BROOKLYN, Mich. – This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is headed to Michigan International Speedway for the second time during the 2019 campaign.
As our teams head to the Irish Hills, take a look at how Hendrick Motorsports stacks up at the two-mile, D-shaped oval.
- Michigan International Speedway is host to Hendrick Motorsports’ eight wins, 11 pole positions, 52 top-five finishes and 100 top-10s along with 2,494 laps led at the track. Michigan is one of seven tracks where the organization has accumulated 100 or more top-10 finishes. Chase Elliott's win last weekend at Watkins Glen International was the third of the season. That extended the organization's streak, which began in 1994, to 26 consecutive seasons with at least three wins. It marks the longest stretch all-time by a team.
- Hendrick Motorsports leads all organizations in poles for the 2019 season with seven. Last weekend at Watkins Glen, Elliott captured the pole with William Byron on the outside pole, which marked the fifth time the organization has swept the front row in 2019, which also leads all teams.
- All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers are currently in position to make the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at the end of the regular season. Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman have essentially locked in their spots by finding Victory Lane and rank eighth and 11th, respectively, in the point standings. William Byron is currently 12th, with Jimmie Johnson in 16th.
- With two wins this season under his belt, Elliott is headed to the two-mile oval with seven starts, three top-five finishes, six top 10s and 67 laps led at the track. Currently, the No. 9 driver holds the best average finish (7.4) of all time at Michigan. He finished inside the top 10 in the first six of his seven career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Irish Hills track, which ties him for the series' longest streak of starts before a finish outside the top 10. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native has collected three top-five finishes, all of which were runner-up results at the track.
- William Byron’s best starting position at Michigan is 14th and has a track-best finish of 13th, both coming in the rain-shortened Cup event last June. In his lone Xfinity Series start at Michigan, he qualified fourth and ended the race in the runner-up position, and in his one Gander Outdoor Truck Series start at the track, he started third and finished fourth.
- Byron currently has the fourth-highest average finishing position in the series, 10.83, over the last six races. In those six races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has collected two top-five finishes and three top-10s. The driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has solidly maintained his 12th position in the driver point standings throughout those six races and now holds a 60-point gap above the cutoff line with only four races remaining before the playoffs begin.
- Jimmie Johnson is set to make his 36th start at Michigan International Speedway this weekend where he hopes to solidify his spot in the playoffs at a track, he has already found Victory Lane once before. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet scored his first and only win at Michigan on June 15, 2014. He has led 700 laps at the track in the Irish Hills and has five top-five finishes and 13 top-10s over his 35 starts.
- Alex Bowman has eight previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Irish Hills racetrack. His best finish at the two-mile oval came earlier this season when he crossed the finish line 10th. However, the 26-year-old-driver is no stranger to racing at Michigan. He has four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he earned one pole (2016), one top-five finish and three top-15 results at the track. In 2015, the driver made one start in the Truck Series and finished 11th after 100 laps. He also made one start in the ARCA Series event in Michigan, starting third and leading 12 laps before finishing second. This weekend the No. 88 team looks to capture their first win at the crew chief’s home track. No. 88 crew chief, Greg Ives, hails from Bark River, Michigan where the native has nine starts above the pit box.
With these statistics in mind, be sure to catch the race at Michigan International Speedway this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.