Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Larson Drives to Dominating Victory at Bristol
All Five Team Chevy Playoff Drivers Advance to Round of 12

• Kyle Larson’s campaign to become a multi-time champion in NASCAR’s top division continues after a near dominating win in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway – claiming his fifth victory of the season and a ticket into the Round of 12.
• The triumph marked Chevrolet’s 12th victory of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season; the manufacturer’s 47th victory at Bristol Motor Speedway; and its 863rd all-time victory in NASCAR’s top division – all of which are series-leading feats.
• The No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team proved to be a top contender throughout the elimination race weekend at the Tennessee high-banked half-mile. Unloading off the truck with speed, Larson quickly found his way to the top-three of the practice speed chart, going on to claim a front row starting spot for the 500-lap race. Taking the lead for the first time early in Stage One, the Chevrolet driver took his Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Camaro ZL1 to a sweep of the stages, ultimately tallying a race-high 462 laps led en route to the victory.
• The victory – Larson’s second at “The Last Great Colosseum” – marks his 28th all-time win in 359 career starts in NASCAR’s top division. The triumph also took Larson to the top position of the all-time wins list in the series’ Next Gen era, with the Chevrolet driver collecting his 12th victory in the Next Gen Camaro ZL1.
• All five Team Chevy playoff drivers remain in title contention, making the Bowtie brand the only manufacturer to advance all of its playoff drivers into the Round of 12. Alex Bowman rounded out a solid trio of races to open the postseason – collecting his first pole of the year, going on to claim a berth into the next round at the conclusion of Stage Two.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson
2nd Chase Elliott
9th Alex Bowman
10th Ross Chastain

WITH 29 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE:
Wins: 11
Poles: 9
Top-five finishes: 5
Top-10 finishes: 11
Stage wins: 19

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 1st
Did you know how dominating your car was, and how good the tire wear was from your crew chief Cliff Daniels?

“Yeah, I mean I knew I had a great car from the start of practice, but everything has to go right. You just don’t dominate like that without executing the whole weekend. We practiced well and qualified on the front row, which was super important. We got the lead early on, and leading these Next Gen races is really beneficial because you can set your own pace and manage your stuff, especially here at Bristol because it allows you to work the bottom on the long run. We had a phenomenal No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy. Just can’t say enough about the team. Cool to get win number five on the year and hopefully there is more to come.”

How special is this tonight?

“Yeah, super special. It’s always special to share moments with your son, and also when Rick Hendrick is here. He doesn’t get to many of these anymore, so I have been fortunate enough to win a couple of them when he has been here this year and it’s fun to see the happiness on his face. He has built such an extremely great team and organization throughout HENDRICKCARS.COM, Hendrick Automotive Group, Hendrick Motorsports and everything he is involved with. So, just very, very blessed to be with him.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd

What more did your team need to catch the No. 5?
“I felt like our car was really, really good, and I was proud of the effort and proud of the execution all night. Kyle (Larson) did a better job than I did to get through traffic and that was the difference. He got a few cars gap on me, and there was one point in time where we were able to make (up) some time. I pushed really hard when he was hung up with the 19. Once he got by the 19, it was going to be tough. There were always three or four cars in between us and by the time I got there, we were later in the run and it just gets tough. He did a great job, and credit to his team and to Kyle, as well. Proud of our effort; felt like we were right there in the mix and had a great shot at it. We keep doing that, and we’ll be OK.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 ZHP CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 17th

It wasn’t the run you were looking for, but you advanced into the Round of 12.
“Yeah, that was the goal, for sure. It was definitely good to have a clean night; not have any issues and advance. Really proud of that. It was definitely tough for us. Really from lap three or four, the balance just wasn’t good. We really struggled, but the No. 24 Z HP Chevy team worked hard all night to try and get something out of it, and we were able to run all of the laps and move on.”

Going to Kansas, are you optimistic about the first race of the Round of 12?
“Yeah, for sure. We’ll be ready to go there and just focus on that. Now that we’re through this round, we can really focus forward and I’m looking forward to that.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 DORITOS / MOUNTAIN DEW BY FOOD CITY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 19th
“Not a bad night for this No. 31 Mountain Dew Doritos team. We fired off well and got the free pass to get back on the lead lap a couple of times. Overall, I think we showed some decent speed throughout the weekend and a huge improvement from the spring race here.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 9th
A top-10 at Bristol and you guys advanced. Did it change the race for you in any way when that happened?

“No, honestly the racetrack just rubbered up and we progressively got worse as more rubber laid down, I felt like. Just proud of this No. 48 Ally Camaro team. We did what we needed the whole first round of the playoffs, but also we want to be better and continue that through the next round. Missed it a little today when it rubbered up, but other than that, really solid points day for us, and we’ll keep at it.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 31st

You survived and advanced to the next round of the playoffs. How did that feel?
“It feels good. It wasn’t pretty, but we knew since practice yesterday that the car wasn’t competitive. It just didn’t have a lot of speed. Luckily, our team did a great job in Atlanta and Watkins Glen, and we were able to build a points cushion. It wasn’t a lot of fun, but it’s good to make it through.”

