Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sunday, March 21, 2021
1.5-Mile Oval
3:00 PM ET
Location: Hampton. Georgia
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (6 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM logo PRN logo
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 5th
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
STRONG START: Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, rallied from two pit road speeding penalties to finish seventh at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. The 2014 NASCAR rookie of the year is one of only three drivers to post four top-10 finishes in the first five events of 2021. Larson is also one of only three drivers to complete all 1,116 laps this season.
HOT ‘LANTA: Larson has nine top-10 finishes in 12 NASCAR national series appearances at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In six previous Cup Series starts there, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has three top-10s including a second-place finish in 2017. Larson has also scored top-10 results in each of his NASCAR Xfinity Series starts (five) and his only NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at the Georgia venue.
FIRST IN LAST: In his most recent start at a 1.5-mile track, Larson led a race-high 103 laps to capture the victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 7. Prior to the win, he had scored nine runner-up finishes – the most all-time without a Cup Series victory – in 71 career starts on 1.5-mile tracks.
PLAYOFF POINTS: Courtesy of a stage win (one playoff point) and victory (five playoff points) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month, Larson has amassed six playoff points in 2021. He is currently tied with Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for most NASCAR Cup Series playoff points accumulated through five races.
BRISTOL DIRT NATIONALS: Ahead of the March 28 Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson will compete in the Bristol Dirt Nationals this Saturday in the Super Late Model class. Practice is Thursday with a preliminary event Friday and the main event scheduled for Saturday. The Elk Grove, California, native will pilot the No. 6 entry for K&L Rumley Enterprises.
CLIFF’S NOTES: No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet crew chief Cliff Daniels was atop the pit box for Jimmie Johnson during the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s final full-time season in 2020. In Johnson’s final Cup Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June, Daniels helped guide him to a seventh-place finish.
YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will again drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. From the convenience of home, customers can select the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HendrickCars.com. The website also makes it easy for customers to find one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 93 dealership locations nationwide.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 6th
No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion and Georgia native 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, March 18, at 9:30 a.m. ET. Visit NASCARmedia.com for details.
FIRST FIVE: In the first five events of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott has garnered two top-five finishes – tied for the third-most among all drivers – and led a total of 73 laps. He holds the seventh-best average running position (11.1) and has spent 262 laps inside the top five and 576 laps running in the top 10.
PEACH STATE PERFORMANCE: Elliott has made nine total starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway across NASCAR’s top-three levels – five in the Cup Series, two in the Xfinity Series and two in the Camping World Truck Series – and only finished outside the top 10 twice. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE currently holds a 10th-place average finish at Atlanta in the Cup Series, the best among active drivers at the 1.5-mile venue.
1.5-MILE TRACK STATS: Elliott will make his 59th NASCAR Cup Series start on a 1.5-mile track this Sunday in the Peach State. In his previous 58 races, Elliott has led 764 laps. Last season, he scored his second career 1.5-mile track win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 28. Along with two victories, Elliott has collected 18 top-five finishes – five of which are runner-up results – and 29 top-10s on 1.5-milers.
FIRE UP THE SI-REEN: On Sunday, Elliott could become just the second Georgia-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, joining his father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who won five times at the track.
ENGINE, ENGINE NO. 9: This weekend, Elliott has the chance to become the third driver to win at AMS with the No. 9 car number. The five victories for the No. 9 have come with two drivers: Elliott’s father, Bill Elliott (three), and Kasey Kahne (two). Kahne collected the most recent Atlanta win for the No. 9 in June 2008.
GEORGIA ON MY MIND: In addition to Elliott hailing from Dawsonville, Georgia, which is just 83 miles north of AMS, No. 9 team partners NAPA AUTO PARTS, Hooters and Kelley Blue Book all have major presences in Atlanta. NAPA is Elliott’s primary sponsor this weekend, and Hooters will make its season debut in May at Darlington Raceway. Cox Automotive, the parent company of team partner Kelley Blue Book, will have its first appearance as the No. 9’s primary sponsor later this year at Richmond Raceway in September.
