TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
GOODYEAR 400
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
MAY 9, 2021
RACE #12 – DARLINGTON RACEWAY
All three NASCAR National Series will be in action at Darlington Raceway as part of NASCAR’s annual Throwback Weekend.
Chevrolet drivers will seek to corral the 42nd NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) victory for the Bowtie Brand in the 120th race on the 1.366-mile oval in the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 9. Austin Dillon’s runner-up finish in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE led four Team Chevy drivers in the top-10 in the 293-lap race in September 2020.
Chevrolet, with five wins this season, sits atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Manufacturer Standings heading into the Steakhouse Elite 200 on Saturday, May 8. Jeb Burton, who won the Series’ last race at Talladega Superspeedway in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS, is fourth in the Driver Standings. Reigning NXS champion Justin Haley is fifth. Haley will also compete in the Goodyear 400 in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Camaro ZL1 1LE.
Chevrolet drivers will compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) LiftKits4Less.com 200 on Friday, May 7. Ross Chastain was runner-up last week at Kansas Speedway in the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevy Silverado. Heading into the Series’ eighth race on the 2021 schedule, reigning champion Sheldon Creed sits fourth in the Driver Standings.
BYRON SETS CUP RECORD
At just 23-years-old, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Chevy driver William Byron became the youngest driver in NCS history to record nine consecutive top-10 finishes with his ninth place at Kansas Speedway. Byron’s streak started with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February.
Byron advanced one position to third in the Driver Standings. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate, reigning NCS Champion Chase Elliott, also moved up one spot to seventh. Kyle Larson, who led a field-high 132 laps at Kansas Speedway, remained ninth in points.
MOVING UP
Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick gained four spots in the Driver Standings to 18th with his seventh-place finish at Kanas Speedway. Reddick has four top-10’s in the past five races. Teammate Austin Dillon has posted three consecutive top-10 finishes.
ON THE WAY TO THE GREEN
With no practice or qualifying for the race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results.
Team Chevy’s Top-20 Starters:
5th William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Throwback Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Throwback Camaro ZL1 1LE
9th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE
10th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Joe Nichols/Quartz Hill Records Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Throwback Camaro ZL1 1LE
15th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Camping World Throwback Camaro ZL1 1LE
17th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
18th Ross Chastain, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE
19th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Throwback Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet has 798 NASCAR Cup Series wins to lead all manufacturers.
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 47 top-10 finishes this season.
· In addition to its manufacturer-leading 41 wins at Darlington Raceway, Chevrolet has amassed 190 top-five and 399 top-10 finishes.
· Kyle Larson has an average finish of 6.7 in six starts at Darlington Raceway, which tops all active drivers.
· Kurt Busch earned the first of his 28 NCS career poles at Darlington in September 2001.
· Kurt Busch is tied for most starts at Darlington among active drivers with 26.
· Austin Dillon leads NCS drivers with 99.93% of laps completed (3,050 of 3,052).
· Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams with 14 wins at Darlington.
· Chase Elliott (Daytona Road Course), William Byron (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 2, Kansas Speedway) have stage wins.
TUNE IN
FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, May 9. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Steakhouse Elite 200 at 1 p.m. ET Saturday, May 8. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series LiftKits4Less.com 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, May 7.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF RACING AT DARLINGTON:
“Darlington is a track that is known for its old, worn-out surface and how hard it is on tires. You’re always elbows up at that place, but you also have to know when to press forward and when to manage your equipment so you’re not over taxing your tires. I’ve tried to manage that as best as I can, but that’s what makes Darlington such a tough track. It’s not an easy task while, at the same time, it’s easy to lose focus for a moment and that’s all it takes to end your day. Hopefully, this weekend we’ll have the setup we need, and then it’s up to me to get the most I can out of the Valvoline Chevy while making sure we’re around in the end of it.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT ON DARLINGTON:
“I enjoy Darlington. I am a performance guy so if it goes well, I probably liked it that trip and if it didn’t, then I probably don’t. Last year, I feel like we had a solid run and had a shot at it there at the end. Martin (Truex Jr.) and I ended up wrecking coming to the closing 10 laps for the lead. I was definitely playing defense; he was on me and was making a good run. So, there’s room for improvement, obviously. You want to be fast enough where that guy behind you is nowhere close. That’s where I want to be and that’s how you want to position yourself at the end of those races, if you can. We can definitely be better, but I was pleased with our speed last year. We had some really good runs and were certainly solid, so we have something good to build off of.”
