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The last NASCAR Cup Series points race held at North Wilkesboro was in 1996. Jeff Gordon won it, defeating the ruthless Dale Earnhardt in the closing laps.
Rick Hendrick rejoiced, as his star driver took the #24 DUPOINT Chevy to Victory Lane for the 10th time that season. “He’s unbelievable, ain’t he?” Hendrick said, speaking of Gordon.
30 years later, last Sunday, NASCAR hosted another thrilling points race at the historic venue. Gordon is now the Vice Chairman of HMS, Hendrick is 77, and William Byron drives the #24.
Three more HMS cars were competing in the race, and all four ran at the end of the race. According to Seth Eggert, all of them were at least 2 laps down.
The Window World 450 was indeed a historic first, but not the type that the team will be celebrating.
21 races into the season, Hendrick Motorsports has two wins, both earned by Chase Elliott. His teammates, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and Byron, haven’t won yet. Is HMS in danger?
Well, it depends on who you ask.
On the latest episode of The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck said,
“If you’re Hendrick Motorsports right now, what have we talked about a lot this year?‘Penske is off. Penske has problems. Penske, whatever.’ Right?”
“Okay. Well, now Penske’s won the last two weeks. So Penske has actually three wins this season. Hendrick Motorsports has two wins all year, two Chase Elliott wins. Byron hasn’t won. Larson hasn’t won. Bowman hasn’t won.”
“Now you’re going to the Brickyard 400 next week. So we’re that deep in the season when everybody shows their stuff and everybody’s going to be expecting Toyota to go kick everybody’s bu**.”
“And then all of a sudden, The Chase is pretty much here. So, if you’re Hendrick, how long can you tell yourself, ‘Hey, we have speed, we’ll be okay.’”
Let’s keep the Toyotas and the Fords aside. Hendrick Motorsports stands at par with Spire and Trackhouse on wins this season.
Does this sit well with the Chevy flagship team?
“There’s going to be some consequences”-Dale Earnhardt Jr. Unravels Rick Hendrick’s Ultimatum To Hendrick Motorsports Drivers
What happens after this is something every NASCAR enthusiast, especially Hendrick Motorsports fans, is worried about. The team’s roster hasn’t delivered its usual dominance in weeks. Even reigning Cup champ Kyle Larson has rarely challenged the leaders.
There will be consequences, said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was also once a Hendrick Motorsports driver. He has been a part of their competition meetings, and knows how Rick Hendrick drives them.
Sternly.
“When they’re not doing what they want to be doing, those meetings get really f*****g serious,” Dale Jr. said on his podcast.” And Rick would basically say to everybody in the room, ‘Y’all better figure it out.'”
“Rick rarely ever gets stern. But when he does, it gets your attention because you don’t see it often, and you know that he means fix it or else, you know there’s going to be some consequences,” Earnhardt added.
Next up is the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26. Fans can watch it on TNT, or listen to radio updates on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