CHECK OUT THOSE HATS: During the month of March, the No. 9 team will wear special limited-edition NAPA hats at the track. The hats are part of NAPA AUTO PARTS’ March in-store promotion. Throughout the month when customers spend $25 in store, they will receive the No. 9 NAPA Racing/Chase Elliott hat while supplies last.
HITTIN’ THE DIRT: Last week, Elliott announced that he will participate in the Bristol Dirt Nationals this week prior to returning to compete at his home track in Georgia. Adrenaline Shoc, which is also a sponsor of the No. 9 team, will serve as the primary sponsor on his car.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 9th
No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
FRONT RUNNER: Five races into his fourth NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron is off to the best start of his career. So far, the 23-year-old driver has spent 759 laps running inside the top 10 – the fifth-highest amount in the Cup field. Of those 759 laps, 317 were inside the top-five running order, which is the seventh-most by a driver at NASCAR’s highest level this season. Currently, Byron has led laps in two races and ranks third for most laps led by a driver this year with 127. Only Joey Logano (198) and Denny Hamlin (183) have led more laps. Byron has the eighth-best average running position of the 2021 season at 11.16.
TOP-10 TAKES: Having to overcome issues in the first two races of the season, Byron has turned things around and is now on a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes. His run of top-10 results ranks the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet fourth for the most top-10s in 2021. In fact, the streak of three consecutive top-10s is tied for the longest of the Charlotte, North Carolina, native’s Cup career. It’s something he has done only two other times, both in 2020.
1.5-MILE MOMENTUM: With the Cup Series racing at two 1.5-mile tracks so far this year, Byron is one of four drivers who have finished inside the top 10 for both events, including Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson.
THE ATL ARCHIVE: With three previous Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Byron has a track-best finish of 17th from the 2019 spring race. Other than his three Cup Series appearances, Byron has two other NASCAR starts at the 1.5-mile track: One in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he finished seventh, and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he was running second before losing an engine, leaving him with a 32nd-place finish.
RUDY RUNS THE ATL: While Sunday marks another track where crew chief Rudy Fugle will call the shots for the first time in the NASCAR Cup Series, the Livonia, New York, native is no stranger to success at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts as a crew chief, Fugle has two pole awards and two wins at the 1.5-mile track. In six events, his drivers have collected four top-three finishes and five top-10s. Fugle only has one finish worse than seventh, coming with Byron in 2016 when the duo was running second before suffering an engine failure.
LIBERTY U IS BACK: This Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Byron will sport the new Liberty University paint scheme for the second time this season. Now featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in communications, Byron is now in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here.
48 Alex Bowman
Age: 27 (April 15, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 18th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
ATLANTA STATS: Alex Bowman has five previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway with his personal-best finish of 12th coming in last year’s event at the 1.5-mile facility. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has one start there in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he qualified 18th in 2013. In 2017, Bowman ran in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event and finished sixth after qualifying fifth.
1.5-MILE ROLL: Bowman’s last six outings at 1.5-mile tracks resulted in three top-five finishes, five top-10s and 54 laps led. The 27-year-old driver has 62 Cup starts at intermediate tracks, which include one win, six top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. Bowman’s first Cup win came in 2019 at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway after leading 88 laps. He captured three stage wins at 1.5-mile tracks in 2020, the third-most behind Denny Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.
SAVING THEM ALL IN PHX: Last weekend, Bowman piloted the No. 48 Ally/Best Friends Animal Society Chevrolet at Phoenix Raceway to a 13th-place finish. Early into the 312-lap event, he made contact with another competitor and sustained damage to the left side. After two trips down pit road for repairs and adjustments, Bowman was back on track with his eyes set out front. Coming up one spot shy of receiving stage points in stage two, the Tucson, Arizona, native ran inside the top 15 through the remainder of the event. When the checkered flag waved, Bowman was scored 13th and captured his fourth top-15 finish at the 1-mile venue. Bowman and sponsor Ally donated $2,000 to Halo Animal Rescue in Avondale, Arizona, to help #SaveThemAll and end kill shelters by 2025.
