Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022
0.25-Mile Oval
6:00 PM ET
Location: Los Angeles
TV: Fox
Event: Clash at the Coliseum (non-points)
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 (2021)
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 12 p.m. local time.
THE CHAMP IS HERE: With a victory in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Kyle Larson won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship to become the fourth driver to secure a title for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team won five playoff races – tying Tony Stewart for most victories during a 10-race playoff. Overall, the team won a series-leading 10 points-paying events in 2021 plus the annual non-points NASCAR All-Star Race.
ANIMAL STYLE: In 2021, Larson led the Cup Series in wins (10), top-five finishes (20), top-10s (26), stage wins (18), laps led (2,581) and average start (6.1) – all career-bests. His laps led in 2021 were more than the combined total of the second- and third-place drivers in that statistical category.
SECOND TO THE SECOND-IN-COMMAND: Larson’s laps led total (2,581) in 2021 was the most ever during a 36-race Cup season and the most since NASCAR Hall of Famer and current Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon paced the field for 2,610 circuits in the 31-race 1995 campaign.
STADIUM RACING: Sunday’s 0.25-mile track at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been compared to the similar layout at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In the 2012 NASCAR ARCA East Series race at Bowman Gray, Larson led 35 laps from the pole position before finishing fifth in the 153-lap event.
YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. 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.
OVER $200K: In March 2021, Larson announced the launch of the Kyle Larson Foundation, which was established to better serve today’s youth, families and communities in need through hands-on support. The Sanneh Foundation and the Urban Youth Racing School are the primary beneficiaries of the foundation, which also works closely with Hendrick Cares, the corporate social responsibility program of Hendrick Automotive Group. To kickstart the “Drive for 5,” Larson pledged a personal donation of $5 for every Cup Series lap he completed in 2021 and contributed another $5,000 for every top-five finish he earned. After 36 races, he pledged more than $140,000 and raised more than $200,000. To learn more, please visit KyleLarsonFoundation.org.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 26 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 4th (2021)
No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 12 p.m. local time.
CLASH CONSISTENCY: Sunday will mark Chase Elliott’s sixth consecutive appearance in the season-opening Clash exhibition event. While the NASCAR Cup Series has never raced at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, many compare the newly constructed track to the legendary 0.25-mile Bowman Gray Stadium located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Elliott is one of only a few current drivers with experience at Bowman Gray, having competed in two ARCA Series East races in 2011 and 2012. Elliott’s best finish was sixth in 2012.
2021 RECAP: Last season, Elliott and the No. 9 team nearly won their second Cup Series title after advancing to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive year. In 36 races, the 26-year-old driver scored two victories (Circuit of The Americas and Road America), 15 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. His average finish of 11.4 was a career-best at the Cup level. Capping off the year, Elliott earned most popular driver honors for the fourth straight time.
PIT ROAD POWER: At the end of the 2021 Cup Series season, Elliott’s pit crew was named the Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew for demonstrating the most consistency on pit road throughout the 36-race schedule. In the 20 years since the award’s inception in 2002, Hendrick Motorsports has won it a total of five times (2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016 and 2021). In 2022, the same five-member crew returns to the No. 9 team: T.J. Semke (jackman), Jared Erspamer (tire carrier), Nick O’Dell (front-tire changer), Chad Avrit (rear-tire changer) and John Gianninoto (fueler).
NINE YEARS WITH NAPA: The 2022 season marks the ninth year of partnership between Elliott and NAPA AUTO PARTS. The Atlanta-based company first teamed up with the Dawsonville, Georgia, native for his rookie NASCAR Xfinity Series season in 2014 and has been with him ever since. NAPA will serve as majority sponsor of Elliott and the No. 9 team for 26 Cup Series races this season, including Sunday’s Clash at the Coliseum.
DYNAMIC DUO: Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson are entering their seventh season together. The impressive duo is third among active driver and crew chief pairings with 13 points-paying wins. In 2020, they broke through for their first Cup Series championship and followed it up with a repeat visit to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway last season.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 24 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 10th (2021)
No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
2021 IN THE REARVIEW: Embarking on his fifth season in the NASCAR Cup Series, William Byron is coming off a personal-best year at the highest level of stock-car competition. He started 2021 by capturing his second career Cup win with a strong performance at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. From there, Byron went on an 11-race streak of top-10 results to become the youngest driver in history (23 years, 1 month and 17 days) to post a top-10 streak of 10 or more races. Locking himself into the Cup Series playoffs for the third consecutive time, he fought through adversity to make it to the Round of 12 and finish the season a career-best 10th in points with one win, two pole awards, 12 top-five finishes, 20 top-10s, and 425 laps led.
