Category Archives: Uncategorized

Burton Finishes a Season-Best Sixth at Darlington

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

May 14, 2023

A strong effort from the start to finish of Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway delivered a season-best sixth-place finish for Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team.

Burton, running a throwback paint scheme honoring the No. 99 Ford his dad Jeff Burton raced in 1999, took the green flag from 14^th place, his best start of the season.

He quickly moved forward and ran in the top 10 for a time before ending the first 90-lap Stage in 11^th place.

He fell back a bit in the second Stage after a slow pit stop and ended that 90-lap segment in 18^th place, but was back in the top 15 by Lap 210.

Burton had dropped back out of the top 15 as the laps wound down, but a series of late caution periods offered him a chance to capitalize on the speed of his DEX Imaging Mustang.

He drove past a multi-car crash on a restart following a spin by Ryan Newman, and that put him in eighth place for the next restart, with six laps remaining.

Another restart crash paved the way for Burton to move into the top five headed into an Overtime run to the finish, where he came away with a sixth-place finish, his first top-10 of the season.

Burton told reporters at the track that the Darlington performance adds to the optimism that’s building for him and the DEX Imaging team.

“Things are starting to click,” he said, adding that as gets well into his sophomore season in the Cup Series he’s becoming more comfortable behind the wheel. “Things are coming easier… We’ve just got to keep this going.”

He said the strong Darlington run came at a good time and is something he and the team can build on in the near future.

“We really needed it,” Burton said. “The last few weeks we’ve kind of been on the other side of it, where we’ve been fast and didn’t have anything to show for it.

“This week was kind of the opposite. We were probably a 10th-place car and finished sixth. That was just about execution at the end, restarts at the end and getting a decent finish.”

Burton and the No. 21 team now turn their attention to the NASCAR All-Star Race next Sunday at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway.

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NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON RACEWAY GOODYEAR 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT MAY 14, 2023

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

William Byron Caps off Chevrolet’s Weekend Sweep with Win at DarlingtonChevrolet’s Series-Leading Eighth NCS Win of the 2023 Season

·       The win is Byron’s third NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season – a series-leading feat – and his seventh career win in NASCAR’s premier series.
·       Byron’s triumph marked the 100th all-time win for the iconic No. 24 – all captured with Chevrolet.
·       The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Darlington Racing to 43 all-time victories at the 1.366-mile South Carolina oval.
·       The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 841 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series. ·       Chevrolet swept the NASCAR tripleheader race weekend at Darlington Raceway, with Christian Eckes and the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Silverado RST team taking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and Kyle Larson and the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS team taking the NASCAR Xfinity Series win.

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1, and RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript
THE MODERATOR: At the start of this press conference I shared an interesting stat with Jeff and Rick that I want to share with you guys, as well. This is the 100th win for the No. 24. Your reaction to that?
WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, we were well aware on the team. It’s kind of that hump we wanted to get over pretty quick. I think I was a little bit anxious about it. Getting those two wins early in the year and then trying to get a third is tough. In this sport everyone is so competitive, as we saw today. You had four or five cars within a chance for the lead.
Yeah, just good to get over that hump and get to get that monumental win for the No. 24. It’s been a really special number to me already.
RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, for sure. Like he said, we were well aware. Been working on it since Phoenix.That number is iconic, and sitting next to the two that just left here, still got to pinch yourself to know you’re working for them, with them, and winning races in the 24. Just proud to get win No. 100.
Q. For both of you, what is it about each other that has you finding where you are now, three wins this year? What do you see in each other that encourages the other, and how does all that work?WILLIAM BYRON: I think that we just at our core, we trust each other in the decisions that we make. I think that goes a long way in this sport because a lot of times even if we don’t make the right decision, the right choice on a restart or the right adjustment or whatever, like we finally — we get back to where we need to be because of that trust. I think that’s what it takes.
RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, the trust and then I think each one of us has picked each other up at different times. Each part of the team has picked each other up all year long, so you prove that it’s a team. We’ve known that. We’ve tried to build that culture in year three, but it’s getting there for sure.
Q. William, were you aware that Harvick’s car was somewhat wounded there before the final restart, and did that factor into how you raced at all?WILLIAM BYRON: No, but I was aware that the guys behind me had some damage, so I was kind of picking a little bit based on that, but also the history of how each person races. Every restart is different. You’ve got to understand the characters around you, and I felt like we went with the decision that obviously put a little bit in the hands of the people around us, but also was — I would say in my head, coming to the restart was 75 percent the right choice.
I spent a lot of time debating in my head. You have a lot of time to figure it out. But I felt like I made the decision that made the most sense.
Q. You had a really good view of all the crazy stuff happening at the front there over the last 20 laps or so. It seemed at the green flag you really took off to get away from Harvick, which is obviously what you want to do, but were you concerned that he might attempt something that the other guys had racing for first over those last laps?WILLIAM BYRON: No, because I feel like — he’s going to do whatever he can to win, obviously, but it does matter in this sport how you race others. I think with the 1, like he had done that move early in the race, and it had come back his way, and then on that restart with them lined up in front of me, I kind of knew what to expect. That was part of our decision making there.
Then coming to that final restart, you kind of have to put that in the memory bank and think about, okay, who are the people I’m up against in this situation, and we tried to make the best decision based on that.
Q. William, that’s what I wanted to ask you about. Were you prepared before that next to last restart that Kyle and Ross were probably could get into a situation like that, and so you were prepared to just avoid whatever situation they were in?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, we talked about it. All those things — like emotions, if they factor into decisions are important for us. We talked as soon as the caution came out about what we thought was going to happen, and Rudy did a great job filling me in. Obviously I can’t listen but I can assume based on all the information.
We try to make the best decisions, and today I felt like we grinded our way through this race. It was a tough race for us, but we kept our heads in it, and that’s what made us make good calls at the end to get us in a position — I don’t think we really thought we could win in the first restart when there was that big wreck. Then we started to get a glimmer of hope and then we started to go to work on what are the things we need to do to win it.
Q. How much did last year’s finish here affect you coming in this year? Did you think about it a lot this weekend, or did you just put it out of your hand?WILLIAM BYRON: No, no, I don’t — I think — I came here being excited to race at Darlington. I felt like it would be a tough weekend because of some of our falloff the previous weeks, so I was hopeful that we worked on it, and we did, and we had a good long run car. I was just kind of thinking about those things, just really the things that matter to us and our team.
We went out and put together a great day. It wasn’t going to be the day we hoped for, but that’s how it goes sometimes. That’s kind of what we said on the radio. We’re like, man, we surprised ourselves.
Q. When you first got out of the car and they were asking you about win No. 100 for the 24, you said you were thankful to get the opportunity to drive that car, but you also said it felt like maybe you were too young at the time. I was just wondering, what is it years later now that has made you come to the realization that maybe that was the case?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think I’m just honest with myself and reflective, and I felt like — I feel like I’m a different person than I was when I stepped in the car. It was a lot of pressure driving the 24, no matter what way you slice it. It’s a big number and has a lot of meaning and being with a team like this.Yeah, I feel like that growth process happened, and I don’t really look back and say — I don’t compare myself to then. I have different people around me that really know me.
It’s great what we’ve built, and yeah, it’s different.
Q. Last year I want to say you won two in the first eight races and then didn’t win again. I’m curious —WILLIAM BYRON: Thanks for the reminder.
Q. I’m curious if those thoughts started going through your head after two early wins this year. I don’t want to say 10 races or nine races is a long winless streak, but did you feel that this year was going any different than after your two wins last year?WILLIAM BYRON: For sure. I think we had kind of a chip and a little bit of just trying not to let that happen again. So we’ve been probably overexerting ourselves a little bit just to make sure that we don’t repeat.
Now I think we’re safely in a groove here where we’ve got to continue our processes, continue what got us here, but it definitely feels different than what we had last year where I felt like after we won those couple races we were kind of — we had just kind of a false confidence, I think.We’ve learned from that. I have. I don’t intend on doing that again.
Q. You look at the stats this year, laps led, average running position, that kind of thing, stage wins, do you guys feel like you should have more wins than you have right now?RUDY FUGLE: I mean, this is the hardest form of motorsports in North America. It’s hard. We run up front and we lead a lot of laps and put ourselves in position, but you don’t always win. We’d like to win more, but to me it’s the process. It’s how do you put yourself in a spot to practice well and then qualify well and then race well and lead laps. That’s what we’re doing week in and week out, no matter the type of track. That’s what we didn’t have last year. We kind of — Atlanta is a win, was what it was, and Martinsville is on its own and a night race that was 40 degrees.
We weren’t dominating being in the top 3 or 4, but we consistently have the best running position of anybody in the series, and that’s what we’re doing. You don’t always win those races, unfortunately.I just want to know how to do — that our team can compete like that, because if you do that and you put yourself in position to win, you’re going to win the races like today where we weren’t the best car but we were close.
WILLIAM BYRON: I mean, Richmond was hard to swallow because I think our MO together is get the best finish that we can, and at Richmond, we went from battling Martin for the win, probably going to finish — maybe going to finish second and then go to 24th. So that one was the hardest year to go back on Monday and be like, what happened.
Yeah, other than that, I don’t know, races can go any way I feel like, but certainly the statistics show, which I’m a big stats guy, I look at our running position, like he said, and stage points and it looks pretty good. We’ve just got to keep the process that we have going because it’s obviously working.
Q. You look at the last few years, Harvick in ’20, Larson in ’21, you could throw Hamlin in that mix, as well. There’s basically a group of guys that have dominated, asserted themselves way clear of anyone else. Do you guys feel you’re capable of that and that’s your ceiling?WILLIAM BYRON: I think we’ll look back at today and think about the things we could do better, and I think that’s how we’re going to get better. I think when we come back here in the fall if we apply all those things — yeah, I think we’re on a good trajectory, but I don’t really look at potential as much as I look at, okay, how can we improve. There’s still a lot to do, but think about North Wilkesboro. I’ve got a late model race on Tuesday, so I’m going to think about that.
THE MODERATOR: Rudy, thanks so much for joining us, and congratulations.
Q. You’re going to Wilkesboro Tuesday night to race in the late model races. What do you think the fans’ reaction is going to be to being back in that place and watching you and a bunch of other Cup drivers Tuesday and Wednesday, and what do you expect out of the weekend leading into the All-Star Race?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, the track looks juror I couldn’t say. It really looks nice. The whole layout of the place has that feel of kind of a Wrigley Field or just a historic place that has a newness to it. I’m excited for it. I think the late model race will get me ready, running the truck race after that and running the Cup race on Sunday. Lots to do, and feel like we don’t really know what we’re getting into yet. I think I practice at 1:00 on Tuesday, so I’ll tell you after that.
Q. We touched on this maybe a little bit the other day, kind of talked about the fighting and stuff, but you look at with Ross and everything today, what would it take for you to maybe want to confront him and send a message that this isn’t how you want to be raced?WILLIAM BYRON: I mean, I’ve got to preface it with honestly, Ross and I race pretty good. I think he was a little bit better than me at times today, and we kind of traded positions here and there. But I do think some of the things I’ve seen feel like they’re a little bit over the line, and I feel like whatever that line is has to kind of come back down just a little bit. There’s a certain point when wrecking is just not the answer.
I don’t know what that would entail, but yeah, there’s a line. Like we all have pedals and a steering wheel, so there’s a way to give it back.
I saw a lot of wrecking today, so I didn’t really like that. I thought we had some really good cars out there and could have maybe settled it out that way.
Q. Did you anticipate Ross trying to pinch Kyle up high, so were you thinking, okay, I’m going to stay promptly as low as I can and keep momentum on that restart?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, we talked about it under the caution. We talked about just what was going on and whether we felt like that was going to come into play again.
I was surprised that Ross got the lead on the restart. I guess they were really close side by side. So he got the lead, and when he chose the bottom, I wasn’t surprised, so I chose the bottom, too. But I felt like what I really felt like was going to happen was somebody on the top was going to lose momentum because he was going to take that line away. I didn’t think they would wreck, but obviously it happened, and we rolled on by. I was kind of hopeful that they’d get choked up and I’d just go to the bottom three wide and clear them all.
Q. You said you’re a stats guy, so you know where you stack up against the competition, but do you feel like this team gets the respect or gets recognized as it should for what you guys are doing and where you should stack up in this garage?WILLIAM BYRON: I mean, I’ve heard a lot of different opinions. But I think as a team, I think — and statistically, I feel like we’re right where we need to be. There’s a couple other guys that are really close or even a little bit better in some categories. Kyle has been really strong. I feel like he’s really fast on some of the bigger tracks. Ross has good stats.
Yeah, I look at all that stuff, laps led, average running position, all those things.I feel like most of the things I’ve looked at, I feel like we’re pretty good. I do have a couple areas where I feel like we could improve and we’ll keep working on.
Q. You feel like you’re a top-5 driver in this garage right now?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, for sure, definitely that. It’s just really hard to separate at the top. I feel like there’s a few guys that could win every week. Being in that little bit is tough, but sometimes they go your way, and you just try to stay up there and in contention.
Q. What about winning at Darlington? This is a place that gets a lot of recognition for how tough it is and there’s always talk coming into every Darlington weekend that experience is going to win out. You’re a relatively younger guy. What does winning at Darlington say or what does it mean?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, it’s a track that takes a lot of patience, but also aggression. Like you can’t run at 90 percent. You’ve got to run at 98 or 99. But that edge is really close, and I feel like that’s what catches young guys out is, at least for me, I made mistakes and then try to back off and drive easier and it just doesn’t work.
It’s one of those places you have to be kind of on that edge and just have to really cut it close. But that’s what makes speed. But also being patient enough to not overstep that edge because you really can’t — you can maybe do it a couple times, but it’s tough.
Q. Where does it stack up for you?WILLIAM BYRON: It’s up there for sure. Probably not the win that sticks out just dominating the race or anything like that. But being up front, being in contention, and based on the past history we’ve had here, I think it definitely — it stacks up pretty high.

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William Byron Caps off Chevrolet’s Weekend Sweep with Win at Darlington

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON RACEWAY GOODYEAR 400

Chevrolet’s Series-Leading Eighth NCS Win of the 2023 Season

·       The win is Byron’s third NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season – a series-leading feat – and his seventh career win in NASCAR’s premier series.
·       Byron’s triumph marked the 100th all-time win for the iconic No. 24 – all captured with Chevrolet.
·       The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Darlington Racing to 44 all-time victories at the 1.366-mile South Carolina oval.
·       The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 841 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series. ·       Chevrolet swept the NASCAR tripleheader race weekend at Darlington Raceway, with Christian Eckes and the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Silverado RST team taking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and Kyle Larson and the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS team taking the NASCAR Xfinity Series win.

