Chase Elliott wins 2020 NASCAR Cup championship at Phoenix

By Anupama Jha On Nov 8, 2020

AVONDALE, Ariz. – NASCAR’s hottest driver is now a Cup champion, too.

Chase Elliott took the torch from teammate Jimmie Johnson by profitable his first Cup title Sunday, driving from the again of the sector to victory lane at Phoenix Raceway. Elliott beat Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin — the three different drivers who had superior to the Championship 4.

Elliott, the youngest of the title contenders, grew to become the third-youngest Cup Sequence champion after Invoice Rexford in 1950 and Jeff Gordon in 1995.

The win for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet was the primary since Johnson, who retired after the race, received his seventh and last crown in 2016.

“I simply, man, I’m perplexed,” Elliott stated. “That is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh. We did it. I imply, we did it. That’s all I’ve obtained to let you know. Unreal.”

Elliott’s automobile failed pre-race inspection and the penalty price him the pole when he was despatched to the rear. However the quiet driver from Georgia raced his manner by means of site visitors within the first stage after which took management of the championship. Elliott led seven occasions for a race-high 153 laps.

Johnson completed fifth – his finest end result since August – in his last experience in Hendrick’s No. 48 Chevrolet.

“My coronary heart is full,” stated Johnson, who’s tied with Corridor of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with seven titles. His 83 victories rank sixth on the profession wins checklist and his stretch of 5 consecutive titles from 2006-2010 is a NASCAR report.

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Elliott, who turns 25 later this month, is the son of Corridor of Famer Invoice Elliott. His father – “Superior Invoice from Dawsonville” Georgia – received the 1988 championship and 16 occasions was voted by the followers NASCAR’s hottest driver.

Chase Elliott grew to become the fan favourite in 2018 after Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired. He’s the primary hottest driver to win the championship since his father received his solely title.

The Elliotts joined Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett as simply the third father-son mixture to win a NASCAR Cup title. The Elliotts, together with Corridor of Famer Tim Flock, are the one three drivers from Georgia to win the title.

Hendrick Motorsports prolonged its NASCAR report of championships with a thirteenth title.

Elliott handed Logano with 42 laps remaining and pulled away in a race Elliott managed even because the 4 title contenders ran 1-2-3-4 many of the afternoon. Elliott had charged by means of the sector throughout the first stage to clump the 4 contenders within the winner-take-all season finale.

It was Elliott’s fifth win of the season, trailing solely Kevin Harvick (9) and Hamlin (seven). Elliott’s win at Martinsville final week not solely locked him into the ultimate 4, however eradicated regular-season champion Harvick.

“I felt like we took some actually huge strides this 12 months, and final week was an enormous one,” stated Elliott, who additionally received the All-Star race at Bristol. “To return out of that with a win and a shot to come back right here and have an opportunity to race is unbelievable.”

Elliott beat Keselowski, who was adopted by Workforce Penske teammate Logano after which Hamlin, who’s now 0-for-4 in titles races. Hamlin is taken into account together with Corridor of Famer Mark Martin the most effective driver and not using a Cup title.

“We simply fairly didn’t have sufficient,” stated Hamlin, the one driver of the 4 contenders to not lead a lap.

Logano led 125 laps, however most of them early.

“It stings not profitable, I’m not going to lie. It hurts,” stated Logano.

Keselowski had been holding out hope for a late warning to arrange a brief dash to the end, which is how each the Truck Sequence and Xfinity Sequence titles have been determined the earlier two nights.

“I might have liked to have raced it out,” Keselowski stated. “We simply didn’t get any yellows.”

The race had simply 4 complete cautions, three of them scheduled breaks. It made Elliott’s coronation look simple.

On the cool-down lap, Johnson pulled up alongside Elliott and fist-bumped the brand new face of Hendrick, of Chevrolet and of NASCAR. Johnson and his household then walked to Elliott’s No. 9, the place he shared sturdy hugs with Elliott and his boss.

“Oh my gosh, I imply, to share a second like that, Jimmie’s final race, to win and lock the championship,” stated Elliott, “these are moments you possibly can solely dream, you recognize, and it is a dream.

“Simply hoping I don’t ever get up.”

The race accomplished NASCAR’s frenzied 38-race schedule that was overhauled due to the pandemic. The season was suspended 5 days after NASCAR raced at Phoenix in March, a race received by Logano, and the engines idled for 10 weeks.

However going through crippling monetary losses to the groups and the business, NASCAR was one of many first sports activities to renew competitors. NASCAR went racing once more Might 17 and used doubleheaders, midweek races and a large scheduling shuffle to finish the season for all three of its nationwide collection.

Season Finale 500 outcomes

Sunday from the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway (beginning place in parentheses):

1. (1) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 312 laps, 40 factors.

2. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 312, 35.

3. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 312, 34.

4. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 312, 33.

5. (26) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 312, 37.

6. (5) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 312, 43.

7. (11) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 312, 30.

8. (12) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 312, 32.

9. (25) William Byron, Chevrolet, 312, 29.

10. (13) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 312, 27.

11. (8) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 312, 34.

12. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 312, 31.

13. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 311, 24.

14. (9) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 311, 26.

15. (23) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 311, 22.

16. (6) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 311, 25.

17. (17) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 311, 20.

18. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 311, 19.

19. (21) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 311, 18.

20. (31) Chris Buescher, Ford, 311, 17.

21. (22) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 311, 16.

22. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 311, 15.

23. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 311, 14.

24. (19) Ryan Newman, Ford, 311, 13.

25. (16) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 311, 12.

26. (27) John H. Nemechek, Ford, 311, 11.

27. (20) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 310, 10.

28. (15) Cole Custer, Ford, 310, 9.

29. (35) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 309, 8.

30. (32) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 306, 0.

31. (30) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 306, 6.

32. (37) Joey Gase, Ford, 302, 0.

33. (36) James Davison, Ford, 302, 4.

34. (24) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 299, 3.

35. (38) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 296, 0.

36. (33) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 288, 0.

37. (39) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, storage, 261, 0.

38. (28) Corey Lajoie, Ford, suspension, 215, 1.

39. (34) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, dealing with, 149, 1.

Race Statistics

Common Velocity of Race Winner: 112.101 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 47 minutes, .0 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 2.740 seconds.

Warning Flags: 4 for 27 laps.

Lead Modifications: 19 amongst 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C.Elliott 0; J.Logano 1-32; R.Blaney 33; J.Logano 34-78; C.Elliott 79; J.Logano 80-119; C.Elliott 120-138; J.Johnson 139-142; M.DiBenedetto 143; A.Almirola 144-150; C.Elliott 151-163; Ku.Busch 164-167; C.Elliott 168-172; B.Keselowski 173-182; C.Elliott 183-189; B.Keselowski 190-195; C.Elliott 196-260; R.Stenhouse 261; J.Logano 262-269; C.Elliott 270-312

Leaders Abstract (Driver, Instances Led, Laps Led): C.Elliott, 7 occasions for 153 laps; J.Logano, 4 occasions for 125 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 occasions for 16 laps; A.Almirola, 1 time for 7 laps; J.Johnson, 1 time for 4 laps; Ku.Busch, 1 time for 4 laps; R.Blaney, 1 time for 1 lap; M.DiBenedetto, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Stenhouse, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: Ok.Harvick, 9; D.Hamlin, 7; C.Elliott, 5; B.Keselowski, 4; J.Logano, 3; A.Bowman, 1; M.Truex, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; R.Blaney, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; A.Dillon, 1; W.Byron, 1; C.Custer, 1.