Rookie Chase Elliott wins second straight at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Chase Elliott wrote another big chapter in a steadily evolving success story Friday night.

Elliott, 18-year-old son of former Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott, outran Elliott Sadler in a two-lap dash to the finish to win the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 Nationwide Series race at Darlington Raceway, scoring his second straight victory.

After a late-race caution produced a two-lap run to the finish, Elliott charged from sixth place to first, passing Sadler with a smooth move to the outside in turn two on the final lap. The race was Elliott's first at one of NASCAR's toughest tracks.

Sadler had changed only two tires in the final series of pit stops to earn first place for the last restart, but he wasn't able to hold the spot as Elliott pushed forward on four new tires.

"That was crazy," said Elliott, who scored his first Nationwide win last win at Texas Motor Speedway. "The last restart was crazy. I didn't know what to expect starting sixth. I knew the guys on two tires were going to be a little slower than those on four. It happened to work out.

"Elliott got a little loose in two and gave me the outside, and that's where I wanted to be anyway."

Elliott, driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide team, called the victory at a track where his father once starred "truly a dream come true. It's a place I've always loved watching races. It's probably my favorite track to watch a race as a fan."

Following Elliott and Sadler at the finish were Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.

Sadler said his car was very loose over the final two laps.

"I almost lost it in one and two," he said. "I did lose momentum, and Chase did a good job on the outside. Second's a good finish, of course, but it's not what we wanted. I feel like we let one get away tonight."

Busch appeared to have the win in hand before Tanner Berryhill's slide with seven laps to go reset the field. Busch had a two-second lead over Elliott when the yellow flew.

In seven Nationwide races, Busch, a Sprint Cup regular who isn't running for the Nationwide championship, has two wins, two seconds, one third and two fourths.

The race was slowed by seven cautions, including two involving newcomer Cale Conley. The biggest wreck, on lap 69 of 147, resulted from contact between Dylan Kwasniewski and Chris Buescher. David Starr also was in the accident.