Uncanny: Powerful Hendrick Motorsports goes from four to just one team left in Chase - MotorSportsTalk

Hendrick Motorsports has never seen a day like Sunday.

It came into the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with four teams in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

When the checkered flag fell after 194 laps – six more than the scheduled 188 – as hard as it may seem to believe, only one HMS driver will advance to the Eliminator Round.

You can forget about:

Jimmie Johnson’s bid to defend last year’s championship and his hope to win a seventh Sprint Cup crown.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s bid to earn his first-ever Sprint Cup championship and to send Steve Letarte out as a championship-winning crew chief. Letarte is leaving HMS after this season to become an analyst on NBC telecasts of NASCAR races next season.
Kasey Kahne’s Cinderella-like hopes to move into the third round of the Chase.

As NASCAR moves to the next race at Martinsville, only the patriarch of the four HMS drivers, four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon, will be left to represent the team in the Eliminator Round.

His so-called “Drive For Five” bid for a fifth career Cup championship and his first since 2001 is still alive and well.

“I’m just mentally drained right now,” Gordon told ESPN. “It’s always tough to race here at Talladega and put yourself in position and know your championship hopes are right there in that final moment. It’s nerve-wracking.

“I’m proud of this team and the job they did. We fought hard.

“I’m just glad we made it. I can’t wait for Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix, all great tracks for us. This team has done some amazing work this year, these next three are where we’re really going to shine and show them.”

Gordon acknowledged how difficult it is to know he is the only driver left to salvage HMS’s championship hopes, but at the same time, it’s somewhat of a byproduct of racing at Talladega and the situation the three now-eliminated drivers faced coming into Sunday’s race.

“It’s very difficult,” he said. “We knew that Jimmie and Junior were in tough positions, but if anyone could win this race, either one of those guys could.

“Kasey raced hard all day. I really thought he was going to make it.

“These are three guys that could have been factors in this championship. Great teams, great drivers and friends of mine and I hate to see them not in there.

“But we’re going to try to make Hendrick proud and go out there and get ourselves to Homestead.”

Kahne missed the Eliminator Round by just three points. When interviewed by ESPN after the race, he seemed as if he was still in disbelief that he fell short.

“You just try and get the best finish you can,” Kahne said. “I’m in 20th (position in the race) and got back up to 11th.

“It was tough if you weren’t in the top few spots. Once I was 10th, eighth, it was really difficult to get back up to that point and that was it.”

30 Seconds to Know: How does the Chase Eliminator round work?

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The biggest race of the NTT IndyCar Series season (and in the world) is over, and NBC Sports’ power rankings look very similar to the finishing results in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Pole-sitter Alex Palou entered the Indy 500 at the top and remains there after his impressive rebound to a fourth after a midway crash in the pits. Top two Indianapolis 500 finishers Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson also improved multiple spots in the power rankings just as they gained ground during the course of the 500-mile race on the 2.5-mile oval. Though Alexander Rossi dropped a position, he still shined at the Brickyard with a fifth place finish.

Santino Ferrucci, the other driver in the top five at Indy, made his first appearance in the 2023 power rankings this year and now will be tasked with keeping his A.J. Foyt Racing team toward the front as the IndyCar circuit makes its debut on a new layout..

Heading into the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of downtown, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through six of 17 races this year (with previous ranking in parenthesis):

Alex Palou (1): Three consecutive top 10 finishes at the Indy 500, and yet the 2021 IndyCar champion still seems slightly snake-bitten at the Brickyard. A few different circumstances and a dash of experience, and Palou could have three Indy 500 wins. But he at least has the points lead.
Marcus Ericsson (4): Some want to say the Indy 500 runner-up’s unhappiness with IndyCar race control was sour grapes, but the Swede had a legitimate gripe about the consistency of red flag protocols. Still a magnificent May for Ericsson, especially while the questions swirl about his future.
Josef Newgarden (7): Strategist Tim Cindric and team did a fantastic job catapulting Newgarden from 17^th into contention, and the two-time series champion did the rest. Particularly on a late three-wide pass for the lead, it can’t be overstated how brilliant the Team Penske driver was in his finest hour.
Alexander Rossi (3): He winds up being the best Arrow McLaren finisher in a mostly disappointing Indy 500 for a team that seemed poised to become dominant. With a third in the GMR GP and a fifth in the Indy 500, this easily was Rossi’s best May since his second place in 2019.
Pato O’Ward (2): Unlike last year, the Arrow McLaren star sent it this time against Ericsson and came out on the wrong side (and with lingering bitterness toward his Chip Ganassi Racing rival). The lead mostly was the wrong place to be at Indy, but O’Ward managed to be in first for a race-high 39 laps.
Scott Dixon (5): He overcame brutal handling issues from a wicked set of tires during his first stint, and then the team struggled with a clutch problem while posting a typical Dixon-esque finish on “a very tough day.” The six-time champion hopes things are cleaner the rest of the season after the first three months.
Santino Ferrucci (NR): Pound for pound, he and A.J. Foyt Racing had the best two weeks at Indianapolis. Ferrucci said Wednesday he still believes he had “by far the best car at the end” and if not for the timing of the final yellow and red, he would have won the Indy 500. Now the goal is maintaining into Detroit.
Colton Herta (NR): He was the best in a mostly forgettable month for Andretti Autosport and now is facing a pivotal weekend. Andretti has reigned on street courses so far this season, and few have been better on new circuits than Herta. A major chance for his first victory since last year’s big-money extension.
Scott McLaughlin (6): Ran in the top 10 at Indy after a strong opening stint but then lost positions while getting caught out on several restarts. A penalty for unintentionally rear-ending Simon Pagenaud in O’Ward’s crash then sent him to the rear, but McLaughlin still rallied for 14th. Detroit will be a fresh start.
Rinus VeeKay (10): Crashing into Palou in the pits was less than ideal. But a front row start and 10^th-place finish in the Indy 500 still were 2023 highlights for VeeKay in what’s been the toughest season of his career. The Ed Carpenter Racing cars have been slow on road and street courses, so Detroit is another test.

Falling out: Will Power (8), Felix Rosenqvist (9), Romain Grosjean (10)

PAST NBC SPORTS INDYCAR POWER RANKINGS

PRESEASON: Josef Newgarden is a favorite to win third championship

RACE 1: Pato O’Ward to first; Newgarden drops out after St. Pete

RACE 2: O’Ward stays firmly on top of standings after Texas

RACE 3: Marcus Ericsson leads powerhouses at the top

RACE 4: Grosjean, Palou flex in bids for first victory

RACE 5: Alex Palou carrying all the momentum into Indy 500