All posts by ARP Trish

Can Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS driver Courtney Force turn green into yellow?

Can Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS driver Courtney Force turn green into yellow?

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – The colors red and green go well together. But Courtney Force wants red and yellow as her fashion statement for the NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway.

No. 1 qualifiers in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series receive green hats as a prize – and race winners get yellow hats. Force drives a bright red Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and has now donned a green hat for four consecutive races. Continue reading Can Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS driver Courtney Force turn green into yellow?

Longest qualifying streak in Pro Mod class comes to an end with Troy Coughlin’s DNQ

Longest qualifying streak in Pro Mod class
comes to an end with Troy Coughlin’s DNQ
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) — For the first time in a long time, Troy Coughlin Jr. did not qualify for elimination action in the J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. The DNQ snaps a streak of 36 consecutive national events dating back to the fall of 2013 in which Coughlin had successfully made the cut.

“They say we put together the biggest span of any of the Pro Mod cars to qualify for every single race so that’s a very big accomplishment and I’m very proud of it,” Coughlin said. “We just got behind the eight-ball a little bit on the first pass and really didn’t recovery quite as quickly as we should have.”
Continue reading Longest qualifying streak in Pro Mod class comes to an end with Troy Coughlin’s DNQ

Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight earns No. 9 qualifying position for Southern Nationals

Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight earns No. 9 qualifying position for Southern Nationals

Photo credit: Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – Robert Hight will start from the No. 9 qualifying position in Funny Car for Sunday’s 37th-annual NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, the seventh race on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Hight – driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS – turned in a time of 4.024 seconds at 274.89 mph, in the second of two rounds Saturday afternoon. That effort came despite losing a cylinder a second-and-a-half into the run. Two sessions Friday were canceled because of inclement weather, forcing teams to alter strategy. Continue reading Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight earns No. 9 qualifying position for Southern Nationals

PEAK driver John Force chases eighth Atlanta victory from the No. 5 spot for Southern Nationals

PEAK driver John Force chases eighth Atlanta victory
from the No. 5 spot for Southern Nationals

Photo credit: Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Funny Car driver John Force will attempt to win his eighth NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday, and he starts from the No. 5 qualifying position in the Funny Car event in the seventh stop on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Continue reading PEAK driver John Force chases eighth Atlanta victory from the No. 5 spot for Southern Nationals

Blaney To Start 16th At Talladega

Blaney To Start 16th At Talladega

May 6, 2017

Ryan Blaney and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion will start Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway from the 16th position after Blaney turned a lap at 189.256 miles per hour in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Blaney’s said he was a little short on speed on Talladega’s long straightaways, but he’s not concerned about being able to race at the front of the pack on Sunday.

“I feel pretty fine about it,” he said. “The car has always raced pretty good. We’ll be just fine tomorrow.”

Blaney and his fellow Cup drivers will start Sunday’s race with a limited amount of practice due to persistent showers on Friday that cut short the practice session.

Blaney was seventh fastest on Friday with a best lap at 195.748 mph in the draft but ran just 10 laps. He said the lack of practice shouldn’t be a factor in Sunday’s race, but he also said that anything can happen at almost any time and place in the draft at Talladega.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said.

Sunday’s race is set to start just after 1 p.m. (2 p.m Eastern) with TV coverage on FOX.

Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders wants Atlanta trophy for her collection

Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders wants Atlanta trophy for her collection
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) — Two-time world champion Erica Enders’ 21 national event trophies places her second on the all-time list of female professional drag racers, but the Houston, Texas, native has yet to score one at Atlanta Dragway, something she’d love to change Sunday at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals.

“Atlanta is one on the to-do list for sure,” Enders said. “We’ll get there. Our performances across the board have been trending up all year and if we’d been able to make four runs here instead of two we’d have shown a little better. No matter what, we’re in the top half of the field and we’re ready to battle. Continue reading Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders wants Atlanta trophy for her collection

Jeg Coughlin Jr. takes aim at first victory of the year from No. 4 starting spot

Jeg Coughlin Jr. takes aim at first
victory of the year from No. 4 starting spot
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) — Six-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will try for his fourth Atlanta crown from the favored side of the elimination ladder after qualifying his JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro in the No. 4 position at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals.

