RIDGEWAY, Va. — Chase Elliott continued his Saturday roll at Martinsville Speedway during stage one of the Alpha Energy Solutions 250, leading all 70 laps from the pole as GMS Racing continued to run the headlines.
Elliott beat hard-charging teammate Johnny Sauter to the line by two truck lengths at the stage break, after Sauter closed a two-second gap down to inches over the second half of the run but couldn’t work his way by in traffic.
The stage win is Elliott’s first in the Truck Series this season.
Following service, the Dawsonville, Ga. native came off of pit road in third behind Christopher Bell, who took two tires, and Sauter.
“You always want to be first (for restarts), but I think we’re going to be fine,” Elliott said after winning the first stage. “Obviously, there’s a long ways to go. I’m happy the Allegiant Chevy is up front so far. I need to be a little bit better here later in the runs and hopefully the guys made some good adjustments there (on the pit stop) to do that.”
Behind the GMS duo, Matt Crafton’s ThorSport Toyota finished third in the stage, just ahead of fellow Toyota stablemates Christopher Bell and Grant Enfinger.
Chase Briscoe, Timothy Peters, Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon and John Hunter Nemechek completed the top 10 at the end of the first stage.
The opening stage was slowed by caution twice: at lap three, when Bryce Napier lost a motor in turn one and smacked the wall as a result, and again on lap 14 after Cody Coughlin and Joe Nemechek spun in turn four.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
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