Austin Hill is a massive longshot to win at Michigan

 

AUSTIN HILL Home-Field Advantage No. 62 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro

Event Overview

● Event:  FireKeepers Casino 400 (Round 23 of 36) ● Time/Date:  2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 6 ● Location:  Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn ● Layout:  2-mile oval ● Laps/Miles:  200 laps/400.4 miles ● Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 45 laps / Stage 2: 75 laps / Final Stage: 80 laps ● TV/Radio: USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Driver Austin Hill will make his third NASCAR Cup Series start of the 2023 season and the fourth of his career in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. It will be a full-circle moment for the driver of the No. 62 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro, who made his Cup Series debut last season at Michigan driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). He raced his way to an 18th-place finish after starting 31st.   ● A series of firsts have headlined the 2023 NASCAR season for Beard Motorsports and that continues this weekend when, for the first time ever, the team will be competing on what is considered the home track for the Beard family. As Michigan natives, the Beard family calls Mount Pleasant home, a cozy town located in the central part of the state. Linda Beard sits at the helm for Beard Motorsports and its No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro team while daughter Amie takes the lead on managing the team and business that she shares with her brother Mark Beard Jr., who operates Beard Oil Distributing, a third-generation family business that is also based in Mount Pleasant.   ● While Sunday’s race at Michigan will be the team’s first at the 2-mile oval, it is not the team’s first attempt to field a car in the Irish Hills. The late Mark Beard Sr., founded Beard Motorsports and served as the lead consultant to Beard Oil Distributing prior to his passing in 2021. Before he took his seat at the table as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner, however, Beard enjoyed a “side hustle” as a racecar driver that started at the age of 8 in go karts. His racing career included two starts in what is now referred to as the NASCAR Xfinity Series – the 1982 Goody’s 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and the 1986 Winn-Dixie 300 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Beard attempted to qualify for the Xfinity Series races at Michigan in both 1994 and 1995 but ultimately was unable to make the starting field for either race. The 1995 event would be his final entry into a NASCAR race.   ● Sunday’s race at Michigan will be the third of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season for the combination of Hill and Beard Motorsports. The Beard family fielded the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro with Hill during Speedweek at Daytona with plans to race in the season-opening Daytona 500. The team was poised to advance to the starting field for the 500 when the No. 62 Chevrolet was caught up in a multicar accident during the closing laps of its Duel qualifying race. Since Daytona, Hill has piloted the No. 62 Beard Chevrolet in races at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 23 and Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 6. The Winston, Georgia, native finished 24th at Talladega and was scored with a 37th-place finish at Atlanta after getting caught up in an accident not of his own making.    ● The Bennett Family of Companies is back with the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 with the Bennett Transportation and Logistics brand. Providing logistics and transportation services for companies across America, the Bennett Family of Companies offers a suite of trucking and specialized logistic services, from flatbed and step deck trucking and manufactured housing transport to RV delivery, customs brokerage, and warehousing. With more than 46 years of experience in the industry, Bennett’s network provides the safest and best possible service to all of its business partners.    ● Three races make up the remaining 2023 NASCAR Cup Series campaign for the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team following Sunday’s race at Michigan. The next event on the schedule is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona on Aug. 26, followed by the YellaWood 500 at Talladega on Oct. 1, and the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte on Oct. 8.

Linda Beard, Owner of the No. 62 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro for Beard Motorsports:

