At Texas Motor Speedway, the Wurth 400 presented a replay of Martinsville, with Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin finishing 1-2 in a race that checked every box: pit-road chaos, strategy swings, long green-flag runs, and a rotating cast of contenders.
And when it mattered most, the 2020 Cup Series champion didn’t blink.
With a late caution bunching up the field, Elliott lined up alongside Hamlin for the restart with just four laps to go. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver got the initial surge into Turn 1, but Elliott answered immediately, clearing him off Turn 2 and taking control of the final laps.
While a spin by John Hunter Nemechek after the white flag added tension, the No. 9 held steady, crossing the line just ahead of Hamlin to secure his second win of the season and career win No. 23 of his career.
Alex Bowman also made it a strong day for Hendrick Motorsports in third, followed by points leader Tyler Reddick and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher.
Sunday panned out well for the Chevrolets, with Elliott having been in the mix from the start, just not always at the very front early on. While Stage 1 of the 267-lap race belonged to Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club), who grabbed his first-ever stage win after a scrappy opening segment that saw plenty of side-by-side racing and early pit strategy shakeups, Elliott quietly banked points in that stage, hovering inside the top 10 (P8).
By Stage 2, he was done waiting.
A caution around Lap 160 shuffled the order and opened the door for strategy calls. But when the race restarted, the No. 9 driver methodically worked his way through traffic, getting past Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece to win Stage 2.
From there, he never really left the picture. The final stage settled into a long green-flag run, more than 80 laps at one point, with pit stops cycling between laps 207 and 221. Drivers like Carson Hocevar, Ryan Blaney, and Corey Heim all had their turns near the front as strategies split and shuffled the field.
Pole sitter, Hocevar, fresh off his Talladega win, showed phenomenal pace. Meanwhile, Heim, in a part-time ride with 23XI Racing, played the strategy game perfectly and led at a crucial moment in the final stage before it unraveled.
Heim’s spin into the Turn 4 wall off Lap 257 inside the closing laps triggered the caution that reset everything as some drivers like Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suárez, and Kyle Busch hit pit road for fresh tires, while others chose to stay out.
As for the leaders, Elliott and Hamlin chose to stay out, which eventually decided the race.
Defending Texas winner, Joey Logano, was out of the story after a disastrous pit road contact knocked him out along with Cole Custer.
JGR’s No. 20 ace Christopher Bell, who led 22 laps of the evening, meanwhile, saw his day end early after getting caught in an incident following Todd Gilliland’s spin on Lap 69.
Overall, the race had seven cautions, 23 lead changes, and 11 different leaders. And yet, in the end, it still came down to two drivers who always seem to find themselves there. Hamlin did everything, including the final restart, except finish it.
Hocevar, after leading early and often (40 laps), faded to seventh as the checkered flag came down, while his fellow Chevy driver, Kyle Busch, chasing the elusive win, saw his hopes go down the drain despite a valiant effort that saw him running inside the top 10, finishing 20th.
