Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, April 24, 2022
2.66-Mile Tri-Oval
3:00 PM ET
Location: Talladega, Alabama
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (10 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM logo PRN logo
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 29 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 9th
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
MOVING ON UP: Sunday night on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson won stage one and led 27 laps en route a fourth-place finish. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 moved up four positions in the point standings to ninth and now trails leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott by 75 markers.
TOP FIVE FOR NO. 5: The Bristol result marked the fourth top-five finish of the season for Larson. The Elk Grove, California, native is tied with Ryan Blaney and teammate William Byron for second in that statistical category, trailing only Ross Chastain who has five finishes this season in the top five. Along with that fourth-place finish, Larson has a victory at Auto Club Speedway, a runner-up finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a fifth-place result at Richmond Raceway.
’BAMA BOUND: In 14 starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Larson has two top-10 finishes. He posted a ninth-place result in his first race at the Alabama track in 2014 while his best finish of sixth occurred in October 2016.
POLE PLANS: At the most recent superspeedway event, Larson grabbed the pole for the season-opening DAYTONA 500 in February. The pole position marked the ninth in the last 14 superspeedway races with qualifying for Hendrick Motorsports.
PLAYING IN DIRT: On Friday and Saturday, Larson is scheduled to participate in the Florida Dirt Nationals at All-Tech Raceway in Lake City, Florida. HendrickCars.com will appear on Larson’s super late model, uniform, gloves and helmet.
HOME RACE: For the fourth time this season, Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team will wear their “home” white uniforms at Talladega. Home races occur in markets where there are Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships nearby, and the Talladega area is home to three of them. Be sure to follow Hendrick Automotive Group’s social media channels and visit HendrickCars.com to view the complete home and away schedule.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 26 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 1st
No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
NINE IN: Through nine races in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott has collected one pole, one top-five finish and six top-10s – which are tied for the most in the series with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. His average finish of 10.89 leads the series and his 276 laps led are the third-most in the field.
FOLLOWING THE LEADER: Elliott continues to lead the Cup Series standings with a three-point edge over Blaney. Including a tie earlier in the season, this marks the fifth consecutive week the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has been atop the standings.
‘DEGA DOWNLOAD: On Sunday, Elliott is set to make his 13th Talladega Superspeedway start in the Cup Series. His win at the track in April 2019 was his first superspeedway win at the Cup level. In his previous 12 starts at the venue, the 26-year-old driver has earned the pole position twice – his first start in May 2016, making him the youngest driver to do so at the age of 20, and in October 2019. Elliott has garnered four top-five finishes and led 173 laps in his Cup career at the Alabama track.
LAST SEVEN: In his last seven superspeedway starts, Elliott has scored three top-five finishes – including two runner-up results – five top-10s and led 83 laps. His average finish of 9.86 during that span is best among drivers with more than two starts.
GUSTAFSON AT TALLADEGA: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 35th Talladega Cup Series race from atop the pit box on Sunday afternoon. He collected his first points-paying superspeedway victory at the 2.66-mile track on April 28, 2019, with Elliott and the No. 9 team. In his other 33 events at the Alabama-located track, calling the shots for five different drivers (Elliott, Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon), Gustafson’s teams posted eight top-five finishes, 10 top-10s, 276 laps led and six pole awards.
SUPERSPEEDWAY STRONG: Gustafson’s resume on superspeedways is impressive with two Daytona Duel victories (2017 and 2018) and a 2019 win at Talladega, all coming with Elliott behind the wheel. His 11 superspeedway poles are most among all active crew chiefs.
PIT ROAD POWER: The No. 9 team owns the third-best average time for four-tire pit stops at 11.902 seconds in 2022. The NAPA AUTO PARTS pit crew is comprised of jackman T.J. Semke, gasman John Gianninoto, tire carrier Jared Erspamer and tire changers Chad Avrit (rear) and Nick O’Dell (front).
NAPA IS BACK: NAPA AUTO PARTS, the Atlanta-based company that has been a primary partner of Elliott in all seven of his seasons at Hendrick Motorsports, will be on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Talladega. This will mark the ninth time they’ve served as the primary sponsor of the No. 9 team at this track.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 24 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 4th
No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Talladega Superspeedway media center on Saturday, April 23, at 9 a.m. local time.
SEASON SO FAR: William Byron is off to his best start in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022 with two wins in the first nine races. He is the only multi-time Cup Series winner this season and it is the first time he has scored multiple wins in a Cup season. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has four top-five finishes and four top-10s. His 482 laps led are the most by a driver so far and the most he has ever led in a season at the Cup level. Byron has a 14.44 finishing average – eighth-best among drivers – and has spent 1,261 laps running within the top five – the second-most by a driver in 2022. Not only has Byron accumulated twice as many playoff points as any other driver (12), but he has also collected the most points overall in the last seven races (281).
