The One Million Dollar Man… Elliott fends off hard-charging Busch to win BMS All-Star Race

Published 10:27 am Thursday, July 16, 2020

By Ivan Sanders

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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com    
It was a night of historical proportion at Bristol Motor Speedway as for the first time ever the NASCAR All-Star Race was held at the fastest half-mile and only the second time that the $1 million dollar race has been held anywhere but at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Atlanta Motor Speedway was the only other track to host the race and ironically the winner of that race, Bill Elliott, had a big hand in Wednesday night’s event at Bristol.
Chase Elliott, Bill’s son, withstood a late charge from Kyle Busch to make the father-son duo one of two father and son combos to take the checkered flag in the event as Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also accomplished the feat as well.
It was also the first time that a large crowd has been allowed to attend a professional event since the COVID-19 pandemic began as between 25 to 30 thousand fans showed up at the track in facemasks while social distancing in the stands.
The event was everything it was billed to be as flashing lights, cars aglow in the rear with underbody lighting effects, and a hungry crowd ready to see a live sporting event making enough noise it seemed that the stadium could have been full.
Leading up to the All-Star Race, drivers who hadn’t qualified for the race were given four opportunities to earn their way in with three stage races and the fan vote bringing the initial 16-team race to 20 by the end of The Open rounds.
In the first stage, Ryan Blaney managed to outduel the other drivers to earn his way into the race. Several laps in the stage ran under caution when Bubba Wallace was sent into the wall by Michael McDowell early in the 35-lap affair.
Before Wallace left the track he left a message of his disappointment in the fray as he left a piece of his car laying at the entrance to McDowell’s car hauler.
Aside from that instance, Blaney showed his car was ready to contend for the money as he won easily.
In stage two, William Bryon continued to drive a hot car as he had made a challenge to the front in the first stage but ran out of laps to catch Blaney.
It wasn’t going to matter in the second 35 laps as Bryon jumped out front quickly and put some lapped traffic between him and the rest of the pack to seal a spot in the All-Star race.
With 15 laps left to get into the race for the cash during the third stage, Matt DiBenedetto earned his first opportunity for the Woods Brothers as he put his #21 machine in front and held off late challenges to garner his spot.
That left only the popular vote from the fans which went to Clint Bowyer.
With the field set, the only thing left to do was to settle the issue who was going to pad their bank account with the $1.1 million dollar payout for winning the All-Star Race.
In the 55-lap first stage of the race, Blaney managed to outrace Kevin Harvick and Elliott to the checkered flag. It was during those laps that fans could see who had the fastest machines on the oval as Elliott worked his way through the field to the backend of Harvick’s vehicle before the stage came to completion.
The second 35-lap stage saw the same three drivers man the top three positions but in reverse order as Elliott overtook Harvick in a sweet move in turn two and then beat Harvick and Blaney to the checkered flag to win stage two.
With drivers feeling the heat starting to bear down and running out of laps, it was Elliott once again in stage three as the young driver outdrove Blaney and Brad Keselowski to the finish line as Blaney took a chance by staying out on the track at the end of the second stage while the other drivers hit the pits.
With Harvick falling back in the third stage, the driver who has already won four times this season, elected to go to the pits for fresh tires and a quick adjustment to start the final 15 laps in the back of the pack.
But the story of the race heading into the final 15 laps was the charge that Kyle Busch made in the third stage working his way all the way to fourth place with all the Busch fans in the stands getting giddy about their driver’s chances.
Elliott kept the lead in the early going but couldn’t help but see the #18 M&M Toyota getting closer and closer as the laps begin to wind down.
But it was just too much Elliott on this night as the driver managed to fend off Busch who has dominated Bristol in years past to collect the winner’s purse.
Harvick also put on a performance in the final 15 laps working from last to a third-place finish followed by Keselowski and Denny Hamlin who finished fifth.
Blaney who had a solid car the entire race ended in sixth place.
In post-race remarks, Elliott was ecstatic about collecting his first-ever win at Bristol.
“Oh my gosh, there’s no feeling like it, nothing like it,” a smiling Elliott said after climbing from his Chevrolet.  “Bristol is an electric atmosphere, unlike any place we go to. We’re going to celebrate this one for sure.”
 
