Rick Hendrick built the winningest team in NASCAR in over four decades, and according to Dale Earnhardt Jr., it comes down to Rick Hendrick's way of dealing with tough moments.

During the podcast, 'Dale Jr Download', Junior was questioned by Travis Rockhold if he was concerned about the way things were going for Hendrick Motorsports. 

"I’ve been with HMS when they sort of get into these ruts, or these little phases,” Earnhardt said on the podcast. “I’m not concerned, because what happens is they’ll have a competition meeting, which they’ll have one this week. They’ll have one every week."

We've seen this before, back in 2018, when the team battled a 21-race wait for their first win of the season. Hendrick emphasized the winning attitude of the team was what let them find the win for Chase Elliott at Watkins Glen International.

And that's what Earnhardt Jr. spoke of as well. "Rick rarely ever gets stern, but when he does, it gets your attention, because you don’t see it often, and you know that he means fix it or else, or there’s going to be some consequences."

Earnhardt further added that once Hendrick gives the warning, everyone "dial up the freaking effort," and they try to be the first ones to come up with a breakthrough to their issues. 

"And what happens is everybody wants to be the one that runs back to Rick with the token. ‘Look what I found, we worked hard, and we got this.’ They want to go, ‘Hey, you said work. We worked. We found three horsepower. We’re taking some bada** s*** to the next race."

Dale Jr. further explained how this has helped in getting the team results over the years and improving as well. 

"And when everybody’s doing that, and everybody brings a little bit of something back to the table, you go to the racetrack, and you see it. You see the results start happening."

That's what HMS must do this season as well, considering two of its drivers, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, are in the top ten and have two wins this season courtesy of Chase Elliott. However, this stat of two wins has been matched by Trackhouse Racing, Team Penske, and Spire Motorsports. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr weighs in on Josh Berry’s future in NASCAR

Last month Wood Brothers Racing and Josh Berry announced that they were parting ways at the end of the season. However, since then there has been no news about Berry’s future in NASCAR. 

While recapping the North Wilkesboro race on the aforementioned podcast, Dale Jr. spoke about Berry’s NASCAR journey before joining the WBR team and raised concerns about Berry’s future in the series. 

"I don’t know what has happened, but it’s unfortunate because I don’t know where this goes for Josh,” Earnhardt said. “I don’t, and the landscape right now is crappy for guys like him.

"I don’t know what opportunities even exist. Pick a series, Truck, O’Reilly, or Cup. Where is there a car or a truck that is looking for a driver? I don’t know. It’s just a bad time."

At the moment, there are no rides vacant in any of the series. Besides this, the biggest issue for Berry has been the lack of funding he brings into the team. 

As of now, Josh Berry’s future in NASCAR remains one of the biggest question marks. 

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest! 

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar