CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION DENSO SPARK PLUGS NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA POST-RACE RECAP APRIL 18, 2021                                                                                                Chevrolet holds the winning hand in four-wide format • Erica Enders records 30th Pro Stock victory in 300th race• Brittany Force registers 21st Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier• Robert Hight is No. 1 qualifier for 69th time in Funny Car
LAS VEGAS (April 18, 2021) – Pressure was on reigning National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock champion Erica Enders entering the last of three qualifying sessions for the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
Enders’ Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS experienced tire shake on her two previous runs and was on the wrong side of the qualifying bubble. A steady, conservative pass in the final session at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway put her 13th in the 16-car field for the four-wide format. 
She knew from experience that anything can happen on race day. And it did in an exceptionally positive way.
Enders, competing in her 300th Pro Stock race, picked up her 30th career Wally in the category by coming out on top in the final quad with a pass of 6.656 seconds at 205.88 mph. Aaron Stanfield was runner-up, Deric Kramer was third and Mason McGaha was fourth in their Camaros.
“I really want to give a big thank you to my guys. It is frustrating to go out there and shake your butt off both rounds (of qualifying). I came back and asked if I still had all my teeth,” said Enders, who clinched her fourth Pro Stock championship in November 2020 with a victory at The Strip. “They got down to business today and that’s all that matters. I’m so proud of my team and I love Las Vegas.”
It was Enders’ fifth victory at The Strip and first in the four-wide format at the racetrack.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused four-wide races in Las Vegas and Concord, North Carolina, to be canceled in 2020. The second four-wide event of the season is scheduled for May 14-16 at zMAX Dragway in Concord.
Greg Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier for the second event in a row, registered the low elapsed time of the event of 6.632 seconds in the first round in the Denso Chevrolet Camaro SS for hometown KB Racing. He placed third in the second round – losing out to Enders on holeshot — and did not transfer to the final. John Force Racing drivers qualified No. 1 in Top Fuel (Brittany Force) and 1-2 in Funny Car (Robert Hight and John Force), but none were able to advance to the final quad.
Brittany Force, the No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier for the 21st time in her career, posted the low elapsed time of the event at 3.722 seconds in the Fav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster in winning her first-round matchup. Force, who won at The Strip in the fall of 2019 and holds the track Top Fuel records, placed third in the second round.
Hight, runner-up in the season opener in Florida in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, and John Force in the PEAK/BlueDEF PLATINUM Camaro SS saw the same result in the second round of Funny Car eliminations. Hight, the top qualifier for the 69th time, is second to Force (160) on the all-time Funny Car list.
In a matchup of new and classic Chevrolet Camaros, Conner Statler drove a ’69 Camaro to victory over four-time Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series champion Greg Stanfield’s COPO Camaro in the final of Stock Eliminator as Stanfield fouled when he tripped the red light.
Chevrolet Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock drivers will all be in action April 30-May 2 at Atlanta Dragway for the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “Overall, a good weekend for this Flav-R-Pac team. We qualified No. 1 and picked up point there. We ran consistent all weekend and unfortunately second round we got taken out. That’s four-wide racing for you. You have to keep your focus and I lost it for a short second and that was enough to end our day. We’re going home but we go to Atlanta next. 
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVORLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “It was a tough day for the Auto Club team. We looked really good all through qualifying and then had a problem in that first round but I’m proud of this team. All the guys worked really hard to get this car ready for the second round. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham had this thing dialed in so I’m not worried and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. We’ll go out and do some testing tomorrow and move on to the next one.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in second round): “We did our job, we qualified good. We went some rounds, Robert (Hight) with Auto Club, myself with PEAK and BlueDEF PLATINUM and Brittany (Force) with Flav-R-Pac and Monster Energy. We didn’t get the win, almost got to the final but we had some breakage and that’s why you need sponsors. All my partners are really standing by me, Chevy, Cornwell Tools stepping up their sponsorship, Baldwin Filters and ParkerStore, you know and that what’s really important.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, DENSO SPARK PLUGS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “It was a great weekend until that run. We definitely made a mistake on that run. We underestimated the racetrack and paid the price for it by losing on a dead heat with Erica (Enders). You have to execute every single run to win these days. Unfortunately, in drag racing it’s sudden death. You don’t get a second chance. A lot of positives; I feel great about the race car. We made one small mistake and it bit us. The whole team had great cars all weekend and great chances to win.” 
KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in second round): “Being my first time in a four-wide I was pretty happy. Still real hard on myself because I wasn’t hitting the Tree like I should have been. Consistent, but consistently late. I’m still getting a feel for the car and the pace of the new car. We had a great qualifying, which just shows the KB guys have some real power.”
MASON MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; competing in 10th Pro Stock race; advanced to final round, finishing fourth): “Unfortunately, I took myself out of the race during the final with my red light. It was my race to lose. I was on the Tree all day and was feeling very confident. With every pass I am becoming more confident as a driver. It’s a routine and I think I’ve found it. I am learning the ins and out of the rest of the car, but as of right now, it’s my job to drive it and drive it well.”

April 18, 2021

A smooth, steady performance by Matt DiBenedetto and the Menards/Libman team in Sunday’s 400-lap Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway paved the way for a season-best ninth-place finish.

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Libman Mustang lined up 16^th for the start of the 300-mile race on the three-quarter-mile Richmond track. He moved up initially to as high as 14^th but had dropped to 18^th at the end of Stage One, an 80-lap segment.

In the second Stage, a 155-lap run, the Menards/Libman crew ran several laps long on the first pit stop and were in third place when Ryan Newman spun to bring out the caution flag. 

DiBenedetto was able to bring the No. 21 Mustang to pit under caution, and restart in ninth place. He pitted earlier in the run on his second stop and was able to end that Stage in sixth place, earning five Stage points.

In the final 163 laps of the race, the Menards/Libman team was among the first to pit in each of the two cycles, and maintained a spot in the top 10 throughout.

When the race’s final caution flag flew with 20 laps remaining, DiBenedetto had just dropped out of the free pass position but was able to take the wave-around and hold ninth place until the checkered flag.

It was his sixth-straight finish of 16^th or better, and he and the Wood Brothers team jumped four spots in the points standings to 18^th.

“It was just a nice smooth day,” DiBenedetto said. “That was the most rewarding part of it, and getting some Stage points was big.”

He said the No. 21 Menards/Libman Mustang was driving well early on, even though he was unable to gain many positions at that point.

“I wasn’t complaining much at all at the first of the race,” he said. “We just needed track position. Once we caught a break with the caution flag and got some track position and got in the top 10, we had the car to run up there with no mistakes for the rest of the day.”

He said the Menards/Libman crew was spot-on all afternoon.

“They did a good job on the pit stops, getting all the lugs on and taking care of the important stuff,” he said.
 
DiBenedetto also was pleased to make another jump in the championship standings.
 
“It just shows the strength of our team, and it’s rewarding to finally get that top 10 and be climbing up there in the points, digging out of that hole and doing what I’ve known all along that we’re more than capable of as a team,” he said.
 
After a stretch of short-track racing, DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team now head to Talladega Superspeedway for next Sunday’s GEICO 500.
 

LAS VEGAS (April 18, 2021) – Coming into race day off of a strong qualifying performance at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, all three John Force Racing hot rods narrowly missed a chance at the finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway making second round exits on Sunday. Funny Car No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy ran into trouble in their first quad. Despite having a cylinder out and an explosion at the finish line, Hight ran a 3.980-second pass at 311.34 mph to finish second and move onto the second round behind J.R. Todd’s 3.955 pass at 319.37 mph. Hight beat out Cruz Pedregon’s 4.285 at 283.85 and Jonnie Lindberg’s 7.263 at 91.03. After thrashing between rounds, Hight handled the Auto Club Chevy to a 3.951-second pass at 318.24 mph to come in third in their quad and fall short of the final to Ron Capps’ 3.935 at 321.50 and eventual race winner Bob Tasca’s 3.934 at 331.77. Hight bettered J.R. Todd’s 3.983 at 319.29. “It was a tough day for the Auto Club team. We looked really good all through qualifying and then had a problem in that first round but I’m proud of this team,” said Hight who is now third in points. “All the guys worked really hard to get this car ready for the second round. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham had this thing dialed in so I’m not worried and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. We’ll go out and do some testing tomorrow and move on to the next one.” Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel dragster team carried over their consistent improvement into race day winning their first-round quad with a stellar 3.722-second pass at a 330.80 mph that was quickest and fastest of the event. Force moved on with Antron Brown who had a 3.827 pass at 313.15 mph. The pair sent Justin Ashley home with a 3.899 at 268.22. In the second round, Force faced Billy Torrence, Antron Brown and Clay Millican. Billy Torrence left early causing some confusion on the starting line. Both Force and Millican left late. The Flav-R-Pac dragster ran 3.815-seconds at 315.27 mph after dropping a cylinder. Millican went 3.816 at 320.13 but got the win on a holeshot with his .139-second reaction time compared to Force’s .273. Brown won the quad with a 3.761 at 316.23. “Overall, a good weekend for this Flav-R-Pac team. We qualified No. 1 and picked up points there. We ran consistent all weekend and unfortunately second round we got taken out,” said Force who is now tenth in points. “That’s four-wide racing for you. You have to keep your focus and I lost it for a short second and that was enough to end our day. We’re going home but we go to Atlanta next.” John Force powered his PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy Camaro to an impressive 3.925-second pass at an event top speed of 332.02 mph to win his first-round quad. Matt Hagan followed Force with a 3.932 pass at 329.42 mph defeating Blake Alexander’s 3.958 at 320.97 and Chris Morel’s 4.200 at 294.24. The PEAK / BlueDEF Chevy dropped a cylinder down track in the second round of eliminations. It would only run 4.049-seconds at 304.60 mph to be third quickest, falling short of the final quad to Matt Hagan’s 3.927 at 325.06 and Tim Wilkerson’s 3.947 at 325.14. Force did perform better than Alexis DeJoria’s 4.257 at 220.30. “We did our job, we qualified good. We went some rounds, Robert with Auto Club, myself with PEAK and BlueDEF PLATINUM and Brittany with Flav-R-Pac and Monster Energy,” said Force who is now seventh in points. “We didn’t get the win, almost got to the final but we had some breakage and that’s why you need sponsors. All my partners are really standing by me, Chevy, Cornwell Tools stepping up their sponsorship, Baldwin Filters and ParkerStore, you know and that what’s really important.” After testing Monday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the John Force Racing trio will continue competition in the NHRA Camping World Series with the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway April 30-May 2. It will be the final time the NHRA professional categories will race at the storied facility.

