TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
JUNE 25, 2017
BOWTIE BULLETS
LEADER OF THE PACK:
No other manufacturer has visited Victory Lane at Sonoma Raceway more often than Chevrolet. The Bowtie Brand has been in Winner’s Circle 11 times at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile venue.
CHEVY HISTORY MINUTE:
Ernie Irvan took Chevrolet to Victory Lane for the first time at Sonoma Raceway in 1992. Since then, Chevrolet has powered five different drivers to Winner’s Circle at the Northern California track.
RECORD SETTER:
Kyle Larson is making a name for himself within the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series by collecting poles, wins, top fives and top 10s. In 2015, Larson set the track qualifying record at Sonoma Raceway with a lap of 96.568 mph.
POLE MAN:
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jamie McMurray leads all active drivers with three pole starts at Sonoma Raceway. This weekend, McMurray will try to parlay his starting position into his first Sonoma victory.
RACE REWIND:
Last weekend in at Chevrolet’s ‘home track’, Kyle Larson earned his second victory of 2017 with a win at Michigan International Speedway. Larson brought home the prestigious Michigan Heritage Trophy, an award presented to the winning manufacturer at MIS, for the fifth time, more than any other participating manufacturer. With the victory, Larson regained the series point lead heading into Sonoma this weekend.
DID YOU KNOW?
Career-long Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, leads almost all statistical categories at Sonoma Raceway. Gordon has the most wins (5), most poles (5), most top five’s (14) and most top 10’s (18). The former driver of the No. 24 Chevy earned all these achievements behind the wheel of a Bowtie Branded race car.
SIMULATOR:
The Team Chevy simulator one of a suite of tools that Chevrolet provides for use in its NASCAR program. Drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Ty Dillon have recently pointed to this tool as being instrumental in their set-up development. Dillon is one of several drivers using the Team Chevy simulator to prepare for this weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
TUNE-IN:
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 25 at 3 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FoxSports1, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships
Team Chevy drivers have scored 772 wins and 691 poles in MENCS competition
Chevrolet drivers have won 11 of 28 races at Sonoma Raceway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, has one trophy from Sonoma Raceway (’10)
Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Microsoft Windows 10 Chevrolet SS, has one victory at Sonoma Raceway (’09)
A Chevrolet driver has won one of the last three races at Sonoma Raceway
A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Sonoma 13 times
Team Chevy drivers have scored 61 top-five and 112 top-10 finishes at Sonoma Raceway
A Chevrolet has led 1,203 laps (43.4% of possible 2,771 laps) at Sonoma Raceway
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – POINTS LEADER
“Sonoma is always one of the most fun events to go to because it’s so different, such a nice area. We get to do something different from the normal weekends – turn right, downshift, all that, which is always fun. I didn’t do any road racing growing up, but I really look forward to it now. Our team has brought some really good Chevy’s to Sonoma in the past, so I’m excited to take the momentum from the Michigan win into this weekend’s race and hopefully have another strong run. I’m grew up not too far from Sonoma, so I always want to run well there.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CHEVROLET SS – 5TH IN STANDINGS
COMPARING THE TWO ROAD COURSE RACES ON THE CIRCUIT:
“Sonoma is just very slow feeling track, very little grip, a lot of finesse like a Martinsville. Whereas, Watkins Glen is very fast and very on edge all the time, especially now with this repave, totally different for sure.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – 7TH IN STANDINGS
“Sonoma is just such a unique place. Not just because it is one of only two road course races for us, but because it is so technical. This is a demanding race because we run such a limited amount of right and left turns. We usually experience hot temperatures at this race and it can get crazy hot in the car which adds to the fatigue factor. One simple mistake can ruin a lap, so you have to remain focused. I’ve been lucky enough to win a few poles here and start up front and we have been really good there, hopefully we can put it all together and have a solid weekend in the Cessna Chevy.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – 8TH IN STANDINGS
“Sonoma is tricky. Track position is important and there are all kinds of different strategies going on throughout the field which keeps the engineers on their toes. We hope to qualify well and if you can save fuel it usually creates more opportunities towards the end of the race. As a native of California, I’m always happy to get back there, it’s a great area with a lot to do.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEVROLET SS – 20th IN STANDINGS
