August 29, 2021

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team put themselves in position to win Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, but their involvement in a late-race, multi-car crash knocked them out of contention for a win and the Playoff berth that would have come with it.

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team earned the ninth starting spot for Saturday’s regular season finale and took the green flag in seventh place. The team’s strategy called for playing defense early on, so they rode near the back of the pack for most of the first two Stages, hoping to avoid damage to their No. 21 Mustang.

Those plans worked as he finished 27^th in both Stages but had an unblemished Mustang to put to work in the final segment of the race.

DiBenedetto and his fellow Ford drivers were able to leapfrog to the front after the Blue Oval contingent made their final pit stops under the green flag on Lap 123.

When the caution flag flew on Lap 141 and their competitors drove to pit road, the Fords cycled to the front, with DiBenedetto lining up in fourth place for the restart.

His outside line didn’t advance, and he dropped to seventh place but had recovered to sixth place when the next caution flag – and eventually the red flag – flew.

Back under green, DiBenedetto initially dropped to the back of the top 10 as the outside line didn’t keep pace, but he worked his way into the lead with four of the scheduled 160 laps left to run.

But his chances for victory ended there after contact with Chase Elliott took him out of contention and brought out a caution flag that extended the race into Overtime.

DiBenedetto recovered to finish 26th as the race ended under caution for another multi-car crash.

“Our strategy going into the race was to be smart and be there when it counted,” DiBenedetto said. “We worked on the car, got it right and had a shot at winning.”

DiBenedetto said he wasn’t surprised when Elliott moved to block him as the Menards/Dutch Boy Mustang surged forward.

“We had prepared for that exact scenario,” he said. “We had a good push and a huge run.

“We were all racing for the win, so there are no hard feelings. But [Elliott] double blocked us, and we had too big a run for him to do that.” 
 
Despite being disappointed by the outcome, DiBenedetto’s focus remained on the positives.
 
“No regrets,” he said. “We did everything right.
 
“Our Menards/Dutch Boy team should be proud. We’ll take our good momentum and go get a win.” 
 
DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team now head to Darlington Raceway for next Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500.
 

(8/28/2021 – Alex Nieten) Stockton, CA… Dominic Scelzi’s dream season just keeps on rolling.

The pilot of the Scelzi Enterprises/Red Rose Transportation No. 41 notched his fourth NARC-King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Car victory of 2021 with a masterful drive from his starting spot on the third row at the Stockton Dirt Track Saturday night. The result in day three of the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports also marked his fifth consecutive series podium as he continues to hunt his first career NARC title. Scelzi was quick to credit his crew for the consistent success.

“With Jimmy Carr,” Scelzi said in victory lane. “I say it every week, the guy just gives me a perfect racecar every night.”

The Champion’s Classic field was brought to green by DJ Netto and Justin Sanders. Netto got the initial jump into turn one, but Sanders powered underneath Netto out of turn four to lead the opening circuit.

Sanders continued to lead with Netto close behind until lap 10 when Netto was able to slip back by in his Netto Ag/Penny Newman Grain 88N. Sanders came to a stop in turn four on the next lap with a mechanical issue but was able to rejoin after the caution and tag the tail.

The green flag on lap 11 immediately brought another yellow for Corey Day who had trouble on the backstretch before a lap was complete, ending his night.

Scelzi began his charge after the caution for Day. Scelzi lined up fifth for the restart and watched his competitors all head for the top side when the green dropped. On lap 12 Scelzi rolled the bottom perfectly to jump by two cars onto the podium. The following lap he took over second from Rico Abreu. Just two laps later, Scelzi squeezed to the inside of Netto to grab the lead into turn one.

Netto would not go down without a fight as he launched a slider the next lap to regain top spot and lead lap 16, but Scelzi countered with a crossover and was able to distance himself from the reigning champion just enough to get some breathing room.

Lap traffic came into play with under 10 laps remaining as Scelzi and Netto both had to navigate slower cars on what was a tricky surface. Netto made daring moves to get by lap cars and keep Scelzi in his sights. The pilot of the 88N approached Scelzi’s tail tank on multiple occasions as the laps dwindled, but he couldn’t quite gain enough momentum to make another move for the lead. Scelzi hung on to win by just under two seconds.

Behind the battle for the lead, Tanner Carrick quietly moved forward in his Carrick Motorsports/CVC Concrete 83T from his eleventh starting spot to finish in third for his second career series podium. Carrick’s efforts also earned him Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger honors.

Scelzi’s win in the Champion’s Classic marked his third KWS triumph at Stockton, and it netted him $6,000. The point leader extended his lead in the standings and his advantage in the Fastest

Four Days in Motorsports points. The Fresno native just continues to put together a west coast racing season for the history books, and he’s enjoying every moment along the way.

“I’m in awe,” Scelzi said. “I really can’t believe our car is this good every single night.”

The remainder of the top-10 was Rico Abreu, Shane Golobic, Colby Copeland, Sean Becker, Tim Kaeding, Bud Kaeding and Jessie Attard.

The NARC-KWS Fujitsu Sprint Cars can next be seen in action Sunday August 29th at Petaluma Speedway for the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports finale.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (30 laps): 1. Dominic Scelzi 41 2. DJ Netto 88N 3. Tanner Carrick 83T 4. Rico Abreu 24 5. Shane Golobic 17W 6. Colby Copeland 16A 7. Sean Becker 83V 8. Tim Kaeding 42X 9. Bud Kaeding 69 10. Jessie Attard 53 11. Justin Sanders 57 12. Sean Watts 98 13. Mitchell Faccinto 37 14. Willie Croft 29 15. Robbie Price 21P 16. Joel Myers Jr. 46JR 17. Billy Aton 26 18. Mitchel Moles 01 19. Geoffrey Strole 09S 20. Corey Day 21 21. Brain Boswell 75 22. Richard Brace Jr. 2R 23. Kalib Henry 93

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS: Sanders 1-9 Netto 10-14, 16 Scelzi 15, 17-30

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER: Tanner Carrick 11th to 3rd

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (23 cars): Colby Copeland 13.646

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 laps): Justin Sanders, Tanner Carrick, Rico Abreu, Colby Copeland, Mitchel Moles, Billy Aton, Richard Brace Jr., Robbie Price

FUJITSU GENERAL USA HEAT TWO (8 laps): Kalib Henry, Sean Becker, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, Tim Kaeding, Jessie Attard, Joel Myers Jr., Brian Boswell

FLORACING.COM HEAT THREE (8 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, Corey Day, Shane Golobic, Willie Croft, Sean Watts, Geoffrey Strole

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” DASH (6 laps): DJ Netto, Justin Sanders, Rico Abreu, Colby Copeland, Sean Becker, Dominic Scelzi

It’s the Dresden, OH driver’s fourth World of Outlaws win of the seasonDAVENPORT, IA – August 28, 2021 – Devin Moran faced two different battles Saturday night at Davenport Speedway. The Dresden, OH driver survived several restarts against his competitors, and overcame power steering issues to score the $30,000 Victory in the Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking.   In the first few laps, Moran traded the lead with reigning Series champion Brandon Sheppard but took the lead for good on Lap 6. While the “Mailman” was cruising out front, his power steering started going away, forcing him to battle the steering wheel through every corner.   “[The Power Steering] slowly got worse and worse and worse as the race went on, and like under caution, I had no power steering,” Moran said. “My arms felt like noodles, and I’m not the biggest guy in the world anyways, but I just told myself on that last caution, don’t be a sissy, get out there and do what I need to do, and that’s what I did.” Moran’s win is his fourth World of Outlaws triumph of the season and eighth of his career. He added $43,500 to his bank account this weekend, between two wins and a third-place finish.   The “Mailman” dealt with challenges from a familiar foe for part of the race, as Bobby Pierce tried to steal the lead from him on one occasion. Moran held him at bay after searching for the best line on the speedway.   “The middle was really really good for most of the race, and then when [Bobby Pierce] slid me, and when I slid him back in one and two, I felt like the slider line was actually like really fast,” Moran said. “When I did that [Wylie Moran, his crew chief], hands got wider, and we trucked on from there.” While Moran led most of the race, the rest traded positions throughout all 70 laps.  Brian Shirley, the race’s hard charger, drove his way to second after starting 15th. The Chatham, IL driver, stated his car was fast and took advantage of some breaks along the way.  “I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, to be honest, we just needed a good run, and a lot of things were falling our way there,” Shirley said. “We had a good car and had a couple of breaks with the cautions happening and getting in the right spot. Luckily, we just capitalized on some good things that went on [Saturday].” From Bear Lake, PA, Boom Briggs crossed the line third—his best World of Outlaws finish of 2021. The help he received from one of his competitors, paved the way to success on Saturday night.  “I got to thank Mark Richards and all of the [Rocket1 Racing Team],” Briggs said. “[Brandon Sheppard] welded on my car [Saturday], Mark helped me with some stuff and it got me in the game. “That’s all I ever ask is I want in the game and to just be competitive.” Sheppard finished fourth, his second top-five of the weekend. The New Berlin, IL driver ran second for most of the race, but lost his brakes around the halfway point.   “It didn’t affect me too bad around the halfway point, but the longer the race went, and the more I needed to slow my entry down a little bit, the worse I got,” Sheppard said. “I couldn’t steer in unless I was kind of on the gas because I needed to slow up with the brakes, and I didn’t have no brakes to slow me up.”  Bobby Pierce rounded out the top-five, dropping from second on the final restart after a fierce battle for the runner-up spot with Chris Madden.  Pierce was trying to pass Madden on the outside of Turn 3 with five laps to go, when Pierce made contact with Madden, sending the Gray Court, SC driver spinning on the inside of the track.  Pierce stated he was trying to get the most out of his car while running the cushion when the incident happened.    “Anyone that doesn’t know, racing these cars, you’re trying to get that best run off into the corner you can possibly get when you’re running the top,” Pierce said.“When there’s a guy constantly swinging out in front of your line, you’re trying to get to his quarter panel as close as you can without touching him or at least nicking him so you can at least get that best runoff because this game is about inches.  “I could’ve went in there and threw a slider and knocked his nose off. I didn’t want to do that; I wanted to pass him clean. So, therefore, racing deal, it sucks, I take accountability for it because I’m trying to get the most out of my racecar I possibly can.”  We reached out to Madden after the race about the incident, but he declined to comment. Devin Moran overcame adversity to win for the second time in three days, despite leading more laps than anyone throughout the weekend. The “Mailman’s” perseverance shows it’ll take more than a minor issue to keep him out of Victory Lane, when his Longhorn Chassis is dialed in.    UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Cherokee Speedway on Thursday, Sept. 2 for the rescheduled Rock Gault Memorial.  If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or through the DIRTVision App. Morton Buildings Feature (70 Laps)-1. 9-Devin Moran [1][$30,000]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley [15][$15,000]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs [10][$7,000]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard [2][$6,000]; 5. 32P-Bobby Pierce [4][$5,000]; 6. 44-Chris Madden [3][$4,500]; 7. 7-Ricky Weiss [13][$4,000]; 8. B1-Brent Larson [16][$3,500]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [5][$3,000]; 10. 28-Dennis Erb [8][$2,500]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening [11][$2,300]; 12. 21-Billy Moyer [12][$2,200]; 13. 19R-Ryan Gustin [7][$2,100]; 14. 0-Nick Hoffman [18][$2,000]; 15. 28M-Jimmy Mars [9][$1,800]; 16. 18-Shannon Babb [22][$1,700]; 17. 32-Chris Simpson [6][$1,600]; 18. 97-Cade Dillard [17][$1,550]; 19. 25-Jason Feger [19][$1,500]; 20. 19G-Richie Gustin [23][$1,500]; 21. 10-Paul Parker [24][$1,500]; 22. 51-Matt Furman [21][$1,500]; 23. 59-Garrett Alberson [20][$1,500]; 24. 44W-Mike Fryer [14][$1,500] Hard Charger: 3S-Brian Shirley[+13]

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award), and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, FireAde, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, and Rocket Chassis.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS® Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about

Austin Dillon Narrowly Misses NASCAR Playoffs Following Last-Lap Incident at Daytona International Speedway Despite Strong Run in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet

18th

27th

13th

“It was a little bit of a roller coaster ride for us tonight in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet. We drove our butts off and made some good moves to get points in Stage 1 and Stage 2. We found ourselves in fourth place for a green-white-checkered finish here at Daytona, and that’s exactly where I was when we won the Daytona 500 so I was feeling pretty good about it. Instead of a win, we wrecked. Looking back at it, I wish we could have been a little bit more patient. I probably would have stayed on the top line, but I had a run and they all kind of bobbled getting into Turn 3. I went with the No. 17 car just to see if we could have gotten all of the way to the front. The 42 left us at the line and our night was pretty much over there. After that, we were in the middle and had a big run, but the big one happened and we had no where to go. We fought hard. Two weeks in a row, we’ve had fast No. 3 Chevrolets. We just haven’t gotten the finishes that we would like to have, but I’m very thankful that the good Lord took care of us tonight and we get to race at Darlington Raceway next week. It’s unfortunate that we’re not in the playoffs, but we gave it all we could.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Team Advance to the NASCAR Playoffs with Sixth-Place Finish at Daytona International Speedway

6th

17th

11th

“It feels incredible to be in the NASCAR Playoffs. My emotions were shot as soon as we took the green on the last green-white-checkered. I can’t even believe that we finished sixth. It was a lot coming through that last crash at the line and to make the Playoffs is a proud accomplish for our Richard Childress Racing team. I’ve gone to Homestead-Miami a couple times to race for a championship, which was a lot of fun and nerve wracking, but it is a rollercoaster to come to Daytona on the bubble. I almost felt helpless there when I ran into the back of someone and had all the issues we did coming to the checkered. Our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen team never gave up and we made it through all the challenges. We are going to enjoy this moment, but the real work starts now. I can’t wait to get to Darlington next week and start the Round of 16.”  -Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 29, 2021
  KYLE LARSON CROWNED THE NASCAR CUP SERIES REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSix Team Chevy Drivers Lock into NCS Playoffs DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 29, 2021)– The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) season has been an unprecedented year for Kyle Larson. The battle for the NCS Regular Season Championship all came down to the 400-mile, 160-lap race at the famed Daytona International Speedway, where the 29-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver captured his first-career NCS Regular Season Championship title. In addition to the title, the Chevrolet driver will enter the 10-race playoff run with 15 additional playoff points to kickoff the fight for the coveted title of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. 
“Our team has worked so hard all of the regular season,” said Larson. “I couldn’t do it without Mr. Hendrick and Linda and all of their support. Everybody back at the shop, too. This is a long season and we still have 10 races to go. It’s a long point to get here and it’s just a big hats off to everybody at the shop. HendrickCars.com, Valvoline, Tarlton and Son, everybody who’s been on board to help us out this year.”
Larson’s debut season with Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 5 Camaro ZL1 1LE team took the NASCAR Cup Series competition by storm. Through 26 races thus far, Larson leads the series in wins with five, a career-best; top-five finishes (14); top-10’s (18); stage wins (12); 37 playoff points; and a career-best 1,566 laps led. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took over the point lead from Denny Hamlin following his win at Watkins Glen and came into the regular-season finale at the World Center of Racing with a 28-point advantage. 
“Congratulations to Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team on clinching the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship,” said Jim Campbell, GM U.S. Vice President of Performance and Motorsports. “It was quite a battle right to the end, but the combination of the most wins, top-five’s, top-10 finishes, stage wins and laps led made the difference to secure this Regular Season Championship. The team has momentum going into the Playoffs.”
The 16-driver playoff field is set for the NASCAR Cup Series, with six Chevrolet drivers securing their chance to battle for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship: Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kurt Busch, and Tyler Reddick. Heading into the 10-race stretch, momentum is with the Bowtie Brand after capturing 13 wins in 26 NCS races.  
Chevrolet is entering the championship hunt in search of a back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championship after Hendrick Motorsports driver, Chase Elliott, captured his first-career Championship in 2020, giving Chevrolet its 32nd Championship title in NASCAR’s premier series. The Bowtie Brand also sits atop the NCS Manufacturer Standings in pursuit of its 40th title. “It’s great to have six Chevrolet drivers locked into the 2021 Playoffs,” said Campbell.  There are three rounds of Playoffs (3 races per round) in the 2021 format, plus one final championship-crowning season finale. Four drivers will be eliminated following each round of three. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs commences at Darlington Raceway with the annual Cook Out Southern 500 at 6 p.m. ET on September 5. Live coverage of the 367-mile, 501.3-mile race can be found on NBCSN, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE INSTANT OIL CHANGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Kyle Larson. Congratulations on winning the NASCAR regular season championship. Give us a quick recap of the race from your vantage point, but also the opportunity to take home that regular season championship trophy.
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, the race went well until the last lap. We didn’t get any stage points the first time, first stage, and the 11 did. I felt like after thinking about it a little bit more if I could just kind of follow him and stay close to him in the second stage, he wouldn’t gain much on me.
It actually ended up where I beat him in the second stage. That gave me a little bit more comfort going into the final one. We were able to dodge a couple wrecks. He actually got collected in one of them. Then it was kind of go for the win at that point.
Just things didn’t work out for me in the green-white-checkered. Ended up getting shuffled back, then getting right in the middle of that wreck. Yeah, bummer that we didn’t get to finish well, but we accomplished the goal going into tonight, which was coming away with the regular season title.Got those 15 bonus points. Now we can look forward to the next 10 weeks and hopefully get some more wins.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for Kyle.
Q.How special is it to lead the way with an historical team and number?KYLE LARSON: It’s cool. I think just racing the car in general for Mr. H, what that paint scheme and number means to him, it means a lot to me for him to kind of have that trust in me to carry it on. Had a lot of success with it this year, have ourselves positioned in a good spot to chase the championship.
Would have loved to put that car and that paint scheme with HendrickCars.com on it in Victory Lane more often throughout the rest of the year, especially in Phoenix.
Q.You’ll have a huge points lead going into the round of 16. With that margin, what tracks do you have circled in the Playoffs that you feel more confident about?KYLE LARSON: I mean, I think there’s a lot of good tracks for us. I don’t know which ones specifically. I feel like we have a shot to win anywhere right now. That’s encouraging.
I really just look forward to getting it started next week, kind of getting into the flow of that, racing in the Playoffs against multiple other drivers chasing points and wins.
Yeah, I feel good about it.
Q.What is the possibility seeing all Hendrick cars make the Final 4?KYLE LARSON: It would be hard to get all of us in the Final 4 at Phoenix, but it’s not impossible either. We’ve all four been really strong I feel like all season long. It’s been nice to have us all win this year and challenge for many other wins. Yeah, it’s not impossible, but it’s definitely going to be tough. That would be awesome.
Q.You’re a guy that’s used to going out and your philosophy is win, win, win. How are you going to temper that balance to win a championship? You’ve never really been in a position to be the favorite going into the Playoffs, at least at the Cup level?KYLE LARSON: I don’t know, I feel like we’ve kind of had that mindset the last month or so already. It’s not been all about just winning. Once points kind of came into the picture of us being able to beat the 11, kind of points racing against him. I think getting into that mindset, that kind of style it takes to not be so go for broke, which I feel like is a lot of what you need. You obviously have to have that go for broke somewhere in your arsenal.
Yeah, I think a lot of it, you can’t make any big mistakes and take yourself out of it. That’s what we’ve been doing this last month and a half or so. I feel like that’s been good to prep us leading into the Playoffs.
Q.Is there anything you’re looking at as far as changing what you have been doing? Will you continue to race as much outside of NASCAR?KYLE LARSON: I don’t know. I mean, I’ve answered that question a lot. Naturally the schedule, there’s not a lot of midweek racing. There’s no speedweeks and stuff this time of year. I can’t go race as much as I have been.
I’m still going to race. I think it’s been a big part of what’s made me, what’s gotten us to this point, this strong on Sundays, is being fresh throughout the week. Competing is a big part of me.Yeah, I’m going to race when I can. Hopefully we do a good job in the Playoffs.
Q.From your point of view, what differences did you see with the package compared to Daytona and Talladega earlier this season?KYLE LARSON: I didn’t really get to race Talladega. Race ended before the race started almost.The 500, from what I remember of that, I feel like the runs were maybe just a touch smaller. Maybe it was a little easier to block runs and stuff because of that.
But really I didn’t think it was way different. The other drivers who kind of were up front would maybe have a different opinion. From where I was, I didn’t think it was way different.
Q.Looking forward to the Playoffs, are there any tracks in particular that you’re looking forward to the most?KYLE LARSON: I mean, I think I’m happy to start off at Darlington. It’s a fun racetrack. There’s a lot of good racetracks for us and our race team. I’m really looking forward to Bristol. It’s my favorite race of the year, favorite racetrack. We only get to go there really once this year I feel like. Hopefully take advantage of that and have a good time and get my first win at Bristol.
Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of good tracks. Really we look forward to all of them.
Q.Talladega is not that far away. Did you learn anything you can take to Talladega from tonight?KYLE LARSON: I’m not sure. Obviously there’s always something that you take away from each race. I think after going back and looking at some video, really studying this race, I think you’ll be able to learn a little bit more going to Talladega.
Yeah, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it yet.
Q.Looking ahead to the Playoffs, is there a certain driver or team you feel is your biggest competition?KYLE LARSON: I mean, I think everybody has had their moments of being really strong this year. I think the three others, my teammates, are going to be really tough. I think I look at obviously Denny, Martin, Kyle Busch as probably being the three others besides our team that stand out.
I feel like there’s always one or two guys that you don’t really notice that much during the regular season, maybe don’t even notice that much in the first round, but really start hitting their stride after that. There’s probably definitely a few wild cards out there. You won’t really know who they are until we get a few races in.
THE MODERATOR: Kyle, thank you for joining us. Congratulations once again. Best of luck in the Playoffs this season.
KYLE LARSON: Thank you.

