Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Daytona

DAYTONA DEETS: In three of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Larson has started first for the main event. In the 2023 DAYTONA 500, he qualified second and in the 2022 DAYTONA 500 he earned the pole position. In his 18 starts at the 2.5-mile Daytona Beach, Florida track, Larson has led 24 laps and scored five top-10 finishes. 

SO CLOSE AT SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Although the 31-year-old driver has not yet locked in a win on a superspeedway, Larson has had some strong runs. In this year’s DAYTONA 500, he was on the front row for the final restart before being caught up in an incident on the last lap. His best run to date on a drafting-style track was a fourth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2022. 

RESTART READY: The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is skilled at defending his position following cautions on-track. The Elk Grove, California, native ranks second-best among Cup Series drivers on restarts in 2023, based on data from Racing Insights. 

WITH ONE REMAINING: With one race remaining in the regular season, Larson has earned the No. 5 team a spot in the playoffs for the third season in a row. He has won two points-paying races (Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway) and the non-points-paying All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. This season, Larson has claimed a series-leading 10 top-five finishes and holds the best average starting position (9.72). He also has 12 top-10 finishes, three stage wins, has led the third-most laps (624), holds the fourth-best average running position (12.23) and has run the fourth-most laps in the top five (2,164) and top 10 (3,486).

SEVEN PLAYOFF SEASONS: This year’s playoffs will mark the seventh time that Larson has made the sport’s premier series playoffs. That is tied with teammate Chase Elliott for the most playoff appearances by a current driver at Hendrick Motorsports. The 2021 Cup Series champion is on the hunt for his second title in the 2023 playoffs.

FOUR TIRES FAST: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew ranks fifth on pit road for the best average four-tire pit stop time (11.266 seconds). The team’s four-tire stop of 9.281 seconds on lap 93 in June’s race at Nashville Superspeedway stands as the fourth-fastest four-tire stop of the season. The No. 5 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). Rod Cox is currently filling in for Teague, who is week-to-week as he rehabs a knee injury.

CATCH KYLE: On Saturday at Daytona, Larson will be at the Team Chevy display in the fan midway at 4:30 p.m. ET.

HENDRICKCARS.COM IN FLORIDA: This weekend, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team races “away” in Daytona Beach, Florida, but you can visit one of their six Sunshine State dealerships in Tallahassee, Bradenton, Naples or Pompano Beach. Not in Florida? Shop one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s other 95+ dealerships nationwide. Customers can also shop 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.

PLAYOFF TALK: This weekend is Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team’s final opportunity to race their way into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series postseason. Elliott is in a must-win situation to advance to the playoffs for the driver championship. The No. 9 team currently holds the final spot in the provisional playoff field for the owner championship by 30 points over the No. 23 entry.

TALKIN’ ABOUT DAYTONA: In 15 Cup Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Elliott has two top-five finishes – both being runner-up results – four top-10s and three poles. He’s led 157 laps on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, including 31 laps last August. Additionally, the 27-year-old driver has nine starts at Daytona in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, capturing a win (in 2016), two top-five finishes and four top-10s. He also has a top-10 finish in one NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at the track.  

DRAFT DOMINANT: Last season across six drafting-style races, Elliott was the only repeat winner, earning the popular home track victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July and backing that up with a playoff win at Talladega Superspeedway in October. He led all drivers with five top-10s and three stage wins in those six events last year and led 166 laps, second only to teammate William Byron. In 2023, Elliott has three starts on drafting tracks. He’s set the pace for the field for 18 laps and has one stage win – all coming at Talladega in the spring. Overall, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native is tied for the fourth-most wins on drafting-style tracks by active Cup drivers with three. He’s also tied with Byron for the most drafting wins in the Next Gen car with two.

SUPERSPEEDWAY RANKS: Over the last 15 races on superspeedways, Elliott shares the top spot in multiple categories – tied for most runner-up finishes (two), most top-fives (five) and most stage wins (five). He ranks second in wins (two), top-10 finishes (nine), laps led (267) and average finish (11.73) across that span.

