NASCAR CUP SERIES
RICHMOND RACEWAY
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
APRIL 2, 2023
LARSON, CHEVROLET TAKE RICHMOND CUP SERIES VICTORY
Team Chevy Drivers Sweep Top-Three in Short-Track Battle
Kyle Larson drove his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to victory Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway as Team Chevy drivers swept the top-three positions and won for the fifth time this year in the NASCAR Cup Series.
· Larson won for the 20th time in 302 career NCS starts. It was his first victory of the 2023 season.
· He is now a two-time winner at Richmond Raceway, having won in 2017.
· Chevrolet won for the fifth time in 2023 to lead all manufacturers. The Bowtie brand now has 838 all-time victories in NASCAR’s premier series.
· Team Chevy won at Richmond for the 40th time in 133 Cup Series races at Richmond.
· Six Chevrolet drivers combined to lead 246 of the 400 laps at Richmond on Sunday.
· The victory gave Chevrolet a sweep of the top-three positions and wins in all three NASCAR national series on the weekend, adding to Chandler Smith’s win at Richmond in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Carson Hocevar’s victory at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner Quote
“It’s really cool. We’ve been close to winning a couple. William has been extremely good this year. It was going to be between probably him, the 19, us, and the 20 was really good. So just things worked out. My pit crew had a great stop. So, shout out to Brandon Johnson. He is our jackman. He just turned 30 today. Our spotter, Tyler Monn, he turned 30 today. Great day for them guys. What an awesome Hendrickcars.com Chevy. I can’t say enough about it. I got into the 99 on pit road there sometime in the second stage, and we were awful after that. I was hoping the damage was the reason why, but they had to calm me down a little bit and get refocused and was able to get it done. Thanks to everyone on this team, Cliff Daniels, for everything he does to prepare the team to be as strong as we are without him on the box. So good to get a win, and hopefully many more.”
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
2nd Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
3rd Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Camaro ZL1
8th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
2nd Josh Berry (Chevrolet)
3rd Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
4th Christopher Bell (Toyota)
5th Kevin Harvick (Ford)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Food City Dirt Race on Sunday, April 9, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Camaro ZL1
Finished: Third
“We definitely needed more to fight for the lead. For our Jockey Chevy, it was probably more about clean air. There were better cars throughout the race that got cycled back on strategy. For our group – the 5, the 9, the 20 was probably a little better – but out of the Chevys I thought that in clean air that any of us – the 5, 9 or us – could lead. Hats off to the 5 team, Kyle, and everyone at HMS. Chevrolet keeps locking down these wins with the Bowtie. We’re proud to be part of it.”
Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
Finished: Second
“Man, this is really cool. I have to give all the credit to this NAPA team. Tom (Grey, interim crew chief), Alan (Gustafson, full-time crew chief) remotely, of course, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They made some great calls. When we got some clean track, we weren’t running bad lap times. I’m so glad they tried something different to get us there at the end. I felt like we were decent the whole time. Just getting in cleaner air (was key). We were free to race with Kyle. Man, what a huge day. You know, to come here and start in the back, no practice, qualifying, get spun out, work through the field like that, just second place, it’s pretty cool.”
William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
Finished: 24th
“It looked like the 1 was inside the 20 and the 20 just overcooked the corner and had the fronts locked up and nailed us in the left rear. So I was just kind of restarting fourth there and trying to stay tight to the 9 and get a good restart. I just got tagged in the left rear. So, yeah, just a dive bomb move on the inside on his part and it is what it is. I had a great race car. The Raptor Chevrolet was awesome all day and we will just keep bringing fast race cars like that and we will get a lot more wins. It was looking like it could be another win before the caution. That’s the way it goes.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Stage One
· Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Ally Camaro led the field to green ahead of Team Chevy drivers Kurt Busch, William Byron and Ross Chastain.
· Three different Chevrolet drivers led in the first 30 laps ahead of a competition caution on Lap 30. Byron led Chastain with Bowman fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in fifth.
· After the field all stopped for fuel and tires during the first yellow, Chastain led on the restart in the No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet before Byron moved back ahead on Lap 50 and led to the end of the stage break.
· Byron claimed his series-leading fifth stage victory at the end of Lap 70 to close Stage One. Chevrolet drivers led the entirety of the opening stage with Byron out front for 44 laps and Chastain 16.
· Four Team Chevy drivers recorded stage points at the end of Stage One:
1st William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
2nd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
3rd Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Camaro ZL1
7th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
Stage Two
· William Byron continued to lead from the start of Stage Two to the race’s fourth caution period. Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman continued to pace Team Chevy’s strong opening start to the race.
· Larson in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 took the race lead for the first time on Lap 124 as he went around the outside of Byron. He was the fifth different Chevrolet driver to lead at least one lap in the opening 125 laps.
· The majority of the field made green-flag pit stops on Lap 159 with Byron stopping for fuel and four tires from second place. Larson and Chastain stopped the next lap, and Larson cycled back to the lead on Lap 167, despite contact in pitlane with Daniel Suarez. Byron ran second with Bowman fourth and Chastain fifth into the second half of Stage Two.
· Byron move back into the race lead for the third time on Lap 197 by getting around Larson just before the halfway point.
· Stage Two ended with almost 130 laps of green-flag running.
· Four Team Chevy drivers recorded stage points at the end of Stage Two:
3rd William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
5th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Camaro ZL1
7th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
8th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
Final Stage / Post-Race Notes
· Four Chevrolet drivers – William Byron, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain – were in the top-10 as the final stage began with 170 laps left.
· Green-flag pit stops began on Lap 288. Once the field cycled through, Chevrolets were second (Larson), third (Byron), fourth (Bowman) and sixth (Chastain).
· The race’s sixth caution flew on Lap 305 for a single-car incident. All cars on the lead lap stopped on Lap 307 for fuel and tires. Byron came out second followed by Larson and Bowman with Chastain sixth.
· The race began again on Lap 313 with Chevrolet drivers in positions two through five. The race continued green when part of the field began making another round of green-flag stops with 50 laps to go. Among the leaders, Byron stopped first followed by Larson, Bowman and Chastain a lap later. Byron won the race for track position and was the first of the cars among those who decided to pit completed their stops. Byron moved back into the lead on Lap 367.
· The race’s seventh caution came out with 28 laps to go for a car that spun at Turn One with Byron leading, Larson third and Josh Berry – No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1, who didn’t stop with the rest of the field – in fourth.
· The green flag flew with 22 laps to go with Larson in front alongside Berry. Byron was spun on the restart and went into the outside wall from fourth place, bringing out another caution.
· Larson led the final 13 laps for his first Cup Series victory of the season while Berry finished second for his best career NCS result.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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 at www.chevrolet.com.
