“It’s Somewhat Calculated” – NASCAR Analyst Isn’t Worried About Hendrick Motorsports’ Summer Slump

You hear the name of Hendrick Motorsports you immediately think of one word, winning. And that’s for a reason. They’re the most winningest team in the history of the Cup Series.

But lately, that instinctive association of HMS with the word isn’t really working. Because lately, Rick Hendrick’s team has been struggling if put against their own high standards.

Yet that’s not something to be worried about as NASCAR analyst Nate Ryan recently described.

“I’m not that concerned with Hendrick because I feel like it’s somewhat calculated. We’ve seen this before, going all the way back to when Jimmie Johnson was winning seven championships, there would always be that summer low and they would build towards the playoffs,” Ryan said.

“I feel like there could be some calculation again like that for Hendrick Motorsports.”

Ryan then spoke about the team he is actually concerned about considering their recent result.

“I’m much more concerned about Joe Gibbs Racing, where Toyota didn’t have anybody that finished in the Top 15s at Sonoma which is kind of just astounding. I can’t really put my finger on why they were so bad,” he said.

“I’m less worried about Hendrick right now.”

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NASCAR spotter names the team that outruns Hendrick Motorsports on a weekly basis

In a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Freddie Kraft, the NASCAR spotter for Bubba Wallace named Trackhouse Racing as the team that is outperforming Hendrick every week.

“They (Trackhouse Racing) are consistently better than Hendrick, like weekly. When we’re coming to the season, if you’re talking about like who’s gonna be the best Chevy team, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s Hendrick,” he said.

“But they outrun Hendrick every week, it seems like now.”

Kraft then claimed that the two best Chevy cars in the Cup Series in terms of being fast and being consistent are the #1 of Ross Chastain and the #8 of Tyler Reddick.

As for the quadrant of HMS and especially the star duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, the spotter said, “The Hendrick cars, you know, they pop in and pop out depending on the racetrack.” 

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