Tire Strategy Lifts Elliott In Wild Charlotte Xfinity Race

Chase Elliott celebrates in victory lane Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (HHP/Harold Hinson photo)

CONCORD, N.C. – Saving a set of fresh tires for late in the race propelled Chase Elliott to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win in eight years Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Elliott, the 2014 Xfinity Series champion and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series titlist, used clever strategy through the first two stages with the help of crew chief Greg Ives. He passed on pitting for tires toward the end of both stage one and stage two, giving him two sticker sets inside of 90 laps to go to use at will.

That meant that, when Ryan Ellis spun off turn two and backed into the inside wall with 32 laps left, Elliott was able to come down pit road for tires that no one else had to spare – given that the final green-flag cycle of stops exhausted most teams’ tire allotment around the 50-to-go benchmark.

Elliott restarted seventh with 25 to go and pounced quickly, working his way past a crashing Justin Allgaier the lap after the green flag to line up on the front row for an 18-lap shootout.

The Dawsonville, Ga., native easily cruised past late-race dominator Sam Mayer on that restart and never looked back, leading only the final 18 laps en route to his first Xfinity Series win at Charlotte.

Each of Elliott’s six victories at NASCAR’s second-highest level have come at a different racetrack.

“Everyone with Hendrick Motorsports did a great job building us a fast race car, and Greg made a great call that I believe won us the race,” Elliott said after climbing out on the frontstretch. “I felt like I needed a little bit more with my balance [to be where I wanted to be] and to make as much pace as the 7 [Allgaier] and the 1 [Mayer], but we played our cards right and made it pay off in the end.

“Super special to win with the [No.] 17 on the car for the boss [Rick Hendrick] and Linda [Hendrick], the Ricky Hendrick scheme, and it means a lot to all of us who get to be a part of it when we can put it in victory lane.”

Brandon Jones rallied from a loose brake line in the middle of the race to contend late, finishing a half-second back as the runner-up for Hendrick affiliate JR Motorsports.

Jones’ teammate Sammy Smith crossed third, while Mayer faded to fourth in the final laps after scrubbing the outside wall on 12-lap old scuff tires.

Mayer didn’t take the lead until 80 to go, but ultimately led five times for a race-high 44 laps Saturday.

“The strategy call that the 17 (Elliott) had, they played it perfectly and it’s super cool for them. HMS and JR Motorsports are really close, so it’s always neat to see them in victory lane when we can’t be,” said Mayer. “Having three JR Motorsports cars in the top five is a huge day for us as a company, and Justin [Allgaier] would have been as well if not for his crash there toward the end.

“Lot of positives to take away from this one,” he added. “We wanted to win, and I feel like we could have if a few things had played out differently. We’ll take a top-five though, and get set to go road racing, which is a discipline I really enjoy.”

A.J. Allmendinger finished fifth for Kaulig Racing, followed by Cup Series star and all-time Xfinity Series wins leader Kyle Busch in sixth, who made his first Xfinity Series start for Richard Childress Racing.

Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Ty Gibbs, and Noah Gragson closed the top 10.

Chase Elliott (17) battles Taylor Gray (19) and Sheldon Creed at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon. (Jacob Seelman photo)

The biggest moments of the race came on opposite ends of the lap count. Allmendinger tagged Riley Herbst off turn two on lap 30 and sent Herbst crashing into the inside wall on the backstretch.

That ended Herbst’s day and left him last in the 38-car field.

Then with 17 to go, Cole Custer door-slammed Austin Hill down the frontstretch, leading to Hill cutting a right-front tire and taking both he and Custer into the outside wall in turns one and two.

Hill then shoved Custer’s damaged car halfway down the backstretch before turning it down the pavement, where the No. 00 backed into the inside wall and put the defending Xfinity Series champion out of the race.

Custer was scored 32nd in the final rundown.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads back to the West Coast for its next race, the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland (Ore.) Int’l Raceway, on Saturday, June 1.

Broadcast coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.