• Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) pilot Matt Hagan drove No. 3 qualified Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car to a runner-up finish at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Sonoma Nationals 
• DSR’s Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett raced her Okuma Dodge//SRT dragster from the sixth seeded position on the eliminations ladder to the final round and narrowly missed turning on the win lights by just two-thousandths of a second
• No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps powered his DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to semifinal appearance at NHRA Sonoma Nationals 

July 25, 2021, Sonoma, California – Exciting final round showdowns for two Mopar Dodge//SRT Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) pilots, Matt Hagan in Funny Car and Leah Pruett in Top Fuel, at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Sonoma Nationals resulted in runner-up finishes for both drivers with margins of victory in each race of just two-thousandths of a second.

Coming off his first event win of the 2021 NHRA Camping World series season last weekend at Denver’s Dodge//SRT Mile-High Nationals Presented by Pennzoil, Hagan began his race day from the No. 3 position on the Funny Car eliminations ladder and battled through a competitive field to advance to his second consecutive Sonoma Nationals final round appearance. Hagan drove his Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to wins against Jeff Diehl and Blake Alexander to advance to the semifinal round for a rematch of the Denver final versus Alexis DeJoria. Hagan powered his way to the win over DeJoria to send his Mopar machine to his second straight final round, a third this season, and the 68th of his career.

The final round showcased a meeting between two three-time Funny Car NHRA world champions with Hagan going toe-to-toe with Robert Hight for the Sonoma trophy. Hagan stepped on the throttle first and held the lead to the halfway mark before Hight was able to overtake and turn on the win lights just 0.0026-seconds ahead of him. The runner-up finish, Hagan’s second this season and 31st of his career, helped move him up to second place in the Funny Car points standings and within two round wins of reaching the current point leader.

DSR teammate Ron Capps, a four-time winner at Sonoma, began the day from the top rung of the Funny Car eliminations ladder for the 28th time in his career. Capps earned his third pole position in nine races with the quickest runs of Q1 and Q2 thus extending his streak of qualifying in the top-five at every event this season. For the opening round, the DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver lined up against No. 16 qualifier and rookie Tony Jurado and drove to a 3.924-second win. In his quarterfinal matchup with Paul Lee, Capps grabbed an early lead and wheeled his way to a 3.965-second run and another round win to advance to a semifinal battle against No. 4 seed Robert Hight. 

While Capps hit the throttle first and gave it a good solid effort by posting a 3.979 elapsed time run, it wasn’t quite enough to catch Hight after he took over the lead by the 60-foot marker. With the result, Capps and his team’s consistent performance has seen them advance to the semifinals or better at four out of the last five events, putting him fifth in the Funny Car standings.

For Cruz Pedregon, who is seeking a second win this season, his No. 15 qualifying position wasn’t indicative of the progress he felt his team has been making this season or even through the weekend with the Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. He just never got a nice clean run in before lining up against his first round opponent, No. 2 seed Alexis DeJoria. The Cruz Pedregon Racing machine had a good launch with its driver’s 0.057-second reaction time to DeJoria’s 0.115 second start, but Pedregon’s ride lost a cylinder early in the run and hampered any hopes on advancing further.

In Top Fuel action at the Sonoma dragstrip, Leah Pruett qualified her DSR Okuma Dodge//SRT Redeye dragster sixth for an opening round pairing with No. 7 seed Justin Ashley. Pruett was quicker off the start and never looked back with a 3.739-second run at 327.51 mph run to defeat her opponent’s 3.758/323.04 pass and move on to battle Brittany Force in the quarterfinals for their first match-up since 2018. 

Force had a slight starting advantage for the quarterfinal battle, but when mid-track traction issues affected them both, it was Pruett who pedaled it and recovered quickly to cross the finish line first and earn a bye-run. In that solo semifinal run the Dodge//SRT Redeye dragster recorded its best pass of the weekend with a 3.726 sec./325.53 mph to see Pruett advance to her 17th career Top Fuel final round appearance to face the category’s points leader and five-time event winner this season Steve Torrence.

The Sonoma raceway fans were treated to an exciting side-by side final showdown that saw Pruett with the quicker start and a solid 3.768-second pass at 323.04 mph that was just two-thousands of a second (0.0027 -seconds) behind Torrence 3.757/327.98 at the finish line. 

The runner-up finish is Pruett’s first of the season and the ninth of her Top Fuel career and with the result, she moves into fifth place in the standings with four national events remaining before points reset for the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship the seven-race playoff series that begins September 9 at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil in Reading, Pennsylvania, and concludes with the NHRA finals in November in Pomona, California.

The NHRA now heads to Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, for the final event of the three-race western swing that will wrap up three consecutive weeks of racing next weekend.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES
FUNNY CAR:Matt Hagan, DSR Pennzoil Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye(No. 3 Qualifier – 3.909 seconds at 328.94 mph)Round 1: (0.081-second reaction time, 3.971 seconds at 327.19 mph) defeats No. 14 Jeff Diehl (0.126/6.085/116.47)Round 2: (0.077/3.960/322.42) defeats Blake Alexander Round 3: (0.076/3.967/324.36) defeats No. 2 Alexis DeJoria (0.135/4.001/309.70)Round 4: (0.036/3.991/324.44) loss to No. 4 Robert Hight (0.054.3.971/322.50)
“Our guys are doing just a phenomenal job. This is really the most confident I’ve felt with a group of guys in a long time. They’re killing it. They’re making super quick turns in between rounds. We’ve got some really good juju going on. The group is clicking so well, (Crew Chief) Dickie (Venables) is making great calls out there. I see us clicking off a few more wins real soon. This Hellcat is running great. We’re qualifying well and going to the finals. It’s there. The confidence is there. The team is there. My lights are good. Everything we need to win races and a championship are right there with this package. I’m very excited and pumped up.”
“I think that Pomona is going to be super hot and it could end up being a drivers race with pedaling the car. We have a great car and team and I’m driving well and it should be fun under the lights for qualifying. Pomona has been great to us. We’ve had some great memories at that track winning races and a championship. It has a special place in my heart and we’re going to go out and finish the swing strong.”
Ron Capps, DSR NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat(No. 1 Qualifier – 3.897 seconds at 328.78 mph)Round 1: (0.105-second reaction time, 3.924 seconds at 324.75 mph) defeats No. 16 Tony Jurado (0.138/4.362/217.74)Round 2: (0.102/3.965/321.35) defeats No. 9 Paul Lee (0.108/4.043/309.20)Round 3: (0.086/3.979/322.73) loss to No. 4 Robert Hight (0.090/3.943/323.35)
“Man, what a great weekend. Obviously, we wanted to leave with a Wally (trophy), but we qualified No. 1 again and had a quick and competitive race car every single round, and you really can’t ask for more. In the semifinals there, we were on a good run but it just wore a little more clutch than it should have against (Robert) Hight and that was that, it was a close race.
“I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again, we’re a win waiting to happen and the Wallys are coming; I’m not worried about that. Close races all day. (Crew Chiefs) ‘Guido’ (Dean Antonelli) and John Medlen made fantastic calls. It was great to have all of our NAPA fans, and have our big annual NAPA wine dinner Saturday night, it was just really an overall great weekend. I can’t wait to get to Pomona after this fantastic weekend, We’re headed southbound and down to Pomona, and it should be fun.”
Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat(No. 15 Qualifier – 4.139 seconds at 229.35 mph)Round 1: (0.057-second reaction time, 4.119 seconds at 303.37 mph) loss to No. 2 Alexis DeJoria (0.115/3.942/322.73)
“The race weekend was challenging. We had what was the beginning of two really spectacular runs in Q1 and Q2 with the Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, but unfortunately the track didn’t cooperate and we spun the tires down the track in those two (qualifying) passes. We dropped a cylinder in the first round which was out of the blue. We had no warning that it was going to do that. We’ll regroup. It’s not the weekend we wanted but overall we’re encouraged by the runs I was starting to make. Those runs were actually better than some of the runs that my team made last year which would have put us in the mid-3.80s (second passes), so the potential is there.

“We’re going to go to Pomona now and it’s going to be a home game for us. I love Pomona and always have but it’s going to be unusual to race there in late July (as a result of rescheduling due to pandemic restrictions) with the heat, but we’ll be ready for it. Our setup, our guys, our team loves the hotter conditions so we’re looking forward to that event. Once we get on a roll, we’ll feel like we’ll be a lot better and more consistent. We’re still tweaking it a little bit and looking forward to it.”
TOP FUEL:Leah Pruett, DSR Pennzoil Okuma Dodge//SRT Dragster  (No. 6 Qualifier – 3.749 seconds at 323.97 mph)Round 1: (0.069-second reaction time, 3.739 seconds at 327.51 mph) defeats No. 7 Justin Ashley (0.083/3.758/323.04)Round 2: (0.101/3.958/288.64) defeats No. 1 Brittany Force (0.082/4.359/181.18)Round 3: (0.092/3.726/325.53) wins on a BYE runRound 4: (0.106/3.768/323.04) loss to No. 2 Steve Torrence (0.115/3.757/327.98)
“I think the most impressive thing about this weekend is our progression from last weekend at Denver. These Top Fuel cars don’t necessarily have a full reset button, but that’s what we did as a team this weekend. We dug deep and found some issues and ultimately we had great progress this weekend. To have such a consistent car from qualifying into eliminations and to put down what we needed to in the semifinals to get lane choice was great to see. We have a very conversational car that listens to us right now. The team is thriving. We didn’t have the start to the season we wanted, but this is a marathon of a year and this is the momentum we’ve been searching for. For Don (Schumacher) to give us the patience and resources to do what we needed to get here has allowed us to open possibilities and that’s what Okuma does. It’s great to win rounds and get to the finals. It was a very close race.”
“Pomona is going to be very challenging for all of us running the (rescheduled) Winternationals in July. I take it back to when I’d run the nostalgia series there and it was in the triple digits out and it will be similar to that this year. For us to have momentum rolling into Southern California is exactly what we need to finish up the Western Swing. We have new life with this team and to have another fun, new livery is perfect, and to see friends and family and former racers will be great.” NHRA Championship Points Standings:Following the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)1. Bob Tasca III – 676 (2)2. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 558 (1)3. Robert Hight – 636 (2)4. John Force – 624 (2)5. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 6136. J.R. Todd – 584 (1)7. Alexis DeJoria – 5778. Tim Wilkerson– 5219. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 481 (1)10. Terry Haddock – 306
TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)1. Steve Torrance – 978 (6)2. Antron Brown – 629 (1)3. Brittany Force – 5644. Shawn Langdon – 4605. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge//SRT) – 4576. Billy Torrence – 448 (1)7. Mike Salinas – 4328. Doug Kalitta – 4209. Justin Ashley – 37010. Clay Millican – 351 

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com. 

Posted By: Steve Turner July 25, 2021

CLICK HERE FOR ELIMINATIONS RESULTS.

It was hot fun in the summertime as the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals travelled to the Wolverine State to join the NMCA Muscle Car Nationals for a weekend four days of drag racing at the Inaugural Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival Presented by Force Engineering. Attracting more than 500 total race cars to the Fastest Track in Michigan, US 131 Motorsports Park, the event saw brief bouts of wet weather, but prevailed to crown champions in all the heads-up and index categories, including the rain delayed final in VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw — won easily by Tony Hobson on a single in his white Fox Mustang — held over from the rained-out NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Drag Racing held in Madison, Illinois, back in May.

In the combined VP Racing Madditives / Mickey Thompson Street Outlaw tilt this weekend, Mustang drivers bowed out early, resulting in an NMCA battle in the final round. Leading up to that, however, Tony Hobson’s machine was the highest qualified NMRA representative thanks to a 4.30 at 164 rip. However, Hobson fell to Marty Stinnett and fellow NMRA racer Steve Halprin lost to Ron Rhodes, both in the second round. Stinnet would meet Rob Goss in the finals, and Goss streaked to the victory after Stinnett couldn’t take the light.

