NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
MARCH 26, 2023
Chevrolet Drivers Power Camaro ZL1 to Four Top-Five Finishes at COTA
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Kyle Busch, No. 8 Netspend Camaro ZL1
3rd Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
4th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
5th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
7th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Blue Buffalo Camaro ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Tyler Reddick (Toyota)
2nd Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)
3rd Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)
4th Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
5th William Byron (Chevrolet)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Richmond Raceway with the Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday, April 2, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
Finished: 4th
“For our Worldwide Express Chevy, heck of a recovery. I thought we were a top-five car. Nobody had anything for the No. 45. Tyler (Reddick) and those guys were on it all weekend. Congrats to Tyler and that whole group, but the rest of us, there was a group of Chevy’s there, and we were second through sixth all in a line and it was a lot of fun managing the racing. Getting spun, the engine went into low-wheel protection mode because it spun backwards. Finally got the ECU cycled and got it back going, and somehow rallied back for a top-five. I have no idea how we got through all of that.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Camaro ZL1
Finished: 33rd
“We had a really solid run going in our Get Bioethanol Chevrolet today, so it’s disappointing that we ended up in the garage early. We didn’t qualify where we needed to, but we worked our way into the top-15 by the end of Stage 1, and earned Stage Points at the end of Stage 2. The end of the race became a typical NASCAR road course race. It was just a mess. We drove up into the hill on a restart and everyone just pile drove into each other. I had nowhere to go. I don’t know if it would have worked out better for us if we chose the bottom or not. I hate it for all of the guys on this RCR team. We had a lot of good things going today, but nothing to show for it. There’s still a lot of racing to go. We’ll regroup and head to Richmond Raceway.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Netspend Camaro ZL1
Finished: 2nd
“I don’t know if we could have (passed Tyler Reddick), even if we were on equal tires. When we tested here, they were lights out. We had speed on the front side of the runs. We needed longer runs. But even today for some reason we didn’t have really great long-run speed. We had good middle-run speed. Overall and for as much effort everything that we’ve put into coming here and focusing on this place with all the testing and everything we’ve been able to do over the offseason, we came out of here with a really good finish. Tyler obviously is a really good road racer. He proved it driving this car here last year. I was able to get in it and run right back to him. I’ve been trying to emulate the things that he did in order to make this car fast last year and just not quite all the way there. They had a whale of a car.
“It was a hard-fought battle, for sure. We had a lot of ups and downs there. I really wasn’t sure we were going to have a capable opportunity to be able to finish second today. We kind of got behind on strategy a couple of times but were able to persevere. We stayed out and were on older tires than the rest of those guys around us. I had a couple of shots on restarts, but those things will come back on you. You just try to race clean and do my best to be as clean as I could be. Getting a lot of help from behind didn’t help me getting into others. Our Netspend Camaro was pretty fast but not fast enough for Reddick. Obviously he’s really good on road courses. I’ve been trying to emulate the things he’s done in the 8 car last year and try to make me better and our program continuing to evolve. I just didn’t have enough. All in all, a great day and a good points day. I’m excited to finish second for Netspend, a local partner here in Austin.”
Jordan Taylor, No. 9 UniFirst Camaro ZL1
Finished: 24th
“Yeah, it was definitely wild. I wouldn’t say I survived; I feel like I’m beat up pretty much. Every restart, you just get smashed in the front, rear, side. So yeah, it was pretty much just survival. The guys knew I’d be a little bit more hesitant, so they would take advantage of it. At the end, I got more aggressive and made our way almost back to the top-10. On the last restart, I don’t know who went down on the inside, but they were never going to make the corner and used us to stop themselves.
“I’d say it was a disappointing day. I made a couple big mistakes early on that probably put us back there, but the No. 9 UniFirst Chevy was fast. I need to thank UniFirst and Hendrick Motorsports for giving me the opportunity. We had good pace, but we just got shuffled back every restart. Tough day.”
William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
Finished: 5th
“It was alright. I probably could have done better on those restarts. I gotta look. I just kept getting pushed wide, and it seemed like the last one didn’t happen for some reason. I just gave up too much track position… it was really my only option. Good to get a top-five. We had a good racecar… I think a top-two racecar I think, really, with the 45. He was a lot better than everybody but I thought we were a close second. Good day for the Liberty University Chevrolet, and we’ll keep building on it.
“It was really fun. Tyler is great and they were great all weekend. Tyler’s been great on the road courses. We made it a battle for sure every time with crossovers, out-braking each other… that was a lot of fun. I hate that it kind of got down to restarts there at the end. I got shoved off one time in second. We needed a top-five and probably could have done some things different. But overall a good day for the Liberty University Chevrolet. We had good speed but Tyler was so fast all weekend. I felt like when I got the lead that I was slipping and sliding. That was fun.”
Noah Gragson, No. 42 Black Rifle Coffee Camaro ZL1:
Finished 20th
“Had a solid day in our Black Rifle Coffee Camaro. We ran inside the top-10 and top-15 for a large part of the day with good speed. We kept working on the car. Luke Lambert and the rest of the guys called a great strategy. The pit crew did an awesome job. We put ourselves in position during the green-white-checkers to be in the top-10. I ended up getting spun and rallied back. We never quit. I’m very proud of our Black Rifle Coffee team and excited to get to Richmond and try it again.
Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1
Finished 23rd
“Frustrating day here in Austin. I felt like we had a pretty fast Allegiant Chevy but it seemed like we kept getting hit. There were a couple times there on restarts that we just flat got ran over. Wrong place wrong time for sure, and it stinks that we weren’t really able to have anything to show for the speed we had. I’m thankful that we were able to show as much promise as we did early on with a good run in qualifying, and I can tell we are moving in the right direction at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Onto Richmond.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
Finished: 3rd
“We didn’t have anything for the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick), but we had a good No. 48 Ally Camaro. Just need to be a little better. We have some malfunctions inside the race car that we have to work on to be better for the next hot day, but we’ll just keep digging. Proud of all my guys.”
Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Club Wyndham Camaro ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap one.
Finished: 38th
This weekend wasn’t the way it was supposed to go at all, was it?
“No, not at all. What a disappointing finish. Unfortunately we got off to a slow start yesterday and qualified poorly. We all know what happens when you start in the back and unfortunately we were caught up in that.
“Just a wild and crazy first lap that was taking place. I thought I had the wreck missed, but I just saw a flash of red out of nowhere. I guess there was more going on the outside of the No. 6 car (Brad Keselowski) as it was spinning, and I saw him and just got collected.
I’m most disappointed for Club Wyndham. They came on board for this race, and they’ll be with me at the Coca-Cola 600. Really disappointed we couldn’t give them a better show.”
Kimi Räikkönen, No. 91 Onx/iLOQ Camaro ZL1
Finished 29th
“I think it wasn’t too bad. We got unlucky with the incidents that happened. It was one of those things, unfortunately. Then there were no tires left. They kept coming, getting more restarts and more restarts, so I think after the spin I had, the tires were just done. It’s a shame because when we were there, but then we restart, and just wrong place, wrong time. It was a case of trying to stay out of the issues in the first corners and every time. It looked like you’d be very good, then three corners later, somebody’s going the wrong direction. There’s a bit of mess and lock involved.”
On doing more starts in NASCAR…
“I don’t know. I mean, nobody knows. It’s such a shame how it went in the end, but I think we did the right thing. We were there. But then on the restart it’s how it was. We’ll see what the future brings. Right now, I have no clue.
“It was a long race. Our cool suit didn’t work half of the race, it stopped working. So it was quite hot in the car. It was fun going through the field, but it was a bit intense on the restarts.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Stage One
· William Byron led the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) to the green from the pole position at Circuit of The Americas. The starting lineup was stacked with Camaro ZL1s with eight Chevrolet drivers nabbing a top-10 starting spot for the series’ first road course race of the season.
· Chaos ensued following the drop of the green flag with an on-track accident collecting Team Chevy’s Jimmie Johnson and Ty Dillon. Both Camaro ZL1s sustained too much damage to repair, forcing Johnson and Dillon to retire from the race.
· On lap 11, Kyle Larson was running in the top-10 when the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 was collected in an on-track accident, bringing the event to its second caution of the day. The team assessed the damage and was able to continue after making a stop for repairs, four tires and fuel.
· The conclusion of Stage One took place after the field took the green for the race’s second restart of the day. Byron was sitting in the top position to give the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 team its series-leading fourth stage win of the season.
· Seven drivers from four different Chevrolet teams recorded stage points at the end of Stage One:
1st William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
3rd AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL1
4th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
5th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
6th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1
7th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Netspend Camaro ZL1
8th Jordan Taylor, No. 9 UniFirst Camaro ZL1
Stage Two
· The 15-lap Stage Two ran caution-free with pit strategy during a green-flag pit cycle playing a key role in track position.
· With 30 laps in the book at the end of Stage Two, Chevrolet’s William Byron had recorded a race-high 16 laps led.
· Austin Dillon led Chevrolet to the end of Stage Two, taking second-place stage points in his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Camaro ZL1.
· Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10
2nd Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Camaro ZL1
6th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Blue Buffalo Camaro ZL1
7th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
8th Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1
10th Noah Gragson, No. 42 Black Rifle Coffee Company Camaro ZL1
Final Stage
· The third caution of the day flew on Lap 42 for debris in Turn Nine, opening the door to varying strategies along pit road.
· With some teams electing not to pit, William Byron led Chevrolet to the restart from the fifth position. Byron made a power move on the Lap 43 restart, driving the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 back to the top position.
· With a handful of full-course cautions in the closing laps, the race was forced into three attempts at an overtime finish with Bowman taking the final restart from the front row.
· Kyle Busch led Chevrolet to four of the top-five in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, the series’ first road course race of the season.
· With six points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, Chevrolet continues to lead the series in wins (four), top-fives (16), top-10s (29) and stage wins (eight).
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.
