It was a rough outing for Hendrick Motorsports at Talladega. Chase Elliott’s day went up in smoke early in the race, while his teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson, hung on till the end, only for fortune to turn its back on them, too.
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On Lap 52 of Stage 1, Elliott, who was in 19th place, dove low to dodge a Turn 3 melee but got tagged from behind by Daniel Suárez. The contact wrecked his car and ended his run. Meanwhile, both Byron and Larson saw their shot at victory, and an automatic Championship 4 ticket, slip through their fingers on the final lap of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Larson peeled out of the lead pack with half a lap remaining, his No. 5 Chevrolet coughing on fumes and limping home in 26th place after running out of fuel. Byron settled for 25th after a Toyota surge on the outside lane swept past him. Bump-drafting turned chaotic for Byron after that, causing a late spin through the trioval that sealed his fate.
Larson will head to Martinsville with a 36-point cushion. However, the No. 5 team is looking to have a plan in place to seal a Championship 4 berth. After the crushing Talladega finish, Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, shed light on the team’s approach at Martinsville.
“The last handful of races, I think we’ve been solid at Martinsville. We haven’t been one of the guys that’s been able to go out and lead a lot of laps and win like we’ve seen the #12 be really good at doing, and the #11, of course, as well,” said Daniels.
“So we’ve been studying up and doing our homework. Our short track package has certainly evolved for the better in the second half of the summer months and getting into the fall,” he added.
Daniels said that despite the points cushion, they will treat the race as a must-win. “We’ve had some really optimistic runs, and we’re going to keep building on that and try to put our best foot forward. Our mindset’s going to be to go there and almost consider ourselves a must-win car because if you’re able to do that, then you keep it in your hands and not leave it up to the math to work out. So, that’ll be our focus this week. Just got to execute,” he elaborated.
Larson figures he’ll roll into Martinsville expecting one of the drivers below the cutline to steal the show. Knowing how strong they are at ‘The Paperclip’, he anticipates a dogfight with Christopher Bell, aiming to outscore him in terms of earning points from the race.
Larson recognizes that his No. 5 team’s Martinsville setup is reliable. But so is everyone else’s in the Round of 8, so he’s bracing for a battle.
Larson’s numbers back Daniels’ optimism. In 21 starts at Martinsville, the #5 Chevrolet driver has an average finish of 15.5 with one win (in the spring race of 2023). He also has seven top-fives and nine top-10s. With five top-fives and another top-10 in his last six appearances there, another win on the short track is indeed a possibility.
