Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR Zoom Media Availability | Wednesday, April 21, 2021

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — CAN YOU LOOK AHEAD TO KANSAS AND YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT PLACE? “I’ve always enjoyed Kansas. I know that I did have a really bad accident there, but in my mind I just view that as a bad accident. It just happened at a place. It just so happened to be at Kansas. It could have happened anywhere. I don’t really put that on Kansas and so every time I’ve been back since then it’s never really been a thought that’s crossed my mind. I actually enjoy going to Kansas. I have friends in Kansas City that I enjoy spending time with that makes it even more enjoyable to be there and on top of that I love the racetrack. The racetrack is a really fun racetrack to run at for me and I’ve had a lot of success there and had a lot of really good runs there.”

KEELAN HARVICK IS RACING KEVIN IN THE IRACING EVENT TONIGHT. WHO WILL FINISH HIGHER? “I’m gonna say Keelan is gonna outrun Kevin. From my experience, a husband and a father has way less time to goof off on iRacing than these kids do. You look at guys like William Byron, not married, no kids, he’s got lots of time to spend in that simulator and messing around on iRacing. It is not something that I have loads of time or experience with, just because I don’t have the time. I do not have the time to devote to be good at iRacing because I’m trying to be a good race car driver, but on top of that I’m trying to be a good husband and a good dad and a business guy and I’m trying to work out and stay fit, and life happens too. I end up way too busy to put in the hours that these other kids do, so I’m sure Keelan gets plenty of iRacing time.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS WEEKEND AT TALLADEGA? “No, I expect Talladega to be the same old Talladega. It’s gonna be exciting. There’s gonna be a lot of close racing and pushing and shoving. There’s probably gonna be a big wreck and it’s just a matter of hoping you’re ahead of the big wreck or that you miss it, so that’s the same old Talladega. We’ve had really good speedway cars. We obviously won down at Daytona in the Duel, so our cars are fast. We know we can go there We know we’ll have the capability of winning, you’ve just got to have some luck on your side and have things go your way and hopefully you don’t end up crashed.”

DO YOU WORRY ABOUT STAGE POINTS AT TALLADEGA OR JUST FOCUS ON THE WIN? “I’ve thought a lot about it this week and I still don’t know. I think pointing our way in from here is a long shot for sure, especially just because we haven’t scored a lot of stage points anyway and our cars have been off, so a good day for us is similar to what we ran at Richmond. We flirt with the top 10, you score a few stage points and get a top 10 finish. That’s what we’ve been capable of lately, so I know the guys at the shop are working hard to get our cars back to where they need to be to go compete for wins every week, but that’s something I’ve thought a lot about. I don’t know that we’ll be able to point our way in. We’re gonna need to win, and Talladega is a great opportunity for us to do that, but we can’t do that if we’re on a wrecker, so I think it is important for us to be mindful of that, making sure that we get to the finish so that we have a shot to win the race, and I personally think that winning at Talladega is more important than scoring 20 stage points and two playoff points from winning both stages, but ending up in a big wreck. So, if I had to trade one for the other, I would definitely trade the win for any sort of stage points or bonus points.”

IS IT ANY MORE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND HOW GOOD YOUR CAR IS CONSIDERING WHERE YOU END UP STARTING DUE TO WHERE YOUR POINT POSITION IS? “I’ll tell you, that has been one of the hardest things for us as a race team and all the struggles that we’ve had this year is that it is so hard to bounce back the next week. In year’s past, when we could go and practice and qualify and do all those things, if you had a bad weekend, as soon as that weekend was over you’d debrief about it Monday, Tuesday and then your focus is the next week and you’re going forward, and you literally forget about last week, and you can go and if you unload and your car is fast and you qualify up in the top five, then you’ve got a great starting spot for that next week’s race, you’ve got a good pit selection and you can kind of rebound before the race even starts. Where now, if you have a bad weekend, it carries over to the next week. If you have a bad weekend and you’re in the situation that we’re at in points, you’re starting 27th, 28th and you’re picking 27th, 28th on pit road, which is not a good situation. You end up around good cars on pit road, which makes it more difficult for your pit crew. It just compounds and I know that’s the environment and the situation that we’re in and it’s the same for everybody, but last year being on the opposite end of that and being up in the points and finishing good most of the time, and even when we didn’t finish good because we were so high up in points, we would still start in the top 15. It certainly makes a lot of difference. Things are a lot easier going into that next weekend and the situation that we’re in now it just is so hard to claw out of it because even we had a great run at Richmond. We finished sixth, but because we’re so far down in points I think we’re starting 14th or 16th at Talladega because of our points position, so it’s really challenging to dig out of the hole that we’re in the way that the starting lineup and pit selection is calculated.”

