: Dave Blaney Sends Sprint Car World Crazy with Last-Lap Pass at Sharon24 Years After Last Win, Blaney Beats Haudenschild on Final Lap at his Home TrackHARTFORD, OH – May 22, 2021 – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series ended a 14-year absence from Sharon Speedway on Saturday night, and promptly delivered the most magical moment of the 2021 season.Dave Blaney, at 58-years-old, stunned Sheldon Haudenschild with a last-lap pass to score his 95th career victory at the track he owns in his home town of Hartford, Ohio. It was a storybook ending that sent his local crowd and the entire sprint car world into pandemonium.As the 1995 World of Outlaws champion climbed from his car, chants of “BLANEY! BLANEY! BLANEY!” erupted.You could actually feel the bleachers shaking as the decibels rose and fans sprinted to victory lane. It was a special moment for Blaney, who rose to fame as a Sprint Car legend in his prime during the 1990’s and now beat them again in the year 2021 with his own car.”I feel like I had a Sprint Car career in the 90’s, but I don’t anymore,” Blaney explained. “I just come out and play, nowadays. It’s not lost on me that winning a World of Outlaws race in this day and age is giant; especially at a track I’m part-owner at. The response was just overwhelming.”The historical significant of Blaney’s triumph is nothing to sell short.He set the record for longest gap between World of Outlaws wins, striking at Sharon 23 years, 7 months, 2 days after his last victory at Southern New Mexico Speedway on October 21, 1997. He also broke the record for longest gap between a first and last career victory, making it 36 years, 1 month, 16 days between his April 5, 1985 win at Tri-City (IL) Speedway and Saturday’s score.Blaney also came close to being the oldest winner in the history of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. He topped Sharon’s Outlaw return at the age of 58 years, 6 months, 29 days. The record still belongs to Sammy Swindell, winning Eldora in 2014 at 58 years, 8 months, 16 days.The best part of it all? Blaney wasn’t even surprised.”Yeah, I can believe it actually,” Blaney told DIRTVision’s Chase Raudman. “I thought we had a car that could come here and be competitive. We’ve raced here quite a few times with this car and it’s ran really well. To have it actually work out is pretty crazy, though. This is really awesome.”Coming back in the year 2021 and doing it against today’s modern crop of Outlaws is something that gives Blaney an extra sense of appreciation.”This is such a proud moment for us,” Blaney admitted. “This is a car we built ourselves and we just beat the Outlaws. Holy crap. It’s a dream come true, and it happened at my home track.”Blaney’s sudden victory stole the spotlight from Sheldon Haudenschild, who dominated the Feature for the opening 30 laps. By the halfway point, the NOS Energy Drink #17 has built a massive 7+ second lead and lapped inside the top-ten. He was gone, and yet another win was in the bag, but the caution flew for a slowing Aaron Reutzel on Lap 31.It gave Blaney the one opportunity he needed, and he capitalized on it.”I knew that was my only chance,” Blaney said. “That caution saved us, no doubt. I could see him up there and the lappers were catching him on the bottom, so the top was slowing down. He wasn’t going to move off it, so I thought I had a chance if I could get alongside him. I thought we were dead with two to go, but that mistake all we needed.”That mistake came on the final lap as Haudenschild rode the rim through turns one and two. However, the NOS Energy Drink #17 got too tight and he hit the wall. Blaney rolled by and beat him to the line by 0.802-seconds.”I let my guys down,” Haudenschild mentioned. “We’ve got a really fast race car, but I just pushed too hard and lost my momentum. Sometimes you get beat. If I’m gonna lose to anybody, I’m glad it’s Dave. He and my dad [Jac Haudenschild] grew up racing so far him to get an Outlaw win this late in his career at his home track, that’s special for the Blaney family.”It was an Ohio 1-2, and more importantly, a historical night that many will remember forever.Closing out the top five at Sharon Speedway was Carson Macedo in the final podium spot with the Jason Johnson Racing #41, David Gravel in fourth aboard his Big Game Motorsports #2, and Brad Sweet in the Kasey Kahne Racing #49.Rounding out the top ten on Saturday night was Brent Marks in sixth, Brock Zearfoss in seventh, Logan Schuchart in eighth, Kraig Kinser in ninth, and James McFadden in tenth.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to “The Hoosier State” for a Memorial Day Weekend in Indiana. On Friday, May 28, The Greatest Show on Dirt visits Terre Haute Action Track before rolling over to Lawrenceburg Speedway on Monday, May 31.NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 10-Dave Blaney [4][$10,000]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1][$6,000]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [3][$3,500]; 4. 2-David Gravel [5][$2,800]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [11][$2,500]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [8][$2,300]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [12][$2,200]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][$2,100]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$2,050]; 10. 9-James McFadden [10][$2,000]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz [19][$1,600]; 12. 2C-Wayne Johnson [21][$1,400]; 13. 40-George Hobaugh [9][$1,200]; 14. 11-Carl Bowser [14][$1,100]; 15. 42-Sye Lynch [6][$1,050]; 16. 13-Brandon Matus [17][$1,000]; 17. 23-Darren Pifer [15][$1,000]; 18. 22-Brandon Spithaler [16][$1,000]; 19. 5K-Adam Kekich [22][$1,000]; 20. O8-Brandon Conkel [24][$1,000]; 21. 29-Michael Bauer [20][$1,000]; 22. 83-Aaron Reutzel [2][$1,000]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [23][$1,000]; 24. 70-Henry Malcuit [18][$1,000]. Lap Leaders:Sheldon Haudenschild 1-34, Dave Blaney 35. KSE Hard Charger Award: 2C-Wayne Johnson[+9]NEW Championship Standings (26/83 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (3,656); 2. David Gravel (-56); 3. Carson Macedo (-86); 4. Donny Schatz (-150); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-164); 6. Aaron Reutzel (-200); 7. Logan Schuchart (-204); 8. Kraig Kinser (-462); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-528); 10. James McFadden (-538).Photo – Trent Gower

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

 

·        Intermittent rain disrupted and shortened qualifying at Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park

·        Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) pilot Leah Pruett qualifies No. 2 with her Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster and No. 10 behind the wheel of her new Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak as she goes for two wins

·        Four-time Houston winner Ron Capps qualifies No. 3 aboard Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

·        Cruz Pedregon qualifies his Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car No. 4 for Sunday’s eliminations rounds

·        Matt Hagan’s DSR Pennzoil Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car was third quickest in Q1 and is seeded No. 6 after rain washed out a chance at a second pass 

May 22, 2021, Baytown, Texas – While intermittent rain interrupted and then eventually shortened National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions at the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil on Saturday, it didn’t put a damper on expectations for the Mopar Dodge//SRT continegent heading into the elimination rounds at Houston Raceway Park.

Due to forecasted rain, Friday sessions were cancelled and the NHRA moved up the Saturday schedule to begin earlier in the day in the hopes of getting in both qualifying sessions for all categories. While there were pauses in action due to sporadic sprinkles, they were able to complete the first qualifying sessions. Then the first few pairs of Funny Cars locked in times during the second session before the skies darkened and unrelenting rain eliminated the possibility of any more runs. The remaining Funny Car entries had their seeded positions determined by Q1 times, while Top Fuel and Factory Stock Showdown elimination ladders were set by their sole session. 

That ended up being good news for the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat entries of Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon who were among the handful that were able to get in a second Funny Car pass; Both had issues with their initial outings, but each put in solid second runs to position themselves in the top half of the eliminations ladder. 

Capps kept his streak of top-five qualifying positions alive this season with a 3.941 second pass at 315.42 mph aboard his Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Funny Car to move up into the No. 3 spot on the eliminations ladder after hazing the tires in the first session. The four-time winner (2006, 2007, 2015 and 2017) and two-time runner-up (2012, 2020) at Houston will be looking to go rounds on Sunday by starting with lane choice over No. 14 Paul Lee.

The Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat was looking strong in its first run of the day as it crossed the finish line in 4.003 seconds at 319.98 mph, a time that was subsequently disqualified due to a brush with the wall just prior to crossing the stripe. Pedregon came back quickly with a solid second pass at 3.943 sec./ 323.12 mph to put himself in the No. 4 position on the ladder for race day. A three-time winner at Houston Raceway Park, including his very first career Funny Car event win in 1992, Pedregon is hoping to turn on win lights as he begins his day against No. 13 Terry Haddock.

DSR driver Matt Hagan, who also took home his first ever Funny Car Wally trophy from this event in 2010, earned his spot in the top half of the eliminations ladder with his only qualifying run at 3.961 sec./ 324.12 mph. That pass was third quickest of the Q1 session and rewarded him a bonus point. Hagan’s Pennzoil Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye ended up No. 6 overall and paired with No. 11 Chad Green for the opening round. 

While the Top Fuel class only got one session, DSR’s Leah Pruett made sure that was all she needed. She drove her Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster to the No. 2 position with a 3.733-second elapsed time run at 312.86 MPH to collect two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session. She’ll face off against No. 13 Justin Ashley in the first round of eliminations as she looks to repeat her 2017 winning performance.

Pruett will have two chances to drive to the winner’s circle this weekend as she is returns behind the wheel of her 2021 Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak for the Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) in Sportsman category for the first time since the 2021 season opener. This is the first time FSS will run a full event at Houston as last year’s runs were a carryover from the St. Louis finals that had been rained out.

Pruett took her DSR- prepared Mopar Drag Pak for a 7.959-second drive at 174.73 mph, putting her tenth on the timing sheets and in the lane next to No.7 Arthur Kohn. 

Teammate Mark Pawuk qualified No. 13 with a 8.050 E.T. at 172.21 mph aboard his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to set up his first round match-up against No. 4 seed David Barton.

The Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil will be streamed online via NHRA.TV and television coverage will be broadcast on FS1 on Sunday, May 22 with a qualifying show from noon-1 p.m. ET and eliminations from 6-9 p.m. ET. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES

FUNNY CAR:

Matt Hagan, DSR Pennzoil Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye
(No. 6 Qualifier – 3.961 seconds at 324.12 mph) Bonus point for third quickest Q1 run

Qualifying 1: 3.961 sec./ 324.12 mph  
Qualifying 2: (Did not run due to rain)

“We had a pretty good qualifying as we went out there and threw down a nice opening lap that put us third and then we were the next pair to go and the rain started dumping. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to make another run when others did, but that’s racing and the weather, you can’t change that. We’re in the field and we have good data to work off of for Sunday. Let’s go racing and put this car in the winner’s circle for Pennzoil.”

Ron Capps, DSR NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 3 Qualifier –  3.941 seconds at 315.42 mph)

Qualifying 1: 7.844 sec./ 89.36 mph  Hazed the tires and shut off
Qualifying 2: 3.941 sec./ 315.42 mph

“There are so many moving parts just to get up to the starting line for a run. Seth Angel, everyone at Houston Raceway Park, the NHRA, I feel so bad for them. They do so much for our sport, and then it rains all week. I feel terrible. Fantastic job by Josh (Peterson) and everyone at NHRA by moving the session up to get at least one full round in. We all tried to get the word out via social media to our fans and many at the track said they saw our posts on social media.

“The first run, the car shook pretty good, but not super hard. It shook for a long time and so I kind of let it go. With 16 cars on the property, there was no need to pedal it and risk something bad happening. (Crew chiefs) Guido (Dean Antonelli), John Medlen and I, we all got together and they made a great call to go back up there first pair out, and it just started to quiver like it did the run before, and just as I was thinking I might need to pedal, it cleared up and launched me to the back of that Charger. A great run by the NAPA guys, and we’ll definitely sleep a lot better tonight after making a good run in Q2. Hopefully, we’re in for a long day tomorrow.”

Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.943 seconds at 323.12 mph)

Qualifying 1: Disqualified timed run due to contact with wall (4.003 sec./ 319.98 mph) 
Qualifying 2: 3.943 sec. / 323.12 mph

“The second run was good and definitely reaffirmed that we are headed in the right direction. The track has character and is bumpy and I think that definitely affected our first run (resulting in brush with wall). I really love this track. It’s where I had my first Funny Car national event win in 1992, so it’d be great to get back to the winner’s circle here. It’s been a good track for me and we’re happy with that last qualifying run. It was still on the conservative side as JC (Crew Chief John Collins) likes to make sure he goes down the track and plays the consistency card which is fine by me. I’m sure there’s a little left in it so we’ll get after it tomorrow in our Snap-On Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. We’re ready.”

TOP FUEL:

Leah Pruett, DSR Pennzoil Mopar Dodge//SRT Dragster  
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.733 seconds at 312.86 mph)

Qualifying 1: 3.733 seconds/ 312.86 mph – Two bonus points for second quickest run of Q1

“Our first hit out of the box was great. Instead of like before where we had so many gremlins attacking our Mopar/Dodge/Pennzoil team. It’s been random mechanical errors and we focused on getting rid of those. We want great shiny fast ET slips and we got that. Was it perfect, no, perfect would have qualified us No. 1. We did have a cylinder go out and if we were to have gotten another run that’s what we would have worked on. We’re very happy with that No. 2 position and we’re looking forward to a great race day. We can’t thank the NHRA and Houston Raceway Park staff enough for providing us with a great track surface that was properly prepped and safe.”

FACTORY STOCK SHOOTOUT:

Leah Pruett, Mopar Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak –
(No. 10 Qualifier – 7.959 seconds at 174.73 mph)

Qualifying 1: 7.959 sec. / 174.73 mph

“I feel most comfortable and at home when I’m pulling double-duty and able to drive both of my Mopars on the same day. We did make a lot of changes from the last time the new Dodge Challenger Drag Pak competed at Gainesville. We weren’t really able to tell how the car would react without that first run. We had a converter swap, some suspension changes and we wanted to go out there and be solidly in the field and pick away at it. We’re currently No. 10 and we will adjust and we look forward to getting back on the track”

Mark Pawuk, Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak– Factory Stock Shootout
(No. 13 Qualifier – 8.050 seconds at 172.21 mph)
Qualifying 1: 8.050 sec./ 172.21 mph

“Seeing the forecast earlier in the week, I never would have thought we’d get even one qualifying session in this weekend, but we did. Unfortunately, we didn’t perform as well as we had hoped, but we are qualified. We’re glad we got one run in before more weather came in and eliminated the last qualifying session. Tomorrow brings a new day with new conditions, and a better looking forecast. Hopefully we can step it up on race day, and have a good showing in our Empaco Equipment Dodge Drag Pak.”

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 visitwww.stellantis.com. 

Myatt Snider and the Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet Fight to the Finish in the Inaugural Race at Circuit of the Americas21st23rd10th“Our Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet not only looked fast with the flames on the sides, but Andy Street and the guys prepared a really fast Camaro. During the first run, we needed more drive out of the car and once Andy made a chassis adjustment, I was able to post consistent lap times. We spent almost the entire second and third stages inside the top-10, which is a testament to our team at a new track. Unfortunately with only four laps to go, I spun around with Riley Herbst which cost a ton of spots and track position at the end. Although our result doesn’t show, our car had top-five speed and that’s encouraging heading into future road course races. It was a great experience coming here to Circuit of the Americas and our Richard Childress Racing team will rebound next weekend in Charlotte.”  -Myatt Snider

WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (May 22, 2021) – Tonight’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series stop at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa has been postponed to Thursday, July 15. Persistent rain throughout the morning on an already saturated facility forced the postponement.  The $15,000-to-win, CRST, The Transportation Solution 50 at 34 Raceway on July 15 sets up a trio of action-packed events with over $150,000 in prize money on the line. The NAPA Know How 50 boasts a $12,000 top prize on Friday, July 16 at Tri-City Speedway, while on Saturday, July 17, Lucas Oil Speedway hosts the 15th Annual Diamond Nationals paying $15,000-to-win.  Next up, the Lucas Oil Late Model Series heads to Wheatland, Missouri for the 29th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtecttheHarvest.com at Lucas Oil Speedway. Show-Me 100 action kicks off on May 27 with the “Cowboy Classic”, with a $6,000-to-win, $600-to-start main event which also enables drivers to earn valuable points toward starting position into the night-night main event.  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 the next night. The May 29 program includes B Mains, the Midwest Sheet Metal Show-Me Challenge and the 100-lap, $30,000-to-win main event for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. For the latest breaking news concerning the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, including the latest series standings, 2021 tour schedule, driver information, and more visit the official website at: www.lucasdirt.com.About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesFounded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2021, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 59 events across 18 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap.  The series receives national exposure through a television package filmed, produced and edited by Lucas Oil Production Studios. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events will broadcast on four networks including CBS, NBC Sports, CBS Sports Network and the MAVTV Motorsports Network.   The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com.

FARLEY, IA (May 21, 2021) – Mike Marlar remained consistently near the front throughout the event, and with three laps to go, took over the top spot on his way to the win at 300 Raceway. Kyle Bronson led the main event until he suffered a flat right rear tire under a lap 47 caution. Marlar led the rest of the way for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2021 in the Truck Country 50. With the win, Marlar becomes the 12th different winner in 15 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events this season. Tyler Erb finished in second. Bronson finished third. Tim McCreadie, who pitted several times during the event to fix front end damage early in the race, recovered to finish in fourth. Ricky Thornton Jr. rounded out the top five. Bronson controlled the race from the onset and held off brief challenges from Josh Richards and Marlar throughout the race. He looked to be on his way to his first series win of the year, but during a caution flag with 47 laps scored Bronson had to head to the hot pit for a tire change. “That was a hard-earned win. I don’t know how that worked out, but we got it. I hate what happened to Kyle with that flat tire near the end. Kyle called me coming up the road last night and those guys have been working really hard to get better. He was hauling the mail tonight for sure. It was good to see him run so well like he did. Sometimes you run out of laps. I have had a flat with just a couple of laps to go before,” said the 43-year-old racer in his full season with the series. “We needed this win tonight,” Marlar added. “We have been struggling this year. One night we run second and the next night we run twenty fifth. To have a good finish was nice tonight. My team and car owner deserve this, they put so much into this. We have a lot of great friends in Iowa and Missouri so its good to run in front of them.” Erb fought off an exciting battle with Pierce to pick up the runner-up position. “We survived with a lot of patience tonight. I was just trying to keep the nose on it. We have been running really good here the last few weeks. It was exciting for me out there for sure. Bobby ran a really good race. I can’t thank him enough for racing me clean.” The winner’s Ronnie Delk-owned Capital Race Car is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Tri-Rivers Enterprise, Penske Shocks, Rockets Convenience Plus, Delk Equipment, and Can Am Auto Sales. Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Josh Richards, Matt Furman, and Jimmy Owens.  Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Truck County 50Friday, May 21st, 2021300 Raceway – Farley, IAAllstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Tim McCreadie / 14.398 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Kyle Bronson / 14.441 secondsPenske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 6. 00S-Jesse Stovall[6]; 7. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[7]Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 5. 22M-Charlie McKenna[5]; 6. 98-Jason Rauen[6]; 7. 10P-Paul Parker[7]Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 29D-Spencer Diercks[3]; 3. 1C-Chad Simpson[4]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[5]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 6. 44W-David Webster[7]; 7. 51-Matt Furman[6]Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 4. 17S-Tim Simpson[6]; 5. 43-Jeremy Grady[5]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 7. 40C-Joel Callahan[7]LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 00S-Jesse Stovall[5]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 4. 22M-Charlie McKenna[3]; 5. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 6. 43-Jeremy Grady[4]; 7. 40C-Joel Callahan[12]; 8. 44W-David Webster[6]; 9. 10P-Paul Parker[11]; 10. (DNS) 21-Billy Moyer Jr; 11. (DNS) 98-Jason Rauen; 12. (DNS) 51-Matt Furman

Madden conquers Port Royal for second straight winIt’s “Smokey’s” 31st career World of Outlaws VictoryPORT ROYAL,PA – MAY 21, 2021 – Country music singer Jerry Reed said it best in 1971, “When you’re hot, you’re hot.” That’s how you can describe Chris Madden’s Huey Wilcoxon Memorial performance Friday at Port Royal Speedway. The Gray Court, SC driver swept the night, setting Slick Woody’s Cornhole Company Quick Time, winning his Drydene Heat Race, and winning the $10,000-to-win Morton Buildings Feature. It’s his second straight World of Outlaws win, and his third victory of the season—more than any other driver. It’s also the 31st victory of his career. Madden led all 40-laps, but it wasn’t smooth sailing. “Smokey” made one mistake he felt almost cost him the race. “I got in lap traffic one time and kind of got myself in trouble,” Madden said. “I caught [the cars] at the wrong spot, I committed to a line I didn’t think the other guys would take.“I had to get hard on the brakes, and I got real loose. That’s when I thought I was going to give the race away.” Madden’s consistency has been a key to his success this season. His team has his Rocket Chassis dialed in no matter what track they go to. “We got [the car] to where it’s really good right now, and it fits me,” Madden said. “Obviously, we’ve found something here. We just have to stay on top of our game, doing the right things, and making the right calls.” While Madden dealt with traffic, Brandon Overton tried to chase him down. He closed within three car lengths when Madden made his mistake, but “Big Sexy” would have to settle for second. Even though Overton had a good car, he struggled on one part of the track. “I couldn’t get off of [Turn 4] very good, I feel like [Madden] beat me there” Overton said. “He shines in that condition anyway, when it gets slick, he’s really good.” Despite the struggles, the Evans, GA driver is content with his finish. It’s the first time he’s ever been to Port Royal Speedway. “I’m happy, we came here never seeing the place and qualified well and ran second, I’ll take it,” Overton said. Three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard crossed the line third—his seventh podium of 2021. It’s a place the “Rocket Shepp” is familiar with at Port Royal Speedway.“We’re always good when we come here,” Sheppard said. “We’ve only won one race, but we’ve been on the podium almost every time. We definitely want to get a few spots better [Saturday], and I think we’re close and heading in the right direction” Even though he finished in the top-three, he never posed a threat to either Madden or Overton.  “We kind of got lined out at the beginning of the race, and them guys got away from me in lap traffic,” Sheppard said. Rick Eckert, the 2011 Series champion, finished fourth, and Rookie of the Year contender Tyler Bruening crossed the line fifth. Sheppard’s point lead is down to 54 points over Madden. Tyler Bruening moved up to third and has a six-point lead over Kyle Strickler – who has joined Scott Bloomquist Racing for the weekend – in the race for Rookie of the Year. Up Next: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Port Royal Speedway Saturday, May 22 for $15,000-to-win Billy Vacek Memorial. If you can’t make it to the track, 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.

North American and European HPD JAS Esports Academy Pro Team drivers announced after global qualification process
Season begins May 22 with three-hour endurance classic at Monza for European Union drivers and sprint event at Kyalami for North American racers
HPD expands its commitment to cultivating next generation of racing talent through new sim-racing academy

Santa Clarita, Calif. (May 21, 2021) – Honda Performance Development (HPD), the leader of Honda and Acura high-performance motorsports programs in North America, together with European-based JAS Motorsport will kick off the first race of the 2021 GT World Challenge Esports season this weekend with the newly-formed HPD JAS Esports Academy Pro Team. 

The selection process kicked off earlier this month with drivers from across the globe entering the HPD JAS Esports Academy qualifiers to showcase their speed, pace, and racecraft aboard the virtual Acura NSX GT3 Evo in Assetto Corsa Competizione. HPD narrowed down the candidates and conducted driver interviews to learn more about each driver’s racing strategy, experience, aptitude, and real-world and sim-racing aspirations in order to select team members for the 2021 HPD JAS Esports Academy program.

In North America, HPD and JAS Motorsport are excited to announce Zach Patterson, Josh Staffin, and Cardin Lu as the team’s Academy drivers, led by HPD GT3 Academy graduate Karl Wittmer. Wittmer’s extensive real-world track time in the championship-winning NSX GT3 Evo through the 2020 HPD GT3 Driver Academy will bring integral experience to the North American team. Working closely with Patterson, Staffin, and Lu, Wittmer will provide individualized guidance and support to increase each driver’s performance and learning, in addition to serving as the fourth driver in Sprint competition. Patterson provides an analytical approach to his sim racing and finished first overall in the region’s qualifying race. Staffin offers extensive experience in the virtual NSX GT3 Evo and valuable knowledge about ACC with his time spent as a Champion Motorsport admin. Lu joins as the youngest team member with excellent speed and pace that compliments the team’s seasoned members. 

“It’s a great honor to represent HPD in the virtual world once again. HPD has played a monumental role in my development over the years and I’m looking forward to sharing my real world knowledge with our newly formed e-sports team,” says Karl Wittmer, Team Leadre, HPD JAS Esports Academy Pro Team. “I truly believe in the drivers we have selected together and I’m excited to see our progression and performance as the season kicks off.”

The HPD JAS Pro America team will compete in all Sprint rounds, and pair up for Endurance events with HPD GT3 Academy drivers when needed. Their first challenge will be a one-hour sprint race at Kyalami this Saturday, May 22nd at 4pm EDT, where the real world NSX GT3 Evo has shown to be a contender. 

In Europe, two drivers have been selected to compete in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance series. Nicolas Hillebrand and Ben Creanor will team up with JAS Motorsport Driver Development team members throughout the season. Hillebrand, an economics student hailing from Germany, exhibited both speed and poise under pressure in the qualifications process. He’ll be joined by Euro Nascar’s youngest driver, Ben Creanor from the UK. Creanor brings both real-world and sim racing experience, proving to be an ideal candidate for the program. Hillebrand and Creanor will also be joined by JAS development drivers for future Endurance races.

The HPD JAS Pro Europe team also kicks off this Saturday, May 22nd at 17:00 CEST with a three-hour endurance race at the Temple of Speed known as Monza. A two-car effort will see Hillebrand and Creanor team up in the #XX car, with American teammates Karl Wittmer and Josh Staffin joining the race in the sister #XX car. 

HPD JAS Asia team members will be announced in the coming weeks, as the Asia-Pacific Endurance season kicks off in July.  

Tune-in to all the GT World Challenge Esports action at YouTube.com/GTWorld or on Facebook at @gtworldchallengeeurope and @gtworldchallengeamerica. 


About Honda Performance Development:
Honda Performance Development, Inc., (HPD) has a rich heritage creating, manufacturing, and supporting Honda Racing and Acura Motorsports customers since 1993.  From pinnacle racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and IMSA Sports Cars to commercial racing programs, HPD powers the dreams of professional and amateur racers from age 4 to 40+. HPD is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and leads all of Honda and Acura’s high-performance racing programs in North America.  HPD specializes in the design and development of powertrain, chassis, electronics, and performance parts, as well as technical and race support. HPD offers parts and race support to Honda and Acura amateur and professional motorsport racers, and is continually expanding its palette of racing programs that make Honda racing products available to all racing styles, from karting and Quarter Midgets to the highest levels of pro racing.
For more information about HPD and the company’s racing product lines, please visit: http://hpd.honda.com.

Haudenschild’s Misfortune is Gravel’s Gain at AtticaNOS Energy Drink #17 Dominated until Innocent Lap Traffic Wreck with Two Laps LeftATTICA, OH – May 21, 2021 – If it wasn’t for bad luck, Sheldon Haudenschild might not have any luck at all.The Wooster, OH native was coming to the white flag on Friday night, just 1/3-mile away from collecting a wildly popular home state win at Attica Raceway Park, but then it all went south. Running ahead of him, DJ Foos lost his left rear tire and spun around in turn four, leaving Haudenschild with nowhere to go as the NOS Energy Drink #17 plowed into him.You could hear the gasps from the crowd and feel the energy shift as he was towed to the trailer.Enter David Gravel. Who albeit lucky, placed himself in the perfect position to capitalize on Haudenschild’s misfortune.The Big Game Motorsports #2 returned to the point for the third time in the 40-lapper, and fended off a hungry Donny Schatz and a hard-charging Brent Marks for their fourth victory of the season with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Sprint Car Series.”I’ll take them anyway I can get them,” Gravel admitted in victory lane. “I thought I was closing on him, but he was probably going to win that race no matter what. Obviously Sheldon is a fan favorite here, so you don’t want to see stuff like that happen. 40 laps around Attica man, a lot of crazy things happen, and they sure did tonight.”While Gravel basked in the confetti on the frontstretch, Haudenschild was forced to wonder what could’ve been. Friday’s show at Attica marked the fourth occurrence since the beginning of April that he lost the lead due to something out of his control with less than ten laps remaining.”He lost that tire, and I just had nowhere to go,” Haudenschild explained. “Nothing you can do about it. It sucks, man.”From the beginning, the Kistler Engines Classic brought the heat on the hottest raceday of the 2021 season. Slick Woody’s Qualifying went to Gravel, who led a top-seven that timed within one-tenth of each other. The Team Drydene Heat Races were thrilling too, highlighted by Trey Jacobs denial of Carson Macedo at the checkered flag.Jacobs, of Wooster, OH, kept the spotlight rolling when he proposed to his girlfriend at the redraw, and then promptly drew the one pill. Haudenschild entered the picture in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash when he thrilled a packed house bye going from last-to-first.When the 40-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature went green, it was outside pole sitter Brandon Spithaler of Evans City, PA leading the first official lap of his World of Outlaws career. Unfortunately, his moment was short-lived as the #22 slid off the banking and over the cushion while battling Haudenschild for the lead on Lap 2.A handful of stoppages slowed the action in the beginning, but once rolling the fans witnessed the good stuff. Racing into lap traffic, Haudenschild and Gravel swapped lanes from ripping the cushion to rolling the bottom, and they split lappers and exchanged the lead on multiple occasions.Gravel took it from him on Lap 10 and started to sneak off, but Haudenschild snookered him on Lap 18 to get it back. Gravel came back fighting to resume command on Lap 20, but again Haudenschild snatched it from on Lap 22 as they went back-and-forth for the lead. Finally, Haudenschild gained some breathing room when Gravel was pinched off by a lapper, and actually slipped to third as Schatz rolled by for second.Building a massive advantage, Haudenschild was leading Schatz by a whopping 3.397-seconds with ten to go. There was no such battle for the top spot, so fans turned their attention to second as Gravel eventually stole it back from Schatz on Lap 37.The race was all but over on Lap 38 when Haudenschild received the two-to-go signal. Gravel was gaining ground, but simply had no time to offer a move on the #17. It all changed coming to the white flag, however, as Foos’ left rear fell off and the #16 collected an innocent Haudenschild with nowhere to go.A green-white-checkered became close between Gravel and Schatz, but ultimately the Watertown, CT native survived his second-ever victory at Ohio’s Attica Raceway Park.”I told my guys after the Dash that we had a good car, and we didn’t make any adjustments,” Gravel said on the Big Game #2. “I was just as good as Sheldon there in the early going, but I got too free and he ran away from me big-time. Once I fell back to third I slid the wing back and felt better. I really had no idea where to run on that green-white-checkered and felt like I made two terrible laps. Really glad we held on.”Coming up short by 0.540-seconds was Donny Schatz aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15. Friday’s result was the seventh podium finish of 2021 for the 10-time Series champion. He and the Ford Performance, Carquest crew are on a streak of eight-straight top-1o finishes, the most of all active drivers.”I don’t know if we could’ve got him, we just seemed to struggle at the end,” Schatz claimed afterwards. “These guys are digging, though. We’re doing everything we can. We’ll get there, it’s just taking longer than we expected.”Closing out the podium was Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA with an incredible 19th-to-3rd run worthy of KSE Racing Hard Charger. It’s his fourth podium finish against the World of Outlaws in his last seven races since returning to the family-owned #19.”The car was just so good,” Marks bragged. “I could run where I needed be it top, bottom, or even middle. We started off really uncomfortable tonight, but sometimes those extra laps through the Last Chance Showdown are a blessing. We just kept getting better and better. I’m really proud of this whole team right now.”Rounding out the top-ten at Attica was Carson Macedo in fourth-place, Brad Sweet in fifth-place, James McFadden in seventh-place, Logan Schuchart in seventh-place, Brock Zearfoss in eighth-place, Wayne Johnson in ninth-place, and Craig Mintz in tenth-place.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will keep it in the state of Ohio on Saturday night as The Greatest Show on Dirt returns to Sharon Speedway for the first time since 2007. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE.NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel [4][$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$6,000]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [19][$3,500]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo [8][$2,800]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$2,500]; 6. 9-James McFadden [12][$2,300]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [9][$2,200]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [16][$2,100]; 9. 2C-Wayne Johnson [21][$2,050]; 10. O9-Craig Mintz [13][$2,000]; 11. 1-Nate Dussel [11][$1,600]; 12. 18-Cole Macedo [18][$1,400]; 13. 35-Stuart Brubaker [15][$1,200]; 14. 5T-Travis Philo [23][$1,100]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$1,050]; 16. 70M-Henry Malcuit [22][$1,000]; 17. 22-Brandon Spithaler [2][$1,000]; 18. 83-Aaron Reutzel [5][$1,000]; 19. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1][$1,000]; 20. 16-DJ Foos [24][$1,000]; 21. 23-Chris Andrews [20][$1,000]; 22. 27S-John Ivy [17][$1,000]; 23. 70-Trey Jacobs [6][$1,000]; 24. 39M-Anthony Macri [14][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Brandon Spithaler 1; Sheldon Haudenschild 2-9, 18-19, 22-38; David Gravel 10-17, 20-21, 39-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+16]NEW Championship Standings (25/83 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (3,516); 2. David Gravel (-58); 3. Carson Macedo (-90); 4. Donny Schatz (-138); 5. Aaron Reutzel (-166); 6. Sheldon Haudenschild (-170); 7. Logan Schuchart (-198); 8. Kraig Kinser (-454); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-524); 10. James McFadden (-528).Photo – Trent Gower