IVES IN ATL: No. 48 crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the seventh time on Sunday. The Bark River, Michigan, native has two top-five finishes at the track, which include a runner-up result with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2016. At the 1.5-mile facility, Ives has two career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts as a crew chief. Back in 2014, his driver sat on the pole for the 195-lap event and led 36 laps en route to a fifth-place finish. From 2006-2012, Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. During that time, he was a part of two wins and one pole award at Atlanta Motor Speedway with driver Jimmie Johnson.
SPEEDY ON PIT ROAD: The No. 48 Ally pit crew ranks first among all teams in the NASCAR Cup Series with an average four-tire pit stop of 13.62 seconds. Bowman’s crew has turned in three of the 10 fastest four-tire stops of 2021 thus far, all coming at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month. On lap 163 of the Vegas event, the team had a 12.51-second stop, on lap 48 it was 12.58 seconds and on lap 223 it was 12.61 seconds. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
PEACHY PERFORMANCE: Hendrick Motorsports will roll into Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race as the track’s all-time leader in wins (14), top-five finishes (59) and top-10s (92). The team has won with drivers Jeff Gordon (five victories), Jimmie Johnson (five), Kasey Kahne, Jerry Nadeau, Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip.
THREE IN A ROW: Hendrick Motorsports has won both races held at 1.5-mile tracks in 2021 – Homestead and Las Vegas – and will seek a third this weekend at Atlanta. The organization holds the NASCAR Cup Series record with 62 points victories on 1.5-mile tracks. Thirteen different drivers have won at least one event at a 1.5-mile venue for Hendrick Motorsports, including all four of its current drivers.
ATL RECORD: If Hendrick Motorsports locks in a win Sunday, the team will break a tie with Wood Brothers Racing for the most different drivers to win a Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Both organizations have sent six drivers to victory lane there, one more than Junior Johnson and Associates and two more than Bud Moore Engineering and Joe Gibbs Racing. All four current Hendrick Motorsports drivers are seeking their first career Atlanta win.
NUMBERS GAME: The four championship-winning car numbers fielded by Hendrick Motorsports have combined for 17 NASCAR Cup Series wins at Atlanta. The Nos. 24 and 48 Chevrolets have five wins apiece at the venue, all with Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 5 has two all-time Atlanta victories: one via Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne in 2014 and another courtesy of Bobby Johns, who won for car owner Cotton Owens in 1960. The No. 9 car has earned five Atlanta Motor Speedway trophies, but none to date with Hendrick Motorsports. Three of those wins were delivered by NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, father of current No. 9 driver and defending Cup Series champion Chase Elliott.
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QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Atlanta: “Atlanta is a fun place to race that many of us enjoy. The surface is so worn out that you have to manage your tires. The preferred line is the ‘Harvick’ line – on the bottom – and I’ve worked hard in the past to really get that line working in turns three and four. In turns one and two, you can run the top but it’s really hard on the tires. I’m looking forward to it because I think we’ll have a really fast car there.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the challenges at Atlanta: “Our focus is on setting up the car so that Kyle can run the line he wants to run – whether that is low or high or wherever in the turns. Another challenge there is tire wear and fall off. If you go one lap under green and then the caution comes out, everybody is probably putting on new tires. Hopefully, we don’t have so many cautions that you run out of tires. I don’t believe that will happen.”
Daniels on preparing for late-race pit stops: “Calling a race is a little bit difficult under green, especially if the run goes long at the end of the race. Do you try to short pit which will guarantee you gain track position? Late in the run with 10 to go or less, newer tires with fewer laps, even if just a couple, can show speed. While you may leapfrog some early in the run, they can get you back at the end of that run. The challenge is defending against the opposite decision you made.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the challenging Atlanta track: “Atlanta is definitely a tough place. The racetrack has a lot of wear to it – the surface is one of the oldest that we go to – so finding grip is a challenge. The track has a lot of character and is very line sensitive to where you can and can’t run to find that. You really have to hit your marks well in Atlanta to have success. I think the track conditions this weekend will be pretty similar to last year in a lot of ways. The No. 9 team and I have talked a lot about last year’s event. That’s how we are going about the set up for Sunday is from last year and taking things away from how we did, what we did good and what we can improve on.”
