CONCORD, N.C. -- Rain played a major role Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. It delayed the race and ultimately ended it prematurely.
But in the end, Hendrick Motorsports left with four finishes inside the top 13.
ELLIOTT LEADS THE WAY
Chase Elliott led the Hendrick Motorsports drivers with a fourth-place finish.
Along the way, Texas became the sixth race in which Elliott has led laps in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
“Obviously, I thought we had a pretty good car," Elliott said. "I don’t know that we had anything for those guys, at least on the short run. If it went real long into a run, I thought we could slightly run with them, given the right track conditions and what not. We will do our homework and get ready for the next two.”
KAHNE BATTLES FORWARD
Joining Elliott inside the top 10 was Kasey Kahne, who finished eighth.
That came after he started the race outside of the top 30.
"We had a great performance from 33rd to eighth and we battled all night long," Kahne said. "Everybody worked hard -- we just want to be a little better.”
He credited the No. 5 team's perseverance throughout the event for the top-10 result.
"The team did a great job," he said. "The pit stops were nice."
JOHNSON, BOWMAN JUST OUTSIDE OF TOP 10
Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team gambled with a late-race decision as a yellow flag waved due to rain.
Running just outside of the top five, Johnson headed to pit road for fresh tires. He returned to the track in 11th, but if the race went green once again, he would have an advantage over the competitors ahead of him who did not pit.
However, the red flag was displayed shortly thereafter and the race was called, giving Johnson an 11th-place finish.
“It didn’t quite go as planned," he said. "We were planning on a day race and the setup of the car was not so happy at night. We were making gains on it and getting there, but a little too loose with it being a night race.”
Alex Bowman was the next teammate to finish, taking home 13th place.
Early in the race, he charged into the top 10 before a tire issue sent him to pit road.
“We took off really strong and had a really good first run," he said. "The second run we didn’t get a great restart but we were fast and passing people and cut a right-front tire. We had some right-front damage and feel like that kind of killed the front-end aero wise a little bit for the rest of the day."
Bowman explained that he was battling the balance of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS throughout the race, but he was proud of the No. 88 team's effort to rebound and finish inside the top 15.
"We were a heck of a lot better than 13th, just frustrating couple of restarts," he said. "We will move on to Phoenix and hopefully get them there.”