Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Talladega

WIN-O-CLOCK: Kyle Larson earned his second win (both coming at Virginia short tracks) of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway. The victory marked his 15th at Hendrick Motorsports and his 21st in the sport’s top series. In addition, it was the organization’s 28th triumph at the track where grandfather clocks are awarded and Larson’s win now means every active member of the team’s lineup has a win there. Sunday’s win for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 also marks the first victory at Martinsville for the No. 5 car since 1984, when Geoff Bodine earned Hendrick Motorsports’ inaugural visit to victory lane.  

WINNING RETURN: After four races away from the pit box, No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels returned to command at Martinsville. Thanks to a pair of late-race strategy calls, Daniels helped guide the No. 5 team to victory lane. The first came when Daniels had Larson stay out during the race’s fourth caution on lap 304. That decision allowed Larson to jump up to third and he moved to second during the green-flag run. Under yellow following the final caution of the day on lap 344, Daniels brought his driver down pit road for two right-side tires and the No. 5 pit crew got their driver off pit road first. From there, Larson had to work around the four cars that stayed out before leading the final 30 laps. 

BETTER TOGETHER: Since Larson joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, the 14-time championship-winning organization has averaged a win every 2.5 races (32 out of 81). The 2021 Cup Series champion has won 19% of his premier series starts with the organization (15 out of 81). 

OUT IN FRONT: So far in 2023, the 30-year-old driver has the most laps led (468) of anyone in the Cup Series with teammate William Byron (385) in second. The Elk Grove, California, native also has the most laps in the top five (1,185), the second-most laps in the top 10 (1,730) and the third-best average running position (10.00). He is one of two multi-win drivers with Byron being the other. 

TITLE IN THE FORECAST: Larson and the HendrickCars.com team’s stats thus far in the 2023 season are comparable to those of their championship winning year in 2021. In this year’s first nine races, Larson has two wins, two poles, four top-five finishes, four top-10s and 12 playoff points while leading 468 laps across six races. At this point in the 2021 season, Larson had one win, four top-five finishes, six top-10s, eight playoff points and 379 laps led in five different races. 

TALLADEGA LOWDOWN: Sunday’s race is Larson’s 17th Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway. In the April 2022 race, he finished fourth for his best result at both the Alabama track and on a drafting track. In last year’s two races at the 2.66-mile track, Larson led 40 laps – prior to that he had led just 13 at this track. 

FOUR TIRES FAST: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew brought their A-game to Martinsville Speedway, claiming the best four-tire pit stop of the race at 9.677 seconds and the best four-tire stop average at 10.051 seconds. For the season, the No. 5 crew ranks fifth in average four-tire stop time at 11.411 seconds. The team’s five-man pit crew consists of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer).

BIG HONOR: Last week, Larson was named to NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list. In honor of the 75th anniversary season, the sport is revealing the 75 Greatest Drivers leading into the throwback race weekend at Darlington Raceway on May 12-14. Twenty-five names will be added to the 50 Greatest Drivers that were announced in 1998. Larson was the first active driver to be included among the additional 25 names. 

EXTRACURRICULARS: In accompaniment with his full-time Cup Series schedule, Larson still runs extracurricular races throughout the week. On Tuesday night with a victory in a dirt modified, he has now won in seven different divisions at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. This weekend, he will race in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series at the Talladega Short Track on Friday and Saturday night. In addition, the inaugural High Limit Sprint Car Series, which he co-founded, began last week. The next race is April 25th at 34 Raceway in Iowa. The series features many of the nation’s top Sprint Car drivers competing at 11 different racetracks throughout the United States. Check out the full schedule at highlimitracing.com.

HOME RACE HATS: This weekend’s race at Talladega will mark the fourth home race of the season for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team. Every home race this season (15 total) will feature a unique HendrickCars.com hat that is released the week of the race. These hats are only available for sale on the trackside merchandise haulers or available to win on HendrickCars.com. Less than 100 of each hat will be made available to the public. This week’s Talladega-themed hat will be released on Thursday and can be found here.

HENDRICKCARS.COM IS HOME: The Birmingham/Hoover, Alabama, automotive market is home to three Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships. If you don’t reside in Alabama, or aren’t in town for the race, you can shop from any one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 95 dealerships nationwide. Customers can also buy from the convenience of their home selecting 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.

HE’S BACK: Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Chase Elliott returned to the seat of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for his first NASCAR Cup Series race since fracturing his tibia in early March. The 27-year-old started the race from the 24th position and, after battling a tough-handling race car throughout the majority of the 400-lap event, Elliott’s Chevrolet came to life. He improved from 22nd on the final restart on lap 355 to finish Sunday’s race in the 10th position. That made him only the second driver with a top-10 result in his first race back after a sickness or injury in the last 24 Cup Series seasons. 