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES AUGUST 28, 2021
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER5th      RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 KROGER/COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE6th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th      JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 77 FOE CAMARO ZL1 1LE8th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Ryan Blaney (Ford)2nd     Chris Buescher (Ford)3rd      Bubba Wallace (Toyota)4th      Ryan Newman (Ford)5th      Ryan Preece (Chevrolet)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 5, at 6 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES: TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6thWERE YOU NERVOUS AT ANY POINT IN THE RACE GIVEN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?“There was definitely so much happening there during the race and I didn’t get nervous till Stage 3 there on a restart that I thought was coming, but he did a really good job of matching the move with Chase Elliott going three-wide on the bottom and we lost all the track position that we gained there in Stage 2.  From that point on we had the cycles and the cautions that came when we got collected in that accident with 15 to go. Yeah, that is when the nerves kind of shot up because the car is crashed, we were out of the draft, and not really sure what was going to happen. We caught a caution and fortunately got through that last crash. Even more fortunate than that was that Ryan Blaney was able to win and if you look at the guys from third to myself, if any of those guys win but Blaney, we are having a different conversation.” WITH THE SMOKE COMING OUT OF YOUR CAR, WAS THERE ANY POINT WHERE YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE?“Well, once the vitals on the dash showed everything was fine, me personally, I wasn’t worried. It was a matter of getting the oil that was trapped or stuck…..just a matter of time for it to just work its way out of the car and to stop looking like we were having all kinds of leaks.  That is when NASCAR thought we still had a leak. Technically our engine was good, and we didn’t have any leaks. We just had some fluid lying around from the accident.” HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO THE MOST PRESSURED SITUATIONS YOU HAVE BEEN IN BEFORE?“Almost more than the Xfinity Series Championship honestly because you have so many drivers that were in the top 15 that could win and change everything for our year. So yeah, a lot of nerves running right there and getting through that crash somehow like we did, and getting the finish and crossing the line and whatnot. Still got sixth and we got lucky.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1L1 – Finished 8thEND OF THE REGULAR SEASON AND INTO THE PLAYOFFS. ALEX, AS YOU GET READY TO GO PLAYOFF RACING, WHERE’S YOUR TEAM AT AND HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU STACK UP AS WE GO TO DARLINGTON NEXT WEEK?“Yeah, we definitely struggled the three weeks after the two off weeks. But solid top-10 here today for the No. 48 Ally Camaro. Last year, we were miserable all summer and then showed up in the Playoffs and were really strong each and every week. I’m not worried about it. I know we’re going to be good every week. Our Ally Camaro is going to be fast. Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the guys have been doing a really good job. Confident going into a lot of good racetracks for us and excited to get going.”
ARE THERE TRACKS THAT YOU’RE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO AND IS THERE A TRACK OR TWO THAT YOU’RE HOPING TO GET A GOOD RUN AT IN THESE PLAYOFF RACES?“Yeah, obviously we won Richmond; excited to go there. That was always the one that I circled that I was worried about. Since we’ve gotten a little better there over the last couple of years, it’s cool to have a win there and be excited to go there rather than somewhat dreading it. But then, the typical good racetracks for us – Las Vegas, Darlington, Kansas – a lot of good places for us. Just excited to get going.”
WHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY FOR YOUR RUN AT DAYTONA?“We crashed three times and ran eighth; pretty typical superspeedway race. At least we made it to the end there. We had a pretty solid car until we got that left-front damage. It was just kind of slow after that, but the guys did a good job trying to fix it up on pit road. We had a good Ally Camaro. Wish we would have been a couple spots better, but just ready to go Playoff racing and have this one done and over with.”
WHAT IS YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL GOING INTO THE FIRST RACE OF THE PLAYOFFS?“It’s been a rough stretch since the two off weeks, but I feel like we were really successful last year in the Playoffs and we have the ability to repeat that and go further. I’m excited; a lot of great racetracks for us.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9thCHASE, NINTH-PLACE FINISH TONIGHT. INITIAL TAKEWAYS FROM YOUR RUN.“We had a really, really fast UniFirst Chevrolet. I thought we were probably better than we’ve ever been down here. Just a lot of ability in our car to do the things that we’ve been asking of it for a few years. So, we’re really excited about that. I hate to crash there. It’s so tough when you get in those situations where you have the lead and trying to hold it. You have big runs coming and it’s just like, where do you draw the line.”“I feel like you’ve got to be pretty aggressive or you’re going to get taken advantage of. That’s just the style of racing.”
YOU KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP. WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO GO BACK-TO-BACK?“I feel like the same thing that it was last year. Just execute a really solid 10 weeks and try to be at our very best during the most important part of the year. We’ll see how it stacks up. It’s hard to time those things up, but we’ll try our best to do that.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 COLUMBIA PFG CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“Thought we had a good Columbia Chevy, we rode for most of the race and went hard towards the end. Got towards the front and were in position just didn’t get through the last wreck at the end. Proud that we brought a good car, and hope that we get to have Columbia back on the car.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th “For us, we wanted to protect the car and get it to the end and have a shot to win.  Five points in the Playoffs is what we were after. Secondary was to push the 42 of Chastain, but in the end, the lineup……they couldn’t seem to find out which lane all of us were supposed to restart in. Really doesn’t matter for the lineup if they just let us choose which lane. Some weeks we get to choose, some weeks we don’t. There are too many different inconsistencies and then all hell breaks loose at the end of plate racing and everybody is ripping and gouging for themselves.  The Monster Energy Chevrolet is all beat up, and I got it close, but I don’t even know if we got a top 10 out of it. We will see where things shake out. It’s what it is and now we are in Playoff mode. I can feel it and we have a good 10 weeks ahead of us.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th“It was a little bit of a roller coaster ride. We fought our butts off in the stages. We made some good moves to get points and found ourselves in fourth-place for a green-white-checkered here at Daytona. That’s where we were when we won the Daytona 500, so I was feeling pretty good about it. I don’t know – looking back, I wish I would have been a little more patient and probably stay in the top line. But I had a run and they all kind of boggled getting into (turn) three, so I went with the 17 (Chris Buescher) just to see if we could get all the way to the front. The 42 (Ross Chastain) kind of left us at the line and our night was over there. We were kind of in the middle, had a big run and then the crash happened.”
“We fought hard. The Bass Pro Shop Chevy was very fast. Two weeks in a row we’ve had great cars out of the 3 Team. Just haven’t gotten the finishes we’d like to have, but very thankful that the good Lord took care of us tonight and we get to race at Darlington next week. Unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs, but we gave it all we could and fought until the very end.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE INSTANT OIL CHANGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 21st; Clinched Regular Season Championship.“We had a stretch there where we won like every Stage and every race for a few weeks in a row. I think we took huge chunks out then. I think I read somewhere where we overcame I think a 166-point gap to Denny (Hamlin). I didn’t think it was possible, but our team has worked so hard all of the regular season. I couldn’t do it without Mr. Hendrick and Linda and all of their support. Everybody back at the shop, too. This is a long season and we still have 10 races to go. It’s a long point to get here and it’s just a big hats off to everybody at the shop. HendrickCars.com, Valvoline, Tarlton and Son, everybody who’s been on board to help us out this year.”
WHEN YOU FIRST SIGNED ON AND MR. HENDRICK CALLED YOU AND SAID, ‘HEY WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS A-GO’, DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THIS WAS POSSIBLE WITH THE NO. 5 TEAM?“Yeah, I did for sure. I honestly thought we’d get off to a slower start than we did. But I felt like we could string together some good runs. We’ve had speed all season, so we actually started off the year better than I thought. I didn’t expect to go through that stretch where we were winning every week. But with all of the success that they had last year for Chase (Elliott) and the other three drivers, I knew that it was possible. We just have great people that work so hard and I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive it. It’s really credit to everybody back at the shop.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 145; Finished 38thTOUGH NIGHT TONIGHT. TOUGH END TO THE REGULAR SEASON, BUT STILL IN THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK GOING INTO DARLINGTON?“Just reset. Tonight was going OK. I thought we were kind of biding our time to the end and tried to put ourselves in a good position. We had pretty good momentum on the top to make something happen and just got cleaned out. That’s part of it; part of racing. We’ll go onto Darlington and reset for the Playoffs.”
WHAT DID YOU SEE IN ALL THAT?“It looks like I was just one row short of getting through it. I was basically with the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) and the No. 19 (Martin Truex) came up the track all of a sudden…yeah, just got off-center and got loose; the No. 19 did. We were the meat in the sandwich there. That’s just how it goes sometimes.” “I thought we were having an OK night. We were third in Stage 2 and got some Stage points. And then, just trying to get back to the front and just nowhere to go. We’ll go onto Darlington and get ready for the Playoffs.” THE RACING WAS DIFFERENT TONIGHT. WHAT WAS THE FEELING BEHIND THE WHEEL AND IN THE PACK?“The lanes were really tight so there wasn’t a lot of room to make a gap. You just kind of basically got pushed into the next guy in front of you. So, it was kind of like bumper cars out there. And just bumper car your way to the front and hope you can kind of control the lane. We were able to control the lane early, and then we never really got the right position to do so again. So, it was just kind of like bumper cars out there.” MORE SO THAN USUAL?“Yeah, I think so. More so than usual just because, I don’t know exactly why. I don’t know if it was the less horsepower or the wicker off the back. But it seemed like you could never kind of get separation and get pushed out, so you were just kind of always being pushed back to the guy behind you. I think there was a half a lap I pushed the No. 3 car (Austin Dillon) and so, it was just all strategy to try to put yourself in the right spot.” WITH THIS IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR, ARE YOU READY FOR THE PLAYOFFS?“Absolutely. We’re excited. We finished fourth at Darlington in the Spring, and I feel like we’ll have a good car there. So, I’m excited for the first round.”

Myatt Snider and the No. 2 Crosley Brands Team Overcome Early Damage to Finish Eighth at Daytona International Speedway

8th

23rd

12th

“Our Crosley Brands Chevrolet was extremely fast last night under the lights and I knew we were going to be in contention for the win today at Daytona International Speedway. The track was definitely slick in the heat and from the start, the car was twitchy on exit. Unfortunately, I made a mistake at the end of the first stage and got into the 22 car, which ended his day and damaged our Camaro. My guys were able to fix the left front damage; we reset the DVP clock and regained our lap as the lucky dog. From that point forward, we kept chipping away at it as a group. By the start of the third stage, we were back inside the top 10 and stayed there for the remainder of the race. It’s frustrating to finish eighth when you have a car that could have won the race, but that just shows how strong our program is at Richard Childress Racing. I wouldn’t want to be with any other group of guys. We’ll shift our focus to Darlington next week.”  -Myatt Snider

(8/27/2021 – Alex Nieten) Watsonville, CA… In the third and final NARC-King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Car appearance at Ocean Speedway of the year, Mitchell Faccinto picked up his third career series win in what he felt was a long time coming at the Watsonville bullring.

“Finally,” Faccinto said in victory lane. “I feel like we’ve won ten or fifteen dashes here, and I’ve just made too many mistakes in the feature to get the win.”

Faccinto would not make those same mistakes Friday night on day number two of the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports.

Courtesy of his win in the Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash, Faccinto paced the field to green with fellow front row starter, Tanner Carrick. Carrick got the initial jump and led off turn two but an immediate yellow for Sean Watts on the backstretch brought the field back together for a complete restart.

On the ensuing green flag Faccinto aced the start to keep the lead in his Stan Greenberg owned Western Metal Co. No. 37. Another caution for Sean Becker slowed the pace again on lap 3. Faccinto secured another a great jump to lead on the restart, and as the leaders approached traffic the action intensified behind Faccinto.

Third starting Ryan Robinson in the Mike Phulps owned Long Creek Winery & Ranch No. 56 began battling with Carrick for the runner-up spot. Reigning champion DJ Netto approached the duel but contact on lap 10 with Carrick sent him for a wild ride down the backstretch and brought out the night’s first red flag. Netto was okay, and the 88N crew immediately began thrashing to make repairs. Carrick exited the track after the contact.

The accident shook up the top-5, moving point leader, Dominic Scelzi, onto the podium and Kurt Nelson into fifth. On the following restart, Robbie Price and Justin Sanders tangled in turn one to bring out yet another yellow. The caution eventually became an open red as teams would need fuel. Miraculously, Netto’s team made repairs on his machine from the previous red, and since a lap did not get completed before the next incident, Netto was able to rejoin on the lead lap.

The restart with 21 to go brought the race’s first long green flag run. Faccinto paced Robinson and Scelzi but couldn’t pull away on the lightning fast Ocean Speedway. The trio stayed a few car lengths apart from one another as they navigated lap traffic. On lap 24, Robinson seized on an opportunity when Faccinto bobbled out of turn two and threw a slider on him into turn three. Faccinto countered with a crossover out of turn four, and as the pair raced side by side down the front stretch and into turn one, the red flag flew again.

Netto, who had been charging after making the earlier repairs, found himself in the turn two fence with Landon Brooks, ending both of their nights and necessitating some lengthy fence repair. Both drivers were unharmed.

Faccinto jumped out to a solid advantage on the following restart with six to go and never looked back. While trying to mount a charge, Robinson made a couple mistakes on the cushion and had to go into defensive mode with a hard charging Scelzi behind him. Faccinto held on to win by just over one second and parked the TSG blue and white 37 in NARC-KWS victory lane for the third time in his career. The win netted Faccinto $4,000.

Robinson held on to second, and Scelzi rounded out the podium in his Scelzi Enterprises/Red Rose Transportation 41 machine, marking his fourth consecutive podium. Scelzi extended his overall points advantage and took over the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports points lead.

Bud Kaeding and Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger, Shane Golobic, completed the top-5. Rico Abreu, Kurt Nelson, Colby Copeland, Tim Kaeding and Mitchel Moles rounded out the top-10.

Ryan Robinson broke his own track record he set back in June at Ocean Speedway. His time of 10.734 now stands as the quickest in track history.

NARC-KWS will be back in action again on August 28th at Stockton Dirt Track for night three of the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (30 laps): 1. Mitchell Faccinto 37, 2. Ryan Robinson 56, 3. Dominic Scelzi 41, 4. Bud Kaeding 69, 5. Shane Golobic 17W, 6. Rico Abreu 24, 7. Kurt Nelson 72W, 8. Colby Copeland 16A, 9. Tim Kaeding 42X, 10. Mitchel Moles 01, 11. Keith Day Jr. 22, 12. Justin Sanders 57, 13. Billy Aton 26, 14. Jessie Attard 53, 15. Sean Becker 83V, 16. Brad Dillard 72S, 17. Brian Boswell 75, 18. Richard Fajardo 07, 19. Landon Brooks 76, 20. DJ Netto 88N, 21. Blake Carrick 38B, 22. Tanner Carrick 83T, 23. Robbie Price 21, 24. Sean Watts 98.

