FONTANA, Calif.: After a rough start to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott put together a quiet top-five finish in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway.
With finishes of 17th and 26th at Daytona and Las Vegas, the Dawsonville, Ga. native was hoping for a good run in Southern California to carry his Hendrick Motorsports team through the remainder of the West Coast Swing.
Overall, Hendrick Motorsports had a strong Sunday in Fontana. Alex Bowman dominated the 400-mile race and earned his second NASCAR Cup Series victory while Elliott took fourth, 13.7-seconds behind Bowman.
The driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet found himself mired in traffic throughout the race but as the final stage went green to the checkered flag – Elliott used track position and a better handling race car to earn his best finish at Auto Club in five Cup starts.
“It was decent,” said Elliott of the race. “I feel like we were better than we’ve been, which is good. Not good enough to win, obviously, but better than we’ve been. So, we’ll take it and move on.”
Sundays’ finish though was more than just another top-five finish for the record books. Elliott and his Alan Gustafson led-team contended for the win in last Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas but while contending for the race win, Elliott blew a right-front tire at Lap 220 of 267 ending his opportunity for a seventh career Cup win.
The strength of the Chevrolet teams is always giving Elliott and his teammates a boost. With a similar aerodynamic package from the 2018 season awaiting the competition next weekend at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway and the 24-year-old’s success in the desert, the 2014 Xfinity Series champion is poised to continue his presence to close out the West Coast Swing.
“It (Bowman’s win) was good for our company and hopefully we can keep it rolling,” Elliott added.
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