Daytona and Talladega have historically been the tracks that make up the racing campaign for Beard Motorsports. This year, you have raced at Atlanta and you will run the road course at Charlotte, in addition to this weekend’s race at Michigan. What made you decide to expand the schedule? “It was really a combination of many things that made it possible. The current car definitely helps a lot because there is more versatility to it. When Austin Hill and his team came to us last year with the idea to race for us and add to the schedule, it was just a great opportunity to see how far we could take this. We have some great partners on board with us this season and that’s really kind of taken this racing program to a level we didn’t expect. When Mark (Beard Sr.) was in charge, I didn’t worry about any of it because I knew he would make the decisions. It’s definitely different now, doing that, and it makes it a little bit harder. I have a lot of help and support from my daughter Amie and son Mark Jr., but doing this definitely makes the actual racing more rewarding, and you end up wanting to do more.”   What does it mean to you to be racing at home in Michigan? “Well the travel will be a lot better, for sure! I think it is going to be exciting for us – we have so many friends and family there. Our business is there. The whole NASCAR thing can still feel a little overwhelming, and even intimidating sometimes, so being so close to home and racing there, I think, gives us a better opportunity to enjoy the day and share it with our guests."   How will it feel to see the No. 62 car out on the track at Michigan? “I think it could be a little emotional for us. My husband gave us this love of racing. The whole reason we decided to stay the course and keep racing is so we could carry on what he had started, to see what we could do with it. I think deep down it felt like the right thing to do. Every time we see that No. 62 on the track, it’s like having a piece of him there with us. Mark always wanted to run a race at this level at Michigan and he came close. Doing it now is going to be very special.”   Will you have more than the usual number of people at the track this weekend, and will you be doing anything special? “We have always been known to buck trends and do things our way. That’s what Brendan (Gaughan) has always said and he’s right. But it will definitely be a celebration for our family and for our employees with Beard Oil to see our car on the track. We are going to be hosting a few more people than we normally do, but we also want our employees and customers to be a part of this. We have a number of them coming to the race and our plan is to show them around, let them tour the garage, see the car – all the things that go into the race weekend – and Michigan gives us the opportunity to do this.”   How do you think your guests who have never been to a race will feel after their first race? “They will become racers for life! Every time we bring guests and clients to the racetrack, they are excited to be there and they gain a new perspective of what it takes to be at this level of racing. I find you can tell people about it all you want but, until they see it, feel the rumble of the engines and become a part of it, they really have no idea what it is like. It is then that they have become not only fans of the mighty 62, but of racing in general, and we love that!”

Austin Hill, Driver of the No. 62 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro:

This is the first track where you’re arriving with previous Cup Series experience. You ran all of the laps and finished 18th at Michigan last season. How much confidence does it give you going into this weekend’s race? “Having already run laps in a Cup car at Michigan definitely helps the situation because it allows me to have a better idea of what to expect before hitting the track. The biggest thing I fought last year was the air. The way that the Cup cars work in the air was huge. If you crossed the wake of another car wrong, you would get super tight, have to get out of the throttle, get passed by a couple of guys, and then get your momentum back up. Keeping your momentum up is going to be big throughout the race. Any time you can get to someone’s right rear and pass them on the outside, it’s going to be more beneficial than making a pass on the bottom. When compared to the Xfinity cars, Cup cars seem to stay a little more packed up. Last year, especially when you go outside the top-10 or 15, it felt like we were running really close together and the draft came into play. You have to be smart with knowing when to pull out of line, knowing when not to, and knowing when to push your lane. When someone makes a bad decision to turn left and run the bottom, if you can fill the outside lane, it helps you gain that position. I’m excited to go back and run there a second time to see if we can improve on the finish.”   How much of what you learned last year will you be able to lean on for this year’s race at Michigan? “The biggest thing I can lean on is how to work the air better. In my opinion, that’s the biggest key when you go there in a Cup car, especially. With the way that the NextGen car is built with the diffuser, the front end up in the air and the rear down, when someone crosses your wake the wrong way or when you cross someone’s wake the wrong way, it really upsets your car. Being able to know how to maneuver the air, almost like superspeedway-style, and keep clean air on the nose is what I’m going to lean on the most from last year and hopefully apply to this year’s race.”

SHR Cook Out 400 at Richmond Review

 

