Refocus on Race Team Key to Britten’s 2021 Australian star eager to carry momentum into challenging Memorial Day Weekend doubleheader at Weedsport and Lebanon ValleyWEEDSPORT, NY – Peter Britten hit the reset button at the end of 2020. New equipment. New focus. New level of confidence. It’s already paid off in the first four races of the Super DIRTcar Series 2021 season with one top-five and three top-10s, giving the Australian valuable momentum with a lucrative Memorial Day weekend doubleheader ahead at Weedsport Speedway (Sunday, May 30) and Lebanon Valley Speedway (Monday, May 31).He’s accomplished those feats behind the wheel of his new Bicknell chassis – a first for his Peter Britten Racing program and one of several changes this season.“At the end of [2020] we went through our whole race shop and hit reset,” Britten said. “Anything from wheels to shocks to chassis got changed. And sometimes change is just good.”The Queensland, Australia driver ran Troyer chassis for the past several years and played an integral part in the research and development of the chassis, along with being a full-time driver. Eventually, trying to balance both equally wasn’t viable.“It was no secret that we were struggling and searching a lot last year,” Britten said. “I decided I needed to do what was best for me and my racing career and not try to be a chassis manufacturer. As deep as I was at Troyer working with the research and development I guess I got a little lost in that and didn’t worry enough about Peter Britten the racing driver. Bicknell has a great program to buy into and I could just put it together and go race.”Troyers are the only chassis he has ever raced and won in. That includes his three Australian V8 Modified National Championships. Britten won three straight from 2008-2010. His brother, Kevin Britten, also known as “The Hulk”, is currently on a five-year run of national championships.He was behind the wheel of his Troyer when he won $20,000 at Oswego Speedway in the DIRTcar 358 Modified Salute the Troops 150 in 2018. In 2017, the #21A ran a heartbreaking second to Matt Sheppard in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200. The change wasn’t easy. The success he’s had with the chassis speaks for itself. But the switch allows him to put more of his focus back on solely being a driver. He’s still a fan of Troyer’s product.“It was definitely not just a spur-of-the-moment decision,” he said. “It’s been a long relationship going back to racing in Australia where I won my championships. It was definitely a weird feeling picking up that first Bicknell.“There’s been a lot of change at Troyer and they are doing a really good job of turning things around. Mark’s (Lipari) Troyer Dirt team that he is assembling is really exciting. There’s still a lot of work to get done but they have their hearts set on making it happen. I want to see them succeed.”Britten has been on the hunt for another Super DIRTcar Series win since 2017 when he visited Victory Lane at Sharon Speedway. His team’s efficiency and work ethic have put him in the Series points chase every year. However, his shortcomings in the closing stages of Features has hindered the #21A’s chance at a championship bid.Since changing over to the Bicknell, there’s been an adjustment process but the team is starting to build a new notebook and is finding success. He’s coming off a fourth-place run at Bridgeport Motorsports Park and currently sits sixth in Series points.“It’s definitely a good start to the year,” Britten said. “It’s nice to be up in the points right now but it is so early you can’t overthink it. But I look at it this way: You can’t win the championship at the beginning of the year, but you can really dig yourself a hole. Hopefully, we can keep this going.”“Batman’s” success has attracted new sponsors, like Pepsi, and a new home track for Saturday nights: Land of Legends Raceway. He knows winning weekly can lead to success on the tour. “We are still feeling out the new car a little bit,” he added. “I’m learning what I need to do with it and the way it drives. It’s the little adjustments I’m learning that can take you from mediocre to winning the Feature.” The network of help available due to having a Bicknell has made it easy for Britten to focus on his driving and allowed for a smooth transition process to the new chassis.“The general car design itself isn’t foreign to me,” Britten noted. “It’s basically where we were at with the Troyer stuff to the point where the latest car has the Bicknell floor right in them. So there’s not a big difference in terms of the physical aspects of the car. From that point of view, it hasn’t made for a totally new experience with the car. Every chassis manufacturer has its own ways to adjust a car. There are certain percentages they look for. The guys from Bicknell have been great. Whether it’s dealing with the US store or talking to Randy Williamson himself, they’ve all been very helpful. The sheer number of people I can talk to about adjustments has made the transition much easier.”Along with learning a new chassis, Britten recognized there’s a strong talent pool of drivers in the Series this season he has to compete against. There are several fast young drivers coming out of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds and 358 Modifieds and moving into the Big Blocks. “I was looking through the points at the top 15,” Britten said. “You run down the list and you say ‘Wow, look at these drivers in the top 15.’ There are no slouches. It’s noticeable on track too because there’s been nobody really dominating this year aside from Friesen. I feel the field is as close as it’s ever been. You look at guys that have been dominating like Sheppard and Williamson and they don’t look special. That’s not a shot at them, but it’s a compliment to how strong the field is overall.”The all-new Memorial Day Weekend doubleheader of the Heroes Remembered 100 (May 30) and Mr. DIRT Track (May 31) is creating a lot of buzz among dirt racing fans. Both tracks show the breadth and diversity of the Super DIRTcar Series schedule.“You don’t get any more different than Weedsport and Lebanon Valley,” Britten said. “Weedsport is definitely a challenging race track. It’s definitely been a weak point of my program the last few years. It’s tough because you don’t get the opportunity to race there very much. But everyone is in the same boat with that. We’re hoping that with everything we’ve done with our program that we’ll yield some good results there.”Weedsport has been a blind spot for Britten recently but with his new program that could turn around in a hurry. “At Weedsport, it’s sometimes hard to get any heat in the tires and then we go to Lebanon Valley the next day where you might rip a right rear in a Heat Race,” Britten said. “The G-forces at The Valley and the speed plus the braking is extreme. Everything there is maxed out. You are looking for all you can get motor-wise plus your brakes are important. I am excited to get back on track there.”The $7,500-to-win Heroes Remembered 100 at Weedsport Speedway takes place Sunday, May 30. Tickets go on sale on Monday, May 24. DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds and CRSA sprint cars are also on the card. Then the next day, Monday, May 31, “The Valley of Speed” throws the green on the all-new Mr. DIRT Track title for $13,500-to-win 100-lap NAPA Super DIRT Week qualifier. Head to the Lebanon Valley Speedway website for more. Stay up to date at SuperDIRTcarSeries.com, plus follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Head to PeterBrittenRacing.com for updates and merch plus follow him on social media.

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.

Batavia, OH (May 19, 2021) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series heads to the Midwest with a duo of races in the Hawkeye State of Iowa this weekend. 300 Raceway, the 3/8-mile oval located in Farley, Iowa, will host the stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the Truck Country 50 on Friday, May 21st. There will be a complete program of: Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains – highlighted by a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. Modifieds and Sport Modifieds will also be in action. The last series visit came in July of 2020 where Josh Richards found himself in Victory Lane after a daring three-wide pass before the halfway mark of the race. On Friday, the pit gate will open at 2:00 PM, followed by general admission gates at 4:00 PM. A drivers meeting will take place at 6:00 PM, with on-track action beginning at 6:30pm. To learn more, visit: www.300Raceway.com. Returning to West Burlington, Iowa after a challenging 2020 forced several cancellations, the $15,000-to-win CRST, The Transportation Solution 50 at 34 Raceway will feature a complete program of: Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $15,000-to-win main event. The Stock Cars and Sport Mods will serve as support divisions on Saturday, May 22nd. In 2019, Hudson O’Neal came from the eighth starting spot to win. The podium finishers all commented on the fun they had racing with the character the track provided, and the excitement the fans experienced.  34 Raceway’s pit gate will open at 3:00 PM, with general admission gates opening at 5:00 PM. A drivers meeting will take place at 6:00 PM followed by hot laps at 6:30 PM. To purchase advance tickets or find more information concerning 34 Raceway, visit: www.34Raceway.com. Tim McCreadie currently leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Standings by just 45 points over Hudson O’Neal. Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr, and Shane Clanton round out the top five in championship points. There is a tight battle transpiring, with many positions separated by one feature finishing position.  Track and Event Information:300 RacewayPhone Number: 563-744-3620Location: 27317 Olde Farley Rd. Farley, IA 52046Directions: Located just west of Highway 20 in Farley.Website: www.300raceway.com 34 RacewayPhone Number: 319-752-3434Location: 10463 S Prairie Grove Rd. West Burlington, IA 52655Directions: Located about 6 miles west of Burlington, just North of Hwy. 34Website: www.34raceway.com Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rules: 300 Raceway:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) LM20Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM20, (92) LM40 *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains.*For the A-Main, competitors may use 3 new tires.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.34 Raceway: Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) LM20Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM20, (92) LM40 *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains.*For the A-Main, competitors may use 2 new rear tires.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. Event Purses:300 Raceway Event Purse: $12,000 to win- 1. $12,000, 2. $6,000, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,800, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,100, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000, 18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $52,800 34 Raceway Event Purse: $15,000 to win- 1. $15,000, 2. $6,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $3,000, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,400, 7. $2,300, 8. $2,200, 9. $2,100, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,300, 14. $1,200, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000, 18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $57,050

May 19, 2021 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Race Results, Rachel Meyer

Both Randy Meyer Racing Top Alcohol Dragster drivers Rachel Meyer and Julie Nataas made it to the final round quad at the 11th annual NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals with Meyer taking home the win at zMAX DRAGWAY. 

