NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTESMAY 30, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE 2nd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CMAARO ZL1 1LE 4th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE5th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE6th      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE  TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)2nd     Chase Elliott (Chevrolet) 3rd      Kyle Busch (Toyota)4th      William Byron (Chevrolet)5th      Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Sonoma Raceway for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 6 at 4 .m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES: KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race WinnerYOU SWEPT TONIGHT! WHAT IS THE EMOTION, NOT ONLY TO WIN THE COKE 600, BUT TO CLOSE IT OUT, DOMINATE A RACE, AND GET IT DONE?“Yeah, it feels good. It was not easy. I felt like I had to fight off William (Byron) and Chase (Elliott) a lot. It kind of worked out there in that last run. The No. 43 (Erik Jones) had to pit and pulled out in front of me, and I just towed with him for a while and stretched my lead out. We had a good car there in that last run. Awesome! It feels great to be the guy to help Mr. Hendrick break that record, finally. This is awesome. We haven’t seen this many fans in forever. Thanks to all you guys for coming out. I hope we put on a good show. Thanks to MetroTech, Chevrolet, HendrickCars.com, and everybody who allows me to drive this No. 5 car. And thanks to my No. 5 team tonight, too. They were great tonight. My pit crew did awesome. We had awesome pit stops, especially on the green flag stops, too. That really allowed us to get the win tonight.” YOU KICKED IT OFF THIS YEAR WITH A BRAND NEW TEAM AND A BRAND NEW ORGANIZATION FOR YOU. HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON, YOU ALREADY HAVE TWO WINS. WHAT IS IT LIKE? HOW CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THIS TEAM IS DOING RIGHT NOW AND WHAT MR. HENDRICK HAS?“When I got to talking to Ricky Stenhouse last year, I was like I think I’m going to end up in the No. 5 or the Hendrick cars and he was like, you’re going to be really good in that thing. And I was like, I don’t know. But it’s been better than I could have ever imagined. For us to lead as many laps as we have this year and contend for as many wins as we have, and now to get our second win at a Crown Jewel event, too, it feels great. I’m just very lucky that Mr. Hendrick was able to put together a deal for me. It’s just awesome. I’m living a dream, for sure.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd“I’m just happy for the boss (Mr. Rick Hendrick); happy for Kyle (Larson), Cliff (Daniels, crew chief), and everybody on the No. 5 team. They’ve been kicking ass since February and they deserve to win. Rightfully so. They did a great job tonight; ran a great race and made no mistakes and the best car won. I’m proud of Hendrick Motorsports. I feel like everybody, like I’ve been saying, is just pulling in the same direction and it’s really showing. I’m just proud of our company and excited as the No. 9 team, specifically, for more opportunities ahead, and to try and get a little better and see if we can’t get it dialed in.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4thBYRON ON RACING CHASE ELLIOTT:“It was hard racing. I was trying to get second there and cost myself third. With this package, you just have to get the side draft at the perfect spot. I feel like we just missed where that was. We just didn’t have quite enough. Congrats to the No. 5 (Kyle Larson, race winner) guys. They were lights out. We’ll go to work and try to get that.” TALK ABOUT THE HENDRICK MILESTONE. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE PART OF THE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS ORGANIZATION. “It’s awesome. We are bringing really fast cars right now and I feel like it’s really fun to be at Hendrick Motorsports right now. We’ve just got to work, on the No. 24 team, just a little harder to get the little bit more than we need. But we’re really close. We can do it at times during the race. We just can’t put it all together. I feel like we probably should have finished third tonight. We finished fourth, but we’ll take that.I thought we were really good. It’s just hard to get the lead and I feel like if we could have kept the lead, we could have maybe won. We just never did. We were good enough to win but it just didn’t quite happen.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th “Hats off to Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the Ally 48 team on making really good adjustments to get us where we needed to be and get us in the top-five. So cool for Hendrick Motorsports to be the all-time wins leader now. Our Ally Camaro was a handful all night, but glad to get a top-five out of it.” BOWMAN ON THE HENDRICK MILESTONE:“It’s really cool to be a small part of it. Four of those (wins) were from us, so that’s pretty neat and pretty special. We want to add a lot more to that list, but it’s cool to be a small part of it.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6th“I am so proud of everyone on the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road team. We had some adversity today, but this RCR team rallied to get over everything and put together something at the end to be proud of. The Coca-Cola 600 is a long, grueling night and a lot of it is just about who can have a clean race. We didn’t have the cleanest of races, but we rebounded well. We earned stage points in every stage tonight, and did a great job of keeping up with adjustments as the track changed. Even when we fell back in the running order we kept our cool, didn’t give up, and were able to drive back into the top-10. Everyone did a great job. If we keep bringing cars like this to the track, we will win races. The most important part of the night was riding with Chief Special Warfare Operator David A. Fegyo on the windshield header and honoring our military with a patriotic Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“The No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was stout tonight and had a lot of speed all race long. I fired off the night a little tight but with an air pressure adjustment on our first stop, it loosened right up and stayed loose for most of the day. Our car transitioned really well from night to day, and a large part of that was thanks to my team making the correct adjustments to keep up with the changing track conditions. I started to get a little too free during the last half of Stage 3, but the team was able to walk back our adjustments enough to get me in a good spot balance-wise for the remainder of the night. We had a really good points night and earned valuable Stage points in every Stage tonight, which will be a huge help to keeping us moving up in the standings. We ran in the top-10 almost the entire night, which is a big feat during the Coca-Cola 600. I’m really proud of my team and hope we made Army Staff Sergeant Brian Piercy’s family and friends proud tonight as well.” RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER/COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“That was a solid night for us in the No. 47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet. Starting on the front row was really great for us and everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing and from there we just struggled being really loose on the long run then building tight in traffic as the sun went down and we got into the second half of the race. We got trapped by a lap car at the end when I think we were definitely catching cars for position at the end, but 12th is still really strong for us and a step back in the right direction after a few rough weeks. I’m looking forward to keeping up the momentum next week at Sonoma.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“Our car was good. We were missing a couple adjustments at the beginning, but we were able to get it better there at the end. We just never got the caution that we needed.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 PETTY’S GARAGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th“We had to come back in at the end, but we were able to fix the vibration. The No. 43 Petty’s Garage Camaro ZL1 1LE was pretty decent all day. We had our best speed at the end, we just got behind there with the extra pit stop. Solid day – it was a better 1.5-mile track for us than we have the last few, so hopefully it’s a step in the right direction.”  ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 37th“Just really disappointing to have issues so early in the longest race of the year. Unfortunately, it just turned into a long test session for us. Thankful to have AdventHealth on the car this weekend, and sorry we couldn’t have a better result for all of the guests that they had join us today.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 38th “Not much more to say other than we are just on an extremely tough streak of bad luck. The car lost power steering and I saw the oil pressure drop, not much warning of any issues. We thought we made repairs to carry on, but apparently the damage was done and forced us out of the race early.” RICK HENDRICK, TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTSTHIS IS WIN NUMBER 269 FOR YOU, THE ALL-TIME WINNINGEST OWNER IN NASCAR HISTORY. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IT’S ALMOST AN OVERWHELMING STATISTIC.“It really is. Number one, Richard Petty is the king of NASCAR. He’s done so much for this sport. Man, this is so awesome. All I can think about was the first win and all the drivers. I want to thank every driver that’s ever driven, that won a race; and the ones that didn’t win. But it’s unbelievable. I can’t really get it in my brain right now, because I just thought – something’s going to happen, something’s going to happen. But man, what a good job they did tonight. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the year. I’m glad 269 is over. I’m glad it’s over.” JEFF GORDONWHAT A NIGHT FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS“I’ve been a part of Hendrick Motorsports as a driver for all the years and have seen the dominance, but even I am just blown away by how strong this organization is through all four cars right now. Congratulations to Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Motorsports, and Kyle Larson, and also Cliff Daniels.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, who finished second in tonight’s Coca-Cola 600.
Q.Chase, I’m curious your take on the lap traffic. It seemed like the closing rates tonight were pretty significant. A lot of them looked like you guys used them for picks. What was your take on the lap traffic tonight?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, it was — I felt like pretty — as bad as I hate to say this, pretty normal here in the last couple years, so I wasn’t super surprised by any of it, to be real honest.
Q.Did you feel like NASCAR needed to make any calls regarding any penalties for minimum speed, or do you think that minimum speed needs to be addressed moving forward at this point?CHASE ELLIOTT: Man, I can’t answer that. I really try hard to stay out of the official calls. That typically doesn’t get me anywhere good, so I’m not sure.
Q.When it comes to where Larson was better, Byron said that it just seemed like the 5 was stuck to the track. Was that something that they could have done differently at the shop? Could you guys have adjusted to get closer to him, or was it just out-and-out better tonight?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, great question. He definitely did a better job for sure. I thought he did the best job driving and being able to make pace and not abuse his tires each run. Yeah, best driver, best car won tonight. There’s no doubt.I think for us, we just look ahead, and I’m excited for more opportunities. That’s all you can do when you get beat is look ahead and be excited for another chance.
Q.Is it frustrating for you at all now that you’ve come so close in two straight Coke 600s and just haven’t gotten to Victory Lane yet?CHASE ELLIOTT: I mean, no. Obviously I would love to win, like anybody would, but we didn’t last year and we didn’t this year, and that’s just what it is, so onward.
Q.What does it feel to be a part of Hendrick Motorsports during this historic time in their NASCAR history, and how does it feel to be a part of the 269 wins, the record that was set tonight?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, just super proud of everybody. I’ve said this over the course of the last couple weeks. Mr. Hendrick has changed a lot of lives I feel like throughout the course of his career and what he’s meant for motorsports I feel like goes without being said. He’s changed my life, and for that I feel like he deserves to be on top. I’m a little biased, but I feel like he does.I feel like he treats people with a lot of respect and integrity, and he just goes about his business like someone should. He’s a great role model to a lot of employees, not just in motorsports but across the automotive group side of things, and there’s a reason he is a successful man in not only business but in life.He deserves to win. He deserves to be on top, and I’m glad to see him be there.
Q.What sort of impact has Mr. H left on your life personally, and how does it feel to vindicate the trust he put in you when he put you in first the 24 car and now the 9 car moving forward?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, for sure. Like I said, he’s offered me opportunities I would have never had otherwise, and that’s really, not to be short, but that kind of sums it up. If he hadn’t done what he did and stuck with me and wanted to give me a chance, I don’t think I’d be sitting here. It’s pretty much as simple as that.
Q.When we watched the race, the package seems to be, I don’t want to say slower, but it seems a little different than in years past. Was the passing a little more difficult? Help fans understand how hard it is mentally to be out there and trying to be on the ragged edge of speed for the entire 400 laps.CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, it’s always hard to pass. We’ve had multiple different packages, and it’s always hard to pass. Until we learn how to defy physics, it’s going to be hard to pass. That’s just what it is. I don’t think that’s ever going to change. But I do think the best drivers and the best teams tend to find their way to the front of these races, even with it being so hard to pass. That’s why we race. It’s a challenge, and we all embrace that challenge. We play within the rules that we are given, and I’m sure the rules are going to change a bunch over time and continue to change, and it seems like every time they change, the better guys and the better teams tend to always find their way back to the front, and I don’t think that’ll ever change.
Q.Mentally how tough is it to be out there for that 400 laps being on the ragged edge the entire time.CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, actually I feel really good. I feel like the race went by really fast. What time did we start, 6:30? It was over about 10:30. I thought it was quick. Felt good.
Q.Chase, you and Kyle raced pretty hard when you were together on the track, and even coming down pit road at one point he got to your inside. Where is the line there of racing your teammate hard but not — what’s acceptable, what’s not acceptable?CHASE ELLIOTT: I don’t know, I thought it was all good. We were racing hard and racing for the lead of the Coca-Cola 600. Yeah, I didn’t see anything wrong with anything that happened tonight.
Q.That was enjoyable.CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, was it fun to watch? There you go.
Q.I wanted to ask, how much does it become a mental battle when your teammate is so strong and you guys are a top-2, top-3 car and you just can’t get there and really do anything with it?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, just keep pushing. We absolutely got beat tonight, no question. They did a better job, as I said before. The only thing you can do is just look for more opportunities, be excited for another chance, and fortunately we have that next week, next Sunday, and the Sunday after that. We’ll just try to get a little better and me do a better job, us communicate better as a team, execute better, and try to have a better result.
Q.You led a lot of laps here last year in the races. Were you as good tonight as you were last year and Kyle Larson was just better?CHASE ELLIOTT: That’s so hard to honestly really compare year to year in my opinion. Just things change, and the cars sometimes drive a little different. So I couldn’t give you a fair assessment on that.Kyle was definitely better tonight, and that was the only thing that mattered today, currently, here in 2021. I don’t know how to compare it to last year, but we were — yeah, I don’t know. Good question.
Q.Does it feel like almost a friendly boxing match between the two of you at Hendrick right now?CHASE ELLIOTT: Well, I think we’re all just trying to maximize the opportunities. This is a sport that comes in waves. It’s a roller coaster. There’s going to be good times, there’s going to be bad times.I hope we’re always this good and always this competitive, but I think the law of averages would tell you that that’s not going to last forever, so I think we all want to try to take advantage of the opportunities that we have right now as a company and continue to challenge ourselves to be better because our competitors are getting better, they’re pushing harder. We need to make sure we’re not just happy with where we are, we’ve got to get better, too. We’ve got to push, because May isn’t — that’s not when we hand out the big trophy. We need to make sure we’re on our game when it counts.
Q.Obviously you won the last road course, wet Circuit of the Americas. Talk about what you’re expecting next week at Sonoma Raceway?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, Sonoma has been a place that I haven’t done a very good job at I don’t feel like. It’s been a pretty big challenge. Looking forward to getting there, looking forward to another shot. It’s been a couple years — yeah, two years since we’ve been there. Been a little while, but looking forward to getting back and having another chance.
THE MODERATOR: Chase, thanks for joining us today. Congratulations on the second place tonight and we’ll see you at Sonoma. 