STEWART-HAAS RACING Cook Out 400

Date:  July 30, 2023 Event:  Cook Out 400 (Round 22 of 36) Series:  NASCAR Cup Series Location:  Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval) Format:  400 laps, broken into three stages (70 laps/160 laps/170 laps)   Race Winner:  Chris Buescher of RFK Racing (Ford) Stage 1 Winner:  Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner:  Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing (Ford)   SHR Race Finish:             ●  Ryan Preece (Started 11th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps) ●  Aric Almirola (Started 24th, Finished 8th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps) ●  Kevin Harvick (Started 8th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps) ●  Chase Briscoe (Started 20th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)     SHR Points: ●  Kevin Harvick (6th with 634 points, 110 out of first) ●  Aric Almirola (24th with 384 points, 360 out of first) ●  Ryan Preece (25th with 382 points, 362 out of first) ●  Chase Briscoe (31st with 283 points, 461 out of first)   Preece Notes:      ●  Preece earned his first top-five as well as his first top-10 of the season. This was his first top-five and second top-10 in seven career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond. ●  This was Preece’s best finish so far this season. His previous best was 12th March 12 at Phoenix Raceway. ●  Preece’s fifth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Richmond – 18th, earned in the series’ prior visit to the track in April. ●  Preece finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and seventh in Stage 2 to earn four more bonus points.   Almirola Notes:  ●  Almirola earned his second top-10 of the season and his fifth top-10 in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond. ●  This was Almirola’s second straight finish of 12th or better. He finished 12th last Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. ●  This was Almirola’s second straight finish of 13th or better at Richmond. He finished 13th in the series’ prior visit to the track in April. ●  Almirola finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points.   Harvick Notes:   ●  Harvick earned his 10th top-10 of the season and his 31st top-10 in 45 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond. ●  This was Harvick’s third straight top-10. He earned back-to-back fourth-place finishes July 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and last Sunday at Pocono. ●  This was Harvick’s fifth straight top-10 at Richmond. He finished eighth in September 2021, second in April 2022, first last August and fifth in his prior start in April. ●  Harvick’s 31 top-10s at Richmond are the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Kyle Busch is next best with 28 top-10s. ●  Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only one finish outside the top-15 at Richmond. ●  Harvick finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points.   Briscoe Notes:    ●  Briscoe’s 11th-place result equaled his previous best finish at Richmond. He finished 11th in April 2022. ●  This was Briscoe’s second straight finish of 12th or better at Richmond. He finished 12th in the series’ prior visit to the track in April.   Race Notes:        ●  Chris Buescher won the Cook Out 400 to score his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Richmond. His margin over second-place Denny Hamlin was .549 of a second. ●  Buescher was the 13th different winner in the 22 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season. ●  This was Ford’s 723rd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its third of the season. ●  This was Ford’s 35th all-time NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond. It won its first race at the track on May 5, 1957 with Paul Goldsmith. ●  There were just three caution periods for a total of 21 laps. ●  Nineteen of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ●  Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Richmond with a 39-point advantage over second-place Hamlin.   Sound Bites:   “My confidence was I’ve seen what Chad (Johnston, crew chief) has given here in year’s past and we talked a lot about what we were gonna need and I said, ‘Man, if you can get me to roll the center, I’ll deal with loose in,’ so that’s what he gave me today and this United Rentals Ford Mustang was pretty stout. Fifth, we lined up in that second row at the end, but we run more like this, we’re gonna have more opportunities to challenge for wins.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang   “It was a strong day. I don’t know that we had anything for the 17 (Chris Buescher) or the 6 (Brad Keselowski). They were really good, but I could maintain and after about 55 laps, I think we were arguably the best car on the racetrack from that point on. The first run it went 70 laps and from like lap 50 to 70 I passed a ton of cars and, unfortunately, in those next few stages the runs aren’t as long. They’re only 45-50 laps when you break them up into three, and I didn’t have enough of a long run to pass a lot of cars like I did previous. I’m frustrated that I bottomed out getting onto the apron coming to pit road under the green flag there and kind of took off in a four-wheel slide and barely clipped the orange box there with my right side tires. I’m frustrated. That’s a silly mistake. You can’t make those mistakes, but, all in all, it was a great day. I had a great Smithfield Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of our guys. We’ve been bringing some really good racecars to the racetrack lately, so we’ll see. We’ve got a few more here to try and get one.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang   “Overall, it was a decent day. Our qualifying effort hurt us more than I thought it was going to. I thought our car was really good on a long run, but just could never get the track position to go with it. It seemed like toward the end of the run we would be better than a lot of guys, but were never better enough to pass them. Overall, I thought our car was good, but just needed a little bit more speed to finish it off. With how our last couple of months have gone it’s definitely nice to have another solid run. It seems like all the short tracks we can always run good, it’s just the big tracks that we kind of struggle on so, hopefully, we can apply something we learned today for Michigan and move on.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang   Next Up: The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, Aug. 6 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Micah Roberts' Top-10 Finish Prediction: 2023 Cook Out 400 at Richmond

