TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Darlington Raceway / Portland International Raceway
August 30-31, 2025

A bicoastal tripleheader weekend is on deck for the NASCAR national touring series. For the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series, the 2025 playoffs will officially get underway at Darlington Raceway with the oval tapped as “The Lady in Black” set to host the first of three races in the opening round of their respective postseason schedules.

Chevrolet will lead its manufacturer competitors in representation for each playoff lineup with seven Team Chevy drivers vying for the Bill France Performance Cup and four Team Chevy drivers competing for the Craftsman Truck Series Driver Championship.

Coming off its 21st victory of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the Bowtie brigade will make its furthest trek on the schedule to Portland International Raceway for the penultimate race of the regular season. The battle for the regular season championship title is closer than ever with reigning champion, Justin Allgaier, regaining the top position by a mere three-point margin over his JR Motorsports teammate, Connor Zilisch, heading into Saturday’s 75-lap event.

 Chevrolet in the Southern 500:

Holding the prestige as one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events, the Southern 500 was first introduced to the division in 1950. Chevrolet has conquered “The Track Too Tough to Tame” to take the crown jewel triumph a series-leading 29 times – a legacy that began with Herb Thomas’ victory in the 1955 race. Career Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, is the series’ winningest driver in the 500-mile race with six victories. Most recently, it was Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson that took the crown in 2023 to deliver the Bowtie brand its second Southern 500 win in now three races in the series’ Next Gen era.

SEVEN TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS SET FOR CUP SERIES TITLE CHASE

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will see seven drivers from three different Chevrolet organizations make a run for the Bill France Performance Cup – a number that tops its manufacturer competitors in both driver and organization representation. Since the debut of the 16-driver playoff field and elimination rounds in 2014, Chevrolet has placed no worse than five drivers in the title chase. This season’s regular season produced six different winners under the Chevrolet banner to earn a combined 12 victories. Despite still looking for a trip to victory lane, a stellar summer stretch for Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team ended with a much-deserved berth into the postseason.

Larson Starts Second Title Bid as Top Seed

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson will start his campaign for a second NASCAR Cup Series championship title from atop the playoff standings – entering the first of three races of the Round of 16 with a 26-point advantage over the cutline. To no surprise, the 33-year-old Elk Grove, California, native has been among the front runners of title contenders through much of the 2025 season. The 26-race regular season has seen the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team earn three trips to victory lane – one of which included their near-dominate triumph at the track that also concludes the Round of 16 (Bristol Motor Speedway). Larson has also gone on to tally 11 top-fives and 16 top-10s thus far to lead the series in both statistical categories. This season will mark Larson’s ninth career playoff appearance in the division, including a run of five-straight since his tenor with Hendrick Motorsports began in his championship-earning season (2021).

 
Byron Backed by Regular Season Momentum

Ranked just behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate is William Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet team, with the regular season champions heading into their title run with a 26-point cushion over the playoff cutline. Byron has been a staple figure in the division’s postseason competition in recent years with the 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native set to make his seventh consecutive playoff appearance this season. With back-to-back runs to the Championship Four under his belt, the Team Chevy driver has put together a regular season that has set their team up for arguably their best shot at the championship title. Securing the first automatic berth into the playoff field with another DAYTONA 500 crown, Byron went on to maintain the series’ points lead for 21 races of the regular season. Throughout his Cup Series career, Byron has found victory lane at four of the tracks found on the 10-race postseason schedule, including the venue that opens the playoffs (Darlington Raceway – May 2022), as well as the track that ultimately decides the championship title winner (Phoenix Raceway – March 2023).

TEAM CHEVY SECURES FOUR BIDS IN NCTS PLAYOFF FIELD

With the playoff field set, four drivers representing three different Chevrolet organizations will have the chance to drive the Bowtie brand to its 15th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Driver Championship. All four playoff contenders will enter the opening race of the Round of 10 above the cutline – led by a pair of McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammates, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Ankrum, who are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the standings. Also earning his playoff berth by virtue of a win was Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, with CR7 Motorsports’ Grant Enfinger locking up his title hopes on points prior to the start of the series’ regular season finale race at Richmond Raceway.

 
Enfinger Eyeing Three-Straight Championship Four Runs

While still in search of a victory this season, Grant Enfinger carries the added boost of veteran experience to keep the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet team at the forefront of the series’ title contenders. The 40-year-old Fairhope, Alabama, native is on the brink of his seventh appearance in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs, including back-to-back trips to the Championship Four (2023-24). Enfinger is no stranger to being able to capitalize on the playoff pressure when it matters the most. In 2024, Enfinger made a late-season stampede that saw the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet team earn wins in two of the three races in the Round of Eight (Talladega Superspeedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway).

 
PORTLAND MARKS PENULTIMATE NXS REGULAR SEASON RACE

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is set to make its fourth-ever appearance at Portland International Raceway this weekend with the 1.97-mile circuit tapped to host the penultimate race of its regular season. Eight drivers have already solidified their playoff hopes with a win – six of which come from the Chevrolet camp including JR Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith; Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love and Austin Hill; and Big Machine Racing’s Nick Sanchez. Among those heading to the Pacific Northwest in the four provisional points positions includes Carson Kvapil, with the JR Motorsports driver sitting at the only triple-digit points cushion (+120) over the cutline.

It’s been a season for the record books for the Chevrolet camp with the manufacturer already boosting 21 wins in 24 races. Among those triumphs includes an undefeated record on road courses this season – all of which have been earned by a JR Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet.

JRM Teammates Continue in Regular Season Title Battle

A third-place finish and a race-high 50-point night at Daytona International Speedway was just enough to put the series’ reigning champion, Justin Allgaier, back atop the points standings heading into the Portland race weekend. The series veteran is one step closer to grabbing his second career regular season championship, but the title won’t come easy for the veteran driver. With an assist behind the wheel by Parker Kligerman, Connor Zilisch still remains at a striking distance with just a three-point deficit to his teammate. With his prowess at making left- and right-hand turns, the ‘Rookie of the Year’ contender will have the perfect opportunity to regain the points lead this weekend. The 19-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina, native has yet to finish outside of the top-five on road courses this season, including three trips to victory lane (Circuit of The Americas, Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International).

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 26 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 12

Poles: 10

Laps Led: 3,116

Top-Fives: 52

Top-10s: 111

Stage Wins: 22

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 24 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:

Wins: 21

Poles: 14

Laps Led: 2,870

Top-Fives: 81

Top-10s: 154

Stage Wins: 35

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 18 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete:

Wins: 6

Poles: 2

Laps Led: 887

Top-Fives: 41

Top-10s: 84

Stage Wins: 7

 
BOWTIE BULLETS:

· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Darlington Raceway:

Kyle Larson – one win (2023 Southern 500)

William Byron – one win (May 2023)

Kyle Busch – one win (2008 Southern 500)

· In 128 NASCAR Cup Series races at Darlington Raceway, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 44 victories. In seven events in the series’ Next Gen era, Chevrolet has earned three victories – recorded in consecutive events by Erik Jones (Sept. 2022), William Byron (May 2023) and Kyle Larson (Sept. 2023).

· Chevrolet paces its manufacturer competitors in both driver and organization representation in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with seven drivers from three different Chevrolet organizations set to compete for this season’s driver championship title.

· Chevrolet has earned at least half of the top-10 finishing results in 12 of the 26 points-paying races thus far this season, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

· In 134 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 64 victories – a winning percentage of 47.8%.

· With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 878 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

 
TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series (Darlington Raceway)

Playoffs Round of 16: Race One

Cook Out Southern 500

Sunday, August 31, at 6 p.m. ET

(USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Xfinity Series (Portland International Raceway)

Pacific Office Automation 147

Saturday, August 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (Darlington Raceway)

Playoffs Round of 10: Race One

Sober or Slammer 200

Saturday, August 30, at 12:00 p.m. ET

(FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

 
QUOTABLE QUOTES:

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Do you like racing at Darlington Raceway?

