Three Camaro ZL1’s to Start in Top-Five ·       Chase Elliott captured his second pole win of 2022 at Road America, recording a lap of 134.427 seconds, at 108.407 mph, in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1. ·       This marks Elliott’s 11th career pole win in 239 races in NASCAR’s premier series. ·       Elliott’s pole win is the fourth for Chevrolet in 2022; and the bowtie brand’s 727th all-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (July 2, 2022) – Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team picked up right where they left off from their 2021 win at Road America. Edging out Chase Briscoe by .038 seconds, Elliott clocked-in a best-lap of 134.427 seconds, at 108.407 mph, to capture his second NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) pole win of 2022 and his 11th in 239 races in NASCAR’s premier series.  “Just appreciate everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, from the engine shop to every department that has a hand in what we do to make our NAPA Chevy what it was today,” said Elliott. “We’ll try to go to work and see if we can get it driving like it needs to for tomorrow.” Elliott’s pole win marked the fourth for Chevrolet in 2022; and a manufacturer-leading 727th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history. Chevrolet returns to the 4.048-mile, 14-turn Wisconsin road course circuit not only as the defending winners, but the bowtie brand heads into tomorrow’s race with an eight-race road course win streak. That feat started with today’s pole winner, Chase Elliott, and his win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.  The 26-year-old Georgia native led Chevrolet to three of the top-five in the starting lineup for tomorrow’s 62-lap, 250-mile race. Kyle Larson followed up a NASCAR Xfinity Series pole win with a strong run for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1, securing a third-place starting spot to mark his 12th top-10 start of 2022. Tyler Reddick rounded out the Team Chevy top-five of the starting lineup in the fourth-position in his No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1.  USA Network will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America live at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:TAKE US THROUGH YOUR QUALIFYING RUN AND WHAT IT MEANS TO START FROM THE POLE AFTER WINNING THIS RACE LAST YEAR.“It was the exact opposite for us last year. I think we started last, so hopefully the results are good tomorrow like they were last season. Definitely a different vibe to the weekend. I think our car is going to need some different things to be successful tomorrow. I don’t think we’re as good as we need to be to be successful as we sit, so want to make sure we do our homework. Looking forward to getting out of here, getting across the street and start dissecting the direction we think we want to go to be solid all race long tomorrow.  Appreciate our team and everybody for sticking with it. NAPA, getting them the pole is always important. Getting that first pit box is always good. It’s not as important at a road course, but certainly nice to have nonetheless. I wasn’t expecting the pole.. we barely made the second round. I felt like it was just good to get through that second round. I thought that was going to be kind of a tall order there with the cars that went back out to re-run. It’s nice to get through.  We’ll go to work tomorrow and see what we have.” INAUDIBLE“I knew I had missed a couple here and there. But at least for me and how slow my brain works; I have to kind of take it one at a time. As I got back around there, I thought I had a pretty good exit from the carousel and a pretty decent quick right through the kink there. But I didn’t think my lap was good enough for the pole. I didn’t think it was a whole lot different than the lap I had run in the prior session. I felt like if we could just repeat that lap, that would be a solid starting spot considering we had a chance of not making the second round. Just wanted to put a solid lap together – try to minimize my mistakes, push in a couple different areas that I felt like I didn’t do a good job in the first session and try to maintain. Fortunately, it went a little better so I was surprised by that.” HOW MUCH MORE OF A COMFORT LEVEL IS THERE GOING INTO SUNDAY FROM THE POLE RATHER THAN THE BACK OF THE PACK?“There’s not.. not really at all. These races are very long. Typically the cars that are superior find their way to the front regardless of where they start. It’s nice to get a pole. You want them as much as you can, but I would much rather be good on Sunday than Saturday.” INAUDIBLE“I feel like we’ve had a good package on the road course stuff, more so on the old car than this car. I still feel like we’re learning. Like I said, I don’t think we’re as good as we need to be for tomorrow in a race situation as we sit. So we want to make sure we make the right decisions overnight to try and go in that direction.” YOU SAID YOU EXPECT IT TO BE HARD TO PASS. WHY IS THAT?“A lot of the places that we’ve gone this year with narrow braking zones and narrow corner entries have just made it that way. Like Martinsville was that way and Gateway was that way – just kind of those narrow, flatter corner entry places where it’s kind of hard to get fresh air. It seems like the inboard side of the car, we’re used to where you could get a headlight out on someone, say through whatever turn. If you could just get that inboard headlight, you had a little sniff of fresh air and it would benefit you. Now, it’s like the inboard side of the car isn’t as effective in clean air as it used to be. You used to have to be further out to get some cleaner air on the nose. There’s just no further out to go.. you’re not going to get that big of a gap. So we’re going to have to really be smart tomorrow about how we play our strategy and how I drive the car to make sure we’re good throughout an entire stint. It’s all good.. it’s not necessarily a problem. I’m just saying that’s what it feels like to me. Somebody else might give you a different answer.” THIS EVENT AND HAVING IT ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND, JUST TALK ABOUT HOW UNIQUE IT IS. “I told a lot of people this, but I was super nervous leaving Daytona for our July 4th race. For NASCAR, that’s been a tradition that’s been in place for many years. That was a race that I grew up going to as a kid, so I had a little bit of an emotional tie to that one. I just always thought it was a lot of fun. It was a great environment and it was fun to be at the beach.  Man, we came up last year and I was blown away, I really was. The people are nice and it’s a beautiful area. The people are outside and enjoying the race track. I feel like it couldn’t have received us better for trying to start a new tradition somewhere. I don’t know how long NASCAR is planning on coming here on this weekend, but I feel like it’s been a really nice fit for us. The people around here have accepted us really with open arms and have brought a lot of energy. Like I always say – anytime you bring energy to a race track, it’s more fun for everybody involved; and the fans are a direct piece to that.”

Tristan Vautier drives No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R to third qualifying position

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 2, 2022) – Tristan Vautier says he’ll have to watch a video replay of his qualifying lap that secured the third starting position for the Chevrolet Grand Prix because it was a blur. Vautier, driving the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 4.895 seconds on the fast 2.459-mile, 10-turn to lead the Cadillac contingent in qualifying for the 2-hour, 40-minute race that NBC will telecast at 3 p.m. (ET) July 3.

Cadillac Racing media links * CTMP media resource guide:Notes, statistics, driver profiles and more* 2022 media guide: Historical statistics, technical transfer and morePipeline of talent: First retail production Cadillac Escalade-V raises $500,000 at auction to benefit college. More

“I actually don’t remember my whole lap. When you don’t it means that you were really on the edge because you didn’t have any energy left to process,” said Vautier, who delivered the best starting spot for the JDC-Miller MotorSports entry since the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January when he qualified second. “It feels good to be back up there. From yesterday on, we did not look that great in the time charts but we felt like we had something better than the last few races.

“We didn’t panic about the practice lap times and stuck to our package so that we would not get too much out of line and be able to go into qualifying knowing our package well. We managed to make the tires work really well when it mattered. It’s good for the team; we needed that.” Lap times for all six DPi entries were lower than the previous track qualifying record of 1:05.452, set in 2019 – the last time the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship visited the facility – led by Tom Blomqvist’s 1:04.394 in the No. 60 Acura. Alex Lynn drove the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R to the fourth starting position with a best lap of 1:05.082. Olivier Pla, driving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, registered a 1:05.126 lap, while Sebastien Bourdais check in with a 1:05.266 lap in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R. Track and tire management will be key in the race, according to Renger van der Zande. “I think the racing you will be bumped up with traffic with an LMP3 or a GT car and if you’re behind you can’t go over them so you have to wait,” the co-driver of the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R said. “The guy behind you is going to come with a big slingshot and might pass you on the straight. So, it’s attack mode and defend at the same time. You’ll see that the DPis will take a little risk getting by one or two cars just to have a gap from the guy behind you.”

Cadillac Racing lineup, starting position and quotes No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (JDC-Miller MotorSports)Tristan Vautier, Richard WestbrookVautier drove in the qualifying session (start third, 1:04.895): “It feels good to be back up there. From yesterday on, we did not look that great in the time charts but we felt like we had something better than the last few races. We didn’t panic about the practice lap times and stuck to our package so that we would not get too much out of line and be able to go into qualifying knowing our package well. We managed to make the tires work really well when it mattered. It’s good for the team; we needed that.”Car chief-Josh KerriganLead engineer-Rick CameronRace strategist-John Church No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)Earl Bamber, Alex LynnLynn drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:05.082): “P4 is not amazing. We are a little bit off the pace of the other cars than we would’ve liked but I think we have a very drivable race car for tomorrow. We have more work to be done overnight and will see what we can do on race day.”Car chief-Jamie CoatesLead engineer-Danielle ShephardRace strategist-Michael Harvey No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)Pipo Derani, Olivier PlaPla drove in the qualifying session (start fifth, 1:05.126): “We made a lot of progress since the beginning of the weekend. Tomorrow we’ll make sure we have the best car for the race.” Car chief-Bill KeulerTechnical director/lead engineer-Iain WattRace strategist-Tim Keene No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)Renger van der Zande, Sebastien BourdaisBourdais drove in the qualifying session (start sixth, 1:05.266). “Disappointing day for the 01. It was not my greatest showing. We’ve been trying a few different things to get it right. We’ll keep at it and see what we can do in the race tomorrow.”Car chief-Phil BinksLead engineer-John HennekRace strategist-Peter Baron

About CadillacA leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.

Corvette C8.R feeling good but struggling for pace in Canadian debut BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 2, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R will start from the third row of the GT Daytona (GTD) category Sunday for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motosport Park – the first race for the mid-engine Corvette in Canada. Jordan Taylor set a best lap of 1:15.955 (116.547 mph) in the Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R to qualify fourth in the GTD PRO category. He was 0.487 seconds behind the pole-winning Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet. A performance deficit left Taylor and Antonio Garcia starting similarly down the GTD PRO order a week ago at Watkins Glen International. With no significant changes to the Corvette on the performance side, the key will be gaining positions through strategy and execution – just like at The Glen. Corvette Racing – and the rest of the WeatherTech Championship – is back at CTMP for the first time since 2019. The C8.R is the fourth generation of Corvette to compete around and over the elevation changes at CTMP since the Corvette Racing program first competed there in 2000 with the Corvette C5-R. Since that time, the team has claimed 11 victories at the track – second-most among all venues behind only Sebring. Three of those came in Corvettes driven by Canadian and Corvette Racing legend Ron Fellows, who is co-owner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. The race will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.comoutside the U.S. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com with the call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “The car is good. We’re just slow. It’s frustrating. I felt like the lap was pretty good but we’re off the pace. It’s nothing we’re doing wrong. We’ve improved the car through the weekend, and it’s the best it’s been since we’ve been here. Hopefully we can play some strategy in the race, jump ahead of some guys and hopefully hold them off.”I think the only hope for us is big tire degradation or traffic. On speed alone, we won’t be able to pass anyone I don’t think. We’ll have to hope for some other guys to make mistakes and hopefully our guys in the pitlane can make some passes for us.”

Corvette C8.R feeling good but struggling for pace in Canadian debut BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 2, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R will start from the third row of the GT Daytona (GTD) category Sunday for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motosport Park – the first race for the mid-engine Corvette in Canada. Jordan Taylor set a best lap of 1:15.955 (116.547 mph) in the Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R to qualify fourth in the GTD PRO category. He was 0.487 seconds behind the pole-winning Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet. A performance deficit left Taylor and Antonio Garcia starting similarly down the GTD PRO order a week ago at Watkins Glen International. With no significant changes to the Corvette on the performance side, the key will be gaining positions through strategy and execution – just like at The Glen. Corvette Racing – and the rest of the WeatherTech Championship – is back at CTMP for the first time since 2019. The C8.R is the fourth generation of Corvette to compete around and over the elevation changes at CTMP since the Corvette Racing program first competed there in 2000 with the Corvette C5-R. Since that time, the team has claimed 11 victories at the track – second-most among all venues behind only Sebring. Three of those came in Corvettes driven by Canadian and Corvette Racing legend Ron Fellows, who is co-owner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. The race will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.comoutside the U.S. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com with the call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “The car is good. We’re just slow. It’s frustrating. I felt like the lap was pretty good but we’re off the pace. It’s nothing we’re doing wrong. We’ve improved the car through the weekend, and it’s the best it’s been since we’ve been here. Hopefully we can play some strategy in the race, jump ahead of some guys and hopefully hold them off.”I think the only hope for us is big tire degradation or traffic. On speed alone, we won’t be able to pass anyone I don’t think. We’ll have to hope for some other guys to make mistakes and hopefully our guys in the pitlane can make some passes for us.”

