Darlington Raceway
Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021
1.366-Mile Oval
6:00 PM ET
Location: Darlington, South Carolina
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (27 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 29 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
EGG-CELLENT STATS: In seven NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, Kyle Larson has four top-five finishes and six top-10s with his worst finish of 14th occurring in 2017. He has an average finish of sixth and has led in five of those seven races for 500 laps – 20% of the laps he has competed in at the egg-shaped track. Larson has posted runner-up finishes in his last two starts at the 1.366-mile track.
A PERFECT 10: The 29-year-old driver also has four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway, finishing in the top 10 in each event. He has a 5.8 average finish in those races with his best result of fourth occurring in 2016.
‘TOO TOUGH TO TAME’ SINCE DARLINGTON: Larson has finished top three in 10 of the last 15 races dating back to Darlington Raceway in May. Over that span, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has four wins, four runner-up finishes and two third-place results to move from 144 markers down in the point standings to being crowned the Cup Series’ regular-season champion following last Saturday night’s event at Daytona International Speedway. Larson holds a 28-point advantage over second place in the standings heading into the 10-race playoffs.
FIVE-STAR: Through 26 of 36 Cup Series races, Larson leads the series in wins (career-best five), top-five finishes (14), top-10s (18), stage wins (12) and laps led (career-best 1,566). In fact, he has paced the field 745 more times than any competitor this season and his stage wins are the most by seven.
QUICK STOP: At 13.75 seconds, the No. 5 pit crew owns the quickest average time for four-tire pit stops in 2021. The over-the-wall crew is comprised of gasman Brandon Harder, jackman Brandon Johnson, tire carrier R.J. Barnette and tire changers Donnie Tasser (front) and Calvin Teague (rear).
IT’S GOTTA BE THE SHOES: Larson’s racing shoes will have a special design at Darlington on Sunday. “DESI9N TO DRIVE” is an art collaboration project between the Chase Elliott Foundation and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (the largest children’s hospital network in Georgia). In support of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (September), patients at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s in Atlanta submitted sketches on a blank racing shoe template. Lex Stolle,12, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of 10. The shoes will be signed by Larson and auctioned online from Thursday, Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. ET through Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. ET. All auction proceeds go to the Chase Elliott Foundation to benefit the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s.
YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will 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.
WE’RE HIRING: Hendrick Automotive Group is hiring more than 300 technicians at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Interested people can apply at HendrickCars.com.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 5th
No. 9 NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
‘DESI9N TO DRIVE’ 2.0: This year, the Chase Elliott Foundation has joined forces with NAPA AUTO PARTS to expand its “DESI9N TO DRIVE” art collaboration with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s). In support of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, patients at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s in Atlanta submitted their artwork for the program. Similar to previous years, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers will be sporting patient-designed shoes and this season patients have also designed Chase Elliott’s car, fire suit, gloves, helmet and team hats. The No. 9 NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet was designed by Mary Frances Webb (age 15) and his equipment was created by Rocco Corsini (helmet, age 10), Isadri Hernandez (fire suit, age 14), Briley Lamon (gloves, age 10) and Nolan Madsen (shoes, age 11). The shoes, suit, helmet and gloves will be signed and put on the auction block starting Thursday, Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. ET at the NASCAR Foundation online auction site and will run through Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. ET. All proceeds will go to the Chase Elliott Foundation to benefit the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s.
LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN: The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kick off this weekend at historic Darlington Raceway. For the sixth consecutive year, Elliott is officially part of the playoff field. He and the No. 9 team will look to defend their 2020 championship after dominating the playoffs last season. In 2016, he became the youngest driver to make his first playoff start at 20 years, 9 months, 21 days, and last season he advanced to the Round of 8 for the third consecutive year. In his 50 playoff starts, Elliott has garnered six wins, 21 top-five finishes, 30 top-10s and 1,463 laps led. The driver of the No. 9 enters this season’s playoffs with 21 playoff points (his most ever) and has won three of the last five playoff races.
