Chase Elliott's start to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series had some ups and downs during the two weeks down at Daytona International Speedway.
DAYTONA 500 POLE QUALIFYING - SUN. FEB. 9
Starting with the pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, Elliott nearly made the guaranteed front row in posting the third fastest time of the day at 194.305 mph behind teammate Alex Bowman and pole sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
BUSCH CLASH - SUN. FEB. 9
Elliott started in 11th place for the exhibition race and managed to work his way up to sixth place by the 47th lap of the race. He hung back in the first half, but worked his way up again to the No. 1 spot 54 laps into the race. From there Elliott moved back to the rear and returned toward the front in the 75-lap race, but he got involved in a multi-car incident late in the race and was unable to continue, finishing 7th in the depleted field after 13 laps in overtime.
DUEL #1 - THURS. FEB. 13
Elliott was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver who competed in the first Duel, finishing 13th in the 60-lap field setting precursor to the 500. Elliott started out strong at the front, maintaining the second position for the majority of the first 20 laps before settling back a bit for much of the race. On Lap 58, Elliott slid up to the fifth position, but fell out of the top five on the final lap. He finished 13th when the checkered flag dropped.
DAYTONA 500 - SUN. FEB. 16 to MON FEB. 17
Elliott started in the 25th spot and jumped up to the 14th spot by the time the rains ended racing for the day. When racing resumed on Monday, Elliott took command, winning Stage 1. From there he stayed relatively near the front, overcoming a pit lane violation to be in the hunt at the end, but with two laps to go, Elliott was caught up in the third big incident of the night, which forced overtime. Elliott was able to get back on the track, but an incident in the final lap didn’t allow him to cross the finish line. He finished 17th.
Below are pictures from throughout the two weeks in Daytona.