"Not trying to get ahead of where we are": Rick Hendrick opens up on HMS' motivation in continuing their NASCAR championship winning trend

At the onset of this century, Rick Hendrick-owned Hendrick Motorsports won the NASCAR Cup championship in 2001. It was Jeff Gordon's fourth title, which was soon followed by five in a row by Jimmie Johnson from 2006 to 2010.

Johnson won again in 2013, and then again in 2016. The championship-winning ways for Rick Hendrick's team didn't stop there as Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson won titles in 2020 and 2021.

These statistics highlight that Hendrick Motorsports hasn't gone more than four years without a championship in this century. After Kyle Larson's win at the ROVAL recently, Hendrick was asked a question on these lines.

During the post-race press conference, a journalist asked Hendrick, knowing his team's tendency to win titles without going many years of not winning one, what was the focus for HMS going into 2024, having gone without a championship since 2021.

"Nothing fuels you more than get to that final race and not being able to close the deal. You go to the offseason thinking about you got two cars there, and you didn’t get to close a deal. So every race this year the crew chiefs are talking about Phoenix, and they’re talking about wanting to get back and kind of have another shot," Hendrick described.

Having said that, Mr. H claimed that this year's final 4 would be a battle because every team would be 'the best out there.' But in order to race them, Hendrick claimed one has to get there first.

"Not getting the deal done and winning it back-to-back and then going two years. And having cars out there; just not being able to close the deal. That has been something we talked about offseason, early in the season, and I hear our guys now are talking about Phoenix. Not trying to get ahead of where we are, but knowing if we get there, we want to finish the job," he elaborated.

Rick Hendrick won't have a fairytale final 4 lineup in this season's championship-deciding race

With all four of his drivers making it into the playoffs, past the first round, and seemingly going past the Round of 12, Rick Hendrick was hit with disappointing news from NASCAR. The #48 car of Alex Bowman was deemed illegal after the race at ROVAL and subsequently disqualified.

Despite the DQ decision, HMS still had the option to appeal against NASCAR's ruling. However, Hendrick's team chose not to appeal the decision, which meant Alex Bowman was out of the playoffs.

Following the announcement of deciding not to appeal for Bowman, HMS issued a statement in which the team admitted that the violation was unintentional and that the infraction could've been avoided.

"We are extremely disappointed to lose a playoff spot under these circumstances and apologize to our fans and partners," the statement said.

HMS not appealing for Bowman and him not being part of the playoffs anymore rules out the possibility of all four Hendrick cars being in the final 4 lineup.

But the consolation still lies with Rick Hendrick's team considering Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott are the part of the Round of 8, three drivers from one organization which is still the most of any team in the playoffs.