NASCAR
2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Preview: Hendrick Motorsports
NASCAR’s all-time winningest team, Hendrick Motorsports looks to add onto their legacy and winning pedigree in the 2025 Playoffs. Responsible for a quarter of the field of 16, Hendrick’s four drivers are gunning for a record 15th title. Here are their chances at the 10 weeks ahead for taking home the Bill France Cup.
Kyle Larson – 2,026 points
Nobody opened 2025 off to a hotter start than Kyle Larson. The 5 team collected three wins over the course of seven races between March and May, soon assuming the points lead. An apparent summer slump soon hit this team, however, after Larson’s Memorial Day Double attempt. Since then, the 5’s seen seven top-10s in 13 starts, but only with 34 laps led total. Regardless of these lackluster results, a strong first half of the regular season saw Larson reseeded as the co-points leader. Now at the top of the Playoff heap, Larson has full confidence in another bid at a title.
“I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint one strength because I feel like we have a lot of strengths,” Larson said. “Speed is always one, for sure. We’ve just been through a lot throughout the summer. I think we’ve seen a lot of different things and we’re prepared for almost anything. We’re looking forward to the challenge of these next 10 and hopefully we can execute on a high level.”
“I think still the shorter, flatter tracks, so seeing Gateway and New Hampshire in the Playoffs is not something that I was thrilled about. But I do think we’ve made our package better on that style of track. You know, I look at Iowa – we were fast and William (Byron) won. Chase (Elliott) was fast. Alex (Bowman) was fast. When we went to Richmond, we were all really good again. Alex finished second, and I think I was in sixth. Chase was probably one of the best cars that night. William was good, as well. I do think we’ve gotten our cars better on those places, but we still need to probably be better. We’ll see when we get to Gateway and New Hampshire.”
Flatter, shorter ovals may be seen as a bit of a weak spot for Larson. These are offset though with a few of his favorite and strongest tracks coming up. Between Darlington, Bristol, and Kansas alone, the 5 should have winning chances at all three of these venues. Two of Larson’s three 2025 victories came at these tracks, and he’s always among the best in the Southern 500. In short, Larson should be eyeing a Round of 8 berth with relative ease. The 5 team could begin focusing towards the three semifinal races. Do not be surprised to see the 5 as a regular threat almost everywhere over the next 10 weeks.
William Byron – 2,026 points
The picture of consistency in 2025, William Byron’s effort were rewarded with the regular season championship after 25 weeks. Winning to open the season at Daytona and at Iowa in July, the 24’s batting average is a perfect .500 for top-10s. In similar vein to Larson this season, Byron typically cools off a bit over the summer before returning to form in the Playoffs. Driver 24 says he’s not quite sure that happened this year, calling his team battle-tested and ready to contend.
“I don’t really know if we were slumping,” Byron said. “I think that’s really overblown. We were the fastest car at Pocono before I crashed in qualifying. We then had the fastest lap at Chicago in practice before I crashed. Then we showed up at Iowa and won a couple weeks later. So I don’t really feel like we were ever in a slump. I just think we didn’t have the results. If we were trying to get through the Playoffs, maybe that would be different. But I feel really good about our team this year and feel like we’re in a good spot.”
“I think we’ve been through a lot of adversity this year. I feel like in the past we’ve had races that we weren’t in contention maybe, and we won. And then this year we’ve dominated some races and didn’t win those. That’s what I mean by battle-tested. We came back from those, and we carried that same speed, but we overcame. I think that’s what I mean. It’s just kind of a little bit more battle-tested. We’ve been through a lot of adversity in July. July was a really rough month result-wise. Then to come into August and have such a good month was really good to see.”
Byron’s sustained regular season success has seen him rewarded as tied atop the points with Larson. This much of a cut line buffer has Byron sitting nicely for the opening round or two. Early wins would only put team 24 even closer to Phoenix. This team’s going for a third-straight Championship 4 showing, after seeing others win big the last two years. Byron’s shown elite pace and performance on every track type. As a result, the 24 should be another near-weekly threat across the next 10 races.
