Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team were unable to overcome an early-race setback in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen and were relegated to a disappointing 33rd-place finish.

Burton started Sunday’s 90-lap race on the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y., from 32nd place. With five drivers dropping to the rear for the start, he was able to move up and was in 28th place by Lap Seven.

But his forward progress ended there when a group of drivers slowed ahead of him and an oncoming driver knocked Burton around.

Burton brought the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang to pit road for fresh rubber and returned to the track in 36th place, one lap down.

From that point on to the checkered flag there was just one caution flag, and therefore there were few realistic opportunities to rejoin the lead lap.

Burton made green-flag pit stops a Laps 30 and 57, and moved into 33rd in the closing laps of a race that was run in just under two hours.

The No. 21 team will be working to rebound in next Saturday night’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway.

About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

Go Bowling at the Glen

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger qualified sixth for the Go Bowling at the Glen.
• Allmendinger took over fifth place on the first lap, where he remained for the duration of the opening stage. He was quiet on the radio, only reporting that the rear of the car was out of the track. Allmendinger finished the opening stage in fifth and took over the lead as cars began coming down pit road for green flag pit stops.
• The No. 16 Celsius Chevy came down pit road from first place on lap 23 for a scheduled green flag stop and exited pit road in fifth. On lap 24, Allmendinger took over fourth place and was running lap times similar to the leader by lap 28. The No. 5 car passed the No. 16 for fourth place on lap 34, and Allmendinger reported he was too free and lacked lateral grip. He finished stage two in fifth place.
• On lap 44, Allmendinger was running fifth when his spotter told him his lap times were better than the leaders in front of him. On lap 55, the No. 16 Chevy came down pit road from the fourth position for four tires, fuel and an adjustment. Allmendinger sat in seventh when the caution came out on lap 57 and would restart fourth on lap 60. The No. 16 Celsius Chevy went on to finish fourth in the Go Bowling at the Glen.

“It’s been tough these past couple of weeks. These cars are physically harder to drive than the old Cup car. With the tires not falling off, you still feel like you’re running [qualifying] laps. The Celsius Chevy was fast. I think if we could have gotten up there and cleared the Toyotas there, maybe we had something for William [Byron]. It’s so hard to pass in dirty air. We wanted to win, but I’m super proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. We’re getting better. Last week was disappointing, but I’m proud of myself this week. I felt like I made no mistakes. That was all I had all day today. It’s something to build on.” – AJ Allmendinger

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

• Justin Haley qualified 20th for the Go Bowling at the Glen but would start the race at the rear due to an unapproved adjustment.
• The first stage remained caution-free for its entirety. As the field began to pit under green, Haley worked his way to 19th where he finished the opening stage.
• After completing two laps in the second stage, Haley radioed that he needed left rear grip. He pitted on lap 24 from 10th place for tires and fuel. After pitting, Haley sat 31st, telling the No. 31 team that he was unable to make any passes for position. Like stage one, stage two remained caution-free, and Haley finished 31st.
• The very first caution of the day came out on lap 57 for a car stopped on track, as Haley sat 17th. He pitted for tires and a full tank of fuel under caution, prepared to make it until the end. The green flag came back out with 30 to go in the race, as Haley restarted from 26th. The race stayed green for the remaining laps, and Haley finished 27th.

“We struggled right off the bat today by having to start at the rear, costing us a ton of track position. We struggled with rear grip and lack of cautions made it so hard for me to pass. Definitely not the day we wanted in Watkins Glen, but hopefully we can rebound in Daytona, a place I have had success at.” – Justin Haley  

