PATO O’WARD SCORES PODIUM FINISH TEAM CHEVY RACE ONE RECAP NTT INDYCAR SERIES BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 DOUBLE HEADER PRESENTED BY AXALTA & VALVOLINE WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY MADISON, ILLINOIS AUGUST 29, 2020TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER3^rd       PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET6^th       RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET9^th       TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BIG MACHINE VODKA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET10^th     CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET12^th     JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET13^th     CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET14^th     OLIVER ASKEW NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET17^th     WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET19^th     SIMON PEGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET20^th     ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET            TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER                                                             1^ST      Scott Dixon (Honda)2^nd      Takuma Sato (Honda)3^rd       Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet4^th       Colton Herta (Honda)5^th      Marcus Ericsson (Honda) PATO O’WARD TURNS FRONT ROW START INTO PODIUM FINISH As the 21 year old Pato O’Ward continues his inaugural season behind the wheel of his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, he also continues to move closer and closer to his first win. Starting on the outside of the front row, O’Ward led a race-high 94 laps to finish third in Race One of the Doubleheader weekend. O’Ward will start Race Two from the second row with another opportunity to get that first trip to NTT INDYCAR Series Victory Lane. After a multi-car crash that eliminated several contenders including Team Chevy’s Ed Carpenter and Simon Pagenaud, and a short delay for light rain, the 200 lap race was caution-free as the battle for the Championship ratcheted up to incredible competition. Rookie Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing C hevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie in the race. Tony Kanaan, No. 14 Big Machine Vodka and Conor Daly,, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet finished ninth and 10^th respectively to give Chevy four of the top-10. The NTT IndyCar Series season continues on Sunday, August 30^th, with Race #2 of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Doubleheader at World Wide Technology Raceway. NBCSN will telecast the event at 3:00 p.m.ET. Live coverage can also be found on Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying is available on XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 3^rd“I thought we had very strong pace all race. We rolled out of the gates with this Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevrolet very strong. The guys gave me a very, very strong car right off the bat. It was very consistent throughout the run. But, in the end, I don’t know what these guys do; but (Scott) Dixon obviously got in front of us in the pits and then he left us. And then when I saw Taku (Sato) coming by, I didn’t think he had so much more pace than us. But as soon as he passed us, left us. I was kind of in a race on my own then towards the end trying to defend from (Colton) Herta and Marcus (Ericsson) that was behind him. But we got some very solid points for the championship. We’ll be working for that win tomorrow. Hopefully we can be fighting for it closer to the end of the race.”
WHERE ARE YOU AT NOW COMPARED TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR?“I think we’re in a fantastic place. I really owe a lot to this Arrow McLaren SP group. They are the ones that gave me the chance. They are the ones that believed in me and ultimately gave me a chance to showcase and to push forward with what we can do. And I truly think we can achieve great things. We’re working on it. But Dixie and Sato, they’ve been in the series so long and they are guys that are not easy to beat. So, we’re just going to keep working at it and I’m sure our win will come, and we just have to keep adding on points. In the end, every point is gold.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY THAT MIGHT HELP YOU GET THAT FIRST WIN TOMORROW?“I think just fine-tune the car a little bit and try to get it a bit more into a window where it can be a little bit easier to drive, especially in the end when you’re really pushing. But you know, I was pretty happy out there. I think we ran a very solid race. Just toward the end is where we kind of just have to look back and really see what happened because I truly thought we had a great pit stop. We had a good in-and-out lap. But apparently, it wasn’t good enough.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET- Finished 6^th:“Stellar race! We were on our way to the podium I think, but that yellow kind of screwed me. I kept my chin up and had a great car to make passes with! The No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet was great in the second lane when there were no marbles. I’ve learned luck really isn’t our thing, but we did the best we could with the circumstances. It did get a little sketchy on the last run, I almost lost it a few times! It was 200 laps of experience today and some good points. I’m very happy and I am looking forward to tomorrow!”
TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BIG MACHINE VODKA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 9^th: “Very good result for us. Best result for the team this year. Obviously this place, I had a podium here last year. We have one more tomorrow. Awesome, awesome result. The guys had good pitstops. Thanks to Big Machine Vodka for the help and nice to see some fans in the stands too. Emotional day for me — one more day, so I’ll see if I can sleep tonight. Good day for us.” CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Finished 10^th:“I think we had a great car today in the race with the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet. Qualifying was a bit confusing for us. We aren’t really sure where our pace went, but once we got to the race we were fantastic, strong, and able to pass cars. The rain was a huge factor for us – no idea where that came from. We were making all the right strategy calls and decided to pit a little early to undercut Colton. When we came out of the pits we ran the three fastest laps of the race at that point and then unfortunately there was the yellow for the rain. It just absolutely killed our race and from then on we were really just trying to recover. We were able to still finish in the top 10 which is great for us, but I really think without the rain we could’ve been on the podium or at least in the top five since we were faster than Colton who finished fourth. Thankfully we know we have a fast car and we get another chance tomorrow to do it again.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 12^th:“That was a frustrating race for the Hitachi team. That caution came out totally at the wrong time and we lost all of our track position and everything we’d worked for up to that point. The team had great stops and we gained some positions on each of our first two pit stops. I think without the caution, we would have cycled out in the right position and been up there in the top-three and got to battle it out. Instead, the caution ruined our day and we were just fighting from behind. The Hitachi car was good and Chevy brought some great power. Just nothing you can do when the caution falls. This just makes me more hungry to go out there tomorrow and win the race.” CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 13^th:  “I feel pretty good about the race for the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet. Went off strategy early, it paid off with the yellow for the little bit of rain, got some track position and was able to hold that track position. On that last stop, the 14 and the 4, we kind of split strategies so it felt really good to see them come in the top 10. We didn’t quite get the top 10 that was there but had the yellow fallen right, we’d have had a really good result. Great strategy, great pitstops all day long. We’ll figure out how to make the car better overnight and do it again tomorrow.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 14^th:“A really rough start today. Everyone seemed to check up in front of me in the midfield and made some contact with the front wing. Luckily the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet crew were able to replace the wing and keep me on the lead lap. Our race was compromised from the start, but we salvaged what we could. I’m looking forward to tomorrow with a better starting position.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 17^th:“That was not the race that Verizon, Chevrolet or my team deserved out there today. Our car was pretty good. It was really hard to get close to guys and hard to pass when you got around them. A lot of us were just running the same speed. So when its like that, its all about track position and we lost ours with that caution. The race was over after that. Then we had a tire go down and that was that. We just have to go back after it tomorrow at this point.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 19^th: “Definitely not fun out there. I just feel sorry for Chevy and for Menards. I think we had a good car today and never even got a chance to really test it for tomorrow. That was a little too much excitement for the start of the race at the back. The front of the pack slowed down, I don’t know if it was the accordion affect or whatever that was. We had to pull out of line and all of a sudden someone hit us from behind. It is what it is, but it’s very unfortunate. You aren’t going to win the race in the first corner. People just need to be more patient. We’ll be back tomorrow.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 20^th:“I am pretty bummed out. Second race in a row that I’ve been representing one of the Forces, the U.S. Air Force this weekend. I was basically out of the race before it started, also for the second race in a row. Zach Veach is the current theme right now. He obviously didn’t see the yellow flag or the bright yellow car spinning on the track.”

WILL POWER WINS NTT P1 POLE FOR RACE ONE PATO O’WARD MAKES ALL-CHEVY FRONT ROW JOSEF NEWGARDEN STARTS SECOND FOR RACE TWO ON SUNDAY TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP NTT INDYCAR SERIES BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 DOUBLE HEADER PRESENTED BY AXALTA & VALVOLINE WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY MADISON, ILLINOIS AUGUST 29, 2020 Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, continues his march toward NTT IndyCar Series history by grabbing NTT P1 Pole for Race One of the Doubleheader weekend at World Wide TechnologIy Raceway. It is the 59th pole for the former Series’ champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner. He is currently second all time behind Mario Andretti at 67.
Starting alongside Power will be Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.
Josef Newgarden, No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, will start on the front row for Sunday’s Race 2 after turning in the second quickest time. Power and O’Ward will make-up row two.
NBCSN television broadcasts: Race 1, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 29 (live); Race 2, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 30 (live);
 All NTT INDYCAR SERIES races are broadcast live on Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying is available on XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.

Anthony Alfredo and the Pyro Putty Chevrolet Team Show Impressive Speed at Daytona Depite Mid-Race Damage

21st   13th  10th

“Well tonight was definitely not how I pictured my first time racing at Daytona International Speedway would go, but that is a product of super speedway racing. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got a lot of front end damage to our No. 21 Pyro Putty Chevrolet about halfway through the race when the whole field got stacked up right in front of us. I was actually pretty impressed we were able to hang onto the draft as long as we did with our damage. No one really wanted to work with me just because I had so much damage, so we got shuffled out pretty quick and ended up losing the draft. My favorite part about my Richard Childress Racing team is that we win as a team and lose as a team. We’ll move onto the next one and try to be better.”  -Anthony Alfredo

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT August 28, 2020
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KCMG CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed his focus on winning at Daytona this weekend to make the Playoffs, what it would mean to win, how the season has gone thus far, Rookie of the Year battle, and more. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT YOUR MINDSET HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA“Well, it’s very straight forward. There’s not a lot of distraction. I’ve got one going and that’s to win the race. So, there’s not a lot of cloudiness to it. It’s just very straight forward. I think 160 laps is the scheduled distance. We could see a couple of overtimes but hopefully the last lap is completed under green flag conditions and we take home the checkered flag.”
AS YOU FIELD WHAT COULD BE SORT OF A HAIL MARY PASS TO GET IN THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR AGGRESSIVE STYLE? DO YOU RAMP IT UP AND CAN YOU RAMP IT UP AT DAYTONA?“Well, I think for me, it’s just to go out and treat this like a normal race. Obviously, we all know what’s at stake. We have to win this race in order to make the Playoffs. But, there’s really no other weird way I guess I could end up losing it, you know? I’m not going to lose it on points. I’ve got to just go win.  And that’s very simple. So, for me I’m just going to go about this race how I normally would. I don’t feel like I have to hold back and lay back. I think from the very get-go, we just go and see what our car is capable of and start working with the different cars around us and hopefully finding friends and people that I want to work with. And be in that position most of the day and understand what it takes in our car and what it’s going to take, condition-wise, to put ourselves in the best spot to win.”
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT A CRAPSHOOT IT IS? DOES THAT GO THROUGH YOUR MIND MUCH OR DO YOU JUST FLUSH THAT OUT AND GO DO WHAT YOU DO?“I don’t think it’s a crapshoot at all. A lot of drivers and fans and teams and individuals all claim throughout the many years that this style of superspeedway racing has taken place, it’s all luck. When I go back and look through history and when I look at more recently, Denny Hamlin and his domination and ways he’s been able to go out and win races; and Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano; and even back to Dale Earnhardt and some of those greats, it’s not luck. They know what they’re doing, and they have a very thought-out way of going about winning this race and how they want to dictate the race the entire event long. So, for me, that gives me hope. It’s not a crapshoot for me, it’s what is the best strategy for me to go out and win this race; and with the conditions we’re faced with, it’s very straightforward. Just go compete all day as hard as we can.”
ALONG THOSE LINES, HOW RECKLESS CAN YOU BE TO GO FOR THE WIN WHEN IT COMES TO A PLAYOFFS SPOT? AND, IS IT ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHEN YOU’RE THERE IN FEBRUARY FOR THE DAYTONA 500?“Honestly, it really shouldn’t be. The end result that you want is still the same. Granted, the Daytona 500 is very high-up in a lot of drivers’ lists for different reasons than this weekend. This weekend has always been a big race for drivers to win before it was put in the position that it is now with it being the regular season cutoff. So, I don’t think you approach either much differently. The conditions of the track will be different, and we’ll be racing at night. But I think you approach them pretty much exactly the same. The 500 is a little bit longer and it’s the first race of the year so there’s a sense of a new season and make sure we know how to race. But we’ve been back racing for a while now. So, all of us are not really concerned about that.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON AND DENNY HAMLIN SAID EARLIER TODAY THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME DISCUSSION AMONG DRIVERS ABOUT SOME SORT OF RESPONSE ON SOCIAL ISSUES AND KENOSHA. YOU HAVE BEEN PRETTY VOCAL IN THE PAST. HAVE YOU BEEN PART OF ANY OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?“I haven’t made any recommendations. But, as other drivers have noted, it’s very disturbing what has been taking place in Kenosha. It’s important for us to stay caught-up and continue to educate ourselves about what is going on in this world and, what can we do to make it a better place. As drivers in this position, we have a lot of people that look up to us and I feel like it will continue to be important for us to just press the importance in of educate yourselves and look into what’s going on around you. How can we all make this world, this country, a better place together.”
THE NO. 8 CAR HAS HAD SOME GOOD RESULTS AT DAYTONA. DO YOU THINK THE AURA OF THAT CAR AT DAYTONA AND YOU BEING IN IT IS SPECIAL? IS THAT SOME OF WHAT HAPPENS THIS WEEKEND OR IS IT JUST A GO-GET-IT ATTITUDE AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT?“Well, it would be very special for me to get my first win at Daytona. It’s a track where I got my first Truck Series win. I broke through in some really crazy fashion. I think we still have the closest finish in NASCAR history here, which was a lot of fun and really intense with my teammate at the time, Elliott Sadler. So, to me, I have a lot of motivational pieces that I can pull on at any time I want. One thing that’s always motivated me coming here, especially since getting into the Cup Series is I want to be the first driver to win in all three series at Daytona. That’s important to me. What’s also important for me is winning for my team and the No. 8 car. You know, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving this No. 8 car was a car and driver that I looked up to; I had hung on my walls in my bedroom as a kid. And so, driving that number and then driving for Richard (Childress) is another thing that just is a lot of motivation for me. So, a lot of things and I can continue to go down the list. But you get the idea. A lot of motivation going into this weekend and being in Daytona and being in a Cup car and being in the No. 8 Cup car and having a chance to win and get in the Playoffs, it’s got a lot of things I can really pull on if I need the motivation. But I’ve been pretty motivated all week.”
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU RENEWED YOUR CONTRACT WITH RCR FOR NEXT YEAR ALREADY?“Well, yeah it was a multi-year agreement, but it was one of those things where we got hey, you’re going to come back type of thing. So that was good to get. As we all know, this year has been very crazy in a lot of different ways for a lot of different people for racing. There’s a lot of uncertainty for next year you know, what’s going to happen with just the sport in general and what direction it’s going to take; the partners and everybody involved are all wondering, as they should be, what’s the future and what are we going to do going forward with NASCAR. So, once we got to that point where I knew I was coming back it just so happened I got asked about it and, it kind of turned into a bigger article that it probably should have been; but yes, I am coming back. It was just one of those things. You want to make sure you’re running good. You want to make sure you’re doing the right things. We have been doing that pretty well this year. So, we’ll get another shot at it next year.”
SO, WAS IT ORIGINALLY A SINGLE-YEAR WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO RENEW IF BOTH PARTIES AGREED ON THAT? IS THAT HOW IT WAS ARRANGED FOR YOU?“Well, it was like a multi-year I guess with opts-out if things weren’t going right or stuff like that. So, that’s the best way to put it.”
HOW WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR FIRST YEAR HAS GONE SO FAR? WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF WANTING TO IMPROVE? WHERE DO YOU THINK THE COMPANY NEEDS TO PICK UP?“I don’t think there’s, I guess, one area where I feel like we need to I guess, pick-up. It’s just (crew chief) Randall (Burnett) and I are just continuing to learn about these cars and trying to find our comfort zone. Obviously, the easy answer is to say well, if we just make our cars faster and handle better, we’re going to win more races or we’re going to run better. We’re always looking for ways to make our cars better. We’re always looking for ways to improve them. ECR is working very hard all the time to give us the best that they can under the hood. They’re always working to improve that. So, that’s kind of a given. But we’re going to keep working on it.
“I keep trying to hone-in on what my, I guess, little comfort zone is inside one of these Cup cars with the set-up too. So, it’s just been a learning process. For me personally, I’d say the biggest things I’ve needed to work on is maximizing pit road entry and maximizing pit road speed and getting in and out of the pit box. Opportunities to work on that have been all but removed with no practice. So, that’s been one area that has hurt me at times. But we’ll just keep pressing on all these things and keep going forward. I don’t think it’s anything that isn’t too hard to fix. I think it’s all very fixable and all very easy to continue moving in the right direction.”
AS AN ATHLETE, WHEN YOU SEE THE POWER OF ATHLETES AND WHAT THEY’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS WEEK AND SPEAKING ABOUT SOCIAL INJUSTICES EVEN FURTHER THAN WHAT’S BEEN DISCUSSED THIS SUMMER, WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR YOU AS AN ATHLETE TO SEE THAT TYPE OF POWER? DOES THAT HELP YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN SPEAK OUT EVEN MORE ON THESE ISSUES?“Yeah, it’s important for us, as athletes. It’s kind of like what Jimmie (Johnson) said earlier, some people feel like we just need to stick to sports and talk sports and live and breathe it, but we are human beings and it’s our right to share how we feel about certain things. And for me, these are things we need to keep improving upon. It’s great to see athletes and individuals come together like they have, and really take a stand for something like that. For us in NASCAR, I can’t speak for NASCAR I guess, but we will continue to search and figure out our way of continuing to go down that path. We really did a lot of good things to be more inclusive as we kind of got our year back rolling and we’ve continued to go down this path this year. We’ve taken a lot of steps that are good in the right direction. So, I’m encouraged that we’ve been going down that path and I’m excited to see where that path continues to take us. But it’s truly moving to see those athletes and individuals stand up for that and take that stand. And you know, there’s more to live than sports. There always will be. Life is life. And I think it’s really great to see them stand up for something like that and put their foot down. So, I’m looking ahead and am curious about what we will do, but we’ll do it in our own way just like NASCAR kind of does with everything.”
WITH EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENING AND WITH HOW AWARE THAT YOU ARE OF THESE ISSUES, IS IT DISTRACTING TO THINK ABOUT THIS AND STILL TRY TO LOOK AHEAD TO THE NEXT RACE AND TRYING TO GET IN THE PLAYOFFS? HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH THESE THINGS THIS WEEK ON A PERSONAL LEVEL?“Well, it is crazy. These things can happen to anybody. And it is very disturbing like we’ve all seen in Kenosha. Two different people getting treated in very different ways. It makes you always wonder how did we get to this spot. What’s good is the people responding and being avid and continuing to get the message out just like the individuals in sports have. Go out and educate yourself and learn more about it. I obviously spoke up, but I too need to continue to educate myself and learn more (like) how we can keep the ball rolling in the right direction and achieve that true equality for every human being that lives here in this country.”
YOU ARE A TWO-TIME XFINITY SERIES CHAMPION AND CAME INTO CUP THIS YEAR WITH A HERALDED ROOKIE CLASS WITH CHRISTOPHER BELL AND COLE CUSTER AND JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK. TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS SEASON HAS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU AND BEING A PART OF THIS ROOKIE CLASS AND ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RACE?“It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve raced amongst each other in the Xfinity Series and Trucks, so we’ve raced around each other for a few years now. And we’ve all made it to Cup, which is the top level and that battle has continued on. But, Cole put the pressure on us by going out and winning at Kentucky and getting himself into the Playoffs and taking Rookie of the Year lead. We’re in a spot obviously, where we pretty much need to do the same thing he did. We can’t play out way into the Playoffs, so we need to win this race at Daytona and take the Rooke of the Year battle point lead back, and for other reasons too, to get into the Playoffs and keep this fight for the championship and Rookie of the Year battle alive.”