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS: Faccinto 1-30

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER: Shane Golobic 13th to 5th

ARP FAST QUALIFIER: Ryan Robinson 10.734 (New Track Record)

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (10 laps): Tanner Carrick, Ryan Robinson, Keith Day Jr., Bud Kaeding, Shane Golobic, Billy Aton, Landon Brooks, Sean Becker

FUJITSU GENERAL USA HEAT TWO (10 laps): Kurt Nelson, DJ Netto, Colby Copeland, Mitchel Moles, Blake Carrick, Robbie Price, Jessie Attard, Brian Boswell

FLORACING.COM HEAT THREE (10 laps): Tim Kaeding, Dominic Scelzi, Mitchell Faccinto, Rico Abreu, Justin Sanders, Sean Watts, Brad Dillard, Richard Fajardo

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” DASH (6 laps): Mitchell Faccinto, Tanner Carrick, Ryan Robinson, DJ Netto, Kurt Nelson, Dominic Scelzi

Battles throughout the top-10 set for an ‘electrifying’ 30-lap FVP Platinum Battery ShowdownGREENWOOD, NE – Aug. 27, 2021 – Whispers mirrored each other in Victory Lane. “That looked like the Donny Schatz of old.”The sentence was said with wonder by some and fear by others. They’ve seen what happens when the 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion puts on a performance like he did Friday night at I-80 Speedway for the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown.Schatz, of Fargo, ND, started fourth in the 30-lap Feature and marched his way forward with an iron right foot, taking every position with the force of a determined winner. He had the lead at the conclusion of the first third of the race and then ran away with it. When the checkered was presented to the field, Schatz reached it first with a more than three-second lead at the 4/10-mile track.It was the 302nd Series win of Schatz’s career and his first ever at I-80 Speedway – a feat even he was surprised by.“First win here? Well, that’s always good,” Schatz said in Victory Lane. “I know we’ve been fast here in the past. I try to forget about what is behind me. It feels good to win. We didn’t really feel that great in the (DIRTVision FAST PASS) Dash. The guys took a huge swing with the race car and tried to make it better. And it obviously worked.“That’s what’s fun about it when you can make those huge swings and make something happen.”David Gravel presented himself as the driver to beat throughout the early stages of the night, setting Slick Woody’s Quick Time, winning his Drydene Heat Race and finishing second in the Dash. However, once the Feature commenced, the chance at a win slipped through his fingers during its progression.Carson Macedo, who finished second at I-80 Speedway last year, started from the pole – due to his Dash win – and held command out front for the first 10 laps. His Jason Johnson Racing #41 looked smooth and in control in clean air, pulling ahead of the field by more than a second. Once lap traffic came into play around Lap 10, his rocket ship run hit debris and slowed. The timing couldn’t have been worse for the California native as Schatz was like a programmed bullet destined for the lead.Cruising around the low line, Schatz officially took the top spot from Macedo on Lap 11 and was never seen from the other podium contenders again.“Starting fourth, just tried to make the bottom work from the word go,” Schatz said. “I didn’t really know if that was going to work or not, but I stayed there and stayed there to figure out how to get it going. It worked.”After Macedo lost the lead to Schatz, early predictions would’ve had him finishing in the runner-up spot as Gravel, in third, had his hands full with Sheldon Haudenschild. They’d be wrong. The NOS Energy Drink #17 of Haudenschild started third but fell back early before making his climb. He passed Gravel with 10 laps to go and was able to track down Macedo for second five laps later.By that point, there was no catching Schatz. Haudenschild had to settle for his second runner-up finish in a row.“He [Schatz] got a good gap on us,” Haudenschild said. “He started working the bottom early and got around me and the 2 and the 41. He was really good and got a gap. He was able to get to the lappers first and get a good gap. It is what it is. Ran second. Felt good. The car was really good all night.”Macedo rounded out the podium in third. Behind him was a Roman colosseum-gladiator-flight-to-the-death war for the fourth and fifth spots. Gravel held fourth in the closing laps, but Brock Zearfoss, James McFadden and Gio Scelzi swung slide jobs and threw dive bombs at each other for the final five laps.McFadden exited the victor, securing fourth-place at the line. He also earned the KSE Hard Charger award, having started 10th.“We struggled early (in the night), I just couldn’t get comfortable for some reason,” McFadden said. “We threw a big setup at it. Something that has worked for us before. We thought we’d give it a crack. We had nothing to lose and it worked a lot. I wish we had a caution there with 10 or 15 laps to go. The car was really truckin’.”Gravel finished fifth with Zearfoss in sixth and Scelzi seventh. However, for Zearfoss, it was still a win as the finish was his fourth top-10 in a row – a new career-best for the Jonestown, PA driver.“We were really good early, just needed to be probably a little bit tighter there at the end,” Zearfoss said. “I got a little free. All in all, a really good night. I kind of messed ourselves up there in the Heat Race and got beat, plain as day.  Knocked ourselves out of the (DIRTVision FAST PASS) Dash draw there and potentially a position to win the race. Just shows how important it is to make the Dash.”Glistening in the glow of his new light-up FVP Platinum Battery Showdown trophy, yet another milestone shined upon Schatz in 2021. Hard to believe he’s only visited Victory Lane three time, so far. First for his 300th win and now for his first at I-80 Speedway. However, if the whispers… “That looked like the Donny Schatz of old.” are true, we’ll leave the record books close by.UP NEXT The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will make its final trip of the year to South Dakota, on Sunday, Aug. 29, for the Rushmore Outlaw Showdown at Black Hills Speedway. CLICK HERE for tickets.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or through the DIRTVision App.RESULTS NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) 1. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$10,000]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][$6,000]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$3,500]; 4. 9-James McFadden [10][$2,800]; 5. 2-David Gravel [2][$2,500]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8][$2,300]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [11][$2,200]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][$2,100]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet [13][$2,050]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [9][$2,000]; 11. 83-Kasey Kahne [5][$1,600]; 12. 21-Brian Brown [6][$1,400]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,200]; 14. 27-Carson McCarl [14][$1,100]; 15. 1M-Don Droud [16][$1,050]; 16. 17A-Austin McCarl [17][$1,000]; 17. O9-Matt Juhl [19][$1,000]; 18. 7S-Jason Sides [22][$1,000]; 19. 22-Riley Goodno [23][$1,000]; 20. 35L-Cody Ledger [25][$1,000]; 21. 20G-Noah Gass [24][$1,000]; 22. 44-Chris Martin [21][$1,000]; 23. 2C-Wayne Johnson [15][$1,000]; 24. 81-Jack Dover [20][$1,000]; 25. 11-Roger Crockett [18][$1,000]; Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-10, Donny Schatz 11-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 9-James McFadden[+6]Qualifying 1. 2-David Gravel, 14.426; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 14.432; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 14.439; 4. 83-Kasey Kahne, 14.45; 5. 21-Brian Brown, 14.45; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen, 14.486; 7. O9-Matt Juhl, 14.548; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.57; 9. 15-Donny Schatz, 14.599; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 14.6; 11. 27-Carson McCarl, 14.651; 12. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.679; 13. 49-Brad Sweet, 14.709; 14. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 14.724; 15. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 14.753; 16. 9-James McFadden, 14.764; 17. 17A-Austin McCarl, 14.785; 18. 20G-Noah Gass, 14.825; 19. 1M-Don Droud, 14.891; 20. 81-Jack Dover, 14.981; 21. 11-Roger Crockett, 15.057; 22. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.169; 23. 22-Riley Goodno, 15.307; 24. 44-Chris Martin, 15.357; 25. 35L-Cody Ledger, 15.547; 26. 12-Tyler Drueke, 17.42

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 27, 2021) – Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship point leader, Tim McCreadie, took another big step in his quest for his first series title by winning Friday Night’s event at Port Royal Speedway.  The 47-year-old New York native captured his fourth series win of 2021 as he crossed the line nearly a straightaway ahead of four-time Series Champion Jimmy Owens. Tyler Erb came from 10th to place third with Shane Clanton taking fourth and Hudson O’Neal finishing in fifth.  Jonathan Davenport and McCreadie started on the front row for the 40-lap main event as the two went side-by-side at the line to complete the first lap. McCreadie would take the lead from Davenport on the next lap, a lead he never relinquished. A terrific four-car battle for the lead would ensue for several laps as the leaders raced through traffic. Davenport stayed close by, with O’Neal and Chris Ferguson in the hunt as well. During a lap 25 caution flag period, both Davenport and Ferguson had issues with flat tires as they made their way to the hot pit area for new rubber. With the second and fourth place running cars relegated to the back, that opened the door for Owens and Erb to move into the top three. Erb got to second on lap 27, but Owens would get back around Erb for second with ten laps to go.  McCreadie, who has finished second in the final championship point standings three out of the last four years extended his current lead after Friday Night’s victory. “I am still nervous; I was nervous the whole race. I am not getting any younger, there’s not that many chances to be up front as you get older. You need to cherish every moment. I hated it for JD. He might have got me there in traffic. I know the sticks were getting pretty close. JD had his problems and then Hudson, these two have been better than all of us here lately. As a team we just try things and try things. I felt so good in three and four and I didn’t think anybody could roll me.” Owens, the reigning Series Champion came home in second. “We had a good car especially through the middle of the track. I wasn’t as good as those other guys were up at the cushion. I was able to maintain with them a little bit, so I thought when he got to traffic I was going to be able to do something with them. We could gain on them. We’re happy to bring this car home in second. Maybe we will have something for them tomorrow night.” Erb, who was looking for his fifth series win of the season rounded out the podium in third. “We were just fortunate when the 49 [Davenport] and the 22 [Satterlee] had their misfortunes, when they had their flats. I definitely didn’t want to be on the bottom on the restart. I knew Jimmy probably did. I was able to get by him on the first one. I didn’t want to see that last caution. All-in-all it was good. I am historically not very good here, so we are just getting better.” The winner’s Donald and Gena Bradsher Paylor Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, New Point Lighting and Design, D&E Marine, Racing for Heroes, and The Aesthetic Haus. Completing the top ten were Earl Pearson Jr., Michael Norris, Spencer Hughes, Ross Robinson, and Trever Feathers. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Rumble by the River – Night 2Friday, August 27th, 2021Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport / 18.616 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie / 18.727 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[4]; 3. 76H-Andy Haus[2]; 4. 72C-Jason Covert[5]; 5. 2T-Kyle Lee[3]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 7. 2J-Jeff Rine[6]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar[10]; 10. 32J-Shaun Jones[11]; 11. 93-Pancho Lawler[9]; 12. 15F-Scott Flickinger[12] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 4. 48-Colton Flinner[2]; 5. 11B-Brian Booze[4]; 6. 24Y-Dylan Yoder[8]; 7. 39T-Tim Smith Jr[7]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[10]; 9. 94M-Jason Miller[11]; 10. D19-Dillan Stake[6]; 11. 45-Kyle Hardy[9] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 5. 4-Gary Stuhler[6]; 6. 11H-Spencer Hughes[5]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[8]; 8. 06-Mike Lupfer[10]; 9. 2D-Dan Stone[11]; 10. 0H-Dale Hollidge[9]; 11. 1ST-Johnny Scott[7]; 12. C33-Chris Casner[12] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[6]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 4. 20F-Trever Feathers[4]; 5. 22-Gregg Satterlee[10]; 6. 24D-Michael Brown[2]; 7. 0E-Rick Eckert[7]; 8. 43A-Tyler Bare[5]; 9. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[11]; 10. 86B-Austin Berry[9]; 11. 22S-Brett Schadel[8] LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 2. 2T-Kyle Lee[1]; 3. 2J-Jeff Rine[5]; 4. 11B-Brian Booze[2]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[9]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[7]; 7. 24Y-Dylan Yoder[4]; 8. D19-Dillan Stake[12]; 9. 1Z-Logan Zarin[8]; 10. 39T-Tim Smith Jr[6]; 11. 32J-Shaun Jones[11]; 12. 94M-Jason Miller[10]; 13. 93-Pancho Lawler[13]; 14. 15F-Scott Flickinger[15]; 15. (DNS) 45-Kyle Hardy UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 22-Gregg Satterlee[2]; 2. 4-Gary Stuhler[1]; 3. 11H-Spencer Hughes[3]; 4. 24D-Michael Brown[4]; 5. 0E-Rick Eckert[6]; 6. 43A-Tyler Bare[8]; 7. 06-Mike Lupfer[7]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[9]; 9. 1ST-Johnny Scott[13]; 10. 0H-Dale Hollidge[11]; 11. 22S-Brett Schadel[14]; 12. 86B-Austin Berry[12]; 13. C33-Chris Casner[15]; 14. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[10]; 15. 7R-Ross Robinson[5]Rumble by the River Night 2 Feature Finish (40 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 46Lap Leaders: Jonathan Davenport (Lap 1); Tim McCreadie (Laps 2-40)Wrisco Feature Winner: Tim McCreadieArizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Tim McCreadieMargin of Victory: 2.339 secondsStop Tech Brakes Cautions: Debris (Lap 25); Stormy Scott, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Jason Covert, Josh Richards (Lap 25 restart); Gregg Satterlee (Lap 26); Kyle Bronson (Lap 28)Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Mike Marlar; Matt CosnerSeries Emergency Provisionals: N/ATrack Provisional: Ross RobinsonBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Tyler ErbPenske Shocks Top 5: Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb, Shane Clanton, Hudson O’NealOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Ross Robinson (Advanced 16 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadieHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Tim McCreadie (39 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy OwensEibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Ricky Thornton Jr.Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Tim McCreadie (Lap 2 – 19.868 seconds)Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Jonathan DavenportOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Philip Snellen (Tim McCreadie)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jonathan Davenport (18.736 seconds)Time of Race:  41 minutes 47 seconds Lucas Oil Championship Points:

