Last week’s race at Daytona International was a grand success for Hendrick Motorsports for two reasons. One, William Byron snapped the team’s nine-year winless streak at the Great American Race, and two, Alex Bowman pulled up a runner-up performance right behind Byron, making it a coveted 1-2 finish for Rick Hendrick. Now, the team is getting their cars ready for another drafting track race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this week.
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Nevertheless, he might have some time to sit back and go back in time and cherish his team’s history at the AMS.
Hendrick Motorsports’ first victory at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Hampton, Georgia, came way back in 1989 through Darrell Waltrip. In 1991, that victory was followed up with another win by Ken Schrader. Jerry Nadeau took his sole victory at the AMS in 2000. However, the most number of wins for HMS on the AMS were bagged by two of the sport’s winningest drivers, Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon and 7X Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. They are the only ones to have five wins each at Atlanta; for Gordon, they came between 1995 and 2011, and for Johnson, they were between 2004 and 2016.
Besides that, other drivers like Kasey Kahne (2014) William Byron (2022 and 2023) as well as Chase Elliott (2022) have all picked up wins here.
How last year’s spring race played out for HMS drivers
Looking back at the 2023 spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, it is safe to say that the day resulted in nothing but utter disaster. With 71 laps remaining, all three drivers, who were running in the top 10 then, got caught up when Kevin Harvick spun out from the lead.
Josh Berry was driving the #9 NAPA Autoparts Chevy for Chase Elliott, who had to stay out of the race due to his injury. He, Kyle Larson, and Byron didn’t get the chance to avoid the wreck. Maybe a balm to the wound, Larson was able to recover from the incident and grab the second place on lap 209. But even that happiness for the team was momentary.
Larson was collected in the mess of another SHR driver, Aric Almirola this time as the latter cut his tire. Only Bowman was able to drive up to a somewhat respectable position of third at the end of the second stage, but by the end of the event, he dropped back to a disappointing 14th-place finish.
Elliott probably has had enough time to recover from his shoulder surgery and his 2023 miseries. Moreover, the AMS is his home track, and he has won there before. “I’m a big fan of Atlanta anytime; whether February or in the playoffs or in July… whenever they want to do it,” said the 2020 Cup Series champion. “Nice to be close to home you know and not have to go far… that’s my favorite part about going down there.” All things considered, it perhaps wouldn’t be absurd to place the bets on the Georgian this time.
