Denny Hamlin
11 FedEx Ground Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Saturday Race Info:
Race: Pocono Organics CBD 325
Date/Time: Saturday, June 26/3:00 p.m. ET
Distance: 130 laps/325 miles
Track Length: 2.5 miles
Track Shape: Triangle
2020 Winner: Kevin Harvick

Sunday Race Info:
Race: Explore the Pocono Mountains 350
Date/Time: Sunday, June 27/3:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 140 laps/350 miles
Track Length: 2.5 miles
Track Shape: Triangle
2020 Winner: Denny Hamlin

Express Notes:

Press Kit: Download the 2021 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Nashville Recap: Denny Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team were fighting for a top-10 finish Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, but fell outside the top 20 when they had to pit for fuel in the closing laps. The disappointing finish followed an afternoon of numerous adjustments to make the FedEx Express Toyota handle better around the 1.33-mile oval. Hamlin started 13th and fell as far back as 27th during Stage 1 when the car’s handling was at its worst. But the stop-after-stop tinkering with the set-up paid off in Stages 2 and 3, when the team ran consistently in the top five. The handling on the #11 took a step backward on the final run of the 399-mile event, knocking Hamlin out of the top five. The team was still in position to earn a top-10 finish, but Hamlin had to bring the car into the pits for fuel with two laps remaining. The move relegated him to a 21st-place finish, one lap down.

Pocono Preview: It’s a doubleheader this weekend as the Cup Series makes its way to the triangular course of Pocono Raceway for races on Saturday and Sunday. Last year, Hamlin and team finished second in the first race of the doubleheader and then earned a visit to Victory Lane in the second. At a track where he’s been a high performer his entire Cup career, Hamlin will look to repeat his past success at the “Tricky Triangle.”

Hamlin Statistics:

Track: Pocono Raceway
Races: 30
Wins: 6
Top-5: 13
Top-10: 20
Laps Led: 785
Avg. Start: 7.4
Avg. Finish: 11.3

Hamlin Conversation – Pocono:

How does your success at Pocono feed into your confidence?

“Just because we had success in the doubleheader there last year, I don’t think it will automatically mean we’ll have success this year. A lot of things about the cars and the rules have changed since last year. But I’m optimistic about it. I think we’re going to continue to get better as a team. And these summer months are really where we should be hitting our stride.”

Last year there were no fans in attendance due to COVID-19. But now with fans returning to the track does it feel like the intensity is higher?

“Pocono Raceway has got some very passionate fans. For 16 years, I’ve gotten to see some packed crowds there. So, winning there last year without fans around, you didn’t feel the same excitement. It will be fantastic to have the fans back and the infield packed with campers and kids playing. It’s part of what makes it a great track.”

FedEx Ground Along for the Ride at Pocono: The Northeast District leads the FedEx Ground Eastern region in safety metrics, so “NEST” will appear on the B-post of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota for the June 26/27 Pocono Raceway doubleheader to recognize their accomplishment.

FedEx Office – Closest to Pocono Raceway: 940 Schechter Dr., Suite 1, Wilkes Barre, PA, (570) 819-0813

KEVIN HARVICK
Pocono Doubleheader Advance

No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
Event Overview
● Event: Pocono Doubleheader (Rounds 18-19 of 36)
● Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
● Layout: 2.5-mile triangle
● Race No. 1: Pocono Organics CBD 325

▬  Time/Date:  3 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 26
▬  Laps/Miles:  130 laps/325 miles
▬  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 25 laps / Stage 2: 52 laps / Final Stage: 53 laps

● Race No. 2: Explore the Pocono Mountains 350

▬  Time/Date:  3:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 27
▬  Laps/Miles:  140 laps/350 miles
▬  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 30 laps / Stage 2: 55 laps / Final Stage: 55 laps

