Chase Elliott & fellow HMS teammates explain the impact of dirty ai

Hendrick Motorsport’s #9 driver Chase Elliott has recently spoken about how dirty air plays a role in how a driver performs in a race. His HMS teammates Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and William Byron also had a few things to say on the subject.
Chase Elliott, son of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, forms the third father-son champion duo in NASCAR history. Winning the Cup Series in 2020, Chase secured five victories throughout the season, outperforming competitors like Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.NASCAR is very familiar with the concept of dirty air, which is created by the air coming off the back of a car, bouncing around in irregular patterns, creating a turbulent airflow.
NASCAR’s Next-Gen cars feature an aerodynamic design that functions well with clean, unobstructed air flowing through it. Dirty air leads to loss of downforce, slowing down the racecar. Drivers have often used this concept to hold off their opponents.In a recent post on Hendrick Motorsports’ Instagram, Chase Elliot and other fellow HMS drivers shared their thoughts on the effects of dirty air.
“Dirty air is relevant at all tracks, even at a place like Martinsville when you’re going super slow, believe it or not, air still matters,” Chase Elliot said.

“I feel like dirty air is affecting us everywhere we go at this point,” Alex Bowman said.
“You can’t run on the tire tracks of somebody in front of you, you’re just not going to have the grip. Trying to find clean air is just as important as staying in the right groove,” William Byron expressed.

Chase Elliott has qualified for the playoffs this season, winning the EchoPark Automotive 400 at the Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. With 660 regular season points, he’s P2 in the driver standings, behind HMS teammate Kyle Larson, who has secured 11 points more than the #9 driver.
Chase Elliott opposed NASCAR’s $50,000 penalty on Bubba Wallace
In the cooldown lap of the Chicago Street Race, 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace Wallace door-slammed Bowman, reportedly out of frustration from an incident between the pair, earlier in the race. Bowman went on to win the Grant Park 165.

NASCAR, on Wednesday, sanctioned a $50,000 penalty on Bubba Wallace for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct in Chicago. In an interview with Bob Pockrass, Elliot gave his two cents on the penalty:
“I don’t really think he should have been fined. I understand. I get it, but man you’re getting in the weeds with some of that stuff. Nobody was hurt and it was unfortunate, I guess, just the circumstances and Alex having won the race and things of that nature,” he explained.

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Alex Bowman owned up to his mistake that led to the incident on lap 25 and apologized to Wallace. Bowman also went on to advocate against the penalty that has been dropped on the #23 driver.
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