ALEX BOWMAN TRIUMPHS AT RICHMOND RACEWAY Team Chevy Takes 3 of the Top-10RICHMOND, VA – (April 18, 2021) – Alex Bowman earned his first victory of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) season behind the wheel of his No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE in impressive fashion by taking the lead in the last 10 laps of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. Bowman rallied back from an earlier pit road penalty and then powered past Denny Hamlin, who had been the dominate leader throughout the race. 
The feat marked Bowman’s first triumph at the .75-mile D-shaped oval, his third NCS career win, and secured him a spot in the NCS Playoff for a chance to compete for the 2021 championship title. The 27-year-old driver gave Team Chevy its 39th victory at Richmond Raceway, the 798th all-time win in NASCAR’s premier division, and the third of the 2021 season for Camaro ZL1 1LE. Bowman’s victory also celebrates the 266th NCS win for car owner, Rick Hendrick, and Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman’s teammate, William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE, finished seventh in the race; and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, aboard the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, was 10th to give Chevrolet three of the Top-10 overall. Rounding out the Top 5 finishers were Denny Hamlin (Toyota) in second, Joey Logano (Ford) third, Christopher Bell (Toyota) fourth, and Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) was fifth.  The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series continues with race 10 of the season, the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, on Sunday, April 25. FOX will telecast the race live at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner Alex Bowman. We’ll get right into questions for Alex. Q.Do you find any poetry in Jimmie making his first INDYCAR start in the 48 car and you getting the win here today?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it’s really cool. There are so many different things going on right now, I almost didn’t even remember that it’s my first win in the 48, getting a 48 back in Victory Lane.No, it’s really special for a lot of reasons, just to win for Ally, to get the 48 back in Victory Lane. Obviously really emotional, losing Rowdy and Blakley this off-season. It’s been a lot. Obviously, Jimmie making his INDYCAR debut today, really cool. It’s probably over by now. Somebody fill me in on how he did, how eventful it was or wasn’t for him. Really, really cool. Q.I think he finished 19th. He spun out early, got stalled, then got back going.ALEX BOWMAN: Nice. Q.It was emotional for you after the race. Can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with Rowdy, how hard this off-season really was for you and your team?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, I mean, our group has a lot of personalities, a lot of awkward people, I guess. Greg and myself are a bit awkward. We have some normal personalities. Rowdy was that big, outgoing personality that really kept the group pumped up in any situation, really held us all together. He was always happy, no matter what the circumstance was. He meant a ton to our race team. He’s probably the first guy when I filled in in the 88 back in the day to really make me feel super welcome, feel like he had my back. He was just a huge part of our team. Q.Alex, you have had speed at times this year, but kind of been an up-and-down year in terms of putting together clean races. As the season moved along, did it start to creep into your mind that you didn’t have a win, some guys got wins that you didn’t think were going to do it, desperate, but maybe feeling a little bit that way?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, somewhat. I think Bristol, we were probably good enough to win; broke fourth gear. Martinsville, probably good enough to win; we had some issues there. I feel like we’ve been capable, had race cars capable. Just haven’t put all the parts and pieces together, like you said.We weren’t in a great place with points, but now we’ve got a win and we don’t have to worry about that. I wouldn’t say we were desperate. I feel like we’ve had such fast race cars that we knew we were capable of doing a good job, getting into the Playoffs. This definitely eases the nerves a little bit. Q.Can you take me through the restart, what you were thinking, if it went the way you thought it was going to go.ALEX BOWMAN: Did not go the way I thought it was going to go. We were pretty awful on short runs all day. To be honest with you, a caution came out, I was like, Man, we’re going to struggle to get out of here with a top five. Felt like we had such an amazing long run car, but really struggled on the short runs.We took off. My strong suit all day was being able to get into the corner really deep. I was able to get in deep, aside Denny. I knew I had the preferred lane, could probably clear him. I kind of figured he would get right back to me and be faster than us. When we drove away, I was like, Oh, my gosh, what’s happening? We had some really fast laps there. I was super loose the last couple laps. I did my best to get it back away. We just really improved the race car there, had a lot of grip taken off. Q.Do you know what Greg did to the car?ALEX BOWMAN: I don’t have a clue. I didn’t see a wedge wrench go in it, so I would say air pressure stuff. Which is typically your go-to for short run versus long run stuff. It sure woke it up, that’s for sure. Q.You obviously have proven yourself in the Cup Series by winning a couple times. How much does this win mean to you in terms of taking over this ride and working with Ally who have made such a big investment in you and Hendrick Motorsports?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, it means a lot to get Ally a win, get the 48 back where it belongs. It’s been a rough start to the year. Ally has been super committed. J.B. and Andrea and everybody else over there have been amazing to work with. We talk a lot. They are so committed to this program. They do so much for us.So cool to get them a win. It means the world to me. Just very appreciative for them to have faith in me, to give me this opportunity. Q.With you and two of your teammates already with wins fairly early in the season, how do you think that will help set you up for the Playoffs?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, I mean, I think I was confident about the Playoffs. Obviously, this helps. This is a really important racetrack for the Playoffs. Short tracks are really important for the Playoffs. We’ve been really strong at the short tracks lately. Knowing kind of what we need to put ourselves in position to win these races, when we come back, is super important. The 9 is going to win super soon. It’s really great to see all four teams being so successful at HMS. A great group of guys. I really enjoy working with William, Kyle, and Chase. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s just cool to be a part of it. Q.Denny said he’d rather be where he is at this point in the season without a win, because he’s smashing everybody, his words, rather than where you are right now with a win because I think he feels like he’s just running well. Would you feel the same way? Would you trade places with him at this point or do you like where you’re at?ALEX BOWMAN: I mean, I feel like lately we’ve been really, really fast each and everywhere we’ve gone. Atlanta, we ran third. Bristol, we’re the best car, break a transmission. Go to Martinsville, the 12 was probably the best car, but we were probably the second-best car. We have our issue there.Pretty happy with where we’re at right now. We’re going to a lot of places that statistically I’ve struggled at, like Martinsville and here, and running really, really well. I think when we get to the places that I feel like we’re actually good at, it’s going to be really, really good. Q.What will your approach be moving forward? Now that you have a win, do you go for as many wins as possible or see what happens? What’s your approach?ALEX BOWMAN: We go to the racetrack every week to win. We’ve gone for every win as long as I’ve been driving these things. There’s never a sit back and relax mode at Hendrick Motorsports. We’re expected to race for wins. All of our partners want us to go out and win. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to win a lot of races this year hopefully. I feel like I have a great group of guys behind me to be able to make that happen. Q.What would a superspeedway win at Talladega mean to you?ALEX BOWMAN: That would be pretty special. Not really for any reason aside from the fact that it’s Rowdy’s home track. Winning means a lot to get our car in Victory Lane, we miss him and Blakley a lot. Going to his home track, we’re able to win there, I know that would mean the world to him. We’re going to try our best to make it happen. Q.I consider you sort of a short track guy or a guy that came from short track beginnings. Why are you surprised to win at a short track?ALEX BOWMAN: Not necessarily because it’s a short track. Just because it’s Richmond. We’ve had some pretty painful days here in the past. Really, really struggled. Felt like we got a little better last fall. We had a solid top 10 day. Definitely didn’t feel like we were in contention for a win then. To have one of the best race cars all day, overcome as much as we did, be able to go win on a restart against the guy that’s probably the best in the garage area here, is pretty special. It’s definitely surprising. We were bad on short runs, then we just won the race on a short run. Surprised for a lot of reasons. But happy to have that surprise. Q.Do you think it’s the way that you and Greg and everybody have come together? You’ve had plenty of time to get used to each other. Just seemed like with the kind of relationship and how you all have pulled together that things are just starting to happen on the positive again.ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think we ended last season super strong. We had one of the best Playoff runs of anybody. We just didn’t have a big group of Playoff points to lean on to make that Round of 4. We started this year a little rough, but had fast race cars.Greg has a tall task when it comes to here in Martinsville specifically. I kind of drive the racetrack wrong. I can’t figure out how to force myself not to. So, he has to make a race car do a lot, do some things that aren’t really normal for this place. Instead of telling me, Hey, you need to do this different, you need to drive different. He just goes to work on making the race car do what I ask of it. It’s really paying off here lately. Q.Do you have an update on a new nickname? I know you don’t like ‘Showman’ that much. More importantly, what kind of confidence or what did you learn from this race as a team that helps out when you know you’ve struggled at tracks like Phoenix and Martinsville in the past?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, for sure, I don’t know on a nickname. I think I’m kind of stuck with it unfortunately.Really confident going to places that maybe I haven’t been good at in the past that Greg has really figured out what I need in the race car, putting a race car under me that’s going to give me what I need to succeed.Martinsville was a place that I struggled at. We were really fast last week. Obviously really fast today, as well. I think Greg and I are clicking really well. Just really confident in Greg’s ability to give me what I need.
Q.It’s been since 2008 that Hendrick Motorsports has been in Victory Lane at Richmond. Do you remember where you were last time they were in Victory Lane, what you were doing?ALEX BOWMAN: 2008? Man, I was 15. I was running USAC Focus Midgets. I don’t know where, but probably racing somewhere. It’s really neat. This is a place that as a company we’ve struggled at for a while. To be able to come here and get a win is really cool. Q.Looking ahead to next week, Talladega. Spring race at Talladega has been your stronger race of the two. Will you sleep a little bit better this week or is there always a little anxiety heading to Talladega?ALEX BOWMAN: Yeah, nobody sleeps well going to Talladega. There’s a high probability of hitting stuff really hard (laughter). That’s just part of this race week. Superspeedways, we like to tear some stuff up. I think I made 12 laps at the Daytona 500 this year. Not going to sleep any better since we have a win, but at least we won’t have to hit the panic button because of points. THE MODERATOR: Alex, thank you for taking some time with us. Congratulations on the win. We will see you next week. ALEX BOWMAN: Thanks, guys. Have a good one. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Solid Top-10 Finish for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Richmond Raceway

10th

11th

12th

“A top-10 at Richmond Raceway in the No. 3 Chevrolet. We’ll take it! I tried to pass the No. 21 for ninth at the end of the race but the right-front stopped working. Overall, it was a decent day. We were just too late getting our Chevy where we needed it. The biggest issue we faced was a loose-handling condition and needing more turn through the corner. Once Justin Alexander and the team figured out what the No. 3 needed, it was much faster. We just ran out of laps. We know for next time, though.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Chevy Team Fight Through Handling Challenges at Richmond Raceway

20th

13th

22nd

“We tried a lot of different things with our No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today to try to get the handling to where it needed to be and made some small gains throughout the race. It just seemed like we were a tiny bit off from what we had last year during our one visit to Richmond Raceway, so we’ll definitely be studying this one closely to be better when we come back in the fall. I was just a little too tight almost all day and then too loose in the final stage, which didn’t let me charge through the corners like I wanted. Richmond Raceway is a tough place to figure out in a Cup car, especially with it being just my second Cup start here, but I learned a lot. We’ll be ready when we come back here in September.” -Tyler Reddick

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDY GP OF ALABAMA – APRIL 17-18 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK LEEDS. ALABAMA RACE RECAP APRIL 18, 2021
SOLID OPENING RACE FOR CHEVROLET IN 2021 NTT INDYCAR SEASON

• Four Chevy Powered Drivers score top-six finishes
• Will Power finished in runner-up position to claim podium spot 
• Pole winner Pato O’Ward finished fourth, Sebastien Bourdais scored the fifth spot and Rinus VeeKay finished sixth
• Chase for the Chambpionship begins in very competitive field