How does the next round of the playoffs stack up for you and the No. 99 team?
“I think we’re going to be pretty good. I’m really excited for Kansas. I think we can competitive there. A superspeedway, as we all know, anything can happen. And a road course in there, always puts a smile on my face.”

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Date: Sept. 21, 2024
Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

SHR Finish:

● Ryan Preece (Started 14th, Finished 7th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 5th, Finished 8th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
● Noah Gragson (Started 16th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 499 of 500 laps)
● Josh Berry (Started 25th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 496 of 500 laps)

SHR Points:

● Chase Briscoe (11th with 2,085 points, 11 points ahead of top-12 cutoff … advances to Round of 12)
● Josh Berry (24th with 489 points)
● Noah Gragson (25th with 485 points)
● Ryan Preece (26th with 472 points)

Playoff Standings to Begin Round of 12:

1. Kyle Larson (3,047 points) +39
2. Christopher Bell (3,032 points) +24
3. Tyler Reddick (3,028 points) +20
4. William Byron (3,022 points) +14
5. Ryan Blaney (3,019 points) +11
6. Denny Hamlin (3,015 points) +7
7. Chase Elliott (3,014 points) +6
8. Joey Logano (3,012 points) +4
9. Austin Cindric (3,008 points) -4
10. Daniel Suarez (3,006 points) -6
11. Alex Bowman (3,005 points) -7
12. Chase Briscoe (3,005 points) -7

Failed to Advance to Round of 12:

13. Ty Gibbs (2,074 points)
14. Martin Truex Jr. (2,064 points)
15. Brad Keselowski (2,048 points)
16. Harrison Burton (2,031 points)

SHR Notes:

● Briscoe earned his ninth top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol.
● This was Briscoe’s second straight top-10. He finished sixth last Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
● Briscoe’s eighth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Bristol – 13th, earned twice (September 2021 and March 2024).
● Briscoe finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and eighth in Stage 2 to earn three more bonus points.
● Preece earned his fourth top-10 of the season and his second top-10 in eight career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol.
● This was Preece’s fourth straight result of 18th or better. He finished 12th Sept. 1 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, 18th Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and ninth last Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
● Preece’s seventh-place result bettered his previous best finish at Bristol – ninth, earned in September 2020.
● Gragson earned his 14th top-15 of the season and his first top-15 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol.
● This was Gragson’s second straight top-15. He finished 11th last Sunday at Watkins Glen.
● Gragson’s 12th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Bristol – 34th, earned in March.

Race Notes:

● Kyle Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to score his 28th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fifth of the season and his second at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Chase Elliott was 7.088 seconds.
● There were five caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Only 10 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

Sound Bites:

“I knew our Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse was really, really good. And even when we had that bad pit stop, we came out 13th or 14th, and I felt like I could drive back up there. So, yeah, at the end, probably bled three or four spots trying to not do anything stupid. It felt like both arms got Tetanus shots. Overall, a great night for us. You know, hopefully people will start taking us seriously. I mean, I truthfully feel like we can battle for the championship. So, hopefully tonight proved that. We had to kind of dig ourselves out of the hole after Atlanta, but hopefully we can go on to Kansas and start this next round strong. I feel like we can beat anybody on any given day when we put it together from start to finish. And obviously, tonight, we did have some hiccups, but we were still able to have a good finish, and that’s what this championship run’s going to be all about. No other team in the sport can relate to what we’re going through and just how hungry we all are. I think we all want to go out as winners and we just know that we’re capable of doing it when we put it together. And I think for us, when we finally did win, we kind of proved that to ourselves, and just the confidence that’s been with that over the last three weeks has been a lot. I’m looking forward to the next six or seven, however many we’ve got left.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“We passed cars on the long run. We needed about 75 to 100 laps before I could start passing, and that’s when everybody would come back to me. Ultimately, I’m proud of the car we brought and the gains we’ve been making over the last two months.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Old Armor Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“I had a solid car, just struggled firing off on short runs. The long run was really good and we could kind of stay in that 12th to 14th range. Overall, just a solid day. This is what our group needed, just a solid weekend for all of us. Just proud of everyone, and we’ll go on next weekend to Kansas.” – Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“We were just behind with our setup tonight and couldn’t find the balance I needed to make the top and bottom work. Our guys work their tails off and tonight was just a tough night. We know we are plenty capable of being competitive, so we’ll just focus on going to Kansas with a clean slate.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, Sept. 29 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The fourth race in the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Buescher Leads RFK with 14th-Place Finish

BRISTOL, Tenn. (Sept. 21, 2024) – Brad Keselowski finished 26th Saturday in the Bristol Night Race and did not advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Chris Buescher led the RFK contingent with a 14th-place result in the Fastenal Ford.

