Batavia, OH (May 2, 2022) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will spend the weekend in the Bluegrass state with a visit to Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KY on Friday, May 6th and Florence Speedway in Union, KY on Saturday, May 7th. The 18th Annual John Bradshaw Memorial takes place at “Kentucky’s Baddest Bullring” on Friday with a complete program of: Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. Ponderosa Speedway, a unique D-shaped 3/8th mile oval, will also have Crate Late Models, Modifieds, and Super Stocks in competition on Friday night. The pit gate will close at 2:00 PM ET and reopen at 2:30 PM ET, with the general admission gate opening at 4:00 PM ET. On track action will get underway at 7:00 PM ET. On Saturday, May 7th, race teams will vie for a $15,000 top prize in the 36th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial at Florence Speedway. The pit gate will close at 2:30 PM ET and reopen at 3:00 PM ET on Saturday, with the main and back gates opening at 5:30 PM ET. Hot laps begin at 6:30 PM ET with time trials to follow. In addition to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Modifieds will compete for $1,500-to-win and the Sport Mods will battle it out for $800-to-win. With five back-to-back winners in the event’s history, a local fan favorite, Josh Rice hopes to up that number to six. Tickets are available online at https://florence.getmytix.net/tickets or by calling the track office at (859) 493-0034. Brandon Sheppard currently leads the points over Devin Moran, as the two have swapped the point lead several times already this season. Tyler Erb is currently third in points followed by the reigning series champion, Tim McCreadie. Track Information:Ponderosa SpeedwayPhone Number: (859) 854-6808Location: 365 Phillips Lane, Junction City, KY 40440Directions: US 127 to Junction City, turn on 300/W Shelby St (stop light), then .7 mile turn left on SR-37/White Oak Road, then 1.2 miles turn left on Phillips Lane, track is 0.4 mile on Left.Website: www.ponderosaspeedway.net Florence Speedway:Phone Number: 859-485-7591Location: 12234 US Hwy 42, Walton, KY 41094Directions: I-75 to exit 180, then 9.2 miles SW on US 42Website: www.florencespeedway.com Ponderosa Speedway Purse: 1. $12,000, 2. $6,000, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,800, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,100, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000,18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $52,800 Florence Speedway Purse: 1. $15,000, 2. $6,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $3,000, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,400, 7. $2,300, 8. $2,200, 9. $2,100, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,300, 14. $1,200, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000, 18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $57,050 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Weekend Tire Rule:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1350Right Rear – Hoosier (29.0) 1350 NRM, (29.0) 1350 NRMW, (92) LM40*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains.*For the A-Main, competitors may use a new right rear tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

CONCORD, N.C. (May 01, 2022) – Bill Skillman came from behind to take the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals victory, the first race where the Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks of the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown class have competed in a four-wide format. 

“Coming out here racing four-wide, it was awesome. I really thought every quad that I ran in from qualifying up, everybody did a great job. I was really, really impressed with the guys as we went through the quads,” Skillman said. “It was awesome, my team, my God, I can’t even tell you what a great job those guys do. They crushed me, I was pitiful on the tree all day today, but I got a fast hot rod here. We struggled mightily when we got here but they just kept picking away at it today and they did a wonderful job.”

Bill Skillman winner’s circle, photo by Auto Imagery

In the first round, No. 1 qualifier Geoff Turk and his Wild Turkey Engineering Dodge Drag Pak would go 7.792-seconds at 180.21 mph to win the quad while Skillman took his Ray Skillman Ford Cobra Jet to a 7.784 second pass to advance. 

In the second round, Skillman would reach the finals off his 7.828-second run at 178.33 mph along with quad winner David Barton and his Saw Mill Auto COPO Camaro’s 7.864 at 176.56. On the other side of the ladder, Stephen Bell would come up with the win going 7.838-seconds at 175.78 mph in his Stanfield Racing Engines COPO Camaro along with Scott Libersher’s Mickey Thompson COPO Camaro’s 7.851 at 175.87. 

In the finals, Skillman, surrounded by COPO Camaros, would leave the line last but would reach the line first with Barton slowing near the end of the run. Libersher found issues at about 100 feet and Bell was not able to keep up. 

Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown final round Charlotte, photo by Auto Imagery

“You know what, I love racing with all these guys that are out here. It’s a bunch of great guys. I don’t care if it’s Camaros, Dodges, Fords, or whatever. It’s great,” Skillman said. “But it’s always good to beat the other brand. Always good to beat the other brand.”

Previous event winner Lenny Lottig would have his run at back-to-back victories come to an end in the second quad. Stephen Bell would win the round and take Lottig to earn the $1,000 bounty. 

The ongoing battle between Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Pakswill pick up the weekend of May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park for the Virginia NHRA Nationals. 

Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Top Ten

1. Bill Skillman                             166

2. David Barton                            165

3. Lenny Lottig                             163

4. Anthony Troyer                       123

5. Stephen Bell                            110

6. Warren Walcher                      109

7. Mark Pawuk                             93

8. Aaron Stanfield                       89

9. Ricky Hord                               86

10. Scott Libersher                      74

CONCORD, NC (May 1, 2022) — Josh Hart came into zMax Dragway with a dominating 6-1 career record in his two previous appearances. The second-year driver of the TechNet Top Fuel dragster that also enjoys support from R+L Carriers throughout the season took full advantage of four rounds of qualifying at the Circle K Four-Wide Nationals. This season Hart and his crew chief Ron Douglas have been breaking in a brand new 11,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragster and they both feel in the past two weeks they have turned an important corner.

TechNet Top Fuel dragster, photo by Auto Imagery

Through two days of qualifying Hart drove the TechNet dragster to three runs within a tenth of a second, 3.780, 3.778 and 3.789 seconds respectively, with a stellar run of 3.715 seconds on Friday night under the lights. That kind of quickness and more importantly, that consistency had eluded Hart for the first five races of the season. He moved into race day as the No. 6 qualifier and was joined in his opening quad by world champions Shawn Langdon and Steve Torrence along with veteran Clay Millican.

Hart had a strong car that powered him to the finish line right behind veteran Clay Millican in front of Langdon and Torrence. Hart and Millican stopped a dominant four race win streak by Torrence which extended back to 2017. Hart’s round advancing time of 3.735 seconds was his second quickest run of the weekend and just a tick off the pace of his Friday night qualifying run. 

Josh Hart, post-run in Charlotte, photo by Auto Imagery

“This weekend was a testament to the magic of our TechNet and R+L Carriers team,” said Hart. “We tried to weather the storm and it got very frustrating at one point or another. You just have to bury your head down and keep charging forward. Every single teammate wanted the same thing and every single teammate muscled through it. I am very happy with this team. I am very happy with this new car. We are mile-an-houring better than we ever did with the old car. I am getting more and more comfortable. I think we found something.”

Hart advanced to his second consecutive final quad of four-wide racing at zMax Dragway with Spencer Massey after both drivers outran Brittany Force and Millican. Hart made the quickest run of the quad, a blistering 3.751 second pass under much warmer temperatures. Again, it was the kind of quick run that had the two-time Top Fuel winner confident he could win his second consecutive race at the track located 25 minutes north of downtown Charlotte.

“One thing the owner of R+L Carriers said to me was I needed to make sure I was still having fun. I would say this weekend was a whole lot of fun. There were a ton of great fans and four-wide is cool. There is nothing better than going rounds,” added Hart.

The last four Top Fuel dragster standing included a mix of independent team operators led by Hart, Mike Salinas, Massey and Cameron Ferre. All four race cars executed their burnouts but Ferre had issues and was eventually pushed back to the starting line. His dragster was able to stage and when the tree flashed Hart and Massey jumped off the line together with Massey going into immediate tire smoke in lane one. Hart was in lane two and made it further down track before having his own issues. Salinas made a smooth run for the win followed by Ferre.

It was another solid effort by Hart who heads to the Virginia Nationals sitting No. 6 in the Top Fuel point standings after six races.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 3.780 sec, 327.59 mph; Qual. 6

Q2: 3.715 sec, 323.89 mph; Qual 6

Q3: 3.778 sec, 329.50 mph; Qual. 6

Q4: 3.789 sec, 323.19 mph; Qual 6

Bonus Points: 0

Race Results

First Quad

Clay Millican, 3.748, 327.51 mph and Josh Hart, Ocala, FL, TechNet dragster, 3.735, 328.38 mph def. Shawn Langdon, 4.028, 225.00 mph and Steve Torrence, 3.967, 270.10 mph

Second Quad

Josh Hart, Ocala, FL, TechNet dragster, 3.751, 323.97 mph and Spencer Massey, 3.881 310.41 mph; def. Clay Millican, 5.381 130.18 mph; and Brittany Force, 5.613 147.05 mph

Final Quad

Mike Salinas, 3.708 330.47 mph (win); Cameron Ferre, 3.986, 272.56 mph (runner-up) and semifinalists Josh Hart, Ocala, FL, TechNet dragster, 9.949, 84.21 mph and Spencer Massey, 13.713, 74.83 mph

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel

1. Brittany Force                          478

2. Mike Salinas                            461

3. Justin Ashley                            432

4. Steve Torrence                        427

5. Clay Millican                            328

6. Josh Hart                                  294

7. Austin Prock                             288

8. Doug Kalitta                             263

9. Tony Schumacher                    243

10. Antron Brown                        230

Funny Car and Top Fuel Entries at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

• Dodge//SRT and Mopar supported Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Funny Car and Top Fuel entries continue to demonstrate consistency steady improvements during first part of National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season by qualifying No. 2 in both Top Fuel and Funny Car categories for elimination rounds of Circle K Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway
• TSR wheelman Matt Hagan muscled his Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat from the No. 2 position on the eliminations ladder to battle through to the second quad and maintain his lead in the Funny Car championship standings after six national events this season
• TSR pilot Leah Pruett recorded her best qualifying effort of the year thus far by driving the Dodge Power Brokers dragster to a No. 2 starting position at zMax Dragway
• Cruz Pedregon and his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat stay consistent with a fifth top-five qualifying performance to advance to the second quad of eliminations at the second of the four-wide national events this season

May 1, 2022, Concord, North Carolina — Six events into the 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season and the new Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) nitro team continues to demonstrate consistency and steady improvement with both Dodge//SRT and Mopar-supported entries in Funny Car and Top Fuel as drivers Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett both qualified their 11,000 horsepower machines No. 2 in their respective categories for the elimination rounds of the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway on Sunday.

This weekend’s uniquely formatted competition, the second of the two national events this season in which competitors battle across four lanes instead of the usual two, kicked off with four qualifying attempts to set the field for Sunday’s event. Hagan, who arrived at the Charlotte area dragstrip with two wins and three consecutive final round appearance aboard the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat, set his quickest qualifying lap in the second session with a 3.867 second elapsed time at 330.55 mph to earn the provisional No. 2 spot and two bonus points. He added another bonus point with his final qualifying effort of 3.921 seconds at 328.70 mph which was third quickest of the session. 

From the No. 2 spot on the Funny Car eliminations ladder, Hagan’s Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat was quickest off the start line and turned on the opening round win light with a 0.086-second reaction time, 3.895-second pass at 331.69 mph ahead of No. 15 seed Mike McIntire Jr. (0.100/3.966/316.01), No.7 seed Blake Alexander (0.097/5.652/127.04) and No. 10 Paul Lee (0.101/13.325/62.51).

The three-time Funny Car world champ advanced to the second stanza along with McIntire to meet up with No. 3 qualifier Ron Capps and No. 6 seed J. R Todd. While Hagan had a quick 0.045-second reaction time, after losing traction early was able to recover (8.168 sec./ 91.59 mph) to beat Todd to the finish but not enough to catch Capps (0.035/3.954/323.89) and McIntire Jr. (0.184/4.031/312.64) to advance further. Hagan’s performance was enough to stay in the Funny Car championship lead with a 22-point advantage over second place contender Robert Hight.

In Top Fuel qualifying, Pruett improved on her first pass of 3.730 seconds at 319.29 mph by taking her Dodge Power Brokers dragster for a stout 3.686-second drive at 327.51 mph with her second lap to earn the No. 2 spot for Sunday’s elimination and collect two bonus points.