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Military Appreciation Team Bring Fast Chevy to Coca-Cola 600

6th

6th

11th

“I am so proud of everyone on the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road team. We had some adversity today, but this RCR team rallied to get over everything and put together something at the end to be proud of. The Coca-Cola 600 is a long, grueling night and a lot of it is just about who can have a clean race. We didn’t have the cleanest of races, but we rebounded well. We earned stage points in every stage tonight, and did a great job of keeping up with adjustments as the track changed. Even when we fell back in the running order we kept our cool, didn’t give up, and were able to drive back into the top-10. Everyone did a great job. If we keep bringing cars like this to the track, we will win races. The most important part of the night was riding with Chief Special Warfare Operator David A. Fegyo on the windshield header and honoring our military with a patriotic Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Team Showcase Speed, Capitalize on Stage Points in Strong Top-10 Coca-Cola 600 Run

9th

15th

13th

“The No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was stout tonight and had a lot of speed all race long. I fired off the night a little tight but with an air pressure adjustment on our first stop, it loosened right up and stayed loose for most of the day. Our car transitioned really well from night to day, and a large part of that was thanks to my team making the correct adjustments to keep up with the changing track conditions. I started to get a little too free during the last half of Stage 3, but the team was able to walk back our adjustments enough to get me in a good spot balance-wise for the remainder of the night. We had a really good points night and earned valuable Stage points in every Stage tonight, which will be a huge help to keeping us moving up in the standings. We ran in the top-10 almost the entire night, which is a big feat during the Coca-Cola 600. I’m really proud of my team and hope we made Army Staff Sergeant Brian Piercy’s family and friends proud tonight as well.” -Tyler Reddick

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES105TH INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGEINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYRACE RECAPMAY 30 Team Chevy drivers grab three of top five spots in Indianapolis 500* Simon Pagenaud, Pato O’Ward, Ed Carpenter lead the way* Chevrolet claims six of the top nine    in the fastest ‘500’ in history* Sage Karam advances a field-high 24 positions to finish seventh* Conor Daly leads field-high 40 laps; Team Chevy leads 108 of 200 INDIANAPOLIS (May 30, 2021) – Chevrolet drivers claimed three of the top five positions, led by third-place finisher Simon Pagenaud, in the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Pagenaud, the 2019 Indy 500 winner, advanced 23 positions relative to his starting spot in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. He was joined in the top five by Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and Ed Carpenter driving the No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet. Sixteen drivers powered by the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected Chevrolet V6 engine took the green flag and six combined to lead 108 of the 200 laps in the fastest Indy 500 in history at an average speed of 190.690 mph. The race was marred by two cautions. Three drivers added top-nine finishes for the Bowtie Brigade. Sage Karam was the biggest mover of the race, gaining 24 positions in the No. 24 DRR AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet to place seventh. Rinus VeeKay, 20, who a week earlier became the youngest front-row starter in race history, led 32 laps and finished eighth in the No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya advanced 15 positions to finish ninth in the No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. The six Chevrolet drivers combined to advance a total of 64 track positions. O’Ward, who started the month by recording his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval, moved to third in the championship standings with his finish in the double points race. Also, two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden finished 12th, moving up nine positions in the No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet. Conor Daly, who led a field-high 40 laps in the No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, gained six positions to finish 13th, and JR Hildebrand picked up seven positions to place 15th in the No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.Simona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro TPO Paretta Autosport Chevrolet, methodically worked her way to the top-20 from her 33^rd starting position, but a pit lane incident relegated her to the 31^st finishing position. Nonetheless, the Beth Paretta Autosport female owned team can count its debut as a success. Former race car driver Danica Patrick led the 33-car field to the green flag in the 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible. The race marked the 32nd time for Chevrolet to pace dating to 1948, and the 18th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car. Helio Castroneves drove his Meyer Shank Racing Honda to victory to become the fourth four-time winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” joining A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES season continues June 12 and 13 with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader on the Belle Isle street circuit. The event was not contested in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. NBC will telecast both 70-lap races on the 2.35-mile, 13-turn course. Team Penkse’s Josef Newgarden won the first race of the 2019 twinbill powered by Chevrolet on his way to the driver championship. TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS with starting position in parentheses:3. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske (26)4. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP (12)5. Ed Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Ed Carpenter Racing (4)7. Sage Karam, No. 24 DRR-AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (31)8. Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing (3)9. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP (24)12. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske (21)13. Conor Daly, No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing (19)15. JR Hildebrand, No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing (22)20. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske (17)23. Dalton Kellett, No. 4 KITS.com/K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing (30)24. Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin (29)26. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing (27)27. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP (14)30. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske (32)31. Simona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro/Paretta Autosport (33) DRIVER QUOTES:SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 3rd:“The team did an amazing job in the pits. The car was phenomenal all day. Man, we started up front. We were right there at the end. I just want to congratulate him (Helio Castroneves, race winner). What he’s doing is awesome. And he is old. That gives me another 10 years. “I think we had the race car to get it done today. Certainly Chevy, amazing job with the engine power, and handling was phenomenal. I was pedal to the metal. I could see Helio was playing a very smart game; obviously he knows how to win this race. I thought I might have had a shot in Turn Four, but he was too fast. But we did a great job today, I think we had the best car out there: one more lap and we may have had a shot at Helio. But what really cost us was that early yellow – we hadn’t pitted so we had to come in for an emergency stop to put fuel in the car and that put is at the back of the field. We only had 156 laps to get to the front, but we did it. The championship points are great, but it’s the one place in the world that you want to win, second and third don’t matter. Congratulations to Helio, obviously he’s writing a huge page in history here, it’s great to have a driver of our generation get into this club. It’s great to see him win at 46, I have 10 more years to reach him! He is such a great friend and was a great teammate, one of the best I’ve had. I have a responsibility to be even better on track now, so my son (Marley) is proud of me.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW ,MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET  – Finished 4^th:  “Man, I’m a little bit bummed. I didn’t have enough for them at the end.  I was trying really hard on that last lap. If I was going too keep it flat, it was going to be that lap to try and get a run and try and get them anywhere I could. But I had a huge moment and had to get out of it and Simon got by us. But we should be proud of what we accomplished here. We were in the fight  all day.  We just weren’t as fast as Helio (Castroneves) and Alex (Palou). Congratulations to Helio on his 4^th (Indianapolis 500 win. Alex drove a great race as well. We should be very proud of this, but at Indy winning is the only thing that matters. We can’t be so happy. We have to be bummed because we didn’t win.“I really think we did a perfect race, I don’t think we could have done anything better. We just needed to be faster in the end. The balance of the car was phenomenal the entire race, the whole month really. Everyone on the team has worked so hard and I would have loved to get this one for them but we didn’t have the speed. When they let me loose, I knew they were going to let the guys in front of me loose, and I didn’t have enough to catch them. I took a risk to try and make a mega run on the leaders and ended up losing the position to Pagenaud, so that was disappointing.  We need to work harder and come back stronger next year, because the only thing that matters at Indy is winning. We did a great job, the pit stops were good, the strategy was perfect, so we just need to do this again, just a little bit faster.” ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 5th“At the end of the day I’m happy with it. I stalled it on my first pit stop and dug ourselves a huge hole. And then really, just on strategy, tried to make some passes but the team, pit stops, and strategy, they did a great job getting us back in the fight. We were in the lead pack at the end, which is where you want to be. But we struggled for speed. The car handled pretty well, but I just struggled for speed. Just couldn’t quite have enough to keep attacking those guys once we got toward the front. So, given how far we got shuffled back, to get back up to P5 is not bad.” SAGE KARAM, NO. 24 DRR-AES INDIANA DREYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 7th“The car was pretty good from the beginning. I knew I just had to stay focused. This race is 500 miles. It’s grueling. For me, it’s more mentally challenging than it is physically. Today was the most physically demanding 500 I’ve ever done. Even though it was cool out, these cars are very difficult to drive in traffic and you’ve really got to wheel them to be quick. And the DRR team did a great job. They were flawless all day on pit road. I just had to keep it on the dance floor. I made some passes out there. I got passed a few times. But I think this is the most patient I ever was behind the wheel of a race car. I just let the race come to me, I think, was the main thing this time. Whereas before, I would go out searching for it. I just let it come to me this time and I’m just so happy. I needed this. The team needed this. We’ve been struggling the last two years. And for this, a one-off team, one car, one race, to come and take it to the big dogs, we’ve just got to qualify better and we’re going to be right in the mix.” CONOR DALY, NO. 47 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 13th“We got a really lucky yellow obviously, at the beginning. It worked out perfectly. And I think we got to run really where this car deserved. It was a great race car. Such a great race car. And then when Graham (Rahal) crashed, I thought we had avoided everything and I was like all right, this is great. And literally out of nowhere, it was like a tire just fell from the sky. And we have that little visor strip with the aero screen. It’s like you can’t necessarily see all the way up in the sky, but you don’t think you really need to see that high. And like right at the last second, it was just like boom. Thankfully it didn’t hit the suspension, right? But our car was ruined from then on. It would have taken too much time to change the wing, so Conor Daly luck strikes again sadly, but it was so fun today, it really was, for a long time.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PENNZOIL YELLOW SUBMARINE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET—Finished 20^thROOKIE OF THE RACE“One mistake, it just eats you. You can’t make mistakes here, it needs to be a perfect day. That’s why experience is so important in this sport. It’s a place that really bits you, especially when you don’t see it coming. I didn’t quite pump my brake pedal up and had a stone cold set of rotors coming into pit lane. I’m thankful that no one was hurt, as I came in there pretty hot. I’m happy to get rookie of the year, that was the main goal, but I would have liked to have finished higher up, in that front group. I feel as though I could have been a factor, so it’s a bit of a bittersweet. But for my first Indy 500, to see Helio get his fourth, is tremendous. It was amazing to hear the crowd as I was getting out of the car! After 2020, how dull it was (without the fans), it was a great 2021.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO.21 BITCOIN ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 8^th“Leading over 30 laps today feels great. I am very happy with how I did and being able to finish 8th. I was leading in the first stint but we wanted to save some fuel so we worked with Conor (Daly) to run second. When the yellow came out, we fell abit short and it didn’t go our way. I was running 13th with a few laps to go so I have nothing to complain about. Lady Luck wasn’t on my side today but there are many more races this season and many more Indianapolis 500s in my future.” SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, DRIVER, NO. 16 PARETTA AUTOSPORT ROCKET PRO TPO CHEVROLET – Finished 31st“It was really cool to see everyone at the track, so many fans. It was super special. We went out there and I think we were quite speedy, particularly at the end. Kudos to everyone who put so much work into it. Unfortunately, I ran out of brakes a little bit and I couldn’t really save it there at entry. Maybe I could have done something a little different, but it’s pretty disappointing to end the day like this. The whole month everyone did such a great job, and we’re proud of the effort. It was really good to be back in an IndyCar and I hope for more.” SIMON PAGENAUD POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by our third-place finisher, driver of the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. Welcome, Simon. We all saw you coming there at the end. What was it like in those last closing laps? Did you think you were going to be able to catch Alex and Helio?SIMON PAGENAUD: I was hoping. I was really hoping. The big thing for us is obviously we got caught up in the first yellow. We hadn’t pitted, so we had to take an emergency pit stop after lap 44. From there we got sent back to the back of the field because of the emergency pit stop. We had 156 laps to come back to the front.What a shame. I really think we had the race car to get it done today. Certainly Chevy amazing job with the engine power and the race was amazing. Handling was phenomenal all day. We managed to really adjust the car through the beginning of the race. At the end I was pedal to the metal. I didn’t care. Just wanted to get to these guys and have some fun with them. I could see Helio was playing a very smart game. Obviously he knows how to win the race. Alex was trying his best to hold him off. Helio was just biding his time.Because of that the draft was difficult in fourth place. It was difficult to get through Pato. We did on the last lap. I thought I may have had a shot in turn four, but Helio was too fast.Congrats to him. He’s writing a huge page of the 500 mile history here. Finally a guy of our generation is going in the ‘four’ club. That’s very special. He’s a great friend. He just gave me 10 more years in my career to go catch him. Thank you, Helio (smiling).Q. When you were looking from the outside wanting to get into the INDYCAR SERIES, you said, I think I need to change my name. I said, To what? You said, Simon Indy. I can do this. You’ve won the 500, the championship. What does it feel like to be able to know coming in that you could do it and then to do it?SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s amazing. This place, I have so much respect for this place. I love the tension through the race and how much you have to let the animal inside of you come out in the last 20 laps. It’s a feel I’ve never had on any other racetracks. That fight at the end. Being in it, even though I was third, I could smell the blood.I’ll tell you what, it’s the best feeling in racing. Obviously I want to win. It hurts to be third. Maybe one more lap I would have had a shot at Helio, who knows. But it’s only 500 miles. We should have done it earlier. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.I’m proud. I’m proud of my team, proud of myself. I’m proud for John Menard, as well. A great showing at the 500. Like you said, it’s amazing to have won, come back, every year you know we are threats. That’s what it’s all about for me. It’s about always scratching at victory.This place is just amazing. There’s nothing else like it.Q. There’s so much talk about the young guys today. I’m going to include you in the old guys. Five of the top 10, 37 and older. The winner 46 years old. This is a huge thing for older drivers. Talk about the big strike for the old guys.SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s great. Helio just extended my lifetime here. I love it because I’m 37 this month, but I feel like I’m in better shape than I was when I was 22. Obviously I chose 22 for a reason here (smiling).This place is all about experience. I mean, what Helio did at the end, I want to rewatch it. There was something going on. I don’t know if you guys picked on it, but from lap 185 until he chose to go to the front, he was just playing. He was learning. There was a lot of that between me and Rossi in 2019. But I think he just took it to a whole ‘nother level. That was really cool to watch from behind, every though I was trying to join. I was trying to learn as I was coming through. Because I was like if I have a chance, I need to know what he’s going to do.To me, Helio was going to be the guy at the end. He was just biding his time. It showed the smartness, what goes behind the helmet in a race car. I think the final was just amazing. I’m very glad for the fans because they showed up en masse. It just shows that this is about experience and knowledge. I’m glad that’s the case because obviously I want to keep racing for many, many more years.Q. Can you share what you said to Helio when you hugged him?SIMON PAGENAUD: I mean, he’s a great friend. He’s such a great person, one of the best teammate I’ve ever had. I told him before the race, I did say, If I don’t win, I want you to win your fourth. There’s a reason for that. I think it’s great for our generation that we have a guy going into the four club. I call it the four club. I don’t know if that’s the right way to call it.Obviously Mario, A.J. and obviously Mears, it’s fantastic that they’ve done four. We need somebody else to join them. We need to keep breaking records. That’s what sport is about. Helio has joined them now. There’s hope for the future. I think he just gave us hope.THE MODERATOR: Helio is now the fourth oldest winner in Indianapolis 500 history, behind Al Unser, Bobby Unser and Emerson Fittipaldi.Q. Your setup for the start was good or you adjust the car and go faster?SIMON PAGENAUD: We started with too little downforce. I was struggling on the first stint to get passes done. The chassis was fantastic, but we just needed more downforce to be more aggressive.I was waiting for the pit stop to make adjustment. We made a rear wing adjustment, a front wing adjustment at the same time and the car came together. Then we kept adjusting through the race. At the end there it was loose. That’s what I needed to be good in traffic.It was definitely difficult for me when I had clean air. My car was very loose. That was the only way I could go through traffic.I think it really the fact that I started at the back really helped me at the end to go through the pack, get to the front. I could see I was more ready than the others at positions the car, knowing what to do with it. Had been aggressive for 200 laps.Great job. The whole 22 team did fantastic today.Q. What makes a guy like Helio good at a place like this?SIMON PAGENAUD: I think it’s a feel. It’s a great question. He’s got a feel for this place. Also I feel like the more you love the place, the more the place loves you back. There’s something really strange about it.All Helio thinks about is the 500. Everybody talks about his line being different than anybody else. I don’t quite understand why he’s running that line, to be honest with you. I’ve always tried to understood. No matter what year it is, what package it is, it works. He just knows what he needs. He knows what he needs from the race car. He knows when he’s going to be in the fight for the win. He keeps it to himself. He use it as energy.To me he’s been a mentor. I love the way he goes about racing, how he prepares. Also he just lives life. He just was lives life and loves it. He’s a positive person. He always believe.Q. In debriefs he can’t explain to you why he runs the line that you guys don’t like?SIMON PAGENAUD: We’ve never really talked about that. I just try to do what he does. But I’m not as comfortable doing it. He can’t run my line. I think it’s a style. At the end of the day I think it’s a style that he has that works for him. My style is different and it works for me obviously. I’m just super happy for him.Q. There’s only four four-time winners. You’ve been part of a race where one guy joined the club. When you look back on that, obviously you wanted to win the race, but what will you think of? You were part of the day history was made.SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes, like I said, it’s great to be in that generation of a driver joining that club. All I can think about right now is I want to catch Helio so bad. I’m thinking about all the years I should have won the race, ’15, ’18, but this one.Four is not too far away. If I have 10 more years, maybe it’s possible. But records are meant to be broken. I hope he comes back, try to go for five. I hope I can challenge him in the end. I just want to challenge him in the end because he’s the guy to beat now.Q. So much talk about the young guys, and an old guy won. This place is different. Maybe young guys aren’t supposed to do well here. Young guys did run well today. Did that surprise you at all?SIMON PAGENAUD: No, not at all. There’s a bit of bravery. The young guys, you could see a lot of them like Rinus, Alex, a lot of these guys what they did in qualifying shows a lot of bravery.I think Pato is the same kind of guy. They’ve really pushed the envelope and they’re pushing us, the older generation, to push the limit also further. It’s great. It’s really fun.You can see they’re very comfortable in an uncomfortable situation, which is new. I’ve never seen that before, that mindset. Also the cars are so close. All the teams, as you saw, it’s so competitive. If you do a good job, you really have a shot. That’s what happened today.Q. What influence does having the fans back have on the drivers, if any?SIMON PAGENAUD: It has a huge influence. I found so much resources that I didn’t know I had just because of the fans, the energy that you feel in the grandstand. It’s just so different here. You could see the grandstand were packed. You could see people clapping on the warmup lap. You want to do something special. It makes you feel relevant in your sport. It makes you feel like our sport is on the rise. This is the greatest race in the world.There was a ton of energy today. After the year we had last year, 2020, this just put a smile on your face.Q. I see on the stat sheet here you had 26 on-track passes, which is the most of anyone else. Obviously your car was working pretty well. Do you feel the new aero package that was brought this year did what was promised?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, absolutely. I thought it was great racing. I thought I could pass people. I thought it was a matter of having the right adjustment done during the pit stops. It was a matter of being aggressive also.I took a lot of risks today, more risks than I usually take, because it’s such an incredible race. I could smell the blood. Just wanted to get to the front.I knew the more cars I was going to pass, the better it was going to be. Certainly at the end you saw how fast the Menard car was. Yeah, just came up a little short. It hurts a little bit, I got to say.Q. Other than not having to do that emergency pit stop at the start, is there anything else you could have done differently?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes. No, I would have had a problem with Montoya if I did. Montoya was really tough on me today. Made me lose quite a bit of time.I mistimed a run on Herta. That wasn’t it. I don’t remember who it was. I mistimed a run on Hinchcliffe, I think. Montoya got me and set me back a little bit because I couldn’t pass him afterwards.Yeah, he was playing hard to get.Q. Back to what you were speaking about with Helio playing games. What exactly were you seeing? Was he seeing how his car handled with different lines on the racetrack?SIMON PAGENAUD: Alex was showing his game too early. No disrespect to him at all. He did amazing job, great race. Obviously he’s young, learning the draft and all that. It’s not easy on an oval of this size.I could see what Alex was doing. He was trying to find ways to keep Helio behind, but there were too many laps to go. Helio was just waiting in the back, keeping Pato behind, judging the timing. He knew exactly where he could get him, when he could get him. All of a sudden you saw him, he jumped at his throat like a tiger. That’s when the attack started. I believe it was 193, lap 193. I knew it was coming.I was waiting for Helio to do that because he disrupted the rhythm of the pack in front of me. That’s what helped me get Pato and maybe I could have gotten Palou quicker. It was very interesting to watch. Certainly there’s a lot to learn from that battle.Q. You were talking about Helio, what he kind of brings to the table. Are you a bit disappointed that he’d not been kept on at Penske and wasn’t part of your team? Did you feel anything missing from him not being a part of the team this year?SIMON PAGENAUD: He’s a fantastic teammate to have. He’s certainly added a lot of value to the Meyer Shank operation. Jack being a fantastic driver will benefit from having Helio by his side. I benefitting a ton from Helio running here, also from Montoya.Obviously it’s not my decision as to what teammate I’m going to have or what the future of the roster looks like at my team. I enjoyed working with him. I enjoy working with Scott. Scott obviously is learning, but he’s also doing a great job. There’s obviously no preference there. It’s not my choice. I enjoy working with my teammate. I think we’re doing a great job, as you saw. Great race cars. It is what it is at this point.Q. How are you feeling going into the second part of the season? You made no secret of the fact last year wasn’t what you wanted, wasn’t the target for the standard you hold yourself to. You’re fourth in the championship. Is that giving you confidence going into the second part of the season?SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s a silver lining. I’m not going to be honest, it hurts. All I’m thinking about is the 500-mile race I just lost. Like I said, no disrespect to Helio. I’m super happy for him and he deserved it, but I do believe I had the chance.I need to just – how do you say – mourn my loss tonight and get back into the championship rhythm. It’s obviously great to be fourth, I think that’s what I heard. That’s definitely going to help me going forward.We’ve got some great things for Detroit coming up. We know we have a strong car, street course. Excited about that. But Indy to me is the one off. I don’t really put it in the championship.Q. Today we saw a lot of drivers having problem on the pit entrance with the braking. How tough was that today?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes, it’s not easy. That’s one thing from outside, it doesn’t look like it’s difficult. Coming out of turn four at 220 miles per hour, then you have to slow down to 60 miles an hour in a hurry with a car that has very little downforce. The brakes obviously are cold. It’s very treacherous.Let me tell you, that first pit box that I had was probably the hardest for me to come into pit lane in my career here in Indy. Very treacherous day.Obviously it’s part of the racing. It’s where you have to take some risks, to jump people, during the pit sequence. Sometimes it goes wrong.Like I said, the cars are not easy to drive. We’re all on the limit at all times. Sometimes things go wrong.Q. How much momentum does that give you going into the rest of the season starting with Detroit in two weeks?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I’m excited about the championship. Like I just said, I need to digest tonight. I need to digest this amazing race. I need to digest what just happened.Yeah, I’m hurting. I’m hurting in my heart. I drove my heart out and my soul out of this race car. My team did such a great job. I need a little bit of time to digest, switch my mind over to Detroit next week. At the moment my mind is solely on Indy. I want to come back and win this again.But for sure it’s going to give us a boost in the championship. It’s always a good thing.THE MODERATOR: Thanks very much, Simon. Congratulations.SIMON PAGENAUD: Thank you.

