Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Florida Cracker Candy Jerky and Feebs Distilling Join as Associate Partners

MOORESVILLE, NC, August 21, 2024 – NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Patrick Emerling today announced he is partnering with Flood Brothers Disposal Co. for this Friday’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway. This marks Emerling’s 15th primary marketing partner in the 16 races he has run this season.

“We’re thrilled to bring the Flood Brothers name to the ‘World Center of Racing’ by sponsoring Patrick Emerling in the Daytona Wawa 250,” said Kevin Flood, CEO of Flood Brothers. “As a family-owned and operated company rooted in Chicago, this partnership highlights our commitment to excellence and the values we share with the racing community—dedication, hard work, and a relentless drive to succeed. We look forward to an exciting race and wish Patrick and the team the best of luck this weekend at Daytona.”

Flood Brothers Disposal Co. is a fifth-generation, family-owned, and operated waste and recycling provider proudly serving the Chicagoland area. With over a century of commitment to our community, they deliver exceptional waste management solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. Their comprehensive services include residential, commercial, and industrial waste disposal, along with innovative recycling programs designed to promote sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Rooted in their family’s legacy of integrity, reliability, and customer-centric service, Flood Brothers Disposal Co. combines modern technology with traditional values to ensure efficient, eco-friendly waste management. Their dedicated team works tirelessly to maintain the highest standards of service, fostering long-lasting relationships with the communities they serve. Choose Flood Brothers Disposal Co. for dependable, responsible waste and recycling solutions backed by generations of experience and a genuine passion for keeping Chicagoland clean and green.

“I’m looking forward to racing at Daytona again,” said Emerling. “We had a really fast car here in February although engine issues prevented us from finishing quite as well as we should have. I’ve had solid finishes over the past few weeks in both the Whelen Tour and Xfinity, and I’m hoping to capitalize on that momentum.”

Florida Cracker Candy Jerky will join Emerling as an associate sponsor. Get ready to enjoy some of the finest, most delicious, Jerky products you have ever tried from Florida Cracker Candy! Florida Cracker Candy offers a variety of Beef and Exotic Jerky products. None of the meats for their jerky are imported, unlike a lot of the Jerky on the market today, and all Beef Jerky products are made from Beef Brisket only. Florida Cracker Candy Jerky is made in the USA and distributed from their facility in DeBary, Florida.

Feebs Distilling will also partner with Emerling as an associate sponsor. Feebs Distilling is a craft distillery that produces fine brandies (apple, blueberry, blackberry, peach and strawberry), as well as Unaged Korn Whiskey, Aged Whiskey and Bourbon, using the freshest local ingredients. Samples, bottles and merchandise are available for purchase in their tasting room in Milford, DE.

“I’m thrilled to have Flood Brothers on the car this weekend along with Florida Cracker Candy Jerky and Feebs Distilling,” said Emerling. “Snow Belt MGMT is bringing new partners to the track almost every week. They’re a hard-working group, and I’m proud to be partnered with them.”

Additionally, Emerling will welcome back season-long partners SimForge, which sells sim racing equipment and accessories, and Frontline Optics, a San Diego sunglass brand owned by a retired firefighter.

The Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (100 laps | 250 miles) is the 22nd of 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 2024 schedule. There will be no practice. Qualifying begins on Friday, August 23 at 3:00 p.m. The field is set to take the green flag later that evening at 7:30 p.m. with live coverage on the USA Network, the Motor Racing Network (Radio), and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90. All times are local (Eastern).

For more information on Patrick Emerling, visit https://www.patrickemerlingracing.com/ or follow him on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PatrickEmerling07), X (https://twitter.com/PatrickEmerling) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/patrickemerling/).

CHASE BRISCOE
Daytona Advance
No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Event Overview

● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 25 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 24
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps / 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● While there is always a heightened level of anxiety when it comes to competing at superspeedways, Chase Briscoe brings a steady hand to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, site of Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. In the season-opening Daytona 500 back on Feb. 19, Briscoe finished a solid 10th, and in the second superspeedway race of the year on April 21 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Briscoe finished 12th. Living by the time-honored mantra that in order to finish first, first you must finish, Briscoe has set the table for another front-running drive at Daytona.

● The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will mark Briscoe’s eighth career NASCAR Cup Series start at Daytona. The driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing earned his best Daytona result in the 2022 Daytona 500 when he finished third in just his third Cup Series start at the high-banked, 2.5-mile oval.

● In last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, Briscoe won the pole led twice for a race-high 67 laps before getting ensnared in a late-race accident that left him an undeserved 30th.

● Briscoe has made seven starts at Daytona outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. He has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and one start apiece in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series. In the Xfinity Series at Daytona, he finished fifth and third in the 2020 season opener and August races, respectively, while qualifying on the pole in the latter event and leading a combined 27 laps between the two races. His Truck Series outing in the 2017 season opener resulted in a third-place finish, while his ARCA start in the 2016 season opener yielded a fourth-place finish.

● Mahindra Ag North America is a proud sponsor of Briscoe and Stewart-Haas, and 2024 highlights an impressive milestone for Mahindra – 30 years of selling tractors in the United States. Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America is part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, the No. 1-selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra offers a range of tractor models from 20-75 horsepower, implements, and the ROXOR heavy-duty UTV. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra Tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

● Mahindra Ag North America is using the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to promote its newest line of sub-compact and compact tractors, which are designed with features to enhance operation for first-time buyers. Boasting comfort amenities like telematics, leather seats and USB charging ports, the Mahindra 1100 and 2100 models are designed around ease of use for acreage owners, farmers and ranchers, with features like a push-button PTO and side-by-side HST pedals. Other features include a hand throttle on the console, tilt and telescopic steering, implement quick raise and lower, and auto lift at three points while turning and backing. Every model in the 1100 and 2100 series is available in open station or cab configurations, with an HVAC system exclusive to the 2126. This line of compacts have compatible Mahindra attachments, including loaders, backhoes, mowers, snowblowers, post hole diggers and grapples. The loader on the 1100 series has a max lift of 770 pounds, while the 2100 has a max lift of 1,760 pounds.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Tenth in the Daytona 500 and 12th in April at Talladega. Those are two solid superspeedway finishes. What are your expectations for your return to Daytona this weekend, and can you keep the momentum going at these big, drafting-style racetracks?

“We’ve been able to finish pretty well at the superspeedways and our cars have had pretty good speed at every one we’ve been to the last year-and-a-half, two years. Our balance has been pretty good too, we just haven’t been able to seal the deal all the way and get the win. That’s kind of what we have to do now, is get the win, so that’s what we’re going to try to do. We’ll try to be as aggressive as we can and still make it to the end. But, yeah, our cars have been really, really good there and we’ve been able to have good finishes, we just need to be able to finish a little better. Hopefully, we can do that. One thing that’s certainly on my bucket list is winning a superspeedway race. It’s kind of the only track I haven’t been able to win at in my career, and it’s certainly one that’s driven me crazy.”

What’s been the secret to your performance this year at Daytona and Talladega?

“It’s not really any secret, it’s just kind of how luck goes sometimes and just being at the right place at the right time. Even Talladega, we were able to finish well, but I was sideways and backwards across the line. There are a lot of variables that go into it. I just strive to, honestly, use my gut. At times, it’s steered me wrong, but more often than not it’s put me in the right situation in just trying to understand when the wrecks are coming and things like that. Just need to go there and do the same stuff I typically do and not try to do anything too fancy and see if it’s good enough.”

Describe the intensity of racing at Daytona, especially with it being the second-to-last race of the regular season where, for many, it’s the last chance to earn a playoff berth.

“It’s chaos, full-blown chaos. Just any time we go to Daytona or Talladega, the intensity is always high, and guys know it’s a great opportunity for them to win, where at other tracks they just don’t have the opportunity. Guys are more aggressive, and there are just more guys in the mix. Every time we have this second Daytona race, it’s just full-blown chaos because everybody knows that’s their final opportunity to make the playoffs. I feel like this race is always a wreck-fest, especially at the end, and not a lot of cars finish. Hopefully, we’re on the good side of things and can stay out of all of it and just be rolling at the end, and if you’re rolling at the end and don’t have a lot of damage, you’re going to have a really good shot to win the race. Hopefully, we can go there and do that.”

What’s the patience level of drivers who are racing at Daytona in August compared to the Daytona 500 in February when there’s still an entire season ahead of everyone?

“I don’t feel like the intensity is any different. I feel like the stakes are about the same, as crazy as that seems. At the Daytona 500, everybody is willing to do whatever it takes to win the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year. It’s the one that everybody dreams about winning, and guys are making extremely aggressive moves and blocks and things like that. It’s no different than when we go to this race. Everybody knows it’s their last chance to make the playoffs. It’s probably a little bit different because some of the guys who have a couple of wins, they might not put themselves in a super bad spot just to win the race because they don’t want to get crashed. But if they can win the race, they’ll throw big blocks and do whatever. I would say that it’s super, super similar between the Daytona 500 and this race just because of what the stakes are and where it’s at in the season. If this race was the 10th race of the year, then it probably wouldn’t be as intense, but the schedule makes it really intense and really close to the Daytona 500.”

Does blocking remain the necessary evil it’s seemingly always been when it comes to superspeedway racing?

“Yeah, that’s just kind of the name of the game now. Everybody kind of blocks. It’s just what you’ve got to do if you want to run up front and win the race. People are going to do it, but whether it’s lap one or the last lap changes the severity of the block. I mean, guys are going to block really from the get-go. The guy getting blocked is going to be less and less lenient of the guy doing the blocking, and that’s when you normally see the chaos start. It’s going to be a lot of blocking, a lot of pushing, and that’s the way it is whenever you go to Daytona and Talladega.”

On the last lap of a race at Daytona, how smart do you need to be and how lucky do you need to be, as it seems that last 2.5 miles is the most treacherous part of the race?

“You’ve got to be aggressive, but you’ve kind of got to shut off that part of your brain that’s telling you, ‘I don’t want to be in this position, I don’t want to be doing this.’ You’ve just got to keep the pedal down to the floor and try to make the moves that’ll put you in the best position. The hair on the back of your neck is always standing up within the last five laps of the race at Daytona or Talladega because you just know what’s coming and you just hope you’re not on the bad side of it. You kind of know what you’re going to get yourself into when you get there and you hope you end up on the good side of it.”

No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe

Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: Richard Boswell

Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey

Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Spotter: Joey Campbell

Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Dakota Ratcliff

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal

Hometown: Holland, Michigan

Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams

Hometown: Plymouth, Wisconsin

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips

Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable

Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Dale Lackey

Hometown: Taylorsville, North Carolina

JUSTIN HALEY | CODY WARE
Daytona Advance
Event Overview

● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 25 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 24
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Justin Haley, Driver of the No. 51 Beef-a-Roo Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● Five years after earning his career first NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speeway, Justin Haley is set to make his fifth start in the annual summer race at the World Center of Racing. Haley led just one lap, the final one, en route to his win in the weather-shortened 2019 race. When he made his next start the following summer at Daytona, Haley earned a sixth-place result.

● Haley owns four superspeedway wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Daytona in August 2020 and 2021, and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April and October 2020. In 10 Xfinity Series starts at Daytona, he posted top-20 finishes all but twice.

● Haley and the No. 51 team are fresh off their 10th top-20 finish of the season, earned last weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. It was his fourth top-20 in his last six starts.

● Beef-a-Roo joins the No. 51 team for Saturday night’s race at Daytona. Beef-a-Roo is a beloved fast-casual restaurant brand that has garnered a loyal fanbase for its commitment to quality food and community engagement. This partnership, facilitated by agency AMG Sport, marks a key step in Beef-a-Roo’s strategy to align with dynamic brands that resonate with racing fans and support local communities through motorsport.

Cody Ware, Driver of the No. 15 Jacob Construction / Parts Plus Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● Cody Ware, driver of the No. 15 Jacob Construction / Part Plus Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will make his seventh start at Dayona in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. His best finish at the track was a sixth-place result earned in the August 2022 edition of the race. It was his best career Cup Series result.

● Ware recorded a 21st-place finish last weekend at Michigan. It was his career best at the 2-mile oval and, with Haley’s 20th-place finish, RWR came away with its best overall result at the track.

● Michigan marked the 12th time this year the team bested its previous combined finish at a particular track. Six of those instances occurrred over the last seven races, including the July 21 race at Indianapols Motor Speedway, where Ware finished 18th and Haley 20th.

Rick Ware Racing Notes

● Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel driver Clay Millican pulled an upset in the first round of eliminations last weekend at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway. The Parts Plus racer was the 12th-seeded qualifier heading into Sunday and knocked off No. 3 qualifier Brittany Force. Millican fell to Josh Hart in the second round but still sits sixth in the point standings with one event remaining in the regular season.

● Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age six when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), where RWR won the 2022 SX2 championship with rider Shane McElrath.

Justin Haley, Driver Q&A

Do you feel good about your chances of pulling off another Daytona victory?

“It’s always in the back of your mind. I feel like we have really fast cars, we’ve just got to put ourselves in position. Speedway racing now is all about fuel saving, fuel economy and having good people around you. I feel like the Fords have some of the best fuel economy. So if we can save a little fuel and pit with the right people, hopefully we’ll come out on top.”

Though it would be considered an upset for an RWR car to make it to victory lane, the team has shown a lot of improvement this year. What do you attribute that to?

“We’re a small team, but we have some really great employees. Chris Lawson has done a great job in his first year as Cup crew chief. Tommy Baldwin and Robby Benton have put together a team that works hard and is all in on getting to the next level. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished this year and thankful that we’ve been able to showcase all of our talents. It’s been a lot of fun and I’d love to be in that position again, to pull an upset over the bigger teams at Daytona. It all comes down to being there at the right moment and having the right strategy. There’s no reason we can’t do that.”

Cody Ware, Driver Q&A

Your best finishes in the Cup Series have come on the superspeedways. Is that where you feel you have the best opportunity to make something happen?

“The superspeedway races are always wild cards, but I feel like I do a good job of anticipating what’s coming and staying out of trouble. I do everything within my power to be there for the last 10 laps, and that’s typically when things start to get a crazy and we can make moves. It’s more of a challenge to get to that point at Daytona with more dramatic changes in banking and a tighter racing surface, but there’s a technique to superspeedway racing, and Ford has some of the best drivers when it comes to these tracks.”

You made your first start this year at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April. How do you view the No. 15 team’s progress over the last four months?

“The No. 15 team, and the Rick Ware organization as a whole, have made a ton of progress since the start of the season. The team has been able to work with RFK (Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing) and Ford to use shared information and data to our advantage, and I think we’ve seen how that has benefitted the team. We’ve shown a lot of speed and improvement, and I’m excited to see where that takes us this weekend.”

5 KYLE LARSON

Age: 32 (July 31, 1992)

Hometown: Elk Grove, California

Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels

Standings: 4th

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

TWO TO GO: Entering the penultimate race of the regular season, Kyle Larson is fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings and trails the leader by 32 markers. He tops the series with four wins, five poles and 28 playoff points while he is second with 821 laps led. It is the second-highest laps led total for Larson through 24 races in his career, behind only his 2021 championship season in which he paced the field for 1,496 laps in the first 24 events.

TOP FIVE FOR NO. 5: The driver of the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet has run a series high 3,091 laps in the top five this season. Larson is tied for second with nine top-five finishes.

NO TOP-FIVE FOR NO. 5: However, Daytona International Speedway is one of three tracks in which Larson has yet to post a top-five finish in the Cup Series. In 20 starts at the 2.5-mile venue, the Elk Grove, California, native has five top-10 finishes with a best result of sixth in 2016. The other two tracks where he has yet to post a top-five finish are Iowa Speedway and the Daytona Road Course (one start at each).

OH SO CLOSE: In 2017, Larson led the field with one lap to go in the DAYTONA 500. However, his Chevrolet ran out of fuel on the final lap and he coasted to a 12th-place finish.

WINNER AT DAYTONA: In July 2018, Larson won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona. The Elk Grove, California, native led a race-high 40 laps en route to victory.

FOUR TIRES FAST: The No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM pit crew holds the ninth-fastest average four-tire pit stop time in 2024 at 11.06 seconds. Larson’s 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). 