ARE YOU FEELING LIKE THINGS ARE TURNING AROUND? “I do. We’ve needed just a weekend like that. We’ve needed a race to kind of go without any major issues and have a good car, have a good day on pit road with no mistakes, me not make any mistakes, good restarts, all those things and get out of there with a finish like we felt we were capable of and that’s exactly what we had at Richmond. I felt like we could have run similar at Martinsville. I felt like we could have run fifth to eighth at Martinsville and that bad luck that’s been plaguing us most of this year was still there at Martinsville. We kept getting contact with other cars on restarts and left-rear tire rubs and cutting a left-rear tire down, pitting under green, just all of these different things that keep happening, so Richmond was finally the first weekend that went smooth and we finished sixth, so it just goes to show me and our race team that if we can just have a smooth, solid weekend we’re capable of running top 10 right now.”

HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK TO SPEEDWAY RACING AFTER THREE STRAIGHT SHORT TRACKS? “I enjoy short track racing, so I would short track race every single week. I think it’s so much fun, so I’m not opposed to continuing the streak of short track racing, but Talladega is certainly an opportunity for us, not just because it’s a restrictor plate race, and everybody always says that restrictor plate racing is an opportunity for them, but I really feel that way for us just because of all the success that we have had on restrictor plate tracks. I’ve won at Talladega in the Cup Series, the XFINITY Series and always seem to find myself up front with a shot to win most races there, so I really view Talladega as a place that is a potential possibility to go and get a win.”

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING FOR AT KANSAS WITH A MONTH BETWEEN 1.5-MILE TRACK RACES? “We just have to be more racy. We’ve got to be more competitive. I’ve got to be more on offense and less on defense. I feel like our mile-and-a-half program has been off and because of that every restart you’re just playing major defense. It’s hard to play offense because the car’s not driving good, don’t have a lot of speed in the car and it’s a handful and not as fast as the cars around you, so you’re just playing a lot of defense and when we’ve been at our best that’s not the case. You fire off on every restart and you’re on offense. You’re picking and choosing lanes and putting your car in places where you need it to go to make passes, not to try and block a run or try and play defense. So, that’s one of the things that I hope to see when we get to Kansas is that we’ve made improvements with our cars, that we’ve got speed in it, but not only speed but driveability and that we’ve got grip in the car to where we can take off and move around the racetrack and hold the throttle down. On these 550 packages on the mile-and-a-half it is so important to hold the throttle down. Anytime you spend off-throttle it is detrimental, especially to the competition.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT RUNNING UP FRONT THESE DAYS AT RESTRICTOR TRACKS BECAUSE WE SEE MORE AND MORE WRECKS HAPPENING THERE? “It really stems from the rules package. The rules package changed after Newman’s wreck and slowed the cars down, bigger rear spoilers, less horsepower. Anytime you do that, the cars are gonna be closer together, the draft is gonna be even more of an equalizer. It’s gonna keep the cars a lot more bunched up and packed up, especially with that rear spoiler that we have now with the wicker on it creates a really big hole, so the runs from behind come a lot faster, which makes it harder to block, but also makes the guy behind you that’s coming with a run, makes him get to your bumper a lot faster and a lot more aggressive that what we’ve had in the past. When somebody hits you once, you can usually hang on to it. When somebody hits you twice or hits you off-center in the bumper cover it just takes that lead car and turns him, and usually speedway racing it turns them to the right into that outside wall. We’ve seen that a lot. It’s happened to me at Talladega last year leading the race. It happened to me at Daytona running second. It’s happened to a lot of the other cars, just the guy behind when he gets to the bumper if he’s not perfectly lined up, it will shoot that car that he runs into to the right and especially the harder he hits him. The rules package plays a big factor into that and makes it to where nowhere is really a safe zone anymore. It used to be that leading and controlling the race was the ideal spot, but now the leader is equally vulnerable.”