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

David Gravel Building Chemistry & Momentum with New TeamBig Game Motorsports #2 Sits Second in the Championship StandingsWATERTOWN, CT – May 20, 2021 – No matter the car and no matter the crew, David Gravel always seems to find success.Look no further than his newest gig at Big Game Motorsports for proof of that. After two highly-successful seasons driving the Jason Johnson Racing #41, the Watertown, CT native decided to join owner Tod Quiring and the #2 headed by crew chief Cody Jacobs heading into the 2021 season.With 61 career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victories, there isn’t much Gravel has yet to accomplish. He’s a Knoxville Nationals champion and a National Open winner, but one specific bucket list item has eluded him: a championship.The 28-year-old pilot finished third in the standings in four consecutive seasons from 2016-19. He was only 82 points away from the title in 2019, and the case could be made that he would’ve been a legitimate threat to steal it from Brad Sweet in 2020 if he competed in all 54 races.Gravel’s goal at Big Game is simple. He believes they can win championships – plural.”We’re trying to build something for years,” Gravel spoke on the dynamic at Big Game Motorsports.Through the first 24 of 83 scheduled races this year, Gravel and the Big Game #2 sit second in the championship chase behind Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing #49. The gap is only 68 points; a gap he’ll try to close as the Series returns to Ohio this weekend for Attica Raceway Park on Friday and Sharon Speedway on Saturday. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE.Entering this weekend, Gravel currently leads the Series in Slick Woody’s QuickTimes (6), Team Drydene Heat wins (10), DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash appearances (14), top-1o finishes (21), and average start (6.61).A three-time winner with “The Greatest Show on Dirt” in 2021, Gravel’s first victory lane trip aboard the Big Game #2 came at The Rev in Monroe, LA when he outran his championship competitor Sweet in an electrifying event. A historic weekend sweep worth $35,000 at Bristol Motor Speedway followed that in April.”I’d say our first little stint as a new team together has gone really well,” Gravel said on their season thus far. “Three wins is pretty solid. It’s one of those things where you can always be better, but you can always be worse too. I’d say it’s a good start, something we can build on for sure.”His 61 career victories is impressive enough, but let’s not forget the fact that he’s done it with seven different car owners. Before his current spot at the Big Game #2, Gravel was winning with the JJR #41, the CJB #5, the Roth #83, the Tiner #83SA, the Rose #6, and his family-owned #89G.Combine that ability to adapt to any situation along with his incredible qualifying prowess – 75 QuickTimes in last decade, most of all drivers – and you’ll get a driver that’s not only comfortable, but confident in any car he wheels.”One thing I think that has helped with transitioning to different teams is the fact that we ran basically the same schedules for so many years,” Gravel mentioned. “You develop a good understanding of what the car needs and when and where to make those changes. Being a good qualifier definitely helps too. It’s not all that great all the time, you always have to work with your guys and get better.”One of the favorite parts of the season for drivers and fans alike is the “Summer of Money.” From June to September, the schedule is lined with big paydays after big paydays across the country.There’s the Huset’s 50 paying $30,000-to-win on June 22, the Jackson Nationals paying $50,000-to-win on June 24, the Kings Royal paying $175,000-to-win TWICE on July 15 and July 17, the Silver Cup paying $25,000-to-win on July 20, the Summer Nationals paying $20,000-to-win on July 24, the Ironman 55 paying $20,000-to-win on August 7, the Knoxville Nationals paying $150,000-to-win on August 14, and the Skagit Nationals paying $25,000-to-win on September 5.For Gravel, it’s a summer full of opportunities to grow his bank account, and gain valuable points. He’ll look to be on top of his game when Huset’s and Jackson rolls around, especially with a $100,000 bonus available to the driver that sweeps THE SHOWDOWN, which is promoted by his owner Tod Quiring.”I’m pumped we get to kick everything off with a big week at Huset’s and Jackson,” Gravel said looking ahead at the schedule. “I’m anxious to get back to Eldora and get a couple more shots there. I really want to redeem myself at Williams Grove, too. We can qualify well and that will be big to get ourselves in the Dash. We’re working every where to get better for this summer.”Before the swing of summer begins, Gravel first has to tackle Attica Raceway Park tomorrow on Friday, May 21 and then Sharon Speedway on Saturday, May 22.Fans who can’t make it to the track can catch all of the action 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 NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGE TEAM PENSKE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY OVAL MAY 21, 2021 Tim Cindric, President, Penske Racing, Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Chevrolet, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menard’s Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil ChevroletPress Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to the DEX Imaging Media Center here on Fast Friday at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.It is Fast Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s going to be Team Penske at the podium, winners of 18 Indianapolis 500s. We’d like to welcome Indianapolis’ own Tim Cindric, president of Team Penske. The driver of the No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Chevrolet, two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champ Josef Newgarden. The driver of the No. 2 Pennzoil Chevrolet, rookie Scott McLaughlin. He is the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion, we welcome the driver of the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet in Will Power. And of course the 2019 winner of the Indy 500, driver of the No. 22 Menard’s Chevrolet, it’s Simon Pagenaud.Some of the more impressive numbers from this great, great race team, you probably know many of them by heart. This year marks the 52nd year Team Penske has entered the Indianapolis 500, 18 wins, of course, from 13 different drivers over the years, all a part of a team that has a combined 767 years of INDYCAR experience. That seems like a lot.Let’s start with Tim who is sitting there nodding his head. As an Indianapolis native, Tim, certainly your reverence for this race ranks right up there with anyone. What does it mean to you and Team Penske to be closing in on 20 wins in what is certainly the biggest race in the world and maybe share some of the secret to the team’s success?TIM CINDRIC: Well, if we can just get to that question, I think the secret is the guy we work for, which is probably no secret.Relative to 20, the first time I came here and raced as part of Roger’s team in someone, obviously we won the race, finished first and second, and I’ll never forget in Victory Lane I said to Roger, You know, this might be 10 for you or 11 I guess it was at that point, 11 for you, but this is something, my father has worked here all his life and never accomplished that. Pretty big day for me.He looked at me, and he just said, I want 20. I’m just like, in the moment, trying to comprehend one, and he’s already thinking nine ahead.I’d love to make all that possible here in a few years. But sometimes you can win this race a few years in a row and it doesn’t choose you for quite a few more years, so you never know when it’s your turn.THE MODERATOR: Simon Pagenaud, the 2019 Indianapolis 500 champion. Last time the race was run on its traditional Memorial Day weekend, you became the first Frenchman in 100 years to win the race. Looking back on it now, how did that change your life, and what do you need to do to do it all over again?SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, it’s the biggest race in the world. I think simply said, for any racer, it’s a magic moment that happens in your career. It’s personally a life accomplishment, so obviously has a very special connotation.Doing it again, you know, I suspect the race is going to be quite different this year. We obviously have a different aero package, we’ve got the aeroscreen on the car, and INDYCAR has done a great job coming up with the aerodynamic parts to make the racing the best they can.I think it’s going to be harder to hold a lead, so I don’t think you’ll see someone lead the race as I did in ’19. But Team Penske has prepared so hard for this one, as we always do, but you always keep looking for more, and it’s been a pleasure so far to go around this amazing place every day.THE MODERATOR: It’s a privilege and an honor to drive through the tunnel to come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Will, it hasn’t been all that long ago when you won the Indy 500. How much does experience pay when it comes to this place, and will it help going into next Sunday’s race?WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, I feel more comfortable than I’ve ever felt around here right now, just from experience. And it’s amazing that you keep learning as you go. It’s different every year. The package once again is certainly going to race different. It’s going to be closer, kind of packed-up sort of racing where the top two will switch back and forth.I think you’ve got to just put yourself in that position like every year in that last stint. You have to be in that top two on the last restart or the last pit stop, whatever is the last thing that happens.Yeah, I feel like as a team we’ve done a lot of work to improve the cars over last year and have a really good chance this year. I think the moment of truth is qualifying to see where the true speed is, and I really hope that we’re all in the top nine.THE MODERATOR: Josef Newgarden, certainly your resume stacks up with anyone over the last four years or so. There’s always something about Indianapolis. That’s the one you really want to win. You’ve come close the last couple years. Why is this the year for you do you think?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I had to make sure we brought someone else in that hasn’t won it in the team so I’m not the solo guy that hasn’t won the Indianapolis 500 on the team.Like Tim said, you never know when it’s your day, and I know having driven this place nine times, going into my tenth, you’ve just got to be prepared for the opportunity. You’ve got to put yourself in position here. That’s the key element, I think, is giving yourself an opportunity to win the race, and if it’s your day, then you need to seize it.Yeah, we feel good. It’s been a blast working with everybody, as always. I’m always excited to be here. Always have fun every single day. Trying to stay calm and collected and make sure you’re absorbing any knowledge you can each day. Whether it’s good or bad knowledge, it all helps you at the end of the day.We’re charging forward. I feel really positive with our Fuel Rewards car. I think it looks good. Feels fast with Team Chevy, so we’ll see what we’ve got this weekend.THE MODERATOR: Scott McLaughlin, it wasn’t that long ago when you had your first test on the oval, but you certainly come into this with so much experience, Super Car championships, Bathurst 1000, you’ve been some to some world renowned events before and have won. How does Indy compare to all of that or does it? And what’s your experience been like so far?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, not one of those things prepared me for this. It’s a unique beast. But I have got a great team on my back with me, and my teammates, as well, push me along, and I’m learning so much. I’m just soaking everything up like a sponge.Really excited. I think the Pennzoil Chevy is feeling really good in qualifying and race trim. But I’m building up to it, trying to just ride in traffic and learn different lines and follow different people and lead and go back in the six deep and five deep, and just enjoying the experience.It’s obviously going to be a little bit different this year, but it’s going to be a hell of a lot better than it was last year, so I’m excited for that and excited for the experience.Q. First of all, I just want to get out of the way, what is the difference between the photo you guys took on Tuesday and the photo Rahal took yesterday?TIM CINDRIC: I think if you you’re referring to what happened yesterday, obviously we are all pretty fortunate that ended in the way it did rather than in some other way.What we did on the first day or whatever is something we’ve done every single year here, or we’ve at least attempted to. It’s been a little different.Obviously a lot of you know that the tradition here has been to be the first out. It’s changed a little bit in the fact that in the first five minutes of the first session, you can’t go by once. In the past, and I think if you look back in other years, you will have seen that we’ve waited to go by the first time, and our instructions really have been, Hey, if there’s anybody else on the racetrack we’ll call it off, and if not, we go ahead and do that.It’s been the only time in which we’ve ever attempted that, but it’s been something that we try and do as a tradition is to be first out. It’s just a way to start May and something Roger has always taken a lot of pride in. And if we get the opportunity, then we come across the line as a team, and if we don’t get the opportunity we call it off.Really for us it’s always been an awareness situation. But it’s always been the first session, the first time, and we’ve never had a problem.Yesterday obviously was unfortunate and all the circumstances were not in a good place. But anyway, I think we’ll all learn from it and move on.Q. Should there be a designated time for teams that want to do that?TIM CINDRIC: I don’t know. I think that’s really not up to us. I think it’s just as opportunity presents itself. We’ve taken advantage of it more as a tradition more than anything else and really never thought of it at any other point.Q. I’ve noticed Greg Penske on the timing stand a lot more this year. What is he doing? What’s his role?TIM CINDRIC: Greg is a supporter of ours, big supporter of ours.I think on the timing stand itself, maybe you’ve noticed him more often, but honestly, Greg has always been there. He’s been there whenever he can be there. Obviously his business is — his core business is all in California. But he’s been a key supporter for the 20-some years that I’ve been here, so I guess I don’t really see it as any different.Q. He’s not making any race-changing calls?TIM CINDRIC: No. I’d love for him to call the races. I’ve always wanted as many members of the family as possible, and obviously Jay was part of the series for many years, and now he’s doing Formula E.I always enjoyed — I had always hoped that Jay would join our team and be part of our team rather than have to compete against him because he’s a very competitive person and all the rest of it. But for me, I welcome any day that the Penske family shows up and want them to participate in any way they can.Q. For the drivers, Tim said that RP says he wants to win 20 Indy 500s. I know you all know that he loves this race, he wants to win this race. What sort of pressure is there to go and get numbers 19 and 20?WILL POWER: Yeah, I think just driving for Penske, you have that pressure no matter what, and just the event itself. So I don’t think there’s really any added pressure to get that number 19 or 20.It’s what every single driver and team comes here to do is to win this race. You feel it over the month just with the media attention and I guess the amount of practice you get and watching everyone else. You just feel that build as it comes to race day.Yeah, we’re all super determined all equally determined I would say to win number 19 for Roger.SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, it’s kind of what you’re expected to do here. We all know it’s No. 1 priority for Roger and the race team. As a driver if you’re here in INDYCAR, I think it’s your No. 1 goal, as well.Obviously, yes, it’s more pressure because it’s the biggest race in the world, like I said, and yeah, you’ve just got to get it done at some point, but like Tim and Josef said, she kind of chooses you, so you’ve got to be patient.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I think you start to — the more times that you’re here the more you feel the pressure to compete with the group around you. Obviously that starts with Roger, but I think it’s everybody.On my team specifically it’s Tim, it’s all the boys on the 2 car. You want to get the job done for everybody. Really the other cars, as well. There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes in at our team across the board. You want it to be your car, but I think there’s a sense of pride there on any of these cars that win the race.I think you feel that pressure across the entire group that you want to get the job done.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: There’s really not much more I can add. I think we all know how big this is to Roger and his team, especially now with the ownership structure here at IMS. But I’d just love to get one on the board at least.Q. (No microphone.)SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’ve been here before on various occasions. I came here for the 100th in 2016, and it was a pretty special moment then.But I think being here as a driver, especially with a sponsor like Pennzoil and the Yellow Sub, it’s pretty special, and you know the history of what’s been put ahead of you.You’d love to be a part of that and create your own legacy, but you’ve got to respect it and respect this place. And it’s very similar to a place back home that I know well, Bathurst, but they’re two different beasts.It’s a very cool thing to be here for sure and a race that I’ve seen and watched growing up for a very long time.Q. Scott, you’ve practiced, of course, prior to this year at this track. Now that you have nearly a few days under your belt in the month of May, how do you feel you became acclimated to the track, especially with the adapted conditions over time?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think it’s been nice to have some different conditions throughout the week. It’s got hotter and hotter as we’ve got on. The wind has changed in various amounts but not a huge amount.Yeah, I think we’re progressing nicely, just along our program. There’s been a couple of hiccups as everyone has seen, but at the end of the day we’ve got through pretty smoothly and just run to our program.I think that’s the same across all four cars. I think we’ve been pretty methodical in the way we’ve approached it from a race trim perspective and then trying out some qualifying and all that sort of stuff, and just really preparing me for what’s ahead, I think.Fast Friday, I’m really excited for the extra boost level and seeing what it’s like heading into Turn 1 for the first time at around 240 miles an hour, something I haven’t done before, and looking forward to seeing what that feels like.Q. You mentioned already feeling that 240. Is there anything that might rival it, something similar?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Nothing. No, nothing. It’s a very special thing and very unique to this one place, and that’s why it’s so special.Q. Tim, we saw how it ended in the Daytona 500 with Brad and Joey. You guys talked about how the top two guys can pass pretty easily. Has there been any discussions or foresee any discussions if you guys are running one-two in the closing laps next Sunday?TIM CINDRIC: We haven’t got to Sunday yet for sure, but yeah, we’ve seen that, obviously, and how that turned out, and that was unfortunate for a lot of things and a lot of reasons.I think when you look back to watching — was it Will and Montoya going toe to toe there? Was probably the most recent one from our end.I think these guys know exactly what they’re trying to achieve, and it’s the biggest race in the world, and Daytona is right up there with it as far as prestige in the NASCAR Series.It’s really hard to tell these guys anything else but to go for it and just race each other fair and clean and hopefully they bring it home. I think they all know and respect exactly what it means to the team, to Roger and all the sponsors.I think even going back to Brad and Joey, they certainly didn’t want that outcome, but it’s part of racing. It’s part of the risk that you take. I think these guys doing it at the speeds they do it at, they’ve got a little self-preservation in mind, as well. I think it’s very, I guess, expected from whoever is first and second here to race right to the line.Roger has always said that you can race as much as you can, but just don’t hit each other. Sometimes it goes the other way.Q. The drivers, you guys race each other any differently than you would if it was not a teammate at the end?WILL POWER: Yeah, no. I think Tim hit the nail on the head. It’s self-preservation. It’s pretty high speed, and yeah, it’s not like NASCAR. You can’t bump, you can’t touch, and you know that.Basically if you put yourself in a position where you’re going to hit a car, you’re not going to finish the race and you’re not going to win it, so you know that, and you race accordingly.Obviously it’s a pretty big prize at the end, so yeah, it — yeah, I mean, just got to — it is what it is. You’ve got to race smart and that’s the only way you’re going to win the race.Q. Simon and Will, back in ’18 and ’19 obviously you guys won. Was there a moment in the month that you knew I’ve got a car that’s capable of winning this, and are you there yet after three days of practice?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I mean, we had an incredible package in ’19, and Chevy power really helped us tremendously all month, all two weeks long really. We knew we had a shot.There are so many things that can happen during the race that you’re not in control of. We tried to take our destiny in our own hands in the race and led a lot, maybe too much at some point, and then it turned back into our hands. It could have gone the other way.I think this year we’re close to being where we were in ’19, but I think the whole field is a lot closer. I can’t control the others. I can only control myself and my team, and I think we’re doing everything we can to be in the same spot.Q. Porsche recently announced that they’re going to be partnering with Penske to go to IMSA and Le Mans. Do all four of you have an interest in going to Le Mans and racing for Team Penske over there?WILL POWER: Yeah.SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes.WILL POWER: Certainly. That would be awesome.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yep.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yep.Q. Scott, what happened to your keys?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I don’t know. I’m lucky I can drive.TIM CINDRIC: Who gets to go in the Porsche? I don’t know. We’ll talk about it in a couple years.Q. Simon, you’ve been toward the top drivers in the no-tow speeds. Is that by design or is that by just the way it’s fallen when you’ve been on track, and how important are those speeds?SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, we did some qualifying runs yesterday to try and see what speed we could squeeze out of the 22. We were pretty pleased. I don’t know what others are doing. It’s just like I said to Eric, we’ll see really today where we are. But we had a good feel for it.I think we’ve got a little bit more speed that we can find today, so it’s really encouraging for the whole team. The goal is really to get one Penske car on the pole.WILL POWER: I don’t know if they’re valuable from yesterday, but yeah, we’ll see today, get a feel. It’s very difficult. If you can see a car, you’re getting head. But that will be classed as a no-tow because it’s about 10 seconds ahead. You won’t really know until everyone runs on Saturday, but I feel like we’ve got pretty reasonable cars.Q. There seems to be a tremendous youth movement that is involved in INDYCAR right now. Three of the first five winners have been first-time winners. Scott is knocking on the door, ready to get a victory. How do you assess the way this influx of talent over the last couple of years has been for INDYCAR?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think it’s just — I guess you could say in some ways it’s a changing of the guard. Someone has got to step up. There’s a lot of young people coming through the Road to Indy program, which I’ve seen firsthand this year for the very first time.I think it’s a great program that INDYCAR and everyone involved has got through the F 2000s, the Pro 2000s, all the way through the Indy Lights. It’s a great category to watch.I think Rinus, Pato, Colton, they’re world class drivers and they’re in world class teams. And like Simon said before, the competitiveness between the teams now in INDYCAR is — there’s not much in it, and really anyone can win on the day, which not many race series in the world have that.It’s exciting. I think it’s great that INDYCAR are taking it in their stride to promote it and get excited by it. And yeah, I’d love to be a part of that, as well.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, like Scott said, there’s a great mix of talent. I think the most glaring thing about the series now is the parity. You really have immense parity amongst the teams, which has created intense competition amongst the drivers. It’s really a drivers’ championship through and through. You feel like you show up and can make a difference nowadays.I think you’re seeing that with the young guys. The young guys are coming in and they see that opportunity, and they’re quite frankly taking to it very well. A guy like Scott can come in and push us around and make us better and be right there. He’s pretty close to us right out of the gate in these first five races.I think you’re seeing the same stuff with other drivers and new drivers coming in. It’s created a good challenge for everybody. It’s a very difficult championship now to be the best at. Consistency is pretty important. But trying to stay on top of sort of the speed mountain is getting increasingly difficult.Q. Scott, obviously one of the last most recent rookies to win this race was Helio in 2001 for Penske. Do you go into this feeling like you actually have a legit shot at not just being Rookie of the Year but actually winning it, and does that add extra pressure?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No one puts more pressure on me than myself. I’ve always run by that. I’m in a car that certainly can win the race. I’ll be right there.But I’ve got to work on my timing, I’ve got to learn this, I’m trying to learn it at a very fast rate, understand the mountain that I’ve got to climb to be in that bracket, buy my ticket to that last stint.At the same time, I back myself to learn as much as I can at a fast rate, and I back the team that I have around me. Yeah, I don’t think nothing is possible. I think we can for sure give it a good shake, and if the opportunity presents at the end to take it, I back myself to take it when I need to.Q. How do you rate Scott’s chances? What do you think he still hasn’t experienced in the tests or here that could prevent him from being your next rookie winner?TIM CINDRIC: He’s obviously a fast learner. I think like Will said, I think you learn here every year you’re here, and every year you’re here you put yourself in different circumstances, different situations. Just qualifying for the race is going to be the first step of that, is where you start.The qualifying process and the things you go through, I think it’s really hard to maybe answer that question until you see a rookie of any kind go through the whole qualifying process because it’s different than anything they’ve ever done before, the four-lap average and the conditions that we’ll have and the falloff that you have during those runs, depending on how aggressive you are.I guess the only thing we’ve really said to Scott is just try and worry about the things you can control. He’s a race car driver. He’s a winner. He’s had a taste of oval racing at Texas, obviously, and he responded to that quite well.This place, it’s a long race, but yet it seems really short sometimes. It’s like Simon was talking about his race where if you’re sitting in my shoes, you’re wondering why he’s leading so many laps, but he’s learned that there’s times when that’s the right thing to do, depending on what car you have and all the rest of it, and I do believe that this place chooses you sometimes.For him, he wasn’t going to have enough fuel to make it happen until there was a caution, and it all came at the right time, and he took advantage of that.I think Scott has as good a chance as any rookie here has ever had. But experience, you can’t put really a value on the experience around here. Yeah, he’s with our team for a reason.Q. Question for either Will or Simon or both of you guys. It took you guys a handful of years to come across your first Indy 500 victory. Can you describe a little bit about what that anticipation was like coming close a handful of years and how you guys managed maybe the mental side of things to be able to break through in 2018 and 2019?WILL POWER: Yeah, when it comes up on 10 years, I guess it was added pressure, especially when you’ve won a championship and you know that the other box that you have to tick to be regarded as a successful INDYCAR driver was to win this race. Yeah, it certainly built a lot, and you’d started to wonder if you’d ever win it.Like these guys have said, Tim said, the place basically chooses you. I remember in ’18, the week before, I almost said to my wife, I know I’m going to win the race. I just felt that way. I don’t know why. It was just a pretty normal month, car felt really comfortable.Then waking up on race day, just had such an easy, good feeling. Yeah, it’s such a funny race. It’s so hard to even kind of predict what you think is going to happen. You just don’t know the things it’s going to throw at you over the years.Yeah, it’s a hard one to win, but when you win it, it’s the most satisfying moment of your whole career.SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, more than the recognition in the business, for me it was more a personal thing, just all the work that you do since you’re eight years old in a go-kart learning, and then learning the right way and going every step of the way through the racing ladder.Personally as a Frenchman coming here at the speedway, you’re not a favorite. You’re not a favorite because oval racing doesn’t exist in Europe. Having to learn that discipline or that skill, I should say, was something new in 2012, so it’s not that long ago at the time.It just felt like a great personal accomplishment. At the end of my life that will be a very, very special thing for myself.Q. For Tim, going back to that conversation with Roger in 2001 in Victory Lane, obviously he’s got a lot of other responsibilities now with INDYCAR and IMS and everything, but how much do you hear from him about performance of the team and wanting to do well?TIM CINDRIC: Oh, it hasn’t changed, without a doubt. In fact, it continues to increase. I don’t see that letting up at any point.Q. 18 months into him sort of being now separated from the team, how is it different? Is it more comfortable? Was it ever awkward at all?TIM CINDRIC: No, I think the biggest difference is we miss him in pit lane, not knowing really where he is or knowing — when I say ‘where he is’, I mean during the race itself. I’m used to knowing what pit he’s in and how to have a conversation with him during the race or ask his advice or vice versa. You kind of miss that camaraderie during the race.Obviously we all understand why that is and respect why that is. But for me, once the flags fly or checkered flag falls, it’s very similar. I don’t think it’s really a lot different from where I sit in terms of our interactions or how he helps us run our business.Q. For the drivers, five races this year, five different winners, none of them from Penske. Somewhat surprising. But then again there was so much talk about how competitive it was going to be coming into this year. Do you feel like it’s circumstantial that one of you hasn’t won a race yet?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I think most of us have been second at some point. Yeah, it’s hard to answer that. We’ve definitely — every car is a little different story-wise, but I think we’ve been in the mix as a team, and that’s the first step. You’ve got to be in the mix to win these races. And I think we’ve been there, without a doubt.I actually felt very positive about the race cars that we’ve had as a team to start the year, and it hasn’t resulted in a win, like you said, but what a perfect place to start that off for the season next weekend, so we’re definitely working on that.Q. Scott, you have the distinct advantage of working closely with Rick Mears, who is as good as anyone who’s ever been at this facility. Talk about how that has aided you in terms of your development.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think we all have that advantage. Having Rick in the garage is such a fantastic moral boost, morale boost, and he’s such a nice guy. For a guy that’s done it all in INDYCAR racing, to lend a hand and really just simplify a lot of things, especially for me, when things are coming at me very quickly, especially these last few days, he’s even making little changes just in terms of car setup to make sure I’m comfortable before I go out, and that was in the first day. We made a really good change before I went out, and it worked out really good, and I gained a whole heap of confidence from it.To have a guy come in like that, talk about lines, he calls them patterns, get my timing right, it’s a really cool thing and very unique, and I’m really taking it in my stride as well as everyone else on this table.Q. For the drivers, we’ve seen with the trains and practice, we’ve seen the top four are able to overtake and move around, and if you get a little bit further back in the train it’s a little more difficult to pass. Is there an extra focus on your qualifying position to make sure you’re near the front of that train?WILL POWER: I still believe track position is really key this year. It’s still closer and packed up, but unless you’re in that top four, you’re pretty much locked out of being able to pass because obviously the car, the further back you get, every car is drafting off the car in front, so you don’t get the advantage of a car breaking the air in front of you. So yep, qualifying you want to be in that top nine.Q. Josef, you won the first race under kind of Roger Penske’s ownership at Indianapolis last year, and we know that was a big thing for the team and a big thing for you, as well. Just wondered if there’s extra motivation to win the first 500 for Roger being the fact that it’s under his ownership now, the speedway.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I think certainly obviously we’ve already had a winner with Sato, right, last year. Are you speaking specifically to being on the team or just in general?Q. I’m talking about since Roger Penske has owned the speedway, you were the first person to win for Penske at the speedway last year in the road course race, and then obviously since Roger has owned the speedway you didn’t win the 500 last year so Penske has not won a 500 since Roger has owned the speedway. I wondered if that gave you extra motivation as a team.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I think there’s definitely motivation on all of our parts, just circumstantially. You look at what happened last year and the effort that went in from everybody to try and keep this place moving forward was substantial from everybody involved. It was a substantial effort. So there’s a lot of gratitude, I think, from all of us to go out and put on a good show.It would mean a lot to be a Team Penske driver, driving for Roger Penske, to be able to win this race and win it in front of a crowd which we’re going to have here. I think it would mean a heck of a lot this specific year, again, looking at the circumstances that we’ve all had to fight through together.It would mean a great deal, but obviously any one of us would love to be able to do that. We need to work together to make it happen.Q. For Tim, are you happy with the gains you’ve made from last season’s Indy 500 to this season’s 500 in both the aerodynamics and the engine department, and why?TIM CINDRIC: I guess probably early to answer to that question, to be honest. Today will give us some indication of the difference between last year and this year. But it’s really difficult to tell in the running that we’ve done at this point in time to what degree our competitiveness has changed from last year.I know there’s been a lot of work put in, not only from our team but also everybody at Chevrolet into how to make ourselves more competitive than we were last year, not only as a team but as an overall manufacturer’s group.I think we’re optimistic that we’ve closed that gap, but we only know what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve done. And I think we’ve taken good steps there. I think our preparation for the race and understanding the different things that occurred last year I think is as good as any year that we’ve been here.Then you have to execute. So you can have the best cars and the best aerodynamics and the best engine, and if you don’t execute on race day in the pits or anywhere else, I think that it’s not going to be your day. This race is won typically by somebody that doesn’t make any mistakes as a team, so we still need to execute on that end.The answer to your question is our first goal is our qualifying. Last year we didn’t have any cars in the top nine. That may have been the first time we’ve ever been in that situation.As one of the guys said, It’s our goal to get the cars in the top nine and then focus on race day. It’s probably a little too early to give you, I guess, a full grade on kind of where we are.Q. Scott, just wanted to follow up on the Rick Mears. Obviously you’ve spoken about how much experience he has at IMS. What’s the best piece of advice he has given you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Trust your ass. Feel the car. Feel the car. Sorry, but that’s literally the best piece I’ve ever had. Trust it. If something doesn’t feel right, come in. If it feels good, play with it, get used to it, the front bar, the rear bar, the weight jacker. But yeah, he’s been phenomenal.THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much, and our thanks to Team Penske for coming in this morning.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGE PRACTICE SESSION INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY OVAL DAY 3MAY 20, 2021 TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS GET SIX HOURS OF ON-TRACK TIME ON DAY THREE OF PRACTICE FOR 105TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500Teams work on both qualifying and race setup ahead of Fast Friday when it will be focused on qualifying after boost raised to qualifying level of 1.5 bar INDIANAPOLIS (MAY 20,2021) – It was an interesting mix of the young guns and the veterans in the top-10 at the end of day three of practice for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.  On lap one of practice, Rookie-of-the-Year contender Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet, was caught in a minor three car incident. The Team Penske crew took the car back to the paddock to check the car, repair minor damage and quickly got McLaughlin back on track.   Conor Daly, No. 47 US Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, led the Chevrolet drivers in the top-6 with a lap of 225.245 mph. Two=-time Series’ champion Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet, was fourth out of 35 drivers turning laps today. GMR Grand Prix winner Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, turned in the sixth quickest time of the day. Other notable members of Team Chevy were rookie Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, with the 13th fastest lap. Texas winner Pato O’Ward. No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in the 14th fastest position and 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet was 15th in the order. Tomorrow teams make final preparations for qualifying for the race as the boost level is increased from 1.3 bar to 1.5 bar for Saturday and Sunday qualifying to fill the 33-car field. With 35 entries, two cars will not make the field.  A two-hour practice will follow the conclusion of the Fast Nine Qualifying that determines the pole winner, and the starting order of the front three rows. The boost will be returned to race level 1.3 bar before the start of that practice.  The track will go green for Fast Friday at noon and conclude at 6:00 pm. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, and Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Press Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up day three of practice for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Fairly good day for these two. Let’s begin with Pato and your thoughts on your day. 14th quick, I believe, overall today.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, we didn’t have a bad day. I’m pretty happy with my race car, which is always a good thing. For the race qualifying car, not so happy yet. I think tomorrow is going to be a good tell to see where we stand. The extra boost always throws in an adventurous twist around this place.Yeah, you can’t really tell honestly with all the no post speeds. It’s going to be interesting tomorrow to see who is quick by himself. It should give us an idea of what qualifying is going to look like.THE MODERATOR: Rinus, how was your day today?RINUS VEEKAY: It was a pretty good day for me. We started the day off with quallie trim, yeah, just trimmed some downforce out. The car felt really good. Car felt as good with very low downforce as in race trim. Yeah, very, very good in that point.Then in the race trim, yeah, we learned a lot today, tried some things that were really not so good. But I think if we put the whole car together, which we did a few times, we have a very competitive car.Yeah, it’s just very hard to follow, to pass. Yeah, just when it gets hot, gets greasy. I think we have one of the strongest cars out there. That makes the job a lot of fun.THE MODERATOR: Jay Frye wanted to confirm the penalty for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Tomorrow they will be held 30 minutes for improper conduct out on the racecourse. Rule 9.3.1.I know some guys out there, they were doing this yesterday, too, working on qual sims, race car. Rinus, your teammates yesterday were going back and forth. What did you net out today, what the program really was for you?PATO O’WARD: I mean, I started off like Rinus with a few qualifying trims. Unfortunately not a lot of people care when you’re in the quallie sims. They just like to screw you when you’re right in the middle. They just freaking park it. I didn’t really get any clean reads. But of the lap that I did, I wasn’t very happy with the car anyway.I have realized that a good race car does not translate into a good qualifying car, at least in my case. We just need to continue working on that, making it better, because things just get more sketchy the faster you go. Tomorrow we’re going to go quite a bit quicker.Yeah, that’s going to be the game plan for us tomorrow. I think you’re going to see everybody doing qualifying trims. You’ll probably not see a pack running out there.THE MODERATOR: Rinus?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, same about qualifying trim. We were trying to find a gap going on track. Then someone gets sent out just right in front of you, you’re like, Oh, no.Yeah, that happens. Tomorrow we’ll probably be a little better, I hope. Anyway, having more power I think for us is going to be quite all right. Once we trim more it actually felt like the car felt better.Yeah, I think we have a very good qualifying car. Fast Nine is going to be possible again. Yeah, for race trim I think you can’t really stand out this year. I felt like last year we were peaking out with the car. It was really better than anyone else. But I think this year the margin is just very small. We have a very good car. We can pass, yeah, take advantage of someone making mistakes, but it doesn’t get much different anywhere else than that.THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.Q. Obviously we saw Ferrucci in two. Did you guys find turn two particularly sketchy? Daly was referring to his car being quite oversteer-y at turn two. Was that a particular issue for you guys?PATO O’WARD: I had a few moments, but I don’t think they were in two. I think they were in one actually. In one or three? I don’t know, man (laughter).Man, it’s sketchy in traffic. Whenever you’re behind two cars, three cars, it’s okay. You feel like the actual balance of the car. As soon as you’re like 12th in line, you just want your car to be the least trashed as everyone else’s. No car is going to feel good, unless you want to prove me wrong.RINUS VEEKAY: No, no. The first four can kind of battle around, kind of swap positions. But then when you’re like ninth or 10th, it just feels like you have wooden tires.PATO O’WARD: Feel like the car completely goes whop.Q. As the track greases up, kind of gets sketchy, have you noticed that increases or decreases any differences between Hondas and Chevys? They looked a lot closer.PATO O’WARD: I think this year is going to be a pretty close fight. I mean, I sure hope that is the case. I think tomorrow is going to really give everybody an idea of who has been sandbagging or not. I mean, from the looks of it, it looks very well mixed up.RINUS VEEKAY: I did feel yesterday that the Chevys were harder to catch than the Hondas in traffic. That means that the Chevy is pretty strong.Q. With three of the first five winners this year all being first-time winners, were you surprised by that trend? Also would you be surprised to see a first-time winner in the Indy 500?PATO O’WARD: This series is stacked. I feel like it’s never been as competitive.Q. Any of the rest of you?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, same boat. I don’t think INDYCAR has ever been this competitive with so many different, like, ranges of age. Like you’ve got guys that are less than 24 years old that are winning races, being competitive in Fast Sixes. Then you have the mini veterans like Josef, Rossi. Then you’ve got the…Q. Old guys?PATO O’WARD: The older guys (laughter). You have the older guys like Dixon, Power, then you have the old guys like Montoya, Castroneves and Kanaan.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I’m not really surprised. Last year Pato was close to winning very often. Colton has been doing amazing. I think I got a great car in the Indy GP.Well, I think it’s just, yeah, we grew up kind of in the computer era, kind of the digital era. That helps also the simulators being very normal to us, kind of helps us feeling comfortable in the simulator. That maybe translates to better results.I think, yeah, for the Indy 500, well, it’s the Indy 500, so many different guys can win.Q. Have any of you guys ever done a photo like that with your teams?RINUS VEEKAY: No.PATO O’WARD: No. It looks cool. I think they got the idea — the first day when everybody went out, I think the Penske guys did it. It looked pretty cool.Q. Three of you guys winners this year, all under the age of 24. The changing of the guard seems to be here. Do you feel any resentment or heat from the older guys, like back off, little guys?PATO O’WARD: I think they’ve been pretty accepting. I feel like we’ve earned our place in the series. I feel like ultimately the guys that decide that are the vets and the guys that are always running up front, yeah.RINUS VEEKAY: I felt like last year it was always quite elbows out. Sometimes it’s not old vets, but I think people know it now. Yeah, like Pato said, we’ve earned our way into INDYCAR, earned some respect. I think we’re one of the guys now.Q. Pato is going to be in trouble when Juan finds out you said he was like 70 years old.PATO O’WARD: I said he was older (laughter). Who is the oldest guy in the field?Q. Helio or Juan.PATO O’WARD: Maybe Tony.Q. Helio or T.K. depending on what birth certificate you’re looking at. A lot of veterans have been through here this week. It’s great you guys are fun and winning, aggressive, but this track is different. This track veterans exceed at. Is it almost better to not know as much as those guys do and figure it out as you go?RINUS VEEKAY: I felt like last year I wasn’t really aware of what could happen. That went pretty well last year. But now after what happened in the pre-season test, I took it way, way easier.PATO O’WARD: I think you smacked the wall at 220 something miles an hour, it resets you.RINUS VEEKAY: You’ve done it, too.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, for sure.Q. Rinus and Pato, this will be your second 500, but kind of your first May more or less. How different is the energy qualifying or practicing in May as opposed to August with fans?RINUS VEEKAY: How different is the energy?Q. Yes.RINUS VEEKAY: You can feel there’s a lot of energy in the paddock. Just watching around pit lane to the garages, there’s so many fans. Every time you walk outside you’re giving autographs, kind of feel more like an INDYCAR driver. It feels more like the Indy 500 than just a test day.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I agree with that. I think the difference now is it doesn’t feel like a test any more. It feels like an actual race weekend, yeah.RINUS VEEKAY: I could definitely feel it during the GP and Barber. Barber felt really, really back to normal. Like turn two, all the people sitting in the grass was really nice atmosphere.PATO O’WARD: Man, the GP is pretty stacked. When we were doing the driver intros, I was surprised to see so many people. I was pretty happy.RINUS VEEKAY: Pretty cool to stand on the back of a truck. Never did that before.PATO O’WARD: Make sure you hold not only onto the suction cup because they might come undone.THE MODERATOR: Speak from experience?PATO O’WARD: No, Simon told me (laughter).Q. A lot of group running today, more than we’ve seen the last few days. Do you feel like you can attack from third on back or do you feel like it’s like it was the last couple years where you can only attack from the top two positions in a group?PATO O’WARD: I think it’s better now. I think the improvements made in the off-season with the barge boards have been a positive. I think if you’re within the first four, five in line, you can probably do something if you get a good enough run. If you’re back in, like, eighth, ninth or 10th in line, you might have to wait till somebody checks up in front of you and you get a run there. But if no one is making mistakes, yeah, I feel like you’re pretty much stuck.Q. How trimmed out where y’all running today compared to what y’all are going to be tomorrow and on Saturday?RINUS VEEKAY: We did a quite decent trim. I think there’s still more to gain. We kind of went safe today. We just wanted to check the balance on different trims. Yeah, it felt really good. Car felt stable in every trim. No concerns whatsoever.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, for me, I don’t think we trimmed much because I wasn’t very happy with it when we first went out. We didn’t trim more.THE MODERATOR: Boost levels do go up tomorrow, 80, 90 horsepower. Bring a smile to your face at all?RINUS VEEKAY: That’s all we ask for always.THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming out, appreciate it. Good luck tomorrow.

May 20, 2021 Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Mustang will be a part of the inaugural NASCAR race at the Circuit of the Americas, a 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course in Austin, Texas. The COTA track opened in October, 2012, and has hosted several major series including Formula One and IndyCar, but this weekend will mark the first appearance there of NASCAR’s top three divisions. DiBenedetto has yet to compete on the COTA layout, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy preparing for Sunday’s 68-lap, 231-mile EchoPark Texas Grand Prix.   “I’m excited for COTA,” he said. “It’s a beautiful facility, and I’ve been wearing out the Ford simulator.”    Unlike most Cup Series races the past two seasons, DiBenedetto and the Menards/Quaker State crew will get a chance to fine tune their Mustang during a practice session on Saturday.   “I’m looking forward to having practice to try and work on improving our road course program and hopefully be dialed in for the race,” he said. “And I will be paying close attention to the truck and Xfinity races.”   Inaugural NASCAR races in the state of Texas are nothing new for the Wood Brothers.   They competed in the first-ever NASCAR race at Texas World Speedway (then known as Texas International Speedway in College Station back on Dec. 7, 1969). Cale Yarborough was aboard the No. 21 Mercury when it blew a tire and slammed into the wall on Lap 143 after leading 16 laps earlier in the race. The impact shattered Yarborough’s shoulder blade. Author Greg Fielden, in his Forty Years of Stock Car Racing, quoted one of the doctors who treated Yarborough. “When this bone is broken this badly, usually the patient is dead. It’s a miracle he survived such a hard crash.” Eddie Wood said Yarborough was still on the mend early in the 1970 season. “That crash at Texas is why Parnelli Jones drove our car at Riverside in 1970,” he said.   Yarborough was back in the car quicker than doctors expected and was as fast as ever. He set a new track record of 194.015 miles per hour to win the pole for the Daytona 500 then won his qualifying race at a then all-time race record of 183.295 mph. He dominated the early laps of the Daytona 500 but dropped out early due to mechanical issues.   The Woods fielded the No. 21 Ford driven by Michael Waltrip in the inaugural race at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth on April 6, 1997. Waltrip finished ninth, the first of six top-10 finishes for the team at that track.   Eddie Wood said that was a memorable day.   “They had a big wreck on the first lap,” he said. “And there was a huge crowd there. There was so much traffic we wound up taking a helicopter out of the infield to get to the airport.” Cup practice for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix is set for Saturday at 9:05 a.m. (10:05 ET). Qualifying is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. (11 ET), and the race is expected to get the green flag just after 1:30 p.m. (2:30 ET) with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

HOUSTON (May 20) — Fresh off his second final-round appearance of the NHRA season, second-year Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin Jr. has his sights firmly set on bagging his first victory in the factory hot rod class at this weekend’s Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil in Baytown, Texas. After watching rookie Dallas Glenn collect his first Wally trophy just a few days ago in the finale of the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Coughlin had a front-row seat to the thrill and excitement of scoring a national event win. Now he’s dead-set on earning his own Pro Stock race title to his eight other national event wins, which were earned in Top Alcohol Dragster (3), Super Gas (3), and Super Comp (2).  “Dallas is a good person, a very hard worker, and someone who came up through the Sportsman ranks like me so I was happy for him,” said Coughlin, finished just .010 seconds behind Glenn in Charlotte. “At the same time, watching him celebrate gave me some extra energy to win one for the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports race team. We’ve been to two finals in the first four races of the year so we obviously have a car that can win. We just need to get it done.”To that end, Coughlin and crew stayed an extra day at zMax Dragway to better match their current tune-up to the engine advancements the in-house motor program at Elite Performance has made in the past few weeks. They’ll need to be sharp right out of the trailer in Houston as pending weather forecasts have forced officials to shorten the race to just two days, meaning each team will have only two rounds to qualify their racecars. “What we’ve seen every race is some very stacked fields,” Coughlin said. “All the cars from top-to-bottom are running extremely close times. That puts a premium on the drivers being as close to perfect as possible when they execute a run, even in qualifying. It’s really how drag racing should be, where anyone can win at any time.” Houston Raceway Park powered by Pennzoil has been kind to the Coughlin family through the years. Troy Jr.’s uncle Jeg Coughlin Jr. won the Pro Stock class four times in the past (1997, 1998, 2000, and 2010), while his uncle John Coughlin took a divisional Super Gas win at the facility in 1995.This track is owned and operated by the Angels, a family immersed in the sport of drag racing, just like the Coughlin clan. “Houston is a great town with very knowledgeable drag racing fans, plus the Angels are big into motorsports and have made their racetrack one of the most fan-friendly and racer-friendly stops on tour,” Troy Jr. said. “I know I have a lot of great memories from there when I was a kid and I’m ready to make some more this weekend. “They used to hold a pre-season test session called the Pro Stock Super Bowl, which gave everyone a chance to test under real race conditions. I remember my dad (Troy Sr.) and Uncle Jeg posting some big numbers during those deals because the weather was usually so perfect in January. If we can avoid the rain, this weekend’s cooler temperatures could also be conducive to some low times and big speeds, so we should be able to put on a great show. I’m ready.”

