Four laps! Yep, that’s all it took for Chase Elliott to turn a tense restart into another statement win at Texas Motor Speedway. With a timely push from teammate Alex Bowman, Elliott cleared Denny Hamlin and never looked back, sealing his second victory of the season. But instead of pounding his chest after beating one of the sport’s best, Elliott took a different route. And what he said says a lot about how he views the rivalry.
Chase Elliott keeps perspective after beating Denny Hamlin
“Obviously, he has won a hell lot more than I have. But lot of the races that I’ve been, had the opportunities to win or whatever, it seems like he and I are racing for wins a lot. So, I think there is a lot of mutual respect there. He shows me respect, I show him respect, and we can go out there and really race hard.”
Chase Elliott summed up his continuous struggles with Denny Hamlin in this way. And the figures support that. With the victory in Texas, Elliott now has two head-to-head victories against Hamlin this season, both of which ended in a 1-2, including their previous clash at Martinsville Speedway.
On paper, a record like that could easily lead to talks of a change in leadership in NASCAR. Chase Elliott, however, rejects that story. And that’s largely because of what Hamlin represents. Elliott’s current record of 23 wins still pales in comparison to Hamlin’s 61 career wins, which place him among the top 10 drivers in NASCAR history.
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Elliott does not immediately reverse that hierarchy after defeating Hamlin in a few races. If anything, it emphasizes how much work remains. That perspective shapes how he approaches these moments. Chase Elliott views it as rivalry between two drivers who frequently find themselves in the same battle for victories rather than supremacy. It’s about continuously placing himself in a position, not about demonstrating supremacy.
And that’s where the real takeaway lies. Even though Elliott has been winning the previous battles, he believes that nothing has changed in the grand scheme of things. The respect is still there. And so does the drive to continue pursuing greater goals.
Larson’s Texas troubles temper HMS high
While Chase Elliott was celebrating up front, it was a very different story on the other side of the Hendrick Motorsports garage. At Texas Motor Speedway, defending champion Kyle Larson had yet another poor showing that unraveled in the middle of the race.
Larson lost control of his No. 5 Chevrolet as it was exiting Turn 2 on Lap 160, well inside the top 20, and crashed into the outside wall. His day wasn’t immediately ended by the collision, but his car was severely damaged and became challenging to drive. He ultimately made his way to the garage for more extensive repairs after limping back to pit road due to steering problems.
Additionally, that wasn’t the first indication of problems. When Larson made contact with Chase Briscoe on the pit road earlier in the race, his pit stop sequence had already gone sideways. Even though it was a minor incident, it portended a tumultuous afternoon.
Larson’s late return to the track allowed him to salvage a 34th-place finish, even gaining a spot in the final laps. However, the harm was already done. After finishing last at Talladega the week before, it was his second consecutive race affected by a crash. The greater worry? momentum.
Larson fell farther down the standings after Texas and is currently eighth in points. For a driver accustomed to controling the narrative, this is a significant decline. Larson’s difficulties served as a reminder of how rapidly things can turn around, even while Chase Elliott’s victory demonstrated Hendrick’s potential.
