CONCORD, N.C. – Restrictor-plate racing returns this weekend as the four Hendrick Motorsports teams journey to Daytona for the second time this season.
Throughout the years, drivers for the organization have claimed 14 total wins at the track, six of which were in the return trip to the track after the Daytona 500. They have also logged 54 top-five finishes, 93 top-10s, and 15 pole positions. As a whole, the organization has also led 1,925 laps.
As the drivers prepare to take on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, let’s take a look back at three special moments for Hendrick Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway.
Oct. 17, 1998: Jeff Gordon claimed six total wins at Daytona throughout his career, the most recent being the Daytona 500 in 2005. However, his third win at the iconic track came in 1998 in the October Pepsi 400. He rolled off the grid in eighth and led 49 laps en route to the win. The victory was the driver’s 11th of the season, and he went on to claim two more wins for a total of 13 that year.
July 3, 2004: Following a 1999 Daytona 500 victory in which he won from the pole, Gordon’s next win at the 2.5-mile superspeedway occurred five years later. The driver once again started on the pole and led 61 laps before taking the checkered flag ahead of his teammate and runner-up Jimmie Johnson. Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers also joined their teammates in the top 10 with eighth- and ninth-place finishes, respectively.
July 5, 2015: Last year marked Hendrick Motorsports’ most recent win at Daytona as Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself in Victory Lane for the fourth time at the track. After earning the pole position for the start of the race, Earnhardt went on to lead 96 of the lengthened 161-lap race to take home the win just ahead of teammate Johnson. Gordon also logged a top-10 finish, driving home in sixth.
