NASCAR Cup Series Winner 2020: Chase Elliott Tops Final Chase Standings and Grid

With a first-place finish at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, Chase Elliott was crowned the winner of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

The Championship 4—Elliott, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin—paced each other for much of the race, but Elliott managed to move in with a multi-second lead over Logano as the checkered flag neared.

Elliott's day started in total contrast to the way it ended, with him forced to start at the back of the field after he failed pre-race inspection twice. But once it ended, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet became the third-youngest driver to win the title—at 24 years, 11 months and 11 days—and adds another championship to his family, with his father Bill winning the title in 1988.

It's also a major victory for his team, with Hendrick Motorsports winning its first title since Jimmie Johnson in 2016, which was also the last year that a Chevrolet driver took the title.

Keselowski finished second, 2.74 seconds behind Elliott, with Logano and Hamlin filling out the top four. In his final race, Johnson finished fifth, 12.43 seconds off the lead.

2020 NASCAR Cup Series Standings (Top 16)

1. Chase Elliott

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Joey Logano

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Alex Bowman

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Kyle Busch

9. Ryan Blaney

10. Kurt Busch

11. Austin Dillon

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. William Byron

15. Aric Almirola

16. Cole Custer

Ending a Career Year

With his first championship, Elliott capped off a career-best campaign from 2020. He posted four wins, 14 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s this season while leading 1,083 laps, second only to Kevin Harvick, the regular-season champion who was eliminated in the Round of 8. The 24-year-old thrived under pressure in the penultimate race, leading a career-best 236 of 500 laps at Martinsville en route to his first-ever Championship 4.

Elliott had never won at Phoenix, though his array of victories at different courses—Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega and Daytona—gave him plenty to work with throughout the 312 laps at Phoenix.

NASCAR will be back for the 2021 season with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14.