Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott see Martinsville win and Championship 4 berth slip away
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — In the immediate aftermath of last month‘s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, the biggest question for Hendrick Motorsports was if it could take a clean sweep of the Championship 4. Instead, only one driver got through by the slimmest of margins.
About an hour after the Roval was completed, Alex Bowman was disqualified. To begin the Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott had chaotic days as the No. 5 pit crew had a disastrous pit stop and the No. 9 car was involved in an early crash. William Byron surged to a top five finish.
Last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott led 81 laps en route to a fifth-place finish. Byron was directly behind in sixth. Larson had a shot to win, but spun to bring out the final caution while battling Ryan Blaney in lapped traffic. He fell to 13th, missing out on at least 10 points.
The objective for the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway was simple across the board. Elliott was in a must-win situation, while Byron had a seven-point buffer over Larson for the final transfer spot into the Championship 4. But if another Round of 8 driver who was below the elimination line won at Martinsville, it was realistic to believe Hendrick wouldn‘t advance a single entry into the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
Elliott dominated the early portion of Sunday‘s Xfinity 500. He secured his first stage victory since the first stage of the 2024 season at the Daytona 500. Larson was in the ballpark, but he finished the opening stage in sixth, losing four points to Byron.
On Lap 140, Byron passed Elliott for the lead. Just over 40 laps later, the No. 9 team had a slow pit stop, pushing Elliott to 26th in the running order. Larson gained a point on Byron in Stage 2, entering the final stage 10 points behind Byron.
Mired back in the back half of the top 10, Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet, went off strategy in Stage 3, trying to break it up into thirds. Pitting 19 laps before Byron and Larson gave the No. 9 car a tire advantage, making up valuable track position. As soon as his closest competition got to him, Carson Hocevar spun to bring out the caution.
Byron and Larson stayed out to get track position, but Elliott pitted for fresh tires.
"It was a great call and got us right there in the mix and we had an opportunity," Elliott said after the race. "I made a couple of mistakes there past halfway, got some damage on our car that hurt a little bit. Just little things started stacking up.
"I was pushing really hard, trying to get to [Larson]. I felt like Ryan [Blaney] had been really good and I was scared to give him an opportunity to get to [Larson] first. I wanted to try to get the lead and you never know, maybe a caution comes out or something."
Elliott drove to second position rapidly. It took all the way until Lap 476 for him to pass Larson for the race lead with Blaney in close pursuit. Ten laps later, Blaney got by and drove to the victory to lock himself into the Championship 4.
Larson missed the elimination line by seven points. Elliott finished second in the race, but was 29 markers behind Byron. Byron took over the final spot from Christopher Bell after the No. 20 car received an in-race safety penalty for riding against the wall on the final lap to tie Byron for the final spot. The tiebreaker would have gone to Bell, but he was credited with a 22nd-place finish, the last car one lap down.
"I‘m proud of the effort," Larson said. "This whole Round of 8 has been a fight. From the first stage at Vegas on has been a fight.
"I feel like we made the right pit call to give ourselves the best opportunity. Proud of my team, proud of the car, pit crew, everybody. Just didn‘t have enough. When Chase got to second, I thought he was going to motor right to me and pass me easily, so I was surprised I held on as long as I did. It gave me hope, but then I just died the last 30 laps or so."
Larson won‘t advance to the Championship 4 after leading the series with six victories. His 1,686 laps led is 684 laps more than Bell, who ranks second in that category.
The 129 laps led for Elliott at Martinsville is the most he‘s led in a single race in more than two-and-a-half seasons, dating back to the spring Martinsville race in 2022 (185). It wasn‘t enough to move on to Phoenix and battle for a second Cup Series championship.
"I came up one spot short from going to Phoenix for an opportunity to win this thing," Elliott said. "I have not paid attention to anyone else."
Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 40th season in 2024, will put all of its eggs into Byron‘s basket at Phoenix.
