Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway… Richard Childress Racing has three wins at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series: Jeff Burton (2007), Austin Dillon (2020) and Tyler Reddick (2022). Burton led only the final lap to grab his 19th career Cup victory. In 2020, Dillon led the final 10 laps and edged teammate Reddick by just .149 seconds to score the win – his first at Texas and the 109th all-time by RCR. Reddick led the final 24 laps to grab his first Texas victory and his third win of the 2022 season.

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Texas Motor Speedway… RCR has five NASCAR Xfinity Series victories at Texas Motor Speedway, all by Kevin Harvick (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2012). Last season, both Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed scored top-10 finishes (seventh-place by Hill, eighth by Creed). Hill has reeled off three consecutive top-10s for RCR at Texas, including a second-place finish in the 2022 fall event.

Catch the Action… The NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, April 13, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, April 14, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Texas Motor Speedway… In 19 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Dillon has earned one win, one top-five and two top-10 finishes. He also earned the pole award at the 1.5-mile track in 2016. Dillon has made 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track with a career-best finish of third in 2015 after starting from the pole position for the 300-mile race. Dillon, the 2011 NASCAR Truck Series Champion, has five Truck Series starts at Texas with a career-best finish of second in 2011 and one pole in 2010.

Winner, Winner … Dillon won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2020, the third of his four career victories in the series. The Texas win was part of a 1-2 finish for RCR, with teammate Tyler Reddick coming in second.

About Bass Pro Shops… Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations, and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations, and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/.

About TRACKER Off Road… Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service, and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER Off Road was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.

Meet Dillon… On Saturday, April 13 at 6 p.m. CT, Dillon is scheduled to make an appearance on behalf of Bass Pro Shops at Cabela’s Outfitters (12901 Cabela Dr, Fort Worth, Texas 76177). Dillon is also scheduled to participate in a Q&A session at the Team Chevrolet Stage display in the fan midway at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 14 at 10:40 a.m. CT. He is scheduled to appear at Andy’s Frozen Custard display, also in the fan midway, at 11 a.m. CT.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:

What are your thoughts on Texas Motor Speedway?

“Texas Motor Speedway is one of my favorite tracks, and I’m excited to be racing there this weekend in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off-Road Chevrolet. It has always been a strong track for me. There is a lot of variety on both ends of the track, which makes it exciting to race. On one end you are going to have a high-speed and very banked corner, and on the other end, you will have a hard corner that you will have to get turned into and then get back on the gas. The track has so much grip now and has changed a lot from the old track to the new track.”

Kyle Busch and the No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Texas Motor Speedway… Kyle Busch will make his 34th NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway. The driver of the zone Chevrolet has four wins at the 1.5-mile facility (second most all-time): 2013 (spring), 2016 (spring), 2018 (spring) and 2020 (fall). Busch has 14 top-fives, 18 top-10s and has led 1,069 laps in 33 previous starts. His first Texas victory in 2013 came in dominating fashion when Busch won the pole, led the most laps (171 of 334), and finished with an average running position of 1.575.

The Points Chase… Busch is 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings, 38 points outside the top-10.

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KYLE BUSCH QUOTES:

You qualified well at Texas Motor Speedway last September and ran well before your day ended early. With the Next Gen car, is there little margin for error at a track like Texas?

“Last year at Texas we were really fast. We had a good race car and we were making moves and moving forward as the run progressed. I made a mistake and just overstepped the speed on entry and lost it. Part of what makes Texas so tricky is the spray that’s been added in the upper grooves and getting your tires into that. Trying to run out of that it seems to have a different grip characteristic and it’s hard to trust the car.”

With the Texas Cup race moving to the spring, do you anticipate track conditions being different?

“I don’t know that the track conditions will be much different. Sometimes you see the bumps that are there on a racetrack later in the year aren’t the same bumps in the beginning of the year so we’ll have to be mindful of that. It also depends on what the racetrack does with adding any spray or not to the upper grooves.”

Austin Hill and the No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Texas Motor Speedway… Austin Hill will make his inaugural NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday. While Hill has not competed in the premier series at the Fort Worth, Texas track, the 29-year-old has made five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the circuit, posting two top-five and three top-10 finishes while driving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The Winston, Georgia native also has 10 NASCAR Truck Series races on his resume at the 1.5-mile oval, earning three top-five and four top-10 finishes (best result of second in 2020).

