Hendrick Motorsports stars respond to 'crazy' Penske revival at New Hampshire

Hendrick Motorsports' three remaining NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers have revealed their thoughts after the first race in the Round of 12 on Sunday.

The first round of the 2025 postseason was dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing, with their three playoff drivers winning a race each to ease their path to the next three-race block.

Hendrick drivers struggled though, with Alex Bowman getting knocked out and the trio of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron all struggling to make their mark.

Last Sunday at New Hampshire, though, the script flipped and saw the JGR cars struggle, while the Hendrick boys improved – but not as much as Team Penske, who dominated the Magic Mile, with Larson calling their performance 'crazy'.

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Kyle Larson on New Hampshire

Speaking to Jayski.com, Larson admitted: “Penske was even better than I think they are compared to the rest of the field in the past. When I was behind [Ryan Blaney], his car was crazy gripped up compared to mine.

"Mine didn’t even feel that bad that run and I just let him go and he was flying. [Joey Logano] was a step off of him and I thought [Josh Berry] was pretty close to Ryan.”

Asked if Hendrick had closed the gap to Penske on flatter ovals, Larson admitted: "No. I thought Hendrick Motorsports was better than [Joe Gibbs Racing] today.

“At times, I thought we were the third or fourth best car. On cycled tires and right sides, those runs, I wasn’t as good. We will look at that and see what to learn from it. All and all, it was a great points day.”

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William Byron

Also speaking after the race, Byron added: “We weren’t close today in terms of [Penske’s] pace, but I thought we were so much improved for our standard. This is definitely a shot in the arm for us.

"It shows what we’re capable of and that we can put our mind to. I’m excited going forward after today. We’ve got to keep building. We’ve got to keep working on it, but this is a lot closer than we’ve been at this track.”

On his spot in the playoff standings, he said: “Never enough of a cushion. Just try to go to every race, every weekend and execute well. Certainly a better start than we anticipated.”

Chase Elliott

“I feel like it was about where we were at Gateway. The Saturday stuff, we’ve got to be better and not to be digging [ourselves] out of these situations every weekend. That’s on me – just have to figure it out.

“I thought our pace was really good today. We weren’t up there with [Blaney] and them, but otherwise, I thought we were pretty solid.”

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