As Hendrick Motorsports Battles Season Plagued With Inconsistency, Drivers Prepare to Face Their Bane

They may have their two playoff drivers in the round of 12, but to say that 2023 has been a good season for Hendrick Motorsports would be a lie. The team has won 14 Cup Series titles. Winning is in Rick Hendrick’s blood. So if only two out of your four full-time drivers make it to the playoffs, that’s not a good indication. Now, Rick Hendrick’s men will have another stern test in two weeks’ time at a track they’re not the best at.

HMS had four full-time drivers in the Cup Series for the 2023 season: Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Alex Bowman. All four of them are exceptionally talented and have great race craft. But Elliott and Bowman have been out of form this year and failed to make it to the playoffs. Of the drivers in the playoffs, only Kyle Larson has won in the round of 16. So consistency has been hard to come by for Rick Hendrick’s men.

Stats Suggest Hendrick Motorsports’ Kryptonite in Round of 12

Hendrick Motorsports might be one of the greatest teams in the history of NASCAR, but every team has its weaknesses. And in a season where they have been inconsistent, those weaknesses compound when put in unfavorable situations.

That is exactly what will plague Larson, Byron, and Hendrick’s minds when NASCAR goes to the iconic Talladega Superspeedway. That will be two weeks from now for the second race of the round of 12.

But why Talladega? Well, it’s not just Talladega, and it’s not just HMS. The Talladega track is a super-speedway. And when it comes to Chevrolet cars and super-speedways, 2023 has been quite disappointing.

A fan shared an interesting statistic on Reddit that said that no Chevrolet driver has had a better running position than 10th at super-speedways this year. Meanwhile, the Ford cars have had 14 instances of drivers with an average running position of 10th or higher at super-speedways.

Interesting Stat: No Chevy driver has an average running position better than 10th at any superspeedway race this year.
byu/Betapass inNASCAR

Now this will be a massive cause for concern for Rick Hendrick, whose misfortune this season may go from bad to worse. Talladega will be the second round of 12 race of the season. And if any or both HMS drivers fail to finish in a good position, they might be looking at a must-win scenario the following weekend at the Charlotte Roval.

Let’s look at how the two HMS drivers in the playoffs have fared over the years in Talladega. Darlington winner Kyle Larson has taken part in 17 races at the track and he has never won. The #5 driver has only had one top-five finish in that time. His average finish at the track since 2020 is 26.4 and since 2013 is 23.4

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William Byron, meanwhile, has fared slightly better than his teammate. He has started 11 Talladega races and finished in the top five twice. But he too has never won at the track. His average finish at the track since 2020 is 12.4 and since 2018 is 17.3.

But Talladega is a ways away and right now, the HMS team is glad that both of their playoff cars made it through to the round of 12. After winning at Darlington, Kyle Larson was high in confidence. And despite starting from the back of the pack, he was right up there challenging for the win. However, he ended up losing to Denny Hamlin and finished in P2.

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The #5 HMS driver was full of praise for his Joe Gibbs Racing counterpart who has been one of the best drivers in the round of 16. He missed out on wins at Darlington and Kansas but the third time was the charm for Hamlin.

While speaking about his battle with Hamlin, Larson said in the post-race interview, “Denny was just really good. His car is really good, and he did a really good job through traffic. I thought his balance was going away. He got stuck there for a minute and I was able to get close and then he cleared a couple of guys and took off from there. 

“Once I got clear of them, I was pretty loose, so I just…felt like I ran as good as I could, just didn’t have the pace that he did.”

The famous HMS-JGR rivalry seems to be gradually heating up, with Larson and Hamlin leading the charge for their respective teams. Both drivers have won one playoff race so far and both are in supreme form. Who will come out on top in the round of 12? Let us know your thoughts.

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