KANSAS SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 33 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 2:30 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, OCT. 18 (NBC/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
Chase Elliott
No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 24 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2020 Season
4th in standings
32 starts
3 wins
1 pole position
13 top-five finishes
19 top-10 finishes
810 laps led
Career
181 starts
9 wins
9 pole positions
57 top-five finishes
93 top-10 finishes
2,654 laps led
Track Career
9 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
97 laps led
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, will be available to members of the media via video conference on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 1:15 p.m. ET. Visit NASCARmedia.com for details.
KING OF THE QUEEN CITY: Chase Elliott continued his recent dominance at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday by leading 27 laps on the way to his second consecutive victory on the track’s 2.28-mile road course. Earlier this year, Elliott won the second of two NASCAR Cup Series events and the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race on the track’s 1.5-mile oval layout. Additionally, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native led 38 laps and finished second in Charlotte’s annual 600-mile race in May.
ROAD-COURSE REIGN: Sunday’s win at the Charlotte roval was Elliott’s fourth consecutive road-course victory, making him and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon the only drivers in Cup Series history to accomplish four road-course wins in a row.
2020 SEASON: Through 32 races, Elliott has garnered career bests in laps led (810), top-five finishes (13), top-10s (19), stage points (273) and stage wins (eight). His three wins are tied for his most and three runner-up results are the second most for him at the 32-race mark.
NAPA IN KANSAS: On Sunday at Kansas, Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will don the blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for a total of 26 NASCAR Cup Series races this season. In February, it was announced that NAPA AUTO PARTS and Hendrick Motorsports will continue their partnership for another two seasons through 2022. Click here to read the full release.
GUSTAFSON IN THE PLAYOFFS: Sunday’s win at the Charlotte roval gives No. 9 crew chief Alan Gustafson his 10th NASCAR Cup Series career win in the playoffs, the third most of all crew chiefs.
FOUR TO GO: As the NASCAR Cup Series enters the Round of 8 this weekend at Kansas, Elliott currently leads playoff drivers with the most points earned (239), stage points (73) and holds the best average running position (5.66) in the six playoff races. He has also run the most laps in the top five (1,176) and in the top 10 (1,567) of all drivers. In those six playoff races, the driver of the No. 9 holds the third-most laps led (280) and is tied for the second-most top-10s (4) in the playoffs with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman.
1.5-MILE TRACKS IN 2020: In nine 1.5-mile races in 2020, Elliott won at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 28 and has two runner-up finishes. He has led the fifth-most laps (262) in the Cup Series and has collected the fourth-most points (329). Elliott’s three stage wins at 1.5-mile tracks are tied for most in the series this season with Bowman and Denny Hamlin.
KANSAS STATS: On Sunday, Elliott is set to make his 10th Kansas Speedway start in the NASCAR Cup Series. He holds the third-best average finish (11.6) at the track among drivers with at least two starts. In Elliott’s nine previous starts at Kansas, he garnered one win, four top-five finishes and five top-10s. Elliott has finished inside the top five in four of the last six races at the 1.5-mile track.
WELCOME HOME: No. 9 team jackman T.J. Semke hails from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, less than 40 miles from Kansas Speedway. Before stepping on the football field at the University of Kansas in 2012, Semke was a part-time bounty hunter. The 27-year-old was a defensive lineman for the Kansas Jayhawks for three years, earning Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honors twice. Semke signed with Hendrick Motorsports in October 2016.
William Byron
No. 24 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver William Byron Hometown Charlotte, North Carolina
Age 22 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2020 Season
12th in standings
32 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
12 top-10 finishes
137 laps led
Career
104 starts
1 win
5 pole positions
9 top-five finishes
29 top-10 finishes
431 laps led
Track Career
5 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
2 top-10 finishes
32 laps led
ROAD-COURSE REGULAR: Rolling off 13th Sunday afternoon at the Charlotte road course, William Byron didn’t let the wet conditions slow him down, scoring a fourth-place finish in Stage 1 and a seventh-place finish in Stage 2 after leading 27 laps – tying Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott for the most laps led in the race. However, a pit road speeding penalty in the final stage forced Byron to restart at the tail end of the field. He was able to pilot his No. 24 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE back to the front and secure a sixth-place finish.
CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY: Last Sunday’s sixth-place finish marked Byron’s 12th top-10 result of the 2020 season. In fact, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet has five top-10 finishes in the last eight races – tied for the second most with Elliott and just behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman with six.
