Rick Hendrick Lauds Grueling Atlanta Thriller Despite ‘Killing’ Four HMS Cars

After breaking a decade-long winless drought at Daytona last weekend, Hendrick racers were caught in a tough battle in Atlanta. William Byron and Alex Bowman finished 1-2 in the Daytona 500 race. As Rick Hendrick‘s drivers were caught in the dizzying high of celebrations, a week passed by swiftly. And with their next race, little did they expect that a tumbling cauldron of wrecks would be spilled on them.

Barely had the Ambetter race gone into the second lap, and the biggest wreck in Atlanta history unfolded. Both Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman got involved, incurring massive damage to their cars. William Byron crashed with Michael McDowell on the pit road. Kyle Larson was running well, trading the lead with Kyle Busch, until he was knocked out in a lap 220 crash. Yet Rick Hendrick was thrilled by the exciting race.

Talking to Chris Weaver in a post-race press conference, Rick Hendrick described the overall event. “I never dreamed the cars could run four-wide there and not wreck.” Then he hilariously corrected his statement: “Well there was a lot of wrecks…we killed four cars didn’t we? So it was like going to Daytona but the crowd it had was exciting and you know for the fans it was a show.”

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He further said, “A lot of talent was shown and cars were pretty equal…I hate it’s the first race in the playoff…as William said he’s not gonna sleep that night, it’s gonna be exciting. But a great race for the fans, and I think it’ll be full when we go back.”

Rick Hendrick is not wrong about the fan reactions. The Atlanta Motor Speedway was initially under scrutiny after its reconfiguration. But now the Ambetter Health race has restored people’s affection towards the speedway. 

Ahead of the 2022 season, the track was changed to adapt to a pack-racing style. The banking in the corners was tweaked. The Atlanta track thus evolved into a smaller version of the superspeedways that have been a part of the Cup Series for decades.

But just like this time, even last year’s Atlanta race was not one to remember for the Hendrick men.

The 2023 Atlanta race was also not kind to Hendrick racers

The wrecks that occurred this year distinctly hark back to a similar situation in 2023. In the spring Atlanta race, a crash unfolded with 71 laps remaining that involved three Hendrick racers. Josh Berry (driving the No. 9 entry for the injured Elliott), Kyle Larson, and William Byron suffered as Kevin Harvick spun out.

Larson was able to swerve into second place on lap 209. But his fortunes were short-lived as Aric Almirola’s cut tire collected Larson into the accident. Only Alex Bowman crossed the finish line to 14th place in the race.

The most Atlanta wins clocked in by Hendrick’s teammates were in the past. Jeff Gordon won five times in Georgia between 1995 and 2011. Jimmie Johnson was also another driver from Hendrick Motorsports to record five Atlanta wins (2004-2016).

Only time will tell how Rick Hendrick’s men will perform in the future races of 2024.