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Hendrick Motorsports may arguably be the strongest team but two of its drivers are entering the Round of 8 with an unfavorable stat. Chase Elliott and William Byron each have a winless streak of over 20 races – the most among the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff grid.
Chase Elliott and William Byron are two of the three Hendrick Motorsports drivers to qualify for the Round of 8 along with Kyle Larson. HMS teammate Alex Bowman qualified for the upcoming playoff round but his spot was overturned to Joey Logano after his car failed to meet the minimum weight requirement post-race.
According to a stat shared by Trey Ryan on X, William Byron leads the list of winless streaks among playoff drivers with 24 races. He is followed by teammate Chase Elliott who ran the last 23 races without a victory.
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The Hendrick Motorsports duo is trailed by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin who enters the Round of 8 with a 21-race winless streak. Fourth on the list is his JGR teammate Christopher Bell who carries a winless streak of 14 races.
The rest of the playoff drivers on the list are Ryan Blaney with 11 races, Tyler Reddick with eight races, and Joey Logano with five races.
HMS teammate Kyle Larson sits at the bottom of the list after winning the final Round of 12 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
The last time William Byron won a Cup Series race was at Martinsville Speedway in April 2024. He was joined by teammates Kyle Laron and Chase Elliott in the top 3 finisher list, securing a 1-2-3 finish on HMS’s 40th anniversary.
Meanwhile, the last time Chase Elliott won a race was at Texas Motor Speedway a week after Byron’s win at Martinsville. Elliott finished ahead of Brad Keselowski and William Byron, respectively, after starting from P24.
The drivers will return to action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday for the opening race of the Round of 8.
Chase Elliott made his feelings known about Alex Bowman’s disqualification
With Alex Bowman out of playoff contention, Chase Elliott shared his thoughts on his teammate’s penalty. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver said he was just as surprised as anyone upon hearing the news.
In an X post by Dalton Hopkins of Frontstretch, Elliott said:
“Just as surprised as anyone, and disappointed and bummed for Alex and also for Blake [No. 48 crew chief] and their whole team because, in my opinion, I think they’ve done a really nice job over the last couple of months, in particular, and really earned their into having a shot at the championship, in my view.”
Despite losing the chance to win a championship, the 28-year-old driver still wishes his teammate the best for the rest of the races this season.
“It sucks. At the end of the day, it wasn’t anything of Alex, wasn’t his doing, you know. So just disappointed, bummed for him. Hope he can just keep his head up and continue to perform and do the things they’ve been doing.” [0:55]
Chase Elliott extended his playoff run after a strong P5 finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He is 7th in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings and -9 below the cutline.
