JRM Race Report – New Hampshire – Chase Elliott

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In: Xfinity Series News

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet, finished eighth in Saturday’s Sta-Green 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  Elliott remains third in the driver points standings, trailing leader Regan Smith by 13 points after 17 races.  Race winner Brad Keselowski earned his 29th Nationwide victory, breaking a tie with Matt Kenseth for sixth on the series’ all-time wins list.

Starting sixth, Elliott quickly jumped inside the top five after the first two laps and sustained a cushion in the fourth position.  After two quick caution flags fell in the first 12 laps, Elliott settled in and started to work a new line he found to be a more efficient way around the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The pivotal moment of the race for the NAPA AUTO PARTS team came as they were pitting under green for a scheduled stop on lap 80.  As Elliott exited turn three, he radioed crew chief Greg Ives that he was out of fuel.  As a result, Elliott coasted slowly to his pit stall.  The sequence of events ultimately cost Elliott seven spots putting him outside the top 10 and off the lead lap.  Elliott clawed his way back into position to earn the free pass under the race’s final caution at lap 140.

On the final restart, Elliott restarted 11th with 55 laps to go.  The 18-year-old rookie rebounded to finish eighth for his 12th top-10 finish of the season.  Keselowski earned the victory followed by Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and rookie Chris Buescher rounding out the top five.

Chase Elliott, driver No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS team

“It was a frustrating situation for us today when I brought the NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevy down pit road on lap 80, out of fuel.  We should have been way to the good there.  We were getting about four tenths of a gallon less than our teammates were and we had planned on getting the same amount of fuel to the gallon as them based on our practice calculations.  I felt like I saved about all I could save there during all the pace laps before taking the green flag.  I’m not sure if that’s just the difference in driving styles or what that may be, but we’ll look into it and hopefully have our issues fixed before Chicago next week.”

JRM PR

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