Return to the Cup Series… Hill returns to the Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing for the first time since 2022, where the driver piloted the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro to an 18th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. In 2023, Hill made a total of five Cup Series starts, all for Beard Motorsports.

About United Rentals… United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company has an integrated network of 1,504 rental locations in North America, 38 in Europe, 23 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 26,300 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and others. The company offers approximately 4,800 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $20.66 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index® and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.

Turns for Troops… Through their Turns for Troops program, United Rentals will make a donation for each lap that Hill completes in his United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro during the Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Funds from the Turns for Troops program support military veterans and their families.

AUSTIN HILL QUOTE:

With making your first Cup Series start of the season, what is the goal? What would you be satisfied with at the conclusion of the race?

“The main goal is to be consistent and show speed throughout the race. I now have a few Cup Series starts under my belt, so the goal has to move from just completing all the laps. It’s my first time working with Keith (Rodden, crew chief) though, so we will have to quickly learn each other’s communication styles without a lot of practice time. After working in the GM simulator, there seems to be more on throttle time than the Xfinity car, so I will be mindful of that when going back and forth between the two series.”

Jesse Love and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro SS at Texas Motor Speedway… Jesse Love will make his inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Texas Motor Speedway this Saturday. The Menlo Park, California native competed in his first mile-and-a-half event in the Xfinity Series earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Points Check… In addition to having a substantial lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, Love currently holds the fourth position in the Xfinity Series driver championship point standings. The 19-year-old is 76 points behind leader Chandler Smith.

About Whelen Engineering… Whelen Engineering is a family-owned company with a pioneering spirit and a passion to protect the lives of those who protect and serve others. The company mission is to provide industry-defining safety solutions around the world, while creating a community of problem-solvers who are inspired to push boundaries and continue our legacy of delivering ground-breaking innovation. As a global leader in the emergency warning industry, Whelen has been trusted to perform since 1952, when George Whelen III invented the first rotating aviation beacon. Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 750,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing space and the largest design staff in the industry. Every part of every Whelen product is proudly designed and manufactured in America. We embrace quality as our foundation, we celebrate innovative engineering in every product we produce.

JESSE LOVE QUOTE:

With one mile-and-a-half race already under your belt earlier this season, will your learning curve be smaller at Texas Motor Speedway compared to Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

“I enjoy racing at mile-and-a-half tracks. I learned a few things at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that can be applied to this weekend’s race at Texas. I am still breaking some habits that I had in the ARCA car, but I shouldn’t have to learn as much at Texas compared to Vegas with it being my first mile-and-a-half race in the Xfinity car. I should be able to fire off good to start, which will put us in a position to compete for a win.”

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Global Industrial/Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS at Texas Motor Speedway… Austin Hill has made five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway, posting two top-five and three top-10 efforts (best finish of second in fall 2022). In last year’s event at the 1.5-mile oval, Hill qualified in fifth place, sustained damage in a multi-car accident and fought back to finish in the seventh position. The Winston, Georgia native also has 10 NASCAR Truck Series races on his resume at the Fort Worth, Texas track, earning three top-five and four top-10 finishes (best result of second in 2020).

Milestone Anniversaries… Global Industrial and Bennett Transportation & Logistics have partnered together to highlight their milestone anniversaries at Texas Motor Speedway. Global Industrial has provided industrial and MRO products for 75 years, while Bennett Transportation & Logistics celebrates 50 years of faith, family, and freight. Both anniversary logos are featured on the decklid of the No. 21 Chevrolet, while the car showcases the companies in a special design.

About Global Industrial Company… Global Industrial Company (NYSE:GIC), is a value-added distributor. For 75 years, Global Industrial has gone the extra mile for its customers, currently offering hundreds of thousands of industrial and MRO products needed to run businesses and facilities. Global Industrial is committed to its customer-centric strategy, and utilizes a team of subject matter experts, Global Industrial Exclusive Brands™ products and national vendor relationships to help customers succeed. Global Industrial. “We Can Supply That®”.

About Bennett Family of Companies… McDonough-Ga. based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its 14 affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. Bennett has 4,625 drivers/owner-operators, over 1,000 employees and 600 agents located across the United States. For more information, visit www.bennettig.com.

AUSTIN HILL QUOTE:

With Texas Motor Speedway having two different ends of the track, describe the racing action and what a driver needs out of the car to compete for the win.

