For a juggernaut of Hendrick Motorsports’s stature, a playoff misfire was the last thing anyone expected. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had cautioned that only Rick Hendrick could stem the tide, and Kyle Petty sang from the same hymn sheet. At Gateway, Hendrick showed he could.
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The team limped out of Darlington with Chase Elliott carrying the torch at P17. The rest of the stable fell by the wayside. Larson went from a P5 start to P19, Byron ended the race in 21st, and Bowman was at the rear in 31st by the time the checkered flag flew.
Weighing the Darlington flop, Junior predicted the team wouldn’t stumble twice. He said Hendrick has the rare knack of holding everyone accountable, demanding answers, and always getting them during the meeting. In fact, he was sure that the team would stand up again and do much better the very next weekend at Gateway.
Having watched Hendrick’s rule firsthand, Dale Jr. explained that the team thrives on a win-or-bust mentality. Mondays after bad outings are pressure cookers, with Hendrick running the show from wire to wire. Petty hammered the same point after Gateway.
On NASCAR: Inside the Race, Petty stated, “I think they showed up, and I think that’s it… I think they were just as frustrated, just as confused because of the performance that we saw there in the spring from that organization.
“If that had happened to some of the other teams… they’ll come back next week or they won’t come back at all… With Rick’s teams, with Hendrick teams, you know they’re going to come back.
“These guys rebound by Monday afternoon. They’ve rebounded. They’re ready to go again. So the best thing was they just showed up.”
As expected, at Gateway, the whole Hendrick Motorsports team performed much better. Elliott clawed his way from P19 to P3; Byron came home P11 after rolling off sixth; Larson slipped to P12 despite starting P2, while Bowman tumbled to P26 after beginning in P25.
