POCONO RACEWAY (2.5-MILE TRIANGLE)
LOCATION: LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 14 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 2 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, JUNE 2 (FS1/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
Chase Elliott
No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 23 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2019 Season
3rd in standings
13 starts
1 win
2 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
6 top-10 finishes
400 laps led
Career
126 starts
4 wins
6 pole positions
38 top-five finishes
65 top-10 finishes
1,643 laps led
Track Career
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
5 top-10 finishes
65 laps led
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media on Friday, May 31, at 3:15 p.m. local time in the media center at Pocono Raceway.
SO FAR IN 2019: Halfway through the regular season, Chase Elliott has led a total of 400 laps – leading in seven of the eight races after going the first five races of the season without leading a single lap and currently the fourth most laps led by a driver this season. He has started from the pole position in two of the last six races (Bristol, Dover). In the first 13 races of the season, Elliott has collected five top-five finishes, six top-10s and averages a starting position of 12.4 and finishing position of 9.6. Last weekend’s fourth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway moved him to third in the driver point standings.
KEEP THE STREAK ALIVE: The driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has collected four straight top-five finishes (Talladega – first; Dover – fifth; Kansas – fourth; Charlotte – fourth). It marks the longest top-five streak of the 23-year-old driver’s NASCAR Cup Series career. His longest previous streak was two races in August 2018 (Bristol – Darlington).
CHARLOTTE RECAP: Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS team ran a strong race on NASCAR’s longest night, earning a top-five finish in each stage and a fourth-place finishing result. The race was Elliott’s fourth consecutive top-five effort and moved the No. 9 NAPA driver to third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
POCONO STATS: Elliott is set to make his seventh start at Pocono Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend. He is currently on a streak of four top-10 finishes at the “Tricky Triangle”, second longest streak by track behind only Michigan (six-race streak). In his first six starts at the Pennsylvania track, the 23-year-old driver has collected one top-five finish and five top-10s. Elliott averages a starting position of 12.7 and a finishing position of 12.0. During his rookie start at Pocono in June 2016, he led 51 laps en route to a fourth-place finish, his best finish at the venue.
NO STRANGER TO POCONO: Besides his six starts in the Cup Series at the track, last season, Elliott made his Pocono NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the No. 23 Chevrolet, starting 10th and collecting a runner-up finish in the 100-lap event. He has also made two ARCA Series starts at the Pocono. In his first visit to the track in June 2013, Elliott started 32nd and went on to lead 21 laps before collecting his first ARCA win.
ENGINE, ENGINE, NO. 9: This weekend, Elliott could become the third driver to win with the No. 9 car number. The No. 9 car number currently ranks fourth for the most wins at Pocono Raceway with six victories. His dad, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, garnered five of those wins and Kasey Kahne collected the most recent win with the No. 9 in June 2008.
GUSTAFSON AT THE TRICKY TRIANGLE: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 29th Pocono race from atop the pit box at the 2.5-mile triangle this weekend. In his previous 28 starts with five different drivers (Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Casey Mears and Kyle Busch), Gustafson has collected two wins – with Gordon in June 2011 and August 2012 – and garnered six top-five finishes and 16 top-10s.
HOME SWEET HOME: As the Cup Series heads to Pocono, there are four members of the No. 9 team that call the Keystone State home – car chief Josh Kirk (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), engineer Matt Barndt (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), primary truck driver Dave Ott (St. Marys, Pennsylvania) and co-truck driver Heath Edler (Williamsport, Pennsylvania).
BEHIND THE BRAVES: Last week, Elliott, an avid Atlanta Braves fan, joined MLB.com’s Ricky Mast and former Braves World Series champion and current director of alumni relations Greg McMichael on “Behind the Braves”, the official Atlanta Braves podcast to talk racing and baseball. Click here to listen to the full episode. They also chatted about the upcoming NAPA AUTO PARTS night (Wednesday, May 29) where the first 15,000 fans through the gate will receive a Braves/NAPA cap designed by Elliott.
