“The history of Dover has shown a lot of success for Hendrick Motorsports. Somewhat of a driving factor was Jimmie (Johnson) and the setups we created and built for there and that’s one I think a lot of drivers have circled on their calendar of, ‘Hey, I want to win here.’"
Greg Ives, crew chief
Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a 40-part series highlighting 40 of the greatest wins in the history of Hendrick Motorsports to finish its 40th anniversary season. A new installment will be released each day from Nov. 22, 2024 through New Year’s Eve. Votes were taken from Hendrick Motorsports employees as well as representatives of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Racing Insights with all unanimous selections being ushered in automatically. The remaining wins were deliberated and decided upon by a small panel.
CONCORD, N.C. - Running four competitive cars in the NASCAR Cup Series is quite the challenge.
Thanks in part to the top-notch competition in the sport's top division, even placing four cars inside the top-10 positions is a win.
But four cars taking the top four positions?
Hendrick Motorsports accomplished that very feat at Dover Motor Speedway on May 16, 2021, the fourth time any organization had accomplished the goal, the first since 2005 and just the second in the modern era (1972 and after). Leading the way was Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Racing Chevrolet, as he held off teammate Kyle Larson to score his second of four victories in 2021.
The race's winning crew chief, Greg Ives, had high praise of the entire organization as well as his former driver when reflecting on the milestone victory.
“The history of Dover has shown a lot of success for Hendrick Motorsports,” Ives said. “Somewhat of a driving factor was Jimmie (Johnson) and the setups we created and built for there and that’s one I think a lot of drivers have circled on their calendar of, ‘Hey, I want to win here.’"
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Kyle Larson earns 1st NASCAR Cup Series title
| RACE FACTS | |
|---|---|
| Date: | May 16, 2021 |
| Venue: | Dover Motor Speedway |
| Winner: | Alex Bowman |
| Hendrick Motorsports win: | No. 267 |
| Laps led by winner: | 98 |
| Starting position of winner: | 16th |
| Top 10: | 1. Alex Bowman; 2. Kyle Larson; 3. Chase Elliott; 4. William Byron; 5. Joey Logano; 6. Kevin Harvick; 7. Denny Hamlin; 8. Tyler Reddick; 9. Daniel Suarez; 10. Cole Custer |
| Did you know? | The 1-2-3-4 sweep was the first in Hendrick Motorsports history, the second in the NASCAR Cup Series modern era and the fourth all time. |
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But with the entire organization bringing speed to the Monster Mile, the win did not come easy for Bowman.
Early, Larson looked to have the best car of the bunch, winning both stage one and two. However, a caution filled final segment gave Bowman an opportunity on pit road. With just under 100 circuits remaining, the No. 48 Ally Racing pit crew got their driver the lead out of the pits with the lead. Despite additional restarts, Bowman would not look back for the remainder of the race, earning the second of four wins in 2021.
With Bowman scoring the victory, Larson in second, Chase Elliott taking third and William Byron rounding out the squad in fourth, the goal had been reached. The team's first ever sweep of the top-four positions.
However, one note from Ives' perspective atop the pit box was just how good the No. 5 HendrickCars.com entry was on that day. And it does not go unnoticed how impressive of a drive Bowman had to put together to beat his teammate.
“We had a good car, Ives said. "I would say a teammate had a better car, but when we got put in a position where it was Kyle against Alex, Alex was able to get it on that restart and pull it off to get the win.”
It was an all-around day of domination for the organization. Hendrick Motorsports led 95.5% of the laps (382 of 400), the second-best percentage of laps led in team history. Only the 2022 spring race at Martinsville Speedway saw the group lead a higher percentage.
“Obviously, Cliff (Daniels) and I have a great relationship as crew chiefs but part of how race teams work, he was disappointed that he lost a race and I was excited that we won the race and obviously, excited the company got the 1-2-3-4,” Ives said. “It was special.
"Afterwards, I see replays of Mr. H right there on pit road and kind of the happiness and surprise and all the stuff he had going on. To be able to get that win for the 48 and for Ally, that was pretty cool.”
Vice chairman Jeff Gordon echoed the excitement after the victory and a photo of the scoreboard is still displayed in his office.
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"When you are a four-car operation and I've seen Rick (Hendrick) go through this over the years and now I get to experience it too, it is rare where all four have a great day," Gordon said. "You might get two that are competing up front. One of them wins and one of them is disappointed because they finished second or third. Then, you get one or two that didn't have a great day. Something happened to them and you want to revel in the win, but you are consoling those who didn't have a good day and trying to balance that out.
"That was one of the days I remember in our history. Not everybody was still happy because somebody didn't win, but it was just a, 'Wow,' moment. We've always said having all four cars coming across the line together would be great. This is as close and as good as it's going to get. That was an amazing day."