KEVIN HARVICK
Darlington Advance
No. 4 Rheem/Chasing a Cure Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Goodyear 400 (Round 12 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 8
● Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
● Layout: 1.366-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 293 laps/400.2 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 90 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 108 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● As Kevin Harvick chases a fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in Sunday’s Goodyear 400, Rheem will promote its Chasing a Cure campaign to support cancer research by adding a touch of pink to Harvick’s No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang. On the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR, the pink-and-black design Harvick will sport at Darlington is a throwback to the liveries Harvick ran in October 2011 and October 2012 when Rheem first launched its Chasing a Cure campaign. In the 2022 edition, the primary beneficiary is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with the No. 4 Rheem/Chasing a Cure Ford Mustang serving as a call to action for fans to support pediatric cancer research by visiting StJude.org/Donate. Meanwhile, Rheem’s Heart of Comfort program will donate $25,000 to St. Jude.

● Darlington also serves as a milestone for Rheem. America’s No. 1 water heating brand and major air conditioning and heating manufacturer is commemorating its 15th year in racing, and the Goodyear 400 marks its 500th race as a NASCAR sponsor.

● Darlington marks the second of three races where Rheem is the primary partner for Harvick and the No. 4 team in 2022. Harvick carried Rheem to a 12th-place finish in its debut with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) on March 6 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After Darlington, Harvick will drive the No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang again Sept. 11 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

● The pairing has reunited Rheem with Harvick, a relationship that began in 2007 when Harvick won the Daytona 500 in dramatic fashion, beating NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin for the victory by .02 of a second in a frantic, green-white-checkered finish. It led to Rheem serving as a primary partner for Harvick’s NASCAR Xfinity Series team, Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), in 2008. Rheem’s debut with KHI came on May 2, 2008 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway where Harvick finished second in the Lipton Tea 250. Harvick delivered Rheem its first victory as a primary sponsor on Feb. 27, 2010 when he won the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas. Rheem aligned as a primary partner with Harvick in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2011 and stayed with him through the 2013 season before Harvick joined SHR in 2014.

● Darlington is known as “The Track Too Tough To Tame” but Harvick has tamed the venerable 1.366-mile oval three times. The 46-year-old racer from Bakersfield, California, owns two Southern 500 victories (2014 and 2020) and one win in the track’s 400-mile race. In fact, Harvick enters Darlington with an impressive record – he hasn’t finished outside the top-10 since 2012. How long ago was that? “Gangnam Style” and its music video by South Korean singer Psy went viral in 2012, four years before the social media app TikTok became reality.

● That’s a long time, but not nearly as long as Darlington has been around. The 2022 season marks the track’s 72nd anniversary, with the egg-shaped oval having hosted 121 NASCAR Cup Series races. The first came on Sept. 4, 1950 and it was the first 500-mile race in NASCAR history and the first on asphalt. Johnny Mantz drove his Plymouth to the win with an average speed of 75.250 mph and the race took 6 hours, 38 minutes and 40 seconds to complete. Juxtapose that with Harvick’s win in the 2020 Southern 500. His Ford Mustang had an average speed of 132.256 mph and the race finished in 3 hours, 47 minutes and 26 seconds.

● COVID-19 stopped racing in its tracks in 2020. After the checkered flag dropped March 8 at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR went on a 10-week hiatus as the world grappled with the scale of a pandemic not seen since the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919. NASCAR had to navigate a brave new world, and the sport was one of the first to return to action when racing resumed May 17 at Darlington. It was a welcome surprise, as one version of NASCAR’s hypothetical return featured a start date of Oct. 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a stretch of 30 races in 64 days that would wrap with three straight races at Phoenix… on Jan. 1-3 of 2021. In a time of great uncertainty, seeing sports’ return with NASCAR pacing the field proved both prideful and poignant. Harvick never let off the gas even as the season ground to a halt. He focused on all the little details that go into wheeling a 3,400-pound racecar around tracks faster than 39 of his competitors. The result? After finishing second March 8 at Phoenix, Harvick one-upped that result by winning in NASCAR’s return to racing May 17 at Darlington.