RACING FOR REDEMPTION: With five NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Byron’s results don’t accurately depict the success he has had at the 1.5-mile track. During his rookie season, Byron was running seventh in the May event before a late-race incident ended his day early, followed by a mechanical issue early in the October race. In last year’s May race, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native was running in second before being called for a penalty on pit road. Since then, Byron has finished fifth (October 2019) and 10th (July 2020). In fact, Byron’s 27 laps led at Kansas Speedway in the Cup Series is tied for the third most at a track in his career. His two consecutive top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track is the second-longest streak on a track for Byron behind Pocono Raceway (three) and 4 him for the third-longest top-10 streak behind Erik Jones (five) and Kurt Busch (three).
KANSAS CAN-DO ATTITUDE: While his Cup results are a bit misleading, in Byron’s first two NASCAR national series starts at Kansas Speedway – one in the Xfinity Series and one in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series – he started from the pole position in both races and finished no worse than fourth. In his debut at the 1.5-mile oval in 2016, just his fifth Truck Series start, Byron started from the top spot, led 34 laps and collected his first Truck Series win, which kickstarted the most successful season by a rookie in the history of the series.
ONE MORE TIME FOR HENDRICKCARS.COM: For the final time in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will feature HendrickCars.com for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. The blue and white scheme pays homage to Ricky Hendrick, son of car owner Rick Hendrick, who drove a similar scheme in both the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and in the Xfinity Series. Brian Vickers also piloted the scheme when he won the 2003 Xfinity Series championship. Hendrick Automotive Group has more than 100 dealership locations in 14 states and 27,000 cars to choose from, which can be browsed at HendrickCars.com. It also offers same-day service and maintenance from factory-certified technicians, which can be scheduled online.
Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 45 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2020 Season
18th in standings
31 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
9 top-10 finishes
103 laps led
Career
682 starts
83 wins
36 pole positions
231 top-five finishes
373 top-10 finishes
18,937 laps led
Track Career
28 starts
3 wins
3 pole positions
9 top-five finishes
19 top-10 finishes
601 laps led
KANSAS WINS: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has seen plenty of success over the course of his 28 starts at Kansas Speedway, accumulating a record three wins at the 1.5-mile track. The driver’s most recent win there came on May 9, 2015, when he led the final 10 laps to edge Kevin Harvick for the victory. Johnson owns 28 career Cup Series wins on 1.5-mile tracks, the most of all time. At Kansas, he also has the second-most top-five finishes (nine), the most top-10s (19) and the fourth-most laps led (601).
ABOVE AVERAGE AT KANSAS: Johnson had the second-best average finish of 11.1 at Kansas Speedway among active drivers with more than two starts and is fourth among active drivers with more than five starts.
INFIELD HONOR: This week, Kansas Speedway announced a legacy gift for Johnson in honor of his contributions to NASCAR and his passion for cycling. Academy Sports + Outdoors will donate 48 bikes and helmets to pediatric patients at the University of Kansas Health System. In addition, there will be tributes to Johnson on the infield grass and throughout the venue.
PASSING THE TORCH: Last weekend, Johnson and teammate Alex Bowman sat down with NBC Sports’ legendary broadcaster Mike Tirico to talk about Johnson passing the torch to Bowman to drive for the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team next season. Click here for the extended interview.
O MAGAZINE: Recently, Johnson penned an essay about friend and competitor Bubba Wallace for “O Magazine”. The November issue hit newsstands on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Click here to read the article.
RACE HUB TUNE IN: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson will be a show-long guest on FOX Sports 1’s Race Hub on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. ET. Johnson and the Hub crew will unveil the “Sign for Jimmie” paint scheme on air.
MURAL HONOR AT CHARLOTTE: Last weekend, president and CEO of Charlotte Motor Speedway Marcus Smith unveiled a 207-square-foot historical mural featuring memorable scenes from Johnson’s victories at America’s Home for Racing. The mural, which recognizes Johnson as the winningest NASCAR Cup Series driver in Charlotte Motor Speedway history, is located on the frontstretch concourse for fans to enjoy for years to come. To learn more about the mural, click here.
TEAM JJF VISOR CAMPAIGN: A number of Johnson’s teammates and competitors will sport a specially designed Jimmie Johnson Foundation visor strip on their respective helmets this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Once raced, the signed visors will be available in an online auction the week prior to the race at Phoenix Raceway, Johnson’s final race as a full-time Cup driver, to raise funds to support K-12 public education. For more information on the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, click here.
Alex Bowman
No. 88 Truck Hero/ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Driver Alex Bowman Hometown Tucson, Arizona
Age 27 Resides Concord, North Carolina
2020 Season
7th in standings
32 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
12 top-10 finishes
396 laps led
Career
185 starts
2 wins
2 pole positions
14 top-five finishes
38 top-10 finishes
870 laps led
Track Career
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
4 top-10 finishes
76 laps led
WELCOME TO THE ROUND OF 8: For the first time in Alex Bowman’s NASCAR Cup Series career, he has secured a position in the Round of 8 in the 2020 playoffs. After capturing stage points in Sunday’s event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and bringing home an eighth-place finish, Bowman finished eighth in the standings at the conclusion of the Round of 12.
