Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022
0.25-Mile Oval
6:00 PM ET
Location: Los Angeles
TV: Fox
Event: Clash at the Coliseum (non-points)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 29 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st (2021)

No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 12 p.m. local time.

THE CHAMP IS HERE: With a victory in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Kyle Larson won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship to become the fourth driver to secure a title for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team won five playoff races – tying Tony Stewart for most victories during a 10-race playoff. Overall, the team won a series-leading 10 points-paying events in 2021 plus the annual non-points NASCAR All-Star Race.

ANIMAL STYLE: In 2021, Larson led the Cup Series in wins (10), top-five finishes (20), top-10s (26), stage wins (18), laps led (2,581) and average start (6.1) – all career-bests. His laps led in 2021 were more than the combined total of the second- and third-place drivers in that statistical category.

SECOND TO THE SECOND-IN-COMMAND: Larson’s laps led total (2,581) in 2021 was the most ever during a 36-race Cup season and the most since NASCAR Hall of Famer and current Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon paced the field for 2,610 circuits in the 31-race 1995 campaign.

STADIUM RACING: Sunday’s 0.25-mile track at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been compared to the similar layout at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In the 2012 NASCAR ARCA East Series race at Bowman Gray, Larson led 35 laps from the pole position before finishing fifth in the 153-lap event.

YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. From the convenience of home, customers can select the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HendrickCars.com. The website also makes it easy for customers to find one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 93 dealership locations nationwide.

WE’RE HIRING: Hendrick Automotive Group is hiring more than 300 technicians at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Interested people can apply at HendrickCars.com.

OVER $200K: In March 2021, Larson announced the launch of the Kyle Larson Foundation, which was established to better serve today’s youth, families and communities in need through hands-on support. The Sanneh Foundation and the Urban Youth Racing School are the primary beneficiaries of the foundation, which also works closely with Hendrick Cares, the corporate social responsibility program of Hendrick Automotive Group. To kickstart the “Drive for 5,” Larson pledged a personal donation of $5 for every Cup Series lap he completed in 2021 and contributed another $5,000 for every top-five finish he earned. After 36 races, he pledged more than $140,000 and raised more than $200,000. To learn more, please visit KyleLarsonFoundation.org.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 26 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 4th (2021)

No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 12 p.m. local time.

CLASH CONSISTENCY: Sunday will mark Chase Elliott’s sixth consecutive appearance in the season-opening Clash exhibition event. While the NASCAR Cup Series has never raced at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, many compare the newly constructed track to the legendary 0.25-mile Bowman Gray Stadium located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Elliott is one of only a few current drivers with experience at Bowman Gray, having competed in two ARCA Series East races in 2011 and 2012. Elliott’s best finish was sixth in 2012.

2021 RECAP: Last season, Elliott and the No. 9 team nearly won their second Cup Series title after advancing to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive year. In 36 races, the 26-year-old driver scored two victories (Circuit of The Americas and Road America), 15 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. His average finish of 11.4 was a career-best at the Cup level. Capping off the year, Elliott earned most popular driver honors for the fourth straight time.

PIT ROAD POWER: At the end of the 2021 Cup Series season, Elliott’s pit crew was named the Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew for demonstrating the most consistency on pit road throughout the 36-race schedule. In the 20 years since the award’s inception in 2002, Hendrick Motorsports has won it a total of five times (2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016 and 2021). In 2022, the same five-member crew returns to the No. 9 team: T.J. Semke (jackman), Jared Erspamer (tire carrier), Nick O’Dell (front-tire changer), Chad Avrit (rear-tire changer) and John Gianninoto (fueler).

NINE YEARS WITH NAPA: The 2022 season marks the ninth year of partnership between Elliott and NAPA AUTO PARTS. The Atlanta-based company first teamed up with the Dawsonville, Georgia, native for his rookie NASCAR Xfinity Series season in 2014 and has been with him ever since. NAPA will serve as majority sponsor of Elliott and the No. 9 team for 26 Cup Series races this season, including Sunday’s Clash at the Coliseum.

DYNAMIC DUO: Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson are entering their seventh season together. The impressive duo is third among active driver and crew chief pairings with 13 points-paying wins. In 2020, they broke through for their first Cup Series championship and followed it up with a repeat visit to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway last season.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 24 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 10th (2021)

No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

2021 IN THE REARVIEW: Embarking on his fifth season in the NASCAR Cup Series, William Byron is coming off a personal-best year at the highest level of stock-car competition. He started 2021 by capturing his second career Cup win with a strong performance at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. From there, Byron went on an 11-race streak of top-10 results to become the youngest driver in history (23 years, 1 month and 17 days) to post a top-10 streak of 10 or more races. Locking himself into the Cup Series playoffs for the third consecutive time, he fought through adversity to make it to the Round of 12 and finish the season a career-best 10th in points with one win, two pole awards, 12 top-five finishes, 20 top-10s, and 425 laps led.

COMING FOR THE CLASH: The 2022 season will once again kick off with the Clash exhibition race — but this year at an exciting new venue: the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It will mark Byron’s third consecutive start in the Clash with all three occurring at different venues. In last year’s event held on the DAYTONA Road Course, Byron started fifth and finished the night in fifth despite suffering a late-race flat tire.

STADIUM STYLE: While the L.A. Coliseum is a new venue on the Cup Series schedule, Byron has experience on a similar track: Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He competed at Bowman Gray with the NASCAR ARCA Series East in 2015 when he started fourth and finished in the 15th position.

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY: In 2021, Rudy Fugle wasted no time immersing himself at Hendrick Motorsports for his debut season as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief. After starting the year with a trip to victory lane in just his third race with the No. 24 team, Fugle posted 11 consecutive top-10 results and cemented the No. 24 team firmly in the playoffs before finishing 10th in points. He is looking to build off of his successful first season at the Cup level and propel Byron into championship contention.

WELCOME BACK VALVOLINE: Valvoline will open 2022 as the primary sponsor of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Sunday’s Clash at the Coliseum. It will be the first of two races that the Valvoline colors will be on board the No. 24, with the second race being at Byron’s hometown track for the Charlotte ROVAL. Valvoline Inc. (NYSE: VVV) is a leading worldwide marketer and supplier of premium branded lubricants and automotive services, with sales in more than 140 countries. Established in 1866, the company’s heritage spans more than 150 years, during which time it has developed powerful brand recognition across multiple product and service channels. Valvoline ranks as the No. 3 passenger car motor oil brand in the DIY market by volume. To learn more, visit valvoline.com. For a closer look at Byron’s No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, click here.

48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 14th (2021)

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

BOWMAN’S ALLY: Alex Bowman returns for his second season with the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. In 2021, he delivered Ally its first points-paying win as a primary sponsor at Richmond Raceway and added three more victories: Dover Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Martinsville Speedway. Bowman has qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in each of his four full-time seasons with Hendrick Motorsports.

