NASCAR insider singles out Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott to improve performance

Hendrick Motorsports stars Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott have been outperformed by teammate William Byron to start the 2025 season. NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi wants to see more from the powerful duo after a promising weekend in Arizona.

While the duo didn’t exactly compete for the win throughout the afternoon at Phoenix Raceway, Larson came home P3, and Elliott finished P10. While it was a more than solid performance from them, Bianchi believes Hendrick Motorsports is expecting more from Larson and Elliott, and they’re going to need to compete for some wins in the coming weeks.

“If I’m Hendrick, I want more,” Bianchi said, via the latest episode of The Teardown. “I’m looking at this going, ‘The only guy we felt confident in today who maybe had a chance to run with the No. 20 was the No. 24.’ For most of the day, the No. 9 was meh. He was out to lunch. Then he rallied back and finished P10. Which is fine. Like, when you’ve got a bad day and you finish tenth, that’s a good thing. [Alex] Bowman had a really good day. Good job from him, coming back. But he was never, at any point, did you think he was going to win this race? He never looked like he had any speed. 

“Kyle Larson said post-race, ‘We finished third today, but we didn’t have a great car.’ So, they’re obviously not clicking to the level that we’re used to seeing these guys at. Even on Hendrick’s bad day, Kyle Larson finishes third. Nearly wins the race. Bowman and Elliott — all four cars finish in the top ten. I guess, on the one hand, you should be encouraged, but no. They have work to do.”

Even though Larson and Elliott have been bested by the competition to start 2025, the schedule shakes out well for them. Las Vegas is next weekend, followed by Homestead and Martinsville. Bianchi thinks it could be a stretch that proves fruitful for the No. 5 and No. 9.

“I’m really curious to see what they have for Las Vegas and Homestead,” Bianchi added. “We really haven’t seen much out of the No. 5 team this year. That’s not disrespectful or anything. They’re doing well. I mean, they finished third again today. They had a good run going at COTA. They rallied back. They probably would’ve had a better finish if they hadn’t had that spin there. But we really haven’t seen a dominant, assertive performance from the No. 5 team this year. I think the last time would’ve probably been at Homestead last fall. 

“I’m waiting for these guys to break out, and I keep waiting for Chase Elliott. Show me more. It’s like he’s — last year, you look at the stats and you’re like, ‘Average finish is good, and he’s in the mix,’ but he wasn’t winning stages. He only won one race. That team is just okay. They’re not great. They’re not dominant. They’re not world-beaters. When’s the last time we looked at the No. 9 team and said, ‘Man, they’re kicking everyone’s [ass], week-in and week-out. They’re the championship favorite.’ We haven’t talked about them in a while like that. It’s first-world problem, when you run as well as they are, and you’re like, ‘That’s bad,’ but that’s the standard that they have to live with.”

All told, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are arguably the two most popular drivers in NASCAR, and Jordan Bianchi believes they could raise their performance over the next few weeks. Time will tell if they’re able to, but Hendrick Motorsports will certainly give them every opportunity to succeed.