CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES APRIL 10, 2022

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 10, 2022) – Josef Newgarden delivered Chevrolet its first victory at Long Beach in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2016 with a thrilling victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – the first of his career at the street circuit and second in a row on the season in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden withstood a furious final 28 laps and two full-course caution periods before winning under yellow-flag conditions at Long Beach. It gave Team Chevy its third straight win to open the 2022 INDYCAR season for the first time in six years. Team Chevy recorded three of the first five finishing positions. Team Penske teammate Will Power was fourth in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, followed in fifth by Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Vuse Chevrolet. A.J. Foyt Racing’s Kyle Kirkwood wrapped up the top-10 with his best finish of his rookie season in the No. 14 Rokit Chevrolet. TEAM CHEVY QUOTESJOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – RACE WINNER:IS THIS ONE OF YOUR GREATEST WINS?“This is definitely up there on the list. This was a fight today. This is not an easy race to win. I don’t know what it looked like from the outside, but I was working my butt off with Grosjean there at the end on the used reds. I was hoping he would fade a little bit, Holding him off on that restart was super difficult. This Hitachi car was on it. I knew coming in to the race we had a great strategy and with Team Chevy we were going to be alright. With pit stops helping me get around Alex (Palou), I’m so proud of Team Penske. I have been trying to win a race here for 11 years so I’m so happy to finally get it done.”WHAT WAS HARDEST BATTLE?“I think the out lap with Palou. We got together in Turn Five and that almost didn’t work. We went side-by-side in that corner and then again in Turn Six. That was the difficult battle, but I think overall Grosjean had the best shot at getting it done. Fortunately we just held.DID YOU HAVE HERTA COVERED?“Yes, I think we had him covered. I was pretty determined.”MORE ON THE WIN.“When I was walking out of the press conference room after qualifying, a reporter from the LA Times pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey Josef, real quick… at what point does Herta just check out tomorrow?’ I took total offense to that. The guy assumed Colton was going to run away with the race. So I was pretty determined.  Alex (Palou) was fast but I think we had them both covered for sure.”IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS SINCE YOU WON CONSECUTIVE RACES. IS SOMETHING SPECIAL HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?“It’s too early to say. It’s only three races in. We could have a horrible rest of the year. I’m not trying to wish bad juju on us, just looking at both sides of the argument. What I feel like we are building on the 2 car. We’ve got a good engineer in Eric Leichtle and all our crew plus everyone else at Team Penske that works on this team. I’m feeling positive about where we are going, but we have a long way to go. Indianapolis is where we have to perform for Team Penske. I want a Borg-Warner so bad. So let’s see what we can do during the Month of May.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – FINISHED FOURTH: “It was a very solid day for the Verizon 5G Chevy. We’re playing the long game and banking those points. When we get a chance to win, we’ll go for it. At the start we said if we got in the top-five we’d be really happy. A podium would have been awesome, but I’m happy with this.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 McLAREN VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP – FINISHED FIFTH: “We had a rough start to the weekend so this fifth-place feels really good. We wanted to just get a solid foundation for the rest of our year, and we’ve done this today. I’m happy and proud of the boys. We should be very satisfied with fifth because we started 11th. We went forward and not just one or two positions. We went up a handful so we can be proud of that.”  KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 10TH: “The race went exceptional for us at A.J. Foyt Racing. It’s a sweet win for us because we’ve had a couple of finishes we didn’t want with the pace we had. Today we had the pace and we were able to show that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make some passes happen but we got into the top-10. We were absolutely solid on the red tires. I felt like we could make some passes but everyone was a little too bunched up in the first stint to make that happen. Once we went to the black tires, we were able to run with everyone else who was in front of us but it was a bit of a fuel-saving game so we were all kind of sitting in limbo. The restarts here are just so tough because you come out of the last corner and it’s a massive accordion effect. You can’t make passes happen into Turn One. It’s so tight between the walls to make the passes anywhere else. It’s just so difficult. We’re right there with the big dogs and we’re right there with the big teams. We were quick today and we showed that. All we did was go forward. It was solid points for the team. I’m super happy and everyone is smiling. We’re look forward to going testing at Indianapolis here in a couple of weeks.” SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – FINISHED 14TH: “We had good pace but I made a mistake on the second exchange. It was bad judgement. I clipped the inside wall which spun me out. Once you lose track position like that, you’re pretty done. We managed to claw our way back to 14th and passed the most cars. We just didn’t have track position. I felt like it was a pretty good weekend overall pace-wise. We were right there but didn’t put it together. I’ll keep my head up and keep working and we’ll be OK. Team Penkse still won, which is the main thing. We’re in a good spot. Until that mistake, we made a good start, were in a good spot and in front of Grosjean who ultimately finished second. It’s disappointing, but we’ll keep building. We’re still second in the championship, which isn’t a bad thing.” TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 16TH: “I’m really happy with the steps have we made since St. Petersburg. I feel much more confident in the car, even on pit stops and making little adjustments and learning how to deal with the tires better. I’m really thankful for the team. They did a fantastic job. Of course we want to be fighting more people in the next couple of races. The steps we took were huge and I’ll carry that confidence into Barber.” CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING – FINISHED 24TH: “Unfortunately, our race ended early with a little bit of contact with the wall in Turn Eight. We just knocked the rear out and had to retire. Otherwise, it was a weird race. There was so much grip on the track and the rubber was building up massively. It was a real shame to finish like that. We didn’t have a massive amount of pace which is something we need to work on, the different feelings with the tires from reds to blacks. We have a lot to look at after this weekend, some pros and some cons. We have Barber in two weeks, which I believe is a physical one, so I need to train a bit for that one. Overall, Long Beach was a challenge, but we will analyze and look to improve for the next one.” DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 26TH: “I got a little deep into the brake zone for Turn One and carried too much speed through the entry to the corner, got wide and hit the barriers. I was trying to shift into fuel-saving mode and kind of misjudged it on the brakes.

Allen Led Final Three Laps for $15,000 Payday at Missouri’s Lake Ozark Speedway

ELDON, MO – April 9, 2022 –Jacob Allen decided enough was enough on Saturday night.

As he watched the lead slip from his grasp, all of the heartbreaking losses, the close calls, and the what could have beens flashed before his eyes. At that moment, Allen made a deal with himself – “I’m not losing this race. I can’t run second again.”

It was like the 27-year-old native of Hanover, PA shape-shifted into a brand new man and introduced us to a Jacob Allen who simply refused to lose. He seized every opportunity he saw from the battle through traffic with Brady Bacon down to the Lap 27 pass which ultimately decided the race.

Chasing a perfect night at Lake Ozark Speedway, Allen struggled with backmarkers early on and gave the lead away on Lap 12. He promptly sat up in the seat and got it back, but another bobble on Lap 20 sent him faltering to second again as Brady Bacon appeared ready to claim his first-ever World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win.

Allen had other plans, however. He kept the Shark Racing #1A within striking distance and when the right rear tire on Bacon’s #21H began going flat, he saw the door open and kicked it right in. The pair made slight contact twice on Lap 27 as Allen snuck underneath Bacon and muscled his way to the lead and victory lane.

“I feel like I’ve always been known as Mr. Nice Guy,” an emotional Allen said. “But I felt like I couldn’t lose this, I just couldn’t run second again. I’ve lost so many times and I’ve fallen backward so many times. I knew he might not like me for it, but I had to do what I had to do. I respect Brady [Bacon] a lot and he’s probably one of the winningest guys in the pit area, but I just had to nudge him a bit because I needed this win.”

At the tune of $15,000, the Jason Johnson Classic victory is easily the biggest of Allen’s career. It’s his second-ever win with the World of Outlaws and his first since September of 2020. The extra special win at the Jason Johnson Classic presented by FK Rod Ends also came aboard the Bobby Allen throwback scheme with Jacob’s father in attendance to enjoy the moment.”

“Jason Johnson’s program was and is still family-based just like mine,” Allen said about how special this win was. “I have the utmost respect for that entire family and their team. I can’t thank Jack, Tyler, Ron, Ben, Logan, dad, and Hannah enough. They’ve been through everything with me and they could’ve given up, but they don’t. $15,000 is sick.”

Outside of Allen’s return to victory lane, Brady Bacon’s prowess was easily the biggest story of the night. The Broken Arrow, OK native is a four-time USAC National Sprint Car champion and one of the most recognized non-wing racers in the world, but on this night he was taking it to The Greatest Show on Dirt.

In his first-ever race aboard the TKH Motorsports #21H Sprint Car, Bacon was nearly flawless at Lake Ozark. He timed in second-quick, ran second in his Heat, finished third in the Dash, and led nine laps before a flat right rear tire spoiled his shot at winning his first-ever World of Outlaws Feature.

“It’s tough to swallow,” Bacon added, after finishing 17th at the line. “It just wasn’t meant to be. I’m really proud of our effort on this new operation with the Hinck’s, though. All you can do is look forward to the next one and find a way to be better.”

Also capitalizing on Bacon’s misfortune was Spencer Bayston of Lebanon, IN, who scored a season-best second-place finish aboard the CJB Motorsports, Signing Day Sports #5. It’s the fourth-straight top-10 finish for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contender (second-best active streak) as he and crew chief Barry Jackson continue to gel well.

“I think we’re as fast anyone right now,” Bayston said from the podium. “Some things haven’t gone our way, but we’ve made the most of the opportunities we’ve been given. This is what these guys deserve to be up here on the frontstretch. The first part of this year is all new to me, but we’ve done a great job of attacking. I’m ready to get that first win out of the way.”

Limping home his own flat right rear was David Gravel of Watertown, CT, who barely hung on to finish third and score his sixth podium of the season in the Big Game Motorsports #2 at Lake Ozark.

“On a night like tonight we’re gonna be extremely happy with third,” Gravel grinned. “I saw Brady’s tire going down and knew I wasn’t far behind, but we barely held it together. Not ideal conditions, but I’m glad we got this in.”

Allen’s Shark Racing teammate Logan Schuchart matched his season-best result of fourth-place in the DuraMAX/Drydene #1S, while Brad Sweet earned another steady top-five finish in the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49.

Rounding out the top-10 in the Jason Johnson Classic was Brock Zearfoss, Rico Abreu, Brent Marks, Giovanni Scelzi, and Sheldon Haudenschild.

NOS NOTEBOOK (Lake Ozark Speedway, 4/9/22)

Jacob Allen’s second career victory makes him the 96th multi-time winner in World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series history and moves him beyond his uncle Joey Allen (1 win). It’s the 63rd Series victory for his family with another 30 wins from father Bobby Allen and 30 more from nephew Logan Schuchart.

Allen’s victory ends a 104-race dry spell since his first-career win which came on September 11, 2020 at Dodge City (KS) Raceway Park. He also became the fourth different winner through four years of the Jason Johnson Classic, joining Gravel, McFadden & Sweet.

The Shark Racing #1A recorded the first perfect night of the 2022 season by setting Slick Woody’s QuickTime Award (11.464), winning his NOS Energy Drink Heat Race, winning the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, and winning the Jason Johnson Classic Feature.

UP NEXT (Fri) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will stay in the state of Missouri next weekend with a doubleheader at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO on Friday & Saturday, April 15-16. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap on LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][$15,000]; 2. 5-Spencer Bayston [2][$6,225]; 3. 2-David Gravel [4][$3,725]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][$3,025]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$2,725]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [6][$2,525]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu [12][$2,425]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [9][$2,325]; 9. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [10][$2,275]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [8][$2,225]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11][$1,825]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz [14][$1,625]; 13. 83-James McFadden [18][$1,425]; 14. 8-Aaron Reutzel [17][$1,325]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [13][$1,275]; 16. 41-Carson Macedo [15][$1,225]; 17. 21H-Brady Bacon [3][$1,225]; 18. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [19][$1,200]; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser [22][$1,200]; 20. 73-Scotty Thiel [20][$1,200]; 21. 35-Zach Hampton [23][$1,200]; 22. 25-JJ Hickle [16][$1,200]; 23. 17B-Bill Balog [24][$1,200]; 24. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [21][$1,200]; 25. 7S-Jason Sides [25]. Lap Leaders: Jacob Allen 1-11, 13-19, 28-30; Brady Bacon 12, 20-27. KSE Hard Charger Award: 24-Rico Abreu[+5]

NEW Championship Standings (After 13/83 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (1,826); 2. David Gravel (-40); 3. Carson Macedo (-54); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-70); 5. Donny Schatz (-110); 6. James McFadden (-116); 7. Giovanni Scelzi (-120); 8. Logan Schuchart (-138); 9. Spencer Bayston (-156); 10. Jacob Allen (-190).

Leary, Bacon, and Ballou Traded Lead in Jason Johnson Classic Feature

ELDON, MO – April 9, 2022 – Being a frontrunner in Saturday’s Low-E Insulation Feature was a dangerous game with the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series and POWRi WAR Sprint Cars. For some, it spelled disaster; for others, it spelled glory.

At only 30 laps in length, the non-wing portion of the Jason Johnson Classic at Lake Ozark Speedway saw countless comers and goers throughout. In total, a staggering 11 different drivers at one point or another held a top-five running position.

There was doom: Bacon’s shocking spin, Clouser’s flat tire, Bright’s tough tumble & Short’s wicked flip.

There was brillance: Leary’s late rally, Ballou’s spectacular charge, Cockrum’s first podium & J-Mac’s KKM success.

In the end, CJ Leary of Greenfield, IN played his cards the best aboard the Michael Motorspors #77M. After leading the opening 12 laps, Leary faded as far back as fourth and appeared out of the picture until the tables and the track turned. He avenged earlier contact with Robert Ballou by driving by the 17th-starter on Lap 27 and clutching up late in the going to score the $5,000 victory.

“Sometimes being the leader isn’t always the best, and I think that was the case tonight,” Leary noted. “I think Brady had the car in the Feature, he could run where I and anyone else couldn’t. When he spun out, I knew the whole race changed. Robert and I had a spirited battle there and it was fun. It feels good to put Bill Michael and this Kodiak Products #77M back in victory lane.”

His second win through three races makes Leary the first repeat winner in Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series history. It also extends his points lead in the 13-race mini-Series as the former USAC National Sprint Car champion emerges as an unexpected contender for the inaugural $20,000 Xtreme Outlaw title.

The first half of the Xtreme / POWRi Feature went quickly with Leary leading the first 12, and then fifth-starting Brady Bacon taking the Wedgewood #98 to the point on Lap 13. Chaos soon broke out as a trio of leading contenders dropped out with Mario Clouser (3rd) of Auburn, IL suffering a flat right rear, Carson Short (4th) of Marion, IL flipping over after contact with Ballou, and Alex Bright (5th) of Collegeville, PA finding the wall & landing upside down.

More wildness ensued as 17th-starting Robert Ballou entered the picture and looked to pull off a massive win from deep in the field. The Mad Man was pressuring Bacon for the point when the Broken Arrow, OK native looped the #98 and brought out the final caution on Lap 22, putting the lead directly into Ballou’s hand.

It looked like the #12 had the checkered flag in his bag, but Leary’s #77M returned to form and the non-wing ace simply aced the restart when it mattered most. He snuck underneath Ballou on Lap 27 down the backstretch and drove away to a margin of victory at 0.849-seconds.

Ballou’s +15 run to a runner-up effort easily earned him TJ Forged Hard Charger honors, and capped off a crazy night for him. He was disqualified after winning his Heat (did not report to scales), then won the K1 Race Gear Last Chance Showdown from 12th, and almost won it all from 17th.

“When you piss off the bull, you get the horns,” Ballou said on his aggressive driving style. “I’ve raced with CJ quite a bit over the years and there have been some good ones and bad ones. I kinda squeezed him into the wall, but I had to lift so I didn’t wreck both of us. He was just too good at the end. I was a sitting duck out there and I didn’t move down in time to stop him.”

Shane Cockrum of Marion, IL finished in third, earning a season-best result for car owner Shane Wade and crew chief Davey Jones in the Amati Racing #66. One of the 15 originally committed championship contenders, Cockrum now sits third in the point standings behind Leary and Ballou through three of 13 races.

“I honestly thought through the middle parts that we were the car to beat,” Cockrum commented. “I lost some momentum on that last restart and kind of took away our shot. It takes a night like this to turn things around, and I’ve got full confidence in this group. I can’t thank these Amati Racing guys enough for taking a chance on me.”

Matt Westfall of Pleasant Hill, OH drove forward to a season-best fourth-from-12th in his #33M. Rounding out the top-five was Broken Arrow, OK native Jason McDougal, who was as high as third at one point, in his first run aboard the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67 Sprint Car.

Closing out the top-10 of the Xtreme / POWRi Feature was Wesley Smith, Jack Wagner, Kory Schudy, Jake Swanson, and Isaac Chapple.

UP NEXT (May) – The Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation will have another two months off before resuming the inaugural season on June 10-11 back at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO. Before then, the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota Racing will debut with a special Millbridge (NC) Speedway doubleheader on Monday & Tuesday, May 23-24.

Low-E Insulation Feature Results (30 Laps): 1. 77M-CJ Leary (1); 2. 12-Robert Ballou (17); 3. 66-Shane Cockrum (9); 4. 33M-Matt Westfall (12); 5. 67-Jason McDougal (15); 6. 44-Wesley Smith (8); 7. 77-Jack Wagner (2); 8. 28-Kory Schudy (13); 9. 21AZ-Jake Swanson (18); 10. 52-Isaac Chapple (3); 11. 31-Zach Daum (22); 12. 6-Mario Clouser (4); 13. 77K-Katlynn Leer (21); 14. 98-Brady Bacon (5); 15. 75-Dustin Clark (14); 16. 11W-Wyatt Burks (23); 17. 2B-Chad Boespflug (6); 18. 16-Anthony Nicholson (20); 19. 21H-Dallas Hewitt (19); 20. 28M-Brandon Mattox (11); 21. 17GP-Kyle Shipley (16); 22. 20-Alex Bright (7); 23. 21S-Carson Short (10); 24. 24-Landon Simon (24). Lap Leaders: Leary 1-12, 27-30; Bacon 13-22; Ballou 23-26. TJ Forged Hard Charger: Ballou +15.

NEW Championship Standings (3/14 Races): 1. CJ Leary (676); 2. Robert Ballou (-36); 3. Shane Cockrum (-77); 4. Carson Short (-114); 5. Jake Swanson (-130); 6. Brady Bacon (-135); 7. Alex Bright (-139); 8. Mario Clouser (-148); 9. Wesley Smith (-153); 10. Matt Westfall (-163).

