TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
March 16-17, 2024
BRISTOL DOUBLEHEADER
After a three-year stint on dirt, Bristol Motor Speedway will return to its traditional concrete surface for the track’s spring event as the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) will hit the track’s famed half-mile high banks for a doubleheader race weekend. This weekend will mark the first of two appearances for both series at Bristol Motor Speedway, with all three NASCAR national series returning to “The Last Great Colosseum” for the annual night race tripleheader in September.
Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway:
Sunday’s Food City 500 will mark the NCS’ 124th appearance on Bristol Motor Speedway’s concrete configuration. Chevrolet has earned a winning percentage of 37.4 percent in NASCAR’s top division at the Tennessee half-mile with a series-leading 46 victories. Charlie Glotzbach recorded Chevrolet’s first win at Bristol – and the first for the Monte Carlo – in July 1971, which started a run of seven consecutive victories at the track for the Bowtie brand. Kyle Larson is credited with Chevrolet’s most recent NCS triumph at the track (Sept. 2021) – a victory that took the Team Chevy driver one step closer to his first career championship title.
The NCTS made its debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in June 1995, with Saturday’s Weather Guard Truck Race marking the series’ 27th race at the Tennessee half-mile. Rick Carelli drove Chevrolet to its first NCTS victory at the track in June 1996, with Team Chevy’s Sam Mayer earning the manufacturer its 10th – and most recent – NCTS triumph in September 2020.
LARSON’S STRETCH OF SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS
Team Chevy’s Kyle Larson is undoubtedly a favorite heading into the Bristol Motor Speedway race weekend. The former series champion put on a stellar performance on the series’ short-tracks last season. In six points-paying races on tracks measuring less than one-mile, Larson finished no worse than sixth in four of those events – including two victories (Richmond and Martinsville) and a runner-up finish at the Bristol night race. In addition, the 31-year-old California native posted a near dominate weekend in NASCAR’s return to North Wilkesboro Speedway – collecting the victories in both the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.
Larson’s one career NCS win at Bristol Motor Speedway came in September 2021. The victory was the start of an impressive stretch of success for the Hendrick Motorsports driver at the Tennessee half-mile, with Larson becoming the only driver to tally a top-five result in each of the series’ last three events on the track’s concrete configuration.
REMEMBERING A MILESTONE
On March 25, 2007, Kyle Busch drove Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports to a history-making victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. In a side-by-side overtime finish, Busch edged out Jeff Burton at the line by a mere 0.064-seconds to take the win – a record that still stands as the closest margin of victory in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol. The win was a milestone feat for both Chevrolet and car owner Rick Hendrick – marking the manufacturer’s 600th all-time NCS win and 200th overall win for Hendrick.
Making it even more special, the victory came in the competition debut of NASCAR’s fifth-generation race car – also known as the “Car of Tomorrow”. The new-generation race car marked the return of the Impala SS to NASCAR competition, with the legendary nameplate previously competing in the series from 1959 to 1964. Throughout its time on the track in NASCAR’s top division, the Impala/Impala SS collected 152 victories before retiring from competition following the 2012 season.
BUSCH BY THE NUMBERS AT BRISTOL
Kyle Busch’s storied NASCAR career has seen much success at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 34 NCS starts at the Tennessee half-mile, Busch has tallied a series-leading eight victories – more than double the next active driver, Brad Keselowski, with three. The 38-year-old Nevada native also leads the series’ active drivers in runner-up finishes (four), top-fives (14), top-10s (19) and laps led (2,593).
One of his most notable achievements in the NASCAR national ranks also came at “The Last Great Colosseum”. To date, Busch is the only driver in NASCAR history to win all three national series races in a single weekend – a feat he accomplished on two separate occasions at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017.
Busch will also be making his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway – returning to the seat of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado RST. The winningest driver in series’ history, Busch has recorded five of his 65 all-time NCTS victories at the Tennessee short-track.
NCTS BACK ON-TRACK; SILVERADO RST REMAINS UNDEFEATED
As the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns from its first off-weekend of the season, Chevrolet’s drivers and teams will look to power the manufacturer to its fourth-straight victory in Saturday’s Weather Guard Truck Race. The Silverado RST has been unbeatable thus far this season – courtesy of victories by Team Chevy’s Nick Sanchez, Kyle Busch and Rajah Caruth.
The Bowtie brand also remains steady at the top of both the NCTS’ driver and manufacturer points standings. Coming off a runner-up finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Tyler Ankrum maintained the lead in the driver points standings by five-markers over second-place. Six drivers from five different Chevrolet organizations have earned a top-10 position in the points standings, with Ankrum leading 2024 race winners Rajah Caruth (fourth) and Nick Sanchez (fifth); and fellow Team Chevy drivers Bret Holmes, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger in the eighth through 10th positions, respectively.
BOWTIE BULLETS:
· Chevrolet will pace the field in the doubleheader race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Silverado RST will lead the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in Saturday’s Weather Guard Truck Race; and the Camaro ZL1 will lead the NASCAR Cup Series in Sunday’s Food City 500.
· Chevrolet has recorded wins in eight of the 11 points-paying races in NASCAR’s three national series this season – remaining undefeated in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway:
Kyle Busch: series-leading eight wins (2019, ’18, ’17, ’11, ’10, ’09 sweep, ’07)
Kyle Larson: one win (2021)
· In 123 NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded a series-leading 46 victories – a winning percentage of 37.4 percent.
· Within the first three points-paying races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, each Chevrolet organization had already recorded at least one top-10 finish.