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner QuotesOne year ago the frustration, the fire, that we saw in you of being wrecked from the lead with two to go. Now you come back here a year later, a little bit of redemption. Put into words what this one means.“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. My granddad passed away on Thursday, and just man, I wish my family could be here. Just things have a way of working out, honestly. It just worked out that way today. We didn’t have the best third stage. We just kept battling, and things just kind of came back around. Want to wish happy Mother’s Day to my mom. My sister just graduated school, so big day. Definitely didn’t expect this. But just thankful for a great team. Just things have a way of working out, and to come back here to Darlington and have it go exactly the other way.” There’s a lot to celebrate, obviously. It’s NASCAR’s 75th anniversary. You do it at the second oldest track at Darlington. I just heard your team say win No. 100 for the No. 24. What can you say about this team and the process that you guys have gone through this year?“Yeah, I’m just thankful that I was able to get in this No. 24 car. I was too young at the time I feel like, but growing up, maturing and just having a great team around me and being able to build the core that we have. I have a great group of guys – Rudy (Fugle, crew chief), Brandon McSwain, Tyler (Jones, car chief), everybody on the team does a great job preparing good cars, and we work hard at it. It’s nice to see it go our way once.” TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS. DRIVER1st William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Throwback Camaro ZL13rd Chase Elliott, No. 9 LLumar Throwback Camaro ZL17th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL18th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS. DRIVER1st William Byron (Chevrolet)2nd Kevin Harvick (Ford)3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)4th Brad Keselowski (Ford)5th Bubba Wallace (Toyota)

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at North Wilkesboro Speedway with the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 21, at 8 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express/UPS Camaro ZL1Finished: 29th The second-to-last restart, what happened in turn one? “Full commit into (turn) one. I got really tight, drove up and turned myself. I wanted to squeeze him, I wanted to push him up. We had been trading positions back-and-forth all day and I wanted to push him up, for sure, but definitely didn’t want to turn myself into the wall.”
How frustrated do you think Kyle Larson is going to be with you after this one? “I’m the one standing here talking to you (at the infield care center). For everyone at Worldwide Express, Unishippers, GlobalTranz and to drive the big brown truck today with UPS on the hood was a dream come true. We had a shot and that’s all we could ask for.”
You had one of the dominant cars today, but Kyle Larson also had a dominant car. Take us through what happened.“Just fully committed into turn one and got way tighter than I thought. For our Worldwide Express Chevy and driving the big brown truck with UPS on the hood today – definitely wanted to squeeze him (Kyle Larson) up, but didn’t want to turn myself and ultimately took ourselves out of the race.”

Chase Elliott, No. 9 LLumar Throwback Camaro ZL1Finished: 3rdI know you wanted to win, but you had a solid race.“It was a solid finish, for sure. I felt like our No. 9 LLumar Chevy was plenty good enough to go up there and battle with those guys to win. I just struggled so bad in traffic; way worse than other guys do driving this caliber of a car. I just feel like from that standpoint, I’ve got a lot of work to do on my end. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and our team has done a really good job preparing good racecars. Our pit stops really kept us in the game all day. Obviously we got really fortunate and lucky with those cautions coming out.”
Chase, your best finish since returning from the injury. I know it wasn’t easy. You had to start mid-pack. Take us through the race and how you felt at the end.“Yeah, I feel like our car was plenty good, really, throughout the whole day. I just do such a terrible job getting up through traffic. I get stalled out behind guys, and I just feel like people driving cars like mine don’t do that. They tend to get up through there and get to where they belong.
I feel like everything on the other side of the wall and the car that I was driving was really, really good, so I need to just try to improve and keep going to work on the areas that I’m struggling in and try to build on the improvements we’ve made. But I certainly have a long ways to go.
Really proud of our No. 9 LLumar Chevy team’s effort to keep us in the fight. Pit stops were unreal, and obviously got really lucky there at the end with those guys crashing, and then the caution coming out quick for myself and guys like Brad (Keselowski) to keep our spots like that.I’ll certainly take third, and appreciate all the effort this weekend. We’re making some small gains here and there, just got to get some more.”

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1Finished: 8th “Overall we had a good day. We found a good package in practice that we utilized to get a pretty decent qualifying spot compared to where we’ve been. We just kept our heads in the game all day, made some good changes and caught a few lucky breaks. We’re happy with today’s finish as a team. “

Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 26th“Great day overall for our No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. I thought everybody at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB did a great job. I know it’s not the finish we want, but I think that’s the best race we’ve put together throughout the year. Not being so result-orientated, but more on just building the process and getting better as a team. This process is the most important thing to me right now. It’s been tough this year. I thought we put together a really good race, even with damage. We’re getting better – from practice, to qualifying, to the race. Those improvements, it’s going to take more weeks of it, but we need strong weeks like this. The pit crew did an unbelievable job day long. We picked up spots on pit road it felt like every time. I think this team is going to start getting into a rhythm now. These tracks coming up – a few of them I’ve ran, but it’s a little different running with a different organization. But once we get through these early summer months and start going to tracks for a second time, I really think we’re going to build on this program. Really happy with our day. Grateful for the process, improving and all the guys’ hard work.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Stage One·       Team Chevy drivers took the third through seventh-place starting positions in today’s NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, led by the reigning Daytona 500 Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1 team.
·       The only caution in Stage One fell on lap 37 for fluid on the track, allowing the field to come down pit road for the race’s first round of pit stops. Daniel Suarez was issued a pit road speeding penalty, forcing the No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1 team to restart the race from the rear of the field.
·       Kyle Larson also had an issue during his pit stop under caution, putting the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team back in the 23rd position for the restart with 47 laps to go.
·       The remaining portion of the 90-lap opening stage went caution-free, with William Byron and the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 team leading the Bowtie brigade in the runner-up position.
·       Four drivers from four different Chevrolet teams recorded stage points with a top-10 finish in Stage One: 2nd      William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL14th      Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express / UPS Camaro ZL15th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL17th      Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1

Stage Two·       During a round of pit stops during the stage break, Kyle Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.comCamaro ZL1 pit crew laid down a quick stop to gain Larson four positions on pit road – the most positions gained among the top-10 cars.
·       A strong contingency of Team Chevy drivers were represented in the top-10 of the running order mid-way through Stage One with William Byron – running in second – leading the manufacturer to five of top-eight positions at the lap 123 marker.
·       With green-flag pit stops taking place at the mid-way point of the stage, Byron regained the second position as the field cycled through.
·       In the closing laps of Stage Two, Chastain closed in on then-race leader Martin Truex Jr., ultimately taking the lead on lap 151.
·       The battle for the stage win continued all the way to the green-white checkered flag, with Chastain ultimately taking the stage win – his fifth stage win of the season.
·       Chastain led Team Chevy to five top-10 finishes in Stage Two, including a sweep of the top-four positions: 1st      Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express / UPS Camaro ZL1 2nd      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL13rd      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL14th      William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL19th      Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1

Final Stage / Post-Race Notes·       Continuing a strong performance on pit road, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 pit crew powered off another fast stop during the stage break, getting Larson off first on pit road for a front-row starting spot for the green flag of the final stage.
·       Running only a handful of laps at the start of the final stage, a caution flew on lap 193 for a multi-car accident involving Team Chevy drivers Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez. Dillon and Suarez’s teams were unable to make repairs, forcing an early departure from the race for both teams.
·       After posting top-10 finishes in both stages, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brought out the fifth caution of the day after spinning in turn three. Minimal damage to his Camaro ZL1 allowed the team to make repairs and continue in the race.
·       Team Chevy drivers occupied the top-four running positions when another green-flag pit cycle began with 45 laps remaining in the race. As the green-flag stops cycled through, Larson regained the lead on lap 263.
·       Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team was pacing the field when a spin by Ryan Newman with 18 laps to go brought out the sixth caution of the race. With the lead pack hitting pit road, race leader Larson pit for four tires and fuel, ultimately winning the race off pit road. Larson took the bottom lane at the choose cone to lead the field to the green with 13 laps to go.
·       The final caution of the race involved the race’s top-two drivers – Larson and Chastain – ultimately setting up a green-white-checkered flag for the finish. ·       Taking the final restart of the race from the front-row, Byron powered his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 to the lead, leading the final two laps en route to his series-best third NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season.

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CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: What Might Have Been

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

Fourth-place finish in team’s 25th race on Monterey Peninsula MONTEREY, Calif. (May 14, 2023) – Corvette Racing’s 25th start at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca didn’t end the way the team had hoped as the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R finished fourth in GTD PRO in Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey.

Both Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia led in class during the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but a costly late-race penalty ended any chances of the team’s ninth class victory at Laguna Seca.
As it did a year ago when it led early, Corvette Racing played to its strength Sunday with a pit stop near the 30-minute mark under full-course yellow. Taylor had moved up to fourth in class at the start and brought the C8.R to the pit lane for four tires and fuel. A quick stop gained Taylor two spots to second, which became three to first when the then-leading No. 9 Porsche was penalized for leaving pitlane with pit exit closed.
Taylor continued to lead to the one-hour mark when Corvette Racing engineers brought him in again under another full-course yellow for fuel, tires and a driver change to Garcia. Another quick stop got Garcia out second in class – only because the No. 23 Aston Martin took less fuel and no tires to leave the pitlane first.
The order remained unchanged when the final scheduled GTD PRO stops began with 67 minutes to go. The No. 3 was the next-to-last car to pit for fuel and four more tires as Garcia rejoined second and 3.8 seconds behind the Aston Martin.
Disaster struck during the race’s final full-course yellow inside the final hour when Garcia inadvertently followed the GTD PRO leader around the safety car, which resulted in the penalty.
Corvette Racing’s next event in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 25 from Watkins Glen International.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “It’s a situation where when it’s green, you’re fighting all the GTDs. But when it comes to the safety car, we aren’t the same category. So we need to figure that out. The safety car split the GTD field. The GTD leader was the real GT leader, so that’s why everyone behind us moved to the right to get a pass-around, and the 23 moved to the right, as well. But because we were the GTD PRO leaders, we should have stayed where we were. But that’s the way the rules are. I just made a mistake and went to follow the 23 when they were wrong. I had a big queue of GTDs behind me, and all I could see behind me were GT cars moving to the right. So that’s what confused me. If I could have seen the Mercedes or Lexus GTD PRO cars behind me staying to the left, I would have figured it out. But there were a ton of cars between us. It’s a mistake that shouldn’t happen. On race pace, we had a car to win. We did everything right on strategy to be in the lead. As we showed at the end, I think we had a little more on tire degradation. We’ll review what happened, do a full analysis of the situation, and I know this won’t happen again.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “With how the weekend started, we were definitely behind the eight-ball with our issues in practice. It was a good bounce-back to be closer to the front in qualifying than a year ago, and our race pace today seemed pretty strong. We were able to get to the lead with a great pit stop after the second yellow. Once we were in clean air, the car was strong and we could kind of control the race. We definitely didn’t have the fastest car. But we had track position, and around here that’s so important. The guys did a good job. All our stops were smooth and clean. It’s one of those things where one little thing where can really impact a race. It’s one of those things that happen, and I can guarantee you it won’t happen again. This will be a big learning lesson.”

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Cadillac Racing finishes first, third at Laguna Seca

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

Bourdais, van der Zande drive No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to victory

MONTEREY, Calif. (May 14, 2023) — Sebastien Bourdais joined the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R crew on the pit wall to cheer Renger van der Zande to the checkered flag Sunday in the MOTUL Course de Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The celebration continued in an emotional Victory Circle as the team recorded its initial win in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype class and its first since July 2022.“With the two months we’ve had lately, this feels really good,” said Bourdais, who earned his 11th IMSA victory. “I’m really, really happy for the boys. You can see it. Emotions run high, and it’s not because of a race win. We had to dig ourselves out of a big hole. It’s really good for the whole group and for Cadillac. Renger did awesome as always. I couldn’t be happier for everyone involved here.”
The victory was the first for Cadillac Racing in prototype competition at the racetrack and the second overall. Max Papis drove a Cadillac CTS-V to the win in the 2005 Speed World Challenge GT race. Cadillac, which has won two of the four GTP races this season, increased its prototype win total to 29 since 2017 and 68 in all classes since 2004.

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims, earned third place after starting fourth and reclaimed the GTP driver and team championship points lead.
“It was a great weekend for Cadillac Racing with the No. 01 Cadillac leading the field home at Laguna Seca and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac also getting a podium,” Cadillac Global Vice President Rory Harvey said.
High resolution photos from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for editorial use
Bourdais and van der Zande won three races in 2022 in the No. 01 Cadillac in the final season of DPi competition. Disappointment overrode prospects in the first three races of the IMSA season and in an FIA World Endurance Championship appearance two weeks earlier at Spa-Francorchamps. Even this weekend, a shunt in the first free practice session and an off-track adventure in the sand/gravel negated a proper qualifying simulation and Bourdais qualified sixth in the nine-car GTP field.

“This team has been pushing really hard, long hours, dealing with the ups and downs of racing, so congratulations on a great race victory,” GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser said. “I hope they enjoy every second of this win and they take a minute to relax because we have to get ready for the next race.”
That is the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10-11. The IMSA race-winning car will be prepped and shipped to France for the classic endurance race in which Bourdais and van der Zande will be joined by endurance driver Scott Dixon.
Bourdais handed off the wheel to van der Zande during a full-service stop under caution with 1 hour, 36 minutes left in the 2-hour, 40-minute race on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course and rejoined the field in seventh position. With 1 hour, 22 minutes left, Derani bolted to the lead and set the quickest lap of the race at 1 minute, 16.421 seconds in increasing the margin over the No. 10 Acura.Van der Zande overtook the No. 10 for second with 1 hour, 11 minutes left and retained the spot until Derani brought the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R onto pit lane for fuel, tires and the mandatory driver change to Sims. Van der Zande made his final pit stop two minutes later and the Cadillacs ran 1-2 when another full-course caution slowed the field.
On the restart with 41 minutes left, van der Zande got a run on Sims and completed the pass for the lead that he did not relinquish. Van der Zande, competing in his 100th North American sports car race since 2013, picked up his 19th victory.
Derani and Sims will be joined by endurance driver Jack Aitken for Le Mans. The Cadillac Racing trio of Hypercar entries will also include the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, that is the full-time FIA World Endurance Championship entrant.
The next IMSA race is June 23-25 at Watkins Glen International in New York.

