Hendrick Motorsports is arguably the strongest NASCAR Cup Series team, perhaps the only one that fields all four race cars with genuine hopes of winning the race. The fact that all four HMS drivers—Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman—have secured their playoff spots serves as evidence of that.

However, it looks like HMS might be secretly putting all their eggs in one basket, and that basket is none other than Kyle Larson and the No. 5 team. Given how closely contested the regular season standings were between Larson and Elliott, it’s hard to think otherwise. A rather unique stat from Sunday’s Southern 500 race favoring Larson is indeed something to consider.

Is Hendrick Motorsports relying on one driver to get the results on track?

Kyle Larson could’ve easily won the regular season finale race at Darlington Raceway. Despite not having the best starting position, the HMS star quickly gained track position, sweeping stages 1 and 2 and continuing to lead the charge in the final stage.

In fact, the 2021 Cup Series champion led 263 of 367 laps during the race. It took late-race chaos and a courageous move by race winner Chase Briscoe to halt his dominance. If we add these numbers, Larson has now led more than 1,000 laps in just 26 races this year.

While this might seem like a statistic to celebrate, comparing it to his teammates certainly raises a question or two. Larson leading 263 laps is more than all his three teammates have managed so far this season. William Byron has led 259 laps, Chase Elliott has 213, while Alex Bowman has only 14 laps led to his name. It does feel like HMS is rallying behind Kyle Larson, believing he is their best shot to compete for the championship.

Byron might have multiple wins this year, but he has been inconsistent. Elliott’s big turnaround has been his top 20 runs, and Bowman barely made the playoffs cut thanks to his win in Chicago. One driver dependency or not, HMS will need to turn the corner for good in ensuring all their cars are at least close to each other. But again, who knows the other teams might have deliberately withheld their best racing setup for the playoffs?

Speaking of the playoffs, Larson and HMS will feel bummed for not securing the regular season championship despite a strong run.

Chase Briscoe pulled off a Hail Mary move to race his way to compete for the championship

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With 18 laps to go in the race, Larson had the challenge of Briscoe on a restart, which was expected to be chaotic. Unable to fire off well, the SHR driver was quick in switching gears and took the lead away from Larson. He just couldn’t recover and was passed by the likes of Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch.

However, it was Briscoe’s move on the previous restart that helped him gain the edge during the dying moments of the race. The driver of the No. 14 car switched to the inside lane and went past three cars leading the pack. Even Leigh Diffey and Steve Letarte, calling the race, labeled it as a race-winning move. As a result, Larson had to settle for a P4 finish and missed out on the regular season championship by a single point.

Thinking back on where he could’ve pulled off more points to aid his run, regular season champion Larson said this after the race, “Iowa, Michigan, Chicago—I mean, that’s just a few. Charlotte if I could’ve gotten into the race there. Frustrated to come up with a point short but would’ve liked to win it.”

The only way to make amends for missing out on winning the regular season will be to have a strong playoff run and aim to reach the final race at Phoenix.