Two more solid qualifying laps of 3.773 sec./326.40 mph and 3.734 sec./ 329.10 mph demonstrated consistent performance by the TSR team and driver on their way to race day.

The last time she started eliminations for the No. 2 position, Pruett won the Pomona national event in July 2021. With the hope of repeating that success, the Dodge Power Brokers Direct Connection driver staged her HEMI-powered dragster for Top Fuel’s opening round against No. 7 qualifier Brittany Force, No. 10 seed Spencer Massey and No. 15 seed Tony Schumacher.

Pruett and Force left the line with identical 0.079-second reaction times, but while her adversary recorded the quickest run of the quad (3.732 sec./329.67 mph) and the TSR driver’s run (3.741/323.89) was second quickest, Massey’s slower 3.749/323.27 pass beat Pruett to the finish with the help of a hole shot (0.035 sec. reaction time) to eliminate her from advancing further.

Additionally, in Funny Car action, the Cruz Pedregon Racing team continued their string of consistent qualifying performances by qualifying the Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the top-five for a fifth time in the first six national events of the season. Team owner and driver, Cruz Pedregon set the second quickest laps in both Q1 and Q3 session aboard his HEMI-powered machine to earn a total of four bonus points and put himself fifth on the eliminations ladder.

A quick 0.037-second reaction time by Pedregon gave his Hellcat Funny Car the advantage on the start over No. 4 qualifier Robert Hight, No. 12 seed Tim Wilkerson and No. 13 seed Jim Campbell. His 3.921 seconds/ 328.46 mph run helped him finish second to quad winner Hight’s (0.057 sec. reaction time) 3.880/332.67 pass and beat Wilkerson and Campbell to advance.

The second round didn’t go as the Cruz Pedregon team has hoped when a loss of traction at the hit of the throttle ended his hopes of advancing to the final quad in his battle against Hight, No. 1 qualifier John Force and No. 8 seed Bob Tasca III.

Following a weekend off, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will return to action May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park for the Virginia NHRA Nationals, the seventh of 22 NHRA national events this season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES:

Leah Pruett, Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster 

(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.686 seconds at 327.51 mph)

Round 1: (0.079-second reaction time, 3.741 seconds at 323.89 mph) defeated No. 15 Tony Schumacher, loss to No. 7 Brittany Force (0.079/3.732/329.67) and No. 10 Spencer Massey (0.035/3.749/323.27) 

“I think determination is our key factor here. Having five plain runs down the track and chipping away at it, we are a product of the short end of the stick of a really good race. We missed it by just a couple thousandths [of a second] to advance. Going into Richmond (Virginia Nationals), we will take a lot away from this weekend from the warm track to our warmup and setup. I started out really hitting the tree well in qualifying. As I tried to work on it, I actually graduated the other way. I didn’t have the peak performance that I wanted on Sunday, but it was almost enough to get the job done. I will be right back on my Christmas tree every day and we will be making sure all eight of our Mopar cylinders are lit. The execution of this team has been impeccable and that’s why we have the consistency that we have. We will continue that and look forward. My consolation prize is that I get to spend a lot of time with the fans here in Charlotte. In between this weekend and Richmond, we are working on a spare car, so a lot is happening between now and then.”

Matt Hagan, Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car  

(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.867 seconds at 330.55 mph)

Round 1: (0.086-second reaction time, 3.895 seconds at 331.69 mph) defeated No. 15 Mike McIntire Jr. (0.100/3.966/316.01), No.7 Blake Alexander (0.097/5.652/127.04) and No. 10 Paul Lee (0.101/13.325/62.51)

Round 2: (0.045/8.168/91.59) defeated No. 6 J.R. Todd (0.060/10.389/89.36), loss to No. 3 Ron Capps (0.035/3.954/323.89) and No. 15 Mike McIntire Jr. (0.184/4.031/312.64)

“I’m glad the four-wides are behind us. I would have loved to have won it, but it is a chaotic event. It is a great show for the fans, but what we normally do is repetition and doing the same thing every time. Swapping lanes, trying to figure out who did what, who to pick and who did what is a lot going on. At the end of the day, we still leave here with the points lead. We have gone some rounds, we’ve been qualifying well and the car is running good. There will be peaks and valleys with drag racing, that’s just part of it. There will be a lot of highs and a lot of lows and a little in between. I would have loved to have won for Shelor Motor Mile and my family’s company. Maybe we will get them in Richmond. I’m looking forward to crawling back in a race car and keep what we’re doing going.”

Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

(No. 5 Qualifier – 3.876 seconds at 325.30 mph)

Round 1: (0.037-second reaction time, 3.921 seconds at 328.46 mph) finishes second to quad winner No. 4 Robert Hight (0.057/3.880/332.67), and defeated No. 12 Tim Wilkerson (0.103/3.918/311.05), and No. 13 Jim Campbell (0.160/4.005/307.44)

Round 2: (0.094/8.660/86.83) loss to No. 4 Robert Hight (0.066/3.902/329.83), No. 1 John Force (0.083/3.934/328.62) and No. 8 Bob Tasca III (0.045/3.975/325.30

“The Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat continued its great qualifying performance with runs of 3.87 (seconds), 3.88, and 3.94, all were in the top three of our group and then we spend the tires in Q4. We came right back for the first round of eliminations and ran a great 3.92, but in the second round, the track was a little tricky early in the run. The track has some character at the starting line and that contributed to spinning the tires against our opponents to end our weekend. It was still a great effort by the team and it’s like a prize fight. A lot of these rounds, we going to the body and trying to get better every week. I feel like I’m getting better as a driver. The team’s getting better, so we’re just going to keep on doing our thing, chopping wood, as they say, and get better. I look forward to Virginia. It’s great to go to Richmond again. We’ve been going off and on there for many years since the late nineties, and I always looking forward to getting after it there.”

NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS:

Following the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway

FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)

1.  Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 567 (2)

2.  Robert Hight: 545 (2)

3.  Ron Capps: 501 (1)

4.  John Force: 375

5.  Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 340

6.  J.R. Todd: 241

7.  Bob Tasca III: 283

8.  Alexis DeJoria: 273

9.  Chad Green: 269

10. Tim Wilkerson: 217

TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)

1.  Brittany Force: 478 (2)

2.  Mike Salinas: 461 (2)

3.  Justin Ashley: 432 (1)

4.  Steve Torrence: 427

5.  Clay Millican: 328

6. Josh Hart: 294

7.  Austin Prock: 288

8.  Doug Kalitta: 263

9. Tony Schumacher: 243

10. Antron Brown: 230

13. Leah Pruett (Dodge Power Brokers): 210

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News

Fans can follow all the NHRA 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.

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.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2022 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the Dodge Durango SRT 392, America’s fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV. 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). In 2021, Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market) — making it the only domestic brand ever to do so two years in a row.

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.

Fourth in GTD PRO for Garcia, Taylor and No. 3 Corvette with Le Mans up next

MONTEREY, Calif. (May 1, 2022) – Corvette Racing made the right strategy calls Sunday and put itself in position for another incredible comeback in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Things didn’t exactly pan out in the best way but Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor still came out better than where they started with a fourth-place finish at the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R challenged for a third straight podium in the new-for-2022 GTD PRO class. The team now takes a break from IMSA competition and will prepare for its annual trip to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with eyes on a ninth class title in France. Starting at the back of the GTD PRO grid Sunday and in the middle of the regular GTD field, Corvette Racing elected for a three-stop strategy in attempt to gain early track position. Taylor brought in the No. 3 Corvette 25 minutes into the race on the strategic call from team engineers for fresh Michelin tires and fuel. The move paid off as Taylor got back around ahead of the No. 14 Lexus, which stopped a lap later in an attempt to mirror the Corvette Racing strategy. Things got better with a full-course caution on the following lap. The Corvette strategists called Taylor back to the pitlane for a fuel top-off under yellow once the GTD pits opened, sending the No. 3 C8.R to the class lead. Misfortune struck on the restart with Taylor falling back slightly and suffering contact, which pushed the No. 3 Corvette to third in class. Any damage was minimal as Taylor drove another 57 minutes until giving way to Garcia, who went the final 60 minutes without another stop. Garcia whittled a four-second deficit to the third-place BMW of Connor de Phillippi to a half-second inside the final seven minutes, with both within 1.5 seconds of the second-place Lexus at the same time. Faster prototype traffic and slower GTD cars stymied Garcia’s challenge in the final laps. Corvette Racing’s next round in IMSA is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 24-26 from Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “Things almost played out our way. We stopped first and the Lexus followed us from the same position to cover us. In a way, I think it was a smart race from our point of view. We got the most out of the pace we showed over the weekend. I knew I had to do more than 40 laps on the last stint on the same tires so I didn’t want to kill them. I think everyone was struggling with tires. It was difficult. The different cars achieve lap times in different ways, so when we race BMW for example, it’s very difficult. I got close to them for about four or five laps before traffic got very bad. Without that, maybe I would have had a shot but it’s the way it is around here. Traffic is always very bad at Laguna when we are all struggling with tire degradation. Coming out fourth and being able to maybe get P2 with what we had, I think we have to be happy. I feel just a little disappointed that I couldn’t find my way through to gain those positions.”On to Le Mans: “It will be fun. Going from this race track with the least amount of grip in GTD PRO, it will feel like we are in LMP1 at Le Mans! It will be nice to get back into WEC and GTE Pro mode as fast possible. I can’t wait to work with the 64 guys again to get a good result for both Corvettes.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “From where we started the race, we had to take risks with strategy to make things happen. Fortunately the first call to pit early and the early yellow put us to the lead. I didn’t have a good restart, which shuffled me back to third. I think we were going to be third or fourth on pace with the other guys’ strategies. So it’s not the greatest day but looking at the weekend as a whole, the race is what counts for points. We’ve learned a little bit so hopefully we can go to Watkins Glen and be in a little stronger position.”On to Le Mans: “I’m already thinking about it. It’s nice to shift gears and go back to the GTE spec of the C8.R. I’ll go to the simulator in the next week-and-a-half to do some Le Mans prep, and I’m looking forward to that. It’ll nice to get back over there and redeem ourselves from last year.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R finishes third for the fourth year in a row

MONTERREY, Calif. (May 1, 2022) – Pipo Derani is in a rut at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The reigning IMSA DPi champion has finished third, co-driving the No 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, in the race on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn natural-terrain road course for four years in a row. But, for accruing championship points anyway, he’ll take it and move on.

Derani, splitting seat time with first-year teammate Tristan Nunez in the 2-hour, 40-minute race slowed by one full-course caution for 18 minutes, led the Cadillac DPi contingent in the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. “I’m really happy to come out of this race with the best Cadillac,” said Derani, who also co-drove to third place in the 12-hour race at Sebring International Raceway in March.  ”I think we did the best we could. It’s a good points day for the team. We had to work hard on the Whelen Engineering car during the weekend. But come race day, it was very good. I’m really happy. To keep the No. 31 car on the podium here for the fourth year in a row is quite positive.” The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, co-driven by Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbrook, finished fourth overall after earning podium spots in each of the first three races. The No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R, with Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber sharing duty behind the wheel, finished fifth. The No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van de Zande, which came into the race weekend off a victory on the streets of Long Beach last month, developed a power supply issue early in the race that affected major systems. The crew spent considerable time attempting to address the problem but eventually the car was retired.

Felipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor co-drove the winning Acura. Another 2-hour, 40-inute race is next up for Cadillac teams and drivers on May 13-15 on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R has finished second the past two years at the natural-terrain road course in Lexington. USA Network will telecast the race live at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, May 15, with streaming on Peacock. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com along with XM 207.

Cadillac Racing results and quotes

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.RPipo Derani, Tristan NunezFinish: Third Start: SixthPipo Derani: “After we had the yellow flag and I was stuck behind the No. 5, the team pulled me in early (for a pit stop). Then, I had a really good out lap. Eventually, that helped us get ahead, and from there, we could do our own race. I’m really happy to come out of this race with the best Cadillac. I think we did the best we could. It’s a good points day for the team. We had to work hard on the Whelen Engineering car during the weekend. But come race day, it was very good. I’m really happy. To keep the No. 31 car on the podium here for the fourth year in a row is quite positive.” Tristan Nunez: “The start was definitely difficult. I just tried to keep the rears underneath me. We had a good pit stop and we made some adjustments. We’ll take it. It feels like a win to us. We started in the back, and with a little bit of strategy and a major out lap by Pipo, we got into this position. To bring the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac to the podium is a good day.” No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.RTristan Vautier, Richard WestbrookFinish: Fourth Start: FifthTristan Vautier: “We made the most of the opportunity. It was a rough weekend for us. We kind of struggled finding our way but hit it in the race, so we’re happy about that. Some things didn’t play out for us strategy-wise, but if somebody would have told us this morning that we would finish fourth, it would have been fine. A massive job from the team getting us to that point because last year we finished a lap down. We struggled on pace, but this year I think we were the strongest Cadillac over the last stints of the race.” Richard Westbrook: “I think we absolutely maximized what we have. We had a really tough Saturday and a really tough warmup. We scraped it together and had a competitive car. We probably had a fourth-place car and we got fourth. I was surprised by how close all the Cadillacs were and all in all I’m really happy. We’re in a good spot.” No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.REarl Bamber, Alex LynnFinish: Fifth Start: ThirdEarl Bamber: “I think we had a good car today and think we had a car for the podium. But, we didn’t execute well and we got some damage on the nose. So, we just had to bring it to the end to grab some points. It’s a shame to see those ones go away, but that’s motor racing. We will rebuild as a team and come back stronger for the next one in Ohio.” Alex Lynn: “Not the day we dreamed of today. I thought we had a very strong car, but we didn’t make it happen. We will move on to the next one in Mid-Ohio.” No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.RRenger van der Zande, Sebastien BourdaisFinish: Sixth in class (32nd overall) Start: FourthSteve Eriksen (team manager): “During the race, we had an intermittent power issue which causes the whole electrical system to shut down, including the power steering. We took it back to the garage, switched out a couple of components to see if that would make a difference. We were able to get the car started again and it had the same problem, so the more time we spent on it the more we realized we just need to take it back and diagnose the problem.”

CONCORD, NC (May 1, 2022) — Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shotmade two major steps forward this weekend at the Circle k Four-Wide Nationals. The third year pro earned his first No. 1 qualifier and also won his first round of racing in the unique four-wide format. Ashley, the 2022 Winternationals winner and most recent runner-up at the SpringNationals, a three-time national event winner, was confident going into race day. His quickest elapsed time of 3.669 seconds from the Friday night session gave his Davis Motorsports team the latitude to make the most out of the final day of qualifying. His first quad was composed of No. 16 qualifier Cameron Ferre, No. 8 qualifier Austin Prock and No. 9 qualifier Antron Brown.

Justin Ashley and Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot, photo by Ron Lewis

After the tree flashed and all four 11,000 horsepower race cars charged down their respective lanes it was Ashley collecting his first career round win in the four-wide format with a dominant win. Unfortunately, the team did not get any data from the run as the clocks did not record a time. Ashley’s Phillips Connect Toyota crossed the finish line a full dragster length ahead of Ferre, who also moved to the second quad. Since there was no official time recorded Ashley did not have any lane choice in the second round.

“We still got the data and we were able to evaluate that against previous runs,” said Ashley. “We would’ve loved to get our elapsed time but that’s part of racing. We were very happy with how the first run looked on the graph. (Crew chiefs) Mike (Green) and Tommy (DeLago) did an amazing job like they always do.”

Racing from lane two in the second quad Ashley was looking to race to his second consecutive final. It took the quickest elapsed time of the round to defeat Ashley as Mike Salinas posted a strong 3.708 second run. Ashley was looking to make a move, but his race car overpowered the track and moved sideways. Ashley kept it under control, but he was unable to get to the finish line in the second spot. No. 16 qualifier Ferre was able to stay hooked up and move to the final quad. It was an earlier finish to the day than expected for Ashley. 

“You have to look at the weekend as a whole,” said Ashley. “The result wasn’t what we wanted but the team overall did a great job. There were a lot of positives that come from this weekend. We were able to gain a lot of data and information which is important. To be able to qualify No. 1 is a big deal. It’s great to sit back and reflect on how far we have come as a team and organization. To be able to get our first four-wide round win in addition was another stepping stone. We are continuing to learn and will take this knowledge on to the next race.”

Ashley will head to the Virginia Nationals solidly in third place in the Camping World Drag Racing Series point standings.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 3.715 sec, 329.67 mph; Qual. 1

Q2: 3.669 sec, 331.77 mph; Qual. 1

Q3: 3.771 sec, 326.79 mph; Qual. 1

Q4: 8.300 sec, 76.96 mph; Qual 1

Bonus Points: +7 (Quickest in Q1 and Q2, third quickest of Q3)

Race Results

First Quad 

Cameron Ferre and Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Vita C Shot, 3.740, 329.26 mph def. Antron Brown and Austin Prock

Second Quad 

Mike Salinas and Cameron Ferre def. Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Vita C Shot, 3.740, 329.26 mph and Doug Kalitta

