CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN NORWALK, OHIO RACE RECAP JUNE 27, 2021 Chevrolet drivers make strong statements at Norwalk • Erica Enders denies Greg Anderson from tying Pro Stock record• Brittany Force sets track record, finishes runner-up in Top Fuel
NORWALK, Ohio (June 27, 2021) – For the second consecutive National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock final featuring a pair of Chevrolet Camaros, Greg Anderson was denied a milestone victory.
Reigning class champion Erica Enders, driving the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro SS, defeated Anderson’s HendrickCars.com Camaro SS on a holeshot at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Eliminations were delayed by rain twice for a total of nearly four hours.
Anderson, aiming to tie Warren Johnson’s 97 career Pro Stock wins for most in the category and second all time to John Force’s 153 and counting, was also runner-up in the last NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series event.
Brittany Force was equally disappointed by a holeshot loss in the Top Fuel final. Force, the No. 2 qualifier in the Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster, reset the track Top Fuel elapsed time record of 3.696 seconds in the semifinals and ran 3.730 seconds in the final match with points leader Steve Torrence. Despite a tick slower pass, his .058-of-a-second reaction time edged Force’s .078 to take the win.
“Very frustrating to get beat in the final the way we did,” said Force, runner-up for the second time this season. “A holeshot loss is not easy, but I’m going to use that to step up at the next one.”
John Force Racing’s three-race Funny Car winning streak ended abruptly. John Force’s elimination round win streak ended at five in the second round of eliminations. Force, who qualified fourth in the PEAK/BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS, lost in a close race to top qualifier Bob Tasca III in a matchup of the Nos. 1 and 2 drivers in the standings.
Robert Hight, the No. 2 qualifier in the AAA Ohio Chevrolet Camaro SS, also fell in the second round to eventual event winner Cruz Pedregon.
Anderson will have to wait until the July 23-25 event at Sonoma Raceway to try again for win No. 97. Pro Stock is not on the schedule of the next event ‑- the Dodge/SRT Mile-High Nationals Presented by Pennzoil on July 16-18 at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado.
“I’ve never quit in my life and I never will. I’m going to get this deal done,” said Anderson, who added to his points lead. “I’ve been a little snakebit the last few races.”
Anderson, who claimed his sixth top qualifier honor in the seven races and 112th of his career, recorded a 6.594-second pass with a .030 reaction time to Enders’ 6.606 and .005. Enders, earning her second victory of the season and 31st of her career, won in Norwalk for the first time in seven years.
“It’s huge mojo,” said Enders, who is one of the 2021 ESPY Award nominees for Best Driver. “We’ve had a little bit of luck not go our way, losing by just a couple thousandths here and there. But my team always steps up to the plate.”
Don Belles of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, was runner-up in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro in Stock Eliminator. David Barton, winner of the previous the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown race and the No. 1 qualifier at Norwalk, and Scott Libersher advanced to the semifinals in their COPO Camaros.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier, runner-up): “Very frustrating to get beat in the final the way we did. A holeshot loss is not easy, but I’m going to use that to step up at the next one in Denver. Incredible job to my Flav-R-Pac, Monster Energy team. Consistent runs down the track all weekend long and a track-record 3.969 in the semis. Today’s laps weren’t easy, with tough competitors and changing track conditions we really had to work for it. Runner-up finish isn’t bad and we will be ready for the next one.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier, fell in second round): “It wasn’t a bad weekend. We had a good car, a really good car and that was a clean run. It did what it was supposed to. Danny Hood, Tim Fabrisi, they have a handle on this PEAK BlueDEF Chevrolet. We qualified well, went some rounds, all of us, Robert with AAA, me with PEAK and Brittany over there with Flav-R-Pac getting to the finals. That was good. The rain was tough but the fans waited. It was great. It’s always good here with the Bader family.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AAA NEW ENGLAND CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier, fell in second round): “Not the result we wanted obviously. Wanted to take this AAA Chevy to another win. We qualified well but we’ve got a lot to do to get us where we want to be. We’ll get there and we’ll be fine. Now is the time to be putting in the work, so I’m not worried.”
PRO STOCK:
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (race winner): “It’s huge mojo. We’ve had a little bit of luck not go our way, losing by just a couple thousandths here and there. But my team always steps up to the plate. After the semifinals, we knew we had to tune her up and we came back and made a whole bunch of changes. I’m really proud of (crew chief) Mark Ingersoll; he’s really dug deep and fought this race car. I could not be more excited for this team. It’s a win at the closest racetrack to Melling Performance. We’re going to Jackson, Michigan, tomorrow to celebrate with all those great employees and their 75th anniversary.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier, race runner-up; points leader): “I’m so proud of the team and the job everybody does. I’m even proud of the way I drove today; I did not drive bad. She (Erica Enders) got a killer light in the final. She’s a great driver and she came up with what she needed. There’s nothing you can do. Just a great drag race. I’ll move on to the next race and I still feel like I’ve got a great chance to tie that record and who knows set that record. My future still looks bright.”
Summit NHRA Nationals Do Not Go Wilkerson’s Way
NORWALK, OH (June 27, 2021) — Tim Wilkerson took the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang into the first round at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports Park as the No. 7 qualifier. He was facing a serious first round race against veteran Cruz Pedregon but Wilkerson felt he had a tune-up that would get the job done. In a tough race Wilkerson was unable to advance to the quarterfinals and will begin preparing for the grueling Western Swing in two weeks.
Two days of qualifying saw Wilkerson make a strong run on Friday night after a lengthy rain delay and cooler temperatures. His quickest run of the weekend was the 3.959 second pass that positioned him solidly in the field as the No. 7 qualifier. On Saturday temperatures dramatically warmed up and Wilkerson and his Summit Racing team worked to get a handle on a warmer tune-up. Two consistent runs in the heat positioned Wilkerson for a long race day today.
The veteran driver from Springfield, Illinois, got the jump on the starting line with a .050 reaction time versus Pedregon’s .067 and as both cars took off down the track they were side by side as they approached half-track. The Mustang Funny Car smoked the tires and was forced to watch as Pedregon pulled away for the round win. Wilkerson considered getting back on the throttle but thought better of that idea, cruising across the finish line with a 4.788 second run against Pedregon’s strong 3.973 second pass.
“We just gave it too much motor for the clutch on that run,” said Wilkerson. “We have had a really good tune-up and I am working to just tweak it but the conditions called for a more aggressive approach. Every run you learn something and we will have more info the next time we are in this situation. This was a great event for Summit Racing Equipment and all the fans from all over Ohio. The Baders do a great job and we love racing here.”
The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Funny Car will leave Norwalk solidly in the top ten with a couple weekends off to focus on the grueling three race swing across Denver, Sonoma and Pomona after the fourth of July weekend.
Qualifying Results
Q1: 3.959 sec, 325.53 mph; Qual. 7
Q2: 4.046 sec, 315.93 mph; Qual. 7
Q3: 4.031 sec, 315.05 mph; Qual. 7
Bonus Points: 0
Race Results
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Tim Wilkerson 7 .050 4.783 167.78
Cruz Pedregon 10 .067 3.973 326.48 (W)
Camping World Funny Car Top Ten
1. Bob Tasca III, 590
2. John Force, 537
3. J.R. Todd, 502
4. Robert Hight, 485
5. Ron Capps, 453
6. Matt Hagan, 434
7. Cruz Pedregon, 417
8. Alexis DeJoria, 399
9. Tim Wilkerson, 397
10. Terry Haddock, 252
Semifinal Success for DeJoria at Norwalk Nationals
NORWALK, OH (June 27, 2021) — For the second race in a row Alexis DeJoria raced her specially designed Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car and the packed house at Summit Equipment Motorsports Park was treated to strong performance numbers. After two days of qualifying and a couple of 3.9 second runs DeJoria started race day as the No. 6 qualifier. The past three appearances at the NHRA Norwalk Nationals DeJoria has raced to at least the quarterfinals and her first round race against veteran Paul Lee would be a tough test. Today she raced to her second semifinal of the 2021 season and first at the NHRA Norwalk Nationals.
DeJoria and her Del Worsham tuned Toyota Camry Funny Car did not take anything for granted to start race day. The Bandero Premium Tequila Funny Car that also represents ROKiT took the first round win with a 3.973 second run at 320.66 mph mirroring her final qualifying pass from Saturday. Both race cars were charging to the finish line but it was DeJoria who got their first and advanced to the quarterfinals.
In the second round facing the reigning Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan the Bandero Premium Tequila Funny Car team was unfazed and took out Hagan with a 3.952 second pass, the second quickest run of the session. DeJoria will have lane choice in the semifinals.
A massive rain storm blew across Summit Motorsports Park halting racing action for nearly three hours. When the teams returned to the track temperatures remained consistent but the air quality changed dramatically giving all the teams completely different racing conditions to deal with.
In the race of the day DeJoria and eventual winner Cruz Pedregon raced in one of the closest semifinals in recent memory. Both of the 11,000 horsepower nitro Funny Cars hit the finish line a mere 3.94 seconds after they took off. DeJoria proved she has one of the strongest race cars on the circuit running posting five 3.9 second runs including four in a row going back to the third qualifying session yesterday and today’s three elimination rounds. It was Pedregon advancing to the final round by a nose but DeJoria will head to the Western Swing with the confidence of a driver who has a race car that can go rounds every race.
“This weekend was interesting to say the least,” said DeJoria. “Conditions were all over the place, but we had five good runs and we were consistently in the ‘90s. We dropped cylinders the last two rounds. In the second round, we managed to get around Matt Hagan and in the semis, we just didn’t have enough. I didn’t see him the whole way down and I actually thought we’d won the round until we got to the top end. I’m proud of my Bandero Toyota guys, they’re doing a really good job. We’ve got two weeks off and I think we might do some testing. I’m just going to go home and keep practicing on my simulator. It’s one of those things. I’ve been doing this for about 15 years, but I’ve been out of the seat for two years. I just need to get back on the horse. I know I can do it. I know how to win and I’ve won before and I’ve got the team behind me.”
The Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry will be back on track in two weeks for the NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver. The team is sitting solidly in eighth place in the Camping World Funny Car point standings and is just outside the top five.
Qualifying Results
Q1: 3.936 sec, 327.35 mph; Qual. 6
Q2: 9.544 sec, 81.89 mph; Qual. 6
Q3: 3.974 sec, 324.59 mph; Qual. 6
Bonus Points: 0
Race Results
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 6 .102 3.973 320.66 (W)
Paul Lee 11 .061 4.053 292.14
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 6 .086 3.952 317.27 (W)
Matt Hagan 3 .057 4.086 260.16
Semifinals
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 6 .115 3.941 320.89
Cruz Pedregon 10 .091 3.947 324.44 (W)
Camping World Funny Car Top Ten
1. Bob Tasca III, 590
2. John Force, 537
3. J.R. Todd, 502
4. Robert Hight, 485
5. Ron Capps, 453
6. Matt Hagan, 434
7. Cruz Pedregon, 417
8. Alexis DeJoria, 399
9. Tim Wilkerson, 397
10. Terry Haddock, 252
BACK-TO-BACK
Logan Schuchart Dominates Jackson Nationals for $50,000 Prize
Shark Racing #1S Dominates First Crown Jewel Event of Summer
JACKSON, MN – June 27, 2021 – Logan Schuchart earned the richest win of his life on Sunday night at the 43rd annual AGCO Jackson Nationals.
