CONCORD, N.C. - Chase Elliott snapped Kyle Busch's seven-race winning streak in the NASCAR Truck Series and collected a $100,000 bounty for doing so Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick announced before the race he would donate $50,000 to COVID-19 relief for any full-time driver from the top-tier Cup Series who finished ahead of Busch in a race on the third-tier circuit. Marcus Lemonis, the CEO of Gander RV & Outdoors, which sponsors the Truck Series, agreed to match Harvick's pledge, bringing the total to $100,000 for pandemic relief.
Elliott rubbed a little salt in the wound by borrowing Busch's celebratory bow after the race.
"Hopefully nobody gets their feelings hurt over it," Elliott said.
The win came six days after Busch wrecked Elliott in a Cup Series event at South Carolina's Darlington Raceway and two days after Elliott's costly decision to pit late in the Coca-Cola 600, opening the door for Brad Keselowski to win.
"It doesn't make up for Sunday, but it was still a really good night, and to do some good for the relief efforts for this virus," Elliott said.
Busch won the Cup Series title last season and in 2015, but he still races when possible on the second-tier Xfinity Series and the Truck Series. He has a record combined 210 victories across those three national series - 97 in Xfinity, 57 in Truck and 56 in Cup - and is entered in all seven races NASCAR is running in an 11-day span since returning to action after a 10-week shutdown due to the pandemic.
Busch appeared upset after the race, and his interview was not shown on television.
"I did an interview," Busch posted on Twitter. "It wasn't aired. That is all."
It was the first Truck Series race since Feb. 21, when Busch won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track.
Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek and Brennan Poole were the three full-time Cup drivers eligible to collect the $100,000 bounty.
Zane Smith finished third, and Brett Moffitt was fourth.
It marked the first time a Truck Series race was run on a Tuesday night.
Busch appeared to be the favorite again, but he could never chase down Elliott on a long green flag stretch to close the race.
Busch started 16th and quickly made a move to sixth before splitter trouble forced him to pit and dropped him back to 33rd. He quickly moved back into contention with a strong second stage and took the lead on lap 69.
When Busch pitted with 34 laps to go, though, it dropped him back to 23rd and he could never regain the lead.
He followed up a fourth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday by winning the Xfinity Series race on Monday in overtime after passing Austin Cindric on the final lap.