NASCAR Cup Talladega: Elliott beats Blaney for crucial victory
Chase Elliott profited from an Erik Jones shove on the final lap to beat Ryan Blaney to win the NASCAR Cup race at Talladega and book his place in the next stage of the playoffs.
After a late caution for a stalled car at the end of the pitlane, Blaney led the way with two laps to go and remained in front at the start of the final of the 188 laps.
As the field came off Turn 4, Blaney was on the inside with Michael McDowell behind him, while Elliott ran up top with Jones behind him.
Jones gave Elliott a shove to push him past Blaney for the lead and the two ended up racing side-by-side to the chequered flag, with Elliott winning by 0.046 seconds.
Elliott becomes the first playoff-contending driver to win one of the playoff races this season, and automatically advances to the semi-final round regardless of how he finishes in next weekend’s race at the Charlotte Roval.
The win is the fifth this season for Elliott, the most of any driver, and 18th of his career.
“It was a wild last couple laps. I wasn’t super crazy about being on the bottom [lane] and fortunately I got just clear enough off of [Turn] 2 to slide up in front of Erik.
“He gave me some great shoves. He’s a Team Chevy partner there. Just had a good enough run to get out front and then was able to stay far enough in front of Ryan at the line to get it done.
“These things are so hard to win and you have to enjoy them. I just appreciate everybody’s effort today. We’re getting ready to go to the Roval and try to grab another one.”
Race winner Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Tucked up behind Blaney saw McDowell take third, clear of Ross Chastain in fourth, as Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
Having played an assisting role in Elliott’s win, Jones faded to the line in sixth place but ahead of Todd Gilliland and Daniel Suarez, as Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe completed the top 10 in Talladega.
With one race remaining in the second round of the playoffs, the four drivers lowest in the points and in danger of elimination next week at Charlotte are Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Cindric.
NASCAR Cup Talladega II - Race Results
| Cla | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Elliott |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.307 | ||
| 2 | Ryan Blaney |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'23.353 | 0.046 | 0.046 |
| 3 | Michael McDowell |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'23.401 | 0.094 | 0.048 |
| 4 | Ross Chastain |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.467 | 0.160 | 0.066 |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin |
Toyota | 188 | 3:15'23.490 | 0.183 | 0.023 |
| 6 | Erik Jones |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.558 | 0.251 | 0.068 |
| 7 | Todd Gilliland |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'23.591 | 0.284 | 0.033 |
| 8 |  Daniel Suarez |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.603 | 0.296 | 0.012 |
| 9 | Austin Cindric |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'23.619 | 0.312 | 0.016 |
| 10 | Chase Briscoe |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'23.629 | 0.322 | 0.010 |
| 11 | Landon Cassill |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.651 | 0.344 | 0.022 |
| 12 | William Byron |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.688 | 0.381 | 0.037 |
| 13 | Austin Dillon |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.714 | 0.407 | 0.026 |
| 14 | Aric Almirola |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'23.753 | 0.446 | 0.039 |
| 15 | Justin Haley |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.770 | 0.463 | 0.017 |
| 16 | Bubba Wallace |
Toyota | 188 | 3:15'23.771 | 0.464 | 0.001 |
| 17 | Christopher Bell |
Toyota | 188 | 3:15'23.838 | 0.531 | 0.067 |
| 18 | Kyle Larson |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.841 | 0.534 | 0.003 |
| 19 | Noah Gragson |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'23.906 | 0.599 | 0.065 |
| 20 | Kyle Busch |
Toyota | 188 | 3:15'23.908 | 0.601 | 0.002 |
| 21 | Cole Custer |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'24.222 | 0.915 | 0.314 |
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'24.683 | 1.376 | 0.461 |
| 23 | Ty Dillon |
Chevrolet | 188 | 3:15'24.812 | 1.505 | 0.129 |
| 24 | Brad Keselowski |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'25.087 | 1.780 | 0.275 |
| 25 | Chris Buescher |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'25.239 | 1.932 | 0.152 |
| 26 | Martin Truex Jr. |
Toyota | 188 | 3:15'25.655 | 2.348 | 0.416 |
| 27 | Joey Logano |
Ford | 188 | 3:15'26.369 | 3.062 | 0.714 |
| 28 | Tyler Reddick |
Chevrolet | 187 | 3:15'28.473 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick |
Ford | 187 | 3:15'29.074 | 1 Lap | 0.601 |
| 30 | Justin Allgaier |
Chevrolet | 186 | 3:15'35.052 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap |
| 31 | J.J. Yeley |
Ford | 184 | 3:15'29.759 | 4 Laps | 2 Laps |
| 32 | Cody Ware |
Ford | 184 | 3:15'31.620 | 4 Laps | 1.861 |
| 33 | B.J. McLeod |
Ford | 182 | 3:15'33.000 | 6 Laps | 2 Laps |
| 34 | Daniel Hemric |
Chevrolet | 180 | 3:06'38.724 | 8 Laps | 2 Laps |
| 35 | Corey Lajoie |
Chevrolet | 44 | 49'03.236 | 144 Laps | 136 Laps |
| 36 | Harrison Burton |
Ford | 23 | 23'32.693 | 165 Laps | 21 Laps |
| 37 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 23 | 23'32.975 | 165 Laps | 0.282 |
| View full results | ||||||
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