“Yeah, it was just a long night,” Keselowski said. “We ran the best we could, we just didn’t have any pace. We lost a lap early and that’s kind of what we had. There was no attrition to the race and tires didn’t fall off and we didn’t have the pace.”

6 Recap
Keselowski qualified 23rd in Friday’s single-car session. Just three yellow flags flew all night, meaning track position was at a premium throughout the 500-lap race.

He finished 27th to end the first stage as teams ran the entire length – 125 laps – on the same set of tires, a drastic and puzzling scenario compared to the spring race.

From there, he needed to gain a lap back to the leaders, and it took until midway through the third stage to do so. He took the wave around under caution at lap 329, but the race went green from there, eliminating any potential comeback through the field.

17 Recap
Buescher began the day from the 17th spot and methodically worked his way into the top-15. He was scored 20th by lap 125 to end stage one, and didn’t move much in the second stage to earn the same finish.

He began the third segment in 19th and fought his way forward in the final green-flag run of 163 laps to earn the 14th-place result.

Up Next
Kansas Speedway hosts racing action next weekend with race coverage set for 3 p.m. ET Sunday on USA, and radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 37th season in 2024, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race | Saturday, September 21, 2024

Ford Performance Unofficial Results:

6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Ryan Preece
8th – Chase Briscoe
11th – Michael McDowell
12th – Noah Gragson
13th – Austin Cindric
14th – Chris Buescher
22nd – Justin Haley
26th – Brad Keselowski
28th – Joey Logano
29th – Josh Berry
32nd – Todd Gilliland
34th – Josh Bilicki
35th – Harrison Burton
37th – Kaz Grala

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Monster Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU WERE SOLID ALL ROUND. “Absolutely. I don’t know what the average finish is for the round, but two top 10s and a 13th. That’s what we need to do as a team and it’s something we had challenges putting together, but the potential is there. The team did an awesome job this round and I’m proud of that, but everything resets so no reason why we can’t replicate that performance. I’m happy to be moving on. It’s one step closer to racing for a championship.”

YOU STARTED STRONG AT ATLANTA. DID THAT HELP PROPEL YOU TO THIS POSITION? “Absolutely. I mean, getting the stage points there as well as Watkins Glen and having three solid finishes. Our worst finish was 13th and that’s what we needed in this round, racing within our limits. There’s no reason why we can’t do the same thing in the next, and I think that’s what it’s gonna take to move onto the Round of 8. I’m just really proud of my team. It was a solid night from starting as far back as we did and staying on the lead lap as long as we did. Our car was really strong. Thanks to Menards and everybody at Team Penske and I’m looking forward to getting going again next week at Kansas.”

YOU HAVE CONTINUALLY IMPROVED THROUGH THE SUMMER. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN? “I think it’s just execution. I feel like throughout the course of the summer there was a lot of times we had speed, but you have one big blow up or one big mistake, whether if that’s on me or on pit road or strategy or performance of the car. One or two things, that’s what it takes in the Cup Series. If one or two things go wrong, it’s pretty hard to recover unless you’re a dominant car. I’m just proud of the effort to bring really solid race cars the first three races and be able to do the right things with them.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse – A TOUGH NIGHT. “Yeah, it was just a long night. We ran the best we could, we just didn’t have any pace. We lost lap early and that’s kind of what we had. There was no attrition to the race and tires didn’t fall off and we didn’t have the pace.”

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE DISAPPOINTMENT BECAUSE YOU HAD HIGH HOPES OF MOVING ON? “We didn’t show up in this round, I guess is probably just the easiest way to put it. We didn’t get any results and it’s a results business.”

IT SEEMED LIKE A STRUGGLE ALL NIGHT. “Yeah, I think that’s pretty fair to say. We just didn’t have the pace we wanted out of our Castrol Ford. We ran as hard as we could, but there just wasn’t anything there. We executed what we had to execute with on pit road and took the chances we needed to take, but we just have to be faster.”

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SEASON AS A WHOLE YOU GOT BACK TO VICTORY LANE AND CHRIS HAS BEEN STRONG. IS THE TRAJECTORY OF THIS TEAM ON PATH WITH WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE? “Yeah, we don’t want to just make the playoffs, we want to go deep in the playoffs and obviously we didn’t do that this year. We’ve got to keep working and find more pace.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW STRESSFUL WAS THIS RACE FOR YOU? “Honestly, it wasn’t really stressful. I knew our Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse was really, really good and even when we had that bad pit stop, we came out 13th or 14th and I felt like I could drive back up there. At the end, probably bled three or four spots just trying to not do anything stupid. It felt like both arms got a Tetanus shot. Overall, it was a great night for us. Hopefully, people will start taking us serious. I truthfully feel like we can battle for the championship, so hopefully tonight proved that. I hate that we had to kind of dig ourselves out of a hole after Atlanta, but hopefully can go on to Kansas and start this next round strong. I feel like we can beat anybody on any given day when we put it together from start to finish. Obviously, tonight we had some hiccups, but we were still able to have a good finish and that’s what this championship run is gonna be all about, so go on to the next one.”

WHAT IS THE STRENGTH OF THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW? “I think our backs are up against the wall. No other team in this sport can relate to what we’re going through and just how hungry we all are, so I think we all want to go out as winners and we just know that we’re capable of doing it when we put it together. I think, for us, when we finally did win at Darlington we kind of proved that to ourselves and just the confidence that has come with that over the last three weeks has been a lot, so looking forward to the next however many races we’ve got left.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Earlier in the race it started to get heavier and then by the last 60 laps I ran it had just zero power steering. It just got to where I couldn’t make corrections and my arms were just so tired that I couldn’t do anymore. It’s a really sad way to end it, but really proud of our guys. They changed the rack really fast and got a new pump in it. We gained a couple spots just from guys wiping themselves out. We didn’t quit, but obviously a frustrating way to go. I’m happy to have been a part of it. I’m proud of our guys for ending our relationship the right way and just hope to end the rest of the playoffs strong because we still have a lot to gain total points wise if we can just get some good races together. We’re not quitting yet. We’ll be back and ready to go.”

BRISTOL AND LOSING POWER STEERING DOESN’T SOUND LIKE A GOOD COMBINATION. “I knew it was starting to slowly go and they normally don’t get better when they’re starting to get worse. I just didn’t say anything on my radio because I didn’t want it to be true. After about 180 laps of it you just can’t do it anymore, so it’s very frustrating and very sad. Even when we got back out there I was just letting guys go when they would get somewhat close to me, but when I was along and just running we were fast, but it just sucks to go out that way. You want to at least go down swinging.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE NEXT ROUND? “It’s just the same stuff. You’ve got to get some points to survive. Kansas will be important. You’ve still got Talladega in there, which is quite the wild card, and then the Roval. It’s a fairly similar round to what we just went through, so you’ve got to be able to score some points.”

WINNING THE FIRST RACE OF THE ROUND IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT AND THAT PROVED TRUE FOR YOU DIDN’T IT? “Yeah, it was good that we got it. I still think we would have been fine because we had a solid run at Watkins Glen, at least scoring a lot of points. We just have to go back to Kansas this weekend and run good. We need to go up there and run in the top five and score stage points and position ourselves solid into the next two races after that.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was a good night overall. We came from not qualifying great and got up to the top 10 that second stage. I thought we had a really good long run car and the long run at the end was so many laps that we were guarding against blowing a tire, so I just kind of rode around the last 100 laps or so for that run and wound up with a decent finish. It was a good effort from not qualifying well. The speed in our car was pretty decent. It’s something to learn from and nice to go to the next round.”

HOW DO YOU VIEW THE ROUND OF 12? “As you move through the rounds there’s just no room for error. It’s just less wiggle room. The Round of 16 you have more of a chance of more guys having problems and if you do, you can kind of make up for it, but as you cut guys those odds kind of go up. If you have a bad day, it’s gonna be hard to recover, so we just have to execute our job, have fast cars, and do a good job on the track and on pit road and execute well, and we’ll see if we can make it to the next one.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We were just behind with our setup tonight and couldn’t find the balance I needed to make the top and bottom work. Our guys worked their tails off and tonight was just a tough night. We know we are plenty capable of being competitive, so we will just focus on going to Kansas with a clean slate.”

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 10 Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I had a solid Ford Mustang Dark Horse, but we just struggled firing off on short runs. On the long run we were really good and kind of just stayed in that 14th range, so overall, it was a solid day. That’s what our group needed. It was a solid weekend overall and I’m just proud of everyone we’ll just go on next week to Kansas.”

RYAN PREECE, No. 41 Old Armor Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We passed cars on the long runs and we needed about 75-100 laps before I could start passing. That’s when everybody would start coming back to me. I’m obviously proud with the gains we’ve been making over the past few months.”

THREE TOYOTAS IN THE ROUND OF 12
Bell, Reddick and Hamlin advance, Wallace leads Toyota with a season-best third

BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 21, 2024) – Bubba Wallace (third), Denny Hamlin (fourth) and Christopher Bell (fifth) led Toyota with top-five finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday evening. For Wallace, it is his sixth top-five finish of the season, which is a new single season career-high with seven races remaining in the season.

In the Playoff battle, Hamlin overcame a six-point deficit coming into the evening to move on with Bell and Tyler Reddick to the Round of 12. Ty Gibbs, who came into the evening above the cutline, and Martin Truex Jr. both failed to move on. The Joe Gibbs Racing duo had strong Toyota Camrys as Gibbs and Truex earned stage points, but neither were able to recover from pit road speeding penalties during the event.

