The history of Hendrick Motorsports’ most recent driver changes and how it worked out

Hendrick Motorsports holds countless NASCAR records, including the most Cup championships of any organization in history (15), and the most race wins too (322 at the writing of this story).

It’s also a race team that doesn’t see a lot of turnover, and for good reason. Hendrick is the pinnacle and a place many drives dream of driving for. They also choose their drivers very carefully, and most changes are only triggered by retirements. After all, once you join the HMS empire, who would want to leave?

When Connor Zilisch takes over the No. 48 car from Alex Bowman in 2028, it will be the first change to the Hendrick Cup lineup since the 2021 season. After seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson retired from full-time competition, Kyle Larson filled the hole he left behind.

Since then, it’s been Larson and Bowman alongside Chase Elliott and William Byron. In fact, going back 15 years, there have only been five changes to the driver lineup at HMS (excluding injuries and fill-in drivers, of course).

Here’s a rundown of each of the most recent changes to the Hendrick roster, making up the current lineup of drivers. We’ll discuss the reasons behind the change, and how the signing worked out for all involved.

2021: Kyle Larson replaces Jimmie Johnson

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsport team owner, Rick Hendrick

Jimmie Johnson was the driver of the Hendrick No. 48 for almost two decades. That car was added as a fourth full-time entry for the organization in 2002. He of course went on to win dozens of races and seven titles, and while Larson still has a long way to go to match that, he’s certainly doing just fine. With Larson’s signing, the team brought back its iconic No. 5, and actually shifted Bowman from the No. 88 to the No. 48, but Larson was still the new driver filling the void left behind by Johnson.

Larson was returning to NASCAR after being suspended for using a racial slur while iRacing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was his second chance, and he certainly didn’t waste it. In his very first year as a Hendrick driver, Larson won ten races and the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series title. He’s won a total of 26 Cup races with Hendrick, and only Gordon and Johnson have won more for Mr. H. He also secured a second Cup Series title in 2025.

2018: William Byron and Alex Bowman replace Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro

This was a year of change for HMS. Earnhardt ran his final NASCAR Cup Series race in the 2017 Homestead finale. Alex Bowman had already filled in for Earnhardt when he was sidelined by a concussion in 2016, and now, he was filling the shoes of NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver. Unfortunately, Bowman’s own career would be marred by injuries as well. A concussion in 2022, a back injury in 2023, and a severe case of vertigo in 2026 all forced him out of the car. Bowman, who is only 33, will retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2027 season. But he had his moments, winning eight races with Hendrick, and nearly the 2024 Daytona 500 as he was the runner-up in a 1-2 finish for the team. 2021 was a highlight, as he won four races in that season alone, but it feels as if there was so much potential that was never uncovered in this pairing.

As for Kasey Kahne, he was pushed out to make room for Byron as he was a rising star with a lot of success in the lower divisions. Kahne’s own Cup career ended soon after for medical reasons. The No. 5 was shelved and Byron became the new face of the No. 24 as teammate Chase Elliott switched to the No. 9 his father famously drove. Byron struggled at first with back-to-back winless seasons. However, the wins started to come in 2020, and he now has 16 total. That includes back-to-back victories in the Daytona 500. He also advanced into the Championship 4 in three consecutive years of the now-defunct playoff format.

2016: Chase Elliott replaces Jeff Gordon

Champion 2020, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Gordon remains the winningest driver in Hendrick Motorsports history, and now serves as the Vice Chairman at Hendrick Motorsports. In 2015, he retired from full-time competition, and the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott took his place. The younger Elliott had a lot of pressure both because of his name and the shoes he was filling. Like Byron, it was a slow start and he went winless in his first two seasons as well. But since then, he has won a total of 23 Cup wins, fourth all-time for Hendrick behind Larson, Gordon, and Johnson. In 2020, he became a NASCAR Cup Series champion, and was the first Hendrick driver since the Johnson era to hold the crown.

If you go even earlier, the next change on the list would be 2012 when Kasey Kahne replaced Mark Martin. Before that, it becomes a bit more frequent into the 2000s. Martin replaced Casey Mears in 2009, Earnhardt Jr. replaced Kyle Busch in 2008, Mears replaced Brian Vickers in 2007, Busch replaced Terry Labonte in 2005, Vickers replaced Joe Nemechek near the end of the 2003 season, Nemechek replaced Jerry Nadeau mid-season in 2002…and finally there’s Johnson as Hendrick driver as they added a fourth car that same season.

Outlook for Zilisch

Rick Hendrick and Connor Zilisch

Zilisch will be 21 years old when he joins Hendrick Motorsports, which is comparable to Elliott’s age when he first joined the Hendrick Cup team. Unlike him, Zilisch will have two years of Cup experience under his belt with another team before he makes the leap to Hendrick. That could be super beneficial as he works through the learning curve that even Byron and Elliott faced, but without the spotlight of being in a Hendrick seat while working through it.

It’ll be interesting to see how he progresses into 2027 as Trackhouse has to navigate the fact that it’s a lame-duck year for the driver of its No. 88 Chevrolet. Kahne is an example of a driver who signed with Hendrick more than a year earlier than the seat opened, which he spent driving for Red Bull Racing (ironic as Zilisch is also a Red Bull-backed driver). However, the entire team was planning to shut down though, so it wasn’t a situation where the organization was looking into a future beyond Kahne, who did secure the team its final Cup win.

Of note, the Hendrick No. 48 has been the lowest-ranked Hendrick car in the standings every year since 2019, including Johnson’s final two years in the car. If Zilisch manages to change that in his first year with the team, that alone will be a win for the No. 48 squad. But regardless, it’s clear that Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon firmly believe in the young driver, and are willing to give him the time in order to mold him into a championship-contender.