This is the best that Chase Elliott, Alan Gustafson and the Hendrick Motorsports team have ever looked to start a NASAR Cup Series season and that makes them a very serious threat in the new Chase for the Championship.

Sure, Elliott has led the standings early in a season through his trademark consistency and penchant for finishing races and having good points day but now he’s won twice over the first 11 races.

That’s the earliest he has reached multiple wins, by the way, and now sits third in the championship standings. It’s the best of both worlds regarding what makes a great Cup Series contender.

“I think having a win early at Martinsville, and I said it then … it's not like, ‘oh, hey, the pressure is off, we have a win.’ It's, ‘man, we have a lot longer period of time to build on that.’ That's genuinely where my mind was at.”

There are so many parallels from Elliott to his direct supervisor, Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman and four-time champion Jeff Gordon, but it’s mostly in how they put together seasons.

Even when Gordon wasn’t winning in bulk, especially when paired with Gustafson, the No. 24 still frequently contended for championships on pure consistency. But Gordon will also tell you that the consistency without winning multiple races is something that gnawed at him in those seasons.

“Consistency helps because you're not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Gordon said. “You're fine-tuning. You're, like, ‘hey, we're good but we need to be better.’  We would want to keep working in certain areas because we must be doing something right.

“At least the consistency keeps you in kind of a flow and a direction that I think you can build on and only get better. But if you don't win every once in a while, like I've always said, if you don't win every eight to ten races, man, just the hard work drains you, the whole team, driver, team, everybody, pit crew.

“You got to have these victories.”

But Gordon also said, if not winning races, they need to be winning ‘mini-races’ on pit road or in consistency, all the little ways that Elliott and Gustafson have continued to be in the mix every season.

“It could be not just a win of a race, but those race wins are so critical I think to a team's season and success because that builds the confidence to another level that not only are we heading in the right direction, but we're capable of winning it all,” Gordon said.

“If you win on a consistent basis, then again, that's what adds to a championship-caliber team.”

Not only does Gustafson think this is a championship level team this season, but the crew chief of over two decades also thinks Elliott could win this title starting from 16th with 10 races left to go … not that it will actually come down to that.

Of course, he thinks anyone could realistically win too, but he does like his chances sitting at third right now.

“Okay. Do the math, right,” Gustafson said. “After 10 (races) Tyler Reddick had over a 100-point lead. Theoretically, if you repeat those races, he could start 16th and win the championship, right? So I think anything is possible.

“I do think, look, everybody wants as many points as you can get. Certainly, the best teams are going to position themselves towards the top. I'm not sleeping on anybody. I mean, somebody can figure something out and get hot. I don't think 100 points makes anybody safe.”

And perhaps the most telling thing about where the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 is right now is that they have married two wins with consistency while it seems like all of Chevrolet is still trying to maximize their new body style for this season.

In other words, this is not the best Hendrick Motorsports will be all year either, and Elliott was quick to credit ‘the guys at the shop’ for getting them closer each week.

“I mean, I think it's always about the effort and the conversations that go on during the week and during the weeks leading up to the races and how that work is put into our race cars at the shop,” Elliott said. “These races are certainly -- yes, they're won on the racetrack and how well you execute and all those things, but you sure are hedging your bet a lot by how you prepare and what your car is like before it loads up in the truck.

“I can't emphasize that enough. I understand that. I don't know that a lot of people understand just how important that is to the overall performance, but it is a huge piece. Really fortunate and proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for their continued efforts to just dig in.

“We have a gritty group back home that they just don't take no for an answer. They'll just work and work and work. Whatever has got to be done, get done. Friday, Saturday, midnight, 2:00, whatever. They want to win, and the boss wants to win, and we'll do whatever we got to do to try our best for that.”

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Hendrick Motorsports now has two wins in the 2026 season, and both are courtesy of Chase Elliott. The driver of the No. 9 HMS Chevrolet now has 23 career wins, and his second Texas win in the last three years.

He finished just ahead of Denny Hamlin in second and Alex Bowman in third. Tyler Reddick, who was charging with two fresh right-side tires, finished fourth, with Chris Buescher fifth.

Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Blaney filled out the remainder of the top ten.

