NASCAR’s most successful race team – Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) – travels to Delaware this Sunday. While the team of four exceptional drivers is always a threat to contenders in the Cup Series, it will be a tad bit more so in the Diamond State’s Dover Motor Speedway. The reason behind the same is the strong echo of the 2021 success that the team had at the 1-mile short track.
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Over the last 40 years, HMS has tallied 22 victories in Dover. But none come close to the iconic nature of the race that was held on May 16, 2021. The team drivers took up the leading four spots at the end of 400 laps and produced a 1-2-3-4 finish. It was the first such result in the team’s history and only the fourth time it was done before in NASCAR.
Driving the #48 Chevy Camaro, Alex Bowman emerged as the winner having led 98 laps. He was followed closely by Kyle Larson who’d led 263 laps. Chase Elliott and William Byron finished third and fourth, respectively. Together, the drivers led 382 of the 400 laps (95.5%) creating the second-best result in team history in regards of laps led.
Going to the “Monster Mile” once again, the dream will be to spin the same kind of magic. Should the team manage to replicate such a result, it will be all the more special considering the ongoing 40th year anniversary celebrations. Notably, the team has already achieved a 1-2-3 finish this season (In Martinsville). HMS legend Jimmie Johnson is the most successful driver in Dover with 11 wins.
What the 2021 1-2-3-4 finish in Dover meant for Hendrick Motorsports
Team owner Rick Hendrick was unsurprisingly deeply satisfied with his drivers after the race. “Every time you’re in a race, you like to see them run 1-2-3-4,” he said as reported by hendrickmotorsports.com. “The feeling is unbelievable. It was probably the longest last hundred laps I’ve ever seen in a race just because I wanted to see it so bad.”
William Byron noted the team’s cohesiveness and said, “I think it was a sign of strength and what we’ve built with teamwork. The four of us work so closely and well together that it feeds off each other. Iron sharpens iron and I feel like we continue to work together and put ourselves further towards the front.”
With other key figures in the HMS campus expressing similar emotions, the team went on to win the championship in 2021. Leading the charge for the drivers this Sunday will be the example that they set for themselves. Dover’s mascot, Miles the Monster, will be wary of this four-driver team’s return as well.
