5 KYLE LARSON

Age: 31 (July 31, 1992)

Hometown: Elk Grove, California

Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels

Standings: 5th

No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

DAYTONA DEETS: In three of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Larson has started first for the main event. In the 2023 DAYTONA 500, he qualified second and in the 2022 DAYTONA 500 he earned the pole position. In his 18 starts at the 2.5-mile Daytona Beach, Florida track, Larson has led 24 laps and scored five top-10 finishes.

SO CLOSE AT SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Although the 31-year-old driver has not yet locked in a win on a superspeedway, Larson has had some strong runs. In this year’s DAYTONA 500, he was on the front row for the final restart before being caught up in an incident on the last lap. His best run to date on a drafting-style track was a fourth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2022.

RESTART READY: The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is skilled at defending his position following cautions on-track. The Elk Grove, California, native ranks second-best among Cup Series drivers on restarts in 2023, based on data from Racing Insights.

WITH ONE REMAINING: With one race remaining in the regular season, Larson has earned the No. 5 team a spot in the playoffs for the third season in a row. He has won two points-paying races (Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway) and the non-points-paying All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. This season, Larson has claimed a series-leading 10 top-five finishes and holds the best average starting position (9.72). He also has 12 top-10 finishes, three stage wins, has led the third-most laps (624), holds the fourth-best average running position (12.23) and has run the fourth-most laps in the top five (2,164) and top 10 (3,486).

SEVEN PLAYOFF SEASONS: This year’s playoffs will mark the seventh time that Larson has made the sport’s premier series playoffs. That is tied with teammate Chase Elliott for the most playoff appearances by a current driver at Hendrick Motorsports. The 2021 Cup Series champion is on the hunt for his second title in the 2023 playoffs.

FOUR TIRES FAST: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew ranks fifth on pit road for the best average four-tire pit stop time (11.266 seconds). The team’s four-tire stop of 9.281 seconds on lap 93 in June’s race at Nashville Superspeedway stands as the fourth-fastest four-tire stop of the season. The No. 5 team’s five-man pit crew consists of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer). Rod Cox is currently filling in for Teague, who is week-to-week as he rehabs a knee injury.

CATCH KYLE: On Saturday at Daytona, Larson will be at the Team Chevy display in the fan midway at 4:30 p.m. ET.

HENDRICKCARS.COM IN FLORIDA: This weekend, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team races “away” in Daytona Beach, Florida, but you can visit one of their six Sunshine State dealerships in Tallahassee, Bradenton, Naples or Pompano Beach. Not in Florida? Shop one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s other 95+ dealerships nationwide. Customers can also shop from the convenience of their home selecting the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HENDRICKCARS.COM.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT

Age: 27 (Nov. 28, 1995)

Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia

Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia

Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson

Standings: 21st

No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

PLAYOFF TALK: This weekend is Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team’s final opportunity to race their way into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series postseason. Elliott is in a must-win situation to advance to the playoffs for the driver championship. The No. 9 team currently holds the final spot in the provisional playoff field for the owner championship by 30 points over the No. 23 entry.

TALKIN’ ABOUT DAYTONA: In 15 Cup Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Elliott has two top-five finishes – both being runner-up results – four top-10s and three poles. He’s led 157 laps on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, including 31 laps last August. Additionally, the 27-year-old driver has nine starts at Daytona in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, capturing a win (in 2016), two top-five finishes and four top-10s. He also has a top-10 finish in one NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at the track.

DRAFT DOMINANT: Last season across six drafting-style races, Elliott was the only repeat winner, earning the popular home track victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July and backing that up with a playoff win at Talladega Superspeedway in October. He led all drivers with five top-10s and three stage wins in those six events last year and led 166 laps, second only to teammate William Byron. In 2023, Elliott has three starts on drafting tracks. He’s set the pace for the field for 18 laps and has one stage win – all coming at Talladega in the spring. Overall, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native is tied for the fourth-most wins on drafting-style tracks by active Cup drivers with three. He’s also tied with Byron for the most drafting wins in the Next Gen car with two.

SUPERSPEEDWAY RANKS: Over the last 15 races on superspeedways, Elliott shares the top spot in multiple categories – tied for most runner-up finishes (two), most top-fives (five) and most stage wins (five). He ranks second in wins (two), top-10 finishes (nine), laps led (267) and average finish (11.73) across that span.

COMING HOME: 2020 Cup Series champion crew chief Alan Gustafson will return home to the “World Center of Racing” this weekend. The veteran shot caller grew up in Ormond Beach, Florida, just down the road from the legendary superspeedway. After graduating from Seabreeze High School, Gustafson enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to study mechanical engineering. This is his 19th season as a crew chief and eighth year with Elliott. Gustafson has three victories on drafting-style tracks, all with his current driver.

LLUMAR RETURNS: LLumar, a brand of automotive window tint and paint protection film manufactured by Eastman, will have its colors carried on the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Daytona. It’s the second of four races that the brand is serving as primary partner during the 2023 season. Following this Saturday’s race, LLumar will be back on board Elliott’s No. 9 at Talladega and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October. Earlier this season, Elliott drove the LLumar Throwback Chevrolet to a third-place finish at Darlington Raceway. In June, it was announced that Eastman Performance Films, LLC extended its sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports, Elliott and the No. 9 team through 2026. Get a look at the 2023 LLumar Chevrolet here.

RACEDAY APPEARANCES: On Saturday at Daytona, Elliott will stop by the Team Chevy display in the fan midway at 3:45 p.m. ET. Also making an appearance at the Team Chevy display throughout the weekend is the 2023 No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 show car.

24 WILLIAM BYRON

Age: 25 (Nov. 29, 1997)

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle

Standings: 3rd

No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

HIGH FIVE: When the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Watkins Glen International this past Sunday, William Byron and the No. 24 team took home the checkered flag – their fifth of the season. On race day, Byron started second and finished stage one in that spot. A call by crew chief Rudy Fugle to pit two laps into the second stage set Byron up to take the lead and the stage two win. Despite a mid-race caution, Byron continued to dominate the 90-lap event, crossing the finish line first for his first NASCAR road course win. He is the eighth different driver to win five races in a season for Hendrick Motorsports.

WHAT’S IN A NUMBER?: With his win at Watkins Glen, Byron continues to extend the history of the No. 24. At 102 victories in the Cup Series, the No. 24 is now tied with the No. 2 for third on the all-time wins list by car number. The No. 43 is second at 200 and the No. 11 is atop the board at 230. Byron’s five victories in the No. 24 this season are tied for the eighth-most wins in a single season with the number.

NEXT GEN DUO: Since the introduction of the Next Gen Cup Series car in 2022, Byron and Fugle have collected seven wins together. Not only is that the most by a driver but it is also the most by a crew chief in the same time period.

ONE MORE: Heading into the regular-season finale, Byron is third in the Cup Series driver points standings, 76 markers behind the leader. He continues to have a career-best year, leading the series in wins (five), stage wins (eight) and laps run in the top five (2,778). Byron’s 876 laps led are not only the top mark in the series but are also a single-season best mark for the 25-year-old driver. His nine top-five finishes are tied for the second-most in the sport’s top division. In addition, Byron ranks third in average running position (10.24) and laps run in the top 10 (3,707).

DRAFT DAY: When it comes to tracks that involve drafting, Byron is consistently running up front. He has three wins on these types of tracks – his first Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway in August 2020 and at the re-configured Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2022 and July 2023. Two of those drafting wins came with the Next Gen car – tied for the most by a driver with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. He also has led 213 laps at drafting tracks since the start of the 2022 season – the most of any driver.

