If there’s one team that has kept the NASCAR garage buzzing all season long, it’s Rick Hendrick’s Hendrick Motorsports. William Byron lit up the summer stretch and walked away with the regular season championship, flexing consistency and speed that made him look every bit like the title favorite. Add in the fact that all four Hendrick drivers (Byron, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson) punched their ticket to the playoffs, and suddenly the powerhouse squad looked unstoppable on paper.

Fans were already dreaming of a Hendrick-dominated postseason, maybe even a clean sweep to the Championship 4. But just as the champagne dried from Byron’s regular-season celebration, Darlington threw a gut punch. Instead of dominance, the opener brought chaos and a lot of nervous glances in the

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