Chase Elliott Steals Martinsville Win From Dominant Denny Hamlin

• Chase Elliott short-pitted on lap 261 to gain track position, then held off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin by 0.565 seconds in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway to give Chevrolet its first win of the season and Hendrick Motorsports its 31st all-time victory at the track.
• Hamlin led a race-best 292 of 400 laps and won both stages, but a bad restart and Elliott’s pit call combined to flip the race, leaving Hamlin unable to get close enough to challenge in the closing laps through traffic.
• Tyler Reddick finished 15th but still leads the Cup Series standings by 82 points over Ryan Blaney, while Bubba Wallace dropped from third to 11th after triggering a 12-car accident on lap 325.

Elliott’s Pit Gamble Decides the Cook Out 400

Chase Elliott moved his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the lead with 68 laps to go at Martinsville Speedway and never surrendered it, beating Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the checkered flag by 0.565 seconds in the Cook Out 400. It was Elliott’s 22nd career Cup Series victory, the 2020 series champion claiming his team’s 31st all-time win at the historic half-mile oval.

The decisive move came on lap 261, when Elliott’s crew called him in for a short pit stop while Hamlin held a three-second lead. Elliott restarted up front and pulled away to a margin that Hamlin, commanding as he had been all afternoon, could not close.

“It was definitely a team effort, how about that, that was awesome,” Elliott said. “We’ve never had a win this early in the season. Just a really great team effort. So proud of [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson], the crew really did a great job. We took a gamble and were going to two-stop that last stage, and honestly believe it was going to work out either way. Just so proud. Sure is a lot of fun when days like this work out.”

Elliott, 30, of Dawsonville, Georgia, made his very first Cup Series start at Martinsville exactly 11 years ago to the day. He said the car had been fast all weekend and he just needed the opening that pit strategy provided.

“This whole deal is really weird the way it works,” Elliott said. “Fortunately got that lead on the last one [restart] and fell into a good pace. Just had enough.

“Probably needed a little bit to be just the absolute best outright, but we were really close and were able to manage and save enough to get through traffic at the end.

“But man, it’s really cool when this stuff works out. To win these races is just so tough. Really grateful for the opportunity as always. I never take it for granted.”

Hamlin Led 292 Laps and Left With Nothing

Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota led a race-best 292 of the 400 laps, won both stages, and for long stretches looked capable of running away unchallenged for his seventh grandfather clock trophy. The six-time Martinsville winner had a three-second lead when Elliott pitted on lap 261, but the track position that short stop produced proved the difference.

After a bad restart, Hamlin spent the final laps chasing Elliott through lapped traffic without ever getting close enough to mount a challenge.

“He did a good job controlling the pace there,” Hamlin said. “Just really came from that bad restart — just not much more that I could have done there. I felt like we gave it our all.”

Hamlin, who won this year’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway spring race, said he was also concerned in the final laps that perhaps the car had a loose wheel, though he said either way, “there are some races that get away from you in your career, and this was certainly one of them.”

Logano Rebounds, Reddick Holds Standings Lead

Joey Logano rebounded from a rough 33rd-place outing at Darlington to finish third in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, tying his season best.

“Weekends like last weekend, you start to question everything, you have to right, as a competitor you have to do that, but nice to have a good rebound, solid car,” the three-time series champion said. “Our car, honestly, if we were able to get to the lead, I don’t know that the 9-car [Elliott] was any better than us, he just got the clean air at the right time. Proud of this team.”

Ty Gibbs took fourth in the No. 54 JGR Toyota for his fifth consecutive top-six of the season and his first top-10 at Martinsville. William Byron, a three-time Martinsville winner, finished fifth in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after leading six laps. Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry completed the top 10.

Tyler Reddick, the season’s four-time race winner, crossed in 15th but still leads the standings by 82 points over Blaney and 94 over Hamlin. Teammate Bubba Wallace finished 36th after triggering a 12-car accident on lap 325 and fell from third to 11th in the standings.

The Cup Series takes a week off before returning April 12 for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson is the defending Bristol spring winner.