. (16) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 388.32. (36) Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 381.33. (19) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 321.34. (28) Cody Ware, Ford, DVP, 238.35. (32) BJ McLeod, Ford, Brakes, 167.
36. (12) Austin Cindric #, Ford, DVP, 91.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 104.507 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 49 Mins, 39 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 13 for 75 laps.
Lead Changes: 17 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Buescher 1-18;D. Hamlin 19-73;K. Larson 74-92;C. Elliott 93-111;D. Hamlin 112-123;R. Chastain 124-159;M. Truex Jr. 160;R. Chastain 161-190;J. Haley 191-209;A. Bowman 210-211;K. Busch 212-244;R. Blaney 245-252;K. Busch 253-322;M. Truex Jr. 323-326;R. Chastain 327-340;C. Elliott 341;R. Chastain 342-347;C. Elliott 348-400.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 2 times for 103 laps; Ross Chastain 4 times for 86 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 73 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 67 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 19 laps; Kyle Larson 1 time for 19 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 18 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 8 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 5 laps; Alex Bowman 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,9,20,1,19,5,24,17,18,6
Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,18,48,19,47,1,43,21,17,9
Keyword: Chase Elliott's NASCAR Win at Dover Gives Hendrick Motorsports Four Aces in Playoff Hand