● That win on May 17, 2020 at Darlington was Harvick’s milestone 50th career NASCAR Cup Series victory. Harvick led 159 of the race’s 293 laps to secure his 11th straight season as a Cup Series winner. His career win total now stands at 58, which puts him 10th on the all-time Cup Series win list. Next on the all-time win list is Kyle Busch with 60 victories.

● Among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Harvick leads the following categories at Darlington:

●  Most starts: 28 (tied with Kurt Busch)

●  Most top-fives: 12 (next best is Denny Hamlin with 11)

●  Most top-10s: 17 (next best is Hamlin with 15)

●  Most laps led: 812 (next best is Hamlin with 744)

●  Most laps completed: 9,370 (next best is Kurt Busch with 9,311)

●  Note: Hamlin leads the series in wins at Darlington with four, while Harvick stands alone with three wins.

● Who are the all-time leaders at Darlington? Check out these eye-popping statistics:

●  Most starts: 65 by Richard Petty

●  Most wins: 10 by David Pearson  

●  Most top-fives: 25 by Petty

●  Most top-10s: 34 by Petty

●  Most laps led: 2,391 by Petty

●  Most laps completed: 17,120 by Petty

●  Note: The 17,120 laps completed by Petty translates to 23,434.11 miles, almost equal to the equatorial circumference of the Earth (24,901 miles).

● Harvick has proven immensely consistent at Darlington outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. The Bakersfield, California-native has made 16 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover, finishing among the top-10 nine times, with a best result of third in September 2017. Harvick has also made two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Darlington, with a best result of fourth in March 2002.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Rheem/Chasing a Cure Ford Mustang

Darlington marks the 500th race where Rheem has served as a sponsor on a car in a NASCAR race. You’ve represented Rheem since 2007 when you won their debut race – the Daytona 500. Talk about your longevity with Rheem and how it’s appropriate that in 2022 when they’re celebrating their 15th anniversary, their 500th race comes at one of the most historic tracks in NASCAR.

“I think the biggest thing about Rheem is they really utilize the sport in ways that it was utilized 20 years ago. With their hospitality program and the amount of dealers and people they bring to the racetrack, it’s really kind of the way I was brought up in the sport and how you maximize a sponsorship. Five hundred sponsored races is something that’s really spectacular, and obviously it’s working for their customers. That relationship goes back a long way, and having a lot of the same people involved makes that a lot of fun to be able to go through this part of my career and have them on the car and realize the commitment they’ve made to the sport. The people have continued to show up and they’ve continued to support it and that makes you feel valuable. Rheem sees the value in NASCAR and they continue to use that to their benefit.”

You participated in a Goodyear tire test at Darlington back in early March. How did it go and did it provide a purview of what you can expect when you’re there with nearly 40 other cars?

“I think Darlington is going to be fun, and we learned a lot at the test. Goodyear has a good tire that wears all four tires out, which is something we haven’t really seen so far because the left-side tire’s been pretty conservative. Darlington is just a tough racetrack, right? Still, it had a lot of fall-off and I think that’ll be fun, but it’s definitely going to be a full day’s work.”

Will tire management be the theme for this year’s race at Darlington?

“Tire management has always kind of been there, though it’s less than it used to be because of the stages and the way that you pit now. You only have to run 30 or 40 laps on a set of tires, so you don’t have to manage them the way you used to have to manage them.”

Do the composite body panels of the NextGen car make running the high line at Darlington a little more appealing, to where you can rim ride a bit and be more aggressive because there is no sheet metal to cut a tire down, or is that a bit of a myth?

“It’s not as bad as it used to be, but the wheels, you have to be really careful in how hard you hit the wall because it’ll break suspension parts. We saw that at the test. You hit the wall wrong and it’ll snap those A-frames.”

