KEVIN HARVICK
St. Louis Advance
No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter (Round 15 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 4

● Location: Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois (near St. Louis)

● Layout: 1.25-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 240 laps/300 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 45 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps

● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Kevin Harvick will make his 805th career NASCAR Cup Series start on Sunday when he takes the green flag for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis. The driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) is already one of just 10 drivers in NASCAR’s 75-year history to reach 800 career starts, a milestone Harvick reached April 23 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. At 805 starts, Harvick will tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for ninth all-time. Harvick is on track to finish the year with 826 career starts, which will put him eighth all-time. He’s part of an impressive lineup that includes Richard Petty (1,185 starts), Ricky Rudd (906), Terry Labonte (890), Dave Marcis (883), Mark Martin (882), Kyle Petty (829), Bill Elliott (828), Darrell Waltrip (809) and Gordon (805). At age 47, Harvick was the fifth-youngest driver to make 800 starts.

● What has Harvick done in his 804 NASCAR Cup Series starts prior to St. Louis?

●  He won the 2014 Cup Series championship.

​●  His 60 point-paying wins ranks 10th all-time.

​●  His 63 runner-up finishes ranks sixth all-time.

​●  His 249 top-five finishes ranks ninth all-time.

​●  His 436 top-10 finishes ranks fifth all-time.

​●  His 1,277 starts across NASCAR’s top-three series – Cup, Xfinity and Truck – is the most all-time (and 80 more than the next best driver in this category, Joe Nemechek, who has 1,197 starts).

​●  His 121 wins across NASCAR’s top-three series ranks third all-time.

● Harvick comes into St. Louis on the cusp of 16,000 laps led in his NASCAR Cup Series career. With his 19 laps led on Monday in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Harvick’s career tally is 15,999 laps led across 804 Cup Series starts. He is a single lap away from being one of just 11 drivers who have led 16,000 laps in their career. Harvick has led 11,584 laps since joining SHR in 2014 (72.4 percent).

● The NASCAR Cup Series made its first visit to St. Louis last year with the Enjoy Illinois 300, but it was not Harvick’s first visit to the 1.25-mile oval located just across the Mississippi River in Madison, Illinois. The Bakersfield, California-native first competed at Gateway International Raceway on Sept. 19, 1998 in a NASCAR Truck Series race. A 22-year-old Harvick started 21st and finished 11th in his 39th career Truck Series start. Harvick returned to Gateway a year later for his second Truck Series start at the track, starting 10th and finishing 27th. But it was his third start at Gateway – this time in a NASCAR Xfinity Series car on July 29, 2000 – that proved to be Harvick’s breakthrough moment. In his 21st career Xfinity Series start – and first in an Xfinity Series car at Gateway – Harvick won to score his first Xfinity Series victory, beating Jeff Purvis by 1.338 seconds. Harvick would go on to win two more Xfinity Series races that year en route to a third-place finish in the championship standings. In his return to Gateway the following year, Harvick successfully defended his Xfinity Series win by beating Jason Keller for the victory by .165 of a second. It was his third win of a five-win season that culminated with the 2001 Xfinity Series championship. Harvick won a second Xfinity Series title in 2006 and he has 47 career Xfinity Series wins.

● In all, Harvick made five Xfinity Series starts at Gateway, leading a total of 332 laps and completing all but two of the 1,000 laps available.

● Harvick also has three Truck Series starts at Gateway, with his third and final start on July 17, 2010 being his best. Harvick won the pole and dominated, leading 143 of the race’s 160 laps to beat Brad Keselowski by 5.241 seconds. It was the ninth of his 14 career Truck Series victories.

● Harvick finished 33rd in last year’s Enjoy Illinois 300 after a brake rotor failure on lap 236 jettisoned a likely top-10 result by sending Harvick into the turn three wall.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang

You had a good run going last year at Gateway before a broken brake rotor ended your day. Does that performance buoy your expectations leading into this year’s race?

“I think last year is probably fairly consistent with what we need to work on just because of the spoiler size and the type of track that it is. I think the disadvantage for us is just with the aero situation where the Fords, in general, have to be spot on. They’ve done a good job with the cars week in and week out, and we just have to go there with last year’s notes and try to make it a little bit better than what we had and not blow a rotor apart and smash into the wall.”

The first of your 47 career NASCAR Xfinity Series wins came at Gateway on July 29, 2000. You beat Jeff Purvis by 1.338 seconds. What do you remember about that win?

