Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sunday, July 10, 2022
1.54-Mile Oval
3:00 PM ET
Location: Hampton, Georgia
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (19 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 29 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Kevin Meendering
Standings: 4th
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
FOURTH IN JULY: Kyle Larson started third and finished third on Sunday at Road America in the NASCAR Cup Series race to move up to fourth in the point standings, 71 markers behind points leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. On Saturday in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start since 2018, Larson won stages one and two from the pole position before finishing second in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
THIS YEAR: The Cup Series has raced on 1.5-mile tracks four times in 2022: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson battled for wins late before posting runner-up finishes at Las Vegas and Kansas. At Charlotte, the 29-year-old driver was leading with just over one lap to go when a caution waved, and he was collected in a multi-car accident on the ensuing restart and finished ninth. Larson was battling for the stage two victory in Atlanta before being collected in a multi-car incident, resulting in a 30th-place finish.
VERSUS LAST: In nine races held on 1.5-mile tracks last season, the 2021 Cup Series champion won four times and led 1,317 laps – the most laps led in a single season all-time on that track configuration. In fact, the rest of the field combined to lead 1,337 laps – only 20 more than Larson.
OLD TIME’S SAKE: This week’s race will be held on the reconfigured 1.5-mile Atlanta track that now has 28 degrees of banking in the turns, four more degrees of banking than seasons past. In March 2021 on the old configuration, Larson led 269 laps of 325 laps but was passed with nine to go and finished second.
FIFTH FOR FIVE: The Elk Grove, California, native ranks fifth in average finish and in laps led among active drivers at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In nine starts at the Georgia venue, Larson has a 14.78 average finish and has led 419 laps – the most all-time for drivers without a victory at the track.
ANOTHER TOP-FIVE FOR DRIVER NO. 5: Larson’s 419 laps led at Atlanta rank fifth for his most laps led at a single track. In fact, 412 of those pacing the field have occurred in his last four starts at the facility.
HOME RACE: While the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will carry the familiar blue and white livery at Atlanta, Kyle Larson and the team will wear their “home” white uniforms. Home races occur in markets where there are Hendrick dealerships nearby, and the Atlanta area is home to nine – the second-largest market behind Charlotte. Be sure to follow Hendrick Automotive Group’s social media channels for giveaways, 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
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, will be available in the Atlanta Motor Speedway media center at 10:45 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 9.
PEACH STATE PERFORMANCE: Chase Elliott has made 12 total starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway across NASCAR’s top-three levels – eight in the NASCAR Cup Series, two in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and two in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – and only finished outside the top 10 three times. He has six total top-10 finishes in the Cup Series at Atlanta, including a sixth-place run earlier this season on the track’s new configuration. The 2020 Cup champion’s average finish of 12.63 is best among active drivers at the Georgia venue.
1.5-MILE TRACK STATS: This Sunday, Elliott will make his 70th NASCAR Cup Series start on a 1.5-mile track. In his previous 69 races, Elliott has led 967 laps and captured wins at Kansas Speedway (2018) and Charlotte Motor Speedway (2020), along with 22 top-five finishes – eight of which are runner-up results – and 37 top-10s.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: With his runner-up finish at Road America last weekend, Elliott expanded his regular season point standings lead to 33 over Ryan Blaney. He also remains atop the projected playoff standings. The 26-year-old currently has two wins on the year, and his 13 playoff points and 549 laps led are both career-best marks for the driver through 18 events.
GEORGIA ON MY MIND: Earlier this season, the Cup Series made its first visit to Atlanta since its reprofiling and repave. Elliott started sixth for the 325-lap event and led twice for a total of 29 laps on the day. After ending stage two in the runner-up spot, Elliott ultimately took the checkered flag in the sixth position for the team’s third top-10 finish of the season. The driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet left the weekend as the new leader of the Cup Series point standings and, outside of a tie with Blaney following the Richmond Raceway race weekend, has held onto it ever since.
FIRE UP THE SI-REEN: On Sunday, Elliott could become just the second Georgia-born driver to win a Cup Series race at Atlanta. His father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, won five times at the track.
