Chase Elliott wins at Martinsville – Team Chevy Photo
· Chase Elliott took Chevrolet on its first trip to victory lane
in the NASCAR Cup Series this season – claiming the checkered flag in
the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. It also marks the first
triumph for the new Camaro ZL1 racecar, which made its point-paying
competition debut last month at Daytona International Speedway.
· Taking the green flag from the 10th starting position, it was
a call from atop the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet pit box in the
final stage that put the team in contention. Opting to short-pit the
final green flag pit cycle, crew chief Alan Gustafson brought the
Dawsonville, Georgia, native to pit road on Lap 261. Maintaining
position near the front of the field, Elliott earned a spot on the
front-row for the restart with 67 laps to go – ultimately taking the
lead and never looking back en route to his 22nd career win at
NASCAR’s highest level.
· Elliott’s victory – Chevrolet’s 882nd all-time in
NASCAR’s premier series – extends the manufacturer’s
series-leading record to 63 all-time wins in the division at
Martinsville Speedway, keeping the .526-mile Virginia venue the Bowtie
brand’s most successful track on the NASCAR circuit.
· Chevrolet is the first manufacturer to drive to a weekend
sweep this season, with JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier taking the win
in yesterday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race to keep the
Bowtie brand undefeated in the division with seven-straight victories.
RACE RECAP:
Stage One:
Defending Martinsville winner, William Byron, flexed the speed of his
No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during Saturday’s qualifying
session – securing a front-row starting spot for the Cook Out 400.
Taking the green flag for the opening 80-lap stage, the leaders quickly
settled into a single-file formation as Byron found his spot in the
runner-up position. It was just shy of the halfway point of Stage One
that the leaders approached lap traffic, allowing Byron to quickly close
the gap to then race leader, Denny Hamlin, and successfully make the
pass for the top position on Lap 40 to lead his first laps of the race.
A title battle between the pair saw Byron lead Team Chevy to the first
green-white checkered flag with second-place stage points.
Stage Two:
With most of the opening stage going caution-free, the stage break
presented the first opportunity for teams to hit pit road. A quiet
driver behind the wheel for the first run, Byron reported that he had a
similar feeling in handling from yesterday’s practice session, with
his 5/8-mark being where he was struggling the most. With a call for
four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, the No. 24 pit crew
kept the team’s track position to line up on the front-row for the
start of Stage Two. Electing the top lane proved to challenge for Byron,
ultimately falling to the fifth position when he found a gap to fill on
the bottom lane. But the run was short-lived as the first natural
caution of the day flew at Lap 105. With a mix of pit strategy mid-pack,
Kyle Larson was among the group of drivers to make their second trip to
pit road. Lining up in the 16th position, fresh tires paid dividends for
the No. 5 team with Larson quickly climbing up the leaderboard to make
his first appearance in the top-10 on Lap 129. The reigning champion
went on to drive to the ninth position to take the second green-white
checkered flag, joining fellow Team Chevy drivers, Byron and Shane van
Gisbergen, who were among the group of drivers to earn points in both
stages.
Final Stage:
Progressively seeing gains in the handling of his No. 5 Chevrolet, crew
chief Cliff Daniels called his driver to pit road under the stage break
for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. A monstrous stop by
the pit crew saw Larson make the biggest gain in the race off pit road
among the top-10 drivers to line up in the sixth position to take the
green flag for the final stage. Enduring a long green flag run to start
the stage, Larson, Byron and Van Gisbergen sat strong in top-10 running
positions as the field approached the first green flag pit cycle of the
race. The lead pack were among teams to stretch the run the furthest,
with Larson giving up the seventh position to make his way to pit road
with 118 laps to go. With the cycle complete 10 laps later, it was Chase
Elliott that capitalized on a short-pit strategy to make his way into
the top position to lead the team’s first laps of the day. While on an
alternate strategy, Elliott was still able to maintain the second
position as the race fell under caution flag conditions at Lap 312 for
debris. While much of the field opted for a trip to pit road, a gamble
from atop the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team’s pit box saw
Ross Chastain inherit the top position to lead the field to the restart.
Despite having 30-lap older tires, Chastain was able to muscle his
Chevrolet to the lead before a stack-up mid-pack led to another caution
the following lap. With a pair of Chevrolet’s sitting on the front row
for the restart, it was Elliott’s fresher tires that helped propel the
No. 9 Chevrolet back to the lead as the race closed in on 60 laps to go.
