• The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series makes its fifth stop of the 2021 season at Houston Raceway Park for the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil May 21-23
• This weekend’s Houston race is the first of five NHRA national events with Mopar and Dodge//SRT title sponsorship support in 2021
• Reigning Funny Car World Champ Matt Hagan comes to Houston fourth in points, one spot ahead of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Ron Capps in fifth as both HEMI®-powered drivers chase their first national event wins of the year
• Funny Car veteran Cruz Pedregon looks to build on last weekend’s semifinal performance at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte and the steady progress his team has made with the Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat through the first four races of the 22-event NHRA season
• Leah Pruett is ready to battle for wins at Houston aboard her DSR Top Fuel dragster with Pennzoil/Mopar primary branding and behind the wheel of her new 2021 Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak in the second of the eight-race NHRA Factory Stock Showdown series 

May 18, 2021, Auburn Hills, Mich. –The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series is headed to Texas this week for the 34th annual Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil, returning to its original early-season date at Houston Raceway Park after a rescheduled fall edition took place last October. The sea-level drag strip located near Baytown, a suburb of Houston, is known for high-horsepower performances and record runs when cool air blows in from the Gulf of Mexico. 

“We’re thrilled to be back on the track with our partners from Pennzoil for the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals,” said Mark Bosanac, North America Vice President, Mopar Service, Parts & Customer Care. “We look forward to cheering on our drivers as they compete for wins while showcasing the Mopar brand to ultra-passionate drag racing enthusiasts.”

This weekend’s competition marks the first of five NHRA national events supported by Mopar and Dodge//SRT title sponsorship during the NHRA’s 70th anniversary season. The four other upcoming national events which will see the brands’ support in 2021 are:

• July 16-18 – Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil (Denver)
• Sept. 1-5 – Dodge//SRT U.S. Nationals (Indianapolis)
• Sept. 10-12 – Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil (Reading, Pennsylvania)
• Oct. 29-Nov. 1 – Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil (Las Vegas)

The Houston venue will be appropriately dressed for spring with the yellow, white and blue signature look of Mopar Express Lane brand signage. This signage is synonymous with the speedy in-and-out, high-quality, factory-backed service by certified technicians who keep customer vehicles in tip-top shape while providing everything from convenient oil changes to complimentary multi-point check-ups. 

Additionally, the two HEMI®-powered Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) nitro-fueled entries of Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett will prominently feature eye-catching Pennzoil primary paint schemes for the brand’s home race.

During the May 21-23 event, fans will be invited to visit Mopar’s exhibit at the track’s Manufacturers Midway where they have the opportunity to feel the thrill of being in the driver’s seat aboard an actual Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car simulator.

On-track action begins Friday at Houston Raceway Park, with reigning Funny Car world champion Hagan looking to earn an elusive first win of the 2021 season aboard his Pennzoil Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.

“I’m pumped up to get to Houston,” says Hagan. “That’s where I got my first NHRA Funny Car win, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Houston always brings a great crowd, it’s a great facility and it’s a Pennzoil race track. There’s nothing better than going to your partner’s event at a partner’s track and we really want to put on a great show.

“I have a great race car underneath me and it’s handling well and responding to the changes we’re making to it,” adds Hagan, who goes into this weekend fourth in the standings with a runner-up and semifinal finish after four events. “We’re coming off of a hard knock in Charlotte and just focused on redeeming ourselves in Houston. We’re excited to see all of the folks down there in Baytown and it should be a fun weekend.”

Hagan’s DSR teammate, Capps, has taken home four Wally trophies from Houston (2006, 2007, 2015 and 2017) during his 27-year tenure and came close to adding another at the October 2020 edition with a runner-up finish. Capps has qualified in the top-five at every event so far this year but would like to have four solid runs on Sunday aboard his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to secure a fifth win at the venue and his first of the season to help him move up from his fifth place standing in the Funny Car points.

Meanwhile, fellow Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver Cruz Pedregon has three wins of his own at Houston (1992, 1998, 2013) and is working to build on his semifinal finish last weekend at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina, to continue the steady progress his Snap-on Tools Pedregon Racing team has made through the first four races of the 22-event NHRA season.

DSR Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett was pleased with her Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster’s No. 3 qualifier effort at the previous event and is looking forward to a long day of racing on Sunday after seeing her last two race days shortened by first round losses. She still has the memory of her 2017 Houston victory to fuel her drive to get back to the winner’s circle.

“I’m very excited to get to Baytown,” says Pruett, who will be getting to town early to take part in a promotional event with Dodge//SRT customers along with DSR teammate Hagan. “We get to kick off the week with Ride & Drive events with Dodge. It’s looking like we’re going to have great weather out there. It’s supposed to be cool and we’ll be at sea level, and I have no doubt we’ll be making those fast runs that get all of us hyped up.”

Pruett will also be back behind the wheel of the new 2021 Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak in the Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) series at Houston for the first time since she debuted the quickest, fastest, most powerful Drag Pak ever at the 2021 Gatornationals. She posted her quickest and fastest speed ever in FSS in the season opener with her new ride, clocking a 7.806-second pass at 177.44 mph. Her goal for this outing is to get the most out of each vehicle and drive the maximum amount of runs in each category.

“I’ll be back to pulling double-duty, running both my Top Fuel dragster and Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak,” says Pruett. “I truly feel like when we get to Houston it’ll be our ‘get healthy’ race and it’ll be a new beginning for us. We’re looking forward to laying down maximum horsepower on the Pennzoil proving grounds.”

Fellow DSR-prepared Drag Pak driver Mark Pawuk will also be competing in the Sportsman class event aboard his third-generation Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger. Pawuk battled atop the FSS standings throughout 2020, finishing third overall, and after kicking off this year’s eight-race FSS series with a semifinal appearance in March he’s looking to steadily improve with each opportunity.

All on-track action at the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil on Friday through Sunday will be streamed online via NHRA.TV, while television coverage will be broadcast on FS1 with qualifying shows airing Saturday, May 21, from 10-11 p.m. ET and Sunday, May 22, from noon-1 p.m. ET, while the elimination rounds will air Sunday evening from 6-9 p.m. ET.

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News

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

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram

The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Mopar  

Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, the Mopar brand has evolved over more than 80 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, the brand expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, Mopar integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Complete information on the Mopar brand is available at www.mopar.com. Mopar is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com. 

Follow Mopar and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Mopar brand: https://www.mopar.com/

Mopar blog: https://blog.mopar.com/ 

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialmopar

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OfficialMOPAR

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/mopar or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

Dodge//SRT

For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

2021 marks the year that Dodge is distilled into a pure performance brand, offering Hellcat-powered, 700-plus-horsepower SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2021 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the new 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The Dodge brand also ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market). These results are historic because it marks the first time a domestic brand has earned top spots in both J.D. Power studies in the same year.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

The stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model aim to shutout PA locals at Port Royal SpeedwayPORT ROYAL, PA – May 18, 2021 – As the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars exits Pennsylvania with all of the PA Posse’s riches, the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models enters with the same intentions.The Late Models return to Port Royal Speedway, on May 21-22, for the first time since 2019 and the famed half-mile track will look a touch different to fans and teams. The track completed several renovations last year and has more to come, according to Promoter Steve O’Neal.A new wider tunnel was constructed under the first turn for fans to easily get to and from the infield, there’s blacktop throughout the pit area, a large pit grandstand was added by Turn 4, infield buildings were lowered for better viewing, a new gate was installed on the backstretch and the front stretch was widened by 10-feet.“There have been quite a few renovations since [the World of Outlaws Late Models] were here a couple of years ago,” O’Neal said. “The track continues to try and enhance the fan experience, as well as the driver’s. We did a lot of extra work in the pit area. I think everyone coming this week will be pretty impressed with what we’ve been doing. And we’re not done yet.”Along with the physical appeals, O’Neal said he is excited to see the Late Model’s version of the World of Outlaws versus the PA Posse during the Series’ first two-day event at Port Royal. Like with the Sprint Cars, both sides enter the event with an impressive talent pool.Three-time defending champion Brandon Sheppard and Chris Madden enter the weekend with the momentum of milestone wins at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Sheppard earned his 70th career Series win – also his first of the year – and Madden earned his 30th career win. Sheppard is currently the only full-time Outlaw with a Series win at Port Royal – in 2017.Also representing the Outlaws will drivers like be Sinking Spring, PA-native Kyle Stricker, who is the leading rookie contender with two wins, Ricky Weiss, who finished second at Port Royal in 2019, Cade Dillard, who won at Boone Speedway in April, Tyler Bruening, Ryan Gustin and Boom Briggs, of Bear Lake, PA.Leading the charge for the Pennsylvania drivers will be Mason Zeigler, of Chalk Hill, PA, who won the last World of Outlaws event at Port Royal in 2019 – his lone Series victory. He has one track event win at the speedway this year, as well. Other PA stars to potentially be on the lookout for are drivers like current Port Royal Speedway Super Late Model points leader Ross Robinson, Dylan Yoder, Jeff Rine, Trevor Feathers and more.Fellow Pennsylvania resident and part-time Outlaw competitor Rick Eckert, the 2011 Series champion of York, PA, will look to spoil the party and sweep the weekend himself. He won a track event at Port Royal at the beginning of May, also.“It’s always great to have the Outlaws come to Port Royal,” O’Neal said. “We always look forward to it. It should be a very competitive show with the drivers the Outlaws bring in. And we have a very competitive class. I’d say Port Royal Speedway’s class of Late Model drivers is the closest you’re going to get to PA Posse battle with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. I’m hoping to have the same kind of deal. We’ve got some really strong weekly runners. I look forward to the battle between them and the World of Outlaws.”Friday’s Huey Wilcoxon Memorial (May 21) will pay $10,000 to the winner and Saturday’s Billy Vacek Memorial (May 22) will award the winner $15,000.Along with hosting the World of Outlaws Late Model’s first trip to Pennsylvania in 2021, Port Royal Speedway will also host the World of Outlaws Sprint Car’s final trip to the Keystone State on Oct. 8-9 for the Nittany Showdown– playing a key role in the Sprint Car championship battle. It’ll be the final chance in 2021 for the Outlaws to shut out the PA Posse and leave the state with all the riches.“When the Sprint Cars come in, it’s our last big event of the year,” O’Neal said. “We always look forward to that. It’s always a great event.”To see the Outlaws challenge the Pennsylvania favorites and experience the new track improvements, get tickets by CLICKING HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, you can 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.

Batavia, OH (May 18, 2021) – The 29th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtecttheHarvest.com – sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil MLRA – is getting even bigger in 2021 with the support of Nutrien Ag Solutions. Nutrien Ag Solutions has become title sponsor of the Show-Me 100 Pre-Race Ceremonies at Lucas Oil Speedway – which includes three-time CMA and ACM Male Vocalist of the Year, Grammy Award winner, and American Patriot Lee Greenwood serving as Grand Marshall of the event. Greenwood will sing the National Anthem during opening ceremonies, along with his iconic song “God Bless the USA” after driver introductions. Pre-Race Ceremonies will also include special recognition to the group Racing for Heroes, that supports military veterans after their service to our country. Racing for Heroes helps Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) through health and wellness programs centered around the motorsports industry.  The Nutrien Ag Solutions Pre-Race Ceremonies will also include a tribute to all the active Military and Veterans in attendance at Lucas Oil Speedway, along with honoring the fallen Military personnel on Memorial Day weekend. “We are thrilled to have Steve Martin of Nutrien Ag Solutions come on board supporting this crown jewel event. Nutrien Ag Solutions is a large supporter of the farming industry with many veterans and former military employees now owning farms all across America. The Show-Me 100 will be a must attend event as we showcase the patriotism of America at one of the biggest dirt late model events of the year. Having Lee Greenwood as the Grand Marshall of the Show-Me 100 and singing the National Anthem along with his iconic song ‘God Bless the USA,’ adds star power, excitement, and anticipation right before the start of the main event,” said Wayne Castleberry, Corporate Sales and Marketing for Lucas Oil Motorsports. Nutrien Ag Solutions is the largest crop input provider in the United States with over 1200 locations and 11,000 employees supplying planting seeds, fertilizer, and chemistry to America’s farmers. Nutrien Ag Solutions is the Ag retailer of the future. Visit their website at www.nutrienagsolutions.com for more information. The Show-Me 100 weekend features the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil MLRA, plus Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified full programs each night. Action kicks off on May 27 with the “Cowboy Classic” for Late Models headlining the program, with a $6,000-to-win, $600-to-start main event which also enables drivers to earn valuable points toward their starting position for Saturday night’s main event. The USRA Modified feature winner will earn $750. The “Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson” on May 28 also will see a $6,000-to-win feature with more points earned for the starting lineup for the 100-lap feature event Saturday night. USRA Modifieds compete for a $750-to-win feature with more points collected toward the final-night main event. The May 29 program includes B Mains, the Midwest Sheet Metal Show-Me Challenge, and the $30,000-to-win Show-Me 100 main event along with a $1,500-to-win USRA Modified feature.

