Jimmie Johnson and the 48 Lowes Team won tonight’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. This win is special for Hendrick Motorpsorts as it is number 200 in the history of Hendrick Motorsports.
Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR
Below is a timeline of Hendrick’s notable and milestone victories on its way to 200:
1 – On April 29, 1984 at Martinsville Speedway, Geoff Bodine earned Hendrick Motorsports’ first victory. He led 55 laps in the event.
4 – HMS won its first Daytona 500. Geoff Bodine started on the front row (second), leading 101 laps on Feb. 16, 1986.
10 – HMS won its first Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Tim Richmond helped Hendrick reach double-digits in victories with his “crown jewel” win from the pole on Aug. 31, 1986.
16 – HMS won its first Coca-Cola 600. With 41-year-old Darrell Waltrip driving, Hendrick nabbed its first win in NASCAR’s longest race on May 29, 1988.
36 – HMS won its first Brickyard 400. In the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon, then 23, won his second career race on Aug. 6, 1994.
50 – Jeff Gordon, whose 85 victories are more than any other Hendrick driver and third-most on the all-time list, won at Darlington Raceway on March 24, 1996.
61 – At the time, Gordon became the youngest winner in Daytona 500 history at 25 years, six months, 12 days on Feb. 16, 1997. His record was later broken in 2011 by Trevor Bayne (20 years, one day).
100 –Gordon won another milestone race, this time at Michigan International Speedway on June 10, 2001. Gordon would go on to win his fourth series championship that season.
150 – Jimmie Johnson captured victory on March 11, 2007 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Later that season, Johnson would win his second-consecutive championship.
196 – OnApril 17, 2011, Jimmie Johnson edged Clint Bowyer to the finish line by a miniscule .002 seconds, matching the closest margin of victory in series history.
198 – In a race delayed two days because of inclement weather, Gordon captured historic win No. 85 on Sept. 6, 2011 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to move into third on the all-time series wins list.
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