Pennell’s Points: HMS Poised for Historic Season, Superspeedway Package Needs Work, and More

Hendrick Motorsports Poised for Historic Season

Last week prior to the running of the Duels, Hendrick Motorsports hosted a small press event to announce their plans to honor the organization’s 40th anniversary season. There was little fanfare or a big to-do about the announcement. The big to-do would come later on.

While the team’s four drivers were unable to score a front row starting spot for the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2014, William Byron and Alex Bowman delivered Hendrick Motorsports’ sixth victory in ‘The Great American Race’ in 1-2 fashion, tying Richard Petty Motorsports for the most wins. To make matters even better, the win came on the exact date of the team’s first-ever start, February 19, 1984.

“We have a lot to prove this year, and this is a good start, obviously,” a beaming Byron said after climbing from his winning No. 24 Chevrolet on Monday evening.

RELATED: William Byron Scores Significant Victory in 2024 Daytona 500; Leads Hendrick 1-2

With 302 NASCAR Cup Series victories and 14 championships under his belt, Hendrick shows no signs of slowing down and all four of his drivers and teams look hungry to add to that legacy.

Showing strength and getting back to their winning ways in the first race of the season could be bad news for the rest of the competition as the year marches forward. Not only will Hendrick Motorsports be celebrating its history this season, they appear to be ready to celebrate in Victory Lane and add to that history as well.

Superspeedway Package Needs Work

As Toby’s Take pointed out earlier this week, Monday’s running of the Daytona 500 featured a strange fuel mileage strategy in the opening stage and a number of ill-timed bump drafts and blocks throughout.

From the opening laps to the final flag that froze the field to end it, the superspeedway package for the Next Gen car has become a game of push and shove until it all goes wrong. This wasn’t exclusive to the Daytona 500, either. The second Duel race saw an 11-car incident take out a number of strong cars and sending Ryan Blaney head-on into the wall, resulting in a 55G hit. Strategy and planning can put you in a position, but ultimately it seems as if that track position keeps you there until someone makes a mistake or has an issue.

In years past and with different aero packages drivers were able to make moves throughout the field and truly race their competition without shoving and blocking until the point of no return.

Now, that is not to say we should return to the days of the tandem drafting or single-file parade that have also shown up at superspeedway tracks in the past, but there has to be a better solution to racing at Daytona and Talladega than saving fuel, pushing, blocking, and hoping you survive the carnage for a decent finish.

Apparently, three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin tends to agree.

More Carnage to Come in Atlanta

In Monday’s Daytona 500, 30 of the 40 cars that took the green flag were involved in some type of incident throughout the 200-lap event. While Byron was able to take his wounded No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to Victory Lane, the majority of those involved in the incidents ended up on the back of a tow truck or in a heap of mangled mess.

As was just mentioned, this is in addition to the 11 cars that were destroyed in Thursday’s Duel race.

Now headed into the second weekend of the season, the series heads to the now-mile-and-a-half-superspeedway Atlanta Motor Speedway. After the reconfiguration in 2021, the high-banked, high-speed, high-wear racetrack was replaced with a mini-superspeedway with more pack racing and - you guessed it - more carnage.

Much like Daytona and Talladega, an ill-timed push or misjudged block could spell disaster for the field. The two races at Atlanta last season saw a total of 33 cars involved in incidents, and based on what was on display this week in Daytona that should stay consistent through this weekend’s race.

Tough Time for Teams

As if the start of the season was not difficult enough for the men and women working at the race shops, back-to-back superspeedway races, extended travel and weather delays are certainly putting a strain on even the best-prepared and well-run organizations.

The hard work began as soon as the teams returned from the season-finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, took some time off for the holidays, but was right back in full force once the calendar turned over to 2024.

From the unofficial start of the season all the way across the country in Los Angeles, to dealing with torrential rains both during the Clash weekend and the Daytona 500, then add on top of that work it takes to repair or rebuild superspeedway cars returning from Daytona and Atlanta, and the grind is already in full force for everyone within the organization.

While it may be a grind to start the season, that hard work is all made worth it when the team finds success at the end of the day, as Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon said following the team’s win Monday night.

“I think our excitement and my excitement being on this side of it and seeing these folks, how hard they work, and just seeing our people, how they rally around the teamwork that goes on, it just makes you appreciate it so much more when you know that, that this is a company win, this is a team effort,” he said.

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Superspeedway Standouts

Another superspeedway style race this weekend not only means more carnage and more work, but it also means another great opportunity for teams and drivers that could face struggles throughout the rest of the year on intermediate and short tracks.

Drivers such as Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie, Rick Ware Racing’s Justin Haley and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson all had strong performances in Monday’s Daytona 500, and this weekend’s Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta presents another opportunity for a strong run or to potentially contend for the win.

RELATED: LaJoie Talks Top-Five Run at Atlanta on 'The Bullring'

In the four races at Atlanta under this new track configuration, LaJoie has two top-five finishes, 19 laps led, and was contending for the victory on the final lap in 2022 when he was put in the wall and wrecked in Turn 2. During that same time, Haley has three finishes of 11th or better, including an eighth-place finish in last July’s race.

While Daytona has presented opportunities for surprise winners over the past few years, Atlanta allows a lot of those same ‘surprise’ drivers to turn into superspeedway standouts, and expect them to be right in the thick of things this weekend.

Image courtesy Craig White, Racing America