Dario Franchitti Returns to Indy Car Cockpit
To Drive Honda Fastest Seat In Sports
Former Indy 500, series champion makes debut piloting two-seat Indy Car
Will lead INDYCAR field Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway event
Kerry Robinson of the St. Louis Cardinals will receive the ride of a lifetime

MADISON, Ill. (August 28, 2020) – Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and four-time series champion Dario Franchitti will return to the cockpit this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, as the former Indy car star takes the controls of Honda’s “Fastest Seat in Sports” two-seat Indy car prior to the start of Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 1.25-mile oval.
St. Louis native Kerry Robinson, former left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and now a scout for the organization, will ride in the custom-built, Honda-powered, two-seat Indy car piloted by Franchitti at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri.
“I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of an Indy car, especially one with Honda power, although I certainly didn’t expect to have a passenger!” said Franchitti, who scored all of his 31 Indy car wins with Honda power. “It will be fun to return to the track here at St. Louis, since I believe this is the place where I led an Indy car race for the first time, back in 1997.”
Since his retirement in 2013, Franchitti has remained active in Indy car racing, serving as a driving coach and advisor at the Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing team, working with team drivers Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson.
Now in its 11th consecutive year, Honda’s Fastest Seat in Sports helps to kick off each NTT IndyCar Series® race throughout the season, giving athletes, celebrities and notable influencers an opportunity to experience the thrill of the Honda-powered two-seat Indy car. Recent participants include Nick Cannon, Lady Gaga, Channing Tatum, Kawhi Leonard and Julian Edelman.
At last weekend’s Indianapolis 500, the guest passenger was Honda-powered team owner and former Indy car champion Michael Andretti, who was driven by his father, Mario, while his son Marco led the 33-car starting field from the pole.
Honda also continues its commitment to IndyCar® this year as the automaker celebrates its 27th consecutive year as a manufacturer to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES® and seeks the Manufacturers’ Championship for the third year in a row.
Live race coverage of the WWT Raceway INDYCAR doubleheader race weekend can be viewed on the NBC Sports Network, starting at 3 p.m. EDT both Saturday and Sunday. For more information about Honda’s racing programming, please visit http://hpd.honda.com.

About Honda 
Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. Honda has the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO2 emissions of any major full-line automaker in America, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic, Insight Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. Honda’s electrified vehicle lineup includes the Accord Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid, Insight hybrid-electric sedan, and the Clarity Fuel Cell and Clarity Plug-In Hybrid.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 38 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2019, more than 90 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

Three Days of Drama and Excitement Highlight  Lucas Oil Off Road National Tripleheader in Wheatland, Missouri

Championship Battles Across All Eight Divisions Experience Dramatic Changes

WHEATLAND, Mo. (August 28, 2020) – The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Presented by GEICO made its anticipated return to action this past weekend with the championship’s first three-day tripleheader from Lucas Oil Speedway. The 3rd Annual Lucas Oil Off Road Shootout was destined to see some of the best racing of the season on the longest and fastest track on the schedule, and it didn’t disappoint. An array of winners stood atop the podium over the course of the weekend, and the early championship battles across all eight classes saw various shake ups over the course of the three days.

The championship’s first three-day tripleheader from Lucas Oil Speedway saw various shake ups in all eight classes over the course of the weekend. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Race Series

Pro 2

Friday   Fresh off a sweep of the weekend at the opening event of the season reigning Pro 2 champion and point leader Jerett Brooks debuted a brand new truck in Wheatland, eager to build on his early success. Brooks carried a commanding 13 point lead into the tripleheader over class rookie Ryan Beat and kicked things off by capturing the pole for Friday’s action.   At the drop of the green flag Brooks eventually assumed his familiar spot at the front of the field and easily controlled the race through to the halfway caution. When racing resumed Brooks came under attack from RJ Anderson, who took advantage of a slight miscue to seize the lead and bring Doug Mittag along for second. Meanwhile, Brooks suffered a flat tire and lost even more ground. A late caution bunched the field up once more and allowed Brooks to get a new tire, but out front Anderson was able to carry on to his first win of the season by two seconds over Mittag, with Beat in third. Brooks recovered to salvage fourth.   Friday Results#37 RJ Anderson#81 Doug Mittag#51 Ryan Beat#77 Jerett Brooks#31 Trevor Leighton

RJ Anderson collected his first win of the season on Friday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   Mickey Thomas and Brooks occupied the front row for Saturday’s Pro 2 race, with Mittag and Anderson right behind them. When the trucks roared to life to start the race Brooks pushed his way into the lead and built a comfortable margin over the field, which soon spread out and settled in through to the halfway caution.   When they returned to racing Mittag applied heavy pressure on Brooks, but couldn’t find an opening to attempt a pass. Brooks had his truck running flawlessly and continued to nail his marks, which helped him maintain about a two truck length lead on Mittag. The final two laps saw Brooks post his fastest times of the race as he charged to victory and held off Mittag by just one second at the finish. Thomas rounded out the podium in third.   Saturday Results#77 Jerett Brooks#81 Doug Mittag#44 Mickey Thomas#37 RJ Anderson#51 Ryan Beat

Defending Pro 2 champion Jerrett Brooks scored a victory in Saturday’s race.  Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   With two different winners through the first two days of racing Sunday’s finale was highly anticipated. Mittag and Brooks sat on the front row for the third race, with Mittag on the pole. As they led the field to the green flag Mittag got the initial jump to lead the field through the first turn, but a savvy move by Brooks put the defending champion at the front of the field and he easily maintained that lead through to the halfway caution.   When the action ramped up again Brooks reasserted himself firmly in the lead, but Mittag kept him honest. With three laps to go Brooks made a slight miscue behind the wheel of his truck and it gave just enough of an opening for Mittage to capitalize, giving Brooks a bump as he took over the lead. Shortly thereafter Brooks’ truck came to a stop on the track and ended his day. Mittag carried on to take his first win of the season by 1.6 seconds over Anderson, with Thomas rounding out the podium. Brooks finished in 10th.   Sunday Results#81 Doug Mittag#37 RJ Anderson#44 Mickey Thomas#51 Ryan Beat#31 Trevor Leighton

Pro 2 title challenger Doug Mittag (front) and defending champion Jerett Brooks (back) lead the field at the start of Sunday’s race.  Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro Lite

Friday    Following an impressive win to close out the opening weekend of the season Cole Mamer entered Lucas Oil Speedway atop the Pro Lite standings, carrying an eight point lead over Madix Bailey. On Friday, Mamer was going to have his work cut out for him starting behind the front row of arguably his two biggest challengers, Brock Heger and Christopher Polvoorde.   Heger asserted himself at the head of the pack from the drop of the green and was able to open a big lead through to the halfway caution. When they returned to racing, Heger easily reassumed his role out front and started to once again put distance between he and the rest of the field. That put the attention on the battle for second between Christopher Polvoorde and Ronnie Anderson, who duked it out for the position for the bulk of the race until the closing laps when the intensity picked up and allowed Madix Bailey to get into the mix. Out front Heger was dominant on the way to his first win of the season, taking the checkered flag 6.4 seconds ahead of Polvoorde, who emerged with the runner-up spot, with Bailey edging out Anderson on the final lap for third.   Friday Results#12 Brock Heger#94 Christopher Polvoorde#29 Madix Bailey#52 Ronnie Anderson#59 Jimmy Weitzel

Brock Heger collected his first win of the season in dominating fashion. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday    Heger found himself on the front row to start Saturday’s action, lining up alongside Mamer, the polesitter. When the green flag waved Heger rocketed into the lead and immediately looked to duplicate his efforts from the previous afternoon. Heger easily controlled the lead until just before the halfway caution when a miscue allowed Mamer to jump into the lead.   When they returned to racing Mamer held off heavy pressure from Heger, while Bailey was able to join the fight from third. A late caution set the stage for a two lap showdown for the finish and Mamer responded, surging out to a comfortable advantage while Heger was left to fend off Polvoorde and Bailey for second. Mamer continued to add to his lead and took home his second win of the season by 3.5 seconds over Polvoorde, who got by Heger in the final turn.   Saturday Results#35 Cole Mamer#94 Christopher Polvoorde#12 Brock Heger#29 Madix Bailey#52 Ronnie Anderson

Cole Mamer (front) jumped into the lead and then proceeded to collect his second win of the season. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday    With two different winners through the first two days of racing in Pro Lite, it was anyone’s guess as to who might come away with the victory on Sunday. Polesitter Bailey and Polvoorde led the field to the green flag for the third and final race of the weekend, with Mamer and Heger giving pursuit from the second row. As the green flag waved Bailey took advantage of his inside positioning to assume the early lead, but a spirited three-way battle developed between Bailey, Polvoorde, and Heger leading to the halfway caution.   When the action got back underway the battle resumed and Heger was able to muscle his way into the lead with four laps to go. He continued to build on that advantage in the closing laps to bring home his second victory of the weekend by 2.2 seconds over Bailey, while Polvoorde completed the podium in third.   A strong weekend for Heger helped move him to the top of the Pro Lite championship standings after five rounds, where he now has a 13-point lead over Polvoorde in second.   Sunday Results#12 Brock Heger#29 Madix Bailey#94 Christopher Polvoorde#50 Mason Prater#59 Jimmy Weitzel  Pro Lite Points (Round 5 of 10)#12 Brock Heger – 254#94 Christopher Polvoorde – 241#29 Madix Bailey – 236#35 Cole Mamer – 229#52 Ronnie Anderson – 215#59 Jimmy Weitzel – 215

Brock Heger left Wheatland atop the points standings in the Pro Lites class.  Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro Buggy

Friday   A highly competitive opening weekend saw the young guns of Matthew Brister and Trey Gibbs take their first Pro Buggy wins, with reigning champion Eliott Watson right in the mix. Just three points separated all three of these drivers coming into Lucas Oil Speedway, setting the stage for a thrilling weekend. Gibbs would roll off the grid the best of the trio to start Friday’s action, with a front row positioning alongside polesitter Brady Whitlock. Watson started fourth, with Brister fifth.   From the drop of the green the intensity and close racing of this class was on full display as Whitlock, Gibbs, and Watson engaged in a spirited battle for the lead early on, even going three wide at one point. Gibbs eventually asserted himself out front prior to the halfway caution. When the second half of the race got underway, the competitiveness picked up even more as Darren Hardesty Jr. joined the fray. A three car battle between Gibbs, Hardesty, and Watson would determine which driver emerged victorious, with the champ making an incredible inside pass under his rivals exiting the track’s “Talladega” turn, going from third to first and storming to his first win of the 2020 season by three seconds over Gibbs, while Brister came on strong late to grab third.   Friday Results#1 Eliott Watson#15 Trey D. Gibbs#5 Matthew Brister#99 Darren Hardesty Jr.#7 Dale Ebberts

Trey Gibbs (front) and Brady Whitlock battled early on in Friday’s race. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   With his first win in hand, Watson carried the momentum into Saturday by starting on the pole alongside Brister, with Gibbs and Whitlock behind them. When the green flag waved Watson got the jump on the field and easily took control of the lead, while Gibbs and Brister battled for second. The champ easily led the field to the halfway caution and set his sights on more dominance to close out the race.   When the field returned to action Watson jumped back out to a big lead over the field and cruised home to his second straight win with a flawless wire-to-wire drive. Watson crossed the finish line nine seconds ahead of Gibbs, while Whitlock followed in third.   Saturday Results#1 Eliott Watson#15 Trey D. Gibbs#74 Brady Whitlock#5 Matthew Brister#7 Dale Ebberts

Defending class champion Eliott Watson (front) jumped out to an early lead on Saturday and cruised home to his second straight win.  Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   A pair of convincing victories through the first two days of action had reigning Pro Buggy champion Watson brimming with confidence entering the final race of the weekend on Sunday. As an added boost, Watson captured the pole position for the third race and led the field to the green flag. When the field charged down the front straight to start the race Watson quickly moved into the lead and built a big lead over the field. He continued to pace the field and cruised to the halfway caution.   When the second half of the race got underway Watson was in line for a big points day as both Gibbs and Brister faced adversity. The champ once again stormed out to a big lead over the field and dropped the hammer in the closing laps to sprint away from the field. He completed the weekend sweep with his most dominant drive of the weekend, taking the checkered flag 9.7 seconds ahead of Whitlock, while Hardesty completed the podium in third.   The weekend sweep moved Watson to the top of the Pro Buggy championship standings, where he’s built an impressive 23-point lead over Gibbs in second.   Sunday Results#1 Eliott Watson#74 Brady Whitlock#99 Darren Hardesty Jr.#7 Dale Ebberts#56 Zachary Drapkin  Pro Buggy Points (Round 5 of 10)#1 Eliott Watson – 268#15 Trey D. Gibbs – 245#5 Matthew Brister – 236#99 Darren Hardesty Jr. – 226#7 Dale Ebberts – 218

Elliot Watson completed a historic sweep in the Pro Buggy class at Wheatland. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Turbo UTV & Production 1000 UTV

Friday   Reigning Turbo UTV champion Corry Weller came into Wheatland on the heels of a weekend sweep at the opening rounds, where six points sat between her and Ronnie Anderson. The first race of the weekend started with Kyle Chaney on the pole, with Weller alongside. As the field came to life Chaney easily moved into the lead while Weller and Anderson made contact in the first turn, causing both to lose valuable ground. While Chaney held strong out front, Anderson and Weller battled for second for several laps until Weller’s Can-Am began to lose pace and saw her lose multiple positions. Out front, Chaney was dominant and easily brought home the win ahead of Anderson by 3.4 seconds, with Trevor Leighton rounding out the podium in third. Weller ended up seventh.   In Production 1000 UTV the budding title fight between Myles Cheek and Brock Heger was set to continue over the three day weekend, with a mere three points separating them coming into Wheatland. The rivals started on the front row for Friday’s opening race, with Cheek on pole, and when the green flag waved Cheek was able to get the edge on Heger to grab control of the lead. Heger didn’t hold back and put heavy pressure on the lead while Dallas Nord followed closely in third. The battle for the lead intensified at the midpoint of the race, with Cheek and Heger trying differing lines mere inches from one another. Despite Heger’s best efforts Cheek was able to withstand every pass attempt and pulled away on the final lap to take his second win of the season by 1.9 seconds over Heger, with Nord a solid third.   Friday Turbo UTV Results#791 Kyle Chaney#752 Ronnie Anderson#703 Trevor Leighton#715 Trey D. Gibbs#14 Derek Tidd  Friday Production 1000 UTV Results#957 Myles Cheek#912 Brock Heger#974 Dallas Nord#916 Robby Hornsby#924 Bradley Morris

(Left to right) Kyle Chaney opened up the three-day tripleheader with a Friday win, while Myles Cheek held off pressure from Brock Heger to collect his second career Production 1000 UTV victory. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   With his runner-up finish on Friday, Anderson entered Saturday’s Turbo UTV action with a hold of the championship point lead, and he looked to add to that advantage by starting the second race of the weekend from pole position, with Weller lining up right behind him. As the field came to take the green flag a damp track saw Leighton, Chaney, and Weller all slide into the Turn1 wall, which initiated a restart. While Leighton and Chaney were unable to continue, Weller got a second chance and on the restart she settled into second as Anderson opened up a big lead. However, Weller was patient and chipped away at the deficit and successfully made the winning pass just past the halfway point. She took her third win of the season by 3.3 seconds over Anderson, with Derek Tidd in third.   After a stellar head-to-head battle on Friday both Cheek and Heger entered Saturday’s Production 1000 UTV race ready for more. The standard bearers of the division were going to have their work cut out for them, with Heger starting from the second row and Cheek from the third row, but as soon as the green flag waved it didn’t take long for them to make their presence felt. Heger charged to the front as the field entered the “Talladega” turn for the first time, and Cheek gave chase by quickly moving up to third. It wasn’t long before they were running 1-2. The leaders were never separated by more than a few UTV lengths throughout the race and were essentially equal on speed, which allowed Heger to keep Cheek at bay and take his second win of the season by less than a second. Nord followed again in third.   Saturday Turbo UTV Results#1 Corry Weller#752 Ronnie Anderson#14 Derek Tidd#718 Chance Haugen#742 Keith Brooks  Saturday Production 1000 UTV Results#912 Brock Heger#957 Myles Cheek#974 Dallas Nord#916 Robby Hornsby#924 Bradley Morris

(Left to right) Corry Weller collected her third Turbo UTV victory with a Saturday win, while Brock Heger (back) scored his second win this season in the Production 1000 UTV class. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   With her win on Saturday reigning Turbo UTV champion Weller was ready to continue her hotly contested early season title fight with Anderson in Sunday’s finale, but both would have to deal with a speedy Chaney, who won Friday. The championship rivals lined up alongside one another on the front row for the final race, with Weller on pole position. When racing got underway Weller quickly moved into the lead while Anderson and Chaney made contact fighting for second and lost valuable ground. Chaney was able to recover and eventually tracked down and passed Weller for the lead, resulting in a rare mistake from the champ that saw her lose even more spots. Chaney cruised to his second win of the weekend 5.6 seconds ahead of Tidd, while Leighton followed in third. Weller settled for fourth, while misfortune struck Anderson and dropped him to ninth.   Weller maintained her hold of the championship point lead in Turbo UTV, where she now sits 10 points ahead of Anderson in second.   Through the first two Production 1000 UTV races of the weekend, championship contenders Cheek and Heger had split victories, with an intense head-to-head battle defining each race. One of these two drivers was sure to be gunning for the edge on Sunday to close out the weekend with much needed momentum. The duo started side by side for the final race on the second row, and as the race got underway Heger aggressively pursued the lead, which resulted in a top over after he clipped a tire track marker. Nord grabbed control of the lead briefly but Cheek was simply too fast and easily seized control of the race. With Cheek out front, Heger was doing all he could to climb through the field. Cheek went on to take his second win of the weekend by 2.5 seconds over Nord, with Robby Hornsby third. Heger recovered for fourth.   Cheek was able to extend his lead atop the Production 1000 UTV championship standings, where he now has a 13-point lead over Heger in second.   Sunday Turbo UTV Results#791 Kyle Chaney#14 Derek Tidd#703 Trevor Leighton#1 Corry Weller#718 Chance Haugen  Turbo UTV Points (Round 5 of 10)#1 Corry Weller – 256#752 Ronnie Anderson – 246#703 Trevor Leighton – 225#718 Chance Haugen – 205#715 Trey D. Gibbs – 205  Sunday Production 1000 UTV Results#957 Myles Cheek#974 Dallas Nord#916 Robby Hornsby#912 Brock Heger#922 Josh Luketic  Production 1000 UTV Points (Round 5 of 10)#957 Myles Cheek – 273#912 Brock Heger – 260#916 Robby Hornsby – 237#974 Dallas Nord – 215#974 Bronsen Chiaramonte – 180#967 Ben Booker – 180

(Left to right) Kyle Chaney earned two of the three Turbo UTV victories over the weekend while Myles Cheek captured two wins in Production 1000 UTV. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Mod Kart, JR2 Kart & RZR 170

Friday   After a highly competitive first two rounds Mod Kart came to Lucas Oil Speedway with Braden Chiaramonte holding a seven point margin over Trey Eggleston in the championship standings, with Connor Barry just one additional point behind in third. Eggleston started from pole position on Friday with Chiaramonte alongside and when the green flag waved it was the point leader who jumped out to the lead while Eggleston fought to maintain second. With the lead in hand, Chiaramonte overran a corner and hit a track marker tire, which dropped him to the tail end of the field. That handed the lead to Johnny Holtger, with Brody Eggleston close behind in second. The closing laps of the race saw wild action and the battle for the win came down to a one-lap shootout in which Eggleston started out front but soon lost several spots, ultimately giving up the lead to his brother Trey, who then charged to the checkered flag for his first win of the season. David Gasper finished in second, with Brody Eggleston holding on for third.   Following a strong opening weekend Rhyan Denney enjoyed a comfortable 13 point lead over Dane Culver in the JR 2 Kart standings coming into Wheatland. As the field rolled onto the track for the first time it was Martin cousins of Talan and Brodie leading the field to green. As the race got underway Brodie Martin was able to grab hold of the lead and hold off some heavy pressure from Dane Culver and Denney. As the race continued, Denney marched her way into the lead. A late caution bunched the field together and allowed the Martins to move into the top two spots on the final lap, while Denney and Culver got stuck together after making contact. Brodie Martin stormed to his second win of the season by a kart length over Talan, with Irie Bailey in third.   In RZR 170, TJ Siewers entered the weekend tripleheader with a nine point lead in the championship standings over Ian Torfi. On Friday this pair started on the front row, just ahead of reigning champion George Llamosas. At the drop of the green Siewers was able to grab hold of the lead and open a gap over the field, which he continued to build on throughout the remainder of the race. The point leader enjoyed a perfect wire-to-wire victory, taking the checkered flag seven seconds ahead of Ryder VanBeekum in second, with Tatum Foerster in third.   Friday Mod Kart Results#590 Trey Eggleston#576 David Gasper#514 Brody Eggleston#573 Braden Chiaramonte#554 Luke Knupp  Friday JR2 Kart Results#413 Brodie Martin#411 Talan Martin#429 Irie Bailey#486 Tyli Olsen#415 Chaden Zane Minder  Friday RZR 170 Results#101 TJ Siewers#164 Ryder VanBeekum#195 Tatum Foerster#102 Ian Torfi#188 George Llamosas

(Clockwise from left) Mod Kart’s Trey Eggleston, JR2 Kart’s Brodie Martin, and RZR 170’s TJ Siewers emerged victorious after a highly competitive Friday in the junior divisions. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   The second Mod Kart race of the weekend saw Connor Baryy start on pole alongside Holtger. When racing got underway, Barry was able to charge out to the early lead over Luke Knupp and Chiaramonte, with Brody Eggleston giving chase from fourth. The battle for second soon became a three-car affair with both Chiaramonte and Eggleston getting around Knupp. Eggleston continued his charge forward and eventually grabbed the lead from Barry, but Barry battled back and reclaimed the top spot. He carried on to take his second win of the season by about a car length over Eggleston, with Holtger in third.   A highly competitive first JR 2 Kart race led to an anticipated second day of action on Saturday. Lake Adler led the field to green from pole, with the Martin cousins surrounding Denney. When the green flag waved Brodie Martin jumped into the lead initially, but Adler battled back to take the top spot. From there the second generation racer never looked back and carried on to take his first career win by a half second over Logan Leggitt, with Chaden Zane Minder in third.   After an impressive win on Friday, RZR 170 point leader Siewers was in search of continued success on Saturday. He started from the pole for the second race of the weekend, alongside VanBeekum. As the field came to life for the green flag Siewers was able to grab control of the lead and maintain it through the first half of the race. However, the defending champion wanted to make his presence felt as well and Llamosas made an assertive pass to seize control of the race. This pair continued to duke it out up front, with Siewers reclaiming the position. They continued to race bumper to bumper through to the checkered flag with Siewers edging out Llamosas for the win, followed by Torfi in third.   Saturday Mod Kart Results#528 Connor Barry#514 Brody Eggleston#544 John Holtger#573 Braden Chiaramonte#590 Trey Eggleston  Saturday JR2 Kart Results#499 Lake Adler#481 Logan Leggitt#415 Chaden Zane Minder#447 Kaylee Federwisch#401 Dane Culver  Saturday RZR 170 Results#101 TJ Siewers#188 George Llamosas#102 Ian Torfi#158 Declan Shields#124 Zoe Easton