● TV/Radio: NBCSN / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● This time last year, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway was one of the few tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule where Kevin Harvick hadn’t yet won. He fixed that by leading the final 17 laps to take the checkered flag by .761 of a second over second-place Denny Hamlin in the first race of the doubleheader weekend. Harvick then followed up his win with a strong second-place finish on Sunday.
● This year’s doubleheader at Pocono will mark Harvick’s 41st and 42nd career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 2.5-mile triangle. Harvick has finished among the top-10 in half of his races at Pocono. He has 14 top-fives there as well, a stat that includes four second-place finishes.
● Harvick has also enjoyed success outside of the NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono. He has made two career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the track, winning from the pole in 2011 and finishing second in 2015.
● Last year’s doubleheader at Pocono was eagerly anticipated by the NASCAR industry. Two NASCAR Cup Series races on back-to-back days was going to be Pocono’s calling card – and then COVID hit. In order to get in all of its 36 points-paying races during a truncated timeframe, doubleheaders also took place Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and Aug. 22-23 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Pocono, however, was still the first, and now in 2021, is the only doubleheader on the calendar.
● How’d Harvick do at those other doubleheaders last year? He swept the Michigan races and won the second race at Dover after finishing fourth the day before. Harvick’s average finish across the six races that comprised all the doubleheaders was 1.667.
● We know the doubleheader involves two races in two days, but how is the starting field for each race determined? Thankfully, we know that too. The starting lineup for the first race was determined by Metric Qualifying, with the numbers coming from each drivers’ respective performance in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. So, who’s ready for some math?! It involves 15 percent of the driver’s fastest lap time position, 25 percent of the driver’s final race finishing position, 25 percent of the car owner’s final race position and 35 percent of the car owner’s points position. Just like in golf, lowest score wins. In the case of the first race at Pocono, Nashville race winner Kyle Larson is on the pole. Harvick, who finished fifth at Nashville, will start third. But wait, there’s more! The finishing order of the first Pocono race will determine the starting order of the second Pocono race. The top-20 finishers from Saturday’s race will have their final finishing positions inverted for Sunday’s race. So, the race winner will start 20th, second-place will start 19th, and so on. Drivers finishing between 21st and 40th on Saturday will start Sunday’s race in the same order they finished on Saturday. All of that was very math-centric. Who’s ready for an ice-cold Busch Light? Yes, we’ve got that too.
● The doubleheader does involve some quirks, but it’s all good as they come at a quirky track. Pocono is the only triangular-shaped track on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar. Its layout was designed by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward, who modeled each of its three turns after a different track. Turn one, which is banked at 14 degrees, is from the legendary Trenton (N.J.) Speedway. Turn two, banked at eight degrees, is a nod to the turns at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And turn three, banked at six degrees, is based on the corners at The Milwaukee Mile. The first race on the 2.5-mile triangle came in 1971, but it wasn’t until Aug. 4, 1974 that NASCAR visited, with the inaugural race won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty.
● There’s a new logo on the front fender of the No. 4 Ford Mustang this weekend at Pocono. Unibet, a part of the Kindred Group, has partnered with Stewart-Haas Racing and Harvick to further grow its presence in the United States and, specifically, with motorsports. The Unibet brand is building on its years of European experience in the responsible gambling and player sustainability field and extending that mindset to its U.S. operations, with motorsports being a key platform. Unibet will have a larger presence on the No. 4 car later this year when it serves as the primary sponsor for Harvick at two NASCAR Cup Series races – Aug. 15 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Oct. 31 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Unibet will also serve as the primary sponsor for Harvick during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Aug. 14 at Indianapolis. Kindred is one of the top online gambling operators with business across Europe, the U.S. and Australia. Sports betting is legal in more than a dozen states and in line with sports betting’s growth, Unibet wants to expand it user base, with the platform already available to residents in Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Jersey and Virginia.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang

Before COVID struck and doubleheader race weekends became somewhat commonplace last year, Pocono was supposed to be the only doubleheader. It seemed groundbreaking at the time – two NASCAR Cup Series races on the same weekend. Was Pocono ahead of its time?

“The great part about Pocono is all of the competitors – the people that race – love going to Pocono. So when all of this talk started about losing races and changing races and Pocono went to the doubleheader, it probably saved them from losing a race. It also set the tone for a very unique weekend in how the cars are lined up and how you race. They were definitely ahead of their time because of the fact that we hadn’t gone through COVID yet and we hadn’t done what we’re doing now, and they were going to do it. I think that unique layout and that schedule allowed them to keep both of their races.”

The 2020 season began with just one doubleheader on the schedule – Pocono. But then Pocono became one of three doubleheader race weekends. What was it like running doubleheaders, and did you do anything differently in terms of your preparation?

“We were fortunate to run really well in the first race at Pocono and, from there, we knew what adjustments we needed to make for the second race. There was more rubber on the racetrack and you could see all of the competitors in the garage making their stuff better. But there’s also a flip side to all of that – you can also make yourself worse. So, you have to be careful about how much you adjust on your cars. But we did really well in all the doubleheaders last year, and I think Pocono has always been a really good racetrack for us. And being able to do that two days in a row and finish first and second in those races and have a chance at winning both races was definitely more fun than losing. The hardest part is the guys in the garage turning the car around. For me, it’s really not that big of a deal. But going through tech, getting your car prepared, doing the things that you can do to your racecar, working all night, showing back up and racing the next day, that’s really when it becomes difficult on the crew and the guys in the garage more so than me.”

Are doubleheaders a bit of a double-edged sword in that if you’re really good in the first race, you ought to be really good in the second race, but if you’re bad in the first race, you’re also likely to be bad in the second race?

“Whether you’re running good or you’re running bad, there’s really no difference, and I know people look at me funny when I say that, but you have to treat them the same. You have to treat a good day the same way you would treat a bad day, or else your preparation just gets lopsided and you just don’t progress like you need to whether you’re running good or bad. So you have to have that equal analysis of how you go about analyzing everything and how you go about doing everything just because of the fact that it all matters. It’s all building blocks to the next one, and whether that’s in a matter of 12 hours or it’s a matter of six days, it’s still relevant to what you’re doing to that progression, because I think most people don’t realize the amount of progression that comes in our sport on a week-to-week basis. Missing a week or having a person not be there for a week just backs you up, and you have to try to deliver as much information to each person as possible, and they have to take in as much information as possible and give it to you, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a 12-hour window or six days.”

