The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season is halfway in the books, following the conclusion of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. The race ended with Daniel Suarez winning on a strategy call as rain shortened the event by 27 laps, but it was the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers (plus 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick) who had the most dominant cars.
JGR and Reddick combined to lead 289 of the race's 373 laps, continuing a season in which they have been the class of the field on virtually every non-drafting oval. The Toyotas' only consistent competition, if you can even call it that, was Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
As for Larson's teammates? It was yet another disaster of an outing. And it's officially time to talk about it.
Hendrick's 2026 struggles can no longer be chalked up to a slow start
After Chevrolet introduced a new body for the 2026 season, it was expected that its teams might take a slight step backward. And, with the exception of Spire Motorsports, they most certainly have.
Trackhouse Racing, aside from the ever-improving Shane van Gisbergen, has been a disaster. Richard Childress Racing didn't even score a top 10 finish until late April. Then there's Hendrick, the team with all of Chevy's best resources and three of the very best drivers in the Cup Series. All they have to show for it are two wins from Chase Elliott, one of which was heavily strategy-assisted.
It's worth mentioning that these issues were present during the second half of 2025. Larson, the defending champion and the most talented driver in NASCAR, hasn't won a race in more than a calendar year. Byron's performance tailed off last fall, but for a dominant victory at Martinsville Speedway. Alex Bowman, though his health issues have partially played a role, has been almost a complete non-factor.
Two weeks ago at Watkins Glen International, all four Hendrick cars ran and finished outside the top 20. You could chalk that one up to the team possibly neglecting its road course program, as there won't be any of them in the 10-race Chase. But the Coke 600? That's a different story.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is supposed to be Hendrick's backyard. The track Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson once made their personal playgrounds. The track where Byron led 283 laps just last year. This time around, he had to scrape and claw to an attrition-aided ninth-place finish after recording an average running position of 19th.
It's been apparent all year, and now the alarm bells should be sounding at full volume. Hendrick is not okay, and if they don't get it together soon, they can kiss their championship hopes goodbye.
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