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Chase Elliott gets win No. 1, moves into seed No. 1

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 02: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne at Dover Motor Speedway on May 02, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

DOVER, DEL. — Chase Elliott held off No. 1 on the final restart to secure win No. 1 of 2022, which boosted him to the No. 1 seed as the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway concluded Monday.

Elliott raced closely with Ross Chastain on a Lap 340 restart and a Lap 348 restart, where he finally pulled ahead and led the final 53 laps to earn his first win of the season.

Elliott’s win broke a 38-race winless streak on ovals, dating back to Phoenix in Nov. 2020. Elliott won twice in 2021 but each win came on a road course –at COTA in May and at Road America in July.

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 02: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout as he crew cheer from the wall after winning the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne at Dover Motor Speedway on May 02, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Before Dover, Elliott held 17 playoff points – 15 for holding the regular-season points lead and two for stage wins – and the win gave him five more playoff points, putting him at 22 so far.

Elliott now holds the No. 1 seed by one point over William Byron, who holds 21 playoff points so far – eight for being third in the regular-season points, 10 for winning two races and three for stage wins.

Byron finished 22nd in the overall race after finishing seventh in stage one. He and Kyle Busch are tied for third in the regular-season standings.

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 02: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/The Frozen Farmer Chevrolet, Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DeWalt Toyota, Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, and Justin Haley, driver of the #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne at Dover Motor Speedway on May 02, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

TOP-10 FINISHERS: Chase Elliott (led 73 laps), Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain (led 86 laps), Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman (led 2 laps), Kyle Larson (led 19 laps), Kyle Busch (led 103-laps, race-high), Chris Buescher (led 18 laps), Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones.

Stage One Winner: Denny Hamlin (finished 21st, led 67 laps; No. 9 seed)
Stage Two Winner: Ryan Blaney (finished 26th, led 8 laps; No. 4 seed)

Hamlin did not earn any stage points in stage two, nor did Blaney earn any points in stage one. Hamlin had a loose wheel after winning stage one, then drove back to the front and wrecked on Lap 243 while running fourth.

Blaney was involved in a wreck on Lap 88 but played an alternate strategy to earn the stage two win.

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 02: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne at Dover Motor Speedway on May 02, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

BUBBLE WATCH

Erik Jones bumped Austin Dillon out of a seed, as Jones finished 10th overall and seventh in stage two – while Dillon finished 23rd with no stage points earned.

Dillon is now three points behind Jones but 10 points ahead of teammate Tyler Reddick. Reddick fell to 13 points out of a playoff spot as he failed to earn stage points Monday and wrecked on Lap 343.

As the RCR cars fell further from a playoff spot, Christopher Bell tightened his grip on a spot – but it wasn’t easy.

Photo by Dominic Aragon/TRE

After finishing third in stage one on Lap 120, Bell lost a lap pitting on Lap 130 for a tire issue but he received the free pass on Lap 190.

Bell drove back to the front and finished fourth at Dover, which moved him to 10th in the regular-season standings – just two weeks after he moved to 15th in the standings and into a playoff seed.

Bell passed Aric Almirola for 10th in the standings and the one playoff spot for 10th, for now. Bell is one point ahead of Almirola for 10th. Bell and Almirola are currently locked into a playoff spot by 25 and 24 points, respectively.

PLAYOFF POINTS EXPLAINED

Each win is worth five playoff points, each stage win is worth one playoff point.

The top 10 drivers in regular-season points each earn playoff points for their points position at the end of the regular season: 1st – 15 points, 2nd – 10, 3rd – 8, 4th – 7, 5th – 6, 6th – 5, 7th – 4, 8th – 3, 9th – 2, 10th – 1.

Presumpive playoff seeding after Race No. 11, the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway:

Playoff SeedDriverPlayoff Points TotalBase PointsPoints Position/PointsPoints for Race Wins (5 Pts/Win)Stage Wins (1 Pt/Win)
1Chase Elliott2022200015 (1st)5 (Dover)2 (Martinsville – Stages 1 & 2)
2William Byron202120008 (3rd)10 (Atlanta and Martinsville)3 (Talladega – Stage 2, Atlanta – Stage 1, Phoenix – Stage 1)
3Ross Chastain201620005 (6th)10 (COTA)1 (Las Vegas – Stage 2)
4Ryan Blaney2014200010 (2nd)4 (Dover – Stage 2, Richmond – Stage 1, Atlanta – Stage 2, Phoenix – Stage 2)
5Alex Bowman201220006 (5th)5 (Las Vegas)1 (Las Vegas – Stage 1)
6Kyle Busch201220007 (4th)5 (Bristol Dirt)
7Kyle Larson200920003 (8th)5 (Auto Club)1 (Bristol Dirt)
8Martin Truex Jr.200720004 (7th)3 (Daytona 500 –Stages 1 & 2, Richmond – Stage 2)
9Denny Hamlin200720000 (23rd)5 (Richmond)2 (Dover – Stage 1, COTA – Stage 2)
10Chase Briscoe200620000 (13th)5 (Phoenix)1 (Bristol Dirt)
11Austin Cindric200520000 (18th)5 (Daytona 500)
12Joey Logano200220002 (9th)
13Christopher Bell200120001 (10th)
14Erik Jones200020000 (14th)
15Aric Almirola200020000 (11th)
16Kevin Harvick200020000 (12th)

NASCAR Cup Series regular-season points standings after Race No. 11, the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway:

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 02: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne at Dover Motor Speedway on May 02, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
  1. Chase Elliott 418 (1 win)
  2. Ryan Blaney 368 (-50 to Elliott; +109 to Austin Dillon for a playoff spot)
  3. William Byron 353 (2 wins)
  4. Kyle Busch 353 (1 win)
  5. Alex Bowman 349 (1 win)
  6. Ross Chastain 338 (2 wins)
  7. Martin Truex Jr. 336 (-82; +77)
  8. Kyle Larson 335 (1 win)
  9. Joey Logano 316 (+57)
  10. Christopher Bell 284 (+25)
  11. Aric Almirola 283 (+24)
  12. Kevin Harvick 280 (+21)
  13. Chase Briscoe 270 (1 win)
  14. Erik Jones 262 (+3)
  15. Austin Dillon 259 (-3 to Erik Jones for a playoff spot)
  16. Tyler Reddick 249 (-13)
  17. Daniel Suarez 241 (-21)
  18. Austin Cindric 239 (1 win)
  19. Chris Buescher 230 (-32)
  20. Kurt Busch 224 (-38)
  21. Bubba Wallace 214 (-48)
  22. Justin Haley 209 (-53)
  23. Denny Hamlin 204 (1 win)

30. Brad Keselowski 150* (-112 to Jones)

—-Must be Top 30 in points to be playoff-eligible with a win—-

31. Harrison Burton 146 (-4 to Keselowski; -116)

32. Cody Ware 91 (-59; -171)

bold denotes driver virtually locked into the playoffs with a win
italics denotes driver currently not locked into the playoffs
* Brad Keselowski had a 100-point penalty after Atlanta. Without the penalty, Keselowski would be 16th in the regular-season points, with 250 points – 12 points behind Erik Jones for a playoff spot.

WHO’S IN? WHO’S OUT?

Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott are virtually locked into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as each driver has won at least one race. Each driver must stay above 30th in points to get into the playoffs with a win.

Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Christopher Bell and Erik Jones are the non-winner drivers currently locked into the playoffs.

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 09: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 09, 2021 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is the May 8 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET; TV: FS1; Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Ch.90).

Martin Truex Jr. won both stages and the race last May at Darlington, which garnered him seven playoff points.

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