Jeff Gordon admits Penske still owns the championship formula but sees HMS progress at flat tracks

Jeff Gordon expressed optimism about Hendrick Motorsports heading into the remaining races of the NASCAR playoffs while acknowledging the Team Penske dominance. The HMS vice chairman believes they aren't on the level of Penske yet, but their main focus is getting their three remaining drivers to the championship race at Phoenix.

Following the New Hampshire playoff race, the retired four-time Cup Series champion spoke to Jayski about the strength shown by Team Penske. Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano both led over 100 laps, with the former winning the race and the latter finishing fourth.

While Gordon was pleased how the remaining HMS playoff guys finished with William Byron third, Chase Elliott fifth, and Kyle Larson seventh, he knows there's still work to be done.

“I’m very proud of the progression we’ve made, but the Penske cars were incredibly strong. We already know how good they are at Phoenix with what they’ve done the last few years and we have further to go. We’re not there yet," Jeff Gordon said.

The 54-year-old has seen progression at the flat racetracks, such as New Hampshire. Looking ahead, Gordon is looking forward to the next two tracks, Kansas and the Charlotte Roval, where they've proven to have speed in the past. However, Jeff Gordon knows the ultimate goal is to get to the championship race at Phoenix, another flat racetrack. Here's what he told Jayski:

“We’re pushing ourselves, but we’re trying to see what our competitors are doing. Now this weekend, we go to Kansas, a track that we feel is very strong for us. We had a good first race for this round. We follow it up with another solid one and hopefully we’re leading more laps and have more presence at a mile-and-a-half this weekend than we did at New Hampshire. That can put some pressure back on our competitors and hopefully gets us in a position where we can move on to that next round and continue to find speed for when we get to Phoenix. First, we have to get to Phoenix. That’s the first goal.”

Jeff Gordon's drivers sit above the cut line heading into Cup race at Kansas

The Kansas Speedway plays host to the second race of the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Heading into the event, Hendrick Motorsports, co-owned by Jeff Gordon, all sit in prime position to advance to the Round of 8 as they're above the cut line.

William Byron leads the Hendrick charge as the driver of the #24 holds a 47-point advantage above the cutoff. Kyle Larson, the driver of the #5, is also in a solid position with a 41-point barrier over the cut line. While Chase Elliott's barrier isn't as steep, the driver of the #9 carries a 14-point advantage over the cut line heading into Kansas.