Helio Castroneves scores record-tying fourth Indy 500
Meyer Shank Racing delivers first NTT INDYCAR SERIES win at Indy
One-Two Finish for Honda power

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 30, 2021) – Honda notched their 14th Indianapolis 500 win, with Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves scoring the victory—his record-tying fourth win—at The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Starting in the eighth position for his 21st consecutive Indianapolis 500, Castroneves led just 20 laps en route to his fourth 500 historic victory, trading the lead several times with Honda powered Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in the closing stages of the race. Palou would go on to finish second, less than half a second behind the victor.

The victory at the 2021 Indianapolis 500 is the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES win for Meyer Shank Racing since joining the series in 2017. In addition to their INDYCAR program, Jim Meyer and Mike Shank run an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi program with the Acura and ARX-05 prototype.

This win makes Helio Castroneves the first driver to win overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Indianapolis 500 in the same calendar year. The Brazilian racer previously won at Daytona in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 in January of 2021.

Second-place finisher Palou claims the point lead leaving Indy, overtaking his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, and Indy 500 polesitter, Scott Dixon 248-212. Honda also leads Chevrolet in the Manufacturers’ Championship, 476-472.

Indianapolis 500 Honda Race Results
1st Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
2nd Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
6th Santino Ferrucci Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
10th Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
14th Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
16th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
17th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
18th Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
19th Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda
21st James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda
22nd Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda
23rd Pietro Fittipaldi Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
28th Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
29th Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
32nd Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
33rd Stefan Wilson Andretti Autosport Honda

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 6 rounds)
Honda 476 pts
Chevrolet 472

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship (unofficial, after 6 rounds)

1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 248 points [1 win]
2. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 212 [1 race win]
3. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP, 211 [1 race win]
4. Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet 201
5. Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 191 [1 race win]

Quotes
Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing Honda) 2021 Indianapolis 500 Winner: “Honda’s great. HPD, because I’ve worked with them for three years and now coming back here with Honda, it’s been absolutely incredible. They sat down with me and we’ve had many meetings. That’s what we need to have.

“When you have spent so many years with an incredible organization and have their experience and information, you can explore those things. We’re here in victory circle because they’ve done the right things for us.” 

Mike Shank (Meyer Shank Racing Honda team owner): “I don’t even know where to start. Helio drove an incredible race-his experience in this race was there for all to see. I’m so proud to have the partnerships that we’ve built to get to this point.

“That starts with Jim [Meyer], who has made such an impact on this organization since coming on board and goes to AutoNation and SiriusXM, and of course Honda and the folks at HPD have been just amazing. This is going to take a long time to soak in, but right now I just am a little at a loss for words to be standing here right now after winning the Indianapolis 500!”

Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started sixth, finished second: ““Man the traffic, it was super close, Helio did an amazing job. I’m super proud of the NTTDATA car, I’m proud to be powered by Honda. Chip Ganassi Racing had the best cars today and I tried my best, we had a bit of traffic. Helio having that last clean lap, man, we’ll come back next year! I learned a lot today.”

Santino Ferrucci (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) Started 23rd, finished sixth: “It feels incredible, I’m so happy I can come back and drive for RLL and for this crew and be Honda-powered again. We had a great race! We were really quick, we just couldn’t get lucky on the starts and restarts. Strategy played a big part in this race, and we were able to save enough fuel to run as hard as we could at the end there. We were slowly reeling in the lead group, just needed a few more laps.

“This team worked all night long on Thursday night [after a crash in practice] to make sure the car was ready and fast for qualifying. They’ve been working on this car nonstop to repair it and make sure we had a car that could race in the top five. It’s so impressive and I’m so proud of them.”

David Salters (President and Technical Director, Honda Performance Development): “This is absolutely amazing. It’s great to see the world get back to normal, it was a great crowd at the speedway and they got to see a fairytale ending for Helio. I couldn’t be more pleased, I’m so proud of the team at HPD and everyone that represents Honda and everything they’ve achieved. The Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Indy 500, all out of HPD, in just one year—and all with Helio—it’s amazing. And, of course, massively well done to Mike [Shank]. This is an astonishing achievement and his team simply delivered.”

Fast Facts
The 2021 Indianapolis 500 was the largest sporting event worldwide since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with 135,000 fans.
The race had only two yellows, neither of which were multi-car incidents.

Next
After an incredible “Month of May” at Indianapolis, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES now takes a week off before resuming with the June 11-13 double-header Detroit Grand Prix race weekend, with races both Saturday and Sunday on the Belle Isle street circuit in Detroit, Michigan.

