It took the better half of 500 laps at Martinsville on Sunday, but years after his run-in with Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott has punched his ticket into the Championship 4. Something that has eluded Elliott for the entirety of his career is now just one solid day away.
Elliott’s victory is the 10th victory of his career and fourth of the 2020 season, but it didn’t come unearned.
Elliott lead 236 laps throughout the day and had to turn on the jets in the final stage. He had lead a good chunk of laps in both the first and second stages, but the running order got shuffled and Elliott had to make some moves.
With less than 100 laps to go, he came out of the pits in ninth and made his way through the pack to pass Martin Truex Jr. for the race lead.
The pass on Truex costed him his Championship 4 hopes, but clinched Elliott his first appearance in NASCAR’s version of Championship Sunday.
He’ll be joined by Hamlin, who is also trying for his first championship, along with 2012 winner Brad Keselowski and 2018 champ Joey Logano.
Missing the playoffs most notably is regular season champion Kevin Harvick, who had won nine races during the year.
He fell one spot short of reaching the final round after a flat tire put him two laps down early in the race.
Harvick ended the day with a P17 finish and even tried to spin Kyle Busch coming to the start/finish line to secure the final spot.
Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch spin in the last corner!
Kevin Harvick has been eliminated from the #NASCARPlayoffs. pic.twitter.com/Ju7PoN1Wrm
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 1, 2020
Harvick just didn’t make it. His P2, P16, and P17 finishes in this round’s races weren’t enough to earn a spot.
He told members of the media after the race that NASCAR’s playoff system is, “skewed toward entertainment,” and that he wasn’t that upset to not qualify. He called the championship a ‘bonus.’
For the four drivers that made the Championship 4 field, however, they’ll turn their attention to the season finale.
Sunday’s race at Phoenix is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. CT and will be televised nationally on NBC.
NASCAR Martinsville Playoff Results
1. Chase Elliott (P)
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Joey Logano (P)
4. Brad Keselowski (P)
5. Kurt Busch (P)
6. Alex Bowman (P)
7. Aric Almirola
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Kyle Busch
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Denny Hamlin (P)
12. Erik Jones
13. Cole Custer
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Christopher Bell
16. Ty Dillon
17. Kevin Harvick (P)
18. Ryan Newman
19. Ryan Preece
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21. Bubba Wallace
22. Martin Truex Jr. (P)
23. Austin Dillon
24. Tyler Reddick
25. Corey Lajoie
26. John Hunter Nemechek
27. Daniel Suarez
28. Michael McDowell
29. Timmy Hill
30. Jimmie Johnson
31. J.J. Yeley
32. Josh Bilicki
33. Quin Houff
34. Joey Gase
35. William Byron
36. James Davison
37. Brennan Poole
38. Chris Buescher
39. Garrett Smithley
