via Getty
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 16: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
via Getty
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 16: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Five races into the NASCAR season and Hendrick drivers have won three of them. Kyle Larson did it in Fontana, Alex Bowman did it in Las Vegas, and most recently, William Byron did it in Atlanta.
But two of these three came with some controversy. Larson was found guilty of spinning his own teammate Chase Elliott while Bowman, well, his doubters once again believed he got lucky.
USA Today via Reuters
Feb 16, 2022; Daytona, FL, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (right) qualifies first and NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman (left) qualifies second for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
Yet when you look at the race win for William Byron in Atlanta, you can’t help but agree that it was really well deserved.
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This is all the more clear looking at the average running position during the race at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway. Throughout the race, Byron held an average running position of 4.71, considerably ahead of Ryan Blaney in second who had an average running position of 8.11, who was slightly ahead of Chase Elliott with 8.81.
When it came to average running position in Sunday's #NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta, nobody came close to the race winner, @WilliamByron, who had an avg running pos of 4.71.
Here are the full average running positions presented by @51FIFTYLTM: pic.twitter.com/lr2GjjjC3e
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) March 24, 2022
While the youngest Hendrick driver topped this list, the best of the four, and the defending champion Kyle Larson failed to crack even the top ten.
However, he outclassed the rest of the field in one area.
Kyle Larson ahead of the rest of the field in a key statistic at Atlanta
Kyle Larson’s race was cut short after enduring heavy damage to the front of his No.5 Camaro earlier in the race, that further became deteriorated to the point of being undrivable courtesy of a wreck with Denny Hamlin.
Yet despite this, the Hendrick driver was ahead of all the other drivers in passing differential. And that too, by some distance.
In Atlanta, the man from Elk Grove had a passing differential of 54, comfortably ahead of Christopher Bell in second who had a passing differential of 37, same as Ricky Stenhouse Jr in third place.
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There were a lot of comers and goers during Sunday's #NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta with the draft. But no driver had a better passing differential than @TeamHendrick's @KyleLarsonRacin.
Here are the @SRIPerformance Passing Differentials for Atlanta: pic.twitter.com/qGjeLxIlqL
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) March 24, 2022
As we stand on the cusp of another race weekend in Austin, let’s see if Kyle Larson can make it two wins this season while his teammate Chase Elliott hunts for his first.
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Either way, it’s a Hendrick world and we’re just living in it.
