Hendrick Motorsports gets off to a hot start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with William Byron winning the Daytona 500 and Kyle Larson dominating the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. . Hendrick Motorsports was not present at last Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Larson followed in 14th, Byron in 18th, Chase Elliott in 19th, and Alex Bowman finished the group in 20th. All four of them failed to lead a single lap. Although it’s only one race, Phoenix is notable in that it hosts the final race of the season, the race that determines the Cup Series champion. Is the team’s uneven performance a cause for concern? Kevin Harvick believes so, and he explains why on this week’s “Happy Hour” podcast.
“We had a different aero and tire package this weekend,” Harvick said. “And I think they should be concerned given how they’ve fared in terms of other packages in the first few weeks. 9 and 24 ran – 24 was fifth and sixth I think I drove one, but it wasn’t a Toyota-like car at all. He was never versatile and could move around and do everything Toyota could do. They took the car and put it back in 15th place, but he stayed there. “Same thing with the No. 9 car. 5, we’re talking about Kyle Larson. He was 16th or 17th all day, so we thought he was going to be the frontrunner and the favorite to win. Ta. I think they are definitely worried about something since they haven’t moved yet. ”
Hendrick Motorsports is one of many Chevrolets struggling in Phoenix
Chevrolet generally struggled, with Ross Chastain being the automaker’s best driver, finishing sixth. Toyotas dominated the day, with Christopher Bell taking the checkered flag for Joe Gibbs Racing. Bell led 50 laps and won the race by 5.4 seconds.
“It’s no secret that Phoenix was a little difficult for us,” Bell said after the race. “After the first year of Next Gen, myself and Adam (Stevens) had a serious talk and said we needed to focus on Phoenix, because the first two races of 2022 we didn’t have too much confidence in Phoenix. No, but we have a good feeling for 2023.” It got a little better each time, but today everything was clear, so today was a great day for the company. ”
