Chase Elliott Fends Off Denny Hamlin for Martinsville Win

Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, holding off Denny Hamlin after the latter driver’s domination throughout the day. Elliott now has his first win in the 2026 Cup Series season, as well as the first of the year for Hendrick Motorsports overall.

“That was awesome man, we’ve never had a win this early in the season,” Elliott said. “Just a really great team effort. So proud of Alan [Gustafson] and then the whole Unifirst team. They did a great job.”

Elliott is the first Chevrolet driver to win in 2026 as the new Camaro body continues to present a challenge for Chevy teams. He now has 22 Cup Series wins in his career, two of which have come at Martinsville.

Hamlin Dominates But Falls Short

After sweeping the stages and leading 292 laps, Denny Hamlin appeared nearly unbeatable on Sunday. That endured until pit strategy and a timely caution cycled Elliott to the lead. Ross Chastain stayed out but was quickly overtaken by Elliott on the ensuing restart. After wrestling his way past Chastain for second, Hamlin began a prolonged pursuit of Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy. Despite steadily chipping away, he was unable to reclaim the lead.

“It really came from that bad restart I had beside the No. 1,” Hamlin said. “So just not much really I could’ve done there, and I felt like we gave it our all.”

Ty Gibbs Stays Strong

Ty Gibbs placed fourth on Sunday, his fifth straight finish of sixth or better. Gibbs had five top-fives in all of 2025, and is now just one shy of tying that mark in 2026. The fourth-year Joe Gibbs Racing star is undoubtedly one of the most improved drivers this season amid increased scrutiny over his lack of a Cup Series win.

“I need to do a little better of a job, and you know, maybe next time I come back will be even better than this,” Gibbs said. “I had a lot of fun today. Thank you to my team.”

The Race at a Glance

Team Penske showed speed throught the race, with Joey Logano leading their ranks in third. Fourth place went to Gibbs, while William Byron rounded out the top five in fifth. Ryan Blaney rebounded from contact with Hamlin that sent him into the wall, walking away with a sixth-place finish. Christopher Bell matched his second-best result of the year in seventh, with Austin Cindric nabbing eighth for his second straight top-ten. Rounding out the top ten was Kyle Larson in ninth and Josh Berry in tenth.

Sunday’s race had four cautions not for stage breaks. The first two occurred after spins by Cody Ware and Noah Gragson. Debris put the field back under yellow on Lap 311. Then, on Lap 324, contact between Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar kicked off a multi-car crash that brought the caution out just moments after the prior restart.

Points Outlook

Tyler Reddick remains the points leader with a commanding 82-point lead over Ryan Blaney. Denny Hamlin improved to third in points, with Chase Elliott leaving the weekend in fourth. William Byron moved up a spot to fifth in the standings after scoring his fourth consecutive top-ten.

The biggest loser on Sunday was Bubba Wallace, who dropped from third to 11th in the standings after a 36th-place finish. After spending much of February and March second to his 23XI Racing teammate, Wallace has been maligned by two straight races finishing outside the top 30.

Daniel Suárez is the last driver in the Chase as of Martinsville, with a nine-point edge over Spire Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell. Carson Hocevar is 15th in the standings, four points ahead of Suárez. Shane van Gisbergen remains in the 14th Chase spot after finishing 11th on Sunday and accruing eight stage points.

Four drivers leave Martinsville in a tie for eighth in points: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, and Bubba Wallace. The group is scored in that order, with tiebreakers going to each driver’s best finish of the season thus far. 19 races remain until the top 16 drivers in points are separated to race for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Race Results