Elliott makes NASCAR history
Son of racing legend wins first race on Daytona road course.
Like father, like son, Chase Elliott made history Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
Elliott delivered a dominant performance during the first NASCAR Cup Series race on Daytona’s road course on Sunday, building on his elite road-racing record.
Following a restart on the thirdto-last lap of the 65-lap GoBowling 235, Elliott had to hold off hard-charging Denny Hamlin, the reigning two-time Daytona 500 champion. Elliott took the checkered flag with .202 seconds to spare.
“I had a phenomenal car,” Elliott said moments after his eighth Cup Series victory. “I don’t think I did anything special today.”
Elliott, voted NASCAR’s most popular driver the past two years, acknowledged the fans who were socially distanced in the iconic track’s massive grandstands.
“Good to see you guys back,” Elliott said to some distant cheers. “Thanks for coming out.”
Elliott put on close to a flawless performance for everyone who showed up while his competition could not match his skill or the speed of his No. 9 Chevrolet Ca
maro. He led 34 laps on the 3.61-mile layout featuring 14 turns.
Success on road courses is nothing new for the son of Bill Elliott, whose mastery of superspeedway racing earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame. Elliott’s qualifying time of 210.364 mph in 1987 remains the fastest lap ever run by a stock car at Daytona International Speedway. Meanwhile, Sunday’s win was 24-year-old Chase Elliott’s third straight on a road course and fourth in six tries in the format, which offers a change-of-pace from the oval-track racing on which the sport is built.
“I kept him honest there,” Hamlin said. “He had such good drive off [the corners], I couldn’t do anything with him.
“They have a really good road course set-up and he executes it. That leads to lots of success.”
Martin Truex Jr., like Elliott the winner of four career road races, finished third and led 10 laps. Next was seven-time Cup Series season champion Jimmie Johnson, who was seeking his first win since 2017 during the 44-year-old’s final season as a full-time driver.
Elliott was in complete command of Sunday’s race following a 45-minute delay on Lap 37 after lightning was detected in the area.
With 10 laps to go, Elliott’s lead was more than 10 seconds on Hamlin, who entered the day with five victories in 2020 and led 16 laps earlier Sunday. Hamlin, a 42-time Cup Series winner, suddenly found himself in contention with three laps to go.
A blown tire by Kyle Busch knocked the reigning Cup Series champion out of the race and continued his winless season. The subsequent caution flag erased a lead that appeared insurmountable to everyone but Elliott.
“I think the odds of it going green from there to the end, I think we all knew were pretty well slim “I was just really happy that we replaced a road course with a road course and didn’t just pile something else on the schedule to check a box.” — Chase Elliott, race winner to none,” Elliott said. “So it was just a matter of when that caution was going to come out in my eyes and in my head. I had already accepted that long before it came out.”
From there, Elliott had Hamlin in his rearview mirror the rest of the race but displayed a cool head and technical precision on a course he and most of his fellow competitors had never seen firsthand.
Earlier in the week, Elliott anointed Busch the clear favorite due to his experience in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, held each January on the speedway’s road course. The rest of the 39-driver field was left to learn the track’s nuances and potential pitfalls using simulators and the iRacing platform.
Despite the lack of familiarity with the setup, Sunday’s race was viewed as a major success.
The race featured 12 lead changes and just four cautions, and wrapped up in two and half hours. Only three drivers did not finish on the lead lap.
“I thought we’ve seen a good race, and obviously not a ton of cautions, not a ton of crashes and guys doing crazy stuff,” Truex said. “I thought the race went really well. The racing was good. You could make passes if you were faster than a guy, and that’s always as a competitor what you’re looking for, and I think that’s what puts on a good show.”
The GoBowling 235 was a late addition to NASCAR’s schedule due to the pandemic, replacing Watkins Glen. Elliott won the 2019 race there and on the so-called Roval at Charlotte.
Drivers would like to see Daytona host a road race in the future. Whatever happens, Elliott was glad to he got his chance to roar through it Sunday.
“I was just really happy that we replaced a road course with a road course and didn’t just pile something else on the schedule to check a box,” Elliott said.