Eric Bardekoff carried the momentum of his number-one qualifying effort — a 4.57 at 155.28 — to the final round in the combined Edelbrock Renegade / Xtreme Street category. Sporting a new Whipple supercharger under the hood, Bardekoff powered to the finals where he found a familiar opponent. Squaring off with defending champion Joel Greathouse, who lit the red bulb, handing the victory to Bardekoff who sailed to the win with a 4.58 at 155.93 mph. 

Samantha Moore

After switching to a ProCharger P-1X supercharger in time for this weekend, Samantha Moore didn’t miss a beat. She qualified at the to of the JDM Engineering Limited Street pack with an 8.38 at 165.68 mph — an amazing feat for an off-the-shelf street blower. The co-owner of Vector Motorsports didn’t stop there, as she took that performance to the final round, where she pulled away from Michael Lewandowski to take the win with an 8.42 at 165.81 mph to his 8.92 at 15162.

Driving Scott Milhimes’ Mustang, Charlie Booze Jr. qualified in the top spot in G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock thanks to a 9.88 at 135.46. Right behind him on the qualifying sheet was Shane Stymiest, who clicked off a 9.91 at 135.46. The two would meet again on Sunday evening as both ran consistent rounds en route to the final round. Booze got the leave to beat the quicker Stymiest to the stripe.

It was Two-Valve to the front in Richmond Gear Factory Stock as Mark Anderson ran the table, claiming the number-one qualifier position and taking the win in his high-revving Fox. Running progressively quicker with each round of eliminations, he face off against defending class champion John Leslie Jr. in the finals. When the tree dropped, Leslie yanked the wheels sky high, but upon returning to earth, his car scraped the wall as Anderson cruised to the Winner’s Circle.

Mark Anderson

It came down to the number-two qualifier and the number-12 qualifier in Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle, but the higher qualifier prevailed. In a role reversal, Adam Cox was slow on the tree in the final and Matt Hargett took that edge all the way to the stripe for the win. 

Stacked with 33 cars in the field, ARP Open Comp was competitive to say the least. Surviving five rounds to enter the final battle was a grind, but Jason Henson was still on his game. In a battle of New Edge Mustangs, he faced off with number-two qualifier, Charlie McCulloch, with an Edelbrock Victor Award on the line. Henson cut a light and nailed his dial-in to drive away with the win.

In Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning it was a clash of F-150 vs. Ranger as Mike Motycka squared off against Randy Conway in the final round. Though Conway qualified higher in the fourth spot, it was Motycka who got the jump at the tree and never looked back even though Conway ran right on top of his 10.27 index.

It was a battle of red S197s in the HP Tuners Super Stang final. Defending champ Kevin McKenna, who qualified in the fourth spot with a .036 reaction time, squared off against Rodney Ward. McKenna cut a better light and ran down the slower Ward, but got on the brakes too hard before the stripe as Ward won with a 12.83 on a 12.80 dial-in.

Bryan Parker cut the best light to earn the first slot in Race Pages Digital Ford Muscle qualifying. Chopping down the tree would serve him well in the last round where he faced

Rodney Ward, who was pulling double-duty this weekend. He cut an .034 light to Ward’s .045 and rode that advantage to the win with an 11.45 on an 11.50 dial.

Fords dominated in the combined NMCA Torqstorm Superchargers / NMRA QA1 True Street, winning all the categories. Tim Flanders blasted to the top of the charts with an 8.99 average in his Avalanche Gray 1986 Mustang GT powered by a turbocharged Coyote engine. Hot on his heels in the runner-up position, Don Walsh Jr. piloted his Predator-powered 2020 Shelby GT500 to a 9.6-second average, which is impressive for a mild modified street car. The other competitors taking trips to the Winner’s Circle included Matt Caldwell (9-second), Tyler Hassing (10-second), Cary Shotwell (11-second), Mike Baker (12-second), Rodney Ward (13-second), Ray Williams Sr. (14-second), and Dom Hoffman (15-second). Jager and Belcher took a cool $1,000 courtesy of Nitto Tire for running the company’s NT555RII drag radials out back.

InFastest Street Car Bracket Open, Stan Jones Jr. claimed the victory with a 5.57 on a 5.56 dial over Christine Kirbitz, who broke out with a 6.18 on a 6.19 dial.

In addition to the on-track racing action, attendees enjoyed a diverse group of shiny machines in the UPR Products Car Show, and checked out the horsepower hardware on the robust Manufacturer’s Midway.

While NMRA and NMCA will return to US 131 Motorsports Park on July 21-24, 2022 for another installment of the Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival, this year’s Holley NMRA Ford Nationals drag racing series concludes at the Whipple Superchargers NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival Presented by Competition Clutch at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. For more information and advance tickets, visit NMRAdigital.com.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION SONOMA NHRA NATIONALS SONOMA RACEWAY IN SOMONA, CALIFORNIAJULY 25, 2021                                                                                                    Chevrolet adds two victories to season total  • Robert Hight drives to third win in a row at Sonoma• Aaron Stanfield earns second Pro Stock victory of season• Brittany Force records fourth Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier SONOMA, Calif. (July 25, 2021) – “Consistency,” predicted Robert Hight, would be the determining factor in the Funny Car competition of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Sonoma Nationals.
“Told you,” Hight said after driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS to passes of 3.938, 3.938, 3.943 and finally 3.971 seconds to win for the third successive time and fourth overall at Sonoma Raceway. The event was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Equally consistent in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro SS, Aaron Stanfield earned his second Pro Stock Wally of the season and third of his emerging career.
Hight got past fellow NHRA Funny Car champions J.R Todd, Ron Capps and Matt Hagan to claim his 53rd career victory, which broke a tie with Joe Amato for 12th on the all-time NHRA list, in his 84th final round. He was confident heading into his 38th meeting with Hagan, who won a week earlier at Denver.
“Just the way this Auto Club Chevy has been running all day long,” said Hight, who picked up his second Wally of the young season. “(Crew chiefs) Jimmy (Prock) and Chris (Cunningham) have this thing running on a string. We’ve got good luck here. We had lane choice every round, so I just have a lot of confidence in my team.”
Hight’s victory was the 145th for Chevrolet in Funny Car competition.Brittany Force recorded her fourth No. 1 qualifier in nine races this season – second in a row — and 24th of her career with a run of 3.694 seconds in the Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster. She posted the top speed of race day at 330.720 mph in the first round of eliminations but hazed the tires in the second round and was sent to the sideline.
John Force qualified fifth in the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Camaro SS and entered race day second in the Funny Car standings. The 16-time Funny Car champion lost in the first round. 
Stanfield, the 2020 Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown champion in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet COPO Camaro, defeated Dallas Glenn in the RAD Torque Systems Camaro SS to win for the third time in four final rounds through 36 career races.
“It was a tough (list) of competitors to go through,” said Stanfield, 25. “My guys did a great job. They all gave me a great race car. I drove halfway decent today and it all came together and we’re pretty pumped.”
Stanfield dispatched Pro Stock points leader Greg Anderson in one semifinal. Anderson, driving the HendrickCars.com Camaro SS, claimed his seventh No. 1 qualifier honor for the seventh time in eight races this season and 113th in his career (third all time to Warren Johnson and John Force). Anderson is aiming to tie Johnson’s 97 career wins for most in the category and second to Force’s NHRA-record 153.
Justin Lamb was runner-up in Stock Eliminator in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro.
The Western Swing wraps up July 30-August 1 with the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtestTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway in Ponoma, California. FOX will telecast eliminations live at 4 p.m. ET August 1.
An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier): 
YOU SAID BEFORE THE FINAL THAT YOU WERE GOING TO STOP MATT HAGAN. WHY WERE YOU SO SURE?“Just the way this Auto Club Chevy has been running all day long. Jimmy (Prock) and Chris (Cunningham) have this thing running on a string. We’ve got good luck here. We had lane choice every round, so I just have a lot of confidence in my team. I have to have confidence in myself. It’s been an unbelievable weekend and we’re headed to Auto Club Raceway now.”
YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF BIG NAMES TO GET HERE.“It’s pretty tough out here. Even Steven Densham, his dad, Gary Densham, is a cagy old veteran and you’ve got to be on your game But Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham, they really brought their A game. I think we learned some things this weekend, and maybe this Auto Club Chevy is back.”
DO YOU THINK IT BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN YOUR TEAM WHEN YOU GO AGAINST CHAMPION AFTER CHAMPION THROUGHOUT THE DAY?“It definitely does. You’ve got to rise to the occasion and these guys are all great. You look at the top eight in Funny Car, any one of these guys can win a championship and most of them are champions. It’s a tough class and a lot of fun when you can get here and stand on the stage at the end of the day. This is three in a row here at my home racetrack. When I first started race here, I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t get it done. We’d qualify well but couldn’t seal the deal on Sunday. The last three, boy, we have dominated and it’s a lot of fun.”
TELL ME ABOUT THE FIRST TIME YOU VISITED THIS RACETRACK BEFORE YOU WERE DRIVING A RACE CAR.“1988, the first national event ever here, that’s when I fell in love with this sport. I just knew that this was what I wanted to do. Never thought I’d get to drive one of these things, but when I was a kid I wanted to be a mechanic and learn about these cars. A guy named Roger Primm from Reno, Nevada, close to where I used to live, gave me the opportunity and then John Force. I’ve been with John now for 26 years and to think that I came here to watch a race and now I get to drive one of these things and win. Very lucky guy. You look at what we had to do today. There are no easy rounds. Funny Car is a very tough class. Steven Densham first round, his dad is actually who I took over driving for. A great racer for a lot of years. So, you’ve got to go up there with you’re a game and get the job done. Then after that you race three world champions in a row. It’s fun. They bring out the best in us. I really think that Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham stumbled on to some things this weekend. We hadn’t had a lot of consistency this year. We won a race and been in some finals, but no consistency. This is our best weekend by far and it’s happening at the right time. Pretty soon we’re going to have the U.S. Nationals – the biggest race of the year – and the Countdown. This is where you really want to start shining and getting your act together. Heading to Auto Club Raceway next weekend, that’s our home track – where John Force Racing’s home is and my sponsor the Automobile Club of Southern California – and it’s going to be a little different. We don’t normally race there in the summertime; we race there at the beginning of the year in February and end the season in November. Hopefully, we’re going there with a little momentum and keep this rolling.”
GIVEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS TRACK, DID YOU PUT MORE PRESSURE ON YOURSELF OR DID YOU LOOK AT THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY?“Definitely an opportunity. Once you win a race at a certain facility, win the U.S. Nationals, win a championship, you know you can do it. So now you have confidence. The first few years I came here, we would qualify well but never raced well. I couldn’t hardly win a round at this place. I think I’ve won here four times, but three in a row that’s pretty impressive.”
WHERE WOULD YOU RANK THIS AMONG YOUR WINS? “It’s right up there. It’s at what I call my home track and we’re fighting to get up in the points. This was a big day in points for us. Bob Tasca the points leader went out early. My boss, right behind Tasca, went out. We beat J.R. Todd. Everybody that we beat from second round on was ahead of me in points. So, this was a big points day for the Auto Club team and that’s exactly what we have to keep doing. We want to go into this Countdown No. 1, and I don’t see that as a problem if we race and do the things we know how to do.” 
IS IT NICE TO PEAK AT THE RIGHT TIME?“It is. It’s what you have to do. I’ve had years where we started out on fire, win a lot of races and just go flat. And I’ve had years where we can’t do anything early in the year and get it together when it really counts like 2009, my first championship. I will say, 2019, the last championship I won, we were good from start to finish. It’s satisfying. Really, you want to be good every race and we’ve had some flashes of brilliance, but we’ve also had some inconsistency. Hopefully we’re on the right track.”
HOW COOL IS IT TO PASS A LEGEND LIKE JOE AMATO ON THE ALL-TIME WINS LIST? “I can’t even believe that’s possible because Joe Amato for the longest time was the winningest Top Fuel driver. Race wins, round wins. He’s since been passed by Larry Dixon and Tony Schumacher but watching him all those years he just dominated Top Fuel. And to say I have more wins than he does, that’s almost not even believable.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner AARON STANFIELD, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JANAC BROTHERS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier):
WHAT RUN TO DO YOU THINK SET YOU UP FOR THIS PERFORMANCE IN THE FINAL?
“That’s tough to say; every run is important. The guys did a great job with the hot rod today. I always say everything has to come together to win and today it came together. It’s a good day.”
YOU WENT THROUGH A MURDER’S ROW TODAY.“It was a tough (list) of competitors to go through. My guys did a great job. They all gave me a great race car. I drove halfway decent today and it all came together and we’re pretty pumped.”
YOU GET PAST GREG ANDERSON, TAKE A BREATH AND HAVE TO RACE ANOTHER ONE OF THE KB GUYS.
“The KB cars keep coming and so do the Elite cars. There’s a bunch of great drivers out here right now and a bunch of new blood. We’re all very hungry to get out here and win. It’s fun to come out and compete.”
IS THERE ANOTHER CLASS YOU WANT TO TRY?
“For now, I’d like to win a championship in Pro Stock. You never know; I wouldn’t mind going 300 mph once or twice. But Pro Stock is my home for right now and it’s where I plan on staying.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/ FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier, fell in second round): “All weekend qualifying, three phenomenal runs so we’re very happy with. Three good runs, especially these runs earlier in the day, really got us prepared for race day.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier, fell in first round): “Wasn’t our weekend over at the PEAK Chevy. It was a good weekend for John Force Racing, though. Brittany with the Flav-R-Pac and Monster Energy getting another No. 1 qualifier and Robert with the Auto Club picking up the win. We are all up there in points, all in the top five. That’s a good spot to be and now we get to chase another win at home.”