In the first round, Julie led the way in the No. 2 qualifying spot in the OTG/NGK Spark Plugs/Right Trailers dragster, and Rachel was close behind in the No. 4 spot in the NTK Sensors dragster. In her quad, Rachel crossed the finish line first of her quad with a 5.186-second pass at 277.89 mph. Robin Samsel’s 5.226, 270.54 advanced to the next round with Meyer as they defeated Jasmine Salinas and Dan Dietrich. Nataas finished first in her quad as well as she had a sizeable starting line advantage with a .012-second light and took it all the way to the win with a 5.225, 270.21. Duane Shields’ 5.328, 265.90 advanced with Nataas over Megan Smith and Corey Michalek. 

Second round, Rachel used a 5.189, 272.94 in her dragster to advance to the final round quad with Karen Stalba (5.154, 282.07) and together they defeated Robin Samsel and James Stevens. Julie followed right behind, being first to the finish line in her quad once again, with a 5.210, 266.32; Matthew Cummings’ 5.211, 275.51 advanced to the finals as well over Duane Shields and Mick Steele. https://www.youtube.com/embed/wJYVj3dFxeQ

In the final round quad, Rachel and Julie staged up against Karen Stalba and Matthew Cummings; all four cars were the top four qualifiers at the event and all four were A/Fuel. For Nataas, she crossed the finish line with a more than honorable 5.223, 273.27 in her dragster finishing fourth of the quad. Making a living in the 5.18’s on race day, Rachel was second off the line behind Stalba but an out-of-this-world 5.141, 272.78 rocketed Rachel past Stalba for the win.

Meyer’s run was low elapsed time of the entire event and her career quickest; this was Rachel’s second national event win of her career with both coming in the 2021 season.

NASCAR CUP SERIES CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICA SECHOPARK TEXAS GRAND PRIX TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT MAY 19, 2021 WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript: ON HIS APPROACH TO COTA THIS WEEKEND“I think we just kind of go in with not as much focus; like, we don’t dwell on the result of the race weekend quite as much. We find a way to move on and get past it. But we approach the race just like any other race. We prepare the same and have the same nerves and excitement and all the feelings when you go into a race. So, it doesn’t really change for us. But yeah, I feel like COTA is a great opportunity. It’s a track that we don’t go back to again any other time of the year. It’s not important in that aspect, but it is important because we have a road course in the Playoffs with the Charlotte ROVAL. It’s important to make sure that I’m making progress on road courses and that our car is good on the road courses. That part is something that we’ll take from this weekend.” IF YOU DO FINISH REALLY WELL, DOES THAT PROVE THAT EVERYTHING YOU GUYS CONTINUE TO DO, DOESN’T MATTER THE TYPE OF TRACK THAT YOU’RE GOING TO, THAT SHOWS YOU’VE REACHED THAT LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?“Oh, yeah. For sure. The good teams in this sport are usually running up front every week. We’re trying to be one of those. We’ve excelled at a variety of tracks, but this is another one that we can try to check off the list. We desperately want to win another race. We need the points for the Playoffs and all those good things. So, I want to win just as bad this weekend as I do on an oval. I feel like I’ve been close on road courses. I’ve gotten a lot of great support from Max Papis and a lot of people that have helped me along the way to get better at road course. And that’s kind of what I’m focused on is trying to win my first road course race.” HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS IS ONE WIN AWAY FROM TYING THE RECORD OF PETTY IN NUMBER OF CUP WINS. WHAT DID YOU THINK THE 1-2-3-4 FINISH LAST WEEK SAYS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION?“It’s just a variety of decades and rules packages and driver and crew chief changes, and they’ve always found a way to win. We definitely went through a Chevrolet time period, where it was really hard just to finish in the top-10. We’ve climbed out of that hole. We’ve crawled and worked really hard to get out of that hole and now we’re kind of back where I feel like we should be. It’s impressive. All the work that’s gone on in the last two or three years to get back to being a consistent race threat to win. So, it’s going in the right direction, for sure. We just have to keep it going. But it definitely shows the belief that Mr. Hendrick has in all of us and the fact that, through all those different decades of racing, they can still win races at high level.” IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE LAST COUPLE THAT HAS SAID TO YOU YEAH, THIS IS WHY THEY’VE WON 250, 260 CUP RACES?“I think just the level of professionalism and detail. I feel like we don’t typically make the small mistakes that happen in racing. I feel like we execute well. We work well together. Those things have kind of carried us through the tough times, to be able to maximize our days and finish 10th if we can finish there. So, it’s all about the evolution and now we’ve got the speed on our side and the teamwork that is takes to get all four of us up front.” COTA IS BRAND NEW ON THE SCHEDULE. IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU EXPECT IT TO BE DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER ROAD COURSE YOU’VE BEEN TO?“Well, it’s way longer to begin with. It’s going to take a really long time to make one lap. So, we’re kind of nervous about practice and how that’s going to go and how many laps you’re going to get legitimately. That’s going to be tough. There’s not a lot of walls there so there’s a lot of runoff, which is probably a good thing for our cars because we usually run into each other a lot on road courses. Usually, guys make big mistakes. Hopefully I’m not one of those that’s making a big mistake. But at least if I do at COTA, I feel like I can get away with it, which is nice. Typically, if there’s a lot of grass around the race track for us, it doesn’t work well for our cars. This is one of those tracks where there’s just a lot of asphalt where you can run off. That might make it a more aggressive race, maybe; knowing that you can get away with it. But for me, I feel like it’s just like every other road course. You’ve got to figure out how to get in and off the corners. Like the same old things, be good at shifting and down shifting and all those things.” WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP IN TURNING YOUR TOP-10’S INTO WINS?“It sucked to be fourth of four this past week, but I think that we were preforming really well. I’d say the last the last run of the race was probably our worst run, which wasn’t great. But yeah, I think we’ve had the speed to win. The start of the race at Dover was phenomenal, and unfortunately, we had kind of a brake issue that kind of hindered us. But I think we’re showing up with really good speed. We just have to put it all together and build our notebook. We’ve got to be somewhat patient because this is the first time that Rudy (Fugle) and I are going to these tracks together and we don’t exactly know what the track is going to do at the end of the race. Where, maybe our teammates have been there a couple of times together. So, I think we’re getting really close It’s just a matter of a couple little things going our way.” HOW MUCH HAS CHAD KNAUS, AS COMPETITION DIRECTOR NOW, REALLY REVAMPED OR STEPPED-UP HIS ROLE IN MAKING THIS TEAM REALLY GOOD THIS SEASON?“I think he’s done a great job of kind of getting us all working together and giving us all competitive cars at the same time. In a lot of organizations, it is easy to give one guy something one week, and then roll it out for the other guys. But for us, I feel like Chas is doing a great job of giving us all the same opportunity, which is awesome. That’s all you can ask for as a driver. And I think it’s showing with the cars that we have and with the competitiveness of the four of us. I’m excited for him. I think he fits that roll really well. He’s kind of a floor general-type guy and he fits that roll.” YOU HAVE THE IRACING EVENT TONIGHT. HOW MUCH COULD THAT HELP WITH THE BRAKING ZONES WHEN YOU ENTER YOUR FIRST PRACTICE SESSION AT COTA THIS WEEKEND?“I think, honestly, there’s been so much other prep this week for this race; and honestly, back to January if you want to go back that far in preparation. So, I honestly don’t feel like there’s going to be much in iRacing tonight that hasn’t already been learned, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.” HOW MUCH WILL THE IRACING EVENT TONIGHT TRANSFER OVER FOR THE COTA RACE?“Like I was just saying, I feel like we’ve done a lot of prep already. IRacing is a great platform. I use it for a lot of different tracks. So, it’s a constant thing that I use every week. But yeah, I think for COTA specifically, we’ve had a lot of access and simulator time and have done some other things to get ready. I feel like this is one of the weeks where I won’t use it as much. But I think that when it comes to a lot of the tracks, I usually try to use it as a refresher or something like that.” HOW DIFFERENT WILL IT BE TO HAVE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING THIS WEEKEND? ARE YOU A FAN OF PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING OR HAVE THINGS REMAIN LIKE THAT HAVE BEEN WITH NEITHER?“I think it’ll be different this week with practice. I feel like we’re going to have to get back to the methods and the ways that we check the splitter and the air pressures, and our tire builds and all those things that we did a couple of years ago. We had practice at Bristol, but that wasn’t really the same because we were changing inches at a time to try to get the car correct. My opinion is, I don’t think we need practice at a lot of these race tracks. I think there are certain race tracks that we do, whether we’re going for the first time or we have the new car coming along. But the drivers and teams are at this level for a reason and it’s because we can adapt quickly. I feel like we put on a much better race when we have less practice.” WITH 20 TURNS, HAVE YOU MEMORIZED THEM ALL BY NUMBER WHERE YOU CAN REFER TO THEM QUICKLY AND TELL RUDY FUGLE? ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE A CHART IN THE CAR THAT’S GOING TO HELP YOU FOR REFERENCE?“I’ll definitely have a chart in the car. The funny thing is, when we’ve been in the simulator together and Rudy and I have been talking, I’ve referred to a lot of corners as that corner over there by the back stretch, or that one over there with the double corner (laughs). So, I don’t know. It’s going to be a lot of guessing. But I think he’ll get the gist from what I’m saying. He’s usually pretty good at picking up what I’m saying. As long as we can get through Turn 1 and talk about that one, and I think that one is pretty important, too. So, I at least know one through four. I’m used to that.” COULD YOU EVER IMAGINE BEING IN THIS TOP-10 STREAK THAT YOU AND RUDY HAVE AMASSED?“No. Our goal going into this year was to be a really well-executed race team that could run competitively at a variety of tracks. I think that, my thing that I thought about through the off-season, was just trying to be part of that group that’s a consistent contender every week; those five to six guys that consistently run up-front. And we’ve done that so far. So, we’ve kind of checked the box on that. We just have to kind of establish new goals. I feel like there are some little details that we can do better, whether that’s pit road or just working on different things. I feel like there are some things that we can still work on, but we are definitely having to reset our goals because the team has done a great job and Rudy has done a great job. Rudy and I feel like we’ve worked well because we really do a good job of preparing and nailing the balance of the car to start the race and things like that. Once you get that, it kind of propels you into that top-5 more often.” WOULD YOU AGREE THAT ONE OF THE REASONS HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS PICKED-UP SO MUCH IS DUE TO CHAD KNAUS?“I think Chad has just given us all the same opportunity to go out there and run well. It’s like you see in a lot of organizations. It’s easy to focus on one guy, whether that’s consciously or subconsciously. But it’s easy to say okay, this guy is running well so let’s make sure that we’re giving him what we need to win. Not that the other guys aren’t, it’s just that’s the ebb and the flow of the sport, if you’re running up front every week, you’re wanting different things in your race car than if you’re running tenth and just trying to finish in the top-10. I think, honestly, that’s what I’ve noticed is just his willingness just to get everyone racing their game. He really focuses on, if you have a bad weekend, he’s really focused on trying to make it better. That’s something that I really admire.”

