TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
SOUTH POINT 400
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
SEPT. 26, 2021

RACE #30 – LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
The Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Playoffs for four Team Chevy drivers opens Sunday, September 26, with the 267-lap South Point 400 on the 1.5-mile oval of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Chevrolet has won nine of the 27 NCS races held at the Nevada venue, including the past two by Kyle Larson (March 2021) and Kurt Busch (September 2020). Larson, first in the Playoff standings entering the race, will start from the pole in his No. 5 Tarlton and Son Camaro ZL1 1LE.

The diverse three-race set of the second round also includes the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway oval and the Charlotte ROVAL, where the field will be trimmed from 12 drivers to eight in pursuit for the NCS championship title.
A look at Team Chevy in the NASCAR Cup Series title hunt:

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Tarlton and Son Camaro ZL1 1LE – 1st in Standings (3,059 Points)
Victories: 6 (field-high)
Top-Fives: 16; Top-10’s: 21; Poles: 1; Laps Led: 1,905
Average Finish: 9.0
Stage Wins: 14
At Las Vegas (10 career NCS starts): Wins: 1; Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 7; Average Finish: 9.8
Of Note: In the March 2021 NCS race at Las Vegas, Larson led a field-high 103 of 267 laps to capture his first win of the 2021 NCS season and his first with Hendrick Motorsports. The NCS Regular Season Champion starts the second round 46 points above the cutline.

Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 6th in Standings (3,021 points)
Victories: 2
Top-Fives: 12; Top-10’s: 17; Laps Led: 524; Average Finish: 12.0
Stage Wins: 3
At Las Vegas (9 career NCS starts): Top-Fives: 2; Top-10’s: 3; Average Finish: 20.556
Of Note: The 2021 NCS season marks Elliott’s sixth consecutive year of being part of the Playoff field. Six of his 13 career NCS wins have come in the Playoffs. Elliott has wins at five of the next seven venues on the NCS schedule.

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE –7th in Standings (3,015 Points)
Victories: 3
Top-Fives: 7; Top-10’s 14; Pole Wins: 1; Laps Led: 151; Average Finish: 14.1
At Las Vegas (9 career NCS starts): Top-Fives: 1; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 19.667
Of Note: The 2021 NCS season marks Bowman’s fourth-career Playoffs appearance. Bowman has raced his way into the Round of 12 for the last three years. Bowman tied a career best at Bristol of a fifth-place finish to advance to the Round of 12.

William Byron, No. 24 Axalta/Service King Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings (3,014 Points)
Victories: 1
Top-Fives: 10; Top-10’s: 17; Pole Wins: 2; Laps Led: 276; Average Finish: 13.7
Stage Wins: 3
At Las Vegas (8 career NCS starts): Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 20.286
Of Note: The 2021 NCS season marks Byron’s third-career Playoffs appearance. Byron produced a career-high third place finish at Bristol, making up an 18-point deficit to advance to the Round of 12. In six NCS races on 1.5-mile tracks thus far this season, Byron has captured one win (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and finished inside the top 10 in five of those races.

CHEVROLET OCCUPIES SEVEN OF 12 NXS PLAYOFF SPOTS
Seven drivers of the Chevrolet Camaro SS – AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider and Jeremy Clements – qualified for the 12-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Playoffs that begin Saturday, September 25, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Allmendinger sealed the regular season championship with his fourth victory of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Kaulig Racing driver returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to become a repeat winner after capturing the NXS victory at Las Vegas in March. Chevrolet, with 12 NXS wins, is heading into the NXS playoff run atop the Manufacturer Standings.

NCWTS ROUND OF EIGHT
Reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar advanced to the Round of 8 in their Chevrolet Silverado’s. The reigning NCWTS Champion, Sheldon Creed, had an impressive first round, capturing the victory at two of the three races in the Round of 10. Creed leads the Team Chevy brigade sitting second in the driver standings. The Round of 8 kicks off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, September 24, with the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 Presented by Westgate Resorts.

TWENTY YEARS AGO – GORDON RECORDS CHEVY’S FIRST
Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon gave the Bowtie Brand its first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4, 2001. Gordon led twice, including the final 20 laps of the 267-lap race, after starting 24th. Jimmie Johnson leads Chevrolet and all NCS drivers with four wins at the track, including three in a row in 2005, ’06 and ’07.