IN THE BOOKS: As the regular season came to a close last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, Elliott continued to stack up career bests in runner-up results (five), top-five finishes (11) and top-10s (16). Through 26 races, his two wins are tied for a personal best.
‘TOO TOUGH TO TAME’ STATS: Elliott is set to make his 10th Cup Series start at Darlington Raceway this weekend. In his previous races at the 1.366-mile track, he has two top-five finishes, four top-10s and led 151 laps. Elliott also has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the South Carolina venue, where he won in his 2014 track debut. He is one of only four drivers to win at Darlington in their first race there.
600 STARTS: This weekend at Darlington, No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 600th career Cup Series race. In his previous 599 starts as a crew chief, he has called the shots for five different drivers, collecting one championship, 33 wins, 172 top-five finishes, 297 top-10s and 9,308 laps led.
GUSTAFSON AT ‘THE LADY IN BLACK’: Gustafson has called 20 Cup Series races at Darlington. Leading five different drivers, he’s earned one win, four top-five results and eight top-10s. Gustafson’s Darlington win came in 2009 with veteran Mark Martin, the second-oldest driver (50 years, 4 months) to win at the track.
GUSTAFSON’S PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE: The crew chief of the No. 9 has the most playoff appearances by an active crew chief (14) and second-most all time behind only Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president of competition Chad Knaus (17). The 46-year-old also has the second-most wins in playoff races all time (12) and the most of active crew chiefs.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 8th
No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
PLAYOFF CONTENDER: With the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs set to kick off this Sunday, this will be William Byron’s third appearance in the 10-race battle for the championship. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE heads into this year’s playoffs seeded in the eighth position. In the upcoming 10 races, the Cup Series has run on seven of those tracks already this year, and Byron is the only driver to have finished inside the top seven in each of those events.
BEST YEAR YET: With only 10 races left in the 2021 Cup Series season, Byron is continuing to have a career-best season at the highest level of competition in the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet. So far, Byron has collected one win (Homestead-Miami Speedway), two pole awards (Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – the most by a driver this season), nine top-five finishes and 16 top-10s (tied for the third-most by a driver this season) all while leading 276 laps and collecting three stage wins. In his Cup career, these are the most top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led and stage wins the 23-year-old driver has earned in a single season.
DARLINGTON DEETS: With six previous Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, Byron is looking to capitalize on his previously strong showings at the South Carolina track this Sunday. Despite running well early on, Byron’s results in his first four starts at the 1.366-mile track don’t accurately represent the strength he had shown. However, in his last two starts at “The Lady in Black,” Byron has started within the top five both times and secured a fifth-place result in the fall of 2020 and a fourth-place result earlier this season in May. Byron also has one NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the southern track where he qualified sixth and raced to a fifth-place result.
THE FUGLE FILES: When the Cup Series returns to Darlington on Sunday, it will mark the second trip to the South Carolina track for crew chief Rudy Fugle at the top level of NASCAR. Earlier this season, Fugle called the shots for Byron at Darlington, starting fifth before racing their way to a fourth-place result. Prior to this season, Fugle had only three previous starts at Darlington Raceway – two in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and one in the Xfinity Series.
ALL ABOUT AXALTA: For the first race of the Round of 16, Byron will climb behind the wheel of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway. Now in its 29th year of partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta will return as primary partner on Byron’s No. 24 for 14 races in 2021. For a better look at Byron’s No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, click here.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE OF MIND: While Landon Walker, the fueler on the No. 24 team, hails from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, he also has significant ties to the southernmost Carolina state, having played football at Clemson University. The former college offensive tackle earned a scholarship to Clemson in 2007 after being named an All-American offensive lineman at East Wilkes High School. While playing at Clemson, Walker recorded 3,131 snaps with 49 starts at tackle through four seasons. In 2011, Walker was named team captain, the same year Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. Walker was then recruited by Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 and earned a position as the starting fueler for the former No. 5 (now No. 24) team in 2015.