ELLIOTT ON COMING TO DARLINGTON FOR THROWBACK WEEKEND:
“I think it’s such a great event. I’ve enjoyed the vibe around it and the throwback schemes are all pretty cool. We are looking forward to running the Alan Kulwicki Hooters paint scheme this year. I know Hooters has been excited to do this scheme for a while so it’s great to see it come to life.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 9th IN STANDINGS
LARSON ON HIS DARLINGTON THROWBACK SCHEME:
“Every year when the throwback race comes around, you try to think of past NASCAR paint schemes, so it was really cool that Hendrick Motorsports and Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) allowed me to throwback to my first go-kart. My dad picked out the paint scheme when I was racing and, as a kid, I always wanted something different. Now as I have gotten older, I appreciate that he kept our cars looking consistent with the orange and the white until we got new sponsors. So, it’s cool to have the orange and white with the faded blues for Darlington.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
DANIELS ON THE RULES PACKAGE FOR DARLINGTON:
“There’s some notes from last year we’re going to try to pull from, but it’s so different with the aero and horsepower package. All three races last year were the high drag, high downforce and low horsepower package. Coming back this weekend with no practice and the low downforce-high horsepower package is a completely different ballgame. There’s a fine balance between the drivability and turn you look for at Darlington that we’re hoping to achieve. We’ve dug into some historical notes and the trends from 2018, which is the last time we raced there with this aero and power package. It’s such a long race that we’ll just have to tune on the car as we progress through it.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS
HOW DOES DARLINGTON SUIT YOUR RACING STYLE?
“I think long races in the past have fit my racing style. There is plenty of time to make the car better during a long race, and all of our wins have come in races 500 miles or more. So, I think that bodes well for Darlington. We like the long-distance races and it’s a place that falls off. RCR has always been known for a long run speed. Short run speed is something that we’ve struggled with, but we’re trying to change. It’s nice that we’re going to place that long run speed matters a bit.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
“Ally being open to doing whatever throwback I wanted to do this year was really cool. Being able to honor Greg (Ives) this weekend in Darlington is going to be really special. It was really fun being able to surprise him a few weeks ago and to have his family from back home involved was the icing on top. The seafoam Chevrolet will look good on track and even better up front on Sunday.”
“Darlington is one of those tracks where you can’t get caught up in racing the other guys. This is a place where you have to race the track and adjust your car to what you need on track. We ran well there last year and I think we have a good notebook to carry on to this weekend’s race. Tire management is key in Darlington and will be something to look after on Sunday.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE
“Going to 400 miles for this race at Darlington doesn’t really change any strategy. It maybe just changes how many laps are in the stage and how many laps you are going to run on tires. It is definitely grueling on the drivers as well with the heat that is expected down there in Darlington. It is definitely a fun racetrack and I don’t know many drivers that don’t like racing down there. You end up racing the racetrack instead of racing the drivers at that place. Green flag passes are going to be difficult with just how hard the racing is there. We are looking to getting down there with our throwback scheme. I know Alex (Bowman), Ally and everyone on the team is looking forward to Darlington.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 JOE NICHOLS/QUARTZ HILL RECORDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 18th IN STANDINGS
WE RAN MULTIPLE RACES AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY LAST YEAR, BUT THIS YEAR WE’LL BE GOING BACK WITH THE LOW-DOWNFORCE PACKAGE. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
“I love the change in the aero package for this race at Darlington Raceway. I really enjoy races where we’re in the gas, sliding around and up by the fence, so I’m excited about this Sunday. Anytime I watch highlights of Cup racing from 2017 or 2018 at any 1.5-mile track, I see the drivers lifting and getting sideways, and it looks so fun. I just love these low downforce races on these fast tracks. They’re a lot of fun. I’m really excited to see what that means for us and our team, considering the momentum we’re coming into the weekend with after four top-10 finishes in the last five races.”