“Texas Motor Speedway is a very unique racetrack. It’s a totally different mile and a half than most of the intermediate tracks we go to. Turns 1 and 2 are really flat and wide, which leads to a lot of space where errors can be made, especially when you are inside of another car. If someone gets tight on your door, it’s a very easy spot for you to loop it around and back into the fence. Then on the other end of the track in Turns 3 and 4, you give it all you have. If you can hold it wide open in Turns 3 and 4, you probably have a fast race car. You need a car that handles well in Turns 1 and 2 and then hang it out as much as you can in Turns 3 and 4. Personally I have always enjoyed racing at Texas, and I feel like it’s a place that has eluded me on both the Truck and Xfinity sides. I would call Texas my second-best mile-and-a-half track behind Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Just haven’t been able to wear the cowboy hat yet.”

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 /

*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.”

LOCUST, N.C. (April 11, 2024) – As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, the No. 47 Camaro driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will carry the Blue Buffalo and Boost by Kroger livery. Away from the racetrack, Blue Buffalo and Kroger Delivery will team up with pit reporter and play-by-play for Fox Sports, Jamie Little to celebrate a milestone in her ‘Shelter Surprise’ mission to save and help rescue animals across the country.

Since 2017, Little has organically visited 26 shelters across the country on race weekends to make donations of food and supplies to help enable them to continue their missions of helping those animals in need of finding their forever families. Many of Little’s endeavors were done without any additional assistance from corporate partners or even anyone other than her going to the facilities. During that time, Little has donated more than $95,000 worth of supplies to those facilities and showcased countless animals looking for their new families through her social media channels, undoubtably saving countless lives in the process.

“The Shelter Surprises really started for me as a way to help the local animal shelters in the various cities that I was visiting through traveling the NASCAR circuit,” said Little. “In some cases, we would be under a rain delay, and I had extra time in the market and I would simply head to the store to purchase whatever would fit into my rental vehicle that weekend and head to a local shelter. And of course, once I was there, I had to take time to visit with the adoptable residents and wanted to help find them homes, so I posted them on my social platforms. Over time, while I have a lot of fans message me or talk with me about my career in motorsports, I have just as many talk with me about helping animals or asking how they can get involved or start their own shelter surprises and that for me has really been a wonderful thing.”

Blue Buffalo and Kroger Delivery are teaming up with Little this weekend for her milestone ‘Shelter Surprise’ visit. On Saturday afternoon, the group will visit Operation Kindness, a life-saving shelter located in Carrolton, Texas. Blue Buffalo and Kroger will load up the Kroger Delivery truck with dog/cat food, treats along with litter, beds, toys, leashes and other much needed supplies. With these donations, Little’s total donations will crest the $100,000 mark.

In addition to the donations of supplies, Blue Buffalo will pay for 100 adoptions at Operation Kindness and Boost by Kroger will donate a Boost membership to the shelter for their use. Kroger Health Savings cards will also be placed within the adoption packages to make pet parents aware of the opportunity to have their pet’s prescriptions filled at their local Kroger Pharmacy.

“The mission that Jamie has been on is commendable and truly representative of the promise that our founders’ at BLUE made, which was not only to make the best pet food, but also a promise to help dogs and cats in need,” said Rob Branham, Senior Customer Manager, Blue Buffalo. “We’re proud to help with 100 adoptions at Operation Kindness as well as provide them with BLUE dog and cat food as part of Jamie’s shelter surprise here in the Texas market.”

To further honor Little’s mission of helping animals in need, Blue Buffalo and Kroger have added the name ‘Stella’ to the passenger side window of the No. 47 for this weekend’s race in Texas. Stella was Little’s first rescue and she passed away earlier this year. Thanks to Stella, Little’s eyes and heart were opened to the amazing benefits of rescue and her spirit lives on through each and every shelter pet that’s been saved through the awareness Little has brought to the need nationwide.

“I’m proud to carry Stella’s name on my Boost by Kroger/Blue Buffalo Camaro this weekend,” said Ricky Stenhouse Jr. “And to be associated with such a great partner like Blue Buffalo who does so much to help pets around the country and to see them team up with Jamie Little for her milestone Shelter Surprise this weekend shows how caring and generous they are. Opportunities like this are just one example of how all the partners associated with this Kroger Racing program are able to make the most of their relationships in various ways.”

