Richmond Raceway
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021
.75-Mile Oval
7:30 PM ET
Location: Richmond, Virginia
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (28 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 29 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
BAKER’S DOZEN: In 13 starts at Richmond Raceway, Kyle Larson has one win (2017), two top-five finishes and five top-10s. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has finished seventh or better in five of his last eight starts at the Virginia venue.
OT WIN: In September 2017 at the .75-mile track, Larson held off Martin Truex Jr. and others in overtime to earn his lone short-track victory in NASCAR’s premier series. The native of Elk Grove, California, led 53 laps in the event that was extended by four laps due to a late-race caution.
LAST 16: Larson has finished top three in 11 of the last 16 races dating back to Darlington Raceway in May. Over that span, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has four wins, five runner-up finishes and two third-place results. The Cup Series’ regular-season champion holds an 80-point advantage over the final transfer spot with two races remaining in the Round of 16.
FIVE-STAR RATING: Through 27 of 36 Cup Series races, Larson leads the series in wins (career-best five), top-five finishes (tied career-best 15), top-10s (19), stage wins (13) and laps led (career-best 1,722). In fact, he has paced the field 755 more times than any competitor this season and his stage wins are the most by seven.
SOME MORE DIRT: On Wednesday and Thursday, Larson is scheduled to participate in the World 100 dirt late model race at Eldora Speedway. HendrickCars.com will appear on Larson’s gloves and helmet.
FAST TIME: At 13.71 seconds, the No. 5 pit crew owns the quickest average time for four-tire pit stops in 2021. The over-the-wall crew is comprised of gasman Brandon Harder, jackman Brandon Johnson, tire carrier R.J. Barnette and tire changers Donnie Tasser (front) and Calvin Teague (rear).
VIRGINIA SON: No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels is a native of Smithfield, Virginia, which is approximately 75 miles southeast of Richmond. Daniels received a go-kart at age 7 and his first bandolero car at 9. As a driver, he competed at Southside Speedway near Richmond and progressed to legends cars at Langley Speedway by 2001. Daniels competed in late models at South Boston Speedway from 2004 until 2007, the year after he graduated high school from Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News, Virginia.
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.
WE’RE HIRING: Hendrick Automotive Group is hiring more than 300 technicians at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Interested people can apply at HendrickCars.com.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 10th
No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
DARLINGTON REWIND: The NASCAR Cup Series kicked off the 2021 playoffs at Darlington Raceway last weekend. Chase Elliott rolled off the grid fourth and spent most of the evening inside the top 15 before being collected in an on-track accident with only 38 laps remaining. The damage proved to be terminal and ended the No. 9 team’s race with a 31st-place finish.
SHORT-TRACK PERFORMANCE: On Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, Elliott will make his 35th short-track start in the Cup Series. In those previous 34 races, he has garnered one win, 11 top-five finishes, including three runner-up results, 17 top-10s and led 775 laps. In the last six short-track races, Elliott has earned the second-most points (260), behind only Joey Logano (261).
RICHMOND RUNDOWN: Elliott will make his 12th Richmond start in the Cup Series this weekend. In his previous 11 races at the .75-mile oval, he has collected three top-five finishes – one being a runner-up result – and four top-10s. Additionally, he has made four Richmond starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, never finishing outside the top five and earning a win in 2015.
2021 SHORT TRACKS: The Cup Series has competed on three short tracks in 2021: the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race, Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway. Elliott has garnered top-10 results at two of the events – a second-place finish at Martinsville and a 10th-place performance at Bristol.
600 STARTS: This weekend at Richmond, No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 600th career Cup Series race. In his previous 599 starts as a crew chief, he has called the shots for five different drivers, collecting one championship, 33 wins, 172 top-five finishes, 297 top-10s and 9,308 laps led.
GUSTAFSON AT RICHMOND: On Saturday, No. 9 team crew chief Gustafson is set to call his 32nd Cup Series Richmond race. In his previous 31 starts at the track with five different drivers (Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Elliott), Gustafson has accumulated 13 top-five finishes including five runner-up results, 17 top-10s and 566 laps led.
KELLEY BLUE BOOK IS BACK: The navy and gold colors of Kelley Blue Book will return to Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the first time this season this weekend at Richmond. KBB.com is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week, the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website, www.KBB.com.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 15th
No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
BEST YEAR YET: With only nine races left in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron is continuing to have a career-best season at the highest level of competition in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. So far, Byron has collected one win (Homestead-Miami Speedway), two pole awards (Road America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – most by a driver this season), nine top-five finishes and 16 top-10s (tied for the third-most by a driver this season) all while leading 276 laps and collecting three stage wins. In his Cup career, this is the most top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led, and stage wins the 23-year-old driver has collected in a single season.
SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: With two paved short-track races completed so far in the 2021 Cup Series season, Byron is one of six drivers who have finished in the top 10 for both, securing a fourth-place effort during the race at Martinsville Speedway and a seventh-place finish the last time he was at Richmond Raceway. In fact, Byron finished sixth in the dirt event at Bristol Motor Speedway as well earlier this year, making him one of three drivers with top-10 runs in all three short track events in 2021.
READY FOR RICHMOND: This Saturday’s race at Richmond Raceway will mark Byron’s seventh Cup Series start at the .75-mile track. He currently has a track-best finish of seventh coming earlier this season. Aside from his six Cup Series starts, Byron has made two NASCAR Xfinity Series appearances that the Virginia-based track, both in 2017. He earned a best starting position of sixth and finished seventh in the fall. He also has one NASCAR ARCA Menards Series East start in 2015 when he won the pole and finished sixth.
RUDY AT RICHMOND: Making his second Cup Series start at the .75-mile track Saturday night, Fugle has four previous starts at the national level at Richmond Raceway – one in the Cup Series, one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and two in the Xfinity Series. His most recent start at the short track came earlier this year when Byron started fourth and raced to a track-best finish of seventh.
LIBERTY U ONBOARD: Heading to Liberty University’s home track of Richmond Raceway, Byron will climb behind the wheel of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the Saturday night event. 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
REVISITING FIRST WIN OF 2021: Alex Bowman will return to the site of his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2021 season this weekend when the field visits Richmond Raceway for the second race of the Round of 16. The 28-year-old driver led the final 10 laps of the spring event to capture Ally’s first points-paying victory with Hendrick Motorsports. His April win was Bowman’s first short-track victory in the Cup Series and his third overall win at that level. Since Richmond, the No. 48 team has captured victories at Dover International Speedway and Pocono Raceway.
NINE MORE: Following last weekend’s event in Darlington, the Cup Series has nine races remaining this season. Aside from Bowman’s three 2021 wins, he has six top-five finishes and 13 top-10s. Last weekend, the Ally team finished 26th at Darlington after suffering various issues during the 367-lap event. Bowman goes into this weekend’s race tied for 12th in the NCS playoff standings with Tyler Reddick.
RACING AT RICHMOND: Bowman has 10 previous Richmond Raceway starts in the Cup Series. Along with his win earlier this year, Bowman also has two top-10 results at the .75-mile facility. He has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the Virginia track where he qualified a career-best second and finished ninth in 2016 for JR Motorsports. In 2011, the driver of the No. 48 made one start at the track in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, qualifying fourth and finishing fifth after 100 laps.
SHORT-TRACK STATS: The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has made 31 paved short-track starts in his seven-year Cup Series career. Bowman has one win (Richmond), two top-five finishes and seven top-10s on these tracks. He has collected the fifth-most points (210) at short tracks in the last six events and is the most recent short-track winner in the Cup Series at Richmond. Out of Hendrick Motorsports’ 11 victories at the .75-mile venue, the last time the team won prior to this season was in 2008 when Bowman was 15 years old.
IVES IN VIRGINIA: Crew chief Greg Ives is set to call his 12th Richmond event in the Cup Series on Saturday night under the lights. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s best finish at the track came earlier this season when the team claimed the victory after 400 laps. Ives has one win, two top-five results and three top-10s at the Virginia-based venue. The sixth-year Cup Series crew chief also has four Xfinity Series starts at Richmond and his drivers finished inside the top five all four times. Chase Elliott placed second in both events in 2014 and Regan Smith finished fifth and third in 2013. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team from 2006 until 2012. During that time, he was a part of Jimmie Johnson’s three wins, one pole award and seven top-10 finishes at Richmond
PIT ROAD STATS: Following last weekend’s event in Darlington, the No. 48 pit crew sits sixth for the fastest four-tire pit stop average in the Cup Series with a time of 13.92 seconds. The team had the fastest single stop at Dover International Speedway (12.18 seconds) on May 16 and had the third-fastest stop at Atlanta Motor Speedway (12.25 seconds) on July 11. The No. 48 pit crew includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback, and tire changers Scott Brzozowski (front) and Devin DelRicco (rear).
CLEAR THE SHELTERS: The “Clear the Shelters” nationwide campaign is underway and will run through Sept. 18. The NBC/Telemundo initiative rolled out at the end of August and WCNC, the local Charlotte, North Carolina, NBC station, teamed up with Bowman and No. 48 team partner Ally for the 2021 campaign to get as many pets adopted from local shelters. On Sept. 18, all adoption fees will either be waived or discounted with the goal to clear out the 10 shelters that are participating in the Charlotte area. Learn more here.
NOMINATE A CANCER HERO: The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation is giving race fans the opportunity to have a cancer survivor’s name, a caregiver’s name, or a medical provider’s name in place of Bowman’s moniker above the door at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 24. Fans can bid on the door space, which is now live on the NASCAR Foundation’s eBay page and will close out on Sept. 13. To bid on a chance for a special name to ride along with the Ally team in Kansas, click here.
1-2 PUNCH: With Kyle Larson’s second-place result Sunday at Darlington Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports has recorded 24 top-two finishes through 27 NASCAR Cup Series points races in 2021 – the most by a team at this point in a season since 1956 (34 by Carl Kiekhafer). This year, the four-car Hendrick Motorsports stable has amassed a league-leading 11 wins and finished in the runner-up spot 13 times. It has swept the top-two positions in five events.
THE ONES AND TWOS: Since its inaugural season in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has a combined 527 top-two finishes at the elite NASCAR Cup level. The team holds the series records for both points-paying victories (274) and second-place results (253). It has swept the top-two spots in an all-time best 48 Cup races.
SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: Hendrick Motorsports has 52 victories on short tracks, which is 10 more than any other active NASCAR Cup Series team. Eleven of its wins have come at Richmond Raceway including Alex Bowman’s first-place performance there in April. A record-tying six different drivers have won at Richmond for car owner Rick Hendrick, who grew up 100 miles from the track in Palmer Springs, Virginia.
THE NEXT SIX: Since 2019, Hendrick Motorsports has visited victory lane at each of the next six tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule: Richmond, Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL and Texas Motor Speedway. In points-paying races, Bowman won Richmond in April 2021, Larson won Las Vegas in March 2021 and Chase Elliott won Talladega in April 2019 and the ROVAL in October 2020. In addition, the team has won the last two NASCAR All-Star Races: Elliott at Bristol in July 2020 and Larson at Texas in June 2021.
SCOREBOARD: Over the last 15 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races, Hendrick Motorsports has won eight times and is the only organization to go to victory lane more than twice.
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the spring Richmond race: “Richmond was really the only bad race from start-to-finish we’ve had this year. I know we’ll be better this time around because we learned a lot. Alex (Bowman) won there and we have their notes, but we learned a lot even from how we ran in the spring.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on confidence level heading into Richmond following the race earlier this season: “We were absolutely terrible in the spring. Once we were able to compare notes (with other Hendrick Motorsports teams) it made sense – we know where we were weak and need to get better. We’re very fortunate to have the success of the 48 (team) and their baseline.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on 9/11: “Sept. 11 is always a day that I think sticks out to any American. I don’t think you could ever just ignore that or act like it’s just any other day. That’s a major tragic event in our history and one that we’re all going to live with for the rest of our time. Our sport is patriotic, but just being an American, you could never forget about that.”
Elliott on the challenges of the playoff format: “It’s a cutthroat 10 weeks. Unfortunately, the more the rounds go on you just can’t have poor races. A lot of times having a poor race doesn’t mean you did a bad job or you weren’t fast, it just means something didn’t go your way. Unfortunately, that could be the end of your season. Do I necessarily agree with that all the time? No, but at the same time we had 26 weeks to win races and to accumulate playoff points. The more of those you accumulate, you’re hedging your bet to make it further in the round. That’s the best thing you can do, try and build that buffer and get those points and get yourself in a better position to where if you do have a bad day you can still recover.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on if a specific playoff round matches up best for the No. 9 team: “There’s not one round that stands out to me. You could go to any of the races and have a problem or issue and have a terrible points day and then start significantly worse than you expected for the next race, like Darlington for us. All of those things can happen at any point in time, so you are always apprehensive and a bit nervous. But, at the same time, I have a lot of confidence in what we can do. We should be on the attack mode not conserve mode. I feel good about it, but I certainly respect all of the tracks and all the potential hurdles that they all have. I think we can compete well at any one of them and win at any one of them and that’s what we are going to try to do. At the same time, we certainly understand that you’ve got to be at your best form and really super prepared because at a moment’s notice anything can happen that puts you in a bad spot.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Richmond: “Richmond has always been a challenging track for me. The track already has very low grip and making sure the tires last during a long run is key. The surface resembles Atlanta (Motor Speedway) but has characteristics of Phoenix (Raceway). I feel like every time I’ve run there that I’ve learned a bit more and improved each time. With Darlington not going the way we hoped, we will need to really execute this weekend and maximize whatever situation we are in to set us up for Bristol and advancing on through the playoffs.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on rebounding for race two of the Round of 16:
“Obviously, this isn’t the position we want to be in this weekend on the outside looking in, but we’re also are by no means out of the hunt, either. The No. 24 team has the speed capable of winning and I think we’ve done a good job of showing that, especially lately. Unfortunately, we’ve just been wrong place wrong time the last couple weeks. We’ve already put that behind us, though, and moved on to the next task at hand – Richmond. We had a top-10 car there earlier this season and the guys are putting in extra hours this week to make sure we bring a rocket to the track for Saturday night. This isn’t a must-win situation, but we’re going to execute what we need to maximize on our results.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to Richmond after winning there in April: “Going back to Richmond is something to look forward to this week. Richmond is a track where our No. 48 team feels really strong at, and we are bringing the same car from earlier this year when we ended up in victory lane. After last week, we need to rebound and capitalize on a good night on Saturday. There’s not a lot of comfort going forward the next two weeks, but we are going to two places we know we can be strong at and have good runs.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 team, on chassis for Richmond: “It is going to be the same car and same chassis but obviously different things that you’re able to do, either to make it better or in NASCAR’s world, you’re able to regulate or put a little more sight and difficulties on you. Whatever that scenario is, whether it’s true or false or to allow other guys to get their cars get better, you have to keep up with it. That’s ultimately the goal – to bring a better race car and try not to reinvent the wheel. For the most part, the general setup is going to be very close. Just trying to fine tune and then make things a little bit better.”
Ives on how quickly the playoff rankings can change: “You got to look at history, right? The biggest factor I see (are) the unknowns. Putting yourself in a bad situation and then hurting yourself. You kind of look at the history of last year’s playoffs and we scored the second-most points in the playoffs. We didn’t go to the final four but, in the end, it calls for a really good run and the 4 team there with Kevin Harvick, they had how many wins last year? Eight wins and a lot of points and they got themselves in a bad spot and wasn’t able to transfer to the final four. It definitely is a tough grind and tough season, but then you add on the quickness of a reset and going to probably one of the toughest racetracks (Darlington) to either get the handling right (or) the toughness on the teams from a pit standpoint (or) the ease of getting damage to the car and putting yourself in a bad situation with the wreck. It’s a tough place to start out, for sure, and you have to be pretty flawless. If not, you got to learn how to overcome dramatically. Unfortunately, that’s what we have to do – overcome a really bad situation.”
