CONCORD, N.C. – Hendrick Motorsports teams is shifting gears and heading out west to take on Sonoma Raceway’s 2.52-mile road course this Sunday.
Riding a wave of momentum to California’s wine country, the organization looks to bring home its fourth consecutive victory after earning three historic wins in a row – Alex Bowman’s victory at Dover that led to our first-ever 1-2-3-4 finish, , Chase Elliott's victory at Circuit of The America that led Hendrick Motorsports to tie Petty Enterprises’ long-standing all-time wins record with 268 and and Kyle Larson’s dominant win at Charlotte Motor Speedway that was the record-breaking 269th in the NASCAR Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR Hall of Fame car owner Rick Hendrick
- Before we take the green flag at the Sonoma, California venue, take a look at the best Hendrick Motorsports stats heading into Sunday’s 90-lap race. Going into Sunday’s road-course event at Sonoma Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports is the track’s all-time leader in wins (six), pole positions (nine), runner-up finishes (six), top-five results (31), top-10s (54) and laps led (674).
- Hendrick Motorsports is the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series road-course wins with 21, which is eight more than any other team. It has won road races with six different drivers and has more stage wins on road courses (eight) than anyone else.
- On road courses over the last three NASCAR Cup Series seasons (2019-2021), Hendrick Motorsports has won six of nine races, including five of the last six. The team has won two of four pole positions, six of 14 stages and led 308 of 587 laps raced (52%).
- Larson has finished first or second in six of 15 races this season. The 2014 rookie of the year won at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway while posting second-place finishes at Circuit of The Americas, Dover International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
- There have been 4,199 laps completed during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and Larson has paced the field a series high 1,105 times, or 26%. The driver of the No. 5 Chevy is nearing his career-high record, which occurred in 2017 when he led 1,352 laps in 36 races.
- Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, is set to make his 15th Cup Series start on a road course this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. Most recently, he collected a victory in the inaugural race at Circuit of The Americas. He has collected the most wins (six) in the fewest starts (14) and stage wins (six) of active drivers. Overall, 25-year-old Elliott is the youngest driver to have six road course wins. He has garnered seven top-five finishes, nine top-10s and a total of 289 laps led at road courses. His six wins tie him with NASCAR legends Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for third-most all-time road course wins behind Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight). He also remains the youngest road course winner at 22 years, 8 months, 8 days.
- Elliott’s wins at COTA (2021), Watkins Glen (2018, 2019), Charlotte ROVAL (2019, 2020) and the DAYTONA Road Course (2020) account for six of the last nine road course victories. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native has led laps in the last seven road course races, the longest active streak. In 2021 on road courses, Elliott has led the most laps of all drivers (49) and also holds the best average finish (9.21) of active drivers and sixth-best all-time average of drivers with at least five starts.
- After another top-five run this past Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, William Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continue to be a model of consistency. After the season’s first15 races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has collected one win, six top-five finishes and 12 top-10s all while leading 190 laps. With the second-best average running position throughout the NASCAR Cup Series field of 7.99 and an average finishing position of 9, Byron is tied for the second position in the driver points standings with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson following the 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway – the highest ranking of his Cup career.
- This Sunday will mark the third points-paying road course race of the 2021 season and Byron has stepped up his road course racing skills in the last two years, finishing in the top 10 in three of the last five races. While in the last seven road course events, he has led at least 20 laps in three of those races, including leading the most laps during last year’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. In fact, Byron led the second-most laps on road courses during the 2020 season.
- During the 600-mile event on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bowman brought home a fifth-place finish at the end of the day. The No. 48 Ally team captured stage points in all three stages, finishing 10th, seventh and fifth, respectively. After a two-tire call under caution on Lap 174, Bowman was the first car off pit road and led the field to green on lap 177. His fifth-place finish is Bowman’s first top-five result at the 1.5-mile speedway. The Ally driver is tied for third for the longest active top-10 streak among active drivers in the series.
- Crew chief Greg Ives has called the shots five times at Sonoma Raceway for Hendrick Motorsports. The Michigan native has three top-10 results at the track and finished 14th with Bowman in their latest run at the facility in 2019. Ives’ drivers have completed 100% of the total laps during these five events. The crew chief’s best finish at the track came in 2017 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth. From 2006-2012, Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team and captured five top-10 finishes, including one win in 2010 after the team led 55 laps.
Be sure to tune in to FS1 this Sunday at 4 p.m. ET and watch the Hendrick Motorsports teams race for win No. 7 of the season.