While Denny Hamlin absolutely dominated Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race, it was Chase Elliott who emerged victorious through a great restart and a strategy gamble. NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver earned his 22nd career win and Hendrick Motorsports’ 31st at Martinsville Speedway.
Tyler Reddick finished 15th in his worst result of the 2026 season, and only lost 13 points in his massive championship lead.
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The race featured only six different leaders, and 34 of the 37 starters reached the checkered flag, so it was a fairly tame Martinsville Cup race. But still, there was plenty to discuss as we look at some of the biggest winners and losers from Sunday’s 400-lapper:
WINNER: Alan Gustafson proves he still has a trick up his sleeve
Watch: Gustafson explains the ‘safer play’ behind Elliott win
Chase Elliott drove a great race at Martinsville, but without a roll of a dice from atop the pit box, he likely would have finished around tenth. However, crew chief Alan Gustafson opted to short-pit with about 140 laps to go with plans of two-stopping to the end of the race. When round of green-flag stops cycled through, Elliott was in the lead, and before losing too many positions to those now on fresher tires, a timely caution flew. Elliott then took the lead from Ross Chastain (who stayed out), getting around Hamlin in the process, and never relinquished the top spot again. Gustafson has been criticized quite a bit by Elliott’s fan base, but the veteran crew chief proved he still knows how to play the game, securing HMS its first win of the 2026 season.
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How Alan Gustafson stacked the deck for Chase Elliott in Martinsville win
LOSER: Denny Hamlin and his ‘almost’ perfect race
Watch: Hamlin on watching win slip away: ‘We gave it our all’
Hamlin earned the pole, led 292 of 400 laps, won Stage 1, won Stage 2, and even secured the fastest lap bonus. However, Elliott spoiled his perfect race, and even though Hamlin still scored the most points that day with a runner-up finish, it was a ‘gut punch’ for a man intensely focused on his race win record. He was battling a slightly loose wheel in the closing laps, but what really cost him was a slow restart, allowing Elliott to nose ahead before the next caution, putting Hamlin on the second row behind Chastain on older tires. The good news is that the No. 11 is clearly very fast right now, and that won’t be his last opportunity to add to his win tally this year.
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Denny Hamlin falls short of perfect race, but scores the most points
WINNER: Penske still very impressive at short tracks
Watch: Joey Logano on ‘solid’ third-place finish at Martinsville
A dismal Darlington is now behind Joey Logano, who led the way for Team Penske and Ford with a third-place finish at Martinsville. And his teammates were not far behind him. Despite getting walled on the final restart, Ryan Blaney still finished sixth, and Austin Cindric was eighth for his second consecutive top ten.
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LOSER: Bubba Wallace’s costly run-in with Carson Hocevar
Wallace entered this race third in points, but left it in 11th. He is locked into a four-way tie for eighth, but still, that is a significant loss in the standings. It was an average day for 23XI, but Wallace lost another 15 to 20 points after getting into it with Carson Hocevar. The two drivers collided on a late-race restart, and Wallace appeared to run out of patience with the No. 77 car. A multi-car wreck ensued, but it was Wallace who could not continue after colliding with another car. He later said that it wasn’t intentional, but regardless, the end result was very costly for the No. 23 Toyota.
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Complete NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Martinsville I
WINNER: Josh Berry is the biggest mover in the points
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
After a second row qualifying effort, Berry piloted the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to its first top ten since the Daytona 500. That result helped him to be this week’s biggest mover in the standings, jumping seven spots from 32nd to 25th in points.
LOSER: Kyle Busch’s winless streak hits 100
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
Richard Childress Racing has no top tens as an organization after seven races this year, and Busch — NASCAR’s winningest active Cup driver — now faces a winless streak that has hit 100 races. The year started with such promising, winning pole for the Daytona 500, but it’s all been downhill since then. After starting 34th at Martinsville, Busch went on to finish 24th in a grueling day, and that result was the highest among the three RCR cars in the field. Busch ended the day two laps down, and at one point was penalized for sending a wheel flying down the pit lane.
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WINNER: Four top fives in seven races for Ty Gibbs
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Outside of Tyler Reddick, no driver in the field has as many top fives and top tens as Gibbs so far in the 2026 season. He has finished no worse than sixth in the last five races and while still winless after 130 Cup starts, the driver of the No. 54 is right on the edge of breaking through to Victory Lane. He is only one top five away from matching his total for the entire 2025 season, and he is solidly sixth in the standings. This is by far the best start to a season yet for Gibbs in the Cup Series. And the next race on the schedule is a place where he can 100% get that first win, and nearly did last year — Bristol.
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LOSER: Rookie season troubles continue for Zilisch
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
One of the most promising young drivers in NASCAR has been going through it for the past seven weeks. His 26th-place finish at Martinsville is his third best result of the year, as he only has two showings that are better — 18th at Darlington and 14th at COTA. He is 33rd in points, and has been the lowest-finishing Trackhouse driver in five of seven races run so far in 2026. While the entire team seems off, he obviously wants to close the gap to his teammates. But as of right now, the lone ROTY candidate still has a lot of work to do.
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Strategy gamble helps Chase Elliott to Martinsville NASCAR Cup win
Official race results: NASCAR Cup 2026 Martinsville I
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