“We’re Embarrassed”: Rick Hendrick & Co Makes Graves Admission Leaving Fans Hopeless

Hendrick Motorsports entered Darlington’s Cook Out Southern 500 with playoff buzz, holding the top spot through William Byron’s regular-season crown. But the night flipped the script, with all four drivers, Chase Elliott in 17th, Kyle Larson 19th, Byron 21st, and Alex Bowman 31st, landing outside the top 15. Elliott later shared, “It was a really long night. Yeah, we had clawed our way up to the top 10 and tried to run really long on that one run.” For a team whose record at the track has been fairly good, a lot of things went down for them.

For instance, Byron, starting from the standings peak, slipped to sixth with a +25 cushion, a drop that stung amid Toyota’s sweep of the top four. Elliott couldn’t keep up with the Toyota pace, and Larson struggled with setup balance. Alex Bowman, too, had major handling problems throughout the race. Yet, deeper admission signals trouble for Rick Hendrick’s squad, disappointing their fans alike.

Jeff Gluck’s X post captured crew chief Rudy Fugle‘s blunt radio message to William Byron after their P21 finish, revealing Hendrick Motorsports’ grave self-assessment at Darlington. “We’re embarrassed. We’ve got to execute a lot better all around. Nothing comfortable. We didn’t do s–t today. We’ve got to improve and get better and race our a– off every week, or it’s going to be a long offseason,” Fugle said, a stark rally cry from a team that entered playoffs with Byron as regular-season champ.

Rudy Fugle tells William Byron and the 24 team after the race: “We’re embarrassed. We’ve got to execute a lot better all around. Nothing comfortable. We didn’t do shit today. We’ve got to improve and get better and race our ass off every week or it’s going to be a long…

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 1, 2025

This honesty echoes Hendrick’s history of turning setbacks into fuel, like their 2023 rebound after Elliott‘s injury sidelined him for seven races, yet they still advanced two cars to the Championship 4. Byron’s terse reply, “Yeah, 10-4. That was terrible,” underscored the frustration, tying into broader team woes where Larson battled splitter damage and Bowman lost laps on pit road.

Knaus elaborated, “We just didn’t have the speed we needed to, which was a little disappointing. Overall, we were just missing a little bit of front turn.” Daniels noted, “Certainly, being a sixth- to ninth-place car isn’t where we want to be but we kind of know two things already that we need to get back to doing.”

This collective admission spotlights execution gaps against Toyota’s pace, a vulnerability exposed when no Hendrick car led a lap, contrasting their spring Darlington dominance, where Byron paced 243.

On Jeff Gluck’s post, fans echoed the dismay in a thread dissecting Hendrick’s Darlington flop, sharing raw takes on what went wrong. Their reactions paint a picture of a regular playoff powerhouse now facing doubts.

Fan reactions to Hendrick’s Darlington debacle

One fan highlighted, “Better to hear that than the @Hendrick5Team silence.” This nod to transparency comes amid Hendrick’s legacy of quiet dominance, like their 304 Cup wins since 1984, but Darlington’s silence on the radio of Kyle Larson until Fugle’s outburst showed a team grappling with rare vulnerability. Byron’s 2025 average finish of 14.148 usually masks such lows, yet this race exposed cracks fans fear could linger without that vocal reset.

Another commenter stated, “Well, all four HMS crew chiefs screwed their drivers.” This frustration stems from pit road mishaps, like Elliott’s loose wheel nut forcing a return stop, dropping him from top 10 contention. Knaus called it “human error” in a post-race huddle, recalling Hendrick’s 2021 pit crew swaps that boosted Larson to 10 wins, a move fans now urge to avoid playoff elimination.

In contrast, a user pointed out, “Meanwhile, Alan & Chase say nothing & keep going like everything is fine.” This calls out Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson’s post-race calm, where Elliott said, “We’ve got to put our heads together to try to be better next week at Gateway.” Elliott’s 2025 consistency, with twelve top 10s, offers hope, but fans recall his 2023 injury recovery, fearing silence signals deeper issues in a format cutting four after Bristol.

A broader take came from, “I’m also embarrassed as a NASCAR fan that I keep watching these next-gen races and expecting a different result.” This reflects the Next Gen car‘s parity since 2022, where Hendrick’s early 2025 edge and Byron’s two wins faded mid-season, mirroring 2024’s slump before a playoff push. Toyota’s top-four sweep at Darlington amplified fan disillusionment with Chevy’s package struggles.

Finally, one summed it up: “The only thing making me feel better is the rest of HMS was just as a–. Decided to f–k it up a week early, I guess.” This shared misery highlights Hendrick’s team-wide qualifying woes, with only Larson in the top 10, echoing 2022’s early playoff exits for two cars. Yet Daniels’ optimism, “We kind of see now what we need to get back to doing,” offers a thread of hope amid the collective low.