CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX STREETS OF BELLE ISLE TEAM CHEVY POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT JUNE 13, 2021
Pato O’Ward and Taylor Kiel Press Conference Transcript
THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by our race winner, Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 AMSP Chevy. We’ve also been joined by president of Arrow McLaren SP, Taylor Kiel. Congratulations. Pato, tell us how you’re feeling. You’re the first guy to win multiple races this season, and after finishing third yesterday, here you are, winner.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, today was pretty good. I knew I had a great car. I made a stupid mistake in qualifying, didn’t transfer. I started in the back, so I knew it was going to be tough. I knew I had to fight my way literally to the front because I remember after the last pit stop Taylor was like, okay, this is the order, everybody has one pit stop, everybody is reset, so it’s like, well, we’re staying here unless we have a yellow and I can ship it.So yellow came out, and that’s where I — I have a lot of faith in myself whenever the car is wiggling around. I know I’m very strong on cold tires, so I took advantage of it, got by people and got her done.THE MODERATOR: Taylor, obviously an emotional weekend for you this weekend with Felix’s injury. Pato dedicated the race to him. Can you give us your perspective?TAYLOR KIEL: Yeah, I think that’s really it. It says it all, emotional. When you see something like that happen to a race driver, it puts your stomach in your throat. First of all, we’re happy that Felix is okay and he’ll be back with us soon. Certainly bringing home a victory was top of mind in trying to help Felix’s recovery a little bit, but man, what a great effort from everybody, certainly from the men and women on the 7 car to get that thing fixed and ready to compete today.But also the men and women on the 5 car, to make it a race-winning car. We had a great car today. Pato did what he needed to do. The team did what they needed to do. And when you execute like that, we’re tough to beat.Certainly lows and highs, but we’re ending on a high and excited to get to Road America in a week.THE MODERATOR: Have you had a chance to talk to Felix yet?PATO O’WARD: No, I have not seen my phone, but I told Felix this was for him before the race started.TAYLOR KIEL: He’s been texting me a lot. He said he’s never seen 10 laps like that in his life. He was certainly watching. He’s super excited for the team and ready to get back.Q.Pato, pretty big weekend for Mexico sporting-wise, first Brandon Moreno becomes the first Mexican-born UFC champion last night and now this big win for you today. We all know your first win earlier this year was special, but what does it mean to you to win in Detroit in Chevrolet’s backyard and to dedicate this win to your teammate?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think first off, I’m really happy that I got it because I truly wanted to get it for the — because yesterday was very mixed emotions. We were on the podium but everything was very focused on Felix being okay, and I consider Felix very close, and it’s not a cool feeling to see that because it can happen to any of us. Yeah, it’s not fun.I was really pleased to hear that he was okay. Yeah, he left the hospital today. He’s feeling better. He’s sore. But yeah, I’m excited that I got this for the team, for him, and yeah.Q.How was that dip in the fountain?PATO O’WARD: Oh, my God. Water has never felt so good. It was like perfectly chilled.Q.Pato, a lot of people are wondering, how do you get your tires warmer than others or how do you keep them so clean heading into a restart? What was your secret for that last climactic restart?PATO O’WARD: Fast hands.Q.What did your car feel like in those last few laps as you were —PATO O’WARD: It was wiggly, but I felt like I still had life in the tire available, so I just had to be very — I knew I only had one chance to get every single guy. I couldn’t spend three chances on Dixon. It had to be one. So every time I would pull out or do something, I had to take the risk of pushing the braking zone or getting that mega exit to be able to get in front of them.But I feel like — I was very happy with how I executed it.Q.Several people I talked to said what stands out about you, at least that they’ve seen, is once you get there like you were just talking about, you do strike, you don’t necessarily delay. Where does that come from, that aggression, whatever you want to call it?PATO O’WARD: The problem is whenever you let people step around over you, then it becomes a habit. You need to — I mean, people know that I’m not here to be fifth or sixth. They know I’m here to win. I’m pretty sure that’s the message that we portrayed today.Q.You’re aggressive, you got two guys in two turns, I think four or five guys in four or five laps and wheel to wheel with Josef. I think you guys touched there; is that correct?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, he was moving me on to the marbles. He knew where to put me in order for me not to be able to get him, but I didn’t move, so we kind of both went into each other, I guess. That straightaway isn’t really straight.Yeah, it was a good battle, I think. I think it makes it more exciting whenever there’s a little rubbin’ rub.Q.How do you balance that? Like you’re aggressive and you go for it? How do you not go over the line?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I didn’t forget the words that Taylor said. He’s like, okay, this is the caution, everybody is going to stack up, lap cars are going to go, blah blah blah. If you have a chance, take it, but if you don’t, keep the championship in mind. But in my head, the two guys that I’m fighting the championship with are in front of me, and I was not going to be pleased if we ended behind them, especially if we had a restart and we were all together, so if I had the chance I was going to strike. I just had to make sure every strike wasn’t like, Oh, am I going to get it? No, it had to be like boom, definite. Once you’re on the inside, it’s yours.Yeah, I mean, I think they were very clean passes. I don’t think I put anybody in jeopardy in ways of hey, I screwed your race or anything. I felt like I did it very clean. I knew I was racing around very professional drivers, very clean, hard racers, Josef, Colton, Palou, definitely on, Graham, some of them have been racing many years. Some of us have been in INDYCAR very little, but these guys are pros. I was around people that you can get within less than an inch and race.Q.Were you a Juan fan? You fact like him, you drive a little bit like him, you’ve got the confidence of him.PATO O’WARD: I know Juan. I feel like we get along really well. Maybe that’s something Taylor can catch on. I was a little too young in Juan’s time. I was a big Montoya fan when he was in INDYCAR after he was in Formula 1, but I started really watching —Q.After NASCAR?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I was really watching all the races until maybe I was like seven, eight years old when I really somewhat understood kind of the Formula 1 and INDYCAR racing. But Juan was in like Formula 1 and stuff in 2004, 2003, and then he was an INDYCAR champion the year I was born. Yeah, I don’t think I remember much about back then.Q.Zach said at Indy that you know how important it is for the team to win the INDYCAR championship. How has that message been conveyed to you?PATO O’WARD: They have given me an opportunity that many people would kill for, and I want to be the one that gives them their first championship. Yeah, I mean, there’s not much more to say than that. I have so much faith in this group of people. They have my back, I have theirs.In a business like this you consistently have to show that you are capable and still have it, and I feel like it’s races like these where everyone, that little extra that you may put into something will always be given because they know that you’ll be out there giving it everything you have, to give them what they deserve.Q.One win got you a test. What does two wins get you?PATO O’WARD: I don’t know. I know what a championship will get me, though.Q.What?PATO O’WARD: Maybe I share whenever I win the championship. Hopefully I win it. That’s going to be the goal for sure.Q.So now everybody has got to wait?PATO O’WARD: Yes. I’ll post a picture.Q.Do you change your firesuit before you come in or do you come in wet?PATO O’WARD: Oh, I’m wet.Q.Obviously a lot is going on this weekend. To end on this high note, how does that make the team feel?TAYLOR KIEL: Well, I think it’s the right medicine for the issue that we had. Obviously Felix’s crash is shocking. It’s shocking to watch. It makes everybody sick to their stomach. To rebound like we did, it’s huge, and it’s a good boost to morale for the group. It’s a boost to morale for Felix. I think he’s very excited for his teammate, and it’s the least we can do to try to just bring this group back together and refocus after an event like that that just kind of shakes everybody.Q.How did you guys get to Oliver? Was it because he was here and he was familiar with the team and the car?TAYLOR KIEL: Both, yeah, but Oliver is a good driver, and I think that in a situation like that, it’s not about evaluating or finding the next Pato O’Ward, it’s about calming the waters, and I think Oliver was somebody we were familiar with, we knew he could just hop in and get on with it. We had his belts and his measurements and his seats and he was here and all those things, so it just made a very difficult situation less difficult.Q.Everybody was here until 1:00, 2:00 in the morning?TAYLOR KIEL: Yeah 2:30 I think the group left.Q.So everybody gets pep back in their step after, I suppose?TAYLOR KIEL: I hope so. I think probably by the time they get to Fort Wayne tonight on the way back to Indy, it’ll be — hopefully we’ve got some people that are good to drive tonight.It’s been a heck of a weekend.Q.What do you make of you guys have come so far in two years?TAYLOR KIEL: It’s crazy. You’ve got to sit back and peek your head above water sometimes. We’re grinding so hard to try to be the best team in the paddock, and I think when you’re working that hard and you’re so focused on the goal, it’s hard to see how far you’ve come.It’s moments like this where I try to allow myself to take a step back and look around and go, man, we’re close. We can compete every weekend. When the chips are down and we’re P6, we’ve still got a shot to win.It doesn’t come without a lot of hard work and a lot of great support from our partners, but we’re knocking on the door. I don’t think we’re there yet. We’ve still got a long way to go. But we’ve got a shot and that’s all we can ask for?Q.And you’re wet, as well?TAYLOR KIEL: I am, yeah.Q.Taylor, you have one good car but you have a perfect day now with Pato. Do you feel like you can apply that strategy that works or is it just faith in him?TAYLOR KIEL: Well, I think we can only take strategy so far, and at a certain point the driver takes over, and I think that’s exactly what we saw today. We got ourselves as far as we could go with strategy, which was P6, and we got the yellow that we needed, and after that it was all up to the driver.It’s a mix of both. It’s certainly a team effort, no doubt.Q.Taylor, can you explain how well Felix’s car stood up to a really hard hit and just go over what the safety features did and how much he owes Dallara for building a car that’s really tough?TAYLOR KIEL: Well, I think a lot of things. The car certainly did its job. Like I said earlier, you watch that replay on TV and it’s like, shocking. You take into account the speed and the angle of impact and those types of things. The tub held up extremely well. The aeroscreen did exactly what it needed to do. Certainly all of the safety equipment that Felix was wearing and the safety of the track, obviously there was tires everywhere, but the walls held up, the tires held up. There was only minor repairs.It really was a wonderful job by everything in and around that accident that kept him okay, and to see him literally go to the hospital just to double check, that’s kudos to anybody that’s involved in and around safety in INDYCAR.Q.Two years ago at this track, at this race, your career was at a crossroads. You had just signed with Red Bull, didn’t know what your INDYCAR career was going to be. Any time over the last two years that you’ve doubted where you’re going to be?PATO O’WARD: For sure. My career has almost ended at least four or five times, so honestly if everyone says, oh, it’s easy to make it, it hasn’t been hard enough for you then, because it’s such a tough business to make it. When you do it, you have to continue proving yourself for the next 20 years if you want to have a long career.But yeah, obviously there’s been very high and very low moments. But like I said, these guys gave me an opportunity, and I told them I will get you your wins and I will get you your results, so I hope my bosses are proud of me.But we’ve got a long way to go. I love the group of people that I work with. I think they’re some of the best in the business for sure. I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish in the next years.Q.Pato, second win of your INDYCAR career, now second in just five races or so. I know you were so incredibly excited after that first one that you got in Texas. Can you describe a little bit about how this win feels different like from a career or season perspective? I know it’s not the first one, but maybe in some way it’s even more validating?PATO O’WARD: I was always like telling Taylor, man, at Texas we really had to work for it. It didn’t just land on us. I feel like today we fought for it even harder. I feel like those races maybe them taste so sweet because we truly worked together as a team to get it done.When it’s such a competitive series like INDYCAR, I don’t care what anybody says, there is nothing like this in the world. Nothing, nothing like this in the world. It’s so competitive. The cars are beasts. They’re physical, they’re fast, they’re loud. They’re just hard to control.I feel like that’s what really makes the win feel like you just accomplished something really cool.Q.Kind of a similar but maybe different question for you, Taylor, from the team’s perspective what does a second win in a season do compared to just getting one in a year?TAYLOR KIEL: I think one is relieving and two is validating. It shows you that what you’re doing is sustainable, and that’s something that’s been in our narrative for a long time. We’ve been a flash-in-the-pan team for a long time. We sneak out a win here or there and we’re happy to be there.It’s not the case anymore. Our goal is to compete at the front all the time and win championships, and for us to do that you have to win three, four races a season. By the way, you also have to finish in the top 5 like all the time.That’s what we’re aiming to do, and that’s what we’ve proven that we can do, so that’s the goal.Q.You mentioned a couple minutes ago that you still feel like there’s a ways for this team to go. Is part of that — I know we’ve seen Felix up and down the season before his crash on Saturday. Do you feel like a lot of what we’ve seen from him just comes down to continuing to onboard him with this team and get him to a level of comfort that Pato is with Arrow McLaren SP?TAYLOR KIEL: Yeah, Pato has got a year head start. I feel like the car we produce is very difficult to drive, but it’s fast. I think that we’re working to make that better for both drivers, and there’s no boundaries on that. Whatever Felix needs, he’s going to get, and likewise with Pato. There’s no, hey, here’s the car we’ve got and it is what it is. It’s a continual process, and we’re working towards it.I think if Felix was here he’d tell you that the car is coming to him, and he feels better about where it is today than it was in say St. Pete.We’re never satisfied with results or how good the car is to drive or otherwise. It’s nose down and we’ll continue to work to make it better.Q.I think this got brought up in Texas when you guys won your first race of the year. For so many years we’ve tossed around this team in INDYCAR the big three. I imagine for both of you this might signal the end of us referring to that without you guys included.PATO O’WARD: That has been the plan. I don’t think it’s my place to say, though.TAYLOR KIEL: Well, I think being a part of the big three means that we’re a part of the championship hunt and we’re regular contenders and we’re winning races. If it’s the big three or the big 15 or the big one, it doesn’t matter to me, as long as we’re doing that.That’s what we’re doing now, and I aim to keep it up. If we want to call it whatever we want to, that’s fine, but my goal is to be first at the end of the year.THE MODERATOR: Thanks to Taylor and Pato for joining us.
Josef NewgardenPress Conference Transcript
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. We are joined today by our second-place finisher Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevy. Josef, obviously a disappointing finish there at the end. Tell us more about your day.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, just our breaking day for sure, finished second, and yeah, just kind of was what it was there at the end. Felt like we had a good car and just didn’t work our way strategy-wise and some of the times that we had to pit where we thought we had to pit because a yellow was probably going to come out, I think it all just didn’t play into our favor.Yeah, it is what it is. Move on to the next, but felt like we had a good car. Really proud of our team. I thought they were really resilient this weekend, which is important, and it’s a great job for our partners at Team Chevy to get a one-two here, so pretty stoked for those guys and certainly our partner Hitachi and everybody from Penske Corp that was here supporting us.Q.Last year after St. Pete you were saying Pato is one of the future stars of INDYCAR, in fact you said you were already a fan of him, he was already a star at that time and how clean he’s driven you, now you guys have had some battles this year at Texas and then today. What’s he done differently compared to last year to this year when you’ve been racing him?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know that he’s done anything different, but he’s — I think he’s picked up where he left off last year. They were in the fight last year and they’ve got strong cars certainly at McLaren. They were in the fight pretty much all the way through last season. I think you’re seeing a lot of the same.Q.How do you think yourself and the team can bounce back from this going into Road America next week?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I’m not sure we have to really bounce back. It’s just we were fast today, hopefully fast next weekend, and hopefully it all works out.Q.You’ve been close to a win a couple times this year, just can’t quite get there. What is it going to take for you and Team Penske to finally get a victory this year?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, if I had the answer I’d be doing it but I’m sure it’ll happen at some point. It just hasn’t aligned. Sometimes you get that. You just don’t get everything to line up perfectly. I think we’ve got a lot of the ingredients right. I don’t think we really need to change much, just keep doing our thing.Q.Do you feel the team is taking too risky a calls or anything like that where the cautions could catch you out?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Nope, nope, I wouldn’t change a thing. Look, you can’t predict these races. You can look like a hero or a zero pretty easily in this sport, so yeah, I would ask anyone to change anything. I think they’re doing all the right stuff, it’s just not worked out.Q.Josef, can you describe just how much of a challenge it was for you just to hold off Colton and Alex at the end there? Those tires looked cooked and one little mistake and you’d probably go from second to fourth.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, they were fried. I think probably the worst part was we had to put about 10 extra laps on those tires because we thought the caution was going to come out in that first stint around lap 18 I think we pitted, and you just can’t risk missing the caution. If you miss the caution, you’re just hosed. It just completely ruins your day.I think that compromised us more than anything. Then we had to run 25 laps on used reds, so that was not ideal, and then the cautions bunching us up probably hurt us, as well, just brought the whole field back to it. I think we probably could have held Colton off potentially if we just would have run cleanly to the end there. But that’s kind of impossible to say. I’d have to see that play out. I think, yeah, just the cautions and the potential caution is more of what hindered us today.Q.You and Pato touched on a pretty quick section of the racetrack. I just wanted to get your thoughts on how you saw that. Was it just good hard racing or was it a bit on the limit?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Definitely I think on the limit, but I think it was good hard racing. There’s a kink on the back straight so it’s not perfectly straight, so to be fighting side by side, I think you probably get a little bit of contact like that. It’s not completely abnormal down in that section of the track. But he was coming like a freight train. My tires were cooked, and he was having great drives off the corner, as you saw.I think that’s what kind of did us in. It almost did us in with Alex, too. Thankfully we were able to hold on to second, but yeah, just hard racing.Q.My question is the fact that it’s been two years now since we’ve been at Belle Isle. Has the track changed or evolved in relation to the tire wear that you’re getting on either the reds or blacks?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: If anything the reds were quite a bit more durable than ’19. I think if you guys cast your thoughts back to ’19, they were diabolically bad for tire wear. You didn’t want to be on them for more than two laps in the race. Certainly they were more resilient today. You could almost make a used set work. A new set would have been preferred, but you could definitely make a used set work for I would say 15, 20 laps. 25 is pushing it, but Firestone made a change and definitely made them more durable, but I think the fact that they are more fragile than the blacks makes it interesting to watch. I think as a spectator it’s probably more fun to see that mix-up and that dynamic than them being just both really durable and just a little time offset.That’s what you set here. You get quite a bit of spread. But a lot less spread than what it was in ’19.Q.Looking back through this season, can you consider this isn’t a bad one, or can you consider a successful one?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, we haven’t completed it yet, so I don’t know how to look at it yet completely.I think looking at half of it, it seems okay. It’s not exactly what we wanted, but it’s not too bad. We’re in the hunt. But we’ve got halfway to go, so a lot of racing to hopefully still be in this fight.THE MODERATOR: Josef, good luck next weekend at Road America.
Solid Qualifying and Quarterfinal Results for Mopar Dodge//SRT Contingent at NHR New England Nationals
· No. 1 qualifier and three-time event winner Matt Hagan drives DSR Performance Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to quarterfinals at National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) New England Nationals
· Leah Pruett pilots DSR Precision Manufacturing HEMI®-powered Top Fuel dragster from No. 10 seeded position to a close quarterfinal battle at New England Dragway
· Solid Funny Car qualifying effort put Ron Capps and his DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the No. 2 spot for eliminations with fire ruining his opening-round run
· No. 6 seed Cruz Pedregon qualifies Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in top half of eliminations ladder for sixth consecutive event and has solid side by side battle in opening round
June 13, 2021, Epping, New Hampshire – It looked to be a very promising race day for HEMI®-powered machines at New England Dragway for the TascaParts.com New England Nationals, the sixth National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series event of the season. Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) stablemates Matt Hagan and Ron Capps qualified No. 1 and No. 2 aboard their Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Cars, while Cruz Pedregon extended his season-long streak of qualifying in the top-half of the eliminations ladder with a sixth place seeding.
Reigning Funny Car world champion Hagan returned to Epping, New Hampshire, dragstrip as the defending three-time winner (2017, 2018, 2019) and in the hunt his first win of the 2021 season after taking his DSR Performance Mopar to the No. 1 qualifier position with his Friday evening run at 3.891 seconds at 331.53 mph. With that effort, Hagan earned three valuable bonus points and a first round bye. He powered his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a 3.935 seconds/ 327.11 mph pass, the quickest of the opening round, to find himself paired with Tim Wilkerson for a quarterfinal showdown. The two competitors gave the crowd a great show and a close race but Hagan’s 3.983 sec./328.06 mph was just short of Wilkerson’s 3.956/324.44 mph winning passto defeat the defending event champ.
Hagan’s teammate Capps earned his No. 2 qualifier position with his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat’s 3.941-second pass at 315.42 mph in Q2, and then backed that up with the third quickest pass in Q3 to earn a total of four bonus points. A two-time winner at the New England Nationals (2014 and 2016), Capps came out strong in the opening round against No. 13 seed Terry Haddock in order to take advantage of a quarterfinal bye opportunity, but sparks appeared at half-track causing a sudden lack of traction. He tried to wrangle his ride but ultimately saw his opponent squeak by as they approached the finish. While fire made an appearance beneath him, Capps brought his Funny Car to a safe stop and immediately turned his focus to the next event in Norwalk, Ohio, in two weeks.
Also qualified in the top half of the Funny Car eliminations ladder for a sixth consecutive event this season was Pedregon who earned the sixth place starting position by taking his Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for a 3.969 second run at 326.71 mph, the fastest speed in final qualifying. That effort set up with a first round match-up against No. 9 qualifier J.R. Todd and, looking to build on the Pedregon Racing team’s season-long progression, the veteran driver came out swinging. Pedregon hit the throttle and earned the starting line advantage with a 0.052-second reaction time to Todd’s 0.085-second launch. The two battled side-by side the length of the dragstrip to cross the finish line within just 0.0003 seconds of each other. Unfortunately, the approximately two-inch margin of victory was not in Pedregon’s favor as his 4.027/321.73 mph run was edged out by Todd’s winning 3.994/322.88 mph pass.
In Top Fuel competition, DSR’s Leah Pruett marked her NHRA silver anniversary with a silver ribbon displayed on her HEMI-powered dragster’s roll cage and tenth seeded position heading into race day in celebration of her racing debut 25 years ago as an eight year-old in Junior dragsters. From the hit, Pruett took her DSR Precision Manufacturing Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster straight down the lane for her quickest pass of the weekend at 3.771 sec./324.28 mph to dispose of No. 3 qualifier Justin Ashley in the opening round. Pruett had a similarly strong run in the quarterfinals against No. 4 seed and Top Fuel points leader Steve Torrence, posting a 3.811/323.12 pass to her opponent’s 3.823/320.13, but a quicker start gave him the edge he needed and the holeshot victory to end her day.
The next event on the NHRA’s 70th anniversary season calendar, Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, takes place June 25-29 at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES
FUNNY CAR:
Matt Hagan, DSR Performance Dodge Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 1 Qualifier – 3.891 seconds at 331.53 mph / Three bonus point for quickest Q1 run)
Round 1: (0.073-second reaction time, 3.935 seconds at 327.11 mph) wins on a BYE run
Round 2: (0.067/3.983/328.06) loss to No. 8 Tim Wilkerson (0.058/3.956/324.44)
“It was a pretty good weekend at Epping. We qualified No. 1 for the first time this year and got that yellow Camping World hat. The car ran really good and we have a really good race car. We were just on the bad side of a good drag race that second round against Tim Wilkerson. You’re gonna have those. You lose more than you win, but when you do win them, it makes them that much more special. Our turn is right around the corner, so I’m really looking forward to Norwalk. We’re doing everything right to turn on the win lights, but sometimes you get on the bad side and that’s just racing. Last year we were on the right side of most of those races. You pay your dues, work hard and it will come around for you and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’ll roll into Norwalk and be excited for a great weekend. We’re glad to get DSR Performance and the DSR parts website some good exposure with getting the No. 1 qualifier. That car looked good and it ran good too. There’s so much racing left this season. This is only our sixth race in and there’s so much racing left, but it’s all about the finish and we’re a marathoner, not sprinting.”
Ron Capps, DSR NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.941 seconds at 315.42 mph / Three bonus points for quickest run in Q3 and one bonus point for third-quickest in Q2)
Round 1: (0.093-second reaction time, 4.292 seconds at 263.20 mph) loss to No. 13 Terry Haddock (0.150/4.214/253.23)
“Haddock has been running well and we knew we couldn’t take them lightly, so we definitely were prepared to lay down a good number. ‘Guido’ (crew chief Dean Antonelli) came on the radio and said ‘we need to make sure we win this round’ because we knew there was a Bye into the semis and you can’t take that for granted. The car was driving fine, it was smooth, it didn’t seem out of control, and all of a sudden, the tires came loose. I waited and gave it a pedal and then the car blew up and caught fire. I didn’t even realize it at that point because I was trying to stay on it and get ahead of Haddock, and then just before the finish line, I saw him drive by. By then, my legs started to feel really hot so I just wanted to get the car stopped and get out of there. The fire burned up my suit pretty badly, and I’ve got to give credit to Impact Racing. My Impact firesuit protected my legs, and other than a little soreness, I’m alright. The suit did what it was supposed to do. The whole situation is a bummer because if we would’ve won that round, we would’ve had an automatic Bye to the semis, so it’s just disappointing to give up rounds like that. But, we’ll comb through all of the data, figure out why it smoked the tires, and head to Norwalk.”
Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 6 Qualifier – 3.969 seconds at 326.71 mph)
Round 1: (0.052-second reaction time, 4.027 seconds at 321.73 mph) vs No. 9 J.R. Todd (0.085/3.994/322.88)
“We had a solid weekend here in New England. We qualified sixth and kept our streak of qualifying in the top half of the eliminations ladder for the entire 2021 season alive. I think the worst we’ve qualified was eighth so far. The opening round was a great race against J.R. Todd and it was literally a race of inches. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way but it was a great effort. We’re getting better but have a few kinks we still have to work out. I feel like we’re on schedule to have some great runs here coming up in the near future. We’re looking forward to going to our next race in Norwalk and shortly thereafter, our Western swing starting out in Denver for the Dodge//SRT Mile High Nationals and then California. Overall it was a good weekend and we ran top speed of all the cars, even Top Fuel, in Saturday’s final qualifying effort with a 326 mph pass, so it shows that the HEMI power is there. We’re putting it to the ground and we’re just looking to improve little by little, and start winning these close rounds.”
TOP FUEL:
Leah Pruett, DSR Precision Manufacturing Dragster
(No. 10 Qualifier – 3.927 seconds at 278.92 mph)
Round 1: (0.090-second reaction time, 3.771 seconds at 324.28 mph) defeats No. 3 Justin Ashley (0.045/4.063/274.78)
Round 2: (0.103/3.811/323.12) loss to No. 4 Steve Torrance (0.060/3.823/320.13)
“A second round exit is not what we had in mind for this DSM Manufacturing dragster today. The silver lining on the weekend is that we have a car that is having conversations with us. We had second quickest ET of round one and that was awesome with that (3).771. We were behind a little bit after having some bad data from the weather station. The team did a phenomenal job of getting us qualified and into a winning position on race day. The first round win was great. We had never been able to beat Justin Ashley before, so that was a boost for this team. The second round was just a good, close drag race. We lost on a holeshot and that’s on me. Walking away from this, we have a race car that is properly working and we’re now very confident heading into Norwalk where we get to pull double-duty with the Dodge SRT dragster and Factory Stock (Showdown) Drag Pak.”
NHRA Championship Points Standings:
Following the TascaParts.com NHRA New England Nationals Presented by Bandero Premium Tequila at New England Dragway
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1. Bob Tasca III – 495 (2)
2. John Force – 480 (1)
3. J.R. Todd – 450 (1)4. Robert Hight – 423
5. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 375
6. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 372
7. Tim Wilkerson– 364
8. Alexis DeJoria – 325
9. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 305
10. Terry Haddock – 221
TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)
1. Steve Torrance – 606 (2)
2. Antron Brown – 444 (1)
3. Billy Torrence – 391 (1)
4. Shawn Langdon – 354
5. Brittany Force – 341
6. Doug Kalitta – 330
7. Justin Ashley – 283
8. Josh Hart – 278 (1)
9. Clay Millican– 270
10. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge//SRT) – 267
DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA’s action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads, and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.
Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, the Mopar brand has evolved over more than 80 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.
Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, the brand expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, Mopar integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.
Complete information on the Mopar brand is available at www.mopar.com. Mopar is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
Follow Mopar and company news and video on:
Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Mopar brand: www.mopar.com/
Mopar blog: blog.mopar.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mopar
Instagram: www.instagram.com/officialmopar
Twitter: twitter.com/OfficialMOPAR
YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/mopar or www.youtube.com/StellantisNA
Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.
2021 marks the year that Dodge is distilled into a pure performance brand, offering Hellcat-powered, 700-plus-horsepower SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2021 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the new 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.
In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The Dodge brand also ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market). These results are historic because it marks the first time a domestic brand has earned top spots in both J.D. Power studies in the same year.
Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
chevy racing–nhra–epping post race
CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION TASCAPARTS.COM NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY IN EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE RACE RECAP JUNE13, 2021
Chevrolet doubles up at New England Dragway • John Force outduels teammate Robert Hight for win No. 153• John Force Racing earns third consecutive Funny Car win• Aaron Stanfield edges Greg Anderson in Pro Stock final
EPPING, N.H. (June 13, 2021) – How appropriate that John Force would be holding the Wally in the 900th Funny Car race in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history.
The 16-time Funny Car champion, driving the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS, earned his record-extending 153rd Funny Car victory by defeating teammate Robert Hight in the final of the TascaParts.com NHRA New England Nationals presented by Bandero Premium Tequila at New England Dragway.
In another all-Chevy Camaro final match, Aaron Stanfield denied Greg Anderson from tying the Pro Stock record for career wins and picked up his second victory in the process.
Force’s victory was his second of the season and third in a row for his namesake Funny Car team. Hight recorded his 52nd career win in the previous NHRA event at Houston. It is the 144th Chevrolet Funny Car win and 64th with the Camaro body.
“It represents team effort,” said Force, who holds a 4-3 edge against Hight in their final-round meetings. The No. 3 qualifier went straight down the middle of the racetrack in 3.972 seconds at 327.51 mph to Hight’s 3.993-second pass in the AAA New England Camaro. “I won today; I did my job.”
Added Hight’s crew chief, Jimmy Prock: “Everybody has worked really hard; we had to start over this year after taking a year off (because of the economics of the COVID-19 pandemic) and it shows what great people we have here.”Stanfield, who was 6 years old in 1999 when Anderson made the first of his 161 Pro Stock finals, recorded a 6.576-second run in the Janac Brothers Camaro SS to edge Anderson’s 6.577-second pass in the HendrickCars.comCamaro SS.
“It’s been a lot of hard work by the guys on my team; they’ve been working really hard on this hot rod, and I’ve been trying to do my job behind the wheel,” said Stanfield, the 2020 Factory Stock Showdown champion in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet COPO Camaro. “It all jelled today. Getting to race somebody that you grew up watching do really well over the years, it’s cool to get to race him and beat him.”
Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier for the fifth time in six races and 111th time in his career, was seeking to tie Warren Johnson with 97 victories for the most all time in Pro Stock and second to Force overall. Anderson did break a tie with Tony Schumacher for third in NHRA career round wins. He has 854; Johnson is second with 874 and Force is the runaway leader with 1,368.
Brittany Force, the No. 7 qualifier in the Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster, fell in the first round.
Next on the schedule is the Summing Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on June 25-27 in Norwalk, Ohio. The race was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 7 qualifier, fell in first round): “We ran a 3.843 pass with a cylinder out and got beat first round here at New England Dragway. This Flav-R-Pac Monster Energy team has had a tough couple of races lately so we’re hoping to turn our luck around at the next one in Norwalk, Ohio.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier, won second race of season and 153rd of career): “You have to look at both of these cars (his and teammate Robert Hight’s) and Brittany’s (Force) dragster. The all have PEAK on them and AAA and Monster, Flav-R-Pac, Chevy and all the people that take care of me, that’s what it’s all about. Robert helps me back in the driver’s seat. I want to thank all the people in Epping for coming back and I want to thank Daniel Hood for a great tune-up and (Tim) Fabrisi for fixing the cockpit in my car.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AAA NEW ENGLAND CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier, runner-up for second time this season): “Really wanted this one for AAA New England. We all really wanted it. This crew, Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, they worked hard. We went some rounds and got better, but not the result we wanted. You always want to be the ones winning, but I’m glad it stayed in the John Force Racing family. John’s been working hard, too. All of our teams have been and we’re dominating. That’s ultimately what you want. In Norwalk, it will be us.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier, race runner-up; points leader): “I certainly can’t complain. It’s really been a dream start to the season. The driver made a couple of mistakes, otherwise, we could have had a seriously good run going already. My HendrickCars.com Chevy has been bad to the bone all year, but I really want to present a trophy to Mr. (Rick) Hendrick. The HendrickCars.comteam has been doing a great job over there in NASCAR, and we need to start pulling our weight over here in NHRA.”
Podium for Palou, Honda at Detroit INDYCAR Race Two
Alex Palou finishes third in second round of the Detroit doubleheader
Colton Herta, Graham Rahal score top-five finishes
Honda powers 10 of top 15 finishers
DETROIT, Mich. (June 13, 2021) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was the top Honda finisher in today’s second of two races at the Detroit Grand Prix, taking third place in his #10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES machine.
The 70-lap race saw three yellow flag periods, the first on lap one for contact between Max Chilton and James Hinchcliffe, the second for Jimmie Johnson spinning and finally for Romain Grosjean who suffered a brake fire. The field went back to green for a seven-lap shootout to end the race.
In the closing stages, Colton Herta was running in the third position before locking up and running wide in his #26 Andretti Autosport Honda. The incident allowed Palou to close up and take the last podium position from the young Californian, behind Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden.
Herta would hold on to the fourth position ahead of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal.
Detroit Grand Prix Race 2 Honda Results
3rd Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
4th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
5th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
7th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
10th Santino Ferrucci Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
11th Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda
12th Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
13th Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
14th James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda
17th Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
19th Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
21st Jimmie Johnson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
24th Romain Grosjean-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 8 rounds)
Honda 643 points
Chevrolet 652
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship (unofficial, after 8 rounds)
- Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP 299 points [2 race wins]
- Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 298 [1 race win]
- Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 263 [1 race win]
Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Finished third: “Yesterday was one of those days where we didn’t really have any luck at all. But the team worked all night, and it was amazing to see the #10 American Legion Honda car finishing on the podium today. We had a good fight with Colton [Herta] and Josef [Newgarden] at the end there. I couldn’t really get Josef, but I’m really happy with a podium finish and good [championship] points. Now we leave for [next weekend’s race at] Road America and we need to go win that one”
Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Autosport Honda) Finished fourth: “It’s pretty disappointing, to be honest. We definitely had a fast car, I just didn’t get it done in the end there, unfortunately. We can find some stuff to make the car a little better on restarts. But whatever [race winner] Pato [O’Ward] have found is really good. We need to work ourselves towards that goal. The race car on a long run was fantastic. I imagine we were one of the fastest – if not the fastest – cars on the track today. Full credit to the Gainbridge team, the [pit] stops were amazing, the Honda was wonderful, always proud to be powered by Honda, and our strategy was perfect. It put us in the best position to win today. Unfortunately, I just didn’t get it done.”
Fast Facts
In addition to Brazilian Helio Castroneves historic win last month at the Indianapolis 500, the other Honda race winners this year include Spaniard Alex Palou (Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama); defending and six-time champion Scott Dixon (Texas Race 1) from New Zealand; American Colton Herta (Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg); and Marcus Ericsson of Sweden (Detroit Race 1).
Honda-powered drivers have won six of the last eight Indy car events run on the Belle Isle Park street circuit.
Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is back racing next weekend at the National Park of Speed, Wisconsin’s Road America June 17-20.
Honda Racing social media content and video links from Detroit can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (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).
Honda Ridgeline Baja Race Truck Wins Again at Baja 500
Honda Ridgeline Baja Race Truck captures fourth consecutive Class 7 win
Fifth Ridgeline Class 7 Baja 500 victory in last six years
ENSENADA, Mexico (June 13, 2021) – The Honda Off-Road Racing Team returned to Baja California this weekend, and continued its string of Baja 500 successes with another Class 7 victory at the iconic off-road race. The impressive result was the fourth consecutive class win for the Ridgeline Baja Race Truck, and the fifth for the Honda Ridgeline in the last six years.
Once again competing in Class 7, for unlimited V6-powered race trucks, the Honda Ridgeline duo of team owner/driver Jeff Proctor and Pat Dailey faced a single-loop course of 466 miles, starting and ending in the coastal city of Ensenada. A total of 243 entries took part in this year’s 25th running of the event.
Quote
Jeff Proctor (team owner/driver Ridgeline Baja Race Truck) won Class 7 for unlimited V6 Trucks; fourth consecutive Baja 500 race win for Honda: “This was a very fast, yet very technical Baja 500, demanding as always. It was extremely dusty, with many single-track lines that didn’t really allow for passing. But the entire Honda Off-Road Racing Team was on fire today, thanks once again to everyone for all of their effort and hard work, it all paid off for us once again.”
Fast Fact
Making approximately 550 horsepower, HPD’s 3.5-liter HR35TT engine uses the same block and cylinder heads as the production V6 that powers the production Ridgeline. Additional, custom elements of the powertrain include an HPD-designed intake plenum and custom Engine Control Unit programming.
Next
The Honda Off-Road Racing Team next travels to the desert of Nevada for the 25th anniversary Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno off-road race, August 11-15, starting in Las Vegas and running north to Reno, Nevada.
Honda Racing social media content and video links from the Baja 500 can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV). Additional photos and information from the Ridgeline Baja Race Truck’s efforts can be viewed on Instagram at @hondaoffroadracing and @proctor_race.
