TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
QUAKER STATE 400
PRESENTED BY WALMART
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
SPARTA, KENTUCKY
JULY 12, 2020
KENTUCKY FOR RACE #17
Originally slated for a Saturday night race under the lights on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule, the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart is now set to run at Kentucky Speedway on Sunday afternoon, July 12, at 2:30 p.m. ET. The 267-lap, 400-mile race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval will mark the 17th race on the revised NCS schedule.
BOWTIE BULLETS
· In the nine NASCAR Cup Series races that have been held Kentucky Speedway, Chevrolet has scored one win, 2 poles, 15 top-fives, 34 top-10’s, and has led 412 laps.
· Victories by current Chevrolet drivers include the event’s most recent winner Kurt Busch, No.1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE with one (’19) and Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1 1LE, with one (’13).
· Kurt Busch’s 2019 victory holds the record for the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Kentucky since the start of the electronic scoring system in 1993, holding off younger brother, Kyle Busch, by 0.076-seconds.
· Of the six NASCAR Cup Series drivers to have won Busch poles at Kentucky Speedway, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, captured the pole in 2012 and career Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed the pole in 2013.
· Of the 1.5-mile tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Chevrolet team Hendrick Motorsports leads the way in laps lead with 421 total thus far this season, the most of any team.
DEFENDING WINNER
With the NASCAR Cup Series single visit to Kentucky Speedway for the 2020 season, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, is looking to become a back-to-back winner. As the most recent NCS winner at the track, the July 2019 victory gave Chevrolet its first win in history in at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. With the trip to victory lane, a Chevrolet driver or team has secured a win at every racetrack on the NCS schedule.
STAGES SCORECARD
With 16 races in the books and just 10 races left of the regular season, Chase Elliott leads the field in stage wins with 5, which includes 166 stage points, 16 top-5’s and 27 top-10’s in stages. Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, currently sits second on the list with four stage wins, including 13 top-five and 21 top-10 stage finishes for 142 points. William Byron (2), Jimmie Johnson (1), Kurt Busch (1), Tyler Reddick (1), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1) have also contributed to stage wins, giving Team Chevy 15 stage wins thus far this season.
With Chase Elliott’s 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.
STARTING LINEUP
In compliance with the COVID-19 protocols, the event will be a one-day show without fans in attendance. With no practice and no qualifying, owner points and a random draw will again set the starting lineup. By virtue of the random draw, here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:
5th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Cincinnati Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Chase Elliott, No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1 1LE
18th Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Camaro ZL1 1LE
19th Austin Dillon, No. 3 RigUp Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE IN
FS1 will telecast the 267-lap, 400-mile Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 12th. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT ON KENTUCKY
“We are really looking forward to Kentucky and really just looking forward to getting back to the track. The best way to fix a tough finish is to go try again. Hopefully it goes well, I think we’ve been running well we just haven’t had some of the finishes we had hoped for. I think our performance has been there and we just have to clean up a few areas and I think we can put ourselves in a good spot. We are moving on from Indy and ready to go race the Kelley Blue Book Chevy at Kentucky.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CINCINNATI CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON GETTING BACK TO A 1.5-MILE TRACK:
“I am ready to get back to a mile and a half track this weekend, especially after the last few weeks. These are the tracks where we are typically pretty good. We haven’t had the finishes to show recently at mile and a half venues, but we have brought extremely strong Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE’s each week. The last time Cincinnati was on the car, we put it in victory lane. I know we will bring a fast car this weekend and can hopefully go two in a row with Cincinnati.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF FOR THE NO. 88 CINCINNATI CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES ON RUNNING AT KENTUCKY:
“We are going back to a mile and a half track and somewhere where we have really good speed. Kentucky hasn’t been favorable to me and my history at the track. The last few times we have run here, we have strategized well and run well but we haven’t ended up with the finish we deserve there. If we can just finish where we run, that is a lot better than wrecking or losing a tire there and not finishing where we need to be. We have a good package for a mile and a half tracks, so hopefully we can take that and the stuff we have learned from other tracks here lately and get a solid finish at the end of the day.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON KENTUCKY’S SURFACE:
“Kentucky’s surface has just continued to age. I think it has gotten really grey there, really fast. I know that the type of asphalt that they used is different than what they used until the later part of 2010 when repaving tracks. The asphalt has a lot of grip like Michigan does but Michigan hasn’t seemed to age as fast as Kentucky has. It’s also a slick track but in a weird way. It’s not coarse like Atlanta, it’s smooth but slick at the same time. It’s a tough track to get a hold of and that’s a challenge we face every time we go there. It makes for interesting racing”
BYRON ON HAVING COMPETITION CAUTIONS INSTEAD OF PRACTICE:
“I think the competition cautions in these races have helped some guys for sure. For us on the No. 24 team though, we haven’t necessarily needed them at most tracks. We’ve shown up extremely prepared from a team aspect and a driver aspect. I can only really think of one race that I wanted that competition caution, and that was Atlanta. Otherwise, I’ve been happy with how our speed has been at the beginning of the race. Kentucky may be a different story since the surface is so hard to pinpoint ahead of time, but I’m confident in the car my team will have prepared.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 18th IN STANDINGS
“When we have the traction compound thrown into the mix, it’s totally open-ended on what the race is going to be like at Kentucky Speedway. It depends a lot on the other series’ races that happen earlier in the weekend and how that tire wear lays down on the traction compound. Honestly though, the biggest thing we’ve been fighting each weekend is weather and how that is going to affect the track surface and our race strategy. So, if we can avoid having any weather this weekend, we should be able to watch the earlier races and see how they go. I do know that when the track surface does come in during the race, it is on and the competition goes up a notch. If you’re trying to make up time, if you’re trying to make passes or protect your position, you’re going to have to get take advantage of that traction compound. It’s going to be a huge factor this weekend.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CLOVER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 28th IN STANDINGS
“Kentucky is a very unique race track. It used to be really rough with several different racing groves. Since they paved it, it’s certainly changed a little bit, but it’s still an interesting race track. It has a very unique Turn 3. I would say that’s the trickiest part of the track. It’s a very flat transition and really easy to overdrive that corner. That will cause you to mess up Turn 4 and not have momentum down the front stretch. So, you really have to get your car to handle good and get down into the race track in Turn 3. I think the guys that run the best there are able to get that corner down better than everybody else and setup a strong exit out of Turn 4.”
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: 1,190
Top-five finishes: 21
Top-10 finishes: 55
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 788 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 235,496
Top-five finishes to date: 4,035
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,337
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,122
Chevrolet: 788
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 795
Ford: 695
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 148
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.
