Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Last fall at Bristol Motor Speedway, Matt DiBenedetto, having learned just days before that he would be a free agent in 2020, turned in a performance that won the hearts of fans both at the track and across the NASCAR nation.

Although he relinquished the lead after holding the top spot for 93 laps late in the race and wound up in second place, the crowd cheered loud and long as he was interviewed for the TV and radio broadcasts.

In those interviews, DiBenedetto, who finished second, vowed to remain in the Cup Series and said he had faith that some top-tier team would hire him and be glad to get him.

“I just want to stick around and keep doing this for a long time to come,” DiBenedetto said on that hot August night. “I love it. I love the opportunity. I’m not done yet.”

“Something will come open. It’s going to happen. I’m here to win. Something’s going to come open.”

Turns out he was right. The Wood Brothers hired him to drive their iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang.

“That Bristol race was the turning point in Matt’s career,” Eddie Wood said. “I remember how well he ran and how the fans were supporting him. When Paul [Menard] decided to retire and we talked with him about who would take over the car, Matt’s name was the first one that came up for us and Paul.”

Now DiBenedetto, who already has matched his Bristol finishing position with a second-place run at Las Vegas earlier this year, is returning to Bristol with a No. 21 REESE/Draw-Tite Mustang that is expected to be capable of once again contending for a win on the half-mile concrete oval.

Wood said he’s optimistic about the team’s prospects this weekend.

“Bristol is Matt’s best track,” he said. “And we’ve had some fast cars up there lately.”

“The biggest thing is getting to the end of the race without getting involved in someone else’s mess or your own mess.

“It’s the hardest race we run to survive to the finish. It’s so fast and the cars run so close. Things happen fast.”

Wood also said he and his family team are excited to have the No. 21 Mustang carry the universally known REESE and Draw-Tite brands, which have been providing heavy-duty and custom hitches and towing equipment since their inceptions in 1952 and 1946.

“We had REESE and Draw-Tite on the car for the iRacing event at Bristol a few weeks ago, and we were proud of that, but it’s a much bigger deal to represent them in a real Cup race,” he said. “We always enjoy working with companies like ours that have long histories.”

Sunday’s Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500, for which there will be no practice or qualifying, is set to start just after 3:30 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX Sports One.

Horizon Global
Headquartered in Plymouth, MI, Horizon Global is the #1 designer, manufacturer and distributor of a wide variety of high-quality, custom-engineered towing, trailering, cargo management and other related accessory products in North America and Europe. The Company serves OEMs, retailers, dealer networks and the end consumer as the category leader in the automotive, leisure and agricultural market segments. Horizon provides its customers with outstanding products and services that reflect the Company’s commitment to market leadership, innovation and operational excellence. The Company’s mission is to utilize forward-thinking technology to develop and deliver best-in-class products for our customers, engage with our employees and realize value creation for our shareholders.

Horizon Global is home to some of the world’s most recognized brands in the towing and trailering industry, including: Draw-Tite, Reese, Westfalia, BULLDOG, Fulton and Tekonsha. Horizon Global has approximately 3,600 employees. For more information, please visit www.horizonglobal.com .

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. WoodBrothers 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. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

NEMECHEK TALKS BRISTOL:

“I feel like our No. 38 Scag Power Equipment team has a lot of momentum going for us right now. We’ve had some really encouraging, really strong runs at Darlington and Charlotte over the last couple of weeks. We’ve seen a lot of great speed and we’re making improvements each week to make sure that our results reflect that speed.

“Bristol is a tough track all around. It’s fast and slick and it can be really unforgiving, so you’ve got to be on top of your game each and every lap. Being able to pass and make the different grooves work for you will set you up for a good finish. It will be interesting to go in again without practice and qualifying.

“We’ve got Scag Power Equipment back on our car at Bristol. They’ve been such a great partner, coming on board and helping us get back to the track. I’m looking forward to getting another solid result for them on Sunday.”

MCDOWELL ON BRISTOL:

“Bristol is the home track of our team owner Bob Jenkins, so we always look forward to going there and performing well.

“Bristol is such a tough track, physically and mentally. There’s almost no room for error because it’s a short track and you’re running pretty much on top of everyone around you. Staying focused until the very end is key.

“Our Front Row Motorsports team has had some really great momentum since NASCAR has returned to racing. Love’s Travel Stops and their partner, Luber Finer are on our car this weekend. I think we can have a really good run for them. It’s a long race, so we just want to be there at the end and then get the best finish we can.”.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Friday, May 29, 2020
Bristol Media Availability

Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang, is currently 11th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings heading into this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He was part of NASCAR’s media availability session this morning and spoke about returning to the half-mile short track.

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang – CAN YOU WALK THROUGH THE LAST RACE AT BRISTOL WHERE YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO WINNING AND THE FANS REALLY EMBRACED YOU AFTERWARDS? “That was probably one of the biggest days for my entire career honestly, so that was a moment I’ll never forget, having all the support from the fans. That was a crazy moment and I really didn’t even know how to feel because it was probably one of the most defeating and toughest days of my life, but also one of the most rewarding from the support we had from the fans and everybody. It was a tough week on us, so there was a lot of not really feeling how to feel, but ultimately it led to being a big factor in me getting this opportunity to drive the 21 car this year, so it was a big day and everything was meant to be.”

HAVE YOU WATCHED THAT RACE FROM LAST YEAR YET? WILL YOU? “I actually still to this day have not watched the end of that race. It’s still that painful that I’ve never watched. I can’t remember what lap, but I cut it off and I can’t even watch it. It would be too much, but as far as what I’m gonna try to learn for this Sunday, I’m actually gonna go back and probably watch mostly 2018 stuff because, thank goodness, we have the low downforce back for Bristol, which will make the racing way, way better, so I’m excited about that. So for note taking and learning I’ll probably go back and watch 2018 on video.”

HAVE YOU NOTICED A DIFFERENCE AS HOW YOUR CAR HANDLES WHEN YOU JUST GET IN AND GO WITHOUT PRACTICE? “The thing is I think these teams are so good nowadays and there’s so much technology, simulation and notes from last year, things like that, so, honestly, it’s amazing how the cars fire off. The heights and everything are everything are usually pretty close, just because they have so much information to work with and simulation and things like that. Really, it’s not too big of a deal. Actually, it’s even better than I thought just firing straight off in the race. The comp yellow and things like that help so you have a little time to adjust on your car and work on it, so they’ve done a good job with that. We’ve been able to fire off and get the cars close and dialed in throughout the race. The comp yellow, things like that helps. Of course, having practice and getting your car dialed in makes it easier, but for the time we’re in I’m glad we’re just able to get racing and make this way work.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU RELY ON YOUR PENSKE TEAMMATES AS RESOURCES? “I’m lucky to have Brad, Ryan and Joey as great teammates with our alliance with Team Penske, so that’s been good, especially being able to lean on them and my first year with this team is a big help. Yeah, I have been able to ask them a fair amount of questions and, obviously, it’s neat working with all those guys. They do help, I think, for gathering info, but, really, for the most part, my team is good and I’m able to just hop in the race car and try to do my job and the car is usually fairly close. We have some things to work on as a team as far as our racing execution. We’re still kind of getting to know each other and working on some little things, so we have some bugs to work out to try to finish these races more where we start them and be a little bit better, but that’s all part of growing as a team.”

HAS YOUR WORKOUT ROUTINE CHANGED DURING THE PANDEMIC? “I’ve actually lost a few pounds. I’ve slimmed down a little. It’s allowed me to really hone in on eating clean and for no reason I decided to kind of lean down a little bit. As far as my workout stuff, I’m fortunate to have plenty of home gym equipment. It’s not totally ideal, so I can’t do everything, but I have a squat rack that I actually share with one of our friends, but I have a squat rack, some barbells, plenty of weights, dumbbells, and a bench and everything. I’ve had to improvise a little bit, but I’d say my fitness and training is just as good as it has ever been.”

WHAT GOES THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU GET READY TO START A RACE AT BRISTOL? “I would say Bristol would probably be more of the nerve-racking ones of firing off with no practice. I think at the mile-and-a-halves and some of these places, Darlington is a little treacherous but not too bad. I’d say the mile-and-a-halves are not too bad. Bristol, there’s just no margin for error. It’s really, really fast. It’s an insanely fast short track. You’re on edge already even when you have your car dialed in, so I’d say that one will be a little bit more nerve-racking for the drivers. It’ll be fine. It’ll work out fine, for sure, but you just really are out and out praying that your car is dialed in right because it’s very sensitive. If you’re off just a little bit at Bristol, it can affect you worse than these tracks where it’s a big race track – a mile-and-a-half – and you don’t have to worry about going a lap down if you miss it or things like that, so this one will be a little bit more treacherous.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE PACE HAS BEEN AT THE START OF THESE RACES? “All of these races we’ve fired off and it’s like we haven’t missed a beat. It’s as if we did our full practice and qualifying and everything, honestly. You can’t even tell the difference from the driver’s seat. I would say the only difference is you maybe see people battling like, ‘Oh man, that guy looks real loose,’ and they have to make bigger adjustments. But after pit stops, everyone is pretty dialed in, so I think Bristol will just be a little bit more tough as far as you can pay a lot more penalty quick if you’re off.”

