FANTASY NASCAR Racin

RICK HENDRICK - 7/12/1949 -
Is the current owner of the American NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Marrow Program. He is also a retired race car driver himself, driving in only three NASCAR races throughout the course of his NASCAR career. He is the father of the late Ricky Hendrick, a former NASCAR driver. Hendrick opened a small used-car lot with Mike Leith, named Hendrick Automotive Group. Leith, an established new-car dealer, was convinced to name Hendrick the general sales manager of the company, at age 23. In 1976, he sold his assets to purchase a franchise in Bennettsville, South Carolina. After doing so, he became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States. Hendrick's influence increased sales to make the once troubled location become the region's most profitable. The success of Bennettsville was a precursor to the Hendrick Automotive Group, which now has 80 franchises and 6,000 employees across ten different states. In 1984, he founded All-Star Racing (now Hendrick Motorsports). With five full-time employees and 5,000 square feet of work space, he fielded one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. With Geoff Bodine the driver, his team managed to race in all 30 races to finish ninth in the final standings with three wins. In 1985 Bodine finished fifth in the Cup points posting

10 top ten finishes. Hendrick expanded to a two car team in 1986 hiring Tim Richmond to join Bodine. Geoff had a good season winning twice, and finishing eighth in the points. But Richmond had a great year visiting victory lane seven times, and finished third in the CUP points. This would be Richmond's final full time season as he was diagnosed with AIDS, and would miss time taking treatments. Hendrick did field three full time teams in 1987 with Bodine, Benny Parsons, and Darrell Waltrip wheeling his potent race cars. Waltrip finished fourth in points. Richmond did recover from his illness by mid-season, and he posted two wins for Hendrick by seasons end. 1988 saw Ken Schrader replace Parson as Hendricks driver as Bodine and Waltrip remained. All three drivers won at least one races and the trio finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the points. Once again in 1989 the trio all

posted at least one win, with Waltrip grabbing the checkered flag six times. Waltrip wouldn't see such good times in 1990. He got injured in a crash and had to miss six races. Meanwhile Ricky Rudd would replace Bodine, and Rudd would win in his first year with Hendrick; claiming Hendricks only win that season. Hendrick would pare his team back to just two cars in 1991 as Waltrip departed; while Rudd and Schrader remained. Schrader would claim two wins but finish ninth in the points. Rudd only won one time, but finished second in the points. 1992 would see Schrader and Rudd combine for only one win; but the most notable this was the first Cup start for Jeff Gordon. Gordon would go on to become a multi-time Cup Champion; all with Hendrick. 1993 saw the same duo

of Rudd and Schrader still with Hendrick, and Hendrick expanded back to a three car team with Gordon finning the third seat. Rudd claimed Hendrick's lone win that season. Terry Labonte took over the seat for Rudd in 1994 and grabbed three wins. Meanwhile Gordon would start to emerge as a formidable driver winning twice. Ken Schrader did not get a win, but did run well enough to finish post 18 top ten finishes and end up fourth in the points. The same trio of driver would remain at Hendrick through 1996, and during this time is when Hendrick and his drivers really started to flex their muscle. During this period the team posted 27 wins. In 1995 Gordon had seven wins, and

claimed the first Cup Championship for himself and Hendrick. 1996 saw more success for Hendrick drivers as Terry Labonte would win twice and claim both he and Hendricks second Cup Championship (Labonte has won previously in 1984 with Billy Hagan). Gordon won a whopping ten races, but finished second to Labonte in the points chase. Schrader would depart Hendricks team and be replaced by Ricky Craven for the 1997 season. Gordon would turn the tables on Labonte this year. Labonte would get one win, but Gordon would once again win ten times,

and would get the Cup title. Gordon, Craven and Labonte started off the 1998 season with high hopes having given the Cup title to Hendrick for consecutive seasons. Craven would have a serious crash and receive a concussion and miss half of the season. Labonte would once again claim a win for Hendrick; but Gordon would have a career season as he won 13 races and posted 26 top fives, and 28 top tens in the 33 week season. Needless to say, he won the Cup Championship once again. Dallenbach would continue to fill in for Craven in 1999 joining Gordon, and Labonte full time. For the sixth consecutive year Labonte won at least one race driving for Hendrick; Jeff Gordon continued his dominance winning seven times but DNF's relegated him to

