Remember the playoff season opener at Darlington? No Hendrick Motorsports driver, including Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman, finished in the top 16, marking the team’s worst collective outing at Darlington in the modern era, with an average finish of 22.0. Now, this was the fourth worst in a four-car shootout. And with the second race of the Round of 12 through, Rick Hendrick’s HMS has found some footing, if not all. But is it enough to satiate HMS VP Jeff Gordon?

Looking at Kansas, it was a sweet treat for the HMS drivers. Chase Elliott put up a really strong fight. In the final two-lap overtime shootout, he advanced from 10th to first, narrowly edging out Denny Hamlin by 0.069 seconds. With Elliott grabbing his second win of the 2025 season and three HMS drivers in the top 10 of the playoffs standings, Gordon can let out a sigh of relief for now.

In a post-race interview at Kansas Speedway, Gordon dropped the hammer on the pressure his drivers experience: “Yeah, I mean, these guys are just in, you know, grinding it out week in and week out. I mean, there’s so much pressure on them in the playoffs. And I think, um, you know, obviously, the Fords… and the Toyotas have you know so you saw that today they were very strong on the longer runs and but I love just you know the fight that our guys have and… the way they work together to try to learn from one another and just keep pushing the envelope and, and putting themselves in position and yeah I think we realize we’re on our heels a little bit.”

This proves HMS’s strong desire to be in contention for the championship dogfight. There’s no secret that HMS has steamrolled through the playoffs so far, with William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott all advancing to the Round of 12. In New Hampshire last weekend, Larson and Byron roared to top-10 finishes, while Elliott mounted a dramatic comeback from 27th on the grid to finish fifth.

However, HMS’s Gateway run in the Round of 16 was a mixed bag of results. While Chase Elliott managed to secure a strong third place, William Byron finished 11th, and Kyle Larson, despite a solid start, ended the race in 12th place, narrowly missing out on a top 10 finish.

But with much belief in his team’s comeback at Kansas, Jeff Gordon added, “And it just doesn’t take much to miss it. And you know, I think that you know that’s what we’re dealing with is just inconsistencies there because you’re just playing with hairs, and when you miss it, it can really make you look like you’re having a bad, I mean, it’s the 24 (William Byron) is a good, you know, example of that. I mean, you know they they tried a couple things, and all of a sudden, they look like the car just came to life all of a sudden out of nowhere.” 

However, it is the Toyotas and Fords that these Chevrolets need to look out for. Penske’s domination at Loudon, with Blaney lifting the lobster in victory and Logano making his way to 4th, shows that the Fords have shown strength on some tracks and the ones that matter. Even Gordon himself concedes Penske’s dominance at Phoenix, the finale of the playoffs.

As for the Toyotas, Denny Hamlin led the most (159) laps at Kansas, almost claiming his 60th win, but Chase Elliott snatched that from him in a dramatic overtime finish. Hamlin drove the final stretch without power steering, making his performance even more impressive yet heartbreaking for the 44-year-old driver. However, with HMS’ strong performance in this race, it is safe to say that its drivers advance to the last race of the Round of 12 with a comfortable margin.

Hendrick Motorsports is clear in the playoffs ahead of the Charlotte Roval

Chase Elliott’s win at Kansas Speedway on Sunday didn’t just secure his place in the Round of 8, but it also brought more playoff relief for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. Kyle Larson rode a steady run to 6th place, putting him on the brink of clinching his own spot and entering next weekend’s Charlotte Roval with a comfortable 41 points above the cut line in third. William Byron, overcoming early challenges to finish 9th, holds a healthy over 40-point cushion.

William Byron had a relatively quiet outing at Kansas Speedway, running mid-pack for much of the race. He came to pit road around lap 120 alongside drivers like Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric, but he didn’t feature in the lead battles, which were dominated by Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Wallace.

Despite a steady performance, Byron was unable to challenge for the front, ultimately finishing outside the top five in a race defined by late-stage drama and overtime restarts. By the end of Sunday’s race, the 12-driver playoff field will shrink to eight, with Elliott already locked into the next round. With Penske claiming New Hampshire and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kansas, all eyes watching are eager to see which team dominates the Charlotte Roval.