Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Talladega

5 KYLE LARSON
 Age: 32 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 26th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 4th (-16)

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• With his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in September., Kyle Larson is now tied for 30th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list with Rex White and Carl Edwards at 28 wins. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion has the most wins in the Next Gen car with 12.
• The Elk Grove, California, native is in a three-way tie for most top-five finishes this season with 11. He has run a series-high 4,058 laps in the top five through 30 events.
• Larson is the only driver to have eclipsed the 1,000-laps-led barrier in 2024 with 1,551 – 633 more than any other driver. His 12 stage wins lead the Cup Series by two.
• In the Next Gen car, a driver has had an average running position of better than 1.5, 10 times – Larson accounts for seven of those. The 32-year-old driver’s average running position this year is a series-best 10.2.
• Larson is 18 markers ahead of the elimination line entering the penultimate race in 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: 9th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: T-7th (-30)
 
No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Chase Elliott heads into the second race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 seventh in the standings, four points above the elimination line. He has reached the Round of 8 six times in eight postseason appearances.
• Elliott captured a playoff victory at Talladega Superspeedway in 2022. He is the only Cup Series driver to have previous wins at all three tracks in the Round of 12 (Kansas Speedway, Talladega and Charlotte ROVAL).
• The 28-year-old driver has scored 31 more points than any other driver at Talladega in the Next Gen car. In the most recent race there, he earned the third-most points (34) among playoff drivers.
• The Hendrick Motorsports driver has earned the fourth-most points (127) among playoff drivers across the first four postseason events. On drafting tracks this season, he’s earned the fifth-most points (136) among playoff competitors.
• The 2020 Cup Series champion is tied with teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman for the third-most top-10 finishes this season (15). He also has the third-best average running position in 2024 (11.54).

24 WILLIAM BYRON
 Age: 26 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 2nd (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 1st

No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• William Byron started off the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 strong at Kansas Speedway. After qualifying sixth, Byron won stage one, picking up a crucial playoff point, finished stage two in fourth and left the race with a runner-up result. He leads the playoff standings, 34 points above the cutoff point.
• The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has two runner-up results and has finished seventh or better in the last three races at Talladega Superspeedway. Byron holds the longest current top-10 streak among active drivers at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.
• In stage racing era, Byron has averaged 28.62 points at Talladega – third-most among playoff drivers. In the spring event at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Byron scored 38 points, second most by a playoff driver.
• The 26-year-old has the most wins on drafting tracks during the Next Gen era with three and ranks third in points earned by playoff drivers on drafting tracks in 2024 with 166.
• In the last nine drafting races, Byron has seven top-10 finishes, including two wins.

48 ALEX BOWMAN
 Age: 31 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 6th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 6th (-26)

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Following last weekend’s opening race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway, Alex Bowman ranks sixth in the standings, eight markers above the elimination line. Bowman won the second stage on Sunday and earned valuable points in both stages. It marked his first stage win of the season. The Tucson, Arizona, native secured his fifth-consecutive top 10 at the “Sunflower State” track.
• Bowman has earned 24 more points than any other driver in the playoffs (163), leading the way in stage points earned (53) and is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all eight stages.
• With six races remaining in 2024, Bowman has earned seven top-five finishes, one shy of his personal best of eight in 2021. His 15 top-10 finishes place him in a three-way-tie for third-most alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott.
• Bowman finished fifth and earned 33 points at Talladega Superspeedway in the spring. He is one of two drivers in the Round of 12 to finish in the top five at Talladega in April. Bowman has earned the fourth-most points (162) among remaining playoff drivers on drafting tracks this season with three top fives.
• Bowman is one of four active drivers with a second-place finish but no win at Talladega (spring, 2019).
• 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 Greenville Animal Shelter located in Greenville, Alabama.

Hendrick Motorsports
 

*Most
**Tied for most

• Hendrick Motorsports leads all NASCAR Cup Series organizations in nearly every major statistical category at Talladega Superspeedway including wins (14), poles (13), top fives (65), top 10s (101) and laps led (3,087).
• 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. The organization’s 10 wins in 2024 are the most by four over 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. The No. 9 over-the-wall squad of Chase Elliott leads the organization and is second in the Cup Series at 10.83 seconds.

 
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Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on heading to Talladega Superspeedway: “Cliff and the entire group at Hendrick Motorsports do a great job with pit strategy at drafting tracks. We’ll work with our Chevrolet teammates to hopefully score points in both stages. While we always seem to run well at Talladega, we just don’t have the results to show for it. I would really just like to see the checkered flag with a solid finish.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on Talladega Superspeedway in the playoffs: “Talladega, whichever round it falls in every year, is always unpredictable. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s a lot out of your hands in that race.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the points situation heading to Talladega Superspeedway:
“It’s a good feeling knowing how many points we got in Kansas before heading into Talladega this weekend, but we can’t relax any just because of that. It’s the playoffs so every point is going to matter even more. Talladega is a track we’ve always run well at. It’s a superspeedway that handling is a bigger factor than it is at say Daytona. It’s still a place where anything can happen though. Hopefully we can have another solid points day and be sitting in a really good spot heading into the (Charlotte) ROVAL.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on playoff momentum and Talladega Superspeedway: “We have been OK, for sure. We have had better pace in the playoffs than where we were prior, and it’s made my job a little easier. So, yeah, we are not perfect by any means, and we have got a lot of things we need to improve on. But we are kind of headed in the right direction right now and doing the right things. Talladega is certainly the wild card of this round so hopefully we can continue this positive momentum and come out on the good side of it.”