You have three wins at Darlington and a series-best 812 laps led in 28 career starts. How satisfying it to have that kind of success at a track that’s so notoriously difficult its nickname is “The Track Too Tough To Tame”?

“It’s been a lot of fun to have been able to win there a few times now. Darlington is one of those historic racetracks that everybody loves going to because of the fact that it’s forever tied to the guys that used to race there with the same shape of the racetrack. It may be a different surface, but it’s the same racetrack that they raced on in the 1950s. It’s a unique place to go race and a place that has so much history in our sport.”

Is there a particular key to your success at Darlington?

“Yeah, don’t hit the wall!”

No. 4 Rheem/Chasing a Cure Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Kevin Harvick
Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engineer: Dax Gerringer
Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina

Engineer: Stephen Doran
Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania

Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala
Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith
Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard
Hometown: Delhart, Texas

Jack Man: Stan Doolittle
Hometown: Ninety Six, South Carolina

Fuel Man: Evan Marchal
Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Richie Bean
Hometown: Bradford, Vermont

Mechanic: Nick DeFazio
Hometown: Orange, California

Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski
Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut

Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Transporter Co-Driver: Rick Hodges
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell
Hometown: Woodville, Ohio

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
DURAMAX DRYDENE 400
PRESENTED BY RELADYNE
MAY 2, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT CLAIMS FIRST WIN OF 2022 AT DOVER
Seventh NCS Victory of the Season for Camaro ZL1

DOVER, Del. (May 2, 2022) – For the second consecutive season, Chevrolet made its way to victory lane at Dover Motor Speedway, this time with Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team picking up their first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win of 2022 in the DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne. The triumph marks the seventh victory for the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 in 11 points-paying races thus far, with Elliott becoming the fifth different Chevrolet driver to make his way to the winner circle. With the victory, the 2020 NCS Champion has now solidified his chance at running for his second title, joining Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates – Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron – in the 16-driver NCS Playoff driver field.

“Really appreciate Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and our entire team No. 9 Chevrolet team for just sticking with it,” said Elliott holding the checkered flag in front of the Dover crowd. “We’ve had some tough races over the last, I don’t know, four, five months. Just great to get NAPA back to Victory Lane; great to get Hendrick Motorsports back to Victory Lane.”

The 400-mile event at the 1-mile concrete oval that is famously known as the “Monster Mile” was brought to a halt Sunday afternoon after persistent rainfall forced the series to postpone the remainder of the event to Monday afternoon. With 78-laps in the book at the drop of the green to resume the event, Chase Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team showcased their speed early on, restarting the remainder of the 400-lap event from a front row starting spot. The 26-year-old Georgia native went on to capture top-10 finishes in both stages, proving to be a contender for the win all afternoon. In the closing laps, Elliott battled Chevrolet teammate, Ross Chastain, for the lead on the final restart and went on to lead the remaining 53-laps en route to his 14th-career victory in 232 starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

Camaro ZL1’s across a variety of Chevrolet teams posted strong runs throughout the day, with four different Chevrolet teams placing drivers in the top-10 at the conclusion of the rain-delayed event. Four of the top-five and six of the top-10 were taken by the bowtie brand, including a notable Chevrolet 1-2-3 finish. The runner-up position saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his No. 47 Kroger/The Frozen Farmer Camaro ZL1 team; his season-best finish and fourth top-10 finish at the Monster Mile. Also included in the Chevrolet podium sweep was Ross Chastain in third, marking a series-high seventh top-five finish of 2022 for the No. 1 Pitbull Tour 2022 Camaro ZL1 team. Alex Bowman battled back from an untimely caution to finish fifth in his No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, giving Chevrolet four of the top-five of the final running order.

Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, overcame going a lap down early in the event following an on-track incident to come home in the sixth-spot in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1. Erik Jones, who drove his No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1 to a top-10 finish in Stage Two, brought home another solid top-10 finish for Petty GMS to round out the Team Chevy top-10.

