NASCAR CUP SERIES
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
ROUND OF 16: RACE TWO
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
SEPT. 15, 2024
Van Gisbergen Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Finish at Watkins Glen
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Shane van Gisbergen
3rd Carson Hocevar
4th Ross Chastain
5th Zane Smith
8th Corey LaJoie
WITH 28 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE:
Wins: 11
Poles: 8
Top-five finishes: 53
Top-10 finishes: 110
UP NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend, with the Bass Pro Shops Night Race marking the elimination race for the Round of 16. Coverage of the 500-lap event can be found on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
- In yet another overtime finish, road course ace, Shane van Gisbergen, came just .979-seconds from taking the checkered flag – ultimately leading Chevrolet to the finish with a runner-up result in his No. 16 WeatherTech Camaro ZL1.
- It was a day plagued with problems throughout the playoff field, but all five of Chevrolet’s playoff contenders will head into the Round of 16 elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway above the cutline.
- NASCAR Cup Series ‘rookie of the year’ contender, Carson Hocevar, notched his career best finish at the 2.45-mile upstate New York circuit – driving his No. 77 Mattress Warehouse Camaro ZL1 to a third-place result.
- The NASCAR Cup Series ‘Go Bowling at The Glen’ commemorated a monumental milestone for the series’ Next Gen era, with today’s event marking the 100th points-paying race for the Next Gen car. Chevrolet leaves the 2.45-mile upstate New York circuit with a manufacturer-leading 48 victories in the Next Gen era.
- In the Next Gen era’s 100 points-paying race history:
Leading in Wins: In 100 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads its manufacturer competitors with 48 victories – a winning percentage of 48%. In its debut season (2022), the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 owned over half of the points-paying race wins, with nine drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations scoring a combined 19 victories. The manufacturer followed-up that effort with an 18-race win season in 2023. Thus far this season, six different drivers have contributed to a manufacturer-leading 11 victories.
Back-to-Back Manufacturer Championships: Chevrolet has swept the manufacturer championship titles in the Next Gen era, with the 2023 title marking the Bowtie brand’s series-leading 42nd all-time manufacturer championship title in NASCAR’s premier series. In its most recent title-earning season (2023), each Chevrolet organization that competed full-time that season contributed points that ultimately led to the championship.
First-Time Winners: The Next Gen era has produced seven first-time NASCAR Cup Series winners, with four of those drivers earning their milestone triumph behind the wheel of the Next Gen Camaro ZL1. Among that list includes: Ross Chastain (2022 at Circuit of The Americas), Daniel Suarez (2022 at Sonoma Raceway), Tyler Reddick (2022 at Road America), and Shane van Gisbergen (2023 at the Chicago Street Course).
Crown Jewel Victories: Four different drivers have earned a crown jewel victory with Chevrolet in the Next Gen era including: Erik Jones with Petty-GMS in the 2022 Southern 500; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with JTG Daugherty Racing in the 2023 Daytona 500; Kyle Larson with Hendrick Motorsports in the 2023 Southern 500 and the 2024 Brickyard 400; and William Byron with Hendrick Motorsports in the 2024 Daytona 500.
Double-Digits Records: The Next Gen era has produced 28 different winners, with Team Chevy’s William Byron and Kyle Larson standing as the only drivers with a double-digit win record with the Next Gen Car – each collecting 11 points-paying victories, to date, since the beginning of the 2022 season.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 BUSCH LIGHT CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 4th
WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH TO THE FINAL RUN AND DID YOU HAVE ENOUGH?
“No, once we had that caution at the end of Stage two, it took us out of control of the race, for Shane (Van Gisbergen) and I. I would have still been able to restart on the front row, and I messed up with passing the No. 6 with like 20 to go and let the No. 77 get by me. It was just a driver error, and I messed up. Once he was back by me, I didn’t have enough to go back and pass him again.
It was so much fun to take our Busch Light Chevy and put it on the pole, and race with Shane, who has taught me so much in the last year. To be able to pace with him, in front, behind and all around, for about three quarters of the race. Just fell off too much at the end, but we still had a shot. I saw Shane move the No. 17 on the last restart and I thought, maybe they all crash, but was just stuck behind them.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 12th
“Our race was pretty wild. We started right in the middle of the field, and it was just never quite relaxing. I feel like our No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy was really good. We made great improvements on it overnight. I think studying some data helped on my end, as well. Happy with the improvement, but just wish we could restart the whole weekend over. I think it would go a lot better.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 13 GO BOWLING CAMARO ZL1
Sidelined by a mechanical issue during Stage One.
Finished: 36th
It’s a bigger issue than initially thought. What exactly is going on with the race car?
“It just felt like it just snapped the axle. It sounded like it pulled the axle out of the transaxle, but there’s more that went off in there. It was violent. I’m just happy that I did catch the race car in front of everybody.. that was going to be big.
It’s disappointing. It’s hard to tell, but I thought the initial first lap there, it felt like it fired off really well. The No. 13 Go Bowling Chevy, we’ll never know. It was a good weekend. I’m disappointed just because Go Bowling put their belief in me and put their product on the race car. I felt like we were going to at least have a shot at running up front and maybe win this thing. It’s just one of those years.”
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN, NO. 16 WEATHERTECH CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd
DESCRIBE THE LAST LAP AND WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO HOLD OFF CHRIS BUESCHER?
“Yeah, not hit the wall. I don’t know, it was a hard one. I gave him a little bump to get the spot, and I knew it was going to come back. So, I was just pushing the entries and trying to get away and just made an error. Pissed because these races are hard to win, and we have had a rough run in the Cup Series this year. The WeatherTech Camaro was really good, fastest car all day, and it just didn’t work out.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 34th
HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR TEAM’S DAY HERE?
“It was just chaos. We got it pretty good there in the second Stage. In the final stage, we made a long stop there and got pretty happy. Drove to around 11th on track, and then some of those guys still had to pit, so felt good about that. And then we came in and took tires and had to restart in the 20s, but it was going to work out I thought. And then those guys got connected together. I am not sure exactly what happened, but I was trying to get to the outside of the No. 22 and the No. 6 kind of hooked back to the left. Glad we got some points in Stage two, that was helpful. We just have to go to Bristol and have a good weekend. This was just kind of a nightmare weekend.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 18th
“We were obviously a really good car, just the strategy didn’t fall how we needed it. We had some issues on pit road. It wasn’t the result we were looking for, but still a really good points day for the No. 48 Ally Chevy team. I feel good about things. We had a really fast race car, but it just didn’t work out as far as the finishing position goes. But still a really good day.”
ZANE SMITH, NO. 71 FOCUSED HEALTH CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 5th
You survived the chaos and three late-race restarts. Just talk about how you positioned yourself for a top-five finish today.
“We started the late-race restarts around 11th, I want to say. We just had an incredibly fast No. 71 Focused Health Chevy all day. Spire Motorsports brought great race cars. Appreciate everyone at Focused Health and this whole No. 71 team. I’m mad at myself for my penalty. I was just under a tremendous amount of pressure and I was just trying to execute everything. We were able to keep getting positions on those restarts. Just got roughened up there at the end, but fortunately I was able to gain a few stops back.”
CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 MATTRESS WAREHOUSE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 3rd
What did you need differently there at the end to try and challenge those two for the win?
“I just needed some more confidence into turn one. I did everything right, all the way until turn one, and then I just lifted a little too early. When I lost leverage, it was just game over from there, but I had a really good shot for the win. We were last in practice with a bunch of issues. I’m just super thankful that we were able to turn the weekend around for the No. 77 Mattress Warehouse Chevy team.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 13th
“We went through a lot today. The No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy was pretty fast, especially on the long runs. I thought we were able to drive through the field once we had lost some track position, but it was very difficult to pass.. way more difficult than what I anticipated. And then we lost a wheel, and from that, we were just trying to recover. I’m very proud of this team for not giving up; doing a good job at executing and going to fight right off the bat. Finishing 13th after being stuck in the gravel isn’t a bad day.”
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.