Father-son duo Terry, Tanner English bag top-fives in home state

PADUCAH, KY – July 1, 2022 – While the top side of the banking held him up through much of the race, Bobby Pierce may have leaned most on his past experiences at Paducah International Raceway to score his fourth DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory of the season Friday night.

Until Friday, the Hell Tour hadn’t graced the high banks of the big 3/8-mile oval since June 28, 2013. That race was won by the one and only six-time champion and Dirt Late Model Hall-of-Famer Billy Moyer. Also in the field that night – a 16-year-old Bobby Pierce.

Though he finished fifth, the teenage racing sensation showed he was right on the cusp of breaking through to victory. Two nights later, he finally did break through, winning his first career Summer Nationals Feature in front of a home state Illinois crowd.

Nine years and forty-four tour victories later, Pierce still recalls the laps he made around the ultra-fast Paducah, and they might have just played a role in his journey to a dominant victory for $10,000 Friday night.

“I’ve always really liked this racetrack when I was younger; I just haven’t been able to come here in years,” Pierce said. “This was one I wanted to win pretty badly, probably more than any other on the tour, just because this place is so unique. Really, there’s nowhere like it.”

Pierce, the four-time Summer Nationals champion from Oakwood, IL, also has memories of racing at Paducah even before his Super Late Model career started.

“It definitely helped out that I was here in the past,” he said. “The first time I came here was in my Crate Late Model, and I was 12 or 13, I think. That’s pretty young for how big this place is.

“I remember going down the straightaways and having all day to think about my corner entrance because it felt like it took five days to get there with how long the straightaways are.”

He used those long straightaways to the fullest Friday night, stretching out his lead with ease once the race got going after a few early caution periods. Former tour regular Tanner English chased him throughout the 30-lap event, but never could keep pace with Pierce, ultimately settling for second.

After the first two yellows in the opening laps, only one final caution appeared just past the halfway mark. This erased Pierce’s three-plus-second lead and put English right on his bumper for the restart, which Pierce handled with ease, though there’s always the chance he doesn’t launch well.

“You always worry about that, especially going into Turn 1 here,” Pierce said. “With the line I was running, it’s a little bit strange. You go in there and it feels like you’re going 100 miles an hour and that wall is like a quick 90, and it was kinda slick up to it.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals returns to action on July 2 for a $10,000-to-win Saturday night special at Clarksville Speedway. If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 30 Laps | 00:25:37.649

1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 4. 15-Christian Hanger[7]; 5. 96T-Terry English[8]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[5]; 8. 212-Josh Putnam[14]; 9. 81JR-Jason Riggs[6]; 10. 18-Matt Cooper[12]; 11. 14G-Joe Godsey[17]; 12. 4D-Doug Tye[13]; 13. 30-Mark Voigt[9]; 14. 10-Ronnie Cooper[24]; 15. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[20]; 16. 38-Thomas Hunziker[18]; 17. 26M-Brent McKinnon[21]; 18. 81J-Jack Riggs[16]; 19. 23NZ-Mick Quin[10]; 20. 14R-Jeff Roth[15]; 21. F1-Payton Freeman[22]; 22. 99-Dylan Thompson[3]; 23. 22-Aaron Edwards[23]; 24. 15F-Richard Frost[19]

FIRST TIMER: Young Wins at Paducah for First Career Summit Modified Victory

As one of the top DIRTcar UMP Modified drivers in his region, Trent Young had never been to DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Victory Lane. Until now.

In his first time out with the tour this season, Young dominated the tour’s return to Paducah International Raceway Friday night for his first career Summit Modified trophy.

“For me, it is a pretty big win,” Young said. “We don’t run a lot of big shows anymore, just local stuff, mostly. I don’t get to race against a lot of the touring guys.

“I think we still can run with them. We’ve got a pretty good car.”

The Hopkinsville, KY, racer ran away from UMP Modified veterans Lucas Lee and Brian Shaw en route to victory in the 20-lap affair, leading every lap, even battling internal issues of his own throughout the program.

“We fought engine overheating issues most of the night,” Young said. “We were pretty hot in the Heat Race, so I figured it was gonna be the same for the Feature, and it was.”

UP NEXT 

The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds return to action on July 2 for a Saturday night special at Clarksville Speedway. If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 20 Laps | 00:15:22.024

1. 10Y-Trent Young[2]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee[3]; 3. 1S-Brian Shaw[4]; 4. 176-Scotty Owens[7]; 5. 2- Peyton Walker[5]; 6. 99-Teegan Embrey[8]; 7. 7D-Pete Sabatino[10]; 8. 00-troy gay[11]; 9. 7-Willie Gammill[9]; 10. 16-Todd Riley[6]; 11. (DNS) 8-Kyle Steffens

Brad Sweet Misses Sixth-Straight Cedar Lake Win by 0.200-Seconds

NEW RICHMOND, WI – A pair of World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champions could do nothing to stop the new and improved Jacob Allen on Friday night at Cedar Lake Speedway.

Brad Sweet wanted it for the record books and Donny Schatz wanted it for the heart, but Jacob Allen wanted to prove his legendary father Bobby Allen wrong. Jacob’s victory, earned with a meticulous effort around the low side of the New Richmond, WI 3/8-mile, brings him to a popular three wins on the season.

“My dad took me on a bet that he thought I could maybe win three races this year, and it made me a bit mad,” Allen joked. “I’ve got three now, and now I gotta get one more to prove him wrong. It definitely takes a toll on you being out here on the road this long and not winning for so long, but giving it everything you’ve got. Already winning three this year feels so amazing.”

While Hanover, PA native fell as far back as fifth, all eyes were on the lead trio of Carson Macedo, Donny Schatz, and Brad Sweet. Macedo led the opening two circuits, Schatz controlled Laps 3-21, and Sweet quickly rose from 10th-to-third as the three orchestrated a nose-to-tail charge through lap traffic.

It appeared to be between those three throughout the first half, but everything changed on Lap 19 restart when Allen lined up inside of row two and he rocketed to second in the Pells Tire Service #1A. With Schatz committed to the fence, Allen slow-rolled the bottom and took to the lead on Lap 22.

A Lap 31 restart offered Sweet one last chance at stealing the win away, but he fell short by 0.200-seconds at the line as Allen continued his career-year and stopped Sweet’s streak.

“I can’t tell you enough how good this feels,” an ecstatic Allen noted. “My car has never been this balanced, and it just handled so well. This package we’ve put together for these type of race tracks has been incredible. We’ve been making the right decisions and I think I’ve been driving as good as ever.”

After five-straight World of Outlaws wins at Cedar Lake, three-time and defending Series champion Brad Sweet finally saw his historic streak come to an end. His second-place result extends his mark to a remarkable 10 consecutive top-two results (when finishing) at the track. He also extends his championship lead in the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49. 

“For whatever reason we just have a really good feel here at Cedar Lake, even when the car is off,” Sweet said after a close second-place run. “I was licking my chops on that restart thinking Donny would choose the bottom, but he went high and that flustered me. I did a bad job on that restart. Had I been a little closer I might’ve been able to pull off a last-lap miracle, but Jacob did a great job and earned that one. We’ve been off for a bit, so getting back on the podium at my favorite track feels great.”

Sheldon Haudenschild closed out the podium with a seventh-to-third run in the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17. The Wooster, OH native now has 12 podium finishes on the season, a Series-best with the World of Outlaws in 2022.

“I wanted to win that one just as bad,” Haudencshild said following his $100,000 victory last week. “I had a really bad 8-10 and got ate up off the start and was forced to do some battling. We had a good car, but the driver lacked a bit at the beginning.”

In an emotional bid to win one one for his late father, Danny Schatz, the 10-time champion Donny Schatz finished fourth aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Carquest #15. He led Laps 3-21, but faded late in the running and barely missed a podium appearance. Carson Macedo, who paced the opening two laps, finished fifth aboard the Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh #41. 

Rounding out the top-10 on Friday night was Giovanni Scelzi in sixth, James McFadden in seventh, Scotty Thiel took eighth-from-19th to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award, David Gravel scored ninth, and Logan Schuchart ended up 10th.

NOS NOTEBOOK (CEDAR LAKE SPEEDWAY, 7/1/22)

Jacob Allen has now claimed three of his four World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victories in the 2022 season alone. He’s now tied for 69th on the All-Time Win List alongside Dub May, Jack Hewitt, Ian Madsen, James McFadden, and Spencer Bayston.

Brad Sweet’s second-place finish ended his stellar streak of five-straight World of Outlaws wins at Cedar Lake, but continued his remarkable run of 10 consecutive top-two results at the track. 

For the fifth consecutive race, a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Feature offered three different lead changes.

Carson Macedo extended his impressive performance in My Place Hotels Qualifying, clocking an 11.449 around Cedar Lake’s 3/8-mile to record his seventh QuickTime Award of 2022 in the Jason Johnson Racing #41. He leads the QuickTime category by three over David Gravel (4) and Sheldon Haudenschild (3).

NOS Energy Drink Heat Race wins went to Kraig Kinser (124th career), Donny Schatz (497th career), and Jacob Allen (42nd career). Schatz scored the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash win, while Scotty Thiel took home the MicroLite Last Chance Showdown.

UP NEXT (Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series continues the Independence Day Spectacular on Saturday, July 2 at New Richmond, WI’s Cedar Lake Speedway. After this weekend, The Greatest Show on Dirt heads to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA on Friday, July 8 and Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, WI on Saturday, July 9. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (35 Laps) – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen [3][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [10][$5,500]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [1][$2,600]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo [2][$2,350]; 6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [12][$2,150]; 7. 83-James McFadden [5][$2,100]; 8. 73-Scotty Thiel [19][$1,950]; 9. 2-David Gravel [8][$1,900]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][$1,850]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [13][$1,400]; 12. 84-Scott Bogucki [16][$1,200]; 13. 9-Kasey Kahne [17][$1,000]; 14. 5-Spencer Bayston [11][$950]; 15. 34DD-Brooke Tatnell [14][$900]; 16. 19-Paige Polyak [20][$900]; 17. 6-Bill Rose [21][$900]; 18. 97-Alan Gilbertson [23][$900]; 19. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny [9][$900]; 20. 7S-Robbie Price [24][$900]; 21. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [22][$900]; 22. 24T-Christopher Thram [15][$900]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6][$900]; 24. 22-Riley Goodno [18][$900]. Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-2, Donny Schatz 3-21 Jacob Allen 22-35. KSE Hard Charger Award: 73-Scotty Thiel[+11]

NEW Championship Standings (After 33/77 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (4,502); 2. Carson Macedo (-18); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (-26); 4. David Gravel (-60); 5. Logan Schuchart (-70); 6. Donny Schatz (-152); 7. Spencer Bayston (-180); 8. James McFadden (-224); 9. Jacob Allen (-350); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-504).

