The three Hendrick Motorsports teammates who’re nonetheless preventing for a spot within the NASCAR Cup Sequence championship race have all expressed confidence about their probabilities to advance with one race left within the Spherical of 8.
However all three drivers face completely different challenges going into the elimination race. William Byron is the one Hendrick driver sitting in a switch spot, however he’s on the bubble with a slim seven-point benefit.
“Completely,” Byron stated of getting the job performed at Martinsville Speedway (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET). “We did it within the spring, so we should always be capable of.”
Byron’s spring triumph at Martinsville Speedway was his third win within the first eight races of the season. He hasn’t gained since.
On Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Byron completed sixth. It was his fifth consecutive prime 10 end, nevertheless, a victory by Tyler Reddick shrunk Byron’s benefit on the cutline by 20 factors.
“We type of had what we had (Sunday),” Byron stated. “We weren’t ok, and we had been simply making an attempt to get all we may. I really feel like a sixth-place end is sweet. If it had gone inexperienced there, we had been going to finish up top-five. I don’t know the way that modifications the factors, however we simply should go to Martinsville Speedway and compete for a win.”
Byron sits one spot forward of Kyle Larson, who’s seven factors out of a switch spot. For the second straight week, Larson and his group needed to combat from behind after an early race concern.
At Homestead, it was a puncture that induced Larson to hit the wall within the first stage. He then spun within the last stage, with 13 laps to go, whereas battling Ryan Blaney for the race lead. Larson tried to squeeze between Blaney and Austin Dillon in Flip 3.
“You’re making split-second selections,” Larson stated after ending thirteenth. “Austin did nothing unsuitable. I used to be simply hoping that he would see me coming as (Blaney) received to his inside, and perhaps he’d run a lane off the wall simply to present me some clear air. He continued to run his line.
“I had somewhat little bit of a gap and I used to be making an attempt to shoot the hole to get in entrance of the No. 3 and get to the wall shortly to both hopefully keep on the surface of the No. 12 or construct a run to have a shot at him in (Turns) 1 and a couple of. However yeah, it simply didn’t work out.
“I used to be going as arduous as I may. The No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy group did an important job rebounding after the flat tire.”
Larson was the largest factors loser Sunday. He went from 35 factors above the cutline to seven under.
“We’ve been robust at Martinsville at occasions, so we’ll see,” Larson stated. “It’s not my greatest monitor, however I’ve been rather a lot higher there since I joined Hendrick Motorsports. We simply must qualify properly and provides it our greatest shot.”
In the meantime, Chase Elliott shaved some factors off his deficit in the direction of a switch spot however remains to be in a should win state of affairs. Elliott completed fifth at Homestead after an early DNF within the opening race of the spherical at Las Vegas when collected in a multi-car crash. Elliott is final on the playoff grid in a 43-point gap.
“I simply received tighter and tighter because the day went on,” Elliott stated of Sunday’s race. “I used to be simply making an attempt to handle that on the entrance aspect of a run, and in the end, I simply didn’t do an important job of managing it. When the tempo received faster and everybody began pushing, I didn’t actually have something left to push.
“It was a very stable couple of weeks for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy group, from a tempo perspective. That’s encouraging as you progress alongside within the playoffs.”
Elliott, like his teammates, is a winner at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott gained the autumn race at Martinsville in 2020, which superior him into the championship race which he went on to win and declare the Cup Sequence title.
“Very assured,” Elliott stated of the upcoming weekend.
Hendrick Motorsports has gained 5 of the final eight Martinsville Speedway races. Following Eliott’s win in 2020, Alex Bowman gained within the fall of 2021, Byron within the spring of 2022, and Larson within the spring of 2023. Plus, the aforementioned Byron victory from earlier this season.
And within the spring race from April, Hendrick Motorsports went 1-2-3 in a race that celebrated its fortieth anniversary, with Byron main Larson and Elliott throughout the end line.
