Chase Elliott wins at Martinsville & captures the last spot in the final four, Kevin Harvick misses out Championship round (11-1-20)
By: Becca Cottingham
Headline Photo Courtesy: NASCAR Twitter Page
We head to the final race before the championship race on a short track. Martinsville will bring a lot of action and a lot of bumping. Fenders will be rubbed in and tires could be an issue. Depending on where drivers are running the points will change. Martin Truex Jr has shown he has come to win in stage one. The drivers are taking positions where they can take them. You can also hear the frustration with other drivers on the track. Tempers are going to run very high. Multiple drivers went three-wide after a caution for Garrett Smithly. We see four-wide racing with drivers truly trying to make their way. In the end, Denny Hamlin made their way through the pack and made it to the front. He will win stage one at Martinsville.
The Busch brothers are upfront battling for the lead. Right after we truly get back under green for stage two, something breaks in Chris Buescher’s car. We will get back under green and drivers have continued to bounce off of one or another. Kevin Harvick had a tire going down and had to get to pit road. The contact was with Matt Kenseth. He managed to go down roughly four laps. He got back on the track and got the free pass and the way around. Chase Elliott got back to fourteen and worked his way through the field & made it up to the front. He was able to secure the stage two win.
To start stage three Denny Hamlin had an issue on pit road. He had to come back down pit road to make sure the tires were tight. This pushed him to the back of the field. Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr are battling for the first two spots. However, a huge pit road mistake from Chase Elliott’s team almost cost him a penalty. The Jackman was over the wall too soon. He ran back to the wall to reset as he realized his mistake. NASCAR initially penalized him, but after review, they have reversed the penalty. Chase Elliott was able to maintain his position. The biggest battle was after Kevin Harvick got the free pass between him and Brad Keselowski. The Chase is truly heating up and all drivers are out for the win. It came down to Chase getting back out front. Kevin Harvick bumped Kyle Busch trying to get another position. Chase Elliott is our unofficial winner while Kevin Harvick just misses the chase.
