Hendrick Motorsports has announced that Chase Elliott will be driving the No. 9 UniFirst Throwback Chevrolet Camaro for the race at Darlington Raceway on May 12. The paint schemes on the car will pay tribute to their former driver and NASCAR icon, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s No. 88 National Guard Chevy, which won the 2014 Daytona 500 race.

Interestingly, it took HMS almost a decade to get their first win at the Daytona 500. It was William Byron from the #24 team that brought back the glory to the HMS camp after Dale Jr’s win. However, this development also comes as sad news for many of the fans who were predicting Dale Jr’s comeback to the team this year. Notably for the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro.

Dale Earnhardt Jr won’t be making a return to Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series

Yesterday, HMS dropped a teaser video on its X account and suggested that something special was coming up. The post also mentioned that the announcement will be made on the Dale Jr Download. This got the fans hoping for a dream comeback of Dale Jr back to the Cup Series in the Hendrick Motorsports car, but unfortunately, that won’t be the case.

Instead, what the update meant is that Chase Elliott, driving the No. 9 car, will pay homage to Dale Jr’s iconic Daytona 500 win from the 2014 season. Taking a stroll down memory lane, Elliott, while unveiling the car, shared his story of watching Jr in action at Daytona. “I got in trouble. I was late to school Monday morning because I stayed up all night watching you win this race. I was still in high school.”

Expressing his gratitude towards the gesture, Dale Jr via his X account, wrote, “Big thanks to @chaseelliott @UniFirst_Corp and @TeamHendrick for running this car at Darlington. Was a proud moment for all of us on the 88 team that evening in Daytona back in 2014.”

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While the paint scheme of Chase Elliott’s car will certainly be an iconic one, can he match it with his performance? As far as that is concerned, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champ is looking to turn a corner after an awful 2023 campaign.

Elliott gifts HMS a solid performance at the tricky Bristol race

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The 2023 Cup Series season was a nightmare for the HMS star driver. He failed to register a single win, had to deal with injuries, and even failed to make the playoffs for the first time in his career. Going into the 2024 season, the pressure is certainly on the #9 driver to bounce back in form, and it looks like the Bristol race has put him back in the conversation of being a title contender this season.

Since the start of the season, Elliott has been consistently trying to find his lost spark. But despite his efforts, he could only manage top-20 finish. His best finish was in Las Vegas, finishing 12th, whereas his teammate Kyle Larson clinched the win. Then came the Bristol challenge last Sunday, and he delivered his best-ever performance of the season so far. While he might not have been in the lead lap at the end of the race, he secured a solid #8 finish, his first top-10 finish of the season.

While Elliott still doesn’t seem confident enough to contest for a win, his rise back in the driver’s standings allows him to build momentum, which can potentially fuel his rise back to winning ways.