Chase Elliott Puts Hendrick Motorsports on Board

Hey, NASCAR Fans!

Six races into the season, questions were being raised about Hendrick Motorsports and its performance. They were winless, while their rivals kept on racking up victories and points. But just when HMS looked in ‌desperate search of a big break, the Martinsville Speedway once again came to their rescue.

By no means was this an easy win for Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team. So, let us dive into the big storylines of ‌race day that concluded with an HMS win.

Stage 1: Denny Hamlin was just out of reach for anyone in the first stage, and he comfortably bagged the stage win.

Stage 2: This trend continued in the second stage, and Hamlin bagged more stage points to his tally.

Stage 3: Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team took a gamble and pitted early in the final stage, and that strategy call kept Hamlin at bay until the checkered flag waved.

Denny Hamlin was by far the best race car on the day for the Cookout 400. Having bagged the stage 1 and stage 2 wins, it felt as if he would cruise towards his second win of the season. The fastest lap of 19.79 seconds was clocked by the No. 11 Bob’s Furniture Toyota, so the only way to beat Hamlin for the lead was a strategy call. And that is exactly what Allan Gustafson did in the final run.

Elliott pitted on Lap 262 of the final stage, and once again, when the caution flew on Lap 312. He was second behind Ross Chastain, who stayed out and opted not to go for new Goodyear rubber. On Lap 334, Elliott got past Chastain for the lead, and for some reason, Hamlin couldn’t fire off as he did in the first two stages.

The JGR driver threw everything he could at the No. 9 car, yet it wasn’t enough. Chase Elliott just drove his way to the checkered flag to bag his first win of the 2026 season, and the first for Hendrick Motorsports. Take a look at the final laps of the thrilling cat-and-mouse chase, if you haven’t already.

This win by Elliott extended HMS’ Martinsville win record to 31 and also triggered the Dawsonville siren, which is an Elliott family tradition.

Despite the win, Elliott understands that he will need more speed and better preparation to repeat this feat. “Probably needed a little bit to be just the absolute best outright, but we were really close and were able to manage and save enough to get through traffic at the end. Really grateful for the opportunity as always. I never take it for granted.”

Surprisingly, the Cookout 400 was a pretty clean race, without a lot of start-stop cautions or incidents. Yet, despite the clean race, we had one moment that stood out. On the lap 325 restart, Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar made contact twice in Turns 3 and 4. Wallace went in deep and ran into the back bumper of the No. 77 Spire Chevy. And he didn’t lift off the gas on his corner exit.

Next thing you know, there’s a big crash, and multiple race cars are piled up around the front stretch. Here’s the video of the crash for your reference.

Twelve cars were listed in the incident, including Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Connor Zilisch, and both Legacy Motor Club Toyotas of John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones. Hocevar managed to see the race through and finished 17th. Meanwhile, Bubba had to settle for a DNF, a huge dent in his points tally after a good start to the season.

This incident wasn’t a move gone wrong, but rather Wallace deliberately trying to force an issue. When asked about the crash, the 23XI Racing driver remained mum but acknowledged that he was disappointed with himself. Check out Bubba’s interview comments after the incident.

Wallace has dropped outside the Top 10 in the regular season standings after the Martinsville race. This is the second race where he finished 30th or worse after a streak of top finishes, so the #23 team needs to regroup and get back on course.

Martinsville Speedway once again delivered the goods for HMS. However, it threw a curveball for our readers who participated in the prediction challenge.

After a streak of tiebreaker finishes, we finally settled for a clear winner this time around.

This week’s ultimate bragging rights go to: James Ellerman!

You take home a $25 Amazon gift card, while other notable finishers also get a spot on our weekly leaderboard.

NASCAR returns to another short oval at Bristol after a week’s break next, so take your time and prepare for the next weekly challenge when it rolls out.

Denny Hamlin

One caution and a strategy call took away a 62nd career win from Denny Hamlin at Martinsville. Had this been the playoffs format, this would’ve been seen as a big loss, but 56 points, more than the race winner, heading into an off-week, isn’t something to be mad about.

Highlighting what could’ve been the reason for that off-run in the final stage, Hamlin said, “We’ll check it out here. Just thought the wheel was loose on the last run. Either way, these are just some of the races that get away from you in your career. This one is certainly one of them.”

Joey Logano

The Darlington race was a nightmare for Joey Logano and his team, with a 33rd-place finish. In a format that rewards consistency, such results can just take the wind out of the sails for a team competing for titles. And they came to Martinsville with a point to prove: that the No. 22 team is still in contention.

After a solid P3 finish, Logano explained why this race was so important for his entire team. “Solid rebound for everybody. A track we expect to do well at here. Glad to see that. Weekends like last weekend, you start to question everything. Nice to have a good rebound, solid car. Our car, honestly, if we could get to the lead, I don’t know if the 9 was any better than us.”

William Byron

Byron has a good record at Martinsville, and this trend continued on Sunday. He was the only driver who could keep pace with the No. 11 Toyota. Had it not been for this hiccup on pit road, Byron might have been out there competing for a win.

“Yeah, it was good. Just missing a little bit in the one part of the corner. Just trying to sort of get the entry a little bit better. Yeah, I thought we were good all day. We needed some track position. We kind of came from ninth to fifth. Got to keep inching up on it,” Byron added.

Here’s the entire post-race interaction video from your favorite drivers.

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