5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 31 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 6th
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
RECAPPING MICHIGAN: Kyle Larson scored his series-best 10th top-five finish of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season at Michigan International Speedway. The result came over two days of racing at the 2-mile track. Wet weather stopped the race after 74 laps on Sunday and the event was completed on Monday afternoon. Larson earned his fourth straight finish inside the top seven at the Irish Hills and the result moved him up to sixth in the points standings.
ON THIS DATE: This Sunday, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the premier series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The 2021 Cup Series champion holds the best finish of all Hendrick Motorsports drivers at the Indianapolis Road Course with a third-place result in 2021. He also won the last Cup race held on Aug. 13th, at Michigan (in 2017).
ROAD READY: Larson has four road course wins in the Cup Series: Sonoma Raceway (2021), the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (2021) and Watkins Glen International (2021 and 2022). These victories place him in a tie for the third-most road course wins among active drivers. He is also the third-highest contributing driver to road course victories at Hendrick Motorsports, behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (nine) and teammate Chase Elliott (seven). Larson has earned the third-most stage wins (five) all-time on road courses. This year, the driver of the No. 5 has earned the third-most points (102) on road courses and is tied for sixth-most fastest laps run during green flag circuits (10) on tracks with left and right turns. Larson is also in a four-way tie for third-most consecutive top-10 finishes on road courses (two), with Elliott.
REGULAR SEASON ROLLS ON: With three races remaining in the 2023 regular season, Larson has earned a spot in the playoffs for the third season in a row. The 31-year-old driver has won two points-paying races (Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway) and the non-points paying All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. He has claimed a series-leading 10 top-five finishes as well as capturing 11 top-10 finishes and three stage wins. In addition, the Elk Grove, California, native has the second-best average starting position (10.09), led the third-most laps (624), run the fourth-most laps in the top five (2,117), run the fourth-most laps in the top 10 (3,366) and has the fifth-best average running position (12.29).
ON COURSE WITH CLIFF DANIELS: Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, has guided Larson to four wins on road courses. Daniels trails only fellow Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Alan Gustafson (seven wins) of the No. 9 for victories on serpentine layouts among active team pit bosses.
INDYCAR UNVEIL: On Sunday at Indianapolis, HendrickCars.com and IndyCar team Arrow McLaren plan to unveil their scheme for Larson’s 2024 run in the Indianapolis 500. The unveil, which will take place in the plaza before the Cup Series race, is the first look at the No. 17 ride for his IndyCar debut. Larson will run the “double,” competing in 1,100 miles of racing over approximately 12 hours between Charlotte Motor Speedway and Indianapolis on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
STREAM AND SHOP: Not at Indianapolis this weekend for the HendrickCars.com No. 17 reveal? No problem. You can live stream the event virtually by tuning in to HendrickCars.com. Follow HendrickCars.com on social media for timing and additional details to be posted later this week. While you’re there, you can browse over 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available by selecting the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to your lifestyle.
EXTRACURRICULAR: In addition to his full-time Cup Series schedule, Larson often races on dirt during the week. This week, he is scheduled to compete in the 62nd Knoxville Nationals competition at Knoxville Raceway, the “Sprint Car Capital of the World.” On Thursday, he will attempt to qualify for the main event, which takes place on Saturday. You can catch the action on MAVTV.com.
HENDRICK AUTOMOTIVE GROUP IS HIRING: Join 10,000+ others nationwide in working at Hendrick Automotive Group. The company is hiring technicians and other positions at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Individuals who are interested can apply at HendrickCars.com.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 27 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 22nd
No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
INDY REWIND: Last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Chase Elliott started eighth and overcame an early race spin to earn a fifth-place finish in stage one. He followed that up with a fourth-place result in the second stage. In an eventful final stage, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native raced as high as second and was in that spot when a caution came out with five laps to go for debris. On the restart, Elliott was collected in a multi-car incident in turn one but was able to battle his way to 16th after the race was sent into overtime. In the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural road racing event at Indianapolis in 2021, Elliott drove to a fourth-place result. In the two races at the 14-turn layout, he holds the best average running position (7.91).
KEEP THE TOP FIVES ALIVE: This season, Elliott has two road course starts in the series and has finished inside the top five in each of them. The 27-year-old driver paced the field for seven laps at Sonoma Raceway en route to a fifth-place result and followed that up with a third-place effort in the inaugural Chicago Street Course race. Elliott’s average finish (4.00) across those two races is the second-best mark in the series.
ROAD RACING RUNDOWN: Since the start of 2022, Elliott’s best finish on a road course is second, achieved at Road America last season. In that span, he has five top-five finishes and six top-10s (tied for second-most) across eight starts on serpentine tracks. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has paced the field for 128 laps on road courses since the beginning of last season, which is tied for the most circuits out front. He has also earned two pole awards (Road America and Watkins Glen International in 2022) and has a series-leading average finish of 7.75. Despite missing the race at Circuit of The Americas in March 2023 due to his leg injury, Elliott has the sixth-most points earned (262) in that span.
