The NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy fell into the hands of Team Penske drivers over the last two consecutive years. However, it seems like for the upcoming season, the community favorite is Hendrick Motorsports and not Roger Penske’s team.
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One might wonder why. One reason is that the winningest team in NASCAR is all set to kick-start its 40th season at the Cup level. And this time, the team would perhaps give it their all to get themselves a gift that would be befitting for a year that marks four decades of Cup Series operations.
Needless to say, that gift would be their chance to lift the 15th championship trophy if things go well. Since Kyle Larson bagged the titular win in 2021, HMS hasn’t been able to ace the Championship four. Although the #5 speedster was the first driver to punch his ticket into the coveted race, an array of mishaps stunted the growth of his teammates in 2023.
Nevertheless, this year is going to be different. Or at least, that is what team president and general manager Jeff Andrews opines. “When you look at the chemistry between the teams, we have as good of stability as we’ve had there in quite some time,” said Andrews. “All four of our driver-crew chief pairings as they were in 2023 to start the 2024 season is important.”
Despite there being a personnel change for HMS, i.e., longtime lead engineer for the number 5 team leaving HMS for JR Motorsports as the crew chief for Sammy Smith, the biggest ray of hope for the Chevy team is the driver-crew chief pairings remaining the same.
Crew chief and driver chemistry to be the biggest strength of Hendrick Motorsports
Both Larson with his crew chief Cliff Daniels and William Byron with Rudy Fugle; will enter their fourth year together in 2024. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman and crew chief Blake Harris will venture into their second season together with the #48 Ally Racing team.
To top it all off, the 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, gears up for his 9th season with crew chief Alan Gustafson, their partnership being the longest driver-crew chief combo in the garage of Rick Hendrick’s Cup Series team.
The team’s vice president of competition, Chas Knaus, is confident that Larson and Byron will build off their 2023 Championship appearance and that Elliott and Bowman will break through after a season scarred by injuries. “The thing that I am probably the most excited about is we’ve got William (Byron) and Rudy (Fugle) coming off their first real championship run, so they’ve got a lot of momentum and a lot of strength,” he exclaimed.
Over the last two years, Hendrick Motorsports has amassed 21 strong wins in the next-gen era. Moreover, they have won 38 points-paying races over the past three years with at least one driver and team making it into the Championship four battle. So hopefully looking forward they can continue adding to the tally and achieve a great deal of success.