CHEVROLET HOLDS LEAD IN MANUFACTURER STANDINGS
Chevrolet remains the leader in the NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Standings in pursuit of its 40th title. Team Chevy has recorded field highs of 14 victories, 128 top-10 finishes, 3,300 laps led and 26 stage wins through 29 races. The Bowtie Brand has already surpassed its totals for wins (9), top-10 finishes (120), laps led (2,399) and stage wins (21) from the 36-race 2020 season.

BUSCH TO MAKE 750TH START ON HOME TRACK
Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, driving the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE, will make his 750th NASCAR Cup Series start on his home track. In his 22nd season, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion is the longest-tenured active driver in terms of career starts. He has 33 wins and 327 top-10 finishes. Busch, 43, qualified for the Playoffs this season for the 15th time in the 18 years of the postseason.

ON THE WAY TO THE GREEN
With no practice or qualifying for the 267-lap race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results.

Team Chevy’s Top-20 Starters:
1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 Tarlton and Son Camaro ZL1 1LE
3rd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta/Service King Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
11th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cat Trial 11: Hot Wheels Camaro ZL1 1LE
15th Austin Dillon, No. 3 BETMGM Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Erik Jones, No. 43 Medallion Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE
18th Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1 1LE
20th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE

BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 14 wins, 128 top-10 finishes and 3,300 laps led of 7,293 total this season.
· In addition to its nine wins, Chevrolet has amassed 55 top-five and 106 top-10 finishes in 27 races since Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened in 1998.
· The Southpoint 400 is the fourth race of the Playoffs. Career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson won the fourth race in 2009 and 2016 on the way to claiming the Driver Championship.
· Johnson’s four wins at Las Vegas leads all drivers.
· Erik Jones (22 years, 3 months, 17 days) is the youngest pole winner at Las Vegas.
· Jones led non-Playoff drivers with an eighth-place finish at Bristol.
· Hendrick Motorsports continues to lead the Owner Standings.
· Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,905 laps led.
· Tyler Reddick is second among drivers with 99.49% of laps completed (7,256 of 7,293).
· Five Team Chevy drivers have combined for 26 stage wins: Chase Elliott (Daytona RC, Michigan, Daytona2); William Byron (Homestead, Pocono2, Road America); Tyler Reddick (Road America, Indianapolis Road Course x2); Kurt Busch (Nashville Superspeedway, Pocono1, Atlanta2); Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville, Darlington2, Bristol2).

TUNE IN
NBCSN will telecast the 267-lap NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at 7 p.m. ET, Sunday, Sept. 26. Live coverage is also on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. NBCSN will also telecast the 201-lap NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 302 at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 25. FS1 will telecast the 134-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts at 9 p.m. ET, Friday, Sept. 24.

QUOTABLE QUOTES
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 TARLTON AND SON CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 1st IN STANDINGS
LARSON ON RETURNING TO LAS VEGAS:
“It’s nice going back to a track we’ve won at before. We were really good at Vegas earlier this year, so definitely excited to go back and hoping we have similar speed. The temperature will be much warmer this weekend, so that changes things but our team has been really good at adapting to every situation this year. Hopefully, we can prepare well and have another good car and battle for the win.”

CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 TARLTON AND SON CAMARO ZL1 1LE
DANIELS ON HOTTER TEMPERATURES COMPARED TO MARCH:
“It definitely presents a lot of challenges – from the ambient air temperature to the track temperature, and the pace is going to be slower and (tire) fall off is going to be higher. We’re taking all that into consideration and hope we make the right decisions to have a good car – not only for speed but longer into a run when grip is lacking.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGS
“We haven’t had the best results at Las Vegas. The good thing is I feel like we have been fast out there at times. That’s the frustrating thing. Terrible results. I feel like every time I leave out there I’m mad and ready to go home, but I’m looking forward to this trip. Vegas is a place that I don’t have any ill will toward and again, I feel like we have had pace there. We have just really struggled to get the results. Hopefully, this time is a little different. It would be nice to get a win out there. That would be even better.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS
“Advancing to the Round of 12 was exactly what we needed to do going into the Bristol race. It is obvious we struggled in the first two races in the playoffs, but we went into Bristol with a strategy and Greg (Ives) and the team did a great job with adjustments throughout the race. We fought hard and coming out with a fifth-place finish was big for this Ally team. We want to take Ally as far as we can in these playoffs and putting races together like last weekend will do just that for us.”

