Nate Ryan

USA TODAY Sports

AVONDALE, Ariz. — With a charge past his teammate on a late restart of the Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, Chase Elliott made NASCAR history in several ways Saturday.

The 18-year-old son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott became the youngest champion in a national series. Chase Elliott finished fifth to clinch the title, putting him 53 points ahead of JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith, who finished 10th, with one race remaining (a maximum of 48 points is available).

"This has just been an unbelievable season," said Elliott, who will turn 19 next month and graduated from high school in May. "I'm still in disbelief now."

Elliott, who is under contract to Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, also became the first driver in NASCAR history to win a championship and rookie of the year in the same season. He will run next season for JRM in Nationwide but is expected to move into NASCAR's premier series in 2015.

"He's unbelievable," Hendrick said. "What a young man. What a pleasure he is. It's really neat to be a part of history."

The title is the first for JRM, which is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his older sister, Kelley. The team has been fielding full-time entries in Nationwide since 2006 but had struggled with 12 wins in its first eight seasons.

JRM has nine victories this year (four by Kevin Harvick, three by Elliott and one apiece by Smith and Kasey Kahne).

Chase and Bill Elliott (who won the Sprint Cup title in 1988) became the fifth father-son duo to win a NASCAR championship, joining Ned and Dale Jarrett; David and Larry Pearson; Lee and Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his late father.

Elliott trailed Smith by a few positions for most of the race until the caution flew with 30 laps remaining. Smith was fourth on the restart but fell six positions after contact with Erik Jones. Elliott didn't trail again, securing his 26th top 10 of a rookie season that wasn't finalized until late last year when JRM signed NAPA (which had left Michael Waltrip Racing after last season).

"Unbelievable," he said. "This truly has been a dream come true. We had no plans of racing Nationwide a year ago and were uncertain what our future was going to be. We've had a great season."

Brad Keselowski won the DAV 200 by with a last-lap pass of Kyle Busch in a green-white-checkered finish. Elliott Sadler was third, followed by Ty Dillon.

"Obviously, Chase is a talented young man," Busch said. "It's great to see him win a championship. He'll be a force to be reckoned with for many years."

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PHOTOS: In the driver's seat with Chase Elliott

DAV 200 Results

Saturday's results from Phoenix International Raceway

Lap length: 1 miles (Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 206 laps, 131.1 rating, 0 points, $56,575.

2. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 206, 144.9, 0, $49,725.

3. (4) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 206, 115.9, 41, $38,625.

4. (7) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 206, 110, 40, $34,950.

5. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 206, 103.4, 39, $31,175.

6. (3) Erik Jones, Toyota, 206, 100.6, 0, $29,175.

7. (9) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 206, 97.5, 37, $26,925.

8. (8) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 206, 93.7, 36, $25,850.

9. (12) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 206, 90.6, 35, $27,585.

10. (6) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 206, 102.3, 35, $27,325.

11. (24) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 206, 81.6, 34, $24,925.

12. (13) Chris Buescher, Ford, 206, 84.9, 32, $24,775.

13. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 206, 86.2, 0, $18,600.

14. (16) James Buescher, Toyota, 206, 80.6, 30, $24,490.

15. (14) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, 206, 83.5, 29, $25,005.

16. (20) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 206, 73.3, 28, $24,245.

17. (5) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 205, 103.9, 0, $24,535.

18. (26) Blake Koch, Toyota, 204, 61.6, 26, $23,875.

19. (15) Ryan Reed, Ford, 204, 72.6, 25, $23,965.

20. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 204, 67.6, 24, $24,355.

21. (25) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 204, 63.7, 23, $23,545.

22. (23) Kelly Admiraal, Toyota, 204, 57.9, 22, $17,430.

23. (17) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 203, 65.5, 0, $17,295.

24. (28) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 203, 45.3, 20, $23,185.

25. (36) Chad Boat, Chevrolet, 202, 48, 19, $17,625.

26. (35) Eric McClure, Toyota, 202, 44.1, 18, $23,090.

27. (27) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 200, 47.6, 17, $23,055.

28. (32) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 200, 41.4, 16, $22,985.

29. (39) Mackena Bell, Chevrolet, 198, 36.8, 15, $22,910.

30. (33) J.J. Yeley, Dodge, rear gear, 154, 55.6, 14, $23,175.

31. (40) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, brakes, 117, 37.4, 13, $22,820.

32. (18) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, accident, 81, 59.8, 12, $22,785.

33. (30) Tanner Berryhill, Toyota, brakes, 58, 37, 11, $22,745.

34. (29) Jeff Green, Toyota, vibration, 51, 35.6, 10, $16,709.

35. (34) Mike Wallace, Dodge, suspension, 41, 36.4, 9, $16,663.

36. (19) Brennan Newberry, Chevrolet, accident, 34, 48.6, 0, $15,195.

37. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, brakes, 20, 34.2, 7, $15,150.

38. (31) T.J. Bell, Dodge, vibration, 14, 32.5, 0, $21,115.

39. (38) Carl Long, Ford, brakes, 10, 31.9, 5, $20,865.

40. (22) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, engine, 0, 30.8, 4, $20,830.

———

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 102.573 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 0 minutes, 30 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.141 seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 33 laps.

Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K.Busch 1-84; J.Clements 85; R.Smith 86-94; K.Busch 95-167; B.Keselowski 168-175; K.Busch 176-205; B.Keselowski 206.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Busch, 3 times for 187 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 9 laps; R.Smith, 1 time for 9 laps; J.Clements, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: 1. C.Elliott, 1,185; 2. R.Smith, 1,133; 3. B.Scott, 1,120; 4. E.Sadler, 1,119; 5. T.Dillon, 1,111; 6. T.Bayne, 1,052; 7. C.Buescher, 975; 8. B.Gaughan, 939; 9. R.Reed, 872; 10. D.Kwasniewski, 842.