The starting grid for the 57th Daytona 500, back in 2015, was an ode to Hendrick Motorsports.
Jeff Gordon, coming off his best season since 2007, started on the pole in what would be his final 500 start. Jimmie Johnson, a mere six-time champion at the time, started on the outside pole. Reigning Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., also coming off one of the best seasons of his career, started behind Gordon in third. Kasey Kahne, who scored his 17th Cup win the previous Fall in [...]
The starting grid for the 57th Daytona 500, back in 2015, was an ode to Hendrick Motorsports.
Jeff Gordon, coming off his best season since 2007, started on the pole in what would be his final 500 start. Jimmie Johnson, a mere six-time champion at the time, started on the outside pole. Reigning Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., also coming off one of the best seasons of his career, started behind Gordon in third. Kasey Kahne, who scored his 17th Cup win the previous Fall in Atlanta, started 13th.
Sandwiched between the four of them was 68 combined years of experience at the Cup level, 202 Cup wins and 10 championships.
Fast-forward three years to next week's 60th Daytona 500 and, as Rick Pitino would (probably) say, Jeff Gordon isn't walking through that door. Neither is Junior Earnhardt. Neither is Kahne (unless you accidentally find yourself at the No. 95 hauler).
The only driver left is the 42-year-old Johnson, who, thanks to Matt Kenseth's retirement, now holds the title of oldest full-time Cup driver in the series.
"He is kind of the grandpa of the organization," laughed new teammate William Byron, who inherits Gordon's iconic 24 this season. "But it's awesome to have a seven-time champion as your teammate and have a person like him to lean on. That is really special. I think he’s going to take us to school a few times, but we’re going to hopefully learn from it and be better.”
Byron, 20, will be the youngest driver in the Cup series this year, and is the newest addition to the Hendrick stable, along with 24-year-old Alex Bowman. Those two, along with 22-year-old Chase Elliott, now in his third season, will be tasked with helping Johnson make Hendrick a championship contender once again.
"That fresh blood brings great excitement, and it also brings just a different vantage point," said Johnson. "There has been plenty of fun. Their effort level is going to be really high. We might get some inconsistent feedback getting started until they can dial in at 100 percent and identify with that, but I'm excited for a fresh perspective."
Johnson won three races in 2017, but was a non-factor the final four months of the season, recording just five top-10s over the final 20 races. The seven-time champion called it one of the most frustrating seasons of his career.
"I've never worked so hard in my life to get such little return," he added. "I know (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) can say the same and the team can. The efforts they put in, just mind-boggling. It's just so frustrating when you don't get anything for it. It's been easy motivation for 2018."
While Victory Lane eluded Elliott for the second straight season — the Dawsonville, Georgia, native was Hendrick's best, most consistent driver last year, recording 21 top-10s, 12 top-5s and five runner-up finishes.
Elliott even came within 10 laps of advancing to the championship race, but couldn't hold off Kenseth in the penultimate race at Phoenix.
"I think I'm fortunate to be in a situation where Mr. Hendrick put a lot of trust in me to do well," Elliott said. "He's had a reputation, his company, of winning, winning championships, winning races. I haven't really done that for him. I'd love to do my part."
This year, more than his first two, there will be more pressure than ever on Elliott to do his part. With Earnhardt Jr. retired, and Kahne off to Levine Family Racing, Johnson is the only driver at Hendrick with a Cup win.
Bowman last raced full-time in the Cup series in 2015, and has just three top-10s in 81 career races. He did show signs of promise when filling in for the concussed Earnhardt two years ago, leading 194 laps at Phoenix, but has been relegated to the simulator ever since.
Byron, last year's Xfinity champion, has never driven a Cup car. In fact, his first time behind the wheel, on an actual track, came two weeks ago during an organizational test in Las Vegas.
"Everybody has been an open book and it’s been awesome to get to work with them," said Bowman, who did win the Xfinity race at Charlotte last Fall. "I’ve got to spend quite a bit of time with William actually, which has been really cool. He is a great guy. I think all of us bring different, unique things to the table that is going to make the entire organization better."
With Cup haulers set to arrive at the track on Friday, it won't be long before we get our first glimpse at the new-look Hendrick stable for 2018. For Johnson, it won't just mark the start of a new season — his 18th — but the beginning of a new stage in his life.
"In my entire career, I always had a senior driver mentoring me," he said. "Obviously, most recently with Jeff Gordon. That's probably the most vivid recollection I have. I remember watching Jeff in moments, then telling him that I just learned something from him. He was like, 'What, really? How did you learn something from that? I wasn't really trying to teach anything.'
"I think, first and foremost, the way I carry myself, leading by example would be another way to put it, is very useful and helpful. Those three guys are very aware and have been studying me for a long time. Surprisingly, they kind of know what I'm up to, what I'm about. Another thing I also experienced along the way, there's nothing to get you prepared for the bright spotlight that comes with being a Cup driver ... there's just a lot of aspects to manage outside of driving the car.
"I'm going to try to be open for them, not just focused on the car side. They've had so much experience to this point, so many reps, all have been very successful, that I think it's probably less about the in-the-car stuff than it is about the outside stuff."