(Clockwise from left) Mod Kart’s Connor Barry, JR2 Kart’s Lake Adler, and RZR 170’s TJ Siewers collected victories on Saturday in the junior divisions. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   The wild action of Mod Kart through the first two days of racing meant there was a wide open battle to capture the Sunday win and end the weekend on a high note. Chiaramonte started the final race from the pole, but when the green flag waved it was Barry who jumped into the early lead. A persistent Chiaramonte made the move for the lead just past halfway and got around Barry. A tight three way battle for the lead between Chiaramonte, Barry, and Trey Eggleston carried on through the closing laps, with Chiaramonte edging out Barry in second and Eggleston in third to become the third different winner of the weekend.   The win helped Chiaramonte stay atop the Mod Kart championship standings, where he now sits seven points ahead of Eggleston.   The competitiveness of JR 2 Kart was on display all weekend, with two different winners through the first two days, including a first-time winner on Saturday. When the field rolled onto the track for the final time on Sunday it was anyone’s guess as to who might take the checkered flag. Talan Martin started from the pole but he encountered misfortune almost immediately, which allowed Denney to take control of the race. She paced the field for the majority of the race, but left the door open with two laps to go, which allowed Leggitt to dive to the inside and steal the lead. Leggitt barely held off Denney on the final lap to take his first win and become the third different class winner of the weekend.   Denny was able to add to her point lead atop the JR 2 Kart championship standings, where she now holds a 14-point lead over Leggitt in second.   With back to back wins on Friday and Saturday, RZR 170 point leader came into Sunday’s finale looking for the sweep in an effort to continue building on his championship point lead. As the race got underway it was reigning class champion Llamosas who grabbed the early lead, but as the race passed the halfway point VanBeekum got by both Siewers and Llamosas to take the lead. However, a determined Llamosas battled his way back to the front and held on to take his second win of the season ahead of VanBeekum, followed by Siewers in third.   Siewers’ strong weekend helped him extend his point lead in the RZR 170 championship standings, where he now enjoys an 18-point lead over Llamosas in second.   Sunday Mod Kart Results#573 Braden Chiaramonte#528 Connor Barry#590 Trey Eggleston#576 David Gasper#554 Luke Knupp  Mod Kart Points (Round 5 of 10)#573 Braden Chiaramonte – 249#590 Trey Eggleston – 242#528 Connor Barry – 238#514 Brody Eggleston – 219#554 Luke Knupp – 210  Sunday JR2 Kart Results#481 Logan Leggitt#460 Rhyan Denney#413 Brodie Martin#447 Kaylee Federwisch#401 Dane Culver  JR2 Kart Points (Round 5 of 10)#460 Rhyan Denney – 240#481 Logan Leggitt – 226#413 Brodie Martin – 225#401 Dane Culver – 219#411 Talan Martin – 217   Sunday RZR 170 Results#188 George Llamosas#164 Ryder VanBeekum#101 TJ Siewers#102 Ian Torfi#158 Declan Shields  RZR 170 Points (Round 5 of 10)#101 TJ Siewers – 269#188 George Llamosas – 251#102 Ian Torfi – 243#164 Ryder VanBeekum – 237#124 Zoe Easton – 204

(Clockwise from left) Mod Kart’s Braden Chiaramonte, JR2 Kart’s Logan Leggitt, and RZR 170’s George Llamosas brought home the junior class victories on Sunday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

The 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series will return to action in September with another three day tripleheader from Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, for the sixth, seventh, and eighth rounds of the season. The first race of the weekend will take place on Friday, September 18, followed by back-to-back races over the weekend on Saturday, September 19, and Sunday, September 20.

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 28, 2020

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the final race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, what it’s like racing with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, for a spot in the Playoffs, and more. Transcript:  CHAD (KNAUS) TALKED THE OTHER DAY THAT YOU TEXTED HIM MONDAY MORNING AND THAT YOU GUYS ALSO LATER TALKED ON THE PHONE THIS WEEK ABOUT RACING EACH OTHER AND THE WEIRDNESS OF IT. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT AND ALSO WHY IS IT WEIRD BECAUSE YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN RACING AGAINST EACH OTHER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. IN YOUR MIND, WHY DID YOU SEND THAT TEXT ABOUT HOW WEIRD IT WAS AND THE FEELINGS IN GOING UP AGAINST CHAD FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT?“Chad (Knaus) and I are great friends and have stayed really close through all that’s happened. Sure, it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t fun at some different points here recently, but I wish him the best. We talk often. I want the best for Chad and his family, and for Chad and his race team. To go into Dover, we could all sense and see the picture and the way it was unfolding. I knew they had a tough Saturday and the toll that it took on William and Chad both, and then they rebounded on Sunday. I’ve been there – I’ve had him coaching me along and I just know where his head is, and I know how difficult and weird it is to look at the 48 car as the guy you have to beat. And the way you go about motivating yourself to beat your competition. I’m sitting on my side going through the same thing and it’s William and Chad, and specifically Chad. Through our friendship and our relationship, I just reached out to him and we had a good laugh about it. We certainly both look at the year and know there are moments that could have kept us both from being in this position, but it is what it is and we’re going to Daytona, which makes it even more awkward. We’ll see how things play out.”
EARLIER THIS YEAR, YOU KIND OF LED THE DRIVER EFFORT IN RESPONSE TO SOCIAL JUSTICE. I’M CURIOUS IF THERE HAS BEEN ANY DISCUSSIONS THIS WEEK ABOUT ANYTHING DRIVERS WILL DO ON SATURDAY IN RESPONSE TO KENOSHA? “Yeah, there’s been some early talks. I’m not sure where it will end up just yet, but I know the drivers have had some conversations and I know that NASCAR, as well, is in that conversation. These things seem to develop a little later, based on past experience, but I know that many, including myself, are extremely disturbed in what we saw at Kenosha. We’ll see how things develop for tomorrow’s event.”
YOUR CAREER IS OBVIOUSLY DEFINED ALREADY – SEVEN CHAMPIONSHIPS, HALL OF FAMER, ALL OF THOSE THINGS. BUT WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO GET THE GAME-WINNING BASE HIT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH TO GET YOURSELF INTO THE PLAYOFFS THIS TIME AROUND, CONSIDERING ALL THE ADVERSITY – THE LOSE OF POINTS AT CHARLOTTE, MISSING THE INDIANAPOLIS RACE. WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY TO GET OVER THE HUMP AND GET IN? WOULD IT BE EVEN SWEETER TO GET IN WITH YOUR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TEAMMATE?“Yeah, of course we want all four cars in the Playoffs and to go through the rounds in the Playoffs. So, that would be the sweet thing. For me, I feel like I’m racing more for my team. On top of that and an extension of that would be for the fans. I know where I am in my heart and I know that I’m still very, very competitive, can get the job done, win races and be a threat for the championship. There’s just more variables to the reality of that than I think even I realized. I’ve had it so good with all those variables in place and was able to win five championships in a row, win all those races and seven championships in total. But I’m a better driver today than I was then and I firmly believe that. Watching my team develop, grow and end up where we are today led by Cliff Daniels, it’s been a tough three years – there’s no way around it. But we are coming and this team is on track. I do feel like we can get that base hit and I do feel that we can go rounds. And I do feel like we can get hot and be a championship threat. Yes, that will mean a lot to me, but for my team – they’re my motivation right now. Watching these guys give everything that they have week in and week out and they really are my motivation right now to go in addition to my competitive nature and what I want to accomplish. We’ll see how it all plays out. It could be a storybook ending for us, which would be amazing and I know the fans would really appreciate that and enjoy it. But all I can do is give 100 percent – that’s something that I’ve learned over these last three years that our performance on Sunday is more than just my will, my desire and how good I want to do. It’s really more of a team sport than I’ve ever imagined.”
WITH WHAT’S ON THE LINE TOMORROW, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS WEEK TO KIND OF KEEP YOUR MIND AWAY FROM RACING?“I’ve been training pretty hard – that’s always been a great escape for me. With restrictor plate racing, there’s only so much you can do to prepare and get ready for it. The rules are locked in, we don’t have practice, we don’t have qualifying. To burn off nervous energy for me has always be training, so I’ve been on the mountain bike quite a bit this week.”
IT’S DAYTONA AND THIS COULD BE YOUR LAST RACE AT DAYTONA. WHAT’S YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THAT THINKING ABOUT YOUR LAST RACE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY AND ON A SUPERSPEEDWAY?“Honestly, just lay it all out on the line. We have a lot at stake and, again, it could be a great storybook ending for my last full-time race or race on an oval at Daytona. We all understand the storylines. I’m excited, I’m ready to go. I’m not one to spend too much time getting overly sentimental. I’m more excited about the opportunity to go racing and drive that 48 car. So, I’m just excited to get there and get to work.”
AFTER DOVER, YOU SORT OF MENTIONED JUST LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT RACE AND NOT REALLY BEING TOO REFLECTIVE. I’M WONDERING, OVER THE COURSE OF THE WEEK, HAVE YOU TAKEN ANY MORE MOMENTS TO REFLECT OR HAVE YOU SORT OF CHANGED HOW YOU’RE THINKING GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND?“My mindset has really just been competition focused – trying to win races, trying to gather points. That’s so stressful that I believe it’s helped me not focus too much on the sentimental stuff and the emotions that come with that. I think I’m just wired that way and I believe a lot of competitors are – that you don’t want to stop and really reflect. I know at some point that I won’t have a choice and that will be in the forefront of my mind, but the longer I can defer that, I think the more that it allows me to focus on my job and to do my job. We’ll see how things go after the Playoffs. Hopefully we make the Playoffs and I can stay focused in the right areas on competition, and require to and have to. If we don’t make the Playoffs, maybe that shifts things a little bit. But again, I want to win a race so bad that that’s way more important to me than any type of reflection. I have years to reflect back – I don’t plan on being away from our sport. I might not be there week in and week out, but this is a sport that has given me so much that I plan to be around and I feel like there will be plenty of moments in the future to reflect, and this year is much more about performance.”
YOU’RE GOING UP AGAINST A HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TEAMMATE IN WILLIAM BYRON AND A GUY THAT’S COME UP THROUGH THE ORGANIZATION – SOMEONE WHO’S RISE YOU’VE WATCHED OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS. WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT A DRIVER LIKE WILLIAM BYRON AND WHERE HAS HE IMPROVED SINCE ENTERING INTO THE CUP SERIES A COUPLE YEARS BACK?“He’s a true student of the sport and his life is dedicated to racing. With his interest in sim racing, he can literally day in and day out learn tracks, drive cars, think about racing, think about setups, interact with his team on that level. During my generation, we could go test quite a bit and we did a lot of that. But still, I think he can get more reps in today’s world than the world that I grew up in and it’s been really interesting to watch him grow in his path. I think he probably has the fastest path to a NASCAR Cup car in the history of our sport. Hats off to him – he’s doing a great job and I know he’s going to be a tough competitor at Daytona.”
I KNOW YOU SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE YOUR FINAL SEASON, BUT I’M SURE YOU DIDN’T ANTICIPATE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THEN CONTRACTING THE DISEASE YOURSELF, AND NOT HAVING ANY FANS IN THE STANDS, WHICH PREVENTS YOU FROM GETTING THE PROPER SENDOFF SAY THAT TONY STEWART AND JEFF GORDON GOT. AT ANYTIME DID YOU START HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT HIS BEING YOUR FINAL FULL-TIME SEASON? AT THIS MOMENT, ARE YOU STILL CONTENT WITH YOUR DECISION?“Yeah, I made that decision and it takes a lot to make that decision. So, for me, since I’ve made it, it’s in motion – it’s happened, it’s where my heart is. This is my final year in the car full-time in NASCAR. It doesn’t mean that I won’t come back and run some NASCAR races. I’m certainly working hard to stay racing next year. So, the fans will still have their opportunity I believe to see me in race cars at a high level and we can have some great experiences there. The farewell tour that I hoped to have, the interaction with fans and that sentimental experience – the pandemic got it. It’s an unfortunate truth, but it is what it is.”
YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT IT WAS AWKWARD WITH THE RACE BEING AT DAYTONA AGAINST CHAD (KNAUS). WHY AWKWARD?“The awkward piece of racing my teammate and then to be at a track where there’s so many variables and so many ways to lose points. It’s just an awkward weekend. Normally, my history of racing, especially trying to make the playoffs, you’re used to a certain series of races that lead up to it, and then a cutoff race and what happens there. This is just all new and it’s different. I think from a fan’s perspective, it’s going to be very entertaining and the fans are going to tune in. For us guys in the pressure cooker, it’s more intense than any situation that I’ve been in the past.”
HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN ANY DISCUSSIONS AT ALL OF WHO MIGHT REPLACE YOU NEXT YEAR AS THE DRIVER OF THE 48 CAR? HAVE THEY BOUNCED DIFFERENT DRIVERS OFF OF YOU?“Yeah, I’ve been involved a little bit. It’s a big decision for the company and for our sponsor Ally. So, the weight really lies in their hands and the direction they want to take. (inaudible). I believe in Hendrick Motorsports – the decision they make and who they decide to put in the car. And, of course, Ally goes along with that as well.”
MATT DIBENEDETTO TALKED ABOUT HIS WIFE PRETTY MUCH CRYING AMID ALL THE PRESSURE AND I SEE WILLIAM BYRON WITH SCENTED CANDLES ON HIS INSTAGRAM. I’M CURIOUS, WHAT’S LIFE LIKE FOR JIMMIE JOHNSON THIS WEEK?“Life is kind of interesting for me and certainly different than those two. We have chosen to do homeschooling for our kids until the season is over. Obviously, with the pandemic, missing a race already and for our children’s safety, we’ve decided to do distance learning. I was up at 5:45 this morning so my daughter, Lydia, could do a Zoom conference with one of her teachers at 6:30 MT because we’re in Colorado. It would be great if we were still in Charlotte right now on the east coast – the time would be much better (laughs). But our focus is on our homeschooling and all week long connecting our kids to their classes have meant very early mornings. Very different lifestyles for all three of us. And just where we are in age and what we have going on. The stress of the job – I’ve been through this in some many different ways. I feel like it’s one of the advantages experience brings. I’m sure I’ll feel it, but I think it will really just show up on race day in the car in the moment and the days leading into it are a little more relaxed for me.”
CERTAINLY, THIS YEAR WE’VE SEEN THE ROLE OF ATHLETES SPEAKING AGAINST SOCIAL INJUSTICES IN WAYS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN BEFORE AND CERTAINLY SEEN IN THIS SPORT. I’M CURIOUS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THAT AND HOW IT’S CHANGED EVEN FROM AN ATHLETES POINT-OF-VIEW WITH THE PLATFORM YOU’VE HAD ALL THESE YEARS. WHETHER IT’S THE COMFORT FACTOR OR BEING ABLE TO SPEAK UP AT THIS POINT AS OPPOSED TO YEARS PAST AND CERTAINLY SEE IT MORE IN OTHER SPORTS AND ATHLETES AS WELL IN THE CHANGING TIMES. AND WHAT THIS NEXT GENERATION OF ATHLETES AND DRIVERS IN THE SPORT – HOW THIS MIGHT CHANGE HOW THEY LOOK AT THINGS MOVING FORWARD.“Yeah, these are changing times and I know many don’t want to see the opinions of the athletes, and they want the sport to be the sport and the athletes just to be quiet. But I think there’s been so much going on over a long, long period of time and various topics, as well, that we have an opinion – athletes have an opinion and we have a right to share our opinion. I think with age, I’ve become more comfortable to share my opinion. And then as I learn more about various issues, my own emotions come into play and I’m led to having different conversations or use my platforms in a different way – to focus our foundation and some of the work it does in a different direction. We all have our own journey with it all and I think we all definitely have that right and should not be judged to have that right. It’s just changing times – a big election year, a lot of different opinions, and in my opinion, a country more divided than I’ve ever seen or experienced in my lifetime. So, it’s an important time in everyone’s life right now and I feel like the younger generation is watching and learning. And I’m very encouraged by watching my kids and the way our school is teaching them to learn, to have an opinion, to really educate themselves on various topics. At times, I’m discouraged by where we sit as a nation, as a world and just how divided we all are. But then when I see my kids, their questions and their genuine concern about the future of our country, of our environment, of racial inequality issues, gender-related issues – I do become encouraged. To hear a 10-year old and a 6-year old weigh in on some conversations really has blown my mind. So, I do have some optimism for the future. Clearly, it’s a critical point in time right now for us all. It’s a big topic and a journey that’s not going to resolve anytime soon for generations to come.”

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE NTT INDYCAR SERIES BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 DOUBLE HEADER PRESENTED BY AXALTA & VALVOLINE WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY MADISON, ILLINOIS AUGUST 28-30, 2020 RACE #8 & 9 OF 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES: With the Indianapolis 500 is the rear-view mirror, Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR Series turns its focus on the championship battle as the modified schedule for the Series’ starts to wind down.
With three drivers in the top-five in the standings – Josef Newgarden – second; Pato O’Ward – third and Simon Pagenaud – fifth, every lap, every point counts as the Series faces a string of doubleheader events starting with this weekend. This weekend Bowtie teams and drivers are facing preparation for a doubleheader for the third time this year. World Wide Technology Raceway, just east of St. Louis in Madison, Illinois will host the Series.  A pair of 200 lap/250 mile races, one on each Saturday and Sunday will give fans double the opportunity to watch their favorite Chevy INDYCAR driver navigate the fast 1.25-mile oval across the Mississippi River from the famed Gateway Arch. Two-time and defending Series’ champion Josef Newgarden, No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, has a win (2017) and a pole (2019) at the track joining his teammate Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet with a pole (2017) and a victory in 2018. There will be a practice on Friday late afternoon followed by qualifying on Saturday morning utilizing the same format that debuted at Iowa. Two laps for each driver will be the only qualifying and set the field for both races. Lap one sets the field for Race One on Saturday afternoon. Lap two sets the field for Race Two on Sunday afternoon. NBCSN television broadcasts: Race 1, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 29 (live); Race 2, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 30 (live); 
NBC Sports Gold livestreaming: Friday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session (4:30 pm ET) and Saturday’s qualifying (Noon) will stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
 All NTT INDYCAR SERIES races are broadcast live on Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying is available on XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app. ON-TRACK SCHEDULE:Friday, Aug. 284:30-6 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice #1, NBC Sports Gold (live)Saturday, Aug. 29Noon – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps (Lap 1/Race 1; Lap 2/Race 2), NBC Sports Gold (Live)3 p.m. – NBCSN on air3:40 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”3:45 p.m. – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta & Valvoline · Race 1 (200 laps/250 miles), NBCSN (Live)Sunday, Aug. 303 p.m. – NBCSN on air3:40 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”3:45 p.m. – Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta & Valvoline · Race 2 (200 laps/250 miles), NBCSN (Live) BOWTIE BULLETS: ·       Chevrolet at World Wide Technology Raceway 2017 to current:o  2 wins: Josef Newgarden-2017; Will Power-2018o   2 poles: Will Power-2017; Josef Newgarden-2019·       Josef Newgarden is second in points, Pato O’Ward is third in points and Simon Pagenaud is fifth in points·       Power is the second all-time INDYCAR pole winner with 58 (behind only Mario Andretti with 67).·       Since returning to INDYCAR manufacturer competition in 2012, Chevrolet has amassed 84 wins and 98 poles in 142 races along with six Manufacturer Championships and six driver championships QUOTABLE QUOTES: ROB BUCKNER, CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES:  “With Indy behind us, our focus turns to Gateway, and another doubleheader. Gateway is a great sized oval at 1.25-mile for the Chevrolet-powered cars in the INDYCAR Series. Since the series returned to the track in 2017, Chevy has enjoyed success with two wins and two poles. With three cars in the top-five point standings, there is a lot on the line for Team Chevy to deliver smooth, consistent results Saturday and Sunday. In the past, we battled high temperatures and high humidity, but this year, the forecast is for slightly cooler temperatures in the low to mid 80s which for afternoon races, will provide different circumstances for our teams and drivers…but all with the eye on the win, but also gathering as many points as possible as the wind our way toward the end of the season.”
FROM THE COCKPIT: JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:  “I’m really excited for Gateway. While Indy was a really tough race, we had a decent finish, but it just wasn’t our year. We had a really strong car and learned a few things we’re going to try on the Hitachi Chevy this weekend at Gateway. It’s a much smaller oval than Indianapolis, so it can be a tricky race, and this weekend is a doubleheader, so we’ll have two chances to win there. We really need a solid weekend to keep racking up points for the championship, so that will be a huge focus for us.” CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET: “After learning a lot in a very different-looking Indy 500, I am excited to get back on track at WWT Raceway for two races. The AJ Foyt Racing team had a great podium last year on the outskirts of St Louis, and we have high hopes for the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet for this weekend.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET: “The last time I was at Gateway (World Wide Technology Raceway) was in 2018 with Indy Lights, and I had a solid run, finishing in third. The whole Arrow McLaren SP team is going to be pushing hard to get the best out of our cars and get to the top step of the podium this weekend. The hard work of the entire team paid off at Indy, and hopefully it will again.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET: “I’m looking forward to putting the Indy 500 behind us but continuing our strong form on ovals. Gateway (World Wide Technology Raceway) in St. Louis is a place that I love visiting and a track that I’ve had a lot of success at in the past. I also can’t wait to see the fans in the stands, which is something I really miss. The working relationship between Arrow McLaren SP and Chevrolet is getting stronger every weekend and every chance we have on track, so we are looking forward to continuing to learn as much as possible together.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “My team has been working hard ever since Sunday to turn my Verizon Chevy around for this weekend’s race at Gateway. Going from such a large oval to a small one, we will have to adjust our strategy quite a bit, but I think we learned some things about the car this past weekend we can apply at Gateway. Running two races at Iowa will help us prepare, as well, since it’s also a small oval. Having a good idea on how the Aeroscreen impacts that track will be important, for sure. We also normally run races at Gateway at night. With this being in the afternoon, we’ll have to adjust our plan from what we’ve done there in the past, but we all feel great going into this weekend.” TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BIG MACHINE VODKA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET: “I’m excited to return to St. Louis this weekend after our podium there last year. The promoters at World Wide Technology Raceway have done a terrific job working with the local authorities to provide a race where fans could go and have an opportunity for entertainment in a safe and socially distanced environment, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them at the track. When I announced the TK Last Lap in January of this year, no one had an idea of what 2020 had in store for us, so being able to have fans at these last two races of my season is really special for me. I want to put on a good show for them and for the fans at home, as well.” ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “After a tough Indy 500, I am happy to be able to climb back aboard the No. 20 Chevrolet this weekend and return to WWT Raceway. We plan to pick up where we left off last year and once again finish my season on the podium.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “WWT Raceway coming up next! The Indy 500 was really tough for the whole team but only a few days until we are on track again turning left. I’m really looking forward to Gateway. Last year, ECR showed they have good cars and are capable of good finishes there. I’ve won a race there, too, so it’s a good combination. I cannot wait to get out there for two races.” SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“The Indianapolis 500 was really tough. We had some really bad luck, but we’re excited for a chance to turn that around this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway in the Menards Chevy. With two races this weekend, we have two chances to run hard and try and get more championship points. We lost some momentum after the last race, but we still have a shot at it, so we’re going to race hard. Gateway is a really fun little oval that is really fun to race at. I know my guys are working hard turning around the car from Indy for this weekend, and I know they’re putting something great together.” CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET: “I’ve honestly been looking forward to getting back to World Wide Technology Raceway since the checkered flag waved there last year. It’s definitely one of my favorite tracks on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, and after how well we did last year at WWTR, I’m confident that the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet will be great again this year. It’s been a lot of fun being back with Carlin this year for the ovals, and we’ve had really a strong run as a team together so far. So, with this being our last oval of the season, I want to make sure we finish it on a high note.” Chevrolet INDYCAR Series Statistics Chevrolet has recorded six NTT IndyCar Series Manufacturer Championships since returning to manufacturer competition in 2012.Chevrolet earned six consecutive CART Manufacturers’ Cup championships from 1988-93.Chevrolet has recorded 12 driver championships, including four in the past five years and six total since returning to INDYCAR competition in 2012 with the2.2 liter V6 twin turbocharged direct injected engineChevrolet has recorded 195 wins in Indy-style racing, including USAC, CART, Indy Racing League and IndyCar Series since 1965.Chevrolet’s initial win, under USAC sanction, was by Al Unser in the Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb on July 4, 1965.Chevrolet has 84 wins and 98 poles in 142 in IndyCar Series races since returning to manufacturer competition in 2012.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE COKE ZERO SUGAR 400DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DAYTONA BEACH, FL AUGUST 29, 2020

DAYTONA: RACE #26It’s the famed 2.5-mile superspeedway of Daytona International Speedway where the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) kicked off the 2020 season and the series return will mark the end of the regular season with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The 400-mile, 160-lap event under the lights at the “World Center of Racing” will set the stage for the Playoffs to determine the final 16-driver field that will vie for the title of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. It’s the first time in history that the famed Florida high-banked oval will host the regular season championship for NASCAR’s premier series. 
NASCAR is continuing to make steps towards introducing fans to events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Daytona International Speedway will play a role in that process. In accordance with public health officials and local, state and federal authorities, a limited number of fans will be on hand for the event to witness the conclusion of the series’ regular season. Seating will include socially-distanced front stretch seating and those in attendance will need to adhere to all health and safety protocols in place. 
RACE FOR THE PLAYOFFSIt’s race #26 on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule and there’s one last chance for drivers to secure their spot in the 10-race Playoff battle to be crowned the title of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Heading into the Daytona International Speedway race weekend, four Team Chevy drivers have locked themselves into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, three by virtue of victory and one has raced his way in by points:  LOCKED IN BY WINSChase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Camaro ZL1 1LE – 5th in Standings                       Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course)                       Stage Wins: 6; Stage Top-Five’s: 18; Stage Top-10’s: 35  Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings                       Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway)                       Stage Wins: 4; Stage Top-Five’s: 13; Stage Top-10’s: 28  Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow VORASURF Camaro ZL1 1LE – 9th in Standings                       Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway)                        Stage Top-Five’s: 3; Stage Top-10’s: 13 LOCKED IN BY POINTSKurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – 13th in Standings                       Stage Wins: 1; Stage Top-Five’s: 4; Stage Top-10’s 20 With 13 drivers already locked in by wins or points, there are just three spots up for grabs for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Here is a look where the Playoff cutline battle stands:             14th    Clint Bowyer (Ford): + 57 points           15th    Matt DiBenedetto (Ford): + 9 points           16th    William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE: + 4 points           17th    Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE: – 4 points BOWTIE BULLETS:·       Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Daytona International Speedway include:Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, has three wins (February 2006, February and July 2013)Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW VORASURF Camaro ZL1 1LE, has one win (February 2018)Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, has one win (February 2017)Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE, has one win (July 2017)
·       Of the 146 appearances made by NASCAR’s premier series at “The World Center of Racing”, Chevrolet has recorded 215 top-fives, 432 top-10’s and has led 7,977 laps. 
·       A Chevrolet has sat on the pole at Daytona International Speedway 50 times, with 22 of them being during the summer race – the most of any manufacturer. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active series drivers in poles at Daytona with three (February 2016, February 2017 and July 2018). His 2016 Daytona 500 pole made him the youngest Daytona pole winner to-date (February 21, 2016 – 20 years, 2 months, 24 days). In addition, in his 10 career starts at Daytona, Chase Elliott lead all active drivers in average starting position with 9.222. 
·       Of all organizations, Hendrick Motorsports leads the way in poles at the summer Daytona race with seven: Darrell Waltrip (7/2/88), Greg sacks (7/7/90), Jeff Gordon (7/6/96 and 7/3/04), Mark Martin (7/2/11), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (7/1/17), Chase Elliott (7/7/2018).
·       Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active NCS drivers in wins at Daytona with three (February 2016 and 2013 sweep). He also ties the leaderboard in number of runner-up finishes in the summer race at Daytona with three. 
·       In his 38 career starts at Daytona International Speedway, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active drivers in top-five finishes with 13 (seven in the summer race) and top-10 finishes with 18 (10 in the summer race). 
·       Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow VORASURF Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active NCS drivers in average finishing position at Daytona with 14.857 in his 15 career-starts. 
·       In four-career starts in the summer race at Daytona, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads the series in average finishing position with 8.667.  DAYTONA HISTORY BOOKChevrolet is no stranger to victory lane at the famed 2.5-mile high-banked oval of Daytona International Speedway. On February 20, 1959, the track held its first NCS event (100-mile qualifying race to start on the pole for the inaugural Daytona 500), in which Bob Welborn took Chevrolet to victory lane. Later in Daytona’s debut year and the track’s first summer race, Fireball Roberts put his name in the record books by taking the checkers in a Pontiac. Chevrolet or GM brands Oldsmobile and Pontiac would go on to win the first 17 races at the speedway. To-date, of the 146 NASCAR Cup Series events at Daytona, Chevrolet drivers have scored 47 victories, with Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick adding an additional 23 wins. The 2019 Coke Zero Sugar winner was Justin Haley, who’s first-career NCS win in his Chevrolet after a rain-shortened race made him the youngest Daytona summer race winner (7/7/2019 – 20 years, 2 months, 9 days). 

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 27, 2020) – Tim McCreadie led wire-to-wire on Thursday Night at Port Royal Speedway to score his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2020. He did so in dominating fashion on the first of three nights of racing at “The Palace of Speed.” Kyle Strickler equaled his best career LOLMDS finish by placing second ahead of current point leader, Jimmy Owens and Chris Ferguson. Open-wheel standout Kyle Larson came home fifth in his dirt late model debut. While McCreadie went unchallenged, the race for second on back was hotly contested as Strickler moved into second on lap 18 but was too far behind McCreadie to make a late-race challenge. Larson held the third spot until the final corner when Owens got underneath of him. Larson got into the frontstretch wall and that enabled Owens and Ferguson to get by him at the finish. McCreadie has now made his way to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the third time in his last five starts.  “This is a new car. I think we have three wins, a second and a third with it. This is as close to home as I get. You could tell these fans are excited. I am happy. I hope I didn’t make it too bad to watch, but it was fun. It’s hard to lead here. I just figured I would live on  the cushion and if I got beat, that was the way it was going to be.” Strickler finished second to equal his runner-up finish in the Show-Me 100 last month. “We were on a little tire strategy tonight. We have struggled the last couple of weeks. This was a bare frame on Monday at Longhorn and we worked our tails off to get here and it paid off.  We were definitely a lot better tonight than we have been recently.” Owens was thankful for another podium finish. “We had a second place car tonight. We didn’t have anything for McCreadie. I chose the inside on the last restart and I thought I could get a run on him [McCreadie] and maybe pull a slider or something on him gong into one. The high-side was the place to be and then we made that last lap run to get third.” The winner’s Donald and Gena Bradsher Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Sweeteners Plus, and D&E Marine. Completing the top ten were Hudson O’Neal, Mason Zeigler, Brandon Sheppard, Shane Clanton, and Josh Richards.

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT August 27, 2020
CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the upcoming race at Daytona, his approach to his job, the leadership role he plays with the No. 24 team, and more. Full Transcript:
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO MAYBE BE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING JIMMIE JOHNSON OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS IN HIS FINAL SEASON?“Weird question. Why do you guys always try to pit us against one another? 
YOU GUYS ARE GOING AGAINST EACH OTHER FOR THE FINAL PLAYOFFS SPOT“it’s cool. It’s all part of it. It’s unfortunate that we’re in these positions. Obviously, sans a problem with Charlotte for the No. 48 and then Jimmie needing to sit out for COVID, he would be locked-in for sure. And, unfortunate for us. We’ve had some bad things happen on the race track with tires, etc., you could just name a thousand things out there. But, it’s unfortunate we’re in this position, the both of us. And, it’s racing.”
INAUDIBLE“Oddly enough, as I got home from Dover, I was doing the post-race notes. And I was just pondering a little bit. It was like midnight, or something like that, as I was doing my notes. And I was like man, it’s so weird that I’m going to be battling the No. 48 car going into Daytona. And then the next morning, at like 8:00 a.m., he sent me a text. He’s like man, isn’t it weird that we’re competing with one another for this? So, we a text right there and then we had a phone conversation a little bit later in the week. And hey, it is what it is. We’re both professionals here. We understand what’s going on. And it’s racing. And it’s competition. And, we’ll go down there and hopefully, we both get in, you know? I think we’ve got that possibility. We both run really well at super speedways. Hendrick Engines and the guys at the shop build some amazing race cars. So, hopefully we can get out there and get some stage points and race well and get both the No. 24 and the No. 48 into the Playoffs.”
HOW SIGNIFICANT IS IT TO YOU THAT YOU’VE MADE THE POST-SEASON EVERY YEAR IN IT’S FORM IN NASCAR? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT’S SIGNIFICANT OR IS IT QUITE FRANKLY, THE WAY YOU VIEW IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS EXPECTED ANDNOT REALLY WORTHY OF MUCH DISCUSSION BECAUSE THAT’S PART OF YOUR JOB?“You know, quite honestly, up until this year, I always thought it was pretty easy to make the Playoffs, honestly. So, I hadn’t put a whole lot into it. Obviously, the desire is extremely high to get into the Playoffs. That’s what I want to do for sure, one hundred percent. But I hadn’t really thought about that a whole lot. It’s just what you’re supposed to do. It’s just part of the job, right? The expectation is to be in the Playoffs. I never looked at it as anything other than just what you’re supposed to do. Does that make sense?”
I SEE YOU IN THE COACH ROLE SINCE YOU SAID IT WAS SOMETHING YOU HADN’T THOUGHT OF AS MUCH IN YEARS PAST. SINCE YOU’VE HAD A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE GRIND HERERECENTLY IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, HOW HAS THAT CHANGE HOW YOU COACH OR DIRECT YOUR TEAM BECAUSE IT’S A DIFFERENT SITUATION THAN WHAT YOU’RE USED TO?“It is a little bit different, for sure. We actually just had a team meeting not too long ago. And I was chatting with the guys and here’s the way I take this, right? In all my years of being in this sport and being in different levels of success, somebody is always trying to give me advice on how to handle things and how to approach the weekend, how to approach a race, how to approach a championship. And I told them, I said, you guys need to tell whoever it is that’s trying to tell you how to handle your emotions in this type of situation to just go away and let you deal with it your way because you’re a professional and you guys are doing things the way that you can to the best of your ability. The only thing that’s going to happen if people start giving you advice is that you’re going to cloud you and misdirect you. So, you’ve got to believe in your heart. And, that’s just the truth.
“And, from my standpoint, I fall back on what my experiences are. I fall back on my teammates. We’re going to try to lift each other to the highest level we possibly can this weekend to go out there and compete and hopefully come out of there with not only a Playoff berth, but a race win because that’s what we’re ultimately trying to do, right?
“So, we’re working hard on that, from that respect. I think we’re capable of getting down there and racing really competitively. The thing I think I’m most excited about, quite honestly, is the race tracks that are coming up afterwards. With the lack of practice this year, it’s no mystery that the Chevrolet Camaro has been a little bit difficult for us to try to get on top of; but if you go back and you look, I think our performances at second races, or a second time at a given race track have been pretty good. So, I’m really looking forward to getting back to some of these race tracks for a second time (like) Darlington and Martinsville. You look at Kansas and Vegas. Some of these tracks, I really thing we’re going to perform exceptionally well and get Hendrick Motorsports back where it needs to be.”
YOU’VE OBVIOUSLY DONE THIS WITH A LOT OF SUCCESS IN YOUR CAREER. BUT THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF DAYTONA BEING THE CUTOFF RACE WITH EVERYTHING THAT’S ON THE LINE, DOES YOUR CHAIR EVER GET COMFORTABLE WHEN YOU’RE DOWN THERE? IT’S SUCH A WILDCARD.“Yeah, I won’t be comfortable until I get my butt on the airplane and fly out of that place, I can tell you that. It’s a treacherous race track. Obviously, it’s in the time slot it is for a reason, right? We like that unpredictability and excitement when it comes to cutoff races for the Playoffs or to make the Playoffs. It’s all there by design, right? I love Daytona. It’s a great race track. It’s been really good to me over the years. We’ve had a lot of success from the teams that I’ve been a part of; whether it be the old No. 24 to the No. 92 car to the No. 48, to the new No. 24 team. So, uncomfortable is not really what’s going to be going on or those 400 miles down there in Daytona.”
RELYING ON EXPERIENCE AND FALLING BACK AND WHAT YOU’VE DONE AND LEARNED MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. BUT YOU’RE WITH A YOUNG DRIVER NOW. WHEN YOU FALL BACK ON THE EXPERIENCE AND WHAT YOU’VE DONE, ISN’T IT A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PICTURE, OR NOT?“When you’re a young driver, you’re saying? This is kind of what I was trying to get at. He (William Byron) and a lot of the members of this team are young, for sure. Not just young in experience, but young in age. The thing is, they’re all in this position for a reason. And, that’s kind of what I was really trying to reinforce is that you just do what it is that you’re good at and rely on what has gotten you here. William has had a lot of success at super speedways over the years in Trucks and the Xfinity Series. And we won the 150 earlier this year. We’ve run really well at a lot of the races. Unfortunately, like a lot of the folks out there, our finish rate is pretty low, which is always frightening. But our performance has always been high. So, as long as he does what it is that he needs to do, which I think he will, he’s going to do just fantastic. William is a very calculated guy.”
INAUDIBLE“That’s why I do it. I enjoy the competitiveness of it. I enjoy the puzzle. Everything is a riddle. And, you’ve got to try to solve the riddle and that’s to be first at the end of 400 miles at this race and to have the championship at the end of the season. And, it’s a daunting task as you look at the races and the things you try to navigate throughout the course of the year. Yeah, the stress is high. But, it’s why we do it, right? I love my job. I’ve got one of the coolest jobs in the world. And I’m very, very fortunate to be able to do what it is that I do.”
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE STRESS AND PEOPLE GIVING ADVICE ON HOW TO HANDLE THE EMOTIONS. WHAT HAS YOUR EMOTION BEEN THIS WEEK? IS THERE EXCITEMENT? IS THERE STILL FRUSTRATION ABOUT WHETHER JIMMIE MAKES IT OR NOT FOR YOU?“I learned quite a while ago to be able to put things to bed pretty quickly from a previous weekend and I definitely don’t reflect back too much on what happened throughout the course of the year to put us in this situation because that’s a waste of energy. I’ve got a lot more important things to do. So, I don’t really worry about that a whole lot, honestly. The thing about Jimmie, man, who knows what’s going to happen? Like I said is my intention is for Hendrick Motorsports to put both of these cars in the Playoffs. We’ve got a shot at it, right? And that’s what we need to try to do. I’m hoping Jimmie makes it. I hope to hell the man goes out there and wins the championship, honestly. And, that would just be spectacular to see him be able to do that and knowing that I was a part of that would be really awesome, right? But we’ll just have to see how the cards fall. It’s a tough spot. It’s a tough race. It is what it is.”
HAVE YOUR PRIORITIES CHANGED SINCE BECOMING A FATHER?“Well, of course. I mean you’ve got a couple more little responsibilities you’ve got to stick in there. Anybody who says that they don’t would be lying. It’s changed my life a little bit, but I don’t think it’s taken away from what we do at Hendrick Motorsports much at all. I’ve got a great wife that understands my job and understands what it is that I do. She’s able to give me the freedom that I need to have to work and work long hours and be gone on weekends and things of that nature. So yeah, it’s definitely changed. But it’s not like I’m doing things a whole lot different, to be honest.”
SO, DO YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH? YOU ARE GETTING QUESTIONS ABOUT EMOTIONS. DO YOU ENJOY GETTING UP AND COMING TO THE SHOP AS MUCH NOW AS YOU EVER HAVE?“Absolutely. One hundred percent. I don’t know how to explain it. So, my alarm goes off in the morning. And, I hit ‘snooze’ once. And then my feet hit the floor. And then I’m in a mad rush to get teeth brushed, shower, shave, dressed, in the car, drive down Highway 85, usually about 85 mph, so I get here as fast as I can and get in here and get to work. And I’ve been doing that now for I don’t know how many years. But, a long time. And I don’t foresee that changing any time soon. I love coming here. I love coming into this complex. It’s the coolest place in the world. For folks that haven’t been here, or who haven’t been here for a while, it’s just amazing what we are able to be a part of here at this facility. And my number one goal is to get the No. 24 car into Victory Lane and running the way that it’s supposed to be, and all of the cars here at Hendrick Motorsports.”

Richard Childress Racing at Daytona International Speedway … In 181 career starts at Daytona International Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has earned six NASCAR Cup Series wins, including three Daytona 500 victories, 38 top-five, and 73 top-10 finishes. The Welcome N.C. organization has also scored six NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at the World Center of Racing.Catch the Action … The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway will be televised live Friday, August 28, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series’ Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway will be televised live Saturday, August 29, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Dow VORASURF Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Daytona International Speedway… Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 Champion, has 14 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway, acquiring one pole award, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes. The Welcome, North Carolina, driver, who grew up attending races at Daytona International Speedway with his family, has 10 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with one win, seven top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He has two starts at the track in the NASCAR Truck Series. Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team …Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After 7 years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sports and follow us on Twitter @DowSports & @DowNewsroom. VORASURF™ Silicone Polyurethane Additives … Backed by industry-leading knowledge of both silicone and polyurethane science, VORASURF™ Silicone Polyurethane Additives are ready to meet your growing needs for innovative, high performance surfactants in flexible, rigid and microcellular polyurethane foams. Whether you choose a proven solution from this line or collaborate with Dow silicone molecule specialists on a custom-tailored surfactant, you can rest assured that your bedding, footwear, automotive and spray foam applications will deliver the superior performance consumers demand. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:Do you have a favorite track, and why?“My favorite track would probably be Daytona International Speedway, simply because of the memories there. It’s filled with history, and it’s been a fun track for me. It’s been wild there. A lot of things have happened. I’ve torn down the fence and won the Daytona 500, so I have to choose Daytona just from the historical perspective” Are you a guy who likes to play it conservatively at speedway races, or are you a guy that acts a little bit more aggressively? “It’s a good mix. I think you have to be able to just pick your battles throughout the race. If you can score some Stage points in the race that’s a nice thing. It’s an advantage going into the Playoffs. But you also have to be able to keep your car in one piece so that you can be there at the end of the race and try to win. I like to pick my battles.” Do you think it’s going to be strange having Daytona serve as the regular season finale this year? That’s quite a change to the schedule …“Well if Daytona wasn’t already wild enough, it’s now positioned in a spot on the schedule where it makes it extremely crazy. With the race serving as the final race to get into the Playoffs, we’re all going to be doing everything we can, obviously. We already do, but that race is just going to be extreme. I predict some crazy wrecks.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 KCMG Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Daytona International Speedway … Tyler Reddick has two NASCAR Cup Series starts under his belt at Daytona International Speedway as he enters the final weekend of the regular 2020 season. Reddick, who will have one last chance to make the NASCAR Playoffs this weekend, has won in both the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Truck Series at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender also has two top-10 finishes and two pole awards in the Xfinity Series at the track. About KCMG … KC Motorgroup Ltd. (KCMG) is an international motorsport services group established in 2007 by Dr. Paul Ip. The group, with its headquarters located in Hong Kong, has operations reaching across Europe and the Asia Pacific region. KCMG operates closely with many partner companies and racing organizations around the world to provide unrivalled Motorsport Services, Equipment, Team Management and quality distributorship in the Automotive Industry. 2013 saw KCMG become the first Chinese outfit ever to race at the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours in its 90-year history and participate in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Hong Kong-based team later on took an historic LMP2 victory at Le Mans and was Vice Champion in FIA WEC in 2015. With years in the motorsport industry, KCMG has been involved in a wide range of Formula, GT and Le Mans prototype endurance racing series across the globe. For more information please visit www.kcmg.com.hk or email info@kcmg.co.hk. Watch the Race with Cheddar’s… Don’t miss out! Cheddar’s is offering 15% off all To Go orders with the offer code RACEDAY placed on 8/28 and every Cup Series race day for the remainder of the 2020 season! Whether you’re watching the race on a Sunday afternoon or on a weekday under the lights, watch with all your Cheddar’s favorites for 15% off. Terms & conditions apply, visit cheddars.com/offer/race-dayfor full offer details.TYLER REDDICK QUOTE: Heading into Daytona International Speedway this weekend for the final race of the regular season, what is your plan to make the Playoffs?“It’s very simple for myself and the No. 8 KCMG team this weekend. We have to win to make the Playoffs. For a while, it was looking like if those surprise winners had not jumped us, maybe we would have made it in. These past few weeks have been tough though, so we’re on the outside looking in right now and know what we have to do to make it. We’ve had speed at times this year, so I’m looking to running a strong race on Saturday from start to finish. I’d like to run up front all day and run around the drivers I’d want to work with at the end. There is always the strategy to run in the back, but I just feel like right when it’s go time and you start moving up through the field is when the big one happens, and you’re caught up in it. So, my plan is to run up front, see who can push me well, see who I can push well, and make a game plan on who to work with at the end. I was able to do some of that at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this year, so hopefully other drivers will remember that and be willing to work with me.”