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU MISSED THE WEST COAST AND NOT BEING ABLE TO COME THIS WAY SINCE THE SHUTDOWN? “That’s a good question. First off, I’m thankful that we’re racing. There are things we’re going to have to give up or deal with, but I’d say my saddest part of all this – which people are battling much bigger issues than this – but it is the fact that we’re not getting to race at Sonoma. That’s where I grew up not too far from there. My family lives less than two hours from there and that’s a race where all of the family and everybody usually gets to come to and I’ll go see my family while I’m out there, maybe fly out there early and make a little trip out of it. Then they all come to that, and that’s one of my favorite race tracks to go to all year because road racing is my favorite thing to do, so that stinks and I’m gonna miss that aspect. Going out west is so much fun and the fans, I think because we don’t get to go out there a whole ton, we have a really dedicated group of fans out that way, which makes it even more special. So I’m going to miss that for sure, but I can’t wait to get back out there and get west.”

DO YOU THINK IT’S BEEN EASIER OR HARDER TO FOLLOW THE NEW EVENT PROTOCOLS? “I’ve actually been nothing but thoroughly impressed with how smooth everything has gone and how to a T every single person that you see in the garage is following every guideline because we’re all so on the same page and just so appreciative to be racing and willing to do whatever we have to do. So, honestly, it’s gone 10 times smoother than I could have possibly imagined and I’m just really, really proud of the effort of everyone. It’s amazing to see that big of a group of people all come together like family and be willing to do whatever, no complaining, just everyone happy to be following every guideline to be putting on a show for the fans.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE MIDWEEK RACES HAVE GONE SO FAR? “I love them. They’re really good. I think it’s fun as far as it gives people something great to watch midweek – on a Wednesday night or something – so that’s nice. The race length is about perfect. I think it fits in that window so it’s not putting people’s bedtimes at crazy hours as long as it doesn’t rain. So I love the Wednesday night shows. It’s a lot of fun. I hope we can do more of those in the future.”

DO YOU FEEL THIS OPPORTUNITY HAS LENT ITSELF TO DOING MORE OF THIS ON A REGULAR BASIS? “Yeah, I think so. I try and look at the positives of all situations and everything that is in our control and trying to peel the positives out of this tough situation that would be one main one is that we are testing some things and some theories. Midweek races, different race lengths, all of these things packed into a really short time that we didn’t expect to do, but I think it’s gonna come out as a major positive because we’re seeing a perfect race length. A lot of people are able to tune in for a midweek show and I think we can really grasp a lot of eyes by doing something different like this and it’s a lot of fun – perfect for midweek shows and changing things up and gaining a lot of interest.”

YOU HAVE A LITTLE CUSHION IN TERMS OF THE PLAYOFF BUBBLE. DO YOU LOOK AT THAT AT ALL OR IS IT STILL TO EARLY IN THE SEASON? “No, I do look at that weekly. That’s a good question. We pay very close attention to that, I do at least myself, even though it’s early in the season because it’s just so crucial. Points are crucial. Stage points are insanely crucial. Thank goodness we grabbed some stage points yesterday in the first stage, finishing third. I watch very closely. We do have a little cushion right now, but we as a team have to get a lot better, in my opinion. We have a lot of speed. We have great people. We’re just learning each other and we’ve got to close out these races a little better. We’ve got, for sure, the car speed and the people to do it, so it’s nice that we’re still sitting there in points when, honestly, we’re a little bit disappointed with some of our end results of these races because we know that we can do a lot better and we will do better moving forward, so I feel good about that part of it.”

HOW WOULD YOU GAUGE THE SEASON SO FAR? “I’m excited about how good of a team we have and resources and teammates and you name it – car speed is there and great and we’ve shown if we hit it or we’re close we can be up front at any of these races. I’d say Darlington is the only one we really struggled at for speed, but every other track we’ve had fast race cars and great people working on them, so that part I feel good about. I’d say we’re not in our rhythm yet, but we will be. I have no doubt about that, but we’re still learning each other and making little mistakes figuring out each other’s communication. Greg Erwin and I are figuring out working together and we still have a lot of room for improvement, which is a good thing because I know we can run up front and can contend for wins quite often. We have a lot of room for improvement on the execution side as far as putting our race together perfect from start to finish. I think we’ve had speed and have been up front at times. Yesterday, we finished third in that first stage, stuff like that, but we’ve really got to stay on top of it from start to finish and work on a little bit of execution, which we will definitely be able to do.”

WHAT’S THE FEELING FROM YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO RACE OUT WEST? “I was actually just talking with my sister yesterday and my niece and nephews and we were talking about that, about them just being sad like me. I hate we’re not gonna get to see a race this year and that’s usually the normal tradition for me to go out there and all. That is a tough one. We talk about it quite often because a lot of people out there are really dedicated race fans and look forward to those races in particular and Sonoma in particular, so I have a ton of people that usually go to that race, so we’ve communicated a lot. It stinks for sure, but I’m just thankful we’re back racing and we have to do a lot of improvising for sure, but I’ll definitely miss my family out there.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SUPERMARKET HEROES 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 29, 2020

RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the season thus far, how the hectic schedule has been for him, his expectations at Bristol this coming Sunday, and more. Full Transcript:

YOU’VE BEEN A BUSY MAN HERE THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. PLEASE WALK US THROUGH THIS CADENCE OF RACING MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK AND HOW THAT HAS IMPACTED YOU. DO YOU ENJOY IT?
“I enjoy it to be honest with you. I like the Sunday-Wednesday, or Sunday-Thursday thing that we’ve been doing. It’ nice, even on the bad days, to not have to wait very long to get back in the race car or get back to the race track.

“Yesterday wasn’t exactly our strongest day. On our side, we, honestly, I thought the 600 was going to be good but with just pit strategy, we ended-up getting caught a lap down somehow, and then had to get off-sequence and lost more track position. But, we had a good race car, so I was looking forward to getting there (again). We struggled yesterday so that made for just a long day. But, looking forward to Bristol this Sunday. That’s somewhere that I’ve been circling on the calendar since we started the season. So, I’m excited to get over there. Our 2020 season has been, I would say, hindered by a lot of bad luck. We’ve had some pretty fast race cars and running where we want to be, and just haven’t been able to finish it off with just things that are out of your control. So, we’re going to try and control the things we can and keep moving forward.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT AT BRISTOL? WILL IT BE ANY DIFFERENT DUE TO NO PRACTICE AND NO QUALIFYING?
“You kind of have to expect the unexpected, to be honest with you. With the VHT compound, the bottom lane, in the past is really slippery for the first five or ten minutes of practice. With 36 or 40 cars out there, that might speed up the process. But, I think the racing is going to be really good. I think the field has been a heck of a lot closer over the course of these past few weeks just because it doesn’t give many people to fine-tune. You’ve got what you’ve got. You can only do so much on pit stops. So, I think the racing this weekend should be really good.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR HISTORY AT BRISTOL. YOU TOOK HOME THE $100,000 PRIZE IN XFINITY AT BRISTOL AND TRIGGERED A EARLY WRECK AT ‘VIRTUAL’ BRISTOL IN 2020. WHAT’S YOUR HISTORY AT BRISTOL AND WHAT DO YOU THINK?
“I’ve won there in a Modified also, so I enjoy racing Bristol. I enjoy short tracks. The throttle, the brake, whatever it may be, there are so many different tools that you can do as a driver to try and help some speed or long-run stuff at short tracks. So, I enjoy going to them. And Bristol is the fastest half-mile there is and just everything happens so quick. Obviously we aren’t going to have very much track position just because of the random draw and where we are in points right now (30th in standings), but we’ve got 500 laps to figure it out and move forward.”

RICKY STENHOUSE, JR. HAD A GOOD RUN LAST NIGHT AT CHARLOTTE. HE HAS A COUPLE OF TOP-FIVE’S THIS YEAR. HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE ADDITION OF HIM THIS SEASON HAS AFFECTED JTG DAUGHERTY RACING?
“Oh, I think they’ve had their races where they’ve been really good, right? I would say between Ricky and (Brian) Pattie (crew chief), they’ve definitely brought some of their superspeedway stuff over and last night they were really good. So, that was really good for JTG. I will say that this new Chevrolet body has been a huge addition, too. And the hours that all the guys over there that are putting into the wind-tunnel time has really paid off, also. The black cloud in the room right there is we’ve had some really good runs going and just unfortunate stuff we’ve got to cleanup on our end, some pit stops have killed us on track position and we’ve had a couple of motors blow up. So, we’re looking forward to putting these first eight races behind us and moving forward and trying to get into a rhythm and knocking off some good runs.”

LAST NIGHT WHEN EVERYBODY WAS FOUR-WIDE ON A RE-START, YOU WOUND UP GOING THROUGH THE ASTROTURF IN THE INFIELD. DID YOU THINK YOU WERE IN IRACING FOR A MINUTE? THAT LOOKED PRETTY CRAZY.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I know the driver turned left when he probably shouldn’t have. So, I was thinking about that this morning. Next time that happens, I think you just end up hooking the guys because you end up putting yourself in a bad situation to avoid a wreck and it ends up damaging your own car so you end up paying the price. Next time you just sit there and let them turn themselves.”