Richard Childress Racing at Circuit of the Americas… This weekend marks NASCAR’s inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas. All three national touring series will hold their debut race at the 3.426-mile road course this weekend. Catch the Action… The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ COTA 200 at Circuit of the Americas will be televised live Saturday, May 22, beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series’ COTA 400 at Circuit of the Americas will be televised live Sunday, May 23, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.   ‌  ‌  ‌This Week’s Workrise Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Circuit of the Americas … This weekend marks the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series appearance to Circuit of the Americas, but Austin Dillon does have limited experience at the track competing in a World Racing League endurance race last December. He has also enjoyed COTA as a fan at a Moto GP race. About Workrise… Workrise is the leading workforce management solution for the skilled trades. Workrise makes it easier for skilled laborers to find work and for companies to find in-demand, trained workers. Workrise operates across the solar, wind, construction, defense and oil & gas industries. Through people and technology, they provide the staffing, training, and professional services to empower the people who get hard work done. For more information visit workrise.com. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:Where 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.” Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Circuit of the Americas… This weekend marks the NASCAR Cup Series’ debut at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), but Tyler Reddick does have some experience at the road course. During the off-season, Reddick, alongside RCR teammate Austin Dillon, competed in an endurance race at the 3.426-mile course to get some valuable on-track time.  Cheddar’s Salutes… In conjunction with NASCAR Salutes, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is debuting a patriotic paint scheme for this weekend’s race at COTA as a way to honor everything military servicemen and women have done and continue to do for our country. The red, white and blue scheme features the names and hometowns of 40+ Cheddar’s Veteran Team Members who on both sides of Reddick’s Chevrolet.  “As the son of a decorated combat Veteran, I’m proud that Cheddar’s is honoring our Team Members in this way because I know firsthand the sacrifices they took to protect and serve our country,” said John Wilkerson, president of Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. About Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen … Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is the homestyle casual dining restaurant where guests always Get a lot. For not a lot™. The restaurant offers a variety of scratch-made meals and generous portions served up in a warm, welcoming atmosphere – all at an unbelievable price. After being welcomed with a signature Honey Butter Croissant on the house, guests can enjoy signature entrées like hand-breaded Chicken Tenders, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and Fall-off-the-Plate Baby Back Ribs. Cheddar’s operates more than 170 restaurants in 28 states and employs more than 15,000 friendly and passionate team members. For more information or to locate the nearest restaurant, visit Cheddars.com. Fans can like or follow Cheddar’s on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When Tyler Wins, You Win Tenders! Like Reddick, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is hungry for his first Cup Series win to come in 2021. So all season long, when Reddick takes the checkered flag in the Cup Series, all NASCAR fans will win a FREE No. 8 Special Chicken Tender Platter at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen the Monday following the race. Offer is valid both dine-in and To Go. See cheddars.com/offer/race-day for full details. Cheddar’s Croissant Clash… Tune in for the Cheddar’s Croissant Clash via RCR’s Facebook page on Wednesday, May 19, at 8:30 p.m. ET to see if iRacers across the country can beat Reddick in a 25-lap race at the iRacing Superspeedway. Fans tuning in can also submit questions during the evening on Cheddar’s Facebook or Twitter pages for a chance to have Reddick answer them during an exclusive post-race Q&A on the livestream. TYLER REDDICK QUOTES: With NASCAR heading to COTA for the first time, what are 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 say 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.” Myatt Snider and the No. 2 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet Camaro at Circuit of the Americas… This weekend marks the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Myatt Snider has not competed at the track previously in any other motorsports series and will log his first laps at the Texas road course on Friday afternoon during practice.  About Summit Hill Foods… Summit Hill Foods is a fourth-generation, family-owned food company headquartered in Rome, Georgia. Founded in 1941, the company’s core strength is the development and manufacture of ingredient systems used to deliver texture and superior flavor. Summit Hill Foods is an ingredient supplier to food service manufacturers and restaurants. The company also markets nationally distributed brands including Better Than Bouillon®, Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce™, Southeastern Mills®, Shore Lunch® and Better Than Gravy®. Southeastern Mills operates six manufacturing facilities located in Rome, Georgia; New Iberia, Louisiana; and Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more, visit www.SHFoods.com. MYATT SNIDER QUOTES:What is your outlook for this weekend, heading to a track that is new for NASCAR and new for most of the drivers? “I’m pretty optimistic honestly. Last year when I went to new race track, especially road courses at Indianapolis and Daytona, we ran really well. We had a strong performance earlier this season at the Daytona Road Course, so I feel like that run will bode well with us going to COTA. I have all the confidence in the world heading into it.”  How do you prepare for a racetrack that you’ve never been to before? “You try to find whatever videos exist online and run it on iRacing and the simulator as much as possible. You do anything you can to learn how the race track actually is, that will help give you a feel for what it’s like to run a lap. Andy Street and my RCR team have a good job of prepping for this weekend and I’m excited to get there.”  How will practice and qualifying impact the weekend as a whole? “I think it’s a good thing for us to have practice and qualifying this week especially. It allows us to know as a team where we are going to start for the race and what the car will feel like when the green flag drops. Qualifying puts it a little more back in the drivers hands to know and help determine where your starting position will be, instead of relying on the metrics. Our Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet Camaro should be fast.”

Volunteers needed for FIA Formula E race in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK (May 19, 2021)- With the return of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to the streets of Brooklyn July 9-11, 2021, SCCA Pro Racing is pleased to assist with the execution of the event once again. The New York City ePrix was announced in late April to round help round out the final eight rounds of the 2020/21 calendar.

