TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
DRYDENE 400
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DOVER, DELAWARE
MAY 16, 2021
RACE #13 – DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Team Chevy drivers will seek to extend recent and historic success as Dover International Speedway plays host to the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) this weekend. Chevrolet has 41 NCS victories to lead all manufacturers at the 1-mile concrete oval that features 24 degrees of banking in the turns. The Drydene 400 on Sunday, May 16, will be the 103rd NCS race at Dover, which has held two NCS races every year since 1971.
Kyle Larson, coming off a runner-up finish at Darlington Raceway in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, paces active drivers with an average finish of 7.4 in 12 starts. That includes a win and third place in 2019 and a pair of second-place finishes. Reigning NCS champion Chase Elliott won at the track in 2018 and has recorded seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts.
Career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson is the all-time leader with 11 victories at the track. Chevrolet drivers won six races in a row from June 2013 to October 2015.
Chevrolet remains atop the NXS Manufacturer Standings through nine races heading into the Drydene 200 on Saturday, May 14. Justin Allgaier, who drove the No. 7 JR Motorsports Camaro SS to victory lane last weekend at Darlington Raceway, won the opener of the August 2020 doubleheader at Dover. He also captured the win at the venue in 2018. Heading into the Series’ 10th race on the 2021 schedule, Team Chevy drivers occupy the fourth through ninth spots in the standings.
BYRON EXTENDS CUP RECORD
With his fourth-place finish last weekend at Darlington Raceway, William Byron, 23, became the youngest driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to record 10 consecutive top-10 finishes. The impressive streak makes Byron just the fourth driver in Hendrick Motorsports’ history to record 10 or more consecutive top-10 finishes for the organization in NASCAR’s premier series. Byron’s streak started with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February and is the longest by a Hendrick Motorsports’ driver since Jeff Gordon in 2007.
Byron remains third in the Driver Standings. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, who was runner-up at Darlington, moved up three spots to sixth. Reigning NCS champion Chase Elliott is eighth heading into the Dover race weekend.
CREED TOPS THE FIELD
Reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion Sheldon Creed earned his first victory of the season and first at Darlington Raceway in the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado. With his recent win, the California-native secures his spot in the 2021 NCWTS Playoffs and his chance to defend the championship title. NCWTS Chevrolet drivers will return to action May 22 at Circuit of the Americas.
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:
3rd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
4th Kyle Larson, No. 5 NationsGuard Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
12th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 CAT Linkage Pins Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Huk Performance Fishing Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
19th Ross Chastain, No. 42 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS.
· Chevrolet has 798 NASCAR Cup Series wins to lead all manufacturers.
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 50 top-10 finishes this season.
· In addition to its 41 wins at Dover International Speedway, Chevrolet has amassed 205 top-five and 389 top-10 finishes.
· On Oct. 7, 2018, Chase Elliott became the youngest race winner at Dover (22 years, 10 months, 9 days).
· Career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson is the last driver to win at Dover from the pole or first starting position (Sept. 26, 2010).
· Jimmie Johnson is the all-time leader with 3,113 laps led at Dover.
· Kurt Busch has the most starts at Dover among active drivers with 41.
· Kurt Busch (September 2000) and Ross Chastain (June 2017) made their first NCS start at Dover.
· Austin Dillon has completed 99.88% of race laps (3,341 of 3,345).
· Hendrick Motorsports leads all organizations with 20 wins among six drivers at Dover.
· Chase Elliott (Daytona Road Course), William Byron (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 2, Kansas Speedway) have scored stage wins.
TUNE IN
FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Drydene 400 live at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, May 16. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Drydene 200 at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, May 15.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON HIS OUTLOOK OF RACING AT DOVER:
“Dover is just a tough, tough place. There are drastic shifts in the track and you have to be able to pick up on those trends early in a run. I feel like we have a good package prepared for Dover, though. It goes back to the Chad Knaus days with Jimmie (Johnson) while incorporating in some of Chase (Elliott’s) feedback with his success there. We’ve had really fast cars there and I feel like we’re able to take those setup notes and morph it into something that fits all of our driving styles. I think, because of that, we’ll be strong there again. I feel like there is no reason why we wouldn’t be. It’s going to be about making your car turn in the right spots and not get it too loose, because once it’s too loose, it’s just a real handful.”
RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FUGLE ON RACING AT DOVER:
“I think Dover is pretty unique. It’s got its own characteristics and they kind of apply to everything, no matter what you’re racing there. I think a lot of those characteristics and those thoughts can be applied to a Cup car, and I can use all these great notes from Hendrick Motorsports. Obviously, they’ve had a lot of success here in the past, so you add those things together and, hopefully, get a winning race car.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGS
LARSON ON SUCCESS AT DOVER:
“Dover has always been a good track for me. I’ve led a lot of laps and finished in the top-10 a lot of times there. I’m definitely excited to race at Dover this weekend, and definitely excited to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car there. They’ve run well there for a long time now. It’s a fast track and you have to keep up with the changing track conditions during a run. It’s aggressive, so I like it.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE
DANIELS ON WORKING WITH JOHNSON AT DOVER AND NOW LARSON:
“There are a few things that Jimmie really looked for in a car at Dover. Comparing their driving styles, there are some things we can tweak for Kyle. Hendrick Motorsports has a great history at Dover. Assuming we do our homework correctly, we can run well there Sunday.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT ON SUCCESS AT DOVER:
“Last year was unfortunate. We got caught up in a wreck pretty early and were done for the day, but we have had some good runs at the track in the past. Hendrick has had fast cars at Dover, too, and I know I’ve said it before but I think Jimmie (Johnson) is one of the biggest reasons for that success. He was so good at Dover and gave all of us such a good baseline to start each race weekend. We look forward to getting back this weekend and, hopefully, having a good run.”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
GUSTAFSON ON RACING AT DOVER:
“I always look forward to going to Dover. I have always liked the track and like racing there. Outside of our win, we have a pretty good track record at Dover, so we are looking forward to seeing what we have for Sunday.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 HUK PERFORMANCE FISHING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGS
DOES DOVER DRIVE LIKE A GIANT BRISTOL OR NOT SO MUCH?
“Not so much. There’s a lot of aero stuff that comes into play at Dover because you’re going so fast. You see different lines come into play as the rubber builds up. It’s always fun on a long run when you can run way up by the fence and find speed. I’m looking forward to it.”
HOW HARD IS THAT WHEN YOU PICK UP RUBBER DURING THE CAUTIONS?
“Yeah, it’s just a process that we go through every week that we have to try and balance our car around. It can get difficult at times, but Dover is a place where it’s fun.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN ON WHY HE LOVES RACING AT DOVER:
“This weekend, we are going to a track that has previously been pretty good for our team. Dover is one of my favorite places to go because it is a physically demanding race. It is demanding on both the driver and the car, so you really have to make sure that you take care of your stuff all day. We haven’t had the best of luck the past few weeks, but this Ally team is going into this week with a positive mindset and looking for a reset.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES ON STARTING FRESH AT DOVER:
“Dover is a great place to get to with our Ally Chevrolet. We have some good notes to go off of, especially from last season. We are looking to go to Dover and continue to march forward. We are starting 16th, which is further back than we would have wanted but we have come from the back before. We have to go into this weekend with a positive mindset and put that last few weeks behind us.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGS
“As much as teams maybe want to look back at Bristol to make things better at Dover, I don’t know how much you really can. We just didn’t get it right for the doubleheader at Dover last year. We were decent in the first race but didn’t make the right adjustments for Day 2 and went the wrong way. That was low-downforce race last year, which we have again this year, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping that some of the gains we made that made us really good at Bristol in the fall last year will apply to Dover for us this time around. I really like Dover and have had some good success there in the Trucks and Xfinity cars. Mistakes have just been made here and there along the way at Dover, but I’m hoping that narrative changes this weekend. I do love the track, and I love going up there. It’s a fast concrete oval, and it’s really demanding.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 23rd IN STANDINGS
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON DOVER?
“Actually, Dover is one of my favorite tracks that we go to. It’s so much fun and the feeling you get inside the car is pretty incredible. It’s also been one of my best tracks, statistically. My expectations are really high for this weekend because I have run so well in the past there.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT COME WITH RACING AT DOVER?
“Dover (International Speedway) is a tough a place for a lot of reasons. Physically, it is probably one of the tougher races of the season for the driver. It is fast and rough. The track bounces you and throws you all around in the car, so that is always tough on your body. To get your car driving well is always hard, as well. The transitions into the corners are really big and it is kind of like falling off a cliff when you drive down into turns one and three. It is always a little bit of a difficult time to get your car really doing what you want it to do. It’s definitely physically one of the toughest races of the year.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 DRYDENE PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS
“Dover is one of the most unique tracks we go to on the schedule. We’re taking the 750 hp package back like we had last weekend, which will make the groove get wider to the second and third lane as you try to put the power down. The big transition from the banking to the straightaways always play into who can manage that best throughout the day. We had a solid car last week at Darlington and we’ll bring a setup similar this week. Dover is a place where I’ve been in Victory Lane (in a K&N car), so I always have more confidence rolling into the Monster Mile. I’m really excited to have Drydene back on the car for the Drydene 400 weekend. They’ve been a great supporter of mine for the past couple years of my career, so it’s awesome to continue that relationship and grow it with Spire Motorsports.”
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: 929
Top-five finishes: 20
Top-10 finishes: 50
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 798 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 718
Laps led to date: 237,634
Top-five finishes to date: 4,085
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,452
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: 157Team 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.