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel

1. Brittany Force                          478

2. Mike Salinas                            461

3. Justin Ashley                           432

4. Steve Torrence                        427

5. Clay Millican                            328

6. Josh Hart                                   294

7. Austin Prock                             288

8. Doug Kalitta                             263

9. Tony Schumacher                    243

10. Antron Brown                        230

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA BARBER MOTORSPORTS TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP WITH QUOTES AND TRANSCRIPT MAY 1, 2022
PATO O’WARD KEEPS CHEVROLET PERFECT IN 2022 WITH AN EXCITING WIN AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
POLE WINNER RINUS VEEKAY FINISHES THIRD TO GIVE CHEVY TWO SPOT ON PODIUM AT ALABAMA GRAND PRIX BIRMINGHAM – For the third time in his NTT INDYCAR Series Career, Pato O’Ward took his No 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet to Victory Lane. As has been his trademark so far in his career, he made an exciting move to pass for the lead on lap 61 overtaking pole sitter  and race leader  Rinus VeeKay in turn five after both had pitted and VeeKay won the race off pit lane. The young driver originally from Monterey, Mexico never looked back.   On the way to keeping  Chevrolet perfect so far this season in the NTT INDYCAR Series, O’Ward led 27 laps in a race that saw one caution flag for a total of three laps. With four races in the books, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the first followed by Josef Newgarden capturing the next two, and now adding O’Ward to the list. The victory is the 99^th for Chevrolet since returning to the Series in 2012 as an engine supplier with the 2.2 liter twin turbo direct injected V6 purpose built engine.  Pole winner and top lap leader with 57 completed from the wave of the green flag,  Rinus VeeKay in the No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet finished third to give the Gold Bowtie drivers two of the three podium positions . Alex Palou finished second. Next on the schedule is the start of the month of May with the GMR Grand Prix on the Road Course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 14^, 2022. DRIVER QUOTESPATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:WHAT A SMOOTH WEEKEND FOR THE 5 BUNCH. NICE TO SEE YOU IN VICTORY LANE PATO! WIN NUMBER THREE, BUT I HAVE TO ASK YOU ABOUT HOW AGGRESSIVE YOU HAD TO PLAY THAT PASS ON VEEKAY TO GET THE LEAD. AT THE MOMENT DID YOU KNOW THAT MAYBE THAT WAS THE PASS FOR THE WIN?“Yeah, Taylor told me we are fighting for the win. We almost got them in the pit stops, so I said no this is your chance man. It’s so tough to follow just because it’s such a fast and flowing circuit. I knew if I would have the opportunity, it would have been right then and there. I got on my button and got around him into (Turn) five and then I knew if he would get into clean air, we can kind of control the thing. Once we did that it was a cruise to victory lane.” THERE WAS A LOT OF TURMOIL AROUND THIS TEAM JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO. YOU CAME INTO LONG BEACH SAYING I’M PUTTING IT ALL BEHIND ME. HOW MUCH DID THAT MENTAL SHIFT HELP YOU BEHIND THE WHEEL?“Man, it sucks to be at war within your own team. I’m glad there’s been very positive talks for the future and man I wanted to do it for these guys. I wanted to do it for Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy. They’ve swept this year so far, so I think it’s great for them. Yeah, man I was just tired of being 10^th and 11^th and fifth. I said let’s get a win under our belt so we can claw our way back to this championship fight.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3^RD:“It was going really well. The car was really  super fast even saving fuel. Then that last pit stop I was a little too  on the brakes turning into five and that’s where he (Pato O’Ward) got me. Then I lost some time and Alex Palou got me and we dropped to third. Normally I should be the happiest guy on earth with a podium, but now…but we are headed to the Indy Road Course and that’s been good for us, and then the 500. I feel ready and excited to get there.”WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4^TH:As the race was winding down, I did my very best to take advantage and make those moves early on and get by Dixon and all those guys as quickly as possible. We made some dive bombs to get there. I’m so happy to have this Verizon Chevy up there. I honestly didn’t expect it.“We just have to keep doing the same thing this year, finishing near to top. We have to qualify better, it will make it a lot easier on us during the race. But this team is working hard. We had better tires near the end and great strategy. I’m just trying to enjoy this as I go along. I’ve been here 17 years. Ready for Indy.” JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14^TH:“We could just never gather much traction today with the No. 2 PPG Chevy on the three-stop strategy. Obviously, not testing here like the other teams did a few weeks ago put us a bit behind but I felt that we made great gains throughout the weekend. To tell you how well our team is working right now, we completely switched over to the 2 car’s setup yesterday – and it was a much better feel for me – but the two-stop strategy was the way to go in the end. At the end of the day, two wins and a very solid start to the year heading into the month of May. We’re in a good spot, for sure.” FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, FINISHED 16^TH :”It was a disappointing race. It was a really good first stint that was positive with good pace on the Firestone red tires, but then we had a miscalculation on the fuel. That made us pit way too early, and we had to save a bunch of fuel for the rest of the race. We have to analyze everything to see if our fuel numbers are correct. We were quick, but couldn’t really do anything because of the fuel situation. Congrats to Pato, that is really good for him and the team. Just wish we could’ve been there with him, but we will push to be there next time.” CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19^TH:: “It was a tough race today. Obviously qualifying yesterday hurt us as it would have been good to start farther up. But now we’ve got the month of May coming up and we’ve been fast on both the road course and the oval at IMS, so we’ll focus on that now and get this BitNile Chevy back towards the front!”KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 22^ND: DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23^RD CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING, FINISHED 25^TH::“I honestly don’t even know what to say about that one. We had a great start. Moved up to eighth. We had a good pit stop and I was just pjshing slightly too hard trying to defend from Helio on cold tires. I went a little wide and after that I was just a passenger. It’s a shame to end a good weekend like that, I feel sorry for myself, for the team. It’s just a shame. Will take the positives. We had lots of pace. So we will take the positives and move toward the Grand Prix in Indy.” We have to qualify better, it will make it a lot easier on us during the race. But this team is working hard.  We had better tires near the end and great strategy. I’m just trying to enjoy this as I go along. I’ve been here 17 years. Ready for Indy.” TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING, FINISHED 26^TH: NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceRinus VeeKay, Pato O’Ward, Taylor KielPress Conference Transcript THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. We are joined by the third-place finisher, Rinus VeeKay.Tell us about your day and maybe after that second pit stop coming back out the battle you had in turn five.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, actually the weekend has been pretty good. We started out the first two-thirds of the race very strong, leading, saving a lot of fuel. Very happy with that.Unfortunately I got held up a little bit before getting into my second pit stop, so Pato was on me, really on me. I did beat him out of pit lane. Coming into turn five, I just took it a little bit too conservative, and he got around me. Yeah, he drove away basically. Lacked a little bit of pace on the last set of tires. Pato and Alex were a little bit too fast for me to hang with.Yeah, I think third place is pretty good still.THE MODERATOR: It was a 1.8 second gap going into the pit stop. I think I heard you say you were caught up behind Jimmie.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, Pato was really on my tail coming into the pit box. He was right in front of me in the box. Yeah, I did beat him out so we can a pretty good pit stop.Yeah, unfortunately I didn’t push enough on that out lap. Another lesson learned. Unfortunately the hard way.THE MODERATOR: Questions.Q.Rinus, why do you think you were so conservative?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I have screwed myself a few times in the past braking a little too deep, locking a tire, yeah, basically destroying my whole last stint.I did not know Pato was going that deep. Yeah, I was looking in my mirrors a lot. Maybe that distracted me a little bit. Yeah, I don’t know. If I could go back, I would go way deeper and stay ahead of him. I was also struggling a little bit more on my last set of tires.Yeah, he was definitely faster on that last stint. Deserved win for him. Fortunately I still got a podium out of it.Q.Considering how you went like this after your injury last year, this weekend, do you feel like this is your first full, complete weekend?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, no, I feel like we’re definitely back. I felt like that at St. Pete already, qualifying fourth, finishing sixth. That was a great way to bounce back. Leading in Texas. Definitely running out of fuel, still finishing 10th.I think we started out really well already. This weekend really, yeah, was the cherry on the cake with the pole position and having a car to win the race, all race.Q.Rinus, the two laps where Pato gets you for the lead, then all of a sudden the very next lap the guy next to you gets in between you and Pato, takes over second, at that point what did you think…RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, you feel bummed at that moment. There’s still so many laps left in the race, you never give up and you kind of reset and try to make the best out of it still.Definitely still surprised by how Alex got between us. Yeah, I think I could have made a run for him. I came out of turn five fully sideways, that’s kind of where I lost touch with him.Yeah, I did not really expect that to happen. It’s INDYCAR. Anything can happen. Level is extremely high. You weaken a little bit for one second and you’re being passed from the lead.Q.Today’s podium, we talk so much about the young drivers in INDYCAR, it’s like today youth wasn’t only on display, it was showcased. What is it like to have that all young podium this week?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I think it’s great for the youth movement now. All the young guys, of course, Alex has done it a few times last year, and already this year. Same with Pato.I’m happy to get there with those guys. I think it really shows that young guys are coming through, the new generation is kind of taking over.THE MODERATOR: I want to say we’ve had eight different drivers, podiums, in the four races we’ve had so far. It’s a growing number, competitive as ever certainly.Q.Rinus, the first half of the race, two stints, were you managing the gap or is that everything you had? Could you have gone bigger?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I was managing the gap a little bit, especially on the reds. I tried to keep it around two, two and a half seconds. Yeah, I think also that second run I felt very good just saving fuel. I was all the time saving a little more than the team asked me to. We always had a little bit of a buffer if we needed to go an extra lap or anything. I felt pretty good, good rhythm.Yeah, I was in my element there.Q.Did either of you guys get to spend any time around Romain today?RINUS VEEKAY: No, I think he was behind me at one point just before the caution. But it’s hard to see a different car now. I was always looking at the purple car. Now it was the DHL car, now it’s the blue car.I think it was him behind me at one point, yeah.Q.Rinus, is there a really big confidence booster going into the month of May?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it’s a big confidence booster. Of course I struggled a little bit in Long Beach with pace. That was a tough race. Then coming here, first road course of the season, yeah. Just very happy. We were very fast in qualifying. Just in the race also we had the pace to win the race.Yeah, I’m happy. I think coming into the month of May I know Indy road course is going to be good for us, Indy 500. I think we’re in a good position.THE MODERATOR: Obviously joined now by the champion of this year’s race, Pato O’Ward.Pato, a lot of momentum heading into the month of May. A good ‘W’ for you guys.PATO O’WARD: Thanks, man.Yeah, it was a great day for us. I think it was a very slow-paced race, at least where we were at. Last year we did the strategy that we didn’t do today. Today was a bit different in terms of really seeing where these tires would take us in terms of blacks to reds, reds to blacks.But it was good. I think we managed it. We stayed very patient. Rinus was very quick. Alex was, as well. I think it was definitely kind of like a follow-the-leader type of situation.When the opportunities came, we were able to take advantage of that, yeah, challenge these guys for the lead of the race.THE MODERATOR: Follow the leader was after the pit stop, the scrap between you and Rinus.PATO O’WARD: I knew the only opportunity I was going to have was then and there. Like I said, it’s such a fast and flowing circuit where you stay within probably a second and you can probably get within maybe 7/10ths of the car in front once their tires are heated up. It’s really hard to strike, especially if they are also on the same strategy of fuel saving, ‘push to pass’, et cetera.Yeah, it was a good scramble. I think it was really nice to race along someone where I feel like we’ve always respected each other when we race. I think that’s fantastic to have whenever you’re fighting for the lead.THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with questions.Q.You ended up with 120 seconds of ‘push to pass’ remaining. Was that a plan going into the race to help fuel saving?PATO O’WARD: I couldn’t use it, man, because I was handicapped by the fuel. I would have loved to use them. I used them whenever they counted.Yeah, I was traveling — I was trying to hit a number, and it was a pretty big number. Obviously when you use the ‘push to pass’, it eats through this mileage of fuel that you have pretty quickly.Yeah, that’s probably why I ended with so much ‘push to pass’ left.Q.The average age of the three guys on the podium is 22.7. I don’t know if that’s one of the younger ones, but I’m assuming it is. What is it like to be part of this youth movement?PATO O’WARD: It’s great, man. I think we’ve seen it not just this year but the past two years. I think it’s awesome to see the young ones coming to the series and giving the veterans a hard time.At the end of the day these guys that we’re racing against, Dixon, Power, Newgarden, we’ve been watching them for so many years. They’re basically idols of all of us when we were coming through the ranks trying to get to INDYCAR.It’s really cool to be able to battle with them. Ultimately what you want to do when you get to race against them, you can have your fan boy moment for a couple seconds, but then you want to beat ’em.THE MODERATOR: Also fortunate to be joined by the president of Arrow McLaren SP, Taylor Kiel. A big win for you heading into the month of May.TAYLOR KIEL: It’s huge for us. We knew we had this potential all year long. We had a rough start to the season. It’s nice to get back on track, perform how we know how to, ultimately bring a win back home for everybody that works at Arrow McLaren SP and our extended family at McLaren. I think it’s a big boost for us heading into the month of May as Pato said.THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts on the battle with Rinus?TAYLOR KIEL: I told him in Victory Lane that pass into five was everything. It was huge for us to be able to clear Rinus, ultimately take the lead. Also it was huge to us to defend against Alex on the overcut as well.The boys did a great job in pit lane to do their job, execute. Pato did what he needed to do. Ultimately it ticked both boxes. We were able to advance our position and defend against Alex who did a great job certainly closing the gap to us.THE MODERATOR: Questions for Pato or Taylor.Q.Pato, I know last year you were bummed out to say the least after starting on pole, finishing fourth. Did you know because of how last year played out that that’s what you were going to shoot for, see how things played out, or was there anything in the race that made you pick that strategy?PATO O’WARD: I think ultimately what allowed us to do it was the pace was honestly super slow. Everybody was doing that. I think that was for sure the fastest way to get around for the 90 laps. Obviously not for the fastest lap, but we wanted to win the race.Last year I think we got fastest lap but we crossed the finish line in fourth. I think it was all about how can we save as much fuel and also we were a bit into the mercy of how long are we going to make the reds last? I think that was probably the biggest thing, just making sure that we can make the reds last up until lap, I don’t know when I pitted, 28 or 30 or something. I think that was the biggest thing, just making sure we didn’t just overshoot the tire in the first 10 laps because we weren’t going to make it to do the two-stopper.I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. Whenever you’re saving so much fuel, it makes the saving of the tire a lot easier.TAYLOR KIEL: I’d say looking, I think the biggest threats to us on that strategy were Newgarden, Herta and Grosjean. We did that last year. It’s really hard to make it work. It’s hard to pass, especially Pato talked about it in our strategy brief this morning. A full fuel car, you can be pushing it, but it’s difficult.To do what you have to do to make that work, you have to make up the pit loss time, pass a lot of cars. It’s just a difficult way to go about it. Our thought was, Let’s make it easy, as easy as we can on ourselves, let’s take advantage of being out front. He had the pace to do it, the tires lasted. He drove in a way that we were able to maintain pace and keep the tires under us. For us it was kind of a no-brainer to stick to that.Q.Pato, you said you were in this great rhythm, your mindset on and off the track had changed completely closing in on your new contract extension. Was today and this weekend’s performance feeding off that or was this just a great race weekend?PATO O’WARD: I think the shift that we kind of felt was in Long Beach actually. I just think we had a great race there. I think a top-five finish in this series is pretty stellar because it’s so competitive, there’s so many factors that have to go right in order to be up there.I just think this weekend was the perfect weekend to do it. I love this place. We had a great car here. No reason why we wouldn’t have had a good car here this weekend, which we just proved that we were the guy to beat. We missed it just by a little bit in qualifying, but I knew I had the pace, I knew the car had the pace. It was just kind of playing a bit of a waiting game.These races are so long where it’s not a sprint race. If would have started, it’s 30 or 40 laps, you maybe approach it a bit different. But it’s 90 laps. It’s so, so long. I wasn’t really stressing. I was just managing my fuel, my tires, and just taking care of everything. Whenever the opportunity would come to us, I was sure to be ready to take advantage of it.Q.Taylor, as someone who is as close as anyone to Pato, have you been able to notably see that mental shift on and off the track?TAYLOR KIEL: Well, I think just as an entire group of people, certainly Pato and our whole team, I think we’ve kind of hit the reset button. As he said, Long Beach was a catalyst for us to show that we can perform at a high level again after last year to back it up.For me, I want to give him the tools to succeed, and the rest is up to him. He takes advantage of it. Certainly when we have a good car to compete at the front, we compete at the front. That’s the goal for us, is to continue to put in the work and put in the effort and make sure we have a car, a team and a group of people that can support Pato. The rest is up to all of us to execute.I think today proves that we can do that and we’ll continue to do that. That’s where we’re at.Q.Did the 5 team need the driver’s mindset to change to reach its potential?TAYLOR KIEL: I don’t know if it needs a mindset. I’ve said to him before, the driver in our team, I don’t know how it is with everybody else, is the quarterback, right? As the quarterback goes, the rest of the team goes. As the driver goes, the rest of the team goes. He has such an infectious spirit, such an energy, that it’s impactful to what we do in a very good way.I think there’s kind of two things there: he’s a very important part of what we do, but as a team you have to be able to compartmentalize things, too. We’re moving from race to race, different circuit type to different circuit type, testing, racing. We’re doing so many things, we have to focus on what we’re doing today.I would say the drivers in our organization are certainly impactful to the general aura of what we’ve got going on. Ultimately us as a team, we have to be able to withstand whatever might happen. That’s kind of where we’re at with that.Q.When he gets out of the car at Long Beach, he is Pato. He’s Pato again here. Do you feel like you can win this week?TAYLOR KIEL: I always feel like we can win honestly.PATO O’WARD: Angry Pato can win, too (smiling).TAYLOR KIEL: I always feel like we can win. That’s the beauty of having Pato drive one of our cars, is that we’ve now won at a road course, we’ve won at a street course, we won at a superspeedway. If we had –PATO O’WARD: I also needed to make sure Josef didn’t win that award.TAYLOR KIEL: I’m just saying, ultimately for us, I think we’ve got a driver that can compete and win at any circuit type. We put a good car together. If we come prepared, roll off the truck in a good window, it’s hard to beat.Q.Pato, I asked you Friday if happy Pato is dangerous to the rest of the field. You said you didn’t know.PATO O’WARD: What do you think?Q.I thought you were a little dangerous going through turn five. Not dangerous bad.PATO O’WARD: Patient Pato (smiling).Q.Now you head into a very important month. What do you got planned?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, the big boy. Everybody wants to win that one. It’s the massive cookie that everybody wants to have in their room, looking at it, thinking about it.I’m pumped. I’ve never been able to do an Indy 500 with a bunch of people. Last year there was a bunch, but this year I think it’s going to be double or something. I’m really excited to see that.There’s nothing like it. It’s just crazy. I tell everybody that you need to go and experience it in person for you to be able to, like, grasp what an event that is. Obviously I can’t even imagine what it would be like winning it.Q.Can you win it?PATO O’WARD: Sure as hell the plan (smiling).Q.Talking about the younger guys coming up, who have you fan boyed over on track?PATO O’WARD: I remember like it was yesterday actually. I was in Sonoma, my first INDYCAR test. I usually look at Dixon, Power and Newgarden. I think I spun four times, so I caused four red flags in the span of like 35 minutes in the chicane in the Sonoma. Every time I spun, Josef come around looking at me, shaking his head. I was like, Shit (laughter).Yeah, but then I had a good race there, which made it a lot better.Q.Oval, road course, street circuit, you checked the box, the bingo card. Did you think you could do all those that quickly from the diversity standpoint?TAYLOR KIEL: Did you just ask him if he thinks he has the talent to win (smiling)?Q.He did those three things that quickly.PATO O’WARD: I was pretty bummed we didn’t win a road course last year. Man, I love this place. I also wanted to complete it because I’ve had the chance to win here in Mazda and in Indy Lights. I really wanted to win in INDYCAR to kind of complete the three formulas that I’ve raced around here.It’s a great circuit. Like ever since the first time I came, I loved it. It’s super well taken care of. It’s just a beautiful facility. I think today was a great turnout, beautiful day, very different than what the rose in the morning like, which was cool to not have a very overcast, cloudy day.Yeah, great day to go racing.Q.Let me ask it a different way. Of the three different circuits you run, would you have thought a road course was first or an oval first or street course?PATO O’WARD: Oval was the last one I think I would have won. It was the first one. First one I think would probably be a street course, then a road course. Kind of switched around. I don’t mind it, though.Q.Pato, you’ve won here in Pro Mazda, Indy Lights, now here. How great is it to say you won in all three of those now?PATO O’WARD: It’s awesome, man. It’s just a track that I really enjoy driving. You can really feel out the limits of whatever car you’re driving, which make it extra fun in terms of just the physical aspect, from a racing standpoint. It’s not an easy track to pass. I think whenever you do see a pass around here, it’s somewhat exciting. I hope that pass was somewhat exciting because I feel like the rest of the race was pretty boring, at least for me up there.Was there a lot of action behind us? That’s good stuff. I can’t wait to watch the race again.Q.(No microphone.)PATO O’WARD: What happened with them? I’ll watch. Two egos going at it (laughter).Q.Rinus had a two-second gap on you before the pit stop. Where did you gain the time where you got the pass on him?PATO O’WARD: I (indiscernible) it on the brakes.Q.Taylor, about a dozen laps left in the race, you told Pato he was free to take overtake. Pato said, I got it, don’t stress. Did your stress level go down after that?TAYLOR KIEL: My stress level is pretty much down all the time.PATO O’WARD: That’s a lie.TAYLOR KIEL: I just try to stay like that.Honestly, when you get feedback like that, it makes you feel comfortable that everything is in our control, which is all you can ask for when you’re leading the race.At that point I would say, yeah, honestly a little bit. But you never know. You never know what he’s experiencing in the car, so… Felt under control. Looked under control. It was.Q.Pato, over the last two, three months, do you feel like you’re in a better place as a person and driver than you were at the end of last season?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I feel great, man. I think what last year gave us as a group was kind of that year of fighting for a championship under our belt. We obviously didn’t come out on top, but we fought for it until the end of the season. And that’s huge.We had the championship mindset all year, and I think it helps when you have it into your memory bank and going through the calendar, the year after that, and I think sometimes it helps you be patient. I think that’s the best way I can put it. I think you mental-ize and you realize what is needed to win a championship.A lot of the times it just matures your patience levels, which ultimately pay off at the end of the race.Q.I wanted to know how close you are to confirming your contract.PATO O’WARD: I’d say it’s close. But honestly, you know, we’re into the season already, so I’m kind of — I don’t want to worry about it. I think things will shape up. There’s been very positive conversations. I think the vibe in the team is fantastic. I think that’s what we need going into the month of May. The rest I think will take care of itself.I don’t have a date for you. I guess whenever it’s signed, you’ll probably see it in the media somewhere. Probably be one of the first ones to know actually.Q.Taylor?TAYLOR KIEL: Yeah, what Pato said. We’re in a good place.Q.What’s the situation with Felix?PATO O’WARD: All smiles and unicorns, man.TAYLOR KIEL: Situation with Felix? Ultimately for us, I think we want to take our time with any driver decision. His situation, as I’ve talked about it quite a bit, for us, we want to get through a lot of the season, just kind of understand where we’re at. I want to take more of a sample size than what we’ve got.We’ll make that decision when the time’s right and you guys will know.Q.Where do you feel the balance between Chevy and Honda is at at the moment?PATO O’WARD: Do you want to take it?TAYLOR KIEL: I’ll speak.I don’t know where Honda is at. All I know is that Chevy has put a tremendous amount of work into their package in the off-season. I can sit here and say they’ve given us everything that we’ve asked for. They’ve worked relentlessly to close any perceived gaps that they thought they had.We certainly as a team have felt a huge shift in performance from year to year. I think we did a lot in the backcourt as a team to improve car performance. Chevy has done a fantastic job as well.At this stage in the engine game, as far advanced as we are, for them to find the gains they have is remarkable. Kudo to everyone at Chevy, Pratt & Miller, Ilmor, all the work they’ve done.PATO O’WARD: I’ll just add to that.I think they’ve done a great job. They have really brought it to us this year. I think it’s great that they’ve been so open to our suggestions and to all the Chevy teams’ suggestions to making us go faster, to helping us in every way they can.Yeah, I mean, it’s been fantastic. I think it’s a Chevy sweep for all the races so far. That’s awesome. Hopefully we can keep it rolling into the month of May.Q.(Question about the road package.)PATO O’WARD: Like Taylor said, we’re coming into the end of an aero package, the end of these engines, in this specific second. It’s so hard to make gains. The little gains you make make a big difference.We identified our issues last year where we lacked and we’re getting better. We’re getting better. From my side, I think I’m doing the best job that I can in order for us to make those steps.Whenever you make those steps, it just opens your strategy windows. When the races are so long, like here in INDYCAR, it’s all about your strategy. Ultimately it pays off to qualify up front. As we saw today, it was a lot about track position.At the end of the day if you can just open up the decisions that the team can do at certain times in the race to make critical decisions for a pass for the lead or whatever it may be, those little bits and pieces make a big difference.Q.Taylor?TAYLOR KIEL: Yeah, not much else to add to that other than that last year I would say road courses were our biggest weakness. Based on today I would say they’re a strength of ours. That’s really just a testament of identifying what the priorities were in the off-season and tackling those and making sure that we don’t sit on deficiencies, making sure as a team we continue to improve and move forward. Proud of that.THE MODERATOR: Thank you, everyone. 