BEACHCOMBER: Byron has 11 Cup Series starts at Daytona. In that time, he has collected one win, two top-five finishes, two top-10s and led 94 laps. However, his stats don’t accurately depict Byron’s success at the 2.5-mile oval. This is the venue where he collected his first pole award (2019 DAYTONA 500) and his first Cup Series win (2020). Byron also won the Duel qualifying race in 2020 and was in position to capture the win during the summer race in 2019 before weather ended the event early, leaving him with a runner-up finish. Byron’s success at Daytona doesn’t end there. During his 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship campaign, he led 29 laps to score the victory, becoming the youngest driver with an Xfinity Series win at Daytona at 19 years, 7 months and 1 day.

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY: Saturday night’s race at Daytona will be Fugle’s sixth on top of the box in the Cup Series at the 2.5-mile oval. In 2021, the No. 24 duo of Fugle and Byron started both races at the Florida-based track from the front row. However, despite running up front in every Daytona event they’ve raced at together in the Cup Series, misfortune has struck the No. 24 as they have been collected in on-track incidents before the checkered flag on four occasions. Aside from those five Cup starts, the Livonia, New York, native has nine other national series starts at Daytona, with seven coming in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Fugle has one runner-up result, one top-five finish and two top-10s across those seven races. Of those Truck Series starts, one of them was with Byron, where the duo qualified and finished 13th.

PIT ROAD PROWESS: After 25 races in the 2023 season, the No. 24 pit crew remains in the top spot with the fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 11.078 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).

RAPTOR® TOUGH: For this weekend’s regular-season finale at Daytona, Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will have RaptorTough.com back on board. RAPTOR® is a durable protective coating that is designed to tolerate the toughest climatic conditions and can be applied to a wide range of items, including truck beds, lawnmowers, outdoor furniture and more. With 16 pre-mixed colors available, it’s easy to personalize anything you want to protect. RAPTOR® is available at local paint distributors, auto parts stores, and online retailers. For a better look at Byron’s No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, click here.

48 Alex Bowman

Age: 30 (April 25, 1993)

Hometown: Tucson, Arizona

Resides: Concord, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Blake Harris

Standings: 20th

No. 48 Ally Arena Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

BACK AT THE BEACH: On Saturday night, Alex Bowman and the NASCAR Cup Series take on Daytona International Speedway for the 2023 regular-season finale. The 30-year-old driver is currently ranked 20th in the driver points standings, 96 markers behind the provisional playoff bubble. Bowman must win under the lights to punch his ticket to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season with Hendrick Motorsports.

SIX GOD: Bowman has become a familiar face at the front of the Daytona field, having started on the front row for the DAYTONA 500 for a record six consecutive years. He earned the pole position for this year’s DAYTONA 500 as well as the 2018 and 2021 marquee events. He is the fifth-youngest pole winner in the event’s history based on his 2018 pole at 24 years, 9 months and 17 days old.

DRAFTING DOWNLOAD: In the 2023 DAYTONA 500, Bowman finished fifth, marking the first time since 2001 a pole sitter has recorded a top-five result in that race. In the Daytona summer race, he has three top-10 finishes in seven starts. Bowman’s best finish at a drafting track was a runner-up showing at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019, where he placed second to teammate Chase Elliott.

BLAKE AT SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Blake Harris, who is the crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Racing team, will make his third start atop the pit box at Daytona. In his first start with the No. 34 team in the 2022 DAYTONA 500, Harris qualified sixth and finished seventh with driver Michael McDowell. This year, Harris helped Bowman lead the field to the green flag at the DAYTONA 500 before finishing the race in fifth.

1 VICTORY ROYALE: This Saturday, the No. 48 Ally Chevy will don the bright colors and characters of the popular video game Fortnite. Ally, in collaboration with SuperAwesome, launched the Ally Arena, a new Fortnite Creative experience. This virtual space allows players to enjoy allyship and shared experiences in the form of concerts, live streams and other engaging custom content – including collaborative crossovers with NASCAR. The new Ally 48 Island, within the Ally Arena, is uniquely shaped like and inspired by the iconic No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Fans and gamers can enjoy racing-themed minigames and experience the power of Epic Games’ new Unreal Engine for Fortnite, widely recognized as the world’s leading engine for game creation, enabling builders to import custom 3D items and write code to govern their usage. (Game Code: 3804-0541-8611) To see all angles of the unique scheme, click here.

RESTART ME UP: Bowman is tied as the fifth-best driver on restarts in 2023, according to data from Racing Insights. That mark is second-best among the Hendrick Motorsports quartet, as teammate Kyle Larson is second in this statistical category.

SAVE THEM ALL: Bowman and primary partner Ally are teaming up this year to bring back the Best Friends Animal Society donation effort. This week, the duo will make charitable contributions to Life Is Golden, Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc., which serves Port Orange, Florida. Bowman and Ally will donate $4,800 to Best Friends and Life is Golden. Ally will increase its donation to $10,000 if the No. 48 team wins.

HENDRICK
MOTORSPORTS /

2023	All-Time	Daytona
Races	25	1,334	79
Wins	7*	298*	15**
Poles	6	245*	23*
Top 5	30*	1,220*	60*
Top 10	43	2,088*	107*
Laps Led	1,627*	78,944*	2,275*
Stage Wins	12**	91	2

*Most **Most (tie)

CLOSING IN ON 300: Following William Byron’s win at Watkins Glen International, Hendrick Motorsports is just two points-paying victories away from its milestone 300th win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Twenty drivers have combined to reach the organization’s current total of 298, which is the most Cup Series wins by any team. With seven points-paying victories in 2023, the team has posted its 36th multi-win season in the Cup Series while maintaining a streak of at least two per season for the past 30 years. The organization has gone to victory lane at more racetracks (31) than any other active team.

MILESTONE MOMENTS: In addition to 300 Cup Series wins, Hendrick Motorsports is approaching several other major milestones. With 245 pole awards, the team is just five away from 250 at the Cup level. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports engines have recorded 498 NASCAR national series victories and need just two more to reach 500.

NOTABLE STREAKS: With Byron’s win, Hendrick Motorsports has now had a driver notch five victories in a season for four straight years. Byron did it this season, Chase Elliott accomplished it in 2020 and 2022 and Kyle Larson achieved it in 2021. It is the team’s longest such streak since it had a driver reach five wins in a season from 2006 to 2010. In addition, the organization has five consecutive victories at Watkins Glen (2018-19, 2021-23). The only track where the team has posted a longer winning streak was at Phoenix Raceway, with six victories in a row from 2007 to 2009.

RACING INTO THE POSTSEASON: On two occasions in team history, a Hendrick Motorsports driver has raced their way into the postseason in the final regular-season race. In 2012, Jeff Gordon earned a wild card slot with a second-place finish at Richmond Raceway. In 2020, Byron was on the outside looking in following the first two stages but went on to win the event at Daytona International Speedway to make the playoffs. Both Elliott and Alex Bowman will be looking to race their way in with a win at Daytona for the one remaining playoff spot up for grabs.

PLAYOFF LOWDOWN: The 2023 season marks the 20th year with playoffs in NASCAR. Including this year, Hendrick Motorsports has had at least two drivers compete in the postseason in 19 of the 20 years. That is the most of all teams. Byron (five wins) and Larson (two wins) are already locked into the 16-driver field. In nine of the seasons with playoffs, a Hendrick Motorsports driver has gone on to win the championship. Jimmie Johnson (2006-10, 2013, 2016), Elliott (2020) and Larson (2021) each have titles in the playoff era of NASCAR racing.

