NASCAR has waved the checkered flag on its frenetic 2020 season, a whirlwind of rescheduled and relocated races, some held with lots of fans, some fans and no fans at all. The effort to complete all 38 races during the pandemic was rewarded with a new champion, who just happens to be NASCAR’s reigning most popular driver.
Chase Elliott won three of the final five races, including Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway, to claim the first Cup of his career. His late-season surge upstaged Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, the two most dominant drivers this year, and elevated the second-generation NASCAR star alongside his Hall of Fame father as NASCAR champions.