TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400
RICHMOND RACEWAY
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
SEPTEMBER 21, 2019
BOWTIE BULLETS:
CATCHING UP WIITH CHEVROLET CONTENDERS
Five Chevrolet drivers qualified for the 10-race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that will determine the champion. Heading into Round 2, a look at their start/finish in the opener and average finish at Richmond Raceway:
* Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Camaro ZL1
At Las Vegas: Start 8, Finish 4 At Richmond: 8 races, 12.8 average finish
* Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1
At Las Vegas: Start 5, Finish 39 At Richmond: 37 races, 2 wins, 15.3 average finish
* Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1
At Las Vegas: Start 15, Finish 8 At Richmond: 11 races, 1 win, 12.2 average finish
* Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Camaro ZL1
At Las Vegas: Start 19, Finish 6 At Richmond: 7 races, 26.0 average finish
* William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
At Las Vegas: Start 14, Finish 7 At Richmond: 3 races, 15.0 average finish
Busch is tied for the lead among active drivers with 37 starts at Richmond Raceway, which will mark the 20th anniversary of both MENCS races under the lights. … Larson leads active drivers with an average starting position of 8.636 at Richmond Raceway. … Busch needs one win to tie Dale Jarrett for 25th on the all-time MENCS victory list at 32. … Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 46 pole starts at the racetrack. GM brands Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile have added 10.
LEADER OF THE PACK
Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 38 victories at Richmond Raceway. Chevrolet has powered 17 different drivers and teams to Victory Lane at the racetrack that hosted its first NASCAR race in 1953. GM brands Oldsmobile, Buick and Pontiac have added 15. The Federated Auto Parts 400 will be the 127th MENCS race at the bullring and the second consecutive year the track has hosted the second race of the Playoffs.
TAKING IT STAGE BY STAGE
Team Chevy drivers have registered 17 stage victories. Elliott and Larson both have four stage wins to lead the way. Elliott has also 19 top-five finishes and is fourth among drivers with 195 bonus points. Larson has 14 top five finishes and 176 points. Stages 1 and 2 at Richmond are 100 laps each, with the final stage 200 laps.
TUNE-IN:
NBCSN will telecast the 400-lap, 300-mile race on the .075-mile, D-shaped oval with 14 degrees of banking in the turns live at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 21. The NBCSports Gold app will stream the race and live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Victories by current Chevrolet drivers at Richmond Raceway:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, has three wins (September 2008, May and September 2007, the latter from the pole)
Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1, has to wins (April 2015, September 2005)
Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1, has one win (September 2017 in overtime)
* Johnson won the second race of the playoffs in 2009 and ’10
* Team Chevy drivers have earned 12 pole starts this season, led by William Byron with four.
* Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1, is third among drivers with 99.73% (7,448 of 7,468) laps completed this season.
* Austin Dillon led Team Chevy with a sixth-place finish in the April 13 race at Richmond driving the AAA Coatings Camaro ZL1.
* Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon holds the track qualifying record of 130.599 mph in his Chevrolet SS on September 6, 2013.
* Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships.
FOR THE FANS:
· Fans can visit the Team Chevy Display in the Fan Midway at Richmond Raceway
· Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Blazer RS AWD, Colorado Z71, Silverado Crew Trail Boss and the Traverse Premier Redline.
· At the Chevrolet Display, fans can also view the 2019 Shock Green Camaro.
Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:
· Friday, September 20th – 10:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
· Saturday, September 21st – 10:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – 9th IN STANDINGS
“Richmond always has a lot of tire fall off, so trying to manage your tires for a 100-lap run seems pretty typical there. You have to have short run speed to build a buffer and get away from the car behind you but then still find a way to hold on to that track position during the long runs and not give it all back. We had a good long run car in the spring I think, we just gave up too much on the short runs to make up a lot of ground.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 – 11th IN STANDINGS
“Richmond is one of those tracks that we have struggled at in the past. We need to get stage points this weekend and help increase our position in the point standings before going into next weekend’s race. We didn’t finish great in the spring after battling a tight car throughout the race and having another issue there at the end. Greg (Ives, crew chief) and this Nationwide team have been working hard to get our short-track program better and better, so hopefully we unload fast on Friday.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 38 FAST LANE TO FLAVOR CAMARO ZL1 – 20th IN STANDINGS
“I can be the first to admit that Richmond Raceway is not my favorite track. However, with this package, we’ve been able to improve on all of these tracks that we may not have ran so well at before. In the spring race, we were top 10 for a majority of the first half of the race until we had a mechanical failure that set our track position back. I think we’ll have a lot of good notes to bring with us this weekend and continue to improve in these final nine races of the season.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 OKUMA CAMARO ZL1 – 21st IN STANDINGS
RICHMOND RACEWAY IS A SHORT TRACK, BUT SOME DRIVERS SAY IT RACES A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKE AN INTERMEDIATE-STYLE TRACK. HOW DO YOU SEE IT?
“Richmond is a short track to me. I love that place and the way the tires fall off. In the past, it’s been a place that I circled as the worst track for me, but the last two finishes there have been sixth-place finishes so I get pumped to go there.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 – 24th IN STANDINGS
“We look at short tracks as an opportunity to run inside the top-15. Finishing outside the top-20 is probably a little more of a disappointment there, so going back to Richmond for the second time this season, we look to gather the momentum that we’ve had on short tracks and run inside the top-15. I think our GEICO team can do that. Richmond is one of my favorite race tracks and I have a good feel of what it takes to get it done there. If we can keep this momentum rolling, I think we will be able to get the result we are looking for.”
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 – 26th IN STANDINGS
“Our short-track program at Richard Petty Motorsports has been a little behind. Bristol (Motor Speedway) is probably the only one that has been okay for our team. It seems like the last few races at the Richmond Raceway haven’t gone our way. We have a new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 going into Richmond this weekend.
“Each race is a new race for us. You hang onto the past a little, but that can change at any moment for the worse or better. I’ve always loved running at the Richmond Raceway and I’ve had some success there in our earlier days, but we just have to spice it up a little bit there.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 – 27th IN STANDINGS
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Richmond Raceway this weekend. I really enjoy short-track racing and Richmond is a flat track that really fits my driving style. We were able to build up a good notebook from the spring race, and we’ve been on a positive momentum these last few races that we can continue building upon in our Kroger Camaro ZL1.”
Chevrolet Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2018): 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 (1949-2018): 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 (2007)
2019 STATISTICS:
Wins: 5
Poles: 12
Laps Led: 1,625
Top-five finishes: 35
Top-10 finishes: 85
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 784 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 711
Laps led to date: 233,880
Top-five finishes to date: 4,004
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,257
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,118
Chevrolet: 784
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 783
Ford: 684
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 138
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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.
