Rick Hendrick on team's struggles: “It seems like when it rains, it pours"
Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick said his organization has welcomed some good news of late.
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, crashed car
Action Sports Photography
That includes the improvement of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s health and four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon returning to competition.
Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson is currently the only HMS driver currently locked in this season’s championship Chase, although rookie Chase Elliott is on pace to make the 16-driver field on points if he doesn’t register a win.
A rough stretch for Hendrick Motorsports
In recent weeks, HMS has seen a multitude of wrecked cars and last week, Earnhardt was forced out of his No. 88 Chevrolet with concussion symptoms.
“It seems like when it rains, it pours. I think at Daytona we wrecked three or four cars. And then we went to Kentucky and wrecked again. We were in good shape in New Hampshire, but wrecked again,” Hendrick said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I’ve been doing this long enough that you can’t stay on top forever. You have to work hard to get back. And I think we’ve made a lot of improvements. I think we’ll see some, hopefully, this weekend.”
Hendrick called Earnhardt’s problem that developed over the past two weeks a “curveball.”
“This is kind of one of the toughest things you have to go through as one of your star drivers can’t drive. And so, the encouraging news is that everybody just stepped-up and is working harder,” he said.
“We’re determined to work in every area from the engine to the chassis and aero and everything. And the teams are excited. It’s kind of our ‘refuse to lose’ belief. But we didn’t need this, for sure. We didn’t need the wrecks we’ve gone through. Our place looks like a salvage yard where all of the cars have been tore up.”
"Too good of an organization not to find a way"
Gordon, who will fill in for Earnhardt at least the next two races, said it’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going well in the Cup series, but teams have to find a motivating factor.
“When Hendrick Motorsports is dominating this series, that highly motivates your competition; and they go to work. And sometimes you get torn down while you’re getting your butt kicked,” Gordon said.
“But, you start to find a way to get yourself better than you were before and hopefully get yourself in position. The resources and the type of people that Hendrick Motorsports has is sort of what’s happening to us right now.
“We’re being highly motivated by other organizations and teams that are out there and are getting great results. But, we’re too good of an organization not to find a way to only make ourselves better and stronger and our cars faster to get back to that place.”
Hendrick said Earnhardt’s visit with his team earlier this week at their shop and Gordon’s return to the track have helped lift spirits at HMS.
“The team is really excited,” he said. “More than anything, when (Earnhardt) walked in that building it just lifted everybody up. We’re really excited. Everybody is there for Junior and his health is the No. 1 priority. We feel good about where we are right now.”
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