Chase Elliott wins at Dover to snap 26-race winless streak

By: The Associated Press
Monday, May 2, 2022 | 3:53 PM

DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott snapped a 26-race winless streak when the 2020 NASCAR champion pulled away down the stretch to win the Cup Series race Monday at Dover Motor Speedway.

Elliott, who led the final 53 laps, won his 14th career Cup race and gave Hendrick Motorsports another victory on the mile concrete track. Elliott followed teammate Alex Bowman’s checkered flag a year ago, and a Hendrick driver won for the 22nd time at Dover.

Hendrick swept the top four spots last season, but Monday’s race — with the finish delayed a day because of rain — had four teams in the top four spots. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was second and had his first top-five finish of the season for JTG Daugherty Racing. Ross Chastain, last week’s winner at Talladega, was third for Trackhouse Racing, and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell finished fourth.

Elliott, who leads the points standings, hopped on the window ledge of his No. 9 Chevrolet and pointed toward a solid crowd at Dover for a weekday race.

“We just had some good circumstances, finally,” Elliott said. “We’ve had some tough races over the last four, five months. This one means a lot in so many different ways. Hope to see this big crowd here next year.”

Martin Truex Jr. spun himself out on the last lap while racing for a top-five finish when he appeared to get boxed out by Chastain. Chastain and Truex argued on pit road after the race.

“We were talking about where we were going to go fishing next week,” Chastain cracked. “I’m racing with champions, and I got beat.”

The race was red-flagged Sunday with Hendrick teammates Kyle Larson and Elliott sitting first and second. Elliott controlled the race late, and Hendrick now has had all four drivers win a race this season. Elliott was building toward the win after three straight top-10 finishes at Martinsville, Bristol dirt and Talladega.

“Those guys, they’ve been deserving of one for a while,” Elliott said. “Glad we could get across the line first. We’ll enjoy it for a few days and go to work next week.”