“I can’t wait to get to Darlington Raceway in our Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet. The Southern 500 is one of the coolest races of the year. I love the long races. You really have to race that track from start to finish. It’s exciting to be able to go to Darlington as a NASCAR Playoffs contender and represent everyone in Welcome, North Carolina.”

How do you prepare for 500 grueling laps at Darlington Raceway?

“I think racing for 500 miles is one of those things you prepare yourself all year long for. There’s some races, like the Coca-Cola 600, the Southern 500, that you know are just going to be one of those places that you go to and get locked in, focus on one lap after another. You take it lap by lap.”

Is getting a Darlington Stripe a badge of honor?

“The Darlington stripe is a badge of honor, but I like to keep my car clean. I don’t want any stripes. I want it to be race ready the whole race so I have everything I can for the end of the race.”

How important is qualifying at Darlington Raceway?

“Qualifying is super important. A lot of emphasis will be put on qualifying because we’re trying to gain stage points. Darlington Raceway is a tricky place to qualify at, because you can be very aggressive and gain a lot but it’s easy to step over the line in the same situation.”

What’s the strategy for the Southern 500?

“I think the strategy for the Southern 500 is to get better throughout the race. Execution is key. You can’t have a setback, but as it gets cooler throughout the night you’ve got to make the right adjustments so the car is the best at the end of the race.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

“I think we’ve been kind of quietly getting better here lately with the five team, we get to go to one of our better tracks at Darlington [Raceway] and hopefully can get some momentum for our final 10 weeks. It’s a fun time of year; I’m excited about the opportunity to race for another championship and wouldn’t want to do it with any other group. So, looking forward to doing it with Hendrick Motorsports, HENDRICKCARS.COM and see if we can get Chevy a win.”

Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

You were so close to winning at Daytona to lock into the Cup Series Playoffs, what are your goals for the next 10 races?

“I am focused on one race at a time. The No. 7 team has a lot of momentum following Daytona which will give us a great metric for qualifying. Our team has put in a lot of effort, and we are getting better each week. I think we can get to where we want to be to close out the 2025 season.”

Darlington has hosted Cup Series races since September 1950. It’s a track with multiple nicknames and a lot of history. Do you have any favorite moments?

“I think my favorite moment is probably finishing third with Kaulig in Xfinity in May of 2022. I qualified 29th and got up to 20th by the end of Stage 1, but I fell back to 27th and went a lap down in Stage 2. In the final stage we got the free pass, made up track position, and took advantage of the chaos at the end to bring home a third-place finish.”

Where does Darlington rank on your list of favorite tracks?

“Darlington is definitely one of my favorites. I’ve always ran well there and enjoy the challenges of racing there. The track surface is old and worn, as a driver it’s fun to move around and find speed through the duration of a stint. The Southern 500 is an iconic race for our sport and I’m looking forward to seeing how we shake out!”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Do you enjoy the challenge of racing at Darlington?

“I do feel like Darlington has its own unique challenges and those challenges are pretty fun. It kind of gives to that old school nature of NASCAR but yet still has its own unique differences between any of the other one-mile or mile-and-a-half racetracks that we go to.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

“The Southern 500 is the most physically demanding race that we have during our season. We’ve had good speed the last couple times there; it’ll be a challenge, but it’s one I’m looking forward to. Our goal in these last ten races is to finish out strong and building momentum with our group. This is an important race to go do that at and we plan to execute.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

“Darlington is one of the toughest tracks we go to, but it’s also one of the most exciting. You have to respect the history of this place and race the track with patience all night. I’m looking forward to having Pudgy Penguins on board with us. It’s cool to welcome a new partner that brings such fun energy, and hopefully we can give them a good show for their NASCAR debut.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

How do you approach Darlington given you are not one of the 16 drivers competing for a championship?

“We aren’t where we want to be. We were hoping this would be the first round of the playoffs, but we’re still fighting for a win before the end of the year. This is the start of where we need to build some momentum and get everything ready for next season. Darlington is one of the tracks we’ve been to before, outside of Atlanta and Daytona, so it’ll be helpful to have a notebook. But things have changed throughout the year for us. I feel good about it this weekend. It’s a fun race and a cool track. The Southern 500 is a special weekend for sure.”

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

You had a great run at Darlington last September and qualified well in April until you encountered some issues. How do you replicate your prior success and put together a complete 500 miles?

“The biggest hurdle is the changing track conditions throughout the night. You transition from the daytime to night and have to stay up on adjustments. Everyone wants to win the Southern 500. A win at Darlington and add yourself to the list of winners is really special. We’ve improved a lot as a team since May. I’ve qualified well in all three Cup starts at Darlington, and I think we have a good chance to show speed in practice, qualify decent and have a good night.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Darlington is a track like no other, what is going through your mind as you prepare for the Playoffs to start this weekend?

“Darlington is one of my favorite ovals, but the next three races aren’t going to be easy. We are in a decent spot and have earned some nice playoff points, which is cool, but now we have to execute; no mistakes and get good results every week. That will help us achieve our goal.”

What makes Darlington one of your favorite ovals?

“It’s just cool! You drive into the track and feel such a cool vibe, and everyone is happy to be there. But the challenge of the track, how slippery it is, how you have to run the wall and the dynamic of the racing, I always enjoy it.”

Connor Zilisch, No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet

“This will be the first race after my collarbone injury where run the whole race. Last week at Daytona was really cool with Parker Kligerman getting in and taking the WeatherTech Chevrolet to victory lane. It was really cool to watch and awesome for Parker to keep up the momentum we had built up over the last few months. This is my first time going to Portland. This is another road course for me and another great opportunity to score some points for the regular season championship. I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel and being 100 percent on Saturday.”

Portland is the first road course that you’re competing at that you’ve never seen before until you arrive onsite. Is that more challenging than going to an oval that you’ve never seen?

“I would say the ovals are more challenging. I feel like the road courses come more naturally to me. I watched a lot of races from Portland. It’s always going to change a little bit going there for the first time.”

 
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2024): 43

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Most recent: 2024

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, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2024): 33

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

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, 2021

Event Victories:

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

2025 STATISTICS:

Wins: 12

Poles: 10

Laps Led: 3,116

Top-Fives: 52

Top-10s: 111

Stage Wins: 22

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 878 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 763

Laps led to date: 255,827

Top-fives to date: 4,421

Top-10s to date: 9,118

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,212

       Chevrolet: 878

       Pontiac: 154

       Oldsmobile: 115

       Buick: 65



       Ford: 845                                                                               

       Ford: 745

       Mercury: 96

       Lincoln: 4



       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

       Dodge: 217

       Plymouth: 191

       Chrysler: 59



       Toyota: 198

 

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

Toyota GAZOO Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (August 27, 2025) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Wednesday as part of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

How does your Playoff experience last year change your mental approach for the Playoffs this year?

“I think it’s just experience. Yeah, for me, I was on the good side of it last year. I’ve done this a few times. Coming in with very little Playoff points so it’s just all experience. Last year was a little nicer one, right? Because we were able to have those Playoff points to fall back on. It seemed like even though we had them in each round, we found our way into trouble. So, I think this time around we’ve got to be much more on top of it. We don’t have that much room for error but that’s okay. There are some good tracks. Obviously, Darlington is a great one to start at. There’s a lot of good tracks in the Playoffs for this team I think.”

Has the team gone over strengths and weaknesses this season?

“Yeah, we did that. Got to look at a lot of numbers and a lot of things. I don’t know if it helped. I think it added to the frustration. Even more reason for a reset going into the Playoffs, if you will.”

What stood out to you?

“Well, I mean honestly, it has the feeling from my vantage point that the speed just wasn’t quite the same. Obviously, the execution we all know is not great. Looking at everything that we have, the speed seems pretty good. Yeah, just when you look at pace and everything that we have versus our finishing position, not many in the field are worse. We’ve just really got to take advantage of fast Toyota Camrys and get top fives and win races especially here in each of these rounds.”

How do you go and win a championship this year?

