CONCORD, N.C. - Hendrick Motorsports will fly an array of colors and patterns for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway this Sunday.
How many come back to the race shop without the infamous, "Darlington stripe" remains to be seen.
Adding to the drama, Sunday's race, set for a 6 p.m. start and airing on USA Network, will serve as the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, though all four Hendrick Motorsports wheelmen - Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman - are all already locked into the postseason via wins. Still, the Southern 500 offers one more shot at all-valuable playoff points and momentum.
Darlington, an odd, egg-shaped oval checking in at 1.366 miles, is one of the oldest circuits in the sport and hosted NASCAR's first 500-mile event, the Southern 500, on Labor Day in 1950. The race track is incredibly narrow, with two lanes at most available for drivers to try and pass. Turns one and two offer a gradual corner with 25-degree banking with turns three and four comprising a sharp, tight corner reminiscent of short-track racing but banked 23 degrees.
Hendrick Motorsports has accumulated 16 wins at, "The Track Too Tough to Tame", six more than any other organization. Hall of Famer and current vice chairman Jeff Gordon leads the way with seven of those victories. Jimmie Johnson won three times at Darlington with Kyle Larson, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Tim Richmond and William Byron each carrying Hendrick Motorsports to victory lane once.
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After last week's race at Daytona International Speedway, Larson leapt back into second place in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings and needs to make up 17 markers to win the regular season championship. Larson has a win and eight top 10s in 13 starts at Darlington.
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Just one point back of Larson, and still with regular season championship aspirations, Elliott needs to gain 18 points to catch leader, Tyler Reddick. He has four top-five showings in 15 Darlington starts and won an Xfinity Series race there in 2014.
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Byron is tied for the best average finish among Cup Series drivers at Darlington over the last seven events, averaging a 10th-place showing. In that span he has a win (spring, 2023) and five top 10s while leading 83 laps.
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The No. 48 team put together a solid race earlier this year at Darlington, finishing eighth, marking the fourth top 10 of Bowman's career at Darlington. His best career showing was a second-place run in May of 2020.
Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Gold Filters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
