TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
JULY 19, 2020
Race #18: Texas
Originally slated to be a March appearance for NASCAR’s premier series, the revised NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule continues on with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 19th. The 334-lap, 500-mile race at the 1.5-mile Texas oval now marks the 18th race on the tour.
With NASCAR continuing to take steps in the return of guests to its events, the Texas Motor Speedway event will play a part in the process. With the state allowing 50 percent capacity, the Texas oval grandstands and camping will be open to race fans, subject to social distancing requirements and additional safety measures in place. The NASCAR race weekend will be the first major league sports event in the state of Texas to be open to fans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet has made 13 trips to victory lane in NASCAR’s Premier Series at Texas Motor Speedway. Other statistics of note for the bowtie brand’s history at the 1.5-mile oval include 68 top-five’s, 162 top-10’s and 4,265 laps led.
· Victories by current Chevrolet drivers include: Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, with 7 wins (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 sweep and 2017), Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE with 2 wins (2002 and 2011), and Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1, with one win (2009).
· Of the 38 NASCAR Cup Series events that have been held at Texas Motor Speedway, four different manufacturers have led the field to the green from the pole position, with Chevrolet leading the way capturing 15 poles. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads active drivers in NCS Busch Pole Awards at Texas with three (2015, 2017, 2018).
· Chevrolet team Hendrick Motorsports sits on top the leaderboard in NCS wins by teams at Texas Motor Speedway with nine trips to victory lane.
TEXAS RECORDBOOK
Career Chevrolet driver, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, is no stranger to topping the leaderboard in statistics and his history at Texas Motor Speedway does just that. Of his 33 starts in NASCAR’s premier series at the speedway, Johnson leads the series in wins making seven trips to victory lane – a winning percentage of 21.2%. Three NCS drivers in history have captured consecutive wins at Texas, with Johnson leading the way with three (2014 Playoff race and the 2015 sweep). Johnson also leads the series in runner-up finishes with five, top-five finishes with 16, and top-10 finishes with 22 in his career. Of the 81 different drivers that have led laps at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson tops the leaderboard by leading 1,152 laps thus far. He’s also captured the current title of series-best in fastest laps run with 728 and laps in the top-15 with 7,185.
STARTING LINEUP
The format for this weekend’s NCS event continues on as a one-day show with no practice and no qualifying. Owner points and a random draw have again set the starting lineup. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:
3rd Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
12th Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Cash App Camaro ZL1 1LE
18th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-IN
NBCSN will telecast the 334-lap race live at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 19th. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 L1E – 4th IN STANDINGS
“Texas is a hot place. This time of year, I think everywhere is probably going to be hot, it always is. From the hydration standpoint, that’s always important. Preparing to sweat a lot is another big thing. As far as the track goes, I don’t expect the racing to look a whole lot different just because it’s hot. I think it will be really similar to what we’ve seen there in the past. The repave has been a big-time struggle for us. We just need to settle in and try to find some consistency and get going a little better. It’s such a unique place now with the ends being so different and how you want to configure your car.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 9th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON WHAT MAKES TEXAS DIFFERENT.
“Texas is different because since they reconfigured it, it’s just really tricky down in turns one and two. In turns three and four, you’re just wide open. Turns one and two are just really flat and different. It’s not the normal 1.5-mile track shape. It started widening out there in the fall and hopefully it continues to move in that direction this year.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON HIS SUCCESS AT TEXAS.
“I don’t know why I’ve always been so good at Texas Motor Speedway other than it’s one of the tracks I’ve raced at the most in my career. We always bring fast cars which definitely helps especially with the amount of grip the track has. I would say it’s just a bit of luck that Texas just suits me. I really like that place and it seems to like me as well. Hopefully we will have a good run there this weekend.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER/E-Z-GO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGS
TELL US ABOUT RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS, SUCH AS KANSAS SPEEDWAY?
“Texas Motor Speedway is a bit different from Kansas Speedway in that it has two different ends. You have one end that’s very banked and has high speeds, and then you have a hard end where you have to get turned and get back on the gas. Texas Motor Speedway just has so much grip now. It’s quite a bit different, and the banking has changed a lot from the old track to the new track. I really like Texas and am looking forward to getting there. It’s going to be really important to run well and to have a good finish because we are still battling to make it into the Playoffs. Our cars have been strong on 1.5-mile tracks this year, and we will look to some of that speed to try and get the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER/E-Z-GO Chevy into Victory Lane.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT OIL & GAS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS
“Texas Motor Speedway is a fun place to race and a track I’ve come close to winning at in the past in the other series, but always seem to come up one or two spots short. So, I’m really looking forward to this weekend and competing in my first NASCAR Cup Series race there this Sunday with our No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet. Texas is a little similar to Kansas Speedway, where you can have a lot of balance changes in your car during a run. You have to manage your car and its changes during a run really well in order to be successful there. Moving around throughout a run will also still be important at Texas, and we’ve seen the PJ1 open up a couple lanes in the past, so we should be able to put on a good show this weekend.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS
“I’m really looking forward to Texas. The hot weather on this track surface is going to be interesting. It is going to take a good car with a lot of grip to be successful. We had a great GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE in Kentucky that we are now turning around to use at Texas on Sunday. Hopefully our Germain Racing team can keep the momentum rolling from the really fast race car we had last weekend.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 28th IN STANDINGS
“Texas will be a big challenge this weekend. Day race, in Fort Worth, in the middle of July… you know it’s going to be a really hot and slick race track. Conditions are going to be extremely hot inside the car as well. Like most of the mile-and-a-half tracks we go to these days, track position is going to be extremely important. I feel we’ve made gains over the past few weeks and think if we execute well we can put our McDonald’s McDelivery Chevrolet in the mix on Sunday.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2019): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)
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 (1949-2019): 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 (2007)
2020 STATISTICS:
Wins: 2
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,194
Top-five finishes: 22
Top-10 finishes: 57
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 788 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 717
Laps led to date: 235,500
Top-five finishes to date: 4,036
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,339
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,122
Chevrolet: 788
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 796
Ford: 696
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 148
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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.