“Pretty much don’t do what we did the first 26 races (laughter). We’ve been in a position to win and lose, we just – don’t take ourselves out. Yeah, there’s plenty of things on a more serious note to go over and look at how we’ve been doing things. Everyone on the team has been looking into that, working hard, reflecting. And, yeah, the word reset has been thrown around a lot today. I feel like that’s a good way for us to look at it as well. Yeah, we’ve had a tough regular season. Yes, we’re behind the cut line and everything else but the points margins are all closed up quite a bit with the Playoff seeding. We’ve just got to go out there and do what we’ve been capable of all year – just do it this time.”

Where is the confidence to put the regular season behind you and say you know you can do this?

“For me, going to Darlington to start really helps because that’s a track for me that even when I like just can’t even function as a driver we still manage to run somewhere in the top 10. I feel like over the years that’s a place that when we’re strong we’re upfront, we’re leading laps and when we’re a little off we’re still in the top 10 and top five. So, for me, that’s just been one of those tracks just whether it’s the spring race or the Southern 500, it’s just a really good track for me.”

Do you like the way the Playoffs are setup?

“I’m just thinking about the first race honestly. Gateway, yeah Gateway I think we’re good at when we don’t have brake failures. Bristol is the one if I’m looking at the whole Playoffs, is kind of the question mark. We haven’t had race-winning speed there in a bit. It’s a place we know we got to get better, but yeah, I know I don’t always show up in Martinsville it seems like and perform the level Bubba (Wallace) does but it’s obvious that our Camrys are good when we go to Martinsville. Yeah, when I look at a lot of the tracks that we have on the remainder, they all look good. It’s just Bristol. I’ve got to figure out how to run top 10 there.”

Is this one of the most frustrating and stressful seasons that you’ve had?

“You know, if I let myself think about it like that, I’m sure I could find reasons as to why it would be. I mean, the results, right. The speed, the capability looks like it’s there but the results – we have found a way to throw some away. Yeah, you know, I think it would be but when you come into the Cup Series as a rookie it’s real easy to just let the weight of everything just crush you. Yeah, it’s not as bad as that to there’s that at least.”

What do you feel is your biggest strength and biggest weakness over the next 10 races?

“Our speed is our strength. What’s been our weakness is the execution. We haven’t got the results on those days where we’ve been that fast. Whether that’s DNF or damage and finishing laps down, it seems when you look at this year when we’ve been fast and leading laps, we’ve found a way to not be on the lead lap by the end of it.”

How much different is your setup for the Southern 500 compared to the spring race?

“The weather’s different. The transition from day to night is where you try to really trust your notes, have good notes. My crew chief Billy Scott’s got a lot of experience – done this race many, many times. We’ve done this race a few times together too. You just really try to do your best to trust your instincts but also go off of what you know has happened in the past. Yeah, it seems like over the years spring to fall we’ve been pretty good both times. I’m just looking forward to getting there honestly.”

Where would a Southern 500 win rank for you?

“I guess technically I don’t think I’ve won a major. I won at Indy when we ran the road course there, so I think it’d shoot to the top for sure.”

Who was the driver that you looked up to on the track when you first started out in Cup?

“I think it was Jimmie (Johnson) and then literally 15 minutes later we were wrecking coming to pit road for the first green flag cycle so that was an awful way to start it.”

What do you think of the idea that someone coming up through racing could look at you the way you thought about Jimmie Johnson?

“I feel like those moments are creeping up on me sooner than I want them to. It’s funny you bring this up, Luke Barnes is a part of the pit development group at 23XI, and his father Lanny was my engine tuner. He’s still at ECR. But I remember going racing in the 2 car in the Xfinity Series and Lanny was obviously engine tuning back then more so and his son came to the race track a few times and when I talked to Lanny a couple weeks ago, he’s like, ‘Yeah, my son’s over there now.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, he is.’ Then I’m like, ‘Last time I saw him he was a kid. He was 12 and now he’s 21.’ He’s talking about, ‘Oh yeah, that was so long ago when you won those championships.’ I feel the gray hairs coming. So, yeah, it’s crazy how time moves quick and yeah there’s a kid that I’ll probably meet at the race track that one day might be coming for my job. You never know.”

What kind of impact has your group had?

“I haven’t really given it a lot of thought – you are putting me on the spot (laughter). It is crazy to think about as time goes on. Always growing up racing, I was always the young kid racing against adults and stuff. I guess I’m getting to 30 – and there are younger guys. Connor (Zilisch) is coming up and he is a teenager. The older you get the more you realize those things are in play and going on. I think for me it just drives it home more so to just remember, as a kid, I was just trying to get Steve Kinser’s autograph. I was trying to meet Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Always try to keep that in mind at the race track when kids want an autograph or wanting a picture or want to talk to you. That impact you leave on the next generation is super important.”

What kind of impact can your generation have?

“I think about where I came from. I came from dirt racing – Kyle (Larson) did as well. I grew up racing Outlaw Karts like he did. I think it is cool that I got to do a lot of learning racing dirt Late Models with Hall of Famers, guys like Bobby Pierce – who is a friend of mine. He is going to be a future Hall of Famer for sure. It is cool to be able to say and represent the ranks of where you came from, so for me, I try to be mindful of that when I have good, bad or indifferent races – I came from some of the toughest dirt racing ranks that you can, and those guys in dirt Late Models are some of the best, smart, intense drivers. I try to be mindful of that and keep up with that as much as I can.”

What is it about the region where you’re from that has some of the toughest racers out there?

“For me, it was Cycleland (Speedway). It was Outlaw Karts. During the winter we got to race at Red Bluff, but just the places that we could go run those Outlaw Karts growing up – we had Cycleland in summer, Red Bluff we would race occasionally; we would go race up at Lakeport. My dad was crazy; he drove all over the place. There was just a lot of really good tracks out there and a lot of really young kids at that time racing in all of the different classes, so I just felt like the blueprint of a go-kart, starting out young with the Briggs Stratton, then getting into the 125, 250, 500 – all of that power in a go-kart with a wing, and running on dirt tracks with cushions and slicked off middle grooves. The level of racing that we were doing in those Outlaw Karts at a young age set us down that path and being able to jump into midgets and Sprint Cars, mini-sprints, late models and be competitive.”

That set you up for success at Homestead, but you didn’t get the respect that you deserve.

“I had my own faults for that – I played into it. It wasn’t the best year that I had when I got my head on straight and put together a good stretch, it finally showed what that team was capable of all year long, that first year. When I moved over to RCR (Richard Childress Racing), and started from scratch, if you will, there, I was in a much better place.”

So, to have Homestead as the finale next year, you were probably one of the happiest guys out there?

“Yeah, absolutely.”

What is it about Darlington that seems to work well?

“Don’t take this the wrong way – I think it is all of its little imperfections that make it perfect. All of the little details and that the wall isn’t just perfectly smoothed out. It has waves in certain spots. The holes, the bumps, the seams, the patches that they’ve had to put in over the years. All of the little things that add up to a really tricky, tough race track to get around. I think – nowadays, all of these tracks are built – they try to have them perfectly flat, smoothed out, and yes, they are great race tracks, but a place like Darlington – it’s been there as long as it has. It has a lot of character. It has a lot of things that a track, if it was built today, wouldn’t have. I think for me, that is what makes it so great.”

Why does it work for you?

“Well, if I miss the bottom, I just try to move up. I just keep moving up until I find competitive lap time and at a place like Darlington, yeah, pretty much after lap two or three, you are pretty much at the top ripping. For me, it is my comfort zone, honestly.”

Do you feel like 23XI is treated fairly with the legal issues?

“Yeah.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
2025 PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2025

Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Media Availability Quotes:

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE TEAM’S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES?

“I’ll start with the weakness, because it’s the easiest one. It’s just, are we going to be fast? Are we going to roll off the truck fast for practice at Darlington, and are we going to be able to stay fast on lap10 of that run, lap 20, lap 30, and transfer that through into qualifying for one lap, and then back to long run for the race? That’s the ultimate question for Trackhouse, in my mind is, can we go fast? And if we can do that, can we execute? We can call strategy right. We’ll miss calls. All the little things, I think we can do really well, but it’s holding ourselves accountable to keep doing them well. I don’t just rest on what we’ve done, but you need to make sure we do the little things right.”

