Last Sunday’s race at Darlington saw Kyle Larson suffer from engine issues and a spin during stage 2. The defending champion’s race did not go as he wanted it to. Finishing out of the top 10 in the first round of the playoffs sure must have dealt a blow to his spirits. However, he wasn’t alone. His teammate Alex Bowman also had a rocky race that saw him only finish in the 10th spot.

During the post-race interview, Larson stated, “They have had a lot of bad luck. I feel like William has been really fast all year. I was looking at our stats just the other day, and I was shocked to see his stats, but I feel like he’s been upfront more often than I’ve been.”

“But I think that just shows, like, some bad luck and misfortune. And same with Bowman.”

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The highest finish for Hendrick’s outfit was an 8th place finish by William Byron. Even Chase Elliott was not lucky, as he was DNF’d after hitting the outside wall and collecting the #14 in the process.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers face a shakeup in the playoffs after a bad start at Darlington

Before the first playoff this year, Chase Elliott was seen leading the driver’s points table, closely followed by his Hendrick’s teammates. However, Darlington turned out to be a nightmare for the team, after all of their cars failed to reach the Top 5 and their 2020 Cup Series Champion DNF early in the race.

The current playoff standing for Chase Elliott stands at 9th place with 2041 points. Kyle Larson is seated at 7th with 2044 points. William Byron is all the way up in second place with 2059 points and finally, Alex Bowman is seated in 10th place with 2037 points. Currently, the driver’s Championship is being led by Joey Logano.

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With the next round at the Kansas Speedway, we hope the drivers at Hendrick Motorsports can pick up the pieces and try for a better overall finish in order to keep their championship hopes alive.