LEBANON, Tenn. (June 26, 2022) – Through a hot afternoon and a cool night, sunshine and starry skies, as well as intense action and long idle periods, one element remained constant on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway: Chase Elliott is NASCAR’s concrete-track master in 2022.

NASCAR’s most popular driver survived a late restart to win the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race, bringing a close to a thrilling weekend at Middle Tennessee’s home for racing and entertainment.

Elliott, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, led 42 of the race’s 300 laps, stayed on the track with nine other drivers during the final caution period with less than 10 laps left, and remained on top during the final four green-flag laps.

“So proud of our team,” Elliott said. “It was a long, fun day. It’s nice to get going in the right direction. I’m looking forward to that guitar [trophy].”

It is Elliott’s second victory of the season, with the first coming at Dover Motor Speedway, another concrete track, in May.

Elliott, 26, who has 15 career Cup Series victories, topped Kurt Busch to the checkered flag by 0.551 seconds. Ryan Blaney placed third, defending race champion Kyle Larson was fourth and Ross Chastain was fifth.

Busch, Blaney and Larson were three of the nine drivers aside from Elliott to stay on the track after a late caution flag on Lap 293 led to a decision for every team on whether to maintain track position or come in for fresh tires and adjustments.

“We were going to stay out no matter what, and I needed to start throwing fenders to move people around,” Busch said. “I didn’t get after it, and I made too many mistakes.”

Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, credited the buffer those nine cars built between his driver and those with new tires as a key for Elliott’s win.

Elliott was eighth after the first stage and fourth after the second but didn’t come close to the lead until the latter laps of the final segment.

Martin Truex Jr. nabbed the two early stage wins and his five stage victories top the Cup Series but he was one of several drivers to visit pit road in the final caution period and ended up 22nd after leading 82 laps.

Kyle Busch, who was running second to Elliott when the final caution waved also came in but finished 21st after leading 54 laps.

Both early segments included lengthy red-flag conditions for lightning (Stage 1 and 2) and heavy rain (Stage 2) which totaled more than three hours of delays. The first red flag came after 41 laps were registered and the second came after 139 circuits were in the books.

Denny Hamlin, the pole winner, was second in both stages, led a race-high 114 laps and finished sixth.

“We didn’t want to see that late caution come out,” Elliott said. “We were able to hold them off. This is big to win here at Nashville. It’s pretty special. I always try to enjoy these moments because you never know when you’re going to get another one.”

In other notable finishes, Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric was seventh, Joey Logano led four laps and finished ninth and Cole Custer was the final driver on the lead lap in 26th.

Elliott, who leads the series standings by 30 points over Chastain, averaged 111.22 mph in completing the 400-mile event in 3 hours, 35 minutes and 15 seconds (not counting red-flag time). Seven leaders exchanged the lead 18 times and 10 caution periods took up 57 laps.

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Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Team Dig Hard to Earn Top-15 Finish at Nashville Superspeedway

Finish: 14th
Start: 20th
Points: 14th

“We got in a deficit early today at Nashville Superspeedway, but this Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road team climbed our way out of it. We were too loose to start the race, and that got us behind in Stage 1. We went a lap down but earned our lap back. From there, crew chief Justin Alexander made some great strategy moves to gain track position. Unfortunately, by the time we got up front our Chevy was too tight in the same places on the track that we were too loose earlier in the race. On a restart with four laps remaining, we knew that there would be a high likelihood of crashing. I just hugged the bottom of the track and dug. We raced from 18th to 14th. We were still just too tight at the end to make anything else happen. It’s not what we wanted, but we dug hard.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Team Finish 18th at Nashville Superspeedway