"Everybody's just been digging in really hard."- Chase Elliott thanks everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for getting him to Victory Lane @JoshRSims | @TeamHendrickpic.twitter.com/YT7VYBBZhO

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 3, 2026

"Man, I think, first off, thanks, everybody, for coming out," said Elliott. "You are awesome. Great crowd as always. I have not been a huge fan of this place, and I've made that very obvious, but you know, to continue to work hard, and I really think this is a testament to the whole team, but not just the 9 team, but everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.

"We have not been where we've wanted to be throughout portions of the season. Man, everybody has just been digging in very hard, from the engine shop to Hendrick Motorsports to all the setup shops, to everybody at Team Chevy. Appreciate our partners with Napa and Prime on the car this week. Really cool to have them back. Obviously they're coming to Charlotte races in a few weeks, to Charlotte.

"Yeah, man, just crazy. You know, to say as much as we struggled out here to have won two races here now in the last few years is pretty wild. So just super grateful for all the people that helped make this possible. Yeah, looking forward to celebrating with them."

Stage 1

Hocevar led the race from pole, but Hamlin and Briscoe passed him about 20 laps into the race. 

About halfway through the stage, green-flag pit stops got underway, and Briscoe jumped Hamlin with an undercut.

After the pit stop cycle, it was a three-way fight for the lead between the Gibbs drivers. Ultimately, Bell passed both Hamlin and Briscoe, taking command of the race.

With just 12 laps left in the stage, a shocking incident unfolded as Todd Gilliland spun at the exit of Turn 4. He slid down the track in a terrible spot, clipping the race leader, Bell. Bell slammed the outside wall, ending his race.

Hocevar won the race off pit road with a two-tire call, but five cars opted to stay out in a big gamble for stage points.

Jones held the lead for the restart, and he had enough of a buffer to keep it. He held on to win Stage 1, followed by Hocevar, Stenhouse, Gibbs, Briscoe, Busch, Allmendinger, Elliott, Byron, and Hamlin.

Stage 2

At the start of the second stage, it was Hocevar vs. Gibbs for the race lead, with Hocevar clearing him. 

Byron went spinning at the exit of Turn 4, and slid down the track like Gilliland earlier. This time, the field avoided him, including a lucky escape for Joey Logano.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out soon after. On pit road, Logano slammed into the back of Cole Custer, who had come to a near-stop while trying to get into his box. Larson and Briscoe also made contact in the pits.

The damage to Logano's car was significant, resulting in a DNF for the defending Texas race winner.

The running order again got turned on its head, and Heim was now leading a group of cars that had stayed out. 

The next incident was for Gibbs, who slammed the wall after contact from Preece.

Heim continued to control the race until he finally had to pit, giving the lead to Elliott.

With just a few laps left in the stage, Larson spun on his own and slammed the Turn 2 wall.

The entire field came down pit road, except for the RFK duo of Keselowski and Preece. They led the way for a one-lap dash, hoping to gain some stage points.

Elliott blew by, winning the stage over Reddick and Hamlin, while Keselowski held on for fourth and Preece fifth. It was then Suarez, Buescher, Herbst, and Hocevar.

Stage 3

Elliott led Reddick after the restart, and things calmed down out on the track. With 60 to go, another round of green-flag pit stops got underway.

Ross Chastain, who had driven up inside the top ten, was handed a speeding penalty, and the unforced error upended a decent day for the Trackhouse driver.

Elliott finally returned to the lead with 29 laps to go as Heim pitted from the lead. 

With 11 laps to go, Heim backed into the wall, bringing the entire field back together.

Reddick, running third, was the first to pit. Elliott and Hamlin stayed out, with a total of eight lead lap cars deciding not to pit. Reddick, who only took fresh right-sides, restarted ninth.

The race resumed with just four laps left. Reddick immediately went three-wide, passing several cars through Turns 1 and 2. Hamlin attempted to hang onto the door of Elliott, but the No. 9 got clear and that was essentially the race.

Coming to the white flag, Kyle Busch and John-Hunter Nemechek tangled together and the No. 42 fully crashed, but the race remained green. Nemechek got the car off the racing surface, and the event finished under green-flag conditions with Elliott taking the win.

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