PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 12 ELIMINATION: CHARLOTTE ROVAL

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott became the first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) playoff driver to win in the post-season thus far, giving the No. 9 Camaro ZL1 team an automatic berth into the Round of 8. As the only driver with a secured spot into the next round, the seven positions that remain up for grabs in the Round of 8 will be determined in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The 2.32-mile, 17-turn road course located within “America’s Home for Racing” of Charlotte Motor Speedway was first added to the NCS schedule in 2018; and since then, each of the circuit’s four races have held a spot in the post-season. 

Chevrolet recorded its first win at the Charlotte ROVAL in 2019, with road course phenom Chase Elliott taking the checkered flag in the circuit’s second annual NCS race. Since then, it’s been a repeat visit to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course victory lane for the Bowtie brand. Elliott became a back-to-back winner at the circuit in 2020, with his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate Kyle Larson becoming the ROVAL’s most recent NCS winner in 2021.

In similar fashion, the Bowtie brand will look to make it four in a row in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The “King of the Road” AJ Allmendinger recorded his first NXS win at the ROVAL in 2019 and he’s taken each win since; recording the victory in 2020 and later going on to make it a three-peat in 2021. In five NXS road course races this season, Chevrolet has scored the victory in four of those events, three of which were won with Allmendinger behind the wheel of his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS.  

NASCAR Cup Series - Defending Winner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course: 

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

October 10, 2021

BOWTIE LOOKING FOR 12 IN A ROW ON ROAD COURSES

Since Chase Elliott delivered Chevrolet its milestone 800th all-time win in NASCAR’s premier series at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021, it’s been nothing but the Bowtie brand in victory lane on NCS road course circuits. The series’ most recent road course race at Watkins Glen (August 2022) saw Kyle Larson hoist the trophy once again, giving Chevrolet its 11th consecutive NCS road course victory. Within that time frame, a total of six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams added wins to that streak.

Four of Chevrolet’s six remaining playoff contenders have at least one NCS road course victory to their name. Joining Elliott and Larson on that list includes Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, who both recorded their first career wins in NASCAR’s premier series on a road course circuit earlier this season.

While Elliott has already punched his ticket to the next round with his win at Talladega Superspeedway, a win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course would move the 26-year-old Georgia native up the ranks on the NCS all-time road course wins list. Currently leading all active NCS drivers in career road course wins with seven, a win in Sunday’s race would move Elliott to second on that elite list, tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart with eight. At the top of the NCS all-time road course wins list is Career Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, who recorded nine career road course victories in NASCAR’s premier series. 

A look at where the Team Chevy NCS playoff drivers stand heading into the Round of 12 elimination race, including season numbers and career stats at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course: 

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 1st in Playoff Standings

2022 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Champion

Victories: 5 (series-leading)

Top-Fives: 12; Top-10s: 19; Laps Led: 773 

Average Finish: 11.5; Stage Wins: 6

At Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course:  

Wins: 2

Top-Fives: 2; Top-10s: 3

Average Finish: 5.000 (series-best)

Of Note: 

- The 2022 season marks Elliott’s seventh consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs. 

- Elliott has advanced to the Championship 4 the past two seasons, winning his first career NCS Driver Championship in 2020. 

- Six of his 17 career NCS wins have come in the playoffs.

- Elliott has won at two of the three tracks in the Round of 12, including Talladega Superspeedway (2019); and a two-time winner at the Charlotte ROVAL (2019 and 2020).

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 6th in Playoff Standings (18-points above cutline)

2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion

Victories: 2

Top-Fives: 11; Top-10s: 16; Laps Led: 368

Average Finish: 13.7; Stage Wins: 4

At Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course:

Victories: 1

Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 1;

Average Finish 13.000

Of Note:

- The 2022 season marks Larson’s sixth appearance in the NCS playoffs, with 2021 bringing Larson his first trip to the Championship 4.

- During the playoff era (2004-present); Larson leads the series in ‘multiple playoff race wins in a single season’ with five in 2021 (Bristol, Charlotte ROVAL, Texas, Kansas, Phoenix).

- In 2021, Larson took the wins at two of the three tracks that are in the Round of 12, including the annual race at the Charlotte ROVAL.

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 10th in Playoff Standings (11-points below cutline)

Victories: 2

Top-Fives: 5; Top-10s: 9; Laps Led: 714

Average Finish: 16.3; Stage Wins: 4

At Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course:

Pole Wins: 1

Top-10s: 2; Average Finish: 14.250

Of Note:

- The 2022 season marks Byron’s fourth consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs.

- Bryon’s career-best finish in the NCS playoffs came in 2021, finishing the season 10th in the final standings.

PLAYOFF PICTURE UPDATE: CHEVROLET REMAINS ON TOP

The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course holds the position as the Round of 12 playoffs elimination race for both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, where each of the respective playoff fields will be reduced to just eight drivers remaining in the championship title hunt.

