The goal for Hendrick Motorsports in 2024 was to have all four of its cars in the Championship 4 race in Phoenix. That’s not going to happen now with Alex Bowman not making it into the Round of 8. The No. 48 driver was disqualified at the Charlotte Roval last weekend after his car failed to meet the minimum weight requirement during the post-race inspection.
Advertisement
While the result blocked his excellent progress in the playoffs, it could be a positive outcome for his team. The probability of it having three cars in the finale has now slightly increased.
Since the four-round elimination playoff structure was introduced, only two teams have put four cars in the Round of 8. Joe Gibbs Racing did so in 2016. Only two of their cars made it to the Championship 4.
Stewart-Haas Racing managed the feat in 2018, and only Kevin Harvick made it to the Championship 4 with Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer eliminated. This particular facet of history proves to a certain extent that the odds of Hendrick Motorsports having three cars in the finale are better now. Moreover, the three cars will get more attention to detail going forward.
Chase Briscoe, who qualified for the playoffs as the lone entry from Stewart-Haas Racing had an interesting take on this. He said before the playoffs began, “I do think there’s a big advantage to being a four-car team and having only one car in. Those other four-car teams are trying to focus on all four of their cars bringing the best to the race track every single week.”
“Preparing the race cars, we can take the personnel and best of the best from each car and just apply it to our car.” Managing personnel and resources between teams is not an easy thing to do even for mammoths like Hendrick Motorsports.
But extracting the right factors from one car to strengthen the chances of another is a doable measure under extreme circumstances. And this is easier to do when the number of cars that are looking to benefit is few. The margin for error keeps shrinking as the playoff progresses.
The level of difficulty in maintaining four championship-caliber cars increases with every weekend and Hendrick Motorsports just felt that heat. Bowman’s elimination has reduced the chances of the team winning the title. But it has also made things less complicated in the garage.