William Byron
No. 24 Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver William Byron Hometown Charlotte, North Carolina
Age 21 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2019 Season
15th in standings
13 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
123 laps led
Career
49 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
7 top-10 finishes
184 laps led
Track Career
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finish
10 laps led
600 IN THE REARVIEW: Charlotte-native William Byron captured his second NASCAR Cup Series pole last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and followed it up with a solid run in the illustrious 600-mile Memorial Day weekend event. Leading the initial 23 laps of the race, Byron maintained a top-five running order well into the 400-lap race. As the race transitioned into night, the handling of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 began to get aggressively tighter but Byron was able to fight on and secure a track-best finish of ninth – his third top-10 finish of the season.
WHAT SOPHOMORE SLUMP?: With one-third of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season officially complete, Byron has been making major strides during his sophomore season at the highest level of NASCAR competition. After collecting his second Cup Series pole award this past weekend at his hometown track, Byron has shown a steady increase through the 13-race stretch of 2019. Compared to the same point last season, Byron has improved his average starting position from 19.5 in 2018 to 11.5 including two Cup Series poles. He has also improved his average finishing position from 20.8 to 16.0 and increased his laps led count from 31 (61 total laps in all of 2018) to 123 so far this season. The sophomore driver also has completed 99.7 percent of all possible laps run, with only one DNF (season opener at Daytona). Additionally, Byron has scored three top-10 finishes, compared to one top-10 finish at this point last season and four total top-10 finishes all season. Byron’s improvements in 2019 have correlated in the Cup Series’ driver point standings as well where the driver of the No. 24 is now sitting 15th within the cutoff point for the NASCAR Playoffs.
HENDRICK AUTOGUARD RETURNS: The colors of Hendrick Autoguard will return to Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet for this weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway. Hendrick Autoguard is a premier vehicle protection program available at Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships, which includes additional individualized maintenance products like tire and wheel protection, paintless dent repair, oil change program, mechanical repair service contract, flexible maintenance, and others. The program affords customers numerous options to get the maximum value from their vehicle with the highest level of service in the industry. All Autoguard vehicle protection programs are available as single products or value-packaged for additional savings. For more, visit the Hendrick Autoguard website.
PREVIEWING POCONO: Byron heads to Pocono Raceway for the sixth time in his racing career – a track that has been good to him across many different series. Making his debut at the “Tricky Triangle” in 2016, Byron first competed at the track in June in the ARCA Series race, where he qualified third and left with a solid top-10 finish. The experience proved valuable, as he won the pole in his first Truck Series start at the track and dominated by leading 44 out of 60 laps before capturing the win. After that, Byron also collected a solid top-15 finish in his lone Xfinity Series start before moving up to the Cup Series full time. With two Cup Series starts last season at Pocono, Byron had solid days in both races, but ultimately collected his Cup Series-best finish of sixth in the July race after leading 10 laps.
LUCK IN NUMBERS: The No. 24 has been no stranger to success at Pocono Raceway in the past. Four-time champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon earned six wins at the Long Pond, Pennsylvania, track – the most of any Cup Series driver – while driving the No. 24 Chevrolet. With those six wins by Gordon, the No. 24 is tied for the third-most wins by a car number at the “Tricky Triangle.” If Byron can pick up the win this weekend, he would be the second driver to win at Pocono in the No. 24 as well as become the fifth driver to collect their first Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway.
KNAUS KNOWS: Heading to the “Tricky Triangle” for the 36th time in his Cup career as a crew chief, Chad Knaus leads active Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs in best finishes at Pocono Raceway. With three wins at the 2.5-mile triangular track, Knaus swept both races in 2004 and then captured the win again from the pole in the spring of 2013.
MEET BYRON: Byron fans will have multiple opportunities to meet the driver of the No. 24 this weekend at Pocono Raceway. On Friday, Byron will make a surprise appearance at the track. Fans interested should follow the driver’s Twitter account for details. On Sunday, Byron will stop by Pocono Raceway’s “Tricky Triangle Club” in the Chalet Village at 11 a.m. local time for a question-and-answer session. Tickets to Byron’s Q&A and access to the “Tricky Triangle Club are available here.
Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 43 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2019 Season
14th in standings
13 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
1 top-five finish
6 top-10 finishes
68 laps led
Career
628 starts
83 wins
36 pole positions
225 top-five finishes
358 top-10 finishes
18,771 laps led
Track Career
34 starts
3 wins
3 pole positions
11 top-five finishes
20 top-10 finishes
740 laps led
CHARLOTTE REWIND: Last weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jimmie Johnson, and the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team scored their sixth top-10 of the season when they started 15th and finished the 600-mile event in eighth. Johnson and the team fought handling issues and the No. 48 driver tagged the wall with less than 10 laps to go in the race while closing in on the top five. The damage proved to be minimal as Johnson was able to hold on for a solid finish to claim his 22nd top-10 finish at the track.
ONE YEAR AGO: Last season, this race marked Johnson’s 600th NASCAR Cup Series start. After starting 15th, Johnson finished eighth – leading two laps with an average running position of 9.48 throughout the 400-mile event. Johnson also boasts three wins, 11 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s at the Pennsylvania track.
LAST WIN AT POCONO: The El Cajon, California, native’s last win at the “Tricky Triangle” was June 9, 2013, when Johnson dominated the 400-mile event by leading 128 of 160 laps.
ON THIS DATE: Historically, in the last four races won on June 2, Johnson has claimed one of those victories. In 2002, the driver of the No. 48 machine won the race at Dover International Speedway after starting 10th and leading 188 laps. Johnson claims three of Hendrick Motorsports organization’s 17 wins at Pocono.
STARTING STRONG: The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevy has a history of starting inside the top 10 at the Pennsylvania track. In his 34 starts he has taken the green flag inside the top 10 a total of 19 times, making his average starting position 11.1 at the track. With his top-10 starts, eight of them are on the front row.
MEENDERING EXPERIENCE AT POCONO: Crew chief Kevin Meendering will be making his first Cup Series start at Pocono this weekend, but the Grand Rapids, Michigan, native finished in the top 10 in all three Xfinity Series starts at with JR Motorsports at the “Tricky Triangle”. Meendering was also the lead engineer of the No. 88 machine for the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. “sweep” of both Pocono races in 2014, with former crew chief Steve Letarte.
ICYMI JJxALO CAR SWAP DROP: Jimmie Johnson Racing released several “JJxALO Car Swap in Bahrain” videos on Johnson’s YouTube channel last week. The series of videos can be seen here.
Alex Bowman
No. 88 Axalta-Starr Manufacturing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Alex Bowman Hometown Tucson, Arizona
Age 26 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2019 Season
10th in standings
13 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
4 top-10 finishes
94 laps led
Career
130 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
6 top-five finishes
18 top-10 finishes
368 laps led
Track Career
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
1 top-10 finish
0 laps led
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media on Friday, May 31, at 12 p.m. local time in the media center at Pocono Raceway.
BEST 600 FINISH: Bowman crossed the line seventh in Sunday night’s 600-mile event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 26-year-old driver rolled off the grid in 13th for the 400-lap race. The No. 88 Chevrolet finished Stage 1 in 14th and when Stage 2 concluded, he was scored in second. Bowman reported that his car was too tight and had no front grip. At the end of Stage 3, he was running sixth and earned valuable stage points. Following the pit stop at the end of the third stage, the driver of No. 88 machine experienced a small vibration and came to pit road on Lap 353 with a flat right-rear tire. The Arizona native restarted 18th on Lap 365. By the conclusion of the event, he came across the line seventh which is his best-career finish in the 600-mile race. Bowman and the No. 88 team are now 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, just 155 markers behind the leader.
AXALTA ON BOARD: This weekend marks the fifth of 12 events in which the Axalta colors will adorn the No. 88 Chevy. Axalta will be on the No. 88 machine again at Sonoma and Chicagoland. Last year, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Axalta signed a four-year contract extension that will take the partnership through 2022. The leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings unveiled a new Axalta Racing website last year that includes plenty of behind-the-scenes content, photos, and videos. Check out Bowman’s page here.