 BIRMINGHAM (APRIL 18,2021) – It was a beautiful day at Barber Motorsports Park for 24 NTT INDYCAR Series race cars to take the green flag to start the opening race of the 2021season.
Pole winner Pato O’Ward. No.5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, led the field to turn one solidly in the lead, but a multi-car crash in a few turns later jumbled the field and strategies. Chevy drivers Josef Newgarden, Felex Rosenqvist and Max Chilton sustained heavy damage in the melee.
Rosenqvist, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevy and Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet were able to make repairs and return to gather points. Newgarden’s, No.2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, day was done.
Former Series’ champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power and his No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet team executed an outstanding race. Methodically he drove his way up to the runner-up step on the podium.
O’Ward led for 25 laps, but strategies that were varied by the crash. He turned fast and consistent laps, but after each of his three pit stops, he was mired deep in the field. He battled is way to fourth at the finish.  Four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, No. 4 ROKIT Chevrolet finished fifth, and Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing finished sixth. Up next is the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 24-25, 2021. TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS:2^nd               Will Power4^th                Pato O’Ward5^th                 Sebastien Bourdais6^th                 Rinus VeeKay 14^th              Scott McLaughlin16^th              Conor Daly18^th               Dalton Kellett20^th              Max Chilton21^st               Felix Rosenqvist23^rd               Josef Newgarden DRIVER QUOTESWILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND:“YOU PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT. YOU HAD A LOT MORE PUSH TO PASS LEFT THAN ALEX PALOU. WHAT MORE, IF ANYTHING, COULD YOU HAVE DONE THERE IN THOSE CLOSING LAPS?“Yeah, I made one little mistake. Yes, you’re right. With the amount of push to pass I had left, it could have been pretty good. I did have to save some fuel, so I had enough to be able to use push to pass for the last two laps. But it just blew my mind how fast Alex was in that first stint. I had absolutely nothing for him. He just pulled away. So, I figured he was doing a three-stop race because I was getting the best lap time I could for the fuel number. But we got the Verizon 5G car on the podium. We’ve had a pretty bad start to the year the last four years, so it’s awesome to get a really good start to the season.” SINCE THERE ARE FOUR RACES IN JUST A MATTER OF THREE WEEKS, WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR THE TEAM TO START OFF SO STRONGLY?“Yeah, it’s great. It’s great. I said to the guys if we do this week in and week out, just solid races with no mistakes, I promise you we will absolutely have a great chance at winning the championship.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – FINISHED 4THWHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY FROM THE RACE THIS AFTERNOON?“Track position was everything today. I feel like we executed on what we went for, strategy-wise. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. But I’ve got to give it to these guys. We were the fastest car on track today. We’ve been the fastest car all weekend in terms of qualifying and pace; and we’re ready for St. Pete. We got good points here. I would have loved to get the win, but we’ve got another shot next weekend and we’re going to be going for it. I just want to thank Arrow Electronics, Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy; these guys have been on it. I’m one hundred percent sure that when St. Pete comes in a few days, we’ll be ready to give it our all.” SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 4 ROKIT AJ RACING CHEVROLET, FINIDHED 5^TH“Really good run today for the No. 14 ROKIT Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing. A very solid day, a very solid race. Good strategies and good pit stops. And good pace. Really happy for the whole team. We overcame a dodgy day starting 16^th. Put on a good show and put on a show. Passed a lot of cars. I’m really happy for everybody and looking forward to. St. Pete.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6^TH: “Crazy race here at Barber. G. ot in a lot of trouble on the first lap. Got a flat tire and went all the way to the back. But the team was awesome at strategies. The car was awesome. I felt awesome. We had a great race coming back to P6.So close to the top-five but awesome recovery. All I could wish for. This is the start of an awesome season – so happy me.”`  JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE – SIDELINED IN MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 1“I got loose coming over the hill. It was a good start. We were lining in pretty nicely, but I just got loose in the wake. I thought I had the car and then touched the grass and I think once I touched the grass it pitched me sideways. I feel really bad for anyone that got involved in that. Obviously, my mess created a bigger mess. Any of the cars that got involved, I’m real sorry because it was obviously us that tipped it off. It’s a shame. I feel like we had a really good car. We just needed to file-in there at the start. We partially did that but yeah. Wudda, shudda, cudda I guess for Hitachi and Chevrolet. But we’ll come back. We’ve just got to bounce back at the next one.”
ARE YOU OKAY AND WHAT HAPPENED“Yes, I’m okay. I wanted to just get rolling. I felt like we had so much potential. We had a really good car underneath us and the team worked really hard and was ready to show that. I made a mistake. I got loose in traffic coming up the hill. I haven’t been loose like that at the start of a race here (Barber Motorsports Park). So just feel bad for causing a big wreck and anyone who was involved because of me. It’s tough to have a mistake like that. But thanks to our partners Hitachi, Chevrolet and everyone else, Just disappointed we couldn’t make something of it today.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES RICHMOND RACEWAY TOYOTA OWNERS 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES APRIL 18, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE 7th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE10th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE 12th    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE13th    KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 TUBI TV CAMARO ZL1 1LE  TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)2nd     Denny Hamlin (Toyota)3rd      Joey Logano (Ford)4th      Christopher Bell (Toyota)5th      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway for the GEICO 500 on Sunday, April 25, at 2 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES: ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner QuoteLAST WEEK, ALEX BOWMAN WAS ONE OF THE FASTEST CARS AND IT ENDED IN HEARTBREAK FOR YOU GUYS. YOU COME BACK AND YOU SEAL THE DEAL TODAY, AFTER OVERCOMING A PIT ROAD PENALTY. HOW DID YOU GUYS OVERCOME THAT?“We just had a great race car; it’s as simple as that. Greg Ives (Crew Chief) and all the guys, they have to deal with me at short tracks and I drive these places really wrong. We kind of instead of trying to make me figure it out, we went to work on getting the race car where I needed it to be. Greg has done such an amazing job at making that happen.”“First and foremost, got to thank Ally and Chevrolet; everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. This one is for Rowdy and his family. Miss him and Blakley every day. Just means the world to be able to win for Ally. It’s definitely emotional, obviously, with how hard the off-season was on us. Appreciative for the opportunity and we have more races to win this year.” HE’S TALKING ABOUT HIS PIT CREW MEMBER THAT LOST HIS LIFE IN THE OFF-SEASON. LET’S GO BACK TO THE END OF THIS RACE. YOU’RE BATTLING TWO GUYS THAT, COMBINED, HAVE WON IT FIVE TIMES. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AT THAT MOMENT?“To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs. We restarted third and I’m like man, if we get out of here with a solid top-five, we’ll be good. We’ve overcome a lot today. I don’t know if Greg pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well. Getting to race a guy like Denny (Hamlin) at a place that this is really cool. I feel like we raced each other really clean, so I’m appreciative of that. It means a lot.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“It was a good day for us. We ran in the top-10 all day; sometimes top-five. Definitely were searching for more there at the end, but to come home seventh at a track that I’ve struggled at is good for us. We definitely know what we need to work on to get better. This is not a race that we had circled to do well, so it’s good to finish top-10 again and keep that streak alive.”
“Congrats to Alex (Bowman) and the No. 48 team. They did a great job there at the end of the race to get their car to take off. That was pretty awesome. We’ll go onto Talladega (Superspeedway) and try to win that one.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 10th “Solid day for our No. 3 Chevrolet team. I thought we had something taking off today. I felt like we were pretty good; drove up into sixth or seventh. We never really were as good as we were the last time we were here. Just couldn’t get that adjustment that really would make us go any better than we were before; just kind of a top-10 place car all day. At one point, we were way worse than that. Justin (Alexander, Crew Chief) did a good job making adjustments and the guys in the pits were solid. Can’t thank all the team at RCR and the No. 3 guys enough; working hard and putting in the effort. Tenth, for a battle, was good. We wanted more, but we’ll take a top-10.”  ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 19th “It was an up-and-down day for the No. 43 Medallion Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. We started too tight and could not really do what we needed to do with our Chevrolet Camaro. We got it better as the day went, especially towards the end of the race. We started to really get some good speed and gain some track position. Just got too far behind, got caught on pit road when the caution flag came out, lost a lap early and could not get it back where we needed it to be. We will take a top-20 finish. We got some good notes and we will move on.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT #WHATPOWERSYOU CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 20th“We tried a lot of different things with our No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today to try to get the handling to where it needed to be and made some small gains throughout the race. It just seemed like we were a tiny bit off from what we had last year during our one visit to Richmond Raceway, so we’ll definitely be studying this one closely to be better when we come back in the fall. I was just a little too tight almost all day and then too loose in the final stage, which didn’t let me charge through the corners like I wanted. Richmond Raceway is a tough place to figure out in a Cup car, especially with it being just my second Cup start here, but I learned a lot. We’ll be ready when we come back here in September.”

Alex Palou scores first NTT INDYCAR SERIES win at Barber Motorsports Park
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing win Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola
Jeff Procter, Honda Off-Road Racing Team score win in San Felipe 250

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 18, 2021) – Alex Palou completed a “Hat Trick” of international racing victories for Honda today by claiming his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

Palou’s win at Barber Motorsports Park completed the weekend sweep for Honda, which included wins by Max Verstappen in his Red Bull Racing Honda in the Formula One race at Imola, Italy; and the Jeff Procter-led Honda Off-Road Racing Team claiming the Class 7 victory in the SCORE International San Felipe 250 in Baja, Mexico.

Starting third in today’s season-opening, 90-lap contest, Palou was flawless in claiming victory in just his 15th INDYCAR start, and his first with Chip Ganassi Racing. At the checkers, Palou held off former series champion Will Power by four-tenths of a second to claim the win, with his Ganassi teammate and defending series champion Scott Dixon, third.

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Results
1st Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
3rd Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
7th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
8th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9th Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
10th Romain Grosjean-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
11th Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
13th Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
15th Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
19th Jimmie Johnson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
17th James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda
22nd Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
24th Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship (unofficial, after 1 of 17 rounds)
Honda 90 pts
Chevrolet 73

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship (unofficial, after 1 of 17 rounds)

1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 53 pts.
2. Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet 41
3. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 35
4. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 34
5. Sebastien Bourdais, A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet 31

Quotes
Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) started 3rd, finished 1st, first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES win in his 15th race start. “We knew we’re with the best team, and had a great car today. So we knew a win was possible. Everyone on the team did an amazing job. The team was telling me on the radio ‘keep doing what you’re doing’. It was one of those days when everything went well. We had good fuel mileage, good tire management and good pace. This team is amazing. Honda gave us a great engine. Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing, what else can I ask for?”

Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda) started 7th, finished 10th in his INDYCAR debut, top rookie race finish: “What a day! My first race in INDYCAR, and my first top-10 result. We can be very happy with that. We fought for a long time with the top four, and we did our best. There’s a lot that we learned today, so we’ll move on to St. Pete and keep working to improve. I still need to get used to rolling starts [as used in INDYCAR, Formula One uses a standing start], but it was a lot of fun!”

David Salters (President, Honda Performance Development) on today’s season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama: “It was a good day for Honda Power here in Alabama. A big ‘thank you’ to the amazing team at HPD, who worked tirelessly to provide the best possible performance for our teams. It was particularly rewarding to see our colleagues here from Alabama, who manufacturer rugged vehicles such as the Pilot, Passport and HPD Ridgeline. A big thanks to our teams, who all raced well, and a big hug to race winner Alex Palou, who drove simply outstanding all day to record his first INDYCAR victory. We all extremely proud to represent Honda in what was a great weekend of racing for the company.”

Fast Facts
Honda takes the initial lead in the 2021 INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship with an unofficial total of 90 points to 73 for rival Chevrolet. Honda is seeking the company’s fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
Alex Palou also takes the early-season lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings, with 53 points to 41 for Team Penske’s Will Power. Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, defending and six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon, is third with 35 points.
Seven wins in 2020 brought Honda the company’s ninth INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and third consecutive title, with Honda driver Scott Dixon prevailing to win his sixth Drivers’ Championship, highest among all active drivers in the series.

Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES now heads southeast to Florida for next weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, April 23-25.