Coughlin posted a best run of 6.590 seconds at 210.41 mph in Saturday’s opening session. Due to rain, qualifying action was shortened to just two rounds, both taking place Saturday. Coughlin’s second run was a 6.604 at 209.79 mph. Continue reading Jeg Coughlin Jr. takes aim at first victory of the year from No. 4 starting spot

Allen Johnson Rockets Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart to Season High No. 9 at NHRA Southern Nationals

Allen Johnson Rockets Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart to Season High No. 9 at NHRA Southern Nationals

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6, 2017) – Allen Johnson and the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart team have smiles from ear to ear after qualifying a season high No. 9 at the 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals.

After qualifying got cancelled before any runs were made at Atlanta Dragway on Friday for the Pro Stock class, Johnson knew capitalizing on Saturday’s qualifying would be crucial. Continue reading Allen Johnson Rockets Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart to Season High No. 9 at NHRA Southern Nationals

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Earnardt Jr. Stars on Front Row

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF TRANSCRIPT
MAY 6, 2017

EARNHARDT JR. TO START ON FRONT ROW IN TALLADEGA
Team Chevy Takes Three of Top 12 in Qualifying

TALLADEGA, Ala – (May 6, 2017) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned a front row starting position for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway with a second-place qualifying effort in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS. Earnhardt Jr. navigated the 2.66-mile track with a final round lap of 190.780 mph. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Earnardt Jr. Stars on Front Row

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: GT Le Mans Race Winner Quotes

AUSTIN, Texas (May 6, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won their second race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown.

The victory at Circuit of The Americas gives the pairing the lead in the GTLM Driver’s Championship, as well as moves Chevrolet into first place in the class’ Manufacturer’s standings. Full report to follow… Continue reading CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: GT Le Mans Race Winner Quotes

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Qualifying

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 6, 2017

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd
NOT QUITE ENOUGH, BUT PRETTY GOOD SPEED FOR YOU IN THIS QUALIFYING SESSION:
“Yeah, I’m pretty happy. Great lap by (Ricky) Stenhouse and the Roush guys they did a really good job today. Thrilled with our car, good speed and it would have been nice to get a pole. Probably could have sat down and talked to Rick (Hendrick) about running the Clash or something, but let’s see if we can’t try to get another one later on this year.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Qualifying

Richard Childress Racing–Sparks Energy 300

Ben Kennedy Earns Fourth-Place Finish in Rheem Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway in Richard Childress Racing Debut

“I learned a lot out there today in the Rheem Chevrolet. I knocked the rust off of it the first couple of laps and then started to get after it. On the last lap, Joey Logano and I had a run, but we just kind of lost our momentum on the high side. It’s amazing how these cars run and the lines they run. I got a lot out of today and I’m really happy with the finish. It was a lot of fun.”

– Ben Kennedy Continue reading Richard Childress Racing–Sparks Energy 300

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Dale Earnhardt Jr.

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 5, 2017

ON RAISING MONEY FOR THE NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL BY SELLING SPACES TO FANS S THEY CAN HAVE THEIR NAMES ON THE NO. 88 CHEVY SS FOR THE RACE AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY:
“Yeah, Nationwide put together a real cool program for the car we are going to race in Kentucky where they sold the hood off to the race fans to put their name on it and sold it out in 24 hours, so they found room for more names and sold that out in another 24 hours and raised $81,000 really quick. We need to take a page out of the book from what they did and utilize some of that marketing and awareness in our own foundation because that was really fast and raised a lot of money in just such a short period of time. All that goes direction to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, so very happy to be able to support that. That is something that we are definitely connected to and have been for some time. Really cool. Anytime you get an opportunity to do that, it seemed effortless to do, and it makes a big impact for the hospital. The fans will get to have their name on the car for the race and on the diecast. Obviously, Tyler (Overstreet, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Road Manager) was telling me for the diecast they will put like 300 names on one series of diecasts and another 300 names on another series so the fans can actually see their name when they get the diecast on there. So, that will be fun for them I believe.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Dale Earnhardt Jr.

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: Two Corvettes in Thick of Close GTLM Qualifying Battle Magnussen within 0.2 seconds from class pole position at Circuit of The Americas

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: Two Corvettes in Thick of Close GTLM Qualifying Battle
Magnussen within 0.2 seconds from class pole position at Circuit of The Americas

AUSTIN, Texas (May 5, 2017) – Jan Magnussen paced Corvette Racing’s qualifying efforts Friday at Circuit of The Americas with the sixth-best time in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Circuit of The Americas.