Heading into the Round of 12 next weekend, Christopher Bell sits second – 24 points to the good. Reddick is third, with a 20-point advantage while Hamlin is in sixth, seven points above the cutline.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 29 of 36 – 500 Laps, 266.5 Miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Chase Elliott*
3rd, BUBBA WALLACE
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
15th, TY GIBBS
20th, TYLER REDDICK
24th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
30th, ERIK JONES
33rd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Toyota Genuine Parts/Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

How good does this finish feel?

“Yeah, it’s good. The Mobil 1 Toyota Camry was okay – just trying to find the right balance. These guys are giving me all of the information, and I’m getting pissed off listening to it – but it is all vital. So, I appreciate them – I appreciate the effort to come up here. I told Bootie (Barker, crew chief) that we are a seventh-to-12th place car, coming in here – and we ended up third. It is still not good enough. We have to go to work to figure out how we can be two spots better, but all-in-all – best in class in multiple categories. Just appreciate the effort. It stings, running this well when you are not in the Playoffs, but it just makes you hungrier for next year.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

Can you take us through the emotions here as you advance?

“My aspirations were to win it – but it looked like the 5 (Kyle Larson) there was better than all of us. Solid car. I thought we were really good towards the middle of the stages, and then at the end, got too loose and couldn’t hang onto what we had. Overall, top-five day, good stage points – kind of in the mix, just not really as good as we’ve been here the last few times, but overall I want to thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

Once you got word that you clinched, did that change anything for you?

“It really didn’t. The way that the yellows played out in stage two, we did jump the stage, but I think the race was pretty straight forward. I’m happy we got out of here with a top-five, but at the same breath, all of us got our butts kicked. The 5 (Kyle Larson) was the class of the field and everyone else was kind of racing to be best of the rest. Good day for our DeWalt Toyota team. Hopefully, we can go to Kansas and have a nice solid day and set us up good for the round of 12.”

TY GIBBS, No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 15th

How do you come to terms with how this race played out for you and your team?

“That was just unfortunate there. I felt like we were really good in practice and qualifying. Just a little too loose tonight and fired off too tight. Unfortunate. Speeding penalty is on me. You run the lights so close – it’s my fault. Unfortunate. I’m proud of the He Gets Us Toyota guys and all of the effort they put in.”

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 20th

Can you tell us about your day?

“Well, I mean – we weren’t really going anywhere much tonight. Handling was kind of an issue for us all night long. Just couldn’t really get the balance right, and so we just kind of took a risk there. I was hopeful I could get second or third out of, but we ended up fourth. I think with how this race could have eventually played out – it is always good to take points you know that you are going to get, so it was nice to get some stage points with the McDonald’s Camry, but tough first three races of the Playoffs. Thankfully we have some good races ahead.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 24th

Do you think the speeding penalty kept you out of it?

“Possibly. We had a good Bass Pro Shops Camry. We did good in the first two stages – we got a lot of points. I guess we would have had to run second or third to make it through – who knows if we would have been able to. I wish we could have seen if we could have done that. I’m just gutted for my team. We worked so hard this week. We all put in a lot – all season long, and in the last three weeks, just snake bit. Can’t do anything right. .09 mph hurts really bad to take the chance away to know if we even could have done it. I don’t know if we could have run second – maybe. We were close to it – all day – but in the end, it doesn’t matter. I feel terrible for my guys.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

RICK WARE RACING

Bass Pro Shops Night Race

Date: Sept. 21, 2024

Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval)

Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)

Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

RWR Race Finish:

● Justin Haley (Started 26th, Finished 22nd/ Running, completed 499 of 500 laps)

● Kaz Grala (Started 36th, Finished 37th/Steering, completed 296 of 500 laps)

RWR Points:

● Justin Haley (32nd with 414 points)

● Kaz Grala ( 35th with 172 points)

Haley Notes:

● This was Haley’s fourth NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol. His best finish remains 12th, earned in September 2022.

● This is Haley’s final race with RWR. Corey Lajoie will take over the No. 51 entry beginning next week at Kansas Speedway.

● This was Grala’s second NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol. His best finish remains 19th, earned on March 17.

Race Notes:

● Kyle Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to score his 28th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fifth of the season and his second at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Chase Elliott was 7.088 seconds.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 36 laps.

● Only 10 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Christopher Bell leaves Bristol as the championship leader with a six-point advantage over second-place Kyle Larson.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, September 29 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The race begins at 2:00 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ROUND OF 16: ELIMINATION RACE
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT
SEPT. 20, 2024

Bowman, Larson Drives Chevrolet to Front Row Sweep at Bristol

• A pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates powered their Camaro ZL1’s to a front row sweep for the Round of 16 Elimination Race at Bristol Motor Speedway – led by Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 team, who posted a monster best-lap of 15.142 seconds to claim the pole position.
• The pole – Bowman’s first of the season – marks the 31-year-old Tucson, Arizona, native’s fifth career pole in NASCAR’s top division, and his first on a short track.
• Bowman delivered Chevrolet its ninth pole of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season; the manufacturer’s 40th pole at Bristol Motor Speedway; and its 752nd all-time in the division.
• Leading Chevrolet in the playoff rankings heading into the first elimination race, Bowman started the Bristol race weekend posting top-10 speeds throughout the extended practice session. Building on that speed, Bowman topped his group’s first round of qualifying en route to the pole-winning lap in the final round.
• Joining Bowman on the front row for tomorrow’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race will be teammate Kyle Larson, who laid down a lap of 15.183 seconds, at 126.378 mph, in his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1.
• A strong contingency of Team Chevy drivers claimed top-10 qualifying results at the Tennessee high-banked half-mile, with William Byron starting third; Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie in the seventh and ninth positions, respectively; and Chase Elliott rounding out the top-10.  
  ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Win Quotes

Talk about your pole winning lap here at Bristol Motor Speedway:

“I thought we struggled a little bit in practice, more than I was expecting. And then really in qualifying, I just had a lot of grip. I was a little bit too tight. It was one of those situations where you run a lap and you’re like – it’s either going to be really good or really slow. When your tight, you just slow down until you can turn it. Yeah, I mean obviously after the first round, I felt pretty good about it. I’m thankful to start up front and qualify well. Obviously qualifying hasn’t been our strongest suit over the years, so with it being a cutoff race and everything, starting up front is definitely important.”

It looks like you did a little over 70 laps on your first run on tires. Did it feel like a year ago here, or did it feel like the spring here?

“Yeah, I mean I think it’s back to where it was a year ago. I didn’t really see any unusual wear. They don’t fall off that much. So definitely curious as to what the variable is there, right? I think there’s a lot of smart people that will figure out what that variable is; between the tests here, the spring race and everything, with the same stuff causing different results. Yeah, I think we’re in for Bristol a year ago, more than Bristol from the spring. Unless all the rubber comes up off the track overnight for whatever reason, I think that would create the spring race again. But barring that happening, I think it’ll be kind of normal Bristol again.”

Given that now you have the best starting spot in the house, do you think this will change your strategy, in terms of approaching it going for stage points now that you have track position, or is this trying to set yourself up for the win?

“I think typically at Bristol races, like the stage points guys are the guys that contend for the win, just with how the way strategy falls. But if that’s not the case, I think it’s obviously important for us to lock-in through the stages, if we can, just with how crazy this place can get and how easy it is to get caught up in somebody else’s mess. Sometimes not getting the finish you want is frustrating, like last weekend was for us. But guaranteeing yourself those points through the stages is important to do when you can. So yeah, we’ll see how the strategy stacks up, but I think it will kind of be business-as-usual.”

First true short track pole for you. I know maybe traditionally, the results haven’t always shown for you on the short tracks, but you were fourth here in the spring and eighth at Martinsville. Is it a case where you and Blake (Harris) have finally found more of a feel of what you’re looking for this year on short tracks?

“Yeah, I mean I don’t know. We’ve won at Martinsville and Richmond. Obviously that was the old car, but yeah, I think we’ve just been better since the playoffs have started, really. We’ve unloaded faster. We’ve just had more raw pace, in general. I don’t really think we’re doing anything different, just things have worked out a little better for us. Certainly going into qualifying, I obviously had what I needed to make a really comfortable lap, and it worked out to be really fast.”

To show this kind of pace and have this kind of improvement at this point of the season, how critical is that for you and this No. 48 team?

“Yeah, I mean I think it’s important, right? Like we have the tools that we need to go do it, it’s just a matter of using them correctly; going to work and finding the results. We’ve definitely had streaks of great runs throughout the season, and we’ve had some runs that haven’t been so great, too. Obviously starting the playoffs strong is really important for us, and continuing that positive momentum forward is really key.”

This is the first pole that you’ve won for a race that isn’t the Daytona 500, since Phoenix 2016. I know you said qualifying isn’t your strong suit over the years, but does it feel like it’s been that long?

“Yeah, I mean honestly, qualifying has probably been our weakest link over the years. So it definitely feels good to be able to change that here lately. Obviously we’ve qualified pretty well over the last couple of weeks. It’s weird because I don’t feel like I’m doing anything different. I’ve worked really hard all season, and qualifying has certainly been something that I’ve continued to try and improve on. If anything, I’ve probably studied a little less, particularly for qualifying, this week. But yeah, I think we’ve just had faster race cars here lately and it’s shown.”

If this ends up being a traditional Bristol race and if track position is really, really important, how does this help set you up for the first two stages and building a points buffer and how that can potentially help you in the Round of 12?

“Yeah, I think it sets us up really well, honestly. The best you can, right? Obviously pit stall one is big, every time. Our pit crew has been on it this year, so that will be really good for us. Honestly we struggled a little bit in practice. We have some work to do on our race trim stuff, but yeah, it puts us in the best position we can start in and it gives us the best pit stall, so we’ll have that going for us.”

