TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 253 AT DAYTONA
DAYTONA ROAD COURSE
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
FEBRUARY 21, 2021
RACE #2 – DAYTONA ROAD COURSE
The 2021 NASCAR season is in full-swing and race #2 of the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series schedule sees the return of NASCAR’s premier series to the “World Center of Racing”, this time taking on the iconic 14-turn, 3.61-mile Daytona International Speedway Road Course. The unique high-banked tri-oval/infield road course made its debut on the NASCAR circuit in 2020, while also serving as the host for the exhibition-style Busch Clash last week to kick off the season’s action. The Florida venue will serve as the first of seven points-road course events on the newly renovated NASCAR Cup Series schedule for 2021.
The Daytona Road Course welcomes all three of NASCAR’s national series for a tripleheader race weekend, kicking off with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series under the lights, Friday, February 19th, at 7:30 p.m. ET with the BrakeBest Brake Pads 159 at Daytona Presented by O’Reilly. Day two of the race weekend will find an appearance by the NASCAR Xfinity Series with the Super Start Batteries 188 at Daytona Presented by O’Reilly on Saturday, February 20th, at 5:00 p.m. ET. The weekend is capped off with the NASCAR Cup Series’ O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona on Sunday, February 21st, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
NEXT UP: TURNING LEFT AND RIGHT
After seven Chevrolet drivers landed in the top-10 of the 63rd Running of the Daytona 500, NASCAR Cup Series teams turn their attention to the 3.61-mile Daytona International Speedway road course for the 70-lap O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona.
Chase Elliott, runner-up in the Daytona 500 on the 2.5-mile oval, won the inaugural race on the speedway’s tricky 14-turn road course that incorporates a section of the high-banked oval in August 2020, on the way to winning his first Driver Championship and 32nd for Chevrolet. Starting seventh, Elliott led a field-high 34 laps in claiming his second of five victories on the season.
ELLIOTT: KING OF THE ROAD
For the first time in NASCAR Cup Series competition, seven road course races are on the 2021 schedule – six scheduled for the regular season, including three of the final seven races, and one in the Playoffs. The previous high was four in 1964 and 1957. Buck Baker, driving a ‘57 Chevrolet, won the first road course race on August 4, 1957, on the 2.3-mile Watkins Glen International circuit.
Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports, has won the past four races on road courses (Charlotte in October 2020, Daytona in August 2020, Charlotte in September 2019, Watkins Glen in August 2019). Coming off of his victory at the Charlotte ROVAL during the 2020 Playoffs, the 25-year-old Georgia native is just the second driver in NASCAR history to win four road course races in a row. Career Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, holds the record for most consecutive road course wins with six (1997-2000).
In his 12-career road course starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Elliott has collected five wins and five stage wins, the most of all active drivers. Other statistics of note include six top-five finishes, eight top-10’s and a total of 240 laps led. With an average finish of 8.92 on road course circuits, Elliott tops all active drivers and holds the sixth-best all-time average.
Elliott’s five career road course victories ties Dan Gurney, Darrell Waltrip and Tim Richmond for seventh on the all-time list. Jeff Gordon holds the record with nine road course wins (five at Sonoma Raceway and four at Watkins Glen).
DILLON TAKES POINTS LEAD TO ROUND 2
Austin Dillon leads the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings for the first time in his eight-year, full-season career. His previous high points position was third after winning the 2018 Daytona 500.
Dillion, driving the No. 3 Camaro ZL1 1LE for Richard Childress Racing, accumulated points by placing third in the first stage and fifth in the second stage, in addition to his third-place finish in the 2021 Daytona 500.
LEADING TO THE GREEN
With no practice or qualifying for this weekend’s events, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last August, which incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results. The combination includes: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25%); Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race (25%); Team owner points ranking (35%); and the fastest lap from the previous race (15%).
Defending race winner, Chase Elliott, will lead the 40-car field to the green in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE.
Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:
1st Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
3rd Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Ryan Preece, No. 37 Kroger/Coca-Cola Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Netflix Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Kyle Larson, No. 5 Nations Guard Camaro ZL1 1LE
9th Ross Chastain, No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Cottonelle Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Justin Haley, No. 77 AirMedCare Network Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS:
· Three Chevrolet driver/crew chief combinations are among four pairings in the Cup Series with more than 100 races together: 181 for Chase Elliott and Alan Gustafson; 145 for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Brian Pattie; 119 for Alex Bowman and Greg Ives.
· Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing, leads active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three earned poles on road courses (Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Charlotte).
· Both Corey LaJoie and Jamie McMurray recorded top-10 finishes in their Camaro ZL1 1LEs in the Daytona 500 for Spire Motorsports. Previously, the team had only one top-10 in a Cup Series race.
· Ross Chastain registered his second-career Cup Series top-10 and second in the Daytona 500, finishing seventh in the No. 42 Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing.
· Chase Elliott has 97 top-10 finishes in 186 Cup races.
· Alex Bowman is 10 starts from 200 career-Cup starts.
TUNE IN
FOX will telecast the 70-lap/252.7-mile race live at 3:00 p.m. EST Sunday, February 21st. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 1st IN STANDINGS
“I can’t wait to get back down to Daytona Beach to compete at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course this weekend. We had a fun night in the Busch Clash last week. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out where we wanted to. We got thrown through the grass, so I’m going to try to keep all four tires on the track this coming weekend. The goal is to try and gain on our points. We’ve done a good job through Daytona, and let’s keep that streak going.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS
“Road courses have been good to us the past few trips, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to go good every time. There has not been one part of me that watched the schedule change, saw seven road courses and thought, ‘Yeah, we’ve got it now.’ That’s just not how I am. At the end of the day, you have to be good everywhere and I want to be good everywhere. We as a team want to get to the point where we can win on any given week: road course, circle track, intermediate, dirt…whatever it is, we want to be able to win at any time. The great teams and the great drivers are capable of doing that, and I think we are capable doing that. So that’s where my head’s at – trying to be good everywhere.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 KROGER/COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGS
“Coming off of last weekend in the Daytona 500 and earning a top-10 finish, that’s a huge momentum swing that we just didn’t have at the start of last year. Not only is it a great confidence boost for myself and everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing, but it gives us a fantastic starting spot at a road course where track position is so key. It sets you up for success in Stage 1 and to earn stage points, which is a new goal for us this year. We just want to keep gaining as many points as we can and set us up for a good summer. I have a little bit of road course experience but there’s always room to improve. A big thing we also have going is consistency with our No. 37 Kroger/Coca-Cola team. Trent (Owens, crew chief) and I continue improving every weekend that we work together and having that consistency in my second year with the No. 37 team is really helpful. Road racing is very similar to short-track racing in terms of how you brake in the corners and out-braking other drivers, and I think my experience in short-track racing can only help on a road course. I’m really confident in the setup of our No. 37 Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet and the brake package that we have and think we’ll be able to keep our forward momentum going this weekend.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NETFLIX CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGS
“We’re going to have a great starting position while carrying a really cool paint scheme this weekend at the Daytona Road Course. Netflix’s “The Crew” will be on our Chevy Camaro as we try to point the fans to watch a really cool show with our sport at center of some lighthearted humor. I’ve watched all the episodes and it’s great to have Kevin James and The Crew riding along this weekend.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS
“I have not always been the greatest road course racer, but having practice on the Daytona road course last year and getting to race in the Clash this year has been key to improving. I thought our car was decent in the Clash, I just got into the turtles a little too hard and caused some damage that we needed to fix early in that race. We were able to salvage a top-10 finish in the Clash, and just having that extra seat time gives us and our No. 47 Cottonelle team a little bit of extra confidence to run a strong race on Sunday. I got in a really good groove last year in the road course race and in the Clash, and I think we have a decent enough starting spot that we can gain track position early and hold it throughout the race.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 20th IN STANDINGS
“This weekend we are hopeful for better runs than what we had in the Busch Clash. We tried quite a few things in the Clash, set-up wise, and now we’ll head back to more of what we ran at the Roval in Charlotte last Fall. That was a nice top-five finish in the Playoffs. We’ll look to gain some points back and get going in the right direction with things on our road course program here early in the year because road courses will be very important in 2021.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 26th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON GAINING ROAD COURSE RACING KNOWLEDGE:
“I don’t have a ton of experience on road courses, but I have gotten much more comfortable with them the last couple years and I think our most recent races show that. We haven’t had a ton of track time at the Daytona Road Course but running the Clash last week helped us dial things in a bit better. Starting position is a big factor as well and, unfortunately, we won’t have the best starting spot based off the scoring metric. There are ways to make up positions on road courses, depending on the strategy you use. We’ll take the notes we have and do what we need to do to get a good finish.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT RENTAL STORE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS
YOUR TEAM HAD SPEED IN THE CLASH AT THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE DURING SPEEDWEEK. HOW DOES THAT HELP YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR RETURN TO THE ROAD COURSE THIS WEEKEND?