SONOMA, Calif. (July 25) — Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin Jr.’s first trip out west this season yielded a stout semifinal finish at Sunday’s 33rd annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals. His successful Wine Country weekend included a holeshot round-win over reigning four-time class champion Erica Enders, his teammate at Elite Motorsports. “These are the kind of weekend’s that make you better,” Coughlin said. “We didn’t get the ultimate result we are looking for but we continue gain rhythm as a team and if I can find a better way to let out the clutch pedal we’ll reach all our goals. “My crew chief, Mark Ingersoll, along with Kelly Murphy, Steven Hurley and Kyle Bates, never stop working on making this JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro better and it showed this weekend. We have everything here to win and I’m already looking forward to next weekend in Pomona.”

After an early-season reshuffling of the schedule due to COVID concerns in different parts of the country, the NHRA tour makes an unprecedented mid-season turn south to Pomona, Calif., rather than its usual Northwest passage to Seattle. “The last time this team raced Pomona at the (2019) Winternationals, Uncle Jeg (Coughlin) was driving this car and they took home the trophy,” Troy Jr. said, “so there’s nothing but positive energy coming from So-Cal. The way it worked out, Pomona is part of the Western Swing this year so this race is going to be another memorable one at a place that’s given us so much history.” Troy Jr.’s performance this weekend in Nor-Cal certainly gives his group plenty of reasons to be hopeful. After qualifying sixth overall with a 6.540 at 208.94 mph, Coughlin attacked race day with a great racecar.

He started eliminations opposite Kenny Delco, who fouled out early when his car crept through the staging beams. Troy Jr. still ran out his pass with a clocking of 6.547 at 209.59 mph. Up next was Enders, who has collected more professional motorsports titles (four) than any female racer in history. After running a 6.528 at 210.60 mph in her earlier victory over Derik Kramer, she was favored to beat Troy Jr., but a cosmic .007-second reaction time by Troy Jr., ahead of Enders’ .044-second launch, gave him enough of a cushion to hold on for a stunning .01-second victory. “It’s an honor to race Erica, to be teammates with her, and to call her my friend,” Troy Jr. said. “She forces me elevate my game because I know she’s one of the best ever. Whenever you race someone of her caliber, you need to be totally on point. To get the win light when we raced today was really special.”

Fellow young gun Dallas Glenn awaited Troy Jr. in the semifinals but this time the tables were turned and it was Glenn taking a holeshot victory, using a .026-second advantage at the start to win with a 6.589 at 208.04 mph to Troy Jr.’s quicker 6.583 at 208.94 mph. The 61st Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by Protect the Harvest takes place Friday-Sunday at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

SONOMA, Calif. (July 25) — Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin Jr.’s first trip out west this season yielded a stout semifinal finish at Sunday’s 33rd annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals. His successful Wine Country weekend included a holeshot round-win over reigning four-time class champion Erica Enders, his teammate at Elite Motorsports. “These are the kind of weekend’s that make you better,” Coughlin said. “We didn’t get the ultimate result we are looking for but we continue gain rhythm as a team and if I can find a better way to let out the clutch pedal we’ll reach all our goals. “My crew chief, Mark Ingersoll, along with Kelly Murphy, Steven Hurley and Kyle Bates, never stop working on making this JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro better and it showed this weekend. We have everything here to win and I’m already looking forward to next weekend in Pomona.”

After an early-season reshuffling of the schedule due to COVID concerns in different parts of the country, the NHRA tour makes an unprecedented mid-season turn south to Pomona, Calif., rather than its usual Northwest passage to Seattle. “The last time this team raced Pomona at the (2019) Winternationals, Uncle Jeg (Coughlin) was driving this car and they took home the trophy,” Troy Jr. said, “so there’s nothing but positive energy coming from So-Cal. The way it worked out, Pomona is part of the Western Swing this year so this race is going to be another memorable one at a place that’s given us so much history.” Troy Jr.’s performance this weekend in Nor-Cal certainly gives his group plenty of reasons to be hopeful. After qualifying sixth overall with a 6.540 at 208.94 mph, Coughlin attacked race day with a great racecar.

He started eliminations opposite Kenny Delco, who fouled out early when his car crept through the staging beams. Troy Jr. still ran out his pass with a clocking of 6.547 at 209.59 mph. Up next was Enders, who has collected more professional motorsports titles (four) than any female racer in history. After running a 6.528 at 210.60 mph in her earlier victory over Derik Kramer, she was favored to beat Troy Jr., but a cosmic .007-second reaction time by Troy Jr., ahead of Enders’ .044-second launch, gave him enough of a cushion to hold on for a stunning .01-second victory. “It’s an honor to race Erica, to be teammates with her, and to call her my friend,” Troy Jr. said. “She forces me elevate my game because I know she’s one of the best ever. Whenever you race someone of her caliber, you need to be totally on point. To get the win light when we raced today was really special.”

Fellow young gun Dallas Green awaited Troy Jr. in the semifinals but this time the tables were turned and it was Green taking a holeshot victory, using a .026-second advantage at the start to win with a 6.589 at 208.04 mph to Troy Jr.’s quicker 6.583 at 208.94 mph. The 61st Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by Protect the Harvest takes place Friday-Sunday at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

SONOMA, CA (July 25, 2021) — Tim Wilkerson’s full racing skillset was on display this weekend at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. It was one of the toughest weekend’s for the driver, crew chef and team owner from Springfield, Illinois, as he battled tough qualifying conditions on Friday and Saturday followed by a Sunday that stretched his team’s abilities to the their limits. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Ford Funny Car team never lost their confidence or motivation to pick up their first win of the season.

In the second round of qualifying Wilkerson scuffed the wall disqualifying his run and sending the veteran driver and crew chief to the final qualifying session needing to step up the performance. Wilkerson and his team rose to the challenge making their quickest run of qualifying and jumping from the bottom half of the field to the No. 7 spot with a 3.997 second pass which was the third quickest run of the session.

Heading into race day Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing team faced Jim Campbell and his Jim Dunn Racing entry. Wilkerson took off and was on a great run when his race car started spinning the tires and his engine was dropping cylinders. He worked the throttle to keep his momentum moving down track but the engine let go, erupting in fire before the finish line. The experienced driver was able to get his Mustang Funny Car safely stopped and he picked up an expensive but important round win.

 Between the first round and the quarterfinals Wilkerson pulled out his back-up car and readied it for a race against Alexis DeJoria, the No. 2 qualifier, and recent Mile-High Nationals finalist. Both race cars had issues on the run and Wilkerson was not able to get a second win light on SonomaNationals race day.

“We had just about everything happen to the team this weekend,” said Wilkerson. “I have to hand it to my guys because they busted their tails every day to give me a great race car. Things didn’t go our way and I am just going to put this race behind us and focus on Pomona.”

The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Funny Car will leave Sonoma Raceway solidly in the top ten with the 61^st NHRA Winternationals in Pomona on tap next weekend to close out the Western Swing. 

Qualifying Results

Q1: 4.172 sec, 227.00 mph; Qual. 9

Q2: No Time – wall; Qual. 10

Q3: 3.997 sec, 291.57 mph; Qual. 7

Bonus Points:  +1 (3^rd quickest of Q3)

Race Results

First Round
Driver                          Qual    R/T      ET        MPH 
Tim Wilkerson                  7              .143        4.189     237.34 (W)          

Jim Campbell                     10           .136        4.605     82.46

Second Round
Driver                          Qual    R/T      ET        MPH 
Tim Wilkerson                   7              .125        5.315     138.47

Alexis DeJoria                   2              .088        4.080     260.76 (W)

