TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
PENNZOIL 400 PRESENTED BY JIFFY LUBE
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
March 3, 2019
BOWTIE BULLETS
WEST COAST SWING: 2019 marks the fifth consecutive year that the NASCAR schedule has taken the series on a ‘West Coast Swing’ visiting Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway in succession. Chevrolet has been the most successful manufacturer by earning six victories of the 12 races in the past three seasons that the series has made this mecca. One manufacturer is yet to sweep the “West Coast” swing in its current configuration.
CHEVY HISTORY AT LAS VEGAS: Chevrolet recorded its first victory at the 1.5-mile track in 2001 when Jeff Gordon took his Chevy Monte Carlo to Winner’s Circle. Jimmie Johnson saw, and raised Gordon’s victory, by taking home three consecutive wins in ‘Sin City’ in 2005, 2006 and 2007 – a feat no other driver has been able to replicate since. Johnson added a record fourth Vegas victory in 2010. Two more Team Chevy drivers earned victories in Las Vegas in ’12 and ‘15. Throughout Chevy’s seven wins at LVMS four different Chevy nameplates have recorded Vegas wins – Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo SS, Impala and SS.
CHEVROLET WINNER’S CIRCLE: Camaro ZL1 driver, Jimmie Johnson, is not only a seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, but he is the most successful driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with four wins to his credit, including three back-to-back victories from ’05- ‘07.
QUICK TIME: In 2016, Kurt Busch recorded the track qualifying record around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a lap of 196.328 mph in his Chevrolet SS. Busch is back behind the wheel of a Chevrolet, this time a Camaro ZL1, for the 2019 season. The Las Vegas native is chasing his first victory at his home track.
TUNE-IN: The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN 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 779 wins and 700 poles in MENCS competition
- Chevrolet drivers have won seven of 22 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, has four wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (’05, ’06, ’07 & ‘10) - A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway four times
- Team Chevy drivers have scored 47 top-five and 89 top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- A Chevrolet has led 2,374 laps (43.1% of possible 5,514 laps) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – 4TH IN STANDINGS
“I was really happy with the speed both our cars had last weekend at Atlanta. That track is pretty unique, so I don’t know if you can jump to any conclusions off of that one week, but I think we’re in a good place to start off the year. The track at Las Vegas has a lot of grip, so I’m not sure if being stuck in dirty air will be as bad as it was in Atlanta, but one thing we learned is it’s pretty important to qualify up front and do what you can to stay up front. I’m excited to head out west to three tracks I really like, and am looking forward to some good races.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 STAR NURSERY CAMARO ZL1 – 8TH IN STANDINGS
ON WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO WIN AT HIS HOME TRACK:
“I would love to win there. I have always put too much pressure on myself at Vegas. Now with the second date in the Playoffs that helps with the routine and getting that track to feel like all the others when we are out on the tour. So, I’m hoping so. In 2005, I did finish third, the two guys in front of me were illegal afterwards, so with the new rules, I would have won it. So, maybe we will just be in position again, be right there.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – 13TH IN STANDINGS
“They are going to be completely different. I think Vegas you will be wide open with the new package for quite a while and Atlanta you are going to lose grip in a hurry. I don’t know. I didn’t get to do any of the tests with this new package so I don’t really know what to expect, but I would imagine those two places will be quite different.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – 16TH IN STANDINGS
“Focusing on Vegas, we learned a lot during the test. Passing was pretty easy until you got to the leader, but I don’t think track position will be as important as it was in the past. Drivers are going to have to be comfortable racing three-wide. My spotter (Earl Barban) is going to be a busy guy like he was at Daytona. There was only a handful of teams out at the test, so I am interested to see what the racing looks like when you get 40 of us out there.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1 – 17TH IN STANDINGS
“We haven’t had the best result at Vegas the last few visits, but I think we can go out there and have a solid run. Jimmie (Johnson) tested their during the off season, so we will take a look at the notes from the test and try to go there and perform. The test was only 14 cars, so it’s not a full indication of what to expect, but it’s really the same for everyone as far as the unknowns. It’s going to be a good test because everyone will be in the same boat when it comes to track time and notes of the package.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 – 18TH IN STANDINGS
