CONCORD, N.C. – Alex Bowman returns to the scene where he grabbed the first of five wins over the past 34 NASCAR Cup Series races when the top series comes to Richmond Raceway for Sunday's race (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Bowman surged on a late-race restart to lead the final 10 laps of last year’s spring race over Denny Hamlin. The victory was also Hendrick Motorsports' 11th win at Richmond. A year later, the 28-year-old driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 comes into the race weekend carrying plenty of momentum both as the defending race winner and as the runner-up finisher at Circuit of The Americas last weekend. Bowman battled eventual race winner Ross Chastain and A.J. Allmendinger in the final corners before narrowly missing out on the win.
"Going back as the defending race winner always gives you a little boost of confidence," Bowman said of his return to the site of the first of his four wins in 2021. "With it being the track where Ally got their first Cup Series win, it makes that place even more special."
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Bowman is not the only Hendrick Motorsports driver carrying momentum into Richmond. Chase Elliott enters the weekend atop the NASCAR Cup Series point standings following his first top-five finish of the season last weekend at Circuit of The Americas. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion is tied for the most top 10s in the series (four) and holds the best average finish (11.0). Elliott's pit crew has helped those efforts as they have averaged the second-fastest four-tire stops at 11.904 seconds based on data from Racing Insights.
"Each week I feel like we’re getting a better feel for this (Next Gen) car and what it can do," Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 A SHOC Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, said. "It’s definitely been a bit of a learning curve for all of us, but Chase has done a great job of adapting, and the performance of the car has been there, and we’ve been competitive.
"As this season goes on, I think we’re only going to get stronger."
Elliott has yet to win at Richmond but was the runner-up in this race in 2018. He also has notched two top-five finishes in his last three races at this track. The 26-year-old driver has one short-track win to his name thus far, his 476 laps led last year on that track type were a personal best.
William Byron is looking to carry forward the strides he made on short tracks last season as the Next Gen car takes its first points-paying laps around Richmond. In last season's spring race, Byron nabbed his track-best seventh-place finish and that was just a sign of things to come for the driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on that track type. His 7.6 average finish on short tracks was third best in the Cup Series last year and his three top fives were tied for second with three other drivers including Bowman.
The 24-year-old has had a tendency to start strong as he has scored the second-most stage points (55) in the Cup Series this season and has the most points earned in stage one of races (37). He enters this weekend sixth in the point standings and has scored the most playoff points (7).
More than one Hendrick Motorsports driver has won at Richmond, although Kyle Larson's victory came from when he was driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2017. That was the first short-track win of his Cup Series career with the second coming with Hendrick Motorsports last September at Bristol Motor Speedway. The .75-mile oval has been a solid track for the reigning Cup Series champion as he has notched six top 10s in the last nine races there. His six top 10s since 2016 are his fourth most by track in that span as well.
The race is a homecoming for No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 crew chief Cliff Daniels, who grew up approximately 75 miles southeast or Richmond in Smithfield, Virginia. He competed as a driver at Southside Speedway near Richmond and went on to race legends cars at Langley Speedway and late models at South Boston Speedway.
The 2022 season has seen Hendrick Motorsports earn the most wins so far with three and recent trends suggest the fourth could come this weekend. In the last four times that a driver has scored their first Cup Series win, Hendrick Motorsports has won the following week. The most recent of those came last month with Byron’s Atlanta Motor Speedway win occurring the week after Chase Briscoe earned his first Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway the week earlier.
Cars will be on track Saturday morning for NASCAR Cup Series group practice and qualifying. The practice sessions will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET followed by group qualifying at 11:15 a.m. ET with both events on FS1. Byron and Bowman will be in Group A, while Larson and Elliott will be in Group B. The top five in each qualifying group will advance to the final round to determine the pole winner.
Tune in to the Richmond race on Sunday - the seventh race of the season - at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.