Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Bristol

SEASON-TO-DATE: After the first seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season, Kasey Kahne currently ranks first in quality passes (645), third in average running position (9.015), fourth in fastest drivers on restarts (8.429 average rank), fifth in laps in top 15 (1,899), fifth in fastest drivers late in a run (6.857 average rank), fifth in fastest speed in traffic (7.714 average rank), sixth in fastest drivers early in a run (7.714 average rank), sixth in green-flag speed (6.857 average rank), seventh in driver rating (100.0), eighth in fastest laps run (87) and 10th in laps led (35).

BRISTOL WINNER: Kahne drove the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS to Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway in the March 2013 Sprint Cup Series race. He started from the outside pole position and led 109 laps en route to his first victory at the 0.533-mile oval. Of his five top-five finishes at the track, two were runner-up results. He has an average starting position of 12.4.

BRISTOL LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR loop data during the last 20 Sprint Cup Series races at Bristol, Kahne ranks first in the closers category by improving 25 positions in the last 10 percent of laps in each race. He also ranks fourth in fastest laps run (460), fourth in green-flag passes (1,005), seventh in laps led (512) and 10th in quality passes (563).

SHORT-TRACK STATS: Kahne has collected two of his 17 career Cup wins and three of his 26 pole positions on short tracks. His most recent short-track win was at Bristol in March 2013. He has 12 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s in 67 starts on tracks less than one mile in length.

BRISTOL CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Keith Rodden has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-820 for Sunday’s race at Bristol. Kahne raced the car six times in 2014 with his most notable performance being a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August. Most recently, Kahne tested with the chassis at Charlotte Motor Speedway in March of this year.

GREAT CLIPS / GREAT CLIPS RACING VIP SWEEPSTAKES: Great Clips will adorn the hood of Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Bristol, and will be the primary sponsor on the car for eight more Sprint Cup Series races this year: Richmond International Raceway (April 25), Kansas Speedway (May 9), Michigan International Speedway (June 14), Sonoma Raceway (June 28), Daytona International Speedway (July 5), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 19), Chicagoland Speedway (Sept. 20) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 22). Now until Aug. 13, fans can enter for the chance to win a VIP racing experience thanks to Great Clips. The sweepstakes’ grand prize includes a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, with airfare as well as hotel accommodations covered for three nights, tickets to the NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway Oct. 9-10, a behind-the-scenes tour at the track and the opportunity to meet Kahne. For more information, please click here.

No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS / Jeff Gordon
Driver Jeff Gordon   Hometown Pittsboro, Indiana
Age 43                      Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

2015 Season

13th in standings
7 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
4 top-10 finishes
114 laps led

Career

768 starts
92 wins
79 pole positions
320 top-five finishes
458 top-10 finishes
24,778 laps led

Bristol Career

44 starts
5 wins
5 pole positions
16 top-five finishes
24 top-10 finishes
2,730 laps led

TV ANALYST: On Saturday, Jeff Gordon will join the FOX Sports 1 broadcast of the XFINITY Series race as an analyst – his second of three appearances this year following his debut last week at Texas. The four-time Cup champion also is scheduled to join the FS1 broadcast booth for the Talladega Superspeedway event on May 2.

ACTIVE LEADER AT BRISTOL: The 43-year old driver is tied for most wins among active drivers, while he is the active leader in pole positions, top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led and average starting position at the high-banked short track.

GRAND MARSHALS: Gordon’s children, Ella and Leo, have been named the grand marshals for Sunday’s race to help commemorate Gordon’s final full-time Sprint Cup Series season.

NEW 3M TAGLINE: 3M’s new corporate tagline “Science. Applied to Life.” will appear on the No. 24 Chevrolet SS for the first time this weekend in Bristol. This weekend marks the third race 3M has been the primary sponsor of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS in 2015. 3M previously appeared on Gordon’s car at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway and will be the primary for 11 events this season.

BRISTOL CHASSIS: No. 24 team crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-869 for this Sunday’s race. The chassis has been raced five times previously – all in 2014 – with finishes of first at Dover (September) and Kansas (May), sixth and eighth at Pocono and sixth at Kentucky.

No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson   Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 39                             Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

2015 Season

6th in standings
7 starts
2 wins
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
4 top-10 finishes
304 laps led

Career

478 starts
72 wins
33 pole positions
196 top-five finishes
296 top-10 finishes
17,455 laps led

Bristol Career

26 starts
1 win
1 pole position
8 top-five finishes
14 top-10 finishes
833 laps led

Jimmie Johnson will be available to members of the media at 4 p.m. local time on Friday at the Bristol Motor Speedway media center.

GIVE ME FIVE: Jimmie Johnson drove the No. 48 Lowe’s ProServices Chevrolet SS to Victory Lane at Texas last weekend after starting fifth and leading 128 laps en route to his fifth win at the mile-and-a-half track in Fort Worth, Texas, which leads all drivers.

‘REPEAT AFTER ME’ TUNE-IN: On a recent trip to Los Angeles, Johnson made a stop at Warner Brothers Studio to film a new show on ABC called “Repeat After Me” with host Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”). The episode in which Johnson took part is currently scheduled to air on Tuesday, April 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC (check local listings). Ellen DeGeneres is an executive producer on the show and Johnson joins the ranks of celebrities Harry Connick Jr. (“American Idol”), Ellen Pompeo (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Kristen Bell (“Frozen”) and Scott Foley (“Scandal”).

BRISTOL CHASSIS: For this weekend’s event, crew chief Chad Knaus has selected chassis No. 48-806, which was last raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last fall. The backup car is 48-749, which last raced in Martinsville in the spring of 2014.