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R
Sebastien Bourdais: “Everyone knows how challenging the last couple of months have been since our Sebring retirement. It’s never fun to go through those phases, but it’s part of racing. It’s something you have to pull through. I think the whole group was starting to lose a little bit spirits, I’d say. So it’s really good that we’ve gotten our head out of it with a win today. The weekend started really bad again with a crash on Friday that compromised the amount of testing we had and data we got for long runs. It trickled down to Saturday because we didn’t get a qualifying sim, so the effort wasn’t that great to get sixth. The start was kind of chaotic and we ended up buried in seventh or eighth. The guys did a really good call on strategy and cycled us to third. Things were starting to look up at that point. The car was starting to come alive and the track gripped up. It felt good and I could start to push and run the two leaders down. Then the yellow came out and it put us all the way back to seventh. Renger came out and did it again! I couldn’t ask for a better teammate. When he’s put in those positions, I don’t think there is anybody better than him. He made some pretty critical passes to get us to the front and managed from there. I’m super happy for Cadillac. You could see the emotions running through everyone, and this sets up as best as possible going to Le Mans. We’ll try to carry that momentum.”
Renger van der Zande: “Thanks to Seb for the nice words. We are a good team and are fantastic teammates with everyone. Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac with all the effort they are putting in, it’s days and nights of work. They aren’t sleeping much. So it’s amazing to pay it off with a win like this. Like Seb said, we cycled a few times to the front and the back. I love this place. Laguna Seca is one of the best racetracks. It’s a very interesting track for setup. The tire wear is high, and you need to set up the car for it. From a driver’s perspective, you need to manage it as well. Coming from a big shunt at Spa to win this race is what you call lows and highs! This is our Le Mans car. It’s going to Le Mans and it’s a winner. It’s a winning car that will get flown over to Le Mans and fight for the big one. Today, we’re going to celebrate a bit. There’s not much time to Le Mans to put everything in perspective that we learned today about the car, the engine, the hybrid, the braking and all the systems that in there. It’s so nice when we get a win like this. One of the tricks they gave me in the car gave me this win with braking. I’m really proud of the whole team. I was testing Tuesday at Portimao and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Laguna Seca. It’s been a good day and a good week.”No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R
Pipo Derani: “It was a good race. Happy for Cadillac with a win and on our side happy with my stint. IMSA racing is so unpredictable and there are so many things that can go into account. It was a good points day for us with the Whelen Engineering Cadillac. The whole team did a fantastic job and happy to go away with a podium. We continue to push this fight forward.”
Alexander Sims: “Pipo was doing a fantastic job and had really good pace. I was given everything I could have been given to do the job, but ultimately I didn’t have the same pace as Pipo and I made two costly errors in terms of the restart and getting my tires up to temperature properly and Renger driving on the outside of me and then just being too cautious in traffic and Nick (Tandy) got around me. Good points day and nice to be on the podium.”

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chevy racing–nascar–darlington–alex bowman

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DARLINGTON RACEWAY

GOODYEAR 400

TEAM CHEVY MEDIA AVAILABILITY TRANSCRIPT

MAY 14, 2023

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1, addressed the media at Darlington Raceway regarding an update on his back injury. Media Availability Quotes:

BOWMAN ON THE STATUS OF HIS BACK INJURY:

“I don’t have a time for an estimated return. I have a doctor’s appointment this week to get some more x-rays to see how it’s healing and we’ll go from there. I’m obviously mobile. Super fortunate that the injury wasn’t any worse than it was. Obviously a lot of people have had that flat landing in a sprint car and have been hurt much worse than I was. I’ll heal up and come back when I can.”

IS THE ALL-STAR RACE ON THE TABLE STILL?

“I don’t know.. it’s hard to answer that without seeing what the x-ray says this week. Really – I’m not a doctor, so I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about right – but I haven’t have an x-ray since the injury. So until we do that and see how it’s healing, I just don’t know.”

DO YOU LOOK AT HOW YOU’RE FEELING AND IF YOU’RE IN A LOT OF PAIN OR NOT? ARE YOU WATCHING THE RACES AND ARE YOU DOING THINGS TO PUSH YOURSELF TO SEE HOW YOUR BODY IS READY?

“Yeah, I would say the most painful thing for me is laughing, coughing, sneezing or trying to sleep. Like laying down hurts pretty bad. Standing up and walking around isn’t so bad. I’ve been able to walk the whole time, so that’s been nice. I’ve kind of kept myself busy. This week, I was able to get back into the gym a little bit, which was really good because not working out for a couple weeks is like the worst thing in the world for me. They have these air bands that kind of pump up around your muscles so you can work out with really light weights and still get a good workout from it. I was doing curls with five-pound weights. Typically I do 10’s, so five’s was a good workout for me.”

WHAT’S THE MENTAL SIDE FOR YOU? HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH IT MENTALLY BEING OUT OF YOUR RACECAR?

“It sucks. It sucks really bad, but it’s pretty self-inflicted. It was my choice to go sprint car racing and I knew what I was signing up for. Yeah, it really sucks being out outside of the racecar. But everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has been super supportive, as well as everybody at Ally. I got to spend some time with the people from Ally this week. Definitely sucks not being in the car though.”

WILL YOU BE CONTINUING TO DO SPRINT CAR RACING ONCE YOU GET HEALTHY?

“I don’t know.. that’s a tough decision. For me, at some point, yes. I just don’t know when that point will be. Obviously sitting out of the car again when I was really recently out of the car last year isn’t good for me. It’s not the money or anything.. I want to win Cup races and I don’t like sitting out. At some point, yeah I will get back into a sprint car and a midget, for sure. I just don’t know when that point will be.”

HAVE YOU BEEN IN A SIMULATOR OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT AT THIS POINT, OR CAN YOU NOT SIT DOWN IN THAT POSITION THAT LONG?

“I could probably be in a simulator fine. I would say that pulling my belts tight would probably hurt. Like if I had to drive a racecar today – every time they dropped the jack, like that’s what would hurt. Sitting, I can do… it’s the impact stuff. Like driving down the road, you hit a bump and it sucks. Coughing or sneezing, kind of like that jarring movement, is what hurts for me.”

IF THE SCAN COMES BACK AND THE DOCTOR SAYS ‘WE THINK YOU CAN RACE’, ARE YOU FOR SURE GOING TO RACE OR IS THERE ANY SORT OF PAIN TOLERANCE OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WOULD DETERMINE IF YOU RACE OR NOT?

“I don’t know until I talk to the doctor. But if the doctor is like ‘yeah, you’re healthy enough to race’, I think for me, I just have to go get in a car; probably do some pit stops, maybe drive around a parking lot and go from there.”

WHEN ARE YOU MEETING WITH THE DOCTOR?

“I think my appointment is Wednesday of this week. So, we’ll see from there, but hopefully it’s good news.”

HAVE YOU TALKED TO ARIC ALMIROLA AT ALL ABOUT HIS PROCESS AND WHAT HE WENT THROUGH?

“I really haven’t. I feel like anybody that I have talked to that has broken their back, it’s all been way more serious than me. So for me, I fractured T-3. It’s really high and I haven’t been in a brace because it’s so high. They could brace my neck, but then I’d probably be in more pain from the neck brace than anything. I’m in pain, but I can still do everything. Just super fortunate. I haven’t talked to Aric (Almirola), but I watched his Race Hub interview and it sounded like he was in quite a bit worse shape than me, as far as pain-wise. Just fortunate that I’m not that bad.”

OBVIOUSLY, YOUR HEALTH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, BUT HOW MUCH DOES NOT BEING IN THE RACE, WATCHING THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN RACES AND PLAYOFF RACES GO AWAY, DO FOR YOU COME PLAYOFF TIME?

“Yeah, you look at the races I missed the first two weeks. Statistically, Dover and Kansas are the best places for me by a mile, so it’s a huge bummer. Mentally to sit there and just watch – I mean how good the No. 48 ran at Dover, just knowing that I feel like I’m really good there, that’s my best race track and how good we could have been. And then kind of the same at Kansas. I love that race track, as well.

So yeah, missed out on a lot of points, but that’s on me. I decided to go sprint car racing. I’m a big boy.. it’s on me. There’s nobody to blame. Just have to get healthy and makeup for it when I can come back.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE KIND OF THROWN AWAY YOUR SEASON?

“I don’t think so. We’re still in the playoffs right now in points where we sit. You look at what Kyle Busch has done and what other guys have done post-injury. It sucks, right? It’s not where I want to be, especially with the season that we were having. But I know we can be as strong as we were before I got hurt when I come back.”

JEFF ANDREWS SAID THAT THEY WOULD KIND OF RE-EVALUATE THEIR POLICIES ON WHAT YOU CAN DO OUTSIDE OF THE TRACK. IF THEY SAID YOU CAN’T GO SPRINT CAR RACING, WOULD YOU TRY TO FIGHT THAT?

“Nobody has really said anything to me. I’m super appreciative to be at Hendrick Motorsports. I’m going to do whatever they are comfortable with and supportive on. Obviously I’ve really enjoyed sprint car racing in the last year. INAUDIBLE…

I don’t know.. we’ll just have to wait and see, and cross that bridge once we come to it.”

HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO ANYTHING THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS THAT HASN’T HURT?

“Yeah, I’ve done a lot of things that hasn’t hurt. Getting back into the gym last week was really good. Those bands are crazy. Like I guess it cuts off all the circulation and kind of gives you a workout with really light weights from that. That, to me, that’s kind of what I’m doing for therapy. It’s not technically physical therapy, but just kind of getting back moving.

Yeah, it’s been good. For the most part of the day, I’m not in that much pain, honestly. Laying down is probably the worst pain.”

WHAT WAS THAT PHONE CALL LIKE FOR YOU TO MAKE AND WHO DID YOU TALK TO?

“Yeah, I talked to about everybody while I was laying in the hospital in Iowa. I thought I was fixing to get yelled at, but I think the sympathy of the pain that I was in helped out (laughs). Everybody has been super supportive, so just appreciative of that because they had every opportunity to be pretty mad at me. Glad they weren’t and glad they’ve been nothing but supportive. You never want to make that call and let your team down like that. But at that point, there was nothing I could do. It had happened, it’s done. Just have to move forward from it.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET TIME IN A VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS ERA NOW WHERE YOU DON’T GET MUCH TRACK TIME IN A CUP CAR?

“Yeah, it’s super important. For me, it was also a lot of fun and kind of a way to unplug and go do something fun. I think it’s a pretty well-known fact how stressful the Cup garage is, right? Every mistake you make is highly publicized. You get to hear about it from everybody. Everybody expects perfection. You can go race other stuff and it’s low pressure. It’s kind of like it was growing up, so I enjoy that aspect of it and just to be able to go have fun. I do feel like it helped me in the Cup car. It slowed things down. Obviously it’s hard to say if we were having such a good year because I was racing so much, but we had the best average finish of anybody at the time I got hurt. Without a penalty, we would have been one-point out of the (points) lead at the time. We had a really good season going and hopefully we can pick up where we left off.”

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SENSATIONAL SCELZI: CLAIMS THIRD STRAIGHT 11K NARC SPRINT CAR WIN AT PETER MURPHY CLASSIC

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

(5/13/23) Hanford, CA … Two-time defending NARC champion Dominic Scelzi continued his dominance of the Peter Murphy Classic Saturday night finale by posting his third straight $11,000 sprint car victory at Kings Speedway. The winning ride in this 30-lap NAPA Auto Parts feature was the Jimmy Carr-wrenched, Scelzi Enterprise/Whipple Superchargers/Red Rose Transportation #41 Maxim.

Scelzi, who won the hotly contested pole shuffle, jumped out to an early lead but had his advantage negated by caution flags in the early going. Shane Golobic was in the hunt from the start and battled wheel-to-wheel with the leader for several circuits before taking the lead on lap five. Golobic, in the Works Limited #57 EMI, and Scelzi would slide and counter-slide for several laps before Scelzi secured the point on the seventh trip past the flag stand. Golobic would be credited with leading laps five and six.

Scelzi had his hands full negotiating lapped traffic shortly thereafter, but made all the right moves navigating his way around and through slower cars. Golobic mounted one more solid challenge for the point on a lap 13 restart, but was unable to make anything stick. Scelzi proceeded to master the three-eighths mile oval the remaining distance to secure his second win of the season by a healthy 4.7 second margin.

“This used to be a race that plagued me,” said Scelzi in victory lane, after scoring his 21st career NARC victory. “I broke my back at his race in 2015, and then in 2021, we couldn’t lose, and we were strong in 2022. Last night I felt like I knew what we needed to be a little bit better, but I truly didn’t know what it was going to take to win. Corey (Day) is so talented and tough to beat, and he’s only getting better, and he’s got such a talented group of drivers behind him. Still, this old guy isn’t done yet.”

“My relationship has changed with Peter from when I met him to now has evolved, and this race means more than Trophy Cup, Dirt Cup, or winning an Outlaw show. I’ve been lucky to win many cool races in my life, but these Peter Murphy Classic trophies have a special spot in our shop.”

Day would end his weekend second in the Jason Meyers Racing fielded Meyers Constructors/Four C’s Construction #14 KPC, chased by the Toyota Racing Development/Roth Motorsports/HR Livestock #83 Maxim driven by James McFadden. Justin Sanders brought the Demo Mittry-owned Farmer’s Brewing/North County Plastering #2X Maxim home in fourth. Golobic rounded out the top five.

“Losing to Dominic says a lot, and this race means a lot to him,” stated Day, “the dynamic of the race didn’t play out the way I needed to for me. I wasted too much time at the beginning of the race, and starting seventh was not great for us. I knew Dominic was going to be good up front. He was coming in the 360 race, and I knew Jimmy (Carr, crew chief) would have his car going well.”

“I was there for Pete’s first win in Alice Springs, and it’s been cool to be here for this race,” commented McFadden. “These guys are tough. It’s tougher to win out here than it is an Outlaw show. Dom was dominant. That was a pretty big ass whooping there. We struggled a lot, but we’ll return to the drawing board and figure out what to do.”

The rest of the top ten finishers included Cole Macedo, D.J. Netto, 13th starter Kaleb Montgomery, Chase Johnson, and Justyn Cox. Three-time NARC King of the West champion Jonathan Allard started 25th and finished 11th to earn the Williams Roofing Hardcharger Award.

