USA TODAY International Edition
Elliott roars back after penalty to win
DOVER, Del. — For the second week in a row, the intensity of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs reared its head in the closing laps. As drivers took the green flag with four laps remaining for what appeared to be the final restart of the day at Dover International Speedway, the tantalizing prospect of a win had the field going for broke. But that mad dash to the finish produced a collision among some of the leaders that resulted in massive damage to numerous playoff participants. Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman were all caught up in the crash that brought out the red flag and sent the race to overtime. Chase Elliott took advantage of the unexpected opportunity to earn his second career Cup win, holding off Denny Hamlin on the overtime restart to take the checkered flag in the Gander Outdoors 400. “We had a penalty there early and fell behind, but luckily we had a good enough car and a good enough strategy to come back,” Elliott said after thanking his team owner, Rick Hendrick. Elliott became the first driver to clinch a berth in the Round of 8 and earned redemption after his heartbreaking loss one year ago at this same track. Last year, Elliott led 59 laps in the final stage before watching Kyle Busch overtake him with two laps to go, forcing Elliott to settle for second. “It definitely makes it sweeter,” Elliott said about reversing his fortunes from last year. “You don’t appreciate it when it happens, but to come back today and not have to worry about Talladega (next week) definitely makes it sweeter.” Added Hendrick: “What a great day for Chase. I’m so proud of him, especially after last year. He’s smart. He’s like his dad (NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott). He knows how to race and has unbelievable car control.” Joey Logano finished third, followed by Erik Jones and Kurt Busch. For Kevin Harvick, Sunday was a case of a dominating drive turning into disaster. Harvick, who seemed well on his way to his eighth victory of the season, had led 286 laps when he hit pit road for green-flag pit stops on lap 319. Two laps later, the Dover spring winner was forced to return after his left rear tire went flat when a lug nut broke a valve stem. Harvick rebounded to finish sixth but surely left Dover disappointed. “You can’t control where the lug nuts fly,” a resigned Harvick said. “Our Ford was really fast, and that’s it . ... We were lucky there avoiding that crash, but maybe that makes up for losing the race with an absolutely dominant car.” Another favorite, Clint Bowyer suffered a flat tire with 18 laps remaining after contending for the lead earlier in the race. Ten laps later, things went from bad to worse for the spring runner-up when he slammed into the wall on lap 392, ending his day and leaving him with the worst finish among playoff drivers (35th). Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson, who suffered heartbreak last weekend when he spun while racing for the win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, had issues before the green flag even flew. Johnson, who made his NASCAR Cup Series debut 17 years ago to the day in 2001, had noticeable problems with the right front of his car on the pace laps and was forced to take his car to the garage while the rest of the field lined up for the start. Johnson told his team over the radio that he thought his splitter broke. Moments later, the Motor Racing Network reported from the garage that the No. 48 Chevrolet suffered a broken lower ball joint. A series of quick repairs allowed Johnson to return to the track, but the 11-time Dover winner rejoined the race 10 laps down before finishing 36th.