Hendrick Motorsports Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Trouble came quick in the first practice for the Bank of America 500. Just minutes into the first practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. contacted the turn four wall. Earnhardt slid up the track in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS. As he did, his right-side tires slide into the PJ1 compound. The tires grabbed and pulled him straight towards the wall. The contact was severe enough that he will be forced to a back-up car. Earnhardt was not exactlyRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. – What is in a number? For one driver, namely Chase Elliott, a return to a familiar car and number could mean success. Recently, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Elliott would shift from the No. 24 to the newly rebranded No. 9 starting with the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. The No. 9 is synonymous with the Elliott name. Chase’s Hall of Fame father, Bill Elliott, earned 38 of his 44 career victories in the No. 9 car. Bill Elliott also wonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 2017 season has not gone the way that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team planned for it to go, but in his final race at Dover on Sunday, Earnhardt showed the kind of speed that he has been lacking for the majority of the season and came away with a seventh-place finish. Not only was it Earnhardt’s best finish at Dover since the fall race in 2015, but it also his first top-10 finish since Sonoma back in June. “ItRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When it comes to scoring his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win, Chase Elliott seems to be snake-bitten. Time after time over the last two seasons, Elliott has been in position to make his maiden voyage to victory lane only to fall short when the checkered flag flew and that story played out once again in Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 at Dover after finishing second to Kyle Busch. “I’m just so disappointed in myself,” said Elliott. “Golly, I couldn’t have had it any easier.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer With Chip Ganassi Racing in a tight battle for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner’s Championship, the team has tabbed Alex Bowman for the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro is already locked into the Round of Eight after Tyler Reddick scored his first career victory at Kentucky Speedway. In 50 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Bowman has five top-fives, 13 top-10s, and three pole positions. He has three starts at Charlotte with a best finish of 12th inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When it comes to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, one slip-up can leave a driver in trouble points wise to be able to advance to the next round. At New Hampshire, different issues for Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne leave the two veterans 15th and 16th in the standings with double digit deficits to make up in next week’s Round of 16 elimination race at Dover. Busch was the first to run into trouble at the end of Stage 2 when his Stewart-HaasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Chase Elliott finished second at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday to give his No. 24 team a strong start to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but the momentum from the runner-up result was dampered on Tuesday as the team was hit with an L1 penalty from the sanctioning body for an improper modification to the rear spoiler. NASCAR noted in their penalty announcement that the team violated Section 20.20 of the rule book (Modification of components to affect the aerodynamic properties of the vehicle).Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With his tenure at Hendrick Motorsports coming to a close at the end of the season, Kasey Kahne had to look for a new home for the 2018 season and beyond and on Tuesday, it was announced that Kahne will move over to Leavine Family Racing and their No. 95 Chevrolet next year. “I want to thank Leavine Family Racing for this opportunity and will work as hard as possible to help them continue improving,” said Kahne. “I am ready for this challenge and lookRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer  How can seven-time and defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson fly under radar in the Playoffs? By being outside the top-10 throughout the entire weekend until the final stage of the Tales of the Turtles 400. Johnson had a quiet weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. He finished eighth, but was 11th at the end of both stages. Unlike some of his fellow Playoff competitors, Johnson had flawless pit stops for his No. 48 Lowe’s / Hitachi Chevrolet SS. Throughout the entire race passingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a dismal 21st place finish at Chicagoland Speedway to kick off the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, there will be a bit of a shake-up on top of the pit box for Kasey Kahne and his No. 5 team for the remainder of the season. Darian Grubb, who served as the crew chief for Tony Stewart during his 2011 championship season and is the current director of competition systems for Hendrick Motorsports, will assume the crew chief role for Kahne’s team starting nextRead More