Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Las Vegas

NOT DONE YET: Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, Kyle Larson finished sixth in stage one and third in stage two before contact with the turn seven wall resulted in a 35th-place finish for last year’s NASCAR Cup Series champion. Although Larson did not advance to the Cup playoffs Round of 8 in the driver standings, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team advanced in the owner standings and is currently fourth – two above the cutoff line – entering the three-race round that determines the four teams that will compete for the owner’s title at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS: In March 2021 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson led a race-high 103 laps to capture his first victory driving for Hendrick Motorsports and his first career Cup Series win on a 1.5-mile track. Prior to that performance, he had scored nine runner-up finishes – the most all-time without a Cup Series victory – in 71 career starts on 1.5-mile tracks.

LAS VEGAS EDGE: Larson’s average finish of 9.17 at Las Vegas trails only Joey Logano’s 8.89. Larson’s average finish at the desert track also ranks second among active venues where the 2014 rookie of the year has more than two starts. Larson has a 6.93 average finishing position in 14 starts at Dover Motor Speedway.

LEFT COAST LEADER: Four races have occurred on West Coast tracks in 2022 and Larson has accumulated the most points in those events. The Elk Grove, California, native won at Auto Club Speedway, finished second at Las Vegas, 34th at Phoenix Raceway after experiencing a mechanical issue and 15th with a stage victory at Sonoma Raceway.

DIRTY DOZEN: In 12 starts at LVMS, Larson has one win, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s with 251 laps led. He has completed all but six laps in those dozen starts while also finishing in the top-two in two of the last three races at the desert track.

MOVING ON UP: With wins at Auto Club Speedway and Watkins Glen International in 2022, Larson now has 18 career victories in NASCAR’s premier series. He is currently tied with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott and six others for 47th in all-time wins.  Larson’s next trip to victory lane could move him into the top 45 at only 30 years old.

YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. From the convenience of home, customers can select the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HendrickCars.com. The website also makes it easy for customers to find one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 94 dealership locations nationwide.

ROUND OF 8 READY: Chase Elliott heads into the first race of the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as the points leader by 20 markers over second-place Joey Logano. It is the sixth consecutive season the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has advanced to the Round of 8. The past two years he moved on to the Championship 4, earning his first career Cup Series title in 2020 after capturing the victory at Phoenix Raceway. The series has already raced on two of the three tracks in the Round of 8 this season. Elliott earned a ninth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and finished 10th at Martinsville Speedway after leading 185 laps. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native earned 90 points across those two starts, trailing only Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron (106).

DUECES WILD: Elliott has 11 Cup Series starts at Las Vegas and nearly visited victory lane  there last fall, finishing in the runner-up position after a late-race charge for the win. Earlier this season, he finished ninth at the 1.5-mile track. In all, he has three top-five finishes and five top-10s at the Nevada venue. Elliott’s results do not reflect his success at the track. His 178 laps led there are his second-most (behind Bristol Motor Speedway) at facilities where he does not have a win. He also ranks second in stage points earned at Las Vegas with 109, and his three stage wins are tied for his second-most at a single track.

1.5-MILERS: This weekend at Las Vegas, Elliott will make his 73rd start on a 1.5-mile track in the Cup Series. In his previous 72 races, he has led 1,107 laps. Along with three victories (Atlanta Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway), Elliott has collected 23 top-five finishes – eight of which are runner-up results – and 38 top-10s on 1.5-milers. This season on 1.5-mile tracks, he’s fourth on the list of most points earned with 221, trailing only Ross Chastain and teammates Byron and Kyle Larson, and leads all drivers with three stage wins. Across seven starts at 1.5-mile facilities in 2022, Elliott has led 265 laps, second-most behind Chastain. In the series’ most recent race on a mile-and-a-half oval, Elliott was leading at Texas Motor Speedway on lap 184 when he had a tire go down and his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sustained too much damage to continue.

LAP LEADER: Last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, Elliott extended his laps led total on the season to 803, which continues to top all drivers in 2022. The next-closest driver is Byron with 714. The 2022 regular-season champion’s 803 laps pacing the field so far this year are his third-most in a single season in his Cup Series career. He led 1,247 laps en route to his 2020 title and compiled 952 out front in 2021.

GUSTAFSON THE GREAT: No. 9 crew chief Alan Gustafson has 161 races under his belt on active 1.5-mile tracks in the Cup Series. In those starts, he has six wins, 41 top-five finishes and 76 top-10s with 2,118 laps led. Half of those victories have come with Elliott – most recently at Atlanta in July – and the other three were with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon. Gustafson’s first 1.5-mile win also came at Atlanta (2011) and marked Gordon’s 85th career victory, moving the four-time Cup Series champion into third all-time in victories in NASCAR’s top series.

GIVE A HOOT: Since 2002, Hooters has been an active participant in the fight against breast cancer, raising over $7.2 million to support the cause. This year, the company is once again combining forces with the V Foundation for Cancer Research during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Customers can support by rounding up their checks, buying endowment cards and more. Find out additional ways to help by clicking here.

