Chase Elliott close to ending
drought as NASCAR heads to Texas
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[April 13, 2024]
Winless through his past 42 races, Chase Elliott can almost
taste Victory Lane after his strong showing last Sunday at
Martinsville Speedway and probably does not want to leave Virginia.
Following a Cook Out 400 that was practically a coronation
celebrating Hendrick Motorsports' 40 years of winning, Elliott and
his three teammates will head to Fort Worth for the series' lone
stop at Texas Motor Speedway when they run the AutoTrader EchoPark
Automotive 400 on Sunday afternoon.
The sport's six-time winner of the Most Popular Driver Award,
Elliott watched two of his stablemates -- race winner William Byron
and runner-up Kyle Larson -- finish in front of him, but by bringing
home his No. 9 Chevrolet in third, Elliott grabbed momentum heading
to the Lone Star State.
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That 1-2-3 team finish was the first-ever occurrence in 75 years of
battling at the half-mile speedway, and Elliott said running as the
leader for 64 laps brought back that familiar up-front feeling.
"Glad one of us (at Hendrick) got it done," said Elliott, who had
led just 23 circuits through the previous seven races. "Nice to have
a couple of solid weeks, and to be there in contention for a win is
-- haven't been in contention to win one in a while."
The 28-year-old's last triumph was Oct. 2, 2022, at Talladega.
Elliott recorded his second straight top-five of 2024, his total for
the campaign.
"It was fun to get to that last restart and it actually mattered,"
said the 2020 series champion, who finished fifth at Richmond on
Easter. "I feel like throughout a lot of the season this year we've
just been going in a very positive direction. If we keep producing
that, we'll get our turn one day."
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Elliott, who won at the tiny track during his title
season, is one of the nine Hendrick drivers to record a win in the
organization's 29 Martinsville victories.
Added owner Rick Hendrick, "It was almost like divine intervention,
just how in the world it all ended up like that on a day like that."
Last Sept. 24 in Fort Worth, Byron won by topping
Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace, the latter of whom won the pole and
led a race-best 112 laps in the 11-caution event.
The victory gave Chevrolet its third straight win at the 1.5-mile
track, and owner Richard Childress Racing has had a hand in winning
races at the high-banked venue.
His cars driven by Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick won there in 2020
and 2022, respectively, while current RCR wheelman Kyle Busch
secured the 2020 fall race in a Toyota owned by Joe Gibbs Racing.
After hosting two points races from 2005-20, the speedway lost one
but was the site of the All-Star Race in 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, TMS -- owned by the Fort Worth Sports Authority and
operated by Speedway Motorsports Incorporated -- saw the exhibition
race move to SMI-owned North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, where it
will be held again on May 19.
--Field Level Media
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