NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
SEPTEMBER 1, 2024
Five Chevrolet Drivers Set for 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs
- In a caution-filled ending to the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500, strategy from atop the No. 8 Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet team’s pit box gave Kyle Busch a fresh set of tires and prime track position to make a run for the win and a playoff berth. Ultimately falling just short of the victory, Busch led Chevrolet to the checkered flag in the regular season finale from the runner-up position. The result marked Busch’s third top-four result – and his second straight runner-up finish – in the series’ past three races.
- In a three-way battle for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship, Chevrolet’s Kyle Larson put on a commanding performance in much of the 500-mile event. Qualifying fourth in his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1, Larson progressively made his way to the top of the leaderboard near the midway point of Stage One. The 32-year-old Elk Grove, California, went on to perform a commanding sweep of the stages and lead a race-high 263 laps en route to a fourth-place result. Falling just one-point short from claiming the regular season title, Larson will begin his campaign for his second career championship title in NASCAR’s premier series at the top of the playoff standings.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Kyle Busch
4th Kyle Larson
5th Ross Chastain
9th Corey LaJoie
WITH 26 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE:
Wins: 11
Poles: 7
Laps Led: 2,220
Top-five finishes: 47
Top-10 finishes: 100
UP NEXT: The first of three races in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16 gets underway at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Quaker State 400 on Sunday, September 8, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
CHEVROLET’S NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS FAST FACTS:
· In the NASCAR Cup Series’ 26-race regular season, Chevrolet collected a manufacturer-leading 11 wins, recorded by six drivers from three different Chevrolet organizations.
· The 2024 season marks the 10-year anniversary of the elimination-style playoff format for NASCAR’s premier series.
Since the debut of the 16-driver playoff field and elimination rounds to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014; at least five Chevrolet drivers were represented in the playoffs each season.
Chevrolet All-Time
NASCAR Cup Series Championships:
42 NCS Manufacturer Championships:
1st Chevy Title: 1958
Most Recent Title: 2023
Highest Number of Consecutive Titles: 13 (2003-2015)
33 NCS Driver Championships:
1st Chevy title: Buck Baker (1957)
Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)
Highest Number of Consecutive Titles: 7 (2005-2011)
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 BUSCH RETRO CAMARO ZL1
Finished : 5th
Chastain on his race at Darlington Raceway:
“For the final stage, we shorted the green flag stops the first time; netted some positions and we were fine. And then we did it again and as I was already on pit road, the caution came out. I could have kept rolling and probably stayed on the lead lap, but I wanted to try it just like Phil (Surgen, crew chief) was calling an aggressive race. I went ahead and stopped in the box knowing there was a chance that we would go a lap down. It was worth the risk. I had it off by about a quarter-lap in my head of where the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) would be. He was a lot closer than I thought.
It’s one of those things that the staying out was a little scary in the moment, but I just kind of went through what I needed to do; get a good launch. I got clear into turn one, which I struggle to do that on equal tires, let alone the old ones. I was clear off of (turn) two still, and I was like – OK, this is going pretty good. And then new tires took over into turn three.”
How crazy are those restarts with playoff positions on the line?
“Actually, they were pretty calm. Back in the pack, they’re way worse. It’s brutal back there. We’re all just trying to get leverage and air on and off each other. It’s a lot nicer to be up front.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 TOYS FOR TOTS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 15th
“We had a fast Toys for Tots Chevrolet tonight at Darlington Raceway and the entire Richard Childress Racing team fought hard all weekend. We fell a lap down in Stage 2, but never gave up, stayed patient and raced our way back onto the lead lap. We could have had a shot there at the end. We were well within the top 10 and battling for position when a multi-car incident happened, and we ended up with damage. We lost track position pitting for repairs but fought back to finish 15th. I’m proud of this entire team.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 4th
That was a dominant performance for you. What happened at the end of the race?
“Yeah, I think where it all kind of got crazy was when Ross (Chastain) stayed out. I had to choose the bottom on the front row. He got a good launch. I just got behind the No. 14 (Chase Briscoe) and kind of lost control of the race from then on. And then I just did a bad job on that last restart. Really, I just had the points on my mind there and really wanted to get the driver’s regular season championship there to get those bonus points. I was being extra cautious, which I don’t know if the end result was any different. But I was definitely as aggressive as I could have been with just being safe.
But hats-off to Chase Briscoe; that’s amazing. He did such a great job all day long, all weekend long. This is a super, super tough race to win. To do it with the pressure that they had on their team was pretty amazing.”