Shriners Children’s 200

Chandler Smith, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro

• Chandler Smith qualified 18th for the Shriners Children’s 200 at Watkins Glen International.
• Smith gained two spots at the drop of the green flag and passed the No. 91 for 15th on lap four. Trying to make a move into the bus stop, he jumped the curb and spun, sending him back to 23rd. Smith made up one spot and finished stage one in 22nd, 40 seconds behind the leader.
• Just after the green-white-checkered flag waved, Smith pulled into the pits for four tires and fuel and merged back on track one lap down. While leaving the box, he drove through too many pit stalls and was penalized. Before he could serve the drive-through penalty, the No. 43 car stalled on track, and a caution came out on lap 22. Due to the No. 16 being under penalty, he could not take the wave around and still had to go to the tail-end of the field at the restart. In turn, crew chief, Bruce Schlicker, called Smith back into the pits to top off on fuel on an extended caution, which the team could only do because it was ineligible for the wave around. Smith restarted on lap 27 in 31st, still one lap down. He made his way up to 29th by the time the yellow flag flew for the second time on lap 32 but was not in the free pass position. Under caution, Smith pitted to refuel again. He restarted 28th and was in the free pass position. Smith gained one spot and finished stage two in 27th.
• On lap 47, a caution came out, allowing Smith to get back on the lead lap, as he was in the free-pass position. He came down pit lane for four tires and fuel and restarted 25th on the lead lap with 30 to go. Over the course of the next 24 laps, the No. 16 made it as high as 12th place while being told to push hard instead of fuel-save, passing cars who had come down for fuel. On lap 77, the yellow flag waved again. Schlicker radioed to Smith to come down into the pits for four tires and fuel, saying he wanted Smith to “go on the attack” in the closing laps. The No. 16 restarted in 16th with four laps remaining and avoided a wreck in the outer loop to move up to 12th as the final caution came out. Restarting in 10th after cars pitted, Smith avoided the overtime carnage to cross the line in eighth.

“After all we dealt with today, I’m thrilled to leave Watkins Glen with a top 10. It’s a credit to the entire No. 16 Quick Tie Products team. The crew gave me the best chance to claw our way back up the leaderboard. We took advantage of other peoples’ mistakes and kept it mostly clean to the finish.” – Chandler Smith

Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro

• Daniel Hemric qualified sixth for the Shriners Children’s 200 at Watkins Glen International.
• Hemric started the race as the first car on the outside lane, after the No. 17 and No. 00 dropped to the rear for unapproved adjustments. Hemric’s No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet fired off free, dropping back to eighth by lap eight. While avoiding an incident in front of him on lap 11, Hemric steered clear of contact but fell back to 13th, where he finished the opening stage under green flag conditions.
• Hemric remained in 13th, until the first caution came out on lap 22. He pitted under caution for four tires, fuel, track bar and air pressure adjustments. Hemric restarted 17th with 14 laps to go in stage two and was able to move up to 13th by lap 28. When the next caution flag flew on lap 32, Hemric elected to stay out, restarting 12th with seven laps to go in the stage, before moving up to 11th where he finished stage two.
• The first caution of the final stage came out on lap 47. Hemric pitted for four tires and fuel and was reminded to save fuel. He restarted 11th with 32 laps remaining in the race, making his way back into the top 10 by lap 59. With 15 to go, Hemric reported a problem with his No. 11 Cirkul Chevy and made an unscheduled pit stop from eighth place. Unable to address the problem, Hemric went back on track only to pit again, this time, having to drive to the garage for the team to address the issue. After discovering a part failure, the team sent Hemric back out just before the restart with four to go to finish the race. The caution came out almost immediately after the restart before going into NASCAR overtime. Hemric restarted 23rd where he ultimately limped the No. 11 Cirkul Chevy to the end.

“We had really good short-run speed in the Cirkul Chevrolet this weekend, especially in practice and qualifying. I think we just let the racetrack get away from us, and our setup was a bit aggressive. We struggled a bit in the first run and thought we made good changes to get the speed a little better. I thought we were going to be able to salvage a pretty good day and possibly a top-five. Unfortunately, we had a parts failure, and that’s something you can’t control when it happens. Today we didn’t do the little things right, but we get the chance to regroup for next week.” – Daniel Hemric

Kyle Busch, No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro

• Kyle Busch qualified eighth for the Shriners Children’s 200 at Watkins Glen International.
• Busch quickly worked his way up to third at the start of the race, before radioing that his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet was too free. After driving off track in the grass, Busch was forced to pit on lap 10 for tires, fuel and to clean off the grill to prevent the car from overheating. Busch made his way back to 25th, where he finished the opening stage.
• The first caution of the day came out on lap 22 for a car stopped on track. Busch relayed to the team that the back of the No. 10 was too high. He pitted under caution for tires, fuel, and a major adjustment. Busch restarted 24th on lap 27 and worked his way up to 17th when the next caution came out on lap 32. Busch reported that he lacked lateral grip in the No. 10 Chevy. Restarting on lap 34, Busch went on to finish the second stage in 12th place.
• After the second stage ended under green, the first caution of the final stage came out on lap 47. Busch pitted, as the No. 10 team was close to its fuel window. He restarted inside the top 10 with 32 laps remaining. The next caution came out on lap 77, as Busch had made his way up to seventh. He reported the third gear in his No. 10 Chevy was gone. As the field went back to green with four laps remaining, the caution came back out on lap 80, but Busch’s No. 10 Chevy had lost all gears, forcing him to stop on track. He was pushed back to the garage and scored 27th.