GET THE BROOM: Overton Completes Double Dream Sweep
| with Fourth Consecutive Victory at EldoraWells Motorsports & Co. bags $273,000 in total prize money over four-day stretch ROSSBURG, OH – June 12, 2021 – When the week began, the thought of one driver coming into Eldora Speedway and leaving with over a quarter million dollars was just a dream. But it’s not a dream anymore. It’s reality. Brandon Overton completed one of the greatest achievements in dirt track racing history Saturday night with his fourth consecutive Feature win in four days, sweeping both the 27th and 26th runnings of the Dirt Late Model Dream for an incredible $273,000 in total prize money. The Evans, GA-driver is now only the second driver in history to win back-to-back Dreams, joining eight-time event winner Scott Bloomquist with that achievement, which he conquered in 2017 and 2018. “To grow up as a kid, watching all these guys here at Eldora… this place is so special to the Dirt Late Model world and the racing world, period. To get it done, I don’t know that I’ll ever top this,” Overton said. His Feature wins on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night involved a pass for the lead before he cruised to the finish line unchallenged. But Saturday night was different – Overton lost the lead for 10 laps and was forced to take it back in his quest for the $126,000 winner’s check. A second-place finish in Heat Race #1 to Kyle Larson earlier in the night seeded Overton seventh on the starting grid, which forced him to make his way up through the top-10 in the opening stages. He said that Heat Race loss was actually the kick in the pants that he needed. “Probably the best thing that happened to me was [Kyle] Larson beating me in that Heat Race,” Overton said. “I wasn’t pissed, but I was like ‘alright, don’t worry about it, just shake it off.’ I told myself – he got me then, now I gotta go get him.” When the green dropped, Overton went and got them all. Including the polesitter, Darrell Lanigan. Lanigan, the 2003 Dream winner from Union, KY, led the first 52 circuits before Overton hunted him down on a restart just before halfway and made the pass with a big move to Lanigan’s outside in Turns 1-2. Back in command at the head of the field, it seemed like Overton would just cruise to another big payday. Enter Chris Madden. Madden, of Gray Court, SC, started his climb from 10th on the grid and gradually made his way through the field in the first half of the race. By Lap 70, he was staring down Overton’s bumper. A caution four laps later put Madden right on Overton’s outside for the restart, where he sailed around him with ease to grab the lead on Lap 75. At that point, Overton knew the battle was far from over. “We had that restart, and I spun my tires a little bit, and Madden got to running through that middle. He got me, but I knew if I could just keep pace with him and keep pressuring him… he’d have to chop me off or run me in the wall if he was going to get down,” Overton said. “I knew I had a good car, but I’ve come here and watched these things… it ain’t over until it’s over. So, I knew all I had to do was just stay right there in contention and I’d have my shot again.” Madden led the next six circuits before Overton challenged him back. The two traded the lead back-and-forth three laps in-a-row before Overton took it back permanently on Lap 86. “The rubber started coming, and I couldn’t stay in the rubber,” Madden said. “[Overton] was a lot better in that stage of the race, and I couldn’t fend him off.” From that point on, nobody was catching the Wells Motorsports #76. Overton found his groove right in the middle of the track and pulled away by over two seconds at the checkers to win his second career Eldora crown jewel. Madden came home second and bagged $20,000 in his best career finish at the Dream. Chris Ferguson charged from 13th to finish third – a new event-best for the driver out of Mt. Holly, NC. Jonathan Davenport, a prelim Feature winner on Wednesday night, crossed in fourth, ahead of Lanigan. Reflecting back on his incredible accomplishment, Overton was reminded of an earlier exchange with a former Dream winner, putting his winning attitude into full perspective. “I sat with Jimmy Owens earlier and I asked him how old he was when he won. He said, ‘I think I was like 37.’ It made me feel good. I was like, ‘well dang, Jimmy Owens kicks everybody’s ass and he’s been kicking everybody’s ass for a long time now.’ So, it keeps me hungry and makes me want to keep digging.” A-Feature (100 Laps) – 1. 76-Brandon Overton[7]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[10]; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson[13]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 5. 29-Darrell Lanigan[1]; 6. 6-Kyle Larson[6]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton[18]; 8. 39-Tim McCreadie[12]; 9. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[14]; 10. 17M-Dale McDowell[22]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[27]; 12. 20-Jimmy Owens[19]; 13. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 14. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 15. 32-Bobby Pierce[15]; 16. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[24]; 17. 157-Mike Marlar[21]; 18. 0-Scott Bloomquist[16]; 19. 1P-Earl Pearson, Jr.[23]; 20. 8-Kyle Strickler[11]; 21. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, Jr.[5]; 22. 1-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 23. 17-Zack Dohm[25]; 24. 7-Ricky Weiss[8]; 25. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 26. 6H-Nick Hoffman[26]; 27. 11H-Spencer Hughes[28]; 28. 18B-Shannon Babb[20] |
| DIRTcar Racing is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, and NAPA Auto Parts (SDS). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear (SDS), Bassett Racing Wheel, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, Bicknell Racing Products (SDS), Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux (SDS), Cometic Gasket (SDS), COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Shafts, Fox Factory, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, K1 Race Gear, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Mulit FireX, Quarter Master, Schoenfeld Headers, Summit Racing Equipment, Velocita USA, Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum), and Xceldyne. Along with manufacturer sponsors, including: FireAde, Intercomp, and Racing Electronics. |
GET OUT THE BROOM: Macedo & JJR Sweep Brownells Big Guns Bash with Last-Lap Pass at Knoxville
For Second-Straight Night, Macedo Steals World of Outlaws Glory from Kerry Madsen
KNOXVILLE, IA – June 12, 2021 – It’s safe to say that Carson Macedo is ready for August.
After a weekend sweep of the Brownells Big Guns Bash, the Jason Johnson Racing driver will enter the 60th running of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals pres. by Casey’s General Stores with all of the momentum on his side.
The Lemoore, CA native looked like he was out of it on Saturday night, losing the lead to Kerry Madsen on Lap six and eventually falling to third, but the resilience was undeniable as he rallied through lap traffic and offered up a last-lap pass for the win that brought the Knoxville Raceway crowd to their feet.
It was a game-changing weekend for the 25-year-old, who tacked off several accomplishments. He finally got his first 410 win at Knoxville, won back-to-back with the Outlaws for the first time ever, soared to 11 career Outlaw wins, and hit his fifth Outlaw win of the season, already the winningest year of his career.
“My car was good the whole main event,” Macedo mentioned. “I just didn’t know where to be at times. When I was leading I thought I was plugging nice laps on the bottom, but then Kerry got a lane move me. In traffic, he was so superb. When Sheldon got by me, I realized how much better the bottom was if I was patient. I realized Kerry was making the same mistake like fading off from the corner exit. I was trying to set him up for the last corner, but it worked out down the backstretch.”
After scoring the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash win, Macedo was set up nicely to score two in-a-row. He led the opening five circuits aboard his #41 ride, but Madsen went one lane higher through turns one and two and zoomed right by him, placing the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanin Racing #14 in the top spot.
Madsen looked dominant at times, especially in lap traffic as he zigged and zagged by the back markers and pulled away from Macedo.
It seemed as if it was over in the closing stages when Macedo slipped to third as Haudenschild rose to the occasion and drove his NOS Energy Drink #17 to second. However, a fire got lit under the #41 and he came roaring back.
Macedo got Haudenschild back on Lap 19 and quickly tracked Madsen down as he figured out the black zook clay on the 1/2-mile. As the white flag waved, Macedo perfected the bottom of turns one and two and capitalized as Madsen’s #14 drifted high and left the door open.
In turn, Macedo walked right through the door and ran away to a 1.120-second advantage to officially sweep the weekend.
“Two in a row is pretty cool, man,” Macedo admitted. “You’re seeing the fruit from everything that Jason [Johnson] built here. I’m looking forward to the future with Philip Dietz. It’s no secret Knoxville is a chess game and I’m feeling better about this place every time.
For the second-straight night, Kerry Madsen of St. Mary’s, NSW, AUS was forced to settle for a podium bid after leading laps. The 25-time World of Outlaws winner was obviously frustrated with letting a win slip away, but the success in his short time at Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing isn’t lost on him.
“I just got tight and screwed it up,” Madsen acknowledged. “I have to apologize to this team. I should’ve brought that home. This thing is so fast, and so fun to drive. It’s all a testament to TSR as an organization.”
Settling for the final podium position in third was Sheldon Haudenschild.
“My guys have got me feeling good at this place,” he said. “We were there at the end and there’s not much more you can ask for. We’re learning and we’ll keep ripping.”
Rounding out the top-five in the finale of the Brownells Big Guns Bash was Giovanni Scelzi in fourth-place aboard the KCP Racing #18 and Logan Schuchart in fifth-place aboard the Shark Racing #1S.
Closing out the top-10 on Saturday night was Aaron Reutzel in sixth, Brent Marks in seventh, James McFadden in eighth, Parker Price-Miller in ninth, and Brian Brown in tenth.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series now turns its attention to a triple-header next weekend. The Greatest Show on Dirt will race at 34 (IA) Raceway on Thursday, June 17, Dubuque (IA) Fairgrounds Speedway on Friday, June 18, and Beaver Dam (WI) Raceway on Saturday, June 19.
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$10,000]; 2. 14-Kerry Madsen [2][$6,000]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5][$3,500]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [4][$2,800]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8][$2,500]; 6. 83-Aaron Reutzel [3][$2,300]; 7. 19-Brent Marks [9][$2,200]; 8. 9-James McFadden [12][$2,100]; 9. 5-Parker Price-Miller [6][$2,050]; 10. 21-Brian Brown [11][$2,000]; 11. 2-David Gravel [15][$1,600]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz [19][$1,400]; 13. 2KS-Matt Juhl [7][$1,200]; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [17][$1,100]; 15. 56N-Davey Heskin [16][$1,050]; 16. 49-Brad Sweet [22][$1,000]; 17. 2C-Wayne Johnson [10][$1,000]; 18. 9T-Kasey Kahne [24][$1,000]; 19. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [23][$1,000]; 20. 7-Justin Henderson [18][$1,000]; 21. 44-Chris Martin [20][$1,000]; 22. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [13][$1,000]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [25][$]; 24. 25-Scott Bogucki [21][$1,000]; 25. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [14][$1,000]. Lap Leaders:Carson Macedo 1-5, 25; Kerry Madsen 6-24. KSE Hard Charger Award: 15-Donny Schatz[+7]
OHIO SMOKE: Madden scores second place finish at “The Dream”
The Gray Court, SC driver started 10th in the 100-lap Feature
ROSSBURG,OH – JUNE 12, 2021 – A $126,000 prize was in Chris Madden’s grasp. He just took the lead from Brandon Overton and looked to have Saturday’s Dirt Late Model Dream win in his sight at Eldora Speedway.
But the Gray Court, SC driver was battling “Big Sexy”, the man searching for his second “Dream” win in 36 hours.
Madden tried to hold on to the lead on the outside, but Overton was too strong on the bottom, thundering past Madden with 15 Laps to go.
Overton held on to win his second DIRTcar sanctioned Dirt Late Model Dream this week, collecting $273,000 in winnings.
Madden had to settle for second and knew Overton was better in the closing stages.
“The rubber started coming, and I couldn’t stay in the rubber,” Madden said. “He was a lot better in that stage of the race, and I couldn’t fend him off. We tried and gave it all we had but we were a second-place car [Saturday].”
Despite finishing second, Madden was still smiling after the Feature. He feels a win at Eldora Speedway is coming sooner rather than later, especially with how well he ran.
“We definitely found some things in [Friday’s] Feature and worked on it [Saturday], but I still need a little bit more,” Madden said. “I just can’t get that W at [Eldora], but I’m going to get it one day.”
“Smokey” isn’t the only one getting credit for his finish on Saturday. Madden is happy with how hard his team worked to put him in this position.
“My guys never quit, and they keep a great attitude, they just keep telling me to hang in there,” Madden said. “We just got a good chemistry going, they’re good with me and I’m good with them so we’ll just keep building.”
Madden was one of five World of Outlaws drivers to qualify for the race.
Tyler Bruening started last in his B-Feature and qualified through the B-Scramble. The Decorah, IA driver finished 11th in his first “Dream” start.
Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Gustin, and Ricky Weiss all had trouble that ended their night early.
Madden hopes to keep his momentum rolling next weekend when The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet kick off a Northeast swing with a tripleheader through New York and Pennsylvania.
The Series visits Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY on Thursday, June 17, Thunder Mountain Speedway, in Knox Dale PA on Friday, June 18, and Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, PA on Saturday, June 19.
Madden will continue chasing his first Series championship. He’s currently in second place—46 points behind Sheppard, who’s the reigning champion.
Another race to keep an eye on is the exciting battle for Rookie of the Year, as Bruening leads Gustin by 135 points.
