Elliott shows he’s king of the road courses again
Make it three in a row on the road for Chase Elliott.
NASCAR’s most popular driver won the Cup Series road course race at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday in Daytona Beach, Florida, holding off hard-charging Denny Hamlin following a late restart and notching his third consecutive victory away from ovals.
“I had a phenomenal car. I don’t think I did anything special today,” Elliott said.
The 24-year-old Elliott also won on road courses at Charlotte and at Watkins Glen last year. He got a tougher challenge than many expected down the stretch in his latest roadie.
Elliott had a 10-second lead with 10 laps to go and was pulling away when Kyle Busch caused a caution that gave his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., a chance.
But Elliott stayed out front on the final restart. Hamlin got to his bumper on the last lap, but couldn’t do enough to mount any real pressure.
Hamlin finished second, followed by Truex and seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Cambridge, Wisconsin, native Matt Kenseth finished 26th.
IndyCar Series: Marco Andretti won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in a first step toward snapping the infamous “Andretti Curse” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Andretti logged a four-lap average of 231.068 mph in Sunday qualifying, and an Andretti now will lead the field to green for the first time in 33 years. Mario Andretti won his third and final pole for the Indy 500 in 1987, when grandson Marco was an infant.
Andretti will sit on the front row alongside two former Indy 500 winners. Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing qualified second and Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing third.
Formula One: Lewis Hamilton had no problems with his tires this time as he coasted to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday in Montmelo, Spain, extending his championship lead to 37 points and clinching an 88th career victory to move within three of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record.
NASCAR Truck Series: Sheldon Creed won the race on the road course at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, holding off GMS Racing teammate Brett Moffitt following a late restart.