Portsmouth, OH (July 1, 2022) – Ricky Thornton Jr. took over the lead on lap 30 from race long leader Daulton Wilson. Rain hit the track with 45 laps scored, declaring Thornton as the winner of the Able Air Independence 50 on Friday night at Portsmouth Raceway Park. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event became official with five laps remaining in the race when track conditions became too wet to continue. The win was worth $12,000 for the defending Dirt Track World Championship winner. The 31-year-old stood in PRP Victory Lane scoring his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2022 to become the 15th different winner this season. Defending series champion Tim McCreadie finished in second followed by Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr., and Daulton Wilson, who led the first 29 laps of the race. Wilson, one of the five drivers battling for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie-of-the-Year chase with the series looked to be on his way to a clean sweep as he dominated the first half of the race. With impending weather in the area Wilson led at the halfway mark which would have become official if the rain would have caused a halt to the race.  A caution with 28 laps scored had Wilson leading followed by Thornton and McCreadie. Wilson would lead those two on the restart for another circuit but heading into turn four on the 30th lap he got crossways in turn four which allowed four drivers to get by him as he fell to fifth. Once Thornton had the lead, he stretched it out to be 2.165 seconds ahead of McCreadie when rain halted the race for good. Thornton, who started fifth went to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fourth time in his career, this time did his post-race interview from the tower. “I didn’t know if we were going to lose the track or not, luckily, we didn’t. So, we went back green and with five to go I didn’t know it was raining until I went down into turn one and I was like ‘I really blew that corner’ then I realized it was raining. It was something different, I am glad we got to do a victory lane like interview. I think overall it was pretty cool,” said the Arizona native who now makes his home in Indiana. “My crew has busted their tails and it is definitely showing a lot of speed this year so I hope we can keep it going. This track has been extremely good to us. Maybe we can come back here later in the year and get another win. I want to thank all of the fans for coming out tonight. You really didn’t know what the weather was going to do tonight. The track busted their tails to give us the best track we could get.” The winner’s Todd and Vickie Burns/SSI Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Hoker Trucking, Dyno One, Penske Racing Shocks, FK Rod Ends, Certified Inspection Services, Excel Floor Covering, and West Side Tractor Sales Company. Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb, Devin Moran, Rod Conley, and Steve Casebolt. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Able Air Independence 50Friday, July 1st, 2022Portsmouth Raceway Park – Portsmouth, OH Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Daulton Wilson / 14.546 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran / 14.629 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 4. C9-Steve Casebolt[6]; 5. 81-Brandon Fouts[3]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 7. 00-Justin Cooper[8]; 8. 17T-Shannon Thornsberry[7] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 111V-Max Blair[3]; 4. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 5. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[5]; 6. 21K-Kirk Phillips[6]; 7. 17-Tim Vance[7] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 71C-RJ Conley[4]; 5. 21H-Robby Hensley[5]; 6. 93-Cory Lawler[6]; 7. CJ1-Charlie Jude[7]; 8. (DNS) 1L-Corey Lewis Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 3. 89-Ashton Winger[1]; 4. 17D-Zack Dohm[5]; 5. 71R-Rod Conley[6]; 6. B1-Josh Bocook[7]; 7. 1B-Nick Bocook[4] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 81-Brandon Fouts[1]; 2. 71R-Rod Conley[4]; 3. 21H-Robby Hensley[2]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[5]; 5. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 6. 21K-Kirk Phillips[7]; 7. 1B-Nick Bocook[12]; 8. 17-Tim Vance[11]; 9. 00-Justin Cooper[9]; 10. 93-Cory Lawler[6]; 11. B1-Josh Bocook[8]; 12. (DNS) CJ1-Charlie Jude; 13. (DNS) 17T-Shannon Thornsberry; 14. (DNS) 1L-Corey Lewis Able Air Independence 50 Feature Finish:

Race StatisticsEntrants: 30Lap Leaders: Daulton Wilson (Laps 1-29); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 30-45)Wrisco Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 2.165 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: Steve Casebolt (Lap 16); Spencer Hughes (Lap 16 restart); Debris (Lap 26); Garrett Alberson, RJ Conley (Lap 28); Rain (Lap 45)Series Provisionals: n/aFast Time Provisional: Nick Bocook; Tim VanceSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisionals: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’NealPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson, Jr., Daulton WilsonOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Rod Conley (Advanced 9 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon SheppardHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Daulton Wilson (29 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Daulton WilsonDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Daulton Wilson (Lap 3 – 15.536 seconds)Feature DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Spencer HughesOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony Burroughs (Ricky Thornton, Jr.)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Devin Moran (14.7724 seconds)Time of Race: 30 minutes 46 seconds Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:

*Results are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day*

NASCAR CUP SERIES

ROAD AMERICA

KWIK TRIP 250

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JULY 1, 2022

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader race weekend at Road America. Press Conference Transcript: 

KYLE, WALK US THROUGH YOUR QUALIFYING LAP TODAY IN THE NO. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO SS THAT LANDED YOU THE POLE FOR TOMORROW’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RACE? 

“It was good. The first run, my goal was to hit my marks and I didn’t do that. It was kind of good to do that because then I could back off of that a little bit and just know if I got through the corners OK, my car was going to be fast enough that I could have a shot at the pole. I didn’t expect to be that much faster than the field, but it felt really good. 

I’m excited about tomorrow. My car felt amazing in race trim, as well. Hats off to the team for preparing a car for me to race this weekend and try to learn and better our efforts for Sunday. Definitely excited about it.”

YOU HAVEN’T COMPETED IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES IN FOUR YEARS. WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING BACK IN A XFINITY CAR? 

“Yeah, it was honestly surprising when I had read that it had been since I think 2018. It doesn’t feel that long ago.

I don’t know – the driving stuff is whatever. It’s just like the visuals of the tach and the gauges. It’s a different style of dash than what I was even used to when I was racing Xfinity for Ganassi. Just the little things like that are hard to adjust to at first. But once you’re out there, it all kind of becomes natural and it’s just another stock car at that point.”

HOW MUCH ATTENTION HAVE YOU PAID TO THIS SERIES OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS WITH THE NEW TALENT?

“I honestly probably haven’t paid enough attention, so I don’t really know how to answer that question. But I’m looking forward to competing with a lot of the young up-and-comers, as I’m sure they’re looking forward to compete with me also. It should be a lot of fun this weekend and for the couple of others I get to run the rest of the year.”

YOU’VE LED AT LEAST 19 LAPS ON THE CUP SIDE IN SEVEN OF THE LAST NINE RACES. DO YOU FEEL LIKE SOME OF THOSE HAVE KIND OF SLIPPED AWAY FROM YOU, AS FAR AS WINS? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GUYS ARE JUST A LITTLE BIT OFF? YOU FIND YOUR WAY UP FRONT AT SOME POINT DURING THE RACE.

“I don’t know. There were definitely a couple that we almost won that slipped away there late, like Kansas (Speedway) and Charlotte (Motor Speedway). But I feel like in both of those, we performed at a very great level and honestly a little bit better than what we should have; and that’s just a testament to our team and how strong we are. 

As I’m sure everybody does, I feel like we’re really close to being good; leading even more laps and challenging for even more wins. The cars are developing each week. Everyone is refining their stuff, setups and getting better. We just have to keep working really hard.”

I ASSUME YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING A SEASON LIKE LAST YEAR BECAUSE THOSE JUST DON’T COME AROUND, BUT HAS IT BEEN FRUSTRATING AT ALL NOT TO BE AS DOMINATE? OR DOES THE FACT THAT NOBODY HAS BEEN REALLY DOMINATE THIS YEAR KIND OF MAKE UP FOR ANY POTENTIAL FRUSTRATION?

“I haven’t been frustrated yet. I think I understand that the season we had last year was hard to repeat, especially going into a season with a new car and all that. I’m sure if we were in last year’s car and I was sitting here with the same stats – yeah, I’d probably be frustrated. But I thinking having the understanding that we have a new car, pit stops and everything, that helps kind of forget about the success, I guess, of last year. 

And two, I think nobody has been dominating. Pretty much everybody has been inconsistent at some point throughout a race every week. Just have to find some consistency and I feel like that’s where you’ll standout across the field.”

GIVEN HOW DIFFERENT THE CARS HAVE BECOME BETWEEN THESE TWO SERIES, WHAT DO YOU GAIN TOMORROW THAT’S GOING TO HELP? 

“I don’t know yet until I get out there tomorrow. But I think for me, just getting more laps – figuring out your angles of what works and what doesn’t work; the shapes of the corners and stuff like that to try and go faster and be better. I imagine our braking points will be much deeper tomorrow. It seems like this year compared to last year’s car, the Cup cars can brake a lot deeper into the corners. That might take some getting used to at first. 

I definitely think it doesn’t hurt to get more laps, especially on the same race track.”

WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF DOING DOUBLE DUTY A YEAR AGO? 

“I don’t know – who’s to say. I pick them because it just works out for my schedule. But I picked this one because I’ve only raced here twice. I don’t remember at all the race I ran here in 2013 and I don’t remember being fast. And then the Cup race last year, this was probably our worst road course we had of the season. So that’s why it was important for me to run this race and just try and learn something every lap.”

AFTER LAST WEEKEND’S RACE, YOU MADE THE REFERENCE OF NEEDING TO CLEAN UP A FEW THINGS. YOU HAVE KEVIN (MEENDERING) HERE WORKING WITH YOU ON THE XFINITY CAR, SO YOU GET HIM DOUBLE DUTY LIKE YOU THIS WEEKEND. WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO CLEAN UP OR IF THERE’S ANYTHING IN TERMS OF WORKING WITH HIM AND HOW CAN THIS WEEKEND HELP TOWARDS THAT? 

“I don’t know – I don’t remember those exact comments because I felt like everything went pretty smooth, as far as on my end on that. The radio stuff and all that was smooth. I don’t know – maybe I was talking about something else, I can’t remember (laughs). 

But it is good. It was an unfortunate circumstance that Cliff (Daniels) is suspended for four weeks, but if it’s going to happen, it falls at a good time where I’m doing this race also with Kevin (Meendering). Just getting more familiar with him. I feel like I’m super easy to work with and I feel like I can work with anybody, so it’s not hard for me to adjust to different crew chiefs and stuff. I guess just being familiar with the tone of voice and stuff on the radio is important to me. I know the car is always going to be fast when we hit the track. 

Cliff is Cliff and there’s nobody like him on a pit box, especially when he talks to you on the radio. I guess just getting familiar with that end of things.”

PEOPLE WILL LOOK AT THE LAST ROAD COURSE RACE AND SAY FOR AS STRONG AS YOU WERE AND SUCCESSFUL UNTIL THE WHEEL CAME OFF, THE EXPECTATION WOULD BE THAT IT WOULD CARRYOVER TO THIS PLACE. IS THERE MUCH FROM SONOMA (RACEWAY) THAT YOU CAN TAKE AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND BASED ON HOW YOU DID AT SONOMA? 

“It’s hard to say. Last year, we dominated Sonoma (Raceway) and we were extremely good, and we weren’t great here (Road America). I don’t know – I’m sure on the car side of things, there are things that they learned from it. I’ve raced a lot at Sonoma and I haven’t raced here much. And yes, the two don’t really compare, so it’s hard to judge off of Sonoma for this place.”

DOES IT SEEM PRETTY SEAMLESS BEING IN A HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS’ XFINITY CAR? IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE THEY’VE RACED IN THIS SERIES, SO I’M JUST CURIOUS WHAT THAT TRANSITION HAS BEEN LIKE? 

“I don’t really know what all went into the logistics of fielding a Hendrick Motorsports car in the Xfinity Series. I know they probably had some help from JR Motorsports and stuff like that, but I don’t know the extent of it. I can only speak from my vantage point and everything has been smooth. I went and sat in the car once last week and it fit first try. I showed up today, sat in it again to make sure nothing changed, and it fit fine again. The radios worked fine. That’s the stuff that I worry about when I go to run a car that I haven’t ran before and everything has been smooth, so far.

I have no doubt that with the depth of talent that Hendrick Motorsports has, that it’s going to be performing at a high-level. It should be easy-going.”

I KNOW THAT WITH THE CAR NUMBER AND THE PAINT SCHEME, IT’S A TRIBUTE TO RICKY HENDRICK. YOU NEVER GOT TO MEET RICKY. WHEN YOU’RE DRIVING A CAR THAT CERTAINLY HAS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE TEAM AND THE OWNER, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE AS MUCH OF THAT RELATIONSHIP. HOW DO YOU FEEL? IS THERE ANY EXTRA WEIGHT ON YOUR SHOULDERS AND HOW DO YOU TRY TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT RICKY SINCE YOU NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO MEET HIM?

“Yeah, that’s a good question. I never got the chance to meet Ricky (Hendrick), but I’ve heard a lot of stories. When we were on vacation last year, we watched that documentary that they came out with years back. So I could kind of learn a little bit about him, his family and Rick and Linda (Hendrick) even more watching that. That was good. 

And then I think for me, having children myself makes me running this car much more important. I can’t imagine losing one of my children and what that would do to me. Talking to Rick on the phone a few different times, he’s so excited about seeing this paint scheme and number on the race track. I hope to see him here this weekend. I know he’s trying hard to get here and we have a good shot to win. I did tell him that it does add some more pressure to you driving this car because you know how special it is to their family and to Hendrick Motorsports as a whole.”

I WAS TALKING TO ONE OF YOUR CREW MEMBERS AND TEHRE ARE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WORKING ON THE CAR THIS WEEKEND THAT DID WORK WITH RICKY (HENDRICK). I WAS CURIOUS IF ANY OF THEM HAD MENTIONED THAT TO YOU YET. 

“I hadn’t heard of that, but that’s really neat and I think that just adds to these races that we’re running with this car. It’s special for everybody at the race shop and anybody who’s ever had a relationship with Ricky (Hendrick) or worked at Hendrick Motorsports in the past. 

I knew we were going to have this paint scheme because it’s Rick (Hendrick) and he’s flipping the bill for it. But when I heard that it was going to be that number and paying tribute to Ricky, I think it just made everybody really excited and it was just the perfect thing to do.”

THIS WEEK, IT CAME OUT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR AN ESPYS FOR DRIVER OF THE YEAR AGAINST MAX VERSTAPPEN, ALEX PALOU AND STEVE TORRENCE. HOW COOL WAS THAT TO BE INCLUDED IN THAT GROUP AND BE UP FOR THAT HONOR?