Chase Elliott – 2,013 points
Another man who was the definition of persistent throughout this regular season was Chase Elliott. Opening 2025 with 23-straight top-20s, Elliott’s incredible run of consistency only hit a few speed bumps in recent weeks. Richmond was his first DNF of the season, seeing him fall a few spots in the standings. Ending week 26 ranked fourth in points, the Atlanta summer winner gets reseeded to seventh on the Playoff grid. Now one of the most experienced Playoff veterans, Elliott has full faith in his team to deliver another Phoenix run.
“Just having the experience in general, regardless of what the result was in the year before, I think the experience both good and bad can be helpful,” Elliott said. “So that is a great thing for our team. We have a lot of that. And we’ve all been around long enough to kind of see some different things here and there. I hope it helps.”
“I think the experience that, you know, I alluded to a second ago is a major strength. As you just get faced with different situations throughout the final ten. You know, the challenges for us have been mainly on Saturdays, more than they’ve been on Sundays. I’ve been pretty open about that. But yeah, we’ve got to have better Saturdays to set ourselves up better for success.”
Elliott’s Saturday struggles have been evident in recent weeks. Three of the 9’s last five starts have been 20th or worse. Only having 13 bonus points, any top-10 qualifying effort would put Elliott in position to capitalize early with valuable stage points. If the 9 crew stays mistake-free and executes to their full potential, Elliott should get through the opening rounds with ease. Any unforced error though could spell doom for this team with so little breathing room above the cut line. Consistency has delivered Elliott to Phoenix before, but a breakout run may be needed in the 9’s future.
Alex Bowman – 2,002 points
Nobody saw more emotional peaks and valleys over the course of Daytona weekend than Alex Bowman. Being wrecked out before lap 30, driver 48 had to sit and anxiously watch others determine his Playoff fate. Ryan Blaney being a repeat winner, thankfully, secured the Hendrick 48’s berth. Alas, with no wins so far this season Bowman drops from ninth in standings to the 16 seed.
“[The approach as the 16 seed is] the same as it was last week,” Bowman said. “Go to work. I mean, that’s all that’s all we can do and we’ve done that all summer. I mean you take away kind of all the crashes in April and May and we put together a really awesome year. Even through those things we’ve put together a good year. So just continuing to try to go to work and perform.”
“I would say I feel the same. It’s not really a relief because you have to go get right back to work. It’s the same high-pressure situation that we were in before. We really need to go perform each and every week.”
“I don’t think anything changes. You’re preparing at a high level for the last eight months and continuing to prepare at a high level for this week. It’s the same as we did last week and the week before. So while it’s certainly not like a ramp up, because we’re already there, we’re just kind of going to work. Business as usual.”
If not by breaking into victory lane, Bowman’s mission the next three weeks must be to gather as many stage points as possible. Starting off at the back of the pack, the 48 can only rise from here. Their consistency seen in recent weeks should see them through to the Round of 12. Four of Bowman’s last six finishes have been top-10s, including second at Richmond and a third at Dover. Bowman may have the steepest hill to climb of any contender, but his championship path is still clear.
Making up both ends of the 2025 Playoff grid, Hendrick Motorsports drivers all find themselves in very unique situations. Larson and Byron are among the favorites for Phoenix. Many likewise put Elliott a tier below, while Bowman may be the ultimate wildcard as the 16 seed. All four of their teams are beyond capable of putting together 10 weeks of excellence and contending at Phoenix Raceway in November. No team has ever swept all four spots in a Championship 4. Hendrick is the only shot at this improbable feat in 2025. Larson, Byron, Elliott, and Bowman have all seen very respectable seasons to date, and hope to end the year on the championship stage.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter
Photo Credits to Jared C. Tilton, Krista Jasso, and Chris Graythen/Getty Images
