Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Las Vegas

Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024
1.5-Mile Tri-Oval
2:30 PM ET
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 33 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
 Age: 32 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 1st (Charlotte ROVAL)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• With his dominant win at the Charlotte ROVAL last weekend, Kyle Larson now has 29 career NASCAR Cup victories, including a series-leading 23 since he joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.
• The 2021 Cup champion leads the series with 13 top-five finishes this season. He has run a series-high 4,191 laps in the top five through 32 events and his 10.17 average running position is also a series-best.
• Larson is 33 markers above the elimination line entering the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 8. He has 20 more playoff points than any other driver.
• The 32-year-old is the only competitor to have eclipsed the 1,000-laps-led barrier in 2024 with 1,614, which is 696 more than any other driver. His 12 stage wins lead the series by two.
• Earlier this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson swept both stages and led 181 of 267 laps en route to his first victory of the season. Last year in this race, he led 131 laps and won both stages before capturing the checkered flag.
• At Las Vegas in March 2021, the Elk Grove, California, native captured his first victory driving for Hendrick Motorsports. That total accounts for 11 more than any other driver in that span.
• In 16 starts at Las Vegas, Larson has a series-best average finish (9.31) among drivers with a minimum of four starts on the 1.5-mile oval.
• Larson is the only repeat winner in the last 13 races with three.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
 Age: 28 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 5th (Charlotte ROVAL)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 7th (-38)

No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Chase Elliott heads into the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 8 in seventh place, nine points below the elimination line. This marks the 28-year-old driver’s seventh appearance in the Round of 8, the third-most among active playoff drivers. He’s advanced to the Championship 4 in his three most recent playoff appearances (2020-2022) and won the championship in 2020.
• In five races on 1.5-mile tracks in 2024, Elliott has earned the fourth-most points (178). He currently holds the longest active streak of top-10 finishes on such tracks, with four, a streak that began with his victory at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Elliott led 39 laps and finished inside the top 10 in the first two stages en route to the win.
• During the postseason, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has earned the third-most stage points (42) and the third-most points overall (192) among Round of 8 competitors.
• Elliott has won at two of the four remaining tracks in the postseason. He claimed the penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway in 2020 before capturing both the victory and the Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway the following weekend.
• Through 32 races in 2024, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has nine top-five finishes and 16 top 10s, the latter of which is tied with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for fourth-most. He also has the third-best average running position (11.59).

24 WILLIAM BYRON
 Age: 26 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 3rd (Charlotte ROVAL)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 4th (-29)

No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• William Byron and the No. 24 team tied for the fifth-best average finish for any round in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a mark of 2.67 in the Round of 12. That included a second-place finish at Kansas Speedway and back-to-back third-place finishes at Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte ROVAL.
• After the points reset for the Round of 8, Byron sits fourth, four points above the elimination line.
• In the 2024 postseason Byron has accumulated 52 stage points and 206 points total, ranking second among playoff drivers in both categories.
• With four races remaining in the 2024 playoffs, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has at least one victory at each remaining venue including a win at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season.
• The 26-year-old driver has three consecutive top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, tied for the second-longest active streak with a win in the spring of 2023. In that event, Byron swept both stages and led 176 laps.
• In the Next Gen Era, Byron has led the second-most laps at Las Vegas (200) and has the second-best average finish (7.2).
• In five races at 1.5-mile tracks this season, Byron has collected the most points (190) with back-to-back, top-10 results.
• In 2024, Byron ranks third with 11 top-five finishes (tied) and 17 top 10s.

48 ALEX BOWMAN
 Age: 31 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 38th (Charlotte ROVAL)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 9th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

•  Bowman made the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 this season for the sixth time in as many postseason appearances. He earned three top 10s along the way, scoring a fifth-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing ninth at Bristol Motor Speedway and coming home sixth at Kansas Speedway. Before the ROVAL, he had earned 24 more points than any other driver in the playoffs (163).
• The 31-year-old is approaching career marks in several categories. His seven top fives and 15 top-10 finishes are both one off of his most in a season, both of which were set in 2021. Bowman has been the best finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver in six races this season.
• Sunday will mark Bowman’s 15th Cup Series start Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He boasts one win, three top fives and four top 10s. His trip to victory lane came in March of 2022 when he prevailed in a dramatic overtime restart. The No. 48 Ally team gambled on a late, two-tire pit stop and Bowman defended the lead in a two-lap sprint with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson finishing just 0.178 seconds behind.
• The Tucson, Arizona, driver has finished ninth or better in each of the last three races on 1.5-mile tracks. He is in a three-way tie for the second-longest active top-10 streak on tracks this length.
• For four years, Bowman and Ally have teamed up to support Best Friends Animal Society and its vast network of partners. Every race weekend, the pair donates $4,800 to help homeless pets. This weekend, the charitable donation will go to Henderson Animal Care and Control located in Henderson, Nevada.

Hendrick Motorsports

*Most
**Tied for most

• Hendrick Motorsports has won four of the last five races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with three different drivers. The winning driver also swept both stages in each of the team’s last three victories. Since the beginning of 2023, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have combined to lead 71% of laps at Las Vegas (574 of 805). The organization will look to become the first to win four straight races at the 1.5-mile tri-oval on Sunday.
• With 46 wins on the West Coast, Hendrick Motorsports has doubled up the rest of the teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, leading the pack by 23.
• Through 32 races, Hendrick Motorsports has accumulated 102 lead-lap finishes, tied for the team’s most through 32 events (2009).
• Hendrick Motorsports has gone to victory lane 60 times in playoff races, 23 more than any other team. The organization’s 11 wins in 2024 are the most by five.
• All four Hendrick Motorsports pit crews rank in the top six in terms of average time for a four-tire pit stop. The No. 9 over-the-wall squad of Chase Elliott leads the organization and is second in the Cup Series at 10.91 seconds.

 
QUOTABLE /
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on Las Vegas Motor Speedway: “Las Vegas has been one of our better tracks. On paper, all three tracks in the Round of 8 stack up pretty well for our HENDRICKCARS.COM team, but we still have to go out and execute. I would like to run well and win, but we also have a good opportunity to score stage points and hopefully create a bigger gap before Martinsville.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on what it will take to advance to the Championship 4: “I think you can be really, really solid and probably get through, but I would like to go win and win our way in. I think we’re very capable of that. I look at (Las) Vegas (Motor Speedway) next week as a great opportunity and same for Homestead(-Miami Speedway) and Martinsville (Speedway). I always say, you get to this round and you know it really is game on. I think anybody has a shot so I’m ready to get going.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his thoughts for the Round of 8: “I’m proud of the round we had the last three weeks. We executed everything like we needed to. Hopefully we can do the same this round. Ideally, we would lock ourselves into the final round in one of the first two races so we can put all our efforts into Phoenix (Raceway). If not, if we just do what we did this last round, hopefully it’s enough to advance on. I know our team is capable of it.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, going to Las Vegas Motor Speedway: “I think we can be really strong this weekend at the Vegas intermediate. This year we were really good at Kansas. Vegas is normally a good place for us. We had some issues there in the spring with the car but I think that was an oddly bad race for us. Other than that, we typically race pretty good there. Definitely excited about this weekend.”