RELIVING THE MOMENT: Elliott is the most recent Cup Series driver to win at Talladega Superspeedway, the site of this weekend’s race. He earned his 18th career Cup Series victory in last October’s playoff race at the 2.66-mile track, leading a total of 10 laps on the day. He finished third in the first stage and won stage two before ultimately taking the lead again on the final lap to capture the win. It was Elliott’s series-best fifth victory of the 2022 season and his second win on the high banks of Talladega, making it the fourth track at which Elliott has earned multiple Cup victories. The win locked him into the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs. He eventually went on to advance to the Championship 4 for the third consecutive season, ultimately finishing fourth in the series standings.  

‘DEGA NUMBERS: This weekend, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native will make his 15th Cup Series start at the Alabama venue. On top of the two victories on the 2.66-mile superspeedway, he has collected five top-five finishes and seven top-10s across his 14 starts at the track. Elliott currently has the best average finish at Talladega among active drivers (14.21), which is also fifth-best on the all-time list of drivers with at least six Cup starts. Last season, he was one of only four drivers to finish inside the top 10 in each of the two races at Talladega. Prior to his fall victory, Elliott scored a seventh-place finish in the spring. 

FEELING ‘22: In last season’s six races on superspeedways and drafting-style tracks (Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega), Elliott amassed two wins and finished inside the top 10 in all but one of them, the only driver to do so. In addition, he earned the most stage wins (three) and was second to teammate William Byron in laps led (166) on this track type. The 2020 Cup Series champion scored a victory on the recently reconfigured Atlanta track in July and followed that up with the win at Talladega in October.  

CUT TO THE CHASE: Elliott has a history of being strong on drafting-style tracks in the Cup Series. Across his last 13 Cup starts on tracks of that type, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has two victories and two runner-up finishes, both of which are tied for the best in the series. His impressive five top-five finishes and nine top-10s in that span are tops in each category.  

BIG 650: This weekend will mark Alan Gustafson’s 650th start as a Cup Series crew chief – all of which have taken place with Hendrick Motorsports. Gustafson was first called up to lead in 2005 and is now in his 19th season as a crew chief. In addition to current driver Elliott, the Ormond Beach, Florida, native has worked with NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin as well as Kyle Busch, Josh Berry and Casey Mears. Gustafson’s extensive history touts 38 Cup Series victories (tied for the second-most among active crew chiefs), 188 top five-finishes, 324 top-10s and a series title in 2020. He is the longest-tenured active crew chief with the organization. 

GUSTAFSON AT TALLADEGA: Gustafson will call his 37th Talladega Cup Series race from atop the pit box on Sunday afternoon. He collected his first superspeedway victory at the 2.66-mile track in April 2019 and won again last October – both with Elliott and the No. 9 team. In his 36 races at the Alabama-located track calling the shots for five different drivers (Busch, Elliott, Gordon, Mears and Martin), Gustafson’s teams have posted two wins, nine top-five finishes, 12 top-10s, 286 laps led and six pole awards.  

TOP DOG: Gustafson’s drafting track portfolio is impressive with two Daytona Duel wins (2017 and 2018), two victories at Talladega (April 2019 and October 2022) and a triumph at Atlanta (July 2022), all coming with Elliott behind the wheel. His 11 superspeedway poles are most among all active crew chiefs. 

NAPA IS BACK: NAPA Auto Parts, the Atlanta-based company that has been a primary partner 
of Elliott in all eight of his full-time seasons at Hendrick Motorsports, will be on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Talladega. This will mark the 11th time the brand has served as the primary sponsor of Elliott at this track in the Cup Series. NAPA was on board last October when Elliott and the No. 9 team scored their most recent victory. Check out the paint scheme that will be on track here. 

24 POWER: William Byron and the No. 24 team continue to be one of the front runners during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has the best average running position this season (8.90). He is one of two drivers, along with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, to have multiple wins this season (each have two). Byron also ranks second to Larson in both laps led (385) and laps run in the top five (1,140). In addition, the driver of the No. 24 also ranks third this season in laps run in the top 10 (1,457). 

STAGE WINNER: Through nine races in 2023, Byron has five stage wins – the most of any driver. In fact, he’s won stage one in four of the last seven races this season. This also marks the most stage wins for him in a season – surpassing his four stage wins in 2021 and 2022. His five stage wins are tied for the most stage wins by a driver in the first nine races. With 12 top-10 finishes in stages this year, Byron is atop the board in that statistical category. 

DRAFT DAY: When it comes to tracks that involve drafting (Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway), Byron is normally running up front. He has two wins on these types of tracks – his first Cup Series win at Daytona in August 2020 and the reconfigured Atlanta track in March 2022. The sixth-year Cup Series driver has led the most laps on drafting tracks (193) since the start of the 2022 season. 

TALLADEGA TELL-ALL: Byron will be making his 11th Cup Series start at Talladega when the No. 24 team hits the track Sunday. In his previous 10 starts, Byron has a track-best finish of second coming in April 2021 at the Alabama-based venue. In fact, he and teammate Alex Bowman are among the four active drivers with a runner-up result at Talladega that have yet to win there in the Cup Series. Byron has two stage wins at this track including winning stage two in the spring of 2022. He also has led 95 laps there since 2018.

DIGGIN’ DEGA: When the sport’s top series heads to the 2.66-mile track this weekend, it will mark Rudy Fugle’s fifth race at the venue as a Cup Series crew chief. In his first four Cup Series starts, Fugle and the No. 24 team have a track-best qualifying effort of fourth and a runner-up result both coming in the spring race of the 2021 season.  Aside from those four races, the Livonia, New York, native has eight other national series starts at the venue with seven of those coming in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In those seven races, Fugle has accumulated three top-five finishes and five top-10s. One of those previous starts was with Byron, in 2016, where the duo started eighth and raced to a 10th-place result.

PIT ROAD PROWESS: The No. 24 pit crew comes into this weekend’s action with the second-best average four-tire stop time in the series at 11.282 seconds. The team’s pit crew consists of Spencer Bishop (jackman), Jeff Cordero (front-tire changer), Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer), Ryan Patton (tire carrier) and Landon Walker (fueler). They also had the fastest four-tire pit stop in the season opener at Daytona at 11.278 seconds.

GOT 99 PROBLEMS, BUT WINNING AIN’T ONE: With his two victories to start the year, Byron continues to make his mark on the legacy of the No. 24 at the Cup Series level. Those two wins bring the No. 24 one victory away from 100. Currently fifth with 99 wins, the No. 24 is only behind the No. 3 with 101, the No. 2 with 102 wins, the No. 43 with 200 wins and the No. 11 with 228 wins on the all-time list. 

LIBERTY U IS BACK: This Sunday at Talladega, Byron will sport his Liberty University paint scheme for the fourth time in the 2023 season. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in strategic communication, Byron is now in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here. 

CLOCKING OUT: Last Sunday, Alex Bowman took home an 11th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 also finished both stages in 11th. His finish at “The Paperclip” marks his eighth top-15 finish in nine NASCAR Cup Series races. 

IN THE MIX: With six top-10 results this season, Bowman is tied for the most top 10s in NASCAR’s premier series. He is also tied for the fourth-most top-five finishes (three). As a result, Bowman’s average finishing position (10.00) is the best of the drivers to start in all nine Cup Series races. In fact, he has the fourth-best average running position (10.10) this season – trailing Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron (first at 8.90) and Kyle Larson (third at 10.00). 

TALLADEGA TALENT: While Bowman shows speed at every drafting-style track NASCAR visits in the Cup Series, he has yet to get to victory lane. His best superspeedway finish in his Cup career came at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2019. In that race, Bowman finished second in both stages and led seven circuits en route to his runner-up finish behind teammate Chase Elliott. The 29-year-old driver is one of four active drivers along with his teammate, Byron, to finish second but not yet win at the Alabama venue. In 14 starts at Talladega, Bowman has four top-10 finishes, with a ninth-place finish in his most recent race at the 2.66-mile track in April 2022.

BLAKE AT SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Blake Harris, the crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Racing team, will make his third start atop the pit box at Talladega this Sunday. In two races at this track in 2022, Harris led the No. 34 team to one top-five finish and two top-10s, finishing eighth in April and third in October. They started the races 21st and 29th, respectively. In Harris’ one superspeedway race with Bowman – the 2023 DAYTONA 500 – the duo won the pole and finished fifth.

WINNING WAYS: Bowman is no stranger to victory lane. Since the start of the 2021 Cup Series season, Bowman is tied for the fourth-most wins with five. Larson has the most victories with 15. 

PIT POWER: The No. 48 Ally Racing pit crew holds the tenth-fastest pit stop of the 2023 season. On lap 185 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the five-man crew made a four-tire pit stop of 9.776 seconds, which was the fastest four-tire stop of that race. The five-man team also holds the 10th-fastest four-tire pit stop average at 11.519 seconds. The over-the-wall crew is made up of rear-tire changer Andrew Bridgeforth (rear-tire changer), Jacob Conley (fueler), Allen Holman (jackman), Scott Riddle (tire carrier) and Donnie Tasser (front-tire changer).    

SAVE THEM ALL: Bowman and primary partner Ally are teaming up this year to bring back the Best Friends Animal Society donation effort. This week, the duo will make charitable contributions to the Animal Shelter of Pell City, Inc., which serves the local community in Pell City, Alabama. Bowman and Ally will donate $4,800 to Best Friends and the Animal Shelter of Pell City, Inc.. Ally will increase its donation to $10,000 if the No. 48 team wins on Sunday.     
  
DAY ‘N’ NITE: The No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will adorn two versions of its primary scheme during the 2023 Cup Series season. The No. 48 Ally Chevy “day” scheme will host a white base with bright plum, grapefruit, and seafoam stripes down the side. This version of the primary scheme will appear at races that take place during the day. When the lights come on over the racetrack, the black-based No. 48 Ally Chevy “night” scheme will sport a similar design to its daytime counterpart. This weekend, the No. 48 machine will have the white-based “day” scheme. Check out all the angles of the new look here.  

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