*Results are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day* ####

About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesFounded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2021, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 59 events across 18 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap.  The series receives national exposure through a television package filmed, produced and edited by Lucas Oil Production Studios. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events will broadcast on four networks including CBS, NBC Sports, CBS Sports Network and the MAVTV Motorsports Network.   The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com.

Father Darrell’s support and inspiration from former Modified star Jimmy Owens helped drive the dominant campaign

MOORESVILLE, NC – Aug. 27, 2021 – Twenty starts, 19 wins. Four-hundred fifty-four of 495 laps led. $32,000 in first-place earnings alone. A fourth career championship.

To many, these seem like video game-type numbers. But to Nick Hoffman, this was reality at the end of his 2021 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals campaign – one that also broke the record for most consecutive victories (8) and most wins all-time (57).

The 29-year-old UMP Modified star from Mooresville, NC, turned a lot of heads this summer, traveling around the Midwest with crew member Shawn O’Neill on a tour of utter domination. But like most awe-inspiring seasons across sports history, those involved often don’t get the chance to soak it in until it’s all over.

“It’s kinda weird looking back at it, as it was going on,” Hoffman said. “We didn’t really realize what we were doing. You just kinda look past it and are always racing for the next day.

“Now that we’ve had a couple weeks here, it’s just pretty wild to look back at it. I guess we took it for granted at the time. It’s going to be something that people talk about for years, I think.”

SOCIAL MEDIA STAR

In fact, people have already been talking about it, and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. Since early June, Facebook newsfeeds and Twitter timelines of fans and industry professionals have been dotted with the chatter about Hoffman’s accomplishments, both positive and negative.

From spectators’ cheating and cherry-picking accusations to full-on wars of words in the comment sections between his supporters and naysayers, Hoffman’s seen it all online this year. But he knows whether they’re for or against him, just the fact that they’re talking about him means he’s doing something right.

“I enjoy reading all the stuff, whether it’s good stuff, bad stuff, whatever… I don’t care,” Hoffman said. “It doesn’t matter who you are – as long as they’re talking about you, it’s a good thing.

“I use the negativity as just fuel to the fire to make me want to win the next night again.”

The two-time DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion took to Twitter daily over the summer and was more active on the platform than he ever had been, providing followers with updates and commentary on his travels and racing. It’s a strong method of interaction with his fans that he says more drivers should be taking advantage of.

“I think a lot of racecar drivers don’t use social media to their benefit,” Hoffman said. “I get a lot of people that just come up to me and say, ‘man, I really enjoy following you on Twitter.’ At the end of the day, those are the type of people that are going to buy t-shirts or root for you in the stands. I think a lot of guys miss out on that.”

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

One of Hoffman’s biggest moments on social media this season came with his announcement regarding his new driving duties behind the wheel of Scott Bloomquist’s Drydene #0 car while the Dirt Late Model Hall-of-Famer recovers from injury complications.

Hoffman drove the Team Zero Race Car to a seventh-place finish in his first night out at Davenport Speedway, then qualified for the 31st Prairie Dirt Classic four days later at Fairbury Speedway. He also bagged a podium finish in a preliminary night of action at Batesville Motor Speedway last weekend, displaying the high-quality results the fans are used to seeing from both Hoffman and Bloomquist’s #0.

“It’s the best opportunity I’ve ever had, as far as the equipment to run up front every single night,” Hoffman said. “I’ve had great equipment in every Late Model ride I’ve ever drove, but this obviously has the knowledge of Scott, and everybody put in place.”

Right now, Hoffman said he will compete in the upcoming double World 100s at Eldora Speedway – the same place where he qualified for all four Features of the double Dirt Late Model Dreams back in June, piloting a Team Zero Race Car for the Mahomet, IL-based Hatchers Auto Sales team.

And while he’s made his home and career in the UMP Modified world, Hoffman’s hoping the success he’s had thus far will bring him more Late Model opportunities in the future.

“I’d like to do some full-time Late Model stuff, it’s just all about getting the right deal and the right opportunity put in place,” he said.

WORKING FROM HOME

Between racing the Late Model for Bloomquist and his own UMP Modified this season, it’s been a challenge for Hoffman to balance racing and work at his Elite Chassis shop – a simple two-car garage behind his parents’ house in Mooresville.

His work on the jig has given his customers the tools they need to succeed, and it’s shined bright this year with the rise of teenage Modified sensation Hunt Gossum and his three Summit Modified victories. A new Elite car also put 2012 Summit Modified champion Kenny Wallace in Victory Lane at Fayette County Speedway in July. However, it’s still been a struggle for Hoffman to keep up with the fabrication process back home.

“It’s pretty crazy right now – I literally cannot take on any more orders,” Hoffman said. “I want to race 90 times a year, and I only want to build 15 cars a year. I’ve got very good clientele right now, and right now I just can’t take on anymore work.”

“If I could possibly build 100 cars a year, I would sell 100 cars a year. It’s crazy right now.”

CHILDHOOD HEROES

One of Nick’s biggest helps in the shop his father, Darrell. A Midwest native now living in Mooresville, Darrell has been an engine builder for several drivers across multiple disciplines over his career. He builds and maintains Nick’s powerplants at the NASCAR Technical Institute building in Mooresville, where he teaches his craft to only the top-level students at the university during the week.

Darrell’s support, either at the track or over the phone, has always played an integral role to Nick’s success.

“Every single night, whether it was on the Hell Tour or when I race a Late Model – when he’s not there, he’s normally the first one to call me. Just to kinda go through how everything went and whatever we gotta do for the next day,” he said.

Now with his fourth championship and chart-topping win total, Nick joins the greats of the UMP Modified world – some of which Darrell raced against back in his days of competition. But to Nick, one of his biggest inspirations has always been the former four-time DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion, Jimmy Owens.

“I’ve always chased the Summer Nationals and the [DIRTcar national points] deal the last couple years, and the way I wanted to do it was the way Jimmy Owens did it. To me, he was the best, and he still is one of the best.”

“I wanted to always do it like Jimmy did it. If there was a race to be won or a decent paying race, he went and did it. Whether if that was in Indiana or Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, wherever… he traveled around and he beat whoever he had to beat to win the national title.”

While the regular season moves forward for another month still before national and regional champions are crowned, Hoffman maintains an 84-point lead in the nation with 27 wins total over 47 recorded races. Should he win the national title a third consecutive ti

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 26, 2021 RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 FUNFETTI CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript: WITH A FEW CHANGES IN THE RULES PACKAGE FOR THE DAYTONA RACE, AND WITH NO PRACTICE, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT WILL TAKE AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU WILL HAVE TO DO TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT CAR IS GOING TO DO NOW?“That’s a great question. I think overall, obviously the speeds will be slower. The runs will probably be not as big, not as quick. So, on one hand, that’s nice. It’s a little safer and a little easier for us to race hard and maybe not make as many mistakes trying to block runs at the last minute. With that being said, I think it kind of goes back to some of the races that we’ve had where I feel like you are able to, once you get out front, you can kind of control the race a little bit better and you don’t have those big runs coming. So, we’ll just have to see it play out and use the first two Stages to figure it out. For us and our No. 47 team, the only Stage the matters is the last one. We got caught in a wreck before we ever made it to the end in the race last year. I was bummed that we were sitting there watching and not having a shot to make the Playoffs. We’re going to try and learn as much as we can, but do it safely, and have a shot there at the end. But everybody is going to be learning, too.” LAST YEAR WAS THE FIRST TIME THIS RACE WAS THE REGULAR SEASON FINALE. THERE IS ALWAYS A LOT OF INTENSITY AT A SPEEDWAY RACE. IS THERE A SENSE THAT LAST YEAR’S RACE WAS MORE INTENSE BECAUSE OF WHAT WAS AT STAKE? DO YOU SEE THAT BEING THE SAME THIS TIME? OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT WILL BE A NORMAL SPEEDWAY RACE?“I feel like it’s going to be normal and then sometimes I would say it could be less crazy knowing that a lot of us that want to win or need to win to make the Playoffs; Stage points do us no good. And obviously there’s a handful of people that are going to be trying to get Stage points. I would say the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) the No. 5 (Kyle Larson), the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) and the No. 8 (Ty Dillon) are probably the cars that need Stage points; trying to win the regular season championship or between the No. 8 and the No. 3 trying to make it in on points. So, I feel like there are a lot of us that are going to stay pretty calm and try and make it to the end and obviously then, things get crazy at the end. But I can see the race being pretty calm up until ten (laps) to go.” IS A WIN ALL THAT YOUR TEAM REALLY MISSING TO REALLY BREAK OUT AND TAKE THAT NEXT STEP? AND HOW LIKELY IS IT FOR YOU TO HAPPEN AT DAYTONA?“I think our chances are really good. At Daytona, Brian Pattie (crew chief) and the boys have definitely been kind of massaging and working on our Funfetti Camaro, so I know the car is going to be good and I know it’s going to be capable of getting the job done. But we have had a good season. We’ve been consistent. It’s something that probably more consistent than I’ve ever been in my career. And yeah, we haven’t been knocking down top 10’s week in and week out, but we’ve been close. We’ve been all over it. We’ve had so many 11th and 12th and top 15’s, which we were looking for going into this season, but obviously we still had a handful of races that kind of killed us and took us out of the points battle for the Playoffs. But we feel like we’ve accomplished our goal of being a lot more consistent on all different race tracks. So, I’m happy about that. Definitely winning could push us over that next hump, that next level that we’re looking for. We’ll try and get that done Saturday night.” YOU SEEM TO BATTLE WITH RYAN BLANEY AT SUPERSPEEDWAYS. IS HE SOMEONE YOU TALK TO AND WOULD HE SORT OF EASE UP ON YOU, KNOWING YOU NEED TO MAKE IT INTO THE PLAYOFFS?“I don’t think any of us ease up on anyone, no matter what race track it’s at. All of us want to win. These races are hard to come by. I think definitely Blaney is going to be a tough competitor out there. We’ve finished second to him a couple of times and just narrowly missed a couple of them. I think it’ll be a fun battle. He and his spotter do a great job working the draft and keeping his track position. That’s what we’re going to have to try and do as well to go toe-to-toe with him. But I’m still confident in what we can do.”