Finish: 18th
Start: 16th
Points: 13th

“We finished on the upside today at Nashville Superspeedway, especially considering how our day was going to go with the damage that we got right before halfway. Our 3CHI Chevrolet had a high capability in it, and we saw that early on. Our race was looking very promising in Stage 1, but we made mistakes along the way. Our restarts in the first half of the race today put us behind, and ultimately played a roll in us running into the back of the No. 23 car on pit road. The damage we had from that collision put us in a very tough spot for the rest of the race, so to get an 18th-place finish out of our day with how it was looking mid-race, we should be satisfied. We’ll take it, move on, and get ready for Road America.” -Tyler Reddick

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Ally 400

Date: June 26, 2022
Event: Ally 400 (Round 17 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (1.333-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 300 laps, broken into three stages (90 laps/95 laps/115 laps)
Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 8th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 11th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 17th, Finished 26th / Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 28th, Finished 34th / Running, completed 269 of 300 laps)

SHR Points:

● Kevin Harvick (11th with 452 points, 134 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (12th with 443 points, 143 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (18th with 389 points, 197 out of first)
● Cole Custer (27th with 273 points, 313 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Harvick earned his ninth top-10 of the season and his second top-10 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Nashville.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10. He finished fourth in the series’ previous race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
● Harvick finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and eighth in Stage 2 to earn three more bonus points.

Race Notes:

● Chase Elliott won the Ally 400 to score his 15th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Nashville. His margin over second-place Kurt Busch was .551 of a second.
● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 57 laps.
● Twenty-six of the 36 drivers in the Ally 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Chase Elliott remains the championship leader after Nashville with a 30-point advantage over second-place Ross Chastain.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Road America 250 on Sunday, July 3 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
ALLY 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 26, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
4th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
5th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1
11th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1
14th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1
15th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
2nd Kurt Busch (Toyota)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
5th Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next Sunday, July 3, at Road America with the Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN THAT LAST CAUTION CAME OUT?

“I was figuring that it was coming, but was hoping not. Ryan (Blaney) gave me a great shove and I appreciate him doing me a solid there in getting us out front. Just so proud of our team because we kind of had a setback there about halfway and we were able to get our NAPA Chevy dialed back in and get back in the mix.

It was a long day, a fun day. Thank you guys so much for hanging out. Just so proud of our team. We have had a pretty rough month and month-and-a-half, so just nice to get going back in the right direction. Getting a win is always huge, but to do it in a really cool city like Nashville is even better. Looking forward to that guitar.”

HOW DID THIS CAR COME TO LIFE AFTER THE RAIN DELAY?

“We were able to work on it a little bit after the penalty and got it going a little better. My team just stuck with it. Thanks to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They have been working really hard over the winter and through the spring to keep up. The engines have been running great and obviously great support from Chevrolet. I look forward to getting home and seeing my family; seeing mom and dad and hopefully enjoy it this week. These things are hard to come by and you have to enjoy them. You never know when or if ever you will get another one. So, super thankful and looking forward to next week.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th

EARLIER IN THE RACE YOU DIDN’T SOUND LIKE YOU HAD A LOT OF SPEED IN IT. WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO TO IT? THAT WAS AMAZING.

“It was definitely better once the sun went down. I don’t know whatever changes they made to it, so proud of my guys for working hard and persevering. Didn’t have a lot of things work out for us there as we got caught a lap down and we had to take the wave around and drove from twenty-something to 10th there before the last caution. We stayed out and netted out a top-five. So proud of my No. 5 HendrickCars.com team and proud of Chase Elliott too. That’s great for Hendrick Motorsports and everybody there. Everybody has been working hard and trying to figure out how to go faster and they were definitely the best of the four of us all weekend. Cool to see that he closed it out.”

THIS WEEK YOU HAD TO WORK REMOTELY WITH CLIFF (DANIELS). DID THAT WORK OUT WELL OR WERE THERE ANY HICCUPS WITH THAT AND DID YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO CATCH UP WITH HIM DURING THE DELAY?

“Yeah, all of us were virtually on together in the hauler and tapped into where he was, and we can talk. Adam and Kevin did a great job this weekend in leading this team. As far as Cliff, it really shows you how well he has prepared our team to face moments like we will these next four weeks. Everything I think ran really smooth. I am not sure how it went behind the wall with the crew and stuff, but from my seat it seemed like it went pretty smooth. I am sure there will be things we will tweak on and make even smoother, but I was overall pleased for the first time in my Cup career without my primary crew chief.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th

YOU CAME DOWN AND GOT SOME TIRES AND YOU CAME BACK TO THE SAME SPOT YOU WERE WHEN YOU HIT PIT ROAD. TAKE US THROUGH YOUR NIGHT.

“An incredible night for the No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro. Trackhouse Racing brought two incredibly fast cars and that was the right call to pit, but we just didn’t know that 10 people were going to stay out. If a few less stay out, we have got a shot. We got through traffic the best of all of us that pitted, so proud of that and proud of the effort. Incredible job on pit road tonight by our pit crew in picking up spots each and every stop all night. We just needed a little more to run with those top four, but we were definitely a top-five car. In the Cup Series, that is all I can ask for.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th

“We definitely had our ups and downs today, but nice to rebound and get an 11th-place finish. We fought the handling of our FOCUSfactor Chevy early in the race and I felt like we were making the right adjustments to have a good day before the rain delay. Once we restarted, after 10-15 laps, the handling would go away and it was just hard to drive. We’ll keep learning and working to get better. Overall, a good finish that we’ll take with us in to next week at Road America.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 14th

“We got in a deficit early today at Nashville Superspeedway but this Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road team climbed our way out of it. We were too loose to start the race, and that got us behind early. We went a lap down but earned our lap back. From there, crew chief Justin Alexander made some great strategy moves to gain track position. Unfortunately, by the time we got track position our Chevy was too tight in the same places on the track that we were too loose earlier in the race. On a restart with four laps remaining, we knew that there would be a high likelihood of crashing. I just hugged the bottom of the track and dug. We raced from 18th to 14th. We were still just too tight at the end to make anything else happen. It’s not what we wanted, but we dug hard.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY MUSIC CITY CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 51; Finished 36th

“It’s frustrating to not be able to finish the Ally 400. Greg (Ives, Crew Chief) and everyone on the No. 48 team works so hard on these race cars and it’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to go compete for a win. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time today. Greg threw the kitchen sink at the car and then we made two laps before getting wrecked, so it was tough to not be able to see if we would have found something on that stop.

Huge thank you to everyone at Ally for putting on a great event this weekend. Ally goes all in on what they do and I’m glad they are all in on the No. 48 team.”

TEAM CHEVY QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

· 42 laps into the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, the race went under red flag conditions due to a lightning hold.

· Following resumption of the race, a caution flew on lap 51 for an accident involving Alex Bowman. The No. 48 Ally Music City Chevrolet team brought their Camaro ZL1 to the garage for repairs, but expiration of the DVP clock forced Bowman to be done for the day.

· Under that same caution, William Byron brought his No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 to the garage with steering issues. The No. 24 Chevrolet team was able to make repairs to his Camaro ZL1 and return to competition.

· The 90-lap stage one saw two Chevrolet drivers score stage points in the top-10:

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

Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 (8th)

Stage Two:

· Precipitation brought the caution out on lap 119, with pit strategy coming into play throughout pit road. In that round of pit stops, the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet pit crew gained Tyler Reddick four spots on pit road, the most of the top-10.

· Another lightning hold and rainfall brought the race to its second red flag at lap 138. The race was under red flag conditions for two hours, eight minutes and 35 seconds. The 300-lap race restarted at the halfway point with 150 laps to go.

· Team Chevy Stage Two Top-10:

Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Camaro ZL1

Post-Race Notes:

· The win is Elliott’s 15th-career victory in 238 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

· It also marks the sixth win of 2022 for Hendrick Motorsports; and the organization’s 286th all-time in NASCAR’s premier series.

· Elliott is now the fifth driver this season to become a repeat winner.

