What Hendrick Motorsport drivers had to say on the Talladega Cup Series Race as they hope to Continue their 2022 dominance
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Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsport has been a historic giant in NASCAR racing and has been dominating the NASCAR scene in recent years without any big threats to face. With the radical changes, NASCAR introduced to the prime Stock Car racing event such as the Next-Gen car it was expected that the HMS dominance will be over but the team hasn’t shown any signs of weakness as they have won 4 out of 9 Cup races so far this season.
William Byron leads their NASCAR onslaught as the youngest driver of the team is the only multiple winner of the season with 2. Reigning Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson and fellow driver Alex Bowman have one win each to their names. Chase Elliott, the 4th driver of the team hasn’t had a win this season but he sits at the top of the Championship table thanks to his unmatched consistency.
NASCAR will hit the Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the GEICO 500 and the Hendrick Motorsport drivers will be hoping to continue the winning streak. The four drivers of the team have come forth to discuss how they see Talladega playing out on Sunday.
No:5 Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson on Talladega
Kyle Larson acknowledged that though he has been part of multiple Superspeedway races he was never able to secure a top finish for his team and went on to share his hope that he might be able to turn all that around this Sunday on Talladega as h searches for his second win of the season,
“I’ve watched a lot of superspeedway races to see what I can do differently to be in contention at the end of stages and the end of the race. I just never seem to be in a good position at the end – when I make it to the end. Hopefully, we can battle for stage points and have the HendrickCars.com Chevy near the front toward the end of the race,” Kyle Larson said.
No:24 Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron on Talladega
William Byron says pointed out the difference in arcing between Talladega and Daytona as the former is more about giving and taking of pushes among the cars. He went on to explain his plans for Sunday which include pushing early at the same time and remaining in a good spot to secure the optimal finish on a track that hasn’t been historically kind to HMS.
“Talladega is quite a bit different than Daytona even though they are both superspeedways. Talladega is a lot wider with more room for racing, but the handling of your car isn’t as important there as it is at Daytona. This race is more about how well you can push someone and how well you can receive a push. You need speed, but you need to be able to work well with others to get good runs to make it to the front and stay there,” William Byron said.
“My approach doesn’t change though. You still want to be conservative at times to make sure you’re there at the end of the race, but you also need to push it early on to know what your car is capable of to set yourself up in the best position in the end. We’ve always seemed to run well at Talladega. We just haven’t always had the results to show it, but that’s part of superspeedway racing,” William Byron added.
No:48 Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman on Talladega
Alex Bowman said that he is of high confidence following his past few runs in the Cup and shreds his optimism that he might be able to change his luck at Talladega as he has struggled a lot in the past. He went on to say that he will drive aggressively on Sunday to secure a second win of the season.
“Talladega has been a place that we have had our struggles at. We ran second in 2019 and have been caught in someone else’s mess a couple of times. So, this weekend, I hope that we can change our luck. We have had a couple of solid runs recently. That gives us the confidence to go out there, be aggressive and try to get another win this year,” says Alex Bowman.
No:9 Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott on Talladega
The 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott suggested that he will be hoping to secure a decent finish at Talladega by drive9ng smart and reaming in the right lane at the right time to distance himself from those who are in trouble. He will be hoping to secure his first win of 2022 or a good finish that can help him to hold on to his championship lead.
“Talladega is one of those places where you just don’t know how your day is going to end up. I think that’s why driving smart and just doing what you can to make it to the checkered flag is the main focus. Your race can change so fast if you’re in the wrong lane or you get caught up in someone else’s mistake. I think if you can avoid those things and finish the race, you’re going to have a decent result,” Chase Elliott said.
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Justin P Joy
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