Of course, Hendrick is a car salesman and he knows a steal when he sees one. There was no party for Elliott’s championship because of COVID-19, so it won’t be until Thursday at the Music City Center that Hendrick will personally collect another Cup.
NASCAR THE LIST DRIVER
The four-car team went three years without advancing a single driver to the championship final four, and it wasn’t until 2020 and Johnson’s final NASCAR race that Elliott closed out a late-season hot streak to win the his first Cup. left HMS with a young lineup anchored by Johnson and slowed by mediocre cars. That championship was a final hurrah before the Hendrick juggernaut stumbled.Ī painful rebuild to replace retired superstars Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He last accepted the championship trophy in 2016, the record-tying seventh and final title for Jimmie Johnson. Hendrick will be celebrated this week in Nashville at NASCAR’s annual year-end celebration, his fist chance to collect the Cup in five years.
NASCAR THE LIST DRIVERS
The entire Hendrick organization was improved, combining for 18 victories.Īll four Hendrick drivers made the playoffs Larson and Chase Elliott, the 2020 champion, both advanced to the winner-take-all final four. Larson won 10 points races, the $1 million All-Star race, broke Jeff Gordon’s 20-year record for most laps led in a season and pretty much dominated the competition all year. “Did I think he could win 10 races and win the championship?” Hendrick said. He didn't expect the results to be so spectacular. He knew Larson - the so-called “Next Jeff Gordon” - was going to be good when given fast race cars. Hendrick again didn’t have a sponsor, again had to fund the car out of his own pocket and was again willing to take the chance. HMS now has 280 Cup wins and its 14th title went to Larson, who was given a second chance in NASCAR this year when Hendrick ended Larson's nearly yearlong banishment for using a racial slur.
Hendrick had let Northwestern Security Life slap its logos on the car free of charge, and the company agreed to sponsor the rest of the season after the Martinsville win. Hendrick was on the verge of folding the team until Bodine staved off the closure with a victory at Martinsville Speedway.
He didn’t have sponsors in 1984 but was willing to fund Bodine himself - a plan that worked until Hendrick was just about broke only five races into the season. Both times, Hendrick gambled and followed his gut. There are parallels to this year’s championship and that 1984 first season.
NASCAR THE LIST SERIES
HMS in May passed the record 268 Cup wins long held by the Petty Enterprises empire, and the organization is now celebrating its record-extending 14th Cup Series championship with Kyle Larson’s first title. In the 37 years since, Hendrick Motorsports has become the winningest team in NASCAR history. Richmond had only been offered the seat because a deal between Hendrick and Richard Petty fell apart.
Bodine only got the ride because he happened to stop by Hendrick’s flagship City Chevrolet dealership looking for a NASCAR ride on the same day Tim Richmond was due to tell the fledgling team if he wanted the job.