Read my full Top-20 Finish Prediction on Sportsline.com 

1 #5 Kyle Larson (13/2) - It’s hit or miss with him this season. He either goes big or he goes south quickly. He only has two wins so far this season but his nine top-fives are the most among all drivers. After last week where he thought he was wronged by his buddy at Pocono, I think he’ll be more focused than ever and this is the kind of track he’s been crushing it – the flat short track. He was third two weeks ago at New Hampshire, fifth at Gateway, won the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, won at Martinsville, won at the spring Richmond race, and was fourth at Phoenix after leading a race-high 201 laps. And he’s still pissed off from Sunday. I like that. This is the type of track where he’s been at his best this season.

2 #20 Christopher Bell (13/2) - The best average finish at Richmond among active drivers with at least two starts is Bell at 5.7. In six starts, he has five top-10s and four top-fives. In the Xfinity Series, he won three of four races there from 2018-19. Flat tracks are his thing. Flat tracks are also JGRs thing as an organization – 13 wins at Richmond among his three teammates.

3 #19 Martin Truex Jr. (9/2) - He leads the Cup Series in points and he's now the 9/2 favorite to win the Championship at Caesars. Three wins this season, eight top-fives, and 11 top-10s. At Richmond, he has three wins, nine top-fives, and 1,342 laps led. He comes off a dominant win at New Hampshire which applies here, and also runner-up at Nashville on June 25. This entire Truex domination run started with a May 1st win at Dover. He’ll be chasing the win, for sure.

“I love the track, it’s great,” Truex said. “Been very successful there, especially lately with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. Been lucky enough to win some races there. I really enjoy the track because it’s kind of unique. It’s a short track, but it races like a bigger track than it is. You can really move around there the way the tires wear out and the track is really slippery, and that makes it fun and a challenge, and it’s always a good race for the fans.”

4 #11 Denny Hamlin (13/2) - The Virginian has been racing on this track his entire racing career and he’s very good at it during all fazes of his career. He has an 8.7 average finish between in 33 Cup starts with four wins, 17 top-fives, and 2, 206 laps led. He also has three Xfinity Series wins on the ¾-mile flat track. He notched his 50th career Cup win last week in a controversial winning move for the lead at Pocono, but I didn’t see anything wrong. In fact, I would go as far as saying we need more of it. Race hard all the way. Fight for your position. Get angry, throw a few swings, and give the fans something to look forward to each race. In this case, we have best friends off the track – Kyle Larson and Hamlin – not showing any love on the track, the way it should be.

5 #8 Kyle Busch (8/1) - He’s the active leader at Richmond with six wins and has 18 top-fives and 27 top-10s with 1,530 laps led. In 35 Cup starts, he’s averaged a 7.2 finish. He’s also a six-time winner there in the Xfinity Series. The only reason I don’t have him listed in the top two is because he had poor finishes in his last two starts. The team didn’t look as sharp as they did winning three times in his first 15 starts.

6 #1 Ross Chastain (15/1) - He’s had a great run at Richmond in his last two shots at it with a career-best finish there in the April race with third place after leading 16 laps. He was running with the leaders all race. Last fall, he led 80 laps and won the first stage until settling for 18th. In the spring race, he was third in the first stages before finishing 19th. He is my wild card to win this week.

7 #24 William Byron (9/1) - In 10 starts at Richmond he has one top-five and 239 laps led and the best excuse for him to win this week, besides his series-leading four wins, is his Phoenix win. Phoenix, New Hampshire, and Richmond have correlated well with similar setups. If you win at one of those, you’re a good candidate to win at the other two.

8 #9 Chase Elliott (14/1) - He has an 11th-place average finish in 14 Cup starts at Richmond with no wins but five top-fives. He did win a 2015 Xfinity Series race at Richmond. He is in a desperate role right now where he needs to win to make the playoffs. He would be the guy I see trying some special pitting to gain positions to put him up front and give him a shot to win. I will search for better odds than what Caesars is offering.

