ELLIOTT, NAPA TEAM FINISH 11TH AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS team finished 11th in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

Elliott and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team took the green flag from the eighth position. The driver of the No. 9 was shuffled outside the top 15 after being stuck in the unfavorable inside lane in the opening laps.

After Elliott radioed to his NAPA team that the grip close to the wall wasn’t as good as during Saturday’s practice sessions, the team elected to make a scheduled green-flag pit stop for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.

When Elliott returned to the track, he was running 17th with a much-improved NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. He moved his way back inside the top 15 as the laps wound down and finished Stage 1 in 13th.

Starting Stage 2 in ninth, Elliott fell to 18th shortly before making a scheduled green-flag pit stop midway through the segment. After the field cycled through their pit stops, Elliott began working his way toward the top ten. He eventually rejoined the top ten with 12 laps to go in Stage 2 and held on to the tenth position through the second green-checkered flag at Lap 120.

Quick work by the No. 9 pit crew between stages gained Elliott five positions before the start of the final segment. After two other cars received penalties, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 lined up third to start the final stage.

Elliott settled in to third on the restart and held a top-ten position until shortly before making a green-flag pit stop on Lap 160. When a caution flag waved after Elliott had made his stop, he took the wave-around to return to the lead lap for the ensuing restart with 31 laps to go. After restarting 11th, Elliott ultimately held on to that spot through the checkered flag.

Start / Finish: 8 / 11 Points Earned: 27 Points Standing / Total: 12th / 135 pts.

Next Race: March 24, Martinsville 500, Martinsville Speedway How to Watch or Listen: 2:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

NAPA:@NAPARacing Chase Elliott:@ChaseElliott Hendrick Motorsports:@TeamHendrick No. 9 Team:@Hendrick9Team