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WORKRISE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript:  WHERE DO YOU THINK THE BEST PASSING ZONES ARE GOING TO BE? “I think the best passing zones are probably on all the big straights. The S’s are pretty tight; you can’t really gain anything there. Turn 11 is probably the best.” “I’m not very good at the numbers of each corner; I’d have to have a map in front of me. But I think Turn 11 is onto the main backstretch; that one before you get to the stadium section. Obviously, lengthening the straightaways as much as you can is huge and in the final corner. I’m just not good with the numbers, but into the stadium section on the downhill braking zone, leaving the last corner, and then the one before the big straightaway are the three that I see that will be the most important. Turn One, up the hill, you can out-brake someone into there, but it gets tight quick. I think the first three I named are probably the big ones. But Turn One is a struggle to really get off of that corner sometimes, in what I’ve noticed. You can maybe get someone on entry, but it’s probably going to put you in a bad position leaving.” THIS WEEKEND, WE’RE RACING IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, WHERE WORKRISE, YOUR PRIMARY SPONSOR FOR THE WEEKEND, IS LOCATED. HOW COOL IS THAT TO BE ABLE TO RACE IN THEIR BACKYARD?“Yeah, I encourage everyone to go to Workrise.com. They are the leading workforce management, solutions and skilled trades. They are an awesome company to be working with. I’m pumped that it’s in their hometown of Austin, Texas. You can check out Workrise’s social media. There are some cool stuff coming up this week promoting the race. It’s awesome to have them. Last year, we had them on our car one race and this year, they changed their brand to Workrise and it’s awesome to be having a race at COTA, in Austin, where they are based out of. Can’t wait to get there and hopefully put on a good showing for everyone at Workrise. They are there for the people that get stuff done and we’re pump to be working hard for them this weekend.” AJ ALLMENDINGER WAS SAYING THAT HE EXPECTS IT TO BE CHAOS GOING INTO TURN ONE AT COTA. WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS RACE, GIVEN THAT IT’S A NEW TRACK FOR THE SERIES?“Yeah, I think Turn One will be aggressive, for sure. I have to qualify into the NASCAR Xfinity race, so luckily, we’ll have some experience after Saturday to see how that goes. But Turn One is a tough corner for any type of car to race on and not just our cars in NASCAR. It’s difficult because it kind of falls away from you. You’re going uphill and then it flattens out; just a lot of stuff going on there and it gets tight quick. There’s definitely going to be some chaos. If you miss Turn One on the bottom, that outside lane is probably really going to check up.” I’VE HEARD THIS TRACK DESCRIBED AS TWO OR THREE DIFFERENT ROAD COURSES IN ONE. DO YOU FEEL IT’S LIKE THAT OR DOES IT REMIND YOU OF ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU’VE EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH? “I would say the only thing lately that we’ve done is the Daytona Road Course; a lot of different types of cornering. Obviously, Daytona has that banking that you deal with off of Turn Four and it’s flatter, but just a lot of different challenges. The tight section on the back and then you have a big sweeper after that. So, you want to be able to turn as good as you can through that stuff. But then you know you have to carry a lot of speed through a corner that being free probably isn’t the best thing for. So, having a balance for all that’s going on is going to be tough. You’re going to see guys that really excel in certain corners and struggle in others.” THIS STARTS A STRETCH OF FIVE OF THE NEXT ELEVEN POINTS-RACES ON ROAD COURSES. WHAT KIND OF A CHALLENGE, OR MAYBE IT’S OPPORTUNITY, IS THIS STRETCH FOR YOU?“I think it’s definitely challenging, knowing that we’re going to some places for the first time. I know it looks like there could be rain this weekend at COTA; I’ve never really done that. But we’ll just take it and do the best we can. We’ve been solid all year long. Daytona (Road Course) was a positive for me, as a road course racer. I got stage points in both stages and we were on our way to running a top-10 finish. We just have to go out there, attack, be aggressive, and try to take the things that I’ve learned in the off-season and use them to my advantage. And just try to get better at each and every road course that we go to. We know that there’s going to be some challenges ahead, but we’ll do the best with what we have.” HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR TEAM HAS DONE THIS YEAR AND BUILT TO THIS POINT?“We’ve been pretty consistent week in and week out. Just showing up and doing our job; keeping all four tires on the ground and working hard to make the car better throughout the race. I thought last weekend was a bit disappointing because we ran inside the top-10 all day and ended up with a 14th-place finish. But we were able to get some stage points and that’s what we need to do is keep collecting stage points. Without a win, you have to have those. Hopefully we get a win here soon. There’s a lot of guys out there hunting for that and we’re one of them. There are some good tracks sprinkled in with tracks that we know that we have to do our best at to have good runs. Charlotte (Motor Speedway )is right after COTA and Charlotte is a great one for me. We’ll get to COTA and see what we have. I was able to do that race in the off-season; I think that was pretty big. If it rains this weekend, it will be a new challenge, so we’ll see how it goes.” WITH THE PRACTICE SESSION YOU’RE GETTING THIS WEEKEND, THE FIRST PRACTICE SESSION THAT HAVEN’T BEEN ON A SUPERSPEEDWAY OR DIRT TRACK IN 14 MONTHS: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOUR TEAM SHOULD BE WORKING ON DURING THAT 50-MINUTE PRACTICE THAT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO FOR WELL OVER A YEAR?“That’s a good point. We have to execute during practice and try and gain as much time on the track as we can. Get in a bunch of laps and you can try and make adjustments if you have some things that you haven’t gone out and done, just because of the unknown, and try and get through those. I think everybody is going to be in a position where, how do you practice and how do you communicate well to get your stuff  better after each run. It’ll be like back in time like, what feels like forever ago, where we had a practice session where we could adjust on the car and try to get it better. We’re going to a new track, so there’s a lot of things, like heights, that are going to be so important. Just to get the heights right, it could take 50 minutes. 50 minutes isn’t really a long time. We used to have two, long practices and a happy hour to go along with it. It’s still going to feel quick, as far as the timing passing. It takes such a long time to make a lap at COTA that you’ll probably run out of time pretty quick.” TALK ABOUT HOW LIFE-CHANGING FATHERHOOD HAS BEEN FOR YOU?“It’s been awesome. I enjoy my time with Ace and Whitney. I’ve always been close with my family and it’s awesome to have a family of my own. Anytime you get to see Ace do something new is just special. We’re having a lot of fun right now. I’m glad they get to come to the track with me and Ace is getting to experience some of that. While he’s really young and doesn’t really know what’s going on all the time, he still enjoys just being with his mom and dad. It makes the good days better and the bad days good, too. It’s awesome having a kid and I’ve enjoyed it.” YOU AND TYLER REDDICK ARE BOTH IN THE TOP-16 IN POINTS. AT THIS POINT, YOU BOTH WOULD MAKE IT INTO THE PLAYOFFS. IT’S BEEN THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2015 THAT TWO RCR CARS HAD BEEN THERE. WHAT DO YOU POINT TO FOR THE TURNAROUND? “I think we’re doing a good job of just being consistent, week in and week out. I’m asking for more from our group, just trying to figure out where that next little bit of speed is because Chevrolet is so good right now. Obviously, Hendrick Motorsports has kind of carried the banner, but we’ve been right there at a lot of places and been able to compete with those guys. We’ve kind of held ourselves to them because the partnership that we have and we have to pick it up just like this much. I feel like every weekend, we’re an eighth to 12th-place car. We need to make that next jump to a fourth to eighth-place car, and then you’re looking at having chances to win races when everything lays out with pit stops and strategy. But if you’re in that fourth to eighth, you’re getting opportunities to win races quite often. We’ve got to make that next little jump, where our bad days aren’t 14th, but our bad days are 10th or eighth. And then, you’re really out there challenging for wins and you feel confident where you’re at each and every weekend. RCR, ECR and Chevrolet are doing a good job bringing good cars to the track. Tyler (Reddick) and I both work hard at everything we can during the week and so do our teams. We’re pumped to get to the track and see what we can gain on each and every week.” DO YOU GET EXCITED GOING INTO A PLACE, LIKE CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, WHERE YOU’VE WON BEFORE?“Yeah, I am. I’ve got Nashville (Superspeedway) after that, too. Nashville, I won the last Truck race there and finished third in the Xfinity race before they closed it down. So, Charlotte and Nashville are two really big places that we know we have to go there with guns loaded and see if we can pop off a win. They’re places we can do it, so we’re pumped to get to those two tracks. You never know, maybe we’ll do something spectacular at a road course, too.” THE COCA-COLA 600 OBVIOUSLY HAS A LOT OF MEANING TO YOU, BEING YOUR FIRST CUP SERIES WIN, YOUR HOMETRACK, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, COCA-COLA; ALL OF THE TIE-IN’S ARE THERE FOR YOU. EMOTIONALLY, IT’S A BIG RACE. WHAT MAKES THAT RACE AS CHALLENGING NOW AS IT DID BACK IN THE DAY WHERE ‘CAN MY CAR SURVIVE’ WAS PREDOMINANT?“Having a clean race is challenging; making no mistakes. You’re just in the car for a long period of time; it’s hot. You come down pit road a lot and there’s just a lot of moment for error; more than what we’re used to. My goals going into that race is to have a clean race and find yourself in a great position toward the end. Obviously, if you have the speed to win it, that’s even better. But having a clean race is part of having a chance to win it. I think a lot of people have taken themselves out of that race with early mistakes. We’ll do our best to be there at the end. I think the long races have suited me in the past. We’ll see what we got. I think we’ve got some good history there and a good baseline setup. Our 550-horsepower package has been pretty strong I think for the most part. Charlotte takes a little different mechanical idea than some of the 1.5-mile tracks that we go to. I always look forward to that track.” FOR THE COTA RACE THIS WEEKEND, WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IN PRACTICE?“The first run out will be about the travels; making sure we get our travels right so we’re not on the track or too high. We usually error towards the higher side. The curbing is obviously something that we’ll look at before we hit the track, but what can we take advantage of and what can we not. If there’s a corner that’s just really difficult for us mechanically, we’ll start working on that, and making sure my brakes feel good. We’ll be checking the brake temperatures because this track is going to be very hard our cars, as far as trying to get stopped. The amount of speed you’ll be carrying at some of these straightaways is going to be a lot, so trying to keep the brakes underneath the car will be big.” COTA HAS ALSO HOSTED FORMULA 1 RACES. DOES THAT MAKE THIS RACE ANY MORE SPECIAL TO YOU?“I think it’s just a cool venue. Watkins Glen used to have Formula 1 races a long time ago. The history of any kind of track is awesome. That’s why I thought the Brickyard is so special, getting to race on the oval with so many historical races there. I was talking to one of my old engineers, trying to get some notes from him. Even though it probably doesn’t apply to anything, it’s just cool to see his track notes that they used when they raced at COTA.” WITH YOU DOING DOUBLE DUTY THIS WEEKEND, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT THE LEADERSHIP AT RCR HAS GIVEN YOU, LIKE A CHECKLIST OF THINGS YOUR TEAM NEEDS TO HELP PREPARE FOR SUNDAY? WHAT’S THE COMMUNICATION GOING TO BE LIKE BETWEEN THE TWO DIFFERENT OPERATIONS YOU’RE GOING TO BE RACING WITH THIS WEEKEND?“I think anything I can learn, driving-wise, and anything I’ll bring to the table to our Cup team after practice. Just the laps on the track will probably be the biggest thing. But mechanically, it’s a little different, because they have a different right-height rule and it’s just different. So mechanically, probably not a whole lot. Maybe air pressure – if there’s something we learn there, I could apply it.” LOOKING AT THE COCA-COLA 600, WHAT DID THAT WIN MEAN FOR YOUR CAREER?“I think it was just confidence, more than anything, that I have a win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Driving the No. 3 car means a lot to me to be able to put that number back into victory lane for RCR and for my family. The first win means so much to so many. It goes a long way. It gave me confidence leading into some of the other wins that we’ve gotten to know that we’ve been in those situations, been able to make something happen and finish it off. Finishing it off I think is a big part of some of the NASCAR drivers; the guys that finish it when it matters.”

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA SpringNationals – Houston

Pre-Race Report

Cruz Pedregon, or “Mr. Perfect Reaction Time,” and Crew Chief John Collins (JC) are seeing the consistency they’ve been working toward with the Snap-on^® Dodge^® and are ready to take on Houston just one week after the team’s best-of-the-season 3.93-seconds 326 mph third place finish in Charlotte. Cruz says he feels good about the car and his driving, especially after achieving the elusive 0.00 reaction time that’s the goal of any drag racer.

“I’m very happy with where we are right now and the way the Snap-on Dodge is running. After a little bit of a slow start early in the season, I think we’re now getting to where we should be. I’ve said it was going to be four or five races before we would really start to come together and here we are going into the fifth race. JC says he’s been ‘pecking’ away at the things that weren’t working and finding what does. I’m feeling good about the car and driving it well, so we’re ready for Houston,” says Cruz about the track where he had his first Funny Car win in 1992. 

The team now has more round wins this year than it did in the abbreviated 2020 NHRA season, and Cruz and team are planning on making it his 78^th final round appearance on race day this weekend at Houston Raceway Park.

Sheppard, Madden, Strickler, and more battle for potential $25K Payday PORT ROYAL, PA – MAY 17, 2021 – The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models makes its first of six trips to Pennsylvania in 2021, with a weekend double-dip at Port Royal Speedway.It’s the sixth time the Series will visit “The Speed Palace,” and one driver could walk away with $25,000 if they win both races. Friday, May 21, is the Huey Wilcoxon Memorial. It’s a 40-lap Morton Buildings Feature paying $10,000-to-win. Also, on the bill are Limited Late Models and Wingless Sportsman. The Series returns Saturday, May 22, for the 50-lap Billy Vacek Memorial, paying $15,000-to-win. Port Royal Speedway’s 410 Sprint Cars will also be in action. 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.Here are the top stories to follow this weekend:Rocket Momentum: Three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard finally got the monkey off his back at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, winning his first official Morton Buildings Feature of the season. It was the 70th World of Outlaws win of his career. He’s now eight wins away from tying Josh Richards for the most all-time (78). The victory, along with Sheppard’s Series leading 12 top-10s is enough to put him at the top of the standings—60 points ahead of Chris Madden. The New Berlin, IL driver has already found Victory Lane at Port Royal Speedway in his career. He won a Morton Buildings Feature in 2017 and has a third-place finish at the track this season. The “Rocket Shepp” also has four top-10s at 1/2-mile tracks this season. His best was a third on April 9 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sheppard enters the weekend with some momentum, as well. He won a MARS Racing Series event at Farmer City Raceway last Friday in his family owned #B5 car. Smokin’ Hot: The only driver on the Series that may be more consistent than Sheppard, is South Carolina’s Chris Madden. Madden won his second Morton Buildings Feature of the Season at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, tying him for the most wins this season. He also has more top fives than any other driver this year (8).  The Gray Court, SC driver is 60 points behind Sheppard in the standings, with two fewer starts. “Smokey” also has past success at Port Royal Speedway. In two starts with the Series, Madden has one top-five and two top-10s. His best finish was third in 2017. Madden has been consistent on 1/2-mile tracks in 2021, so far. He has four top-10s in five starts, including a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. Don’t Sleep on Pennsylvania: It’s not just the World of Outlaws tour regulars that have their eyes on Victory Lane this weekend. Anytime the Series travels to Pennsylvania, several stout regional competitors are hoping to steal a win. Mason Zeigler won the last World of Outlaws race at “The Speed Palace” in 2019, holding off Ricky Weiss in an exciting race. The Chalk Hill, PA driver also has a win at the track this season. Rick Eckert is also a threat anytime the Series visits the Keystone State. The York, PA driver is the most recent Super Late Model Winner at Port Royal Speedway. The 2011 Series champion has run well with the World of Outlaws in 2021. In 10 starts, he has four top-fives and six top-10s. Eckert’s best runs this season are two fourth-place finishes, both at 1/2-mile tracks. One at DIRTcar Nationals, and the other at the Bristol Bash. Happy To Be Home: One driver excited to return to Pennsylvania is Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Strickler. “The High-Side Tickler” grew up about 90 minutes away from Port Royal Speedway.  But racing close to home isn’t his only reason to look forward to the weekend. Strickler is one of four drivers with two Morton Buildings Feature wins in 2021. Both wins came at DIRTcar Nationals, on a track the same size as “The Speed Palace.” Despite a bit of bad luck throughout March and April, Strickler showed signs of turning things around at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. He hopes to build on a fourth-place finish and find his way back to Victory Lane. The Mooresville, NC driver is third in the standings—120 points behind Sheppard. He also leads the chase for Rookie of the Year by 26 points over Tyler Bruening.When and WhereMay 21-22: Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PAAbout the trackPort Royal Speedway is a 1/2-mile, semi-banked racetrack. Online: https://portroyalspeedway.comTrack Record: 17.470 set by Jeff Rine on May 13th, 2017PREVIOUS PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY WINNERS2019- Mason Zeigler on August 17 2018- Mike Marlar on August 18 2017- Brandon Sheppard on August 19 2008- Clint Smith on June 17 2007- Darrell Lanigan on June 20