THE MODIFIED TOUR WAS SCHEDULED TO GET UNDERWAY THIS PAST WEEKEND AT SOUTH BOSTON BUT DIDN’T GO BECAUSE OF WEATHER. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FRIENDS OVER THERE BEEN SAYING ABOUT THEIR STOPPAGE RIGHT NOW?
“It is what it is right now. At the end of the day, I don’t think some of these guys want to race with a reduced purse, which is understandable. When you show up to do some of those races, you understand that there’s a possibility that you aren’t going to make money, so losing that much more sometimes can be tough to swallow. But, I know those guys want to get racing soon so hopefully they can get back to normal soon and go racing.”

WILL YOU TAKE RISKS TO WIN, CONSIDERING WHERE YOU’RE AT IN POINTS?
“Should we? Absolutely. Will we? For sure. At this point, I don’t know. Does anybody know what you’ve got to do for some good luck or whatever? I mean, yesterday, we were able to get some track position. We weren’t handling the way we wanted to, but we were working at it. And every time we came in, if we came in at the end of a stage in 17th or 18th, we’d come out 26th. And a restart doesn’t go your way trying to pass cars isn’t extremely easy. So, I would say yes, we are willing to take plenty of risks.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE ON THE BRINK OF THINGS TURNING AROUND? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING NOW AT THE START OF THE SEASON?
“I would say every race. At Darlington, we were really good, to be honest with you. Honestly, we were really, really good. And I see it turning around. It’s just not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. We’ve just got to keep our heads up and keep bringing the best possible piece we can and keeping out of trouble and execute. Everybody has to execute at this level. That’s what it comes down to. If you have a bad stop or whatever it may be, and you lose track position on that last restart or stage, trying to make that up is so difficult. You guys see that on TV. So, I think we’re right there. Hopefully Bristol can be the week to turn it around. We’ve got BUSH’S Beans on the car, which I’m excited about. And I’m looking forward to getting this monkey off the back.”

WHEN YOU WERE RUNNING THREE AND FOUR WIDE AT CHARLOTTE, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT’S CHARLOTTE-SPECIFIC, OR DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO SEE SOME MORE RESTARTS LIKE THAT AT BRISTOL?
“I don’t think you’re going to see three or four wide at Bristol. I think if you see three or four-wide at Bristol, you’re probably going to see a big wreck. So, I think it’s 1.5-mile-specific with this package. Restarts, if you get a good lane and you’re able to keep a run going and get to the top, which the top is typically the best spot to be, you’re going to pass some cars. So, Bristol, this weekend, I would expect two-wide, maybe three-wide, possibly, if you’re a daredevil, but that’s about it.”

IS PICKING THAT UPPER LANE GOING TO GIVE YOU THE BEST ADVANTAGE?
“Yeah, I think the top. Once the VHT wears off, it’ll be the place to be.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with 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.

CLINT BOWYER “BUILT FORD PROUD” THIS WEEKEND AT BRISTOL

There is no driver more proud to be associated with Ford Motor Company than NASCAR’s Clint Bowyer, but this weekend that feeling will take on additional meaning for both he and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Mustang.

That’s because “Built Ford Proud” will be highlighted with decals appearing on the hood, decklid and both rear quarter panels of his Mustang during Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I have had the privilege of driving for each of the manufacturers currently in NASCAR and each of them like to call themselves family. When you drive for Ford and you look up you see Edsel Ford standing by your car – he’s the actual Ford family. This isn’t lip service. This is THE family,” said Bowyer, who is now in his fourth year driving with Stewart-Haas Racing. “I think that everyone connected with Ford sees and feels this. That’s why ‘Built Ford Proud’ means so much. It’s people who really care about their work and take pride in what they do, whether that is building vehicles or helping out their fellow Americans.”

The race, which will be televised live on FS1 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, is the ninth of the season and fifth since NASCAR returned to action on May 17.

“We’re honored that Stewart-Haas Racing and Clint Bowyer will run a ‘Built Ford Proud’ paint scheme in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Bristol,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. marketing, sales and service. “Ford has always been a company that has risen up to help Americans in time of need, and we are very proud of the efforts of our employees who have stepped up to create PPE, ventilators and respirators for medical and first responders across this country.

“Clint and all the Ford Performance drivers have personally helped reach out to their fan bases with messages on what they can do to stay safe during this time,” continued LaNeve. “We’re thankful they have joined us in this effort to help America.”

Since turning its attention to helping front line workers, Ford has developed new powered air-purifying respirators approved by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Ford has produced more than 400,000 reusable surgical gowns manufactured from material used to make airbags and other durable fabrics, and shipped them around the U.S. In addition, the company makes more than 1.5 million face shields a week and has shipped more than 20 million shields to all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and Guam.

The company also just announced it finalized an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to donate 200,000 face shields to military bases across the U.S. and abroad.

On the track, Ford leads all manufacturers in Cup Series wins this season and has 37 all-time victories at Bristol, which is the self-proclaimed ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’ with drivers regularly turning laps in 15 seconds or less.

“You would have to really sell hard for me not to believe that short-track racing is our best product. It just is, and the reason I say that is because it’s so much fun, so demanding inside the car. The workload is through the roof for the driver and the excitement is there for the fans,” said Bowyer, who will be making his 29th career Bristol Cup start. “You’re really wheeling that thing, trying to keep the grip under your tires, forward bite. Trying to keep the thing turning. Fighting the balance of the cars. Fighting your crew chief all race long because you’re whining in the car, and he is tired of hearing you whine. But all those things come together to win that race and be successful.”

Bowyer has been running competitively since the sport’s return to action, becoming the first driver this season to win the first two stages of an event when he did that in the second Darlington event last week. He led a race-high 71 laps before hitting the wall with 34 laps remaining and finishing 22nd.

“The way we are running I think we can pounce on one and get one here,” said Bowyer. “And trust me, there’s not a team that will party as much as the old 14 car.”

FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: BRISTOL NOTES

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the mountains of East Tennessee this weekend as Bristol Motor Speedway serves as the site for Sunday’s Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500. Ford goes into the event with a series-best four victories in 2020 and leads the manufacturer standings after eight races. Following that, the NASCAR XFINITY Series will run the Cheddar’s 300 presented by Alsco on Monday night.

FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT BMS

· Ford has 37 all-time series wins at BMS.
· Joey Logano won back-to-back Bristol Night Races in 2014 and 2015.
· Roger Penske is tied for the most BMS series wins among active owners with 12.

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT BMS

· Ford has nine series wins at BMS.
· The last Ford victory came by Joey Logano in 2015 (Drive to Stop Diabetes 300).
· Chase Briscoe (1st) and Austin Cindric (2nd) lead the series point standings after six events.

FORD CONTINUES STRONG 2020 START

Since NASCAR returned to action two weeks ago at Darlington, Ford has won two of the four Cup Series races with Brad Keselowski winning last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 and Kevin Harvick taking the Darlington opener on May 17. Overall, Ford has four wins on the season with Team Penske’s Joey Logano owning two of those at Las Vegas and Phoenix. That has helped Ford to a 19-point lead in the manufacturer standings.

HARVICK RUNS TOP 10 STREAK TO EIGHT IN A ROW

Kevin Harvick will be the first to tell you that he was hoping for more than a 10th-place finish in Thursday’s Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He passed Alex Bowman on lap 126 and led 54 of the next 55 laps, but the long run that ensued didn’t play into his hands and he ultimately fell back through the field over the final 28 circuits. By finishing 10th, however, he remains the only driver to post a top 10 finish in all eight races this season. As a result, he holds a 14-point lead in the standings over Logano.

TEAM PENSKE FINDING THEIR GROOVE

The Team Penske trio of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney has seemingly found a groove with at least two of them finishing in the top 10 in each of the last three races. Keselowski’s win in the Coca-Cola 600 last week stands as the highlight, but in Thursday night’s event at Charlotte Motor Speedway all three finished inside the top-10 for the first time this season. That also solidified their spots in the top-10 of the point standings with Logano second, Keselowski fifth and Blaney sixth.

FIREBALL BURNS BRIGHT IN FORD DEBUT

Ford won its first NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 31, 1963 when Fireball Roberts won the Southeastern 500. What made the win so noteworthy is that it marked the debut of Roberts with Ford as a teammate of Fred Lorenzen’s at Holman-Moody. The duo put on a dominant show that day as they combined to lead 329 of 500 laps with Roberts leading 165 and Lorenzen 164. Roberts passed his new teammate with eight laps to go and won by five seconds as the race saw only one caution for nine laps. Roberts went on to win four races in 1963 while Lorenzen won six times.

A THREE SERIES SWEEP

One of the most memorable Ford weekends in recent years came in August of 2014 when Ford swept all three NASCAR series races – Gander RV & Outdoors Truck, XFINITY and Monster Energy Cup at Bristol Motor Speedway. Brad Keselowski captured his first NGOTS victory while Ryan Blaney took the XFINITY event. Joey Logano capped the weekend sweep when he passed Matt Kenseth with 45 laps to go and then had to hold off Keselowski to post his third win of the 2014 season. Logano was in control until caution came out with 69 laps to go. While he pitted for four tires, Kenseth and others stayed out which put Logano sixth on the ensuing restart with 63 to go. With fresh tires, however, he was able to move to the front in less than 20 laps and then hold off his Penske teammate down the stretch. It marked the first time Ford swept all three divisions in the same weekend since 2006 when Mark Martin (GOTS) and Kenseth (NXS and MENCS) did it, ironically, at Bristol.

