Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Darlington

NECK AND NECK IN KANSAS: Kyle Larson was leading with one lap to go in Sunday’s 400-mile race at Kansas Speedway, poised to earn his third win of the season. However, contact with another competitor on the back straightaway sent his No. 5 entry into the outside wall. Despite this setback, Larson was able to secure a second-place finish and led the most laps in the race (85). He moved up two positions to eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings (trailing the leader by 66 points).

LEADING LAPS: Larson has led the second-most laps of all Cup Series drivers so far in 2023, with 299 more circuits out front than the third-place competitor. Through 12 races, the 30-year-old driver has paced the field for 553 laps. In all of 2022, he led only 635 laps. This season, Larson has run the third-most laps in the top five (1,369) and second-most laps in the top 10 (2,044). He is also part of a four-way tie, which includes his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, for the most top-five finishes (five) this year.

DARLINGTON DOWNLOAD: Larson ranks second among all Cup Series drivers (with more than two starts) at Darlington Raceway with a 9.20 average finish. Since the start of 2016, the Elk Grove, California, native has led the most laps (683) of any driver at the 1.366-mile track. His 686 laps out front at the track in his Cup Series career are the third-most at any one circuit behind Bristol Motor Speedway (850) and Dover Motor Speedway (899). Larson has earned the second-most stage wins (three) of all drivers. 

WAITING ON THE WIN: The venue “Too Tough to Tame” is known for its unique egg-shape, differentiating racing surface and preferred racing line that runs close to the track’s retaining wall. Larson has yet to conquer the challenging track, with three runner-up finishes (second-most at Darlington without a win), five top-fives and seven top-10s in 10 starts. His 686 laps led at Darlington are the fourth-most prior to a win behind Richard Petty (978), Donnie Allison (859) and Geoff Bodine (710). Allison and Bodine never won at this track. 

THROWING IT BACK TO SMOKE: Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Throwback Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Darlington. The paint scheme is a tribute to the No. 80 Chevy that Tony Stewart drove to a NASCAR Xfinity Series win for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. Check out every angle of the car here.

PIT CREW POWER: The HendrickCars.com pit crew is ranked as the fourth-best team on pit road based on their average four-tire stop time of 11.253 seconds. In Kansas, the No. 5 pit crew performed the sixth-fastest four-tire pit stop of the season at 9.576 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).

ONE OF 75: Larson was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers last month. He is tied for 38th on the all-time wins list with 21 victories. NASCAR will recognize the group during pre-race ceremonies on Sunday.

HENDRICKCARS.COM TAKES ON XFINITY: Larson and HendrickCars.com will partner with Kaulig Racing to run in the Xfinity Series at Darlington. He will be driving the No. 10 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in Saturday’s race, which starts at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Larson will also run the Xfinity race at this venue in September in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports entry. Last fall, the 13-time Xfinity Series winner rallied from an early incident in the No. 17, which left him two laps down, to almost win the Xfinity race at Darlington. Larson took the lead approaching the white flag but contact on the final lap while battling for the top spot led to a fifth-place finish. 

JINYA RAMEN BAR CLIMBS ABOARD: Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team have landed an Official Restaurant partner in JINYA Ramen Bar. As a part of the deal that goes through 2024, JINYA will have branding on his fire suit, team apparel and a post-race hat when the No. 5 team reaches victory lane. Larson is the first Asian-American driver to become a Cup Series champion (2021). JINYA, which is a contemporary Japanese dining establishment, is known for its slow-cooked approach to ramen, made from broths simmered for 20 hours in-house. Read more about the partnership here. 

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LOOKING BACK: Last weekend in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott started from the 21st position and finished the first two stages in 13th. Early in the final stage, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native powered his way to the lead before ultimately finishing the race in seventh. It was the third top-10 finish of the season for Elliott, who missed six races due to a fractured tibia. He now has a streak of five consecutive finishes of 12th or better in just six starts in 2023. The five-time National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award winner’s result at Kansas marked the ninth top-10 finish in his 15 career Cup Series starts on the 1.5-mile track. 
 