“The thing I remember the most was that week, Richard (Childress, team owner) brought me into his office and told me that we needed to stop crashing cars and that we needed to figure out how to finish races. I think it was the 12th or 13th race of the season and he was tired of tearing stuff up. And then we go out and win that week and I remember what a relief it was to finally get that first one out of the way. We built a team and had our good moments and bad moments – we missed a race at Rockingham (North Carolina). So we had gone through a lot of things at the beginning of that season and, to finally get that first win, it was really the momentum that finally kicked off all the things that happened after that. From that point forward, Gateway was always a great track for me and we’ve had a lot of success there.”

You spent 14 years driving for Richard Childress. What does Richard Childress mean to you?

“Richard and I have always had a great relationship because Richard is just a racer. From the very beginning, Richard has run his business by putting competitive cars on the racetrack, and he’s made a living at it. And when we started our company (Kevin Harvick Incorporated), I mimicked a lot of the things that Richard did because of the fact that he ran it with a budget and was able to keep his cars competitive. Richard really taught me how to race professionally. He taught me to never quit until the checkered flag, even if you were 100 laps down. It was always about finishing races and putting yourself in the best position possible. You may not have the fastest car, but if you can keep yourself in contention to the end, you would be able to have a chance to win races just by kind of grinding them down. We did that a lot, and it’s really transitioned over from the business standpoint – that never-give-up attitude – and just really how to race. And Richard knows everybody, and that’s really who introduced me to everybody in the industry. He was always very adamant about shaking a hand, putting a name with a face, and being in front of people. So there were definitely a lot of lessons learned there.”

You’re very interested in the business side of the sport. Did that stem from Richard Childress too?

“Every time I look back at things, Richard played a role in some way, shape or form. Richard was always very supportive, but he would always tell you when you were crossing the line and when he wasn’t happy with something. He always kept it honest, and I think as we went through the years, the business side was always very much centered on Richard knowing what was going on and how you should and shouldn’t do things. When it was right, he was supportive, and when it was wrong, he was honest and he would tell you, so you always knew where you stood.”

You made a total of five Xfinity Series starts at Gateway, winning two of them. What does it take to be good there?

“Well, it’s two drastically different ends of the racetrack. The thing that we always concentrate on is trying to make our car turn really well to and through the center of the corner on both ends, and being able to do that is difficult at Gateway because the two ends of the track are so different. For the most part, you want to be right next to the curbs and carry as much speed as you can through the center of the corner, and use as much partial throttle until you can get the car rotated enough to be wide open. But you have to get through the center of the corner there.”

You’ve represented Anheuser-Busch since 2011, which means you’ve made a lot of trips to St. Louis over the years. What are some of the experiences you’ve had in that city and what are some of your favorite parts of that town?

“Going to watch the Cardinals’ World Series game with them. I don’t remember which game it was, but it was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had at a sporting event just because of the atmosphere and the way that they support their team there. It was pretty awesome.”

You’re a two-time Busch Series champion too. Did those titles back when Busch was the series sponsor (before Xfinity) send you to St. Louis for some promotional activity?

“I remember going to the brewery and going down into the basement where they first started a lot of the deliveries after Prohibition, and just taking a complete tour of the whole thing was pretty cool.”

Do you have a sense of pride racing in St. Louis knowing your history with the track and with Anheuser-Busch?

“I know it’s an important place for A-B, obviously, being their home. But for me, personally, it’s a cool place because of the history that it has with my first win in the Xfinity Series and everything that goes with that. So, yeah, I’m excited about going there for a number of different reasons.”

No. 4 Busch Light Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith

Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engineer: Stephen Doran

Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania

Engineer: Dax Gerringer

Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina

Spotter: Tim Fedewa

Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey

Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard

Hometown: Delhart, Texas

Jack Man: Brandon Banks

Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Evan Marchal

Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Tyler Trosper

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Mechanic: Nick DeFazio

Hometown: Orange, California

Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski

Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut

Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt

Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Transporter Co-Driver: Rick Hodges

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell

Hometown: Woodville, Ohio

Harrison Burton steered the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang clear of several late-race incidents to post an 18th-place finish in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It was his second top-20 finish in a row and his sixth in the 14 races run this season.

Burton and the No. 21 team were racing to honor the memory of the late Sgt. Shawm Dunkin who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq on Feb. 19, 2007, when he died from injuries suffered when his vehicle was struck by a bomb.

Burton lined up for Monday’s marathon from 13th place as the starting spots were determined by metrics after rain on Saturday washed out both practice and qualifying.

