NASCAR at Martinsville: Chase Elliott holds off Denny Hamlin in Cook Out 400

It came down to the wire but we have another new winner in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Chase Elliott took a late lead in the final stage of the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, March 29 after a caution period and kept ahead of pole winner Denny Hamlin in the closing laps at Martinsville Speedway to get his first win of 2026.

Hamlin controlled the vast majority of the race after winning the pole Saturday. He led 163 of the first 169 laps Sunday at NASCAR's shortest track as the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was one of the fastest drivers in the field all afternoon and into the evening ... until Elliott was able to take control late in the race.

"It was definitely a team effort," Elliott said. "That was awesome, man. We've never had a win this early in the season so just a really great team effort."

Hamlin kept ahead of William Byron and Ryan Blaney for much of the race before Elliott jumped to the lead after late caution during the final stage. The Hendrick Motorsports driver managed a half-second advantage as the two had to handle lapped traffic in the final 20 laps of the race.

"Took a gamble," Elliott said. "We were going to two-stop that last stage. Honestly I think it was going to work out really good for us either way. Just so proud of them, man, they put up with a lot."

Elliott controlled the pace as the laps wound down. The two were more than a second clear of the rest of the field as Hamlin tried making late charges to close the gap to the No. 9 Chevrolet. Elliott ended up with just 84 laps led out of 400 compared to 292 for Hamlin.

"[Elliott] did a good job of controlling the pace there," Hamlin said. "Just really came from that bad restart I had beside [Ross Chastain]... not much really I could've done there and I feel like we gave it our all."

Hamlin was concerned he had a loose wheel during the latter half of the race.

"These are just some of the races that get away from you in your career and this certainly is one of them," he said.

Scroll below for a full breakdown of the race as it happened:

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Who won the Cook Out 400?

Chase Elliott held on for his first victory of the season in Martinsville. He took the checkered flag over Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Elliott maintains lead through traffic

It's a two-car race between Elliott in the No. 9 Chevrolet and Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota but the 2020 Cup Series champion is making his way through lapped traffic better than the pole man. With less than 10 laps to go, Elliott looks just out of reach for Hamlin.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Elliott takes the lead

The Hendrick Motorsports driver holds the lead as we're back to green flag racing after this most recent caution period. Denny Hamlin is closing in on him with 56 laps to go.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Crash involves nearly a quarter of the field

Bubba Wallace made contact with Carson Hocevar who then collected Zan Smith and multiple other cars, including Austin Dillo, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, and Connor Zilisch.

That contact brought out the caution flags for Wallace's No. 23 Toyota which was stranded on-track. Ross Chastain leads after opting against hitting pit road during the last round of stops for the field. He leads with 71 laps to go in the Cook Out 400.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Ryan Blaney gaining on P2

Denny Hamlin remains more than a second ahead out front with Ty Gibbs next on the road. But Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney's been on the charge with better pace and looks to be threatening the No. 54 Toyota for second on the road behind Hamlin.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville: Who won Stage 2?

Denny Hamlin continued his torrid pace on Sunday with another stage victory. He crossed the line first after 180 laps ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and William Byron. Hamlin's kept control for most all of the race as the drivers reach the halfway point.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Hamlin staying out front

The pole man has led an incredible 163 of the first 169 laps in the Cook Out 400 as Stage 2 winds down.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville: Who won Stage 1?

The top two crossed the line as they started the race with Denny Hamlin winning Stage 1 over William Byron. Hamlin led 74 of the opening 80 laps from Martinsville as the stage finished under yellow due to a spin by Cody Ware in the No. 51 Chevrolet.

Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five after 80 laps of running.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville update: Green flag racing

Polesitter Denny Hamlin leads the field away for 400 laps at The Paperclip ahead of William Byron.

What time does the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville start?

The Cook Out 400 starts at 3:30 p.m. ET at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.

What TV channel is the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville on?

The Cook Out 400 will be broadcast on FS1. The pre-race show begins at 2 p.m. ET. Fans can also tune in to the radio broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville live stream

The Cook Out 400 can be live streamed on the Fox Sports website (by signing in with your TV or satellite provider), Fox One (free seven day trial) and the Fox Sports app. Viewers can also stream the race on Fubo, which is offering a free trial to new subscribers.

How many laps is the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville?

The Cook Out 400 will be the first short-track oval of the season and as such features the shortest pit road speed and caution speed Cup Series drivers have seen this season so far. The field will take on 400 laps around the 0.526-mile oval for a total of 210.4 miles. The race will still be broken up into three stages (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 80 laps; Stage 2: 100 laps; Stage 3: 220 laps.

What is the lineup for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville?

Car number in parentheses.

1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
2. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet
3. (21) Josh Berry, Ford
4. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota
5. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
6. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford
7. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
8. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota
9. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
10. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
11. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
12. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford
13. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
14. (38) Zane Smith, Ford
15. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota
16. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford
17. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford
18. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
19. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota
20. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
21. (48) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet
22. (7) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet
23. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford
24. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet
25. (88) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet
26. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota
27. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota
28. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
29. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford
30. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
31. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford
32. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota
33. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
34. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
35. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet
36. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
37. (33) Austin Hill, Chevrolet