Early season streaks for NASCAR’s national series in 2020

NASCAR's 2020 season is still a work in progress, but several streaks and benchmarks have already been established in the handful of events that have been held. NASCAR.com digs in with statistics from Racing Insights and its own research to examine a dozen early streaks and trends from all three national series.

1. Hendrick Motorsports has won at least one race in each of the last 35 seasons

The lowdown: Alex Bowman's Auto Club Speedway victory padded a historic run for Hendrick Motorsports, pushing the organization's streak to 35 straight seasons with a win -- the most in NASCAR Cup Series history. Team owner Rick Hendrick went big-league racing in 1984 and his only fruitless season came the following year. In every year since 1986, when Tim Richmond and Geoff Bodine combined for nine victories, Hendrick Motorsports has scratched the win column at least once.

2. Hendrick Motorsports has led the last five Cup Series practice sessions

The lowdown: With three of its four drivers ranking in the top five in Cup Series points, Hendrick Motorsports has the results to support its recent performance gains. That improvement also showed on the practice charts, where HMS drivers have led in five straight sessions. Jimmie Johnson kicked off the trend in final practice at Las Vegas, Alex Bowman swept both practices before winning Auto Club, and William Byron and Chase Elliott split the practice honors at Phoenix.

3. Joe Gibbs Racing has 28 consecutive seasons with at least one win

The lowdown: Denny Hamlin's triumph in the year-opening Daytona 500 gave Coach Joe Gibbs a streak of his own. JGR hit the track in 1992, when Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett went winless as the team tried to find its Cup Series footing. He scored one win in each of the next two seasons, helping to establish the foundation for Gibbs' long-running success.

4. Denny Hamlin's repeat Daytona 500 win ends a 25-year run without back-to-back champs

The lowdown: Hamlin's Daytona 500 win -- his third -- actually ends a streak, but one that deserves special mention. The Great American Race had not produced a back-to-back winner in more than two decades. Before Hamlin's repeat, the last driver to do it was Sterling Marlin, who had the field covered in 1994-95 with the stout Morgan-McClure Motorsports No. 4.

5. Kevin Harvick is the only Cup Series driver with four straight top-10 finishes to open 2020

The lowdown: The current points leader in NASCAR's top division has been a model of consistency. Harvick's finishes -- fifth, eighth, ninth and second -- put his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford atop the pack in the early going. He's also one of just three drivers -- Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin being the others -- to complete every possible lap this year.

6. Joey Logano stretches his streak to nine straight seasons with at least one win

The lowdown: Scoring a pair of victories in the opening four-race span continues what's been a stellar recent run in Joey Logano's Cup Series career. He's won at least one time in every season since 2012, his final year with Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano joined Team Penske the following season and has notched 23 of his 25 career wins since.

7. Team Penske makes it 14 straight years with multiple Cup Series wins

The lowdown: Joey Logano's flashy start also provides the Team Penske operation with an impressive distinction -- a nearly decade-and-a-half stretch with multiple wins on its tally sheet. That streak found its starting point in 2007, when Kurt Busch won twice (Pocono, Michigan) in Roger Penske's No. 2 Dodge.

8. In the first three Cup Series races, 15 different drivers each had one top-five finish

The lowdown: Whether it was parity stretched to extreme limits or a results quirk, the top five finishers in the first three races was a new cast of characters each week. The fourth race (Phoenix) brought return visitors to the top-five fold; only Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch have two top-five finishes this season.

9. The NASCAR Xfinity Series opened the season with four different winners in four races

The lowdown: Noah Gragson kicked off the 2020 Xfinity Series campaign with an emotional breakthrough at Daytona International Speedway. In the three races since, three new drivers visited Victory Lane with Chase Briscoe (Las Vegas), Harrison Burton (Auto Club) and Brandon Jones (Phoenix) prevailing. All three manufacturers have also been represented in the Xfinity Series win column thus far.

10. Harrison Burton is the only Xfinity Series driver with top-five finishes in all four races

The lowdown: The NASCAR Next product savored a heartwarming first Xfinity victory at Auto Club Speedway, but his spellbinding consistency has him atop the series standings. The Joe Gibbs Racing rookie added a pair of runner-up efforts and a fifth place to that California win for a series-best average finish of 2.5. No other driver has more than two top fives in the young Xfinity Series campaign.

11. ThorSport Racing has 13 straight Gander Trucks seasons with at least one win

The lowdown: Grant Enfinger started off the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season with a nail-biting win in the Daytona opener. That triumph continued a winning tradition for ThorSport Racing, which now has at least one victory in each season since 2008. Four other drivers have contributed to the organization's run: Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Chase Briscoe and Johnny Sauter.

12. Kyle Busch has won his last seven Gander Trucks starts in a row

The lowdown: Cup Series regular Kyle Busch has made the most of his recent visits to the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, adding to his total atop the circuit's all-time win list. His seven consecutive victories date back to a dominant win on July 28, 2018 at Pocono Raceway. Busch then went 5-for-5 in the Gander Trucks ranks last season before adding a Las Vegas triumph to his total this year, sparking his rivals to compete for a bounty once racing resumes. Busch also added to another streak in Vegas, chalking up his eighth straight season with at least one truck win.