Brick by brick, Hendrick Motorsports has become the most successful team at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. No more than three races have passed at the 2.5-mile oval without a Hendrick victory, ever. How it shakes out is 10 wins total.
That’s double any other organization.
Overall, Hendrick Motorsports has 26 top fives – most by four – and 40 top 10s – most by six – in 94 starts. It has led 328 laps more than its competition with a total of 1,025 go-arounds out front.
The only category the organization doesn’t completely dominate in is pole wins. It’s tied for the No. 1 spot with Joe Gibbs Racing at five apiece.
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Jeff Gordon won the inaugural race at what’s now considered the Brickyard in 1994, and the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet went on to win a series-best five Brickyard 400s before retiring from full-time competition after the 2015 season. The next closest driver is Jimmie Johnson, who’s also a part of HMS family and still active in the No. 48 Chevy. Johnson has made it to Indy’s Victory Lane four times.
The other Hendrick win came from Kasey Kahne (also retired) in 2017.
As the Monster Energy Series heads to Indianapolis this Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Johnson finds himself in quite a predicament. For the first time in his career, the seven-time Cup Series champion is at risk of missing the NASCAR Playoffs, which were implemented in 2004. He’s ranked 18th in the championship standings at 599 points – 18 short of Daniel Suarez’s 617 in the 16th and final playoff spot – and Indy is the last regular-season race.
A silver lining: Johnson has been in this situation before … kind of.
Last year, Johnson entered the 26th event not locked into the postseason. He wasn’t outside the bubble like he is now, but he was 15th with no real security. His 16th-place finish ended up being enough to keep him within the top 16 standings and earn him a playoff berth.
Johnson ultimately closed out last season 14th.
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And here’s another fun fact: Johnson went on to win the overall championship in three of the four seasons he won the Brickyard 400. The overlap years were 2006, 2008, and 2009. His fourth Indy win was 2012, when he finished third in the final standings.
Johnson is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver who’s not set for the NASCAR Playoffs. Chase Elliott (eighth) secured his bid with two wins (Talladega Superspeedway and Watkins Glen International). Alex Bowman’s first career victory (Chicagoland Speedway) earned him a slot (11th). William Byron pointed his way in, sitting safely 66 points above the cutline in 13th.
Then again, Johnson is also the only Hendrick driver who has kissed the bricks before.