Breaking It Down: What happened to Elliott, Larson at Sonoma?

Costly mistakes prevented arguably the two fastest cars in the field from doing better than 9th and 15th, respectively

In racing, it takes a lot more than sheer speed to win at the highest level. Unfortunately for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, the only thing they had in Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway was speed.

Through both mishap and misfortune, the two star drivers watched their chances of contending for a win slip away throughout the afternoon. Instead, they were forced to settle for 9th and 15th place finishes respectively, despite having some of the fastest cars in the field.

Going into the race, Elliott and Larson seemed well on their way to a perfect weekend. The Hendrick teammates started next to each other on the front row, with Larson securing the pole for only the fourth time in his fruitful Cup Series career.

Adding to their prestige, the duo also topped the leaderboard in the only practice session of the weekend. Between their well-established road-course prowess and undeniably fast race cars, it seemed like the safest bet in sports was to put your money on the two hot-shoes going into Sunday.

As soon as the green flag dropped, the two sprinted away from the field as expected. With the way they managed to distance themselves from the competition while staying closely in tow with each other, the race was shaping up to be a two-man show.

That is, until the end of Stage One came around.

With the reality that a driver won’t get lapped during a green flag pitstop on road courses coupled with the allure of stage points, teams are faced with choosing points or track position every time a stage break approaches.

This naturally shakes up the running order beyond recognition. In the case of Elliott and Larson, the end of Stage One is where the dominant duo went their separate ways. While Elliott pitted under green just before pit road closed, Larson elected to stay out, claim the stage win, and then pit under caution.

With the two separate strategies, Elliott assumed the lead while Larson found himself mired back in the field in the 24th position on the restart.

After Larson led the first 26 laps of the race, Elliott picked up right where his teammate left off as he would go on to lead the next 25 laps of the race in commanding fashion. With Larson working his way back up through the field, all indicators pointed to an impending thriller between teammates to decide the winner in Stage Three.

That is, until everything went terribly wrong.

The two drivers elected to pit before the Stage Two break to set themselves up for strong track position to start off the final stage. However, trouble struck Elliott first when on his green flag pitstop, his rear tire changer failed to tighten the lug nut all the way.

The crew realized their error in the nick of time and frantically called Elliott to back up into his pit box. Unfortunately for Elliott, he failed to reverse the nose of the car back into the pit box, which earned him a penalty that he had to satisfy by restarting the race at the back of the field.

As for Larson, the only difference between his pit crew and Elliott’s was that Elliott’s crew realized their mistake. Larson had clawed his way all the way back into the top five when on the next round of pit stops, his front tire changer sent Larson out with a loose wheel.

Moments later, Larson’s right front tire was seen bouncing on millions of TV screens across the country while he nursed his three-tire car back to pit road.

With that, the deficit became insurmountable.

There was simply no overcoming such major setbacks that late in the race. Not only that, but Larson’s crew chief and two pit crew members must now serve a four-race suspension.

With the No. 5 team already looking like a shell of itself from last year, the error is a major blow as they try to build momentum and regain their stride.

Despite the setbacks, Larson and Elliott still had dominant speed and salvaged what they could on the day. Even though 9th and 15th place finishes are respectable, both drivers went home knowing they were fast enough to take home the win.

Two lug nuts. That’s all it took to take the best cars in the field from heroes to zeroes. It’s this paper-thin margin of error that makes racing so exciting, yet so heart-wrenching at times.

Even though there are no do-overs in racing, there is always another race. Clearly the No. 5 and No. 9 camps can put their talented drivers in fast cars, but the question remains if their pit crews will manage to return to championship form.

At the end of the day, racing is a team sport. With Larson and Elliott being the past two champions in the Cup Series, expectations are high.

Even though, Elliott still reigns atop the point standings, the two superstars have struggled to win races this year. In a series where wins trump all else, speed simply won’t be enough to take Hendrick Motorsports to its third consecutive Cup championship.

While there’s no reason to hit the panic button just yet, the margin of error will only get slimmer come playoff time, when everything matters more.

Will the Hendrick camp rise to the occasion or fumble away their championship hopes? While there is no telling at the moment, it is glaringly clear of what needs to improve if Hendrick has any hopes of raising the Cup in Phoenix at the end of the year.