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA AUGUST 28, 2021
RACE #26 – DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAYWith plenty at stake, intensity ramps up for Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) regular-season finale under the lights Saturday, August 28, at Daytona International Speedway. Five Chevrolet drivers have secured a Playoff berth and will aim to cement momentum, while eight other Team Chevy drivers remain in the running to fill the final spot in the 16-driver Playoff field. Kyle Larson, driving the No. 5 Valvoline Instant Oil Change Camaro ZL1 1LE, seeks to clinch the regular-season title. He’ll start from the pole in the 160-lap race.
Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 48 victories, including 20 in the summer race, in the 148 races on the high-banked, 2.5-mile tri-oval dating to 1959. Career Chevrolet driver, Jimmie Johnson, is among five drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and summer race in the same year. Johnson accomplished the feat in 2013 in an Impala SS among his three NCS wins at the track.
Team Chevy has finished 1-2 in the summer race the past two years. On July 7, 2019, Justin Haley prevailed from the improbable 34th starting spot with William Byron the runner-up. On August 29, 2020, Byron earned his first NCS win and clinched a spot in the 2020 Playoffs, with Chase Elliott finishing second. Byron, who earned a 2021 Playoff spot with an early-season victory, will start on the outside of front row in the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE in the 26th NCS race of the season. 
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will race Friday, August 27, at Daytona International Speedway as four races remain before the Series’ Playoffs begin. Chevrolet has won seven of the past eight NXS races at the track, and Chevrolet or fellow GM brands have won 49 of the 59 races. AJ Allmendinger will start from the pole in the No. 16 Hyperice Camaro SS for Kaulig Racing.
Allmendinger led three drivers of the Camaro SS in the top-five at Michigan International Raceway to capture his third NXS victory of the season. He is second in the standings and JR Motorsports driver, Justin Allgaier, is third. Chevrolet returned to the top of the Manufacturer Standings.
CHEVROLET CONTINUES TO PACE MANUFACTURERS…Chevrolet remains the leader in the NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Standings in pursuit of its 40th title. Team Chevy has recorded field highs of 13 victories and 112 top-10 finishes through 25 races, surpassing its win total (9) from the 36-race 2020 season.
… WHILE LARSON LOOKS TO CLINCH TITLEKyle Larson remains atop the Driver Standings. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron is fourth and Chase Elliott is fifth.
Larson can clinch the regular-season championship and its 15-point Playoff bonus by accumulating 32 points at Daytona, where he has posted five top-10 finishes in 14 starts. Larson, a five-time winner this season, collected 51 points after a third-place finish at Michigan International Speedway.
WHO’S IN AND PLAYOFF SCENARIOSChevrolet will be represented by at least five drivers when the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin at Darlington: Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch. Eight Chevrolet drivers – Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece and Corey LaJoie – have a shot to fill the final spot in the 16-car field with a win at Daytona. Also, Richard Childress Racing teammates Reddick and Dillon can clinch the spot based on points.
Dillon has one win (2018 Daytona 500) among eight top-10 finishes in 16 NCS races at the track. Reddick has a best finish of 27th in four NCS starts. He won the NXS race in February 2017 and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race in February 2015.
BACK AT THE STARTBob Welborn, driving a ’59 Chevrolet Impala, won the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 1959 – the 40-lap Daytona 500 qualifier – from the seventh starting position. Grand National qualifying races were counted as points-paying races. It began a 17-race winning streak at the track for Chevrolet and fellow GM brands Pontiac and Oldsmobile. Junior Johnson delivered the first Daytona 500 win for Chevrolet in 1960.
ON THE WAY TO THE GREENWith no practice or qualifying for the 160-lap race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results. Team Chevy’s Top-20 starters:1st         Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline Instant Oil Change Camaro ZL1 1LE2nd        William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE 5th         Chase Elliott, No. 9 Unifirst Camaro ZL1 1LE8th         Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE12th       Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Funfetti Camaro ZL1 1LE15th       Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE 17th       Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 112 top-10 finishes and 2,683 laps led of 5,861 total this season.·       In addition to its 48 NCS wins, Chevrolet has amassed 220 top-five and 444 top-10 finishes at Daytona International Raceway.·       Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,566 laps led.·       Larson has started from the pole six times this season.·       Tyler Reddick is second among drivers with 99.42% of laps completed (5,827 of 5,861).·       Kurt Busch is tied for most starts at Daytona International Speedway among active drivers with 40, which includes 20 in the summer races. He is also the leader among current drivers with 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes and 6,595 laps completed.·       Hendrick Motorsports is tied for the most wins at Daytona with 15. ·       Career Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, leads Chevrolet with six career wins at Daytona.·       Twenty years ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway in No. 8 Chevrolet Impala months after his father’s fatal crash at the track.·       Five Team Chevy drivers have combined for 23 stage wins: Chase Elliott (Daytona RC, Michigan); William Byron (Homestead, Pocono2, Road America); Tyler Reddick (Road America, Indianapolis Road Course x2); Kurt Busch (Nashville Superspeedway, Pocono1, Atlanta2); Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville).
FOR THE FANS:

• Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Daytona International Speedway. 
• Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Silverado 1500 Trailboss, Silverado 2500 HD Custom, Traverse Premier, Tahoe LTZ, Blazer RS AWD, Corvette 3LT Convertible and Camaro Convertible 3LT. 
• At the Chevrolet Display, fans can also view Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro ZL1 1LE show car. 

Richard Childress Racing at Daytona International Speedway… Dating back to 1976, Richard Childress Racing has won 11 poles and collected six points-paying victories at the most-storied racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. RCR owns three Daytona 500 wins (Dale Earnhardt – 1998, Kevin Harvick – 2007, Austin Dillon – 2018), three Coke Zero Sugar 400 trophies (Earnhardt – 1990, 1993 and Harvick – 2010) and 14 qualifying races, including a record 10-consecutive victories with Earnhardt (1990 – 1999).
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the Welcome, N.C. organization has captured six wins, 33 top-five and 53 top-10 finishes in a total of 99 starts. 

The Big Cat Passes Sheldon for the Win, Passes Jac on All-Time Wins List

GRAND FORKS, ND – August 26, 2021 – It seems as if River Cities Speedway has been providing “race of the year” vibes for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series all the way back to the dawn of time.

On Wednesday night, the “world-famous legendary bullring” offered up its latest masterpiece, a last-lap pass for the win between the Series’ forefront champion and the Series’ hottest rising star.

It’s something the Grand Forks, ND oval has become famous for with daring moves in tight traffic, treacherous curbs atop a multi-lane surface, and nail-biting finishes that stun the fans over and over again.

This mid-week rescheduled date was no different.

Carson Macedo commanded the opening 28 laps aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41, but Sheldon Haudenschild rose to the top spot on Lap 29 and seemed to be a sure bet to seal the deal on win #8 this year. However, with each passing lap, the lead dwindled and dwindled for the NOS Energy Drink, Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17.

It was The Big Cat Brad Sweet who pounced perfectly, though, watching as the white flag waved and immediately flipping his Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 into attack mode. The savvy veteran rolled the middle of turns one and two right by the young gun and took command down the backstretch.

The duo ran wheel-to-wheel through turns three and four before a drag race to the checkered flag solved all with a mere 0.133-second advantage, in the favor of Sweet.

“I hope you fans enjoyed that finish,” Sweet told the Grand Forks faithful as they stood in awe for the second-straight year. “We’ve been struggling lately, so I’m just happy to get the win. I’ve been close here so many times, but Donny just dominated this place for years. We finally found something that got us on the top step of the podium; it feels good.”

Ironically enough, Sweet’s last-lap pass of one Haudenschild lifted him past another Haudenschild in the grand scheme of the history books.

By overtaking Sheldon for his 73rd career win, the Grass Valley, CA native officially moved beyond Jac to take sole possession of 11th on the World of Outlaws All-Time Wins List.

Wednesday marked his 15th NOS Energy Drink Feature win of the season and his first breakthrough at North Dakota’s River Cities Speedway.

After starting fifth in the 40-lap Feature, Sweet slipped as far back as eighth, but never let himself get too far out of it. He went seventh-to-four on a single restart on Lap 15, then passed Schatz for third on Lap 33, snuck by Macedo for second on Lap 35, and snookered Haudenschild for the win on Lap 39.

“I knew when I saw the white flag that I had to go for it,” Sweet noted. “The lappers kept moving Sheldon around just enough to give me that chance. I found the middle through turns one and two, and that’s how I got by Donny and Carso, too. It got tight there at the end, glad we could hang on for it.”

In a heartbreaking turn of events, Sheldon Haudenschild was handed his sixth second-place effort of the season in dramatic fashion. The throttle smasher and cushion blaster from Wooster, OH didn’t hang his head through the disappointing result but instead looked forward to the momentum his NOS Energy Drink squad is building.

“All we can do is keep learning and getting better,” Haudenschild acknowledged. “I survived the first half just playing it cool, but I probably should have protected the middle more there at the end. Brad is one of the best in the business, those guys were great tonight. This track was incredible, for sure. We’ve got a really good car right now, so I’m looking forward to his next stretch.”

Outside polesitter Carson Macedo paced the opening 28 laps of the 40-lapper before settling into a third-place finish. It was a much-needed podium appearance for the Jason Johnson racing #41 following a rough-go at Huset’s on Sunday. The Lemoore, CA 25-year-old knows he just can’t make mistakes competing against The Greatest Show on Dirt.

“I made too many mistakes in traffic and that’s what really cost me,” Macedo mentioned. “All it takes is one mistake to lose these Outlaw races with how good everyone else is. I tried to move around and find something after Sheldon got me, but he set such a good pace up top there was no keeping up. It sucks to lead that many laps and not win the race, but it’s good momentum to get this #41 team going again.”

Rounding out the top-five on Wednesday Fargo’s own Donny Schatz with his 12th-straight top-10 run in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, and behind him was Shark Racing’s Logan Schuchart in the fifth position aboard the Drydene Performance Products #1S.

Closing out the top-10 at River Cities was David Gravel & the Big Game Motorsports #2 in sixth, James McFadden & the Kasey Kahne Racing #9 in seventh, Brock Zearfoss & the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3Z in eighth, Mark Dobmeier & the Buffalo Wild Wings #13 with a season-best ninth, and Wayne Johnson & the Two-C Racing #2C with a second-straight top-10 effort.

UP NEXT: A seven-hour drive from Grand Forks, ND to Greenwood, NE will lead the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series to I-80 Speedway for Friday’s FVP Platinum Battery Showdown. On Sunday, the week concludes with a trip to South Dakota’s Black Hills Speedway.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (40 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$10,000]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4][$6,000]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [2][$3,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$2,800]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][$2,500]; 6. 2-David Gravel [8][$2,300]; 7. 9-James McFadden [1][$2,200]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [11][$2,100]; 9. 13-Mark Dobmeier [10][$2,050]; 10. 2C-Wayne Johnson [9][$2,000]; 11. 83-Kasey Kahne [12][$1,600]; 12. 20G-Noah Gass [14][$1,400]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6][$1,200]; 14. 14T-Tim Estenson [20][$1,100]; 15. 7S-Jason Sides [17][$1,050]; 16. 8H-Jade Hastings [18][$1,000]; 17. 9N-Wade Nygaard [19][$1,000]; 18. 17M-Zach Omdahl [23][$1,000]; 19. 11M-Brendan Mullen [15][$1,000]; 20. O-Nick Omdahl [22][$1,000]; 21. 1A-Jacob Allen [13][$1,000]; 22. 8-Jack Croaker [21][$1,000]; 23. 2A-Austin Pierce [16][$1,000]; 24. 6N-Greg Nikitenko [24][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-28, Sheldon Haudenschild 29-39, Brad Sweet 40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 14T-Tim Estenson[+6]

NEW Championship Standings (60/81 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (7,872); 2. David Gravel (-132); 3. Carson Macedo (-168); 4. Donny Schatz (-246); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-270); 6. Logan Schuchart (-314); 7. James McFadden (-726); 8. Kraig Kinser (-936); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-1206); 10. Jacob Allen (-1426).

