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Chase Elliott ended his winless streak in the NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway, defeating Denny Hamlin for the win during the ninth round of the 2024 season.
The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 saw Hamlin and Elliott go toe to toe during the final laps, with the Hendrick Motorsports driver in the lead. Denny Hamlin was seen trying to challenge the #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver going into turn 3 of the 1.5-mile-long track. However, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's efforts ended up short.
Hamlin was seen spinning off into the wall bringing out the caution flag which ultimately saw Chase Elliott win the 400-mile-long race during an overtime restart. With 2 wins under his belt after nine rounds completed during the 2024 season, the #11 Toyota Camry XSE owner is certainly in a good spot to contest for the elusive Cup Series championship this year.
Coupled with the amount of speed Hamlin has shown at a few different racetracks, this could be the year for the #11 JGR team.
Denny Hamlin sums up his crash during NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway
The driver of the #11 Toyota Camry XSE, Denny Hamlin summed up his thinking going into turn 3 at Texas Motor Speedway behind Chase Elliott.
Hunting for the lead on what was the second last lap of the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver told Frontstretch in a post-race interview:
"Just got loose up in turn 3. It's something I've been fighting all day. When you got to push it the most on a green and white checkered, I knew that the likely scenario was I wasn't going to make it out of the corner with as much speed as I was carrying, but it's trying to go for the win."
NASCAR now heads to the famed Talladega Superspeedway next weekend. It'll be a change of pace from short-track and road course racing to full-blown superspeedway mayhem.
The 2024 GEICO 500 will test the Cup Series driver's drafting skills on the 2.5-mile oval, with luck playing a crucial role in avoiding 'The Big One' pileup.