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE SESSIONS INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY OVAL TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE MAY 18-22 DETROIT (May 17, 2021) – Fresh off two NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories in a row, Chevrolet drivers turn their attention to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Practice for the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge begins Tuesday, May 18. Chevrolet’s 18-car Indianapolis 500 lineup includes three past winners, four race rookie of the year award winners, two pole winners, two rookies, and the winners of the past two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. Following the six scheduled practice sessions totaling 26 hours, drivers backed by the powerful 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected Chevrolet V6 engine will aim to claim the NTT P1 Award for the seventh time since the Bowtie brand returned to engine manufacturer competition in 2012.  NBC and NBCSN will telecast qualifications to set the 33-car field on Saturday, May 22, and Sunday, May 23. Chevrolet front-row starters since 2012 2019: First – Simon Pagenaud. Second – Ed Carpenter. Third – Spencer Pigot2018: First – Ed Carpenter. Second – Simon Pagenaud. Third – Will Power2017: Second – Ed Carpenter2016: Second – Josef Newgarden2015: First – Scott Dixon. Second – Will Power. Third – Simon Pagenaud2014: First — Ed Carpenter. Third – Will Power2013: First – Ed Carpenter. Second – Carlos Munoz. Third – Marco Andretti2012: First – Ryan Briscoe. Second – James Hinchcliffe. Third – Ryan Hunter-Reay Simon Pagenaud, who will drive the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, turned his pole start into victory in 2019. Will Power, who will drive the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, won in 2018, while Juan Pablo Montoya won in 2015 and 2000. Montoya will drive the No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Rinus VeeKay will attempt to join Pagenaud and Power in sweeping the Month of May races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. VeeKay, who will drive the No. 21 Bitcoin Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, earned his first Series victory May 15 in the GMR Grand Prix on the 3.439-mile,14-turn IMS road course. VeeKay paced Chevrolet drivers in the 2020 Indy 500 by qualifying fourth in his rookie run.“I’m very keen to try to sweep the month of May. That’s of course my goal,” said VeeKay, 20, of The Netherlands. “The mentality and everyone’s confidence is super high at the team, so I think we can definitely go for that win. We’ve had an awesome car last year, and Ed Carpenter Racing has showed the last few years that they have the car to win the ‘500’. I feel super confident. “First race win takes a lot of pressure off. Now I can just drive the ‘500’, and now it’s just going to be focusing on the best possible result. I want to thank Ed Carpenter Racing for everything they’ve done for me so far, and Chevy for the great engines. Indy 500 coming up, lots of power, lots of speed. I’m sure we’ll be good.” Overall, Chevrolet has 11 victories in the Indy 500 and another six have been recorded by General Motors’ brands. It’s also the 100th anniversary of Tommy Milton winning the Indy 500 in a car owned by company co-founder Louis Chevrolet. Simona De Silvestro, the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, returns for the first time since 2015 in the No. 16 Rocket Pro Chevrolet for the team owned by Beth Paretta.  Pato O’Ward, the 2020 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, claimed his initial Series victory May 1 on the Texas Motor Speedway oval in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. JR Hildebrand, runner-up in his first ‘500’ start and Montoya are also former rookie of the year winners who will rely on Chevrolet power this year.  Scott McLaughlin, driving the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, and RC Enerson in the No. 75 Top Gun Racing Chevrolet are among the three Indy 500 rookies. McLaughlin has three top-10 finishes in the five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, including runner-up at Texas Motor Speedway in his first oval race. NBC will telecast the 200-lap race at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 30. The 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible will lead the field to the green flag. 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 LINEUP:JR Hildebrand, No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt RacingJosef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team PenskeDalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt RacingPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SPFelix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SPCharlie Kimball, No. 11 Tresiba/AJ Foyt RacingWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team PenskeSebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt RacingSimona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro/Paretta AutosportEd Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Ed Carpenter RacingRinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter RacingSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team PenskeSage Karam, No. 24 DRR-AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold RacingConor Daly, No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter RacingMax Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher CarlinRC Enerson, No. 75 Top Gun RacingJuan Pablo Monto

at Charlotte’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

• Veteran Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon qualified No. 6 and was the top Mopar Dodge//SRT performer at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Four-Wide Nationals with a semifinal finish at zMAX Dragway
• Reigning Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan battled from No.11 qualifying position to win first elimination round quad aboard his blue and white Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
• DSR’s Ron Capps earned No. 3 position on Funny Car eliminations ladder with solid Q1 and Q2 bonus points-earning qualifying runs aboard his chrome blue Pennzoil-schemed Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
• Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett qualified third with her DSR Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster but saw early opening run issues shorten her day

May 16, 2021, Concord, North Carolina – After a two-year hiatus, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ Four-Wide Nationals returned to zMax Dragway with Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon closing out the weekend as the top performer for Mopar and Dodge//SRT brands. The veteran driver wheeled his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a semifinal finish from the No. 6 qualifying position he earned for Sunday’s elimination rounds.

While the four-wide format hadn’t been run at the Charlotte-area track since 2019, just a month had passed since the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals had yielded promising results for the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) team with Matt Hagan’s runner-up performance and Ron Capps semifinal finish. Pedregon, for his part, was looking to build and capitalize on his team’s steady improvement through the first three races of the 2021 season.

The No. 6 seed’s best qualifying run of 3.957 seconds at 322.81 mph put Pedregon Racing in the company of fellow Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat drivers Capps and Hagan for a first round quad elimination along with No. 14 qualifier Cory Lee. Pedregon deep-staged his HEMI®-powered ride and cut a perfect 0.000-second light, and while he wasn’t able to beat the round winner Hagan, his 4.032/323.74 run was enough to give him a holeshot finish to eliminate Capps and advance to the next round.

Pedregon once again crossed the stripe second, this time to No. 2 seed Alexis DeJoria, and defeated Hagan and No. 7 Bob Tasca III to find himself in a position to battle for the event win in the final against DeJoria, No. 2 seed J.R. Todd and No. 1 qualifier John Force. While this time he finished ahead of DeJoria, Pedregon ended the day as a satisfied semifinalist after he was unable to catch runner-up finisher J.R. Todd and event winner John Force.

Hagan and his crew had their work cut out for them heading into eliminations after struggles in qualifying had the blue and white Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat starting from the No. 11 position. Never one to be deterred by a challenge, the reigning Funny Car world champion, came out fighting with a stout 3.936-second elapsed time pass to win the first elimination quad. That set up a second round rematch with Pedregon and brought DeJoria and Tasca into the mix. While Hagan was quickest out of the gate, he saw his early lead erased by a mechanical setback and could only watch as Pedregon and DeJoria advanced past him and to the final quad.

For his part as the top qualified HEMI®-powered Dodge, Capps was looking to repeat his 2017 winning performance at this four-wide event from the No. 3 seeded position after earning that spot with the second quickest runs in both Saturday sessions and collecting four bonus points for his efforts. Aboard his chrome blue Pennzoil Synthetics NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, Capps drove a solid 3.991 seconds/273.88 mph run with a 0.067-second reaction time, but despite Pedregon’s slower run, his opponent’s perfect reaction time put Capps third across the finish and ended his day prematurely. 

In Top Fuel action, Leah Pruett was feeling pretty confident about her chances to perform well in eliminations after taking her white and blue Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster to the No. 3 position in the opening qualifying session with a 3.718 second elapsed time run. That performance put her in the top half of the field for the 44th time in 50 opportunities, including the past seven events. In the opening Top Fuel quad against Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, and Krista Baldwin, Pruett had a respectable start but was forced to abandon the run after issues surfaced early.

The NHRA’s 70th anniversary season continues with the next event set to take place this coming weekend, May 21-23, near Houston, Texas, at the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil, the first of five national events for which Mopar and Dodge//SRT share title sponsorship duties this season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES

FUNNY CAR:

Matt Hagan, DSR Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 11 Qualifier – 4.058 seconds at 260.71 mph)
Round 1: (0.095-second reaction time, 3.936 seconds at 325.06 mph) wins round ahead of No. 6 Cruz Pedregon (0.000/4.032/323.74) and defeats No. 3 Ron Capps (0.067/3.991/273.88) and No. 14 Cory Lee (0.104/4.392/251.58)

Round 2: (0.055/4.036/307.51) defeats No. 7 Bob Tasca III but loses to No. 6 Cruz Pedregon (0.091/4.559/189.84) and round winner No.2 Alexis DeJoria (0.090/3.929/320.13)

“There’s a million things that can go wrong with a fuel Funny Car, and we had something bite us this weekend. My crew chief Dickie Venables and Mike Knudsen did a great job recovering after qualifying. We struggled in qualifying as far as getting a handle on the race track so we went into Sunday morning not really knowing what to expect, and they did an amazing job of reeling the clutch back in and not only getting the car to make a full pull down the race track, but we ran a really good 3.93. I felt like we were on pace to go back up there and do the same thing on that last lap but we had a parts failure and it cost us the run. Unfortunately, that’s part of racing; that’s what happens when you push things to the limit, it happens sometimes. That is the humble part of drag racing.”

Ron Capps, DSR Pennzoil NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 3 Qualifier – 3.943 seconds at 325.30 mph – Four bonus points for second-quickest run in Q2 and Q3 sessions)
Round 1: (0.067-second reaction time, 3.991 seconds at 273.88 mph) defeats No. 14 Cory Lee (0.104/4.392/251.58) but loses to No. 6 Cruz Pedregon (0.000/4.032/323.74) and round winner

No. 11 Matt Hagan (0.095/3.936/325.06)

“NHRA drag racing is definitely a ‘right place at the right time’ kind of sport. We had such a great car on Saturday. It was quick and consistent. My crew chiefs ‘Guido’ (Dean Antonelli) and John Medlen, and this entire Pennzoil/NAPA AutoCare team put a great race car underneath me time and time again. The car was running really well today in round one; the incremental numbers were great and then it just put a couple of cylinders out and spun the tires downtrack, and it hadn’t done that all weekend. You couple that with the fact that one of my opponents had a perfect light (0.0 reaction time) or what we call a ‘bad red light,’ and I’ve had some of those myself, and when you’re on the good side of it, that’s what happens, and today he was on the good side of it and beat us to the finish line. But, a win is coming soon. We’re getting these ‘close call’ races out of the way early in the season. You can’t call it bad luck because we’re running really well. I’m excited about these next few races for sure, but we’ll have to wait until next year to get another four-wide trophy.”

Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

(No. 6 Qualifier – 3.957 seconds at 322.81 mph)

Round 1: (0.000-second reaction time, 4.032 seconds at 323.74 mph) finishes second to No. 11 Matt Hagan (0.095/3.936/325.06) and defeats No. 3 Ron Capps (0.067/3.991/273.88) and No. 14 Cory Lee (0.104/4.392/251.58)

Round 2: (0.094/3.971/319.52) finishes second to No. 2 Alexis DeJoria (0.090/3.929/320.13) and defeats No. 11 Matt Hagan (0.055/4.036/307.51) and No. 7 Bob Tasca III (0.091/4.559/189.84)

Round 3: (0.121/3.934/326.87) defeats No. 2 Alexis DeJoria (0.064/4.057/309.49) but loses to runner-up No. 2 J.R. Todd (0.063/3.934/326.87) and event winner John Force (0.065/3.916/328.78)

“I’m very happy with our results today. A semifinal finish at the Four-Wide Nationals is great. What I am especially most proud of is the way that our Dodge Charger Hellcat ran in the finals. We ran right with the (event) winner John Force, and J.R. (Todd) has been running well and we outran him actually. So, to have those results after a little bit of a slow start, I think we’re now getting to where we should be. I always said it was going to be four or five races before we would really start to come together and here we are at the fourth race, so I feel good about that. I feel good about Houston. I’m ready to go to the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals. I’m feeling good and I feel like I drove well and we’ll now get ready for Houston.”

TOP FUEL:

Leah Pruett, DSR Mopar Dodge//SRT Dragster
(No. 3 Qualifier – 3.718 seconds at 324.59 mph – One bonus point for third-quickest run of the session)

Round 1: (0.095-second reaction time, 4.310 seconds at 193.32 mph) loses to No. 11 Shawn Langdon (0.059/3.947/245.67), No. 14 Krista Baldwin (0.117/3.855/319,52) and round winner No. 6 Antron Brown (0.063/3.804/315.56)

“We were definitely ready to have a very long Sunday, and it never ceases to amaze us the number of ways we can find to not have a dream day, and not win. It doesn’t matter how many accumulated years of drag racing experience you have, there will always be something new to arise. For us, it was having a clutch disc that wore at the step, and that caused a whole chain reaction of events that ultimately led to the car being shut off. We’ve spent the entire day since then deciphering the set of circumstances that caused that to occur. But, the upside of it is we’re always adapting and coming up with new ways to solve issues, and as you do that, you find new ways to become more consistent in those details. It’s early in the season, our momentum is still carrying even though the win lights may not show it. We have a couple of days to turn this around. We’ll be testing on Monday, picking away at what we found here and we’ll get ready for an incredible Houston outing with our Pennzoil and Mopar family.”

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (May 16, 2021)- Canadian driver Mac Clark prevailed in a back-and-forth qualifying battle with Jason Alder, Bijoy Garg and Noel Leon to capture his first career Formula 4 United States Championship Powered Honda pole position. The top four times were separated by .671-seconds, with Clark edging out championship points leader Alder on the final circuit by a narrow 0.189-second margin. 

Clark turned a lap of 2:18.756-seconds in the No. 26 Gonella Racing Ligier JS F4, setting the new track record.

“Wow, it was a great session,” said Clark. “Today we managed to put the No. 26 Gonella Racing machine on pole. We managed to put it in when it really mattered. I couldn’t be happier with giving Gonella Racing its first pole position. The team is top notch, and the car was so fast on the straights.”

First out of the pits, Alder held the pole by early in the session, matching Clark, Garg’s and Leon’s times each lap. Without using the draft, the Velocity Racing Development driver looked like he was going to take pole with a 2:18.945-second time until Clark strategically used the slipstream from lapped traffic to propel him just enough to clench the point.

“We were first out and using the draft here would have been beneficial, but we still got a first-row start, I am happy with our position,” said Alder. “Qualifying was close and I know the racing is also going to be tight on Sunday and I am so excited for another winning result.”

Garg missed the test day earlier in the week to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Grand Prix weekend. Traveling overnight to Road America, Garg got up to speed quickly in practice and battled for pole in qualifying, holding the top spot for a couple non-consecutive laps. Garg ran a lap time of 2:19.132-seconds in the No. 6 Jay Howard Driver Development CSU/One Cure/Lucas Oil Racing car, just ahead of Noel’s 2:19.427-seconds in DEForce Racing’s No. 19 machine. Serving a five-grid penalty that carried over from Road Atlanta, Noel will now start ninth.  

“I am happy with a P3, especially jumping straight into qualifying and after being out of the F4 for so long,” said Bijoy. “I would have liked pole obviously, but the second row is a good place to start especially with the draft into Turn 1. A lot can happen in the races with how long the straights are, so we are looking forward to them.”

