Chase Elliott Nets Top-10 Finish in NASCAR Cup Series Return

Chase Elliott netted a top-10 finish Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in his return to the NASCAR Cup Series after a leg injury.

Elliott started 24th, then moved to 21st to end the first stage. He fell back to 25th at the end of stage two. Then, for much of the 220-lap final stage, the 2020 Cup Series champion couldn’t crack the top-20.

On the final restart, with 47 laps to go, Elliott jumped from 22nd to 19th. He moved to 14th with 30 to go and finally to a 10th-place finish.

It’s Elliott’s second top-10 finish of the 2023 season. He also finished second at Auto Club Speedway in February, his most recent Cup Series race.

Elliott had Josh Berry on standby but Elliott never needed Berry to get in the car.

“The leg felt fine today but, being on the couch for six weeks, it was warm and that got me,” Elliott said. “We struggled and then at the end we got something going and did some things I didn’t think we could do. I was pleasantly surprised by that.”

The garage was all abuzz with Elliott’s return and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“It was really nice getting back to the track and see everyone, hear their kind words. It didn’t go unnoticed, I can tell you that. I appreciated the warm welcome back from everyone today,” he said.

Elliott’s next race is April 23 at Talladega Superspeedway.