What makes a lap at Pocono so challenging?

“When you look at Pocono, you know that you’re going to have a challenge of getting your car to handle in all three corners. That’s the biggest challenge when it comes to Pocono. You have to make sure you can get all you can coming to turn three because the straightaway after that is really, really long. You can kind of give up the tunnel turn, but you still need to be very good in all three corners. It’s just a different style of racetrack than what we go to on a week-to-week basis.”

You mentioned the tunnel turn – what makes it so difficult?

“The tunnel turn is difficult just because you try to carry so much speed through there. It’s not an extremely hard corner, but it’s an extremely hard corner to carry speed through there without having the front end push or the back slide out. It’s not an extremely hard corner until you try to go through there as fast as you can lap after lap. It’s an easy corner to make a mistake. You can give up a lot of time there, but you can also make a lot of time.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO DOUBLEHEADER
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 23, 2021

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript:

YOU START SIXTEENTH THIS WEEKEND IN THE FIRST RACE AT POCONO RACEWAY. YOU TWEETED AFTER THE RACE AT NASHVILLE, ‘I BEAT MYSELF TODAY’. HOW DID YOU BEAT YOURSELF AND TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF POCONO RACEWAY?
“The goals that you have in racing – if you don’t have realistic goals at times, it’s very easy to get pretty frustrated pretty quick. Considering the things that were kind of going our way, the goals that I had going into that weekend and the goals I had for Sunday, probably should have been shifted a little bit to be a bit more realistic. Or just set another goal in front of it – ‘Alright well, we’re two laps down, now let’s get back on the lead lap’. Ok well now, maybe we can get back to that goal of having a top-five day. I didn’t really run that through my head, so I just made a lot of bad mistakes. I could have just, overall, done a better job on Sunday; just coming in with a better approach and plan after that (spin) once we did get back on the lead lap to realistically set goals for our day and go tackle that.”

“Going into Pocono (Raceway), we’re starting 16th. It’s better than starting 26th where we did at Nashville (Superspeedway), but really, we should be starting much better than what we are. But the good thing is, we can still get a really good day out of it; 16th is still a much better spot than some of the guys that we need to score more points than. We’ll see how the day unfolds; what that means for pit strategies. It’s Pocono, so I would imagine those that are trying to go for the race win or get the points on the back-end of the day in the final stage will definitely split it up differently than others. Hopefully we’ll have opportunities to make those decisions; go for stage two points or a good finish in the final stage, or go after those stage pointes.”

AT POCONO, WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH A DOUBLEHEADER RACE WEEKEND?
“Unfortunately, we just had bad doubleheaders last year. It started with Pocono (Raceway). We had a pretty good car on Saturday; being really aggressive on a restart, made a mistake, drifted up into Erik Jones when he was trying to get around Kurt Busch who had slowed down – just trying to get him boxed in, if you will – and that’s how we collided. So, that was a bummer because it destroyed our day on Saturday; we were done right there on Saturday and weren’t able to run the rest of the day. And then we had to prepare a backup car and start pretty much dead last on Sunday. That’s when we had more damage to our engine than we realized. One of the pulley’s was seized up and it shot the power steering belt off when we took the green flag. We just didn’t get any points.”

“Basically, you have to make sure you have a smooth weekend. If you have a really bad day on Saturday and don’t get any points, it’s really going to set you back going into Sunday. One, you now have no notes really compared to the field that ran the entire race on Saturday and then, you’ll have to lean on your teammates. And then two, you’re going to a backup car. You’re not getting to work on the piece that you raced all day; you’re having to start from scratch and hope that you have a pretty good target or get within the target you’re searching for. We just had really bad doubleheaders at Pocono and Michigan. So, that’s going to be our goal; to race hard. We want to go get points and do this and that; but understand that Saturday is very important. You have to realize every risky decision and everything that you could do on Saturday that could be a risk potential effects what happens ultimately on Sunday, as well.”

I JUST WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT NASCAR COMING TO ROAD AMERICA NEXT WEEK. I BELIEVE YOU’VE DONE A COUPLE OF XFINITY RACES THERE. I JUST WANTED TO GET YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF ROAD AMERICA AND HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CUP SERIES COMING THERE, AND THE CUP SERIES ADDING AS MANY ROAD COURSES THAT THEY HAVE?
“Those that have gotten to experience Road America, other NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers that are now Cup drivers like myself or some of the others out there that ran it years prior, understand how unforgiving of a place it can be. I kind of wish we didn’t have practice for all those Cup drivers that haven’t been there before because the amount of fun it would be until they figured it out that us guys that came from the Xfinity Series would have over them. It’s a tough track – it’s narrow, it’s fast. It intimidated the daylights out of me because I was very bad a road course racing at the time. You’re hauling the mail down the front straightaway, down the back straightaway, into Turn 4 & 5 there; in Canada corner, too. It’s a wild place and when you’re going to have the Cup Series there with the aggressive drivers that just like to sail it off into there in the corner, it’s going to create some great racing. There’s going to be some action, for sure. Just like at COTA and Sonoma, we’re going to destroy these racecars. I just hope I don’t tear mine up too bad because, again, the straightaways are pretty fast. So, keeping the nose and the body straight is going to be important.”

