NASCAR Cup Series

Chase Elliott ends oval losing streak with victory at Dover

Published May. 2, 2022 5:33 p.m. ET

By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer

DOVER, Del. — Entering the rain-delayed race Monday at Dover Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott had not won in his previous 46 starts on an oval.

Road courses? He was winning. But on tracks where he had to turn left, even on his good days, not everything went right (or fast enough to the left).

That streak, which Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson consistently shrugged off as relatively inconsequential, ended Monday, as Elliott led the final 53 laps for the victory at Dover.

"I’m proud of ... just our entire group for continuing to bring good attitudes to the racetrack, coming in with the right mindset every week, regardless of what happened the week before," Elliott said.

"To me, that says a lot about their character and the kind of group that we have."

Chase Elliott runs away with first win of the season at Dover

Chase Elliott runs away from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ross Chastain for his first win of the season at Dover Motor Speedway.

Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!

Here are three takeaways from the race, which was suspended to Monday afternoon because of rain after 78 laps Sunday:

Big win for Elliott

Elliott entered the race as the leader in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, even without a win in the first 10 races. He had seen his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates — William Byron, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman — all visit victory lane this year.

"I want to win just as bad at Daytona at the start of the season, when no one has any [winner] stickers on their cars, just as bad as I do when we get to Phoenix at the end of the season, regardless of what has gone on," Elliott said.

"My drive to win, to do my job to the best of my ability, doesn't change whether we are struggling, whether we are doing very good, whether I'm in a contract year, whether I'm not, whether my teammates have won and I haven't."

Elliott was nervous while leading the race, as those 53 laps he led were run without a caution (there was one just before he crossed the finish line), and teams had concerns about tire wear.

"We had some cording issues on and off throughout the day," he said. "It had been getting better those last two runs. Just based on how hard everybody was driving, the fact it was getting better with the added aggressiveness over the last couple runs made me feel better about it."

Hamlin’s sour day

Denny Hamlin might have had the best car, but his hopes of winning were ended by a wheel coming off his car moments after a pit stop and his getting collected by a spinning Cody Ware.

To make matters worse, the wheel will likely mean a four-race suspension for crew chief Chris Gabehart, as well as his tire changer and jackman.

On a pit stop, when a lug nut is removed to take a wheel off, the lug nut is designed to stay in the socket of the pit gun and then be reapplied when a new wheel is placed on the car.

On Hamlin’s stop, the lug nut disengaged from the socket of the pit gun. It can take a moment for the tire changer to realize it, and the jackman didn’t realize it and dropped the jack, signaling that it was time for Hamlin to leave pit road. The nut launched out of the socket so quickly that no one on the crew saw it until it was too late.

"We’ve seen this in practice. It’s not our guns, it’s not our equipment, so what can we do about it?" said Gabehart, obviously frustrated because teams use the pit guns issued to them. "The socket will discharge on the off pattern, and the nut will take off.

"A lot of time, the changers don’t realize it because everything is happening so fast. And [the changer] went all the way back on with the on patter, and it was not until he engaged [the socket to the wheel] that he realizes it’s gone. Less than two-tenths [of as second] after he engages, the jack is supposed to drop, and the car is gone. So if you don’t see it come out, there’s no chance."

Gabehart said it has yet to be determined who will replace him, assuming he gets the four-race suspension typically issued for a wheel coming off. A wheel coming off is considered a major safety issue because of the potential for them to be hit and launched into the grandstands or pit road.

Stenhouse earns much-needed second

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was mired in 31st in the standings entering Dover. He had shown speed in some races but didn't have the finishes to show for it.

His second-place finish Monday was a little bittersweet, considering that a win would have vaulted him into the playoffs. Instead, he improved four spots in the standings to 27th but still sits 93 points behind the playoff cutoff.

"One spot better would have really turned our season around," Stenhouse said. "But all in all, I’m thrilled with what we’ve got, and hopefully we can build on this.

"We were looking to come in here and run top-15 because we have had such bad races, and we didn’t want to ask for too much."

Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!