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In what is destined to be a season full of changes for 2014 Xfinity series champion Chase Elliott one thing may be the same -- his presence in victory lane.

Elliott put the No. 88 TaxSlayer Chevrolet there to score his first ever win on a restrictor plate track in his NASCAR career by holding off a hard charging Joey Logano in Saturday afternoon's Powershares QQQ 300 from Daytona International Speedway. 

Elliott, who led 19 of the races 120 laps, believed timing was on his side.

“That was a heck of a battle,” Elliott said. “I had such a good car. We just found ourselves at the right place at the right time at the end and luckily had enough to get by Joey there."

Despite the second place finish, Logano led most of the race by pacing the field for 40 laps. Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champion, knew Elliott made the timely moves in order to put himself in a position to emerge victorious.

“Chase did a great job up there,” Logano said. “Kasey did a great job behind me, pushing me but I’m like, ‘He’s not going to push me by his teammate,’ so my next move right here is to plateau that 88 and shove him ahead and then make the move last minute. 

"He didn’t want to go up top. He blocked it and I got there at the last minute and I got hooked by his right rear and that’s what killed my momentum. Hopefully, we’re saving it all for tomorrow.” 

Elliott's JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne pushed Joey Logano for much of the race's final stages finished in third place. Fellow JR Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler was the highest finishing Xfinity regular by taking home a fourth place finish. 

Sadler believes he is in a great position leaving Daytona with the Xfinity series points lead.

"Momentum is the main thing," Sadler said. "Look, guys, I'm in a great situation. A lot of people don't know the history of Dale Jr. and Kelley and myself. We've known each other since we were teenagers. For our relationship to come full circle and be at this race team, to see how much effort they have put into the program this winter.  Showed today, three of the top four were JR Motorsports cars. I feel like we have some good stuff coming down the road." 

Austin Dillon finished in fifth place followed by Darrell Wallace, Jr., rookie Brandon Jones, Daniel Suarez, Blake Koch and Brendan Gaughan rounding out the top ten. Pole winner Ty Dillon finished in 13th place.

The race was under the yellow just four times for a total of 17 laps. The second caution, however, involved the eventual race winner Chase Elliott. Elliott appeared to make strong contact with the back of No. 18 NOS Energy Toyota of Bobby Labonte.

Elliott apologized publicly to Labonte and accepted blame for the incident as a whole.

"I'm not sure if it was my fault there with Bobby and some of those guys on the backstretch," Elliott said. "If it was my fault, I need to take full credit for that. I don't really know what happened.  We got stacked up. I got in back of him. I was being pushed. Regardless, if it was my fault, I apologize now. I didn't get a chance to on TV."

