April 19, 2021 | By Lee Spencer

Hendrick Motorsports returns to the top--without a Chase Elliott win

Before the 2021 NASCAR Cup season started, would you have bet that that three different Hendrick Motorsports drivers would win one-third of the first nine races?

Would you have bet that defending champion Chase Elliott would not be among the victors? 

And finally, would you have bet that William Byron would be leading the Hendrick stable in the Cup points standings?

Personally, there’s no way I would have taken any of those bets. 

Sure, Elliott had a breakout season in 2020 with five wins and delivered Rick Hendrick’s 13th title. But Byron and Alex Bowman scored just one victory each. Entering the Playoffs, HMS cars had just four wins in 26 races—matching the number of total wins for the company in 2019. Jimmie Johnson’s retirement tour concluded with the seven-time champion missing the Playoffs for a second-consecutive season while watching his winless streak extend to 131 races.

After a summer slump, the organization appeared to turn its fortunes around. Hendrick restructured its competition department and put Chad Knaus at the helm to lighten the load of former lead engine builder turned general manager Jeff Andrews. 

“I think we’ve gone to work in all areas,” Andrews said. “Last year we certainly struggled through the middle part of the season. I think in July, kind of reached our low point. We dug pretty deep at that point in time and kind of set a focus on late summer, early fall to get ourselves in position, to get our cars through rounds and Playoffs. 

“We hit on some things there, the vehicle side, vehicle and power train side, all the departments went to work pretty hard in different areas. I think you started to see that pay off for us some late last season, culminating in a championship for us. I felt like we were sort of scratching the surface on some really good things late last season. 

“Over the offseason, we had an opportunity to really continue to work on those areas, push on those areas. Again, on the vehicle side--aero, engine, all those areas--all the departments and employees at Hendrick Motorsports really stepped up since that July time frame last summer.”

Hendrick reunited Byron with his former truck series crew chief, Rudy Fugle, for 2021 and added hot shoe, Kyle Larson, to the lineup. Byron, 23, won the third race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished a career-best seventh at Richmond Raceway and extended his top-10 streak to a series’ best seven straight. 

Larson scored his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a week after Byron won in Florida. Despite struggling at Richmond and getting wrecked by Christopher Bell at Bristol, Larson has had cars capable of winning each week.

NASCAR featured seven different winners in the first seven races before Martin Truex Jr. returned to victory lane at last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. But on Sunday, an eighth new winner emerged, with Bowman picking up his first victory at Richmond Raceway—a track where he never expected to be a contender. The 27-year-old Tucson native also returned the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet to victory lane for the first time since June 2017 at Dover—a car number that had amassed 83 wins over 19 seasons with Johnson behind the wheel.

“We took a hard look at ourselves,” added Andrews. “We owed Mr. Hendrick, we owed our sponsors and Chevrolet (to be) better than we were. We took a hard look at ourselves. It was not acceptable. The whole company banded together, went to work--really just a continuation of what we had going on in late 2020.”

Further easing the company’s burden was the engine alliance formed with Richard Childress in late 2020. ECR’s chief engine builder, Richie Gilmore, previously worked at Hendrick and considers Andrews one of his closest friends. For Andrews, the partnership has been a win-win for HMS and RCR.

“I think it’s made a huge difference for both programs,” Andrews said. “There have been nothing but positives that have come out of that on all fronts. Of course, ultimately you hope those kinds of things have some quick performance advantages for both companies. Since we started taking a look at that mid-summer last year, been really proud of both groups. Jim Wall, who runs our engine program, and Richie Gilmore who runs the ECR engine program, both of those guys have locked arms.

“We’re working really good together, working on some things continuing on for this year. A little bit different rule set for us this year with some design freezes on some different parts and pieces. Nonetheless, we’re focused on some things for this year that we can make some changes on. Then, of course, we’ve got to focus on the NextGen car in 2022.

“We’ve been really, really pleased with the relationship,” Andrew continued. “Really, it’s been everything that we hoped for and exceeded the expectations that we hoped for. Just the way the two programs have come together and been able to realize some efficiencies and also been able to realize some real gains in horsepower as well. We’re really, really pleased with the way that’s been working.”

The difference on the intermediate tracks this season has been stark. In 2020, Hendrick had just one win on a 1-5-mile track. This year, the company has two wins in the first three intermediate track races. Larson’s average finish on 1.5-milers is 2.33, Byron finished in the top 10 in all three events. Bowman had a podium finish at Atlanta and posted a top 10 at Homestead.

And what about the No. 9 team? Of course, it’s just a matter of time before the People’s Champ returns to his winning ways.

“It’s not been that the performance hasn’t been there,” Andrews said of Elliott’s three top fives and four top 10s. “I think more we’re looking for a little bit of the consistency. Nobody is going to work harder at it than Alan Gustafson (crew chief) and that team.

“We still have a lot of racing to do here, a lot of good tracks coming up. Excited to go to Talladega next week. It’s been a good track for them. Then back to some of the mile-and-a-half stuff. We’re looking forward to that, as well.”