Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are two of the most active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series and are also currently the top two drivers in Hendrick Motorsports. With almost a month left to kick off the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, both drivers will look to win their second championship title and the battle between them will be one of the main storylines.
Former Cup Series driver and NASCAR analyst Clint Bowyer returned to the Fox Sports airwaves on New Year’s Day. Bowyer reviewed offseason personnel changes, made a few predictions, and shared his views on NASCAR’s most successful team, Hendrick Motorsports.
Clint Bowyer stated that he doesn’t want to take anything away from Hendrick Motorsports’ other two drivers, Alex Bowman and William Byron, but noted that Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are the two best drivers in NASCAR. He also said that as long as both champion drivers are with HMS, the organization is dangerous and doesn’t have to worry about the future.
Bowyer said:
“I don’t want to take anything away from the other two, but the first two are both champions and in my opinion the best drivers in this sport, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. As long as you have those two bullets behind the chamber, I’m telling you you’re going to be dangerous. I think Hendrick Motorsports is just fine.”
In the debut season with Next Gen car, Hendrick Motorsports clinched five wins in the starting 11 races and overall scored 11 wins during the 36-race campaign.
Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott together scored eight wins in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season
2021 Cup Champion Kyle Larson started his campaign on a high note with a win at Auto Club Speedway and a runner-up finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the first three races of the 2022 season. While the 2020 Cup Champion Chase Elliott took 11 races to earn his first win of the season.
Larson scored 3 wins, 13 top five, 19 top 10s, 4 poles, and led by 635 laps. Meanwhile, Elliott scored 5 wins, 12 top five, 20 top 10s, 3 poles, and led by 857 laps. The #5 and #9 Chevrolet drivers finished the season in seventh and fourth place in the Championship standings.
Both will look to win their second Cup title when the 2023 season gets underway with the historic Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway on February 19th, 2023.