Aries Deukmedjian will be striking distance from Clark and Alder, starting from the second row in the opening round. Deukmedjian’s personal best time of 2:19.512-seconds was only .756-seconds off Clark’s pace. Positioned in fourth, the Floridian young talent was the top driver for the seven-car Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport squad.

VRD driver Nico Christodoulou and JHDD rookie Matt Christensen will start from Row 3. In his F4 U.S. debut event, Trevor Russell will take the green from Row 4 in seventh in the No. 32 TR Racing Ligier JS F4, sharing a row with Crosslink/Kiwi rookie Ryan Shehan. Momentum Motorsports’ Lucas Mann rounded out the top 10.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DRYDENE 400TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES MAY 16, 2021 TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE2nd     KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE3rd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE4th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE8th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE 9th      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)2nd     Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)3rd     Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)4th      William Byron (Chevrolet)5th      Joey Logano (Ford) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Circuit of the Americas for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – RACE WINNERALEX BOWMAN WINS AT DOVER AND HE GETS HIS CREW CHIEF’S (GREG IVE) FIRST OFFICIAL VICTORY AS A CREW CHIEF AT THIS RACETRACK. ALEX, YOU JUST SAID IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PIT CREW. WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY OF THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW AND WHAT YOU’RE ABLE TO DO? “We won Richmond (Raceway) and then had a really rough couple of weeks there. We went to some really good racetracks for us and struggled. I told the guys last week, ‘we’re still the same team that did it at Richmond’. This is another really good place for us. I’m just so pumped for Ally. It feels right to put the 48 back in victory lane here after how many races that this car has won here.” “Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) is here. I don’t think I’ve won with him here before, so that’s really cool. Just so proud of this pit crew. It was obviously a rough off season for us and a big void to fill. Not that we’re ever going to fill the void that Rowdy left, but Allen is doing a really good job and the whole pit crew is doing a really good job. Thanks to my spotter, Kevin Hamlin, for couching me there at the end. It was fun racing Kyle (Larson) and glad to get Hendrick Motorsports another win.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2ndIT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO BATTLE FOR THE LEAD. WHAT DID YOU LACK THERE AT THE END?“Yeah, I just felt like all of us HMS guys were pretty equal, so I felt like whoever got out to the lead was going to be hard to beat. Their team (No. 48 Chevy) just did a really good job on that pit stop and gained control of the race. I never really had a shot after that. That one restart, I got to his bumper and got him loose, but the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was coming so we just had to let each other go. Hard to be disappointed with a second, because like I said, I felt like I did everything I could. We led a lot of laps and won both Stages there, so it was good points, but we would have liked to be one spot better.”  “But all in all, a good day for our NationsGuard Chevy and what a day for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. Thanks to everyone back at the shop, the engine shop. It’s pretty amazing because I don’t know the last time Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) had all four of his cars in the top-four, but that is a pretty special day, for sure.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd“I really felt like we were pretty close, balance-wise. It was just kind of a matter of how your restart went and where you fell in line, unfortunately for us. But I’m happy for Hendrick Motorsports. I don’t know when the last time that finish has happened. It’s probably been a while for any team.”  WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4thFINISHING 1-2-3-4 FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WAS A DOMINATE DAY FOR THE ORGANIZATION. “Yeah, that was awesome. For us to finish 1-2-3-4 is just a credit to a lot of great people at the shop, Chevrolet, Axalta, and all the people that support us to get us the resources; and then our teams, the crew chiefs, drivers and pit crews executing really good races. For us, it’s been going for a while. We’ve just got to get a little bit. It sucks to be fourth, but I think we’re close. We just have to work on some things on our car, get the right feels, but we’re getting really close. So, we keep chipping away. We’ve had two fourth-place finishes in a row. We’ll take it and move on.” RICK HENDRICK, OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTSTO GET A FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH PLACE FINISH TODAY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU IN THE LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS?“I can guarantee you this has been the most nervous I’ve been in a race. It was a great day for the organization. Alex (Bowman), congratulations to him. This is a sign of the guys working together and bringing good stuff to the track. I don’t think it’ll hit me maybe until tomorrow that we were able to finish 1-2-3-4. That’s pretty hard to do. Things can happen; pit stops, tires, anything. But that’s a first and we’ll take it. It was a great day for us.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th“I’m very proud of my No. 8 Cat Linkage Pins Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team today. We really had to fight hard today for our eighth-place finish at Dover, especially after the speeding penalty on pit road after our first stop of the day. Entry seemed to be the biggest issue for us during the first half of the race. I just needed better rotation to get through that portion of both ends of the track quicker. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, and the team did a good job of keeping after the track with our adjustments today and giving me feedback based on our SMT data. We really hit on something towards the end of Stage 2, which allowed me to get up in the top 10 for the start of Stage 3. Track position was key today, even more so than fresh tires for us, so once we got up in the top 10, we did everything we could to say there, even though that meant staying out and making it a much longer final run for us on tires when those mid-stage cautions came out in Stage 3. It was a battle to hang on during that last run, but it paid off for us today with our fifth top-10 finish in the last seven races.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th BEFORE THIS RACE, YOU SAID YOU’D BE HAPPY WITH A TOP 10. YOU CALLED IT. HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE FOR YOU?“We have to work hard. The No. 99 CommScope Chevy Camaro was strong. Most of the race, I felt like the entire race, we were probably a top-15 car. But, with good adjustments, we gained some track position and that gave us the opportunity to finish in the top-10. There is still a lot of work to do, definitely. Right there at the end, I was tight. I was against the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), the No. 41 (Cole Custer) and all these guys, but we were able to hold them off and get a decent finish. But we have to keep working and win a trophy.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 HUK PERFORMANCE FISHING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 14th“We had a decent Huk Fishing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today at Dover International Speedway. Overall, the balance of our RCR Chevy was pretty good to start the race. We found a line at the bottom of the track that worked well but I was worried about tire wear, so I didn’t move down there until closer to the end of the stage. We were pretty good in Stage 2 but handling was just sort of blah during the middle of the run when cloud cover cooled off the track and caused the Huk Chevy to become freer. It came back to us to end the Stage and we were able to secure a few stage points. At the end of the race, the cloud cover returned and that effected our handling. We just couldn’t keep up with the track. We’ll regroup as a team and head to the Circuit of the Americas next week.” ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“15th – What I would have given a few weeks ago to finish 15th. But today, we showed a lot more promise on this No. 42 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet. We had more speed than that, we just got really tight. The last set of tires, we made no adjustments. We were the best we were all day on our second-to-last run. On that set of tires, we ran a few laps. A caution came out, we did the opposite of the leaders. Didn’t do anything to the car, fired back off tight; very tight. I’m kind of baffled why that was. So, I just kind of had to hold on and not get into anyone’s way too much, and ran 15th there at the end. Man, it did feel good to run up towards tenth. We’ll keep building.”  ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 22nd“Just struggled all day with the Medallion Bank Chevy. Never could get the feel we were looking for. We fought all day to try and bring home a decent finish. Hopefully have some notes to make some changes when we come back again in the fall.”

