Great Expectations for Team Hendrick

On January 23rd, the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour stopped by Hendrick Motorsports and saw four very confident drivers address the media.

Between the four drivers, their owner, Rick Hendrick was seated in the middle. Last year, Hendrick proclaimed at the beginning of the year that all four of his drivers would qualify for NASCAR's playoffs, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

But this year, he wants the team to strive for more. “As a whole, we’re more confident this year and we feel we have a shot to win this year. We’re as prepared as we’ve ever been,” Hendrick said. “(Last year), we fumbled the ball in the closing minutes of the game. We want to get back to the Super Bowl.” (via Nascar.com)

This is a great accomplishment for any race team, it's very hard to have each of the drivers on a team make the Chase. It'll be very interesting to see if not only all of Hendrick's drivers can not only make the Chase but to see if one of these could possibly bring home the trophy.

If the past can predict, it would be Jimmie Johnson to likely bring home the hardware. Johnson has not only won five titles but they won them in a row from 2006 to 2010.

The next in line would likely be Jeff Gordon. Gordon is a four time series champion winning in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. Although it's been more than decade since Gordon's won the title, he will be on an even slate with the new Gen6 car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was in the mix for the Cup last year will also be a threat. He was found in the top five in the standings throughout the regular season until he finished outside the top 20 in three of the 10 races for the Cup.

Lastly, there's Kasey Kahne. In Kahne's first year under Hendrick's stable, Kahne finished in the top five in the standings. “I don't think we were far off,” Kahne said. “But if we can keep that same drive and same competitiveness that we've had, hopefully we can get right back in that same situation and make a strong run at a championship this season.” (via Nascar.com)

Nevertheless, this could be an even better year for the Hendrick boys, and to Rick Hendrick, that'll meet his expectations.