LEGEND IN THE MAKING: In 27 Cup Series starts on road courses, Elliott has an average finish of 7.85, with seven wins, 16 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s. His average finish is not only the best among active drivers, but third all-time among drivers (with four or more starts), behind NASCAR legends Fireball Roberts and Buck Baker.
WINNING WAYS: Elliott has proven his road-racing prowess, leading all active drivers with seven wins on road courses – most recently at Road America in 2021. He is also third on the overall list of drivers with road course victories, trailing only NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight). Elliott has victories across five different road courses, which is the most in series history.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: Aug. 5 marked the five-year anniversary of Elliott’s first career Cup Series win, which came at a road course. The five-time National Motorsports Press Association’s Most Popular Driver Award recipient emerged victorious at Watkins Glen in 2018, leading 52 of 90 laps.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson has plenty of experience on tracks where left and right turns are made. Across 48 Cup Series races on road courses, the Ormond Beach, Florida, native has led his team to seven wins (all with Elliott) – a series-high among active crew chiefs – 19 top-five finishes and 26 top-10s.
WIN AND IN: Elliott sits 22nd in the driver points standings, 55 markers below the provisional playoff cutline with three races remaining in the regular season. A victory would lock Elliott into the playoffs and the team is up to the task. Across the three tracks remaining, Elliott and the No. 9 crew have two wins at Watkins Glen, a best effort of second (twice) at Daytona International Speedway and a best finish of fourth at the road course in Indianapolis. Currently, the No. 9 team is in the provisional field for the owner’s title as the team ranks 14th in those standings.
GET UP AND GO: NAPA Auto Parts is back on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Indianapolis. The Atlanta-based company was the primary partner for one other road course race this season. NAPA’s yellow and blue colors were on Elliott’s Chevrolet when he drove to a fifth-place finish at Sonoma. Get a look at all the angles of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet here.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 25 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 3rd
No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
THREE TO GO: With three races left in the regular season, William Byron is third in the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings, 96 markers behind the leader. While the Charlotte, North Carolina, native is hoping to secure his first Cup Series regular-season championship, he’s still having a career-best season. To this point, Byron leads the series in wins (four), average starting position (9.65), stage wins (seven) and laps run in the top five (2,688). He also has led a single-season career-best 810 laps (second-most). The 25-year-old driver’s eight top-five finishes and 11 top-10s are both tied for the third-most in the sport’s top division. In addition, Byron ranks third in average running position (10.203) and laps run in the top 10 (3,617), respectively.
HISTORY MAKER: While this is only the third time that the Cup Series has competed on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Byron has made history at the famed venue. In 2017, Byron made his first trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. While battling for a championship, Byron became the youngest driver to win a major race at the historic 2.5-mile oval at 19 years, seven months and 23 days.
WHAT’S IN A NUMBER?: Byron would love to kiss the bricks again this weekend, and if he does, he will add to the already lengthy legacy the No. 24 has at Indianapolis. Dating back to 1994, Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 before going on to win the crown-jewel event four more times in the No. 24 – the most by a car number at the famed track. A victory would also bring the iconic number closer to the total win mark set by a car number in the Cup Series, currently tied for fourth at 101 wins with the No. 3. The No. 24 is behind the No. 2 with 102 wins, the No. 43 with 200 wins and the No. 11 with 230 wins on the all-time list.
FUGLE FILES: Crew chief Rudy Fugle is set to make his third start on top of the pit box at the Indianapolis Road Course this Sunday. In his two previous starts, Fugle and the No. 24 team captured the pole in the inaugural race in 2021 and have been in contention to win in both showings. In fact, the team has the fourth-best average running position (10.33) in the two races on the road course layout. However, misfortunate has struck the team late, once due to the curbing of the track coming up and the second due to an on-track incident in the closing laps. All told, Fugle has 25 national series starts on road courses (15 in the Cup Series, three in the Xfinity Series and seven in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series). He earned a road course win in the truck ranks in 2015. One of those seven truck starts was also with Byron where the duo raced to a 10th-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2016.
PIT ROAD PROWESS: After 23 races in the 2023 season, the No. 24 pit crew remains in the top spot with the fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 10.991 seconds. The No. 24 pit crew consists of Spencer Bishop (jackman), Jeff Cordero (front-tire changer), Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer), Ryan Patton (tire carrier) and Landon Walker (fueler).
BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA: Traveling to Indianapolis, Indiana for this Sunday’s Cup Series race, one crew member of the No. 24 team calls this their home track. Joining the team for the 2022 season, engineer Ryan Kelly hails from Avon, Indiana, just over 10 miles away from the track. An engineering graduate of Purdue University of Indianapolis, Kelly interned at Andretti Autosport, collecting two Indy 500 wins, before transitioning to his role in NASCAR.
AT IT AGAIN WITH AXALTA: For the fourth time in the 2023 season, Axalta will be back onboard Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. This is Axalta’s 31st year of partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. The company has been a primary partner for two of Byron’s wins this year – the May victory at Darlington Raceway and the July triumph at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
48 Alex Bowman
Age: 30 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 20th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
PUSH TO THE PLAYOFFS: With just three races left in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Alex Bowman is currently ranked 20th in the driver points standings. He is 44 markers behind the provisional playoff cutoff line. As it stands now, Bowman needs to gain an average of 15 points per race on the cutline to point his way into the postseason. Despite a 60-point penalty in April and missing three points-paying races in the spring with an injury, Bowman still can make the top 16 for the playoffs. The 30-year-old driver has three top-five finishes, six top-10s and the DAYTONA 500 pole award in 20 starts this season.
ROAD TESTED: Bowman has two runner-up finishes on road courses in his time at Hendrick Motorsports — at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL in 2019 and Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in 2022. The Tucson, Arizona, native is one of two drivers with multiple second-place showings without a win on this track type. Earlier this year, he finished third at COTA for his fourth career top-five result at a road course.
INDY FLASHBACK: Last year, Bowman pulled double duty at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, running the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday before Sunday’s Cup Series race. He started the Xfinity race in fourth and finished the first stage in third en route to his runner-up result at the 2.439-mile road course. Bowman will run next weekend’s Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International in the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy.
HARRIS IN INDY: No. 48 crew chief Blake Harris has one start atop the pit box at the serpentine layout of Indianapolis. The 36-year-old shot caller’s driver in 2022 started the event in seventh before finishing the 86-lap race in eighth. As a crew chief, Harris has one top-five finish and three top-10s in seven career road course starts.
SAVE THEM ALL: Bowman and primary partner Ally are teaming up this year to bring back the Best Friends Animal Society donation effort. This week, the duo will make charitable contributions to Medical Mutts Service Dogs, which serves the local community in Indianapolis. Bowman and Ally will donate $4,800 to Best Friends and Medical Mutts Service Dogs. Ally will increase its donation to $10,000 if the No. 48 team wins on Sunday.
HOME SWEET HOME: No. 48 team car chief Ty Sipes hails from Bloomfield, Indiana, which is located approximately one hour and 45 minutes southwest of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Growing up on a small hobby farm, Sipes gained experience racing at local tracks. In 2010, he started working on a small sprint car team traveling in the USAC Series. He earned his mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University in 2012 and later got an opportunity to work with Kasey Kahne’s World of Outlaws sprint car team. He joined Hendrick Motorsports during the latter part of the 2014 season and got his first Cup Series win at his home state track in 2017 on the No. 5 team of Kahne.
HENDRICK
MOTORSPORTS /
| 2023 | All-Time | Indianapolis RC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Races | 23 | 1,332 | 2 |
| Wins | 6** | 297* | 0 |
| Poles | 6** | 245* | 1** |
| Top 5 | 27* | 1,217* | 2** |
| Top 10 | 39 | 2,084* | 2 |
| Laps Led | 1,560* | 78,877* | 43 |
| Stage Wins | 11** | 90 | 0 |
*Most **Most (tie)
CLOSING IN ON 300: Hendrick Motorsports is just three points-paying victories away from its milestone 300th win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Twenty drivers have combined to reach the organization’s current total of 297, which is the most Cup Series wins by any team. With six points-paying victories in 2023, the team has posted its 36th multi-win season in the Cup Series while maintaining a streak of at least two per season for the past 30 years. The organization has gone to victory lane at more racetracks (31) than any other active team.
MILESTONE MOMENTS: In addition to 300 Cup Series wins, Hendrick Motorsports is approaching several other major milestones. With 245 pole awards, the team is just five away from 250 at the Cup level. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports engines have recorded 496 NASCAR national series victories and need just four more to reach 500.
INDIANAPOLIS INSIGHT: On the oval layout of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports won a team-best 10 times. In two races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the organization has a best finish of third (Kyle Larson, 2021).
RULERS OF THE ROAD: With 26 wins, Hendrick Motorsports has the most all-time triumphs on road courses in Cup Series history. The two closest teams in this statistic have combined for only 23 wins. Since its inaugural season in 1984, the organization has won 27.66% of road course events (26 wins in 94 races). The team also tops the board among Cup Series squads on road courses in poles (25), top-five finishes (85), top-10s (144), laps led (2,207) and stage wins (14).