If there’s interest in helping shelter pets, but people aren’t sure where or how to help, it’s easy. Go to your local shelter and donate – anything from money and gift cards to toys, food, treats, cleaning supplies or even your time. Shelters across the country are in need of volunteers as well as foster families or if there’s space in your home to adopt, lives and hearts can be changed forever!

About Blue Buffalo:

Blue Buffalo, the country’s most loved and trusted natural pet food, started with a promise made to a lovable Airedale named Blue who struggled with cancer, the #1 disease-related killer of dogs and cats. His family, the Bishops, wanted to feed him the best food possible, so they searched for food with high-quality ingredients, but decided to create something even better – natural pet food for dogs and cats with nutritious ingredients, real meat first, and some of the highest standards in the industry. Since Day 1, BLUE’s team of veterinarians and animal nutritionists have carefully selected high-quality, natural ingredients and upheld its True BLUE Promise to dog and cat pet parents – real meat as the first ingredient with NO chicken (or poultry) by-product meals, NO corn, wheat or soy, and NO artificial flavors or preservatives. The result is a portfolio of high-quality, natural food and treats that both dogs and cats love. This simple idea: “Love them like family. Feed them like family.” lives on today in every Blue Buffalo recipe.

Our founders’ promise to Blue wasn’t just to make the best pet food we could; it was also a promise to help dogs and cats in need. Over the years, that promise has evolved to more than $30 Million donated to fight against pet cancer and support for more than 9 million pet adoptions through partnerships with organizations like Helen Woodward Animal Center and Stray Rescue of St. Louis.

JUSTIN HALEY | KAZ GRALA
|Texas Advance

Event Overview

● Event: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (Round 9 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 14
● Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps / 400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Justin Haley, Driver of the No. 51 Jacob Construction Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● Justin Haley makes his fourh NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth this Sunday in the No. 51 Jacob Construction Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing (RWR). Haley has two finishes inside the top-15 at the 1.5-mile track, including a third-place showing in the September 2022 event.

● In races completed on intermediate tracks, Haley has earned two top-fives and six top-10s in 60 career Cup Series starts and finished inside the top-10 in 40 out of 60 intermediate-track races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In six Xfinity Series races at Texas, all but one resulted in top-10s.

● Haley’s strong runs at Texas began in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he finished in the top-10 for all five of his starts. He secured his first and only Truck Series pole at Texas in November 2017 and captured his third series win at Texas on Nov. 2, 2018 after leading 33 laps. The win advanced him into the Championship 4 round of the playoffs.

● The 24-year-old’s third start for RWR came Feb. 25 on the 1.533-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval, where he finished 20th. It was his best finish on an intermediate track so far this year.

● Jacob returns to the No. 51 Ford after being featured on Haley’s Mustang Dark Horse at Daytona. Jacob is a nationally certified, WBENC, woman owned, multifaceted construction firm with a focus on construction, design-build services, structural concrete and technology.

Kaz Grala, Driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RWR, will make his first Cup Series start at Texas this Sunday in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400. His best finish on a 1.5-mile track was the 14th-place result he earned in the Feb. 25 race at Atlanta.

● In four Xfinity Series starts at Texas, Grala has two finishes inside the top-20. In 42 intermediate races in the Xfinity Series, he’s collected four top-10s and 24 top-20s.

● Grala also has two Craftsman Truck Series starts at Texas that resulted in top-10 finishes.

Rick Ware Racing Notes

● The Mission NHRA Drag Racing Series heads to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, where Top Fuel driver Clay Millican looks to find success for the RWR Parts Plus team in the Vegas 4-Wide Nationals. Coverage of events begins on FS1 Friday with the first of two qualifying shows and continues Sunday with the second qualifying show, followed by coverage of the elimination rounds.

● Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age six when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the LMP3 class of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), where RWR won the 2022 SX2 championship with rider Shane McElrath.

Justin Haley, Driver Q&A

In the last two years, you did well at Texas and were strong on the intermediate tracks, in general. What does it take to put a good race together at Texas?

“You just have to put all of the pieces together. It’s a very fast track, it can get very hot and slick. With both ends of the track being so different, you have to get your car handling decent all around or you could very well be spinning out in turns one and two. If we can keep a handle on the car, no mistakes on pit road and put all of those little things together, it could be a good day for us.”

It’s been a tough few weeks for the No. 51 team as far as final results. There have been some bright spots during races but it hasn’t translated to the top-15 or top-20 finishes that the team is looking for. How do you stay positive and keep moving forward each week?

