What happened?
Chase Elliott won his second race of the season at Nashville Superspeedway on Monday morning, June 27, by holding off Kurt Busch in a late-race restart with four laps to go after opting to stay out on older tires. Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain ended the night as the rest of the top five.
This win marks Elliott’s second consecutive on a concrete racing surface and now makes him the first playoff seed.
How did it happen?
Elliott pitted from third place with a little less than 100 laps to go for some fresher tires on the upcoming restart. The call took away the No. 9’s track position but gave it the far more crucial strength at Nashville: grip.
Elliott, from 14th, responded with a heroic restart that saw him gain six positions all at once. He quickly rejoined the top three. After a fierce battle between him and the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch, the Napa Auto Parts Chevrolet saw itself out front for the first time on lap 245.
LOOK AT THIS MOVE by @chaseelliott.
He’s back in the mix for the win at @NashvilleSuperS on @USA_Network and @peacockTV. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/gw2CqtN36E
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 27, 2022
JGR quickly responded by pitting, which forced Elliott to follow suit. However, during the green flag pit stop scramble, the caution flew again on lap 256.
Kyle Busch had retaken the lead after pitting earlier than Elliott and restarted first with the 2020 series champion alongside. On the restart, the Chevrolet retook the lead, and, despite Rowdy heavily pressuring the No. 9 for several laps, the lead remained in Hendrick Motorsports’ hands.
But that wasn’t without some curveballs.
With less than 10 laps to go, Josh Bilicki‘s engine expired and brought out the race’s final yellow flag. The sudden stoppage left 26 lead lap cars with the decision to either pit for those crucial new tires or stay out for that equally crucial track position.
Does this change everything?
(yes, it does! 😱)
🟡🟡🟡 pic.twitter.com/z0UvNxqfI7
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 27, 2022
Elliott and nine other teams decided on the latter. The JGR cars decided to opt for tires.
With only four laps to go, Kyle Busch, Truex, and the rest of the field that had pitted would need a blinding restart to make any attempt at the lead – and maybe even then another caution.
While the Toyota progress was halted during their scrimmage for the front, the caution almost waved one more time when
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