He was running 20th when the Competition Caution flag flew at Lap 35 and 25th when the first of three Stages ended a Lap 100.

In the second Stage, he ran as high as third place while running long on a pit-stop sequence at the midpoint but ended that 100-lap segment in 26th place, one lap off the pace.

He and the DEX Imaging team were able to use the wave-around in the third Stage to rejoin the lead lap and wound up 21st at the 300-lap mark.

The final 100 laps of the race saw Burton and the DEX Imaging team work their way forward and were able to line up 12th for a restart with just under 40 laps left to run.

But a car spun sideways and into Burton’s path on the restart. He pitted for new tires and rejoined the race in 27th place.

Several caution flags ensued and Burton steered clear of contact and worked his way back into the top 20.

He held on for 18th place as his Ford teammate Ryan Blaney, whose No. 21 Team Penske crew shares a technical alliance with the Wood Brothers team, took his Mustang to Victory Lane. Blaney’s win gives team owner Roger Penske wins in both of the Memorial Day classics – the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 – in the same year, a first for Penske.

Up next for Burton and the Wood Brothers team is the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis.

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.

Fastenal Ford Leads Set of Laps, Two Top-10 Stage Finishes before Strong Comeback

CONCORD, N.C. (May 29, 2023) – Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team won the second stage, led a handful of laps and overcame a pit road mishap to earn an eighth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was a really strong day,” Buescher said after the race. “Our Fastenal Mustang was really good. We got hit on pit road and definitely took a decent amount out of us, so I’m upset about that, but at the end of the day it was a good recovery. We kept digging back and it’s cool to have this camo paint scheme up front for a lot of the day, but I want to do more.”

It took three days for the Cup Series cars to hit the track as rain and mist prevented that on Saturday, and eventually Sunday. The inclement weather pushed the start to 3 p.m. ET Monday, with Buescher rolling off the grid 11th in the Fastenal Ford Mustang.

A mostly uneventful stage one – outside of a competition caution at lap 35 and one additional yellow – had Buescher in 15th by the stage end at lap 100. Buescher began stage two just inside the top-15, and worked his way inside the top-10 by lap 155 when the red flag was displayed for mist, and eventual rain.

Following a brief delay, Buescher restarted ninth at lap 163, then over the course of the final 37 laps in the stage drove his way to the lead, officially taking it at lap 192. He held on to the point for the final laps of the segment and won stage two with a positive outlook on the final half of the race.

But, under a yellow flag at lap 231 when Buescher took the No. 17 to pit road, he was hit by the No. 8 leaving his pit stall, ultimately resulting in damage that needed multiple checks on pit road. He restarted 24th on the ensuing restart, and from there had to dig out of a hole.

After finishing stage three in 22nd, Buescher did just that, methodically working his way back inside the top-20 by lap 360, as five yellows were displayed in the final 50 laps of the race. Buescher was 10th on the final restart of the race at lap 379, and maintained the position to cross the line eighth, his sixth top-10 of the season.

The NASCAR Cup Series schedule heads to WWT Raceway this weekend for Sunday afternoon action in Illinois. Race coverage is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Castrol Edge Ford Solid Early, Mid-Race Mishaps Hinder Strong Finish

CONCORD, N.C. (May 29, 2023) – Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 team had an eventful day in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, showing early potential before a series of mid-race mishaps resulted in the Castrol Edge Ford Mustang finishing 19th.

Weather was the story of the weekend as persistent precipitation set in over the 1.5-mile facility sometime Saturday, and remained there until early Monday evening. The weather washed out all of Saturday’s track activity, before ultimately postponing the original running of the 600-mile race Sunday night.

That resulted in Keselowski receiving a P3 starting position, with Monday’s action ultimately getting underway just after 3 p.m. ET. Due to no track activity for the Cup Series prior, NASCAR implemented a competition caution which would wave at lap 35.

Keselowski ran sixth at the time of that yellow, and worked his way to fourth by lap 65, ultimately finishing the stage in eighth. Stage two saw four cautions with the race’s first green-flag pit sequence occurring just prior to lap 150. Then, at lap 155, a heavy mist which turned into rain moved through the area, resulting in a brief red flag.

After the delay, Keselowski restarted sixth and drove to third by the stage end at lap 200, as teammate Chris Buescher found speed in his No. 17, winning that stage. Under the stage break, a fire broke out on the left rear of the No. 6, but initially resulted in no severe issues. That turned south just 10 laps into the third stage when Keselowski took the No. 6 to pit road for a tire issue, which put Keselowski well off the pace.

Later in the stage, Keselowski made contact with the wall on the right side and ultimately the No. 51 car, resulting in more right side damage and a flat tire.

Despite losing multiple laps to the leaders, Keselowski ultimately gained each lap back as five cautions flew in the final 55 laps, working back to 19th by race end at 400 laps.

The NASCAR Cup Series schedule heads to WWT Raceway this weekend for Sunday afternoon action in Illinois. Race coverage is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Coca-Cola 600
Date: May 29, 2023
Event: Coca-Cola 600 (Round 14 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into four stages (100 laps/100 laps/100 laps/100 laps)
Race Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Chris Buescher of RFK Racing (Ford)
Stage 3 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 2nd, Finished 11th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

● Ryan Preece (Started 22nd, Finished 13th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

● Chase Briscoe (Started 20th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

● Aric Almirola (Started 23rd, Finished 25th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

SHR Points:

● Kevin Harvick (4th with 438 points, 8 out of first)

● Chase Briscoe (17th with 292 points, 154 out of first)

● Aric Almirola (26th with 233 points, 213 out of first)

● Ryan Preece (28th with 225 points, 221 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Harvick finished second in Stage 2 to earn nine bonus points and eighth in Stage 3 to earn three more bonus points.

● Harvick led three times for 19 laps to increase his laps-led total at Charlotte to 624.

● Harvick has now led 11,584 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,999 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career. He is a single lap away from being one of just 11 drivers who have led 16,000 laps in their career.

● Preece’s 13th-place finish bettered his previous best result at Charlotte – 22nd, earned in the 2020 Coca-Cola 600.

Race Notes:

● Ryan Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600 to snap a 59-race winless streak and deliver team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the Memorial Day weekend as Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

● This was Blaney’s eighth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first on the 1.5-mile oval at Charlotte. His margin over second-place William Byron was .663 of a second.

● Blaney was the 10th different winner in the 14 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season.

● This was Ford’s 722nd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its second of the season.

● This was Ford’s 33rd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory at Charlotte. The manufacturer won its first race at the track on Oct. 16, 1960 with Speedy Thompson.

● There were 16 caution periods for a total of 83 laps.

● Twenty-five of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Ross Chastain remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a one-point advantage over second-place Blaney.

Sound Bites:

“What a night. We battled all night long. Some of those cautions just did not work in our favor at all, but we had a good car and just needed track position and clean air. We made strong adjustments throughout the night and my crew was on it. I think we had a top-10 car. We’ll take 13th after a day like that and it’s definitely the momentum our team needed. Those top-10s and top-fives are coming and I’m looking forward to St. Louis.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang

“It was a good night for our Smithfield Ford Mustang. It’s an honor and privilege to race on Memorial Day and it was an honor to fly Lance Corporal Daniel M. McVicker’s name on the windshield. Wish we could’ve brought it home a little bit better for them. We were running 10th with 20-somethng to go and got caught up in that restart wreck in the middle of (turns) one and two and got a lot of heavy damage that really hurt the racecar after that. Hate that we didn’t get out of here with a top-10. I felt like we certainly had a top-10 racecar. I got loose on an early restart, bent the right-rear toe-link, we fixed it, got two laps down, and then got all of our laps back and drove from the back and into the top-10. So, just really proud of the effort and the fight, but not the result. We fought hard and we’ll go get ready for Gateway. That was a really good track for us last year.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter on Sunday, June 4 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, near St. Louis. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
COCA-COLA 600
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
MAY 29, 2023

William Byron Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Finish in Coca-Cola 600
Team Chevy Drivers Take Four Top-10 Finishes

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
6th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Camaro ZL1
7th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Coca-Cola Camaro ZL1
9th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Ryan Blaney (Ford)
2nd William Byron (Chevrolet)
3rd Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
4th Bubba Wallace (Toyota)5th Tyler Reddick (Toyota)

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at World Wide Technology Raceway with the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter on Sunday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 9th

“We never gave up all night, and it feels like we passed more cars than anyone else all race long in our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet. It was a hard-earned top-10 finish. We started this year’s Coca-Cola 600 deep in the field – 33rd – after practice and qualifying were canceled due to weather, but I knew that we would have a chance to be in contention at the end because this is the longest race of the year and there are plenty of laps to work our way forward. It was challenging, though. Pit road was tight for us today, and it felt like every time we gained positions we would pit and get trapped in our box and lose everything we worked so hard for. We never gave up and to finish in the top-10 is a testament to the tenacity that this No. 3 team has. We were just too tight at the end to advance any further, but I think we showed how hard we are willing to work. Today is about our heroes who served and made the ultimate sacrifice. I’m thankful that I can do what I love, which is race, because of them. Thank you to the families of Navy SEAL Mark Crampton and Army soldier Rusten Smith for allowing us to recognize them on our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevy today as part of NASCAR’s 600 Miles of Remembrance program.”

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 6th

“Coca-Cola 600’s are normally up-and-down, so we definitely had an up-and-down day. But the guys fought hard all race long and made some good repairs. We made a lot of good adjustments. There were a couple that we had to go back on, and then go back on again. But all-in-all, just proud of everyone on the No. 8 Alsco Chevy team. Our car wasn’t as fast as we wanted on the fire-off’s there – we wanted the long run to finish. Even though we hadn’t been good on the long runs all night, we adjusted for that, but we just didn’t get it. We’ll take a good solid effort and top-10 finish.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 185.

Finished: 34th

“The No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) ran us up into the fence there. Once you tear the right-side off these things, it’s kind of over. I hate it – I thought our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was getting better. It was nice to be making some gains there throughout the race. Our pit stops were really good. We had some pretty good fortune to get up towards the front there. It was just trying to get to mile 600 and have a shot, so unfortunately failed to do that again.”

Denny (Hamlin) said there was some retaliation there. Was there any retaliation on your part?

“No, like I said, once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them anymore. So no, just unfortunate circumstances.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 2nd

Byron on what else he needed for the win:

“I think we just needed a little bit more. Our No. 24 Liberty University Chevy was good. We could move around and get through the field. We could get to the top-five, and then we would just kind of stay there and not have enough pace to really get further than that.

That’s the way it goes sometimes, for sure. We’ll keep working.”

It looked like you kept up with the track changes from the day to the evening.

“Yeah, it was easier with the fact that it was cloudy and cool out when the race started, and it stayed that way for three-quarters of the race. It wasn’t as much change as it normally is here. Honestly I think everyone’s dialed their cars in so much that I don’t know how much change there would be even if it was really hot out.”

How satisfying is it that you guys were good enough to win the Coca-Cola 600?

“Yeah, we have some work to do. I felt like our balance was as close as its probably ever been in some ways. But we would just get out-paced for 20 or 25 laps. So I think we need a little bit more speed, but overall, it was a good day. Our balance was close every time – good on both sides of it, so that was good.”

Talk about the battle with (Ryan) Blaney. Every restart, it was the two of you battling back and forth.

“Yeah, it was fun. I enjoyed it. I have trust in how he (Ryan Blaney) races. He caught me off guard with the last restart. He restarted first and I thought about it – I tried it in the simulator actually, but I never did it throughout the night. I was getting good pushes from the No. 5 (Kyle Larson). When we got wrecked or whatever happened there, I had lost my help. Anytime you have the same engine, you can kind of match your push-up pretty good. So yeah, he caught me off guard there that last restart. But like I said, I think he was just that good and cleared me anyways.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 15th

“We fired off tight today, but the No. 31 team made some great adjustments and had good pit stops. We made it as high as eighth and thought we would get a top 10 there but just got shuffled at the end. A top 15 is not a bad day, but our car was by far the best car we’ve had all year. We made some major gains today as a team.”

NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 42 BLACK RIFLE COFFEE COMPANY CAMARO ZL1

Sidelined by a mechanical failure.

Finished: 36th

“Bummer day for the No. 42 Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevy team. We made it through the first stage clean. Something went through the radiator. We replaced the radiator and the motor blew up. Just frustrating.

Thank you to Black Rifle Coffee Company and the Menusa family for coming out here. Wish we could have had a better run for them, but it was an honor to have Sgt. Menusa on the windshield. It makes this weekend all worth it. Wish we could have given him and his family a better run, but we’ll try again at Gateway.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 32nd

“We had a fast No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevy, but nothing to really show for it. Appreciate the U.S. Air Force and their support. Just hate that we had the radiator issue, but hopefully we’ll go to Gateway with the same speed and have a good day.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 7th

How are you feeling after 600 miles?

“I feel great. I got up and did the “Murph” workout this morning. My trainer wasn’t too thrilled about that, but went ahead and did that, and then came out here and ran 600 miles. Our No. 47 Kroger / Coca-Cola Chevy was so good all night. We just fought some track position every now and then, and then the No. 8 (Kyle Busch) fenced us there. I felt like we would have had a top-five if it wasn’t for that.

