NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
GOODYEAR 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
MAY 14, 2023
William Byron Caps off Chevrolet’s Weekend Sweep with Win at Darlington
Chevrolet’s Series-Leading Eighth NCS Win of the 2023 Season
· The win is Byron’s third NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season – a series-leading feat – and his seventh career win in NASCAR’s premier series.
· Byron’s triumph marked the 100th all-time win for the iconic No. 24 – all captured with Chevrolet.
· The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Darlington Racing to 44 all-time victories at the 1.366-mile South Carolina oval.
· The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 841 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.
· Chevrolet swept the NASCAR tripleheader race weekend at Darlington Raceway, with Christian Eckes and the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Silverado RST team taking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and Kyle Larson and the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS team taking the NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner Quotes
One year ago the frustration, the fire, that we saw in you of being wrecked from the lead with two to go. Now you come back here a year later, a little bit of redemption. Put into words what this one means.
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. My granddad passed away on Thursday, and just man, I wish my family could be here. Just things have a way of working out, honestly. It just worked out that way today. We didn’t have the best third stage. We just kept battling, and things just kind of came back around.
Want to wish happy Mother’s Day to my mom. My sister just graduated school, so big day. Definitely didn’t expect this. But just thankful for a great team. Just things have a way of working out, and to come back here to Darlington and have it go exactly the other way.”
There’s a lot to celebrate, obviously. It’s NASCAR’s 75th anniversary. You do it at the second oldest track at Darlington. I just heard your team say win No. 100 for the No. 24. What can you say about this team and the process that you guys have gone through this year?
“Yeah, I’m just thankful that I was able to get in this No. 24 car. I was too young at the time I feel like, but growing up, maturing and just having a great team around me and being able to build the core that we have. I have a great group of guys – Rudy (Fugle, crew chief), Brandon McSwain, Tyler (Jones, car chief), everybody on the team does a great job preparing good cars, and we work hard at it. It’s nice to see it go our way once.”
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Throwback Camaro ZL1
3rd Chase Elliott, No. 9 LLumar Throwback Camaro ZL1
7th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL1
8th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st William Byron (Chevrolet)
2nd Kevin Harvick (Ford)
3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
4th Brad Keselowski (Ford)
5th Bubba Wallace (Toyota)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at North Wilkesboro Speedway with the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 21, at 8 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/UPS Camaro ZL1
Finished: 29th
The second-to-last restart, what happened in turn one?
“Full commit into (turn) one. I got really tight, drove up and turned myself. I wanted to squeeze him, I wanted to push him up. We had been trading positions back-and-forth all day and I wanted to push him up, for sure, but definitely didn’t want to turn myself into the wall.”
How frustrated do you think Kyle Larson is going to be with you after this one?
“I’m the one standing here talking to you (at the infield care center). For everyone at Worldwide Express, Unishippers, GlobalTranz and to drive the big brown truck today with UPS on the hood was a dream come true. We had a shot and that’s all we could ask for.”
You had one of the dominant cars today, but Kyle Larson also had a dominant car. Take us through what happened.
“Just fully committed into turn one and got way tighter than I thought. For our Worldwide Express Chevy and driving the big brown truck with UPS on the hood today – definitely wanted to squeeze him (Kyle Larson) up, but didn’t want to turn myself and ultimately took ourselves out of the race.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 LLumar Throwback Camaro ZL1
Finished: 3rd
I know you wanted to win, but you had a solid race.
“It was a solid finish, for sure. I felt like our No. 9 LLumar Chevy was plenty good enough to go up there and battle with those guys to win. I just struggled so bad in traffic; way worse than other guys do driving this caliber of a car. I just feel like from that standpoint, I’ve got a lot of work to do on my end. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and our team has done a really good job preparing good racecars. Our pit stops really kept us in the game all day. Obviously we got really fortunate and lucky with those cautions coming out.”
Chase, your best finish since returning from the injury. I know it wasn’t easy. You had to start mid-pack. Take us through the race and how you felt at the end.
“Yeah, I feel like our car was plenty good, really, throughout the whole day. I just do such a terrible job getting up through traffic. I get stalled out behind guys, and I just feel like people driving cars like mine don’t do that. They tend to get up through there and get to where they belong.
I feel like everything on the other side of the wall and the car that I was driving was really, really good, so I need to just try to improve and keep going to work on the areas that I’m struggling in and try to build on the improvements we’ve made. But I certainly have a long ways to go.