WINNER WINNER: The organization is tied for the most points-paying Cup Series wins at Daytona with 15 and those victories have come from seven different drivers. Gordon’s six wins top the board, followed by Johnson with three victories and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at two triumphs. Byron, Geoff Bodine, Tim Richmond and Darrell Waltrip each have one win. Specific to the team’s seven summer race wins, Gordon won three times, while Byron, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson and Richmond each have one victory for the team.

MASTERS OF DAYTONA: The Rick Hendrick-owned team has 42 wins in total on the oval at Daytona. Those victories are broken down by 16 in the Daytona Duels, eight in the DAYTONA 500, seven in the Coke Zero 400, seven in the Clash and four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In addition, Elliott won the 2020 race on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

QUALIFYING QUICKNESS: With 23 poles at Daytona, Hendrick Motorsports has more than twice as many poles at the “World Center of Racing” as any other team. The Concord, North Carolina-based team has started first in 10 of the last 12 Daytona races with qualifying. All four drivers in the current lineup have earned a pole position at this track. The last time that two Hendrick Motorsports cars didn’t start on the front row at Daytona was in August 2020.

DRAFTING DARLINGS: The Concord, North Carolina-based team has 32 wins on drafting tracks, which is the highest total among active teams in the series by 12 victories. The drafting tracks on the circuit are 2.5-mile Daytona, 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway (since its reprofiling for the 2022 season). In addition to its 15 wins at Daytona, the team has 14 victories at Talladega and three triumphs at Atlanta.

NEXT GEN NUMBERS: Byron and Elliott are tied for the most wins (two) on drafting tracks in the Next Gen car. Byron was victorious at Atlanta in March 2022 and July 2023. Elliott scored wins at Atlanta in July 2022 and Talladega in October 2022. Those victories have all occurred in the last nine races on drafting tracks.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his goal at this superspeedway race: “At all the superspeedways, I just crash. It’s difficult. I feel like we have gotten a lot better at it. I don’t think style is the right word, but it takes a different mindset to race there (superspeedways). We’ve done a much better job at positioning ourselves to the front of the pack. One small decision can lead to you losing a little track position and even ultimately getting into a crash. I’d like to get some good finishes. I’m not even looking for a win, I just want to finish. We (the No. 5 team) have not finished at a superspeedway race this year. If we keep positioning ourselves towards the front, it’s going to work out eventually.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team’s hopes for Daytona International Speedway: “Speedway racing has not been kind to us for whatever reason. We always bring fast cars and that is such a huge credit to everyone at the engine shop here at Hendrick Motorsports and all the folks building the race cars. Every time we unload at a speedway, we know we are going to be competitive. We just continue to get caught up in action on track. Hopefully, at some point that turns around for us and we can find ourselves in a good spot at the end of the race and get a good finish. Of course, this weekend our mindset is going to be getting a good finish to help our teammates as much as we can. We have two must-win cars that need to get into the playoffs, so we need to be good teammates and pushers – being a good wingman however we can do it. We want to put ourselves in position to be around and be helpful at the end of the race.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the adversity the team has faced this season: “I just really appreciate everyone on this No. 9 team for continuing to show up and fight every week. It’s been a different year for sure – not one that I would like to do over. There’s definitely a lot of lessons learned, and I think there’ll be some good to come from this on the back end and this season to come. So, I’m looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully, we can get in the show. Worst case, try to get the No. 9 car in the owner playoffs and make a run at that, regardless. I’m looking forward to opportunities ahead, continuing to fight and trying to improve these last 11 weeks.”

Elliott on how he approaches superspeedway racing: “Those races are so tough, but I think as we’ve seen over the last few years, track position ends up being a really important piece of the puzzle at those races. The (Daytona) night race in the summer becomes a bit of a wreck fest, so trying to balance that stuff is tough. I think one important piece of plate racing is establishing yourself as one of those guys who can make a difference and make a lane move forward. I’m just excited to get down there and give it a shot.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on if he thinks the No. 24 team is ready for the playoffs: “I think we’re in good form right now. I think we’re close. It’s kind of like football, and we’ve used that analogy a lot this week, in that it’s going to continue to get harder. Guys are going to get faster over the weeks. I think at this point, if the championship was next week, we would say ‘yeah let’s do this.’ Hopefully, we feel the same way after Martinsville (Speedway) and go into Phoenix (Raceway) prepared. I think we’re in good form now, but a lot can change.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the plan for Daytona: “For this weekend, it’s going to be all about helping our teammates in the Nos. 9 and 48. We want to figure out how to be a good pusher and help one of them get to the win. That’s our number one goal: To help the organization. And to be honest, I like that. If we can do that, we’re also guaranteeing ourselves a good finish and you have a purpose. You have an exact way on how you want to approach the race and that’s to help one of your teammates.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the goal at Daytona: “Obviously, this situation is not ideal, but we have one option – win. I have mixed feelings because normally, I feel like I draft well with the No. 9 car and Chase Elliott, but this weekend, I have to beat him. We have a great team, a great pit crew, and as long as we can stay out of the big one, there is no reason we can’t go compete for a win this Saturday and grab the last playoff spot.”

Blake Harris, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his confidence heading to Daytona: “We had a really good race here for the DAYTONA 500 – starting on the pole and taking home a top-five finish. We have also had speed at the other superspeedways this year, so we have a lot of confidence we will have a fast No. 48 Ally Arena Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this Saturday under the lights. Our team does a good job of staying focused in high-pressure situations and this weekend is another shot for us to show up and compete. If we can keep our heads down and execute the way our team knows we can, there is no reason we can’t punch our ticket to the playoffs.”

AUSTIN HILL
Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway
No. 62 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro

Event Overview

● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 26 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 26
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5 mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
● State Lengths: Stage 1: 40 laps / Stage 2: 40 laps / Final Stage: 80 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Beard Motorsports is back in action this weekend with the running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. It is the fourth start of the season for the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro, which has made appearances earlier this season at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and, most recently, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. NASCAR Xfinity Series championship-contending driver Austin Hill will be back behind the wheel for Beard Motorsports this weekend.

● Multiples of five headline the weekend for the combination of Beard Motorsports and Hill. When the 29-year-old driver takes the green-flag for Saturday night’s race, it will be his fifth career start in NASCAR Cup Series competition while it will mark the 25th start for Beard Motorsports. Beard Motorsports made its Cup Series debut in 2017 and, up until the 2023 NASCAR season, competed exclusively at the big tracks of Daytona and Talladega. Races at Atlanta and Michigan were new to the Beard schedule this season, and the team will wrap up its 2023 campaign with another first by competing in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway road course in October.

● United Rentals partners with Beard Motorsports for this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. It is the first of two races at which the United Rentals colors will adorn the hood of the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet. With an integrated network of 1,487 rental locations in North America, 14 in Europe, 23 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand, United Rentals, Inc., is the largest equipment rental company in the world. Founded in 1997 the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province within North America. The company’s approximately 25,750 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and other customers. United Rentals will be the primary sponsor for Beard’s last scheduled race of the 2023 season at Charlotte.

● The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be Hill’s fifth Cup Series start but his first in the Cup Series at Daytona. The Beard family fielded the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro with Hill there during Speedweek in February with plans to race in the season-opening Daytona 500. The team was poised to advance to the starting field for the Daytona 500 when the No. 62 Chevrolet was caught up in a multicar accident during the closing laps of its qualifying race. While Hill is technically a Daytona rookie in Cup Series competition, his skill on the superspeedways is anything but novice-like. Driving for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the Winston, Georgia, native has a total of six wins – two of which have been scored at Daytona and another two at Atlanta, which now features the same superspeedway-style racing exercised at Daytona and Talladega.

