CONCORD N.C. - Want an interesting fact you might not know? Hendrick Motorsports has the most wins at inaugural points-paying events in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Across the 41 tracks that the tour has raced at in the modern era, no other team has as many wins as Hendrick Motorsports does on brand new circuits during points-paying events. With the Cup Series landing in Mexico for the first time this weekend, each of the four Hendrick Motorsport drivers will be looking to add another win to that total.
Since 1972, the organization has collected six points-paying wins at inaugural racetracks across the Cup Series. Those tracks include Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Auto Cub Speedway, Kansas Speedway, the Daytona Road Course, Circuit of the Americas and Nashville Superspeedway.
Jeff Gordon is credited with the first three inaugural wins for Hendrick Motorsports, starting with the first Brickyard 400 in 1994 at Indianapolis The eventual five-time winner of the event took home his first after holding off a charging Brett Bodine in the closing stages of the race.
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Gordon also scored the organization's second inaugural win in 1997 at Auto Club Speedway. The California native got a chance to impress his home crowd when he cruised to victory with a sizeable gap between him and second place. Coincidentally, he started third in both this race and the previously mentioned '94 Brickyard 400.
Gordon's last inaugural track win for Rick Hendrick would come in 2001 at Kansas Speedway. Multiple cautions restacked and shuffled the field during the final stages of the race in America's heartland. Despite the chaos around him, Gordon kept his foot to the floor and found himself in victory lane at the end of the race.
Jeff Gordon captures the first Kansas Speedway trophy at the 2001 race in Kansas
Chase Elliott picked up the mantle 19 years later when he won the first ever race at the Daytona Road Course. With the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling Watkins Glen International's date on the calendar, the Cup Series ventured into the inner circuit of Daytona International Speedway to fill the road course void.
Just like Gordon at Kansas, Elliott was tasked with holding off the field on a restart with three laps remaining in the event. Once the green flag flew, he did not look back and stayed ahead of the pack to win his second of five wins that season.
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Elliott mastered the twists and turns of Circuit of The Americas that following year to get another inaugural race win for Hendrick Motorsports. Not only was it the first time the Cup Series ran at COTA, but it was also the first time the Cup Series ran at COTA... in the rain.
Heavy rain caused poor visibility, hard crashes, single-file restarts, and eventually a shortened race distance. Despite the challenges, Elliott kept his car afloat and won the first ever Cup race at COTA.
Hendrick Motorsports' most recent inaugural Cup Series win came that same year, thanks to Kyle Larson at Nashville Superspeedway. While the lower divisions had visited the 1.3-mile oval occasionally since 2011, the Cup Series had never competed on the low-banked concrete track before.
Even with plenty of unknowns, Larson showed off his driving prowess by dominating the race and cruised to a comfortable win in Music City.
This weekend's race in Mexico City provides another shot at winning an inaugural event. You can watch all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers aim to achieve this goal on Sunday, June 15 at 3 p.m. on Prime Video.