Hendrick Motorsports Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Jimmie Johnson is moving on to the Round of Eight. Since the Elimination-style format was introduced for the Chase for the Championship in 2014, the 41-year-old Californian had yet to advance all the way through to the Final Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In fact, he had yet to advance passed the second round of the Chase – until now. In qualifying, Johnson was able to place his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS 11th on the starting grid and quietly began to move upRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Climbing behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet in relief of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman was looking to provide a solid run for his Hendrick Motorsports team. In Thursday night’s qualifying session for the Bank of America 500, Bowman nearly pulled off the upset by stealing the pole, but came up just short, settling for the outside pole instead. “It’s always cool to come to Charlotte because you’re at home. My family and a lot of the team members’Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service As a Sunoco rookie in his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott has found the first two playoff races surprisingly “normal.” Elliott comes to the elimination at Dover tied for ninth in the standings, 16 points ahead of Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon, the first two drivers below the cut line. But Elliott expects that, as the rounds of the Chase progress, the intensity will ratchet up significantly. “I think the further you get into it, the more it is goingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For Jimmie Johnson, Dover represents both a place where he has had a lot of success over the years, but has also been his Achilles’ heel recently. With elimination from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup still a possibility on Sunday, Johnson heads into the Citizen Soldier 400 hoping luck is on his side this time around and he’ll be able to move on to the Round of 12 by the time the checkered flag flies. This time last year, Johnson looked to beRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup kicking off this weekend at Chicago, the time has come to take a look back at a race from the past for this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater.” This week, we’ll go back to 2009, when Chicago was a mid-summer night race instead of the first race of the Chase and the wild finish of the Lifelock.com 400. Red Bull Racing teammates Brian Vickers and Scott Speed would lead the field to green under the lightsRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Let’s be honest, Kasey Kahne has not had the greatest season of his 13-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. Through 25 races, Kahne sits 16th in points and is currently on the outside of the Chase looking in with one race remaining until the Chase begins. Luckily for the veteran driver, his lackluster first 25 races can be erased with one great night at Richmond International Raceway. Kahne has a decent past at Richmond. In fact, Kahne’s first-ever Sprint Cup Series win came at the action trackRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After missing six races while recovering from a concussion, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will miss the remainder of the 2016 season as he continues his recovery. On Friday, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Earnhardt had not been medically cleared to race for the final 12 races of the year. “I wish I could return to the No. 88 team this season. To say I’m disappointed doesn’t begin to describe how I feel, but I know this is the right thing for my long-term health and career. I’mRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Alex Bowman, filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is still recovering from concussion symptoms, certainly opened some eyes during his stint behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Bowman started a career-best sixth after qualifying for the Pure Michigan 400 on Friday, and when the race started on Sunday he was in the mix for a win. Bowman was a solid top-five contender during the early portions of the race, when all of a sudden his car began to dropRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor To say its been an abysmal stretch of racing for Hendrick Motorsports would be an understatement. The highest HMS car currently in the championship standings is Jimmie Johnson in ninth, and currently as things stand only Johnson and rookie Chase Elliott would be representing the organization in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. However, even after just accumulating three top-10 finishes between their four team cars over the last eight races, Hendrick Motorsports showcased some big-time speed Friday in qualifying for Sunday’s Pure MichiganRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Still ailing from concussion-like symptoms likely sustained earlier this summer at Michigan International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss at least two more NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday. Earnhardt was not medically cleared by his doctors in his most recent visit this week, and underwent further evaluation Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program. Driving in place of Earnhardt this weekend at Michigan will be Alex Bowman, who drove for Earnhardt in his first missed event of theRead More