seventh in the points hunt. The 2000 season saw Labonte go winless, and Dallenbach leave the team and be replaced by Jerry Nadeau. Gordon would get three wins, and Nadeau would claim his lone career victory at Atlanta. The trio would stay under the Hendrick umbrella in 2001 with Gordon winning six times; the only wins for the teams. But on the bright side Gordon would claim 18 top fives, and once again claim the Cup title. Once again Hendrick would have his eye on another young driver, and he would supply a car for Jimmie Johnson to make his first career Cup start. Hendrick added yet another team in 2002 to expand to a four car operation. Johnson would join the three drivers from the previous year. Part way into the season Nadeau

would crash and spin and hit drivers side first in the outside wall in a crash much like Ricky Cravens. Nadeau would also receive a concussion, and miss the rest of the season. Joe Nemechek would fill in for the remainder of the year. Labonte would again go winless, and only post one top five finish. Gordon and Johnson would both win three times, and both would finish in the top five in points. In 2003 Labonte would return to the winners circle for Hendrick. Joe Nemechek would claim a win in 2003, and Gordon, and Johnson would again both win three times. Brian Vickers replaced Nemechek in 2004 teaming with Gordon, Johnson and Labonte. Hendrick also provided a car for up and coming driver Kyle Busch. Johnson would win eight times, but finish second in the points. Gordon would win five times and finish third. Hendrick moved Busch into a full time would crash and spin and hit drivers side first in the

outside wall in a crash much like Ricky Cravens. Nadeau would also receive a concussion, and miss the rest of the season. Joe Nemechek would fill in for the remainder of the year. Labonte would again go winless, and only post one top five finish. Gordon and Johnson would both win three times, and both would finish in the top five in points. In 2003 Labonte would return to the winners circle for Hendrick. Joe Nemechek would claim a win in 2003, and Gordon, and Johnson would again both win three times. Brian Vickers replaced Nemechek in 2004 teaming with Gordon, Johnson and Labonte. Hendrick also provided a car for up and coming driver Kyle Busch. Johnson would

win eight times, but finish second in the points. Gordon would win five times and finish third. Hendrick moved Busch into a full time as he won the Cup title, Gordon won six times and finished second, while Busch got one win and finished fifth. All in all another great season for Hendrick. 2008 saw Kyle Busch depart for Joe Gibbs racing and he was replaced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Like so many of Hendricks other drivers he posted a win in his first year with his new team. His was the only win besides the seven posted by Johnson. Johnson once again won seven times in 2009, while Gordon won once and finished second behind Johnson in the points. Mark Martin would replace

Mears in 2010, and the Martin, Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson quartet would remain would remain together for two years. Johnson won six time in 2010; the only wins for Hendrick. 2011 would see Johnson streak of consecutive titles come to an end. He had a disappointing year only winning twice and finishing sixth in the points. Gordon got Hendricks only other three wins. When 2012 rolls around Mark Martin departed to drive a limited schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing. Hendrick replaced him with Kasey Kahne as his full time driver. For the first time since going to a four car team, Hendrick saw all of his drivers win a race in the same season. Earnhardt Jr won for the first time since 2008. Kahne won twice as did Gordon. Johnson posted five wins and finished third in the points; Kahne

finished fourth. 2013 saw Johnson keep his winning ways by claiming his sixth Cup title; while winning six times. Kahne won twice, but had a poor run in the Chase and finished 12th. Gordon had one victory while finishing sixth in points, while a win-less Earnhardt ended up fifth in the chase for the title. As 2014 kicked off Hendrick had the same four drivers as the previous season. His stable of drivers all had pretty good season. Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr all recorded four wins. Kahne also won once. Gordon would have 14 Top 5's and finish sixth in the points. 2015 would be Jeff Gordon's final season. He made it into the Chase based on consistent finishes and got in by points. Earnhardt Jr and Johnson posted wins and also advanced to the Chase. Gordon pulled off his first win of the season at Martinsville and it propelled him into the final Championship race at Homestead. Kyle Busch

would win the Championship and Gordon wound up third. 2015 also saw Chase Elliott make his first Cup start as he prepared to go full time Cup racing in 2016 replacing Gordon in the #24 car. So the Hendrick stable for 2016 consisted of Elliott, Kahne, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. Midway through the season Earnhardt Jr had a couple crashes and was diagnosed with a concussion. He sat out the final 18 races of the season. Jeff Gordon was called out of retirement by Hendrick to wheel Earnhardt car for eight events while Alex Bowman ran the other 10. Johnson would be the only driver to post a win for Hendrick Motorsports in 2016, but he did it with style; winning five times and claiming his seventh Cup Championship. Also in 2016 Chase Elliott would post 10 Top 5 finishes; finishing second twice. He also claimed the Rookie of the Year