Camping World Funny Car Top Ten

1. Bob Tasca III, 676

2. Matt Hagan, 655

3. Robert Hight, 636

4. John Force, 624

5. Ron Capps, 613

6. J.R. Todd, 584

7. Alexis DeJoria, 577

8. Tim Wilkerson, 526

9. Cruz Pedregon, 481

10. Terry Haddock, 306

Pierce climbs eighth-to-second in pursuit of fourth Summer Nationals tile CLARKSVILLE, TN – July 24, 2021 – Nearly two-thirds of all DIRTcar Summer Nationals Features contested this season have been won by two drivers, both under the age of 25. With his fourth victory of the season Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway, Ashton Winger joins that exclusive club, showcasing the youthful talent present on the circuit. Winger, the 21-year-old wheelman from Hampton, GA, grabbed hold of the quarter-mile red-clay oval and took it to the field, leading all 40 laps en route to his second $10,000 payday of the season. “This car is really fast right now, and it’s fun to drive,” Winger said in Victory Lane. “I’m glad we’re getting in stride at this part of the year because we get to race every night.” The driver that crossed directly behind him was none other than the three-time Hell Tour champion, Bobby Pierce. Pierce, the 24-year-old hot shoe from Oakwood, IL, with 10 Summer Nationals wins thus far, worked his way up from eighth on the starting grid, using both the high and low grooves to make timely passes and get to the front. Both of their nights could have easily been abruptly ended, however, in the big pileup wreck in Turns 3-4 that started right in front of Winger just past the quarter-way mark. Michael Siebers, Robert Andry and a host of others spun and stacked-up in the corner, but did so in a way that formed an opening right through the middle of them, where Winger’s car immediately darted to. He slammed on the brakes and made the fit through the wreckage, just as he was about to barrel through and pile-in. “I think Jesus definitely took the wheel there,” Winger said of his perspective from the driver’s seat. “We got lucky there, sometimes it doesn’t work out like that.” Winger got a great restart and once again pulled away from the field. Pierce picked his battle back up with Joe Godsey and Dennis Erb Jr. for third, while Tanner English rode ahead of them in second. Pierce soon pulled the trigger on the top lane and zoomed past Erb Jr. and English into second, soon making a beeline for leader Winger. But in the end, Winger was just too smooth through the middle for Pierce to makeup the gap. The Georgia boy navigated through traffic well in the late stages and brought home the win with a 1.682-second gap to Pierce, who extended his points lead over English with yet another podium finish. UP NEXT The Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Sunday night, July 25, for their debut at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, KY. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene. ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results) Feature (40 Laps) 1. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 4. 81E-Tanner English[3]; 5. 14G-Joe Godsey[2]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[12]; 7. 61-Caleb Ashby[15]; 8. 212-Josh Putnam[5]; 9. 1A-Levi Ashby[11]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker[20]; 11. 18-Matt Cooper[7]; 12. 14R-Jeff Roth[24]; 13. 118-Mike Fenton[19]; 14. 54JR-Larry Barber Jr[23]; 15. 01-Steven Stehle[22]; 16. 127-Robert Ardry[14]; 17. 15-Richard Frost[13]; 18. 18X-Michael Seibers[17]; 19. 248-Brandon Lance[25]; 20. J8-Jadon Frame[4]; 21. 19-Gavin Schmidt[9]; 22. 18S-David Seibers[10]; 23. 74M-John Minon[16]; 24. (DNS) 9G-Larry Greer; 25. (DNS) 148-Tim Lance Jr; 26. (DQ) 27-Joe Denby[18] SIXTEEN CANDLES: Hoffman Dominates Clarksville for Sixteenth Win of Season Just one night removed from this first runner-up finish of the entire season, Nick Hoffman went right back at it on Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway and won his sixteenth DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature. It was another 25-lap drive of perfection by the three-time and defending champion, as he led every lap en route to the $1,500 payday and his 54th career Summit Modified victory – once again putting him in a tie for most all-time with six-time champion Mike Harrison. But this run didn’t exactly get off to the greatest start from inside the Hoffman cockpit. “I knew the initial start was gonna be the race, really,” Hoffman said. “I hit the fence down the front straightaway and was really worried about getting a right-front flat going through Turns 1-2. But we kept the air in it.” Hoffman’s biggest challenger was the seven-time UMP Modified winner in local Clarksville action so far this year – Trent Young. Young stayed top-three the entire race and cracked the whip in the final circuits but could not make up the gap. “Trent was hustling pretty hard at the end and made me step it up there,” Hoffman said. Hoffman had himself some issues in the final stretch as well. “There was about five or six to go, and I entered in on the cushion in 1-2 and something broke in the right-rear or left-rear, I’m not really sure. I was just kinda hanging on from there,” Hoffman said. And hang on he did, savoring the victory at a track he won both races at in last year’s back-to-back show to make it a three-peat in 2021. UP NEXT The Summit Modifieds are back in action Sunday night, July 25, for their debut at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, KY. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene. ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view all results) Feature (25 Laps) 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[2]; 2. 10Y-Trent Young[1]; 3. 99-Hunt Gossum[16]; 4. 12L-Lucas Lee[4]; 5. 98-Zac Harris[5]; 6. T6- Tommy Sheppard Jr[17]; 7. 88R-Dustin Rollins[9]; 8. 00D-David Reutimann[15]; 9. 02-Chris Cook[8]; 10. 7D-Pete Sabatino[11]; 11. 11-Brian Ashby[12]; 12. 176-Scotty Owens[14]; 13. 96-Curtis Rodenhaber[6]; 14. 9H-John Demoss[7]; 15. 88-Adam Wright[13]; 16. 13-Charlie Mefford[10]; 17. 19-Travis Thrasher[18]; 18. 21S-Kenny Shaw[20]; 19. 16-Todd Riley[19]; 20. (DNS) 19S-Garrett Schmidt

DIRTcar Summer Nationals is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Chevy Performance, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), FireAde, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Indiana Decal Company, Intercomp, iRacing, Racing Electronics, SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Summit Racing Equipment, and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fox Factory, Hoosier Racing Tire, MSD, Quarter Master, Summit Racing Equipment, VP Racing Fuels, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum).

Summit Modified Nationals is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including : Summit Racing Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Chevy Performance, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), FireAde, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Indiana Decal Company, Intercomp, iRacing, Racing Electronics, SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Bassett Racing Wheel, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Shafts, Fox Factory, Hoosier Racing Tire, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, K1 Race Gear, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Mulit FireX, Schoenfeld Headers, Summit Racing Equipment, Velocita USA, VP Racing Fuels, Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum), and Xceldyne.

Greenwood, NE (July 24, 2021) – Kyle Bronson pulled away from the pack and cruised to victory on Saturday Night at I-80 Speedway, winning the 11th Annual Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals by more than ten seconds over runner-up Tim McCreadie.  Bronson took home $53,000 for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and the biggest of his racing career. This win was also the 31-year-old Florida racers’ first Crown Jewel victory of his racing career. Bronson took the lead from Chase Junghans on lap 48 and dominated the remainder of the race. Junghans held the lead for the first 47 circuits as Bronson made several attempts to pass him for the lead. Bronson was finally able to pass Junghans coming off turn two with 32 laps remaining in the race. McCreadie eventually cleared Junghans on lap 66 for second. Even though McCreadie moved into second he was still several car lengths behind the leader. The second of two cautions flew on lap 32, the race went green after that until the checkers flew. Bronson’s margin of victory was 10.492 seconds. McCreadie will maintain his points lead heading to Florence Speedway next month. Jonathan Davenport had closed the gap on McCreadie to just 45 points heading into the race but finished in 27th after dropping out of the event on lap 22. Earl Pearson Jr. came through the field to finish third after starting in 14th. Jimmy Owens came home in fourth followed by Junghans. Sixth place starting Bronson went to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fifth time in his career. “I love coming to this place. This car was awesome, and this Clements motor helps me a ton on that top there. This is the most pumped I have ever been in my life. This is pretty awesome. I couldn’t do it without my guys, they have been making my job a whole lot easier. They have been having this thing right, I am just the guy holding the steering wheel. They have been giving me everything I need to win.” The 2017 Silver Dollar Nationals winner, McCreadie, finished in second. “I just lost my side bite there. Once the brown went away, I couldn’t get around the cushion because I was so flat getting in, and the car had no scotch. To run low was the only way to get my car up in the air to get it in attitude to try and get off the corner.” McCreadie earned a $20,000 paycheck for second. Pearson, who changed cars after the first three nights took third at the finish. “The car was really good when we started off and the whole race it was good. We could move all around. The biggest thing we could do that a lot of them couldn’t was turn through the center. I could just turn up under them and drag race them down the straightaway.”   The winner’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Brandon Ford, Race Car Engineering, Borchers Equipment, Lucas Oil Products, VP Fuels, Swift Springs, Integra Shocks, and All-Florida Real Estate Group. Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Stormy Scott, Spencer Hughes, and Ryan Gustin. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals Race Summary Saturday, July 24th, 2021I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 3. 18A-John Anderson[6]; 4. 1C-Chad Simpson[2]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[11]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[8]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[4]; 9. 3C-Mike Collins[12]; 10. 24-Bill Leighton[7]; 11. 157-Mike Marlar[9]; 12. 22M-Charlie McKenna[10]; 13. 77-Dusty Leonard[13] UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 14J-Jake Neal[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 8. 80-Allan Hopp[11]; 9. 6D-Cory Dumpert[10]; 10. 53-Andrew Kosiski[9]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 12. 52-Brian Kosiski[12]; 13. 45-Dan Battaglia[13] S&S Showdown Non-Qualifier Finish (20 Laps, Winner’s Choice to Transfer): 1. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 2. 7R-Ross Robinson[4]; 3. 14J-Jake Neal[3]; 4. 98-Ben Schaller[6]; 5. 3C-Mike Collins[8]; 6. 49T-Jake Timm[5]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[10]; 8. 6D-Cory Dumpert[9]; 9. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[1]; 10. 80-Allan Hopp[7]; 11. 45-Dan Battaglia[14]; 12. 77-Dusty Leonard[13]; 13. 52-Brian Kosiski[12]; 14. (DNS) 22M-Charlie McKenna

Greenwood, NE (July 24, 2021) – Kyle Bronson pulled away from the pack and cruised to victory on Saturday Night at I-80 Speedway, winning the 11th Annual Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals by more than ten seconds over runner-up Tim McCreadie.  Bronson took home $53,000 for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and the biggest of his racing career. This win was also the 31-year-old Florida racers’ first Crown Jewel victory of his racing career. Bronson took the lead from Chase Junghans on lap 48 and dominated the remainder of the race. Junghans held the lead for the first 47 circuits as Bronson made several attempts to pass him for the lead. Bronson was finally able to pass Junghans coming off turn two with 32 laps remaining in the race. McCreadie eventually cleared Junghans on lap 66 for second. Even though McCreadie moved into second he was still several car lengths behind the leader. The second of two cautions flew on lap 32, the race went green after that until the checkers flew. Bronson’s margin of victory was 10.492 seconds. McCreadie will maintain his points lead heading to Florence Speedway next month. Jonathan Davenport had closed the gap on McCreadie to just 45 points heading into the race but finished in 27th after dropping out of the event on lap 22. Earl Pearson Jr. came through the field to finish third after starting in 14th. Jimmy Owens came home in fourth followed by Junghans. Sixth place starting Bronson went to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fifth time in his career. “I love coming to this place. This car was awesome, and this Clements motor helps me a ton on that top there. This is the most pumped I have ever been in my life. This is pretty awesome. I couldn’t do it without my guys, they have been making my job a whole lot easier. They have been having this thing right, I am just the guy holding the steering wheel. They have been giving me everything I need to win.” The 2017 Silver Dollar Nationals winner, McCreadie, finished in second. “I just lost my side bite there. Once the brown went away, I couldn’t get around the cushion because I was so flat getting in, and the car had no scotch. To run low was the only way to get my car up in the air to get it in attitude to try and get off the corner.” McCreadie earned a $20,000 paycheck for second. Pearson, who changed cars after the first three nights took third at the finish. “The car was really good when we started off and the whole race it was good. We could move all around. The biggest thing we could do that a lot of them couldn’t was turn through the center. I could just turn up under them and drag race them down the straightaway.”   The winner’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Brandon Ford, Race Car Engineering, Borchers Equipment, Lucas Oil Products, VP Fuels, Swift Springs, Integra Shocks, and All-Florida Real Estate Group. Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Stormy Scott, Spencer Hughes, and Ryan Gustin. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals Race Summary Saturday, July 24th, 2021I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 3. 18A-John Anderson[6]; 4. 1C-Chad Simpson[2]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[11]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[8]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[4]; 9. 3C-Mike Collins[12]; 10. 24-Bill Leighton[7]; 11. 157-Mike Marlar[9]; 12. 22M-Charlie McKenna[10]; 13. 77-Dusty Leonard[13] UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 14J-Jake Neal[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 8. 80-Allan Hopp[11]; 9. 6D-Cory Dumpert[10]; 10. 53-Andrew Kosiski[9]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 12. 52-Brian Kosiski[12]; 13. 45-Dan Battaglia[13] S&S Showdown Non-Qualifier Finish (20 Laps, Winner’s Choice to Transfer): 1. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 2. 7R-Ross Robinson[4]; 3. 14J-Jake Neal[3]; 4. 98-Ben Schaller[6]; 5. 3C-Mike Collins[8]; 6. 49T-Jake Timm[5]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[10]; 8. 6D-Cory Dumpert[9]; 9. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[1]; 10. 80-Allan Hopp[7]; 11. 45-Dan Battaglia[14]; 12. 77-Dusty Leonard[13]; 13. 52-Brian Kosiski[12]; 14. (DNS) 22M-Charlie McKenna

