Chase Elliott made up for some of his recent heartbreak at Charlotte Motor Speedway, surging Thursday night to his first victory of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
Elliott powered his Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet to lead 28 of the 208 laps in the Alsco Uniforms 500. His first win on the 1.5-mile track’s oval layout was the seventh of his Cup Series career. He had come painfully close to winning Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 before a late caution flag and pit stop forced him to rally for second place in overtime.
“Appreciate the fight, guys. It was a tough week,” Elliott told his team over his in-car communications on the cool-down lap.
Denny Hamlin claimed second place in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. Ryan Blaney secured third place, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kurt Busch completing the top five in order.
Kevin Harvick led a race-high 63 laps, but his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford slipped to a 10th-place finish in the closing laps.
Alex Bowman led 51 laps in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet but faded from contention after a scrape of the Turn 4 retaining wall forced him to pit road with 72 laps remaining. He finished 31st.
Kyle Busch also fell from the ranks of early favorites when his No. 18 Toyota absorbed left-rear damage in a jumble for position at the start of Stage 2. He pitted with a flat tire and never returned to the lead lap, finishing 29th.
The race was stopped for 74 minutes for rain and lightning in the area. The event was originally scheduled for Wednesday night, but heavy rain from Tropical Depression Bertha forced the race to a Thursday start.
The Cup Series’ next race is scheduled Sunday, the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Bristol Motor Speedway.
THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF THE GO FAST
So far this season the fantasy league is having extreme difficulty in picking a race winner. So far there has not been a single player who has successfully selected a race winner, another 0-fer this week as well!
THE MOVERS AND THE SHAKERS
This is the week that Jeremy The Coach needed to have a really good race. Lo and behold, when the checkered flag flew at CMS The Coach was the single biggest scorer for the Charlotte 2 race! He was hanging with YRB yesterday and today. Young Ryan Blaney rewarded The Coach’s loyalty with a huge number, 52 big points!
Also making a nice deposit into their 2nd segment totals was a trio of players. That trio consists of Carole, aka Rudy, Amber The Extremely Lucky Cheddar Head, as well as Bernie The Bay Area Bandit. Each of these player were supporting “Freaky Fast” Kevin Harvick, which added 40 much needed points to their bucket.
Meanwhile, Dan The Numbers Cruncher added 28 points to his coffer. All evening he was quietly, and with much dignity, sharing the driving duties with Martin Truex, Jr.
Additionally, a second trio deposited 22 points apiece. All three players, Snoopy Dawn, Carlton The Doorman, as well as Linda the Cookie Mom were all cheering on Alex “Bowman The Showman”.
Finally, Jim, aka Chiefy, and Edie The Las Vegas Super Star pulled down 14 points from Matt Kenseth’s rather rough Charlotte race results.
STRAIGHT FROM THE CRAPPER
For most of the this early season the player who grabbed The Crappiest Pick of the Week award generally had a reasonably decent score. Well this race we finally have someone who really did have a crappy pick! The winner this week was really hard pressed for a decent score, and could only muster up a single digit score of 8 points. That score belongs to none other than Leon Your Most Humble Sheriff! Until the next race, Sunday at Bristol, you may not recognize him because word has it that he has put on his master disguise and has gone into hiding until then!
Even though Jeremy The Coach was our big scorer for this race, it still was not enough to get him rescued from The Outhouse. The Coach just missed get evicted from The Outhouse by one microscopic point. It appears that Jim, aka Chiefy, was making a run on The Coach prior to the checkered flag.
Tonight the “sireen” at the Dawsonville Pool Hall is wailing to celebrate William Clyde Elliott, Jr’s first win of the season! While it may not be a honktonk, you can guarantee that all of Dawsonville has gone down to the Pool Hall to celebrate!
Sunday NASCAR rolls into Thunder Valley, aka Bristol Motor Speedway.
Check out the results of the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte.
TIL NEXT TIME, PULL YOUR BELTS TIGHT AND LET’S GO RACIN’!