SEVEN UP: Seven different drivers (most by a Cup Series team on road courses) have accounted for the 26 road course wins: Jeff Gordon (nine wins), Chase Elliott (seven wins), Larson (four wins), Tim Richmond (three wins), Jimmie Johnson (one win), Geoff Bodine (one win) and Ricky Rudd (one win).
POINTS MADE: Larson (102 points) and William Byron (96 points) rank third and fifth, respectively, in points earned on road courses in 2023. Thus far, the Cup Series has run three races on serpentine layouts: Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Sonoma Raceway and the Chicago Street Course. There are three road course races remaining on the schedule: Indianapolis (Sunday), Watkins Glen International (Aug. 20) and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (Oct. 8).
POLE POWER: In the last eight road course races, Hendrick Motorsports has won four poles. Larson earned the top starting spot at Sonoma in 2022, Elliott got the pole at Road America and Watkins Glen in 2022 and Byron was top qualifier at COTA in 2023.
TOP OF THE BOARD: In the Next Gen car era (2022-present), Hendrick Motorsports has won 17 races, which is five more than any other team. During that span, all four drivers in its lineup – Byron (six), Larson (five), Elliott (five) and Alex Bowman (one) – have notched victories.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on having his IndyCar ride revealed this weekend: “I’m excited for everyone to see the IndyCar. As far as feelings for running the (Indy) 500, it’s still far out. I’ve really just been trying to focus on the racing I’m doing right now. I’m sure once I get to the offseason and get bored, I’ll be thinking about it more. That’s when I’ll get really excited and probably nervous about it all at the same time. I’m thankful to HENDRICKCARS.COM for their support to the No. 5 team in the (NASCAR) Cup Series and for allowing me the chance to run the double next year as well with Arrow McLaren.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on a busy weekend for Larson: “We really enjoy going to Indy (Indianapolis Motor Speedway). With just the history of the track, obviously, it’s just an amazing place. I have a ton of respect for the track, so we always try to just be really thoughtful with what our approach is going there. There is certainly a lot of excitement with the IndyCar unveil for Kyle (Larson), which is great. It’s also the Knoxville Nationals weekend, so he will be commuting back and forth and he’ll be excited about Knoxville, which is a lot of fun. On the Cup (Series) side, we’ve got to be really focused on executing a good race. We’ve been making our road course cars better this year. Hopefully, we take another step of progress in that direction, put a good car out there and execute a good race for him. It’s an exciting weekend and a lot to look forward to.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing on the Indianapolis Road Course: “For me personally, I feel like it is one of the harder ones, if not the toughest for me. Most road courses that we go to have a little bit of character at some point, little bit of banking or a little bit of something. That place is just flat. Not really a lot of character to the road itself. Imperfections, bumps. Things like that. Just a very flat road course, which I find challenging because it’s hard to find ways to be different.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team’s outlook for the remainder of the regular season: “Our goal is the same as it’s always been. Go out and execute to the best of our ability, minimize mistakes and be in position to battle for the win at the end. We have three great opportunities coming up to be able to do that and Chase (Elliott) is one of the best at being able to tune out all the noise and focus on the task at hand.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his thoughts for Indianapolis: “I think road course races are somewhere we can improve on this season. We’ve been working hard to do that and I think we’ve made improvements with each one. This weekend is a little bit different since it’s not a traditional road course. It has tight corners and straightaways, which makes for more contact between cars. With that, you can expect the aggression level to increase later in the race and for more people to get into each other to get every position they can. We’ve experienced that before, but hopefully this weekend we put ourselves in the right positions, are able to run the race we want and stay out of harms way to get a good finish.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the mentality of the team this week: “We’ve had a trying couple of races these last few weeks but there’s no quit in this team. We keep bringing fast race cars and doing what we can to get good results, some things just happen though. Indy (Road Course) is another track where we’ve ran well and circumstances at the end have taken us out of contention. We’ll go to the track this weekend, do our normal processes and give it everything we have. Last week is behind us and we’re focused on the three in front of us now.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the final three races in the 2023 regular season: “I think we have a shot each week to win at Hendrick Motorsports. The last few weeks we have run well and just had some bad luck. With the way this season has played out, to even be in the hunt for a spot speaks volumes about this team and how well our season started. We are all going to stay focused on the race we have each week and try to go maximize where we can.”
Blake Harris, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his expectations for Indianapolis: “Alex (Bowman) has had really good road course races over in the Next Gen car. Looking back at COTA, he has run super strong there. While last year his day was ended early in the Cup car (at Indy), he had a great run in the Xfinity race, so we can build off of his success there and the notes Hendrick Motorsports has as an organization and go try to compete for a win. This team is plenty of capable knocking one down before the end of the season.”