NAPA AUTO PARTS FEATURE (30 laps): 1. 41-Dominic Scelzi[1]; 2. 14-Corey Day[7]; 3. 83-James McFadden[4]; 4. 2X-Justin Sanders[5]; 5. 57W-Shane Golobic[2]; 6. 21T-Cole Macedo[8]; 7. 88N-DJ Netto[11]; 8. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[13]; 9. 24-Chase Johnson[9]; 10. 42X-Justyn Cox[6]; 11. 12B-Dawson Faria[20]; 12. 18T-Tanner Holmes[12]; 13. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[21]; 14. 69-Bud Kaeding[10]; 15. X1-Michael Faccinto[19]; 16. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[14]; 17. 115-Nick Parker[17]; 18. 37-Michael Pombo[22]; 19. 0-Jonathan Allard[25]; 20. 26-Billy Aton[18]; 21. 36-Craig Stidham[15]; 22. 4-Burt Foland Jr[23]; 23. 88A-Joey Ancona[16]; 24. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[3]; 25. 72W-Kurt Nelson[24]

METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: Dominic Scelzi 1-4, 7-30, Shane Golobic 5-6

WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Jonathan Allard +14

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (30 Cars): Shane Golobic, 14.188 (26 Cars)

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 laps): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders[1]; 2. 14-Corey Day[2]; 3. 57W-Shane Golobic[4]; 4. 69-Bud Kaeding[3]; 5. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[5]; 6. 88A-Joey Ancona[7]; 7. 12B-Dawson Faria[9]; 8. 37-Michael Pombo[8]; 9. (DNF) 0-Jonathan Allard[6]

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 laps): 1. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 2. 41-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 3. 21T-Cole Macedo[2]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes[5]; 5. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[6]; 6. 26-Billy Aton[9]; 7. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[7]; 8. 4-Burt Foland Jr[8]; 9. (DNF) 16A-Colby Copeland[3]

BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES & RAYMOND JAMES HEAT THREE (8 laps): 1. 83-James McFadden[1]; 2. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[4]; 3. 24-Chase Johnson[2]; 4. 88N-DJ Netto[3]; 5. 36-Craig Stidham[6]; 6. 115-Nick Parker[8]; 7. X1-Michael Faccinto[5]; 8. 72W-Kurt Nelson[7]

ROGER AND LORI ROGER HAMILTON/SANDER ENGINEERING/SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” POLE SHUFFLE (6 laps): 1. 41-Dominic Scelzi[2]; 2. 57W-Shane Golobic[1]; 3. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 83-James McFadden[6]; 5. 2X-Justin Sanders[4]; 6. 42X-Justyn Cox[5]
Round 1- James McFadden def. Justyn Cox
Round 2- James McFadden def. Justin Sanders
Round 3- Michael Kofoid def. James McFadden
Round 4- Dominic Scelzi def. Michael Kofoid
Round 5- Dominic Scelzi def. Shane Golobic

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Pierce Rules Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Debut at Fairbury

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

FAIRBURY, Ill. (May 13, 2023) – Bobby Pierce took the lead after a lap 37 restart and lead the last 23 laps of the FALS Spring Shootout Presented by Titan Industries on Saturday night at Fairbury Speedway. Pierce became the tenth different winner this season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series – pocketing $30,000 for the win. Pierce, who started eighth held off Dalton Wilson and Brandon Sheppard for the win. Completing the top five were Brandon Overton and Jimmy Owens. With his fourth-place finish Overton is the new point leader in the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP. Shannon Babb grabbed the lead at the start of the race as he dueled it out with Dennis Erb Jr. who rode the bottom from fifth to take the lead from Babb on lap six. The first caution of the race came out with ten laps scored for Jonathan Davenport. On the restart Erb led Babb and Hudson O’Neal, who had slipped back to third after starting from the pole. O’Neal took second from Babb on lap 18 and then started to close the gap on Erb as was encountering heavy traffic in front of him. A restart on lap 36 would see Erb and O’Neal complete one lap before contact between the two in turn one. With Erb’s driver side door facing the field a caution immediately flew for safety concerns, with Babb also coming to a stop trying to avoid the incident. Erb would have to restart on the tail of the field after being charged with the caution. Erb’s night would come to an end three circuits later with a broke driveshaft. On the restart O’Neal would be the race leader but before he would officially lead a lap Pierce nipped him at the scoring line to take the lead for the first time in the race with 37 laps in the record books. Wilson, who started 11th showed his strength on the bottom-side as he and O’Neal would go at it for second. With ten laps to go it was Pierce, Wilson and O’Neal in a battle for the race lead. Wilson came close to sneaking by Pierce at the scoring loop as O’Neal went to the outside to regain the second spot on lap 52. O’Neal didn’t give up on Pierce as he started to reel him in. O’Neal would drift high in turn two with two laps to go, but O’Neal’s night would end shortly thereafter as he climbed the wall inflicting front end damage to his car. A green-white-checkered restart would see Pierce hold off Wilson by 0.471 seconds at the finish. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 13th time in his career Pierce showed his exuberance after exiting his race car. “It’s redemption from last night at Farmer City for sure. I just messed up yesterday and my team told me to get back in the car and drive it. I have got to give a huge thanks to them. I went home last night, and they got the job done on the car. We won with a Longhorn at Fairbury on the cushion. It was an awesome night. I was pumped there. It was exciting to run the bottom or the top. It was super difficult up top. The whole race I really didn’t know where to go on the track. I figured if someone was going to pass me let it be on the top. If I could slide them and pass them back, then that’s what I was going to do. I was just trying to find out where I was best at.” Wilson in his second full season with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series earned $15,000 for his runner-up finish in only his second-ever appearance at Fairbury. “We have been busting our tails lately. About 3 hours ago we were in trailer with straps on this thing and the door shut. We thought it was done after the rain. To even get this race in tonight was amazing. We had a really good car. We have had some real good speed here lately. We are getting better. I hope this shows we are here, and we finally put a whole night together.” Sheppard came from tenth to round out the podium in third. “I didn’t know if I had a chance at the end with two to go. The last two laps they were two-wide in front of me so there wasn’t anywhere to go. My car was really good. I wasn’t very good at the beginning of the race. I didn’t know if I was a little too hard on tires of what. It really took me until halfway to get rolling. Once we got going, I was just kind of waiting for someone to make a move in front of me and go the opposite direction of which way I wanted to go so I could make a pass.” The winner’s Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Hoker Trucking, Allgayer Inc., Mesilla Valley Transportation, Senior Life Insurance, Rio Grande Waste Services, PureMax Racing Oil, Toyota of Danville, Bloomington-Normal Truck Performance, VP Fuels, A-Plus Vacuum, Velocita Suits, Bilstein Shocks, Leka Tree Service, and Carnaghi Towing and Repair. Completing the top ten were Spencer Hughes, Devin Moran, Gordy Gundaker, Tyler Bruening, and Max Blair. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary FALS Spring Shootout Presented by Titan IndustriesSaturday, May 13, 2023Fairbury Speedway – Fairbury, IL Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal / 12.794 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens / 12.870 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver[2]; 4. 99B-Boom Briggs[5]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[7]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 7. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 8. 3-Dale Markham[4]; 9. 7-Ross Robinson[9]; 10. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 11. 76T-Titus Sneed[10]Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker[3]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 6. 111B-Max Blair[7]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 8. 99-Devin Moran[10]; 9. 33 4-Billy Hough[11]; 10. 80-Rich Dawson[8]; 11. (DNS) 174-Ethen Dotson
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 18B-Shannon Babb[2]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 5. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[7]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 8. 130-Chase Osterhoff[8]; 9. J12-Jason Wagner[11]; 10. 10S-Scott Schmitt[10]; 11. (DNS) 4G-Bob Gardner AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 11-Spencer Hughes[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 3. 42-Mckay Wenger[3]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 6. 25-Jason Feger[5]; 7. 89M-Mike Spatola[9]; 8. 7W-JC Waller[10]; 9. 89-Logan Roberson[7]; 10. (DNS) 18-Chase Junghans
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 4. 111B-Max Blair[4]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[6]; 6. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 7. 99-Devin Moran[8]; 8. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 9. 7-Ross Robinson[9]; 10. 3-Dale Markham[7]; 11. 76T-Titus Sneed[13]; 12. (DNS) 33 4-Billy Hough; 13. (DNS) 80-Rich Dawson; 14. (DNS) 174-Ethen Dotson UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 89M-Mike Spatola[6]; 4. 25-Jason Feger[4]; 5. 7T-Drake Troutman[3]; 6. 89-Logan Roberson[10]; 7. 10S-Scott Schmitt[11]; 8. 130-Chase Osterhoff[7]; 9. J12-Jason Wagner[9]; 10. (DNS) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr; 11. (DNS) 7W-JC Waller; 12. (DNS) 18-Chase Junghans; 13. (DNS) 4G-Bob Gardner
FALS Spring Shootout Presented by Titan Industries Feature Finish (60 Laps):

Race Statistics Entrants: 43Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Hudson O’NealLap Leaders: Shannon Babb (Laps 1-5); Dennis Erb, Jr. (Laps 6-36); Bobby Pierce (37-60)Wieland Feature Winner: Bobby PierceArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Bobby PierceBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 0.470 secondsGorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: Jonathan Davenport (Lap 10); Boom Briggs (Lap 25); Garrett Alberson (Lap 35); Dennis Erb, Jr., Shannon Babb (Lap 36); Dennis Erb, Jr., Garrett Smith (Lap 39); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 46); Debris (Lap 46 Restart); Debris (Lap 48); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 58)Series Provisionals: Ricky Thornton, Jr.; Devin MoranFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: Max Blair; Tyler Erb; Earl Pearson, Jr.; Ross RobinsonTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Bobby Pierce, Daulton Wilson, Brandon SheppardPenske Shocks Top 5: Bobby Pierce, Daulton Wilson, Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton, Jimmy OwensTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Brandon Overton (Advanced 17 Positions)Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Devin MoranDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Brian ShirleyEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Dennis Erb, Jr. (31 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon SheppardMidwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Hudson O’Neal O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Max BlairEtchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Dennis Erb, Jr. (Lap 3 – 12.864 seconds)MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Shannon BabbOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Bob Pierce (Bobby Pierce)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Vic Hill Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jimmy Owens (13.409 seconds)Time of Race: 42 minutes 53 seconds

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Mees Gets His Revenge in Sacramento Mile Rematch

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 13, 2023) – Jared Mees (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing/SDI Racing FTR750) furthered his claim as the preeminent Mile rider currently competing in Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, with a pivotal victory in Saturday night’s 57th Legendary Mission Sacramento Mile powered by Law Tigers at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. Those bragging rights were brought into question after Mees was outscored 2-1 in Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle Mile wins a year ago by then-rookie Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT). Their first Mile showdown of the season carried even greater significance than it otherwise would have with Daniels having arguably emerged the title favorite and leading reigning champion Mees in the points. The race went to script with the two separating at the front and settling into a one-on-one fight to the flag. Just past mid-distance, Mees railed around the corners with his helmet down in an attempt to break Daniels’ challenge. While unable to sink Daniels’ hopes completely, the ploy granted Mees a few tenths which he successfully guarded all the way to the end. The victory was the 24th Mile triumph of Mees’ illustrious career. That moves him ahead of Ricky Graham and into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time order and just one away from joining Bubba Shobert and Bryan Smith in a tie for third. The result also drew Mees a bit closer to the championship lead. That said, Daniels is not doing him any favors in that regard, extending his season-long streak of top-two finishes. The gap is now 20 points (159-139) as the two continue to distance themselves from the remainder of a talented pack of contenders. “I honestly was sweating coming into the Miles – last year I felt like we were a little down,” Mees admitted after earning his fifth-career Sacramento Mile win. “I didn’t know what to expect. But Kenny (Tolbert) worked really hard this winter to get us back some ponies, and Jimmy Wood really had that thing hooked up with the Öhlins suspension. I don’t think I’ve ever been that hooked up before. I could just go into the corner and mash the throttle. The Indian Motorcycle was phenomenal tonight.” Daniels’ teammate, JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), solidified his hold on third in the championship order with his third podium of the season. It only came about following a final-lap duel with Kolby Carlile (No. 36 G&G Racing/Yamaha Racing Yamaha MT-07), however, when Beach poked ahead by 0.021 seconds at the line. Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750) and Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750) each had a shot at the box on the final lap as well, ultimately finishing fractionally behind in fifth and sixth, respectively. Briar Bauman (No. 3 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 790 Duke) earned a lonely seventh, although that description fails to adequately express the contour of his race. Bauman actually led more than once early in the contest before running wide on the powerful-yet-brutish KTM and dropping to fifth. He worked his way back up to third at one point before going off the groove again and fading out of podium contention. Bauman was followed home by his brother, Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing/2 Wheelz KTM 790 Duke), while Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Mission Foods Indian FTR750) and Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Indian FTR750) completed the top ten. Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER Australian phenom Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) scored his maiden Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER victory in breathtaking fashion in Sacramento. A huge early train of 450s connected to the front slowly whittled away as the race progressed. The battle for the win at last took its final shape with just over a minute remaining when three-time Sacramento Mile winner Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) fell away from the lead group and into the clutches of a second group bursting with big names and title contenders. With Brunner out of the fight, the checkered flag was set to be decided between Drane, Trent Lowe(No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Chase Saathoff (No. 88 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), and Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450). Lowe stormed past Drane as they opened the final lap, but the diminutive Aussie stormed back by on the back straight, confident he could out-run any and all slingshot attempts in the decisive drag race to the line. He was proven correct, albeit only by just 0.005 seconds over Lowe and 0.036 seconds over Saathoff. Meanwhile, Cose finished just another 0.065 seconds back yet found himself left off the podium altogether. Drane came into the season with serious hype and had endured something of a quiet start to the year when judged based on those lofty expectations. However, tonight’s victory put everything back in its proper perspective. Ultimately, the Estenson Racing Yamaha prodigy earned his first win just a month after turning 17 and competing in what was just his eighth Progressive AFT Main Event. Perhaps even more remarkably, it was the first Main Event at a Mile in Drane’s career. He said, “I just can’t thank the team enough for all the work they do, all the hours. It’s amazing. This has boosted my confidence heaps, showing I can do it. I’m so happy.” Fifth went to Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 D&D Racing/Certified KTM 450 SX-F), who clawed his way up from outside the top ten after earning his slot on the grid via the LCQ. He placed Brunner between himself and his primary title rivals in the process. Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) crossed the stripe in seventh, followed by Sacramento Mile legend Shayna Texter-Bauman (No. 52 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 450 SX-F) and the impressive Travis Petton IV (No. 82 ECG Racing/3 Bros KTM 450 SX-F). The final position in the top ten went to defending class champ Kody Kopp (No. 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F). Despite the uncharacteristic result, Kopp continues to lead in the standings with 137 points. Gauthier closed to within 14 points at 123, while Whale and Saathoff are now tied for third at 115. Next Up: Progressive American Flat Track will continue its run of spectacular Mile action with the Red Mile presented by Indian Motorcycle of Lexington at the Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 27. Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/red-mile-59131 to secure your tickets today. For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FansChoice.tv is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://www.fanschoice.tv. FOX Sports coverage of the Legendary Sacramento Mile, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Saturday, May 27, at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT).

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Palou, Honda Start “The Month of May” With Victory at Indianapolis

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

Palou, Honda Start “The Month of May” With Victory at Indianapolis

May 13, 2023 — SPEEDWAY, IN

Alex Palou wins the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, as the activities begin at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading up to the Indianapolis 500
Christian Lundgaard starts from pole, finishes fourth for Honda and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Scott Dixon recovers from opening lap incident to finish sixth; Marcus Ericsson runs eighth as Honda drivers claim six of the top-10 finishing positions

Alex Palou cruised to his first victory of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season at today’s GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, piloting his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a nearly 17-second victory in the opening event of activities leading up to the Indianapolis 500 later this month.

Starting third on the faster, but more fragile, Firestone alternate “red” tires, Palou moved past fellow Honda driver and pole qualifier Christian Lundgaard on the opening lap, and was in command for much of the 85-lap contest. At the checkers, Palou finished 16.8 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward in second, having led a race-high total of 52 laps.

