Hendrick Motorsports' 'inexcusable' blunder with Chase Elliott in Kansas ignites fan uproar

NASCAR fans have slammed Hendrick Motorsports' #9 crew for destroying Chase Elliott's potential win at the Kansas Speedway. The 2020 Cup Series champion encountered a disastrous pit stop late in the race, which relinquished the domination in the AdventHealth 400.

After a disappointing string of qualifying weekends, Elliott showed improvement, posting the ninth-fastest lap in Kansas. The #9 Chevy driver surged further, finishing second in Stage 1, behind his teammate, Kyle Larson. Elliott maintained his track position in the second stage and finished P2. Moreover, the #9 crew demonstrated a fast pit stop during the Stage 2 end, emerging Elliott's NextGen machine as the first car off the pit road.

Ellliott held the charge with 77 laps remaining. However, a pit road blunder a few laps later robbed the prospects of a win. The HMS driver encountered a slow pit stop due to mishandling of the carjack, which exhausted valuable time, and dropped him to 16th place.

Chase Elliott hasn't won since the 2024 Texas race, and the blunder further extended the unwanted streak. It didn't sit well with the #9 fans, and they slammed HMS for the mistake.

"Inexcusable," a fan reacted.

"If that was Larson...He'd have a new pit crew first thing tomorrow," one fan commented.

"Again the pit crew drops the ball. Now that car is stuck outside top 10. Thanks Guys 🤬🤬🤬🤬," a fan wrote.

"That 9 team needs an overhaul," the fan suggested.

"All the stars have lined up for a boring Larson win," one fan commented.

Ultimately, Elliott salvaged a 15th-place finish. But despite the unwanted result, his Cup Series standing is undisturbed in fourth.

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Chase Elliott's teammate Kyle Larson claims his third win of the season in Kansas

Chase Elliott's teammate Kyle Larson- NASCAR: AdventHealth 400 - Source: Imagn

While Chase Elliott suffered from the brunt of issues, Kyle Larson's Kansas race arguably couldn't have been better. The 2021 Cup Series champion was the polesitter, led a race-high 221 of 267 laps, recorded the fastest lap at 30.29 seconds, and swept both stages before finally taking the checkered flag.

Moreover, the #5 Chevrolet driver completed 10,000 laps led in the NASCAR Cup Series, becoming Kansas Speedway's driver with the most laps led.

It's worth mentioning that Larson may not have won had the race been extended by 10 laps. The HMS driver began experiencing troubles with his Chevrolet late in the race. At that time, he had a comfortable lead over Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, and Bell's teammate Chase Briscoe; however, the rivals began closing in with a few laps remaining.

Larson left the top lane open in the closing laps and pulled down, something that "surprised" Bell, as he struggled with his NextGen package like Larson.

Nonetheless, Chase Elliott's teammate masterfully propelled his NextGen car to the victory, defeating Bell by 0.712 seconds. With that, Kyle Larson dethroned his teammate William Byron as the new Cup Series leader.