Updated July 16th, 2020 at 10:16 IST

Chase Elliott cruises to first NASCAR All-Star win in Bristol with 20K fans in attendance

2020 NASCAR All-Star Race results: Chase Elliott won his first NASCAR All-Star Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway with around 20,000 fans in attendance.

Reported by: Devika Pawar
| Image:self
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Chase Elliott won his first NASCAR All-Star Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway with around 20,000 fans in attendance – the most number of fans allowed by any USA sport since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elliott dominated the race, winning Stage 2 and Stage 3 before finishing the race on top. The NASCAR all-star race prize was $1 million.

Prior to the main event, NASCAR All-Star Open race was held to determine four final spots for the NASCAR All-Star Race. Aric Almirola, William Byron and Matt DiBenedetto won the race while Clint Bowyer was chosen by fan vote. Bubba Wallace, on the other hand, ended up crashing with Michael McDowell and later expressed his frustration over the incident. 

NASCAR All-Star Race results: Chase Elliott wins the race and the NASCAR All-Star Race prize

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NASCAR All-Star Race results

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NASCAR All-Star Race results: Who won NASCAR All-Star Race?

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver managed to win his first All-Star Race as he beat Kyle Busch, who finished second in the final few laps of the main event. This was also the 24-year-old's first win at the .533-mile short track in Bristol, who also won the $1 million prize with the checkered flag. As per reports, he and his father – Bill Eliott – are the second father-son due to win the All-Star Race along with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In May, Elliott had won the Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte, which qualified him for the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs in fall. After winning the All-Star Race, Elliott was momentarily speechless while talking to FOX Sports as he was cheered on by a crowd of 20,000 fans. 

Chase Elliott stated that he could not believe that he won and was glad they have the fans back. He added that there is "nothing like Bristol", and it was a great race to have his first win. “Just really proud of our team tonight and rebounding," Elliott explained. "We’ve had a really tough couple of weeks and just felt like we had kind of gotten off base and felt like I was struggling and just trying to hit the reset button this week and came out and put on a great performance, great car.” He went on to add that Bristol has an "electric atmosphere" which is found nowhere else, and he will celebrate this race by taking the million dollars back to Georgia. 

After Elliott and Busch, Kevin Harvick finished third, while Brad Keselowski came fourth followed by Denny Hamlin, who was fifth. This was also the first NASCAR All-Star Game at Bristol, on a short track and also in the middle of the week. This was unlike usual points races, where drivers win a reward for winning individual stages during the All-Star Race. Though some reports stated the lack of rewards made the race less thrilling, Blaney won the first 55-lap stage while Elliott second and third 35-lap stages.

Steve Byrnes award during the NASCAR All-Star race

During the broadcast, Bryson Brynes, son of late FOX NASCAR broadcaster Steve Byrnes presented the 2020 Byrnsie award, which was won by Bubba Wallace. The award is in honour of Steve Byrnes, who was affectionately known as 'Byrnsie'. The award celebrates a NASCAR driver who 'demonstrates principles Byrnes embodied' in he life, both personally and professionally – preparation, teamwork and family in the garage area. 

NASCAR All-Star Race results for the open round

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NASCAR All-Star Race results: Open race results and Bubba Wallace crash

Before the main event, the All-Star Open Race was held for drivers who did not meet the criteria to directly race at the All-Star Race. As per NASCAR's rules, drivers who win points events in 2019 or 2020, drivers who won a NASCAR All-Star Race and compete full-time, drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series title and drivers who compete full time are eligible to race for the All-Star Race. Almirola passed Michael McDowell in a quick start during the three-stage sprint with first two stages being 35 laps each, while the final one was 15 laps.

However, McDowell crashed into Bubba Wallace during the initial quick start after making a right turn, which knocked the latter out of contention. This even affected the fan voting, as one cannot compete with a wrecked car. Following Wallace's open support for the Black Lives Matter movement as the only black NASCAR racer, he was considered to have gained a significant amount of fan following. Wallace called out McDowell later on, stating that he is a 'joke' and it is "just disrespect when you get hooked into the wall". Almirola won the first stage, while Bryon and DiBenedetto won the second and third stage respectively. 

(Image source: NASCAR official Twitter – @NASCAR)

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Published July 16th, 2020 at 10:16 IST

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