CONCORD, N.C. – Entering the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the four-car lineup for Hendrick Motorsports of Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have combined to win 48 races in the sport’s top series. Over the last two seasons, they’ve combined for 28 victories - the best mark in the sport.
With all those wins, which one has carried the most meaning and the biggest impact? HendrickMotorsports.com sat down with each of the four drivers to ask that very question.
EVERY WIN AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FOR: Bowman | Byron | Elliott | Larson
In their own words, each driver shares their selection with insight into why that was their pick.
Bowman: "I would say the most impactful win was probably the first one (at Chicagoland Speedway in 2019). That race was really difficult to win. I gave up a huge lead with a lap car that decided to block for like 20 laps. I gave up the lead to Larson and he got around me. I was able to get back around him late (with six laps to go) and kind of against the fence at Chicagoland, one of his better racetracks. That was really cool. Anytime you can go up against Kyle (Larson) and get a win like that is really special. That was a really big deal for me."
Byron: "That first win (at Daytona International Speedway in 2020) because that one kind of gets you over the hump. That’s a really big win to get the confidence boost and just kind of answer all those questions of if you are going to win in the Cup Series. That was a big one. It got me in the playoffs for a second year in a row and was big for my career."
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Elliott: "Phoenix (Raceway for the 2020 championship) was a huge win but honestly Martinsville (Speedway) the week before was arguably equally as big just from the standpoint of if we hadn’t won, we wouldn’t have had the chance the next week. Those two weeks were not only incredibly important for the course of the season in 2020 and for my career but for everything we had going on inside of our team."
Larson: "You always go back to your first win (at Michigan International Speedway in 2016) because I feel like if you don’t win in the Cup Series, it is hard to stick around. I remember I was really close to winning for a long time and had finished second a lot (four runner-up finishes prior to his first win). Once you finally get that first win, you feel like you can really be here for a while. It was a little bit of relief at the time to get that first win and to feel like, alright I’ve now shown that I can do it and hopefully I’ll be here for a little longer."
