Former NASCAR champion 'worried' about Chase Elliott and HMS' playoff future after underwhelming Darlington run

Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports entered the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as one of the most well-positioned organizations in the field. But at Darlington Raceway's Cook Out Southern 500, the powerhouse Chevrolet team left with more questions than answers, leaving Kevin Harvick worried.

All four HMS cars finished outside the top 15, while six of the first seven spots went to Toyotas. The contrast between dominance at the front and Hendrick’s struggles was impossible to ignore. On the Happy Hour podcast, the 2014 Cup Series champion didn't mince his words about what he saw from HMS.

"I don't know where to look at the Hendrick cars from Darlington. Because we know the nine qualify bad and they continue talking about needing to qualify better and didn’t qualify good. 48 was in the trunk. They finished 16th, 19th, 20th, and 27th... We've talked about the speed of those cars going into the playoffs and where they were. Well, I think we kind of got our answer," he said. (25:12 onwards)

Hendrick Motorsports may look strong in stretches of the regular season, but when the playoffs arrive, they often fade. Team Penske, by comparison, tends to peak in the postseason - a reason they've won four of the last six championships, while Hendrick's only two titles in that stretch came in 2020 (Chase Elliott) and 2021 (Kyle Larson). That is what Harvick pointed at while speaking about Gateway.

"I think that the Penske cars have shown that they're the best cars here in the past. Not that that means anything. The Toyotas showed up this week and just spanked them. So they might show up and do that. But I would lean towards the past history with the Penske cars. So I look for (Joey) Logano to go forward. I look for Josh Berry to go forward. I'm worried about Chase Elliott and (Shane van Gisbergen) SVG going the wrong way this week because of things that are happening," he added (37:42 onwards)

Alex Bowman's Southern 500 was effectively over before it began. Starting 29th, his night was undone by a malfunctioning pit gun in Stage 1. The pit stop was nearly 40 seconds, costing two laps he could never regain. He finished 31st and now sits 19 points below the cutline.

For Chase Elliott, the race was defined by mediocrity. He started 21st, never threatened the top 10, and collected zero stage points before a 17th-place finish. He is just nine points above the cutline.

William Byron, the regular-season champion, also fell flat. He spent most of the night outside the top 15, scored no stage points, and limped home 21st. Though he remains 25 points above the cutline, his showing raised alarm about whether Hendrick can keep up with Toyota’s pace.

Kyle Larson at least salvaged stage points, scoring 12 across the first two segments. But contact in a restart stack-up, plus earlier radio issues, left him 19th at the finish. He holds third in the standings thanks to those stage points, but it was far from the performance expected at one of his best tracks.

Taken together, Hendrick's average finishing position at Darlington was 22.0 across its four cars, nowhere near championship-caliber form.

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Gateway looms as another challenge for Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott (L) and William Byron before the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan. Source: Getty

The road ahead doesn't get easier for Hendrick Motorsports. The series now shifts to World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. Since the track's Cup debut in 2022, Team Penske has won two of three races: Joey Logano in 2022 and Austin Cindric in 2024. Toyota’s rise at Darlington makes Gateway another test of whether Chevrolet, and specifically Hendrick, can close the gap.

Chase Elliott's own record at the track isn't encouraging. He finished 21st in 2022 and 13th last year after missing the 2023 edition. For a driver already on the bubble, another middling run could quickly turn his playoff hopes into a crisis, believes Kevin Harvick.

"The problem is that's not a track that we say, 'Oh, those Hendrick cars have been fast at St. Louis'. That's not been a track. We think of Penske when we go to St. Louis… The Hendrick cars in general have a potential to struggle at St. Louis. And if you have a bad round at St. Louis, like you did at Darlington, you're going to be in big trouble headed to Bristol," Harvick added in Happy Hour. (26:50 onwards)

Team Penske itself didn't light up Darlington. Ryan Blaney finished 18th and Joey Logano 20th, but their track record at Gateway offers optimism. With the Enjoy Illinois 300 scheduled for September 7 at 3:00 PM ET (240 laps / 300 miles), this could be the week Penske rebounds. For Chase Elliott and Co., however, it's already shaping up as a must-respond moment after one of the worst collective outings of their 2025 season.