“You are doing a lot of work there and it pays to be good to your tires early in the run there because of all the fall off. Truthfully, as far as track surfaces go, there and Atlanta are probably the closest two. I have been working a lot in simulators and stuff to get better at road courses. So, I’m looking forward to the opportunity of Sonoma and trying to make one of our best road course runs there coming up.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 MICROSOFT WINDOWS 10 CHEVROLET SS – 21st IN STANDINGS
“I really like going to Sonoma. It’s a very unique track and cool part of the country – it’s the closest we get to my home state of Washington. I had a tough time with figuring out the track the first few times I went there. But once I got it, we were much better there and even got a win in 2009.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – 22nd IN STANDINGS
“I don’t think I’ve been to Sonoma since I was six or seven when I went along with my grandfather. I personally love road course racing. I’ve probably left a couple wins on the table in the NASCAR XFINITY and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Sonoma Raceway seems like a very technical race track where you have to be very disciplined. I enjoy those styles of road courses. I can’t wait to get the GEICO Chevrolet SS on track there and shift some gears.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – 23rd IN STANDINGS
“We’ve had great race cars at the road courses the last few years, which has helped me a lot. Sonoma is the most challenging track that I race at. We’ve just got to take care of our car and make it through to the end.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 TARKETT/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – 24TH IN STANDINGS
“We’re not road racers, so that’s probably the number one reason. Everyone in the garage has gotten pretty good at road racing, but our cars are not made to go road racing. When we do go out there, we don’t have the grip that sports cars have or the down force of open wheel cars, and that forces us to have to lean on each other to make it through those corners.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 KINGSFORD CHEVROLET SS – 25TH IN STANDINGS
“It’ll be very interesting to see how the stage racing plays out on road courses. We’ve seen how stage racing can impact oval races, and with the fewer laps at a road course, it’s bound to cause more tension than is already evident with road course racing. Strategy will definitely come into play, since you can pit on a different sequence and still not lose a lap, similar to Pocono (Raceway). There are a lot of esses and a lot of elevation cresting over the corners that you have to deal with, and combine that with doing it against 39 other cars. It’s definitely going to be fun if we can keep it on the asphalt.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER/CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – 26TH IN STANDINGS
“Sonoma is one of those racetracks that’s broken our hearts a little bit. Self-induced at times for sure. We’ve had speed there. Qualified on the pole. We haven’t had a good finish there since I’ve been here at the race team. Last year, I thought we had a chance to win for Kroger and all our partners. We lost a tire on pit road and had to start at the back and it cost us a chance to go win the race. We’ve got to clean up our own mistakes and make sure we are on point. If you can conserve rear tires – if you can do that – you have a great shot to win the race. We hope to have a solid finish at Michigan and go into Sonoma strong and come out on top.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 95 K-LOVE RADIO CHEVROLET SS – 27TH IN STANDINGS
“Sonoma is a track I have a lot of experience on. I grew up racing around the California area, so it’s kind of like another home race for me. We’ve got a lot of friends and family that will be there. It should be a good race – road courses typically are for us. Everything has to happen just perfectly in order for a good outcome. I’m pretty confident in all of our guys, and I think it will be a good weekend.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2015): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-2015)
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Drivers Championships
Total (1949 – 2016): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005 – ’11)
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016
Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)
2017 STATISTICS:
Wins: 7
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 1,186
Top-five finishes: 26
Top-10 finishes: 47
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 772 (1949 – to date)
Poles Won to Date: 691
Laps Lead to Date: 229,659
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,900
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 8,004
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,107
Chevrolet: 772
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 754
Ford: 654
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 97
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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.