AWAY BUT ALWAYS AVAILABLE: In 2024, the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team recognizes “home” events by wearing white firesuits and “away” with blue. Its home races come at tracks with nearby Hendrick Automotive Group car dealerships. This weekend, the No. 5 team races “away” on the Florida coast. However, it’s easy to pick up a new set of keys from any one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 94 dealerships nationwide. Customers can also shop from the convenience of home by selecting the category, make, model and vehicle packages important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HENDRICKCARS.COM.

HENDRICK AUTOMOTIVE GROUP IS HIRING: Join the more than 10,000 people nationwide who work at Hendrick Automotive Group. The company is hiring technicians and other positions at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Individuals who are interested can apply at HENDRICKCARS.COM.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT

Age: 28 (Nov. 28, 1995)

Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia

Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia

Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson

Standings: 2nd

No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

MOVIN’ ON UP: With just two races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chase Elliott sits second in points, just 10 markers behind the leader. The 28-year-old driver has earned one win (Texas Motor Speedway), seven top-five finishes and 12 top 10s with 213 laps led in 2024. Elliott’s 10.63 average finish is second best in the field and is his best through 24 races behind only the 2022 season when he won the regular season championship. He also has the third-best average running position (10.84) and the fourth-most laps spent inside the top 10 (3,580) among full-time premier series drivers.

DAYTONA DATA: In 17 points-paying Cup Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Elliott has three top-five finishes, five top 10s and three poles. He’s led 172 laps on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, including 13 circuits in this year’s season-opening DAYTONA 500. Elliott’s best finish on the high banks is a pair of runner-up efforts (August of 2020 and the 2021 DAYTONA 500). In last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished fourth. Elliott is also a two-time Duel at Daytona winner (2017, 2018) and won on the Daytona road course in 2020. In addition, he recorded a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports in 2016 at the World Center of Racing.

DRAFTING STRONG: Of Elliott’s 19 Cup Series points-paying victories, three have come on drafting tracks. The six-time National Motorsports Press Association’s Most Popular Driver Award winner has two victories at Talladega Superspeedway (2019, 2022) and one at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the summer of 2022. Accompanying his three wins across 38 starts on drafting tracks, Elliott has nine top-five finishes, 15 top 10s and 511 laps led. Since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022, Elliott has scored the second-most victories (Talladega and Atlanta) behind only Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron (three).

HISTORY MADE: Elliott is having one of the most consistent seasons of his career, having only one finish outside the top 20 in 2024. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is the first driver in Cup Series history to complete all but one lap through 24 races in a season. The previous record was all but two laps, which occurred three times. The only race this season in which Elliott didn’t finish on the lead lap was in an eighth-place showing at Bristol Motor Speedway in the spring.

COMING HOME: 2020 Cup Series champion crew chief Alan Gustafson will make his return home this weekend. The veteran shot caller grew up in Ormond Beach, Florida, just north of Daytona Beach. After graduating from Seabreeze High School, Gustafson enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to study mechanical engineering. This is his 20th season as a crew chief and ninth year with Elliott. Gustafson has three victories on drafting-style tracks, all with Elliott. He has five poles at Daytona but has yet to win a points-paying race on the oval at his home track. Gustafson has two Duel at Daytona wins as well as a victory on the road course in 2020.

FASTEST FIVE: Through 24 races, the No. 9 pit crew continues to hold the fastest average four-tire pit stop time (10.708 seconds). The over-the-wall squad laid down the fastest four-tire pit stop (9.076 seconds) of the season at Texas in April, according to data from Racing Insights. The 2021 Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew award-winning group is comprised of Chad Avrit (rear-tire changer), Jared Erspamer (tire carrier), John Gianninoto (fueler), Nick O’Dell (front-tire changer) and T.J. Semke (jackman).

24 WILLIAM BYRON

Age: 26 (Nov. 29, 1997)

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle

Standings: 6th

No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

MICHIGAN MINUTES: William Byron and the No. 24 team made the best of a wet weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Starting ninth after rain canceled qualifying, the 26-year-old driver finished stage one in third and stage two in fourth, scoring 15 combined points. He led 20 laps in the final stage and battled for the win over two overtime restarts, ultimately settling for a runner-up result. He collected the most points (50).

24 IN ‘24: Byron’s NASCAR Cup Series season includes three wins (tied for the second), highlighted by a victory in the DAYTONA 500. Following the race at Michigan, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native is tied for fourth with eight top-five finishes and tied for second with 13 top 10s. Byron has spent 1,490 laps in the top five (10th) and 3,049 laps in the top 10 (eighth). With two races remaining in the regular season, Byron is sixth in the Cup Series points standings with 16 playoff points.

SUPER ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Byron has four wins on drafting tracks (Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway) – the 2024 DAYTONA 500, his first Cup Series victory at Daytona in August of 2020 and two wins at Atlanta (March 2022 and July 2023). In the last seven drafting races, Byron’s two wins are the most. He’s added one second-place finish, three top fives (tied for the most), six top 10s (most), 37 laps led and his average finish of 6.14 is the best. In the Next Gen era, Byron (three) and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott (two) are the only repeat winners on drafting tracks.

BACK AT THE BEACH: Byron has 13 Cup Series starts at Daytona with two wins, three top-five finishes, four top 10s and 99 laps led. Byron collected his first pole (2019 DAYTONA 500) and his first Cup Series win at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. He also won a Duel qualifying race in 2020 and was in position to capture the win at the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 before weather ended the event early, leaving Byron with a runner-up finish. During his 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship-winning campaign, Byron qualified third in the July race at Daytona and led 29 laps en route to victory, becoming the youngest driver with a Xfinity Series win at Daytona at 19 years, 7 months and 1 day.

RUDY RETURNS: Crew chief Rudy Fugle is set to return to Daytona for his eighth Cup Series start and as the defending DAYTONA 500 Champion. Fugle and Byron have seven Cup Series starts together at the Florida track with one win, two front row starts, one top-five finish, two top 10s and 19 laps led. Fugle also scored one runner-up result and two top 10s across seven Daytona races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. One of those starts came with Byron at the wheel in a 13th-place showing.

LIBERTY U. IS BACK: Byron will sport Liberty University on his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Daytona. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will stand out. Liberty University has a long history with Byron, starting in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since its founding in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offer more than 600 degree programs, from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in strategic communication, Byron is in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s Liberty University paint scheme, click here.

48 ALEX BOWMAN

Age: 31 (April 25, 1993)

Hometown: Tucson, Arizona

Resides: Concord, North Carolina

Crew Chief: Blake Harris

Standings: 11th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

MICHIGAN RECAP: On Wednesday, Aug. 14, leading into last week’s race at Michigan International Speedway, Alex Bowman made a special trip to Watkins Glen International for “Bike at the Glen.” He joined fans by hopping on a bike and took a lap around the New York course alongside them. Read more here. When Bowman arrived in Michigan on Friday, Aug. 16, he made a pit stop at the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan Headquarters. As part of one of Ally’s many nationwide financial literacy readings, Bowman read, “Emma and the Cosmophone” to a group of Daisy and Brownie scouts followed by an educational game of jeopardy. In conjunction with Ally Racing’s First Lap program – a unique experience where Ally partners with local community groups to invite new, diverse fans into racing – Bowman also welcomed Diverse Abilities Employee Resource Group (ERG) guests at the track on race day.

PUSHING TO THE PLAYOFFS: Only two races remain until the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bowman’s eighth Cup Series win came at the Chicago Street Course in July and it has the No. 48 Ally Racing driver locked into the playoffs. Following the completion of 24 points-paying races this season, Bowman has six top-five finishes (his most since 2021) and is tied for third with 12 top-10 finishes, more than he had in all of 2023. The 31-year-old driver is 11th in the point standings.

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: Bowman returns to Daytona International Speedway this weekend seeking a one-position improvement from February’s DAYTONA 500. The Tucson, Arizona, native raced neck-and-neck with Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for the lead on the final lap before scoring a runner-up finish, his career-best finish in the iconic race. Saturday will mark his 17th start at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. In 15 starts at Daytona, Bowman has two top fives, six top 10s and has led 42 laps. He holds the longest active top-10 streak at the track among Cup Series drivers with three.

CHATS WITH CHEVROLET: On Saturday, race fans can visit Bowman in the fan zone at the Chevy Stage. At 4:30 p.m. ET, the driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will participate in a Q&A.

