Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Some will look at the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway and have concerns about the Hendrick Motorsports contingent.
When Chase Elliott finishes best among their four drivers — all playoff drivers — in 17th, that’s not something that sparks confidence.
“We just struggled all night,” said regular-season champion William Byron after a 21st-place finish. “I thought the short run was a struggle.
William Byron had a disappointing 21st-place finish at Darlington.
“I was hoping we’d be able to pay on the back end and have some long-run pace, but we would just fall off a cliff. … We’ve definitely got some work to do. We’ll go to Gateway and try to be better there.”
Gateway. That truly could be the more telling playoff race, as the NASCAR Cup Series heads there this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway (commonly known as Gateway). The track, a flat 1.25-mile oval, is somewhat comparable to the one-mile Phoenix Raceway, the site of the championship race in nine weeks.
Hendrick drivers who have made the championship race the last three years have seen their title hopes dashed. And that’s because Team Penske has ruled at the fall Phoenix race with Joey Logano winning in 2022 and 2024 and Ryan Blaney capturing the crown in 2023.
The Hendrick drivers entered the playoffs feeling relatively good, with Kyle Larson having three wins this year, Byron with two, Elliott one and Alex Bowman earning a spot on points.
Larson (+38 above the cutline) and Byron (+25) left Darlington still with somewhat comfortable margins while Elliott (+9) controls his own destiny and Bowman (-19) will need strong runs and possibly some help if he doesn’t win a race.
Kyle Larson still holds a comfortable playoff margin.
As Elliott said prior to the start of the playoffs, making a playoff run means managing a lot of racing.
“You’re talking about 10 races. A lot of racing,” Elliott said. “That’s enough time to be really good for a stretch, to be really bad for a stretch and then get really good again.
“And so I think sometimes it gets lost just how many races and how long 10 weeks is, and how much can change through that period of time. For me personally, it’s what can I do this week to be better when we get to the racetrack on Saturday? And how can my Saturday help us on Sunday?”
Chase Elliott won the Cup in 2020. And he knows that Gateway has not been his best track since Cup began racing there in 2022. At the track, he has finishes of 21st and 13th. He didn’t race there in 2023 because of a suspension.
“I don’t have a key to Gateway,” Elliott said. “I wish I did. Maybe I’ll find one when I get there this time.”
Chase Elliott races through Turn 2 during the running of the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington.
In the hopes of finding the key to Gateway, Larson was among those who did a tire test there during the summer. And the organization hopes his experience will help them at a track where Logano, Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric have won the races there.
“We had a great test at Gateway earlier this year, and that’s kind of led us down a different path with our short-track package here lately — and it seems to be better,” Larson said. “I would say we’re still not anywhere close to Penske, and we’ve gotten closer to Gibbs but we’ve gotten better, which is a plus.
“We still have a few more short tracks to go to kind of fine-tune our package and hopefully hit where we need to at Phoenix.”
The 2021 Cup champion, Larson said Gateway shows who will be good at Phoenix.
“We’ve been really bad at Gateway but a little bit better at Phoenix,” Larson said. “If we can be good at Gateway in the same ballpark as [Penske and Gibbs]itu akan memberi kita kepercayaan diri pergi ke Phoenix.
“Berdasarkan bagaimana kami berlari di Phoenix pada akhir tahun lalu, dan kemudian pada musim semi tahun ini, kami tahu kami tidak memiliki tembakan untuk memenangkan kejuaraan dengan pengaturan yang kami miliki. Kami harus pergi bekerja, dan kami masih terus mengerjakannya.”
Pengereman lebih berat di gateway daripada di Phoenix tetapi sudutnya serupa, kata Byron. Dia berharap tim bisa mendapatkan ukuran yang baik dari program jalur mil dengan Gateway dan kemudian New Hampshire satu mil berada di empat balapan pertama di babak playoff. Tidak ada lagu di babak playoff tahun lalu.
“Kami akan mencoba menjadi lebih baik di Gateway dan menerapkan barang -barang itu ke New Hampshire dan kemudian membawanya ke Phoenix,” kata Byron. “Jadi ras itu akan menjadi sangat penting, bukan hanya hasilnya, tetapi memiliki banyak hal untuk dipelajari dari mereka.”
Pengemudi tidak lancang bahwa mereka akan sampai ke Phoenix. Dan sementara para pengemudi, seperti kata Elliott, fokus pada minggu ke minggu, organisasi harus melihat ke depan. Mereka tahu mereka akan berlomba di sana terlepas dari memenuhi syarat untuk kejuaraan.
“Kami benar -benar berjuang di sana [at Phoenix]tetapi pada saat yang sama, kami – untuk tumpul – hanya memiliki banyak pekerjaan yang harus dilakukan di sana, untuk menangkap mobil Penske. Mereka sangat cepat di sana, “kata Bowman.
“Kami telah mulai bekerja, mencoba meningkatkan barang -barang itu. Jadi banyak orang pintar kembali di HMS mengerjakannya.”
Elliott mengatakan telah “inisiatif besar” di dalam dinding Hendrick untuk menjadi lebih baik di trek pendek yang lebih cepat seperti Richmond, New Hampshire, Phoenix dan Gateway.
Di Richmond, Elliott dipotong oleh Kyle Busch yang berputar, merusak potensi laju solid.
“Saya berpikir bahwa sebagai hit-or-miss seperti Richmond untuk kami, saya pikir kami sedang mengatur diri kami untuk mendapatkan kesempatan yang baik malam yang baik,” kata Elliott.
“Saya optimis tentang itu, dan biasanya kapan saja sebagai perusahaan kami meletakkan kepala kami dan memberi banyak penekanan pada sesuatu, saya pikir akan ada perbaikan yang dibuat. Dan saya berharap untuk sampai ke beberapa tempat ini dan melihat berapa banyak.”
Bob Pockrass mencakup NASCAR dan IndyCar untuk Fox Sports. Dia telah menghabiskan beberapa dekade meliputi olahraga motor, termasuk lebih dari 30 Daytona 500-an, dengan tugas di ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine dan Jurnal Berita (Daytona Beach). Ikuti dia di Twitter @Bobpockrass.
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