The coveted grandfather clock tolled for Hendrick Motorsports on the 40th anniversary of the Charlotte, N.C.-based team first created a position for itself NASCAR Cup Series.
In 1984, auto dealer Rick Henrick and his burgeoning stock-car racing team showed up at Martinsville Speedway with no sponsor and Geoff Bodine as the driver. Hendrick Motorsports departed with the spring race title. Sponsorship has not been a big problem since those early years.
Fueled by William Byron capturing Sunday’s Cook Out 400 in overtime, followed by Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports established series history by becoming the first team to go 1-2-3 in 151 Cup events at the .526-mile oval.
“You can’t script it any better,” Jeff Gordon, a part-owner of Byron’s team and former Hendrick driver, said on social media.
Crew chief Rudy Fugle made a key call to have Byron pit with 103 laps remaining. All other cars stayed out on the “paperclip.” The move positioned Byron to pull away in the final laps. In overtime, he won by nearly a half-second.
“It’s pretty badass to win at Martinsville,” Byron told Fox Sports.
Alex Bowman earned a P8 as all four Hendrick garages earned top-10 finishes.
X (Twitter) users responded Sunday to Byron claiming his third win in eight outings this season and executing the time-honored skyward salute for a second time. Does he have ample floor space for his second grandfather clock trophy? …
The traditional Hendrick Motorsports team skyward salute with backward caps in Victory Lane honoring those tragically lost in October 2004 always means a little bit more when it comes at @MartinsvilleSwy. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/cRxGfFBUh3
— Jeff Gordon Online (@JGinfo) April 7, 2024
Hendrick Motorsports’ first and latest trips to Victory Lane at Martinsville. The 1984 win was the struggling race team’s first and now has 305 trips to Victory Lane …
40 years in the making.
Couldn't have scripted it any better for @TeamHendrick.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/fRBf3KIFhK
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) April 7, 2024
After his qualifying effort Saturday, Byron said he was “pissed off” over having to start P18. He said it took him a while to work his way up through the field, but “I knew in the first 10 laps of the race that we had an awesome car,” Byron said, as reported by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “Real proud of this team.” Byron led a race-high 88 of 415 laps …
Willy B is cooking. pic.twitter.com/S2WmpAopQT
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 7, 2024
Larson, who started on the pole and captured Stage 1, paced the field for 86 rotations and stole the runner-up stop after passing Elliott in OT …
Kyle Larson finished 2nd and was excited to be a part of the 1-2-3 Hendrick Motorsports finish, although he was a little disappointed to fall just short. pic.twitter.com/Xkway77m24
— Nathan Solomon (@NSolly02) April 7, 2024
Winless in 42 Cup starts, Elliott, the circuit’s most popular pilot, led for 64 laps Sunday, but could not hold off Byron and then Larson during the extra stanza …
Now move @WilliamByron ahead of @chaseelliott. 👀 https://t.co/Toa2R8Xv8Y pic.twitter.com/SLiNQr2yAp
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 7, 2024
With prolonged green-flag runs, NASCAR drivers experienced rare rubber build-up on the track. Denny Hamlin took advantage of the open racing. Hamlin, who claimed Stage 2 and led for 66 laps before falling back to P11, earned 40 points, despite the slow finish …
Move @DennyHamlin to the top spot! pic.twitter.com/NjTHk3EMu0
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 7, 2024
Of the event’s 37 machines, 35 finished running. The lone two who suffered “over-the-wall” problems were John Hunter Nemechek (accident) and David Starr (steering problems) …
NEMECHEK WALL RIDES AT MARTINSVILLE #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/8OlkAlA4Pn
— Skewcar (@Skewcar) April 7, 2024
Richard Childress Racing celebrated a milestone Sunday …
55 years, 44 drivers and 33,582 laps led. Today we make our 3,300th start in the NASCAR Cup Series. pic.twitter.com/oW9PszpD4F
— RCR (@RCRracing) April 7, 2024
Team Penske reached an industry plateau, too …
Going green for the 6,000th time.
Today’s Martinsville @NASCAR Cup Series race marks Team Penske’s 6000th race across the board. pic.twitter.com/ygGH3BhR0S
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) April 7, 2024
Austin Cindric said after the race he didn’t know what took him out late Sunday. FYI, here’s what happened …
#NASCAR Video: It didn't make FS1's race broadcast, but coming to the white flag in Sunday's #CookOut400 at Martinsville, Carson Hocevar put Kaz Grala, and Austin Cindric three-wide, which resulted in a pileup. Here are videos of the incident: https://t.co/YzNWn4JAaw
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) April 8, 2024
On the OT restart, Byron held off his teammates for the historic and script-worthy climax …
WILLIAM BYRON WINS IN A 1-2-3 FINISH AT MARTINSVILLE FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS! pic.twitter.com/C9PPzmAjKO
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 7, 2024
After what Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolets accomplished Sunday, Ford attempted to release its own top-10 spin on the outing …
#NASCAR | @Blaney battled to a top five finish, leading the way for #Ford … one of four top 10 @FordMustang’s @MartinsvilleSwy
5th – Blaney
6th – @joeylogano (led 83 laps)
9th – @RyanPreece_
10th – @ChaseBriscoe_14 @Team_Penske @StewartHaasRcng pic.twitter.com/g3hNQb4ujG— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) April 7, 2024
Winless this season, defending Cup champion Ryan Blaney appeared to drive one of the stronger Stage 3 machines. He earned a P5 and spoke about the team’s early-race alterations …
Ryan Blaney overcame a loose wheel and a second pit stop early to finish 5th: pic.twitter.com/o7PbIMYDhG
— Nathan Solomon (@NSolly02) April 7, 2024
In the end, Hendrick Motorsports left Martinsville a fine mess – again …
Quiet track, @TeamHendrick Ruby Anniversary Edition.#NASCAR | #MVSCookOut400 | @jeff_gluck pic.twitter.com/m0Ik8mnTeP
— Seth Eggert (@SethEggert91) April 8, 2024
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