Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Talladega

TEXAS TWO-STEP: Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson won stage one and led 19 laps en route to a ninth-place finish – his 16th top-10 finish this season. The Elk Grove, California, native is third in the standings and increased his advantage over the cutoff position to 23 points heading into the second race in the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

ROLL TIDE: In 15 Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Larson has one top-five finish and three top-10s. He posted a ninth-place result in his first race at the Alabama track in 2014 while his best finish of fourth occurred earlier this year – his best-ever finish on a superspeedway. In that 188-lap race, Larson paced the field for 32 laps. For comparison, he has led a total of 31 laps across his 31 other superspeedway starts.

SPRING AHEAD: In April at Talladega, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion had an average running position of 4.77 during the 500-mile race – tops among all drivers. In fact, Hendrick Motorsports drivers posted three of the four best averages during the 188-lap event.

NOT SO AVERAGE: Larson has an 8.5 average finishing position through four playoff races this year – one of only three drivers to average better than 10th. The 30-year-old driver trails only Denny Hamlin (5.75) and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron (6.00).

FIVE FOR FIVE: Since 2020, there have been 24 playoff races with Larson victorious in five of them – two more than any other driver – while competing in only 14 of them. Last year, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet won half of the 10 playoff races including the finale at Phoenix Raceway to capture the 2021 Cup Series championship.

DOUBLE UP: Larson has won 12 times since joining the Rick Hendrick-owned team at the beginning of last year. Second and third during that span are Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman with six and five wins, respectively.

HOME GAME: This weekend, Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team will wear their “home” white uniforms at Talladega. Home races occur in markets where there are Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships nearby, and the Talladega area is home to three of them. Be sure to follow Hendrick Automotive Group’s social media channels and visit HendrickCars.com to view the complete home and away schedule.

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Talladega Superspeedway media center on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 8:45 a.m. local time.

JUST KEEP DIGGING: Heading into the second race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Talladega Superspeedway, Chase Elliott sits seventh in the standings. He is 11 points above the cutoff line to advance to the Round of 8. The regular-season champion has been in the playoffs every full-time season he’s raced in the Cup Series. The previous two seasons he advanced to the Championship 4, earning a Cup Series title in 2020. Elliott has six total victories in the playoffs, most recently in the 2020 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, when he captured the championship.

SUPER ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS: In five starts in 2022 on superspeedways and drafting tracks this season (those tracks are Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega), Elliott has one win and finished inside the top 10 in all but one of them. The 26-year-old is the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in four of the five events and earned the second-most points in those races (195). The 2020 Cup Series champion scored a victory on the newly reconfigured Atlanta in July, leading 96 laps. In addition to his win, he finished 10th in the DAYTONA 500, sixth in the Atlanta spring race and seventh at Talladega. In his last nine starts on traditional superspeedways (Daytona and Talladega), Elliott scored two second-place finishes (tied for the most), three top-five finishes and six top-10s (a series high). 

‘DEGA NUMBERS: This weekend, Elliott will make his 14th Talladega Cup Series start. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native earned a victory on the 2.66-mile superspeedway in 2019 and has collected four top-five finishes and six top-10s across his 13 starts at the track. Elliott currently has the third-best average finish at the venue among active drivers at 15.23, trailing only Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

GUSTAFSON AT TALLADEGA: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 36th Talladega Cup Series race from atop the pit box on Sunday afternoon. He collected his first superspeedway victory at the Alabama facility on Apr. 28, 2019, with Elliott and the No. 9 team. In total, at this track calling the shots for five different drivers (Elliott, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon), Gustafson’s teams posted eight top-five finishes, 11 top-10s, 276 laps led and six pole awards. 

TOP DOG: Gustafson’s superspeedway résumé is impressive with two Daytona Duel wins (2017 and 2018) and a 2019 win at Talladega, all coming with Elliott behind the wheel. His 11 superspeedway poles are the most among all active crew chiefs.

PIT ROAD POWER: Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the No. 9 team had the best average time for four-tire pit stops at 10.499 seconds. The NAPA AUTO PARTS pit crew is comprised of jackman T.J. Semke, fueler John Gianninoto, tire carrier Jared Erspamer and tire changers Chad Avrit (rear) and Nick O’Dell (front). They currently hold the fourth-best average (11.814) for four-tire stops across the season.