BRISTOL BULLET POINTS

Rusty Wallace and Kurt Busch lead the way with five career Ford wins at BMS while Fred Lorenzen won three consecutive races at the half-mile oval…In addition, Alan Kulwicki won five races during his NASCAR Cup Series career and two of those came at Bristol Motor Speedway (1991-92)…Ford has swept both Bristol races seven times with the last coming in 2014 when Carl Edwards won the first event in March and Logano followed with his Night Race triumph in August.

ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND

The date was July 20, 1969 and while Neil Armstrong we uttering those groundbreaking words as being the first man to step foot on the moon, David Pearson was busy winning at Bristol on the first race since the track installed high banking. What made the race even more interesting is that Pearson was relieved during the race by none other than Richard Petty, who was driving a Ford that season and dropped out earlier in the event. Even more ironic is that Petty was chasing Pearson for the championship that season, one in which Pearson eventually won for the second straight time.

FORD MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP WINNERS AT BRISTOL
1963 – Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen
1964 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)
1965 – Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett
1966 – Dick Hutcherson (1)
1968 – David Pearson (Sweep)
1969 – David Pearson (2)
1970 – Donnie Allison (1)
1971 – David Pearson (1)
1988 – Bill Elliott (1)
1990 – Davey Allison (1)
1991 – Alan Kulwicki (2)
1992 – Alan Kulwicki (1)
1993 – Mark Martin (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1996 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1997 – Dale Jarrett (2)
1998 – Mark Martin (2)
1999 – Rusty Wallace (1)
2000 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
2001 – Elliott Sadler (1)
2002 – Kurt Busch (1)
2003 – Kurt Busch (Sweep)
2004 – Kurt Busch (1)
2005 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2007 – Carl Edwards (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Carl Edwards and Joey Logano
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kurt Busch (2)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY WINNERS AT BRISTOL
1989 – Mark Martin (2)
1994 – Kenny Wallace (2)
1996 – Mark Martin (1)
1997 – Jeff Burton (1)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2007 – Carl Edwards (1)
2009 – David Ragan (2)
2014 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Food City presents SUPERMARKET HEROES 500
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, May 31
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 266.5 miles (500 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 125),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 250), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 500)
2019 Race Winner: Kyle Busch

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Cheddar’s 300 presented by Alsco
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Monday, June 1
The Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 6:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 159.9 miles (300 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 85),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 170), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 300)

2019 Race Winner: Christopher Bell
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Next Race: Vet Tix/Camping World 200
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, June 6
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 200.02 miles (130 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
2019 Winner: Kyle Busch

NASCAR Cup Series

“Thunder Valley” welcomes back NASCAR

Less than three days after taking the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a rain delayed event won by Chase Elliott, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first short-track race of the season.

The half-mile circuit near the border of Tennessee and Virginia has hosted 118 Cup Series races and 42 different drivers have visited the unusual elevated Victory Lane in the small infield.

Denny Hamlin will be looking to go back-to-back at Bristol after winning the fall race last year. If he wins on Sunday, it would be the 13th different driver to win consecutive races in Thunder Valley. It was most recently done by Kyle Busch (fall 2017 and spring 2018, he also swept the races in 2009) and has been done by two other active drivers (Kurt Busch – 2003 sweep and 2004 spring race; Brad Keselowski – fall 2011-spring 2012).

Hamlin is one of two drivers this season with multiple victories after winning the season opener at Daytona and the second Darlington race. Joey Logano is the other, winning at Las Vegas and Phoenix prior to the stoppage due to the pandemic.

Kevin Harvick is the lone driver this season to finish in the top 10 in each of the opening eight races, with five of those being top-five results.

Chase finally takes the checkered

After a pair of heart-breaking defeats while leading in the final laps of the races at Darlington-2 and Charlotte-1, there were four-leaf clovers in Chase Elliott’s path on Thursday night at Charlotte as he held on to capture his first win of the season in the 312-mile event.

Elliott passed fading Kevin Harvick for the lead on Lap 181 of 208 and cruised to a 2.208-second victory over fast-closing Denny Hamlin, who passed Ryan Blaney for the runner-up position on the final lap.

The win was a welcome relief for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who was wrecked by Kyle Busch while running second May 20 at Darlington and was KO’d by a late caution in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Sunday while leading with two laps left.

If you’re wondering if Elliott can win two in a row, he stands a shot at Bristol. He’s finished in the top five in two of the most recent three races there. And finished fourth in his series track debut at Bristol in 2016. He has also completed an impressive 99.3 percent of the laps in the races he’s entered on the tough short track.

Elliott has put together four top-five results in the opening eight races and five top 10s. He’s completed all but nine laps and currently sits in in third in the points standings, 41 points back of the leader Kevin Harvick.

Food City to honor supermarket heroes

The NASCAR Cup Series was originally scheduled to race at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 5, but the pause in racing pushed that event to this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Earlier this week, long-time Bristol Motor Speedway partner Food City announced a new event name to honor the individuals working in the grocery industry throughout the pandemic. The “Food City presents the SUPERMARKET HEROES 500” honors all of the workers from the cashiers, those in the stock room, workers in the fresh departments and the truck drivers who deliver goods.

“Like our counterparts throughout this great nation, our dedicated team of associates have gone above and beyond the call of duty to meet the needs of our customers and the communities we serve,” said Steven C. Smith, president and CEO of Food City. “From the extraordinary efforts of our front-line store associates to those working behind the scenes, this is truly a team effort. We’re proud to have this opportunity to honor supermarket heroes around the country for their hard work and dedication, as Food City proudly presents the SUPERMARKET HEROES 500.”

Food City has been the entitlement partner of the spring race at Bristol since 1992 and this Sunday’s race marks the 60th running of the race.

Busch brothers rule Bristol

Darrell Waltrip tops the all-time wins list at Bristol with 12. Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Cale Yarborough trail with nine wins apiece. But the last name that appears the most often on the Bristol Motor Speedway wins list is “Busch.”

Kyle Busch (eight wins) and his older brother Kurt (six wins) have combined for 14 wins at Bristol and there’s no reason to think that number couldn’t grow this Sunday in the Food City presents the SUPERMARKET HEROES 500.

Kyle’s mark leads active drivers in wins, while Kurt is second in that group. The next closest among drivers on Sunday’s entry list is Matt Kenseth’s four wins, while Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano have two apiece.

And the Busch brothers have combined to win four of the last five races at the half-mile track. Kyle is the most recent Busch to post a win, capturing the victory in the spring race a year ago. Kurt preceded him the fall before.

Overall in 38 starts, Kurt has the six wins, 12 top fives, 20 top 10s and has led 1,095 laps at Bristol. Kyle has the eight wins as part of 12 top fives, 17 top 10s and led 2,334 laps in 29 starts.

And the next best at Bristol

While the Busch brothers have ruled Bristol amongst the active drivers, Matt Kenseth isn’t too far behind with four wins in Thunder Valley.

The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet last won at Bristol in the spring of 2015 – and it was the only of his four wins that came in the spring race.

Almost as remarkable as his wins is that he’s completed nearly 95 percent of the laps in the 36 starts he has made at Bristol – crashing out in only four of those races. Impressive at the short track known for beating and banging.

Kenseth’s last races at Bristol came in 2017, when he finished fourth in both races. He’s led 1,583 laps and posted 15 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes.

Five other active drivers have two wins at the track – Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano. Hamlin is the most recent winner at Bristol, having won last fall.

Prior to Hamlin, the Busch brothers ran off four wins between them. Johnson won in the spring race in 2017, Logano won most recently in the fall of 2015, and Keselowski has the longest gap since his wins – which were back-to-back in the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012.

Wood he, could he?

The storied Wood Brothers Racing team has been stuck at 99 wins since Ryan Blaney piloted the No. 21 Ford to Victory Lane at Pocono in 2017.

But this weekend could be the race in which they get that hundredth win with Matt DiBenedetto, who will be making only his ninth start for the team. And if he does reach Victory Lane, he would be the 19th different driver to win for the Woods.

Last fall, then driving for Leavine Family Racing, DiBenedetto came oh-so-close to capturing his first career win at the Bristol short track. Late in the race, he lost a large lead he had on Denny Hamlin while trying to put Ryan Newman a lap down. After DiBenedetto led a race-high 93 laps, Hamlin caught him with a dozen laps to go and held on for the lead.

The emotional second-place result for DiBenedetto was a career-best finish – matched earlier this season at Las Vegas with his new team.

DiBenedetto also scored a top-10 finish at Bristol in 2016 while driving for BK Racing, placing sixth in the spring race.

And Wood Brothers Racing has a history of bringing a driver to his first career win at Bristol. In the spring race in 2001, Elliott Sadler won his first NASCAR Cup Series race. He started 38th, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started from at Bristol.

Team Penske putting the pedal to the metal

Just eight races into the season Team Penske is showing they are a force to be reckoned with. After an off-season crew chief shakeup that saw Paul Wolfe move from working with Brad Keselowski to Joey Logano, Todd Gordon go from Logano to Ryan Blaney, and Jeremy Bullins move from Blaney to Keselowski the Ford organization is showing its strength.

Logano is tied atop the wins list with Denny Hamlin with two – taking a pair of wins on the west coast swing at Las Vegas and Phoenix, while Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend. And Logano is also near the top of the points, sitting second, 14 points behind the leader Kevin Harvick.

Logano also has a sixth-place finish at the second Darlington race and Keselowski finished fifth at Auto Club and fourth at Darlington to put together three top fives thus far in 2020. Keselowski is fifth in the points

And while Blaney finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500 and third in the Coca-Cola 600. He also put together an 11th-place finish in Las Vegas and is holding on to a solid sixth place in the points standings.

In the second of the races on the Charlotte oval this week, Blaney recorded his second straight third-place finish, while Logano and Keselowski were sixth and seventh, respectively.

As Blaney looks to join his Team Penske colleagues in the winner’s circle, Bristol could be the place that gives him a shot. Blaney has been solid at Bristol as of late, with three straight top-10 finishes in the last three races, including a finish of fourth in the spring race a year ago. He also had an 11th-place and a 10th-place result in the spring of 2016 and fall of 2017.

Champs spring from Bristol

In the past 20 years, four drivers have won the spring Bristol race en route to the season-ending championship. No drivers have won the fall race as part of their title run in that time.

And all four of the drivers are still racing fulltime in 2020.

The most recent driver to accomplish the feat was Kyle Busch, who did it on his way to winning his second NASCAR Cup Series championship. And it’s been well documented that Kyle Busch has the most wins at Bristol among active drivers – five of his eight wins have come in the early-season event at the half-mile track.

Brad Keselowski won the spring race in 2012, then racing a Dodge for Team Penske, and Jimmie Johnson won the fifth of five consecutive championships after winning the spring race in 2010.

Kurt Busch also accomplished the feat, winning the 2004 spring Bristol race before hoisting the series title trophy in the fall.

Sunoco Rookie watch

Through eight races, Tyler Reddick has taken a solid lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings. The young Richard Childress Racing driver has a pair of top 10s (seventh at Darlington-1 and eighth at Charlotte-1) and 185 points.

Next up on the list is John Hunter Nemechek, who climbed into second in the rookie standings after the second Charlotte race with a total of 141 points. He was the highest-finishing rookie, placing 13th.

Cole Custer, who posted his first career top-10 finish in the Cup Series at Phoenix before the stoppage in racing action, finished 18th at Charlotte-2 and dropped a spot in the rookie standings. He’s in third, three points behind Nemechek.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Bristol, Tenn. for some short-track racing at “The Last Great Colosseum” on Monday night to kick off the month of June.

The Cheddar’s 300 presented by Alsco (7 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be the series’ first race back since their Memorial Day race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In that race on Monday, Kyle Busch secured his 97th victory in the series after making a last-lap pass on Austin Cindric who had originally blown past Busch during an overtime restart. Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, then finished runner-up to Busch and Cindric, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, finished third.

Ross Chastain, the pole-sitter, finished fourth in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet and Justin Allgaier finished fifth in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Brett Moffitt, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Myatt Snider completed the top 10. Noah Gragson finished in 11th and was the last driver to finish on the lead lap.

Chase Briscoe, the only multi-race winner in the series thus far, held onto his status as the points leader by finishing 20th. And Burton kept his status as the leader of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.

Dash 4 Cash is back!
The Dash 4 Cash initiative for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back this season, but the schedule looks a little different due to the changes in the 2020 schedule caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Monday at Bristol Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the Cheddar’s 300 presented by Alsco will serve as the qualifier race to set the field of four (the top four Xfinity Series finishers at Bristol) who will race for the first bonus in the EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 6.

The Atlanta race will set the Dash 4 Cash field for the next race in the program, which will be Miami-2 on June 14th. Talladega Superspeedway follows on June 20 and then the next race on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule will round out the program as the fourth event. That race will be determined when NASCAR releases the next portion of the revised schedule.

The first of the four competitors to finish at Atlanta will win the $100,000 bonus. The winner and the next three highest finishing full-time Xfinity drivers will qualify for the next event.

Once again, Xfinity will have a charitable component tied into the local markets in the Dash 4 Cash program. In each of the Dash 4 Cash markets, Xfinity is going to make donations that reaffirm their companywide commitment of connecting families, veterans and seniors to tools necessary for navigating these tough times.

Xfinity to salute employee heroes on windshields
On Monday, June 1 during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Xfinity will salute military community employees from across the company that are working to keep communities safe and connected. Among those recognized are 23 employees actively serving in the National Guard who are responding to the current crisis.

The Xfinity logo that is typically on each windshield will be replaced with these Comcast employees’ names and a patriotic red, white and blue design.

“This global crisis has challenged everyone to step up and prioritize those around us, so we wanted to showcase our pride and salute the selfless efforts of our employees with this unique recognition on all NASCAR Xfinity Series race cars,” said Matt Lederer, Comcast’s Vice President of Brand Partnerships & Activation. ““Comcast is proud of our employees nationwide that are coming together to support our customers and communities during this national crisis.”

A few of the honorees include: Deeva Williams, a recently mobilized National Guard soldier who distributes prepackaged meals at mobile food banks in Tacoma, Wash., Rachel Cabanting, who is assisting with National Guard safety programs and procedures at testing centers in the state of Florida – while also collaborating on other key operations to minimize risk during the mission, Stephen Rolston, whose National Guard unit is directly assisting the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and Ashley Farmer, a third-generation service member that utilizes her military experience to propel her teammates forward – earning business results and recognition from her co-workers.

There are approximately 50,000 National Guard and reserve service members mobilized in response to the pandemic and more than 2,000 Comcast NBCUniversal employees serve in the National Guard and reserve.

Xfinity Series at Bristol
A lot of history has been made at Bristol Motor Speedway, the .533-mile track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track has 24 to 28 degrees of banking in corners and five to nine degrees of banking on the frontstretch and four to nine degrees on the backstretch. The backstretch and frontstretch are both 650 feet long.

Elliott Sadler holds the race record at the track from March 17, 2012 at 94.740 mph.

Kyle Busch has the most wins (9), most poles (6) and most top fives (17) at the track for the Xfinity Series. Kevin Harvick holds the record for the most top 10s (24).

The most lead changes in an Xfinity Series race at Bristol was 16 in 2016 and the fewest was one, most recently in 2015. In 2015, there was only one leader and in 2010, there were 10 different leaders.

The most cautions in a race was 14 in 2006 and the fewest cautions was two in 1983. There were 103 caution laps in the 2007 race and only 19 in the 1983 race. Chevrolet has the most wins by a manufacturer at the track with 33.

Currently, there is only one previous Bristol Motor Speedway winner entered in the Xfinity Series race on Monday. Jeff Green, who will pilot the No. 93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, won at Bristol in 2002 for Richard Childress Racing. Green works fulltime for RSS Racing as a crew chief for the No. 93 and also runs a part-time schedule for the team.

There have been 75 races at Bristol with 49 different pole winners and 48 race winners. The last race won from the pole was in 2017 by Kyle Busch.

Holding onto the lead
The points standings did not see a huge shakeup after the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday. With Kyle Busch, who cannot declare points in the Xfinity Series, winning both stages and the race, Chase Briscoe was able to hold onto his points lead.

Austin Cindric’s impressive third-place run bumped him up to second in the points standings and Harrison Burton dropped to fourth. However, he is still the highest-ranked rookie in the series.

Here is a look at the Xfinity Series points standings:

DRIVER

POINTS

BEHIND

WINS

Chase Briscoe

251

0

2

Austin Cindric

243

-8

0

Ross Chastain

239

-12

0

Harrison Burton

234

-17

1

Noah Gragson

232

-19

1

Justin Allgaier

218

-33

0

Ryan Sieg

192

-59

0

Brandon Jones

186

-65

0

Justin Haley

186

-65

0

Michael Annett

169

-82

0

Who stacks up at Bristol, baby?
Looking back at this race last year, six of the drivers that finished in the top 10 are currently sitting in the top 10 in Xfinity Series points standings.

Christopher Bell (first), Tyler Reddick (second) and Cole Custer (third), now Cup Series drivers, took the first three spots and Chase Briscoe took the fourth.

In sixth was Austin Cindric followed by Justin Haley, Michael Annett, Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton.

Briscoe will be making his fifth start at Bristol on Monday. He has two top fives in the last two races, finishing fourth and runner-up.

Cindric will also be making his fifth start on Monday. He has one top five and two top 10s at the track and started from the pole position at the second Bristol race last year.

Haley will be making his third start and has a best finish of seventh in this race last season.

Annett has 15 starts to his name at Bristol, the most of any of the drivers in the top 10. He has seven top-10 finishes and three of those came in the last three races.

Gragson will be making his third series start and has one top 10, coming at this race in 2019, too. Lastly, Burton will be making his second start in the series at Bristol. His first came last season for Joe Gibbs Racing, when he started fifth and finished 10th.

Speaking of Joe Gibbs Racing, Burton, who now competes fulltime in the No. 20 Toyota, will look to carry Bell’s momentum into Monday’s race.

Burton took over the No. 20 this season for Bell, who moved up to the Cup Series for Leavine Family Racing.

Joe Gibbs Racing shines at Bristol Motor Speedway and has won six of the last nine races at the track. Kyle Busch won the fall 2015 race for JGR and Erik Jones won the spring race in 2016. JGR swept the races in 2017 with Jones and Busch both taking home another victory. Ryan Preece won at the spring Bristol race in 2018 for JGR and Bell’s win last season is the most recent.

In total, JGR has 13 wins at the track in the series, the most of any other team owner.

Even with only one start at the track, Burton is ranked second at the track for average running position and has the fifth-best driver rating at 97.3.

He also leads the rankings in average speed early in the run at 106.038 mph.

With the momentum that Burton has shown so far this season and a strong showing in his first start at the short track last season, another win could be in the cards for the driver of the No. 20.

Eyes on Allgaier
The numbers would say that Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, is the one to watch on Monday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Aside from the fact that he has had a strong start to the season, Allgaier’s numbers at Bristol are extremely good. Allgaier got his first career win at the track in March of 2010.

So far this season, Allgaier has two top-five finishes (Darlington and Charlotte) and three top-10 finishes (Darlington, Charlotte, Las Vegas).

Monday’s race at Bristol will mark Allgaier’s 19th start at the track. He has one win (2010), eight top fives and 11 top 10s. He also has an average start of 7.3.

Allgaier finished in the top 10 in the last 10 Xfinity Series race at Bristol except two.

Allgaier has the third-best driver rating of the series at Bristol at 125.2 and the only two drivers in front of him are Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski.

He’s also ranked third for the fastest laps run at 243 and second for green flag passes (520).

Allgaier has run 4,067 laps in the top 15 and is in second place for the most laps led at 482.

The No. 7 Chevrolet has run up front a lot this season and Bristol seems like it could be the place that he finally takes home the checkered flag.

Chastain, Cindric moving on up
Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric are two drivers to keep an eye on at Bristol Motor Speedway on Monday.

After Chastain’s performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he jumped two spots in the standings and is now third, only 12 points behind Chase Briscoe.

Chastain’s jump in the points is the most of any other driver in the top 10. He led 68 laps, the second-most, and finished runner-up in both stages at Charlotte.

Austin Cindric also jumped up one spot and is now second in the points standings, right behind Briscoe by only eight points.

He finished sixth in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2 before battling with Kyle Busch for the win on the last lap.

Chastain and Cindric are both the highest ranked drivers without a win and seem to be getting closer and closer each week to the victory.

Cindric has only finished outside of the top 10 in one of the six races so far and it was in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, where he was involved in a wreck.

Chastain is in the same boat as Cindric and only finished outside of the top 10 in the season-opening race at Daytona.

Pit stall assignments, starting lineup procedures update
Pit selection will be selected based on finishing position from the May 25 race at Charlotte, followed by new entries in order of points.

Starting lineup:

Positions 1-12: The first 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up Eligibility will be assigned starting positions 1st – 12th using a random draw.
Positions 13-24: The next 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 12th- 24th using a random draw.
Starting positions 25-36: The next 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 25th -36th using a random draw.
Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in position 37th – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

Bounty acquired

The bounty hunter, Chase Elliott, set out to capture the win on Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and on the first try, he was successful.

In the closing laps of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Elliott held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch to earn the victory and a $100,000 bounty, to be paid to a COVID-19 relief charity of his choice, offered to any full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver who could beat Busch in a Gander Trucks race.

Elliott, who hadn’t been behind the wheel of a truck since 2017, made it happen despite the fact that Busch had won each of his last seven races started in the Gander Trucks.

The idea of the bounty all started when Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and chairman and CEO of Gander RV & Outdoors, Marcus Lemonis, each put up $50,000 following the Las Vegas event for any Cup driver who could beat Busch in a Gander Trucks race. The money is being donated to coronavirus relief in Elliott’s name.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Zane Smith finished third in his first national series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Brett Moffitt finished fourth and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five. John Hunter Nemechek, who was also going after the bounty, finished sixth, Johnny Sauter finished seventh followed by Ty Majeski, Austin Hill and Ben Rhodes.

Tuesday’s race marked the return for the Gander Trucks, which had been off since Feb. 21 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

They enter another off weekend while the Xfinity Series and Cup Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway, but return on June 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Starting lineup, pit stall selection process updates
NASCAR recently announced how the lineup will be set for the two Gander Trucks races through mid-June (Atlanta, June 6; Miami, June 13).

• Positions 1-10: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
• Positions 11-21: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
• Positions 22-32: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
• Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in position 33rd – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.

Like the other two series, pit stall selections will be ordered based on finishing positions from the series’ previous race, followed by new entries in order of points.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ALSCO UNIFORMS 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 28, 2020

CHASE ELLIOTT PUTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE IN VICTORY LANE AT CHARLOTTE
Team Chevy Takes Three of Top-Five Overall

CONCORD, N.C. (MAY 28, 2020) – Chase Elliott collected his first win of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season in his No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro ZL1 1LE in the midweek Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the fourth since the sport resumed racing on May 17th. His last win was at the Charlotte Roval in September 2019.

The victory was Elliott’s seventh in 157 NASCAR Cup career starts, and his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 29 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It also marked the second win for the Camaro Zl1 1LE in 2020, Chevrolet’s 46th win at the Charlotte venue, and 788th in NASCAR’s premier series.

Ricky Stenhouse, No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE finished fourth in the 208-lap race, and Kurt Busch, was fifth in his No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro Z1 1LE, to give Team Chevy three of the top-five finishing positions. Austin Dillon was eighth in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro Zl1 1LE.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 and William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE, finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

Additionally, Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Charlotte with 20: Jimmie Johnson (eight), Jeff Gordon (five), Darrell Waltrip (two); plus Ken Schraeder, Terry Labonte, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne, and Chase Elliott with one each.

To round out the top five overall, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) finished second and Ryan Blaney (Ford) was third.

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31st at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage will air on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE INTERVIEWS:
CHASE ELLIOTT and ALAN GUSTAFSON, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the winner of tonight’s Alsco Uniforms 500 and that is Chase Elliott. Congratulations on winning the race. Walk us through that run tonight.
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, appreciate it. It was just ‑‑ we battled hard and finally got our car good enough there at the end. I’m not sure that we had it exactly perfect, but the guys did a great job making good adjustments and good pit stops there to put us in a position, and I think the race going long played into our favor as compared to what Kevin had to work with. Just had some good fortune and things went our way. Just appreciate all our partners for sticking with us. Finally good to get a Kelley Blue Book win. That’s our first win together, so hopefully many more.

Q. After Sunday, was there any worry on your part that maybe Alan just didn’t have confidence in you?
CHASE ELLIOTT: That’s probably about the dumbest question you’ve ever asked me.

Q. Does the fact that you have strong cars, does that alleviate any concerns of, oh, well, if a decision doesn’t go your way or if you make a mistake or if somebody makes a mistake, as long as you have fast cars you’re going to continue to win races?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I think the biggest thing is if we can continue to put ourselves in position and give ourselves chances and we do a good job at controlling the things that are in our control, that’s all we can ask for. We can’t control when a caution comes out two laps to go and you’re kind of in a lose‑lose situation there. We’ve got to keep doing things that are in our hands and keep doing those well.

Q. You spoke to it a little bit in your interviews, but just the feeling of oh, my gosh, what’s going to go wrong, how do you keep focused on what you’re trying to do in the car those final laps when you’re like, oh, my gosh, what’s going to happen?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, honestly, it really just keeps you grounded, to be completely frank, especially after Sunday. You’re just kind of waiting on something to happen. It just kind of keeps you grounded, and the fact that it’s never over until it’s over, we’ve been reminded of that quite a lot, and that’s a lesson I’m never going to forget.

Q. Do you have any sense of if the caution ‑‑ were you thinking, okay, if the caution does come out I’m definitely staying out here this time or anything like that?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I think it just depends. We can “what‑if” it to death, but until you’re put in that situation ‑‑ that was a longer run there at the end than we even had on Sunday, so who knows. I mean, when the caution comes out late like that, you’re going to have takers and not, and it’s all just about the numbers as to who does and who doesn’t. I can’t answer that. It’s hard to tell.

Q. I wonder how you’re feeling physically after running all these races?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, good question. I feel really good. I feel like I tried to stay biking and doing things throughout those two months off, and honestly coming back and going back to Darlington where it was hot and then coming into the 600, it kind of just threw us back right to the wolves, and I think that was really a good thing just to really get some hot races and some long races in right off the bat and just jump right to it. I feel good, and I’m certainly tired, it’s been a long week, but I’m going to rest these next couple days and get ready for Bristol.

Q. I wonder with this workload if the size of Hendrick Motorsports is a benefit and you guys having so many people and it’s showing in your preparation and how you guys are showing up at the racetrack?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, I think all of our employees at HMS from top to bottom have been really working hard throughout the off‑season. But again, we’re still very early in the year, and I challenge all of the people at HMS, myself, the road crew, the pit crews to stay hungry because the season is very long, a lot of racing left, and we just need to keep pushing. No reason to get content right now.

Q. Chase, you were running well even before the pause of the season, and now you’ve been ‑‑ you’ve had the strong run here. Is it as much a continuation or do you feel like you guys have gotten better just in the last two weeks?
CHASE ELLIOTT: To be honest, I feel like it’s been a continuation from the beginning of the season. I feel like all the same contenders are contending now as to who was contending before the break, so I still feel like ‑‑ I almost get the sense that we’re still working on some of the parts and pieces and cars that we had before we had two months off, so I’m really curious to see how these next two weeks progress because people are going to get better, and I think some of the things they’ve been trying and working on they’re actually going to have time to implement to their cars. We have to stay hungry and stay after it.

Q. What are you curious to see?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Who’s fast and who’s not.

Q. What was the conversations like with Alan in the immediate aftermath of Sunday and through the next couple days?
CHASE ELLIOTT: You know, look, I mean, I feel like at the end of the day, he has to make decisions on the spot. I feel like we were in a lose‑lose position there on Sunday, so it’s not his fault that the caution came out with two laps to go, and when you’re in a position like that you have to make a decision and stick with it. I’m not going to question him. I don’t fault him. It’s not his fault; it’s just one of those things where you’ve got to make a gut call and go with it, and heck, we drove back to third. I just don’t see how you can look back at that and say he did something wrong because that position is a super hard one to be in. It’s a good one to be in, right, because you’re leading the race, but also a really tough one to be in at the same time.

Q. Did you kind of give him a pep talk or anything or explain what you just explained now to him?
CHASE ELLIOTT: No, he’s been doing this way longer than me, so he knows.

Q. Chase, with the races you’ve run this week, the 600, the truck race, then tonight, the rain delays, postponements, how do you get your mindset into making the transition from a late week race into Bristol on Sunday for a short track?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, just get ready. 500 laps at Bristol is a really physical event. We’ve raced a lot throughout this week. I’m tired, and I want to rest tomorrow and Saturday and get ready to go. It’s going to be a tough one on Sunday, especially in the afternoon.

Q. Chase, kind of bouncing off of the previous question, when we talk about momentum, normally you have a full week to enjoy a race win like this. Does it help to go to Bristol only a couple days later to carry the momentum or would you rather enjoy the victory a little bit more?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I mean, that’s tough. You know, I don’t know that it matters. To me a win is a win. Those five bonus points are five bonus points, and the sticker on top of the car is still going to be there. I think it’s all ‑‑ I don’t really know that it matters. I’m just excited that we’ve been performing well, and ultimately I want to just have a shot to win each and every week. That’s our goal as a team. Whether we do or not is one thing, but to just have a chance to be in position is the goal, so we need to stay after that goal.

Q. How much of a benefit was it for your confidence to come back and win Tuesday night and kind of immediately shake the sting of Sunday? Did that do anything to help you maybe come into this race with a little bit of a fresher mind?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Like I said Tuesday, I don’t know that Tuesday made up for Sunday. It was certainly good. It never hurt anything to come over here, perform and have a good run like that. But it definitely didn’t fix it. I think we were hungry and wanted to get back and try again.

Q. Rain delay aside, what did you think of the length of tonight’s race both in time and mileage wise?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I think it’s great. I think it ups the intensity. I think you have to have your car driving really well from the start, and if it doesn’t, you have to make those big swings early. I feel like it just ramps up the intensity and everything that comes with that. Just the clock is ticking and you don’t have a lot of time to do much of anything.

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the crew chief of the No. 9, Alan Gustafson. Please walk us through tonight’s victory from your perspective.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, so with the invert we certainly started a little further back than we wanted to, and you know, short stages and a lot of cautions near the start, it was just kind of hard for us to work our way through there, and we did eventually, and kind of got in the top 5, and once we got up there we could figure out what kind of car we had. Our car I don’t think was quite as fast as it was the other night and a little bit too free, so we suffered there a little bit and tried to improve it, and I think we got it better. Had a loose wheel, an unfortunate caution to get the loose wheel fixed, and at the end there, Chase made some adjustments, we adjusted on the car and he was able to pass Kevin to win the race. It was a great day for us.

Q. Alan, how much does having fast cars help kind of heal any either frustration and everything over what happened on Sunday?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, a lot. I mean, a lot. Having an opportunity to win is a huge thing, and we’ve had a lot of opportunities to win. It’s obviously been pretty well‑documented that we didn’t do that as much as we would have liked, and knowing we could come here with a good car and a chance to win again and put ourselves in that position again and overcome it was good. I mean, if the race on Sunday night, if that was really the only shot we had all year, we hadn’t had cars that had speed to win, it would have been even that much more devastating, but we’ve had really good cars. Yeah, it worked out.

Q. Chase didn’t indicate that he felt this way, but I was curious whether you were concerned that he might feel like you wouldn’t have confidence in him to be able to kind of stay out on old tires and win.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Oh, no. No, no, I have the utmost confidence in him. I think he’s the best driver out here, and he’s showing it. That situation was ‑‑ there’s a lot of factors that went into it, and our struggles earlier in the race probably influenced me more than I should have let it, and it didn’t work out.
We’re also assuming that we stay out and we win the race, so it’s tough. It’s just a tough situation.

Q. Can you walk us through what those hours and days since Sunday night were like for you, your own personal experience and taking the heat from the call and everything that went into that?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I don’t know, it obviously wasn’t a great feeling. You know, I don’t base my self‑worth on other people’s opinions or if I’m doing a good job based on what other people say, but certainly I’m a human being, too, and when you get that many rocks thrown at you, it doesn’t feel great. But yeah, it was a long couple days, but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to look past it and move on.

Q. As a crew chief after you have a race like Sunday, does it shake your confidence at all? Does it make you doubt yourself at all?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: No. No. I think you have to be a little bit hard‑headed to do this job, and you have to find a way to improve, and just you have to kind of shake it off. Professional sports are super fickle, and one day you’re good and one day you’re terrible, and you just get used to that.

Q. What was the conversations like with Chase Sunday night and then the next few days afterwards?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Chase and I, we were always in lockstep on all those decisions. I have the most confidence in him, and I feel like he does in me, and we never ‑‑ I mean, we certainly felt that on Sunday. I think both of us did. Not only for ourselves but for all the guys at the shop and everybody that works so hard and for NAPA and for HMS and for Mr. Hendrick and Kelley Blue Book, all our sponsors, we felt bad, but we certainly knew that we just had to move past it.

Q. Obviously with the new social distancing protocols and guidelines, this is the first time that you got to react to a race win with those in place. I saw you were kind of giving some air high‑fives to some people in the pit box, walking down pit road. What has that been like adjusting to that and then tonight not really being able to celebrate physically with your team?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, it’s tough because that team camaraderie, that’s really the best part of our sport, and I think that’s my favorite thing is working together with a group of guys and overcoming adversity and then being able to celebrate that together and enjoy that accomplishment together.
You know, look, it’s still a great feeling, but certainly you miss that intimacy and you miss that ability to high five and kind of go through that. But certainly it’s a small price to pay. There’s a lot of people in a lot worse positions than we are. We’re fortunate to be here. We’re fortunate to be able to do what we love to do, and it’s not ideal, but it’s really good.

Q. Alan, could you talk a little bit about what the feeling is right now at Hendrick Motorsports where you guys have been consistently talked about as having the fastest cars, considering everything that’s gone on the last few years, and then you guys being able to capitalize on that by going to Victory Lane?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, we’re really excited and proud, and we’re happy with our Chevy Camaro. The thing is a rocket ship, and we appreciate all the work that’s gone into it. It’s fun to race, and we feel like we’ve got a really competitive car.
It’s not been easy. We’ve had to work through split shifts and social distance circumstances and all types of ‑‑ the things that everybody has had to go through with COVID, and it’s been tough. That’s something I’m really proud of, not only Hendrick Motorsports but certainly the 9 guys ‑‑ there’s a group of guys on the 9 team that typically go on the road, and ultimately they can’t go on the road anymore based on the roster, so those are the guys who are working tirelessly at the shop to prepare these cars, so everybody back there is doing an amazing job, and to bring cars like this to the track is a true testament to their ability, and I’m really proud of that and super proud of everybody at HMS. We’ve all stuck together. We’ve all fought through it. We’ve not had the years we wanted the last three or four and we’ve stuck together and kept fighting and kept fighting, and now I think we’re getting to a position where we can contend.

Q. Have you had enough races this season where you can say how much the change to the Chevy body has contributed to the effort this year?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Well, I certainly ‑‑ that’s a contributing factor, and a lot of hard work at the shop and a lot of work in the off‑season and a lot of collaboration and all those things, a lot of collaboration with Chevrolet and all those things have paid off to put us in a really good position and in a spot where we can really compete.

Q. Alan, when we talked during the pause, you had said that you kind of thought that what happened the first part of the season would probably carry over to the first few races early on because of the challenges of getting equipment and updating stuff for teams. That seems to have played out. Will there be a point where you’re going to see teams make a challenge, or how much more difficult is it in this season and this unique season to try to catch up?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, it’s a great question. I mean, I think it’s going to unfold. I certainly feel like we’ve raced some really competitive teams. The 4 car and the 18 car and the 22 and whoever else, the 19 and all those guys, they’re going to work hard, and they’re not going to be down for long. They’re going to be improving, and we’ve got to do the same thing. We’ve got to continue to improve and continue to get better on and off the track and execute better in all facets of what we do.
It’s a very interesting dynamic. I can’t say that any of us have gone through this, and we don’t know ultimately what’s going to transpire. But I certainly think that there’s certainly room for everyone to improve, and I have every expectation that our competitors will.

