Hendrick Faces Early-Season Drought Heading to Martinsville
Winless start has powerhouse team looking to rebound at a track it has long dominated,
Hendrick Faces Drought Heading to Martinsville James Gilbert - Getty Images Six races into the NASCAR Cup Series season, and Hendrick Motorsports reaches a crossroads of sorts this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Although Hendrick has three drivers—Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Kyle Larson—in the top 10 in points, the winningest team in the sport’s history is winless entering Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville. Elliott, Byron, and Larson have combined for four top fives through six races, but the checkered flag has flown over others.
Chevrolets in general have had a sluggish seasonal start, with Toyota claiming five wins (four by new superstar Tyler Reddick) and Ford one (Ryan Blaney). The brash start by Toyota has its drivers leading more laps (759) to date than Ford and Chevrolet combined. Bowtie drivers are racing with a new nose configuration, but there has been little attempt to blame changes on the lack of victory lane visits.
Notably, the last time Chevrolet teams failed to win in the season’s first six races was 2019. In the past five seasons, Hendrick teams have never gone past race three in search of the year’s first win. Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and William Byron.
James Gilbert - Getty Images The good news for Hendrick and Chevrolet is that Martinsville’s long history is stamped solidly with the Hendrick imprint. Across its decades-long life, Hendrick Motorsports has scored 30 wins at the half-mile track, and that number is the all-time high for a Cup team at an individual track. In fact, it’s not even close.