Chase Elliott earned victory in the rain-shortened inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas on Sunday.
Elliott took the lead for the first time on Lap 50 and led the last five circuits before the caution came out with 15 laps remaining. The red flag was displayed with 14 laps to go in order to clear standing water on the 3.41-mile road course, but NASCAR officials declared the race official shortly afterward.
Sunday’s victory in the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix serves as Elliott’s fifth win in the last six road-course races and the first of the 2021 season for the defending champion.
Elliott’s 12th career Cup Series victory served Hendrick Motorsports’ 268th NASCAR Cup Series victory, tying Petty Enterprises for the most victories all-time by an organization. It was also Chevrolet’s 800th Cup Series win.
Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson finished second, followed by Joey Logano, Ross Chastain and AJ Allmendinger to complete the top five. Rookie Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.
Cole Custer and Martin Truex Jr. collided on the backstretch going into Turn 12 on Lap 24. Red flag was displayed for clean-up efforts for 20 minutes and 54 seconds. Neither driver were able to continue.
Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace got together early in Stage 2 as rain continued to fall on the 20-turn road course. Bell, Harvick and Wallace were forced to retire from the race.
Blaney went to the rear after making an unapproved adjustment during a pit stop before the race started. Teams were only permitted to change from slick tires to wet-weather tires, but the No. 12 Team Penske team made a tape adjustment. He finished 17th.
Logano earned the Stage 1 victory to pick up a playoff point, while Kyle Busch took the green-white-checkered flag in Stage 2.
Next up for the Cup Series is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 30 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
