LOUDON, N.H. – If fans were looking at the statistical sheets going into Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort & Casino 301, the last driver they would have likely earmarked for a strong finish was Chase Elliott.
After all, New Hampshire Motor Speedway was statistically one of Elliott’s worst tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, with no top-10s in four starts and a dismal average finish of 17.25.
That was why Elliott was so stunned after the end of the race of Sunday that he’d not only escaped the Granite State with a fifth-place finish, he’d also led 23 laps and won the second stage to bank additional bonus points in his quest to make the playoffs.
Elliott’s day started off on the right foot following a competition caution at lap 35, after morning rained drenched the Loudon area and washed the 1.058-mile NHMS oval clean before the start of the race.
He came down pit road, lined up 15th for the restart and charged through traffic to finish second behind Martin Truex Jr. at the first stage break, before following that up with his stage win in the second stint.
Though he faded to the back end of the top five in the second half of the race, Elliott was still surprised that his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet team was able to find and hold onto the speed they did on Sunday, especially after sitting 12th, 16th and 22nd in the three practice sessions prior to race day.
“I was shocked, to be honest with you, that we ran even that good,” said Elliott, who started 10th. “Our whole NAPA group did a great job overnight. I really have no idea where that came from; I hope it wasn’t dumb luck. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling, because it’s really nice to be able to go up there and lead some laps. I know it wasn’t the right part of the race, but still, leading laps for us is big compared to what we’ve been doing.
“I’m proud of the effort,” he continued. “I appreciate everybody’s effort back at Hendrick and the chassis shop and engine shop and Chevrolet and all the folks that are working hard to try to get better. We took a step in the right direction.”
Elliott tied with Truex and race winner Kevin Harvick for the most points scored in Sunday’s race, with 51 points to his credit overall.
Leaving Loudon, he expanded his margin over the playoff cut line to 95 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who crashed out and remains the first driver outside of the playoffs with six races remaining in the regular season.
“This was a huge points day for us,” said Elliott. “Obviously, we’d love that win to not have to worry about it, but we got 19 points between the two stages. That’s 19 positions on track, and that’s a lot.
“Anything can happen in these next few weeks and to have all you can get is really important.”