Brent Marks Beats Outlaws in Williams Grove ThrillerLap Traffic Creates Intense Action Between Schatz, Marks & HaudenschildMECHANICSBURG, PA – July 24, 2021 – 798 days later, the PA Posse have finally tasted Outlaw glory again on their own porch.After going for 0-for-16 over that stretch, The Myerstown Missile stepped up and put an end to the streak during Saturday night’s $20,000/Win Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway.Brent Marks’ sixth-career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory came as one of the more exciting finishes in recent memory at the Mechanicsburg 1/2-mile. A tricky and technical surface combined with challenging lap traffic situations created an intense fight for the lead late in the going during the 30-lapper.Donny Schatz commanded the opening 20 circuits aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, but Marks hounded him from the start. He finally put the #19 to the point on Lap 21, but quickly received a hellacious challenge from Friday’s victor, Sheldon Haudenschild in the NOS Energy Drink #17.Marks received a trio of mega slide jobs from Haudenschild but had a counter for every move thrown his way. He separated himself in the closing laps and officially scored his 11th career Williams Grove win with a 0.903-second margin of victory.”That was pretty intense,” Marks mentioned. “The track was tricky and the lap cars made it tough. We had a lot of close calls out there, but we survived and pulled it off. The track really threw us for a curveball, it was drier than we expected. We made the right calls, though. That was a ton of fun racing with Sheldon and Donny like that.”Starting fourth aboard the BAPS Paints, M&M Painting & Construction #19, Marks was on the outside of an all-Posse row two with 103-time Williams Grove winner Lance Dewease to his inside with the Kreitz Racing #69K. In front of them, it was an all-Outlaws front row with Sheldon Haudenschild and Donny Schatz pacing the field.Schatz, who has won at Williams Grove more than any other track in his World of Outlaws career, looked poised for win #22 when his Ford Performance, Carquest #15 quickly built a huge lead. However, Marks would soon enter the picture.Traffic on Lap 5 allowed Marks to catch the 10-time champion for the lead, and he would hound him for the next 15 laps. The duo played a cat and mouse game while slicing through the backmarkers until Marks built a big enough run down the front stretch to launch a turn one slider for the lead at Schatz.Marks led at Lap 21, but Haudenschild followed him around Schatz and threw out his own attempt at the top spot. With Marks tight and over the cushion, Haudenschild launched his own turn one slider on Lap 22 and cleared Marks for the lead, but made contact with lapper Freddie Rahmer, who rolled to a stop.The only restart of the race with eight laps remaining established a shootout between Marks and Haudenschild. Sheldon came firing back with a move into turn one, but Brent calmly crossed him over and retained the lead. The next time by, it was the same thing. A huge slider from Sheldon, but a precise counter from Brent to whip the #19 back to the point.Over the final five laps, Marks maintained a steady pace on the cushion and walked away with his second World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory of the 2021 season. Another important notch to Brent’s belt with a hopeful full-time return to The Greatest Show on Dirt looming in 2022.On this night, though, the Myerstown, PA native was happy to call it a much-needed win for the PA Posse.”We broke the streak of the 4-0 Outlaws, so for tonight, I guess you can call us Posse,” Marks joked.A valiant second-place effort capped Sheldon Haudenschild’s career-best weekend at Williams Grove. The Wooster, OH native banked $12,000 for his runner-up result following Friday’s victory.”We had to fight for that one,” Haudenschild noted. “Nothing to hang our heads up, Brent ran a great race. He was able to enter turn one so fast that forced me to run it too hard into the bottom and he was able to square me up every time to pass me back.”After leading the opening 20 laps, Fargo, ND native Donny Schatz slipped back to complete the podium in third place.”We just needed to be better,” Schatz said. “I was struggling more and more with every lap. I think we were fortunate to hang on to third.Carson Macedo and Lance Dewease, who ran 1-2 in a fight for the win at Williams Grove in May, finished fourth and fifth this time at the 1/2-mile.Closing out the top-10 at the Summer Nationals was the #39M of Anthony Macri, the #9 of James McFadden, the #2 of David Gravel, the #83 of Aaron Reutzel, and the #5W of Lucas Wolfe.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return to the state of New York for the first time in three years next weekend. The doubleheader takes The Greatest Show on Dirt to Ransomville Speedway on Friday, July 30, then to Weedsport Speedway on Saturday, July 31.NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks [4][$20,000]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1][$12,000]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$6,000]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo [6][$5,250]; 5. 69K-Lance Dewease [3][$4,500]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri [7][$4,000]; 7. 9-James McFadden [12][$3,500]; 8. 2-David Gravel [5][$3,000]; 9. 83-Aaron Reutzel [9][$2,750]; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [8][$2,500]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [15][$2,300]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$2,250]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [14][$2,000]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich [17][$1,600]; 15. 27-Devon Borden [11][$1,500]; 16. 19W-Troy Wagaman [10][$1,300]; 17. 5C-Dylan Cisney [13][$1,250]; 18. 11-TJ Stutts [22][$1,150]; 19. 67-Justin Whittall [19][$1,100]; 20. 51-Freddie Rahmer [18][$1,100]; 21. 2C-Wayne Johnson [16][$1,100]; 22. 1W-Aaron Bollinger [24][$1,100]; 23. 27S-Alan Krimes [20][$1,100]; 24. 5-Tyler Ross [23][$1,100]; 25. 44-Dylan Norris [25]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-20, Brent Marks 21-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+9]NEW Championship Standings (49/81 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (6,782); 2. Carson Macedo (-112); 3. David Gravel (-138); 4. Donny Schatz (-228); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-240); 6. Logan Schuchart (-282); 7. Aaron Reutzel (-432); 8. James McFadden (-686); 9. Kraig Kinser (-848); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-1104).

Wallace brothers attend special presentation of throwback paint schemes

PONTOON BEACH, IL – July 23, 2021 – Like the days of Midwestern short track domination by the late Russ Wallace, Bobby Pierce put on a powerful display of dirt track domination of his own Friday night at Tri-City Speedway.

Pierce scored his tenth DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win in the fifth annual Russ Wallace Memorial – an event that honors the legendary Wallace racing family of father Russell Wallace Sr, 2012 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion Kenny Wallace, former NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Mike Wallace and 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace.

All three sons were in attendance and took part in the unveiling of two special tribute paint schemes, paying homage to Russ’ asphalt and dirt cars that saw Victory Lane numerous times in the 1960s-70s. Both tribute Late Models were piloted by brothers Gordy and Trevor Gundaker in the 40-lap Feature.

Leading the final 29 laps, Pierce put on yet another clinic, winning by over 3.5 seconds in the caution-free event that took just over 11 minutes to complete.

“That was like old Tri-City right there, to a T,” Pierce, of Oakwood, IL, said in Victory Lane. “When I grew up racing here, that’s just how it was, and it fits my driving style to a T.”

However, the night did not begin exactly how the three-time champion would have liked.

“We had so much stuff to do from qualifying to Heat Race, with the issues we had. Luckily, we got it all turned around. What could’ve been a bad night was the best night it could’ve been,” Pierce said.”

But when the green flag dropped in the Feature, it was almost as if he hadn’t missed a beat all night, solidly holding his ground inside the top-five in the opening laps as he battled with Tanner English, Ryan Unzicker and Shannon Babb for second.

A racy, multi-groove track surface allowed Pierce to pass all three of them right on the bottom by Lap 9, then switch up to the top to hunt down then-leader, Mitch McGrath.

McGrath, of Waukesha, WI, looked to be having his best night of the season after a Heat Race win set him on the front row of the Feature. He led the first 11 circuits before Pierce caught him in traffic and threw a big slide job on him in Turns 3-4 to swipe the lead on Lap 12.

Pierce soon after dropped the hammer and checked out, leaving the rest of the top-five in the dust and lapping up to fifth place by the time the checkers were thrown to collect the $10,000 check.

Unzicker held onto second to claim a season-best finish, while Ashton Winger won the battle with English in the closing laps to come home third. English bagged his 14th top-five of the season in fourth while Babb rounded out the top-five.

UP NEXT

The Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Saturday night, July 24, at Clarksville Speedway to continue the Week #6 competition with another $10,000 on the line for the winner. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view all results)

Feature (40 Laps) 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 3. 12-Ashton Winger[6]; 4. 81E-Tanner English[4]; 5. 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 6. 54-Dane Dacus[9]; 7. 74-Mitch McGrath[2]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[7]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 10. 29-Darrell Lanigan[11]; 11. 6-Gordy Gundaker[12]; 12. 82-Billy Laycock[17]; 13. 45-Kyle Hammer[18]; 14. 7-Trevor Gundaker[23]; 15. 16-Rusty Griffaw[20]; 16. 14G-Joe Godsey[10]; 17. 14R-Jeff Roth[19]; 18. 36-Logan Martin[15]; 19. 248-Brandon Lance[22]; 20. 26M-Brent McKinnon[13]; 21. 2-Charlie Cole[16]; 22. 2M-Allen Murray[14]; 23. (DNS) 33-Daryn Klein

CLASH OF THE TITANS: Harrison Wins Epic Battle with Hoffman, Snapping Champ’s Streak

Harrison regains sole possession of No. 1 on all-time wins list at 54

After 25 long, hard-fought laps around the Tri-City Speedway, the streak has officially come to an end. Mike Harrison has dethroned rival Nick Hoffman from atop the DIRTcar Summit Racing EquipmentModified Nationals podium and ended his dominant stretch of 15 wins in 15 starts.

Harrison, the one and only six-time Summit Modified champion from Highland, IL, grabbed the lead from Will Krup on Lap 3 and never looked back. Leading the final 23 laps, blasting around the top side like he so often does, Harrison drove away from Hoffman for his 54th career tour victory and reclaimed sole ownership of No. 1 on the all-time wins list.

“I don’t really worry about them numbers a whole lot,” Harrison said in Victory Lane. “I just get behind the wheel and drive.”

Avid followers of the DIRTcar UMP Modified circuit knew this heavyweight bout had been a long time coming. Their previous matchup in the first visit to Tri-City back in June did not go as Harrison had planned, when he got behind after a botched Heat Race effort set him seventh on the starting grid for the Feature, where he went on to finish fourth.

Fairbury Speedway was the venue for Hoffman v. Harrison II, where Harrison looked to be a serious challenger for the lead before getting into the wall while running second. Another meeting came a week later at Lincoln Speedway, where Harrison kept it clean but came up just one spot short.

Heading back to Tri-City for their next clash, both drivers won their Heat Race and started first and third in the Feature. But as soon as the green flag dropped, the fireworks popped off on the track.

“On the initial start, I got a really good run. I knew [Harrison] wasn’t going to be able to hold the bottom, so I just stuck my nose in there and was almost all the way clear, and then we came off Turn 2 and I got tight and got into his left-front. I think we would have been fine, but then under caution he just ran me over,” Hoffman said.

The two did make contact under caution that left Hoffman’s right-rear quarter panel damaged for the next restart – all before the race had yet to officially start.

“I had no side-force getting into the corner, so I was super loose getting in,” Hoffman said.

On a much cleaner start, Will Krup was the one who got the jump and led the first two circuits before Harrison came screaming around on the top to take the lead on Lap 3. Hoffman, starting third, battled for some bite down low but could only muster up enough speed to stay roughly two seconds behind.

Several restarts were plopped in throughout the proceeding 22 laps, and Harrison shut down Hoffman on all of them. Piloting a 2017 Hughes Racing Chassis, Harrison said his crew made the setup changes for the Feature and didn’t tell him about them – at his request.