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR THROWBACK PAINT SCHEME FOR SUNDAY’S RACE?
“I really enjoy Darlington’s Throwback weekend and have had a lot of fun with the schemes I’ve ran in the past. This one we’re running in honor of Marty Robbins’ 1972-1973 pink and yellow machine was one that came together quickly, but I think it’s a really cool way to celebrate the crossover between country music and NASCAR, which is a pretty big one. Marty Robbins was quite literally an intersection between the two, winning three GRAMMY awards but also running 35 NASCAR Cup races. It’s cool to be able honor his legacy while also continuing to promote the country music NASCAR fans love so much with Quartz Hill Records and Joe Nichols’ new single, ‘Home Run.’”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 22nd IN STANDINGS
WITH SUNDAY BEING MOTHER’S DAY, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MOM (ROSALINDA) GROWING UP?
“She’s the cool mom. When you’re in elementary or middle school, you always have a couple of friends that you know as a group you can go to their house and hang out. She was that mom. Everybody was welcome and she liked having a bunch of us at the house for parties and things like that.”
HOW SUPPORTIVE HAS YOUR MOM BEEN DURING YOUR CAREER?
“She’s very supportive of my career. She doesn’t come from racing, so when I first started racing go-karts and things like that, she wasn’t that into it, but now she likes it because she knows that I love it. She’s been there for me during the good and bad days. Even though she can’t really speak English, when she comes to races here in the United States, people can still always tell that she’s a very sweet person and that she’s supportive of me.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THROWBACK WEEKEND AT DARLINGTON?
“I love the weekend. I love taking about racing and the history of racing. Seeing the old paint schemes is really cool. I think it is great to celebrate NASCAR’s history.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 STP CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS
THOUGHTS GOING INTO DARLINGTON AS A PAST WINNER AT THE TRACK?
“Darlington (Raceway) is high on my list of favorites. I would have always said that Bristol (Motor Speedway) was my favorite track, but I think as far as the way we have run at places throughout my career, I think Darlington has been the best track for me. I always look forward to it. The tires really fall off there and over the long runs, you can save your stuff at the beginning and make some ground as the run moves forward. I enjoy that part of the race a lot.
“The history of that track too – it is always fun going there. It still has such an old-school feel when you go to that track. It’s always fun to go there and get to race.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 IN MEMORY OF ALAN KULWICKI CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS
“I’m really excited to get to Darlington Raceway this weekend with our Zerex Chevy Camaro and honor Alan Kulwicki. Darlington is one of the staples on our schedule. It’s really cool to go back there on Mother’s Day for the throwback weekend. We’re going there with a low-downforce, high-horsepower package so we’ll be slipping and sliding around like we did back in 2017. We should put on a good show for the fans. I’m excited to continue showing what we’re capable of. Hopefully, we can start putting some results on the board for Spire Motorsports. We’ve run a lot better than our results show and we’ll continue building on that at Darlington this weekend.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2020): 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 (1949-2020): 32
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Most Recent: Chase Elliott (2020)
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, 2020
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2021 STATISTICS:
Wins: 3
Poles: 1
Laps Led: 916
Top-five finishes: 18
Top-10 finishes: 47
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 798 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 718
Laps led to date: 237,621
Top-five finishes to date: 4,083
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,449
Stage wins: 5 Chase Elliott (Daytona RC), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Kyle Larson (Atlanta x2, Kansas)
Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date
General Motors: 1,132
Chevrolet: 798
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 808
Ford: 708
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 156Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. Chevrolet models include electric and 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 www.chevrolet.com.
