Kyle Larson capped off a strong performance in the opening round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs – driving his No. 5 Valvoline / HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to a runner-up finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Team Chevy driver earned top-five finishes in all three races of the Round of 16, including a win in the opening race at Darlington Raceway.
· With the playoff standings reset heading into the first race of the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson regained the top position of the points standings with an 11-point lead over second-place Denny Hamlin.
· Joining Larson in the Round of 12 is his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline / HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
7th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Gold Filters Camaro ZL1
9th William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1
10th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
2. Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
3. Christopher Bell (Toyota)
4. Chris Buescher (Ford)
5. Ty Gibbs (Toyota)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 begins at Texas Motor Speedway with the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sunday, September 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
Finished: 23rd
You finished 23rd today, but more importantly, you’re onto the Round of 12. What were you battling tonight that ultimately prohibited you from getting up to the front?
“We were just too tight for our No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevy. Aside from the very first run, we were just too tight all night. We were catching up to it running the bottom, and then when we moved to the top, we were just too tight again. Just not quite enough speed for our Chevy.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1
Finished: 17th
“We had a fast Bass Pro Shops/Ranger Boats Chevrolet but didn’t get the chance to capitalize on it tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. We struggled with a tight-handling condition for much of the race, but a lot of that was due to traffic. Track position is just so important. Our Chevy got pretty decent as the race went on. We just ended up too loose at the end of the race. Proud of the effort of this RCR team. On to Texas Motor Speedway.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline/HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
Finished: 2nd
By the end of Stage One, you were able to collect points and you were a factor in the top-five all day. Runner-up finisher, how tough is that or is this a happy second-place finish?
“I’m definitely happy to finish second. The race went a lot better than I thought it would. Thankfully, the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) and the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) went a lap down – they were pitted behind me and in front of me, and had they been on the same lap as us, that would have been very difficult for all of us. So got fortunate there, which made pit stops much easier. And our No. 5 Valvoline Chevy was good, too. I feel like we had the second-best car and we finished second with it. We just didn’t have the pace that Denny (Hamlin) had. He was really, really fast and got through traffic really well. I thought maybe his balance was fading when we got to traffic, but as soon as he got clear of them, he took back off. Just didn’t quite have the balance that I needed to really charge through the corners and be aggressive on the throttle and exit. We made it better on that final run, but just not quite enough.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s / ALSCO Uniforms Camaro ZL1
Finished: 20th
“I’m glad we advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs, but it just wasn’t a strong showing for the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen/Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team tonight. We didn’t have any front grip in the beginning of the run, or any rear grip in the later run. It was a struggle to go anywhere, and to make passes. I just felt mired in traffic and dirty air. Even when we had clean air, we weren’t passing anybody because lap times were just so stagnant. It’s not the race we wanted, but we’ll move on at go to Texas Motor Speedway.”
William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1
Finished: 9th
Good run tonight with a top-10 finish. What are your thoughts heading into the Round of 12?
“We’re really happy with 500 good laps here. A top-10 finish is good, but definitely wanted more. After practice, I felt like we could have a little bit more today, but I’m happy with it. I think our No. 24 Relay Payments Chevy was good tonight.”
Are there any tracks you have picked out within the next round that you have circled that you think you have a better chance of winning?
“No, I think just steadily work through them. We have a good points position. We need to try to keep getting bonus points, but we just need to keep trying to run better. Two of the three weeks (in the Round of 16) were really good, and even Kansas (Speedway) was really good. Just need to do a little bit better job executing and we should be in good shape.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1
Finished: 11th
“We had a really fast No. 42 Sunseeker Chevy. It was a lot of fun. We were running fifth at one point and I think that’s where we finished in Stage Two. Our car was so fast. Luke (Lambert, crew chief) and this whole LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team has worked so hard. They were so excited to come here. This is Luke’s favorite race and it was huge to get a strong finish. We had a lot of speed; we were just too free there at the end. We wanted to get a top-10, but we were really close.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1
Finished: 24th
“Just not a very good day for the No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevy team. We just kind of struggled on balance all weekend. We had a loose wheel that just put us a couple of laps down and we caught a yellow during that. It just didn’t cycle out very good and got kind of trapped. We’ll go onto Texas (Motor Speedway). We’ve had a good past couple of weeks. It wasn’t our day today, but we’ll hopefully rebound next weekend.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro ZL1
Finished: 10th
“We executed in the race really well, but just didn’t execute on Saturday good enough to put us starting up front and get some stage points early. That’s kind of where we’ve been lacking, I would say most of the year – just with qualifying and being able to set ourselves up for the beginning stages of the race. I’m proud of the effort and another top-10 finish. Our No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro was really fast and really good there at the end when I needed it to be. We went as far forward as we could, but it just wasn’t enough. We’ll keep learning and trying coming back better next year.”