CONCORD, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports achieved the ultimate accomplishment on Sunday, becoming the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The organization surpassed Petty Enterprises’ all-times win record after Kyle Larson dominated at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, earning the organization’s 269th victory. The accolade comes just one week after Chase Elliott took the checkered flag at Circuit of The Americas, tying Hendrick Motorsports with Petty Enterprises for the most Cup wins.
Team owner Rick Hendrick credited the teammates at Hendrick Motorsports for helping the organization break what he once thought to be an untouchable record.
“I look at how lucky I’ve been to surround myself with such great people - drivers and crew chiefs – and how it just happened,” Hendrick said. “It’s all about the people in any business you’re in. In the automobile business and racing business, and we’ve been able to assemble some great people and create a really unbelievable foundation. To say you’ve won 269 races – never in my life would I believe that could be done.”
Larson led all but 72 laps in the 400-lap event to secure the historic win for Hendrick Motorsports. It marks his second win this season and eighth total victory in the Cup Series. Overall, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished in the top five, with Elliott placing second, William Byron finishing fourth and Alex Bowman rounding out the group in fifth.
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"It feels good," Larson said. "It was not easy. I felt like I had to fight off William and Chase a lot ... we had a good car there that last run. It feels great to be the guy to help Mr. H break that record, finally."
The legendary Petty Enterprises has held the record for over 60 years starting with Lee Petty taking the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and final win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999, in the organization’s 1,703rd race. Hendrick Motorsports broke the long-standing record 61 years and one day to the date that Petty Enterprises took over the all-time wins accomplishment.
"I am proud to congratulate Rick Hendrick and all of Hendrick Motorsports on breaking the all-time wins record for a NASCAR Cup Series race team, long held by the legendary Petty Enterprises," NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France said. "With nearly 40 years of excellence, Hendrick Motorsports has set the gold standard for race team success. Rick Hendrick has already cemented his legacy as a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and now adds another incredible accomplishment to an exemplary NASCAR career."
For Hendrick, the win is a testament to what a legend Petty is in the organization. He added he never thought he would even get to be a mainstay in the NASCAR Cup Series, let alone break Petty’s legendary record.
“For me, going to modified races and then going to a race to see Richard Petty and Junior Johnson and those guys was something that I couldn’t believe I got to do,” Hendrick said. “To think that I’d ever end up racing with those guys, that was something I could only dream of.”