Former technician and NASCAR journalist Bozi Tatarevic responded on social media to a fan’s grievances that Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman’s team, Hendrick Motorsports, did not give them the fastest vehicles. Tatarevic defended the HMS operation by pointing out that the cars are made equally for every driver in the team’s stable and highlighting the fact that the production process does not favor any one racer over another. The fan’s grievances appear to stem from the fact that Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, who have not yet crossed the checkered flag to take a win, are behind Kyle Larson and William Byron, two drivers for Hendrick Motorsports, who currently hold the top two positions in the drivers’ standings after winning this past season.
The NASCAR insider defended the Rick Hendrick-owned company by providing a brief explanation of how the four cars were put together: “All four Hendrick cars are put together using the exact same techniques that use the same technicians for some parts of the process and draw parts from the same collection. Favoritism does not exist. The fan’s criticisms may have also arisen from the fact that Elliott and Bowman qualified second and third for last weekend’s race at the Martinsville Speedway but they had fourth and 27th place finishes.
Chase Elliott is now in third place in the standings after finishing with two Top 5 finishes and four Top 10 finishes, whereas Larson and Byron have won the first seven races this year. But unlike the #5 driver and the #24 driver, he hasn’t won any stages this season. Alex Bowman, who has five Top 10 finishes and one Top 5 finish, is currently ranked fifth in the rankings. Elliott has only won once this season, at the Bowman Gray Stadium preseason Clash event, where he qualified in pole position and turned it into a win.
Chase Elliott considers his performance at the Martinsville race and says, “I couldn’t get that back for us”
Chase Elliott took the lead in lap 94 of the Cook Out 400 at the Martinsville Speedway last weekend after starting in second place. However, he lost it when he pitted under caution, which allowed eventual race winner Denny Hamlin to take the lead in the second half of the race. After the event, Elliott acknowledged that the HMS driver’s fourth-place finish was due to a lack of control over the situation: “Control was desperately needed there. It simply becomes extremely difficult to catch up when these races enter the second half. You witnessed Christopher (Bell) exerting pressure on [Hamlin]. The Goodyear 400 will be held at the Darlington Raceway this weekend on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET. “It just means a lot to have control, and unfortunately I couldn’t get that back for us.” [via NASCAR] Overall, it was a really good effort.
