MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WDBJ/NASCAR) – Good pit strategy and a highly-motivated team rallied Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott to the NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway; the sport’s reigning Most Popular Driver delivering Chevrolet its first win of the season, all to the delight of a huge, enthusiastic crowd at the historic half-miler.
Elliott short-pitted on lap 261 to gain track position, then moved his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the lead for good after a restart with 68 laps remaining — ultimately out-running the day’s most dominant driver, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin to the checkered flag by 0.565 seconds to extend the Hendrick team’s track record win total to 31 victories.
Highlighting Chase Elliott’s first seven races of 2026:
– Earliest in a season he’s ever won
– Best average finish (9.00) since 2017
– Most laps led (103) since 2020
– Most top fives (3) since 2020
– Best average running position (12.50) since 2022 pic.twitter.com/eaMd15imC1
— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) March 30, 2026
Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota led a race-best 292 of the 400 laps and, for much of the afternoon, looked to absolutely run away with his seventh grandfather clock trophy. But after Elliott got out front, Hamlin was playing catch-up and never really was able to get close enough to attempt a pass in the closing laps as the leaders navigated lapped traffic.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano rebounded from a rough 33rd-place outing last week at Darlington Raceway to finish third Sunday — equaling his best showing of the season in the No. 22 Ford.
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