NASCAR News: Elliott Holds Off Hamlin for Thrilling Martinsville Victory

Chase Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports team delivered a masterclass in strategy and execution Sunday, powering the No. 9 Chevrolet to victory in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. The win marked Chevrolet’s first of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season and extended Hendrick’s all-time record at the historic short track to 31 victories.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Elliott short-pitted on Lap 261 to gain track position, then seized the lead for good on a restart with 68 laps remaining. From there, he held off a hard-charging Denny Hamlin to win by a razor-thin 0.565 seconds — turning what looked like a dominant day for Joe Gibbs Racing into a dramatic victory for the defending Most Popular Driver.

“It was definitely a team effort — how about that?” an elated Elliott said afterward. “We’ve never had a win this early in the season. Just a really great team effort. So proud of [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and the crew. We took a gamble and were going to two-stop that last stage, and it paid off.”

The 30-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia — who made his first Cup start at Martinsville exactly 11 years earlier to the day — now has 22 career victories. He credited the car’s balance all weekend and the clutch pit call that put him in clean air at the right moment.

“I felt like we were really close to being the best outright, but we managed traffic well and saved enough to get it done,” Elliott added. “To win these races is just so tough. I never take it for granted.”

Hamlin, who led a race-high 292 laps and swept both stages, looked poised for his seventh Martinsville win for much of the afternoon. But after Elliott took the lead, the No. 11 Toyota could never quite close the gap in traffic.

“He did a good job controlling the pace there,” Hamlin said. “Just really came from that bad restart — not much more I could have done. We gave it our all.” He added that he was briefly concerned about a possible loose wheel late in the run, calling it “one of those races that gets away from you.”

Strong showing for the rest of the field

Team Penske’s Joey Logano rebounded from a disappointing 33rd at Darlington to finish third in the No. 22 Ford — his best result of the season.
Ty Gibbs continued his consistency with a fourth-place finish (his fifth straight top-six), while three-time Martinsville winner William Byron rounded out the top five in the No. 24 Chevrolet.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Josh Berry.

Standings update

Despite finishing 15th, Tyler Reddick maintains a commanding 82-point lead over Blaney and a 94-point edge over Hamlin. Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace dropped from third to 11th in points after a multi-car incident on Lap 325.

The Cup Series now heads into its first off-weekend of the season before returning to action April 12 for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Chase Elliott celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

Stage Results

Stage 1: Hamlin dominated after briefly losing the lead to Byron in traffic, winning the stage under caution. Byron, Berry, Gibbs, and Cindric rounded out the top five.

Stage 2: Hamlin led every lap of the stage, with Gibbs, Logano, Blaney, and Cindric also showing strong long-run speed. Byron was the top Chevrolet in fifth.

Chase Elliott

Chase, 31st time for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville. Alan Gustafson makes a great pit call to get you the track position. How did you find a way to hold off Denny Hamlin?

CHASE ELLIOTT: It was definitely a team effort, man. How about that? That was awesome. We’ve never had a win this early in the season. Just a really great team effort, man. So proud of Alan and the whole UniFirst team. They did a great job.

We took a gamble. We were going to two-stop that last stage. I honestly think it was going to work out good for us either way. Just so proud of them. Man, they put up with a lot (smiling). They got to put up with me all the time. I just appreciate them for sticking with me.

Sure is a lot of fun when days like this work out. Definitely really appreciate it. Thanks to everybody, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, Boss. I told you I thought we were okay. I didn’t know if we were this good or not. Thanks for the opportunity, as always. Wish you were here. We’ll see you next time. Say hi to my mom at home. Hope she’s having a good evening.

When the caution comes out, what goes through your mind?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, this whole deal is really weird the way it all works. I told them there about, I don’t know, half, three-quarters of the way through, I really don’t dislike my balance, I just wish I could control my runs a little better.

Fortunately we got to lead on that last one. Fell into a really good pace. Yeah, just had enough. I think we probably needed a little bit to be just the absolute best outright. We were really close. Was able to manage and save enough to get through traffic there at the end.

Yeah, man, it’s really cool when this stuff works out. To win these races is so tough. Just really grateful for the opportunity, as always. I never take it for granted. Trust me, this is a dream come true for me.

Thanks everybody for coming out today. Appreciate y’all. Y’all are amazing. Thanks for the support. Hope it was a good show for you.

Denny Hamlin

Denny leads 292 laps, comes up short. What did you need? Anything you could have done differently there in the last run?

DENNY HAMLIN: No. He did a good job to control the pace there. Just really came from that bad restart I had beside the one. Not much really I could have done there. Felt like we gave it our all.

You guys were taking a look at something here. Things were a little bit different, different package here. What was your takeaway?

DENNY HAMLIN: I thought I had a loose wheel. We’ll check it out. Just felt similar to Darlington in the back. We’ll check it out here. Just thought the wheel was loose on the last run.

Either way, these are just some of the races that get away from you in your career. This one is certainly one of them.

Cook Out 400 Race Results