“We had an eventful day in our LA Golf Chevrolet. We had an unscheduled pit stop on lap 10 and lost track position and had to play catch-up from there. For most of the day the car was loose and we had a lack of grip. We stayed out and got track position for the restart with five laps to go but something broke and ended our day. Thanks to everyone at Kaulig Racing for their hard work. We’ll rebound at Darlington.” – Kyle Busch  
 
About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 with Justin Haley piloting the No. 31 Camaro ZL1, and an all-star lineup featured in the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. Haley will continue to drive the No. 31 full-time in 2023, alongside AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. The team will continue to field three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by an all-star lineup, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by Chandler Smith. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Go Bowling at The Glen | Sunday, August 20, 2023

Ford Finishing Results:

7th – Chris Buescher

9th – Ryan Blaney

10th – Joey Logano

11th – Todd Gilliland

15th – Brad Keselowski

16th – Austin Cindric

17th – Ryan Preece

21st – Kevin Harvick

25th – Andy Lally

28th – Cole Custer

30th – Aric Almirola

33rd – Harrison Burton

35th – Chase Briscoe

36th – Michael McDowell

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – “I knew we had the speed in our Fastenal Mustang, and I’m proud of everybody for what they did today. It was certainly a better car than we had last year – did it more on speed than strategy. I’m proud of that. It wasn’t a race-winning day, but it was certainly good, strong and competitive in a lot of different areas. We have a couple things to look at and to focus on so we can be a little bit better. If we can get a few things figured out, then we can be real contenders to win here next year.”

DID THE LONG GREEN FLAG RUNS HELP OR HURT YOUR PERFORMANCE? “The first one, we got stuck behind a slower car for a while. We lost a ton of ground, trying to be as clean as possible. But, we eventually had to go. Once we got ahead, got some clean air, we ran down cars that were way ahead of us – ran down a significant amount of lap time. We had good speed. It just took us a little while to get that clean air to be able to make a run at those top-fives.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang – “Overall, not a bad day. We didn’t qualify very well – at all. We kind of had our work cut out for us, but Jonathan [Hassler] did a really good job of getting us better all day – from practice to qualifying, and into today. We passed some guys in the beginning, did a couple good pit calls there under green and then had a good caution fall our way there. We made our stop and it cycled us ahead of some guys, and then we had the speed for ninth. Overall, I’m proud of the effort from practice to the race. That’s what it is. Trying to work it through and get better. It was a hard day’s work, and I’m proud of the effort.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang – “We executed a better race this time, which is nicer than last week, which is good. It just wasn’t really good, in general. I wasn’t fast. We did a good job as a team – just slow. That’s the bottom line. We have to go faster.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang – WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS OF OFFICIALLY CLINCHING A SPOT IN THE PLAYOFFS? “We’re really excited. A good weekend for us here at Watkins Glen – to get both RFK cars into the NASCAR Playoffs starting here in two weeks. There is a lot of momentum building. I’m happy for everyone at RFK and happy for everyone on the No. 6 car with our Build Subs Ford Mustang. We’re in a great spot with the best yet to come. We have really strong momentum, and we can’t take that for granted. But, we’re showing a lot of speed and clicking when it counts.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang – WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS OF OFFICIALLY CLINCHING A SPOT IN THE PLAYOFFS? “I wish we could have won a race before now. We’ve had our opportunities to win a few. We struggled on the road courses but other than that, it’s been okay. We just need to get our cars running better to really do anything.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang – YOU HAD A FAST FORD MUSTANG, WINNING THE FIRST STAGE, BUT YOU EXPERIENCED SOME ISSUES THROUGHOUT THE RACE. “Just the highs and lows of motorsports coming off of last weekend. But, I’m still really proud of my guys. This Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang was really fast. Had that penalty early, and we were still able to drive back through the field. Really proud of this team we have. Just wasn’t our day – a couple of pit road penalties, and the engine just shut off there. Not sure if it was the engine or electrical. But, I just came out of the carousel and it shut off.”