COMING FOR THE CLASH: The 2022 season will once again kick off with the Clash exhibition race — but this year at an exciting new venue: the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It will mark Byron’s third consecutive start in the Clash with all three occurring at different venues. In last year’s event held on the DAYTONA Road Course, Byron started fifth and finished the night in fifth despite suffering a late-race flat tire.
STADIUM STYLE: While the L.A. Coliseum is a new venue on the Cup Series schedule, Byron has experience on a similar track: Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He competed at Bowman Gray with the NASCAR ARCA Series East in 2015 when he started fourth and finished in the 15th position.
RUDY, RUDY, RUDY: In 2021, Rudy Fugle wasted no time immersing himself at Hendrick Motorsports for his debut season as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief. After starting the year with a trip to victory lane in just his third race with the No. 24 team, Fugle posted 11 consecutive top-10 results and cemented the No. 24 team firmly in the playoffs before finishing 10th in points. He is looking to build off of his successful first season at the Cup level and propel Byron into championship contention.
WELCOME BACK VALVOLINE: Valvoline will open 2022 as the primary sponsor of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Sunday’s Clash at the Coliseum. It will be the first of two races that the Valvoline colors will be on board the No. 24, with the second race being at Byron’s hometown track for the Charlotte ROVAL. Valvoline Inc. (NYSE: VVV) is a leading worldwide marketer and supplier of premium branded lubricants and automotive services, with sales in more than 140 countries. Established in 1866, the company’s heritage spans more than 150 years, during which time it has developed powerful brand recognition across multiple product and service channels. Valvoline ranks as the No. 3 passenger car motor oil brand in the DIY market by volume. To learn more, visit valvoline.com. For a closer look at Byron’s No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, click here.
48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 14th (2021)
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
BOWMAN’S ALLY: Alex Bowman returns for his second season with the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. In 2021, he delivered Ally its first points-paying win as a primary sponsor at Richmond Raceway and added three more victories: Dover Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Martinsville Speedway. Bowman has qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in each of his four full-time seasons with Hendrick Motorsports.
TIGHTEN THE STRAPS: Coming off his best year in the Cup Series, Bowman heads out west to Los Angeles for the Clash at the Coliseum this Sunday. He brings confidence following his late-season win at the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in October when he led the final eight laps of the of the 501-lap event. It was his fourth and final win of the 2021 Cup Series season.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Bowman is one of a handful of current Cup Series drivers who have competed at Bowman Gray Stadium, which features a similar layout to Sunday’s event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 2011, he ran the NASCAR ARCA Series East race, finishing 12th in his only appearance at the venue.
CHEERS TO ’22: The No. 48 team has partnered with canned-cocktail brand Day Chaser ahead of the 2022 season. The new sponsor will be featured on driver and team firesuits and displayed on the No. 48 transporter and other team equipment.
LA-LA LAND IS SPECIAL: Entering Sunday’s season-opening Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, Hendrick Motorsports holds the NASCAR Cup Series record for wins in special events. The team has 37 combined victories in the Clash (seven), DAYTONA 500 qualifying races (16), the NASCAR All-Star Race (10) and the All-Star Open (four). Richard Childress Racing ranks second with 28 combined special event wins.
GOING BACK TO CALI: Entering the first-ever NASCAR race held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Hendrick Motorsports has earned more than twice as many wins in California than any other team in Cup Series history. It has gone to victory lane 21 combined times in the Golden State with 11 points-paying wins at Auto Club Speedway, seven at Sonoma Raceway and three at the defunct Riverside International Raceway. Wood Brothers Racing is second with 10 California victories.
DO IT AGAIN: Entering the 2022 NASCAR season, Hendrick Motorsports will seek to defend as Cup Series champions and extend its current streak of consecutive titles to three. Chase Elliott won the coveted Bill France Cup in 2020, followed by teammate Kyle Larson in 2021. Hendrick Motorsports has earned 14 NASCAR Cup titles – the most in history – and holds series records in every major statistical category, including wins, pole positions and laps led.
LOOKING BACK: The 2021 season was one of the most memorable in the history of Hendrick Motorsports. In May, the team finished 1-2-3-4 at Dover Motor Speedway, won Chevrolet’s milestone 800th race at Circuit of The Americas and broke Petty Enterprises’ long-standing record for all-time Cup Series wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The organization recorded 17 points-paying victories, which rank as its second-most ever (18 in 2007). With its entire four-car stable contributing to the 2021 total, Hendrick Motorsports became the first team in Cup Series history with four race winners under the age of 30 in a single season. The year culminated with Larson’s victory at Phoenix Raceway, which clinched the organization’s record-extending 14th NASCAR Cup Series championship.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on testing of the new Next Gen Camaro: “I participated in several tests with the new Camaro, but last week’s test at Phoenix Raceway was my first with the car with all the changes and updates for the 2022 season. The test went well, and I’m looking forward to actually racing it.”
Larson on the Bowman Gray Stadium comparison to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: “Bowman Gray was so long ago and with such a different car that I don’t think it gives me, or anyone who competed in those races, an advantage. There is a lot of hype around the event, so I’m really looking forward to the weekend.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the recent Next Gen test at Phoenix Raceway: “We learned a lot during the test last week. We went through a progression, and it allowed us to gather more data points for this car. No matter the track configuration or layout, we are going to be continuously learning with this car, so any on-track time is valuable.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on kicking off the 2022 season with the Clash at the Coliseum: “I’m excited to get the season going. The Coliseum is a great venue, and I think it’s going to be a fun event. That’s what it was intended to be, a fun and exciting event to kick off our season, and I think it’s going to do exactly that. If you’re going to try something, the Clash is a good race to go and try it because there’s no points involved. This event has a lot of potential to be a home run for our sport. Hopefully it’s entertaining and people have fun watching at home on TV or from the stands.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the Clash at the Coliseum: “The L.A. Coliseum is certainly an iconic place, and I’m really looking forward to going there. I can remember a lot of different events, from the Olympics to Supercross racing there, and I’ve got a lot of memories of that, so it’s going to be cool for us to race there. As far as the race goes, nobody really knows what to expect from the track and how the cars are going to drive. We certainly expect it to be chaotic with a lot going on in a short period of time. We’re going to make our best guess with the car and go try to learn as much as we can. Being adaptable is going to be important. It’s going to be exciting for sure.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on preparing for racing at the Los Angeles Coliseum: “I’m excited to get to L.A. and see what the track is like in person. When the idea came out to potentially race there, I was one of the drivers who was able to experience it on iRacing early on and give some feedback on how it raced. Other than that, there’s not much other preparation we can do before we get in our race cars and on track for practice Saturday. I’m interested to see how different the track races from that first time on iRacing. I think we can expect it to be tight racing with maintaining track position as the key. It should be interesting for sure as there’s no room for error.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the first time: “I’m not sure many of us know what to expect this weekend in Los Angeles. The nice thing is that everyone is in that same situation. We’ve had a lot of time testing the new car in the off-season, which is nice, but also none of those tests were on tracks similar to L.A. Thankfully we have some practice time prior to qualifying and the race, but with three short-timed sessions, it’s not a ton of time. Most of that time will be used to get drivers adjusted to the track, learning braking points, things like that. It should be exciting though as a lot of us on the team grew up racing at short tracks like this and it brings us back to where we started.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Clash at the Coliseum: “I’m pumped to go to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. It’s such a cool venue, and I’m excited to see all the fans in the stands, to get the new car on the track and get the season started.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Clash at the Coliseum: “I am pretty excited to get out to the L.A. Coliseum. For one, being from the Midwest, I know the Coliseum is a big thing for college football. The history of the venue not related to racing and not having ever raced there before makes it pretty neat to go to. From the racing standpoint, there are a lot of unknowns. Just looking at similar tracks like Bowman Gray seem to have a lot of excitement. Obviously, any time you go to race, you always want to run well, but it is also a chance for us to go there and get a look at the competition and work out any bugs before we head to Daytona.”
