TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
AXALTA PRESENTS THE POCONO 400
POCONO RACEWAY
POCONO, PENNSYLVANIA
JUNE 11, 2017
BOWTIE BULLETS
- CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE:
Over the course of the 78 races held at the uniquely shaped Pocono Raceway, Chevrolet has earned 32 victories at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, more than any other manufacturer. - LOOKING FOR NUMBER 40:
Thus far in 2017, the Bowtie Brand has earned six wins, more than any other manufacturer. All that success has led Chevrolet to lead the NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer point standings by 16 markers. This season, Chevrolet is on a quest to earn an unprecedented 40th manufacturer title in the NASCAR Cup Series.
- CHEVY HISTORY MINUTE:
Benny Parsons took Team Chevy to Winner’s Circle for the first time at Pocono Raceway on July 31, 1977. Since that day, Chevrolet has powered 15 different drivers to wins at Pocono Raceway, including Jeff Gordon, to all his record-setting six victories at the 2.5-mile venue - CHEVY SETS THE STANDARD:
Chevrolet’s Kyle Larson holds the track qualifying record at Pocono Raceway. As a rookie, Larson posted a lap of 183.438 mph on August 1, 2014 in his Chevrolet SS race car to set the standard. Veteran Chevrolet driver and six-time Pocono winner, Jeff Gordon, holds the race record at the ‘Tricky Triangle’. He completed 500 miles of racing in 3 hours, 26 minutes and 21 seconds on June 12, 2011. - RACE REWIND:
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson continued to write his legacy in the NASCAR history books last weekend at Dover International Speedway. The driver of the No. 48 Chevy SS earned his 83rd career victory, tying him with his childhood hero, Cale Yarborough, for sixth on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list. The victory was also Johnson’s 11th win at the Monster Mile, more than any other driver in the 48-year history of the 1-mile concrete oval. - POWERFUL PARTNERSHIP
Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports have shared a 34 -year relationship that has gleaned 17 of Team Chevy’s 32 victories. Hendrick Motorsports leads all other organizations with 17 wins at Pocono Raceway.
- TUNE-IN:
The Axalta Presents the Pocono 400 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 11 at 3 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FoxSports1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships
- Team Chevy drivers have scored 771 wins and 690 poles in MENCS competition
- Chevrolet drivers have won 32 of 78 races at Pocono Raceway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, has two wins at Pocono Raceway (’14 – TWICE)
- Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, has three victories at Pocono Raceway (’04 – TWICE & ‘13)
- Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS, has two wins at Pocono Raceway (’08 & ’13)
- Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet SS, has gone to Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway once (’03)
- A Chevrolet driver has won seven of the last 10 races at Pocono Raceway
- A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Pocono Raceway 33 times
- Team Chevy drivers have scored 163 top-five and 340 top-10 finishes at Pocono Raceway
- A Chevrolet has led 6,561 laps (44.0% of possible 14,927 laps) at Pocono Raceway
FOR THE FANS:
- Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Zone at Pocono Raceway
- Fans can check out great a great assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Bolt EV, Military Camaro, Silverado 2500, Volt, Colorado ZR2, Corvette Grand Sport, Equinox and Suburban
- At the Chevrolet Display, fans can view the No, 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet SS and No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro Xfinity Series show cars
- Also on display is a Chevrolet R07 racing engine complete with electronic fuel injection. Fans can also see a sample of engines, parts and accessories available for purchase from Chevrolet Performance at their local Chevrolet dealer
- Other activities at the Team Chevy Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
TEAM CHEVY QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE DISPLAY:
- Friday, June 9th
- 11:45 a.m. – Brandon Jones
- 3:00 p.m. – Michael Self and Kyle Weatherman
- Saturday, June 10th
- 11:45 a.m. – JD Motorsports (Ross Chastain, Harrison Rhodes and Garrett Smithley)
- Sunday, June 11th
- 11:45 a.m. – Kyle Larson
- 12:00 p.m. – Ryan Newman
- 12:10 p.m. – Chase Elliott
- Chevrolet Display Hours of operation: Fri. June 9th – 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sat. June 10th – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sun. June 11th – 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – 2ND IN STANDINGS
“Everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing has done such a great job this season sending us to the track each weekend with really strong Chevy’s. Knowing we can compete just about every time we hit the race track is a great feeling. Last weekend was a disappointment, but we had to proud of the car we brought to Dover and proud of the effort we put in all weekend. We typically run pretty good at Pocono, so hopefully we can build on our strong runs in the past and try to get our second win of the year this weekend. I like tracks that have some character, and Pocono definitely has that, so excited to get there.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – 5TH IN STANDINGS
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – 6TH IN STANDINGS
“Pocono is such a unique place. We’re always stuck in an engineering kind of mindset of is it better to be faster on the straightaways or through the corners or how you set the car’s ride heights; the drag or downforce you might put in the car due to the ride heights. We’ll be there. And I know from Chad’s standpoint, it’s a track he’s always enjoyed because he has options and you can set the car up differently. From a driver’s standpoint, it’s frustrating because a small loss of time through the center of the corner after you have almost a mile-long front straightaway, you can look at a stopwatch and be five, six, or seven-tenths off and think wow, we’re really out of it. But honestly, it was just a small little thing that happened in the center of Turn 3 that compounded down the front. So, it is a very challenging track. It’s unique onto itself. And there are some awesome cycling runs, so I’ll have fun.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 SUNENERGY1 CHEVROLET SS – 8TH IN STANDINGS
WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS AT POCONO?