SITTING SEVENTH: Coming off the eighth-place finish in Charlotte on Sunday, Bowman remains seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings. The Tucson, Arizona, native sits 58 markers from the leader going into Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. Bowman has captured 262 points at 1.5-mile venues, which ranks 10th on the list of active drivers. The ChevyGoods.com driver has three stage wins on intermediate tracks and has led 226 laps total. A win on Sunday would earn Bowman a spot in the Championship 4.
CAREER YEAR: Bowman is having a career year in 2020. The 27-year-old driver has made it to the Round of 8 for the first time in his career and has four stage wins so far this season. The No. 88 team’s 12 top-10 finishes in 2020 are tied for Bowman’s most in a single season. He has led 396 laps thus far, which is nearly double from any other season. Bowman has finished inside the top 10 in six of the last eight races, which are the most top 10s among active drivers in that span.
BOWMAN STATS: The Tucson, Arizona native, will make his 11th start at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. Earlier this season, Bowman brought home an eighth-place finish at the track after rolling off sixth. The sixth-year Cup Series driver has four top-10 results at Kansas in 10 starts, which are the most top-10s on a single track for Bowman. He has led 76 laps at the venue and has finished inside the top 10 in three of the last four events. The driver made one start at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series back in 2013 and finished 11th at the end of the 200-lap event. Bowman made two starts at Kansas in the ARCA Series and brought home the win in both races. In 2012, the driver won from the pole after leading 67 laps.
IMPRESSIVE STATS: Bowman has scored the fourth-highest number of points so far in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with 209. He earned the fourth-highest amount of stage points (45) and has the fifth-best average running position (10.2) so far. Bowman has four top-10 finishes in the six playoff events and is third among drivers for the most top-10s (four) in the 2020 playoffs. He has run 1,257 laps inside the top 10 in the last six events and has spent 394 laps inside the top five. During the first 24 races of the season, Bowman’s average points per race was 26. In the last eight events, his average in points earned is 34 and his average finish went from 17.9 to 8.8.
IVES IN KANSAS: Crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the 12th time at Kansas Speedway this weekend. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s drivers have two top-five results, six top-10s and have led 78 laps at the 1.5-mile facility. Ives’ best finish of second came in spring 2019 after the team rolled off fifth and led 63 laps. The crew chief’s résumé includes one top-five finish and two top-10s at the venue in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In 2013, Ives’ driver led 81 laps en route to a third-place finish at the facility. Ives 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 eight top-10 finishes at Kansas.
CHEVYGOODS IS BACK: For Sunday’s event at Kansas Speedway, ChevyGoods.com and Truck Hero will be back on-board Bowman’s Chevrolet. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Truck Hero offers customers a full range of branded automotive accessories for vehicles with market-leading functionality, engineering, quality and design. Hendrick Motorsports announced its partnership with ChevyGoods.com earlier this season, which includes branding on Bowman’s Camaro for 26 events. Associate brands featured are Adam’s Polishes, NOCO and Truck Hero.
NEW MONTH, NEW DEALS: During the month of October, No. 88 team sponsor ChevyGoods.com is providing discounts on various accessories on its website. Customers can receive 10% below MSRP on Adam’s Polishes and NOCO accessories purchased online with code CHEVYGOODS. With code TRUCKHERO, customers can receive 20% below MSRP on Truck Hero accessories purchased online.
HOME-TRACK FEELS: The fueler for the No. 88 team, Jacob Conley, grew up approximately 204 miles from Kansas Speedway in Omaha, Nebraska. Conley went to Doane University in Crete, Nebraska, and graduated with a degree in sociology in 2012. While at the university, Conley played offensive tackle for the Tigers and was a starter during all four years of college.
SPEEDY ON PIT ROAD: The No. 88 pit crew ranks sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series with an average four-tire stop time of 14.13 seconds after 32 events this season. The team includes fueler Conley, tire carrier Rowdy Harrell, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
Hendrick Motorsports
CONQUERING KANSAS: Coming off a winning weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval, Hendrick Motorsports will take on the 1.5-mile oval of Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The team is the track’s all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series wins (seven), runner-up results (six), top-five finishes (35) and top-10s (63). Its average Kansas finish of 13.18 is the best of all organizations. Rick Hendrick’s drivers have led 1,278 laps there.
