NASCAR: Chase Elliott wins Bristol All-Star Race

Chase Elliott became the 25th different driver to win the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race in the first All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Elliott name is now two for two in terms of winning NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Races that have been contested at tracks other than Charlotte Motor Speedway.

For the first time in the race’s 36-year history, the All-Star Race was contested at Bristol Motor Speedway. It hadn’t been run at a venue other than Charlotte Motor Speedway since it was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in 1986.

Bill Elliott won that race 34 years ago, and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott won this evening’s race.

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Elliott, who started this 140-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee in 13th place in his #9 Chevrolet, held off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in second place by 0.418 seconds to win the $1 million prize.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who came into the pits for new tires ahead of the race’s final 15-lap stage, was only able to utilize that fresh rubber to climb up to third place in his #4 Ford.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski finished in fourth place in his #2 Ford ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in fifth in his #11 Toyota and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in sixth in his #12 Ford.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 10 by finishing in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #22 Ford, #88 Chevrolet, #10 Ford and #19 Toyota, respectively.

Almirola was the highest finisher among the four drivers who entered the 85-lap All-Star Open earlier this evening without having already qualified for the All-Star Race.

This race featured a total of six lead changes among four drivers. Blaney led more laps than anybody else in the field with 72 laps led while Elliott won after leading 60 of the last 79 circuits. The race’s other two leaders were Harvick, who led six laps, and Bowman, who led two laps after starting from the pole position.

Bowman started the race from the pole position after Truex, who was originally slated to lead the field to the green flag, was penalized and sent to the rear of the field after his #19 Toyota failed pre-race inspection twice.

Blaney won stage one while Elliott won stage two and stage three before going on to lead all 15 laps of the final stage.

The race featured only two incident-related caution flag periods, with the other three having taken place to end the race’s first three stages.

The first incident-related caution flag period took place in the first stage and involved Keselowski getting into the back of the #1 Chevrolet of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch. The second took place in the second stage and involved a spin by Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Chase Elliott
2nd – Kyle Busch
3rd – Kevin Harvick
4th – Brad Keselowski
5th – Denny Hamlin
6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Joey Logano
8th – Alex Bowman
9th – Aric Almirola
10th – Martin Truex Jr.
11th – Erik Jones
12th – William Byron
13th – Matt DiBenedetto
14th – Justin Haley
15th – Clint Bowyer
16th – Cole Custer
17th – Jimmie Johnson
18th – Matt Kenseth
19th – Ryan Newman
20th – Kurt Busch

The next points-paying race on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, which is scheduled to take place this Sunday, July 19 at Texas Motor Speedway. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.