‘DESI9N TO DRIVE’: This year, Byron will take part in the Chase Elliott Foundation’s “DESI9N TO DRIVE” shoe program during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Benefitting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Byron and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates selected racing shoe designs created by patients of Children’s to wear for Sunday’s race at Darlington. Byron will sport 6-year-old Branson Gibby’s design on his racing shoes, which feature bright colors throughout the design. After the race, the race-worn shoes will be signed by Byron and auctioned off on the NASCAR Foundation online auction site starting on Thurs., Sept. 2 and running though Wed., Sept. 8. All of the proceeds will goto the Chase Elliott Foundation to benefit the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s.
48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 6th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
REGULAR-SEASON FINALE RESULTS: Saturday night’s event at Daytona International Speedway marked the final event in the 2021 regular season. In an action-packed 400-mile event, Bowman made it through multiple on-track incidents with minor damage to finish the event seventh. This was Bowman’s third top-10 result at the 2.5-mile venue and 13th top-10 finish this season. After 26 events in the regular season, the 28-year-old captured three wins (career high), six top-five results, 13 top-10s and one pole award (DAYTONA 500). He has won two of the last nine oval events and has seven top-10 results in that span. Bowman’s six top-five finishes are also tied for the 10th most this season among active drivers. The Ally driver has both the 11th-best average running position (12.68) and finishing position (14.4) this season. He has run 1,364 laps inside the top five and 2,786 laps inside the top 10, which ranks 11th overall.
10 TO GO: The seventh-year NASCAR Cup Series driver will make his fourth appearance in the playoffs following his three wins this season. Bowman has raced his way into the Round of 12 the last three years and this is the third season where he has clinched a spot in the playoffs based on a victory. In 2019, the team earned a playoff position after capturing the victory at Chicagoland Speedway and in 2020 following his win at Auto Club Speedway. Bowman has claimed a spot in the NCS playoffs all four years that he has been with Hendrick Motorsports and enters the Round of 16 event at Darlington in the sixth spot, 10 markers above the cut line.
BOWMAN IS ‘TOO TOUGH’: Bowman has eight previous starts in the Cup Series at Darlington Raceway. His best finish of second came in May last season when the sport returned after a two-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bowman led for 41 laps after rolling off second, earning the second-most points in the event. During the three races held at the 1.366-mile venue in 2020, Bowman captured the second-most stage points (39) and led the sixth-most laps (42) among active drivers. Bowman has one start at Darlington in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2013 where he finished 17th after 147 laps.
IVES IN DARLINGTON: For the 10th time in his Cup Series career, Greg Ives will call the shots at Darlington Raceway for the No. 48 Ally team. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s best finish at the venue came in the first May event at the track last season when Bowman crossed the line second after leading 41 laps. Ives’ drivers have completed 99.7% of the total laps at Darlington and have one top-five finish and three top-10s at the facility. He was also the crew chief for Chase Elliott in the Xfinity Series in 2014 when the team captured the victory after leading 52 laps. From 2006-2012, Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. During that time, he was a part of one Cup Series win (2012) and four top-five finishes at Darlington.
NEW KICKS: During this weekend’s event at Darlington, Bowman will be sporting some new shoes. The Chase Elliott Foundation is supporting the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta through the “DESI9N TO DRIVE” shoe program. The shoes, designed by 8-year-old Elise Sullens, will be autographed by Bowman and auctioned off by the Chase Elliott Foundation after the race. The auction will run from Sept. 2 to Sept. 8 and can be found on the NASCAR Foundation’s auction page on eBay. All proceeds will go to the Chase Elliott Foundation to benefit the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s.
PIT ROAD STATS: Going into the first race of the playoffs, the No. 48 pit crew continues to sit fifth for the fastest four-tire pit stop average in the Cup Series with a time of 13.92 seconds. The team had the fastest single stop at Dover International Speedway (12.18 seconds) on May 16 and had the third-fastest stop at Atlanta Motor Speedway (12.25 seconds) on July 11. The No. 48 pit crew includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback, and tire changers Scott Brzozowski (front) and Devin DelRicco (rear).
