1 month agoChase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports ended Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway in the second position after a day of ups and downs. Beginning the race from the second position, Elliott had one of the fastest cars of the day and went on to dominate the first stage after taking the lead from Martin Truex Jr. on lap 42. In the second stage, Elliott suffered a slow pit stop midway through the stage and fell deep into the pack. The No. 9 Chevrolet was fast enough to make it back to 12th but was unable to collect stage points at the end of the stage. In the final stage, Elliott made it back to the Top 10 before taking an early green flag pit stop on lap 351 for fresher tires, eventually cycling Elliott to the lead after other drivers went to pit road. After the race's final restart, Eliott eventually returned to the lead after passing Kyle Larson but was unable to hold off Ryan Blaney with 14 laps to go, leading to a runner-up finish and his best finish at Martinsville since the Next-Gen car's introduction in 2022. Unfortunately for Elliott, his second-place finish was not enough for him to advance to the Championship round of the playoffs at Phoenix, a track where he has yet to place in the Top 10 in the Next-Gen car.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com