Elliott on returning to Atlanta: “It’s always nice to race in Atlanta. I’ve been racing here for a long time, raced a lot of legend cars and bandolero races here, so it’s a special place to me. Atlanta is just a fun track to come to. I think anywhere that you run three or four laps and the lap times have fallen off significantly like they are here all the time, I think that makes it fun. It makes it fun from a strategy standpoint.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what the team has learned at intermediate tracks in 2021: “As we head to another 1.5-mile track, we learned some deficiencies we had at Homestead and are certainly going to improve on that. At Las Vegas our NAPA Chevy was really fast, but we just had some execution issues so we need to clean those up. I really like Atlanta, it has always been a fun track and super difficult to get a hold of. I think we can take some things from those first two intermediate tracks and some of our past experience at Atlanta and try to put our best foot forward on Sunday.”
Gustafson on racing at Atlanta: “We were at Atlanta in June last year and it was fairly sunny, it wasn’t a terribly hot day so I think that the hotter it is the less grip the track is going to have. I still think it will be a place that is difficult even though it is projected to be in the 60s when we are there. I think the truth is that it’s never the same no matter what you do. We could go race there a week later and it’s just never the same. You just have to piece together all the little experiences you have and ultimately try to hit on it.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on how difficult it is to race at Atlanta: “Atlanta is just a tough track. It’s a little bit easier at this time of the year because it’s a bit cooler, but it’s not easy to run there ever by any means. You’re going to need to have a car that can do all the right things throughout the entire race. Luckily, I feel like this Sunday’s race will be similar to Homestead, and it gives us a good idea of what we need in our car. We can use past Atlanta notes and pair them with our Homestead notes from this year to, hopefully, continue this stretch of good runs we have going.”
Byron on the tire fall-off at Atlanta: “You notice the tire fall-off really every corner at Atlanta. You may have a couple laps that the tires feel good, but after that with every corner you can feel the tires fall off and lose grip. It’s a challenge to keep the car straight at times. Add to that that you’re racing against other guys and if they take your lane away it becomes really hard to find another lane to be as fast in. It’s all really difficult to manage for that long of a period of time consistently.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the No. 24 team’s start to 2021: “I’m proud of what this team has accomplished so far this year. While we started off with a couple of hard races, we still had small victories along the way. This group never got down and worked on righting the ship to put together good solid races. Phoenix last week was a good example of that. It was just a solid mistake-free day all the way around. We need to continue to have more of those races and keep our foot on the gas.”
Fugle on racing Atlanta: “Atlanta is a track that I have a lot of laps at. It’s a track that we use to test at with rookie drivers in the truck series, which has been the majority of my career. I feel like I have a really good idea of what we can expect the track to do, not only at this time of year, but also throughout the entirety of the race. With Atlanta having such an old, worn out surface, consistency will be key Sunday. We need to make sure not to abuse the tires early on and maintain track position at the same time. If you can manage the track and your tires throughout the run, you’ll pick up positions when other cars begin to struggle. We were able to do that at Homestead, so hopefully that carries over to this weekend’s race as well.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Atlanta: “Atlanta is a fun track. We haven’t had the results there that we should have, but it is a track where I think we can be really strong. The track is one that you can move around a lot and tire management is going to be key on Sunday. Our intermediate program at Hendrick Motorsports is definitely a strong one and I think we have a good notebook going into this weekend’s race.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on bouncing back after a difficult race: “You always wish there was something that would invert the field or something like that following a tough week. Ultimately, it is up to us to perform and to get those finishes and move up in the points. It is a gift that you definitely don’t want to open every week if it is on the bad side. You look at Daytona and getting wrecked while running second, having a flat left-rear at Vegas and then getting wrecked on whatever lap last week (at Phoenix). Some of those things are in our control and some of them aren’t. We have to stay focused on the positives, work on the negatives and move forward.”