 
WILLIAM BYRON CAPTURED HIS SECOND WIN OF 2022 AT MARTINSVILLEVictory Marks Fifth NCS Win for Next Gen Camaro ZL1 RIDGEWAY, Va. (April 9, 2022) – A trip to Martinsville Speedway saw William Byron capture his second NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) triumph of the 2022 season in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400. Victory lane at the .526-mile paperclip was a familiar place on the weekend for the 24-year-old North Carolina native, where Byron started the race weekend capturing the victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST. 
With momentum on his side, Byron showcased the speed of his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 team, scoring a runner-up finish in both stages. Taking the lead at the start of the final stage, Byron led a race-high 212 laps en route to his fourth-career victory in NASCAR’s premier series. Byron’s victory under the lights at the Virginia-based short track makes him the only driver so far this season to become a repeat winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. 
“It feels awesome,” said Byron after celebrating with his team on the front stretch. “When that last caution came out, I thought everyone behind us would pit and luckily we stayed out. We were aggressive. We felt like we could re-fire on the tires and be okay; and you’ve got one of the most aggressive guys behind you in (Joey) Logano. I knew I chattered the tires in (turns) 3 and 4 and kind of left the bottom open, but was able to block my exits and get a good drive off.”
The Camaro ZL1 showed its dominance at the Virginia-based short track, leading 398 of the 400-lap event. Bryon’s triumph gives Chevrolet its fifth victory thus far in 2022 and its 819th all-time win in NASCAR’s premier series, extending its win record as the winningest brand in NASCAR history. Three of the top-five and four of the top-10 of the final running order of the race were taken by Chevrolet drivers. Austin Dillon brought his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Camaro ZL1 home in the third position, his third top-10 finish at Martinsville. Recent first time winner, Ross Chastain, rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 GoPro Camaro ZL1. Pole winner, Chase Elliott, swept both stage wins and led 185 laps in his No. 9 LLumar Camaro ZL1 to round out the Team Chevy top-10. Elliott leaves Martinsville Speedway at the top of the NCS driver points standings with a three-point advantage over second. 
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Food City Dirt Race on Sunday, April 17, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, William Byron, who has been collecting clocks here all weekend at Martinsville, his second clock of the weekend here, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. We will go straight to questions for William.
Q.Can you just talk a little bit about how the car felt tonight? It seemed like a bit of an odd race here at Martinsville in terms of what we usually see and passing seemed pretty low.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, the pace was certainly high. I don’t think I ever — I couldn’t ever relax. I saved tire by just not sliding the tires, but I never could back up and save tire and things like that.But I think it’s just really cold temps. Anytime it’s below 40 degrees I’d say, the tires don’t even lay rubber. That was definitely a factor all night.
But normal short track stuff, like take care of your rear tires and all those things, and I felt like we did a good job of that. Rudy made some great adjustments there probably the mid portion of the race, got us a little bit better, and just tried to manage when we got to traffic and had to be aggressive with certain guys to kind of either move them or get them off-line to pass them and set our gap from there.
I thought as soon as we got our car a little bit better we could work through lap traffic and build a lead.
Q.How much could you take from the truck race on Thursday? Obviously this car is very different.WILLIAM BYRON: It’s different, but Martinsville, like any short track you go to, it’s rhythms, rhythms. So you find that rhythm, and I felt like in the truck I was able to find that rhythm pretty well on that last long run that we had towards the end of that race, and it’s always fun just racing other stuff. I don’t know why I didn’t do more short track racing throughout the last few years, but it’s been a lot of fun to go back to the short tracks and be with great people on the late model side. There’s little things here and there that they’ve taught me that I feel like have helped me, and all those little tidbits pay off.
Q.I asked you Thursday where you’re going to put the clock. Have you figured the first one out and what are you going to do with the second one?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, probably give one of them to my parents, and yeah, probably just keep the Cup one in the apartment because that one is pretty special.
Anytime you win a Cup race — these things are hard. I know it might have looked like we had a dominant race, but these Cup wins are really hard, so you cherish them, and definitely going to try to keep all the trophies together.
Q.You were in a similar position to win a clock I think it was 2019, and a late caution kind of made it go away. Jeff Gordon has been so good here for so long; the 24 car is synonymous with modern Martinsville history. Are you aware of any of that and your place now adding to that legacy? Chase wasn’t able to do it; he came close, too, but are you aware of your place in history, now the 24 at Martinsville?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, because it’s special. When I was a rookie, Jeff was like, hey, let’s ride up to Martinsville together. It wasn’t even a question, it was hey, let’s ride up to Martinsville together, I want to show you some things. He walked me through this place. Just the things he told me, I don’t know if it really clicked until I ran second that year to Truex, but they started to click, and it was like, all right, that’s the way you get around Martinsville.
So just having his history in the 24 car definitely puts an emphasis on being good here because I feel like it’s a place that is filled with history, and if you can win here in the 24 car it’s going to be something you always cherish.
Definitely is special, and he’s got, what, 93 wins and however many clocks. We’ve got a lot of clocks to chase, but it’s cool to get that advice from him. Those little things that I picked up from him in my rookie year that I didn’t really use for a few years, and then as soon as I got towards the front I’m like, all right, that makes sense.
Q.I know Jeff has taken a personal investment in you, not just the race craft but the marketing and presenting yourself publicly. What has Jeff meant to you as far as your development as a Cup driver?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think Jeff kind of brought me to the Cup Series. I was a kid in Xfinity that was really raw and didn’t know a lot about the world and I felt like Jeff brought me into the Cup world and said here’s how things go. I think that that’s been key for me because he’s probably been the biggest mentor for me in terms of how do I manage the team, how do I talk to the guys, how do I get things done when it comes to inside the shop and how I work with people, hey, I want this on my car or I want this in the interior of the car.
He was very vocal about getting all that stuff right, and I feel like those are the details that now it’s kind of paying off for me.
Q.I’ve got a couple questions. I was talking with Joey Logano after the race. He talked about how you brake checked him. He said, I would have done the same thing. I asked him do you wish now you would have hit him harder, and he said, yes. What were you expecting there? Were you expecting something harder than what he gave you in Turn 1?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I just knew from — just Legend car days, I knew if it comes down to a restart at the end, the second-place guy is just trying to move you off the bottom. Dennis taught me a lot of good lessons back in the day of that stuff, and I felt like that paid off there at the end. I’ve never really been in a situation like that until tonight, but I was like, man, all right, I guess it’s kind of like the Legend cars. You’ve got to keep the car on the bottom.
Luckily I kind of messed up 3 and 4 and I was able to — he was right there on my bumper but I was able to manage that.
Q.This is the first time you’ve had multiple wins in a season. You’ve done that –WILLIAM BYRON: That’s cool. We’ve been chasing that.
Q.That’s eight races, only eight races into a 36-race season. A, how does that make you feel now? And are you adjusting goals now as far as how many races you think you can win this year?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think I said it a couple times. I felt like last year left us with a pretty bitter taste because I felt like we were so close to a lot of wins in that second half of the year, and man, it just felt like things would happen and things would break down right at the last minute.
It left me with a bitter taste, and I felt like throughout this off-season I was pretty bitter about that stuff, but it was motivation because I felt like we could get into this year — granted, it’s a new car, we had to go through that adaptation process with the new car, but I feel like we’re starting to learn now what we need.It’s good to see, and now I feel like all of that desire and passion that we had in the off-season to prove to ourselves that we could win multiple races is there.
Q.Does it change your goals?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think my goals for at least last year and this year have been to win multiple races, so I don’t think that’s changed, but it’s a long season, so we’ve got to go to Bristol and figure out that and go to Talladega and hopefully build on what we did at Atlanta. I don’t know, it’s a long season for sure, but I think certainly we have the pieces to do it.
Q.You said it “clicked” when you finished second to Truex a few years ago. We’ve heard that from drivers before, that there would be a moment where it clicked. What was it about watching Truex or following Truex that it clicked for you?WILLIAM BYRON: Well, I can’t tell you that. I don’t know, it’s just short track stuff. I think when it clicks, it clicks everywhere. I’d say the mile-and-a-halfs are a little bit different, but they’re still — like grip is grip, so once you figure out what that feeling is that you want in the car, it does click for you.
Yeah, I just think — I’ve got great people around me. With Rudy, he’s grown up on the short tracks. He worked with Kyle a lot in super late models, and he’s got a good idea of these places.
It helps when you have people pulling the rope in the same direction and you have Rudy up there knowing what adjustments to make. He can see the car go around the track, and he probably knows before I say anything what I need.
Just an awesome team, and we’ve got — I can’t forget to mention Raptor. They’re on the car with AXALTA, and their promotion there, so pretty cool to have them on the car. Good to get both sponsors a win, with Liberty a couple weeks ago. Pretty awesome.
Q.You touched on being the first repeat winner of the year and being bitter after losing out on some wins last year. What does it mean now to cross off the box of first season getting multiple wins?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I just think it kind of breaks the ice a little bit. I felt like I could win a race a year. We’ve done that for a couple years. But to get in that multi-win category is hard. You’ve got to lead a lot of laps.
We were doing that okay, but we were kind of — I’d say we were probably an eighth to 12th place team before this year, and I just feel like we’re — I just see a difference in the way our guys are this year and kind of the attention to detail. It’s been good so far, so — like I said, it’s a long season, so a lot is going to change with this car, and we’ve got to keep it up.
Q.Is it true that you have an upcoming competition in Lego Masters?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I’m doing some stuff with Lego Masters soon. I don’t have any idea what it’s going to look like or what it’s going to be, but I’m supposed to not spoil that, so I’m just kind of wait-and-see.
But yeah, it’s been kind of a busy season so far, so the last thing I built was the Titanic Lego set, which was like 9,900 pieces. That was pretty wild. I was pretty exhausted after that. It’s hanging up in front of my bed, so it’s pretty cool.
Q.Your experience with Kyle Larson on the dirt, how will that help you for some dirt racing?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I’m doing, but I think iRacing has helped. Their dirt model is pretty good, the way the track changes. I feel like I’ve been trying to watch a lot of dirt races to kind of see how that all works. Luckily last year with Bristol dirt in the Cup car, it was pretty much like an asphalt track. It was just a slick asphalt track because it got rubbered in and you just had to baby the throttle.
I think this year is going to be a little bit different, so hopefully running the dirt late model will help me a little bit. I want to run a lot more of those because I feel like they’re a full-sized car, you can manipulate them, they’re not too dangerous I feel like for somebody like me who has no experience, and they’ve got a ton of horsepower.
My hope would be to run a lot of super late model races on asphalt and some on dirt would be the goal for the future.
Q.After years of declining attendance, short track racing is seeing an amazing regrowth but is now struggling due to the pandemic with supplies and tires. Do you think it’s imperative that drivers on your level go to these tracks to help them market and bring in fans?WILLIAM BYRON: Oh, yeah. I think — I probably get more fans from going to a race at Hickory or Pensacola or New Smyrna than I do going to do something here at the track. I feel like people see that you’re able to do unique stuff and kind of — those guys are really good at what they do, so the racing is no different than up here, it’s just a matter of kind of different cars and different series.
But yeah, I think my next one is Nashville in a couple weeks, and hopefully we can have a good run there and just keep that momentum going. I do think it’s cool to — my wish would be that we had more short track races close by the Cup race, and then we could have guys do that. But hopefully in the next couple years we can kind of get the schedules synced up.
Q.Tell us how important you think short tracks have been in developing talent and growing skills for young drivers to reach this level, including you when you started.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think it’s big. Cup is its own beast, so we can’t discredit — like when you get to Cup, there’s so much you’ve got to learn. But you’ve just got to be versatile. I think Larson showed that last year. It’s just about being versatile and being able to adapt. Everyone at this level is so good. It always amazing me when we go out in practice for a new track and you see like 20 guys just figure it out so quick. It’s just amazing to see the talent in Cup is pretty cool.
Q.Last year, strong year for you, top 4 in points most of the regular season. You get to the playoffs, one bad run, I think Talladega crash kind of undermines all of it. This year eight races in you’ve already got more playoff points than you had all year last year. I know you’re more concerned about the wins right now, but how important is that for you to make a deeper run when the post-season comes and avoid those kind of pitfalls?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, it’s all bonus points. Last year we were top 3 in points all year and that was great and we were feeling good and then we get to August and we’re like, oh, shoot, we’re ninth in playoff points, like where did all that go, or whatever, seventh, eighth, ninth, around there. Yeah, we’ve got to get those playoff points. We’ve learned that over the course of being in the playoffs the last three years or four years.
Yeah, it’s just all about getting the playoff points so you can be one of those top three or four guys. Ideally you’d try to be like Larson was last year, but yeah, it’s really important.
Q.You are a very close family; we talked about that years ago when I wrote about you in the Charlotte observer. Your parents are here and you said this was for your mom. It was a year ago that she had her health issues. Please talk about how much this means a year later to win this race and how you’ve dealt with this during this year when it’s been so tough.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, to think back to last year, the race was on a Sunday but it was the same weekend as this, and the first thing that happened was I got back to my bus and we finished fourth, I think, and I was like, thinking about the race, and I opened my phone and my dad is like, call me. I’m like, man, that’s weird, he never says that after a race. He usually says something about the race or whatever, but it was like very urgent.
So I called him and he told me what was going on. He told me about it, and he told me what happened at the track and that she was rushed to the hospital.
It all seemed okay, but they were like, yeah, there’s this mass in her brain, we’re not sure what it is. My heart just stopped. I was just like, man, I couldn’t deal with the emotion of that. It was hard to process.I’d say the next few days after that I didn’t think about racing at all. It was all about what was going on.I think as the next 90 to 100 days progressed, it was still about that, but I somehow had to race, too, and that was a tough challenge, but we worked through it, and it was — like my dad always says, it was a crazy 100 days or crazy 90 days, and as we got on the other side of that, there was a lot of bright side. Great to have her here and have them here and just see how things have progressed in a year. It’s been amazing.
Definitely makes you count your blessings and be thankful for everything, and nothing more special than tonight to kind of cap it all off a year later on the same weekend. Pretty special, and yeah, pretty cool.
Q.Everything is good now?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, for sure, so just thankful, and we’ll definitely enjoy this win, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to celebrate. Yeah, I’m pretty close to them. I’ve got a great supporting cast with Max and my girlfriend Erin and my sister Kathryn. I have a great group of people around me that I feel like when things were tough in racing and in life, it’s easy to go to them and talk to them.
Q.Were you surprised so many other drivers stayed out, or was tire wear and track position so kind of rare for this track that you knew that they were all going to have to stay out?WILLIAM BYRON: Well, I definitely didn’t know what they were going to do. I thought they would do the opposite of us for sure, and Rudy was adamant about that. I think I said something like, I think my tires are okay, or something, because I was trying to encourage that a little bit, but I didn’t really want to make his decision. I wanted to see how it played out, and I wanted to stick with whatever he thought was best. But when he said stay out, I was like maybe 60/40 on that decision. I was like, all right, I could see how that could work but I could also see how that could not work, as well.
I think it worked out okay. The 3 had the biggest decision in that he decided to stay out in second and everyone kind of followed suit. Yeah, it could have been interesting if those guys had tires for sure. I kind of would have been the odd man out.
But with how cold it was outside, I don’t know if you could have gotten cold tires to take off, it was so cold. They took seven laps to take off.
Q.On the restart where you first took the lead, I think it was with Chase, was there some kind of an agreement or understanding on the restart how you guys would work together, and what was that?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, we just — watching races here throughout the years, it just makes sense for the leader to choose the top and have the — if you’re teammates, if you’re lucky enough to be in that position, he takes the bottom and you work it out after Turn 2. It worked out well. I thought it was a little choppy. The Next Gen accelerates kinda weird. Like you have grip and then you — if you spin your tires you’re killed, but as soon as you launch it’s really good. The first one we did I spun my tires a bunch and I almost lost second, but yeah, it worked out, and luckily — I think he had a pretty good run, too. They were really fast. Just kind of all about who got out front.
THE MODERATOR: William, congratulations, and we’ll see you next weekend at Bristol.
RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1; AND JEFF GORDON, VICE CHAIRMAN AND CO-OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the crew chief of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by William Byron; we have Rudy Fugle. We also have team owner Jeff Gordon here for the race-winning team.
Q.Rudy, can you give me an idea with the shifting we saw today, what was the strategy that NASCAR had in setting those gear ratios and the competition they were trying to create? Why did we have that dynamic today?RUDY FUGLE: First of all, who won Pensacola?
Q.Bubba got the SRX ride. Actually Thorne won the race and Bubba got the SRX ride.RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, so back to your question about shifting, I think with this car, the ratios are really close together is the thing. I think some would argue that a different gear could have put us in fourth a little longer and might not have shifted as much or every lap.
But I don’t know, I think this car has just tended to be that way and the ratios are a little closer between gears, and it’s easier to shift to be honest. Everything just happens a little easier, and anytime the driver can find some lap time and affect his handling with it, it’s just going to drive that way.
Q.It was a track position race in a lot of ways. Was that part of it or was it just the weather and the tire?RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I think it was the weather really. If it was 55, 65, would have laid some rubber down, you would have seen some different things, and definitely would have had some more falloff, and you would have seen the normal clumping and moving up a little bit in the center and just seeing a little maneuverability, but with the rain and it being so cold, just couldn’t help it; that’s just the kind of race it was, I think.
Q.Jeff, you’ve been with William as he’s won races in the 24 before but obviously this place was so special and so important for your career. Does it mean anything extra to you and the organization to have William get a grandfather clock?JEFF GORDON: Well, he got two this week. You know, I’ve been seeing him progress. I think all of us have, and I think when Rudy came on board, his confidence in William, their history, and the confidence that William has in Rudy, I’ve just seen this team evolving. They’ve been bringing great race cars. They’ve been leading laps. Now they’ve won two races already this year, and I think more are going to come.When you start to get that momentum on your side and the confidence is building, that’s a powerful combination. I think all of us were a little bit skeptical about what kind of season we were going to start off with with this new car. I think a lot of people with the unknowns, but I couldn’t be more proud of these guys and having so many differences and changes like the shifting and just the setups and how to race these cars, the brakes, all those things around a place like this, and yet they came here really strong and maintained that track position you talked about.
I’m really excited to see William progressing so fast this season already, but you’ve been seeing it build for the last couple years.
Q.Jeff, did it feel weird seeing the 24 car win here and you were not driving it?JEFF GORDON: Well, I’ve only known what that’s like to be inside the car, I’ve never seen it from the outside. The 24 car has always had a special place in my heart. When I stepped out of the car from the first time when Chase was driving the 24 at Daytona, I was in the TV booth and it pulled out on pit road, and that was kind of strange to me, I’ll be honest.
But since then I’ve gotten used to it and comfortable, and I think William is a great fit for the sponsors, for the team, and certainly he’s get being the job done behind the wheel. So that’s exciting. That’s fun to see the 24 back in Victory Lane anytime.
Q.Rudy, I know you were on the pit box with Bono on Thursday. Did that help you any tonight to translate anything that you may have learned that night over to today?RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I think anytime you’re involved in a race, especially at the same kind of track and as unique as this place is, you learn and you take those experiences and get a little better. It’s a totally different type of race and everything, but you’ll take everything you can get, and it was fun.
Q.William has two clocks now; are you going to beg him for one?RUDY FUGLE: No, he’s got to put some in each room. We’ll keep stacking some up hopefully and we’ll get everybody on the team one hopefully soon.
Q.Jeff, four wins, first eight races. You talked about, hey, they came here and shifting is different and all that, but overall this season to be batting .500 after eight races, is that more than you could have anticipated with a new car?JEFF GORDON: Yeah, definitely. Testing, you’re trying to evaluate where you’re at as a team, listening to these guys and their debriefs and talking to them over the off-season and through some of the testing last year, everybody had no idea who was going to come out strong. I will say that I thought that William looked very good in this car from the very beginning. He tested this car pretty early on in the process, and I just think his driving skills and the way he approaches things, and he works really hard at it, too, he studies a lot, and they give him a lot of information and he can retain it.
I think that a young guy with that ability to get on the simulator as much as — right now William is all in. He’s doing other races, he’s constantly taking in new information from these guys, working with his teammates, learning from them.
As an organization, yeah, I think that it just goes to show the quality of people and the depth that we have and the details that we pay attention to. We did that with the old car, and these guys are continuing to do that with the new car, and working with Chevrolet, I think they’ve been working really hard with us to provide all the information and technology and a great race car.
Q.Can you just talk about the maturing of William to a guy that you have potential and you’ve got to make that pay off, you’ve got to win a race, now it looks like he is lining up to go, okay, this is going to be my first serious run at a championship and somebody that’s going to have to be thought of at the end of the year. Can you talk about where he was and where he is right now?RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I think last year the playoffs were huge for us, just that experience, and if you look at our average running position probably in the entirety of the playoffs, it was really, really good. That’s when I noticed that confidence really, really there and growing.
Then all off-season with the testing, whether it was good or bad, just growing and budding, deciding to run different kinds of cars and racing all the time, and he’s just been successful, winning trucks, winning late model races, and it’s just trending into something new.
The confidence I’ve seen in him a long time ago when we were racing trucks and when I first met him after racing K&N, he’s really, really confident in himself.
JEFF GORDON: I would just add that leading laps, just mixing it up with the best in the business, and then having a restart, like a green-white-checkered like he had tonight up against Logano who’s very aggressive, so is Austin Dillon, and to be able to pull that off, now you believe in yourself that — in any scenario, if you’ve got the car and you’re in the position that you can get it done and people around you believe that you can get it done.
That’s a game changer, right? Sometimes people never get that opportunity. But right now with William, it’s happening early in the season, which makes you kind of anxious to see what’s next.
Q.How important is it for William just now you guys — he has multiple wins for the first time in a season, and I think that was something that he wouldn’t admit but I feel like that was weighing on him, that he had one win but then it was sporadic after that.RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I think anytime you can add that to your list of your repertoire, your resume, whatever, it helps. I don’t think we look at that, we don’t talk about it, but sure, it matters to all of us to be able to go out there. We just want to win on a regular basis. You want to have a shot to go win every weekend, and like Jeff said, leading laps and running in the top 5, top 3 consistently is what it takes. That’s a huge step.
JEFF GORDON: Yeah, I don’t know if I can add much more.
Q.Rudy, William came in here yesterday and talked about how at the end of last year is when everything really started as far as like consistency and everything started to kind of come together in that regard, and he used the phrase that the team is “just clicking right now.” What have you seen from your guys in that regard, maybe confidence and attitude going into the racetrack every weekend?RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, this team has done an amazing job. We have great engineers, great car chief who leads a group of mechanics, and really a huge depth at HMS, period. But the quality of race car that they’re putting out and the details, that has bled over to this car because everybody has got the same to start with, so the very minute details make a huge difference.
To be able to trust in each other that all those details are getting met is what makes a big difference in the pace of the car most of the time, and then so we all believe in each other, we get along, we have a good time, and we all want to win just as bad. We’re not here just to show up and Cup race; we’re here to win.
Q.This maybe didn’t look like a typical Martinsville race that we see with a ton of cautions, a ton of wrecks, lead changes. What do you attribute that to? Was it the car? Was it the temperature?JEFF GORDON: Well, I was surprised. I’ll be honest, we were trying to speculate what was going to happen. I was talking to all the crew chiefs and kind of getting their thoughts, and I don’t think anybody would have guessed that it would have gone — especially because it’s a new car, right, and they’re shifting every lap and it’s easy to lock the left front tire up, and there’s just a lot of things — I think we all knew it would be deeper in the braking zone, lap times were faster. There wasn’t a lot of falloff.Typically in that situation you would say, oh, well then people are going to get more desperate to make these banzai moves and then the cautions are going to come, or hey, what do we not know about this car that could kind of bite us today. Didn’t see any of that.
I think — and I think Rudy has already said this, too. Track temperature, when the track is this cold and it doesn’t lay rubber, the tires just don’t give up. I’d almost say Goodyear has too good of a tire here right now because I think the racers want to see the falloff and be able to see line changes, setup matter over a long run. They’re running qualifying laps almost every lap. It just did not fall off near as much as anybody thought it would. That’s night racing, and especially a cold night race.
RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, most of it was temperature. It was even during practice just a little bit warmer. We saw way more falloff and the tires were gummier. You were going to see a different kind of race. So I think we just got bit by the cold weather.
Also we noticed the cars holding up better, also, so they absorb the hit, the bump-and-run better, you don’t hit and spin out. It doesn’t seem to happen right now. The good part about not having damage also creates not getting spun out it seems like.
Q.Following up on that, Rudy, on the intermediate tracks it seems like these cars are more wicked to drive. How come on an intermediate does it seem if you start spinning you’re toast, but here you can get bumped and save it?RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I mean, intermediates it’s the speed, the lack of sideforce from what we have, the lack of downforce from what we had and we’re up on power from what we had. And then the tire wears out pretty quick. It’s pretty soft.
Then we come here and we have similar downforce to what we’ve had recently. We’ve got a little bit less power actually from 750 to 670, and the sideforce doesn’t matter as much. It ends up being a little bit easier to drive. The tires are wider. You have all those advantages of this car that the tire grip and mechanical grip kind of shows up.
Q.William mentioned his mom in Victory Lane, and this was the place where she had her stroke-like event, and I’m wondering during the time that she was in the hospital, how do you feel William handled it? Were you concerned about any sort of focus? How much do you think that impacted him, if at all, last season?RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I mean, it was a traumatic event. It happened during the race here last year. William has got a tight-knit family with his sister and his mom and his dad. Yeah, of course it affects him. He’s a professional, and he doesn’t really wear a bunch of his emotions on his sleeve, but you know it affects you. We’ve all gone through different things in our lives, and as much as we want to block it out, it affects us and what we do.
He did an awesome job of trying to — getting through all that and still being successful and racing, but it’s amazing. Just so happy that a year anniversary for that to get a win. It’s pretty awesome.
JEFF GORDON: I was going to say, she’s here in the back, so a year later it’s pretty awesome to come back and have a win.

