Chase Elliott held off Brandon Jones at Charlotte Motor Speedway to secure his first Xfinity Series win since 2016. Despite being out of touch from Xfinity racing in recent years, the Hendrick Motorsports star made the most of today’s opportunity and bagged his sixth Xfinity career win.

Justin Allgaier swept the stage wins, but he was unable to defend his crown as he ended up crashing into the wall with 25 laps to go in the race. Up until this point, Elliott wasn’t in the picture to win the race. However, his fortunes changed when Cole Custer and Austin Hill got involved in an ugly scrap-up.

Fresher tires came in handy for Elliott late in the race

It certainly wasn’t easy going for the No. 17 driver early in the race, as he struggled to find speed and grip on the racetrack. However, he was one of the teams that had reserved a set of four new tires that would work wonders late in the race.

As Ryan Elli spun across the track, flagging the caution flag, most of the teams and drivers decided to pit on Lap 171, but most of them didn’t have a new set of tires. This gave Chase Elliott an edge with the late restarts, as grip levels were at a premium on the racetrack. From here on, he only needed to fend off Brandon Jones, which he successfully managed by taking the checkered flag for the first time since 2016.

Crediting his win to his crew chief for the tire strategy, Elliot in the post-race interview said, “Greg made a good call. I mean, that might well won us the race. Felt like I needed a little bit with my balance and to make as much pace as the 7 and a couple other guys. But hats off to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Super special to win with the 17 on the car for the boss and Linda. Obviously a great honor here with the Ricky Hendrick scheme.”

However, many fans weren’t pleased to see the 2020 Cup Series champion take home the win and expressed their discontent online on social media.

Fans were disappointed to see Chase Elliott emerge victorious at Charlotte

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Demanding a permanent ban on Cup Series drivers from racing in the Xfinity races, a fan wrote, “How many times do we need to say this, GET CUP DRIVERS OUT OF THE XFINITY SERIES”.

The race indeed was an entertaining watch, with multiple contenders having a go at each other. But, no one expected Chase Elliott to bag the win, after the eventful day of racing. “Boring. Race was good until chase won”. Really makes you question Elliott’s ‘Most Popular Driver’ tag, doesn’t it?

Given the conditions at the mile-and-a-half racetrack, tire conservation also played a huge role in the results. But some fans were just not amused to see Elliott nail the strategy that helped him win the race. “He got lucky with those fresher tires”.

Questioning Elliott’s skill set and his ability to compete against top-level race teams, a fan threw a jibe at him by commenting, “Mickey Elliott can only win against wrecked cars and part-time mechanics in Xfinity 😭”.

Fans also said: “All that for a chase win, booooooo” and “So Rigged.. Spoon fed win again mid”.

Chase Elliott will hop back in his Cup car today for the qualifying rounds, and then compete for yet another win in the Coca Cola 600 race tomorrow.