TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TALLADEGA, ALABAMA
APRIL 29, 2018
BOWTIE BULLETS
CHEVROLET TOP 40:
Did you know? Talladega Superspeedway is one of six tracks on the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) schedule where Chevrolet has 40 or more victories. Chevrolet eclipsed the 40-win mark at the 2.66-mile superspeedway when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took his Chevrolet SS to victory in May of 2015. Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with exactly 40 wins at Talladega.
CHEVY HISTORY MINUTE:
Chevrolet has a rich history at Talladega Superspeedway. Long-time Chevrolet ambassador, Dale Earnhardt leads almost all statistical categories at the 2.66-mile track. Earnhardt holds the record for most wins with 10, most top-five’s with 23 and most top 10’s with 27 to his credit.
TIED FOR THE TOP:
Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Hendrick Motorsports have campaigned the Chevrolet brand within their race teams since the inception of each organization. Chevrolet has enjoyed a 49-year relationship with RCR and a 35-year partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. Both organizations have found immense success at Talladega Superspeedway, where they are currently tied for the top spot on the all-time win list with 12 victories each.
TUNE-IN:
The GEICO 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, April 29 at 2 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships
Team Chevy drivers have scored 776 wins and 695 poles in MENCS competition
Chevrolet drivers have won 40 of 97 races at Talladega Superspeedway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s for Pros Camaro ZL1, has gone to Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway twice (’06 & ’11)
Jamie McMurray, No. 1 DC Solar Camaro ZL1, has two wins at Talladega Superspeedway (’09 & ‘13)
A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Talladega Superspeedway 35 times
Team Chevy drivers have scored 186 top-five and 351 top-10 finishes at Talladega Superspeedway
A Chevrolet has led laps 7,716 (41.3% of possible 18,692 laps) at Talladega Superspeedway
FOR THE FANS:
Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway area at Talladega Superspeedway
Fans can check out great a great assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: 2500HD Crew High Country, Traverse High Country, Impala Premier, Cruze HB Premier, Malibu Premier, Equinox Premier, Tahoe Premier RST Appearance, Colorado ZR2 Dusk, Bolt, Trax Premier, Silverado 1500 Crew Centennial, Corvette Grand Sport
At the Chevrolet Display, fans can view the No. 48 Lowe’s for Pros Camaro ZL1 show car and the 2018 Camaro ZL1 race car show car and matching Camaro ZL1 pace car, as well as, a fully accessorized Camaro 2SS 1LE.
Also, on display is a Chevrolet R07 racing engine complete with electronic fuel injection. Fans can also see a sample of engines, parts and accessories available for purchase from Chevrolet Performance at their local Chevrolet dealer
Other activities at the Team Chevy Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
TEAM CHEVY QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE DISPLAY:
Friday, April 27th
12:30 p.m. – Max Tullman and Blaine Perkins
3:00 p.m. – Daniel Hemric
Saturday, April 28th
11:00 a.m. – Ross Chastain and Vinnie Miller
12:15 p.m. – Shane Lee
Sunday, April 29th
9:45 a.m. – Kyle Larson
10:00 a.m. – Kasey Kahne
10:30 a.m. – Chase Elliott
Chevrolet Display Hours of operation: Fri. April 27th– 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sat. April 28th – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sun. April 29th – 8:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – 10TH IN STANDINGS
“Heading to Talladega it’s sort of cross your fingers and hope everything works out on race day. Our superspeedway cars have been getting better and better though, so I think I head into a place like Talladega with a little more confidence than I did my first few times there. Our team has done a good job building fast cars and we’ve been able to run up front there on a few occasions, which has been nice. We kind of had an up and down race last weekend, so hopefully this weekend we can stay on the positive side and get another good finish.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 – 13TH IN STANDINGS
“They (Daytona and Talladega) are a little different. I feel like if you have an ill-handling racecar, but it’s fast at Daytona you can get away with it at Talladega. Which we had a good handling racecar and it was fast at Daytona. So, I think we will be really good at Talladega. Greg (Ives, crew chief) can put some more speed in it, take a little handling out, probably make me say that I’m lose all day, but it will be fun.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW SCOOPER CAT CAMARO ZL1 – 14TH IN STANDINGS
“I always feel like you’ve got something when you win on a certain type of track. Yeah, we will go to Talladega with a similar racecar that we took to the Daytona 500 with and work hard. We know how to win them now, so we’ve just got to stay focused and see if we can play the same kind of chess match that we did the first time around at Daytona and make it happen at Talladega.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1 – 15TH IN STANDINGS
“As far as drafting partners go this weekend, you always prefer your teammates first but that’s not always possible. So, if I can’t draft with my teammates, I will try to draft with a car who has a shot to win. If they are behind me I would want to hope that they would be content pushing, but that is not always the case either. The bottom line is when it comes to plate tracks, on the last lap, its every man for itself.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – 16TH IN STANDINGS
“I feel like I’m looking forward to Talladega just because it’s fun and has a great atmosphere. Plus, when you’re racing there, you can make a lot of moves because it’s so wide. I felt like our car in the Daytona 500 was good and stable – we just kind of got caught up in a few different wrecks – but if we can take what I learned there and apply it and be closer to start the weekend to know what I want in the car, it’s going to be a good weekend. Talladega is definitely more spread out than Daytona – Daytona is really tight in the corners and handling matters a lot more, whereas handling doesn’t really matter as much at Talladega except through the tri-oval. I think it will be different than Daytona, but I can still apply what I learned there.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 – 17TH IN STANDINGS
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – 20TH IN STANDINGS
“Yeah, I like speedway racing, I mean I have never disliked it. I think it’s kind of one of those things that we have to do it. The races pay the same amount of points as the rest of them, so you might as well embrace it. We have had some really fast cars and led some laps. We have had opportunities just haven’t had the end results to prove, I felt like, the kind of runs we have had. Just going to keep doing what we have been doing there.
“Talladega is just wider and it’s a little more inviting to be three-wide more often. I feel like people get a little braver there just because it is wider and it looks welcoming.”
DARRELL ‘BUBBA’ WALLACE, NO. 43 PETTY’S GARAGE/MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 – 22ND IN STANDINGS
“We really hope that we can duplicate what we did at Daytona, but only one spot better. We have a new speedway car and we think that will be good. It’s a brand-new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We had a good car at Daytona. It pushed and that gave a lot of the other driver’s confidence to race with us. We missed a few wrecks and really pushed Dillon at the end. It was cool to see that and do that for Chevrolet in our first race together.
“I’m coming ‘home’ you could say. It’s my home state, although I moved to North Carolina when I was really young, but I have a lot of family there. We’re going to have family there all weekend and that’s always cool to have friends and family with you.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 – 23RD IN STANDINGS
“It’s Talladega (Superspeedway). It’s an insane place. You get a huge crowd. It’s got its own town inside the infield. It can be a scary race. I’ve had some good runs, and I’ve been on my hood on the front straightaway and on the back straightaway. It’s one of those races that I wouldn’t say I really get pumped up for, but with 20 laps to go if you can survive until that point, you know you’re in for a fight and anything can happen. Expect the unexpected and hope for the best.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1 – 24TH IN STANDINGS
“Talladega is mostly about survival and trying to be in contention in the last few laps. This is one of those places that you can run up front all day and have an issue late and finish really bad and vice versa, hang around the back all day and finish top-10. We were able to score a runner-up finish in this race last year and hopefully we can get things on track with a good run and score some stage points on Sunday. I’m looking forward to trying to run up front all day with our DC Solar Camaro.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 DEGREE CAMARO ZL1 – 25TH IN STANDINGS
“Talladega Superspeedway and I have a very love-hate relationship. I am not a huge Talladega fan because it has not gone well for me in a while. Superspeedway racing in general has been tough for me in the past. We did start off this year on a high note. Daytona (International Speedway) went really well with a top-five finish, so I am looking forward to seeing how that evolves into Talladega. It’s a different type of racing where it’s going to come down to a lot of luck at the end. You have to have a fast race car. Everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing has been working extremely hard to pick up the speed in our Camaro ZL1s and get something that’s able to draft and lead groups. I think we’re making progress. So much is out of your hands at those types of tracks. We’ll go there and try to enjoy as much as we can, but I want to get through that race and have a day where we finish shiny side up in our Degree Camaro ZL1 with no accidents, and then worry about a good finishing position after that.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – 29TH IN STANDINGS
“I’m ready to get to Talladega for the GEICO 500. It is so different from Daytona. It has such a different feel. The drafting is similar, but it’s a much wider track and allows you to make more moves. The strategy is the same in that you have to decide whether or not you want the stage points or if you want to ride in the back and avoid the crashes. It seems like the last five or six superspeedway races have been all about survival, so that may change how we plan for the race. In Daytona, we were really aggressive and running up front to get all that we could out of Stage 1, but then we got caught up in a crash. We started our year from behind because of it. Our team has gained momentum here in the last few weeks, and hopefully we can keep that going when we get our GEICO Camaro ZL1 to Talladega this weekend.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 95 PROCORE SAFETY CERTIFIED CAMARO ZL1 – 31ST IN STANDINGS
“Looking ahead this this weekend and Talladega, I thought that we were good at Daytona and that our No. 95 had good speed there. I’ve always enjoyed racing at Talladega, and of course you hate getting caught up in the wrecks, but if you can avoid them, you can have an opportunity to really have a great day there. My strategy for every superspeedway race is to try and race as close to the front as I possibly can the entire race. I used to try the riding around in the back of the pack, along with a few other various strategies, but I’ve found that for me, getting up towards the front and staying up there usually works out better for me.”
Chevrolet Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2015): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-2015)
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 – 2016): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005 – ’11)
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
Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)
2018 STATISTICS:
Wins: 1
Poles: 1
Laps Led: 343
Top-five finishes: 11
Top-10 finishes: 25
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 776 (1949 – to date)
Poles Won to Date: 695
Laps Led to Date: 231,144
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,943
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 8,093
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,111
Chevrolet: 776
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 762
Ford: 662
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 115
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About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