· Within the season’s first three tripleheader race weekends for NASCAR’s three national series, four graduates of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program have earned victories in their respective series this season – all of which come from the Chevrolet camp (Nick Sanchez, Daniel Suarez, Rajah Caruth, Kyle Larson).
· With its 42 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 854 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
FOR THE FANS:
· Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· Activation Hours:
Saturday, March 16: 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 17: 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Manufacturer Points Standings
Chevrolet: 151
Toyota: 141 (-10)
Ford: 132 (-19)
Manufacturer Points Standings
Toyota: 150
Chevrolet: 148 (-2)
Ford: 120 (-30)
Manufacturer Points Standings
Chevrolet: 120
Toyota: 103 (-17)
Ford: 95 (-25)
TUNE-IN:
NASCAR Cup Series
Food City 500
Sunday, March 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET
(FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Weather Guard Truck Race
Saturday, March 16, at 8 p.m. ET
(FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 GAINBRIDGE CAMARO ZL1
“Looking forward for the opportunity to rebound at Bristol with the Gainbridge Camaro. We’ve had decent speed there the last couple of races, so we need to execute a solid day and try to walk away with a top-10.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 MOUNTAIN DEW / CHEETOS CAMARO ZL1
“I’m looking forward to getting back in the Cup car at Bristol. Bristol is a racetrack we’ve had success at in 2022 so hopefully we can learn from the things we have done well. Last year we had speed in practice but had an incident early in the race. I’m excited to see what we can make happen.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 CIRKUL CAMARO ZL1
“I’ve always loved Bristol. The timing of the race is going to be fun seeing how the track changes and evolves from the beginning of the weekend and throughout the mid parts of the race. You go through such a big swing, so we’re going to build some versatility within our car. Hopefully we can give ourselves an opportunity to contend as the laps wind down. It’s a long event, but it’s one of the most fun ones we run.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 BALL PARK BUNS & ROLLS CAMARO ZL1
Are you looking forward to being back on concrete at Bristol even though you had success on the dirt surface?
“Yeah, we had two top-fives and felt like we had a really good shot of winning the first race on the dirt, but I feel like our cars are just not made for dirt racing. Bristol is by far my favorite race track so I’m really excited to go back to the concrete race track, the red and white painted walls are sick and I can’t wait to get there and rub up close to the wall with those things. I think Bristol puts on one of the best races that we have throughout the season and I’m looking forward to being on concrete for both races this season.”
What would a win at Bristol mean to you?
“We finished second quite a few times in Cup and in the Xfinity Series. Bristol is kind of that next one that I want to check off the list. Obviously, the Bristol night race is probably at the top of everybody’s Bristol races, but at this point I would take any Bristol win. Man, it would be huge and it would be a big boost for our season. We’ve been strong at times and I feel like Bristol we can maybe put everything together that we’ve been working on this offseason and looking forward to getting there this weekend.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Bowman on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:
“I think this weekend may play out similar to the fall race- even though it’s not a playoff race. It’s going to be exciting; Bristol (Motor Speedway) always is that. I’m looking forward to it. It would be an awesome place to win and hopefully we can make that happen.”
BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Harris on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:
“The fall race at Bristol (Motor Speedway) was pretty strong for the No. 48 Ally team. We had a top-10 run going and sat I think in the sixth to eighth position most of the day. (We) didn’t have the speed to get in the top five. Track position is super important, so we need to go qualify well and then I think we have pretty good baselines. A couple teammates ran really well in that race as well and we were just outside the top five ourselves so with a few tweaks off of our notes, I feel good about where we are going.”
ZANE SMITH, NO. 71 FOCUSED HEALTH CAMARO ZL1
Bristol is the first short track of the season, how are you feeling going into Sunday’s race?
“Our goal is to keep getting better each weekend. Bristol is definitely its own animal, but a fun track to race. The fans always provide a great atmosphere there and I am looking forward to being able to race on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s going to be a busy weekend but a lot of fun.”
CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 GAINBRIDGE CAL RIPKEN SR. FDN. CAMARO ZL1
You’ve secured two consecutive top-15 finishes to kick off your rookie year. How are you staying focused and motivated to maintain this momentum and build on your impressive start?
“I feel like we’ve been able to capitalize on a couple challenging races and finish in the top 15. Both races ended up being solid days for points. It all builds together. So, to keep momentum, we keep bringing fast race cars and capitalize, adapt and overcome any challenges that are thrown our way. That way you know when we have those good days, we’ll really let the results show.”
Last year, your best NCS finish was an 11th at Bristol, where you even reached fifth by the end of stage two. What strategies can you use to replicate that success and potentially achieve an even better result at Bristol this time around?
“You know, we got to fifth and had to hold on with a loose wheel and finished in 11th which really showed the strength of our racecar that week, to be able to hold on like that for 130 laps. So, I think Luke and I, having that notebook of confidence walking into this place with the help of our pit crew, we should be able to have a better finish than what we got in the fall.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2023): 42
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023
Drivers Championships:
Total (1949-2021): 33
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2024 STATISTICS:
Wins: 3
Poles: 0
Laps Led: 354
Top-five finishes: 7
Top-10 finishes: 12
Stage wins: 3
· Chase Elliott: 1
· Kyle Larson: 2
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 854 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 743
Laps led to date: 249,529
Top-five finishes to date: 4,305
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,873
Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:
General Motors: 1,188
Chevrolet: 854
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 828
Ford: 728
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 181
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. 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.