Honda Racing social media content and video links from Indianapolis can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES105TH INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGEINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYRACE RECAPMAY 30 Team Chevy drivers grab three of top five spots in Indianapolis 500* Simon Pagenaud, Pato O’Ward, Ed Carpenter lead the way* Chevrolet claims six of the top nine    in the fastest ‘500’ in history* Sage Karam advances a field-high 24 positions to finish seventh* Conor Daly leads field-high 40 laps; Team Chevy leads 108 of 200 INDIANAPOLIS (May 30, 2021) – Chevrolet drivers claimed three of the top five positions, led by third-place finisher Simon Pagenaud, in the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Pagenaud, the 2019 Indy 500 winner, advanced 23 positions relative to his starting spot in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. He was joined in the top five by Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and Ed Carpenter driving the No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet. Sixteen drivers powered by the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected Chevrolet V6 engine took the green flag and six combined to lead 108 of the 200 laps in the fastest Indy 500 in history at an average speed of 190.690 mph. The race was marred by two cautions. Three drivers added top-nine finishes for the Bowtie Brigade. Sage Karam was the biggest mover of the race, gaining 24 positions in the No. 24 DRR AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet to place seventh. Rinus VeeKay, 20, who a week earlier became the youngest front-row starter in race history, led 32 laps and finished eighth in the No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya advanced 15 positions to finish ninth in the No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. The six Chevrolet drivers combined to advance a total of 64 track positions. O’Ward, who started the month by recording his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval, moved to third in the championship standings with his finish in the double points race. Also, two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden finished 12th, moving up nine positions in the No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet. Conor Daly, who led a field-high 40 laps in the No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, gained six positions to finish 13th, and JR Hildebrand picked up seven positions to place 15th in the No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet.
Simona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro TPO Paretta Autosport Chevrolet, methodically worked her way to the top-20 from her 33^rd starting position, but a pit lane incident relegated her to the 31^st finishing position. Nonetheless, the Beth Paretta Autosport female owned team can count its debut as a success. Former race car driver Danica Patrick led the 33-car field to the green flag in the 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible. The race marked the 32nd time for Chevrolet to pace dating to 1948, and the 18th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car. Helio Castroneves drove his Meyer Shank Racing Honda to victory to become the fourth four-time winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” joining A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES season continues June 12 and 13 with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader on the Belle Isle street circuit. The event was not contested in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. NBC will telecast both 70-lap races on the 2.35-mile, 13-turn course. Team Penkse’s Josef Newgarden won the first race of the 2019 twinbill powered by Chevrolet on his way to the driver championship. TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS with starting position in parentheses:3. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske (26)4. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP (12)5. Ed Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Ed Carpenter Racing (4)7. Sage Karam, No. 24 DRR-AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (31)8. Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing (3)9. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP (24)12. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske (21)13. Conor Daly, No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing (19)15. JR Hildebrand, No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing (22)20. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske (17)23. Dalton Kellett, No. 4 KITS.com/K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing (30)24. Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin (29)26. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing (27)27. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP (14)30. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske (32)31. Simona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro/Paretta Autosport (33) DRIVER QUOTES:SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 3rd:“The team did an amazing job in the pits. The car was phenomenal all day. Man, we started up front. We were right there at the end. I just want to congratulate him (Helio Castroneves, race winner). What he’s doing is awesome. And he is old. That gives me another 10 years. “I think we had the race car to get it done today. Certainly Chevy, amazing job with the engine power, and handling was phenomenal. I was pedal to the metal. I could see Helio was playing a very smart game; obviously he knows how to win this race. I thought I might have had a shot in Turn Four, but he was too fast. But we did a great job today, I think we had the best car out there: one more lap and we may have had a shot at Helio. But what really cost us was that early yellow – we hadn’t pitted so we had to come in for an emergency stop to put fuel in the car and that put is at the back of the field. We only had 156 laps to get to the front, but we did it. The championship points are great, but it’s the one place in the world that you want to win, second and third don’t matter. Congratulations to Helio, obviously he’s writing a huge page in history here, it’s great to have a driver of our generation get into this club. It’s great to see him win at 46, I have 10 more years to reach him! He is such a great friend and was a great teammate, one of the best I’ve had. I have a responsibility to be even better on track now, so my son (Marley) is proud of me.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW ,MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET  – Finished 4^th:  “Man, I’m a little bit bummed. I didn’t have enough for them at the end.  I was trying really hard on that last lap. If I was going too keep it flat, it was going to be that lap to try and get a run and try and get them anywhere I could. But I had a huge moment and had to get out of it and Simon got by us. But we should be proud of what we accomplished here. We were in the fight  all day.  We just weren’t as fast as Helio (Castroneves) and Alex (Palou). Congratulations to Helio on his 4^th (Indianapolis 500 win. Alex drove a great race as well. We should be very proud of this, but at Indy winning is the only thing that matters. We can’t be so happy. We have to be bummed because we didn’t win.“I really think we did a perfect race, I don’t think we could have done anything better. We just needed to be faster in the end. The balance of the car was phenomenal the entire race, the whole month really. Everyone on the team has worked so hard and I would have loved to get this one for them but we didn’t have the speed. When they let me loose, I knew they were going to let the guys in front of me loose, and I didn’t have enough to catch them. I took a risk to try and make a mega run on the leaders and ended up losing the position to Pagenaud, so that was disappointing.  We need to work harder and come back stronger next year, because the only thing that matters at Indy is winning. We did a great job, the pit stops were good, the strategy was perfect, so we just need to do this again, just a little bit faster.” ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 5th“At the end of the day I’m happy with it. I stalled it on my first pit stop and dug ourselves a huge hole. And then really, just on strategy, tried to make some passes but the team, pit stops, and strategy, they did a great job getting us back in the fight. We were in the lead pack at the end, which is where you want to be. But we struggled for speed. The car handled pretty well, but I just struggled for speed. Just couldn’t quite have enough to keep attacking those guys once we got toward the front. So, given how far we got shuffled back, to get back up to P5 is not bad.” SAGE KARAM, NO. 24 DRR-AES INDIANA DREYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 7th“The car was pretty good from the beginning. I knew I just had to stay focused. This race is 500 miles. It’s grueling. For me, it’s more mentally challenging than it is physically. Today was the most physically demanding 500 I’ve ever done. Even though it was cool out, these cars are very difficult to drive in traffic and you’ve really got to wheel them to be quick. And the DRR team did a great job. They were flawless all day on pit road. I just had to keep it on the dance floor. I made some passes out there. I got passed a few times. But I think this is the most patient I ever was behind the wheel of a race car. I just let the race come to me, I think, was the main thing this time. Whereas before, I would go out searching for it. I just let it come to me this time and I’m just so happy. I needed this. The team needed this. We’ve been struggling the last two years. And for this, a one-off team, one car, one race, to come and take it to the big dogs, we’ve just got to qualify better and we’re going to be right in the mix.” CONOR DALY, NO. 47 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 13th“We got a really lucky yellow obviously, at the beginning. It worked out perfectly. And I think we got to run really where this car deserved. It was a great race car. Such a great race car. And then when Graham (Rahal) crashed, I thought we had avoided everything and I was like all right, this is great. And literally out of nowhere, it was like a tire just fell from the sky. And we have that little visor strip with the aero screen. It’s like you can’t necessarily see all the way up in the sky, but you don’t think you really need to see that high. And like right at the last second, it was just like boom. Thankfully it didn’t hit the suspension, right? But our car was ruined from then on. It would have taken too much time to change the wing, so Conor Daly luck strikes again sadly, but it was so fun today, it really was, for a long time.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PENNZOIL YELLOW SUBMARINE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET—Finished 20^thROOKIE OF THE RACE“One mistake, it just eats you. You can’t make mistakes here, it needs to be a perfect day. That’s why experience is so important in this sport. It’s a place that really bits you, especially when you don’t see it coming. I didn’t quite pump my brake pedal up and had a stone cold set of rotors coming into pit lane. I’m thankful that no one was hurt, as I came in there pretty hot. I’m happy to get rookie of the year, that was the main goal, but I would have liked to have finished higher up, in that front group. I feel as though I could have been a factor, so it’s a bit of a bittersweet. But for my first Indy 500, to see Helio get his fourth, is tremendous. It was amazing to hear the crowd as I was getting out of the car! After 2020, how dull it was (without the fans), it was a great 2021.”
Simon Pagenaud post race press conference transcript:
THE MODERATOR: We’ve been joined by our third-place finisher, driver of the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. Welcome, Simon. We all saw you coming there at the end. What was it like in those last closing laps? Did you think you were going to be able to catch Alex and Helio?SIMON PAGENAUD: I was hoping. I was really hoping. The big thing for us is obviously we got caught up in the first yellow. We hadn’t pitted, so we had to take an emergency pit stop after lap 44. From there we got sent back to the back of the field because of the emergency pit stop. We had 156 laps to come back to the front.What a shame. I really think we had the race car to get it done today. Certainly Chevy amazing job with the engine power and the race was amazing. Handling was phenomenal all day. We managed to really adjust the car through the beginning of the race. At the end I was pedal to the metal. I didn’t care. Just wanted to get to these guys and have some fun with them. I could see Helio was playing a very smart game. Obviously he knows how to win the race. Alex was trying his best to hold him off. Helio was just biding his time.Because of that the draft was difficult in fourth place. It was difficult to get through Pato. We did on the last lap. I thought I may have had a shot in turn four, but Helio was too fast.Congrats to him. He’s writing a huge page of the 500 mile history here. Finally a guy of our generation is going in the ‘four’ club. That’s very special. He’s a great friend. He just gave me 10 more years in my career to go catch him. Thank you, Helio (smiling).Q.When you were looking from the outside wanting to get into the INDYCAR SERIES, you said, I think I need to change my name. I said, To what? You said, Simon Indy. I can do this. You’ve won the 500, the championship. What does it feel like to be able to know coming in that you could do it and then to do it?SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s amazing. This place, I have so much respect for this place. I love the tension through the race and how much you have to let the animal inside of you come out in the last 20 laps. It’s a feel I’ve never had on any other racetracks. That fight at the end. Being in it, even though I was third, I could smell the blood.I’ll tell you what, it’s the best feeling in racing. Obviously I want to win. It hurts to be third. Maybe one more lap I would have had a shot at Helio, who knows. But it’s only 500 miles. We should have done it earlier. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.I’m proud. I’m proud of my team, proud of myself. I’m proud for John Menard, as well. A great showing at the 500. Like you said, it’s amazing to have won, come back, every year you know we are threats. That’s what it’s all about for me. It’s about always scratching at victory.This place is just amazing. There’s nothing else like it.Q.There’s so much talk about the young guys today. I’m going to include you in the old guys. Five of the top 10, 37 and older. The winner 46 years old. This is a huge thing for older drivers. Talk about the big strike for the old guys.SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s great. Helio just extended my lifetime here. I love it because I’m 37 this month, but I feel like I’m in better shape than I was when I was 22. Obviously I chose 22 for a reason here (smiling).This place is all about experience. I mean, what Helio did at the end, I want to rewatch it. There was something going on. I don’t know if you guys picked on it, but from lap 185 until he chose to go to the front, he was just playing. He was learning. There was a lot of that between me and Rossi in 2019. But I think he just took it to a whole ‘nother level. That was really cool to watch from behind, every though I was trying to join. I was trying to learn as I was coming through. Because I was like if I have a chance, I need to know what he’s going to do.To me, Helio was going to be the guy at the end. He was just biding his time. It showed the smartness, what goes behind the helmet in a race car. I think the final was just amazing. I’m very glad for the fans because they showed up en masse. It just shows that this is about experience and knowledge. I’m glad that’s the case because obviously I want to keep racing for many, many more years.Q.Can you share what you said to Helio when you hugged him?SIMON PAGENAUD: I mean, he’s a great friend. He’s such a great person, one of the best teammate I’ve ever had. I told him before the race, I did say, If I don’t win, I want you to win your fourth. There’s a reason for that. I think it’s great for our generation that we have a guy going into the four club. I call it the four club. I don’t know if that’s the right way to call it.Obviously Mario, A.J. and obviously Mears, it’s fantastic that they’ve done four. We need somebody else to join them. We need to keep breaking records. That’s what sport is about. Helio has joined them now. There’s hope for the future. I think he just gave us hope.THE MODERATOR: Helio is now the fourth oldest winner in Indianapolis 500 history, behind Al Unser, Bobby Unser and Emerson Fittipaldi.Q.Your setup for the start was good or you adjust the car and go faster?SIMON PAGENAUD: We started with too little downforce. I was struggling on the first stint to get passes done. The chassis was fantastic, but we just needed more downforce to be more aggressive.I was waiting for the pit stop to make adjustment. We made a rear wing adjustment, a front wing adjustment at the same time and the car came together. Then we kept adjusting through the race. At the end there it was loose. That’s what I needed to be good in traffic.It was definitely difficult for me when I had clean air. My car was very loose. That was the only way I could go through traffic.I think it really the fact that I started at the back really helped me at the end to go through the pack, get to the front. I could see I was more ready than the others at positions the car, knowing what to do with it. Had been aggressive for 200 laps.Great job. The whole 22 team did fantastic today.Q.What makes a guy like Helio good at a place like this?SIMON PAGENAUD: I think it’s a feel. It’s a great question. He’s got a feel for this place. Also I feel like the more you love the place, the more the place loves you back. There’s something really strange about it.All Helio thinks about is the 500. Everybody talks about his line being different than anybody else. I don’t quite understand why he’s running that line, to be honest with you. I’ve always tried to understood. No matter what year it is, what package it is, it works. He just knows what he needs. He knows what he needs from the race car. He knows when he’s going to be in the fight for the win. He keeps it to himself. He use it as energy.To me he’s been a mentor. I love the way he goes about racing, how he prepares. Also he just lives life. He just was lives life and loves it. He’s a positive person. He always believe.Q.In debriefs he can’t explain to you why he runs the line that you guys don’t like?SIMON PAGENAUD: We’ve never really talked about that. I just try to do what he does. But I’m not as comfortable doing it. He can’t run my line. I think it’s a style. At the end of the day I think it’s a style that he has that works for him. My style is different and it works for me obviously. I’m just super happy for him.Q.There’s only four four-time winners. You’ve been part of a race where one guy joined the club. When you look back on that, obviously you wanted to win the race, but what will you think of? You were part of the day history was made.SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes, like I said, it’s great to be in that generation of a driver joining that club. All I can think about right now is I want to catch Helio so bad. I’m thinking about all the years I should have won the race, ’15, ’18, but this one.Four is not too far away. If I have 10 more years, maybe it’s possible. But records are meant to be broken. I hope he comes back, try to go for five. I hope I can challenge him in the end. I just want to challenge him in the end because he’s the guy to beat now.Q.So much talk about the young guys, and an old guy won. This place is different. Maybe young guys aren’t supposed to do well here. Young guys did run well today. Did that surprise you at all?SIMON PAGENAUD: No, not at all. There’s a bit of bravery. The young guys, you could see a lot of them like Rinus, Alex, a lot of these guys what they did in qualifying shows a lot of bravery.I think Pato is the same kind of guy. They’ve really pushed the envelope and they’re pushing us, the older generation, to push the limit also further. It’s great. It’s really fun.You can see they’re very comfortable in an uncomfortable situation, which is new. I’ve never seen that before, that mindset. Also the cars are so close. All the teams, as you saw, it’s so competitive. If you do a good job, you really have a shot. That’s what happened today.Q.What influence does having the fans back have on the drivers, if any?SIMON PAGENAUD: It has a huge influence. I found so much resources that I didn’t know I had just because of the fans, the energy that you feel in the grandstand. It’s just so different here. You could see the grandstand were packed. You could see people clapping on the warmup lap. You want to do something special. It makes you feel relevant in your sport. It makes you feel like our sport is on the rise. This is the greatest race in the world.There was a ton of energy today. After the year we had last year, 2020, this just put a smile on your face.Q.I see on the stat sheet here you had 26 on-track passes, which is the most of anyone else. Obviously your car was working pretty well. Do you feel the new aero package that was brought this year did what was promised?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, absolutely. I thought it was great racing. I thought I could pass people. I thought it was a matter of having the right adjustment done during the pit stops. It was a matter of being aggressive also.I took a lot of risks today, more risks than I usually take, because it’s such an incredible race. I could smell the blood. Just wanted to get to the front.I knew the more cars I was going to pass, the better it was going to be. Certainly at the end you saw how fast the Menard car was. Yeah, just came up a little short. It hurts a little bit, I got to say.Q.Other than not having to do that emergency pit stop at the start, is there anything else you could have done differently?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes. No, I would have had a problem with Montoya if I did. Montoya was really tough on me today. Made me lose quite a bit of time.I mistimed a run on Herta. That wasn’t it. I don’t remember who it was. I mistimed a run on Hinchcliffe, I think. Montoya got me and set me back a little bit because I couldn’t pass him afterwards.Yeah, he was playing hard to get.Q.Back to what you were speaking about with Helio playing games. What exactly were you seeing? Was he seeing how his car handled with different lines on the racetrack?SIMON PAGENAUD: Alex was showing his game too early. No disrespect to him at all. He did amazing job, great race. Obviously he’s young, learning the draft and all that. It’s not easy on an oval of this size.I could see what Alex was doing. He was trying to find ways to keep Helio behind, but there were too many laps to go. Helio was just waiting in the back, keeping Pato behind, judging the timing. He knew exactly where he could get him, when he could get him. All of a sudden you saw him, he jumped at his throat like a tiger. That’s when the attack started. I believe it was 193, lap 193. I knew it was coming.I was waiting for Helio to do that because he disrupted the rhythm of the pack in front of me. That’s what helped me get Pato and maybe I could have gotten Palou quicker. It was very interesting to watch. Certainly there’s a lot to learn from that battle.Q.You were talking about Helio, what he kind of brings to the table. Are you a bit disappointed that he’d not been kept on at Penske and wasn’t part of your team? Did you feel anything missing from him not being a part of the team this year?SIMON PAGENAUD: He’s a fantastic teammate to have. He’s certainly added a lot of value to the Meyer Shank operation. Jack being a fantastic driver will benefit from having Helio by his side. I benefitting a ton from Helio running here, also from Montoya.Obviously it’s not my decision as to what teammate I’m going to have or what the future of the roster looks like at my team. I enjoyed working with him. I enjoy working with Scott. Scott obviously is learning, but he’s also doing a great job. There’s obviously no preference there. It’s not my choice. I enjoy working with my teammate. I think we’re doing a great job, as you saw. Great race cars. It is what it is at this point.Q.How are you feeling going into the second part of the season? You made no secret of the fact last year wasn’t what you wanted, wasn’t the target for the standard you hold yourself to. You’re fourth in the championship. Is that giving you confidence going into the second part of the season?SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s a silver lining. I’m not going to be honest, it hurts. All I’m thinking about is the 500-mile race I just lost. Like I said, no disrespect to Helio. I’m super happy for him and he deserved it, but I do believe I had the chance.I need to just – how do you say – mourn my loss tonight and get back into the championship rhythm. It’s obviously great to be fourth, I think that’s what I heard. That’s definitely going to help me going forward.We’ve got some great things for Detroit coming up. We know we have a strong car, street course. Excited about that. But Indy to me is the one off. I don’t really put it in the championship.Q.Today we saw a lot of drivers having problem on the pit entrance with the braking. How tough was that today?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes, it’s not easy. That’s one thing from outside, it doesn’t look like it’s difficult. Coming out of turn four at 220 miles per hour, then you have to slow down to 60 miles an hour in a hurry with a car that has very little downforce. The brakes obviously are cold. It’s very treacherous.Let me tell you, that first pit box that I had was probably the hardest for me to come into pit lane in my career here in Indy. Very treacherous day.Obviously it’s part of the racing. It’s where you have to take some risks, to jump people, during the pit sequence. Sometimes it goes wrong.Like I said, the cars are not easy to drive. We’re all on the limit at all times. Sometimes things go wrong.Q.How much momentum does that give you going into the rest of the season starting with Detroit in two weeks?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I’m excited about the championship. Like I just said, I need to digest tonight. I need to digest this amazing race. I need to digest what just happened.Yeah, I’m hurting. I’m hurting in my heart. I drove my heart out and my soul out of this race car. My team did such a great job. I need a little bit of time to digest, switch my mind over to Detroit next week. At the moment my mind is solely on Indy. I want to come back and win this again.But for sure it’s going to give us a boost in the championship. It’s always a good thing.THE MODERATOR: Thanks very much, Simon. Congratulations.SIMON PAGENAUD: Thank you.

Defending Champion Mat Williamson Hoping Extra Time in The Valley Pays Off

New $13,500 Mr. DIRT Track title awaits Super DIRTcar Series superstars at Lebanon Valley Speedway

WEST LEBANON, NY – “The Valley of Speed” – Lebanon Valley Speedway – awaits the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds for an all-new early-season Mr. DIRT Track title worth $13,500 on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. 

The legendary Kenny Tremont has dominated Series tour stops at “The Valley” the last two years; however, for the first time in decades, the #115 is on a different car. Series stars are now salivating at the chance to steal the hometown hero’s take, with him adjusting to a new team. 

Defending champion Mat Williamson, from St. Catharines, ON, is one of those hungry drivers. 

In fact, “Money Mat” has joined forces with Tremont’s former team to race a pair of Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship DIRTcar Big Block Features in the S&S Asphalt #9. In two starts, Williamson has brought home one top-five and two top 10s. 

“Typically we wouldn’t be racing at The Valley with any regularity, especially with the handicapping,” Williamson said. “You’re always starting towards the back. It makes it hard to have a good run when you are starting 15th to 16th.” 

The testing has helped Williamson prepare as a driver and share the experience with his Super DIRTcar Series Buzz Chew Racing team. 

“With the two Series races there, it worked out great that we had this opportunity at Lebanon Valley,” he noted. “There’s not a lot of places that we go to multiple times a year like Weedsport and Land of Legends. It makes you want to put an emphasis on those tracks. Lebanon Valley is weird in that you have to prepare as a driver to go that fast. I think it’ll help me early in the night to go fast out of the box and not have to make those adjustments as a driver.”

Williamson currently rides eighth in points with only one top five to his name in four points-paying Series races. 

“There’s no secret that we’ve been struggling at the beginning of the year here,” Williamson conceded. “I think that we have to get into a groove and knock off some good runs. It seems like in 2019, we could do no wrong. Even a bad run was like a fifth-place finish. Right now we would kill for that.”

While only a handful of races into the season, the competition has already proven to be one of the toughest groups of drivers yet and the early 2021 schedule has brought them to a variety of tracks.