How do you sum up the last two or three months? You go from getting a needed win at Chicago, having to answer questions about your contract. And then all of a sudden, here is the performance turnaround that everybody has been waiting for. You guys have said ‘we can do this’, and here it is.

“I mean I think that’s just the story of my Cup career, in general, right? It’s always been that way. There’s never been – I mean, you know, the years we won the second-most races of anybody and it was still the same questions and the same stuff. Yeah, I mean just continuing to try and improve, and I think our team is in a good spot right now. But yeah, honestly, the last couple of months, the rumor mill got going more than normal. But I feel like I’ve answered those same questions for five or six years now. So I’m used to it, at this point.”

 

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Night Race Qualifying | Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 20, 2024

Ford Qualifying Results:

5th – Chase Briscoe
14th – Ryan Preece
16th – Noah Gragson
17th – Chris Buescher
18th – Michael McDowell
20th – Joey Logano
22nd – Ryan Blaney
23rd – Brad Keselowski
24th – Todd Gilliland
25th – Josh Berry
26th – Justin Haley
27th – Austin Cindric
34th – Harrison Burton
36th – Kaz Grala
37th – Josh Bilicki

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It’s a good start to our weekend for sure with our Rush Truck Centers Ford. I feel like our Dark Horse is pretty good. I don’t know what to think if we go to the top. I felt a lot better about my car on the bottom and, honestly, I thought we would qualify a touch better than that as crazy as that seems. Overall, that’s what we needed to do. We had to put ourselves in contention to start up front and have the ability to try and score some stage points. It’s gonna be tough. It’s gonna be an uphill battle because all the guys we’re racing with qualified right around there, too. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’re gonna have to race around those guys all night. As long as we do that, we have a little bit of a cushion to lose one or two spots to them throughout the race. I feel good about it right now, we just need to execute tomorrow.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH AT AM RACING NEXT YEAR? “I definitely would love to go there and win races. I haven’t gotten to talk to Cole much about his experience. I do know Cole well and like Cole, but just haven’t had a chance. I’ve been really focused on the Cup side right now and obviously the goal in my career is to get back to Cup and try and win races in Cup. I was really fortunate to win one this year, so I’ll try and go down to the Xfinity Series and win more races and earn my way back and just see how it goes.”

DO YOU FEEL THIS WILL BE MORE OF A LEARNING EXPERIENCE TO GET BETTER? “It’s a privilege to drive a race car in NASCAR in any of the top three series, so obviously it’s not what I wanted to happen. I didn’t want to lose my job, but what I did do was learn a lot from this experience. I feel like I’m a better race car driver than when I was in Xfinity and AM Racing has confidence in me that I can help them turn their program around and get it to where it needs to be as well. They have shown the want to do that and get better and are willing to put the work in to do that. I think with both of us having that same mindset, I don’t see why there’s any reason we can’t. I’m excited to get that rolling when we do, but as for now I’m just focused on today.”

HAVE YOU TALKED WITH THE TEAM YET AND WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN OUT OF THEM THIS YEAR? “I think what they have right now is they have a decent foundation of the alliance with the Haas Factory Team. That’s really gonna help them next year. They have the equipment and now it’s just about putting the small details together and showing up prepared. What I’ve been very fortunate to do in my career is being with a lot of really good race teams. I’ve got a lot of experience, whether its my late model team with my dad or trucks or Xfinity or Cup teams and what works, what doesn’t work, and I can kind of bring that to those guys and someone that’s had a lot of experience for my young age and hopefully help them get their program where it belongs and I think we can do that relatively quickly.”

WHAT WAS THE TIMELINE LIKE FOR YOU SIGNING WITH THEM? “It was pretty recently that I signed my deal. It wasn’t like I had this deal signed and was sitting on it. I’d been talking with them. They expressed interest in me as a driver early on, as soon as my announcement came out that I wouldn’t return to the Wood Brothers they expressed interest and have kind of shown me the will and want to improve and get better and do things the right way. As time went along, I felt like that was the best opportunity for me to help them build their program and in doing that help rebuild myself and my confidence and try to win races in the Xfinity Series.”

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 20, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Friday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is your mindset going into the race – points or do you think you need to win?

“I’m coming here to win. That strategy won’t change unless the situation changes during the race.”

How would you describe this round of the Playoffs? Is it frustrating?

“Yeah, that’s a good word for it, for sure. I think that when we saw how the tracks were placed in the Playoffs and whatnot, and we knew the adding of Atlanta was going to put some variability in the results that you can’t always plan for, but still you have to execute and certainly, you look at the top five and you look at the bottom five – it is not something you would have predicted and not have seen for the first 27 or 28 races in the year, but it is a new ballgame now, and you still have to go out there and perform, so frustrating, being that we haven’t had the results – but today is a new opportunity.”

I saw that Stephen A. Smith at 23XI. Can you describe how that came together?

