Yahoo Autos NASCAR 40 for 40: Celebrating Hendrick Motorsports' 40th Anniversary By the Numbers
During the 2024 NASCAR season, Hendrick Motorsports—the winningest team in Cup Series history—is celebrating its 40th anniversary season.
Yes, 40 years is a long time. And Hendrick has definitely made the most of those four decades. Consider these Hendrick accomplishments, courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports:
At least one NASCAR Cup Series points win in each of the last 38 seasons and at least three victories in each of the last 30 seasons
All-time record 18 combined NASCAR national series titles (14 Cup, three truck, one Xfinity)
Led all teams in wins (or were tied for most) in 18 of 40 seasons
Earned 35% of Chevrolet’s all-time Cup wins (301 of 851); 51% since 1984 (301 of 589)
Won the inaugural Cup Series race at six different tracks
13 of the 61 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees are affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports; at least one affiliated NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee in seven of the last eight years
At least two drivers in the playoffs for 18 straight seasons
At least one driver in the playoffs in all 20 seasons of the format
Fielded the last five drivers to reach 10 Cup wins in a season
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Here's a look at 40 more noteworthy achievements and fun facts by the numbers from Hendrick's first 40 in NASCAR:
1. Winless season (1985) in 40 years in the Cup Series
2. Cup Series starts for Rick Hendrick, at Riverside Raceway in 1987 and 1988, with finishes of 33rd and 15th
3. Craftsman Truck Series championships for Jack Sprague in 1997, 1999, and 2001
4. Laps led by William Byron in winning the 2024 66th annual Daytona 500
5. Consecutive Cup Series championships by Jimmie Johnson between 2006 and 2010
6. Hendrick drivers with at least one Daytona 500 victory: Jeff Gordon (3), Johnson (2), and Byron, Geoffrey Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1 each)
7. Consecutive losses by the startup organization before its breakthrough victory in April of 1984 with Bodine at Martinsville Speedway
8. Bodine’s finish in the 1984 Daytona 500, the first official start for the new organization
9. Daytona 500 victories for Hendrick Motorsports, tied with Petty Enterprises for most in NASCAR history
10. Current Cup Series drivers with at least one start for the organization
11. Races crew chief Harry Hyde won between 1984 and 1988 with the late Tim Richmond (7), Bodine (3), and Ken Schrader (1)
12. Seasons during which the organization’s teams have combined to win 10 or more races
13. Starts it took Johnson to get his first Cup Series victory, at Fontana in 2002
14. Cup Series championships for the organization among Johnson (7), Gordon (4), and Terry Labonte, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott (1 each)
15. Elliott’s age when he made his 2011 ARCA Menards debut in a family-owned No. 9 Chevrolet sponsored by HendrickCars.com
16. Daytona 500 poles among nine Hendrick drivers, including seven from current drivers Bowman (3), Elliott (2), and Larson and Bryon (1 each)
17. Car number Darrell Waltrip carried in the 1989 Daytona 500, the second of nine Daytona 500 victories for the organization
18. Total NASCAR championships at HMS among Cup (14), Craftsman (3), and Xfinity (1) teams
19. The late Ricky Hendrick’s age when made his 1992 Xfinity Series debut at Myrtle Beach, S.C. in a Gordon-owned No. 24 Chevrolet sponsored by DuPont
20. Drivers who have contributed to the 302 Cup Series victories for the organization since its first in 1984
21. Ricky Hendrick’s age when he won the 2001 Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway in the No. 17 Silverado owned by his father, Rick Hendrick, and sponsored by GMAC Financial Services.
22. Gordon’s age when he got the first of his 93 victories with the organization, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May of 1994
23. Cup Series poles at Daytona International Speedway, the most by the organization’s drivers at any venue
24. Car number with the most Cup Series victories (104) for the organization, from Gordon (93) and Byron (11)
25. Car number carried by the late Tim Richmond when he won nine races for the organization in 1986 and 1987
26. Xfinity and Craftsman Truck victories by the organization’s teams in each of those series.
27. Road course victories for the organization at Watkins Glen (11), Sonoma (7), Riverside, Charlotte Roval (3 each), and Road America, COTA, and the Daytona Infield (1 each)
28. Victories at Martinsville Speedway, most by the organization at any venue
29. Starts for former champion Benny Parsons without a victory in 1987, his only year with Hendrick Motorsports
30. Gordon’s “running at the finish” results in 32 starts in his 10-victory season of 1997, when he beat Dale Jarrett by 14 points for his second Cup Series championship
31. Active and former tracks where the organization’s teams have won at least one Cup Series race
32. Age of the late Tim Richmond when he won back-to-back races at Pocono and Riverside in June of 1987; they were the last of his 13 Cup victories, nine of them for HMS.
33. Cup Series starts for Gordon (10 victories) and Labonte (1) in 1998, at the time the most-ever for any of the organization’s teams.
34. Points margin by which Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt for the first of his four Cup Series championships, in 1995.
35. Combined career victories for Elliott (18) and Larson (17), the organization’s active former Cup Series champions.
36. Gordon's win at the inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August of 1994 was the 36th all-time Cup win for Hendrick Motorsports.
37. Rick Hendrick’s age when he made his first Cup Series start, in 1987 at Riverside Raceway, where he started 21st and finished a transmission-related 33rd in the Folgers-sponsored No. 25 Chevrolet.
38. Cup Series victories for crew chief Alan Gustafson, most among the organization’s four current crew chiefs;
39. Finish position of Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller, and Jenson Button in the specially prepared Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro at the 24 Hours of LeMans in June of 2023.
40. Years since a young North Carolina automotive dealer named Rick Hendrick created his NASCAR Cup Series team with five employees and a 5,000 square-foot shop.
