It’s not like last season was bad for Chase Elliott, crew chief Alan Gustafson and the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 team but it wasn’t satisfactory either.
They won just one race, at Texas but also put together the most consistent season in terms of a division best 11.72 average finish. They were eliminated from playoff contention after the Round of 8 and finished seventh in the final standings.
On the other hand, it was a rebound from a really disappointing winless 2023 that included an injury and missing the playoffs. No matter how it is dissected, it’s always good to win the first race of the season — even when they don’t technically count.
That was the case on Sunday in the Clash at Bowman Gray.
“I mean, look, I know it’s not a points race, but I don’t care,” Elliott said. “These things, man, they are so hard to win. Whether it’s a points race, not a points race, before the season, the All-Star… This garage has become so competitive, these guys are so good at what they do, it’s very rewarding to cross the finish line first in whatever type of event it is when you’re racing against those types of drivers and teams.
“That to me is very enjoyable from our perspective. We’ll take the positives from the weekend. For sure we recognize there’s 37 more to go. There’s a lot of racing left. Just hope we can build on this.”
Joey Logano won the 2022 Clash en route to the Cup Series championship. Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin won three times after starting the season off with unofficial wins the past two years. That has to mean something and Gustafson illustrated that point succinctly.
“I mean, I’m pretty sure everyone wanted to win who was here,” said the veteran crew chief with a laugh. “The fact is that we did, so we’re pleased with that. Doesn’t pay any points, doesn’t pay any bonus points. We certainly understand that.
“I think it’s just some validation to we all tried to come here and win, we all tried to come here and be successful, and we were able to. Gives you validation in your process, validation in how your team is operating and working. Certainly I think it’s going to give Chase some confidence and validation seeing he did an amazing job to win the race. Basically did everything right.
“Those are all good things.”
Gustafson said it doesn’t really mean anything once they unload for the Daytona 500 in about 10 days but this result was preferable to any other scenario where they didn’t win.
“Of all the things that could have happened for us this weekend, it all went well,” Gustafson said. “Does that mean anything past that? No. I would rather have this than anything else though.”
And with one last off-weekend before the season begins in earnest, Elliott is going to maximize the celebration too.
“It sounds to me like I can enjoy it for another seven days, an extra seven days, versus a normal race,” Elliott said. “That’s a good thing.”
How the race was won
From the moment practice concluded, everyone looked towards Elliott and Gustafson as the team to beat.
In fact, even during practice the Team Penske No. 12 guys articulated the Hendrick No. 9 as ‘special,’ ultimately foreshadowing the race to win that was to come.
But Denny Hamlin took the fight to Elliott too, taking the lead on Lap 97 and leading the next 28 before ultimately getting beat on a restart and the ensuing long run that followed.
“I just didn’t do very well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom and Chase took advantage of it,” Hamlin said. “Once you get the lead, it is a lot easier to hang on to it. I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with (Blaney) was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day.”
For his part, Blaney drove from the back of the field to the front, after having to start this race by virtue of a provisional based on how his heat race went on Saturday. But the car fairly quickly worked its way through the top-20.
“I got to 10th before the break and I kind of got to like the top-5 relatively quick,” Blaney said. “A couple restarts went my way. By the time I got to second, I saved a pretty good bit even to get there because I knew it might go the whole way.
“Then it was just kind of like a game between (Elliott) and myself, who can save more right rear tire. I just didn’t quite have enough to lean on there at the end. I started pushing with like 25 to go. I didn’t have enough. I was like, Uh-oh, I need some help by lappers. Could never really get there. Didn’t have enough to lean on.
“Yeah, fun coming from the back. Not quite having enough. Yeah, it’s always fun when you can move forward like that.”
Elliott says Gustafson made his car better over the long run from the first half to the second half and he felt the track position was going to be an important element.
“Honestly, felt like there at the end of the first hundred that Denny and Tyler had gotten better than us, and we needed to be a good bit improved to track those guys back down,” Elliott said. “Was kind of afraid if we lost control, it was going to be hard to get it back.
“Alan made some good adjustments there at the break. We were able to get back to 2nd. I felt like I needed to take my shot and try to get the lead. If it worked out, great. If Denny got me back, then so be it.
“I just felt like my best chance to win was to try to get control of the race in that moment. Took that opportunity and was fortunate enough to kind of have the race play out in our favor. Certainly Ryan kept us honest there at the end, too.”
Where did Elliott ultimately prevail over Blaney once they were nose-to-tail?
“I think he just had better drive-off than me that whole last run,” Blaney said. “I turned better, he had better drive-off. It was kind of a tradeoff I feel like.
“Honestly, I felt like our cars were kind of evenly matched. My car was better in one area and his car was better in another. I feel like if you just swapped our two cars, I don’t think we would have passed each other if I was in front of him or if he was in front of me. I think we were pretty evenly matched.
“When I started to go, I didn’t have enough right rear. I’m like, Oh, shit, I’m not going to make this pass. I’m not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks. … The right rears seemed to wear out more than right fronts. It just helped him out a little bit more at the end.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.