Chase Elliott is Hendrick Motorsports' best chance at a championship in 2026

In a points system predicated on consistency, the ever-consistent Chase Elliott is Hendrick Motorsports' best shot at winning the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series title. 

Elliott, who scored his second win of 2026 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, is only the second driver this season to win multiple races. He's the only driver from HMS to reach victory lane and just the second Chevy driver to do so. 

When he hasn't won, Elliott's been his usual consistent self. He has only two finishes worse than 15th, none worse than 23rd and zero DNFs through 11 races. With five top fives and seven top 10s, he's third in the series standings. 

He's also been far and away the fastest and most consistent driver from the Hendrick stable this season. Alex Bowman, despite consecutive third-place finishes, is mired in 34th in points after missing four races. Defending Cup champion Kyle Larson fell to eighth on Sunday after a crash and is winless over the last 35 races. Two-time Daytona 500 champion William Byron rallied to finish eighth on Sunday after an early spin, but is only 10th in the standings with a paltry 34 laps led.

Elliott and the No. 9 team appear to be back to championship form, just as they were from 2020-22, when Elliott won 12 races, the 2020 title and made the Championship 4 in three consecutive years. 

He won only three times from 2023-25 but could match that total this year if he wins one of the final 25 races of 2026.

"Race wins are certainly what we show up each week to do," Elliott said Sunday evening. "Yeah, I mean, obviously that’s the goal every time we come to the racetrack.

"I think having a win early at Martinsville, and I said it — I think I said it to you guys then and there. It’s like — it’s not like, 'oh, hey, the pressure is off, we have a win.' It’s, 'man, we have a lot longer period of time to build on that.' That’s genuinely where my mind was at."

Consistency is key for Chase Elliott

Sunday's race proved that the No. 9 team did indeed build on their Martinsville win and the consistency they've had for so many years.

"Consistency helps because you’re not trying to reinvent the wheel," said Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports' vice chairman. "You’re fine-tuning. You’re, like, hey, we’re good. We need to be better. Let’s keep working these areas, because we must be doing something right. At least the consistency keeps you in kind of a flow and a direction that I think you can build on and only get better. But if you don’t win every once in a while, like I’ve always said, if you don’t win every eight to ten races, man, just the hard work drains you, the whole team, driver, team, everybody, pit crew.

"If you win on a consistent basis, then again, that’s what adds to a championship-caliber team. You know, right now the 9 team, I mean, I think they have — we’ve been up against the Toyotas this year and the Fords at some other places, and yet that 9 team has performed at such a high level as a team that that’s just kept them in the game and given them the opportunities to capitalize."

The 11th race is the fastest Elliott has ever won multiple races in a Cup Series campaign.

The Cup Series travels to Watkins Glen next weekend, a track where Elliott has two victories and nearly had a third in 2022.

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.