Kyle Larson Closes in on Chase Elliott’s NASCAR Record for HMS After Las Vegas Dominance

Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th-anniversary celebrations have been going as per plan thus far. William Byron set things off to a fiery start by winning the Daytona 500, and now Kyle Larson has won the Pennzoil 400. Larson’s dominance at Vegas was a complete show of speed and skill on the intermediate track and it has put him right at the heels of Chase Elliott in being the driver who has won the most stages for HMS.

Larson led 181 of the 267-lap race and won both stages in the process. When he led 31 of the 80 laps in Stage 1 and picked up a playoff point, he presented HMS its 100th stage win. He went on to win the 2nd stage as well and put the team’s number at 101. Las Vegas has been the team’s best track, having picked up 12 stage wins since 2020.

Elliott currently stands highest on the list for HMS with 37 stage wins so far. Larson has accumulated 34 wins and stands second. William Byron trails further behind with 21 wins and Alex Bowman holds 6.

While Larson has 34 wins for HMS, his career count stands at 52. He said in his post-race interview, “Cool to get a win here at Vegas again. Back-to-back, swept all the stages again. Can’t ask for more than that.”

Chase Elliott continues a winless streak and attracts threats from teammates

Elliott’s turbulent times of mediocre performance continue haunting him into the 2024 season. In the time since his snowboarding accident in 2023, Larson and Byron have led HMS to many wins and records. For the Most Popular Driver in the Cup Series, the winless record currently stands at 37 races. His last win was in October 2022 at Talladega.

Even in Las Vegas, a track where the other HMS drivers have performed well, Elliott has failed to find the groove. Since his win at Talladega, he has seven top 5 finishes. His longest winless streak before now was at the onset of his career when he went 98 races without finding the checkered flag at the pole. His best finish in the current streak came at Fontana and Indianapolis last year when he finished runner-up.

With Larson and Byron being quick and decisive in pulling in strong performances that make their contributions to HMS taller than Elliott’s, the 2020 Cup Series champion will need to bounce back before it’s too late to do so.