AG IN GA: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 26th Atlanta Cup Series race from atop the pit box this weekend. Gustafson has one win at the track, which he earned with Jeff Gordon, when the NASCAR Hall of Famer led 146 of 325 laps en route to the victory in 2011.
COMING HOME: In addition to Elliott hailing from Dawsonville, Georgia, which is just 83 miles north of the track, No. 9 team partners NAPA AUTO PARTS, Hooters and Kelley Blue Book all have major presences in Atlanta. This weekend, NAPA’s blue, yellow and white colors will be back on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. It will mark their eighth race as the primary partner for Elliott at Atlanta in the Cup Series.
A SHOC ENERGY DAYTONA RACE EXPERIENCE: A SHOC Energy is giving fans the opportunity to win a VIP trip to the Cup Series race at Daytona on Saturday, Aug. 27. One grand prize winner and guest will get flight and hotel accommodations, tickets to the regular-season finale and a $500 Visa gift card. The sweepstakes is open now through July 15 and fans can enter by texting “ASHOCTRIP” to 97579.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 24 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 10th
No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, will be available in the Atlanta Motor Speedway media center at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 9.
2022 SEASON STATS: So far in the 2022 season, William Byron has scored two wins, four top-five finishes, five top-10s, with 570 laps led – the most by a NASCAR Cup Series driver this season – across 11 of the 18 races. He also has three stage wins and 13 playoff points accumulated – tied for the most by any driver so far this season. Byron is currently tenth in the driver point standings, locked into the Cup Series playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
1.5-MILE MOMENTUM: Byron is no stranger to success on mile-and-a-half tracks during his Cup Series career. Since the start of 2021 through the 2022 season so far, Byron has two wins, one runner-up finish, five top-fives, and nine top-10s in 13 races on 1.5-mile tracks. He also has three stage wins with 411 laps led on tracks of that length.
TRIPLE DIGITS: In Byron’s Cup Series career, he has led more than 100 laps in four events, with three of those instances happening this season. In the four races where the 24-year-old driver has triple digits in laps led, he has three wins (Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2021, Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2022, and Martinsville Speedway in 2022) and an average finish of 1.5.
DOUBLING DOWN: Earlier this year when the Cup Series competed at Atlanta, Byron raced his way to victory lane – his first win of the 2022 season and he became the fourth-youngest winner at that venue. He led 111 laps en route to the win at the newly-configured venue. Just the night before, Byron had traveled to Hickory, North Carolina to compete in the Easter Bunny 150 – capturing the win in the No. 24 Super Late Model for Wilson Motorsports. His Cup win on Sunday completed the weekend sweep. For this Sunday’s race at the Georgia-based venue, Byron will look to go back-to-back and remain the defending winner at Atlanta. The last driver to sweep the season at this venue was Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
THE ATL ARCHIVE: Including his win in March of this season, Byron has six Cup Series starts at Atlanta. However, this will be only his second start at this track since the reprofiling was completed this offseason. Other than his six Cup Series starts, Byron has two other NASCAR starts at the Georgia track, one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he finished seventh, the third-highest of the Xfinity Series regulars. He also has one start at Atlanta in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he was running second before losing an engine, leaving him with a 32nd-place finish.
RUDY RUNS THE ATL: Sunday’s race marks crew chief Rudy Fugle’s fourth race in the Cup Series at Atlanta and his second after the repave. The last time the Livonia, New York, native was here, it ended with a trip to victory lane with the No. 24 team. Fugle also has six Truck Series starts at the 1.5-mile track as well which include two wins and three front row starting spots. His drivers have collected four top-three finishes in those six events, along with five top-10s. Fugle only has one finish worse than seventh coming with Byron in 2016 when the duo was running second before suffering an engine failure, resulting in a 32nd-place finish. Fugle also has one Xfinity Series start at the track.
BACK TO THE ROOTS: Byron will head north to once again climb back behind the wheel of the No. 24 Super Late Model for Wilson Motorsports, this time at Slinger Speedway on Tuesday, July 12. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has raced the No. 24 Super Late Model six times this year collecting five straight wins. He’s now collected two wins at New Smyrna Speedway, one at Hickory Motor Speedway, one at the Nashville Fairgrounds and most recently at Berlin Raceway. The Slinger Nationals will be available for PPV on Racing America, here.
