NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie Chase Elliot added another trophy to his resume tonight by winning the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. In a field that was filled with young talent, Elliot proved why so many people think he has the brightest future of all of NASCAR’s young drivers. At times the #9 car did not appear to have the fastest car on the track. Ryan Blaney, Brian Scott, and Kyle Larson all had shares of the lead throughout different segments of the night. However, Elliot managed to keep his car at the front of the pack throughout the night and laid down some of the fastest laps of the night during the last green flag runs to bring home his 3rd victory of the season while also taking control of the Nationwide Series points lead.
As most are aware, Elliot made a name for himself very early this season with back to back wins at Texas and Darlington. In recent weeks, Elliot had faded out of the spotlight just a bit. Not that the #9 team was running bad but because they were not seriously contending for race wins. However Elliot proved once again that he is a force on the 1.5 mile tracks and is far ahead of the curve when it comes to competition around his experience level. Outside of Elliot’s brilliant performance, Trevor Bayne also posted a noteworthy performance. Bayne’s #6 car was the fastest car on the track during the last two green flag runs. The #6 team used some strategy to get towards the front with a late pit stop and simply ran out of time trying to run down the #9 car of Elliot in the closing laps. A few other noteworthy mentions include Ty Dillon who earned his first Top 5 of the season and Erik Jones who finished 7th in his first career Nationwide Series start. Next week the Nationwide Series will accompany the Sprint Cup guys at Indianapolis Speedway for a full weekend of racing. Also, be sure to check back with us early this week as the Camping World Truck Series makes their exciting return to dirt at Eldora Speedway this Wednesday night in the 1800CarCash Mudsummer Classic.
POS |
DRIVER |
CAR # |
MANUFACTURER |
LAPS |
START |
LED |
1 |
Chase Elliott |
9 |
Chevrolet |
200 |
3 |
85 |
2 |
Trevor Bayne |
6 |
Ford |
200 |
11 |
14 |
3 |
Kyle Larson |
42 |
Chevrolet |
200 |
12 |
23 |
4 |
Kasey Kahne |
5 |
Chevrolet |
200 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
Ty Dillon |
3 |
Chevrolet |
200 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
Brian Scott |
2 |
Chevrolet |
200 |
1 |
20 |
7 |
Erik Jones |
20 |
Toyota |
200 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
Chris Buescher |
60 |
Ford |
200 |
13 |
1 |
9 |
Ryan Blaney |
22 |
Ford |
200 |
8 |
47 |
10 |
Elliott Sadler |
11 |
Toyota |
200 |
7 |
1 |
11 |
Brendan Gaughan |
62 |
Chevrolet |
200 |
9 |
0 |
12 |
Cale Conley |
33 |
Chevrolet |
199 |
10 |
0 |
13 |
Jeremy Clements |
51 |
Chevrolet |
199 |
21 |
0 |
14 |
J.J. Yeley |
28 |
Dodge |
199 |
18 |
0 |
15 |
Ryan Reed |
16 |
Ford |
198 |
14 |
0 |
16 |
Regan Smith |
7 |
Chevrolet |
198 |
15 |
0 |
17 |
Dylan Kwasniewski |
31 |
Chevrolet |
198 |
19 |
0 |
18 |
Ryan Sieg |
39 |
Chevrolet |
198 |
17 |
0 |
19 |
Mike Bliss |
19 |
Toyota |
198 |
22 |
0 |
20 |
Dakoda Armstrong |
43 |
Ford |
197 |
26 |
1 |
21 |
Landon Cassill |
01 |
Chevrolet |
197 |
24 |
0 |
22 |
David Starr |
44 |
Toyota |
197 |
27 |
0 |
23 |
James Buescher |
99 |
Toyota |
196 |
16 |
3 |
24 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt |
4 |
Chevrolet |
196 |
29 |
0 |
25 |
Eric McClure |
14 |
Toyota |
196 |
25 |
0 |
26 |
Jamie Dick |
55 |
Chevrolet |
193 |
34 |
0 |
27 |
John Wes Townley |
25 |
Toyota |
193 |
23 |
0 |
28 |
Chad Boat |
84 |
Chevrolet |
192 |
20 |
0 |
29 |
Tanner Berryhill |
17 |
Dodge |
192 |
30 |
0 |
30 |
Derrike Cope |
70 |
Chevrolet |
190 |
35 |
0 |
31 |
Joey Gase |
52 |
Chevrolet |
188 |
31 |
0 |
32 |
Richard Harriman |
23 |
Chevrolet |
112 |
38 |
0 |
33 |
Josh Reaume |
87 |
Chevrolet |
107 |
37 |
0 |
34 |
Matt DiBenedetto |
40 |
Chevrolet |
50 |
28 |
0 |
35 |
Carl Long |
72 |
Chevrolet |
15 |
36 |
0 |
36 |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
54 |
Toyota |
7 |
6 |
0 |
37 |
Ryan Ellis |
46 |
Chevrolet |
6 |
40 |
0 |
38 |
Mike Harmon |
93 |
Dodge |
6 |
39 |
0 |
39 |
Blake Koch |
10 |
Toyota |
4 |
33 |
0 |
40 |
Kevin Lepage |
74 |
Dodge |
3 |
32 |
0 |