Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Kansas

5 KYLE LARSON
 Age: 32 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 1st (Bristol)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Kyle Larson’s 462 laps led in his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night was the most ever by a Hendrick Motorsports driver in a single race. The Elk Grove, California, native has now finished in the top 10 in his last six starts at Bristol. That ties his longest such streak at any track, matching Phoenix Raceway and this weekend’s stop, Kansas Speedway.
• The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is now tied for 30th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list with Rex White and Carl Edwards at 28 wins. Larson has the most wins in the Next Gen car with 12.
• Larson is the only driver to have eclipsed the 1,000-laps-led barrier in 2024 with 1,551 – 634 more than any other driver. His 12 stage wins are two more than anyone else.
• Larson’s win earlier this season at Kansas was the closest finish in Cup Series history. He crossed the finish line 0.001 seconds ahead of Chris Buescher. Larson is the only repeat winner in the last eight races at Kansas.
• The driver of the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet has won 11 of 39 stages on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car (28%) and 4 of 18 races (22%).
• In the Next Gen car, a driver has had an average running position of better than 1.5 ten times – Larson accounts for seven of those occasions. The 32-year-old driver’s average running position this year is a Series-best 9.61. No other driver has an average running position in single digits.
• Larson is one of only two drivers to have finished top 10 at Kansas in all five Next Gen starts. In 1.5-mile races during the Next Gen era, Larson has four wins, double that of second place.
• Larson is 39 markers ahead of the elimination line entering the Round of 12. He has 15 more playoff points than any other driver.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 28 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 2nd (Bristol)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 7th (-33)
 
No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Chase Elliott heads into the opening race in the Round of 12 seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings, six points above the elimination line.
• Elliott is the only Cup Series driver with wins at all three tracks in the Round of 12 (Kansas Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte ROVAL). The 2020 Cup Series champion captured a victory at Kansas in the fall of 2018.
• Elliott is riding a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas, placing third there in the spring. He has also finished inside the top 10 in the three most recent races on 1.5-mile tracks, which kicked off with his victory at Texas Motor Speedway in April.
• The Hendrick Motorsports driver has earned the fourth-most points among playoff drivers across the first three postseason events.
• No. 9 team jackman TJ Semke hails from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, less than 40 miles from Kansas Speedway. The 31-year-old was a part-time bounty hunter before playing football at the University of Kansas as a defensive lineman. Semke signed with Hendrick Motorsports in 2016 and has been with team since 2018.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
 Age: 26 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 17th (Bristol)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 4th (-25)

No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• William Byron collected enough points to advance into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. He collected 72 points with 21 of those being stage points, tied for the fifth most.
• Heading into the first race of the second round, Byron is currently fourth in the playoff standings, 14 markers above the cutoff.
• Byron has seven top-10 finishes at Kansas Speedway, tied for a personal best at a track with Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.
• Byron has two wins in the Next Gen car on 1.5-mile tracks, tied for the second most, and has earned the most points of all drivers with 675.
• In 2024, Byron has run within the top five for 1,964 laps (seventh most), within the top 10 for 4,030 laps (sixth most) and has an average running position of 13.276, good enough for eighth best.

48 ALEX BOWMAN
 Age: 31 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 9th (Bristol)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: T-11th (-45)
 
No. 48 Ally Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman finished ninth to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Bowman earned 17 more points than any other driver in the Round of 16. He leads the field in stage points earned in the playoffs (41) and is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all six stages.
• Bowman was fourth at the end of the Round of 16. With the playoff standings points resetting heading into the Round of 12 opener at Kansas Speedway, Bowman ranks 11th, seven points below the cutline. The Tucson, Arizona, native has advanced to the Round of 12 in every previous playoff appearance (six) and reached the Round of 8 once (2020).
• Bowman has seven top-five finishes this season and 14 top-10 finishes (four-way tie for third most). All his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron also have 14 top 10s.
• At Kansas Speedway, Bowman holds the third-longest active top-10 streak with four. The streak is Bowman’s best at a track behind only the Charlotte ROVAL (five). In this year’s May race at the “Sunflower State” venue, Bowman earned 34 points, fifth most of playoff drivers. In his previous 17 starts there, he has led 183 laps, scored three top fives (his second most at a track) and nine top 10s (his most at a track).
• In 2024, on tracks 1.5-miles long, Bowman has earned 100 points, seventh most of the remaining playoff drivers. He is one of 11 drivers to claim a win at a 1.5-mile track in the Next Gen car (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 2022).
• Ally Racing brought back Koker’s garage this year and No. 48 fans had the opportunity to design the special edition paint scheme that will run on track this weekend. Christina Knoll, from New Orleans, is the this year’s winner. Her son, Andrew, played a key role in helping design the winning scheme.
• This Sunday, Bowman fans can ride along and from the driver’s seat by tuning into NASCAR’s in-car camera on the No. 48 Chevrolet Camero ZL1.
• For four years, Bowman and Ally have teamed up to support Best Friends Animal Society and their vast network of partners. Every race weekend, the pair donates $4,800 to help homeless pets. This weekend, the charitable donation will go to Prairie Paws Animal Shelter located in Ottawa, Kansas.

