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The current points table leader and four-time race winner of the season, Chase Elliott, has clinched the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season after finishing Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen in fourth place at Watkins Glen International.
Elliott, who required just four points at Watkins Glen, started the race from pole and secured the regular season championship with the completion of Stage 1. The #9 Chevrolet driver gained a bonus of 15 playoff points, which will be added to his total tally once the points table standings are reset for the 10-race post-season.
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Chase Elliott sealed the regular season championship title with one race remaining in the 26-race regular Cup Series season. The 26-year-old has been the most consistent driver this season as he is the only four-time winner of the season with all four wins coming at Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Pocono Raceway.
The season has been a career-best for Elliott as he has also scored 10 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, and led 688 laps through the first 25 races so far. He has been leading the points table standings since the fifth Cup race of the season, which took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.
In a seven-year-long full-time NASCAR Cup Series season, it marks Elliott’s first regular championship and seventh consecutive appearance in the Cup Series playoffs.
The 2020 Cup champion is the second consecutive Hendrick Motorsports driver to secure the regular season title after Kyle Larson took it last year.
Chase Elliott lost the NASCAR Watkins Glen race to his teammates on the final restart
Chase Elliott lost the Go Bowling at The Glen to Kyle Larson by a margin of 3.538 seconds on Sunday at Watkins Glen International. It was a perfect weekend for the #9 Chevrolet driver as he won the pole on Saturday, led the race-high 29 of the 90 laps, and ended up with a tenth top-five finish of the season.
Elliott was in a strong position to win his fifth race of the season, but a final restart with five laps to go gave his teammate Kyle Larson a chance, and he took advantage, pushing the #9 car to the left coming out of Turn 1 and pulling away his back-to-back win at Watkins Glen International.
Following that, Elliott couldn't grab the top position in the closing laps as Larson was charging towards his second win. The P4 finish, however, secured Elliott’s regular season championship crown.
