August 13, 2012
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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With just a handful of races left before the cutoff off for The Chase and with three of the four cars in the Hendrick Motorsports stable pretty much locked into NASCAR's post season, the biggest question is not who will win the championship, it's which one of the Hendrick drivers it will be.
After a mediocre season and a not so good performance in The Chase last year, Hendrick has returned with a vengeance. How? According to Jeff Gordon, they used last season as motivation.
"I think not getting a championship last year... I think that our team, the No. 24 team we came into the Chase last year with so much hope and then went through the Chase and didn't have a good Chase, but yet we ended the season strong at Homestead," Gordon was quoted as saying during a press conference this weekend at Watkins Glen. "I think just the fact that Hendrick (Motorsports) wasn't as strong in the Chase last year as we have been in the past as a company. That is motivation."
This season has seen Dale Earnhardt Jr., return to prominence with a win and become a legitimate championship contender for the first time during his tenure at the company. All of the Hendrick teams have at least one win on the year and the goal is for all four teams to make the Chase.
It's no secret that Hendrick has a relationship with Stewart-Haas racing. Tony Stewart has three wins on the year and Ryan Newman has one. While he is on the outside looking in at this point, Newman could still qualify for The Chase if several factors go his way. Namely, he has to win one more race than Jeff Gordon.
Together, all Hendrick affiliated teams have combined to win 10 of the first 21 races of the season. That's complete and utter domination.
Yet, why is Hendrick so much better than the rest of the field? Jimmie Johnson believes it's because of the relationship between all four teams.
"We definitely share information. I feel like over the off season we really aggressively went after our set-up's on our car and made some changes company wide," Johnson was quoted as saying. "I think it’s really at a good time that all four teams are peaking because the Chase is nearby and we are really honing in on what we need for our race cars. Hopefully, it's a great chase for Hendrick Motorsports and even a better Chase for my team."
His statement leaves little doubt that while he may be cheering for his teammates, Johnson has every intention of being the one that brings the next championship to Hendrick Motorsports.
Although Tony Stewart won the Championship last season, Stewart-Haas racing is closely affiliated with Hendrick and shares engineering information, so in effect Hendrick Motorsports has been involved in the last six NASCAR championships.
If no one has been able to beat them the past six years, why would this season be any different?
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