The 2024 NASCAR Cup race weekend at Martinsville is a special for Hendrick Motorsports. It marks the 40th anniversary of their first win that came in the iconic track. The team is celebrating their humble beginning and the journey to become the most successful team ever in the sport with special paint schemes.
All for HMS driver Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott , Willaim Byron and Alex Bowman sported Red Fire suits for the event and all of their cars are red colour based as well. This gave the team that usually have four different schemes a surprising uniformity. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace was another driver sporting red for the weekend and he used the moment to produce a hilarious moment.
When Rick Hendrick drivers were standing together to take a photo as part of their photoshoot, Bubba Wallace sneaked in and posed with them. Alex Bowman who was standing with them put the Toyota driver in headache laughing. His teammates joined him in laughing and enjoying the funny moment created by Wallace.
The No:23 Camry driver was the toughest competitor for HMS during the qualifying on Saturday. He lost the pole position to Larson after the No:5 Chevy driver finished 0.001 second faster than him. Chase Eliott came in at P3 in the session while Bowman secured P10 start for Cook Out 400. William Byron though was able to qualify just at P18.
Kyle Larson hoping his pole win will reward him on Sunday against Bubba Wallace
Martinsville has always been track that was tough for Kyle Larson, but last season he was able to redeem himself by winning their. He is hoping to repeat it on this Sunday and with the qualifying advantage the track brings, he is confident that he can produce a solid race, fending of Bubba Wallace who would start the race alongside him upfront.
So yeah, I mean getting track position on Saturday, qualifying well, usually pays dividends as long as your team can execute on Sunday. It’s great to get another pole on a short-track, back-to-back weekends. I felt like it really helped our race out last week, and as long as we execute tomorrow, it should help our race out, as well. Bubba Wallace said.
It wont be an easy task to win for Larson as he would have to survive the tough challenge from JGR and 23XI cars that has dominated the last three short track races. The Fords are also expected to bounce back from poor form at the track.
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