● It’s appropriate that Beard Motorsports’ 25th start as a Cup Series team takes place at Daytona – the place where the team’s NASCAR Cup Series journey began in 2017, when it started 39th in the Daytona 500 with former driver-turned vice president of racing operations, Brendan Gaughan. The Las Vegas native ran a patient race that day, scoring an 11th-place result in the Great American Race. The No. 62 Beard Chevrolet has been a part of the starting field for 10 races on Daytona’s the 2.5-mile oval since 2017, and one in the road-course race that took place there in 2020. In those 10 starts on the oval, the No. 62 team has one top-five and four top-10 finishes.

● The No. 62 Beard team operates as a family owned and run team that started out as a passion project for the late Mark Beard Sr. Since his passing in early 2021, the team has operated under the guidance of family matriarch Linda Beard. The team is managed and nourished by daughter Amie Beard, who manages the day-to-day operations, and son Mark Jr., who provides leadership and support. Darren Shaw continues to oversee car and team preparations in the role of crew chief while the team continues to leverage the power of ECR engines. Beard Motorsports and its family owned company, Beard Oil Distributing – a certified women-owned business – both operating and thriving in male-dominated industries.

Austin Hill, Driver of the No. 62 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro:

The No. 62 team didn’t make this year’s Daytona 500, but you went on to win the Xfinity Series race the day before to make it two in a row for you in the season-opening race. What kind of motivation does it provide for this weekend’s race at Daytona?

“Winning at Daytona twice in the Xfinity car obviously gives you a lot of confidence heading into this weekend. It really burned that I wasn’t able to be in the Daytona 500 because I believe that I can compete with all of the Cup guys. I really think I can go up there and race for a win. And that doesn’t come from a place of being cocky or anything. I just have that confidence in myself. As confident as I am on the superspeedway tracks, I know it’s harder to get a win at this level. There are a lot of people that are really good at what they do and never get a win on these types of tracks. But I go into the race trying for the win and think I can compete but understand that things get more challenging at this level.”

How much of what you did during the superspeedway race at Talladega in the No. 62 Chevrolet will you be able to lean on for this weekend’s race at Daytona?

“Having competed in a superspeedway race already with the Beard Motorsports team, we have learned that track position is extremely important. We will have to do all we can to play the track-position game and get ourselves in a position up front. Cup cars get two-by-two easily, but it’s hard to create a third lane. With the cars being really tight together, the Cup cars race a lot differently than the Xfinity cars. Anything that we can do as a team to jump ahead on track position will be key. Say we are running 20th and we feel like we have a car capable of running up front, is there a chance of taking fuel only or two tires so we can gain track position? This is one of the biggest things that I will want to lean on with Darren (Shaw, crew chief), knowing when we can make some risk-versus-reward-type moves.”

Does the August race at Daytona have a different feel than the race in February?

“Yes, because with it being hotter outside, the track will be slicker. Handling comes into effect a little more, which is what we noticed last year in the Xfinity Series car. So I am expecting the same with the Cup car this weekend. You’re going to have to have a balance of being trimmed out with raw speed and having drivability in your car to where, if you need to make big moves, you can.”

No. 62 Beard Motorsports Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Austin Hill

Hometown: Winston, Georgia

Crew Chief: Darren Shaw

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Travis Owens

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Spotter: Chris Osborne

Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

President: Linda Beard

Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

VP of Racing Ops: Brendan Gaughan

Hometown: Las Vegas

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Chase Masterson

Hometown: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Shiloh Windsor

Hometown: North Carolina

Tire Carrier: JD Holcomb

Hometown: Whitesburg, Kentucky

Jack Man: Garrett Crall

Hometown: Hicksville, Ohio

Fuel Man: JP Kelly

Hometown: Luray, Virginia

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Jack Gagnon

Hometown: Quebec, Canada

Mechanic: Mark Sanders

Hometown: Springfield, Ohio

Tire Technician: Eric Beaudoin

Hometown: Quebec, Canada

Engine Tuner: Jason Watkins

Hometown: Ridgeway, Virginia

Transporter Driver: Terry Burger

Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Daytona International Speedway / Milwaukee Mile Speedway
August 25-27, 2023

CHECKERED-FLAG FOR THE NCS REGULAR SEASON

NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season officially got underway in February at Daytona International Speedway – a race that saw Team Chevy’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drive the manufacturer to its 25th Daytona 500 victory. With 25-points paying races complete, the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) will make its return to the “World Center of Racing” for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to conclude the regular season.

400-miles around the 2.5-mile Florida superspeedway will determine the 16th and final driver that will complete the series’ playoff field. Five drivers from four different Chevrolet teams have contributed to the manufacturer’s series-leading 13 wins in NASCAR’s premier series this season, also already clinching a spot in the post-season title hunt: Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Kyle Larson, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

For those on the outside looking in, a repeat winner in Saturday night’s event leaves three drivers with the opportunity to get into the playoffs by points, including Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, who will enter the weekend in the 18th position in the standings and 43-points below the cutline. Suarez has finished inside the top-10 in three of the four superspeedway-style races this season, including a career-best seventh-place finish at Daytona International Speedway in February, as well as a runner-up finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July.

The 14 remaining drivers will take on the regular season finale in a ‘must-win’ situation, including five Team Chevy drivers that already have at least one superspeedway win in the NASCAR national ranks to their names:

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1

NASCAR Cup Series – three superspeedway wins

Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 2022 & April 2019)
Atlanta Motor Speedway (July 2022)
NASCAR Xfinity Series – one superspeedway win

Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 2016)

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1

NASCAR Xfinity Series – one superspeedway win

Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 2022)

Justin Haley, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1

NASCAR Cup Series – one superspeedway win

Daytona International Speedway (July 2019)
NASCAR Xfinity Series – four superspeedway wins

Daytona International Speedway (Aug. 2021 & Aug. 2020)
Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 2020 & June 2020)

Erik Jones, No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Camaro ZL1

NASCAR Cup Series – one superspeedway win

Daytona International Speedway (July 2018)

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1

NASCAR Cup Series – two superspeedway wins

Daytona International Speedway (Aug. 2022 & Feb. 2018)
NASCAR Xfinity Series – one superspeedway win

Daytona International Speedway (July 2015)
 
CLOSING IN ON A MILESTONE 100TH VICTORY AT DAYTONA

Already the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR history at Daytona International Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s win in the 2023 Daytona 500 extended Chevrolet’s record to 98 all-time victories across all three NASCAR national series at the track. The Bowtie brand has the potential to hit its milestone 100th victory at the “World Center of Racing” with a sweep of this weekend’s doubleheader. Chevrolet has been able to accomplish that feat in NASCAR’s past two appearances at the Florida superspeedway – dating back one year ago to wins recorded by Austin Dillon (NCS) and Jeremy Clements (NXS), and most recently by Stenhouse Jr. (NCS) and Austin Hill (NXS) in the 2023 season-opener.

 
ONE YEAR AGO: DILLON WITH A WALK-OFF WIN

Sitting in a ‘must-win’ situation, Team Chevy’s Austin Dillon will enter the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season finale looking for a repeat performance from one year ago. In the August 2022 event, Dillon shook-up the playoff standings by becoming the series’ 15th new winner and earning one of the two remaining spots in the playoff field. The 33-year-old North Carolina became the eighth Chevrolet driver to win and secure a playoff spot, giving the Bowtie brand 50 percent of the series’ playoff field last season.

Austin Dillon, No. 3 RCR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Daytona International Speedway – Aug. 28, 2022

Chevrolet has collected 50 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series at Daytona International Speedway, including 22 triumphs in the Summer race. Team Chevy drivers account for six of the 16 active NCS winners at the Florida superspeedway, with each having a win in the Summer race to their name. That list includes three drivers that are in need of a win to take the final post-season position: Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon (Aug. 2022), Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley (July 2019) and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’S Erik Jones (July 2018).

 
BY THE NUMBERS ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS

Dating back to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2022, Chevrolet drivers and teams have put on a powerhouse performance in superspeedway-style races. Six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams have collected a combined eight wins in the NASCAR Cup Series’ past nine superspeedway events. The most recent of those wins came at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The 25-year-old Charlotte native also led the manufacturer to a podium sweep with Daniel Suarez (second) and AJ Allmendinger (third) – both of which will look to capitalize on that momentum as they each face a ‘must-win’ at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

 
SIX YEARS AGO..

In the July 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Team Chevy’s William Byron drove the JR Motorsports No. 9 Camaro SS to the victory, starting a stretch of dominance in the series for Chevrolet at the track. Over the last six years, the Bowtie brand has recorded wins in 11 of the past 12 NXS races at the Florida superspeedway, with the manufacturer looking to make it five-straight in Friday night’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola. Since the NXS made its debut at Daytona International Speedway in 1982, Chevrolet has recorded 45 wins in 63 NXS races at the track – giving the manufacturer a winning percentage of 71 percent.

Austin Hill, No. 21 RCR Chevrolet Camaro SS

Daytona International Speedway – Feb. 18, 2023

With three races remaining in the NXS regular season, eight of the top-12 positions in the playoff standings are occupied by Team Chevy drivers. Five of those drivers have already clinched a spot in the post-season with a win, led by Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, who continues to maintain the top position in the standings with a nine-point advantage over second. Of those above the cutline but still looking for a victory includes JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry, who sits in the sixth position with a comfortable 106-point cushion over the cutline. Joining Berry includes Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed, holding onto the eighth and ninth positions, respectively.

 
RETURN OF THE MILWAUKEE MILE

For the first time in 14 years, the Milwaukee Mile Speedway will welcome the return of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) for Sunday’s Clean Harbors 175 – race two of three in the series’ Playoffs Round of 10. Chevrolet has made its way to victory lane five times in the series’ 15-race history at the Wisconsin oval. Of those wins includes the NCTS’ debut at the track in July 1995 with Mike Skinner, as well as the series’ most recent appearance in June 2009 with Ron Hornaday, Jr.

McAnally-Hilgemann’s Christian Eckes leads Team Chevy in the playoff points standings in the third position and a 39-point advantage above the cutline.

Ron Hornaday, Jr. – No. 33 KHI Chevrolet Silverado

Milwaukee Mile Speedway – June 20, 2009

Joining Eckes in the top-eight of the standings includes Carson Hocevar in fourth (+ 35 points), Grant Enfinger in sixth (+24 points) and Nick Sanchez in eighth (+2 points). Matt DiBenedetto currently sits in the 10th position in the standings, but only three-points below the cutline.

 
BOWTIE BULLETS:

· Chevrolet will pace the field across all three NASCAR national series this weekend:

   NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona: Camaro ZL1
   NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona: Camaro SS 1LE
   NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Milwaukee: Silverado RST

· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway:

   Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – two wins (Feb. 2023 & July 2017)
   Austin Dillon – two wins (Aug. 2022 & Feb. 2018)
   William Byron – one win (Aug. 2020)
   Justin Haley – one win (July 2019)
   Erik Jones – one win (July 2018)
   Kyle Busch – one win (July 2008)

· In 152 NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded 50 wins and 52 poles – both of which are series-leading feats. Of those wins includes 22 in the NCS’ Summer race at the Florida superspeedway.

· Chevrolet has won 98 times at Daytona International Speedway across all three NASCAR national series, making Chevrolet the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR history at Daytona International Speedway.

· Chevrolet has won eight of the past nine superspeedway-style races in NASCAR’s top series – recorded by six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams.

· Three of the six repeat winners in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season come from Team Chevy:

   William Byron: five wins (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Darlington, Atlanta 2, Watkins Glen)
   Kyle Busch: three wins (Auto Club, Talladega, WWTR)
   Kyle Larson: two wins (Richmond & Martinsville)

· In 25 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race this season, Chevrolet continues to lead the series in wins (13), top-fives (55), top-10s (104), stage wins (19) and laps led (2,477).

· Chevrolet leads the series in wins across all three NASCAR national series this season with 13 victories in 25 NASCAR Cup Series races, 12 victories in 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series races and 10 wins in 17 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races – all with a win percentage of at least 50%.

· With William Byron’s win at Watkins Glen International, Hendrick Motorsports now sits at 298 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories – all recorded with Chevrolet.

· Chevrolet’s series-leading 13 NASCAR Cup Series wins this season have been recorded by drivers from four different Chevrolet teams: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (JTG Daugherty Racing), Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing), William Byron and Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports) and Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing).

· Chevrolet drivers have recorded 19 of the 50 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins this season: William Byron (eight; series-leading), Ross Chastain (five), Kyle Larson (three), Kyle Busch (two) and Chase Elliott (one).

· Chevrolet continues to sit atop the manufacturer points standings in all three NASCAR national series, leading by 60 points in the NASCAR Cup Series, 59 points in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and 46 points in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

· Chevrolet has swept the Manufacturer Championships across all three NASCAR national series in a single season four different times (2012, 2005, 1998, 1996).

· With Grant Enfinger’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at World Wide Technology Raceway, GMS Racing is the winningest Chevrolet organization in NCTS’ history with 44 all-time wins in the series.

· With its 41 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer’s Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver’s Championships, and 846 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

 
FOR THE FANS:

· Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Daytona International Speedway.

· Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles at the Team Chevy Racing Display including: Corvette Z06 Convertible, Trailblazer RS, Traverse High Country, Tahoe RST, 1500 Silverado Crew ZR2, Bolt EUV, Trax 2RS and a specialty-themed ‘NASCAR 75th Anniversary’ Camaro ZL1.

· At the Team Chevy Racing Display, fans can also view Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro ZL1 show car.

· Fans will also have a special viewing of the Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 – the actual race car that competed at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Team Chevy Driver Appearances at the Display:

Friday, August 25

· Brandon Jones: 1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

· Josh Berry: 1:45 p.m. – 2 p.m.

· Daniel Hemric: 5 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

· Jeremy Clements: 5:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

· Sam Mayer: 5:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

· Justin Allgaier: 5:45 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Saturday, August 26

· Ross Chastain: 3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

· Chase Elliott: 3:45 p.m. – 4 p.m.

· Austin Dillon: 4 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.

· Kyle Busch: 4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

· Kyle Larson: 4:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

· William Byron: 4:45 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:

· Friday, August 25: 1 p.m. – 8 p.m.

· Saturday, August 26: 1 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

 
TUNE IN:

· NASCAR Cup Series: Daytona International Speedway

Coke Zero Sugar 400

Saturday, August 26, at 7 p.m. ET

(NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

· NASCAR Xfinity Series: Daytona International Speedway

Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola

Friday, August 25, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

· NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Milwaukee Mile Speedway

Clean Harbors 175

Sunday, August 27, at 4 p.m. ET

(FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

 
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

Can you talk about the pressure of you being locked into the playoffs and having a teammate who is still trying to get in?

“Well, it’s going to be an exciting weekend for sure. Everyone has a little bit different agenda and we’re all competitors so I’m sure we’ll keep it interesting. Things can change so quickly at the superspeedways and so much is out of your control. I want to win but overall I want it to be a good weekend for Trackhouse and for Daniel to make it in the playoffs. It’s good for everyone at our team and our partners to have both cars in the playoffs.”

How much does coming into Daytona with some drivers needing to win to get into the playoffs change how people race?