TIGHTEN THE STRAPS: Coming off his best year in the Cup Series, Bowman heads out west to Los Angeles for the Clash at the Coliseum this Sunday. He brings confidence following his late-season win at the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in October when he led the final eight laps of the of the 501-lap event. It was his fourth and final win of the 2021 Cup Series season.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Bowman is one of a handful of current Cup Series drivers who have competed at Bowman Gray Stadium, which features a similar layout to Sunday’s event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 2011, he ran the NASCAR ARCA Series East race, finishing 12th in his only appearance at the venue.

CHEERS TO ’22: The No. 48 team has partnered with canned-cocktail brand Day Chaser ahead of the 2022 season. The new sponsor will be featured on driver and team firesuits and displayed on the No. 48 transporter and other team equipment.

LA-LA LAND IS SPECIAL: Entering Sunday’s season-opening Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, Hendrick Motorsports holds the NASCAR Cup Series record for wins in special events. The team has 37 combined victories in the Clash (seven), DAYTONA 500 qualifying races (16), the NASCAR All-Star Race (10) and the All-Star Open (four). Richard Childress Racing ranks second with 28 combined special event wins.

GOING BACK TO CALI: Entering the first-ever NASCAR race held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Hendrick Motorsports has earned more than twice as many wins in California than any other team in Cup Series history. It has gone to victory lane 21 combined times in the Golden State with 11 points-paying wins at Auto Club Speedway, seven at Sonoma Raceway and three at the defunct Riverside International Raceway. Wood Brothers Racing is second with 10 California victories.

DO IT AGAIN: Entering the 2022 NASCAR season, Hendrick Motorsports will seek to defend as Cup Series champions and extend its current streak of consecutive titles to three. Chase Elliott won the coveted Bill France Cup in 2020, followed by teammate Kyle Larson in 2021. Hendrick Motorsports has earned 14 NASCAR Cup titles – the most in history – and holds series records in every major statistical category, including wins, pole positions and laps led.

LOOKING BACK: The 2021 season was one of the most memorable in the history of Hendrick Motorsports. In May, the team finished 1-2-3-4 at Dover Motor Speedway, won Chevrolet’s milestone 800th race at Circuit of The Americas and broke Petty Enterprises’ long-standing record for all-time Cup Series wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The organization recorded 17 points-paying victories, which rank as its second-most ever (18 in 2007). With its entire four-car stable contributing to the 2021 total, Hendrick Motorsports became the first team in Cup Series history with four race winners under the age of 30 in a single season. The year culminated with Larson’s victory at Phoenix Raceway, which clinched the organization’s record-extending 14th NASCAR Cup Series championship.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on testing of the new Next Gen Camaro: “I participated in several tests with the new Camaro, but last week’s test at Phoenix Raceway was my first with the car with all the changes and updates for the 2022 season. The test went well, and I’m looking forward to actually racing it.”

Larson on the Bowman Gray Stadium comparison to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: “Bowman Gray was so long ago and with such a different car that I don’t think it gives me, or anyone who competed in those races, an advantage. There is a lot of hype around the event, so I’m really looking forward to the weekend.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the recent Next Gen test at Phoenix Raceway: “We learned a lot during the test last week. We went through a progression, and it allowed us to gather more data points for this car. No matter the track configuration or layout, we are going to be continuously learning with this car, so any on-track time is valuable.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on kicking off the 2022 season with the Clash at the Coliseum: “I’m excited to get the season going. The Coliseum is a great venue, and I think it’s going to be a fun event. That’s what it was intended to be, a fun and exciting event to kick off our season, and I think it’s going to do exactly that. If you’re going to try something, the Clash is a good race to go and try it because there’s no points involved. This event has a lot of potential to be a home run for our sport. Hopefully it’s entertaining and people have fun watching at home on TV or from the stands.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the Clash at the Coliseum: “The L.A. Coliseum is certainly an iconic place, and I’m really looking forward to going there. I can remember a lot of different events, from the Olympics to Supercross racing there, and I’ve got a lot of memories of that, so it’s going to be cool for us to race there. As far as the race goes, nobody really knows what to expect from the track and how the cars are going to drive. We certainly expect it to be chaotic with a lot going on in a short period of time. We’re going to make our best guess with the car and go try to learn as much as we can. Being adaptable is going to be important. It’s going to be exciting for sure.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on preparing for racing at the Los Angeles Coliseum: “I’m excited to get to L.A. and see what the track is like in person. When the idea came out to potentially race there, I was one of the drivers who was able to experience it on iRacing early on and give some feedback on how it raced. Other than that, there’s not much other preparation we can do before we get in our race cars and on track for practice Saturday. I’m interested to see how different the track races from that first time on iRacing. I think we can expect it to be tight racing with maintaining track position as the key. It should be interesting for sure as there’s no room for error.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the first time: “I’m not sure many of us know what to expect this weekend in Los Angeles. The nice thing is that everyone is in that same situation. We’ve had a lot of time testing the new car in the off-season, which is nice, but also none of those tests were on tracks similar to L.A. Thankfully we have some practice time prior to qualifying and the race, but with three short-timed sessions, it’s not a ton of time. Most of that time will be used to get drivers adjusted to the track, learning braking points, things like that. It should be exciting though as a lot of us on the team grew up racing at short tracks like this and it brings us back to where we started.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Clash at the Coliseum: “I’m pumped to go to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. It’s such a cool venue, and I’m excited to see all the fans in the stands, to get the new car on the track and get the season started.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Clash at the Coliseum: “I am pretty excited to get out to the L.A. Coliseum. For one, being from the Midwest, I know the Coliseum is a big thing for college football. The history of the venue not related to racing and not having ever raced there before makes it pretty neat to go to. From the racing standpoint, there are a lot of unknowns. Just looking at similar tracks like Bowman Gray seem to have a lot of excitement. Obviously, any time you go to race, you always want to run well, but it is also a chance for us to go there and get a look at the competition and work out any bugs before we head to Daytona.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Clash at the Coliseum Advance| Wednesday, February 2, 2022

The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum is scheduled for Sunday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and will feature the competition debut of the NASCAR Next Gen Mustang. Team Penske’s Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, won the Clash in 2017. He spoke with members of the media this afternoon about this weekend’s event.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW PAINT SCHEME? “Yellow, a lot of yellow. We’re gonna see that car on the racetrack, for sure. I thought Shell and Pennzoil coming together doing that video on our social pages did a great job of kind of explaining the story of what Next Gen is for NASCAR and what Next Gen is for Joey Logano and what it is for Shell and Team Penske, and kind of going to the next level and unveiling a cool paint job while we’re at it. It’s obviously very clean. I’d call it basic, which I think a lot of times when you get a good-looking scheme you get too many lines and you miss some of the awesome body lines that are on this Next Gen car, so it really kind of shows a lot of the cool curvature of the new design on the Next Gen car and, like I said, she’s clean, she looks good, she’s got some polished up wheels on it. That’s something that definitely sets it apart from a lot of other cars on the racetrack and that’s also a lot of work on Team Penske’s side to do that, but it’s definitely gonna be neat when you see that on a Team Penske car. I’m proud to finally unveil it. I know everyone has been waiting, but we just felt like 2-2-22 was the right time. We felt like we should play off the 22 in 22 and then go with this date as well for the unveil, so I’m pretty excited about the car and excited to drive it this weekend.”

HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THE REST OF THE FIELD DEAL WITH THEIR PERSONAL CODE OF CONDUCT THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND HOW YOU RESPOND IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS? “You hit the nail on the head. You’re in that position more and more every year as you see the way the playoff schedule is, especially last year, there are moments when you’re on the racetrack that test your character. It test who you are and how do you want to race and what are you gonna do to make it to the Championship 4 or to win a championship. NASCAR has put us all in a position to make challenging positions on what is right. I’ll be 100 percent honest with you, a lot of times you don’t know what’s right. You try to play out all those scenarios in your mind before the weekend starts so you know what to do in the moment, but half the time it’s something that comes up that’s maybe something you didn’t think about or something you didn’t have the answer to yet and you’re forced to make a decision in a split second. That’s the position that we’re put in. That is very entertaining for you guys. That sucks for us sometimes. You’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do. It is something that I think all of us drivers will think about a lot and the Clash is no different. You look at the way they’ve designed this racetrack, not just the fact that it’s small, but the way they put the curbing on the bottom. It just seems like it opens the door for more contact and sliding it down in there, so we will have to wait and see. There’s gonna be moments. There are transfers that they’re probably gonna do what they’ve got to do to get into the feature, and you’ve got no points on the line. I think it just kind of depends. Just because there’s no points on the line doesn’t mean that grudges don’t get carried over to the next race, either. It’s a tricky place to be. I don’t have the answer for you, but we are put in this spot a lot.”

WHAT IS YOUR MORAL CODE AS YOU HEAD INTO THE CLASH? “To be honest with you, you have to be consistent. What’s consistent? I’m gonna win. I’m going out there to win the race. That’s the goal and we do what it takes to do that, but you have to have your moral code and what is considered ok? Is straight-up dumping somebody OK to go win a race? I don’t think so. That’s not really in my cards. Now, a bump-and-run I’ve proven that’s OK. The facts are you have to be OK with it happening to you. Am I OK with getting wrecked? No. Am I OK with getting moved out of the way? I’m not gonna be happy about it, but you have to be OK with it if I’m gonna do it. I feel like that should be the code. Whatever you’re OK with happening to you, you should be all right with doing to somebody else. That’s probably what it is and that’s only fair. That’s just what it is. That’s what we’re going for. We’re going to win. There’s gonna be a lot of people watching this. It’s probably going to be one of the most highly-rated Clashes of all time I bet from TV, from really anything. There’s more people talking about the Clash this year than ever because we’re doing something different. It’s kind of like the dirt race last year. We talked about it so much that, boy, a lot of people are gonna tune in and watch because it’s such an unknown. There’s a lot of good things that go along with the Clash, but also a lot of tricky situations.”

WOULD YOU DO AS MUCH, THE SAME, OR MORE TO WIN THE CLASH THAN YOU WOULD THE DAYTONA 500? “I feel like it’s the same. Like I said, you’ve got to be consistent.”

THE SAME FEELING FOR BOTH RACES? “Maybe winning the Daytona 500 is a little better feeling. It pays a lot better, I promise you that. Maybe a lot cooler trophy, too. I can’t say it’s the same thing, but we’ll probably race the same way. We’re competitors that want to win, so I don’t think anything changes.”

IT’S BEEN SINCE 1971 THAT NASCAR HAS RACED ON A TRACK LIKE THIS. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET BACK TO THESE GRASSROOTS STYLE OF RACES? “I think it’s cool that we’re doing different things. I’ve been saying this all along, it’s not the Next Gen car, it’s Next Gen NASCAR. Everything is going to change with it. Obviously, you guys know all the details that go along with that now, that it’s not just the car is different. It’s different tracks, it’s different formats, there’s different weekend formats, you name it, so a lot of different things go along with this and I think there’s a lot of good things like going back to like you said to some of the short tracks and roots of our sport is great. I don’t know about quarter-mile racing yet. The last time I was on a quarter-mile I was driving a Legends car and I was nine, so I think this is gonna be pretty different. It’s a full sized car out there. I don’t know what we’re gonna have for room, but it’ll be interesting and we’ll learn. Either way, we’re gonna know whether we want to do this again or not.”

IS THIS NEXT GEN CAR GOING TO LOOK LIKE THE SAME ON SHORT TRACK RACES WE’VE KNOWN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS? “Some things will change. On a short track, being quite frank, the cars are just different. I don’t want to say they’re easier or harder to drive, but your brakes probably aren’t gonna be at limit anymore. You’ve got huge brakes on these cars. Wheel hop is not really a thing with the independent rear suspension, so you’re not gonna have wheel hop, but all of this allows you to dive it down into the corner harder, so it’s gonna change the racing a little bit, I think. There’s less risk on wrecking yourself by overdriving the car, which is gonna change the way we all race each other. I’ll be interested to see what that looks like. I don’t know if the Clash is gonna be the best example of what Martinsville will look like or other short tracks because it’s just so different and it’s a new asphalt, which is a lot different than our other short tracks.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON TOM BRADY RETIRING? “I stuck with Tom Brady just out of respect with the way he’s done it. He’s the best. It’s fun to follow someone’s career like that, that strives for excellence to the degree that he has in his career, and the underdog story. He eventually was not the underdog, but at the start of his career he was. I watched some of the documentaries on his career and things like that is highly entertaining to me, so I always found myself rooting for him even when he left the Patriots I still stuck with him because I think he’s a stand-up person. It doesn’t seem like you ever hear anything bad about him. To be honest with you, I always say that Tom Brady and Jimmie Johnson probably have a lot in common and the amount of championships they’ve won, the person that they seem to be, I know Jimmie obviously better than I know Tom Brady. I’ve never met him, but it seems like they do a lot of things in a similar way and they’re pretty dang successful because of it.”

DID YOU REALLY SEE YOURSELF BEING THE GUY IN 2022 THAT WOULD BE THE VETERAN GUY AT TEAM PENSKE? “There have been plenty of times in my life, especially recently over the last two or three years that I look back 10 years ago and I go, ‘Boy, I would have never called that one.’ I would have never called this happening or having some of the people that have come along with me throughout the whole ride. I’d say, ‘Boy, you wouldn’t have called that, would you?’ I don’t know. I really enjoy the surprise of life. You kind of roll with the punches and let things happen and try to control what you can control and Jesus take the wheel through the rest of it and you end up somewhere and this is better than I could have ever expected, so I’m grateful to be in the position with Team Penske, with a great partner at Shell and Pennzoil, and 10 years with this partnership this year says a lot for the consistency – who we are, what we stand for, the loyalty, all those I take a lot of pride in. I think that’s a really special thing. You don’t see that a lot in our sport with drivers and teams and sponsors all sticking together for that long. It’s pretty rare, so I take a lot of pride in being a part of that equation at Team Penske.”

