DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season set to officially begin with this Sunday’s Daytona 500, all of the Chevrolet team owners gathered at the Daytona International Speedway media center.
“For Chevrolet, excited to start here with the NASCAR season,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports for Chevrolet. “Last weekend was very exciting with the qualifying effort of William (Byron) and Alex (Bowman) locking up the front row.”
Byron earned Chevrolet's 700th NASCAR Cup Series pole in the process.
Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said he feels lucky to have been with Chevrolet “since the beginning,” working with the manufacturer for the entirety of his NASCAR Hall of Fame career.
“The engineering and the support from Chevrolet has been remarkable over the years,” Hendrick said. “They've been there – that's all I've ever raced.”
Campbell praised the Chevrolet team owners’ success, particularly at Daytona, where he noted Hendrick Motorsports has won the Daytona 500 eight times and certainly isn’t resting on its laurels.
“What I love about these team owners, they recognize the history, but they are immediately focused on the future,” Campbell said. “What are we going to do next and when?”
For Hendrick, that focus is currently aimed at Sunday’s Daytona 500 with two Hendrick Motorsports drivers, Byron and Bowman, making up the youngest front row in the history of “The Great American Race.”
He’s excited to see Chevrolet’s bowtie logo up front and hopes to see it there when the checkered flag waves, as well.
“It's been a great ride,” Hendrick said. “I think the thing about the bowtie in my life has been it's always stood for performance.”
That performance will be on display when the Daytona 500 green flag flies Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.