Anthony Alfredo and the No. 21 Pyro Putty Chevrolet Camaro at Daytona International Speedway … After an action-packed double-header weekend at Dover International Speedway, Anthony Alfredo will be back behind the wheel of the No. 21 NASCAR Xfinity Series entry for Richard Childress Racing. Friday night will mark Alfredo’s first career start at the historic Daytona International Speedway. Earlier this season, Alfredo lead laps at Talladega Superspeedway en route to a strong sixth-place finish.  Welcome, Pyro Putty … Whether you’re a survivalist, adventurist, hunter, avid outdoorsman, or enjoy BBQing in the backyard during the summer, you know that getting a fire started can be challenging; especially when you’re facing wind, rain, or poor weather. That’s why we created a smarter, more efficient, non-toxic fire starter to support every adventure-Versatile enough to burn strong through rain, snow, sleet, wind or shine, Mother Nature won’t be able to keep you from starting a fire to stay warm, cook food, or survive comfortably through the night. Choose Pyro Putty and be ready for every adventure. For more information visit pyroputty.com. Fast Start for Fast Pasta … Running a limited schedule in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured six top-10 finishes and has an average finish of 11.2. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition. ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTES: What does it mean to you to be racing at Daytona International Speedway for the first time in your career this weekend? “Every race is a blessing to me, especially competing at this level for an organization like Richard Childress Racing. With that being said, the first race I ever attended as a fan was the 2012 Daytona 500. To roll out onto the track as a competitor at one of NASCAR’s highest levels is an indescribable feeling. It’s also going to be crazy because my first lap will be the green flag since we still don’t have practice or qualifying. Regardless, I am very excited for the opportunity and our only goal is to go win the race in our No. 21 Pyro Putty Chevrolet Camaro.” You and your team had a strong performance at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this season. What will it take to find victory lane at Daytona on Friday night? “We’ve had extremely fast Chevrolet Camaros at just about everywhere we’ve been this year, but the superspeedways have historically been some of the best tracks for RCR. We definitely proved how fast we were at Talladega earlier this year when I was able to lead my first career laps in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The biggest challenge is just going to be keeping our No. 21 Pyro Putty Chevrolet clean throughout the race and avoiding the big wrecks. If we can do that, I believe we can put ourselves in position at the end to bring home our first checkered flag.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 27, 2020