“There’s nothing like Bristol. There’s nothing like the lights here. There’s nothing like racing here. I’ve never won here – what a race to do it. Just really proud of our team tonight and rebounding. We’ve had a really tough couple of weeks and just felt like we had kind of gotten off base and I felt like I was struggling.
 
“Just tried to hit the reset button this week, and came out and put on a great performance – great car. Just can’t thank all our partners enough, everybody that makes this happen. All those No. 9 hats and t-shirts up in the stands – love to see it.”
There were no points given for the race and now the drivers turn their attention back to the NASCAR Cup Series when they hit the track at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
—

NASCAR Cup Series Race – NASCAR All-Star Race
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
 
               1. (13)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 140.
               2. (10)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 140.
               3. (5)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 140.
               4. (9)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 140.
               5. (15)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 140.
               6. (3)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 140.
               7. (12)  Joey Logano, Ford, 140.
               8. (2)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 140.
               9. (17)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 140.
               10. (1)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 140.
               11. (16)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 140.
               12. (18)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 140.
               13. (19)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 140.
               14. (4)  Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 140.
               15. (20)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 140.
               16. (8)  Cole Custer #, Ford, 140.
               17. (14)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 140.
               18. (6)  Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 140.
               19. (11)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 140.
               20. (7)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 140.
 
Average Speed of Race Winner:  65.68 mph.
Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 8 Mins, 10 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .418 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 13 laps.

Lead Changes:  6 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   M. Truex Jr. 0; A. Bowman 1-2; R. Blaney 3-55; K. Harvick 56-61;C. Elliott 62-90;R. Blaney 91-109;C. Elliott 110-140.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ryan Blaney 2 times for 72 laps; Chase Elliott 2 times for 60 laps; Kevin Harvick 1 time for 6 laps; Alex Bowman 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 12,4,9,88,20,10,22,2,18,6
Stage #2 Top Ten: 9,4,12,2,88,14,11,22,10,18
Stage #3 Top Ten: 9,12,2,18,4,11,20,22,88,14
 
NASCAR Cup Series Race – NASCAR All-Star Open
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
 
               1. (10)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 85.
               2. (9)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 85.
               3. (11)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 85.
               4. (8)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 85.
               5. (20)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 85.
               6. (4)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 85.
               7. (1)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 85.
               8. (19)  John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 85.
               9. (21)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 85.
               10. (5)  Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 85.
               11. (3)  Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 85.
               12. (18)  Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 85.
               13. (12)  Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 85.
               14. (13)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 85.
               15. (15)  Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 85.
               16. (14)  Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 85.
               17. (16)  Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, 83.
               18. (17)  Joey Gase(i), Ford, Handling, 76.
               19. (7)  William Byron, Chevrolet, Stage 2 Winner, 70.
               20. (2)  Aric Almirola, Ford, Stage 1 Winner, 35.
               21. (6)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, Accident, 17.
 
Average Speed of Race Winner:  57.388 mph.
Time of Race:  0 Hrs, 47 Mins, 22 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .789 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  4 for 18 laps.
Lead Changes:  3 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   M. McDowell 1-10; A. Almirola 11-35; W. Byron 36-70;M. DiBenedetto 71-85.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  William Byron 1 time for 35 laps; Aric Almirola 1 time for 25 laps; Matt DiBenedetto 1 time for 15 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 10 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 10,24,13,47,17,14,32,96,21,3
Stage #2 Top Ten: 32,8,15,27,53,24,21,3,14,95
2020 Fan Vote Winner: Clint Bowyer

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