Elliott, who started on the pole, won the first two stages and led 80 of the event’s 90 laps. But as the race came down to the finish, there was a familiar driver in his rearview mirror — Martin Truex Jr., the same driver who pursued him to the finish line a year ago.
Truex closed on Elliott’s bumper several times in the closing laps, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver hit all his marks to hold him off and win the GoBowling at The Glen.
It’s Elliott’s second victory this season, and career win No. 5.
“That was freakin’ awesome,” Elliott told NBCSN afterward. “I just stayed mistake free. Martin was a little quicker those last two runs but track position was king.”
“I tried to do all I could. Chase just did an excellent job,” Truex said. “I just tried to force a mistake but he hit his marks.”
Elliott becomes just the fifth driver to win two straight races at Watkins Glen, joining Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Marcos Ambrose.
Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney
The event featured some intense racing throughout the field. In one sequence in the third stage, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace rubbed fenders, and Wallace sent Busch spinning.
Busch radioed his team, “I don’t know how (Bubba Wallace) still gets to race. If I had done that, I’d be parked.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup results at Watkins Glen
- Chase Elliott2. Martin Truex Jr.3. Denny Hamlin4. Erik Jones5. Ryan Blaney6. Matt DiBenedetto7. Kevin Harvick8. Kyle Larson9. Brad Keselowski10. Kurt Busch11. Kyle Busch12. Aric Almirola13. Chris Buescher14. Alex Bowman15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.16. Michael McDowell17. Daniel Suarez18. Paul Menard19. Jimmie Johnson20. Clint Bowyer21. William Byron22. David Ragan23. Joey Logano24. Matt Tifft25. Ryan Newman26. Parker Kligerman27. Ross Chastain28. Bubba Wallace29. Landon Cassill30. Ty Dillon31. Austin Dillon32. Josh Bilicki33. Cody Ware34. Corey LaJoie35. Daniel Hemric36. Ryan Preece37. Reed Sorenson
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