CHEVY NCS AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: Team Chevy Advance

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE

FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO 301

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

JULY 18, 2021

RACE #22 – NEW HAMPSHIRE

Chevrolet, which has won eight of the past nine NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) races, looks to keep momentum flowing in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 18, before a two-week break that coincides with the Tokyo Olympic Games. Through 21 of 26 regular-season races, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 11 wins and sits atop the Manufacturer Standings.

Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 19 victories at the “Magic Mile,” which will host its 50th race featuring NASCAR’s premier division. Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd claimed top-five finishes in their Chevrolet Luminas in the inaugural NCS race at the flat 1.058-mile racetrack on July 11, 1993. Rusty Wallace, driving GM brand Pontiac for team owner Roger Penske, won the 300-lap race.

In the last visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the NCS in August 2020, Chase Elliott scored a ninth-place finish in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE to lead seven Team Chevy drivers in the top-15. Kyle Larson, a four-time winner this season in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE, has three runner-up finishes in 10 starts at the track as he continues his drive to the regular-season title.

Chevrolet NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) drivers will also compete at New Hampshire in the Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 on Saturday, July 17. Jeb Burton’s runner-up finish in his Camaro SS paced eight Team Chevy drivers in the top-10 in the NXS race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He will start on the pole at New Hampshire, joined on the front row by Kaulig Racing teammate Justin Haley. AJ Allmendinger is second and Justin Allgaier is third in the Driver Standings. Chevrolet continues atop the Manufacturer Standings.

Chevrolet NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) drivers will race next on Saturday, Aug. 7, at Watkins Glen International. Team Chevy’s Zane Smith is fifth in the Driver Standings.

CHEVROLET STRENGTHENS LEAD

Chevrolet increased its points lead in the Manufacturer Standings in the run to its 40th NASCAR Cup Series title and has three drivers in the top-five of the Driver Standings with five regular-season races left. Kyle Larson is second, while Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron is fourth; and reigning NCS champion Chase Elliott moved up one spot to fifth.

SIX TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS AND COUNTING IN PLAYOFFS

With his stirring victory in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch became the 12th driver to clinch a spot in the NCS Playoff field of 16 and the sixth Chevrolet driver to qualify. Busch, who has three wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, is on a roll with back-to-back top-five’s and five top-10 finishes in the past six races. Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, who has three consecutive top-10 finishes, are currently in the provisional field with five regular-season races left.

ON THE WAY TO THE GREEN

With no practice or qualifying for the 301-lap race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results.

Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:

3rd    Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE

4th    Kurt Busch, No. 1 Chevy Accessories Camaro ZL1 1LE

5th    Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE

8th    Tyler Reddick, No. 8 CAT #WeDigLandscaping Camaro ZL1 1LE

10th  Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro CL1 1LE

13th  Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

16th  William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE

20th  Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1 1LE

BOWTIE BULLETS

·       Chevrolet has already surpassed its win total from the 36-race 2020 season.

·       The Camaro ZL1 1LE has totaled 20 NCS wins since its introduction in the 2020 season.

·       Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 95 top-10 finishes and 2,384 laps led of 5,183 total.

·       In addition to its 19 wins at New Hampshire, Chevrolet has accrued 100 top-five and 192 top-10 finishes.

·       Kurt Busch is tied with Fireball Roberts for 25th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list with 33 victories.

·       Busch is tied for most starts at New Hampshire among active drivers with 37.

·       Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,441 laps led thus far this season.

·       Larson has recorded runner-up finishes at New Hampshire in July and September 2017 and September 2014.

·       Austin Dillon is tied for the lead with 99.92% of laps completed (5,179 of 5,183).

·       Five Team Chevy drivers have combined for 20 stage wins: Chase Elliott (Daytona RC); William Byron (Homestead, Pocono2, Road America); Tyler Reddick (Road America); Kurt Busch (Nashville Superspeedway, Pocono1, Atlanta2); Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville).

TUNE IN

NBCSN will telecast both the 301-lap/318.5-mile NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, July 18, and the 200-lap/211.6-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, July 17. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGS

LARSON ON RACING AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY:

“I’ve always enjoyed going to Loudon. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my best tracks, but I do enjoy going there because it’s different. It reminds me of a longer, bigger Indianapolis Raceway Park the way you race it. With the traction compound application there, it seems to wear out for the last couple runs so you have to adapt and search and find where there’s more grip.”

LARSON ON HIS CONTRACT EXTENSION AND ANNOUNCEMENT WITH HENDRICKCARS.COM:

“The chance to extend my contract with Hendrick Motorsports and have such an awesome sponsor in HendrickCars.com are things I don’t take for granted. I feel like I’m driving for the best team and the best sponsors in the sport. To know that our on-track performance is having positive business influence off the track is very important because I want to return the incredible support they’ve given me. Everyone at Hendrick Automotive Group has made me feel like part of their team, and it’s exciting to be able to represent a company that loves racing like I do. I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE

DANIELS ON THE CHALLENGES OF SETTING THE CAR UP ON A FLATTER TRACK:

“New Hampshire is definitely a challenging track – high importance on stopping and going while also having your car turn properly in the center of the corner. It’s a tough place to figure out, but a great race track with great fans in a great area.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS

BYRON ON RETURNING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE:

“New Hampshire is fairly difficult. I feel like it’s a track that, historically, the veteran drivers do really well at with their experience there. It’s just a tough racetrack. You have to have a lot of grip in your car to run well. And honestly, this is one of the tracks that Rudy (Fugle) and I have done the best at in our careers. We have some testing notes there and know what works well and what the car needs to do. I’m honestly pretty excited about going to New Hampshire this weekend. It’s a track that Rudy and I have been looking forward to going to all season long.”

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

FUGLE ON HEADING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE:

“This race at New Hampshire has been circled on my calendar since I started the job at Hendrick Motorsports. That’s how much I enjoy going there. It’s a track that I’ve just taken to, honestly, and I don’t know exactly why that’s the case, but I’ve been able to figure it out early on. I enjoy the challenge it brings with how crucial grip is, and like most short tracks, how important it is to have drive off to set yourself up on entry for the next set of corners. It’s a fine line. I feel like we have a good idea what want to have in the car when we unload. Plus, I feel like Hendrick Motorsports has made quite a few gains with its short track program which only helps heading to a track like this.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 5th IN STANDINGS

ELLIOTT ON RACING AT NEW HAMPSHIRE:

“New Hampshire has been a really hit-or-miss place for us; it’s just a different track. It takes a different driving style, I feel like, than some of the other places. I look at Loudon at being more of its own animal. We’ve had a couple solid runs there, but never a dominating performance.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS

BOWMAN ON TAKING ON NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY:

“We’ve really improved our short-track program for the No. 48 Ally team. We struggled at Richmond Raceway for a long time and this year we went and won there. Hopefully, we can take some of what we learned there to be good at New Hampshire.”

GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

IVES ON PREPARING FOR SUNDAY’S RACE AT LOUDON:

“New Hampshire is just like any other racetrack. When you run well, it is a lot of fun to drive and when you struggle, it is not a lot of fun to drive. Coming off of a Richmond (Raceway) win and some of our road course success, I feel like we can go into this weekend’s race at New Hampshire with some positive confidence and compete for a top five, if not a win. As a team, we have to stay focused and positive on Sunday.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGS

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY?

“New Hampshire Motor Speedway has always been a really fun track. I love going there. It’s a flat track. Entry is fun there. It’s different. It’s a different type of feel than what we have anywhere. You slide the left rear into the corner and you pick up the right front and the first person to get back to the gas is going to be good.”

IF YOU WERE TO WIN LOUDON THE LOBSTER, THE MONSTER TROPHY THAT’S GIVEN OUT TO DRIVERS WHEN THEY WIN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH IT?

“Oh man. I’d probably get a fish tank and keep him in it. I’d give him a good home so that he could live out his days comfortably as a trophy.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT #WEDIGLANDSCAPING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGS

“New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a track that I’ve had to work really hard at to understand how to run better and get around there properly. I put a lot of work in over the off-season to be better at places like short tracks and road courses where you use a lot of brake, and New Hampshire is a track where you definitely need to manage your brakes well. We’ve done a really good job this year improving at tracks I found challenging before, so I’m excited to see what that means for New Hampshire this Sunday. I’m looking forward to the race, but I also know it’ll take a solid day from start to finish to remain in contention. Track position is important this weekend and executing all the little details perfectly when you have good track position is what it takes to run well and potentially win at Loudon, which is what we’re striving for with the No. 8 Cat #WeDigLandscaping Chevrolet.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 GOOD SAM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 22nd IN STANDINGS

THOUGHTS ON NEW HAMPSHIRE?

“New Hampshire actually is a pretty good racetrack for me. I have done extremely well there in the past and it’s a racetrack that you need a little bit of both aero and mechanical grip.”

AFTER THE LAST TWO RACES, ARE YOU FRUSTRATED?

“I am frustrated with the results because I know we had fast cars at both tracks and what happened really wasn’t in our control. But that is part of racing and if we keep doing what we are doing, bringing fast cars to the track, we will be OK. We are learning and getting better each week and that’s what’s important.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 25th IN STANDINGS

THOUGHTS GOING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THE TRACK.

“I like New Hampshire (Motor Speedway). It is a challenging track just because it is so flat, and the straightaways are so long and it seems to get a lot rougher over the last few years in a lot of different places. It really changed the game when they put the PJ-1 down. It changed how you approach and run that the track. You enter in the upper groove and then cross a little bit to the bottom groove for the exit. You are really asking your Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to do a lot of different things there.”

“It is a fun place. I think it has been pretty racy the last few years with what they have done with the PJ-1. Going back to the low downforce package has made it a pretty cool race track. I am looking forward to that one and being able to keep evaluating our short track program to see where it stands.”

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2020): 39

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2020): 32

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most Recent: Chase Elliott (2020)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2021 STATISTICS:                                                                               

Wins: 11

Poles: 4

Laps Led: 2,384

Top-five finishes: 44

Top-10 finishes: 95

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 806 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 721

Laps led to date: 239,089

Top-five finishes to date: 4,109

Top-10 finishes to date: 8,497

Stage wins: 20 – Chase Elliott (Daytona RC), William Byron (Homestead, Pocono 2, Road America), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville), Kurt Busch (Nashville, Pocono 1, Atlanta 2), Tyler Reddick (Road America)

                                                                                          

Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date

           General Motors: 1,140

           Chevrolet: 806

           Pontiac: 154

           Oldsmobile: 115

           Buick: 65

           Ford: 808                           

           Ford: 708

           Mercury: 96

           Lincoln: 4

           Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

           Dodge: 217

           Plymouth: 191

           Chrysler: 59

           Toyota: 158