CONCORD, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports is no stranger to success at DAYTONA International Speedway. The organization boasts of eight DAYTONA 500 wins with five different drivers and has won events at Daytona International Speedway a whopping 43 times.
The last time a Hendrick Motorsports driver was in victory lane at "The World Center of Racing" was in August, when William Byron earned his first Cup Series win at the historic track.
Over the years, Hendrick Motorsports has had its share of memorable moments at the DAYTONA 500. Take a look at the organization's most notable stats heading into the 2021 season.
- Hendrick Motorsports enters the 2021 season within striking distance of one of stock car racing’s most enduring achievements: Petty Enterprises’ all-time team record for NASCAR Cup Series victories. The legendary Petty organization captured the wins record from Carl Kiekhafer Racing more than 60 years ago when Lee Petty took the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and final win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999, in the organization’s 1,703rd race (when Hendrick Motorsports’ victory total stood at 88). Since its inception in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 263 points-paying Cup Series wins and currently needs six more to break the record at NASCAR’s highest level. Owner Hendrick’s organization has won at least six races in 22 of its 37 seasons, including 2020 when the team recorded seven victories.
- Going into 2021, Hendrick Motorsports holds the NASCAR Cup Series team records for championships (13), different drivers to win a title (four), different drivers to win at least one race (19), consecutive seasons with a victory (35), runner-up finishes (240), top-five results (1,101), top-10s (1,900) and laps led (70,823). The organization is currently tied with Petty Enterprises for the most total seasons with at least one points-paying race win (36).
- The 2021 DAYTONA 500 will take the green flag on Sunday, Feb. 14, which is the anniversary of Jeff Gordon’s 1999 victory in “The Great American Race.” The NASCAR Hall of Famer and four-time Cup Series champion led 17 laps to win from the pole position and earned his second of three career Harley J. Earl trophies. It also marked the fourth DAYTONA 500 triumph for Hendrick Motorsports.
- Hendrick Motorsports has notched eight DAYTONA 500 wins, which is one shy of tying Petty Enterprises’ record of nine. The team’s victories have come with five different drivers: Gordon (1997, 1999, 2005), Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2013), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2014), Darrell Waltrip (1989) and Geoff Bodine (1986). It has won “The Great American Race” in a record-tying four different decades: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
- Hendrick Motorsports has 43 combined wins at the Daytona International Speedway facility. In addition to its eight DAYTONA 500 victories, the team has seven points-paying Cup Series wins in the annual summer oval event and one on the venue’s road course. It has recorded 16 victories in the DAYTONA 500 Duel qualifying races and seven in the annual Clash at DAYTONA exhibition. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports has four NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at “The World Center of Racing.”
- With an average age of 26 years old to start the season, Hendrick Motorsports will field its youngest four-driver lineup since 2005 – and youth has proven to be a benefit in DAYTONA 500 qualifying. In fact, five of the six youngest pole winners in the history of “The Great American Race” have been Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Chase Elliott is both the youngest (2016) and third-youngest (2017) DAYTONA 500 pole sitter. Teammates William Byron (2019) and Alex Bowman (2018) rank second and fifth, respectively. The pole won by Johnson in his 2002 rookie season puts the recently retired seven-time NASCAR champion as the sixth-youngest. Hendrick Motorsports also fielded the oldest DAYTONA 500 pole winner: Mark Martin, who won it in 2010 at 51 years old.
- Although Hendrick Motorsports will field the youngest multi-car team in the Cup Series this season, you wouldn’t know it by looking at the statistics. At NASCAR’s top level, the organization’s four drivers – Bowman, Byron, Elliott and newcomer Kyle Larson – have won 20 combined points races, secured 14 playoff berths, earned three Cup Series rookie of the year awards and won two NASCAR All-Star Races. Elliott is the defending Cup Series champion and has been voted the series’ most popular driver three consecutive times.
- With the return of the No. 5 Chevrolet and the No. 9 team coming off a championship season, Hendrick Motorsports will field all four of its title-winning car numbers in 2021. Of the organization’s record 13 NASCAR Cup Series championships, seven have come with the No. 48, four with the No. 24 and one each with the Nos. 5 and 9.