Monday’s victory at the Delaware venue marks the seventh of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season and the 43rd win at Dover Motor Speedway for Chevrolet, extending it’s record over all manufacturers. As the winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet leaves Dover Motor Speedway with 821 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series. Chase Elliott entered the race weekend on top of the NCS driver points standings; and with a win and his now eight top-10 finishes this season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has extended his points lead to 50-points over second-place Ryan Blaney.

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the highly-anticipated throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 8, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage of the 293-lap event will air on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

THE MODERATOR: We have our driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Chase Elliott. We’ll go straight to questions for Chase.

Q. You have been running well. What has your mindset been over the first 10 races? You’ve been on top of the points standings but haven’t consistently shown that race-winning speed. How has that affected your mindset and how rewarding is it to get to Victory Lane today?

CHASE ELLIOTT: I’m not really sure it’s affected my approach. I want to do good every week, regardless of what’s going on around me.

Just proud of our team for sticking with it. I feel like we’ve had a lot of pace at different times throughout the year. We just hadn’t put an entire race together really until today I feel like.

Been fast at one point or fast at another. Just not quite putting it all together all in one three-and-a-half, four-hour time frame. It was just nice to do that today.

Proud of our team. Proud of Alan. Really just our entire group for continuing to bring good attitudes to the racetrack. Coming in with the right mindset every week regardless of what happened the week before. To me that says a lot about their character and the kind of group that we have.

As always, just really proud of them and excited to get a win. Still fairly early in the season. That’s always a good thing. Good opportunity to build some more wins and bonus points before we get to the Playoffs.

A lot of racing left, though, for sure.

Q. This is the first oval you’ve scored multiple wins on in your Cup career. What is it about Dover that suits your driving style?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I’m not sure. I feel like Jeff and Alan had a great package here to start really before I came along. It was much like the road courses really.

When you step into a situation that has a really nice foundation as you’re trying to learn, it makes that learning process a lot easier.

I would say that probably falls under that category more than anything that I do special behind the wheel.

Q. Were you concerned at all about tire wear on the last run? Especially when you have that big of a lead, are you thinking at all about how much can I, don’t want to say “save,” but were you trying to conserve?

CHASE ELLIOTT: I was certainly thinking about it. We had some cording issues on and off throughout the day. It had been getting better those last two runs. Just based on how hard everybody was driving, the fact it was getting better with the added aggressiveness over the last couple runs made me feel better about it.

I had a better feeling. I still felt like there was going to be a caution. I don’t think we ran that long all day. I felt like the odds of us getting a caution, the fact that we were leading, was pretty high. I was kind of waiting on that as always.

Fortunately didn’t get one. Was able to run it out, control our gap there, get NAPA and our team back to Victory Lane.

Q. What is the mood for you and around the shop when you see your other three teammates win? Obviously you want to win, but do you feel pressure? Is it good-natured stuff around the shop?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, look, I want to win always. There’s a lot of noise. I understand you guys are doing your jobs. I respect that. But at the end of the day, like, I want to win just as bad at Daytona at the start of the season when no one has any stickers on their cars just as bad as I do when we get to Phoenix at the end of the season regardless of what has gone on.

My drive to win, to do my job to the best of my ability, doesn’t change whether we are struggling, whether we are doing very good, whether I’m in a contract year, whether I’m not, whether my teammates have won and I haven’t. Those circumstances are fine and cool and great, but I want to do my job to the very best of my ability all the time no matter what, no matter the track, no matter the circumstances, always.

Does that answer your question?

Q. Yes.

CHASE ELLIOTT: Thank you.

Q. How did you think the Next Gen car at this track compared to the previous iteration?

CHASE ELLIOTT: You know, different. There’s certainly some differences. I think the tire is different, just the way the tire is constructed.

Without, like, getting into some super fine details, it felt pretty similar, I would say, would probably be the best way to describe it for just everybody watching the race and the fans. Very similar. I don’t think it looked a ton different from the outside looking in, just watching guys race around each other. It looked

very similar to races of old.

