By Bob Pokra
Fox Sports NASCAR Author
Lebanon, ten. , Chase Elliott The last few months have been frustrating, so he was willing to take more than six hours to get his second win of the 2022 season.
Elliott led the final 39 laps with a four-lap dash with a late caution and a three-hour delay to win the Alley 400 at the Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night.
“It was a big day,” Elliott said. “A fun day.”
The win gave Elliott a 2-2-2 victory on the solid-surface track and his first win in Dover in May.
Sleep after a long night in Nashville.
Elliott gets out of the skid
Following the win at Dover, Elliott finished fifth the following week and then completed three consecutive Top-20s. Sonoma recovered a bit in the eighth, but Elliott desperately needed a good result.
It’s probably an understatement to say that he desperately needs a better result – he was still the series point leader. He extended his lead to 30 in the series rankings over Ross Chestnut.
But Elliott said the victory was important.
“The last month and a half, the two months that came to us were horrible,” Elliott said. “I’ve crashed about 10 times and we’ve had a lot of bad things end up.
“I’m really proud to be able to come back from the rocky road.”
Chase Elliott suffered a crushing defeat to win in Nashville
Chase Elliott’s old tires ran out after a late caution in the rain-delayed Cup race in Nashville.
The key to victory:
As Elliott was returning from the initial pit stop, his wheels became loose and he had to leave the back of the field.
He caught Kyle Bush fighting for the lead in 30 laps.
And then Elliott cautiously stayed out late with the other 11, giving him enough space that whoever had the new tires couldn’t catch up in the last four laps.
Back to mind
Ryan Blaney cut with 95 laps as he struggled with a car that was hard for him to control. Late caution made some adjustments and called a good pit to keep him out, so he had to settle for third place.
“We’re going back and forth all night,” Blaney said. “We didn’t really get what we needed.
Another driver returning was Kyle Larson, who was fined early and, like Blaney, was helped by his decision to stay out while crossing the finish line at number four.
This was Larson’s first race with crew chief Cliff Daniels as part of a four-race suspension at Sonoma. Larson said Daniels is in talks with a team led by engineer Kevin Mindering.
“It went really smoothly,” Larson said. “There was a rock [there] Literally, and every time we went to the trailer we talked to him [weather delays]It didn’t feel any different – my headset just has a different sound.
“Cliff shows how he made this team.”
Toyota lead but empty
Danny Hamlin led 114 laps, Martin Trucks Jr. led both stages and led 82 laps and Bush led 54 laps. But the only Toyota in the top five was Kurt Bush, who cautiously stayed out late and started again on Elliott’s side and ended there.
“I had a plan and I didn’t execute it,” Kurt Bush said, adding that he could have run Elliott a little harder in the finals. “You should have thrown the fenders, but I didn’t.
“I wanted to wash and break and I couldn’t find anything. … I just didn’t work.”
Hamlin, Trucks and Bush all came to the rocky road with ultimate caution and both Trucks and Bush got out as the trucks got stuck in an incident leaving Brad Keselovsky and Bush on the 21st (Bush) and 22nd. TruX). Hamlin finished sixth.
Bob Pokras has spent decades covering motorsports with the last 30 Daytona 500s. He joined Fox Sports in 2019 after working for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagrambobpocross, Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for Fox Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pokemon!
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