CONCORD, N.C. -- While the Charlotte roval has only been part of the NASCAR Cup Series circuit for a couple of seasons, it's become a crucial race in the playoffs.
This year, the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the cutoff race for the Round of 12, making it essential for those who haven't punched their ticket to the Round of 8 to perform well.
Luckily for Hendrick Motorsports, success at road courses has been frequent. Chase Elliott currently is the reigning Charlotte roval winner, Alex Bowman has two top-five finishes at the venue, William Byron earned the pole there last year and Jimmie Johnson almost snagged a victory at the course in 2018.
Take a look at some of the more notable stats of the organization as the drivers take on the third race in the Round of 12 of the playoffs of the season.
- Going into Sunday’s playoff event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval, Hendrick Motorsports has won NASCAR Cup Series road-course races in five different decades: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. The team holds the all-time record for Cup Series road-course victories with 19, including four of the most recent six and each of the last three. Six different drivers have won a road race for car owner Rick Hendrick: Jeff Gordon (nine), Elliott (four), Tim Richmond (three), Johnson, Geoff Bodine and Ricky Rudd.
- Hendrick Motorsports has notched as least one top-10 finish in 13 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races, its longest streak of the 2020 season. The last time the team reeled off more than 13 consecutive top-10s was in 2016 when it posted 15 in a row during a championship year. Hendrick Motorsports has also led laps in each of the last nine races, which is the longest active streak of any organization.
- In August, Elliott scored his third consecutive road-course victory at the DAYTONA Road Course, matching NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart’s streak in 2004-2005. Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon holds the record for most consecutive road-course wins with six (1997-2000).
- Byron's 2018 run at the roval was derailed by a flat tire but he rebounded in 2019 when he earned the pole and finished sixth. Byron is tied for the third-longest streak of top-10 finishes on road courses with two: the Charlotte roval in 2019 and the DAYTONA Road Course in 2020.
- Johnson is in a four-way tie for third-longest top-10 streak on a road course with two in a row. Earlier this season, Johnson placed fourth at the DAYTONA Road Course after starting 11th. His career stats are stellar for road courses as Johnson has an average start of fifth and average finish of 8.5.
- Bowman has the best average finish (3.0) among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers in two starts on the 2.28-mile roval. Last season, he finished second to teammate Elliott after 109 laps around the road course. The second-place result locked the 27-year-old driver into the Round of 12 in 2019. Bowman has finished inside the top 15 in all seven of his road-course starts with Hendrick Motorsports.
- Since the inception of the format in 2004, Hendrick Motorsports has 44 NASCAR Cup Series playoff wins – 15 more than any other team. The organization has scored at least one playoff victory in a record 15 different seasons, missing only 2017. A series-topping seven different drivers have won a playoff race for Hendrick Motorsports.
- In 2020, Hendrick Motorsports has recorded 15 stage wins, just one shy of Cup Series leaders Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske. The total is nearly double the eight stage wins the team posted in 2019 and almost quadruple its four from 2018.