CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Las Vegas this weekend and the teams are feeling lucky as they head out to the wild west.
Hendrick Motorsports has brought home more trophies from West Coast racetracks than any other NASCAR Cup Series organization. The team has won the most combined races (22) at the three venues on the 2021 schedule – Las Vegas, Phoenix and Sonoma – and 36 overall in the states of California, Arizona and Nevada.
Here are a few more key stats about the Hendrick Motorsports drivers leading up to the race in Las Vegas.
- Hendrick Motorsports’ victory at Homestead snapped NASCAR’s all-time team record for total seasons with at least one Cup Series win, breaking a tie with Petty Enterprises. The team has now recorded a victory in 37 of its 38 seasons since 1984, missing only 1985 when it finished second three times. 2021 also marks Hendrick Motorsports’ 36th straight year with a first-place finish, extending its all-time record for consecutive winning seasons.
- In nine previous Cup starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson has three top-five finishes and six top-10s, including a ninth-place finish in this event last year. He posted runner-up results at the Nevada venue in 2017 and 2018.
- Larson has yet to visit victory lane in 71 career Cup Series starts on 1.5-mile tracks, but the 2014 NASCAR rookie of the year has nine second-place finishes, 21 top-five finishes, six stage wins and has led 799 laps in those events. His nine runner-up finishes on 1.5-milers are the most all-time without a victory.
- Chase Elliott will make his 58th start on a 1.5-mile track this Sunday while in Sin City. In his previous 57 races, he has led 742 laps. Last season, he scored his second career 1.5-mile track win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 28. Along with two victories, Elliott has collected 18 top-five finishes – five of which are runner-up results – and 29 top-10s on 1.5-milers.
- On Sunday, Elliott is set to make his ninth NASCAR Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his previous eight starts, he has collected two top-five finishes, three top-10s and led 155 laps. The 25-year-old driver’s 155 laps led at LVMS is the second-most that he has at a track without a points-race win (Bristol – 310).
- Just three races into 2021, William Byron has already led 102 laps – the second-most by any driver in the field. Denny Hamlin leads the category with 103 laps out front, just one more than Byron. The 23-year-old led the final 57 laps at Homestead, and his 102 laps led during the event was more than double his total prior laps led in any Cup race.
- Byron’s win at Homestead-Miami Speedway was the 61st for Hendrick Motorsports on a 1.5-mile track in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. The team will seek its record-extending 62nd 1.5-mile victory on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- Not only did Sunday mark Byron’s second Cup win, but it was statistically his best overall race to date in the series. Despite starting 31st, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native rocketed to the front of the field and spent 80 percent of the race in the top five; his highest percentage ever. Of the event’s 267 laps completed, Byron spent 115 running in the top-two positions, also his most ever in a race. Byron ended the night with an average running position of 3.9, another personal best.
- With his Homestead performance, Byron became the 12th different driver to win for Hendrick Motorsports on a 1.5-mile Cup Series track. He joined Jimmie Johnson (28 wins), Gordon (17), Darrell Waltrip (three), Elliott (two), Kasey Kahne (two), Ken Schrader (two), Terry Labonte (two), Alex Bowman, Mark Martin, Casey Mears and Jerry Nadeau.
- Bowman has also finished inside the top five in three of the last four races on 1.5-mile venues, including Las Vegas in September. The 27-year-old driver’s first Cup win came in 2019 at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway after leading 88 laps. Bowman captured three stage wins at 1.5-mile tracks in 2020, the third-most behind Hamlin and Elliott.
- Bowman has eight Las Vegas Motor Speedway appearances in the NASCAR Cup Series. In the fall race last season, he recorded both his best starting position (eighth) and best finish (fifth). Bowman’s average running position in the 2020 playoff race at Vegas was 5.5, which was the third-best of all drivers.
Be sure to tune in to FOX this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET to watch the Hendrick Motorsports teams take on Las Vegas Motor Speedway.