GOING OFF WITH THAT, DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS FOUND SOMETHING IN THE RECENT ENTIRE TEST AT NEW HAMPSHIRE?

“We found a lot of data. I can’t even imagine how much stuff they downloaded off that car over the course of more than 700 laps. I got to explore as a driver, I got through in all different feelings of Goodyear tires, and I know kind of what they’re going to settle on. So, yeah, learned a lot. Whether we can put that into action into speed, on race weekend, is to be determined.”

DO YOU THINK THAT DATA CAN TRANSFER OVER TO OTHER TRACKS?

“I don’t really know to be honest, I don’t understand how that works. I know what I need to go faster, feeling out of the car, but I’m not the one assembling them, bolting them together, making decisions for springs and shocks and geometry. I don’t know.”

CAN YOU TAKE ME BACK TO YOUR CUP DEBUT OR WHATEVER EARLY IN YOUR CAREER, THAT YOU WERE RACING AROUND SOMEBODY THAT WAS SOMEBODY YOU’D LOOKED UP TO AND IT WAS A SPECIAL MOMENT”

“I did. It was 2017 spring Dover, racing for Premium Motorsports, and partway through the race we were a lap down, and they were telling me just ride around the back. We’d put tires on, but they wanted me to just wait on the next caution or something. And I said, ‘the free pass is right in front of us’. And they’re like, ‘oh, yeah, go see if you can pass them’. And I went past Paul Menard for the free pass and got my lap back. We had better tires, but that kept us in a higher spot, and I think we finished 20th or 18th or something that day. So, passing him for the free pass was a big deal that stood out, and then racing around Dale Jr.”

MAYBE SOMEDAY, A NEW KID MAY BE RACING WITH YOU AND THE WAY THAT YOU FELT ABOUT DALE JR., THEY MAY FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT YOU.

“I hope they do. It means I’m doing something right. That means that I’m around for a long time, so I plan on this being still the early part of my career and being here for a long time.”

ANY BUSINESS OR JOB OR SPORT CAN BE A GRIND. THERE’S GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS ABOUT THAT. BUT WHEN YOU WANT TO BE THE ONE OUTWORK TO OUT GRIND, HOW CHALLENGING IS THAT, OBVIOUSLY NOT EVERYBODY NEEDS THAT CHALLENGE, SO HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF GRINDING, BECAUSE THIS IS A TOUGH GAME?

“It’s not as tough as farming. I promise you that. There’s a lot of tougher jobs out there. This is not. I mean, this is not that difficult. If you show up and can go fast, and then do all the work off the track, you keep everybody happy, and do what is expected. Our farm name is JDI. It stands for just do it. It’s my dad’s life motto, and he has said it my whole life. And anytime anybody that works at the farm ever has a reason why they’re not going to do something, he says, just do it. There doesn’t have to be any more reason than that. He’s boss, the owner, so he gets to say that. And that’s my mentality for when I wake up every day if I question, ‘oh, I don’t know, I want to stay in bed today or I want to sleep in’. Alarm’s going off, get up, go do it.”

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST STRENGTH AND YOUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS ENTERING THE FINALS?

“The weakness is the question of, can we go fast? It is a simple question, and a really tough one to answer until we get on track, starting at Darlington. Then carrying it through week after week through these rounds. The best part, the biggest thing we good at is the little things and executing through the weekend and making the most out of our race on Sunday. We’re confident in that I’m going to continue to push that and not rest on what we’ve done in the past.”

WINNING CHARLOTTE IN MAY, WINNING THE COKE 600, WHERE DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU AND THE TEAM ARE AT RIGHT NOW COMPARED TO A COUPLE MONTHS AGO?

“We have the potential to pull on track at Darlington and have the same level of group that we had that Saturday. I felt it into the first corner, off pit road in practice and rolled down in turn three, and when I came off turn four, I felt right away that the car had grip and then it was up to me to go make lap time. If we have that feeling at Darlington and that balance in the car, it’s going to be a fun weekend.”

AFTER YOU WON AT CHARLOTTE, AND GOT IN (THE PLAYOFFS) DID YOU SAY I’M GOOD, I JUST HAVE TO JUST KEEP RACING AND GETTING BETTER AND YOU KNOW, ADD MORE PLAYOFF POINTS?

“Well, I’m not going to “hail melon” it, we know that. From there, it’s just a whole body of work, and go fast and get the points, it’s just that. It’s just every position’s a point, stage points, winning fixes everything in each round. So how fast can we go? That’s the big question.”

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN IS ONE OF THOSE QUESTION MARKS, AND HE WAS JUST SAYING A MINUTE AGO MAYBE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY STARTING TO COUNT US OUT. ARE THERE THINGS THAT YOU’VE SEEN IN HIS DEVELOPMENT ON THE OVALS THAT PLEASE YOU TO BELIEVE THAT, MAYBE NOT SO FAST?

“Yes. The gap from the 1 to the 88, on the ovals, has shrunk. If we’re fast, I expect him to be right there with us. He’s put the time in and learned the cars. You will always be better with more experience, but there’s enough there if Trackhouse performs the way we want to, we can make a lot of people wrong. And one of them won’t be me, I expect him to be right there with me wherever I’m at.”

EVERY TIME I’VE TALKED TO YOU, YOU’VE SEEM PRETTY CALM EVERY SINGLE SEASON. ARE YOU JUST HIDING THAT, OR ARE YOU?

“There are definite times where butterflies are flying a little more in the playoffs than they would have earlier in the summer.. The biggest mistake I’ve believe I’ve made is two. I’ve made one at Talladega where I tried to go four wide for stage points in the 2023 fall race. And then Roval, I believe, in ’22 or ’23, I wrecked by myself at the Roval. So, both of those stand out as unforced errors. I should have been off the gas, and I was on it, and I crashed. One cost me moving on and one I got away with. So usually, you don’t get away with those.”

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT DARLINGTON?

“It’s my favorite track. It’s just absolutely top of my list. Whenever I look at tracks that I want to win at, and I want to work to be better at, Darlington is it. I’ve been through an incredible learning process since I first drove on that track of how to drive it and getting a Cup win there is absolutely top of my list.”

AND IF YOU GOT IT, WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN?

“It would mean everything. I mean, it’s a life achievement, similar to winning the Coca Cola 600, but I put Darlington at the very top. So, any fall race, Southern 500 race, is what I will work a long time to win, whether that’s this year or sometime later in my career. I know when I get done, I’m going to put a full body of work into trying to win there, and whether we ever do it or not is to be determined. But short term, it would mean say at World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol, I would be walking around a whole lot lighter than if we don’t.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
2025 PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2025

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Media Availability Quotes:

What was going through your mind the last few laps (Saturday)? Because you’re watching on TV the back-and-forth, back-and-forth, who’s in, who’s out, and you’re sitting there watching the whole thing.

“Nerve-wracking for sure, but at the same time everything that we’ve been able to do this summer and as strong as we’ve been able to run… obviously you want to be in the playoffs, but when it’s that much out of your control and there’s nothing you can do, you also can’t let it absolutely ruin your year if something outside of your control happens. So that was kind of the mindset going down and kind of the mindset that we carried through that.”

Do you feel relieved now or more stressed?

“I would say I feel the same. It’s not really a relief because you have to go get right back to work. It’s the same high-pressure situation that we were in before. We really need to go perform each and every week.

Do you think you have something to prove?

“Yes and no. Obviously it would be amazing to go win a championship. And I feel like we’ve got a race team that can definitely contend right now. We’re going to do all we can to make it happen. But I don’t drive race cars to prove anything to anybody anymore. I’m here to do my job for Hendrick Motorsports and to go perform at a high level every week.”

You said going in that you were stressed. Is that the most mentally and physically just wrapped up that you’ve ever been?

