DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team knew from the jump that Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway was going to be contested one.
Mother Nature at the “Monster Mile” certainly proved as such. With on-track activity Saturday rained out, Elliott — despite being awarded the pole — had to contend with not only a competitive Cup field but also a new tire compound on the fly. While he didn’t find Victory Lane at the concrete 1-miler, Elliott overcame late-race cautions, weather delays and strategy jumbles to collect a sixth-place finish and claim possession of the top spot in the regular-season championship table.
It’s just the fourth race all year that teammate William Byron hasn’t paced the series standings, and Elliott’s first time leading the Cup field since last July.
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“Been really proud of the effort all day,” Chase Elliott said to TNT Sports during a weather delay in the final stage. “Couple little hiccups here and there, but had a nice recovery to get back to the lead and didn’t want to see that caution. I was hoping I was settling in for the last run of the day, but it’s part of it. It can change really fast.”
Despite a lack of on-track time, Elliott quickly illustrated the No. 9’s brisk speed during the opening portions of Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, leading 171 of the first 184 circuits and winning Stage 1 over Christopher Bell and eventual race winner Denny Hamlin. Trouble, however, arose during a Stage 2 pit visit after a jack issue resulted in a 15-second stop and loss of the race lead.
“The jack post wasn’t as deep on the jack plate as you typically would like, and just the amount of force we’re applying to the end of those handles, sometimes it’ll pop out of there,” No. 9 jackman TJ Semke told NASCAR.com. “That was obviously unfortunate. You never want to be leading the race and make a mistake, regardless of where you’re running, but especially not leading the race. But fortunately, it didn’t hinder us too much, and we were able to bounce back and gain a couple spots. Good restart by Chase, fighting the 20 (Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing) there and ended up back in the lead. So, fortunately, didn’t kill us too bad, but that’s always frustrating when it happens.”
The mistake didn’t shake Elliott, either.
“You know you’re still early enough in the event at that point that there’s still a lot of time to recover,” Elliott said. “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows all the time, so you just have to deal with whatever comes your way, and we had an issue come our way and I felt like we’ve dealt with it well.”
And recover Elliott did, finishing Stage 2 in fourth and regaining the race lead before settling inside the top three as the final stage waned. Adversity again reared its head, though, when the yellow flag waved on Lap 337 due to weather and again on Lap 384 due to a Ross Chastain spin, with the red flag subsequently flying on Lap 387 for a downpour, just 13 laps from the race’s conclusion.
Strategy then came into play even more. Elliott, who pitted 10 laps before the Lap 337 yellow, had to decide on strategy coming out of the 56-minute red flag when it came to pitting again once the race resumed. The No. 9 team stayed out, and while Elliott faltered from a top-three racing position, the 2020 Cup Series champion had enough speed to wheel a sixth-place finish, his ninth result of sixth or better in 2025.
“It’s tough to call these races,” Semke said. “We’re just sitting there fighting, trying to figure out what’s going on. I think the biggest challenge during a rain delay is keeping your body and your mind in it. You’re fatigued, you’re tired. It rains, you’re soaking wet. It gets steamy outside, so your firesuit gains about 20 more pounds, and it’s really difficult, but ultimately, Alan (Gustafson, No. 9 crew chief) did a great job today. Chase did a great job, and I think us as a pit crew did a great job bouncing back from my mistake.”
Elliott’s 48 points at Dover were the third-most out of any driver (Hamlin 57, Alex Bowman 49). Elliott’s 238 laps led during the race, meanwhile, were the most for the No. 9 pilot in any Cup contest since leading 289 circuits at Martinsville Speedway in October 2021.
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With five regular-season races remaining, Elliott will aim to continue positive momentum and build on his 16-point lead over Byron in the regular-season championship standings. The Cup Series field heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“The last little little stretch here, whether it’s Chase, whether it’s a pit crew, anybody, I think we’re just doing a good job of building confidence,” Semke said, “and I think when you do get opportunities to start up front and you’re feeling confident, you’re in a rhythm, I think you can go out there and perform like that. Sometimes, things out of your control go against you, and it just feels like you’re just banging your head against the wall, but you could tell he’s obviously in a good rhythm.”
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