“The Series schedule has been tough for us going to Bristol, where we didn’t know what to expect, and then Bridgeport, where we struggled,” Williamson said. “Those three races were always going to be tough for us. Now we are going to tracks that get smooth and slippery like Weedsport. Hopefully, we are in a stretch of the schedule that we can get going in.”

Not only has racing at “The Valley” helped Williamson acclimate to high speeds, but it has opened his eyes to the local DIRTcar Big Block talent on hand every Saturday night.

“There are a lot of local guys here that can win,” Williamson said. “Obviously, Kenny Tremont, Kenny Bachetti, Brian Burger, J.R. Hefner, Marc Johnson can all win, so it’s going to be tough to go in and beat that group.”

Race fans do not want to miss this one with $13,500 and a NAPA Super DIRT Week guaranteed start on the line. Go to LebanonValley.com for ticket information. 

If you can’t make it to the track, don’t forget to pick up your DIRTVision FAST PASS to catch all the action including Sportsman Modifieds and DIRTcar Pro Stocks. 

Wheatland, MO (May 29, 2021) – Hudson O’Neal recorded the biggest win of his racing career on Saturday Night at Lucas Oil Speedway. The third-generation racer picked up the $30,000 first place prize in the 29th Annual Show-Me 100 Presented by Protect the Harvest. The event was sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association. The 20-year-old Indiana native took the lead on lap 68 from series point leader Tim McCreadie and marched away to win the first crown jewel event of the 2021 season. In a competitive race that saw five different race leaders, O’Neal crossed the finish line in jubilant fashion for his third LOLMDS win of the season and the tenth of his career.  Brandon Sheppard made a late-race charge to finish second behind O’Neal. Josh Richards took the third spot with McCreadie and Shane Clanton rounding out the top five drivers. Richards started on the pole and led the first 4 laps of the race before yielding to Clanton on the fifth circuit. Clanton then held the point until four-time Show-Me 100 winner Jimmy Owens took over the lead. McCreadie took charge on lap 41 and he led until O’Neal passed him with 32 laps remaining.  O’Neal emerged from his car with tears streaming down his face after the 100-lap thriller. He joined his father, Don as the only father-son combo to win the Memorial Day Weekend tradition that began in 1993. “I looked up at the board with about 18 to go and my signal guy Eric Webber was telling me they were closing a little bit. I didn’t drive the greatest the last 20 laps by any means, but it was just good enough. I knew we had a racecar that could win this thing earlier in the weekend. My dad called and gave me some words of encouragement that we could do this. I just wanted to drive my own race. I don’t think we will leave this place tonight! We will be celebrating this for sure!” Sheppard was driving his family-owned car this weekend and finished 1.4 seconds behind O’Neal. “I pulled up alongside Hudson after the race and gave him a thumbs up, he deserved it. He’s a tough competitor. We kind of have grown up together, but he’s a little younger than I am. It’s cool seeing these young guys get big wins. The speedway crew had the racing surface awesome all weekend long. This is a fun place to race at.”   Richards came home in third and was satisfied with his finish. “Hudson did a great job tonight and our hats are off to him. He’s been really consistent this year. We had a really good weekend. We led early on and then went back a little. I thought we might run fifth, but we had a little bit of momentum at the end get back to third.”  The winner’s Roger Sellers/Double Down Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Lazydays RV, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Lucas Oil Products, 2150 Enterprises, WR1 Sim Chassis, and Midwest Sheet Metal. Completing the top ten were Mike Marlar, Ricky Thornton Jr., Jimmy Owens, Kyle Bronson, and Brian Shirley. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Tribute to Don and Billie GibsonSaturday, May 29th, 2021Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. 91P-Jason Papich[6]; 5. 25S-Chad Simpson[3]; 6. 18J-Chase Junghans[5]; 7. 99L-Scott Lewis[8]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[11]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[9]; 10. 55-Chris Kratzer[10]; 11. (DNF) 44W-David Webster[12]; 12. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker; 13. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson; 14. (DNS) 94-Austin Rettig UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner[4]; 3. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[6]; 6. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 7. 23-Cody Holtkamp[13]; 8. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 9. 50K-Kayden Clatt; 10. 7J-Jay Fields[10]; 11. (DNS) 43-Jeremy Grady; 12. (DNS) 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck; 13. (DNS) 78S-Steve Stultz; 14. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells MyRacePass B-Main #3 Finish (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 36-Logan Martin[2]; 2. 12C-Scott Crigler[1]; 3. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 4. 50-Kaeden Cornell[5]; 5. 6H-Al Humphrey[12]; 6. 1X-Aaron Marrant[10]; 7. 11R-Justin Reed[8]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 9. 15L-Payton Looney[13]; 10. (DNS) 15D-Justin Duty; 11. (DNS) 4G-Bob Gardner; 12. (DNS) 32S-Chris Simpson; 13. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall Midwest Sheet Metal Show-Me Challenge Finish (20 Laps): 1. 25S-Chad Simpson[3]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[6]; 3. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[7]; 4. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[1]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[2]; 7. 7J-Jay Fields[18]; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard[14]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[12]; 10. 50K-Kayden Clatt[15]; 11. 6H-Al Humphrey[5]; 12. 55-Chris Kratzer[17]; 13. L88-Larry Clawson[13]; 14. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 15. 23-Cody Holtkamp[10]; 16. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney; 17. (DNS) 1X-Aaron Marrant; 18. (DNS) 11R-Justin Reed

Myatt Snider and the TaxSlayer Chevrolet Team Showcase Determination and Never-Give-Up Attitude at Charlotte Motor Speedway

26th

7th

10th

“We had a really fast TaxSlayer Chevrolet to start the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway today. We were solidly in the top-10 at the end of Stage 1 when we went down a cylinder and started losing track position. We lost a lap trying to make repairs, but there was still a noticeable miss in the engine. We did the best we could with what we had, so big thanks to the TaxSlayer team for sticking with it all day. We never gave up, and that says a lot about the drive and dedication of this team. We made the best of it and gained some positions through attrition at the end. Mid-Ohio is next week, and I’m really excited about getting back to another road course.” -Myatt Snider

Team Chevy Takes Eight of the Top-10 Starting Positions CONCORD, NC (May 29, 2021) – Behind the wheel of his No. 5 MetroTech Camaro ZL1 1LE, Kyle Larson topped the leaderboard in qualifying and will lead the field to the green in the NASCAR Cup Series’ (NCS) 62nd Annual Coca-Cola 600. The Hendrick Motorsports driver turned a lap of 180.282 mph/29.953 seconds to capture his first pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his ninth-career pole in 238 starts in NASCAR’s premier series. 
The bowtie brand’s speed prevailed in qualifying with Chevrolet taking eight of the top-10 starting spots for the annual Memorial Day weekend event. Accompanying Larson on the front row is Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who clocked-in a lap of 29.960/180.240 mph to make it a Chevrolet front-row sweep. The remaining Team Chevy Top-10 qualifiers include: Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, in third; William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE in fourth; Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE in sixth; Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Patriotic Camaro ZL1 1LE, in seventh; Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Camping World Camaro ZL1 1LE in ninth; and Ross Chastain, No. 42 Advent Health Camaro ZL1 1LE, in tenth. FOX will telecast the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway live at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, May 30. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

KYLE LARSON, NO, 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Pole Winner Press Conference Transcript: CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE POLE FOR THE COCA-COLA 600. BEFORE WE GO TO QUESTIONS, GIVE US AN OVERVIEW OF YOUR QUALIFYING LAP“Yeah, it was a good one. I felt like I had more grip taking off through Turns 3 and 4 coming to the green than I did the day before. So that helped my confidence a little bit throughout the lap because I was watching and people were having to lift a little bit, especially in 3 and 4. But I felt good grip coming to the green, so I knew I’d be able to hold it wide open, no problem in turns 1 and 2. And then in 3 and 4 it was definitely easier than it was yesterday. So, it was good to get the pole. I didn’t really honestly expect to, just because Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) wasn’t too optimistic about it before we went out there. But I think my car just had enough grip and that just kind of helped me get the pole rather than super trimmed out.”
HOW WAS IT GETTING TO BRIEF WITH THE TEAM AFTER PRACTICE YESTERDAY?“Yeah, it was good. It was nice to get to listen to them talk about how their cars were handling, especially because it sounded like my three teammates had a different balance on their cars than I did. The areas where I felt like I was struggling with my balance, they were struggling with theirs also but in a different way. It was nice to kind of listen to everybody talk and go through what changes they made on their cars and things like that. We’re four really young guys and it’s a cool dynamic, definitely, to sit in the lounge and just go over things.”
WHY WASN’T CLIFF DANIELS VERY CONFIDENT IN TODAY’S LAP?“It sounded like our teammates were a little more trimmed out than we were. We thought they would have just more raw speed. So that’s why we didn’t think we would probably get the pole. But once I was out there, and I felt like I had more grip than I did yesterday, I thought well, if I can keep ti a little straighter than I was yesterday and hold it wide open a little easier, maybe I’ll have a shot at least for the front row. But yeah, it’s sometimes good to exceed expectations.”
CHARLOTTE ISN’T MAYBE YOUR BEST TRACK. BUT DO YOU FEEL LIKE MAYBE THAT COULD CHANGE THIS YEAR?“Yeah, I hope so. You’re right. Charlotte is definitely probably my worst 1.5-mile track, I feel like, in my past. But now that I’m with Hendrick Motorsports and they were really fast here last year and should have won the 600, and I think Chase (Elliott) won the next race. They led a bunch of laps. And they’ve had a long history of success here. I know their notebook is strong, and I expect that we can be really good all night long tomorrow.”
DID IT TAKE YOU MANY YEARS TO GET ADJUSTED TO A 600 MILE RACE WITH ALL YOUR BACKGROUND BEING 30, 40, AND 50-LAP FEATURES?“Not really because even a 100-mile race was a lot longer. Getting used to the K&N Series was difficult, coming from Sprint Cars. Not really, but I don’t know. It’s just a long race. I think what I had to get used to was not looking at the scoreboard and stuff under cautions and looking at what lap we were on and being super disappointed that had a long time left to go. So, my history now at the 600 is I just don’t ask what lap we’re on. I don’t look at the scoreboard. I just try to not disappoint myself when I look up there because it is such a long race. It’s just a tough event because Charlotte changes a lot, the track does, with grip. Especially starting out during the day and going into the night, it usually goes through a big transition. Maybe it won’t go through quite as much just because we’ll have cooler temperatures tomorrow and maybe that transition won’t be as bit. But it’s tough, for sure. It’s not like way tougher than a 500-mile race.”
DO YOU TRY TO EAT ANYTHING DURING THE RACE THROUGH YOUR HELMET?“I’ve only ever eaten a few snacks like a long time ago, like energy gummies and stuff. But that was only a few races and, I didn’t really feel much from it. So, I just try and stay hydrated like throughout today and then tomorrow and go to the bathroom a lot before the race because it’s a long time.”
YESTERDAY YOU WERE SAYING YOU WEREN’T A BIG FAN OF PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING, BUT HERE YOU ARE. DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR VIEW?“Yeah, I think if we were struggling this year I would want as much practice as we could get. But with us being as fast as we’ve been, I feel like it’s more opportunity for others to get better and potentially for us to get worse. We could also get better, but I think we’ve got more to lose than other people with practice. That’s why I enjoy the schedule being how it is now, and we don’t get much practice throughout this year. I think going to a new track like we will, at Nashville, in a couple of weeks, having practice there will be nice because we don’t have much data for that place. I’ve only tested there. I’ve never raced. And the last time I tested there was probably 2013. So just getting familiar with that track will be good. But coming to a place like this, where we’ve got laps and stuff, I would rather not practice. I think it just shows with our results yesterday and today, our team is just really strong and really fast right now.”
YOUR LAP TIME WAS MORE THAN A HALF-SECOND SLOWER THAN RILEY HERBST, WHO WON THE XFINITY POLE. IS THAT OKAY? OR DO YOU BELIEVE THE TOP-TIER CARS SHOULD BE FASTER THAN THE SECOND-TIER CARS?“Well second place was like four-tenths off of him. So, he was really fast. I don’t know. I don’t really know how to answer that question. I think NASCAR’s goal with this package was to kind of slow things down and keep the pack closer together. I think you guys will see in the race later on today it’ll get more strung out and it will look like a typical 1.5-mile, if you want to call it, Cup Series race from a few years ago. Where, tomorrow, with a lot higher downforce, we will be packed-up and it will probably look more exciting. I don’t know. I’m a fan of high-horsepower, low-downforce stuff, but this is an entertainment sport and I think there are a lot of time where, with this package, we produce some really exciting racing.”
HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU GOING INTO TOMORROW?“It definitely helps confidence. I feel like we were pretty fast in race trim yesterday and now getting the pole and starting up front is going to be really important. It looked like a pretty tough track to pass on last year. And too, with an added Stage, there’s more opportunity to gain points and gain another Playoff point for the end of the season. So, starting from the front is definitely important. I hope we can have a great day and tomorrow night and keep up with the race track and how it’s changing and lead the whole race is my goal.”

NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTESMAY 29, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE2nd     RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE3rd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE4th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE6th      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD CAMARO ZL1 1LE10th    ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1 1LE] TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1.        Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)2.        Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)3.        Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)4.        William Byron (Chevrolet) 5.        Kevin Harvick (Ford) FOX will telecast the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Moto Speedway live at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, May 30. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Pole Winner NINTH-CAREER POLE FOR KYLE LARSON. WELL DONE, YOUNG MAN. DID YOU FEEL LIKE IT WAS A POLE-PRODUCING RUN? “It felt really balanced. A lot of times if that’s the case, you would think it might be slow. I wasn’t sure. I honestly didn’t even know what the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) ran for a lap. It was cool when they said I was P-1. Awesome to put our No. 5 MetroTech Camaro ZL1 1LE on the front row. Really cool for Chevrolet, too. There’s a lot of Chevy’s towards the front of the field in qualifying, so that’s nice.”
“A long race tomorrow – we’ll see what we can do. I’ve never been that great in the 600, but Hendrick Motorsports has awesome equipment. I’m excited about it. Thank you to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, Chevrolet, Mr. H (Rick Hendrick). This is pretty cool to get a pole when we don’t get to qualify much this year.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 2ndIN THAT SMALL OF A MARGIN, CAN YOU FEEL WHERE IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER AT ANY POINT?“No doubt. The guys gave me a great No. 47 Cottonelle/Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE. I felt like I got to the green really good and through (turns) one and two. I knew down the back straightaway; it was all going to be up to (turns) three and four. I got a little bit tight down in three and four and it just scrubbed a little too much speed.”
“All-in-all, I’m really happy with it. It felt really good in race trim and looking forward to a long race. Starting on the front row with my buddy (Kyle Larson). I wish we could have got it, but really happy with our performance.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 3rd“Really proud of our No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team for continuing to push forward. We had a nice win last week, which is always good. I feel like we’ve been in a good place really the last two or three weeks before that. I think we’re going to be plenty good enough for 600-miles and a good pit selection, which is important. Looking forward to it.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 4thYOU ENDED UP FOURTH – GOOD STARTING SPOT. HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR QUALIFYING RUN? “Yeah, I thought honestly we did everything we would hope we would do. To start in the top-four is great pit selection. The No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE has been really fast all weekend. It’s nice to have a weekend to practice and qualify. It’s kind of cool – working with my new crew chief, Rudy (Fugle), this is kind of our first true practice session with a normal style of race track, so looking forward to that. I felt like our race car drove really well in race trim by the end of practice. I feel like we’ll have a shot to win.” 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 6thARE YOU GLAD PRACTICE IS BACK?“I like it sporadic; I don’t want it all the way back. Personally, I just like showing up and racing. It’s fun and the guys do a good job with the balance of the cars. We get a little more time at home. I think the racing has been better since we’ve gotten rid of practice. You don’t see the guys just pulling away and lapping up to the top-10, unless it’s a 750 package at Darlington. I think the racing has been great since taking practice away.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 7th“Starting top 10 is good for our Ally Chevrolet. This race is one where you have to be able to manage what you have for 600 miles. Our handling still isn’t 100% where we want it to be, but this Ally team will get it dialed in during tomorrow.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 9thYOU SHOWED SOME SPEED YESTERDAY IN PRACTICE. HOW GOOD DO YOU THINK YOUR CAR IS GOING TO BE ON SUNDAY?“I think our car is pretty good. I’m very happy with the car. We made some adjustments trying to be pro-active for Sunday. All-in-all, our car has speed and I’m very happy for that. We have to keep it up. We’ll see what tomorrow can bring.”
THIS RACE IS KNOWN FOR FIRST-TIME WINNERS. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN?“I think we can. The car has it, we just have to make the right tweaks in it. I’m very happy. I think that with a little bit of luck and the right adjustments, I think we can get a trophy tomorrow.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 15th“That’s not quite the qualifying spot we wanted for our No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, but we had good speed yesterday so I know we’ll be in a good spot for the Coca-Cola 600 tomorrow evening. Our long run speed was especially strong, so that should play into our favor over the course of the 600 miles.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 PETTY’S GARAGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 19thTHOUGHTS ON HOW YOU’VE FELT, SO FAR, THIS WEEKEND?“I’ve felt good. Obviously, lap times are a little circumstantial here with the draft and everything, but I still felt like our car had good speed and drove good. It’s good stuff for us. Looking back on the year, Las Vegas (Motor Speedway), we ran really well for a 1.5-mile track. Since then, we’ve just kind of struggled here and there. It feels good to have a car that has good tendencies.” IS IT GOOD TO HAVE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING BACK?“Yeah, I’ve missed it. Just getting out there – it’s so nice to be able to go out and make a lap in your car, and come in and adjust on it. You miss that part of it; working with your guys. I don’t know – I miss every part of it. It’s good to be doing it again.”