CONCORD, N.C. (May 16) — Troy Coughlin Jr.’s second attempt at four-wide drag racing was markedly better than his first as he wheeled his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to a final-round appearance in Sunday’s NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway. Coughlin narrowly missed out on a runner-up finish, crossing third in the final foursome of cars, just .004 seconds behind Mason McGaha and .010 back of first-time Pro Stock winner Dallas Green. Still, the always-smiling third-generation pro took a lot of pride in bettering his first-four-wide race one month ago in Las Vegas, where he bowed out in Round 1. “We turned on a couple of win lights today, and that’s exciting,” Coughlin said. “I always want more from myself and if I had tightened up my reaction times a little more we could have had an even better day but I’m still really happy to regain some momentum. “Credit my guys — Mark Ingersoll, Eric Luzinski, Kelly Murphy, Steven Hurley and Kyle Bates — they gave me an awesome car every round. As a driver, there’s simply nothing better than knowing you have the best team in the sport behind you.  “Congrats to Dallas also. I’ve raced him before in the sportsman ranks and he’s a really nice guy from a great family. It’s neat to see him win his first Wally at the pro level.”Coughlin opened the day with a 6.543-second pass at 210.24 mph, advancing out of the first foursome along with current points leader and multi-time series champion Greg Anderson (6.534 at 210.05 mph), with Deric Kramer (6.561 at 210.37 mph) and Cristian Cuadra (-.069 red light) being dismissed.  He then won his semifinal foursome with a 6.549 at 210.70 mph, moving to the final round along with Fernando Cuadra Jr. (6.575 at 210.73 mph). That time it was a late-starting Anderson (6.538 at 210.28 mph) and Chris McGaha (6.575 at  210.60 mph) getting sent home. In the final round, Coughlin made another great pass of 6.545 at 210.80 mph. However, although he cut a decent light of .035 seconds, Glenn — who had a .030 reaction time and a 6.540 at 210.80 mph and Mason McGaha, who left with a 0.018 and ran a 6.558 at 209.23 mph, were able to edge him at the other end. Fernando Cuadra Jr. fouled out by  -.038 seconds. “Anytime you see numbers like that it truly is anyone’s game,” Coughlin said. “That’s exciting looking forward because we have just gotten started and there are a lot of races ahead of us where we can shine.”No one will need to wait very long to race again as the NHRA tour quickly moves to Southeast Texas for next weekend’s Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, a facility that is also sponsored by Pennzoil. “I love racing in Houston and in Texas, overall,” Coughlin said. “The fans down there are super friendly and they really love and understand Pro Stock. I feel a lot of confidence in the JEGS/Elite team and expect we’ll contend for another win there. We almost won in Florida and had our chances again today in Charlotte so it’s just a matter of all the pieces falling into place. “The Houston track has a lot of family history for us and I’d love to add to it next Sunday.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION NGK NTK NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS ZMAX DRAGWAY IN CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA RACE RECAP MAY 16, 2021                                                                                                                         Chevrolet rolls to two victories in Charlotte four-wide format • No. 1 qualifier John Force grabs 152nd career Funny Car win• Dallas Glenn earns first Pro Stock victory in fourth race• No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force is runner-up in Top Fuel CONCORD, N.C. (May 16, 2021) – John Force won the inaugural Funny Car four-wide event at MAX Dragway in 2010. He returned to the winner’s platform in 2021. Force, who turned 72 on May 4, drove the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS to the No. 1 qualifier position for the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals and ran the table in eliminations to secure his 152nd career victory.  “I pulled it off,” said Force, who dedicated the victory to track owner Bruton Smith. “I ran my big mouth, said I can do this, I’m going to win this. I love this guy and everything he’s done for the sport. “I don’t have much time left, but when you have a crew chief like Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi and all these guys who take this old man and give him strength, what a run.” After John Force Racing’s trio of Chevrolet drivers took off the majority of the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) season to regroup because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have come back strong through four National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series events. Force, runner-up at Atlanta two weeks earlier, registered his 161st career Funny Car low qualifier honor on the way to his first victory since Indianapolis in September 2019. Teammate Robert Hight, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Camaro SS Funny Car, was runner-up in the season opener at Gainesville and the No. 1 qualifier for the Las Vegas four-wide event. Top Fuel standout Brittany Force was also the top qualifier at Las Vegas and runner-up at zMAX Dragway. Brittany Force came up just short in the Top Fuel final quad. Driving the Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster, Force recorded a 3.723-second pass at 333.16 mph to finish runner-up to reigning class champion Steve Torrence’s 3.716-second run. Force, who set both ends of the track record in qualifying No. 1 for the second time this season and 22nd in her career, upped her speed record from 333.08 to 333.49 mph in winning her opening quad.  Dallas Glenn, a KB Racing crew member for 22 of Jason Line’s career Pro Stock victories, picked up his first Wally in his fourth Pro Stock race. Glenn, driving the Rad Torque Systems Camaro SS, edged Mason McGaha’s Harlow Sammons of Odessa Camaro SS at the line in the final quad.  “From the outside watching Jason, you can always see the little things, but driving is so much harder. Being a crew guy, you just make sure nothing falls off and you do everything you’re supposed to,” Glenn said. “Driving is I have to admit a lot harder than I thought to get to this point. I can’t thank RAD, KB Racing, Chevrolet for making this one possible.” All four finalists, who have a total of 48 starts in Pro Stock between them, were seeking their first victory. Greg Anderson, the No. 1 Pro Stock qualifier for the fourth time in as many events this season and the 110th time in his career, was aiming for his 97th career victory. He posted low elapsed time of 6.538 seconds in his semifinal quad but finished third and did not advance. Anderson, driving the HendrickCars.com Camaro SS, tied Tony Schumacher for third all time in round victories with 850. Warren Johnson is next with 874. David Barton of Reading, Pennsylvania, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to victory in Competition Eliminator. Chevrolet drivers will make the quick turnaround for the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, on May 21-23. In the 2020 event, which was postponed to October because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aaron Stanfield earned his first Pro Stock victory in his Camaro SS. AN INTERVIEW WITH FUNNY CAR WINNER JOHN FORCE (JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS):YOU WANTED THAT ONE BAD, DIDN’T YOU?“Yeah, I ran my mouth and said I could win this for (track owner) Bruton (Smith). I really wanted to and it was in my heart. He’s done so much for me – things people don’t even know – to keep my head in the game. I dedicated this trophy to him. (Crew chief) Danny (Hood) is getting one, so is (co-crew chief) Tim Fabrisi.” HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO HAVE A RACE CAR LIKE YOU DO UNDERNEATH YOU? “(Austin) Coil called Danny Hood last night and said ‘You’re really showing your stuff.’ Like Coil taught Danny how to run the dyno, he said Danny picked it up in one lesson and he’s picked up this race car. And now he’s all into it. Sometimes I wonder where’s Danny, but he’s at his computer. He’s got a good team around him. They’re all working together. And Robert (Hight) always works trying to help me. So, if you surround yourself – and I have a young team – the only thing old is me. Am I going to keep doing it? Today, I’m OK. Sometimes things just work right for me. I won the inaugural, and my mindset (today) was to do it.” COMING BACK AFTER LAST YEAR AND GETTING A WIN, HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DOES THAT GIVE YOU?“It says that I can at least compete in the points and do good.” HOW DOES THIS FEEL? “I’m telling you, time is everything. God’s got a plan for me. I won the inaugural four-wide and I met (track owner) Bruton (Smith) a hundred years ago in a coffee shop early in the morning. He said he wanted to meet with me when he built Bristol and I saw the fire in his belly, where he was going. We went down the road and did our thing. I called out to Bruton and what I did was I insinuated that I was going to win this race. Then I said, ‘You can’t do that.’ Then I said I’m sure going to try. For all that he’s done for so many of us, the sport of drag racing, NASCAR, INDYCAR, so I go and win the race and Bruton is going to take the trophy home. This make me so proud in the world that I live in.” CONNECT THE DOTS FROM TAKING LAST YEAR OFF BASICALLY TO BEING BACK IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE. “You don’t realize how much you love something. It’s a wakeup call. Don’t ever take the job you love for granted, or the people. We’re back here. These kids are tough out there. The car was prepared right by my young team and I halfway did my job. I’m excited. I’m lucky, I have a job. I didn’t have a job last year and it was painful.” CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT: TOP FUEL: BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier; runner-up): “Great weekend for this team. We came out Friday Q1, set track record at 3.66 and stole that No. 1 spot. Then, going into Saturday, we struggled. We didn’t get down the racetrack and that was tough for this team. We had a run that was in the cold and the best track conditions and now we needed to reset for race day. So, this team found that. David Grubnic and Max Savage set up this race car and it ran killer runs all day. Consistent all day long. We ended up runner-up. We made it to a final; that’s huge for this team. I’m so proud of all my Flav-R-Pac guys and proud to be teamed up with David Grubnic. I struggled on the second run and just messed up on the Christmas Tree and was so in my head about it, and Grubnic pulled me aside and told me to stop messing with it, I’m overthinking it and go out and drive the car because I know how to do it and rip their throats out. And that’s what we went out there doing. We brought everything to the line the best we could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day, but this will carry us into next weekend.” FUNNY CAR: ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (fell in first round): “We’ve had some issues, but we think we know what it is now. We’re going to stay and test tomorrow. I’m not worried, this Auto Club team, Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham and all the guys, they’re working hard to figure this out and once we do, we’ll be hard to catch. We’ll make a couple of runs tomorrow and be ready for Houston next weekend.” PRO STOCK: DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS, CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won first national event): “To be honest, I don’t even think it’s hit me yet. I’m just trying to enjoy everything I can. I’ve never experienced it on this side. It’s super emotional. This is a whole new perspective for me and these cars are so much fun, but they’re hard to drive. The results just came a little sooner than we were expecting.” GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “It always feels good to get that No. 1 and start the weekend off on solid footing, but to do it with the HendrickCars.com Chevy Camaro just makes this really special. We’ve had a hot rod all year, and this Chevrolet has been in top form at every race.” TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (final quad competitor): “We turned on a couple of win lights today, and that’s exciting. I always want more from myself and if I had tightened up my reaction times a little more we could have had an even better day but I’m still really happy to regain some momentum. Credit my guys — Mark Ingersoll, Eric Luzinski, Kelly Murphy, Steven Hurley and Kyle Bates — they gave me an awesome car every round. As a driver, there’s simply nothing better than knowing you have the best team in the sport behind you.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DRYDENE 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT MAY 16, 2021  ALEX BOWMAN CAPTURES THE WIN AT DOVERHendrick Motorsports Gives Camaro ZL1 1LE a 1-2-3-4 Finish DOVER, DEL. – (May 16, 2021) – Alex Bowman led the charge to the checkered flag in the Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway to score his second win of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) season in his No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE. It was Bowman’s fourth career victory in NASCAR’s premier series, and fourth top-10 finish in 11 races at the popular one-mile concrete oval track. The 28-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver’s trip to victory lane at the Monster Mile gave Chevrolet its fourth win on the season, bringing the Bowtie Brand’s all-time win record to 799 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series. The triumph gives Hendrick Motorsports its 21st win at Dover, the most of all teams at the venue, and the team’s 267th all-time in the Series. The victory brings Car Owner, Rick Hendrick, and Hendrick Motorsports just two race wins away from breaking Petty Enterprises’ all-time win record and becoming the winningest team in NASCAR history, one of stock car racing’s greatest achievements.  It was more than just a win for Hendrick Motorsports as the organization’s drivers swept the top-four finishing positions, becoming just the third organization in NASCAR Cup Series history to finish 1-2-3-4 in a single event. Hendrick Motorsports joins an elite list to accomplish that feat, including Peter DePaolo Racing (1956 at Titusville; 1957 at North Wilkesboro) and Roush Fenway Racing (2005 at Homestead-Miami).  While the win was Bowman’s first visit to Victory Lane at the Monster Mile, it was a familiar finishing place for the No. 48 Chevrolet. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, captured a record-11 wins at the wheel of Hendrick’s No. 48, including the final win of his career in 2017. Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, crossed the finish line in the runner-up position, after sweeping Stage One and Stage Two wins and leading a race-high 263 laps in his No. 5 NationsGuard Camaro ZL1 1LE. The impressive run gave the California-native his 10th top-10 finish in 13 races at Dover and his eighth top-10 this season. Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, finished third and William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE, finished fourth to round out the historic top-four sweep. Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cat Linkage Pins Camaro ZL1 1LE, finished eighth; and Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Camaro ZL1 1LE, finished ninth, giving Team Chevy six of the top-10 in the final running order.  Joey Logano (Ford) rounded out the top-five in the 400-lap, 400-mile event.    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series continues with Race #14 on the season, the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, on Sunday, May 23. FS1 will telecast the race live at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. ALEX BOWMAN AND GREG IVES (CREW CHIEF), NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:  THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race-winning driver, Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 ally Chevrolet. I believe we will also have his crew chief Greg Ives joining us. ALEX BOWMAN: Greg is yelling through this glass. He’s right outside the window looking like an idiot (laughter). THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions for Alex. Q. This was a track position game. How confident were you after you got the lead on the pit stop?ALEX BOWMAN: I think straight up the 5 was a little bit better than us. I knew that track position was key. Clean air was tough today, tougher than previous races here I feel like a little bit. I just felt like if I could keep the bottom closed off, it would pretty hard for him to get to me. If he did get to me, he would have to wear stuff out pretty bad. My pit crew I feel like won the race getting us off pit road there first. Man, just really cool to get to race Kyle, have such a great day for Hendrick Motorsports. Q. Mr. H said it’s pretty much a formality for you to sign an extension for multiple years. Do you feel any more comfortable in your future now than your typical you never know what’s going to happen?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, I mean, I think so. Just being at Hendrick Motorsports is obviously where I want to be. I want to continue to work with ally and drive the 48 car. Like he said, we’ve been working on it. I think I want to be there, they want me to drive their race car. It’s cool to have a guy like Rick Hendrick say he wants you to continue driving his race car. It means a lot to me. Just a really special place to be. Appreciative for the opportunity. THE MODERATOR: To let everyone know, we’re also joined by crew chief Greg Ives. Questions for both Alex and Greg. Q. Alex, you had a runaway train with the four guys finishing in the top four, but you were the locomotive, not the caboose. How did it feel being the locomotive pulling that train to a 1-2-3-4 finish?ALEX BOWMAN: It’s pretty amazing. I feel like we’ve been off for a couple weeks, but we’re still the same race team that won in Richmond. We’ve been probably a little down on ourselves. Just tried to get the guys back motivated after a rough week last week in Darlington. Our pit stops were incredible today. To run 1-2-3-4 for HMS, so cool. I don’t know when the last time that happened was, but it’s been a long time. Really, really cool to see it. Q. Back to the pit stops and the pit crew. What was the reaction when you did the burnout in front of them? Was that for them because of what they were able to do today?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, for sure. I mean, if we don’t beat the 5 off pit road, we probably don’t beat him in the race. I give them all the credit for the win there. I think without them we wouldn’t have gotten it done. So, appreciate Greg and all those guys working so hard throughout the week to continue to get better. They’ve been super-fast all year. It’s cool to win a race that you can really point back to them and say they’re who got it done. It was cool to be able to do that. I feel like other guys do that all the time. Their pit crews come to the wall. I go to do burnouts, I can’t even see any of my guys. I yelled at them, You guys got to come to the wall. It was really cool to get to do that. Q. What is the significance to you obviously for yourself in Victory Lane but also the 48, getting Rick closer to the record for most wins by one team?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, I just want to be the guy that ties them and beats them, right? All four of us want to be that guy. It’s cool to put us one closer. Yeah, I mean, I want to be the guy that gets those wins for Mr. H because I feel like — not that any win is not special, they’re all really special, especially when you only have four of them, but I feel like I really want to be the guy that gets that done for him. Q. Did it take them long to get that fire out?ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t know. I stopped paying attention. It’s a long way from when I was on fire in New Hampshire, that’s for sure. Q. Alex, certainly Greg has talked about in the past about pit road. You talked about what the pit crew did today. How has Greg helped, what you’ve done to be better on pit road so far?ALEX BOWMAN: Greg, yells at me whenever I don’t maximize my lights and my segments, my rolling times, average speed. At Hendrick Motorsports we really like charts. In our meetings we talk about charts. There’s a lot of charts. Sometimes I look bad on those charts, and that’s when Greg yells at me (smiling). There’s a lot of different pit road charts and ways to look at it. He’s tries to do whatever he can to help me maximize each and every area. I feel like I’m gaining on it. There are definitely guys that do a little bit better of a job than me right now still. But that 48 pit crew makes up for it a little bit because they are super-fast each and every week. Q. Greg, you talked a couple weeks ago about the pit crew, your philosophy. You talked more about consistency. Talk about how you came to that philosophy. How does that philosophy work in a situation where it’s a winner-take-all pit stop?GREG IVES: Yeah, I mean, for me it’s all about, as Alex said, the details of it, but also letting the guys kind of play in their own space. They want to play at a high level. It’s all about creating comfort in that high level stress environment. The last couple weeks I’ve been putting them in a lot of changes, high stress environments, trying to get them to go fast when they have to make a lot of adjustments. I think it’s kind of like a batter swinging a heavier bat. I created some uncomfortable situations. Weren’t really looking good as far as times on pit road. Ultimately, I feel like for the adjustment stops we were doing a good job of making up time and figuring out where we had some deficit. It’s all about going down and talking. I talked to them this week. I broke down how well or how bad I was doing. Rolling that left front tire, I wasn’t doing it right last weekend, opened it up. We all worked through it. They’re not scared to tell the crew chief that I need to get better in the situation. I think ultimately being on the same platform as them, allowing them to make some mistakes, when mistakes come learning from them rather than scolding them. I really appreciate what they do, the family we’ve become. We’ve been together for five, six years now. It’s easy to work through complications when you have that open communication. Q. Obviously you won in the No. 48 car. Obviously, Jimmie Johnson has dominated for years here. What does that mean to you?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it means a lot to me. I was terrible here when I would come here for other teams. I got a little better when I started driving for (indiscernible) Motorsports. Had some okay runs here and there. My first or second time here for Hendrick Motorsports, I was struggling in practice. I would text Jimmie, bug him all night before the race trying to ask him what he does, how he approaches this place, what kind of line he runs. I just stuck to that, really tried to run like Jimmie did, run the Jimmie Johnson line, be tight against the black, super disciplined, super patient, kind of do some of the same things that he does with the throttle. Next year we came here, we ran second and third. Last year we had a solid top five. We’ve kind of been good here ever since. To win here with the 48 car is special, but to do it using I guess tips that Jimmie taught me is pretty cool. Q. Greg, Alex has described his relationship with you, it seems like you have similar personality, but how would you describe your relationship with Alex?GREG IVES: This question always is fun for Alex to pick on me a little bit. Yeah, I mean, we have a great relationship. That’s all because we love race cars, we love cars, we love racing and getting better. The number one thing when it comes to a driver and my philosophy is the ability to learn. There’re things that go on in my head, sometimes it’s hard for me to talk about them or tell Alex. That’s why he calls me the riddler. Ultimately, I get to the point where I just tell him what I want and he does it. Today we were working through some brake pressure stuff, talked him through it. He didn’t get upset about it. I wasn’t trying to make him upset, I was trying to make him aware. Ultimately you have to that have relationship of trust. If he understands and knows what I’m looking at, he has the ability to respond the proper way in the car. When we get out, there’s no hard feelings. We just go on our way and have fun again the next week trying to overcome either a bad race or a race win. He talked about Darlington. We were up in the lounge. We were trying to figure it out. Right after a race, if you have a bad one, sometimes you don’t want to talk, but we were able to. I told him, Hey, pump the guys up. Get involved and pump them up. He did. I was in a situation where I was upset and frustrated with the car’s performance. You needed him to do what he needed to do. He did a good job overcoming the last few weeks. Ultimately that’s because we have a relationship not only with him and I but throughout the full race team. Q. Greg, I know the dynamic of the team has been a little bit different with Rowdy’s passing. What has Alan brought to the team from your standpoint? How has he changed or uplifted the dynamic?GREG IVES: When you’re going through that, one of the biggest things you have to do is find a connection not only with the team but you have to find that connection with the person that Rowdy was. Alan and Rowdy had a friendship and a relationship prior. He was somebody that understood Rowdy and his attitude towards everyday working. He understood Rowdy’s personality from a team aspect, how valuable he was to us, keeping us motivated every day and every week. That’s where I found comfort with the guys around us. The pit crew had a big say in how they replaced one of their fallen guys. How was he going to mesh with the team? I would take meshing with the team over talent. Alan and Rowdy came in close together, they stayed friends. They had a similar work ethic. Ultimately it felt like the right choice for him to step into a position that was very difficult to endure and go through. He helped us find a little bit of peace in it all.Yeah, very difficult, but ultimately that’s kind of how it all worked out. THE MODERATOR: Greg, we’ll let you continue on with your obligations. Thanks for joining us and congratulations on the win. GREG IVES: Thank you, guys. Appreciate everybody. Q. You mentioned your crew guys were able to hop up on the wall. With everything opening up this weekend, were you able to celebrate with them a little bit more than the Richmond victory?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, for sure. They were all in Victory Lane which is really cool. Means the world when I get to share that with them when I think so much of it was influenced by them. Really, really cool. Appreciative of getting to do that with them. Really neat. Q. What has Allen brought to the team? The stop was brilliant at the end. I think the fastest of anybody this season to get you out front.ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, for sure, I think Rowdy had a really big outgoing personality in a sea of awkwardness that is the 48 team. I think Allen brings a really similar personality, outgoingness. He’s just a big personality, a lot of fun to be around, a lot of fun to talk to. Can talk to anybody. Always having a good time. Always upbeat and positive. Rowdy was that guy. You have a lot of really awkward people on the 48 team, between Greg and I, some of the other pit crew guys, some of the team itself. We’re kind of a bunch of weirdos. It gets the job done. I feel like Alan brings it all together a little bit. Q. All four teams are running at a really high level right now. Can you circle anything specific that maybe has changed or improved that has got all four of you hitting on eight cylinders at the right time? Is it communication?ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t think there’s one thing you can pinpoint. I think it’s everybody in the whole shop working super well together, all four race teams working well together. Marshall Carlson is doing a really good job kind of getting everybody together. Chad Knaus is doing a really good job of taking lead in the shop. From the top down, Jeff Andrews has a big part in everything, the four crew chiefs, all the way to guys that sweep the floor at night. It’s a team effort. Everybody is all in. It’s a good atmosphere right now. All the cars are fast. The 48 team, we’ve had our struggles, our races that have gotten away from us. Everybody has been really fast. That’s just brought a great atmosphere and continuing to go well. Q. Looking forward to the Coke 600. With that extra hundred miles, your fast pit crew, the speed that the Hendrick cars have, you’re going to be one of the favorites going into that race. How do you feel being in that tier of drivers?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, I mean, I think we probably could have won both races there last year. We won a bunch of stages. The green-white-checkered didn’t really go our way the first one. I crashed all by myself when we should have won the second one. Probably my favorite oval we go to as far as the mile-and-a-half stuff. It’s got a lot of character. Some guys don’t like it, but I think it’s because they haven’t figured it out. Once you figure out turns three and four, it’s a lot of fun. You can manipulate your race car to do what you want it to do. I enjoy it. A lot of different grooves. It gets slick. A long, grueling, fun race. Looking forward to 600 miles, being as prepared as I can be for it. Q. Is there anything to that extra hundred miles for a driver?ALEX BOWMAN: I think this race feels longer than that race does. Next week will probably be more physically challenging than the 600 is. Charlotte is not a place that really beats you up too bad. This place is really hard on you. A road course in Texas in the middle of May is going to be pretty rough as well. I think all these races kind of strung together that are difficult physical days for us probably prepare us a little bit extra for the next weeks. Q. I know the short tracks haven’t been your best friend. Now you have two this year. Throughout 2021 what have you learned about Greg and this team that might be new to you?ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t really think there’s been a new thing for us. I think we definitely improved our short track program a ton. Richmond was a place we struggled at tremendously. Dover was one of our best racetracks, has been for a long time. I don’t know if we’re really learning new things. We’re definitely gelling really well. Probably doing a little better job of overcoming the rough weeks in between Richmond and here than I would have previously. Just trying to be a little better leader, be a little more upbeat. Bristol, Martinsville, Kansas, Darlington, 2019, 2020, I probably would have been pretty mad all week, miserable to be around, angry about it. Just trying to stay really positive and be a good leader for those guys, do what I can to keep them pumped up. We go to a lot of good places for us. Our weaknesses are shrinking, we’re getting better at the places we struggle at. I feel like we can go about anywhere and win right now. Q. A couple of your teammates had issues with their brakes. Was it an issue of too much tape, track temp or anything like that?ALEX BOWMAN: I haven’t really talked to my teammates to know what they were fighting with. We had massive brake issues. Pretty much had no brakes. Spent a lot of 400 laps pumping the brake pedals up, hoping they were going to work in the next quarter. They worked when it counted. We’ll have to address what was wrong there, what we missed. Never had brake issues before here. Obviously, we had really fast race cars to be able to overcome it. Definitely struggled with that a little more than we would have expected. Q. You’re going to the Circuit of the Americas next week. How tough is it going to be to get a setup for that place, the limited amount of practice time?ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t even know how much practice we do or don’t have. It’s the same for everybody. We just got to go there and try to hit it off the bat. Chase has been there. That’s a big help. It will be crucial to learn from him. It’s crucial to learn from him any time we go to a road course, he’s so good at them. Just trying to improve. I feel like our weak point is going to be me as a race car driver. I feel if I do my job, do a good job for the team, we’ll have a good, solid day. Q. This time last year the No. 48 was one of the most talked about rides in terms of who was going to fill that seat. How does it feel to vindicate the faith that Mr. H had in you?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it’s really cool. To come to a place like Dover, the 48 has had so much success, get a win here, never won here with Mr. Hendrick here, so it’s so cool to be able to do that. Just really neat. I feel like throughout my career I’ve had my fair share of doubters. To be able to get two wins here to start off the season, be having a good start to the year, is really cool. Q. Mr. H said he took you aside before the season started and said, you can’t be Jimmie Johnson light, we want you to be Alex Bowman. In your words who is Alex Bowman?ALEX BOWMAN: Race car driver/weirdo, awkward human (laughter). I don’t know. I feel like I’m just a regular guy. I obviously really enjoy what I get to do. Put a lot of time and hard work into trying to be the best race car driver I can be. I don’t have any, like, extravagant hobby. I don’t have, like, this super big personality. I’m not a villain like you see some of the other guys. I guess I don’t have that. I just kind of am myself. I like to spend time at home with my dogs. I have a small group of friends. Spend a ton of time at my shop working on the Sprint car stuff. Every day that I’m not at Hendrick Motorsports, I’m in the simulator, at the shop, laying underneath a race car working on it. Yeah, that’s about all there is to it for my life. Q. COTA and the Coke 600, NASCAR will hold practice and qualifying sessions those weekends. Have you missed the extra time at the racetrack? Are you and the drivers ready for the potential to add more sessions onto the schedule now that restrictions are getting lifted?ALEX BOWMAN: I really enjoy the lack of practice. I feel like growing up, you’d show up, get one hot lap session, qualify, heat race, race. Your whole day was like 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and you were done.I enjoy kind of the compact schedule. Mostly looking forward to be able to work with my race team and maximize our race car for Sunday’s race, something we haven’t done in quite a while. It’s going to be cool to be able to do it. I’m not going to lie, I definitely like the schedule we have now for sure. THE MODERATOR: Alex, thanks for joining us this evening. Congratulations on the win. We will see you next week for that practice and qualifying. ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, thank you.

