CONCORD, N.C. – It was an incident-filled afternoon Monday at Talladega Superspeedway that ultimately cut the day short for three of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
Alex Bowman and Jimmie Johnson were the first to be caught in a multiple-car incident that ended their races in Stage 2.
Bowman was leading the field when he attempted to block a big run by a competitor, but the contact into the No. 88 Nationwide Amazon Echo Auto Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from behind was enough to send Bowman spinning and began a chain reaction.
“Everything was going as it needed to go for us, I just misjudged that one,” Bowman said. “I just didn’t realize how fast the 22 (Joey Logano) was coming there. I probably shouldn’t have even attempted to block that. He was a solid chunk faster than us, so that’s on me. It’s part of Talladega and superspeedway racing. It’s really unfortunate for our team.”
Johnson agreed that it was just part of superspeedway racing, though he was disappointed to be collected in the incident as he raced near the front of the pack.
“Really proud of my guys,” he said. “I had a very fast Ally Chevrolet today. I was doing my best to help my teammates there and had a good time. All-in-all a good day, just a short one.”
William Byron made it through that incident but was caught up in the next big one with 25 laps to go. Like Bowman, he was battling for the lead when contact from behind sent him spinning toward a competitor. The resulting damage to the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ended his day.
“We had a really good run going,” the driver said. “I felt like we were going to at least finish pretty solid. Our car was good, just trying to bide our time. Just unfortunate, for sure.”
Chase Elliott, meanwhile, was able to make it all the way to the finish line despite being involved in the initial multiple-car incident along with Bowman and Johnson.
In the end, he collected a top-10 finish.
"We had our ups and downs for sure today,” he said. “Got caught up in that crash but my guys did a really nice job of putting it back together as best we could. I’m proud of the effort, we just came up a little short.”
The eighth-place result left him 10th in the playoff standings, 22 points below the cut-off line with one race remaining in the Round of 12.
Just ahead of him in the standings is Bowman in ninth, 18 points below the cut-off line, and Byron currently ranks 12th, 27 points below the line.
This weekend at Kansas Speedway, four drivers will be eliminated as the Round of 8 field is set.
All three Hendrick Motorsports teammates in the playoffs are currently outside of the top eight, and Elliott knows the approach he and the No. 9 team will take to the Round of 12 finale.
“Just head out West to Kansas now and try to get a win out there,” he said. “You have to have the mindset to go out there and control what we can control and do everything we can to get a win. That's about all we can do."