Elliott powered past Ross Chastain on a restart with 53 of 400 laps remaining to grab the lead and held off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to win Monday’s rain-delayed race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.
While Elliott, the 2020 series champion, has led the series standings for six consecutive weeks, he had remained the only Hendrick Motorsports driver without a win this season.
The victory, the 14th of his career, is also his first win on an oval track since November 2020 – when he won the 2021 title at Phoenix Raceway.
“Had some good circumstances finally. Really appreciate Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and our entire team for just sticking with it,” Elliott said. “We’ve had some tough races over the last, I don’t know, four, five months.
“Just great to get back to Victory Lane, great to get Hendrick Motorsports back to Victory Lane. This one means a lot in a lot of different ways. Just appreciate all the effort. But thanks to all the fans for coming out. You’re always awesome.
"Huge thanks to everybody involved. It’s been a fun day and we’re certainly going to enjoy. Like I told them after the race, those guys, they’ve been deserving of one for a while. Glad we could get across the line first.”
Elliott is now the ninth different winner in the season’s first 11 races. Elliott took the checkered flag 2.577 seconds ahead of Stenhouse but a caution was displayed on the final lap after Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. made contact while racing for third.
Chastain ended up third, Christopher Bell fourth and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick and Erik Jones. Truex, who was running fourth on the final lap, ended up 12th.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, most lead-lap cars stayed out but Ryan Blaney elected to pit, which allowed Kyle Busch to take over the lead. On the restart on Lap 258, Busch was followed by Bowman, Truex and Stenhouse.
Just after Kyle Busch and Bowman both hit pit road to begin a round of green-flag pit stops, NASCAR was forced to throw a caution for a right-front wheel on the backstretch that came off the No. 16 of A.J. Allmendinger.
The caution threw pit strategy into chaos. The remainder of lead-lap cars that had not yet pit did so and Chastain was the first off pit road. Denny Hamlin was penalized for speeding and had to restart from the rear of the field.
On the restart on Lap 331, Chastain led the way followed by Truex and Elliott. Kyle Busch lined up 16th and Bowman 17th – after both took the wave-around.
Daniel Suarez spun in Turn 3 after making contact with Corey LaJoie to bring out the 11th caution of the race on Lap 335.
Ride with Daniel Suarez for his contact with Corey LaJoie.
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 2, 2022
The No. 99 team's in-car camera is streaming live here » https://t.co/6U7cNFWsII https://t.co/wEazTqSFes pic.twitter.com/rdUilgYVL8
Most lead-lap cars remained on the track and Chastain remained out front when the race resumed on Lap 340.
While Elliott and Chastain raced side-by-side for the lead, Tyler Reddick spun off Turn 2 on Lap 342 and hit the wall to bring out caution No. 12 on the day.
The race returned to green on Lap 348 with Chastain still the leader, followed by Elliott, Truex and Stenhouse.
Elliott quickly cleared Chastain for the lead on the restart as Stenhouse moved to third.
Stenhouse powered into the runner-up position on Lap 351 as Chastain dropped to third.
With five laps to go, Elliott’s lead over Stenhouse remained at a comfortable 2 seconds.
Stage 2
Blaney stayed out after a late caution and held off Kyle Busch to claim the Stage 2 victory, his fourth of the 2022 season.
Bowman was third, Truex fourth and Stenhouse rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap cars all pit and Hamlin was the first off pit road but as he left, his left-front tire fell of his No. 11 Toyota, which will result in multiple crew member suspensions this week.
Hamlin made his way back around the track to pit road as Chastain then inherited the lead.
Good news for @dennyhamlin as he wins the race off pit road. Bad news … his LF tire was second. 😬 pic.twitter.com/rva5aaCaft
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) May 2, 2022
When the race resumed on Lap 129, Chastain led followed by Bell, Truex and Elliott.
Shortly after the restart, Bell radioed his crew and said he thought he had a loose wheel. He pit under green for four new tires. Bell returned to the track two laps down and in 32nd.
Larson spun off Turn 4 down the frontstretch on Lap 156 to bring out the fifth caution of the race. The lead-lap cars all pit with Chastain the first off pit road.
On the restart on Lap 164, Chastain was followed by Truex, Justin Haley, Elliott and Brad Keselowski.
Kurt Busch spun off Turn 2 after contact from Allmendinger and wrecked on the backstretch which brought out a caution on Lap 190.
Many lead-lap cars elected to pit but Haley was among those who stayed out and inherited the lead. William Byron – who took two new tires – was first off pit road.
The race resumed on Lap 195 with Haley in the lead, followed by Bowman, Allmendinger and Reddick. Byron lined up ninth and Chastain – on four new tires – 10th.
Joey Logano hit the wall on Turn 1 on Lap 196 after contact with Jones to bring out another caution. The race resumed on Lap 201 with Haley still out front.
On Lap 210, Bowman got around Haley on the inside to move into the lead for the first time in the race. Two laps later, Kyle Busch went to the inside of Bowman and moved into the top spot.
With 25 laps remaining in the stage, Kyle Busch remained out front but Elliott had moved into second as Bowman dropped to third.
On Lap 233, Reddick was forced to pit under green for new tires after a cording issue on his right-front.
After working his way back up to fourth, Hamlin wrecked on the frontstretch on Lap 242 while trying to avoid a spinning Cody Ware, who was three laps down at the time.
Most lead-lap cars pit with Kyle Busch the first off pit road. Blaney was among those who stayed out and inherited the lead. He led the way on the restart with three laps to go in the stage.
Stage 1
Once he returned to the lead, Hamlin easily held off Elliott to take the Stage 1 win.
Bell was third, Chastain fourth and Truex rounded out the top-five.
When the race originally started on Monday, Buescher was on the pole and led the first 18 laps until Hamlin worked his way around him to move into the top spot on Lap 19.
On Lap 42, NASCAR displayed a competition caution to allow teams to check tire wear. All the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Hamlin the first off pit road. Allmendinger was penalized for speeding and had to restart from the rear of the field.
When the race returned to green on Lap 46, Hamlin was followed by Larson, Buescher and Elliott.
On Lap 68, NASCAR was forced to put out a caution as rain began falling around the track. Most of the lead-lap cars pit but Larson stayed out and inherited the lead. Hamlin was first off pit road among those who pit.
The race was about to restart on Lap 78 when the rain quickly returned and the red flag displayed. The race was eventually postponed until noon ET on Monday.
Once the race restarted under caution on Monday, most teams elected not to pit again but Blaney did. Larson led the way on the restart on Lap 84 followed by Elliott and Truex. Hamlin lined up seventh.
Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland were involved in an incident in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 87 to place the race back under caution. Blaney had made contact with Gilliland which started the accident.
The race resumed on Lap 93 with Larson still in the lead followed by Elliott and Hamlin.
Elliott quickly powered to the lead shortly after the restart as Larson dropped to second.
With eight laps remaining in the stage, Hamlin went to the inside of Elliott and reclaimed the lead.
Five drivers had to start the race from the rear of the field – Josh Bilicki and Byron for back-up cars and Harrison Burton, Gilliland and Kurt Busch for unapproved adjustments following impound.
