Kevin Harvick breaks down Hendrick Motorsports success at Martinsville
During his long and story career, Kevin Harvick saw what Hendrick Motorsports could do, but last Sunday was something else. A 1-2-3 finish at Martinsville for the first time ever in NASCAR Cup Series history.
William Byron was great at Martinsville. He started the race P18 and was able to move up through the field throughout the race. That was something other drivers struggled heavily with. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott followed closely behind Byron. Alex Bowman finished P8.
On his Happy Hour podcast, Kevin Harvick talked about the impressive Hendrick performance.
“When you look at everything that was going on, there’s just very few teams that can first have that much history and second to be able to perform under that pressure with everybody being there,” Harvick said. “I think it was, I don’t even remember which Hendrick driver we interviewed them all, but before the race, talking about the pressure of having to perform under those circumstances and how much they enjoyed being able to be in those moments. When the pressure is on, and you’ve got all the cameras and people pointing at you as the cars to beat and the moment that you’re in.
“I mean, that’s like racing for a championship right there with 1500 of your own employees there. For them to go out and perform, those are the moments you live for as a driver. To be able to perform under those circumstances and have all your people there and get the W, not only the W but a 1-2-3. The only person that’s probably going to be mad is probably Linda. She’s going to be mad because Alex Bowman finished eighth. She’s going to be like ‘Well why didn’t we have 1-2-3-4.'”
Kevin Harvick has seen his fair share of Hendrick domination. He had to compete with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for championships and race wins for years. Even he was impressed with this new batch of HMS drivers.
While the old guard is out of the sport, a new crop of stars continues to rise. So, Byron doesn’t have the best personality. However, if he keeps winning races, and doing it in the 24 car, people will take notice.
When you look at the talent, Byron, Elliott, Larson, Bowman – those are four drivers capable of winning multiple races each season. Three of those four are legit championship contenders. Two of them have already won a Cup Series championship. Hendrick Motorsports is the cream of the crop in NASCAR.