All four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets finish top 10 at Richmond as Chase Elliott locks up a playoff spot

With The Chase just a few weeks away, Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway was exactly the kind of opportunity Hendrick Motorsports needed to build some momentum heading into the playoffs. By the end of 400 laps under the lights in Virginia, all four of the team’s Chevrolets had delivered.

All four Hendrick cars finish inside the top 10

Chase Elliott came home fifth, Kyle Larson sixth, William Byron ninth and Alex Bowman tenth, a genuinely strong night for the organisation as a whole. Friday’s qualifying had scattered the four Hendrick cars across the field, but by the chequered flag they’d worked their way into a tight cluster near the front.

Byron started fifth and stayed in contention for nearly the entire race in his No. 24 Cincinnati Chevrolet. Elliott moved forward quickly too, climbing from his 13th starting spot in the No. 9 UniFirst car. Both drivers picked up stage points in each of the race’s first two segments, with Elliott finishing ninth and seventh across those stages and Byron coming home tenth both times.

Longer roads to the front for Larson and Bowman

Bowman and Larson had considerably further to travel, starting 25th and 30th respectively. Larson’s trip to the front included being handed the lucky dog as the first car a lap down, not once but twice during the race. With much of the third stage run as a single long green flag stretch of more than 100 laps, all four Hendrick cars got the chance to show off their long run pace.

Larson cycled his way to the front briefly and led two laps, pushing his career total past 11,000 laps led and making him just the 20th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to reach that mark.

Chase Elliott playoff clinch comes first for Hendrick

With his fifth place finish, Elliott became the first Hendrick Motorsports driver to officially lock up a spot in The Chase, which begins in three weeks. He currently sits tied for sixth in the points standings.

Speaking after the race, Elliott described the result as a genuinely solid day for the team, crediting everyone on the No. 9 UniFirst crew for sticking with the process and continuing to show up each week with the right attitude. He framed the result as a potential turning point for the team’s season, while acknowledging there’s still work to do to keep that momentum going.

The strong showing moved Kyle Larson up to eighth in the points standings, while William Byron remains comfortably inside the playoff cutoff line in 12th. With just two races left before the playoff field is finalised, the margin for error is shrinking fast for drivers still on the bubble.

What’s next

The series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend, with a 3pm green flag broadcast live on USA Network.

Richmond finishing order

NASCAR points standings after Richmond