Running the “red” tires in the closing stint, Lundgaard finished fourth for Honda and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, his best result of 2023. In his #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Scott Dixon recovered from delays caused by an opening-lap incident ahead of him to finish sixth; with teammate and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson running eighth at the checkers.

With today’s win, Honda has increased its lead in the INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship to 26 points over Chevrolet (413-387), while Palou moves to the top of the championship points standings for drivers with 174.

GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis Honda Race Results

1st Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
4th Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
6th Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
8th Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9th Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport Honda
10th Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
11th Romain Grosjean	Andretti Autosport Honda
14th Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport Honda
15th Marcus Armstrong-R	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
17th Devlin DeFrancesco	Andretti Autosport Honda
20th Jack Harvey	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
22nd Helio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing Honda
25th Simon Pagenaud	Meyer Shank Racing Honda Did not finish [mechanical]
26th David Malukas	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda Did not finish [contact]
27th Sting Ray Robb-R	Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda Did not finish [mechanical]

R – Rookie

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 5 of 17 rounds)

Honda	413 points
Chevrolet	387 points

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship Standings (unofficial, after 5 of 17 rounds)

1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda	174 points
2. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren	-6
3. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda	-19
4. Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport Honda	-40
5. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske	-41

Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) race winner, first win of 2023: “What an amazing job from the #10 crew, and our first win with [sponsor] American Legion. We knew we had a fast car right from the start of the race weekend. We were P1 [in practice] yesterday and the car’s been amazing all weekend. Once we knew we were starting on [Firestone] reds, I think we knew we could fight for the win. I just had to execute. Today could not be a better start [to May] for us.”

Christian Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) pole qualifier, finished fourth: “I’m satisfied with a fourth [place finish], but it was a tough day. The #45 Hy-Vee Honda has been quick all weekend. It wasn’t AS quick today, unfortunately, but to come home fourth is OK. There was a point in the race where I wasn’t sure if we could finish in the top 10. Our performance was strong all weekend, and that’s the positive to take away from this weekend.”

Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished sixth: “The PNC Bank #9 was super fast, but we got caught up in a complete mess on the first lap when Graham [Rahal] spun in front of us after he got hit. Then there was another accident in Turn 7 and I think we were like 17th or something at that point. Then we spent the rest of the race trying to make up spots. But 17th to 6th is pretty good! I think if we’d had a [mid-race] caution, we couldn’t made a run at [the victory], but congrats to Alex [Palou], that’s awesome for the whole Ganassi team.”

David Salters (President and Technical Director, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Honda victory at the GMR Grand Prix: “Huge thanks to all the marvelous men and women at HPD for the pole and win. That’s testament to all their hard work. Congratulations to Alex [Palou] and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing on their win today. Also to Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Christian [Lundgaard] on his first INDYCAR pole. We still have a couple of important weeks coming up here [in Indianapolis], but things were a lot more relaxing because we had “Barley”, our surrogate HPD Race Dog here this weekend. He’s been to two races this year [Daytona and todays GMR GP], and we got pole and wins at both of them. So big shout out to Barley!”

Fast Facts

Honda continues to lead the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with three victories and four poles in the first five races this season. Honda currently has a 36-point advantage (413-387) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.
Today’s 85-lap race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course kicked off three weeks of on-track activities leading up to the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28.
The 15 Indianapolis 500 wins by Honda at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway lead all other major automobile manufacturers.

Next
Activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway continue this week, but move to the historic 2.5-mile oval with four days of practice, starting Tuesday, followed by qualifying next weekend for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28.

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chevy racing–indycar–Grand Prix Indianapolis–Recap

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES2023 GMR GRAND PRIX INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP MAY 13, 2023
PATO O’WARD AND ALEXANDER ROSSI PUT CHEVROLET ON THE PODIUM AT INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSEArrow McLaren INDYCAR Finishes All Three Entries In Top-Five
Arrow McLaren INDYCAR’s Pato O’Ward (second) and Alexander Rossi (third) give Chevrolet their 290th and 291st podium finishes in the 2.2-liter V6 twin turbo injection era (since 2012), the sixth and seventh of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Series season.Arrow McLaren INDYCAR teammate Felix Rosenqvist finished in the top-five, giving Arrow McLaren INDYCAR a strong finish and start to the month of May.Arrow McLaren INDYCAR’s Alexander Rossi led the morning GMR Grand Prix Warm Up for Team Chevy, finishing the session second with his fastest lap of 01:10.4153. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin finished seventh, and teammate Josef Newgarden finished eighth.
INDIANAPOLIS (May 13, 2023) – As the checkered flag dropped on the 2023 GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, Arrow McLaren INDYCAR’s Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi concluded a physically challenging and hot race to give Chevrolet their 290th and 291st podium finishes as a V6 engine supplier since the 2012 return to the NTT INDYCAR Series.
Earning the sixth and seventh podium of the 2023 season, O’Ward and Rossi were joined in the top-five by teammate Felix Rosenqvist, giving the Arrow McLaren INDYCAR team a strong start to the month of May at Indianapolis and momentum heading into the shift to the oval next week.
“We’ve always been really strong on Sundays,” said Rossi. “We just haven’t really gotten the results we deserve for the performance of the car. But the fact that McLaren got three cars in the top-five in this field, and this competition, that’s a huge testament to the organization and what we have going on here. It’s a big confidence boost in good momentum going into the most important race of the year.”
“For us, I mean, we were two, three and five as a team, that’s pretty freaking phenomenal,” reflected O’Ward. “The guys gave us a great race car. We were kind of just running our own race today. We were there fighting with (Christian) Lundgaard between all of us teammates. Once I got in front of him, I just had to try and minimize the gap I had with Alex (Palou), but I just think they were very strong today.”
“Overall, I’m really happy for the team,” stated Rosenqvist. “Top-five for all of us. That’s insanely good. That’s a very rare result in INDYCAR these days, so a big congrats to the whole team. Personally, I wasn’t certainly super happy with that race when we had some sense, but we lost a bit too much on the final lap in the sequence on the reds, and too much (degradation). Otherwise, apart from that, it was a pretty good race.”
Up next for Team Chevy is the prestigious month of May, shifting focus to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval with practice starting Tuesday, May 16, 2023. The 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge takes the green flag live on NBC starting at 11 a.m. ET on NBC Sunday, May 28, 2023.
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RESULTS:POS. DRIVER2nd Pato O’Ward3rd Alexander Rossi5th Felix Rosenqvist7th Josef Newgarden
2023 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS:291: NTT INDYCAR SERIES podiums as a V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.187: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR. 108: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012. 121: Earned poles since 2012. 7: NTT INDYCAR SERIES by Chevrolet drivers in 2023 so far.7: Manufacturer Championships since 2012. 7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING (QUOTES):Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske:“We unfortunately had a slow final stop. I think we had a slow plug in. I think we lost seven or eight seconds just trying to get that right. I think today was a third-place day. If we get the final stop all good, that’s probably where we land and we ended up seventh. It’s kind of been the story of the year, just not great timing on some of this stuff. Not a bad day. I told the team this was a good fighting day. Great fighting day with the Snap On car. Team Chevy did a fantastic job. I would have been really pleased if we left with a third but we’ll take the seventh and roll in to the big show and hopefully have a really, really good day.”
CONSIDERING YOUR TEAM OWNER OWNING THE SPEEDWAY, DO YOU NEED A REMINDER HOW IMPORTANT THE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE?“Oh no. We all know it. But it’s important to all of us. The pressure is always there. We want to do well. I want to do well as anybody, just as much as (Roger Penske) does. We’re ready. We’re as ready as we can be. Hopefully we can get it right.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Chevrolet at Team Penske: “Obviously a little frustrated at how we qualified with the Odyssey Battery Chevrolet. After practice I thought we should challenge for the Firestone Fast Six. Then, after warmup, I thought we were better and starting on the red tires would give us a chance to make up a few positions over the start of the race. The first corner of this race is always a bit chaotic and it caught us today with some front wing damage that we had to come in and repair. Immediately that changes our strategy but we fought back and looked to be in a position for a top 10, which would have been acceptable considering. We’ll have to go back and look at why we got so low on fuel. Luckily the light came on in time for me to hit pit road and take on one gallon to make it to the end. Frustrating but we need to forget this result and focus on the 500.” Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:“It was good recovery. I mean, real pity about that incident to get spun out. Persona attack the rest of the day; but happy to get back to 12th. Now we move on to the big one.” Conor Daly, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:“Today seemed a bit odd. We made a lot of progress at the start and seemed like we were moving forward. I am not sure how the strategies ended up playing out so we didn’t end up moving forward as much as we wanted. We lost a lot of tire grip at the end, but we tried to make the best out of the situation and pass a lot of cars. It just didn’t seem to fall our way. I can’t wait to get to the oval and keep that good momentum that I have had here before going.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:“It was a pretty good race, but quite tough. We were just short on pace, but in every on-track battle I found myself in I was able to get the better spot. I did everything I could today and we were able to move up to 13th from 17th. Brought the No. 21 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet home clean, picked up some points and now am looking forward to the Indianapolis 500.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:“For us, I mean, we were two, three and five as a team. That’s pretty freaking phenomenal. The guys gave us a great race car. We were kind of just running our own race today. We were there fighting with (Christian) Lundgaard between all of us teammates. Once I got in front of him, I just had to try and minimize the gap I had with Alex (Palou), but I just think they were very strong today. We were just kind of hanging on there in the end trying not to destroy our reds and bring it home, bring some solid points.” ON RACING IN THE HEAT WITH THE HUMIDITY AND THE AEROSCREEN, HOW ARE YOU FEELING WITH A RACE THAT MOSTLY WENT GREEN?“Obviously, it’s one of the toughest races we have year-round, but I don’t spend all those hours in the gym to be struggling. I feel great.” IT’S HARD NOT TO THINK ABOUT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500, HOW SOON TO YOU SHIFT WITH THE ROAD COURSE TO THINK OF TUESDAY AND THE INDY 500?“Our 500 started weeks ago at the Open Test, so we come back on Tuesday, and we want to make it better. We want to make it the best we can, and come race day, we’ll try and give ourselves that opportunity once again and see where we stack up.” Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:“Overall, I’m really happy for the team. Top-five for all of us. That’s insanely good. That’s a very rare result in INDYCAR these days, so a big congrats to the whole team. Personally, I wasn’t certainly super happy with that race when we had some sense, but we lost a bit too much on the final lap in the sequence on the reds, and too much (degradation). Otherwise, apart from that, it was a pretty good race. I think me and (Alexander Rossi) passed each other six times our there, so I wasn’t generally quick in the beginning. It was quicker at the end of the stint, and I think that’s where it got him the podium in the end. Pato (O’Ward) did a solid sequence in the middle of the race as well, which leaped him up to the front. It was good. I mean, these days are rare, but you can always be better.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:“We’ve always been really strong on Sundays. We just haven’t really gotten the results we deserve for the performance of the car. But the fact that McLaren got three cars in the top-five in this field, and this competition, that’s a huge testament to the organization and what we have going on here. It’s a big confidence boost in good momentum going into the most important race of the year. I think we’ve been there every race. Like I said, we’ve been there on Sundays all year. You know, we were we were we had a good day going in Texas. We were a lap away from finishing the top six in Long Beach. It’s just we haven’t quite executed completely. But you know, the pace in the car is there. It’s a really lovely racecar to drive. You just we got to find a way to extract a little bit more performance for optimal lap time.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:“Long day for us at AJ Foyt Racing. We were having a really solid day, and probably would have wound up with a pretty easy top-15. But that’s racing. A wheel nut just came off when we put the gun down, so that happens. That happens to the best of us. Other than that, the Sexton Properties Chevrolet was really strong. Looking forward to getting back out to the next road course, but now we’ve got the (Indianapolis) 500.” Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:“Tough day. We were super fast honestly. I think we were the seventh fastest average lap time the whole race, so unfortunately we went four laps down at the start due to the radio giving us issues. As a rule, we can’t be out there if the radio’s not sorted. Big bummer, just due to the fact we were really fast. I think the potential to be top-12 is there after starting P23, so we’re making huge gains from a driving perspective in car. That’s the most important thing. We’ve just got to get all the other little details for Indy.” Callum Ilott, No. 77 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:“Bit of a tough race. We had a first couple stints that wasn’t the best. Struggling a bit with the tires, and then managed to pull it back a bit at the end. Had some good pace but unfortunately was out a bit of position to make it easy to come back. Ended up P18 from P24. It’s been a tough weekend. I wish we could’ve got a little bit more out of it. Sometimes it’s like that. We just have to understand why and move on, and make it better for the next one.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, AND ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET — Podium Press Conference Transcript:PATO, JUST YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT COMING HOME SECOND, ANOTHER PODIUM HERE IN 2023?PATO O’WARD: “Super stoked for the team. We put three cars in the top five. Fricking hard to do in this series with how competitive it is. Just stoked for everybody in the organization, for our 5 crew.
We made our strategy really work, right? I just think today Palou and Ganassi were very, very strong, so we couldn’t quite get them there in the end.
Historically this hasn’t been the best of tracks for us. So this is awesome to see just the massive step forward we’ve taken here in race pace. Super happy to see that.Rolling with some great momentum into our Super Bowl.”
ALEXANDER, CONGRATULATIONS. CHOMPING AT THE BIT WAITING FOR A MOMENT LIKE THIS WITH THE NEW TEAM.ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Like Pato said, to get three cars in the top five is near on impossible these days. Arrow McLaren has done a phenomenal job all year. You can’t talk about how challenging it is to add a car in the off-season. They’ve done it with relative apparent ease. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.
Really proud to get the first podium for the team, the first one as part of Team Chevy. It was a good day. We’ve had a really strong pace on Sundays, we just haven’t gotten the results that we feel like we deserve. We’re missing a little bit on Saturdays.
The pieces are coming together. I’ve got an awesome team, awesome teammates around me.”
PATO, I THINK PALOU IS THE ONLY ONE OF THE TOP SEVEN TO STARTED ON REDS.ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Yeah, I started 10th (smiling).”
ANY SECOND THOUGHTS THERE ON STARTING ON THE ALTERNATE?PATO O’WARD: “No, I was happy with my strategy. I just think right when we were I believe second-to-last stint, I just blew too much push to pass. I could have used some more to keep Palou behind us, which I think we might have been able to do.
Yeah, you got to pick your battles. I was like, You know what, at this point of the stage of the race. I think that was the defining moment of the race because a yellow never came out. If a yellow did come out, I would have been in very big trouble.
I just played it safe, yeah, chose my battles cautiously. Super happy, content with the solid points that we got today.”
WHEN HE WINS BY 13 SECONDS, IS IT LIKE DOESN’T MATTER WHAT STRATEGY?PATO O’WARD: “Track position is so much here. I took longer to get by Lundgaard than what Alex did. I got stuck behind other guys a little bit longer than where he made up the time. When he got out of the pits, I was held up by some lappers. That all just adds up to the amount of time that you just keep losing, especially in those crucial in and out laps.
Yeah, I mean, obviously we’re going to look into it and see what we could have done better. I think it was a job really well done, not just by our car but all three Arrow McLarens.”
ALEX, FOR THE NEXT STEP, ARE YOU LOOKING TO EXTRACT MORE IN QUALIFYING?ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Yeah, I mean, it’s a very different car than I’m used to. I just haven’t quite found my happy spot for like the ultimate lap. It’s close. It seems like we’re permanently qualifying 10th, 11th or 12th. It’s not a disaster. We’re certainly much better in race pace, or have been so far this year.
Yeah, I mean, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll get there. It’s competitive, and you can’t be missing a 10th of a second. Ultimately that’s what we’re missing.
We’ll keep our heads down. A bit of a shift now for the next two weeks. Yeah, really looking forward to getting started on the oval.”
CAN YOU ADDRESS THE CONFIDENCE YOU COME OUT OF THIS WITH?PATO O’WARD: “I mean, I think confidence comes with — what I’m getting at, it’s a different beast, right? Indy is different. We’re not really going to know what we’ve got up until we put all the fast bits on the car, we see where we stack up.
Obviously last year the Ganassis were the different benchmark. They’re the ones that we’re chasing. We’ve been putting so much hard work. I know the engineers have spent endless hours of just time in all the different ways that we can find lap time for Indy.
I’m just so excited to see what we can do. We’ve continuously put ourselves into good positions there past few years. I think I can do it again for all of us at the 5 stand. Hopefully we get that opportunity and go that one more step that we want to do.”
ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Man, this is a momentum game. We talk about it a lot. Performance here doesn’t translate the other direction, but it’s good mentally for everyone. You know you’ve got the ability to have the results across all three cars. When everyone is relaxed and just doing what they know how to do, the confidence in their abilities is when the performance comes.”
IS THERE A GREATER FEELING OF PRIDE IN THAT THERE’S THREE ARROW MCLAREN CARS IN THE TOP FIVE OR IS THE FEELING MORE FRUSTRATION THAT IT’S NONE OF THEM IN THE TOP STEP OF THE PODIUM?ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Yeah, I think it’s hard to win these races. I think the 10 car was just stronger. A stronger car will really make any strategy look good. I don’t think we would do anything different if we had to do it again.
Yeah, I think it’s all pride in the fact that it’s three cars in the top five. Obviously for Pato it’s probably frustrating. I’ve been in that boat before. You just got to enjoy the seconds, because that’s what counts at the end.”
PATO, DO YOU ENJOY THE SECONDS?PATO O’WARD: “Man, I’m flowing. I know my wins will come. I’m chilling.”
ALEX, IT HAD BEEN A TOUGH COUPLE YEARS AT THE END OF YOUR STINT WITH ANDRETTI. IS THIS THE TYPE OF DAY YOU WERE HOPING FOR WITH A FRESH START WITH A NEW TEAM?ALEXANDER ROSSI: “I was actually talking to a friend about it this morning. Our frustration in the fact that we’re qualifying 10th, that’s a good sign. There’s still so much potential. The whole group, not just my car.
There’s things that we know that we need to improve. It’s very clear objectives that we need to improve upon. When we unlock it all, it’s going to be a really cool thing for three cars out there.”
THE WAY THIS TEAM HAS BEEN ABLE TO ADD SO MANY PERSONNEL AT A FULL-TIME PROGRAM, DO SOMETHING WE HAVE SEEN SOME TEAMS STRUGGLE WITH, BUT I DON’T THINK ANYONE FOUND THEIR WAY TO A PODIUM AS QUICK AS YOU HAD IN A BRAND-NEW PROGRAM.ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Yeah, it’s a testament to every single individual there, to management, to Gavin, to Brian, to all the engineers. It’s a very hard task.
Some of the people on my car in particular had never seen an INDYCAR before. Just the improvement and development every single time I show up at the racetrack is very impressive.We just got to keep pushing along, keep addressing our weakness. Like I said, it’s going to be a cool ride for everyone.”
PATO, YOU’RE PRETTY COMFORTABLE WITH THREE SECOND-PLACE FINISHES IN FIVE RACES SO FAR. AT WHAT POINT WILL IT GET FRUSTRATING IF THAT WIN DOESN’T COME ALONG?PATO O’WARD: “It won’t. I mean, honestly, if we’re second for the rest of the season, we’re chilling. Yeah, they will fall. Is it going to fall the next one, in two, three, four, five? Who knows. Is it going to fall until next year? You never know.
I sure know that what we’ve been doing, we’ve been knocking on the door every single weekend. Like, there hasn’t been one weekend where we’re lost, no. There’s been some weekends where we haven’t started off that strong. We make changes and we’re right there.
I’m just really enjoying it. We’re growing massively as a team. We get to work with some pretty cool people. I mean, I know Zak is having a total fan moment right now over there. I know he’s pumped to get to the 500. There’s been so much going into not just that race but for all three cars, all four cars for the 500, but all three cars for a full season.
Yeah, we just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”
SEEMS WHEN ALEX PALOU HAS A GOOD DAY, HE CAN RUN AWAY FROM THE FIELD, HARD TO DO IN THIS SERIES. FROM WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IT IS ABOUT HIM THAT WHEN HE’S ON, HE CAN BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO BEAT?PATO O’WARD: “Impossible to beat? I don’t agree. But he’s strong. He’s in one of the best teams, arguably the best in the past few years.
We’re pushing. We’re pushing. We’re right there. We’re not far off. I know we’re going to find it. Not worried.”
ALEX, I KNOW YOU WERE A BIG BELIEVER IN BRIAN BARNHART AT THE LAST TEAM. WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE ABLE TO GET A PERFORMANCE LIKE THIS NOW THAT YOU AND BRIAN ARE WITH ARROW MCLAREN?ALEXANDER ROSSI: “Yeah, I mean, Brian, I can’t say enough good things about what he does, the position that he’s in now at the team in terms of a management role, not just being a strategy guy. He’s instrumental in the success that this team has had to start the year. I’m very fortunate to have him on my car.
I was fortunate to have him last year. To be able to continue the relationship in new colors is a very good thing for both of us.”
PATO, YOU WERE ABLE TO GET ALEX DURING THE OFF-SEASON AS A TEAMMATE. HOW QUICK DID IT TAKE FOR THE THREE OF YOU TO MESH, BECOME A PRETTY GOOD TRIO?PATO O’WARD: “Honestly, it didn’t take much time. I mean, he can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think he needed a change. I think he’s fit in very well. I think he’s really embraced how we work as a team. I think it’s extremely different to a lot of other teams on the grid.
Yeah, I mean, it’s not just like Alex. I feel like with his team, I feel like all of us are working really hard to have the best three cars on the grid.”
PATO, YOU HAVE AN INDY 500 WINNER ON YOUR TEAM, ADD ANOTHER ONE TO THE LINEUP ON TUESDAY. WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR THE TEAM DYNAMIC? HOW MUCH IS HAVING SOMEBODY WITH THAT MUCH EXPERIENCE GOING TO MEAN TO YOU GUYS?PATO O’WARD: “I mean, obviously there’s so much that you can tap into, chat with them in certain scenarios, right?
Indy is a different beast in its own where I feel in my experience I’ve always been on my island. We know we’ve had Montoya, Alonzo. Everybody usually just goes with what they’re comfortable with. If you keep chasing something that maybe your teammate likes, you need to find what works for you. When you find what works for you, that’s how you are going to put yourself in positions to win the race.
You’re not going to get there by trying to chase someone else’s setup and hope you can drive it the same way. Everybody drives differently. So I think it’s all about maximizing what you need from your car, trying to help the whole team while you’re doing that, right?
A lot of the times my car, my teammates never liked my car. Montoya was on the other stratosphere of setups. Yeah, it doesn’t mean one’s better than the other. We just drive very differently.
When you’re going 230, 240 miles an hour, you need something that you’re comfortable with.”
PATO, ARROW MCLAREN WAS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR WITH YOU FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS. SINCE YOU EXPANDED THIS TEAM, IT FEELS LIKE IT’S ON THE THRESHOLD OF BREAKING THAT GLASS CEILING. WHAT IS IT ABOUT GAVIN COMING IN?PATO O’WARD: “I think his approach. He has a very humored approach to everything. I can say he’s not only helped the team, but I have improved outside of the race car because of Gavin, just kind of having a different set of eyes that looks at things in a different way.
At the end of the day this is all a human sport. None of us are robots. We’re all the ones that are putting in the work. That’s what it takes.
Sometimes it’s important to know that we all need some rest and recharge sometimes. You can’t always go full on. What you need is you need to make sure you’re in the position to do it when it counts, right?
Just hats off to everybody that worked so hard in the off-season. There’s countless guys and gals in the team that spend many hours in the off-season to find more lap time.”