NAPA IS BACK: NAPA AUTO PARTS, the Atlanta-based company that has been a primary partner of Elliott in all seven of his seasons at Hendrick Motorsports, will be on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Talladega. This will mark the 10th time the brand has served as the primary sponsor of the No. 9 team at this particular track. NAPA was on board earlier this year for the team’s seventh-place finish.

ON TO THE NEXT: The Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kicked off last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Following a seventh-place finish at the Fort Worth venue, William Byron was ranked third, 17 points above the cutoff line. However, with a 25-point penalty assessed Tuesday, Byron is now sitting 10th in the standings, eight points below the cutoff line heading to Talladega Superspeedway (pending an appeal).

PLAYOFF POWER: In the first four races of the Cup Series playoffs, Byron is one of two drivers – Denny Hamlin is the other – to finish in the top 10 in every event. He finished eighth at Darlington Raceway, sixth at Kansas Speedway, third at Bristol Motor Speedway, and seventh at Texas. In fact, Byron holds the second-best average finish so far in the 2022 playoffs (6.00) behind Hamlin. 

SUPERSPEEDWAY STAR: Sunday’s race at Talladega will be Byron’s 20th superspeedway start in the Cup Series. In his previous 19 starts, Byron has scored one win (Daytona International Speedway, August 2020), two runner-up finishes, four top-fives – two of which were at Talladega – and four top-10s with 188 laps led. In fact, the 24-year-old has three top-five finishes in the last nine superspeedway races – tied for the second-most in the series. 

LEADING THE DRAFT: In five drafting-style races in the 2022 season (those tracks are Daytona, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega), Byron has led the field for 192 laps – the most of any driver ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott (156). He also won at Atlanta in March, which used the superspeedway rules package in its two races this season. 

TALLADEGA TELL-ALL: Byron will be making his 10th Cup Series start at the 2.66-mile oval when the No. 24 team hits the track Sunday. In his previous nine starts, Byron has a track-best finish of second coming in April of 2021 at the Alabama-based venue. In addition to that runner-up finish, he has two stage wins at Talladega including winning stage two in the spring this season. He also has led 94 laps there since 2018 – tied for the sixth-most among drivers. 

DIGGIN’ DEGA: When the Cup Series heads to Talladega this weekend, it will mark Rudy Fugle’s fourth race at the venue as a crew chief in the sport’s top series. 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 three races, the Livonia, New York, native has eight additional national series starts at the 2.66-mile track already under his belt. In seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 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.

RAPTOR® TOUGH: Heading to Talladega, Byron will be back behind the wheel of the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the second consecutive weekend. 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. 

BACK ON THE BOULEVARD: Last time Alex Bowman was at Talladega Superspeedway, he crossed the finish line in ninth. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 finished the first stage in ninth and the second stage in fifth en route to his top-10 finish – a part of Hendrick Motorsports’ fourth event at the Alabama venue where at least three of its drivers finished in the top 10.

OH, SO CLOSE: Bowman is one of four active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series to finish second at Talladega but have yet to win at the sport’s biggest oval. The Tucson, Arizona, native took home a runner-up result in April 2019, finishing second to teammate Chase Elliott. Since then, he has two top-10 finishes in six appearances at the Alabama venue.

RUNNING IN THE SHADOWS: Since the start of the 2021 Cup Series season, Bowman has five victories – third-most of all active drivers in that span. Only teammates Kyle Larson and Elliott have more wins, with 12 and five, respectively. 

PACING THE FIELD: Bowman is one of seven drivers to have led at least 100 laps in the 2022 Cup Series playoffs. He has the sixth-most circuits completed as the leader with 107 laps, trailing Chris Buescher (169), Christopher Bell (155), Kyle Busch (155), Brad Keselowski (151), and Tyler Reddick (108). 

POINT MADE: The 29-year-old is one of five active playoff drivers to have added to his playoff point total this postseason. Bowman’s stage win at Kansas Speedway is one of three stage wins for Hendrick Motorsports in this year’s playoffs. He enters this race 30 points behind the cutoff line with two races left in the Round of 12.

SHOT CALLER: Crew chief Greg Ives has a storied career of success at superspeedways as a crew chief in the Cup Series. Through his 31 superspeedway starts in NASCAR’s premier level, Ives has tallied four pole positions (including the 2018 and 2021 DAYTONA 500 poles with Bowman), two points-paying wins (Talladega and Daytona International Speedway in 2015 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and two victories in the Daytona Duel qualifying races (2015 and 2016 with Earnhardt Jr.). He also led Regan Smith to a NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Talladega in 2013.
 

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