YOU MENTIONED THE FACT OF TRYING TO BE CAREFUL AT LITTLE BIT ON SATURDAY BECAUSE OF SUNDAY. KNOWING THAT YOU’RE THIRTEENTH IN THE STANDINGS AND THE PLAYOFFS ARE COMING UP, HOW MUCH IS THAT RISK VERSUS REWARD TO ENSURE THAT YOU’RE PART OF THE PLAYOFFS?
“It’s a major part of it. Like I said earlier – I guess I didn’t totally go into the full bit of it, but I said that the doubleheaders were really bad for us and bad for making the Playoffs for us. You can pick apart your season; hindsight is always 20/20, but one of the biggest areas for us was looking at Pocono and even Michigan. Just the amount of points we would have gotten out of Pocono if I wouldn’t have crashed on Saturday and then had that parts failure on Sunday because of the crash – we could have had 30 or 40 more points than we did because I think we finished 37th and 36th both days and no stage points. We had the speed to get stage points and finish inside the top-15, even with mistakes. Pocono is the type of race where I feel like racing hard on restarts is important, but the way that you win that race or get a good points day out of it is picking and choosing battle and executing the race strategy perfectly. You don’t want to get caught up racing a guy for one point, one spot, and lose a 1.5-2 seconds battling someone and lose touch with the rest of the field ahead of you. It totally changes up your strategy and what options you have available to you to try and maybe get ahead of them in a pit cycle; whatever it might be. You have to race smart. That’s just the type of race that Pocono is with the package we have. You have to race a little bit smarter than hard; that’s what I meant by that.”

AS YOU WORK TO TRY TO ENSURE YOUR SPOT IN THE PLAYOFFS, WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOU AND YOUR TEAM CAN BE EVEN STRONGER?
“What never really stops, never ends, is the grind to find perfection, if you will. It’s not really possible, right? But just looking back to Nashville, we had a car that I thought could have qualified top-five pretty realistically. I thought I was paying attention to what line the drivers were using and kind of just missed it a little bit. I was running too high for where the grip was in qualifying and that turned a day that should have been pretty straight forward – getting stage points and all that stuff – it totally threw it out the window. That comes down to mistakes. I think the race at Pocono comes down to mistakes. Making the Playoffs comes down to that. Being able to recover from them is nice; but the more times you can go through races without having those big, critical moments and mistakes is going to help everybody’s peace of mind. You’re going to get more points because of it. It’s just a little easier if you don’t make those mistakes. Yes, it’s hard to be perfect all the time, but it’s a fun process in learning how to get better. I definitely am learning from those mistakes. You’re always going to learn from mistakes; they’re just never going to stop coming your way. New situations, new scenarios – I’ll just keep trying to adjust the best that I can to keep getting more points for my team.”

SINCE RCR AND HMS ARE, ESSENTIALLY, THE SAME ENGINES, DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE SAME SPEED AS THEY DO RIGHT NOW?
“There’s something we need to continue to work on, on our end, to get a little bit better. I don’t know – we’re doing pretty good, honestly. Looking back to last year, I think Hendrick (Motorsports) was doing OK at times, but obviously they’re much better than they were a year ago; I would think they would agree with that. They’ve been winning a lot of races here the last month. We, have an organization, have gotten a lot better. Like I said, I think Nashville could have been one of those days where we could have been up there battling with those Hendrick Chevy’s. But those mistakes that I made really kind of derailed that for us. Daniel Suarez wasn’t the happiest with his car; they felt like they kind of missed it a little bit. But he was able to drive his way to a seventh. He’s kind of like my teammate, Erik Jones – unfortunately, he ran over bits and pieces that were coming off of cars as they were breaking on the racetrack, which really hurt their chances throughout the day. So, I think all of our cars had that potential to be inside the top-10. We’re trying to figure out what more I need for my driving style to limit those mistakes and have smoother races. We’re going in to the right direction. The push and the grind to get better never will stop. We’ll keep plugging along.”

HOW FAR AWAY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FROM A WIN?
“There’s definitely been some opportunities; even last year honestly. It’s just those little details. I’ve been learning that the hard way; at least I’m learning from it, right? All the little details that you can kind of overcome in the Xfinity Series – I guess I never really gave the attention to detail that I do now running in the Cup Series as when I was running the Xfinity Series. Find a way to overcome spinning out and just drive back through the field. You’re racing again 12 or 13 drivers in the Xfinity Series that are close equipment-wise; where on the Cup side, you could argue some weekends, the top-30 is pretty close. Dover, around a month or so ago, a lot of the top-20 were really, really close.”

