LAS VEGAS (July 20, 2022) – NAPA has reached a multi-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will continue its 26-race majority sponsorship of 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and current points leader Chase Elliott.

The renewal was announced today in Las Vegas during the general session of the 2022 NAPA EXPO, which attracts more than 13,000 vendors, employees, store owners and NAPA AutoCare Center professionals. To share the news, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and team vice chairman Jeff Gordon joined Marti Walsh, NAPA vice president of marketing, on stage at the Venetian Convention and Expo Center.

“We could not be more excited to extend our relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and Chase Elliott, especially in a year when we are reigniting our brand to meet the demands of the future,” Walsh said. “Hendrick Motorsports and Chase have long been part of the NAPA family and their passion and energy will be an important part of our journey in the years ahead.”

NAPA became Elliott’s primary sponsor in 2014. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has since earned two NASCAR national series championships: the Xfinity Series in 2014 and the Cup Series in 2020. Following his full-time move to the elite Cup level in 2016, the 26-year-old star has won 16 points-paying races, most recently at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 10.

“None of this is possible without NAPA,” Elliott said. “I’m so thankful for their commitment to our team and their passion for what we do every weekend. I’ve been lucky to meet a lot of great folks from across the country who work for NAPA. All of us are really proud to represent a company that takes care of its employees and its customers and is driven to be successful in every aspect. I’m looking forward to what’s to come and celebrating more wins together.”

After 20 starts in 2022, Elliott sits atop the Cup standings with a series-best three points-paying race wins. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native has clinched his seventh playoff appearance in as many full seasons at NASCAR’s top level, all with crew chief Alan Gustafson. Fans have voted him NASCAR’s most popular driver for four consecutive years (2018-2021).

“We take immense pride in our association with NAPA,” Hendrick said. “When you have a partner that has been so committed to our sport for so many years, it’s incredibly rewarding to see them win races, win championships and experience great success in their business. Chase, Alan and our entire organization are focused on raising the bar and delivering more victories for NAPA in all areas of our relationship.”

ABOUT NAPA:
Through nearly 6,000 auto parts stores and over 17,000 auto care and collision centers in the U.S., NAPA has America’s largest network of parts and care. The NAPA Network is supported by nationwide distribution centers with more than 560,000 available parts, accessories and supplies. Widely recognized for quality parts, rapid availability and knowledgeable people, NAPA Auto Parts stores serve automotive service professionals, do-it-yourselfers and everyday drivers with quality parts, accessories and supplies to keep cars, trucks and equipment performing safely and efficiently. For more information, visit www.napaonline.com.

ABOUT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (287) and laps led (more than 76,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 38 different seasons, including an active streak of 37 in a row (1986-2022). The team fields four full-time Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entries in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Headquartered on more than 100 acres in Concord, North Carolina, Hendrick Motorsports employs approximately 600 people. For more information, please visit HendrickMotorsports.com or interact on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Pocono Advance | Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Matt McCall, crew chief for Brad Keselowski on the No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang, is in his first season with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Fresh off a seventh-place finish last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, McCall spoke about the recently-announced Chicago Street Course race and other topics as part of a call with members of the media this morning.

MATT MCCALL, Crew Chief, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang – HOW FAMILIAR ARE YOU WITH THE NEW TIRE CONSTRUCTION YOU HAVE STARTING AT POCONO AND HOW IT MIGHT CHANGE THINGS? “I think obviously just the data that we’ll receive and the stuff that they’ve done at the wheel force test. It’s not the exact tire, but similar construction. The left sides, they basically moved the label to the inside, but hopefully I think they’re thinking a little bit of durability help from both sides, just from a pressure standpoint, so I guess we’ll see. I still feel like there’s some pretty big nervousness from the left side durability for this weekend, but they didn’t have any issues at the test from what I understand, so I guess we’ll see when we get there.”

DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM MAY HAVE TO WIN TWICE THIS SEASON TO BATTLE FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT WITH 14 DIFFERENT WINNERS THIS SEASON? “Yeah, I would say that’s the way it’s lining up, for sure. Obviously, we need to get the first one and then you would look for the second one. It’s definitely getting tight.”

IS THERE A TRACK COMING UP FOR THE REST OF THE REGULAR SEASON OUTSIDE OF DAYTONA WHERE YOU COULD HAVE A CHANCE AT WINNING? “Brad is really good at Richmond, so that stands out as being a good track. We were OK for the first race there. We didn’t have a winning car, but had decent speed. We’ve got a little bit of a notebook to go back there, so I would say there and honestly the road courses. We haven’t been able to put all the finishes together, but we’ve been pretty solid so I think either one of those there’s a possibility if the strategy works out and our car is good Brad can make it happen.”

THOUGHTS ON THE CHICAGO STREET COURSE. “I think there’s no negative to change it’s just understanding and adapting to that. I think it’ll be a new adventure and we’re ready for it.”

WHEN DO YOU AS A CREW CHIEF START LOOKING AT THAT RACE AND TRYING TO MAKE PLANS? “I would say it would be later in the year most likely, but probably sooner than what you would normally look at just because it is so different from anything we’ve ran before in this series.”

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CORNER TO A NON-TECHNICAL PERSON WITHOUT INVOKING THE WORDS ‘LOW TRANSFER’? “I think the biggest thing with this car anyway, probably the best way to describe entry a lot of times is almost like a hydroplane. You’re not necessarily in full control, so I would say that’s the biggest part with this car – the entry stability seems to be on edge. I would say that’s probably the easiest way to describe that. The middle, it’s the same at every track. You’re turning the wheels to the right on entry, turning back to the left in the middle and then to the right on exit, but I think the easiest thing to describe that is there’s definitely less stability with this car and then less forgiveness when you’re breaking the corners down. The exit seems to be better from the start of the year. All the drivers have learned and figured it out and setup stuff has evolved, but it’s still completely different from the perspective of what we’ve had before is when the rear of the car comes out further than the front, there’s not near the extra side force to help the stability and feel comfortable to keep driving it sideways.”

DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS MAKING THE PROGRESS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON? “It’s not fast enough because if you’re not winning, you’re not where you want to be, but I feel like we have definitely made some strides. The thing is that everyone else is, too. If you think you’ve gained five or 10 spots, you’ve probably only got a couple because everyone is working all the time to get better. I do feel like we have been able to put together some better cars for Brad to drive as far as overall balance. We still have some work to do to get some more speed out of the cars, but, yes, I feel like we’ve definitely made some small gains.”

HOW HAS THIS FIRST SEASON GONE PAIRED WITH BRAD? DID CHEMISTRY SWAY ONE WAY OR THE OTHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE PENALTY? “Not really. I feel like Brad, honestly, is really easy to work with and he’s working hard all the time trying to get better, no different than we are and I think we all just adapted a little bit slower than we wanted to this car. I feel like now we’ve been a little bit more comfortable unloading at some of the tracks just from a setup standpoint, but I think communication-wise it started off pretty good in the off-season and he’s done a really good job of keeping that communication really high with me and the team. That’s the plus side of it, but obviously we don’t have quite the results that show for that.”

YOU TOLD BRAD TO SHAKE OFF THE AUSTIN DILLON INCIDENT LAST WEEKEND. DO YOU VIEW THAT AS PART OF YOUR ROLE, TRYING TO KEEP THINGS CALM AND STAY FOCUSED ON GETTING A TOP 10? “For sure. That’s a big part of it, communicating with him and T.J. to just make sure we relay the information that the race isn’t over. It’s so easy to be distracted if your day is going OK and we lost a little track position on the two-tire deal, but fortunately you don’t always know what he’s thinking because he’s very good about not speaking out loud, but overall that was the biggest thing was just trying to put us back in a spot to stay focused because he’s obviously really good at Loudon, so we needed to keep trying to march forward.”

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE CHICAGO STREET RACE? “I think that’s intriguing. Anytime there’s change I feel like there’s a chance for opportunity for everyone. A different market. A street course is definitely interesting. I’m curious to see how it all works out for us, but I’m definitely interested to get there.”

HOW MUCH WORK IS DONE FOR THE SETUP FOR THAT RACE? “That will be a big part because it’s substantially different for us in trying to understand with the way this car works and as far as the travels and the types of limitations we have from NASCAR with the internal bumps stops, it’ll definitely turn into trying to understand the track roughness and that type of thing, so a lot of work will go into it trying to maximize performance.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS WITH BRAD FOR THE REST OF THE REGULAR SEASON? “I feel like this weekend we have to keep building on what we’ve been able to do the past couple of weeks. Someone asked earlier about winning two races, I still think we need to win one first and then figure out where we’re at. I think there will be some opportunity there, some strategy for some of these races to get a little bit more aggressive – maybe put us in position and hopefully we can be fast enough where you don’t have to do something like that, but I feel pretty good about it.”

BRAD HAS HIGH EXPECTATIONS, BUT HOW MUCH AS THIS BEEN ABOUT BUILDING A RACE TEAM IN YOUR FIRST YEAR TOGETHER? “That’s some of it, for sure. I think we’re fortunate that the team we have is really good, it’s just adapting to all the tools and everything we have to keep trying to maximize what we have. Everytime you go to the track you want to put yourself in position to win, but if you really don’t have that, that’s the hardest thing to go to the track and then feel like, ‘OK, we’re racing for 10th.’ At the same time, that’s what we probably didn’t do there for a few races and got put in a bad spot, so we’re trying to clean that up a little bit and just build on what we have to continue to get better.”

HOW FRUSTRATING HAS IT BEEN TO NOT BE ABLE TO CAPITALIZE ON THOSE RACES WHERE YOUR CAR HAS BEEN GOOD, BUT SOMETHING HAPPENS? “That’s the nature of the business. It goes in cycles. Yes, the frustration levels can get high, but you’ve got to be a realist and understand that you’ve got to keep working and approach next week the best that you can.”

COMING INTO THIS YEAR RFK WANTED TO HAVE A DEDICATED COMPETITION DEPARTMENT. WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THAT AND HOW HAS IT GONE? “Our structure here is a little bit different than what I was accustomed to. I think there are benefits for sure and I still think it’s trying to put it all together. The toughest thing is that we only have two cars and our notebook build is a little bit smaller than other guys, but then if I use Trackhouse as an example they’re the fastest cars almost every week. We have not been able to maximize as much as what I feel like we should be able to from that side of building our notebook, but it’s slowly but surely getting better for sure.”

YOU HAVE SO MUCH SMT DATA. HOW DO YOU USE THAT DATA IN WORKING WITH YOUR DRIVER? “That’s a good question because the data we do have is a double-edged sword because if there’s a car faster than you, you start analyzing what line they’re running and what their inputs are. The sampling rate we get is still pretty small, but from a driver perspective it gives a good idea if someone is doing something different and with the shifting stuff now it definitely allows you, if someone is using a different gear and they seem to be making lap time, a chance to try that or relay that information, but also, at the same time, the adage used to be the driver would tell you they held it wide-open in qualifying and now they’re much more truthful now when it comes to that information. But it’s a good tool. I think it’s what drives competition because the drivers get out and study that data, trying to get ready, especially with the practice sessions we have. They happen pretty quick and then you line up and go qualify, so just trying to maximize as much as you can to increase performance each time on the track.”

CAN THEY DIGEST THE RAW DATA OR DO YOU HAVE TO TRANSLATE IT FOR THEM? “The visual and just the SMT app itself is pretty nice because it basically has the car on the track. The lines aren’t perfect, but it does overlay the lines to the other cars, so the visual is pretty good but still you definitely try to break it down a little bit to find the right cars and the certain laps you need to be looking at as quick as you can.”

