Currently, three of the top five spots in the driver standings belong to Hendrick Motorsports, with William Byron leading the way, Chase Elliott close behind in second, and Kyle Larson in fifth, 85 points back and needing big swings over the final two weeks.
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Joe Gibbs Racing’s frontrunners, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, sit third and fourth, respectively. Yet, despite all five being in the hunt for the regular-season crown, Elliott and Byron’s camp seems intent on winning while helping each other out.
Ordinarily, title-chasing teams might keep a vital setup tweak or tire-pressure adjustment under wraps, but at Hendrick Motorsports, all three crew chiefs have publicly embraced the company line of transparency. Open sharing remains the rule, with everyone convinced that collective gains outweigh individual advantages.
Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, explained, “All of us understand that collectively we’re better and even if one of us was to hold something back or not share, that potentially could give you an advantage over the other three but you’re still going to be worse off than you would be if we all share openly. I think that’s why you see what you see.”
He emphasized that every team is gathering unique experiences and insights, which amount to four times the data when combined. Accurate communication and thoughtful interpretation of that information, Gustafson said, builds strength and fosters collective intelligence for growth.
Echoing those sentiments, Byron’s crew chief, Rudy Fugle, added, “I don’t hide anything, and I know those guys aren’t hiding from me. We work together better than ever in these high-stress situations. We want everybody at Hendrick to win a race, win the regular season championship, the season championship—that’s what we care about.”
Fugle stressed that their goal is to deliver trophies to the organization that supports them. While the whole #24 team is fiercely competitive, he said their unity is what has kept them at the top, and there is no reason to change course now.
Larson’s crew chief shared the same mindset, noting, “The strength of our company is what unites us.” For him, the ultimate objective is to put all four Hendrick cars inside the top four, valuing the perspectives of both Fugle and Gustafson in that pursuit. Allowing internal rivalries to disrupt strategy-building or development, he said, would only be a waste of time.
He summed it up by saying, “As I walk around this place, I have zero consideration of the points battle amongst us other than I want all of us to score as many points as possible.”
So, as the regular season winds down, the fight is shaping up as Hendrick Motorsports against the field, with Joe Gibbs Racing standing as their chief rival.