“I think the biggest thing that helps is I’ve been doing this a while and it’s not the first time I’ve had a result that should’ve been better. It’s easy to sit around and be upset about it, but once it’s done all we can do is debrief and figure out how to improve next time. There are definitely things in my personal life that I do to make sure it’s not cosuming me but, come Monday, there’s another race to prepare for so there’s no time to sit around and worry about it. I know how hard these guys are working and we’re going to have a race where it all goes as it should.”

Kaz Grala, Driver Q&A

It seems like with each race there’s less and less parity in the field. How hard is it to find something in the car that others don’t have?

“The format nowadays with such little practice makes it so you have the speed that you come to the track with, and you’re probably not going to change that much. You can try to change your handling a little bit, get it right where you want it, so you can maximize the speed that you do have, but there’s not really an opportunity to find it these days. With the NextGen car and how weekends are laid out, everything is so tight. I think that’s why we see so many races where track position is so important, but this could be a weekend where we are so reliant on that.”

How does that help a team like RWR that has made significant investments to improve the on-track product?

“Right now, I think we’ve had several races where we are outrunning RWR’s previous average running position or average finish. I can’t speak to how things were before at the team itself, but a lot has changed in the Cup Series. A few years ago there would have been a lot of talk about what people called ‘backmarkers,’ teams that going into the weekend and were going to be your last-place teams. That just doesn’t exist anymore. Every single team out there is on a healthy budget, putting everything they have into it with the best drivers they can get their hands on. It’s tough to outrun even one car out there right now. It’s crazy to think that you could end up with a good team that that can win races throughout the year and on any given weekend they miss it a little bit, and they don’t run 25th, they run 35th or 36th. We are probably the most underdog team out there, but we’re still able to go out and run in the top-10, top-15, even if that’s not what the results show. It doesn’t take much to lose that position with one bad lap, but if we can keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to start getting those results on paper.”

RYAN PREECE
Texas Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Event Overview

● Event: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (Round 9 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 14
● Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps / 400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● When Ryan Preece takes the green flag for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, it will be his eighth career NASCAR Cup Series start at the 1.5-mile oval. His best Texas finish of 18th came in 2020 while driving for JTG-Daugherty Racing.

● Preece heads to Texas after posting a season-best finish of ninth last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. He kicked off the weekend with a strong practice session, posting the third-fastest lap. From his 22nd-place starting spot, Preece steadily made his way toward the top-10, finishing the second stage in 14th. After losing four spots on pit road during the Stage 2 break, Preece raced his way forward once again and emerged with his first top-10 of the season. Statistically, he was one of the top-five biggest movers in the final stage.

● Preece has competed four times in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Texas, achieving a best finish of fifth for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Preece raced at Texas in 2022 for David Gilliland Racing, starting fifth and leading 27 laps en route to a third-place result.

● Back with Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Texas is HaasTooling.com, the cutting tool division of Haas Automation. HaasTooling.com allows CNC machinists to purchase high-quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users. Haas Automation, founded in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers, rotaries and indexers, and automation solutions.

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

It’s been six weeks since the Cup Series last raced on a mile-and-a-half track. What are your thoughts heading to Texas?

“We knew the No. 10 car (of Noah Gragson) was really good at Las Vegas, so we’ve been looking over and working through some of the things they did to ensure we have some of the speed they had there. Heading into Texas, with it being a mile-and-a-half, we’re a lot more optimistic than last year.”

Texas will not host a race in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Does that have an impact on how teams look at this race?

“As much as Texas is different from other mile-and-a-half tracks that we visit on the circuit, this is just another opportunity for our team and other teams to fine-tune our packages for these types of tracks. Texas isn’t in the playoffs, but we can take data from this one and apply it to other mile-and-a-half tracks that are in the playoffs this season.”

You have a best Cup Series finish of 18th at Texas. What do you need in the car to improve upon that finish on Sunday?

“The good news is we were running in the top-10 and could’ve potentially been in the top-five at Texas last year. The speed and performance were there, so we need to look at some of those things, as well as some of the things the team learned this year at Las Vegas. I have really high expectations going into Texas this weekend.”

You’ve had strong performances in both the Xfinity and Truck series at Texas. Does that give you any added confidence on the Cup side?