YOU CAN’T LOCK BUMPERS IN THE XFINITY SERIES. WOULD IT MAKE SENSE FOR NASCAR TO CONSIDER DOING THAT IN CUP? “I don’t think they want one more thing to police and, to be honest, I think them and the networks, I think they enjoy some of the big wrecks. It’s become part of the promotion of these races, that when you see the highlights from Daytona or Talladega that’s usually the highlights for them. The fans enjoy seeing it and it’s become a part of superspeedway racing and people have grown to expect it, so I don’t see them creating anymore rules that’s gonna prevent us from wrecking.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON SO FAR AND HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE? “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never started a project or anything else that I’ve expected it to go miserably wrong, and that’s exactly what has happened with our season. No, I did not expect our season to start the way that it has. I don’t think anybody on our team or any of our partners or anybody, even most of the reporters that report on our series, would have expected us to go through the beginning part of the season that we’ve gone through, so that was definitely something that’s caught us all off guard. It’s been a really rough stretch, but I’m proud of the way that we’ve continued to fight and we’ve continued to dig deep and really try and persevere, and Richmond was a nice way for us to bounce back and hopefully we can put all those bad races behind us and we can move forward and keep the momentum going now.”

Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, April 25, 2021
2.66-Mile Oval
2:00 PM ET
Location: Talladega, Alabama
TV: Fox logo
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (10 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM logo PRN logo

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 6th

No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

SUPER START: The 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway are the only two superspeedway tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. In the season-opening DAYTONA 500 in his Hendrick Motorsports debut, Kyle Larson had four opportunities to score championship points and he collected each time – one of only four drivers to do so. In the Duel qualifying races, points were awarded to the top-10 finishers in each and he finished seventh in his race. Points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers in each stage during the NASCAR Cup Series season, and the Elk Grove, California, native posted results of fourth and eighth in the two DAYTONA 500 stages, respectively, before taking the checkered flag 10th in the 200-lap race.

DOZEN IN ‘BAMA: In 12 starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Larson has two top-10 finishes. He posted a ninth-place result in his first race at the Alabama track in 2014 while his best finish of sixth occurred in October 2016.

WOO BRISTOL: Larson is scheduled to race a sprint car in the World of Outlaws Bristol Throwdown April 22-24 on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track. Practice is Thursday and there will be a full racing program with 25-lap main events on Friday and Saturday.

I SECOND THAT: Through nine races in 2021, Larson has one win, four top-five finishes, secured eight playoff points and has led 379 laps – all second-most in NASCAR’s premier series. He currently sits sixth in the Cup Series driver point standings.

YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will again 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: 7th

No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

NINE IN 2021: Nine races into the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott, the driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, is tied for fifth among all drivers with three top-five finishes. He has posted two runner-up results and led a total of 73 laps in the first nine events. Elliott has spent 595 laps inside the top five and 1,378 laps running in the top 10.

‘DEGA DOWNLOAD: On Sunday, Elliott is set to make his 11th Talladega Superspeedway start in the NASCAR Cup Series. His win at the track in April 2019 was his first superspeedway win at the Cup level. In his previous 10 starts at the venue, the 25-year-old driver has earned the pole position twice – his first start in May 2016 and then in October 2019. Elliott has garnered four top-five finishes and led 170 laps in his Cup Series career at the Alabama track. He also has three Talladega starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with one top-10 finish.

SUPERSPEEDWAY STATS: Elliott has made 21 superspeedway starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. In those races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, the driver of the No. 9 Camaro has claimed one win, six top-five finishes and led a total of 260 laps. In the last three races on superspeedways, Elliott has two runner-up finishes and a fifth-place result.

