Hendrick Motorsports drivers had positive outings in New Hampshire, with Chase Elliott and William Byron making big strides. However, there is still room for improvement.
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Byron carried the flag for the team on Sunday, registering a third-place finish. Elliott, meanwhile, clawed back from a 27th-place qualifying misstep to claim fifth. Kyle Larson, meanwhile, pocketed stage points in both segments before sliding to seventh in the closing laps.
The result marked the first time in a decade that HMS had three cars inside the top 10 at New Hampshire. And the drivers are gunning for more. Elliott compared the outing to the team’s performance at Gateway in the Round of 12, where he had finished third behind Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.
After the race, the 2020 Cup Series champion stressed the need to raise the bar if they hope to go toe-to-toe with winner Ryan Blaney and Team Penske.
“Just hate I put us in those holes. It’s a great day for sure, to battle back up through there and call our way back up into the mix, but you hate to have to do that and hate to have to put yourself in those positions,” said Elliott, before praising his pit crew for digging deep after a stall.
Elliott also credited crew chief Alan Gustafson, whose quick calls kept them in the thick of the fight. He also pointed to the decision to stay out during green-flag stops in the final stage as the turning point that gave him key track position.
“Certainly, didn’t have anything for Ryan and those guys. Congrats to him, [he] did a great job. And [we] got to step up a little bit, I think, to catch them, but certainly competitive to the rest,” conceded Elliott.
All three HMS drivers remain above the cutline with Kansas and the Charlotte Roval left in the Round of 12. Byron, among all the HMS drivers, holds the biggest cushion at 47 points. Larson sits 41 clear of ninth, and Elliott stands seventh with a 14-point cushion.
