TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TALLADEGA, ALABAMA
JUNE 21, 2020
RACE #13: TALLADEGA
Originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) will make its first appearance of the 2020 season at Talladega Superspeedway with the GEICO 500 on Sunday, June 21st. The 188-lap, 500-mile race around NASCAR’s longest oval will be the 13th race on the revised NCS schedule.
NASCAR’s June 9th announcement of gradually introducing fans back to events will include this weekend’s visit to the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Up to 5,000 fans will be on hand to watch the drop of the green flag from the track’s front stretch seating. Previous eligible ticketholders were given the first opportunity to purchase tickets, followed by a limited number available on a first come, first served basis to those who reside within 150-miles from the track.
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 41 all-time wins and 37 poles in 101 NCS races at the superspeedway, more than any other brand. Other statistics of note include 191 top-five’s, 366 top-10’s, and 7,903 laps led.
· Victories by active Team Chevy drivers include:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE has two wins (May 2006, April 2001)
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Mountain Dew-Little Caesars Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (April 2019)
Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (October 2012)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Camaro ZL1 1LE has one win (May 2017)
· The most recent Chevy pole winner is Chase Elliott, No. 9 Mountain Dew-Little Caesars Camaro ZL1 1LE, (October ’19). Elliott leads all active drivers in Busch Pole Awards at Talladega with two and, in eight career starts, has an average starting position of 4.6. His first pole in 2016 makes him the youngest pole winner at the superspeedway to-date (20 years, 5 months, 3 days).
· Hendrick Motorsports has the most victories at Talladega of any team with 13, all celebrated with the Bowtie brand.
· Longtime Chevrolet ambassador Dale Earnhardt holds Talladega Superspeedway records for wins (10), top-five finishes (23), top-10s (27) and laps led (1,377) in 44 starts. Career Chevrolet drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon are next on list with six wins at the track.
LEADING THE STAGES
With 12 races in the books, Chase Elliott leads the field with 141 stage points, which includes five stage wins, 13 top-5’s and 22 top-10’s in stages. Fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate and Team Chevy driver Alex Bowman currently sits second on the list with four stage wins, including 12 top-five and 18 top-10 stage finishes for 126 points. William Byron (1) and Jimmie Johnson (1) have also contributed to stage wins thus far this season.
With Chase Elliott’s recent victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Alex Bowman’s win at Auto Club Speedway earlier this season, two Team Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE drivers have secured their spots in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Elliott and Bowman, are currently ranked second and eighth, respectively, in the point standings.
AT THE DROP OF THE GREEN
The race weekend format continues on as a one-day show with no practice or qualifying. The starting lineup will be set by virtue of owners points and a random draw. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:
4th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 1LE
11th Chase Elliott, No. 9 Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Realtree Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE
19th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-IN
FOX will telecast the 188-lap, 500-mile race live at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 21st. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 MOUNTAIN DEW/LITTLE CAESARS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT ON RACING AT TALLADEGA
“Last year worked out really well for us. It was kind of one of those races where things just kind of just fell in our lap there towards the end of the race. We were super patient and just very disciplined as a group. I’m looking forward to getting back to Talladega this weekend with the Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevy and trying to do it all again.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
“Talladega is a track where we have been pretty good at in the past. I feel like anytime Hendrick Motorsports goes to a superspeedway, we are solid. Last year in the spring we were really fast and had a great car. We came up short by one spot to Chase (Elliott), but that just shows how great these Hendrick cars are at Talladega.”
“I don’t think I can apply anything from my virtual win at Talladega earlier this year to this weekend’s race. It is a completely different style of racing, but we typically bring fast cars to Dega. It does not hurt to crash at the virtual Talladega and I definitely used a reset in that race. So that is not going to work on Sunday.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 15th IN STANDINGS
“I’m excited to get to Talladega. We always have fast cars as an organization. Talladega last year was really good for us as a team. We were leading and got pushed sideways which ended our day. I think though that this weekend will be a good opportunity for us to do well. It is unpredictable but you have to do what you can to try stay in contention and be there at the end. You really look past your windshield during the race so to speak. You mainly watch the car running two spots ahead of you more than anything. This weekend will be no different. You have to watch the cars ahead to try spot potential wrecks before they happen to give yourself more reaction time. If we can do that and keep our nose clean, we’ll be in a really good spot to grab the win.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGS
LOOKING AHEAD TO TALLADEGA, HOW DO YOU THINK THE CHANGES IN HORSEPOWER AND NO AIR DUCTS WILL IMPACT THE RACE?
“I don’t really know how the air ducts will do. We’ve obviously raced in the past without aero ducts, so that’s one thing I just don’t really know. I’d have to really go back in time and look at what our cars did differently, but there was probably somewhere you could match them up to. I don’t know what the closest year that we ran a package like this would be, but we feel like the racing is going to be different from the way it was at Daytona. It’s always different from Daytona to Talladega, so I’d say the first stage of the race will definitely be a learning curve for just about all of us. Set-up wise should not be a problem – I hope not. But just the way we race and the runs you get, we’ll be learning that first stage. You want to be aggressive because every point matters throughout the year.”