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

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner Quote LAST WEEK, ALEX BOWMAN WAS ONE OF THE FASTEST CARS AND IT ENDED IN HEARTBREAK FOR YOU GUYS. YOU COME BACK AND YOU SEAL THE DEAL TODAY, AFTER OVERCOMING A PIT ROAD PENALTY. HOW DID YOU GUYS OVERCOME THAT?“We just had a great race car; it’s as simple as that. Greg Ives (Crew Chief) and all the guys, they have to deal with me at short tracks and I drive these places really wrong. We kind of instead of trying to make me figure it out, we went to work on getting the race car where I needed it to be. Greg has done such an amazing job at making that happen.”
“First and foremost, got to thank Ally and Chevrolet; everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. This one is for Rowdy and his family. Miss him and Blakley every day. Just means the world to be able to win for Ally. It’s definitely emotional, obviously, with how hard the off-season was on us. Appreciative for the opportunity and we have more races to win this year.” HE’S TALKING ABOUT HIS PIT CREW MEMBER THAT LOST HIS LIFE IN THE OFF-SEASON. LET’S GO BACK TO THE END OF THIS RACE. YOU’RE BATTLING TWO GUYS THAT, COMBINED, HAVE WON IT FIVE TIMES. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AT THAT MOMENT?“To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs. We restarted third and I’m like man, if we get out of here with a solid top-five, we’ll be good. We’ve overcome a lot today. I don’t know if Greg pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well. Getting to race a guy like Denny (Hamlin) at a place that this is really cool. I feel like we raced each other really clean, so I’m appreciative of that. It means a lot.”

Series Champions Discuss This Weekend’s Bristol Throwdown

BRISTOL, TN – April 18, 2021 – There’s Eldora, Knoxville, Williams Grove, Port Royal, Bulls Gap, and many more, but nothing is quite like Bristol Motor Speedway.

For the first time in 20 years, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is returning to race at The Last Great Colosseum, and it all goes down this weekend with the Bristol Throwdown on Thursday to Saturday, April 22-24. Fan can BUY TICKETS HERE.

Before the highly-anticipated show kicks off on Thursday night with an evening of practice, we heard from two World of Outlaws champions on what they’re expecting. Here’s what Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet had to say…

“I was a lot younger back then,” Schatz said. “I remember the atmosphere was just incredible. Being inside a stadium like that, the colosseum is an accurate name. I had never seen so many people at a dirt race in my life. It’s hard to put into words what the banking and the speed looks like until you see it with your own two eyes; the camera does it no justice.”

While Schatz is a World of Outlaws winner on the Bristol half-mile, Sweet will be making his first laps in a Sprint Car.

“It’s exciting from a standpoint that we never get to race in venues quite that large,” Sweet mentioned. “You also feel like you’re going to see a huge crowd due to the anticipation of waiting 20 years. On the drivers side, it’s a bigger, more banked half-mile so you’re a little nervous. Once we get there and practice, we’ll feel good about it hopefully.”

When asked for comparisons to the Tennessee speed plant, both focused on Eldora, but offered up another analogy as well.

“Eldora is probably the closest comparison, or Bulls Gap in Tennessee has some massive banking as well,” Schatz offered. Sweet concurred: “Eldora has pretty good banking and it’s obviously fast, but Port Royal up in Pennsylvania has similar type length of straightaway. But as far as length, banking, and unknowns of red dirt, this will be a different animal.”

One of the most talked about subjects of Sprint Cars at Bristol is the raw speed. Schatz weighed in on that.

“Sprint Cars are a lot more notorious for the overall average speed,” Schatz noted. “I think the average was like 151 MPH, but that was 20 years ago and now we have better motors, better shocks, and everything is better in today’s age. I don’t think there’s any question that the speeds are gonna be up there. If I remember right the top speed on straightaways was like 168 MPH last time.”

For Sweet, he’s had the benefit of leaning on his brother-in-law Kyle Larson. He’s raced both Late Models and NASCAR on the dirt half-mile, and will make his season-debut with the World of Outlaws this weekend.

“I’ve been talking to Kyle [Larson] a good bit,” Sweet said. “He kind of made us all feel a little bit better going into it. He said once the track slicks up, it feels a lot more like a normal race track. That was reassuring.”

Practice is something the World of Outlaws don’t see often, so they’re taking advantage of Thursday’s session.

“Obviously we’ll use Thursday as an important practice day,” Schatz agreed. “We’ll have plenty of things to change be it aero, durability, engine, and a lot of other things to fine tune. The tire situation is also going to be crucial. All we can do is make a determination from there. We can’t speculate how it’s going to race until we actually hit the track.”

Sweet agreed the practice day is something new, but something appreciated.

“This is what we do for a living,” Sweet insisted. “We do this night-in and night-out. We don’t know the speeds we’re up against, though, and how the parts, tires, etc. will withstand it. Normally, we’ve got hot laps, qualifying, and we’re racing. The practice day will hopefully give us more time to process everything. We’re bringing our strongest, most durable stuff.”

With last week’s rain out, Bristol Motor Speedway could be the site of Schatz’s 300th career World of Outlaws win.

“The bigger tracks do seem to be more suiting to our situation and where we’re at right now,” Schatz  mentioned on the half-miles. “I just want to get over that hump. I know a lot of our partners at Sage Fruit, Ford Performance, Carquest, Advanced Auto Parts, and more are going to be there. I would love to get it done with them in attendance.”

For Sweet, a five-time winner in 2021, he knows the competition will be as stout as ever at Bristol.

“I know he’s having a down year, but I always regard Donny as my toughest competition,” Sweet said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that are getting better like Logan Schuchart, he’s been unreal on the half-miles the past few years. Sheldon Haudenschild has been much more consistent and developed a lot as a driver. You’ve got David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Aaron Reutzel, and so many more. Plus Kyle Larson will be with us this weekend, and all of the other outsiders. I feel like this Series is as strong as ever.

This week’s festivals at Bristol include practice night on Thursday, a $10,000-to-win program on Friday, and a $25,000-to-win finale on Saturday. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE to this can’t miss event.

Fans unable to make it to the track can watch all of the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.

Hagerstown, MD (April 17, 2021) – Tim McCreadie became the ninth different winner of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series this season. He made a dramatic last lap pass on Ricky Thornton Jr. to win the Red Nininger Tribute Race on Saturday Night at Hagerstown Speedway. McCreadie crossed the line .424 seconds ahead of Thornton, who suffered the heartbreak of leading 49 of 50 laps only to come up short of his second LOLMDS win of the season. Jonathan Davenport, who started 16th charged the field to finish in third. Gregg Satterlee finished fourth and Tyler Erb rounded out the top five. Thornton grabbed the lead at the start of the race with McCreadie in second. The first 26 laps of the race went caution-free. Just as the leaders were starting to race in heavy traffic, fourth place running Matt Cosner slowed on the frontstretch with smoke billowing out of his car. Late in the race, the lead dwindled for Thornton. McCreadie dove to the inside heading into turn one on the bottom and fired better than Thrornton off of turn two for the pass, for a thrilling victory. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 23rd time in his career, McCreadie also became the 12th different winner in 13 appearances at Hagerstown. “I had nothing to lose on that last lap and rolled the dice to go for the win. I am sure Ricky feels terrible. He probably had a better car and he didn’t have to move that much. I had to spend a lot of the race diving into this corner and that. Another lap and it might have been all three of us reversed and JD might have won.” Thornton finished second in his debut at the half-mile speedplant. “I could hear him [McCreadie] more than anything. I kind of screwed up a little bit, and I got too close to Devin [Moran]. It’s just part of the growing process as a driver. Congrats to Tim! It’s tough to lose on the last lap, but we have got really good equipment. This is a three-year old car that Hudson [O’Neal] drove.” Davenport came into the night on a 2-race win streak but came home in third. “They had a little harder left rear tires on than we did. Once we got rolling there it made me lose at the end. I tried to roll the outside and my tire just got overheated. I probably needed a caution with about ten to go.” The winner’s Donald and Gena Bradsher/Paylor Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, New Point Lighting and Design, D&E Marine, Racing for Heroes, and The Aesthetic Haus.  Completing the top ten were Josh Richards, Tyler Bare, Chris Ferguson, Kyle Bronson, and Hudson O’Neal. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Nininger TributeSaturday, April 17, 2021Hagerstown Speedway – Hagerstown, MD Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Kyle Larson / 17.680 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Shane Clanton / 17.700 seconds  Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 24-Dylan Yoder[3]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 14-Josh Richards[5]; 4. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 7. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 8. 32-Travis Stickley[10]; 9. 94M-Jason Miller[8]; 10. 112-Brandon Little[11]; 11. (DNS) 6-Kyle Larson Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 22-Gregg Satterlee[2]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner[1]; 3. 2D-Dan Stone[4]; 4. 43A-Tyler Bare[3]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[8]; 6. 4-Gary Stuhler[6]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[5]; 8. 48-Colton Flinner[7]; 9. 17-Nick Dickson[9]; 10. 17T-Tim Vance[10] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 5. 72-Michael Norris[5]; 6. 72C-Jason Covert[6]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[9]; 8. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 9. 1K-Pancho Lawler[8]; 10. (DNS) 0G-Deshawn Gingerich; 11. (DNS) 6J-Jamie Lathroum Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[6]; 3. 0H-Dale Hollidge[1]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 5. 9-Devin Moran[7]; 6. 10-Jared Miley[8]; 7. 41-Justin Weaver[9]; 8. 20F-Trever Feathers[5]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[10]; 10. 32J-Shaun Jones[4] LINE-X B-Main #1 Running Order (8 Laps to go Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 4-Gary Stuhler[4]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[8]; 6. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 7. 7R-Ross Robinson[6]; 8. 32-Travis Stickley[7]; 9. 17-Nick Dickson[10]; 10. 17T-Tim Vance[12]; 11. 112-Brandon Little[11]; 12. 94M-Jason Miller[9]; 13. (DNS) 6-Kyle Larson UNOH B-Main #2 Line Up (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[1]; 3. 72C-Jason Covert[3]; 4. 10-Jared Miley[4]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 6. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 7. 20F-Trever Feathers[8]; 8. 1K-Pancho Lawler[9]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[10]; 10. 41-Justin Weaver[6]; 11. (DNS) 0G-Deshawn Gingerich; 12. (DNS) 32J-Shaun Jones; 13. (DNS) 6J-Jamie Lathroum

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 42Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton Jr. (Laps 1 – 49); Tim McCreadie (Lap 50)Wrisco Feature Winner: Hudson O’NealArizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 0.424 secondsStop Tech Brakes Cautions: Matt Cosner (Lap 26)Series Provisionals: Brandon Sheppard, Mike MarlarFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: Earl Pearson Jr.Track Provisionals: Gary StuhlerBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton Jr, Jonathan DavenportPenske Shocks Top 5: Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton Jr, Jonathan Davenport, Gregg Satterlee, Tyler ErbOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Jonathan Davenport (Advanced 13 Positions) Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Hudson O’NealHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton Jr. (49 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler ErbEibach Springs Rookie of the Race: n/aDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton Jr. (Lap #18.636 –  seconds)Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Matt CosnerOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Philip Snellen (Tim McCreadie)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Mike Marlar (17.955 seconds)Time of Race: 23 minutes 23 second

LAS VEGAS (April 17, 2021) – There was nothing but improvement for the John Force Racing teams on day two of the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Brittany Force and her Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel dragster and Robert Hight and his Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car took the top spots in their respective categories and John Force with his PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Camaro landed in the No. 2 position.  After overpowering the track on the lone run of Friday, Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel dragster team saw the most improvement for John Force Racing. Their 3.766-second pass at 325.53 mph moved them nine spots into No. 2, just behind reigning and three-time world champ Steve Torrence. To cap off qualifying, Force and her David Grubnic and Mac Savage led Flav-R-Pac team blasted to a 3.732-second pass at 320.66 mph to steal the No. 1 qualifying position, the 21st of her career, second at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and first at the spring event. “We made big jumps on our runs today. First No. 1 qualifier of the season for this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team. We are pumped to be here in Vegas. [Crew chiefs] David Grubnic and Mac Savage said they were going to hall ass on that run, said they were going to step it up. And we did just that,” said Force who collected six bonus qualifying points. “Obviously tomorrow we are focused now on winning. We put today behind us, move into tomorrow and go after a win. That’s our primary focus. “I have lots of confidence in this team,” continued Force. “Returning with the entire Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team that we had from 2019 and beginning of 2020, I think, speaks a lot for itself. It shows how much loyalty this team has for John Force Racing and they stood by us and we returned together and we’re stronger than ever.” Force will begin eliminations facing off against Antron Brown and Justin Ashely. With only 15 Top Fuel cars entered into the event their quad has one bye. Coming into the day already in the No. 1 position, Hight and the Auto Club team bettered their Friday night performance with a 3.918-second pass at 325.77 mph during the final quad of the second session. In their last run of qualifying, Hight completed his sweep with another stand-out run of 3.882-seconds and 331.85 mph to ensure his 69th career No. 1 qualifier, seventh at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, fifth at the spring event and first in the four-wide format. The team’s speed was also quickest of the event and only one of two teams who reached the 330-mph mark, the other was team owner John Force. “[Crew chief] Jimmy Prock basically called every single run we’ve made here this weekend at the Las Vegas Four Wide Nationals. He and [crew chief] Chris Cunningham really have this Auto Club Chevy working great. You know, in the last year we took off I don’t think there was a day that these guys didn’t look at the computer and think about what they could do to make this car better and the results are right here,” said Hight who earned nine bonus qualifying points. “We have to go three rounds tomorrow and I think we are in a good position to do that.” Hight will race against Cruz Pedregon, J.R. Todd, and Jonnie Lindberg in his first quad of eliminations on Sunday. He will be chasing his first four-wide win at The Strip but his fourth at the spring event and sixth overall at the facility. Already with a strong performance on Friday evening, John Force and the PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM team jumped one spot from No. 3 to No. 2 with their Q2 run of 3.936-seconds at 325.22 mph. Wrapping up their qualifying efforts, the 16-time champion’s Chevrolet Camaro stayed consistent with their improvement powering to a 3.898-second pass at 330.72 mph to secure the No. 2 qualifying spot. “Well I thought I could get low in this PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy, it rattled a little bit but got through it and ran .89-seconds. Of course, Robert went .88, expected. I was excited to see Brittany go low with Flav-R-Pac. It’s good for us, makes us feel strong for being gone for a year. But tomorrow is an all-new ball game, and it’s four wide,” Force said. “PEAK / BlueDEF, Auto Club, Flav-R-Pac, Monster, Chevy, all of our sponsors, I want to thank you for sticking by us through the hard times. We’re back to doing some drag racing and we’re going to get back to winning.” Chasing his 152nd NHRA victory, Force will start eliminations running against Matt Hagan, Blake Alexander, and Chris Morel. Eliminations at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will kick off at noon PT on Sunday. Fans can catch the action on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA POWERED BY AM FIRST BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA QUALIFYING RECAP APRIL 17, 2021 Chevrolet earns 100th pole as O’Ward rises to the top BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 17, 2021) – Chevrolet earned its 100th pole start in 150 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races since returning to engine manufacturer competition in 2012 as Pato O’Ward rose to the top of the field in qualifications for the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
O’Ward, 21, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, recorded a lap of 1 minute, 05.8479 seconds in the six-minute Firestone Fast Six session to claim his second NTT P1 Award. In the second knockout qualifying session, O’Ward reset the track record on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course that was repaved in 2019 with a lap of 1:05.5019. The event was not held in 2020 because of COVID-19. 
“We made some changes after Practice 2 that helped,” said O’Ward, who will be making his 23rd NTT INDYCAR SERIES start. “We’ve been working so hard in the off-season and we’re clicking. Everybody on the team is working well together and I knew exactly what time I needed to get out of the reds (alternate tires), and we just had to maintain pace on (primary) blacks because I thought we were pretty strong. We did that and we’re starting on pole.
“It feels good. These guys deserve it and we’ve got a race to win tomorrow. I’m really hungry and I love this place to death.”
Looking ahead to the 90-lap/214.2-mile race, Chevrolet drivers have won 21 times when starting from the pole since 2012. Will Power with nine leads the way.
Power, a two-time winner of the event, qualified fourth with a best lap of 1:06.1186 in the Firestone Fast Six driving the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet. Teammate and two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, qualified eighth. He is the only three-time winner of the race. 
Conor Daly, competing at the racetrack for the first time since 2017, qualified 10th in the No. 20 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing.
NBC will telecast the 90-lap/214.2-mile race at 3 p.m. ET April 18. The race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.Team Chevy qualifiers:1st       Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP4th       Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske8t         Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske10th      Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing12th     Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske14th     Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing15th      Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske16th      Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing22^nd      Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA AJ Foyt Racing23rd     Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP DRIVER QUOTES:PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET — POLE WINNER:WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE IN QUALIFYING?“We made some changes after Practice 2 that helped. We’ve been working so hard in the off-season and we’re clicking. Everybody on the team is working well together and I knew exactly what time I needed to get out of the reds (alternate tires) and we just had to maintain pace on (primary) blacks because I thought we were pretty strong. We did that and we’re starting on pole. It feels good. These guys deserve it and we’ve got a race to win tomorrow. I’m really hungry and I love this place to death.” THIS HAS TO MEAN A LOT TO BOTH YOU AND THIS TEAM. YOU ARE THE FOCAL POINT OF IT.“Oh man, these guys deserve it. We’ve been working so hard in the off-season. We had great testing and now it was time to put it to the work. Zak Brown, Ric Peterson and Sam (Schmidt) are here; all the big guys are here. What a better place to try and put it on the pole, which we achieved that now. Man, I am so happy for them. I’m happy for myself, It’s the best view that you can get into Turn 1 tomorrow and let’s go win this race, man. We’re hungry. We’re really hungry and I love this place. I love this place to death. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT SUITS YOU SO WELL?“Ah, cojones! (laughs). Yeah, it takes big ones to throw down a lap around this place. But man, it feels good when you nail it.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 4^TH:“Hey guys, I just completed qualifying, and we made it to the Fast Six, and we qualified fourth. Obviously, it’s a very tight field and very tough to get though each round; but we probably didn’t quite have the tire strategy in the Fast Six. Maybe we should have waited and done two laps at the end. But I’m pretty happy with the Fast Six. There are a lot of quick guys there and I look forward to a good day tomorrow.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 12^TH. CONTENDING FOR ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR:“Unbelievable to get back in the PPG Chevy in full-on race conditions. Coming to a track I know, I tested here twice, gave me with some bit of confidence. Came here with a really good car. Jonathan my engineer gave me a really good car felt like a pretty good car initially. Picked my way through practice one and two. It felt really strong for qualifying and our goal was to make it to the second round and the top-12, and we did that. Probably not so proud of my Q2 run. Probably not the best run of my life, but, to get our first goal for 2021 is good for this whole group, and we can build on it from there. Looking forward to a good race tomorrow” 

Alexander Rossi qualifies second for season-opening NTT INDYCAR SERIES race
Honda drivers claim four of the top six starting positions
Chip Ganassi Racing places three Honda drivers in the top six

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 17, 2021) – Alexander Rossi led the way for Honda today in qualifying for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, opening round in the 17-race 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Advancing through all three rounds of “knockout” qualifying, Rossi set his best time, second overall, on his penultimate lap in the “Firestone Fast Six” final round to claim the outside front row starting position for tomorrow’s 90-lap contest.

Making his first start for Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Palou will start his Honda from the inside of the second row, third; and defending and six-time series champion Scott Dixon starts fifth. Marcus Ericsson qualified sixth in another Ganassi Honda.

Former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean just missed making the final qualifying round in his INDYCAR debut, and will start seventh in his Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda. Grosjean led the three series “rookies” in the field, while Colton Herta was the sixth Honda driver to qualify in the top nine, for Andretti Autosport.

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Qualifying Results
2nd Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
3rd Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
5th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
6th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
7th Romain Grosjean-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
9th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
11th Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
13th Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
17th Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda
18th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
19th Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
21st Jimmie Johnson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
24th James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda

Quote
Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda) qualified 7th in his INDYCAR SERIES debut: “I had a bit of traffic [on his fastest lap], but it doesn’t really matter today. I’m very proud of the boys getting me to P7. I was just thinking, Josef Newgarden [who qualified eighth] is one of the stars of the series and knows Barber very well. So, I think we can be super happy with [out-qualifying Newgarden]. I think we’ve shown the work we’ve done in [pre-season] testing worked well.”

Fast Facts
Honda is seeking the company’s fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
Seven wins in 2020 brought Honda the company’s ninth INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and third consecutive title, with Honda driver Scott Dixon prevailing to win his sixth Drivers’ Championship, highest among all active drivers in the series.
Honda has been a fixture in North American open-wheel racing since 1994, and has played an active role in the growth of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as both a Manufacturers’ Championship competitor and single engine supplier, with a record that includes eight Manufacturers’ Championships. Honda’s Indy car total of 252 wins in 27 years of North American open-wheel racing – including 13 Indianapolis 500 victories since 2004 – is unmatched by any other manufacturer in the same period.
Since the return of multi-manufacturer INDYCAR competition in 2012, Honda has scored five more Indy 500 triumphs, by Dario Franchitti in 2012, Hunter-Reay in 2014, Rossi’s dramatic victory in 2016’s historic 100th race and Sato’s popular victories in 2017 and 2020. The 13 wins by Honda at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway lead all other major automobile manufacturers.

Where to Watch the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama
Sunday’s 90-lap Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the NBC Sports App and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

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

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDY GP OF ALABAMA – APRIL 17-18 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK LEEDS. ALABAMA POLE WINNER QUICK QUOTE APRIL 17, 2021
Chevrolet earns 100th pole as O’Ward rises to the topBIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 17, 2021) – Chevrolet earned its 100th pole start in 150 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races since returning to engine manufacturer competition in 2012 as Pato O’Ward rose to the top of the field in qualifications for the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
O’Ward, 21, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, recorded a lap of 1 minute, 05.8479 seconds in the Firestone Fast Six session to claim his second Series pole. In the second knockout qualifying session, O’Ward reset the track record on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course that was repaved in 2019 with a lap of 1:05.5019.
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE IN QUALIFYING?“We made some changes after Practice 2 that helped. We’ve been working so hard in the off-season and we’re clicking. Everybody on the team is working well together and I knew exactly what time I needed to get out of the reds (alternate tires) and we just had to maintain pace on (primary) blacks because I thought we were pretty strong. We did that and we’re starting on pole. It feels good. These guys deserve it and we’ve got a race to win tomorrow. I’m really hungry and I love this place to death.”
THIS HAS TO MEAN A LOT TO BOTH YOU AND THIS TEAM. YOU ARE THE FOCAL POINT OF IT.“Oh man, these guys deserve it. We’ve been working so hard in the off-season. We had great testing and now it was time to put it to the work. Zak (Peterson) and Sam (Schmidt) are here; all the big guys are here. What a better place to try and put it on the pole, which we achieved that now. Man, I am so happy for them. I’m happy for myself, It’s the best view that you can get into Turn 1 tomorrow and let’s go win this race, man. We’re hungry. We’re really hungry and I love this place. I love this place to death. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT SUITS YOU SO WELL?“Ah, cojones! (laughs). Yeah, it takes big ones to throw down a lap around this place. But man, it feels good when you nail it.”

LAS VEGAS (April 16, 2021) – Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team arrived at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and picked up right where they left off powering to the No. 1 qualifier spot. John Force and the PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM team had a strong performance landing in the No. 3 spot and Brittany Force and her Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel dragster team will head into day two of qualifying in the No. 11 position. After a month off since the NHRA Camping World Series season opening Gatornationals, Hight and his Auto Club team wasted no time asserting dominance over the Funny Car class. The three-time world championship team laid down an impressive 3.922-second pass at 327.59 mph in the final quad of Funny Car qualifying landing them solidly at the top of the pack. “I’m glad to be back in the race car. Glad that we’ll be racing a little bit more of a normal schedule because that month off was just too long, especially after a runner-up finish. I’ve thought about that final round a lot in the past month,” said Hight, who earned three bonus points. “I’m happy to be back with my Auto Club team and be able to redeem ourselves. We’re doing just that. That was a good run and we’ll look for more tomorrow.” John Force and his PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy Camaro didn’t miss a beat. The 16-time champion raced his way to a clean 3.954-second pass at 324.75 mph that earned the PEAK / BlueDEF team an extra bonus point for being third quickest of the session. “I love my job. Driving this PEAK / BlueDEF Chevy. We’re back racing, this is great. Bruton Smith making this happen and it’s four-wide. I tried not to think about it too much but then I got up there to the starting line and I really had to focus. You have to get your mind set right,” Force said. “I’m excited to be out here, I’ve got all my sponsors out here. Frank Tiegs who owns Flav-R-Pac will be out here with me tomorrow. It’s exciting to have all these Funny Cars, 19 Funny Cars are racing. There are people her from my past that I raced with. This is totally awesome.” In her Flav-R-Pac livery, Brittany Force and her Top Fuel team overpowered the track in their first go at The Strip ending the evening with a 5.067 pass at 133.74 mph, temporarily landing them in the No. 11 spot. “We won four-wide in 2016 in Charlotte so I’m comfortable with the set up. It’s not my favorite. Looking at a tree with four bulbs all the way across, it’s something different. You have to find your focus and know what lane you’re in,” Force said. “Q1 we struggled, we overpowered the track and it went up on smoke right before half-track. Going into tomorrow we get two runs before race day. Currently No. 11 but we will step it up.” Qualifying at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway continues Saturday with sessions at 1:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. PT. Eliminations will take place Sunday at noon PT. Fans can catch the action on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Sunday at 5 p.m. PT.

Track officials hope to make the event a spectacle 

RICHMOND, KY– APRIL 16, 2021 –  It’s only April, but the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models have already seen a lot of firsts this season. There’s been two first-time winners, and the first trip to Bristol Motor Speedway. 

Another one will be checked off Friday April 23, as the Series visits Richmond Raceway in Richmond, KY for the first time. It’ll be the 191st track the World of Outlaws Late Models have raced at.  

It’s also a historical moment for “The Beast of the East,” as the Series is the first National tour to race there.    

It’s something track owner and promoter Bill Lupinos is really looking forward to. 

“Having the Series at [Richmond Raceway] is just an awesome thing,” Lupinos said. “The quality of drivers, the quality of racing, having the national exposure and DIRTVision, I think it’s just fantastic.” 

Lupinos is doing what he can to make the event memorable. He’s bringing in American Idol contestant Alex Miller to sing the National Anthem, and “Ms. Motorsports” Andrea Cap. 

“We’re just trying to make it a spectacle for everyone that comes out,” Lupinos said.

While it’s the first time the World of Outlaws Late Models will race at Richmond Raceway, it’s not the first time they’ve battled in the Bluegrass State. The Series has run eight Features in Kentucky, with Rick Eckert winning more than any other driver (2). 

Current tour regulars Darrell Lanigan and Shane Clanton also have victories in Kentucky. “The Bluegrass Bandit won at Bluegrass Speedway in 2011, while Clanton’s win came at Ponderosa Speedway in 2016. 

Three-time and defending Champion Brandon Sheppard enters Richmond Raceway at the top of the Series standings, just 20 points ahead of Kyle Strickler. The New Berlin, IL driver will try to extend that lead, while still searching for his first victory of the season. It’s the longest Sheppard’s gone without winning a race to start the year.  

The Most Powerful Late Models On The Planet will run a 40-lap Feature Friday April 23 at Richmond Raceway, paying $10,000 to the winner. 

The new marquee event for the World of Outlaws will have an overall purse of nearly $200,000

BURLINGTON, WA – April 16, 2021 – Skagit Speedway’s crisp new Skagit Nationals continues to grow into one of the biggest events of the year with the track announcing Sage Fruit as the title sponsor.

The Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals, Friday to Sunday, Sept. 3-5, is a new marquee event, kicking off the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series’ Fall West Coast Swing with an overall purse of nearly $200,000. Friday and Saturday’s events will pay $10,000-to-win and Sunday’s finale will pay $25,000-to-win. All three nights will also pay $1,000-to-start.

“Sage Fruit has always been a big supporter of motorsports and we’re excited to have them join this exciting event,” Skagit Speedway Promoter Steve Beitler said. “Sage Fruit, which is also based in Washington, is well known for high-quality products and Skagit Speedway is known for its high-quality racing. It’s a great partnership.”

The company, based in Yakima, WA – about three hours south of Skagit Speedway in Burlington, WA – is a grower, packer and shipper of the world’s finest apples, pears and cherries. It’s been involved in motorsports for several years, including providing sponsorship for World of Outlaws teams like Kasey Kahne Racing and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing.

When Sage Fruit heard about Beitler’s ambitions of creating a marquee event for the West Coast, it saw the Skagit Nationals as an exciting new opportunity in its own backyard, according to Chuck Sinks, President of Sales and Marketing for Sage Fruit.

“We’ve been a part of several Sprint Car events but have never been on a stage like this for a World of Outlaws event,” Sinks said. “When we heard about the Skagit Nationals, we saw it as a perfect opportunity to showcase Sage Fruit like never before and help grow the Skagit Nationals into something special. Race fans are loyal followers and great consumers of ours. This is also a way for us to give back and help support Sprint Car racing.”

Elite drivers such as two-time defending champion Brad Sweet, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz, 2019 Knoxville Nationals champion David Gravel, two-time Skagit winner Logan Schuchart and more will battle to mark their name in the history books as the first Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals winner.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE TOYOTA OWNERS 400 RICHMOND RACEWAY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA APRIL 18, 2021