GUSTAFSON AT TALLADEGA: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 33rd Talladega Cup Series race from atop the pit box on Sunday afternoon. He collected his first superspeedway victory at the 2.66-mile track on April 28, 2019, with Elliott and the No. 9 team. In his previous 32 events calling the shots for five different drivers (Elliott, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon), Gustafson’s teams posted eight top-five finishes, 10 top-10s, 273 laps led and six pole awards.

NAPA AUTO PARTS: The No. 9 Chevrolet will don the familiar blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme this weekend at Talladega. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for 25 NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 4th

No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

MR. CONSISTENCY: So far in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team have been a model of consistency. After nine races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has spent 2,086 laps running inside the top 10 – the second-most in the field behind only points leader Denny Hamlin (2,333). Of those top-10 laps, 817 have been inside the top five, which is the sixth-most of all drivers. Currently, Byron has led 138 laps across four races, also good for sixth in the Cup Series. He has the fourth-best average running position of 8.74 so far in 2021.

STILL STREAKING: Dating back to his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 28, Byron has been on a hot streak of top-10 finishes. Prior to this current streak, Byron’s NASCAR Cup Series best was three consecutive finishes in the top 10, which he accomplished twice. The 23-year-old driver has now more than doubled that amount after his seventh-place finish Sunday at Richmond Raceway, extending his consecutive top-10 finishes to seven races – the longest active streak in the Cup Series. Byron’s seven total top-10s are the second-most by a driver this year behind only Hamlin (eight). In fact, Byron has the longest top-10 streak by a Hendrick Motorsports driver since Jeff Gordon in the final seven races of 2015. He is also the fourth-youngest driver to reach a seven-race top-10 streak in his Cup career behind only Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd and Kyle Busch.

PRO INVITATIONAL SERIES, ROUND 2: After its inception last year during the pandemic, the NASCAR Pro Invitational Series on iRacing resumes this Wednesday night for the second race of 10 in 2021 at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway. Picking up where he left off last season, Byron raced to the win in the first event this year on March 24 at the virtual Bristol dirt track. In his seven total Pro Invitational Series races, Byron leads the field with four victories and is the only driver to win consecutive races. The driver of the No. 24 has paced the field in all seven of his starts, leading a total of 445 laps out of 998 laps.

SUPER ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Sunday’s race at Talladega will be Byron’s 14th superspeedway start in the Cup Series. In his previous 13, Byron has scored one win (Daytona in August 2020), three top-five finishes and three top-10s with 124 laps led. Since his Cup Series debut in 2018, Byron’s 124 laps led ranks seventh-best among all drivers for most laps led on superspeedways.

TALLADEGA TELL-ALL: This Sunday’s race at Talladega will mark Byron’s seventh start at the 2.66-mile track in his Cup career. In his previous six starts, he has a track-best finish of fourth from his last appearance at the Alabama venue (October 2020). Last season marked Byron’s best at Talladega with one top-five finish and narrowly missing the top 10 with an 11th-place result in the spring.

DIGGING ‘DEGA: While Sunday’s race will be crew chief Rudy Fugle’s first at the Cup Series level at Talladega Superspeedway, the Livonia, New York, native has seven starts at the 2.66-mile track already under his belt in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In those seven appearances, Fugle accumulated three top-five finishes and five top-10s. One of his previous starts was with Byron in 2016 when the duo started eighth and raced to a 10th-place result.

LIBERTY U ONBOARD: Picking up a seventh-place finish last Sunday, Byron will look to keep his top-10 streak alive when the No. 24 unloads at Talladega Superspeedway with Liberty University onboard his Chevy. Redesigned for the 2021 season, the new paint scheme features a white base with navy flames and red accents that will make the Liberty University No. 24 stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in communications, Byron is in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here.

CLOSE TO HOME: Hailing from Pensacola, Florida, No. 24 team spotter Tab Boyd claims Talladega Superspeedway as his home track. Growing up a few hours away from the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Boyd has more than 20 years of experience in NASCAR in various roles, including an Xfinity Series tire changer as well as mechanical and fabrication positions before ultimately ending up in the spotter’s stand. When he has time outside of the NASCAR schedule, Boyd is usually still at the racetrack behind the steering wheel of his Street Stock in the Street Stock Mid-Atlantic Series.