“Just trying to play the chess match that’s ahead of us this weekend is going to be the key. Just knowing when to go. I’ve done a lot of different strategies when it comes to speedway racing, but my favorite is just going out there, racing and kind of throwing caution to the wind. I feel like that usually plays out better for us. I won the Daytona 500 being a little more cautious, but it’s just more fun that way when you go out there and race. So, we’ll see. We’ll make a decision quite early in the race to kind of figure out how everything is going. Hopefully all of our Chevys will run up-front together and work hard together to do what we need to do to bring home the win for Chevrolet.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 REALTREE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS
“It’ll be interesting to see how this weekend goes at Talladega Superspeedway. They’ve made some changes to the cars since we raced our last restrictor-plate race at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year. We were at one point going to have practice this weekend, and now we’re not. I’m really not sure if we would have utilized the practice session or not because we don’t want to be in a situation where we would damage our No. 8 Realtree Chevy before the race. Regardless, we’re now going to be on track for the race with no real feel for these cars or how this new rules package will run, so it’s going to be intense. Talladega is a wider track than Daytona though, and it’s going to be a lot warmer. I’m excited. I really like racing at Talladega, and I hope we put on a good race. Normally it does, there are just a lot of unknowns entering this weekend. As a team, we need to survive the race and continue to capitalize on as many points as we can. We’re now two points out of a Playoff spot, so I know we can get there.”
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 20th IN STANDINGS
TALLADEGA IS CONSIDERED A WILD CARD WHEN IT COMES TO FINISHES. WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO BRING HOME A WIN?
“Surviving; that’s the name of the game for speedway races. Talladega Superspeedway is a lot of fun. We were so fast there last year. Our Richard Petty Motorsports team didn’t qualify well, but we were inside the top-five and then we were involved in an incident. That one stung; it still does.
“Richard Petty Motorsports always has good speedway packages. Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was fast at the DAYONTA 500 this year. We have to bring back that same package and be a little bit better. We have to show other teams that we are fast and I am capable of hanging one if we are getting pushed. A lot of speedway races, we just get left-out hanging. We could be leading a line and get shuffled out of the lead. We just have to build trust into the other guys. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen and that’s fine. But we just have to figure out how to manage our own race and be there at the end at the last ten laps really is what’s important.”
JERRY BAXTER, CREW CHIEF FOR THE NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 1LE
“This weekend is the GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. We are taking the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Bubba (Wallace) does a pretty good job of drafting on the superspeedway tracks, so we are all definitely looking forward to that. It is the same car that we ran at the Daytona International Speedway – we redid it with a fresh body. The car seems to draft really well. It appeared we were going to get a solid top-10 finish until the last lap incident that moved us to 15th-place in the finishing order. Hopefully, we will be better this week.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 NOS ENERGY DRINK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 21st IN STANDINGS
“Talladega Superspeedway is always a track that I have circled on my list. Obviously getting my first win there was really special, but I always enjoy racing at the big tracks like Daytona and Talladega. We had really good speed in the DAYTONA 500 earlier this season and were able to get the pole and lead laps. We won’t have the opportunity for the pole this week, but Brian Pattie and the team at the shop have worked really hard to keep that same speed and more in our No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet for this weekend. We struggled a little bit the last two races at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, but if there’s a track that can turn that around for us, it’s Talladega.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS
“I think racing at Talladega Superspeedway with no practice and qualifying this weekend will be awesome. Right now, everyone is super close in the field with no practice because that’s what you have. I think the racing has been better and created opportunities for teams like ours to go out and contend for top-five and top-10 runs consistently. The random draw has been a little more difficult for us, but at Talladega, anything can happen no matter where you start. The package we have now allows you to get better runs and the leader doesn’t have quite the advantage they once did in clean air. My approach is to just keep our No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet clean and make it to the end. It’ll be nice to have fans back, and there’s no place better than Talladega.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS
“Racing at Talladega and Daytona is different than any racing we do all year. With restrictor plates, handling doesn’t really come into play very much. It’s all about positioning and drafting and being in the right place at the right time, and not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You feel like it’s a ticking time bomb and you don’t want to get caught up in it when it blows. There’s always a lot of strategy to try to make sure you’re around at the end. But also, you have to be careful about hanging back waiting for the wreck, because there’s always a possibility of not having the wreck, and then you aren’t close enough to the front to have a chance to win. It’s a balancing act of surviving all day and being in position to capitalize for a good finish or even a win at the end.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 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 (1949-2019): 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)
2020 STATISTICS:
Wins: 2
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,039
Top-five finishes: 18
Top-10 finishes: 46
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 788 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 235,345
Top-five finishes to date: 4,032
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,328
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,122
Chevrolet: 788
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 792
Ford: 692
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 147
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.