THREE TOYOTA TOP-FIVE FINISHES AT WATKINS GLEN
Six Camry Drivers Finish in Top-12 at New York Road Course

WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 20, 2023) – Denny Hamlin was the top Toyota finisher with a runner-up result in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Hamlin started on the pole and led three laps around the Upstate New York road course. Along with Hamlin, all six Toyota Camry TRD’s finished inside the top-12 today with Christopher Bell (third) and Ty Gibbs (fifth) earning top-five results. Martin Truex Jr. (sixth), Tyler Reddick (eighth) and Bubba Wallace (12th) rounded out the top-12 finishes for Toyota in Watkins Glen.

With the finish, Truex continues to lead the NCS championship standings heading into the final race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, with Hamlin sitting 39 points behind Truex.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Watkins Glen International
Race 25 of 36 – 220.5 miles, 90 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, William Byron*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, TY GIBBS
6th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
8th, TYLER REDDICK
12th, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

Was it difficult trying to get to the back end of the 24 there toward the end of the race?

“Yeah, I mean, it’s just a little bit each lap. I don’t want to make a mistake because most times I make mistakes and give up all my track position. So, it’s a really tough balance between trying to be aggressive and stay on him versus just making sure I don’t make a mistake. It’s a tough spot to be in, but certainly I wanted to give it my all there and I felt like that was a run about what we were capable of.”

Are you happy with your day?

“Yeah, I’m happy with my day. It takes me a while to get going. With (Michael) McDowell there at the beginning, he’s ready and he’s on kill and I’m kind of working my way into it and I just hate I lost the lead. I just looked at the 24’s back bumper the rest of the day. It was a fun race. I appreciate all the Mavis guys here and Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing for giving me a good car and giving me the tools I need to get better.”

Do you think you can catch Martin Truex Jr. for the regular season championship?

“It’s doable. You’ve got to have things go your way. Yeah, if we can talk NASCAR into those 25 points they took away earlier in the season we’d really make it interesting.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Concrete Total Solutions Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

What more did you need at the end of today’s race?

“I don’t know. I thought I had what I needed at the end. Just a little bit better starting position. It’s crazy – 90 laps and it comes down to that. We were just all very equally matched, and the road course races have been like that pretty much all season long. Whenever nobody makes mistakes you’ve got to be in front of them.”

Are you happy with your finish today?

“I’m happy that we finished third. The regular season points battle is super, super tight and the guy we’re trying to pass is sitting on the front stretch. He showed up and won the race. I’m really proud of this 20 group. They made some awesome changes overnight and overall, this DEWALT Camry was super fast all weekend long. It’s crazy to say that 90 laps and I feel like we lost because we didn’t qualify better yesterday. When people don’t make mistakes it’s hard to pass them.”

What does a day like today do for you mentally?

“It’s just very, very nice to finally get a couple races put together without any incident. I was probably happier with Indy last week finishing ninth than I was today. Just because Indy was the first race in a long time that us as a group were able to put a whole day together without making a mistake. I know that we have all the pieces, and I’ve been saying it for a long time, but they haven’t come together yet and when they do – we’re close – whenever they do come together, we’ll be right there at the front.”

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

How was your race today?

“I felt like I didn’t perform there as good as I needed to and need to do a better job to get back up and go race for the win there. I felt like I was faster than the guys in front of us and I didn’t do a good job getting through them. I’ve got to study on something here and get past these guys. My car was really good. My Monster Energy Toyota Camry was really fast, I just didn’t do a good job today.”

What is your mindset going into Daytona on the Playoff bubble?

“I don’t really know what mindset to have going there. Just stay clean and try to make it to the end and have a good finish.”

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 12th

What went well for you in today’s race?

“Just executing really. Thanks to (William) Bryon for winning that. Didn’t have a new winner. I’m proud of myself. That’s the first time I felt proud of myself at a road course race. I just executed and didn’t lose focus — maybe one time. And, that’s the difference maker. You’ve got to stay on it at these places. Just hats off to my team for sticking with me and believing in me on these road courses. I know we still have one more to go, but we wanted to maintain our gap and not lose too many and we gained. Hats off to everybody on the effort we put in. Thanks to Toyota for believing in me, McDonalds and all of our partners involved. Just a great day for the 23 team. Now, we get to go in Daytona stressful as hell, but it takes a little bit of the edge off for sure.”

How does knowing you can focus and get a good road course result help you in the future?