CLEAR THE SHELTERS: The “Clear the Shelters” nationwide campaign is underway and will go through Sept. 18. The NBC/Telemundo initiative rolled out last week and WCNC, the local Charlotte, North Carolina, NBC station, teamed up with Bowman and No. 48 team partner Ally for the 2021 campaign to get as many pets adopted from local shelters. On Sept. 18, all adoption fees will either be waived or discounted with the goal to clear out the 10 shelters that are participating in the Charlotte area. Learn more here.
IT’S PLAYOFF TIME: Sunday’s event at Darlington Raceway will mark the first of 10 NASCAR Cup Series playoff races in 2021. Hendrick Motorsports has 47 playoff wins (28%) since the introduction of the system in 2004, more than any other organization. The team has won playoff races with seven different drivers (the most), has earned eight of the 17 championships in the playoff era (47%) and has won playoff races in a record 16 different seasons.
RISING TO THE OCCASION: Drivers Jimmie Johnson (29 wins), Jeff Gordon (seven), Chase Elliott (six), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two), Mark Martin, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers have all won NASCAR Cup Series playoff races for car owner Rick Hendrick.
UNTAMED: Hendrick Motorsports has posted a track record 14 NASCAR Cup Series wins at Darlington Raceway, including 11 in the prestigious Southern 500 – more than any other team. The organization has sent a record six different drivers to victory lane at the track: Gordon (seven wins), Johnson (three), Tim Richmond, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Martin.
FIRST-ROUND PICKS: Hendrick Motorsports has recorded double-digit victory totals at each track in the first round of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs: Darlington (14 wins), Richmond Raceway (11) and Bristol Motor Speedway (11).
FOUR-FOR-FOUR: For the record-tying fourth time, all four Hendrick Motorsports teams have earned berths in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. 2021 marks the record-extending 16th consecutive season with at least two of the organization’s drivers competing in the post-season and the record 14th time at least three of its teams have qualified.
MOMENTUM: Over the last 14 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races, Hendrick Motorsports has won eight times and is the only organization to go to victory lane more than twice.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Darlington and the start of the playoffs: “This is the best opportunity I’ve had to win a championship. There’s nothing easy about Darlington. It’s tough because we run so close to the wall and it’s so tough getting to pit road. It’s a crown jewel that we all want to win, and it means even more since it starts off the playoffs.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on point standings affecting race strategy: “I have not looked at points (during the races) all year – I did not look at the points even once (last) Saturday night at Daytona. If we do our jobs correctly, the points should take care of themselves.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on working with kids from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on DESI9N TO DRIVE: “The program is a really big deal to me, personally. I don’t think all of these kids watch NASCAR every weekend, so we have that opportunity to introduce some of them to it and allow their ideas and designs to come to life. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about to me. It’s about giving them some excitement, something to look forward to whether they watch racing or not. It doesn’t matter. If it gives them three hours of excitement or five minutes of excitement, that is a win, in my opinion. Obviously, the proceeds of the auction items benefit Children’s, which is bettering their program. It’s all for a great cause. For the kids specifically, it’s just about their imagination and ideas coming to life.”
Elliott on kicking off the playoffs at Darlington: “We are super excited for Darlington this weekend. These next three weeks are exciting races. Three, I feel like, really cool racetracks with fun environments for us. It’s getting to be that time of year. Fall is an exciting time of year for a lot of things around sports and our season is getting down to it, as well. We are just excited to get going. It’s hard to believe we are 26 weeks in. It doesn’t really seem like it, but here we are starting another playoffs and heading into the final 10 of the year. It goes by fast, but over two months of racing is still a long time. They will click off and you’ll get in certain moments that you might like, some you might not like, and we’ll make the most of them all.”
