TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
BRISTOL, TENNESSEE
SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
BRISTOL: RACE #29
It’s a historic race with Playoff implications on the line – it’s ‘America’s Night Race’ at Bristol Motor Speedway. For the third time this season, the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) returns to the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’ for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The pressure is heightened as the 500-lap, 266.5-mile event at the .533-mile Tennessee venue will serve as the third race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the cut-off race for the Round of 16. This weekend’s event marks the first time in NASCAR history that Bristol Motor Speedway has hosted a post-season event.
Joining the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit Bristol Motor Speedway to make it a three-day race weekend. The weekend’s schedule kicked off with the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors on Thursday night, which served as the first race in the Truck Series’ seven-race Playoff stretch. Bristol Motor Speedway will also be the host of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season finale with the Food City 300 on Friday, September 18, at 7:00 p.m. ET as drivers vie for the last chance to compete for the championship title. With momentum on his side, JR Motorsports and Chevrolet driver Justin Allgaier enters the weekend coming off of a doubleheader sweep at Richmond Raceway, giving the team their 50th and 51st victories in the series.
A limited number of fans will be allowed to take in the action in-person for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series’ events, adhering to all safety measures and protocols in place. To-date, the NCS All-Star Race that took place in July at Bristol Motor Speedway has had the largest crowd in any sporting event this year since the pandemic restrictions took place in March. With approval for up to 30,000 fans in attendance, Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race has been sold out at ‘socially-distanced capacity’.
ROUND OF 16: THE CUT-OFF RACE
For the first time in NASCAR history, Bristol Motor Speedway will be the host of the third race of the Playoffs, serving as the elimination race for the first of four rounds and cutting the championship field down from 16 to 12 drivers. Bristol will become the fifth different track to serve as the third race of the Playoffs, joining Talladega Superspeedway (2004-2005), Kansas Speedway (2006–2010), Dover International Speedway (2011-2017) and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (2018-2019).
Heading into the Bristol race weekend, here are where the Team Chevy Playoff Contenders sit in the points standings:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE – 6th in Standings (2,094 points)
Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway)
Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s 9; Laps Led: 135; Average Finish: 15.9
Stage Top-Five’s: 5; Stage Top-10’s: 16; Stage Points: 78
At Bristol: Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 3; Average Finish: 17.385
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 7th in Standings (2,086 points)
Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course)
Top-Fives: 11; Top-10’s: 16; Laps Led: 646; Average Finish: 12.8
Stage Wins: 6; Stage Top-Five’s: 20; Stage Top-10’s: 38; Stage Points: 217
At Bristol: Top-Five’s: 3; Top-10’s: 4; Average Finish: 12.667
Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings (2,085 points)
Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway)
Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s: 10; Laps Led: 389; Average Finish: 16.3
Stage Wins: 4; Stage Top-Five’s: 14; Stage Top-10’s: 31; Stage Points: 184
At Bristol: Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 22.667
Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – 11th in Standings (2,065 points)
Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 15; Laps Led: 111; Average Finish: 13.2
Stage Wins: 1; Stage Top-Five’s: 6; Stage Top-10’s: 24; Stage Points: 101
At Bristol: Wins: 6; Top-Five’s: 12; Top-10’s: 21; Average Finish: 14.871
William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE – 13th in Standings (2,058 points)
Victories: 1 (Daytona International Speedway)
Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s: 10; Laps Led: 97; Average Finish: 15.9
Stage Wins: 2; Stage Top-Five’s 9; Stage Top-10’s: 24; Stage Points: 117
At Bristol: Top-10’s: 1; Average Finish: 17.2
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Bristol Motor Speedway include:
Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, has 6 wins (’02, twice in ’03. ’04, ’06, & ’18).
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, has 2 wins (’10 & ’17).
Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE, has 4 wins (’05, ’06, ’13 & ’15)
· Of 119 NASCAR Cup Series events held at “The Last Great Colosseum”, Chevrolet has scored 210 top-five’s, 437 top-10’s and have led 23,701 laps.
· Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active drivers in top-five finishes with 15.
· Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads the series’ active drivers in top-10 finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway with 21. Since 2014, Johnson also leads all drivers with an average finish of 8.85.
· Of the NCS active drivers, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, ties for the most starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with 39. His March 2002 victory at Bristol made him one of just five drivers to score their first career NASCAR Cup Series win at the track.
BRISTOL SCORECARD
NASCAR’s premier series has made 119 appearances at the high-banked, all-concrete Tennessee short track. With eight different manufacturer’s finding their way to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway in NASCAR’s history, Chevrolet leads the way with 45 wins, giving the Bowtie brand a winning percentage of 37.8%. Chevrolet’s first win at Bristol Motor Speedway was captured by Charlie Glotzbach in the 1971 event, which also set the current race record at 101.074 mph.
In addition to the win category, of nine different manufacturers that have won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chevrolet has scored 39 poles, more than any other manufacturer. Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, currently holds the track qualifying record from his April 2019 pole win, clocking in at 131.713 mph with a lap time of 14.586 seconds. Of his 10 career-starts, Elliott also leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average starting position with 6.889.
STARTING LINEUP
For the remainder of the 2020 NCS season, the starting lineups will be determined by a competition-based formula, combining the following metrics from the previous race event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the Owner points position.
Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters for Saturday Bass Pro Shops Night Race:
5th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
15th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Childress Vineyards Camaro ZL1 1LE
19th Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-IN
NBCSN will telecast the 500-lap, 266.5-mile Bass Pro Shops Night Race live at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 19th. Live coverage can also be found on the NBC Sports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGS
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY?
“Anything can happen at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s a short track and you can get caught up in things fast. Our goal as a team is to be consistent and to try and score Stage points early. I think Stage points will play a big part of advancing out of each round in the NASCAR Playoffs, and with Bristol being the cutoff race there’s a lot on the line.”
WHAT’S GOING TO BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY FOR THE BRISTOL RACE WEEKEND? JUST FINISHING OR GOING FOR A WIN?
“I think you’ve got to keep going for wins. Darlington and Richmond were both good races for us, but we have just as much potential at Bristol. We had a solid run here back in May, and I really think this team has the capability to back that up.”
DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE OVERLOOKED COMING INTO THE PLAYOFFS A LITTLE BIT?
“I get overlooked some, probably more than most, and I don’t know why. I always feel like I perform pretty well in pressure situations, and RCR as a whole can step up. I have total belief in the 3 team and probably more belief this year than I’ve ever had because we’ve brought consistent speed to the track. We might not have gotten every finish that we should have gotten this year, but we’ve gotten a lot of good finishes. It’s been one of my best years statistically and just the ability behind the cars are better. Chevy has stepped up. Eric Warren, RCR, all of the mechanics and everybody that puts work in do a really good job. I think the smaller group has been good for us, with less distractions at the track. As a whole, our group really works together well.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS
DOES SUCCESS AT PREVIOUS RACES AT BRISTOL THIS SEASON GIVE YOU AN EDGE?
“I’m not sure that it gives us an edge, but it does give us a good starting spot from a setup perspective so I look forward to that. I think we have a good base line, so to speak, to start the race which is encouraging. Hopefully we can make the right adjustments throughout the race to be good at the end of 500 laps.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
“Bristol is a good track for us, just as long as we have the track position we need. If you get down on track position early, it can be difficult to bounce back. We ran pretty strong in the All-Star race over the summer, which gives the team some momentum going into the final race in the Round of 16.”
BOWMAN ON THE TEAM’S MOMENTUM:
“Following last weekend’s race in Richmond, we have some really good momentum going into Bristol. Richmond has always been a tough track for this team but coming out of Saturday night with a ninth-place finish, was like a win. We are doing what we need to do, as a team, in order to continue pushing our way through the playoff rounds.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS
“I think this is awesome to have a Bristol race in the playoffs. I think Bristol has always been deserving of being in the Playoffs. Even though it’s one of those Crown jewel, marquee events; it’s as big as the Southern 500 was a couple weeks ago at Darlington. I mean, it’s the Bristol night Race! A lot of people are focused on playoffs and it’s the cutoff at same time. The set-ups for Bristol have changed a lot, pretty rapidly. Some of my consistent results there; I finished second to my little brother when I first started with Chip Ganassi racing, I won there in 2018 with Stewart Haas. Those set-ups just aren’t there anymore. We’ve had to evolve and adapt. This particular race with the Playoff situation puts things into the drivers hands. If he says you’re two points to the good; you want look in the mirror and make sure you’re clear. If he says your two points behind and somebody’s on your front bumper out ahead, well, that’s where you’ve got to take matters into your own hands. That’s what this opportunity is for everybody to advance through the rounds. It’s a short track and drivers need to take things into their own hands.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON HIS MINDSET FOR BRISTOL:
“I have confidence for this weekend at Bristol after our performance in the spring race and the All-Star Race. We ran well in both races this year, plus all four races that I’ve run there with Chad (Knaus) on the pit box have been good. We’ve just had circumstances out of our control. I think Hendrick Motorsports as whole runs well at Bristol, too. Chase (Elliott) showed that with his All-Star Race win in the summer. That just means we have a good notebook to utilize for our setup. Overall, I have confidence for this Saturday’s race. We just need to focus on the details, execute all race and we’ll accomplish what we need to.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 19th IN STANDINGS
OVER THE COURSE OF THESE FINAL EIGHT RACES, WE RETURN TO A COUPLE OF TRACKS YOU’VE NOW BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A CUP START AT, INCLUDING THIS WEEKEND AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY. HOW ARE YOU AND THE TEAM LOOKING TO IMPROVE FROM YOUR LAST RACE AT BRISTOL?
“We had a really good Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE during the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway. We started near the back of the field due to how line-ups were determined at the time, but we were making some good adjustments on our car and starting to pick our way up through the field. Unfortunately, it was just a wrong place-wrong time situation when we got caught up in the wreck with the No. 47 car and a few others during the first part of that race. Bristol is a tough track and one where you have to be aware of those moves people will make entering the backstretch, especially since that seems to be where a lot of the wrecks happen. So that is something I’ll be paying attention to, but we had a solid piece entering that race and were making good adjustments before our day ended early. We’ll definitely be looking back at our notes from that time to get a feel for what we want to do entering this weekend’s event with our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet.”
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: 5
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,614
Top-five finishes: 37
Top-10 finishes: 94
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 791 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 235,920
Top-five finishes to date: 4,051
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,376
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,125
Chevrolet: 791
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 802
Ford: 702
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 150Team 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.