RACE #9 – RICHMOND RACEWAYFor the third consecutive race, NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) drivers will compete on a short track. Richmond Raceway, a .75-mile D-shaped oval, will host the Toyota Owners 400 at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, April 18.
Chevrolet has amassed 38 victories on the racetrack to lead all manufacturers. In the September 2020 race, Austin Dillon finished fourth and Chase Elliott advanced seven positions from his starting spot to place fifth in his Camaro ZL1 1LE. Elliott, the reigning NCS champion, will start third in the 400-lap/300-mile race. 
The past two outings – on the .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway dirt oval and the .526-mile Martinsville Speedway oval – Chevrolet drivers have scored runner-up finishes (Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Bristol and Elliott at Martinsville). Overall, Chevrolet registered five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
After a couple of weeks off, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) returns to action with the 250-lap/187-mile ToyotaCare 250 on Saturday, April 17. Reigning NCWTS champion Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado, is third in the Driver Standings heading into the Series’ sixth race of the 2021 season.
STEADY CLIMB FOR BUSCHChevrolet driver Kurt Busch, competing in his 22nd Cup season overall, is 22 starts from 750. The driver of the No. 1 Tubi TV Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing will tie Bobby Labonte (729) for 13th on the all-time list by taking the green flag at Richmond Raceway. Sterling Marlin currently sits 12th on the list with 748 starts. Career statistics of note for Busch: 
First start – 9/24/2000 DoverFirst pole – 9/2/2001 DarlingtonFirst win – 3/24/2002 BristolWins – 32, most recently in September 2020 at Las Vegas
Busch has won at Richmond in 2015 and 2005.
LARSON REMAINS FOURTH IN STANDINGSKyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE, is fourth in the NCS Driver Standings for the second consecutive week. With his fifth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway, Larson has recorded six top-10 finishes in the eight races. He won at Richmond Raceway in September 2017 in a Camaro.
William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 LE, is sixth and Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, moved from ninth to seventh with the runner-up finish at Martinsville. Byron has scored six top-eight finishes in a row.
ON THE WAY TO THE GREENWith no practice or qualifying for the race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results. Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:3rd      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE4th      William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE6th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE11th    Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE13th    Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Camaro ZL1 1LE14th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Nature Valley Camaro ZL1 1LE17th    Kurt Busch, No. 1 Tubi TV Camaro ZL1 1LE18th    Ross Chastain, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE20th    Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
CHEVY SWEEP AND FIRST WINChevrolet NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers Josh Berry and Noah Gragson finished 1-2 in the 250-lap race April 10 at Martinsville Speedway. It was the inaugural win in just 13 starts in the series for the Late Model star. Driving the No. 8 Camaro SS for JR Motorsports, Berry led a field-high 95 laps on the .526-mile oval and held off teammate Gragson by .590 of a second.
Chevrolet leads the NXS Manufacturer standings. Talladega Superspeedway will host the next race for the Series on April 24.
BOWTIE BULLETS.·       Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 36 top-10 finishes.
·       Chevrolet has 797 NASCAR Cup Series wins to lead all manufacturers.
·       In addition to its 38 NCS wins at Richmond Raceway, Chevrolet has amassed 236 top-five and 487 top-10 finishes. Chevrolet drivers have led 15,382 laps.
·       Kyle Larson leads all drivers with 518 quality passes – five more than Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott in second – and in fastest laps run with 258.
·       Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have completed all but two of the 2,194 laps. 
·       Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads all drivers with 799 green flag passes.
·       Chase Elliott (Daytona Road Course), William Byron (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway 2) have stage wins.
TUNE INFOX will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, April 18. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ToyotaCare 250 at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, April 17.
QUOTABLE QUOTESKYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGSLARSON ON POSTING GOOD FINISHES AT RICHMOND: “Richmond is kind of a hit-or-miss track for me. Even though I have a victory and some good finishes, I haven’t had too many great runs there. It seems like there have been several times I have been average at Richmond but then come home with a top-five finish. I’m really looking forward to this weekend because we have had speed it seems like every week this year.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LEDANIELS ON CHALLENGES OF THE FIRST DAYTIME RACE AT RICHMOND IN SEVERAL YEARS:  “Even with cool temperatures expected Sunday that could compare to a night race, the sunlight exposure does change the way the track behaves – the way the rubber lays or doesn’t lay. The rubber typically doesn’t stack anywhere, it just smears across the track and becomes slimy and greasy. Even if the ambient temperature isn’t very high, the sunlight exposure on the track will do that. In 2015 and 2016 in the daylight, we had great runs with (former Hendrick Motorsports driver) Jimmie (Johnson) and finished top three in both of those races. So, we have a little bit of a feel for what the track does in those situations and what we need to look for to be in contention on Sunday.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RICHMOND RACEWAY: “I think Richmond is really its own beast. It’s similar to Atlanta with the surface but then you have aspects that are similar to Phoenix as well. It’s really just its own animal. It’s a very low grip track with even lower grip in the race car than it looks. Plus, it’s always a challenge to manage the throttle there. Sometimes you’re running half-throttle down the straightaway just to keep the tires under it later on in a run. It’s just a challenging place.”
BYRON ON THE RACING AT RICHMOND DURING THE DAY: “I’m interested to see what this weekend’s race will be like. Normally, we run at Richmond at night, so it’s going to be a different challenge this year racing during the day. It’s already so low on grip that you’re going to be moving around no matter what. I feel like the track is going to change a lot as the race goes on as well. It’s going to be a learning curve as the run goes on to keep up with what your car needs.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS“I don’t feel like Richmond is a very good track for us. It seemed like the last time we were there we were a little more solid than we have been. But like I said, it’s been a really tough track for me. It’s so hard to be great at that track. It’s really difficult to be different there because everyone is running the same line. Everyone knows how to drive the car to get around there properly. I think that’s why it’s produced good races over the years because it’s so hard to be different than the next guy and to be better. I say that and people are like, ‘Eh it’s not boring’ but just from a driver’s perspective, there’s just not a lot to it and you have to be perfect from a setup perspective and behind the wheel to be really good there.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RICHMOND RACEWAY?“Richmond Raceway is one of the tracks the No. 3 team has circled as a definite place where we can gain maximum points and compete for a win. It’s funny because there was a time in my career when I did not run well at Richmond at all. It was a thorn in my side, but over the years that has changed. Richmond has become a much better place than it used to be for me. We ran really well there last year, and I’m excited to get back there and see what we can do this time around.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 TUBI TV CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 15th IN STANDINGS“Richmond has a lot of different attitudes, about whether it’s a day race or a night race. The tires seem to be dropping-off more and more each year. The asphalt keeps aging and Goodyear keeps trying new and different combos, trying to find better side-by-side racing action. It has forced us all, it seems, to racing in the bottom groove and trying to get that drive off of the corners. The outside line just hasn’t come into play. So, each time you go there you don’t know what you’re gonna get and you have to learn, now with no practice, all that in Stage One. Lots of things to digest and analyze before we race at Richmond Raceway.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS“Obviously, Sunday’s race was great until it wasn’t. Things out of your control can ruin a really great day, but our team is extremely pumped about how well we were running at Martinsville before the incident on track. Going into another short-track this weekend, means we have some good momentum. We have struggled at Richmond before, but had a solid top 10 run last fall at the track. This Ally team has a good notebook going into the race and Greg (Ives) keeps reminding everyone to keep your focus set forward. We can’t get back the Martinsville race, so we are going to focus forward and have a solid day on Sunday in Richmond.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE “We have carried some of the same philosophies from Martinsville to Richmond as far as tuning the car to Alex’s needs. You can spend so much time overhauling every set up every week and it gets exhausting. You definitely don’t learn what you need to if it doesn’t work out for the next time. I feel like the last time we were at Richmond we had a solid run, not a race winning run by any means. We were able to continuously fine tune on that. Definitely looking forward to getting there and our confidence is high on Alex’s side. I feel like we have a team capable of coming out of there with a solid day. Starting mid-20s doesn’t help and maybe not getting the best pit stop won’t help, we have to focus on the positives of what this team has been able to do. Two steps forward and four steps back, we are continuing to march forward and keep looking ahead.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT #WHATPOWERSYOU CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 21st IN STANDINGS“For me, some of the things I was able to learn from Richmond last year I didn’t really apply to Martinsville later that season, but I did bring some of those learnings back into this past week’s Martinsville race and I think that helped make a difference. As much as the tracks are different, I have a similar approach to both. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, does a really good job of giving me a car at these short tracks that I can be aggressive with at times, which is nice. Generally, though, I try to save a little bit of my tires at these tracks. My team had a really good car at Richmond last year. We had a similar situation of having to start in the back and move our way forward but had a really promising run during the final stage of our race last year. We came out right behind the leaders and were able to drive away from the pack for a while, so if we can bring some of that back and be that good all day, it’s really promising and we’ll have a shot to contend for a top five in our No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Chevrolet.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 23rd IN STANDINGSDO YOU LIKE RACING AT RICHMOND?“I’ve always liked racing at Richmond. I feel it’s a good track for me and I have had some pretty good results there the last several years in Cup and Xfinity. It’s a track where you really have to work hard to take care of your car all through the run because you can use it up pretty quickly. That’s important pretty much everywhere we race, but it’s especially important at Richmond.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 26th IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE AT RICHMOND?“Richmond (Raceway) has kind of been an up-and-down track for me as a driver. I have had some good runs there and ran towards the front. It is always a fun track. I do really enjoy Richmond. It is a unique place. When you look at it from the outside, you think it is a typical easy short track. And then you go out there and race, and it is challenging. Richmond Raceway is one of the tougher tracks that we go to all season – between the way tires fall-off and the grip level that it has. It is always hard to get your car to drive really well there.“You have to stay with it all night. I think that is the biggest thing – to try and keep up with the race track and the adjustments that you have to make, and figure out how to get your car to just drive the best that it can.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 SCHLUTER SYSTEMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS“Looking forward to getting the Schluter Systems’ Chevy Camaro on track for the first time this year. They’ve been amazing for my career over the years and I’m proud our partnership has continued over to Spire Motorsports this season. We’re headed to our third short track in a row. Judging by our performance at Martinsville last weekend, I’m confident we can put together a good day.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDY GP OF ALABAMA – APRIL 17-18 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK LEEDS. ALABAMA MARK STIELOW AND ROB BUCKNER ZOOM CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT APRIL 15, 2021
MARK STIELOW, DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT COMPETITION FOR INDYCAR, IMSA,NHRA (CHEVROLET AND CADILLAC) AND ROB BUCKNER, CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR INDYCAR MET WITH MEDIA VIA ZOOM AND DISCUSSED OUTLOOK FOR NEW INDYCAR SEASON STARTING WITH THIS WEEKEND AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK, THE INDY 500 AND OTHER TOPICS. ZOOM VIDEO LINK AND AUDIO LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF FULL TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR:First of all, some introductions of two people who you probably have heard of but may not have met yet, we’re going to make that right today. The first is Mark Stielow, the Director of Motorsport Competition Engineering for the INDYCAR Series, IMSA, and NHRA for Chevrolet and Cadillac. We also have Rob Buckner, the Engineering Chevrolet Program Manager for the INDYCAR Series, as well.  Mark, let’s start with you. Please talk to us about what your overall expectations and goals are for the Chevrolet INDYCAR program ahead of the opening weekend at Barber. MARK STIELOW:“I joined the team back in September and am getting up to speed. We kind of got INDYCAR racing going after the COVID-19 hibernation we did; so, I got to the last couple of races in the season and then went into the off-season. There was a lot of work done by our engine partners and our teams to get us ready for this season. And I think we’re going to have some strong teams and I think things are going to look pretty good for us this year.” Rob, it’s been a long time since we’ve been in action, but you were in Indianapolis recently for the open test. Talk with us about some of the highlights of that session and what you think we can look forward to in the opening couple of rounds. ROB BUCKNER:“Thank you everyone for taking the time to talk with us today. I know a lot of familiar faces, and miss seeing you on pit lane. We’ve been so limited. We used to do these types of things in person and now everything is a video call. Thank you for everything you have done to try to cover motorsports during COVID-19 and people not being at the track. Going into this year, it’s always great for us when we can run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Track time testing there is very limited. We had a great two days there. We’ve already run over 8500 miles on our 2021 race engines and 4900 of those came from Indianapolis. So, we really ran a lot of miles over those two days in preparation. I think we learned a lot. We’re always working with our teams. Our engine program is always looking for any opportunity to improve and we’re excited to get going.” Q&A’s:A RECENT GENERAL COMMENT BY PENSKE DRIVERS WAS THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE TORQUE OUT OF THE HONDA ENGINE OVER THE CHEVY ENGINE. WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THAT EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW THE ENGINE PERFORMANCES ARE EXTREMELY TIGHT AND EXTREMELY CLOSE? ROB BUCKNER:“Yeah, it’s interesting. The 2.2 liters have been in competition for 10 years. And I think over that time, both us and our competitors have recognized and addressed some weaknesses that we’ve had, individually. Or, sometimes we’ve got a slight advantage somewhere and they always catch up. The general thought is we’ve always had a very strong top end and they’ve always had a very strong mid-range. I think we’ve kind of converged to a very similar torque delivery but all we can control is our own power profile going into this weekend, and I think we’ve got a very robust package for Barber. To Will’s comments, the surface has a lot of grip. A lot of times at road courses we’re struggling to put power down and Barber is kind of unique in that I think this weekend, the car and the tire is going to be able to take all that the engine can give it. And that’s what we’ve been preparing to do. I think we’ll be in a pretty good place come this weekend.” YOU COVER ALL THE OTHER MAJOR RACING CIRCUITS HERE IN AMERICA, WHETHER IT BE IMSA OR NHRA OR NASCAR OR WHATEVER; WHAT DO YOU SEE AS YOURBIGGEST CHALLENGES OVERALL? MARK STIELOW:“The biggest challenges that we’re working on right now is you know, folks spend a lot of time on Sports Car racing. So, the GTLM class is going to converge into GT Daytona Pro. So, we’ve been working a lot on a conversion package for that. And there has been a lot of investigation, a lot of work has been done, on our end studying the LMDh proposal. LMDh is very interesting to us and there’s going to be a lot of manufacturers in that space, so we’ve been heavily looking at that. So, there’s a lot of activity going on in that space. My counterpart, Eric Warren, has got all the NASCAR stuff and with all the work going into NG7 car, and with that getting ready to launch next year, there’s a lot of activity in that space also. So, there’s going to be some exciting stuff going on in motorsports in the next few years.” ON THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX WEEKEND, IT’S BEEN A BIG INCONVENIENCE WITH THE RE-SCHEDULING OF EVENTS THIS PAST YEAR. RECENTLY WE’VE LEARNED DETROIT WILL BE THE TRADITIONAL IMSA/INDYCAR DOUBLEHEADER AND A HOMETOWN DEBUT ON THE CORVETTE C8.R. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT WEEKEND TO SHOWCASE GM RACING’S TECHNOLOGY WITH CADILLAC, CORVETTE, AND CHEVROLET? MARK STIELOW:“It’s always good to play on a home field. We’ll be racing in the shadow of the Ren Cen. In my previous jobs at GM, I’ve actually driven some of the parade cars down there. So, it’s nice to run that event and for us to do well. Unfortunately, our competitors won’t be showing up to race against the Corvettes, so we’ll be running exhibition only. There are some prior commitments that Porsche has that they can’t get out of, so we’ll be running the Corvette exhibition. And the Cadillacs will be there strong and INDYCAR also. It’s always a fun event. I’m hoping that COVID-19 turns around and we can have it be a well-attended event, but that’s still kind of up in the air right now.” ONE OF THE BIG QUESTIONS WE’VE GOTTEN SINCE LAST YEAR’S INDY 500 IS WILL WE HAVE CHEVY BACK, HOPEFULLY ON EQUAL TERMS; MAKING IT A TRUE QUESTION MARK AS TO HOW THE 2021 EVEN WILL PLAY OUT. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WERE ABLE TO TAKE FROM THE OPEN TEST HERE THAT MIGHT LEAD BOWTIE FANS TO HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT THERE COULD BE A REALLY HARD AND COMPETITIVE RUN HERE IN MAY THAT MIGHT LEAD INTO A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FROM LAST YEAR’S EVENT? ROB BUCKNER:“I think so. I always joke with our group that hope is a very bad plan. So, we’ve had to really dig deep and try to look at where we missed it last year. Collectively, our groups have never worked better together when you look across the Chevrolet performance team with Ilmor and Pratt & Miller and everyone at Chevy, and then our race teams. I can’t thank them enough for all that they’ve contributed in the off-season. And we didn’t play a blame game. We just left there frustrated with our overall performance and have done everything we could since late August there to address it for this year. I think that the cars have changed enough that it’s kind of a re-set from 2020 when you look at the new aero parts that INDYCAR is introducing there. It seemed like at the test that guys could follow closer is maybe a little easier to pass with the barge boards and some of the different floor configurations that INDYCAR has come up with. But that was a pretty favorable day. It was cool and cloudy. I’m sure if we have a 95-degree sunny race day it’s still going to be really difficult. So, we’ve put a lot of emphasis on how we are going to qualify better, how are we going to get the most out of our engine package; like I said, we’ve visited every area of performance and tried to polish on everything. Our group is very detail-oriented, so I think we’re going to have a strong package.” THE END OF 2022 IS THE END OF THE CURRENT INDYCAR ENGINE REGULATIONS. YOU ARE PROBABLY WORKING RIGHT NOW ON THE NEW ENGINE CONFIGURATION. BUT FOR THIS CURRENT ENGINE, IS THERE STILL DEVELOPMENT GOING ON? ROB BUCKNER:“Yeah, we’re very fortunate to have a lot of depth and talent and motivated people. So, there’s still things we can work on in the 2.2 liter. There are some areas that are always open. And we’re running 2.4 liters now. We have our first engines on the dyno. We’re very happy with where that program is at and we’re multi-tasking. It’s very busy times for the engine program. We still have to go to the track. We’ve got to race the 2.2 liter approximately 32 to 34 more times. We’re not looking to give up anything there. And then we’ve got to have a prom debut in 2023 as well. So, the engine-side of things is flat out at the moment.” JOSEF NEWGARDEN WAS TALKING LAST MONTH ABOUT HOW THE COVID RESTRICTIONS HAVE REQUIRED THEM TO WORK SMARTER AND MORE EFFICIENT AND THAT THEY STRUGGLED WITH THAT LAST YEAR AND WEREN’T ABLE TO USE OPTIMIZATION ACROSS ALL THE CARS. FROM A CHEVROLET PERSPECTIVE, HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THESE CHALLENGES? ROB BUCKNER:“COVID-19 has affected motorsports and everyone in the paddock kind of the same. We don’t look at it as an excuse that we have less track time because it’s the same for all the competitors. There has been a trend in the last five years that track time is reduced and you have to roll off the trailer very, very strong. If you’re completely lost Friday morning or Saturday morning, it doesn’t make that much difference. But overall, we’re all recognizing come P1, you really need to be in the window, you need to be close; and then just polish on it. Ideally, you don’t make many changes. So, the pre-event preparation, I think, circuit by circuit, how we use our DIL simulator working with teams and drivers before we ever get to the race track; all those things were already trending in this direction, and then with the COVID-19 reductions in track time, it’s really just amplified it. I don’t think anyone would have ever thought two years ago that NASCAR would only have really four practice sessions in an entire year. So, even within NASCAR, that’s the extreme; and then specific to INDYCAR, we have a reduction but not an elimination of practice. So, we still have an opportunity to learn and improve; especially at street courses where you cannot test. But Jay Frye and his group have done a great job of putting together a pretty logical plan of street courses. They’re mostly three-day events. Road courses are two days. If you really struggle at a road course you can test there in the off-season. So, I think we’re really pleased with how INDYCAR has handled this and the direction that it’s going. For us, it just amplifies the work you do before getting to the race track really matters and needs to be correct.” WHAT’S THE BREAKDOWN BETWEEN ILMOR ENGINEERING AND GM IN TERMS OF WHAT DO THEY DO AND WHAT DO YOU DO ON THE ENGINE? AND WHEN IT COMES TO THE HYBRID THAT’S COMING IN, WHO IS GOING TO DO THE HYBRID PIECE? WHO IS GOING TO INTEGRATE IT? ROB BUCKNER:“Our technical group tries really hard to not operate in silos or individual company-type thinking. So, we all work for the Chevrolet program. We’re all pulling in the same direction all the time. So, we really blur those lines. A lot of times the collaboration amongst the group has been spectacular. And even breaking down, just beyond the engine program, of bringing in the race teams to these conversations and where we want things to progress over time. So, I would like to think, internally, that Ilmor and GM are all just one engine program working together to try to have the best package we can. There are certainly strengths Ilmor has that we don’t have and vide-versa. We have some analysis and tools that as General Motors and Chevrolet is very useful. And Ilmor is a very competent, excellent engine supplier in motorsports. So, I think we try to put all that together and that makes us have an overall really good engine package.” HOW POSSIBLE IS IT TO TEST THE 2.4 LITER ENGINE WITHOUT THE HYBRID SYSTEM HOOKED UP? ARE YOU ABLE TO PUT A FIGURE ON HOW MUCH THE INCREASED DISPLACEMENT OF THE ENGINE AND HOW MUCH WOULD COME FROM THE HYBRID? MARK STIELOW:“On the hybrid-side we could emulate that. Before we get the hybrid unit, we can run some simulations on our dyno to simulate that. On the power-side of the equation, I’ll let Rob answer that. I haven’t really been in all the details of that yet.” ROB BUCKNER:“I think somewhat lost in the 2.4 liter transition is the fact that we’re going up in base boost as well. So, the easy thing is to think we’re going up roughly 10 percent in displacement. We’re going to go up 10 percent in power; but also, we’re going to start operating at 1.6 bars, the standard for street courses instead of 1.5 bar. And you put all that together with the hybrid unit, I think fans will be pleased with the power projections and where the engine programs are headed overall. To answer your question, we can’t run a 2.4 liter with a hybrid. Once you delete an alternator it is gone for good. So, I think all of us, INDYCAR, Honda, Chevrolet are all in for the hybrid unit to run the 2.4 liter is going to be required, not optional.” THE 900 HP TARGET AT INDYCAR, WHEN DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THE ENGINES HITTING THAT MAGIC MARK? ROB BUCKNER:“I’m not sure. I think a lot of that depends on the finalized specs of the hybrid unit, which is really INDYCAR’s area of development during this. On the engine-side, we’re just going to focus on getting all we can out of the 2.4 liter at all the various race levels of boost.” IN THE PAST YOU HAVE USED THE INDYCAR ENGINE PROGRAM TO HELP DEVELOP THINGS LIKE DIRECT INJECTION TECHNOLOGY AND TO RUN ENGINEERS THROUGH. WITH THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE IN POWERING CARS, IS THAT STILL THE MAIN PURPOSE FOR BEING PART OF A SERIES LIKE INDYCAR? MARK STEILOW:“Yeah, my counterpart, Russ O’Blenes, has the propulsion-side of motorsports, and there are a lot of young engineers in that space that learned about racing and there’s also joint development work being done both at Ilmor like Rob talked about Ilmor and GM up at Pontiac for motorsports powertrain development. So, there is still a lot of technology transferred between the two. It’s still a viable training ground for us to learn more things and for us to develop people, processes, and tools to become better. General Motors and Chevrolet are still going to keep on making internal combustion engines for a while; so, we’re going to keep on pushing it as far as we can.” I WON’T ASK ALL THE NAMES OF THE TEAMS AND ENTRIES YOU’LL BE ENGAGED WITH FOR THE INDY 500, BUT CAN YOU TELL US THE ANTICIPATED FINAL NUMBER OF CHEVY-POWERED ENTRIES? AND IF YOU ARE UN-SIGNING TEAMS OR IF THERE ARE STILL POSSIBILITIES FOR MORE TO BE HAD FOR THE MONTH OF MAY? ROB BUCKNER:“That’s a very good question given the time of year. I think that’s the most cars last week we’ve ever run at Indy during an open test which, for our group…. It’s a difficult expansion when you go from running 10 to 11 full-time cars and then I think last week we had15 and then that’s kind of an incremental step. We expect we may add another one. We’re not completely sure. But it’s getting close to crunch time, so we’re close to finalizing. For us it’s really do we have the parts and the people to do it. And if race teams put something together, we try to be good partners with our teams; and we’ll figure out a way to make it happen.” REGARDING 2023 HYBRIDIZATION AND INDYCAR, GENERAL MOTORS HAS NOT CONFIRMED ANYTHING IN REGARD TO IMSA AND LMDH, BUT BY CHANCE BOTH CLASSES WILL INDEED BE GOING HYBRID AT THE SAME TIME. AT LEAST WHILE PLANNING TO BE IN INDYCAR, CONSIDERING BEING IN IMSA, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO AS A MANUFACTURER KNOWING THAT NASCAR IS ALSO LOOKING AT HYBRIDIZATION? WHAT DO YOU DO AND HOW DO YOU TREAT ALL THESE POSSIBILITIES FOR THE PLACES WHERE YOU ARE RACING, COULD BE RACING, SWITCHING TO THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY WITH POSSIBLY EACH ONE A BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER? DO YOU WORK WITH THESE SANCTIONING BODIES AND SAY HEY, DON’T ASK US TO BUY THREE DIFFERENT ONES OF THE SAME UNIT? HOW DO YOU TREAT WHAT COULD BE THREE VERY DIFFERENT THINGS?MARK STIELOW:“Right now, all the conversations I’ve been in and everything we’ve seen, there is very little sharing between the sanctioning bodies. So yeah, in a utopian world, it would be awesome if those guys all worked together, and we could come up with a common solution. But for a lot of reasons, everybody wants their own special mousetrap. So, what I’ve seen so far is everybody is heading down a slightly different path. But that stuff seems to be changing all the time. These meeting are constantly evolving.” THERE HAS BEEN SOME TALK OR RUMORS ABOUT WHAT F-1 DOES. THEY CAPTURE MGU-H TO TAKE THE HEAT OFF THE ENGINE AND CONVERTING THAT TO ENERGY IN THE BATTERY. IS THAT ANY TALK OF DOING THAT FOR INDYCAR OR IS THAT STRICTLY A KINETIC ENERGY SYSTEM? ROB BUCKNER:“Yeah, it’s been an interesting conversation with INDYCAR because we would be the first series to run a Hybrid on an oval. So, a lot of this is very conceptual. To your point, INDY qualifying engine duty cycle is ideally 100 percent if you never lift. So, how do you get any kinetic energy from that? Other times during the race, the engine duty cycle is not 100 percent when you’re in traffic. So that does open up the possibility of the car wasting some energy there. In the end it’s an energy balance equation that INDYCAR is going to need us or going to need to tell us how that want this. It also adds a layer of complexity and cost that I’m not sure is the right fit for INDYCARS. So, I think we’re leaning more toward it’s going to be a kinetic recovery system primarily.” THE PUSH TO PASS WE HAVE TODAY, IS THAT COMPLETELY GOING AWAY WITH THE HYBRID? OR WILL THERE STILL BE A TURBO BOOST PUSH TO PASS IN COMBINATION WITH THE HYBRID SYSTEM?ROB BUCKNER:“The nice thing is with our boosted engines is if any point during the development and first test of the hybrid unit we need more or less power, the engine programs function on electric wastegates. So, it’s relatively easy to change the boost limitations if INDYCAR desires that. I think that. If they need us to help push with a little bit more boost, I’m sure we would easily be able to do that.” YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT YOU’VE DEVOTED A LOT OF TIME LATELY TO IMSA AND THE LMDH AND GTD-PRO. CAN YOU GIVE US AN IDEA ON WHEN GM MIGHT REACH A DECISION OR MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT ON FUTURE PARTICIPATION THERE? MARK STIELOW:“I would say it would be in the next 45 days.” CONCERNING THE NEW ENGINE WITH THE HYBRID 2.4 LITER, CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE MEASUREMENTS? ROB BUCKNER:“INDYCAR and us are working around the assumption that it will be around the same size engine, physically. We’re going up in bore size but 2.4 is not a huge architecture change. Our engine is going to be all-new. I don’t know of any carryover components that we’re taking from the 2.2 liter. So, from that perspective, it’s a clean sheet design; but fitting in the same envelope, if you will.” ON THE ISSUE OF COST, IF YOU HAD TO GUESS, WHAT INCREASE WOULD THERE BE TO THE TEAMS WHEN THE HYBRID SYSTEM IS IMPLEMENTED, PER SEASON? ROB BUCKNER:“That’s pretty open-ended and not really defined at the moment as the early hardware and INDYCAR is still working through what that system is going to look like. It’s really not going to be a part of our relationship with the teams, so I’m not really familiar. I know that Jay Frye and Darren Samsum are leading that program for INDYCAR and they’re very cost-conscious; and they’ve been involving the teams in these discussions. So, we think overall, the paddock will be able to make that work. But I can’t say I know any exact figures or details as of today.”