CORVETTE RACING AT DETROIT: Milner, Tandy Win Battle of Corvette C8.Rs at Belle Isle
DETROIT (June 12, 2021) – Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy won an all-Chevrolet Corvette C8.R battle in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category of the Detroit Sports Car Challenge on Saturday at Belle Isle Park. The duo in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R beat their Corvette Racing teammates Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor by 0.226 seconds in a non-points GTLM round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The two Corvettes made their lone pit stops of the race three laps apart, with Taylor pitting first after 42 minutes. Tandy then stopped with a 55-second lead, and the gap shrank back to a little more than a second with 25 minutes to go with Garcia trying to run down Milner to the end before and after a late-race caution period. Despite no points being available in GTLM, having Corvette Racing back on Belle Isle was of huge benefit on multiple fronts. For one, the Belle Isle appearance provided an opportunity for the hundreds of Chevrolet production team members who contributed in some way to the C8.R – and the road-going Corvette Stingray – to see Corvette Racing in-person. The reveal of the C8.R nearly 18 months ago was culmination of almost six years of work between all facets of engineers and designers from the Corvette production side and Corvette Racing. Second, it was Corvette Racing’s first IMSA event since March. With a busy stretch coming up in the IMSA championship over the next six weeks – plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans in mid-August – Belle Isle offered up a nice refresher on operations and procedures for the four drivers plus the crews and engineers. Saturday’s race also was the first street race for the Corvette C8.R, and the team also collected valuable data ahead of the Long Beach street circuit in September. Corvette Racing’s next event is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 27 from Watkins Glen International. |
| JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTLM: “It was a good experience. We had some new crew members over the wall for pit stops. We tried some new things on the car to help with reliability. There may to have been points but we learned a lot to take to Long Beach for another street course and of course Le Mans, which is the big one we are preparing for. So yes, a very good day for Corvette Racing.” |
Another Semifinal Finish for Tim Wilkerson and LRS Summit Funny Car
EPPING, NH (June 13, 2021) — The veteran driver from Springfield, Illinois, rolled into the TascaParts.com NHRA New England Nationals presented by Bandero Premium Brand Tequila with momentum from a semifinal finish two weeks ago. Over two days of qualifying veteran driver and crew chief Tim Wilkerson continually improved the performance of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang. The team rolled into the first round sitting No. 8 in qualifying and facing another first round match-up with Blake Alexander.
Two weeks ago Wilkerson drew Alexander in the first round and the veteran was able to get the win. Today Wilkerson was once again able to turn on the win light against the up and coming driver. When both cars leapt off the line Wilkerson’s race car moved out into the lead and Alexander’s car went into immediate tire smoke. Down-track Wilkerson’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Mustang began hugging the centerline but he was able to get it to the finish line for the win.
In the quarterfinals Wilkerson pulled up beside No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan, who had won the previous three Funny Car titles at the New England Nationals. When the tree flashed, Wilkerson took off first and never trailed for the win. His winning time of 3.956 seconds was his quickest pass of the weekend and gave him lane choice headed into the semifinals.
“That run in the second round was just about perfect. You can’t give me that many shots at the track because I will figure it out,” said Wilkerson, a 20-time Funny Car national event winner. “We got off the line first and this Mustang just made a great smooth run. Racing against Hagan is tough but that was a great win for this team. We have another tough customer in Robert Hight in the semifinals. I think we have a shot at winning this race.”
The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang and driver Wilkerson were racing in their third semifinal race of the season. In an unfortunate turn Wilkerson jumped the start, lighting up the Christmas Tree with a premature red-light and handing the win to Hight. Wilkerson’s race car lit up the scoreboard with a 4.367 seconds just behind Hight’s 4.022 seconds but it was all for naught after the misstep on the starting line.
“That is not how we wanted that round to go,” said Wilkerson. “I just messed up but I will put that behind me and head on to Norwalk. I am really happy with how this race car reacted to the changes I was making. We made some great runs on a warm race track and that will pay dividends for us as we head into summer.”
Qualifying Results
Q1: 7.863 sec, 82.65 mph; Qual. 9
Q2: 4.076 sec, 268.71 mph; Qual. 8
Q3: 3.974 sec, 320.89 mph; Qual. 8
Bonus Points: 0
Race Results
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Tim Wilkerson 8 .080 4.492 206.10 (W)
Blake Alexander 7 .054 10.409 73.61
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Tim Wilkerson 8 .058 3.956 324.44 (W)
Matt Hagan 1 .067 3.983 328.06
Semifinals
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Tim Wilkerson 8 -.090 4.367 205.07
Robert Hight 10 .097 4.022 322.27 (W)
Camping World Funny Car Top Ten
1. Bob Tasca III, 495
2. John Force, 480
3. J.R. Todd, 450
4. Robert Hight, 423
5. Matt Hagan, 375
6. Ron Capps, 372
7. Tim Wilkerson, 364
8. Alexis DeJoria, 325
9. Cruz Pedregon, 305
10. Terry Haddock, 226
chevy racing–indycar–detroit grand prix–race recap
CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX STREETS OF BELLE ISLE TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP – O’WARD WINS JUNE 13, 2021
DETROIT – Hard-charging Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, rocketed from fifth place to the lead in a four-lap span late in Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Dual 2 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear to become the series’ first repeat winner of 2021.
It marked Chevrolet’s seventh victory at Belle Isle since 2012 and its first 1-2 finish at the event since 2016.
O’Ward previously put his name in the win column this season at Texas Motor Speedway Race 2 in early May. In fifth place Sunday following a restart on Lap 64, O’Ward quickly moved up to third within one lap, then caught and passed Josef Newgarden with three laps remaining.
O’Ward, who started 16th, now leads the standings by one point. And after three very hot and muggy days on Belle Isle, O’Ward and his team enjoyed the now-traditional dip in the Scott Fountain.
“Congratulations to Pato O’Ward and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP team on their victory in IndyCar Dual 2 at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president Performance and Motorsports. “The temporary street course on Belle Isle is very challenging and Pato showed tremendous skill to make multiple exciting passes to get to the front for the win.
“It was great to have a 1-2 Chevrolet finish with Pato along with Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 IndyCar Chevrolet.” Two-time series champion Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, won the pole for Sunday’s race and led the first 67 laps of the 70-lap event on the temporary street course on the way to his second runner-up finish of 2021.
Today’s strong runs by Team Chevy drivers also moved Chevrolet to the lead in the battle for the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Other Team Chevy Drivers finishers for Race Two as follows:Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet – 2ndWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet – 6thSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Chevrolet – 8thConor Daly, No. 20 US Army Ed Carpenter Racing – 20thSebastien Bourdais, No.14 ROKIT Chevrolet – 14thRinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax/Autoeek Ed Carpenter Racing – 18thScott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Chevrolet – 20thMax Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet – 22ndDalton Kellet, No. 4 K-Line Chevrolet – 23rdOliver Askew, No, 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet – 25th Alex Palou completed the podium. Next on the schedule is June 20 at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. DRIVER QUOTESPATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Race WinnerTELL US ABOUT THOSE TWO RESTARTS. YOU STARTED 6th OR 5th ON THE FIRST ONE, FROM ALL THE WAY BACK THERE TO VICTORY LANE. HOW DID YOU GET IT DONE?“The two guys I’m fighting were in front of me, so I said from behind, there is no good! So, pass them, I guess? It’s tough to pass around this place. These cars are the best of the best, so it’s not like they’re going to make it easy on you. I knew that I’m strong on cold tires. So, I had to take advantage of it.” HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO MAKE IT WORK WITH JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND WERE YOU SENSING THERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY THERE, KNOWING HE WAS ON THOSE RED TIRES?“I had such a great car all weekend. Today was my fault that we made it a little extra hard on us starting from the back. But I had a great car under me. I’ve got to thank Arrow Electronics and Team Chevy, man. This is Team Chevy territory. I’m so excited and so pumped to get them this. And, I talked to Felix (Rosenqvist) this morning and the important thing is that he’s okay. But I told him I’m going to win it for you. So, this is for him. “I told him I was going to get it done. I like to be a man of my word, so I got it done.” YOU ARE NOW THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER“Yes, I should be. There is still a long way to go. We need to continue doing this and we’re in the fight, man. We’re in the fight. We’re leading it. And we just need to keep our head in it.” AND YOU DID IT COMING FROM 16th.“Yeah, I screwed up in qualifyijng. I owe this to these guys because they gave me a great car all weekend. The plan all along was to get in the fountain and go swimming at the end of the day.” JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 2ndYOU HAVE TO RUN THE SOFTER FIRESTONES AT SOME POINT. YOU HAD TO MAKE THEM HANG ON. AND YOU HELD ON FOR A LITTLE WHILE. WHAT WERE THOSE LAST FEW LAPS LIKE?“Sad. Pretty sad. It’s hard not to be disappointed. I think we had the car to beat. It’s just cautions when we didn’t need them and the wrong tires when we didn’t need them. It was a fun strategy. I think we were doing well. It’s just the caution that killed us. My rears were shot. And we didn’t really need that. So, it is what it is. We tried. We went for what we went for. I don’t want to second guess too much. It just didn’t fall our way there at the end, so that’s pretty sad. “Obviously Team Chevy won still. So, I’m very happy for all our partners. Team Chevy does a lot for us, so to get a one-two is a big thing here in Detroit. I’m super happy about that. And, I’m happy to represent the Penske Corporation here in this town and our great partner in Hitachi. I’m just disappointed. Obviously, we wanted to win, and we had the car to do it.” THE YELLOWS CAME AT THE WRONG TIME. YOU WANTED TO GO LONGER ON THE FIRST STINT TO MAKE THE LAST STINT A LITTLE BIT SHORTER. BUT TOWARD THE END, THE RACING WITH PATO O’WARD (RACE WINNER) IN THE END, WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE?“He was coming like a freight train. What are you going to do? I just couldn’t do anything (with) him and (Alex) Palou (finished third). Alex was right behind me and about to pass me, too. I was just trying to hold on to him. I had so much wheel spin. My rear tires were shot to death with the last 10 laps. And you know, just trying to be aggressive with the re-sets on the restarts doesn’t help you. None of it played into our favor; and especially the first caution. We had to pit because we weren’t sure if they were going to go full course caution. If we don’t pit, we get completely hosed. So, we had to put an extra seven or eight or 10 laps on the tires we didn’t want to. It would have been a lot easier if we could have kept them cleaner, and that was our plan. But look, it just work our way.”
chevy racing–indycar-pole quote race two
CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX STEETS OF BELLE ISLE TEAM CHEVY POLE QUOTE JUNE 13, 2021 JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET WINS P1 AWARD FOR RACE TWO ON BELLE ISLE RACE ONE RUNNER-UP RINUS VEEKAY ROLLS OFF FOURTH
DETROIT (JUNE 13,2021) Two-time NTT INDAYCAR Series champion Josef Newgarden collected the NTT P1 Award for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the Streets of Belle Isle.
As a result of an accident in Race One, Arrow McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist will have a substitute driver. Oliver Askew will wheel the No. 7 Chevrolet.
NBC will telecast both rounds of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix live at noon ET Sunday, June 13. The 70-lap race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Practice and live qualifications will stream on Peacock Premium.
Other Team Chevy Drivers qualified for Race Two as follows:Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing – 4thConor Daly, No. 20 US Army Ed Carpenter Racing – 8thSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Chevrolet – 10thSebastien Bourdais, No.14 ROKIT Chevrolet – 13thMax Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet – 15hPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, 16thWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet – 20thScott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Chevrolet – 21stOliver Askew, No, 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet – 14thDalton Kellet, No. 4 K-Line Chevrolet – 24th
Marcus Ericsson, Honda Win Opening Round of Detroit Doubleheader
Marcus Ericsson scores his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory at Belle Isle Park
Honda drivers have now won five of seven races in 2021
Second race of doubleheader weekend runs on Sunday
DETROIT, Mich. (June 12, 2021) – Taking advantage of a late-race mechanical problem for Will Power, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson leapt to the front of the field following the second of two red flag race stoppages to win the opening round of the Detroit Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES weekend. The victory is the first for Ericsson, now in his third season of Indy car competition, the third for Chip Ganassi Racing this season and the fifth for Honda.
The 70-lap contest was stopped twice, first on Lap 24 for a single-car crash that sent Felix Rosenqvist hard into the Turn 6 retaining wall. Rosenqvist was alert and conscious following the impact, but was transported to a local hospital for additional evaluation.
Running a close second to race leader Power in the closing laps, a second red flag – for Romain Grojean’s single-car crash – stopped the race with just seven laps remaining. A mechanical issue for Power prevented him from taking the restart, and Ericsson led the rest of the way to take the checkers by 1.7 seconds over Rinus VeeKay.
Following Ericsson, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan trio of Takuma Sato, Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci finished fourth through sixth, respectively.
Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Honda Results
1st Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
4th Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
5th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
6th Santino Ferrucci Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
7th Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
8th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9th Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
14th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
15th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
16th Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
17th James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda
23rd Romain Grosjean-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
21st Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda
24th Jimmie Johnson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 7 rounds)
Honda 576 pts
Chevrolet 556
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship (unofficial, after 7 rounds)
- Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 263 [1 race win]
- Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP 248 [1 race win]
- Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 237 points [1 win]
Quotes
Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started 15th, finished first, first career INDYCAR win in his third season with the series: “The team’s done such a great job, the Husky’s Chocolate crew and Honda, everyone on the [timing] stand and in the pits. It’s a team effort. Obviously, I feel bad for Will [Power, who was unable to take the final restart due to a mechanical issue], but it was my day today. For once, the luck was on my side and I have to say it was about time!”
Piers Phillips (President, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) On placing three cars in the top six today: “Well, what a day. We definitely had some challenges in qualifying, so to bring all three cars home fourth, fifth and sixth is a credit to the team. I think it’s a credit to the guys that drove them [Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato and Santino Ferrucci], particularly in the difficult conditions we had today. But now the focus is on tomorrow [and the second race] and the goal is to finish one-two-three rather than four-five-six.”
Kelvin Fu (Program Director, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Honda win in Detroit: “I guess you can say ‘the red flag giveth, and the red flag taketh away’. First, and most important, it appears that [Arrow McLaren SP driver] Felix Rosenqvist escaped serious injury in his massive crash. The first red flag [for the Rosenqvist crash] effectively ended the victory chances for several of our drivers, including Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. But the late race stoppage, and Will Power’s subsequent mechanical problem, opened the door for Marcus Ericsson to score an overdue first victory, a great result for Marcus and the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing team. It also is the first victory for HPD’s Nicole Rotondo, trackside engineer for Marcus.”
Fast Facts
With Ericsson’s win today, seven different drivers – from seven different countries – have won the first seven races of 2021, tying the post-war record for different INDYCAR SERIES winners to start a season.
In addition to Brazilian Helio Castroneves’ historic win last month at the Indianapolis 500, other Honda race winners this year include current championship points leader, Spaniard Alex Palou (Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama); defending and six-time champion Scott Dixon (Texas Race 1) from New Zealand; and American Colton Herta (Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg).
Honda continues to hold the mid-season lead in the 2021 INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, with five victories in the first seven races. Honda has a 20-point advantage (576-556) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
Honda-powered drivers have now won six of the last seven Indy car events run on the Belle Isle Park street circuit.
Next
NTT INDYCAR SERIES racing activities on Belle Isle Park continue tomorrow with the second round of the doubleheader weekend. Sunday’s 70-lap closer starts at 12 p.m. EDT with live television coverage again on NBC.
Honda Racing social media content and video links from Detroit can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (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).
chevy racing–indycar–detroit grand prix post race
CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX STREETS OF BELLE ISLE TEAM CHEVY PODIUM PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT JUNE 12,2021
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAS/AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET (FINISHED 2ND) AND PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET (FINISHED 3RD) POST RACE PODIUM PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone, to the post race press conference for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. We are joined by our third-place finisher, Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 AMSP Chevy. This is his best finish at Belle Isle, his third podium finish of 2020.Pato, tell us about today’s race. It was crazy.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, it was good. The main point for me today is Felix is okay. That was a nasty crash. Nothing he could have done there. He was just a passenger, it was out of his control. I’m really happy that he’s okay. He’s getting evaluated further. But he’s good from what we’re seeing.Yeah, I mean, we started on pole. We’ve never won from pole. We went backwards. I guess that’s a disappointment. If you go back into the first red, we got hosed by that really bad. Everybody in our strategy I don’t even think finished within the top — I can’t remember who was in our strategy. We really had to fight for this podium. Bummer for Will. I feel for him, not starting up the last few laps.But, yeah, I mean, I think we salvaged a lot of points from where we, like, could have finished, which was further back just considering how hard it was to pass. But the guys did a great job in the pits. I did my job on the track. Made it through. I think we passed like eight people on track, seven people on track, in three or two in the pits. That was fantastic.We just get to come do it all over again tomorrow. Hopefully we get another pole. Hopefully we actually win it then.THE MODERATOR: Tell us about the battle with Rinus at the end.PATO O’WARD: I was nursing a front left flat spot. I have a lot more to lose than they do. I could just tell, whenever they race you and stuff, not that it’s wrong, they’re being smart with their own racing. They know if I’m stupid about it, then I’m the one coming out losing out of it.I had to give in quite a few times there just battling Sato, Rinus, McLaughlin. I had to be cautious because it’s so tight around here, it just takes one little bump, you go straight into the wall. I didn’t want to do that because the guys I’m fighting for the championship with were behind me. I think it was a job well done today.THE MODERATOR: We can take questions.Q.You looked like you were mad at Sato. What was wrong with him?PATO O’WARD: Well, the guy basically just left his front wing there. If I took the corner, I go into the wall and I spin, and he’s fine, or I let him by. I had to let him by. I know him. He won’t back out of that, so…Q.How did you handle the heat today? Will was dying in the car.PATO O’WARD: Was he? I was fine. Honestly we had a lot of breaks today. If it would have been a full green flag race, I think a lot more of us would have been destroyed after it.Honestly today was kind of easy in terms of what it could have been. Tomorrow is going to be a heavy one.Q.Did you need a fan in that second restart, second red flag?PATO O’WARD: Oh, yes. Just imagine like a sauna at maybe 125, 130 degrees inside. And nothing gets in there, only sand and dirt. So, yeah, I needed a fan.Q.Fun sauna.PATO O’WARD: Hot Yoga.Q.What about the long red flag, what did you do then to hydrate and stay cool?PATO O’WARD: I went to my bus and had avocado toast, get some food in me. I didn’t have a chance to eat a lot before the race because of stuff we were doing. I had to get some more fuel into me. Just drank some water, hydrated a little bit more rather than the hot tea we have inside the car (smiling).Q.Do you have any idea what happened on Felix’s crash?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, he popped off the brake. I mean, if you see the replays, you hear it out, the engine just goes flat out. I know him. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t him doing that with his own throttle.Man, I feel for him. It sucks. If you think about it, I mean, if it could have been in like a turn seven, turn three, that’s ugly. I really hope they find what caused it because that can be really bad. It was really ugly.I’m really happy he’s okay. We’re like brothers. I was definitely asking for updates.Q.When that happens did you start to have any concern that maybe something happens to your car?PATO O’WARD: No. You have to block that out. We’re in a business where you just, I mean, see accidents and accidents will happen, they can happen to you at any time. You just hope that they don’t. But if they do, you just try and do everything possible to recover.These INDYCARS are very safe. The monocoque was intact. The front end of the car was destroyed, but it’s a survivor cell. They’re meant to withstand hits of 230 plus miles an hour. This situation more now is more of the G that your body, like, compresses through when the car just launches up.But, yeah, I mean, I think the cars are really, really safe.Q.You talked about your thoughts on restarting the Formula 1 race. Do you think today was okay?PATO O’WARD: I understand they want to end on green. I bet you if I was Will, I’d be telling you no. I feel for him, man. The guy, I’m pretty sure he was the one leading. I think he would have walked away with it if it didn’t go red. It really sucks.Yeah, I mean, I wasn’t the one winning the race or anything, so I don’t really care if it was one or the other. For me it was good because I got a couple more (indiscernible).THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by our second-place finisher, Rinus VeeKay, driver of the No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. This is Rinus’ second podium finish in seven starts.Tell us about your day.RINUS VEEKAY: It was very nice day. Pretty crazy race. I think we made a good call on the strategy. I always trust the team with that. Yeah, best Chevy. Two Chevys on the podium. Very happy with that. I think engines are flying. Yeah, everything felt great. The team gave me the material to win.Yeah, made some pretty cool moves to secure second place. Also got a bit lucky with Will. Of course, I prefer to pass him just on track instead of with him being unlucky.Anyway, P2, very happy with it. Yeah, it was just a crazy, crazy Detroit race. Definitely a really good start for the first race.THE MODERATOR: You and Pato had a good battle at the end. We heard his side of it. How about you?PATO O’WARD: I didn’t think we had a battle. We did? I was waiting for him to make a mistake, but he didn’t make one. I was just chilling.RINUS VEEKAY: In one part from turn seven till turn 11, you cannot really make a pass.PATO O’WARD: I do remember now (smiling).RINUS VEEKAY: I pushed my tires quite hard at the beginning of my stint. At the end for the restart my tires were a little cooked. Yeah, I knew Pato was going to be fast. He’s always aggressive. But so am I. That was good.Yeah, I made a good move on Takuma, which I was pretty happy about. That felt pretty good. Pato came with me. Yeah, I just had quite a lot of ‘push to pass’. Luckily I could get a little bit of a gap in the last lap.From turn seven to turn 11, kind of took it a little bit easy. Didn’t want to tap a wall or break anything. I knew he wasn’t going to be able to pass me there. Still it got pretty close.No, I think it’s quite a cool podium, quite a young one, too.THE MODERATOR: This is also our seventh different winner in seven races.PATO O’WARD: Crazy, yeah.THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with questions.Q.Trying to figure out the points, but once again it’s scrambled. I’m sure you guys have moved up since Alex didn’t have the greatest race in the world.PATO O’WARD: I might be like within five points, I think. I thought I got 35. How far was I back? Palou gets some for 15th.I should be in the fight. It was a good points day for me.Q.Both you and Rinus probably gained a lot today. Talk about how it seems like this points race is going to be a dogfight.PATO O’WARD: Everyone keeps asking me, Would you risk it? I mean, obviously it’s not like it’s one race, double points. There’s two races in two days. You need to maximize those two races. You’re better off having two top fives rather than a win and a DNF.THE MODERATOR: You got 37 points for the day, and you have 248 currently.PATO O’WARD: I’m where Palou was. I should be a few points back.RINUS VEEKAY: I think title fight is pretty good on our side. But I just treat every race the same. Like last year I was 14th. Now I’m probably somewhere in the top five. But, yeah, the season is still like nine more races. We’re not even halfway. So many can still happen. I just treat every race at a time and just, yeah, try to get the best possible result every race, see where I end up.Q.You two are young. There’s a quick turnaround. It’s 6:00 here, you have to be out there qualifying at 9 a.m.PATO O’WARD: What time is it now?THE MODERATOR: 6.PATO O’WARD: Dinner now at 6? That means I’m off the hook (laughter)?Q.Quick turnaround, 9 qualifying, 12 race. How do you get as much rest as you can?PATO O’WARD: I want to get in my ice bath. You have one?RINUS VEEKAY: I don’t have one. I have a massage. I’m going to be massaged, a full spa treatment (laughter).PATO O’WARD: Okay, I don’t have my personal spa (smiling).Q.Rinus, you were one of seven guys who never raced here before. How did you adapt to the track so quickly?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I think it’s kind of a track that suits me. You got to be a little bit crazy. If you don’t know the risks, you can’t give it all.I think for me, I like street courses. I think we also have a great car which helps me get up to speed. We also had a sim day last Wednesday on a sim.PATO O’WARD: Those don’t do anything to prepare you for Detroit. What are you talking about? Not a chance.RINUS VEEKAY: No, I felt like it really happened. I did a pace lap with Conor.Q.He taught you everything?RINUS VEEKAY: Everything (smiling).Q.Do you feel since your win you’re driving a lot more confident? Or has that not changed, you’re driving the same way?RINUS VEEKAY: I actually forgot about my win. I just give it all. I enjoy. I think that’s most important. I enjoy. I’m still pretty bouncy and happy in the team. Like all the spirits are very high, everyone is very motivated. I think that helps.I think just the whole team, like everyone together, just has made a huge step compared to last year. We have a consistently good-performing car.Q.Pato, I saw you throw your fist up in frustration at Sato maybe. Rinus, did you have an issue with Sato? Both had problems with the same guy today?RINUS VEEKAY: I had no real problems. It was just racing hard. I was aware if he made a move and reaction, he would make a block. Yeah, just his mistake. No, Takuma, he’s not an easy guy to race. No attack, no chance is his motto. He’s a little crazy.But, yeah, I finished in front of him. No attack, no chance today, so it’s been a good race.PATO O’WARD: I finished in front of him, so I have no complaints (smiling).Q.On the flipside, the guy who won today, he seems to be a driver that you don’t ever hear anybody complain about the way he drives. How do you feel about seeing him crack into Victory Lane?PATO O’WARD: I’m happy for him. He was telling me it’s been 10 years since he won. Like for me it was three years and it felt like forever. I can’t imagine 10 years. I’m really, really happy for him.He’s a great guy to race. He races you hard, but he’s very clean. Yeah, good guy.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I’m also very happy for him. Of course, the first victory is always the most special. I think his first and only podium was here in 2019. Very good track for him. He’s putting a lot of work in just like us. Definitely a great driver. Great that he gets his first win here. Pretty cool way to jump in the fountain and sit on the lion.Q.You got your first wins this year. We saw another first-time winner. When was the last time we had four first-time winners in seven races? I don’t think that’s happened before.PATO O’WARD: I got to say, I don’t think the field has ever been this stacked in decades. Like I’m really proud to be part of it, proud to be one of the guys that’s mixing it up in the front. I’m sure Rinus feels the same.RINUS VEEKAY: I’m proud of it. We of course are the new generation coming up. It’s pretty cool to battle it out. I think, yeah, it’s just great how the young guys kind of take over. Really proud to be a part of it.Q.Rinus, how was this place? You’re one of seven drivers who came in this place for the very first time. What was it like?RINUS VEEKAY: It’s definitely crazy. Once you give it 99% one lap, you’re a second off. You got to be on it every lap and push hard.Yeah, you will touch the wall a few times in the race, which I did. No damage. Definitely very cool. It gives you a lot of adrenaline. Finishing on the podium here is really satisfying.Q.Pato, back to talking about a championship. Were there any moments today where you were thinking championship first? If so, what were those moments?PATO O’WARD: Yes, many times. When Sato stuck it inside, when Rossi stuck it in the inside, when I was fighting I think it was McLaughlin. I ended up getting him, so that was good.Yeah, I mean, there were multiple times in the race where I made the right call backing off. If I didn’t, I’m pretty sure my race would have been ended before the first red flag.Q.Is it full send tomorrow from the green flag or back to thinking championship?PATO O’WARD: I need to qualify as high up as I can. We did a good job of that today. Tomorrow we try to do the same. Hopefully no yellows fall down to hose us.Q.Rinus, your pass on Takuma on the last restart, how aggressive were you on that move?RINUS VEEKAY: I was quite aggressive. I had a pretty good run from the restart. I knew they didn’t sweep turn one. It was very marble-y off the line. I got a taste of what being off the line is like yesterday in practice. It’s very slick.I thought once I get my wing there, you know, I can stick it. He’s not going to be able to follow me on the outside. I put my front wheels on his inside. Yeah, then I knew the move was done.Very happy. Definitely paid off.