Elliott on crew chief Alan Gustafson: “He has really seen a lot through his career and I feel like people sometimes don’t realize that and how much experience he does have. I am certainly thankful for that. He does a fantastic job with just keeping our team super levelheaded and really just riding the waves, both the ups and the downs, kind of with the same mentality. He does a great job of not only exemplifying that but making sure the rest of us understand that that’s important, too.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on making his 600th Cup start as a crew chief: “That’s a lot of races. Surviving 600 races is a pretty big feat in itself. I’m certainly honored to be able to do what I do. I’ve been able to work with some great people and that’s the biggest thing that stands out to me – those relationships and working through, you know, like you mentioned, the ups and downs, the successes and the failures together. Overcoming that, the relationships you form – that, to me at this point of my career, is the sweetest thing about victory – is just being able to do that with people you care about and work with and see them enjoy it. That’s what really motivates me and fuels me and gets me excited. It’s crazy; it’s a big number, so I feel super fortunate. Hopefully, I can get quite a few more.”
Gustafson on the pressure of the playoffs: “It is a little daunting, but I really enjoy it. This time of the year, I enjoy that feeling or pressure, however you want to describe it, of the urgency and finality of if you don’t get it done. I like that. It’s something that I enjoy and feel like our team thrives in. We are ready to do it. The past is the past and all the talk about the future is really kind of pointless. It’s just doing what you have to do and that’s what we need to focus on. Focus on what we can control and if we do that, we will be in great shape.”
Gustafson’s mindset heading into 14th career playoffs: “My mind set is just to get the team and everybody operating at their maximum potential. You got to be operating at 100%. I feel we got the team, the car, the sponsors. We got what we need to do it; we just have to make sure that everybody is operating at their maximum ability. If we do that, I feel very confident that we can compete with anybody. That’s it and peaking at the right time and all those things you hear from Chase, that’s what it’s about. Just getting everything working to see what’s optimal. (We’re) trying to get that.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Darlington for the first race of the playoffs: “Darlington is a track that has a lot of character. I feel like you really have to drive your car to its limit all while understanding the grip and limit of your tires. You can’t exceed that level every lap. You have to stay within a certain limit. I think that is a factor at just about every track, but it’s really magnified at Darlington. Any time the drivers are challenged like they are at Darlington, it brings out the desire and passion within all of us. It just makes it that more intense when it’s kicking off the most intense part of our season with the playoffs. It’s definitely a cool race if you can win it track-wise but also because it sets the tone for how the next nine races go.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what it will take to be successful in the playoffs: “Daytona was a tough one for us, just because we had a car that could have won and the extra playoff points would have been nice. Unfortunately, preparation doesn’t always equal results, but you can’t get results without the preparation. While we’ve been preparing every week like we’ve already started the playoffs, we’re resetting for the start of the Round of 16 this weekend. The playoffs are a long, hard-fought war, but it starts with small battles. Our team has had the speed all year; we just need to execute and put ourselves in the best position to keep moving forward and get through the rounds. Obviously, the goal is to make it to the final four at Phoenix, but we need to win the small battles along the way to ensure we get there. This team is fully capable of doing that and it starts this weekend at Darlington.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the momentum the team has going into Darlington: “Last year, we had some rough weeks during the summer but showed up in the playoffs strong each and every week. I believe we have the ability to repeat that and go further in the playoffs this year. Hendrick Motorsports has a lot of momentum right now as an organization and the No. 48 team is bringing some fast Ally Camaros to the track every week. Darlington is a place where we have had good results in the past, and I think it is one of three or four in the playoffs that suits our program.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on bringing the energy from last season’s playoff run to this year: “I feel like having three wins in the first 26 races is definitely marked for a good season. You can check off some boxes like getting a win, getting a pole and making the playoffs. Obviously, there are a couple of races that we would want to take back and think we could have run better at. Most teams, if not all teams, find the one or two things that didn’t go right during certain races and focus on improving those going into the playoffs. We had a great playoff run last year and we are going to try to pull from that experience going into the playoffs this year.”
Ives’ thoughts on how the repave will affect Sunday’s race: “The repave at Darlington in turn two is going to provide some challenges for teams just because we don’t know how it will affect the tire wear. Going to a track that has been repaved typically doesn’t wear tires as much and has a tendency to run edgy free versus more of a slidable free. You also tend to run a little faster, for sure. It is going to be fun and exciting to figure out on Sunday. There are some things that we can look at doing differently as a team with the setup, but ultimately the teams and drivers that adapt quickly will be successful with it.”
