CONCORD, N.C. -- The Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kicks off this Sunday. and Hendrick Motorsports will head to Las Vegas to try and secure a winning hand at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman will look to keep their playoff hopes strong while Jimmie Johnson and William Byron will try to have the odds in their favor in the "City of Lights."
Hendrick Motorsports has hit the jackpot with five wins there, which ties it for the second-most in the series. Take a look at some of the more notable stats of the organization as the drivers take on the second round of the playoffs of the season.
- Hendrick Motorsports heads into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with good odds of success. Aside from its five wins, Hendrick Motorsports' six runner-up finishes, 22 top-fives and 1,455 laps led are all “Sin City” track records. The organization’s 40 top-10 results are tied for the most ever at the 1.5-mile venue.
- Sunday’s race at Las Vegas will fall on Sept. 27, which historically has been good time to bet on Hendrick Motorsports. Since its inception in 1984, the team has competed in four NASCAR Cup Series events held on the date with victories in two of them. Driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Darrell Waltrip won at Martinsville on Sept. 27, 1987, and Johnson won at Dover on Sept. 27, 2009. In the other two Sept. 27 races, Jeff Gordon finished second at Martinsville in 1998 and Hendrick Motorsports place three cars in the top 10 at New Hampshire in 2015.
- Hendrick Motorsports has placed at least one car inside the top 10 in the last 11 NASCAR Cup Series races, which is one away from matching the team’s longest streak of 2020. Its Chevrolet race cars have also led laps in seven straight races, the best active streak by any organization.
- Since the inception of the format in 2004, Hendrick Motorsports has 44 NASCAR Cup Series playoff wins – 16 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.
- Elliott is set to make his eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his previous seven starts, he has collected two top-five finishes and three top-10s. Earlier this season at the 1.5-mile track, Elliott led 70 laps and won both Stage 1 and Stage 2. Unfortunately, a flat left-rear tire sent him into the wall, causing enough damage to put him a lap down and ultimately finished 26th.
- In five previous Cup Series starts, Byron has a best qualifying effort of 11th in the February race earlier this year and a track-best finish of seventh in September 2019. However, the 22-year-old driver’s stats at Las Vegas don’t accurately represent the strength the No. 24 team has displayed there. In February, Byron finished sixth in Stage 1, fourth in Stage 2 and restarted second for the two-lap shootout to the end. Unfortunately, contact with another competitor on the restart left him with a tire rub and a 22nd-place finish, despite running inside or near the top five all race.
- In his last start at Las Vegas, Johnson leads all current drivers with most wins at the 1.5-mile track with four. One of the most iconic races Johnson won at Vegas was the coveted 150th cup win for Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.
- In seven previous starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bowman’s best qualifying effort of ninth came in the fall race in 2018 and his best finish of sixth came in the fall event in 2019. Earlier this season, Bowman placed 13th after capturing stage points in each of the two segments.