NASCAR Xfinity Series at Richmond 2015: Results, Winner, Standings and Reaction
The drought is finally over for Chase Elliott.
On Friday night at Richmond International Raceway, Elliott used a speedy and well-executed pit stop to take the advantage in the 218th lap of the Virginia529 College Savings 250.
He wouldn't relinquish the lead en route to his first win in 39 Xfinity Series races. NASCAR Xfinity Series tweeted its congratulations:
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Co-owner of JR Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr. also congratulated his driver on his winning performance and acknowledged Elliott's teammates:
Not long after the race was over, Elliott took to Twitter to express his joy and appreciation for the job his pit crew did to put him position to win:
NASCAR Xfinity on Twitter captured the pit that turned out to be the pivotal moment in the race:
Here's a look at the top 10 finishers on the night:
| 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 6 | 83 | 48 |
| 2 | 54 | Kyle Busch | 1 | 78 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | Brian Scott | 3 | 63 | 42 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 20 | Erik Jones | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 7 | Regan Smith | 4 | 20 | 39 |
| 7 | 88 | Josh Berry | 5 | 0 | 37 |
| 8 | 3 | Ty Dillon | 9 | 0 | 36 |
| 9 | 33 | Austin Dillon | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 60 | Chris Buescher | 13 | 0 | 34 |
Elliott held off Kyle Busch, one of the big boys from NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, to earn the victory. Busch captured the pole but could come no closer than second in the race. Elliott's win pushed him to second place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings. Here are the updated numbers after Friday night's race:
| 1 | Chris Buescher | 60 | 908 | Leader | 2 | 11 |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | 9 | 887 | -21 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | Ty Dillon | 3 | 881 | -27 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | Regan Smith | 7 | 859 | -49 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Elliott Sadler | 1 | 803 | -105 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Brian Scott | 2 | 797 | -111 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Darrell Wallace Jr | 6 | 796 | -112 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Daniel Suarez | 18 | 791 | -117 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Brendan Gaughan | 62 | 764 | -144 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Ryan Reed | 16 | 683 | -225 | 1 | 1 |
Elliott is now just 21 points behind leader Chris Buescher, who turned in a disappointing 10th-place finish. After an Xfinity Series championship performance in 2014 in his rookie season, Elliott is finally hitting his stride in 2015. It was crucial that he rebounded strongly from a 24th-place finish at the VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 last week.
Elliott and his team were ready to perform, and he's being given an opportunity close the gap in the 2014 standings.
Buescher has hit a rough patch this season. He hasn't had a top-five finish since August 15 when he came in fourth at the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio.
He's clinging to the overall lead, but he's seen his edge over the rest of the field dwindle over the last few weeks. Buescher has been atop the standings since May 17, and his lead has been as large as 36 points. With Elliott apparently set to make another charge toward the leader, Buescher is going to need to step up his game if he hopes to stay in the No. 1 spot.
Counting next week's Furious 7 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway, there are eight races left on the schedule. That's more than enough time for Elliott—or even Ty Dillon, who is in third—to run Buescher down.
The Chase is set to begin in the Sprint Cup Series, but the remaining races on the Xfinity Series will have fans on the edge of their seats as well.
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