Team Chevy Advance
Ambetter 301
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
July 17, 2022
NASCAR CUP SERIES RACE #20 – NEW HAMPSHIRE
Adding to its momentum following a fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win, Chevrolet teams head up to the “Magic Mile” of New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Ambetter 30 – the 20th points-paying race of 2022. The 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, New Hampshire, is the only speedway to host NASCAR in the six-state New England region.
Since its inaugural NCS race in July 1993, the New Hampshire venue has played host to 50 races for NASCAR’s premier division with Chevrolet recording a manufacturer-leading 19 wins. Those include a string of six consecutive trips to victory lane, starting with Mark Martin’s win in September 2009 through Kasey Kahne’s win in July 2012, both of which were behind the wheel of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
CHEVROLET WITH THE WEEKEND SWEEP
All eyes were on the Bowtie brand last weekend as Chevrolet achieved a weekend sweep of wins across all three NASCAR national series: Chase Elliott (NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta), Austin Hill (NASCAR Xfinity Series at Atlanta) and Parker Klingerman (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Mid-Ohio). All three of those wins came after Chevrolet drivers also led the most laps among its manufacturer competitors:
- NCS 260-lap race at Atlanta: 213 laps led among seven different Chevrolet drivers.
- NXS 163-lap race at Atlanta: 148 laps led among five different Chevrolet drivers.
- NCWTS 67-lap race at Mid-Ohio: 56 laps led; all by race winner Parker Klingerman.
ELLIOTT ON TOP AT HOME
Winning at your home track is something every driver strives for and Dawsonville, Georgia, native Chase Elliott was able to check that box after driving his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a monumental victory last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 26-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver navigated his way through a race that saw 13 cautions and 26 lead changes, swept the stage wins and led a race-high 96 laps en route to his 16th career victory in NASCAR’s premier series. This was also Elliott’s third win of 2022, which is now a series-best among drivers.
The win also adds Elliott’s name to the history book as just the second Georgia-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The only other driver in NASCAR history to accomplish that feat was Elliott’s father, Bill Elliott. In addition, the Elliott family is now the third father-son duo to win at Atlanta, joining Ned and Dale Jarrett, and Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on that list.
FOUR IN A ROW FOR CAMARO ZL1
Adding another tally to the win category at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Camaro ZL1 is now at a manufacturer-leading 11 wins in 19-points paying races thus far in 2022. Of those wins includes a streak of the past four, dating back to Daniel Suarez’s win at Sonoma Raceway in June. Heading into the New Hampshire Motor Speedway race weekend in 2021, Chevrolet was sitting at the same win count of 11, with the Bowtie brand going on to win its 40th NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championship title later that season.
It was another race weekend that proved the speed across the board for Chevrolet teams. On top of the victory, five Chevrolet drivers from four different Chevrolet teams placed in the top-10. Trackhouse Racing put both of their Camaro ZL1s in the top-10 yet again, with Ross Chastain in the runner-up position for his 13th top-10 of the season; and Daniel Suarez coming home in sixth. Erik Jones gave Petty GMS Motorsports a top-five finish, piloting his No. 43 Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place finish. A notable contender in superspeedway-style racing, Justin Haley rounded out the Team Chevy top-10 with a seventh-place finish for his No. 31 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1 team.
In a season full of first-time winners, Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie was within reach of adding his name to that list at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Recording a career-best, fifth-place finish in the spring NCS race at Atlanta, LaJoie returned to the Georgie venue with the race circled as an opportunity to race his way into the NCS playoff field. The 30-year-old North Carolina native started deep in the field in 30th but was able to navigate his way to a top-10 finish in Stage Two. LaJoie led a career-best 19 laps, taking the lead for the final time just before the final caution that set up a green-white-checkered finish. In a battle to the finish, LaJoie was caught up in an accident that resulted in a 21st-place finish for the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Camaro ZL1 team.
ELLIOTT, CHEVROLET STRENGHTENS STANDINGS LEAD
One race closer to the end of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chase Elliott extended his points lead in the NCS driver points standings to 47 points over second, as well as remained in the top position in the projected playoff standings. Also familiar to the top of the standings this season, Chevrolet continues to lead in the NCS manufacturer points standings, increasing its points lead to 62 over second.
With only three positions open for drivers to either win or point their way into the 16-driver playoff field, pressure is building for those on the outside looking in. With a strong top-five performance, Erik Jones was able to reduce his deficit to the cutline by nine points to now 76 points. Austin Dillon remains in the 20th position in the standings after being sidelined early at Atlanta after damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
11 FOR CAMARO SS
Chase Elliott wasn’t the only Georgia native to score a win at his hometown track. NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) rookie Austin Hill, piloted his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Camaro SS to the lead with 48 laps to go. Battling a hard-charging field all the way to the checkered flag, Hill edged out JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry for the win in the Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway by .111-seconds, making it the closest NXS finish in the track’s history. The victory marked Hill’s second win of 2022, with his first coming in his debut NXS start with Richard Childress Racing at the season opener at Daytona. Hill’s win gave Chevrolet its 11th NXS win of 2022, a feat more than double its manufacturer competitors.