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Cadillac Racing qualifies on Rows 2, 3 at Laguna Seca

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R two-tenths of a second off pole time

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais, Renger van der ZandeBourdais drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (qualified sixth at 1 minute, 15.335 seconds on 7 laps): “I really wasn’t expecting what we got. Balance didn’t seem to be too bad but was low on grip. I didn’t put the lap together that I really wanted to be further up the grid. Not being able to do a qualifying sim this morning really hurt us. So, we’ll see what tomorrow brings. It will be similar (weather) conditions, so we’ll work on the car and get the balance right for long stints and the tire deg.” No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani, Alexader SimsDerani drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (qualified fourth at 1 minute, 15.007 seconds on 8 laps): “I’m quite happy with this qualifying. I think I extracted everything I could from the car. Sometimes you come away with a pole position and you’re like ‘oh, I think we could have done better,’ and today we came away with P4 and I think my lap was quite good. Obviously, we wanted to be a little bit further up the grid but it’s very tight – two-tenths from P1 – so just one of those days where you have to be happy with P4 because you know you extracted everything you could out of the car. I think we have a very good car for the race, especially thinking long stints and tire deg.”

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Burton Qualifies 14th at Darlington

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

May 13, 2023

A season-best qualifying effort has put Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang in 14^th place for the start of Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

Burton circled the Lady In Black at 168.891 miles per hour in qualifying on Saturday. His best previous start this season was 16^th at Circuit of the Americas.

His qualifying speed at Darlington was significantly better than his best lap in practice, which was at 164.062 mph on the third of the 26 laps he ran in the session.

That placed him 26^th on the speed chart for practice. He was 22^nd best on a 10-consecutive-lap run, averaging 161.974 mph on his first 10 laps.

Sunday’s Goodyear 400 is set to start just after 3 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 90 and 185.

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CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: Closer to the Front

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

MONTEREY, Calif. (May 13, 2023) – Corvette Racing will roll off from the fifth spot in the GTD PRO field for Sunday’s MOTUL Course de Monterey – its 25th consecutive start at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Jordan Taylor set a lap of 1:24.907 (94.889 mph) in Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He will start Sunday’s race behind the wheel of the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia.
Taylor was seventh-fastest among all GTD cars but only four-tenths of a second off the pole time. Compare that to being more than a second off the pace in qualifying a year ago, and there is reason to be optimistic heading into Sunday’s race, which airs live at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
A year ago, the Corvette qualified in the same position but an early strategy call to take fresh tires early helped gain track position and allowed Garcia and Taylor to gain a spot to fourth at the finish. A year on with a notebook full of car, tire and track data should help the Corvette program move further up the order.
This is the 25th straight year that Corvette Racing has visited the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit. The track is one of two where the program has raced in each of its previous 24 years – Sebring is the other – with Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta joining the list at the end of the season.
This weekend also marks another important milestone: Garcia will become the first driver in the WeatherTech Championship to make 100 starts in the series since the start of the post-merger era in 2014 when the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM joined together for one American sports car championship.
Since that time, Garcia has won 20 races – including in 2014 at Laguna Seca – and four championships… all with Corvette Racing.
The MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N is set for 12:10 p.m. PT / 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 14 and airs live on NBC with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will have live audio coverage on XM 207, SiriusXM Online 992 and IMSA.com, which will have IMSA Radio coverage.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTD PRO:“If you look at where we are this year in qualifying compared to last year, it’s much better. The BoP is in kind of a similar position to where we were last year, so it shows that we made some big gains on everyone else to be only four-tenths off pole. We made some good moves in strategy last year that gave us track position, and I think being more competitive this year opens up those options even more. I’m more excited now to go racing, and hopefully we can make some good calls and jump some guys in the pits.”

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chevy racing–nascar–darlington–qualifying

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON RACEWAY GOODYEAR 400 TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT MAY 13, 2023

   Five Camaro ZL1’s Take Top-10 Starting Spots at Darlington Raceway ·       At the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Darlington Raceway, Chevrolet drivers took the top-three spots on the final speed chart, led by Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Llumar Throwback Camaro ZL1 team, clocking-in a fastest lap of 29.231 second, at 168.232 mph.
·       Defending Darlington Raceway NASCAR Cup Series winner, Erik Jones, was second-fastest in his No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1, followed by Elliott’s teammate William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Throwback Camaro ZL1, in the third position.
·       Five Chevrolet drivers advanced to the final round of qualifying to take a top-10 starting position in tomorrow’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway led by the 2023 Daytona 500 Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr., qualifying his No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL1 in the third position.
·       Stenhouse Jr.’s top-three qualifying effort marks his second top-10 start at Darlington Raceway; and his fourth top-10 start this season.
·       FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 14, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.    TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP:  POS.   DRIVER3rd      Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Country Crock Camaro ZL14th      William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Throwback Camaro ZL15th      Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express / UPS Camaro ZL16th      Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL17th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Throwback Camaro ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP: POS.  DRIVER1.        Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)2.        Bubba Wallace (Toyota)3.        Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)4.        William Byron (Chevrolet)5.        Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)

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chevy racing–nascar–darlington–kyle busch

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DARLINGTON RACEWAY

GOODYEAR 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

MAY 13, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LUCAS OIL CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:

WE’RE HONORING THE 75 GREATEST DRIVERS IN NASCAR HISTORY. HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING ON THAT LIST? DID YOU EXPECT THAT AND WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO IT?

“Yeah, I guess to answer ‘did I expect that’ – yeah, I did. So it wasn’t necessarily going to be a surprise, but I feel like it’s a cool honor and a humbling one in that to be a part of that group, just with my past successes and all the people that have brought me to this point of my career. It wouldn’t have been possible without the very beginning of time, racing in Las Vegas in legend cars and late models, all the way through the ranks to get to the top. And then all the great team members that I’ve worked with from HMS, JGR and now RCR. Obviously you take that as much as you can with the accolade and the things that you’ve done. To say that you’ve had a really good career is great. Obviously hopefully it’s not over.”

FROM THE DRIVING SIDE OF IT, WHAT MAKES PASSING DIFFICULT AT A PLACE LIKE THIS? WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE ‘LADY IN BLACK’ AND BEING SUCKED IN, BUT WHAT IS IT LIKE TO TRY AND PASS HERE OR NAVIGATE A RACE?

