Chase Elliott wins NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville in March 2026

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The NASCAR Cup Series competed at Martinsville Speedway and Denny Hamlin was the dominant driver. Hamlin won the first two stages and led 292 of the 400 laps; however, he didn't enter victory lane. Instead, it was a Hendrick Motorsports driver who had the perfect strategy at Martinsville.

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team for Hendrick Motorsports won the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville, earning their first victory of the 2026 Cup Series season. Elliott's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, called the perfect strategy to put the No. 9 car in the front of the field. Before the call, Elliott was running around 10th place.

CHASE ELLIOTT WINS AT MARTINSVILLE! pic.twitter.com/LDwiuX18aD

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 29, 2026

Despite Elliott not having a better car than Hamlin the entire race, he was able to hold off the No. 11 car to end the event. It is Hendrick Motorsports' first NASCAR win with their new car body, and while Elliott didn't have the fastest car at Martinsville, Gustafson made the perfect call to enter victory lane.

NASCAR results: Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway (March 2026)​

1. No. 9 Chase Elliott
2. No. 11 Denny Hamlin
3. No. 22 Joey Logano
4. No. 54 Ty Gibbs
5. No. 24 William Byron
6. No. 12 Ryan Blaney
7. No. 20 Christopher Bell
8. No. 2 Austin Cindric
9. No. 5 Kyle Larson
10. No. 21 Josh Berry
11. No. 97 Shane van Gisbergen
12. No. 60 Ryan Preece
13. No. 6 Brad Keselowski
14. No. 19 Chase Briscoe
15. No. 45 Tyler Reddick
16. No. 1 Ross Chastain
17. No. 77 Carson Hocevar
18. No. 71 Michael McDowell
19. No. 17 Chris Buescher
20. No. 7 Daniel Suarez
21. No. 43 Erik Jones
22. No. 48 Justin Allgaier
23. No. 34 Todd Gilliland
24. No. 8 Kyle Busch
25. No. 3 Austin Dillon
26. No. 88 Connor Zilisch
27. No. 16 A.J. Allmendinger
28. No. 4 Noah Gragson
29. No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek
30. No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
31. No. 41 Cole Custer
32. No. 51 Cody Ware
33. No. 33 Austin Hill
34. No. 38 Zane Smith
35. No. 35 Riley Herbst
36. No. 23 Bubba Wallace
37. No. 10 Ty Dillon

This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Chase Elliott wins NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville in March 2026

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