5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 31 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st
No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
MARTINSVILLE MOMENTUM: In last weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team secured a second-place result, contributing to Hendrick Motorsports’ historic 1-2-3 finish at the 0.526-mile track alongside teammates William Byron (first) and Chase Elliott (third). Larson led 86 laps after starting on the pole at “The Paperclip” and earned his NASCAR Cup Series-best fourth stage win. With a race-high 53-point afternoon, he now holds the lead in the Cup Series points standings with a 14-marker advantage over second.
FRONT ROW FIVE: Larson earned consecutive poles (Richmond Raceway and Martinsville), bringing the organization’s pole count to 249 and placing it one pole position shy of another milestone. With two poles through the first eight races of 2024, he leads Hendrick Motorsports in that statistical category and is tied for first in the series.
TEXAS TEMPO: The 31-year-old driver holds a strong record at Texas Motor Speedway, highlighted by a pair of wins in 2021. Larson was victorious in the playoff race to lock in his spot in the Championship 4 ahead of his title win at Phoenix Raceway. He also won the 2021 All-Star Race, one of his three victories at three different tracks in the exhibition event. Since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022, Larson ranks first in laps led (118), first in laps run in the top 10 (438) and second in laps run in the top five (262) at the Fort Worth, Texas, track.
CHANNELING CHAMPION ENERGY: Compared to his performance through eight races in his championship-winning season of 2021, Larson has the same amount of wins (one) and top-five finishes (four). He has led more laps (454 in 2024 to 379 in 2021), a better average finish (10.63 in 2024 to 11.00 in 2021), a better average running position (7.90 in 2024 to 8.80 in 2021) and more stage wins (four in 2024 to three in 2021). His 454 laps led lead the series and are the most he has had through eight races. Larson also leads the Cup Series this season in top fives (four), stage wins (four) and laps run in the top five (1,404).
MILE-AND-A-HALF MUSCLE: The Elk Grove, California, native has won two of the last three races on 1.5-mile tracks. En route to those victories, he swept the stages (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October of 2023 and March of 2024). In the Next Gen era, Larson leads the series in wins (three) and points scored (566) on 1.5-mile tracks. Additionally, he has claimed 31.25% of all stage wins (10 of 32) on 1.5-mile venues in the Next Gen car, with at least one stage win in each of the last five races on that track length. Since joining the organization in 2021, Larson has led 34.19% of laps run (2,399 of 7,017) on 1.5-mile tracks. Seven of his 18 wins at Hendrick Motorsports have come on 1.5-mile tracks.
OPEN TEST IN OPEN WHEEL: Larson took the next step in his Indianapolis 500 preparation this week during an open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the opening two-hour session with Arrow McLaren, he was second on the speed chart. Larson is attempting to become the fifth driver to run “The Double” of the Indy 500 and the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600. HENDRICKCARS.COM is sponsoring the effort, named the #Hendrick1100.
PIT ROAD PRECISION: The No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM pit crew has this season’s fourth-best average four-tire pit stop time (11.022 seconds). The five-person crew is comprised of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer).
SATURDAY SIGNING: Larson will be at the Hendrick Motorsports merchandise hauler on Saturday to sign autographs for the first 100 people who purchase any No. 5 1:24 scale die-cast after the merch hauler opens on Friday afternoon. Those individuals who purchase a die-cast will receive a wristband to come back for an autograph.
HENDRICKCARS.COM IS HOME: Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM crew will wear their white “home” firesuits this weekend at Texas. Every HENDRICKCARS.COM home race this season will feature a unique hat released the week of the event, exclusively available for purchase at trackside merchandise haulers or to win on HENDRICKCARS.COM. Less than 100 of each limited-edition hat will be made available. Check out this weekend’s Texas hat here. The No. 5 team celebrates home races in markets where Hendrick Automotive Group car dealerships are located.
YOUR CAR NEEDS: The Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, market has three Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships (Hendrick Volkswagon Frisco, Honda Cars of McKinney and BMW of McKinney). Not located in the Fort Worth area? Customers can pick from any of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 93 dealerships nationwide and shop from the convenience of their homes by visiting HENDRICKCARS.COM. The website offers searches by category, make, model and vehicle packages from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 28 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 6th
No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
MEMORABLE MARTINSVILLE: Last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, Chase Elliott was part of a historic 1-2-3 finish for Hendrick Motorsports, which came on the 40th anniversary weekend celebration of the organization’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory in 1984. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had his best race statistically so far this season with a 126.7 driver rating. Elliott qualified third for the scheduled 400-lap race and finished the first two stages inside the top five – third and fourth, respectively. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took the lead in the final stage, pacing the field for 64 laps en route to a third-place result. It was his second consecutive top-five run.
SOMETHING’S COOKING: Sunday will mark the Cup Series’ ninth race of the 2024 season. Across the first eight races, Elliott completed all but one of the 2,429 laps in competition. Additionally, he has the fourth-best average running position (10.90) and has spent the fourth-most laps both inside the top five (762) and the top 10 (1,320). Elliott has led 87 laps this season, including the 80,000th for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series. In 2024, Elliott and the No. 9 team continue to be fast in qualifying, earning five consecutive top-10 starting positions and six total on the year. With two top-five finishes and three top-10s, Elliott sits sixth in the Cup Series points standings.
LONE STAR STATS: Elliott has made 13 premier series starts at Texas Motor Speedway. The 28-year-old driver garnered two top-five finishes, six top-10s and led 89 laps in those starts. Since the introduction of the Next Gen Cup Series car in 2022, Elliott has spent the fourth-most laps inside the top 10 (367) at the Fort Worth, Texas, track. The six-time National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver also has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 1.5-mile track, the site of his first career Xfinity Series victory in April of 2014. In fact, Elliott finished eighth or better in those five starts.
1.5-MILERS: Elliott will make his 80th start on a 1.5-mile track in the Cup Series this weekend at Texas. In his previous 79 races on tracks of that length, he has two victories (Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2020 and Kansas Speedway in 2018), collected 22 top-five finishes – eight of which are runner-up results – 38 top-10s and led 1,041 laps.
AG at TMS: Alan Gustafson, No. 9 team crew chief, is set to call his 36th Texas Cup Series race on Sunday in his 20th season atop the pit box. In his previous 35 starts at the track, the Ormond Beach, Florida, native has eight top-five finishes, 17 top-10s and 393 laps led. His best finish of second came in 2014 with NASCAR Hall of Famer and Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon.
DYNAMIC DUO: Elliott and Gustafson are in their ninth season together and are currently the longest active driver and crew chief combo in the Cup Series garage. The duo is ranked second among active pairings with 18 points-paying victories. Gustafson and Elliott earned their first Cup Series title in 2020 and the team captured the regular-season championship in 2022.
FOUR TIRES FAST: Through eight Cup Series races in 2024, the No. 9 pit crew ranks second in average four-tire pit stop time (10.848 seconds). On March 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the five-person team knocked out the fourth-fastest four-tire stop of the season with a time of 9.479 seconds. The No. 9 crew is comprised of Chad Avrit (rear-tire changer), Jared Erspamer (tire carrier), John Gianninoto (fueler), Nick O’Dell (tire changer) and T.J. Semke (jackman).
WHEN CHASE WINS, YOU WIN: Fans can visit Hooters on Mondays after Cup Series races this season and ask their server for free fried pickles (with a drink purchase) when Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team finishes in the top 10. If the No. 9 team wins, customers receive 10 free wings with any 10-wing purchase. Get more details at hooters.com/racing. Don’t miss the No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on track this weekend.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 26 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 4th
No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media in the Texas Motor Speedway media center on Saturday, April 13, at 8:45 a.m. local time.
C(LOCKED) IN ANOTHER ONE: After qualifying 18th at Martinsville Speedway, William Byron wasted no time powering his No. 24 Axalta 40th Anniversary Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the field, finishing the opening stage in eighth. Byron maintained his top-10 running position in stage two, picking up another eighth-place result. During the final stage, crew chief Rudy Fugle timed the green-flag pit sequence right, putting the No. 24 in position to battle for the lead once the cycle was complete. Even with a green-white-checkered overtime attempt, Byron held off his Hendrick Motorsports teammates to pick up his third win of the season, headlining a 1-2-3 finish for the organization on its 40th anniversary weekend.
THREE-PEAT: This is the first time in Byron’s NASCAR Cup Series career that he has won three times within the first eight races of the season and the first time a driver has accomplished this feat since 2019. Over the last 30 years, it has only been done 10 times with Hendrick Motorsports drivers accounting for six instances. Of the previous five times a driver went on to win the championship in a season where they won three of the first eight races, four of them were for the Rick Hendrick-owned team. (Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon in 1995 and 1997 and Jimmie Johnson in 2007 and 2010 both won titles in the years they won three of the first eight races.)
24 IN ’24: Adding another win to his 2024 stats, Byron continues to be nothing short of impressive. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has one pole award, three wins (leads the series), three top-five finishes (tied for third-most) and five top-10s (tied for the most) this season. He’s also led 149 laps – sixth-most among the field – and has moved up to fourth in the 2024 Cup Series points standings.
WHAT’S IN A NUMBER: With his win at Martinsville, Byron continues to extend the history and legacy of the No. 24. The iconic car number ranks third on the all-time list with 106 Cup Series wins, trailing only the No. 43 (200 wins) and the No. 11 (233 wins). All of Byron’s 13 premier series wins have come in the No. 24, while Gordon accounts for 93 wins. The No. 24 also has 11 wins at the paperclip-shaped track, moving to the third-most by a car number over the No. 48 (10). To top it off, his win on Sunday moves him to the fifth-most wins by a Hendrick Motorsports driver (13 in 224 starts).
NEXT GEN DUO: Since the introduction of the Next Gen Cup Series car in 2022, Byron and Fugle have a series-leading 11 wins. The duo leads Hendrick Motorsports teammates driver Kyle Larson (eight wins) and crew chief Cliff Daniels (seven wins). Fugle and Byron now rank fourth for the most wins by an active driver and crew chief pairing with 12 wins total.
1.5-MILE MAGIC: Byron is no stranger to success on mile-and-a-half tracks during his Cup Series career. Since the start of 2021 (not counting races on Atlanta Motor Speedway after its reprofiling for 2022), he has had three wins, two runner-up finishes, nine top-fives and 17 top-10s in 24 races on 1.5-mile tracks. In fact, in the Next Gen car, Byron has two wins and collected 564 points on mile-and-a-half tracks – second in both categories to Larson. He also has four consecutive top-10 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks – the longest active streak by a driver.
TEXAS TOUGH: Byron will return to Texas Motor Speedway as the defending winner after his fall triumph in 2023, which also brought Hendrick Motorsports its 300th Cup Series win. He has one runner-up result in nine starts, two top-five finishes and five top-10s. Byron’s three consecutive top-10 runs at Texas are the second-longest active streak on the 1.5-mile oval. The 26-year-old driver has five additional national starts at Texas, with one win and an average finish of 3.50 in two NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts and a 6.00 average finish in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
FUGLE HAS ‘NO LIMITS’: Sunday marks Fugle’s fourth Cup Series points-paying event at Texas. In his three previous Cup Series starts, the Livonia, New York, native has one win (September of 2023), two top-five finishes and three top-10s. Fugle has 18 additional national series starts atop the pit box at Texas, where he has visited victory lane at the “No Limits” track five times in the Truck Series – the most for him at any track on the circuit – most recently in 2019 where he swept both races. Byron’s June 2016 triumph is one of those five victories. In his 15 Truck Series starts, Fugle’s drivers have also racked up seven top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and 493 laps led.
PIT ROAD PROWESS: After eight races in the 2024 season, the No. 24 pit crew continues their success from last year. The five-person crew currently ranks third in average four-tire pit stop time at 10.945 seconds. The No. 24 pit crew consists of Spencer Bishop (jackman), Jeff Cordero (front-tire changer), Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer), Ryan Patton (tire carrier) and Landon Walker (fueler).
LIBERTY U IS BACK: Byron will sport Liberty University on board his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Sunday’s race. Featuring 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 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 strategic communication, Byron is in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s Liberty University paint scheme, click here.
48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 30 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 10th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
40TH CELEBRATION IN MARTINSVILLE: Hendrick Motorsports celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 14-time NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning team’s first victory last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Alex Bowman earned his fourth top-10 result of 2024 as he crossed the finish line in eighth at the checkered flag. With his Hendrick Motorsports teammates (William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott) running 1-2-3, all four of the organization’s entries placed in the top 10 at Martinsville for the sixth time in team history.
TOP 10 IN THE STANDINGS: Bowman’s finish at the 0.526-mile track was enough to move the 30-year-old driver into the top 10 in the Cup Series driver points standings. In addition, the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver sits in a five-way tie for the third-most top-five finishes (three) and a four-way tie for the seventh-most top-10s (four).
TALKIN’ TEXAS: The Tucson, Arizona, native heads westward for this weekend’s NASCAR competition at Texas Motor Speedway. Bowman has a pair of fifth-place finishes and 58 laps led across 14 Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile track.
INTERMEDIATE TRACKS: Bowman is one of 10 Cup Series drivers who have earned a win on a 1.5-mile track in the Next Gen car. His victory came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March of 2022. During that race, Bowman led 16 laps en route to reaching victory lane. Overall, he has two 1.5-mile wins in his Cup career, with the first coming in his initial premier series triumph at Chicagoland Speedway in June of 2019.
HARRIS’ HOME TRACK: The No. 48 Ally Racing team crew chief, Blake Harris, will visit his home track on the sport’s circuit this weekend. This year marks the 37-year-old’s second season leading Bowman and the No. 48 team and his third as Cup Series crew chief. Harris’ hometown of Maypearl, Texas, is located about an hour away from the track. Harris guided his drivers to one top-five finish and 66 laps out front in three starts at Texas. Some of his family will be at the track this Sunday to cheer him on for his 74th race atop the pit box in the Cup Series.
RALLY IN THE PITS: The No. 48 Ally Racing pit crew holds the sixth-best average four-tire pit stop time (11.138 seconds). In February, the team delivered the fastest four-tire stop amongst all teams at Atlanta Motor Speedway (9.543 seconds). The five-person crew is composed of Andrew Bridgeforth (rear-tire changer), Jacob Conley (fueler), Brandon Grier (tire carrier), Allen Holman (jackman) and Donnie Tasser (front-tire changer).
BOOKS WITH BOWMAN: April is Financial Literacy Month. The No. 48 team’s primary partner and online banking company, Ally, knows that financial behaviors are learned early. The company dedicates this month to supporting financial education for all ages. Bowman and many Ally volunteers will visit Clara Love Elementary School, located seven minutes from the Fort Worth, Texas, track this Friday. While there, he will read “Adventures With Money” books to elementary school students. Next week, Bowman, his pit crew and Ally volunteers will visit University Meadows Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina, to educate children on financial education in their local community. These readings are just two of many that Ally will lead nationwide this year, educating thousands of students on the importance of financial knowledge and implementation.
ACTIVE IN THE FAN ZONE: Bowman will be in the fan zone this weekend in Texas. On Sunday, fans can visit the driver of the No. 48 at the Chevy stage from 11-11:15 a.m. local time (schedule subject to change). In addition, Bowman will be at the Hendrick Motorsports merchandise hauler signing autographs for the first 100 people who purchase a No. 48 1:24 scale die-cast this weekend. These individuals will receive a wristband to come back for an autograph on Sunday morning.
IN-CAR CAMERA: #Rally48 with views from Bowman’s driver’s seat this weekend. Fans can ride along by tuning into NASCAR’s in-car camera on the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Visit nascar.com/drive to experience the race from a driver’s perspective.
FLUFFY FRIENDS IN FORT WORTH: Bowman and Ally are supporting Best Friends Animal Society and their vast network of partners for the fourth consecutive year. Since the beginning of the 2022 season, the pair has been committed to a combined weekly donation of $4,800 to a Best Friends network partner local to each weekend’s race. This weekend’s beneficiary is Operation Kindness, located in Carrollton, Texas. The shelter is about a 40-minute drive from the track and assists animals needing veterinary care, companionship and a home. Learn more about their programs here.
KEYS TO A CAMARO: Ally and Hendrick Automotive Group have teamed together to celebrate Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary by giving away a 40th Anniversary Edition Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE through the Ally “Win Your Wheels fueled by HendrickCars.com” sweepstakes. The winner will also receive a private meet and greet with Bowman at this year’s fall Martinsville race. NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports and No. 48 fans can enter to win at Ally.com/sweepstakes/nascar. The sweepstakes will end on Sept. 20, 2024.
HENDRICK
MOTORSPORTS /
| 2024 | All-Time | Texas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Races | 8 | 1,353 | 43 |
| Wins | 4* | 305* | 11* |
| Poles | 3** | 249* | 7** |
| Top 5 | 12* | 1,244* | 43* |
| Top 10 | 16 | 2,128* | 78* |
| Laps Led | 696 | 80,453* | 3,034* |
| Stage Wins | 5 | 103 | 3 |
*Most **Most (tie)
FABULOUS 40: In 2024, Hendrick Motorsports is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Among the categories that the organization holds the NASCAR Cup Series record for are all-time wins (305), poles (249), laps led (80,453) and championships (14). With William Byron’s win at Martinsville Speedway, the team has won at least four races a year in 30 of the last 31 seasons. It is also the sixth time the team has won at least four of the first eight races in a season (1995, 1996, 1997, 2007 and 2022 were the other occurrences).
1-2-3: Last Sunday at Martinsville, Hendrick Motorsports became the first team to record a top-three sweep at the 0.526-mile track—a venue where the team has won a track record 29 times. Byron won the race, Kyle Larson placed second and Chase Elliott finished third. In its history, the organization has three additional 1-2-3 finishes: the 1997 DAYTONA 500, the 2021 race at Dover Motor Speedway (where the team finished 1-2-3-4) and the 2023 spring race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
TALLYING TOP FIVES: In the last four races in the 2024 season, at least two drivers from the squad have finished in the top five. At Martinsville, it was the Byron-Larson-Elliott 1-2-3 finish. At Richmond Raceway, Larson placed third and Elliott was fifth. For the Circuit of The Americas race, Byron won and Alex Bowman was fourth in the final running order. Bowman and Larson finished fourth and fifth in the Bristol Motor Speedway spring race, respectively. This is the organization’s longest streak since the final four races of the 2021 season.
FROM THE POLE: Hendrick Motorsports is one pole position away from becoming the first Cup Series team to reach 250. Across 31 tracks, 20 drivers, including all four of the team’s current drivers have won poles for the squad. Team vice chairman Jeff Gordon’s 81 pole positions are the most by a driver in the organization’s history and Daytona International Speedway tops the track list at 23 pole positions.
PIT POWER: Based on Racing Insights data, all four Hendrick Motorsports pit crews rank in the top six among Cup Series teams for the fastest average four-tire pit stop. The No. 9 pit crew is second (10.848 seconds), followed by the No. 24 pit crew in third (10.945 seconds) and the No. 5 pit crew in fourth (11.022 seconds). The No. 48 pit crew is sixth (11.138 seconds).
LONE STAR LOWDOWN: With 11 points-paying wins at Texas Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports is the most victorious team at the track. Jimmie Johnson accounts for seven of those and holds the track record for most Cup Series wins. Terry Labonte, Byron, Gordon and Larson each have one win at the 1.5-mile venue.
LAST TIME AT TEXAS: On Hendrick Motorsports’ previous visit to the Fort Worth, Texas, facility on Sept. 24, 2023, history was made as the team became the first to reach 300 wins in the Cup Series. Byron secured the landmark victory by leading the final six laps. Larson led 99 laps on the day but was involved in a late-race incident in turn one while battling for the lead.
NO LIMITS TO LEADING: In the past three races at Texas, the Concord, North Carolina-based team has led 55.94% of the laps run (523 of 935). Over that span, Larson leads all drivers in laps led (374), while Byron has paced the field for the fourth-most laps (103) and Elliott has led the fifth-most circuits (45).
NEXT GEN NUMBERS: Team owner Rick Hendrick’s six wins on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car lead all organizations in the Cup Series. Since 2022, Larson has three wins on 1.5-mile tracks, while Byron has two victories and they are two of the four drivers with multiple victories on that track length. In addition, Larson (566) and Byron (564) rank one-two in points earned on 1.5-milers in the Next Gen era. Additionally, Bowman has one triumph on this track length in this span of time. Earlier this year at Las Vegas, Larson scored the victory in the series’ lone 2024 race at a 1.5-mile layout.
SWEEP SENSATIONS: In four of Hendrick Motorsports’ six Next Gen wins on 1.5-mile tracks, a driver has swept the stages en route to the win. Larson did this in all three of his victories on 1.5-mile tracks (Homestead-Miami Speedway in October of 2022 and Las Vegas in October of 2023 and March of 2024) and Byron accomplished it in one of his wins (Las Vegas in March of 2023).
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his outlook heading to Texas Motor Speedway: “We’ve had a lot of good runs at Texas (Motor Speedway) in the HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet, including a couple of wins. We had the win earlier this year on the mile-and-a-half Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) track, so I hope we build on that and are in contention again this weekend.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the challenges of Texas: “Texas (Motor Speedway) is such a fun track. Our team loves going there. It is a challenging place because both ends are so different. You have (turns) one and two that are a little bit flatter and have a different turn radius, while (turns) three and four are high banked and you carry a lot of speed through them. It’s fun to watch Kyle (Larson) drive there. He has a natural knack for places with a bit of character like Texas has. We enjoy the challenge of setting up a car to go fast. There are going to be handling adjustments you have to make and track conditions you have to keep up with. That said, we always enjoy going there and certainly look forward to going back this weekend.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team’s momentum right now: “It was great to be in the hunt last weekend at Martinsville (Speedway). We’ve made a lot of gains this season—everything from qualifying to pit stops to strategy calls. I really feel good about where we’re at as a team and where we’re heading. As I said after the race, I’m hungry for more.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at Texas: “Texas (Motor Speedway) is certainly a unique track and lends itself some difficulties, but I feel good about where we ran there last year and where our intermediate program is at. We had a good run at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway). I think we should have finished better than we did, but we can build on that. We need to go to Texas and have some success. We’re operating well as a team and we have good pace in our Chevrolets. Qualifying will be key this weekend. We have to stay upfront or find a way to be upfront and stay upfront because track position is difficult.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on continuing to build their mile-and-a-half program: “It’s going to take adjusting to what the track is like. We have a good idea already of where our setup needs to be from past experiences. All of the Hendrick Motorsports cars were fast in the fall at Texas (Motor Speedway) and we take what we learn from our teammates as well as our own experience to try to keep building. We obviously don’t know what the other teams and OEMs are doing, so we just need to see how competitive we are when we unload and make adjustments from there.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his thoughts for Texas this weekend: “This will be the first time we’ve raced at Texas (Motor Speedway) in the Next Gen car when it hasn’t been extremely hot and it’s the first time we’re going there in April in a very long time. It’s another tough track but a fun one to win at as well. We were lucky enough to win the last time we were there (for Hendrick Motorsports’ 300th Cup Series win). We’re trying to build on our mile-and-a-half program. We were confident at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) this year but had the incident with the trash bag. We still have some good notes, though, from that race that we will build off of for this weekend.”
Fugle on strategy options at Texas: “There’s going to be a stay-out option and a two-tire option possibly at some point in the race. You just have to pick the right time to do it. It could get you stage points or a stage win but then you pit and come out 25th because of those who pitted earlier. You’re really trying to forecast the entire race at all times, which is a tough thing to do. That’s one of the hardest parts of Cup racing. The races are so long that you have to strategize through the entire event and it constantly can change.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team’s gains in recent weeks: “So far in 2024, our No. 48 Ally Racing team has had kind of a hit-or-miss season. The majority of the past few weeks have been solid. Besides Richmond (Raceway), we have finished in the top 10 in three of the last four races. A goal for Blake (Harris) and I was to improve our performance in qualifying and we’ve done that in the last two weeks. I look forward to getting back on track at Texas (Motor Speedway) in Blake’s home state.
Blake Harris, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on carrying the team’s momentum to an intermediate track: “I think the last month has been really good to us, even though we didn’t get the finish that we wanted at Richmond Raceway. I think the No. 48 Ally Racing team has had a really strong car for the last four to five weeks. We’ve been good at short tracks, a road course and a superspeedway. This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, we will be going back to an intermediate. I’m looking forward to getting back on track at an intermediate since we have a lot of that style of track coming up on the schedule. Our team is ready to carry this momentum to Texas.”
