2015 Reviews: Hendrick Motorsports
Welcome to our 2015 reviews. Instead of going driver-by-driver we’re going to review teams this year. We’re starting from the bottom of the standings and working our way up. Only three more to go.
Driver (standings in parenthesis): Jeff Gordon (3rd), Jimmie Johnson (10th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th), Kasey Kahne (18th)
Highlights: Gordon’s final Sprint Cup season ended with a chance at the title. The four-time champion was third of the four drivers racing for the championship after advancing through the first three rounds of the Chase. He didn’t make it to the final winless either after he took advantage of the kerfuffle between Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth to win at Martinsville.
Johnson led the team in wins with five. He won the second race of the season at Atlanta and then won at Texas (twice), Kansas and Dover. Four of his five wins came in the first 13 races of the season. He had 22 top-10 finishes, the same number as Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Junior had three wins and 16 top-five finishes. Junior got wins at Talladega, Daytona and then Phoenix after rain shortened the final race of the third round of the Chase. He was second at Talladega in the fall, but more on that in a minute.
Kahne’s stats are lackluster compared to his three teammates. He had three top-five finishes and 10 top 10s. He also won the pole at Michigan in June (he finished 15th).
Lowlights: Gordon’s lowlight could be missing out on his fifth title. But given the feel-good moments that surrounded the entirety of the Sprint Cup finale, his lowlight really isn’t much of one compared to the other members of his team.
Johnson’s is the failure of a cheap part at Dover in the Chase that knocked him out in the first round. He went from presumptive favorite to win Dover (and potentially the entire Chase) to out of the race and title hunt altogether in the span of a few moments.
Junior finished second at Talladega in the fall because he was just behind Logano when the caution flag flew for the second round of disaster at the end of the race. Had the caution come out a few seconds later, Junior is in the third round of the Chase and could also have been racing for the title.
While his three teammates made the Chase, Kahne missed out. He simply didn’t have the speed or the consistency the other drivers had. Kahne should be a contender for race wins and the Chase every year. The most laps he led in a single race was 29.
Overview: Are we to the point where any year that Hendrick doesn’t win the title it’s considered a disappointment?
If so, it’s because of the standards the team has set for itself with its excellence. And yes, we think it’s pretty crazy to consider a year with nine wins (a quarter of the season) a disappointing one.
But here we are. Bizarre events can knock you out of the Chase, as Junior and Johnson can attest. Each driver made sure to remind the rest of the field that he wasn’t an afterthought after being eliminated with a post-elimination win for the second year in a row. Last year, Junior won at Martinsville while Johnson won at Texas.
How many cars will Hendrick get in the Chase in 2015? The safe bet seems to be two, with Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. pretty much locks barring anything catastrophic over the first 26 races. Kahne should also be in the hunt as well, but he and his team have to find much better form.
The wild card is Chase Elliott, who is replacing Gordon. A Chase berth wouldn’t be surprising given that he’s stepping into one of the best rides in NASCAR. But a year of adjustment and some mid-pack finishes also isn’t surprising either. With the glut of talent at the top of the Cup Series, it’s hard to jump in without some bumps.
But no matter how many Hendrick cars get into the Chase in 2016, the team will be title favorites. Having a six-time champion in Johnson and a resurgent Earnhardt Jr. is a duo almost every team would love to have.
Previous Reviews: Furniture Row Racing, Team Penske, Richard Childress Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, JTG-Daugherty Racing and Germain Racing, HScott Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing.
