2024 marks a huge milestone year for NASCAR's greatest team. Hendrick Motorsports will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary throughout the season, and the team as a whole has a huge goal ahead of them.
2024, we?re ready. #HendrickNation join us in celebrating our 40th anniversary this season! pic.twitter.com/wBo1LyYXke
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) January 1, 2024
The team has been very successful over the past couple of seasons with the next-gen car amassing 21 total wins (most of all teams), but it hasn't resulted in a championship.
William Byron and Kyle Larson both showed off that they are championship contenders in 2023 as they both reached the Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway.
Byron's six victories represented a breakout season, and he has lofty goals and expectations for 2024, including a goal of winning at least 10 races. A 10-win season could be what is needed, especially if the No. 24 wants to win a title for the first time since 2001, when Jeff Gordon won his fourth and final title.
A championship in Hendrick's 40th year would be very special for not only the whole organization but for Rick Hendrick and the family, who have sacrificed and given so much to the sport they love.
It would be a huge moment if one of their four drivers, Larson, Byron, Chase Elliott or Alex Bowman could bring home the title this season.
A championship in 2024 would also mark the 15th for the organization, further cementing its place as the best team in NASCAR history.
Hendrick Motorsports team president and general manager, Jeff Andrews, spoke in a press release shared on Hendrickmotorsports.com about what's to be expected in 2024, how everyone on the team is appreciative of what Rick and Linda Hendrick have done to reach 40 years in the sport and how bringing home the championship is their No. 1 goal.
"The discussion around 2024 needs to start with our 40th year. That celebration and that accomplishment," Andrews said. "First and foremost, very thankful for the commitment that Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick made 40 years ago to start Hendrick Motorsports and to stay with it through the tough times. That first win at Martinsville (Speedway in 1984) springboarded us to where we are today. The ultimate gift to them — we want race victories — is to deliver a championship in their 40th year. That is something I know everyone in this company would love nothing more to do."
All four drivers have shown in their careers with HMS that they can compete and win races. Elliott and Bowman have to get back on track after disappointing 2023 campaigns, but when all four drivers are in the championship hunt like they were a mere two years ago, Hendrick Motorsports could be unstoppable in 2024.