Entering the Atlanta race weekend, Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger held a nine-point lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver points standings. Allmendinger went from going two laps down in Stage Two to rebounding to a 10th-place finish for a series-best 15th top-10 of 2022. The 40-year-old California native was not only able to hold onto the top spot in the NXS driver points standings, but increase his lead to 29 points over second. In similar fashion, Chevrolet was extended its lead in the NXS manufacturer points standings to 73 points.
SILVERADO RST TAKES INAUGURAL RACE WIN AT MID-OHIO
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) inaugural race at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course saw Chevrolet record its third win of 2022, captured by Parker Kligerman and the No. 75 Henderson Racing Chevrolet team. The 31-year-old driver and television commentator proved to be a contender all race long, taking the Stage One win and leading a race-high 56 of the 67 laps en route to a .199-second margin of victory over NCWTS points leader Zane Smith. The triumph was Klingerman’s third career NCWTS win and his first since 2017.
With an off-weekend on deck, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to competition at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 23, for the CMC Brakeleen 150. The 60-lap race at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ marks the end of the regular season for the series, with the conclusion of the race determining the remaining drivers that will makeup the 10-driver playoff field that will contend for the championship title. Following his third-place finish at Mid-Ohio, Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar secured his playoff berth. GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger will head into the series’ regular season finale ninth in the standings. Following an eighth-place finish in his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet, 20-year-old Derek Kraus closed the points gap to just 19 points below the playoff cutline.
BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 19 wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In addition to its wins, Chevrolet has accrued 25 poles, 100 top-fives and 195 top-10s.
· Chevrolet heads into the New Hampshire Motor Speedway race weekend with 11 NASCAR Cup Series wins in 19 points-paying races, including a streak of the last four. The Bowtie brand also continues to lead in NCS top-fives (48), top-10s (88), laps led (2,640) and stage wins (18).
· Chase Elliott’s win at Atlanta Motor Speedway was his third of 2022, making him the winningest driver of the season thus far. Elliott’s sweep of the stage wins at Atlanta also brought the 26-year old Chevrolet driver to five stage wins this season, tying for a series-best.
· Leading a race-high 96 laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott moved to the top of the leaderboard for the most laps led in NCS competition this season with 645 laps. Joining Elliott in the top five of that list are fellow Chevrolet drivers William Byron (2nd; 611 laps led) and Ross Chastain (3rd; 459 laps led).
· Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 18 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins:
Tyler Reddick 2 – Fontana x2
Alex Bowman 1 – Las Vegas
Ross Chastain 3 – Las Vegas, Darlington, Charlotte
William Byron 3 – Phoenix, Atlanta, Talladega
Daniel Suarez 2 – COTA, Charlotte
Chase Elliott 3 – Martinsville x2, Charlotte, Atlanta x2
Kyle Larson 2 – Bristol, Sonoma
· Chevrolet leads the driver points standing in both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Chase Elliott remains in the top position in the NCS standings for the 15th consecutive week with a 47-point lead over second; and AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the NXS standings by 29 points. Chevrolet also remains atop both the NCS and NXS manufacturer points standings.
· With its 40 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 825 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR.
TUNE IN
USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter 301 on Sunday, July 17, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Crayon 200 on Saturday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1
NEW HAMPSHIRE IS NOT ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE TRACKS AND PREVIOUSLY YOU SAID IT HAS BEEN A VERY HUMBLING TRACK FOR YOU. NOW THAT WE HAVE THIS DIFFERENT TYPE OF CAR AND YOU’RE HAVING A PRETTY GOOD SEASON, DO YOU LOOK AT IT MORE OPTIMISTICALLY?
“I am more optimistic about it. We’ve worked at and I’ve worked at it myself. Just because I don’t care for it and I haven’t run good there, doesn’t mean that I don’t want to run good there. It’s actually higher on the list than a lot of tracks to run good because I want to turn that around. I don’t want it to always be a track I don’t like. Almost more effort has went into New Hampshire than others just because for me personally because I want to wrap my head around it.”
HOW DO YOU EVALUATE YOUR SEASON AND PREPARE FOR THE PLAYOFFS?
“Half of my preparation is what I’ve done – I’ve been in the playoffs in Trucks and Xfinity and made mistakes along the way in both of those when I didn’t need to.