There are some details on how the car drives, there are some differences that we’ll certainly try to attack and make better before we come back.

Overall, from a general point of view, pretty similar to Dover.

Q. Do you think the tire was a big change as well?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Seemed like it to me. Seemed like it had an impact on how the cars drove. We had a little bit of room to move around, not a ton. It did promote some movement there later into a run. We just never had a super long run, to be honest with you. I think that last run was our longest, it was only 65 or 60, something like that.

Yeah, I would like to see some longer runs. I think that probably tells the story of the tire more so than short restarts and little stints like that.

Q. How did the rain delay impact how you approached today?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, for us personally as a team, we were able to kind of think about our struggles yesterday. I actually feel like it might have helped us a little bit.

Did it change the results? I don’t know. I mean, I think we probably would have ended up probably headed in the same direction with our car. But it did give us some more time to think about it.

Other than that, it’s not really a ton different. You just kind of go to bed, Groundhog Day, just try again.

Had less people here today which was a bummer. That was a great crowd we had yesterday. Biggest crowd I have seen here personally since I’ve been racing, which I thought was really cool. Proud to see that.

THE MODERATOR: Chase, congratulations on the win today.

CHASE ELLIOTT: Thank you, guys.

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, JEFF ANDREWS, GENERAL MANAGER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS – PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

THE MODERATOR: We’ll get started with our post-race media availabilities here. We are joined by members of the race-winning team, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

We have crew chief Alan Gustafson and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports Jeff Andrews.

Q. Jeff, having all four cars already being in Victory Lane so far this year, how big of a confidence boost, if you needed it, for an organization is that?

JEFF ANDREWS: Well, certainly was a goal of ours when you start out the season to get that accomplished early on. Really proud of the effort, especially with this new car, all that’s gone on in the off-season with this race team, to be in this position. Having five wins at this point in the season, have all four of our cars into the Playoffs at this point time is a credit to all the men and women back in Charlotte at Hendrick Motorsports, as well as everybody here at the racetrack that make these cars go. Give that credit to them.

Yeah, it feels very good at this point in time. As we go into the summer, we know how hectic that can get later on in the summer, all kinds of circumstances that can present themselves. So very pleased with where we’re at right now.

Q. Alan, there’s been some unjust criticism on you guys as a race team. You’re leading the points, but hadn’t won yet. I’m sure that feels good to get that off your back, silence some haters.

ALAN GUSTAFSON: We don’t do it for them. We do it for each other. That keeps you going.

Certainly not done with today. Yeah, it’s a positive thing.

Q. Alan, you have been on top of the points standings. You’ve been running well. The race-winning speed hadn’t been there. What has been the difference in the first 10 races and the difference today?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: I think we had some opportunities to win some races certainly at the beginning of the year. Didn’t capitalize on them. I think the pace was there at California, Phoenix, Martinsville. There were a lot of opportunities. You look at the box score, you don’t see it. I feel like we’ve been pretty close.

Unfortunately we hadn’t finished where we should have or the way we were performing. Today I think we were able to put it all together and certainly get the win.

Q. Any relief, Alan, to get a win on an oval?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: Bob, c’mon, man. Next (smiling).

Q. We make a big deal out of that. Was there any angst within the team on that?

ALAN GUSTAFSON: No, man. To me, the winless streak, not winning on ovals, is a hell of a lot bigger deal to you guys than it is to us. It’s just the way the circumstances played out. We were just as competitive in all those places. You get that question a lot.

You look at our statistics here with Chase driving the car, we got inverted when we did that double, right, got crashed on lap three, we blew up on lap four. Besides that I think our average finish was fourth. It’s not like we run bad at ovals. There are a lot of places that are that way. Martinsville is that way. We certainly have good statistics.

I think the fact we run well on road courses and have dominated the road courses for a short period of time overshadows that, but I don’t think there’s a lack of performance on ovals. I think that’s way overdone.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, congratulations. Thanks for joining us.

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.