· Elliott’s triumph is the ninth of the season for the Camaro ZL1, more than double its manufacturer competitors.

· The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 823 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

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.

Kurt Busch Claims Runner-Up Result in Music City

NASHVILLE (June 26, 2022) – Kurt Busch claimed the runner-up result at Nashville Superspeedway in Sunday night’s rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race after a late-race caution forced the leading Toyota Camrys of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. to make a call to pit road for fresh tires. But when much of the field stayed on the track, including race-winner Chase Elliott, the Camry TRD group had to settle for finishes outside the top-five.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Nashville Superspeedway
Race 17 of 36 – 399 miles, 300 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Elliott*
2nd, KURT BUSCH
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, Ross Chastain*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
12th, BUBBA WALLACE
21st, KYLE BUSCH
22nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What more did you need to beat Chase Elliott on the final restart?

“I got soft on him. I should have been throwing some fenders and moving some momentum around. I didn’t stick with our strength. We didn’t have many strengths tonight. We just executed really well. The restarts were so-so and long run speed was good. I just needed to stick with our strength and I messed up. I want to thank all my guys at 23XI. We have a great group of guys and girls. The way that we’re running, a second is cool, but we’re here for wins with the Playoff situation. Thanks to Monster Energy, Toyota and all of our associate sponsors. This Camry and all the TRD Camrys were awesome. I just hate it when we don’t get into victory lane and I was right there.”

What did you want to do differently on the restart?

“I wanted to throw some fenders, but I didn’t get the job done. Everybody will be smiling, but I let them down. I should have come up with a better plan.”

Were you always staying out on the final caution?

“We were going to stay out no matter what and I needed to start throwing fenders to move people around. I didn’t get after it and I made too many mistakes and didn’t stick with our strength. I’m not going to say what our strength was, but we did a lot of things good. We didn’t have one exceptional item. We’re second with our Toyota Camry. I want to do it over, but you don’t get those at this elite level and Chase (Elliott) got the job done.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ally 400 | Sunday, June 26, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd – Ryan Blaney
7th – Austin Cindric
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Kevin Harvick
13th – Michael McDowell
17th – Aric Almirola
24th – Todd Gilliland
25th – Harrison Burton
26th – Cole Custer
27th – Cody Ware
28th – JJ Yeley
29th – Brad Keselowski
30th – Chris Buescher
32nd – BJ McLeod
34th – Chase Briscoe

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang – “I’m not sure as the race kind of kept progressing later into the night I thought we lost some ground between some of the other cars. I thought hot and slick during the day we were pretty competitive and then something went down and I didn’t think we were as good. I had to go to the back and then spun out trying too hard. Jonathan made a good call to stay out the last stop. Why not, running ninth and was able to run third, so that was a good call by him. Overall, I wish it was in the hot and slick of the day because I thought we were a little bit more competitive, but not a bad finish.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – “It’s an ugly top 10, but it was a top 10 nonetheless. It was a battle. I had some false hope by qualifying second, thinking we might be better than what we were, but as soon as the race started we realized we weren’t. We just kind of fought everything.”

HOW WERE YOU AFTER THE BREAK? BLANEY SAID HE PREFERRED THE DAY PORTION. “He was better than me. I don’t know where we deserved to finish, but I feel like we probably overachieved for what we had.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Duracell/Menards Ford Mustang – “I’ll take it, I guess. That was a long way to get there for sure. Obviously, getting the lucky dog halfway through the third stage and getting our Duracell/Menards Ford Mustang into the top five. I got passed by a few guys on tires there at the end, but obviously had speed in the car. We just needed the track position. Jeremy made a great call to run long and we got probably 10 spots out of that and probably got about six or eight more on the restart there and was able to have a representative day.”

ALL THREE PENSKE CARS FINISHED IN THE TOP 10 DESPITE ALL OF YOU HAVE SOME ADVERSITY THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. “Good cars and never giving up.”