The other part is being open to experiencing it. Trackhouse is going into the Playoffs with two drivers and two cars who are going to compete as one, but we can’t rest on what we’ve done earlier this year. It’s a reset, and just experiencing it and living in the moment and realizing that there will be opportunities to mess up in all 10 of those races, there will be opportunities to take advantage of things in a good way, and there will be moments that will be very advantageous that are not worth taking. Take the soft win today and live to fight another day and not take ourselves out.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY?
“New Hampshire Motor Speedway has always been a really fun track. I love going there. It’s a flat track. Entry is fun there. It’s different. It’s a different type of feel than what we have anywhere, but it will be interesting to experience it this year in the Next Gen Chevy. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the simulator to prepare. We’re going to go there and do everything we can to earn a win and lock ourselves into the NASCAR Playoffs.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
LARSON ON WHAT HE CAN COMPARE NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY TO:
“Loudon isn’t a track I have done a particularly great job at in the past, but I have had a few good runs there. I do enjoy going there because it’s a different style track and it reminds me of IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park) where I ran some USAC races back in the day. I’m hoping this weekend is a little more successful than past races and that we can get our HendrickCars.com Chevrolet into victory lane.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
ELLIOTT ON WHAT THE TEAM CAN STILL IMPROVE UPON BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS:
“We want to be better at every aspect of our game. When I look at the weeks ahead, I think the next two are important places that we need to improve at. Loudon has not been a very good place for me. We’ve had a couple decent runs but nothing earth-shattering. Pocono (Raceway) is kind of the same way. I don’t feel like I’ve run good up there since my rookie year, so maybe I just need to forget everything I’ve learned between then and now and restart. We want to be good at all the tracks and I think we’re a strong enough team where we can do that.”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
GUSTAFSON ON IF THEY ARE CURRENTLY THE TEAM TO BEAT AS THE SPORT GETS CLOSER TO THE PLAYOFFS:
“It’s hard to say. I have a huge amount of respect for our competition and what they can accomplish. I don’t think we’ll be the favorites going into Loudon. It’s a track we’ve certainly struggled at. We’ve got some work to do and we’ve been working hard to get it better. It’s the same old story for us, it’s not going to change. We’re going to try do the best we can to get the No. 9 NAPA team operating at our highest potential and if we do that, we’re going to be in great shape and have opportunities to win a lot of races and compete for the championship. Sometimes you get the results and sometimes you don’t, and you’ve just got to continuously work on getting better. We are improving and getting better and have been making strides. It’s good right now, but there’s still a long way to go and we know that. We’ve got to continue to push as hard as we can and can’t allow recent success to take the edge off. If we do that and get to the final 10 in the best possible condition this team can be in, we’ll be in great shape.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1
“New Hampshire can be a challenging track. When you hit your setup just right, it’s an extremely fun track, but if you miss it, it can be one of the most difficult tracks we go to. Hopefully this gives us a chance to work on our short track program on both the Xfinity side and the Cup side.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
BYRON ON HIS SHORT TRACK RACING PREPARATION FOR SUNDAY:
“This weekend will be tough I feel like. I think New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) is a fairly difficult track to get around but also to get around consistently lap after lap. When I first started racing, I did really well there and it was one of my best tracks, but for some reason I haven’t gotten the same results in Cup. This year, I wanted to really focus on getting better at the short tracks and New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) was one specifically that I wanted to work on. Between running Slinger (Speedway) on Monday and Tuesday and then being in the Xfinity car on Friday and Saturday this week, I’ll have done quite a bit of preparation for Sunday’s short-track race. The extra laps in general, but especially in the Xfinity Series race, I think will really get me in a good rhythm for the Cup Series race.”
RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
FUGLE ON WHAT HE EXPECTS THIS WEEKEND AT NEW HAMPSHIRE:
“New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) is a track I look forward to going to every year. It’s a place that has just seemed to click for me from the beginning. Last year’s Cup Series race didn’t go as we planned, but I think we have a better idea of what to expect this time. It’s going to be a strategy-focused race in my opinion. The track is hard to pass on, so gaining and maintaining track position is going to be important. I also don’t think that you can make it a full fuel run on a set of tires, just with the tire wear we have seen so far this year. It will be a balance of pushing as long as you can in a run on a set of tires to maximize your fuel mileage but also to not give up any track position in the process. Unlike last year, they are putting PJ1 down on the track surface, so hopefully that makes it a little more race-y than it was last year.”
JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1
“We had a solid weekend in Atlanta, so we are looking to continue building on that momentum this weekend in New Hampshire. We’ve struggled at the flat, short tracks this year, but I feel like we have improved each week in so many different areas, so hopefully we can use what we’ve learned to excel this weekend.”
