Insiders Get Real on Rick Hendrick & Co.’s Struggling Playoff Start After Wild Night in Darlington

If there’s one team that always seems to have the spotlight in NASCAR, it’s Hendrick Motorsports. Between William Byron snagging the regular-season championship and Chase Elliott clawing his way back into victory lane, the garage talk has often circled Rick Hendrick’s powerhouse crew. On paper, it looked like 2025 could be another banner year. Four drivers in the playoffs, speed in the bank, and momentum heading into the fall.

But as every race fan knows, paper doesn’t always translate to performance on track. Now, as the postseason begins, the same cars that once looked bulletproof have started to show cracks, leaving insiders and fans scratching their heads. Suddenly, the question isn’t about who from Hendrick will dominate. Instead, after Darlington, it’s whether they can keep up when it matters most.

Rick Hendrick’s night to forget at Darlington

If Darlington was supposed to be a chance for Rick Hendrick’s boys to flex their muscle, it turned out to be a huge flop show. The stat sheet says it all. Chase Elliott led the Hendrick pack with a modest 17th-place finish. Kyle Larson slipped back to 19th, William Byron only managed 21st, and Alex Bowman’s day unraveled after a disastrous 40-second pit stop left him limping home in 31st. For a team that put all four cars into the playoffs, Sunday night looked far from championship form.

Freddie Kraft summed up Rick Hendrick’s day bluntly. “They just… You know, Byron led, I think he won both stages, led like 250 laps there in the spring… and then they come back and they’re just kind of a… average car all day long.” That’s a brutal drop-off considering Byron’s dominance earlier this year at Darlington in the Goodyear 400, when he looked untouchable on the short track. Clinching Stage 1 and 2, Byron fell short of a clean sweep and the race win to Denny Hamlin by less than a second.

This time around, the story was about falling behind. “We passed the five for the 24… right at the near the about last 15 laps,” Kraft explained, noting that both Larson and Byron faded as the laps wound down. Elliott, too, wasn’t immune. As the sun dipped and the track cooled, the Hendrick cars simply lost their edge. Kraft pointed out. “They were all falling off pretty hard.” And once that started, there was no recovering. Just a slow, steady fade to the back.

For Hendrick, it raises a bigger question. Was this just a one-off miss on setup, or is there something deeper going on with how the cars are adjusting to track changes? With the playoffs heating up, the margin for error only gets smaller. So, was Darlington a fluke or a warning sign?

Amid the rising tension of the playoffs, a Spire Motorsport driver lost his cool with the Hendrick camp.

Carson Hocevar’s trouble with the Rick Hendrick camp

Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar took his aggressive style beyond the track (and into Rick Hendrick’s territory) when he clashed with Chase Elliott during Stage 2 of the Southern 500. Hocevar was irked after Elliott, navigating a tight chase, bumped him around. He pushed back over the radio. “F— him. I don’t care who he drives for.”

While emotions run hot in the playoffs, that comment crossed a line. Hocevar races for a Chevrolet team, one of many powered by Hendrick, and that kind of disrespect isn’t taken lightly. According to Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, sparks could fly: “We said this months and months ago, everything’s fine until he runs into one of Rick’s cars… he has to go into the office and talk to Rick Hendrick.”

Dale Jr. stressed that while the boss himself may not respond, someone high in the HMS chain likely will. And it could affect Hocevar’s on-track decision-making going forward. The context matters: Hocevar’s rise has been fueled by a fearlessness that’s led to plenty of bruising encounters.

Leads have called him a “m–on,” and others have warned he’ll face consequences one of these days. But this is the first time he’s targeted a Rick Hendrick driver, and it opens a different kind of showdown. Bottom line? NASCAR insiders are watching closely. Hocevar’s moment of unfiltered honesty may deliver short-term entertainment. However, challenging Hendrick’s dominion could cost him long-term goodwill. In a sport built on relationships, the fallout from this radio rant may be felt well beyond Darlington.