William Byron winning the Daytona 500 was significant for Hendrick Motorsports. The team put its first driver into the playoffs and also broke new ground with a historic feat.
According to Racing Insights, the Rick Hendrick-owned team has now won at least one race in 40 consecutive seasons. This is by far the most in NASCAR Cup Series history. Team Penske is second with 34 consecutive seasons with a win while Joe Gibbs Racing is third with 32 consecutive seasons with a win.
These teams are the only ones in NASCAR Cup Series history to top 30 consecutive seasons with at least one win. Petty Enterprises fell just short of the mark at 29 consecutive seasons.
Hendrick Motorsports first began racing in NASCAR in 1984, but the current streak did not begin until 1986. Geoff Bodine won three races in 1984, but the organization's drivers went winless in 1985.
Bodine won two races in 1986, including the Daytona 500 while Tim Richmond won seven races. Richmond and Darrell Waltrip then combined for three wins during the 1987 season.
Hendrick Motorsports has only grown more successful over the decades. Ken Schrader, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, Jerry Nadeau, Jimmie Johnson, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Byron, and Kyle Larson have all won races in Hendrick cars.
Gordon (four), Labonte (one), Johnson (seven), Elliott (one), and Larson (one) have all won Cup Series championships for the organization. Byron hasn't won a title but has broken Gordon's record as the youngest driver to win two Daytona 500s.
"We talk all the time about how quickly (William's) risen through the ranks and won races and championships and continues to do it at the elite level in Cup," Gordon said after the Daytona 500. "I mean, this guy right here I think has a lot to do with it.
"(Crew chief Rudy Fugle) is just such an amazing crew chief. And when you get that combination of great talent like William's talent, like Rudy's, and then put the team together with it, the resources that we have, magical things happen."
Forty consecutive seasons with at least one win is a significant achievement for NASCAR's winningest team. It's not the only record set last weekend. Hendrick Motorsports also became the first team to win 10 Daytona 500s. This broke a tie with Petty Enterprises for the most all-time.