Hendrick Motorsports has had several drivers, but the four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon has had the longest tenure in the team's history. He joined HMS in 1992 and debuted as a full-time driver in the Cup Series racing after racing in the Busch Series for two years.
Gordon debuted in stock car racing with the Busch Series racing for Ford Thunderbirds. His first race was on October 20, 1990, at the North Carolina Motor Speedway, and he drove the #67 Outback Steakhouse Pontiac for Connerty. Later in 1992, Rick Hendrick saw Gordon racing at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and signed him for Hendrick Motorsports.
The former NASCAR driver debuted in the Cup Series at the Hooters 500 in Atlanta, finishing 31st, and drove the #24 car on the track. Gordon's first win came two years later, in 1994, during the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and since then he hasn't looked back.
In his 25-year career with Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon has competed in 805 of HMS's 1,912 races, securing 93 of the team's 312 Cup Series wins. He also secured 477 top-ten finishes and 81 pole positions. Gordon also won the Cup Series title in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001.
He took retirement in 2015 and returned as a part-time driver in 2016. Chase Elliott temporarily replaced the NASCAR legend in his #24 car for a year, and then William Byron became the permanent replacement of the four-time Cup Series champion.
Terry Labonte has the second-longest tenure with Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series
Terry Labonte was Ricky Rudd's replacement and joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1994. He drove the #5 car sponsored by Kellogg's and their Corn Flakes brand. Labonte was Jeff Gordon's teammate and secured three wins in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. He then defeated his teammate with a margin of 37 points and won the 1996 Winston Cup.
The former NASCAR Cup Series driver continued his dominating performance, winning one race in the next three seasons after winning the title. But in 2000 everything changed and was a difficult year for the 1996 Winston Cup winner. During the Pepsi 400, he got involved in a crash, breaking his leg and damaging his inner ear at the New Hampshire race.
Labonte was unable to race and missed two of his races, breaking his six-year winning streak as he failed to secure a win that year. Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. were the substitutes for the former NASCAR Cup Series winner while he was recovering from his accident.
Gordon's teammate won the Southern 500 held at the Darlington Raceway. He then announced his retirement in 2004, and two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch replaced him for two years from 2005 to 2007.