DARLINGTON DATA: Sunday marks Elliott’s 13th start at Darlington Raceway in the Cup Series. In his previous 12 races at the 1.366-mile oval, he has collected three top-five finishes and five top-10s. His best finish of fourth came in the first of the track’s three races in 2020. Last spring, Elliott finished fifth at Darlington after starting at the rear of the field because he moved to a backup car. Outside of the Cup Series, he has made three Darlington starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, earning a win at the track during his rookie season in 2014. 
 
KEEP IT GOING: Since Elliott’s return to the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Martinsville Speedway in April after recovering from a fractured tibia, he’s gained 53 points on the playoff bubble. He currently sits 29th in the Cup Series point standings, just 81 markers outside of the provisional cutline for a playoff spot. Elliott would need to gain an average of six points per race to make the playoffs as the standings are currently. In the four races since the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s return, he’s earned the sixth-most points in the series (129). 
 
WIN AND IN: While it’s still possible for Elliott, who missed six races this season due to his injury, to make it into the playoffs on points, a win would all but guarantee a spot for the 27-year-old driver. The 2020 Cup Series champion has had a lot of success on the 14 tracks coming up on the schedule before the playoffs kick off in September. Six of his 18 career Cup Series wins have come at tracks left in the regular season. 

AG IN SC: On Sunday, Alan Gustafson, No. 9 team crew chief, is set to call his 23rd Darlington race in the Cup Series. In his previous 22 starts at the track with five different drivers (Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Elliott), Gustafson has accumulated one win (2009 with Martin), five top-five finishes and nine top-10s with 222 laps led.
 
FITTING THROWBACK: This weekend, Elliott and the No. 9 team, along with primary sponsor LLumar, are running a special throwback look that is a nod to the driver’s father Bill Elliott’s return to the No. 9 with Evernham Motorsports. The bright red scheme flaunts the iconic stylized numeral from the original scheme, which first hit the track in 2001. The elder Elliott scored the final four victories of his legendary NASCAR Hall of Fame career in the red No. 9 paint scheme. See all the angles of the No. 9 LLumar throwback here.  
 
75 GREATEST: The father-son duo have each been named to the coveted list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers – Bill as one of the original 50 drivers in 1998 and Chase as part of the new 25 names announced leading up to this weekend’s race. NASCAR will recognize the group during pre-race ceremonies on Sunday at Darlington. 

KANSAS KAN-DO: William Byron captured the pole on Saturday and led the opening two laps at Kansas Speedway. However, the handling of his No. 24 Chevy swung loose, forcing him into the wall and causing rear-end damage. A pit road speeding penalty and further damage led to him going three laps down. After making repairs and using strategy, the No. 24 team was able to reclaim all of their laps, making it back on the lead lap before the end of stage two. Byron regained the lead on lap 213. Continuing to run up front through the remainder of the race, he ultimately crossed the finish line in third – his third consecutive top-10 finish which is the longest active streak by any driver.

24 POWER: Byron and the No. 24 team continue to be one of the front runners during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. So far this year, he is tied with two other drivers, including Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, for the most wins in the series (two). Byron ranks first in laps led (589), laps run in the top five (1,531) and is tied with three other drivers (including Larson) for the most top-five finishes (five). He also ranks fourth in laps run in the top 10 (1,991). The Charlotte, North Carolina, native holds the second-best average running position this season (9.66) – one of only two drivers to have a top-10 average running position.

DARLINGTON DEETS: Entering Sunday’s race with nine previous Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, Byron is looking to capitalize on his previously strong showings and continuing to have a little luck along the way. Despite running well in most of his Darlington starts, his results do not accurately represent the strength he has shown. Byron has a track-best finish of fourth (September 2021) among his two top-five finishes and three top-10s. In this race last year, Byron was leading with two laps to go before being moved out of the way and ultimately finishing 13th.

THE FUGLE FILES: When the Cup Series returns to Darlington, it will mark the fifth trip to the South Carolina track for crew chief Rudy Fugle at the top level of NASCAR. In his past four Cup Series starts, Fugle has collected one top-five finish, two top-10s and 74 laps led. Prior to his Cup Series career, Fugle had only three previous starts at Darlington – two in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.  