BOWMAN AT THE TRICKY TRIANGLE: On Sunday, Bowman will make his seventh start at Pocono Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series. The 26-year-old has completed 99.2 percent of laps within his six events that he has competed in at the Pennsylvania track. The driver’s track-best finish of third came in his last appearance when he started 10th for the 164-lap event. Back in 2016, Bowman made one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track, starting and finishing 10th in the spring event. The Arizona native also has two starts in the ARCA Series at the track back in 2012, where he finished third in both events.
LOOKING FOR A WIN: Three drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series have finished second in 2019 but have yet to claim a victory. Bowman has finished second three times since Talladega in April. The No. 88 machine has led 94 laps in the last four events.
EYES ON THE POINTS: In the last four races, Bowman and the No. 88 team have had a 91-point swing in the point standings. The driver was scored in the 21st position in the standings following Richmond, 15th after Talladega, 13th after Dover, 12th after Kansas and 10th following last weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bowman is now 64 points above the playoff cut line.
IVES AT POCONO: This weekend marks the ninth time that crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the No. 88 team at Pocono Raceway. The crew chief’s resume includes three top-five finishes at the 2.5-mile track since 2015. Ives’ best finish at the track came back in 2016 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Last year at the Pennsylvania track, Ives led Bowman to his best finish of the 2018 season, taking the checkered flag in third at the July race. Before moving to the No. 88 team, the Michigan native was a race engineer for the No. 48 team between 2006 and 2012. During that time, the team captured 11 top-10 finishes and one pole award at the track.
ALL IN THE NUMBER: The No. 88 car is second on the list of most Pocono wins by car number. There have been seven times that the driver of the No. 88 machine claimed the victory at the 2.5-mile track. Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Allison have all won twice in the No. 88 car and Darrell Waltrip won once behind the wheel of the No. 88 machine.
HOMETOWN TRACK: Jason Seitzinger, shock engineer for the No. 88 team, grew up in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania which is located about 70-miles from Pocono Raceway. Seitzinger’s first job was at Penske Racing Shocks in Reading, Pa where he worked inside the parts room. This was ultimately how he got the nickname “Penske.” Seitzinger has been with Hendrick Motorsports for 17 years.
MEET BOWMAN: Fans can meet Bowman this weekend at Pocono Raceway. On Saturday and Sunday, fans can find the driver at the Fan Stage in the Fan Midway at 9:45 a.m. local time.
PITCH TO WIN BIG: Small Business Week ran from May 5-11 and recognized small businesses everywhere. Nationwide and BlueVine are teaming up to give away up to $100,000 to one small business to help it grow. From now until June 30, small-business owners can visit www.pitchtowinbig.com to enter for a chance to win funds to achieve their business goals. Nationwide and BlueVine will select the contest finalists, who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Nationwide’s headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, to pitch business leaders during a live “Pitch to Win” event. The winning pitch will win the $100,000 prize, with second place receiving $20,000 and third place taking home $10,000.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS GAMING CLUB: The eNASCAR Heat Pro League season officially kicked off at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Hendrick Motorsports Gaming Club drivers Sam Morris and Nick Jobes competed in the first ever eNASCAR race. This week the pair will compete in the second race of the season at Auto Club Speedway. All the action will be streamed live on NASCAR’s Facebook page, eNASCAR.com and 704Games’ Twitch channel.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT POCONO: The organization leads all teams with 17 wins at Pocono Raceway, with the four most recent coming as season sweeps in 2013 (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne) and 2014 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.). In addition, the organization also owns the most in each of the following categories at Pocono: pole positions (12), top-five finishes (68), top-10 finishes (123) and laps led (3,250).
POCONO PROWESS: Hendrick Motorsports’ 17 NASCAR Cup Series victories at Pocono have been won by seven different drivers, a stat which is tied for the most different winners at a track by a team. The organization’s Pocono wins have come via Jeff Gordon (six), Johnson (three), Tim Richmond (three), Earnhardt (two), Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte and Kahne.
POWER OF THE POLE: Hendrick Motorsports leads organizations in poles for the 2019 season. Last weekend marked the sixth time in organization history where five or more poles in the first 13 races of the season were claimed by Hendrick Motorsports. The record for most poles captured in one season by the organization is 16 in 1986 where there were six pole victories in the first 13 races.