“Yes, I think those experiences have given me a baseline of the direction that I look for in a racecar at Texas. Our team looks at that and applies as much as we can from those events to determine what works best from a balance standpoint.”

What do you feel is most important for you and the team over the next few races?

“We have to build momentum. Martinsville was great. Bristol went pretty well for us. COTA and Richmond were a challenge. The speed is there, we just have to really dig deep and execute. And if we do that, April will be a really good month.”

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Ryan Preece

Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Crew Chief: Chad Johnston

Hometown: Cayuga, Indiana

Car Chief: Jeremy West

Hometown: Gardena, California

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen

Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Spotter: Tony Raines

Hometown: LaPorte, Indiana

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Devin Lester

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Rear Tire Changer: Austin Chrismon

Hometown: China Grove, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas

Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher

Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Fuel Man: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Road Crew Members

Front End Mechanic: Joe Zanolini

Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania

Interior Mechanic: Robert Dalby

Hometown: Anaheim, California

Tire Specialist: Matt Ridgeway

Hometown: Carrollton, Georgia

Engine Tuner: Jimmy Fife

Hometown: Orange County, California

Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues

Hometown: Santa Clarita, California

Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer

Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania

CHASE BRISCOE
Texas Advance
No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Event Overview

● Event: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (Round 9 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 14
● Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps / 400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Chase Briscoe comes into Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth fresh off a 10th-place drive last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Steady performances like that have allowed the driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing to rise from 22nd in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings to his current position of 16th. While Briscoe is certainly wanting more, being among the top-16 drivers in points is still an important benchmark. Following the 26th race of the year, only the top-16 drivers are eligible to compete in the 10-race chase for the championship. While that top-16 cutoff is still 18 races away, it remains top of mind for all drivers hovering in and around the top-16. Another strong performance in Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas can bolster Briscoe’s standing.

● Despite only having three NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas, Briscoe’s standing at the 1.5-mile oval is solid. He finished 15th in his Cup Series debut at the track in 2021 and then knocked down back-to-back top-10s in his two subsequent races at Texas, finishing fifth in 2022 and 10th last year.

● Prior to racing at Texas in the NASCAR Cup Series, Briscoe made five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track. His best performance was a second-place effort in 2020 when he finished runner-up to fellow Ford pilot Austin Cindric.

● Briscoe’s steadiness at Texas began back in 2017. In two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts in the Lone Star State, Briscoe finished second in his Truck Series debut at the track in June, leading twice for six laps before Christopher Bell took the top spot for the final two laps. Briscoe then came back to the D-shaped oval in November and finished fourth.

● In addition to turning laps on Texas’ 1.5-mile oval in his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Briscoe will return to his roots and sling some dirt in his sprint car on Friday night at Texarkana 67 Speedway in Arkansas and again on Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Texas Motor Speedway. Both races will be run under the banner of High Limit Racing, the 410 winged sprint car series owned by NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and five-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Brad Sweet. Briscoe will race his No. 5 Mahindra Tractors machine with his father, Kevin Briscoe, serving as crew chief. Kevin Briscoe raced sprint cars for over 20 years and won more than 150 feature events, claiming track championships at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana, and winning five track titles at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway, including a streak of three straight. For those at Texas during the NASCAR race weekend, The Dirt Track is easily accessible, with the .4-mile clay oval located between Interstate 35W and the backstretch of Texas’ 1.5-mile oval.

● The 2024 season marks the 15th year of partnership between Rush Truck Centers and Stewart-Haas Racing, and it’s a partnership that goes well beyond a design on a racecar. All Stewart-Haas racecars are transported via tractor-trailers from Rush Truck Centers, the premier service solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry. And those tractor-trailers are supported by the RushCare Customer Support team of parts and service experts, who also provide concierge-level service for scheduling maintenance, technical support, mobile service dispatch and roadside assistance, along with help locating the nearest Rush Truck Centers dealer, and more. Rush Truck Centers is the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in North America with 150 locations in the United States and Ontario, Canada, and takes pride in its integrated approach to customer needs – from vehicle sales to aftermarket parts, service and body shop operations, plus financing, insurance, leasing and rental, as well as alternate fuel systems and other vehicle technologies.