“Going to Vegas this weekend is a good track for the 48 team. We have seen success there in the past and earlier this season we had a top-10, if not a top-five run going before we had a tire go down. Our mile and a half program is strong and this Ally team has been working hard on our Chevrolets. This round of the playoffs has a lot of good tracks for us, so we are looking to have strong runs the next three weeks.”

GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
“Whether it’s a great week or a bad week, you try to look at each week as a new start and have realistic goals in mind. A realistic goal for us at Las Vegas is a win. There are some places you go and try to get top five in stages and then come out with a good finish. With Vegas, I feel like we got great race cars capable of going out there and scoring a lot of stage points and getting the win. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we have teammates who have the same thing. We just got to go out there and execute to the best of our abilities and take advantage when we can. Whether it’s a restart or on pit road or short runs or long runs. We just got to stay focused on that. I feel like we’re capable of winning at any racetrack, but there’s a lot of confidence going back to Vegas.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA / SERVICE KING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS
BYRON ON HOW CRUCIAL LAS VEGAS IS FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS:
“It’s a great feeling knowing that we had the performance we did in Bristol and were able to advance on. I knew this team was capable of it but to be able to execute it in a Game 7-style situation is even more impressive. Now we’re moving on and turning or focus to the next round. These upcoming tracks are ones that have always been good for us but they also can be wildcards in their own respective, especially Talladega (Superspeedway) and the Charlotte ROVAL. That’s why it’s even more important for us to go to Vegas, execute everything and maximize points. We don’t want to start this round off in a hole like we did the first round. Myself and Rudy (Fugle) would rather play offense through these next three races than have to worry on defending points. Vegas is crucial, in my mind, to determine how you play the rest of the round. Hopefully, we come out with a win and the only points that matter for the next two races are playoff points.”

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA / SERVICE KING CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FUGLE ON THE MOMENTUM HEADING TO LAS VEGAS:
“We’re super excited to hit the reset button at this stage. Darlington put us behind and we didn’t have a good run at Richmond. It made Bristol way too stressful. I feel like Vegas is really good for us, and this whole round has tracks where we are fast and perform well. I’m really excited about getting a reset, getting a good start at Vegas, competing for a win and maybe not having to worry about the next two (races), so that would be great.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 24th IN STANDINGS
THOUGHTS ON GOING BACK TO LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOR A SECOND TIME THIS SEASON?
“I’m looking forward to going back to Las Vegas (Motor Speedway). We had a really good run there in the spring with a top-10. Hopefully we can just go back and run as good and improve on it, as well. We’ll see how it goes. Las Vegas is kind of an interesting track. I feel like this race is a lot different than the spring, just because it ends at night and the track changes a lot when it cools down.”
“Overall, I feel good about our package and being able to come back with something that was good in the spring and hopefully just as good when we go back this weekend.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 GOOD SAM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 25th IN STANDINGS
WHAT IS DANIEL’S AMIGOS?
“Daniel’s Amigos was just an idea. I always wanted to do something special for the Latinos, and was just trying to come up with ways to bring this community to the race track and give them a special, cool experience.

“After several conversations with Coca-Cola and NASCAR, we were able to make it happen in 2019 at Auto Club Speedway in California. The program just grew from there until COVID made us take a break. It has been a while since we have done it, but we are back Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“It has taken a lot of work by Coca-Cola and NASCAR to make this happen, but I am super excited about it.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ON SUNDAY WITH DANIEL’S AMIGOS?
“We are going to have a few hundred people in the infield of the race track in an open air space where they can have a good time. I am going to be there for 45 minutes, taking pictures, questions and answers and lots of fun. I want them to get to know me better and I want to get to know them. I want to show them how cool NASCAR really is.”

WHY IS THIS PROGRAM IMPORTANT?
“One of the great things I love about our sport is that it is very family oriented. Every time I get the opportunity to do one of these Daniel’s Amigos events, I want to make them feel like they are at home so they will come back and support us every week at the track.”

HOW COOL WOULD IT BE TO WIN SUNDAY?
“Winning Sunday would be amazing. I would invite all 200 Daniel’s Amigos to victory lane to help us celebrate.”

