TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
JUNE 6, 2021
RACE #16 – SONOMA RACEWAY
Chevrolet will aim for a fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) victory – and 1-2 finish – as drivers attempt to tame the 2.52-mile, 12-turn California road course of Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 6, in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. The winner of the 90-lap/226.8-mile race will be the final driver invited to compete in the NASCAR All-Star Race the next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Chevrolet has registered 11 victories and 62 top-five finishes in the 31 NCS races at Sonoma Raceway. Career Chevrolet driver and California native Jeff Gordon earned five of his NCS-record nine road course wins at the circuit. The NCS is making its first appearance at the natural-terrain California road course since June 23, 2019. The 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elk Grove, California, native Kyle Larson, who led 327 of the 400 laps to win in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, has earned the pole the past three races at Sonoma. He will start from the pole again Sunday – this time under NASCAR’s metrics system. Larson was runner-up to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott in the series’ last stop on a road course at the Circuit of The Americas.
Team Chevy NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers, led by fourth-place finisher Brandon Brown, occupied five of the Top-10 last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger is third in the Driver Standings, with Chevrolet remaining atop the Manufacturer Standings. Up next is the 75-lap race Saturday, June 5, on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) drivers are off until the SpeedCash.com 220 on Saturday, June 12, at Texas Motor Speedway. Reigning NCWTS champion Sheldon Creed is fourth in the Driver Standings.
CHEVROLET TOPS IN STANDINGS
Coming off a third-consecutive victory and six of the Top-10 in the Coca-Cola 600, Chevrolet retained the top spot in the NCS Manufacturer Standings. Team Chevy drivers have recorded six victories in 15 races thus far in the 2021 season, as well as swept the pole wins in all three events that have held qualifying.
Kyle Larson advanced one position to second in the Driver Standings, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron in third and Chase Elliott moving up from fifth to fourth. Heading into the Sonoma race weekend, Austin Dillon sits 11th, Alex Bowman is 12th and Tyler Reddick is 13th to round out Team Chevy’s Top-16 of the Playoff standings.
ELLIOTT PICKS UP PURSUIT OF GORDON
Reigning NCS champion Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports, seeks his seventh career road course victory. Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon is the NASCAR Cup Series leader with nine, including five at Sonoma Raceway.
Elliott won at Circuit of The Americas to break a tie with Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd. Tony Stewart is second on the all-time list with eight road course wins. Elliott has two top-10 finishes in four NCS races at Sonoma Raceway.
269 AND COUNTING FOR HENDRICK, CHEVROLET
Larson’s recent triumph at Charlotte Motor Speedway gave Hendrick Motorsports its record-breaking 269th all-time NASCAR Cup Series win. The feat topped Petty Enterprises’ NCS all-time win record and gave Car Owner, Rick Hendrick, and Hendrick Motorsports the prestigious title as the winningest team in NCS history, one of stock car racing’s greatest achievements. Every trip that Hendrick Motorsports has made to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series has been in a Chevrolet.
“On behalf of everyone at Chevrolet, congratulations to Kyle Larson, the No. 5 Camaro team and Hendrick Motorsports on this monumental victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President of Performance and Motorsports. “This milestone is a testament to the talent, hard work and dedication by everyone, past and present, that have contributed to Hendrick Motorsports’ success in becoming the winningest organization in NASCAR Cup Series history. We are so proud of our partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, and that all 269 wins have been in a Chevrolet. We look forward to many more.”
The No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE that Kyle Larson drove to victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the same number as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo that Geoff Bodine drove at Martinsville Speedway on April 29, 1984, to deliver team owner Rick Hendrick’s first win. Larson also produced the 801st win for Chevrolet – most of all manufacturers in NCS history.
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:
1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE
2nd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
3rd Willian Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Congressional Sportsmen’s Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
10th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Childress Vineyards Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 SunnyD Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Commscope Camaro ZL1 1LE
18th Erik Jones, No. 43 Black Entrepreneur Initiative Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 68 Top-10 finishes this season.
· Chevrolet drivers Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson have earned the pole for races this season. Chevrolet has 720 total pole starts.
· Chevrolet paces all manufacturers with 1,709 laps led of the 4,199 total.
· Chevrolet tops in laps led on road courses with 68.
· Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,105 laps led (26.3%).
· In addition to 11 wins at Sonoma Raceway, Chevrolet has accumulated 118 Top-10 finishes in the 31 races.
· Kurt Busch is tied for most starts among active drivers at Sonoma Raceway with 19.
· Kurt Busch has an NCS-best 11.1 average finish among active drivers at Sonoma. He won in 2011 and has seven top-five finishes.