Wheatland, MO (May 28, 2021) – Josh Richards came from the sixth starting spot to dominate Friday Night’s Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson at Lucas Oil Speedway. Richards took the lead on lap six and went on for his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and the 33rd of his career. The race was co-sanctioned with the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association. Several cautions closed gap between Richards and the field behind him, but each time Richards pulled away. He ultimately went unchallenged for the victory. Shane Clanton started alongside Richards in row number three and finished second to the West Virginia native.  Chris Ferguson failed to turn a lap in time trials but recovered nicely from a rough start to finish third after starting in 23rd. Brandon Sheppard made a late-race charge for fourth and Kyle Bronson rounded out the top five. Brian Shirley led the first five laps until Richards passed him for the top spot. While Richards was pulling away, an entertaining battle for second was going on between Shirley and Scott Bloomquist. As Shirley and Bloomquist were racing hard for second Clanton was able to slip by both of them by the 27th circuit, right before a caution flag came out for Hudson O’Neal and Chase Junghans.   Sheppard made a daring move on the restart to climb to third place. Coming from inside of row 12, Ferguson was able to get by several drivers in the late going as he crossed the finish line in third.   “This team deserves to be up front,” said the 2017 LOLMDS [Richards] Champion in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “We feel like we have been off the last couple of years from where I really want to be. I feel like if we can get some momentum, we can build on this. I was a little concerned with those late yellows, I feel like the right rear tire kind of greased-up a little on that long run. I was a little conservative on the corner entry, but after a couple of laps I could widen out my line.” Clanton claimed second at the checkers. “I really needed the longer runs more than I needed those cautions. Those cautions at the end really hurt me. Overall, it was a good night, and it should put us in a good-starting spot tomorrow night.” Ferguson ended his night on a high note after a tough start to begin the evening. “We changed rear ends after practice. We didn’t get to qualify so we had to battle all night. We had a good hot-rod tonight. We just needed a couple of more laps.” The winner’s Clint Bowyer Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by iRacing, Rush Truck Centers, Big River Steel, Integra Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Ford Performance, and Cometic Gasket. Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Jimmy Owens, and Earl Pearson Jr. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Tribute to Don and Billie GibsonFriday, May 28th, 2021Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton Jr. / 14.931 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Scott Bloomquist / 15.371 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 6. 15D-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 8. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 9. 7JR-Ryan Johnson[8] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 6. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 7. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[7]; 9. (DNS) 7J-Jay Fields; 10. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[10]; 6. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[7]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[8]; 10. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 25S-Chad Simpson[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[9]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 8. 11R-Justin Reed[7]; 9. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 10. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[8]; 9. 44W-David Webster[9]; 10. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 5. 91P-Jason Papich[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[8] LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 5. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 7. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[10]; 9. 7J-Jay Fields[12]; 10. (DNS) 15D-Justin Duty; 11. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney; 12. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson; 13. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 8. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[8]; 9. 11R-Justin Reed[10]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[9]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 12. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 13. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp; 14. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall MyRacePass B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 91P-Jason Papich[4]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 11. 44W-David Webster[11]; 12. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 13. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (40 Laps):

Wheatland, MO (May 28, 2021) – Tim McCreadie took the lead on the first lap and blazed his way to win the Cowboy Classic on Friday Night at Lucas Oil Speedway. The current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Leader charged from his third spot at the drop of the green, taking the lead from polesitter Brandon Sheppard. He went on to lead all 45 laps to win the 8th Annual Cowboy Classic. The event, originally scheduled for Thursday Night, was co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association. Hudson O’Neal came from his sixth starting spot to finish second. He was 1.22 seconds behind McCreadie at the finish. Bobby Pierce finished in third followed by Sheppard and Josh Richards.  Sheppard challenged McCreadie early on until Pierce picked up the pace to move into second on lap nine. Pierce then closed the gap on McCreadie. He briefly managed to get within a car length of McCreadie. There was only one early caution on lap 7. While the differential between McCreadie and Pierce stayed consistent for several laps. Pierce saw O’Neal close the margin on him and take over the second spot on lap 31. O’Neal was able to make up some ground on McCreadie once he got to second, but lapped traffic kept O’Neal at bay in the waning laps. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time this year and for the 24th time in his career, McCreadie was very grateful to get the win, “I mean you are always worried about being boxed in at this place when you are going through traffic. When you see Pierce and Hudson on the board, those two don’t take laps off. I knew the best shot I had was to not wait around in traffic. I got beat a month ago by JD by being a little too cautious at the end of the race. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. This is an amazing weekend out here for Memorial Day and to have our car all dressed up by being Patriotic. If you see anybody from the military give them a thanks.” O’Neal came home in second. “The car felt pretty good out there this evening. By the time I got to second everybody was pretty much spread out. Not that I was any faster than Timmy, but I would have liked a chance to clear out the lap traffic and take a shot on him at the end. It took me about 15 laps to really get going.”   Former Show-Me 100 winner, Bobby Pierce, took third. “Now that we got third, we can push it a little harder in the race tonight. It was really a good Show-Me Point Race for us in this first one. So, we can take some more chances in the second feature. I really wanted to win that one. I was closing in on T-Mac for a while. He moved back down and pulled away from me, after that I tried some things and the next thing I knew, Hudson was underneath me and there was nothing I could do.”   The winner’s Donald and Gena Bradsher-owned Paylor Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, New Point Lighting and Design, D&E Marine, Raci8ng for Heroes, and The Aesthetic Haus. Completing the top ten were Ryan Gustin, Jimmy Owens, Frank Heckenast Jr., Stormy Scott, and Scott Bloomquist. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Cowboy ClassicFriday, May 28th, 2021 (Thursday, May 27th, Make-Up Event)Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard / 15.678 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Frank Heckenast Jr. / 16.478 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist[3]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 50-Kaeden Cornell[5]; 6. 15D-Justin Duty[8]; 7. 18J-Chase Junghans[7]; 8. 6H-Al Humphrey[9]; 9. 7J-Jay Fields[10]; 10. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[4]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 5. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[6]; 6. 91P-Jason Papich[5]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[10]; 10. 44W-David Webster[8] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[3]; 5. 00S-Jesse Stovall[5]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[7]; 7. 59-Garrett Alberson[8]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[9]; 9. 11R-Justin Reed[6] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 12C-Scott Crigler[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 7. 94-Austin Rettig[7]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[8]; 9. 43-Jeremy Grady[9]; 10. 7JR-Ryan Johnson[10] Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 18B-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[4]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[6]; 7. 36-Logan Martin[7]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[9]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[10] Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 5. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[7]; 7. 7W-Cole Wells[6]; 8. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 9. 23-Cody Holtkamp[8] LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 3. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 4. 50-Kaeden Cornell[3]; 5. 15D-Justin Duty[5]; 6. 91P-Jason Papich[6]; 7. 18J-Chase Junghans[7]; 8. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 9. 1X-Aaron Marrant[10]; 10. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 11. 7J-Jay Fields[11]; 12. 6H-Al Humphrey[9]; 13. 44W-David Webster[14]; 14. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 2. 49T-Jake Timm[1]; 3. 00S-Jesse Stovall[3]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[7]; 5. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[5]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 94-Austin Rettig[8]; 9. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 10. 11R-Justin Reed[11]; 11. 43-Jeremy Grady[12]; 12. 55-Chris Kratzer[9]; 13. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson MyRacePass B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 5. 36-Logan Martin[7]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 7. 7W-Cole Wells[8]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 9. 99L-Scott Lewis[10]; 10. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 11. 14M-Reid Millard[13]; 12. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 13. 23-Cody Holtkamp[12]

NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY POST-PRACTICE NOTES & QUOTESMAY 28, 2021

NASCAR CUP SERIES PRACTICE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: TEAM CHEVY TOP-101st      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE 2nd     ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE3rd     KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE4th      ERIK JONES, NO. 43 PETTY’S GARAGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE6th      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE8th      RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE 9th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE 
NCS TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 IN DRIVER STANDINGS: POST-PRACTICE MEDIA AVAILABILITY HIGHLIGHTS: WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE THE WHOLE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS STABLE IS FAST ONCE AGAIN. DO YOU GUYS FEEL COMFORTABLE AS AN ORGANIZATION FOR SUNDAY? “Yeah, our first run there was really loose. It was kind of normal Charlotte where you unload too free, but we got it really good by the end and we were able to kind of run the same lap times for a long time that last run. I feel like we do a good job adjusting. It’s kind of our first chance to work on the car, Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and I together, so it’s awesome to have some time to do some things and actually influence the car. I thought by the end there, we were really, really good. I need to see what the lap times were like, but the car was good. I think we’ll be in good shape; we just have to execute. It’s such a long race and the track and the car changes so much.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE TIMING OF THIS PRACTICE WITH THE TRANSITION FROM DAYLIGHT TO NIGHTTIME BEING SO IMPORTANT? “Yeah, it’s critical. I feel like everyone talks about the daytime. The daytime is usually tighter and then it frees up as the night goes on. I feel like it’s honestly just a guessing game of trying to just be decent at the beginning to have something to work with in the later part of the runs and the later part of the race. It’s really where you need to be good. You can kind of give up a little bit at the start, just to stay in the top-five or 10, and be able to have something at the end.”
YOU’RE THE CHARLOTTE KID RACING THIS WEEKEND. WHAT DOES THIS RACE WEEKEND MEAN TO YOU SPECIFICALLY?“Yeah, it’s awesome. I love being here. I feel like every time I run this race track, it feels like déjà vu. I kind of come out there and just feel like I’ve pictured this track so much with memories and watching cars go around here, so it’s very easy for me to understand it. That’s what I love about it. I love coming here every year. I love the fact that all the crew guys are at home. Everyone is a little bit more upbeat. It’s exciting and it’s cool where we are in points to have a really good garage stall and reward the guys for all their hard work.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 METROTECH CAMARO ZL1 1LE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS LOOKS GOOD AS A WHOLE. WHERE DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHERE YOU’RE AT GOING INTO THE WEEKEND?“I feel good. We just kind of stuck to our game plan; not make too many ins and outs and confuse ourselves on cycled tires and balance. So, we just did one 20-lap run and then did a mock-qualifying run. I think we have to work on our car a little bit in race trim, but I think we’re in the ballpark.”
IT’S A LONG RACE. DO YOU THINK ABOUT ANYTHING? DO YOU RELAX A LITTLE BIT? HOW DOES THAT CHANGE?“I don’t know. It’s only an extra 100 miles. I didn’t get to run it last year, so I don’t really remember what my mind is like during the race. For me, I’ve struggled in this race. So, if anything, I feel like I focus even more during this race to try and figure out what I need when it does go from daytime to night. I’ve always been really good here in the sun and then when it goes to nighttime, this place for some reason, I don’t have a good feel for it. If anything, I feel like I focus and try harder here than I do other places. Hendrick Motorsports has a really good package for this place and they’ve had a lot of success, so I think it will be different this year.”
HOW BENEFICIAL IS IT FOR YOU GUYS TO HAVE PRACTICE?“I don’t know. Honestly, with how good we are, I would rather not have practice. I feel like with where we’re at in the No. 5 car, we’ve probably got more to lose with a practice session in just getting confused, Going out there and making a run; coming in and making a change; going out there and being on cycled tires and it doesn’t drive like you’d like. And then you freak out and throw big adjustments at it. We stuck to our game plan today and just did one 20-lap run. We’ll look at our notes and see what little adjustments to make. There’s room to be gained, but more often than not, I feel like if anything with my history, we dial ourselves out in practice.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE AROUND THE OFFICE THIS WEEK WITH THE RECORD SORT OF HANGING RIGHT THERE?“Yeah, it’s an important thing to Mr. Hendrick and he’s made that very apparent over the last couple of years. I think when your leader cares about something that much, we all care about it equally as much and we want to achieve that for him. I’m glad last week went the way it did. Anytime you can put a company in the same sentence as Richard Petty Motorsports is a special thing and he should be very proud of that. There’s been a lot of people over the years that have had a lot larger contributions to the number than myself, but I look forward to what’s down the road. I hope we can knock the record down for him and hopefully keep it for a long time.”
INAUDIBLE “Yeah, I think it’d be great. It’s everyone’s back yard here for almost all the teams. But, for sure. I think it’s kind of the same as any race win. They’re all too hard to get to pick and choose when and where and I think the boss knows that as well as anybody. If we can knock down that barrier as a company, I think we’d be happy to do it wherever.”
WITH YOUR HISTORY WITH TREY (POOLE, SPOTTER) RACING LEGEND CARS, DOES THAT MAKE IT FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH HIM COMING IN AS YOUR SPOTTER?“Yeah, he’s been around our team for a long time. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) likes how he goes about spotting in the road course races that he’s done. Having some history racing I think is a good thing in a spotter to have. It’s just different being in the car versus just watching, so he has some experience. He’s been watching this stuff forever, so he knows how it works. Like I said before, he knows what’s important and what’s not. Obviously, he knows me very well. He just fits into our group and he knows everybody. That goes a long way when you’re trying to fill a role quickly like that.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES105TH INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGEINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY FINAL PRACTICE RECAPMAY 28, 2021 Team Chevy drivers finished final practice for Indy 500with strong runs INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 28, 2021
All 16 Chevy powered drivers completed the 1:45 hour final practice (cut 15 minutes short by weather) without incident and are ready to roll in Sunday’s 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge..
Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menard’s Team Penske Chevrolet, was the fastest of the Bowtie Brigade setting the second quickest lap of the session at 227.157 mph.
Teammate Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Cheveolet was third on the charts at 226.856 mph followed by Conor Daly, No. 47 US Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet with a speed of 226.399 mph.
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, was sixth, with rookie teammate Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet in seventh. Sage Karam, No. 24 DRR-AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet in 10th.
Remainder of the Team Chevy drivers finished Carb Day as follows:11.Pato O’Ward. No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet12.Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet14.Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet16.Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet17.JR Hildebrand, No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet24.Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet25.Dalton Kellett, No. 4 KITS.com/K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet30.Ed Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet31.Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet32.Simona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro/Paretta Autosport Chevrolet
NBC will telecast the 200-lap race at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 30. Former race car driver Danica Patrick will lead the field to the green flag in the 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible. The 2021 race marks the 32nd time for Chevrolet to pace dating to 1948, and the 18th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car.Will Power and Conor Daly Press Conference Transcript
THE MODERATOR: Looking at low 70s and sunny on Sunday.WILL POWER: I saw low 60s. The most recent.THE MODERATOR: Depends who you talk to.We’ll take questions.Q.Will, much better day for Penske today. Is this what you knew all along, once you were out of qualifying trim you would be much better?WILL POWER: We have been. Low boost race trim we’ve been very good all the time. It’s just a bit confusing why we’re not fast in the qualifying high boost level.Yes, haven’t really ventured far from our original setup from the last couple weeks. Yeah, in a good window, got a new engine obviously. It’s probably a little bit better. Felt good, felt good. It’s just going to be a matter of catching a good yellow or if it’s cool you can pass. Hoping for a cooler day. We’ll see what happens.Q.Roger said this morning, the question was are the cars going to be okay on Sunday, and he said our cars are always good on Sunday. Is that accurate?WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, based on practice, yes. We’ve had pretty good cars. Even last year in the race, they were reasonable. Obviously starting way back there just makes it super hard.Q.You each have said two different things. You said you hope it’s cool on Sunday, Scott hopes it’s warmer. Some people actually called today racing, the racing was amazing today. What is the better show for the fans?WILL POWER: Cooler. Q.Selfishly you want it warmer?WILL POWER: It’s pretty tough back there. Either way…Q.Conor, what time do you and Ferrucci throw down so we’re all there?CONOR DALY: I don’t really care. I’m happy to do so. Just kind of crazy. It was a bit ridiculous. I don’t really mind. It was on track, he hits the curb in turn two, nearly crash, but also decides to drive me all the way into the grass.WILL POWER: Who is that?CONOR DALY: Santino. Earlier on when I passed him, the guy tries to, like, I don’t know. I was like I thought this is Carb Day. I get it, but I thought we were practicing. I didn’t know we were sacrificing our vehicles for a prize today.Q.Conor, do you feel you’ve had a good two weeks?CONOR DALY: We were until we went out today. Completely different. It’s actually very confusing.WILL POWER: Loose?CONOR DALY: I won’t tell you.WILL POWER: It was loose for me. Massive push.CONOR DALY: We were pretty good. I think it was just a much more difficult science project today. I think when you work towards the days getting hotter and hotter, we thought we made the right moves. I was very happy Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon I was like let’s go racing right now. Now I want another four days of practice.WILL POWER: How much practice we have, engineers still want to try stuff. It’s crazy.CONOR DALY: Tough, for sure. I think we made some progress towards the end. We’re not bad, but I didn’t feel as sporty as before. We’ll have to put our thinking caps on, go through our notes.Q.Obviously Sunday is going to be a little sunnier, probably a little warmer. Do you experiment with practice today for setups for Sunday or for the conditions you ran in today?WILL POWER: You try to run the downforce level that you’d run on Sunday. The track temp will certainly spread things out. If you have a clear day, it’s such a cool track temp today, everything works together, also keeps the tires under you. Track temp will certainly change the game, even if it was a cool temperature like this.Q.I notice the wind direction is coming out of the north. Sunday looks the same. Anything play a factor that you can to over to Sunday?WILL POWER: Different every day, honestly.CONOR DALY: It’s been different. I think the wind is still very powerful. Something better about each corner every day.WILL POWER: Two was awesome today. You can just be hooked up. Four sucked. That could just change. If the wind changes 180, it will be the opposite so… That’s this place. You never work it out.Q.Will, from your position, are you going to have to be like a Tasmanian devil to get up to the front?WILL POWER: No, obviously you can’t be too conservative but you can’t be too aggressive either. You don’t want to end up in the wall. Just a methodical day. Good pit stop sequences, maybe fish for a lucky yellow, strategy call like that.Yeah, you can’t force it around this place. You just can’t. You got to get a good balance and get in that rhythm. It’s very difficult to tell if you can pass 32 cars back. Like last year at the start, qualified 24th or something. Yeah, you couldn’t do much at all. It’s a bit more downforce this year, I’m hoping that you can, if you got a bit better car, get through a few cars.Starts and restarts will matter, and good pit stops.Q.Will, the broadcast picked up you talking some talk about you discussing Simona’s steering trace during qualifying, being quite impressed by what you’ve seen. Can you tell us a bit more about that, if that was the case?WILL POWER: Yeah, no, she held onto it and didn’t lift. More impressive than what I did, I reckon. She didn’t hit the wall, but she was catching it multiple times a lap.Yeah, she certainly wasn’t scared of the car, put it that way. We all looked at her, went, Yeah, man. That’s hanging it out. She didn’t lift. That’s pretty good.Q.Will, your race pace today seemed good. Is that a confidence booster for Sunday?WILL POWER: Yeah, we actually improved the car by the end there. Car’s really nice. Yeah, it would just be a matter of circumstance and also performance to make it happen, to get to the front. It’s not impossible.Last year where I started, I felt like we didn’t have a very car at all. We could have finished sixth if I didn’t go long in the last pit stop. You can move forward, no question, just through other people’s mistakes and doing a solid day.Q.Conor, definitely hasn’t been the start to the year that any driver wouldn’t want from the Texas accident, Truck Series start, the accident. When it comes to readjusting for this type of month, what this track means to everybody, what has it been like this year with that stuff behind you? What’s the mindset been like?CONOR DALY: You can’t change the past, you can’t predict the future. You just got to be the best you can be every day.That stuff, I’ve been through a lot of that stuff before, wild and crazy times. As do most drivers. I think we’ve had an incredible couple weeks so far. Even from qualifying at Indy GP. We had great progress with the car there, which I’m excited to use at Detroit, as well.Yeah, I mean, obviously it would be fantastic to just have a nice Sunday, you know what I mean? Something where we can go to the end, Things went okay today. We’ll try to avoid any type of chaos that goes on, but also we want to be patiently aggressive, be there at the end, but also take advantage of every possible start and restart.You’re going to be putting your life on the line those starts and restarts how this is going. You better be ready to find some new areas of the track that you’ve never been to before.Q.All right. Last year by leading 111 laps, you went from ninth to third in all time laps led. I don’t know if you knew that. During the course of the race, you passed Vukovic, Parnelli Jones, Foyt and Mario to run third. I think this year if it’s 82 laps that you lead, you would pass Ralph De Palma and Al Unser. You could very easily leave here on Sunday as the all-time lap leader. I think that is an astonishing accomplishment.WILL POWER: That’s big.CONOR DALY: Put that on a T-shirt (laughter).THE MODERATOR: We’ll let you  guys go.

DIRTcar Late Model Stars Prepare for Two Dirt Late Model Dreams at EldoraSheppard, Pierce speak on four-straight days of action with fans back in the grandstands ROSSBURG, OH – May 28, 2021 – The return of the world’s richest annual Dirt Late Model race is almost here. The 26th & 27th running of the Dirt Late Model Dream hits Eldora Speedway in just under two weeks’ time – Wed-Sat, June 9-12. The 26th (2020) Dream, postponed to 2021 due to health restrictions from the pandemic last June, will be run Friday and Saturday night after the 27th (2021) Dream, contested on Wednesday and Thursday. An incredible $293,000 in first-place money is up for grabs across each of the four days. The two qualifying nights on Wednesday and Friday will host twin 25-lap, $10,000-to-win Features to help set the Heat Race lineups for the 100-lap, $127,000 and $126,000-to-win finales on Thursday and Saturday. With the addition of the fourth day to this year’s mega version of the famed event, the stakes and the pressure on the drivers and crews will also get a boost. Defending Dream champion Brandon Sheppard, of New Berlin, IL, and the Rocket1 Racing crew will return to the half-mile this year in search of their second Dream title, and have stuck to their guns in dealing with defending the many titles they’ve garnered over the past decade. “It’s why we’re here night-in and night-out, to try and win,” Sheppard said. “If you let the pressure get to you there, you’re just going to fold, so you’ve just gotta let it be another race and try to win.” A fourth night of competition also means another night of wear-and-tear on equipment. 2016 World 100 winner Bobby Pierce has taken on some new additions to his crew this year but is confident in their abilities as a team to keep the car in shape. “I know I’m going to be prepared for it,” Pierce said. “You’ve just got to keep up with your equipment. Every day you’re racing, it’s going to be hard, just making sure everything’s top-notch.” Being that the event concludes just four days before the start of the 2021 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model tour, of which Pierce is a three-time champion, the double Dream will likely be a test to see how well prepared he and his new team are to tackle a busy summer. “It’s kind of a deal like Summer Nationals. You’re racing every single day it seems like, and you might get behind on checking stuff. Really, your crew help’s gotta be good on those long stretches,” he said. For the first time in over a year, Eldora is welcoming spectators back into the grandstands for its annual racing spectacles. Pierce, the 24-year-old from Oakwood, IL, first captured the eyes of the larger motorsports world at Eldora with his runner-up finish in the 2015 Dirt Derby with the NASCAR Truck Series, and has held their attention ever since. Historically speaking, the three-time DIRTcar Late Model national champion has always been a head-turner when it comes to he and The Big E. His flashy, special car designs that only come out for his appearances at Eldora always coincide with a new t-shirt design, which will surely be a high seller on merchandise row now that the fans are back in the seats. “So many people go to the Dream and the World [100] and some of those big races, but especially at Eldora. Heck, there’s people that only go to one race a year and go to Eldora. For sure, we missed out on some opportunities there [last year], so it’s gonna be nice getting the fans back and just getting that energy back at the whole racetrack,” Pierce said. Sheppard echoes the same sentiment, as it just wouldn’t be the same for him to attempt a Dream repeat without a packed house to witness the action. “It’s definitely really electric whenever the fans are there, getting loud on Saturday night,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be a lot better now that the fans are back. Hopefully, we don’t ever have to do [without fans] again, because it felt empty there without the fans, for sure.” Despite all of the anticipation and excitement lost in last year’s Dream (and World 100) postponements, the Eldora Speedway staff is following through on their commitment to provide great racing entertainment to its fans and an opportunity for its drivers to capture some big winnings by running two of its biggest Late Model events in back-to-back editions. Needless to say, the drivers and teams are thankful. “Eldora’s really sticking their neck out for us in doing that and allowing us to be able to race for that much money,” Sheppard said. “It’s really cool of them to do that.” “A lot of money on the line… compared to when they had the million dollars to win, that’s the craziest weekend ever. Two races for [$126,000 and] $127,000-to-win in a matter of four days, that’s nuts,” Pierce said. Don’t miss the 26th and 27th runnings of the Dirt Late Model Dream in double back-to-back nights – June 9-12 at Eldora Speedway. Find live coverage and updates throughout the week on all of DIRTcar’s social media channels, as well as DIRTcar.com.

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

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES105TH INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGEINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY ADVANCERACEDAY MAY 30, 2021 Team Chevy drivers prepped, ready for the 105th Indianapolis 500Front-row starter Rinus VeeKay leads 16 Chevrolet entries into 200-lap battle DETROIT (May 28, 2021) – Rinus VeeKay will have a front-row seat for the start of the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. What VeeKay, and 15 other Team Chevy drivers, want most is an unobstructed view of the twin checkered flags after 200 laps on Sunday, May 30.
VeeKay, who qualified third in the No. 21 Bitcoin Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, will be the youngest front-row starter in Indianapolis 500 history at 20 years, 261 days old.
“Very grateful to the team for all the sleepless nights, all the hard work. Definitely also big kudos to Chevy for giving me the great power to bring me to the front row,” said VeeKay, who earlier this month claimed his initial NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory by outdueling the field on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. “I was the fastest teenager in 500 history last year. Now I’m the youngest front row. That’s pretty cool. I think we can definitely go for a 500 win from here.”
Ed Carpenter Racing claimed a front-row spot for the seventh time in nine years. Teammate and team principal Ed Carpenter, a three-time Indy 500 pole winner, qualified fourth in the No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet. Carpenter, who has qualified in the top 10 the past nine years, has a best finish of second in 2018.
“Chevy has been a great partner; they give us so many tools and help us thrive,” said Carpenter, whose team has used Chevrolet power since the Bowtie brand returned to engine manufacturer competition in 2012. “At the end of the day, we’re happy with where we’re starting the Indy 500.”
The 16 entries powered by Chevrolet’s 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 engine include three Indy 500 winners. In 2019, Simon Pagenaud transferred his pole start to the biggest victory of his career.
“We had an incredible package in ’19, and Chevy power really helped us tremendously all month. We knew we had a shot,” said Pagenaud, who drives the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. “I think this year we’re close to being where we were in ’19, but I think the whole field is a lot closer. I can’t control the others. I can only control myself and my team, and I think we’re doing everything we can to be in the same spot.”
Of noteVeeKay, of The Netherlands, holds the distinction of the youngest front-row qualifier. The previous record was 21 years, 144 days old by Carlos Munoz in 2013. A.J. Foyt IV is the youngest driver to start the Indianapolis 500. His 19th birthday was on race day in 2003.
Juan Palo Montoya, driving the No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP entry, and Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet are the other Team Chevy Indianapolis 500 winner competing this year. Montoya won in 2000 (powered by GM brand Oldsmobile) and 2015 (with Chevrolet). Power won in 2018 in a Chevrolet.
Team owner Roger Penske, who has four Chevrolet entries in the 33-car field, has 18 Indianapolis 500 victories. The first came in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue and the most recent in 2019 with Pagenaud.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of A.J. Foyt’s first victory in the Indy 500. He also won in 1964, 1967 and 1977 as a driver, and 1999 as a team owner. A.J. Foyt Racing has three Chevrolet entries in the race. Rick Mears and Al Unser are the only other four-time winners.
Simona De Silvestro brings an historic team to the grid with her and team owner Beth Paretta. Paretta Autosport is the only female-owned and female forward team in the field.  Starting 33^rd, the Swiss-born driver will make her sixth Indy 500 start.
Chevrolet has registered 11 Indianapolis 500 victories:1988            Rick Mears1989            Emerson Fittipaldi1990            Arie Luyendyk1991            Rick Mears1992            Al Unser Jr.1993            Emerson Fittipaldi2002            Helio Castroneves2013           Tony Kanaan2015           Juan Pablo Montoya2018            Will Power2019            Simon PagenaudGeneral Motors brand Oldsmobile has powered five winners:1997             Arie Luyendyk1998             Eddie Cheever1999             Kenny Brack2000             Juan Pablo Montoya2001             Helio CastronevesTune inNBC will telecast the 200-lap race at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 30. Former race car driver Danica Patrick will lead the field to the green flag in the 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible. The 2021 race marks the 32nd time for Chevrolet to pace dating to 1948, and the 18th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car.TEAM CHEVY STARTING LINEUP WITH QUALIFYING SPEED:AJ Foyt Racing22. JR Hildebrand, No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing (229.980 mph)27. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing (229.744)30. Dalton Kellett, No. 4 KITS.com/K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing (228.323)Arrow McLaren SP12. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP (230.864)14. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP (230.744)24. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP (229.891)Carlin29. Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin (229.417)Dreyer & Reinbold Racing31. Sage Karam, No. 24 DRR-AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (229.156)Ed Carpenter Racing3. Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing (231.511)4. Ed Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Ed Carpenter Racing (231.504)19. Conor Daly, No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing (230.427)Paretta Autosport33. Simona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro/Paretta Autosport (228.333)Team Penske17. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske (230.557)21. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske (230.071)26. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske (229.778)32. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske (228.876)

COMPETITOR INFO: Racer’s Information Guides Released Plus New Race at Tri-City on July 23Tri-City Replaces Lake Ozark with Late Models and UMP Modifieds, making each tour 36 races CONCORD, NC – May 28, 2021 – With the release of the competitor guides for both the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals today comes a few headline changes to the schedule and format. The Summer Nationals Late Model-only event at Lake Ozark Speedway, originally scheduled for July 23, has been canceled and replaced by a second visit to Tri-City Speedway on the same date. Both the Late Models and Modifieds will be in attendance, bringing the total number of Summit Modified races to an even 36 to match their Late Model counterpart. $10,000 will be awarded to the Late Model Feature winner, while the Summit Modified Feature winner will pocket the new minimum winner’s share of $1,500. Additionally, all Summit Modified drivers will now count their best 12 finishes over the 36 scheduled races – a four-race increase from the eight best races that were taken in previous years. All of this information and other competition-specific details such as contingency programs, track contacts and addresses, mileage, race formats and other rules/procedures can be found in the individual competitor guides – linked below or at DIRTcarSummerNationals.com and ModifiedNationals.com. SUMMER NATIONALS COMPETITOR GUIDE SUMMIT MODIFIED COMPETITOR GUIDE

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.

Madden’s consistency sets him up for title run “Smokey” has won the last three races; four total this season CONCORD, NC – May 28, 2021 – When you look at the top of the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models standings, there’s no surprise. Three-time defending champion Brandon Sheppard is #1 – literally. Second place, however, might raise an eyebrow.Not because of the driver. Because of his starts and proximity to Sheppard. Chris Madden has risen to second in points – 26 points behind the reigning champion, even with missing two races – due to a consistent string of good finishes since joining the Series full-time in March.  Recently, “Smokey’s” won three Morton Buildings Features in a row, including a weekend sweep at Port Royal Speedway. The Gray Court, SC driver has four wins this season, more than any other driver. He also has more top-fives than anyone else (8) and is tied with Sheppard for the most top-10s (13). Madden’s success comes after switching to a Rocket chassis. He’s been pleased with the team’s results, so far.  “I’m very proud of our team and very proud of the help and the feedback we’ve gotten through [Mark Richards, who owns Sheppard’s car],” Madden said. Despite winning 32 Morton Buildings Features in his career, the veteran is still going through a learning curve this season. “I’ve been to a lot of these [tracks], but I’ve never been to them in a [Rocket Chassis] before,” Madden said. “To get a basic starting point at some places has been very helpful, and there’s a small group of guys on this tour that’ve been very helpful.”Even with all the help he’s getting from Richards and his competitors, one of the keys to his success has been his crew. “Without having a great team, and a great group of guys I bring with me, we couldn’t do it,” Madden said. “A lot of the thanks and appreciation needs to go to my guys as much as to me. Ricky and Steven do a heck of a job, and they’re great employees and great workers.” Madden’s success in 2021 started before joining the World of Outlaws full-time. Over the winter, he won his second consecutive Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series championship.But “Smokey” knows running with the World of Outlaws is a whole different animal. “Daytime racing in the South is totally different than what we’re doing out here,” Madden said. “But obviously seat time is important. I don’t care when it is or where it is, so seat time in the car definitely helped.” Madden may be second in points, but his goal is to stay consistent through the end of the year. He knows if he stays on the path, more wins will come. “You’ll get wins if you’re consistent and competitive,” Madden said. “Right now, I feel like we have been, and we’ve got a few wins and have been consistent. My goal is to just stay consistent with it and keep doing what we’re doing.” “If I can keep myself happy and my guys happy, it’ll all work out in the end.” Madden will try to keep his momentum rolling when The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet make their sole Indiana swing of the year. The Series stops at Circle City Raceway Friday, June 4, and Plymouth Speedway Saturday, June 5. If you can’t make it either night, watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.

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

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESINDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYMEDIA DAY – TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS GROUP TWOMAY 27, 2021
SELECTED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM THE SEVEN TEAM CHEVY INDYCAR DRIVERS IN GROUP THREE OF MEDIA DAY ROTATION:
 SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 16 ROCKET PRO/PARETTA AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:HOW HAS THE MONTH OF MAY GONE FOR YOU AND PARETTA AUTOSPORT?“It’s good to be back. We’ve had a lot of interesting scenarios and definitely a bit of interesting qualifying, and that just show what IMS can do to you. Super happy to be back in the show and be racing this weekend.”HOW STRESSFUL WAS SUNDAY FOR YOU?“It was stressful in the sense because you knew you had just that one shot; you had to get it done. If you crash or you lift, you’re not going to make the race, so that was a bit stressful. The team put so much work into it and me as well coming back after six years I really wanted to be in the field. That was definitely a bit of pressure, but happy the run went OK, and we made the show.”WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SUNDAY STARTING FROM THE 33RD STARTING POSITION?“We don’t have pressure from behind, so moving forward is what we need to do. I think we have a really strong race car and I’m excited about it. I think the team is amazing, they are really on top of it with the pit stops as well. It’s a long race and we just need to execute all the things we can control and hopefully and luck is on our side and we can finish strong.”DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPECTATIONS?“I think the first thing is we need to finish. I think we have the potential to be in the top 10 and that’s what we’re aiming for. You want to win this race and maybe things fall our way. We have our work cut out for us, but we’ll try to execute the best we can and be there at the end. I’m confident with the race car I have and I’m looking forward to Sunday.”PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:HOW HAS THE MONTH GONE FOR YOU?“I thought we had a car to get into the Fast Nine, but we didn’t get a second turn to go. We’re starting on the outside of Row 4. Not a bad place to start. I feel like my race car has been solid. My Chevy has been good to me so far. I think we’ve been doing a good job with what we have. I just want to start the race already.”HOW SIMILAR ARE THE THREE CARS AT ARROW MCLAREN SP?“Felix (Rosenqvist) and I are similar, and Juan Pablo (Montoya) is completely different, and he went his own way. I feel strong in the race car. We’ll be in a good place.”HYPOTEHTICALLY, YOU WIN THE 500. WHERE DOES THE FIRST MILLION DOLLARS GO?“I’d probably buy myself something as a present. Not quite sure. Whenever I get to having that problem, I will choose.”
FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:HOW HAVE THINGS PROGRESSES THIS MONTH FOR YOU AND THE NO. 7 TEAM?“It’s been a lot calmer than my previous ones, I think. I’ve learned how to handle the month a little bit to my benefit, take it one day at a time and not get too stressed about it. It doesn’t help you to think that it’s the biggest race in the world. You do what you can.”WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE HAVING JUAN PABLO (MONTOYA) WORKING WITH YOU THIS MONTH?“It’s been fun. He cracks me up. Having him and Pato (O’Ward) as my teammates, it’s definitely not a quiet time at any point. It makes the days pass faster. Technically, Juan Pablo is very experienced. He knows what he wants from the car and will say it. It’s a good learning experience for me and Pato as well. You can always make the car better and that’s Juan’s mentality for the whole month. And he’s been looking good out there, and that pushes us as well. We obviously want to beat him on track, but we’re working very good together.”HOW HAS JUAN BEING WITH THE TEAM HELP YOU FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON?“He did the GP with us, which was helpful because our performance on the road courses as a team has been up and down, a bit hit and miss. There’s just no testing for us and when we try something it’s a big risk. To have Juan Pablo there and give his feedback with his experience that really lined us up in a good direction. I’m not the one to decide, but he’d be welcome to join us for the whole season.”HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOUR MIND FOR SUNDAY?“I certainly haven’t been topping any practice times, but I think where you place is practice is kind of overrated. I think all three of us have been good in traffic and have bene working hard on our car in traffic. I think as a team we’re up there with others. We’re focusing on ourselves. If I’ve been in the shadows on the time sheet, I think that’s a good thing because we can surprise a few people on Sunday. That’s when it all counts.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 47 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR FIGHTER JET FOR SUNDAY?“I feel great and the car is incredible. This is probably the most confident I’ve been before the race. I’ve had a great time. The car has been enjoyable to drive. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s been kind of the moto we’ve been going with, but we’ve always made a couple of changes that we think can help.”WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY?“We’re going forward. We have an incredible race car. If it’s cold, I’ll feel even better. I said at the beginning of practice week that if it’s cold for the race we’re going to have a pretty serious machine. Who knows what will happen on Sunday, but we just have to get through there with no mistakes and be there for the last 20 laps.”YOU SEEM VERY RELAXED.“I just try to be me, and I’ve had a really great time these last two weeks and enjoy being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and having a great car. I think when you feel like you have a really good car underneath you, everything in life seems to be much happier. It’s amazing how car performance leads to happier life. It’s been fun.”LAST LAP, DO YOU WANT TO BE FIRST OR SECOND OR THIRD?“I’d say second for us. Our car tows up really well. If there’s anyone in front of me, I think we have the ability to get that magic run out of Turn Four that you want, that we’ve seen happen before. I think that we have an incredibly efficient car when it’s in the draft. Second place out of Turn Four and let’s have a drag race to the line.”
DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS/AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:DO YOU HAVE ANY PERSONAL EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY?“The main thing for me Sunday is focusing corner by corner, lap by lap; focusing on driving. We all want to win but it doesn’t help me to focus on that. You have to drive the race.” IT’S YOUR SECOND 500, HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?“It’s so great to be here at IMS and have the fans back. I’ve been focusing on the race car and we had quite the drama in qualifying sitting on that bump spot in 30th but we got through. I’m looking forward to being on track on Sunday.”WORKING WITH SEBASTIEN (BOURDAIS) AND JR (HILDEBRAND) THIS MONTH, WHAT HAS THAT BEEN LIKE?“It’s been great. They both have been extremely helpful to me as kind of the more green member of the team. They take the time to sit down and go over stuff – more the race running. That’s been really helpful and talking about position in the car.”LARRY FOYT SAID HE’S BEEN IMPRESSED WITH HOW YOU ARE GETTING ON IN YOUR SECOND SEASON. WHAT DO YOU PUT THAT DOWN TO?“I think part of that is experience, not having to do everything for the first time on the race weekend. The other part is I’ve learned from the lessons of last year and the stuff that we worked on in the offseason and trying to keep working on technique and try to keep developing the car. It’s been a fun process.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 86 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:HOW HAS IT BEEN JOINING THE TEAM THIS MONTH?“It’s been good; busy preparing for the race. I think we’ve got a pretty good race car, so we’ll see what it brings.”WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT SUNDAY FOR THE 86 CAR?“I have no idea. I really don’t know. I do have a pretty good car; pretty happy and comfortable. We’ve been making strides all week, making it better every time we’ve been out. We’ve done everything we need to do, and now it’s a matter of how good we are in the race, how good Chevy is, and we’ll see where we stand.”WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD RESULT FOR YOU SUNDAY?“You come here and try to do the best possible. The strategy might not go your way and you’ll have a horrible result, or things go your way, and you have an amazing day. It’s really tough to know this is the way we need to do it.”WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH PATO (O’WARD) AND FELIX (ROSENQVIST) THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?“It’s been good, we have a good relationship. We’ve had a lot of fun.”HOW WILL THE AERO PACKAGE FOR MORE PASSING BE OFFSET BY HOW TIGHT THE FIELD IS?“From my point of view, the thing that’s going to help the most is the cooler temperatures on Sunday. At the end of the car, the driver who does the best job of handling the car will look a lot better. That’s been my experience here.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:HOW DOES GOING OFF THE FRONT ROW GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE?“I’ve very excited to go out on Sunday and go flying. Very good confidence racing from the front row, and we have a potential race-winning car. Ed (Carpenter), too, and Conor (Daly). I think we can work as a team and hopefully get that first 500 win for the team. You just never know how the 500 is going to be anyway.”YOU SAID AFTER QUALIFYING IN THE FAST NINE THAT THE CAR WAS ON THE LIMIT. CAN YOU TAME IT FOR THE RACE?“Our car was very sketchy in qualifying, but sketchy is fast around here. We have a very good race car and it’s going to be different this weekend with the colder temperatures. Our car is very good and the same for Ed and Conor.”HOW WILL THE AERO PACKAGE FOR MORE PASSING BE OFFSET BY HOW TIGHT THE FIELD IS?“I think the cars are a lot better following with the new aerodynamic package and the new features. The field is very tight and it’s hard to judge. It’s going to be a good race and I expect much passing. The cooler temperatures will be way easier to follow, too.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESINDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYMEDIA DAY – TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS GROUP TWOMAY 27, 2021
SELECTED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM THE FOUR TEAM CHEVY INDYCAR DRIVERS IN GROUP ONE OF MEDIA DAY ROTATION: JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 1 ABC SUPPLY/AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLETHOW HAS THE MONTH OF MAY BEEN GOING FOR YOU AND HAVING TONY STEWART AS A FILL ENTRY?“It’s been very cool. A lot of people have asked me. I’m just trying to feed off the energy of it. It’s been great. The team has done an awesome job so far. Heading into qualifying just to our race trim through the week, we had a pretty good feeling for what we were looking for early in the week and couldn’t quite find it. We were trying a lot of different stuff. By the end of the day on Thursday, we had made some really significant gains on how the car was feeling in traffic. And then, rolled into Friday. You’re never really sure what to expect. But as far as being on our side of the fence, we felt like we found some speed and ended up being the fastest car on the team on Saturday and had a really strong qualifying run from our perspective from what we felt like in that short period of time we could work on and extract. I think a lot of that, honestly, is due to the work just over the week that the crew has been doing on the cars. A huge credit to them to find a little extra speed for us and I’m feeling good heading into race day.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PENNZOIL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLETHOW IS THE MONTH MAY GOING FOR YOU?“I’m enjoying it. It’s been a really interesting month. You’re once an IMS rookie and I’m really taking it in my stride. I enjoy every moment. It’s been an up and down month, obviously, for me. As a team, we’re a little bit underwhelmed with that qualifying speed. But I think in our race trim and the cooler temperatures will certainly help us move forward.” DID YOU EVERTHINK YOU’D BE HERE AT A PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY FOR THE INDY 500?“Absolutely not. I think I always had the ambition and the want to come over to America and race. But I thought a touring car race was probably where it was going to be if I was able to achieve anything because that’s what I’ve known for my whole time. I’ve really enjoyed my time at INDYCAR so far and thankful for the opportunity. It’s so fresh and new for me. Learning a car that’s completely different from what I’ve ever driven before. I’m really enjoying the freshness and the challenge and comradery. My first Indy 500 means everything that I could have ever thought of. I’m really excited for what’s ahead and really don’t know what to think of what it’s going to be like on race day morning for me.” SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 14 ROKIT/AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLETHOW HAS THE MONTH OF MAY BEEN GOING FOR YOU?“The month of May has been interesting. We struggled a little bit early on to find some stuff in traffic that we were comfortable with. And then you transition to qualifying trim and we didn’t do the best job, I don’t think. We probably got a little bit too cautious. If we had done everything right, I think we could have probably been in the top-20. We were too careful. The gaps between the cars made it that the opportunity was pretty unforgiving. When you are not exactly on the money, you are losing quite a few positions. What is done is done. I’m pretty comfortable with what we found Sunday late afternoon with the race car and how we looked. I’m looking forward to it and a better race day.” WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE BACK AT INDIANAPOLIS WITH FANS IN ATTENDANCE?“It’s like the Indy 500 but not quite, though, because I think 130,000 for the 500 is still going to feel pretty empty, but after everything we’ve been through over the last year or so it’s definitely a step in the right direction and I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to normal.” ON THE EMOTIONS OF THE TEAM AFTER LAST CHANCE QUALIFYING“It’s very tough for the team. Everybody works very hard, and you have four cars in the team and then one that just doesn’t have speed. The guys worked extra hard to try to put that car in the show and it didn’t make a difference. It’s heart-breaking Charlie (Kimball) is probably one of the drivers that values the 500 the most and has the most appreciation and respect for the place. He missed the show through no fault of his own just because the car isn’t quick enough is a sad one. But it’s super unforgiving. I’m kind of glad it wasn’t my car, but yes, it’s tough to witness it.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLETHOW HAS MEDIA DAY GONE FOR YOU AND WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY?“Media Day has gone fine. Expectations, obviously we had some good strategy go our way. I think we have a really good car in traffic, I do. I’ve said that from the beginning. Qualifying didn’t go as we expected, but I was really happy to get in the race. It’s been positive. It really has. We executed on Sunday and the team is in good spirits. I think it’s really hard to judge how this race is going to play out; but we need to make up a lot of positions the whole time.” HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH FRUSTRATIONS OR SETBACKS OR THINGS YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING? IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU DO TO KIND OF BOOST TEAM MORALE?“Actually, we had a dinner last night and talked about race plans, just for my crew. I have been really happy. It’s funny. I’ve been more positive, and happy than I am when I qualify on the front row. It actually was a win for us in getting it right. It just kind of put things into perspective. It turned into a positive, believe it or not.”