TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
BUSCHY MCBUSCH RACE 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
MAY 2, 2021
RACE #11 – KANSAS SPEEDWAY
The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) head to Kansas Speedway for the first Midwest races this season. Back-to-back days of on-track action kicks off under the lights with the NCWTS 134-lap Wise Power 200 Saturday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. ET, the seventh race on the Series’ schedule. The NCS will take on the 1.5-mile Kansas oval in the 267-lap Buschy McBusch Race 400 on Sunday, May 2, at 3 p.m. ET. The weekend’s events mark the first of two visits to Kansas Speedway on the NCS schedule.
Chevrolet has won 12 of the 30 NASCAR Cup Series races at the 1.5-mile oval that features variable banking of 17 to 20 degrees in the turns. Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon won the inaugural NCS race at the track in September 2001 and later added victories in 2002 and 2014.
In 2018, Chase Elliott became the youngest NCS winner at Kansas Speedway (22 years, 10 months, 23 days). The reigning NCS champion has six top-10 finishes in 10 starts.
BYRON EXTENDS TOP-10 STREAK
William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 LE, retained fourth place in the NCS Driver Standings with his runner-up finish at Talladega Superspeedway. Byron extended his top-10 finish streak to eight races, starting with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. The 23-year-old Charlotte native’s impressive run is the longest top-10 streak for a Hendrick Motorsports driver since Dale Earnhardt Jr. from October 2013 to March 2014.
Joining Byron in the Top-10 of the Driver Standings, Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Camaro ZL1 1LE, is eighth and Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE, is ninth.
CHEVROLET LEADS NXS MANUFACTURER STANDINGS
Talladega NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race winner Jeb Burton moved to fourth in the Driver Standings. Reigning NXS champion Justin Haley is fifth. Chevrolet, with five wins in eight races thus far this season, is atop the Manufacturer Standings. The series is off until May 8 at Darlington Raceway.
ON THE WAY TO THE GREEN
With no practice or qualifying for the race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results.
Team Chevy’s Top-20 starters:
2nd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE
11th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Childress Vineyards Camaro ZL1 1LE
12th Ryan Preece, No. 37 Nature Valley Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet has 798 NASCAR Cup Series wins to lead all manufacturers.
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 43 top-10 NCS finishes this season.
· In addition to its 12 NCS wins at Kansas Speedway, Chevrolet has amassed 60 top-five and 128 top-10 finishes and led 2,617 laps.
· Austin Dillon leads NCS drivers with 99.93% of laps completed (2,783 of 2,785).
· Austin Dillon made his NCS debut at Kansas Speedway in 2011.
· Kurt Busch has competed in all 30 NCS races at Kansas Speedway – tied for most all time.
· Career Chevrolet drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are among five drivers tied for the most NCS wins at Kansas Speedway with three.
· Team Chevy’s Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams with seven wins at Kansas Speedway (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott).
· Jimmie Johnson had 19 top-10 finishes in 29 NCS races at Kansas Speedway, best of all drivers in the Series’ history.
· With a sixth-place finish at Talladega, Kaz Grala has two top-10 finishes in just three NCS starts.
· Chase Elliott (Daytona Road Course), William Byron (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 2) have stage wins.
TUNE IN
FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Buschy McBusch Race 400 at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, May 2. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Wise Power 300 at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, May 1.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS
“All 1.5-mile tracks are definitely not the same. Kansas is probably the most similar to Las Vegas but, even in that aspect, Kansas has less grip. It’s a very temperature-sensitive racetrack. You have to be able to run the bottom effectively but then be able to run the top lane just as strong the longer the race goes along. I think we were good in both races last year, but I think the June race was the best shot we have had at winning there. I’m excited to get back and see what we can do this time.”
BYRON ON HIS CONNECTION AND SUCCESS WITH CREW CHIEF RUDY FUGLE:
“Everyone talks about the drivers being the stars, but it takes more than just us to be successful. If you look at the top five or six teams, they’ve all been together with their crew chiefs and having success for multiple years now. It’s important to find those guys that can really click for you and that you can have success with long term. I feel like Rudy and I are just building the foundation for what is next to come when it comes to us working together. We’re in a really good place right now. We’re just starting to get our rhythm which is definitely a good thing for us. We have started the year strong and we’re only going to continue to build momentum from here.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
“We had a pretty good run at Kansas last fall, so we should have some notes that we can bring back this weekend. Kansas is a track, to me, that just feels different compared to other mile-and-a-half tracks. With the way the corners are shaped and with it being progressively banked, the top side is going to become dominant and, in my opinion, those tracks typically put on good shows.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 9th IN STANDINGS
LARSON ON 1.5-MILE SUCCESS:
“I’m excited to get to Kansas. It’s a track I’ve run well at in the past. It seems I’ve always had speed there. Our Hendrick Motorsports Chevys have had really good speed on the mile-and-half’s this year, so that’s makes me even more excited to get there. Kansas is the track that I feel is the most similar to Las Vegas where we won earlier this year.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
DANIELS ON 1.5-MILE SUCCESS THIS YEAR AND CHARACTERISTICS OF KANSAS SPEEDWAY:
“Kansas is unique. It’s getting some age, which is interesting to say about Kansas since it’s new compared to other tracks. But while it has aged, it’s still relatively flat and not super bumpy, and that’s unique to the shape and geometry of the track. We have a strong intermediate program and there are some things learned this year that will apply this weekend at Kansas.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGS
HOW IS KANSAS UNIQUE COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS?