With $50,000 up for grabs, the Hanover, PA native piloted the Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S to one of the most dominating victories of his career at Jackson Motorplex.
After slipping back on the initial start, Schuchart took full advantage of the only restart of the race on Lap 7 and roared back to the top spot over David Gravel. From there, it was game over. He checked out and crossed the line with a mammoth margin of victory at 4.454-seconds.
It’s his second-consecutive crown at the AGCO Jackson Nationals, this one paying $50,000 to top last year’s $30,000 score.
Amid a trying season, an ecstatic Schuchart knew this is just what his team needed to boost their confidence and get some momentum rolling with even more money on the line come July and August with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
“50 grand,” Schuchart screamed as he climbed from the cockpit. “This is big for Shark Racing. There are so many people that have backed this team from day one, and this is for all of them. Hats off to my crew, this is a long 11 day stretch with lots of racing. I’ve got the easy job, I just have to race, but these guys bust their tails for me. You know my grandpa [Bobby Allen] is 77-years-old, he’s still out here going up and down the road allowing us to live our dreams . Racing is all he wants to do.”
Speaking of Bobby Allen, Schuchart’s 26th career World of Outlaws victory on Sunday night brings him to only four away from tying his grandfather, who achieved 30 Series victories throughout his Hall of Fame career.
Prior to Schuchart’s back-to-back bid in 2020 and 2021, Allen himself was a Jackson Nationals champion in 1986 during the 8th annual running. Now, he’s still standing on the front stretch, but as a proud car owner, grandfather to Logan, and father to Jacob Allen, who placed 10th in the finale.
With his own experience to rely on, Allen knows just how big another Jackson Nationals crown was.
“All of these big races are great to win, but this one brings a lot of momentum,” Allen admitted. “We’ve been behind on motors lately, really everybody has. My nephew [Newman’s Racing Engines] does our motors and does a great job. We’re going to this one out and save it for Knoxville Nationals, and then we’ll get another ready for Kings Royal. This deal is all about having a good motor, but also knowing what to do with it.”
After leading 25 laps on Thursday night before letting the win slip away to Kerry Madsen in lap traffic, Schuchart refused to let that happen again with big money on the line.
Taking the lead on Lap 8, he never looked back and set a torrid pace as he sliced and diced his way through the back-markers.
“You never know how hard to push when you’re leading,” Schuchart explained. “The other night I was conserving tires and fuel, then Kerry blew my doors off. I tried to stay in the gas as much as possible tonight and really used the lap cars to advantage. Props to the Jackson Motorplex crew, this is probably the best track we’ve had all week and it was during the day.”
Crossing the finish line behind Schuchart by 4.454-seconds was David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2. The Watertown, CT native led the opening seven laps after an incredible Lap 1 charge from row two, but the only restart of the race proved costly as he fell to second and had to settle for a $20,000 runner-up check.
“I wish I got another chance at that restart,” Gravel stated. “I stumbled and got a good run on me, I tried to be defensive, but once he got by he was gone. He definitely had the dominant car, but just wish I had a chance to control the race in the lead. I’d probably do a couple things different knowing how good the track ended up. It’s a little disappointing, but still a good week for us.”
The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 closed out the podium with Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, CA at the wheel. The current World of Outlaws championship leader was rewarded with $10,000 for his third-place finish.
“It was tricky,” Sweet said. “The track held up so much better than we thought. Logan definitely had the best car and he was just gone. I thought we had something for David to get second, but I just couldn’t make the moves we needed in lap traffic. We’ve got a lot to look forward to this summer.”
Kerry Madsen finished fourth aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #14 after sweeping the two preliminary nights. Closing out the top-five at the Minnesota 4/10th-mile oval was Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41.
Rounding out the top-10 in Sunday’s Jackson Nationals finale was California’s Shane Golobic in sixth aboard the NOS Energy Drink #17W, Ohio’s Sheldon Haudenschild in seventh with his own NOS Energy Drink #17 entry, Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller in eighth driving Guy Forbrook’s #5, Australia’s James McFadden in ninth aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing #9, and Pennsylvania’s Jacob Allen in the second Shark Racing #1A with a tenth-place bid.
UP NEXT: An Independence Day Spectacular awaits the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series next weekend. The Greatest Show on Dirt will travel to New Richmond, WI for back-to-back nights at Cedar Lake Speedway on Friday and Saturday, July 2-3.
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$50,000]; 2. 2-David Gravel [3][$20,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$10,000]; 4. 14-Kerry Madsen [2][$7,500]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo [4][$6,000]; 6. 17W-Shane Golobic [8][$5,900]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [6][$5,800]; 8. 5-Parker Price-Miller [12][$5,700]; 9. 9-James McFadden [7][$5,600]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [14][$5,000]; 11. 26-Cory Eliason [18][$4,000]; 12. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [9][$3,000]; 13. 7S-Jason Sides [13][$2,800]; 14. 21-Brian Brown [21][$2,600]; 15. 83-Aaron Reutzel [15][$2,500]; 16. 3K-Tim Kaeding [23][$2,400]; 17. 11-Spencer Bayston [17][$2,300]; 18. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [19][$2,200]; 19. 22MM-Kaleb Johnson [24][$2,100]; 20. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [20][$2,000]; 21. 81-Jack Dover [22][$2,000]; 22. 15-Donny Schatz [11][$2,000]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$2,000]; 24. 7-Justin Henderson [16][$2,000]. Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1-7, Logan Schuchart 8-35. KSE Hard Charger Award: 26-Cory Eliason[+7]
NEW Championship Standings (38/81 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (5,322); 2. David Gravel (-60); 3. Carson Macedo (-120); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-172); 5. Logan Schuchart (-190); 6. Donny Schatz (-202); 7. Aaron Reutzel (-314); 8. James McFadden (-610); 9. Kraig Kinser (-630); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-900).
DiBenedetto Finishes 18th in Second Pocono Race
June 27, 2021
Matt DiBenedetto and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team finished 18th in the second half of a Cup Series double-header at Pocono Raceway.
DiBenedetto official starting position was 32nd for the Explore The Pocono Mountains 350 as the line-up was set based on the finishing order of Saturday’s opener at Pocono.
After three laps on Sunday he was up eight spots, passing some and moving ahead of others who had to go to the rear due to a switch to back-up cars after crashes on Saturday.
He continued to gain positions and ended the first Stage in 19th place. In the second Stage he ran as high as 15th at times but ended that segment in 21st place.
DiBenedetto ran as high as 10th in the early portions of the third and final stage, but Sunday’s 140-lap, like many others at Pocono, boiled down to a fuel-milage race.
The Motorcraft/Quick Lane team made its final stop with 38 laps remaining and rejoined the race in 25th place. DiBenedetto, with plenty of fuel to make it to the checkered flag, moved up seven spots in the closing laps to finish 18th.
“We definitely didn’t get the finish we wanted,” he said. “But our hands were kind of tied due to the track position we had to start with.
“That tied down our strategy and held us back.”
He said that performance-wise, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang was better than it might have seemed.
“We definitely had better than an 18th-place car,” he said. “It was really, really difficult to pass because of the aero package. We just wanted to finish the race clean and not do anything that would make a bad situation worse.
“We’ll move on and keep working to be faster.”
DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team now head to Road America for a Fourth of July run on the famed road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisc.
Cruz Pedregon races to Funny Car victory at Norwalk
KENOSHA, Wis. – (June 27, 2021) – Two-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion Cruz Pedregon and the Snap-on Dodge® Charger® raced to victory this weekend at Norwalk, the team’s first Wally of the season. Prior to today’s finish, Cruz’s most recent win was in 2018 at the Charlotte Four-Wide.
“It’s exciting for all of us at Snap-on when Cruz and his team have a successful weekend,” says Samuel Bottum, Snap-on chief marketing officer. “We have a long-time sponsorship with Cruz as an NHRA driver, and we appreciate the hard work he and his team put into making solid runs at the track that pay off on race day.”
Cruz says, “We have been prepping for a winning season, putting in so many hours and there’s nothing quite as rewarding as coming out on top and holding up that trophy at the end of a race weekend. What a great job John (Collins), Rip (Reynolds), and the team did to get us ready for this race. What a real triumph for us all, especially after the 2020 season. We really appreciate our sponsors and great fans for sticking with us and giving us the additional boost of confidence we needed. That support is what makes it all possible.”
To see the latest Cruz news, like his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter and Instagram, and follow Snap-on @MakersandFixers on Instagram.
Double Podium for Acura at Watkins Glen
Acura, Meyer Shank Racing dominate, leading five of six hours, but finishes second
Wayne Taylor Racing brings their Acura ARX-05 home third
Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo perseveres for 12th place finish in GTD
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 27, 2021) – A late-race caution, combined with differing fuel and tire strategies for the sprint to the finish, saw the Acura ARX-05 of Meyer Shank Racing’s Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla finish second in Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International Raceway.
Starting from the outside of the front row – alongside fellow Acura team Wayne Taylor Racing – Dane Cameron soon moved the MSR Acura prototype into the lead as he and co-driver Pla went on to dominate much of the first five hours of the six-hour endurance contest, often leading by 10 seconds or more. Using a three-driver lineup of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi, the Wayne Taylor crew held down second for most of the day.
But a late-race caution flag in the final hour closed the field. With all of the prototypes making final pit stops, Multimatic Mazda leapfrogged into the lead by only changing one tire, while both Acuras changed two tires. In the frantic run to the finish, closing MSR driver Pla was unable to find a way past Mazda pilot Harry Ticknell in heavy GT traffic, and was forced to settle for a second-place result. In similarly dramatic fashion, Albuquerque managed his tires and fuel to take the checkers in third.
Acura NSX GT3 Evo
In the production-based GTD division, the Magnus with Archangel’s NSX GT3 Evo driven by Andy Lally, John Potter and Spencer Pumpelly had a steady run through the first half of the contest, but 30 minutes later made an unscheduled pit stop with an apparent cut tire. Shortly after returning to the circuit, a problem with the power steering unit developed, and the car went behind the wall for repairs, returning to finish 12th in GTD.
Acura Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen Results
2nd overall – #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
Drivers Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla
3rd overall – #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
Drivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Alexander Rossi
12th GTD – Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo
Drivers Andy Lally, John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly
DPi Manufacturers’ Championship Drivers’ Championship (after 5 of 10 rounds)
- Cadillac 1,807 1. Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor 1,733
- Acura 1,799 2. Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell 1,702
- Mazda 1,729 3. Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr 1,576
4. Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla 1,511
Michelin Endurance Championship Cup (after 3 of 4 endurance races)
- Acura 38 1. Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Alexander Rossi 33
- Cadillac 36 2. Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell, Jonathan Bomarito 30
- Mazda 34 3. Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla 25
Quotes
Olivier Pla (#60 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-05) finished 2nd with co-driver Dane Cameron: “At the end, they were asking me to save more fuel, so I could push for the last two laps. But unfortunately, on the second to the last lap we caught a lot of GT [class] traffic and I lost a lot of time there. We made a lot of it up on the last lap, but not enough. Our pace was there [to win] but unfortunately the final yellow decided the race for us.”
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05) finished fourth with co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi: “It was a real fight to the end, while trying to hit our fuel targets while keeping our position. Eventually I was able to pass the [Chip Ganassi Racing] Cadillac, so that gave us more points for the championship and another podium finish for the team and Acura. We know we’re not going to win all the races, but we were close to the #60 ‘sister’ [Meyer Shank Racing Acura]. So we can’t be frustrated. We just need to put our heads down and work for next weekend.”
Jon Ikeda (Acura Brand Officer) on today’s race at Watkins Glen: “Well, you can’t win every race. We had a great 2-3 double podium finish today, and that’s good for our Manufacturers’ Championship points. It was a fantastic race, and great entertainment for a lot of people here today. And our teams are the best. These men and women at Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing are real go-getters; and you can see they’re already ready for next week’s race here.”
Acura Watkins Glen 6 Hour Fast Facts
After three of four long-distance rounds that make up the Michelin Endurance Championship Cup series-within-a-series, Acura leads the Manufacturers’ title chase over Cadillac and Mazda, while Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Albuquerque, Taylor and Rossi lead the drivers’ championship. The last endurance event is also the season finale, the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on November 13.
The 10-race IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship reached its mid-point today at Watkins Glen, with Acura teams and drivers have finished on the podium in every race this season, with best results at each round including two wins, a second and a pair of third-place results.
Next
With the usual following round at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park postponed for 2021, due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship remains in place at Watkins Glen International Raceway for a standard distance two-hour, 40-minute race here on Friday, July 2.
Acura Motorsports Social media content and video links from this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen are available on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
RCR Post Race Report – Explore the Pocono Mountains 350
| Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Workrise Chevrolet Team Show Tenacity In Pocono Double |
 |
 13th |  21st |  12th |
| “We headed into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway ready to go to work and grind it out in the No. 3 Workrise Chevy, and that’s exactly what we did. We finished 13th, and I really think our Chevy was a little better than that. We tried something strategy-wise in Stage 2 and got a little bit behind. We ended up running out of fuel and going from 10th to 29th on the last lap of Stage 2, but we had a decent recovery. It would have been nice if we could have finished 10th in that stage to set us up for the end of the race, but considering everything we’ve been through, we did great. We were just a little bit too tight at the end of the race. Pocono Raceway is a tough place. You really have to have your stuff together and make no mistakes. I’m excited to get to Road America next week and continue this momentum.” -Austin Dillon |
| Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Team Battle Hard for Ninth-Place Finish at Pocono Raceway |
 |
| 9th | 10th | 13th |
| “My team definitely made some good changes to the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE overnight. We were a lot better over the bumps today, which was one of my bigger issues on Saturday. I seemed to fire off too loose for each run but then build too tight, especially when I was in dirty air. The adjustments my team made all race long did help though. I just needed to get a little creative with the lines I was running since I had no grip when I would try to run the traction compound. We got a little off-sequence with our strategy today, but it ended up working for us in the long run when all those other cars ran out of gas during the last few laps. Our car had good speed all weekend long, so that’s great for us to build on as we head to Road America next weekend for some road racing.” |
CORVETTE RACING AT THE GLEN: Hard-Fought Win for Garcia, Taylor
| No. 3 Corvette takes season’s second victory; Milner, Tandy charge derailed late in race |
| Tandy, who held the lead through two pit stop cycles thanks to excellent pit work and car performance, held point when the race went back green but reported a mechanical issue that severely handicapped the No. 4 Corvette. He just missed out a podium finish for he and Milner. That left Garcia to hold off John Edwards in the No. 24 GTLM entry over the last five laps. The two had to battle through class leaders in other categories, and Garcia held on for a 0.845-second winning margin. Taylor drove a marathon two-hour, 30-minute stint in the middle of the race and swapped the lead with both Tandy and Milner during his time in the No. 3 Corvette. That left Garcia to drive his own tense, nail-biting triple stint to the finish. Corvette Racing will be back in action at The Glen for the WeatherTech 240 on Friday, July 2. The race will air live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage of Thursday practice along with Friday’s qualifying and the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992. |
| NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “It’s bitterly disappointing. We put ourselves in position as a team to have what looked like a pretty comfortable 1-2. Up to the point, the way the guys managed the race – the pit stops, how the engineers set the car up for the race – had us absolutely flying. A few laps before the last yellow, I felt something strange on the car and we’ll have to investigate what happened. We’re disappointed, but there are a lot of positives to go into next week with.” |
chevy racing–nascar–pocono post race
NASCAR CUP SERIES EXPLORE THE POCONO MOUNTAINS 350 POCONO RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES JUNE 27, 2021
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS. DRIVER2nd KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE 8th RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 THOMAS’/KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS. DRIVER1st Kyle Busch (Toyota)2nd Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)3rd Brad Keselowski (Ford)4th Kevin Harvick (Ford)5th Bubba Wallace (Toyota)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Road America with the Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip on Sunday, July 4, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES: KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2ndYOU SAVED ENOUGH TO GET HERE. HOW DID YOU DO IT? “I don’t know. It’s surprising finish for us. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really loose for a majority of the race, then we got a lot of nose damage there on one of the restarts. Was off on speed. I felt like after that.”“Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody did a really, really good job managing the race, coached me through saving fuel there at the end. Was hoping that the 18 (Kyle Busch) was going to run out. I saw the 11 (Denny Hamlin) running out. I was, Okay, they’re teammates, they got to be close to running out.”
“The 18 did pit a lap after us under caution. That actually probably won them the race. But, yeah, second-place finish, I thought we would be outside of the top-20. A lot of points throughout the race today; we’ll take it. Happy about the effort for sure all weekend.” WITH THE DAMAGE ON THE CAR AND WHERE YOU SAW YOURSELF WITH FUEL, HOW MUCH OF A BELIEVER DID HE MAKE OUT OF YOU? DO YOU THINK HE COULD GET HERE? “Not until we actually started saving fuel. Seemed like every point of the race, everything that happened in the race, nothing went my way. Restarts, just guys messing up in front of me, me getting shuffled out of the groove, bad lane choices on my part, everything didn’t go my way.”
“Cliff did a really good job keeping my head in it, coached me through saving fuel. Yeah, I mean, I had a lot of hope there at the end thinking that the 18 might run out.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“It was an OK day for the No. 48 Ally team. Strategy didn’t work out for us. We struggled in traffic; kind of knew we would have after yesterday. But we got out front for a bit and we were pretty decent. Onto Road America next weekend.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“My team definitely made some good changes to the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE overnight. We were a lot better over the bumps today, which was one of my bigger issues on Saturday. I seemed to fire off too loose for each run but then build too tight, especially when I was in dirty air. The adjustments my team made all race long did help though. I just needed to get a little creative with the lines I was running since I had no grip when I would try to run the traction compound. We got a little off-sequence with our strategy today, but it ended up working for us in the long run when all those other cars ran out of gas during the last few laps. Our car had good speed all weekend long, so that’s great for us to build on as we head to Road America next weekend for some road racing.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12thDID YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FUEL SAVE EARLIER ON?“We definitely had the fastest car. The caution didn’t fit us perfectly. We had control of the race there and were right on our number to make it or not, but it just didn’t work out. We had a really fast car. The Axalta Chevrolet was awesome. It sucks to lose like that, but I feel like we had everything we needed in the car. We just couldn’t save enough fuel as far back as we were. It’s just part of it, but thanks to the guys.”
WHEN THE PLAN WAS FIRST PRESENTED TO YOU TO GO OUT AND RUN LIKE CRAZY AND GET A GAP THERE, DID THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU?“Yeah, I figured we were first on four tires. We can make it. I kind of thought we were closer on fuel than we were. I thought we could get up as far as we could, and a couple of guys would have to pit and we’d save and win. So that was kind of how it was looking to work out there with the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) and then we had to go into max save. I thought for sure we’d make it because usually you’ve got a little bit of fudge factor there, but we ran out with three (laps) to go, so not even close.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WORKRISE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th“P-13; I think we had a little better car than that. We did everything we could to get track position all day. We ran out just there at the end of stage two on the backstretch; so close to getting top-10 and stage points there. That would have set us up for the end pretty good I think, as far as track position goes.”
“Have to thank everyone at Workrise. We’ll go to Road America. We gained points today, that’s all that matters. But we want some more – we want to win. We’ll keep working hard. Thanks to all the guys. Justin (Alexander, crew chief) and the pit crew; everybody did a good job today. This is a tough place. You really have to have your stuff together and no mistakes. Onto Road America. ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 26th“We had to start in the back, so it took us a little while. But once we got up into the top-10, we had the balance in the car and the grip to stay there. With pit strategy, we restarted in the top-five a couple of times. I just got into the 20 (Christopher Bell) there. I drove into (turn) three and thought I could clear him. By the time I realized I couldn’t, it was too late. I tried to keep off of him, but ruined his day and mine. Sorry to Christopher. We cut our right front and I think got him into the wall.”
“I’m really proud of the 42 McDonald’s team for unloading a good backup car. We’re close – I just have to do a little better job.”
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Garcia, Taylor Take Victory
| WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 27, 2021) – Corvette Racing returned to Victory Circle at Watkins Glen International on Sunday with a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory for Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. They drove the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette to a steamy and hard-fought triumph for the team’s first win at Watkins Glen International since 2014. Garcia drove the opening stint, Taylor was in the car for 2.5 hours in the middle of the race and Garcia closed the race as the pairing won for the second time this season. The No. 3 Corvette was locked in an inter-team battle with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy in the No. 4 C8.R, which suffered a mechanical issue late in the race that relegated it to fourth in class. Corvette Racing will be back in action at The Glen for the WeatherTech 240 on Friday, July 2. The race will air live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage of Thursday practice along with Friday’s qualifying and the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992. |
| JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: (What makes you such a great duo?) “I think it is just the whole package with Corvette Racing and the C8.R. It is our first time here with the car. No testing and we rolled off the truck strong. It shows that this car is built for all the different tracks – street courses, Daytona, natural terrain circuits like here at Watkins Glen. It’s great to get another win. It’s a good day for us in the championship and a great day for Corvette.” |
RCR Post Race Report – Pocono Green 225
| Myatt Snider and the Crosley Furniture Chevrolet Team Earn Top-10 Finish at Pocono Raceway |
 |
| 10th | 19th | 12th |
| “Today was a solid day for our Crosley Furniture Chevrolet team. We finally were able to get our luck turned around and brought home a well-deserved top-10 finish. At the beginning of the race, our No. 2 Camaro fired off too loose, but Andy Street (crew chief) made some good adjustments on our pit stop before the end of Stage 1. We elected to stay out during the stage break, which allowed us to gain track position. Our Chevrolet lacked a little drive off turn three, but to run inside the top five throughout the entire middle segment and earn stage points was a needed boost for our team. Despite having the oldest tires on the track before making our scheduled green flag stop, I was able to hold steady inside the top five, showing how good our car actually was. The race went caution free from that point forward, but I steadily worked my way back up front. My Richard Childress Racing team is one of the best and we will take this momentum to Road America next week.” -Myatt Snider |
chevy racing–nascar–pocono–jeff gordon
NASCAR CUP SERIES POCONO RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT JUNE 27, 2021
JEFF GORDON, VICE CHAIRMAN AND CO-OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, Press Conference Highlights:
NOTE: On June 23, 2021, Jeff Gordon, the four-time NASCAR champion, television broadcaster and NASCAR Hall of Fame member, was named vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, which makes him the second-ranking team official to chairman and majority owner Rick Hendrick. Gordon will formally assume the strategic executive management role on Jan. 1, 2022.
Q&A’s:
HOW BIG OF A DECISION WAS IT FOR YOU TO LEAVE THE FOX GROUP AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO TAKE ON THIS ROLE OFFICIALLY?“I’m excited. It’s been in discussion for a long time between Rick and myself. My presence has been there but now it gets ramped up to a whole other level. It wasn’t a choice about leaving Fox. It was really about the opportunity and the timing of moving into this role full time. That was tough. I really enjoyed working with Fox and I had a great team there. I learned a lot about and got a great perspective on entertainment and the TV side of the sport. And I think, forever it will help me in this new position to try to keep us connected to the TV partners in a bigger way. I had a lot of fun, especially this year working with (Clint) Bowyer and Mike (Joy) and those folks. This year was a lot of fun. I’m forever grateful, really, for that opportunity and appreciate Eric Shanks and his whole team for bringing me on board. Maybe it wasn’t a mutual decision, but it was one of those things where they understand. From the very beginning they knew that I had an equity position at Hendrick and that one day this could be home. So, this is more about coming home for me.”
DID YOU ALWAYS FEEL THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BE ON THIS OWNERSHIP PATH?“You have to understand that I’ve been a part of this since 1999. I’ve been behind the scenes, understanding and learning the business side of it. Gradually, overtime, obviously my focus was on driving throughout all those years. But as I started getting closer to stepping away in 2015 from the driving role, my interest level in the business side, the culture that Rick has created and how he’s done that and how it impacts things far beyond just what I was doing as a driver, was interesting to me. So, each year, that ramped up more and more as I had pretty much half the season to dedicate my time to it. And the more I did that, whether it was coming to the track or being back at the shop on race day or just talking to the marketing department about sponsorship or talking to NASCAR about Next Gen or any business decisions that were going on there with other owners, I realized that this is where my true passion lies. I love the sport. I love racing. But the competition and being a partner with one of the best owners there will ever be in NASCAR, that’s really what I was getting excited about looking ahead.”
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LEARN WITH THIS NEW JOB NOW? “Well, luckily right now, we’re in a great position and it’s about maintaining what we currently have. But that all got started so many years ago before I even got to Hendrick Motorsport with Rick, and the culture that he creates and how he treats people and how he finds talent and nurtures that and of course right now, we’ve learned a lot about how our teams are working together more than they ever have before. And we’re seeing the success because of that. Right now, it’s about maintaining it. But as we move forward, it’s just continuing to look at the business model and try to understand how we take care of our current partners and nurture those relationships and make sure that they’re excited about NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports. They certainly are right now, and we want to continue to see that grow. But also, what new partners can we potentially look at and bring in. I’ve got to say this. Coming into this race track today got me very, very excited again. This reminds me of the older days, or that period of time that we all talk about when the sport was super-hot, that’s the feeling of energy I feel this weekend here at the track. So that certainly makes it easier to look at what we’re going to do in the future with the sport. Of course, right now, a lot of attention, besides this year, in trying to keep that going this year is Next Gen. A lot of attention is being put on how we race. Where do we put our efforts for Next Gen and try to maintain some kind of competitive advantage? That’s going to get cut down dramatically, but we’re still going to be out there racing at a high level and we just want to make sure we’re doing it the right way.”
IS IT DIFFICULT TO SET EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEXT GEN CAR RIGHT NOW, AT LEAST FROM THE ORGANIZATIONAL STANDPOINT SINCE THERE ARE SO MANY UNKNOWNS?“Oh, there are so many unknowns. And it’s so hard to really even get deep into that conversation because we don’t really even have a chassis and a body and a car to go out there and test. Yes, we’ve been doing these group efforts with our OEM and with NASCAR, but it’s not been a full-fledged effort. So, we’re still in the development stage and we’re working hard to be ready to go in February, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. It’s progressing, though, and it’s exciting. You’re always going to put yourself in a position to where you want to fall back on your people and the strengths that you currently have, and I think those strengths are going to play out well for us next year. But until we get into it, we won’t know exactly how to take advantage of the areas of expertise that we have in the areas of engineering and dynamics and horsepower and all those things that are making us successful now will still be very important next year.”
INAUDIBLE“I think this is where the decision to step away from TV and be 100 percent committed and dedicated to Hendrick Motorsports, where I can spend all my time nurturing those relationships. And it goes even deeper than the drivers. I have a good relationship with the crew chiefs and drivers. A lot of these guys I’ve worked with and the people that I’ve worked with, that’s an easy thing to do. But some of the newer relationships, you want to build. Alex (Bowman) would be one of those guys that came on with (Dale) Jr., and he and I did double-duty when Jr. was out there in ’16 – ’17, and so that was a fun way to get to know Alex. But yeah, it wasn’t one of those relationships that like (Kyle) Larson. I saw him at dirt tracks, and we had that background. William Byron drives the No. 24 car and he and I built a relationship with having that in common. And, of course Chase Elliott, he originally drove the No. 24 car and he’s been there the longest. So, I want to build a strong relationship with all these guys. But I will say that yeah, Alex, it probably took us a little while where we could bond and maybe at Chili Bowl, he and I spending some time there. But now that we’ve gotten him signed up, I look forward to getting even closer with him. And a lot of that relationship, besides Dale Jr., was also with Rick Hendrick. The car enthusiasts in both of them created a natural bond. And the Midgets and the Sprint Cars are the thing that’ll create the natural bond with Alex and me, moving forward.”
AS YOU BECAME MORE ENGRAINED WORKING IN THE HENDRICK SIDE OF THE ORGANIZATION, HOW DIFFICULT DID IT BECOME TO BALANCE THE HENDRICK WORK AND THE TV WORK?“It was tough. As much as maybe there were some of those that criticize me, I think I worked extremely hard trying to separate those two, which is why I purposely didn’t come to the haulers and spend as much time with the crew chiefs and drivers the first half of the season. I tried to be respectful of what they were focused on and do my job in the booth the best I possibly could. But of course, it’s hard not to be biased when you have that kind of relationship. Even if I wasn’t still an equity owner at Hendrick, my entire career I drove for this organization. So, I know the people more than I know the people at any other organization. They’ve always been like family and no matter what role I’m in, that’s the case. So, up in the booth I tried to be as non-biased as I could and call it the way I see it, and I take a lot of pride in the effort I put into that.”
WHAT WERE YOUR WORK HOURS LIKE?“That’s why I say, I really tried to minimize my hours at Hendrick Motorsports during that period of time; and stay as much as I could be focused on the TV side of it in that preparation. And that’s why this decision, this is why it’s the perfect timing because right now, I know that in order for me to do this job the way I want to do it and the way I think Rick wants me to do it and be the most beneficial to the organization, is to be there 100 percent of the time and dedicate all my time. Rick and I had all these conversations when I was stepping out of the car and looking at doing TV. And so, he was comfortable with that. I don’t want to say we had a plan that hey, in 2021…. It’s I want you in this role one day. Go do TV. That’ll be a good transition. And it was. He’s a smart guy and he gives great advice. And we’ve always stayed very close in those conversations. We all knew that one day this would hopefully come and now the day is finally here. Just this week, I’m spending more time already at the shop. And that usually would happen when my duties at Fox were over. But that’s going to be year-round now, and I’m excited about that because there’s a lot of excitement in our organization right ow. So, it makes a great time for me to get into this role.”
QUESTION REGARDING CHAD KNAUS“Oh listen, we’ve got tremendous depth. There’s a reason why we’ve had the success over the years and Chad has played a big role in that as a crew chief and he’s playing a big role right now in his new position as VP of Competition. But our organization is working together more than we ever have. Again, that’s the vision that Rick and Marshall (Carlson) have set forth. Of course, I’ve been in those conversations to some degree throughout all the years. But to see that vision play out the way it’s playing out, and we’ve been behind up until the second half of last year. So, it’s exciting to see that vision playing out because of how they’ve been working together and because of the common goal and working with Chevrolet also created that with our race cars. And now that’s playing out each and every weekend. But now how do you maintain it? And the only way to do that is to have a lot of talent and bring all those great minds together like what’s happening right now.”
DID WORKING THE TV-SIDE GIVE YOU ANY PERSPECTIVE TOWARD THE BUSINESS SIDE THAT MAYBE YOU DIDN’T EXPECT?“Oh yeah. That’s one of my goals is to really connect with our TV partners and make sure that our drivers and crew chiefs recognize that their personality, their performance, the show on the race track, that it means way more than you think. As a competitor, you get very narrowly focused on the competition. And this sport wouldn’t have the fans and wouldn’t be as big as it is if millions of people weren’t watching it on TV. And they want to see rivalries, right? They want to see personalities and frustrations and excitement. I think that my perspective, coming from the last six years doing TV, it is definitely going to be present at Hendrick Motorsports and how we move forward. And I think our guys do a great job with that, but there’s no doubt we can do more.” REGARDING DIVERSITY, WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO IN YOUR NEW ROLE TO HELP THE SPORT?“Well, diversity is important for every business and every company in every sport. We’ve already seen it take great leaps forward and just what’s happened in the last few years. I’ve got to get in there and really understand how that group works. And listen, I feel like I come from an interesting background in coming from California, where I grew up and the type of racing that I did before I got into NASCAR. So hopefully there is some small relatability there that I can bring to the table. But I’m more about listening and hearing. There are some incredible people on that committee and that board. I’m excited about joining it and continuing to bring more of that diversity to NASCAR on every facet, from the driver’s side, pit crew side, sponsorship side, and it only benefits all of us to do that.”
YOU HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE SPORT’S MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURES FOR DECADES. WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN BRING FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE TO THIS ROLE?“I think that’s where Rick and I share the passions. He’s done it from his own time behind the wheel, but more so than anything else, as an owner and as a business owner. That’s what I love about Rick. He does not like to finish second in anything that he does. And that’s the way I was as a race car driver. So, the experience behind the wheel as a race car driver, not just in NASCAR but going all that way back to being a kid, being with one team and seeing the way that Rick operates the team and his leadership and how he focuses on the people working together, as well as what I see that he does at Hendrick Automotive Group, he’s a hard-working guy, too. I’m sure if he was here right now, he would say I’m just going to get Jeff to work a little harder (laughter).
“And I plan on doing that. I’m really excited about this challenge and this role. I feel like I’m at the place in my life where I’m really, ready for it. And most importantly, I’m just fortunate to work side-by-side with a guy that’s shown us all how to do it right for so many years and will continue to do that for a number of years to come. Yeah, it’s the same old basics. That’s the thing about Rick. It’s common sense. It’s hard work. And it’s people. And all I want to do is continue to compliment that moving forward.”
RICK PROBABLY CONSIDERS YOU FAMILY. BUT IS THERE ANY AWKWARDNESS WHERE IT’S KIND OF LIKE RICK AND THEN YOU AND THEN MARSHALL?“You know what? Marshall has been somebody I’ve worked side-by-side with for many years. He, Jeff Andrews, Chad Knaus, and so many people at Hendrick, and Marshall is 100 percent supportive with me in this role. We both have strengths that we bring. Some that I can’t bring that he does; and because I was a driver at one time that he never experienced. I can tell you we make a great team. To me, it’s not about titles. It’s about how we’re going to work together as an organization and Marshall is 100 percent on board with it and I’m 100 percent on board with the role that he plays, which Is very important.”
IS JIMMIE JOHNSON GOING TO BE INVOLVED?“Well, he’s up there driving at Watkins Glen. Rick Hendrick is up there for that 6-hour race. Obviously Ally, one of our partners, is part of that and Rick Hendrick is a part of that. So, in some ways, yes. I don’t know. We’ll see. If he is ever wanting to step away from INDYCAR; hey listen. He’s been a tremendous asset to us over the years. We would love to have him on board in some way.”
SUNDAY SHOWDOWN
| Jackson Nationals to Crown $50,000 Champion TonightMadsen, Macedo, Sweet, Schuchart Locked-In to King of the HillJACKSON, MN – June 27, 2021 – The purses just keeping bigger and bigger for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.After a $30,000 payday in Tuesday’s Huset’s 50, The Greatest Show on Dirt now competes for a $50,000 top prize in tonight’s 43rd annual AGCO Jackson Nationals.It took two preliminary nights and a Saturday rain out to get here, but the time has finally come as we crown the first Crown Jewel winner of the “Months of Money” in 2021.A unique format leaves us with no Slick Woody’s Qualifying to run tonight. Instead, we’ll host 3-4 Drydene Qualifiers, a King of the Hill, a Last Chance Showdown, and the 35-lap, $50,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start NOS Energy Drink Feature.Hot Laps are slated to begin at 5pm CT LIVE on DIRTVision.KING OF THE HILL COMPETITORS:Kerry Madsen, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #14Carson Macedo, Jason Johnson Racing #41Brad Sweet, Kasey Kahne Racing #49Logan Schuchart, Shark Racing #1SAll eyes are on “The Mad Man” Kerry Madsen as he aims to completely sweep the weekend. Aboard the Advanced Auto Parts, Rush Truck Centers #14, the St. Mary’s, NSW, AUS native topped both preliminary nights at Jackson Motorplex, one from 14th and one from sixth.Madsen is a previous Jackson Nationals champion in 2016, but this one would mean so much more. Given the drive of a lifetime, Madsen has become arguably the top story of the summer with his constant success since joining Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing. The 49-year-old has already banked $20,000 across his two prelim wins, but now he wants that $50,000 check.Joining Madsen in the final round of the King of the Hill is Carson Macedo, a native of Lemoore, CA. The Jason Johnson Racing #41 pilot finished top-five in both prelims, leading 11 laps in Friday’s Feature. A victory tonight would be the biggest win of his career, giving him his first Crown Jewel title with the World of Outlaws.Locked-in for the second round of the King of the Hill is a pair of former Jackson Nationals champions, Brad Sweet and Logan Schuchart. For Sweet, he’s trying to become a three-time event champion aboard his Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49. For Schuchart, he’s trying to win back-to-back titles after topping last year’s show in the Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S.This unique King of the Hill is a race against the clock and the competitors. The four-car timed session will send the two fastest drivers to the next round, while placing those eliminated in their Feature starting spots. There will be three rounds: the first includes the 3-4 Qualifier winners, the second includes Sweet, Schuchart & two transfers, and the final round which is a race for the pole includes Madsen, Macedo, & two transfers.The remaining 32 competitors are placed into Drydene Qualifiers based on accumulative points from Thursday and Friday’s preliminary shows.Winners of each Drydene Qualifier will transfer to the King of the Hill, with others splitting into the Feature and Last Chance Showdown.It all begins at 5pm CT tonight with Hot Laps kicking off the show. If you can’t be here in person, you can watch all the action LIVE on DIRTVision.Photo – Trent Gower |
| The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws. |
Victory for Atlanta Speedwerks, Honda at Watkins Glen
Honda Civic Type R TCR in victory lane with Ryan Eversley, Todd Lamb
First Michelin Pilot Challenge win for Atlanta Speedwerks
Eversley claims championship lead
WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 26, 2021) The Atlanta Speedwerks #94 Honda Civic Type R TCR scored the first victory of 2021 for Honda in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series in the hands of Ryan Eversley and team owner/driver Todd Lamb.
Though it was the sister #84 Civic Type R TCR that Robert Noaker put on pole for himself and co-driver Brian Henderson, teammates Lamb and Eversley reigned triumphant in the four-hour Tioga Downs 240 at Watkins Glen International.
Lamb qualified the #94 Civic Type R TCR second, behind their teammates and ahead of the #88 VGMC Racing Civic Type R TCR driven by Karl Wittmer and Victor Gonzales, as part of a Honda one-two-three in qualifying.
The duo of Lamb and Eversley overcame an early, unscheduled pit stop [under caution] to secure an improperly fitted boost pipe that dropped them to the back of the pack to come out on top of an event-filled endurance contest.
The victory moves Eversley into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class, and marks the first IMSA win for the Atlanta Speedwerks team.
Polesitters Noaker and Henderson led for much of the race, and were in a close fight for podium contention at the finish. The duo—who between them have set the fastest qualifying time at every race this year—would come up just short in the fourth position.
A promising race for VGMC’s Victor Gonzalez and new co-driver Karl Wittmer met an early end in Watkins Glen. Though Wittmer spent the early stages of the race battling with the leaders, a pit stop issue would sideline their effort mid-race, leaving the #88 in 13th place.
Mid-Ohio 120 Race Results
1st TCR – #94 Ryan Eversley and Todd Lamb, Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR
4th TCR – #84 Robert Noaker and Brian Henderson, Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR
13th TCR – #88 Victor Gonzalez and Karl Wittmer, VGMC Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR
Quotes
Todd Lamb (#94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR), driver and team owner, first win in IMSA competition for the team: “It’s funny, I wasn’t even supposed to drive this weekend. One of our other drivers [Scott Smithson] had travel and work issues, so I ended up in the car. But I mean, Ryan [Eversley] is a great teammate, and our team keeps getting better and better and better as the season has gone on. To win, not only as a driver but as a team owner, is a very special thing. We’ve been plugging away at this for three years now and to get a win – after being so close so many times – it’s just really, really special. I have to thank our crew, Honda, and everybody involved.”
Ryan Eversley (#94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR), eighth career IMSA win, takes a 10-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship after four of 10 races: “We’ve had a great season so far, the Honda Civic Type R’s been pretty competitive almost everywhere. Todd [Lamb, team owner] and I have been friends for a long time, we were even on the same team a few years ago in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, in 2008 or around then. We’re both from ‘Team Atlanta’ so it’s cool to get to drive with one of ‘your brothers’ in that regard. But I was pretty excited to be able to win. The Michelin Pilot Challenge Series has some pretty big names [driving in it]. We even have a kid [Ryan Norman] who’s about to make his IndyCar debut in a couple of weeks. That just shows you the kind of talent you’re up against in this series. And to be able to race with Honda every year has been a true honor.”
Next
The MICHELIN Pilot Challenge again contest Watkins Glen International July 1-2 for the Sahlen’s 120 at The Glen. The race can be streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car. Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring
Honda Racing social media content and videos from Watkins Glen International Raceway are available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD). Produced by CoForce Digital Media, YouTube video packages can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.
BURNING BRIGHT
| Overton wins second Firecracker 100The Evans, GA driver collected more than $36,000 over three daysSARVER, PA – JUNE 26, 2021 – Brandon Overton’s expression in Victory Lane wasn’t what you’d expect. As he kissed the Firecracker 100 trophy and held it in the air, his smile showed signs of relief instead of excitement. The Evans, GA driver won the Firecracker 100 for the second time Saturday at Lernerville Speedway. But he thought his luck may run out before taking the checkered flag. “I’m glad to finish,” Overton said. “The [car] was darting like crazy and I was just waiting any minute for something to happen. Our luck’s been too good for nothing to go wrong.” But nothing went wrong for Overton, who collected $30,000 Saturday and more than $36,000 in winnings over the weekend. The victory comes at the same track he won his first crown jewel event at in 2017—a moment “Big Sexy” will never forget. “[Lernerville] is special to me and this place is going to always be special to me,” Overton said. “I won my first big one here and to come back and do it with a different team means a lot to me.” Overton bided his time at the start of the Feature. He dropped to fifth but worked his way back to second in the first 30 laps. “Big Sexy” caught Chris Madden a few laps later and powered around the outside of the #44, taking the lead on Lap 41. Overton’s car gave him a sign telling him he couldn’t wait any longer to strike. “I was just trying to ride at the beginning, but I kept getting run over so I was like damn I better pick up the pace some,” Overton said. “When I felt like the tires were hot and I could feel it start pulling a little bit leaving the corner I said damn I need to go get him.” The Firecracker 100 is Overton’s sixth win in his last seven races and 16th career World of Outlaws triumph. Madden settled for second, after trading the position with Dennis Erb Jr. in the closing stages of the race. The Gray Court, SC driver led the first 40 laps but felt he was missing something with the adjustments his team made before the Feature. “We missed [the setup] just a little bit in the Feature [Saturday] and you can’t miss it with Overton right now, he’s definitely on,” Madden said. Erb crossed the line third, after running second for most of the race as Madden snuck in traffic during the last few laps. “The One-Man Band” couldn’t get the car to run where he wanted it to and felt slower cars played a role in keeping him out of the runner-up spot. “I just need to be able to run a little bit lower on the racetrack,” Erb said. “My car just wanted to drift out a little tonight, and I think if [Rick Eckert] wasn’t in the way we would’ve cleared him and ran second.” Darrell Lanigan, the race’s hard charger finished fourth. The three-time Series champion worked the bottom of the racetrack passing 17 cars. The Union, KY driver knew he put himself in a tough position, after qualifying through the Last Chance Showdown. “The car was really good tonight you just can’t start that far back in these things and win these races,” Lanigan said. “There’s too many good cars up front.” Three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard finished fifth—his third top five finish of the weekend. The New Berlin, IL driver leaves Lernerville Speedway with the Series points lead—58 points ahead of Madden. UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models start its Northern swing with a doubleheader at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, MN on July 9-10. Morton Buildings Feature (100 Laps)-1. 76-Brandon Overton [4][$30,000]; 2. 44-Chris Madden [2][$15,000]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb [8][$7,000]; 4. 29-Darrell Lanigan [21][$6,000]; 5. 1-Brandon Sheppard [5][$5,000]; 6. 111V-Max Blair [13][$4,500]; 7. 72-Mike Norris [7][$4,000]; 8. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [3][$3,500]; 9. 11H-Spencer Hughes [6][$3,000]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening [9][$2,500]; 11. B1-Brent Larson [18][$2,300]; 12. 97-Cade Dillard [1][$2,200]; 13. 22F-Chris Ferguson [16][$2,100]; 14. 7-Ricky Weiss [15][$2,000]; 15. 2-Dan Stone [23][$1,800]; 16. 22-Gregg Satterlee [22][$1,700]; 17. 48-Colton Flinner [27][$1,600]; 18. 0E-Rick Eckert [14][$1,550]; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin [11][$1,500]; 20. 58-Mark Whitener [12][$1,500]; 21. 10-Jared Miley [28][$1,500]; 22. 0-Scott Bloomquist [19][$1,500]; 23. 99B-Boom Briggs [24][$1,500]; 24. 8-Kyle Strickler [25][$1,500]; 25. 7R-Ross Robinson [26][$1,500]; 26. 72C-Jason Covert [20][$1,500]; 27. 119-Chub Frank [10][$1,500]; 28. 1C-Alex Ferree [17][$1,500]; 29. 25-Mike Benedum [29][$1,500] Hard Charger: 29-Darrell Lanigan[+17] Uncle Sam Feature (30 Laps)-1. 25-Mike Benedum [2][$10,000]; 2. O6-Mike Lupfer [5][$6,000]; 3. 14-Dan Angellicchio [8][$3,500]; 4. 0S-Ryan Scott [4][$2,800]; 5. 23-Ahnna Parkhurst [6][$2,500]; 6. 4-Gary Stuhler [7][$2,300]; 7. 29S-Ken Schaltenbrand [20][$2,200]; 8. 2T-Rich Wicker [12][$2,100]; 9. 11-Joshua Powell [11][$2,050]; 10. 311-Ken Monahan [13][$2,000]; 11. 9-Levi Yetter [14][$1,600]; 12. 16H-Clinton Hersh [9][$1,400]; 13. 77-Tyler Dietz [15][$1,200]; 14. 10L-Gary Lyle [3][$1,100]; 15. 66-Todd Bachman [10][$1,050]; 16. 26-Shawn Schaltenbrand [22][$1,000] |
| The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award), and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, FireAde, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, and Rocket Chassis. |
DiBenedetto Finishes 32nd at Pocono
June 26, 2021
The best-laid Pocono plans for Matt DiBenedetto and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team unraveled due to a couple of mistakes on the team’s final pit stop.
In the latter portion of the opening race of a double-header at Pocono Raceway, crew chief Jonathan Hassler and the team were working a strategy that called for DiBenedetto to make a fuel-only stop with 39 laps remaining. That should have delivered DiBenedetto a badly-needed jump in track position as the laps wound down, but the team was hit with a penalty when the gas can was drug into an adjoining pit stall.
DiBenedetto then had to serve a pass-through-pit-road penalty, but was nabbed for speeding as he served the penalty. That led to another costly pass-through.
The lost time dropped him off the lead lap, and while he was able to gain three positions in the final circuits, he ended the Pocono Organics CBD325 in 32nd place, the first driver one lap down. He dropped one spot in the Cup Series standings, to 20th.
Before the late race issues, DiBenedetto and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team were making some progress at a place where track position is hard to come by. He started 21st and moved up to 15th in the first four laps. He was running 18th at the end of the first Stage and second Stages, but a big jump in the running order eluded him.
“We started the race buried in track position, and that makes it rough at a place where track position is so hard to come by,” DiBenedetto said. “We were able to move up some with strategy, but we needed some luck and a few changes to the car.”
He said the miscue involving the fuel can on the final pit stop was due to a communications error that can be easily corrected.
“It was just a little mishap, nothing to point fingers over,” he said. “But it did ruin a shot at an OK day for the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang.”
DiBenedetto’s finish on Saturday sets up a 32nd-place start for Sunday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 350 and another challenge to overcome poor track position.
“We’ll do all we can to try to get things turned around soon,” he said.
Sunday’s 140-lap race, with Stage breaks at Laps 30 and 85, is set to get the green flag just after 3:30 p.m. with TV coverage on NBCSN.
ALEX BOWMAN CAPTURES THE WIN AT POCONO RACEWAY
Team Chevy Scores Sixth Consecutive NCS Win LONG POND, Pa.(June 26, 2021) – In a last lap, last corner pass in his No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, Alex Bowman scored his third victory of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) season in the Pocono Organics CBD 325 to kick off the NCS doubleheader race weekend at Pocono Raceway. The victory is the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s first victory at the 2.5-mile track known as the ‘Tricky Triangle’ and his fifth-career victory in 207 starts in NASCAR’s Premier Series.
The 28-year-old Phoenix native’s win marks the Camaro ZL1 1LE’s ninth trip to NCS victory lane thus far this season and the Bowtie Brand’s 804th all-time win in NCS history. The feat gives Hendrick Motorsports its sixth-consecutive victory, tying the organization’s Modern Era (1972-Present) record for most consecutive wins, last achieved in 2007. The string of victories started with Bowman after he captured the victory at Dover International Speedway on May 16, 2021. Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, took the checkered flag in the third position in his No. 24 Axalta Color of the Year Camaro ZL1 1LE to give the Chevrolet driver his eighth top-five this season. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, was the Stage Two winner and drove his way to a strong sixth-place finish. Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE, salvaged a ninth-place finish after a flat tire misfortunate while in the lead on the final lap, giving Team Chevy four of the top-10 finishers in the final running order. Kyle Busch (Toyota) was second, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was fourth and Ryan Blaney (Ford) rounded out the top-five of the 130-lap event. The NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader race weekend at Pocono Raceway continues with the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 tomorrow, June 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: We are now with our race winning driver, Alex Bowman.We’ll go right to questions. Q.Alex, when the 5 passed you with four laps to go, where on the track were you beating him and where was he beating you?ALEX BOWMAN: I thought I could do an okay job of taking his air through two and three. But I was plowing tight through turn one. We were on two tires there. I was free most of the day. We had tightened the car up, then put two tires on. I just burned the front tires off of it trying to stay in front of him.Yeah, I mean, I was okay for a bit, then the fronts fell off a lot. Grille screen folded in. I don’t know if that kind of played a hand in it as well. As soon as he got beside me, I knew with clean air he was going to be able to drive away from us pretty big.Just tried to do all I could to keep him behind us as long as I could. Q.You’ve won basically all three of these races on late-race situations, specifically here and Richmond. Is there anything that you feel like you’re doing late in those moments or that you’re learning how to manage those situations that’s gotten you these wins?ALEX BOWMAN: I wish there was something that I was like, Yeah, I’m doing this. I think it’s all pretty situational. We were really strong on that short run to end Richmond. Here I just got a hell of a push from the 12 to be able to clear the 18. Hendrick horsepower doesn’t hurt by any means.Obviously got pretty lucky there with Kyle’s misfortune. I mean, I feel like we’ve always been a team that ends the day better than we started the day. We’ve never been that like win stages type of team, but we’ve won our share of races here lately.Yeah, I don’t know exactly what it is, but glad it’s working out lately. Q.How did you adjust to what Kyle was doing to hold you off, especially his bumper tapping you a little bit?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, the Cup cars are super aero-dependent. If you don’t have a car in front of you, your car makes way more downforce than if you have a car right in front of you. Tried to take as much air away from him as I possibly could. A lot of time in the mirror trying to see where he’s running, trying to run similar lines as him to take the air away, keep him behind us. It honestly worked a lot longer than I thought it was going to. Didn’t work all the way to the end. Just got lucky that last lap. Q.You were apologizing on the radio during that last lap. Have you ever gone from that kind of disappointed, that down, to that high in half a lap?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it was like a hundred feet. I keyed up. I’m like, I’m sorry. He’s blown a tire (laughter).I don’t really know what to think. This is the strangest win I’ve ever been a part of. I thought I was running second, which was still going to be a good day for us with how we struggled throughout the course of the day. Then he blows a tire, we win; can’t do a burnout because I have to race the car tomorrow. I typically stand on the roof of the car; can’t do that because I got to race the car tomorrow. I typically drink all the beers; can’t do all that because I got to race a car tomorrow (laughter).I have to be way more responsible than I really want to be right now. It’s definitely been a unique win. But, yeah, I’ve never been in a situation like that. I was literally keyed up, apologizing for burning the front tires off the thing. Saw his crush panel fly out, him have a flat.Yeah, I can’t believe it. Q.Did you see whether he cut something?ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t know. I don’t know if he ran something over or what the situation was. I saw sparks, tire come apart, crush panel exit the race car because the tire came apart. Kind of normal flat tire situation. Q.What has been the key to this Hendrick run? Three drivers winning all these races. What is it like around the shop to be part of this winning streak?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, the morale is obviously super high at Hendrick Motorsports. It’s really cool to see it that way.I think there’s not one thing. It’s each and every individual at Hendrick Motorsports from top to bottom in every department, it’s everybody at Chevrolet. Our engines are strong, bodies are great, chassis are great. The guys putting them together are doing a great job. Having Chad in a new role is really good. Mr. H and Jeff and everybody are giving us all the tools we need to put the parts and pieces together to go win races.Yeah, it’s not one thing. It’s a culmination of everybody’s hard work. It’s cool to be a part of it and be the guy that gets to drive ’em. Q.Over the course of your career you’ve had at times lamented your bad luck.ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t know what to say about today (laughter). Q.Just in general this season, how does it feel to be on the other side? You probably have seen other drivers when they say, You can do anything, just falls into wins. To have that feeling of coming out on the other side and enjoying it the opposite way, how does it feel?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it feels pretty freaking good. I don’t really know what to think. Richmond, when that caution came out, I was kind of bummed. Thought we were going to struggle on the short run like we had been most of that day. Then we came away with a win.Here I’m apologizing to my guys, we come out with a win. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s pretty interesting to be on the other side of it. I’ll take it. I’ve had my fair share of bad luck over the course of my career. Hence the whole “Bad Luck Bowman” thing.Maybe that’s all behind me and it was just in preparation for this great luck that we have right now. Yeah, I’ll take it. Q.You alluded to it out there, how cool it was to see these fans back again? While your celebration has to be muted because of another race, you enjoyed that moment. Could you feel the excitement, the people embracing this win?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it’s really neat. I think Pennsylvania race fans in general are some of the best in the world. Whether it’s sprint car racing or Cup racing or whatever the situation is, PA fans are pretty dang awesome.To see a packed grandstands, packed infield. I went through a run through the infield today, aside from everybody yelling “William Byron” at me, because they had us mixed up. Pretty normal for Pocono. I don’t know why Pocono people think I’m William. I guess I’m a little insulted because I feel like I’m way better looking than him.PA fans are pretty awesome and it’s cool to see a packed house. Q.Quite a duel here today. You held Kyle off for a long time. We saw that at Richmond. Greg talked about confidence. In dealing with you at times, confidence is up and down, it can be. What does it mean to have these types of performances at end of races? Until the tire blew, it didn’t work out. What does it mean for you from that standpoint?ALEX BOWMAN: It’s pretty fair to say. It’s pretty hard to be confident coming running off of 15th to 20th at Nashville, right?I think the guys have done a really good job of giving me fast race cars all year. Really, when you look at how we’re running as an organization, it’s hard to not be confident going to the racetrack. These couple races that we’ve won on late-race restarts, holding off some really fast race cars, it definitely gives me confidence. Getting the lead from a guy like Kyle Busch on a late restart is not easy to do. Definitely gives me confidence going forward. Q.Obviously the announcement about Jeff Gordon, the role. He’s played an important role with the organization previously. Greg noted Jeff spent some time with him this week, helped him out. Don’t know how much you’ve consulted with Jeff, but any time recently any conversations with him?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, I don’t remember if it was the beginning of last year. I guess it was probably there were some really impactful conversations from me midway through last year, kind of through our summer struggles a little bit. Then early in ’19, as well.Jeff is super helpful. He gets it from an organizational side, he gets it from a race car driver side. That’s been really cool. I don’t think I talked to him at all this week aside from I think he was at the meeting. Lots gone on this week, I can’t remember.I got to fly home from Raceway Park in Indianapolis I guess two weeks ago with him now. That was really cool, to fly home with him and his parents, share old open-wheel racing stories. It’s been kind of cool to build that relationship with Jeff.When I first started driving the 88 and kind of sharing it with him, I didn’t really know Jeff. That probably out of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, just with him having to wear so many different hats, having so much going on, like that relationship probably took the longest to build. But it’s really cool to get to lean on somebody with so much knowledge in so many different areas and have his help and advice. Q.Obviously you ended up with a victory today. What do you feel about tomorrow? What do you have to do if Larson is as fast as he was today?ALEX BOWMAN: We got to turn a little better at the end of the race. I think that was our biggest problem there, was just being a little tight off.Yeah, starting 20th is going to be super difficult here. We’ll have a good pit stall, so that will be good. But we know we’re going to have a fast Ally Camaro. We know we’re going to have good pit stops, good strategy. I think Greg’s strategy was pretty on point today. I’m excited for it. I’m excited to go try to beat that 5 car again. Q.Do you feel going into tomorrow’s race, the confidence that you have right now, do you believe wear and tear and fatigue is going to play a huge factor tomorrow?ALEX BOWMAN: Somewhat. I feel like these Cup cars have come a long way. If you try to do a doubleheader 20 years ago, nobody’s stuff would have made it, right? Everybody seemed pretty successful with it last year. I put my guys in some terrible situations with it. I’m not sure there wasn’t a doubleheader that we didn’t go to a backup last year. Happy this is a little better situation for them. There’s not much damage on that thing to repair and start over with.I mean, I think in what we do, if it was a hundred degrees here today, driver fatigue and pit crew fatigue might be a little different. But it was a nice day, not too hot, a little bit of a shorter race. I think everything will kind of be business as usual tomorrow. Q.Did you feel like you learned enough about your car in traffic? What kind of adjustments do you feel you’re going to need to make for traffic?ALEX BOWMAN: We ran like 12th all day. I feel like we were in traffic almost all day. Kind of took to the end for me to be able to kind of really drive the car how it is in clean air.It’s a huge difference in how the race car drives. Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what it’s going to do in traffic. I experienced it all day. It’s only going to be tougher tomorrow. Q.If you’re in the same position tomorrow on the final restart, do you pick the front row? Were you surprised that Larson didn’t pick the front row to get a push from you?ALEX BOWMAN: I was really surprised he didn’t pick the front row. I was just surprised somebody didn’t, right? We were fourth. Somebody could have restarted second, and instead they restarted fourth and sixth. I was pretty surprised nobody took the bottom.But, hell, I’ll take it. Thanks to Blaney for the push. He pushed me all the way to the center of one, never tried to get out of line, never tried to do anything, ultimately got us out front. Big thank you to him. Much appreciated.But, yeah, I was pretty surprised. Obviously, I would do it over the same way I did. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Alex. Congratulations. Good luck tomorrow.ALEX BOWMAN: Thanks, guys. GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 LE and JEFF ANDREWS, GENERAL MANAGER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS – PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the winning crew chief for today’s race, Greg Ives.Greg, wild one, wild finishes, restarts. Take us through your vantage from atop the box. GREG IVES: Starting out the race, we definitely thought we had a good car. A little free taking off. Alex was pretty happy with it. We talked about the restarts and how difficult they were going to be making the right decision rather than the decision in the moment because that decision kind of hurts you two corners later.We struggled with that. I think there was a little learning period for not only Alex but myself on how deep I can get him with pit strategy, how deep I can get him by just pitting. Obviously, the pit crew kind of understanding clean stops, even one or two spots is going to be so majorly important to getting the restarts.At the end there, had a strategy in mind. You never know how it’s going to play out. Plans never always work. But our plan there was to minimize our stop and get enough fuel to make it to the end. We did that with two right-side tires. About 12 gallons is what we needed, maybe a little less with cautions there.I think we were lined up fourth on that restart coming to the choose cone. He elected to take the bottom or third. I can’t even remember. It’s already pretty blurry for me. Yeah, he elected to take the bottom. That ultimately was the winning move, having Ryan Blaney behind us, getting that push, clearing Kyle Busch off of turn one.It’s definitely an eventful day. We started free, ended a little tight on two tires. Honestly I probably didn’t need to touch the car. Looking back now, Sunday quarterbacking it, Saturday, sorry. In the end, yeah, lost the lead there to Kyle with three or four to go. Unfortunate for them to have that issue. They’ve been fast all year. We want to do it in the right manner. We raced clean, we raced hard. We have a lot of respect for them. Never gave up. Didn’t allow the 18 to get to us and pass us. Ultimately won the race. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Greg.Q.Looking at Larson’s issue, what were you seeing with tire wear throughout the day? One would assume he was pushing hard to get by. Were you able to see any tire wear that may have made that make sense to you?GREG IVES: Ultimately that was pretty surprising. From the tire standpoint, Goodyear had I think a pretty good handle on the tire. We didn’t see any cracks, didn’t see any chips popping out, any possible wear issues that would expose a potential failure.But it’s all about circumstances. I think they pitted under green there, took four tires. Typically we were under some type of caution to be able to build air pressure up. Ultimately that left front didn’t hold on. I don’t think it’s any fault of the team’s, Goodyear or whatnot. I think it’s just sometimes circumstances. THE MODERATOR: We are also joined by the general manager of Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Andrews.This is Hendrick’s sixth straight points win, seventh if you include the All-Star Race. Congratulations.We’ll continue with questions. Q.What did you tell Alex when Kyle was really pushing him hard? What did you tell him to try to kind of hold Kyle off?GREG IVES: Yeah, I mean ultimately, I was giving him little pointers through SMP on his driving style probably earlier in the race. It’s kind of hard to know. It’s kind of hard in the moment when you’re really focused on holding off Kyle to give him the pointers then.I give credit to Kevin Hamlin, our spotter. Allowing Alex to feel comfortable with what he was doing, maybe not trying to — Kyle was really good through turn one, was able to close up and get a run. Kevin did a good job of maybe having Alex move down half a lane, take a little bit of air away from Kyle, and eventually get maybe a little tight off, hurt that run. Maybe Kyle slowed up a little bit, saved his tires. He definitely attacked us and got by us.Mainly in those times you try to stay silent, you try to allow the spotter to have the radio, allow him to keep the driver focused. Through the tunnel turn, I can’t remember exactly when, Alex was kind of apologizing for getting a little too tight at the end, maybe burning the fronts off.I came on Channel 2 to tell Kevin, The 5 is having an issue. Kevin definitely relayed that to him. It was very important to stay in the game and hold off the 18.Like I said, unfortunate for the 5 team to have their issue. I’m happy that we were able to capitalize, but I know we got some work to beat them tomorrow. Q.Do you know if Kyle cut the tire or being something as far as wear?JEFF ANDREWS: We haven’t seen anything yet. We’re getting the left front off the car to get it to Goodyear. Certainly saw nothing of concern throughout the race that led us to wear-related type of failure. We’ll get it to Goodyear and take look at it and see. Q.Is there any kind of feeling of vindication, a lot of chatter in the garage, They made Hendrick do this or that after Nashville to the cars? I know that is not rare when a team is on a streak, that there’s some chatter. Do you feel any sort of vindication of whatever we did or didn’t have to do, we’re still fast?JEFF ANDREWS: I don’t know about vindication, if we feel vindication. Obviously, we’ve been a race team before that’s been in this position. We’ve been chasing several organizations before ourselves.We certainly understand what it feels like. Hey, there was some great race cars out there today. I think you definitely saw gains in the JGR cars this week. We’ll keep pushing.NASCAR and Jay Fabian, they do a great job of regulating this sport and keeping this sport in line. Any time they talk to you or want you to address something on your race cars, we go back and address that. Q.Greg, all of Alex’s wins this season have come late in the race, taking advantage of circumstances. In a season where some of your top competitors are also your teammates, you kind of touched on this a minute ago, how important is it to remain focused that you might always be in the game regardless of the circumstances?GREG IVES: Yeah, you know, somewhat of the metrics kind of get us in that position, we’re 11th or 12 in points, kind of hover around that 10th or 12th place starting position. Trying not to make excuses for it because we definitely need to do better with our cars.I feel like that gets us a tick behind. We just got to continue to march forward. I pride ourselves on being a team that never really gives up, whether it’s pit road strategy, in the race car, on restarts. That’s what it takes. That’s when you’re the most vulnerable I guess, when the chips are down a little bit. You got to stay after it. You got to stay motivated and focused.Coming off of Nashville, it was a struggle for us. Rather upset about our performance there. Somebody told me this week, You just got to continue to build comfort in knowing that we have a solid team and that we’re capable of coming back from anything.Definitely saw that today with maybe some varying strategies, knowing that the vision at the end of the race was to put us up front or towards the front. We were able to accomplish that. Alex was able to make a decision on that choose cone it’s either win or we’re going back to 10th. If he didn’t clear ’em, it was going to be a really sad day.Ultimately just keep marching forward. Number one thing I say is focus forward. If you look back at even this win, if we look back and cherish this win too long, tomorrow’s going to be a little early wake-up call that we got to get after it starting 20th. Q.Greg, I know right there on the last lap Alex was on the radio apologizing before the race is over. Do you have to talk to him about that, saying anything about that, or is that more about good natured ribbing?GREG IVES: Yeah, I mean, I love the fact that somebody can come on the radio and tell us what they’re feeling. In that moment, as any person would be, when you’re leading the race, towards the end of it, you put it on your shoulders.Our team is looking at him to make it happen. Ultimately there’s probably some circumstances that could have led to a better race car on my side. That’s what I stay focused on.But as far as Alex goes, I want him to wear his emotions on his sleeve sometimes. If he was sorry coming off of the tunnel turn that he didn’t make adjustments in the car to hold off Kyle, then that’s fine. But we have to definitely learn from it because we could be in that situation tomorrow. Come down to five to go, I hope he’s thinking and understanding what he needs to adjust to not only hold off Kyle but another faster car maybe with better tires, maybe even handling a little bit better.We’ll definitely talk about it. Not so much about the emotion, but about the learning we need to do to continue to be better, especially in closing laps, holding onto the lead, getting that ultimate win. Q.We saw the drive at the end of this race, holding off Kyle. We saw it at Richmond. What are things you’re seeing out of him late-race situations, what is he learning, what are you learning, that could be helpful later in the season?GREG IVES: Ultimately, I feel like confidence. Anybody in here, when they have confidence in those situations, are going to perform at a higher level.I think he’s coming into his own. I feel like his two wins at probably not our best racetracks, Dover I would say we run pretty well there, but it gives him a lot of confidence to say, Hey, give me the reins because I’m going to take care of this right here.You don’t do that in the last 15 laps. You do that how you work, how you prepare, how you get ready for each and every race. Ultimately after this race, they were spraying champagne. He’s like, I got to hydrate and get ready for tomorrow. In the end that’s the mentality you have to have to stay on top. To be able to make the right decisions in those tough circumstances. He was able to make it.You’re never sure how it’s going to work out. If you don’t give yourself the chance to win, you’re never going to. Q.Jeff, will there be much difference with Jeff Gordon in his new role starting next year?JEFF ANDREWS: I’m not certain about a difference, but any time certainly that you bring someone of that caliber further up in your organization, we’re really, really excited to have Jeff in that role. We look forward to his contributions to our company. I think we’ve already seen a lot of things he’s been involved in, behind the scenes, when he wasn’t working in his television job there.For him to come to us now in that full-time role, he’s planning on being here tomorrow with us, to have watched him, to have been fortunate enough to have been with him through his career at Hendrick Motorsports, transitioning to a driver, getting more involved in ownership and leadership role now, it’s been an honor. I think all of us at Hendrick, from the drivers, crew chiefs, all the employees are super excited about what that means to our future. GREG IVES: I can add on to that. Like I said, the 48 car had a tough Nashville, right? The greatest thing was Jeff gave me time to talk. He’s been through a lot of situations that involved winning, then involved tough days, right?He was able to give me 20 minutes of his time, give me advice. Not only advice, but also how to maybe look at some different situations in the future because he’s experienced it.I think it’s a huge impact for Hendrick Motorsports to have that guy that has accomplished so much, but also has had a long career. In a long career, you don’t always have — every day is not a success. You got to work through struggles. Those struggles make you better. THE MODERATOR: Greg, Jeff, thank you for your time. Congratulations on this win.
chevy racing–nascar–pocono 2–post race
NASCAR CUP SERIES POCONO ORGANICS CBD 325 POCONO RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES JUNE 26, 2021
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS. DRIVER1st ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE3rd WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE 6th KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE 11th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LETOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS. DRIVER1st Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)2nd Kyle Busch (Toyota)3rd William Byron (Chevrolet)4th Denny Hamlin (Toyota)5th Ryan Blaney (Ford) The NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader race weekend at Pocono Raceway continues with the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 tomorrow, June 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race WinnerALEX, WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU SAW THE 5 GOING INTO THE WALL? “Yeah, I hate to win one that way, but hell, yeah, I’ll take it.”
“Super proud of this Ally 48 team. Man, we kind of gave the lead away. Were on two tires, just got super tight. Tried to hold him off as long as I could. Can’t say enough about everybody at Team Hendrick right now, body shop, engine shop, chassis shop. Top to bottom, everybody is putting race cars on the racetrack.”
“Greg (Ives, Crew Chief) and all the guys did a really good job. We didn’t run that good all day, so I’m kind of in shock. I don’t know what to say to you guys. Hell, yeah, so cool to see all the fans out here. Always like to come to PA. It’s a cool place day, beautiful weather, great day for a race. Heck, yeah, I’ll take it.” YOU APOLOGIZED TO YOUR GUYS. FOR ONCE, YOU HAD THE LUCK ON YOUR SIDE.“Yeah, I don’t know what to think about that. “Bad Luck Bowman” had some luck there (smiling).No, I mean, the 5 beat us. Their misfortune, it happens. That’s part of the sport. I’ll take it.”
YOU MENTIONED THESE FANS. HOW ABOUT WINNING IN FRONT OF THESE POCONO FANS?“Cool. The place is packed. I went for a run in the infield. Typical Pocono, everybody called me William Byron (laughter).”
“Just enjoy it. So cool to see all the fans out, a bunch of fist pumps, high fives, running through the campground. I’m sure my trainer is going to make me run in the morning. So I’ll probably see some of you guys in the campground in the morning.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA COLOR OF THE YEAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd YOU GAINED THE MOST POINTS OF THE DAY. YOU SAID YOU WERE TOO TIGHT. WAS THAT ALL DAY OR AT THE END?“The things we thought coming here, we wanted to be a little snug. So, we just kind of gained tight center off and it was hard to make the straightaways long with that, especially with the PJ1. It seems to make your car tighter. So, our Axalta Chevy was good, especially at the beginning; a little bit on the splitter. But we had the lead there and lost it. Just wasn’t quite able to pass the top two guys, I should say. So, it’s just part of it. Luckily, we get a chance to work on those things. It’s the first time for Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and I here. It was a good run for us. We finished third and we’ll try to go win tomorrow.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9thWE SAW YOU TAKE A MANDATORY RIDE OVER HERE, KYLE. ULTIMATELY NINTH. THAT DOES NOT TELL THE STORY OF THE DAY. “I guess disbelief still. I don’t know, a little bit laughable just because I can’t believe it.”
“Hate that we didn’t get another win. Would have been cool to win five in a row. Just wasn’t meant to be I guess today. Yeah, I felt something like right in the middle of the tunnel. Wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. It finally kind of shredded halfway through the short chute there. Couldn’t turn.”
“Hate that we didn’t get the win. Cool that Alex still did, a Hendrick car with another win. Cool to keep Mr. H’s streak going. Yeah, hate we didn’t get HendrickCars.com into Victory Lane, but we’ll try to start another streak tomorrow.”
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ALL THE MOVES YOU HAD TO TRY ON HIM, ULTIMATELY GETTING HIM? DO YOU THINK THEY ABUSED THE TIRE AT ALL? “No, I mean, I don’t think there were any tire issues all day. I must have just ran something over, I guess. I was having to work really hard to get by him. I was honestly happy to see him get to the lead because I had pulled away from him so much, that run up before the caution. But then he was really fast out front. Just fast enough I could never get to his inside. He was running low enough, I was a little bit choked down.”
“He was starting to get really tight through one. I was able to kind of use that to my advantage, fake him low a little bit, mess his angle up, get him tighter off of one. Was finally able to get by him. Thought we were going to get the win, but we didn’t.”
HOW ANXIOUS ARE YOU TO RE-CRANK THE HEATER AND GET THAT GOING FOR TOMORROW AFTERNOON? “I guess that’s one thing that’s probably keeping me excited and not depressed, is that we get to go back again tomorrow. I’m sure our backup car will be just as good as that one. Feel like we learned a lot about our car today. The track came to us a lot. I think we should be good tomorrow.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6th“I thought it was a solid day. It was one of those days where we stuck to our strategy. We were going to pit twice; use that track position from our finish last week at Nashville (Superspeedway). That helped us stay up front; helped us stay in rhythm. I battled every lap with loose conditions. The car wanted to just keep getting loose with the rear. We just had to stay out. We just didn’t want to sacrifice our track position. Good calls by Matt McCall (crew chief) – utilized the speed of the track and the car together to keep that track position and to have a solid points day.”
“We won a stage; we were up front. But we have to find a little more pizazz – get that rear stuck and that way I can be more on offense on restarts. Solid day for the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevy.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 11th“My No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions team did a great job today coming up with a strategy that helped get us a good finish for the first race of the Pocono Raceway doubleheader weekend. I fired off a bit too tight, but we were able to make the right adjustments to loosen up our car closer to where it needed to be throughout the race. Dirty air definitely played a huge role in handling today. It was like a light switch sometimes when the car would snap from loose to tight, so that’s good to be aware of for tomorrow’s race, especially with how hard it was to pass today. We still need to do some work to figure out how to get over the bumps better since that was my other big issue today. But overall, my team did a good job figuring out a pit strategy that got us up into a good spot when it mattered at the end. I’m looking forward to getting another shot at this track tomorrow and seeing how much better we can make our Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevy.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th “It was OK. I feel like the car was fast.”“It’s a gamble. You have to gamble and you have to stick with it; and unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us today, but hopefully it does tomorrow. We had, what I felt like, a top-10 car, sometimes even a top-five. We ended up 13th. We have to make a couple of adjustments to be a little bit better for tomorrow.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WORKRISE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 21st“Workrise is for the people who get hard work done, and that’s definitely what the 3 Workrise Chevrolet team did today at Pocono Raceway. We battled with a tight-handling condition for most of the race, but Justin Alexander and the team never gave up. The pit crew was fast all day today as well. We earned Stage points at the end of Stage 1, then got caught with a caution after a pit stop and lost some track position. The whole time, our team used pit stops to make chassis adjustments to our Chevy. By the final Stage, our handling was okay everywhere except for Turn 1, where we were plowing on exit. It was a chore to earn track position, especially after we were issued a penalty for speeding on pit road during a green-flag stop. I’m glad that this weekend is a double-header and we have another shot at getting Workrise a win on Sunday. We’ll go back to the drawing board for tomorrow.”
RCR Post Race Report – Pocono Organics 325
| Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Workrise Chevrolet Team Showcase Hard Work and Team Work at Pocono Raceway |
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| 21st | 12th | 12th |
| “Workrise is for the people who get hard work done, and that’s definitely what the 3 Workrise Chevrolet team did today at Pocono Raceway. We battled with a tight-handling condition for most of the race, but Justin Alexander and the team never gave up. The pit crew was fast all day today as well. We earned Stage points at the end of Stage 1, then got caught with a caution after a pit stop and lost some track position. The whole time, our team used pit stops to make chassis adjustments to our Chevy. By the final Stage, our handling was okay everywhere except for Turn 1, where we were plowing on exit. It was a chore to earn track position, especially after we were issued a penalty for speeding on pit road during a green-flag stop. I’m glad that this weekend is a double-header and we have another shot at getting Workrise a win on Sunday. We’ll go back to the drawing board for tomorrow.” -Austin Dillon |
| Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Team Utilize Strategy to Capture 11th-Place Finish During First Pocono Race of Weekend |
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| 11th | 16th | 13th |
| “My No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions team did a great job today coming up with a strategy that helped get us a good finish for the first race of the Pocono Raceway doubleheader weekend. I fired off a bit too tight, but we were able to make the right adjustments to loosen up our car closer to where it needed to be throughout the race. Dirty air definitely played a huge role in handling today. It was like a light switch sometimes when the car would snap from loose to tight, so that’s good to be aware of for tomorrow’s race, especially with how hard it was to pass today. We still need to do some work to figure out how to get over the bumps better since that was my other big issue today. But overall, my team did a good job figuring out a pit strategy that got us up into a good spot when it mattered at the end. I’m looking forward to getting another shot at this track tomorrow and seeing how much better we can make our Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevy.” -Tyler Reddick |