SCCA volunteers will be trackside as the all-electric Championship takes on the challenging concrete course for a double-header weekend in the Red Hook neighborhood against the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty.

As with all FIA World Championship events held in the United States, the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS) and United States Race Management (USRM) will be the primary leadership with SCCA Pro Racing assisting.

“It’s an honor to continue our partnership with FIA Formula E and support ACCUS and USRM as we welcome back electric car racing to New York City,” said Sydney Davis Yagel, General Manager of SCCA Pro Racing. “It’s exciting that the Championship is able to make their return after last year’s absence due to COVID, and I know that our marshals are ready to give it their all.”

Volunteer specialties needed for this event include flagging and communication, pit lane, course marshal, and runners. The bonus for volunteering is the inclusion of a double-occupancy hotel room for all marshals who commit to both race days, with transportation to and from the racetrack each morning and evening.

Professional racing experience is required for flagging/communication and pit lane marshals; however, course marshals and runners just need to be passionate for racing and the ability to lift equipment and walk/stand for longer periods of time. 

COVID safety protocols will be in place to protect all participants, including mandatory testing prior to arrival at the racetrack. Additional details on these protocols and testing procedures will be provided soon. 

For those interested in volunteering, please sign up online: http://msreg.com/2021-FE-NYCePRIX

Carson Macedo’s Perfect Night Taken by Schuchart in New JerseySWEDESBORO, NJ – May 18, 2021 – A standing-room-only crowd on Tuesday night served witness to an attack by Shark Racing at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.Logan Schuchart, piloting his Drydene Performance Products #1S, soared by Carson Macedo on Lap 11 and ran away with his second World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series triumph of the 2021 season, and the 25th of his career.It was a much-needed breakthrough for the Hanover, PA native, who snapped a 21-race losing streak with his mid-week win. It was a victory lane trip months in the making, and one that quite possibly restored the confidence and momentum they’ve been searching for since February.Schuchart’s score, which brings him only five away from tying his grandfather Bobby Allen at 30 World of Outlaws wins, came with the defeat of Macedo, who had a perfect night going. The Jason Johnson Racing #41 established a New Track Record in Slick Woody’s Qualifying, won his Team Drydene Heat Race, won the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, and led 11 laps before fading to Schuchart’s Triple-X powered by Newman’s Racing Engines.”Confidence is everything,” Schuchart said with a pep in his step. “You know we started off the season so strong, but the small issues started coming and it seemed like one thing after another hit us. Sometimes parts fail, there’s just nothing you can do about it. We need that confidence back, and I think we’ve got it.”Marking the first appearance by The Greatest Show on Dirt at the newly-reconfigured 4/10-mile, Tuesday’s trip to Bridgeport started off hot with Macedo’s time of 13.215 seconds establishing a New Track Record. Three thrilling Team Drydene Heat Races followed and the stage was set for an intense 30-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature.It was Outlaws vs. Posse on the front row as Macedo dealt with Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, PA to his outside. Macri offered a Lap one slider with hopes of stealing the top spot, but Macedo’s outside momentum was too much to bare. Schuchart, who started fourth, made his move to second on Lap two as he went by Macri and started to reel in Macedo.With the aid of lap traffic, Schuchart scooted closer and eventually stole command of the lead from Macedo on Lap 12. Macedo was mired on the outside as Schuchart stuck the very bottom of the 4/10-mile and rolled his #1S right on by.Near the halfway point, Donny Schatz entered the picture and made it a three-way war for the top spot as he dueled with Macedo and Schuchart. A trio of stoppages for Aaron Reutzel, Brock Zearfoss & Ryan Smith slowed the pace, but the action returned with the final restart on Lap 16.The battle for P1 got real interesting on Lap 22 when Macedo attempted a slide job on Schuchart, but he came up just short and lost his only chance to sneak up on the #1S. From there, Schuchart ran off to take the checkered flag by 1.731-seconds over Macedo.”My grandfather never quits, and he’s our motivation,” Schuchart said on never giving up. “We’ve got a Triple-X with 50 races on it, this wing has been patched up a hundred times, you know. We put this old car together and I’d say she’s doing something right. So happy to get it back in victory lane where it belongs.”Macedo’s perfect night fell to the wayside by one position, but he did gain crucial points on Brad Sweet and David Gravel in the championship chase as summer approaches.”I feel bad for my guys,” Macedo candidly mentioned. “I think we had the car to win, but just lost it in traffic. I was making speed through the middle, but I didn’t know where to be in traffic. I went to the top and Logan drove right by me on the bottom. I just couldn’t get it going from there.”Finishing third and rallying after falling to fifth was Anthony Macri, giving the PA Posse one representative on the podium.”We’ve been running consistent,” Macri said after his second podium in four races. “I felt like we had a good shot from the front row, but we just didn’t have the car to win the race. It’s a confidence booster, though. Whenever we can run well against these guys you’re doing something right.”Rounding out the top five on Tuesday night was Donny Schatz in fourth-place aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Carquest #15, and Sheldon Haudenschild in fifth-place aboard the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17.Closing out the top ten at Bridgeport was a group of Pennsylvanian’s and Californian’s. It was Brent Marks in sixth, Brad Sweet in seventh, Danny Dietrich in eighth, Giovanni Scelzi in ninth, and Buddy Kofoid in tenth.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will take two days off before returning to the state of Ohio for a weekend doubleheader. On Friday, May 21, we’re off to Attica Raceway Park followed by a visit to Sharon Speedway on Saturday, May 22.NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][$10,000]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$6,000]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [2][$3,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$2,800]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,500]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [5][$2,300]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$2,200]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich [10][$2,100]; 9. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [6][$2,050]; 10. 5X-Buddy Kofoid [9][$2,000]; 11. 2-David Gravel [17][$1,600]; 12. 9-James McFadden [15][$1,400]; 13. 5-Tyler Ross [22][$1,200]; 14. 83-Aaron Reutzel [12][$1,100]; 15. 51-Freddie Rahmer [19][$1,050]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$1,000]; 17. 67-Justin Whittall [20][$1,000]; 18. 7-Steve Buckwalter [23][$1,000]; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser [11][$1,000]; 20. 10X-Ryan Smith [14][$1,000]; 21. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [16][$1,000]; 22. 2C-Wayne Johnson [21][$1,000]; 23. 44-Dave Brown [24][$1,000]; 24. 37-JJ Grasso [13][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-11, Logan Schuchart 12-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 5-Tyler Ross[+9]NEW Championship Standings (24/83 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (3,376); 2. David Gravel (-68); 3. Carson Macedo (-92); 4. Aaron Reutzel (-140); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-142); 6. Donny Schatz (-144); 7. Logan Schuchart (-194); 8. Kraig Kinser (-494); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-518); 10. James McFadden (-526).Photo – Trent Gower

POWAY, CA (May 19, 2021) — In advance of the inaugural season of Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), TMS Titanium was announced today as the “Official Titanium Supplier of SRX.” 

SRX is a six-race short-track series that will debut this summer on Saturday nights in primetime on the CBS Television Network and streaming live on Paramount+. SRX was created by a team consisting of Sandy Montag and The Montag Group, George Pyne, NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham, and legendary driver Tony Stewart.

TMS Titanium will work with Evernham and the SRX technical team to incorporate Titanium in key areas of the series’ purpose-built race cars.

“We reached out to SRX and Ray to see how we could work together to make their race cars safer and faster with our Titanium,” said Todd Harrison, President of TMS Titanium. “We are involved in all forms of motorsports as well as aerospace, medical and commercial, from fabrication to consulting to cutting. This is a great opportunity to work with a brand new series that we are very excited to see succeed. We are especially looking forward to highlighting the efforts of the various crew chiefs throughout the season.”

In addition to TMS Titanium being incorporated into the race cars, its logo will be featured on crew shirts and included in joint advertisements and promotions throughout the season. At the conclusion of the season, the winning team’s crew chief will be recognized with a special award from TMS Titanium.

“We’re extremely proud to have TMS Titanium providing its technical expertise and promotional support to SRX,” Evernham said. “Starting a new racing series from the ground up is an incredible undertaking. We needed partners who we could rely on, not only in terms of delivering product quickly and efficiently, but with a very high level of quality. We have that with TMS Titanium, and we’ve been able to build a fleet of race cars that will be ready for our inaugural season thanks to their support.”

SRX kicks off June 12 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway. After Stafford, SRX visits back-to-back dirt tracks – Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on June 19 and Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on June 26. SRX returns to pavement July 3 at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis and then ventures north to Slinger (Wis.) Speedway on July 10 before its season finale July 17 at the Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway.