May 16, 2021 For Matt DiBenedetto and Motorcraft/Quick Lane team, Dover International Speedway lived up to its Monster Mile nickname in Sunday’s Drydene 400. DiBenedetto’s No. 21 Mustang had handling issues from start to finish, leaving him with a 24th-place finish, five laps behind the leaders. DiBenedetto lined up 18th for the start of the 400-lap grind on the one-mile concrete oval. He was able to move up in the initial laps, gaining three spots in the first five laps. He was running 20th when the Competition Caution flag flew after 36 laps. But from that point on, he ran mostly outside the top 20 for the remainder of the race. DiBenedetto said his team tried some different things set-up wise after failing to meet their expectations at Dover last year.   “We tried to throw some things at our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang going into this weekend, and unfortunately it didn’t work out,” DiBenedetto said, adding that he pushed the ill-handling car as hard as he could without taking undue risks. “We just had to be smart.”   Eddie Wood said he and the entire team are disappointed but will move on.   “We had string of good finishes going, but we’ve stumbled the past two weeks,” he said. “We are a better team than this, and we’ll turn it around.”   Despite the recent struggles, DiBenedetto remains 17th in the Cup Series standings, nine points behind 16th place Michael McDowell.   Next up for DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team is the first-ever NASCAR race on Circuit of the Americas, a road course in Austin, Texas. The weekend opens for the Cup Series with practice next Saturday morning. Qualifying is set for Sunday morning, followed by the 68-lap EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.   May 16, 2021 For Matt DiBenedetto and Motorcraft/Quick Lane team, Dover International Speedway lived up to its Monster Mile nickname in Sunday’s Drydene 400. DiBenedetto’s No. 21 Mustang had handling issues from start to finish, leaving him with a 24th-place finish, five laps behind the leaders. DiBenedetto lined up 18th for the start of the 400-lap grind on the one-mile concrete oval. He was able to move up in the initial laps, gaining three spots in the first five laps. He was running 20th when the Competition Caution flag flew after 36 laps. But from that point on, he ran mostly outside the top 20 for the remainder of the race. DiBenedetto said his team tried some different things set-up wise after failing to meet their expectations at Dover last year.   “We tried to throw some things at our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang going into this weekend, and unfortunately it didn’t work out,” DiBenedetto said, adding that he pushed the ill-handling car as hard as he could without taking undue risks. “We just had to be smart.”   Eddie Wood said he and the entire team are disappointed but will move on.   “We had string of good finishes going, but we’ve stumbled the past two weeks,” he said. “We are a better team than this, and we’ll turn it around.”   Despite the recent struggles, DiBenedetto remains 17th in the Cup Series standings, nine points behind 16th place Michael McDowell.   Next up for DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team is the first-ever NASCAR race on Circuit of the Americas, a road course in Austin, Texas. The weekend opens for the Cup Series with practice next Saturday morning. Qualifying is set for Sunday morning, followed by the 68-lap EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.

May 16, 2021 Jim Allen

(5/17/21), Sacramento, CA … As the month of May nears its end, the NARC King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Cars take on Petaluma Speedway this Saturday, May 22nd for the Salute to First Responders, the third round of a 20-race schedule.  The event salutes our brave first responders and their selfless efforts to help ensure our safety. All first responders are encouraged to attend as they will be admitted for the discounted price of $10 with a valid ID at the front gate.

The state’s premier 410 winged sprint car series will be joined by modifieds, dwarf cars and mini stocks for an action-packed night of racing. Located on the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, the tight and tacky Petaluma Speedway guarantees fast, wheel-to-wheel action, especially when NARC’s roaring 900-horsepower sprint cars take the green flag on the clay oval.  Saturday marks the first of three scheduled series appearances in Petaluma, the others being July 10th and August 29th.

After his clean sweep of the Peter Murphy Classic weekend that included an $11,000 Fujitsu Feature win at Tulare, Dominic Scelzi is now atop the point standings. The victory marked his tenth career series triumph and first at the Thunderbowl.  Having proven he can run up front at any kind of racetrack over his career, he’ll be in the hunt for the checkered flag this Saturday with hopes to extend his point lead in search of his first title.

Who might be some other drivers to watch this weekend?

Expect Campbell native Bud Kaeding to be in contention. Over his last eight series starts in Petaluma, the 2017 NARC champion has an average finish of 2.9. The stretch includes two victories and top-5s in all but one event, a sixth place run in June of 2019 being the outlier.

Current runner-up in points, Shane Golobic, has two wins in his last three series appearances at the 3/8ths mile. The driver out of Fremont won in August of 2016 and July of 2018 and will be hoping to make it three wins out of four starts this weekend. Golobic also scored an impressive SCCT win on the clay last month.

It’s also worth noting that Chase Johnson won in the series most recent appearance at Petaluma in July of 2019. The versatile driver also scored victories with the SCCT and USAC/CRA in 2019 at the same facility. However, after engine troubles at Tulare plagued his Johnson Racing team, his status for Saturday is up in the air.

Expect many other competitors to be in attendance Saturday. Justin Sanders captured his first ever Petaluma victory last year driving the Larry Antaya Motorsports No. 16A that he’ll be piloting this weekend. San Jose’s Tim Kaeding, Willie Croft of Colfax, Sean Becker of Roseville, Hanford’s D.J. Netto and more will be occupying the pits this weekend.

The NARC King of the West Hoosier Tire format will feature ARP Fast Time Qualifying, 10-lap heat races, a six-lap Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash, and the Fujitsu General 30-lap feature.

The pits will open at 12:00 P.M. with the front gates opening at 4:00 P.M. Hot laps are set to begin at 5:00 P.M. with racing at 6:00 P.M.  Adult GA tickets are $27 while seniors will be admitted for $24. The price tag for kids ages 6-11 is $20, and kids 5 and under are free! And again, first responders will be admitted for only $10 by showing a valid ID at the front gate.

Tickets are available on myracepass.com, and fans are encouraged to purchase theirs now as there will be a 40% capacity limit on the crowd due to local COVID-19 regulations. Get yours while you can! The online tickets do not include the first responders discount option as those must be purchased on race day at the front gate.

The Salute to First Responders can also be viewed live on FloRacing.com along with the rest of the NARC King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Cars schedule.

Petaluma Speedway is located on the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds at 100 Fairgrounds Dr. Petaluma, CA 94952. For more information call (707) 763-7223.

Race fans and teams are highly encouraged to practice safe COVID-19 protocol.

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu General Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires.  Associate and product award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bullet Impressions, FK Rod Ends, FloRacing.com, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Winters Performance Products.

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NARC King of the West Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series
Championship Points Standings (After one event in 20-race series – 5/16/21)

1.  Dominic Scelzi, Fresno – 231
2. Shane Golobic, Elk Grove – 226
3. DJ Netto, Hanford – 224
4. Bud Kaeding, Campbell – 221
5. Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 218
6. Willie Croft, Colfax – 21
7. Sean Becker, Roseville – 215
8. Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 215
9. Justin Sanders, Aromas – 213
10. Billy Aton, Benicia – 209
11. Kyle Hirst, Paradise – 206
12. Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA – 205
13. Sean Watts, Clovis – 199
14. Mitchel Moles, Raisin City – 197
15. Kyle Offill, Tracy – 191
16. Kenny Allen, Chico – 191
17. Rico Abreu, Rutherford – 40
18. Geoff Ensign, Sebastopol – 32
19. Robbie Price – 104
20. Blake Carrick – 104

Upcoming Events:
June 11 – Ocean Speedway (Watsonville) – 33rd Annual Pombo-Sargent Classic
June 12 – Placerville Speedway – 30th Annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial with SCCT

May 16, 2021 Jim Allen

(5/15/21) Joe Shivak & Jim Allen, Tulare, CA …  A Peter Murphy Classic win has been on Dominic Scelzi’s bucket list for a long time.  According to Scelzi it was Murphy who kept him interested in continuing his racing career after suffering a broken back in a sprint car accident.  And in a fitting conclusion to a successful race night, Murphy was the first person to greet Scelzi on the front stretch of the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night after his win in the 30-lap NARC King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Car feature.

Scelzi’s red and white No. 41 Wimple Superchargers/Scelzi Enterprises sponsored car picked up the $11,000 top prize in the Seventh Annual race becoming the seventh different winner.  Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic there was no race held in 2020.

Polesitter Scelzi and Bud Kaeding brought the 24-car field to the green flag and immediately the two veteran drivers waged a back and forth battle which saw the lead change at each end of the track until Geoffrey Strole brought out the caution when he stopped on the apron of the first turn.  During this caution, Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Offill pitted and returned to the track after a visit to the work area.

Once restarted, the two top guns traded slide jobs once again as their battle resumed.  The race tightened up even more when the red flag appeared for an upside-down Austin McCarl in the second corner on lap19.  He was unhurt.  When racing resumed Kaeding and Scelzi’s battle was even more frantic with the freight train of Shane Golobic, Kyle Hirst and 11th starter Willie Croft in hard pursuit.  Scelzi’s slide job final stuck for good on the 24th circuit and he threaded his way through traffic the rest of the way to score the emotional victory.

“I got hurt here and I was looking to redeem myself,” said Scelzi.  “Peter (Murphy) provided the inspiration and my team gave me the car to do the rest.  It been a great weekend and I’m glad I could do this in front of full grandstands.  Thank you!”

Golobic, aboard the Elk Grove Ford entry, and Croft got past Kaeding in the waning laps to fill out the podium.  Croft earned the Swift Metal Finishing hardcharger award for his efforts in his Amerikote-sponsored ride.  Kaeding was fourth and Hirst rounded out the top five.

The balance of the top ten included Tim Kaeding, Sean Becker, Justin Sanders, DJ Netto and Billy Aton.

Scelzi’s was the only driver in the 24-car field to qualify in the 13-second bracket to earn fast time.  That earned him $1100 from Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash, Norm Martin, and ARP for his work.  Overall for the weekend, he won the Sprint Car Challenge Tour 360 race and Kings of Thunder 410 features on Friday at Hanford, and the Kings of Thunder 360 and NARC King of the West races on Saturday.

