TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
POCONO DOUBLEHEADER
POCONO RACEWAY
LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA
JUNE 26-27, 2021

RACES #18 AND 19 – POCONO
The three NASCAR national series will head to Pennsylvania to tackle the 2.5-mile track known as the ‘Tricky Triangle’: Pocono Raceway. The venue, steeped in stock car tradition, is the host to four races in two action-packed days, including the return of the must-anticipated NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) doubleheader. Chevrolet drivers will aim for the Bowtie Brand’s sixth consecutive NCS victory on Saturday, June 26, in the 130-lap Organics CBD 325. The NASCAR premier series returns to the track on Sunday, June 27, for the 140-lap Explore the Pocono Mountains 350.

Kyle Larson, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports, dominated at Nashville Superspeedway to give Chevrolet its fifth regular-season victory in a row, which it last accomplished between May 10 and June 15 of the 2014 season. Chevrolet last strung together six wins in a row between October 7 and November 11 of the 2007 season, accomplished by Jeff Gordon winning the first two races and Jimmie Johnson claiming the next four on the way to winning the season’s Driver Championship.

In 87 NCS races at Pocono Raceway dating to 1974, Chevrolet drivers have recorded 32 victories, including six in a row at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle” between August 2012 and June 2015. Pocono has hosted two NCS races per season since 1982, and this weekend will mark the second doubleheader.

Team Chevy NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) drivers will compete in the 90-lap Pocono Green 225 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Sons on Sunday, June 27. AJ Allmendinger, who was among three Chevrolet drivers to finish in the top-five at Nashville, is second in the Driver Standings. Heading into the Pocono race weekend, Chevrolet continues to lead the Manufacturer Standings.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) drivers will race in the 60-lap CRC Brakleen 150 on Saturday, June 26. Zane Smith, who led Team Chevy with a fourth place at Nashville, sits fourth in the Driver Standings.

SEEKING TO TIE JOHNSON
At Nashville Superspeedway, Kyle Larson registered his third successive points-paying victory and sixth consecutive top-two finish in regular season races. He also won the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race in middle of the streak.

In NASCAR’s modern era (dating to 1972), drivers have won three in a row 27 times. The last to win four points races in a row was career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson, who accomplished the feat in 2007.

BOWTIE REMAINS TOPS IN STANDINGS
Chevrolet remains atop the NCS Manufacturer Standings. Team Chevy drivers have recorded a field-high eight victories and earned three of the four poles in the 17 regular-season races.

Kyle Larson remains second in the Driver Standings, but has closed to just 10 points of the lead. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron moved to third, and Chase Elliott sits in fourth, to give Chevrolet three of the top-five in the Driver Standings heading into the doubleheader race weekend. Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick remains in the top-13 with just nine races left in the NCS regular season.

ON THE WAY TO THE GREEN
With no practice or qualifying for the races, the starting lineup for the Organics CBD 325 will be 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. The lineup for the second race will be determined by the finishing order of the opener. The top 20 will be inverted and 21st to the rear will grid in order.

Team Chevy’s Top-20 starters:
1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE
2nd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Color of the Year Camaro ZL1 1LE
6th Ross Chastain, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE
7th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro ZL1 1LE
8th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
12th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE
13th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
14th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Commscope Camaro ZL1 1LE
16th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE

BOWTIE BULLETS
· Chevrolet leads manufacturer with 803 NCS victories.
· Chevrolet leads manufacturers in laps led (2,076) of the 4,591 total and top-10 finishes with 79.
· Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,426 laps led. His previous career best was 1,352 in the 36 races in 2017.
· Austin Dillon is tied for most laps completed 99.91% (4,587).
· Kyle Larson’s 12 stage wins is twice as many as any other NCS driver.
· Ross Chastain posted a career-best runner-up finish at Nashville and has recorded three top-10’s in the past four races in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE.
· In addition to its 32 wins at Pocono, Chevrolet has amassed 167 top-five and 358 top-10 finishes.
· William Byron is the active leader in average finish with 9.667 in six starts at Pocono Raceway.
· Kurt Busch is the active leader with 14 top-five finishes at Pocono and is tied for the lead with 20 top-10’s in 39 starts. He has three wins and five runner-up finishes.
· Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon is tied for the most wins at Pocono with six.
· Kyle Larson earned his first NCS pole in August 2014 at Pocono.
· Hendrick Motorsports has 17 victories at Pocono Raceway.