Aug 24, 2021 | Featured, Race Results, Rachel Meyer

Driving the NTK Sensors, Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster with additional support from John Haley #1 Roofer LLC of Minnesota, Rachel Meyer went to the semifinals this weekend at the 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway by defeating Mitch Myers and Shawn Cowie before coming up short against Rich McPhillips Jr. 

First round, Rachel came into raceday qualified No. 3 with a 5.216-second pass at 279.67 mph and had a first round matchup against No. 8 Mitch Myers. Staging up for the first time in eliminations, Rachel was the winner as soon as the duo left the starting line when Mitch Myers rolled the beams. She clocked in with a 5.229, 279.79.

Second round, it was a battle of the titans when Rachel took on fellow championship contender Shawn Cowie. Only .005-seconds separated the pair at the starting line, Rachel scored a huge win for her team when she crossed the finish line with a 5.178, 281.01 to defeat Cowie’s 5.188, 278.98.

In the semifinals, Rachel had a sizeable reaction time advantage over Rich McPhillips Jr. but her 5.246, 278.52 wasn’t quick enough to outlast McPhillips Jr.’s 5.189, 276.80.

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 25, 2021

 TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript:  LAST WEEK, DISAPPOINTING FINISH ASIDE, YOU ARE IN YOUR SECOND YEAR AND HAVE 26-LAPS LED. YOU ALSO HAVE A CAREER-HIGH IN TOP-10’S AND NOW YOU’RE IN THE POSITION TO POSSIBLY CLINCH A PLAYOFF BERTH IN YOUR SOPHMORE SEASON. WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS AT THE START OF THIS YEAR AND WHERE YOU’RE AT RIGHT NOW, DO THEY MATCH WITH WHAT YOU HOPED TO ACHIEVE AT THE START OF THE YEAR? “I would say for the last 20 weeks or so, things have been going really well. The first six, seven races of our year got off to a really unfortunate start. They really put us behind the ball; really hurt our qualifying metric, if you will, in getting better starts. So, we had to really climb that pole and we were able to do that from about Bristol on. That was about the time that things started to turn around for us. Since that time, yeah it’s been really great to see it turn around and get better. But nonetheless, we’re in a spot now where we didn’t quite have enough points without a win to lock ourselves in come Daytona. We’re in a tough spot, but the consistency has been there to do well in the Playoffs if we do a good job this weekend, survive Daytona and make it into the Playoffs.”
“We’ve just got one more hurdle and, unfortunately, it’s a big one. One with a lot of uncertainty; not just with who’s going to be running at the end, but how much different the car is going to drive with the different horsepower and so many drivers below the cutline that are all out of options and desperate going into Daytona to do whatever it takes to win and lock themselves in, as well.” 
YOU REFERENCED A LITTLE BIT THE CHANGES FOR THIS WEEKEND. HOW MUCH MIGHT THAT IMPACT THINGS? “It’s entirely unknown. I can’t really say what it’s going to drive like. I think we’ve seen, in years past with previous generation cars, the draft being not as chaotic or unpredictable. But where we were, runs would kind of appear out of nowhere and once they would develop, they were very large runs and you could take them really far; farther than when I ran Xfinity or the Truck Series. The draft at times was not the same. There’s really nothing to go off of, I’d say. You can maybe look to the past some. But how the drivers approach these plate races, how much better the field is in its entirety has gotten in racing on superspeedways and how spotters communicate, have evolved so much that leaning back on previous races, previous experiences or digging into the files of some old races from the mid-2000’s – I don’t know that it would really be of a benefit. Those that can really learn fast in this race, whether that’s by playing it safe or being extremely aggressive. The drivers that do a lot of racing and put themselves in a lot of different situations at the beginning of the race will have a pretty good idea of what they can do and what to stay away from. Without practice, you don’t find that out until the race and there’s a lot on the line for myself and all the drivers from 17th in the points standings all the way back. A lot is going to go on the first 15-20 laps for a lot of us drivers; the whole field really.”
IN YOUR CAREER, HOW DID YOU ACCESS THE POTENTIAL OF WRECKING AT THE END OF A RACE WHEN EVERYONE IS GOING AFTER IT AND BEING COMFORTABLE WITH MAKING MOVES? “When I’ve won at Daytona, it’s been the first race of the year and you’re just getting started. The year I won Daytona in the Truck Series, that was before stage racing for the Trucks. That was before the Playoff format, if you will, too. So, every race really mattered. But the first race of the year, you don’t really know how your year is going to shakeup, so you’re just out there racing hard.”
“The same thing at Daytona when I won with JR Motorsports. It was the first race of the year. We had kind of had a crazy day to start the thing off. Our car wasn’t even really running. So, for me in those situations, there wasn’t really anything holding back. But in the Cup Series, it’s just totally different. You have a lot of really good drivers out there that have been through the ranks and have won in other series; and have the laps and experience, know what to do and what to stay away from, and know what moves to not fall for.”
“With that being said, we’ve won races a lot harder because of that and we can all get away with a lot more. But when the moment finally happens when one mistake is made or two drivers don’t understand what the other is doing and you end up in the same place because we race so tight – a lot of chaos unfolds.”
IN REFERENCING THOSE WINS AT DAYTONA – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN AT DAYTONA? IF YOU WIN THIS WEEKEND, IT WOULD GIVE YOU A TRUCK, XFINITY AND CUP VICTORY AT DAYTONA. “I haven’t kept up with it the last couple of years, but I don’t think anybody has done that before, last time I checked. I never would have thought I would have won a number of races at Daytona, let alone to get my first Truck Series win there – that was great. My first win with JR Motorsports there was great. The way I got the Xfinity win was pretty crazy in itself.”
“It was something, for a while, I was keeping an eye on. It’s still important to me. But, racing in the Cup Series, you go to Daytona twice a year and the amount you prepare for Daytona and how you prepare for Daytona has always been a little bit different than how you prepare for the intermediates, road courses and short tracks. It’s still really important for me to get done, it’s just a tough goal to totally go after with everything else that’s in the air for our team right now. We’ll go about this race a number of different ways; depending on how it starts and how it’s going for ourselves and for Austin (Dillon). And then, at the very end, once we get past the first two stages – not only do we have to keep an eye on Austin, but we have to keep an eye on pretty much half of the field.”
“It’s going to be an interesting challenge, all the meanwhile. The cars are totally different now, too. There’s a lot on our plate, but we’re ready for the challenge. I was hoping we wouldn’t be in this position going into Daytona. But getting put through an experience like this, if we can overcome this, I think it will have us really prepared for the Playoffs and we’ll be really ready to go. We’ll feel like we conquered the first big mountain and arguably the next one after it won’t be as severe. I could be totally wrong; but this is a lot of pressure on ourselves, RCR in general, and a lot of the field that isn’t locked in.”
IS IT DIFFICULT NOT TO DWELL ON WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY AND THE POINTS YOU GAVE UP? “It is a little bit, for sure. It would be very easy to immediately go right to that place and really be negative; be down and really be caught up in the mistake and the points lost. But that was something when our year started off, we had bad race after bad race – really let the downward spiral in the beginning of the year really get to us. It was nice to be able to go to the dirt race at Bristol; go in there and forget about how the year has gone. We thought we were going to do heat races and all that good stuff to set our starting position, which we didn’t. But we were able to get through that race and push to the front all day. From that point on, we kind of just forgot how the year had been up to that point. Based on how Indy went, we gave up points there; getting caught up in a wreck late. Yeah, we’ve given up a good number of points the last two weeks at the very end of these races. It would be easy to be ripping our hair out and freaking out. But the things that we’ve done up until these last few weeks and historically have been doing for months now, have all been very good.”
“So, yeah, these little things do happen and mistakes are still made. This was one of those mistakes that I made, for sure. But the good thing is we’re still plus 25-points. We’re going to Daytona, which I’ve always really enjoyed to race. I have an incredible spotter. I’ve always loved going to superspeedways with my spotter, Derek Kneeland. It would be nice to be sitting plus 50-points. But we’re not negative 25-points. We’re not totally out of it. It’s still very doable to at least cover the 25-points. It’s certainly just going to be a little more interesting than it would have been if we weren’t caught up in a crash at the end.”
DO YOU GET REALLY NERVOUS? IS THIS A TIME WHERE YOU CAN’T SLEEP OR ARE YOU A GUY TO REMAIN CALM AND IN THE MOMENT?“I would say, this moment, definitely. But I look at other moments in the past that you could argue were pretty pressure-filled; but for me, honestly, I’m not losing a lot of sleep. When you have the most important moments of your year or of your life coming up, the last thing you should do is not be sleeping and be worrying yourself to death. The reason I’m not in that place and I don’t believe the rest of our team is in that place is because of all the things we’ve done right up until this point. Yeah, for sure, the last two weekends weren’t great for us and they make things a little more challenging. But everything up until this point has been great and we’ve been doing really, really well. The work that I’ve been putting in and my team has been putting in – this is one of those big moments in our year. We’ve been preparing and working really hard to be able to kick ass in moments like these. That’s going to be our goal going into this – just do what we’ve always been doing. This isn’t the time to freak out, panic and do something different or try to do more or whatever it might be. The things that we’ve been doing right all year long is why we’re here and it’s no time to change anything. What we’ve been doing gives us confidence for the pressure-packed Daytona race that we’re going to have on Saturday.”
GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND, HOW AGGRESSIVE DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO BE? “It’s all going to depend how things are going for my teammate Austin (Dillon), honestly. We’re going to be starting around each other, for sure. It’s going to be interesting to see how aggressive he will be in trying to charge to the front at the beginning of the race. It’s going to be a constant moving target throughout the event on Saturday. We’ve got 25-points to lean on. Now, do we only want to get in by one-point over Austin? I don’t think so. But again, we just have to maintain what we have. We have 24-points to throw away if we really wanted to; but we don’t want to. It’s going to constantly move. It’s going to depend how Stage One goes for him and myself. And then, we’ll have to think about it a little bit. We have a plan in place for what’s going to happen on Saturday with him. But nonetheless, they could score zero stage points and we’ll still have to be thinking about him and all the others behind him in the points standings in that final stage as the finish creeps closer and closer. There are going to be so many drivers that have nothing to lose and everything to gain by winning that race and it’s going to make for a very chaotic finish to the regular season. As the laps wind down, drivers will get tired of being third in line on top or the bottom; it’s going to get wild at some point in the race. So, we’re going to have to try to stay ahead of it or be aware of it and keep our eyes out for it, as well. We can’t fight for the win if we’re crashed out before we get to the white flag. A lot is going to be on our plate to keep track of.”
AT WHAT POINT DOES THE TEAMMATE THING GO OUT THE WINDOW? “It’s a difficult thing, right. We’ve worked together so much throughout this entire year to make our cars better at a lot of these racetracks; setup wise, working on our driving techniques. There’s a lot of things we’ve been working on. But when we go into Daytona, unfortunately, I can’t really help Austin (Dillon) and he can’t really help me without hurting the other’s chances of making the Playoffs. That’s just the unfortunate situation that we are presented with. Yeah, we’re going to be pretty similar on build in our racecars. Our cars, I would imagine, will work pretty good together. But yeah it’s a difficult thing. As much as we would love to work together, be upfront and control the race; it’s just not really an option for us. I can’t push him to the win and still make the Playoffs. And he can’t push me to the win and still make the Playoffs. It’s just an unfortunate spot for us to be in right now. It’s just a tough spot to be in for the whole RCR organization at the moment.”
GIVEN BOTH YOUR AND AUSTIN (DILLON)’S POSITION IN THE STANDINGS, HAS THERE BEEN A TEAM MEETING OR HAVE YOU GUYS TALKED TO EACH OTHER ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH THIS RACE AND WORKING TOGETHER?“I mean we can’t, honestly. I’m in; he’s out. There’s a 25-point gap. Anything I do to help him, hurts me. Anything he does to help me, hurts him. So, we really can’t work together at all, unfortunately. At the end of the day, I still want an RCR car to be in the Playoffs over anybody else, obviously. And he feels the exact same way about that. But for him to do everything for his team to get into the Playoffs, he can’t be helping the 8 and I can’t be helping the 3. It’s kind of a weird spot. But, for sure, I know where he stands because I’m the same way. We want an RCR car to be in the Playoffs this year. It’s just a difficult place to be in because we’re obviously not going to go out there and screw each other over because neither one of us will make the Playoffs potentially if someone new wins. It’s just a very complex situation. That’s just kind of the way it’ll have to be Saturday night.”