FUJITSU FEATURE EVENT (30-laps):  41-Dominic Scelzi, 17W – Shane Golobic, 29 – Willie Croft, 69 – Bud Kaeding, 0 – Kyle Hirst, 42X – Tim Kaeding, 83V – Sean Becker, 16A – Justin Sanders, 88N – DJ Netto, 26 – Billy Aton, 27 – Mitchell Faccinto, 21P – Robbie Price, 93 – Kalib Henry, 83 – Kasey Kahne, 14 – Corey Day, 18T – Tanner Holmes, 2 – JJ Ringo, 98 – Sean Watts, 01 – Mitchel Moles, 36 – Craig Stidham, 88 – Kyle Offill, 21 – Austin McCarl, 76 – Kenny Allen, 09S – Geoffrey Strole.

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS:   Kaeding 1-23, Scelzi 24-30.

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER:   Willie Croft 11th to 3rd.

KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH/ARP FAST QUALIFIER :    Dominic Scelzi – 13.963 seconds

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST HEAT (8 laps):    Scelzi, McCarl, Netto, T. Kaeding, Stidham, Price, Henry.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA SECOND HEAT (8 laps):   B. Kaeding, Golobic, Watts, Sanders, Aton, Moles, Offill, Day.

FLORACING.COM THIRD HEAT (8 laps):   Becker, Kahne, Hirst, Faccinto, Allen, Croft, Ringo, Strole.

SUNNYVALLEY BACON/NORM MARTIN “AUSSIE POLE SHUFFLE;”  Becker beat Kahne; Becker beat Hirst; B. Kaeding beat Becker; B. Kaeding beat Golobic, Scelzi beat B. Kaeding.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DRYDENE 400 TEAM CHEVY FULL PACKAGE POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES MAY 16, 2021 TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE2nd    KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONS GUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE3rd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE4th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE8th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.  DRIVER1st      Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)2nd    Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)3rd     Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)4th      William Byron (Chevrolet)5th      Joey Logano (Ford) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Circuit of the Americas for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – RACE WINNERALEX BOWMAN WINS AT DOVER AND HE GETS HIS CREW CHIEF’S (GREG IVE) FIRST OFFICIAL VICTORY AS A CREW CHIEF AT THIS RACETRACK. ALEX, YOU JUST SAID IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PIT CREW. WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY OF THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW AND WHAT YOU’RE ABLE TO DO?“We won Richmond (Raceway) and then had a really rough couple of weeks there. We went to some really good racetracks for us and struggled. I told the guys last week, ‘we’re still the same team that did it at Richmond’. This is another really good place for us. I’m just so pumped for Ally. It feels right to put the 48 back in victory lane here after how many races that this car has won here.” “Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) is here. I don’t think I’ve won with him here before, so that’s really cool. Just so proud of this pit crew. It was obviously a rough off season for us and a big void to fill. Not that we’re ever going to fill the void that Rowdy left, but Allen is doing a really good job and the whole pit crew is doing a really good job. Thanks to my spotter, Kevin Hamlin, for couching me there at the end. It was fun racing Kyle (Larson) and glad to get Hendrick Motorsports another win.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2ndIT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO BATTLE FOR THE LEAD. WHAT DID YOU LACK THERE AT THE END?“Yeah, I just felt like all of us HMS guys were pretty equal, so I felt like whoever got out to the lead was going to be hard to beat. Their team (No. 48 Chevy) just did a really good job on that pit stop and gained control of the race. I never really had a shot after that. That one restart, I got to his bumper and got him loose, but the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was coming so we just had to let each other go. Hard to be disappointed with a second, because like I said, I felt like I did everything I could. We led a lot of laps and won both Stages there, so it was good points, but we would have liked to be one spot better.” “But all in all, a good day for our NationsGuard Chevy and what a day for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. Thanks to everyone back at the shop, the engine shop. It’s pretty amazing because I don’t know the last time Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) had all four of his cars in the top-four, but that is a pretty special day, for sure.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd“I really felt like we were pretty close, balance-wise. It was just kind of a matter of how your restart went and where you fell in line, unfortunately for us. But I’m happy for Hendrick Motorsports. I don’t know when the last time that finish has happened. It’s probably been a while for any team.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4thFINISHING 1-2-3-4 FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WAS A DOMINATE DAY FOR THE ORGANIZATION.“Yeah, that was awesome. For us to finish 1-2-3-4 is just a credit to a lot of great people at the shop, Chevrolet, Axalta, and all the people that support us to get us the resources; and then our teams, the crew chiefs, drivers and pit crews executing really good races. For us, it’s been going for a while. We’ve just got to get a little bit. It sucks to be fourth, but I think we’re close. We just have to work on some things on our car, get the right feels, but we’re getting really close. So, we keep chipping away. We’ve had two fourth-place finishes in a row. We’ll take it and move on.” RICK HENDRICK, OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTSTO GET A FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH PLACE FINISH TODAY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU IN THE LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS?“I can guarantee you this has been the most nervous I’ve been in a race. It was a great day for the organization. Alex (Bowman), congratulations to him. This is a sign of the guys working together and bringing good stuff to the track. I don’t think it’ll hit me maybe until tomorrow that we were able to finish 1-2-3-4. That’s pretty hard to do. Things can happen; pit stops, tires, anything. But that’s a first and we’ll take it. It was a great day for us.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT LINKAGE PINS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th“I’m very proud of my No. 8 Cat Linkage Pins Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team today. We really had to fight hard today for our eighth-place finish at Dover, especially after the speeding penalty on pit road after our first stop of the day. Entry seemed to be the biggest issue for us during the first half of the race. I just needed better rotation to get through that portion of both ends of the track quicker. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, and the team did a good job of keeping after the track with our adjustments today and giving me feedback based on our SMT data. We really hit on something towards the end of Stage 2, which allowed me to get up in the top 10 for the start of Stage 3. Track position was key today, even more so than fresh tires for us, so once we got up in the top 10, we did everything we could to say there, even though that meant staying out and making it a much longer final run for us on tires when those mid-stage cautions came out in Stage 3. It was a battle to hang on during that last run, but it paid off for us today with our fifth top-10 finish in the last seven races.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9thBEFORE THIS RACE, YOU SAID YOU’D BE HAPPY WITH A TOP 10. YOU CALLED IT. HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE FOR YOU?“We have to work hard. The No. 99 CommScope Chevy Camaro was strong. Most of the race, I felt like the entire race, we were probably a top-15 car. But, with good adjustments, we gained some track position and that gave us the opportunity to finish in the top-10. There is still a lot of work to do, definitely. Right there at the end, I was tight. I was against the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), the No. 41 (Cole Custer) and all these guys, but we were able to hold them off and get a decent finish. But we have to keep working and win a trophy.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 YORKTEL/CAREGILITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th “Such a tough way to end an otherwise strong run for our team. We were able to pass a lot of cars and race from near the back to the top-10 by the beginning of Stage 2. The guys did a nice job on pit road today, we just had an issue with a malfunction on the jack for the final stop. That put us back at the tail-end of the lead lap cars. I hate if for the Yorktel and Caregility folks that were here to watch us race today. There is no quit in this team, so we will move-on and keep digging”. AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 HUK PERFORMANCE FISHING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 14th“We had a decent Huk Fishing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today at Dover International Speedway. Overall, the balance of our RCR Chevy was pretty good to start the race. We found a line at the bottom of the track that worked well but I was worried about tire wear, so I didn’t move down there until closer to the end of the stage. We were pretty good in Stage 2 but handling was just sort of blah during the middle of the run when cloud cover cooled off the track and caused the Huk Chevy to become freer. It came back to us to end the Stage and we were able to secure a few stage points. At the end of the race, the cloud cover returned and that effected our handling. We just couldn’t keep up with the track. We’ll regroup as a team and head to the Circuit of the Americas next week.” ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“15th – What I would have given a few weeks ago to finish 15th. But today, we showed a lot more promise on this No. 42 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet. We had more speed than that, we just got really tight. The last set of tires, we made no adjustments. We were the best we were all day on our second-to-last run. On that set of tires, we ran a few laps. A caution came out, we did the opposite of the leaders. Didn’t do anything to the car, fired back off tight; very tight. I’m kind of baffled why that was. So, I just kind of had to hold on and not get into anyone’s way too much, and ran 15th there at the end. Man, it did feel good to run up towards tenth. We’ll keep building.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 22nd“Just struggled all day with the Medallion Bank Chevy. Never could get the feel we were looking for. We fought all day to try and bring home a decent finish. Hopefully have some notes to make some changes when we come back again in the fall.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 NATIONSGUARD CAMARO ZL1 1LE, AND CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Press Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our third-place finisher, Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. We’ll go straight to questions for Chase. Q. What does it mean to be part of a day when Hendrick goes 1-2-3-4?CHASE ELLIOTT: Really cool. Glad Mr. Hendrick was here. He has been at just a few races this year. He picked a good one today. Yeah, just proud of our whole team. Everybody, HMS, I feel like we have a really talented group of people that work really hard. It’s just nice to see their hard work awarded like that, in that manner, in that type of domination. Those guys led, I guess Kyle and Alex, pretty much led the whole race. Really cool. Just really proud of everybody. Glad to be a part of the team. Q. Halfway through the regular season, what do you think of your team’s performance at this point? How do you grade things out?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, I think we’re in a good place as far as where we ended the day today. I thought we were close. Just needed to do just a tick better. Needed to have a little better restarts, have just a tick more pace. I really thought we were pretty close. So happy with our run. Q. Any races in the first half of the year that you’d like to have back that you thought maybe you could have won?CHASE ELLIOTT: No. That’s why we race. Q. Obviously to do as an organization what you did today, it’s not easy. 2005 the only other time it’s been done. Is there a way to characterize how difficult it is for one team to put a thrashing on the rest of the field?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, obviously, because of the significance of it, I guess you said it’s only been done one other time? Q. Three times, once in the modern era, Roush in ’05.CHASE ELLIOTT: There you go. It’s obviously really hard. It’s one thing to have four fast cars. I think that happens fairly often. But have four fast cars with four really well-executed races. Yeah, it’s a cool thing. It’s very hard to do. Q. Is that a case of teamwork? Have you been working closer together compared to previous years or everybody hitting on all cylinders at the right time?CHASE ELLIOTT: I feel like our communication is good. I feel like it’s been good in the past, too. I wish I could say that or give you a really good reason as to why. I just think everybody in our company’s really motivated right now, working hard to provide fast cars. I feel like everybody is pulling the rope in the same direction. As good or better than it’s ever been since I’ve been there. I think that’s key. But I think as far as our communication, how closely we work, I don’t really know that’s much different. THE MODERATOR: We are also joined by our second-place finisher, Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Nations Guard Chevrolet. If you have a question for either Kyle or Chase… Q. Chase, did you have any of the brake issues that the 24 and the 48 experienced through the course of the race?CHASE ELLIOTT: Fortunately no, I did not. Q. Chase, how does a race like this build into next week going into the Circuit of the Americas road course where you’ve been pretty strong at those types of tracks the last couple years?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, honestly it really doesn’t. They’re all kind of new opportunities, in my opinion, new weeks. Obviously a much different track than what we raced on today. I don’t feel like there’s really any comparison at all. Q. Chase, the Coke 600, Hendrick should be pretty fast again. You’ve come about as close as possible to winning it. Can you describe how tough it is to win a race like the Coke 600?CHASE ELLIOTT: They’re all tough to win. I haven’t found an easy one to win personally. I think they’re all pretty difficult. I don’t think the Coke 600 is any different. Q. Is that last hundred miles any more significant than in the past where it was about attrition? What does that do for a driver?CHASE ELLIOTT: As much as you want me to say yes, the answer is no. I mean, it’s just not any different really. Just happens to be another hundred miles. Q. Still a crown jewel for you?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, absolutely. THE MODERATOR: Chase, thanks for joining us. We’ll let you move on. We’ll continue on with questions for Kyle Larson. Q. Kyle, do you feel like you’re still learning some about the Hendrick cars as far as restarts and other things? Do you feel like you’re totally comfortable with the cars?KYLE LARSON: No, I mean, it all seemed pretty normal to me today. I don’t know, do you think I could have did anything different on the restart? Q. No, I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out if you feel like you I don’t want to say gave it away, but do you feel there’s still learning for you to do with these specific cars that potentially could help you be stronger down the road? KYLE LARSON: Well, I mean, I think you learn. Every time you hit the racetrack, you learn something. I’m sure I learned something today. We’ll be better again in the future. Q. This is the 267th win for Hendrick Motorsports. Not an opportunity every day you get to eclipse the King for a record. How meaningful is it to you to have contributed to that? Does having that record in front of you, do you feel like it will add even more motivation for you, or business as usual?KYLE LARSON: I mean, I think it’s definitely business as usual. We all know that milestone is out in front of us. We know that it’s really important to Mr. H. He mentions it almost every time I feel like I talk to him. I hope we can get there quickly. I hope I’m the driver to do it and break that record whenever we get to it.But, yeah, it’s definitely a cool, cool milestone that I think is obviously important to him. To have a day like we all had today with all four of us in the top four, that’s never been done at HMS. This year has been great so far for our organization and we look forward to adding to it. Q. Compared to Kansas, your post race comments sounded like it was more magnanimous of being second. Was it a fact of having all four Hendrick cars, whoever had clean air simply with the edge today?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, I honestly don’t know if there was anything I could have done differently to win the race after we came out second on pit road. I would choose the top behind him, get to second every time. Maybe I could have chose the bottom on restart, but I still don’t think I would have stayed with him till he was inside or anything like that. Probably would have fell back to third or so. I feel like we maximized our day. We were all so equal. I think any of the four of us could have been out in the lead. That person probably would have won. Just, yeah, we were all equal. Their pit crew did an awesome job. Our pit crew has been amazing all year, too. Like I said, I’m not disappointed or upset about this second because I feel like there wasn’t anything else I could do. Q. Last year you were here obviously, there were no fans in the stands. This year it seemed like a decent crowd. What is it like to be racing now more regularly in front of fans?KYLE LARSON: I didn’t get to experience it all last year, but I can imagine it was probably eerie not having any fans at these races.But today it felt close to normal. Was definitely happy to hear the crowd yelling and screaming before the race, and afterwards, too. Things are starting to feel like they’re getting back to normal. I think we all love not having to wear masks throughout the garage area and outside any more. Yeah, it’s getting normal again. We’re getting fans back, which is great. Q. For drivers, a crown jewel race for a driver like yourself, Daytona, the Coke 600. Do you think about those things in your career and on your trophy mantel, if you will?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I haven’t thought about that race yet because we still have COTA, I don’t know, maybe something else after that. Yeah, I mean, we all want to win the big ones. I’ve been fortunate to win the All-Star Race, which is a crown jewel. But for sure you want to win all of them. You want to win honestly every race. Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely one that’s up there that means a lot. I think the purse is really big, too. I think that adds some ambition for everybody to want to go out there and win. Q. Can you describe how that race turns out with the day/night thing, the extra hundred miles?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’m curious and excited to get there in Hendrick equipment. Ganassi I would always run really well at the All-Star Race, then I would run pretty good the first third of the 600 or so, then I would always seem to lose the balance once it went to nighttime. Yeah, I guess we’ll see what the difference is this year. Maybe it will be a lot different, too, because the All-Star Race, all the extra laps on the track. Maybe it will suit me a little bit better. Q. Had it been anyone other than Bowman on the restart that had the lead, would you have been more aggressive? Clearly you don’t want to take your teammate out on a restart.KYLE LARSON: No, I mean, I was really aggressive that one where I got to his bumper, pushed him through the middle of one and two, then again in the middle of three and four. At that point I didn’t really care it was a teammate in front of me or not. I wasn’t going to push him any harder than I was there because I already had him pretty sideways. Same would have went for anybody else. I’m not going to try and wreck anybody. The 4 car was coming really fast up top, so I didn’t want to give him an advantage, smoke by all of us. You never know with him out front, it could be really, really fast. We didn’t want that to happen. Q. Do you take any solace in winning stages, leading the most laps?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, it all looks good for stats and stuff, laps led. Winning the two stages, getting those couple points for the Playoffs is obviously really important. Obviously we would have wanted five more with the win, but we’ll take what we can get and keep stacking ’em up as often as we can, just try and position ourselves to be in a good spot come Playoff time. Yeah, if you can’t win the race, you definitely want to have a good points day. Q. You mentioned it’s not what you wanted, but a big day for the organization as a whole. Chase said he hasn’t felt like communication has been too much different. You haven’t been at Hendrick Motorsports as long as the other guys. What have you noticed as far as all four cars running as well as they have? Is there anything specific you can attribute to how strong the team has been?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’m not sure. They’ve obviously had an amazing race team for a very, very long time. I have found it interesting, multiple times throughout this year Marshall Carlson at HMS, he’ll talk about how everybody in the shop is so excited to be working there, working on our race cars, never seen the organization happier and more excited to go racing than they are right now. I find that crazy to think because you look at all the races that Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, they’ve had multiple, like, powerhouse drivers at one time on their team. For them to be saying this is the most excited they’ve ever been is pretty unreal to me when we’ve got four young guys in the sport who haven’t really won many races, when you really think about it, compared to the guys that used to be there before us.I think maybe he’s saying a little bit of the future is what gets everybody really excited there. Yeah, just an awesome day for the organization. Glad I could be a part of it. THE MODERATOR: Kyle, thanks for joining us today. Congratulations on the run with Hendrick today. KYLE LARSON: Thank you. THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, whose cars finished 1-2-3-4 today. We are going to open it straight up to questions for Mr. Hendrick. Q. Was this on a bucket list for you at all to see your cars go 1-2-3-4 in a race?RICK HENDRICK: Every time you’re in a race, you like to see them run 1-2-3-4. The feeling is unbelievable. It was probably the longest last hundred laps that I’ve ever seen in a race just because I kind of wanted to see it so bad, so close. To be able to pull that off, that’s kind of one of those things in racing that you would say was on your bucket list.I’m extremely happy and proud of all the guys. It was a great day for the organization. Q. One away now from Richard Petty, Petty Enterprises. We just heard from Kyle Larson that he said you talk about this all the time with him, remind them how close you are. How big of a deal would it be for you to catch now and tie with just one away?RICK HENDRICK: Well, Richard is a good friend. He’s the King of this sport. But any time there’s a record out there, you have an opportunity to break it or tie it. I think a few years back, I thought it would be impossible. If you told me in 19, what, 84 that you’re going to be here for this long or that you had an opportunity to win all these races and championships. I kind of pinch myself because it’s just really hard to do. The sport is so competitive right now.But I think our guys, I know our guys, are working together better than they ever have in the shop with Chad and Jeff Andrews. We’ve got a lot of talented people. Good to see these young guys like William, 11 races in the top 10. When you look at that, now we have four wins this year. Chase has been so close. We got some great tracks for him coming up. I’m really proud of the folks. I just love to see guys like Cliff or Greg become star crew chiefs.It’s all been really good for us. Good to have Rudy. Put Rudy and William together, it’s like magic. We just have to keep digging because everybody behind us, they’re going to be there every week.I’m glad we got it done one time. I don’t know if we’ll ever do it again. I’ve seen Joe do it, I’ve seen Penske do it, I’ve seen Stewart-Haas maybe not win all four cars, but all three cars. To see them dominate a race like that…We just got to get ready, do it again, show up, have a game face on, do the best we can. Q. When did you start to think perhaps you could catch Petty? Did you get to 150 or 200? At what point did that become a goal?RICK HENDRICK: One time I thought I’m not going to live long enough to do this (smiling). It was around 250. Then last year we clicked ’em off. Actually, I really tried not to think about it until this year. This year when everybody started talking about it, then I thought, Man, this is in reach.I’m really proud of the organization. But I’ll say this about Richard: nobody in this sport has ever given as much as he has. To see him on pit road, see him signing every autograph. I’ve got one of his autographs when I couldn’t get in the garage area through the fence at Martinsville. I know what that feels like. He’s a tremendous ambassador for this sport.If I get the record, somebody will break it behind me. Q. We’ve seen a Hendrick team, mostly the 9 team, be dominant, win races. Now you have sustained success across the organization. Why do you think that is?RICK HENDRICK: I think we’ve had superstars that win. We’ve won 17 races before in a year. One car was just dominant, maybe too dominant than the others, which is just so-so. The way we’ve kind of started back four, five years ago, putting all engineers in one place, putting all the crew chiefs in one place, taking our best folks like Ron Malec, they’re in charge of this part of the vehicle, Chad is in the shop, you have Jeff Andrews.When I look at the way they’re working together, respect that the drivers have for each other. They want to beat each other. That’s what we pay ’em to do. I know we don’t, we’ve never had the focus on four. Maybe we wanted to, maybe we tried to, but when they all are in there together, you could give one of the other guys his car and they wouldn’t know the difference, you know, swap cars.It’s rewarding to see. To see Marshall, Jeff Andrews, Chad, the crew chiefs, all of the folks working, and Chevrolet. GM has been a big supporter. Richard Childress and I now have aligned to do things together. Boy, that’s going to make a big difference and has made a difference. He’s a good friend. I respect him a ton.So there’s a lot of things that have come together. But I think having these young guys that are all so young, having Kyle in the mix, he just drives the wheels off of it. I think they all make each other better. To see William blossom like he has, Alex, a guy that didn’t have a chance now have two wins this year, finish sixth in the points last year, I think the future is really bright for us.There’s nothing that beats teamwork. You’re stronger together. That’s been my philosophy on the automobile side and the racing side. I was told early on that I’d never win a championship having multiple cars. It’s worked.It’s all about people. I don’t care what kind of business you’re in, it doesn’t make any difference. It’s people. It’s people that make the difference. Q. Alex Bowman’s future with your team, can you give an update on where you’re at?RICK HENDRICK: We’ve already started. It should be done any time. We want Alex there. He wants to be there. It’s kind of at this point just a formality. Q. Is it a multi-year deal?RICK HENDRICK: Yes. Q. You were talking about Alex. It’s one thing to get the opportunity to join Hendrick Motorsports in general. This year, with him taking over the 48 that made so much history, planting the car in Victory Lane at Dover, talk about how Alex has embraced this opportunity.RICK HENDRICK: First of all, ally, the sponsor, we’re great partners in the car business and in racing. When you say you have to replace Jimmie Johnson, they were more than willing and wanted to let Alex have a chance.I told Alex, You’ve got to be your own guy. You can’t be Jimmie Johnson light. You got to be Alex Bowman, just do your deal. We are going to be there with you and you’re going to do great.Greg is a great crew chief. I just didn’t want Alex to have too much pressure on him getting in that situation. That is some big shoes to fill. No different than going behind Dale or Jeff Gordon, all the championships he has.But I think Alex has embraced it really well. He and Greg are very good together. And ally does a ton of promoting and they really like him. It’s all good. Q. Chase has run up front most of the season but has yet to get into Victory Lane. Is there anything that stands out to you with him or is it mostly circumstances?RICK HENDRICK: It’s just circumstances. I mean, he had a five-second lead at Daytona, the road course. We elected to pit, couldn’t get back to the front. So, he’s been in position to have a good day and win races, but it just hasn’t worked out.He had a great run I think it was Kansas. Guy with new tires on the outside, got blocked there at the end. Those things are going to happen. But he’s too good. That team is too good. He’ll be there. He’s going to win some races and he’ll be there for the championship again. Q. You mentioned some of the challenges building up. A few years ago there were some challenges with the organization, the car not able to win. Talk about this journey going from some relevance to dominance.RICK HENDRICK: Well, I think we had to do some work on the car. I think we submitted a car that was probably a little too vanilla, too many character lines, too much like a stockcar when everybody else, Ford and Toyota, went more aggressive. We had to pay for it.Then when the 1LE came out, all the teams worked together, it was Ganassi, Childress and us, and GM put a lot of effort into the car, we’re seeing the results. I feel like we’re even or as good as or better than a lot of the guys out there.When you’ve been on top of the mountain, you stand there and watch somebody else win 15 races or whatever, you struggle, it just makes you work harder. I think our group of people have so much pride in what has been accomplished, that now they’re super excited. They see the youth in our camp. Nobody is going to retire any time soon.I’ve seen too many drivers retire. I’ve been through it with Dale and Jeff and Jimmie and others. I think we are set for a really good run here for the next years, multiple years. I like where we are. This doesn’t mean a lot. This means we did it one time out of 40 years, I guess. We just got to stay sharp and not think that we’re ahead of anybody, but we just got to race to be there.I think we got great momentum right now. I can’t believe William has 11 top 10s and run up front a lot, I mean, lead, and he’s won two races, last year and this year. I think we’re ahead of schedule with Alex. Chase showed what he can do last year. Having Kyle in the mix, his talent, just makes everybody better. Q. I’m not trying to push you off to the side, but how much patience do you have, how has that changed, certainly you could be closer at any point to just retiring on a boat and enjoying your free time as opposed to being at the track as much. Is there less patience because of fewer opportunities to win races and championships?RICK HENDRICK: Well, I do like to fish. I do like the boat. When I go to the doctor anyway, they ask me if I’m retired. I tell them I’ve got two jobs. I work every day and weekends. I love it. I mean, that’s what makes me get up in the morning. I’m competitive. I think the guys around me are very competitive. We want to win and we want to set records.I’m not going to be every single week, two days a weekend, if we get back to it at the track. I’m there with the guys. I’m with them in the morning. I balance it. But I love it. I’ve raced all my life. That’s all I’ve done. The two things I love in my life other than my family is the car business and racing. I’ve been fortunate to be able to make a living doing both of them.I don’t see retiring any time soon. Q. You’ve seen a lot of Hall of Famers come through your stable. What are your feelings with this specific group that you have now, when you have a day like, this the momentum you do? How does it compare to the days past dominating and winning championships with Jimmie?RICK HENDRICK: I kind of like it better in the old days where you had a points lead, you didn’t have to go to a Round of 4, Round of 8, have a little spread. If you had a really good year, you kind of had a lot. It’s hard to do it now. You could have a flat tire or anything can just take you out of it after you’ve had a banner year.I think these guys, William at 23 has got so much ahead of him. Chase at his age. Alex and Kyle. They’re young guys. I mean, they’ve got a lot of runway ahead of them. We should just get better. They will get better. We will get better. I love the chemistry. I think we’re in good shape for a while. THE MODERATOR: Mr. Hendrick, congratulations on the fantastic day at Dover today. We appreciate your time.RICK HENDRICK: Thank you. Good to see people without a mask.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

