CONCORD, N.C. – Short-track racing awaits this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
And at short tracks, Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams in wins (50), poles (50), top-five finishes (218), top-10s (369) and laps led (20,617). Prior to 2018, the organization has won at least one short-track race in each of the last five seasons and in 15 of the last 16 (all but 2011), and it has gone to Victory Lane at a short track in 27 different seasons.
As Hendrick Motorsports heads to “The Last Great Colosseum,” take a look at some of the organization’s key stats and numbers at Bristol below.
- At Bristol Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has 11 wins, 11 pole positions, 57 top-five finishes and 101 top-10s. Jimmie Johnson most recently won there for the organization in April 2017. At Bristol in April of this season, the organization had two drivers finish inside the top five for the first time since October 2017 at Dover.
- With 101 top-10 finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway on the organization's résumé, the Tennessee track ranks fifth for venues where Hendrick Motorsports has earned 100 or more top-10s. The organization has also achieved the feat at Martinsville (124), Pocono (118), Richmond (105), Dover (103) and Charlotte (100).
- In each of the past six races, a Hendrick Motorsports driver has led laps, amassing a total of 151 laps led during that span after leading just two laps in the prior six races.
- Chase Elliott is set to make his 18th NASCAR Cup Series short-track start this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. In his previous 17 starts at tracks less than one mile in length (Martinsville, Richmond, Bristol), Elliott has collected three top-five finishes, six top-10s and 159 laps led.
- Elliott has finished inside the top 10 in each of the last four races (New Hampshire, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan), his longest streak of top-10 results since the summer of 2017 (Dover, Pocono, Michigan, Sonoma).
- The driver’s four consecutive top-10 finishes tie him with Kyle Larson for the longest streak of top-10s by a Chevrolet driver in 2018. Elliott had his longest career top-10 streak during his rookie season, spanning six races from Talladega (May) to Michigan (June).
- Last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, in his 100th career NASCAR Cup Series start, Elliott raced his No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to his 50th career top-10 finish.
- William Byron has four national series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway – one earlier this year in the NASCAR Cup Series, two in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Across all the NASCAR series, Byron’s average finish at “The Last Great Colosseum” is 11.8. At the 0.533-mile oval, 15 drivers have scored top-five finishes as rookie, including Elliott when he drove the No. 24 Chevy in 2016. Five drivers have earned their first win at Bristol, with Kurt Busch the most recent in 2002.
- The Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet has a strong history at Bristol Motor Speedway. Of the organization's 11 wins at Bristol, Jeff Gordon was responsible for five behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevy. Gordon’s first win at the 0.533-mile oval came in April 1995, and he remains the third-youngest driver to win a race at Bristol at 23 years, 7 months and 29 days.
- In 99 short-track starts, Johnson has accumulated five pole positions, 28 top-five finishes, 57 top-10s and 77 top-20 results. Johnson has led 4,238 laps on short tracks and has completed 97.8 percent of all laps run.
- The last outing at Bristol Motor Speedway in April resulted in a third-place finish for Johnson and the No. 48 crew – their best finish of the season to date. Johnson has 14 total wins on short tracks, the most of all active drivers. In addition to his two wins at Bristol, he has nine wins at Martinsville Speedway and three wins at Richmond Raceway.
- Over the last nine races at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnson has racked up some consistent finishes. He has a win and a runner-up result, five top-five finishes and six top-10s – both of which are either first or tied for first in the NASCAR Cup Series in that span. His average finish of 8.22 is the best among drivers to compete in all nine races. During that span, he has led 125 laps at the track.
- Alex Bowman captured his first career top-five finish earlier this year when the NASCAR Cup Series visited Bristol Motor Speedway. The No. 88 team brought home a fifth-place finish in the weather-delayed event in April. The team has two top-10 finishes at short tracks this season, also including a seventh-place result at Martinsville. If Bowman were to win this weekend in Bristol, he would be the seventh Hendrick Motorsports driver to capture a win at the track.
- Bowman has five previous Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway. Earlier this year, the No. 88 team qualified eighth before the 25-year-old driver captured his first career top-five finish. The driver has two previous starts at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he has an average finish of 14.5.
- With Elliott earning his first Cup Series win at Watkins Glen, Hendrick Motorsports now holds the record for the most first-time Cup Series winners with nine. If Byron or Bowman wins at Bristol, it will extend the record to the 10th time a driver has recorded his first career Cup Series win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
- Elliott secured his 2018 NASCAR playoff berth with his win at Watkins Glen, and two of his teammates are currently in position to join him: Johnson and Bowman. The three teammates in playoff position are tied for the second-most among all teams in the NASCAR Cup Series.