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Number 1
Unofficial Race Results for the 35Th Annual Powershares Qqq 300 - Saturday, 
February 20, 2016
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 120 Laps - 300 Miles
Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Status    Tms    Laps
1    19    88    Chase Elliott(i)    TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet    120    0        109.0    Running    3    19
2    8    22    Joey Logano(i)    Discount Tire Ford    120    0        125.9    Running    3    40
3    15    5    Kasey Kahne(i)    Hellmann's Chevrolet    120    0        119.7    Running    3    30
4    10    1    Elliott Sadler    OneMain Chevrolet    120    38    1    121.4    Running    1    4
5    4    2    Austin Dillon(i)    Rheem Chevrolet    120    0        99.7    Running    3    5
6    12    6    Darrell Wallace Jr    Selfeo Ford    120    35        101.4    Running        
7    7    33    Brandon Jones #    Barrett-Jackson/Menards Chevrolet    120    34        81.6    Running        
8    2    19    Daniel Suarez    ARRIS Toyota    120    33        105.4    Running        
9    9    11    Blake Koch    Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Chevrolet    120    32        71.9    Running        
10    6    62    Brendan Gaughan    South Point Chevrolet    120    32    1    104.6    Running    3    9
11    24    98    Aric Almirola(i)    Fresh from Florida Ford    120    0        75.7    Running    1    9
12    16    7    Justin Allgaier    BRANDT Chevrolet    120    29        96.5    Running        
13    1    3    Ty Dillon    Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet    120    29    1    107.4    Running    1    2
14    18    28    Dakoda Armstrong    Winfield Be Greater Toyota    120    27        80.2    Running        
15    37    51    Jeremy Clements    Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet/RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet    119    26        80.9    Running        
16    11    16    Ryan Reed    Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Ford    119    25        69.5    Running        
17    14    05    John Wes Townley(i)    Florida Lottery Chevrolet    119    0        68.7    Running        
18    23    44    David Starr    Zachry Toyota    119    23        77.2    Running        
19    28    87    Joe Nemechek(i)    DAB Constructors Inc Toyota    119    0        69.9    Running    1    2
20    25    39    Ryan Sieg    RSS Racing Chevrolet    119    21        74.2    Running        
21    20    24    Matt Tifft(i)    Clinical RM Toyota    119    0        63.0    Running        
22    36    4    Ross Chastain    Flex Seal Chevrolet    118    19        51.3    Running        
23    3    18    Bobby Labonte(i)    NOS Energy Drink Toyota    118    0        52.0    Running        
24    38    78    BJ McLeod #    Batteries Plus Bulbs Ford    118    17        46.8    Running        
25    21    43    Jeb Burton    J Streicher Ford    118    16        50.9    Running        
26    29    46    Anthony Kumpen    Nexteer Automotive/Leaseplan Chevrolet    118    15        40.7    Running        
27    13    48    Brennan Poole #    DC Solar Chevrolet    117    14        82.3    Running        
28    35    25    Chris Cockrum    Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet    117    13        53.2    Running        
29    30    93    Scott Lagasse Jr    Alert Today Florida Chevrolet    117    12        57.0    Running        
30    33    0    Eric McClure    Reynolds Wrap Chevrolet    117    11        36.3    Running        
31    5    20    Erik Jones #    Resers Main Street Bistro Toyota    115    10        37.9    Running        
32    39    52    Joey Gase    JT Concrete Inc/TransLife Chevrolet    114    9        38.2    Running        
33    32    07    Ray Black Jr #    ScubaLife Chevrolet    114    8        42.2    Running        
34    17    42    Kyle Larson(i)    ENEOS Chevrolet    111    0        50.6    Running        
35    22    14    Benny Gordon    VSI Racing Toyota    103    6        66.2    Transmission        
36    26    89    Morgan Shepherd     Chevrolet    59    5        27.9    Rear Gear        
37    40    17    Jeff Green    Dashub.com Chevrolet    50    4        50.9    Transmission        
38    34    90    Martin Roy    Gamache Truck Center Chevrolet    22    3        27.8    Accident        
39    27    85    Bobby Gerhart    Lucas Oil Chevrolet    6    2        26.3    Accident        
40    31    01    Ryan Preece #    Uptick Vineyards Chevrolet    5    1        24.5    Accident        
 Race Comments:    Chase Elliott won the Powershare QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway, his fifth career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, no cars dropped to the rear of the field.
 Failed to Qualify:    (8) 13 Mark Thompson, 92 Mario Gosselin, 97 Harrison Rhodes, 70 Derrike Cope, 99 Chris Fontaine(i), 40 Derek White, 74 Mike Harmon, 15 Stanton Barrett.
 Time of Race:    01 Hrs, 59 Mins, 04 Secs.    Average Speed:    151.176 MPH    Margin of Victory:    0.043 Seconds
 Caution Flags:    4 for 17 laps: Laps: 7-10 (#85, 01, 46 Accident Turn 1 [None]); 14-17 (#18, 43, 20, 88, 48, 33, 42 Accident Backstretch [None]); 23-26 (#90 Accident Turn 1 [43]); 103-107 (#07 Stalled On Backstretch [98]).
 Lead Changes:    19 among 9 drivers: T. Dillon 0; A. Dillon(i) 1-2; J. Logano(i) 3-14; C. Elliott(i) 15-18; B. Gaughan 19; A. Dillon(i) 20-21; B. Gaughan 22-26; K. Kahne(i) 27; A. Dillon(i) 28; T. Dillon 29-30; K. Kahne(i) 31-56; J. Nemechek(i) 57-58; A. Almirola(i) 59-67; B. Gaughan 68-70; K. Kahne(i) 71-73; J. Logano(i) 74-95; C. Elliott(i) 96; E. Sadler 97-100; J. Logano(i) 101-106; C. Elliott(i) 107-120.
Top 10 Driver Points:     (1) E. Sadler 38;(2) D. Wallace Jr 35;(3) B. Jones # 34;(4) D. Suarez 33;(5) B. Koch 32;(6) B. Gaughan 32;(7) J. Allgaier 29;(8) T. Dillon 29;(9) D. Armstrong 27;(10) J. Clements 26.
Coors Light Pole Award    : Ty Dillon, #3 181.844 mph    Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race"    : Joey Logano, #22 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Roush-Yates Engines, #22     Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Elliott Sadler, #1 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Brandon Jones, #33 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Feb. 27, 2016 - Atlanta Motor Speedway