“It’s a great honor. I know there has been a lot of NASCAR drivers to win the award, so my fingers are crossed that I can win that. That would definitely be one of the coolest awards. Just being nominated alone is a great honor. But if I was to win it and beat a F1 World Champion, as well as the other champions, that would be a great honor. 

We’ll see. I hope. Max (Verstappen) had a great year, as well as everybody else. Hopefully they consider my dirt wins, as well; because if you factor in my dirt wins, then that would give me a better shot.”

CONCORD, NC (July 1, 2022) – Taylor Reimer has become the first female to win a National Midget race after being deemed winner of the May 25 Millbridge Speedway event with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.The historic confirmation of her victory comes days after 15-year-old Jade Avedisian – in her Toyota-powered CBI midget – claimed her first National Midget victory at Jacksonville Speedway (June 26), becoming the first female to see the checkered flag in a National Midget race and making for back-to-back female victors in the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series– a feat not seen in any other national dirt racing series.Reimer, 22, from Tulsa, OK, initially finished second in the Millbridge event to Cannon McIntosh but has been awarded the victory after McIntosh’s recent disqualification – which includes loss of the win, all purse money and championship points.”Ever since I was a little girl, I always set high standards for myself in everything I do and getting a Midget win was the next thing on my list,” Reimer said. “It’s pretty cool to say I’m the first female to win a Midget race, even though it’s not how we expected. A win is a win. We’ll take it, move on and get some more.”The win – in her Toyota-powered Keith Kunz Motorsports midget – comes in only her second full-time year competing on National Midget tours and in the debut season for the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets – joining Avedisian and Gavan Boschele as the only other Xtreme Outlaw Midget winners. It’s a milestone victory that solidifies her name in not only the record books for dirt racing but all of motorsports as a first-time female winner in a national series, joining the likes of Erin Crocker Evernham, Danica Patrick, Hailie Deegan and more.Reimer grew up racing go karts at 6 years old in Tulsa, OK. After picking up a track championship, she moved to Junior Sprints and earned more than 40 Feature wins and a track championship at Port City Raceway.She then moved up to Restricted Winged Micros, securing several more wins at Port City and becoming the winningest female in the history of the raceway.After a six-year break from racing to focus on her academics and cheerleading, Reimer returned to dirt racing with an opportunity to drive a dirt Midget. She won her Heat Race in her USAC debut and has collected more than 20 top-10 finishes in her two years of competing with Xtreme, POWRi and USAC.You can history be made again when the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets make their debut at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 during the Ironman 55 weekend, Friday-Saturday, Aug. 5-6, in conjunction with POWRi.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.

The Xtreme Outlaw Series is brought to fans by important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Low-E Insulation (Presenting sponsor of the non-wing Sprint Car Series), Toyota (Presenting sponsor of the Midgets Series), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier) and SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider). Other partners include:  DRC Chassis, K1 Race Gear, Pace Dyno Services, TJ Forged and Whitz Racing Products.

WEEDSPORT, NY (July 1, 2022) – For the first time in the history of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, The Greatest Show on Dirt will run a doubleheader weekend at Weedsport Speedway, July 30-31.The Empire State Challenge Weekend will see the best Sprint Car drivers in the world make their only trip of the year to New York and battle for glory around the state-of-the-art 3/8-mile track.Joining them throughout the weekend will be the Northeast’s most popular drivers in the DIRTcar 358 Modifieds (Saturday night) and the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds (Sunday night).EMPIRE STATE CHALLENGE WEEKEND – Saturday-Sunday, July 30-31 Track: Weedsport Speedway To Win: $10,000 (Saturday) / $10,000 (Sunday) Location: Weedsport, NY Track Record: 13.401 sec. set by Greg Hodnett on 5/17/15 2021 Winner: David GravelTickets: https://bit.ly/3AaUy6fNotables: The last three World of Outlaws events at Weedsport have produced three different winners – Donny Schatz in 2016, Brent Marks in 2018 and David Gravel in 2021. Of them, Marks and Gravel represented the Northeast with Marks from Pennsylvania and Gravel from Connecticut.Gravel’s win last year came with late race drama as leader Sheldon Haudenschild spun while trying to navigate lap traffic, leaving Gravel to fend off reigning Series champion Brad Sweet for the win.This year, that excitement will be double fold with two nights of high-octane racing. Haudenschild, already having a career season, will be on the hunt for redemption while others like Sweet and fellow championship contenders, Carson Macedo and Pennsylvania’s Logan Schuchart will try to claim their first win at the track.Currently, Gravel and 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz are the only two active full-time Series drivers with a victory at Weedsport.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.

FAIRBURY, IL – July 1, 2022 – The final weekend in July boasts one of the most highly-anticipated events on the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models schedule—the 32nd Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway on July 29-30. 

The 2022 edition of the event is even bigger as there’s more incentive to get to the front in the 100-lap, $50,000-to-win race. Each lap will pay the leader $500, meaning if someone leads all 100 laps, they’ll cash in on a $100,000 payday. 

“It’s humbling to see just how big a growth we’ve been able to make this event over the last few years,” said Matt Curl, Fairbury Speedway track promoter and owner. “We’re kind of bulging at the gates. We really have the layout to make it a different atmosphere than some of the bigger crown jewels because it is land locked a little bit with as many Late Models as we’re expecting. 

“Of course, we have the DIRTcar [Summit Racing Equipment] Modifieds, and we’ll touch 8,000 people here at the end of July. We’re just looking forward to that hospitality that Fairbury is known for and looking forward to a fantastic weekend of World of Outlaw racing at Fairbury.”

Last season, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson led the final 70 laps en route to a $50,000 payday and his first World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Feature win. 

32nd Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway– Friday-Saturday, July 29-30
Track: Fairbury Speedway
To Win: $50,000 (plus $500 per lap led)
Location: Fairbury, IL
Track Record: 12.143 sec. set by Kyle Strickler on 9/15/20
2021 Winner: Kyle Larson

Tickets: https://bit.ly/3QQlw9b

Notables: While Kyle Larson won last year’s event, some of the top names in dirt Late Model racing have found Victory Lane since it became a World of Outlaws CASE Late Models event in 2013. They include New Berlin, IL driver and two-time Classic winner Brandon Sheppard, four-time Series champion Josh Richards, 2022 Eldora Million winner Jonathan Davenport, 2006 Series champion Tim McCreadie, Devin Moran, and Moweaqua, IL campaigner Shannon Babb.

However, one driver on the cusp of a victory at the Prairie Dirt Classic is Oakwood, IL driver and current DIRTcar Summer Nationals point leader Bobby Pierce. The “Smooth Operator” narrowly missed a win in 2019, losing out to Sheppard on the final lap. The Prairie Dirt Classic is an event that means a lot to Pierce, who is hoping to join his dad Bob, who’s won the race five times, on the list of drivers reaching Victory Lane. 

So far this season, the two drivers to beat on 1/4-mile tracks in Series competition are from Illinois. Four-time and reigning Series champion Brandon Sheppard and current point leader Dennis Erb Jr., of Carpentersville, IL, each have a win on that type of track, with Sheppard’s win coming at Jacksonville Speedway last weekend. 

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.

Richard Childress Racing at Road America … Although Road America has been in operation since the 1950’s and has challenged some of the world’s best racers for over 60 years, the first modern day-era NASCAR Cup Series race at the 4-mile, 14-turn road course was in 2021. Tyler Reddick led the way for RCR with an eighth-place finish in the 62-lap event, with Austin Dillon earning a respectable 11th-place finish.

Xfinity Series at Road America … Richard Childress Racing has a successful history in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at the 4.048-mile Wisconsin road course. The Welcome, N.C.-based team scored three consecutive victories with three different drivers – Brendan Gaughan (2014), Paul Menard (2015) and Michael McDowell (2016). Matt Tifft gave RCR its first pole at Road America when he grabbed the top starting spot in 2018. The team has 12 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in 31 starts at Road America. 

Introducing the Carolina Cowboys … Driven by the same passion for performance that guides his race team, Richard Childress’ latest endeavor brings Professional Bull Riding to the Carolinas. The Carolina Cowboys represent Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the PBR Team Series, an elite new league featuring the world’s top bull riders competing in games beginning in July 2022. The team is operated by Richard Childress Racing with 2018 Daytona 500 Champion Austin Dillon serving as General Manager. Don’t miss the Carolina Cowboys inaugural “Cowboy Days” Home Stand September 9-11 at Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Tickets are on sale at PBR.com and Ticketmaster.

Catch the Action … The Henry 180 at Road America will be televised live on Saturday, July 2 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

Follow Sunday’s Action at Nashville … The Kwik Trip 250 at Road America will be televised live on Sunday, July 3 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

Four-time champ passes Billy Moyer on all-time wins list with 101st Hell Tour victory

BROWNSTOWN, IL – June 30, 2022 – Shannon Babb won his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature in 1999 at the dawn of his legendary racing career. Fast forward 23 years later, he now stands alone atop the mountain as the winningest driver in Hell Tour history.

It couldn’t have been more fitting for the four-time champion, breaking through for his 101st career Summer Nationals Feature win in front of his legion of fans, friends and family at Fayette County Speedway – the same place he won his first-ever Feature as a young up-and-comer.

Last year’s celebration of a milestone 100 Summer Nationals wins was sweet, but 101 means even more.

“It knocks it out of the park, really,” said Babb, of Moweaqua, IL. “It means a ton also because we’re right here at a favorite racetrack of mine. My wife and my girls are here tonight, my in-laws and everybody was here.”

A multi-decade veteran of the sport, Babb recalls the days of battling tooth-and-nail for every spot on the track, every win, and every championship against another on of Dirt Late Model racing’s all-time greats, Billy Moyer. With the win Thursday night, he now surpasses the six-time champ for most wins in tour history.

“It blows my mind thinking about all these races,” Babb said. “We might’ve won 101, but there’s probably been 500 of them that we didn’t win that we just got our asses beat at.”

To do it, Babb first had to go through Moyer’s son, Billy Moyer Jr., sneaking past the Batesville, AR-native on the bottom as he got caught-up in lapped traffic on Lap 14 of the 50-lap main event.

From there, Babb played strong defense the rest of the race, holding off players like Moyer, Tanner English and Brian Shirley through multiple restarts and lapped traffic.

“When I got to the lapped cars, the bottom of Turns 1-2 was really good and 3-4 was a little iffy,” Babb said. “You really just don’t know where to go, and I resorted to just staying on the gas, trying to bounce off the cushion and go forward as much as I could. Use the bank a little bit.”

His biggest challenge came on the final restart with three-to-go, when English got a great launch out of Turn 4 and nearly pulled even with Babb into Turn 1. But the Moweaqua Missileheld strong on the top, ripping the lip around the quarter-mile to stay ahead of English’s Riggs Motorsports #81E and secure the victory.

“I thought it was a fantastic race,” Babb said. “Tanner, little Billy [Moyer Jr.] and them guys were all over me. We were just fortunate to get to the front early and be able to hold them off.”

English finished second, less than a second behind Babb at the line, while Bobby Pierce completed a remarkable drive from the tail after blowing a tire early to finish third. Trevor Gundaker matched his season-best finish with the Hell Tour in fourth; Moyer Jr. held onto fifth.

UP NEXT

The Summer Nationals returns to action Friday night at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY, for another $10,000-to-win showdown. If you can’t be at the track, stream it live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 50 Laps | 00:23:17.752

1. 18-Shannon Babb[5]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[4]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[11]; 4. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[3]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[7]; 7. 17X-Michael Kloos[10]; 8. 25-Jason Feger[19]; 9. 14G-Joe Godsey[12]; 10. F1-Payton Freeman[6]; 11. 15-Christian Hanger[21]; 12. 26M-Brent McKinnon[9]; 13. T4-Adam Tischauser[14]; 14. 30-Mark Voigt[15]; 15. 16-Rusty Griffaw[13]; 16. 23NZ-Mick Quin[17]; 17. 14R-Jeff Roth[22]; 18. 10-Daryn Klein[1]; 19. 14-Paul Kuper[16]; 20. 4D-Doug Tye[18]; 21. 10J-Jordan Bauer[8]; 22. 15F-Richard Frost[20]

HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT: Hoffman Tops Harrison at Fayette County for Ninth Win of Season

They met once already this season in DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature action, and Thursday night’s clash of Nick Hoffman and Mike Harrison at Fayette County Speedway was another one for the record books.

