CONCORD N.C. – With the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season now in the rear-view mirror, let’s take a look back at the year for Hendrick Motorsports and its drivers.
- Hendrick Motorsports amassed three wins – including the organization's milestone 250th victory – two pole positions, 16 top-five finishes and 47 top-10s. The three wins came at three different tracks -- Watkins Glen, Dover and Kansas, all courtesy of Chase Elliott.
- Hendrick Motorsports won at least three races for the 25th straight season, and 2018 marked the 33rd consecutive year in which the organization won at least one race – an all-time record. Hendrick Motorsports has captured a win in 34 different seasons, the second-most all-time behind Petty Enterprises, which won in 36 different seasons.
- With two poles, 2018 was also the 21st straight season the organization earned at least two pole positions in a season.
- It was the second consecutive season in which Hendrick Motorsports had three drivers make the playoffs. The organization has placed at least three drivers in the playoffs in 11 different seasons, the most of all teams. The 2018 season marks the 13th consecutive season in which Hendrick Motorsports has sent at least two drivers into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, also the most of all organizations.
- Alex Bowman became the eighth different driver that Hendrick Motorsports has taken to the playoffs, the most of all organizations in Cup Series history. He joins Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch on the list.
- At Daytona International Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports won its 12th career Daytona 500 pole courtesy of Bowman, the most all-time of all Cup Series teams. In the process, Bowman became the third-youngest driver all-time to win the Daytona 500 pole.
- Hendrick Motorsports has now captured 20 percent of the Daytona 500 poles all-time and 34 percent of the Daytona 500 poles in which the organization has competed. For the fourth consecutive season, Hendrick Motorsports also won a Daytona qualifying race courtesy of Elliott in a Duel at Daytona, his second straight year with a win in the annual event.
- Elliott finished sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series final standings, making it the 18th straight year Hendrick Motorsports has had a driver finish in the top six in points. Elliott has finished in the top 10 in points in all three of his full-time Cup Series seasons, and he earned his best finish on 10 of the 24 tracks on which he raced in 2018.
- Elliott’s average finish in three road course races in 2018 was 3.67, the best of all drivers. He also finished in the top 10 in both races at the same venue in 2018 on four occasions, including Richmond, where he earned a pair of top-five finishes.
- In 2018, Elliott became the second-youngest driver to earn three wins, 11 runner-up results and 33 top-five finishes, and the youngest driver to capture 59 top-10s.
- Since the beginning of the 2017 season, Elliott has garnered 42 top-10 finishes, the fifth-most among all Cup Series drivers. He’s also just one of four drivers with at least 21 top-10 finishes in each of the last two seasons.
- William Byron joined Gordon, Busch and Elliott as the fourth driver to win Cup Series rookie of the year with Hendrick Motorsports. He and Erik Jones are the only two drivers to earn rookie of the year honors in the Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series in three consecutive seasons. At 20 years, 11 months and 23 days old, Byron became the third-youngest driver to win the award.
- 2018 marked the 15th consecutive season Johnson qualified for the Cup Series playoffs. Since the playoff format began in 2004, he is the only driver to make the playoffs every year. Though he did not win in 2018, Johnson’s streak of 16 consecutive seasons with at least one win tied for the third-longest in Cup Series history.
- In his first full season driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman made the playoffs for the first time in his Cup Series career. He scored three top-five finishes and 11 top-10 results in 2018, after having three top-10s and no top-five finishes entering the season. All 14 of his top-10 finishes have come while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
- Bowman had his best finish on a track at 18 venues in 2018.