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The long wait for a victory finally came to an end for Chase Elliott when he secured his first win of the 2022 season at Dover Motor Speedway.
Elliott took the lead on the final restart, on lap 348 of 400, after fighting hard against last week's winner Ross Chastain. He maintained the lead in the final 53 laps and held onto it until the checkered flag. Only Chastain (86) and his teammate Kyle Larson (103) led more laps than Elliott.
With his victory in Dover, the former Cup Series champion ended his 26-race winless drought and marked the 14th victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
On Twitter, NAPA Racing congratulated Chase Elliott on winning his first race of the season at the The Monster Mile.
See the Tweet below:
Elliot’s first win of the season marked the historic fifth win for Hendrick Motorsports in 2022. It’s the first time in NASCAR history that a team’s all four drivers have secured a Cup win in the first 11 races of the season.
The action-packed DuraMAX Drydene 400 saw seventeen lead changes among ten different drivers.
A two-time Cup race winner of the season, Chastain lost second place after he made contact with Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap battle for a higher position. Somehow, though, Chastain recovered to finish third and Truex dropped to twelfth place.
Meanwhile, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the opportunity to steal second place. Pole-sitter Chris Buescher and Pennzoil 400 winner Alex Bowman finished in P4 and P5, respectively.
Chase Elliott's reaction to Dover win
Chase Elliott was elated after Monday's victory. With the win, he gained 50 points and stands at the top in the latest release of the Cup Series points table.
During the post-race interview, speaking about the first win of the 2022 season at The Monster Mile, Elliott said:
“Just had some good circumstances finally. Just really appreciate [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and our entire team for just sticking with it.”
NASCAR Cup Series returns next weekend for Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. The action will go live at 3:30 pm EST on Sunday, May 8.