Pro Series Sprint Car Champ Gets 358 Modified Victory at USA Int’lPoints difference now at 75, Tucker will clinch championship next week at Charlotte May 19, 2021 – He’s a multi-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Series Sprint Car iRacing World champion, and now the winner of the first-ever DIRTcar 358 Modified race contested on the DIRTcar eSports Tour. Alex Bergeron showed an impressive display of resiliency Wednesday night at USA International Speedway, holding off defending Tour champion Kendal Tucker for over half the race to pick up his first Tour victory of the season with the VP Racing Fuels 358 Modifieds. “We did what we had to do – protect the line there in [Turns] 3-4 and got the win. Pretty happy about this,” Bergeron said. This win comes as a bit of redemption for the Team ABR leader after a costly penalty nixed his win in the 360 Sprint Car race last week, handing the victory over to Tucker. But this week was a different story – both drivers battled hard, but clean, and put on a show for the DIRTVision presented by Drydene audience. While Richard Murtaugh Jr. led the field around the big 3/4-mile for the first 18 circuits, Bergeron was forced to wrestle the lead away from him in a big slide job-fest that lasted several laps and involved most of the top-five. Once Bergeron grabbed the lead, his competition was in trouble. Tucker was his biggest thorn-in-the-side through the rest of the race, clinging right to his rear bumper, just waiting for a mistake to be made by the leader. But a mistake never showed from the ABR #12. Bergeron led the final 22 laps to pick up his first $250 check of the season and first since January 6 of Season 2. “I always had great restarts, and made the most out of it,” Bergeron said. “We just had to stay really patient and try not to make any mistakes out front – it’s always easy to make mistakes when you’re leading.” Tucker crossed the stripe in second, extending his streak of top-two finishes to a whopping eight in his eight starts this season. Now sitting an even 75 points ahead of Bergeron in the standings, Tucker will hoist his second consecutive DIRTcar eSports Tour trophy next week after the Big Block Modifieds wrap up the season in the 10th and final race of Season 3 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. VP Racing Fuels Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 12-Alex Bergeron [1]; 2. 00-Kendal Tucker [2]; 3. 33-Evan Seay [6]; 4. 000-Kevin Dedmon [13]; 5. 85-Tyler Schell [8]; 6. 22-Mason Hannagan [9]; 7. 48-Dylan Yeager [4]; 8. 17-Brett Rowles [16]; 9. 717-Bobby Rafferty [17]; 10. 13-Matt Remick [18]; 11. 10-Ryan Gregoric [19]; 12. 033-Richard Murtaugh Jr. [3]; 13. 018-Tyler Jackson [14]; 14. 013-Shane Andrews [21]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [24]; 16. 115-Boddie Parker [15]; 17. 78-Justin Bishop [22]; 18. 26-Sage Luther [12]; 19. 71-Claude Jr Fournier [23]; 20. 2-Chance Carr [11]; 21. 1-Jesse Enterkin [10]; 22. 72-Joseph Grabianowski [20]; 23. 127-Blake Matjoulis [5]; 24. 44-John Ruggiero Jr. [7] STREET STOCK LIMBO: Kilgore Bests Jackson in Low-Groove Battle at Williams GroveJackson takes 43-point lead into final race next Wednesday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte The two biggest forces in the Chevy Performance Street Stock League have battled neck-and-neck all season long, and it came to a boiling point on Wednesday night at Williams Grove Speedway – just one week out from their epic championship finale. With points, pride and money on the line, Carl Kilgore hung tough out front of points leader Tyler Jackson through 20 defensive laps on the very bottom of the track, enduring relentless pressure from behind to win his fourth Feature of the season. “I love it when this place gets around the bottom,” Kilgore said. “It’s a hit-your-mark kind of place and we just hit ‘em every lap.” With both drivers making up the front row for the initial start, Kilgore, of Greenville, MS, had to get a great start to get the jump on Jackson and win the battle heading into Turn 1. Which, he did, setting him right up for a non-stop defensive battle on the bottom over the next 20 circuits. Jackson, of Rockford, IL, did all he could to try and pry the top spot from Kilgore’s hands, but could only muster a few thwarted pass attempts by the checkered flag. Digging harder every lap, Jackson tried and tried to get even lower than Kilgore on the track but could not do so without hitting the inside wall. In the final laps, Jackson knew he had to try something quick. He drove his Osman Racing #25 in deep and gave Kilgore a few taps on the quarter-panel to try and break the defending race winner loose, but was unsuccessful in the end. “He left a little crack open down there and I figured I’d shove it in there and see what happened, but he did a good job of cutting back down,” Jackson said. Kilgore was able to hold it together and drive back around to the stripe to collect another $100 prize check. Coming into Wednesday night, Jackson sat a comfortable 48 points ahead of Kilgore in the standings, on the back of three Feature wins since the start of the season. With Kilgore’s fourth win of DIRTcar eSports Season 3 Wednesday, he shaves five points off Jackson’s lead heading into the final race at Charlotte. And while 43 points in one race is a lot to make up, considering Jackson’s finishes this season, Kilgore’s not out yet. A big wreck, technical difficulties or one bad miscue somewhere in the qualifying events does have the potential to ruin Jackson’s lead. Kilgore has the scenario in the back of his mind, but isn’t going to let that distract him from getting a fifth win next Wednesday night on DIRTVision presented by Drydene. “We’re gonna give it our all, but we’re here for the $100-to-win though,” Kilgore said. UP NEXT The Chevy Performance Street Stock League puts a cap on its second season of action next Wednesday night, May 26, with a final stop at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision with a FAST PASS subscription. Chevy Performance Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 021-Carl Kilgore [1]; 2. 25-Tyler Jackson [2]; 3. 69-Keith Hackney [9]; 4. 003-Thorne Zimmerman [3]; 5. 17-Brett Rowles [8]; 6. 225-Nathan Lemons [7]; 7. 077-Holden English [5]; 8. 71-Daniel Stiffler [13]; 9. 26-Sean Stevens [10]; 10. 48-Kyle Vaughn [4]; 11. 21-Jim Reavis [14]; 12. 546-Randy Axner [15]; 13. 111-Jaron Valley [21]; 14. 73-Scott Reid [17]; 15. 46-Jonathan Nause [11]; 16. 5-Jason Metoxen [20]; 17. 002-Clifford Bellomy [12]; 18. 92-Payton Gries [18]; 19. 717-Bobby Rafferty [6]; 20. 79-Dean Reynolds [22]; 21. 38-Ryan Carlisi [24]; 22. 84-Mike Watt [16]; 23. 27-Christopher Reckner [23]; 24. 11-Trevor Depriest [19]

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

Iowa and Wisconsin Officially Open World of Outlaws Summer SlateEight Races in Ten Days Begins with 34, Dubuque & Beaver DamWEST BURLINGTON, IA – May 19, 2021 – The summer months are the most grueling when it comes to the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.Look no further than the first official week of summer for proof of that. In a span of ten days next month, The Greatest Show on Dirt will race eight nights at five tracks in four states. It’s crucial for not only the championship chase, but also for perfecting your setup and building momentum into the laundry list of Crown Jewel events.That demanding slate all begins with a triple-header through Iowa and Wisconsin on June 17-19.Thursday, June 17 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA (BUY TICKETS) Friday, June 18 at Dubuque Fairgrounds in Dubuque, IA (BUY TICKETS) Saturday, June 19 at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WI (BUY TICKETS)Each of the three tracks highlighted in this June triple-header will be hosting their first and only appearance for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars in 2021. Meaning it’s extra important for teams to be prepared from the jump, and it’s extra important for fans to get out and see the winged warriors in person.On Thursday, June 17, the Outlaws return to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA for the sixth time in Series history. In five events dating back to 2008, five different winners have found victory lane at the 1/3-mile. Among those winners are Tony Bruce Jr., Joey Saldana, Craig Dollanksy, Donny Schatz, and Parker Price-Miller. Wayne Johnson is also a former winner at the track with a 2015 NSL triumph to his credit.On Friday, June 18, a new track graces the schedule with the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque, IA welcoming the World of Outlaws for the first time ever. The 3/8-mile bullring has never hosted The Greatest Show on Dirt, but several different sanctioning bodies have contested events at the Iowa facility before. Dubuque is another track where Oklahoma City’s Wayne Johnson has won before, scoring a Sprint Invaders win in 2019.”I love getting out to new tracks,” said David Gravel, who is second in the championship standings. “We go to some places like Knoxville, Eldora or Williams Grove where everyone has all these massive notebooks and we all have agendas on what to expect and then how to react. But, when we go to these new places, you have to throw everything out the window. Obviously you can compare it to other tracks, but it’s all an even playing field when the night begins. You really see which driver and crews can adapt the best.”On Saturday, June 19, Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WI hosts the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars for the 29th time. The 3/8th-mile oval debuted on the schedule in 1996 and has been a winning track for legends like Kinser, Haudenschild, Blaney, Schatz, and others over the years.When it comes to Beaver Dam, Brad Sweet has been the man to beat lately, and quite frankly, he’s been unbeatable. The two-time and defending Series champion has won three consecutive World of Outlaws events at Beaver Dam, and four total in his career. With one month remaining until start of summer, Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing #49 lead the standings by 68 points.”Anytime you can go to a place where you’ve won multiple times, you get the little boost of confidence,” Sweet noted. “Especially with our crew right, I’ve got great chemistry with Eric, Joe, and Andrew, we all know what to expect out of each other. We’ve really hit on something at Beaver Dam. It’s a fun little race track, and hopefully we can keep that streak alive.”The real grind begins following that triple-header as the “Summer of Money” gets underway with THE SHOWDOWN.Teams will get a one-day break following Beaver Dam, using Sunday as a travel and maintenance day. On Monday & Tuesday, June 21-22, the Huset’s 50 offers two nights of racing and a finale paying $30,000-to-win. Another one day away from the track ensues before three more nights at the Jackson Nationals on June 24-26 brings around a $50,000-to-win prize. If any driver can sweep both finales, they’ll take home an extra $100,000.Through 24 of a scheduled 83 events, Sweet is leading the standings in pursuit of his third-consecutive World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship.However, on his heels are six hungry drivers, all within 200 points of the coveted top spot.Trailing The Big Cat is David Gravel (-68) in the Big Game Motorsports #2, Carson Macedo (-92) in the Jason Johnson Racing #41, Aaron Reutzel (-140) in the Roth Motorsports #83, Sheldon Haudenschild (-142) in the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17, Donny Schatz (-144) in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, and Logan Schuchart (-194) in the Shark Racing #1S.Fans who can’t make it to the track can catch all of the action on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.Photo – Trent Gower

