NASCAR: How rare is what Hendrick Motorsports pulled off?
By Asher Fair
Alex Bowman led a top four sweep of Hendrick Motorsports drivers in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman secured his second win of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and fourth career victory in Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway, and he led a sweep of Hendrick Motorsports drivers at the front.
He led 98 of the race’s 400-laps around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked “Monster Mile” oval in Dover, Delaware en route to a 2.017-second victory over teammate Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 263 laps but was passed by Bowman in the pits.
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The four Hendrick Motorsports teammates combined to lead all but 18 laps of the race, and they spent much of the race running inside the top four with one another.
They all also finished inside the top four with one another.
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Behind the drivers of the #48 Chevrolet and the #5 Chevrolet were Chase Elliott in third place behind the wheel of his #9 Chevrolet and William Byron in fourth behind the wheel of his #24 Chevrolet.
Elliott, who was issued a pre-race penalty after his car failed inspection multiple times, didn’t actually lead the race. Byron led 21 laps. It marked just the fourth top four sweep by a team in Cup Series history. In Hendrick Motorsports’ 266 previous victories, they had never pulled off such a sweep.
The last time a top four sweep happened was in November 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, when Roush Racing collected each of the top four spots. Greg Biffle won the race ahead of Mark Martin in second place, Matt Kenseth in third and Carl Edwards in fourth.
Prior to that, it had only happened twice, and only Peter DePaolo Racing had ever pulled it off. They did so in December 1956 at Titusville-Cocoa Speedway and in April 1957 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
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Both races were won by Fireball Roberts. At Titusville-Cocoa Speedway, Curtis Turner finished in second place ahead of Marvin Panch in third and Ralph Moody in fourth, and at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Paul Goldsmith finished in second ahead of Moody in third and Panch in fourth.