Chase Elliott winning the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Most Popular Driver (MPD) award is practically a yearly tradition at this point. In 2024, he secured his seventh consecutive title, tying him with Bobby Allison for fourth-most all-time wins. His popularity is undeniable. Fans adore him, and his presence brings an electric energy to NASCAR’s fanbase. But popularity only gets you so far in a results-driven sport.
While Elliott remains a fan favorite, his performance on the track tells a different story. The last three seasons have been riddled with inconsistency. Meanwhile, his Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) teammates are thriving. Is there trouble on the horizon for the #9 team? Let’s take a deeper dive into the team’s performances.
Chase Elliott’s progressive decline
There was a time when Chase Elliott looked like the clear future of Hendrick Motorsports (HMS). His 2020 championship win cemented him as a top driver, and fans expected him to dominate for years. But fast forward to 2025, and Elliott’s performance has been anything but dominant.
In 2022, he won the regular season championship and made the championship 4, but an uninspiring 28th place finish after starting 5th was the first domino that fell. 2023 was even worse! He missed races due to a snowboarding injury and a suspension for right-hooking Denny Hamlin, ultimately failing to make the playoffs. 2024 saw some improvement, but he still wasn’t the Chase Elliott of old. While he finished seventh in the final standings, he only managed one win all season. Compared to his early dominance, this decline is hard to ignore. In 2025, Elliott is yet to win a race and has just one top-5 finish to his name. Meanwhile, his HMS teammates are operating on another level.
Kyle Larson and William Byron have firmly established themselves as the team’s top drivers. Larson, the 2021 Cup champion, remains a weekly contender, dominating wherever he goes. In 2024, Larson won a season-high 6 races, and if it wasn’t for rain, causing him to miss the Coca-Cola 600, he would have been the regular season champion. In the 2025 season, Larson finally broke his streak of Homestead heartbreaks to win at the track he is best at, cementing his spot in the 2025 playoffs.
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William Byron, meanwhile, has evolved into a winning machine himself. He scored six victories in 2023 and made his first Championship 4 as Elliott watched from the sidelines. Then in 2024 he won 3 more races and made another entry into the championship 4 as the only HMS driver. He began the 2025 season with a repeat victory at the Daytona 500 and has been following it up with impressive top-10 performances in the subsequent races as he leads the Cup Series standings with 244 points.
Both drivers seem locked in, while Elliott continues to fight for relevancy. At this point, Hendrick Motorsports’ best shots at a title aren’t coming from the No. 9 camp. In fact, even the #48, Alex Bowman, who was termed as merely the ‘fourth Hendrick car’, has now shown incredible consistency, rivaling the best at Hendrick Motorsports.
Alex Bowman breaks through in 2025
Officially/unofficially, Alex Bowman has been considered Hendrick’s ‘fourth driver’. The one who isn’t quite at the level of Elliott, Larson, or Byron. But in 2025, that narrative is shifting. Bowman has been one of the most consistent drivers in the garage, regularly competing for top-10 finishes while Elliott struggles to match his teammates. Only at Atlanta (26), has the No. 48 driver finished outside of the top 10 in the 2025 season.
While Bowman might not have the outright speed of Larson or Byron, his ability to stay out of trouble and capitalize on opportunities has made him a key part of HMS’s success. The fact that Elliott is now the fourth-best driver on his own team is a shocking development, as he sits sixth in the Cup Series standings at 181 points, with Byron, Larson, and Bowman occupying the top three spots at 200+ points each. If this trend continues, Elliott may have to start worrying about his long-term future with HMS.
Despite Chase Elliott’s popularity, like other NASCAR teams, Hendrick Motorsports is built on results, not fan votes. If Elliott wants to remain a cornerstone of the team, he needs to start winning again. And fast! His contract runs through 2027, but if HMS sees him as a liability rather than an asset, tough decisions could be on the horizon. At the moment, his fans remain loyal, but at some point, even they will want more than just popularity trophies.
For now, Elliott still has a chance to turn things around. He remains one of NASCAR’s most talented drivers, and a hot streak could put him right back in the championship mix. But if he continues to lag behind his teammates, HMS might start shifting its focus away from the No. 9 team, leaving Elliott in an unfamiliar position as the odd man out. Elliott definitely wouldn’t want that and neither do we!
So what do you think? Are Elliott’s struggles just a bad run of form? Or is this a worrying trend that hints at something bigger? Let us know in the comments!
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