No, I mean, mentally it was a lot to sit there, right? It’s a very uncomfortable situation and your anxiety and stress is spiked through the roof at that point. But past that, it kind of was what it was. It was just so much out of your control. The last couple of laps, there was so much going on… our teammates were leading and then they got shuffled back and then the 12 was in the picture. With all that going on, it was such a range of emotions that that kind of made it probably a lot more so than just one non-winner leading the whole time. That kind of made it up and down. It was a weird thing to sit through.”

Given the uncertainty of the last few weeks, have you and the team prepared as if you were going to be in the playoffs?

“I don’t think anything changes. You’re preparing at a high level for the last eight months and continuing to prepare at a high level for this week the same as we did last week and the week before. So while it’s certainly not like a ramp up, because we’re already there, we’re just kind of going to work… business as usual.”

What about Darlington? How do you look at that race?

“Yeah, it’d be nice to win, but it hasn’t been the best place for me. We’ve been pretty hit and miss there. I think we were running eighth or ninth last spring, and I hit the fence and broke a toe link, so got to avoid that, right? That’s the biggest thing about Darlington for me is just avoiding mistakes and racing the racetrack and kind of letting the rest happen. If we can just put together solid weeks through this first round, we should be okay.”

Do you think part of it is not being overzealous? You know, that adrenaline kicks in, it’s the first race of the playoffs…

“Darlington’s an easy place to make mistakes. It’s such a long night, a lot of opportunities for mistakes, a high-risk level racetrack in general. So trying to limit those is definitely important.

What feels like your biggest strength and your biggest weakness heading into the playoffs.

“The biggest strength is the momentum that we have behind us… the year that we’ve been able to put together, the speed that we’ve had at some racetracks that I’ve been pretty bad at before. At Homestead, we’ve never been good and we almost won. Richmond, we’ve been pretty bad with the Next-Gen car and we were strong there. So I think that shows me that we can go to places that we haven’t been good at before and be really strong. The lack of playoff points is probably our biggest weakness, but the field’s pretty wide open.”

Inaudible.

“I feel like that has been our baseline throughout the year. That’s where we started the year. We were pretty good on points, then we crashed for like two months straight and then kind of got back to it. I felt like our team had a lot of growth going into the playoffs last year and got a lot better. Just knowing that we can do it. Obviously the DQ (in 2024 at Charlotte) was unfortunate, but we were able to execute at a high level the next week when we went to Vegas and contended for the win there. So it didn’t shut us down by any means and we have to continue to work hard.”

Do you feel like you guys are in a better position this year to go out and take a run around the last year?

“We have momentum going into the playoffs, which we’ve never really had before. So I do think we’re in a better position. The lack of playoff points is tough, but we’ll continue working hard at it.”

If you had to pick one element that is the most important going into this first round, what would that be.

“Consistency, just continuing to execute through these first three races, right? It’s three tough racetracks where a lot can happen. And, really, I think you can ‘consistency’ your way to the Round of Eight pretty solidly. Past that, you’ve got to win races. But, yeah, I think continuing to do what we’ve been doing.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
2025 PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2025

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Media Availability Quotes:

What do you consider your team’s strengths going into the playoffs, and what do you see as the challenges?

“I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint one strength because I feel like we have a lot of strengths. Speed is always one, for sure.

We’ve just been through a lot throughout the summer. I think we’ve seen a lot of different things and we’re prepared for almost anything. I think we’re looking forward to the challenge of these next 10 and hopefully we can execute on a high level.”

What do you see as your challenges or weaknesses since you have so many strengths?

“Yeah, I think still the shorter, flatter tracks, so seeing Gateway and New Hampshire in the playoffs is not something that I was thrilled about. But I do think we’ve made our package better on that style of track. You know, I look at Iowa – we were fast and William (Byron) won. Chase (Elliott) was fast. Alex (Bowman) was fast. When we went to Richmond, we were all really good again. Alex finished second, and I think I was in sixth. Chase was probably one of the best cars that night. William was good, as well. I do think we’ve gotten our cars better on those places, but we still need to probably be better. We’ll see when we get to Gateway and New Hampshire.”

Kyle, as the elimination form has gone, how will soon it affect other drivers, you know, facing their experience with it?

“I don’t know… I don’t really notice anything being different. We’re just out there racing. We’re all trying to do the best job we can. And then, yeah, sometimes drivers get into must-win situations and you’ll see different pit calls and stuff. But outside of that, you don’t really see it be too different.”

Erik (Jones) said he wanted to reach out to you about Daytona… has he reached out yet?

“No, I haven’t spoken to him. No, but I’m open to it or at least to hear if he wanted to hear where I was coming from.”

Have you gone back to watch the closing lap yet, and has your opinion changed at all in any of the moves you made there?

“Yeah, I’ve seen the end of it, but it wasn’t like — I think you guys are all asking me and even I listened to his comments, they weren’t even that bad. But then I got approached like he was pissed off and it was this malicious thing, but it wasn’t.

If he wanted to have a conversation, I think he would have reached out by now. But I think him just hearing my side of my interviews and like why I was pushing as aggressively as I was or whatever, I think probably answered all of his questions.”

You said a couple weeks ago that it would be nice if this team could just get some momentum with how the summer has gone. I think it was back-to-back top-10s at Richmond and Daytona. Do you feel like you guys are on the right foot now going into Darlington?

“Yeah, I do. I do think we’re. I would love to have been leading a bunch of laps, but Richmond’s not really the place that we’re going to go lead laps anyways and Daytona’s just a different style race. But it still was good to get two solid finishes in a row and get through another superspeedway without a crash.

And then, it leads into Darlington, which is a great track for us. So yeah, I look forward to getting the playoffs started. I think our team has been through a lot. I think we’ve seen a bunch and we’re prepared for a lot of different things.

But we’ll see. You just have to go out there and execute like any other week.”

Does the racing in the playoffs really change that much? I mean, are people doing desperate things or do you feel like that’s overblown?

“Honestly, in my opinion, I feel like the racing has always calmed down a little bit once you get to the playoffs because everybody’s so conscious of finishing and trying to just get the best finish possible that day. Obviously, when you get to the cutoff races and stuff, maybe it might ramp up a little bit, or teams’ pit calls might get a little bit more desperate. But I feel like it kind of calms down because we’re trying to finish. Other teams that aren’t in the playoffs recognize that we’re racing for something and sometimes there’s a little bit more give and take. But it’s still ultra-aggressive. I mean, it’s Next Gen racing, but I do believe it dials back a little bit.”

How refreshing is it to see tracks that you guys have been to on the schedule already in the playoffs, especially tracks like Bristol that you guys have been great at?

“Yeah, I think there’s definitely a number of tracks in the playoffs that we know we’ll be fast at. You don’t ever know, but you assume you’re going to be fast at them. It’s good to have those tracks, especially in the first round, to get our feet under us; get running strong, hopefully lead in laps and challenging for wins. Gaining some more playoff points would be great leading into the next rounds.”

Do the playoffs seem long to you? What’s it like for you during the ten weeks of the playoffs?

“Yeah, definitely feels long. Not that it feels long, but I feel like the favorite to start the playoffs might not necessarily be the favorite seven weeks from now. It feels so long. The sport still changes a lot and momentum can change quite a bit.”

How hard is it to keep your attention and focus up that much? People watching TV probably don’t know how much it takes…

“Yeah, I mean, at least from the competitor’s standpoint, I don’t think it’s hard to keep your focus because there’s a lot on the line. It’s kind of a three-week mini-series within the 10 weeks.

Getting back on track at Mexico and what you’ve been doing, that was the difference in you getting the number one seed. Why is Cliff (Daniels) so good at that strategy part that no one else can think of?

“I don’t know. I mean, we just never give up, really. It’s not that others, I don’t think, are aware of that. You know, I think people are — if you go to the DVP and can fix your car, I feel like nine times out of ten, teams are doing that. It’s just happened to where our car is still drivable and fast enough to go for that stuff. Like Watkins Glen was a brake fitting. In Mexico, we got smashed, but thankfully our car was driving okay and we were able to go out and get the fast lap. So, yeah, it is cool that it paid off because you don’t know if those little moments are going to pay off, but it was neat that it did.”