48 Alex Bowman
Age: 27 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 13th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

SHORT-TRACK VICTORY: Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, brought home his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Richmond Raceway on Sunday afternoon. The Ally-sponsored driver led the final 10 laps of the 400-lap event to claim his first Richmond win and first-ever short-track victory at the Cup level.

FIRST-TIME WINNER: Primary sponsor Ally became a first-time points-paying winner on Sunday following the No. 48 Chevrolet team’s victory. It marked the first win for Bowman in just nine events with Ally and the No. 48 Chevrolet. The Michigan-based company visited victory lane in 2019 when driver Jimmie Johnson led four laps en route to a victory in the Clash at DAYTONA with Ally on board.

BOWMAN WINS, PETS WIN: Through the yearlong initiative between Ally and the Best Friends Animal Society, when Bowman wins a race a local animal shelter receives a $10,000 donation from Ally and an additional $1,000 from the driver. Last weekend, the two gave a total of $11,000 to the Richmond SPCA in Richmond, Virginia. The Richmond SPCA is an independent non-profit, no-kill humane society located four miles from Richmond Raceway. Every week, Ally and Bowman each make a $1,000 gift to a local animal shelter in the race market, which increases if the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet clinches a victory.

PLAYOFFS BOUND: Following Sunday’s win, Bowman and the No. 48 team all but clinched their spot in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The team is currently ranked eighth in the playoff standings and 13th in the driver standings after nine events this season. Bowman has clinched a spot in the playoffs by virtue of a win each season since 2019.

ALL IN THE NUMBER: Just four drivers have visited victory lane with the No. 48 car in the Cup Series. Bowman now joins seven-time NASCAR champion Johnson (83 victories) as the only two drivers to win in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. James Hylton (two) and Bill Norton (one) also have Cup wins in the No. 48 car.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: On Sunday, April 25, Bowman will celebrate his 28th birthday by racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Only three drivers have visited victory lane on their birthday, but it hasn’t been done since 2013 when Matt Kenseth won at Las Vegas. If Bowman wins Talladega, he will become the first driver to cruise to victory lane at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on his birthday.

TALLADEGA DAYS: Bowman has 11 starts at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2014. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet has one runner-up finish (2019), three top-10s and has led 45 laps total. Last season, Bowman brought home a seventh-place finish in the spring and a 14th-place result in the fall event. In 2013, he made one start at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and finished 13th after rolling off 14th. The Arizona native also made one start in the ARCA Series at the track in 2012 and finished 32nd.

SUCCESS IN 2021: The No. 48 team has run 643 laps (eighth overall) inside the top five and 1,281 laps (ninth overall) inside the top 10 this Cup Series season. Bowman is tied for seventh among drivers with the most top-five results (two) in 2021 and is tied for ninth for the most top-10 finishes (four).

IVES IN DEGA: No. 48 team crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the 13th time at Talladega on Sunday. The Bark River, Michigan, native has one win there with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015 after leading 67 laps, along with three top-five finishes and six top-10 results. His drivers have an average start of 6.2 at the 2.66-mile facility. Back in 2017, Ives’ team started from the pole position, and in 2019 Bowman led seven laps en route to a second-place result. In total, his drivers have led 180 laps in 12 Cup events. Ives’ résumé also includes one win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track with Regan Smith in 2013. He was a race engineer for the No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports from 2006 until 2012. During that time, he was part of two wins, two pole awards and seven top-10 finishes at Talladega.

THROWING IT BACK TO IVES: On Tuesday, Bowman and sponsor Ally took to social media to unveil their 2021 Darlington Raceway throwback paint scheme. The No. 48 team will honor Ives’ late model driving days with a paint scheme based on a car from his 1998 season that was purchased from the Coleman Racing family in Michigan. When Ives bought the car, the seller asked him to consider keeping the paint color the same and was later told of Jim Pagel, who ran the color and paint scheme in 1993. Pagel was a local stock car driver who lost his life on May 2, 1997, following a crash during qualifying at Wisconsin International Raceway. Bowman will also sport a throwback firesuit that looks similar to the one Ives received in 1998 as a gift from his late mother. Check out the special scheme here.

