Who’s panicking?
Not the Hendrick Motorsports team, as some have suggested.
Working overtime, brainstorming, gritting their teeth and rolling up their sleeves? Perhaps. But this organization — which hasn’t celebrated a victory since March — knows a little something about challenging for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series championships, and it would be naïve and foolhardy to believe the team’s summer doldrums are a definitive sign of playoff potential.
At least that’s what history has shown us. And what Jimmie Johnson tells us. And what team owner Rick Hendrick has assured.
“A lot of hard work went on during the break that we had,” Johnson said last weekend at Bristol, Tennessee. “Just judging by the excitement from (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and all the way through to Mr. Hendrick, we’re definitely turning over some stones and are hopeful to bring a little better product to the race track week in and week out.
“We’ve been struggling at times, trying to produce speed and lap times of late and making mistakes in the process. We’re still rallying with some decent finishes from time to time, but then again, still having some bad luck. I think Watkins Glen kind of speaks to that as well; and also self-inflicted mistakes.
“I think come Chase time, in the middle of the Chase, the way things are looking back at the shop, and the excitement I see in all the departments, we’re expecting a good late-season surge for Hendrick Motorsports.”
Labor Day — which traditionally marks the end of summer — can’t come soon enough for this team.
Johnson is the only member of this Fab Four lineup to hoist a trophy this season, and the six-time champ did it twice right off the bat — winning the second race of the year at Atlanta, then three weeks later in California.
Chase Elliott opened his rookie campaign with 11 top-10 finishes in the first 15 races, including pole positions for the Daytona 500 and at Talladega Superspeedway. And he capped off that season-starting run with a career-best runner-up at Michigan International Speedway — where the series returns this weekend.
Kasey Kahne is also seeking his first trophy of the year, but already has six top 10s — more than halfway to his entire total (10) from last year. And he has won at both Michigan (2006 from the pole position) and at Richmond, Virginia (2005), where the Chase field will be formally set on Sept. 10. As the Chase Grid stands now, Kahne is tied with Kyle Larson, three positions shy of qualifying. They trail 16th-place Ryan Newman by 39 points.
With Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s return still unknown as he recovers from concussion-like symptoms, the feared Hendrick foursome realizes it is a threesome come title time. But it remains a championship threat.
“Our guys have been working really hard these past few weeks,” said Elliott, who is Chase-eligible by being ranked 12th in the standings. “Everybody is fired up at Hendrick Motorsports. Mr. Hendrick himself is fired up — he has been around the shop a lot. We are all just trying to give it the best effort we can to try and make the most of these next 14 weeks.
“We are all working hard, we are all in. Hopefully, Michigan will be a step in the right direction.”
In the past — such as during Johnson’s jaw-dropping six title runs in eight years – this team has made it look almost too easy.
So Toyota has stepped it up, winning its first Cup championship last year with Kyle Busch and collecting 11 trophies already this year. Ford’s been every bit a player, as well, with Team Penske drivers — Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano — earning enough trophies (five) between the two of them to keep the others honest this season.
And Hendrick’s Chevy “alliance” partner, the Stewart-Haas Racing team, has certainly come to the party with at least three Chase entrants including 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick, who won his second race Sunday at Bristol and leads the championship standings; team owner Tony Stewart, who won at Sonoma, California; and Kurt Busch, who is ranked third in points.
And while Johnson’s two wins and Elliott’s poles seem like it’s business as usual, there is a new sense of urgency to right the Hendrick ship heading into the Chase.
Johnson has the two wins, but he has only three top 10s in the last 14 races, a stretch that also includes four finishes of 30th or worse.
Similarly, Elliott hasn’t had a top-10 since his runner-up at Michigan. And Kahne has only one top 10 in that time.
“We have been struggling this year, have not been as good as we want or should be,” Hendrick said over the weekend while admitting he’s even gotten up at 4:30 am to go to the wind tunnel with his team. “We know we have the ingredients and we’re not satisfied, and we’re going to do whatever it takes. That’s been our motto all these years. We’re at, what, 242 wins in Cup series? And we’re not done.
“Nobody’s satisfied. We’ve wrecked more cars. … Haven’t led races like we usually do. Not making any excuses, we’ve got to get to work. That’s the deal. We’re all committed and we’re all excited. Nobody stays on top forever but we’re not happy where we are and we want to get back.”
“I’m accountable,” Hendrick continued. “They’re accountable.
“When you’re not doing well, you can walk away and point fingers or you can jump in it and say, ‘Let’s get with it. We know how to do it. Let’s get better working together.’
“I’m proud of our company and we’re going to be better. I like the challenge.”