ON LEARNING FROM THE VEGAS TEST:
“I would say so. We can look at how they drafted around each other in traffic, and while it was less cars, we can see how they dealt with that stuff because it is going to be fairly similar I think. I would say we can look back at that info and try to learn from it so we’re better prepared when we get to Vegas.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 – 19TH IN STANDINGS
“I think that we’re definitely going to see a difference in the racing at Las Vegas with this new package. Restarts and the first 10-15 laps are going to be wild. You’re going to see a lot of three-wide racing and a lot of aggressive moves. Drivers know that will be the window of time to make up a whole lot of ground. That’s not to say that you won’t be able to gain anything on a long run because handling will still come into play. We are going to get 30 or 40 laps into a run and the leader will not have lapped the 18th-place car by that point. All of those guys are still going to be very much in contention throughout a run, which will make it intense when someone in the middle of the field bobbles or makes a mistake. It’s going to be tough for him not to lose five spots. This package is really going to showcase the talent and presence of a driver. It will really suit aggressive drivers like myself. I think that this is a big opportunity for our GEICO Camaro ZL1 team, and we’re ready to take it head on.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 – 22ND IN STANDINGS
“I think when somebody gets side-by-side it really helps the third-place guy. Obviously, being faster is a key part of that. Speed is king so we’ll be trying to work on our cars to get them as fast as we can to be able to pull out and make moves. I think the air works a lot differently than it used to with having the air ducts in the front so learning that is going to be pretty key. I think learning the air is still a work in progress and once we figure that out, we’ll have a better idea of what we can and cannot get away with. I’m really pumped to have Danny Stockman as my crew chief this year. He’s a guy that was really good in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series and I think finding that balance shift between aero is going to be something he is good at. I’m really excited about it.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 NATURAL LIGHT NATURDAYS CAMARO ZL1 – 24TH IN STANDINGS
ON LEARNING FROM THE VEGAS TEST:
“It was good to get a car on-track early this season at the Vegas test. The test went really well. They had good speed and came back with ideas to work on to try and fine tune and get a little better. I feel like that was definitely beneficial to be able to have Ryan out there to get some information early on this season. When we go back to Vegas at least we are not in the dark. We will tune it in from the test and also from Atlanta. We won’t have much time to get ready, but it will be a fast one. That is a high grip, very fast 1.5-mile. That will be a completely different style race track from Atlanta despite the fact they are the same length.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 – 25TH IN STANDINGS
“I think Vegas was more to show that we definitely have plenty of speed in our race cars. I feel like our cars drive really well by themselves. Going to Atlanta, I just think it’s probably going to play into what we have right now until we learn what we need for the draft and it will hopefully help us start the season off really strong. This package, it’s pretty good, I’m excited about it.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 – 29TH IN STANDINGS
ON THE DIFFERENCE IN ATLANTA AND VEGAS:
“I think we are going to see two totally different races. Atlanta, I think, is going to lean itself to the old fashion mechanical grip and the car has really got to be in the race track good to hang on and have good drive ability and race ability. When we get to Vegas, I think speed is going to transition a lot and it’s going to be funny to see how everybody chases it versus drive ability. We saw a good amount of trade off one way or the other at the Vegas test and that separates those two 1.5-miles substantially. So, it’s going to be fun who can hit on it and who doesn’t and then watch everybody try to get by any given weekend if they do miss it to figure out how to manage to get the best results they can.”
Chevrolet Monster Energy NASCAR 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)
2019 STATISTICS:
Wins: 0
Poles: 1
Laps Led: 194
Top-five finishes: 1
Top-10 finishes: 7
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 779 (1949 – to date)
Poles Won to Date: 700
Laps Led to Date: 232,450
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,970
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 8,179
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,114
Chevrolet: 779
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 778
Ford: 678
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 124
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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.