The series’ roster of drivers includes Stewart, Tony Kanaan, Paul Tracy, Bobby Labonte, Willy T. Ribbs, Bill Elliott, Ernie Francis Jr., Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Michael Waltrip.

Dominic Scelzi Sweeps All Four Peter Murphy Classic Features During Career-Best WeekendInside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (May 17, 2021) – Only Hollywood could write a script as thrilling as what occurred last weekend for Dominic Scelzi, who won all four main events during the prestigious Peter Murphy Classic.The victories – two in the 410ci winged sprint car division and two in the 360ci winged sprint car class – pushed Scelzi’s season win total to a career-best nine triumphs. His previous season high was eight trips into Victory Lane, which occurred in 2019.“We’re seeing a progression of getting better, of zoning in and getting faster,” he said. “This was a weekend where everything fell together. The car was outstanding all weekend long and we picked up four trophies.”Scelzi invaded Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., on Friday. He advanced from fifth to third place in his first 410 heat race before winning his second heat race from third. Scelzi then maneuvered from fifth to second place in the dash to garner the outside front row starting spot for the main event.”The track was really slick at that point,” he said. “You had to be right around the lip of the top or putt around the bottom. I felt like you could get some momentum built up around the top. We got the jump on the start, but Kasey (Kahne) stayed with us and slid us into turn three. I turned under him and led the first lap. About 10 to 12 laps into the race the track started getting abrasive. I tried to save as much tire as I could. I slowly moved down the track lap by lap. We were fortunate to lead on all 30 laps and get the win.”Scelzi was just as efficient in the Sprint Car Challenge Tour division that night. He set quick time during qualifying out of the 39 drivers. A run from fourth to second place in a heat race preceded dash and feature victories.”They had reworked the track since it took rubber in the 410 feature,” he said. “We went into the bottom of the first corner, hit the grease and slid up the track. We fell back to third. We had a restart a lap later. I passed for second and the second-place car spun in the grease. That put me to second on the restart. At that point the track had gotten worked in again. It was super, super slick against the curb. I got racing with the leader for a couple of laps and got by him with 10 to 12 laps to go. Then with four or five laps to go it started laying rubber again. We stuck in that and led to the finish. That was the first time I’ve ever won two features in the same night.”The triumph was Scelzi’s fourth with the series, which is tied for the second most on the all-time victory list.Action shifted to Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday. Once again, Scelzi set quick time during King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series qualifying. He added heat race, dash and feature victories to sweep the night for his 10 th career series triumph, which paid $11,000 – tied for the most Scelzi’s won in a race.”We battled with Bud (Kaeding) in one of my best races of all time,” he said. “It was pretty special. The 410 portion is thePeter Murphy Classic. We won the 360 in 2019 and then again this year, but this was my first 410 win during the event.”The outside was a little better to start on. We raced pretty hard the first couple of laps before he got clear of me. He led until Lap 15 when I slid him into turn three and the yellow flag came out. After that he maintained about five to seven car lengths in front of me. With 11 laps to go we had the last restart. I timed it and was able to slide him into turn one. We dueled it out until the last five laps. I slid him in turns one and two. He was able to turn it under me. He started to slide me in turn three. I turned under and slid him back off the exit of turn four, like we each threw a slide job. That got us the space we needed to ride off into the sunset.”The cherry on top was his performance during the 360 portion of the night, qualifying second quickest in his group, winning a heat race, placing second in the pole shuffle and winning his fourth straight feature.”At that point all the pressure was off,” he said. “It seemed like the fans were behind the run of going 4-for-4. It was fun for me to go out there and, ‘Hell, let’s try to do it again.’ (Michael) Faccinto led the first 10 laps. I got by him in turns three and four. I ran around the top the majority of the race. It laid rubber and I moved to the bottom. The last few laps I struggled to get by lapped cars so I just stayed patient on the bottom.”Momentum is on Scelzi’s side as he tackles a pair of races this weekend beginning on Saturday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series. Scelzi will then head to Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif., to race on Sunday.QUICK RESULTS –May 14 – Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif. (410 sprint car) – Heat race #1: 3 (5); Heat race#2: 1 (3); Dash: 2 (5); Feature: 1 (2).May 14 – Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif. (360 sprint car) – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (1).May 15 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. (410 sprint car) – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 1 (4); Pole shuffle: 1; Feature: 1 (1).May 15 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. (360 sprint car) – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 1 (3); Pole shuffle: 2; Feature: 1 (2).SEASON STATS –22 races, 9 wins, 17 top fives, 21 top 10s, 21 top 15s, 21 top 20sUP NEXT –Saturday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and Sunday at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: WEDESBORO, NJ – May 17, 2021 – The most grueling schedule in Motorsports knows no rest. That’s why the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are set for another three races this week after tackling three nights last week.After sweeping the PA Posse, the Outlaws now turn their focus to New Jersey and Ohio.On Tuesday, Bridgeport Motorsports Park’s Kingdom of Speed re-joins the schedule as a newly-reconfigured 4/10-mile oval. When the weekend comes, it’s off to Ohio for back-to-back nights at Attica Raceway Park on Friday followed by Sharon Speedway on Saturday.BRIDGEPORT TICKETS (5/18) ATTICA TICKETS (5/21) SHARON TICKETS (5/22)Here’s some of the most noteworthy storylines to follow this week:ONE NIGHT ONLY: Tuesday’s stop at Bridgeport Motorsports Park will be the only race all season long in the state of New Jersey for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. Fans from The Garden State can make the trek to Central Pennsylvania in July or October, but it won’t get any closer to home than this. Bridgeport is the third facility in New Jersey to host the World of Outlaws, alongside Flemington and New Egypt Speedway.NEW CONFIGURATION: Although it has remained the same facility in Swedesboro, NJ over all these years, the layout of Bridgeport Speedway’s actual race track has changed on a handful of occasions. There was the original 5/8-mile speed plant which Sammy Swindell dominated with five wins in seven shows. Two years ago, the Outlaws raced on a renovated 3/8-mile smaller oval, and now they’ll face the reconfigured 4/10-mile for the first time on Tuesday night.DOTY WARM-UP: Friday’s appearance at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, OH for the Kistler Engines Classic is a great opportunity to prepare for the Brad Doty Classic on Tuesday, July 13, which is the official kick-off to an epic week in Ohio. The prestigious Brad Doty Classic precedes four consecutive nights at Eldora with a pair of $175,000-to-win Kings Royal’s up for grabs. Donny Schatz (4 wins) and David Gravel (1 win) are the only active Outlaw winner at Attica.LONG TIME NO SEE: Saturday’s show at Sharon Speedway ends a 14-year absence of the World of Outlaws from the Hartford, OH 3/8-mile. The exact span since that last appearance won by Steve Kinser on June 1, 2007? A long 5,105 days.Although none of the active drivers have won at the track in World of Outlaws competition, several drivers still have winning experience at Sharon to rely on. Both Aaron Reutzel and Sheldon Haudenschild have topped All-Star Circuit of Champions race, while Brad Sweet also owns a 2012 Lou Blaney Memorial title from the track.POSSE INVASION: The Outlaws made it out of Pennsylvania with a clean 3-0 sweep last week, beating the Posse at Lincoln and both nights at Williams Grove. However, they haven’t completely dispatched themselves of the Central PA gassers yet. Located just over two hours away, Bridgeport’s $10,000-to-win allure is just enough to pull the Posse off the porch and add some extra spice to the mid-week showing.Among the leading PA Posse stars expected to run is Danny Dietrich of Gettysburg, PA, who beat Donny Schatz to win at Bridgeport in 2019. Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA has three podiums over the last 10 days since re-joining his family-owned #19, and ran top-five at Bridgeport in April. Additional threats like Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, PA and Freddie Rahmer of Salfordville. PA are expected to be in attendance as well.POINTS TIGHTEN: A long and unpredictable 60 races remain, but nonetheless, the championship standings are as tight as they’ve been in more than a month. Two-time and defending champion Brad Sweet continues to lead the way aboard his Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49, but the competition closing quickly after a rough spell for the Grass Valley, CA native.David Gravel (-60) has been steadily gaining with his Big Game Motorsports #2, but behind him are recent winners Carson Macedo (-102) in the Jason Johnson Racing #41 and Aaron Reutzel (-126) in the Roth Motorsports #83. Also in the hunt is Sheldon Haudenschild’s (-146) Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17, Donny Schatz’s (-150) Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, and Logan Schuchart’s (-206) Shark Racing #1S.HOME SWEET HOME: Wooster, OH native Sheldon Haudenschild relishes every chance he gets to compete in his home state of Ohio. Lucky for him, he gets two opportunities this weekend.Within the past year, Haudenschild has nabbed wins at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, OH and Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH. This weekend, he has Attica and Sharon on the agenda. Both are tracks where his legendary father Jac Haudenschild has found victory lane before, and Sheldon himself has won with the All-Stars at each facility too.MORE MILESTONES: Just one week after starting his 1,900th Feature, Donny Schatz of Fargo, ND hit his latest milestone. This time, the 10-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion recorded his 1,400th top-10 finish.That’s a top-1o in almost 75% of his starts dating back to 1995. Up next? That elusive first win of the season for the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanain Racing #15.This Week at a Glance – When and WhereTuesday, May 18 at Bridgeport Motorsports Park in Swedesboro, NJ Friday, May 21 at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, OH Saturday, May 22 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, OHOn the Internet World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Twitter – @WorldofOutlaws Instagram – @WoOSprint Facebook – Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsSprintCarSeries YouTube – Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com – Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/monthAround the Turn: Following this weekend, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return to Indiana for a Memorial Day Weekend at Terre Haute Action Track on Friday, May 28 and Lawrenceburg Speedway on Monday, May 31.NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (8 Drivers): 9 wins – Brad Sweet, Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #49 3 wins – David Gravel, Big Game Motorsports #2 3 wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17 3 wins – Carson Macedo, Jason Johnson Racing #41 2 wins – Aaron Reutzel, Roth Motorsports #83 1 win – Logan Schuchart, Shark Racing #1S 1 win – James McFadden, Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #9 1 win – Brent Marks, Brent Marks Racing #19MFEATURE LAPS LED (16 Drivers): 202 laps – Brad Sweet 90 laps – Sheldon Haudenschild 89 laps – Donny Schatz 81 laps – Aaron Reutzel 76 laps – David Gravel 49 laps – Logan Schuchart 36 laps – Carson Macedo 31 laps – James McFadden 27 laps – Sam Hafertepe Jr. 19 laps – Tyler Courtney 17 laps – Brent Marks 10 laps – Jacob Allen & Brock Zearfoss 3 laps – Ian Madsen 1 lap – Kasey Kahne & Kraig KinserSLICK WOODY’S QUICKTIME AWARDS (11 Drivers): 6 QuickTimes – David Gravel 4 QuickTimes – Sheldon Haudenschild 2 QuickTimes – Brad Sweet, James McFadden, Cory Eliason, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 1 QuickTime – Aaron Reutzel, Logan Schuchart, Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, Giovanni ScelziDRYDENE HEAT RACE WINNERS (24 Drivers) 10 Heat Wins – David Gravel 8 Heat Wins – Carson Macedo, Aaron Reutzel 6 Heat Wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, James McFadden 5 Heat Wins – Donny Schatz 4 Heat Wins – Logan Schuchart 3 Heat Wins – Brock Zearfoss, Ian Madsen, Brian Brown, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 2 Heat Wins – Jacob Allen, Kasey Kahne, Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides, Giovanni Scelzi, Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson 1 Heat Win –  Danny Dietrich, Hunter Schuerenberg, Tyler Courtney, Lance Dewease, Anthony MacriPODIUM FINISHES (19 Drivers): 14 Podiums – Brad Sweet 6 Podiums – Sheldon Haudenschild, Donny Schatz, Carson Macedo, Aaron Reutzel 5 Podiums – David Gravel, Logan Schuchart 4 Podiums – Brent Marks 3 Podiums – James McFadden, Giovanni Scelzi 2 Podiums – Cory Eliason, Lance Dewease 1 Podium – Kraig Kinser, Danny Dietrich, Tyler Courtney, Justin Peck, Brian Brown, Anthony Macri, Sam Hafertepe Jr.2021 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Schedule & WinnersNo. / Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins) 1. Fri, Feb. 5 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Brad Sweet (1) 2. Sun, Feb. 7 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Logan Schuchart (1) 3. Fri, March 5 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Carson Macedo (1) 4. Sat, March 6 / East Bay Raceway Park / Tampa, FL / Aaron Reutzel (1) 5. Fri, March 12 / Magnolia Motor Speedway / Columbus, MS / Sheldon Haudenschild (1) 6. Sat, March 13 / The Rev / Monroe, LA / David Gravel (1) 7. Fri, March 19 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / Sheldon Haudenschild (2) 8. Sat, March 20 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / Brad Sweet (2) 9. Sat, March 27 / Lake Ozark Speedway / Eldon, MO / Brad Sweet (3) 10. Fri, April 2 / I-55 Raceway / Pevely, MO / Brad Sweet (4) 11. Sat, April 3 / I-55 Raceway / Pevely, MO / Brad Sweet (5) 12. Fri, April 9 / Kokomo Speedway / Kokomo, IN / James McFadden (1) 13. Sat, April 10 / Tri-State Speedway / Haubstadt, IN / Carson Macedo (2) 14. Fri, April 22 / Bristol Motor Speedway / Bristol, TN / David Gravel (2) 15. Sun, April 24 / Bristol Motor Speedway / Bristol, TN / David Gravel (3) 16. Thur, April 29 / Jacksonville Speedway / Jacksonville, IL / Brad Sweet (6) 17. Fri, April 30 / I-70 Motorsports Park / Odessa, MO / Brad Sweet (7) 18. Sat, May 1 / I-70 Motorsports Park / Odessa, MO / Brad Sweet (8) 19. Sat, May 8 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Brent Marks (1) 20. Sat, May 8 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Sheldon Haudenschild (3) 21. Wed, May 12 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Brad Sweet (9) 22. Fri, May 14 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Carson Macedo (3) 23. Sat, May 15 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Aaron Reutzel (2)