● Cummins joins Rush Truck Centers for this weekend’s race at Texas. Cummins Inc., is a global power technology leader that designs, manufactures, distributes and services a broad portfolio of power solutions. These solutions include advanced diesel, natural gas, hybrid, electric, fuel cell and other technologies. Cummins powers the future through innovations that make people’s lives better. From buses that transport kids to and from school, to the trucks that carry essentials, to construction, mining equipment, trains and ships, and critical backup power for places like data centers and hospitals, Cummins is doing it with the cleanest solutions available. Learn more at cummins.com.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse

How would you describe restarts at Texas?

“Restarts at Texas are a little hairy. The speeds are way, way higher, and the risk versus reward is way, way higher. At Texas, I feel like you put yourself in a worse spot sometimes and the car just doesn’t want to do certain things. There are different lanes at Texas, so you can move around, and that makes things hairier.”

The risk-versus-reward factor is higher at Texas because the speeds are so much higher. Can you explain how fast things happen at Texas and how quickly you need to think and make moves on the track?

“Texas is a really weird racetrack because in turns one and two, it’s still really fast, but it’s slow compared what (turns) three and four are. You go to turns three and four, it literally feels like terminal velocity. It feels like the car cannot go any faster. It’s like you’re strapped to a rocket. It’s wild how it feels inside the racecar in three and four. It’s one where you’re hanging on and hoping you get through to the other side. It’s a very, very fast racetrack. It’s changed a lot just over the last two or three years as it’s kind of started to age, already. Texas is a wild one just because of how fast it is on one side and how slow it feels on the other side.”

Texas is the exact opposite of a short track, which is where the NASCAR Cup Series has raced the past two weekends. But would you like to see the kind of tire fall-off we’ve seen at the short tracks to where the race would have more comers and goers, or would you like to have 1,000 horsepower always there at your right foot?

“I’m good on the horsepower at Texas, but tire fall-off would be nice. That’s one of the hardest places to pass and it’s just because we’re always running the same speed and the tires don’t really fall off at all, so it would be really cool to see a lot of tire fall-off at a place like Texas just because then it would make it easier to come through the field and things like that. You’d have a lot more comers and goers.”

You’ve been consistently good at Texas across the series in which you’ve competed. In fact, in 10 overall starts at Texas across the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, you have five top-fives and only two finishes outside of the top-15. How have you been able to find that consistency in three different series?

“I don’t know, and it’s weird because it’s not my favorite racetrack, by any means, but I’ve always statistically run really well there. I don’t know what it is about Texas. I think maybe some of it is that it’s two different ends, so your car’s never really going to drive great, and nobody’s car is going to drive perfect. I feel like you can manipulate your car to do certain things there, which reminds me a little bit more of my background in dirt racing. I don’t know what it is about that place, I really don’t because it has been pretty good to me. I’ve never won there, but I feel like I’ve done everything but win there. Hopefully, we can finally get a win there and it would be cool to bring home a cowboy hat from Texas.”

Texas is a track you haven’t exactly embraced, but you have figured out a way to be successful there even though it’s not your cup of tea. How?

“Typically, the places I run well at are the places I really like going to, so it’s probably the one outlier of the racetracks that we have where I don’t look forward to going there. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just not one of my favorite racetracks, but it’s one where it seems like every time I go there, I’m at least in the mix and kind of battling up front. Maybe I should start liking it a little bit more. It is weird how that works out because typically at places where you run well, you always like them, and that place, I don’t really feel like it fits my driving style, but for whatever reason, it does.”

Getting top-fives and top-10s at Texas is obviously a good thing, but does that also mean winning at Texas means getting everything right for all 267 laps? Does Texas put a premium on perfection?

“I’d say Texas is easily one of the top-five on our whole schedule where you have to be absolutely perfect all day long because passing is at such a premium and track position is more important there than anywhere else. I would say, statistically, it probably has the least amount of passes. That just means you can’t have a single mistake all day long. You have to be perfect on pit road, you have to be perfect on restarts and your car has to be really, really good there. And then even from a manufacturer’s side, your motors have to be really good, your aerodynamics, there’s just a lot that goes into winning at Texas and that kind of gets overlooked, when you think about it. Texas is a place you have to be perfect for 267 laps and, if you make a mistake, it’s hard to dig out from it.”

No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe

Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: Richard Boswell

Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey

Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Spotter: Joey Campbell

Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Dakota Ratcliff

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal

Hometown: Holland, Michigan

Jack Man: Dylan Moser

Hometown: Monroe, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams

Hometown: Plymouth, Wisconsin

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips

Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable

Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Dale Lackey

Hometown: Taylorsville, North Carolina