“Shout out to Scott Dixon. I actually talked to him this morning about the mental piece of it. It’s hard when you come into a road course race, and you tell yourself that every time. He basically told me to shut the hell up and that I’m here for a reason and to trust in myself and believe in myself and this is what can happen. I don’t think I had one lap where I said I was going to suck, so it was good.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 24 electrified options.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
GO BOWLING AT THE GLEN
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
AUGUST 20, 2023

Byron Takes Chevrolet to Fifth-Straight NASCAR Cup Series Win at Watkins Glen
Team Chevy Sweeps NASCAR Doubleheader at The Glen

• In dominating fashion, William Byron and the No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 team recorded their series-leading fifth NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season.
• The win – Byron’s first road course win in NASCAR’s top series – is Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports’ fifth consecutive NCS win at Watkins Glen International.
• Chevrolet now sits at 22 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins at Watkins Glen International, and its 13th win in the series this season – both of which are manufacturer-leading feats.
• Chevrolet has made its way to victory lane in 17 of the past 22 NASCAR Cup Series road course events – dating back to Chase Elliott’s victory at Watkins Glen International in August 2019.
• The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 846 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.
• For the second consecutive year, Chevrolet has swept the NASCAR Cup Series / NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader at Watkins Glen International, with JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer taking the Bowtie brand to victory lane in yesterday’s NXS race at the New York road course.

 TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1
4th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

1. William Byron (Chevrolet)
2. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
3. Christopher Bell (Toyota)
4. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)
5. Ty Gibbs (Toyota)

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season concludes at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 26, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

 
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1

Finished: 1st

“It feels really good, man. It’s a huge credit to the race team behind me. I want to thank Max Papis for this. This is the first road-course win, and we’ve worked years and years for this. Just thanks to him. I know he’s watching back home. Thanks to all the guys on the team, Valvoline, Liberty, Axalta. I did a lot of laps this weekend on iRacing this week. I got a new simulator at home, so thanks to those guys. Just thanks to everyone back home who supports me. It’s a great win. I don’t know what it means and all that. I don’t read into that, but I think it shows that when we are at our best we can perform like this.”

HOW BIG WAS THIS AFTER FIVE WINS BUT A SUMMER SLIDE?

“We seemed to go through that summer slump in July and August. For some reason we can’t quite put the races together. I think it’s the racetracks itself. We came this weekend with a good mindset, focusing on getting ready for the postseason. We’ve had fast cars but we just haven’t executed races. Today was just faultless. Rudy (Fugle, crew chief), everybody, all the spotters… thanks to everybody. This is a cool win. Road courses have been tough, so it’s fun to get a win.”

THE CALL BY RUDY TO GO ONE LAP LONGER ON THAT FIRST RUN.

“It’s just really good strategy by those guys. Brandon McSwain on the box. Those two guys work really good together, Ryan and Kelly at the shop … It was kind of like the old F1-style – stay out, get clean air, get a good lap in and we pitted there and got the lead. It was kind of ours from there. Just really proud of the team and it’s really awesome to get a road-course win.”

DESCRIBE HOW GOOD OF A DAY IT WAS.

“It was awesome. It was a great Valvoline Chevy. I was able do what I needed to do to build a little bit of a gap. Thanks to this whole team. It’s been a fun weekend. We’ve had a great car all weekend and just tried to execute a good race. Road courses haven’t been our strength as a group, but we’ve been working really hard at it. I’m really thankful for the whole group. I feel like this sets up well for the playoffs.”

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO GET TO THE POINT OF A WINNING FORM ON ROAD COURSES?

“Just lots of little details – the braking, the shifting, just lots of little inputs that make a difference. There’s still room to grow on all the other road courses but we had a good run at COTA this year, and Watkins Glen was just killer today.”

AS A DRIVER, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CHECK THE ROAD-COURSE WIN OFF THE BOX NOW?

“It’s awesome. It says a lot about our team and what we are capable of. I’m just thankful for them. We had a good test here last year and learned a lot. It didn’t apply to last year’s race so we didn’t run great. This year we really honed in on the things we needed. I’m just really proud of the whole group. It sets us up well for the rest of the year. We have to keep pushing.”

MOMENTUM FOR THE PLAYOFFS?

“It’s really important. We go through our process every week. I was finally back at home all week this week. I wasn’t running any Late Models or doing anything else. So it was fun to be a little more relaxed coming into today, and it paid off.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1

Finished: 4th

“It was tough. These last couple of weeks… these cars are more physically hard to drive than the old Cup car. With the tires not falling off, you still feel like you’re running Q laps. I’m proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. The Celsius Chevy was fast. I think if we could have gotten up there and cleared the Toyotas there, maybe we had something for William. It’s so hard to pass in dirty air. We wanted to win but I’m super proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. We’re getting better. Last week was disappointing. I’m proud of myself. I felt like I made no mistakes. That was all I had all day today. It’s something to build on.”

