NASCAR: Johnson Calls Out SHR, HMS Paints Different Picture
Six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson recently expressed some frustration about the working relationship between Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing. Shortly after making the comments that he did, HMS came out and painted a different picture than that one that Johnson provided.
Team Hendrick and SHR have a technical alliance in the world of NASCAR. While they are separate teams, there is an agreement between the two in which HMS provides SHR with equipment (engines and chassis) and the two teams share information back and forth to benefit both teams. HMS driver Jimmie Johnson recently expressed his belief that SHR was not living up to their end of the bargain.
Just to be selfishly speaking, we didn’t get their data. We didn’t share their data. They had ours. So it was a fantastic situation for them. They had our best stuff and then they have a huge engineering staff and they can take Hendrick’s best equipment and refine it.
After Johnson made those comments Team Hendrick quickly painted a different picture, one that was actually opposite of Johnson’s take on the situation. Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt spoke with the AP shortly after Johnson did and he spoke about how the relationship between HMS and SHR has been mutually beneficial for his entire time with the team.
That is the way it worked from the time I have been at Hendrick Motorsports. We received information from Stewart-Haas when we worked with them. When they made their announcement with Ford that changed things. But the bottom line is that as partners we exchanged data.
So what’s the real story? Was Johnson incorrect in his comments or was Duchardt simply trying to not rock the boat?
Either way it doesn’t really matter as SHR will move from Chevy to Ford next season which means that their relationship with HMS will officially come to an end. As Duchardt noted in his above comments, the relationship between the two already began to change this season once SHR announced their move to Ford for next season.
Moving forward it will be interesting to see if HMS tries to find another partnership to replace the void that SHR is going to leave. Having HMS equipment run by other teams is beneficial on multiple levels and losing the alliance with SHR does hurt a little bit.
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