I was listening to the radio at Daytona, and Cliff (Daniels) was very complimentary of your fuel saving ability to kind of put you in position for that final stage. How much better do you think you’ve gotten at fuel saving?

“I’m not… I’ve always been great at fuel saving on those tracks.

Is it a skill you kind of practice?

“No, I mean, I don’t know. I guess over time, you get the hang of it. A lot of people act like we’ve never saved fuel before on superspeedways, but as long as I’ve ever been in NASCAR, we’ve always been saving fuel, it’s just now we have SMT and TVs can look at it and stuff, so it’s just a topic. But yeah, we’ve all been saving fuel at those places for over 10 years now, at least in my career.”

So it’s something you just coped over time?

“Yeah, I mean, I guess. I will say, at least for the Chevys, we have the key partners’ stuff that we study. I would say Chase and myself are the most conscious about fuel savings, at least having enough fuel on board to have a short pit stop for the green flag cycle. So that’s really all it is.”

There was a point this year where it felt like it was a theme every week, not just the superspeedways, that it’s a fuel mileage race. Do you expect that will be the case in the playoffs, that it’s always going to be sort of lurking at the end?

“I think at some point in the race, I feel like fuel is always kind of on your mind because you’re setting up for the next pit stop or whatever the case may be. But yeah, I don’t know if that was a circumstance. I think it was kind of circumstantial that a lot of those races have fuel savings on the final to run to the end.

But I don’t know. If a race goes straightforward, it’s not going to be that way. But you just never know when cautions are going to fall.”

Since you’ve raced against (Christopher) Bell probably more than anybody here, what makes him such a formidable opponent? I mean, granted, he’s in Gibbs equipment and you’re in Hendrick equipment, but what distinguishes him as a guy that seems the last three years was capable of making it to the Championship Four?

“Yeah, he’s an extremely great race car driver; very smart and calculated in the NASCAR stuff and dirt stuff. I mean, he’s always been good on dirt. But NASCAR, especially in the playoffs, it seems he’s been like a closer, you know? He’s won when he’s needed to. I’m thinking of like a Homestead or something, you know, he’s quietly been mid-pack during the race, and then boom, there he is at the end winning or whatever the case may be. I think he’s done it at the Roval before and Martinsville. He’s a threat everywhere.”

It has been such a successful season for you and High Limit. What have you learned about being a series promoter?

Yeah, it’s been a great year for High Limit. It’s just cool to see the growth of our series and sprint car racing. I think we just have a long way to go still. You know, our franchise system hasn’t been fully implemented yet. It’ll start next year. I’m curious to see what teams will look at that and want to come race with us. We’re continuing to add big events and everything.

But to this point, yeah, it’s been great. I think our team has done a really good job. Brad (Sweet) has put in a ton of effort, as well as everybody at High Limit. So, yeah, it’s great, and we look forward to the future.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
2025 PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2025

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Media Availability Quotes:

How does it feel to be in the playoffs this year?

“Yeah, it’s a privilege I guess to be here and we’ve had an amazing year and run, so hopefully keep going.”

You’re getting better on the ovals. A few weeks ago, Larson said if you ever figure out these ovals, they’re all in trouble. So what have you attributed to your growing success on the oval tracks?

“Just time. I don’t know anything different. It’s taken me a long time to learn the ovals, particularly because I haven’t done them before. So finally starting to go to tracks for the second time and yeah, hopefully go better.”

Of the three coming up, is there one that you’re looking at more favorably? Do you feel more comfortable once you get back down.

“Well, just the first round is difficult. Gateway I have never been to, and Bristol was very, very difficult. So, yeah, hopefully it goes good.”

Then you have a roval coming up, but we can’t just automatically give you the trophy, even though based on what you did this year.

“Every race is tough, right? But we’ve had an amazing run on the road courses. Hopefully it continues, but it certainly won’t be easy, that’s for sure. If we get to that point, it’ll be a nice one for us.”

The information you’re sharing with the crew chief and the engineers, has that gotten better and better as time has gone on, going back to these tracks, getting more used to them?

“100 percent. And because it’s all new crew at Trackhouse and people I haven’t worked with before. It took us a little while to gel and just learn each other and get better. The gains we’ve had since the start of the year, it’s been really cool to see that progression and how much enjoyment there is in doing it.”

Was last year the first time you had run a playoff format in racing?

“Oh yeah, this is probably the only sport I know of that has it like this, yeah.”

You made the comment last year that you were just trying to figure out how it works. Do you feel like you understand it now going into this one?

“Kind of, yeah, but the better you do it, it just looks after yourself. So I try not to get caught up in how many points and stuff like that. I know that if I do my best and get good results, it’ll look after itself.”

From the experience last year, even though the series is different, the drivers are different, the competition is going to be different, were there things from the experience of the Xfinity playoff that you can apply as a driver going into this one?

“I remember last year, the way it was approached was different to the rest of the season. We got caught up in the moment a little bit too much. We did a silly strategy at the Roval. It was an unexplained mistake really. I think this year it’s been good… just trying to stay level-headed, take it week by week. We’re in an amazing spot to be here and we have no expectation to make it through the second round. No one knows what we’re going to do. If we go and perform, we can surprise some people.”

It seems like people are already writing you off ahead of the first round.

“Yeah, which is great. It doesn’t worry us. It puts no pressure on us, right? If we have a good week this week, it makes the next few harder. But if we have a tough week, it puts us in a hole and it’s going to be hard to get out of it. Hopefully it will be nice to prove people wrong, too.”

Are you the kind of guy who people, if they count you out, you’re like, yeah, we’ll just…?

“It’s always fun to have your back against the wall, right, and have to push hard. I don’t use it for motivation or anything, but it’s cool being the underdog.”

You’ve always been great on road courses, but what is it that you’ve noticed this year about the competitiveness, the intensity of the Cup Series, races in general, outside just all those road courses, just the intensity every week?

“It’s just how much it means every week, the racing, and how intense it is. It’s not surprising, but the energy level you’ve got to have every week is pretty intense, and the amount of study you have to do, it’s full on. It’s fun, though.”

What do you notice about the atmosphere, just being at the track every week, and now that you’ve seen it?

“At home, we would have 12 events, and three or four of them would be massive ones. It feels like pretty much every weekend is a big event. And especially at these tracks you only go to once, it feels huge, so yeah, pretty cool.”

So Supercars do not have any sort of a playoff? I thought like at the very end there was…

“Oh, they have it this year, but it’s even more confusing than this one. It’s new.”

Do you have to approach it differently than the regular season? I mean, is there anything you’re doing or approach mentally that you’re doing differently?

“No, I’ve tried to keep it the same, but you just know that you can’t make the mistakes because it would be hard to dig ourselves out of that. We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, but it’s so hard in a NASCAR race, I feel like every race you have a storyline of how the day goes. It’s never free-flowing really, so we just have to eliminate or minimize what we do wrong, and just try to get it right every week, and that comes with preparation.”

What does success over the next 10 weeks look like for you?

“Having a smile on my face at the end of it!”

And does anyone else on the road course impress you with their road course talent this season?

“Every race there has been a challenger… it’s been different guys most of the time. At every race someone shows up and has a crack. The talent level on road courses is very, very high here so we’ve had some good races.”

People think that it’s so easy for you and that it’s a piece of cake taking candy from a baby, but it’s not. Define that as you head into the playoffs.

“It’s tough. We’ve just had a really nice run and it’s been good to execute, but the days haven’t been easy. It’s ended up pretty well with a great result but there’s always been a tough part to each day. It’s been amazing. We had the ability to win all the races and to go and execute it and get almost all of them has been special, really cool.”

Is there a little bit of some things that makes you feel good? I mean the fact that you’ve won major championships before. Could you just talk about what that experience does? I know it’s not directly the same thing but in a big scheme it is.

