Alex Bowman Leads 1-2-3-4 For Hendrick Motorsports

Hendrick Motorsports has not exactly been lost over the past few years, but it certainly has not been itself. The most successful program in NASCAR's recent history had been in something of a down era, and losing stars Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jr. to retirement in close proximity only amplified how important a transitionary period the team was undergoing. In last year's playoffs, that transition period finally ended. The team won three of the season's final five races, Chase Elliott won his first career championship, and NASCAR's balance of power was back to the way it had been for so long: dominated by Rick Hendrick's cars.

That power was on full display today. HMS had already won three races this season, but it had never shown pace as dominant as the team showed today. Their Kyle Larson took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. early, and he would go on to lead the majority of the race. With under 100 laps to go, he lost the lead to his teammate, Alex Bowman, on the pit lane. Bowman kept the lead on every restart that followed, never looking back on the way to his second win of the season.

But that was not what was so amazing about the race HMS ran today. What was amazing is who followed Bowman.

Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and William Byron completed the top four, meaning that every HMS driver in the field out-ran every non-HMS driver in the field. Rick Hendrick had a 1-2-3-4 finish to his name. His cars led all but 18 laps of 400, and each were so fast that they could not even pass each other in the final laps. While every Hendrick car secured a top four finish, no other team put more than one car in the top eleven.

It was the kind of dominant performance a team dreams about. Larson, Bowman, and Byron all have wins to their name already, and, while reigning champion Chase Elliott does not, his unbelievable road course pace makes him the clear favorite for next weekend's race at the Circuit of the Americas. Even as Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin continue to show impressive pace that makes them individual contenders, the ability HMS now has to claim four legitimate championship contenders makes the team a clear favorite to win another title come November.

NASCAR's next race is a big one: The debut of stock cars at the Circuit of the Americas. All three national-level NASCAR series will race at the home of the modern United States Grand Prix, marking the first running of what the series hopes will become a marquee event for both the category and for American auto racing as a whole.

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