COMING HOME: 2020 Cup Series champion crew chief Alan Gustafson will return home to the “World Center of Racing” this weekend. The veteran shot caller grew up in Ormond Beach, Florida, just down the road from the legendary superspeedway. After graduating from Seabreeze High School, Gustafson enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to study mechanical engineering. This is his 19th season as a crew chief and eighth year with Elliott. Gustafson has three victories on drafting-style tracks, all with his current driver. 

LLUMAR RETURNS: LLumar, a brand of automotive window tint and paint protection film manufactured by Eastman, will have its colors carried on the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Daytona. It’s the second of four races that the brand is serving as primary partner during the 2023 season. Following this Saturday’s race, LLumar will be back on board Elliott’s No. 9 at Talladega and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October. Earlier this season, Elliott drove the LLumar Throwback Chevrolet to a third-place finish at Darlington Raceway. In June, it was announced that Eastman Performance Films, LLC extended its sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports, Elliott and the No. 9 team through 2026. Get a look at the 2023 LLumar Chevrolet here. 

RACEDAY APPEARANCES: On Saturday at Daytona, Elliott will stop by the Team Chevy display in the fan midway at 3:45 p.m. ET. Also making an appearance at the Team Chevy display throughout the weekend is the 2023 No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 show car. 

HIGH FIVE: When the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Watkins Glen International this past Sunday, William Byron and the No. 24 team took home the checkered flag – their fifth of the season. On race day, Byron started second and finished stage one in that spot. A call by crew chief Rudy Fugle to pit two laps into the second stage set Byron up to take the lead and the stage two win. Despite a mid-race caution, Byron continued to dominate the 90-lap event, crossing the finish line first for his first NASCAR road course win. He is the eighth different driver to win five races in a season for Hendrick Motorsports. 

WHAT’S IN A NUMBER?: With his win at Watkins Glen, Byron continues to extend the history of the No. 24. At 102 victories in the Cup Series, the No. 24 is now tied with the No. 2 for third on the all-time wins list by car number. The No. 43 is second at 200 and the No. 11 is atop the board at 230. Byron’s five victories in the No. 24 this season are tied for the eighth-most wins in a single season with the number.

NEXT GEN DUO: Since the introduction of the Next Gen Cup Series car in 2022, Byron and Fugle have collected seven wins together. Not only is that the most by a driver but it is also the most by a crew chief in the same time period. 

ONE MORE: Heading into the regular-season finale, Byron is third in the Cup Series driver points standings, 76 markers behind the leader. He continues to have a career-best year, leading the series in wins (five), stage wins (eight) and laps run in the top five (2,778). Byron’s 876 laps led are not only the top mark in the series but are also a single-season best mark for the 25-year-old driver. His nine top-five finishes are tied for the second-most in the sport’s top division. In addition, Byron ranks third in average running position (10.24) and laps run in the top 10 (3,707).

DRAFT DAY: When it comes to tracks that involve drafting, Byron is consistently running up front. He has three wins on these types of tracks – his first Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway in August 2020 and at the re-configured Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2022 and July 2023. Two of those drafting wins came with the Next Gen car – tied for the most by a driver with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. He also has led 213 laps at drafting tracks since the start of the 2022 season – the most of any driver.

BEACHCOMBER: Byron has 11 Cup Series starts at Daytona. In that time, he has collected one win, two top-five finishes, two top-10s and led 94 laps. However, his stats don’t accurately depict Byron’s success at the 2.5-mile oval. This is the venue where he collected his first pole award (2019 DAYTONA 500) and his first Cup Series win (2020). Byron also won the Duel qualifying race in 2020 and was in position to capture the win during the summer race in 2019 before weather ended the event early, leaving him with a runner-up finish. Byron’s success at Daytona doesn’t end there. During his 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship campaign, he led 29 laps to score the victory, becoming the youngest driver with an Xfinity Series win at Daytona at 19 years, 7 months and 1 day. 

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY: Saturday night’s race at Daytona will be Fugle’s sixth on top of the box in the Cup Series at the 2.5-mile oval. In 2021, the No. 24 duo of Fugle and Byron started both races at the Florida-based track from the front row. However, despite running up front in every Daytona event they’ve raced at together in the Cup Series, misfortune has struck the No. 24 as they have been collected in on-track incidents before the checkered flag on four occasions. Aside from those five Cup starts, the Livonia, New York, native has nine other national series starts at Daytona, with seven coming in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Fugle has one runner-up result, one top-five finish and two top-10s across those seven races. Of those Truck Series starts, one of them was with Byron, where the duo qualified and finished 13th.

PIT ROAD PROWESS: After 25 races in the 2023 season, the No. 24 pit crew remains in the top spot with the fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 11.078 seconds. The No. 24 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). 

RAPTOR® TOUGH: For this weekend’s regular-season finale at Daytona, Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will have RaptorTough.com back on board. RAPTOR® is a durable protective coating that is designed to tolerate the toughest climatic conditions and can be applied to a wide range of items, including truck beds, lawnmowers, outdoor furniture and more. With 16 pre-mixed colors available, it’s easy to personalize anything you want to protect. RAPTOR® is available at local paint distributors, auto parts stores, and online retailers. For a better look at Byron’s No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, click here.

BACK AT THE BEACH: On Saturday night, Alex Bowman and the NASCAR Cup Series take on Daytona International Speedway for the 2023 regular-season finale. The 30-year-old driver is currently ranked 20th in the driver points standings, 96 markers behind the provisional playoff bubble. Bowman must win under the lights to punch his ticket to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season with Hendrick Motorsports.

SIX GOD: Bowman has become a familiar face at the front of the Daytona field, having started on the front row for the DAYTONA 500 for a record six consecutive years. He earned the pole position for this year’s DAYTONA 500 as well as the 2018 and 2021 marquee events. He is the fifth-youngest pole winner in the event’s history based on his 2018 pole at 24 years, 9 months and 17 days old. 

DRAFTING DOWNLOAD: In the 2023 DAYTONA 500, Bowman finished fifth, marking the first time since 2001 a pole sitter has recorded a top-five result in that race. In the Daytona summer race, he has three top-10 finishes in seven starts. Bowman’s best finish at a drafting track was a runner-up showing at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019, where he placed second to teammate Chase Elliott.

BLAKE AT SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Blake Harris, who is the crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Racing team, will make his third start atop the pit box at Daytona. In his first start with the No. 34 team in the 2022 DAYTONA 500, Harris qualified sixth and finished seventh with driver Michael McDowell. This year, Harris helped Bowman lead the field to the green flag at the DAYTONA 500 before finishing the race in fifth.

#1 VICTORY ROYALE: This Saturday, the No. 48 Ally Chevy will don the bright colors and characters of the popular video game Fortnite. Ally, in collaboration with SuperAwesome, launched the Ally Arena, a new Fortnite Creative experience. This virtual space allows players to enjoy allyship and shared experiences in the form of concerts, live streams and other engaging custom content – including collaborative crossovers with NASCAR. The new Ally 48 Island, within the Ally Arena, is uniquely shaped like and inspired by the iconic No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Fans and gamers can enjoy racing-themed minigames and experience the power of Epic Games’ new Unreal Engine for Fortnite, widely recognized as the world’s leading engine for game creation, enabling builders to import custom 3D items and write code to govern their usage. (Game Code: 3804-0541-8611) To see all angles of the unique scheme, click here. 

RESTART ME UP: Bowman is tied as the fifth-best driver on restarts in 2023, according to data from Racing Insights. That mark is second-best among the Hendrick Motorsports quartet, as teammate Kyle Larson is second in this statistical category. 

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 Life Is Golden, Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc., which serves Port Orange, Florida. Bowman and Ally will donate $4,800 to Best Friends and Life is Golden. Ally will increase its donation to $10,000 if the No. 48 team wins.

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