Since 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has visited victory lane a record 291 times in the NASCAR Cup Series. Along the way, seven different numbers were used for these wins, divided by 20 different drivers. However, many unique numbers have also been used in the team’s history of competing at motor racing’s highest level.
Related: See every winner at Hendrick Motorsports
From the early days of the organization to championship wins in the modern Cup Series, these are Hendrick Motorsports’ unique and winning numbers.
victorious numbers
No. 17: 9 wins
Starting in 1987, future NASCAR Hall of Fame member Darrell Waltrip drove the No. 17 entry for Hendrick Motorsports. The move saw the three-time Cup Series champion join the team as the third full-time entry with Geoff Bowden and Benny Parsons as teammates.
During his four seasons with Hendrick Motorsports, Waltrip drove his No. 17 vehicle to nine victories, including two 600-mile events at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the 1989 DAYTONA 500. The race-winning car from his Crown Jewel win at Daytona is on display at the Hendrick Motorsports Museum.
No. 88: 11 wins
Two drivers were given checkered flags and the No. 88 was powered by Hendrick Motorsports. The number was first played by Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he joined the team in 2008. During that time, Earnhardt Jr. has earned nine checkered flags, including the 2014 DAYTONA 500.
After Earnhardt Jr. was sidelined in 2016 with a concussion, Alex Bowman was called up as a replacement driver for 10 races in the No. 88. While the results did not yield a win, Bowman was tapped to drive the car full-time for the 2018 season in his three campaigns. With this number on the door, Bowman won two races.
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No. 25:17 wins
Since its debut in 1986, the No. 25 has been flown into victory lane by six different drivers for Hendrick Motorsports. Tim Richmond was the first to receive the honor, winning nine races for the team, including the 1986 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. After Richmond, Ken Schrader had 4 wins by the number from 1989 to 1996.
Schrader remains the most recent driver with multiple wins at the No. 25. Jerry Nadeau, Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers and Casey Mears each have one number-one victory during their careers with Hendrick Motorsports.
No. 9:18 wins
Prior to the start of the 2018 season, Chase Elliott switched from No. 24 to No. 9—the same number his father famously wore during his career. While the team itself did not change personnel, the results saw a significant increase in performance.
Since driving the No. 9, Elliott has 18 Cup Series victories. It didn’t result in him finishing third on Hendrick Motorsports’ all-time win list, but the 2020 Cup Series champ remains the only driver in team history to take the No. 9 to victory lane.
No. 5:51 wins
Entry #5 dates back to the beginnings of Hendrick Motorsports. Geoff Bodine earned the first five wins in team history with that number, eventually finishing with seven wins in the No. 5. Ricky Rod followed Bodine with four wins in four seasons before Terry Labonte took over the car in the 1994 season. In 11 full-time campaigns, Labonte achieved the 12 wins with No. 5 on his door.
From 2005 to 2017, the fifth place has 15 victories with three different drivers. Kyle Busch (four), Mark Martin (five) and Kasey Kahne (six) each claimed the record-breaking multiple wins during their time behind the wheel.
After the number’s three-year absence from competition, Kyle Larson has been selected to drive HendrickCars.com’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2021 Cup Series season. In his first season with Rick Hendrick’s organization, Larson put together a championship-winning season that saw him pick up 10 wins while also earning He earned the $1 million prize by winning the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race. In 2022, he scored three wins and passed Labonte to become the winningest driver in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports entry.
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No. 48: 88 wins
From 2001 to 2020, Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports is best known for taking 83 victories with that number. Of those 83 wins, 12 crown jewels have been achieved with two DAYTONA 500 titles, four wins during the 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two victories in the Southern 500, plus four wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After Johnson retired from the Cup Series in 2020, Bowman moved from the No. 88 to drive the No. 48 full-time in 2021. In his first campaign with the new number, the Tucson, AZ native scored four wins and became only the second driver in team history to win with that number. Bowman raised his total number of wins to 88 after capturing the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the third race of the 2022 season.
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#24: 97 wins
Jeff Gordon’s 93 wins is the most by any Hendrick Motorsports driver, with all of his victories coming from the iconic No. 24. After earning his first victory in 1994 during the 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gordon never looked back. Along the way, he won 17 Crown Jewel events, the most by any driver in Cup Series history.
The four additional wins came from the current pilot of the No. 24 entry, William Byron. The 25-year-old driver took his first career victory in 2020 at Daytona International Speedway. Since then, Byron has increased his total to four wins and remains the only driver other than Gordon to win the Cup Series flag in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 entry.
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Unique numbers to do multiple starts
No. 18
Team owner Rick Hendrick drove the number to a 15th-place finish at Riverside International Raceway in 1988. The number would return in 1990 for 13 starts with Greg Sachs, including his pole position in the 1990 summer race at Daytona.
No. 35
To this day, Benny Parsons remains the only driver to compete under the No. 35 Hendrick Motorsports entry. Parsons made 29 starts for the organization during the 1987 season with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde at the top of the box. Although Parsons was unable to catch the checkered flag, he and Hyde finished second together.
No. 44
In 2005, Labonte ran a partial season in the No. 44 as he made nine starts in the team’s No. 1 finish.
No. 46 and 51
While the No. 46 and No. 51 cars appeared in the 1990 “Days of Thunder”, they actually competed on the track at one point. In an effort to get action shots of the cars on track for the major motion picture, both the No. 46 City Chevrolet and the No. 51 entry were scored during the second-to-last race of 1989 at Phoenix Raceway and the 1990 Southern 500. Sachs drove the No. 46 entry in both starts while the No. 46 entry was The No. 51 was first piloted by Bobby Hamilton at Phoenix and then by Hut Stricklin at Darlington.
Related: Hendrick Motorsports links to ‘Days of Thunder’
No. 50
To celebrate the 50th season of Cup Series racing, Hendrick Motorsports changed its classic No. 25 to the No. 50 for the 1998 season. Entry was split between Ricky Craven, Wally Dallenbach Jr., and Randy LaJoie for the full schedule. LaJoie would earn the team’s best finish of the season, a fifth at Martinsville Speedway. His No. 25 returned the following season.
No. 60 and 84
The Nos. 60 and 84 both made limited starts in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In 2003, David Green drove the car for two races, while Brian Vickers drove it in one. In the 2004 season, Kyle Busch drove the No. 84 for six races all season.