NO PIT STOPS AT THE COLISEUM, BUT HOW MUCH TIME HAVE YOU SPENT ON THE CHOREOGRAPHY OF PIT STOPS. HAVE YOU BEEN PRACTICING MORE THAN USUAL AT THE SHOP? “Some. I’m involved enough to know how they’re changing their placement on the car and what they’re doing differently and how quick it is – those type of things. Obviously, I’m in tune with all that stuff, but it’s gonna be different for sure. The teams are doing it in different ways. In each team you see some different things that I don’t think anyone is comfortable with in terms of what’s the best. It also changes the strategy, too. If you have a faster pit stop, it makes you think differently at some racetracks, so you’ve got to keep all of that in mind. Everything is different with this car. It’s not just the car and how the driver has to work the air to move and pass cars and do things. The crew chief also has to think about calling the race differently because fall off is gonna be different and pit stops are gonna be different. Fuel mileage is gonna be a lot different. How quickly we can fill up the car is different, and getting the car full on a shorter pit stop is also part of the equation, so there’s a lot more to think about and a lot of things we have to kind of figure out as we go.”

IF SUNDAY’S RACE PROVES SUCCESSFUL, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THIS IDEA EXTENDED ELSEWHERE? “I haven’t put much thought into it yet, but if it does work, shoot, pick up the walls and set them down somewhere else – keep going. Go from one stadium to the next. I think it’s awesome that if this does work, it gives us the ability to race downtown. It gives us the ability to race in the middle of cities where the stadiums are placed. If we can do that, I think it brings our sport to a whole different level. As much as I love our racetracks and they’re great, they need a lot of space – not just for the racetrack itself, but for camping and for everything that goes along with it. It’s a different environment than if it’s in the middle of a city, like a football game or a baseball game. If this works, this gives us the ability to go downtown anywhere and that’s a whole different fanbase that I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential in yet, so if this works it’s great for our sport. I’m saying if because we haven’t done it yet. We have to wait and see. It’s definitely changing the game, so we’ll kind of see how it works.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GO BACK TO THE WEST COAST AND RACE AT THE COLISEUM? “I’m glad to go back out there. There are a lot of great race fans. I always think that Fontana is one of the best camping racetracks we go to. You see the environment and everybody is hanging out and riding their bikes around, a family environment out there, so I love the Fontana experience. Sonoma, obviously, is very special as well. Different landscapes, different people. It’s a different world. You think about the cultures and how different it is when you go from north to south, east to west. The cultures are different. The people are different and it’s fun to be able to tap into all those markets. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do that in the last couple years, so I’m excited to go back.”

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO PROSPECTIVE FANS WHO MIGHT BE WATCHING NASCAR FOR THE FIRST TIME. WHY SHOULD THEY FOLLOW ALONG WITH NASCAR? “You’ve got to go and watch it. It’s hard to explain how NASCAR is until you go there. There have been so many times throughout my career where somebody will say, ‘Man, I didn’t watch NASCAR until I went to a race the first time.’ And they go, ‘I didn’t know it was all that. I thought it was just you guys driving in circles.’ Once they start seeing what it is, they become hooked nine times out of 10 it seems like. I love hearing those stories, so me telling somebody what it’s like I don’t think puts it into perspective until you can actually just go there and see it. Usually, everyone gets hooked from there.”

AS YOU START YOUR 10TH SEASON WITH TEAM PENSKE, HOW HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR ROLE EVOLVE? “I definitely feel like it’s changed drastically. It’s interesting. I’ve really adjusted some things in my life. I got this new motto in my mind, less is better. That’s what I want to do. I want to do less things and do it better, so I’m kind of cleaning up some of the stuff that isn’t as important and focusing on the things that are the most important. I’m pretty excited about that because obviously as one of the leaders in the organization takes on a lot more responsibility and takes on a lot more work and a lot more ability direct, especially with this Next Gen car. It’s bringing on a lot more work for everybody included, so a lot more to think about, do, more decisions to make and want to make sure that I’m ready for that. Less is better. That’s my thing and pushing that through this year. I’m excited about that and as a leader of Team Penske I’m excited about what we’ve got coming our way. The tests have gone pretty well. Our teammates are working well together. Blaney and I are probably closer than we’ve ever been and that’s a good thing. He’s seemed to step up as well, so I think the two of us can help guide the rookies into places to where all four of us can lead together in different departments and do different things, so I think we’re coming a long way. There are gonna be some learning curves for everybody, myself included, and the guys that have been here 15-20 years are gonna have a learning curve as well, much as the rookies are gonna have learning curves this year. There’s lots of work to do.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISEUM
BUSCH LIGHT CLASH AT THE COLISEUM
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 2, 2022

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1, Press Conference Transcript:

THE DRIVERS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE COLISEUM, BUT FROM WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THIS IS A HEAVIER CAR AND WITH ALL OF THE DIFFERENT FEELS YOU HAVE WITH THIS CAR, WHAT IS THE CLEAREST THING THAT YOU CAN EXPLAIN TO US FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE FEEL?

“I think just the steering. It is a rack and pinion so kind of like a super late model. The steering box that we used to run is definitely a lot slower, so I feel like going down the straightaway is slower and you have more time to move your hands. Honestly the steering rack I think is an improvement and I really like it so far. It takes a little bit getting used to for the first couple laps on the track every time we go to a new track but overall I think it is definitely an improvement. Something that will kind of make moves a little bit easier, especially on the speedway races to kind of make moves around people. Honestly the brakes are a little bit different. They stop a little bit better than the previous car, but not a whole lot different. Honestly the cars from Phoenix is not that different feeling wise of how it drives versus the old car. I am pretty optimistic for how it drives already”

OBVIOUSLY, THIS WEEKEND’S EVENT IS A NEW EVENT. WE ARE SEEING THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS A LOT MORE SHORT TRACKS OR CLOSE COMPETITION TYPE OF SITUATIONS. THE CAR IS SUPPOSED TO BRING YOU GUYS CLOSER TOGETHER, OBVIOUSLY THAT CAN LEAD TO MORE CONTACT, CONFLICT AND DRAMA. HOW DO YOU AS A DRIVER, CERTAINLY YOU HAVE YOUR PERSONAL CODE AND HOW YOU DO THINGS, BUT HOW HAS THAT FORCED YOU TO REACT IN DIFFERENT WAYS OR HOW HAVE YOU HAD TO REASSES THAT IF AT ALL IN THESE TYPES OF SITUATIONS THAT YOU GUYS ARE BEING PUT MORE AND MORE INTO AND LIKELY BE PUT MORE AND MORE INTO IN THE FUTURE AND HAVE TO FACE THESE SITUATIONS?

