CONCORD, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports is known for its prowess on road courses. Chase Elliott won five of the last eight road-course events in the Cup Series.
While Circuit of The Americas is a different beast to tackle due to the NASCAR Cup Series never competing at the Austin, Texas, venue, both Elliott and William Byron have had the chance to test there.
While the 20-turn road course will be a challenge, the Hendrick Motorsports teams are excited to take on COTA. Take a look at the best Hendrick Motorsports road-course stats heading into Sunday's event at Circuit of The Americas. Tune in live at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1 to see the Hendrick Motorsports drivers in action.
- Entering Sunday’s inaugural race at Circuit of The Americas, Hendrick Motorsports ranks as the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series road-course victories with 20. The outfit has won road races with six different drivers: Jeff Gordon (nine), Elliott (five), Tim Richmond (three), Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Rudd and Geoff Bodine. Hendrick Motorsports also has eight stage wins on road courses, which is the most of any team.
- With Alex Bowman (28 years old), Byron (23) and Kyle Larson (28) already posting NASCAR Cup Series wins, Hendrick Motorsports has sent three drivers under the age of 30 to victory lane in 2021. It has occurred only two other times in NASCAR Cup Series history: Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009 and Hendrick Motorsports in 2020. No team has ever won with four different drivers under 30 in the same season. Elliott, the defending NASCAR champion, is 25.
- Bowman's Dover victory was the 799th for Chevrolet, meaning its next checkered flag will be milestone No. 800 for the winningest brand in motor sports. Hendrick Motorsports will look to again deliver for Chevy, which is the only manufacturer partner the team has ever had. The organization also won Chevy's 400th, 500th, 600th and 700th races in the Cup Series.
- While this weekend marks NASCAR’s first event at Circuit of The Americas, Larson has 15 previous starts on road courses in the Cup Series including one top-five finish – fourth at Watkins Glen International in 2014 – and four top-10s. Larson has three pole positions – all at Sonoma Raceway – and two stage victories (third-most of all-time) in those starts. In sports cars, the 28-year-old driver competed in the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014 through 2016 and was victorious in 2015.
- Elliott is set to make his 14th Cup Series start on a road course this weekend at Circuit of The Americas. In his previous 13 races, he has collected the most wins (five) and stage wins (six) of active drivers. Elliott has garnered six top-five finishes, eight top-10s and a total of 284 laps led at road courses. He also remains the youngest road course winner at 22 years, 8 months, 8 days. Last season, Elliott swept both races on road courses (DAYTONA Road Course and Charlotte ROVAL) and led the most laps (61) on these tracks.
- Byron has stepped up his road course racing skills in the last two years, finishing in the top 10 in three of the last four races. While in the last six road course events, he has led at least 20 laps in three of those races, including leading the most laps during last year’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. In fact, Byron led the second-most laps on road courses during the 2020 season.
- Bowman has 13 previous starts at road courses in the Cup Series. The driver has two top-five results and five top-10s. Bowman is tied for second with Kurt Busch for the longest active streak (two) of top-10 finishes on road courses. In four of the last nine road course races, Bowman has finished inside the top 10. While driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman has finished in the top 15 in all nine road course starts and has an average finish of 9.67. That ranks sixth best among active drivers since the start of 2018.