CONCORD, N.C. – The West Coast swing of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule kicks off this week as teams head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams in West Coast victories – including in California, Nevada and Arizona – with a total of 31, eight more than the next closest team.
At Las Vegas in particular, Hendrick Motorsports has earned five wins, two pole positions, 20 top-five finishes, 35 top-10s and an all-time record 1,346 laps led.
Below is a look at some key facts and figures from the organization’s history at Las Vegas along with what to keep an eye on this weekend.
- Hendrick Motorsports has a NASCAR Cup Series record 58 total wins on 1.5-mile tracks, 13 more than the next closest team. Hendrick Motorsports has earned at least one win on a 1.5-mile track in a record 25 consecutive seasons. Chase Elliott brought the streak to 25 seasons with his 2018 victory at Kansas Speedway, becoming the 10th different driver to win for the organization on a 1.5-mile track, which is also a Cup Series record.
- In Elliott’s previous four starts at Las Vegas, he has garnered one top-five finish – third in the March 2017 race. He was collected in multiple-car incidents in his other three starts. Even with the unfortunate finishes, Elliott is currently one of only two drivers, along with Martin Truex Jr., to finish top 10 in all six stages that have been completed at Las Vegas during that span.
- This Sunday, when veteran crew chief Chad Knaus climbs atop the No. 24 pit box, he’ll look to set a new record for most wins by a crew chief at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With 18 Cup races at the 1.5-mile oval under his belt, Knaus has gone to Victory Lane three times. Those three victories have him equal with Paul Wolfe for most wins, a tie he would like to break this weekend.
- Hailing from the West Coast, it’s fitting that El Cajon, California, native Jimmie Johnson has the most wins of any driver on West Coast tracks. Johnson has accumulated 15 wins across the tracks considered “West Coast,” including: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (four), ISM Raceway (four), Auto Club Speedway (six) and Sonoma Raceway (one). The next winningest driver has 13.
- Four times in his storied career, Johnson found himself a winner of the Las Vegas race, and three out of the four times he was also the winner of the Cup Series championship that same season. He won at the 1.5-mile track in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 and won championships in 2006, 2007 and 2010.
- Johnson’s four wins are the most of any driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. There are five other tracks where he is the all-time win leader, including: Dover International Speedway (11), Charlotte Motor Speedway (eight), Texas Motor Speedway (seven), Auto Club Speedway (six) and Kansas Speedway, where his three wins are tied with Jeff Gordon atop the list. Johnson also holds the record for most laps led at Las Vegas with 595.
- In his four career seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, Alex Bowman is off to his best start to a season. The 25-year-old is averaging a 13th-place finish this season, earning a pair of top-15 finishes in the first two events of 2019. Last season, his previous best start, he had two top-20 finishes in the first two races.