TEAMMATES SUPPORTING TEAMMATES: At Kansas, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers, along with other Cup Series drivers, will have a special strip across their visors to support the Jimmie Johnson Foundation. The drivers will sign their visors for an online auction that will take place the week before Johnson’s final Cup Series race at Phoenix. Proceeds from the auction will go to Johnson’s foundation, which supports K-12 public school education.
BEST SINCE ’16: Hendrick Motorsports has notched as least one top-10 finish in 14 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races, its longest streak of the 2020 season. The last time the team reeled off more than 14 consecutive top-10s was in 2016 when it posted 15 in a row during a championship year. Hendrick Motorsports has also led laps in each of the last 10 races, which is the longest active streak of any organization.
PLAYOFF RECORD: Since the inception of the format in 2004, Hendrick Motorsports has 45 NASCAR Cup Series playoff wins – 16 more than any other team. With Chase Elliott’s victory on Sunday at the Charlotte roval, the organization has now scored at least one playoff win in a record-extending 16 different seasons, missing only 2017. A series-topping seven different drivers have won a playoff race for Hendrick Motorsports.
SEVEN AWAY: Since its inception in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 261 race victories and holds the all-time records for championships (12), pole positions (226), top-five finishes (1,096), top-10s (1,891) and laps led (70,335) in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Including 2020, the organization has won at least one race in 35 consecutive seasons, the longest-ever streak. Hendrick Motorsports is seven wins away from tying Petty Enterprises’ all-time Cup record of 268.
QUOTABLE /
Driver Chase Elliott on if the No. 9 team is doing anything differently this season to advance to Championship 4:
“I don’t know if we are necessarily taking a different approach. I think we’re just trying to build on what we’ve been working on over the past few years. I feel like every year we’ve been close; we just haven’t been able to get over that hump and really assert ourselves among that top group. I feel like we’ve been right there. I feel like we’re very capable of it. Just those little inconsistencies and some bad racetracks have been our biggest problems. So, we’re trying to be a little more consistent everywhere. I think it’s a goal. And eliminate bad tracks. You can’t have bad tracks at this level, and the guys who win often and win all the time and run (well) don’t have any bad tracks. It’s certainly possible and that’s just where we have to get to. The reality is that’s the only way to contend with them and I think we’re capable of doing it.”
Crew chief Alan Gustafson on what it takes to advance to Championship 4:
“Yeah, we’ve got to find a way to get through. I feel like there’s certainly been a couple times that I think we could have advanced in the last few years. Winning one of these next three is going to be what it takes, and I think we can do it. We’re going to work really hard to do it. We have great support behind us. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports is doing a great job. Greg (Ives) and Alex (Bowman) did a great job getting through. We have two with a shot to make it through. We’d certainly like to get them both.”
Driver William Byron on the challenges of racing at Kansas:
“Kansas is one of the most dynamic tracks we go to in terms of how crucial lane choice and lane selection are. It’s a tough track to figure out. You want to be turning well but if you’re too loose it’s really hard to make good lap times because the track is so smooth. It’s tough to manage and figure out how much freer you need to be to make time but also how much rear grip you need so you can stay in the throttle. I think the Vegas races this year give us a good idea of how this weekend will go though. I think those two tracks really correlate well to each other. Vegas gives us a good idea of what we need to work on since we had a decent run there and, hopefully, we can apply some of those things.”
Driver Jimmie Johnson on Kansas:
“I’ve always loved racing at Kansas. The track shape, design and also the progressive banking in the corners. They just hit it and they gave drivers the opportunity to search for other lanes and to try to find a way by the car in front of you. It’s led to some very strong finishes for us. It really takes 10 to 15 years for a track’s surface to really come in, and if you look at the age of Kansas Speedway they are in that window. It’s quality racing and some of the best out there.”
Driver Alex Bowman on making the Round of 8:
“Making the Round of 8 was one of our team’s goals for the 2020 season. We are focused and ready to get through the Round of 8 and go for a championship in Phoenix next month. Going to Kansas this weekend is something I am looking forward to. We have had some strong results there in the past and Hendrick Motorsports’ intermediate program is one of our best. This No. 88 team is capable of putting together a race-winning Chevrolet and we believe we will have a strong car this weekend.”
Crew chief Greg Ives on being successful at Kansas:
“I feel like we are going to have a great car in Kansas. It is one of those tracks that we have had marked on our board, like ‘Hey, this is another place we can win at.’ We have the car capable to do that and we have the team capable of doing that. There are a lot of factors to consider but we are going to go out there with a fast Chevrolet and try to get that win. We have to take advantage of our strengths and we feel that Kansas is one of our strongest tracks when looking at the next three tracks. We have to be aggressive to the point of succeeding, but not over aggressive.”