With Chase Elliott’s playoff victory at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, seven spots are up for grabs in the NCS Round of 8. Entering the elimination race, four Chevrolet drivers makeup the top-eight in the playoff driver points standings, with Elliott leading Ross Chastain in third (+28-points), Kyle Larson in sixth (+18) and Daniel Suarez in seventh (+12). Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron continues to sit on the outside looking in, but just 11-points below the cutline. Alex Bowman, who rounds out the top-12 in the playoff driver points standings, will be sidelined once again this weekend with continued concussion symptoms, ultimately eliminating Bowman and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 team from the 2022 NCS playoffs.

Chevrolet continues to sit 1-2 in the NXS playoff driver points standings, with AJ Allmendinger (1st) and Noah Gragson (2nd) already sealing their fate into the next round with victories in the Round of 12. Chevrolet drivers currently occupy six of the top-eight in the playoff driver points standings. Joining Allmendinger and Gragson in the top-eight includes NXS rookie Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Camaro SS, in fourth; with JR Motorsports’ teammates Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer sitting in the fifth through seventh positions, respectively. 

CHEVROLET SWEEPS TALLADEGA TRIPLEHEADER

For the third time this season, Chevrolet took the wins across all three NASCAR national series during a tripleheader race weekend. 

The weekend sweep started out with Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 25 Rackley W.A.R. Silverado RST team’s win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Chevy Silverado 250. The victory was DiBenedetto’s first in the series; the fifth for the Silverado RST in 2022; and Chevrolet’s 262nd all-time in the NCWTS.

Later that afternoon, AJ Allmendinger edged out fellow Chevrolet driver Sam Mayer at the line by a mere .015-second to record his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series superspeedway victory. The triumph – Allmendinger’s fourth of the season – also gave the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS team a guaranteed spot in the series’ Round of 8. The 40-year-old California native is the second driver to secure his spot into the next round, joining Chevrolet driver Noah Gragson, who accomplished that feat with his win at Texas Motor Speedway. The victory was Chevrolet’s 21st NXS win of 2022, while also extending the manufacturer’s win streak to seven in a row in the series.

Capping off the weekend sweep was Chase Elliott’s victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500. The victory brought Elliott to a series-leading fifth win of 2022, putting him back at the top of the NCS driver points standings as the only playoff driver with a win in the post-season. The victory marked Chevrolet’s series-leading 18th NCS victory this season, with the manufacturer now just one win away from tying its win record from the 2021 NCS season.  

CHEVROLET CONTINUES SUPPORT FOR “MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER” WITH PINK CAMARO SS 1LE PACE CAR

Chevrolet’s partnership with the American Cancer Society (ACS) and its “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” initiative marks its 12th consecutive year in 2022. A specialty-themed pink Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE made its return to the track at Talladega Superspeedway as the official pace car. Proudly carrying the ACS logo, the pink Chevrolet Camaro pace car will do more than just lead NASCAR’s premier series under caution during the month of October. For every lap run under caution in three select races, Chevrolet will donate $350 to the American Cancer Society to honor “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.”

 The first of three NASCAR Cup Series events that are part of the initiative took place at Talladega Superspeedway this past weekend. With the specialty-themed Pink Camaro pace car leading the NCS for 25 laps under caution during Sunday’s YellaWood 500, Chevrolet will contribute $8,750 towards the campaign.

The pink “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” Camaro will return as the official pace car at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 23 and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on October 30 as part of the contribution.

FOR THE FANS

·       Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

·       Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Silverado 1500 Crew ZR2, Tahoe Z71, Blazer RS, Corvette Z51, Camaro ZL1, Silverado 2500HD Crew LTZ Diesel, Pink MSABC Silverado 1500 Crew High Country Diesel.

·       At the Chevrolet Display, fans can also view Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro ZL1 show car.

Team Chevy Driver Appearances at the Display:

Sunday, October 9

·       Erik Jones: 10:45 a.m.

·       Noah Gragson: 11:00 a.m.

·       William Byron: 11:50 a.m.

Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:  

Saturday, October 8: 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.  

Sunday, October 9: 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Tune In: 

NBC will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 9. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

NBC will broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 8. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

How do you feel going into the Charlotte Roval?

"I feel ready to win. I'm ready to jump back in the Chevy simulator and brush up on a few things. That's been the road course that I've been focused on the most. I've focused a lot on road courses in my career, but I haven't shown the speed at that course like I have at other ones. So I'm looking for that next step there in speed for overall raw lap times."

Road courses have seen aggressive racing all year. Lots of drivers pushed off and things like that. You don't really have that option because of the Roval layout. Are you expecting that same kind of aggression?

"We'll just have to be mindful of what is around our No. 1 Chevy. We need to know at all times what is going on. We'll be aware of the points and not put ourselves in the position to fall out of the race. Aside from the that, we'll just go and try and make fast laps."

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Larson on if he races differently since he is above the cutoff line:

"I don’t think so – well, maybe a little bit. You may look at a situation and think risk versus reward and maybe hold back on a move early in the race. Our road course program has been really good and I hope it carries over to this weekend. I’ve been above the cut line several times before here and have had some crazy races and results."

CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Daniels on the uniqueness of the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL:

"The (Charlotte) ROVAL is substantially different compared to the other road courses on the circuit because you have the addition of the banking. There are a lot of different suspension components that we have to look at differently with this car. There were maybe a lot of similarities to a ROVAL setup last year compared to a Sonoma (Raceway) setup. It’s a much different look now for this weekend – it’s almost not a road course setup. I was joking earlier that it’s almost dune-buggy style – you have the banking, you have big elevation changes. There is a lot more happening with the suspension geometry and the travel of the car that we have not encountered anywhere else this year."

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

Elliott on what the win Talladega Superspeedway does for the team heading into the Charlotte ROVAL:

"At Talladega (Superspeedway), we really just wanted to have a solid day and try to get as many points as we could. Honestly after that second stage, I was super happy with our day. Regardless of what happened from there, I thought we had done a really good job. We had gained some good stage points and that was going to keep us in a position, we had hedged our bet to have a pretty solid points day regardless of how the finish ended up. To have the win on top of that was just icing on the cake. Now we can try to have a good weekend here at the (Charlotte) ROVAL. Gives us an opportunity to short those stages and not have to go for stage points and hopefully we have enough pace to fight for the win."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

Gustafson how the win at Talladega affects how the team approaches the Charlotte ROVAL:

"We always try to win. That just goes without saying. For us, it’s just about bonus points. It’s the biggest thing that we can do to put ourselves in a better position going into the next round. Our road course program has not been exactly where we’ve wanted it to be. We’ve been good, we’ve had shots to win and we haven’t been able to win. So focusing on trying to improve that, continuing to learn there, trying to get some bonus points and solidifying our position moving forward."

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1

Byron on his approach to the playoffs so far:

"Rudy (Fugle) and I have been taking it one week at a time in the playoffs. We’re not worrying about races past the one that comes up next. I think it’s been working pretty well so far since we have the second-best average finish in the playoffs right now. I think when you start worrying too far in advance, that’s when mistakes happen. We’ve done a good job of showing up, having speed and executing a good race while minimizing any mistakes. Would we like to be in a better position heading into a cutoff race? Yeah, of course. We can’t worry about the what ifs. We just need to go out and do our jobs the best we can."

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1

Fugle on what he expects at the Charlotte ROVAL:

"Even though we tested at the (Charlotte) ROVAL in the Next Gen car, I’m not sure there’s much that’s going to translate from that test since it was so long ago and we’ve made so many changes to the car since then. I think the biggest unknown will be in regard to tires. We’ll be running road course tires for the race. With part of the track being on the oval, we don’t know what to expect from tire fall off and grip levels in that part of the track. Same with our set up, the infield and the oval have such different characteristics and need such different things, you almost have to pick and choose which portion you think is most important. If anything, we can pull notes from the Indianapolis (Motor Speedway) road course race earlier this year, but that’s about the closest we have right now before we get on track Saturday."

GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

Ives on having Noah Gragson as his driver at the Charlotte ROVAL:

"The whole team wants to continue our playoff run with Alex (Bowman) behind the wheel, but that will not happen. Despite that, our goal remains the same from an owner's championship – we will show up to give our all to win. Noah (Gragson) did a great job filling in for Alex last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway and we will prepare him to do the same at the (Charlotte) ROVAL."

Ives on Bowman’s recovery:

"Our main priority is to make sure Alex is back to 100% before he gets back in the No. 48 Ally Chevy. We are committed to his long-term health and trust the process. There is no doubt he is working hard and doing everything he can to return when the time is right."

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1

How do you feel about your chances to advance at the ROVAL?

“I feel very good about it. My goal today was to at least break even. I haven’t seen the points to know, but I think we did that. Heading to the ROVAL, I feel very confident that we can contend for it.

We have a very good road course program at Trackhouse Racing. Both Ross and I have won races and been strong in each race. It's a great feeling as a driver to know you have a strong chance to win every time you race."

Are you happy with your points position?

"Talladega was such a wild card that I said I just wanted to break even and I think we did more than that. We got very lucky. I'm not sure we would be 12 points ahead of the cutoff if that race were a few laps longer. The engine blew up with 15 laps to go and I was barely hanging in there. On that restart, I couldn’t go and the 24 (William Byron) helped me a lot to get going, but the engine was killed. So I guess we had a little bit of luck because it was definitely killed and we were about to not finish that race.

We are just going to do our thing this weekend in Charlotte. I feel very confident."