Hendrick to drivers after injuries: Take it easy

DOVER, Del. — Before Chase Elliott shredded on a snowboard and Alex Bowman moonlighted in a sprint car, Rick Hendrick issued a warning to all his Cup drivers who craved extracurricular activities outside their lucrative NASCAR careers.

Be careful. Or else.

Even so, Hendrick Motorsports has become the home of the injured driver due to thrill-seeking outside interests.

Bowman, who has seven career wins, suffered a fractured vertebra in a sprint car crash and will miss at least the next three Cup races. Elliott, the 2021 NASCAR champion, recently returned from a six-race absence after breaking his left leg snowboarding in Colorado in March.

If these kind of mishaps happen again to Elliott, Bowman, Kyle Larson or William Byron, it could be the end of Hendrick drivers’ adventures, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Jeff Andrews said Saturday.

“For right now, there’s not going to be any changes to our policy other than just be aware,” Andrews said. “The most important thing is the results on Sunday in the Cup Series.”

Josh Berry is coming off the bench again, this time to take the wheel of Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet at Dover Motor Speedway.

“This is Alex’s race team,” said Berry, who finished as high as second in five starts for Elliott. “My job in this situation is to try and keep these guys going and prepared and happy and ready to rock ‘n’ roll whenever Alex gets back.”

Berry is in the right-numbered car at the right track if he wants to take the checkered flag: Jimmie Johnson won a track-record 11 times in the 48, and Bowman won in 2021.

Elliott has vowed he won’t stop snowboarding or any other non-NASCAR activities he enjoys. A five-time winner of NASCAR’s most popular driver award, Elliott understands the series is dependent on stars like him to sell tickets, goose TV ratings and drive interest. Even Elliott’s decision to shave his mustache this week drew attention at Dover.

Berry, meanwhile, is a candidate to replace the retiring Kevin Harvick next season at Stewart-Haas Racing, but fans don’t flock to him in the garage and ask for autographs like they would for Elliott.

Hendrick largely banned drivers from participating in extracurricular activities — rules related primarily to racing outside of NASCAR — until Larson came on in 2021. Larson made his name as a big winner in the short distance, high-speed races. And Bowman’s injury happened at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, in an event that is part of a racing series created by Larson.

Elliott said taking away extracurriculars or removing the sprint cars and late models off the schedule would be a big mistake for Hendrick, adding that the consecutive injuries were nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.

“It’s obviously very, very poor timing with where I was at and just coming back and, obviously, Alex being hurt this week,” Elliott said. “Look, I get it. It’s a bad look. I totally understand that. But also, I understand there is a timing piece to that, and it’s just really poor timing.

“I think if one happened this year and the other happened next year, would we be having the same conversation? Probably not.”

Byron said it would “be a bummer” if Hendrick changed its tune to be more aligned with the powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, which enforces a ban on outside racing.

Larson was more blunt, saying the dirt races aren’t just something he does for fun. They are essentially a second job.

“I make a good chunk of money racing, selling merchandise at the dirt tracks,” Larson said. “I get to race in front of a lot of fans that might not get to see me at a NASCAR race. I weigh it all.”

Larson, who plans to race the Indianapolis 500 next season, said “there’s risk in everything you do.”

Andrews understands the dangers as well — all outside races undergo a review process before they are approved — but he said the team can’t afford to lose out on a Cup championship and risk angering sponsors simply because their drivers want to have some fun.

“We certainly don’t want to tell them ‘no’ to something we feel like would help them here on Sunday,” Andrews said. “As a company, we’ll just continue to look at it, continue to talk to our guys and make sure we’re making the right decisions together. Make sure they’re in the right race cars, good race cars, safe race cars.”