9 #45 Tyler Reddick (25/1) - He started fifth in the spring race and finished 16th which is right about his average finish at Richmond. His best finish was 11th in his first Cup start there. I'm not betting on him this week, but I will have bets on him on the road courses at Indy and Watkins Glen over the next three weeks.

10 #4 Kevin Harvick (13/2) - He won this race last season which is why he’s he’s posted so egregiously low, but a 9.5 average finish in 44 Cup starts with all different cars throughout his career is impressive. He has four wins, 18 top-fives, and 1,235 laps led over his career and this will be his last start at one of his better tracks. He’s been eighth or better in 12 of his last 14 starts at Richmond. He was fifth in the spring race.

Chase Elliott is 14/1 to win at Richmond

 

9 CHASE ELLIOTT   Age: 27 (Nov. 28, 1995)   Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia   Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia   Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson   Standings: 21st              No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1   RICHMOND RUNDOWN: On Sunday, Chase Elliott will make his 15th Richmond Raceway start in the NASCAR Cup Series. In his previous 14 races at the 0.75-mile oval, he has collected five top-five finishes – one being a runner-up result in April 2018 – and six top-10s. Additionally, he has made four Richmond starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, never finishing outside the top five and earning a win in 2015. RECAPPING RVA: In Elliott’s most recent Richmond start last fall, he started 23rd at the Virginia short track and steadily climbed through the field throughout the 400-lap event. The 2020 Cup Series champion ended stage one in the 11th position and stage two in the eighth spot before taking the checkered flag fifth. During the spring Cup Series event this year, driver Josh Berry filled in for the injured Elliott. After being mired deep in the field for much of the race, the No. 9 team used pit strategy to get Berry track position. They ended the day with a runner-up finish. SHORT-TRACK PERFORMANCE: On Sunday, Elliott will make his 43rd short-track start in the Cup Series. In his previous 42 races, he has garnered one win (Martinsville Speedway in 2020), 14 top-five finishes, 22 top-10s and 1,491 laps led. This season, Elliott has one points-paying start on a track measuring less than 1 mile in length, placing 10th at Martinsville Speedway in his first race back following a leg injury. READY FOR A WIN: This season, Elliott has finished in every position inside the top five except for first. He placed second at Auto Club Speedway prior to sitting out several weeks for an injury. Since returning, Elliott has added to his top-five tally, finishing third at Darlington Raceway, fifth at Sonoma Raceway, fourth at Nashville Superspeedway and third at the Chicago Street Course. After starting just 14 of the 21 Cup Series races in 2023, the 27-year-old driver has five top-five finishes – tied for 10th-most at the sport’s top level. In fact, over the last six Cup events, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has the best average finish in the field (7.83). PLAYOFF PUSH: With his 10th-place finish Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Elliott moved up to 21st in the Cup Series standings, 56 points outside of the provisional cutline for a playoff spot. With five races left in the regular season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver needs to average 12 markers per race against the cutline to advance to the playoffs on points. While pointing his way in is mathematically possible, the surefire path for Elliott is a victory. At the five tracks remaining in the regular season, the driver has two wins at Watkins Glen International and a combined six runner-up finishes coming at Richmond (one), Michigan International Speedway (three) and Daytona International Speedway (two). GREAT GUSTAFSON: On Sunday, No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson is set to call his 35th Richmond race in the Cup Series. In his previous 34 starts at the track with five different drivers (Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Elliott), Gustafson has accumulated 15 top-five finishes including five runner-up results, 19 top-10s and 625 laps led. UNIFIRST IS BACK: UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF), a North American leader in providing customized work uniform programs, corporate attire and facility service products, is back on board as the primary partner on No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for its third of three races in 2023. Last year, UniFirst extended its partnership with Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 9 team through 2028. Starting in 2024, the company will increase to five primary races per season with the team. Get a look at all the angles of the UniFirst Chevrolet here. Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at Richmond: "When I think of Richmond, the surface and the age of the asphalt comes to mind first – just how that has changed the races over the last few years. You've had a lot of strategy options because there's so much (tire) falloff because the asphalt's so old. You end up having guys two-stopping stages and being able to make up enough time with their fresh tires as opposed to only making one trip down pit road. So I just think about the surface being aged and how that's impacted strategies." Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on Richmond: "Richmond is actually one of my favorite tracks. I like the fact that it always has different lanes and, if your car drives good, you usually can make some progress. There are a lot of pit stops, and tires really matter there. All of those things make it a lot of fun, and the strategy can be super creative, which can help you a lot. It's a super finicky track. You either hit it or you don't. There doesn't seem to be any in between. This weekend it’s going to be hot and slick for sure, so that'll add another element. Usually when it's that way, it really spreads out and the lanes get really wide, so that makes it interesting, too. I’m looking forward to going up there."

