Rick Hendrick did not seem too concerned about having all four of his cars return to the Hendrick Motorsports shop all damaged after Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. The total cost of all the damage will be in the seven-figure range, but that didn't have Hendrick upset the day after the race.
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Hendrick Motorsports held a luncheon to celebrate William Byron's victory in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19. During the event, Hendrick spoke a little about the wrecked race cars from Sunday's Atlanta Motor Speedway race.
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"I guess if the fans enjoy it, and it makes more people watch our sport, then we need to do that," Hendrick said. "And it was plenty of action. I never dreamed the cars could run four-wide there and not wreck. Well, there were a lot of wrecks."
Ever since the reconfiguration of Atlanta, Hendrick Motorsports has been strong there. It has amassed three wins in the first five races at the "new" Atlanta Motor Speedway. Byron has two wins there, and Chase Elliott has one win at his home track. Combine this with the 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500, and it surely was a surprise to see the Hendrick Motorsports cars not have a better showing than they did.
Daytona 500 runner-up Alex Bowman got caught up in the 16-car pileup on Lap 2 of Sunday's race, and that took him out of contention, finishing 27th. Kyle Larson arguably had the most speed out of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers, but a spinning Brad Keselowski took Larson out of the race, finishing 32nd. Byron, the Daytona 500 champion, was running toward the front when Michael McDowell took Byron out entering the pits during a cycle of green flag pit stops. Byron finished 17th. Elliott led the team with a 15th-place finish after being involved in multiple incidents throughout the race.
The organization remains in a good position in points, as all four drivers are currently in the top 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
Hendrick Motorsports will look to get back to its winning ways at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team swept both races there last year, with Byron winning in March and Larson winning in October.