Honors. In 2017 Elliott again struggled to find victory lane as he finished second on six occasions; made it into the Chase but was eliminated right before the final race. Kasey Kahne pulled a surprise win at Indy, qualifying him for the chase; but he was eliminated after the first round. Jimmy Johnson won three times; and made the Chase - Like Elliott he was eliminated right before the final race. Finally this was Dale Earnhardt final season. He struggled; but showed signs of greatness at times - often running well before a mechanical failure or getting caught up in someone elses wreck eliminated him. He was only able to post one Top 5 finish and it came early in the season at Texas. After the final race at Homestead there was a touching moment as he and Hendrick hugged and cried. As a gesture; Earnhardt gave Hendrick the helmet he wore

in his final race; and Hendrick gave Earnhardt the car he had just driven in his final race. Hendrick released Kasey Kahne at the end of the 2017. He did agree to help Kahne get a full time ride; and worked a deal with Levine Family Racing to drive the #95 car in 2018. For 2018, Johnson is the only grizzled old veteran in the Hendrick stable. Elliott will remain at Hendrick in 2018; but will switch to the #9 his Father made famous. After serving as a test driver for the last couple years; Alex Bowman will be rewarded for his patience and get to take over the wheel of the #88 car. Finally Xfinity Series Champion William Byron will fill the seat of the #24. Byron is on the fast track in racing. In 2016 he ran his first races in NASCAR and almost won the Truck Series Championship In 2017 Byron moved up to the Xfinity Series and went on to win the Championship there

in convincing fashion. So 2018 will be another big step forward for the young driver. That's a lot of young raw talent in one place; so we'll see how it all melds together. In 1996 Hendrick was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and got so ill he could not attend any races for several months. Doctors were not sure what his medical outcome would be. But a matching bone marrow donor was found, and he made a full recovery. In 1997, Hendrick began the Hendrick Marrow Program, a non-profit works with the Be The Match Foundation to support the National Marrow Donor Program. It raises funds to add volunteers to the "Be The Match" Registry, which helps to find a marrow match for patients. It also provides assistance to recipients with uninsured transplant costs. Since the beginning, it has raised millions of dollars, 100,000 potential donors to the

organization and eased the financial burden of more the 5,000 patients with grants from the Hendrick Family Fund for Patient Assistance. Afterward, he and his wife, Linda, were honored in 1999 with the Be The Match Foundation's Leadership for the Life Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary commitment to serve marrow transplant patients. Some of the past patients include U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, baseball great Rod Carew and former Postmaster General William J. Henderson. Hendrick also has a passion for The Hendrick Foundation for Children, a foundation that supports programs and services that benefit youngsters with illness, injury, disability or other hindrance, and was established by his brother, John Hendrick. Governor Jim Hunt recognized Hendrick in 1996 with The Order of the Long s

Leaf Pine, North Carolina's highest civilian honor. In the 1980s, Honda automobiles were in high demand and Honda executives allegedly solicited bribes from dealers for larger product disbursements. Hendrick admitted to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars, BMW automobiles, and houses to American Honda Motor Company executives. In 1997, Hendrick pled guilty to mail fraud. Hendrick was sentenced in December 1997 to a $250,000 fine, 12 months home confinement (instead of prison, due to his leukemia), three years probation, and to have no involvement with Hendrick Automotive Group (which was run by Jim Perkins) or Hendrick Motorsports (run by his brother John) during his year of confinement. In

December 2000, Hendrick received a full pardon from President Bill Clinton. On August 5, 2018; Chase Elliott won his first career Cup race driving for Hendrick. This also marked the 250th win for Hendrick Motorsports. The organization is now just the second team in series history to reach that mark, and ranks second all-time behind only Petty Enterprises’ 268 wins. Hendrick Motorsports’ 250 victories have come via 17 different drivers. That number ranks second among organizations all-time behind only the Wood Brothers team, which has put 19 different drivers in Victory Lane. And all 250 wins have come behind the wheel of a Chevrolet. Elliott’s win gave the Hendrick Motorsports another record as well, as he became the ninth different

first-time winner to race for the organization. That sets a new mark in the Cup Series, with Roush Fenway Racing now second with eight different first-time winners. The momentous win extended the organization’s all-time Cup Series record to 16 victories on road courses, though it was the first win at Watkins Glen since Jeff Gordon visited Victory Lane at the venue in 2001. With the swap over from veteran drivers to a new younger team' Hendrick Motorsports had some growing pains in 2018. In what was expected to be a situation where veteran Jimmie Johnson would lead the charge; it turned into a season where

Johnson struggled. Turns out Chase Elliott was the stalwart of the team as he run well all season and finally collected his first Cup win. Like his father before him, Chase finished second eight times before getting his first win. Also like his father, Chase also got his first win on a road course. Elliott would also add wins at Dover and Kansas. Chase's first career win came at Watkins Glen and also marked the 250th career for owner Rick Hendrick. Chase made it through the first two rounds of the Chase; but in the final race before the Chase; he got caught up in a wreck with Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin and wasn't able to make the final round. He ended up sixth in the season points. He was the highlight of the year as the entire rest

of the team only managed to accumulate five top five finishes. Elliott had 11 by himself. Alex Bowman had a season best finish of third at Pocono. William Byron found the move up from Xfinity to Cup a rough one. His best finish was a sixth at Pocono. He only had four top ten results. Jimmie Johnson would finish third at Bristol and only had one other top five the entire season. Johnson would make the Chase via points; but did not score enough points to advance out of the first round. He finished 14th in points. At the end of the season Hendrick made a surprising move. He split up Johnson and his long time crew chief Chad Knaus. They had been together ever since

Johnson moved to the Cup series and together they garnered 83 Cup wins and seven championships. For 2019 Knaus moved over to the #24 car to head up the efforts of William Byron. Meanwhile Jimmie Johnson picked up Kevin Meendering as his lead wrench. In July, after a string of disappointing finishes, Meendering would be replaced by Cliff Daniels. Johnson also had another major change: for the first time in his career he was sponsored by someone other then Lowe's. Alley Financial came on board to sponsor for the full season. Once again Johnson went win less and for the first time in his career he failed to make the Chase. By and large all of the Hendrick cars seemed to struggle much like the previous season. The leader of the team was young Chase Elliott. He posted three wins

and eleven Top 5 finishes. He backed up his win from 2018 at Watkins Glen and added another road course win at Charlotte on the Roval. Elliott was string all day; but made a major error on a restart. He went into turn one way too fast and piled into the tire barrier. Luckily for him it was several tires deep and it softened the blow greatly and he received very little damage. The crew made quick repairs and he came roaring back through the field. He got to the front and drove away to get the win. Johnson never really got going and only posted three Top 5's. The two other young drivers managed to make their way into the Chase. Bowman got Hendricks only other win of 2019 when he got the checkers at Chicago. Byron was able to make the Chase via points. Bowman and Byron were

eliminated from Chase contention in the second round; while a miserable third round eliminated Elliott. For the season Elliott finished eighth in points, with Byron tenth; Bowman 12th and Johnson 17th. At the end of the season Johnson announced that 2020 would be his last season as he would retire. 2020 was a year team couldn't complain about. They had their highs and lows. On one hand they desperately wanted to see Jimmie Johnson make the Chase and win a race in his final full time Cup season; which didn't happen. On the other hand Chase Elliott did win the Cup Championship. Let's start with Johnson. He only

missed making the Chase by six points. After NASCAR resumed racing due to the coronavirus pandemic Johnson looked unstoppable at the first race back at Darlington. He led almost all the laps in stage one and had a big lead on the final lap. He run up on a lapped car; and had to take evasive action and plowed into the inside wall. This cost him ten points for winning the stage; and also whatever points he would have received in the race. And he may have won the race. Two races it appeared he did win at Charlotte; but in post race inspection his car was a tiny bit two low and he was disqualified and received a last place finish position. Again he lost a win; and received only one point. Finally one race he had to sit out due to testing positive for coronavirus; and of course receive zero points. It was later revealed his test was a false positive. So he

could have won two races and easily made the Chase via points even if he didn't have the win. As it was he missed the Chase by six points. He did cap off his career with a strong fifth place run at the season ending race at Phoenix. Alex Bowman had an up and down season the first half of the year. In the first nine races, he won at Fontana and finished second at Darlington; but other finishes from 13th to 37th. The second half of the season he seemed to find his footing and performance improved. He finished fifth and seventh in the last two races of the regular season and with his win was in the Chase. In the Chase he had a worst finish of 16th and seven of the

ten races he finished in the Top 10. He finished sixth in the season ending points. William Byron broke through and got his first Cup race at an opportune time; winning the final race of the regular season to propel him into the Chase and knock Jimmie Johnson out. He had struggled up to that point only getting one Top 5 and seven Top 10's. In the Chase he ran ok; as he amassed five Top 10's in the final ten races. He finished 14th in points. Meanwhile Chase Elliott had a great season. He won five times and let several other slip away. At Darlington in the Spring race he was about to pass Denny Hamlin and take

the lead when when Kyle Busch accidently run into him and Elliott crashed. A few laps later rain set in and Hamlin got the win. A couple weeks late Elliott was cruising to the win in the Coke 600 when a yellow flew with two laps to go. Elliott's crew chiefs made the call for him to stay out; and the rest of the field pitted. Elliott was a sitting duck when the green flew with everyone else on news tire. However he managed to hang on and finish second. He finally broke through and won his first race of the season three days later when they raced at Charlotte again. The next

race at Bristol he had the superior car and looked to be on his way to winning again when he and Joey Logano had a run in with just a few laps remaining ruining Elliott's day. Later in the Southern 500 Elliott looked to have the field covered again and was leading late in the race. Martin Truex could run the same lap times but couldn't catch him. Elliott's car slipped a bit coming off of turn four and Truex had a run on him going into turn one. Truex figured "it's now or never" as the laps wound down. He slid up into Elliott's car and pinched him into the wall and damaged it so badly he finished last on the lead lap. But Elliot had other strong runs. He had won two races on the road courses in 2019; and in 2020 he grabbed both road course wins. His win on the Roval propelled him into round three of the Chase. In that round he had a tire issue early in the race and lost a lap. He was never able to get the lap back and finished 20th. That left the final race in round three at Martinsville; and Elliott was in a must-win situation if he wanted to race for the Championship at Phoenix. Elliott dominated, leading almost half of the laps, and won easily. At Phoenix he had a good long run car, while competitors Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano had good short run cars. Logano won the first stage, while Keselowski won stage

two. The final stage was a long run and as luck would have it ran caution free. Elliott used that to his advantage and bypassed both Keselowski and Logano to win the race and the Championship. For 2021, Elliott, Byron and Bowman were back. Johnson retired and Kyle Larson was hired to fill his seat. Hendrick Motorsports had a banner season in 2021. His four drivers all claimed wins. William Byron won the first race for his drivers, as he grabbed a win at Homestead. Larson won the following week by winning at Las Vegas. Bowman would get Hendricks next two wins as he got the checkered flag first at Richmond and Dover. Chase Elliott broke through and got his first win at COTA on the road course. He would win again at

Road America, and that would be his only wins for 2021. Bowman would win twice more; those coming at Pocono and Martinsville. Kyle Larson was Hendricks star driver in 2021. Along with his first win at Las Vegas; he would add nine more. He claimed a win at the Coke 600 and also grabbed wins at Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Roval at Charlotte. He capped off the season winning three of the final four races of the year; including the season ending championship race at Phoenix. With that win he claimed the Cup Championship for 2021. All four drivers would

return to drive for Hendrick in 2022, and all of them would claim at least one win; putting them in the Chase. Elliott led the charge claiming five wins. He got his first win at Dover; and during one stretch had three wins in five races. The other two starts he finished second. He made it into the Championship round to race for the title; but his car wasn't fast early. The crew worked on the car every stop and it got better and better. Just past the half way mark he was running third, and looked like he might have something to go compete with Joey Logano who had led most of the race to that point. On a restart Ross Chastain went low to pass Elliott, and he threw a block; but too late. Elliott went across the nose of Chastain's car and spun;

