NASCAR takes 2 cars to R&D Center as Hendrick-JGR dominance continues
DOVER, Del. — NASCAR officials took a Joe Gibbs Racing car and a Hendrick Motorsports car to its R&D Center for a teardown after the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
Officials took the No. 19 JGR Toyota that Martin Truex Jr. drove to a third-place finish and the No. 9 HMS Chevrolet that Chase Elliott drove to fifth.
Excluding fourth-place finisher Kyle Busch, the two organizations swept the top 5 spots Sunday with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Truex and Elliott. Factor in Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs, who finished eighth and 10th for HMS and JGR respectively, and they claimed six of the top-10 spots.
Truex drove from 15th to first by lap 115 and claimed stage one on lap 120. He led 69 consecutive laps and appeared to have the best car until HMS driver Kyle Larson passed him during green-flag pit stops.
Truex then faded to fourth in stage two. In stage three, he sustained heavy front damage but still clicked off quick lap times and finished third.
Elliott had a similar charge to the front in stage one, driving from 29th to ninth. He never led any laps but he placed fifth in stage two and finished there overall.
Elliott and Truex had some help shoring up the stage points Sunday. The two organizations combined to claim 75 of the 110 stage points (45 – HMS, 30 – JGR). All four HMS cars earned stage points in stage one. The two organizations even took the top 5 spots in stage two, with Kyle Larson grabbing the stage win.
While William Byron finished 33rd, he started third and led 36 laps before placing second in stage one. He could’ve made the JGR/HMS top-5 sweep in stage two a top-6 sweep before the jack dropped on the left front fender when the tire was off.
A wreck with JGR driver Christopher Bell, while running near the top 10, sealed their fates on lap 328.
In total, the two organizations led 280 of 400 laps Sunday. It’s reflective of the season overall too.
HMS and JGR own seven of the top-10 spots in points standings (Christopher Bell in 17th is a notable outlier). They’ve also led 2,179 of 3,293 laps and won nine of the first 11 races. That includes all eight non-drafting track races.
Next weekend is the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Last year, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin dueled for the win before Hamlin won.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com