Q. Is that going to come up maybe in the next month when there’s not 16 races in 12 days seemingly?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I think right now you’re going to see a lot of just being able to execute and bring quality cars and do the ‑‑ I want to say basic, not that it’s basic, but do the fundamental things that we take for granted. The teams that can do that well are going to be successful, and then once we transition more back to a normal situation, I do think that then there probably will be a bigger opportunity to work on performance enhancements.

Q. Alan, seeing Chase win the truck race on Tuesday night, did that do anything to help erase any lingering sting or tension from Sunday night? Obviously I know it doesn’t fix what happened Sunday, but did seeing Chase win that race do anything for you and the team?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Not really. I enjoyed it. I thought it was great. I thought the whole bounty and Kevin putting it up and Chase racing it and Kyle putting his best effort into it was very entertaining. You know, it’s no surprise that certainly two of the best guys in our sport, and I’d argue two of the best guys on the planet driving race cars were doing that and had a good race. It was entertainment. Happy for Chase. It was a cool thing. As always, he handled himself really well and did an amazing job. It was more fun.
I mean, it certainly doesn’t hurt to laugh and there was some funny circumstances in there, but yeah, it was good entertainment.

Q. With having shown the speed at the intermediate tracks and the restrictor plate tracks, how much confidence does that now give you going into the first short track of the season at Bristol?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: None really. I love Bristol. It’s a great track. It’s a lot of fun. But it’s got its own unique challenges, and it’s got its own unique circumstances. I don’t really feel like there’s much from any of the tracks that we’ve raced that’s going to correlate to Bristol. It’s its own animal. I’m excited to get there and race it, and the dynamic of the track changing and rubber and the grip compound and no practice and all that’s going to be ‑‑ it’s going to be significant there. That’ll be a pressure cooker. It’ll be fun.

Q. Alan, kind of following off of something you alluded to from an earlier question, you mentioned you guys have to keep pushing forward and keep trying to find speed. In this environment and really with how tight the top of the field is right now, how tough is it as a team when you’re sitting on top or close to the top like you guys are? How tough is it to not get complacent and keep reaching for more, keep trying to find those extra tenths?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: It’s not hard. It’s not hard. You’re only as good as your last result, and as soon as you think you’re in a position that you’re going to be better than everyone else, you’re going to get knocked down pretty quick. I’ve been through it enough in my career that this is the pinnacle of motorsports; there’s too many good people to think that you’re going to be able to walk through the park and just stroll along. You’ve got to work.
THE MODERATOR: Alan, congratulations on the win. Good luck on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Thank you. Appreciate everybody for sticking around.

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with 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.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ALSCO UNIFORMS 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 28, 2020

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE
4th RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE
5th KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE
11th JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
2nd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)
5th Kurt Busch (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner
WHEN VICTORY SEEMED RIGHT THERE, NOBODY SNATCHED IT AWAY FROM YOU TONIGHT. AFTER WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH, HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL TO BE STANDING HERE?
“It feels awesome. Man, it was a tough week, for sure. We’ve had some tough losses, but that deal on Sunday night was a heartbreaker. It’s not the Coca-Cola 600, but any win in the Cup Series is really hard to get, and I really appreciate everybody at Hendrick Motorsports across the street, Chevrolet, and everybody at the shop have been working really hard. Kelley Blue Book, NAPA, Hooters, Mountain Dew, all our partners that have made this happen – I just appreciate it. I appreciate my team. Alan (Gustafson) made a great call there at the end to get it tuned up and, luckily, the run went long and I think that fell in our favor.”

WHAT WERE THE LAST FIVE LAPS LIKE?
“I was just waiting for the caution to come out, to be honest with you. I thought either the caution was going to come out, I was going to break something or I was going to crash. Just after the last couple of weeks, I just thought surely it wasn’t going to go green until the end. Just glad it did and glad we’re hopefully back on the right path.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th
“That was a really solid night for our Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE. I knew we had good speed in our car from the Coca-Cola 600 the other night, we just weren’t able to put the whole race together. We worked really well together and I was happy with the handling the majority of the night. Brian (Pattie) made some really good adjustments that allowed us to make passes and make aggressive moves to gain track position and hold it during the final green flag run. This is exactly the type of momentum we need heading into one of my favorite tracks – Bristol Motor Speedway – this Sunday.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th
“Not a bad run! A top-five at Charlotte (Motor Speedway) on a Thursday night. Thanks to Matt McCall and all the guys on this Monster Energy team. We changed a few things our car to learn as much as we could, without practice and without testing. We tried some different things and it raced differently. The car handled loose all night, but we were able to bring home a top-five. We just need to fine-tune a little bit here and there. Thanks to Monster Energy, Chevrolet, GEARWERENCH and everyone else on this effort. That puts us solidly up in the points; moving forward there will be a random draw for the starting line-up, if you’re in the top-12 you have a shot at starting on the pole. We’re making steady progress and had good stage points tonight.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th
“Eighth place – it’s what we deserved in the Coca-Cola 600 too. It’s crazy you run 900 miles and we were an eighth-place car all 900 miles of it I feel like. But we had spurts where we were really fast, top-five at times. Justin (Alexander, Crew Chief), the pit crew, my spotter Brandon, everybody did a great job. It was fun; fun on the restarts. I was just a little too free tonight. It was good on the long runs because it was free, but the first ten laps if you don’t get going, you lose a couple of spots and you’re done. We needed to have a little better take off speed. We’ll keep working. Bristol’s next – loving all these miles in a short period of time. It’s a lot of fun!”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th
“It was a rough night after we got that damage. We really never were the same after that. Obviously, we never had track position or the speed. We could get the handling to be okay but it would really fall off hard on the long run. It was just never the same, but the guys did a good job fixing it, trying to get us back up to the front. The pit crew was phenomenal. We restarted eighth on that last run and ran 10thh for a while. To finish 12th is not bad after getting that damage. I feel like we got a couple more spots than maybe we should have, which is great. We’ll go on to the next race, execute and have a smooth race hopefully.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 OKUMA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 14th
“Man, what an up and down night for our No. 8 Okuma Chevrolet team, but we were able to grab a top-15 finish out of it. Our car was so tough to manage balance-wise tonight. For the first two stages of the race, it was too tight in the entry and exit of the turns but way too loose in the middle, which made it really hard to trust the car as we went into the corners of the track. The adjustment my team made on that final stop of the race was the best one of the night and allowed me to race up through the field and into the top 15. We just lacked some long run speed tonight stay up there and battle within the top 10, so that’s something we’ll go back and look at to improve on for future intermediate tracks like this. It’s been fun racing in our backyard of Charlotte over the past week, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.”

MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 23rd
“Another tough night for the Credit One Bank Camaro. We had a flat tire early in the race, but managed to get the lap we lost back, then had a loose wheel later in the race which forced a pit stop under green. The penalty for the commitment violation when we pitted for the loose wheel certainly added to the rough night, but we kept doing all we could to gain back as many spots as possible before the end of the race. The handling on the car improved some throughout the night, but we just got too far back with the bad breaks to be able to do much more. A tough race, but better days ahead for our team.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 27th
“Our GEICO Hump Day Chevrolet was actually pretty good handling wise tonight. It drove well over the bumps, which was an area we struggled with on Sunday, so Matt (Borland) and the guys definitely improved our setup. Unfortunately, from the moment I pulled off pit road before the green flag, I didn’t have any power steering. We tried to fix it under caution, but when we couldn’t diagnose the problem on pit road, I had to tough it out. The pit crew had solid stops all night long and I really think we would have had a strong run tonight if it wasn’t for the power steering issue. When we get back to the shop, we will figure out what the problem was and move forward to Bristol.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 31st
“That didn’t end the way we imagined. We had a great car and led some laps and got our fourth stage win of the season. I just got in the wall there at the end and it really hurt the right side. At that point, there isn’t really much we can do. We will finish one of these things here soon. It is a quick turnaround to Bristol on Sunday, but I’m ready for it.”

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined due to mechanical failure; Finished 37th
“I know there are a lot of questions to be answered. Obviously, our Richard Petty Motorsports team is frustrated. First thing, hats-off to the guys for bringing an outstanding Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE had a lot of speed – a big improvement from Sunday. We’ll hold everyone accountable, including myself, as a team would do for the problems that we are having right now. It takes a team effort to figure out our struggles.

“If it’s bad luck, it’s bad luck. We’ve got to shake it and the best way to do that is to show-up to the next race with our heads held high and keep that chip on our shoulder. We’ll get to the root of our problem and continue to bring a fast race car to the track. We’re showing big improvements and that’s really all we can ask for. But we’ve got to clean-up some stuff. Like I said, if it’s internally, we’ll fix it. If it’s dumb luck, then you’ll have that. On to the Bristol Motor Speedway.”

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