“I think it is great for the sport to have more of these tracks. I mean it is definitely, I think you leave these tracks feeling rewarded as a team and as a driver to do well at a place like Martinsville, which feel I like this place is going to be similar to. There is definitely a lot more conflict I’d say, you kind of pick and choose your battles. This race isn’t that long, so you are not going to have a lot of chances to kind of give and take. I think it is going to be a lot more take for most of these guys, but I mean overall I think it is good to pick and choose your battles and what you think it important. If you have the pace in the car and the speed to pass guys, then it is going to be a lot easier than trying to defend. I mean if you are defending you are kind of at the mercy of the guy behind you, but hopefully we are fast enough we can be the one making the moves and be the one making the passes.”

It hasn’t been that long since you were doing bullring style racing in your short track days and we have dirt race now. How important is it do you feel, if at all, to have that kind of racing be represented in the Cup Series again? It has been since 1971 that the Cup Series has raced at Bowman Gray.

“I think it’s important, I don’t know, you know there are a lot of awesome tracks around the country like the fairgrounds people have talked about and places like Hickory. There are a lot of cool tracks that have a lot of character that I think would be cool to see some of the series go to. But yeah, I think that background for me definitely helps. Kind of gets you back to that mindset you’re not air blocking as much you are doing more so just racing your car against the other guys and you aren’t worried about aero and what that implication is for the guy behind you. I think anytime that is less of a story and we are talking about pure driving and how to use the brakes and the throttle around the track is good. I think it is going to be great. I don’t know how this track is going to race, but I certainly think there are a lot of good tracks out there we could be going to.”

ONE TECHNICAL QUESTION. YOU MENTIONED THE BRAKES AND THE TIRES, HOW IS THIS BIG BRAKE PACKAGE AND THE GRIPPIER TIRE GOING TO CHANGE THE DYNAMIC OF REAL SHORT TRACK RACING AT LIKE THE LA COLISEUM AND MARTINSVILLE? IS IT GOING TO BE THE SAME SHORT TRACK RACING THAT WE HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN?

“I think so. From what I saw at Phoenix the car wasn’t that different than the previous car. I think the tire is a little bit gummier than what we had in the past, so I think that is a good thing. It seems to really be receptive to the track and the brakes honestly, I thought were going to be a lot more powerful than they are, but they are just a little bit different. Maybe instead of braking at the three mark at Phoenix, you brake at the two, so it is maybe 50 feet different. It is not massive, so I think you are going to see similar racing to what we have had in the past everything is just going to be a little bit quicker.”

GOING TO THIS RACE AT THE COLESIUM SO MUCH IS PUT INTO THIS IS GOING TO BE ENTERTAINING, IT’S DIFFERENT, IT’S GOING TO BE FUN. THERE IS HYPE IN PACKAGES AND DON’T BE THE LEADER GOING INTO TURN 3 ON THE LAST LAP, ARE YOU OK WITH THAT? ARE YOU OK WITH THE FACT THAT WE ARE GOING HERE AND EVERYONE IS EXPECTING IT TO BE WILD AND DIFFERENT AND BASICALLY IF CARNAGE HAPPENS CARNAGE HAPPENS? ARE YOU OK WITH THAT?

“Yeah definitely. The fact that it’s an exhibition race opens up a lot of things to try. I definitely commend NASCAR for doing some of the things with the platform and the format and all of that stuff. So, I think it’s great and yeah I would feel a little different about it if it was a points race, but I think it’s great to have events like this when it is really about the fans and trying to put on a good race and hopefully pride for the teams to try to win. We want to put our best foot forward and try to win on Sunday because that sets the tone for the rest of the year so that is important to us, but it is a little different event because it is a non-points race. I’m looking forward to it and kind of don’t know what I have to I get there.”

What is it about what you are seeing, and I know you have been on IRACING RUNNING THE COLESIUM WHAT IS IT THAT IS REMINDING YOU OF MARTINSVILLE?

“Yeah, I think just the shape of the track. I mean Bowman Gray when I raced there is a little bit rounder and the corners are a little bit maybe bigger than these corners, so I think the corners are tighter here which kind of makes it like Martinsville because Martinsville has pretty long straightaways and tight corners, so I think you are going to see a lot of the same things. That is kind of my idea, but we will have to see when we get there of what it really races like.”

I AM DOING A STORY ON JEFF GORDON AND HIS NEW ROLE. HE HAS BEEN THERE QUITE A LOT EVEN WHEN HE WAS WORKING FOR FOX, AS HE HAS BEEN MORE INVOLVED WITH THE TEAM OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS HOW HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM CHANGED PERSONALLY?

“Yeah, I think Jeff (Gordon) and I, I’m the closest with him out of all the drivers that used to race. So, I think he has been a big asset for me and all the guys and I feel like he has been close to the team but over the last like year and a half he has gotten really close with all of us and I probably talk to him once a week or once every couple weeks about things. His advice is definitely valuable, so big fan of him being on board with us fulltime and I see him around the shop more than I did probably when he was working for FOX so that’s cool. Yeah, I think it is going to be a good thing.”

OBVIOUSLY, I KNOW THAT YOU GREW UP AS AN AVID RACING AND NASCAR FAN, BUT FOR US ON THE WEST COAST THAT NORMALLY ISN’T THE STORY. WHAT WOULD HAVE TO SAY TO PROSPECTIVE FANS ON THIS SIDE OF THE COUNTRY AND WHY SHOULD THEY BUY INTO OR FOLLOW NASCAR?

“I think it’s just an ultra-competitive sport. You only have 36 to 40 guys out there and you only have one guy that wins, so I think it is very competitive. Your probability of winning is kind of low, but I think it really kind of something that people can cling to. The fact that it’s somewhat relatable and I don’t know it’s just exciting. When you go to a race for the first time and you hear the cars and understand what it is about, it’s a lot different than TV. I think having a chance to get people out to the track and kind of understand what it is like really shows the sense of speed and danger maybe that we are all doing.”

AND TO THAT WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT NASCAR’S MOVE TO DO THE CLASH THIS YEAR AT THE COLESIUM IN ORDER TO DRAW UP SOME MORE FANS ON THE WEST COAST?

‘I think it’s great. It seems to be hard to kind of get people out to Auto Club Speedway sometimes, so I think it’s great to kind of have it closer to the cities. I am all for doing more races around the cities. I think that’s a pretty cool idea. I think we see it with F1 a little bit and some of the different series, so excited for that and I think it is going to put on a great show.”

JUST SIMPLE, WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST THIS WEEKEND?

