NASCAR All-Star Race 2020 Results: Chase Elliott Tops Kyle Busch for $1M Prize

Chase Elliott is the brightest of all the NASCAR All-Stars.

At least he was Wednesday.  

Elliott won the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which was hosting the event for the first time. It was just the second time in All-Star Race history that it was not at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1986).

Bragging rights for winning an All-Star Race is one thing, but Elliott also took home the $1 million prize awaiting the victor.

It appeared as if Kyle Busch would make a final push when he moved into second place during the 15-lap sprint on Stage 4, but Elliott held him off without much drama for his first All-Star Race win.

The No. 9 car prevailed in a 20-car field that was filled with competitors who satisfied specific criteria. Todd Haislop of Sporting News explained 16 of the spots were filled by drivers who either won a points event in 2019 or 2020, won a NASCAR All-Star Race and compete full-time or won a NASCAR Cup Series title and compete full-time.

Aric Almirola, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto and Clint Bowyer captured the other four spots at the NASCAR All-Star Open, which happened right before the main event. The first three won stages in the Open, while Bowyer won the fan vote.

The entire field faced four stages of 55 laps, 35 laps, 35 laps and 15 laps and a choose rule, which allowed all drivers and not just the leader to choose their lanes for restarts.

However, attention was elsewhere before the drivers started their engines.

Mike Hembree of USA Today reported a Confederate flag banner was flown over Bristol Motor Speedway before the race with the Sons of Confederate Veterans' website on it. NASCAR's decision to ban the flag from its events made national headlines with Bubba Wallace—an outspoken proponent of the Black Lives Matter movement and NASCAR's only full-time Black driver on the top series—spearheading the efforts.

On the track, Martin Truex Jr. was supposed to start in the pole position but was pushed to the rear because of two technical failures. That gave the pole spot to Alex Bowman, but Ryan Blaney passed him and the rest of the field on the way to a Stage 1 win.

Stage 2 featured a caution when Ryan Newman slid off the track, and Elliott passed Kevin Harvick on the restart featuring the rule change. 

Elliott rode that momentum to a stage win, although the stages did not carry any larger meaning such as playoff points or prize money outside of the formatting of the race.

That was unfortunate news for Elliott, who continued to pace the field through Stage 3 after battling side-by-side with Blaney for the lead for almost two laps. That set the table for the 15-lap sprint to the finish, although caution laps did not count in the final stage.

While a sprint could bring drama, there was little question about who the best car was Wednesday.

Elliott completed his dominant showing with the win.