“Kansas Speedway has done a really good job with their banking. There’s a line right up by the fence that has a little extra grip. There’s an angle up there that I don’t think many tracks have figured out yet, but Kansas got it right. You can run from top to bottom there. The bottom groove is the preferred groove at the beginning, but it becomes too tight to try and run around there in turns one and two sometimes depending on what the balance of your race car is. I’ve enjoyed that track a lot ever since they repaved it. I wish every track could do as good as a job as Kansas has with repaves.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON STRONG RUNS AT KANSAS:
“Kansas is a track where I feel like we have a really good notebook. We have been great here in the past and our intermediate program at Hendrick Motorsports is strong. I feel like we always have a chance to win when we come here and that is credited to the No. 48 team. Last week didn’t end how we would have liked it to, so we are hoping for some redemption on Sunday.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES ON WHAT MAKES KANSAS UNIQUE:
“The ability to move around multiple grooves makes Kansas Speedway a track where we look forward to running. Goodyear does such a good job with the tire there. There is fall-off, and pit strategy definitely comes into play there. Do you short pit or go long? Unlike some tracks, I think all the drivers say that they can’t wait to get back to Kansas. Not like you can’t put any extra effort into races, but I think a lot of guys circle that on the calendar and think they can have a lot of fun there.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 22nd IN STANDINGS
WHEN IT COMES TO A TRACK LIKE KANSAS SPEEDWAY WHERE YOU MAY BE ABLE TO RUN THE FENCE, DO YOU GO IN WITH A HIGHER SENSE OF CONFIDENCE? OR WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS AT KANSAS?
“I want to say I do, but it can be tough since that’s not the only way to be successful at Kansas Speedway. When I’m on the fence when the tires get warmer and we are on a longer run, the top can be there as a tool to help me with long run speed. I feel like when I’ve come in years past, I have almost put too much into it. My first race last year I tried to run it too much and tried to make our car the fastest car on the track when really I didn’t need to be at that time. Then, the second race we had there, my team did a really good job of making our car run well all across the racetrack, but I felt like I had to run the top and got us into a hole. So, running the top at Kansas is a lot of fun and we can get speed doing it, but it’s important to be versatile and be smart throughout the whole race. We’ll have a good starting position, which should help us on Sunday. But when I think about Kansas, I also think about execution getting to pit road, being fast in and out of the box, executing the green flag stops we’re going to have throughout the stages, and managing restarts. We just need to be smart and manage other parts of the race to make sure it doesn’t get away from us. We have a good starting spot with our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, so the goal is to build on that and race smart all day long.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 24th IN STANDINGS
HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR SEASON SO FAR?
“I think we have been doing a good job. But I think our potential is higher to be very honest with you. I think that we still have a few areas to improve, but this team is going to win races and I have no doubt about that. I’m hungry to be able to get there. I’m trying to be patient, but we are going to get there. I know that the group of people that we have, not just in the race team but in the ownership with Justin (Marks), Pitbull and Ty (Norris) – it just feels so good. We have such an amazing group of people that I know it is going to make for a successful team on the race track.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 BLACK ENTREPRENEUR INITIATIVE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS
HOW IS KANSAS UNIQUE COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS?
“Kansas (Speedway) is pretty far up on my list of favorite 1.5-mile tracks because you can move around and run anywhere. There are so many different lanes you can run. It has a lot of grip, but it changes as the track goes and as it gets rubbered-in, you have to move away from what worked earlier. A lot of time, it ends up against the outside wall, which is always fun as a driver. But you still have an opportunity there to get your car driving well through the bottom or the middle, and being able to make moves and move up through the pack. That has been the best part of Kansas over the last few years. I enjoy the racing there more than anything and what the track brings to the racing.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NATIONS GUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS
“Really looking forward to getting to Kansas this weekend with the Nations Guard Chevy Camaro. We ran well they’re both races last year, so our Crew Chief, Ryan Sparks has a good handle on the track. Kansas is getting bumpy and weathered, so it allows all grooves to be able to make speed. We’ve had a couple decent runs in a row. We look to continue stringing together good finishes to start the summer months.”
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)
Most Recent: Chase Elliott (2020)
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, 2020
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2021 STATISTICS:
Wins: 3
Poles: 1
Laps Led: 761
Top-five finishes: 17
Top-10 finishes: 43
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 798 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 718
Laps led to date: 237,466
Top-five finishes to date: 4,082
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,445
Stage wins: 5 Chase Elliott (Daytona RC), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Kyle Larson (Atlanta x2)
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,132
Chevrolet: 798
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 808
Ford: 708
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 155Team 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.
