Chase Elliott had a strong performance in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing second and collecting 40 championship points. (Photo: Justin Sheldon | The Podium Finish)
LAS VEGAS – A solid day was just what the doctor ordered for Chase Elliott in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His second-place finish was both much needed and bittersweet as he had the lead in his sights on a couple of occasions throughout the day.
Starting in the 15th position, Elliott did not get the clean air necessary for a lightning-fast car in the beginning. However, as the day progressed, the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet improved, growing tighter with time.
Just 13 laps into Stage 2, after a lengthy clean run, Elliott was challenging for the lead on the bottom of the racetrack. He went three-wide with his teammate Kyle Larson and polesitter Christopher Bell, nearly snatching the first position away to lead his first lap at Las Vegas in the Gen 7 car. Unfortunately, a quick bump from another Hendrick teammate, William Byron, launched Larson to the front of the group, leaving Elliott on the bottom, but still in the top five.
During green flag pit stops with a little over half of the race left to go, Elliott was happy with how the car was changing with the track conditions. His loose condition was improving and confidence in a shot at Victory Lane grew. However, some trouble on the left side tires resulted in a slower stop and set the No. 9 back compared to his fellow frontrunners.
Chase Elliott during driver introductions for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 15, 2026. (Photo: Justin Sheldon | The Podium Finish)
The small hitch did not slow Elliott down, though, as he stayed up front for the rest of the race. In the end, he reeled in race leader Denny Hamlin and could almost feel the checkered flag in his hands. There were just not enough laps left, and Elliott was left finishing second, just 0.502 seconds behind Hamlin.
“It was definitely better there towards the end than when we had started the run and I thought there might be an opportunity,” Elliott said to Fox Sports 1 post-race. “He [Hamlin] was starting to get tight there at the end of the runs, but, man, as bummed as I am to come up that close to a win, I have to kind of bring myself back to a reality check and just how much better we ran today than we’ve been running.”
Elliott’s second top-five of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season wrangled him 40 points, holding his top five position in the championship standings. Now that a Chase format is back for the Cup Series, every point and position counts. Despite not getting the win in Sin City, the solid performance paid dividends for the 2020 champion.
“It was a really solid day,” Elliott said. “Obviously bummed, you know, to come up that short. I wish I could have pieced together just a little better a couple laps there towards the end. Trying to be as tidy as I could be, but he [Hamlin] did a really good job.”
The talk of the weekend was how well the Toyotas were expected to perform on the bumpy 1.5-mile track. However, regardless of Joe Gibbs Racing’s win, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets ended up putting on quite a show challenging the Toyotas at the front of the field. Elliott and his Hendrick teammates led that charge and heading into another challenging racetrack in Darlington Raceway next weekend, the momentum was more important than ever.