But all-in-all, it was a great Coca-Cola 600 for us. It was what we needed after last week at the All-Star Race.. we kind of got beat up there a little bit. But it’s cool to get another top-10. This team is doing a lot of good things.”

It was a wild weekend, obviously dealing with weather and no track time. As a driver with no preparation and going into 600-miles, was it easy or were you a little worried about it?

“Well it’s the same for everybody, so we weren’t too concerned about it. But I think all-in-all, you’re a little cautious the first few laps. I definitely was. We were a little looser than I thought we were going to be, so that kind of caught me off guard. But my guys did a really good job on pit road making adjustments and making the car better all night. It was a fun one.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 12th

First and most importantly, how is your back?

“It doesn’t feel very good at the moment, but about what I was expecting. There was no pain in the car really, but now that I’m out, I feel it a little bit.

Just proud of my No. 48 Ally Chevy team. We had a really fast long run car. Obviously the short runs was what we needed, but we were just too tight for that. We got stuck on pit road – every stop, we came in like 10th, but lost spots coming out. But that wasn’t on my guys, it was just pit stall selection. We’ll move onto Gateway. Hopefully we’ll get to qualify there, have a good pit box and just go have a normal day.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 84 CLUB WYNDHAM CAMARO ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident.

Finished: 37th

“I just didn’t know we were put in that three-wide situation. There were a bunch of us cars that were wrecked and just trying to limp it home. Unfortunately I ended up in a situation I wasn’t aware of and got turned around. It’s a bummer for the No. 84 Club Wyndham Chevy team.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Stage One

· After a battle with weather throughout the weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series finally hit the track for the first time Monday afternoon to take the green for the 64th running of the Coca-Cola 600.

· A scheduled competition caution flew on lap 35 with pit road opening for the first round of pit stops of the day. Polesitter William Byron was running in the fourth position at the time of the caution, and with the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 pit crew firing off a fast four-tire stop, Byron won the race off pit road – gaining four positions to take a front-row starting position for the restart.

· The green-white checkered flag flew on lap 100 with Byron leading the field to the Stage One finish – his series-leading seventh stage win of the season and his first career stage win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

· Team Chevy Stage One: Top-10

1st William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1

7th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Camaro ZL1

9th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

10th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Coca-Cola Camaro ZL1

Stage Two

· After driving to an 11th-place finish in Stage One, Erik Jones was forced to take his No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1 to the garage to replace the radiator due to damage caused after hitting debris.

· After hitting the halfway point in Stage Two – precipitation began to fall, ultimately forcing the race to go under red flag conditions at lap 155.

· The race took the green flag following a brief weather delay, but was quickly brought back under caution on lap 163 following an incident involving the Jimmie Johnson and the No. 84 Club Wyndham Camaro ZL1 team. Damage sustained was deemed too much to repair, forcing the team’s early departure from the race.

· A handful of caution periods followed with an accident involving Team Chevy’s Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez bringing out the sixth caution of the race on lap 175. Both Camaro ZL1’s obtained minimal damage and were able to make quick repairs to return to competition.

· Stage Two ended under a caution flag, bringing the race to the halfway point. Two Team Chevy drivers scored stage points, led by polesitter William Byron and the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 team in the eighth position.

· Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10

8th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1

9th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Advent Health Camaro ZL1

Stage Three

· At the conclusion of Stage Three – the 300 lap marker – the race had seen 24 lead changes among 11 different drivers.

· For the third consecutive stage, William Byron led Team Chevy to the green-white checkered at the stage end – driving his No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 to fourth-place stage points.

· Team Chevy Stage Three: Top-10

4th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1

6th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1

7th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Camaro ZL1

9th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Coca-Cola Camaro ZL1

10th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1

Stage Four / Post-Race Notes

· William Byron led Team Chevy to the finish in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 – driving his No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 to a runner-up finish in the crown jewel event.

· Byron’s runner-up finish marked his third career top-10 finish in seven NASCAR Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway; and his eighth top-10 NCS finish of the 2023 season.

· The No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 pit crew showcased a stellar performance on pit road throughout the 600-mile race – giving Byron the win off pit road on seven different occasions, gaining a total of 18 spots by the conclusion of the race.

· Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain maintained the NASCAR Cup Series’ driver points standings lead with a one-point advantage over the Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney.

· In 14 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race this season, Chevrolet continues to lead the series in wins (eight), top-fives (31), top-10s (59), stage wins (11) and laps led (1,845).

 

About Chevrolet
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