Chase Elliott Becomes a Hypocrite as He Goes Against His Own Words for Struggling HMS

Published 08/07/2023, 8:07 AM EDT

The 2023 season has presented a checkerboard of successes and setbacks for the illustrious Hendrick Motorsports team. Leading the pack, William Byron and Kyle Larson have clinched top-ten spots in the playoff standings, with four and two victories, respectively. Meanwhile, teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman have found themselves languishing at the tail end of the rankings, straddling the 22nd and 20th positions, after this week’s race.

While these road warriors kept their chins up, demonstrating a relentless commitment to iron out the creases as a cohesive unit, the recent result at the Michigan International Speedway appears to have dealt a blow to Chase Elliott’s spirits. His lackluster 36th-place finish was mirrored in his post-race interview demeanor, where he came across as disinterested and unenthused.

Is Chase Elliott nursing wounds?

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This year, Chevrolet has emerged as the tour de force among manufacturers, boasting a tally of 14 wins, which eclipses Toyota’s 8 and Ford’s 6. This victorious dozen includes 4, courtesy of William Byron, and 3 by Kyle Larson from HMS, complemented by wins from Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Josh Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and SVG. The fault does not lie with the machinery. Yet, HMS seems to be lagging, as demonstrated by their failure to secure a playoff position for their most lauded driver thus far.

Chase Elliott maintained an air of optimism up until the Richmond Raceway Cup, but a disastrous crash on Lap 34 at Michigan seems to have rocked his confidence. After the Nashville race, for example, Elliott displayed a determined outlook in response to the assertion of HMS’s strong momentum, insisting that to beat the regular winners, the team must introspect and identify their strengths and weaknesses.

Contrastingly, following the FireKeepers Casino 400, Elliott appeared at sixes and sevens. Faced with a query regarding the root cause of his on-track issues—whether it was a puncture, wear, or something else—the driver of the #9 Chevy simply shrugged, “I am not sure.”

The implication here is clear: to improve, teams need to know their strengths and weaknesses, as mentioned by Chase Elliott, but it seems, in this case, neither identification nor improvement is occurring. Elliott’s growing disillusionment with his team was palpable in his curt responses.

Watch This Story: Chase Elliott’s Fails To Follow In His Father’s Footsteps

While injuries have thrown spanners in the works for Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, their performance graphs have yet to show an upward trend. Just as Chase Elliott has recently vocalized, during the post-New Hampshire race, Bowman didn’t mince words in his chat with Bob Pockrass.

Alex Bowman admits HMS is facing a predicament

Bowman’s statement signals an undercurrent of discord within the ranks, preventing him and Elliott from fully unlocking their potential. Bowman suggested the situation likely straddles two realities. Sitting on the sidelines for a month as others fine-tune their skills is undoubtedly a handicap and results in a drop in one’s game. But regarding the ebb and flow within the garage, he felt,

“It’s probably a little about sitting out of a race car for weeks while everybody is in the race car getting better. Definitely not a good thing; definitely fall behind a little bit there, you know, the garage and the ebbs and flows of it.” He then goes on to how the company, as a whole, performed this season.

“But I don’t think as a company, we are where we were when we started the year. […] Not that we are not strong right now but I feel like other guys have definitely gotten stronger. So, we’re all working hard at it.”

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Alex Bowman had six top-10s in his first seven starts this year and now has had 10 consecutive races outside the top-10. He discusses that change in performance prior to last week’s race at New Hampshire: pic.twitter.com/UTWLTagFCE
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 20, 2023

With the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway almost behind them, Elliott and Bowman have just three more shots at victory. It’s imperative, however, to underline that these wins hinge on the seamless synergy between crew and drivers, creating a well-oiled machine on the track.

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Written by:

Neha Dwivedi is a NASCAR Writer for EssentiallySports. Her ability to capture the spirit of the exhilarating races and relay the enthusiasm to her readers distinguishes her as a sports journalist. Neha's articles strike a nice balance between technical accuracy and story-telling.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

Chase Elliott Becomes a Hypocrite as He Goes Against His Own Words for Struggling HMS

Is Chase Elliott nursing wounds?

Alex Bowman admits HMS is facing a predicament

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