Jeff Gordon brands Hendrick Motorsports’s 2023 season as ‘bit disappointing’

Jeff Gordon has mixed feelings about HMS’ 2023 season.

Jeff Gordon brands Hendrick Motorsports’s 2023 season as ‘bit disappointing’

Jeff Gordon (Via IMAGO)

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season was a story of two halves for Hendrick Motorsports. Two of their drivers, Kyle Larson and William Byron were among the best drivers of the season, which saw them end the year P2 and P3 in the championship, following a disappointing result in the season finale.  

On the other side of Rick Hendrick’s race shop Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman were struggling. They missed out on a combined 11 races due to injury failed to score a single win, and missed out on the playoffs. Both drivers failed to consistently be at the front like their teammate after coming back from injury despite having similar cars.

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Jeff Gordon, the HMS Vice-Chairman, and the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, admitted that he is disappointed with this duality at HMS. He pointed out that they executed well in 2023 but the Elliott-Bowman duo’s cars weren’t fast enough. The HMS legend claimed that the team is motivated to exceed expectations in 2024 due to the poor run.

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At the same time, we came up short. That’s also a bit disappointing. I feel like Hendrick Motorsports thrives in those opportunities. I feel like we executed flawlessly in that Phoenix race, but we just didn’t have the speed. We got beat quite simply. We will be highly motivated through that experience for 2024.
Jeff Gordon told HendrickMotorsports.com.

Jeff Gordon was elated to see Kyle Larson and Willaim Byron at the finale

Byron and Larson were the drivers who deserved to win the title this season. If not for the impressive turnaround to the season champion Ryan Blaney had at the final five races, one of the HMS drivers would’ve taken the title.

Chase and Jeff
Chase Elliott (@NASCAR/Twitter) and Jeff Gordan (Credits: Sportscasting)

Gordon, before giving the disappointing season verdict, highlighted the impressive season Larson and Byron had. He admitted that it was exciting for the whole HMS garage to see two of their drivers fighting for the title in the finale.

It’s hard not to be excited to have two (teams) that went to the Championship 4 and had a shot at winning the championship. Those two teams performed at a high level all year long…To see them grind it out this year and find their way to Phoenix (Raceway) to compete for a championship was exciting and great for the whole company to see.

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