DOES THAT CARRY OVER TO DAYTONA NEXT WEEK?

“For our race team, the playoffs would be great to get into. Our ultimate goal is to keep building and get better. The last couple of weeks we’ve had some speed and struggles. Then we’ve struggled with speed at other places. It’s about building. Of course we want to win. We want to get in the playoffs. We’ll lay it all on the line next week doing it. But it’s just about building momentum and trying to get better. I’m always trying to get better. The team is making me better. Just a good day.”

Mike Rockenfeller, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1

Finished: 19th

“Starting from 21st and only finishing 19th is for sure not what we were hoping for or what I was hoping for. On the first pitstop, we had an issue on the left side with the jack and we lost a ton of time there. That probably cost us eight spots, but that’s how it is. The car was tricky to drive but for sure we learned a lot again in the race. The last stint, I would say, after the restart we were quite OK. At the very end, I was just hanging on. Getting three positions on the last lap was nice and made a top-20 finish, which at the end is still my best result. Thanks to the team and everybody for letting me hop in the seat and try to do my best. I hope to come back.”

Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1

Finished: 29th

“Not a very good day. I started in the back, had an issue and went to the back again. That’s pretty much all we had. It went all-green. I hope next week at Daytona will be better. It’s the last shot to win and try to get in the playoffs. So we’ll try to go do that.”

 
STAGE ONE:

· William Byron and the No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 team posted their 17th top-10 qualifying effort of the season at Watkins Glen International – taking a front row starting spot for the NASCAR Cup Series’ Go Bowling at The Glen.

· Byron settled his Camaro ZL1 into the third position on the race’s opening lap. Quickly making a pass for second, Byron started closing the gap to the race leader to only a half-second margin at the halfway point of the stage.

· The first round of pit stops got underway with four laps to go in Stage One. Pit strategy among the lead pack saw teams opting to stay out for stage points, with Byron leading Team Chevy to the conclusion of Stage One from the second position.

· Four drivers from three different Chevrolet teams collected points in Stage One:

2nd William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1

5th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1

6th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

9th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Mark III Camaro ZL1

STAGE TWO:

· With no stage breaks on road courses, the race continued under green-flag conditions for the 20-lap Stage Two. Maintaining a steady pace in the second position, crew chief Rudy Fugle called Byron down pit road on lap 22 for the team’s first pit stop of the day – taking four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment on the No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1.

· When then-race leader McDowell was faced with a penalty on pit road, Byron rejoined the field to takeover the top position as the leaderboard cycled through at the conclusion of green-flag pit stops.

· Leading his first-ever laps in NASCAR’s top series at Watkins Glen International, Byron continued to manage the lead with a nearly one-second gap over second place as the laps wound down in Stage Two. With three-laps to go in the stage, Byron reported that he was fighting the left rear of his Camaro ZL1 during the long run.

· The race continued caution-free with Byron leading the field to the end of Stage Two at lap 40 – collecting his series-leading eighth stage win of the season.

· Byron led Team Chevy to six top-10 finishes in Stage Two:

1st William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1

4th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1

5th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1

7th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

8th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Mark III Camaro ZL1

10th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Okuma Camaro ZL1

FINAL STAGE / POST-RACE NOTES:

· Continuing to pace the field in his No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1, Byron is told the lead pack is struggling in traffic, giving the Team Chevy driver the opportunity to build and manage the gap back to second place.

· Pulling away to a 3.9-second lead with 40 laps remaining, Byron reported that he settled into a steady pace to cool off his tires. The Team Chevy driver also reported to his team that he was happy with the handling of his Camaro ZL1, just fighting slightly tight conditions in turn seven.

· On lap 55, crew chief Rudy Fugle brought Byron down pit road for another set of four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. As Byron rejoined the field, the race’s first caution flew for his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate Chase Elliott with the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team running out of fuel just short of the team’s scheduled pit stop.

· Those that still needed to complete their scheduled stops came to pit road under the caution, cycling Byron back to the lead with 30 laps to go.

· Taking the green flag for the final restart of the race, Byron regained control of the lead and never looked back – recording his series-leading fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.