NEWTON, Iowa — There’s a new leader in NASCAR Cup Series driver’s points.
By virtue of his third-place finish in the inaugural race at Iowa Speedway, Chase Elliott vaulted to the top spot in points – a crown the former champion hasn’t held since 2022.
After qualifying ninth on Saturday, Elliott held even ground at the end of Stage One and finished third in Stage Two for a total of 10 points. He dropped a few spots during final pit stops under yellow on lap 262 but gained them all back for his sixth top-five of the season.
“I was proud of the effort and felt like we had a really good car and were right there in the fight,” Elliott said after the race. “Our balance was just right, and I thought all day we had really good long-run pace. I just really struggled to get going on restarts, and just was really loose and couldn’t. Just felt like I couldn’t attack like I needed to and just lost a lot of ground. Could make good pace there at the end of a run with our NAPA Chevy, just needed to be a little closer I think to keep the pressure on and keep things rolling.”
But it took a little help for him to get the points lead.
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who previously led after winning last week at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, ended up falling out of contention at the beginning of Stage Three. Running fifth on lap 220, Larson got tagged by Daniel Suárez on the exit of turn four and spun up the track into Denny Hamlin, suffering heavy damage.
The 2021 series champion went behind the wall for repairs and lost 36 laps, ultimately finishing the race 34th. That was enough for Elliott to surpass him atop driver’s points.
Before crashing, Larson had a promising afternoon going. After winning the pole Saturday, he led 80 laps and finished second and first in the opening stages respectively. It seemed that he had the car to beat outside of eventual winner Ryan Blaney.
Either way, Elliott will take it.
The 19-time Cup Series winner had a disappointing end to the 2022 season, barely sneaking into the Championship 4 after winning the regular-season title. A snowboarding injury and a one-race suspension halted his 2023 season before ultimately missing the playoffs for the first time in his career.
This year, though, has been a welcomed bounce back. Elliott hasn’t finished worse than 19th through 17 events and broke a 42-race winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He’s completed all but one lap – a wild eighth-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
All things considered, the 28-year-old is happy with the direction his No. 9 team is headed.
“I definitely think we have been closer than we have been,” Elliott said. “That is good and nice to have some consistency across some different styles of racetracks, so happy with all that. We need just a little bit to be where we need to be to lead laps and kind of set the pace. We will keep working at it.”