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Dover 400
Date: May 1-2, 2022
Event: Dover 400 (Round 11 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (1-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (120 laps/130 laps/250 laps)
Note: Race began on Sunday, but only 78 laps were run before rain postponed the remainder of the race to Monday.
Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 11th, Finished 9th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 23rd, Finished 13th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 30th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 27th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 399 of 400 laps)

SHR Points:

● Aric Almirola (11th with 283 points, 135 out of first)
● Kevin Harvick (12th with 280 points, 138 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (13th with 270 points, 148 out of first)
● Cole Custer (25th with 189 points, 229 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Harvick earned his fifth top-10 of the season and his 23rd top-10 in 42 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover.
● Harvick’s 23 top-10s at Dover are the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Kyle Busch is next best with 21 top-10s.
● This was Harvick’s eighth straight top-10 at Dover, a run kicked off by a win in May 2018 and punctuated by another victory on Aug. 23, 2020.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10. He finished 10th in the series’ prior race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
● Briscoe’s 13th-place result was his best in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover.
● Custer earned his third top-15 of the season and his fourth top-15 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover.
● Since joining SHR in 2018, Almirola has only one finish outside the top-20 at Dover.

Race Notes:

● Chase Elliott won the Dover 400 to score his 14th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Dover. He beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr., as the race finished under caution.
● There were 13 caution periods for a total of 75 laps.
● Only 15 of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Elliott remains the championship leader after Dover with a 50-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.

Sound Bites:

“We just lost the car right there at the end of the second stage and it was plowing tight. We never really were able to find anything to make it any better. I’m not sure what happened. We’ll try to figure that out and go back to work for Darlington next weekend.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang

“We were just fighting all day trying to make the car better. We got it decent by halfway through and we worked the pit strategy right and caught some luck and got a solid finish. The guys fought hard all day. They did a good job keeping us in the mix and we ended up making something of it.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang

“We were so behind after practice, we just didn’t get a lot of time to work on it with so many cautions, but we made it better for qualifying. We were still pretty far off Sunday when the race started, and warmer weather today really didn’t help. Johnny (Klausmeier, crew chief) and the guys did a great job working on it and, by the end, our balance was good. We just didn’t have enough time to make up ground, and dirty air was a major factor.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang

“Man, we had a car capable of running top-10 all day. We didn’t have it in practice or qualifying on Saturday, and Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and the guys made the right changes for the race. Unfortunately, we just got caught on pit road at the wrong time and it put us two laps down. We were still racing hard and kept our Smithfield/Weis Ford in the ‘Lucky Dog’ position, but we didn’t get the break we needed to race for position again. All in all, we had a good car and good speed, so I’m proud of that.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/Weis Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Goodyear 400 on May 8 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
DURAMAX DRYDENE 400
PRESENTED BY RELADYNE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 2, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
2nd RICKY STENHOUSE JR, NO. 47 KROGER / THE FROZEN FARMER CAMARO ZL1
3rd ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 PITBULL TOUR 2022 CAMARO ZL1
5th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
6th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
10th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1
11th JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1
14th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1
18th COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 DURAMAX / DRYDENE CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
2nd Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)
3rd Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
4th Christopher Bell (Toyota)
5th Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 8 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, 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
CHASE ELLIOTT GETS IT DONE TODAY. I TALKED TO ALAN GUSTAFSON THIS MORNING AND HE SAID, ‘WE WEREN’T VERY GOOD YESTERDAY’. WHAT DID YOU TWO PUT TOGETHER TO BE SO DOMINANT?
“Had some good circumstances finally. Really appreciate Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and our entire team No. 9 Chevrolet team for just sticking with it. We’ve had some tough races over the last, I don’t know, four, five months. Just great to get NAPA back to Victory Lane; great to get Hendrick Motorsports back to Victory Lane.

Just so proud. This one means a lot in a lot of different ways. Just appreciate all the effort. But thanks to all the fans for coming out. You’re always awesome. Hope to see this big crowd here next year. Just a huge thanks to everybody involved. It’s been a fun day and we’re certainly going to enjoy.

