Hendrick Motorsports Team I

Car Number History

Why the #5?

The number 5 was the flagship car for Hendrick for over three decades until it went under a three year hiatus away until it returned in 2021. Why Hendrick chose the number 5, I do not have an answer to that right now.

Why the #24?

The number 24 was selected because it at the time, did not have a major history in the Cup Series with success, Hendrick, Gordon and Evernham wanted a number to start fresh off with. The original number of the team was supposed to be 46, however there was problems with licensing the number as Paramount Pictures, who made Days of Thunder owned the trademark to the number 46 at the time, even though the 46 number did run with Hendrick for footage in races for the movie Days of Thunder. Though this is the original 5 team, the number changed when the number 9 was available and Chase Elliott abandoned the 24 number for the number 9. Not wanting to lose the number 24 in Cup, Axalta, one of Hendrick’s main sponsors wanted to run the 24 again after Dale Earnhardt Jr, retired from Cup in 2017. This meant the 5 team would change to become the number 24 in 2018 when William Byron replaced Kasey Kahne who drove the 5 car in the year before.