· Austin Dillon has completed 99.9% (4,195) of the 4,199 total laps.
· Tyler Reddick’s ninth-place finish at Charlotte was his eighth Top-10 of the season – one off his 2020 total.
· Chase Elliott has recorded five consecutive Top-10 finishes.
· Hendrick Motorsports – the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history with 269 victories – has claimed six wins at Sonoma Raceway.
· Chase Elliott (Daytona road course), William Byron (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 2, Kansas Speedway, Dover International Speedway 2, Charlotte Motor Speedway 3) have scored stage wins.
TUNE IN
FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 live at 4 p.m. ET Sunday, June 4. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Xfinity Series B&L Transport 170 live at 1 p.m. ET Saturday, June 5.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGS
LARSON ON THE DRIVING STYLE AT SONOMA:
“Sonoma is a finesse track, but you still have to be aggressive. I’ve had a lot of success there with three poles but I seemed to struggle during the race, so I’m really looking forward to going there in Hendrick Motorsports equipment. Hendrick Motorsports’ road course program is really good, especially the 9 team. It seems like Chase Elliott has won every road course race the last four years.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
DANIELS ON RACING AT SONOMA WITH NO PREVIOUS CREW CHIEF EXPERIENCE AT THE TRACK:
“It’s definitely a challenge for us in that regard – from not having my own crew chief notes, and even our past notes at Hendrick Motorsports we have not been where we needed to be the last few trips there. Luckily, we have a great road course foundation from the 9 car (driven by Chase Elliott) with their wins on road courses and what that package looks like. The magic is translating that to Sonoma. We have a new aero package since the last trip there, and we have a new tire this weekend so we have a lot of challenges, but our company has momentum right now and hopefully we can close the gap.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON HOW SONOMA RACES DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHER ROAD COURSES:
“Sonoma is probably the most different out of all the road courses we go to on the circuit. It has more of a short track feel almost because there’s no big braking zones; you’re moreso always turning. It’s all about how you turn and navigate the apex of the corners and get a good run off the corner. It’s not as much about braking and high speed, it’s more about finesse and exiting the low speed corners. It’s just a different challenge and you set up your car differently because of it. I’m excited for it, though. I think we have a good package this year and I feel like I’ve really done my homework for this weekend.”
RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FUGLE ON HAVING LESS EXPERIENCE AT SONOMA:
“Sonoma is a racetrack that I haven’t been to in my career, not just in the Cup Series, but in any series. That doesn’t really concern me, though. I’ve been watching a lot of video of past races and we have a good notebook here at Hendrick Motorsports. From what I can tell, if you get buried in traffic, it’s hard to make up positions, even with pit strategy. Sonoma is a track where you either have to go for the win or go for maximum points. It doesn’t seem to be like most road courses where you can go for stage points in one stage and give up the points in another. You have to pick one strategy or the other, which is a challenge. I’m almost happy that we don’t have practice this weekend for that reason. That means we show up and race. I can’t overthink things. I just have to make a decision and go with it.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT ON RETURNING TO SONOMA:
“Sonoma has been a place that I haven’t done a very good job at in the past. It’s been a pretty big challenge for me. It’s been a couple years since we’ve been there so it’s been a while. When we were there in 2019, I feel like we were doing a great job and in a good position before we had our mechanical issue so I’m looking forward to getting back and having another shot at it.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CONGRESSIONAL SPORTSMEN’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS
WE’RE IN THE MIDST OF A HEAVY STRETCH OF POINTS-PAYING RACES ON ROAD COURSES IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES. DO YOU FIND THAT PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING?
“I think it’s definitely challenging. The Circuit of the Americas race kicked off the stretch and we were able to earn our career-best road course finish, so that gives us some confidence heading into Sonoma Raceway. We’ve worked really hard on preparing for these races.”
“We’ve been solid all year long. The Daytona Road Course was a positive for me, as a road course racer. I got stage points in both stages and we were on our way to earning a top-10 finish. We just have to go out there, attack, be aggressive, and try to take the things that I’ve learned in the off-season and use them to my advantage. We’re going to try to get better at each and every road course that we go to. We know that there’s going to be some challenges ahead, but we’ll do the best with what we have.”
HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR SONOMA RACEWAY?
“A lot of simulator time. Get in the simulator and run a lot of laps. We’ve been finding some time to do that within the busy schedule. This winter we put in a lot of time on the road courses and getting ready for them. It’s a lot of fun. Road courses haven’t been a strong suit for us, but both the Daytona Road Course and COTA were good for us. At Daytona, we ran in the top-10 in the first two stages, and then barely missed finishing in the top-10. We got caught up in some other peoples’ mess there. Then we went to COTA and earned our best road course finish. There’s a lot of beating and banging at the end of those road courses. It seems like they’ve become rougher and rougher as we go. I’m looking forward to those challenges. I did put in a lot of work this off season.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR TEAM HAS DONE SO FAR THIS YEAR?
