Chase Elliott has won his fourth straight NASCAR road race, a convincing win on the Charlotte Roval, in a race that saw defending Cup champion Kyle Busch eliminated from the next round of the payoffs and saw Clint Bowyer’s long-shot hopes for the next round fade away.
Elliott passed Erik Jones with 27 laps to go and pulled away to a near-four-second margin over Joey Logano. Jones was third, Kurt Busch fourth and Ryan Blaney, who tied Elliott for most laps led in the race—27—was fifth.
The semi-final round of the playoffs begins next Sunday at the Kansas Speedway. Still in the running are Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Elliott, Martin Truex, Jr., Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and Kurt Busch. Only Hamlin, Elliott, and Bowman have not won a Cup title.
The next three races will determine the four drivers that will race for the championship in NASCAR’s final race of 2020.