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Chase Elliott builds on positive momentum with Martinsville top-5

The No. 9 team is building momentum into the spring stretch

NASCAR: NOCO 400
Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Chase Elliott is still seeking his first NASCAR Cup Series since October 2022 at Talladega but the past month has been a return to form that most recently included a chance at winning Martinsville on Sunday.

Elliott spent a near majority of the race inside the top-five and restarted alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron as a late caution sent the race into overtime. Elliott gave Byron a hearty shove into the corner but not enough to wreck him but did cost him second place to Kyle Larson.

From there, Elliott turned his attention towards securing a Hendrick Motrosports 1-2-3, which he did by holding off Bubba Wallace for fourth on the final lap.

ā€œI had an okay jump,ā€ Elliott said. ā€œJust couldnā€™t make it stick there on the outside. Got into (Turn) 3 and tried to root him up off the bottom and went to get the power down to get up underneath him and I just couldnā€™t do it. And then I tried to run in really hard into (Turn) 1 and roll a little bit of a diamond and couldnā€™t make that stick either. So, at that point, I figured what was second or third? Who cares at that point? You try to go for the win or not.ā€

So even if it wasnā€™t the way he, crew chief Alan Gustafson and their No. 9 team drew it up, Elliott ended up going to victory lane to celebrate the win with the entire organization on a very meaningful day for Hendrick Motorsports.

ā€œHappy for William, happy for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports,ā€ Elliott said. ā€œReally special to have all of our folks here ā€” there are a lot of them and their families. Hate Rick (Hendrick, car owner) couldnā€™t be here today and (Rickā€™s wife) Linda but certainly happy and proud to be a part of their organization and ultimately their family.ā€

Elliott had finished outside of the top-10 in four of the first five races but now has a fifth and a third the past two weeks, feeling more like the contender from years past.

ā€œNice to have a couple solid weeks, to be in contention there for a win. Havenā€™t been in contention to win one in a while,ā€ Elliott said. ā€œIt was fun to kind of get to that last restart and it actually mattered. Enjoyed that aspect. Certainly hungry for more.

ā€œI feel like throughout a lot of the season this year, weā€™ve been working in a good direction, working really good together. Pit stops have been really good. Alan has been calling really good races.

ā€œAll that stuff has been going in a really positive direction, in my opinion. I think if we can just keep producing that, weā€™ll get our turn one day.ā€

Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him onĀ Twitter.

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