CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Cup Series is on its way Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend for the All-Star Race, and Hendrick Motorsports has had many successes in the event’s 33-year history.
The organization has fielded 20 drivers to have competed in the All-Star Race for a total of 105 starts, and those drivers have accumulated eight wins, 37 top-five finishes, 58 top-10s and 711 laps led – all of which are Cup Series records.
Here’s a closer look at how Hendrick’s Motorsports has performed at the All-Star Race over the years.
- The organization’s all-time Cup Series-leading eight wins in the All-Star Race have come courtesy of three different drivers – Jimmie Johnson (2003, 2006, 2012 and 2013), Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997 and 2001) and Terry Labonte (1999).
- On top of holding the all-time record for wins in the All-Star Race, Hendrick Motorsports also leads all Cup Series teams in wins in the Open – the qualifying race determining the final eligible drivers to compete in the All-Star race. The organization has found Victory Lane in the Open four times, with Gordon, Ricky Craven, Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all winning the event once.
- At 21 years, six months and 27 days old, Vickers became the youngest driver to win the Open when he won the race in 2005. Gordon previously held the record, when he won at the age of 22 years, nine months and 17 days in 1994.
- When Gordon won his first career All-Star Race in 1995, he became the youngest driver to win the event at 23 years, nine months and 16 days old – and the driver still holds the record today. In 2003, Johnson became the sixth-youngest driver to win the annual event when he was 27 years and eight months old.
- Hendrick Motorsports has had a driver entered into the All-Star Race by fan vote on three different occasions. Fans voted Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the event in 2011, and Chase Elliott won the vote in the most recent All-Star Races – 2016 and 2017. The driver of the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is in the running to win the fan vote for the third consecutive year this weekend.
- On seven different occasions, the same driver won both the All-Star Race and the following weekend’s 600-mile race at Charlotte in the same year. Two of those seven have represented Hendrick Motorsports – Gordon accomplished the feat in 1997 and Johnson matched the feat in 2003.
- Ten different times, the same driver to win the All-Star went on to win the Cup Series championship in the same year. Of those 10, Gordon and Johnson have combined to win both in the same season five different times – Gordon in 1995, 1996 and 2001, and Johnson in 2006 and 2013.