“Just corner exit. The straightaways are so long a little mistake on corner exit lasts for such a long time, especially off (Turn) 3 and out of (Turn) 1. I think just really making sure you have some good forward drive in your car and you are able to maximize the straightaway’s because just a little bit can go a long way because it carries you down the long straightaway.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 KALAHARI RESORTS AND CONVENTIONS CHEVROLET SS – 15TH IN STANDINGS
“Pocono is all about horsepower. It has those super long straightaways. Getting your car to turn through the Tunnel Turn has also been important to having a good run. Just in general, you need to get off Turn 3 and use all your horsepower down the straightaway. There is nothing that handles better than plenty of horsepower.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – 20TH IN STANDINGS
“I really like going to Pennsylvania to race. There are a ton of race fans up there. The track is very unique since it only has three turns and they are all totally different. It’s a wide track and people block there a lot, so the restarts can be especially tricky going into Turn 1.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – 21ST IN STANDINGS
“I think you need to be good off of Turn 1 and off of Turn 3. If you can make it somewhat down Turn 2 it will make it, but truthfully, you’ve got to be pretty good in all of them. I’ve been bad in one of the turns and it hurt me, so I think you’ve got to be pretty good in all of them.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – 22ND IN STANDINGS
“Pocono is a good track for us. I like both Pocono and Michigan, so we have some solid tracks coming up for the (No.) 88 gang. We were in the simulator this week working on Pocono. We’ve been working really, really hard the last three weeks. It’s been going great – the cars have gotten better in practice and we’re seeing some good improvements, so we’re going to keep grinding. We’re going in the right direction.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – 23RD IN STANDINGS
“Yeah, I think you try to focus on (Turns) 1 and 3, those are the longer straightaways that you have coming off of those two corners. The Tunnel Turn is something that, as a driver, you can work on throughout the day to make your car get through there a little bit better. Ran pretty well there last year, with the Levine Family Racing and that effort, so looking forward to going back there. I really enjoy racing at Pocono. It’s one of my favorite tracks, one of my favorite areas to go to. Looking forward to having a shot there.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 DUTCH BOY/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – 24TH IN STANDINGS
“You have try your best to find a setup that allows you to be good in all three corners to be successful at Pocono. You have to hit all three corners perfectly. Turn 1 is very important because it leads into the second-longest straightaway, and Turn 3 is obviously important because it takes you into the longest straightaway of the track. You would think that Turn 2 is the least important, but it seems like time is really made and lost in that turn by hitting your mark. If you miss it by even just a foot, your lap time really suffers. So it’s important to hit all three corners.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 SCOTT PRODUCTS CHEVROLET SS – 26TH IN STANDINGS
“Pocono is a tough place. All three corners are so different, and it’s just a unique race track. It’s challenging. I love going there. We were able to pull off the win there last year and pull off a little bit of strategy and that’s always going to be a big part of Pocono and racing in general. It’s going to be a matter of how to figure out how to make it to the end and keeps the fenders on. It’s been pretty treacherous the last couple of races so we’ve got to figure out how to keep our Scott Products Chevrolet clean.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 95 FDNY FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – 27TH IN STANDINGS
“I love Pocono, because it’s a lot like a road race. There are three corners that are completely different. I like the fact that you actually have to downshift. That helps me with rhythm and getting the car to feel good. I feel like we have a bit of an edge more so than other places just because of the rhythm you get into shifting. Last year we had a pretty strong showing there and had good speed. The good thing about Pocono is there is a lot of strategy, and also the track is so long that you’re not really fighting to stay on the lead lap, so you can be pretty aggressive with your strategy. That makes for a lot of fun during the race and some crazy restarts.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER/CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – 28TH IN STANDINGS
“Pocono is one of those tracks that you can – depending on where you are running with the leader or close to the leader – you can pit and stay on the lead lap. Strategy there with the stage racing is really going to be critical to how it plays out when you pit. If you’re maybe not in position to get points in that stage, you can still pit and stay on the lead lap and restart up front. There is going to be a lot of strategy we are going to have to play through as the race evolves, keeps changing.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2015): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-2015)
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
Drivers Championships
Total (1949 – 2016): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005 – ’11)
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
Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)
2017 STATISTICS:
Wins: 6
Poles: 2
Laps Led: 1,081
Top-five finishes: 23
Top-10 finishes: 44
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 771 (1949 – to date)
Poles Won to Date: 690
Laps Lead to Date: 229,554
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,897
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 7,997
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,106
Chevrolet: 771
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 753
Ford: 653
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 97
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About Chevrolet:
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with 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.