“They gave me a good car, but I’m telling you right now – it was a handful. So, we’re gonna have to go back and talk about this a little bit because they made me work my ass off.”

Hoffman tried several lanes, anything to gain time and battle back before the checkers, but it was no use. Harrison was too good on the top, where Hoffman’s car was not.

“I just had to go up there and beat it down. I was able to make gains and almost get back to him, but my car’s just not set up to do that. I’m just way too tight up there to do it. Just didn’t work out,” he said.

Harrison crossed the line 1.4 seconds ahead of Hoffman to the sound of a roaring crowd, where they so often see him win on Friday nights throughout the regular season. And though this was far from any regular show, Harrison gave the crowd a lot to remember heading home on this night.

UP NEXT

The Summit Modifeds are back in action Saturday night, July 24, at Clarksville Speedway to continue the Week #6 competition with another $1,500 on the line for the winner. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene.

(7/23/2021 – Alex Nieten) Tulare, CA… Dominic Scelzi continued his 2021 domination of Tulare Friday night at the Chris and Brian Faria Memorial with his second consecutive NARC-King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Car victory at the Thunderbowl, and he capped it off with a Kings of Thunder 360 win, making it six straight Tulare triumphs overall.

The win didn’t come easy, though. Scelzi lined up sixth on the grid for the start of the 30-lap Fujitsu Feature. Prior to tonight, the farthest back a driver had come to win in 2021 was fifth. The pilot of the Scelzi Enterprises/Red Rose Transportation 41 also had to endure a race-long battle with a pair of the west coast’s best, DJ Netto and Shane Golobic.

“I’m beat,” an exhausted Scelzi said. “I ran thirty laps as hard as I possibly could. The way the cushion was I was really hustling my butt off. I haven’t fallen out of the seat in a long time, but I did tonight. DJ is so good around this place. Shane’s won just about everything there is to win here.”

The win also held some extra significance for not just Scelzi, but the Scelzi family that recently grew by one.

“This is so cool,” Scelzi said. “My baby girl was born last Friday, and this is the first win being a dad, so I’m just kind of soaking it all in.”

The field took the green with DJ Netto and Shane Golobic leading the way. Golobic got the jump in his NOS Energy Drink/Elk Grove Ford 17W from the inside and stretched the early lead while Scelzi worked his way by a few cars early on to jump from sixth to third. A caution with six laps complete bunched the field back up.

Netto returned Golobic’s lap one favor by snagging the top spot in his Netto Ag/Penny Newman Grain 88N from the inside lane on the ensuing restart. Another yellow on lap nine and a red flag for Sean Watts on lap twelve brought the leaders back together, but the top three remained the same until the closing laps brought excitement.

As the lead trio navigated traffic with less than ten to go, Scelzi first picked off Golobic by rolling the bottom, and then snuck into the lead with a similar maneuver the next lap when Netto got trapped behind a slower car running the top.

“Sometimes its better to be second or actually third in that position,” Scelzi explained. “I don’t feel like I was better than either of these guys. That’s the cool thing about racing here, when it does get to the fence like that the top usually is the fastest place around here. When Shane got to him and they started racing, I was like ‘man I ran the bottom earlier in the night, and I felt really good, but nobody around me had done that. I knew I needed to stick the bottom because you only get one chance with these guys.”

A late red came out with six to go for Corey Day, but once racing resumed Scelzi went unchallenged the final few laps to claim his third Fujitsu Feature of 2021 and the twelfth of his career, but not without the notoriously tough Thunderbowl taking a toll on him.  Day was unhurt in the accident.

“I’m gassed,” Scelzi said. “I’m going to have to get back to the gym on Monday.”

The balance of the top-10 was Netto, Golobic, Mitchel Moles, Sean Becker, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, Tim Kaeding, Faccinto and Geoffrey Strole.

FUJITSU FEATURE (30 laps) 1. Dominic Scelzi 41 2. DJ Netto 88N 3. Shane Golobic 17W 4. Mitchel Moles 83 5. Sean Becker 83V 6. Bud Kaeding 69 7. Willie Croft 29 8. Tim Kaeding 42X 9. Mitchell Faccinto 37 10. Geoffrey Strole 09S 11. Craig Stidham 36 12. Jessie Attard 76 13. Danny Faria Jr. 01 14. Mark Barroso 78 15. Corey Day 21 16. Ryan Robinson 56 17. Sean Watts 98 18. Billy Aton 26

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS: Shane Golobic 1-5, DJ Netto 6-22, Dominic Scelzi 23-30

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER: Geoffrey Strole 18th to 10th

ARP/KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH FAST QUALIFIER (18 cars): DJ Netto 14.683

BROWN & MILLER HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps): Tim Kaeding, Bud Kaeding, DJ Netto, Mitchell Faccinto, Jessie Attard, Corey Day

FUJITSU GENERAL USA HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps): Sean Becker, Shane Golobic, Billy Aton, Willie Croft, Danny Faria Jr., Mark Barroso

FLORACING.COM HEAT #3 (8 laps): Sean Watts, Craig Stidham, Mitchel Moles, Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Robinson, Geoffrey Strole

SUNNY VALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” DASH (6 laps): DJ Netto, Shane Golobic, Sean Becker, Mitchel Moles, Tim Kaeding, Dominic Scelzi

Greenwood, NE (July 23, 2021) – Stormy Scott and Chase Junghans topped the charts as highest in passing points, claiming the front row for Saturday Night’s Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event will pay $53,000-to-win, $5,300 to start. On Friday Night there were two rounds of heat races contested, setting up the first nine rows for Saturday based on passing points. The top three finishers in each of the Hoker Trucking Round 1 Heats and the Strobel Manufacturing Round 2 Heats were awarded cash prizes with the winner of each collecting $250 in Silver Dollars. In the first heat of round one it was Brian Shirley scoring the win leading all the way as he took the victory over Chris Ferguson, Tim McCreadie, and Tyler Erb. The second heat of round one went to Chris Simpson as the Iowa driver scored the victory over sixth place starting Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, and eighth starter Jonathan Davenport, completed the top four. Heat number three of round one went to Nebraska native Tad Pospisil who took the win after race leader Ricky Thornton, Jr. suffered engines woes heading to the checkered flag. Chase Junghans, who was one of the big movers of the night in his heat race came from ninth to finish in second. Frank Heckenast, Jr. was third with Matt Cosner crossing the line in fourth. The fourth heat of round number one was taken by outside front row starter Kyle Bronson. Trailing Bronson across the finish line was seventh starting Stormy Scott, Chad Simpson, and Tyler Bruening. The fifth and final heat of round one would see Shane Clanton come home with the victory. Spencer Hughes, who started fourth, finished second. Defending Silver Dollar Nationals winner Brandon Sheppard crossed the line in third as Hudson O’Neal finished fourth. To start round two, Ricky Weiss would capture the first heat in dominating fashion. Jimmy Owens had another good point run by finishing in second after starting fourth. Ryan Gustin was third with Tyler Bruening placing fourth. The second heat of round two saw Hall-of-Fame driver Scott Bloomquist take an impressive win after passing Chase Junghans for the lead. Bloomquist pulled away to take the victory over Junghans, Brian Shirley, and Jake Timm. The third heat of round two saw Stormy Scott work his way from third to the lead, to go on to win giving him enough points for the pole starting position for Saturday Night. Tyler Erb charged from fifth to second with Brandon Sheppard and Kyle Bronson rounding out the top four finishers. The fourth heat of round two would have former Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion, Jonathan Davenport, score the win ahead of current Series Championship Point leader Tim McCreadie. Brandon Overton and Spencer Hughes finished out the top four. Round two’s fifth and final heat of the night would see Hudson O’Neal grab the early lead to take the checkers over Earl Pearson Jr., Terry Phillips, and John Anderson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 NationalsFriday, July 23rd, 2021I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish, Round 1 (11 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 6. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[7]; 8. 52-Brian Kosiski[9]; 9. 45-Dan Battaglia[2] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish, Round 1 (11 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 3. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[8]; 5. 22M-Charlie McKenna[3]; 6. 14J-Jake Neal[7]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[4]; 8. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar[5] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish, Round 1 (11 Laps): 1. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[9]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 4. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 5. 75-Terry Phillips[6]; 6. 24-Bill Leighton[7]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[8]; 8. 80-Allan Hopp[4]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish, Round 1 (11 Laps): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[7]; 3. 1C-Chad Simpson[1]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 6. 0-Scott Bloomquist[8]; 7. 7W-Ricky Weiss[9]; 8. 18A-John Anderson[5]; 9. 6D-Cory Dumpert[3] MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish , Round 1 (10 Laps): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 2. 11H-Spencer Hughes[4]; 3. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 4. 71-Hudson O’Neal[8]; 5. 98-Ben Schaller[3]; 6. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 7. 3C-Mike Collins[1]; 8. 7D-Dusty Leonard[6] Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish, Round 2 (11 Laps): 1. 7W-Ricky Weiss[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 5. 25-Shane Clanton[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[9]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[3]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 9. 45-Dan Battaglia[8] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish, Round 2 (11 Laps): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[2]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[8]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[3]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 6. 6D-Cory Dumpert[6]; 7. 80-Allan Hopp[5]; 8. 3C-Mike Collins[7]; 9. (DNS) 7D-Dusty Leonard Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish, Round 2 (10 Laps): 1. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 3. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[1]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[7]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[2]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[6] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish, Round 2 (10 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 4. 11H-Spencer Hughes[5]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[9]; 6. 1C-Chad Simpson[8]; 7. 24-Bill Leighton[3]; 8. 52-Brian Kosiski[1]; 9. 22M-Charlie McKenna[7] MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish , Round 2 (11 Laps): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[4]; 4. 18A-John Anderson[5]; 5. 98-Ben Schaller[6]; 6. 14-Josh Richards[8]; 7. 14J-Jake Neal[3]; 8. 22F-Chris Ferguson[7]; 9. 04-Tad Pospisil[9]

