CONCORD, N.C. – This weekend, the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begins at Hendrick Motorsports’ most prolific track.
At Martinsville Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports owns 24 wins, the most all-time by any team on a single track. The organization has also earned its most top-five finishes (79) and laps led (9,290) at Martinsville, and its 126 top-10s there are tied for its most at a single track. The venue is one of 15 tracks where Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams in NASCAR Cup Series wins.
As Chase Elliott begins his quest to advance to the Championship 4, take a look at some key figures to keep in mind leading up to Sunday’s race.
- Over the last seven races this season, Hendrick Motorsports' 16 top-10 finishes are the most of all teams, and its two poles and two runner-up results are tied for the most. At least one of the organization's drivers has finished in the top 10 in each of the last seven races, with two drivers finishing inside the top 10 in five of seven. The organization has also led laps in eight of the last nine races.
- Starting with its first win at the track in April 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has won 34 percent of the races at Martinsville Speedway (24 of 71). It has won at least one race at Martinsville in 19 of the 36 seasons since and gone on a three-race win streak at the track on four different occasions. The organization has swept the top two finishing positions five times and had at least one car finish in the top 10 in 64 of 71 races since April 1984.
- The organization's 24 wins at Martinsville have come courtesy of five different drivers: Jimmie Johnson (nine), Jeff Gordon (nine), Darrell Waltrip (four), Geoff Bodine and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The five different winners are tied with Junior Johnson and Associates for the most at Martinsville. This weekend, it could become the 10th different track where Hendrick Motorsports has won with at least six different drivers.
- Elliott looks to continue his three-race top-10 streak at Martinsville Speedway as he makes his ninth NASCAR Cup Series start at the track this weekend. He has finished inside the top 10 in four of his last five visits to the track. During the most recent visit to Martinsville in March, he raced inside the top five for much of the 500-lap race and led a total of 49 laps en route to a second-place finish. During that visit, he earned the most points (51) of the drivers in the Round of 8 of the playoffs.
- The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is set to make his 26th short-track start (Richmond, Bristol and Martinsville) this Sunday. In his previous 25 short-track starts, he has collected seven top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and 425 laps led.
- William Byron has led laps in six of the last seven races, including the last four consecutive events. That marks the longest active streak for consecutive races led over six other Cup Series drivers, including Hendrick Motorsports teammate Elliott, who is tied for second with two consecutive races with laps led.
- The 21-year-old driver has won five pole awards in 2019, tied for the series lead, with two coming in the last eight races. In the last seven races, the driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has finished in the top 10 four times, including two top-five finishes. All four of Byron’s career Cup Series top-five finishes have come in the last 15 races.
- Johnson has scored four top-10 finishes in the last five races this season. The last time Johnson had a streak of that kind was the fall of 2017.
- The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has seen plenty of success over the course of his 35 starts at Martinsville Speedway. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has nine wins to his name, which is tied for the third-most all-time at the track. He has an average finish of 8.5, which leads all active drivers, and the series-best driver rating at the paperclip-shaped oval. Johnson's 2,862 laps led since his Martinsville Cup Series debut in 2002 are the most among active drivers and the fifth-most all-time at the track.
- Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway marks Alex Bowman’s 150th NASCAR Cup Series start. In the last 149 starts, Bowman has one win (Chicago, 2019), 10 top-five results and 24 top-10s. The 26-year-old has two pole wins, which include leading the field to green in the 2018 Daytona 500. Since piloting the No. 88 machine for Hendrick Motorsports, the driver has led 460 laps. In the last two seasons, Bowman has qualified for the Cup Series playoffs and has advanced to the Round of 12 both years. There have been nine drivers to capture a victory in their 150th start, and Bowman looks to move that number to 10 this weekend. To commemorate Bowman’s milestone start, the team will carry a special decal honoring this accomplishment. Read more and check out the decal here.