America’s Largest Indoor Waterpark Resorts to serve as partner for RCR at races in Texas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (May 18, 2021) –  Kalahari Resorts and Conventions will once again team up with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, marking the seventh season of partnership for the organizations. America’s Largest Indoor Waterpark Resorts will be the primary partner on Tyler Reddick’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Pocono Raceway later this season. Kalahari Resorts and Conventions will also serve as an associate partner at the Circuit of the Americas and Road America races on both Reddick’s No. 8 Chevrolet and Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. “I am thrilled to be driving for Kalahari and having the opportunity to spend time with family while staying at the Resorts during multiple race weekends this year,” said Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet. “Kalahari is truly the ideal place for family-fun. I enjoyed visiting the resorts a lot before I became a dad, but now I’m even more excited to experience all Kalahari has to offer from my son’s point of view.” As part of the expanded partnership, NASCAR fans will see content across driver and RCR social media channels highlighting how America’s Largest Indoor Waterpark Resorts have something for family members of all ages! Amenities at the resort include indoor and outdoor water slides, Tom Foolery’s arcade and amusement park, signature dining options, as well as luxurious spa treatments from Spa Kalahari and Salon. “We are excited to continue our longstanding partnership with Richard Childress Racing to sponsor Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon,” said Kalahari Resorts and Conventions owner Todd Nelson. “The relationship continues to highlight the adventurous and fun spirits of both the Kalahari Resorts and RCR teams.” The newest location for the authentically-African resorts opened in Round Rock, Texas this past November with more than 1.5 million square feet of family fun. The unique all-under-one-roof family destination also can be found at locations in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, in Sandusky, Ohio and in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.  For more information on today’s announcement, and all that’s happening at RCR, visit www.rcrracing.com. To find information or book a stay at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, visit www.KalahariResorts.com.   ### About Kalahari Resorts and ConventionsKalahari Resorts and Conventions in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Sandusky, Ohio, the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania, and now open in Round Rock, Texas, deliver a beyond-expectations waterpark resort and conference experience all under one roof. The authentically African-themed Kalahari Resorts, privately owned by the Nelson family, are home to America’s largest indoor waterparks. All Kalahari Resorts feature well-appointed guest rooms, full-service Spa Kalahari, a fun-filled family entertainment center, on-site signature restaurants, unique retail shops and a state-of-the-art convention center. Kalahari Resorts and Conventions frequently receives awards and accolades for its guest and convention services. Recognition includes: Condé Nast Traveler’s #1 World’s Coolest Indoor Waterparks, Sensory Friendly Certified in 2020 (Ohio), Best Family-Friendly Meeting Hotel and Resort in Smart Meeting’s 2020 Smart Stars Awards, Parents’ Magazine 2019 Kids’ Travel Award Winner and TripAdvisor’s 2018 and 2017 Travelers’ Choice Awards. For reservation and guest information, call 1-877-KALAHARI (525-2427) or visit KalahariResorts.com.

DETROIT, MI (May 18, 2021) – The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) saw a diversified schedule for the 2021 season, featuring a variety of notable changes and new venues to make it one of the most dynamic schedules in the sport’s history. The overhaul of the 36-race season included a record seven road course circuit events, a major departure from a schedule that hosted only three in the previous year.  One of the most-anticipated new tracks for the Series is on tap this weekend, as NASCAR’s three premier national touring series will make their debut at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn course of Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Located just outside of Austin, Texas, the venue has previously been the host to the NTT IndyCar Series, Formula 1 and IMSA races, but the first for Chevrolet’s NASCAR drivers and teams. The twists and turns of the circuit’s landscape, featuring a 133-foot hill in Turn One, will provide for a weekend full of unknowns.  “Chevrolet Racing has the best road course racers in the sport and we want to keep it that way,” says Eric Warren, Chevrolet’s Director of NASCAR Programs. “We want to give drivers the opportunities to keep working on their craft and winning races. That’s what it’s all about every week.” With road course circuits now making up nearly 20 percent of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Chevrolet is utilizing key resources to enhance the road racing skills of their driver lineup. As NASCAR headed west earlier this season, Chevrolet drivers paid a visit to the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, the home of the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School. Chevrolet provided their drivers with a unique opportunity to experience a day full of both on-track and classroom instruction to build upon their abilities as a driver and increase their road course confidence as drivers and teams are faced with the season’s new, unique challenges.  Three of the final seven regular-season races will be held on road course circuits, putting even more of an emphasis on the importance of strong on-track performances to secure a driver’s Playoff spot and their chance to compete for the championship title. “Getting extra time on the road course is big,” said Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon. “I think being at Spring Mountain is a huge advantage to us to get laps and learn from some of these guys that do it every day.” Chevrolet heads to COTA just one victory away from capturing its 800th all-time win in NASCAR Cup Series history, an unprecedented milestone for the winningest brand in motorsports. The NASCAR Cup Series 68-lap, 231-mile EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at COTA will take the green flag on Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live competition of the event will be broadcasted on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.ATTENTION EDITORSVideo and audio files of Team Chevy NASCAR drivers discussing Spring Mountain Training and COTA are available for your use: Team Chevy Spring Mountain & COTA Video FeatureTeam Chevy Spring Mountain & COTA B-Roll PackageTeam Chevy Spring Mountain & COTA Driver AudioCHEVROLET RACING INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTSERIC WARREN, CHEVROLET’S DIRECTOR OF NASCAR PROGRAMSWHAT DOES ADDITIONAL ROAD COURSE RACES MEAN FOR CHEVROLET RACING?“From two races, to three races, to now seven races; it becomes a significant part of the schedule. All of the drivers and teams are really working on their skills and really understand what it takes to get those last tenths of a second out of a road course.” WHAT ARE THE ROAD COURSE GOALS FOR TEAM CHEVY IN 2021?“Chevrolet Racing has the best road course racers in the sport and we want to keep it that way. We want to give drivers the opportunities to keep working on their craft and winning races. That’s what it’s all about every week.”  AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE HOW IMPORTANT ARE ROAD COURSE RACES IN MAKING THE PLAYOFFS?“It’s huge. I come from an oval background and getting any extra time on a road course is big. Considering we have seven road courses this year, I think being at Spring Mountain (Motorsports Ranch) is a huge advantage to us to get laps and to learn from some of these guys that do it every day.” ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 CHIP GANASSI RACING CAMARO ZL1 1LE WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN AT SPRING MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORTS RANCH?“Just the motion of turning right. You’re going to miss corners; you’re going to over-brake and under-brake. So, just being out here going through the same motions when there’s not a full Cup Series field and there’s no points on the line. It’s just getting into the mindset of turning right.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 BLACK ENTREPRENEUR INITIATIVE CAMARO ZL1 1LEWHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING INTO COTA?“(COTA) is really different than any road course we go to. COTA is a very technical and tight track, so it makes for a challenge when you get there. There’s some really tight corners and some really long straightaways. It’s a world-class facility and I’m just excited to get there and see it in person.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LEELLIOTT ON HIS IMPRESSION OF COTA: “The track was fun. Anytime you go somewhere new, a fresh track is refreshing, I feel like, for racecar drivers. I’ve enjoyed the challenge. I haven’t made a ton of laps, so it’s just really trying to understand what is this the right way or what is this the wrong way. It’s tough because when you’re new and you’re trying to get going, you might hit the first part of the track pretty good, then you might miss two spots somewhere else. Your lap time doesn’t tell the whole story. So, you really have to piece that together and understand what you think you did good and what you didn’t, and then go put the pieces of the puzzle together and try to put the whole thing in the works.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News

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

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram

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

Mopar  

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

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

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

Follow Mopar and company news and video on:

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

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

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

Mopar blog: https://blog.mopar.com/ 

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OfficialMOPAR

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

Dodge//SRT

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

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

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

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

The stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model aim to shutout PA locals at Port Royal SpeedwayPORT ROYAL, PA – May 18, 2021 – As the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars exits Pennsylvania with all of the PA Posse’s riches, the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models enters with the same intentions.The Late Models return to Port Royal Speedway, on May 21-22, for the first time since 2019 and the famed half-mile track will look a touch different to fans and teams. The track completed several renovations last year and has more to come, according to Promoter Steve O’Neal.A new wider tunnel was constructed under the first turn for fans to easily get to and from the infield, there’s blacktop throughout the pit area, a large pit grandstand was added by Turn 4, infield buildings were lowered for better viewing, a new gate was installed on the backstretch and the front stretch was widened by 10-feet.“There have been quite a few renovations since [the World of Outlaws Late Models] were here a couple of years ago,” O’Neal said. “The track continues to try and enhance the fan experience, as well as the driver’s. We did a lot of extra work in the pit area. I think everyone coming this week will be pretty impressed with what we’ve been doing. And we’re not done yet.”Along with the physical appeals, O’Neal said he is excited to see the Late Model’s version of the World of Outlaws versus the PA Posse during the Series’ first two-day event at Port Royal. Like with the Sprint Cars, both sides enter the event with an impressive talent pool.Three-time defending champion Brandon Sheppard and Chris Madden enter the weekend with the momentum of milestone wins at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Sheppard earned his 70th career Series win – also his first of the year – and Madden earned his 30th career win. Sheppard is currently the only full-time Outlaw with a Series win at Port Royal – in 2017.Also representing the Outlaws will drivers like be Sinking Spring, PA-native Kyle Stricker, who is the leading rookie contender with two wins, Ricky Weiss, who finished second at Port Royal in 2019, Cade Dillard, who won at Boone Speedway in April, Tyler Bruening, Ryan Gustin and Boom Briggs, of Bear Lake, PA.Leading the charge for the Pennsylvania drivers will be Mason Zeigler, of Chalk Hill, PA, who won the last World of Outlaws event at Port Royal in 2019 – his lone Series victory. He has one track event win at the speedway this year, as well. Other PA stars to potentially be on the lookout for are drivers like current Port Royal Speedway Super Late Model points leader Ross Robinson, Dylan Yoder, Jeff Rine, Trevor Feathers and more.Fellow Pennsylvania resident and part-time Outlaw competitor Rick Eckert, the 2011 Series champion of York, PA, will look to spoil the party and sweep the weekend himself. He won a track event at Port Royal at the beginning of May, also.“It’s always great to have the Outlaws come to Port Royal,” O’Neal said. “We always look forward to it. It should be a very competitive show with the drivers the Outlaws bring in. And we have a very competitive class. I’d say Port Royal Speedway’s class of Late Model drivers is the closest you’re going to get to PA Posse battle with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. I’m hoping to have the same kind of deal. We’ve got some really strong weekly runners. I look forward to the battle between them and the World of Outlaws.”Friday’s Huey Wilcoxon Memorial (May 21) will pay $10,000 to the winner and Saturday’s Billy Vacek Memorial (May 22) will award the winner $15,000.Along with hosting the World of Outlaws Late Model’s first trip to Pennsylvania in 2021, Port Royal Speedway will also host the World of Outlaws Sprint Car’s final trip to the Keystone State on Oct. 8-9 for the Nittany Showdown– playing a key role in the Sprint Car championship battle. It’ll be the final chance in 2021 for the Outlaws to shut out the PA Posse and leave the state with all the riches.“When the Sprint Cars come in, it’s our last big event of the year,” O’Neal said. “We always look forward to that. It’s always a great event.”To see the Outlaws challenge the Pennsylvania favorites and experience the new track improvements, get tickets by CLICKING HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.