ONE MONTH REMAINS FOR ONE LUCKY WINNER: Less than one month remains to enter to win the “Win Your Wheels” sweepstakes fueled by Ally and HENDRICKCARS.COM. To celebrate Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary, the pair teamed up to give away a special edition Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE to one lucky fan. Only 40 of these Chevrolets will be manufactured and the other 39 will be sold exclusively through select Hendrick Automotive Group Chevrolet dealerships. Enter to win at Ally.com/sweepstakes/nascar. The promotion ends Sept. 20, 2024.

SUPPORTING FOUR-LEGGED BEST FRIENDS: Over the last four years, Bowman and Ally have donated over $650,000 dollars to Best Friends shelters and their vast network of partners. Every race weekend, the pair donates $4,800 to help homeless pets at a shelter local to the track. This weekend, the charitable donation will go to the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando. The shelter is located about an hour and 45 minutes from the track, just over 50 miles southwest.

ALLY RACING PIT CREW: The Ally Racing pit crew sits with among the top 10 in NASCAR’s ranks for the best average four-tire stop this year, ranking seventh (11.031). The No. 48 crew is composed of jackman, Allen Holman, tire carrier, Brandon Grier, front-tire changer, Donnie Tasser, rear-tire changer, Andrew Bridgeforth, and gasman, Jacob Conley.

HENDRICK
MOTORSPORTS /

2024	All-Time	Daytona
Races	24	1,369	81
Wins	9*	310*	16*
Poles	6*	252*	23*
Top 5	30*	1,262*	63*
Top 10	49*	2,161*	112*
Laps Led	1,304	81,061*	2,302*
Stage Wins	10	108	3

Most* Most (tie)**

SEIZING THE DAY-TONA: Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in most all-time statistical categories at Daytona International Speedway, including wins (16), poles (23), top-five finishes (63), top-10 finishes (112) and laps led (2,302). On Saturday, the team will look for its eighth win in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Hall of Famer and vice chairman Jeff Gordon picked up three victories in the summer race at the World Center of Racing with Tim Richmond, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and William Byron each winning once.

SUPERSPEEDWAY SUPERIORITY: Among active organizations, Hendrick Motorsports is the leader in drafting-track wins with 33, a full 13 more than a second-place tie between Richard Childress Racing and Wood Brothers Racing. Since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022, Hendrick Motorsports has not gone more than three drafting track races without a victory.

EVERYBODY’S INVITED: All four Hendrick Motorsports are locked into the playoffs. It’s the sixth time since 2004 that’s happened and third time in the last four years (2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2024).

THE LAST 36: Over the last 36 Cup Series events, Hendrick Motorsports has not gone more than three races without a win. In that span, the team has logged 13 victories (most by five), 43 top-five finishes (most by three) and 74 top 10s (most by nine). At least one Hendrick Motorsports driver has finished inside the top 10 in 35 of the 36 races.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on drafting tracks: “The HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy seems to be fast at Daytona and Talladega, we just always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get collected in a crash. We’ll work with our Chevy teammates and hopefully utilize good strategy to earn stage points and be there at the end to go for the race win.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing Saturday night at Daytona: “I always enjoy Saturday night races under the lights. The energy level of the crowd, the excitement level is all just a bit elevated, so I’m looking forward to heading down to Daytona. Obviously, it’s a bit of a wild card race, and when you look at the points, we’re all really close. You can be prepared and have a great car and be putting a solid race together and end up getting collected in a crash that isn’t your doing. Hopefully, we come out of it clean and can get a good result.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the regular season winding down: “The points are super tight at the top. Certainly, there are four guys, including us, that I think are potentially capable of winning the regular season points. They’re all really good, competitive cars. So, that could make these next two weeks exciting. In Daytona, there’s obviously a higher probability of crashes, so that can certainly reshuffle the deck as we head into Darlington. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on returning to Daytona as the defending DAYTONA 500 Champion: “I’m excited to get back to Daytona (International Speedway). Obviously, the DAYTONA 500 ended well for us and it’ll be good to go back with that momentum. However, there’s not much you can translate from that race to this weekend’s race since it will be much hotter and more slick. Hopefully we’re in position at the end again and can go back-to-back, that would be great and a great boost heading into the playoffs a couple weeks later.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at two drafting tracks in three weeks: “It will be interesting for sure. Atlanta (Motor Speedway) is still a track that you need to have good handling but so is Daytona in the summer. Atlanta has higher banking and higher loads in the corner than Daytona. This weekend though, since it’s not in the playoffs, we can have some fun with it and take some extra chances to get the win. Atlanta though you’re obviously going to try to go for the win but also make sure you’re in a good place to get points. Atlanta you just have to be a little bit more careful than you do this weekend.”
​

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at Daytona International Speedway for a second time this year: “Going back to Daytona certainly has a competitive feel this weekend. We were so close to a win there in February with a runner-up finish in the DAYTONA 500. Obviously, a win at such a challenging superspeedway like Daytona would feel like a huge accomplishment. Even a strong finish would build solid momentum going into the playoffs. Our Ally Racing team is ready to get back on track.”

Blake Harris, crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team’s return to Daytona International Speedway: “With two points-paying races left in the regular season, I’m really looking forward to seeing if we can maybe get a couple stage wins and maybe knock off another win going into the playoffs. Alex and I have had some really good runs together (at Daytona). Obviously getting so close to winning the (DAYTONA) 500 and coming in second to a teammate in February has it very top of mind for us to try and capitalize with a win this time.”

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team are headed to Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, one of the wildest of the wild-card races on the Cup Series schedule.

With the way races usually play out with the draft at Daytona and its sister track Talladega Superspeedway, nearly every driver in the field has as good a chance as any to take a win. And a win at Daytona on Saturday night brings with it a coveted berth in the 10-race, season-ending, championship-deciding Playoffs.

Only Saturday’s race at Daytona, and next week’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway remain on the regular season schedule.

“When it comes to the final weeks of the Playoffs, the Daytona race is truly the wild-card event,” said Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse. “There are so many things out of your control, and no matter how hard you try you can easily get caught up in a wreck like we did early in the Daytona 500.

“At the same time if you can keep yourself out of trouble and position yourself near the front at the end, anything can happen.

“That’ll be our goal this weekend – be there at the end with a shot to get a win with our DEX Mustang.”

Per NASCAR rules for races on the drafting tracks, there will be no pre-race practice. Qualifying is set for Friday at 5:05 p.m. Eastern Time, with USA Network broadcasting the event.

Saturday night’s 160-lap, 400-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7:30 p.m., with Stage breaks planned for Laps 35 and 95.

NBC will carry the live TV broadcast Saturday night.

About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

NOAH GRAGSON
Daytona Advance
No. 10 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Event Overview

● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 25 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 24
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps / 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Noah Gragson brings his quiet consistency to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this weekend for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The 25-year-old Las Vegas native has finished among the top-20 in five of the last six NASCAR Cup Series races, the most recent of which was a 12th-place drive last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

● Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 gives Gragson the opportunity to extend another streak. In the two superspeedway races held this year – the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 and the GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 21 – Gragson has finished ninth and third, respectively. He is one of just three drivers who have scored top-10 finishes at both Daytona and Talladega this year, with the others being William Byron (first at Daytona and seventh at Talladega) and Alex Bowman (second at Daytona and fifth at Talladega.)

● The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will mark Gragson’s fifth NASCAR Cup Series start at Daytona. The driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing earned his best result at the high-banked, 2.5-mile oval when he finished fifth in the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400. It was Gragson’s first top-five and it came in just his 11th career Cup Series start.

● Gragson earned his second career top-five in April at Talladega, the 2.66-mile oval that is a sister track to Daytona. His third-place finish was the best of his still young NASCAR Cup Series career, as it came in just his 49th start.

● Gragson has made 12 starts at Daytona outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. He has eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and two apiece in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series.

● Gragson’s first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win came at Daytona in the 2020 season opener. He started 12th and led twice for 15 laps, including the final two, to take the victory over Harrison Burton. Gragson also owns four other Xfinity Series finishes of 15th or better at Daytona, including a third-place drive in the 2022 season opener and a seventh-place finish in August 2021.

● In two career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Daytona, Gragson got a taste of Daytona’s fickle nature. He completed just one lap in the 2017 season opener before getting taken out in an accident. He then made only 79 of the race’s 200 laps in the 2018 season opener when another multi-vehicle accident ended his day.

● Seventh is Gragson’s best ARCA Menards Series result at Daytona, earned in the 2018 season opener.

● The 2024 season marks the 15th year of partnership between Rush Truck Centers and Stewart-Haas Racing, and it’s a partnership that goes well beyond a design on a racecar. All Stewart-Haas racecars are transported via tractor-trailers from Rush Truck Centers, the premier service solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry. And those tractor-trailers are supported by the RushCare Customer Support team of parts and service experts, who also provide concierge-level service for scheduling maintenance, technical support, mobile service dispatch and roadside assistance, along with help locating the nearest Rush Truck Centers dealer, and more. Rush Truck Centers is the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in North America with 150 locations in the United States and Ontario, Canada, and takes pride in its integrated approach to customer needs – from vehicle sales to aftermarket parts, service and body shop operations, plus financing, insurance, leasing and rental, as well as alternate fuel systems and other vehicle technologies.

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Ninth in the Daytona 500. A career-best third in April at Talladega. What are your expectations for your return to Daytona this weekend, and can you keep the momentum going at these big, drafting-style racetracks?

“I’m definitely excited to get back to a superspeedway. I had my best finish of third at Talladega this year. I really like drafting and I like superspeedways. It is somewhat of a crapshoot, but everybody’s got equal speed in their cars and you can really control your own destiny on how you choose your lanes and what lines you go with. You definitely hold a lot more weight behind the wheel on your decision-making throughout the weekend. There’s a lot of skill involved with superspeedway racing, so I’m excited for Daytona.”

What’s been the secret to your performance this year at Daytona and Talladega?

“I think just being smart and being patient. You definitely want to be aggressive and get to the front. I always want to get to the front at a superspeedway and be able to control the lines and be up in that front row leading the line or being second. But if I can’t get there, because sometimes it’s like a roadblock out there and you just can’t physically get to the front, I’ll just cruise around in the back and wait for them to wreck. It depends on what part of the race it is, but definitely starting that third stage, I want to be able to get track position. I want to have that track position at the start. And if we are in the back, I want to get up to the front as soon as I can because I know the intensity of the race ramps up as those stages and the race come to a close. Being able to get to the front early in the stage is definitely important to me as a driver. Those are the tendencies I look for.”

Describe the intensity of racing at Daytona, especially with it being the second-to-last race of the regular season where, for many, it’s the last chance to earn a playoff berth.

“The Daytona 500 is obviously a big race and people want to win that probably more than any other race, so they’re willing to make risky moves. But right before the end of the regular season, coming close to that cutoff line, guys are more likely to be more aggressive, too. It’s going to be exciting, and it’s going to be crazy under the lights. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

What’s the patience level of drivers who are racing at Daytona in August compared to the Daytona 500 in February when there’s still an entire season ahead of everyone?

“I think you can look at it two ways. When we’re starting the Daytona 500, if I wreck, I still have 35 opportunities to win a race. But for me, personally, when I go to the Daytona 500, I want to roll across the start-finish line and have a good day, start the season out with points, go into the second race of the year in a good qualifying group and in a good order. When you start toward the back, there’s a lot that’s involved with that. And I also think that’s the flipside of the Daytona race in August, as well. Do I want to be super aggressive and go for the win, and if I wreck, I wreck? Is that the mindset to have? Or is it, ‘Hey we’re going to try to be patient and methodical and get to the end of this thing because you still might have a shot?’ There are two ways to look at it. I probably look at it the same on both of them. I want to be up front and be aggressive to get up there, but if I don’t feel comfortable in the pack of cars I’m in, or if I’m in the middle of the pack, it seems like it’s easy to get swept up in the chaos. I think guys will be aggressive. I certainly try to be as aggressive as I can, but I also try to be as patient and as smart as I can be.”

Does blocking remain the necessary evil it’s seemingly always been when it comes to superspeedway racing?

“I think there’s always blocking, especially if you’re leading the line. But it’s harder to punch through the air and get to a guy’s back bumper. As the lead car, you’re almost lifting off the corner to get the guy attached behind you and have him pushing you when you get to the flat down the back straightaway. Off of turn four, you kind of lift out of the gas so he can get locked up with you so he can push you down the straight straightaways. If you get too far of a lead and the cars in second and third are hooked up, they’re coming with a massive run, so yeah, you’re blocking. But it’s not like it used to be maybe three or four years ago where you’d see those guys get massive runs and hit the leader and the leader will go to block them. The runs don’t come as fast in this NextGen car, so blocking is definitely a lot easier to stall out the momentum of the guy behind you.”

When you finish the second stage at Daytona, is there a sense of accomplishment because you’ve avoided the Big One to that point?

“You don’t really get that sense until you cross the start-finish line when the checkered flag is waving at the end of the race. You could start the third stage and be wiped out on a restart, or something else happens, like you make a bad move. There’s no sense of accomplishment until you cross the start-finish line under your own power. You want to stay out of the mess. Anything can happen on any given lap.”

On the last lap of a race at Daytona, how smart do you need to be and how lucky do you need to be, as it seems those last 2.5 miles are the most treacherous part of the race?

“You’re spending the whole race trying to see what your car’s tendencies are, where they’re better and where they’re weak. You’re trying to figure out where you’re getting big runs and where guys around you are getting runs on you. You’re setting up a plan the whole race to where, if you’re in that position to be leading the race, or running second or wherever you’re running, you’re setting up a plan and you’re gathering information throughout the whole race. So you definitely have to be very, very focused and aware of your surroundings, and be in rhythm and in sync with your spotter to be able to paint a good picture. Your spotter has to paint a good picture so you can make the right moves. They always ask, ‘What’s the best position to be in coming to the white flag? Do you want to be second or do you want to be leading?’ I’d like to be leading. I feel like I can control a lot more, but it’s a different situation every single race. You just try to learn in every single race on what’s going on, and if you get put in that situation again, you’ll be ready for it.”

No. 10 Rush Truck Centers Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Noah Gragson

Hometown: Las Vegas

Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer

Hometown: Decatur, Illinois

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engineer: James Kimbrough

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder

Hometown: Sioux Center, Iowa

Rear Tire Changer: Trevor White

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Jack Man: Sean Cotten

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Fuel Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Chris Trickett

Hometown: Grafton, West Virginia

Mechanic: Beau Whitley

Hometown: Carmel, Indiana

Tire Specialist: Jacob Cooksey

Hometown: Westbrookville, New York

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Transporter Co-Driver: Steve Casper

Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Matt Murphy

Hometown: Augusta, Georgia

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Daytona International Speedway / The Milwaukee Mile
August 23-25, 2024

A tripleheader weekend will see NASCAR’s three national touring series split between two different venues. The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will venture south to the “World Center of Racing” of Daytona International Speedway, where Chevrolet returns as the defending winners in each division following a sweep of the sport’s season-opening weekend. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) will begin its seven-race stretch to the championship this weekend, with the Milwaukee Mile Speedway set to host the series’ playoff opener.

RELIVING A MILESTONE

The season-opening weekend at Daytona International Speedway saw Chevrolet added yet another monumental feat towards its already successful legacy at the “World Center of Racing”. Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez took the checkered flag in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time in his young career, while also delivering Chevrolet its milestone 100th all-time points-paying victory in the NASCAR national ranks at Daytona.

The monumental victory was celebrated by two more trips to victory lane for the Bowtie brand that weekend, with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill taking the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ season-opener and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron claiming his first crown jewel with a victory in the Daytona 500. Chevrolet also set another record that weekend, with the Bowtie brand becoming the only manufacturer in NASCAR history to sweep the wins across all three NASCAR national series in a season-opening weekend more than once – also accomplishing the feat in 2018.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway:

Racing on the beaches of Daytona transitioned to Daytona International Speedway in 1959, with the 2.5-mile superspeedway hosting the inaugural Daytona 500. 65 years later, the track deemed the “World Center of Racing” has hosted a remarkable 154 points-paying events for NASCAR’s top division. Team Chevy’s William Byron is the series’ most recent winner at the Florida superspeedway with his Daytona 500 victory – marking Chevrolet’s 51st all-time NCS victory at the track.

NASCAR’s first summer race at Daytona also came in 1959, where the event quickly became a July Fourth tradition for many years. In 2020, the staple summer event transitioned to an August date, with this weekend’s 400-mile event marking the series’ penultimate race of its regular season. Chevrolet has collected a series-leading 22 victories in the series’ summer race at the track, with the most recent of those triumphs coming in 2022 when Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team scored a walk-off win to claim the final playoff position that season. Among the list of active drivers to have a NCS win at Daytona includes four from the Chevrolet camp – each of which have a victory in the summer race: William Byron (two wins; Aug. 2020 and Feb. 2024), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (two wins; July 2017 & Feb. 2023), Austin Dillon (two wins: Feb. 2018 and Aug. 2022) and Kyle Busch (one win; July 2008).

STACKING SUPERSPEEDWAY STATS

Throughout NASCAR’s Next Gen era, superspeedway-style racing has proven to be strong suit for the Bowtie brigade. With his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez became the seventh different Team Chevy driver to park the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 in victory lane at a superspeedway-style track. The triumph marked Chevrolet’s 10th victory in 15 superspeedway-style races during NASCAR’s Next Gen era. Among those victories, Chevrolet earned no worse than four top-10 finishes in each event – including a manufacturer-leading six top-10s on three different occasions (Atlanta – March 2022; Talladega – April 2022; Atlanta – July 2023) and five top-10s twice (Atlanta – July 2022; Daytona – Feb. 2023).

CHASTAIN ENTERS PLAYOFF PICTURE WITH TWO-TO-GO

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain will head to his home state narrowly inside the playoff bubble, with the Team Chevy driver sitting at a one-point advantage on the cutline over Bubba Wallace. With two races remaining to clinch a playoff berth, Chastain heads to a pair of tracks that have a strong potential to be the site of his first victory of the 2024 season.

Chastain and the No. 1 Chevrolet team proved to be a top contender in the series’ last outing at Daytona International Speedway. The 31-year-old Alva, Florida, native was sitting at the top of the scoring pylon for the final restart, but a bold move for a potential Daytona 500 race-winning pass fell short, leaving the Team Chevy driver with a 21st-place result. During his tenure at Trackhouse Racing, Chastain has earned two top-10 results at the 2.5-mile Florida superspeedway – each coming in the Daytona 500 (10th – Feb. 2022; ninth – Feb. 2023).

In 10 career NCS starts at Darlington Raceway, Chastain has tallied two top-five finishes, including a fifth-place result one year ago in the Sept. 2023 event. Despite still looking for his first NCS win at the “Lady in Black”, Chastain was able to notch a victory in NASCAR’s most recent appearance at the track – coming in the NCTS with Niece Motorsports (May 2024).

ALLGAIER MAKING BIG GAINS IN REGULAR SEASON RUN

A combination of pit strategy and the execution of an overtime shootout earned Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports Camaro SS team a trip to victory lane at Michigan International Speedway last weekend. The victory marked Allgaier’s 25th career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory – a record that moved the veteran to 10th on the series’ all-time win list, passing his car owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. Accompanying the win was a stellar points day for the 38-year-old Riverton, Illinois, native. Also earning points in each stage, Allgaier put together a 51-point day – cutting his deficit from the points lead to just 12 points heading into the weekend. The opportunity to takeover the points lead comes at a track that has fared well for the Team Chevy driver in recent years, with Allgaier returning as the defending winner in the series’ summer event (Aug. 2023).

 
Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona International Speedway:

Since the NASCAR Xfinity Series made its debut at Daytona International Speedway in 1982, Chevrolet has recorded 47 wins in 65 NXS races at the track – giving the manufacturer a stellar winning percentage of 72.3 percent. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill was the most recent driver to add to Chevrolet’s winning ways at the “World Center of Racing”, with his season-opener triumph marking the manufacturer’s sixth-straight NXS victory at the track. Dating back even further to the series’ summer event in July 2017, a victory by now NCS regular William Byron and JR Motorsports started a stretch of dominance at the track for the Bowtie brand, with the manufacturer collecting wins in 13 of the past 14 NXS races.

NCTS CHAMPIONSHIP RUN BEGINS AT MILWAUKEE

The 2024 playoffs begin for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this weekend, with Milwaukee Mile Speedway hosting the first of three stops in the Round of 10. Six drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations will vie for the championship title – marking the second consecutive season that at least half of the series’ playoff field comes from the Chevrolet camp.

Leading the Bowtie brigade into the title run is the 2024 NCTS Regular Season Champion, Christian Eckes, who will enter Milwaukee ranked second in the playoff standings. The 23-year-old Middletown, New York, native has put together an already career season – collecting three wins, as well as a series-leading 10 top-fives and 15 top-10s in 16 races.

Joining Eckes in postseason competition includes Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez and Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, who also each became first-time winners in the series this season. Joining forces with CR7 Motorsports this season, series veteran Grant Enfinger put together a strong summer stretch to race his way into the playoffs for the sixth time in his career. McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye each pointed their way into title contention to round out the Team Chevy playoff field.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway:

One year ago, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returned to the Milwaukee Mile Speedway after a nearly 15 year hiatus. Team Chevy’s Grant Enfinger put together a dominant performance in his No. 23 GMS Racing Silverado RST to put Chevrolet back into victory lane at the track – a win that came just four days following the announcement of GMS Racing’s final season. The victory marked Chevrolet’s sixth win in 16 NCTS races at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.

BOWTIE BULLETS:

· In 11 tripleheader weekends this season, Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to earn a weekend sweep – accomplishing the feat three times (Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway).

· With 62 races complete across NASCAR’s three national series this season, Chevrolet has earned a winning percentage of 51.6% with 32 victories (NASCAR Cup Series – 11 wins; NASCAR Xfinity Series – 12 wins; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – nine wins).

· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway:

William Byron – two wins (Aug. 2020 & Feb. 2024)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – two wins (July 2017 & Feb. 2023)

Austin Dillon – two wins (Feb. 2018 & Aug. 2022)

Kyle Busch – one win (July 2008)

· In 154 NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded 51 wins, with 22 of those victories coming in the series’ summer event at the track.

· Nick Sanchez’s victory in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opener marked Chevrolet’s milestone 100th points-paying victory across all three NASCAR national series at Daytona International Speedway.

· Chevrolet – the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR history at Daytona International Speedway – has recorded 102 all-time points paying victories across all three NASCAR national series at the “World Center of Racing”.

· In 96 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 48 victories – a winning percentage of 50%.

· Team Chevy’s Kyle Larson and William Byron are the only two drivers with a double-digit win record in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen era – each recording 11 victories since the vehicle’s competition debut in 2022.

· With its 42 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 862 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

 
FOR THE FANS:

• Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway, Chevrolet Injector and Chevrolet Experience Center at Daytona International Speedway.
• Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles at each display location including:

Chevrolet Racing Display in Fan Midway: Equinox RS, Silverado 2500HD ZR2 Bison Diesel, Silverado 1500 ZR2, Equinox EV 3RS, Tahoe High Country, Traverse Z71, Blazer RS, Colorado ZR2, Corvette Stingray.

Chevrolet Injector: Silverado High Country, Tahoe RST, Blazer RS

Chevrolet Experience Center: Corvette Z51, Traverse 2RS, Silverado ZR2, Silverado EV RST, Colorado ZR2.

• Fans can also view William Byron’s No. 24 Camaro ZL1 show car at the Chevrolet Racing Display in the Fan Midway.

Team Chevy Driver Appearances at the Display:

Friday, August 23

· Sammy Smith: 1:45 p.m.

· Justin Allgaier & Sam Mayer: 2:10 p.m.

· William Byron: 4:00 p.m.

· Parker Kligerman: 5:00 p.m.

· Brandon Jones: 5:15 p.m.

Saturday, August 24

· Austin Dillon: 3:25 p.m.

· Ross Chastain: 3:40 p.m.

· Corey LaJoie: 3:55 p.m.

· Kyle Busch: 4:10 p.m.

· Alex Bowman: 4:30 p.m.

· Kyle Larson: 5:00 p.m.

Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:

· Friday, August 23: 1 p.m. – 8 p.m.

· Saturday, August 24: 1 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Manufacturer Points Standings

Chevrolet: 874
Toyota: 861 (-13)
Ford: 828 (-46)

Manufacturer Points Standings

Chevrolet: 785
Toyota: 743 (-42)
Ford: 675 (-110)

Manufacturer Points Standings

Chevrolet: 603
Toyota: 561 (-42)
Ford: 523 (-80)
 
TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona

Coke Zero Sugar 400

Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona

Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola

Friday, August 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET

(USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Milwaukee

LiUNA! 175

Sunday, August 25, at 4 p.m. ET

(FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

 
QUOTABLE QUOTES:

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

With your position in points, five of the last seven Daytona races have been won by drivers who had to win to secure a playoff spot. What are the opportunities or challenges going into Daytona needing to secure a playoff position?

“A lot like the (Daytona) 500, where I’ve learned to just enjoy it for what it is. There’s just no way around it. If we leave Michigan and don’t have it secured, then it’s math. You just have to know that if you finish bad, you get less points, and if you finish good in the stages and the race, then you get more points. It’s just simple math.”

What do you think of Daytona?

“I have so many fond memories of going to the July Daytona race with my family. It’s obviously a different experience now that I go as a driver. I try and enjoy it though because we start the season there with the Daytona 500 and it’s always fun to start a new season. Then we go there in August in the playoffs and depending on where you are in points it can be stressful so I just try and enjoy it because so much is out of your control.”

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 CELSIUS CAMARO ZL1

Daytona has always been a track where you excel and superspeedways are a sweet spot for you. After finishing fourth in this year’s Daytona 500, you must have been looking forward to this weekend since February.

“We had a top-five performance at the Daytona 500, so I’m looking forward to returning and turning our luck around this weekend. Having Celsius on board makes it more special. Their support of my career highs and lows means the world to me.”

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1

How do take the positive momentum from Michigan and manage these next two races?

“That’s just it, just trying to get through these next two and keeping ourselves in position to win. Daytona is a crapshoot. You can be leading on the final lap and be in a heap before you get to the finish line. Darlington is the same way. You have to be in position there. It’s really narrow, really tough, really tight. Handling really comes into play a lot there. We just have to be on top of our game if we’re going to put ourselves in the playoffs.”

How far of a step forward was the strong run at Michigan for RCR as a whole?

“Michigan is how we expect to run and how we want to run. We want to run up front and have opportunities to excel. Good pit calls helped us to be able to do that and we made a couple good moves on the late restart that got us that. Overall, nothing can translate from Michigan to Daytona or Darlington setup-wise, vehicle dynamics, that sort of stuff. We have good momentum and we’re rolling in the right direction and just keep that going.”

A lot can happen at Daytona but recently you have ran well and shown speed there.

“Daytona has been good for us since I joined RCR. ECR has done a great job on our engines at Daytona. We were really quick there earlier this year and had a good shot to win the race. It comes down to restarts and what happens and what lane you take and how the lines accelerate out of the restart and get the momentum building. There are 36 guys that show up and walk through the gate and at least think that they have a shot to win so they’re going to go out and prove that they can. A lot of Hail Marys are thrown and sometimes a lot of wrecks happen. You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time and hope for the best.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 CIRKUL CAMARO ZL1

“As the regular season winds down, there are twenty-plus guys outside the cutoff that feel like they have a shot. I feel like we have an equal shot and a chance to go there and do something pretty special. Our superspeedway program at Kaulig Racing has taken big leaps over the last couple months. Hopefully we can go down there and showcase that with our No. 31 Cirkul Chevy.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

Bowman on racing at Daytona International Speedway for a second time this year:

“Going back to Daytona (International Speedway) certainly has a competitive feel this weekend. We were so close to a win there in February with a runner-up finish in the DAYTONA 500. Obviously, a win at such a challenging superspeedway like Daytona (International Speedway) would feel like a huge accomplishment- even a strong finish would build solid momentum going into the playoffs. Our Ally Racing team is ready to get back on track.”

BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

Harris on having two races left in the regular season and the team’s return to Daytona International Speedway:

“With two points-paying races left in the regular season, I’m really looking forward to seeing if we can maybe get a couple stage wins and maybe knock off another win going into the playoffs. Alex and I have had some really good runs together there (Daytona International Speedway). Obviously getting so close to winning the (DAYTONA) 500 and coming in second to a teammate in February has it very top of minds for us to try and capitalize with a win this time.”

ZANE SMITH, NO. 71 FOCUSED HEALTH CAMARO ZL1

You’ve had plenty of speed over the last several weeks and now you’re headed to Daytona where, historically, you’ve run well. You finished in the top 10 at Michigan and now you’re headed to a track where you won twice. You must feel good about this weekend.

“Michigan was a long weekend but coming home with a seventh-place finish makes it worth it. Daytona is a different beast. You never know what you are going to get out of it. I’ve won two truck races there, so it’s a place I like a lot and holds so many great memories. We have been on a huge momentum stretch ever since Nashville back in June so hoping to continue it and keep moving forward! Looking forward to an exciting weekend in Daytona.”

CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 PREMIER SECURITY CAMARO ZL1

There’s so much unpredictability at Daytona International Speedway, you learned that earlier this year. How does that change your mindset going into the weekend?

“Anybody can win at Daytona, so we’re thinking why not us? I feel like at Daytona, anybody can achieve and be a hero, but at the same time anybody can be a zero. I think it’s going to help us that we don’t really have to be a team that is hunting for points, and we can just do our own thing and try to be there at the end. The only thing we can do to make a huge difference in our season is to win, and to do that we just need to be there at the end.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COCA-COLA ZERO SUGAR CAMARO ZL1

Are you excited for the return of Daniel’s Amigos?

“Of course. I always look forward to Amigos. Coca-Cola and NASCAR work with the track and put on a great event. It’s a lot of fun for the guests and it’s always fun for me. Whenever we host the Amigos it makes me feel like I am at home. It’s also fun to bring people to the track for the first time. NASCAR in person is a really cool experience and I hope this gives them an opportunity to see what a fun sport we have.”

What is the key to success in Daytona?

“Saturday night at Daytona will be the same as it has been the last few years because speedway races are all about being organized and executing. Everyone is going to be fast so you are going to see the manufacturers and organizations working together. Race strategy, pit strategy and things like that. The Chevrolet camp has done a good job of working together and being as organized as possible.”

Are you concerned about the ‘Big One’ in Daytona?

“The Big One is going to happen Saturday. There might be even two or three “Big Ones.” Every time I get caught in a wreck I’m happier if we were running up front than if we were wrecked in the back of the pack. Most of the wrecks lately have been from the front to the back. If I get wrecked and I am in the top-five then I can sleep good at night. We just have to put ourselves in the position to be up front and see what happens.”

Are you worried about playoff standings?

“Luckily, I don’t have to worry about that. I plan to go out and race hard and support my Chevrolet teammates and (Trackhouse Racing teammate) Ross (Chastain.) Hopefully, we get the win and get Ross in the playoffs. It’s important we get playoff points. We got one at Richmond and we need more Saturday in Daytona. We will push hard.”

 
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2023): 42

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2021): 33

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2024 STATISTICS:

Wins: 11

Poles: 7

Laps Led: 1,931

Top-five finishes: 43

Top-10 finishes: 93

Stage wins: 14

· Chase Elliott: 1

· Kyle Larson: 8

· Ross Chastain: 1

· William Byron: 1

· Shane van Gisbergen: 1

· Daniel Suarez: 1

· Kyle Busch: 1

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 862 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 750

Laps led to date: 251,086

Top-five finishes to date: 4,341

Top-10 finishes to date: 8,953

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,196

       Chevrolet: 862

       Pontiac: 154

       Oldsmobile: 115

       Buick: 65



       Ford: 833                                                           

       Ford: 733

       Mercury: 96

       Lincoln: 4



       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

       Dodge: 217

       Plymouth: 191

       Chrysler: 59



       Toyota: 188

 

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.

