USA TODAY International Edition
Elliott in, Harvick out of Cup title race
Chase Elliott won his way into the NASCAR Cup Series’ Championship 4 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway while Kevin Harvick was shockingly knocked out of contention.
Elliott led a race- high 236 of 500 laps and won the second stage of the Xfinity 500. He took the lead for good with 43 laps to go and drove away from the field. It is his fourth win of the season and first at the Virginia racetrack.
“Oh, my gosh. This is the biggest win ever for us,” said Elliott. “I’m just so proud to be able 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 or five years and perform when we don’t have a choice. And, to do that tonight, we couldn’t ask for a better night. This is unreal.
“This is just unbelievable. We’re going to Phoenix with a shot to win a championship and have a beautiful blue NAPA Camaro headed out there with a shot to win a title. What more could you ask for?”
Ryan Blaney finished second, Joey Logano third, Brad Keselowski fourth and Kurt Busch fifth. Completing the top 10 was Alex Bowman in sixth, Aric Almirola seventh, Clint Bowyer eighth, Kyle Busch ninth, and Matt DiBenedetto 10th.
Denny Hamlin finished 11th. Kevin Harvick finished 17th after spinning both himself and Kyle Busch on the final lap. Harvick needed the position and the point because he fell below the cut line by one point as the field ran coming to the checkered flag.
Harvick had to rebound from a flat tire that knocked him two laps off the pace. Forced to pit under green on lap 180, Harvick then kept missing the opportunity to be in the free pass position when the caution came out. It wasn’t until a caution on lap 401 that Harvick returned to the lead lap.
“For sure, with the way we’ve run here in the past,” Harvick said of knowing there was a possibility he could be eliminated. “Everybody kept battling there. I tried to run into the door of the 18 ( Busch) as a last- ditch effort there and spun him out, so sorry for putting him in the middle of trying to gain a point. Just not a great three weeks – didn’t go our way. We fought for everything we had, and it just came up short.”
Martin Truex Jr. finished 22nd, the lowest of the playoff drivers. He needed to win and was in contention throughout until a vibration from a loose wheel forced him to pit road with 26 laps to go. Truex was running second at the time. He led 129 laps.
With his 10th career win in the Cup Series, Elliott went from below the playoff cut line to competing for the championship. He joins Logano, who won at Kansas Speedway, and Keselowski and Hamlin, who advanced on points.
Bowman and Kurt Busch also were eliminated from the playoffs.
Hamilton wins F1 race: Runaway championship leader Lewis Hamilton overcame a sluggish start to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, on Sunday for a record- extending 93rd Formula One victory. He beat Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas by 5.7 seconds and rushed over to celebrate with the engineers and mechanics after the team clinched a recordextending seventh straight constructors’ title. – The Associated Press