“Yeah, I think the biggest thing that makes it tough is just the one groove, one lane race track here where it’s very narrow and there’s kind of one way in getting around turns one and two, for sure. You go in low; you wash up to the wall and you turn back down off of turn two. (Turns) Three and four are a little bit more racy because you can go low and you can go high. But as tires wear, everybody tends to migrate to the top and be on the top. It’s hard to find that clean air in order to get enough front downforce under your car to make it turn and not get tight behind that guy in front of you. So that’s the biggest deficit and that’s what makes it really, really tough here.

I remember 2008 when they first repaved this place. We were running around and I was leading, and I caught Juan Montoya as a lap car and I couldn’t pass him for 20 laps. Second-place caught me and actually got by me for the lead, and then got by Montoya and I was still stuck behind Montoya. So there is a trend here of how to make passes and stuff. Whoever that is with the slide job better go back and watch recent history because nobody lets you in. So if you try and throw it off into the corner underneath somebody and wash up in front of him, you’re going to crash because that guy is going to stuff it back on your outside. That doesn’t happen anymore these days.. anybody letting you in.”

YOU EXPRESSED SOME FRUSTRATION WITH ROSS CHASTAIN OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. DID YOU FEEL LIKE WHAT HAPPENEND LAST WEEKEND NEEDED TO HAPPEN, AND DO YOU THINK DRIVERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DUKE IT OUT OR WAS IT GOOD THAT SECURITY STEPPED IN?

“OK – so yeah, I’ve had issues with a lot of guys and (Ross) Chastain has been the most frustrating one because he has it every single week. So when it happens with you, because it’s every single week and it’s so repetitive with one guy, then you get even more frustrated because it’s like the guy hasn’t even learned a single lesson or any bullet point of what the problem is. There’s a common denominator. And he’s got an aggressive style. We all want to say that he is and whatever.. well we’re all aggressive to a point because we’re all going to push hard and try to make runs; get spots, get good finishes, things of that nature.

Did that need to happen afterwards? Yeah, I don’t know if Noah (Gragson) was the right guy (laughs). I think Denny (Hamlin) has more reasons to do that. But Noah obviously wanted to show his frustration and I think Noah had a somewhat similar philosophy as I did, where it’s like the same guy all the time. I’m not going to take that crap and go up to him and confront him. I feel like security stepped in about 10 seconds too quick. You let one guy get a hell of a hit and then you block the other guy from getting a hit back. At least let the guy try and then maybe get one in. I would seriously urge NASCAR to go with some hockey rules, you know? Once you get to the ground, we’re going to break it up; or when one of you guys look gassed, we’re going to break it up. Let them get a good 30 seconds in.. it’s going to be way better for TV and ratings are going to go off the charts.”

EVERYTIME SOMEBODY WINS, WE HEAR ‘OH THEY’RE IN THE PLAYOFFS NOW AND THEY CAN JUST FOCUS ON GETTING READY FOR THE PLAYOFFS’. FOR YOU, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, HOW DOES A WIN EFFECT YOU? DO YOU BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF AND GO – OK, I’M IN THE PLAYOFFS NOW, I CAN FOCUS ON JUST RACING, OR HOW DOES THAT EFFECT YOU?

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things that change in that. So by being able to get a win, I would say – yes, it relaxes you to a point where you’re able to say OK I’m in the playoffs. You’re not stressed out about every single move all of the time, and what positions gained or loss are going to do for you. I would say for us, for me, right now – having the wins that we have, I’m still super, super frustrated in our last couple of weeks and now dropping to 12th in points I think it is. I’m still under the mindset and thought process to get as many points as we can. Get ourselves up the points ladder. We need to be able to contend for stage points. We have probably the least amount of stage points this year of anybody, so it’s very frustrating in that respect for us. We just have to get our act together and run up front. A lot of that is on me, too. Like me speeding on pit road, right? I’m winning that award this year, but I’m also number one rolling on pit road this year, too. So what’s the risk versus reward there? We’re always going to push and having that win allows you to push. It allowed us to push fuel at Talladega to grab another win. You’re going to put yourself in some tighter spots on restarts and things like that because you do have that win and you’re going to be a little bit more aggressive. As long as you don’t look like Ross Chastain, you’ll be fine.”

IS THE PRESSURE TO WIN – WHETHER THE INTERNAL OR SPONSOR PRESSURE – THESE DAYS CREATING MORE DRIVERS WILLING TO BE AGGRESSIVE MORESO THAN 15 YEARS AGO?

“Yeah, I think a little bit of this car and the parity of this car allows drivers to be more aggressive and push harder because they feel like they’re the difference and they need to makeup the difference if they’re not running upfront or contending every week. So they’re going to push harder.. run into more stuff and run into more guys because they’re trying to get a better finish or whatever out of themselves. You used to have cars that had a little bit of discrepancy between them when you go to the race track. The good guys that ran good would know that they were good and would race for wins, and the others that are 12th on back know they’re place and they’re going to run 12th on back. Well now those guys 12th on back think that if they do some things on restarts and whatnot to get themselves further upfront, that they’re going to finish further upfront. They’re not 100 percent wrong, but there is a place in there where you still have to find your home in the running order.”

HAVE YOU TRIED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ROSS (CHASTAIN), OR IS THAT KIND OF LIKE THE DENNY HAMLIN THING WHERE IT JUST FELL ON DEAF EARS AND IT WASN’T REALLY WORTH THE TIME OR ENERGY?

“Yeah, I talked to him I think it was either after the Darlington thing with (Kevin) Harvick here or his next one after that. He asked me a couple of questions and I talked to him about it.. just told him don’t be the headline every week and chill a little bit. Don’t push and force as hard each week. Like those two – whether Harvick won or Chastain – he would have looked a hell of a lot better finishing second to Harvick than he did with a crashed car here at Darlington. So yeah, no he hasn’t learned. He hasn’t listened to anybody and I’m sure there’s more than me that have tried to talk to him. I’m not sure what that is.. I don’t know that guy. Don’t need to know the guy.”

LOOK AHEAD TO THE COCA-COLA 600, WHAT KIND OF MEMORIES DO YOU HAVE ABOUT BRUTON SMITH, THE WAY HE RAN THINGS AND THE WAY EVOLVED THE SPORT OVER THE YEARS?

“Yeah, to me, Bruton (Smith) was just a class act. He obviously had a knack for fans and putting on a show. He hired one of the best of them, Humpy Wheeler, a long, long time go to run Charlotte Motor Speedway. He certainly has done a lot for our sport; with SMI and all the race tracks that they have. Seeing and having a vision of a lot of different things that have come through and he’s kind of led that onto Marcus (Smith), and I feel like Marcus has really done a great job of being a visionary, as well. Trying things and not being afraid to try some things. A couple of them probably not so good ideas.. Texas (Motor Speedway) repave.

With Bruton, give the guy and the family credit where credit is due. They’ve put a lot of time and effort, blood and sweat, into our sport and it’s very appreciated.”

WE’VE SEEN AT TIMES WHERE CREW MEMBERS GET INVOLVED IN FIGHTS. I THINK WITH YOU AND (JOEY) LOGANO YEARS AGO, YOU GOT TAKEN RIGHT DOWN BY CREW MEMBERS. SAME CONCEPT WHERE CREW MEMBERS SHOULD STAY OUT OF IT? THEY WANT TO PROTECT YOU GUYS, BUT DO THEY NEED TO STAY OUT OF IT AND LET YOU GUYS HANDLE IT?

“Yeah, like I said, to a point. Rodeos are eight seconds, right? A round in boxing is three minutes. There isn’t a damn one of us that’s going to make a round of three minutes, I’m going to tell you that (laughs). So if it’s 15-, 20-, 30-seconds, whatever.. come up with a number, start the clock, let’s go.”

AUSTIN (DILLON) HAD A CHANCE TO TEST TIRES UP AT NORTH WILKESBORO. GIVEN SOME OF HIS FEEDBACK, WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU EXPECT UP THERE AND HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO NORTH WILKESBORO AND THE ALL-STAR RACE THERE?

“Yeah, I think it’s going to be interesting, for sure. The tire falloff at that race track is by far the worst I think we’ll ever see. So 50 or 60 lap runs on tires that you have to go – I mean that’s a long time anyways, but it’s not quite 100 laps like late model races or modified races that are going to run there next week. Still, I think you’re going to have to figure out how hard to push. If you’re a guy upfront, do you push for a little while? If you’re a guy in the back, how much do you ride? Is the field going to catchup and are you going to go a lap down? Things of that nature.

I look at Josh Berry probably today as being one of the absolute best of that world, coming in through the late model stock ranks that he did. I remember a race he ran at Myrtle Beach – it might have been the last one at Myrtle Beach – where he fell all the way around to be about a lap down to the leader. He rode there in front of that guy for 40 laps, and then with 30 to go or something, he took off and drove all the way back around, passed that leader and won the race. I have no clue how to do that. I remember me racing at Berlin trying to ride around and save tires, and then the caution came out and there was a restart with 10 or 15 laps to go. I was like – alright, I’m going to get ‘em now and I had nothing to go with. So that’s the biggest thing that I see sometimes, is like how hard are you pushing. Really, you kind of don’t know until it’s time to go. But I think you’re going to see different strategies and if that race goes green the whole way, it’s going to be way more beneficial to the guys that are upfront and have the track position versus if a caution comes out. It’s going to be way more beneficial to those that rode and saved a little bit.”

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chevy racing–nascar–darlington–post race

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DARLINGTON RACEWAY

GOODYEAR 400

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT

MAY 13, 2023

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS / UPS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Darlington Raceway. Chastain Media Availability Quotes:

ROSS, TALK ABOUT THE HONOR OF BEING ABLE TO RUN THE CLASSIC DALE JARRETT PAINT SCHEME ON THE ‘TRACK TOO TOUGH TO TAME’?

“Yeah, it’s all sinking in right now just walking in. And I’m going to do it – I’ve known Mr. Jarrett for a few years. He doesn’t like me to call him that, but I have. In passing in the garage and talking on the phone – he called me after my first Cup win and we talked for a little bit that night. But then walking up here and knowing that we’re walking up here to do something together, it’s just absolutely incredible. I can’t even think about what it’s going to feel like pulling out on the track in that car yet.”

YOU SAID YESTERDAY YOU DON’T WANT TO BE FIGHTING, BUT I’M CURIOUS, WHAT’S THE TRIGGER POINT? WHAT’S THE POINT WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO TAKE THINGS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS?

“I don’t have any preconceived ideas of what that would be. It’s more just in the moment – living and reacting. But knowing this is big-time auto racing, this is not hockey. I standby last week what happened. I’m not saying that every time in a little bit different situation it’s going to react like that. I want to talk to guys and have conversations, but last week was too far.”

YOU SAID THAT YOU AND NOAH (GRAGSON) TALKED IT OUT MONDAY A LITTLE BIT. CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH THAT? DID YOU APPROACH HIM OR DID HE APPROACH YOU, AND WHAT WAS THAT CONVERSATION LIKE?

“Yeah, he called me Sunday night. I was still in the garage and I didn’t feel like I had the bandwidth to think about it or talk about it. I was just happy we got out of there with a top-five and was ready to get home. I called him back Monday. I was heading up to Hickory to run a late model stock. I’m kind of doing a lot of this racing stuff backwards and now I’m driving a late model stock at Hickory for the first time. So I called him on my way up there. We talked for a little while and was in a really good place. And then we both went to Millbridge Monday night and with the Chevy program; we ran micros and had a blast. Just bonded over fast, little sprint cars. It was good – just laughing and joking, and we’ve been good at the gym all week.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT LEADING THE POINTS AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT OF THE SEASON? HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP TO YOU, AND IS IT MORE IMPORTANT NOW TO HAVE THE BONUS POINTS WITH THE FACT YOU HAVEN’T WON YET?

“Yeah, look I’ll always take one more point than one less. In today’s world, you’re just trying to grab as many points as you can. I missed out on a really big opportunity last week by not staying out for that Stage Two late restart that the No. 22 (Joey Logano) ended up winning. That would have been an – execute on the restart, win the stage and then reset only a couple spots back. Phil Surgen (crew chief) made the call to stay out and to do that. I saw how many people were pitting and I decided to pit. So those little things, I just look at it as I missed 10 points right there. But everybody is missing chunks of points every stage and every race.

I think it’s big. It’s so crazy to think we’re leading the points. But then again, it’s not. We belong there and we belong to be parked at the front of the garage. I’ve been here for the spring Darlington race and parked second from last, so it’s pretty wild to walk down that same line. I still caught myself yesterday coming in ahead of the Truck race and Cup tech and just walking, purposely, from this end to that end to just look at it. I still take these moments to try to realize what all of this is. This isn’t always going to be the case. We’re not always, for the rest of time, we’re not going to be the Cup Series points leader, so some special times right now. If we keep running like this, I fully believe the wins will come.”

ARE YOU FEELING THE PRESSURE? I WAS LISTENING TO THE PODCAST OF KYLE LARSON WITH BRAD SWEET AND HE SAID – ROSS CHASTAIN OWNS IT AND HE SAID HE’S MOVING THE NEEDLE AND THAT HE MAY END UP BEING MORE POPULAR THAN CHASE ELLIOTT. ARE YOU FEELING THE PRESSURE FROM OUTSIDE?

“There’s two things, right? There’s on the track and off. And on the track, I am. I’m comfortable making these guys uncomfortable and that’s not always going to come across well, but I’m OK. Get out of the car and I’m learning to become comfortable in this role. I’m not the guy that grew up wanting to be on camera. I wanted to be like my dad – I wanted to farm watermelons. I wanted to be like all the other guys in our town that we knew and I grew up around. I wanted to drive my three-quarter ton diesel truck to the farm; work, grow a crop and go home. Out there in the field, you can go all day and never see anybody if you want to. Everybody thinks about Florida and beaches, but you come inland where we’re at and there’s nobody out there. It’s something I’m growing into off the track. Sometimes I’ll get on camera and I see it when I watch it back – I’ll kind of bring my draw in and protect, in my mind.

But just being myself is the best thing I can do and if people like it, they do. I’d say last night at the Truck race, it was maybe 70/30, cheers to boos. I’m interested to see what Sunday is. But no matter what, I’m proud to be moving the needle. I hear it, I see it. People come to me, either online or in person, and they’re telling me the good and the bad, and I kind of just walk away and I’m like – that’s pretty wild that they’re watching my racing and they care that much. I’m learning to become comfortable in that role, too.”

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DAY OUTGUNS MCFADDEN TO DOMINATE OPENING NIGHT OF THE PETER MURPHY CLASSIC

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

(5/12/23 – Ben Deatherage) Hanford, CA … Teenage sensation Corey Day continued on his winning ways with an impressive Peter Murphy Classic opening night showing at Kings Speedway. Day powered past James McFadden in the NARC 410 NAPA Auto Parts Sprint Car Series headliner at the halfway point and never looked back to score his third series victory of the season.

