DARLINGTON RACEWAY (1.366-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 27 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 6 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, SEPT. 6 (NBCSN/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
Chase Elliott
No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 24 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2020 Season
5th in standings
26 starts
2 wins
1 pole position
10 top-five finishes
15 top-10 finishes
530 laps led
Career
175 starts
8 wins
9 pole positions
54 top-five finishes
89 top-10 finishes
2,374 laps led
Track Career
7 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
37 laps led
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, will be available to members of the media via video conference on Thursday, Sept. 3, as part of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day. Visit NASCARmedia.com for details.
LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN: The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kick off this weekend at historic Darlington Raceway. For the fifth consecutive year, Chase Elliott is officially part of the playoff contenders. In 2016, he became the youngest driver to make his first playoff start at 20 years, 9 months, 21 days, and last season he advanced all the way to the Round of 8 for the third consecutive year. Elliott’s average finish in the playoffs (13.0) is the second highest of the 2020 field of drivers, behind only Kevin Harvick. In his 40 playoff starts, he has garnered three wins (Dover 2018, Kansas 2018 and Charlotte 2019), 15 top-five finishes, 22 top-10s and 746 laps led.
THROUGH 26: As the regular season came to a close, Elliott continued to stack up career bests in runner-up results (three), top-five finishes (10), top-10s (15) stage points (200) and stage wins (six). Through 26 races, his two wins are tied for a personal best and his 530 laps led are his second most.
NAPA THROWBACK: NAPA AUTO PARTS will serve as the primary sponsor for Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington. In February, it was announced that NAPA AUTO PARTS and Hendrick Motorsports will continue their partnership for another two seasons. NAPA will remain a primary sponsor of Elliott and the No. 9 team through 2022. Click here to read the full release.
FOR 7X: In August, it was revealed that Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman would pay homage to seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson with special paint schemes at Darlington Raceway. Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE is a throwback to Johnson’s championship-winning 2009 season. Check out the scheme here.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: Elliott continued his night race success on Saturday, collecting a second-place finish at the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native has one win (Charlotte), three runner-up finishes and five top-fives in the last six points-paying night races. Elliott also collected a victory under the lights in the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in July.
LOOKING BACK: Elliott and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team overcame a mid-race speeding penalty to finish fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series return at Darlington Raceway on May 17. It marked a career-best finish for the driver at the track dubbed “Too Tough to Tame.” In the May 20 race at the track, Elliott led 28 laps and was in position to win during the closing laps but was spun late by Kyle Busch and relegated to a 38th-place finish.
‘TOO TOUGH TO TAME’ STATS: Elliott is set to make his eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Darlington Raceway this weekend. In his previous races at the 1.366-mile track, he has two top-five finishes and three top-10s. Elliott also has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the South Carolina venue, where he won in his 2014 track debut. He is one of only four drivers to win at Darlington in their first race there.
GUSTAFSON AT DARLINGTON: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson has called 17 Cup Series races at Darlington. Leading five different drivers, he’s collected one win, four top-five results and seven top-10s. Gustafson’s Darlington win came in 2009 with veteran Mark Martin, the second-oldest driver (50 years, 4 months) to win at the track “Too Tough To Tame.”
GUSTAFSON’S PLAYOFF RECORD: Gustafson has the second-most playoff appearances by a crew chief (13), behind only fellow Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus (17). The 45-year-old race caller is also tied for the second-most wins in playoff races with nine.
PIT POWER: As the NASCAR Cup Series kicks off its 2020 playoffs, the No. 9 team owns the third-best average time for four-tire pit stops at 13.96 seconds through 26 races. The team is comprised of jackman T.J. Semke, gasman John Gianninoto, tire carrier Jared Erspamer and tire changers Chad Avrit and Nick O’Dell.
William Byron
No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver William Byron Hometown Charlotte, North Carolina
Age 22 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2020 Season
9th in standings
26 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
9 top-10 finishes
97 laps led
Career
98 starts
1 win
5 pole positions
7 top-five finishes
26 top-10 finishes
391 laps led
Track Career
4 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
3 laps led
HERE TO STAY: Coming off his first NASCAR Cup win and heading into his second series playoff appearance, William Byron confirmed Tuesday that he will continue to bring home the hardware behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. While his contract extension was signed in early August prior to Saturday’s win, Byron’s success in the national ranks of NASCAR speaks for itself. Signing with Hendrick Motorsports in August 2016, he climbed the ladder to the Xfinity Series in 2017, winning the circuit championship before making his way to the Cup level in 2018. With a combined 12 NASCAR national series race wins, Byron is the fifth-youngest driver to score a victory in all three major touring levels and is one of only two drivers to be crowned rookie of the year in three consecutive seasons.
WINNER WINNER: With Saturday night’s event at Daytona International Speedway signaling the final race of the 2020 regular season, Byron rolled off from the sixth position in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE but quickly took the lead early on. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native continued to show speed throughout the night and narrowly avoided multiple incidents to position himself on the front row for the final restart heading into overtime. Jumping out to the lead just before taking the white flag, Byron got help from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, who gave him the push he needed to maintain the lead and capture the checkered flag for his first career Cup Series win.
THE NUMBER IS 24: The “24” car number, made famous by four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, has an extensive history in NASCAR. Byron can now add his name to the legacy. En route to his Daytona win, Byron led 24 laps, including the final two in overtime, before capturing the checkered flag – the first time the No. 24 has been to victory lane with someone other than Gordon behind the wheel. Gordon’s first Cup Series win came at the age of 22 years, 9 months and 25 days, while Byron’s first victory came at 22 years, 9 months and 1 day – a difference of exactly 24 days. In fact, Saturday marked the first summer Cup race at Daytona not held on the Fourth of July weekend since 1998 when the event was held in October. The winner was Gordon in the No. 24.
LOCKED IT UP: Not only did his Daytona win signal the first of his Cup career but it also solidified Byron’s position in the 2020 NASCAR playoffs. Making his second appearance during his three-year Cup Series career, Byron is now seeded ninth, three points above the cutline heading into the first of three races in the Round of 16.
NIGHT VISION: While racing under the lights seems to bring a different level of intensity, it also brings success for Byron. In the last four races run at night, including Saturday’s Daytona win, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has finished in the top 10 – a streak he plans to continue Sunday at Darlington.
DARLINGTON DEETS: With four previous Cup Series starts at Darlington, Byron is looking to capitalize on his strong showings at the track this Sunday and is hoping to find a little luck along the way. Despite running well early in races, Byron only has a track-best finish of 12th, which came earlier this year in the second race of the Darlington doubleheader. Last year in a “Days of Thunder” throwback paint scheme, Byron channeled his inner Cole Trickle and captured the pole for the prestigious Southern 500, becoming the youngest-ever pole sitter at Darlington Raceway at 21 years, 9 months and 2 days.
PLAYOFF MASTER: When the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team solidified its spot in the battle for the championship Saturday night, veteran crew chief Chad Knaus made history of his own. This year’s post-season berth continued his streak of 17 consecutive playoff appearances. Not only does that stat rank first among all crew chiefs – with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alan Gustafson second with 13 appearances – but Knaus has yet to miss the playoffs since the format’s inception in 2004. Through his 17 trips, Knaus has gone on to win an incredible 29 races and seven championships, which are both records in the playoff format.
KNAUS DIGS DARLINGTON: Making his 25th start at Darlington Raceway atop the pit box, Knaus is optimistic that his previous success at the 1.366-mile oval will continue Sunday. With three crown jewel wins at “The Lady in Black,” all with Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team, Knaus also has one pole award at Darlington, which came last year with Byron and the No. 24 team for the Southern 500.
LIBERTY HONORS JOHNSON: On board for his win at Daytona, Liberty University will remain on Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Sunday’s race at Darlington – but with a different look. Embodying this year’s theme of “past champions” for the Southern 500, Liberty University is honoring seven-time champion Johnson by running his 2013 NASCAR All-Star Race paint scheme. Featuring a red, white and blue design with stars and stripes, the throwback scheme represents Johnson’s fourth and final All-Star Race win – the most of any driver – at Byron’s hometown track of Charlotte Motor Speedway. To see Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Sunday’s race, click here.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE OF MIND: While the fueler on the No. 24 team hails from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, Landon Walker has significant ties to the southernmost Carolina state. The former college football player earned a scholarship to Clemson University in 2007 after being named an All-American offensive lineman in his hometown at East Wilkes High School. While playing at Clemson, Walker recorded 3,131 snaps with 49 starts at tackle through four seasons. In 2011, he was named team captain, the same year Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The college football standout was then recruited by Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 and earned a position as a starting fueler for crew chief Gustafson in 2015.
Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 44 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2020 Season
17th in standings
25 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
9 top-10 finishes
102 laps led
Career
676 starts
83 wins
36 pole positions
231 top-five finishes
373 top-10 finishes
18,936 laps led
Track Career
23 starts
3 wins
0 pole positions
9 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
563 laps led
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: After teammate William Byron won Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway to clinch a NASCAR Cup Series playoff berth, Jimmie Johnson was one of the first to congratulate him in victory lane. Johnson ran strong all race until a late incident collected his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and ended his chances to earn a playoff spot, which he missed by just six points. Two regular season misfortunes proved especially costly to Johnson’s post-season hopes. The team was disqualified after a second-place finish at Charlotte, wiping out 46 points. Then Johnson was forced to watch from the sidelines for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis due to a positive COVID-19 test, collecting no points for the event. If Johnson had retained the Charlotte points and earned 26 more at Indianapolis (his season average), he would have clinched a playoff position following the Dover doubleheader in August. Additional points were lost when Johnson had an accident while leading Darlington in May at the end of Stage 1. Those 10 points would have been enough to advance him into the playoffs
THROWBACK FOR THE AGES: Johnson and primary sponsor Ally recently announced their championship-caliber throwback scheme on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s popular “Dale Jr. Download” podcast. The hood, roof and decklid of Johnson’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE are a tribute to Richard Petty’s iconic “Petty Blue” No. 43 car, while the design on the sides pays homage to Dale Earnhardt’s infamous black No. 3. Johnson also will carry a “7x7x7x” badge on the car that represents the three-way tie of the only drivers in history – Petty, Earnhardt and Johnson – with seven NASCAR Cup Series championships. Click here for more.
PETTY AND CHILDRESS RESPOND: In addition to Johnson unveiling the throwback No. 48 Ally Chevy for Sunday’s Darlington race on the “Dale Jr. Download,” the podcast featured No. 3 car owner Richard Childress and seven-time Cup champion Petty reacting to the tribute. Click here to listen to the podcast titled “Jimmie Johnson: 7×3 Perfection” in its entirety.
INTIMIDATING COMPARISON: While there will never be another driver like “The Intimidator,” a statistical look at Earnhardt and Johnson makes for an interesting comparison. Earnhardt made 676 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, which is where Johnson currently stands following Saturday’s race at Daytona. Johnson has recorded seven more wins and 14 more pole positions than the driver of the No. 3. But in the same number of races, Earnhardt recorded 55 more top-10 finishes, 50 more top-fives and more than 6,700 more laps led than Johnson.
200TH WIN: Fitting for a throwback weekend, Johnson won the milestone 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports at Darlington Raceway more than eight years ago. Starting the May 12, 2012, event on the outside pole, Johnson led 134 of 368 laps, including the final 44, en route to the victory.
ALL HAIL: Johnson revealed his Darlington throwback paint scheme honoring Earnhardt and Petty, and then the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports stable revealed their schemes. The Chevrolet Camaros of Chase Elliott, Byron and Alex Bowman all will pay tribute to their teammate and seven-time champion for his final time racing at Darlington in the NASCAR Cup Series. All four cars can be seen here.
NOT DONE YET: Of Johnson’s 83 wins, 41% have come in the months of September, October and November. He has accumulated 34 victories during those months over the course of his 19 seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series. Presently, there are still big milestones on the horizon. The next time he crosses the finish line first he will have scored his 84th points-paying Cup Series win to tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time. Johnson has the most wins of all active drivers.
Alex Bowman
No. 88 ChevyGoods/Truck Hero Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver Alex Bowman Hometown Tucson, Arizona
Age 27 Resides Concord, North Carolina
2020 Season
8th in standings
26 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
8 top-10 finishes
388 laps led
Career
179 starts
2 wins
2 pole positions
13 top-five finishes
34 top-10 finishes
862 laps led
Track Career
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
1 top-10 finish
41 laps led
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, will be available to members of the media via video conference on Thursday, Sept. 3, as part of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day. Visit NASCARmedia.com for details.
WELCOME, TRUCK HERO: This weekend marks the first event of the 2020 season in which the Truck Hero brand will adorn the No. 88 ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Truck Hero offers customers a full range of branded automotive accessories for vehicles with market-leading functionality, engineering, quality and design. Hendrick Motorsports announced its partnership with ChevyGoods.com earlier this season, which includes branding on Alex Bowman’s Camaro for 26 events. Associate brands featured are Adam’s Polishes, NOCO and Truck Hero.
HONORING A SEVEN-TIME CHAMP: On Sunday night, the No. 88 Chevy will honor teammate Jimmie Johnson during the throwback event at Darlington Raceway. Bowman will pilot a special Truck Hero Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE paying homage to Johnson’s 2006 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Not only is the scheme honoring the seven-time champ’s first title, it represents crew chief Greg Ives’ first championship with the No. 48 team. The 2006 season marked the first of five titles Ives earned as an engineer on Johnson’s team.
IT’S PLAYOFF TIME: Bowman is set to make his third appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs beginning this weekend at Darlington Raceway. The No. 88 team clinched a spot in the 2020 playoffs following its March win at Auto Club Speedway. The 27-year-old driver raced his way into the Round of 12 the last two years, and this is the second season where he clinched a spot based on a victory. The team is currently sitting eighth in the playoff standings, just 48 markers behind the leader. This also marks Ives’ fourth Cup Series playoff appearance. He has three with Bowman and one with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
DARLINGTON STATS: Bowman, a Tucson, Arizona, native, has six previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington Raceway. His best finish of second came in May in the first race back after a two-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bowman led for 41 laps after rolling off second, earning the second-most points in the event.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: Bowman has finished inside the top 10 in three of the last four night races this season. He finished sixth at Martinsville Speedway on June 10, eighth at Kansas Speedway on July 23 and most recently seventh at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.
ALL ABOUT STAGE POINTS: The No. 88 team has four stage wins this season, which is tied for third overall in the NASCAR Cup Series. Bowman has captured 167 stage points in 2020, the eighth-most of all drivers. The sixth-year driver earned 27 stage points in the two Darlington events earlier this season, the second-most stage points earned in those two races. He is also running much better than his finishing positions show with an average running position of 12.85 and an average finish of 17.0 – a difference of 4.15.
IVES IS ‘TOO TOUGH’: For the eighth time in his career in the NASCAR Cup Series, Ives will call the shots at Darlington for the No. 88 team. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s best finish at the venue came in May after Bowman crossed the line in second after leading 41 laps. Ives’ drivers have completed 99.7% of the total laps and have one top-five finish and two top-10s at the facility. He was also the crew chief for Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Xfinity Series when the team captured the victory after leading 52 laps back in 2014. From 2006-2012, Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. During that time, he was a part of one Cup Series win (2012) and four top-five finishes at Darlington.
NEW MONTH, NEW DEALS: During the month of September, No. 88 team sponsor ChevyGoods.com is providing discounts on various accessories on its website. Customers can receive 10% below MSRP on all Adam’s Polishes, NOCO and Truck Hero accessories purchased online. Use code CHEVYGOODS to receive the discount at ChevyGoods.com.
PIT ROAD KNACK: The No. 88 pit crew ranks seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series with an average four-tire stop time of 14.13 seconds after 26 events this season. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Rowdy Harrell, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
Hendrick Motorsports
MILESTONE WIN: William Byron’s clutch performance Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway was the 260th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series victory for Hendrick Motorsports, putting the team just eight wins from tying Petty Enterprises’ all-time record of 268. At Daytona, Byron also led the 70,000th Cup Series lap for car owner Rick Hendrick, extending Hendrick Motorsports’ record in the category.
WINNERS’ CIRCLE: With 22-year-old Byron added to the list, Hendrick Motorsports has now won points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races with 19 different drivers, including 11 who notched their first career victory with the team. Byron’s Daytona accomplishment made Hendrick Motorsports the first organization in NASCAR history to win with three different drivers under the age of 27 in a single season. Alex Bowman, then 26, won Auto Club Speedway in March, and Chase Elliott, 24, won at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and the DAYTONA Road Course in August. Including 2020, Hendrick Motorsports has gone to victory lane with three or more drivers in 12 different seasons, the most ever.
POST-SZN STATS: Since the inception of the system, Hendrick Motorsports has won 44 races in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which represent 28% of all playoff events and is 16 more victories than second-place Joe Gibbs Racing (28). Hendrick Motorsports has won at least one playoff race in a record 15 different seasons. The 2020 campaign is the 15th consecutive year the team has placed at least two drivers in the playoffs and the 13th different season with at least three.
PLAYOFF MO’: Hendrick Motorsports has built strong momentum going into the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Darlington Raceway. In the four events leading up to the playoffs, the team won twice and notched eight top-five finishes, including one runner-up result. It has scored 11 top-10s and recorded an average finish of 10.25 – statistics that lead all Cup Series organizations in the last four races.
DARLINGTON DARLINGS: At Darlington Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports holds the track records for NASCAR Cup Series wins (14), top-five finishes (47), top-10s (78) and laps led (3,268). The team’s 14 victories there have come with six different drivers: Jeff Gordon (seven), Jimmie Johnson (three), Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Tim Richmond and Ricky Rudd. Johnson led 124 laps and went to victory lane the only time a playoff race has been held at Darlington (November 2004).
STATS RUNDOWN: Since its inception in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 260 race victories and holds the all-time records for championships (12), pole positions (226), top-five finishes (1,090), top-10s (1,880) and laps led (70,006) in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Including 2020, the organization has won at least one race in 35 consecutive seasons, the longest-ever streak. Hendrick Motorsports is eight wins away from tying Petty Enterprises’ all-time Cup record of 268.
QUOTABLE /
Driver Chase Elliott on heading back to the playoffs:
“I am looking forward to the playoffs. I think these last 10 races are going to be super interesting and I look forward to the challenges myself and the NAPA team have ahead of us. It’s going to be a tough 10 for sure. We will have to bring our best to compete and I think we can do that. We just have to be consistent and be up front every week.”
Elliott on the throwback schemes for Darlington:
“I’m really excited about Darlington this year. It’s a really cool deal that we can honor Jimmie (Johnson) this weekend. He has had such an unreal career and been successful for so long. I am proud to call Jimmie a friend. He really is a hero of mine and had a tremendous impact on me. I am really looking forward to getting to the track and showing off our NAPA throwback to his 2009 championship season.”
Driver William Byron winning the final race before the playoffs:
“Fortunately, we have pretty long weeks now with no practice or qualifying. We get two extra days, essentially. So we have had a couple days to take everything in and enjoy the win before turning on to Darlington. Darlington is a track that we’ve traditionally run well at and had a decent car in the spring this year. We’ll make some changes off of our previous setup and I think we’ll be in a good place.”
Byron on his feelings of getting his first Cup win:
“It was honestly just a big relief. I’ve been driving the No. 24 car for the last couple years and it was a relief to win that race in that car. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with that and the legacy of the car. These last couple years I’ve been really trying to work on being comfortable in the car and make it my own. I don’t remember much from crossing the finish line, but watching it back it just makes me smile. I’m still on Cloud 9. It’s been pretty special.”
Byron on racing at Darlington:
“Hopefully, we can have a good race and execute really well. Darlington is a really tough racetrack but luckily we’ve been there twice already this year. I have a pretty good idea of what the track is going to feel like and how it’s going to drive and handle. It definitely is a very temperature-sensitive track and it’s going to be warmer than when we were there in May. It rubbers up a lot, especially up by the wall. You have to move your line around and try to avoid the rubber at times until it covers the full track. Once it does, you can run wherever your car handles the best. It’s a balancing act of trying to chase clean track and trying to find good racetrack to run on.”
Crew chief Chad Knaus on the pressure of winning and the playoffs:
“The intensity was way higher and the pressure we felt was high, really high in Daytona. Quite honestly, I love it. That’s why we do what we do. That’s why we compete. If it was easy no one would want to do it. It felt really good after the race to get that checkered flag. Going into the playoffs now, it’s all in the details and we have to make sure that we execute properly. Going to Darlington now, it’s a great racetrack for us. We’ve ran well there. We sat on the pole last year, we ran up front in the first spring race until we had a loose wheel, and we were decent in the second May race. If we look at the details this week, I think we have an opportunity to be really competitive this weekend and run up towards the front.”
Driver Jimmie Johnson on keeping a winning attitude entering the playoffs:
“We won’t have the chance to go for eight championships, but I am pretty damn proud of the seven we won. We do have 10 more chances and there are plenty of trophies up for grabs with nothing to lose. Darlington owes me one and we plan to finish this season strong. I’m proud to honor these two legends (Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty) and what they’ve meant to me and the sport with this seven-time scheme at Darlington.”
Driver Alex Bowman on the start of the 2020 playoffs:
“Everything resets this weekend. As a team, we have to regroup and use the momentum from the last two races to start the playoffs strong. We have shown that we are capable of wins and we have shown we can move on in the playoffs. This No. 88 team and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports has been preparing for the playoffs since our win in California, so I am ready to get underway this weekend in Darlington.”
Bowman on capitalizing at Darlington:
“Earlier this year we had some good runs at Darlington. The first race back from the brief pause was really good for us as a team. We finished second and really capitalized on stage points. Our goal for Sunday is to do the same thing. We need to have a solid race, earn stage points and get a good finish at the end of the night to start these playoffs off right.”
