CONCORD, N.C. – This weekend, Chase Elliott will compete in his first Championship 4 as the NASCAR Cup Series field heads to Phoenix Raceway.
On top of Elliott's first title race appearance, Jimmie Johnson will compete in his last Cup Series race and as a full-time driver. If he wins at Phoenix Raceway, he will have scored his 84th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win to tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth on the all-time list. Johnson currently has four wins at the Arizona track.
Alex Bowman will be back at his hometown track after an impressive run in the Round of 8. The 27-year-old driver has been on a hot streak with three top-five finishes in the last six races and nine top-10 results in the last 11 races.
Over the years, Hendrick Motorsports has had its share of memorable moments at Phoenix. Take a look at the organization's most notable stats before the 2020 season comes to a close.
- Elliott’s clutch win at Martinsville locked him into Sunday’s Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway and a chance to compete for the NASCAR Cup Series title. A 2020 Cup championship would be the record-extending 13th for car owner Rick Hendrick, with each coming in the last 26 seasons (50%). It would also mark the fourth decade in which Hendrick Motorsports has secured a Cup title: the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.
- Phoenix Raceway has been a successful venue for Hendrick Motorsports. The team is the track’s all-time leader in wins (10), pole positions (12), top-five finishes (47), top-10s (86) and laps led (2,746). It also has nine runner-up results at Phoenix, which is tied for the most there.
- Hendrick Motorsports has won two of the last three NASCAR Cup Series races held on Nov. 8, the date of Sunday’s championship-deciding event at Phoenix. Jeff Gordon went to victory lane in the 1998 season finale at Atlanta, and Johnson won at Texas in 2015.
- Hendrick Motorsports has won the NASCAR Cup Series season finale on six occasions, including its inaugural year. Geoff Bodine and Tim Richmond won Riverside in 1984 and 1986, respectively. Gordon (1998) and Jerry Nadeau (2000) took the checkered flag at Atlanta. Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Gordon won in 2012 and Johnson in 2016. Hendrick Motorsports won the Cup championship in 1998 and 2016.
- Since the inception of the format in 2004, Hendrick Motorsports has 46 NASCAR Cup Series playoff wins – 16 more than any other team. Including Elliott’s two 2020 playoff victories, the organization has scored at least one in a record 16 different seasons, missing only 2017. A series-topping seven different drivers have won a playoff race for Hendrick Motorsports.
- Since its inception in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 262 race victories and holds the all-time records for championships (12), pole positions (226), top-five finishes (1,099), top-10s (1,897) and laps led (70,666) in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Including 2020, the organization has won at least one race in 35 consecutive seasons, the longest-ever streak. Hendrick Motorsports is six wins away from tying Petty Enterprises’ all-time Cup record of 268.