“We’ve been pretty consistent week in and week out. We’re just showing up and doing our job; keeping all four tires on the ground and working hard to make the car better throughout the race. Hopefully we will have a win soon, but for now we are just doing the best we can to be consistent and earn stage points. That’s what you have to do.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON BEING A PART OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HISTORY:
“Being a part of Hendrick Motorsports’ 269 milestone is so cool. To be a small part in this historic record-breaking number means so much to me. Mr. Hendrick and everything at the shop deserves this honor and as much as I wish it was the No. 48 to take the win in Charlotte, we are so pumped for Kyle (Larson) and the No. 5 team.”
BOWMAN ON ROAD COURSE PREPARATION:
“Over the last few years, I feel like our road course program on the No. 48 team is getting stronger. Having a teammate like Chase (Elliott) to lean on for some road course advice has been extremely helpful. We didn’t go to Sonoma last season, so this week is going to consist of watching old races and simulator work. Hopefully we can go out this weekend and keep our streak of top 10s and continue moving up in the point standings.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES ON BREAKING THE ALL-TIME WIN RECORD:
“Mr. H always says it is always about the people. He treats the people first, one with respect and two they all matter to his success. We went through a hard time last year going through quarantine last year and he was a rock. We came up a little short on being the ones to break that record for Mr. Hendrick last weekend, but I couldn’t be more proud of what Cliff (Daniels) and Kyle (Larson) have done this year. Everyone’s wins add up to a great year so far and the record-breaking night on Sunday was really special to be a part of.”
IVES ON RETURNING TO SONOMA:
“We haven’t been to Sonoma in a while. We have a lot of high expectations for us. Alex (Bowman) is continuously growing confidence on road courses. Coming out of COTA with an eighth-place finish, he really doesn’t give himself a lot of pats on the back for how well he does at road courses. He loves the challenge and will rise up when needed, which will show at the end of Sonoma. We are looking forward to it.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGS
“I’ve never seen or step foot on property at Sonoma Raceway, but I’m really excited about this weekend. Obviously, the road courses are something myself and my team have worked really hard on being better at. I feel like the things we made gains on and I made gains on as a driver at COTA will help if we get into a tire management on a road course situation. I’ve also got a lot more sim time planned and scheduled for this week, but we’ve been working on Sonoma for quite a while now. AJ Allmendinger has been a big help as well, coming over and sharing some of his knowledge with me on how to approach the course. He has really helped me on the road courses over the past few years and changed the way I approach them. I have zero laps of experience, so it’s going to be a learning process on Sunday but I’m ready for it with the No. 8 Childress Vineyards team.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 23rd IN STANDINGS
ARE YOU READY FOR ANOTHER ROAD COURSE?
“We spent a lot of time and effort on the simulator for COTA and we had a really good car in practice and qualifying there. We were so disappointed that we were behind the wall so early. We think we will be good again Sunday in Sonoma and hope we have better luck.”
YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE GO-KARTING. HOW DOES THAT TRANSLATE TO THE ROAD-COURSE RACING YOU DO NOW?
“Well, I grew up racing go karts all of the time. I know I’m really good in road-course go karts, but stock car road-course racing is so different because the cars are so heavy. The basics are the same, but the way you have to take care of the brakes, take care of the tires and things like that is a totally different game. It’s very hard to make these cars change directions so quickly because they are so heavy. Most of the time, road-course racing is pretty good to me, so we’ll see how it goes this weekend.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 BLACK ENTREPRENEUR INITIATIVE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 26th IN STANDINGS
“I think it is good to stay sharp on road-course racing. We have not been to the Sonoma Raceway for over a year, but we have been doing a lot of other road course racing. I feel like I have stayed up-to-date. Sonoma is a place where I have been enough times where I feel pretty comfortable. Getting on the simulator before this weekend is going to help keep me sharp and keep me ready to go on that front, as well.”
“I am excited to get back to Sonoma. I really enjoy racing there during this time of year. It is always super nice out there. A little warm, but definitely a cool part of the country to be in.”
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: 6
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,709
Top-five finishes: 32
Top-10 finishes: 68
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 801 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 720
Laps led to date: 238,414
Top-five finishes to date: 4,097
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,470
Stage wins: 11 Chase Elliott (Daytona RC), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3)
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,135
Chevrolet: 801
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: 157Team 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 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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 at www.chevrolet.com.