CONCORD, N.C. (May 01, 2022) – John Force and the PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS team dominated the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. After securing the No. 1 qualifying position and setting both ends of the track record, Force, the defending event winner, rallied to his 155th career victory, first of the season and third in the zMAX Dragway Four-Wide. Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy finished as runner-up to Force and the PEAK team. On the dragster side, Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team exited in the second round while Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team went out in the first round. Continuing his record setting ways, John Force and the PEAK / BlueDEF Chevy team would runner-up in the first quad with a 3.892-second pass at a blistering track-record speed of 335.07 mph that bettered his 334.24 from qualifying. Bob Tasca III would win the quad with a 3.878 at 331.20 sending Alexis DeJoria and her 3.899 at 324.98 home. Robert Hight and the Auto Club team left nothing to chance in their first quad, laying down a 3.880-second pass at 332.67 mph to better Cruz Pedregon, who would also advance, Tim Wilkerson and Jim Campbell. In the second quad, Force and Hight would line up with Tasca III and Cruz Pedregon. Force would handle the PEAK Chevy to a 3.934-second pass at 328.62 mph that was only bettered by Hight and the Auto Club Chevy’s 3.902 at 329.83. The John Force Racing teammates would face Mike McIntire Jr. and Ron Capps in the final quad. Force would leave the line first and go straight down the groove as the BlueDEF Camaro crossed the finish line at 3.914-seconds at 328.86 mph. In the Auto Club Camaro, Hight would have issues down track and have to slow going 4.038 at 267.85 for the runner-up finish. With the victory, Force now has more four-wide wins than any other Funny Car driver and is tied at three with Erica Enders for second most overall behind Steve Torrence who has six. This is now the 34th season in which Force has won at least one race. “It was a great weekend for all my sponsors. It was a great weekend for my team. Finally getting a win. This gave me confidence. I think that I can race. I turn 73 this week and I’m still out here winning races,” said Force who is now fourth in points. “Things just seem to happen where you’re destined to win. It was amazing. On some days, magical things just happen. Things went right and we were able to win the race. It was like it was destiny and it was a great weekend for my team. To finally get a win this year gives me a lot of confidence.” It was the 52nd one-two finish for John Force Racing and the third time drivers have finished first and second in a four-wide. “It was a great day for John Force Racing. Any time you can get two cars to the final, it’s a good day. If this Auto Club Chevy team is going to come up short, I’d rather it be to John and that PEAK Chevy than anyone else,” Hight said. “Ran into some issues there at the end that we’ll get figured out and be ready to come do it all again out in Richmond.” Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team were quickest of their quad with a 3.732-second pass at 329.67 mph and would advance with Spencer Massey and his 3.749 at 323.27 that beat Leah Pruett on a holeshot and sent Tony Schumacher and his 3.753 at 320.89 home. In the second quad, the Flav-R-Pac dragster would run into smoke to only go 5.613-seconds for a second-round loss. “It was a tough weekend here in Charlotte. This Flav-R-Pac team came in here with back-to-back wins and just had that momentum moving forward. We went out qualified seventh, and it was a tough position to be in,” Force said. “We got past first round but in that second round we got beat and had to pack up early. It was still a good weekend for the John Force Racing teams with my dad winner and Robert getting the runner-up.” Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster had a short race day at zMAX Dragway. The No. 8 qualifiers, who saw improvement through Friday and Saturday, were on a good pass until mid-track when something blew and disturbed the timing blocks. The NRHA relied on a photo finish that clearly put Prock finishing third despite no official time. Justin Ashley and Cameron Ferre advanced while Antron Brown was also out in the first round. “It was a frustrating way to end our weekend. I felt like we had a competitive car all weekend and I was hoping it would all come together this morning, but it didn’t,” Prock said. “First round losses are always tough to swallow, especially because we all had high expectations going into this morning. It was a tough break but luckily, we get to play again in Richmond. I think the team is definitely on the right track. We just have to get our ducks in a row, and we should be fine.” The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season continues May 13-15 with the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION CIRCLE K NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS ZMAX DRAGWAY IN CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA MAY 1, 2022 Chevrolet victorious as John Force adds to record win total• John Force gets Funny Car career win No. 155, first of 2022• Brittany Force remains points leader in Top Fuel• Chevrolet COPO Camaro captures victory in Stock Eliminator competition

CONCORD, N.C. (May 1, 2022) — Legendary drag racer John Force was fast all weekend at zMAX Dragway and closed out the deal with his first win of 2022 and 155th overall in the Funny Car class. Force and his PEAK/BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS race team entered eliminations of the four-wide event in the No. 1 qualifying position for the 164th time in his career after a record-setting run on Friday night of 3.850 seconds at 334.24 mph. Force, who won the event in 2021, has three wins at zMAX Dragway in the four-wide format. He also won the first four-wide event at the track in 2010.  Force’s teammate, Robert Hight, also made it to the final Funny Car quad and came in as runner-up in the Auto Club of Southern California Camaro SS.  In Top Fuel, Austin Prock fell in the first round in his Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, while teammate Brittany Force fell in the semifinals in the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevy. She retained the championship points lead after six events. Darren Poole-Adams of Shelby, North Carolina, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to victory in Stock Eliminator competition to give drivers of the powerful COPO Camaro five victories in the Sportsman category in six national event races. “Chevrolet Performance has given me awesome COPO Camaros to drive and I’m just blown away right now,” said Poole-Adams, who claimed his first national event victory. David Barton of Reading, Pennsylvania, was runner-up in his COPO Camaro in the second round of the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown. Len Lottig won the first of the eight scheduled races in the series in March at Gainesville., Florida.

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The Virginia NHRA Nationals on May 13-15 at Virginia Motorsports Park is the next event for Chevrolet Top Fuel and Funny Car teams. The event was not held in 2021 or 2020. FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, May 15. CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT TOP FUELBRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER: “It was a tough weekend here in Charlotte. This Flav-R-Pac team came in here with back-to-back wins and just had that momentum moving forward. We went out qualified seventh, and it was a tough position to be in,” Force said. “We got past first round but in that second round we got beat and had to pack up early. It was still a good weekend for the John Force Racing teams with my dad winner and Robert getting the runner-up.” AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER:  “It was a frustrating way to end our weekend. I felt like we had a competitive car all weekend and I was hoping it would all come together this morning but it didn’t,” Prock said. “First round losses are always tough to swallow, especially because we all had high expectations going into this morning. It was a tough break but luckily we get to play again in Richmond. I think the team is definitely on the right track. We just have to get our ducks in a row and we should be fine.” FUNNY CARJOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “I walked down to the trailer and I said, ‘Danny, I got to get my energy up, you have got to get me fired up’ and he yells ‘swap motors’ and awe man, my blood pressure shot up and I was going to tip over. I want to take a minute to thank Blue Def, Power Solar, Auto Club, Cornwell, Monster, Flav-R-Pac, Montana Brand, and Chevrolet. And hey, Bruton, I love you. This one is for my daughter Adria and just shows that I can still hang in the fight. We just keep fighting and we are going to be fine. I wanted to do this last year for Bruton, you know what I am saying.  I have been trying to find God for a lot of years, I am working on it, my wife works on it. So, I don’t want to get into that, but things just seem to happen to me in my life that are almost like you are destined. And Bruton Smith last year, when I spoke with him on the phone, was struggling but now he is better. To whatever degree, I got the win for him and mentioned him a few times down there. What was amazing is going up for the final, I was struggling as a driver, I will be honest.  These kids are just good, and I have to jump on that tree and attack it whenever I can.  What was funny was that we were sitting in the pits, and I told Danny, my crew chief, that they get the credit.  I was standing there, and I said, ‘Danny, somebody fire me up. If I don’t get some energy I am going to go out there and get treed.’ And he goes, ‘how about this? Switch motors’. And I said, ‘what are you talking about?’ He said, ‘the motor is dead’. All the sudden they start ripping it apart.  I was like, ‘no, its time to tow up, are you going to do this in ten minutes?’. Whatever time they took, they made it and it was amazing. But my energy went straight to the top.  Its hard to find that moment that you need when you really need that fire in your belly.   ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:  “It was a great day for John Force Racing. Any time you can get two cars to the final, it’s a good day. If this Auto Club Chevy team is going to come up short, I’d rather it be to John and that PEAK Chevy than anyone else,” Hight said. “Ran into some issues there at the end that we’ll get figured out and be ready to come do it all again out in Richmond.”

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUOTE PATO O’WARD MAY 1, 2022
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARR OW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET,  captured the third win of his young NTT INDYCAR Series by taking his No. 5 Chevrolet to Victory Lane at Barber Motorsports Park.His first two victories were in 2021 at Texas Motor Speedway and the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
The win kept Chevrolet in INDYCAR perfect thus far in the 2022 season.Chevrolet now sits at 99 victories out of 169 races since returning to the American open wheel series in 2012.O O’
PAT O’WARD QUOTE:WHAT A SMOOTH WEEKEND FOR THE 5 BUNCH. NICE TO SEE YOU IN VICTORY LANE PATO! WIN NUMBER THREE, BUT I HAVE TO ASK YOU ABOUT HOW AGGRESSIVE YOU HAD TO PLAY THAT PASS ON VEEKAY TO GET THE LEAD. AT THE MOMENT DID YOU KNOW THAT MAYBE THAT WAS THE PASS FOR THE WIN?“Yeah, Taylor told me we are fighting for the win. We almost got them in the pit stops, so I said no this is your chance man. It’s so tough to follow just because it’s such a fast and flowing circuit. I knew if I would have the opportunity, it would have been right then and there. I got on my button and got around him into (Turn) five and then I knew if he would get into clean air, we can kind of control the thing. Once we did that it was a cruise to victory lane.” THERE WAS A LOT OF TURMOIL AROUND THIS TEAM JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO. YOU CAME INTO LONG BEACH SAYING I’M PUTTING IT ALL BEHIND ME. HOW MUCH DID THAT MENTAL SHIFT HELP YOU BEHIND THE WHEEL?“Man, it sucks to be at war within your own team. I’m glad there’s been very positive talks for the future and man I wanted to do it for these guys. I wanted to do it for Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy. They’ve swept this year so far, so I think it’s great for them. Yeah, man I was just tired of being 10^th and 11^th and fifth. I said let’s get a win under our belt so we can claw our way back to this championship fight.” 

Four-Wide Nationals Prove Daunting for Toyota Top Fuel Dragsters

CONCORD, N.C. (May 1, 2022) – The first race for defending Funny Car Champion Ron Capps behind the wheel of the new GR Supra resulted in a final-round appearance in the four-wide nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Capps would finish in the third position and ultimately take semi-final points. The Toyota Top Fuel dragsters of Justin Ashley and Doug Kalitta made it to the second round, but in a day full of upset winners, their respective days ended in round two.

Toyota Post-Race Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

zMax Dragway

Race 6 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS  —  Race Winner:    Mike Salinas

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Justin Ashley	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 2	W. 3.735 vs. 3.841 (Ferre) vs. 5.623 (Brown) vs. 28.0 (Prock) L. 5.547 vs. 3.708 (Salinas) vs. 3.924 (Ferre) vs. 4.344 (Kalitta)
Doug Kalitta	Autodesk Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 2	W. 3.725 vs. 3.765 (Salinas) vs. 3.806 (Laughlin) vs. 4.082 (Foley) L. 4.344 vs. 3.708 (Salinas) vs. 3.924 (Ferre) vs. 5.547 (Ashley)
Steve Torrence	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 1	L. 3.967 vs. 3.748 (Millican) vs. 3.788 (Hart) vs. 4.028 (Langdon)
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 1	L. 5.623 vs. 3.735(Ashley) vs. 3.841 (Ferre) vs. 28.0 (Prock)
Shawn Langdon	CMR Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 1	L. 4.028 vs. 3.748 (Millican) vs. 3.788 (Hart) vs. 3.967 (Torrence)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS  — Race Winner:   John Force

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Ron Capps	NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Semi-Finals	W. 3.923 vs. 3.892 (Todd) vs. 4.020 (Creasy Jr.) vs. 4.026 (Green) W. 3.954 vs. 4.031 (McIntire Jr.) vs. 8.168 (Hagan) vs. 10.389 (Todd) L. 4.253 vs. 3.914 (Force) vs. 4.038 (Hight) vs. 9.391 (McIntire Jr.)
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Round 2	W. 3.892 vs. 3.923 (Capps) vs. 4.020 (Creasy Jr.) vs. 4.026 (Green) L. 10.389 vs. 3.954 (Capps) vs. 4.031 (McIntire Jr.) vs. 8.168 (Hagan)
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Round 1	L. 3.899 vs. 3.878 (Tasca) vs. 3.892 (Force)

TOYOTA QUOTES

RON CAPPS, NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports

Final Result: Semi-Finals

What can you say about your first race weekend in the GR Supra Funny Car?

“Close to being a dream weekend, but I can’t thank Toyota enough for moving up the chance to run this GR Supra body. To be able to do this at four-wide and really have the data from everybody and really my first time driving the GR Supra was when we went out there in Q1 and went right down the track, which was – I probably gave Guido (crew chief) the biggest hug I’ve ever given him. I was so relieved and so happy. Having Slugger (Labbe, TGRNA) and all the guys that worked so hard to make this happen – just ecstatic really. A lot of hard work had to come together for us to be here and do this. Everyone from the design of the car, the paint scheme, but now we get out other Supra body and we’ll be raring to go for Richmond and we can start getting after it.”

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

Final Result: Round 2

How did the win in round one help your team continue to learn and move forward?

“We’ve just been struggling for whatever reason and stupid little things happen and some things are out of our control, but nonetheless, don’t worry about the past. We’re looking into the future. It would be a good day to win here at zMax for Toyota Gazoo Racing North America, DHL, CMR and all of our sponsors that are here this weekend. I was ready and I was third off the line and I thought I wasn’t that late. It’s tough out here right now in Funny Car.” 

Addition of Capps Means Three GR Supra Funny Cars at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. (April 30, 2022) – Justin Ashley claimed his first career top-qualifier with a 3.669 second run during Friday night’s qualifying session at the 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Thursday’s announcement of Ron Capps joining the Toyota Gazoo Racing North America family means that three GR Supra Funny Cars will take to the track for Sunday afternoon’s event. In Capps’ inaugural race with Toyota, he took the number three qualifier position at 3.873 seconds.

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

zMax Dragway

Race 6 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Justin Ashley	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	1 – (3.669)	C. Ferre (3.854)A. Prock (3.719)A. Brown (3.729)
Doug Kalitta	Autodesk Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	4 – (3.700)	A. Laughlin (3.777)M. Salinas (3.706)D. Foley (3.774)
Steve Torrence	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	3 – (3.694)	S. Langdon (3.798)J. Hart (3.715)C. Millican (3.756)
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	9 – (3.729)	J. Ashley (3.669)C. Ferre (3.854)A. Prock (3.719)
Shawn Langdon	CMR Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	14 – (3.798)	S. Torrence (3.694)J. Hart (3.715)C. Millican (3.756)

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
John Force	JFR Funny Car*	1 – (3.850)	B. Tasca (3.909)A. DeJoria (3.936)
Ron Capps	NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra	3 – (3.873)	J. Todd (3.893)D. Creasy Jr. (4.100)C. Green (4.002)
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	6 – (3.893)	R. Capps (3.873)D. Creasy Jr. (4.100)C. Green (4.002)
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car

(4/30/2022 – Alex Nieten) Chico, CA… The legend of Corey Day continues to grow.

The second-generation driver crushed the field in Saturday’s David Tarter Memorial at Silver Dollar Speedway to pick up his third career NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car victory in just his 15th series start at just 16 years of age. Day led all 35-laps of the Fujitsu Feature en route to what amounted to a $5250 payday factoring in the lap money he earned for pacing every circuit.

With the victory Day put his name next to the likes of Brad Sweet and Gio Scelzi on the all-time series win list, and he was quick to credit his crew for preparing a perfect race car and allowing him to do so.

“I’ve got to credit my dad again,” Day said in victory lane. “This thing basically drove itself tonight. I also can’t thank HP and Eddy enough. They made the five hour trip up here this weekend to help us.”

Day led the field to green in the Four CCCC’s Construction No. 41 with Blake Carrick alongside him. On the first circuit Landon Brooks, making just his third series start, drove around Carrick to secure second. Day distanced himself early on and just as he neared traffic the race’s first yellow flew as Tim Kaeding spun in turn two.

On the restart Justin Sanders jumped onto the podium in the Mittry Racing/Farmers Brewing Co. No. 2X by passing Carrick, but another yellow flew just two laps later as Max Mittry and Austin Wheatley tangled.

When racing resumed Sanders snatched second from Brooks, and a hard charging Sean Becker climbed to fourth after starting 13th. On lap 15 Day faced his only real challenge when, stuck in traffic, Sanders cleared him with a turn three slider, but a yellow for none other than Sanders’ teammate stopping negated the pass.

“I saw his (Sanders) teammate, Max Mittry, go off the edge and slow down,” Day recalled. “I was thankful for that because I knew that if he would’ve gotten the lead he would’ve probably left me. That yellow definitely saved our race there.”

On the restart Brooks stole second back from Sanders while Day drove away. As Day negotiated traffic Brooks began to fade as Sanders, Becker and a surging Dominic Scelzi went by him. Day’s lead continued to grow and grow in traffic as Scelzi began to battle with Sanders for second.

“The track was great,” Day said of what helped him in traffic. “Hats off to Colby (Copeland) and the whole track crew. It was really racy. There was a good bottom, a good top, and you could even roll through the middle there. It made getting through lap traffic a little easier with multiple lanes there.”

Ultimately Day crossed the line with a commanding margin of victory, his lead at the checkered flag a whopping 6.6 seconds, or roughly half the time it takes to circle Silver Dollar Speedway in a sprint car. Day’s David Tarter Memorial victory netted him $5250, and the wise teenager has prudent plans for the prize.

“Put it in the bank,” Day said of where the winnings will go.

Sanders held on to the runner-up spot.

Scelzi completed a solid charge from 10th to third in the Red Rose Transportation/Whipple Superchargers No. 41, his second consecutive podium to start the year in his bid for back to back titles.

“We were really good all feature long,” Scelzi said. “We just got a bad really bad start. We started on the outside, and I didn’t think that was a problem. I just got into (turn) one, and everybody sort of checked up and I kind of played it safe… To come from 10th after my crappy start I’m happy with that, another podium. We’ve got the speed. Guys like Corey and Justin, they’ve done their homework and got better, and it’s made it a lot of fun to race.”

A notable name could be found 15th in the rundown. Making his final Silver Dollar Speedway start in Clyde Lamar’s TRI-C Machine, Paul McMahan drove from 22nd to secure a solid 15th place result in his first Chico appearance since 2017.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (35 laps): 1. Corey Day 41X 2. Justin Sanders 2X 3. Dominic Scelzi 41 4. Sean Becker 16A 5. Tanner Carrick 83T 6. Shane Golobic 17W 7. Ryan Bernal 17WX 8. Kalib Henry 17 9. Blake Carrick 38B 10. Bud Kaeding 69 11. Joel Myers Jr. 83V 12. Mitchell Faccinto 21 13. Landon Brooks 5V 14. Willie Croft 29 15. Paul McMahan 3C 16. John Clark 12J 17. Tanner Holmes 18T 18. Tim Kaeding 42X 19. Chase Johnson 24 20. Michael Faccinto 56 21. Garen Linder 22 22. Billy Aron 26 23. Austin Wheatley 44W 24. Max Mittry 2XM

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS: Corey Day 1-35

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER: Sean Becker 13th to 4th

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (30 cars): Max Mittry 12.525

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (10 laps): Golobic, Wheatley, Brooks, Faccinto, Kaeding, Mittry, Johnson, McMahan

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (10 laps): Scelzi, Carrick, Sanders, Faccinto, Holmes, Linder, Foland Jr.

DIRT.TRAVEL CLUB HEAT THREE (10 laps): Becker, Henry, Croft, Clark, Aton, Fielding, Strole

KAEDING PERFORMANCE HEAT FOUR (10 laps): Bernal, Day, Carrick, Myers Jr., Kaesong, Kent, Bell

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (6 laps): Day, Carrick, Brooks, Henry, Sanders, Croft

STARR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SEMI (12 laps): Mittry, McMahan, Johnson, Kent, Linder, Forler, Strole, Foland Jr., Bell, Fielding

Apr 27, 2022 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Race Results

When it was announced that there would be one final race at Houston Raceway before they closed their doors, Randy Meyer Racing knew they had to honor their past success there and give it one more go with drivers Julie Nataas and Hunter Green. Nataas scored another No. 1 qualifier and reached her 11th national event final round while Green went to the quarterfinals at the NHRA SpringNationals. 

Coming into raceday, Julie continued her dominating performance as she drove straight down Houston Raceway in the final session to grab the No. 1 qualifying position with a 5.208-second pass at 279.27 mph. Green qualified No. 10 with a stable 5.394, 262.90.

First round, Julie used a major starting line advantage and a 5.305, 272.01 to defeat Buddy Domingue’s 9.003, 109.90. Hunter Green followed right behind with his first career national event round win with an .024-second reaction time and a 5.401, 264.49 to take out Steve Collier’s 5.488, 266.11.

Second round, Hunter Green once again had a large starting line advantage over his competitor Madison Payne but his 5.437, 267.32 wasn’t enough to outrun Payne’s 5.316, 272.94. Julie broke the beams on her bye run and pushed back to prepare for Sunday’s eliminations in the quarterfinals. 

In the semifinals, Julie staged up against Madison Payne. Julie was .039 on the tree and never looked back. Her 5.216, 279.79 lit up her win light in her left lane over Payne’s 5.349, 273.11. 

In her 11th career national event final round, Julie took on Joey Severance; the pair had both won three times against the other in elimination rounds in prior events. Nataas and Severance left together on the starting line and the battle was on. Julie had to pedal her dragster but recovered with ease and still managed to clock in with a 5.358, 278.69 but it wasn’t enough to edge out Severance’s 5.239, 276.35.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE APRIL 27, 2022
Better at Barber: Chevrolet Riding Strong History to Alabama GPTeam Chevy on rare run to open 2022 racing seasonDETROIT (April 27, 2022) – Chevrolet is hoping to add to a stellar start to the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES this weekend when its teams head to scenic Barber Motorsports Park for the Grand Prix of Alabama. Team Chevy is on a three-race win streak to open the season and heads to a venue where it has enjoyed incredible success during the past decade. It has been 10 years since Chevrolet opened an INDYCAR season with four consecutive victories to signal its return to North American open-wheel racing. The 2017 season was the last time the Bowtie Brand won four races in row when it won five times late the season. The odds appear to be in Team Chevy’s favor this weekend. A Chevrolet driver has won six times with the 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn circuit just outside Birmingham including four straight from 2015-18. “It’s a gratifying feeling to be able to celebrate with our Chevrolet engineers, drivers and teams at the end of every race win,” said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet Program Manager for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. “To do so three times to start this season is extra special. I wouldn’t say we are completely surprised because we expect to win every race. But we also recognize the high level of competition in INDYCAR at the moment. Our engineers will continue to work hard to find improvements with our teams to keep Chevrolet at the front each weekend. “As to Barber itself, the track presents a number of challenges. It’s the first natural-terrain road course of the year. That means lots of elevation change and punishing runoff areas that always get the attention of drivers. Consistent power application and fuel management across the hills and around all 17 corners will be key. There’s nothing more we’d like than to go into the month of May and Indianapolis with another victory.” Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden is the hottest driver in INDYCAR with the points lead and consecutive victories at Texas and Long Beach. Now he heads to a Barber Motorsports Park where he has won three times – the most of any driver in the series. A win there by the No. 2 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet would net Newgarden the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge, which rewards the first driver to win on an oval, street circuit and road course in the same season. That driver will share $500,000 with his or her team and donate $500,000 to that driver and team’s chosen charity. Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin won the season’s opening street race at St. Petersburg and sits second in points. With two pole positions in three races, Chevrolet also leads the Engine Manufacturer Championship. In addition to Team Penske, Ed Carpenter Racing has found its share of success at Barber. It won with Newgarden in 2015 and has two additional top-10 finishes at Barber. Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 1 from Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. The race will air live on NBC, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160). Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com. TEAM CHEVY QUOTESJOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: “I love Barber and how close it is to Nashville. Before the Music City Grand Prix, it was kind of my home race to some degree. I love the high-speed nature of Barber. It’s a lot of high-speed commitment from a lot of the corners which makes it a lot of fun to drive. It suits my style, for sure. It’s all about flow and carrying big speed and putting the car on the edge. That’s what I like most about it.””It’ll be fascinating to see how we go on a permanent road course. I think we’ve proven we can have a good street-course car and a good oval car, but we need to have a good road-course car to complete the set. So I’m really looking forward to it.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 SONSIO CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “Excited to head back to Barber. I think for me it was my first race last year in INDYCAR and it was just trying to take it all in at that point. Now after having a year and a few more races under my belt I am excited to head back to a track I actually originally enjoyed. I love the track. I think it is a roller coaster. It reminds me a lot of the bravery and commitment you need on some of the big tracks in Australia. I think with the experience I’ve gained in the last 18 months, I feel really strong and excited to head back to a track. It really kicks off our road course campaign. It’s the first road course we’ve had this year. I’m excited to see how the car feels like. What the changes we have made in the off-season feels like. It’s been good on the street circuits and ovals. This will be our first road course test and I think we can be right at the front and put Team Chevy in Victory Lane.”  DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING: “Can’t wait to get on track at Barber. Barber’s always been one of the cool tracks on thecircuit–it’s a well-maintained, well-put-together circuit. It’s a fun track to drive and challenging physically. It can be hard to pass so we’ll have to be working on that. Obviously qualifying is going to be super important so we’ll be keeping that theme of focusing really aggressively on qualifying through the practice and getting ready for those qualifying runs to get a good start for the race. Looks like ticket sales are going great so looking forward to a busy weekend with all the INDYCAR fans there. The No. 4 K-Line Insulator crew will be ready.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP:“I love Barber. It’s one of my favorite racetracks because it’s a very high commitment track. I’ve always said it’s one of the most beautiful and well taken care of facilities I’ve ever been too. It’s always a great turnout; I also heard it’s going to be a sold-out event on Sunday so I’m sure it’s going to be a great event for everyone to watch and for us to entertain. Looking forward to continuing on the momentum we have built and getting some great points for our championship.” FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW McLAREN SP CHEVROLET,ARROW McLAREN RACING SP: “It’s good to be going back to a proper road course, Barber, it’s the first one this year. It’s a great track; it’s a cool, physical, and mental challenge. It’s always a great joy to drive that track. I think as a team both Pato and I, and everyone working on the cars, are ready to have a solid result. We are looking forward to getting some good points to get the season going.” TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING: “I’m really looking forward to Barber. Although I have been there in Star Mazda, I have to say I had to watch a lot of onboards to remember the whole track, so it will be a new track to learn for me. The only thing I remember from Barber was that I had my first podium in Star Mazda there. It’s our first permanent track of the year so I’m excited to be able to explore the limit of the car a bit more freely than in the first two rounds– it’s always tough to do that on a street circuit.  “I have spent the last couple of weeks training hard in Florida (good for heat training), as according to some of the drivers and engineers, Barber is one of the toughest tracks physically. I have done a bit more strength work ahead of this weekend and the different format of having only the race on Sunday (and no warmup) may help for that. I expect a big challenge regardless and for sure trying to catch up as quick as possible as most of the drivers or rookies have tested in Barber recently. My goal is still the same to start off where we left in Long Beach and keep improving every session.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: “Barber will be interesting. People have tested there, so it could a tough race for us. I finished second there last year so hopefully we can build on the setup a little bit and be pretty good when we get there.” KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING:“Looking forward to Barber, it’s an awesome race,” Kirkwood said. “I heard it’s sold out and we’re looking forward to getting back on a permanent road course. It’s a track I’m familiar with and a track that the team’s familiar with, and they’ve had pretty good races there in the past so hopefully that momentum continues and we’ll have a good weekend.” CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING:“Barber is a place where we have been able to test. It’s very fresh in our minds and is a very well-manicured circuit. It’s very different from our street races, obviously. But it also is one of the most physically demanding circuits on the schedule because it has very high G-loads and high levels of grip. It’s an enjoyable circuit to drive. It’s a tougher race circuit until the tires start to wear out and that creates some overtaking. The straights aren’t super-long but it’s a fun track. It’s a little narrow but it doesn’t seem as narrow as a place like Road America, for example.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING:“Before Long Beach, we had a great test at Barber Motorsports Park and it made me even more excited to get back there! We have a fast car that can challenge for a Top 5. Ed Carpenter Racing has a strong history at Barber, which is also very good. I really like the track and it’s pretty beautiful in the spring. I might also get a haircut at Barber because it makes sense.” CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING: “After testing the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week, we are looking forward to our first road course race of the season at Barber. Luckily I got the chance to test at Barber and iron out any little issues we may have had so hopefully we can hit the ground running at Barber. It’s a fun track. It will be difficult to overtake in the race, but hopefully we can get a better qualifying run and move up a few places. Otherwise the weather looks a bit questionable so that could make it a bit interesting, but we will have to see. It would be nice to see what this car is like in the wet.”  BY THE NUMBERS: CHEVROLET IN INDYCAR· 1: Chevrolet’s position in the INDYCAR Engine Manufacturer standings after three races· 3: Career Barber wins for Josef Newgarden. All have been in Chevrolet-powered entries· 3: Consecutive victories by Chevrolet to open the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the pole and race at St. Petersburg. Penske teammate Josef Newgarden won at Texas and Long Beach.· 6: Wins for Chevrolet INDYCAR teams at Barber Motorsports Park· 6: Different Chevrolet drivers to win races dating back to the start of 2020. Scott McLaughlin was the most recent at St. Petersburg· 6: Number of Manufacturer Championships in the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012· 6: Number of Team Chevy Driver/Entrant championships since 2012· 9: Wins from pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver· 13: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 10 with Chevrolet· 25: Wins by Will Power since 2012. All have come with Chevrolet, giving him the most of any driver with same manufacturer· 39: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver· 98: Chevrolet victories in NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012· 109: Earned poles by Chevrolet since 2012· 168: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR

April 27, 2022

Dover Motor Speedway bills itself as the Monster Mile, but Brian Wilson, crew chief of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang, said he’s not intimidated over the prospects of racing on the fast, one-mile concrete oval.

In fact, he enjoys the challenges of racing there.

“Personally I think Dover is the most underrated track that we go to,” Wilson said. “I love the speed that we’re able to carry on entry [into the turns], the unloading on entry followed by the big landing moment in the center of the corner. 
 
“I love that you can run a diamond in the center of the corner and also have to pay attention to how the track takes rubber with how that affects the line you run. 
 
“It’s a very challenging race track for cars historically with the amount of load that suspension parts see, but it’s also challenging for crew chiefs in that you have to keep up with the track. 
 
“All of that makes it incredibly rewarding when you run well there.”
 
Wilson said he, driver Harrison Burton and the rest of the DEX Imaging crew are anxious to get back to the race track and put a disappointing Talladega finish behind them.
 
“I know that everyone on our team is looking forward to the race on Sunday with plans to continue our team’s progress forward,” he said.
 
Practice for the DuraMAX Drydene 400 is set for Saturday morning at 10:30 Eastern Time followed by qualifying at 11:15.
 
Sunday’s 400-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.
 
Stage breaks are set for Laps 120 and 250.
 

CHARLOTTE, NC (April 26, 2022) — Every racer eventually finds a race track that for whatever reason they have consistent success throughout their career. This weekend Josh Hart is hoping zMax Dragway outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, will become that track for the second year Top Fuel racer. The team will be racing under the TechNet banner for the first time this season. They will be riding with the two-time Top Fuel winner at the Richmond national event as well. Hart’s relationship with TechNet extends well behind the pit area of his race team.

“I am excited to be running the TechNet Top Fuel dragster this weekend in Charlotte and for the next couple of races,” said Hart, who owns and operates Burnyzz Speed Shop in Ocala, Florida. “They are an amazing partner for us at the track and at Burnyzz. We are proud to be a part of the TechNet family because they do things the way I do things which is offering only the best service and exceptional care.”

Josh Hart, TechNet Top Fuel dragster

TechNet Professional Automotive Service is an elite network of more than 15,000 repair shops across North America. They are locally owned and care about delivering exceptional customer care and service. Their staff is well-trained and only uses quality parts. Much like Burnyzz Speed Shop that are also very tied into their local communities.

The beginning of this NHRA season has seen Hart battle several issues including shaking down a brand-new 11,000 horsepower race car to random gremlins that have short circuited his success. Hart is putting all those issues behind him and heading to a track where he parked his race car in the winner’s circle the last time he was on the property and raced the final quad in his first attempt at four-wide racing.

“I am not a superstitious person, but I do think there are some tracks where racers just have better performance for whatever reason,” said Hart, who won the Carolina Nationals Top Fuel title last fall. “I think the facility at zMax Dragway is one of the nicest we go to on the tour and they have a great crowd. We just need to string together some good runs and put some of these weird issues that have hurt us in the rearview mirror.”

The highlight of the 2022 season has been a semifinal finish at the Arizona Nationals where Hart started as the No. 8 qualifier and then outran Leah Pruett and Rob Passey before dropping a close race to eventual winner Mike Salinas. The consistently quick elapsed times and momentum have popped up at the following two national events, but the team is focusing on building a strong foundation.

CHARLOTTE, NC (April 26, 2022) — After a strong showing last weekend at the NHRA SpringNationals in Houston, third year pro Justin Ashley will head to the Circle K Four-Wide Nationals in search of his first four-wide win at the unique event. Ashley powered his Mike Green tuned Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot to the No. 4 position in qualifying and then raced to his second final round of the season. Ashley is solidly in third place in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings five races into the season. 

“The Top Fuel category is very competitive, and it’s shown throughout the first few races of the season,” said Ashley. “Each round of racing is equally as important as the next and teams are ready to capitalize on every opportunity. I am looking forward to joining our team in competition at the Circle K Four-Wide Nationals this weekend.”

Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot, photo by Ron Lewis

The 2020 Rookie of the Year collected his third career victory at the season opening Winternationals and has added an additional semifinal finish to his ledger prior to the runner-up finish in Houston. Consistent qualifying times have put the young driver in a great position to succeed. As the second four-wide national event of the season opens this weekend with two qualifying runs on Saturday Ashley knows it will be critical to maximize every pass down zMax Dragway.

“The four-wide events present a unique style of racing we only participate in twice a year,” said Ashley. “One of the major benefits is having an extra qualifying session to get comfortable behind the wheel and collect data. Mike Green and Tommy DeLago do an outstanding job of dissecting that data. Using our technical alliance with Antron Brown Motorsports will be critical at a race like this because of the extra information and number of lanes.”

While the four-wide format has not been kind to Ashley he has enjoyed success at zMax Dragway including two semifinal finishes at the Fall national event. Ashley made his professional debut at the track located just 25 minutes from downtown Charlotte in 2019 qualifying No. 12 and then beating Mike Salinas and Auston Prock before losing a close semifinal race to eventual world champion Steve Torrence. Ashley unveiled a new sponsor at zMax Dragway and this weekend he has donated the firesuit he wore at that event to Speedway Children’s Charities to be auctioned off along with a meet and greet in his pit area. Fans can bid on the firesuit here.

“The work Speedway Children’s Charities does at SMI tracks across the country is amazing,” said Ashley. “When they asked about auctioning off my firesuit I was all for it and I am looking forward to handing it over to the lucky winner in our pits on Saturday. We had a lot of success in that firesuit, including winning the Stampede of Speed Texas Fall Nationals race in Dallas, and I am honored to pass it along in an effort to do our part in helping their cause.”

In addition to the firesuit charity auction Ashley in conjunction with primary sponsor Philips Connect has been raising money for families affected by the situation in Ukraine. Donations have been collected over the past several races with contributors’ names highlighted on the front wing of his Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot. Ashley sees these types of initiatives as being part of a larger movement to be a strong corporate citizen and has aligned himself with companies who share his focus.

Throughout his career he has built successful marketing and awareness programs with Auto Shocker, Lucas Oil, KATO Fastening Systems just to name a few. The young businessman is always looking to work with companies who see the value of NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and the diverse community of fans.

Four rounds of qualifying will highlight Friday and Saturday with final eliminations beginning at noon ET on Sunday. The race will air on FS1 beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Batavia, OH (April 26, 2022) – Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series officials are thrilled to share the names of five teams that have declared to compete for the title of O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year in 2022: Aston Winger (Team 22, Inc.), Daulton Wilson (JRR Motorsports), Garrett Alberson (Roberts Motorsports), Ross Robinson (Dutch Star Motorsports), Spencer Hughes (PCC Motorsports).  Ashton Winger began his racing career in 2009 and has quickly established himself as one of racing’s bright young stars. The youngest driver challenging for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year in 2022; Winger has over 40 career Late Model victories, including major events like the Coors Light Fall Classic and the Billy Clanton Classic. Winger recalls his most memorable moment as winning the Scott Thompson Memorial at East Bay Raceway Park in 2018.    Winger has big goals in mind for the year. “I’m thankful for GR and Stacey Smith, and JC Clary for the opportunity. Rookie of the year would be nice but our goal the entire time has been a points championship.” Driver of the #89 Longhorn Chassis powered by Cornett Racing Engines, Winger hails from Hampton, GA. For more information about Winger, visit www.ashtonwinger.com. Daulton Wilson is looking to capitalize on his recent success this season. The 25-year-old has won prestigious races in the Southeast such as the Prelude to the Finals, Cash Money 100, and Carlton Lamm Memorial winner. Stepping into the JRR Motorsports entry this season, Wilson is looking forward to competing in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2022 and achieving his lifelong goals. “Racing at a national level has always been a lifelong dream of mine,” stated Daulton Wilson. “Thanks to James, Justin and the entire JRR Motorsports organization, that dream will come true this year. I look forward to the opportunity to represent everyone that has supported my racing career as I pursue the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year title in 2022.” The Fayetteville, NC driver, Wilson, pilots the #18D Longhorn Chassis powered by Pro Power Racing Engines. Garrett Alberson brings nearly two decades of experience in his quest for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year. Alberson has been a staple on the Lucas Oil MLRA tour in recent years, winning the midwest regional tour’s Rookie of the Year title in 2020 and finishing second in the series’ championship standings in 2021. Alberson served as Crew Chief for the four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, Earl Pearson Jr., in 2018 and 2019. He has over 50 career victories, including major events like the Thawl Brawl and Harvest 50. “I’m so honored to be a part of this group of rookies taking on this challenge,” said Alberson. “This is for all the car owners and people that have put time and money into helping me pursue this level of racing, I hope I can make them proud. Big thanks to Ken Roberts for believing in me and giving me what it takes to go for it. I’m hoping we can race hard, fail gracefully, and learn what it takes to be competitive at the highest level in dirt late model racing.” Alberson drives a Black Diamond Chassis powered by Clements Racing Engines. For more information on this Las Cruces, NM driver visit www.garrettalberson.com.   In 2022, Ross Robinson is celebrating his 25th year of racing by tackling the Lucas Oil Late ModelDirt Series. The Delaware ace began his career in 1997 at the age of seven. Ten years later, Ross made the move to super late models and has since garnered multiple track and regional series championships. Robinson and the Dutchstar Motorsports team now have their focus on achieving national success. Robinson was quick to say, “Being able to join the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series full time and make a run at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the year is more than just a dream come true. It’s a thank you to every person who believed in me and my dream of being a full-time racer. Also, it’s a way to honor my father, who passed away in September, who wanted nothing more than to see me on a national level. This year is going to be a great experience and I can’t thank everyone enough for making all of this possible.”  Robinson drives the #7 Longhorn Chassis powered by a Clements Racing Engine. For more information about the Georgetown, DE native visit his website: www.rossrobinson7.com.  Spencer Hughes began his racing career in karts in 2008. After much success, he moved to street stocks in 2015 and has since accumulated over 80 career wins along with multiple track championships in street stock, open wheel modified, crate late model and super late model. Now piloting the Indiana-based, PCC Motorsports entry, Hughes aspires to be one of the top performers in our sport.  “I’m really excited to have the opportunity to compete in the 2022 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year,” said Spencer Hughes. “A huge thank you to O’Reilly’s for stepping up and being the title sponsor for the Rookie of the Year! As always, I would like to thank PCC Motorsports for giving me this opportunity to be able to compete at the highest level.” The driver of the #11 from Meridian, MS has Longhorn Chassis’ that are powered by Clements Racing Engines and Cornett Racing Engines. For more information about Hughes, visit www.pccmotorsports.com.   The O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year program will pay $15,000 to the winner, $5,000 to the runner-up, and $2,500 to the 3rd place finisher in the Rookie of the Year standings. In addition to the increased cash awards, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year will receive additional product awards from multiple motorsports manufacturers that have partnered with the series in 2022. In addition to the increased cash awards for the Rookie of the Year program, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will pay a $100 cash award to the highest finishing rookie in each feature event from the time of declaration and will be paid out at every feature event throughout the season.  O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year Standings: