Can Hendrick Motorsports Snap Their Decade-Long Drought This Weekend?

Published 05/11/2023, 8:10 PM EDT

This weekend, the NASCAR fraternity makes landfall at the Darlington Raceway. This is a special race because it signifies a throwback weekend for the drivers. Denny Hamlin heads into this race on the back of a win in Kansas. Meanwhile, the Hendrick Motorsports quartet head into this race completely fired up. This is because the team has not won at the race track since Jimmie Johnson‘s 2012 triumph.

In essence, it has been more than a decade since a Hendrick car visited Victory Lane at the Darlington Raceway. This track is nicknamed, “Too Tough to Tame,” and it has certainly earned that reputation. It isn’t for the lack of trying on the part of the Hendrick Motorsports team, as they have recorded some impressive statistics. This has been the case even during the winless drought in Darlington since that last race win in the 2012 Bojangles Southern 500, courtesy of Jimmie Johnson.

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How has Hendrick Motorsports performed at the Darlington Raceway?

According to the statistics, they have racked up 12 Top 5 finishes and 22 Top 10 finishes in 57 starts. Furthermore, since their last win in Darlington, the Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut romped to 95 wins and four Cup Series championships as well. Despite all of that, they have yet to reach the top step at the Darlington Raceway. Hopefully, all that will change this weekend, or else they will be forced to wait.

Hendrick Motorsports has not won at Darlington since May of 2012
This is the longest losing streak of any track (on the schedule) for the team
Since winning they’ve earned 12 top 5s and 22 top 10s (57 starts) at Darlington
The team has won 95 races and 4 championships since. pic.twitter.com/mN8Ey0Non9
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) May 11, 2023

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Admittedly, they came close in 2020 but got extremely unlucky. There were so many times when one of the HMS drivers finished as the runner-up. The list includes the likes of Kyle Larson, William Byron, and even Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is also interesting to note that Hendrick Motorsports has won at every track, except for the World Wide Technology Raceway, Bristol Dirt, Indianapolis road course, and Kentucky.

Only 4 tracks Hendrick never won at in cup are Gateway, Bristol Dirt, Indy G.P and Kentucky
Kentucky one is painful as hell for HMS fans
— Timecard100 (@Nascarcatholic) May 11, 2023

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Of course, the first three are relatively new to the NASCAR Cup Series, but in the span of 10 years, they have never won in Kentucky.

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Written by:

Dhruv George is a Senior Motorsports Writer at EssentiallySports, with an impressive track record of over 13K articles. He not only writes engaging content but regularly connects readers with some of the biggest racing names thanks to his ability to churn out exclusive interviews. From F1 driver Pierre Gasly to Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino, Dhruv has established himself as an authoritative voice in the world of motorsports.

Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal