Sheppard ends drought at Dairyland Showdown It’s the New Berlin, IL driver’s 70th career World of Outlaws victory FOUNTAIN CITY, WI – MAY 7, 2021 – Holding his hands together, Brandon Sheppard raised them to the sky in thanks of the gift before him. Victory. Relief… Finally. The three-time and defending champion ended his longest drought of starting a season without an official World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model win (15 races) by finding Victory Lane Friday night at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Along with it came a $12,500 top prize, as well. It was also the New Berlin, IL driver’s 70th Series win. He’s now eight wins away from tying four-time champion Josh Richards for most all-time (78).  Sheppard felt a victory was coming after several consistent runs over the last month.  “Everybody’s been working together really hard trying to figure out what we need to do to get back to Victory Lane,” Sheppard said. “I know we’ve been close the last month, but we’ve been just trying to find that little bit of extra, and we’re getting things back to normal.”  While Sheppard added to his impressive list of accolades, he also kept another driver from taking his first checkered flag.    Lake Elmo, MN driver Brent Larson got off to a fast start, keeping his car locked on the bottom.  He powered past six drivers in the first 10 laps and grabbed the lead.    Larson opened a sizeable advantage in traffic, but Sheppard started to reel him back in. That’s when the “Rocket Shepp” made his move, driving around Larson on the outside. It wasn’t something Sheppard could do early in the race.  “At the beginning of the race, the bottom was blowing crumbs up to the top, so I knew the top wasn’t the best place to be,” Sheppard said. “Once we got into lap traffic, we got up there and started hustling and it worked out for us.”  When the top groove came in, it may have signaled the end of Larson’s chances to win. He knew he couldn’t come off the bottom if he wanted to keep his momentum going.  “The top came in, and I was really too tight to be up there,” Larson said. “I didn’t cut our tire up to take that much abuse. We didn’t see any tire wear [Thursday] when we were testing, and tonight we blistered.”  Even though Larson didn’t get to Victory Lane, second is still important for the Minnesota campaigner. It’s his best finish on the World of Outlaws Late Models Series, so far. “It’s a great feeling,” Larson said. “It’s a great accomplishment for our team. It’s a good reminder to us that we can do this, and show other people the same thing.” Jimmy Mars finished third, Cade Dillard was fourth, and Chris Madden crossed the line fifth.  Sheppard and Larson weren’t the only contenders for the win. Both had late challenges from Ryan Gustin, who was running third until his night took an unfortunate end due to a mechanical failure with five laps to go. “The Reaper” had a lot of damage including a broken driveshaft.  He was disappointed because it was a car he felt could win.  “I’m not sure what tires the other two were running, but that caution toward the end didn’t help us,” Gustin said. “We should be able to get it back together and hopefully be there at the end tomorrow.” UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on The Planet return to Mississippi Thunder Speedway Saturday, May 8, for night two of the Dairyland Showdown presented by Dynamic Concrete Resurfacing.  Saturday’s Feature is 60-laps, paying $22,500-to-win. If Sheppard wins again, he’ll get a $5,000 bonus.  Morton Buildings Feature (40 Laps)-1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [2][$12,500]; 2. B1-Brent Larson [7][$6,000]; 3. 28M-Jimmy Mars [11][$3,500]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard [4][$2,800]; 5. 44-Chris Madden [12][$2,500]; 6. 25-Chad Simpson [10][$2,300]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler [5][$2,200]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce [6][$2,100]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [9][$2,050]; 10. 18B-Shannon Babb [14][$2,000]; 11. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [8][$1,600]; 12. 49-Jake Timm [18][$1,400]; 13. 28-Dennis Erb [20][$1,200]; 14. 7-Ricky Weiss [23][$1,100]; 15. 99B-Boom Briggs [15][$1,050]; 16. 74-Mitch McGrath [13][$1,000]; 17. 11-Gordy Gundaker [22][$1,000]; 18. 29-Spencer Diercks [19][$1,000]; 19. 55C-Chad Mahder [21][$1,000]; 20. 19R-Ryan Gustin [3][$1,000]; 21. 16-Tyler Bruening [1][$1,000]; 22. 20-Rodney Sanders [16][$1,000]; 23. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck [24][$1,000]; 24. 32S-Chris Simpson [17][$1,000] Hard Charger: 7-Ricky Weiss[+9] Qualifying Flight-A –1. 74-Mitch McGrath, 13.743; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening, 13.821; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler, 13.822; 4. B1-Brent Larson, 13.837; 5. 97-Cade Dillard, 13.842; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson, 13.85; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, 13.896; 8. 28M-Jimmy Mars, 13.934; 9. 3-Brett Swedberg, 13.963; 10. 99B-Boom Briggs, 13.964; 11. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 14.067; 12. 25J-Jared Siefert, 14.098; 13. 66-Ron Berna, 14.223; 14. 29-Spencer Diercks, 14.284; 15. 10-Paul Parker, 14.459; 16. 24-Brad Waits, 14.519; 17. 10C-Chad Olsen, 14.589; 18. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 14.71; 19. 55C-Chad Mahder, 14.738 Qualifying Flight-B-1. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 13.504; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 13.638; 3. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.698; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 13.706; 5. 25-Chad Simpson, 13.75; 6. 44-Chris Madden, 13.788; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb, 13.815; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 13.854; 9. 49-Jake Timm, 13.864; 10. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 13.911; 11. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 14.009; 12. 28-Dennis Erb, 14.013; 13. 15-Nick Anvelink, 14.166; 14. 20-Rodney Sanders, 14.21; 15. 90-Lance Matthees, 14.322; 16. 7-Ricky Weiss, 14.324; 17. 43-Jeremy Grady, 14.453; 18. 6M-Jeff Massingill, NT; DNS. 39-Tim McCreadie, NT   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.

May 8 marks 1-year anniversary of World of Outlaws’ ‘Return to Racing’ Not only did the World of Outlaws find a way to return to racing during a pandemic, it was able to strive through the uncertaintiesBy Nick GrazianoROSSBURG, OH – May 7, 2021 – An extraordinary day in the midst of silence…That’s how World of Outlaws CEO Brian Carter described May 8, 2020 – the day the World of Outlaws became the first racing organization to emerge from the trap door COVID-19 laid under every racing series, and the entertainment industry as a whole, in 2020.A year later, on May 8, 2021, the silence will be masked by the harmonizing of 900hp Sprint Cars and thousands of race fans yelling to the world dirt racing is well and thriving. The day will not only celebrate the World of Outlaws’ one-year anniversary of returning to racing, but it’ll also celebrate the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars’ return to Eldora Speedway (May 7-8) for the first time since 2019 – with fans.“May the 8th really rings the fact that we were able to break through before anybody else and go racing,” Carter said. “We raced in the time frame up to May 8, virtually (with iRacing events), but putting those race cars back on the track (at Knoxville Raceway), sitting there watching… the quiet… it was surreal. Surreal that we not only pushed our way through that crisis but that we succeeded at the same time.”Hours before the start of the Sprint Car’s fourth race of the 2020 season at Cotton Bowl Speedway in late February, the event was hit by the wave of cancellations across all major sporting events caused by the pandemic. Initially, it was assumed racing would resume a week or two later. That turned into months.The only thing certain was uncertainty.“That was the biggest thing,” Carter said. “Never in our history have we not known when we’re going racing again. I heard someone else say this, ‘Humans loath uncertainty.’ That definitely rings true with me. I hated not knowing. We were throwing things at the wall trying to get them to stick at the time. We thought we were close to getting something done in April, but it didn’t pan out and we had to be a little more patient for a couple more weeks.”When the world shut down and racing was put on hiatus, the World of Outlaws and DIRTcar team immediately looked into addressing the two major questions: When can we go back racing? And where can we go back racing?While answers were sought after, a weekly iRacing series was organized, featuring several drivers from the World of Outlaws, Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar ranks. Along with giving fans and drivers some form of normalcy, it also became a tool to introduce the drivers and cars – albeit virtual – to a new audience with the races being broadcast nationally on Fox Sports and CBS Sports Network. The popularity of the events led to CBS broadcasting an hour-long World of Outlaws “Return to Racing” documentary and CBS Sports Network broadcasting a couple of live World of Outlaws races.The virtual racing served as a solid placeholder while plans for a return to real racing found momentum.Knoxville Raceway – famously known as the Sprint Car Capital of the World – was identified early on as a venue with the best infrastructure to accommodate what was needed for a safe return, according to World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Director of Business Development Melvyn Record. A variety of plans were developed to make that happen.“We were working directly with Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa, the Iowa Department of Health, the racetrack and Marion County to see what they were comfortable with if we went back to racing,” Record said. “We came up with three different scenarios… Could we do a race with 50 people at the venue? Could we do a race with 250 people? Could we do a race with 500 people? Obviously, doing an event with 50 people at the facility would be a challenge. How many cars would that look like and logistically what would that look like?“We ended up with a plan that was less than 400 people (in total, including drivers, crews, staff and safety, and no fans). We had an A and B team at the track, which was Carlton (Reimers, the Series Director), myself and others who were outside of the track in case anybody on the staff caught COVID so we could quickly jump in and replace that person and still have the event.”Before then, a Return to Racing Resource Center with a 10-Step Guide for a safe return was developed by World of Outlaws and DIRTcar personnel. It was created with the help of motorsports experts Agajanian & Anthony, P.C., Mr. Jeff Ladd at Sports Insurance Specialists, LLC and Dr. Jack Faircloth, MD. The purpose of it was to provide, not only the series but tracks around the country a helpful resource to safely return to racing. It’s still available to everyone on the World of Outlaws website.“A handful of racing organizations reached out to see if they could use it,” Record said. “The document was written with the specific intention that anybody could use it.”The procedures were put to the test at Knoxville and proved beneficial as the event went on with no issues, giving hope during a dark time. Adding to that, everyone watching on DIRTVision was treated to a stellar race.Even with the grandstands empty – a first in the history of the World of Outlaws – the adrenaline rush of excitement provided by David Gravel and Ian Madsen’s late-race battle for the win created an electric atmosphere around the half-mile track that felt like 20,000 fans were there cheering at the finish.As DIRTVision pit reporter Dave Rieff said after the race, “It was quiet… But it was cool.”Its success became a launching point for the Series and dirt racing in general. It laid a path for motorsports to return to a world starving for entertainment.“We were faced with a situation that we never dreamt of being faced with,” World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Director Carlton Reimers said. “We weren’t the only ones, obviously. I’m pretty proud of our company. We had a choice to make. We could either sit back and see what other people did or, I think we were in a unique situation where we were in a position to lead in some areas. That’s what we decided to do. We got out there and led. We got out front and dealt with things we never had to deal with before.”COVID didn’t go away after Knoxville. Each series faced varying restrictions and guidelines from state to state and county to county. In the early stages of the pandemic, those restrictions tended to change week to week, as well. But with the Return to Racing safety guidelines already established, racing was able to occur every weekend – leading to full schedules being secured this year – fans were able to return and drivers were paid a full points fund at the end of the year.However, questions still lingered about what fan attendance would look like once restrictions lifted. Would fans still want to come to races in large crowds? This year, the answer has emphatically been, “yes.” Stands have been full each week and record numbers of merchandise have been sold.“It’s been actually really incredible to see how much has really changed,” Two-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Champion Brad Sweet said. “Obviously, we had great momentum at the end of 2019 (ending the season with the closest points battle in Series history), and obviously with COVID in 2020 we weren’t sure how we were going to recover. The crowds have been unbelievable. The fans have been energetic. It’s so great to be racing in front of the big crowds again. I honestly feel like they’re bigger than they’ve ever been before. It’s really awesome to be a part of the World of Outlaws right now.”There’s a pent-up demand to see racing, according to Carter. Those who could only watch World of Outlaws events on DIRTVision, either as a new or current fan last year, are now taking advantage of seeing them live.“The crowds have been remarkable,” Carter said. “The reception has been remarkable. People want to wear the T-shirts and wear their favorite driver’s T-shirts and they want to let the world know they’re at a dirt track having fun.”Eldora Speedway still has to adhere to local COVID restrictions with limited fans in attendance this weekend, but the World of Outlaws’ return to the “Big E” will mark the first time in about 20 months the famed track has been able to host an event with fans. It’s a sight everyone at Eldora will be celebrating.“It’s huge,” Eldora Speedway Promoter and General Manager Roger Slack said. “It’s going to be emotional for everybody. Everybody that works here, from our concession workers to our ticket folks and safety team and everybody that is here full-time, we have a great passion for this place and great pride. To not be able to host events last year, that’s what we all live to do. It’s a lot of work to put it on the way we are.”For years to come, May 8 will represent an important part of World of Outlaws, dirt racing and motorsports history.“May the 8th, it was an extraordinary day in the midst of silence. It was crazy and something I’ve never experienced before,” Carter said. “I’ll never forget that. But it was a good day for dirt track racing and in particular the World of Outlaws. It was going back to what we all wanted to so badly do.”For tickets to World of Outlaws events, CLICK 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 NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.

River Cities and Granite City Kick Off Busy June Slate for World of Outlaws10-Time Series Champion Donny Schatz Heads Home, Where He DominatesGRAND FORKS, ND – May 7, 2021 – We’ve rolled through the Dirty South, we’ve roared through the Midwest, and soon we’ll be rumbling along the East Coast, but this time next month we’ll be getting our first taste of the Northern Tour in 2021.Scheduled to make the first appearances of the season in both North Dakota and Minnesota, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will open a busy month of June at River Cities (ND) Speedway on Friday, June 4 and Granite City (MN) Speedway on Saturday, June 5.RIVER CITIES TICKETS (6/4) GRANITE CITY TICKETS (6/5)In recent years, both northern establishments have groomed themselves into two of the most-anticipated tracks on the 80+ race schedule. In fact, they both offered race of the year vibes in their most recent appearance with The Greatest Show on Dirt.Granite City’s 2019 show saw Brad Sweet & David Gravel trade the lead over the closing laps all while bouncing it off the fence. In River Cities’ 2020 thriller, Kyle Larson stunned Logan Schuchart and the world with his miraculous last-lap pass at the checkered flag.For 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz, the Northern Tour is always a welcomed sight for the Fargo, ND. Not only does he lead the way with the most wins at both River Cities and Granite City, but it’s a chance to go back home for the pilot of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Carquest #15.The weekend begins at River Cities, where Schatz has amassed a staggering 12 victories in 26 World of Outlaws events at the 1/4-mile. His 46% winning percentage at the Grand Forks, ND bullring is far and away better than his closest challenger. In fact, Craig Dollansky (3 wins), Steve Kinser (2 wins), and Joey Saldana (2 wins) are the only other multi-time winners at the track.Outside of Schatz, only three of the current 15 full-time competitors have made the trip to River Cities victory lane. Logan Schuchart of Shark Racing, David Gravel of Big Game Motorsports, and Kraig Kinser of Kinser Racing each have one triumph to their name.“You always look forward to getting to race close to home,” said Schatz. “You get to sleep in your own bed. See all the local fans, friends and family. It’s the highlight of the year for me. I can’t wait. We are pretty lucky that we get to go home twice. We race there in June and August.”When it comes to Granite City Speedway, the Sauk Rapids, MN track is still relatively new to the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. Only four previous events in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 have been held at the 3/8th-mile venue.Like River Cities, Schatz is the winningest driver at Granite City as well, with breakthroughs in 2015 and 2017 during his championship campaigns. The only other victors at the Minnesota facility are Shane Stewart in 2016 and Brad Sweet during the last visit in 2019.As far as the championship chase is concerned, Brad Sweet and the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 are continuing the same onslaught they’ve laid on the World of Outlaws for the past two years. The Big Cat has topped eight of the first 18 races (fourth time in history) and currently leads David Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports #2 by 90 points.Also in the mix as we enter the month of May is Carson Macedo’s Jason Johnson Racing #41 (-110 PTS), Sheldon Haudenschild’s Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17 (-142 PTS), Aaron Reutzel’s Roth Motorsports #83 (-180 PTS), Donny Schatz’s Tony Stewart Racing #15 (-198 PTS), and Logan Schuchart’s Shark Racing #1S (-206 PTS).All four Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contenders will enter on equal footing as all have little-to-no experience at River Cities and Granite City. Through the first 18 of 83 events this season, Aaron Reutzel (Clute, TX) of Roth Motorsports and James McFadden (Alice Springs, NT, AUS) of Kasey Kahne Racing are the only rookie winners. Parker Price-Miller (Kokomo, IN) and Brock Zearfoss (Jonestown, PA) have had some strong runs to their own credit as well.Fans who can’t make it to the track can catch all of the action on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.RIVER CITIES SPEEDWAY WINNERS: 12 wins – Donny Schatz (Fargo, ND) 3 wins – Craig Dollansky (Elk River, MN) 2 wins – Steve Kinser (Bloomington, IN) 2 wins – Joey Saldana (Brownsburg, IN) 1 win – Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, CA) 1 win – Logan Schuchart (Hanover, PA) 1 win – David Gravel (Watertown, CT) 1 win – Daryn Pittman (Owasso, OK) 1 win – Cody Darrah ( 1 win – Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, IN) 1 win – Sammy Swindell (Germantown, TN)GRANITE CITY SPEEDWAY WINNERS: 2 wins – Donny Schatz (Fargo, ND) 1 win – Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 1 win – Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA)

Baggsy

The Navara-R 1000bhp VR41

Here it is..

The Navara-R 1000bhp VR41! Built by Paul Cheshire.

The VR38 4.1L @runbc engine, built by the amazing team at @pcheshire_ap with over 160 hours build time to complete this epic engine.

This is a real a perfectionists masterpiece.

With the build being handled by Paul Cheshire, we couldn’t have made it this far without all our incredible partners coming on board and supporting us with the Navara-R, and we thank you!

@supertechperformance valve train, Tomei camshafts, @arpbolts, @kingbearings,  @asnu_fuel_injection inlet manifold, @samcosport hoses, @forgemotorsport intercooler & radiator pipework, @walton_motorsport custom made exhaust manifolds with full system using @vibrant_performance tube,  holding up a pair of @garrettmotion G30 660 turbos with @knfilters & @turbosmarthq wastegates.

Alongside our engine release this week, we also had another monthly instalment of the Mission CTRL: Navara-R Livestream last night, catching the viewers up on the antics at UKDC Round 1, the VR38 engine build and some more weird challenges imagined by @ctrl_sport‘s Mat McCallum, for Baggsy and Ian to do whilst live!

Baggsy – “I can’t be happier with the Navara-R engine build! Paul worked his magic and I just can’t wait to hear it fire up for the first time!”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my amazing partners for getting us this far & we are very excited about the next few weeks”

www.baggsyboy.com

www.sbmotorsport.com

NASCAR CUP SERIESKANSAS SPEEDWAYBUSCHY MCBUSCH RACE 400TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTAPRIL 27, 2021
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 BLACK ENTREPRENEUR INITIATIVE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript: YOU HAVE SOME EXCITING SPONSORSHIP NEWS FOR YOUR TEAM. CAN YOU GIVE US A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THAT, ALONG WITH YOUR THOUGHTS LEADING INTO KANSAS THIS WEEKEND?”“We are partnering up with The Lonely Entrepreneur for three races. The first is this weekend in Kansas and then on to COTA and Nashville, as well. So, it’s a pretty cool company. I’m learning more about them and what they really are. But they provide resources to entrepreneurs who are trying to get their footing in the business world and helping them out; and we’re also really spotlighting black entrepreneurs as well, which is going to be a cool program and one that I’m excited to work with and have learned a lot about here in the last, really, just a few days. So, it’s been cool to learn more about it and get to know them a little bit.”
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD AT TALLADEGA WHEN YOU WERE LEADING THE FIELD?“Well, I was hoping it was going to stay green. I thought that was our best shot to try to win. Unfortunately, we had that yellow come out. But, just trying to defend the line and what was coming and just trying to keep that lead. So, I was just happy though to get up front and lead some laps with the Air Force on the car. That was our first race this year, so it was cool to get them up front. Obviously, I wish we could have closed the race out a little bit better. But overall, I thought it was a good race for us.”
IT WAS A STRONG WEEKEND FOR YOU BUT THE FINAL RESULT DIDN’T REFLECT THE GREAT DAY YOU HAD. WHAT DO YOU TELL YOU TEAM AFTER A ROUGH FINISH LIKE THAT?“Well, I think you just have to keep your head up and know that we did bring a fast car; one that was quick enough to win the race obviously. We were up front and leading laps. You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. It’s Talladega and that’s how things go there sometimes but I definitely just want to keep those guys motivated and inspired and I think they’ve been doing a really good job and giving me some good cars. So, things come together. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing, really; and wait for the rest to kind of fall into place for us.”
TEN RACES INTO YOUR RPM TENURE ON VERY UNIQUE TRACKS ON THIS SCHEDULE. WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF RPM AND WHAT CAN YOU GUYS BE DOING BETTER AT THIS POINT?“I think it’s been good. I think overall we just want to consistently improve each week and still find our footing. We are getting better and better. With no practice it takes time to get to know each other and figure out what we need out of the race car and how we’ve got to go through the weekend. But I think we’ve been doing a good job and I think RPM does a good job. They’ve got good equipment and we just have to take advantage of what we have. We don’t have the same number of people as a lot of these bigger teams, but I think we’ve got really people in the people that we do have. So, we’re just doing what we can to take advantage of that and making the most of every week.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY RACES YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR TEAM SHOULD FOCUS ON AS FAR AS TRYING TO GET A WIN TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?“Yeah, Talladega was one of those races that we wanted to try to win. I thought we had a good plan and did have a shot. But moving forward, with Daytona coming up and obviously the season finale a little way out; but Darlington is in a couple of weeks and is a great race track for me. I won there a couple of years ago so we’re really putting a lot of weight on that one. So, that’s probably the next one on the schedule, I would say, is Darlington; that we’ve got to focus hard on and hope we can take advantage of that place.”
TEN RACES IN, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU’VE FOUND TO BE MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN YOU ANTICIPATED?“Well, I think just no practice has been more of a challenge. Last year, I didn’t really think much of it, but I’d also been with that organization for a few years with the same crew chief. So, we had a lot of notes. We’re kind of going in a little bit blind this year with a new team and a new crew chief and a new car and a new manufacturer. Everything is a lot different. So, having no notes has made the no practice just stand out more for me this year over last year.”
GIVEN WHAT YOU JUST SAID, HAVE YOU HAD TO TEMPER EXPECTATIONS THIS YEAR?“I don’t think so. I think we just go out every week with the hope to run a Top 10. We’ve done that a few times. I think we are probably capable of doing it a few more; we just didn’t have things really work out for us. So, I think we’ve kept our expectations pretty similar to what we began the year with. And that’s just going out and trying to obviously, get those Top 10’s and take advantage of the places we know we can go up front and try to win at.”
WE ARE GOING TO DARLINGTON THIS YEAR WITH THE HIGH HORSEPOWER PACKAGE. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT WILL DO FOR THE RACING AND DO YOU THINK THAT PACKAGE WILL BE BETTER SUITED FOR DARLINGTON?“Yeah, I think so. It’s been a few years now since we’ve ran it, but I was trying to look back through my mental notes of what the track was like last time we ran the low downforce package there. I thought the racing was good both ways; but I think the low downforce is going to be fun. As a driver, it’s definitely a challenge there with how slick and worn out that place is. So, I’m excited to get there and to give it a shot again. We were on the simulator today doing some laps and just kind of getting reacquainted with it and it was fun. I always like Darlington. We ran good there with the low downforce package. We were Top 5 I think, in all those races; so hopefully we can keep that trend going.”
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE DIRECTION AND PROGRESS YOU ARE SEEING AT RPM SINCE YOU’VE BEEN THERE AND WHERE YOU GUYS ARE HEADED IN THE LONG RUN?“Yeah, I’ve been happy with how it’s been going, I think. Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) have worked well together and what we’ve done this year has been good. So, I think we’re making gains and doing the right things we need to do to keep getting the cars better and keep getting the team better. It’s not a fast process. You’re trying to get a lot of different gears moving along in different directions, but overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the progress we’ve been making.”
YOU SEEM TO HAVE A LOT OF SPEED ON THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS AND SOME OF THE LARGER TRACKS. WHAT TYPE OF ADJUSTMENTS DO YOU THINK YOUR TEAM NEEDS TO MAKE SO YOU CAN HAVE THAT SAME SPEED ON SOME OF THE SHORTER TRACKS?“Yeah, I mean the draft is kind of a great equalizer. Obviously, I thought we brought a good superspeedway car but you’ve always kind of got a shot to go up and contend there, no matter what you do. But you know, it’s just more development on the intermediate side of things. We’ve got obviously some different kinds of cars that we run at different 1.5-miles, from Atlanta to Vegas. We struggled at Atlanta but ran really well at Vegas. But those were two totally different cars. So, I think we’ve changed our mindset a little bit on some of those tracks. And, going into Kansas this weekend, we’re running a car real similar to what we had at Las Vegas, so I think that’ll be pretty good. But just learning and trying to get a notebook together for what works and what doesn’t. I think we’ve done a good job of that and I think it’s going to start to show here as we start to go back to more of these 1.5-mile tracks.”

COMMERCE, Ga. (April 28, 2021) – Sixteen-time Funny Car world champion John Force will make his 38th and final appearance at historic Atlanta Dragway when he visits the facility in his PEAK / BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car April 30-May 2 for the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals.  “Atlanta Dragway has a lot of history for me. We’ve been racing there for a long time. It’s going to be sad to see it go but I have a lot of good memories there,” Force said. “Ashley got her first win there; she beat me in the finals. Courtney has won there too, and Brittany is knocking on the door for a win. I’m looking forward to racing there one more time and then say goodbye to a piece of history.” In 37 years of competing in the Southern Nationals, Force has earned seven event wins in 14 final round appearances with eight No. 1 qualifying positions. For nine straight years, 1992-2000, Force was a finalist and in those final rounds he was victorious in six, his seventh win came in 2005. Atlanta Dragway was also the location of Force’s two closest races; he defeated Whit Bazemore by .001-seconds in 1991 and Robert Hight by .002-seconds in 2005. Heading into the 39th annual NHRA Southern Nationals, Force is sitting seventh in the points standings after a No. 2 Qualifying effort at the Las Vegas Four Wide Nationals where he was only bettered by teammate and company president, Robert Hight. Opening the season at the Gatornationals, Force was qualified No. 5 qualifying and quarterfinal finish at the hand of Hight. “All of John Force Racing is looking good. Just two races in with some testing and we’re going to continue to be in the hunt this season. This PEAK / BlueDEF Chevy is right there with Robert and Auto Club and Brittany with Monster and Flav-R-Pac are just as fast and quick as ever,” Force said. “We’re going to get to Atlanta and do our job, qualify well and make our fans and sponsors proud. They all stuck by us and I owe them that.” The final Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway will take place over two days. Qualifying for the event will start Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET with a second session at 5:15 p.m. ET. Eliminations will take place Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Fans can catch the action Sunday on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with qualifying coverage at 10:30 a.m. ET and eliminations coverage at 11:30 p.m. ET.

COMMERCE, Ga. (April 28, 2021) – Brittany Force and her Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel dragster team have come out swinging to open the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing season. Heading into the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals, the final event at Atlanta Dragway, April 30-May 2, they’ll look to continue to do the same this time ending the weekend with a victory. Force and her David Grubnic and Mac Savage led team opened the season at the Gatornationals with a consistent race car snagging top speed of the event in the first round of eliminations at 331.94 mph. At the Vegas Four-Wide Nationals, Force tallied the 21st No. 1 qualifying position of her career and ended the weekend with the top speed and lowest elapsed time when she ran 3.722-seconds at 330.80 mph to open eliminations.  “Overall, we’ve started the season running well. We looked good in testing and at the Gatornationals and qualified No. 1 in Vegas,” Force said. “We did some testing on Monday and the team, David Grubnic and Mac Savage, they’re feeling good. Worked out some things so we’re looking forward to Atlanta next.” In pursuit of her first win at historic Atlanta Dragway, Force has had recent success at the venue. The last time the Southern Nationals were contested in 2019, Force picked up her first No. 1 qualifying position at the track and powered her way to her first final round defeating Cameron Ferre, Antron Brown and Jordan Vandergriff before exiting to eventual world champion Steve Torrence in the finals. “Heading into the final Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway this weekend. Our Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team is looking for our first win of the 2021 NHRA season. We’ve been qualifying well and running very consistently. Winning Atlanta this year would be so much more significant since we won’t be returning. This team wants to take home the last and final win at Atlanta Dragway this weekend!” The Force Family has had notable success at Atlanta Dragway that Brittany and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team will look to cap off. Not only has Force’s father, legendary Funny Car driver John Force, had wins at the venue but her older sister Ashley Force-Hood picked up the first win of her career in Atlanta when she defeated her father in the 2010 final and younger sister Courtney Force-Rahal tallied a win in what was her final season as a driver, 2018. The final Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway will take place over two days. Qualifying for the event will start Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET with a second session at 5:15 p.m. ET. Eliminations will take place Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Fans can catch the action Sunday on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with qualifying coverage at 10:30 a.m. ET and eliminations coverage at 11:30 p.m. ET.

ROBERT HIGHT AND AUTO CLUB CARRYING MOMENTUM INTO NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS

COMMERCE, Ga. (April 28, 2021) – Sitting third in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series points standings, three-time world champion Robert Hight and his Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro have quickly shown they have what it takes to be the Funny Car to beat. This weekend, at the final running of the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Hight and the Auto Club boys will once again flex their muscle as they chase their first win of the season. In just two events Hight has recorded a runner-up finish, a No. 1 qualifier and had low elapsed time (ET) of an event. At the Gatornationals, Hight raced his way to the final round and at the Vegas Four-Wide Nationals he was quickest each of the qualifying rounds and bettered himself with low ET of the event during the first round of eliminations on Sunday. “This Auto Club car has what it takes. We’ve been working out some gremlins, did some testing Monday after the Vegas race,” Hight said. “Vegas went really well for us, we looked great through qualifying and that first round. We ran into some trouble at the end of that low ET run and these guys, myself included, had to put in the work for the next round and it just wasn’t quite enough.” Heading into what will be the final NHRA national event at the storied Atlanta Dragway, Hight will be racing for his fourth win at the facility. He has earned the No. 1 qualifying position twice, most recently in 2019, and his six final round appearances match his most at any event, the others include the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and the Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. “I still think this Auto Club Chevy is the best Funny Car out there. We had some bad luck, but things are falling into place. I have no worries at all that we’ll be going rounds and picking up wins starting this weekend at Atlanta Dragway,” said Hight who set the track ET record at 3.880-seconds during the 2017 event. “We’ll keep doing what we know how to do, being quick and fast. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham will have this thing tuned in.” The Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway will take place over two days. Qualifying for the event will start Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET with a second session at 5:15 p.m. ET. Eliminations will take place Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Fans can catch the action Sunday on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with qualifying coverage at 10:30 a.m. ET and eliminations coverage at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Jamy Begor embarks on milestone year during DIRTcar Sportsman Airborne returnBegor’s silver anniversary racing season at Airborne Speedway starts May 1 with race one of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series: East RegionPLATTSBURGH, NY – The DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series return to Airborne Speedway, May 1, will represent a milestone moment for veteran racer Jamy Begor. It’ll kick off his 25th year of racing at Airborne as he begins his assault on the newly formed East Region championship. Even better, he’ll have a home-field advantage when he goes after the $1,000 top prize.“Airborne’s been my home track for the past 25 years and we’ve had a lot of success,” Begor said. “Our last full season there we had a dominating August, winning three Features. We were able to race there a couple times in 2020 and finished second and seventh. It’s a place that we have a lot of laps around and feel comfortable there.”Begor drives the #19 Begor’s Supply, Gioioso’s Wine & Spirits DIRTcar Sportsman Modified at Airborne Speedway and Mohawk International Raceway. The 47-year-old Mooers, NY native raced on asphalt most of his career. In 1997 he began racing street stocks and had back-to-back championships. From 1999 to 2014 he competed in the Flying Tigers division on the Airborne Speedway asphalt surface.Then came the itch for dirt racing.“2015 is when I started getting into modified racing,” Begor said. “I raced dirt at Mohawk on Friday nights and asphalt at Plattsburgh Saturdays. We started really liking the dirt business and the change came at Airborne and they went to dirt in 2017. It worked out well getting the experience at Mohawk.”On April 9, Begor hauled south to Albany-Saratoga Speedway – where the East Region championship will run on Sept. 10 – for the track’s season opener with a massive car count of 59 DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds in the pit area. It was his first time there but it didn’t show. He won his Heat Race, and finished fourth in the Feature.“With names like Senecal Construction, J&S Steel, and Huntley Trucking on the car, I need to come out strong and I think I proved that going to a new track and having success right off the bat proves we can live up to it,” Begor said of his hot start. “A lot of people help put this car on the track too like Holly and Rod Coupal. It’s a huge team effort.”Between that early strong performance and his experience at Airborne, Begor is positioning himself as an early favorite to take the East Region championship.Also on the card at Airborne on May 1 are the Limited Sportsman, Renegades, and Four-Cylinders. Hot Laps start at 5:00pm ET with racing at 6:00pm ET. Go to Airborne’s website for more information regarding entry. EAST REGION SCHEDULE May 1 – Airborne Speedway May 15 – Bear Ridge Speedway June 27 – Glen Ridge Motorsports Park Sept. 10 – Albany Saratoga Speedway Sept. 12 – Glen Ridge Motorsports ParkFor the full schedule of DIRTcar Sportsman Series events, CLICK HERE.Follow Jamy Begor Racing on Facebook to keep up with his 2021 season. We will have coverage of the Series race on Saturday, May 1 on Twitter and Facebook as well as a race report on DIRTcar.com. PHOTO: Rebecca Eisele

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

Jackson makes wild pass for DIRTcar eSports Street Stock win Tuesday’s race at Lernerville Speedway was one of the closest finish in the history of the Series CONCORD, NC – April 27, 2021 – Tyler Jackson wrote a new definition for the term “go where they aren’t” during Tuesday night’s DIRTcar eSports Chevrolet Performance Street Stock race at Lernerville Speedway.With nine laps to go, Carl Kilgore left a crack in the doorway to the lead with a patch of grass in the opening. For Jackson, that was good enough. He tossed his #25 underneath Kilgore in Turn 3 and ran his way through the grass to complete the pass off Turn 4.His daring move secured him the win and the $100 check that comes with it.Before then, Jackson and Kilgore put on a barnburner throughout the 30-lap iRacing event. Jackson got the early lead and held it for the early portion of the race, but 21 never let him out of his sight.By the halfway point, Kilgore scared Jackson into moving his line. The #25 ripped the top for the majority of the race, but after Kilgore snuck underneath him the lap prior, Jackson dove to the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 to block Kilgore’s momentum. That moved hindered his run off the corner, though, and gave Kilgore another opportunity to pounce.When they entered Turn 3, Kilgore dove underneath Jackson and claimed the lead. On the next lap, Jackson’s loss of momentum continued as Payton Gries also dove underneath him and stole second. However, Jackson wasn’t willing to lay down.He dove underneath Gries in Turns 1 and 2, and the two slammed doors all the way down the backstretch. Jackson’s relentless drive won the battle as he drove back by Gries for second.The hunt was on. Jackson got his feet back underneath him and began running Kilgore down. A caution with nine laps to go further assisted with his efforts.When the green flag initiated the continuation of the race, Jackson found the crack in the doorway and went where Kilgore wasn’t – further than anyone had gone. But he wasn’t going to let the win slip through his fingers.Kilgore fought back, staying on Jackson’s bumper on the final lap and attempting a slide job in Turns 3 and 4 with the checkered flag in the air. Jackson was able to get the better run off the turn and edge Kilgore at the line by 0.097 sec. – one of the closest finishes in DIRTcar eSports Street Stock history.Due to unfortunate technical difficulties, the winner was unable to be interviewed.The DIRTcar eSports Street Stock action continues next Wednesday, May 5, with the Chevrolet Performance Street Stocks at Limaland Motorsports Park.Check out the entire race broadcast livestream for FREE on DIRTVision presented by Drydene or on the DIRTcar Facebook page at 7pm ET.

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

Dylan Houser rides high line to DIRTcar eSports Midget victory  The DIRTcar eSports Midget debut at Lanier provided a plethora of exciting moments from start to finishCONCORD, NC – April 27, 2021 – Dylan Houser stuck to his plan and became victorious. He didn’t let the pressure of others sway his mentality. Nor did he buckle under that pressure either.He demonstrated the importance of a smooth and steady race during the first-ever DIRTcar eSports Midgets presented by NOS Energy Drink event Tuesday night at Lanier National Speedway, and became $250 richer because of that.Mason Hannagan and Kendall Tucker were the class of the 24-car field, leading the majority of the race between them. Hannagan took the early lead but was unable to shake Tucker. While Hannagan rolled the bottom, Tucker found virtual grip around the top of the track and drove by him for the lead on Lap 4.There was then a war, worthy of a Game of Thrones episode, from second to seventh with drivers crisscrossing every turn. Their bumpers were used as swords, for both attack and defense, and there was little care for personal space as they slid within inches of each other.Hannagan had to fight off the likes of two-time iRacing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car World Championship titleholder Alex Bergeron, Evan Seay and Houser – making his way from seventh in his #2 Midget – for second. He was able to do so for the majority of the event, especially when Bergeron was spun late in the event.However, while everyone moved to the top during the second half of the event, including the leader, Houser committed himself to the top. Up there, he looked like a man running a mountain top while everyone else was at the base. But with an easy throttle and steady hands, Houser was flawless around the high line. He made his way to second and Tucker’s bumper as the checkered flag neared.While Tucker continued to run the bottom, Houser slowly edged his way further and further alongside Tucker’s #00 Midget. He edged him by a nose for the lead and was able to hold it for a late-race caution.When the race resumed, Houser returned to the top of the track and cruised his way to a big win in DIRTcar eSports competition with Tucker second and Hannagan third.He stuck to his plan… and became victorious.Due to unfortunate technical difficulties, the winner was unable to be interviewed.The DIRTcar eSports Tour action continues next Wednesday, May 5, with the return of the Big Blocks presented by Hoosier Racing Tires at Cedar Lake Speedway.Check out the entire race broadcast livestream for FREE on DIRTVision presented by Drydene or on the DIRTcar Facebook page at 7:50pm ET.

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES KANSAS SPEEDWAY BUSCHY MCBUSCH RACE 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 27, 2021 ERIK JONES, NO. 43 BLACK ENTREPRENEUR INITIATIVE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript: YOU HAVE SOME EXCITING SPONSORSHIP NEWS FOR YOUR TEAM. CAN YOU GIVE US A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THAT, ALONG WITH YOUR THOUGHTS LEADING INTO KANSAS THIS WEEKEND?”“We are partnering up with The Lonely Entrepreneur for three races. The first is this weekend in Kansas and then on to COTA and Nashville, as well. So, it’s a pretty cool company. I’m learning more about them and what they really are. But they provide resources to entrepreneurs who are trying to get their footing in the business world and helping them out; and we’re also really spotlighting black entrepreneurs as well, which is going to be a cool program and one that I’m excited to work with and have learned a lot about here in the last, really, just a few days. So, it’s been cool to learn more about it and get to know them a little bit.” WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD AT TALLADEGA WHEN YOU WERE LEADING THE FIELD?“Well, I was hoping it was going to stay green. I thought that was our best shot to try to win. Unfortunately, we had that yellow come out. But, just trying to defend the line and what was coming and just trying to keep that lead. So, I was just happy though to get up front and lead some laps with the Air Force on the car. That was our first race this year, so it was cool to get them up front. Obviously, I wish we could have closed the race out a little bit better. But overall, I thought it was a good race for us.” IT WAS A STRONG WEEKEND FOR YOU BUT THE FINAL RESULT DIDN’T REFLECT THE GREAT DAY YOU HAD. WHAT DO YOU TELL YOU TEAM AFTER A ROUGH FINISH LIKE THAT?“Well, I think you just have to keep your head up and know that we did bring a fast car; one that was quick enough to win the race obviously. We were up front and leading laps. You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. It’s Talladega and that’s how things go there sometimes but I definitely just want to keep those guys motivated and inspired and I think they’ve been doing a really good job and giving me some good cars. So, things come together. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing, really; and wait for the rest to kind of fall into place for us.” TEN RACES INTO YOUR RPM TENURE ON VERY UNIQUE TRACKS ON THIS SCHEDULE. WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF RPM AND WHAT CAN YOU GUYS BE DOING BETTER AT THIS POINT?“I think it’s been good. I think overall we just want to consistently improve each week and still find our footing. We are getting better and better. With no practice it takes time to get to know each other and figure out what we need out of the race car and how we’ve got to go through the weekend. But I think we’ve been doing a good job and I think RPM does a good job. They’ve got good equipment and we just have to take advantage of what we have. We don’t have the same number of people as a lot of these bigger teams, but I think we’ve got really people in the people that we do have. So, we’re just doing what we can to take advantage of that and making the most of every week.” DO YOU HAVE ANY RACES YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR TEAM SHOULD FOCUS ON AS FAR AS TRYING TO GET A WIN TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?“Yeah, Talladega was one of those races that we wanted to try to win. I thought we had a good plan and did have a shot. But moving forward, with Daytona coming up and obviously the season finale a little way out; but Darlington is in a couple of weeks and is a great race track for me. I won there a couple of years ago so we’re really putting a lot of weight on that one. So, that’s probably the next one on the schedule, I would say, is Darlington; that we’ve got to focus hard on and hope we can take advantage of that place.” TEN RACES IN, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU’VE FOUND TO BE MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN YOU ANTICIPATED?“Well, I think just no practice has been more of a challenge. Last year, I didn’t really think much of it, but I’d also been with that organization for a few years with the same crew chief. So, we had a lot of notes. We’re kind of going in a little bit blind this year with a new team and a new crew chief and a new car and a new manufacturer. Everything is a lot different. So, having no notes has made the no practice just stand out more for me this year over last year.” GIVEN WHAT YOU JUST SAID, HAVE YOU HAD TO TEMPER EXPECTATIONS THIS YEAR?“I don’t think so. I think we just go out every week with the hope to run a Top 10. We’ve done that a few times. I think we are probably capable of doing it a few more; we just didn’t have things really work out for us. So, I think we’ve kept our expectations pretty similar to what we began the year with. And that’s just going out and trying to obviously, get those Top 10’s and take advantage of the places we know we can go up front and try to win at.” WE ARE GOING TO DARLINGTON THIS YEAR WITH THE HIGH HORSEPOWER PACKAGE. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT WILL DO FOR THE RACING AND DO YOU THINK THAT PACKAGE WILL BE BETTER SUITED FOR DARLINGTON?“Yeah, I think so. It’s been a few years now since we’ve ran it, but I was trying to look back through my mental notes of what the track was like last time we ran the low downforce package there. I thought the racing was good both ways; but I think the low downforce is going to be fun. As a driver, it’s definitely a challenge there with how slick and worn out that place is. So, I’m excited to get there and to give it a shot again. We were on the simulator today doing some laps and just kind of getting reacquainted with it and it was fun. I always like Darlington. We ran good there with the low downforce package. We were Top 5 I think, in all those races; so hopefully we can keep that trend going.” ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE DIRECTION AND PROGRESS YOU ARE SEEING AT RPM SINCE YOU’VE BEEN THERE AND WHERE YOU GUYS ARE HEADED IN THE LONG RUN?“Yeah, I’ve been happy with how it’s been going, I think. Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) have worked well together and what we’ve done this year has been good. So, I think we’re making gains and doing the right things we need to do to keep getting the cars better and keep getting the team better. It’s not a fast process. You’re trying to get a lot of different gears moving along in different directions, but overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the progress we’ve been making.” YOU SEEM TO HAVE A LOT OF SPEED ON THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS AND SOME OF THE LARGER TRACKS. WHAT TYPE OF ADJUSTMENTS DO YOU THINK YOUR TEAM NEEDS TO MAKE SO YOU CAN HAVE THAT SAME SPEED ON SOME OF THE SHORTER TRACKS?“Yeah, I mean the draft is kind of a great equalizer. Obviously, I thought we brought a good superspeedway car but you’ve always kind of got a shot to go up and contend there, no matter what you do. But you know, it’s just more development on the intermediate side of things. We’ve got obviously some different kinds of cars that we run at different 1.5-miles, from Atlanta to Vegas. We struggled at Atlanta but ran really well at Vegas. But those were two totally different cars. So, I think we’ve changed our mindset a little bit on some of those tracks. And, going into Kansas this weekend, we’re running a car real similar to what we had at Las Vegas, so I think that’ll be pretty good. But just learning and trying to get a notebook together for what works and what doesn’t. I think we’ve done a good job of that and I think it’s going to start to show here as we start to go back to more of these 1.5-mile tracks.”

Inside Line Promotions – WATSONVILLE, Calif. (April 26, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi improved his feature finish during a pair of visits to Ocean Speedway the last two weekends.

Scelzi invaded the bullring for Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo action, scoring a sixth-place showing during his season debut on April 16 before topping that with a fifth-place run last Friday.

“We want to run there three times before the NARC Series goes there so we have a good game plan,” he said. “They have changed the shape of the track and cut some banking out of it. I was expecting it to be a little different, but it was a lot different. We had really good speed and the car felt good last Friday so that’s a positive.”

Scelzi qualified 11^th quickest and won a heat race before he placed fifth in the dash on April 16. That lined him up on the inside of the third row for the main event. He battled for a top five throughout the feature before ending sixth, which was his 12^th top 10 in 13 races to start the season.

“We weren’t very good in qualifying, but that started us on the front row in our heat race,” he said. “We won that to get into the dash, but we weren’t very good in the dash or in the feature. The track was hooked up and rough. We went back this week to try to get ourselves a little better and we were a lot better.”

Scelzi qualified sixth quickest to open the program on Friday.

“We went out pretty early and the track still had some grease so that hurt us a little,” he said. “We finished third in our heat race and that lined us up 10^th for the feature. We just worked our way forward throughout the race. We were all over second, third and fourth at the end. It was really hard to pass. I felt like pretty much every yellow fell at the wrong time for us. We’d get by someone and the yellow would come out. There wasn’t room to get by guys until late in the feature. We were pleased to make the progress we did.”

The fifth-place outing was Scelzi’s ninth top five of the season.

The team plans on heading to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., this weekend for the Spring Nationals Bill Brownell Memorial on Friday and the David Tarter Memorial on Saturday with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.

“I wasn’t there all of last year so I’m not sure if the track has changed,” Scelzi said. “It’s good to see these places for the first time with Jimmy (Carr). We’re also racing there a couple of times with the NARC Series this year so we want to get dialed in before those races.”

QUICK RESULTS –

April 16 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 5 (6); Feature: 6 (5).

April 23 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 5 (10).

SEASON STATS –

14 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 13 top 10s, 13 top 15s, 13 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the Spring Nationals Bill Brownell Memorial and David Tarter Memorial with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour 

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Scelzi Enterprises

Scelzi Enterprises builds the finest utility truck bodies in the USA, including flatbed bodies, water truck bodies, custom truck bodies, service truck bodies and more. After nearly 40 years in business Scelzi Enterprises occupies 20 acres in South Fresno with additional pool and assembly locations in Oregon, Washington, and Southern California. For more information, visit http://www.SEInc.com. 

“Scelzi Enterprises is a family business that has been around far before I was born,” Scelzi said. “Now I have a role there. It’s my daily job and something I really enjoy being a part of. It gives me a lot of pride to represent our family business on the side of our race cars.”

Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Whipple Superchargers, Red Line Oil, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Roth Motorsports, FK Rod Ends, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Schoenfeld Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Auto Meter, K&N Filters, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Kenny’s Components and Worldwide Bearings for their continued support.

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA Southern Nationals – Atlanta

Pre-Race Report

Cruz Pedregon and team head to Atlanta with the fresh energy of finishing in the top half of the field, two races in a row. The goal now for Cruz, Crew Chief John Collins, and the team is to close the gap and move the Snap-on Makers & Fixers Dodge^® to the top.

“We’re only 14 runs into the season, so we’re in what I’d call fine tuning mode,” Cruz says. “We stayed after the Vegas race to get in a couple of testing runs and we like the numbers we’re seeing.”

Test times were 3.98 and 3.99, so Cruz says to look for the car to start having more consistent runs, especially toward the middle of the season and, ultimately, for the team to finish the season strong.

“The hardest part beyond making good runs is making good runs consistently, and that’s what we have to look forward to with our group…a team that will get the numbers down and know how to keep them down,” Cruz says. “That’s the part I’m looking forward to the most.”

Cruz says he’s excited to be back concentrating on the driving while the team focuses on tuning. He says it’s the kind of work he did back in the 90’s, and it’s the kind of work that will help him put all his energy into winning.

Follow Cruz and Snap-on on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

To see the latest Cruz news, like his Facebook page, where you can also check out his Vlog “Kickin’ It With The Cruzer.” Follow Cruz on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to follow @MakersandFixers on Instagram and share your stories at makersandfixers.com.

Sheppard, Madden, Weiss, Bruening and more tackle Boone Speedway for the first time

BOONE,IA– April 26, 2021 – The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models will make its first ever appearance at Boone Speedway April 30-May 1, for the highly anticipated Hawkeye 100.   

It’s the richest event in the history of the Boone, IA oval, and one driver could walk away with $33,000 if they win both nights. 

Friday’s event starts with Slick Woody’s Qualifying, splitting the field into two 25-lap “Twin Hawk” Features, each paying $3,000-to-win. Drivers will earn points in both Qualifying and their Twin Hawk Feature, setting the lineups for Saturday’s Drydene Heat Races. 

The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return Saturday for Drydene Heat Races and Last Chance Showdowns.  Those events will set the stage for the unprecedented three-wide start of the Hawkeye 100, paying $30,000-to-win, and $1,500-to-start. 

Joining the World of Outlaws Late Models this weekend is the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, and IMCA Stock Cars. All three divisions will chase more than $31,000 in purse money. 

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:

Chasing the Champ: Three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard widened the gap between himself and second place in the point standings. But now, he has more challengers gunning to knock him off his throne.   

There’s only 66 points separating Sheppard and fifth-place Ricky Weiss. The New Berlin, IL driver has a 46-point lead on Chris Madden and Kyle Strickler, who are currently tied for second. Tyler Bruening is fourth, 64 points behind, and Ricky Weiss is fifth. 

Sheppard is still chasing his first official World of Outlaws win of 2021. If he gets it during Saturday’s Hawkeye 100, it’ll be the 70th of his career. It would put him eight wins behind Josh Richards for most all-time (78).

The Hawkeye state has been good to Brandon Sheppard lately. He won all three events at Davenport Speedway in 2020. 

Smokey Stays Hot: Chris Madden has been on a hot streak the last four races. 

He has three top-fives, and two of them are second-place finishes. The only event he didn’t finish in the top-five was April 11 at Bristol Motor Speedway, when he finished sixth. Madden has more top-fives (5) than any other driver this season. 

One of Madden’s strengths is his performance early in the night. He also currently has more Drydene Heat Race wins than anyone else (5). 

Sniper Engaged: Another driver with some momentum after a couple of good runs is Ricky Weiss. 

The Headingly, MB driver has back-to-back top-five finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway. It’s propelled him to fifth in points, 66 back of Sheppard and put him on a path to nearing his first win of the season, which would also be the first win for his self-built Sniper Chassis.

So far this season, Weiss has three top-fives, and six top-10s in 12 starts. 

Home for the Hawkeye: This weekend’s Hawkeye 100 has been on Tyler Bruening’s radar since the beginning of the season. 

Boone Speedway is a short drive for Bruening, with the track about three hours from his Decorah, IA home. He hopes for some home cooking as he pushes for his first career World of Outlaws victory. 

Bruening is also making a push in the hunt for Rookie of the Year. His six top-10 finishes, and top-five at Richmond Raceway have put him only 16 points behind leading rookie contender Kyle Strickler. 

When and Where

April 30- May 1 at Boone Speedway in Boone, IA. 

About the track

Boone Speedway is a 1/4 mile high-banked oval

Online: www.raceboone.com

On the Internet
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Series
Twitter – Twitter.com/WoOLateModels – @WoOLateModels
Instagram – Instagram.com/WoOLateModels – @woolatemodels
Facebook – Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsLateModelSeries
YouTube – Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com – Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month

Around the Turn: The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models head to Mississippi Thunder Speedway, May 7-8, in Fountain City, WI for the Dairyland Showdown presented by Dynamic Concrete Resurfacing.

CLICK HERE for tickets.  

Batavia, OH (April 26, 2021) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is excited to have a new young gun taking on the grueling demands of the nation’s premier dirt late model tour in 2021. There is no better way to get the experience to win championships than to set sights on Rookie of the Year.  Ricky Thornton Jr. has a long list of dirt modified accolades, but is fairly new to the dirt late model scene and hopes to capitalize on his new successes with the Eibach Springs Rookie of the Year title in 2021. There are numerous drivers that are second generation drivers, but Thornton’s story is a little different, “I got started in racing because both parents (Ricky Sr and Tonja) raced.” Not only did both of Thornton’s parents race but he also has two brothers, Jeremy and Justin, that race. The 30-year-old, Chandler, AZ native pilots the Todd and Vickie Burns-Owned SSI Motorsports Longhorn Chassis, powered by a Clements Racing Engine. He receives sponsorship from Dyno One Inc, Excel Floor Covering, Certified Inspection Service Co, D & E Outside Services, Deines – Nitz Solutions & Powdercoating, West Side Tractor Sales Co, Hoker Trucking, Shelby Materials, EMD Wraps, Midwest Sheet Metal, Simpson Race Products, Sub-Surface of Indiana, and Penske Race Shocks. “I’m extremely excited to be able to compete in the 2021 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series with SSI Motorsports. I am hoping I can bring them another Rookie of the Year title, since they already have one with Hudson O’Neal in 2017.” In 2021, along with $100 cash per race, the Eibach Springs Rookie of the Year will receive the following at the year-end banquet: a check for $10,000, $500 product certificate from Earnhardt Technologies, one Carbon Driveshaft from Fast Shafts $750 value, $500 product certificate from Keyser Manufacturing, product certificate for new nose/graphic kit from Performance Bodies, $300 product certificate from Schoenfeld Headers, one free car wrap from Slicker Graphics, product certificate from Thermo-Tec Cool-It, 10 sheets of aluminum from Wrisco Industries, Inc., and a set of wheels from Vahlco Wheels. “We want to thank all the sponsors of the Rookie of the Year program and their support of the series. We would especially like to thank David Cardey at Eibach Springs for their title sponsorship of the Rookie of the Year Program for the third year now. Eibach is a great company and a great partner of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series,” stated Wayne Castleberry, Corporate Sales and Marketing for Lucas Oil Motorsports. Eibach’s production technology is recognized worldwide as leading its field, from their high-strength spring-steel alloys, advanced CNC winding process, high-quality corrosion protection and the legendary longevity of all of their springs and components. To learn more about Eibach, visit their website at www.eibach.com.

About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesFounded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2021, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 59 events across 18 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap.  The series receives national exposure through a television package filmed, produced and edited by Lucas Oil Production Studios. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events will broadcast on four networks including CBS, NBC Sports, CBS Sports Network and the MAVTV Motorsports Network.   The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, d

David Gravel Gets $25,000 for Sweeping World of Outlaws at Bristol Motor SpeedwayLogan Schuchart Led 23 Laps Before Gravel Slid Him Coming to the White FlagBRISTOL, TN – April 25, 2021 – David Gravel loves making statements, and boy did he make a big one at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.After his downright domination of Friday’s opener at the Bristol, TN 1/2-mile, Gravel returned to victory lane on Sunday afternoon and completed a weekend sweep of the Bristol Throwdown. This time, he did it in opposite fashion by sliding to the lead coming to the white flag to earn his 61st career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win.The Big Game Motorsports #2 started on the outside pole of the 25-lapper, but slipped back to third before running down Logan Schuchart in lap traffic and clearing him with a monster run down the backstretch that guided him to a huge turn three slide job on Lap 24.A symbolical weekend in a way, Gravel’s impressive weekend sweep at the high-banked oval came with Sammy Swindell in attendance as the Grand Marshal; a passing of the torch if you will. With his two wins on Friday & Sunday, the Watertown, CT native equaled the three-time World of Outlaws champion as the only two drivers through six events to win twice at the iconic venue known as The Last Great Colosseum.Surviving a green-white-checkered restart following Schuchart’s sudden mechanical failure, Gravel drove off to a 0.846-second victory for $25,000 over Donny Schatz, another former Bristol winner in 2001.”When I fell back to third I honestly didn’t think I had a shot,” Gravel noted on surprising himself with the win. “I was kind of just hoping to stay on the podium at a certain point. I think Donny [Schatz] messed up and just couldn’t take off on one restart and I slid by him, then catching Logan [Schuchart] was a matter of traffic. Sweeping the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway is a pretty damn awesome accomplishment.”Beyond Gravel’s double dip, the biggest story of Sunday came with one lap remaining when Logan Schuchart dropped out of the race with a heartbreaking mechanical issue.The Shark Racing #1S won the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash and ran away from the pole position to lead the opening 23 laps of the 25-lapper. His run came to a screeching halt on the white flag lap when Gravel built a massive run off the top side of turn two, sped down the backstretch, and launched a slider for the lead into turn three. The bad news came moments later when a mechanical issue forced him to drop form second worth $10,000 to 19th worth $1,200 as he was only a half-mile away from the checkered.”We had some sort of mechanical issue with the engine,” Schuchart explained afterwards. “I hate saying that because Michael Newman builds us some of the most badass engines, but sometimes stuff beyond your control happens. We had a really fast Drydene Performance Products #1S this weekend and we really improved since we got here on Thursday. I hope we can come back here next year and go for another win.”Rounding out the podium behind Gravel was Donny Schatz aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 and Aaron Reutzel in the Roth Motorsports #83. For Schatz, the 10-time Series champion collected his third podium through 15 races and first in over a month.”I wouldn’t say we’re back yet,” Schatz said afterwards. “We had a solid finish and had some good speed, but it’s a lot harder to climb out of a hole than people think. It’s just the nature of the beat. We had a chance to contend there for a while, but just couldn’t follow through. Momentum means everything, that’s a big lesson I’ve learned in my 25 years. So hopefully this is a stepping stone to getting back on track.”For Reutzel, his second podium finish of the weekend was a sigh of relief following three different engine changes.”We overcame a lot this weekend, man,” Reutzel noted. “We just kept our heads down and kept digging. We weren’t as good tonight as were Friday, though. Anytime you run well with the Outlaws you build that momentum and build your confidence, which is what we need right now.”Closing out the top-five at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon was Fresno, CA native Gio Scelzi finishing fourth in the KCP Racing #18 and Nashville, TN native Paul McMahan running fifth in the CJB Motorsports #23.The rest of Sunday’s top-ten finishers were Carson Macedo, Brock Zearfoss, Spencer Bayston, James McFadden & Cory Eliason.In Sunday’s intense qualifying session, the World of Outlaws track record at Bristol Motor Speedway was again shattered for the second time this weekend. This time, it was Sam Hafertepe Jr. of Sunnyvale, TX going around the half-mile at an average speed of 142.098 MPH during his 13.326-second lap.UP NEXT – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will take a few days off to rest and ready themselves for a Midwestern triple-header this weekend. On Thursday, April 29, The Greatest Show on Dirt visits one of the smallest tracks on tour with Jacksonville (IL) Speedway on tap, but then we’re off to I-70 (MO) Motorsports Park on Friday & Saturday, April 30 – May 1 for the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown.NOS Energy Drink Feature (26 Laps) – 1. 2-David Gravel [2][$25,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$10,000]; 3. 83-Aaron Reutzel [6][$5,000]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [5][$4,000]; 5. 23-Paul McMahan [4][$3,500]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo [8][$3,000]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [10][$2,800]; 8. 71-Spencer Bayston [14][$2,700]; 9. 9-James McFadden [11][$2,600]; 10. 26-Cory Eliason [7][$2,500]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [18][$2,000]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [22][$1,800]; 13. 2C-Wayne Johnson [16][$1,600]; 14. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$1,500]; 15. 20-Ryan Taylor [15][$1,400]; 16. 19-Parker Price-Miller [17][$1,300]; 17. 9JR-Derek Hagar [21][$1,200]; 18. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23][$1,200]; 19. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$1,200]; 20. 22-Jac Haudenschild [24][$1,200]; 21. 24-Rico Abreu [20][$1,200]; 22. 72-Tim Shaffer [12][$1,200]; 23. 7S-Jason Sides [19][$1,200]; 24. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [13][$1,200]. Lap Leaders: Logan Schuchart 1-23, David Gravel 24-26. KSE Hard Charger Award: 7BC-Tyler Courtney[+10]NEW Championship Standings (15/83 Races): 1. Brad Sweet  (2,142); 2. David Gravel (-60); 3. Carson Macedo (-90); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-104); 5. Aaron Reutlzel (-106); 6. Logan Schuchart (-150); 7. Donny Schatz (-160); 8. Kraig Kinser (-260); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-314); 10. Giovanni Scelzi (-392).Photo – Brent Smith

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

NASCAR CUP SERIES TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY GEICO 500 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES APRIL 25, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER2nd     WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE6th      KAZ GRALA, NO. 16 HYPERICE CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ROLAND CAMARO ZL1 1LE8th      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE14th    RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 KROGER/REESE’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Brad Keselowski (Ford)2nd     William Byron (Chevrolet)3rd      Michael McDowell (Ford)4th      Kevin Harvick (Ford)5th      Matt DiBenedetto (Ford)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Kansas Speedway for the Buschy McBusch Race 400 on Sunday, May 2, at 3 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES: WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd “Finished second here at Talladega (Superspeedway) in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet. It was a good race for us. I felt like we had a shot there at the end, just not quite enough racecar to lead the race I felt like. But it was a really good day. We had some damage, but the guys did a great job fixing it. We’ll go to Kansas (Speedway) and hopefully have a really fast car there.”  KAZ GRALA, NO. 16 HYPERICE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6thKAZ, YOU DON’T GET TO RUN A LOT OF THESE RACES, BUT WHEN YOU DO, YOU MAKE THE MOST OF IT. “I try to Regan (Smith) and I feel like we did today. We had a really good Hyerice Chevrolet. Kaulig Racing did a great job. They won the NASCAR Xfinity Race yesterday, so big weekend for them all around. But I was just happy to get to pilot this thing. It is few and far between when I do, but I try to make an impression on my few starts and I feel like today was a good step in the right direction. Didn’t have the best luck in Daytona, but we rebounded here. I think that’s a great boost in momentum for us and hopefully it’ll be just another piece of the puzzle for me to get a full-time ride sometime down the road.” 
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ROLAND CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“We had a really strong No. 8 Roland Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today and were able to walk away with a finish that showed it. After being caught up in a wreck so early at Daytona this year, our strategy was different for this race with the goal of making it to the end. My whole team did a great job today with sticking with that strategy and racing smart with the big picture in mind to be there at the checkered flag. Almost all day long I could get the car to do whatever I wanted, which was great. The run right before the green-white-checkered felt like the car completely flipped its switch and didn’t drive anything like it did for the majority of the race, so we’ll have to figure out what changed there. Luckily, we were still able to make it through the chaos of the last lap and come away with a solid seventh-place finish. Overall, a good day for our team.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th “That was a crazy race today in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Talladega Superspeedway. We were really good to start the race, and then for portions of the race we couldn’t make anything work unless I was on the top. We made some moves at the end of the race to get that eighth-place finish. Everyone was all over the place and that was some work. We hit someone on the outside quarter panel, but I’m not even sure who it was. We were all wrecking on the backstretch, but somehow it didn’t happen. I don’t know how we all came out of that. It was crazy. I’m proud of everyone at RCR and ECR for working so hard to get us that awesome finish. We’ll go back to Welcome and look over our Chevy to get it even better for Daytona.” ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 CAREGILITY/YORKTEL CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th “A very hard hit at the end of the race. Proud of the effort from everyone though. We tore up two cars at Daytona, so we had to bring a new car here; a big increase in speed, handling, and drivability. I had more of a race car to go race with. That’s what this team and season is all about. I can’t thank everyone enough honestly for building a safe race car, that was a very hard hit. But we led some laps, race around guys all day, worked well with Kurt (Busch); my teammate as laps down and pushed me to the lead! Good effort by Team Chevy. It was awesome to have Caregility and Yorktel on the car, they were here in the suite. An unfortunate ending which is how this place normally is but proud of the effort today”. ERIK JONES, NO. 43 UNITED STATES AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 27th“It was a solid day for our No. 43 United States Air Force Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. It felt good to get up front and lead some laps at the Talladega Superspeedway. Unfortunately, we got turned-around coming to the finish line, and did not get the finish our Richard Petty Motorsports team was capable of. We will regroup, and go on to the Kansas Speedway.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 35th “Just a really difficult day. We started out pretty good with the Monster Energy Chevy, just trying to stay clean. The guys made some nice adjustments to get the car handling. We ended up having an issue and had to replace the oil cooler. We just can’t seem to catch the breaks that we need. We just need to dig-in and keep working, the results will follow”. ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 118; Finished 38th “Obviously this is not the way we wanted to end our day. Things like this just happen at places like Talladega. We had a good Ally Chevrolet today and Greg (Ives) had some really good adjustment calls on pit road. Just not our day today. This team is really looking forward to going to Kansas next week. That is a really good track for us and hopefully we can rebound in a week.”

April 25, 2021

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang came up short in their bid for victory in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, but still ended up with their first top-five finish of 2021, their first Stage win of the season and led five times for a total of 28 laps.

DiBenedetto and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang were among the leaders from start to finish of Sunday’s race. After starting 13^th, he took the lead for the first time on Lap 51 and collected 10 Stage points plus a Playoff Point for winning the opening 60-lap Stage.

He continued to run up front in Stage Two, but had a big moment after contact with Kyle Busch in the closing laps of the Stage.  When DiBenedetto recovered, he elected to stay back until the end of the Stage, a move that paid off as he escaped damage from a multi-car crash in the lead pack at the end of that Stage.

