Hendrick President Jeff Andrews on Rick Hendrick’s Talk: ‘We Want to Make Him Happy’

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Hendrick Motorsports president Jeff Andrews said a conversation with team owner Rick Hendrick during a rough regular season took the pressure off the team’s leaders, before Kyle Larson turned the season around in the Chase.

Andrews made the comments on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week.

Andrews: ‘We want to make him happy’

“He had a key conversation with us that I think took a lot of pressure off of a lot of us, our crew chiefs and our leadership team, of just go out and do your very best, and leave the track every week knowing you’ve done your very best,” Andrews said.

“And, you know, certainly those wise words from him. And every single day we come in here and drive onto this complex, we want to make him happy.”

https://x.com/SiriusXMNASCAR/status/2115961152991576409

A two-win regular season

Hendrick won just two of the 26 regular-season races, both with Chase Elliott, including the spring race at Martinsville. Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman went winless before the Chase.

Larson went 51 races without a win, dating back to May 2025, before winning at World Wide Technology Raceway in the Chase. He followed with a win at Kansas Speedway and then won at Talladega on Sunday.

Where Hendrick stands

Larson leads the Chase by 73 points over Denny Hamlin with two races left and can clinch his third Cup title at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday if he leaves with a lead of at least 77 points. He is the only Hendrick driver still in title contention. Byron and Elliott were eliminated after Talladega.

Andrews also said this week that Hendrick has no team orders, and laughed off social media theories that Chevrolet drivers handed Larson the Talladega win, as Pit This Time reported.

Larson won the 2025 title at Phoenix after a midseason slump of his own, when crew chief Cliff Daniels said the team regrouped before the playoffs.

What’s next

The Xfinity 500 is Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC from Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.