TRICKY TRIANGLE STREAKS: The record for the most consecutive wins at Pocono Raceway is claimed by Hendrick Motorsports. The organization holds a five-race win streak that began with Gordon’s August 2012 victory and ended with Earnhardt’s August 2014 win. The first four of those five straight races were won by four different Hendrick Motorsports drivers, a feat that has been accomplished on just one other occasion by Carl Keikhafer Racing at Martinsville Speedway from 1955-1956.
FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT: Over the last four races, the organization has claimed the top spot in many areas. The team stands as a leader in the most poles (two), second-place finishes (three), top-five finishes (seven), top-ten finishes (12), laps led (416), and a best average finish of 9.1.
FOR THE FIRST TIME: Two Hendrick Motorsports drivers are on the brink of their first-ever Cup Series victory. William Byron and Alex Bowman could become the organization’s eighth different driver to win at Pocono. Both teammates are currently ranked inside the top 15 in NASCAR rankings, so far this season they have a combined total of 217 laps led and seven top-10 finishes.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 253 race victories, 220 pole positions, 1,054 top-five finishes and 1,806 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led more than 68,400 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
Chase Elliott on Pocono:
“I’ve really liked racing at Pocono. It’s pretty unique place that we go to and it’s been a lot of fun to race in the past. It’s usually a challenge, but I like a challenge so that may be why I enjoy it so much. Looking forward to this weekend and seeing how the new package will handle at the track.”
Elliott on designing the Braves NAPA Night Hat:
“I came by the stadium one day, a handful of months ago, and we started talking about ideas. If you have ever seen any Braves hat ever, that anyone has ever wore, it was on the table that day. Everything you could possible think of. I had plenty of ideas to pick through and basically I kind of just married up a couple of ideas that I liked and obviously I tried to incorporate the NAPA colors as well. They (NAPA AUTO PARTS) are obviously, ironically enough a partner of mine as well – in a big way. They’ve been really good to me and they are also an Atlanta-based company at that. They are a really great fit for both (Elliott and Braves). It’s great to have their names on the hat with the Braves and it turned out good. I appreciate everybody letting me be a part of the hat.”
William Byron on believing there is momentum for the No. 24 team:
“Definitely. I think there’s a lot of merit to momentum and confidence. As a driver and as a team, when you’re in an upward swing a lot of times bad situations don’t seem as devastating or race-ending as they usually would. I think we have a lot of momentum on our side right now. The cars have been faster which is something everyone has been working hard to improve. That always helps the success on-track for sure. I’m really excited for what we can do in the upcoming races especially since this is a stretch of really good racetracks for myself and the team starting at Pocono.
Byron on Pocono:
“Pocono has always been a really fun track for me. It’s a really tricky track and it’ll be even trickier this year with the downforce and straightaway speeds being a little slower. I think it’s going to make it a little more similar to the Truck Series race there and that was one of my best races.”
Byron on navigating turns of the “Tricky Triangle”:
“You try to be good in all three but Turn Three is really important though I think. The way you get through there seems like it’s been most important the last couple years. The race we were good there last year, we started in the back and finished sixth, but we were able to get through Turn Three pretty well which definitely helped I think. So, I look at that as the place you need to be the best during the race.”
Jimmie Johnson on Charlotte:
“I’m really proud of our solid outing last week in Charlotte. It was good for us on so many levels. This week, I have some production things to do and then head to Pocono. We’ve had a tough few races at Pocono as of late and some pretty gnarly crashes, but I like going there, the track is so technical and challenging and I like the area. Overall, things are moving in a positive direction. We just need more.”
Alex Bowman on Pocono:
“I love Pocono. We got a third-place finish there last year and ran really strong throughout the entire race. Pocono is very unique, and it is different from the tracks we typically go to. The Tunnel Turn is pretty challenging at times, especially since they paved it.”
Bowman on No. 88 team momentum:
“We have been running pretty well the last few weeks. We definitely didn’t start out great in the 600 but got better toward the end and was able to salvage a seventh-place finish. Greg (Ives) and the guys have worked really hard on this 88 car and its is showing on track. We have made up a lot of ground in the point standings and we need to continue having weeks like we have been.”
