NASCAR legend sends a straightforward message on Chase Elliott & Co.'s performance

Legendary NASCAR crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. has delivered a straightforward assessment of Chase Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates' performance in the 2025 Cup Series season. The Chevrolet Camaro drivers have showcased exceptional consistency through the five race weekends and are close in the standings.

Rick Hendrick's team has clinched a solitary Cup win this season, at the Daytona International Speedway where William Byron benefitted from the late race chaos to punch his second consecutive Daytona 500 victory. But Byron, Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman's consistently promising results in Daytona, Atlanta, Circuit of The Americas, Phoenix, and Las Vegas have made all four teams primed for the championship.

Byron leads the leaderboard, with Elliott following in fourth. Bowman's four top-10s have placed him fifth in the standings, while Larson is ranked sixth with three top-10s and two top-5s. That said, Tommy Baldwin Racing owner and Geoff Bodine's former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. commented on HMS' dominant form, highlighting Chase Elliott's surge to a P4 finish despite COTA's opening lap wreck as an example.

"Chase's going to end up capitalizing on one of these races when it's time. That's just what Chase does, that's how that team (HMS) seems to work. The #5 (Larson) is the most aggressive of every week of being aggressive on the track. Byron does the same thing, he just takes what he can get. I think Chase is probably a little bit less aggressive even than William. But at the end of the day, you look and oh there he (Chase) is, top-10," Baldwin said via Door Bumper Clear (39:58).

Not only in wins but William Byron also leads the Hendrick Motorsports camp with his three top-5s.

How Chase Elliott resurrected from a potential DNF to his season-best finish

After a P15 and P20 in Daytona and Atlanta, Chase Elliott qualified third at the Circuit of The Americas, hoping to improve his Cup Series standings. But little did the 2020 Cup Series champion know that Ross Chastain's aggression on the first lap would nearly derail his #9 Chevy's prospects of a satisfactory finish.

With damage from the wreck and a broken toe link, Elliott piloted his Camaro to keep himself on the lead lap. During the post-Stage 2 break, the HMS driver pitted to fix the toe link, returned to the 2.3-mile circuit, and braved multiple cautions to contend with the frontrunners.

In the closing laps, while Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick fought for the highly coveted win, Elliott capitalized on Kyle Busch's fall from the lead group, overtook the Richard Childress Racing driver, and finished in fourth, over five seconds off the race winner, Bell.

It's worth mentioning that Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain's incident gained immense traction. The Trackhoiuse Racing driver refused to address the matter and broke his silence the following race weekend in Phoenix.