Hendrick Motorsports exec offers ‘mixed’ assessment of season to date

Doug Duchardt, the general manager for Hendrick Motorsports, speaks candidly about the organization’s 2016 performance.

With the Sprint Cup Series enjoying its first off-week of the 2016 season, it’s a natural time for drivers and teams to reflect on how the first five races have gone.

Doug Duchardt, the general manager for Hendrick Motorsports, did just that this week for a story published on HendrickMotorsports.com.

Citing what he called “mixed results,” Duchardt is encouraged by how the 11-time Sprint Cup championship-winning organization has bounced back after a rough outing in the Daytona 500 where none of the four Hendrick drivers finished in the top 10.

Since then, Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson has scored wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway, while teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and rookie Chase Elliott have also shown flashes of strength.

With five races in the books, Hendrick has two drivers in the top 10 in points — Johnson is second and Earnhardt is eighth.

Hurt by two finishes outside the top 35, Elliott sits 16th in the standings, followed by teammate Kasey Kahne in 18th.

“Our (Daytona) Speedweeks was going well until the Daytona 500 — I felt like our cars were competitive — (but) unfortunately we didn’t get the results we wanted there,” Duchardt told the Hendrick Motorsports website. “But as we’ve transitioned into the meat of our season, the downforce tracks, I feel like the team has good momentum.

“Our cars have good speed and we need to just focus on continuing to improve our cars and executing well during the race. If we can do that, I think we’re going to have good results as we get into the season.”

With Johnson’s win last weekend at Auto Club Speedway, Hendrick became the first organizaton to go to Victory Lane twice in 2016.

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