“It still means everything. Coming in on the race on Sunday, I’ll be nervous as anything. You get all that anxiety about it and you learn. This means everything to us. We’ve worked all year for this, and that feeling you learn to channel it. It’s good to be nervous, it means you care about it. So I kind of embrace that more nowadays and you know if you don’t feel that you’re probably in the wrong sport.”

What does it mean to have some familiar people around? I can’t imagine going somewhere, halfway around the world and doing what you’re doing and being isolated.

“It’s cool. You still keep in contact with everyone relatively easy these days messaging, but it’s always awesome to have people over at your house staying for a couple of weeks. Just getting to show them how different it is here. They flew to Orlando on a Thursday and I flew Friday morning for the qualifying. They couldn’t believe I was arriving on the race day. It’s just so different, like how long the weekends are, how efficient everything is. It’s just such a different world here from what everyone’s used to.”

For this weekend in Darlington, is there a certain point total or finish that you think would be great if you reached that.

“Nah, not really. I think it’s just going to be law of averages for us, right? We’ve got to be above average and that’s the shot we’re going to have to get through. We’ve got to have three decent finishes and we’ll be able to get through the round, right? But I don’t know about the points total, how many certain points is the average to get through. But I know I need to get better to make it work.”

Besides road courses, what do you feel is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness heading into these final 10.

“Strength, I guess, is my team. I’ve got awesome people in my corner and I know they’ll do anything for us to succeed. Seeing the work and preparation in the team has been awesome. The vibe and how knuckled down everyone is… it’s really cool to be a part of that. The weakness is me. It’s my inexperience and I’ve got those people helping me to get better.”

You spoke about the improvement you’re trying to have on ovals. You’ve shown some improvement at some of the places here recently. What are some of the ones that are coming up in the playoffs that you maybe have circled that you might perform better than what people are expecting you to do.

“Probably Darlington. That’s something I’m getting a bit. It’s one of my favorite tracks and I’m enjoying it. Gateway and Bristol are going to be tough. I haven’t been to Gateway and Bristol I struggled a bit at.”

What is it about Darlington? What is it about Darlington that suits your driving style?

“I think you have to be very precise. You’ve got to be millimetre perfect every lap, comfortable to run against the wall and the proximity to the wall, and then the repetition and consistency. I think that seems to suit me, and the way the cars slide around, I really enjoy that place.”

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Toyota GAZOO Racing – Chase Briscoe
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (August 27, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe was made available to the media on Wednesday as part of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Do you feel a little bit like Cinderella in these Playoffs where you have everything you possibly need to shine?

“To a certain extent. Definitely feels different than the prior Playoff runs, because of the situation, right? Like you were saying, I kind of have everything I need now where before, you’re just kind of excited to be there and you’re hoping that works out, but you know it’s going be an up-hill. Where now, I feel like if we can just execute, we have a really good chance to potentially win the championship. So yeah, it definitely feels different this time around and yeah, hopefully we can you know put it all together.”

What do you need to capitalize on the good track position you seem to have to get that next win?

“Yeah, it’s tough. Like you said, we’ve finished second a lot, but the one was to SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen) and that one, I don’t think I could have won unless something crazy happened to him. The Dover race, I definitely think I could have potentially won, but it was very high risk of wrecking myself and I don’t remember where the other one was where we finished second (Iowa), but I’m sure there is a chance to win that one potentially too. Yeah, don’t know. If you keep putting yourself in those positions, you’re going to win more races. And the good thing is, we’re in position. It’s just a matter of putting it all together there at the end. I feel good about it. Hopefully we can continue to put ourselves in those positions and they’ll eventually go our way.”

Did you ever envision you’d be teammates with Christopher Bell at this level?

“No, not really. We kind of had one of those moments when we were flying to Mexico this year on Coach (Joe Gibbs, team owner)’s plane and we’re like, ‘man if you had told us 10 years ago when we were hanging out and playing video games that we’d be flying on Coach Gibbs playing together to Mexico to race the cup race,’ like we would both thought you were crazy. Yeah, it’s pretty wild. Facebook has those memories and stuff and mine popped up there, just this week, I was doing PR for (Chrsitopher) Bell like 10 years ago and now I’m his teammate and fighting for the championship with him, so it’s pretty wild.”

Would it be hard to fight with him for the championship should you both make the final round together?

“(It’d be) another race. I mean honestly, just the culture at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), you’re kind of racing your teammates to win every single week. I mean the championship, there’s a lot more on the line, but you still have a lot of experience of racing those guys for the win and battling up front with them. I don’t think it really changes anything.”

Do you feel more optimistic this year compared to previous Playoff appearances?

“For sure. I was telling my wife that couple weeks ago, ‘this is really the first time I’ve ever legitimately thought I could win a Cup championship.’ In the past, you make the Playoffs and it’s exciting, but down deep you kind of know that the odds of you winning are pretty slim, right? Whereas now, not to say that I’m the favorite by any means, but I feel like I have a legitimate chance to go do it, where at SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), you never really felt like you had a legitimate shot to do it. Definitely feels different this time around knowing that you have a shot and I would say this Playoffs feels different because of that.”

What role does your crew chief James Small have in that confidence?

“Yeah, a huge part. As a driver, you’re only as good as the team and the car that you’re in, right? James (Small, crew chief) and the entire engineering group and JGR at whole, they give you really good race cars week in and week out, and that’s been something that’s been an adjustment for me this year. Understanding that and knowing the risk vs reward, knowing that even on a bad day, we should still run right around the 10th and that’s an adjustment for me to kind of be able to realize that in the moment and comprehend what’s going on because in the past, 10th was still a pretty good day. Especially during these Playoffs, that’s going to be something to realize is, ‘hey, don’t panic. If you just do your job, you’re probably going to run top 10-ish, for sure top 15-ish even on a bad day.’ That’s been something for me I’ve had to really adjust my mind too is I don’t have to try as hard. It sounds weird, but I don’t have to take these huge risks, I don’t have to do all these things because the car’s capability is going to help me a lot of the time compared to what I’m racing against, so that’s definitely been something for me that’s been a mentality shift.”

What do you see as the challenge for you and your team in these Playoffs?

“I think for us is just executing. I would love to have more Playoff points. I’m confident that we can get to that Round of 8, but once you get to the Round of 8, at our points deficit, there’s a chance you’re going to almost have to win the race. Somebody’s going to be able to point their way into the final four, but realistically for us, it’s probably not going to be an option. We’re already starting 20, 30 points behind, so that’s the big thing I think for us is we have to be able to execute in these first two rounds and hopefully win a race or two. If we can do that and shorten that gap Playoff point-wise, I think it puts us in a better spot. For me, just from an execution standpoint, that’s the biggest thing and just trying to win a race these first two rounds, just trying to get more Playoff points to set us up for easier way to that final four.”

Your teammate Denny Hamlin often talks about breaking down races mentally. When you’re running in the top-10, does it make it easier to break down the race?

“Yeah, for sure. Denny (Hamlin) does a really good job of just mentally understanding the race and he’s been doing it for 19, 20 years, right? So, he understands that big picture and plus, he’s been doing it that whole time and Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Where for me, it’s been a little bit harder because for four or five years, all I’ve known is one style of Cup racing where it’s kind of tooth and nail and it still is tooth and nail, but your car is going to carry you more than what I’ve had in the past and that’s been something for me I feel like I’ve not done a great job of in the first 10-15, even the first 26 races this season is understanding that risk vs reward on restarts and such. I’ve always had to take these huge risky moves and make these really aggressive decisions, but there’s always a big risk of them not working out and losing positions or wrecking. Where now, I don’t necessarily have to take those big of risks as your car is going to normally get you back up there. That’s just been a big thing for me to learn over the course of this year.”

Now that you’re in the Playoffs, what comes next?

