Circuit of The Americas
Sunday, May 23, 2021
3.41-Mile Road Course
2:30 PM ET
Location: Austin, Texas
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (14 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM PRN
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 5th
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
HALFWAY THERE: Through 13 of 26 NASCAR Cup Series regular season races, Kyle Larson has one win, six top-five finishes (which rank second in the Cup Series), eight top-10s and currently sits fifth in the driver point standings. He has the most stage victories this season (six) of all Cup Series drivers and has accumulated 11 playoff points – the second-most of any driver.
LEADER OF THE PACK: The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has led 774 laps through 13 races – the most among all Cup competitors. That total is the third-most Larson has led in a single season during his career and is just eight shy of his second-best total which he accomplished in 2018. His career-high of 1,352 laps led occurred in 36 races during the 2017 campaign.
FOUR SCORE: Larson has finished first or second in four of 13 races this season. The 2014 rookie of the year won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and posted second-place finishes at Dover International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
RC RACING: While this weekend marks NASCAR’s first event at Circuit of The Americas, Larson has 15 previous starts on road courses in the Cup Series including one top-five finish – fourth at Watkins Glen International in 2014 – and four top-10s. Larson has three pole positions – all at Sonoma Raceway – and two stage victories (third-most of all-time) in those starts. In sports cars, the 28-year-old driver competed in the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014 through 2016 and was victorious in 2015.
ROAD COURSE REARVIEW: Earlier this year on the DAYTONA Road Course, Larson was battling for second with just over seven laps to go when he spun into a tire barrier. While the No. 5 crew was able to fix the damage, the Elk Grove, California, native ultimately finished 30th in the 70-lap race.
NEARING A TOP-10: Larson has a 10.4 average running position in 2021 – the sixth-best average in the Cup Series. That average factors in position scored in all 3,745 laps run in NASCAR’s premier series this year. To better understand Larson’s average, 5% of it is scored as 40th since the No. 5 entry experienced engine issues at the start of the Talladega race and completed only three of 191 laps.
YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. From the convenience of home, customers can select the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HendrickCars.com. The website also makes it easy for customers to find one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 93 dealership locations nationwide.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 7th
No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
ROAD COURSE WARRIOR: Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, is set to make his 14th Cup Series start on a road course this weekend at Circuit of The Americas. In his previous 13 races, he has collected the most wins (five) and stage wins (six) of active drivers. Elliott has garnered six top-five finishes, eight top-10s and a total of 284 laps led at road courses. He also remains the youngest road course winner at 22 years, 8 months, 8 days. Last season, Elliott swept both races on road courses (DAYTONA Road Course and Charlotte ROVAL) and led the most laps (61) on these tracks.
ROAD COURSE DOMINANCE: Elliott’s wins at Watkins Glen (2018, 2019), Charlotte ROVAL (2019, 2020) and DAYTONA Road Course (2020) account for five of the last eight road course victories. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native also holds the best average finish (9.85) on road courses of active drivers and ninth-best all-time average.
COTA TEST: In March, Elliott and the No. 9 team participated in a one-day tire test at COTA. The test was the first time NASCAR Cup Series cars have been on track at the 20-turn road course in Austin, Texas. Click here for Elliott’s thoughts on the test.
GUSTAFSON ON ROAD COURSES: Gustafson will call his 36th road course race from atop the pit box this Sunday at COTA. In his previous 35 starts, the Florida native has garnered five wins, the most of active crew chiefs, 10 top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and 341 laps led.
THIS SEASON: The NASCAR Cup Series season has completed 13 races in the 2021 season. Elliott has posted five top-five finishes – two of which are runner-up results – seven top-10s and has led a total of 76 laps. He has one stage win and has spent 953 laps inside the top five and 2,167 laps running in the top 10.
LLUMAR RETURNS: LLumar will return to Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at COTA. Last year, Hendrick Motorsports announced Eastman Performance Films LLC, a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN), would become a primary sponsor of 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the No. 9 team after extending its relationship for three more years. Click here to check out the paint scheme.
SPEEDY STOPS: The No. 9 LLumar team owns the fourth-best average time for four-tire pit stops at 13.76 seconds through 13 races in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The team is comprised of jackman T.J. Semke, gasman John Gianninoto, tire carrier Jared Erspamer and tire changers Chad Avrit and Nick O’Dell.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 2nd
No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
STILL STREAKING: After another top-five finish during Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway, William Byron extended his consecutive top-10 finishes to 11 races. Dating back to his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 28, the 23-year-old driver’s top-10 streak is the longest active streak in the NASCAR Cup Series and is the most top-10 results by a Cup driver so far this season. Not only is Byron the youngest driver to hold a top-10 streak of 10 races or more, but his 11 consecutive top 10s are the longest streak by a Hendrick Motorsports driver since Jimmie Johnson’s 13-race streak from 2004-2005.
