CONCORD, N.C. – At NASCAR Cup Series playoff media day at the Charlotte Convention Center on Wednesday, the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers – Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and Chase Elliott – were asked one-by-one if the organization’s 40th anniversary ratcheted up the pressure in terms of bringing home the company’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series title.
And to a man, they downplayed the notion.
Certainly, it was no slight to the bigger picture, team founder/owner Rick Hendrick, wife Linda or the organization's approximately 600 employees. At the Concord, North Carolina-based campus, teamwork, unity and selflessness reach far beyond talking points, they’re prerequisites.
But for Larson, Bowman, Byron and Elliott to win races and a potential championship, it requires some selfishness.
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So, is there added pressure?
“Yes and no. I think for Rick, Mrs. H and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, I think it means a lot to them. For me as a selfish race car driver, I just want to go win races every week,” Bowman astutely conveyed. “I don’t think there’s anybody on the outside that’s going to put more pressure on me than I put on myself to perform each and every week and to do my job.”
“I don’t view it as pressure, I just view it as opportunity,” Larson added. “Right now, we have 10 more opportunities to win a race and also a championship, which would be great in Rick’s 40th season.”
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What lies ahead is a 10-race trek to the Bill France Cup, which awaits the survivor at the end of a race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10.
In between? Three playoff eliminations held on nine race tracks that present a dizzying, diverse and demanding test of racing prowess.
Short tracks and road courses and superspeedways, oh my!
Not that driving versatility has ever been a hindrance at Hendrick Motorsports. And vice chairman, NASCAR Hall of Famer and four time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon doesn't see that changing now.
“Champions have always had to be diverse and win at any type of track,” Gordon said. “I think the playoff system has only heightened that more, especially with more road courses being added. But I think that NASCAR, when they look at it, they’re looking at it that way too. We want to have the most complete champion, driver and team and we want to throw as many challenges at them as possible because the best team and driver are going to win this thing. Even though it comes down to one event, you’ve still got to get there.”
And where some see the varying disciplines needed to succeed over the next three months as a deterrent, Gordon sees it as an advantage.
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And why not? All four Hendrick Motorsports wheelmen have wins at road courses, short tracks and intermediate tracks. And while superspeedway wins still elude Larson and Bowman, both have career numbers to indicate that victory is coming any time now.
“I like the chances of all of our guys because I think they have the ability to strike at any time,” Gordon said.
All have their strengths: Larson’s dominance; Elliott’s consistency; Byron’s timeliness; Bowman’s potential.
All have experience as well: Larson and Elliott each have a title, Byron reached the Championship 4 last year and Bowman made a run to the Round of 8 in 2020. The four have combined for 24 prior postseason berths with none of them coming in with less than five.
The group is young – Larson’s the elder statesman at the ripe old age of 32 – but there’s no naivety to be found here. All know what’s at stake and how perilous the path is along the way.
And all of them talked about it on Wednesday.
“That’s fun to me. Either go to a race and your back is against the wall and you’ve got to go perform and you need to show up and get it done and if you didn’t, you got your report card that day,” Elliott said. “You didn’t do a good enough job. And I like that.”
Would a 15th championship in 30 years mean a lot to Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports? You bet.
But what would a second mean a lot to Larson or Elliott? What about a first to Byron or Bowman? To say the least.
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When it comes to team racing, it’s a truly mutually beneficial relationship. If all four drivers are focused on winning for themselves, it will only bolster the organization.
“When you’re at Hendrick Motorsports the goal setting out for the season is to try and win big races and try to win the championship,” Byron said. “I think I’m as ready to go as I’ve ever been. I don’t really need anything to motivate me for that. It’s just trying to put everything you can into the next 10 weeks because that’s what you work so hard for, especially in the offseason.”
A rising tide lifts all boats. And what’s good for one driver is good for a group of mechanics, engineers, marketing executives, public relations representatives and so on.
All ships pulling together. That’s what helped get the organization over the hump when Gordon broke down the championship wall in 1995. That’s what it took to sustain that excellence for the better part of three decades. And as the 40th year of Hendrick Motorsports’ existence slowly winds to a close, it’s what will lead to a promising future.
And maybe another big, dang, trophy.
“This has been a season about reflection and reminiscing about what this organization has done over 40 years,” Gordon said. “If you look at when they started winning championships, it’s like they raised the bar and never looked back. Throw in different styles of championship formats, throw in more road courses, throw in a new car – this organization, as Rick (Hendrick) always says, is all about the people and people build great teams and people are what win championships.”