Chevrolet has been shut out of the win column so far in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Seven points-paying races are in the books with Ford and Toyota teams taking every checkered flag. Team Penske has three victories for the Ford camp thanks to Brad Keselowski (2) and Joey Logano (1), while Joe Gibbs Racing’s four Toyota victories are split evenly between Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin with two apiece.
That leaves Chevy as the lone manufacturer to not yet taste victory a trend the stable is looking to end this Sunday in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott is the highest ranked Chevy driver in the series at ninth. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who finished second at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, considers Bristol a favorite and is ready to get the zero out of his win column come Sunday.
“Yeah, I really enjoy racing at Bristol,” Elliott said. “I think it’s one of the coolest places we go to just environment wise and then race track wise. Just a lot of fun. Short track racing in general is fun. I’ve enjoyed it. We’ve had some okay runs there.
“Feel like we had a really good car there last fall and had a realistic shot that I didn’t do a very good job of. I think it’s been kind of hit or miss; it’s hard to get right. You can just be off a little bit one way or the other and it make a big difference there.”
Bristol Driver Averages | Food City 500 Entry List
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson can empathize with Elliott’s Bristol plight. Larson has finished second in the last two races at the .533-mile short track and like Elliott is more than ready to change that storyline.
“Bristol is my favorite track,” Larson said. “So, obviously you always want to win at your favorite track and thankfully I was able to win at an Xfinity race there last year. After being close there in Xfinity, every time I’ve ran, I finished second in my first ever Xfinity race there. So, I’ve got a ton of seconds and laps led and everything there.
“So, not being able to get it done makes you want to win that much more and it will make that moment, when you do win, extra special. Hopefully this is the year where it will all come together and we can finally be standing in Victory Lane there in a Cup car.”
Jimmie Johnson most recently won at Bristol in 2017. But the seven-time series champ has gone more than a year without adding another win to his total. There are some signs of optimism within Johnson’s team after a very strong performance last week at Texas Motor Speedway that included a pole and fifth-place finish.
While there’s nothing in common between the two tracks, Johnson believes his team’s confidence and his past experience at Bristol are the ingredients for a potentially good day on Sunday.
“I’m really so proud of our organization as a whole for the performance last week in Texas – running well in practice, the first pole for Ally, leading a bunch of laps, and finishing with a solid top-five,” Johnson said. “We have some momentum heading into Bristol, which as of late has been one of my better tracks. It’s one of the most physical tracks we run and you have to stay on top of things while there is just chaos everywhere.”
