Rick Hendrick’s Superstar Succumbs to Vegas as Joe Gibbs’s Pride Claims Penultimate Crown

The most winningest team of NASCAR was yet again totaled by misfortune as Rick Hendrick’s superstar now faces an uphill task to recuperate before the playoff action gets a green flag in Las Vegas. The team’s dance with bad luck continues as the 2020 Cup Series champion was dealt a major disappointment during the practice session.

Just past the halfway mark of the practice run from Las Vegas Speedway, disaster came looking for the #9 HMS Chevy, sending it for an awful ride into the wall, leaving the qualifying on a sour note. While the HMS superstar met his match on Saturday, Joe Gibbs Racing‘s pole clincher marches to his 6th pole of the season posting a time of 28.980 seconds in the final round as the TRD Camrys continued their domination.

Hopes turn into despair as Rick Hendrick and his #9 team go for the backup car

Chase Elliott‘s miserable season doesn’t end with his regular season. While the 2020 Cup Series champion for the first time in his 8 seasons in the organization’s elite division missed the playoffs, the misery continues for Elliott as he relives a qualifying session gone bad. Just past the halfway mark of his practice run, Elliott cut his right rear tire entering the 3rd corner sending the #9 Chevy into the wall.

While Elliott is not eligible for the playoffs, the #9 Chevy still has a solid chance of securing an owner’s title and that just took a hit as Mr. H and his ace driver will now have to move to a backup car for Sunday’s race. He will start the race at the bottom rear, in the 36th spot. Elliott who was in group A after 14 laps, lost control of his car and slammed into the outer wall as the replays clearly showed a blown-out right rear tire.

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As Hendrick‘s star driver’s day went South in a flash, Joe Gibbs’ sensation continued his march, snatching another pole to secure a solid run at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.

JGR clinches the pole as the #20 Toyota posts the fastest time during qualifying

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Amidst JGR’s battle for the championship, besides the veteran Denny Hamlin, there’s one other driver who has shown exceptional pace in the playoffs. Joe Gibbs’ versatile driver, Christopher Bell has yet again proved why he is a championship contender. When it comes to cleaning out the roster and posting the fastest time during the qualifying session, Bell seems to have a knack for it.

Though he hasn’t yet capitalized on the winning start, translating it into a race win, the #20 Toyota’s speed and its driver’s consistency are certainly commendable and worth praise. While Elliott made a crucial slip in Vegas, Bell put on another spectacular show, posting the fastest time of 28.980 seconds to clinch the season’s 6th and his 10th career pole in the Cup Series.

The first race of the round of 8 just became all the more interesting as the JGR Toyotas will be having a tough and stiff resistance from the Chevys. Followed by Bell’s time, Elliott’s teammate, Kyle Larson will start 2nd as William Byron will start the race 3rd.

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