“Yeah, I mean we need to go and perform in the Playoffs, right? That’s the difference now is that (at) SHR, did you want to get knocked out of the Round of 16? No, but if you did like there was nobody like, ‘man, that was a disappointing season.’ They were still excited they made the Playoffs. Where here (Joe Gibbs Racing), it’s almost like if you don’t make the Round of 8, that’s kind of a failure on the year and really the final four even, right? It’s just a different mentality. For me, think we’re fully capable of making it to the final four. From a speed standpoint, I would say arguably we are one of the better cars kind of week in and week out, it’s just a matter of putting the whole race together. That’s where you see that The William Byrons and the Denny (Hamlin)’s of the world, they’re doing a better job right now putting the whole race together than what we do, and a lot of that falls on myself going back to what I was just saying with the risk versus reward. I think as I get better in understanding and getting more experience, that’ll be better for me. But yeah, I’m glad we were able to win a race and make the Playoffs, but now that we’re here, we need to do something about it.”

You had some tough luck in your first two Playoffs. What was that like and how do you bounce back from a tough start?

“I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought about that, but I think both times I’ve been in the Playoffs, I’ve been last in the points after the first race and I’ve still been able to make it on to the rounds after that. For me, it’s never over until it’s over, and obviously, you don’t want to have a bad race, but I mean it can happen to anybody, right, and you just have to go and put your best effort forward. Just because you have a points deficit, doesn’t mean you’re out of it, necessarily. We’ve seen that time and time again, so hopefully, we’re not in that position come after Sunday night but if we are, it’s definitely a position I feel comfortable in, as crazy as that sounds. I’ve been under the cutline a lot my entire career in the Cup Series and I feel like I almost perform better when I’m in that position. I’m not worried if adversity does happen. Hopefully it doesn’t, but if it does, it’s certainly somewhere I feel comfortable.”

Who was the Cup Series driver you were most excited to race against when you first started in the series?

“Oh man, that’s a tough question. I don’t even know. I mean even to this day too, I think it’s cool when I’m racing around Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin. Those were kind of the guys that are still around from when I was growing up racing. I’d say Kyle Busch was the first moment where I had, that it was in the Truck Series at the time and he came and ran Atlanta. It was like my second ever NASCAR race and I remember, I think I qualified right behind him and ran behind him for a lot of the first stage and it was just like. ‘Holy smokes, I’m on the race track with Kyle Busch.’ I would say he was probably the first one.”

Does it come to mind there’s a young racer out there now who feels the same way about racing you?

“It’s still weird to me that I’m even considered to be like one of those people, truthfully. Feel like I’m norma Chase and I still shouldn’t really be here, truthfully. I don’t know it’s weird that, there is probably some kid out there racing where potentially, I’m their favorite driver and it’s odd. I don’t feel like I’m one of those guys. When I go run the Chili Bowl, like I’m sure there’s somebody in my heart race saying, ‘oh man, there’s a Cup guy in here,’ and I don’t feel that way at all. That’s weird to think about. I never thought of it.”

How you think your generation of driver is making an impact on the sport?

“Yeah, we are kind of that next (pause), for the next 15 years, we’re going to be kind of the core group of guys, right? You’re going to have some people come in along the way, but for the most part, that is the group I’m going to race against my entire career. Hopefully, I can be one of those like marquee guys, I guess. For me, it’s always important to be one of those people that fans can look up to or fellow race car drivers or young kids. I try to always make sure that I know that just because I don’t think the camera’s on me, I need to be acting like there is one. Doing things respectfully and race on the race track respectfully, but off the race track, be a gracious competitor and hopefully I can be that for a lot of people. It is crazy to think that I’m going to be potentially one of those guys that was like that core Cup guy I grew up watching.”

How were you able to save fuel and win that race in Pocono?

“Yeah, it’s odd. My dad’s always told me, ‘if you just slow down a little bit, you probably go faster,’ and it was it was the truth. Pocono, I think I definitely could have went faster if I needed to. It wasn’t like I was running really crazy fast because I remember (Tyler) Reddick pulled out in front of me a lap down and drove away from us. But, where my car was better compared to Denny (Hamlin), I could maximize the straight away so long he would never get back to me on corner entry to be able to do something with how early I was lifting. We even talked about it our debrief, I think it was (Ryan) Blaney was running third, if Blaney would have been behind me, I think I would have got passed because his car was so strong down the straightaways. The Toyotas were not very fast down the straightaway, so it allowed me to get a big enough gap that I could lift early and save fuel where if a Ford was behind me, I don’t think I could have done that. Between that and then just under caution, I didn’t realize but James (Small) told me I’m like unbelievable saving fuel under caution compared to everybody else that he’s seen. I don’t know (why), I guess I’m really good at shutting the thing off and rolling for a long time, I don’t know. I always thought I wasn’t very good at it, but according to their numbers, I’m really good compared to most guys. I guess between that and the on-track stuff, I was able to save enough.”

How important is that to be good at in this era?

“Yeah, I think it’s definitely important. It’s definitely something that adds up. You don’t realize how much goes into the fuel savings side. That’s something for me, I mean really every week, I’m kind of just saving fuel all the time under caution like it’s become a habit. Even weeks where we don’t need to be saving fuel, I’m just saving fuel just at the sake of it because you know, pit stop, you never know what can happen and I think it eventually adds up. That’s just been something I’ve really kind of burned into my mind over the course of the last couple of years in in Cup racing and it’s obviously worked out for us.”

Is in the race the only time you can really practice fuel saving?

“Yeah, and honestly, it kind of started with Noah (Gragson) at SHR, he had always a running bet if we could have the most shut off time. We would always just compete against each other and it’s made it where it’s almost like a habit now of just I just always I’m shutting the car off and saving fuel. Something that started off as a game has turned into a habit for me and something that has helped.”

How different is the team entering this Darlington race compared to in the spring?

“Yeah, it’s way different. I don’t even think you can look at the first, really all the way up to the Coke 600. It’s a totally different race team (then) than what it is now. I think at the Coke 600, I think we had a total of 17 stage points scored, and now, probably over 100, I would say. It’s definitely a different race team, totally different feel to it, confidence, everything. Darlington (in the spring), I would say was probably our worst race this season, but I feel like we’re just a totally different race team.”

What would you say are your biggest strengths and weaknesses entering these final 10 races?

“For us, our strength is our speed. There’s really not a single style of race track where we haven’t been one of the faster cars in general. I think for us, you know our pit crew has been really good, we just we have a couple of blow up pit stops and just mistakes. Think it all just gets bundled into execution, whether it’s pit crew or myself on the race track. Just executing races from lap one to the final lap. That’s really what I feel like separates teams in the Playoffs is just making sure you execute and don’t make these mistakes that take you out of the day and if we can do that for 10 weeks, from a speed standpoint. we should have plenty of speed you know run up front and get points. It’s going to be a matter of not shooting ourselves in the foot and if we can do that, I feel like we have a really good shot.”

How is your mindset for this Southern 500 different than last year’s which you won?

“I feel like we need to go win it just to lock into the next round. It’s different your back’s up against the wall when it’s the last race of the regular season (in 2024) and you’re not going to race for a championship if you don’t win. But I feel like being in the Playoffs (this year), it’s the same feeling, like you have to go perform. You can’t go there and have a bad day, and especially in the Playoffs, it’s really three three-week seasons and that’s how you have to look at it. You have to run well three weeks in a row, three times and if you can do that, then you have a good shot at it. Yeah I still feel like, (pause), it’s not a must win, right? If I’m running sixth, I don’t need to be doing everything I got to try to win the race and potentially wreck. I need to just maximize that day, but certainly, I mean if you can win the race, you need to do it. Just the Playoff points that come along with that in the next couple rounds are big. So hopefully, we can go there and back up what we were able to do last year but it’s going to be different. Everything changes throughout the year. Setups are different, tires are different, track will age, and it’ll be a challenge for sure.”

When did Denny Hamlin become such a fishing fanatic?

“I don’t know, but he’s all about it. He’s been fishing all the time. He has a boat, a tracker app now. I fish at almost every single race track in general and he’s always out there too. I don’t know when he became such a fishing addict. We were actually talking about it at JGR the other day and they said he went on a trip with his dad about a year ago and they went bass fishing, and they just loved it and fell in love with it again. Yeah, he’s all about it now and lives on the lake too, so he can fish off the dock as well.”

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