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Chase Elliot Wins Rain Shortened Texas Grand Prix

Chase Elliott’s Texas Grand Prix victory after 54 of the expected 68 laps at the Circuit of the Americas was win No. 800 for Chevrolet and No. 268 for Hendrick Motorsports, which tied Petty Enterprises for most victories.

 

Elliott managed the slipping and sliding, the standing water and the poor visibility that made it hard for drivers to see just a few feet in front of them.

 

And when NASCAR’s debut at the Circuit of the Americas ended early because of poor racing conditions in the rain, Elliott had earned not just his first victory of the season, but also historic ones for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet.

 

Sunday’s race will be notable for ending defending Cup champion Elliott’s winless drought, and for putting the drivers through a soggy and occasionally muddy mess before it was ended under the second red flag of the afternoon as the rain only got worse.

 

Elliott’s teammate, Kyle Larson, and Team Penske’s Joey Logano rounded out the top three.

Elliott earned his sixth career road course victory, and has won five of the last six road races in the Cup Series. He has 12 Cup wins overall.

 

The race call was a disappointing finish to the series’ first run at a track built for Formula One, and organizers will have to decide if they want to make the Austin track a regular stop.

 

The rain started on the opening lap. The trickiest section to drive was the long, high-speed straight as the drivers risked hydroplaning or not being able to see through the spray kicked up by the cars around them.

 

The worst crash came when Cole Custer, seeking a visible racing line, smashed into the back of Martin Truex Jr. — who had just hit Michael McDowell — and Custer’s front end briefly burst into a fireball on lap 25. Both drivers were checked at the medical center and released.

 

Larson shrugged off some of the concerns. He was in late position to challenge Elliott for the win before the race ended.

 

Tyler Reddick earned his first career Cup Series pole position and the first road course pole for Richard Childress Racing since Dale Earnhardt at Watkins Glen in 1996.

 

Reddick was just seven months old when Earnhardt led 54 laps of that race despite driving with a broken collarbone and sternum suffered in a crash two weeks earlier at Talladega. Earnhardt waved off his reserve driver at the first pit stop that day, but ultimately faded to a sixth-place finish.

 

Reddick finished ninth Sunday.

 

NASCAR heads to North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway next Sunday before a return to road racing at Sonoma Raceway.

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