“We put a lot of work over the off-season at RCR to get better at road courses, so to have a solid run during the Clash does make us feel more confident about this weekend. I truly feel based on our Clash performance that we have a shot at winning this weekend. I made a couple mistakes in the Clash that I was able to learn from, but my team was also able to do a couple things with strategy while staying out on old tires and still make it to where I could drive away from guys on new tires. We had a good car at the Clash, but what is more exciting is the fact that we didn’t even take our best road course car down there. We have another car at the shop that we like even more than our Clash car. When you already have a really fast car at a track but know the No. 8 Cat Rental Store Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE we’re going to bring back this time is even better, that is a great feeling to go into the weekend with.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 36th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON RETURNING TO THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE:
“Coming back to the Daytona Road Course this week will, hopefully, be good for our team since we just ran this course last week in the Clash. During the Clash, we were in contention for win a couple times. We had some speeding penalties but thankfully worked those out later in the week. There is a lot that we learned last week that we can definitely apply to Sunday’s race. Getting taken out of the 500 early last week, I think this Ally team needs some redemption on Sunday.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES ON USING THE CLASH AS A ROAD COURSE BLUEPRINT:
“We are fortunate to have the experience of running the Clash. We know we have a good road-course car and can fine tune some details to get it better for Alex. The Clash really gave us a better understanding of what we are needing to do to improve the car. I am dreading seeing what calculation decides where we will start, since our DAYTONA 500 finish was not where we needed to finish. All in all, we have a good car and we have to be smart.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 PETTY’S GARAGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 37th IN STANDINGS
HOW BENEFICIAL WAS IT TO BE ABLE TO GET SOME LAPS ON THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE DURING THE CLASH TO PREPARE FOR THIS WEEKEND?
“I think it (the DAYTONA Road Course) was really important for our team. It is a new team for me, and we had not really worked together at all to that point. Just getting out there and at least getting some track time, other than being at the Daytona International Speedway, was really important – being able to get the car better moving forward, and working on stuff. Every driver wants something a little bit different and for me, it was important to get comfortable in the No. 43 Petty’s Garage Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and be able to make some changes before we go back; I think is going to be pretty valuable. Hopefully, we can make the right changes and be successful when we go back.”
JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 77 AIRMEDCARE NETWORK CAMARO ZL1 1LE
“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to drive in the NASCAR Cup Series again for Spire Motorsports this weekend at Daytona. To partner with AirMedCare Network for this weekend’s race at the Daytona Road Course is so exciting. As a driver who loves road racing, I hope to continue Spire’s early- season success with a great run on Sunday. “
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2020): 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 (1949-2020): 32
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)
2021 STATISTICS:
Wins: 0
Poles: 1
Laps Led: 22
Top-five finishes: 2
Top-10 finishes: 7
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 795 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 718
Laps led to date: 236,727
Top-five finishes to date: 4,067
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,409
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,129
Chevrolet: 795
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 805
Ford: 705
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 152Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. Chevrolet models include electric and 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 www.chevrolet.com.
