"Holy cow! What a thrill!" - Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott fends off Martin Truex Jr. to claim the checkered flag at the GoBowling at The Glen for his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory

It took 99 career starts, but Chase Elliott finally found victory lane Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

With his Hall Of Fame father assisting as a spotter, Elliott battled Martin Truex Jr. tooth and nail over the final 32 laps before crossing the finish line in first place to win the GoBowling at The Glen Sunday afternoon.

"I don’t know what to say," said Elliott. "I’m just so thrilled and so emotional. There’s so much relief you know; it’s been working on three years and I hadn’t won a one and came here with a good opportunity today. I was able to get it done. But, just thanks to all the fans. I hope all my buddies are ready to get rowdy tonight because it’s going to be a good one."

Kyle Busch was the race leader after the last round of scheduled pit stops, but a problem with his gas cans left him 10 gallons short of a full tank. Busch was forced to pit again for fuel and Elliott led the field when the green flag dropped for the races final re-start on Lap 59. Within one lap, Truex moved past Kurt Busch to take over second place but by then Elliott had a lead of over 1.5 seconds. Truex consistently reached Elliott's back bumper in the braking zones, but couldn't find the momentum to pass as they raced out of the corners.

"I gave it everything I had for our guys at Bass Pro Shops, 5-hour ENERGY and Toyota, and all of our partners," said Truex. "I gave it everything I had every single lap. I could catch him but right when I got close, I’d get loose and fall back. I was too loose all day. Traffic made it worse for sure. He had the upper hand there at the end. We were a little faster but hats off to him. He did a great job. He put his car exactly where I needed mine to be. I couldn’t get it and I was sideways. Congrats to him on his first win."

Elliott seemed to have the victory in hand entering the final stretch when Truex missed the inner loop during the next-to-last lap, but he wheel-hopped into Turn One and let Truex catch his rear bumper once again. Elliott's mistake became moot when Truex ran out of gas during the final lap, allowing Elliott to cruise past the finish line with a 7.5 second lead.

"He missed Turn 1 on the final lap, but I missed the inner loop on the (next-to-last) lap and lost five car lengths to him, so when he made that mistake in 1, I was too far back to capitalize," Truex said. "We ran out of gas anyway coming off of Turn 5 that last lap, so it was really all a moot point. He was going to win regardless."

Elliott himself ran out of gas during his victory lap and needed a push from Jimmie Johnson to make it to Victory Lane. While waiting for help, Elliott received a rousing ovation from the sold-out Watkins Glen crowd.

"That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and I just want you all to know that," Elliott said. "And I am very grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Let’s go get some more."

Elliott's win is the 250th for Hendricks Motorsports and the organization's first victory since Kasey Kahne won at Indianapolis more than a year ago. Elliott is the first Chevrolet driver to win a race this year since Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 to kick off the season.

Despite running out of fuel, Truex was able to coast past the finish line in second place. A trio of Joe Gibbs Racing cars came following next with Kyle Busch finishing third, Daniel Suarez in fourth and Erik Jones in fifth. Busch's finish is especially impressive since he re-started the race in 31st position after his pit stop problem. After the race, Busch congratulated Elliott in Victory Lane and praised the young driver.

"I think what impressed me the most was just that (Elliott) was hammer down and elbows up and flying – loose here, loose there and going through everything and doing everything right and really attacking the race course and not putting the wheel too far out of shape," said Busch. "He did a really good and he was really hustling it and keeping the car under him. He looked like a pro. That was cool to see. It’s pretty early for him – like what third year – to be able to come out here and run like that at Watkins Glen and to be able to win, so pretty impressive. Overall, wish we could’ve raced with him and certainly think we would’ve had a shot for him."

Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, William Byron, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick round out the top-ten. Rookie Byron has finished in the top-ten in consecutive weeks after recording only one top-ten finish in the first twenty races this season.

Martin Truex Jr. was the winner of Stage One, while Chase Elliott nabbed the checkered green for Stage Two. Both drivers will receive a bonus point for the postseason.

Click here for full race results.

With his third place finish Kyle Busch expanded his lead in the NASCAR drivers points standings with only four races left in the regular season.. Kevin Harvick sits in second place 70 points behind Busch, while Martin Truex Jr. is in third 121 points behind. Kurt Busch moves into fourth place 229 points behind his brother Kyle.

You can see the updated Driver's Points Standings here.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the Wolverine State next week for the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 12th.

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_{Photo credits: Royalbroil CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons}

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_{Author: @chops316
Editor: @liberty-minded}

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