“Looking forward to just being out in a different environment. Looking forward to how cool it is going to look at that place, you know fill it up with fans. I have never raced in an atmosphere like that. I think the closest thing is Bristol and that’s an awesome environment when you pull off pit road for the race, so I think it’s going to be a really cool adrenaline rush kind of seeing how that plays out and seeing how it is before the race.”

GOING BACK TO THE SIM AND IRACING SIDE OF THINGS, YOU’RE E-NASCAR COKE DRIVER NICK OTTINGER FINISHED FIFTH LAST NIGHT AND HAD A COUPLE OF RACE SESSIONS. HAS HE TOLD YOU ANYTHING ABOUT THE TRACK AND HAVE YOU HAD DISCUSSIONS WITH HIM ON THAT?

“Yeah we text quite a bit, so yeah I kind of pick his brain a little bit from what I can learn from him and the iRacing side. I get a chance to go to the Chevrolet SIM after this and run the Coliseum for the first time, so you know excited for that. Hopefully I can learn some things that I can apply when we get there.”

I KNOW THE HAULERS ALREADY LEFT FOR LA, SO I KNOW YOU HAVENT LEFT YET SINCE YOU ARE IN YOUR APARTMENT. DOES THE TEAM PLAN TO DO ANYTHING FOR FUN WHILE THEY ARE IN LA BEFORE PRACTICE?

“I don’t know about fun. I think they’ve got their hands full, but yeah maybe I will go have some fun before the weekend. I get out there Friday, so I think there will be plenty of fun at the racetrack.”

WITH THE IRACING EVENTS THAT THEY HAD IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LA COLISEUM AND BEFORE IT WAS ANNOUNCED, DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THOSE AND DID YOU GIVE ANY FEEDBACK TO NASCAR ABOUT THE TRACK DEVELOPMENT?

“Yeah definitely. They came to me back in I think August/September to ask me about the track and what I thought so I got a chance to run a few laps on it and kind of get a feel for it. Definitely a cool track and feel like it’s got a lot of potential. Pretty cool to see it all come together through iRacing, so that’s pretty neat. Hopefully it turns out good for the fans.”
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.

The 2022 NASCAR season gets underway in a new fashion this weekend with the Clash at the Coliseum, an event that is the first of its kind for the sport. The long-awaited Next Gen car will debut this weekend, as will Brad Keselowski (for RFK) and a new format for the race. Jack Roush boasts one win all-time in the Clash with Mark Martin in 1999.

Clash at the Coliseum
Sunday, Feb. 6 | 6 p.m. ET
FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
· Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Violet Defense Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

Clash Format

NASCAR takes is annual exhibition, season kickoff event to a venue that has never hosted racing before – the Los Angeles Coliseum – for an action-packed weekend of on-track activity. The sport’s visit to the historic venue for the first time brings with it a new format and a new look.

Saturday’s on-track activity will get started with a practice session at 12:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying will take place later in the day (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1), which will set the lineup for Sunday’s heat races. Every car entered into the Clash automatically advances to one of the heat races.

Sunday, drivers will compete in one of four 25-lap heat races with up to 10 cars in each race. The fastest qualifying driver from Saturday will start on pole in the first heat race, second fastest starts on pole in the second heat race and so on.

The top four finishers in each heat race will automatically advance to the main event, totaling 16 drivers with a ticket to the Sunday night feature. Drivers who do not advance will be placed into one of two 50-lap last chance qualifier (LCQ) races. The top three from each LCQ advance to the Sunday feature.

The final spot in the 23-man main event is reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ.

Keselowski Set for RFK Debut in LA

Brad Keselowski’s long-awaited debut in an RFK Racing machine comes this weekend in the No. 6 Violet Defense Ford Mustang. He joined the team at the end of last year as co-owner and driver, and embarks on his 13th full-time season in NASCAR’s top series in 2022.

Keselowski is aiming for his 10th appearance in the annual exhibition event. He is the 2018 winner of the Clash, and overall has five top-10s in the event. He ran fourth in his first-ever Clash in 2012 in his Championship season, then followed that up with a P2 in 2014.

Buescher Aiming for Third Appearance in Clash

Chris Buescher has two starts all-time in the annual Clash event, including a ninth-place finish in 2017 and a 16th-place run in last season’s edition in Daytona.

Martin Wins 1999 Clash for Jack Roush

NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin has Jack Roush’s lone win in the Clash event, winning back in 1999. He started from the 13th position and went on to lead the final 16 laps, topping Ken Schrader and Bobby Labonte on the podium for the victory.

RFK Clash Wins
1999 Martin Cup

CHASE BRISCOE
Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview
● Event: Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 6
● Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
● Layout: Quarter-mile oval
● Format: 150-lap Feature with a 23-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
● Note: Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 3-5 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 6 p.m. EST.

Notes of Interest

● After a 13-week offseason, the NASCAR Cup Series is gearing up for the first race of 2022. It’s a season that will begin in a new location, on a new track, with a new car. The non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum kicks off the season Saturday and Sunday at a track other than Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for the first time since 1981. On a purpose-built, quarter-mile, asphalt oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Cup Series will debut the new NextGen car, the seventh variation of the NASCAR stock car first introduced in 1949. And, Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will be showing up with a new look.

● The famed No. 14 Ford Mustang will roll into the Coliseum sporting the red-and-black colors embraced by fans when the car was piloted by team co-owner and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. Briscoe’s new livery includes subtle detailing around the hood vents and shadowed behind the iconic number that represents a new partnership with Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America. Part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, Mahindra Ag North America is the No. 1 selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners, and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra Tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort at a great value. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

● While Briscoe will be behind the wheel of the No. 14 for the first race of the year, Stewart will be keeping a close eye on his team from the FOX Sports broadcast booth and will have a front row seat for the debut of the Mahindra Tractors national television campaign featuring the SHR duo. The first in a series of spots features the mentor and mentee relationship between the Indiana natives and sets out to settle the debate of who is tougher. The national spot airing during the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum signifies a continuation of Mahindra’s longstanding relationship with the FOX family of networks, which in 2022 expands to include in-race branding and additional in-car coverage of Briscoe and the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Mustang. Race fans will see plenty of the Mahindra red in tv spots during race broadcasts, picture-in-picture race coverage and during weekly FS1 broadcasts like RaceHub.

● Briscoe, the 2021 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, cut his teeth on the bullrings of the Midwest, learning to navigate the tight corners of quarter-mile tracks and avoiding destruction nearly every lap to make it to the finish. Though the track built inside the Coliseum won’t be covered in the dirt that Briscoe is so accustomed to, the format of the event provides some much-desired familiarity for the seasoned dirt-track racer.