GET A HAT: In honor of Hooters’ “Give a Hoot” fundraising efforts, the Chase Elliott Foundation is making a donation to the V Foundation and Florida’s Moffitt Cancer Center to support the fight against breast cancer. Fans can support the cause by purchasing a special edition hat and other “Give a Hoot” gear at the Chase Elliott store.

PUNCHED TICKET: Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL marked the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff Round of 12. Following a 16th-place finish, William Byron clinched his spot in the Round of 8 for the first time in his Cup Series career. With points reset for the next round, he is now tied for fifth, three points below the cutline.

RAISING HIS GAME: So far across the six races of the 2022 playoffs, Byron has accumulated 222 points – the most of any driver in that same span. He has an average finish of 8.7 in the playoffs.

PIT ROAD PROWESS: In the 2022 playoffs, the No. 24 pit crew has an average four-tire pit stop time of 10.987 seconds, which is second-best in the field. The crew consists of Spencer Bishop (jackman), Jeff Cordero (front-tire changer), Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer), Ryan Patton (tire carrier) and Landon Walker (fueler).

WEST COAST RUNS: In four races on the West Coast this season (Auto Club Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix Raceway and Sonoma Raceway), Byron has collected 125 points – the seventh-most by a driver in 2022. His best result in those four races came at Las Vegas, where he finished fifth in March.

1.5-MILE MOMENTUM: Byron is no stranger to success on mile-and-a-half tracks during his Cup Series career. Since the start of 2021 through the 2022 season so far, Byron has two wins, one runner-up finish, five top-fives, and 11 top-10s on 1.5-milers. In fact, four of those top-10 finishes on 1.5-mile venues came in 2022, which is tied for the fourth-most among drivers this season. Byron has collected 230 points on this style of track in 2022, tied for the second-most in the field. He has also led 237 laps led – third-most among drivers.

TURNING THE LUCK AROUND: When the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 unloads for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, it will mark Byron’s 10th Cup Series start at the 1.5-mile track. Out of those nine previous appearances, he has a best finish of fifth (March 2022). In fact, in the last three races at the Nevada-based venue, Byron has one top-five finish and two top-10s with 40 laps led and an average finish of 10.33.

VIVA LAS RUDY: Returning to Las Vegas for the fourth time with the Cup Series, crew chief Rudy Fugle is confident heading to a venue where he has previously had success. In his three Cup Series showings, Fugle has one top-five finish and two top-10s with his best finish with the No. 24 coming earlier this year (fifth). Aside from those three starts, the Livonia, New York, native has called the shots for 10 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races and one NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Las Vegas. He has collected one win (March 2019 with Kyle Busch), four top-five finishes, six top-10s, three pole position and 238 laps led. With Byron in the Truck Series in 2016, the duo qualified 10th and raced to a fifth-place result at the 1.5-mile venue.

RAPTOR® TOUGH: Heading to Las Vegas this weekend, Byron will be back behind the wheel of the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the final time in the 2022 season. RAPTOR® is a durable protective coating and bed liner that is designed to tolerate the toughest climatic conditions and can be applied to a wide range of substrates from steel, wood, concrete and plaster to plastics and composites. Resistant to common fuels, U.V., scratches and stains, RAPTOR® is available at local paint distributors, auto parts stores and can also be purchased from online retailers like Amazon.

NO. 48: Las Vegas Motor Speedway will mark the third consecutive race Alex Bowman will miss due to a concussion suffered Sept. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway. As Bowman recovers, substitute driver Noah Gragson will fill in on Sunday at LVMS and in the upcoming events at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. Gragson is the 48th driver to make a NASCAR Cup Series start for Hendrick Motorsports.

HOMETOWN KID: Gragson, who hails from Las Vegas, will return Sunday to race at his home track. Should the No. 48 driver find victory lane in the Cup Series, he will join Brendan Gaughan, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch as drivers from the state of Nevada to win at the  venue.

FULL HOUSE: In his seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Las Vegas, Gragson has placed no worse than sixth. In fact, the 24-year-old driver has finished in every position in the top-six except first. His most recent result at the 1.5-mile venue was second in March. Gragson started fourth in the third race of the season, won both stages and led 52 laps before crossing the finish line in the runner-up spot.

NEAR BEST IN SHOW: Gragson has an average finish of 3.57 in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas. Among drivers with at least three starts there, he ranks second to only NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who also has seven starts at LVMS.

GRAGSON ON 1.5-MILERS: This year in the Xfinity Series, Gragson has notched seven wins – most of all drivers – including four consecutive victories in September. He has taken home the hardware in the last two races on tracks of 1.5-miles in length: Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

ATOP THE BOX: Crew chief Greg Ives has a strong record at Las Vegas that includes a win in March with Bowman. In 12 starts, his drivers (Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bowman) have posted three top-five finishes, five top-fives and an average finish of 12.3.

HOT ROD: This Sunday, the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will take on a dramatically new look – featuring a matte blackberry base and grapefruit bats across the hood. Primary partner Ally teamed up with Danny Koker and Koker’s Garage to create an interactive website to let fans create a paint scheme for a chance to be featured on the No. 48 Ally Chevy at Las Vegas. Of the over 2,500 schemes created, Bowman and Koker selected their favorites and then left it to the fans to vote via Twitter poll. Click here to see the 3D renderings of the winning scheme that will debut this weekend.

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