THROWIN’ IT BACK: For this weekend’s historic race at the 1.366-mile track, Axalta unveiled Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet for this weekend’s throwback event last month. Paying tribute to Jeff Gordon, the No. 24 Axalta Chevy dons the iconic Chromalusion paint scheme that Gordon ran during the 1998 All-Star Race. That season, Gordon won 13 points-paying races and seven pole awards en route to his third Cup Series championship. That car also recognized NASCAR’s 50th anniversary. Similarly, Byron’s will sport the 75th anniversary logo. For a closer look at Byron’s throwback scheme, click here.

DOUBLE UP: In addition to his full-time driving duties in the Cup Series behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Byron will also compete in the Truck Series race this weekend with Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) at Darlington. This is the third time Byron has pulled double duty in 2023 and will mark his second Truck Series start of the season. Byron is returning to the team that he got his NASCAR national series start in and will run the No. 51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado on Friday. With KBM, Byron has 25 starts, winning an unprecedented seven race wins en route to collecting rookie of the year honors and narrowly missing the Championship 4 race in 2016.

PIT ROAD PROWESS: Through 12 races, the No. 24 pit crew tops the board with the fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 11.227 seconds. The group 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 International Speedway at 11.278 seconds.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE OF MIND: While the fueler on the No. 24 team hails from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, Walker also has significant ties to the southernmost Carolina state, having played football at Clemson University. The former college offensive tackle earned a scholarship to Clemson in 2007 after being named an All-American offensive lineman in his hometown at East Wilkes High School. At Clemson, Walker recorded 3,131 snaps with 49 starts at tackle through four seasons at the university. In 2011, Walker was named team captain, the same season Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The college football standout was then recruited by Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 and earned a position as the starting fueler for the former No. 5 (now No. 24) team in 2015.

BACK IN THE GAME: NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway returns in 2023 and the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet will don a familiar scheme. Alex Bowman paid homage to his spotter, Kevin Hamlin, who ran the red, black, and white scheme in 2007 for Chip Ganassi Racing in what was then-known as the NASCAR Busch Series (now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series). With Bowman sidelined by injury, Josh Berry will drive the car at Darlington. Click here to see all the angles of the throwback scheme for Sunday’s race at Darlington and click here to see how Bowman surprised his spotter.

BERRY AT THE LADY IN BLACK: Heading into this weekend’s races, Berry has made four Xfinity Series starts at Darlington. He has tallied one top-five finish, two top-10s, and completed 581 of 589 laps at the 1.366-mile venue (98.6%). Berry’s best result was a runner-up finish in May 2021.

SHOT CALLER: Crew chief Blake Harris has been successful at the track “Too Tough to Tame.” In his two NASCAR Cup Series starts at the egg-shaped venue, Harris’ driver has started outside of the top 10 in both starts and helped guide his driver to two top-10 results. In addition to completing every lap in both events (100%), his driver posted an average finish of 6.5. Harris has also been part of three wins at “The Lady in Black,” including Regan Smith’s 2011 victory, which was the first victory for Furniture Row Racing.

IN GOOD COMPANY: Berry is the 12th driver in Hendrick Motorsports history to earn at least three top-10 finishes in his first six starts with the team. Those top 10s came at Phoenix Raceway (10th), Richmond Raceway (a career-best second) and Dover Motor Speedway (10th). Among the other drivers to earn three top 10s in their first six starts for the company: Jeff Gordon, Geoff Bodine, Benny Parsons, Tim Richmond and Ricky Rudd. Fellow fill-in drivers Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Randy LaJoie also accomplished this.

LET THEM COOK: The No. 48 pit crew flexed their muscles, completing the fifth-fastest four-tire pit stop of the 2023 Cup Series season in 9.576 seconds on lap 140 at Kansas Speedway. The team also had the best four-tire stop average in last month’s race at Richmond at 10.388 seconds. The five-man crew consists of Andrew Bridgeforth (rear-tire changer), Jacob Conley (fueler), Allen Holman (jackman), Scott Riddle (tire carrier) and Donnie Tasser (front-tire changer). 

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