Really proud of our No. 9 LLumar Chevy team’s effort to keep us in the fight. Pit stops were unreal, and obviously got really lucky there at the end with those guys crashing, and then the caution coming out quick for myself and guys like Brad (Keselowski) to keep our spots like that.
I’ll certainly take third, and appreciate all the effort this weekend. We’re making some small gains here and there, just got to get some more.”
Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1
Finished: 8th
“Overall we had a good day. We found a good package in practice that we utilized to get a pretty decent qualifying spot compared to where we’ve been. We just kept our heads in the game all day, made some good changes and caught a few lucky breaks. We’re happy with today’s finish as a team. “
Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1
Finished: 26th
“Great day overall for our No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. I thought everybody at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB did a great job. I know it’s not the finish we want, but I think that’s the best race we’ve put together throughout the year. Not being so result-orientated, but more on just building the process and getting better as a team. This process is the most important thing to me right now. It’s been tough this year. I thought we put together a really good race, even with damage. We’re getting better – from practice, to qualifying, to the race. Those improvements, it’s going to take more weeks of it, but we need strong weeks like this. The pit crew did an unbelievable job day long. We picked up spots on pit road it felt like every time. I think this team is going to start getting into a rhythm now. These tracks coming up – a few of them I’ve ran, but it’s a little different running with a different organization. But once we get through these early summer months and start going to tracks for a second time, I really think we’re going to build on this program. Really happy with our day. Grateful for the process, improving and all the guys’ hard work.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Stage One
· Team Chevy drivers took the third through seventh-place starting positions in today’s NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, led by the reigning Daytona 500 Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1 team.
· The only caution in Stage One fell on lap 37 for fluid on the track, allowing the field to come down pit road for the race’s first round of pit stops. Daniel Suarez was issued a pit road speeding penalty, forcing the No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1 team to restart the race from the rear of the field.
· Kyle Larson also had an issue during his pit stop under caution, putting the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team back in the 23rd position for the restart with 47 laps to go.
· The remaining portion of the 90-lap opening stage went caution-free, with William Byron and the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 team leading the Bowtie brigade in the runner-up position.
· Four drivers from four different Chevrolet teams recorded stage points with a top-10 finish in Stage One:
2nd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1
4th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express / UPS Camaro ZL1
5th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL1
7th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1
Stage Two
· During a round of pit stops during the stage break, Kyle Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 pit crew laid down a quick stop to gain Larson four positions on pit road – the most positions gained among the top-10 cars.
· A strong contingency of Team Chevy drivers were represented in the top-10 of the running order mid-way through Stage One with William Byron – running in second – leading the manufacturer to five of top-eight positions at the lap 123 marker.
· With green-flag pit stops taking place at the mid-way point of the stage, Byron regained the second position as the field cycled through.
· In the closing laps of Stage Two, Chastain closed in on then-race leader Martin Truex Jr., ultimately taking the lead on lap 151.
· The battle for the stage win continued all the way to the green-white checkered flag, with Chastain ultimately taking the stage win – his fifth stage win of the season.
· Chastain led Team Chevy to five top-10 finishes in Stage Two, including a sweep of the top-four positions:
1st Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express / UPS Camaro ZL1
2nd Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL1
3rd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
4th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1
9th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1
Final Stage / Post-Race Notes
· Continuing a strong performance on pit road, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 pit crew powered off another fast stop during the stage break, getting Larson off first on pit road for a front-row starting spot for the green flag of the final stage.
· Running only a handful of laps at the start of the final stage, a caution flew on lap 193 for a multi-car accident involving Team Chevy drivers Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez. Dillon and Suarez’s teams were unable to make repairs, forcing an early departure from the race for both teams.
· After posting top-10 finishes in both stages, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brought out the fifth caution of the day after spinning in turn three. Minimal damage to his Camaro ZL1 allowed the team to make repairs and continue in the race.
· Team Chevy drivers occupied the top-four running positions when another green-flag pit cycle began with 45 laps remaining in the race. As the green-flag stops cycled through, Larson regained the lead on lap 263.
· Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team was pacing the field when a spin by Ryan Newman with 18 laps to go brought out the sixth caution of the race. With the lead pack hitting pit road, race leader Larson pit for four tires and fuel, ultimately winning the race off pit road. Larson took the bottom lane at the choose cone to lead the field to the green with 13 laps to go.
· The final caution of the race involved the race’s top-two drivers – Larson and Chastain – ultimately setting up a green-white-checkered flag for the finish.
· Taking the final restart of the race from the front-row, Byron powered his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 to the lead, leading the final two laps en route to his series-best third NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season.
About Chevrolet
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