Inside Line Promotions – WATSONVILLE, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi picked up a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend during the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway.

Scelzi qualified 19^th quickest during the opener on Friday before he finished where he started – fifth – in a heat race to narrowly miss locking into the main event. A runner-up result in the B Main transferred him toward the back of the A Main.

“We went out pretty early in qualifying and the track was really greasy,” he said. “I felt like we put down a good lap for when we went out, but the track got way faster. In the heat race I got under the car in front of me, but we hit grease and I wasn’t able to get by the car so we ran fifth. Then we moved forward and did what we needed to do in the B Main to transfer into the feature.”

Scelzi drove into the top 10 within the first 10 laps and gained two more positions before the checkered flag was waved. His run from 18^th to eighth place earned the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.

“We just missed the issues,” he said. “We had a good race car and got as high as seventh. A car in front of me bounced and I had to get off the gas or else I would have hit them, which allowed someone by. Just being able to finish was an accomplishment with the amount of cars that were tore up. All in all I was happy with our performance.”

Scelzi continued to move forward on Saturday as the track welcomed the Sprint Car Challenge Tour for the weekend finale. Scelzi timed in third quickest in his group and won a heat race to advance into the dash. A second-place result lined him up on the outside of the front row for the A Main.

“We qualified a lot better on Saturday and I felt like we raced really good,” he said. “At the drop of the green the outside wasn’t the place to start. We fell to third right away, but we got back to second and worked on the leader. We had a really good restart and slid him into turn one, but I wasn’t able to clear him and he powered around me. We ran him back down. At that time the track started laying rubber. I felt we had a chance to do something in traffic, but the yellow flag came out again with a few laps remaining. I got a really good restart, but just wasn’t able to do anything. To run second at the Johnny Key Classic is nothing to be upset about.”

Scelzi’s second-place effort was his 32^nd top five of the season.

A big four-race weekend with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series is on tap, running Thursday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif.; Friday at Ocean Speedway; Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif.; and Sunday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. Scelzi enters the weekend with a six-point lead in the championship standings.

“I think this is going to be the tell-tale,” Scelzi said. “These four races are going to set someone up to win the championship or to lose it. The next six races, the speedweek this weekend and the following weekend in Chico, will set the tone for who is going to be on top of the championship.”

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 20 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 19; Heat race: 5 (5); B Main: 2 (3); Feature: 8 (18).

Aug. 21 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 2 (2); Feature: 2 (2).

SEASON STATS –

43 races, 16 wins, 32 top fives, 37 top 10s, 39 top 15s, 39 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Thursday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif.; Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif.; Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif.; and Sunday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Fuel Delivery Services, Inc. 

Based in Stockton, Calif., Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., is a premier bulk transporter of refined petroleum products. For more information, visit http://www.FuelDeliveryServices.net .

“Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., has been a partner of ours since the first year we began racing sprint cars,” Scelzi said. “They supply a lot of product for our family business as well. We’ve been fortunate to work with them for more than a decade.”

Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Scelzi Enterprises, Whipple Superchargers, Red Line Oil, Roth Motorsports, Schoenfeld Headers, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, K&N Filters, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Auto Meter, Meridian Steel, Kenny’s Components and Worldwide Bearings for their continued support.

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 25, 2021 WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript Highlights: CAN YOU LOOK BACK TO DAYTONA A YEAR AGO AND TELL US WHAT YOU HAD TO DO THEN TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS VERSUS THIS YEAR IN TRYING TO WIN?“Yeah, I think the pressure throughout the week is a lot easier. I’m definitely not as tensed-up or thinking about the moment and what I’m going to do to execute a good race. I’m just kind of going in there just to have fun. Obviously, you try to have fun every week but, it’s a lot more stressful each week. This week is kind of easier on me. I feel like the speedway races, we’ve been good on. I feel like my plate racing, my queue has gone up. But for me, there’s not a lot of pressure involved. I don’t envy the position of the other guys that are in that position to try to either they have to win or they’re right there on the bubble for the points. It’s a tough position to be in.” WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT CHASE ELLIOTT DID IN THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR, IS EVERYTHING ALMOST FOCUSED ON THAT LAST ROUND IN PHOENIX?“It is. I think the regular season has a feel of its own because you’re constantly trying to win to get more bonus points. Everyone it trying to chase the bonus points because it’s such a big deal and that’s the big factor in the regular season. But in the grand scheme of things, the difference of five points in the Playoffs is important, but you’ve just got to go out there and execute. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about each race in that first round. I feel like at Darlington we ran well. Richmond, we ran well. Obviously, we don’t have an idea on Bristol yet. But I think we can improve just a little bit on both of those tracks that we ran already and try to put ourselves in a good position in that first round. Like you said, it’s kind of all about the Playoffs at this point.” DOES KNOWING YOU ARE IN A DIFFERENT POINT SITUATION THAN YOU WERE LAST YEAR CHANGE WHERE YOU TRY TO RACE IN THE PACK? DOES THAT CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT WHERE YOU RACE?“It does. I think for me I’d love to get the Stage wins. But realistically, our goal is to get to the end and have a shot to win. That’s really the big goal is trying to get the five bonus points for the Playoffs, and also to get a good starting spot for Darlington. Those two things are first and foremost. But in the grand scheme of things, Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and I talked about it, it’s not a huge deal either way. So, for us it’s about having fun and trying to go out there and get another win and continue to learn some things and build some things for Talladega. Obviously, the package is different. Less horsepower than we’ve had. So, I think we’re going to be going quite a bit slower. And that’s going to play a role too in trying to learn the draft and the aero package for the next race in the Playoffs.  So, I’m just trying to take the temperature on the draft and what’s a safe position to be in. If I can be up front the whole race, then great. But if I get shuffled back and it feels too dicey, then I’ll try to make it to the end.” HOW DO YOU BALANCE TRYING TO GO ALL-OUT AND TRYING TO GET AS MANY PLAYOFF POINTS AS YOU CAN, KNOWING THOSE COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADVANCING ON OR BEING ELIMINATED POST-SEASON?“It’s definitely on our minds. I felt like we and Kyle (Larson) have been close, the last three races. I think we had that unfortunate thing at Indy with the curb and that hurt us in the points. So, we’re probably five points, I think, behind him and it would be really nice to get that position. Kyle is a good plate racer. He’s gotten better and better every time and closer to a win. He’s going to be tough to beat. So, we’ve just got to keep tabs on him and try race as hard as we can, and hopefully we can finish the race third in points. I think there is only one point between me and him, third versus fourth, but still, it would be a good one to have.” LAST WEEK, ROSS CHASTAIN MADE AN INTERESTING COMMENT ABOUT HOW HE USED TO BE FEARFUL GOING INTO SUPERSPEEDWAY RACES JUST BECAUSE THERE’S GOING TO BE THE BIG ONE AT THE END OF THE RACE. HOW DO YOU CALM YOURSELF TO FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND KNOWING THAT COULD COME AT THE END OF THE RACE?“That’s a good question. I think I’ve grown more at peace with it as my skill has kind of improved on those tracks. There’s a lot out of your control at those places. But I do feel like, as I’ve improved and led more laps and been in more positions to win or finish in the top 5, it’s made the end of the race easier. It’s made the end of the race more about how can I make the right move and less about how can I avoid a wreck? I do think the first handful of superspeedway races I wasn’t really comfortable with it, and didn’t really like the end of the race because I knew a wreck was coming. And I wasn’t really willing to take those risks or didn’t really know how to take the right risk. So yeah, I think your mindset changes as you improve, and you focus more on trying to win.” YOU MENTIONED THE IMPORTANCE OF EXECUTION IN THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON ALL SEASON TO POSITION YOURSELVES AS CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS?“We started the year really strong with the win in the third race. After that we were in the top 10, it felt like every week, for a while. That came down to just execution and having the balance of the car close. Those were all race tracks that Rudy and I had been to together. So, we were just using the notebook of Chad (Knaus) and the other crew chiefs to figure out what to do. And then we went through the summer, and I thought we had speed, but we didn’t execute. We kind of left that behind. Some of it was on my end and some of it was on the team. We just kind of needed to clean it up. I feel like after the summer break, we’ve really been a top 5 team every week. I think we are really capable right now of executing well. We’ve gotten back to our roots in that and made our race cars just a little bit better, I think. So, I feel like we just have to continue to execute. It sounds simple but it is really hard. We’re just trying to keep that going like we did in the early part of the season and hopefully the wins will come.” IN LOOKING BACK TO LAST YEAR’S DAYTONA RACE, WHAT DID YOU DO RIGHT?“I think every speedway race that you win or do well, there’s a little bit of both. I think there’s always a little bit of luck and there’s always a little bit of skill. I don’t think aby of the plate races, the guys who win them, are pretty much the guys who should win them, especially lately. In that race, we were a good car but our car needed tires to handle well enough to make the aggressive moves. So, I think we were running about fifth or sixth before we pitted. We kind of knew we weren’t going to have the ability to go up there and get the lead with the way our car was handling. So, we put tires on and restarted in the back. We were stuck for a couple of laps, but I knew with our tire advantage, once we got a lane to run in and could make drafting moves, I felt fine about it. We were really fortunate to miss the one big wreck. The move with the No. 22 and the No. 43 was really about the way that we were handling and the confidence I had to split the gap. There was enough of a gap there to squeeze in and put it four-wide and that was definitely the race-winning move. I think a lot of it had to do with knowing our race car, being confident in the moves I could make, and then getting lucky that a tire didn’t go down when I kind of split the gap.” WHAT GOALS DID YOU HAVE STARTING THIS SEASON AND DO YOU THINK YOUR RESULTS SO FAR HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT WITH THOSE GOALS? HOW MUCH HAS BEING TEAMMATES WITH CHASE ELLIOTT AND KYLE LARSON PUSHED YOU TO ACHIEVE WHAT YOU’VE DONE SO FAR THIS YEAR?“We’ve performed better in some ways than I thought we would. Probably less in the laps led category. I think we still have some room to go there to lead more consistently in races. But we have led in a lot of different races, so that’s been good. It shows we have speed. As far as the teammates go, we started the year knowing that Kyle and Chase were going to be really good. And that Alex (Bowman) was going to be really good. He’s won a race each year in his Cup Series career with Hendrick. So, we knew our teammates were going to keep us really honest. It is just kind of all about us clicking well. And we were able to win that race early and kind of battle with our teammates for that one. And that was a big confidence boost. Ever since then it’s just been all about trying to execute and put ourselves in good positions and I feel like we’ve been close to a number of wins.”

August 25, 2021

Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway offers Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team one last chance to be among the 16 team that will participate in the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs.

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team enter the regular season finale 16^th in the Cup Series standings, but because two teams behind them in the standings have a race victory this season, the No. 21 team will need a win on Saturday night to return to the Playoffs.

DiBenedetto, who will start Saturday night’s 400-miler from ninth place, said he and the Menards/Dutch Boy team are optimistic that they will be able to earn that final Playoff spot.

“We have really fast Mustangs on the speedways, and our team is on a roll,” he said, adding that he and the crew, including spotter Doug Campbell, will be making plans to best respond to the different scenarios that races at Daytona produce.

“Doug and I study like crazy for these races,” he said. “We have an entire day set aside to study together and be fully prepared for what I call a chess match of a race.”

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team have reasons to be hopeful for a victory.

They enter the race riding a string of six consecutive finishes of 11^th or better, including top-six finishes in the past two races.

And Fords have been fast at Daytona and its sister track, Talladega Superspeedway. Ford drivers have won 10 of the past 12 Cup races at Talladega and have six wins in the past 14 Cup races on the oval at Daytona, including the most recent race there.

“Obviously the hope is to get this Menards/Dutch Boy Mustang in the Playoffs because we have a ton of strength and momentum as a team,” DiBenedetto said.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is set to get the green flag just after 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, with TV coverage on NBC.

Stage breaks are set for Laps 50 and 100 of the 160-lap race.