CONCORD, N.C. – With the highly anticipated 2016 Daytona 500 under their belts, the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers make their way to Atlanta for this Sunday’s race.
Hendrick Motorsports has many notable moments at the 1.54-mile racetrack, the first non-restrictor plate track of the year that many drivers see as “week one” of their season.
“We only see plate races four times whereas a racetrack such as Atlanta, we’re going to see countless times throughout the year,” No. 24 driver Chase Elliott explained.
Before racing action starts, take a look back at three memorable moments for Hendrick Motorsports at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
March 14, 1999: Just three weeks after claiming the second Daytona 500 victory of his career, three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon logged his third Atlanta Motor Speedway win. The win was his second of seven victories that season. Starting in eighth, it took Gordon more than half of the race to make it to the lead for the first time. He led a total of 109 laps in the 325-lap race and found himself running third in points after leaving Atlanta.
November 20, 2000: In the final race of his first season as a Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jerry Nadeau grabbed the win at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He started on the outside pole next to teammate Gordon. Throughout the race, Nadeau took the lead eight separate times, leading the field for 155 of the 325-lap event. It was the driver’s only victory during the 2000 season and with three top-five finishes and five top-10s, Nadeau finished 20th in the overall standings for the year.
October 31, 2004: An eighth-place starting position had Jimmie Johnson inside the top 10 at the start of the 325-lap race. It took him almost half of the race to make his first pass for the lead, which he lost and regained three more times before taking the checkered flag with a .293-second margin of victory. Although his first win at Atlanta, it was his seventh of the season and he would win one more at Darlington later that year for a total of eight victories in 2004. Johnson narrowly missed taking home his first championship and completed the season second in points.