Looking back on a night where you were dominate, what do you think played a factor in that performance?
“Our No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy was great. We came here with a little different package than normal, and I felt like our car was much better. Our pit crew did a really, really good job. I would have to look, but it felt like in the car, it was our best day on pit road by far. I’m proud of them. We were always able to maintain the lead and that’s what you need to do here to have a shot to win. It’s just so tough to pass.
Just proud of my team and looking forward to the next 10 weeks. Hopefully we can make the Championship Four.”
Not getting those extra 15 bonus points, what’s the strategy moving forward?
“Yeah, we got them on the owner’s side, which is nice. But the driver’s side is definitely a bummer. I thought we were going to be able to get it, but I guess Tyler (Reddick) must have passed a couple of cars there at the end, and then I fell back a couple of spots. Just a bummer, but we were still able to rack up a lot of playoff points this year with the wins, as well as the stage wins. We got two more stage wins today, so that’s always good. You just have to take each week, week-by-week. You have to assess how you did the week before, where you are in points and go prepare for the next week.”
Larson on the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
“I’m excited to get the playoffs going. The first round, there’s some nerve racking tracks, but our team is doing a great job right now. We just need to bring fast Chevrolet’s to the track and take it week-by-week.”
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 MORGAN & MORGAN CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd
“We needed him (Chase Briscoe) to have about three more laps on his tires, maybe. Just be a little bit more used up so I could get there. I got within his wake, and as soon as I got within his wake, I just felt my car come out of the race track and I didn’t have enough to overpower that.
Really hate it for everybody at RCR; the effort, the work and everything that’s gone into our Chevrolet’s. I’m proud of his Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet today for being what it was. To come out second; we didn’t have much speed there through a majority of the race. We were just mired in traffic and we weren’t able to get up through there. But once we got up there; I felt like those last three or four restarts, we were going to have a shot running in the top-five. But then we had a shot for the win and just couldn’t make it up there.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA GOLD FILTERS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 11th
How would you describe this Southern 500?
“Very poor. We got a gift to finish where we did.. a bunch of gifts. But yeah, obviously excited to have that one over with and look forward to getting the playoffs started. These next 10 races; they’re intense, so myself and this entire NAPA Chevy team needs to hit the reset button in a big way. We were pretty bad today, but we’ll go to Atlanta (Motor Speedway); get things rolling in the right direction and see where we end up.”
There’s no track like this in the playoffs, so is the reset on all tracks or certain ones?
“I’m just glad we’re not coming back here next week (laughs). Man, I have to figure something out here. It’s been a struggle. But nonetheless, I’m excited to get these next 10 races started. There are some good tracks in there for us, so I’m excited to get to those and try to make the most of the places that we’ve struggled at. I would love to tackle that this year, so we’re going to work really hard these next 10 weeks; bring everything we’ve got and hopefully it’ll be enough to get to the Championship Four.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 19th
“We weren’t very good here in the spring either. We tried some different things, but it just didn’t really work out. We’ll keep digging at it. I’m glad we get to reset. Obviously next weekend at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) is going to be a wild, so we’ll see what happens.”
You’re back in the playoffs. How good does it feel to put this team back where I know you’ve said they deserve?
“It feels good, for sure. We just need to go run better. We can’t do what we’ve done for the last month. We’ve had some good runs, but we just haven’t ended up with good results. We just can’t have days like this, for sure.”
Atlanta is going to be wild, as you said. When you look at the first round, is there anything you are looking forward to? Is there a strength for this team?
“Yeah, I mean I think honestly; the one that I circle in the first round that I’m looking forward to is Watkins Glen. I’ve been so bad there. I’ve worked so hard at road course stuff, in general, and that’s the last one that I feel like as a driver I need to check the box at. Excited to get there and be better than we’ve been in the past, and I think we’re plenty capable of doing that.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 18th
Suarez on his race at Darlington Raceway:
“It was an up-and-down day for the No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy team. I thought we made the car better when the sun was out. Once the nighttime came, I thought we were actually a little bit better, and good enough to run top-15. We were already right up there in the top-10 when the cautions started coming out. It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of it. There were people staying out. There were people with new tires. It was just a little bit of a crazy situation.”
How do you feel going into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs?
“I feel good. I feel like our No. 99 team is strong. We’ve had pretty good momentum the last couple of months, so I think we’re ready. We’re ready to get to Atlanta (Motor Speedway).”
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.