PA Posse Legend Lance Dewease Charges from 17th-to-2ndMECHANICSBURG, PA – July 23, 2021 – Entering this season, Sheldon Haudenschild had never won at Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, or Williams Grove Speedway.It’s a trio of tracks that most describe as “The Big Three” of World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series facilities, all home to the three biggest events on tour.He’s now stood in victory lane at all three tracks within the last three months.His latest conquering came on Friday night at Mechanicsburg’s tricky paper-clip 1/2-mile. The Wooster, OH native put together an impeccable run by setting Slick Woody’s QuickTime and leading all 25 laps of the NOS Energy Drink Feature on night one of the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals.Sheldon’s trip to victory lane officially makes the Haudenschild’s the first father/son duo to both win a World of Outlaws race at Williams Grove Speedway. His father Jac previously won with The Greatest Show on Dirt here in 1986 and 1997.”I feel like I have a lot of laps around this place, but I could never get that win,” Haudenschild noted. “We’ve been close, but it feels great to finally pull one off. Makes it sweeter that the #69 was behind us.”Earning the pole after dominating the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, Haudenschild quickly set sail as the $10,000/Win Feature fired off. A pair of stoppages on Lap 1 and Lap 6 slowed the action before the final restart rolled back to green with 19 laps left.Lil’ Haud ripped the cushion and slid through lap traffic completely unchallenged for the remainder of the race, but all eyes were glued on PA Posse legend Lance Dewease. A rough Qualifying performance and fifth-place Heat finish led to the #69K starting 17th in the 25-lap Feature.Dewease made it inside the top-10 on Lap 6, then flew into the top-five on Lap 18 and really made headway in the closing few circuits. He stormed by Schatz for third with two to go, then passed McFadden for the runner-up slot at the white flag.Out front, though, there was no denying Sheldon Haudenschild and the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17. He crossed the finish line with a margin of victory at 2.034-seconds over the field.”My car was just great all night,” Sheldon added. “That’s the best I’ve ever felt around this place. I could really keep the car straight for the first time here. It really feels great winning on these big 1/2-miles. We’ve had a couple of rough nights, so it’s good to get back in victory lane.”Fayetteville. PA’s Lance Dewease was the star of the show with an incredible 17th-to-2nd bid worthy of the KSE Racing Hard Charger Award. The Kreitz Racing #69K will look for more one spot better tomorrow night with $20,000 on the line at Williams Grove.”It was 25 laps, that’s all that matters, and Sheldon won it,” Dewease offered. “We were good, but these guys are so hard to pass, you know they’re the best in the world. Coming from the ninth row to second, though, we’ll take that. We put ourselves in a hole with Qualifying, so this is a good end to the night.”After starting third and running second for the majority of the 25-lapper, James McFadden slipped back to snag the final podium position aboard his Kasey Kahne Racing, Karavan Trailers #9.”It’s nice to finally put a whole night together again,” McFadden said. “I’ve been struggling on restarts lately, and I finally got those back together night. We’ll move on to tomorrow and try to do better.”Donny Schatz aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 and Brent Marks in his family-owned #19 closed out the top-five.Rounding out the top-10 on night one of the Summer Nationals was David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2, Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41, Brad Sweet in the Kasey Kahne Racing #49, Logan Schuchart in the Shark Racing #1S, and Danny Dietrich in the Gary Kauffman #48.UP NEXT: The Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals will conclude tomorrow night at Williams Grove Speedway as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series squares off against the PA Posse with $20,000 on the line.NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1][$10,000]; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [17][$5,500]; 3. 9-James McFadden [3][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [6][$2,600]; 5. 19-Brent Marks [9][$2,350]; 6. 2-David Gravel [4][$2,150]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo [13][$2,100]; 8. 49-Brad Sweet [11][$1,950]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [12][$1,900]; 10. 48-Danny Dietrich [15][$1,850]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$1,400]; 12. 51-Freddie Rahmer [14][$1,200]; 13. 27-Devon Borden [22][$1,000]; 14. 39M-Anthony Macri [2][$950]; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$900]; 16. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [19][$900]; 17. 99M-Kyle Moody [25][$]; 18. 27S-Alan Krimes [23][$900]; 19. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [16][$900]; 20. 45-Jeff Halligan [20][$900]; 21. 83-Aaron Reutzel [7][$900]; 22. 5C-Dylan Cisney [24][$900]; 23. 44-Dylan Norris [26][$]; 24. 1X-Chad Trout [5][$900]; 25. 11-TJ Stutts [8][$900]; 26. 2C-Wayne Johnson [21][$900]. Lap Leaders: Sheldon Haudenschild 1-25. KSE Hard Charger Award: 69K-Lance Dewease[+15]NEW Championship Standings (48/81 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (6,654); 2. Carson Macedo (-126); 3. David Gravel (-144); 4. Donny Schatz (-244); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-258); 6. Logan Schuchart (-280); 7. Aaron Reutxel (-436); 8. James McFadden (-694); 9. Kraig Kinnser (-844); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-1066).

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

Super DIRTcar Series returns to Orange County Fair Speedway for the Battle of the Midway 100 on Thursday, July 29MIDDLETOWN, NY –  Two of American’s favorite past-times, county fairs and short track racing, are coming back together at Orange County Fair Speedway on Thursday, July 29. The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds will invade downstate New York for the Battle of the Midway 100 as a part of the 181st Orange Country Fair. Superstar and Hall of Fame driver Brett “The Jet” Hearn plans to strap into his black #20 Big Block to take on the stars and cars of the Super DIRTcar Series once again at the track he promotes. He’s set to go full bore for the $10,000 grand prize and a guaranteed starting position in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 at NAPA Super DIRT Week XLIX. “When DIRTcar comes in and runs the event, it frees me up to be able to join the fun,” said Orange County Fair Speedway promoter Brett Hearn. “The fair race has always been special. It’s fun to race with all the sights and sounds of the fair in the background.”Hearn has been busy promoting Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds at Orange County along with a wide range of other exciting events at Orange County so he hasn’t been behind the wheel as much as he would like. But that doesn’t mean “The Jet” plans on flying straight and level. Hearn has 14 Super DIRTcar Series Feature wins at Orange County Fair Speedway, including three in a row between 2012-2014. No other driver has been able to touch his records at the century-old Middletown race track.“The fair has been there for 181 years and the speedway has been here for over 100 years,” he said. “There have been thousands of races on this track. It doesn’t get any more historic and important to Big Block Modified racing than this. It’s a staple of Orange County to have the fair and the race here. They go hand in hand.”Hearn loves the amplified atmosphere of a fairground race and he’s ready to “drop the hammer.”“I am not big into rides believe it or not! Hearn laughed. “I love slamming the hammer down to ring the bell. The games are always fun. This year we have some really awesome free concerts featuring tribute bands on a brand new stage too. There’s plenty to do for all ages.”Although his induction into the Northeast Dirt Hall of Fame has been a foregone conclusion for many years, Hearn is excited about the honor and is pleased to see a new crop of drivers taking his place in the box scores. “There’s been a huge turnover in drivers that are following the Series,” Hearn noted. “It’s a natural progression. I am not traveling the Series. My racing schedule is sporadic so it can make it tough to compete against the guys that run all week. But it’s nice to see the young guys making a name for themselves on the series and I am sure we will have a lot of cars down there. The car count for the Series has been really healthy (with 40 or more cars at every Series event).”Tickets and information for the Battle on the Midway 100 are available at OrangeCountyFairSpeedway.net. Anyone with a ticket to the event will gain free admission to the fair whether purchased online or at the gate. If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS or monthly FAST PASS subscription.PHOTO: Pete MacDonald

The Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, iRacing (Official Online Racing Game) and NAPA Auto Parts. Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fox Factory, MSD, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: FireAde, Intercomp, and Racing Electronics.

HEADED TO SONOMA

SONOMA, CA (July 23, 2021) — After a breakout performance last weekend at the NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria if thrilled to be getting behind the wheel of her Bandero Premium Brand Tequila in a few days for the Sonoma NHRA Nationals. The five-time national event winner raced to her ninth career final round and came up a few feet short of picking up her sixth win and getting a leg up on sweeping the Western Swing. The Austin, Texas, resident will instead focus on sweeping the California races over the next two weeks starting at Sonoma Raceway, July 23-25.

“We are coming from the high altitude in Denver to sea level in Sonoma,” said DeJoria. “We had a great race on the mountain and I have done well at Sonoma in the past. I am excited to get back to Sonoma Raceway..”

DeJoria has raced to two semifinal appearances at the beautiful, multi-use track located in the heart of wine country. Impressively, both of those strong race day performances began from tough qualifying spots. In 2013 DeJoria started from the No. 16 spot and took out No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan, then Robert Hight before falling to John Force in the semifinals. The next year starting from the No. 10 spot the ultra-competitive DeJoria took out Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon before being ousted once again by the 16-time Funny Car champion.

Lately the Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car has been dominating in qualifying and showing its power on race day as the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series moves to the halfway point of the regular season. In three of the past five races DeJoria has raced to at least the semifinals and her average qualifying position this season is an impressive 4.5 through eight races. If you take out the outlier qualifier of No. 14 from Atlanta it drops to a category leading 3.1 for starting position. Over the last fourteen races going back to the 2020 U.S. Nationals the Bandero Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car has averaged a 4.4 qualifying position and has only been outside the top six one time.

“I have a solid team led by crew chiefs Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante,” said DeJoria, who sits No. 7 in the Funny Car point standings. “These guys do a great job every race and I am lucky to be the one that gets to hit the throttle. This is a team effort from top to the bottom and I know our first win of the season is right around the corner.”

The Denver final round appearance was DeJoria’s first since her return to racing at the beginning of the 2020 NHRA season. The last time she was in a final round was August 2017 when she defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. to win the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota. DeJoria did not compete in 2018 and 2019.

Qualifying will begin at the Sonoma Nationals on Friday, July 23, with an evening qualifying session which is sure to produce low elapsed times and high speeds. Two sessions will follow on Saturday with final eliminations beginning Sunday morning at 11 a.m. local time. The race will be broadcast on FS1 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET.

Winger with runner-up, digs into points gap SPRINGFIELD, MO – July 22, 2021 – Sometimes, a really good car, some quick reflexes and a pinch of good fortune is the recipe for victory. Bobby Pierce had all three of these Thursday night in the Week #6 kickoff at Springfield Raceway, scoring his ninth DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win of the season in convincing fashion by leading 27 of 40 laps to collect the $5,000 check over Ashton Winger and local favorite Scott Crigler. His 36th career Hell Tour victory officially pushed him past four-time champion Brian Shirley into sole position of fourth place on the all-time wins list, setting him three behind 2004 champion Don O’Neal and 64 behind all-time leaders Billy Moyer and Shannon Babb. Pierce trailed the opening circuits of the Feature to polesitter Tony Jackson Jr. before cracking the whip as they approached the rear of the field. As Jackson was moving through the first wave of heavy traffic, his left-rear tire gave way and shredded, bringing out the caution and handing the lead over to Pierce. While the two did make contact after the tire had blown, Pierce was quick to saw at the wheel and escape with only a scrape on the right-side. From there, it become Pierce’s race to lose. But even with a 115-point advantage in the standings, the three-time champion still wasn’t at ease at the head of the field. Right on his bumper for the restart was a hungry group of competitors just waiting to pounce on a slip-up, including one of his biggest recent rivals – Ashton Winger. “Ashton was really fast, and he’s been fast the last few races – he’s got something figured out,” Pierce, of Oakwood, IL said in Victory Lane. “I was like, man, I’ve just gotta keep the 12 car behind me so we can stay in position to win this thing.” Winger, of Hampton, GA, came into Week #6 riding the momentum of two-straight victories to close out Week #5, besting Pierce both times, and was hungry for a three-peat. He restarted in fifth and advanced one position before the next restart two laps later. Winger hammered the throttle out of Turn 4 and quickly made the charge for Tanner English and Scott Crigler in front of him. He took the low groove into Turns 1-2 on Lap 18 and got a two-for-one special, passing both drivers by sliding up at the exit of Turn 2. Winger chased Pierce down until the next restart on Lap 22, where he got his best chance at the lead, sliding underneath Pierce for the lead at one point before falling back. Winger closed the gap in the final laps and got another opportunity to swipe the lead as they approached traffic again before a restart with five-to-go. Pierce had a big pack of traffic in front of him, slowing him down enough to allow Winger to catch up. But by that time, Pierce had already sorted his way through the pack, and the yellow was thrown again. “The lapped traffic was a bit of a handful,” Pierce said. “That last lap was a little scary.” Pierce dropped the hammer on the restart and cruised to his 36th career Summer Nationals victory with Winger and Crigler behind him, while Joe Godsey and Tim Lance completed the top-five. UP NEXT The Summer Nationals next heads back to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL, on Friday, July 23, for the second visit of the season, entitled the Russ Wallace Memorial. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene. ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results) Feature (40 Laps) 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 3. 12C-Scott Crigler[3]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey[6]; 5. 48-Tim Lance[9]; 6. 36- Logan Martin[11]; 7. 74-Mitch McGrath[19]; 8. 86-Kyle Beard[17]; 9. 2-Allen Murray[7]; 10. 93-Mason Oberkramer[10]; 11. 50-Kaeden Cornell[14]; 12. 81E-Tanner English[4]; 13. 0-Dewayne Kiefer[13]; 14. 36D-Mark Daye[18]; 15. 78S-Steve Stultz[15]; 16. 38-Thomas Hunziker[21]; 17. 14R-Jeff Roth[22]; 18. 118-Mike Fenton[20]; 19. 49-Justin Wells[12]; 20. 56- Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 21. 75-Terry Phillips[8]; 22. 66-Hayden Ross[16]

DIRTcar Summer Nationals is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Chevy Performance, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), FireAde, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Indiana Decal Company, Intercomp, iRacing, Racing Electronics, SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Summit Racing Equipment, and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fox Factory, Hoosier Racing Tire, MSD, Quarter Master, Summit Racing Equipment, VP Racing Fuels, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum).