SUPER ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway will be Byron’s 18th superspeedway start in the Cup Series. In his previous 17 starts, Byron has scored one win (Daytona, August 2020), two runner-up finishes, four top-fives, and four top-10s with 149 laps led. In the last seven superspeedway races, Byron is one of three drivers (Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin are the others) who have scored top-five finishes in three races – tied for the second-most in the series over that stretch. Since the start of 2020, Byron ranks seventh for the most laps led on superspeedway tracks with 61.
TALLADEGA TELL-ALL: Byron will be making his ninth Cup Series start at the 2.66-mile oval when the No. 24 team hits the track Sunday. Byron’s top results at the Alabama-based venue came in October 2020 when he finished fourth and then he followed it up with his track-best second-place effort in April 2021.
DIGGIN’ DEGA: When the Cup Series heads to Talladega this weekend, it will mark Rudy Fugle’s third race at the venue as a crew chief in the top series. In his first Cup start, he helped Byron score his track-best finish of second after leading 12 laps. The duo was poised for another good run in the fall but was collected in two on-track incidents – the second of which ended their race. Aside from those two races, the Livonia, New York, native has eight starts at the sport’s biggest track under his belt (with seven in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series). In those starts, Fugle has accumulated three top-five finishes and five top-10s. One of those previous starts was in 2016 with Byron, where the duo started eighth and raced to a 10th-place result.
THROWIN’ IT BACK: Earlier this week, Axalta unveiled Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet for the throwback weekend held at Darlington Raceway next month. Paying tribute to Jeff Gordon, the paint scheme dons the familiar blue and red flames that Gordon raced during the 2007 season. Byron picked this scheme based on his earliest memories of the Hall of Fame driver. That season, Gordon tied and passed Dale Earnhardt on the all-time Cup Series win list and he also won the spring race at the South Carolina track. For a closer look at Byron’s throwback scheme, click here.
LIBERTY U IS BACK: For back-to-back weekends, Byron will climb behind the wheel of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, this time at Talladega Superspeedway. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 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 University 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 strategic communication, 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: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 5th-Tied
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
PLAYING IN THE DIRT: Alex Bowman notched a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 started the 250-lap event eighth after Saturday’s qualifying races. Bowman finished the first stage in sixth and the second stage in 25th after being involved in two on-track incidents. He ultimately bounced back to finish the race in sixth. His top-10 finish puts him in a tie for fifth place in the Cup Series point standings with Kyle Busch – 51 markers behind the leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.
SCOREBOARD: Bowman has tallied the fourth-most points over the last seven races of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. He has collected 243 points from his one win (Las Vegas Motor Speedway), two top-five finishes, and five top-10s in that stretch. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron (281) and Elliott (279) lead the way in that category with Ryan Blaney (251) just ahead of Bowman in third.
ABOVE AVERAGE: Through the first nine races of the 2022 Cup Series season, the Tucson, Arizona, native has the third-best average finish of all drivers at 11.33. Bowman trails only Elliott (10.9) and Blaney (11.2) in that stat.
DIGGING AT ‘DEGA: In 13 starts at Talladega Superspeedway heading into this Sunday’s race, Bowman has a runner-up result in April 2019, three top 10s (all in the spring event) and has led 46 circuits at the 2.66-mile venue.
BIRTHDAY BOY: Bowman will celebrate his 29th birthday on Monday, April 25. He has spent eight of those years racing in the Cup Series, taking home a trophy in seven races, all the wins coming with Hendrick Motorsports. To date, he has also notched 26 top-five finishes, 62 top-10s, and three pole positions in 234 Cup starts, completing 62,068 laps across all events and leading 1,091 of those circuits completed.
MORE DIRT: Bowman hit the dirt for Alex Bowman Racing in the No. 55 Ally sprint car in Bridgeport, New Jersey, on Tuesday and will make another stop in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, on Thursday before heading to the Alabama venue for the Cup Series event. Bowman is the only car fielded by ABR in both sprint car events this week.
SHOT CALLER: Crew chief Greg Ives has a storied career of success at superspeedways as a crew chief in the Cup Series. Through his 29 superspeedway starts in NASCAR’s premier level, Ives has tallied four pole positions (including the 2020 DAYTONA 500 pole with Bowman), two points-paying wins (Talladega and Daytona International Speedway in 2015 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and two victories in the Daytona Duel qualifying races (2015 and 2016 with Earnhardt Jr.). He also led Regan Smith to a NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Talladega in 2013.
