NASCAR Veteran Skeptical, but Not Pessimistic About Hendrick Motorsports Playoff Struggles

Every soul in NASCAR is anxious as the playoffs inch closer and closer. There are just four races and four weeks left for the drivers to secure a spot in the bubble battle. The entire community has formed different opinions on different drivers who are still struggling to secure that cherished position in the top 16. In a recent conversation with Motorsports on NBC, a NASCAR veteran shared his ideas specifically about Hendrick Motorsports and their golden boy, Chase Elliott.

Chase Elliott is the 2022 Cup Series champion and the third-youngest driver to have won the Cup. However, the current season does not look so great for the number 9 driver.

A NASCAR veteran sees the glass half full for Hendrick Motorsports

Veteran racer and NASCAR analyst for NBC, Jeff Burton, had a discussion with Rick Allen and Steve Letarte about the prospects of Hendrick Motorsports making it to the playoffs. When talking about Rick Hendrick’s team, the name Chase Elliott is never left behind. Rick Allen asked a very pertinent question that had the NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee ask four other questions.

Allen said, “Jeff, I really haven’t seen winning ways for the 9 team since he’s been back behind the wheel… when you look at the competitors that he’s fighting for points against… the bar that Chase Elliott is fighting to catch up to; does that count against him as trying to win his way?”

Jeff answered his question with four others:

“Is he gonna outrun Suarez at the two road courses?”
“Is he gonna outrun Ty Dillon at the two road courses?”
“Is he gonna outrun AJ Allmendinger at the two road courses?”
“Is he gonna outrun Michael McDowell at the two road courses?”

“The Mayor” himself does not have the answer to any of those. He then went on to explain why. Jeff said, “I would say, I don’t know! Two or three years ago I would have said yeah he’s going to win a few of them, but they haven’t had that winning pace on road courses.?

It is true that William Byron and Kyle Larson are two of the four HMS drivers who have won multiple races this season, with the former leading everyone with four wins. However, for the other two, i.e., Elliott and Alex Bowman, the streak remains winless. Bowman has not missed the round of 12 since 2019, Chase has not missed the round of 8 since 2016, and the championship 4, since 2019. Currently, Elliott and Bowman sit 40 and 42 points behind the cutline, respectively.

However, Burton was not so gullible as to count them out to win a race. He knows that Hendrick Motorsports houses immense talent. But those talents are going to pay off only if the team switches up their game.

Watch this story: Kyle Petty Sends Warning to Rick Hendrick?s Team After HMS? Le Mans Success

“They’re gonna have to be better than they have been to this point so far this year,” he added.

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Earlier this year, Alex Bowman was involved in a fatal sprint car crash that left him with a broken vertebra. As a result, the number 48 driver missed three races. Before that, Chase Elliott had fractured his left tibia while snowboarding and had to stay out of six races. On top of that, Elliott was also penalized by NASCAR for deliberately crashing into Denny Hamlin at the Coca-Cola 600 in May.

Talking about the race at Pocono, Kyle Petty said, “They had a pretty decent run… Chase had a few bright spots, but he made up points because other guys made mistakes and took themselves out and opened up a spot in front of them.”

While everyone is anticipating Elliot’s chances to make it this year, his average points per race are not terrible. He could have been way up in the standings had he competed in all 20 races this season. Moreover, this year, he has a better finish of 11.8 than he had last year. So it is just normal that many NASCAR enthusiasts and analysts are still hopeful about him.

As per the race schedules, two of the four are on road courses. Everyone might be surprised if Chase Elliott, who is known for his skill on road courses, wins one of the two scheduled races.

Read more: Hendrick Motorsports Star Reveals One Thing They Desperately Need to Get Out of Their Slump