"HELL YEAH, BABY!" - Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott uses pit-strategy and strong re-starts to claim the checkered flag for the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover

Sunday looked like it was going to be a big day for Stewart-Haas Racing at Dover. Kevin Harvick dominated the first two-thirds of the race and after he fell to another pit-stop mishap his teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer battled it out for the lead. When the dust settled, Chase Elliott recovered from an early race penalty to win the Gander Outdoors 400 in overtime. It was a beautiful redemption for Chase who nearly won this race last year before losing out to Kyle Busch on the next-to-last lap.

"Definitely think it makes it sweeter, for sure," Elliott said. "You don’t appreciate it in those moments, but to come back here and have the day we had. We get to move on to the next round, and I don’t have to worry about Talladega next week. It’s just a hell of a day."

After the green flag fell to start the race, it seemed like Kevin Harvick was going to be the big winner of the day. Harvick, who started on the pole after rain washed out qualifying on Friday, darted out into the lead and led 286 of the first 321 laps. Yet Harvick has suffered from pit-road issues all season and they reared their ugly head once again after a loose lug nut knocked the valve stem off on of his tires during a green flag pit-stop. Harvick was forced to re-pit to change his flat tire two laps later and fell a lap off the lead. Although he managed to make it back to the lead lap, the incident took him out of contention for the win and he settled for a sixth place finish.

After Harvick gave up the lead, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer battled it out for first place. Almirola surged ahead when Bowyer was forced to pit after getting a flat tire after making contact with Ryan Newman. Bowyer returned to the track, but suffered an equipment failure on Lap 392 and slammed hard into the wall to bring out the yellow flag.

Almirola gave up the lead when he pitted and several cars remained on the track, including Chase Elliott who was gambling with tires more than 50 laps old. When the race re-started, Chase Elliott surged into the lead and held on for two re-starts, the final one in overtime. Chase led the final 11 laps of the race, the only laps he led all afternoon.

"I just feel like I’ve messed it up so many times," said Elliott. "I was like hey, here’s your opportunity to make it right and to do it right. I don’t know. Today just felt different. Like in those positions, I just felt more confident and just excited about the opportunity instead of unsure of what was going to happen. It’s just amazing and I just love the opportunity that Mr. Hendrick has given me. I’m glad he was able to be here today for our second win of the year."

Denny Hamlin was right on Elliott's back bumper for the last eleven laps, but just couldn't find a way to move past. Hamlin had to settle for a runner-up finish and is still looking for his first victory of the season. This is Hamlin's 13th full Cup Series season and he has won at least one race in each of the previous twelve. That record is in jeopardy with only six races remaining in 2018.

"I ran as hard as I could through 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. I just couldn’t get beside him," said Hamlin. "We chipped away at it all day long, kept moving up through the field and got here. This is kind of where we deserved. Proud of this finish and we’ll move on to the next race. … Glad to see me and Chase could finish 1-2 here in a playoff race and not have any controversy, so happy for those guys."

Joey Logano crossed the finish line in third place while Erik Jones and Kurt Busch round out the top-five. Kevin Harvick finished in sixth and earned two bonus points for taking the checkered green for Stage One and Stage Two.

Click here for full race results.

The Gander Outdoors 400 was the first of three races which make-up the second elimination round of the NASCAR playoffs. The field of 12 drivers will be cut to 8 after the third race at Kansas on October 21. Chase Elliott's win guarantees he will advance to third round.

NASCAR's Big Three of Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. hold the top three spots in the playoffs point standings in that order. All three are in a strong position to advance even without a win in the next two races.

Alex Bowman is currently in 12th place and will need a win to advance to the third round. Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Larson also currently sit below the cut-off line, but can still advance based on points scored over the next two races. Ryan Blaney sits in 8th and holds a slim ten point lead over Almirola & Bowyer and a twelve point lead over Larson.

You can see the updated Driver's Playoff Points Standings here.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs continue in Alabama next week with the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Literally anybody can win at this restrictor-plate track so the playoff standings could be shaken up drastically.

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_{Photo credits: royalbroil CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons}

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_{Author: @chops316
Editor: @liberty-minded}

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