Like I told them after the race – those guys, they’ve been deserving of one for a while. Glad we could get across the line first. We’ll enjoy it for a few days and go to work next week.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / THE FROZEN FARMER CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 2nd
“Our team has been putting together really good racecars. A lot of our good races we’ve had issues. You know we have been good on some of the bigger tracks. Our short-track program is definitely off a little bit, but you know it was an awesome day to get The Frozen Farmer, you know it’s the first time on the car. They are from 40 minutes down the road. Their whole family is here, and we’ve had a good weekend with them.

It was good to have a good run with them and really for our whole shop. We feel like we’ve been better than where we are right now as a race team. We’ve put a lot of fast racecars together, just haven’t had much to show for it. Really happy with this performance today. It was a tough battle out there. The track was tough. The cars were tough to drive. Our car was dialed in and our pit crew did a fabulous job on pit road. Just came up one spot short.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 PITBULL TOUR 2022 CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 3rd
YOU COULD NOT SHAKE THE NO. 19 (MARTIN TRUEX JR.) WHAT DID YOU SAY TO EACH OTHER THERE?
“We were talking about where we were going to go fishing next week. No, super proud of this effort. I thought we were a fifth-place car. A couple guys had misfortune with the cautions coming out. That cycled us to the lead.

Pit crew was incredible today. They were just picking up spots every stop, got us the lead. I’m racing with champions and I got beat.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th
ROSS CHASTAIN SAID WE WERE JUST BATTLING THERE. DID YOU SEE ANY OF THAT?
“No, but I know how Ross (Chastain) races, so I am sure he was just battling hard. But yeah, just a bummer day for us because obviously we had a shot at the win there in our No. 48 Ally Chevrolet; and then that caution in the middle of the pit cycle had us starting the last run last. To go last to fifth at a place like this is nothing to be ashamed of because it’s hard to pass. As far as my guys and the race car that we brought, just wish it would have gone a little better for us.”

WHAT WERE YOUR CHALLENGES TODAY?
“Starting last on the last run. There is no other way to say that. It’s tough around this place.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th
“Our No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 was fast at Dover. We led some laps and stayed up front for quite a while until our tires started to go. We struggled a little in dirty air getting super tight, but we were able to rebound and almost got a top 10 out of it. We definitely made some gains today and were the best we’ve been all year.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 23rd
“We found out why they call Dover Motor Speedway ‘The Monster Mile’. It was a long, hard couple of days. Our BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Aerosol Camaro ZL1 wasn’t very good for most of the race. We struggled with a very stiff front end and a tight handling condition no matter what chassis adjustments we made. This No. 3 team never gave up, though. We worked hard to make adjustments and it finally started to handle a little bit better with about 60 laps remaining in the race. By then, we were running pretty decent lap times but it was too late to make up much ground. It’s not what we wanted this weekend, but we’ll regroup and head to Darlington Raceway.”

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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
DURAMAX DRYDENE 400
PRESENTED BY RELADYNE
TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUICK QUOTE & NOTES
MAY 2, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT CAPTURES FIRST WIN OF 2022 AT DOVER
Camaro ZL1 Scores Seventh NCS Victory of 2022

Chase Elliott piloted his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 to Victory Lane in the DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne at Dover Motor Speedway.

• The win is Elliott’s first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win of the 2022 season; and his 14th-career victory in 232 starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
• Elliott’s victory also marks the 285th NASCAR Cup Series triumph for car owner Rick Hendrick, extending the team’s record as the winningest team in NCS history.
• The victory secures Elliott’s spot into the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, making him the fifth Chevrolet driver to lock-in their Playoff spot thus far this season.
• With 11 points-paying races in the books for the NASCAR Cup Series, Elliott is now the ninth different winner.
• Elliott’s triumph is also the seventh of the season for the Camaro ZL1, and the 43rd victory for Team Chevy at Dover Motor Speedway, extending its lead over all manufacturers.
• The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 821st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

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

CHASE ELLIOTT GETS IT DONE TODAY. I TALKED TO ALAN GUSTAFSON THIS MORNING AND HE SAID, ‘WE WEREN’T VERY GOOD YESTERDAY’. WHAT DID YOU TWO PUT TOGETHER TO BE SO DOMINANT?