TUNE IN
FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series CRC Brakleen 150 at noon ET Saturday, June 26, followed by NBCSN’s telecast of the NASCAR Cup Series Organics CBD 325 at 3 p.m. NBCSN will telecast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pocono Green 225 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Sons at noon ET Sunday, June 27, followed by the NCS Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at 3:30 p.m. Live coverage of the races can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

QUOTABLE QUOTES
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGS
LARSON 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, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
DANIELS 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.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGS
BYRON 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, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FUGLE 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.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS
ELLIOTT 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, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
GUSTAFSON 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.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS
TALK ABOUT POCONO RACEWAY. IT’S AN INTERESTINGLY-SHAPED TRACK..
“Pocono is a fun, fast track and I feel like we’ve been able to build a good notebook there so I’m excited to get there this weekend for a double-header. Good finishes will be important for us and the points battle. At Pocono Raceway, speed is definitely carried through turn two and through three to the start-finish line. I think those are the most important corners. Of course, every corner is important, but turns two and three are a little bit more important because it’s the flat end of the track.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGS
BOWMAN 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, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IVES 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.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGS
AT POCONO, WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH A DOUBLEHEADER RACE WEEKEND?
“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.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 21st IN STANDINGS
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON POCONO?
“It was cool to get the pole there in 2018 and then we finished second in the race that weekend. At Pocono, it always helps to have a good starting spot. Pocono is a track where you can’t make mistakes on the track, and you can’t have mistakes on pit road. Everyone has to do their part to execute perfectly. “

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS MOST IMPORTANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT POCONO?
“Track position is extremely important every weekend, but it’s especially important at Pocono. If you make a mistake, it takes so much longer and is so much harder to recover from. It’s a tough place for sure.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 24th IN STANDINGS
THOUGHTS ON THE DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND AND HOW YOU PREPARE FOR THAT AS A DRIVER?
“Doubleheader races are cool. Last year was the first time we really got the chance to do that. It went really smooth as a group. It is always fun. Especially with not having any practice, a doubleheader gives you that chance to practice. The first race is a little bit of a practice race, going out there to get a feel for your car. If it is not 100 percent how you want it, you make better changes for the next day and have a shot to go out there and run a little bit better. I enjoy it. It is a chance to get out there and evaluate your Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and have the opportunity to make it better.”

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS
“We’ll carry our momentum of 4 straight top 20s, which is a first in my Cup career as well as the team’s, into the doubleheader at Pocono. I’ve won there in the ARCA series and it’s one of the most unique tracks on the NASCAR schedule. Every corner takes a different style of attack. It will be important to have a good balance for all 3 corners. Having the chance to work on the car after the Saturday race to get even better for Sunday is important for our small team with limited practices. Looking forward to giving our NationsGuard Chevy a good run on both days.”

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: 8
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 2,076
Top-five finishes: 37
Top-10 finishes: 79

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 803 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 720
Laps led to date: 238,781
Top-five finishes to date: 4,102
Top-10 finishes to date: 8,481
Stage wins: 15 – Chase Elliott (Daytona RC), William Byron (Homestead), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville), Kurt Busch (Nashville)

Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date

       General Motors: 1,137
       Chevrolet: 803
       Pontiac: 154
       Oldsmobile: 115
       Buick: 65

       Ford: 808                                                         
       Ford: 708
       Mercury: 96
       Lincoln: 4

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

       Toyota: 157

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.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 24, 2021) – NASCAR was named Sports League of the Year during the 2021 Sports Business Awards, a virtual ceremony hosted by Sports Business Journal to celebrate the best in sports business over the past year.

The award, one of the most prestigious in the sports industry, recognizes NASCAR’s many successes and efforts during a historic and challenging 2020 season. Following the pandemic pause, NASCAR was the first major U.S. sport to return to competition, the first to safely welcome back fans and the first to complete a full season schedule.

In June 2020, NASCAR took a stand for equality and social justice and banned the confederate flag from all properties and events. The sanctioning body reinforced its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and later welcomed Michael Jordan and Pitbull as new team owners. 

NASCAR worked with industry stakeholders to build and introduce the most dynamic new race schedule in more than 50 years, including several new venues added to the 2021 slate of events.

NASCAR also filled the live sports void with esports following the onset of COVID-19, collaborating with FOX and iRacing to introduce the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. The new series generated six of the highest-rated esports programs in television history.

“We’re honored to be named 2021 Sports League of the Year and thank Sports Business Journal for this incredible recognition,” said Steve Phelps, President, NASCAR. “This award is a testament to the collective resolve and creativity of our industry as we worked through some extraordinary circumstances in 2020 and in the process led the way for live sports in our country.”

Joining NASCAR as finalists for the Sports League of the Year award were the NBA, NFL, NHL, PGA Tour, UFC and the WNBA. The win marks NASCAR’s first in the category for the Sports Business Awards.

As part of the ceremony, Phelps was recognized as a finalist for Sports Executive of the Year for his leadership in guiding NASCAR through the 2020 season, and eNASCAR iRacing was among the finalists for Sports Breakthrough of the Year following the successful debut of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series, NASCAR Peak Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

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.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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