Chase Elliott’s $2 billion sponsor reveals place Hendrick Motorsports won despite injury

The tragic snowboarding accident left Chase Elliott out for six weeks. His announcement of returning to this week’s race in Martinsville has everyone in the NASCAR fraternity excited. Along with the fans, Team Hendrick Motorsports and its ten-year sponsor NAPA, everyone can’t wait for Elliott to bring in some magic this weekend. NAPA had some really good things to say about the HMS team’s strategy during Elliott’s absence.

One of NASCAR’s most popular drivers competed in the first two races of the 2023 Cup Series season before breaking his tibia in his leg while snowboarding in Colorado. Josh Berry took the wheel of the #9 in five of those six races, while Jordan Taylor drove the one at COTA. And according to Sports Business Journal, Elliott’s main sponsor NAPA Auto Parts said they were very pleased with how Hendrick Motorsports handled the situation surrounding his absence.

What did Chase Elliott’s biggest sponsor say about Team HMS?

The news of Elliott’s comeback came as a relief to his longtime sponsor, NAPA. They invest and spend millions annually on the team and also have the majority of the paint jobs on the #9 Chevrolet Camaro. Adam Stern, referencing what Kevin Herron, President and COO of NAPA, said posted it on his Twitter. He wrote, “When you have a Chase Elliott who once won a championship and is NASCAR’s most popular driver, obviously you miss that (when he’s out). … But what they’ve done is make sure they protect our brand and stand up for us during the few weeks of his absence.”

While officials at NAPA called it “a couple of weeks” due to the star racer’s absence, they were very pleased with how things had worked out with the reserve driver line-up arranged by HMS. They trusted that the Hendrick group had backup drivers of Chase’s quality. And it worked in their favor as Josh Berry and Jordan Taylor performed well. Josh Berry took a massive second place finish at the Richmond race which made a tremendous contribution to both HMS and NAPA.

Although Elliott was absent from the routes, the HMS team made sure they kept NAPA and all other sponsors at the center of everything they did. All these measures have contributed to the trademark remaining protected. NASCAR viewership on Fox and FS1 jumped from single digits to double digits following Elliott’s injury.

Fans had some interesting thoughts on this, too

NASCAR fans had some good things to say about the team, as did Xfinity driver Josh Berry, who did his best. Looking at his performance in the Cup Series, some fans feel that he needs to be featured more on the TV shows. Indeed, although Chase Elliott is back and sporting a new look, it’s commendable to the entire team and their efforts to let the mishap affect someone badly. Check out what some fans have to say.

Check out this story: Chase Elliott’s recent injury update has fans anticipating the Hendrick Motorsports star’s return to the iconic NASCAR race