DOVER, DE – May 17, 2021 – Austin Cindric worked his way through the field to win at Dover International Speedway, marking his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the 2021 season and extended his championship lead to 62 points over second place.“Congratulations to Austin, Brian, Roger, and the entire No. 22 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Austin and Brian showcased their maturity and patience as they worked their race strategy and drove to the front of the field for the win. Dover is a unique and challenging track, but Austin was able to conquer the Monster Mile.”Cindric started the race in 16th position, but was able to maneuver the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang through the field to finish Stage 1 in eighth, after a remarkable save on lap 44.  After four fresh tires, at the Stage 1 caution, he continued moving forward to finish Stage 2 in third place. On lap 150, Cindric passed the race leader and never looked back while finishing 3.786 in front of second place.“There are just very few places that really have the same intensity throughout a lap,” commented Cindric. “It is quite challenging to race here. We were able to make it back from 16th starting position today which I knew would be our biggest challenge throughout the course of the race.”Ford Performance teammates Ryan Sieg with RSS Racing finished P8 and Riley Herbst with Stewart-Haas Racing in P17. The NASCAR Cup Series raced on Sunday while Ford Performance teammates Joey Logano with Team Penske finished P5, Kevin Harvick with Stewart-Haas Racing in P6, and Cole Custer with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P10.The NASCAR Cup & Xfinity Series is headed for the inaugural Circuit of the Americas (COTA) race in Austin, Texas this weekend.  33 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 419 WINS – 380 POLES!  *Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty ImagesAbout Roush Yates Engines   Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.    Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.   With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.   3 Series – 18 Teams – 81 Races

CONCORD, NC – The DIRTcar Northeast divisional ladder is now complete with the addition of the DIRTcar 4 Cylinder class joining DIRTcar Big Blocks, 358 Modifieds, Sportsman Modifieds, and Pro Stocks. DIRTcar Racing recently announced the expansion to track promoters and it was well-received as over 10 tracks have brought the sanctioning to their existing 4 cylinder division. A $2,550 point fund will be offered through the Hoosier Racing Tires Weekly Championship Points. From May 14 through Sept. 6, points will be earned in each 4 Cylinder Feature held at the participating tracks. Just like the other four DIRTcar Northeast divisions, a driver’s top 16 finishes will be tallied and the top 10 overall will share from the point fund. The first overall champion will collect $500. The only requirement for 4 Cylinder teams to earn the points is to obtain a DIRTcar membership, which is an $80 cost. The membership comes with the same benefits as all other DIRTcar divisions, including aa $50,000 supplementary insurance policy. Teams have until July 19 to get their membership and be included in the points.  “When we first introduced the possibility of 4 Cylinder sanctioning it went over very well with the promoters,” said DIRTcar Northeast Director Dean Reynolds. “Just about every sanctioned track has a 4 cylinder division so let’s give the teams something to shoot for as well with a little added PR.“Because 4 cylinder rules are diverse across the northeast we will simply go with home track rules,” Reynolds continued. “But our goal is to have a common, uniformed rules package down the road to see if we could increase numbers and improve safety.”The Hoosier Racing Tires Weekly Championship Points have become an important part of DIRTcar sanctioned weekly shows in the northeast. The total weekly point fund is now $48,000 for 2021. The points are also showcased in the Hoosier Racing Tires Weekly Championship on DIRTcar.com.Tracks participating in the program are Airborne Speedway, Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Bear Ridge Speedway, Brewerton Speedway, Can-Am Speedway, Freedom Motorsports Park, Genesee Speedway, Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, Mohawk International Raceway, and Ransomville Speedway. The new program will be on hold in Canada as current COVID restrictions have opening dates delayed in Ontario and Quebec. Follow DIRTcar Northeast on Twitter and Facebook and be sure to bookmark DIRTcar.com for news, race reports, and more. PHOTO: Jacy Norgaard

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