Chase Elliott made the most of his one race cameo in the 2021 SRX Series by holding off series champion Tony Stewart to win the final race of the season at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion spent most of the feature running in second position behind father Bill Elliott. On a restart with 23 laps to go, the younger Elliott got by the elder Elliott after the 1988 Cup champion rode too high into turn 1. Bill Elliott was able to recover and finish third.
“Man, it was so much fun,” Chase Elliott told CBS Sports after the race. “Man, I had a ball, got to race against two of my heroes. I got to race against Dad there throughout the race. Those are moments I’ll cherish forever.”
"I got to race against two of my heroes. I got to race against Dad there throughout the race. Those are moments I'll cherish forever."
Chase Elliott reacts to his first @SRXracing win. pic.twitter.com/KGHsu9t6HX
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 18, 2021
“I don’t know what lit a fire under him tonight but he was as aggressive as I’ve seen him in years,” Elliott said about racing with his dad Bill. “It was amazing and a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be between he and I, and I think he just got a little high into (turn) 1 and missed that restart. But other than that it was so much fun. Obviously a special number too, my late cousin Casey Elliott ran the No. 94 for years and years. Always special to run that number, and glad we could get it in victory lane.”
The championship battle wasn’t very close, due to just how large of a lead Stewart had on the rest of the field. Stewart clinched it by virtue of finishing fifth in heat one.
.@TonyStewart reacts to becoming the first-ever @SRXracing points champion. pic.twitter.com/i1yBKdYTAp
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 18, 2021
Bobby Labonte spent most of the night in the top four and ended up finishing there in both heats and the feature, placing fourth overall. Paul Tracy finished fifth after being involved in the final caution, after he and Marco Andretti got together in turn 1 with five laps to go. Andretti finished 11th overall.
Ernie Francis Jr. ended up sixth after coming up runner-up to Stewart in the points race. Michael Waltrip concluded the first season of SRX in seventh, Tony Kanaan finished eighth, and Helio Castroneves faded late to finish the race in ninth. Hailie Deegan, the other guest driver in this race, quietly finished 10th.
Rounding out the field was Willy T. Ribbs, the only driver not to finish the feature after spinning out late in the race.
There were five cautions in the 77 lap race, two for the two incidents outlined above and three competition cautions.
Heat One
Bill Elliott won this heat after leading almost all of it. He rode away from Chase Elliott after starting on the pole, then held off his son in a side-by-side battle after the mid-heat competition caution.
Heat Two
Waltrip led the early portion of this race. but Castroneves got by the two-time Daytona 500 champion and cruised away from the field. Even after the mid-heat competition caution, Castroneves still beat Francis Jr. by 2.435 seconds.
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.