Chase Elliott ends summer slump with road course victory at Watkins Glen

He became the first repeat winner at the track in nearly a decade.

By JOHN KEKIS,   Associated Press

August 5, 2019 at 1:36AM
Chase Elliott celebrated his victory with his pit crew after winning a NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday.
Chase Elliott celebrated his victory with his pit crew after winning a NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Chase Elliott put an emphatic end to his summer-long struggle, making a statement with a dominating win on the road course at Watkins Glen International.

A year after racing to his first career NASCAR Cup victory at The Glen, Elliott won a second time in the No. 9 for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday, besting Martin Truex Jr. just as he did a year ago. Elliott, who started from the pole, led 80 of 90 laps around the speedy 2.45-mile layout to become the first repeat winner in nearly a decade, since Marcos Ambrose in 2011-12.

"I think it's huge," Elliott said. "We've had fast cars at times, but one thing or another ended up for a bad weekend. The way we did it was the biggest thing. That's the kind of effort you have to put on often to compete with the guys in the field."

Elliott already had qualified for the postseason with his win at Talladega in May, but after four straight top-fives he hadn't had a top-10 finish in the No. 9 Chevrolet since June at Pocono, a span of seven races. He also led 400 laps in the opening 13 races but had led only nine laps since until Sunday.

It was a two-car race for more than half the 220.5- mile distance and the entire final 40 laps.

Truex began to exert some pressure after sitting behind Elliott for more than 10 laps in the final segment. Elliott held his ground until Truex's No 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota closed with six laps to go, waiting to pounce on a mistake that never came.

"I tried to do all I could. Chase did an excellent job just not making mistakes. He hit his marks. His car was really fast in the key areas that you need to be. I just couldn't get a run on him.

"Really, it was all about restarts and track position," Truex said. "If I could have just got by him on that last one we could have set sail."

With two laps left, Truex still couldn't get close enough to make a move as Elliott drove flawlessly, winning by 0.454 seconds.

Denny Hamlin was third, Erik Jones fourth for Gibbs and Ryan Blaney fifth in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford after starting from the rear of the field.

Seven-time champion Jimmy Johnson finished 19th as he struggles to make the playoffs.

Truex was chasing a sweep of the two traditional road races on the schedule. He won at Sonoma in June for the second straight time and has five straight top-two finishes on road courses.

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JOHN KEKIS,   Associated Press