Elliott pulled away to a nearly one-second lead over the next 25-lap run
as lap traffic was on the horizon. Elliott was able to masterfully
maneuver through traffic to hold onto the top position and take his
first checkered flag of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
1st – Chase Elliott
5th – William Byron
9th – Kyle Larson
Chevrolet’s season statistics with seven NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 1
Poles: 1
Top-Fives: 13
Top 10s: 23
Stage Wins: 2
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues in two weeks at Bristol
Motor Speedway with the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 12, at 3 P.M. ET.
Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 16th
“It was hard to pass today so track position was extremely important,
obviously. We made a couple of calls to gain track position in our
SafetyCulture Chevrolet which helped. There were a few different
strategies in play today but overall, I feel like our car got better it
was just so hard to pass. I’m looking forward to the off weekend and
getting back in the car at Bristol.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 25th
“We had a really fast Dow Coatings/Behr Chevrolet by the end of the
race, so it’s unfortunate that our day played out the way it did.
It’s taken us a lot of laps to get our car dialed in here, and we’re
not sure if that’s because of the way the rubber lays down or what,
but we will reset and figure it out. We opted to stay out instead of pit
during a caution in Stage 1 and all of the cars behind us pitted, which
ultimately caused us to lose track position and put us behind the rest
of the race. This team is gritty and we won’t give up.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 24th
“This wasn’t the weekend for the No. 8 FICO Chevrolet here at
Martinsville Speedway. From practice to qualifying to the race this
afternoon we battled a loose car. The team never quit and now we’ll
take what we’ve learned through the initial weeks of the season back
to Welcome, NC, regroup and look to rebound after the week off.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
Alan Gustafson (crew chief) made a great pit call to get you the track
position. How did you find a way to hold off Denny Hamlin?
“It was definitely a team effort. That was awesome. We’ve never had a
win this early in the season. Just a really great team effort. So proud
of Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the whole No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet
team. They did a great job all day.
We took a gamble. We were going to two-stop that last stage. I honestly
think it was going to work out good for us either way. Just so proud of
this team. Man, they put up with a lot (smiling). They have to put up
with me all the time, and I just appreciate them for sticking with me.
It’s lot of fun when days like this work out. Thank you to everybody
at Hendrick Motorsports, Mr. Hendrick, Chevrolet and all of our partners
for the support.”
When the caution came out, what went through your mind?
“Yeah, I mean, this whole deal is really weird the way it all works. I
told them there around half or three-quarters of the way through that I
really didn’t dislike my balance, I just wish I could control my runs
a little better. Fortunately, we got to lead on that last restart and
fell into a really good pace. I think we probably needed a little bit
more to be just the absolute best outright. We were really close. We
were able to manage and save enough to get through traffic there at the
end.
It’s really cool when this stuff works out. To win these races is so
tough. Just really grateful for the opportunity, as always. I never take
it for granted. Trust me, this is a dream come true for me.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“We restarted ninth there and had to methodically work our way
forward. I thought our No. 24 Cincinnati Chevy was pretty good that last
run. The last two runs were probably our best runs of the day, so it was
just about trying to manage that. I just tried to get as many spots as I
could. Overall, I thought it was a good day. We had a mishap on pit
road, and then those guys got the caution there with the two-stop and it
kind of changed a lot of things.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 33rd
“Overall not a great day for our United Rentals team. Going out first
in qualifying hurt us with our starting position and when you start deep
in the field here at Martinsville, it’s a battle to not go down a lap
early. Our Chevrolet initially fired off on the loose side and we made
changes to tighten the car up. After the second stop, the balance swung
the other way with being too tight and we couldn’t get it back to a
neutral spot. Stage 3 was just eventful with a loose wheel under our
green flag stop and then being involved in an accident. Hate it for our
team, everyone at RCR, and our partners but we’ll work hard to be
better next time.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 18th
“It was just an average day for this No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet
team. We had good execution, but we just didn’t have enough speed. I
just felt like we ran 20th all day long. We were 28th in practice,
qualified 20th and finished 18th. We just didn’t have it this weekend,
speed-wise. I felt like we executed well and did everything we needed to
on pit road, but it just didn’t work out. Thank you to Spire
Motorsports, Delaware Life and Chevrolet for the support. We’ll
regroup over the off weekend and get ready for Bristol in a few
weeks.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 11th
“Ran in the top 10 all day but lacked overall grip and wasn’t able
to hold position on the restarts. The 97 team brought a fast SuperFile
Chevrolet, just wish we could’ve gotten a top 10 result. Collected
some stage points and had a lot of fun! Great progress heading into the
off weekend.”