Ryan Ellis scored an emotional 8th-place finish in the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
CONCORD, N.C. –After waiting for 143 races, one of the longest-tenured NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers finally achieved a huge milestonw in Saturday’s BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as journeyman Ryan Ellis finished in eight place.
The top 10 also marks a career best finish, previously holding two 11th-place finishes at Talladega Superspeedway in 2023, and last season’s opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Ellis began on Saturday, struggling in both practice and qualifying, ranking 21st on the speed charts before qualifying down in 30th alongside JJ Yeley in row 15 for the 200-lap duel.
The Torrance, California, native remained quiet throughout the majority of the opening 45-lap stage, hovering inside the top 30 before the end of Stage 1.
Ellis still maintained his No. 71 DGM Racing Chevrolet Camaro on the lead lap as he ultimately finished 27th to close out Stage 1.
The 35-year-old Xfinity Series veteran played the same game for the entirety of Stage 2, fighting with fellow drivers Josh Williams and Daniel Dye for the 26th position, with Ellis getting the best of Dye for a 25th-place result in Stage 2.
Ryan Ellis survived multiple late-race cautions and avoided chaos all afternoon. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
After the seventh caution, the race resumed due to Carson Kvapil’s tire going down as he entered Turn 3. Ellis was in for a long fight to the finish since the race was far from over at that point.
During Lap 183, three consecutive yellow flags allowed Ellis to strategically advance in the standings as multiple cars began to drop out of the race. Notably, several serious crashes took out key competitors, including pole sitter Taylor Gray.
As the final stage progressed, Ellis benefited from running long on his pit strategy in the final stage and getting a perfectly-timed caution. After fading some in the preceding restarts, Ellis moved back into the top 10 after a late-race crash collected several cars ahead of him during the final lap.
As the 11th and final caution of the day came out, Ellis found himself in the 12th spot for the final 2-lap sprint, working past Christian Eckes to break into the top 10 on the white flag, before making one final pass over Sheldon Creed to finish ninth unofficially.
Ellis was granted an eighth-place effort after the original fifth-place finisher, Sammy Smith, failed post-race technical inspection.
“I feel like a lot of weight is off my shoulders now,” Ellis told Declan Wayman of The Podium Finish after an emotional interview. “It makes me think a lot less, I feel like I’m 10 years younger, but now I feel the same I do today.”
Ellis, who’s in his first year with DGM Racing, explained about the type of momentum boost this will give to the driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet as the tour enters the summer months of the season.
“We’re going to a couple of tracks, Nashville (Superspeedway), I feel pretty good about that place, Mexico City, and some other tracks that were going to, I’m just living in this moment, I beat myself up a lot over some moments in the car and some of the decisions I’ve made on the track. I’m just going to soak up this finish for a long time.”
Ellis had to fight for the top 10 finish after surviving several late race cautions that he narrowly avoided within the final 15 laps of Saturday’s event.
“I was counting (laps) a lot, and then just putting myself in a situation where someone would not knock me up the track, I kept beating myself up over the choose cone, and luckily I was able to gauge things that did and didn’t work and that helped to take some thinking out of it. ”
The driver of the No. 71 moves up to 25th in the Xfinity Series standings as he takes on Nashville Superspeedway next Saturday afternoon.