Ahead of Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown, Magnussen set a best lap of 2:03.030 in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia. Magnussen’s starting position may not look promising but the gap to the head of the GTLM field is – just 0.197 seconds. Continue reading CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: Two Corvettes in Thick of Close GTLM Qualifying Battle Magnussen within 0.2 seconds from class pole position at Circuit of The Americas

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Chase Elliott

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 5, 2017

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 HOOTERS CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed plate racing, his year to date so far, Bill Elliott’s 16 most popular driver awards, and much more. Full Transcript:

YOU ARE FRESH OFF A TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY, YOU BRING HOOTERS BACK INTO THE SPORT, YOU HAVE ‘CHASE WINS, YOU WIN’ PROGRAM, YOU’RE WEARING A PAIR OF SHOES THAT COMMEMORATES YOUR DAD’S RECORD-SETTING POLE RUN HERE, 30 YEARS AGO, AND IT’S YOUR THIRD ‘CHASE YOU’ EVENT OF THE SEASON. WHERE DO YOU FIND THE TIME?
“It’s been a busy week for sure. I’m excited about all the programs we have going on. It’s really cool having Hooters on the car this weekend. I’m happy to have them back. It’s a great thing for our team, for sure; but for the sport in general. Hooters has such a great history within racing, not just in the NASCAR world. We’re happy to have them on board. If we win on Sunday, everybody gets a free appetizer at Hooters, which is pretty cool. And, if we finish second through fifth, I think everybody gets a free Mountain Dew. Hopefully we can do that.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Chase Elliott

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Kyle Larson

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 5, 2017

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 SHARE AN ICE COLD COKE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed being the point leader through the first quarter of the 2017 season, what he learned about restrictor plate racing at Daytona that he can apply to this weekend’s event at Talladega and many other topics. Full Transcript:

WHAT HAS THIS EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE FOR YOU LEADING THE POINTS THROUGH A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE SEASON? HOW HAS THAT CHANGED YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A DRIVER?
“Yeah it’s been cool. I expected to… well I wanted to start the season off good. I didn’t know I would start the season off being the point leader and carrying it through like we have been. It’s just been a lot of fun to show up to the race track knowing we’ve got a fast car and capable of winning almost every race. Just got to keep, myself, got to keep working hard, everybody at the race shop needs to keep working hard to build on what we currently have and make it even better. Just enjoying my time right now and having fun each and every week. If we can have some more solid runs and continue to lead the points.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Kyle Larson

Corvette Grand Sport to Pace 101st Indianapolis 500 Track-honed model advances legacy and is 14th Corvette to pace the iconic race

Corvette Grand Sport to Pace 101st Indianapolis 500
Track-honed model advances legacy and is 14th Corvette to pace the iconic race

INDIANAPOLIS — The Corvette Grand Sport is the official pace car for the 2017 Indianapolis 500 and will lead drivers to the green flag on May 28 for the 101st running of the legendary race.

It marks the 14th time a Corvette has served as the official pace car, starting in 1978, and the 28th time a Chevrolet has led the field, dating back to 1948. No other vehicle has served as the pace car more than the Corvette. Continue reading Corvette Grand Sport to Pace 101st Indianapolis 500 Track-honed model advances legacy and is 14th Corvette to pace the iconic race

Thirteenth annual Mr. Aruba Winter Nationals raises $15K for JEGS Foundation

Thirteenth annual Mr. Aruba Winter Nationals
raises $15K for JEGS Foundation
DELAWARE, Ohio (May 4) — The recently-completed 13th annual Mr. Aruba’s Winter Nationals Bench Race and Charity Challenge raised nearly $15,000 for the JEGS Foundation for Cancer Research. This year’s record-breaking total boosted the amount of monies donated to the JEGS Foundation since the inception of the race to almost $75,000. Continue reading Thirteenth annual Mr. Aruba Winter Nationals raises $15K for JEGS Foundation

Chevrolet COPO Camaro Turning Heads in SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown

Chevrolet COPO Camaro Turning Heads in SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown
Nineteen-year-old Pete Gasko Jr. wins the latest round of five-event series in all-COPO final

DETROIT (May 4, 2017) – No one was more surprised than 19-year-old Peter Gasko Jr. when his red 2016 Chevrolet COPO Camaro activated the win light April 30 at ZMAX Dragway in the final of the SAM Tech NHRA Factory Stock Showdown.

“This is probably the coolest and most exciting thing that has ever happened to me,” said Gasko, of Monroe Township, New Jersey, who won on a holeshot. “I want to thank everyone who helped us get the win. We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help.” Continue reading Chevrolet COPO Camaro Turning Heads in SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown