4 Takeaways From Chase Elliott Outdueling Denny Hamlin At Martinsville
📖 Full Retelling
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin have had some notable Martinsville Speedway battles, but the one Sunday came down to pit strategy. Elliott got track position by pitting earlier than most in the final stage and having the lead when the caution came out with 88 laps remaining. He then outlasted Hamlin, who had dominated the first 300 laps of the race, for the victory. Back in 2017 at Martinsville, Hamlin spun Elliott in an incident that Elliott fans don’t let Hamlin forget. However, today, there were no fireworks or drama between the two. It was just Elliott with the stronger car at the end. "How about that?" Elliott, the 2020 series champion and the sport’s most popular driver, said in his interview on the FS1 telecast. "That was awesome." Here are my takeaways: 1: Elliott Earns Needed HMS Win Hendrick Motorsports badly needed a win after getting shut out in the first six races. Just how uncommon is that? Hendrick had gotten a win in the first three races in each of the last five years. So when Elliott won, it allowed the entire organization to breathe a sigh of relief. "There are high expectations within our walls," Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon said on the FS1 telecast. "Rick [Hendrick] always talks about you build it from the inside. You can't tear it down from the outside, you can tear it down from the inside. "In these moments, I've been around long enough where I've seen us struggle. These guys, they know how to utilize their tools, stick together, work together, share information, get back to the basics. That's what the discussions have been here recently." 2: What Happened To Hamlin? Hamlin sat on the pole and led 292 of the first 317 laps but couldn’t rally to catch Elliott over the final 69-lap green-flag run. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, a 61-time race winner, said in his FS1 interview after the race he believed one of his wheels might have been lose over the final run. "Either way, these are just some of the races that get away from you in your career
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Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin have had some notable Martinsville Speedway battles, but the one Sunday came down to pit strategy. Elliott got track position by pitting earlier than most in the final stage and having the lead when the caution came out with 88 laps remaining. He then outlasted Hamlin, who had dominated the first 300 laps of the race, for the victory. Back in 2017 at Martinsville, Hamlin spun Elliott in an incident that Elliott fans don’t let Hamlin forget. However, today, there were no fireworks or drama between the two. It was just Elliott with the stronger car at the end. "How about that?" Elliott, the 2020 series champion and the sport’s most popular driver, said in his interview on the FS1 telecast. "That was awesome." Here are my takeaways: 1: Elliott Earns Needed HMS Win Hendrick Motorsports badly needed a win after getting shut out in the first six races. Just how uncommon is that? Hendrick had gotten a win in the first three races in each of the last five years. So when Elliott won, it allowed the entire organization to breathe a sigh of relief. "There are high expectations within our walls," Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon said on the FS1 telecast. "Rick [Hendrick] always talks about you build it from the inside. You can't tear it down from the outside, you can tear it down from the inside. "In these moments, I've been around long enough where I've seen us struggle. These guys, they know how to utilize their tools, stick together, work together, share information, get back to the basics. That's what the discussions have been here recently." 2: What Happened To Hamlin? Hamlin sat on the pole and led 292 of the first 317 laps but couldn’t rally to catch Elliott over the final 69-lap green-flag run. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, a 61-time race winner, said in his FS1 interview after the race he believed one of his wheels might have been lose over the final run. "Either way, these are just some of the races that get away from you in your career
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