Elliott Earns Second Clock at Martinsville

Chase Elliott waves to the crowd during introductions at Iowa (Motorsports Today, 2025)

MARTINSVILLE, V.A. - Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott stole the show Sunday, March 29, as he took the win in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott led 84 laps in route to his first victory of 2026, but how Elliott got into position came with a little bit of luck.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin started on pole for the race, and was simply the car to beat all day long. Hamlin led 292 of the 400 laps in the race sweeping both the stages. For the majority of the race, Hamlin's only competition was Penske Racing's Ryan Blaney, who started the race 12th. As the day progressed Blaney found himself trailing Hamlin, even leading six laps before his final green flag stop, trying to overcut Hamlin's strategy.

Unfortunately for both drivers, near perfect races simply would not be enough, as a debris caution on lap 312 changed the entire outcome of the race. Kaulig Racing driver Ty Dillon had a brake fire leading to parts of the rotor coming onto the track in the racing groove.

Prior to this Elliott, who was under and aggressive strategy by crew chief Alan Gustafson opted to short pit the field and break the final stage into two stops. Elliott was 10th when he made his stop, and found himself briefly leading ahead of Hamlin after his stop played out.

Hamlin eventually passed Elliott but the caution came out when he was under fire for Blaney putting him in 2nd.

On lap 325 the caution came back out after an incident with Hamlin's 23XI driver Bubba Wallace and Spire Motorsport driver Carson Hocevar triggering a 12 car incident. Wallace seemingly retaliated to Hocevar after contact the lap previous.

Ross Chastain, who had 14 lap older tires was the leader during this cycle as he had stayed out the caution previous.

On the lap 331 restart, Chastain fired off with the lead again, but this time came with a slip up from Hamlin. Chase Elliott, who was behind Chastain was able to get around Hamlin in turn two, then passed Chastain for the lead out of turn four.

Behind, the controversy stemmed from Hamlin as coming out of turn four Hamlin drove Ryan Blaney into the outside wall causing Blaney to lose multiple positions. The incident similarly shaded memories of Hamlin's incident with Kyle Larson as Pocono a few seasons earlier.

After the race, Blaney called Hamlin's move "unnecessary" and was very frustrated with how he was driven.

Hamlin however didn't stop there as a few laps later he moved Ross Chastain roughly to get to 2nd. Unfortunately for Hamlin over the final 50 laps, Elliott's car was simply good enough to manage traffic and the threat.

In the closing laps Hamlin got as close a few car lengths back, but perfectly timed lap traffic caused him to lose steam leading to Elliott maintaining the gap and earning the win.

It was a huge win for Elliott, as not only was this win his 22nd in the Cup Series, but also a huge one for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole.

Heading into weekend, the organization had been through a rough patch for its standard, as at this time last season, all of the teams cars were inside the top five in points. Elliott entered the Cook Out 400 5th in points, but to many peoples surprise coming off a championship with Kyle Larson the season prior and a new body, Hendrick Motorsports and Chevorlet had not won in 2026.

Elliott nearly won the Daytona 500, but since that moment, Hendrick had not been in a position to win a race, worrying many about its speed. Its safe to say with the win, all those doubts will be shut down heading into the first off week of the season.

OTHER NOTES:

It was another excellent day for Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs. Gibbs finished the race in 4th, also earning valuable stage points as he finished 4th in stage one and 2nd in stage two. While Gibbs did not lead any laps, he earned his 4th top five of 2026. In 2025, Gibbs only tallied five top fives all season long and ten top tens. He exits Martinsville halfway to the top ten total of the previous season already seven races in and sits comfortably 6th in the standings.

Roush Fenway Keselowski had an underwhelming day as a team, but rallied to make to have an average day. Ryan Preece finished 12th after showing some pace early, but the biggest winner was Brad Keselowski, who finished 13th.

Keselowski, who was making his 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start found himself mired outside the top 15 for majority of the race. For Keselowski, capitalizing on the late race mayhem and mid run speed allowed him to recover to the 13th spot allowing him to leave Martinsville 8th in points.

Chris Buescher also had a huge day of recovery after a tire issue early in the 2nd stage caused him to hit pit road. Buescher lost a lap, and found himself trying to get back on the lead lap most of the day, looking for some luck. On the final caution, Buescher earned the free pass putting him back on the lead lap, but he was unable to remain on it, as he finished the race one lap down in 19th. Buescher also exits Martinsville tied with Keselowski for 8th in points.

Lastly, 23XI found its kryptonite as pace came as a struggle at Martinsville. Despite promising lap averages, both cars struggled to race inside the top 10 most of the day, and the final caution triggered by Wallace did no favors. Wallace did not finish the race with significant damage placing him 36th, meanwhile Tyler Reddick finished 9th in stage one, but never found himself naturally in the top ten on pace after. Reddick finished 15th, giving the team an idea of where their short track package is heading to Bristol with an off-week prior.

UP NEXT:

After the weekend off, the NASCAR Cup Series will head to Bristol Motor Speedway for its first of two trips in the 2026 season. The Food City 500 will be raced on Sunday, April 12th, with the green flag slated for 3:00 P.M. ET. Last season Chase Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson dominated the race leading 411 laps in route to victory. Like after Kansas in the playoffs last season, Hendrick looks to use Elliott's win as a huge momentum boost for the organization as it pursues back to back drivers championships.