With Alex Bowman’s victory at Dover, Hendrick Motorsports now have 267 wins, only one behind Petty Enterprises’ long-standing record of 268 wins.
HMS even recorded its first-ever 1-2-3-4 finish on Sunday. With drivers in good momentum, the record might be broken this season.
“The feeling is unbelievable,” team owner Rick Hendrick said of the Dover result. “It was probably the longest last hundred laps that I’ve ever seen in a race just because I kind of wanted to see it so bad, so close. To be able to pull that off, that’s kind of one of those things in racing that you would say was on your bucket list.”
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While most of the victories for Petty came from NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard and Lee Petty, HMS has had a number of drivers help them reach the win number. Kyle Larson became the 20th driver to win for HMS with his Cup Series victory earlier this season. Speaking about surpassing Petty’s record, Rick Hedrick said:
“Well, Richard (Petty) is a good friend. He’s the King of this sport. But any time there’s a record out there, you have an opportunity to break it or tie it. I think a few years back, I thought it would be impossible. If you told me in 19, what, 84 that you’re going to be here for this long or that you had an opportunity to win all these races and championships. I kind of pinch myself because it’s just really hard to do. The sport is so competitive right now.”
HMS has four victories first 13 races this season. Defending champion Chase Elliott is their only driver to yet register a win this season.