PARKER RETZLAFF
Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Superspeedway
No. 62 FunkAway Chevrolet Camaro

Event Overview

Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 25 of 36)
Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 24
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
Layout: 2.5-mile oval
Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Round 3 of 4. Beard Motorsports returns to NASCAR Cup Series competition for the third of four races this season during Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. It will be the family-owned team’s 29th start since its Cup Series debut at the 2017 Daytona 500, and its 13th overall start on the iconic, 2.5-mile Daytona oval. While five different drivers have previously wheeled the No. 62 Beard Chevrolet since its inaugural season, with a particular focus on Daytona and its sister track, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the team welcomes its sixth driver in 21-year-old Parker Retzlaff, who will be making his second career Cup Series start and first at Daytona Saturday night. Retzlaff made his Cup Series debut two weekends ago on the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) Raceway oval in the No. 66 MBM Motorsports entry, which resulted in a 35th-place finish.

● Retzlaff Superspeedway Prowess. When it comes to NASCAR’s superspeedway tracks, Retzlaff has an acumen that belies his age. While Saturday night marks his first Cup Series start on a superspeedway, he has a combined five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on the Daytona and Talladega ovals, and another three on the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval that has produced superspeedway-style racing since its reconfiguration prior to the 2022 season. In his three Xfinity Series starts at Daytona, all resulted in finishes of seventh or better – fourth in February 2023, seventh last August, and third this past February. Best of his two Xfinity Series starts at Talladega was his seventh-place run, with two laps led, in April 2023. And best among his three Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta was this past February’s fifth-place finish. Retzlaff will also be competing in Friday night’s Xfinity Series race at Daytona in the No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport Chevrolet he’s driven fulltime the past two seasons.

● FunkAway. A new partner will adorn the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet for the first time this weekend. FunkAway, a line of odor-eliminating products, steps up to the Cup Series after partnering with Retzlaff for a majority of his 63 Xfinity Series starts since 2022. FunkAway, the Extreme Odor Eliminator, was created by FunkAway owners Dan Zbynski and Kyle Bolke, who loved to coach and play sports but hated the odors that came with it. The pair set out to find a solution that did not just cover up odors but eliminate them completely. FunkAway eliminates odors using a unique OM Complex™ that attacks odors on a molecular level, encasing and eliminating the source of bad smells.

● Family Matters. The 2024 NASCAR season is Beard Motorsports’ eighth participating in the Cup Series. Linda Beard, along with her children, Amie Beard-Deja and Mark Beard Jr., carry on the pursuit of this passion project that belonged to their late family patriarch, Mark Beard Sr. The No. 62 NASCAR Cup Series team is just one of their family-owned entities. Beard Oil Distributing is the foundation of the Beard family-owned business portfolio and is recognized as a women-owned certified organization through the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

● For the Record. Best of Beard Motorsports’ 12 previous outings on the Daytona oval was Noah Gragson’s fifth-place run in the August 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400. The team has three other top-10 runs there, topped by a pair of seventh-place finishes by Brandan Gaughan in July 2017 and the 2020 Daytona 500, respectively, and an eighth-place finish by Gaughan in the August 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Anthony Alfredo wheeled the No. 62 Chevrolet in its previous two races this year at Daytona and Talladega, finishing sixth in the latter event.

● Powered for Greatness. As it always has, the No. 62 Funkaway Chevrolet Camaro will be powered by an ECR-built engine. Beard Motorsports has leveraged the power of ECR Engines since making its NASCAR debut at the 2017 Daytona 500 and has made the most of the power supplied through the partnership. During its eight seasons of racing, Beard Motorsports has participated in 28 Cup Series events, scoring one top-five finish and six top-10s.

Parker Retzlaff, Driver of the No. 62 FunkAway Chevrolet Camaro:

Before taking the wheel for your second career Cup Series start and first in the No. 62 FunkAway Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports, you got your first taste of the NextGen car two weekends ago at Richmond. What was that experience like for you?

“I made my Cup debut in Richmond just to get some experience and to get some seat time, and to just get the shifting down and all of that, and go to Daytona so we can try to get the best finish we can and be as prepared as I can be. It was a lot of getting experience in what is a new car for me, trying to be more comfortable before we get to Daytona.”

How much more prepared do you feel you are after making the start at Richmond?

“I think it was good because we only get one lap before the race at Daytona, and that will be in qualifying, so I definitely feel more prepared. I know about the shifting and it will feel a lot more natural when I get to qualifying at Daytona rather than it being my first-ever lap in the NextGen car. I think it will make us qualify better and make me more confident before we get there, and it’ll make the overall weekend better.”

You’ll also be competing in Friday’s Xfinity Series race at Daytona. How much do you feel that will help your effort on Saturday night?

“I think any and all experience I can get will help. Learning how to make stuff happen on a superspeedway is important, it’s all a little bit different, but learning how stuff moves and what lane is moving and stuff like that is always beneficial. I think that you’re always learning something when you get in the car at these places, and I think that any experience I can get before the Cup race on Saturday will be beneficial.”

You seem to run really well at the superspeedways. What in your racing background prepared you for that?

“I don’t know what prepared me for superspeedway racing, specifically. It was actually the type of racing I was most worried about going into the Xfinity Series. I have learned that you have to be patient, but you also have to realize when you need to be aggressive to gain spots in the race. We always seem to end up at the wall in a single-file line at the end of those races, so it makes it where you have to be aggressive at times, even if it is just to pick up one spot, but you also can’t make too aggressive of a move or you could end up costing yourself spots.”

You spent some time with crew chief Darren Shaw. How has that helped you?

“We were together all of Richmond weekend and I’ve been to the shop a couple of times just hanging out with him and he is great. I think our communication will be good. We both have the same goal – we’ve talked about our goals and everything for the race, so everything so far seems really, really great with him and I’m just excited and happy to have a guy with his experience behind me.”

What does it mean to get this start in the No. 62 FunkAway Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports?

“I have watched the 62 car. I was a big fan of Brendan (Gaughan) growing up. I used to watch him when he was driving it. I remember him racing when they started the team in 2017, and now it’s amazing that I’m getting the opportunity to drive the same car he did.”

Making your first start at a storied track like Daytona, what does that mean to you?

“Daytona hosts the biggest race of the year for NASCAR and it’s probably one of the more memorable tracks we visit. I think I’ll definitely be a little nervous on race day because it was kind of my dream as a child to race in the NASCAR Cup Series and I will be doing that at Daytona in a Cup car. So I think that it will all hit me on race day, but right now I’m just trying to be as prepared as I can and try to get the team the best finish.”

No. 62 Beard Motorsports Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Parker Retzlaff

Hometown: Rhinelander, Wisconsin

Crew Chief: Darren Shaw

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Travis Owens

Hometown: Nashville

Spotter: DeAndre Smith

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

President: Linda Beard

Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Chase Masterson

Rear Tire Changer: Chris Jackson

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Holcomb

Jack Man: Brandon Derby

Fuel Man: James Kelley

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Jack Gagnon

Hometown: Quebec, Canada

Mechanic: Mark Sanders

Hometown: Springfield, Ohio

Tire Technician: Mike Harrold

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jason Watkins

Hometown: Ridgeway, Virginia

Interior Specialist: Nic Hill

Hometown: Fort Myers, Florida

Transporter Driver: Roger Lankford

Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina

Daytona International Speedway Competition Notes

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 21, 2024) – Michael McDowell and the No. 34 return to the high-banks of Daytona looking for that all important win to lock themselves in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse will feature the return of Long John Silver’s for Saturday night’s event.

The 2021 Daytona 500 winner, McDowell is no stranger to the 2.5-mile superspeedway. He has three Top-5s and 8 Top-10 finishes at Daytona in his career, as well as a second-place qualifying effort at this year’s Daytona 500 back in February.

The Cup Series will kick off the weekend with qualifying on Friday, August 23rd at 5:00 pm ET. The 160-lap event is scheduled for Saturday, August 24th at 7:30 pm ET. Fans can watch the action live on NBC or listen in from the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90.

No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:

“We can win at Daytona, we have done it before, and we have showed good speed at the superspeedway tracks. But it’s Daytona, so you never know what is going to happen. There’s a little bit of unknown since every team not locked into the playoffs races with that urgency to win. It’s going to be intense.”

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

“We know what we need to do to win. Daytona is a great track for us, and we showed all season that we have the speed at the superspeedways to qualifying up front and stay there. I have confidence in Michael and the team that we will bring a fast race car and execute well Saturday night.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.