From Hero to Zero: Hendrick Motorsports squanders major opportunity at Talladega

EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER

William Byron looks at the data during practice at Kansas Speedway. (Photo Credit: Riley Ogle, Motorsports Today, September 27th, 2025)

As the pack zoomed through the trioval to take the white flag late Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, Hendrick Motorsports was seemingly in control to stamp its ticket in the Championship 4. Chase Elliott had been wiped out in a stage one crash, but his Hendrick teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron led the field on the inside line on the final lap of the YellaWood 500. In a matter of moments, things would take a drastic turn.

On the back straightaway, Kyle Larson suddenly peeled out of the racing groove from the lead, seemingly out of fuel as the race continued past its scheduled distance in overtime because of Chris Buescher's crash from the lead with two laps remaining. This move killed the momentum of the inside line, as the Toyotas surged from the top, with Chase Briscoe taking the lead with a mammoth push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs.

Briscoe ultimately kept his Bass Pro Shops Toyota in front of the pack, holding off a hard-charging Todd Gilliland to lock up a spot in the title fight alongside last week's winner, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.

To add insult to injury for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet, William Byron was unable to salvage a top five and a solid points day, as he spun in the trioval after contact with Carson Hocevar, losing 20 spots in the blink of an eye. Byron would cross the finish line 25th, just one position ahead of the sputtering Larson.

With Briscoe's victory, only two spots remain up for grabs in the Championship 4 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, and despite Hendrick Motorsports' record of success at Martinsville and other short tracks in the Next Gen era, it will be an uphill battle for all three of their drivers to have a shot at the title at Phoenix in two weeks time.

Because of their respective Round of 8 misfortunes, Byron and Elliott both sit more than 30 points on the outside looking in, leaving the pair in essential "must-win" situations this weekend. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson's 36 point buffer is deceptive; it might appear comfortable, but if any driver below the cutline wins their way through on Sunday, Larson will find himself in a points battle with Christopher Bell, who he currently trails by a single point, for the final spot.

"It's great to be [36 points ahead] if nobody below wins," Larson said postrace. "You've got to assume one of them is going to win, they're all really good there. Every single one of them has a win there."

One of those aforementioned drivers who could certainly play spoiler is Penske's Ryan Blaney, who won last year's cutoff race at Martinsville and was victorious in NASCAR's most recent flat oval race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month.

Just three weeks ago at Kansas Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports took advantage of a Toyota collapse to steal a victory. Now, Hendrick themselves have self-destructed at a far more consequential time, creating a very realistic scenario where NASCAR's most storied team doesn't have a dog in the fight at Phoenix in 13 days.