FORT WORTH, TX. – Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports won the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400.
Elliott won his first NASCAR Cup Series race since the Talladega fall race in 2022, a span of 42 races. Elliott won the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, holding off Ross Chastain, who spun out on the last lap after a nudge from Elliott’s teammate William Byron.
For Hendrick Motorsports, it’s the third win in four races and the fifth win of the 2024 season.
Due to a green-white-checkered finish, the race extended nine laps past its scheduled 267-lap distance.
There were 16 caution periods for a total of 72 laps. All but seven drivers finished on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson remains the championship leader after Texas with an 18-point advantage over second-place Martin Truex Jr.
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Stewart-Haas Racing Finish:
- Chase Briscoe (Started 5th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 276 of 276 laps)
- Ryan Preece (Started 26th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 276 of 276 laps)
- Noah Gragson (Started 21st, Finished 18th / Running, completed 276 of 276 laps)
- Josh Berry (Started 25th, Finished 36th / Accident, completed 136 of 276 laps)
Stewart-Haas Racing Points:
- Chase Briscoe (12th with 231 points, 105 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (24th with 137 points, 199 out of first)
- Josh Berry (27th with 130 points, 206 out of first)
- Noah Gragson (29th with 122 points, 214 out of first)
Briscoe earned his fourth top-10 of the season and his third top-10 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas.
“Our car was really good. We were able to finish fifth in both stages, and we’d done everything perfectly up until the point of the spin. We were going to be the race leader,” said Chase Brisco, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “The 23 (Bubba Wallace) was on way older tires. We both went into turn one so hard, and then the 21 (Harrison Burton) took us three wide, and we both just wrecked. We got lucky at the end with the cautions. Our Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang was really, really good today. It’s way better than sixth place. I feel like I keep saying the same thing, but man, it’s frustrating where we finish because we’re way better speed-wise. Overall, just a really solid day and a really solid points day. I feel like our win is right around the corner.”
This was Briscoe’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was ninth, earned March 10 at Phoenix Raceway, and his second straight top 10. He finished 10th last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
It was Briscoe’s fourth straight top-15 at Texas and his third straight top-10 at the 1.5-mile oval. In his past four NASCAR Cup Series starts in Texas, Briscoe has finished 15th, fifth, 10th, and sixth.
Briscoe finished fifth in Stage 1, earning six bonus points, and fifth in Stage 2, earning six more bonus points.
Preece earned his third top-15 of the season, and first top-15 in eight career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas.
Preece’s 12th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Texas – 18th, earned in October 2020.
“Ultimately, I wish the cautions would’ve worked out a little differently,” said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “Once we had the 8 (Kyle Busch) and 22 (Joey Logano) cars behind us, it was a struggle to keep from being put three-wide. Having as old of tires as we did, I was trying to protect my position. When I restarted on the outside that last time, it was just too much to handle, and we dropped out of the top 10.”
This was Gragson’s third straight top-20. He finished 12th March 31 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and 20th last Sunday at Martinsville.
Gragson’s 18th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Texas – 21st, earned in September 2022.
“It felt like we had a good car. We were going to cycle fifth, sixth, or seventh during that one round of green-flag pit stops and just got stuck a lap down with the caution that came out,” said Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “That happened a couple of times, so we had to fight and come from the back a couple of times today with those scenarios. Overall, we had a top-10 run all day and didn’t come home with it.”
“We were going to run fine. We were almost in the top 10,” said Josh Berry, the No. 4 Miner Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver. “I felt like the car was pretty good. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) made good calls there on the strategy to keep tires on it. The first time, I felt like we got stacked on the bottom a little bit, and when the 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) moved down, either he barely clipped me or the air off his car was the problem. It was super close. Honestly, I think we made a little bit of contact, and it just got me loose and out of control. The second time I was just out there riding around and I was just out there loose and trying to hang on to it and wrecked again.” –
Next Up:
The next NASCAR Cup Series schedule event is the GEICO 500 on Sunday, April 21 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