“There’s definitely different approaches when it comes to drivers just trying to survive and being there at the end of the prescribed laps, or if you actually want to go race. Time will tell on how it’s going to work out for everyone.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1

“We’re headed to the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. There’s nothing quite like going to Daytona. I enjoy the sunshine and fast racetrack. There’s nothing like drafting around that place. Obviously, I’ve got two big career wins there. The Daytona 500 and we won the August race to walk off, win and make our way into the NASCAR Playoffs last year in the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar 400. It’s shaping up for us to have the opportunity to try and do it again. I love drafting, getting in there and mixing it up, so we’ll see what it takes to put the No.3 Chevy back in the NASCAR Playoffs, hopefully.”

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1

How different is racing at Daytona in August versus February?

“Running Daytona in August is way different than February. It’s just a hotter time of the year so the track is definitely slicker. You need to set up a little bit more for downforce for grip to make your car drive good on the long run. It’s still a drafting race, it’s still going to be close-knit, and tight action.”

Teams and manufacturers plan to work together at Daytona and Talladega, but once the race starts, how difficult is that?

“The manufacturers, ever since like 2015 or 2016, have really changed the way the aspects the way superspeedway races go. It’s all about trying to work together as a unit. Our key partners with Hendrick Motorsports and Trackhouse have been really good on the superspeedways this year. I feel like we’ve had good success with that and working well together with those guys. Outside of RCR and Austin Dillion, Chase Elliott has probably been the closest guy that we’ve had as an ally on the superspeedways.”

Do you think the final race of the NASCAR regular season should move around to different tracks?

“Daytona being the final race of the regular season, man, it keeps that wild card opportunity open, so it really puts itself at a really good spot in the season. I liked the July 4th race there because you have the family, you go to the beach, you go do stuff together and then go race at night. Before we start moving around the final race of the regular season, I would say we should move around the final race of the championship and get it to different venues.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1

“Our cars have been really good at superspeedways this season. Daytona is a racetrack I never look forward to, to be quite honest, but I know that if we go put ourselves in position, we’re going to have a shot to win the race. We’ll take everything we can get, try to be the guy that doesn’t make the mistake and avoid the big one. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

JOSH BERRY, NO. 42 SUNSEEKER RESORTS CAMARO ZL1

“Making my first Cup Series start at Daytona is definitely a dream come true. It’s what every racer dreams of and I get to do that this weekend. Not long ago I thought I was going to be a career short track racer, so to know that I get to make my first start at Daytona in a Cup car just shows that you should never give up.”

What are your expectations for the race?

“It’s going to be a learning curve to start the race, especially without practice. These cars draft differently than the Xfinity cars do and we’ve seen drivers be able to tandem a little bit to gain momentum and move forward. If we can just keep it clean and be there at the end, that is our plan.”

What has his week been like preparing for this event?

“It’s definitely been a little easier preparing for Daytona knowing ahead of time that I would be in the No. 42. Being able to sit in the car beforehand, get everything where I need it, is key. I have been able to lean on Dale Jr, Erik (Jones) and everyone over at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB to figure out what to expect this weekend, so I feel as ready as can be to get to Daytona.”

Will you learn anything from the Xfinity Series race on Friday night that can translate over to Saturday?

“There’s not too much that will translate over from the Xfinity car to the Cup car but I’ll be able to feel how the track transitions at different times of the evening and how the cars react to the weather. The line changes a little bit depending on the sun and when it sets, so it’ll be nice to see what lane is preferred on Friday before hopping in the Cup car on Saturday.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1

“Daytona is always exciting, especially with it being the last race of the year leading into the playoffs, it’s always a pretty wild race. I was able to win that summer race a few years ago for my first cup win and I really hope to add on there and grab a win to get ourselves into the playoffs. I am excited to get there always, and I enjoy superspeedway racing, I feel like we have been really close and just need to close one of these speedway races out, so hopefully this is the one.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 BOOST BY KROGER / ENTENMANN’S CAMARO ZL1

“It will be really fun to get back to Daytona. The last time we were there it was kind of chaotic with all the celebrating, media, and stuff that we did. It will be cool to go back and go to the museum to see our race car for the first time since we won and be at the Daytona 500 Champions’ Walk of Fame reveal. It is always nice to go back to a racetrack where you are trying to defend. Sweeping the races at Daytona would be huge for us.

I feel good about what we were able to accomplish at the start of the season and winning the Daytona 500. It is one that we all have circled on our calendar every single year to get the job done when we show up. That was cool to do. It is a tough race to win and one that sticks with you forever.

We punch above our weight with what we have, and I think we take a lot of pride in that. We wish probably that we had more things to go to battle with, but I am happy with the tools we have and how we do battle. It has been a fun season. We know where our strengths and weaknesses are. We need to make sure that we continue to make our weaknesses less because we do have strong suits. We work hard and it has been cool to see everybody kind of hold hands and go forward together. We are okay with being under the radar going into the Playoffs. It is completely fine for us.”

CHASE PURDY, NO. 4 BAMA BUGGIES SILVERADO RST

How are you preparing for the Milwaukee Mile?

“I’ve never been to Milwaukee, so I’ve just been watching a bunch of races on YouTube, getting on my iRacing Sim and obviously the Chevy Simulator — just using all the tools and resources so that I can be as best prepared as I can when I show up.”

As you’ve prepared for this race is there anything that you’ve found to be unique about the Milwaukee Mile?

“Yeah, I think it’s cool that it’s kind of a worn out surface. It looks like there are two grooves that you can race each other on, but I think that passing is going to be really difficult. So, it’ll be important to have speed early and qualify up front.”

What does it mean to be a part of NASCAR’s return to the Milwaukee Mile?

“It’s just really unique. I watched the old Xfinity races there as a kid growing up, so I’m looking forward to going back there. I remember actually watching Kyle (Busch) race there years ago. So, it’ll be really fun and I’m excited about it. It’s kind of like North Wilkesboro. I don’t think this return has quite as much hype as that place did, but it definitely should.”

CHRISTIAN ECKES, NO. 19 GATES HYDRAULICS SILVERADO RST

Eckes on racing at Milwaukee for the first time:

“It’s going to be a challenge, for sure. Not many people have raced at Milwaukee recently, so there’s not much of a notebook to look at other than some visual similarities to Gateway or Phoenix. We’d love to get another win with our Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet and we’re certainly capable of that. Hopefully we can take another step forward from how we ran at IRP and Gateway earlier this year and be one of the trucks to beat this weekend. Another great points day like we had at IRP would be great to help us get close to advancing, but getting back to victory lane is the priority for our team.”

GRANT ENFINGER, NO. 23 CHAMPION POWER EQUIPMENT SILVERADO RST

Since you have never raced at Milwaukee before, what are you looking to gain by competing in the ARCA race before the Truck Series race on Sunday?

“Any laps around a track are good laps, especially at a place that I’ve never been to. So, I appreciate Codie (Rohrbaugh, CR7 Motorsports Team Owner) for the opportunity to run their car, and more than that, it’s really fun racing in the ARCA Series. Overall, I’m looking forward to racing at Milwaukee; it’s a track that I’ve heard a lot about, and Hensley has raced there before, but I’ve never seen the place. I’m anxious to get there and get practice started on Saturday with our Champion Power Equipment Chevy, and hopefully we’ll have some good speed in the race.”

RAJAH CARUTH, NO. 24 WENDELL SCOTT FOUNDATION SILVERADO RST

Coming off your second top-10 finish of the season, how much of a confidence boost do you have entering Milwaukee, where you’ve raced at twice before?