THREE TIMES FOUR: Through the first nine-points paying events of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, Hendrick Motorsports has had at least three top-10 finishes in the same race four times. Two of those occurrences have come in the last three races: Richmond Raceway and the dirt event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
POLE POWER: In its history, Hendrick Motorsports has been very strong during qualifying on superspeedways. All four of its current drivers have won a superspeedway pole position in the last six races that held qualifying. The organization has earned 35 combined poles at the big tracks of Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway, which is equal to the second- and third-best teams combined.
THIRTEEN IN THE BANK: With 13 Cup Series points-paying wins at Talladega, Hendrick Motorsports has the most victories at NASCAR’s biggest track. The wins have come from seven drivers: Jeff Gordon (six), Jimmie Johnson (two), Brian Vickers, Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ken Schrader, and Terry Labonte.
CROSSING 2,000: With three top-10 finishes Sunday on the dirt layout of Bristol Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports now has 2,002 top-10s, making it the first team in Cup Series history to eclipse the 2K mark in that statistical category. The organization holds the all-time record for top-10 finishes at the Cup level – over 600 more than anyone else.
NEARING 100,000: Since Hendrick Motorsports was founded in 1984, it has led a record 99,245.94 miles in points-paying Cup Series races. The team is less than 800 miles from hitting 100,000 led at NASCAR’s top level. Last season, Hendrick Motorsports led 5,662.77 miles. Through nine races in 2022, it has led 788.46 miles. At Talladega, the organization has led 7,799.12 miles.
RACKING UP THE WINS: Since the start of the 2021 season, Hendrick Motorsports has 21 points-paying wins. The mark is most among Cup Series teams in that span. During the same period, all other teams combined have posted 24 victories. Hendrick Motorsports is also the only team to have each of its drivers win multiple times since the start of last year.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on how he is preparing for Talladega Superspeedway: “I’ve watched a lot of superspeedway races to see what I can do differently to be in contention at the end of stages and at the end of the race. I just never seem to be in a good position at the end – when I make it to the end. Hopefully, we can battle for stage points and have the HendrickCars.com Chevy near the front toward the end of the race.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on whether he provides superspeedway strategic advice during the race or leaves it to Larson: “A little bit of both. If I see things developing that I can communicate to him to help his decision making in the moment, then that’s 100% my responsibility to do so. But some decisions are just dependent on what he sees on track. My responsibility it to make a fast car that can suck up well, push well, get pushed well, and we need to execute well during pit stops. We need to maximize what we can control since we are limited on superspeedways of where to get an advantage.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at Talladega: “Talladega is one of those places where you just don’t know how your day is going to end up. I think that’s why driving smart and just doing what you can to make it to the checkered flag is the main focus. Your race can change so fast if you’re in the wrong lane or you get caught up in someone else’s mistake. I think if you can avoid those things and finish the race, you’re going to have a decent result.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on Talladega: “A majority of things from Daytona correlate to Talladega, and we didn’t feel like we were as good as we needed to be in Daytona. So we’re going try to take a few different philosophies to Talladega and see if that works. Really, for us, this race will be in the playoffs, so this is a good opportunity to try some things and figure out what you need to do to be where you want to be here in the fall.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his approach for racing at Talladega: “Talladega is quite a bit different than Daytona even though they are both superspeedways. Talladega is a lot wider with more room for racing, but the handling of your car isn’t as important there as it is at Daytona. This race is more about how well you can push someone and how well you can receive a push. You need speed, but you need to be able to work well with others to get good runs to make it to the front and stay there. My approach doesn’t change though. You still want to be conservative at times to make sure you’re there at the end of the race, but you also need to push it early on to know what your car is capable of to set yourself up in the best position in the end. We’ve always seemed to run well at Talladega. We just haven’t always had the results to show it, but that’s part of superspeedway racing.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the importance of Sunday’s race at Talladega: “We had a tough weekend on the dirt (at Bristol), but I’m proud of the effort the No. 24 team put in to keep getting us better as the weekend went on. We can put that race behind us now, though, especially since it’s not in the playoffs. I’m just ready to get to Talladega. This is a race that plays a factor in the playoffs, so it has a heavier importance in the notes we put together. Even though we only get one or two laps on track before the race, we do have some notes to work off of already. We’ll be running the same tire that we used in Daytona so that gives us a good starting point to build off.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his preparation for Talladega: “Talladega has been a place that we have had our struggles at. We ran second in 2019 and have been caught in someone else’s mess a couple of times. So this weekend, I hope that we can change our luck. We have had a couple of solid runs recently. That gives us confidence to go out there, be aggressive and try to get another win this year.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on how the team’s consistency in 2022 will help them at Talladega: “I think any time you can put together a string of good runs together, it boosts your confidence. Being able to have a fast car to overcome the adversity we had at Bristol and take home a top-10 result is a testament to the hard work by this team and helps us carry momentum into the next weekend. Talladega is a place we have had fast cars as well, so that helps us as we get ready for race day.”
