Chase Elliott wins the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship

The NASCAR Cup Series concluded the 2020 season Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway’s Season Finale 500. The drivers competing for the championship were Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski. The “Choose Cone Rule” returned for the final time of the season. Fans at the track got to say goodbye to Chad Knaus, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson as their careers came to a close. Chase Elliott won the pole by a metric qualifying system with Joey Logano starting second, Brad Keselowski third, and Denny Hamlin fourth. However, Elliott and Brennan Poole both had to start at the rear after failing inspection.

A champion will be crowned! We’re green in the #Championship4 from @phoenixraceway on NBC! pic.twitter.com/ekatDmkt9m — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

Twenty-five laps into the race, Elliott made up ground to work his way into the top ten. The competition caution came out on lap 31. Everyone went to pit road during the caution, with Logano and Hamlin the first two off of pit road. Logano chose the inside lane with Hamlin outside for the restart on lap 37. Elliott continued to gain ground, passing Alex Bowman for third place. Keselowski would overtake Bowman for fourth place a short time after. Meanwhile, Logano led 57 of 58 laps to win stage one. Brennan Poole got the free pass.

A strong statement out of the #Championship4 in Stage 1. @joeylogano – 1st@dennyhamlin – 2nd@chaseelliott – 3rd@keselowski – 4th pic.twitter.com/Rw9cFvxz2O — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

Everyone went to pit road during the caution, with Logano and Hamlin the first two cars off of pit road. Logano chose the inside lane with Hamlin outside to start stage two on lap 84. Logano caught a piece of debris on his grill and used a lap car to get it off on lap 100. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott passed Hamlin for second place fourteen laps later. Six laps later, Elliott passed Logano from the inside lane at turn two to take the lead.

NEW LEADER: D-I-9! @chaseelliott completes the pass of @joeylogano to take over the top spot in the race and the #Championship4! pic.twitter.com/ZJ4VO9CbzX — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

On lap 128, Keselowski went to pit road to start scheduled green-flag stops. Logano went in at lap 137 while Elliott and Hamlin pitted two laps later. As drivers continued to make scheduled pit stops, James Davison hit the turn two wall to bring out the third caution. Everyone went to pit road during the caution, with Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott being the first cars off of pit road. Busch only took two tires during the stop. Kurt Busch chose the outside lane with Elliott inside for the restart on lap 168. Logano restarted third, Hamlin fourth, and Keselowski fifth.

Five laps into the restart, Keselowski took the lead away from Elliott. Chase fought back to retake the lead from Keselowski ten laps later. On the final lap of stage two, Keselowski closed in on Elliott and passed him at turn three to win stage two.

https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1325559500531642371 All of the leaders went to pit road during the caution, with Elliott and Keselowski the first two cars off of pit road. Elliot chose the outside lane with Logano inside to start the final stage on lap 201. Drivers quickly dove to the bottom of the racetrack to take the lead, but Elliott held on to the lead. On lap 256, Ryan Blaney went to pit road to start the day’s final scheduled pit stops. Logano pitted on lap 258, and Elliott and Keselowski pitted a lap later.

Meanwhile, @keselowski completes the pass of @dennyhamlin for the third spot. He's 1.7 seconds behind Elliott. 📺: NBC | 🖥: https://t.co/BHXvTwJmNc pic.twitter.com/x8K5JYRpzb — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

Once the scheduled pit stop cycles were complete, Logano was the new leader. Logano led eight laps before Elliott would take it back for good with 32 laps to go.

THE 9 TAKES THE LEAD! @chaseelliott drives past @joeylogano and is the championship leader with less than 50 to go! pic.twitter.com/uZop4TrzU8 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

Elliott would lead the last 32 laps to win the race and the championship by 2.74 seconds over Brad Keselowski. He joins his father Bill, who won the Cup Series title in 1988. Together, they are the third father and son to win a NASCAR championship along with the Ned/Dale Jarrett and Lee/Richard Petty.

A NEW ERA OF ELLIOTT BEGINS! Retweet to congratulate @chaseelliott on capturing his first championship! pic.twitter.com/y9punpVk2T — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

The rest of the top ten finishers were Joey Logano third, Denny Hamlin fourth, Jimmie Johnson, in his final Cup Series start finishes in fifth. Ryan Blaney finished in sixth, Kevin Harvick seventh, Matt DiBenedetto eighth, William Byron ninth, and Martin Truex Jr. tenth. Two other drivers also ended their Cup Series careers with Clint Bowyer finishing in 14th place, and Matt Kenseth finished in 25th place.

William Byron’s crew chief Chad Knaus wrapped up his 19-year crew chief career as he will now move up with Hendrick Motorsports next year. Knaus finishes with 82 wins, 227 top-five finishes, 371 top-ten finishes, 42 poles, and seven championships as both Johnson and Byron’s crew chief. There were only four cautions for 27 laps and nineteen lead changes. Jimmie Johnson finishes his NASCAR Cup Series career with 83 wins, 232 top-five finishes, 374 top-ten finishes, 36 poles, and seven championships.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps presents the Bill France Cup to this year's champion, @chaseelliott. pic.twitter.com/w8EezZsatK — NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 8, 2020

That concludes the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. Thank you for tuning in all season long, and we’ll do it again next year.

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