PIT PERFORMANCE: After nine events in 2021, the No. 48 pit crew continues to be the fastest in the NASCAR Cup Series based on average four-tire stop times. The five-man over-the-wall crew has an average four-tire stop time of 13.52 seconds. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.

TRIO OF WINNERS: Courtesy of Alex Bowman’s win Sunday at Richmond Raceway, three different Hendrick Motorsports drivers have gone to victory lane in the first nine races of 2021, marking only the eighth time in NASCAR Cup Series history a team has done so. Hendrick Motorsports also accomplished it in 2007 and 2009, while Joe Gibbs Racing did it in 2016 and 2019. Other teams with three different winners in the first nine events: Roush Fenway Racing in 2005, Peter DePaolo Racing in 1957 and Carl Kiekhafer Racing in 1956. The earliest in a single season a team has won with four different drivers is race No. 12 by Hendrick Motorsports in 2007 and JGR in 2016.

TWENTY-SOMETHINGS: With William Byron (23 years old), Kyle Larson (28) and Bowman (27) already posting NASCAR Cup Series wins, Hendrick Motorsports has sent three drivers under the age of 30 to victory lane in 2021. It has occurred only two other times in NASCAR Cup Series history: Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009 and Hendrick Motorsports in 2020. No team has ever won with four different drivers under 30 in the same season. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, the defending NASCAR champion, is 25.

TALLADEGA INSIGHTS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the record for Talladega Superspeedway wins in the NASCAR Cup Series with 13, one more than Richard Childress Racing. The organization’s victories have come with seven different drivers: Jeff Gordon (six), Jimmie Johnson (two), Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers, Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader.

SUPER STAT: With 28 total trips to victory lane, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest organization on superspeedways in NASCAR Cup Series history. Its points-paying superspeedway wins have come with 11 different drivers, the most of any team at the behemoth tracks of Talladega and Daytona.

TWO TO TIE: Hendrick Motorsports entered the 2021 season within striking distance of one of stock car racing’s most enduring achievements: Petty Enterprises’ all-time team record for NASCAR Cup Series victories. The legendary Petty organization captured the wins record from Carl Kiekhafer Racing more than 60 years ago when Lee Petty took the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and final win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999. With Bowman’s win at Richmond, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 266 points-paying Cup Series wins since Rick Hendrick founded the team in 1984 and currently needs just three to break the record at NASCAR’s highest level.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Talladega stress: “Hendrick Motorsports has really fast superspeedway cars, and that makes your job as a driver a little bit easier and a little less stressful. I say that, but Daytona and Talladega are always stressful. There’s always a big wreck that you hope to be in front of or avoid. Talladega has been hard on me. I’ve been upside down on the backstretch, and I broke a rib there a couple years ago in a crash. Daytona went well earlier this year, so hopefully Talladega will go well, too.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what makes Talladega unique: “To me, superspeedway races and Talladega, just as much as Daytona is, are such a coin flip. There’s no way of really knowing the right place to be at the right time all the time. I feel like there are guys that seem to have a better feel for it than others and know when to be in certain positions and know when something doesn’t feel right. I’ve tried to learn that over the years. I haven’t done a great job of it, but it’s just about positioning yourself in the right place at the right time. Also, having patience and taking runs when you have the opportunity. I also think what makes the guys who are really good at those tracks great is that they know when to quit putting up a fight, when to not throw that big block, knowing they might have another opportunity on the back end rather than crashing. Showing patience in big moments at those tracks are really hard to do, but I think that’s a piece that the guys who win there do all the time.”

