CONCORD, N.C. -- The sky is the limit for Hendrick Motorsports as the organization heads to the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.
Not only does Hendrick Motorsports have the most all-star wins to its name, but it has the two most recent winners of the exhibition event with Chase Elliott (2020) and Kyle Larson (2019) in its ranks. Their respective victories in the prestigious race mean they are locked into the event for life.
For the first time in his young Cup career, William Byron will automatically have a spot in the race after he claimed a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway this season. Alex Bowman earned his second automatic all-star start in a row by virtue of his wins at Richmond and Dover earlier this year.
It's the 18th time in the last 20 seasons that all four Hendrick Motorsports cars have been in the All-Star Race. Take a look below to see how else the organization has dominated the $1 million prize event and tune in on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 to catch all the action.
- Hendrick Motorsports has won the exhibition event a record nine times with four different drivers: Jimmie Johnson (four victories), Jeff Gordon (three), Terry Labonte (1999) and defending winner Elliott (2020). Hendrick Motorsports also holds the All-Star Race records for starts (115), top-five finishes (39), top-10s (64) and laps led (775).
- At Texas, Larson will become the 22nd Hendrick Motorsports driver to appear in the NASCAR All-Star Race. He will join Gordon (22 starts), Johnson (19), Labonte (11), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10), Ken Schrader (seven), Kasey Kahne (six), Elliott (five), Ricky Rudd (five), Geoff Bodine (five), Darrell Waltrip (four), Bowman (three), Mark Martin (three), Byron (two), Casey Mears (two), Kyle Busch (two), Brian Vickers (two), Joe Nemechek (two), Jerry Nadeau (two), Ricky Craven, Benny Parsons, and Tim Richmond.
- Hendrick Motorsports is on a roll heading into the all-star break. The organization has won four consecutive points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races, sweeping at least the top-two positions in each, leading 842 of 946 laps (89%) and recording an average result of 5.7. Its finishes include 1-2-3-4 at Dover, 1-2-8 at Circuit of The Americas, 1-2-4-5 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and 1-2-9 at Sonoma Raceway. At NASCAR’s top level, no team has ever finished in both the first and second positions in five consecutive points races.
- Although Texas Motor Speedway will host its first NASCAR All-Star Race this Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports has plenty of history at the venue. With nine points-paying wins, the team is tied with Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing for the track record.
- Larson, who has three victories so far in 2021, has an automatic berth into the NASCAR All-Star Race at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway. In 2019 when the annual event was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Elk Grove, California, native won the Open qualifier to gain entry into the All-Star Race, then led the final 13 laps to capture the victory in the exhibition event. Larson also won the Open in 2016.
- Last season at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott drove his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to take the checkered flag after dominating the field during the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race. Elliott won stages two and three before crossing the finish line first in the final stage to earn the $1 million prize. The victory was the first All-Star Race win for Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson. The driver of the No. 9 was the third-youngest all-star winner at 24 years, 5 months, 17 days. Elliott is also one of three Hendrick Motorsports drivers to win the exhibition race and the NASCAR Cup Series championship in the same year. The others are Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997 and 2001) and Jimmie Johnson (2006 and 2013).
- Sunday will mark Byron’s third start in the NASCAR All-Star Race, but this year Byron already is locked into the event due to his wins at Daytona International Speedway last August and at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. Needing to race his way into the All-Star Race in the past, Byron has gotten the job done in the Open qualifier race the last two years. In 2019, he won the opening stage of the qualifier at Charlotte Motor Speedway, automatically locking himself into the main event where he finished ninth. In 2020, Byron captured the win in the second stage of the Open race at Bristol Motor Speedway, advancing himself to the All-Star Race where he raced to a 12th-place result.
- Bowman clinched his position in the non-points All-Star Race by his win earlier this year at Richmond Raceway. This is the second year that the 28-year-old driver has clinched a spot in the All-Star Race by virtue of a victory. In 2019, Bowman made it into the event after winning the fan vote. During last season’s All-Star Race, he rolled off second and finished eighth after 140 laps. He has finished eighth (his best result) in two of the last three All-Star Races.