Chase Elliott celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. [Credit: Sarah Crabill/NASCAR via Getty Images]
Richmond, VA – Chase Elliott shined brightly in the Virginia529 College Savings 250 at the Richmond International Raceway on Friday evening, winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
In winning, Elliott, the reigning champion, broke his 39-race winless streak.
Driving the NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Elliott led 83 laps and beat hard-charger Kyle Busch at the checkered flag by 1.3 seconds. Quick pit stops made the difference and Elliott complimented his crew for their yeoman performance.
The 19-year old Georgian scored his fourth career victory in 58 series races.
“This is amazing, and I wish my mom and dad were here,” the victor said. “It was just a solid, smooth weekend, and we got the car working well. We always want to come with intent to win, and we had phenomenal pit stops. And it feels good to be back in victory lane.
“We have had a couple of opportunities to win races, and I have done my share of messing that up. For me, I give it my best shot, minimize mistakes and try to give ourselves a chance. And you have to have a good car, one capable of a top-five. Tonight I had a killer car, great pit stops and a great team effort. “
Added Dale Earnhardt Jr., “It is a good track for us, and I was expecting them to have a good run. Once they got to nosing around the lead, I thought the reality was for a possible win. A lot of it comes down to where you are on the restarts.”
Busch stated, “We were good in practice, but on long runs tonight, we were not good. All in all we made good adjustments, and we were sneaking up on it, making a good swing at the end. We were close and fought hard.”
He led 78 laps.
Finishing behind Elliott and Busch were Brian Scott, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Regan Smith, upstart Josh Berry and the Dillon brothers Ty and Austin.
Berry, driving for JR Motorsports, was starting in only his third Xfinity race and he drove superbly, running as high third. Unfortunately, pit stops did him in as he lost 12 spots along the way.
“Josh did what we asked him to do,” Earnhardt said. “He did a great job, but he also showed his inexperience on pit road and with more racing and more opportunities, he should improve. He showed he can run with these guys, and we would like to give him more opportunities. It comes down to finding an opportunity (a sponsor). If I could, I would race Josh every week.”
Six caution flags slowed the race for 48 laps.
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