• Saturday’s BETMGM 300, Charlotte Motor Speedway

With a masterpiece of strategy and modicum of good fortune, Chase Elliott won Saturday’s BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his first Xfinity start of the season.

Saving a set of new tries for the final run in the 200-lap event at the 1.5-mile track, Elliott grabbed the lead after a Lap 183 restart and held it.

Driving a No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a paint scheme reminiscent of the signature look of the late Ricky Hendrick’s car, Elliott crossed the finish line 0.500 ahead of Brandon Jones, who recovered from early brake problems to finish second after pressing Elliott.

The victory was Elliott’s first at Charlotte and the sixth of his career. Jones finished ahead of two of his JR Motorsports teammates, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer, in third and fourth, respectively.

Elliott started 30th after a so-so qualifying effort. After Riley Herbst crashed on the backstretch to cause the first of eight cautions, Elliott, Jesse Love, Anthony Alfredo and Kyle Sieg stayed on the track on old tires, saving a set of stickers for later in the race. That call by crew chief Greg Ives proved to be the winning move.

A slow pit stop on Lap 170 cost Kyle Busch track position and relegated him to a sixth-place result behind fifthplace finisher AJ Allmendinger. Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Gibbs and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.