The two multi-time champions won their Heat Races and rolled to the track for the Feature on the front row. At the drop of the green, Hoffman got the jump into the lead and began playing defense against Harrison’s big run on the top.

Hoffman stuck mostly to the bottom lane in the 25-lap event, taking heed from the Late Model race before the Modified Feature.

“Just watching that Late Model Feature, I judge a lot of what I do off of what those guys end up doing,” Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC, said. “The Late Model race was won on the bottom, so I did the same.”

Though Harrison gave it everything the car had on the top, he was unable to catch Hoffman in the end. Hoffman cruised across the stripe for his 66th career Summit Modified victory and ninth of the season in 11 starts.

“I was more worried about Kelly Kovski and those Elite [Chassis] guys that could roll around the infield pretty well,” Hoffman said. “Kelly ended up third, Kyle [Steffens] ended up fourth, so it was a good night for us.”

UP NEXT

The Summit Modifieds return to action Friday night at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY. If you can’t be at the track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 25 Laps | 00:11:09.356

1. 2-Nick Hoffman[2]; 2. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 3. 10K-Kelly Kovski[4]; 4. 8-Kyle Steffens[3]; 5. 87Z-Zeb Moake[9]; 6. 63-Bret Eilerman[11]; 7. 33S-Steve Stevenson[6]; 8. 7-Willie Gammill[7]; 9. 88-Chris Bolyard[10]; 10. 4M-Clint Martin[12]; 11. 26- Anthony Carter[13]; 12. 27-Keith Harre[14]; 13. 71-Rayce Baker[16]; 14. 51-Phil Bible[17]; 15. 36-Kenny Wallace[5]; 16. 0- Damian Kiefer[15]; 17. 21M-Willy Myers[8]

Union, KY (June 30, 2022) – Josh Rice repeated his winning performance from last year as the 23-year-old Kentucky native won his second consecutive Ralph Latham Memorial on Thursday night at Florence Speedway. With the $15,000 victory Rice becomes the 14th different winner this year with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. In the race that was originally scheduled for early May, but was rained out, Rice came from the ninth starting spot for the win grabbing the lead away from Earl Pearson Jr. on the 27th lap. Rice was never seriously challenged the rest of the way as he scored the win over Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson, Jason Jameson, and Brandon Sheppard. Pearson’s last Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win was at Florence in July of 2020 and tonight he stormed to the early lead ahead of Thornton and three-time Florence track champion, Robby Hensley. Rice made quick work of several drivers climbing to the second spot by the time the first caution of the race came out with 19 laps complete. Rice stalked Pearson for the lead, passing the four-time series champion on lap 27. The lap was scored as a caution would come out for debris. Under the yellow Pearson pulled off the track after having his oil filter knocked off the car. On the restart Rice immediately pulled away from Thornton and Alberson, leading the race by more than half a straightaway as he raced through traffic. Without the assistance of any caution flags over the last 33 laps of the race Thornton and Alberson could not get close enough to challenge Rice, as he would lap up to the top ten finishers by the time the checkers flew.  In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for his second straight year the reigning Spring 50 winner complimented the fans for their support. “I may not be any good anywhere else, but they can’t say I’m bad here. These fans make it so awesome to do it here. It’s so close to home. The fan base here is unreal. We fired off at the start and the car in three and four was great I kept throwing sliders until I took the lead. It’s unreal to do it in front of these fans. Thanks to Rick Jones, he gave us this ride in 2019 and I think he’s going to keep us around.” “I really wasn’t sliding the car and I was saving the tires. When I got out in front, I thought man I got here awful quick and hopefully I didn’t burn my stuff up. I knew Earl was good. I knew if I could get out in front, I would be so much better. It was good thing it wasn’t 100 laps I was getting wore out. I got to where I couldn’t steer. It’s unbelievable we won this race two years in a row,” said Rice. Thornton, who is still looking for his first series win of the 2022 season came home in second as he recorded his 11th top five finish of the year. “We had a good car and were pretty maneuverable out there. Congrats to Josh on the win; it’s no surprise how well he runs here.” Alberson, who entered the night second in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie-of-the-Year of the chase rounded out the podium with his best career finish with the series. “We haven’t done well here in the past and to come home third against these guys, it also says a lot for this Roberts race team. We have had a really fast car and hopefully we can now get the finishes the team deserves.” The winner’s Rick Jones-owned Rocket Chassis is powered by a Jay Dickens Racing Engine and sponsored by Sunsesis Construction, Blox Spiked Ice, Extreme Sportswear, Integra Racing Shocks, Slicker Graphics, Maxwell Trucking, Stackt Enterprises, and ATC Site Construction. Completing the top ten were Devin Moran, Hudson O’Neal, Ashton Winger, Tim McCreadie, and Tyler Erb. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary 36th Annual Ralph Latham MemorialThursday, June 30th, 2022Florence Speedway – Union, KY Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton, Jr. / 16.355 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran / 16.897 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 3. 11R-Josh Rice[5]; 4. 12-Jason Jameson[2]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 6. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 7. 89-Ashton Winger[3]; 8. (DNS) 57-Shane Mugavin Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 5. 4G-Kody Evans[4]; 6. 83-Scott James[6]; 7. 17-Jeremy Creech[7] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 3. 15-James Rice[3]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 16-Justin Rattliff[5]; 6. 33AJ-Austin Lay[6]; 7. 49-Jimmie Smith[7]; 8. 8-Curt Addison[8] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 21H-Robby Hensley[1]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 3. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[3]; 4. 1G-Devin Gilpin[2]; 5. 18L-Trevor Landrum[6]; 6. 17T-Tim Vance[5]; 7. 28-PJ Simpson[7] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 16-Justin Rattliff[2]; 2. 89-Ashton Winger[9]; 3. 83-Scott James[7]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[5]; 6. 18L-Trevor Landrum[4]; 7. 4G-Kody Evans[3]; 8. 33AJ-Austin Lay[6]; 9. 17-Jeremy Creech[11]; 10. 28-PJ Simpson[12]; 11. 17T-Tim Vance[8]; 12. 8-Curt Addison[14]; 13. (DNS) 49-Jimmie Smith; 14. (DNS) 57-Shane Mugavin 36th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial Feature Finish (60 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 30Lap Leaders: Earl Pearson, Jr. (Laps 1-26); Josh Rice (Laps 27-60)Wrisco Feature Winner: Josh RiceArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 1.689 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: Robby Hensley (Lap 19); Debris (Lap 27)Series Provisionals: n/aFast Time Provisional: Kody Evans; Tim VanceSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisionals: Austin LayBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Josh Rice, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Garrett AlbersonPenske Shocks Top 5: Josh Rice, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Garrett Alberson, Jason Jameson, Brandon SheppardOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Ashton Winger (Advanced 10 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon SheppardHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Josh Rice (34 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Garrett AlbersonDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Earl Pearson, Jr.(Lap 1 – 16.803 seconds)Feature DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Earl Pearson, Jr.Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: James Rice (Josh Rice)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Jay Dickens Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (15.6555 seconds)Time of Race: 27minutes 23 seconds

Elkhart Lake, WISCONSIN – June 30, 2022 – The Franklin Road Apparel Showtime Motorsports team will head for the second stint of the midsummer doubleheader this weekend coming from Mid Ohio to Road America, July 1-3. Team principal Ken Thwaits is sitting in a fine second place in the Driver Championship and NASCAR ace Paul Menard will be looking to continue from where he left off at Charlotte and win again. In TA2, former Champion Cameron Lawrence is in P5 in the standings just seven points off Conor Mosack in P3 and will be looking for better luck out in Elkhart Lake. Menard will be piloting the No. 5 Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro, a fantastic black and yellow Chevrolet Camaro TA1 expertly prepared by the Showtime Motorsports team and benefitting from the new braking system debuted by teammate Ken Thwaits at Ohio. We spoke to Ken ahead of the weekend’s action on what is another huge Trans Am outing for the Tennessee based outfit.  “We’re really looking forward to Road America big time. It’s great to have Paul back,” mentioned Ken Thwaits. “You never quite know how a new car will perform in competition but in testing at VIR Paul broke the track record so it can’t be too bad. It’s a real bumper weekend for the fans with all the NASCAR racing as well. Last year this event sold out and the atmosphere was amazing. This place is something special.” Referencing Cameron Lawrence in the TA2 Class he added, “Our TA2 car is a fast car. We didn’t get a chance to show people what it can do at Ohio but hopefully we’ll get a clear track here and then we’ll see. We just don’t want a repeat of last weekend with a spoiled race.” Located in Wisconsin’s scenic Kettle Moraine, Elkhart Lake’s Road America is one of the world’s fastest permanent road racing tracks. The 640-acre, park-like grounds offer amazing viewing opportunities, fantastic concessions, and high-speed excitement to thousands of spectators each year. Road America is also one of a handful of road circuits in the world maintaining its original configuration being 4.048 miles in length with 14 turns, hence Saturday’s race is over just 25 laps. The track features many elevation changes, along with a long front stretch where speeds near 200mph can be achieved. One of the best-known features of this course is a turn on the backside known as “the kink.” Billed as the Ryan Companies presents the Trans Am 100s at Road America, the schedule for the weekend features the NASCAR Cup Series KWIK TRIP 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America on July 3 joined by the NASCAR XFINITY Series Henry 180 on July 2. Together with the Trans Am presented by Pirelli series and the Mazda MX-5 Cup means multiple races during the weekend. A busy schedule that includes TA qualifications at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 1 with the TA race going green at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 2. The TA2 Drivers practice at 2:00 p.m. on Friday with qualifying in two groups from 8:10 a.m. on Saturday. The TA2 race goes green at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 3.  Kids 16 and under get free general admission to all Road America season racing events with a paying adult at the gate even for the NASCAR Cup Series!  Highlights of the action will again be presented on the CBS Sports Network. Check your local listing for details.

Santa Ana, CA (June 30, 2022) As the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals embarks on its 25th anniversary, the series shifts its iconic Spring Break Shootout season opener to Orlando Speed World in 2023, diversifying the event with even more Blue Oval action. “It’s become clear that modern Ford fans demand motorsport variety, and we plan to celebrate NMRA’s 25th-anniversary tour by bringing the festival atmosphere of our World Finals to the season opener in Orlando, Florida,” explains Steve Wolcott, Founder & CEO of NMRA. “Our fans love drag racing, but we need to offer even more motorsport action around the event. Our move to OSW opens the door to the most exciting Spring Break Shootout yet!” In addition to NMRA Ford drag racing action on the quarter-mile at Orlando Speed World, the facility’s oval track area allows for a host of other activities, including Australian-style burnout contests, an autocross competition, drift exhibitions, and much more.  “We keep improving our multi-use facility to make way for events like NMRA to come to Orlando…” said Ozzy Moya, owner of Orlando Speed World. “We have a popular quarter-mile drag strip and our oval track has been used for sprint car racing and has been home to Formula Drift for the last six years. We’ve done concerts in the oval, and we’ve done a lot of different stuff over there, opening the avenue for future endeavors.” As home to some of the longest-running door-slammer events in the country, OSW is ready to host NMRA drag racing again for the first time in decades. With heads-up drag racing, index classes, True Street action, a huge UPR Products All-Ford car show, a massive manufacturer’s midway, a used-parts swap meet, and several new offerings, the NMRA season opener is set for a triumphant return to Orlando. “Since I purchased Orlando, it’s one of the events I wanted to see come back,” said Moya. “NMRA raced here in 2001 and to see the series return to where it all started is pretty cool.” “We can’t wait to bring our NMRA Spring Break Shootout to Orlando Speed World,” said Rollie Miller, ProMedia General Manager and National Event Director. “Ozzy and his team at OSW are invested in growing and promoting motorsport events at a facility that is primed to increase our NMRA motorsport offerings.”  The Holley NMRA Ford Nationals kicks off its 25th-anniversary season at Orlando Speed World with its iconic NMRA Spring Break Shootout running from March 2-5, 2023.  