“I think it’s right there, it’s just a matter of not making those mistakes that derailed days like Nashville for us. Sonoma is another one. We didn’t have the speed to go win at Sonoma, but we could have run top-10. It’s just a matter of those little things. Even back to Homestead – it was a great run through the field on that last green flag run, but that restart was my worst restart of the day. I lost like four or five spots and that was the difference in what that outcome was. It’s just those little things. You never know when it’s going to come, right? You may have a day where you’re not that great and you just don’t make a mistake, everyone else does and you’ll find yourself winning. I don’t know if it’s going to come that way. There are a lot of opportunities where, right now, I think our cars are good enough that if I run a good race, the pit crew does their part – which they have been – I think we could surprise ourselves and it could happen at a few different types of racetracks.”

YOU SAID YOU’RE PAYING A LOT MORE ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN THE CUP SERIES. WHEN YOU CAME FROM XFINITY AND MADE THE MOVE, WAS IT EYE-OPENING AT ALL?
“Eye-opening is a way to put it. When you switch from running the Xfinity Series, you’re aware of all these tools that are kind of there, but you never really think to tap into. Like I said, we’d just adjust on our racecar a little bit, have a crazy restart, do something wild, bounce off the fence or whatever, and find our way to win. On the Cup side, it doesn’t quite work that way because there are more drivers that are really, really good and more teams out there that are really, really good. So, you can’t just bust through a couple of people and find your way to victory lane.”

“I guess it is eye-opening. The amount of resources that are available if you really take the time to look through it all; just like pit road, restarts, you could go through a lot of things. When you run the Xfinity Series, like I said, you don’t realize how much the last tenth or two-tenths mean in the grand scheme of things throughout your day. It could mean the difference between running 10th and running fifth. All that stuff really adds up and, again, those are the things that add up to winning races. The more that I can get better at all these other things will give us more opportunities when our car is really good that one day or really good one weekend to be able to go out there and get the job done.”

YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH RANDALL (BURNETT, CREW CHIEF), YOU GUYS SEEM TO BE ON THE SAME PAGE. HOW HAS HE HELPED PREPARE YOU ON A WEEKLY BASIS, JUST SO YOU’RE MORE ACCUSTOM AND COMFORTABLE TO EVERYTHING THAT COMES ALONG WITH CUP?
“He does a lot to help me, but his plate has been a whole lot more full as we’ve gone Cup racing. There are more meetings, just a lot more going on. They’re not composite bodies; they’re bodies that are hung in our shop at RCR. So, there’s a lot more people he has to manage; more things he has to stay in the loop and be a part of. Meetings, meetings, meetings is like the big trend here. He’s been a big help in helping direct me to the things that I need to do. A year-and-a-half in or more, a fairly good routine has been set in and I kind of know where to go for what information. Our team works really together. I pretty much don’t have to ask anymore on a weekly basis for information that is good to have be sent my way, brought to my attention, so I can go through it and use it to prepare or reflect on the past weekend. Like I said, his plate is pretty full, so I lean on my team’s engineers, Nate Troupe and Andrew Dickson, to gather some of that information as Randall is busy trying to handle other things.”

“It’s working well. We’re finding more and more ways, that never will stop, to acquire better information that can be even more useful than what we have. Or just gather more stats and collect more data that we can look at. SMT, on paper and everything – you can go back and see how everyone’s race kind of went from their perspective; driver inputs and this and that. But it’s opened a door to collecting sector analysis, entries and exits of corners; breaking it down to the absolute detail of what driver times available, who’s really good at getting into the box and out of the box. There’s a lot of things to look at and it’s opened the door for me to kind of dive into that on my own so Randall can do what’s important. It’s allowed me to kind of work on that stuff so when I do have an idea, it’s not just like, ‘Hey, let’s look into this or talk about this’. It’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve looked at this and this is the direction we want to go’, so it’s efficient for Randall’s time and he can focus on what takes a lot of time; and that’s making sure the cars are getting built the right way, and all the right pieces and parts are coming together to make our race weekends like they are.”

DO YOU THINK THE CREW CHIEFS THAT HAVE HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMPOSITE BODIES, WILL HELP THEM ONCE YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT GEN CARS?
“It’s not really my place to say; I’d just be kind of guessing. It is a lot different. The composite body – it’s still got to be within tolerances, but you’re not working on the bodies like you are right now where everyone is trying to get all the little details that they can. The composite bodies when you buy them and they show up, they are what they are and you piece it together on the racecar, and see how it scans if you have a hawk-eye in your shop. And if you don’t, you kind of hope that it’s right when you get to the race track.”

“I don’t know if there is one or not. I think the way that it sits on the car – it’s not going to be the Xfinity composite body on the Next Gen car. It’s going to be it’s own different body, so it’s going to fit, I would imagine, differently and those guys are going to have fun figuring out how to maximize that, I’m sure.”

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Pocono Raceway
Saturday, June 26, 2021, 3:00 PM ET
2.5-Mile Triangle
Sunday, June 27, 2021, 3:30 PM ET
Location: Long Pond, Pennsylvania
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (18 and 19 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 2nd

No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

THREE IN A ROW: Last Sunday in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, Kyle Larson led 264 of 300 laps in the No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet to capture his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race. In the NASCAR modern era (1972 – present), eight drivers have won a record four straight races including former Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson (2007) and Jeff Gordon (1998).

MOVIN’ ON UP: Following the season’s 11th race at Kansas Speedway in May, Larson ranked ninth in the driver standings, 144 markers behind the leader. In six points-paying events since, Larson has wins in the last three races along with three second-place finishes for a 1.5 average result. In that span, he has moved up seven spots to second in the standings and n­ow trails by only 10 points.

WIN, PLACE FOR SHOW: Larson has finished first or second in eight of 17 NASCAR Cup Series races this season. He won at Nashville, Sonoma Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway while posting second-place finishes at Circuit of The Americas, Dover International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also won the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month.

ALMOST HALFWAY THERE: Through 17 of 36 Cup Series races, Larson leads the series in wins (four), stage wins (12); playoff points (32), top-five finishes (10) and laps led (1,426). He is tied for most pole positions (one) and is tied for second with 12 top-10s.

CAREER-HIGH ALREADY: There have been 4,591 laps completed in points races during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and Larson has paced the field a series-high 1,426 times (31%), a new career-high for laps led during a season for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet. Larson’s four victories this year match his career-high total set in 2017.

IT’S TRICKY, TRICKY, TRICKY: In 12 starts at Pocono Raceway, Larson has nine finishes of 12th or better including a second-place finish in 2018. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE also holds the NASCAR qualifying record at the “Tricky Triangle” of 183.438 mph set in August 2014.

NEVER IN DOUBT: Larson has never won a Cup Series race on a 2.5-mile track, but the 28-year-old driver has marked several “nevers” off his list in 2021. In March at Las Vegas, he won his first race on a 1.5-mile track while, in early June at Sonoma Raceway, Larson scored his first road course triumph in NASCAR’s premier series.

QUICK WORK: At 13.64 seconds, the No. 5 pit crew now owns the quickest average time for four-tire pit stops in 2021. The over-the-wall crew is comprised of gasman Brandon Harder, jackman Brandon Johnson, tire carrier R.J. Barnette and tire changers Donnie Tasser (front) and Calvin Teague (rear).

YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. 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.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 4th

No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

HITTING HALFWAY: This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the halfway mark of the 2021 season. In the first 17 races, Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, has amassed one win, four runner-up results, eight top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. In those 17 races, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has led a total of 129 laps and collected one stage win. Elliott has spent 1,552 laps inside the top five and 2,916 laps running in the top 10. His average running position for the season is 9.78 and his average finish is 11.77. Elliott currently sits fourth in the driver point standings, 94 behind leader Denny Hamlin.

POCONO PAST: Elliott has made 10 Cup Series starts at Pocono and collected three top-five finishes and seven top-10s. His lone NASCAR Xfinity Series race there came in 2018 when he started 10th and notched a runner-up finish in the 100-lap event. In his first of two ARCA Series starts at Pocono, Elliott started 32nd and went on to lead 21 laps before earning his first career ARCA win in June 2013.

ENGINE, ENGINE NO. 9: This weekend, Elliott could become the third driver to win at Pocono with the No. 9 car. The iconic number is currently tied with the Nos. 2, 18 and 24 for third for the most victories at the track with six. Elliott’s father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, garnered five of those wins and Kasey Kahne collected the most recent victory in the No. 9 in June 2008. Only the Nos. 11 (10) and 88 (seven) have more Pocono wins.

GUSTAFSON AT THE ‘TRICKY TRIANGLE’: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson has called 32 races from atop the pit box at Pocono, and he will add two more to his résumé this weekend. In his previous starts at the 2.5-mile triangle with five different drivers (Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Casey Mears and Kyle Busch), Gustafson has collected two wins (with Gordon in June 2011 and August 2012), eight top-five finishes and 18 top-10s.

HOME SWEET HOME: As the Cup Series heads north for the Pocono doubleheader, there are two members of the No. 9 team who call the Keystone State home. Car chief Matt Barndt hails from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and hauler driver Heath Edler is from Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

NAPA DOES THE DOUBLE: The No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will don the familiar blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme for both races this weekend at Pocono Raceway. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for a total of 25 NASCAR Cup Series races this year.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 3rd

No. 24 Axalta ElectroLight Color of the Year Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

ALMOST HALFWAY: Almost to the halfway point in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continue to ramp up their success. After 17 races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has collected one win, seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10s all while leading 195 laps. Byron has spent the second-most laps in the series running inside the top 10 (3,625) and of those laps, 1,962 were in the top five, which is third-best. With the second-best average running position throughout the Cup Series field of 8.33 and an average finishing position of 10.18, Byron now is third in the point standings.

PREVIEWING POCONO: In his six Cup Series starts at the Long Pond, Pennsylvania, track, Byron has one pole award coming during the June race in 2019, as well as one top-five finish and four top-10s, leading 35 laps in two of those events. With a track-best finish of fourth during the 2019 July race at Pocono Raceway, Byron holds a 9.67 finishing average, which is the best all-time with drivers who have made more than one start. His average finish at the “Tricky Triangle” also makes it his best track where he has made more than one start in the Cup Series.

PAST POCONO WINNER: Byron isn’t a stranger to victory lane at the “Tricky Triangle,” though. After starting from the pole in 2016, Byron dominated the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, leading 44 of 60 laps before capturing the checkered flag.

PA-BOUND: While Sunday will mark crew chief Rudy Fugle’s first Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway, the Livonia, New York, native is definitely familiar with the 2.5-mile track. With seven starts at the Pennsylvania-based venue, all coming in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Fugle has visited victory lane there two previous times, going back-to-back with Byron in 2016 and Christopher Bell in 2017. In his seven previous starts, Fugle’s drivers have also racked up two pole awards, four top-five finishes and five top-10s with 71 laps led.

AXALTA’S HOMEBASE: Byron has a bit of extra motivation during this weekend’s doubleheader at Pocono Raceway, competing near primary sponsor Axalta’s backyard. With Axalta’s headquarters located less than 100 miles away from the “Tricky Triangle” in Philadelphia, the fourth-year Cup Series driver will pilot the No. 24 Axalta Color of the Year Chevy for both races this weekend. Now in its 29th year of partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta is the primary partner on Byron’s No. 24 Camaro for 14 races in 2021.

COLOR OF THE YEAR: ELECTROLIGHT: Earlier this year, Axalta unveiled the newest addition to the Axalta Injector at Daytona International Speedway – a newly painted No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports show car – that is on display for fans to see all year long. The show car on display combines Axalta’s new solventbourne basecoat, Cromax XP, with their 2021 Color of the Year, ElectroLight. The refreshing green-yellow hue has been formulated with mobility-technology while utilizing the easy-to-use solventborne basecoat that delivers a high-quality finish. With such positive fan feedback to the paint scheme, Axalta made the call for the Color of the Year paint scheme to hit the track for this weekend’s doubleheader at Pocono Raceway. For a better look at Byron’s No. 24 Color of the Year Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE featuring Axalta’s Global Automotive Color of the Year ElectroLight, click here.

48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 12th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

TWO MORE YEARS: Hendrick Motorsports and Alex Bowman announced on Friday, June 18 that Bowman had re-signed with the 13-time championship winning organization as the driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet until 2023. Since joining the organization in 2016 as the replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr., he has four wins, 20 top-five results, 49 top-10s and three pole awards. Bowman has led 1,031 laps since 2015 and has secured playoff berths every season since joining Hendrick Motorsports. Just 17 races into the 2021 season, the 28-year-old driver has secured his first career multi-win season by claiming victories at Richmond Raceway and Dover International Speedway. Bowman’s new deal aligns with Ally’s contract, bringing both through the 2023 season. Read more here.

BOWMAN AT POCONO: Since 2014, Bowman has made 10 starts at Pocono Raceway and has captured one top-five finish and two top-10s. Last year, he finished ninth after 140 laps. Bowman has completed 99.4% of the total laps at the 2.5-mile track. The driver of the No. 48 also has one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Pennsylvania-based venue, starting and finishing 10th in 2016. He also has two starts in the ARCA Series at the track from 2012, where he finished third in both events.

STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME: On Friday, June 25, Greg Ives will be inducted into the Norway Speedway Hall of Fame. Ives joins four other drivers and workers from the track as the track’s 2021 HOF Class. The Bark River, Michigan, native ran late models at the venue in the late 1990s and into the 2000s. The inductees will be honored on the frontstretch in a ceremony during the Vintage Modified intermission.

POCONO RACEWAY STATS: Ives has called the shots at Pocono Raceway 12 times for Hendrick Motorsports. His résumé includes three top-five finishes and four top-10s, with his best finish at the track coming in 2016 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished runner up in the 160-lap event. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team between 2006 and 2012. During that time, the team captured 11 top-10 finishes and one pole award at the track.

HOMETOWN TRACK: Jason Seitzinger, shock engineer for the No. 48 team, grew up in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania, which is located about 70 miles from Pocono Raceway. His first job was for Penske Racing Shocks in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he worked inside the parts room. Seitzinger has been with Hendrick Motorsports for 19 years.

PIT CREW POWER: After 17 races this season, the No. 48 pit crew ranks second for the fastest four-tire pit stop average in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team has an average four-tire stop time of 13.7. The No. 48 pit crew includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback, and tire changers Scott Brzozowski (front) and Devin DelRicco (rear).

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Hendrick Motorsports has won five consecutive points-paying races going into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono Raceway. During the streak, the team has swept the top-two finishing positions four times, placed 16 of 20 entries inside the top 10 and 14 of 20 in the top five. Since May 9, Hendrick Motorsports has won all six events it has entered, including the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race, and led 90% of all laps run (1,119 of 1,246) in its five points-paying races.

SIX-SHOOTER: Hendrick Motorsports is one away from tying its own modern-era record of six consecutive points wins, which was set in 2007. In addition to 2021, the organization won five straight NASCAR Cup Series races in both 2014 and 2007 when it went on separate runs of four, five and six consecutive victories. Hendrick Motorsports is the only Cup-level team to win five or more straight races in NASCAR’s modern era (since 1972).

GOOD YEAR: Through the first 17 points races of 2021, Hendrick Motorsports has eight wins, which are its second-most ever at this point in a NASCAR Cup Series season (10 in 2007). At the 17-race mark, the team’s 14 stage wins are the most ever. Its 44 top-10 finishes and 29 top-fives are tied for the most in history by any organization at this point in a season. The 1,867 laps led by Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolets rank as its third-most through 17 races behind only 1995 and 1996, which both were championship-winning seasons.

POCONO PROWESS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the Pocono Raceway track record with 17 NASCAR Cup Series wins. Seven different drivers have won at the 2.5-mile triangle for car owner Rick Hendrick: Jeff Gordon (six victories), Jimmie Johnson (three), Tim Richmond (three), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two), Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte and Kasey Kahne.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Pocono: “I’ve always enjoyed Pocono because of its uniqueness – every corner is different. I don’t know what to expect with this doubleheader weekend. I’ve done Xfinity and Cup races on the same weekend before, so I don’t think it will be much different. Physically, I won’t prepare differently. We’ll do a lot of preparation looking at data in advance of the first one, then I’m sure there will be a lot of discussion in the debrief Saturday of what went right and what went wrong as we prepare for Sunday’s race.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the strategy with three unique corners: “We’ve tried different approaches in the past, even picking a specific corner to optimize. The problem with that is it can really hurt you somewhere else. We’re really studying up on what would be the best blend in all areas. If you look at the races last year, the (No.) 4 and 11 teams certainly accomplished that. They weren’t bad in one corner and good in another – they were just overall good. That’s our target this year and hopefully we can hit it.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on strategy for doubleheader at Pocono: “Pocono is such a unique track and I have really enjoyed racing there in the past. It’s always a challenge to get your car balanced in all three corners and then you have to be spot on with your strategy because track position usually plays a big factor. Even though it’s a doubleheader, our approach doesn’t really change from other weekends. We always want to finish toward the front, and we will have our work cut out for us starting near the back on Saturday. I’m looking forward to this weekend and seeing what we can do.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the challenges of a Pocono doubleheader: “The doubleheader at Pocono is a bit of a challenge with a lot of variables. You want to have a strong run on Saturday and perform well, while also making sure you take care of all your equipment. Even if it goes as planned, there will still have to be parts and pieces that have to be changed after the first race. It’s important that you go over everything on the car before Sunday. We learned last year that there isn’t a lot of time so you have to adapt pretty quickly and make the adjustments necessary to improve.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the doubleheader at Pocono: “I feel the doubleheader last year allowed us to learn a lot in that first race that we could then apply to the second one. I feel like Pocono is a track that we are good at and on track to be successful every time we show up, we just need to get a little bit better to close the gap on the top guys. It’s honestly a track that both Rudy (Fugle) and I have a lot of success at together and over our careers. I’m not too worried about it though. I feel like having two races there may be a great opportunity for us.”

Byron on if you can be good in all three corners at Pocono: “I think with modern-day NASCAR, you have to be good in all three corners now. Before, it was always you had to pick and choose which corner to be good in and give up in the others. With the engineering we have now, it kind of throws that old thought process out the window. For us, we’re trying to focus on being really good in turn three and then carry that consistency through the other two corners. The hope is to be consistently balanced throughout all three, but I know I want my drive off of turn three to really carry me down the front straightaway and set me up for turn one with momentum into turn two.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the No. 24 team’s continued success heading to Pocono: “I know the No. 24 team won early in the year and have ran well since then, but I think that the last couple weeks have shown that this team is continuing to build and become a consistent contender to win every time we get on track. The organization as whole is a threat to win every week right now, but we’re trying to make sure that the No. 24 is constantly in contention. My goal this year was to build from a top-10 team to a top-five team and ultimately to a championship-contending team. I think we’re almost to that point. We’re heading to some of our best racetracks which definitely helps as well. We’ll be starting front row for the first of two races at Pocono and that’s one of this team’s best tracks already. This could be a big weekend for the No. 24 team, I can feel it.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his two-year contract extension: “It’s really cool to know that Ally has faith in me and Mr. (Rick) Hendrick has faith in me. I think matching the length of my contract up to Ally’s was kind of the goal all around, and what was kind of expected and normal. The way the industry is today, there aren’t five-year contracts out there like there used to be. I’m not going to complain too much. I’m driving the 48 for Hendrick Motorsports – it’s not so bad.”

Bowman on the logistics of Pocono Raceway: “Pocono is a fun but tricky track. All three corners are completely different, which makes the track extremely technical. The track is also tough to pass at because of how the groove is and how it doesn’t widen out as much. We are typically really fast here and everyone back at the shop is building fast cars right now.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his strategy for the doubleheader: “The goal is to come out of that first race with a win. The only thing we would have to do is clean up the confetti to get the car ready for race No. 2. I don’t think that you can get into a race and play it conservatively. These drivers are the best around, so they know what their limits are and who they are racing. You have the mindset of playing it safe, but it’s not on the forefront of your mind. You just do what it takes to get a win.”