As the NASCAR season hurtled toward its climax, a captivating narrative unfolded at Daytona. The spotlight was on fan-favorite Chase Elliott, whose playoff hopes hung in the balance. Chase Elliott found himself at a crossroads, needing a triumph in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to secure his spot in the coveted playoffs.

With his back against the wall, the motorsport world eagerly awaited a potential miracle on the Daytona track. Out of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, only one could make it to the playoffs, if they made it at all. Most teams looked to push their own drivers to the front. Fans witnessed a race filled with cautions and flips where multiple drivers saw the checkered flag.

What was Hendrick Motorsports’ winning strategy?

The Daytona race held more than just speed and spectacle. It’s a culmination of strategic maneuvering and calculated alliances. Teams are poised to prioritize their own cars as they vie for the coveted playoff spots. For Hendrick Motorsports, where 2 drivers were already in and 2 were out of the playoffs, this divide was vivid.

As the final race before the playoffs Round of 16 beckoned, a compelling story of HMS teamwork and rivalry got unfolded on the iconic Daytona track.

In a pre-race conversation with David Styles on the podcast J.C.’s Garage, JC Fickenscher said, “I don’t think teams are gonna pair up too much this year because of the fact that almost every team has like multiple car teams… Hendrick has two drivers in and two drivers out. RCR has a driver in and a driver out.

So I think teams like that, where we see kind of an alliance between RCR and Trackhouse in a way. If both the Trackhouse cars were in, maybe you’d see a little bit of an alliance between the Trackhouse cars and Austin Dillon.”

“So I think the fact that we have so many teams that have split even with a couple of drivers in and a couple of drivers out. I think it’s pretty much every team for themselves. I think Hendrick, with Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman being out, I think William Byron and Kyle Larson will help those drivers get in,” he concluded.

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Since Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman both raced well and Chase Elliott was seen pushing the leaders half the time, they had a chance to qualify for the playoffs. Significantly, the teammates were seen pushing the No. 9 as they raced for the team’s win.

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Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s beloved champion, confronted the challenge of must-win circumstances half of the season. His misfortune at Watkins Glen left him with a singular objective: to secure a victory at Daytona to claim a playoff berth. Whereas Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports companion, Alex Bowman, mirrored the same predicament. Both drivers were seen entangled in a fight for their postseason dreams.

Where Chase Elliott paid a price for missing the initial races, Alex Bowman talked about how their injuries played them, he said, “It’s good to run well, maybe 5 spots better. But it could have gotten a lot worse so, we just got to keep executing.”

“We showed what we’re capable of (at) the beginning of the season before I got hurt and since then we really haven’t. Need to get back to that”, Bowman further added.

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Elliott and Bowman regretted not being able to take advantage of the aerodynamic draft from Kevin Harvick’s number 4 Ford Mustang, despite the fact that Chase finished fourth and Bowman sixth, both of whom scored top 10 finishes for the team.