MAVTV Plus Live And Future On-Demand Content from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Will Now Be Available On FloRacing  MAVTV Will Continue To Broadcast From Motorsports Venues & Events Around The Country Delivering Content To FloSports Under The “MAVTV On FloRacing” Banner Batavia, OH (June 30, 2022) – MAVTV Motorsports Network and FloSports today announced a new live streaming partnership that will deliver MAVTV Plus live coverage of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series to fans through FloRacing, FloSports’ dedicated motorsports platform. FloRacing and MAVTV Plus will begin co-streaming MAVTV Plus programming to their respective subscribers starting today through midnight on Tuesday, July 26. On July 27, MAVTV Plus programming will be exclusively streamed through FloRacing. MAVTV Motorsports Network programming will still be available through cable television and select digital outlets with FloSports becoming MAVTV Plus’ dedicated direct-to-consumer live-streaming platform. All of this weekend’s events for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be co-streamed through the new MAVTV on FloRacing partnership. Subscribers to both platforms will be able to watch the Ralph Latham Memorial tonight from Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky, the Indepence 50 at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Ohio on Friday, July 1 and the two nights or racing for the Freedom 60 at Muskingum County Speedway in Ohio on Saturday and Sunday, July 2 & 3. “I believe this partnership with MAVTV on FloRacing will be a big positive for our fans,” said Rick Schwallie, Series Director for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “While it never replaces the feeling of being at the racetrack, if you are a fan of our series you will be able to watch our races through this strong platform. I’m proud of our company (MAVTV) and FloRacing for putting this partnership together to help make a better and more valuable experience for our audience.” The alignment of these two titans of motorsports represents one of the most significant industry partnerships between two companies with a shared mission of delivering quality live programming and original content to racing fans who are passionate about a wide spectrum of motorsports. MAVTV has established itself as a producer of outstanding high-quality motorsports productions with a valuable and diverse suite of live events popular with fans. FloRacing operates one of the industry’s leading OTT products that features some of the best in live racing programming and production, combined with a deep editorial coverage of the sport. This partnership will deliver a powerhouse product to fans of motorsports that will stream over 2,000 events annually at an incredible value of under 10 cents a race and just $150 annually. MAVTV Plus subscribers will now have access to the entire FloRacing catalog of events. MAVTV will contact MAVTV Plus subscribers with information about their accounts and instructions on how to access MAVTV on FloRacing to watch new, live MAVTV programming moving forward.  The partnership with MAVTV boosts FloRacing’s comprehensive live motorsports offering with additional 750 hours of programming annually and creates an elevated streaming and customer-centric experience for MAVTV Plus viewers around the world. Fans can subscribe via FloRacing gaining access to over 2,000 races annually for $150 a year, a value equaling less than $0.10 per race. The subscription also unlocks premium FloRacing content including exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes access with drivers, news, analysis as well as archived races and event highlights. Watch the races across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.

ROAD AMERICA ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN JULY 3, 2022  RACE #18 – ROAD AMERICAA NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) doubleheader is on tap for the upcoming holiday weekend, with the series’ stars taking on the longest track in NASCAR: the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course circuit of Road America. Coming off wins in both divisions last weekend, Chevrolet teams seek to carry the Bowtie brand’s momentum over to the left- and right-hand turns of the Wisconsin road course.  Road America made its return to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2021, marking the first time the series made an appearance at the venue since its inaugural season in 1956. Chevrolet’s Chase Elliott added another tally on his road course win count in the series’ return to the circuit by showcasing his road course racing skills from a 34th starting spot and piloting his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to his seventh career road course victory in NASCAR’s premier series. Known as a road course favorite, the victory brought Elliott to third on the all-time NCS road course wins list, sitting behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight).  The NASCAR Xfinity Series made its Road America debut in 2010. In the series’ 12 races at the venue, Chevrolet has made its way to victory lane a manufacturer-leading seven times. Road course master AJ Allmendinger has gone two-for-two in road course wins this season, most recently at Portland International Raceway (June 4, 2022). The victory marked the Kaulig Racing driver’s third consecutive NXS road course win – a feat that ties the series’ record previously recorded by Terry Labonte.  ON A ROAD COURSE STREAKChevrolet has proven to be the one to beat in NASCAR Cup Series road racing competition. Heading into the race weekend, the Bowtie is riding a streak of eight-consecutive NCS road course victories… an accomplishment that started with Chase Elliott’s victory at Circuit of The Americas in March 2021. Most recently adding to the Chevrolet road course win list was Daniel Suarez, who recorded his first career win in NASCAR’s premier series at Sonoma Raceway earlier in June.

VICTORIOUS IN MUSIC CITYSome might have thought that an issue on pit road midway through the race might have taken the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team out of contention, but a resurgence by Chase Elliott in the final stage proved otherwise. Taking the lead for the final time on lap 262, Elliott was out front when a late-race caution flew, with pit strategy coming into play. Crew Chief Alan Gustafson opted to take track position, keeping Elliott out front for a four-lap dash to the finish, with the No. 9 Camaro ZL1 taking the checkered flag first. The win marked Elliott’s second of 2022, making the 26-year-old Georgia native just the fifth repeat winner thus far this season. Elliott’s victory was the ninth for Chevrolet in 17 points-paying races, giving the manufacturer a 66.7 win percentage heading into the Road America race weekend.

CAMARO SS HITS DOUBLE DIGIT WINSReturning from two consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series off weeks, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier kept the Chevrolet win streak alive at Nashville Superspeedway. In dominating fashion, Allgaier piloted his No. 7 Camaro SS to a sweep of the stage wins, leading a race-high 134 laps led en route to his second victory of 2022 and the 18th in his NXS career. Allgaier has now recorded multiple wins in the last three season; and five of the last six dating back to the 2017 season. Allgaier’s victory marked the 10th win for the Camaro SS in 15 NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season. This also includes a seven-race win streak dating back to Noah Gragson’s win at Talladega Superspeedway in April. Allgaier led Chevrolet to four top-10 finishes, including his JR Motorsports teammate, Sam Mayer, in fifth; NXS rookie Austin Hill in eighth; and Brett Moffitt rounding out the top-10 in his No. 02 Our Motorsports Camaro SS.

NCS REGULAR SEASON: NINE-TO-GOThe NASCAR Cup Series is down to a single-digit count of races left in the series’ regular season, increasing the focus on the playoff standings. Following his Nashville Superspeedway triumph, 2020 NCS Champion Chase Elliott stayed atop the driver points standings for the 13th-consecutive week, extending his lead to a 30-point advantage over second-place Ross Chastain. Elliott also now sits at a three-way tie with Chevrolet drivers Ross Chastain and William Byron for the most playoff points accumulated thus far with 13.  In pursuit of defending its NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championship title, Chevrolet continues to build its cushion as the leader in the manufacturer points standings with now 47 points. Sitting at nine wins on the season, Chevrolet has now more than double the amount of wins over its manufacturer competitors. The bowtie brand also continues to lead all manufacturers in top-fives (40), top-10s (77), laps led (2,375) and stage wins (16).

ALLMENDINGER, CHEVROLET REMAINS ON TOPWhile it might not have been the day he had hoped for, AJ Allmendinger remained in the lead of the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver points standings with a 25-point lead over second. Chevrolet drivers occupy five of the top-six spots in the driver standings, including Nashville Superspeedway race winner Justin Allgaier, who moved up the NXS playoff grid to third and 32 points out of the lead. Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammates follow right behind him, with Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Sam Mayer sitting in the fourth through sixth positions, respectively. Mayer remains in the first points-qualifying position in the standings, with his eighth top-five finish in the last 10 races building his playoff cutline cushion to 162 points.  Looking for its sixth-consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer Championship title, Chevrolet continues to pull away in the manufacturer standing’s lead, now sitting at a 72-point lead over second. Eight drivers from four different Chevrolet teams have contributed to those points thus far.  DOUBLE DUTY IN WISCONSINA handful of drivers will take on the 4.048-mile Wisconsin road course for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series races, including four Chevrolet drivers:  ·       2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson will make his return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time since 2018, marking his 109th career start in the series. Larson will be piloting the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Camaro SS, an entry fielded by Hendrick Motorsports. The Chevrolet team will be returning to the series for the first time since 2009, with three races currently on the schedule for the No. 17 Camaro SS: Road America, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Watkins Glen International. Larson has 12 NXS wins on his resume, with his most recent coming in his last start in the series at Bristol Motor Speedway (August 2018). His interim Cup crew chief, Kevin Meendering, will also be pulling double duty this weekend handling the crew chief duties for Larson in both series. ·       Tyler Reddick will be piloting the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Camaro SS again this weekend, marking his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series start of 2022. Reddick has 10 career NXS wins to his name, the most recent last month at Texas Motor Speedway when the 26-year-old Chevrolet driver delivered Big Machine Racing its first win in the series. ·       Ty Dillon will be making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of 2022 at Road America driving the No. 6 Camaro SS for JD Motorsports. In his 157-career NXS starts, Dillon has recorded one win, 34 top-five’s and 91 top-10’s.  ·       Looking to go three-for-three in NASCAR Xfinity Series road course wins in 2022, AJ Allmendinger will also be taking his road course racing skills to the NASCAR Cup Series field on Sunday in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1. Allmendinger has two-career NCS wins, both of which were captured on road course circuits (Watkins Glen – 2014; Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – 2021).  NCWTS ENDS EIGHT-RACE STRETCHThe NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) heads into an off-weekend following the conclusion of an eight-week run on the series’ 23-race schedule. The NCWTS kicked off the tripleheader race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, where Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar led the way for Chevrolet in the final running order in third, his fourth top-five finish of 2022. Joining Hocevar in the top-10 was Max Guitierrez, who piloted the No. 22 AM Racing Silverado RST to an eighth-place finish in just his second-career NCWTS start.  Only two races remain in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season. Hocevar leads Chevrolet drivers in the NCWTS driver standings in the eighth-position and 75 points above the playoff cutline. While an unfortunate result for GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger at Nashville, Enfinger remained in the ninth spot and 39 points above the playoff cutline.  The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to competition at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next Saturday, July 9, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 150.  BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet’s Chase Elliott is the defending winner at Road America, who drove his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the win in the NASCAR Cup Series return to the track in 2021.  ·       A road course favorite, Chase Elliott has recorded seven road course victories in his NASCAR Cup Series career; the most of all active NCS drivers. Elliott also ranks third on the NCS all-time road course wins list behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (nine wins) and Tony Stewart (eight wins). Elliott’s victories have been recorded at five different road courses, a record in series’ history. ·       Chevrolet has won the last eight-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course races, dating back to Chase Elliott’s win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.  ·       Trackhouse Racing has gone two-for-two in NASCAR Cup Series road course wins this season, with Ross Chastain taking the win at Circuit of The Americas and Daniel Suarez’s win at Sonoma Raceway. Each victory also marked first-career NCS wins for both drivers.  ·       Chase Elliott’s victory at Nashville Superspeedway was the ninth win for Chevrolet in 17 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races, giving the bowtie brand a winning average of .667. Chevrolet also continues to lead in NCS top-fives (40), top-10s (77), laps led (2,375) and stage wins (16). ·       Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 16 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins: Tyler Reddick 2 – Fontana x2Alex Bowman 1 – Las VegasRoss Chastain 3 – Las Vegas, Darlington, CharlotteWilliam Byron 3 – Phoenix, Atlanta, TalladegaDaniel Suarez 2 –  COTA, CharlotteChase Elliott 3 – Martinsville x2, CharlotteKyle Larson 2 – Bristol, Sonoma ·       Chase Elliott is now the fifth different repeat winner in the NASCAR Cup Series thus far. Other Chevrolet drivers on that elite list includes William Byron (Atlanta, Martinsville) and Ross Chastain (COTA, Talladega).  ·       Chevrolet leads the driver points standing in both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Chase Elliott remains in the top position in the NCS standings for the 13th consecutive week with a 30-point lead over second; and AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the NXS standings by 25 points. Chevrolet also remains atop both the NCS and NXS manufacturer points standings.  ·       With its 40 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 823 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR.  FOR THE FANS·       Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Road America. ·       Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Blazer RS, Equinox RS, Trailblazer ACTIV, Silverado 1500 LT Trailboss, Traverse High Country, Camaro 2SS Convertible, Silverado ZR2. ·       At the Chevrolet Display, fans can also view Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 show car.  TEAM CHEVY QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE DISPLAY:Saturday, July 2·       Myatt Snider: 10:30-10:45 a.m.·       Justin Allgaier and Miguel Paludo: 10:45-11 a.m. ·       Josh Berry: 11-11:15 a.m. ·       Noah Gragson: 11:30-11:45 a.m. Sunday, July 3·       Tyler Reddick: 11-11:15 a.m. ·       Ty Dillon: 11:15-11:30 a.m.·       Daniel Suarez: 11:45 a.m.-noon Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:  Friday, July 1: 9 a.m-4 p.m. Saturday, July 2: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, July 3: 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.  TUNE INUSA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. Live coverage can also be found on MRN, the NBCSports Gold App, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 2. Live coverage can also be found on MRN, the NBCSports Gold App, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. QUOTABLE QUOTESROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1 HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PREPARE FOR ROAD AMERICA? “I never quite feel like I’m prepared enough. I’ll wake up every day this week and try to be better and will get on the plane to Road America and still be looking at data. I’ll look back at the race last year. Even though I won’t feel prepared enough, I know we will have good cars with a chance to win another race.” DO YOU LIKE GOING TO ROAD AMERICA? “I love going to Road America. I’m excited to get there and get on the track. Obviously, I’m a fan of road courses but I really enjoy Road America.” HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A ROAD COURSE VERSUS AN OVAL TRACK? “Actual preparation of the car for the road courses is so different from what it used to be since we take oval cars and race them on the road courses and vice versa. On the driver side, it’s something as simple as a visual board, chasing dots, reaction times, getting our eyes to look left and up. For ovals, we kind of look out of the top of our helmet and the banking. We are so conditioned to look left since we’ve been oval track racers most of our lives. Muscle memory for the right and getting our muscles and bodies to focus to the right because it’s not as natural. It’s kind of like writing your name with your non-dominate hand, it just doesn’t come as natural.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1LARSON ON PULLING DOUBLE DUTY AT ROAD AMERICA: “There are some big differences between the Cup and Xfinity cars, like braking points and sequential shifting in the Cup car versus an H-pattern in the Xfinity car. But getting more track time is worth it while getting an additional race with Kevin (Meendering) calling the shots will help our communication.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 ELLIOTT ON HEADING BACK TO ROAD AMERICA: “I’m excited to get back to Road America. I thought last year’s event was really good. For me, I was always partial to having the Fourth (of July) race at Daytona, but the crowd was really good and the energy was super high, and I think we need to have an energetic race on the Fourth. That’s a big weekend for our country. It’s a race inside our sport that I think is deserving of a lot of energy too, because we are a sport that’s going on this time of year and that needs to be a big event. I felt like the people up there welcomed us with open arms and brought a lot of energy. Anytime you have energy at the track, it makes it fun for everybody involved – whether you’re working inside the sport, you’re a driver, you’re another a fan there, it just makes for a better event, better environment. Last year, I felt was a great example of that. I hope that’s the case again this weekend. I hope the results are the same this weekend and everybody has a big time.” ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1GUSTAFSON ON WHAT MAKES ROAD AMERICA HARD TO PREPARE FOR: “Road America is different. I love the track. It’s a great visual road course. Braking zones are the first thing that come to mind there, though. You need to be good in those. There’s some really big braking zones that are difficult. The car needs to be able to change direction well and have stability at the same time. You can’t swing the back to change directions. If you do that, then there’s more that the driver has to manage. There’s also the course intricacies that you have to prepare for. There’s a few tight 90 degree corners, the carousel, the kink – a high-speed left. That’s what makes it so difficult. There are so many styles of corners there that make it harder. I think stability in the braking zones and consistency out of the car are the biggest things to hone in on. You key in on one area and want the front tires to be responsive and follow his hands. If we can do that without the back sliding, then that’s ultimately the best thing. We’ll try to do that this weekend at Road America. I’m looking forward to the challenge.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1 BYRON ON HIS THOUGHTS FOR ROAD AMERICA THIS WEEKEND: “I’m excited to head to Road America. I’ve always enjoyed racing there in both series. I feel like it’s one of my strongest road courses that we race at. I finished sixth there in the Xfinity Series in 2017 and, while the Cup race didn’t end the way we wanted, we had a strong run going there all day with a stage one win and a second-place finish in stage two. We have some notes to work off of for this year’s race but the Next Gen car adds an element of unknown still. We’ve really had to work on our road course package this year, and I think we’re starting to get in a better place after Sonoma (Raceway). We just have to keep it moving in the right direction and I think we have a good chance of doing that at Road America this weekend.” RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1 FUGLE ON PREPARING FOR ROAD AMERICA: “Road America presents its own set of challenges compared to other road courses we run at. It’s the longest course we compete on and it’s also the heaviest-braking road course on the schedule. We don’t have a ton of notes heading into this race since last year was the first Cup Series race there. But we had a good race, and the No. 9 won, so we have a good starting point. Plus we’ve had two Next Gen road course races already this year. We have more notes going into this weekend than in the past especially since we’re using the same tire as we did at COTA (Circuit of The Americas). I think some trends will stay the same as well, including that you want to make sure you’re good in the braking zones but also you want to have more grip and drive off in the slower corners of the course. That gives you better lap times.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 BOWMAN ON REBOUNDING FROM THE ALLY 400: “It is always frustrating to not be able to finish a race – just hurts a little more when it’s the Ally 400. Our guys do a phenomenal job of forgetting a bad week and refocusing for a good week and I know we will do that this week for Road America. Greg (Ives, crew chief) will put together a game plan, our guys will build a fast No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and be ready for the green flag this Sunday.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 IVES ON HIS CONFIDENCE HEADING TO ANOTHER ROAD COURSE:“Alex (Bowman) is working really hard on his end to make sure he is studying his notes, prepping for the weekend and leaving no stone unturned for road courses – Road America is no different. We didn’t get a chance to compete in Nashville, so the No. 48 team is focused on putting our best foot forward and bouncing back in a strong way at Road America. Our guys have put together a great No. 48 Ally Chevy and I am confident that we will run well this Sunday. Adding that we will pit in the opposite direction this weekend, our pit crews have also been putting in the time to get ready for an unusual set of circumstances. We just have to go out there and do our best at what we can control and be there at the end for a shot at winning.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT SEEING ROAD AMERICA – A ROAD COURSE – ON THE SCHEDULE NEXT?   “I would be lying to you if I told you I’m not extremely excited about every single road course because I believe that we can win in every single one of them. We have good cars. I have a very good team behind me. I feel like I’ve done a good job with the tools that have been given to me and it’s been fun. So, I’m really looking forward to it. I know it’s going to be a lot of fun for me; and hopefully we can have another strong shot.” ARE YOU THE FAVORITE TO WIN AT ROAD AMERICA?“Honestly, I don’t know. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter to me. I think at COTA, we we’re extremely strong. Our car broke early and we did what we had to do to finish the stage and survive. But in my opinion, we were very, very strong; even stronger than Sonoma. In Sonoma, we had a very good car. We did a very good job calling the race.” HAVE YOU STARTED THINKING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS? “Honestly, I haven’t thought about the Playoffs yet. We still have 2 ½ months before that. I feel like there is still a lot of things to be done before that. It feels good to know that we’re locked-in. But as a race car driver, at least for me, we know that being locked-in doesn’t mean a lot. For me, it means a lot when you have a lot of points in the bank – when you have more than a win, but also at least a few Playoff points. That’s when you start becoming a strong contender in the Playoff races. Hopefully we can get a couple more wins and some more Playoff points. That would be nice.” Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics Manufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 40First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15) Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 33First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)                2022 STATISTICS:                                                                                                    Wins: 9Poles: 3Laps Led: 2,375Top-five finishes: 40Top-10 finishes: 77Stage wins: 16Tyler Reddick (Fontanax2)Alex Bowman (Las Vegas)Ross Chastain (Las Vegas), (Darlington), (Charlotte)William Byron (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega)Daniel Suarez (COTA), (Charlotte)Chase Elliott (Martinsvillex2), (Charlotte)Kyle Larson (Bristol Dirt), (Sonoma) CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 823 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 726Laps led to date: 243,711Top-five finishes to date: 4,178Top-10 finishes to date: 8,632                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,157           Chevrolet: 823           Pontiac: 154           Oldsmobile: 115           Buick: 65            Ford: 815                                                                    Ford: 715           Mercury: 96           Lincoln: 4            Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467           Dodge: 217           Plymouth: 191           Chrysler: 59            Toyota: 166

NASCAR CUP SERIES

ROAD AMERICA

KWIK TRIP 250

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 30, 2022

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media via teleconference in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Road America. Press Conference Transcript: 

WE’RE GOING TO ANOTHER ROAD COURSE THIS WEEKEND, THE THIRD OF THE SEASON. OBVIOUSLY YOU EXCEL ON THESE TYPES OF LAYOUTS. THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND TIME AT ROAD AMERICA FOR THE CUP SERIES. TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET AND HOW MUCH YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING TO WISCONSIN.

“Road America has always been one of my favorite race tracks in anything that I’ve driven over my career. I’ve been fortunate enough to race a lot of races there in different forms of open wheel racing; won a Champ Car race there. It’s a race track that is challenging and unique. There’s not a lot of race tracks, especially in North America, that are like Road America with the speed down the straightaways. You still have really big brake zones. There’s a lot of passing opportunities and a lot of areas to make mistakes. That’s something that’s, in a way, makes it still a true road course because there’s no run-off area, really. You go off the race track, you’re in gravel or grass. So you have to be pretty spot-on on the race track throughout the four miles. 

It’s a fun weekend. Knock on wood, the weather looks really good. I love the crowd there. The Wisconsin race fans, they pack that place in. It’s cool to have Cup going there as well now. We’ve had speed over the first two road courses; winning them in Xfinity. I think we can improve. That’s something we’ve been working hard on at Kaulig Racing. By no means do we think ‘OK, our road course program is set and we’re good to go’. We’ve been working hard to make our race cars faster. It’s going to be a tough field in both series. I’m pumped up to get there and hopefully have a strong weekend.”

IT’S BEEN REALLY HOT THE LAST FEW WEEKENDS AND YOU HAD A LITTLE SITUATION AT NASHVILLE. SO FIRST OFF, HOW ARE YOU DOING AND HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HEALING FROM THAT SITUATION?

“Obviously, it was really hot in Nashville. The Xfinity cars have always been really hot. I was actually OK, the only problem I had on Saturday was my foot got really hot. Going to the shop and looking at the race car, we think we know why. By no means was it cold inside the race car through the rest of cockpit; but really I was actually OK, it was just the fact that my throttle pedal was crazy hot. So when I got out of the race car, I was just trying to cool my feet down and get my shoes off. I was fine Sunday during the race, no issues. I’m feeling good, just rehydrating and getting ready for another long weekend.”

HOPEFULLY NO BLISTERS ON YOUR HEELS. THAT’S THE WORST FEELING ON A ROAD COURSE I WOULD IMAGINE. 

“As we’ve all seen when I walk, I don’t really walk on my heels. I’ve never worn out a pair of shoes in the heels ever. Like I could probably resell all of my shoes from basically the middle of my foot, back, and make all my money back because I never touch the heel of my shoes. The heels have never been a problem. I don’t even wear booties in the car for my feet. It was actually just the pedal itself, so my toes and the top of my foot got really hot. But no blisters, it was all good.”

ON THE XFINITY SIDE, YOU’RE MAKING YOURSELF KNOWN AS A TITLE CONTENDER. YOU DID MENTION ABOUT WANTING TO IMPROVE ON SPEED ON THE ROAD COURSES. HOW ENCOURAGED ARE YOU ABOUT THE OVERALL PACKAGE AT KAULIG RACING? 

“I think it’s one of those things where – obviously we’re leading the points, which is great. If we’re going to be brutally honest – if we had to go race Phoenix tomorrow in the championship, I don’t think we have a shot to win it. But with that said, we still have a good amount of time before the Playoffs start. Last year at this point, we were second in points; probably felt a little bit better about our speed. But because of that, with no practice, we were always afraid to really try anything to try and improve the race car. We kind of thought, ‘OK, we’re still pretty good, we don’t want to hurt that’. The great thing about where we’re at right now, is we know we need speed and all the men and women at Kaulig Racing are working hard trying different things at every race. Nashville was a race track where the year before, even though the finish showed we ran OK, we were actually really bad at. So to go back to Nashville this year, qualify second, be quickest in most of the practice and lead some laps – that was encouraging because we were definitely trying some new stuff. By no means were we the fastest car at the end of the race to go win it, so we definitely have a lot of room to improve. But we’re working hard on it. 

As of this moment, are we the championship favorite? I don’t think so. I think you have to look at all of the JRM cars that have everyone beat. What Justin Allgaier did at Nashville, he put a whooping on us. So we definitely have some work to be done. But that’s what I love about this team – we’re working hard and we are improving. Maybe it’s not as quick as we want to be, but we’ll get there. We have time before the Playoffs start, so that’s what I love about it.”

KNOWNING THAT YOU WON IN 2013 AT ROAD AMERICA IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES, CAN YOU REPEAT THE WIN IN THE XFINITY OR CUP RACE THIS WEEKEND?

