Chase Elliott wins BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after starting P30

Now all he has to do is get the win in the big 600-mile race tomorrow. A really solid day for Chase Elliott in the BetMGM 300.

Justin Allgaier tells Cup drivers to move aside

Going into the race, it was all about the four Cup Series drivers in the race. Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, and Noah Gragson. With Gibbs and Busch on the front row when the race began, it appeared they would drive away.

Despite having a 5-second lead in the middle of Stage 1, Gibbs and Busch would not be able to win the first segment. Instead, it was a long and slow build for Justin Allgaier to move to the front and eventually, pass for the lead.

I know that Allgaier has been in the Xfinity Series for a long time. He did the Cup thing and it didn’t work out. Based on talent and skill alone Allgaier is perfectly capable of competing with these drivers when they come down to his series.

Somehow, some way, one lap at a time, Justin Allgaier was able to win the first stage. He didn’t stop there, either.

Gator gets it done again in Stage 2

There is only one way to show these Cup drivers you mean business – sweep the stages. So that is exactly what Allgaier did. The JR Motorsports veteran was just so damn good and so fast throughout the first two stages.

There were more incidents in this part of the race. Riley Herbst was put into the wall by AJ Allmendinger. Other than that, it was a lot of single-car incidents throughout the field sporadically.

It was enough caution flags to allow drivers like Chase Elliott to switch up their pit strategy. Some drivers would stay out on old tires, banking sticker sets for late in the race. Others took tires when they could and used it to get track position.

The moral of this story, Justin Allgaier was great. His pit crew was great. So, the stages both went to the No. 7 team. However, it wasn’t meant to be for Allgaier.

Chase Elliott banks tires, wins at Charlotte

The end of this race got a bit ugly. It was the usual end to one of these races. Teams didn’t have tires, some did, and others had good scuffs. But there were multiple incidents late in this race.

Justin Allgaier was collected on a late restart trying to clear Ty Gibbs in the front of the field. It did not work out. Allgaier got put into the wall and was a DNF on the day. Just a tough end, another tough end in fact, to his day.

Then there was an incident with Austin Hill and Cole Custer. This is after Hill spent three laps flipping off Sammy Smith. Hill felt Custer doored him, so he put the 00 and himself into the wall going into Turn 3. Then complained about it.

These incidents allowed Chase Elliott to use that extra set of sticker tires to his advantage. Drivers were already on old tires and then had to do multiple restarts late. Some spun their tires and had bad restarts. It was a mess for many.

Crew chief Greg Ives had a great plan. Elliott executed that plan to perfection. It isn’t always the fastest car that wins, but the best strategy and execution that get the job done.