NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Hendrick Motorsports 40th-anniversary domination
This weekend was all about Hendrick Motorsports and their 40th anniversary. They put NASCAR on notice at Martinsville. It wasn’t just about the win, it was the entire weekend for this team.
Of course, William Byron won the Cook Out 400. It didn’t start there. Kyle Larson started things off by winning the pole. Then he led the first 80 laps of the race to win Stage 1. Of course, the 1-2-3 finish, with Byron, Larson, and Chase Elliott. Alex Bowman finished P8.
If you want, throw in Rajah Caruth’s P7 finish from the Truck Series, and Hendrick Motorsports or Hendrick-sponsored drivers all finished in the top-10 this weekend. It made for one heck of a 40th-anniversary celebration, even if Mr. H had to watch from home.
Christian Eckes is the real deal
The NAPA No. 19 is a championship contender. Chrisitan Eckes solidified his position as a championship threat by winning his second race of the season. When this team is on, they’re on.
Ty Majeski won the pole and was fast once again. However, he fell short of the win in the end. There were plenty of wrecks and restarts, what you would expect from the Truck Series at Martinsville.
Kaden Honeycutt called to NASCAR hauler
NASCAR did not wait until after the Truck Series race was over to inform Kaden Honeycutt and his crew chief that they would be coming to the NASCAR hauler after the race.
Honeycutt was involved in a few incidents. NASCAR felt he was being a little too aggressive on the track and wanted to inform him of that after the race was over. No penalties announced yet for that team, and unsure if there will be any.
‘You know better than these f***ing kids’
No fights this weekend at Martinsville. However, Timmy Hill had to let Stewart Friesen hear it after getting dumped by the 52 after the race. Friesen was frustrated with other drivers and used Hill to take out his frustrations.
Hill informed Friesen: “I don’t waste you, these f***ing kids do, you know better than that.” He used a few other f-bombs in the process and it made for an intense moment postrace.
On the pole, but not
Brandon Jones won the Xfinity Series pole award but had to start in the back of the field due to a cracked brake rotor. The team replaced it, of course, and had to start in the rear.
Things didn’t get better for Jones. Martinsville is one of if not his best track. However, a DNF finish of P27 is all he had to show for it. Tough weekend for the JR Motorsports driver.
Botched restart wrecks a lot of fast cars
Oh no, more bad news for Brandon Jones. To start Stage 2, Jones missed a shift and his car more or less parked on the track compared to the cars behind him.
A huge pileup ensued and there were plenty of fast cars wrecked. Austin Hill lost out on his top-10 streak due to the wreck. Parker Retzlaff, Corey Heim, AJ Allmendinger – all were wrecked out.
Aric Almirola flexes his experience
Not only did Aric Almirola win the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, he also claimed the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize. Freshly retired from the Cup Series, Almirola is running a limited schedule in the Xfinity ranks with Joe Gibbs Racing.
In four starts this season, Almirola has finished P12, P31 (DNF), P2, and P1. He’s finding his groove and should be a threat to win any time he gets on the track this season. Almirola outclassed the Xfinity field using his experience, especially in overtime.
No one wanted to push the restart rules
It seems pretty clear that none of the drivers wanted to tempt NASCAR into a restart violation penalty. Before the race and after the race, drivers commented on not wanting to test those new limits, if they do exist, from NASCAR.
Bubba Wallace said he wasn’t going to try anything. William Byron commented after the race about not wanting to test it. And, no one did, so no controversy this week.
NASCAR fans still don’t like Denny Hamlin
Following the Richmond fiasco, Denny Hamlin was met with more than usual boos from the NASCAR fans. During driver intros multiple reporters noted that Hamlin received a ton of negative responses, even for him.
Hamlin had a chance to win this race at one point. However, pit strategy and track position kept him from truly contending in the end. Solid run overall, but only P11 to show for it as Hendrick Motorsports stole the show.
Byron wins, Hendrick Motorsports dominates on big day
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Hendrick Motorsports 40th-anniversary race at Martinsville without some history, right? William Byron wins, he has 11 wins in the Next Gen era. Third win this season.
Hendrick goes 1-2-3 and while Mr. H couldn’t be there to celebrate, he did call into FS1 after the race. A big day for that organization, the first podium sweep ever at Martinsville for an organization.
NASCAR horsepower debate returns, Hendrick’s season to lose?
Going into the Texas week, here is one NASCAR storyline – the horsepower debate is back. Another lackluster and frankly boring short track race led to more than a few cries for horsepower to be added to these Cup Series cars.
At this point, something has to be done. Short track racing is a great product when the formula is right. Right now, the Xfinity Series is simply putting on a better show at the short tracks and road courses. You can’t have that be the case. The premiere series needs to be the most entertaining.
Get ready for horsepower to be the prevailing storyline throughout this week. Could Texas produce a good race in comparison to the last two weeks? Will Hendrick domination continue?