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

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE SESSION INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY OVAL DAY 2MAY 19, 2021 CHEVY TEAMS AND DRIVERS HAVE TWO DAYS OF PRACTICE UNDER THEIR BELTS FOR 105TH RUNNING OF INDIANAPOLIS 500From qualifying prep to running in “trains” for race prep, incident-free day yielded positive results for Bowtie brigade INDIANAPOLIS (May 19,2021) – Day two started at 11 am as the NTT INDYCAR Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway allowed a one-hour window for RC Enerson and the No. 75 Top Gun Racing Chevrolet to complete the Rookie Orientation Program. (ROP). In the time allotted, Enerson accomplished all the required tasks and is able to prepare for qualifications for the May 30th 500-mile race. The remainder of the afternoon the Chevrolet powered teams went through their specific plans in preparation for qualifications on Saturday and Sunday, May 22 & 23 as well as the race.  When Happy Hour ended at 6:15 p.m., Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly, No. 47 US Air Force Chevrolet, and Ed Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet were second and third respectively on the time chart. Both turning laps in excess of 226 mph. Practice will continue tomorrow, Thursday May 20 at noon concluding at 6:00 p.m.   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 Montoya, No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET AND CONOR DALY, NO. 47 US AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLETPRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:THE MODERATOR: Welcome to day two at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway practicing for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. We have Conor Daly and Ed Carpenter. THE MODERATOR: Worried about no tow or just kind of working on your race car right now.ED CARPENTER: Yeah, I was surprised, too, because we were out there thinking there was going to be a group, and everyone started doing Q sims, and I was like, hmm, I guess we’ll just wait.Ed, you’ve got your guys together. How important is that to replicate the speed when it’s spread across all the drivers on your team?ED CARPENTER: I mean, the speed charts don’t necessarily mean a ton. Those are more representative of just getting a bunch of cars in front of you with the right gap and putting up a time. The majority of the running we’re doing, working in traffic, they’re 2:17s.I mean, it’s nice for the team, depending on the time sheets. But I think more importantly we’re all feeling pretty good and making progress with the cars. Soon we’ll find out what we have for speed, too.Q. Also there’s been a little bit of disappointment in the garage with the decision today by the mayor that it’s going to be June 7th before the mask thing is lifted. You could have probably had more people in here for race day. What are your reactions to it?ED CARPENTER: I don’t know, I thought we were following CDC guidelines. I guess that’s all I’ll say.ED CARPENTER: Yeah, but I don’t know. That’s all I’m going to say.ED CARPENTER: It is confusing.ED CARPENTER: I thought the internet had all the truths. That’s where I got it from.Q. But the prospect of the fact that there could have been more people —ED CARPENTER: All joking aside and me taking jabs, I’m super excited that we do have the ability to have the fans that we have here. It’s great having fans in the garage area with us. I don’t want to say we took for granted the fans being back there, but it really is nice. You get to know people over the years, and it’s great to see that they’re still with us.Q. For the two ECR guys, Rinus’s win, what kind of a boost did that give the team coming in here?CONOR DALY: I mean, I think the team has done an incredible job, obviously. Both of our cars were fast last weekend, which is great, and I think our cars have a lot of speed here, as well. I know my own journey with the team has probably been a little bit more difficult, but I think we’ve definitely rounded a nice corner for sure recently, and I think they’ve done a lot for me personally because I think my style has required a little bit more work with this generation car.I think it’s great. I mean, if the team is winning, that’s great. Know what I mean? I think it’s good for Ed, it’s good for all of our partners, it’s good for everyone involved. I would also like to have a trophy, though, too. I think that’s why we keep trying every day, we keep showing up and ready to do the job.ED CARPENTER: We’ll get you a trophy.Q. You could take his from him. He’s younger.CONOR DALY: No, he’s a young lad, he deserves it.Q. Ed, he had said that he felt the team was pretty excited for the Indy 500. He felt that the win last week would have elevated the team to another level.ED CARPENTER: I mean, I think anytime you win a race, it’s so hard to win races in this series, so anytime a driver or car on your team wins a race, I think it does lift everyone up. You don’t get to celebrate the Indy GP as long as you do some other races because we’re just turning the page and getting ready for the 500, but I think it makes it easier for the guys that come in to work excited about spending most of their hours out here for the rest of the month, and they deserve it. They’ve done a fantastic job.Q. That was the first win since 2016 for you —ED CARPENTER: Yep, it had been a while.Q. What does that do for your program?ED CARPENTER: You know, I think it tells us we’re doing the right things and using our resources in the right way, using our people in the right way, and the next step is just being consistent week in, week out, every type of circuit.Historically we’ve been pretty good at the Indy road course, so I think we expect to be strong here, but we just have to maintain a level of consistency.Q. Have you seen anyone out there that’s young that you’re just like, whoa, look at that guy?ED CARPENTER: I think there’s a lot of good cars right now. So much of it’s dependent on where you are in line, I think, can change the way you look quite a lot right now. But I think there’s more cars looking good than not, so it’s hard to really say.Q. Conor, can you just say some things about America and —CONOR DALY: Well, I didn’t know if anyone would ask me a question up here, but it feels good to be up here with these three incredibly talented gentlemen.I mean, our car has been great, so our car looks incredible yet again, U.S. Air Force, honoring the Red Tails, super cool scheme. It’s been fun so far.Yeah, so I mean, to be fast two days in a row, we want to keep that going. I think it’s — I’ve been in the opposite position before where you’re driving around and saving your life all day and you’re like, how on earth am I 28th. So to be driving around and kind of more towards the sharp end is just a really nice feeling. I’m just really pumped to have the car that we’ve got and the team support that we’ve got right now. BETH PARETTA, SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, LAUREN SULLIVAN, ANDRA BUZATU FROM PARETTA AUTOSPORT, NO. 16 ROCKET PRO/PARETTA AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET,  PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:  THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Thank you for coming to meet the Paretta Autosport team, a female-dominant team attempting to make this year’s 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. We’re going to start off with a quick video presentation so you can meet the team.As you can see scrolling across the screen, those are many of the ladies associated with Paretta Autosport this year. We will start with meeting team owner Beth Paretta.BETH PARETTA: Thank you, Katie. I realize that it’s exactly four months since I was sitting here to announce the team. It was January 19th. So here we are on May 19th, a very special day for a lot of reasons.We’ve done a lot in four months. There was a lot of stuff that was done before that day of the announcement, but really excited to finally be here and for you to actually meet the faces that comprise Paretta Autosport, both on the commercial side, the competition side and the support that we’ve been getting through our technical partnership with Team Penske, which has been amazing. Very excited to be here today, and thank you for being on Zoom for those looking at us remotely. We couldn’t get our message out and tell the story without all of you, so thank you for your time and the way that you have very kindly covered this story.Hopefully it’s resonated with people to be more than another team, another entry, trying our best. We’re trying to do a lot more and trying to provide opportunity and hopefully some inspiration, both for kids and for women everywhere to push and work hard to also know that anybody might be possible for yourself. Very happy to be here.You saw the names on the team, but if we can just kind of cycle through quickly, I don’t know if you can go back through that or if there’s a way to pause them. But Simona, myself, but we’ve got the competition team, Ayla Agren, Caitlyn Brown, Andra Buzatu, Madison Conrad, Linda Conti, Sara Durant, Amanda Frayer, Mallorie Muller, Chelsea Pechenino and Lauren Sullivan, Runa Amin — this is the commercial side. Runa Amin, our intern; Barbara Burns, PR; Maria Grady, our photographer, Belicia Montgomery, business operations; Heather Pirowski on partnerships, and Linda Rosenberg in marketing.This is also on the competition team, the support from Team Penske. Clint Cummings, Casey Eason, Chris Fry, Jefferson Hodges, Michael Nelson, Tom Novins, John Picchinotti, Raul Prados, our race engineer; Gary Prall, Sean Rinaman, who is our amazing pit coach who’s been training the women in pit stops; Vance Welker, our crew chief; and that’s it alphabetically.So although this is female forward, I want to make sure that everybody understands that this is with the support and help and guidance and mentorship from some very amazing and experienced men who have worked in racing for many years, who have been part of this process from the beginning and teaching some of our women that are new to INDYCAR some of the ways of working around this car and working around this racetrack.I also want to give a big thank you to Rocket Pro TPO, our primary sponsor, Money Lion, our two main sponsors, who have been amazing. Not only have they been supportive but they are leveraging our story to also highlight some of the women’s forward initiatives on the business side for each of their companies. So it was a really great fit for both of those, Money Lion, talking about financial literacy for women. We’re talking about education and careers which lead to independence for women, financial literacy, so Money Lion is doing that. And Rocket Pro TPO, females in the mortgage industry who are business owners.So it’s wonderful to align with like-minded companies.Also a big thanks to everybody at Chevrolet for the Chevy power that will be hopefully making Simona go very fast here at the speedway in car No. 16. That’s it. That’s kind of — you’ll meet everybody individually afterward, but just want to show you some of the important people sitting next to me, too, to summarize their journey for the past four months.Simona?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, well, for me it’s definitely pretty special to be back at the speedway. I think you know that Beth has kind of put this opportunity together for me and as well for all the other women. I think it’s quite special.For sure I think our association with Team Penske is just incredible. I’ve learned so much just over the last like — the test day and yesterday, as well, so just kind of getting confidence out there, and the car feels really good, so from that point of view, I’m really excited to be here because I think we have the tools to do something great, and everyone is really learning really quickly from everyone. Me myself, as well, I haven’t been in an INDYCAR for six years, so it’s great to have great teammates around me and everyone from Team Penske really kind of helping us out on that side.For sure, like Beth said, having Rocket Pro TPO and Money Lion kind of coming on board and telling this journey together, I think it’s great special. I think without them we wouldn’t be here, as well, so I think, yeah, car looks pretty good, as well. Looks fast and cool. Yeah, and Chevy, to welcome me back in the family, I think it’s really special.Yeah, I think we’ll have a good month of May, and I can’t wait to go back out on track today.Lauren?LAUREN SULLIVAN: My name is Lauren Sullivan and I am the performance engineer for Paretta Autosport. I support the race engineer Raul, and I was asked to loan my skill set to this team by Team Penske. My full-time job is actually being a NASCAR wind tunnel test engineer for Team Penske, and earlier this year upper management came to me and asked if I would be interested in translating what I do on the NASCAR side over to the INDYCAR side to support Paretta Autosport, and so I of course said absolutely. This is a fantastic opportunity to translate data quality and wind tunnel testing to track-based testing and data quality.From there, the journey has been incredible and has exceeded many expectations, every expectation actually, from the men from Team Penske who have been supporting us to all the ladies I’ve been able to work with, and each experience has just gone beyond predictions and how I thought it would go. It’s just been wonderful. The energy and the excitement that is in this team is infectious, and we are here and we are ready to do what we came here to do.Watching all these ladies and myself, all of us learn a new skill set so quickly, the relentless amount of hard work and hours we’ve each put in since the start of the year to be ready for race day, and we’re ready for it. It’s cool to see it all finally come together.We’re also very aware of our unique position to the next generation, the eyes that are on us, in particular the young ladies that are out there watching this unfold, and we hope that by seeing us, you guys realize that we didn’t do anything extraordinary to be here. We are just like you, and so if you can see us, you can be us. By all of us coming together, we’re hoping to make that message very clear.One of those wonderful ladies that we have with us is Andra.ANDRA BUZATU: Good morning. My name is Andra Buzatu. I am a mechanic on the car as well as being on the pit crew.I recently got out of the military last year in September and decided to come to NASCAR Technical Institute, where I was recruited for the team.Since February, we have all been getting up at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning four days a week to be at the Penske shop by 5:00 a.m. to practice our stops. Every single day we’re learning something new, and we had quite a few women start out on the team, so the women that you see standing here are the ones that made it and are in a final part of the team.When it comes to being over the wall, we’re hoping to see a lot of us going over the wall. It will still be tentative on race day, where we are, but we have — we’ve been working very, very hard to be where we are.I think the biggest point is that we’re just another race team, and we’re here to win, and we’re here to really show that we deserve to be here. Thank you.THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Great to put some faces and names behind the Paretta Autosport story. Now that you have met the women of Paretta Autosport we’re going to open the floor for a few brief questions.Q. (No microphone.)BETH PARETTA: I’ve worked in motorsport a long time, and this is different than anything I’ve ever been part of, obviously, for all the reasons that you see.I started just as a fan watching from home. I was somebody that watched racing all the time, and I didn’t necessarily plot out that this would be where I’d find myself. It’s the most extraordinary — it’s the most extraordinary thing to be able to do for a living, in fairness, and we’ll all say that, everybody on the team, even on our toughest days and our early mornings and late nights and covered in schmutz. We love it, and we do it because we’re competitive and we do it because it’s about pushing ourselves.Many of us have individual journeys but there’s nothing like being on a team and knowing that the person standing next to you is as driven as you are. We’re all better together.Those sorts of things, these are opportunities of a lifetime, and it’s funny because all of us have worked in racing we can think back to different teams we were on and have such affectionate memories and I’m hoping that this is the start of something and we’re going to work together for many years if all goes well and if we have our partners that would like to continue this with us and see how far we can take this.A day like today is something that we’re always going to remember.Q. Beth, you had talked about this a few years ago, and you wanted an all-female team. How difficult was it to — when you first announced it to actually get here today?BETH PARETTA: Well, there were some logistics challenges at the 11th hour in 2016 that were unfortunate, and they affected a few teams that year, and we got caught up in that. It happens; it’s kind of the trials and tribulations of Indy.Yeah, I took a couple of years in between. I was focusing on the education side of things and building that and still continuing to build my network, and in fairness, Roger Penske and his team were supportive then and we were going to work together sort of in a different alliance, so when the race for equality and change was announced last year, I reached back out to him to say, hey, what is this about and what’s your ambition with this program, and he said, let’s talk, because it was already — the seeds had already been planted. So it was a very short conversation this time.We immediately got a car and the car was secured and immediately my next call was to Chevrolet and then the engine was secured. In fairness I think because I went through that it made this a little easier because it was a known idea.I think obviously the climate has changed. I think five years ago, six years ago we might have been too early for the world.Q. Now you have Roger Penske on board with diversity efforts. Did he give you that push that got you across the finish line?BETH PARETTA: I’d say the push in the sense of the technical alliance obviously then is easier when you call somebody like a Simona De Silvestro and say hey I’m putting this team together and I have a technical partnership with Roger Penske. I don’t think there was any hesitation. I mean, not that there’s hesitation, but it’s extra. I mean, to be able to be aligned with a team that knows their way around the speedway is a little easier.In fairness, I have a good relationship with Chevrolet, so did the Penske situation help? No, I had that and I’m a known quantity in some places. But there’s no doubt that it just helps, because also when you’re calling and talking to possible potential sponsor partners, it’s one thing to back an idea, it’s another thing to back an idea that has a connection to something that’s a going concern.Q. For the others, you look around and you’ve got this team of females and it seems like something that would never be possible and yet here it is. I’m wondering how that makes you feel.SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Well, I think for me personally, like when I look at pit lane, to me it doesn’t matter — I think they all deserve to be there. I look at whoever is changing my tire because it’s the best person to do that job, but for sure I think what Beth was able to do is just give this amazing opportunity.Everyone is learning from the best people like in the paddock, and I think that’s something that even in my career I’ve fought for. At the end of the day racing is all about being in the right place at the right moment, and right now we just have literally all the tools in our hands to really show what we can do, and I think that’s really uplifting.I think everyone involved in the program, as well, is just really — realizes that. Everyone is putting the extra work into it, and I think that’s really special to see, and for sure when we’re on pit lane, I think all the other teams kind of look at us, but we just do our job and that’s what it is, and hopefully I think it’ll just open even more opportunities to other girls out there.Also in different teams, for example, just to — if somebody is good at what they do, they should also get a shot at it.BETH PARETTA: And to be fair there are women in other teams and you’ll see them in pit lane. I don’t know if some teams have done this where they’ve actually put some of their women more forward where they might have been back at the shop, and if that’s maybe something that’s new this year for whatever reason, good. Then it worked. Because they were there all along.Q. Do you two feel part of something?LAUREN SULLIVAN: Oh, yeah, the camaraderie hits different. Being on the NASCAR side, it’s also a male-dominated field, but to come over here and be in a female-dominated team, it hits different, just because you’re so used to being one or two in a field of many other men and stuff like that.It’s a very unique experience, and it’s really cool to see and look around, especially like when we’re walking together down pit road or something like that, and it’s like, we’re doing this, and we’re doing it well. It’s exciting.ANDRA BUZATU: It’s so crazy to be with a bunch of other women that want to do what you do because on my ship I was one of the only female mechanics. The rest of them were officers, so I was the only one like down in the pits in the engine room.It’s so cool to be working alongside other women who are so driven to do what you love to do.Q. Simona, a few weeks ago Will Power was saying that — he said, Simona is going to be my favorite. The Swiss Missile, she’s going to be fast in that Penske car. I think you’re really highly respected as a racer and maybe people look at you as you just haven’t had the right opportunity. Do you feel like you’re in an opportunity now that you can really shine?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, definitely. If I look at my career, like INDYCAR has done so much for my career. I think it’s really put me on the map. But when I was here in 2010, 2013, I never got the call from a big team, even though I think kind of the results were okay, and it could have been a possibility.I think it just took a little bit of work, and finally I think, yeah, with Beth doing this and also Roger, I think when they called me, I think it was quite special because I feel like, okay, I’ve put a lot of work to be in this position finally, and here I am today.From that point of view I’m grateful that I stuck with it all these years to finally be here, and for sure I think this is the best opportunity for me yet in INDYCAR and here, as well, at the Indy 500 because literally everyone in the team, everyone around us really wants us to do well. They really give you everything you need and try to make you as comfortable as you can, and the car is really fast, as well.From that point of view, it’s just, yeah, putting my head down and getting it done, and hopefully this will be a really strong month of May and we’ll see where the journey goes.Q. Can you win the Indy 500?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah. You know, I think so, if we — I think at the end of the day this place — you need a little bit of luck. You need things to go well. But I feel like we’re really putting the right amount of work into it, and at the end of the day the things I can control is doing the job. I can be as prepared as I can, the women, as well, the guys on the team, as well, my engineer. Everyone knows that, so we just have to get the work done, and hopefully on Sunday we’ll be in a good position.Q. Pit stop times, what did you guys start out at and what have you improved to?ANDRA BUZATU: Oh, man, we started off at, I don’t know, 17-, 18-second stops –BETH PARETTA: On a static car.ANDRA BUZATU: Yeah.BETH PARETTA: We could put a car right here and see how long it would take any of you to do it.ANDRA BUZATU: And I think now our average is around 5.5, five seconds.BETH PARETTA: There’s average, so there’s some sub-five.Q. Also Team Penske guys like Rick Rinaman were famous for — he was going over the wall when he was 62. The fact they’ve won the pit stop challenge so often, what’s it like getting coached by some of those guys where to shave a tenth of a second off here, a half a second there, what’s the process?ANDRA BUZATU: Sean is the best coach that we possibly could have asked for. This is his first time coaching a group of women. I mean, the process is so minute. You think we’re just taking a tire on — taking a tire off, putting a tire on, but there’s — like the angle of how you pick up the tire, the angle of how you put the gun on, it started off with the basics, and now we are so just picking apart the finest of details.It’s been a long process of just the basics down to the details. I’m super confident with how all of us stand when it comes down to pit stops.BETH PARETTA: It’s like going to the Harvard of pit schools.Q. I believe the pit stop challenge is canceled for this year, but for next year how big a goal would it be to get out there and fight for that championship?ANDRA BUZATU: I mean, that’s all we could ask for, right?Q. How oversubscribed was it like when you announced this deal? Did you get a lot of applications? What was your feel for how much enthusiasm there was behind this?BETH PARETTA: We got a ton of CVs, a ton of resumes, through the website, through my LinkedIn, every way. From a lot of men, as well, which was lovely. In fairness because it was such a short timeline, we really relied on people that we knew and had a relationship with and then kind of like one degree of separation of then using — like going to a resource like Jefferson Hodges with Team Penske who had previously worked with a bunch of the women before or knew them through the NASCAR Technical Institute. We really were pragmatic about it.Q. I wanted to ask also about — I realize why you picked the 500, but obviously with 35 cars it’s high risk coming in with a team, not because they’re individually inexperienced but just working together. Wouldn’t it have been safer to do like a Long Beach or St. Pete where you’re guaranteed to actually be on the grid?BETH PARETTA: Absolutely, and we actually considered doing a bundle of races. Part of it has to do with Simona’s day job as a Porsche factory driver so there were some conflicts with some of the dates, so we looked at that, but we decided collectively with Roger and their upper management that we would start here and then go from here.Q. So are you hinting that there are more races coming up?BETH PARETTA: (Nodding head.)Q. Simona, how quickly did you get back into the swing of driving an open-wheel car because it was completely alien what you were doing down in Supercars to come here.SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, actually to be honest, I felt at home pretty quickly. I think if I think about my career and all that, I always felt the most comfortable in open-wheel car to be honest. That’s I think how my driving style is. Also growing up in Europe and all that and just having driven these type of cars for such a long time, I felt pretty quickly at home.For sure here at the speedway definitely the first few laps it’s pretty quick because I hadn’t been here for six years, but yeah, I felt pretty comfortable pretty quickly, and I think that has a lot to do just with the team, as well, taking it really step by step and having also with the other drivers like people to kind of lean on a little bit. That felt actually pretty good.I think it was good that we did the open test because we just all kind of got to know each other for the first time and know how everyone works and also with my engineer and things like that, so now we had a little bit of time off to kind of work through these things. So it feels really comfortable out there, and for sure the racing is a tough part because how you’re racing on an oval, but we’ve been doing a bit of practice, and today, as well, we’ll try to do a bit more traffic running to get as comfortable as we can out there in traffic, as well.Q. If Paretta Autosport does continue to other races, I assume that you’re going to try and make yourself available? Porsche commitments allowing, yeah?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, at the end of the day I am at the moment under contract with Porsche, but I think in that sense I’m pretty lucky that they are really big racing brand. I think even when I called them about doing the Indy 500, it didn’t take two seconds for them to let me do it. From that point of view I think it’s really special. They know how important INDYCAR is, as well, so yeah, from that point of view I think I’m lucky for them to kind of be on my side for those things.Q. Just wanted to clarify with you, you’ve talked about kind of the pit crew over the past half an hour or so. I wonder if you’ve committed to an all-female crew over the wall for the race or if there’s still work to be done with finalizing that crew before the race actually comes.BETH PARETTA: No, the crew over the wall will be coed. We’ll see as the week goes on who may go over the wall, and ultimately the number one priority is safety and then competition. Here’s the thing: If we have zero women over the wall for the Indy 500 you’ll see them at the next race. It’s all about progress. Just the fact that you see this lineup and how far we’ve gotten in these four months, that’s how I’m measuring our progress. Every time we can integrate and add one more woman in a key role, that’s what we’re going to get to.Is it going to be 100 percent over the wall? No. And we’re going to prioritize safety and competition.Q. You’ve had some on-track testing time and also yesterday, as well. What are you expecting in terms of competition for the race? How confident are you going into that and what are you expecting in terms of targets?BETH PARETTA: We are very happy with how everything went yesterday. We’re following our plan, and we’re taking every day with a very robust methodical plan, and we’re going to follow our playbook.Q. How excited were you yesterday to have the team on track?BETH PARETTA: Over the moon. I mean, I don’t show it. I laughed when the Indy star referred to me as stoic because if anyone knows me, it’s like, really? Because it worked, if they thought I was stoic. Because obviously it’s a balance. We want to make sure that we’re focused, but yeah, I want to make sure that we all have a job to do, this is very important, it’s very exciting, but also allow ourselves that moment to exhale and just say, this is also very amazing and very cool. Hopefully we have a little bit of fun with it and do our jobs and hopefully on the night of May 30th we can celebrate.Q. For Simona, obviously you haven’t raced with the aeroscreen, but how have you found adapting to the aeroscreen considering the last time you were in an INDYCAR it didn’t have it?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, to be honest when you’re in the car you don’t really realize it. It doesn’t really change that much. In traffic it is a little bit different because when I raced here six, eight years ago you would feel a bit more the turbulent air on your helmet, on your head, and you don’t really feel that now with the aeroscreen. So it’s a little bit more tricky in just getting your runs and stuff, your timing of the runs. So that’s kind of the only thing that has changed a little bit.To be honest when you haven’t driven here for so long, you kind of just take it as a brand new like everything and kind of just learn from the things — you learn out there like all the time and don’t really think too much about how it was like six years ago because it’s quite far away.Q. You’re saying you’re coming from a military background; how has that prepared you to come in to motorsport, but then you’re also coming from the Penske NASCAR side, so has that been an easy transition to INDYCAR?ANDRA BUZATU: Yes and no. Four years in the military, I mean, we’re used to long days, and I was deployed for six months at a time, so traveling isn’t that big of a deal.I was a mechanic for four years, so I have that background coming into it. Going to NASCAR Tech was an option that I decided to take, and I was not expecting to get this offer.Transitioning out of military life is difficult on its own, so this opportunity came, and my life just picked up after that. It’s been an awesome transition, and everything starting out — they didn’t really throw us into the deep end right away. We got acquainted with everything, and it’s just been a great ride ever since.Q. Simona, since you left in the car, you have been in a bunch of other cars. What have you learned since then, and how can you adapt that when you come back?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, I think the biggest thing because I’ve driven so many different cars in the last six years is I think what I’ve learned the most is just adapting myself a bit. When you’re in open wheel for so long, you kind of start to understand and know what you kind of need in the race car to be quick, and jumping from Formula E to a Supercar and now to a GT car, I think the big thing is just in my driving, being adaptable. I think that’s the big thing that I learned just — sometimes things I want to do doesn’t really work for that car, so just being a bit more open-minded about things and about my driving, as well.Q. What do you expect of yourself for the Indy 500?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: You know, I think like any racer who enters, I try to be as competitive as I can be. You come to race to win races. That’s what we do this for. For sure I think right now it feels really good. For sure it’s only early days, but I feel pretty competitive out there, and yeah, the team around me is great.From that point of view, we’re just taking it day by day and just getting the confidence up every day and keep working on the things that I can do better and getting as comfortable as I can. I think if these things come together, I think we can be pretty strong on Sunday.Q. Have you had enough time to prepare?SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, for sure. Well, compared to everyone else who’s driving INDYCARs every weekend, it’s a bit different, but in the sense that the team is just really good around me. They really let me also take my time. They have really good guidance, and that point of view I feel super comfortable.Like I said before, I feel really comfortable in an INDYCAR. I love open wheel racing, so for me just the level of excitement being here is just really big, and I’m just super happy that I get to be back here and back at IMS, back in an INDYCAR. I think it’s special. Definitely pinching myself every day that I get to do this.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports107546-1-1002 2021-05-19 15:29:00 GMTWILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET AND JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 86 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of everyone at Penske Entertainment and management at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, welcome to the world’s greatest race course. Wrapping up day one today, which started early with practice. We had a little rain delay midway and then wrapped it up quickly this afternoon with some 35 cars out on the two-and-a-half-mile oval.A couple of Indy 500 champions joining us here this afternoon. We expect to hear from Ryan Hunter-Reay, I believe, as well, and Takuma Sato, the two-time and reigning Indy 500 champion again here momentarily. Let’s get started with two-time Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya, and Will Power, who topped the speed chart this afternoon with a lap at 226.470 miles an hour. Juan, it looks like you’re ready. This is a nice little bounce-back after the weekend you had GP weekend on the road course.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah, it was kind of expected to be honest. At the end of the race, we were actually pretty decent on lap time and everything, but it’s hard when you go into qualifying and you’ve done I think eight timed laps or something or 10 timed laps. We knew qualifying was going to be difficult and race was going to be difficult, but we did everything we needed to do with the pit stops, the fuel saving, work under pressure with the engineers.I mean, I think it was a really efficient weekend for the mechanics, as well. They didn’t have a lot of time to make all the changes.I’m really proud of everybody, Arrow McLaren, Speed. So it’s pretty good.I think our car, I don’t know, it’s weird because my reference is the old car before, all the halo and all this, and it feels pretty bad, but if you look at when I run with everybody, it seems pretty good.THE MODERATOR: I remember even when you left here after the open test you felt pretty good about things.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah, and when we started here I felt a lot happier then. I felt like we really gained a lot and had really good ideas, and this morning the track was really grippy. It was cool. It’s hard when it’s so cool because you can fool yourself a little bit. Overall it’s okay. I’m pretty happy. Got to wait and see what it brings.THE MODERATOR: Will, just recap your day today and the rain delay and all of that, but 226.4, P1 here on day one.WILL POWER: Yeah, so obviously not much, just big tow, as simple as that, trying to catch that train. But as far as stuck in traffic I felt pretty good just running with two or three cars in front. Felt more comfortable than I have for a while.That was promising, and yeah, I think cooler conditions can make everything feel pretty good. I think when the heat comes it’ll certainly change everything and become harder to follow.I think adding that downforce is certainly going to help the racing. I think you’re going to have one of the old style races where the front three are just swapping positions constantly because you can follow so close now. I think, yeah, it’s good for the fans.THE MODERATOR: That begs the question did the aero changes make a difference? So far so good? Do you like what you see out there?WILL POWER: Yeah, I think they needed that after last year’s race and they added it all to the flow so that makes it much better in traffic. Yeah, so far it feels really good.Q. I’m wondering how important is it to know this place and to understand what it’s about? Is that an invaluable amount of experience?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah.WILL POWER: Yeah, I think so. I’ve had so much time around here, you know the cars — having worked with Juan and Helio before, these guys were very, very good because of experience, so they know how to get the car right and know where to put it and not get themselves in trouble. I feel like I’m at that stage now.But yeah, you understand very well.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah, it’s interesting because as you get more experience you really know what you’re looking at on the car, as Will said, but sometimes when you don’t know enough, it’s good, as well, especially because we drive this — the way these cars drive at the moment.I don’t know, like if you look at Pato, for example, he’s comfortable with a car that is like really, really neutral. I mean, we can handle it, but for me is the question can you do it 200 laps.The way I look at it is like, I’m going to complain as much as I can until race day and then I’ll do the best I can with what I have. That’s all you can do.Q. Look at Pato; these guys are coming in here, everybody is saying look at the young guys, but does this particular race benefit guys like you?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: At the end of the day you look at how many young guys have won the 500 the last few years. I think that answers the question. I mean, do they have a shot? For sure, no question. I think Pato and Herta and all those kids, they’ve got a lot of talent and everything. Felix, as well. At the end of the day you’ve got to run the 200 laps and see what happens at the end of it.First of all, you’ve got to make it to 200, you know? So we’ll see. To tell you the truth, it’s tough. It looks like the forecast is going to get hotter this week and next week, so that’s going to make it even harder. I don’t know, they say that it’s better now with the new improved aero kit and everything to follow people, but I still find it pretty difficult to be honest.You know when you have one car it’s not an issue or two cars you can travel and pass, but when you’re behind five, six cars, it’s like, good luck.WILL POWER: No, I feel the same. Once you get back in that train — it’s always been that way. It’s just so hard in all that dirty air. Yeah, that’s the game. It’s kind of hard in practice to understand, too, because you’ve got people checking up, you’ve got guys coming out on different fuel loads and new tires and old tires, so you don’t know where people are setup-wise or tire-wise.You honestly don’t get a very good idea until race day how it will truly race.Q. Juan, last week was a little bit more difficult. Today it seemed like you hadn’t missed a day. How did it feel?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Honestly last week was what we expected. What do you expect, you haven’t been in the car three years. We did an afternoon in Laguna that is really no reference to this, and I got in the car and you try to do the best you can. Like if you look at my pace in the first practice I was only six-tenths of Pato and Felix. I felt pretty good after one session. The second session was a disaster; we made some changes, and I hated the car, couldn’t really be comfortable at all. Next you’re qualifying, next you’re racing. Warmup was pretty good, and we started the race with the same car, and it wouldn’t turn. We don’t understand why, and we kind of made some changes during the race, and at the end my pace was decent. But by then, who cares.But for me, as I said earlier, it’s really important because we pushed the guys to make a lot of changes. The car was always right, the car was always on time. We didn’t miss a beat. And I think that’s really important. The pit stops were good. Couldn’t hope for a lot more.It’s very easy to do pit stops when there’s no pressure, but in a race situation it makes it a little bit more interesting for everybody, including myself, so it was good.Honestly it made a huge difference. I got in the car today and I didn’t even think about it. That’s basically the reason of those painful days was today.THE MODERATOR: They’re talking about heat indexes around 90 degrees this week.THE MODERATOR: I’m curious as you sit here, all Indy champs, you’re looking at Montoya’s return. Did you think you’d seen the end of Juan Pablo Montoya at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I thought I did.WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, I thought it would be smart for your team to employ you. You’ve got a pretty good record around this joint.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Honestly the only reason I came back is because I think they got the potential to give me a winning car, and RP didn’t let me run the last few years. It’s the truth. He always — the last two years before this, I said I’m pretty sure he’s going to say no, but if you want to call, go ahead, and he called and it was like, nah, not happening.THE MODERATOR: There are nine former Indy 500 champions involved in this field. The record is 10 back in ’92. This is a pretty stacked field looking at this. You talk about the competition, how much more difficult it seems to be this year. That’s certainly relevant when it comes to this year’s Indianapolis 500.WILL POWER: It would be hard — how many cars have we got, 35, 36?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Freaking impossible.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Oh, my God. And you’ve really got to be patient enough for somebody to screw up to make the passes much easier.WILL POWER: I was saying actually qualifying would be tough at the back 10 or 12 cars because I think everyone is so close. You’ve seen a lot –JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think the track will make a huge difference on your performance.THE MODERATOR: The bigger the better on Saturday.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Normally, yeah.Q. Have you gotten a read as to how the engines are performing relative to each other?WILL POWER: Yeah, no, not really. I think they’re pretty even just based on today. If you’re following Honda, they’re a little better if they checked up to get up to speed. But yeah, we won’t know until qualifying. Obviously that’s a different boost level. Then again, Carb Day is a race engine. I think it’s all so close now that it’s almost coming down to how you prepare the car.Q. Juan, you’ve been in various formulas around here. How do you feel it compares?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think — I don’t know, it’s hard to tell. I was telling Will that it seems like they recover a little better than us off the corners, but if anything I would say probably at the moment what we’re showing and what they’re showing, they seem to be a little better at — we’re a little better at the end of the straight. Until they really put those race engines in and everybody really shows everything — it’s hard to tell because you might be doing a long run and somebody comes out and looks really good and they’ve got 10 laps less on their tires. Unless you got on the same lap and you take the beating of the whatever laps you want to run, 20, 25 laps, then you really don’t know where you stand.Q. Will was up front. Juan was dropped all the way back to 33rd the year he won it in 2015 and Takuma won it last year from starting pretty close to the front. Why is it so important where you qualify here this weekend?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Aeroscreen.WILL POWER: Yeah, I think last year was evident if you didn’t start at the front you didn’t have a chance. It might be a little bit better this year.JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah, I think they improved the car, but if you look at the guys when you run in a pack, the top three guys, as Will said earlier, they can pass each other and you look really racy. You drop to sixth or seventh and you’re like praying for dear life.Q. Also for Juan , how big would it be to win a third 500?JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think it would be cool. I think we’ve got a good shot at it. I think it’s exciting. I think having Pato and Felix as teammates is really cool. I think everybody at Arrow McLaren has been doing a really nice job. It’s a great atmosphere to work with, and they have good cars. They won Texas. They really showed they have fast cars. Even when we unloaded today they looked really strong. I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s a long week ahead. There’s many ways you can screw it up, so try to avoid most of them.THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much, guys, for your patience and coming over and saying hi to everybody. Nice way to kick things off here in the 2021 Indy 500.