“The last two years at Road America for Kaulig Racing, we’ve had really fast cars. We’ve just had a little bit of bad luck. I actually went back and watched the race last night to get ready and realized how fast we were there last year. We just had some mistakes on pit road that put us in the back of the field. And the way the strategy worked out, we didn’t have tires at the end of the race when a couple of those guys did. The previous year, we were the same way. I think we were leading and got the strategy wrong. So we’ve definitely had speed there. We’ve worked hard to try and improve it because just like every series, everyone is improving. It will be a challenge, but I definitely think we’ll have the speed to go win there, we just have to go execute. That’s what’s hard about Road America – because the race track is so long, you can use different strategies and you never really lose a lap. So if you play a strategy and it works out for you, it’s a big advantage. That’s what happened last year for a couple of those guys. 

I have confidence that we can go there, be at our best and really have a shot to win this race. We just have to make sure we execute. That’s what it’s always about. It’s tough to get in the back of the field and try to drive through the field to get back to the front, which is what we had to do a lot last year. By the end of the race, I had used up the car, as well. On speed, I think we’ll be pretty good, we just have to make sure we execute.”

IS ROAD AMERICA ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE TRACKS?

“Road America is up there, for sure. What I love about it – as I said before, you have everything on that race track; long straightaways and really fast corners. The carousel is incredibly fast; turn one is incredibly fast. But you also have big brake zones, like into turn five into Canada Corner. 

It’s easy to use up the tires there. It’s easy to make mistakes. But there’s also a lot of passing opportunities if you get in the back of the field. I love the race track. I think Xfinity always puts on a great race. I think with the Next Gen cars, they are really going to put on a great race in the Cup race on Sunday. I’m happy that I get to be a part of both.”

WILL WE SEE A RACE FINISH LIKE WE DID WITH AUSTIN CINDIRIC OR ROSS CHASTAIN AT ROAD AMERICA?

“(laughs) At the end of the day, I hope we’re battling for the win. That’s what makes it fun. Hopefully it’s a little bit different outcome from COTA with Ross (Chastain). But yeah, especially in the Cup Series, the top-20 can probably win the race if you get it right; maybe even top-25. That’s how difficult the Cup Series is. So it’s not like you can pick one or two guys and say ‘these are the guys I have to go race for the win’. Especially with this Next Gen car, we’ve seen every weekend a different team can hit a setup right and be really fast. We saw what Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher did at Sonoma.

It’s going to be tough, but it would be fun to be battling those guys for the win, for sure.”

HOW MUCH CARRYOVER CAN THERE BE FROM SONOMA OR EVEN COTA TO ROAD AMERICA? 

“I really hope it carries over more from COTA than Sonoma, for us (laughs). COTA, I thought the car was crazy fast. It was one of the most fun cars I’ve driven in my life. Sonoma was not so much of that. I would have to say that if I had to pick out of those two race tracks, it’s probably a little closer to COTA. Sonoma, it’s just tough because you just burn the tires off there. Even if your car is good, you burn the tires off there. It was really difficult to pass. That’s what was shocking at Sonoma with these Next Gen cars. In the past at Sonoma, I’ve been where I’ve gotten in the back of the field for some reason – it wasn’t like you blistered up through the field, but you could make passes. It was really tough to pass at Sonoma with these Next Gen cars. I think we see that at times. At certain race tracks, it’s great racing; and then you go to the next race track and you’re like ‘wow’… like Martinsville, nobody could pass there. 

The speed of COTA and the way the race track kind of flows is closer to Road America. But I do say that Road America has a possibility about using the tires up. I’m still a bit confused sometimes on the race tracks that we go to with these wider tires, low profile tires – they don’t wear out as much as I expect them to and then sometimes they really do wear out. Like Sonoma, there was nothing I could do to keep the rear tires on the car. I would burn them off so quick. 

I think we learned a lot from Sonoma of what we were trying to do that didn’t work. So kind of use what we learned at COTA, went to the simulator and felt pretty good about it. But we’ll see when we unload there on Saturday for the Cup cars and see where we’re at.”

WITH THE CUP CAR, WHAT’S IT LIKE FROM THE DRIVER’S POINT OF VIEW IN TERMS OF CONSISTENCY? WHAT’S IT LIKE ON A DRIVER WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE – MAYBE ONE WEEK YOU’RE ON TOP OF THE WORLD AND THE NEXT WEEK YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF 25TH. 

“For me personally, it’s fun. Let’s be completely honest here – like in the past, especially with the old car when we were with the No. 47 car, we knew that with these types of races we could go run well. But you knew half of the time at a 1.5-mile race track – no matter what you did, you could be perfect that weekend and you’d probably run 20th just because those cars had been massaged so much, aero-wise. And the big teams knew so many tricks of what they could get through tech; what they could show the officials to get them looking in that area and know other areas that they could really cheat up and it would never be seen. So it was tough sometimes going to those race weekends and going ‘I hope at best we can run 18th’. With this Next Gen car now, your eyes are kind of wide open. Yeah there are some weekends that I’ve gotten in the car and you’re just terrible all weekend and it’s a struggle. But also, when we went to St. Louis – I had no practice, had never seen the place before. We got the car dialed in mid-race and we drove up through the field. I actually thought we had a top-five car by the end of the race. Even last week, we got the car right and we were getting to the edge of the top-10. 

That makes it fun because you know if you hit the setup right – the two road courses are the perfect example of that. COTA, I started at the back and we were a top-two car all day, between me and Ross (Chastain). Sonoma, I was at best 11th or 12th. So it does make it fun because you know if your team executes and you get the setup right, you can go have a shot to win races or run upfront. I think what it is, is they’re so aero-sensitive of getting the nose right on the front, getting the rear right and getting everything to go along with that – it’s hard to hit the setup. So I think that’s why you see that inconsistency, but I think it makes it fun. All these teams are showing up to these races knowing they have a shot to do well if they get the setup right.”

WHAT’S IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE 10 OF KAULIG RACING’S 16 WINS IN THE XFINITY SERIES?

“Yeah, it’s special to me. I was very fortunate at the No. 47 to get their first Cup win and you get that banner hanging in there. To come to Kaulig Racing back in 2019, there were some pole banners hung, some stage wins banners, but no win banners. It was something that as I got to know Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice and all the men and women there – I really took pride of being like ‘OK, I hope I can help be a part of this organization and try to make it better’. 

I go to the race track and the race shop – even at this stage in my career and life – probably with more anticipation and anxiety because I want to be at my best for this organization because I want to go win races. So to be able to see all of those banners and have a Cup win banner in there from Indy is really special. I love it. Whether I’m in the race car or out of the race car, I just want to make the race team better and hopefully I’m a small part of that.”

WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE COMING UP, YOU ONLY GO THERE ONE TIME A YEAR. WHAT OTHER TRACKS ARE YOU ABLE TO APPLY NOTES FROM TO NEW HAMPSHIRE?

“Loudon, we’ve been there enough – at least I have and a lot of these teams – that we kind of have an idea of what the race track is. I would say that the resin they put down there at times does change it a bit. So it makes it a little more difficult of trying to figure out what the race track is going to do. The resin is actually a lot more consistent than the PJ-1 is, so it’s a little easier. But it still throws that curve ball into the race track. 

What’s it like compared to other race tracks? I think you can look at a place like Martinsville – if the car was turning good there and had good grip, you can apply it a bit. But it is unique. It’s probably actually a little bit like St. Louis too, even though the straightaways are a little bit longer at St. Louis. But it’s its own race track. 

If you’re asking about race tracks that maybe we only go to once and we should only go to once, I think there’s open possibilities as long as you have other race tracks that you could put on the schedule and add. That’s what’s great about NASCAR and where it’s at right now. With the scheduling, they do have options of maybe trying a new race track and we’ve seen that. Moving down the future, I think there are great possibilities of maybe only going to a race track once and you add another different city that we haven’t been to and you go to. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about that. I just drive at the race tracks that they tell us to drive at. 

Loudon, I will always say – when your car is right, I’ve always enjoyed that race track. When it’s wrong, it’s one of the hardest and most difficult race tracks because you can’t do anything about it and you seem like you’re always in the way. I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum there, so hopefully we’re on the good end in a couple of weeks.”

YOU HAD SOME ISSUES WITH HEAT AT NASHVILLE. ARE THERE ANY CHANGES THAT CAN BE MADE TO HELP WITH THAT, EITHER THIS WEEKEND AT ROAD AMERICA OR AT THE NEXT EXPECTED HOT RACE AT ATLANTA?

“The Xfinity car – I don’t honestly know why, but they’re just hot. The cars themselves, whether the right-side window is in or the right-side window is out, they’re just hot. That’s something that during these hot races, you just have to deal with it. I’ve always said that the Xfinity cars are a good bit hotter than the Cup cars. The Cup cars when we first started testing before they started putting the vents and everything into the car, they were crazy hot. But since then, they haven’t been too bad. 

The Xfinity cars are just hot and you know that getting into the races that they’re going to hot. Our issue at Nashville I think we figured out, as to why it was extremely hot in the footbox. So I’m not as worried about it going to Atlanta. But yeah, during these summer races, you just have to prepare yourself. Kaulig Racing does a lot with cooling. We have the cool shirt that we all wear and that helps a huge amount. The rest of it, you just try to train for, hydrate and be ready.”

Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing team will be on the hunt for their third consecutive sweep of the Independence Day Spectacular, July 1-2By Nick GrazianoNEW RICHMOND, WI (June 30, 2022) – With five consecutive wins at Cedar Lake Speedway, Brad Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing team have had a big circle around the Independence Day Spectacular weekend, July 1-2. But for more reasons than the obvious one.While their overall stats say it’s a track they should be ready to win at again, their 2022 stats have them hoping the doubleheader event in Wisconsin will show them what’s been missing this season.“This is a good test for us to see, like, if we’re bad at Cedar Lake we’re a lot further off than we probably realized,” Sweet said. “I think it is a big weekend for our team to get back on track. I’m very hopeful that it will go good and we can build some momentum off that.”This time last year the Grass Valley, CA driver had 10 wins. Currently, he has one – the first time in his full-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series career he’s gone the first half of the season without multiple victories.“I think [we’re] just trying to find the right balance with the race car,” Sweet said. “Whether things change with tires or whatever. We just haven’t been able to get me 100% comfortable. We’ve struggled a little bit with qualifying, track position and things. But we’ve been showing some signs. Hopefully we can kind of get rolling at the right time this year.”At the beginning of June, he earned his first podium finish in more than a month with a second-place run at River Cities Speedway and then backed it up the following week with another second-place run at Knoxville Raceway.He’s scored six top-10 finishes in the last six starts with his worst finish being 14th during the Huset’s High Bank Nationals. However, he and his team, consisting of crew chief Eric Prutzman and crew members Joe Mooney and Andrew Bowman, were able to avoid a DNF one night after a wild flip during the event – a feat that even surprised the three-time and defending champion.“I do think that one good thing about our team with the experience that we have is we do really well at getting the most out of it,” Sweet said. “Even if it’s not a win on a certain night, we figure out how to get a fifth or a seventh or a sixth and not make too many mistakes.“Even this weekend at Huset’s, the preparation of our race team and how they were able to get me back on the track was just amazing, even to me. My guys are really well oiled. Really great race team. All that stuff pays off, especially when you’re struggling to have those kinds of rebounds and salvages are really good.”With their resilient nature, Sweet has kept his NAPA Auto Parts #49 car atop the points standings, but the competition is closing. Four drivers are currently within 60 points of Sweet – Carson Macedo (-12), Sheldon Haudenschild (-24), David Gravel (-46) and Logan Schuchart (-54).Sweet acknowledged the competition has increased this year as more teams continue to learn and grow. However, he said a benefit, so far, is no one has hit on a perfect setup every race.“Everybody is good one night, think they have a handle on it, then show up the next night and it’s not as good,” he added.Other than a new livery, Sweet and his KKR team didn’t change anything with their program from 2021 into 2022. There’s just been a missing piece to the puzzle. The size of that piece is the bigger mystery. Having been successful with about every setup he’s ran at Cedar Lake, Sweet hopes they can finally close the case this weekend before the “Summer of Money” with events like The Historical Big 1 (July 14), Kings Royal (July 16), Summer Nationals (July 22-23), Ironman 55 (Aug. 5-6), Knoxville Nationals (Aug. 10-13) and more.“If we’re not in contention this weekend I think we’ll have to really look at our program and make a lot bigger changes quicker as far as taking swings at it,” Sweet said. “If we’re just missing it a little bit, I think this is the weekend we’ll find that.”

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: NOS Energy Drink (Official Energy Product), Case Construction Equipment (Official Construction Equipment), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ACME Trading, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), Micro-Lite LLC, MSD, My Place Hotels; manufacturer sponsors include Dirt Car Lift, FIREBULL, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, and Sea Foam.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.