“It Looks Pretty Bleak” – NASCAR Insider Ready to Accept HMS’ Fate as Only Four Races Remain

Hendrick Motorsports is one of the most successful NASCAR outfits of all time. They have won 14 Cup Series titles with a number of top-class drivers. They also helped Jimmie Johnson match Dale Earnhardt’s seven championship wins, a feat that no one thought was possible at the time. However, 2023 has not been one of their best years and they only have a few regular-season races left to salvage some form of success.

Two of their drivers, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, are yet to book their place in the playoffs, with only four races to go. According to NBC’s NASCAR pit reporter Parker Kligerman, things look bleak for the HMS outfit as of now.

NASCAR Insider Says Winning a Race Is Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman’s Best Chance

In a conversation with NASCAR Talk Editor Dustin Long and NBC’s NASCAR Analyst Kyle Petty on Motorsports on NBC, Kligerman said that HMS will be looking to get at least one of Bowman or Elliott into the playoffs at this stage of the season. Elliott was out for six races with a serious injury earlier on in the season and was suspended for another race. As per Kligerman, HMS should have these drivers focus on winning races instead of working out how many points they would require to qualify.

Parker Kligerman was asked by Dustin Long which driver or team or organization was feeling the most pressure going into the last four races. The former mentioned Daniel Suarez before moving on to the situation with Hendrick Motorsports.

“My second has to be Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. With the #9 and the #48 not in, I believe that organization has to be looking at those two cars and thinking alright we’ve got to get at least one of these into the playoffs.”

“And right now they’ve got neither and it looks pretty bleak on being able to do it on points. It could be done but they might just have to go out there and find a way for the #9 or the #48 to win a race which is an incredibly tough place to be, you know when you’re trying to get into the playoffs in the NASCAR Cup Series,” he said.

If there’s anyone who has had it extremely hard this season, it is Chase Elliott. The 27-year-old has all the skills to become one of the greatest ever NASCAR drivers, but this season has been an unexpected speed bump. He injured his leg in a snowboarding incident earlier this year and was out of action for six races. Since coming back, he hasn’t been the same.

The former Cup Series champion will make a last-gasp effort to make it through to the playoffs. However, it will be a steep hill to climb. According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chase and his team have to get everything just right if they are to have a chance of making it into the last 16.

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In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that he had lost confidence in Chase before the Richmond race, but his 13th-place finish has still left him with a chance to make it happen.

“I lost confidence in Chase being able to point his way in, and I was really thinking, at -56 going into Richmond, he needed to win. Well, -40 is doable but he’s gonna need to have those, you know, +15, +20 games almost every week. And he’s not racing just one person, he’s not racing just the cut line. He’s racing all these different drivers and they’re going to also have varying results that are going to make that complicated for Chase. Chase is good enough, the team’s good enough to get 40 points back and point their way in but I just don’t, it’s gonna have to go just right,” he said.

HMS does have a job on its hands with both Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. At this point of the regular season, with only four races to go, they would consider it to be a success if either one of the two make it through to the last 16. Do you think either of the drivers will find a way? Let us know your opinions.

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