MAKING A POINT: With just over a third of the 2021 Cup Series season in the books, Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continue to be consistent every week. After 13 races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has collected one win, five top-five finishes and 11 top-10s all while leading 171 laps. With the third-best average running position throughout the Cup field of 8.35 and an average finishing position of 9.23, Byron moved up to second in the driver points standings following Dover – the highest ranking of his Cup career.
READY, PLAYER 24: After its inception last year during the pandemic, the iRacing NASCAR Pro Invitational Series resumes this Wednesday night for the fourth race of 10 in 2021 at the virtual Circuit of The Americas. Picking up where he left off last season, Byron raced to the win in the first Pro Invitational Series event this year on March 24 at the virtual Bristol dirt track. In his nine total Pro Invitational Series starts, Byron leads the field with four wins and is the only driver to win consecutive races. The driver of the No. 24 has paced the field in eight of his nine starts, leading a total of 477 out of 1178 laps – the most of all drivers.
ROAD RESULTS: This weekend will mark a new challenge for Cup Series drivers as they take on COTA for the first time. While it may be an unfamiliar track to most, Byron has stepped up his road course racing skills in the last two years, finishing in the top 10 in three of the last four races. While in the last six road course events, he has led at least 20 laps in three of those races, including leading the most laps during last year’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. In fact, Byron led the second-most laps on road courses during the 2020 season.
FUGLE FILES: With a more even playing field across the Cup Series for this weekend’s inaugural event at COTA, crew chief Rudy Fugle is no stranger to success on road courses. Already in 2021, Fugle and Byron have two road course starts together, both coming at the DAYTONA Road Course. For the Clash exhibition race, the No. 24 raced to a solid fifth-place result, but bad luck struck the team for their return trip two weeks later, resulting in a 33rd-place finish after Byron suffered a flat tire and with two laps to go. However, aside from those two road course starts in the Cup Series, Fugle has seven other road races under his belt, all coming in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In those seven starts, the Livonia, New York, native has one win (Erik Jones in 2015), three top-five finishes and five top-10s. One of those seven truck starts was also with Byron and the duo raced to a 10th-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2016.
LIBERTY U ONBOARD: Still riding a hot streak of consecutive top-10 finishes, Byron will look to extend that stat when he arrives to COTA for this weekend’s event in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Redesigned for the 2021 season, the new paint scheme features a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in communications, Byron is in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here.
48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 13th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
DOVER SUCCESS: On Sunday at Dover International Speedway, Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally team led the final 98 laps of the 400-lap event to claim their second victory of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The No. 48 is no stranger to victory lane at Dover, where seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson won 11 times. In fact, Johnson delivered the most recent No. 48 win, which came at the 1-mile venue in 2017.
PLAYOFFS BOUND: Following Sunday’s win, Bowman and the No. 48 team have moved into the seventh spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs standings. The team is currently ranked 13th in the driver standings after 13 events this season. Bowman has clinched a spot in the NCS playoffs by virtue of a win each season since 2019.
BOWMAN WINS, PETS WIN: Through the yearlong initiative between Ally and the Best Friends Animal Society, when Bowman wins a race, a local shelter receives $10,000 from him and primary sponsor Ally. Last weekend, Ally donated $10,000 and Bowman donated $1,000 to the Brandywine Valley SPCA in Dover, Delaware. The Brandywine Valley SPCA exists to end animal suffering and to involve the community in the welfare and well-being of animals. The facility in Dover is located approximately five miles from the 1-mile racing facility. Each week, Ally and Bowman each make a $1,000 donation to a local animal shelter in the race market and that donation gets bumped up if the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet clinches a victory.
LUCKY 13: In 2021, 13 races have been completed and the 28-year-old driver has two wins (Richmond, Dover), three top-five finishes, five top-10s and one pole award (DAYTONA 500). Bowman has led 109 laps in 2021, which ranks eighth this season. The No. 48 team has the 11th-best average running position (13.57) and average finish (17.54) among active drivers.
NEW WEEK, NEW TRACK: This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, for 231 miles of road course racing. Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives had the chance to visit the 3.41-mile venue in April to get acclimated to what a race weekend there would look like. Through many hours of training in both the Chevrolet simulator and on iRacing, the team has been able to prepare for possible changes and adjustments during this weekend’s event.
ROAD COURSE STATS: Bowman has 13 previous starts at road courses in the Cup Series. The driver has two top-five results and five top-10s. Bowman is tied for second with Kurt Busch for the longest active streak (two) of top-10 finishes on road courses. In four of the last nine road course races, Bowman has finished inside the top 10. While driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman has finished in the top 15 in all nine road course starts and has an average finish of 9.67. That ranks sixth best among active drivers since the start of 2018.