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• Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman combined to lead 496 of 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, including every green flag circuit.
• This Sunday at Kansas Speedway will mark the 1,375th NASCAR Cup Series race for Hendrick Motorsports.
• The four Hendrick Motorsports entries will all carry the name of a cancer hero in place of driver names as part of the Honor A Cancer Hero program this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Bowman will honor Kenneth Chase from Sebago, Maine. Chase was nominated by his widow, Esther, as the two fought cancer simultaneously before Kenneth ultimately lost his battle. Chase Elliott will carry the name of Bill Roberts, a Thomaston, Georgia, native who beat kidney cancer. William Byron will honor Stephanie Kearns of Anaheim, California. Kearns beat a breast cancer diagnosis. Finally, Larson will run the name of Sid Coxe, a New Orleans native and car enthusiast who succumbed to liver cancer just after his 60th birthday in 2015. Last year, the program generated over $100,00 to support integrative therapies for women and children undergoing cancer treatments and child life services.
• In 37 races at Kansas, Hendrick Motorsports leads all other NASCAR Cup Series teams in most categories including wins (nine), poles (six), top-five finishes (46), top-10 finishes (85) and laps led (2,190).
• At least two Hendrick Motorsports cars have finished in the top 10 in each of the last 12 Kansas races and at least three of the team’s entries have finished in the top 10 in the last four.
• This marks the fourth time all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers made the Round of 12 (2014, 2021, 2022, 2024), the most times any team has advanced four drivers through the opening round.
• Hendrick Motorsports has gone to victory lane 59 times in playoff races, 22 more than any other team.
• All four Hendrick Motorsports pit crews rank in the top eight in terms of average time for a four-tire pit stop. That list is topped by the No. 9 over-the-wall squad at 10.83 seconds. Chase Elliott’s crew also turned in the fastest individual four-tire stop of the season with a time of 9.076 seconds at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

 
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Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on winning at Kansas this year: “I had a great run off two and down the backstretch and was able to get to [Chis Buescher’s] outside getting into 3. It was so tight at the line and I guess TV showed us second — and I was fine with that because it was a great battle at the end. But then to hear we won was incredible.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on heading into the first race in the Round of 12: “The last race at Kansas was pretty good for us. Heading back there, we need to qualify a little better and score more stage points. Those stage points are going be really critical moving forward here in these playoffs. They’re always critical, but there’s a big emphasis on stage points. We’re no different than anybody else. Everybody knows this is a good opportunity to go control your own destiny and have a really good race. Obviously, a win would be the first goal and then past that would be stage points and good finishes. So, I expect this race to be highly contested, to say the least. I think everybody is going to be under the same impression that this is their best chance to control their own destiny and kind of want to take advantage of that. So, I’m looking forward to that. I enjoy going there just because you can race and pass and have some strategy. A lot is in your hands at Kansas.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on why he enjoys racing at Kansas Speedway: “I’m excited to get to Kansas. That’s a track we’ve had a lot of speed at. I think we have a good notebook heading into this race based on our experiences and our teammates’. We got behind in the spring after hitting the wall in qualifying, but even then we had good speed and strategy to make up ground. Hopefully we get a better starting spot for this race and can execute at a high level like I know our team can.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on going to Kansas Speedway: “It’s been a really good place for me, it’s probably my favorite mile and a half, so, enjoy racing there a lot and have certainly been close to winning there before. So, I’m looking forward to it. Statistically, it’s been a really good place for us so hopefully we can put together a really good race this weekend.