At this point, it feels like Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is achieving key milestones for fun. Kyle Larson jetted through the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday and qualified in pole position for Sunday’s main race. He recorded a speed of 190.369 mph to do so and secured his 11th-ever pole for the team. More importantly, he marked the team’s 250th time starting at the pole.
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Hendrick Motorsports 250 poles have come from 20 different drivers on 31 different tracks. The star who contributed the most to this number is the current Vice Chairman, Jeff Gordon. A four-time Cup Series champion, Gordon’s contributions to the team and NASCAR are evident throughout the world of motorsports. In his time behind the wheel, he brought home a staggering 81 pole starts.
Gordon’s dominance is evidenced by the number of poles that those following him have secured. Jimmie Johnson (36), Chase Elliott (12), and Kyle Larson (11) together have 59 poles and still fall short of Gordon’s figures. Not surprisingly, between Gordon and Johnson, they take credit for nearly half of the poles (117) that the team has ever achieved.
Following them at some distance is Geoff Bodine with 22 poles. Bodine was the first driver to win for Hendrick Motorsports and the first to give it a pole start as well (Bristol, 1984).
Talking about the importance of qualifying at pole, Scott Maxim – the team’s director of powertrain – says, “Every time we line up to qualify, the goal of that team is to be their very best and ultimately to win the pole. Our engine department relishes the opportunity to compete to win the day and to win that competition. This is a huge source of pride because there is a lot of effort that goes into being the best every day.”
Kyle Larson is overjoyed at helping Hendrick Motorsports achieve a milestone in Texas
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, Hendrick Motorsports led its 80,000th lap in March. It secured its 300th win in Texas in 2023 and the HMS engine department scored its 500th win in NASCAR as well. Last week in Martinsville, it earned its fourth-ever 1-2-3 finish in the Cup Series. Though Larson has been a part of achieving these milestones, he can’t get enough of it.
“Whenever you can kind of be ‘the guy,’ I guess, to know that your name is going to be next to that milestone number – it’s pretty special,” he said to hendrickmotorsports.com. He will no doubt love to end up being the winner as well on Sunday. The race will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET and can be caught live on FS1.