PIT ROAD KNACK: With two wins in 13 events this season, the No. 48 pit crew continues to be the fastest in the NASCAR Cup Series based on average four-tire stop times. The five-man over-the-wall crew has an average four-tire stop time of 13.65 seconds. On the Lap 304 pit stop during Sunday’s event at Dover, the No. 48 pit crew had the fastest four-tire pit stop of 2021 at 12.18 seconds. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
ONE TO TIE, TWO TO BREAK: Following Alex Bowman’s performance Sunday at Dover International Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports is just one win from equaling Petty Enterprises’ all-time team record for NASCAR Cup Series victories. The legendary Petty organization captured the wins record from Carl Kiekhafer Racing more than 60 years ago when Lee Petty took the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and final win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999, in the organization’s 1,703rd race. Since its inception in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 267 points-paying Cup Series wins and currently needs two more to break the record at NASCAR’s highest level.
HISTORIC SWEEP: At Dover, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron finished first, second, third and fourth, respectively. It was the organization’s first-ever sweep of the top-four finishing positions in a race and marked only the fourth time in NASCAR Cup Series history that any team accomplished it. At Titusville-Cocoa Speedway in December 1956, Peter DePaolo Racing’s five-car effort became the first to record a top-four sweep and repeated the achievement in April 1957 at North Wilkesboro. Forty-eight years later, Roush Fenway Racing did it in 2005 with four of its five entries at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports is the only four-car team to post a 1-2-3-4 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series.
ROAD GAUGE: Entering Sunday’s inaugural race at Circuit of The Americas, Hendrick Motorsports ranks as the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series road-course victories with 20. The outfit has won road races with six different drivers: Jeff Gordon (nine), Elliott (five), Tim Richmond (three), Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Rudd and Geoff Bodine. Hendrick Motorsports also has eight stage wins on road courses, which is the most of any team.
AND THE STREAK GOES ON: Sunday’s 1-2-3-4 finish at Dover marked Hendrick Motorsports’ 31st consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race with at least one of its Chevrolets finishing inside the top 10. The top-10 streak, which dates back to last season, is currently tied with 1987-1988 for the fifth-longest in team history. Hendrick Motorsports recorded a NASCAR Cup Series record 87 top-10 finishes in a row from 2006 to 2008. In 2021, the organization has placed at least two cars inside the top 10 in 11 of 13 races, the most of anyone this season.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: With Bowman (28 years old), Byron (23) and Larson (28) already posting NASCAR Cup Series wins, Hendrick Motorsports has sent three drivers under the age of 30 to victory lane in 2021. It has occurred only two other times in NASCAR Cup Series history: Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009 and Hendrick Motorsports in 2020. No team has ever won with four different drivers under 30 in the same season. Elliott, the defending NASCAR champion, is 25.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing for the first time at Circuit of The Americas and road course racing: “I’m excited to get on track there and hopefully we’ll be fast. It looks like an awesome facility. I enjoy road course racing because it’s a nice change of pace from what we’re used to, and drivers mean a little bit more on road courses. I’ve qualified well on road courses and run okay in the race. Now that I am with Hendrick Motorsports, I hope I can race better and challenge for a win. To learn the track, I jumped on iRacing a few months back. It took a while to learn the elevation, the corners and stuff like that, but I have the corners memorized now.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on COTA: “Expectations heading into COTA are to check all the right boxes and have a good foundation with the car, which I think we do. With what the 9 (team) has developed the last few years on the road courses, our Hendrick Motorsports road course package is really strong. But you still have to make the right adjustments with the track. We hope to get a good baseline under us during practice on Saturday – give Kyle what he needs in the braking zones, the esses and the switchbacks. We’ll see how qualifying goes – I think everyone is going to go really hard, but you don’t want to take a chance, damage your car and lose your starting spot or have to pull out a backup car. We don’t really know what to expect going into the race – tire fall off and the pit strategy for stages and for the end of the race.”
Daniels on Larson using the simulator for COTA: “We did two weeks ago, and that was good. He got comfortable with the rhythm of the track, what to look for and what to expect. Of course, it will still be different when he gets in the actual race car. The 9 (team) tested there with Goodyear and a few other teams, so we have some notes from them, as well.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his impression of COTA: “Anytime you go somewhere new, a fresh road is refreshing, I feel like, for race car drivers. I enjoyed the challenge during the test earlier this year. It’s a place that I haven’t made a ton of laps, so I was just really trying to understand the right way or wrong way. It’s tough because when you’re new and you’re trying to get going, you might hit the first part of the track pretty good, then you might miss two spots somewhere else. Your lap time doesn’t tell the whole story, right? So you really have to piece that together and understand what you think you did good and what you didn’t, and then go put the pieces of the puzzle together and try to put the whole thing in the works.”
Elliott on his key learnings from the Goodyear test at COTA: “We did the Goodyear test out at COTA a couple months ago, which was fun. We got a chance to see a new racetrack. The track has a lot more elevation than I think a lot of people would think or see on tv. Turn 1 is a big hill and unless you are there to see it in person it doesn’t look like it, so way more elevation than I anticipated. It was also interesting because I felt like different parts of the track had more grip than other parts and I suppose that’s because they had to patch different areas and some areas have really old asphalt. One of the toughest things for me was understanding the level of grip at different points around the track. I think it is going to be a real challenge, obviously a real long back straightaway that we have seen in the F1 races there so that will be interesting there. I think for our cars, I’m not exactly sure how we will handle and adapt to that. Being really detailed and hitting your marks as always and trying to put together a good race and should be able to have a good result.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at COTA: “It’s a new track for us and it’s really interesting. It’s presenting new challenges. It’s exciting to be involved in that and Chase is certainly a great road racer. It’s something I enjoy and have a lot of background in road racing so it’s a lot of fun. COTA is really the first kind of modern road course. The Formula 1 cars race on this kind of wide open, lots of runoff type tracks. All their new tracks are pretty expansive, and COTA is one of those tracks. You have so much paved surface and if you do make a mistake or get into an issue, you’re not in the gravel or in the barrier and ending your race. I’m curious to see what kind of racing that promotes and if it changes the dynamic of how we race. There are a lot of neat things about it, a great facility and I’m really excited to go there and compete.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his thoughts for COTA and upcoming road course races: “I’ve been to COTA to test in a Trans Am car but I feel like the Cup car will be a totally different beast there. This race means we’re getting close to starting a swing of road courses soon. That is really going change how teams prep to go to the racetrack versus prepping for an oval race. While I don’t really know what to expect this weekend, I think with this being the first road course in a short stretch, it’s important to get a good baseline to be able to use and build off of moving forward for the other road courses. I also think having practice and qualifying is going to help us not only better prepare for Sunday’s race but prepping for the other road course races moving forward.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the challenges at COTA: “This weekend at COTA is going to bring a lot of unknowns but at least that’s the general feeling across the board for everyone. We’ve spent a lot of time going over notes from when the No. 9 team did the Goodyear test earlier this year, as well as time in the Chevy simulator with William. While we do have practice this weekend, the issue will be how much time we will actually get on track and be able to make adjustments. With the course as long as it is and only one hour of practice, the hope is any adjustments that need to be made will be minor enough to allow you to make a couple decent-length runs, at least. I think we have a good baseline to go off of, though. Hendrick Motorsports has a good road course package and we showed that speed earlier this year at the DAYTONA Road Course. The only factor we can’t control this weekend will be the weather but once again, that evens the playing field across the board. We just need to try minimize our mistakes and capitalize off of others’ mistakes.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on winning at Dover: “To get the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro back in victory lane in Dover was really cool. I feel like that has been one of my favorite tracks and one of our best tracks the last few years. A lot of that just goes to Jimmie (Johnson) and learning from him. He was so good there, so taking notes from him and learning how he approached it has been paying off for us the last couple of years. Glad to get a win and a really cool day for us. To finish 1-2-3-4 for Hendrick Motorsports was really special.”
Bowman on racing at COTA for the first time: “I am pretty pumped for COTA. I have been to a lot of racetracks and I don’t think that I have ever been to a circuit. It is a really interesting racetrack. You have really slow stuff, really long fast straightaways, some crazy esses; it is just a super technical racetrack. If you look at the weather, it may rain and we race in the rain on road courses. It is going to be pretty interesting, for sure.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the team’s impressive pit-road stop at Dover: “Our guys have been doing a great job all year on pit road, and the last few weeks we have been making some big adjustments on stops. Even with big adjustments, they have still been doing a great job on pit road. That final stop was an important one on Sunday, getting us out first. I think the stage one stop was important, too, because we made some big adjustments and only lost six spots, which was big for the changes we made to the Ally Chevrolet.”
Ives on navigating COTA for the first time: “I don’t even know how to get to the track! Hopefully, the garages stay nice and dry. Just looking at pit road in pictures, I think it is going to be eventful, for sure. There are a lot of unknowns that you are going to have to figure out pretty quickly. With this being the first time, really, with practice since Daytona, I think all of the teams are going to be a little bit rusty to get going. Just the fact that it takes over two minutes to get around that place is going to allow us to go get a snack and the come back to see if he completes the lap or not. We have been rehearsing corner numbers and memorizing the track.”
