“If You Have Respect For a Peer..” – Chase Elliott Discusses Hendrick Motorsports Dynamics Amid His Feud With Kyle Larson This Year

Hendrick Motorsports has had a great Cup Series season this year. All of its 4 drivers successfully made it to the Round of 12. Moreover, two of these drivers, Chase Elliott and William Byron are still in the race for the championship. With a high chance of clinching the championship, the team is all geared up for the upcoming playoff race at Homestead-Miami.

In a recent interview, Chase Elliott opened up about how his team is dealing with the probable ‘double-dip’ opportunity at Phoenix. During his conversation, the #9 driver revealed that things aren’t that different than other races. He said, “From a team perspective, everything is always an open book — from set-ups to driver comments to data and all the above. Those things are available when we get to Daytona, and they’re available if all four of us made it to Phoenix.”

Furthermore, he said that the dynamic between Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) and the drivers has been quite strong. Also, he discussed the dynamics between him and his peers in the team. While talking about driving with his teammates, Elliott said,

“As far as the on-track stuff goes, look, I think if you have respect for a peer whether he’s a teammate or not and that that particular peer has respect for you, then I think that racing on track will follow suit of that said respect.”

READ MORE: Kyle Larson Nominates Chase Elliott as Title Favorite Amidst Beef Between Hendrick Teammates

Chase Elliott explained that no matter if two teammates are friends if there is mutual respect between the two, it is evident on the track. And this might be a subtle hint at what happened between two HMS drivers earlier this year.

Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson’s not-so-cold war

When there were only 5 laps remaining at the 2022 Watkins Glen race, Kyle Larson set the foundations for clinching the second win of this season. However, unfortunately, the Hendrick Motorsports driver earned his victory at the cost of his teammate Chase Elliott.

On the final restart, Kyle Larson slid into Elliott’s door, shoving the #9 car inside. Elliott, who was leading the race at that time was then pushed back to the 5th position while Larson took the lead. A lot of fans criticized Larson’s move and in fact, the driver himself said that he wasn’t proud of it.

WATCH THIS STORY: Kyle Larson Reveals He Is “Nervous” NASCAR Will Double Down on the Thing Hendrick Motorsports Teammate Chase Elliott Loves the Most

In a post-race interview, Larson said, “So I had a good restart and got in there hot and did what I had to do to win. I’m not necessarily proud of it, especially with a teammate, but I feel like I had to execute that way to get the win.”