In the final segment of the race, DiBenedetto and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang climbed from as far back as 23^rd place to fifth with 20 laps remaining. DiBenedetto took second place with 16 laps remaining and was running there when the caution flag flew for a spin by Quinn Houff.

Just after a restart with 12 laps to go, DiBenedetto continued in the lead and held it until the yellow flag flew with four laps remaining for debris from Martin Truex Jr.’s car.

That caution pushed the race into overtime, and DiBenedetto surged ahead when the green flag was displayed. He held the top spot as the lead pack sped under the white flag, his 14^th-straight lap led, but lost it when he moved to the outside lane ahead of an oncoming Ryan Blaney. But after DiBenedetto made the lane change, Blaney lost his drafting push. That allowed DiBenedetto’s Ford teammate Brad Keselowski to take the lead and the win, while DiBenedetto held on to finish fifth, as Mustang drivers swept four of the top five finishing positions.

Despite his disappointment over the events of the last lap DiBenedetto focused on the positives afterward.

“We will hold our heads high,” DiBenedetto said. “We won a Stage, ran up front all day and came away with a top-five-finish and had a good points day. We did the best we could.”

DiBenedetto did say he didn’t want to see the final caution flag fly.

“I liked how we were sitting before that last caution fell,” he said, adding that the move to pick up Blaney on the final lap seemed to be a good one at the time. “Everything got all jumbled up after that.”

“But our time will come.”

Next up for DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers team is a 400-miler at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The 42 points that DiBenedetto earned at Talladega propelled him to 17^th in the points standings, 12 points behind 16th place.
 

Friesen Doubles Up at Thunder Valley Super DIRTcar Series Big Blocks close out stellar Bristol Throwdown; Friesen, Drellos, and McLaughlin take podium in finaleBRISTOL, TN – Stewart Friesen went two-for-two with the Super DIRTcar Series Big Blocks at Bristol Motor Speedway, picking up his second $10,000 grand prize of the historic weekend Sunday afternoon. The victory was also his third Series win in a row – the first driver to accomplish that feat. The Halmar #44 finished ahead of second and third-place finishers, respectively, Demetrios Drellos in the #111 and “Mad Max” McLaughlin in the #32C. “The Last Great Colosseum” provided the perfect stage for Big Block Modifieds to put on an unforgettable show. While Friesen may have swept the weekend, the racing was intense throughout the entire field. Between great track preparation and the superior Hoosier Racing Tires fitted on Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds, drivers could make moves from the top to the bottom of the famed half-mile throughout the 40-lap Feature. “It was a great weekend,” Friesen said, grinning. “Proud to be here. Proud of our division to be here. I am really proud of my crew chief, and Chris Larsen, and the whole Halmar race team. It’s a pleasure to work with those guys.”No one knew what to expect from the dirt-covered Bristol but Friesen has more laps on it than anyone else after competing in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Cup Series races. But Big Block Modifieds are their own unique animal. “It’s neutral ground so we don’t have any notes to go off,” Friesen noted. “Our tires are so much different than the Goodyears we ran on the truck and the Cup car. The track responded differently. There was a little character in Turns 1 and 2. It had a little bit of a chop that made me tight. We were pretty tight but as long as I didn’t make a bad corner we were good.” For the second race in a row, Mike Mahaney of King Ferry, NY, drew the SRI Performance pole and picked up a $500 bonus for his trouble. Friesen lined up on his outside of the #35 Huttig Racing machine to start. At the drop of the green, the chase was on as 31 Big Blocks poured through the highbanked Bristol turns. Mahaney cultivated a lead in the early going but the #44 was soon making his presence known. Friesen struck early but Mahaney fought back and reclaimed the lead. But then, smoke began to puff from the front of the #35 and for the second night in a row, Mahaney fell from the lead and out of the podium. “The power steering problem didn’t cause us to slow down but it did get tougher to drive,” Mahaney said. “We had a really fast car all weekend and there were a lot of positives to build on. It’s great having the points lead going into Bridgeport.” While Mahaney battled his issue, both had to navigate their way through heavy lap traffic.“It was close,” Friesen said. “It was a lot of fun. We put on the hard compound and waited for it to come in. The lapped traffic was pretty wild. I was trying to set up Mahaney in traffic and got bottled up and he got by me. He was really fast. I think he had a power steering problem. I can’t imagine turning a lap around here without power steering.”A power steering issue is exactly what plagued Mahaney, who is currently the highest full-time driver in points. Friesen took advantage and worked his way around the outside of Mahaney for the lead. From there, he was off to the races, cutting through lapped traffic to keep his advantage.Demetrios Drellos, from Queensbury, NY, started fifth and stayed toward the front of the field all night. Friesen’s lead was far from comfortable, especially when lapped traffic as fast as Peter Britten in the #21A came into play.“It was tough,” Friesen said. “I got to Britten there. He was opening up his entry so I couldn’t get on the outside of him. I’d hit the cushion once good and then miss it the second time. It was a challenge. I got underneath him and on that last lap I didn’t know what to do. I just let it slide for the fence in Turn 4 and was thankful Drellos wasn’t any closer.”The high speeds of Bristol Motor Speedway harkened back to the days of Big Blocks motoring around the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds oval where Friesen won the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 at NAPA Super DIRT Week five times. “I don’t know what the top speed was at the end of the straightaway but we went back to our Syracuse notes and used some aero stuff that we did there,” Friesen noted. “I knew it was going to be fast. It was fun. There is nothing like driving one of these things wide open. It’s just an awesome feeling. Hopefully we can do it again next year. Drellos has had a shaky start to the 2021 points season with a DNF during the season-opening race at Can-Am Speedway and 25th place finish in the first Bristol Throwdown Feature after making race-ending contact with seven-time champion Matt Sheppard.  But in this race, Drellos was in on the money. “The car was about as good as it’s gonna get,” Drellos said. “I couldn’t really ask for anything else. Maybe if the lapped cars played a little better or had a luckier redraw but I couldn’t ask for anything more. Friesen was hammering the top which is probably why he lost a little speed late. I was rolling the bottom probably 35 of the 40 laps other than to get by lapped traffic and then I went in the middle. The grip never really went away.”There are still 24 points races left but Drellos is eager to get the show on the road and dig out of his hole. A second place goes a long way in doing that and he now sits 14th in points. “This is a good boost for the whole team,” he noted. “Whoever thought we were going to race at Bristol let alone be in contention to win at Bristol? It gives us some momentum going into Bridgeport. We’ve had a really rocky start to the year even going back to speed weeks (OktoberFAST) last year.”The final step on the podium was filled by 2021 DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator champion Max McLaughlin, from Mooresville, NC. The driver of the #32C was in Drellos’ tire tracks across the line and was also reeling in Friesen as well. “Mad Max” wants another chance at a Bristol sword. “I hope we get to come back because that was awesome,” McLaughlin said. “From my point of view, the track was as racy as it could get for a daytime show. I think we were almost three-wide for the lead there. I said yesterday that this place is more fun on asphalt so I gotta take back my words there.”McLaughlin had a shot at the lead when lapped traffic entered the picture. “I think we were both better,” he noted. “If there were more laps we were closing in really good. I think we found the middle before anyone else did. Friesen was up top. You could go anywhere. I was running the bottom early. I felt good on the bottom. But you could run anywhere.”“The Hile Driver” Chris Hile, pilot of the red #5H, started the night out on top by setting the quickest lap during Time Trials awarding him the Billy Whittaker Cars Fast-Time Award. NEXT UP: The Super DIRTcar Series invades Bridgeport Speedway to decide who will be crowned the King of the Big Blocks. Mat Williamson, Matt Sheppard, Larry Wight, and more will go toe-to-toe against New Jersey/Pennsylvania favorites like Ryan Watt and the legendary Billy Pauch. Bookmark SuperDIRTcarSeries.com on your favorite browser and make sure you are following the Series on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more. Feature (40 Laps)1. 44-Stewart Friesen [2][$10,000]; 2. 111-Demetrios Drellos [5][$5,000]; 3. 32C-Max McLaughlin [4][$3,000]; 4. 35-Mike Mahaney [1][$2,500]; 5. 14W-Ryan Watt [3][$2,000]; 6. 1D-Tyler Dippel [8][$1,700]; 7. 91-Billy Decker [9][$1,500]; 8. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [13][$1,200]; 9. 2A-Mike Gular [6][$1,100]; 10. 9S-Matt Sheppard [10][$1,000]; 11. 20-Brett Hearn [15][$1,000]; 12. 25-Erick Rudolph [11][$1,000]; 13. 3-Justin Haers [19][$1,000]; 14. 83JR-Tim Sears [31][$]; 15. 3J-Marc Johnson [17][$1,000]; 16. 28-Jordan McCreadie [23][$1,000]; 17. 83-Brian Swartzlander [22][$1,000]; 18. 88-Mat Williamson [20][$1,000]; 19. 42P-Pat Ward [26][$1,000]; 20. 5H-Chris Hile [12][$1,000]; 21. 21A-Peter Britten [27][$1,000]; 22. 66X-Carey Terrance [24][$1,000]; 23. 19M-Jessey Mueller [25][$1,000]; 24. 22-Brandon Walters [18][$1,000]; 25. 17D-Marcus Dinkins [28][$1,000]; 26. 48T-Dave Rauscher [30][$]; 27. 4R-Kevin Root [29][$]; 28. 99L-Larry Wight [7][$1,000]; 29. 2-Jack Lehner [14][$1,000]; 30. 1-Jackson Gill [21][$1,000]; 31. 3B-Chad Brachmann [16][$1,000]PHOTO: Joe Grabianowski

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.