Max McLaughlin using Oswego Speedway Supermodified win as early fuel for Super DIRT Week Coffey/McCreadie Enterprises considering full-time Super DIRTcar Series bid with McLaughlin this year By Nick GrazianoOSWEGO, NY – May 20, 2021 – Max McLaughlin unlocked the opportunity to write his name on a blank page in the record books for Super DIRT Week.With his asphalt Supermodified win at Oswego Speedway on May 15, the 21-year-old could be the first driver in history to win a Supermodified race at the “Steel Palace” and the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 during the 49th NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week (Oct. 6-10) in the same year.His Supermodified win already wrote his name in the record books as the seventh driver to win on the asphalt and dirt versions of the 5/8-mile track – he won the Super DIRTcar Series Futures Feature in 2016 and one of the Triple 30s in 2017 at Oswego. He was also the first driver to accomplish that feat in 66 years.“It’s pretty cool to be in the history books in that category,” McLaughlin said. “That’s pretty wild to be the first to do it in 60-plus years.”To the Mooresville, NC driver, who’s also spent a stint in Weedsport, NY, there’s no bigger dirt race than Super DIRT Week. After a loose wheel spoiled his chance at a win in 2019, COVID postponed it in 2020 and the Supermodified win this year, McLaughlin is eager for another shot at the crown jewel in October.“To go to Victory Lane at Super DIRT Week would be huge,” he said. “It’s definitely possible. We’re on a good streak now. I feel like we have just as much momentum as anybody right now. There’s a good chance we could make it happen. Just have to put everything together on our end. It’s a tough level we’re competing in. You’ve got to have a perfect day to go to Victory Lane in any series race. It won’t be easy, but I think we have the team and car to do it.”McLaughlin continues to pilot the #32c Big Block for Coffey/McCreadie Enterprises after joining the team last year. They found success together early, winning the OktoberFAST finale at Weedsport Speedway last year – McLaughlin’s first Super DIRTcar Series victory. Then, he picked up another Series win at Volusia Speedway Park and claimed his first Big Gator championship during the DIRTcar Nationals in February.That success has continued through the first four Super DIRTcar Series 2021 events with McLaughlin picking up two top-fives and three top-10s. He currently sits third in points – 76 points behind Stewart Friesen, who currently isn’t committed as a full-time driver, and six points behind Series regular Mike Mahaney. If his strong performance continues and the team has all the resources in place, a full-time bid with the Series may not be out of the question this year.“We’re definitely thinking about it,” McLaughlin said. “It’s something we’ve been talking about a lot the last week or two. Just contemplating and seeing if we can put all of our ends together and make sure we have enough stuff to do it.”They’ll continue to test the waters on Sunday, May 30, during the $7,500-to-win Heroes Remembered 100 at Weedsport Speedway – a race they initially weren’t planning on running (the Monday, May 31, event at Lebanon Valley Speedway is still TBD). Weedsport started off as a track McLaughlin said he struggled at due to its unique D-shape but with time and practice it became one of his favorites.“Definitely something I worked hard at to get better and since I got there I think we’ve had a little bit of an edge there,” he said. “Now that we’ve got our cars so good, I think we have a shot to go back and win again.”Along with the momentum of the Supermodified win, he said he thinks running the asphalt rocketship will help his dirt program, too. The combination of the car’s 800hp methanol-run V8 engine, its weight of 1,800lbs. and aircraft-like aerodynamics to keep it planted to the asphalt resulted in a new level of speed for McLaughlin. Now, it feels like time moves at a slower pace in his other race cars.He recalled Stewart Friesen saying he had the same kind of experience after he drove a 410 Sprint Car for the first time, and that it helped his performance in other cars. Friesen won the Big Block event at Super DIRT Week for three consecutive years after he ran his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car event.“This could be my type of Sprint Car deal,” McLaughlin said.The page is saved, and the ink-filled to write McLaughlin’s name in a special place in the Super DIRT Week record book if he can make history with his first Billy Whittaker Cars 200 win this year.For tickets to the 49th NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week, CLICK HERE. Tickets to the Sunday, May 30, Heroes 100 at Weedsport Speedway will be on sale Monday, May 24 at WeedsportSpeedway.com.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 Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, iRacing (Official Online Racing Game) and NAPA Auto Parts. Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fox Factory, MSD, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: FireAde, Intercomp, and Racing Electronics.

RACE #14 – CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICASFor the first time in NASCAR’s history, all three NASCAR national series will head to Austin, Texas, to take on the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). The inaugural NASCAR race weekend on the 3.426-mile/20-turn undulating road course features the 68-lap/231-mile NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) EchoPark Texas Grand Prix on Sunday, May 23. The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) events will make for an action-packed doubleheader on Saturday, May 22.  The Series’ highly-anticipated debut at the circuit that features a 133-foot hill in Turn One will provide for a weekend full of unique challenges. Among the few drivers that have limited on-track seat time at the venue includes reigning NCS Champion Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 1LE, who participated in a Goodyear tire test at COTA in March. Chevrolet drivers, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, also familiarized themselves with the circuit when they competed in a World Racing League endurance race in December 2020.  COTA, which opened in 2012, is the first of five NCS road course events through the end of August. In February, the Daytona Road Course kicked off the record-seven road course events on the 2021 NCS schedule. Chevrolet drivers made a strong showing by occupying four of the top-10 spots in the final running order.  Heading into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250, Chevrolet has scored an impressive six victories in 10 races thus far this season and sits atop the Manufacturer Standings. AJ Allmendinger, who is fourth in the Driver Standings, will do double duty this weekend, making his second NCS start of the season in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE. Reigning NCWTS champion Sheldon Creed, who earned his first victory of the season and first at Darlington Raceway on May 7 in the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado, leads the Team Chevy contingent into the Toyota Tundra 250. Creed is third in the Driver Standings. CLOSING IN ON HISTORYIt was a monumental weekend for Chevrolet team, Hendrick Motorsports, when its drivers recorded a 1-2-3-4 finish for the first time in the organization’s history. It was just the fourth time this feat has been accomplished in NASCAR Cup Series history. Hendrick Motorsports is just the third organization to achieve this historic sweep, joining Peter DePaolo Racing (1956 at Titusville; 1957 at North Wilkesboro) and Roush Fenway Racing (2005 at Homestead-Miami). Alex Bowman’s win in the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was Hendrick Motorsports’ 267th all-time victory in NASCAR’s Premier Series, putting the organization just one win away from tying Petty Enterprises’ all-time win record. Bowman’s victory was the 799th for Chevrolet, the winningest brand in motorsports. HALFWAY THROUGH THE REGULAR SEASONThrough 13 of 26 regular-season NCS races, Chevrolet sits atop the Manufacturer Standings. Team Chevy drivers have recorded four victories – two by Alex Bowman and one each by William Byron and Kyle Larson, locking in their spots for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and their chance at the championship title.  Leading Team Chevy in the Driver Standings is William Byron, who sits second, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson in fifth, Chase Elliott in seventh and Alex Bowman in 13th. Also checking into the Top-16 are Austin Dillon (11th) and Tyler Reddick (15th).  BYRON’S STREAK KEEPS ROLLINGWilliam Byron’s fourth-place finish at Dover extended his streak of NCS top-10 finishes to 11, making it the longest active streak in the NASCAR Cup Series. Byron’s streak, which started with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February, is the longest top-10 streak by a Hendrick Motorsports’ driver since Jimmie Johnson recorded 13 top-10’s in a row in 2004-2005.  BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet leads all manufacturers in top-10 finishes this season with 56.  ·       Chase Elliott (Daytona Road Course), William Byron (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 2, Kansas Speedway, Dover International Speedway 2) have scored stage wins, for a total of 8 thus far this season for Chevrolet. ·       Of his 13 starts in NCS road course events, Chase Elliott has scored five wins, the most of active drivers. Elliott has won four of the past five NCS races on road courses.  ·       Austin Dillon will make his first NXS start since 2019, driving the No. 77 Bassett Racing Camaro SS. ·       Two-time Rolex 24 at Daytona class winner, Spencer Pumpelly, will make his NXS debut in the No. 6 JD Motorsports Camaro SS. TUNE INPractice and qualifying are on the schedule for all three series. FS1 will telecast qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Texas Grand Prix live at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 23, followed by the live telecast of the race at 2:30 p.m. Live coverage of both events can also be found on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will also telecast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra 250 at 1 p.m. ET and the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250 at 4 p.m. ET Saturday, May 22. QUOTABLE QUOTESWILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGSBYRON ON HIS THOUGHTS FOR COTA AND UPCOMING ROAD COURSE RACES: “I’ve been to COTA to test in a Trans Am car but I feel like the Cup car will be a totally different beast there. This race means we’re getting close to starting a swing of road courses soon. That is really going change how teams prep to go to the racetrack versus prepping for an oval race. While I don’t really know what to expect this weekend, I think with this being the first road course in a short stretch, it’s important to get a good baseline to be able to use and build off of moving forward for the other road courses. I also think having practice and qualifying is going to help us not only better prepare for Sunday’s race but prepping for the other road course races moving forward. RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LEFUGLE ON THE CHALLENGES AT COTA: “This weekend at COTA is going to bring a lot of unknowns but at least that’s the general feeling across the board for everyone. We’ve spent a lot of time going over notes from when the No. 9 team did the Goodyear test earlier this year, as well as time in the Chevy simulator with William. While we do have practice this weekend, the issue will be how much time we will actually get on track and be able to make adjustments. With the course as long as it is and only one hour of practice, the hope is any adjustments that need to be made will be minor enough to allow you to make a couple decent-length runs, at least. I think we have a good baseline to go off of, though. Hendrick Motorsports has a good road course package and we showed that speed earlier this year at the DAYTONA Road Course. The only factor we can’t control this weekend will be the weather but once again, that evens the playing field across the board. We just need to try minimize our mistakes and capitalize off of others’ mistakes.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 5th IN STANDINGSLARSON ON RACING FOR THE FIRST TIME AT COTA AND ROAD COURSE RACING:  “I’m excited to get on track there and hopefully we’ll be fast. It looks like an awesome facility. I enjoy road course racing because it’s a nice change of pace from what we’re used to, and drivers mean a little bit more on road courses. I’ve qualified well on road courses and run okay in the race. Now that I am with Hendrick Motorsports, I hope I can race better and challenge for a win. To learn the track, I jumped on iRacing a few months back. It took a while to learn the elevation, the corners and stuff like that, but I have the corners memorized now.” CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LEDANIELS ON COTA: “Expectations heading into COTA are to check all the right boxes and have a good foundation with the car, which I think we do. With what the 9 (team) has developed the last few years on the road courses, our Hendrick Motorsports road course package is really strong. But you still have to make the right adjustments with the track. We hope to get a good baseline under us during practice on Saturday – give Kyle what he needs in the braking zones, the esses and the switchbacks. We’ll see how qualifying goes – I think everyone is going to go really hard, but you don’t want to take a chance, damage your car and lose your starting spot or have to pull out a backup car. We don’t really know what to expect going into the race – tire fall off and the pit strategy for stages and for the end of the race.” DANIELS ON LARSON USING THE SIMULATOR FOR COTA: “We did two weeks ago, and that was good. He got comfortable with the rhythm of the track, what to look for and what to expect. Of course, it will still be different when he gets in the actual race car. The 9 (team) tested there with Goodyear and a few other teams, so we have some notes from them, as well.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGSELLIOTT ON HIS KEY LEARNINGS FROM THE GOODYEAR TEST AT COTA: “We did the Goodyear test out at COTA a couple months ago, which was fun. We got a chance to see a new racetrack. The track has a lot more elevation than I think a lot of people would think or see on tv. Turn 1 is a big hill and unless you are there to see it in person it doesn’t look like it, so way more elevation than I anticipated. It was also interesting because I felt like different parts of the track had more grip than other parts and I suppose that’s because they had to patch different areas and some areas have really old asphalt. One of the toughest things for me was understanding the level of grip at different points around the track. I think it is going to be a real challenge, obviously a real long back straightaway that we have seen in the F1 races there so that will be interesting there. I think for our cars, I’m not exactly sure how we will handle and adapt to that. Being really detailed and hitting your marks as always and trying to put together a good race and should be able to have a good result.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WORKRISE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGSWHERE DO YOU THINK THE BEST PASSING ZONES ARE GOING TO BE AT COTA?“I think the best passing zones are probably on all the big straights. The esses’s are pretty tight; you can’t really gain anything there. Obviously, lengthening the straightaways as much as you can is huge and in the final corner. Turn One, up the hill, you can out-brake someone into there, but it gets tight quick. In Turn One, it can be a struggle to really get off of the corner sometimes, from 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 YOUR PRIMARY SPONSOR FOR THE WEEKEND, WORKRISE, IS LOCATED. HOW COOL IS THAT TO BE ABLE TO RACE IN THEIR BACKYARD?“It’s awesome to race for Workrise this weekend. They are the leading workforce management solution for the skilled trades. I’m pumped that the race is in their hometown of Austin, Texas. It’s awesome to be having a race at COTA, in Austin, where they are based out of. I 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 pumped to be working hard for them this weekend.” DO YOU EXPECT CHAOS GOING INTO TURN ONE AT COTA?“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.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGS“To get the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro back in victory lane in Dover was really cool. I feel like that has been one of my favorite tracks and one of our best tracks the last few years. A lot of that just goes to Jimmie (Johnson) and learning from him. He was so good there, so taking notes from him and learning how he approached it and it has been paying off for us the last couple of years. Glad to get a win and a really cool day for us. To finish 1, 2, 3, 4 for Hendrick was really special.” “I am pretty pumped for COTA. I have been to a lot of racetracks and I don’t think that I have ever been to a circuit. It is a really interesting racetrack. You have really slow stuff, really long fast straightaways, some crazy esses, it is just a super technical racetrack. If you look at the weather, it may rain, and we race in the rain on road courses. It is going to be pretty interesting for sure.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE“Our guys have been doing a great job all year on pit road and the last few weeks we have been making some big adjustments on stops. Even with big adjustments, they have still been doing a great job on pit road. That final stop was an important one on Sunday, getting us out first. I think the Stage 1 stop was important too because we made some big adjustments and only lost six spots, which was big for the changes we made to the Ally Chevrolet.” “I don’t even know how to get to the track! Hopefully the garages stay nice and dry. Just looking at pit road in pictures, I think it is going to be eventful for sure. There are a lot of unknowns that you are going to have to figure out pretty quickly. With this being the first time really with practice since Daytona, I think all of the teams are going to be a little bit rusty to get going. Just the fact that it takes over two minutes to get around that place is going to allow us to go get a snack and the come back to see if he completes the lap or not. We have been rehearsing corner numbers and memorizing the track.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 15th IN STANDINGSWITH NASCAR HEADING TO COTA FOR THE FIRST TIME, WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING OUT OF THE RACE THIS WEEKEND? “COTA will be a very interesting weekend. It’s a fun course. During the endurance race I ran during the off-season, one thing I noted was how it almost has four different sections that are nothing alike, so you need to be diverse as a driver on how to attack each one. One approach will only work in for one part of the track. There is a lot of run-off, so drivers should be able to be aggressive and not pay a massive penalty by ending up in a gravel pit like other road courses. As for the race, it’s going to be a mixed bag of strategies. Guys who are going for the win are going to try to flip the strategy for track position at the end of the race. You’re also going to see guys going for stage points on a different strategy, so we’ll see how our team falls in the mix, knowing we are now above the cut line for Playoffs. I hope we have the freedom to choose on what to focus on, but man, the weather may come into play too, which would throw a whole other wrench into the race.” YOU ALSO HAVE A UNIQUE PAINT SCHEME WITH CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN THIS WEEKEND. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? “It’s a really special scheme we’re running with Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen this weekend. When we get around this time of year during each season, you see some patriotic schemes start to come out and I’m really honored that Cheddar’s chose to participate in the NASCAR Salute window. There will be 40+ Cheddar’s team members who have served in the military whose names and hometowns are going to be riding along with me at COTA. I just thought that was a really cool, personal touch on the paint scheme. Those team members have done a lot for this country, and I’m going to do everything I can to get them a good run this weekend.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 18th IN STANDINGS“I laugh a little bit when I think about going to COTA. That track was designed for Formula 1 cars, cars that can cut around tight apexes like turn 1, turn 11 and 12. Our big heavy stock cars are going to struggle with that; but it’s a new challenge and I’m looking forward it. With the asphalt being abrasive at COTA it’s going to wear out the tires, so your strategy is going to have to evolve on the fly. It’s going to be quick movements that you make and commit to, so with all that being said, I’m ready to attack course, find the right rhythm with the lap time but also find the right tire strategy bring us to Victory Lane. It’s a cool place with 20 corners; lots of action coming!” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES/IFLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 22nd IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COTA AND OTHER NEW TRACKS?“I love road course racing. Now we get to go to the road courses at COTA, Indianapolis, Road America and the oval in Nashville. We haven’t been to these places in the Cup Series. It’s always exciting to see new places and make new fans.” HAVE YOU EVER RACED AT COTA?“I took a street car around it and have done a lot of laps on the simulator, but never raced there. I’m glad we have a practice on Saturday. I wish we had more time on the track. But this will be a new experience for most of us. I think we will put on a good show though Sunday. It’s going to be fun.” WHY DOU THINK TRACKHOUSE RACING WILL BE A SUCCESS?“These guys support me a lot and every single person is pushing in the same direction. They believe in me like nobody else has before. They have one interest and that is having the No. 99 run as well as possible. That has played to my advantage. It is still very early. We are only a few months into the season. But, so far, I can already see where the trend is going. I believe we are going to win races here at Trackhouse Racing.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 BLACK ENTREPRENEUR INITIATIVES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 26th IN STANDINGSCOTA IS A BRAND-NEW TRACK FOR NASCAR. WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING INTO THAT EVENT?“COTA (Circuits of the Americas) is just going to be unique. There is not a lot to go on, note-wise. We have never been there, so we are going to have to rely on simulations and what we can do there. You are going to have to learn the track the best you can before you show up on the simulator, as well. “I am excited. We do not get the chance to go to new tracks often, so it is cool to be going to somewhere new and unique. It looks like a world-class facility overall. You look at it from the outside and it looks like somewhere that is really nice. It is a real, true road course the way it is laid out from what I have seen and from the time on the simulator. It is going to be a lot of fun to get out there and see what we can do.” COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 SCHLUTER SYSTEMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS“Really excited to get down to COTA this weekend with our Schluter Systems Camaro. I went down in December to get in some laps and got pretty comfortable with the race track. I’m excited to see how we can perform with our Spire Motorsports Cup car. We’ve had a couple of really good runs the past few weeks, but still have a string of bad luck we need to shake. Hopefully that will end this weekend in Austin. The track is fast. It has some slow technical sections, but also has some high speed, heavy braking areas to open up some passing zones. We’ll have a little bit of practice on Saturday to tune in our Camaro. But, generally speaking, it will be a learning experience throughout the course of the day on Sunday. So, hopefully we can keep it on the racetrack and have a good day.”

Austin, TX (May 20, 2021) — Coming off her best best performance of the season, a semifinal finish at the NHRA Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals, NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria is looking to keep the pressure on the rest of the Funny Car class. The ROKiT Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota Camry recaptured its early season mojo posting consistently quick times including two round wins in the unique four-wide racing style to land DeJoria in the final quad of the day. Throughout the event DeJoria, who qualified No. 2 her best starting position of the season, handled her 11,000 horsepower race car like a seasoned veteran.

“This ROKiT Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car was a dream to drive in Charlotte,” said DeJoria, who currently sits in sixth place in Funny Car points. “We went right to the top of the field on Friday night and only one car ran quicker in qualifying. We knew we had a quick hot rod and we showed it on Sunday with two more quick runs to get to that last quad. On the final run I am not sure what happened but it was mixing up cylinders all the way down the track and we let one get away from us. We tested on Monday and I am ready to get after it in Houston.”

DeJoria, an Austin, Texas resident, has raced to two semifinals at the Spring Nationals during her career. Her sophomore season she picked up two round wins as the No. 12 qualifier before wrapping up her race in the semifinals and then last season in the fall DeJoria qualified No. 5 and took out Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III before being ousted by Ron Capps. The successful race in October has the five-time nitro Funny Car national event winner looking for more win lights at Houston Raceway Park this weekend.

“We really started getting on a roll at the end of last season,” said DeJoria. “We were qualifying really well and going rounds on Sunday. I like our chances this weekend since (crew chiefs) Del (Worsham) and Nicky (Boninfante) have really good info to work with and this is a fast track at sea level. The Texas fans are pretty cool and I hope there are a lot of them at the track. I know the weather could be tough but we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Earlier this season DeJoria announced a technical partnership with Mobil 1 to go along with her team’s relationship with Toyota Racing Development (TRD). Both companies have headquarters in Texas and should have a number of representatives at Houston Raceway Park supporting DeJoria and the ROKiT team.

“I can’t say enough about the support we get from TRD and Mobil 1,” said DeJoria. “They are amazing partners and the technology they bring to the table really gives our team a lot of help. I also know we are putting their Mobil 1 to the test which only makes that product better for the consumer. It is a great relationship and I am proud to be representing both brands.”

The ROKiT Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car has been one of the quickest race cars in the category for the past ten races including three top three qualifiers out of four races in 2021. Over the past nine races DeJoria’s Toyota Funny Car has only started an event outside the top five in qualifying one time. That kind of consistency will eventually lead to multiple round wins and victories on Sunday.

“I think they turned a corner in Charlotte and Del and Nicky will keep fine tuning the car,” said DeJoria. “My team is awesome and I just have to do my job behind the wheel. I have a lot of confidence that we are going to see a lot of win lights this season. It would be great to get a streak started this weekend in Houston. I like the fact we are getting right back at it after a strong showing last weekend in Charlotte.”

Qualifying will begin on Friday night under the lights with two more sessions on Saturday as DeJoria tries to keep her top qualifying streak alive. Final eliminations will begin at 11:00 a.m. (CT) on Sunday with the race broadcast on FS1.

What: Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationalsWhen: Friday, May 21-Sunday, May 23Where: Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, TexasTV: FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6 p.m. ET May 23                                                                                       Chevrolet heads to Houston with momentum as big as Texas John Force Racing brings 16 victories into fifth race of season DETROIT (May 19, 2021) – There was an imperceptible difference in John Force’s exuberance following his victory May 16 in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) four-wide event at zMAX Dragway and his win in the inaugural event in 2010. A victory, whether a week or 11 years apart, is to be celebrated.“Wow! I pulled it off,” said Force as he exited the PEAK/BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro SS. Force, who a day earlier claimed his 161st career top qualifier honor, swept the three rounds of eliminations to earn his 152nd career victory. Combined with a runner-up finish in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series event two weeks earlier at Atlanta Dragway, Force has risen to third in the Funny Car standings heading into the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park. “Not bad at all for an old man,” deadpanned the 72-year-old hall of famer “I’m excited, we’re off to a great start. I’ve got some luck on my side, heck I’m lucky to have a job.” Force’s victory was the 142nd for Chevrolet in NHRA Funny Car competition, including 62 with the Camaro body. “We’re here, we’re racing well, I’ve got a good car thanks to my team and we’re competing with these tough kids out here,” Force added. “My team is doing their job and I’m halfway doing mine, give me a good car and we’re going to win some races. We’re doing just that.” Force has a record seven wins at Houston Raceway Park, and John Force Racing has 16 victories in the SpringNationals. Teammate Robert Hight, driver of the Auto Club of Southern California Camaro SS, has contributed to that team success with three wins, including in 2005 in his fourth Funny Car race. He’s made finals appearances in the past three appearances at Houston and set the track Funny Car record of 331.77 mph in 2017. “We’ll have this Chevy running well and we’ll be able to repeat some of that success this weekend and move up in the points,” Hight said.John Force Racing’s Brittany Force reset the zMAX Dragway elapsed time and speed records in the Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster and picked up her second No. 1 qualifier this season. She went on to a runner-up finish in the final quad. “It’s been a good start to the season for this Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team. We’re just four races in and getting back in the groove of things after a whole season away,” said Force, who won in Houston in 2018 and ‘19. “This is the same team I had in 2019 and every single one of them returned. They stood by John Force Racing, and I think that speaks highly of their character, it shows how loyal they are and their commitment to John Force Racing. Our hard work is paying off but we want more, we’re looking for wins and ultimately to go after that championship.” KB Racing’s Dallas Glenn outdueled Mason McGaha in the Pro Stock final to score his first victory. Greg Anderson, driving the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro SS, registered his fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier and 110th of his career. 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.The event will also feature the second Constant Aviation NHRA Factory Stock Showdown of the season. Stanfield won the opener at Gainesville in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet COPO Camaro. FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6 p.m. ET May 23. CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT TOP FUEL: BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier in Las Vegas and Charlotte four-wide events; runner-up in last event; set both ends of track record):“We’ve had some luck over the years in Houston. We won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. I’m ready to go from Charlotte right into Houston. These back-to-back races keep me as a driver, my crew chiefs and my whole team on our game. We made a lot of improvement in Charlotte and we’re looking to capitalize this weekend with a win.” FUNNY CAR: JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner and runner-up in past two races; No. 1 qualifier in Charlotte four-wide; third in points): “Houston has treated John Force Racing well. I’ve had some wins there so has Robert Hight in that Auto Club Chevy and Brittany with Monster Energy. I’ve got something good going with this PEAK / BlueDEF team and we’re going to keep it going. Take care of business during qualifying and set us up right for race day to go rounds and hopefully get in that winner’s circle again.” ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier in Las Vegas four-wide; runner-up in season opener): “We knew there was an issue, and we just needed the time to figure it out. Once (crew chiefs) Jimmy (Prock) and Chris (Cunningham) identified what they thought it was, we didn’t waste any time working to fix it. These AAA guys worked hard on Monday and we’re happy. It’ll be good to go into Houston knowing we’re going to be making solid runs and doing what we know how to do, and that’s win races.” PRO STOCK: GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner in two of the four races; No. 1 qualifier in all four events; points leader): “KB definitely is on a roll and has several team cars that are capable of winning every week. My personal team goals is to make amends for the mistake I made last weekend. I feel like I let one slip away. There were a lot of positives and setting up for a perfect weekend and I dropped the ball. I have some unfinished business this weekend. Thank goodness Dallas (Glenn) was there to pick up the ball.” TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITEMOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (runner-up in season opener; transferred to final quad at Charlotte): “We’ve been to two finals in the first four races of the year so we obviously have a car that can win. We just need to get it done. What we’ve seen every race is some very stacked fields. All the cars from top-to-bottom are running extremely close times. That puts a premium on the drivers being as close to perfect as possible when they execute a run, even in qualifying. It’s really how drag racing should be, where anyone can win at any time.” DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner of Charlotte four-wide): “I think Pro Stock is extremely healthy. Pretty much half the field is under the age of 35. There’s a lot of young guns driving right now, and it’s absolutely tough out there. Anybody in the top 16 can win a race out there. Anything can happen right now. You know you’re going to have to be good on the tree.”