Do any of you believe that HMS is waiting on the chase to show their hand?

May be...

No I don't think they are holding back. HMS has a lot on the line and a few wins would be fantastic for them. If they had it they would be using it right now. I do think they are getting better at least Gordon seems to be running in the top 10 most the time. Junior & Jimmie have been up there. I think they are actually going along pretty well all 3 top drivers are in the Chase so far.

Though I am not a fan of the Hendricks drivers I hardly think that, as good as they were in the past, that they are going to just sit back and watch everyone else win races and then race like heck when it comes to the chase for the championship.

I don't believe it either. The bottom line is that a race team wins every time they can. Always!

Hopefully they will find something by then.

nascar is too competitive for any team to be sandbagging like that. If they had it they'd be dogging everyone else like they were last 2 years. the racing gods put a hex on hendrick for giving kyle busch to the dark side and keeping casey mears (wtf!!!???!!!?)

I've read this many times on here this season! I don't buy it! I think they would be winning if they could! They could be somewhat better as they get back to the tracks that are ran twice a year. Four cars, fourteen races into the season. Only one win! They do have some work to do to catch-up, let alone to be as dominate as they were the last two years!!
What do you think?

we can go on vacations, pay for sex, and come back in a couple of months!
...oh wait. Jail isn't a vacation, but the sex wasn't bad

I don't believe that for one second. If they could win races like they did last year they would be doing it.

Again I have to agree with #18 fan here. It makes perfect since seeing how being in the top 12 is all that matters right now. (hey NASACR look at the F1 point system) It doesn't pay to use up all your equiptment befoee the chase and if you have something in the tool box that will leave the rest seeing double it would be better to spring it on them during the chase than before. Heck these guys ain't dummies but by the time it would take them to figure out what HMS is doing the season would be over.

Should be interesting....

I don't think HMS is holding back & waiting for the chase to start. They race to win & hopefully they can turn it around soon & Jimmie & Jeff show Earnhardt Jr who is still are the top 2 dogs at HMS

No I don't believe that at all. They are having problems with the new tires that goodyear came up with this year. I sure hope they get it down soon !

I only hope that is true. Can't believe that though. Too much competitiveness in the driver's for that.

No there not! Mabye there's some problem they have in there chemistry, feeling they could win because they dominated last year, but don't pay enough attention to trying to win.




Go Jr # 88!

Looking back at their history, I do believe jimmie and jeff are playing conservative..hang out around the top 10 in points until a few races to go till the chase, then make a run for the top 5 in points and during the chase theyll really show what they got, and kyle busch will slip during the chase.

No, it's just wishful thinking. Actually they've had several finishes that were better than the cars were worthy of. For instance Junior's last race and Jeff's the week before.

i not only believe it, i just wrote it as my answer to another question - but i wouldn't call it "holding back," i'd call it practicing for the last ten races while maintaining a spot in the top 12. chad knaus all but said so on numerous occasions; they focus all their energies on those last ten races. and gordon has said that about johnson/knaus and how he and letarte didn't do that last year and ended up losing by using a "win in the first 26" strategy.

no one is saying they are holding back so much as to lose out on much in terms of money or points - if they happen to try something new and it works for a race, they'll sail on with it. if it doesn't, they go to work on a fallback strategy and get good top-ten or top-fifteen finishes. how many times have their cars sucked this year, only for them to pull some oddball strategy move like at pocono or charlotte, that gets them back into or near the top ten. and either way, they learn something new that will help them in the chase.

the first 26 races are just preparation and practice for these guys - a chance to try out new things, but not so far out that they drop from the top 12. don't you find it interesting that the media spend so much time on "hms's downfall" and how poorly they are doing, etc. but somehow johnson and gordon are 6th and 8th in the points? chad knaus is a very smart crew chief and excellent strategist who doesn't mind doing the unusual. need proof? re-watch the pocono race. and this "not show our hand" pre-chase season is a great strategy.

and i agree with everyone on here who says that they're too competitive to lose a race on purpose - but that's not what they're doing. they're looking to win a championship, and if they win races along the way, great. but the chase has forced teams to think strategically over the whole season rather than solely on a race-by-race basis. burton and bowyer talk about it all the time - stay consistent, get in the chase, then run for the money.

like i said before, mark my words, come loudon in september, they'll be nestled somewhere in the middle of the top twelve, but then game on son... i think then the epic battle that everyone expected - hms vs jgr - will be in full force.

No. That's not their style. jeffy and jimmie's ego's will not let them lose. They have to, Have To, HAVE TO win, ALWAYS!!! Heck, only 4 times a year do they ever lay back and wait 'till the end (Daytona and Talladega races). At all of the other races they get to the front as quickly as possible (which this year seems to be about 100 laps past the end of the race), and dominate the race.

HMS has three drivers in the top twelve. I don't think they could do much better than that. Wait until the chase and then see what happens.

How can you know you have the best car when this is the first year with it full time. They would have to at least run up front and drop off at the end of the race to make it look like they haven't figured it out. Now if they were running the old cars this year, giving the performance they had last year, I would say yes they're holding back without a doubt.

I don't think they are holding back right now. It's hard for to believe any driver or owner putting in the time and money to play opposum for 26 races.

I do feel though that they will hit on something, sooner rather than later..and all three will be there down the stretch of the Chase.