Gordon: Despite Recent Dominance, Hendrick Focused on Improving

Over the last two NASCAR Cup Series races, Hendrick Motorsports has flat-out dominated. Of the 797 laps that were run between the events at Darlington Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway, a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was in front of the field for 693 of them.

The two-race run, where Hendrick Motorsports led 87% of the laps combined between its four cars, crescendoed with Kyle Larson's second race win of the season this past weekend in the Food City 500 at Bristol. After the season's ninth race, Hendrick Motorsports has collected three trophies, and all four of its drivers have shown the ability to compete at a Playoff-caliber level.

Jeff Gordon, a 93-time race-winning driver who won four NASCAR Cup Series championships before taking on the role of Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports after retiring from driving, loves the fight that he has seen out of his four-car organization so far this season.

However, Gordon knows the last three NASCAR Cup Series championships were scooped up by Team Penske despite HMS adding 32 wins over those three seasons compared to Team Penske's 17.

Hoisting a Bill France Cup is about more than dominating and winning races early in the season, it's about constantly raising your performance throughout the course of the grueling 36-race schedule, getting hot at the right time in the season, and competing at the top of your game in the final 10 races of the season.

That's where Gordon, and Hendrick Motorsports is hell-bent on continuing to improve their program despite the success they've piled on in the first quarter of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

"But, you know, being in the meetings, we have high standards. So it’s been nice. And I think we’ve been happy. But no, we’re definitely not satisfied," Gordon said in his post-race press conference at Bristol. "I mean, I’ll let Cliff speak for himself. I think we’re still behind when it comes to looking at the ten races and the championship."

Gordon continued, "There’[re] some real good tracks in [the Playoffs] for us, but there are some tracks that are concerning, and we want to get to Phoenix. I think Phoenix, right now, we’re not the team to beat, and we’ve got a long way to go, luckily, and I hope we can find it."

Even with Larson leading 411 laps en route to a dominant win for the organization at Bristol Motor Speedway, it doesn't change the focus for Hendrick Motorsports. They've seen domination at Bristol recently. Hell, Larson led 462 laps on his path to a win at the Bristol Night Race last Fall. It didn't lead to a championship.

"We have the best people in the business to be able to [be the team to beat at Phoenix]. Race wins like today are rewarding in many ways and will motivate us, but this is not Phoenix, and I think we know that," Gordon stated emphatically.

2025 is all about Hendrick Motorsports capturing a record 15th NASCAR Cup Series championship, and the road to any championship in the NASCAR Playoff Format goes through the season finale, which occurs at Phoenix Raceway -- a track, where Hendrick Motorsports has been good, but not great, over the last three seasons.

As the NASCAR Cup Series heads into its only off-weekend of the season, the organization will not slip into complacency and is doing everything in its power to find what it needs to win at Phoenix Raceway in November.

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