Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet both hit heady milestones with a win on Sunday during NASCAR’s inaugural race on the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course at The Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
RELATED: Chase Elliott wins at COTA | Official race results
Hendrick tied Richard Petty Enterprises for the most team victories in the NASCAR Cup Series with 268. Chevrolet also reached 800 wins as a manufacturer in the Cup Series.
Chase Elliott did the honors of taking the checkered flag for the rain-shortened event in the No. 9 Chevrolet. It was his 12th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series and his first this season. It came on the heels of teammate Alex Bowman’s win last weekend at Dover International Speedway in a race in which Hendrick cars finished 1-2-3-4. This time Hendrick went 1-2 with Kyle Larson coming in behind Elliott at COTA.
“This is two in a row for Hendrick Motorsports and the 800th win for Chevrolet,” Elliott said. “I couldn’t be more proud of Chevy and it’s the 268th win for Hendrick Motorsports.”
RELATED: Hendrick Motorsports wins by driver
Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt are among the best-known drivers with the most wins for the Chevrolet camp. Gordon earned all 93 of his Cup wins with Hendrick Motorsports and in a Chevrolet. Johnson did the same for all 83 of his Cup Series wins.
Chevrolet stands atop the manufacturer leaderboard with 800 Cup wins. Ford is next with 708 Cup victories. Toyota, which is relatively new to NASCAR, has 157 Cup wins.
“So proud of Chase Elliott and his No. 9 Camaro team for persevering all race long and handling such challenging conditions to deliver a big win at the first race at Circuit of The Americas,” said Jim Campbell, vice president of Chevrolet Performance and Motorsports. “Chase’s first win of the season is extra special as it was Hendrick Motorsports 268th Cup win and Chevrolet’s 800th Cup win.”
Chevrolet’s first Cup win came with driver Fonty Flock on March 26, 1955 at Columbia Speedway in South Carolina.
The drivers who helped Chevrolet earn other important milestone wins were:
100th win: 7/07/62 — Rex White – Columbia, South Carolina
200th win: 6/11/78 — Benny Parsons – Riverside, California
300th win: 4/20/86 — Dale Earnhardt – North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
400th win: 9/10/94 — Terry Labonte – Richmond, Virginia
500th win: 8/12/01 — Jeff Gordon – Watkins Glen, New York
600th win: 3/25/07 — Kyle Busch – Bristol, Tennessee
700th win: 11/4/12 — Jimmie Johnson – Ft. Worth, Texas