The numbers said 31.3%. This was the percentage of money that was wagered on Hendrick Motorsports speedster Kyle Larson for the Phoenix race. However, the #5 Chevrolet driver not only failed to notch a victory but also only managed to finish the race in 14th place. Moreover,fans were not just disappointed with Larson but the whole Hendrick Motorsports fleet. 

Aside from Larson’s P14, the other three drivers were 18th, 19th, and 20th. With such a dismal performance by HMS drivers on a significant track like Phoenix, the NASCAR community seemed to scratch their heads as to what went wrong on Sunday. Was it the strategy or the execution? Or was it the unfamiliarity with the new aerodynamic package? The question seems to be never-ending. Owing to this, Dale Earnhardt Jr seemed to have unearthed the answers for the team’s disappointing performance.

Dale Earnhardt Jr points out the detrimental effects of the lack of practice sessions

Although William Byron and Chase Elliott came off strong in the initial stages of the race, it was a pile-up of cautions that acted as a spoilsport for the team and relegated them to the back of the pack. The final blow to the team came at the final stage of the race when caution was issued at Lap 216. This resulted in the whole track being reshuffled and shaking up the racing order.

Whether it was the new short-track package or the series of yellow flags, the struggle by the Hendrick Motorsports driver was apparent throughout the race. Trying to decode what went awry during Sunday’s race, Dale Earnhardt Jr stated on his podcast, “I think they were taking an opportunity early in the season to try a unique direction. So they don’t have a practice, they are sitting on a sim program every day of the week. There is a driver running sim over the Chevy building for the Chevy teams, right this moment. There is a driver in that sim pretty much every hour of the day and that’s developing ideas and theories for them to pursue on Sundays.”

“They get a little bit of practice at some of these race tracks but for the most part, there’s not much practice at all, so you can’t really vet out these theories and ideas. What I mean by theories and ideas is basically like an approach to setting the car up with how many wedges and how you set the car up platform-wise for arrow, all those things. They are trying to find an advantage, it’s basically like, most of the teams have pretty much scienced out the car to a point and someone’s got to find the next nugget that’s going to set them apart from the rest of the field.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr also added due to a lack of real-time practice, the team has to bear the brunt of a poor performance. He added, “So how do you test that in real life if there is no practice? You will have to run it on some Sundays, so early in the year is when you are going to see some of these teams swing and maybe miss on some ideas and thoughts about what they think could be better.” 

However, Dale Jr. is satisfied with the fact that it is still early in the season to carry out the experimentation and re-trace back their steps before the burden of the playoffs intensifies.

The co-owner of JR Motorsports is over the moon after Noah Gragson’s performance

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While Dale Earnhardt Jr seemed to be critical of Hendrick Motorsports and the lack of practice sessions due to the new regulations, he seemed to be over the moon by witnessing the performance of his former driver, Noah Gragson. The driver who replaced Aric Almirola in the Stewart-Haas Racing stable seemed to have regained his former zeal.

Speaking about the former JR Motorsports driver, Junior added, “Noah’s been the shining light, the best-performing car by far in my opinion. I know that, uh, Briscoe outran him in the final result, but Noah has been, you know, his average running position throughout these races has been really good.”

“He has been doing it so well, and so respectfully, yes, he races the hell out of them, you have to that’s new the etiquette across the board in the Series,” Junior gleefully added.

Whether it is his own team or his former Cup Series team, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed to have hit the case on point with his verdict. It will be interesting to see how the winningest team of the sport turns the table in the upcoming race at Bristol.

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