The 30-lap headliner kicked off with polesitter McFadden grabbing the early race lead aboard the Dennis and Teresa Roth-owned Toyota Racing Development/HR Livestock #83 Maxim. The Australian driver, racing for just the second time in his career with the NARC, was jungle cat-quick, but several caution flags prevented him from thoroughly checking out from the rest of the pack.

After a lap thirteen restart, Day rocketed past McFadden coming to the line, only for the pass to be negated by a red flag incident for Cole Macedo. He was uninjured in the accident.

Once the wreckage was cleared, Day hunted McFadden down on an open racetrack and passed him for the point, manhandling the high side of the racetrack. Day, who started seventh, dominated the rest of the way aboard the Jason Meyer Racing-fielded Meyers Constructors/Four C’s Construction/Autry Plumbing #14 KPC.

“We were really good there!” said a pleased Day in victory lane, after scoring his ninth career series win and first at the Peter Murphy Classic. “We had to do a motor change after hot laps, and we never gave up and kept pushing through. To start seventh, come through like that, and beat an Outlaw is cool.”

McFadden finished a very respectable second, followed by the Scelzi Enterprises/Whipple Superchargers/Red Rose Transportation #41 Maxim driven by Dominic Scelzi. The balance of the top five consisted of fourth finishing Shane Golobic in the Works Limited #57 EMI and the Larry Antaya-owned Fire Protection Management of Bay Area/Northstar Concrete Pumping #16A Helix, piloted by Colby Copeland, in fifth.

Buddy Kofoid, Justyn Cox, Jonathan Allard, rookie Joey Ancona, and Ryan Bernal rounded out the top ten. Eleventh finisher Tanner Holmes earned the Williams Roofing Hardcharger award after starting 20th.

NAPA AUTO PARTS FEATURE (30 laps): 1. 14-Corey Day[7]; 2. 83-James McFadden[1]; 3. 41-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 4. 57W-Shane Golobic[11]; 5. 16A-Colby Copeland[6]; 6. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[10]; 7. 42X-Justyn Cox[9]; 8. 0-Jonathan Allard[12]; 9. 88A-Joey Ancona[8]; 10. 22-Ryan Bernal[16]; 11. 18T-Tanner Holmes[20]; 12. 69-Bud Kaeding[18]; 13. 115-Nick Parker[21]; 14. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[17]; 15. 2X-Justin Sanders[3]; 16. (DNF) 88N-DJ Netto[15]; 17. (DNF) 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[14]; 18. (DNF) 21T-Cole Macedo[2]; 19. (DNF) 24-Chase Johnson[5]; 20. (DNF) 26-Billy Aton[23]; 21. (DNF) 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[19]; 22. (DNF) 72W-Kurt Nelson[24]; 23. (DNF) 36-Craig Stidham[22]; 24. (DNS) X1-Michael Faccinto

METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: McFadden 1-15, Day 16-30

WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Tanner Holmes – 20th to 9th.

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (30 Cars): Cole Macedo, 13.727 (27 Cars)

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 laps): 1. 41-Dominic Scelzi[2]; 2. 16A-Colby Copeland[1]; 3. 21T-Cole Macedo[4]; 4. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[3]; 5. X1-Michael Faccinto[5]; 6. 22-Ryan Bernal[9]; 7. 26-Billy Aton[7]; 8. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[6]; 9. 36-Craig Stidham[8]

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 laps): 1. 24-Chase Johnson[2]; 2. 88A-Joey Ancona[1]; 3. 83-James McFadden[4]; 4. 57W-Shane Golobic[6]; 5. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[3]; 6. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[5]; 7. 115-Nick Parker[7]; 8. 12B-Dawson Faria[8]; 9. 10-Mauro Simone[9]

BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES & RAYMOND JAMES HEAT THREE (8 laps): 1. 14-Corey Day[2]; 2. 2X-Justin Sanders[4]; 3. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 4. 0-Jonathan Allard[6]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto[5]; 6. 69-Bud Kaeding[3]; 7. 18T-Tanner Holmes[7]; 8. 72W-Kurt Nelson[8]; 9. 92-Andy Forsberg[9]

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (6 laps): 1. 1. 83-James McFadden[2]; 2. 21T-Cole Macedo[1]; 3. 2X-Justin Sanders[3]; 4. 41-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 5. 24-Chase Johnson[5]

KAEDING PERFORMANCE B FEATURE (10 Laps): 1. 1. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[1]; 2. 18T-Tanner Holmes[4]; 3. 115-Nick Parker[3]; 4. 36-Craig Stidham[7]; 5. 26-Billy Aton[2]; 6. 72W-Kurt Nelson[6]; 7. (DNF) 92-Andy Forsberg[9]; 8. (DNF) 12B-Dawson Faria[5]; 9. (DNF) 10-Mauro Simone[8]

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POUNCING ON THE POSSE: Brad Sweet Dominates Williams Grove for Fourth Win of Season

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

Sweet picks up his second Williams Grove victory by leading every lap MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 12, 2023) – Brad Sweet cupped his hand to his ear and stuck out his tongue as he rose atop his wing Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.The fans stayed quiet. But “The Big Cat” knew there’d be minimal cheers. Truthfully, he was expecting more boos than he received.After all, the Pennsylvania Posse were forced to watch as a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car driver parked in Victory Lane at one of their most prided tracks. Sweet dominated on his way to winning at the historic half mile – leading all 25 laps of the Morgan Cup opening night Feature. Why not play into the rivalry after such a perfect performance?“I was looking forward to getting booed,” Sweet said with a smirk. “But they’re (the crowd) kind of quiet. I don’t know if they’re speechless or what.”The Grass Valley, CA native is now a two-time winner at “The Grove” – adding Friday’s triumph to last year’s Summer Nationals crown. It took Sweet more than 50 tries to add a Williams Grove win to his list of accomplishments. It took him only three more attempts to tally a second at the Mechanicsburg, PA oval.Sweet now sits tied for the most Feature wins this season with four, and his 83rd career victory with Kasey Kahne Racing with the Series brings him within one of equaling Stevie Smith for 10th all time.“The guys gave me a great race car,” Sweet said. “We were on the second row of the Heat (Race) tonight and were able to get to the Dash and draw the number one. I think that was the key to winning. I don’t know if we had the best car. I’ll go back and watch, but the last few laps I was actually kind of struggling. I don’t know if I was trying too hard or what the guys were doing behind me. Just excited to get to Victory Lane.”Winning the Toyota Dash was exactly what set Sweet up for success. Once the green flag flew, Sweet never looked back from the pole position. On the race’s initial green flag, Sweet jumped ahead in the Napa Auto Parts #49.Even as a handful of caution periods slowed the early part of the race, Sweet had no issue on every single restart. The 37 year old pulled ahead with ease every time the green flag flew. Then around the midway part of the race when it appeared traffic would become a factor, another yellow flag flew, giving him clean air once again. The caution was a welcome sight for Sweet.“I’ll be honest. I didn’t feel like I was going to have very much luck getting by them in traffic,” Sweet admitted. That hole in (Turn) 3 just had me spooked all night. We tried something a little different for the A (Main), and I’m not sure it was really good to run the bottom like we were in the Dash. It seemed like my car was better up high, but I was happy to get out of it (traffic) and focus on trying to get really good restarts. I didn’t want to leave myself open.”That late caution effectively sealed the deal as Sweet excelled on yet another restart. Ultimately, the four-time Series champion would go on to take the checkered flag with more than a two second advantage.Behind him offered plenty of drama for the runner-up spot. Rico Abreu held onto it for much of the early going after starting outside pole. But late in the going challengers arose. Brent Marks slid ahead of Abreu on the late restart to take command of second. The Myerstown, PA native did everything in his power behind the wheel to run down Sweet but didn’t have enough. The runner-up result was Marks’ second consecutive after finishing second Wednesday at Lincoln. The defending Morgan Cup champion came away encouraged knowing they aren’t far from a win.“We’re pretty happy with our program right now,” Marks said. “We were still just a tick off there. We’re just missing something really small, and I think we’re dialing in on it. I wish we had a shot to try to give Brad a run for his money but never got to lapped traffic tonight.”Shortly after Marks charged by Abreu, Donny Schatz did the same in his Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15. The 10-time champion rolled the bottom smoothly all race on his charge from starting sixth onto the podium. Schatz now owns a whopping 56 podiums in World of Outlaws competition at Williams Grove alone. The Fargo, ND native has finished within the top three in three of the last four races. Despite the encouraging stretch, Schatz is searching for a little more comfort behind the wheel.“We made up some spots,” Schatz said. “That’s what you’ve got to do. The guys just keep taking big swings at it. I just can’t seem to get slowed down when I need to slow down, and I can’t get sped up when I need to go. But we’re digging and working on it. We’re doing a great job. Scuba (Steve Swenson), he’s pulling everything out of the hat he can. They’re doing what they can. It’s a decent run here to get us a decent spot.”Rounding out the top five was Rico Abreu and Anthony Macri. Sweet’s victory extended his advantage to 36 markers over David Gravel (finished sixth) in the championship standings. Carson Macedo (finished ninth) isn’t too far behind in third – 46 points behind Sweet.The Feature’s KSE Racing Hard Charger went to Freddie Rahmer with a drive from 21st to 12th aboard the Eichelberger #8.The night began with David Gravel claiming his fourth Simpson QuickTime of the year and the 101st of his career.CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to Justin Peck (sixth Heat win of career). NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four were topped by Carson Macedo (87th of career), Rico Abreu (36th of career), and Anthony Macri (eighth of career).Freddie Rahmer won the MicroLite Last Chance Showdown.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are back at Williams Grove for the Morgan Cup finale on Saturday, May 13. For tickets, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.RESULTS:A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[6]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[8]; 6. 2-David Gravel[5]; 7. 69K-Lance Dewease[13]; 8. 13-Justin Peck[7]; 9. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart[10]; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 12. 8-Freddie Rahmer[21]; 13. 44-Dylan Norris[12]; 14. 11-Cory Eliason[14]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[24]; 16. 12-Billy Dietrich[19]; 17. 99M-Kyle Moody[18]; 18. 5-Spencer Bayston[20]; 19. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[16]; 20. 11T-TJ Stutts[22]; 21. 5C-Dylan Cisney[26]; 22. 23-Devon Borden[25]; 23. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]; 24. 7S-Robbie Price[23]; 25. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]; 26. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[11]

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Lundgaard, Honda on the Pole for GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis

May 15, 2023 ARP Trish

May 13, 2023 — SPEEDWAY, IN

Christian Lundgaard scores his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole in qualifying for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Honda drivers continue 2023 qualifying dominance on road and street circuits
Alex Palou, Jack Harvey and Kyle Kirkwood also advance to the final round of knockout qualifying at Indianapolis

In another thrilling NTT INDCAR SERIES qualifying session, Honda-powered Christian Lundgaard prevailed to score his first pole in Indy car competition today, and the Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver will lead the field to the green flag in Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix on the road course of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Honda drivers have now claimed the pole in the four INDYCAR road and temporary street circuit events conducted in 2023.

All three Rahal Letterman Lanigan drivers and the full, four-car Andretti Autosport effort advanced out of the first round of knockout qualifying today on the IMS road course, as Honda drivers made up eight of the 12 entries in second-round qualifying.

Behind Lundgaard at the end of “Firestone Fast Six” final qualifying, Alex Palou will start Saturday’s 85-lap race from the inside of the second row, third. Lundgaard’s RLL teammate, Jack Harvey, will start fourth, while Long Beach pole qualifier and race winner, Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top six today for Andretti Autosport.

GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis Honda Qualifying Results

1st Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
3rd Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
4th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
6th Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda
7th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
8th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
9th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11th Marcus Armstrong-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
14th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
15th Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Autosport Honda
18th Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
19th Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda
20th David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
22nd Sting Ray Robb-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
26th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda

R – Rookie

Quotes
Christian Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) pole qualifier: “The Hy-Vee Honda has been fast all day. I was hoping for this but I wasn’t quite expecting it. I can finally call this (IMS) home, I think. It feels amazing. Waking up this morning, I knew we were going to have a chance to get into the Fast Six, because we’ve done that pretty much every time we’ve been here and I hoped it was going to happen, and now I can sit here and it’s a reality, which is pretty cool. Honestly, right now it feels awesome getting my first NTT P1 award, but with that said, [teammates} Jack [Harvey} is P4 and Graham [Rahal] is P8. That is the best qualifying we’ve had in the two years that we’ve been teammates. I think it shows the progress that we’re on. It’s taken a little longer than we would have liked, but now we’ve got to finish it off tomorrow, but I’m just super happy for the team.”

Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified third: “I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t get the pole. We were looking strong all day; third in Practice 1 and then P1 in Practice 2. We just missed it by a bit, but it’s good to be disappointed when you’re starting third. The car feels great, just need to find a little bit more during the warm-up and try to get our first win of the season.”

Fast Facts

This is Honda’s fourth pole in five rounds of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The other Honda-powered pole winners this year include Romain Grosjean at St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park; plus Kyle Kirkwood at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Honda holds the early-season lead in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with two victories and four poles this season. Honda comes to Barber Motorsports Park with a 13-point advantage (325-312) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in the last six years in 2023.

Where to Watch
Television coverage of Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix starts at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).

Honda Racing social media content and video links can be found on:
Instagram        (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd)
TikTok             (www.tiktok.com/hondaracing_hpd)
Twitter             (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD)
Facebook        (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD)
YouTube         (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV)

ARP Racing News

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Burton Finishes a Season-Best Sixth at Darlington

May 14, 2023

NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON RACEWAY GOODYEAR 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT MAY 14, 2023

William Byron Caps off Chevrolet’s Weekend Sweep with Win at Darlington

CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: What Might Have Been

Cadillac Racing finishes first, third at Laguna Seca

chevy racing–nascar–darlington–alex bowman

SENSATIONAL SCELZI: CLAIMS THIRD STRAIGHT 11K NARC SPRINT CAR WIN AT PETER MURPHY CLASSIC

Pierce Rules Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Debut at Fairbury

Mees Gets His Revenge in Sacramento Mile Rematch

Palou, Honda Start “The Month of May” With Victory at Indianapolis

Palou, Honda Start “The Month of May” With Victory at Indianapolis

chevy racing–indycar–Grand Prix Indianapolis–Recap

Cadillac Racing qualifies on Rows 2, 3 at Laguna Seca

Burton Qualifies 14th at Darlington

May 13, 2023

CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: Closer to the Front

chevy racing–nascar–darlington–qualifying

chevy racing–nascar–darlington–kyle busch

chevy racing–nascar–darlington–post race

DAY OUTGUNS MCFADDEN TO DOMINATE OPENING NIGHT OF THE PETER MURPHY CLASSIC

POUNCING ON THE POSSE: Brad Sweet Dominates Williams Grove for Fourth Win of Season

Lundgaard, Honda on the Pole for GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis

Racer News and Results