Elliott secures first Championship 4 appearance
- CEM
- Nov 1, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 2, 2020
By Holly Cain, NASCAR.com
Chase Elliott cruised to an impressive 6.577-second victory over Ryan Blaney on Sunday in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway — earning a position in next week’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 season finale.
Equally as dramatic was a failed last-lap pass for position that eliminated the regular-season champion and nine-race winner Kevin Harvick from advancing to that final round. Harvick had to pass 2019 series champ Kyle Busch for one position — one point — to be able to advance to next week’s title race and instead the cars crashed after making contact. Harvick ended up 17th, eight points shy of a playoff berth.
With his victory, Elliott, 24, of Hendrick Motorsports, joins Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who advanced to the title race with a victory two weeks ago at Kansas. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, a seven-race winner, raced his way into the Championship 4 with an 11th-place finish at Martinsville, and Logano’s Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, who finished fourth Sunday, was the final driver to earn a championship opportunity.
RELATED: Race results
“Just so proud,” said Elliott, who was ranked sixth in the championship, 25 points below the cutoff line entering the race and was in a must-win position to earn his first chance at NASCAR’s most prestigious championship.
“To be backed into a corner like that and have to win tonight, I feel like that’s what we’ve been missing these past four of five years. To perform when we don’t have a choice. And to do that tonight, I couldn’t ask for a better night. It’s just unreal.”
Elliott, who led a race-best 236 of the 500 laps, took the lead for good with 43 laps remaining after passing Martin Truex Jr., who thought he had a loose wheel. Truex, who also needed to win to advance to the Championship 4 for the fourth straight year, nursed his car home in 22nd place instead.
After taking the lead, Elliott was able to drive away from the field and Team Penske teammates Blaney, Logano and Keselowski, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Playoff drivers Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman — both needing a victory to advance — finished fifth and sixth, followed by Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer. Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10.
Up next for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
What an exhilarating race! Chase Elliott's performance truly showcased his talent and determination, especially under pressure. I found the information source about the playoff standings and driver performances particularly insightful, as it highlights the intense competition leading up to the Championship 4. Looking forward to seeing how the finale unfolds!
Wow, Martinsville can really throw some curveballs! It's always wild to see how things play out under pressure. While watching the race, I was actually thinking about how much effort goes into creating compelling visual content, and it reminded me of this awesome tool I've been messing around with. It's called Omni AI Video, and it lets you whip up these really cool cinematic videos just from text or images. Pretty neat stuff for creative projects, kind of like how NASCAR artists create the racing visuals! Great post!
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Chase Elliott's must-win performance at Martinsville was incredible, and it's great to see him finally break through to the Championship 4. The drama with Harvick missing out by just eight points shows how intense NASCAR's playoffs are. If you're a fan planning to travel to Phoenix for the finale, don't forget to use the best passport photo app to get your travel documents ready quickly.
Great run by Chase! That Martinsville win was dominant, and it's cool to see him finally make the Championship 4. The drama with Harvick missing out by one point was intense. By the way, for those who enjoy word puzzles, NYT Crossword Clues are a fun daily challenge. Good luck to Elliott next week!