Chase Elliott hasn’t been at his best this season. The former Cup Series champion is still out of the playoff spots and still looking to get his first win in 2023. New Hampshire hasn’t been the strongest circuit for Elliott, and on the face of it, that hasn’t not been good for Hendrick Motorsports either.
HMS is one of the most decorated teams in NASCAR history and has been able to perform well throughout the current season. However, during qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the HMS cars did not show good pace at all, which is very worrying for the team.
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Chase Elliott confused with pace drop
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The four Hendrick Motorsports cars racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway failed to live up to expectations. Two of the Hendrick Motorsport drivers have already qualified for the playoffs. However, even they could not have a good NHMS qualification.
William Byron, who is currently placed at the top of the standings, could only qualify in seventh place. Kyle Larson who is third in the standings could only qualify in 15th position. And Elliott, who was an NHMS runner-up last year, could only qualify 18th. With Alex Bowman completing the four in 25th place.
Chase Elliott, who is still trying to recover from a season caused by injury, also encountered problems with the car. While the former Cup Series champion has failed to make his mark this season, he has managed to earn plenty of stage points despite missing seven races. However, Elliott has yet to win a race.
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Elliott was asked, in a post-qualifying interview, “What confuses you – what is the car doing or what is the track doing at the moment? ยป
He answered frankly, “A lot. I’m just a puzzled person. I’m still puzzled, you should all know that by now.
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The reason for HMS’s poor performance in New Hampshire is something the team would like to explore. The drop in performance is as puzzling to us as it is to Elliott himself. Nevertheless, it would still be interesting to see if the team will be able to recover these positions and score a good number of points in the race.
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