Chase Elliott Secures Overtime Victory in Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400
Hendrick Motorsports team driver Chase Elliott scored a thrilling victory in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 race held at Texas Motor Speedway. This was Elliott’s first victory of the season and came in the ninth round of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
The race in Texas turned into a test of endurance, with 16 yellow flags waved over the 267 laps. Brad Keselowski and William Byron finished second and third, respectively, after 267 laps. Rounding out the top five were Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez.
The other top five finishers were Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Carson Hocevar. Championship leader Kyle Larson finished in 20th place, in a race that had ups and downs for the driver.
Larson had secured pole position in three consecutive races and stood out in the first phase of this season. However, during the first round of pit stops, under green flag, the Joe Gibbs cars faced several problems. Both the #54 car, driven by Ty Gibbs, and the #19 car, driven by Martin Truex Jr., had to stop twice in the first 80 laps due to errors by their respective teams in the pits.
During the second phase of the race, on lap 101, Christopher Bell spun but managed to regain control of his car. However, further back in the pack, on the same lap, Alex Bowman and John Hunter Nemechek collided and ended up spinning into the grass along the main straight. Bowman was forced to abandon the race and enter the garage after the collision.
Carson Hocevar caused the third yellow flag of the day on lap 114 when the rookie spun shortly after the track returned to green flag conditions.
While the race was under the third yellow flag, championship leader Larson reported a flat tire. However, the entire right rear tire ended up coming loose from the car. Larson had to return to the pit area to get a new set of tires and fuel. Unfortunately, he also received a two-lap penalty for the mechanical problem.
After leading for 67 laps during the First Stage and securing victory in this stage, Larson faced difficulties during the remainder of the race. Ryan Blaney started Stage Two in the lead in his #12 Ford, but did not stop during the yellow flag period at the end of the first stage. There were five yellow flags during Stage Two, and Ross Chastain emerged victorious at the end after completing 165 laps of the 267 total.
