Chase Elliott took the lead from Ross Chastain on a restart with 53 laps to go and went on to score his first Cup win of the season Monday at Dover Motor Speedway.
Elliott is the last of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers to win this year. He also snapped a 26-race winless streak, dating back to last July’s victory at Road America. He is the ninth different winner in the first 11 races of the season.
“Let’s enjoy it,” Elliott told his team on the radio after the race.
MORE: Dover Cup results , driver points
MORE: What drivers said
MORE: Ricky Stenhouse gets much-needed second-place finish
Elliott was on the inside of the front row to Chastain, who had the preferred lane, on the final restart of the race. Elliott charged by Chastain when the green waved and wasn’t challenged after that, scoring his 14th career Cup win.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who entered the race 31st in the points, snapped a streak of seven consecutive finishes of 25th or worse by placing a season-best second.
Chastain, seeking to win his third race of the year and score back-to-back victories, placed third.
Martin Truex Jr., racing Chastain for third, made contact and spun on the last lap. Truex finished 12th. The incident allowed Christopher Bell to finish fourth and defending race winner Alex Bowman to complete the top five.
Kyle Busch led a race-high 103 laps, but misfortune struck when he pitted as the leader. Bowman, running second at the same time, also pitted with Busch. The caution came out for AJ Allmendinger’s car losing a wheel as Busch and Bowman were on pit road. That interrupted a green-flag pit cycle and several cars had yet to pit. Busch restarted 16th. Bowman restarted 17th. Busch went on to finish seventh.
STAGE 1 WINNER: Denny Hamlin
STAGE 2 WINNER: Ryan Blaney
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s runner-up finish is his best result of the season. ... Ross Chastain’s third-place finish was his series-high seventh top-five performance this year. ... Christopher Bell placed fourth, giving him his first top-20 finish in four starts at Dover. ... Pole-sitter Chris Buescher finished eighth for his best result this year since placing seventh at Atlanta. It’s also his first top 10 in 12 Dover starts.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: After winning stage 1, Denny Hamlin was first off pit road, but his left front wheel came off. That is expected to be a four-race suspension for the crew chief, tire changer and the crew member who put the wheel on. In the second stage, Hamlin was clipped by a spinning Cody Ware, damaging Hamlin’s car. Hamlin finished 21st. ... AJ Allmendinger had a right front wheel come off in the final stage. His crew chief and two pit crew members are expected to face a four-race suspension. Allmendinger was 33rd. ... Kurt Busch wrecked after contact from behind from Allmendinger’s car. Busch finished 31st, marking the fourth time in the last six races he’s placed 30th or worse.
NOTABLE: Hendrick Motorsports becomes the first team to have won with four different drivers in the first 11 races of a season.
NEXT: The series heads to Darlington Raceway on May 8 (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1).