“Had some good circumstances finally. Really appreciate Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and our entire team No. 9 Chevrolet team for just sticking with it. We’ve had some tough races over the last, I don’t know, four, five months. Just great to get NAPA back to Victory Lane; great to get Hendrick Motorsports back to Victory Lane.

Just so proud. This one means a lot in a lot of different ways. Just appreciate all the effort. But thanks to all the fans for coming out. You’re always awesome. Hope to see this big crowd here next year. Just a huge thanks to everybody involved. It’s been a fun day and we’re certainly going to enjoy.

Like I told them after the race – those guys, they’ve been deserving of one for a while. Glad we could get across the line first. We’ll enjoy it for a few days and go to work next week.”

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.

BELL LEADS TOYOTA WITH A STRONG TOP-FIVE FINISH IN DOVER
Christopher Bell drives back from two laps down to finish fourth

DOVER, Del. (May 2, 2022) – Christopher Bell (fourth) scored a top-five finish to lead Toyota in the Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway on Monday afternoon.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Dover Motor Speedway
Race 11 of 36 – 400 miles, 400 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Elliott*
2nd, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
3rd, Ross Chastain*
4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
5th, Alex Bowman*
7th, KYLE BUSCH
12th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
16th, BUBBA WALLACE
21st, DENNY HAMLIN
31st, KURT BUSCH
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

How was your race?

“We had an outstanding DeWalt Camry that’s for sure, just very, very frustrating to have those issues and get put behind because I feel like if we could have stayed up front we could have possibly contended for the win. We were able to get back up there in that third stage, and I’ll take it. I’m really proud of this 20 group.”

How much of a team-building day is this to go from two laps down to come back to the top-five?

“It’s good for sure. I’m just really proud of this group. This Camry was so fast. They did an excellent job. They’ve been doing an excellent job all year, so just proud to drive this 20 car.”

It was an up-and-down day, but ultimately a good finish. How was the race from your seat?

“I knew this DeWalt Camry was fast after yesterday. We didn’t qualify very well, but we were able to pick our way through at the start of the race and stay out on old tires at the beginning of the day and have a good run at the end of stage one. I’m really proud of this 20 group. They are doing really, really good. Week in, and week out we are bringing cars capable of running in the top-five and top-10, so hopefully our day is coming soon.”

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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 DuraMAX Drydene 400 – Dover Motor Speedway
NCS Post Race | Monday, May 2, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
8th – Chris Buescher
9th – Kevin Harvick
13th – Chase Briscoe
15th – Cole Custer
17th – Michael McDowell
19th – Aric Almirola
20th – Brad Keselowski
24th – Harrison Burton
25th – Ryan Preece
26th – Ryan Blaney
28th – Todd Gilliland
29th – Joey Logano
34th – Cody Ware
35th – BJ McLeod
36th – Austin Cindric

Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang — Finished 8th

“It was an interesting two days. It was a good run for the Fastenal Mustang. Everyone on the team worked really hard and did a nice job. It is a momentum builder. It isn’t all that we wanted but the pole was awesome, that was really cool. I know we had speed in it in clean air. We just fought dirty air. Unfortunately, that is a really big deal here. We could move around for a little bit and the tires would fall off, which is great, but once we got to the point where we had to kind of stay in line we were just sucking up dirty air which made it hard. We want more. I am not content there but it is a strong run for us and I am excited to head into Darlington.”

Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang — Finished 9th

“We just lost the car right there at the end of the second stage and it was plowing tight. We never really were able to find anything to make it any better. I am not sure what happened. We will try to figure that out and go back to work for Darlington next weekend.”