TY DILLON, NO. 42 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1
DO YOU THINK THE RACE THIS WEEKEND IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WILL BE SIMILAR TO ST. LOUIS?
“I think you will see a very similar race to the one you saw at St. Louis. You can drive these cars hard. When we have to shift twice in a corner, it’s a little harder to make passes. You need some of the RPM drop or mistakes to really make a difference between two cars. I think you’re going to see a really good race in New Hampshire though. It’s a track that I really enjoy and have had some good results at. You always have confidence at places that you’ve had success at in the past.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1
WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE FOLLOWING THE RACES AT SIMILAR TRACKS LIKE PHOENIX AND GATEWAY WITH THE NEW CAR?
“I think New Hampshire will be tough. Gateway was a tough one to pass on and I think it’s going to be a little bit similar to that. I think the PJ1 will help some with it, but I think it’s going to be a tough race to pass. I think we all know there’s a little work to do with the car short track and road course wise to get it better. There are things in the works, but it’s just a matter of getting the pieces built, getting them tested, seeing what’s better, seeing what works, so I think it’s going to be tough for a little while longer until we get those pieces built for these cars and figure out what makes them happy on the short tracks.”
DO YOU THINK BECAUSE IT IS HARD TO PASS, THAT IT BRINGS SOME OF THE BUMPING AND BANGING LIKE WE SAW AT GATEWAY?
“I think it’s just the frustration of not being able to get by a guy. You run a guy down, half a straightaway back and you get to him, and you can’t pass him, you know, that’s frustrating. It’s not the job of the guy in front of you to let you by, he knows what you are fighting. He’s fought it at some point in the race. You want to keep that track position for yourself because you know you’re not going to get it back or it’s going to be really hard to get back. So, that frustration just rises quick, and it won’t be any different in New Hampshire. I think you’ll see the same kind of thing with guys catching people, not being able to get by them, getting frustrated. I don’t know if you’ll see as many wrecks, maybe, it’ll be interesting. Too, on the restart, guys are just going nuts. It’s the only time you really feel like you can gain spots, pick up a lot of spots and so you’re making big aggressive moves and obviously with that you are putting yourself at risk to make a mistake and get into a wreck. That’s kind of what we’ve seen so far.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
BOWMAN ON REBOUNDING FROM ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
“We had a fast No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 last weekend at Atlanta (Motor Speedway). It was disappointing that we had a flat tire take us out of the race, but I can’t say enough about the car. We didn’t get the chance to get any laps in before the race to see where the car was, which was a challenge in itself. Being able to run up front all day speaks to the strength of Hendrick Motorsports and the crew who build our race cars. I know we didn’t have the result we wanted in Atlanta, but our team is going to give us another strong No. 48 Ally Chevy and we will go to New Hampshire (Motor Speedway), hit the reset button and try to focus on putting ourselves in a position to win.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
IVES ON HIS APPROACH TO NEW HAMPSHIRE:
“Last year, we had one of our best runs at New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) and I think we are capable of going back and doing it again. Anytime you go to a place that you have historically struggled at and start in the top-five and finish in the top-10, you can’t help but feel confident that you will be able to go out and replicate that performance. Our team continues to build fast race cars and this week will be no different from our standards. The Next Gen car makes things a little different than last year, but I think we have a good shot of being competitive again this year.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 SLAM! CAMARO ZL1
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEKEND?
“It is going to be interesting. We haven’t raced on a flat, short track like New Hampshire in quite a while so it is going to be interesting for me to see how much we have improved our program.”
ARE YOU BEGINNING TO FOCUS ON THE PLAYOFFS?
“I know our schedule and we have some races where we have a shot to win, but I am trying to just take one week at a time. We need to keep learning, getting better, and in my opinion take it all one week at a time.”
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE PROGRESS OF TRACKHOUSE RACING?
“We have fast cars, great pitstops and everyone is working together. We are nowhere close to where we know we can be so we have to keep working and getting better each week. We want to be at our best when the playoffs start.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2021): 40
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
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)
2022 STATISTICS:
Wins: 11
Poles: 4
Laps Led: 2,640
Top-five finishes: 48
Top-10 finishes: 88
Stage wins: 18
· Tyler Reddick (Fontanax2)
· Alex Bowman (Las Vegas)
· Ross Chastain (Las Vegas), (Darlington), (Charlotte)
· William Byron (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega)
· Daniel Suarez (COTA), (Charlotte)
· Chase Elliott (Martinsvillex2), (Charlotte), (Atlantax2)
· Kyle Larson (Bristol Dirt), (Sonoma)
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 825 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 727
Laps led to date: 243,976
Top-five finishes to date: 4,186
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,643
Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:
General Motors: 1,159
Chevrolet: 825
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 815
Ford: 715
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 166
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.
