Chase Elliott, needing to win to make it into the final four for NASCAR’s championship race next weekend in Phoenix, seized the lead after the last round of pit stops and raced to a six-second victory.
Elliott went into the race well below the points cutline and could only advance with a win. Martin Truex, Jr., in the same position, was leading with 50 laps left when a wheel not fully tightened in the last pit stop forced him to pit again and killed his chances of victory. He finished 22nd.
Joining Elliott in the final four are 2018 champion Joey Logano, 2019 runner-up Denny Hamlin, and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski.
Elliott will try to become the third son of a NASCAR champion to win a championship of his own. The father of seven-time champion Richard Petty, Lee Petty, won three titles in the 1950s. The father of three-time champion Dale Jarrett, Ned Jarrett, won NASCAR’s title twice in the 1960. Elliott’s father, Bill, won the title in 1988.