Tension in the Hendrick Motorsports Camp

One of the fiercest rivalries of the 2022 season was between two Hendrick Motorsports teammates – Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, who found themselves entangled in not one but two late-race dustups that in both cases resulted in Larson going to Victory Lane and Elliott getting the proverbial short end of the stick.

Tensions between the two former Cup Series champions were so high after their second run-in, which occurred at Watkins Glen, that a visibly angry Elliott was seen on TV giving team owner Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon an earful on pit road immediately after the race as Larson celebrated in the background. There’s since been no indication that Elliott and Larson have come to an understanding. If that’s the case, it could make for an extremely uncomfortable 2023 within the walls of Hendrick Motorsports.

A Calmer, More Mature Ty Gibbs

Losing a loved one is always hard, but that tends to be especially true when they die unexpectedly, as Ty Gibbs’ father, Coy, did on Nov. 6 – just hours after Ty won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. No one knows exactly how Ty, who is just 19 years old, will deal with the loss of his father as he embarks on his first full season at the Cup Series level, but he’ll no doubt be racing to honor his father’s memory. This change in perspective could make for a more mature version of Ty Gibbs than the one that was often the object of ridicule in 2022 for overly aggressive driving. Plus, Ty unequivocally wants to make Joe Gibbs – his grandfather and team owner – proud in his first year as a Cup Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing.