NASCAR CUP SERIES
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
USA TODAY 301
POST-RACE REPORT
JUNE 23, 2024
Larson Leads Chevrolet With Top-Five Finish at New Hampshire
- With lingering inclement weather forcing the cancellation of yesterday’s qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series, the lineup for the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was set per the rule book – putting series’ points leader Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team on the pole position.
- At the drop of the green flag, Stage One saw the series make 70 caution-free laps, with pole sitter Elliott pacing the field for the first 41 circuits around the 1.058-mile venue. Elliott began to battle very loose conditions in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 on the long run, with the Team Chevy driver ultimately ending the stage in the third position. Crew Chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for the team’s first stop of the event – taking four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment for the start of Stage Two.
- Elliott continued to pace the Bowtie brigade at the start of Stage Two – settling into the seventh position and quickly posting top-three lap times during the first 20 laps of the stage. With a pair of cautions near the midway point of the race, pit strategy came into play to shakeup the running order. On the last caution of the stage, Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, opted to forgo pit road to claim crucial track position in the top-10. Strategy paid dividends for the Team Chevy teammates, with Larson and Elliott going on to take the green-white checkered flag in the seventh and ninth positions, respectively.
- During the final stage break, the threat of weather played a massive factor in strategy throughout pit road. Following a seventh-place finish in Stage Two, Crew Chief Cliff Daniels called Larson to pit road for a pair of right-side tires, with the team winning the race off pit road to lineup third for the start of the final stage.
- A caution on Lap 201 involved Elliott after a strong showing in the top-10 throughout the race. The No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team went to work on their Chevrolet-powered machine; making repairs while still maintaining a position on the lead lap.
- Taking the restart from the outside front-row, Larson quickly went into a battle for the lead – ultimately losing just a handful of positions but maintained a position in the top-10 as the race entered less than 100 laps to go.
- Under caution for the eighth time, Larson was sitting in the seventh position when precipitation began to fall, forcing NASCAR to bring the field down pit road. The race ultimately went under red flag conditions on Lap 219, with the delay totaling two hours and 14 minutes.
- Teams installed wet weather tires to resume the remainder of the race, eventually taking the green flag at the 227 lap marker. Restarting in the seventh position, it took Larson just three laps to take his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 to the front – settling into the third position on Lap 230.
- After significant rainfall forced a lengthy delay of the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series returned to the track for the final 82 laps of the event.
- Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 led Chevrolet to the checkered flag with a fourth-place finish. The result marks Larson’s sixth career top-five finish in NASCAR’s top division at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and his eighth top-five finish in 18 points-paying races this season.
- The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Nashville Superspeedway with the Ally 400 on Sunday, June 30, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS
POS. DRIVER
4th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
7th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Kleenex 100 Years Camaro ZL1
10th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Kubota Camaro ZL1
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 POST-RACE QUOTES:
Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
Finished: 4th
Out on those damp tires, you were one of the first to dive all the way to the bottom. How did it work out?
“Yeah, it was fun. I think when it’s like that, I think that is why you see a lot of the dirt racers kind of migrate to the front. Just tried to feel it out under caution. It’s not my best bet on the restart to go extremely low, but it worked out and I was able to maintain track position the rest of the race, so I am proud of that.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Kleenex 100 Years Camaro ZL1
Finished: 7th
Stenhouse Jr. on back-to-back top-10 finishes:
“Our day was all over the place. We were really bad on dry tires and just struggled all day. And then when we went to the wet weather tires, we had really good runs. We struggled a little bit, but there at the end, we got our No. 47 Kroger/Kleenex 100 Years Chevy really good. We were able to battle back from 25th and drive up into the top-10. We made the most out of it, which was really cool. Two top-10s, back-to-back, and hopefully we can do the same thing at Nashville (Superspeedway).”
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Kubota Camaro ZL1
Finished: 10th
“Overall, I think we ended up about where we were going to be if we ran the whole race in the dry. I feel like we just have some fundamental things to work on, like sliding my front-tires too much with slicks on in the dry, wets on in the wet and wets on in the dry. I just need to slide my tires less. But all-in-all, happy to salvage a top-10 finish. We’ll regroup and get ready for Nashville (Superspeedway).”
About Chevrolet
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