Elliott on drafting prep for Talladega: “It’s definitely nice to have friends at certain points in the race. Always the tough question for everyone is, ‘When do the gloves come off? When can everyone go after it?’ Our mentality, I feel like, has been really fluid over the years and we’ve developed a good relationship amongst ourselves and our three Hendrick Motorsports teammates in knowing how we can help each other and how we can all benefit and get all of us into a position to have a shot. Then from there, we can go race and do what we need to do. It’s such a fluid thing. It changes throughout the race, but I think the biggest piece of that whole puzzle is pitting together and getting on and off pit road really well. Maximizing your time there can position you in the best place to be up toward the front after everything cycles through. That’s the biggest area I think we can help each other, and I think we’ve done a good job doing that in the past.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the racing at Talladega: “Talladega is a lot more open of a track than Daytona with a lot more pushing and shoving. It’s a lot easier to get to someone’s bumper because handling isn’t as important there. You have to be able to push well but also receive a push well. It takes a fast car but one that can handle a push from someone else. For me, I don’t approach it much different than I do Daytona. There are times you want to be conservative, so you can make sure you are there in the end, but you also need to know when it’s time to make aggressive moves. We have had some good runs going there but not the results in the end until recently. I know the No. 24 team will prepare a fast Liberty University Chevy, so if we are still in contention in the end this weekend, I think we have a good shot at the win.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at Talladega: “Hendrick Motorsports takes a lot of pride on building fast cars, especially for superspeedway races. I think that shows every time we get to the track. There’s a ton of hard work put in from the guys and gals back at the shop to make these cars as fast as they are. I think we all showed that at Speedweeks in Daytona earlier this year. While Daytona didn’t end how the No. 24 team would have hoped, we know we had a strong car that was capable of winning, and that should be the same in Talladega. The biggest thing in these races is being around in the end, though. On my end, that means calling the right strategy, not only for us, but for working with our teammates. On William’s side, that means judging the situation he’s in and knowing when to push it and when to bide his time to avoid an incident. Racing at Talladega is always unpredictable but we’ll do everything we can to put ourselves in contention and, hopefully, we will have luck on our side to be there at the end.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Sunday’s win at Richmond Raceway: “Getting the win on Sunday was big is so many ways. It was a huge goal for our team to be able to get Ally into victory lane this season, and we are so pumped to get them their first points-paying victory. The 48 team has put together some amazing short-track cars the last two weeks and it has definitely showed. I drive these places so wrong sometimes, so it is truly on this team for bringing such a fast car. Being locked into the playoffs is a good spot to be in, but our approach every week is to win. There isn’t a sit-back-and-relax mode with Hendrick Motorsports or this 48 team. We are focused on winning each and every week for everyone back at the shop, our team and our amazing partners.”

Bowman on going superspeedway racing this weekend: “No one sleeps going to Talladega. Hendrick Motorsports always builds amazing superspeedway Chevrolets and I feel like every time we unload there, we have a chance to win. There are so many unknowns at tracks like this. You can be in contention to win at one moment and loading up a wrecked car the next. Working with our teammates is key, but you have to be able to work with everyone on track. Racing in ‘Dega this weekend is really special because this was Rowdy (Harrell’s) home track. If we could pull off a win this weekend, I know that would mean the world to him.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on claiming the win at Richmond: “I felt like we had a really good long-run car and I think we passed a lot of cars on Sunday. Probably the most quality passes of anyone on the racetrack, honestly. We had great speed and that is credited to everyone here at Hendrick Motorsports, my engineer Tim O’Brien and car chief Austin Konetski. They put in a lot of hours and a lot of pride into their work. That definitely shows each week when we unload. The Ally pit crew does an awesome job. We had a tire get away, but that was on all of us. All in all, adversity was there and we overcame it.”

Ives on what the No. 48 Ally Throwback paint scheme means to him: “I enjoyed driving. I enjoyed the aspect of setting up the car, putting it on the track and feeling what it did. This paint scheme kind of chose me. I was so surprised that Alex, Ally and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports pulled this off and wanted to pay tribute to me. To me, I am going to deflect it back to all of those grassroots racers that give all of their time, energy and life to this great sport that we love called racing. Whether it is on the NASCAR level or a local short track. Hopefully, people can get behind the story and understand what it meant to me.”