Chase Elliott’s first win since September came on the back of some really good strategy and a bit of luck to boot. Even legendary King Richard felt the same, having been to the track and getting as close a view as possible of all the action at Martinsville Speedway.

Elliott took a gamble by stopping twice in the final phase of the Cook Out 400, the second time after Bubba Wallace’s contact with Carson Hocevar. Elliott came out ahead of Denny Hamlin, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who led the majority of the race. 

In the end, Elliott, who started from 10th, ended up in a battle for the win with Hamlin as the two fought it out all the way, navigating the backmarkers, with Elliott coming out on top by a mere 0.565 seconds.

King Richard Petty was at the track, and he expressed his dismay about the race. “I went to Martinsville to watch a race, but somewhere down the line I missed the race because I sat there and watched, but I never did see no race going on,” said Petty on the Petty Family Racing podcast.

Petty was even more direct about what decided the outcome, stating, “The cautions is what won the race for him.”

Pointing at how Elliott drew luck from how Hamlin’s race shaped up, saying that Hamlin was having a really good race out in front, but the moment he lost the lead, he was a bit “confused.” Petty said, “He got back(from the pits), the cars around him was dictating what he was doing.”

He further emphasized how unpredictable factors played a role, adding that “circumstances beyond anybody's control put him in that situation.”

He also added that the shove on Ryan Blaney may have had an impact: “I think that might have messed up his front end or something, because he wasn’t as good after that.”

The call that won Elliott the race

A terrific pit stop strategy became the defining moment of Elliott’s race, and he said, “Sure is a lot of fun when days like this work out.”

“I told them about half, three-quarters of the way through; I really don't dislike my balance, I just wish I could control my runs a little better,” Elliott said while speaking about the last pitstop. “Fortunately, we got to the lead on that last one and fell into a really good pace.”

Even Kyle and Richard Petty credited that one move as the catalyst in Elliott’s win that handed Hendrick Motorsports their first win since last October. 

“With 162 laps to go when the 9 pitted, that was a great call, everything had turn out just right for the crew chief, and it was a gutsy call,” said Kyle Petty on the nature of Elliott’s final stop. Richard Petty added, “The call sense is what won the race for him.”

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Shraabona Sengupta