Austin Dillon Earns Career-Best Martinsville Speedway Finish with Third-Place Result in the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet

3rd

23rd

15th

“It’s great to knock off our third-consecutive top-10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series, but I’m a little bummed at finishing third at Martinsville Speedway in the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet tonight. I like to pride myself on coming in clutch during key moments, but I definitely didn’t have a clutch performance at the end of the race. I spun the tires pretty good on the last restart, and it eliminated our chance to win. Once I got back in line there, I had some grip but it was too late to make anything happen. I felt like we had good forward drive all night long. Our Chevy was amazing on the long runs. Everyone at RCR and ECR have been working their tails off to try and put us in position to win. We have been in the simulator working really hard to make this car as good as possible. We’re racing for a win, and that’s what we are going to get if we keep bringing cars like this to the track. That was a great run. We didn’t get what we wanted, but they knew we were here.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 3CHI Team Battle Hard at Martinsville Speedway

18th

22nd

12th

“It was a long weekend for our No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet team, but all of these guys at RCR never give up. Our Chevrolet was really fast during practice on Friday, but we missed a little during qualifying and had to start the race 22nd. Even with a mid-pack starting spot, we were feeling good heading into the race because we learned so much on Friday. The race was a little bit more challenging than we anticipated. We struggled with a tight-handling condition throughout the whole race, and really needed help making our car turn through the center of the corners. We gave it everything we had, but just couldn’t seem to make our in-race adjustments stick. We rallied into the top 10 in Stage 3 before the last caution of the race. I just couldn’t fight the traffic when we went into overtime and ended up falling back. We’ll regroup and get ready for Bristol Dirt next weekend.” -Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIES MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY BLUE-EMU MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF 400 TEAM CHEVY RACE WIN QUOTE & NOTES APRIL 9, 2022

WILLIAM BYRON TAKES THE WIN AT MARTINSVILLETeam Chevy Scores Fifth NCS Victory of 2022 Behind the wheel of his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1, William Byron led the field to the checkered flag in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.  ·       The win is Byron’s second of the 2022 season and his fourth-career NASCAR Cup Series victory. It also marks the 284th NASCAR Cup Series triumph for Hendrick Motorsports, the winningest organization in NASCAR history. ·       Byron started the 400-lap race from the fifth position, capturing a runner-up finish in both stages. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took the lead at the beginning of the final stage, leading 212 laps to capture the victory. ·       Byron is the only repeat winner thus far this season in the NASCAR Cup Series. ·       Byron’s triumph is the fifth of the season for the Camaro ZL1; and the 59th victory for Team Chevy at Martinsville to lead all manufacturers. ·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 819th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories. WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1, Race Winner Quick Quote: Q.Your crew got you the lead at the end of Stage 2. You did the rest all night long. You had to fend off a late-race restart; didn’t place a wheel wrong all night long. How good does it feel to win at Martinsville?“It feels awesome. When that last caution came out, I thought everyone behind us would pit and luckily we stayed out. We were aggressive. We felt like we could re-fire on the tires and be okay; and you’ve got one of the most aggressive guys behind you in (Joey) Logano. I knew I chattered the tires in (turns) 3 and 4 and kind of left the bottom open, but was able to block my exits and get a good drive off.
This one is for my mom. This same weekend last year she had kind of a mini-stroke and was diagnosed with brain cancer. It means a lot to have her here and it’s been a crazy year. But she’s doing great. And thanks, everybody, for the support. I kind of felt like she was riding in there with me. It’s cool to have her here and I’m definitely going to enjoy this one.”
Q.She was definitely riding with you on the pit box all night long. A lot of smiles. What do you think that moment is going to be like when you see her in a minute?“It’s going to be awesome. I love my parents. They’ve been so supportive, but also kind of let me grow up as I get older. Yeah, I’ve got a great support system. Thanks to all the fans for coming out. Great crowd. I’ve always wanted to win at Martinsville (Speedway). Got two clocks this weekend, so I’ll enjoy that.”

Hagerstown, MD (April 9, 2022) – It was a clean sweep for Tyler Erb on Saturday Night at Hagerstown Speedway as the 25-year-old Texas native set Allstar Performance overall fast time, won his heat, and led all 50 laps to win the Conococheague 50 in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event.   Defending race winner Tim McCreadie finished in second followed by Gregg Satterlee, Kyle Hardy, and points leader Devin Moran. With the win, Erb becomes the 13th different winner in 14 Lucas Oil races held at Hagerstown Speedway, which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year. Erb jumped to the lead at the start of the race on an evening where there were a few rain-shower delays, but the track crew whipped the ½ mile facility in quick shape as the program was complete by 8:30 PM. Only one Stop-Tech caution flag slowed Erb during the event. This win was not only Erb’s first ever win at Hagerstown, but also the first at this track for his crew chief Randall Edwards. Bryan Bernheisel pressured Erb until McCreadie, who had scored a thrilling last lap victory a year ago at Hagerstown, passed Bernheisel on lap four to take second. McCreadie was running a different line than Erb and got within a couple of car lengths as the two battled up to the lap 28 yellow. After the caution Erb went unchallenged for the lead the rest of the way as McCreadie fell into the clutches of Hardy and Satterlee. Hardy was looking for a podium finish in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, but Satterlee was able to wrestle the spot away from him with 12 laps remaining. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 17th time in his career Erb becomes the seventh different winner this season. “That’s the way we draw it out every week to have a night like this, but it doesn’t always pan out. I am glad we got this in with the weather and everything. It was really a good crowd for not the most desirable weather conditions. I can’t believe it honestly. The first time I came here I was so bad, it was unbelievable, last year we got a little bit better but to win this year just means a lot. I am excited to get to Port Royal tomorrow. To get a win here it’s a real confidence booster, this place just moved up on my list of race tracks I like now.” McCreadie, the reigning series champion, came home in second. “We were starting to fade a little bit before that caution. This is the car we ran last year. People think oh it’s Hagerstown so you’re always going to be good here. I have driven enough to know we made a big stride today.” Satterlee, 2016 Lucas Oil winner with a last lap pass at Hagerstown, rounded out the podium with a third-place run. “We really needed to win my heat race. We just needed a little better starting position for the feature but all-in-all it was good night. We are working on a couple of new things with the car this year to get better. I don’t think we have quite got where we need to be, but we are definitely close.”  The winner’s Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Bulk Material Lift, M&W Transport, Lucas Oil Products, Midwest Sheet Metal, Bazell Race Fuels, KBC Graphics, Roberts Bee Company, and First-Class Septic. Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson Jr., Matt Cosner, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Shane Clanton. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Conococheague 50Saturday, April 9th, 2022Hagerstown Speedway – Hagerstown, MD Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Tyler Erb / 18.996 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson / 19.235 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 45-Kyle Hardy[2]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[4]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 5. 20F-Trever Feathers[6]; 6. 4-Gary Stuhler[8]; 7. 17-Nick Dickson[5]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler[9]; 9. (DNF) 111V-Max Blair[3] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 3. 32J-Justin Weaver[1]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[3]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[6]; 6. 15C-Jason Covert[8]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 8. 19-Logan Roberson[7] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[2]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 7. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 8. 94-Jason Miller[8]; 9. 0H-Dale Hollidge[9] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 3. 89-Ashton Winger[3]; 4. 2T-Kyle Lee[4]; 5. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 6. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[7]; 7. 76-Andy Haus[8]; 8. 72-Tyler Emory[6] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 15C-Jason Covert[4]; 2. 20F-Trever Feathers[1]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 4. 4-Gary Stuhler[3]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[2]; 6. 111V-Max Blair[9]; 7. 17-Nick Dickson[5]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler[7]; 9. (DNS) 19-Logan Roberson UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 4. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 6. 72-Tyler Emory[8]; 7. 76-Andy Haus[6]; 8. 0H-Dale Hollidge[9]; 9. 94-Jason Miller[7] Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 34Lap Leaders: Tyler Erb (Laps 1 – 50)Wrisco Feature Winner: Tyler ErbArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 2.189 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: Hudson O’Neal (Lap 28)Series Provisionals: Daulton Wilson; Spencer HughesFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: Gary StuhlerBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Tyler Erb, Tim McCreadie, Gregg SatterleePenske Shocks Top 5: Tyler Erb, Tim McCreadie, Gregg Satterlee, Kyle Hardy, Devin MoranOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Advanced 13 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Devin MoranHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Tyler Erb (50 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler ErbO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Ashton WingerDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Tyler Erb (Lap 1 – 20.090 seconds)DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Hudson O’NealOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Randall Edwards (Tyler Erb)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Justin Weaver (18.319 seconds)Time of Race: 20 minutes 21 seconds

Garcia, Taylor, No. 3 Corvette drive back to take third in wild sprint race

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 9, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor left the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday with a third-place class finish and the championship lead after three rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Garcia and Taylor recovered from a mid-race, drive-through penalty in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R for a second consecutive podium finish in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class. The pairing parlayed the result into an early-season points lead in the category’s Manufacturer, Driver and Team standings heading to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in three weeks. Taylor began from pole position after a sterling qualifying effort Friday. One of the biggest early keys to the race occurred at the drop of the green. Taylor perfectly timed his jump at the start and protected his lead down the long frontstretch and into the heavy braking zone into Turn One. From that point, he slowly and methodically opened a margin due to the strategic fuel and tire management. Taylor made the No. 3 Corvette’s one and only pit stop with 61 minutes left. Garcia took over after what appeared to be a perfect tire change and refuel by the Corvette Racing crew – carrying on the good work from the victory at Sebring last month. Unfortunately, the team had to serve a drive-through penalty for losing control of a portion of its pit equipment. Garcia fell back to fourth in class and a lap down, but the race’s first full-course caution only minutes later (for part of the track curbing coming up) allowed Garcia to gain back his lap and move back into podium position. A pair of full-course cautions inside the final 30 minutes stymied any hope Garcia and the Corvette team had to move back into the lead. Corvette Racing’s next event is the Hyundai Monterey SportsCar Championship from Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., on May 1.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTD PRO:“Knowing that you had the pace and everything ran really smooth, I think we should have won. But I do agree that it was fair that we had a drive-through. It’s a bit of a shame. We worked very hard. We know we are strong over a lap, but to race the other GTD cars is very tough. The way every car achieves a lap time is completely opposite to us. That makes it very difficult in order to gain back positions, especially here. Maybe if we had a full 30 minutes of green after the penalty, who knows what would have happened. We will take the result but it’s a shame for sure. That’s another one to add to my list of ways to not win at this race!”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTD PRO:“All things considered, it was a pretty good save for a points day. Unfortunately because we had such a strong car and I think we had a winning car, it’s tough to swallow to not maximize the points. As a whole, we had a decent lead at the beginning of the penalty didn’t destroy our race as much as it could have. It was such a fluke of an accident. It’s unfortunate that it happened in the race. We’ll leave here with the championship lead, which is great. We’ll go to Laguna Seca with more that we’ve learned this weekend and build on that.”