AT IT AGAIN WITH AXALTA: Heading to Atlanta for the second time in the 2022 season, Axalta will be on board Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Sunday’s race. Now in its 30th year of partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, this is Axalta’s fifth season as a primary partner on Byron’s No. 24. For a better look at Byron’s No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, click here.
48 Alex Bowman
Age: 29 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 9th
No. 48 Ally Milestone Initiative Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
WISCONSIN RECAP: Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Racing team finished 12th at Road America last Sunday. The driver of the No. 48 took third in the first stage, gaining significant stage points. His 33 points were his most in a single race since his 40-point, fifth-place finish at Dover Motor Speedway in May. That points day puts Bowman ninth in the regular season points standings, 130 markers behind leader and teammate Chase Elliott.
RIPPING IN ATL: In his first appearance at Atlanta Motor Speedway’s reconfiguration in March, Bowman started 11th after qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather in the area. The 29-year-old driver finished the first stage in seventh and the second stage in 23rd. He came on strong in the final stage for a 10th-place result – one of nine top-10s he has secured this season, which equals his career-best mark through 18 races.
JUST PEACHY: Bowman has eight starts at the 1.5-mile venue in Hampton, Georgia, collecting two top-five results and three top-10s. A third-place run in March 2021 – behind teammate Kyle Larson – stands as his best finish.
THE SHOWMAN ON 1.5-MILERS: In the first four races of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season on 1.5-mile tracks, Bowman has finished in the top-10 in all four races. The Tucson, Arizona, native’s March win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway stands as his best result. He is the only driver in the Cup Series field to finish in the top 10 in all four events on 1.5-mile tracks this season.
GREG IN GA: Crew chief Greg Ives will make his 10th start as the shot caller in the Cup Series at Atlanta this Sunday. In his previous nine starts, Ives has tallied four top-five finishes and five top-10s, including the team’s 10th-place result earlier this year.
SUPERHERO SCHEME: This Sunday at Atlanta, the No. 48 Ally Milestone Initiative Chevy will adorn an electrifying blue and purple scheme with DC Comics superhero Static on the hood of the car. Ally teamed up with Milestone Media, DC, and Warner Bros. Discovery to mentor and train the next generation of comic book storytellers from Black and diverse backgrounds, both professionally and financially. Founded in 1991, Milestone Media is the first Black-owned comic book and media company, famous for creating super heroes “Static,” “Icon & Rocket,” “Hardware,” and “Blood Syndicate.” To see all angles of the No. 48 Ally Milestone Initiative Chevy, click here.
RUNNING AT THE FRONT: Hendrick Motorsports has led the most laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway of any NASCAR Cup Series team with 3,482 circuits at the point position. The organization moved into the top spot following the March race after leading 141 of 325 laps run, including 111 laps led by race winner William Byron.
SEVEN UP: The Rick Hendrick-owned team has seen seven drivers win at Atlanta – the most among all teams. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each won five times at the Georgia oval. Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Jerry Nadeau, Kasey Kahne and Byron have one victory apiece.
TAKING STOCK: Hendrick Motorsports has been to victory lane 15 times at the Georgia venue. That total is the most among all Cup teams and is the fifth-most victories for the organization at any one particular track. Martinsville Speedway (27), Dover Motor Speedway (22), Charlotte Motor Speedway (21) and Pocono Raceway (18) stand as the only tracks where the team has compiled more wins. Of note, Hendrick Motorsports has already won at Martinsville, Dover and Atlanta this year.
PACING THE FIELD: The reprofiled Atlanta track, which features an increase in banking from 24 degrees to 28 degrees, raced more like a superspeedway in March, but it does classify as a 1.5-mile track statistically. Hendrick Motorsports paces the field across both track types when it comes to wins. The organization’s 67 victories on 1.5-mile tracks and 28 superspeedway wins are the most on those track types all-time at the Cup Series level.
MAIN SQUEEZE: Hendrick Motorsports’ six wins in 2022 are the most among all Cup Series teams. It is the only four-car team to see each of its drivers win a race this season, and all four drivers currently rank in the top 10 in points. The organization’s 1,410 laps out front represents 30 percent of the laps run this season and lead all teams in the series by 311 circuits.
STUDYING THE TRENDS: In the last six 1.5-mile races, the Concord, North Carolina, based team has won four times. That stretch includes victories this season at Atlanta as well as Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2022, Hendrick Motorsports has series-best marks in wins (two) and laps led (394) on 1.5-mile layouts and is tied for the most top-10 finishes (11) at this track type.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the last race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the new race package and track configuration: “Our HendrickCars.com Chevrolet definitely had speed at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) earlier this year. We battled from the back to the front I think two times. We were going for the stage win but the push (from another car in turn four) just upset my car a little too much and we wrecked. It’s a product of this racing and product of pushing; trying to draft and get your lane going.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on returning to Atlanta: “This weekend’s race will be a lot like the first one. I think the difference will be teams now have had a few months to kind of dial in and understand exactly what’s going on underneath the car. I think all the cars are just going to drive better when we come back and typically when that happens, the aggression level will increase and people are going to be more apt to put themselves in compromised situations throughout the event. There were a lot of things going on to start the year and I think a lot of people were just trying to survive. Whereas this time everyone is going to be a little bit more comfortable, so decision making will be a little more questionable for a lot of the field I would say.”
More from Elliott on Atlanta: “For me, I want to try to get to the end. Five hundred miles at Atlanta was one of the longest races of the year in March from my seat. That being said, when you’re in a bit of a marathon event like that, you’ve got to survive. You want to be around there at the end. So, if you can be on the lead lap and not have any damage to your car, you’re probably going to have a shot at it at the end of the event. So for me, I’m just like, ‘man, let’s get to the end and we’ll run then for the win hopefully.’ You never know. You try to take each circumstance for what it is and make the best decision you can.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his thoughts for Sunday’s race at Atlanta: “I’m excited to go back to Atlanta (Motor Speedway). I think the track is going to be slicker than the last race there in March. It’s still going to race like a superspeedway race but I think we’re going to be working on the handling of our cars more than we did last time with the heat. I’m honestly interested to see how that plays out and what the conditions end up being like. We’ll have to really adapt throughout the race since we have no practice this time. Just like a lot of these weekends this season, we’ll just have to see how it goes once we get there and get on track.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on how track conditions will differ from the March race at Atlanta: “Obviously, we had a good showing at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) in March and some of those notes will definitely transfer over for this weekend. However, the track has been sitting in the sun and baking since we were there last. It’s almost a similar situation as when we run the DAYTONA 500 to then racing 400 miles in August in that it’s much cooler the first time we race at Daytona (International Speedway) and then handling becomes a bigger factor in the summer race. We’ll still be drafting this weekend, but track grip will be down and handling will play a bigger role. Since we don’t have practice this time around, I think more guys will show up guessing a little bit on their handling to start the race. I think there will be more ebbs and flows of who is good at the start and then who is good at the end once they have some time to work on their cars. It’s going to be more about who can keep up with track conditions while being around at the end of the race to give yourself a shot.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on heading back to Atlanta: “We had a good No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 last time we were at Atlanta (Motor Speedway). Obviously, there are still a lot of challenges with the Next Gen car and the repave, but our guys work hard to put us in the best position every weekend and I am confident that they will look at the information we have from last time to improve on our car. The racing is pretty technical, so I am looking forward to getting out there in our new scheme and trying to get it to victory lane on Sunday.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the momentum built in Road America: “We had an opportunity to score stage points in the first stage at Road America and I felt confident that Alex (Bowman) could drive to the front, so we took a gamble for points, and it paid off. We weren’t happy with our finish, but we will definitely take the 33 points he earned on track last weekend. It was a step forward after not finishing the race at Nashville (Superspeedway), so we will lean on the success, work on what we can control, and look to be there at the end this Sunday in Atlanta.”