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

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

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

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA SpringNationals – Houston

Pre-Race Report

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

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

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

Sheppard, Madden, Strickler, and more battle for potential $25K Payday PORT ROYAL, PA – MAY 17, 2021 – The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models makes its first of six trips to Pennsylvania in 2021, with a weekend double-dip at Port Royal Speedway.It’s the sixth time the Series will visit “The Speed Palace,” and one driver could walk away with $25,000 if they win both races. Friday, May 21, is the Huey Wilcoxon Memorial. It’s a 40-lap Morton Buildings Feature paying $10,000-to-win. Also, on the bill are Limited Late Models and Wingless Sportsman. The Series returns Saturday, May 22, for the 50-lap Billy Vacek Memorial, paying $15,000-to-win. Port Royal Speedway’s 410 Sprint Cars will also be in action. If you can’t make it either night, watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS Subscription for $39/month.Here are the top stories to follow this weekend:Rocket Momentum: Three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard finally got the monkey off his back at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, winning his first official Morton Buildings Feature of the season. It was the 70th World of Outlaws win of his career. He’s now eight wins away from tying Josh Richards for the most all-time (78). The victory, along with Sheppard’s Series leading 12 top-10s is enough to put him at the top of the standings—60 points ahead of Chris Madden. The New Berlin, IL driver has already found Victory Lane at Port Royal Speedway in his career. He won a Morton Buildings Feature in 2017 and has a third-place finish at the track this season. The “Rocket Shepp” also has four top-10s at 1/2-mile tracks this season. His best was a third on April 9 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sheppard enters the weekend with some momentum, as well. He won a MARS Racing Series event at Farmer City Raceway last Friday in his family owned #B5 car. Smokin’ Hot: The only driver on the Series that may be more consistent than Sheppard, is South Carolina’s Chris Madden. Madden won his second Morton Buildings Feature of the Season at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, tying him for the most wins this season. He also has more top fives than any other driver this year (8).  The Gray Court, SC driver is 60 points behind Sheppard in the standings, with two fewer starts. “Smokey” also has past success at Port Royal Speedway. In two starts with the Series, Madden has one top-five and two top-10s. His best finish was third in 2017. Madden has been consistent on 1/2-mile tracks in 2021, so far. He has four top-10s in five starts, including a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. Don’t Sleep on Pennsylvania: It’s not just the World of Outlaws tour regulars that have their eyes on Victory Lane this weekend. Anytime the Series travels to Pennsylvania, several stout regional competitors are hoping to steal a win. Mason Zeigler won the last World of Outlaws race at “The Speed Palace” in 2019, holding off Ricky Weiss in an exciting race. The Chalk Hill, PA driver also has a win at the track this season. Rick Eckert is also a threat anytime the Series visits the Keystone State. The York, PA driver is the most recent Super Late Model Winner at Port Royal Speedway. The 2011 Series champion has run well with the World of Outlaws in 2021. In 10 starts, he has four top-fives and six top-10s. Eckert’s best runs this season are two fourth-place finishes, both at 1/2-mile tracks. One at DIRTcar Nationals, and the other at the Bristol Bash. Happy To Be Home: One driver excited to return to Pennsylvania is Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Strickler. “The High-Side Tickler” grew up about 90 minutes away from Port Royal Speedway.  But racing close to home isn’t his only reason to look forward to the weekend. Strickler is one of four drivers with two Morton Buildings Feature wins in 2021. Both wins came at DIRTcar Nationals, on a track the same size as “The Speed Palace.” Despite a bit of bad luck throughout March and April, Strickler showed signs of turning things around at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. He hopes to build on a fourth-place finish and find his way back to Victory Lane. The Mooresville, NC driver is third in the standings—120 points behind Sheppard. He also leads the chase for Rookie of the Year by 26 points over Tyler Bruening.When and WhereMay 21-22: Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PAAbout the trackPort Royal Speedway is a 1/2-mile, semi-banked racetrack. Online: https://portroyalspeedway.comTrack Record: 17.470 set by Jeff Rine on May 13th, 2017PREVIOUS PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY WINNERS2019- Mason Zeigler on August 17 2018- Mike Marlar on August 18 2017- Brandon Sheppard on August 19 2008- Clint Smith on June 17 2007- Darrell Lanigan on June 20

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE SESSIONS INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY OVAL TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE MAY 18-22 DETROIT (May 17, 2021) – Fresh off two NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories in a row, Chevrolet drivers turn their attention to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Practice for the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge begins Tuesday, May 18. Chevrolet’s 18-car Indianapolis 500 lineup includes three past winners, four race rookie of the year award winners, two pole winners, two rookies, and the winners of the past two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. Following the six scheduled practice sessions totaling 26 hours, drivers backed by the powerful 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected Chevrolet V6 engine will aim to claim the NTT P1 Award for the seventh time since the Bowtie brand returned to engine manufacturer competition in 2012.  NBC and NBCSN will telecast qualifications to set the 33-car field on Saturday, May 22, and Sunday, May 23. Chevrolet front-row starters since 2012 2019: First – Simon Pagenaud. Second – Ed Carpenter. Third – Spencer Pigot2018: First – Ed Carpenter. Second – Simon Pagenaud. Third – Will Power2017: Second – Ed Carpenter2016: Second – Josef Newgarden2015: First – Scott Dixon. Second – Will Power. Third – Simon Pagenaud2014: First — Ed Carpenter. Third – Will Power2013: First – Ed Carpenter. Second – Carlos Munoz. Third – Marco Andretti2012: First – Ryan Briscoe. Second – James Hinchcliffe. Third – Ryan Hunter-Reay Simon Pagenaud, who will drive the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, turned his pole start into victory in 2019. Will Power, who will drive the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, won in 2018, while Juan Pablo Montoya won in 2015 and 2000. Montoya will drive the No. 86 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Rinus VeeKay will attempt to join Pagenaud and Power in sweeping the Month of May races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. VeeKay, who will drive the No. 21 Bitcoin Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, earned his first Series victory May 15 in the GMR Grand Prix on the 3.439-mile,14-turn IMS road course. VeeKay paced Chevrolet drivers in the 2020 Indy 500 by qualifying fourth in his rookie run.“I’m very keen to try to sweep the month of May. That’s of course my goal,” said VeeKay, 20, of The Netherlands. “The mentality and everyone’s confidence is super high at the team, so I think we can definitely go for that win. We’ve had an awesome car last year, and Ed Carpenter Racing has showed the last few years that they have the car to win the ‘500’. I feel super confident. “First race win takes a lot of pressure off. Now I can just drive the ‘500’, and now it’s just going to be focusing on the best possible result. I want to thank Ed Carpenter Racing for everything they’ve done for me so far, and Chevy for the great engines. Indy 500 coming up, lots of power, lots of speed. I’m sure we’ll be good.” Overall, Chevrolet has 11 victories in the Indy 500 and another six have been recorded by General Motors’ brands. It’s also the 100th anniversary of Tommy Milton winning the Indy 500 in a car owned by company co-founder Louis Chevrolet. Simona De Silvestro, the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, returns for the first time since 2015 in the No. 16 Rocket Pro Chevrolet for the team owned by Beth Paretta.  Pato O’Ward, the 2020 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, claimed his initial Series victory May 1 on the Texas Motor Speedway oval in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. JR Hildebrand, runner-up in his first ‘500’ start and Montoya are also former rookie of the year winners who will rely on Chevrolet power this year.  Scott McLaughlin, driving the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, and RC Enerson in the No. 75 Top Gun Racing Chevrolet are among the three Indy 500 rookies. McLaughlin has three top-10 finishes in the five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, including runner-up at Texas Motor Speedway in his first oval race. NBC will telecast the 200-lap race at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 30. The 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible will lead the field to the green flag. The 2021 race marks the 32nd time for Chevrolet to pace dating to 1948, and the 18th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car. TEAM CHEVY LINEUP:JR Hildebrand, No. 1 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt RacingJosef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team PenskeDalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt RacingPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SPFelix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SPCharlie Kimball, No. 11 Tresiba/AJ Foyt RacingWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team PenskeSebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt RacingSimona De Silvestro, No. 16 Rocket Pro/Paretta AutosportEd Carpenter, No. 20 SONAX Ed Carpenter RacingRinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Ed Carpenter RacingSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team PenskeSage Karam, No. 24 DRR-AES Indiana Dreyer & Reinbold RacingConor Daly, No. 47 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter RacingMax Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher CarlinRC Enerson, No. 75 Top Gun RacingJuan Pablo Monto

at Charlotte’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES

FUNNY CAR:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TOP FUEL:

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

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

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