Bourdais, van der Zande drive to victory in No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 9, 2022) – The Nos. 01 and 02 Cadillacs started 1-2 for the 100-minute sprint on the streets of Long Beach and finished 1-2 to lead a Cadillac DPi-V.R sweep of the podium for the second consecutive year. Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande co-drove the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R to a 3.761-second victory over its sister Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber.

The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven by Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbrook earned its third podium finish in as many IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races. “Congratulations to Chip Ganassi and the team as Cadillac claims its second 1-2-3 of the season,” said Rory Harvey, Vice President (Global) Cadillac. A Cadillac DPi has won every race at Long Beach dating to the inception of the class in 2017 (there was no race in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic). The victory was Cadillac’s 25th in DPi competition.

Bourdais, who reset the DPi track qualifying record Friday with a lap of 1 minute, 9.472 seconds in the 15-minute session in earning the pole award for the second race in a row, drove to a commanding lead in the opening laps. But being squeezed in the hairpin on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit pushed the No. 01 Cadillac nose-first into the Turn 11 barrier and allowed Lynn to take the lead. Bourdais, however, turned a 21-second gap into driving back into the lead by overtaking the No. 02 Cadillac on Lap 30. Like he did in qualifications, Bourdais broke the circuit DPi race record with a lap of 1:10.317 on Lap 16 in carving his way through the field. “An amazing weekend for the 01 Cadillac. Just a magical car in qualifying and everything seemed to be in control at the start,” Bourdais said. “We started to hit traffic and I got on the inside of the hairpin and (another car) drifted to the right and put me more on the inside of the hairpin than I wanted. The front just basically took off and didn’t make the corner whatsoever. It just didn’t turn at all. “My computer told me I had 21 seconds (to make up), and I was like, ‘Well, it’s over.’ I didn’t know how much damage there was to the car. Thankfully, it wasn’t really bad at all,” Bourdais said. “After that, you’re on fire because you’re so mad. We got the lead back. “The words of the day are don’t make a Frenchman made,” said van der Zande, who took over the wheel during a Lap 40 pit stop and fended off challenges from Bamber on three restarts over the final 33 laps. Lynn and Bamber, who were joined by Neel Jani to drive to victory in the 12-hour race at Sebring International Raceway last month, took the DPi championship lead by three points over Vautier and Westbrook. Round 4 for Cadillac teams is the 2-hour, 40-minute race May 1 on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Cadillac Racing results: No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)Renger van der Zande, Sebastien BourdaisFinish: First Start: FirstRenger van der Zande: “Chip Ganassi Racing is a fantastic race team. Cadillac is a fantastic car. The combination makes it super successful so far. We had some DNFs because of mechanical failures in the first two races. The only way to move up is to win races, and that’s what we’re doing now. The car was amazing. (Bourdais) gave me the lead and from there on I won’t say it was easy but to control a race is kind of easy. I had great restarts and brought it home for victory. Super happy, super proud.” Sebastien Bourdais: “(About the early wall contact) My computer told me I had 21 seconds (to make up), and I was like, ‘Well, it’s over.’ I didn’t know how much damage there was to the car. Thankfully, it wasn’t really bad at all. It just didn’t turn at all. After that, you’re on fire because you’re so mad. We got the lead back. (Making fuel number while trying to catch up) Just all those years in INDYCAR and saving fuel, especially here it’s usually a massive fuel saver. We have a lot of references on how to get the tires going and still make a good pace and save fuel. I put it to good use today.” No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)Earl Bamber, Alex LynnFinish: Second Start: SecondEarl Bamber: “First of all, fantastic result. Sebastien (Bourdais) did a phenomenal job today to carve back through the field and to grab the lead. My job was quite simple to bring it to the end. Amazing job to get such a result. Just what we needed to get back in the championship.” No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (JDC-Miller MotorSports)Tristan Vautier, Richard WestbrookFinish: Third  Start: FifthTristan Vautier: “We could see things were heating up between the 60 and 31 and we were kind of surprised but hoping it would happen. I think we had a fifth-place car today and finished third. We’ll take it and that’s how you make good moves in the championship. It was a long, difficult day. In the end, we made the most of it. It was a good day.” Richard Westbrook: “Tristan did an amazing job. It was difficult to make that fuel number to commit to a one stop. We should be really happy. When Pipo (Derani) made the move on the 60 at the end, you have to be there to pick up those opportunities. I’m really proud of the team and they deserve this one. We got some good points and that’s how you win championships, and that’s our goal.”  No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)Pipo Derani, Tristan NunezFinish: Fifth Start: FourthPipo Derani: “It’s hard on a street track to recover on just pure pace. You don’t have much room to pass. I was able to do a few moves. But at the end, I was trying to go for P3. The Acura just pushed me wide and the No. 5 Cadillac overtook us. It was a good result for Cadillac. But, for us, it’s disappointing. We tried to come back from behind. I gave everything I had, and we came up short. That’s racing. We’ve got to regroup and see if we can do better next time.” Tristan Nunez: “I felt like I had a much bigger failure than what actually happened. It ended up being something pretty silly. It was the master switch that must have gotten knocked from a bump going down the front straightaway, which threw me whirl because my hands were on the steering wheel and nothing really changed. It took a little trouble shooting to figure it out. We lost some positions and some ground on the leaders. Fortunately, we were in a good spot when it happened. It was just one of those days. Pipo had an amazing drive after that. We just had a little bit of bad luck here and there. But we’ll get them in Monterey.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP APRIL 9, 2020
LONG BEACH, Calif (April 9, 2022) – In one of the more interesting Firestone Fast Six qualifying session, Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, emerged as the runner-up qualifier to lead Team Chevy for Sunday’s Accura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Giving Chevrolet a starter in row one and row two will be Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 VUSE Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, will roll off fourth for the 85-lap race on the 1.968-mile/11-turn street course on the Pacific Coast in Lwoong Beach, California. With seconds left on the clock, Romain Grojean met with a tire wall causing a red flag. Per the rulebook, competitors are guaranteed six minutes in the Fast Six session. So, for anyone of the six drivers who wanted to take one more hot lap, it would be allowed. Newgarded and his No. 2 Chevy team decided they were good, but two of the group did take a chance, but were unable to challenge for the front row. Rosenqvist improved his time slightly be still remained on the outside of row two. Continuing their strong starts to the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series season, points leader Scott McLaughlin, No. 2 Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet will start ninth, while teammate Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, who is second in the standings,  will roll-off in seventh position to give the Team Chevy 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo direct injected engine four of the top-nine starters.  Colton Herta won the pole with Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi and Romain Grojean started third, fifth and sixth respectively to complete the Firestone Fast Six.  Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 10 from the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit. 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.  DRIVER QUOTESJOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI CHEVROlLET, TEAM PENSKE, QUALIFIED 2^ND:ARE YOU GOING OUT TO MAKE ONE MORE LAP? “I’m not sure what is going on. It looks like there are two seconds left. I’vnever seen tChis in the Fast Six, but maybe I don’t understand the rule well enough. Even with other people having the opportunity to go back out, I don’t think we would. I was pretty happy with my lap. It was the set we wanted to use. We had hot brakes and all that. I think that’s about what I had. I’m not going to go much quicker than that unfortunately. (Colton) Herta (P1 winner) hadslightly  better tires than us. I used mine up a little too much in Q1 & Q2. I had to do three laps on each sequencing wise and how I had to do my lap. I wish I could have done just one lap on them, that would have improved our speed. We could have picked up a couple of tenths off these guys today. Pretty happy being in the Fast Six today. If we can hold 2^nd or 3^rd, it will be a good starting place for us. We will work on our race car. The Hitachi car felt good today, just a tad off for some reason. But we are always in a good place with Team Penske.   “We will work hard in the race, but Herta is going to be tough. Not only him, but Rossi and Grojean. You are seeing that with their entire team. We will put our best foot forward. I always have faith in Team Chevy and Team Penske that we can do the job. We will do our best to run strong against these guys tomorrow.” FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 McLAREN VUSE CHEVROLET,ARROW McLAREN RACING SP, QUALIFIED 4^TH:ON QUALIFYING:“This was another good qualifying for the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet team. I ended up fourth and I’m pretty happy with that. We got three shots in the Firestone Fast Six and it didn’t seem to be able to go much quicker than what we got. We were there all of qualifying, but then in the Fast Six we couldn’t really follow the leaders but we will take fourth.  It has been a messy weekend with a lot of red and yellow flags and crashes. So it feels good to come through all this with a P4 in qualifying. It’s a great result for the team.”WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE, QUALIFIED 7^TH:HOW TOUGH IS TRAFFIC OUT THERE IN QUALIFYING?“It’s frustrating this weekend with traffic. It just sucks when they do it in the hairpin because it ruins the money lap.  Man everyone backs up so much. P7 is alright. Can definitely do something from there. It’s better than where we started last year. Will work to get this Verizon 5G car on the podium or Victory Lane, At the least a top-five and a good points day. It’s just the accordion affect and there is just nothing you can do about it. It’s good if they do it on the backstretch it’s okay. You know you are going to have to abort that lap. But if they do it in the hairpin, you lose that lap and the next one after that. And there is nothing you can do when you are on someone else’s gearbox. In the car you can’t do much because you are in dirty air.”   SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE, QUALIFIED 9TH: TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING:“It’s just a cluster out there with all of that traffic Our Snap-On Chevy is very fast.. I don’t know what Marcus (Ericsson) was doing. I tried to do the right thing and pull out of his way and then he just stopped and clustered the whole thing up. I don’t know. We are all looking for gaps out there, and you pull over for a guy and then he just stops in front of you. It is what it is. It’s unfortunate, but we have a fast car and there is no reason we can’t cup up through. We will see what we’ve got. I just feel bad for the guys. They’ve worked hard and we had a solid car that I think we had a chance to be up there with Herta and challenge the Andrettl guys. “I’ll be bombing up through there for sure tomorrow. Just going to have a big crack at it. It will be fun for sure. As Danny Ric (Daniel Riccardo) says, just lick the stamp and send it.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP VUSE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED, 11^TH:ON QUALIFYING: “We definitely made a step forward. We’ve just had a really tough weekend so far. We couldn’t quite get the balance right, but it was a lot better here in qualifying. I think I left some on the table and was a bit too cautious. It is good that the car was better in qualifying but there is a lot of risk and reward during a Long Beach lap. I left some on the table there, but we will try to make it better for the race and see what we’ve got.” KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING: QUALIFIED 12^TH:ON QUALIFYING:“Just finished up qualifying here at the Long Beach Grand Prix. We had pretty good qualifying! Our goal was to get into the Top-12 and we made it into Q2.  We transferred. Super happy with that. Of course we wanted more, but just didn’t have the pace to make it into the Fast Six. The car balance was good and we executed everything perfectly. We were just lacking a little bit of pace. Super happy with the performance and where we are starting tomorrow, We are surrounded by McClaren, and Penske, Ganassi and Andretti. We are there. We are in the mix. Hopefully the strategy plays out. The weather is supposed to be perfect tomorrow so really looking forward to it. RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ALZAMEND NEURO CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING, QUALIFIED 15^TH:ON QUALIFYING: “I am not really satisfied with qualifying, though we have improved a lot from last year! There was definitely a Top 12 in there, unfortunately we just missed the balance. We will analyze everything and work to get better tomorrow. We are a lot more competitive than last year and we did have a great race last year, until the car broke down! Mike Conway won for ECR from 17th, I can in from 15th!” CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING, QUALIFIED 18^TH:ON QUALIFYING:“We definitely made step forward today. We’re starting a bit higher up than we did last year with both cars. It is a bit of a shame that our time would have transferred us into the Fast 12 if we were in Group 1 instead of Group 2. That’s a good sign and shows how competitive our group was. We still need to take a step forward in grip, which we understand and will work on. We’re definitely in a better place than last year and we’ll see what we can put together for the race tomorrow.” CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING. QUALIFIED 22^ND:ON QUALIFYING:“Really tough session for us. Unfortunately we just didn’t get it right. We thought we made some improvements, but unfortunately conditions changed and we didn’t maximize it. We have a little bit of work to do now. A few puzzles to solve. The 11 crew is tight and quite tough but we will move on. We will do some studying and make some changes and give it a go tomorrow.” DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING QUALIFIED 24^TH:ON QUALIFYING:“Just finished up qualifying here at Long Beach. Not really where we want to be starting on the grid tomorrow. It’s a long race, and we know we had a good race car when we were here six months ago at the end of the season, so I feel very confident about that. Pretty happy with the progression  we’ve made during the weekend. I think we are on the right trajectory and if we have to keep executing on those points and I think we can more up during the race tomorrow.” TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING, QUALIFIED 26^TH:ON QUALIFYING:“We just finished qualifying and every lap I am getting more familiar with the track and more comfortable in the car. It’s been too many red flags during practice. So hopefully we can get even more comfortable tomorrow during the race. I hope you will be watching tomorrow in the No. 11 Rokit Chevrolet car.” 

Sheldon Creed and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Team Run Strong and Lead Laps at Martinsville Speedway Before Mechanical Issues

30th

5th

15th

“Everyone on this No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet team works so hard and tonight at Martinsville Speedway was no different. We qualified fifth and ran well early in the race, but struggled with drive off the corners, especially off Turn 4. About halfway through the race, we had a battery problem but we were still able to run. We even led the race with about a hundred laps to go before it finally quit. It stinks because I think we could have definitely finished somewhere in the top 10 or maybe even the top five. I wish our final results showed how strong our Chevy was tonight at Martinsville Speedway, but we’ll bounce back next week at Talladega.”   -Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Earn Solid, Top-Five Finish at Martinsville Speedway

4th

14th

10th

“It was a solid day for us. Everybody at RCR and ECR brought a really fast No. 21 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro to Martinsville Speedway. We didn’t have the speed we needed initially, but this team never gave up. We kept working on our Chevy and making it better. By the time we got to Stage 3, I thought we could run top-five lap times. I just needed to get up there. I knew the restarts were going to get wild at the end of the race. It was a 50-50 guess on if the inside lane or outside lane was better, and which lane was going to stack up and which one didn’t. I got lucky on the last three or four restarts. I was able to pick the right lane at the right time and gain some spots on the restarts when the cautions fell. On the last restart I was able to stay on the bottom. I saw the No. 1 car and the No. 54 car get together and when they did I just gassed up and went as low as I could to try to get by. it worked out for us and we’re leaving Martinsville with another top-five. That was a wild finish.”   -Austin Hill

Bourdais records track record in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 8, 2022) – For the second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, Cadillac swept the front row in qualifying. For the second race in a row, Sebastien Bourdais earned the pole award in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R. For the second race in a row, Bourdais set the DPi track qualifying lap record.

“Now all we have to do is put it all together over 100 minutes,” said Bourdais of the April 9 race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Long Beach. A Cadillac DPi has won every race at Long Beach dating to the inception of the class in 2017 (there was no race in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), and last year the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R won from the pole to lead a Cadillac sweep of the top three finishers. Bourdais drove the No. 01 Cadillac to a best lap of 1 minute, 9.472 seconds in the 15-minute session with a late-afternoon ambient temperature of 92 degrees. The previous qualifying lap record was 1:11.322, set in 2019. He also set the DPi track qualifying record for the 12-hour race on the Sebring International Raceway road course last month in claiming the pole start. “That 01 Cadillac has been awesome to drive,” said Bourdais, who topped the practice time chart with a lap of 1:10.913 earlier in the day. “I just basically had to hit the potential of the car and get quite a good margin on the field. That was a great feeling. It’s testament to the team’s ability to give us some really fast race cars.” Cadillac Racing Long Beach “fast facts”: Storylines, notes, statistics, transcripts and moreCadillac Racing 2022 media guide: Historical data, “why we race” and more

Alex Lynn, driving the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R that won the Sebring race, will join his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate on the front row. He recorded a best lap of 1:09.833. Pipo Derani, who co-drove to victory in 2021 at Long Beach, posted a best lap of 1:10.001 and will start fourth. Tristan Vautier, who co-drove the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R to a runner-up finish at Sebring, will start fifth after a best lap of 1:10.376. USA Network will telecast the race at 5 p.m. ET April 9. Peacock will also stream the race live, and IMSA Radio will have the broadcast.

An interview with DPi pole winner Sebastien Bourdais (No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R): TALK ABOUT HOW QUALIFYING DIFFERS IN A 12- OR 24-HOUR RACE BUT HOW MUCH IT MATTERS HERE.“When you have 24 or 12 hours of racing, it seems a little futile. We have a 100-minute race with a busy field and a one-stopper, with difficulty to pass unless you get caught in traffic or make a mistake. It’s quite important and we’ve teed ourselves up for the best possible situation and scenario, but there’s still 100 minutes of racing to go and we’ve proved we don’t need 100 minutes to lose it. Let’s hope that we won’t do that tomorrow.” TELL US WHAT IT TOOK TO MAKE IT HAPPEN TODAY AND WHAT IT WILL TAKE TOMORROW.“I took a really good lap. I was really happy, and thanks to the boys at Chip Ganassi Racing. That 01 Cadillac has been awesome to drive. I just basically had to hit the potential of the car and get quite a good margin on the field. That was a great feeling. It’s testament to the team’s ability to give us some really fast race cars. I’m just looking forward to a different outcome because we’ve kind of shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit with mechanical issues – nothing to do with Cadillac but just kind of issues on our end. I’m really looking forward to picking up our game and put an event together, and I’m hoping it’s going to happen tomorrow.” NEARLY TWO SECONDS UNDER THE TRACK RECORD, WHERE DID THE TIME COME FROM?“It’s not like INDYCAR where you have a street course, road course, oval tire. Really, we’re running a road course tire on the street course. It’s a harder tire than it could be for places like this and the unusual high temperatures helped get the tires in that window for the car. The grip was amazing. Michelin has some really stable tires.” IT WILL BE MUCH COOLER TOMORROW. HOW WILL THAT PLAY OUT?“Back to normal. That’s the tough part. I think it really helped rubber up the track, and you can produce some really fast early lap times. From there, what happens I don’t think anybody really knows. I think, overall, I’m not super worried. I think it will just be easier on the rear tires. We have the bars in the car, we can change tire pressures for the second stint. It’s all about managing traffic, making sure you don’t get caught out in the big groups of GTs that are going to be around because it’s going to be 20 GTs nose to tail for the opening stint.” Cadillac Racing lineup, starting position and notes: No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)Renger van der Zande, Sebastien BourdaisBourdais drove in the qualifying session (start first, 1:45.166). Bourdais has earned the pole award at the two most recent races. Bourdais is a three-time winner at Long Beach in Indy car competition. … Van der Zande teamed with Kevin Magnussen to finish second in the 2021 race at Long Beach in the first season for the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R.Car chief-Phil BinksLead engineer-John HennekRace strategist-Peter Baron No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)Earl Bamber, Alex LynnLynn drove in the qualifying session (start second, 1:09.833). The 02 Cadillac DPi-V.R won the race at Sebring after starting fourth. … First-year team in expanded Cadillac Racing entry for Chip Ganassi Racing. … … Bamber salutes his home country with a silver fern design on the sides of his helmet — a quasi-national emblem used for various official New Zealand symbols.Car chief-Jamie CoatesLead engineer-Danielle ShephardRace strategist-Michael Harvey No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)Pipo Derani, Tristan NunezDerani drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:10.001): “We have a good car and we decided to kind of abort qualifying to have some tires for the race, and unfortunately the lap I did wasn’t enough and almost all the guys improved. I think they put up an amazing lap at the end. It’s one of those question marks; had I stayed a couple more laps could I have gone quicker? I believe so because the car has been so good. I think we missed an opportunity and we thought what we had was good enough because we never saw those kind of laps here. We have a good race pace and we’ll attack tomorrow.”  The No. 31 Cadillac DPi-V.R started from the pole and went on to win the 2021 race on the street circuit with Derani co-driving with Felipe Nasr. The team is coming off a third-place finish at Sebring. It opened the season with a fourth place at Daytona. … Derani and Nasr were the 2021 IMSA DPi Driver Champions and Whelen Engineering/Action Express Racing was the Team Champion.Car chief-Bill KeulerTechnical director/lead engineer-Iain WattRace strategist-Tim Keene No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (JDC-Miller MotorSports)Tristan Vautier, Richard WestbrookVautier drove in the qualifying session (start fifth, 1:10.376): “The car doesn’t feel bad, but we’re lacking pace to the 01 and 02 cars. We made some changes (after practice) for qualifying that made the car feel better that I think will give us a better race car for tomorrow.” The No 5 Cadillac DPi-V.R enters the race weekend as the DPi championship points leader after third- and second-place finishes to start the season. … Vautier teamed with 2022 endurance event driver Loic Duval to place third in the 2021 Long Beach race. … The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R won the 2018 and 2019 race at Long Beach. Car chief-Josh KerriganLead engineer-Rick CameronRace strategist-John Church

Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R Long Beach results 2021-2017 2021: Overall winner (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr         Second (No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen         Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start third – Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval2019: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa         Fifth (No. 84 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R) start seventh – Stephen Simpson, Simon Trummer         Sixth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr        Seventh (No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start ninth – Kyle Kaiser, Will Owen        10th (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor2018: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth — Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa        Third (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor        Seventh (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran2017: Overall winner (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor        29th overall, seventh in class (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi        32nd overall, eighth in class (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Eric Curran, Dane Cameron

Second straight Long Beach pole for Corvette Racing, first in GTD PRO

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 8, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor qualified on pole position in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Friday as the team looks for its ninth victory at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Taylor posted a best lap of 1:18.048 (90.774 mph) on his final lap around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he will share with Antonio Garcia. The pairing are coming off a big win in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring three weeks ago with Nicky Catsburg. The pole was the first for the team in the new GTD PRO category and Taylor’s second in a row at Long Beach following a GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole last season.

Unusually hot temperatures Friday didn’t do any of the competitors any favors looking ahead to Saturday’s 100-minute race (5 p.m. ET on USA Network/IMSA Radio).  A projected drop of 15-20 degrees in the air temperature for Saturday means much of the data gathered won’t apply to the 100-minute race. Having said that, there were considerable lessons learned, specifically in the ABS braking package on the GTD PRO Corvette – one of the key differences between the current class and the GTLM version of the C8.R.  Suspension setup and compliance over some bumpier parts of the racing surface also were focal points Friday with some of those observations collected from the Sebring race and a subsequent test after the 12 Hours. The combination of moving to GTD PRO plus a 100-minute race placed even more importance on qualifying than normal. With such a short race, there likely will be just one planned pit stop for fuel and change of tires and driver. With all 20 GTD cars having roughly the same performance levels, track position will be at a premium throughout. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET/2:05 p.m. PT on Saturday. The race will air live on USA and stream on Peacock starting at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. IMSA Radio will air the race at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTD PRO POLE WINNER: “We definitely put a lot of emphasis on qualifying around here because it’s so difficult to pass. Adding ABS makes it tougher. Practice One didn’t go that well. In Practice Two, we made some changes to get closer to the front of the field. Qualifying was super-tight. I thought my first 1:18.1 was quite a good lap and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to beat it. I was disappointed to hear on the radio that we were six-hundredths off. I kept trying and slowing down and trying and slowing down. I made a couple of mistakes in turns nine and 10 on my second-to-last laps, and then I got turns 10 and 11 right to make all the difference. It was tight. With points in qualifying, it was another reason to qualify well. It’s a good day for Corvette Racing.”CHANGES TO THE TRACK BETWEEN TURNS SIX AND EIGHT: “I don’t know what it is. It looks like a sealant or something. In the first session on the first 10 laps, the track was the fastest it was in that practice because that started peeling up. It looked like marbles at first but I think it was the track surface. It made it a little tricker and made it like a one-line run. If you ventured out, it was difficult. That will be something tomorrow as well when traffic comes through more for the prototypes or if we get pushed out into that it could be an issue.“I think at Turn Six and Turn Eight, it seems like the walls are more rounded. I remember Six in the past had a sharper edge at the apex that would poke out a little bit. I don’t know if that was the change but that seems better.”DIFFERENCE IN APPROACHING THE RACE AS A ONE-CAR TEAM: “I wouldn’t say we have dropped down (in class). The field is just as competitive (as GTLM) and it’s nice to have more cars to race against. It does make it more difficult having one car in the team. We showed up today for Practice One with a setup we thought was going to work. Usually we would come out with two setups to start that session. Our setup for Practice One wasn’t ideal so we spent the whole session chasing it and guessing for Practice Two, where in the past we’d have a second car to rely on. So we just lose half the time in development throughout the weekend. The way the team uses our simulator and all the tools we have, we can develop a setup close enough and rely on the history we have in the team and understand what the car is going to do from session to session especially at a track like this that changes so much.”STAYING OUT IN QUALIFYING WHEN OTHER TEAMS STOPPED: “I didn’t have that much confidence that I was going to go faster but I thought it was worth trying. The fuel load and the weight of the fuel burning off is a big part of it that the driver doesn’t necessarily feel that much from lap to lap, but it shows up in laptime. I knew that was going to be one aspect. The balance also was changing, and I knew that if I kept pushing throughout the run, the balance would shift more to oversteer and that’s what I needed… more rotation. I definitely was sliding around a lot more than I was at the beginning of the session, so I didn’t know if that was going to be a positive or negative. I figured hopefully with the weight loss of the fuel and the balance shifting would be just enough to get another lap in and thankfully enough it was.”FIRST POLE IN GTD PRO AFTER A SLOW START TO THE SEASON: “Daytona wasn’t ideal. Sebring obviously went well. That was a big turning point from a car setup point of view and understanding what the car needed to work on this tire. The tire has been the biggest thing for us to understand and understanding ABS. Sebring was big for us and it has some similarities to Long Beach so I think that’s why we can rely on our Sebring history here to know what the car setup is going to do. Once we get to Watkins Glen or Road America, there could be some new things to learn.”HOW MUCH OF A PREMIUM DID THE TEAM PLACE ON QUALIFYING? “It is so difficult to pass here. ABS makes it that much tougher. If other guys are 1-2 seconds off, they can probably hold you off by attacking brake zones and holding on that way. We definitely put a premium on track position and qualifying. The race is a big question mark with how many red flags we had in practice and if we are going to have yellows and cautions and are guys going take that risk to pit early. One positive is that we do have a 35-minute driving minimum so guys just can’t jump out five or 10 minutes in. Track position is going to be key. Thankfully we got the pole and hopefully we can stay out in front and control things.”

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 14 years at Long Beach: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Long Beach since 2007 –Corvette C6.R (2007-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2021). All three generations have won at least once at Long Beach.• 4: Number of Long Beach race victories for Corvette Racing’s duo of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.• 8: Number of drivers who have competed at Long Beach for Corvette Racing – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Johnny O’Connell, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. Each driver has won at least once at Long Beach.• 8: Number of Long Beach victories in 13 appearances for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.• 10: Number of Long Beach sports car victories for Chevrolet. Throw in 11 IndyCar wins, and Chevrolet has claimed 21 victories in the event’s two premier races.• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 19: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.• 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.• 30: Number of wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.• 121: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 253: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 3,945.82: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 12 previous trips to Long Beach. That represents 2,005 laps around the 1.968-mile street circuit.• 339,411.24: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some! Corvette Racing at Long Beach (wins in bold)2007No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole) 2008No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2009No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap) 2010No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 9th in GT2 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2011No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT (Magnussen fastest race lap) 2012No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2013No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap) 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 9th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM 2021No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM

April 8, 2022

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang are set to start 29th in Saturday night’s Blue-Emu 400 at Martinsville Speedway. 

Burton also was 29^th in Friday’s practice session, with a best lap of 93.391 miles per hour, which he turned on the 17^th of his 24 laps run.

He was 22^nd best on the 10-consecutive-lap runs, posting an average speed of 93.109 mph on his Laps 21-30.
 
Burton was poised to move up the speed chart during qualifying but slid his left-front tire on his first lap, which hurt his speed for both laps. Still, he bettered his speed from practice, touring the tight half-mile oval at 94.050 mph.
  
Saturday’s 400-lapper is the first points-paying short-track race on the 2022 Cup Series schedule and the first night race.
 
The Blue-Emu 400 is set to get the green flag just after 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on FOX Sports One.
  
Stage breaks are set for Laps 80 and 180.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIES MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY BLUE-EMU MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 8, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT PUTS CAMARO ZL1 ON THE POLE AT MARTINSVILLEThree Team Chevy Drivers Qualify in the Top-10RIDGEWAY, Va. (April 8, 2022) – Team Chevy’s Chase Elliott topped the leaderboard in qualifying and will lead the field to the green under the lights at Martinsville Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400. The 2022 season welcomes the return of qualifying to all NCS events with a unique format to the series. For races on oval tracks, the field is split into two groups, where each car participates in a single-car, single-lap qualifying run. The top-five fastest drivers from each group advanced to the second round to vie for the pole position with one final lap each. Elliott put down a lap of 19.694 seconds, at 96.151 mph, in his No. 9 LLumar Camaro ZL1 to capture his 10th pole in his NASCAR Cup Series career. The 26-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native is no stranger to showing speed at the Virginia-based short track, with his eyes set on winning his second prestigious grandfather clock trophy.  Elliott’s pole gives Chevrolet its 54th pole win at Martinsville Speedway – the most of all manufacturers – and its 725th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition. The feat also marks the second pole win of the 2022 season for the Next Gen Camaro ZL1, which captured its first pole in its points-paying competition debut at Daytona International Speedway last month. The bowtie brand saw three Camaro ZL1’s lock-in a top-10 starting spot for the 400-lap event at the .526-mile paperclip. Coming off of a trip to victory lane in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race last night, William Byron wheeled his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 to a fifth-place qualifying spot, his fourth top-10 starting spot of 2022. Elliott and Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, qualified eighth to round out the Team Chevy top-10 lineup.  FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway live at 7:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, Saturday, April 9. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1, POLE WINNER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:TALK ABOUT HOW THE PRACTICE SESSION WENT AND THEN THE FASTEST LAP OF THE QUALIFYING SESSION, WHERE YOU WON THE POLE.“Obviously, practice went by quick. But just trying to dive through all of the little nuances of this car; how it’s different and how we want to attack that for tomorrow. I think the overall feel here is pretty similar to what it’s been in the past. It seems like the shorter tracks, the cars have a pretty similar sensation to what the last generation car had. It has just a little different way of getting there with setups and some of the fine details. 
Overall, I think it’s fine. There are certainly going to be challenges tomorrow for us and I’m sure for everybody. Hopefully we can try to make the right decisions to hopefully have them impact us the least. We’ll see.”
A LOT OF GUYS COME IN HERE AND TALK ABOUT HOW SETTING UP THE CAR BEFORE YOU GET HERE IS KIND OF LIKE A STAB IN THE DARK. DO YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE THAT? “Yeah, it kind of is in a lot of ways. You don’t have a ton of time to tune on it. It goes really quick. In 20 minutes, you really have time for maybe one change. I think if you’re doing more than one change, you’re probably thrashing a little too hard in practice. For us, when we ran today, we didn’t even make a change because I felt like it took me awhile to just find a rhythm. Once I found a rhythm, practice was almost over. So, at that point, there’s no point in me coming in and asking them to do something, and then them having to bust it to get back out there for two laps. 
Yeah, it is a bit of a guess; but I think it’s fun to be honest. I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve said this a lot, but short tracks across the country, guys have five laps of hot laps. We’re supposed to be at the top level of our sport here, so why do we need to practice for three hours a weekend either. I think it’s cool, I like it.”
LAST YEAR, YOU WERE PART OF THE 1-2-3-4 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FINISH AT DOVER. CAN YOU REFLECT A LITTLE BIT ON THAT?“Yeah, I was shocked that it had never happened before. I remember that just being the first thing that kind of came to my mind. I’m just like – man, of all the years and success of HMS and all the great things that have been done with the organization, I was just blown away that they had never ran 1-2-3-4 before. I thought it was great. I was super proud of everybody for achieving that top to bottom. From the crew members, to the drivers, to everybody that works at the shop that doesn’t go on the road – it was a big deal as an organization to sweep a weekend like that. I’m proud to have been a very small part of it. It was fun.”
DOES IT FEEL, IN ANY WAY, LIKE A PURSUIT OF PARITY? “No, I think it’s just what the rule is and I don’t make them. I’m all good with it. I like it.”
THERE HAS BEEN SOME TALK OF JUST THE DURABILITY OF THESE CARS ALLOWING THE DRIVERS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE AGGRESSIVE. AT A TRACK LIKE MARTINSVILLE, IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO SEE. DOES THAT GIVE YOU MORE CONFIDENCE TO MAYBE MAKE MORE AGGRESSIVE MOVES? “Maybe in the right circumstance. I could see it getting a little more aggressive. The bumpers are certainly not as fragile as they used to be. The quarter-panels don’t seem to cause tire rubs as easily as they used to. Now some of the components – toe links and things of that nature – are pretty fragile. So, I do think you can break some of the suspension. But as it pertains to bumping a guy out of the way or things like that, you are at less risk of hurting your car in the process. I feel like when it comes down to it, sure yeah, guys are going to get aggressive. But we all got aggressive before, too. I don’t know that it will look a lot different.”
DO YOU FIND YOURSELF SPENDING MORE TIME IN THE SIMULATOR WITH THIS CAR THAN YOU DID THE OTHER ONE? “Less, to be honest. The sim stuff – I think it’s a great tool for some areas of what we do. For me, we’re so new with this car. I don’t want to develop any bad habits. I want to develop raw, real feelings of the car and I think the only way to really extract that is to be in the race car, at the race track that we’re going to be going to. Right now, I’m still trying to kind of learn it. And I think maybe once you learn a baseline of what it should feel like, then going to the sim and being able to dive in and help that side of things out I think is probably more realistic. But when I don’t 100 percent know what’s right and what’s wrong, I think you’re pretty vulnerable to developing bad habits driving something that’s not the real thing.”
YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT DEVELOPING YOUR RHYTHM TODAY. A LOT OF THE DRIVERS WHO HAVE COME IN HERE HAVE SAID THEIR SHIFTING A LOT. ARE YOU SHIFTING AND IS THAT PART OF DEVELOPING YOUR RHYTHM?“Yeah, for sure. Shifting is very real. Down in every corner entry and up in every corner exit. So, it’s a lot of shifting. I think from a driver’s standpoint, you get used to that. You kind of get in a flow of doing it. Hopefully the parts and pieces are prepared for that. 400 laps of shifting that much – I’m not sure we’ve put that kind of strain on them yet. I know we were shifting at Phoenix (Raceway) some; obviously at the road courses too. But that has potential to be pretty rough on things. Hopefully everything will stay together and we don’t have any issues from that front.”
WITH THE SHIFTING AND THE DIFFERENT TIRES, DOES IT STILL FEEL LIKE MARTINSVILLE, IN TERMS OF HOW YOU TRY TO MAKE SPEED AND HOW YOU ATTACK THE TRACK? WHAT WAYS IS IT DIFFERENT?“To be honest with you, I feel like it’s very much Martinsville to me. It doesn’t feel a ton different at all, as far as the track goes, the tires and how the cars react. I just think, setup wise, we’ve had to develop a little bit of a different path of getting to the same location, if that makes any sense. But feeling-wise, it’s super similar to what it’s always been, in my opinion.” 

NASCAR CUP SERIES MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY BLUE-EMU MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 8, 2022 WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:  WHAT IS THAT LIKE FOR YOU, CONFIDENCE WISE COMING INTO A RACETRACK EACH WEEKEND AND WHAT ARE YOU SEEING IN THE TEAM IN TERMS OF THEIR MINDSET AND ATTITUDE COMING INTO THE RACETRACK WHEN YOU GUYS ARE PUTTING CARS ON THE TRACK THAT ARE CONTENDERS?“I think it really dates back for us to last year. I felt like that last 10 races of the year last year, and probably the last 12, kind of getting ready for the playoff stretch we started to elevate our game a little bit more. We realized as a team that we weren’t, necessarily, one of the teams like we were really consistent, but we weren’t one of the teams that would win every week. I felt like towards the end of last year we were one of those teams that could win every week. Obviously, things didn’t come together. Then you go into this year, you start with a new car, got to go through testing, we’ve got to figure out what setups are close. We went through a lot of that adaptation period during the off season, but we started off the season pretty amazing. We were running third at Daytona before we got crashed. I made a mistake at California after we had the lead, you know we had our pit road issues and then was running in the top-five again. I think it’s just kind of been trending that direction. The comfort is there as a team. I feel like our communication is really spot on. We’ve got to work through different issues with this Next Gen car. We go to certain tracks right now and we’re miles off or really close. When we are really close, we know what we are doing. Miles off we’ve got to start throwing things at the car and figure it out. I think just good communication, good teamwork and I feel like we are really clicking right now, which is good. At the same time, there’s a lot of season left.” WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE PART OF SOMETHING HISTORICAL LIKE THAT FINISIHING TOP FOUR AT DOVER? WHAT WAS IT LIKE AT THE END OF THE RACE TRYING TO HOLD YOUR SPOT AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU GUYS PULLED IT OFF?“It was pretty amazing. Dover was a crazy day to see that, with the Gen 6 car that was a really good track for us and we knew that going there. Notes wise we knew we would be fast, but I think everyone in the shop was like our setup is the best, no our setup’s the best. We went through that process and I think to show up, last year we had no practice, but to see the speed we had early. Us, on the 24, we took the lead early in the race and then struggled to keep up with the racetrack, as well as our teammates. It was a little bit of a bummer that I finished fourth, but at the same time I was so excited for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, because that shows so much strength to be able to take four cars and really we were battling ourselves the entire race which was pretty amazing.” HOW DID MR. HENDRICK TAKE THAT?“I think it was a sign of strength and what we’ve built with teamwork. The four of us work so closely and so well together that it feeds off of each other. Iron sharpens iron and I feel like we continue to work together and put ourselves further towards the front. It helps when you have teammates that are fast. It helps when you have, if Kyle is really fast at a racetrack, we can look at his setup or I can look at his data and say ok that’s maybe what I need to do different. We’re all capable of getting to that point, it’s just a matter of everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Fortunately, it’s funny because Chase (Elliott) is so good on road courses, Kyle’s (Larson) so good on the mile and a half’s, Alex (Bowman) is really good on the short-tracks and I’m trying to blend it all together. It’s fun to have people that you can lean on for that.” WITH THE TRUCK WIN YOU GOT LAST NIGHT, HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT WILL HELP YOU FOR THE RACE COMING UP ON SATURDAY?“I think it will help me tremendously. I feel like we’re only going to get 20 minutes of practice here, so it’s not like you’re going to have a good idea or good chance of getting in a rhythm. You’re probably going to be in traffic. You’re probably going to be passing somebody, so I don’t have to worry about where are my marks. I can figure out all of that stuff. Obviously, the Next Gen car’s going to have more grip I would think than the truck, so I’m just going to have to drive it a little bit harder. It should be fun and it’s good to do that. I was pretty nervous going in the truck. I hadn’t been in one in a long time, besides a little bit last year. That was a new racetrack and kind of hard to get my bearings and we blew up early in the race. Last night was definitely fun. At the same time I really want to win the Cup race and feel like we were really close last week. We’ve just got to close the deal.”

Up Next is Jason Johnson Classic on Saturday at Lake Ozark

OSBORN, MO – April 8, 2022 – With near-freezing temperatures, intermittent sleet and snow, and a frigid wind chill, officials have made the call to cancel Friday’s World of Outlaws and Xtreme Outlaw race at US-36 Speedway in Osborn, MO.

Those who purchased a ticket in advance to Friday’s event at US-36 will receive a face-value credit to their MyDirtTickets.com account to be used towards any World of Outlaws event available at WorldofOutlaws.com/tix. If credit to your account does not work for you, then you have until May 8 to request a refund. For more details email tickets@dirtcar.com if you have further questions. CLICK HERE for a refund request.

Up next for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is the fourth annual $15,000-to-win Jason Johnson Classic at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO on Saturday. The Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation will also be in action.

Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or stream every lap LIVE on DIRTVision

LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2022) — Travis Shumake, son of the late NHRA Funny Car driver Tripp Shumake, will make his NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster debut this weekend at Las Vegas behind the wheel of a Randy Meyer Racing Top Alcohol Dragster. Shumake will be racing in the NHRA Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, April 8-10.

“My goal is still to be in a Funny Car but there is so much I can learn from Randy in the A/Fuel car while gaining much needed seat time and race-day experience” said Shumake. “I had an incident here in Vegas last fall in the Funny Car and mentors Chad Head and Justin Ashley pointed me in the direction of Randy.”

In tribute to both his father and late Top Alcohol Driver Mark Niver, Shumake will race using the competition number 777-s. “I grew up in Mark’s shop down the street from my childhood home in Phoenix. For most of their careers dad and Mark rocked the 777 in whatever category they were racing. I asked Tanis Niver for permission to use the retired number with the additional ‘s’ as a tribute and she was thrilled. It’s a privilege to honor both of their legacies and impact on me and drag racing in Arizona.” 

Shumake feels confident that he is prepared for a successful debut in the highly competitive field of cars expected at this weekend’s event. “I’m lucky to have one of the best cars and teams in the country and with Randy’s coaching I feel prepared to not just qualify but hopefully go some rounds.”

“Being at the track with Julie (Nataas) and Hunter (Green) in testing, at Pomona, and here last weekend in Vegas has really helped me lock down my routine and learn the habits of both my team and my competitors. I’m ready. It’s go time baby,” added Shumake.

Shumake continues to meet with prospective sponsors to help secure seat time and pin down a championship caliber team. For additional information follow Travis on Twitter @ShumakeTravis or Instagram @TravisShu.

WEEDSPORT, NY – April 8, 2022 – The Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship will put the focus back on weekly racing to determine its five division champions this year.

Series events – such as the Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Northeast Series races – will no longer count toward the Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly points. Only weekly races – and some special events – at DIRTcar sanctioned tracks for the Big Block Modifieds, 358 Modifieds, Sportsman Modifieds, Pro Stocks and 4-Cylinders will tally points toward the championships.

“We really wanted to bring back a home track focus to the Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship, making sure the title represents the drivers who dedicate their time to their local tracks,” said DIRTcar Northeast Series Director Dean Reynolds. “This structure gives an exciting new focus to the championship and makes every weekly show even more important for the drivers and fans now.”

Twenty tracks, spanning across New York, Vermont and Canada, and featuring hundreds of drivers across the five divisions, will be a part of the championship this season.

Last year, more than $47,000 in total between the five divisions last year with Matt Sheppard earning $5,000 for the Big Block title, Mat Williamson earning $3,000 for the Small Block title, Andrew Buff and Chad Jeseo each earning $1,000 for the Sportsman title and Pro Stock title, respectively, and Dante Mancuso earning $500 for the 4-Cylinder title.

To keep up with the 2022 Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship, which will conclude in September, visit DIRTcar.com for weekly updates.

Below you’ll find each track taking part in the championship this year with each division. The participating tracks for the 4-Cylinder will be announced at a later time.

Big Block Modifieds
Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Ballston Spa, NY)
Brewerton Speedway (Central Square, NY)
Land of Legends Raceway (Canandaigua, NY)
Lebanon Valley Speedway (West Lebanon, NY)
Orange County Speedway (Middletown, NY)
Weedsport Speedway (Weedsport, NY)

358 Modifieds
Brockville Ontario Speedway (Brockville, ON)
Can-Am Speedway (LaFargeville, NY)
Autodrome Drummond (Drummondville, QC)
Fulton Speedway (Fulton, NY)
Humberstone Speedway (Port Colborne, ON)
Lebanon Valley Speedway (West Lebanon, NY)
Mohawk International Raceway (Hogansburg, NY)
Ransomville Speedway (Ransomville, NY)
Thunder Mountain Speedway (Lisle, NY)
Weedsport Speedway (Weedsport, NY)

Sportsman Modifieds
Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, NY)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Ballston Spa, NY)
Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford, VT)
Brewerton Speedway (Central Square, NY)
Brockville Ontario Speedway (Brockville, ON)
Can-Am Speedway (LaFargeville, NY)
Autodrome Drummond (Drummondville, QC)
Fulton Speedway (Fulton, NY)
Genesee Speedway (Batavia, NY)
Glen Ridge Motorsports Park (Fultonville, NY)
Humberstone Speedway (Port Colborne, ON)
Land of Legends Raceway (Canandaigua, NY)
Merrittville Speedway (Thorold, ON)
Mohawk International Raceway (Hogansburg, NY)
Outlaw Speedway (Dundee, NY)
Ransomville Speedway (Ransomville, NY)
Thunder Mountain Speedway (Lisle, NY)
Weedsport Speedway (Weedsport, NY)

Pro Stocks
Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Ballston Spa, NY)
Can-Am Speedway (LaFargeville, NY)
Autodrome Drummond (Drummondville, QC)
Glen Ridge Motorsports Park (Fultonville, NY)
Lebanon Valley Speedway (West Lebanon, NY)
Mohawk International Raceway (Hogansburg, NY)

NASCAR CUP SERIES MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY BLUE-EMU MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 8, 2022

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway. Press Conference Transcript: 
YOU’VE GOTTEN AROUND HERE PRETTY WELL SINCE JOINING HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS. ARE THERE ANY CONCERNS OR THOUGHTS THAT THIS NEW CAR IS GOING TO COMPLETELY TAKE AWAY SOME OF THE GOOD HABITS YOU HAVE HERE, THE FEEL THAT YOU HAVE, AND IT’S NO LONGER GOING TO BE BASICALLY YOUR MARTINSVILLE? “Yes and no. I did get to run the wheel force car here last year, which was a Next Gen car. I think running Richmond (Raceway) last weekend gave us a good idea that the short tracks are kind of still the short tracks. You still fight really similar things. While you may not have the same issues with things like wheel hop and stuff like that, it’s still loose in, tight in the center and loose off; kind of the standard stuff. We still weren’t good on short runs. We were still really good on long runs. So, it was pretty typical us. I think it will hopefully still be a good place for us.”
WITH THE BIGGER BRAKES, DOES IT STILL LOOK LIKE MARTINSVILLE – THE WAY THE RACE PLAYS OUT AND THE WAY THE DRIVERS RACE EACH OTHER?“Yeah, I think so. I think this car definitely lends itself to being more aggressive. It’s not nearly as fragile as the old car was. We have more braking power than we have grip. So like Richmond (Raceway), you don’t have much grip to lean on the car getting into the corner. So, you have a ton of brake power, but you can’t really use it. I think this will be pretty similar to that. I’m excited to see how it works out.”
THIS RACE HAS GONE FROM 500 LAPS TO 400 LAPS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT AND HOW THAT YOU FEEL THAT WILL IMPACT EVERYTHING?“I think it’s great. I don’t think it’s going to impact the race very much. It’s still a long day around this place, for sure, so it’s not like it’s a short one. The stage lengths kind of change a little bit, but I think it’ll look similar. I think it’s definitely a good move and hopefully puts on an exciting show for the fans.”
LAST FALL, YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE RECORD BOOK HERE. IT’S 75 YEARS OF MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY. HOW NEAT WAS IT TO GET THAT WIN AND JUST BE A PART OF THAT WINNING TRADITION BECAUSE EVERYONE STRIVES TO GET THAT GRANDFATHER CLOCK? “Yeah, it’s really special to have a win here. Obviously, it’s a really special trophy. We had some controversy, but still super cool to be able to win here. It means a lot to me. It’s a place that I honestly struggled at quite a bit at first. I feel like I’ve worked really hard to get better here and, lately, we have been pretty successful here. Hopefully we get another one this weekend.”
AT DOVER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS SWEPT THE TOP-FOUR LAST YEAR. HOW BIG OF A DEAL WAS THAT? DID YOU UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?“Yeah, I think looking back at post-race, we all immediately understood and realized how special it was. Some things that we got to do throughout the week, like the photo we were able to take on Monday morning and stuff like that, was really cool. It was pretty special to be a part of that and be on the front side of that, as well.”
WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN THE CLOSING LAPS WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT LOOKED LIKE THAT WAS A POSSIBILITY? “I didn’t know we were 1-2-3-4 until after the race was over. I was just trying to hold the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) off and win the race; kind of business as usual until post-race.”
WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE DRAFTING AT DAYTONA AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR AT TALLADEGA?“Yeah, we got stuck with flat tires and four laps down pretty quickly at Daytona (International Speedway). Hopefully we can have a better day at Talladega (Superspeedway). The draft is similar, but different. It’s still superspeedway racing. I think Talladega is going to be pretty similar to Daytona, as they always are. Looking forward to trying to get some redemption from the Daytona 500.”
BRISTOL DIRT IS NEXT WEEK. HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO THAT RACE THIS YEAR COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO?“Yeah, it feels all new again, with the new car and not knowing what to expect on how the car drives. I’m looking forward to it. I think it being a night race is obviously a great call. We’ll see how it plays out. Hopefully we’ll eliminate some of the struggles from last year; whether it’s the dust, the mud and just lack of being able to see. I’d like to be able to see where my race car is traveling. But other than that, I’m really looking forward to it.”
IF BRISTOL DOESN’T GO AS HOPEFUL AS PEOPLE ARE THINKING IT WILL, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE DIRT EXPERIMENT CONTINUE AT A DIFFERENT TRACK, LIKE MORE OF A DIRT TRACK ITSELF; OR SHOULD NASCAR STICK TO PAVED RACETRACKS?“I think as far as dirt tracks that are that size, the same things are going to happen wherever we go, with vision and things like that. I think ARCA is a good example of being able to make it work really successfully, but they’re running basically on rubber when they go to the mile (tracks). 
I think the dirt thing is really cool. I enjoy it. We were really strong last year until we broke a transmission. So, I’m all for it. Hopefully the sequential is a little harder to break for me and I don’t create my own issue there again and have to ride around in third gear all day. I think it’s fun. The cars are really fun to drive. Obviously, it presents its own unique set of challenges and we’ve only had one try to get it right so far. I think the more we do it, the better it’s going to get.”
THE WEATHER TOMORROW NIGHT, IT’S GOING TO BE COLD. DOES THAT HAVE ANY EFFECT ON A DRIVER WHEN IT’S COLD LIKE THAT AND WHAT EFFECT IT MIGHT HAVE ON THE TRACK ITSELF? “Yeah, I think the biggest thing is typically when it’s that cold, the racetrack has a lot of grip. Tire fall-off is not as bad as it is when it’s really hot and slick. From my side, Greg (Ives, crew chief) texted me earlier this week and he took all my cooling stuff out of the car. So, hopefully it actually is cold because if it gets hot tomorrow night, I’m going to be complaining (laughs). 
It will just be a little different from the tire fall-off side of things. But it really doesn’t change a lot.”
THIS YEAR, THERE HAVE BEEN SEVEN DIFFERENT WINNERS TO START THE SEASON. LAST YEAR STARTED IN A VERY SIMILAR WAY. IS THAT JUST COINCIDENCE THAT THE SEASON HAS STARTED OFF LIKE THIS? TALK HAS ALREADY STARTED THAT THERE COULD BE 16 OR MORE DIFFERENT WINNERS BY THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON – DO YOU BUY INTO THAT?“Yeah, I think people probably will win multiple times. For me, I don’t really pay attention to that stuff a lot. I focus on my own thing and my own weeks; and just trying to go to the racetrack and do the best job I can. But my opinion, I think you’ll see people win multiple times. I don’t think you’ll see 16 different winners, but maybe you will. I guess we’ll wait and see.”
ARE YOU SURPRISED IT STARTED OUT THIS WAY LIKE LAST YEAR?“Not really. I think with the new car, guys are figuring it out week-to-week. Big gains are being made right now. So, I’m not surprised to see so many winners.”
SPEAKING OF THIS CAR, IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYWHERE WE GO, IT’S GIVING US A LITTLE BIT OF SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF THE RACING. IS THAT A GOOD THING FOR THE SERIES AND IS THAT A GOOD SIGN OF WHAT THIS CAR CAN DO? “Yeah, I think it’s good. It’s like anything – the old car had tracks that it put on a really great show and tracks that left a little bit to be desired with it. I think this car is going to have places that it puts on a better show than others. That’s kind of how it is with any racecar. 
I think it’s been really good. We’re all fighting our own individual struggles with it, whether it’s guys dealing with pedal stuff, seat stuff, handling stuff, whatever it is. It’s been a big learning process, which it’s been fun having something new that you’re not familiar with; and it’s not the same that it’s been, what feels like, forever. I’ve been enjoying it and I think it’s been really good.”