RCR Post Race Report – Alsco Uniforms 250 Powered by Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen
| Myatt Snider and the TaxSlayer Chevrolet Team’s Strong Run Ends Early After Late-Race Wreck |
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 33rd |  17th |  13th |
| “It was definitely a long, hot afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 2 TaxSlayer Chevrolet. We started 17th and struggled with a loose-handling condition during the early stages of the race. It was a chore today to find the exact right line around the track but my spotter, Derek Kneeland, did a great job of evaluating where other cars were running compared to the PJ1 and giving me feedback. By Stage 3, we really figured something out and were running solidly in the top-10 before we were wrecked on the backstretch. It was a pretty hard hit, and I wish we could have finished the race. I want to thank everyone at RCR and ECR for all of their hard work. We’re headed to Nashville Superspeedway next week and I’ll look for some redemption there.” -Myatt Snider |
chevy racing–indycar–detroit grand prix–race one recap
CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX STREETS OF BELLE ISLE TEAM CHEVY POST RACE ONE RECAP JUNE 12,2021
Chevrolet picks up two spots on podium in Detroit Dual 1Rinus VeeKay places second, pole winner Pato O’Ward finishes third DETROIT (June 12, 2021) – Rinus VeeKay, who earned his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in May on a road course, and Pato O’Ward, who claimed his initial win in May on an oval, led the Chevrolet contingent with podium finishes on a temporary street circuit in Dual 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. VeeKay, driving the No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, finished 1.7 seconds behind race winner Marcus Ericsson in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. O’Ward, who earlier in the day recorded his second NTT P1 Award of the season, placed third in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet to move into second in the driver standings. “It’s an awesome result. I have to thank the team and Chevy power,” said VeeKay, 20, who followed his victory May 15 in the GMR Grand Prix by becoming the youngest front-row starter in Indianapolis 500 history. “Very excited for tomorrow because we were fast.” VeeKay, O’Ward and nine other drivers powered by Chevrolet’s 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 engine return Sunday, June 13, to the 2.35-mile, 13-turn temporary street circuit on Belle Isle for Dual 2. Two rounds of knockout qualifying will precede another physically demanding and technically challenging 70-lap race. O’Ward delivered the 101st pole in 156 races for Chevrolet since it returned to NTT INDYCAR SERIES manufacturer competition in 2012. Will Power, who led a field-high 37 laps in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, appeared to be in the driver’s seat with five laps left to register his 40th career victory. But the second caution of the race brought out the red flag and brought the cars in running order to pit lane. After the incident was cleared, Power’s car failed to restart and INDYCAR officials waived the field around the two-time Detroit winner. The team eventually restarted the car and Power rejoined the race from the rear of the field. Josef Newgarden added a 10th-place finish in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, while two-time Belle Isle winner Sebastien Bourdais finished 11th in the No. 14 ROKiT Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing, Simon Pagenaud placed 12th in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, and Conor Daly was 13th in the No. 20 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. The first caution involved the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren Chevrolet driven by Felix Rosenqvist that made heavy contact with the Turn 6 tire barrier on Lap 25. He was awake and alert and transported by ground to a local hospital for evaluation. Marcus Ericsson (Honda) was the race winner. Dual 2 qualifications will be telecast live on NBCSN and stream on Peacock Premium at 9 a.m. ET Sunday, June 13, followed by NBC’s telecast of the 70-lap race at noon. The race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.
TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS with starting position in parentheses:2. Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing (12)3. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP (1)10. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske (5)11. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing (10)12. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske (9)13. Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing (17)18. Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing (24)19. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske (23)20. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske (7)22. Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet (20)25. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP (14)DRIVER QUOTES:RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX/AUTOGEEK CHEVROLET – Finished 2nd:YOU STARTED 12TH AND WORKED YOUR WAY ALL THE WAY UP TO SECOND. YOU ARE DRENCHED IN SWEAT. THIS WAS A PHYSICAL TEST EVEN GREATER THAN YOU EXPECTED.“Yeah, it’s an awesome result. I’m very happy. I have to thank the team, of course, and Chevy power, the best Chevy. So, I’m very happy with that. It’s an awesome track. I enjoy it here. And I like the street courses being a little crazy. That was definitely very awesome and yeah, heat-wise, it was pretty warm. Actually, like physically, it was fine. But I’ve just got a lot of sweat dripping on my face. That was the only thing bothering me. But very good results and good for the points. I’m very excited for tomorrow because we were fast.” IT TURNED OUT TO BE A STRANGE RACE WITH A COUPLE OF RED FLAGS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TOMORROW? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN PUT THE CAR UP FRONT LIKE THIS AGAIN, EVEN IF IT GOES GREEN TO THE END?“I think we can do better on qualifying. We took a little bit of a risky strategy, so 12th was all we could do. But anyway, we were very fast, and qualifying isn’t that important because it’s a crazy track. We’ve seen what happens. So, definitely good qualifying will help but that’ll come tomorrow.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 3rd:“We started on the pole and went backward which I guess is a disappointment. We really had to fight for this podium. I think we really salvaged a lot of points from where we could have finished, just considering how hard it was to pass. The guys did a great job in the pits and I did my job on the track, passed seven on the track and two or three in the pits so that was fantastic.
“I feel for Will. I think he would have walked away with it if we didn’t go red.” WILL POWER, NO.12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, Finished 20th:“I’m mad at INDYCAR. Because, I’m the first car in and they wait until the last car to come to get a fan on that car and it roasted the ECU (Electronic Control Unit). “Just going red flag for starters. The guys up there in race control never listen to any drivers. They never listen; they don’t care. We’ve given them so many suggestions and they don’t care. “I drove my butt off today, to have this to happen! “I was screaming on the radio, ‘get a fan, get a fan.” (from Lee, it wasn’t for you, it war for the car?). Yeah, because the ECU always overheats. They wait for everyone. These guys (behind me) still had air coming in the car. “You work your butt off in this sport. So much money goes into it and doesn’t and it has dumb things like that. “If it’s not a yellow they throw, it’s some stupid idea like this – a red flag. Gah.”
chevy racing–indycar–detroit grand prix qualifying
| CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX STEETS OF BELLE ISLE TEAM CHEVY POLE QUOTE JUNE 12,2021 PATO O’WARD PUTS CHEVY ON THE POLE FOR RACE ONE ON STREETS OF BELLE ISLEDRIVER OF NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET WINS 2ND NTT P1 AWARD OF HIS YOUNG CAREER DETROIT (JUNE 12,2021) – Pato O’Ward put his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet on the pole for Race One of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. Today’s pole is the second NTT P1 Award for the second-year driver.PATO O’WARD POLE QUOTE: YOU CAUGHT SOME TRAFFIC THERE, BUT STILL PUT IT ON THE POLE. HOW DID YOU GET IT DONE?“Yeah, I did. But I wasn’t going to be passed I don’t think. You need to put so much faith into this place. You have to put faith in the car, that it’s going to stick. But when you hit it right, how can I say it? When you nail a lap, you can tell you’ve nailed it.” TALK ABOUT THE RISK VERSUS REWARD. IT TAKES RISK, BUT THE REWARD IS BIG“I was actually talking about this with Felix (Rosenqvist, teammate) that even compared to like a St. Pete, the faster you go here and the more you attack, the more grip you have. But when you’re not attacking, and you don’t feel the grip, it’s like well, is it going to give it to me? So, you kind of just have to go, stick please! (laughs). You just have to go for it. Honestly, I’m a little surprised, because I think I nailed a pretty good lap in the first group, and I was way off. But we nailed it the second time.” Other Team Chevy Drivers qualified for Race One as follows:Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet – 5thWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet – 7thSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Chevrolet – 9thSebastien Bourdais, No.14 ROKIT Chevrolet – 10thRinus Veekay, No, 21 Sonax Chevrolet – 12thFelix Rosenqvist, No, 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet – 14thConor Daly, No. 20 US Airforce Chevrolet – 17thMax Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet – 18thScott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Chevrolet – 24thDalton Kellet, No. 4 K-Line Chevrolet – 25th NBC will telecast both rounds of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix live at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, June 12, and noon ET Sunday, June 13. The 70-lap races will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Practice and live qualifications will stream on Peacock Premium. About ChevroletFounded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com. |
TWO-FOR-$10K: Overton, Satterlee Collect Feature Wins in 26th Dream Prelim Night at Eldora
Zero invert for Heat Races leading up to $126,000-to-win finale on Saturday
ROSSBURG, OH – June 11, 2021 – The stars always find a way to shine in the big moments at Eldora Speedway. Brandon Overton and Gregg Satterlee found some star power of their own on Friday night and traded it in for two $10,000 checks in the preliminary night of action at the 26th Dirt Late Model Dream.
Unlike the previous two nights of action in the 27th Dream, the rain stayed away completely and helped the track crew to present the drivers with a smooth, slicker surface to race on. This played right into the hands of Overton and Satterlee, as they took advantage of its multi-lane characteristics and made passing for the lead look easy on their way to Victory Lane.
A zero was spun on the Wheel of Misfortune after both Features had concluded, which means there will be no inversion of any Heat Race starters for Saturday’s $126,000-to-win finale.
Group A Twin-25 Preliminary Feature – Brandon Overton
He’s now won a total of $147,000 in just three nights at Eldora. Not too shabby for the newly crowned 27th Dream champion, Brandon Overton.
The Evans, GA-driver made quick work of his competition in Friday’s Feature, compared to the lap-after-lap fight for the lead he had with Stormy Scott just two nights prior. Overton stared fourth on the grid and was up to second by Lap 3, putting 2003 Dream winner Darrell Lanigan in his rearview with a move to the inside heading into Turn 3.
Polesitter Ryan Gustin, of Marshalltown, IA, had jumped out to a sizable lead in clean air, but it didn’t last long. Overton was dangerously fast down low as Gustin clung to the high line, which ended up hurting him in the end as he slightly jumped the cushion in turn 4, swinging the door wide open for a lurking Overton down low.
Now in the lead as he crossed the stripe to complete Lap 9, Overton’s mission was to run away and hide. Which, he did, leading the remaining 17 laps to score his sixth career Eldora Feature victory and third in three days.
“This thing – I feel like anybody can get in it and drive it. It feels really good,” Overton said of his car in Victory Lane.
Gustin was able to hold on for a runner-up finish, nearly four seconds behind Overton at race’s end. He had only one explanation for how Overton got around him when all was said and done.
“Overton’s just fast. That’s all there is to it,” he said.
A-Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 3. 29-Darrell Lanigan[2]; 4. 0-Scott Bloomquist[3]; 5. 6-Kyle Larson[9]; 6. 9-Devin Moran[8]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, Jr.[7]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, Jr.[11]; 9. 6H-Nick Hoffman[6]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton[15]; 11. 3S-Brian Shirley[12]; 12. 39-Tim McCreadie[18]; 13. 79-Ross Bailes[5]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb, Jr.[17]; 15. 1S-Chad Simpson[19]; 16. 8-Kyle Strickler[20]; 17. 11H-Spencer Hughes[16]; 18. 4-Travis Stemler[13]; 19. 23-John Blankenship[24]; 20. 111-Steven Roberts[22]; 21. 24D-Michael Brown[23]; 22. 7R-Kent Robinson[21]; 23. 7-Ricky Weiss[10]; 24. 83-Scott James[14]
Group B Twin-25 Preliminary Feature – Greg Satterlee
While he’d come close several times on some of the biggest stages, Gregg Satterlee had never won a Feature of any kind at Eldora Speedway. Until Friday night.
The Indiana, PA-driver capitalized on a mistake by polesitter Shannon Babb after a late restart to make the pass which led him to the $10,000 victory and those ultra-important Every Lap Matters points to get him in a good Heat Race starting spot on Saturday.
“It’s good to get a win,” Satterlee said. “It’s not one of the big ones, but I’ll take it.”
Babb, of Moweaqua, IL, crept out to a nice lead in traffic while Satterlee chased him down as they got down under 10-to-go. But a caution flag was displayed on Lap 18, which restacked the field and led to a restart which Babb would love to take back.
“I knew on that start that I had to get in the lead, and into Turn 1 I ran a little bit hard. [Satterlee] stayed with me at the flag stand, and I got in a little hard and kinda overshot Turn 2. I got a little push and got the angle wrong, and Gregg was able to take advantage of that,” Babb said.
Indeed, Satterlee walked through the open door that Babb left him down low, dove hard into Turn 3 and slid up in front of him to take the lead away out of Turn 4. From there, it was nothing but The Truth out front to the checkers.
“I saw it happening and I was able to adjust and get back underneath [Babb] and get a run on him,” Satterlee said of the pass for the lead.
While he was closing in on Babb before the yellow was displayed, Satterlee said the restacking of the field was actually something he needed.
“The lapped cars were kinda everywhere, the track was really dirty and dusty, so it was just able to get me reset and get back get back in clean racetrack,” Satterlee said. “Had [the caution] not come out, I don’t know that I would have passed him, but I was right there with him.”
A-Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[3]; 2. 18B-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 5. 22-Chris Ferguson[6]; 6. 83F-Jensen Ford[5]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[9]; 8. 1-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 9. 44-Chris Madden[14]; 10. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[18]; 12. 11-Josh Rice[11]; 13. 17M-Dale McDowell[16]; 14. 111V-Max Blair[12]; 15. 21-Billy Moyer[21]; 16. 17-Zack Dohm[17]; 17. 37-Jacob Hawkins[19]; 18. 4G-Kody Evans[24]; 19. 25F-Jason Feger[13]; 20. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[23]; 21. 1ST-Johnny Scott[15]; 22. 157-Mike Marlar[10]; 23. 2S-Stormy Scott[22]; 24. 18-Chase Junghans[20]
UP NEXT
The 26th Dirt Late Model Dream comes to an epic conclusion Saturday night at Eldora Speedway with the 100-lap, $126,000-to-win Feature event to cap off a night of Heat racing, B-Features and B-Scrambles. Hot Laps are scheduled for 6:30pm – follow DIRTcar Racing on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all the updates.
PERFECT TIMING: Carson Macedo Gives JJR Another Knoxville Win on Final Restart
Kerry Madsen Led Opening 21 Laps Aboard Tony Stewart Racing #14
KNOXVILLE, IA – June 11, 2021 – From Jason Johnson to David Gravel, there’s always been something special about the JJR #41 at Knoxville Raceway.
On Friday night, Carson Macedo became the newest to trust Philip Dietz on the wrenches and soar to glory on the black zook clay in World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competition. The Lemoore, CA native aced the final restart of the race and roared by Kerry Madsen’s #14 to take the lead with three laps left.
The win not only marked the 10th of Macedo’s World of Outlaws career, but it was his first-ever 410 Sprint Car triumph at The Sprint Car Capital of the World.
Better yet, it only proves just how lethal Macedo, Dietz, and the rest of the JJR boys are when it comes the Iowa 1/2-mile. In six total appearances at Knoxville in the #41, Macedo has never finished outside of the top-10 and four times he’s put it on the podium.
His late-race steal gave him the $10,000 check from the Brownells Big Guns Bash, and it allowed him to gain more crucial points on Brad Sweet and David Gravel in the championship chase.
“I’m a little out of breath from yelling, I’m so damn happy,” an ecstatic Macedo mentioned. “You know I sat in Jason’s [Johnson] parents motorhome earlier and watched video after video of this place with Craig and Debra. I feel like there’s a common theme on winning at this place and I thought if I don’t do it right, at least I’ll get better at it. Winning at Knoxville in the #41 is pretty special.”
More than anything else, Macedo is oozing with swagger. He’s ready for August, and the potential to become Jason Johnson Racing’s third different driver to win the Knoxville Nationals.
“My confidence is extremely high right now,” Macedo offered. “Leading into tomorrow, leading into the Nationals, I 100% believe we’re going to be a threat.”
Before Macedo parked the JJR #41 in victory lane, another pair of superstar teams stole attention to begin the night.
Kasey Kahne made his return to the seat for the first time since March, and quickly drove a third KKR #9T around Knoxville in 15.176 seconds in an effort worthy of the Slick Woodys Cornhole Company QuickTime Award.
The attention then shifted to Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, who completed a front row lockout by placing Kerry Madsne’s #14 on the pole and Donny Schatz’s #15 to his outside in the 25-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature.
Madsen jetted to the initial lead and Schatz slipped to third as Macedo rose to the occasion down the backstretch on the opening circuit. The duo offered a high-speed chess match through lap traffic, but it never got really close (outside of a Lap 11 bobble) until the only caution of the race flew on Lap 20 of 25.
Creating a single-file restart, Madsen brought the field back to green with five laps remaining and Macedo hot on his heels.
“Kerry was maneuvering in and out of lap traffic so well,” Macedo applauded. “There were a couple of times I thought I would have runs on him, but the lappers zigged and zagged the wrong ways. I saw the caution and thought I would be tough to get such a good start, but somehow we made it happen.”
Make it happen, indeed. As Madsen stuck the bottom, Macedo carried his speed through the corners and built a run off turn four and down there front stretch. He peaked under Madsen’s #14 and drove it hard into turn one to secure the lead and officially lead the 22nd Lap.
From there, he pulled away and saw the checkered flag to earn his fourth win of the 2021 World of Outlaws campaign.
“This is one of the toughest tracks in the country,” Macedo praised Knoxville. “It’s so technical, but I’m lucky to have this crew behind me. My car was so good that when even I as the driver made mistakes, it felt like the car could make the recovery for me.”
Falling short of Macedo’s #41 by 0.748-seconds at the checkered flag, Logan Schuchart crossed the stripe in second-place. A momentum building run for his Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S, which has time and time again proven lethal at Knoxville’s 1/2-mile.
“It’s always fun racing at this place against the best in the business,” Schuchart mentioned. You’re doing something right when you’re passing Knoxville Nationals champions like Donny [Schatz] and Brad [Sweet]. I could tell he didn’t feel comfortable on the bottom in turns three and four, and that’s where I felt like I was making tons of ground, but we just ran out of time.”
After leading the opening 21 laps from pole position, Kerry Madsen ended up with a third-place finish aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Advanced Auto Parts, Rush Truck Centers #14. It’s the first podium effort of 2021 for the St. Mary’s, NSW, AUS driver.
“We were looking good for a bit man,” Madsen said. “What a team to be involved. I was feeling comfortable all race long, but I just didn’t make the right adjustments under caution. I let the boys down. Hopefully we come back better tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top-five on night one of the Brownells Big Guns Bash was outside pole sitter Donny Schatz in fourth aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 and then Giovanni Scelzi in the fifth spot in his KCP Racing #18.
Closing out the top-10 on Friday was championship leader Brad Sweet in sixth, reigning Knoxville Nationals champion David Gravel in seventh, weekly hero Brian Brown in eighth, Knoxville resident Aaron Reutzel in ninth, and Missouri’s Ayrton Gennetten with his first-career World of Outlaws top-10.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will be back at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway tomorrow, Saturday, June 12 to conclude the Brownells Big Guns Bash.
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo [3][$10,000]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5][$5,500]; 3. 14-Kerry Madsen [1][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$2,600]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [10][$2,350]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$2,150]; 7. 2-David Gravel [7][$2,100]; 8. 21-Brian Brown [6][$1,950]; 9. 83-Aaron Reutzel [14][$1,900]; 10. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [8][$1,850]; 11. 19-Brent Marks [13][$1,400]; 12. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [16][$1,200]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [20][$1,000]; 14. 5-Parker Price-Miller [12][$950]; 15. 9-James McFadden [23][$900]; 16. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [15][$900]; 17. 9T-Kasey Kahne [9][$900]; 18. 25-Scott Bogucki [17][$900]; 19. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [18][$900]; 20. 24-Terry McCarl [11][$900]; 21. 2KS-Matt Juhl [21][$900]; 22. 83X-Lynton Jeffrey [19][$900]; 23. 55-McKenna Haase [22][$900]; 24. 2C-Wayne Johnson [24][$900]. Lap Leaders: Kerry Madsen 1-21, Carson Macedo 22-25. KSE Hard Charger Award: 9-James McFadden[+8]
NEW Championship Standings (29/82 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (4,070); 2. David Gravel (-58); 3. Carson Macedo (-92); 4. Donny Schatz (-142); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-164); 6. Logan Schuchart (-188); 7. Aaron Reutzel (-228); 8. Kraig Kinser (-490); 9. James McFadden (-580); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-650)
FEAR THE REAPER
| Gustin grabs podium at Eldora Sheppard and Madden score top-10’s in preliminary Feature ROSSBURG, OH – JUNE 11, 2021 – “We can be like they are.” That’s a lyric you’ll find in Blue Oyster Cult’s famous song “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” Ryan Gustin, aka “The Reaper,” proved he can be like the prime contenders at Eldora Speedway Friday night, finishing second in his preliminary Feature at the DIRTcar sanctioned 26th annual Dirt Late Model Dream. Gustin started on the pole of his 25-lap Feature and led the first nine circuits. That’s when Feature winner Brandon Overton made the pass for the win on the bottom of Turn 3. Even though he had to settle for second, Gustin was excited about grabbing his first Eldora podium. “It feels awesome just to lead some laps in front of this crowd,” Gustin said. “It’s the biggest race of the year and as long as we get through the Heat Race, and don’t crash or anything I think we’ll be alright [Saturday.]” Gustin knows he proved something Friday night, especially after finishing behind Overton, who won Thursday’s $127,000-to-win Dream and hasn’t lost a Feature this week at the famed half-mile. “Overton is just the class of the field here, that’s all there is to it,” Gustin said. “But we’re gaining on it step by step, and we’re definitely getting there that’s for sure.” Ricky Weiss and Dennis Erb Jr. were also in the first preliminary Feature. Erb finished 14th, while Weiss finished 23rd. In the second Feature, the top two drivers in Series points Brandon Sheppard and Chris Madden both scored top-10 finishes. The Three-time and defending Series champion finished eighth while trying to dial in a setup for [Saturday’s] race. “We tried a few things tonight to see if we can get better for the race tomorrow and it didn’t help us any,” Sheppard said. “We just have to be a little bit better, early in the night our program is pretty good, and we can qualify in the Heat Race really good. We’re just going to work on this thing and get a little better for [Saturday.] Chris Madden finished right behind Sheppard in ninth. The Gray Court, SC driver bounced back, after crashing during his B-Feature Thursday night. “Smokey” felt he had a good car, and wished the race was longer than 25-laps. “I kind of wish we had the 100-lapper tonight, because I felt really good,” Madden said. “We were a little bit slow on restarts, but we seem to have a pretty good car right now to run long distance.” Tyler Bruening was also in the second Feature and finished 11th. The World of Outlaws drivers return to Eldora Speedway Saturday, for the final night of the 26th Dirt Late Model Dream. One of the tour regulars could win $126,000 if they reach Eldora’s illustrious Victory Lane. TWIN FEATURE #1 RESULTSRyan Gustin-2ndDennis Erb Jr.-14thRicky Weiss-23rdBrent Larson-DNQ TWIN FEATURE #2 RESULTSBrandon Sheppard-8thChris Madden-9thTyler Bruening-11th Boom Briggs-DNQ |