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Jeff Gordon Gets Brutally Honest About His Drivers In 2025

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 24, 2025 4:59 PM ET

Hendrick Motorsports drivers have sprinted out of the 2025 gate, but Jeff Gordon still sees room for improvement.

On Sunday, Kyle Larson edged out teammate Alex Bowman to win the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Miami Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports has won two of this season's five races, and William Byron tops the overall point standings over Larson and Bowman. Chase Elliott doesn't trail too far behind in sixth place.

Gordon discussed his team's start following Larson's victory.

"It's a finicky sport because you want to get off to a good start, get in a good position in points so that you're not on your heels and playing catch-up," Gordon told reporters. "So that part is really nice, but we've been getting beat."

Gordon called it "nice" that Byron won the Daytona 500, but the vice chairman and four-time Cup Series champion remains focused on other missed opportunities.

"Phoenix, they got beat," Gordon said. "Vegas, I mean, there are a few things that kind of didn't go great there, but basically got beat there, too."

Gordon said the bar is elevated to optimize each of his team's four cars.

"Constantly, you're just chasing it," Gordon said. "The nice thing is, when you get a start like this -- you're up there in the points -- it's the fine-tuning and what you're chasing is victories. Perfection is what you're really looking at."

Ryan Blaney didn't finish Sunday's race, but the Team Penske driver led for 124 laps before his engine broke down for the second time in three weeks. Gordon called Blaney's No. 12 car "ridiculous" and also pointed to Christoper Bell as another driver they're looking to catch.

"We still got work to do, but we're going to take the win and be happy about it and be happy about where we're at in points," Gordon added. "And just look at the things we have to work on. We don't have big things to work on other than just gaining a bit more speed."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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