Chase Elliott has outdueled Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. Elliott capitalized on a shrewd gamble by crew chief Alan Gustafson to pit the No. 9 Chevrolet earlier than the other contenders. When the caution flew on the 312th lap on Sunday, Elliott was in the lead and pitted with the rest of the lead-lap drivers aside from Ross Chastain. Elliott took first from Chastain after a restart and led the final 69 laps to win by 0.565 seconds over Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. Joey Logano finished third, followed by Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
sports