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Kyle Larson Firmly Trashes Rumors of a Budding Fight With Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson Firmly Trashes Rumors of a Budding Fight With Chase Elliott
Despite missing out on starting the 2024 Coca-Cola 600, Kyle Larson currently leads the standings with 671 points. Interestingly, Chase Elliott sits just 11 points below him, in second place, and remains a strong contender to win the regular season championship. While Larson has enjoyed three wins, Elliott has relied on consistency and a single-race win this campaign to fight for the title.
Amazingly, the #9 driver is yet to have a DNF this season. While it certainly puts his last year’s misery behind, there’s still loads to compete for. Last month at New Hampshire, Elliott gave an idea of how things have been at Hendrick Motorsports since both he and Larson remain title contenders for the regular season.
Back then, as reported by NASCAR.com, he said, “Kyle and I raced for a championship a couple of times. I can say with a lot of confidence that our meetings have never changed. How everyone talks or the things that are discussed or the information that is uploaded into our internal servers. As far as setups and things of that nature, it’s all very straightforward. It’s all an open book and what you take and do with that from there is up to you.”
As Elliott denied any internal conflict or mystery due to the fierce competition, even Kyle Larson spoke on similar lines. Ahead of the race at the Pocono Raceway, Larson spoke to the media. When NASCAR journalist Bharat Aggarwal asked the #5 driver about the mood in the HMS camp, he denied the presence of any negativity. Larson said, “Yeah, to me, I mean it hasn’t affected anything negatively.”
In fact, the 2021 Cup Champion pinpointed the positive aspects during the exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. He said, “You know, I think if anything, it’s been all positive this year, because you know, our teams always push ahead for the greater of the organization. So you have two teams in the top two in the standings, I think has everybody pressure-wise pushing even more. So yeah, it’s good.”
Not only that, Larson spoke highly of his teammates doing well. Firstly, he acknowledged how Elliott has done well in this campaign. He said, “It’s been great to see Chase with the speed. He’s so consistent. However, he accepted how the #9 team remains a threat in the title race using 6 words, “You can never count them out.” Additionally, Larson also took into consideration how well Alex Bowman and William Byron have done.He said, “Alex [Bowman], obviously with the win last week but then he’s been really strong. William [Byron] has been so fast but had a lot of bad luck here lately. So yeah, they’ll be good.” Not only did Larson sing praises for his teammates, but he assertively acknowledged the positive mood in the HMS camp. He said, “Hendrick Motorsports is in a great spot right now. And all the teams always work really well together.”
It is good to hear Larson speak positively about the harmony at Hendrick Motorsports. Having said that, it is interesting to see how both Larson and Elliott go about their business on the track. With only six races left, it remains to be seen who triumphs among them or is there going to be a different winner altogether? Well, only time can answer that question.
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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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