Hendrick Motorsports headed into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway with all four of their drivers in pursuit of the Bill France Cup. With a record 14 championships throughout the team's storied history, it is rare that at least one Hendrick driver is not in the hunt for the title by season's end.
Prior to the start of the Southern 500, regular season champion William Byron and three-time 2025 winner Kyle Larson were tied atop the playoff standings (+26). While that was not anywhere near the advantage that some drivers have had in the past entering the round of 16, they were still in a decent position going to the "Lady in Black".
Chase Elliott only had a slim seven-point edge and Alex Bowman was last of the 16 drivers on the grid. After qualifying, Larson (fifth) and Byron (11th) seemed poised to have good runs while Elliott (21st) and Bowman (29th) had some work to do to create some separation from the cut line.
On a night dominated by Chase Briscoe and Toyota, the HMS quartet could not find the same success. Bowman was multiple laps down for most of the night after a 40-second stop on lap 67. Byron was one of multiple drivers to experience issues on pit road, notably on lap 154 when he had to back up in his stall to secure a left side tire.
Larson was at least able to salvage 12 stage points before fading to 19th late, but Elliott simply did not run well all night and did not hold back on his team's performance on Sunday night.
Don't be surprised if the struggles for Hendrick Motorsports continue this weekend
It's not very often that HMS fail to place a driver inside the top 10 at a traditional intermediate track. That was the case at Darlington as Elliott (17th), Larson (19th), Byron (21st) and Bowman (31st) all finished outside the top 15 and did not show much potential at all.
For Byron, specifically, it was the complete opposite of a dominant spring race performance when he led the first 243 laps of the race.
It could have been much worse for the four playoff drivers, though, as Larson (+38), Byron (+25) and Elliott (+9) still find themselves on the plus side. Only Bowman (-19) is below the cutline after Darlington, but the challenge could only be getting started for HMS.
In the three races at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (all since 2022), the four Hendrick drivers have combined for three top 10 finishes. As the series prepares for its first playoff race at the 1.25-mile track just outside St. Louis, that does not bode well unless they finally hit on a setup that works there.
For those who do make it out of the opening round, another tricky test could await in the round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Neither of the four have won there in their Cup careers, but if Hendrick is going to put an end to Team Penske's three consecutive championships to start the Next Gen era, finding success on shorter, flatter tracks is going to be crucial ahead of the championship race at the one-mile, flat Phoenix Raceway oval.
You can never count out an organization like Hendrick Motorsports, and it could have been one of those rare nights where nothing was clicking for them at Darlington. Nonetheless, the pressure is on them now to show up at WWTR Gateway and remind everyone that they are still going to be a major factor in the race for the championship.