“Obviously, his relationship with Michael (Jordan) is pretty close, and we had a great sponsor summit over a two-day period at Airspeed over the week. He came and did a speaking engagement for us, which was fantastic.”

When you communicate with NASCAR, are they receptive to the conversations concerning competition items?

“Truthfully, I’m not aware of any conversations that the teams have or the drivers have as far as the influence on the schedule. Competition, yeah – there are certainly rules that they are continuing to look on how to make short tracks better and really putting an emphasis over the last year on the tire. We definitely saw something in the right direction at Watkins Glen and some of the other short tracks. I’m really excited to see what happens at Martinsville with that tire. I think we are trending in a direction that we used to race at decades ago, to age myself, but still the parts and pieces are all the same, it is going to put it in the drivers hands to go out, like this weekend, and differentiate yourself, but yeah, I think that the collaboration has been good on the competition side, but ultimately, they will still makes decisions based on what they think is best and react to given situations.”

With Bubba Wallace’s extension, has anything changed with the charters?

“No, nothing has changed on that side with all of that. We’ve said for a while that we plan on racing next year no matter what, so we are sticking to that.”

On Bubba Wallace’s extension, did you feel like that was a no brainer?

“The 23 team needs to make the Playoffs every year. I think that is our expectation, and then make a deep run and finish in the top-10 in points. That is kind of our expectation of kind of where we are at. Just getting in, it is hard for me to say that is the only expectation, but it is an expectation given the standards we are giving ourselves. He knows that he needs to get better. I think he has gotten better, so as long as he continues that – last year, when he made it on driver points, he was 14th, this year, 12th – while it won’t look great in the final box score, because once you get in, who knows where you go, your floor is only 16th – this year, it is going to look worse than last year, but we know that given the stats he has had, the laps that he has led – everything has improved over what he had last year, just have to take the next step.”

Did your sponsors at the 23XI summit ask more questions about the charters or you moving forward in the Playoffs?

“It was a little bit of both. We were really strong in our messaging that nothing is changing from our employee standpoint to our sponsor standpoint going forward, what battles we have off of the race track is on ownership. We are going to make sure that no one is adversely affected by all of that.”

What have you seen from Bubba Wallace on his growth?

“I think his willingness to continue to learn is something that I see that is very, very positive – not that he didn’t in the past, I think his willingness to put himself out there in vulnerable situations to ask for help when he needs it has been very encouraging, and certainly, we’ve seen from my standpoint more pace on road course, more pace at tracks typically that he wasn’t as fast at, that he needed to be, so I think all of that is good. His feedback has gotten better. That is very, very important. As long as he continues on that trajectory, he will be fine.”

What do you need to see from the officials this weekend if we have a similar race at Bristol than we did in the Spring?

“Just consistency on whatever is a caution early, it is the same caution that is late. If you are willing to let guys run around the bottom or the top with a flat tire, let them do that at the end of the race as well. Just consistency as far as that is concerned. If it is called tight in the beginning, call it tight at the end. If it is called loose in the beginning, call it loose at the end. Those are kind of the only consistencies that competition would be looking for.”

Have you seen any other discrepancies, especially on the short tracks?

“I’m not sure. Sometimes I feel like it depends on how tight we are on our TV window, truthfully. If I had to kind of draw conclusions on when we want cautions and when we don’t, but that is just my tin foil hat theory.”

Is it an advantage knowing you are battling with your teammates or a disadvantage?

“I’m not really sure. Probably a disadvantage because we have had success here and they know what we had in our car to make it work so well, things like that. If they were with a different team, maybe you get your competition panicking or guessing – okay, we don’t have enough pace – we need to wholesale our car and then you end up missing it big, but still, I think it is still so tight, I think it is just going to be who outruns who. Hopefully, things work out in our favor, but if not, certainly, we have some team cars – all of our cars, there are three of them in the question mark there – it would awesome to get all three of them in, but odds are, we are going to get more than one.”

Does the tire management possibility excite you?

“If I had a preference, I would prefer it not be that way, just because it is another variable that is thrown into the mix, and we talk about cautions – is that untimely caution really going to cost you. If you make the nice, conservative call to go ahead and pit before your tires go flat, and someone else doesn’t and caution comes out and it traps you laps down, certainly, it could have some big implications, so truthfully, I would kind of let it be the natural fall race that we’ve had where the best cars and best drivers run their way to the front, but if it is a crazy race, we have to adapt and I feel like we are prepared for either.”

How important is qualifying at Bristol?

“It is not totally indicative if I don’t qualify well, the rallying cry will be, well, we can win from anywhere, right? If you do qualify well, well, it is a great start to the weekend, but certainly, you don’t want to set any kind of panic in on your team or anything like that. I’m not going to be, regardless of the result, but again, I’m going to be on the offense, starting right away – I’m going to be fine with the result – either way – because I know, over 500 laps here, things will work their selves out and we will have a shot to win.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.