“I would say that the confidence lies in the prep that my No. 24 team and I are doing, not just for when it comes to this race, but the rest of the season as a whole. Most of the next tracks that we will be racing at on our schedule are ones that I’ve had the chance to race at before, whether that be in Trucks, ARCA, or Xfinity cars. It’s great to have another top-10 finish, but we have certainly been hoping for more, and in our minds there’s no reason that we can’t continue to run up front in the next six races, maybe potentially even bust off a win. I feel good in the Wendell Scott Foundation Chevy that we’ll have not just this weekend, but for the rest of the year.”

JAKE GARCIA, NO. 35 ADAPTIVE ONE CALIPERS SILVERADO RST

Garcia on racing at The Milwaukee Mile for the first time:

“It’s always exciting to go to new tracks, especially to places with as much history as Milwaukee. You’re usually at a deficit when it comes to experience as a rookie, but not many other guys in the field have raced at Milwaukee either, so hopefully we can get to know the track quicker than most this weekend. Our trucks have had a lot of speed lately and we’ve raced inside the top five, so hopefully we can continue that this weekend with our Adaptive One Chevrolet.”

DANIEL DYE, NO. 43 HAMLIN & ASSOCIATES SILVERADO RST

You’re one of only a handful of drivers that has raced at Milwaukee before, so what have you learned about this track that you can carry into Sunday?

“Being able to have raced at Milwaukee twice before with the Truck Series race coming up is definitely going to be helpful. It’s a unique place; it’s a little bit similar to what we ran at St. Louis, but definitely different. The surface is way older and it’s going to be a fun race in the trucks for sure. I loved it when I raced there in ARCA; we finished third both times we ran there. I’m going to try to use what I learned in those races when it comes to race around the competition and set up passes. We are excited to have Hamlin & Associates on our No. 43 Silverado, they are a new partner with our team and I think our truck looks fast, so hopefully we can replicate what we did the past two years and the success we had with them.”

MATT MILLS, NO. 51 J.F. ELECTRIC SILVERADO RST

Do your expectations for this race change after a top-five finish in your KBM debut at Richmond?

“It certainly gives us some momentum. I really just need to go out there and have another solid weekend. If we can qualify in the single digits again and finish in the single digits, I think that would be a good weekend. It’s been more of a learning curve than I expected. Coming over here, it hasn’t just been show up and go faster, there’s been a lot that I’ve had to learn and things that I’ve had to work on. We will go into Milwaukee with some momentum and try and have another solid day in the J.F. Electric Silverado.”

Having never been to Milwaukee before, how are you preparing for this race?

“I’ve been asking lots of questions from lots of different drivers, spotters, and watching a lot of YouTube videos. Basically, that’s how I approached IRP last weekend since there wasn’t a lot to go off of. It worked out well for us over at Young’s Motorsports. I feel like I have more resources over here at KBM, so hopefully we can go out there and start out with some good speed and fine tune from there.”

As you’ve done your research, is there a track that you’ve been to that you feel will be similar to Milwaukee?

“Yeah, maybe 3 and 4 at Gateway. Honestly, growing up in the north, a lot of our racetracks are flat so hopefully that will play into my wheelhouse. Milwaukee is a little bigger, but I still have a really good feeling about it.”

 
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2022): 41

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2021): 33

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2023 STATISTICS:

Wins: 13

Poles: 8

Laps Led: 2,477

Top-five finishes: 55

Top-10 finishes: 104

Stage wins: 19

· Ross Chastain – 5 (Daytona), (Auto Club x2), (Dover), (Darlington)

· William Byron – 8 (Las Vegas x2), (Phoenix), (COTA), (Richmond), (Dover), (Charlotte), (Watkins Glen)

· Kyle Larson – 3 (Phoenix), (Bristol Dirt), (Pocono)

· Chase Elliott – 1 (Talladega)

· Kyle Busch – 2 (WWTR), (Sonoma)

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 846 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 742

Laps led to date: 248, 021

Top-five finishes to date: 4,276

Top-10 finishes to date: 8,816

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,180

       Chevrolet: 846

       Pontiac: 154

       Oldsmobile: 115

       Buick: 65



       Ford: 825                                                           

       Ford: 725

       Mercury: 96

       Lincoln: 4



       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

       Dodge: 217

       Plymouth: 191

       Chrysler: 59



       Toyota: 177

 

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Advance | Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Cardell Ford Mustang for Team Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series, needs a win on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway to qualify for this year’s playoffs. Cindric spoke about his situation with members of the media as part of Ford’s weekly Q&A session.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Cardell Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU LOOK AT WHEN YOU STUDY FOR THIS RACE. IT PROBABLY ISN’T WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR. “Yes, the completion of this race last year was the only part that I skipped over because, to your point, it looked like a six-car ARCA race at the end of the thing because there were only about six cars running. So, from that standpoint, not a ton to learn from the finish last year. Obviously, we had a really great shot at winning and sweeping both Daytona events last year, but we’ve had some strong speedway cars and feel like speedway racing has evolved a lot since last year, but there’s been a lot to dive into this week.”

DO YOU HAVE A GOOD FEELING OF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IF YOU’RE IN POSITION ON THAT FINAL LAP OR DO YOU LEARN THROUGHOUT THE RACE? “I think, as always, it depends on who is around you and certainly handling. Are we in a green-white-checker? Has it been a full fuel stint? Do you have age on your tires? I think all of those things are contributing factors because handling does come into play at Daytona, it’s just how much is it going to be different than the 500? In the 500, you saw guys struggle more for handling this year than last year for whatever reason, so I think all of those factors play into it, but, yes, those are definitely things that I’ve studied throughout this week so far.”

HOW MUCH HELP DO YOU EXPECT FROM FORDS OTHER THAN TEAM PENSKE? “I think it’s a great question. At a bare minimum I think we can all help each other get to the end of the race as far as pit strategy and staying close to the front of the field and making high percentage moves. I think all of those things benefit all of us because, to your point, there’s a lot of Fords that still need to win and get in and only one of us can do that, so I think throughout the race we can certainly benefit each other, but at the end I think the end of the race is really no different than how it would be in the past. I think anyone who is driving a Ford if they can’t win would like to see either their teammate or a Ford win, but, at the same time, I think everyone is gonna be doing what’s best for themselves at the end as you would expect.”

HAVE THERE BEEN ANY TOUGH CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW TO GET THINGS TURNED AROUND? “Yes and no. I mean, there are certainly points in the year where I think I work with enough talented people that if someone has done something wrong or if I’ve done something wrong, at least all the individuals at least on my team, we’re pretty quick to stick our hands up and say, ‘Hey, that was on me today.’ These are the things we could have done to be better and you close out on it, so I don’t think any of the tough conversations have been tough to have. Maybe that’s the best way to put it because I think the expectations for myself and my team and my team of our team is high and justifiably so, so from that standpoint we try and get the best and sometimes when you’re not able to get much of anything out of a race weekend, like I said before, you’ve got to go back to the basics. I think in the last month we’ve done a very good job at execution, something that has come at a premium I would say for the first half of the season for us. Unfortunately, we’re getting to that point right before the cutoff of the regular season.”

HAS THIS YEAR FELT ANY DIFFERENT – MAYBE MORE LIKE A ROOKIE SEASON IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT THAT HAS GONE ON WITH THIS TEAM VERSUS LAST YEAR? “Yeah, it’s hard to understand or attribute it to what or why. I can’t just sit here and tell you one thing, but, yes, this year feels different because I’ve run a lot worse than last year, so it feels a lot different. There’s a lot more days of looking in the mirror and trying to figure out how to change or refine my process to absolutely maximize every race event, so that’s been a constant battle. I’m a pretty self-motivated person and internally-motivated person and when things are going right, I’m usually the first person I look at and that’s what my team expects out of me. At the same time, how do things that I do affect the people around me and all of those things, whether if it’s leadership qualities or just trying to figure out mechanically how to make the car go fast – whether if it’s with pieces and parts on the car or how I’m driving the car, so there’s been a lot of those difficult Sunday nights because it’s definitely been different not running well.”

YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN PART OF THE PLAYOFFS IN TRUCK, XFINITY AND CUP. HOW HAS THIS EXPERIENCE BEEN OF TRYING TO GET IN? “It’ll be different territory next week if I’m not in the playoffs. There are times in my career where I’ve had to fight to get into the playoffs. That’s the point of the playoff format, so I have been there before and even trying to make it round to round in the playoffs is a similar situation. My playoff experience probably, I would say mentally would help someone in this situation because it is the same, similar win and you’re in. You have to execute on one day even in the Championship 4 situation, so I think just being able to have experience racing under pressure definitely doesn’t hurt and you mix that with speedway racing and it’s gonna be a hell of a weekend.”

DOES HAVING THE WIN LAST YEAR AT DAYTONA INCREASE YOUR CONFIDENCE GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND? “Yes and no. I mean, I’ve had success on superspeedways and that definitely comes down to decision making and being able to maximize an opportunity. Track position is important with everything that we do, so you have to get there and earn the spot at the end of the race to be able to make something happen or execute an opportunity. The meat and potatoes of the race is still very important, but from a confidence standpoint I get confidence in my preparation and I would say my preparation tells me that things have changed a lot since the first superspeedway race we did that I won, so I am very open-minded to how things have evolved with this car throughout races. The one thing that’s probably stayed the same is the tire and the aero package and that’s about it. From a racing standpoint, I think your competitors are a lot closer than what they were to start, so trying to differentiate yourself and make high percentage moves is key to being able to find success at the end of the day.”

DO YOU THINK IT’S BEST TO BE TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE FIELD IN THESE RACES? “I’ve never really understood the whole ride around in the back thing unless you’re trying to save fuel or you’re so good on points that there’s absolutely nothing to gain. But the way I see it there are so many guys that have so much to gain by getting points this weekend, even guys that are locked into the playoffs that can guarantee themselves six or eight more playoff points versus their competitors. I think everyone has something to race for this weekend, so I see very few, but I’ve never really quite understood the mentality, so, no, you will not see me riding at the back.”

HOW HAS IT BEEN THIS YEAR WITH SO MANY PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS RACE THIS YEAR AND IS THERE A SPECIFIC DRIVER YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO ENJOY RACING AGAINST? “I haven’t had much personal interface, I assume you’re referencing a lot more of the international talent that’s come to the series and raced on road courses. I would say probably the coolest experience I’ve had is to race against Jimmie Johnson, which I would say a good percentage of the field has raced Jimmie Johnson, but I have never raced Jimmie Johnson, so I thought it was cool being on track with him. What his legacy means to the sport I think there’s only two other guys that even statistically match up to him, so to be able to race against him, I think, was the coolest part of the year. It’s been interesting to watch guys like Shane or Jenson or some of these guys that have had a couple shots at it what their progression has been like, but also how they even go about the day to day process of our race weekends because our race weekends are super unique to any other form of motorsport with short of practice sessions we get, but at the same time we’re a lot of media obligations and sponsor obligations and things of that nature that I would say you would have a fraction of in most other racing series, so it’s been interesting to be a fly on the wall and watch some of that just on how different it is, but I would say Jimmie Johnson is at the top of the list for the coolest guy I’ve gotten to race this year.”

WHAT WOULD BE THE BIGGEST GOAL FOR YOU IF YOU DON’T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FINAL 10 RACES? “If I don’t make the playoffs, be the best teammate and win a race. Those are my two most important goals in order.”

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HAVING NO STAGE BREAKS ON ROAD COURSES? “I think it’s different track to track because each track has different ebbs and flows. You look at Indy and COTA and there’s a lot of run off and not too many walls and not too many super challenging corners or high risk corners. That is maybe a better way to put it. You’re gonna have a much lower percentage of having a caution. Even at Watkins Glen, we didn’t have too many cautions, but if you rewatch some of these races the stage breaks are really some of the only cautions that happened in the race. I think it really depends on what you’re consuming. I would say from a series standpoint there’s something to be learned for the stage breaks or the race lengths to influence, whether if that’s different strategy calls throughout the race. I don’t necessarily have any suggestions just sitting here. I can’t say I’ve been overly critical one way or the other, but I think you can play with the race length and probably add more strategy to it than probably say Watkins Glen was a really straight-up race for the most part plus or minus two laps, pitting on one side of the window or the other. We were one of the fortunate ones to catch that caution when we were on pit road, but as far as that goes, the crazy restarts and stuff like that, I think it all depends on what you want to watch. I think it’s great that we’ll have a sample size by the end of the year to look at as a sport and see what was better. The thing that I do like about the stage cautions being eliminated on road courses is that the best cars get rewarded for running the best because, otherwise, if you wanted to win the race, you were never gonna get max points, period. You pretty much had to throw away stage points to win a road course race last year, or really since the start of stage racing, so I think that brings in the spirit of rewarding running well and that’s what I’ve always thought stage points were all about.”

HOW MUCH MORE PHYSICALLY DEMANDING IS IT WITH NO PLANNED STAGE BREAKS? “It depends on the racetrack. The Charlotte Roval, I think that will be pretty challenging. Indianapolis was fairly challenging because it was pretty warm and when I say challenging, it’s gonna be different for every driver. If it’s just long runs having to manage tires and the car is getting quite a bit looser because these cars, even though we don’t see a lot of falloff, they do change a lot and get a lot harder to drive throughout the stint, but it kind of equals out with the fuel burnoff with the pace, so you can add that into the equation if your car is not driving well. But just as many corners as there were at Indianapolis, I don’t think I ever took my left hand off the steering wheel. I got done with the race and my arm was locked in one position. I’m sure all of us can sit at a table and try not to move your arm for three-and-a-half hours. It doesn’t even matter if you’re putting in a physical effort, it’s gonna be very tiresome to do that. It’s just something funny I noticed after Indy, but, yeah, it’s physical but I kind of like that challenge, to be honest. It should be physically challenging to do what we do, not that it isn’t if you had cautions and so on, but that’s close to an endurance race at that point.”

HOW HAVE YOU MAINTAINED PERSPECTIVE AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE DURING THE CHALLENGES YOU’VE FACED THIS SEASON? “That’s a good question. I usually don’t let myself go home until I have figured out all of my problems. If I’ve landed and I still have a problem with what happened throughout the day, I’ll either go to Waffle House or park my car on the side of the road and go for a walk, but when I go to bed on Sunday night I have at least come to peace with everything that’s happened in the day and try and figure out a way to move through it or make progress throughout the week. I guess that’s my very direct answer of how I deal with that. But, yeah, there’s been certain points in time this year that have definitely not been easy for not just me, but all of us, and then there are some days like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s so easy to run well. How has this not happened all year?’ It’s obviously easier to run well than it is to run terrible, so trying to diagnose some of that. We’ve had races recently that have gone well and that makes you realize you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but I’ve driven enough race cars and I’ve worked with enough race teams that obviously the Cup Series level is the highest level. You’re gonna be easily exposed when you’re racing at the highest level, whether that’s racing in NASCAR, racing in IndyCar, racing in IMSA, racing in Formula 1. If you’re racing against the absolute best, each weakness that stacks up you’re going to be exposed a lot quicker when you race against people that have their act together. From that standpoint, when it’s bad, it looks really bad and it feels really bad, so it’s good motivation to be a perfectionist.”