● On Saturday, NASCAR Cup Series competitors will take to the track for practice prior to single-car qualifying runs to determine the starting order for four heat races. The field will be open to 40 entrants. On Sunday, on-track action will begin with four, 25-lap heat races consisting of 10 cars each. Below is a breakdown of how the heat races will be filled out:

● The top-four fastest qualifiers from Saturday’s single-car qualifying session will be on the pole for each heat race, while cars that qualified fifth through eighth will make up the other half of the front row in each heat.
● The remainder of each field will be filled out using this methodology: Heat one will be made up of cars with qualifying positions of one, five, nine, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37.
● The top-four finishers (16 total cars) from each heat race automatically advance through to the Busch Light Clash, with the winner of heat one winning the pole and the heat two winner earning the outside pole.
● The winners of heats three and four will fill out the second row, with the remaining order of those 16 cars being determined in the same manner.
● The remaining six finishing positions from each heat (24 total cars) that did not advance will continue through to one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying (LCQ) races. Below is a breakdown on how the LCQ will be filled out:
● The starting order for these two events will be determined based on finishing positions in the heat races.
● Those who did not advance from heats one and three will make up the first LCQ race. The second race will be made of up those from heats two and four.
● The fifth-place finishers from heats one and two will be on the pole in their respective LCQ races. The fifth-place finishers from heats three and four will be on the outside pole.
● This pattern will continue to fill out 12 cars in each event.
● The top-three finishers (six total cars) from both LCQ races will advance to the Busch Light Clash, filling out positions 17-22 of the 23 available positions.
● The final spot in the Busch Light Clash will be reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ races.
● All other drivers will be eliminated from competition for the remainder of the event weekend.

● Put simply, every driver will have to race their way into the feature. While this is Briscoe’s first time participating in the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, the 27-year-old has already raced his way through heat races in 2022 with Mahindra Tractors by his side. Three weeks ago, Briscoe competed in the 2022 Chili Bowl Nationals in a Mahindra Tractors-sponsored Midget. During his qualifying night, he finished second in his heat race and won his qualifier to start fifth in the Monday-night A-main. An 11th-place finish secured him a seventh-place starting spot for the C-Main on Championship Saturday. Good fortune did not follow Briscoe into the C-Main, however, as first-lap contact damaged the No. 5 Chase Briscoe Racing entry and he finished sixth, just one spot short of the transfer and ending his hopes of competing for a Golden Driller. This weekend, he’ll look to rebound with the help of his years of dirt racing experience against NASCAR’s elite Cup Series competitors.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’ve already raced a few times this year, so how has the season started and what do you expect during your first Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum?

“I think it’s gone OK, so far. It was nice to have a chance to start the season off with Mahindra Tractors at the Chili Bowl. I wish it had gone better but we have a whole season of Cup racing to get the results we want. It’s been exciting to have them on board and supporting everything we do as a team and some of the racing I do on my own, but I’m really looking forward to getting to L.A. and having them at the first race of the NASCAR season. I’m not sure what to expect, honestly. With a quarter-mile track, I think we can expect a lot of beating and banging and maybe even some tempers by the end. That’s typically what we get at these short tracks. I’d like to say it’s the first race, so everyone will take it easy but, after heat races and everything, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few guys had their feelings hurt. We’re all racers and we want to win, so it’ll for sure be a good show for everyone watching.”

You mentioned Mahindra Tractors being on your Chili Bowl car and the support they’ve shown the team as you prepare for the start of the season. Does this partnership feel like a natural fit?

“It really does. They’ve done a lot in just the few months we’ve been together to show that they are all in and that’s huge for a sponsor that is new to the sport in this way. The announcement in Indianapolis was really cool and it meant a lot to be able to start the next chapter at a place that means so much to me. They’ve even had a couple of team lunches for the guys in the shop and I think it’s good for those guys to see it’s not just about me. It’s about the confidence they have in all of us. We’re a team and we’re all here for each other. It takes a lot of work and dedication to do what we do and to have a sponsor that is heavily invested in every part of it is a big deal. It means a lot and is a great reflection of who they are as a company. There’s a family feel to how this is all coming together and I just want to make them proud of this partnership.”

What was the biggest thing you learned during your rookie year in the Cup Series?

“The biggest thing I learned my rookie year was that it takes a lot of things in the Cup Series to have a good result. At the end of the day, every little detail matters, whether it’s getting off and on pit road under green, having a good pit stop, and every pit stop with no penalties, and good restarts. It literally takes every single thing to even be in the hunt at the end of the day. There are days where you can do everything perfect and you’re still not in the hunt, so just trying to capitalize on those days where you have a good car and good speed and not make mistakes. Last year, I made a lot of mistakes, whether it was penalties or just not maximizing pit road and things like that. So, I’m going to try improve on that this year and learn from those things and be able to capitalize when we do have a good car.”

How are you better as a driver in January 2022 compared to January 2021, after one season in the Cup Series, and what specific areas of your skill set are you most wanting to work on over the course of this season?

“Everybody at the Cup Series level has been a winner their entire career. They’ve won at many different levels. Even the guys running 25th have won their entire career so, for me, the Cup side really opened up my eyes. In the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series, you’re only racing against seven, eight, nine, 10 really competitive drivers and you can make mistakes and get away with it and still win. You can even make multiple mistakes and still win where, on the Cup side, you can literally do everything perfect and still run 15th. So, just trying to figure out how to minimize those mistakes was probably the hardest thing for me. I was just looking the other day and there was a stat that I think I had more penalties on pit road than anybody in the whole field, so just trying to do less of that. Those guys are so good. They’ve all been racing 15-20 years. They’ve been running 500 miles every weekend for 15-20 years. They’re just good. They have so much racecraft. They know where to put their car to make it hard for you to pass. They’ve seen every situation, so getting that experience of racing around guys that are much, much better, much more experienced than me was huge, I felt like, the first year. Hopefully, I can use that to my advantage this coming year. But then I would say the biggest area where I would like to improve is on the short tracks. I feel like I’m probably the only guy in the entire field in the Cup Series that has never short-track raced my entire life. I never ran a Late Model. I never ran anything. The first time I ever ran a short track was in the Truck Series at Martinsville. I really struggle when we go to places that have that short-track feel – a Martinsville, Richmond, New Hampshire. Those have always been statistically my worst racetracks and, just how you have to drive the car at those places, I really struggle.”

No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe
Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: John Klausmeier
Hometown: Perry Hall, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey
Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Spotter: Joey Campbell
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey
Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Chris Jackson
Hometown: Rock Hill, South Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Jack Man: Brandon Banks
Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams
Hometown: Naples, Florida

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads
Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips
Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Rob Fink
Hometown: Mocksville, North Carolina

NASCAR’s decision to move the car numbers on the Next Gen car from the traditional center of the door to the front of the car has created an opportunity for co-primary sponsors on the No. 21 Ford Mustang that Harrison Burton will drive in the Daytona 500.

The Wood Brothers’ long-time backer, Motorcraft/Quick Lane, will have its logos on the hood and quarter panels of the No. 21 Mustang. DEX Imaging, the nation’s largest independent office equipment dealer and long-time supporter of Burton throughout his climb up the racing ladder, will be represented on the new door space.

Burton, making his official full-time Cup debut at Daytona, said having those two sponsors sharing top billing on his Mustang is “an unbelievably cool experience.”

“DEX has been with me since I was 13 and has helped me along the way,” Burton said. “And Motorcraft is one of the most historic and storied sponsors ever.”

“I’m excited to represent them both. Motorcraft has a long, successful history at Daytona and has won the 500. And I’m happy to be a part of adding DEX to the fold.”

The two sponsors seem to be as enthusiastic as Burton about their racing programs.

“Everyone at Motorcraft/Quick Lane is thrilled to begin our 22nd season as the primary sponsor of Wood Brothers Racing,” said Jon Orth, Marketing Manager for Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD). “We’re looking forward to an exciting 2022 campaign with rookie driver Harrison taking the wheel of the new Next Gen Ford Mustang. We’re also pleased to welcome DEX Imaging as a co-sponsor of the No. 21 car at the Daytona 500 and throughout this year.”

Nancy Lycan, Chief Marketing Officer of DEX Imaging, expressed similar sentiments.

“DEX Imaging is proud and excited to be kicking off the 2022 season at Daytona with Harrison,” Lycan said. “We’ve come a long way together and anticipate more great performances from Harrison as he debuts in the Cup Series.”

Burton said that joining the elite Cup Series is a major challenge for a young driver, but he’s up to the task even though he has just one prior Cup start, last year at Talladega.

This year is different, as the entire Cup field will be adjusting to an all-new Next Gen race car. Burton said that offers some advantage for him, but not as much as one might think.

“Being a rookie in Cup is always hard, and no car is going to change that,” he said. “The drivers in the Cup Series are the best in the business. It’s going to be a transition period for them too, so this is the best time for me to make the transition to Cup.”

Qualifying for the 64th running of the Daytona 500 is set for Feb.16 at 8:05 p.m. The Duel qualifying races are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Feb. 17, and the Daytona 500 rolls off on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 2:30 p.m., with TV coverage on FOX.

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About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

About Motorcraft
Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln Dealers, independent distributors and automotive-parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty* of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.

About Omnicraft
Omnicraft is part of the Ford lineup of parts brands: Ford Parts, Motorcraft and Omnicraft. Omnicraft is the exclusive non-Ford/Lincoln parts brand of premium aftermarket parts. With over a century of parts heritage to build upon, Omnicraft provides excellent quality and fit and is a preferred choice of professional automotive technicians. To find out more about Omnicraft, visit www.omnicraftautoparts.com or contact your local Ford or Lincoln Dealership.

About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine maintenance, serving all vehicle makes and models. Quick Lane provides a full menu of automotive services, including tires, oil change & maintenance, brakes, batteries, alternator & electrical system, air conditioning system, cooling system, transmission service, suspension & steering, wheel alignment, belts & hoses, lamps & bulbs, wiper blades plus a thorough vehicle checkup report. Service is performed by expert technicians while you wait at any of nearly 800 locations in the U.S., with evening and weekend hours available and no appointment necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification; mobility solutions, including self-driving services; and connected services. Ford employs approximately 187,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit corporate.ford.com.

*See seller for limited-warranty details.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

PLANO, Texas (February 2, 2022) – Sirius XM Radio Inc. will continue its long-term relationship with Toyota – backing both of Toyota’s full-time Cup Series teams – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and 23XI Racing – for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. SiriusXM, the leading audio entertainment company in North America, will have primary schemes on JGR’s No. 20 Toyota Camry TRD driven by Christopher Bell and 23XI Racing’s No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD driven by Kurt Busch.

These sponsorships highlight the long-running Toyota relationship with SiriusXM in NASCAR which began in 2007. In 2019, SiriusXM announced a landmark agreement with Toyota where all Toyota models sold in the Continental U.S. would be outfitted with SiriusXM. Since the launch of the program, all Toyota customers receive a three-month subscription to the SiriusXM Platinum Plan, which delivers SiriusXM’s full lineup of exclusive and curated content, plus access to SiriusXM outside the vehicles on the SXM App and on connected devices and speakers, with the purchase of their vehicle.

“We are excited to be back with Toyota Racing for the 2022 season. We look forward to seeing Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota Camry showcase the SiriusXM paint scheme once again and we’re thrilled to welcome former Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch and his No. 45 Toyota Camry to the family,” said Christopher Lam, SiriusXM’s Senior Vice President of Automotive Partnerships. “We couldn’t be more proud of our long-standing relationship with Toyota and to deliver SiriusXM as a standard feature on every vehicle they manufacture for sale in the Continental U.S.”

Bell, who will debut his 2022 SiriusXM scheme at the season opening Busch Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum, will be competing with SiriusXM colors for the second consecutive season. Last year, Bell scored several strong runs in the blue-and-white Camry including a fourth-place effort in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway in April and a runner-up finish at the inaugural Cup Series race at Road America in July.

“We had some great runs with SiriusXM on our Toyota Camry last season, and I expect more of the same in 2022,” said Bell. “Their schemes always look great on the track and I look forward to starting the year strong at the Clash with them on the hood.”

In addition to the Busch Clash, Bell will compete in the SiriusXM Toyota Camry TRD in four events: the spring races at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, August’s event at Michigan International Speedway and October’s race on the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway.

Cup Series champion Kurt Busch is joining the SiriusXM family for the first time in his debut season for 23XI Racing in the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD. Busch will run the SiriusXM colors in two races: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July and the Labor Day classic at Darlington Raceway in the fall.

“I’m excited to work with SiriusXM for the first time,” said Busch. “I enjoy listening to SiriusXM away from the track, so this is a natural fit. Getting to experience relationships like the one that’s been formed between Toyota and SiriusXM is a testament to the dedication of both companies to our sport.”

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.

About SiriusXM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is the leading audio entertainment company in North America, and the premier programmer and platform for subscription and digital advertising-supported audio products. SiriusXM’s platforms collectively reach approximately 150 million listeners, the largest digital audio audience across paid and free tiers in North America, and deliver music, sports, talk, news, comedy, entertainment and podcasts. Pandora, a subsidiary of SiriusXM, is the largest ad-supported audio entertainment streaming service in the U.S. SiriusXM’s subsidiaries Stitcher, Simplecast and AdsWizz make it a leader in podcast hosting, production, distribution, analytics and monetization. The Company’s advertising sales organization, which operates as SXM Media, leverages its scale, cross-platform sales organization and ad tech capabilities to deliver results for audio creators and advertisers. SiriusXM, through Sirius XM Canada Holdings, Inc., also offers satellite radio and audio entertainment in Canada. In addition to its audio entertainment businesses, SiriusXM offers connected vehicle services to automakers. For more about SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.