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 BUILT BAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS
“Heading into Vegas this weekend with some high hopes. I turn 30 on Saturday, so my friends at Built Bar did a special scheme that makes me look like I’m turning 80. We broke a gear running 16th the first race here, so hopefully we can back that up and have an even better run this time. This track changes drastically from the start of the race in the direct sunlight, to the end of the race when it finishes under the lights. We’ve got some good notes that we’ll apply from previous races & stay on top of the changes to our Built Bar Camaro all night.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:
Total (1949-2020): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Drivers Championships:
Total (1949-2020): 32
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Most Recent: Chase Elliott (2020)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020

Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2021 STATISTICS:
Wins: 14
Poles: 5
Laps Led: 3,300
Top-five finishes: 60
Top-10 finishes: 128
Stage wins: 26 – Chase Elliott (Daytona RC, Michigan, Daytona), William Byron (Homestead, Pocono 2, Road America), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville, Darlington, Bristol), Kurt Busch (Nashville, Pocono 1, Atlanta 2), Tyler Reddick (Road America, Indy RC x2)

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 809 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 722
Laps led to date: 240,005
Top-five finishes to date: 4,125
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,530

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,143
       Chevrolet: 809
       Pontiac: 154
       Oldsmobile: 115
       Buick: 65

       Ford: 811                                                         
       Ford: 711
       Mercury: 96
       Lincoln: 4

       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
       Dodge: 217
       Plymouth: 191
       Chrysler: 59

       Toyota: 160

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR Media Zoom | Thursday, September 23, 2021

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang, is one of four Ford drivers still alive in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which continues this weekend with the first race in the Round of 12. Keselowski spoke about what lies ahead as part of a NASCAR Zoom call this afternoon.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang — HOW ARE YOU SET FOR SPONSORSHIP NEXT SEASON AT ROUSH? “We’re having amazing conversations. The market is incredibly strong — in kind of the decision phase on some really great partners that are new to the sport, so I am thrilled with where we’re at. I don’t have anything to announce today, obviously. I think I would look for us to make one consolidated announcement with respect to our sponsors and our brand initiatives and team lineup all at one time after the season is over, so I’m really excited about it. I think conceptually there’s been a lot of energy around the sport on the partner side and we’re riding a wave of momentum. I’m sorry I can’t give any specifics, but as a general topic things are looking pretty good. I wouldn’t say we have everything done yet by any means today, but a lot of good movement.”

HOW WILL THE NEW PACKAGE IMPACT HOW THE CARS RACE AT TALLADEGA, IF AT ALL? “That’s a good question. I think there’s some thoughts that we’ll see some tandem racing. I’m not totally caught up on that yet. Overall, I thought the racing was pretty good at Daytona. It was a little bit less of a crashfest for most of the race than most people thought it would be, so that’s good. Ultimately, I don’t expect a big difference though.”

HOW IS YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL KNOWING VEGAS HAS BEEN A GOOD TRACK FOR YOU IN THE PAST? “Las Vegas has been incredible for us. We had a great run going there last fall and got shuffled on a restart and didn’t get that top 10, but, other than that, we’ve been a solid contender year in and year out. I think we finished second there in the spring and seem to be able to get it done there, so hoping for big things. Obviously, we need a strong performance for this round and the races in it. This is a tough round and I think we’ll have a great shot at doing just that.”

WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ROGER AND TEAM PENSKE? “It’s been a hell of a ride. It’s made me a better race car driver and a better person, and I’m incredibly proud of that. I’m incredibly proud of the things we’ve done, the people we’ve met, the experiences that have come with it. Knowing and working with Roger Penske has, like I said, made me a better person in a lot of ways and a lot of the people around there are just tremendous people as well at Team Penske. I’m certainly gonna miss working with a lot of them and it’s bittersweet. Obviously, I’m very much looking forward to new opportunities that are in front of me, otherwise I wouldn’t have left, but, on the other side, just really proud of what we’ve done together and sad to see that piece come to an end.”

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO THINK THE HIGH DOWNFORCE PACKAGE PUTS LESS EMPHASIS ON DRIVER SKILL AND MORE ON RANDOM LUCK? “I don’t know that random luck is the right word for it, but there’s less car control and the racing is a little more procedural based undoubtedly, so I guess there’s always transitions. These cars from 10 years ago were just freaking animals. Man, were they hard to drive. A number of drivers loved that. That said, you could still get a car that was faster and be a lesser driver and win the race. There’s no doubt about that, so I struggle to say that talent doesn’t still matter it’s just the racing continues to get more and more procedural based, like I said, and that still requires some talent.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FIRST ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS AND WHAT’S YOUR EVALUATION OF THE TEAM GOING INTO THIS NEXT ROUND? “I’m proud of the results we had at Bristol. It’s the best run we’ve had in roughly a month, which was sorely needed. If we can show that kind of speed, we have the opportunity to go deep in the playoffs and have a shot at the championship. I can’t answer whether that’s gonna be the case over the next few weeks. I don’t really control enough of those cards. Most of those are car based, but I can say that my pit crew is performing at a super high level, one of the strongest teams I’ve ever had on pit road. If we have the speed and the execution on the driver side to match the pit crew, we can go and win the championship. Right now, the speed has been our weakness to be quite frank, and that kind of stuff comes and goes and that’s why I hesitate to put expectations on anything because obviously as a driver I have some control of the speed quotient, but the reality is when you get to the Cup level most of the drivers are very close with respect to the ability of how fast they can make a car go on its own accord. Ultimately, we’ll see what we’ve got.”

HOW MUCH INTERACTION DO YOU HAVE WITH THE ROUSH GROUP ON A WEEKLY BASIS, ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU’RE STILL RACING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH PENSKE? “The interesting thing about our sport is we’re one of the few sports, somebody was telling me this the other day that cycling is this way, but we’re one of the few sports where you can be contracted with another team while competing with the team you’re with, which certainly is an interesting situation. You think of football, hockey, baseball, basketball, you’re either with one team or you’re not. Motorsports is certainly different in that way. Contractually, I have to honor my contract, which means non-competes and all of those kinds of things, so obviously I can’t be in the building and doing things for next year. I hear the rumblings of the test sessions and all that kind of stuff and certainly very curious as to how all that’s going, but my involvement is prohibited until the season is over.”

WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CARS BEING DIFFERENT 10 YEARS AGO, WHAT DOES THIS GENERATION HAVE TO DO DIFFERENTLY THAN BACK THEN? “I remember going to Martinsville my first year or two in Cup and you’d come up off the corner and you would spin the rear tires, you’d have brand new tires and you would spin the rear tires for 100-feet on new tires, and at the end of the run, I mean, the whole straightaway you would spin the rear tires. You might not ever get flat foot and now the last race I ran at Martinsville I came up off the corner and just flat-footed it for thirty-some laps like I was driving a street car or something. That’s a big difference because your ability to really feel the feedback of the car and the rear tires and really modulate the gas pedal is really an important skill that you used to have to have, but now you don’t. That said, there are other skills you have to have now that you didn’t have to have back then. The choose lane and all those things and knowing where to be and knowing how to fill the gaps on restarts, that was not the case back then. I mean, shoot, the whole Texas thing — the debacle I had with, was it Jeff Gordon there? Today, that’s like every week. There’s a gap, you fill it. Every restart. Where back then it’s like, geez, you even tried to make a move like that and everybody lost their marbles. Things have changed for sure. You could argue for the better. You could argue for the worse, but they’re different and that’s life and that’s really every sport. There are parts of me that really miss going to a track like Texas and being 10 laps in and spinning the rear tires at 185 miles an hour. That was pretty darn cool. I’m not gonna lie, but there are other days I don’t miss. I don’t miss going to Michigan and hauling her off at 9 a.m. practice at 220 miles an hour thinking, ‘Man, I hope I don’t blow a tire. I’m gonna end up in the grandstands.’ So there are tradeoffs to everything.”

IS THERE A WAY TO HAVE ANY HOPE OF THE SPEED THING GETTING BETTER THIS WEEKEND, OR DO YOU JUST GO OUT THERE AND POSITION YOURSELF AND FIGURE IT OUT THAT WAY? “If we knew the knobs that well to be able to predict it, we would turn them every week, so I can’t say honestly. I really don’t know what I’m gonna have this weekend. If we went there and we ran top five all week and snuck out a race win, I wouldn’t be shocked. If we went to Vegas and ran 10th to 15th all week and finished in that range, I wouldn’t be shocked. I don’t know what to expect with respect to our performance.”

IS THAT UNSETTLING OR IS THAT JUST THE WORLD WE LIVE IN AND YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT? “I think it’s part of the world we live in, that there are a lot of variables we can’t control and you get in the car and figure out what you’ve got and then you do the most you can with it to try to put yourself in a great position. I’m incredibly proud of the round that we had. We didn’t win a race. We didn’t contend to win a race in that first round, but we went to Darlington with a 15th-place car and put together a solid top-10 finish. We went to Richmond with a 15th to 20th-place car unfortunately, and put together a solid finish, got some stage points out of it and ended up 13th. And we went to Bristol with probably the best car we’ve had, probably a top-five car and scored the third-most points and finished sixth. In a lot of ways, the media and the fans look at the race winner as the guy that ran the best race. To me, I always look at the field and say, ‘Who did the best with the car they had?’ And I feel like we’re out-finishing our speed right now by a good bit and that’s a combination of certainly the moves I’m making on the racetrack and the moves that we make on pit road and with respect to pit strategy and the pit crew themselves, so I’m really proud of that. We knocked a few guys out of the first round that, quite frankly, were considerably faster than us, so that bodes well for us. If we can put the speed with all the other pieces we have, we’re a very dangerous team.”

THERE’S A WAVE OF FORMER DRIVERS NOW BECOMING CAR OWNERS. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? “I think there’s a confluence of factors. The Next Gen car certainly had an effect — the visibility toward it, super important. I think there’s other quotients that lie in there too with respect to, like you said, generations and ways things have developed. Where are we at? Denny Hamlin, myself and who else? I guess Kyle has the truck team, but doesn’t have a Cup deal, but I would suspect there would be one or two others that join and do this over the next couple of years, which is great. The charter was a big piece of this, no doubt. It probably doesn’t get enough credit. I hear a lot of people bad mouth the charters. Honestly, there are parts I like and dislike about it, don’t get me wrong, but I think as a whole it’s been good for the sport. That said, I struggle to say there’s one factor. I’d say there’s a confluence of factors.”

Milestone Start at Home Track

CONCORD, NC (Sept. 22, 2021) – NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) veteran competitor Kurt Busch will make career start No. 750 this Sunday Sept. 26 at his hometown track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). Busch is also the defending race winner of this weekend’s South Point 400 at LVMS.

The Las Vegas-native assumed sole possession of 12th on the all-time NCS career starts list last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway with career start 749, surpassing Tennessee-native Sterling Marlin, who had 748 NCS career starts to his credit.

Busch’s versatile driving talent has helped him to score poles and race victories on every type of track on which the NCS competes (superspeedway, intermediate, short-track and road course). The 43-year-old driver has also won at least one race in 18 of his 22 years of NCS competition, including at least one win in the last eight consecutive seasons.

NOTABLE WINS:

• First career win at Bristol Motor Speedway (2002)
• Has a total of six NCS wins at Bristol Motor Speedway
• NASCAR All-Star Race (2010)
• Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (2010)
• First road course win at Sonoma Raceway (2011)
• Daytona 500 (2017)
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2020). First home-track win

NOTES OF INTEREST:

• Busch has the most starts among active drivers in the NCS
• He will be just the 12th driver to reach the 750-career start milestone; six of the 11 drivers that have reached that number are currently in the NASCAR Hall of Fame
• Busch has won 33 NCS races with four different car owners – Jack Roush (14), Roger Penske (10), Stewart Haas Racing (6), Chip Ganassi (3).
• Has won at 17 different tracks
• This will also be the 102nd race start with Chip Ganassi Racing
• Busch competed just one full-time season in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2000, before moving-up to the top-tier NCS in 2001

Kurt Busch on NASCAR Cup Series Start No. 750: “It is hard to imagine, Twenty plus years in the NASCAR Cup Series. To have been able to compete at this level with some of the best teams in the sport and against the level of competition is such a privilege. It is like aging, the years seem to go faster, it seems like 700 starts was just a few weeks ago! I appreciate the friendships and partnerships over the years. I feel like I have some race wins still out in front of me and I am looking forward to whatever the next milestone will be that I have a privilege to accomplish.”

About Chip Ganassi Racing: Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 30 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world. Today his teams include four cars in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, two cars in the NASCAR Cup Series, and one car in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Extreme E. Overall, his teams have 20 championships and over 225 victories, including four Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400, eight Rolex 24 At Daytonas, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh. For more information log onto www.chipganassiracing.com