Hendrick Motorsports puts in quiet but solid shift at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. — It was a quiet but solid Sunday at Pocono Raceway for Hendrick Motorsports with three cars finishing inside the top-10 – but no laps led.

Sunday marked the third race this season that the organization didn’t lead a lap (Others: Phoenix, Nashville SS). That wasn’t indicative of how they ran, though.

Bowman finished best among the four drivers (third) after challenging eventual race winner Ryan Blaney for the win late. In the stages, Bowman was sixth in stage one and seventh in stage two, amounting to another solid points day.

The driver of the No. 48 car is consistent, with an organization-leading 12 Top-10 finishes, including six Top-5 finishes.

Behind Bowman was William Byron. After nearly leading the first lap, Byron finished fourth in each stage and the race overall Sunday. Byron now has three Top-5s in the last five races.

Chase Elliott arguably showed the most speed of any HMS driver. Elliott finished fifth in the first stage and second in the second stage. He also had the lead coming off of pit road on lap 117 – what became the final stop – until NASCAR officials nabbed him and teammate Kyle Larson for speeding on pit road.

Elliott rebounded to finish ninth. Larson finished 13th after a quiet day where he only earned stage points in stage two for a sixth-place effort.

In the driver standings, that was enough to lift Elliott to the points lead by 3 points over Larson. His No. 9 team is still 21 points behind Larson’s No. 5 team in the owner standings.

Farther back, William Byron is fifth in points, -57 points to Elliott, while Bowman is 10th, -107 to Elliott. 

Fresh off Alex Bowman’s victory last weekend in Chicago, all four drivers are qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. 

Five races remain in the regular-season with 12 winners on the season and four spots up for grabs. If one of those 12 or a playoff-ineligible driver wins the Brickyard 400 this Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 12 winners will lock into the playoffs.

Atop the regular-season championship, the battle is still wide open. The Brickyard 400 goes green just after 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday. It is the last race before a two-week Olympic break.

MORE ON POCONO: Ryan Blaney leads most laps en route to Pocono victory