re: 2026 NASCAR Season Thread

My real take on Chase.

HMS helped him before he was contracted so he feels a sense of loyalty.

HMS drivers never air dirty laundry in public, been that way forever. Even Rowdy when he left he personally didn't say things that I recall.

Chase has enough money so isn’t hungry so to speak. If he went to HMS and demanded a new CC it would happen before he left the room. But I think he plays it opposite and lets HMS make the calls. If he were to ask and granted, that then pits the pressure on him if it fails and I don't think he wants that. And he doesn’t want anyone thinking he cost Alan his job.

So unless Jeff Gordon decides to make a move he’s stuck with Alan. I think Alan is decent but had run out of ideas at this stage of career. One of his wins was a strategy win not a great car win. And he tried it again Sun bit it cost him.

He had zero reason to pit Chase so early, was in top 5. At most you gain into stage win but you were going to be top 5 anyways. So a gain of 4 pts for the massive risk? Knowing the stage end means reset so any advantage you had is wiped away. But any loss is not recoverable. It was super dumb strategy on a short track.

Chase will wait for HMS to ever make any change. But the fans see it almost every week, his in race adjustments are pretty bad. This version of car is past what Alan can handle.