William Byron is 9/1 to win 2023 Cook Out 400 at Richmond

 

24 WILLIAM BYRON   Age: 25 (Nov. 29, 1997)   Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina   Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina   Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle   Standings: 2nd

No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1   NOTHING REGULAR ABOUT IT: With five races left in the regular season, William Byron is second in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings, just 30 points behind leader Martin Truex Jr. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native is looking for his first regular-season Cup championship and the extra 15 playoff points that come with it. Byron leads the series in wins (four), laps led (810), laps run inside the top five (2,682) and stage wins (seven). After just 21 of 36 points-paying races in 2023, his 810 laps led are already a personal full-season record. In addition, the 25-year-old driver is tied for second in both top-five finishes (eight) and top-10s (11) and has run the second-most laps inside the top 10 (3,516). SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: Byron is carrying momentum into Richmond Raceway, the third short-track race of 2023. Since the start of 2022, he ranks fifth in points scored on short-track layouts. He also has three top-five finishes, which tie him for fourth among drivers in the same time period. In fact, Byron has led more than 100 laps in three of the last seven short-track events. RICHMOND READY: Sunday’s race will mark Byron’s 11th Richmond start in the Cup Series. His personal-best finish of third at the 0.75-mile oval occurred in April 2022 after starting on the front row and leading 122 laps. However, Byron came close to picking up a Richmond victory earlier this season after winning stage one and leading 117 laps before he was involved in an incident that left him with a 24th-place result. In the last three races there, he has run 648 laps in the top five and has led 239 laps – both the highest of any driver in that span. RUDY AT RICHMOND: No. 24 team crew chief Rudy Fugle has seven combined NASCAR national series starts at Richmond Raceway: four in the Cup Series, two in the Xfinity Series and one in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In April 2022, Byron and the No. 24 team had a track-best weekend at Richmond, qualifying second, leading 122 laps and ultimately finishing third in the Cup event after being passed for the win with four laps to go. PIT ROAD PROWESS: After 21 races in 2023, the No. 24 pit crew is the best in the Cup Series with an average four-tire pit stop time of 11.013 seconds. The No. 24 pit crew consists of Spencer Bishop (jackman), Landon Walker (fueler), Ryan Patton (tire carrier), Jeff Cordero (front-tire changer) and Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer). The team boasts three of the 10 fastest stops in the series this season, which rank sixth (9.383 seconds), eighth (9.443) and ninth (9.504). LIBERTY U IS BACK: On Sunday at Richmond, Byron will sport his Liberty University paint scheme. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in strategic communication, Byron is now in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here. William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at Richmond Raceway: "I’m excited to get back to Richmond this weekend. We ran well there in the spring and didn’t get the result we deserved. Hopefully we can redeem that this weekend. It’s going to be a hot one, though, and that’s going to play a factor. Not only from how the car handles and grip levels but also from a heat inside the car aspect. The heat will probably be the biggest thing that all of us will have to manage throughout the weekend." Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on what differences there are from the spring to the summer race at Richmond: "We were pretty good at Richmond earlier this year, but this race will be vastly different. It's going to be really hot and a day race. The biggest thing is that the balance is going to change. It will be looser off the corners and tighter in the middle. You’re going to have to get the grip to improve and try to get your car to do better things at slower speeds. It's still a short track, and it's still worn out. The basics should all still be the same. You’re just going to want to add some more grip, especially when you’ll be going about a half-second slower compared to the spring. So that’s what we will focus on."