Chase Elliott secured Hendrick Motorsports’ first victory of the 2026 season at Martinsville Speedway, marking the team’s 31st win. In a thrilling final restart, Elliott passed Ross Chastain for the lead and held off Denny Hamlin, who had been dominant throughout most of the race, to claim his 22nd career win. Following Elliott and Hamlin, Joey Logano finished third, with Ty Gibbs in fourth and William Byron in fifth. Other top-ten finishers included Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Josh Berry.
Shane van Gisbergen also showed progress on the oval, earning points in both stages and finishing in 11th place after an impressive qualifying effort. During Stage 1, Hamlin led from the pole position, briefly losing the lead to Byron before regaining control of the race. He went on to win Stage 1 over Byron, Berry, Gibbs, Cindric, Van Gisbergen, Logano, Blaney, Reddick, and Preece. In Stage 2, Hamlin continued his strong performance, clinching the stage win ahead of Gibbs, Logano, Blaney, Byron, Cindric, Reddick, Van Gisbergen, Larson, and Berry.
In the final stage, Hamlin maintained his lead as Blaney moved up to second. Elliott and Van Gisbergen were among the first top-ten cars to pit under green-flag conditions. Following a caution for debris on pit road, Hamlin reclaimed the lead with fresher tires. A late-race restart saw Chastain take the lead after opting not to pit, but Elliott quickly passed him and held off Hamlin for the victory. Chastain’s gamble ultimately resulted in a 16th place finish.
