DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When it comes to the biggest race of the season, Hendrick Motorsports has strong stats throughout the years.
Entering Sunday's race, the organization has the most starts (132), top-five finishes (29) and top-10s (50) in the history of the DAYTONA 500. Alex Bowman’s pole on Wednesday night was a series-best 16th in "The Great American Race" for Hendrick Motorsports. With Kyle Larson joining him on the front row, the team now has nine front row sweeps in the event. It’s 1,302 laps led are second – only 14 behind the top spot. The eight wins in the crown jewel race are second all-time – one behind Petty Enterprises – and the most among active teams.
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As strong as the organization has been in qualifying in recent years (Bowman’s pole position was their eighth in nine years), capturing the DAYTONA 500 has proven to be an elusive task of late for the 14-time NASCAR Cup Series champions. The last of the organization’s eight wins in the event came in 2014 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"We've talked about it quite a few times this offseason, it's been a long time since Hendrick Motorsports won the Daytona 500," Bowman said. "We got to make that change on Sunday, for sure. We're doing all we can to make that happen."
Hendrick Motorsports wins in the DAYTONA 500:
2014: Earnhardt Jr.
2013: Jimmie Johnson
2006: Johnson
2005: Jeff Gordon
1999: Gordon
1997: Gordon
1989: Darrell Waltrip
1986: Geoff Bodine
PHOTOS: See the victories for Hendrick Motorsports in the DAYTONA 500
During an availability following the unveiling of the Garage 56 car and livery at Daytona International Speedway on Friday afternoon, team owner Rick Hendrick said he "liked our chances" to win.
"This race is about being there at the end," Hendrick, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017, said. "I think we are going to be in good shape. I never count my chickens down here because I’ve been leading off of Turn 4 and end up cutting them up to get them in trailer. It’s going to be a heck of a race. It’s going to be super aggressive. You got a lot of drivers that are really good at drafting, so it’s going to come down to who is at the end and who makes the right move."
Inside the walls of Hendrick Motorsports, snapping that drought is at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
"We are certainly hungry for a checkered flag in 'The Great American Race,'" Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "We have been reminding ourselves internally how many front rows we have and yet, we are still kind of dry in the win column for quite a few years. We are looking at all the things we need to do to have good cars and we definitely want to race well. A lot of emphasis on that. That is the mindset. Hopefully, we do all the right things right and have an opportunity to bring it home."
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For each of the team’s current drivers – Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Larson – a triumph in the DAYTONA 500 would be their first in the sport’s biggest race. Each of the four has sat on the pole. Elliott was the runner-up finisher to Michael McDowell in 2021, while Larson led coming to the white flag in 2017 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. This Sunday, the quartet will have their eyes on raising the Harley J. Earl Trophy.
"It would mean a lot," Larson said of winning the DAYTONA 500. "That’s our biggest race of the year. The most prestigious race and the one that everybody wants to win. I’ve gotten close one other time (in 2017). I ran out of fuel leading on the last lap. Bummed that I didn’t win that because you never know if you are going to have another opportunity, which I haven’t since then. I would love to win that big race and add my name to that winner’s list."
Tune in on Sunday to see if Hendrick Motorsports can win for the ninth time in the DAYTONA 500 with 65th running of the race. The 200-lap extravaganza gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