TEAM JJF WELLNESS CHALLENGE: Registration is open for the 2015 Jimmie Johnson Foundation Wellness Challenge. Register now for early-bird pricing and register for all three events and get a reduced rate. The first event is April 26, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation 5K in Huntersville, North Carolina. Log on to www.jjfwellnesschallenge.org for more details.

HELMET OF HOPE SEMI-FINALIST VOTING: Voting for the semi-finalist round of the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope ends on April 17. Semi-finalist charitable organizations include: 9 Dots (Los Angeles); Arts at Large, Inc. (Milwaukee); BackPack Beginnings (Greensboro, North Carolina); Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland (Sioux City, Iowa); Carolina Raptor Center (Charlotte, North Carolina); For Love of Children (Washington, D.C.); Girlstart (Austin, Texas); GO Project (New York); Schoolhouse Supplies (Portland, Oregon) and The Be Kind People Project (Phoenix). The five semi-finalist organizations that receive the most votes between Thursday, April 9, and Friday, April 17, will each receive a $25,000 cash grant, an ice cream party and their logo featured on Johnson’s helmet during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on June 7 at Pocono Raceway. To vote, go to www.jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.

No. 88 Mtn Dew DEWshine Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 40                                Resides Mooresville, North Carolina

2015 Season

7th in standings
7 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
37 laps led
Career

548 starts
23 wins
13 pole positions
131 top-five finishes
229 top-10 finishes
7,884 laps led

Bristol Career

30 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
7 top-five finishes
14 top-10 finishes
790 laps led

MTN DEW DEWSHINE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the green and gold No. 88 Mtn Dew DEWshine Chevrolet SS this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mtn Dew DEWshine is a craft, premium soft drink inspired by the brand’s roots in the backwoods of Tennessee. It’s a clear, citrus DEW made with real cane sugar and packaged in clear glass bottles. Mtn Dew DEWshine is now on shelves in the soft drink section and is available nationally wherever premium beverages are sold.

RUNNING AT FINISH: Earnhardt has been running at the finish of 28 of the 30 (93.3 percent) races he’s entered at Bristol. He’s also completed 14,540 of 15,016 laps (96.8 percent) in his 30 starts. He has the second-most lead lap finishes (23 of 30) at Bristol behind teammate Gordon.

AVERAGE FINISH AT BRISTOL: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt has the third-best average finish among all drivers in the last 20 Cup races at Bristol. Earnhardt, who recorded 10 top-10s during that timeframe, has an average finish of 11.9.

CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, crew chief Greg Ives and the No. 88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-857. Earnhardt most recently raced the chassis to a 12th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway last September.

SHORT-TRACK STATS: In 92 Cup starts on short tracks that are under one mile in length, Earnhardt has recorded five wins, one pole positions, 28 top-five finishes and 44 top-10s.

Hendrick Motorsports

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT BRISTOL: In 62 Cup events at Bristol, Hendrick Motorsports has 10 wins, 11 pole positions, 49 top-five finishes and 90 top-10s. Gordon is tied for first among active drivers with five wins at the track, while Kahne most recently won there for the organization in March 2013.

SHORT-TRACK POWER: Among active competitors at tracks less than one mile in length, Hendrick Motorsports drivers rank atop the competition in wins and laps led. Gordon is first in both categories with 16 victories and 8,425 laps led while Johnson ranks second in both categories with 12 wins and 3,996 laps led.

ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 233 victories, 202 pole positions, 950 top-five finishes and 1,578 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 64,331 laps since 1984.

QUOTABLE /

“I thought we would excel right off the bat. I worked with (crew chief) Keith (Rodden) a lot over the offseason and we both were excited to get started. He’s done a great job with the team and working with the guys. They’re preparing really solid race cars so it’s been really enjoyable to drive. We just have to stay after it, keep communicating and doing the right things to win a race. I think we’re getting closer. We haven’t finished great in all the races, but we’ve run well in most of them, been consistent and got the best result we could in the ones that we weren’t as good in.”

Kasey Kahne on the No. 5 team’s strong start to the season

“Bristol is very banked, fast and hard to keep the car turning through the entire corner without getting loose off. The multiple racing grooves at Bristol though tend to pay off towards Kasey’s driving style and his ability to move his line around to find grip.”

No. 5 team crew chief Keith Rodden on Bristol Motor Speedway

“Bristol is the one track that I go in the night before and walk over to it when nobody is there. I just look at it and go, ‘Man, this place is cool.’ There is no other place like it, the stadium and those hills and Tennessee. If we ever had a coliseum or a real stadium, it would be Bristol.

“The addition of the SAFER barriers is going to change the groove slightly. It’s definitely going to change how we race there. I hope it makes it more exciting with even more action. I’ll get my first look at it probably Thursday night.”

Jeff Gordon on the atmosphere at Bristol Motor Speedway

“Bristol has changed quite a bit over the years and we are now figuring out how to get the bump-and-run to work for us when you are running the top lane on the track. The track has some pretty big bumps up high in Turns 1 and 2, so you have to get the splitter off the ground so you don’t bottom out, but that can hurt you in (Turns) 3 and 4. Should be an exciting race for the drivers and fans and for the Lowe’s team coming off a win. We are ready for it.”

Jimmie Johnson on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway

“I just love short-track racing. If you look over the statistics of my career, I’ve performed best at the short tracks. Bristol is also one of those racetracks I loved to go to as a kid. There were places on the circuit you looked forward to, but Bristol was always on top of the list. There is just no other track like it.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on short-track racing