Is Hendrick as dominate as folks think they are?

Question

Lets look at the facts:
At Bristol, Kyle won, but Jeff Burton had the best car.
Martinsville - JJ won, Denny Hamlin had the best car.
Richmond - JJ won, Harvick had the best car.
Darlington - Gordon won, Denny had the best car.
Lowes - Mears won, Stewart had the best car.
Dega - that was a crap shoot, any car that was up front at the time could've won.

Now I dont take anything away from them, on paper they are the most dominate to this point, BUT the reality of it is, Hendrick drivers have been at the right place at the right time. So really there is nothing that NA$CAR can do, as much as I hate it, other teams just need to do a better job of keeping their cars up front when it counts, and thats the last lap.

Also, I'm not defending Hendricks, but I'm not for them either, these are just the facts as I see them.

Dont Judge, I am a Jr fan, but this is an unbias question.

Gumby, I dont care that Gordon will get #5 this year. I have him picked to win it. But thats not the point to the question, Hendrick is not as dominant as they appear to be.

Clintea, although I agree with you that the best car doesnt always win. But the facts remain, they havent had the best cars. I'm not putting HMS down, I'm just calling it like I see it.

OK, I'm just going to put 1 blanket statement and I wont respond to to many more comments.

A dominant team is a team that leads the most laps and wins the most races. I'm not saying that HMS is not a model organization, I'm saying, open your eyes fans, HMS is only dominant on paper, not on the track. As far as consistancy wins cups, I'm going to have to disagree with you, consistancy gets you in the chase, it doesnt win the cup anymore. The team with the least amount of issues in the final 10 wins the cup.

The point to this question is really to get people to ease off HMS, there are other good teams out there and it will be just a matter of time before it really starts showing. I may be a little off here, but when Tony won the cup in 2005, from mid point on, he was the dominant team, they led the most laps and won races. Lets take Matt Kenseth, I believe it was last year, he was all but out of the chase, consistancy got him in the chase, but he didnt do crap in the chase.

kkahn9dodge, are you calling me a dumbass?

A lot of great anwsers and thanks for all of them. I will let this go to the voting board.

Answer 1

Dude you should be writting books about Nascar !And being a Hendrick fan I have to say that I agree with you 100 %!

Answer 2

Rick Hendrick has the model for organization and consistency that other teams would like to copy. You won't find better personnel across the board from the guys that sweep the floors to the crew chiefs, engineers and drivers than what HMS has. They have capitalized when other drivers/teams have made mistakes towards the end of races this year. With so many factors involved with winning a race the best car seldom is the one in victory lane. They had unbelievable success with the 24 car in the mid to late 90s but now any of the 4 cars is a threat to win any given race (O.K. the 5, 24 and 48 anyway). Some are calling them a little lucky this year and trying to detract from some of the wins but you know how the saying goes, "sometimes you have to MAKE your own luck." Their is no luck involved in saving your equipment, being smart about managing your race and making sure you're running at the end to have a shot at the victory. And yes, I am a Jimmie Johnson fan. He may not have the most driving talent but he is the best in the business at picking his battles early and knowing when it's go time at the end of a race. I wouldn't say that's dominating but the results speak for themselves.

I agree, they are not dominating the races just doing the best at avoiding the stupid mistakes. You can't call capitalizing on someone else's misfortunes dominating. I've also never felt like Matt Kenseth has dominated but he is another guy that just keeps plugging along (current longest streaks running at the finish and finishing on the lead lap) and is always around at the end. They may not dominate individual races but there consitency has them dominating the standings.

Answer 3

HMS has NOT dominated this season. I'm a Hendrick fan, but I know dominance when I see it and barring a few tracks, I haven't seen it from the HMS stable. There have been races this year where HMS led the most laps and had the best car, but to label them "dominate" for the season so far is too far of a stretch. Take Mears this weekend, a Hendrick car once again won, but he was no where near the best car. HMS has simply done an EXCELLENT job this year of picking up the fumble. When a team slips, Hendrick seems to always be there to take up the slack. Of course, this is where all the conspiracy theorist thrive on the argument that NASCAR is rigging the races for certain drivers to win. We all know this isn't true, it's just that HMS, so far mind you, has been what you have to be to win races...not the best car on the track, but near perfect on the track and pit road.

Answer 4

Not really. They may have won all those races, but think of all the laps that have been lead by Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick in the COT races. It is just a matter of time before they complete a race without trouble and really blow the HMS cars out of the water. I also want to see how the COT performs on the road courses and who dominates there. It takes a lot to prepare for those road courses, so whoever really has the car pinned down by then should clean up on the right turns.

Answer 5

To be the best you have to come to each track prepared and ready to race. You have to be ready for anything the competition throws at you. Every race that hendrick has won this year they won because they were the most prepared team, simple as that. Every race that you said some one else shold have won and didnt win is because they werent prepared.

When your team screws up a pit stop or doesnt make the right adjustments then it shows that u arent fit to win that race. Hendricks dominance is based upin exp. among the drivers and the copperation among teams, if all the other organizations focused on this they may be winning like hendrick is. Hendrick wins are no fluke this year, they show up ready week in and week out and thats why they are the fav. for the championship again!

Answer 6

Dominant? At this point, yes. It goes in cycles. For a while DEI was unbeatable on the restrictor-plate tracks. Their program has since come back to the field there, and the inabililty to win consistently on any other tracks is what will keep any DEI driver from winning a championship and that is the main reason that Junior is leaving. The Hendrick organization just has all of the pieces fitting into the right places at this time.

Answer 7

While I'm going to agree with you,that they aren't quite as dominate as they appear.It still comes down to not making mistakes and a veteran crew and crew-chief making the rights calls at the right time.That can be dominating.Hendricks puts alot of value in their TEAMS.While D.E.I. is playing games switching Tony jr. to Mikeys car a couple years ago,Hendrick is building championships.Dale Jr. understands that fact and thats part of his frustration.Oh and by the way if J.J. doesnt lose a lug nut on pit road,I'm not sure Tony had the best chance to win.Mistakes cost races the less u make...........well you know.

Answer 8

I agree completely. They have had a lot of things go right for them this year. Some of it's luck, some of it's skill. Think about the pit that Jeff Gordon was making when the yellow came out. Had the yellow come out 15 seconds later, he would have gone a lap down. The fuel gamble could have very easily backfired for Casey last race. They are very good at saving their cars for when it counts, but lady luck has smiled brightly on them this season also.

Answer 9

Yes Hedricks motorsports is the best team out there right now they got a hold on the new car but if you have notice that all the cars that are winning are chevy's and not fords so that should tell you something and hendricks motorsports were the first to get a grip on so yea

Answer 10

"dominate" should have been spelled with bold italic letters. they are dominant when it counts the most, the last lap. im sure lady luck had something to do with it, or maybe God's a Chevy/ Hendrick fan, who knows. Just get used to the fact Gordon will hoist the Nextel Cup Trophie @ Homestead miami in a couple of months. GO HENDRICK... GO GORDON!!!!

Answer 11

Everyone's pretty much answered this one. But yeah, you don't have to be dominate to win a race (or 9). You have to first put yourself in position, then hope a whole lot of stuff goes right for you. That's the key to winning the championship too. Run consistent, and get a lot of luck along the way.