Summit Modified Nationals is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including : Summit Racing Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Chevy Performance, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), FireAde, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Indiana Decal Company, Intercomp, iRacing, Racing Electronics, SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Bassett Racing Wheel, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Shafts, Fox Factory, Hoosier Racing Tire, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, K1 Race Gear, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Mulit FireX, Schoenfeld Headers, Summit Racing Equipment, Velocita USA, VP Racing Fuels, Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum), and Xceldyne.

Greenwood, NE (July 22, 2021) – Tyler Erb remains red-hot as the 24-year-old Texas native scored the biggest win of his racing career on Thursday Night at I-80 Speedway. Leading all 53 laps, Erb picked up $30,000 in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event. Erb’s had a dominating performance in the caution-free race with a margin of victory of 5.5 seconds over Hudson O’Neal. Brandon Overton came home in third with Spencer Hughes and Ricky Thornton Jr. rounding out the top five drivers. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fourth time in 2021, Erb was congratulated by his crew chief Randall Edwards and his race team. “Going caution-free helps. Once you get in the rhythm there, you just try to keep going the same speed you are going, and you can tell when you mess up. I got to racing with lapped cars and I think my lead closed a little bit. This is awesome, this is the biggest win of my career, so I am pumped.” O’Neal, who ran second to Overton on Tuesday Night came home in second. “I didn’t know how close I could get to him [Erb] as far out he was. I knew traffic was going to play a big deal. Whenever I got by Spencer [Hughes] for second I started to get a little closer and then I caught lapped traffic just like he was in. We had a great night and it’s been a great week so far; I am happy to get a couple of more nights to run for some great money.” Tuesday Night’s winner, Overton, earned a podium finish with his third place showing. “We are all on the same tires here. So, we have no excuses there. We just got better and better as the race went on. With this crowd it’s a good night for us. We still have two more days left so we are just going to keep on working on it and we’ll get them.”  The winner’s Eric and Kelly Brock Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by M&W Transport, Roberts Bee Company, First Class Septic, Posi Flow, Midwest Sheet Metal, Bazell Race Fuels, Go Lithium, Keyser Manufacturing, and KBC Graphics. Completing the top ten were Ricky Weiss, Stormy Scott, Jimmy Owens, Jonathan Davenport, and Shane Clanton. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary I-80 SpeedwayThursday, July 28th, 2021I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[4]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[1]; 4. 22F-Chris Ferguson[6]; 5. 24-Bill Leighton[3]; 6. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 7. 98-Ben Schaller[5]; 8. 7R-Ross Robinson[10]; 9. 99B-Boom Briggs[11]; 10. 7D-Dusty Leonard[9]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[8]; 12. 80-Allan Hopp[13]; 13. 53-Andrew Kosiski[12] UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1C-Chad Simpson[2]; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist[4]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 5. 22M-Charlie McKenna[3]; 6. 14J-Jake Neal[5]; 7. 52-Brian Kosiski[11]; 8. 3C-Mike Collins[8]; 9. 6H-Al Humphrey[9]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[12]; 11. 45-Dan Battaglia[13]; 12. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 13. 10C-Junior Coover[10] Lyles Tire & Wheels Last Dance Non-Qualifier Finish (20 Laps, Winner Transfers): 1. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[1]; 2. 7R-Ross Robinson[3]; 3. 52-Brian Kosiski[2]; 4. 99B-Boom Briggs[5]; 5. 6H-Al Humphrey[6]; 6. 3C-Mike Collins[4]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[7]; 8. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[9]; 9. 80-Allan Hopp[11]; 10. 53-Andrew Kosiski[13]; 11. 49T-Jake Timm[12]; 12. 10C-Junior Coover[14]; 13. 45-Dan Battaglia[10]; 14. 14M-Reid Millard[8]

The young star is finding his confidence again on the Summer Nationals tour, one of the hardest things he said he’s ever doneSPRINGFIELD, MO – July 22, 2021 – After claiming the 2020 World of Outlaws Morton Building Late Model Rookie of the Year title, Ashton Winger went on a Hell tour before joining the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model “Hell Tour.”His ride evaporated on him in December, leaving him and his family to scrape together what they could to attempt a return in 2021. In the first two months of the World of Outlaws season at Volusia Speedway Park, he lost two engines and only got to run one of four events during DIRTcar Nationals, resulting in a 27th-place finish.The poor fortunes made backing up his Rookie of the Year run unfeasible. However, a chance at a full-time run on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals tour – a 30-race schedule compact in a three-month period – materialized in the following months. And since joining this “Hell Tour,” Winger has collected three wins, placed himself third in overall points and, most importantly, found himself smiling again.“The main thing that I’ve learned a ton is just keep having fun,” Winger said. “This stuff is so stressful and for me, this is how I make a living. Staying having fun is hard. But I find we typically run way better and I sleep way better when I’m having fun.“It’s been fun. It’s been awesome. I didn’t get a full shot at the Outlaws (with COVID canceling a quarter of the season), so it wasn’t the full experience. But this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Whether you’re mad or whether you win, whatever, you have to forget about it. Tomorrow is a new day. And frankly, at the end of the day, no one really cares. You know what I’m saying?”There were still lessons for the World of Outlaws winner to learn at the beginning of the tour. It wasn’t until they found time to adjust the car, rather than repairing it, that he started to find himself in the top-five.“Honestly, it’s me not driving it into the fence and stuff like that,” Winger said. “There are little things happening. It’s a combination of stuff. Like at Circle City (Raceway), I felt like there was an opportunity for me to run second when Tanner (English) and Spencer (Hughes) got side by side. But I don’t know, I would’ve had to have done something pretty dumb to get to them. I felt like I could run to them, but I couldn’t really pass them. That’s when people start to do dumb stuff.“I just rode and fell back to sixth. But the body isn’t beat off this thing and we’re on to tomorrow. We’re not spending all day fixing things. We can solve the problem and keep getting better… I feel like I’ve gotten better behind the seat. But the main thing is I’ve gotten better at not tearing stuff up. I can name three or four instances in the first week when I did tear some stuff up. I probably would’ve been alright if I didn’t (make the move I did). There’s not a big difference between sixth and eighth. It just took me a minute.”Along with honing his driving skills, he admitted it took time for his team, consisting of his dad, cousin and himself, to find chemistry.“It’s finally starting to get good,” Winger said. “I’m not going to lie; it was rough in the beginning. We’ve really been playing catch-up all year. This Summer Nationals thing is the first time we’ve been prepared. And I don’t think we’re as prepared as we need to be, but we’re as prepared as we can be. So, we decided to come do this deal and you find what you need along the way. It is getting better. We’re all getting along. We’re all meshing. We’re all family.“What a lot of people take for granted is, unless something comes up, I’m probably not going home until Sept. 1. We’ve been living in this truck since June. That truck can only hold so much air. I told someone on the off days it’s good because we can all kind of get away from each other a little bit.  Anybody in racing knows what I’m talking about.”The merging of those elements has resulted in more top-five finishes, his first Summer Nationals wins at Knox County Fair Raceway – holding off currently points leader Bobby Pierce for the victory – and two straight wins at Thunderbird Raceway and Oakshade Raceway.He’s now third in points – 228 points behind Pierce – with 11 races remaining.“Probably would help a little bit if the #32 car (of Pierce) would slow down a little bit,” Winger said with a chuckle.To keep pace with Pierce and continue his winning streak, Winger said qualifying well is the key to both. Easy passes don’t exist on the Summer Nationals tour with the level of competition it produces, he added. If you don’t position yourself to start upfront, it’s likely you won’t make it there by the end of the Feature.The furthest back a winner has started this season is sixth at Fairbury for Shannon Babb. Overall, the average starting position for a winner this season in the first 19 races is second. For Winger’s three wins he started second, first and third, respectively.“Like you hear all the time, catching guys and passing them is two different things,” Winger said. “It is way different with this. You’re racing the racetrack and you’re racing the guys, air, everything. And we’re just past halfway in this deal and you don’t want to make any enemies. Everybody is so close. Like my dad always says, it’s way easier to pass in the pits than it is on the racetrack. It’s just Qualifying. It’s rare for a guy to start on the pole and run fifth. But it is more rare for a guy to start ninth and win. That’s really the main thing.”No matter how the Summer Nationals tour ends for him, he’s already accomplished what he needed to in his path to rebuilding a career with the World of Outlaws. He’s learned what it takes to run a grueling schedule. He’s learned what it takes to run for a points title against stiff competition. He’s learned how to beat that competition. But most importantly, he’s learned how to have fun again.The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model tour continues for its sixth week of racing on Thursday, July 22, at Springfield Raceway, followed by Tri-City Speedway (July 23), Clarksville Speedway (July 24) and Richmond Raceway (July 25). CLICK HERE for the full schedule.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the Summer Nationals action live on DIRTVision with the annual PLATINUM FAST PASS.

DIRTcar Racing is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, and NAPA Auto Parts (SDS). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear (SDS), Bassett, Bicknell Racing Products, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux (SDS), Cometic Gasket (SDS), COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Shafts, Fox Factory (SDS), Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Quarter Master, Schoenfeld Headers, Summit Racing Equipment, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum) (SDS); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics and Velocita USA.

SONOMA, Calif. (July 21, 2021) – Holding steady at No. 2 in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series points standings, John Force and the PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS team know that a win at this weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway could push them to the top of the class. Force and his Daniel Hood and Tim Fabrisi led PEAK / BlueDEF team’s steady climb began with a quarterfinal finish at the season opening Gatornationals. At the first four-wide event of 2021 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Force would qualify No. 2 and at the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Force and his PEAK / BlueDEF team would make their 257th final round appearance. Force earned his 161st No. 1 qualifying position before continuing his dominance into race day at the NHRA Four Wide-Nationals at zMAX Dragway and coming out with his 152nd national event victory. Force then tallied his second win of the season, 153rd of his career at the NHRA New England Nationals. At the most recent events in Norwalk, Ohio and Denver, Force had quarterfinal finishes. “We survived the mountain. Dodged a bullet, didn’t lose any ground in the points standings. I’ve enjoyed the season so far. My team, Danny Hood, Tim Fabrisi, Joe Barlam, they’re really working with me,” Force said. “I have to work hard to keep up, keep up with this PEAK Chevy and keep up with the competition, but I’m having a good time. Enjoying being with my team and really competing.” A win is not out of reach for Force who is the all-time leader in race wins with eight at Sonoma Raceway, the most recent in 2016. Force also has eight No. 1 qualifiers at the facility. The last two years NHRA has contested the Sonoma Nationals, Force has made it to the semifinals and for the past seven years the 16-time Funny Car world champion has qualified within the top 10. “We get to keep things going this weekend. The Western Swing is something special, three races in a row all on the West Coast,” Force said. “The teams stay out on the road, it can be a long three weeks but hopefully we come out of it with a couple wins and the points lead. That’s what we’re out here for.” Qualifying at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway begins Friday, July 23 at 8:05 p.m. and continues Saturday with sessions at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Eliminations will start Sunday at 11 a.m. For television coverage of qualifying, tune into FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Saturday at 2 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2 p.m. To catch the finals on television, watch FS1 at 4 p.m. on Sunday.