This Week in Motorsports: July 18-24, 2022

· NCS/NXS/NCWTS/ARCA: Pocono Raceway – July 22-24
· NHRA: Sonoma Raceway – July 24

PLANO, Texas (July 20, 2022) – It’s a busy weekend at Pocono Raceway for NASCAR and ARCA as fans get to see four races in three days, while the NHRA teams compete in their second stop on the Western Swing at Sonoma Raceway.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCWTS

Bell ready to add more trips to victory lane… Christopher Bell earned his first Cup Series win of the season at one of his favorite tracks – New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. The Oklahoma-native is effectively locked into the Playoffs as he sits eighth overall. Bell scored his first career Cup Series top-five finish at Pocono Raceway in June 2020.

First two for Denny … Denny Hamlin earned not only his first win at Pocono Raceway – but his first two wins as the then rookie driver swept the events at the track in 2006. He has since added four additional victories at the Pennsylvania-based track (August 2009, June 2010, July 2019, June 2020).

Busch desires repeat victory … Kyle Busch drove to victory at Pocono Raceway last season in a wild set of final laps. This is another stellar track for the two-time Cup Series champion as he has scored four wins in a Camry at Pocono Raceway since 2017.

Gibbs looks to be one spot better… Ty Gibbs came close to earning a victory in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Pocono Raceway last season, finishing in second after leading 11 laps. The four-time victor this season would love nothing more than to add another victory to his tally as he looks to close in on the Xfinity Series overall championship points lead.

Ferrucci back in the Xfinity Series… Santino Ferrucci will make his return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first of back-to-back starts for Sam Hunt Racing in the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra. The former Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year ran seven races for the team one season ago, including the event at Pocono where he earned a top-15 finish.

Toyota looks to set Truck Series record… Matt Crafton, who is currently in the final Playoff spot, looks to help Toyota clinch a Truck Series Playoff record. Since going to the Playoff format in 2016, no OEM has played seven drivers in the Truck Series Playoffs. Toyota already has six drivers locked into the field: John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski and Christian Eckes have clinched six Toyota Tundra TRD Pro’s in the field, and if Crafton clinches his spot, Toyota will own the record.

Heim plans to grow Rookie of Year lead… Despite his part-time schedule, Toyota development driver Corey Heim took back the rookie of the year lead for the Truck Series at Mid-Ohio. Heim, who will run the balance of the season, is making his first Truck Series start at Pocono, but did claim victory at Pocono last year in the ARCA Menards Series.

Bodine goes for 800… Todd Bodine plans to make his final NASCAR start this weekend as the multi-time Truck Series champion will reach 800 starts for his NASCAR career. Bodine has one top-10 finish in five starts this season, but has scored 22 wins in his impressive Truck Series career, along with 15 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories.

NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car

Langdon on strong run… Shawn Langdon has continued to show improvement with his new crew chief and team as the 2013 Top Fuel Champion has advanced to the final round in two of the last three events (Bristol, Denver).

Sonoma sight of Todd’s first Funny Car win… J.R. Todd has driven to some great memories on NHRA’s Western Swing. In 2017, Todd earned his first Funny Car victory at Sonoma Raceway in just his 15th start in the class. Todd would deliver Toyota its most recent Funny Car title one season later.

Torrence family won the last two races at Sonoma… The Torrence Family has won the last two runnings of the Sonoma Nationals. Billy Torrence earned the Wally in 2019 and his son, Steve Torrence picked up the win last year.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA

Jones returns to ARCA… Toyota full-time Xfinity Series competitor Brandon Jones will get some extra laps on track as he competes in the ARCA Menards Series race on Friday evening. It is Jones’ third ARCA start of the season. The Georgia native has gone two-for-two in his previous starts this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and Iowa Speedway in June.

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