What Happened?
Chase Elliott held off Denny Hamlin in the final laps of Sunday’s (March 29) Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway to win his first race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Behind him finished Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and William Byron to round out the top five.
The victory is the first for Chevrolet in the 2026 Cup season.
Chase Elliott Wins Cook Out 400 at Martinsville
What Really Happened?
It’s not easy being the crew chief for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver. Hell, it might be the hardest job in the entire sport.
Yet, Hendrick Motorsports veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson has manned that post for a decade, and still, in 2026, he draws the ire of many Elliott fans for some of his pit calls.
But on Sunday at Martinsville, Gustafson is the reason the No. 9 won, and it’s about time he’s given the credit he deserves.
With around 130 laps to go, it was the 50-year-old crew chief who made the call to have Elliott pit before the rest of the field for fresh tires. It was a risky move, as it meant the No. 9 would be off sequence and have older tires than most of the field. Indeed, 30 laps later, the rest of the field pitted, including the very dominant Hamlin. Elliott cycled into the lead but lost it to the hard-charging Hamlin only laps later.
Then, a caution with 89 laps to go gave Elliott a cemented second-place spot with equal tires when the field pitted again.
And it made Gustafson look like a genius.
From there, Elliott was able to retake the lead and peel away from Hamlin for a second career win at the Paperclip.
And it really shouldn’t come as a surprise. We’re talking about a crew chief that has overseen all of Elliott’s Cup success, including his 2020 Cup championship. Yes, there have been times when he has made the wrong call, but then again, so has every crew chief in existence.
It’s a part of racing to take a risk, and sometimes it does not pay off. For Sunday, Elliott was running ninth before being called to pit road early. In fact, that’s really where most of the Hendrick stable was running most of the day. Elliott didn’t have the track position and thus the speed to contend with the likes of Hamlin and the rest of the top five. Would you rather Gustafson simply play it safe and finish somewhere in the lower half of the top 10? Well, that’s no fun.
Take no risks, suffer no defeats. Take no risks, win no victories.
On Sunday, Gustafson won a victory by taking a risk, and Elliott fans should use that to remind themselves of why he’s his crew chief in the first place.
Who Stood Out?
It has to be said that Sunday was Hamlin’s race to lose, and lose he did.
Contact Between Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney Might’ve Cost Both Martinsville Win
Hamlin led an astonishing 292 of 400 laps while en route to his runner-up result, making it the most for somebody to lead at the short track and lose since Jimmie Johnson led 297 circuits to finish second in the spring of 2014.
From the pole, the No. 11 Toyota also swept both stages and lost the lead only once for a six-lap period when he was held up by lapped traffic and overtaken by William Byron. Hamlin retook the top spot soon after.
What (maybe) did Hamlin in, however, was contact he had with Ryan Blaney shortly after the event’s final restart with 67 laps to go.
It not only damaged the No. 12 Ford of Blaney but may also have damaged the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as well. In the closing laps of the race, Hamlin closed in on Elliott with less than a second separating them. However, even though Hamlin was, at one point, right on the bumper of the No. 9, he couldn’t complete the pass. With around 15 laps to go, Elliott increased the gap slightly, and Hamlin, despite having the most speed for most of the afternoon, couldn’t catch him and settled for second.
While not walking away with a grandfather clock this time, the No. 11 Toyota does go home moving up further in the history books, now fifth in laps led all-time at one of the sport’s oldest tracks.
Paint Scheme of the Race
One door closes, another one opens as the saying goes.
In this case, it’s the departure of the McDonald’s brand from 23XI Racing that opened the door for the return of Hardee’s into NASCAR.
And for their 23XI debut on Bubba Wallace‘s Toyota, they did a decent job on the design.
It’s nothing eye-popping, but the contrast between the light yellow and black is appealing nonetheless.
Above all else, however, is what it means for the sport as a whole. NASCAR itself posted the Hardee’s scheme on its X account, showing a nod to the entrance of a new fast-food chain entering the sport.
Sunday afternoon’s race showed the beginning of that partnership not just with 23XI but with NASCAR as a whole.
What’s Next?
A week off.
Sort of.
While the Cup Series is taking an Easter weekend break, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers will take on The Rock.
The second year of the return of Rockingham Speedway will be broadcasted live on the CW on Saturday, April 4 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Once again it should be the TV announcers apologizing. I’m tired of the trash talking from these inbred “experts “. I can’t remember one race this year where anything they said was true. Might as well bring in some homeless crackheads from the streets, I am sure they could do a better job.
Who hurt you bro?
Perhaps a few examples would help the rest of us see things the way you do.
I don’t really like the current crew but when you say, “I can’t remember one race this year where anything they said was true”, I can’t say that I’ve noticed that.
Sure they say some stupid things and are annoying as hell, but most of what they say is fairly accurate.
Nice recap, Dalton. I agree with you except on the paint job of the race. That #12 car, with the metallic-red number on the side, was one sharp-looking hot rod.
Along with the CW, it is also on KTLA, WGN and USA. SPEED is showing the Truck event.on Saturday.