For the first time since 2019, Chevrolet has failed to put one of its entries in Victory Lane throughout the opening five weeks of a NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
The early-season drought comes immediately following some subtle off-season body changes for Chevrolet-backed organizations, with the successful automaker choosing to reintroduce the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to NASCAR competition in 2026, using its Carbon Performance Package.
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Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the first mile-and-a-half event of the new season, and it was evident right off the track that Toyota had a clear advantage over Chevrolet, and even Ford at this point in the season.
While the initial pace may have been a cause for concern, especially considering the record of Hendrick Motorsports at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Las Vegas, Nevada, it was the championship-winning organization that showed the Chevrolet teams may not be as far off as initially thought.
Chase Elliott (second), William Byron (third), and Kyle Larson (seventh) all finished inside the top-10 in Sunday’s event at Las Vegas, and at times during the race, looked as though they might challenge the likes of Joe Gibbs Racing for the victory.
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Justin Allgaier, driving the team’s fourth entry in relief of Alex Bowman (as he deals with symptoms of vertigo), finished in 25th-place. However, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion showed fantastic race pace as he attempted to get re-acclimated to the NextGen car and then worked to recover from a pair of speeding penalties in the first stage that had the No. 48 team on the backfoot all afternoon.
Elliott, the best of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers, surged to the runner-up position at the beginning of the final run – which ended up being the longest stint on Goodyear tires all afternoon. While eventual race-winner Denny Hamlin drove away on the short-run, it was the long-run where the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 excelled.
Unfortunately for the former NASCAR Cup Series champion, there just wasn’t enough time to pounce on the No. 11.
“I felt like our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was a little better there on the longer runs,” said Elliott. “I thought Denny [Hamlin] was starting to fall off, and I was just trying to be as tidy as I could and give myself an opportunity. We just came up a little bit short.”
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“Honestly, with where we’ve been to how we ran today, it was not even comparable. As bummed as I am, I have to check myself back to reality and understand how big of an improvement that was from past races out there,” Elliott added. “Just proud of this team. It’s a lot of fun to be right there in the mix with those guys that have won a lot of races out here. Excited about that and hopefully we can keep building on it.”
William Byron spent 26 laps out front in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and on the second-to-last run of the race, looked to be the car that might be able to dethrone Denny Hamlin on the longer run. However, after the race’s final pit stop, and a restart, Byron was unable to keep his teammate Chase Elliott behind him and slipped to third as things got single-filed out.
“Overall, I was really happy with today. It was more of what we expect from ourselves. I was just pleased, really, from Stage 1 on,” Byron said. “The balance was similar to what we’re used to. It had some differences, but it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t work through. Just really excited for the future mile-and-a-half races just kind of dialing in that balance to get it a little bit closer. I’m proud of everyone on this No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet team. Everyone has really gone to work on this new Chevrolet car. It’s just a new season and we’re trying to get our balance right. I’m happy with it so far.”
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Despite being the lowest finishing of the three full-time drivers from the Hendrick Motorsports stable, Kyle Larson ended up leading the most laps, pacing the field for 62 laps. The Elk Grove, California-native was strong early in the going, but as the race progressed, more drivers started to get within range of the race leaders, ultimately shuffling the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet back in the closing laps.
A seventh-place finish isn’t a bad result, by any means, but after winning Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event and considering his past history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the result must be a little bit disappointing.
“In the second stage, we were getting really loose, and then to start the final stage, I just didn’t get the launch I needed or the push I needed,” Larson said. “I was side-by-side with them and then [Christopher] Bell had a big run behind me, and it was going to be hard to block. They got by and I fell back to fourth, and then my balance was just kind of tight that run. I was hoping to get to a green flag stop, that way we could be in traffic and maybe by balance would be in a good spot and we would have a shot to race for the win.”
“Overall, it was good to get another top-10 finish for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team,” he added. “I wish we would have had the balance in a little better place, but it was back and forth every run. All-in-all, it was a good day and I’m happy with it. Chase [Elliott] did an awesome job and William [Byron] was really fast. We had our moments of being fast, so we can look at it and keep building on it.”
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For Hendrick Motorsports, it’s a step in the right direction as they look to hunt down their first NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2026. But, clearly, they’re leading the Chevrolet battalion, as the highest finishing Chevrolet not in the HMS stable was Austin Dillon, who finished 12th.
Heading to Darlington Raceway, widely considered a driver’s track, with the new 750-horsepower package, Hendrick Motorsports will look to cash in on previous successes and return to Victory Lane at “The Lady in Black”.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as HMS Finds Speed in First Mile-And-A-Half Race with New Chevrolet Body.
Read the full article here