making contact with the inside wall. It would damage his suspension and he would not be competitive the rest of the day. He had five wins; 12 top five and 20 top tens. Kyle Larson got three wins for HMS on the season. The first came at Fontana in the second race of the year. It wasn't until Watkins Glen in race #25. Elliott should have won that race, as he was driving away easily to the win. But a late race yellow saw the field bunch up with Larson along side. On the restart, Larson used up Elliott and shoved him out to the outside wall. By the time everyone was squared away, Larson was slipping off into the distance and would get the win. Larson was eliminated from the chase just before the semi-final round. Larson would win again as the season wound down when the series went to Homestead.

Along with his three wins, Larson posted 13 top five and 19 top tens. William Byron grabbed two wins in 2022. The first would come at the newly reconfigured super speedway of Atlanta. He would just edge out Ross Chastain. Byron would win again three weeks later at Martinsville, beating Joey Logano. Byron ran ok in the Chase; and was in the hunt to make final four. But he went to Martinsville in a must-win situation and wasn't able to pull off the win. He had the two wins, five top fives and 11 top tens. Alex Bowman got a single win for HMS. It came at Las Vegas and it saw all four of Hendrick's win five times in the first eleven races of the season. Bowman ran well on the

season; but crashed at Texas and received a concussion. He would miss the next five races. For the year he had the one win; four top fives and 12 top tens. A nice season for HMS as combined the drivers compiled 11 wins; had 34 top five and 62 top tens. In 2023, HMS hosted their usual field of strong cars and good drivers, but it would prove to be a contest between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. Bad luck befell Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman during the season as they had injuries and had to miss multiple races on the side of the ‘have-nots’. Elliott broke a leg in a ski boarding accident after just the second race of the season; and he had to miss six races before he returned. He ran well, but it just didn’t seem to be up to the level of the previous season. When he came back from his injury he posted five finishes inside the top 12, and only had one finish worse

than 13th for 13 races. He never managed to make it to victory lane, but even after missing so many races, he just liked 40 points earning his way to the Chase via points. Alex Bowman fractured a vertebra while racing Midget cars when he flipped. He missed three races, and also never was able to claim a win, and missed the playoffs. Bowman's season also started off strong when he finished fifth at Daytona. The next six races he had one finish worse than eighth. On the side of the ‘haves’; William Byron and Kyle Larson. Larson won four times. The first came at Richmond, and two weeks later he was in the

winners circle again at Martinsville. When the playoffs started, Larson grabbed the win in the Southern 500. He also won in the Round of 8 to lock himself into the race for the championship. He had 15 top five and 18 top ten finishes. Byron did even better than that. He first got a win at Las Vegas, and followed it with a win the next week at Phoenix. He had a win at Darlington in the Spring race and then won at Atlanta in the Summer. As the regular season drew to a close Byron got the win at Watkins Glen. Byron seemed to get stronger in the playoffs as six of the ten races he finished in the top five. Like Larson, he to made his way into the Championship race at Phoenix. Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell were the other two

drivers with a shot at the championship. Bell cut a tire and crashed out early. The other three contenders all run toward the front, and Byron led 95 laps. Blaney struggled early as did Ross Chastain. But as the race wore on, Blaney and Chastain kept getting stronger and worked their way to the front. Chastain ended up leading 157 laps and winning the race. Blaney was right on his rear bumper and finished second to win the championship. Even with Elliott and Bowman missing races, HMS still managed to compile ten wins, 42 top five and 67 top ten finishes. To date Hendrick drivers have won many championships and major

races. Jeff Gordon got Hendrick his first Cup Championship in 1995, then added three more, 1997, 1998, and 2001. Terry Labonte won the championship in 1996. Jimmie Johnson won it in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2016. Chase Elliott was Champ in 2020 and Kyle Larson won in 2021. HMS topped the 300 win mark in 2023. Major race HMS drivers have won are: Daytona 500 (1986, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014); Southern 500 (1986, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2023) Coke 600 (1988, 1989, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2014, 2020, 2021); Brick Yard 400 (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2017). HMS does not often run a car full time in the Xfinity series. Jr Motorsport has close ties with Hendrick; and serves as the feeder system for drivers that move from Xfinity to Cup do drive for HMS. 2022 was the first time