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the final race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, the pressure of racing on the Playoff bubble, and more. Transcript:  ARE YOU SLEEPING GOOD AT NIGHT? DO YOU DREAM ABOUT RACING AND POINTS? DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR TEAMMATE?“Honestly, I’ve thought a lot about the race, but I think I’m the least stressed about it just because I feel like at Daytona, you always have an opportunity. You always have a chance to do well or even for things to go wrong. The track doesn’t really owe you anything. I’ve had some great results – I’ve won at Daytona in the Xfinity Series, I won the Duel this year to start the season. I’ve also had some unfortunate ones, like the Daytona 500 this year where we finished dead last. So, I think it’s honestly it’s just one of those places that never owes you anything and I don’t stress about it as much as maybe a place like Bristol or Dover, where you can run poorly just based on performance. I think it’s a great opportunity for us, that’s really how I look at it and I’m just excited to get down there. It’s going to be very difficult to points-race. Honestly, I’m going to try to approach it the same way that I did the Playoff race last year at Talladega when we were trying to make it into the Round of Eight, which was try to go out there, win stages and see where that puts us.”
WE KNOW YOU AND CHAD (KNAUS) ON THE RADIO – WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR CREW CHIEF DURING THE DAYTONA RACE? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HIM AND WHAT DO YOU NOT WANT?“I think we do a pretty good job on the speedways of just communicating well. I don’t think there’s going to really be any stress in terms of where we’re running. I think we’ve got a good approach. Hopefully the strategy goes our way and we kind of get that track position to end the stages and be able to go race it out for points there. I think it’s honestly kind of out of his hands at a place like this – it’s really myself and Tab Boyd, my spotter, it’s just us communicating about the runs and the momentum. And he just kind of stays quite until it’s time to pit.”
WITH THE POINTS SITUATION YOU’RE IN, OBVIOUSLY THE CHEVY TEAMS WILL LIKELY RUN TOGETHER OR TRY TO BE GROUPED TOGETHER AS WE’VE SEEN IN THESE TYPES OF RACES BEFORE, HOW DO YOU RACE JIMMIE (JOHNSON)? I KNOW IT WAS DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES LAST YEAR, BUT OBVIOUSLY YOU TWO WERE VERY CLOSE TOGETHER THAT LED TO CONTRIBUTING TO HIS INCIDENT AT INDIANAPOLIS IN WHAT WAS THE REGULAR SEASON FINALE. HOW DO YOU RACE A TEAMMATE WITH THAT AS PART OF THE HISTORY AND KNOWING YOU’RE LIKELY GOING TO BE AROUND HIM, POTENTIALLY A GOOD PART OF THE DAY?“I think we’re going to be around each other, there’s no question, at some point of the race. But there’s also so many cars that come into play at a place like Daytona. Dover, we were around each other at the finish. Things went well and we were able to race clean and all of that. I’ve never had issues with Jimmie (Johnson) – maybe my rookie year a couple of times, but that was just learning situations and understanding the Cup Series. I think we’ll be fine. Last year, we were locked in on points. I think were three-wide, Indy is a narrow track, so I don’t really think that applies at all this year. We’re going to race and try to push each other towards the front and try to get both of us into the Playoffs. I think we have a chance and an opportunity to get both Hendrick cars in and be able to bump the No. 21 out. So, that’s kind of our goal and hopefully it works out that way. Speedways are really unpredictable. It’s all situational, so hopefully we’re together at the end, we can push each other to the lead and hopefully finish 1-2.”
THERE COULD CERTAINLY BE A SITUATION WHERE SOMEBODY ELSE NEEDS TO MAKE A CHOICE OF WHETHER TO PUSH JIMMIE (JOHNSON) OR TO PUSH YOU. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO DURING THE RACE TO TRY TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO PUSH YOU?“Just block really well (laughs). You just have to block like crazy at these places. The only way you’re going to make them push you is if you block well enough to where they can’t get around you. I intend on using the mirrors very heavily. My spotter does a good job of keeping me up-to-date on what runs are coming and just going to have to block extremely well so they push you.”
ARE YOU BRINGING CANDLES TO YOUR MOTORHOME FOR A PRE-RACE RELAXATION OR WHATEVER YOU’RE SHOWING US ON SOCIAL MEDIA?“I’m a big candle guy lately. I was actually at Cracker Barrel at Daytona for the road course race and I was going to get some food. I had to wait a little bit, so I got some candles. I just like all various candles. I live in a pretty small apartment, so every time I walk in, I can smell whatever recent the candle was that I was burning. Maybe I’ll start hoarding a bunch of different candle brands.”
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GO FROM BEING THE KID THAT ONCE TRICK-OR-TREATED AT JIMMIE JOHNSON’S HOUSE TO NOW POTENTIALLY BEING THE GUY WHO KNOCKS HIM OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS IN HIS FINAL SEASON?“I think it’s a great storyline. Jimmie is the guy that I looked up to as a kid. I was really a 48 fan through and through. I’ve got a lot of 48 stuff at my parent’s house and a lot of different diecast cars. But I really don’t look at it as me versus him. I know that’s what the bubble is right now, but it really is an opportunity for both of us to get in. Trying to look at it as that. That’s ultimately the goal – to get both of us in. Jimmie is an awesome competitor and somebody I really look up to.”
AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF YOU GET IN AND JIMMIE DOESN’T, MIXED FEELINGS THERE ON YOUR PART?“Unfortunately, the way this sport is, your race team is the No. 24 team. So, the guys that I answer to are Chad (Knaus), my engineers, my Car Chief Tyler (Jones), my sponsors. Really trying to just do the best I can for them.”
HOW MUCH INFORMATION DO YOU WANT DURING THE RACE? AS FAR AS THE POINTS, YOU’RE REALLY JUST RACING TWO GUYS. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE OR IS THERE SO MUCH GOING ON THAT YOU JUST WANT TO PUT THAT OUT OF YOUR MIND UNTIL THE VERY END?“I think you have to get the points in the bank during the stages. So, you’re going to kind of be aware of where those guys finish in the stages. And if not, I might get a reminder of just how many points each of us have racked up in the stages to just get an idea. Honestly, the way I approach it is I kind of have a temperature check in my mind. Like at Dover on Sunday, I knew we had gotten quite a few stage points – we finished third in the first stage and sixth in the second. So, I knew we were in pretty good shape. So if we just got a solid finish, which we did finishing in the top-five, we got a lot of points out of that day. So, you kind of honestly know at this point. We’re all smart enough race car drivers to understand how many points are awarded and you have that instinct in your head of what it looks like. And I know what the other race cars look like that I’m racing against – I know what the 21 looks like and obviously what Jimmie’s car looks like. So, I have an idea so I just do it that way. Typically, it works out – plus or minus a couple of points. Which might be the difference this week, so I might be needing to get a reminder. But when it comes down to the end of the race, you’re going to be running as hard as you can to try to get as many points as you can. It might be one of those situations where you cross the line and you’re in by a point or whatever. So, we’ll see what happens.”
WE ALL HOPE THAT YOU MAKE IT, BUT HAVING BEEN IN THE PLAYOFFS, HOW DISAPPOINTING WOULD IT BE IF ONE OF THESE SCENARIOS POP UP AND YOU MISS IT BY A POINT OR TWO?“We have all year – we’ve had 25 races so far to get in. We’ve had some really unfortunate circumstances that have taken us out of some really good runs – I think of Indianapolis blowing a tire leading the race, I think of the first race back at Darlington having another tire issue there running second or third in the race. We’ve had some really unfortunate things happen for us, which really just falls on us. I think it will be unfortunate, but it’s not just about one race – it’s about 26. We’ll go hard into the next 10 and try to win races there.”
WITH THIS INTERESTING SITUATION WE HAVE GOING AT DAYTONA, MY QUESTION TO YOU IS WHAT HAS THE COMMUNICATION BEEN LIKE IN THE HENDRICK HEADQUARTERS THIS WEEK? IT’S AN INTERESTING SITUATION WHERE CHASE (ELLIOTT) AND ALEX (BOWMAN) COULD BE FIGHTING FOR PLAYOFF SEEDING IN TERMS OF ANOTHER WIN, AND YOU AND JIMMIE (JOHNSON) ARE FIGHTING FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT. WHAT HAS THE COMMUNICATION BEEN LIKE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS ERA OF SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE HENDRICK STALL?“It’s been good. We have our normal Monday meetings that consist of going over the previous races. It’s been fine. I think we always work well together on the speedway races. Chase has a few wins on him and I’ve got either a few stage wins or the Duel win to look back on. Alex has done really well – I think he’s finished top-five in a lot of these races. So, I think honestly we just work together well. We have fast cars and hopefully they’re even faster this weekend. I don’t worry about it too much. I think we all have pretty good relationships.”
THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE FINAL RACE OF THE REGULAR SEASON AT DAYTONA, ANYONE IN THE FIELD OF 40 HAS A CHANCE OF WINNING THAT RACE. THERE ARE SOME DRIVERS THAT ARE BELOW 16^TH IN THE STANDINGS THAT COULD BE IN THAT SCENARIO WHERE THEY COULD TRY TO PULL OFF THE MUST-WIN SITUATION AND IT COULD LEAD TO POSSIBLY YOU BEING THE FIRST DRIVER OUT BASED ON POINTS. DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THAT, WITH SOME UNDERDOGS TRYING TO PULL OFF THAT BUZZER-BEATER TYPE OF SCENARIO?“It would be unfortunate for us. I think it would definitely be disappointing, but I don’t really know what you do at that point about it – it is what it is. Honestly, at that point, I would just accept it after a few hours and move on. Hopefully we can be that guy that wins and all these problems won’t be issues. That’s our goal.”
WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL THOUGHT OF NASCAR MOVING THE SECOND DAYTONA RACE TO THE FINAL RACE OF THE REGULAR SEASON? WITH ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS HAVE YOU’VE MENTIONED, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE KEY IS TO NAVIGATING A TRACK LIKE DAYTONA WITH ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE?“I hoped that we would be in a little better position to not be on the bubble going into this final race, but unfortunately that’s what we’re in. So, I think we’ve accepted that. I’m excited about it – I think Daytona is an awesome, historic place. We had a chance to race there on the road course, which I thought was a great event and very challenging. I’m just excited for this weekend. It’s going to be great from a fan’s perspective. It’s going to be stressful in the car, but sometimes those are the most fun times and the most rewarding times in the race car – those times where you’re under pressure. It should be fun.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 27, 2020 RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the last race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, what it’s going to take for him to make the Playoffs, his confidence going into the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with his superspeedway experience, and more. Transcript:  RICKY, YOU’RE ONE OF THE FINEST SUPERSPEEDWAY RACERS THAT WE HAVE IN ALL OF NASCAR. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY COMING UP THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY?“Yeah, we’re excited about it – the whole team is. Everybody has been working hard on our superspeedway car – been polishing on it, massaging on it, getting it ready to go. I know that I’ve got a lot of confidence in what they build, and what we brought to Daytona earlier in the season was obviously really good, really fast and drove good. We were up in the top-five and I made a mistake – went below the yellow line there on the back-straightaway. It really cost us a shot at winning the Daytona 500. But then we showed up to Talladega, put ourselves in position and just came up a couple inches short.” LOOKING AT THE STARTING LINEUP FOR THIS WEEKEND, YOU HAVE A PRETTY GOOD GROUP OF CHEVY’S BACK THERE WHERE YOU’RE AT. ARE YOU LOOKING AT THAT LINEUP AND TALKING TO THESE GUYS BEFORE THE RACE GETS GOING OR ARE YOU LETTING THINGS JUST FALL INTO PLACE WHERE THEY DO? THERE’S A PRETTY GOOD GROUP OF DRIVERS BACK THERE ALL DRIVING CHEVY’S. “Yeah, Jim Campbell and everybody at Chevrolet generally get with us and just kind of have a general talk of superspeedway strategy – trying to work with our partners at Chevrolet and our other teammates. But then also, we kind of let the cards kind of play where they fall. Sometimes you’ll find yourself in the mix. I’ve re-watched the Daytona race and there were a lot of times where I was the only Chevy in the top-10. At that point, you just have to pick and choose who you want to draft with. You run the whole race and kind of figure out who’s your drafting partner – who you draft well with, who you can keep track position with and who’s on the same strategy. Kind of let the cards fall where they fall, but also help your other Chevrolet teammates as well.”  DO YOU SEE DAYTONA RACING ANY DIFFERENTLY WITH A LITTLE LESS HORSEPOWER AND THE CHANGES THEY MADE GOING INTO TALLADEGA?“Yeah, I’ve re-watched the 500 and I re-watched Talladega, just trying to see those differences. Obviously, both racetracks race a little different in itself. I don’t see a whole lot of difference. I think you’ll be able to keep your track position a little bit better if you’re at the front of the field. The runs won’t be as big and so you might be able to block a little bit easier and keep that track position with Daytona being a little bit narrower. The difficult thing at Talladega is that it’s so wide. You block one run and they can kind of go the other direction and have enough room to do that. Track position is more key at Daytona with as tight as it is.” THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A SHOT AT THE PLAYOFFS. CAN YOU BE MORE AGGRESSIVE? DO YOU TAKE MORE RISKS SATURDAY NIGHT THAN YOU DO IN THE DAYTONA 500?“For me, I race every speedway race the same. I felt like we had a good strategy going into the 500 – be up front in all the stages, get stage points and just put yourself in the right positions to keep track position when it comes down to the end of the race. You don’t want to start a stage in the back – I think you definitely need to be up front. If you’re in the back, it’s not a killer, but it’s definitely going to make it a little more challenging. We’ll try to keep our track position, race aggressive and just stay up front. I treat the stages similar to the end of the race – kind of practice my moves, especially if I’m in the top-five, what moves can I make to get to that green-checkered finish at the point of where I want to. Gain positions and see if I can practice that twice before we get down to the actual checkered flag.” WITH YOUR SUPERSPEEDWAY EXPERIENCE, THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF TALK WITH YOU THIS WEEK THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE THE BIGGEST SPOILER WHEN IT COMES TO THE PLAYOFFS AT THE SUPERSPEEDWAY RACE. HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS REGULAR SEASON FINALE FOR YOU COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS REGULAR SEASON FINALES YOU RACED AT RICHMOND AND INDIANAPOLIS?“Yeah, I think obviously we have a lot better shot to win here than we did at Indy or Richmond in those final regular season races. But, to me, I don’t really feel like I’m going into this race any different than I would if it was in July. I still feel like the July race is our opportunity to make it into the Playoffs. Yeah, it’s kind of a little more dramatic with it being the final race of the regular season and it’s super nerve-racking for those three that are trying to get in on points. So, they will be tiptoeing around and making sure they get to the end, but stage points are also critical for them. It’ll be kind of crazy, as far as that scenario goes – that playoff bubble. And then if somebody like ourselves or somebody outside of the playoffs get a win, I think that’s kind of the thing that’s exciting – makes it come down to the final lap in the last race of the regular season because there’s multiple people that can win and move somebody out of the playoffs.” DO YOU THINK THIS REGULAR SEASON FINALE COULD BE THE MOST DRAMATIC ONE WE’VE EVER HAD SINCE THE START OF THE CHASE IN 2004?“Yeah, I think so. There’s some big Richmond races that were pretty dramatic – I don’t know if we’ll top some of those, some controversies there. As far as throughout the race, who’s in and who’s out, I think that changes a lot. Especially with different leaders at different times and the points going back and forth with those three, it’s going to be crazy all the way down to the finish. I think it’s going to keep everybody on the edge of their seat, for sure.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT August 27, 2020 CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed team leadership, strategy, making it into the Playoffs, Jimmie Johnson’s career success, and more. Full Transcript: DO YOU FEEL THE PRESSURE? YOU EXECUTE THINGS AND ARE VERY CONTROLLED ON THE RADIO. INTERNALLY, WITHIN YOUR TEAM, DO YOU FEEL THE PRESSURE?“I feel substantially less pressure right now than I’ve felt trying to recover from a lot of the challenges that came our way earlier in the year. Again, like I said, from the DQ at Charlotte and making sure we stayed on the rails after that; and continue to prepare good and fast race cars after Jimmie missing a race. That race was kind of a double whammy for us because we lost our driver for the race and then we get wrecked on lap 12 or whatever it was, on pit road. That was a big kick in the gut. And we came back and we responded. Went to Kentucky, went to Texas, with fast race cars. Horrible results. Get crashed or had issues on track. So, I felt more pressure then, to make sure that our team continued to have the positive mindset to continue pushing to put fast race cars on track and move forward, and just make sure everybody was in a good peace of mind. “There were times that I feel right now. It’s a speedway race. There are so many unknowns. All we can do is control what we’re able to. Work with our teammates and have a good plan for the race. The chips are going to fall where they may. And again, I’m proud of the resilience that we’ve showed throughout the year to keep ourselves on the rails. And yeah, we’re in a tough spot, but we’re going to go race them hard on Saturday night.” IF YOU MAKE IT INTO THE PLAYOFFS, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE NO. 48 TEAM HAS FOR A RUN AT IT?“There are a lot of tracks that typically, when you go into the Playoffs, and I understand there’s a few different tracks this year than there typically are. There’s a lot of really good tracks for Jimmie and the No. 48 over time and history that we can identify. We’ve had great runs at Darlington earlier in the season. We got wrecked on the lead but then we came back and after starting last in the second race, ended up with a nice Top 10 result. So, I have a lot of positive anticipation going to Darlington and the short tracks. We, Hendrick Motorsports, and the No. 48 team, have improved a lot this year over where we’ve been the last few years. So, a lot of positivity going there. And then you have Vegas, Texas, Kansas; all places that have been strong for us, and a few others in the mix; the Roval, of course, which we have good success with Hendrick Motorsports and a near miss for a win a couple of years ago with Jimmie. So, I have a lot of anticipation going into the Playoffs that we can make a strong run at it, assuming that we get in. And, our team has been built and kind of designed to identifying these tracks and making sure that when we go into the Playoffs we’re as strong as we can be.” HOW MUCH TO YOU ANTICIPATING TELLING JIMMIE IN THAT FINAL STAGE, HEY YOU HAVE TO FINISH THIS MANY SPOTS AHEAD OF SO-AND-SO? OR, AT A PLACE LIKE DAYTONA IT’S NOT WORTH MENTIONING CONSIDERING WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN ONE LAP?“That’s a good question. And right now, my goal is to win both stages and win the race. That takes care of everything. Beyond that, man if it really has to come down to it, I may tell him. But I promise you, we all know Jimmie Johnson and he’s going to be scratching and clawing for every spot no matter what. And, if we’re second or if we’re 12th or 22nd, it doesn’t matter what it is. He’s going to be trying to pass the guy ahead of him. So yeah, I can’t say that we won’t have our eye on it. But to be honest, it’s not going to be a huge point for us. We’ve got to maximize everything that we can. And if he can get his bumper ahead, nose ahead, or set-up a pass on the guy in front of him, that’s our goal. That’s what we’re going to do.” WHAT WOULD BE THE CHALLENGES FOR YOU IF YOUR PATH BECOMES DIVERGENT FROM THE MANUFACTURER’S PATH? WE’VE SEEN THE MANUFACTURERS ALL WORK TOGETHER. IF THE CHEVYS ARE GOING TO WANT TO PIT AT A PARTICULAR TIME THAT MIGHT IMPACT STAGE POINTS, HOW DO YOU WORK THROUGH THAT? OR DO YOU JUST KIND OF HAVE TO FALL IN LINE WITH THE MANUFACTURER BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF CARS AND THAT’S THE BEST THING?“I think, in this case, it’s a lot more of an aligned strategy than what you may be describing. The best position we can put ourselves in to succeed is going to be work with our Hendrick Motorsports teammates and our Chevrolet teammates. There are two of the Chevrolets that points mean everything, which is the No. 24 (William Byron) and the No. 48. And then we’ve got a handful of other Chevrolets that winning means everything because they really aren’t within striking distance in the points. “So, the best way that all of those cars, whether points-related or win-related, can put themselves in a spot to maximize their day is going to be to work with one another. And frankly, that’s why we’ve seen over the last handful of speedway races, the OEM strategy becomes so important is the best position that some of those other OEM’s are going to be in to win is to be to work with each other, right? And it’s the same thing in our case. So, we’ve already been kind of thinking about what our day is going to be like and how to approach it. And I’m sure we’ll have the communication amongst our group at Hendrick Motorsports and the other Chevrolets to make sure we’re optimizing everything that we can for points for the No. 48 and the No. 24. And we want to make sure a Chevrolet is up front at the end.” AS YOU GO INTO THIS LAST REGULAR SEASON RACE AND KNOWING WHAT YOU HAVE TO GET DONE AND KNOWING WHAT KIND OF COMPETITOR JIMMIE IS, FROM A CREW CHIEF STANDPOINT IS IT ALMOST A NICE SECURITY BLANKET FEELING KNOWING THAT YOUR GUY IS A SEVEN-TIME CHAMP AND HE’S GOT THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD TO BE A GUY WHO IS CONTENDING UP FRONT? AND, IS IT KIND OF SCARY THAT YOUR TEAMMATE, WILLIAM BYRON, IS A YOUNG BUCK WHO IS A LITTLE BIT FEARLESS? IT’S AN INTERESTING BALANCE YOU GUYS ARE WALKING AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.“Yeah, it is. And I think Jimmie has good perspective, and we all kind of do. If things don’t work out for us, in no way does this define Jimmie’s career. His career is already defined, right? So, if everything doesn’t go like we want it to, his success has already been established. Now on the flip side, if things do go well and we have a shot to go make it deeper into the Playoffs and what that end results could be, it could be a defining moment. So, the upside is way higher than the downside. So, I think that provides some good perspective for Jimmie to not necessarily have to make a desperate move or put ourselves in a really compromising position early in the race; and just kind of use his veteran-champion experience to know how to make the moves at the right time. And, of course you’re always going to be subject to, or falling victim to a crash that’s not of doing. We know that of speedway racing. Plus, there’s still a lot as a competitor and as a driver that he can do and that we can do to put ourselves in the best spot. Again, we don’t feel, I don’t feel, and Jimmie does not feel, like everything about his career is just riding on this moment, right? His career is already established. It’s already defined. His success already speaks for itself. So, the downside is would it be disappointing? For sure. The upside, we could swing for the stars and that would be amazing, so we’ll see how it goes.” WITH THE DQ AT CHARLOTTE AND JIMMIE MISSING THE RACE DUE TO THE COVID TEST, AND ALL THE ADVERSITY THROWN AT YOU, HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF IN TERMS OF BEING A LEADER AND KEEPING EVERYBODY ON THE RAILS AND MAINTAINING THE FOCUS? THOSE TWO RACES WOULD BASICALLY BE AN END OF SEASON FOR A LOT OF TEAMS, BUT YOU’RE STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE.“Yeah, we are still very much alive and I’m so proud of our team. And yeah, it does start with a leader and in a lot of the perspective I’m trying to show with our guys and the positivity that I’ve tried to have. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t always been, every step along the way, super-positive or super-easy. There have been a lot of challenges and I certainly have had my own sense of dejection at times, just with the results that haven’t been with they need to be or when we’ve had bad luck. But we have such a strong core group on the No. 48 team. We have a lot of great support from our teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. Just Jimmie and his perspective on his career and this being his final season where there’s been so many things that have come up, obviously totally unexpected; starting all the way back at the beginning of the year with what happened with the COVID shutdowns. So yeah, we’ve kind of leaned on each other, Jimmie and myself, and our whole team, to make sure we keep each other accountable and in-check to stay focused on the job at-hand because there’s no time during the season that just feeling sorry for ourselves because of the challenges and the bad luck is never an acceptable response right? So, if on Monday’s it’s sad because Sunday didn’t go the way that we wanted, but Tuesday morning we’ve been ready to charge and go and fight. And that’s what we’ve done. So, I’m really thankful to have the group that we have. I’m thankful to have the team and the company around us to maintain a positive outlook and just keep fighting. And that’s what we’re going to do this Saturday night.” WHAT HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS BEEN LIKE WITH CHAD KNAUS THIS WEEK?“Very close in our communication in what we’re doing with our cars and what we’re doing with our strategy. I’m so thankful, along the course of my career, working with the No. 48. Chad, I was his engineer for a while, and he was a great leader and great mentor. He was very supportive of my switch to the role of crew chief on this team. He still loves Jimmie to death and loves his team. Chad and I were talking the other day and we both want each other to be in the Playoffs, just not quite as much as we want ourselves to be in the Playoffs, right? So, it’s been great to have a relationship with that team. Those guys have done a good job digging out of the few holes that they’ve been in. And I know that they’re going to be strong and tough. And I hope to work with them, and we are going to work with them, all night Saturday night and put ourselves both in a good spot. And I would love to be side-by-side, door-to-door with them, with points in the bag, coming to the finish line for the final checkered flag with those guys. It would be a great position to be in.” IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU’RE GOING TO BE RACING FOR STAGE POINTS. YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BE TRYING TO LAY BACK AND TRY TO MAKE IT TO THE FINISH, IS THAT FAIR TO SAY?“Yeah, because the danger there is if you lay back and you don’t get the stage points and you get caught-up in a crash at the end, then you just gave up all your points for the day, right? And we know, the Penske guys, the No. 21, and the other cars that are kind of in contention, those guys are going to get their stage points so they’re going to make sure that they stay up front all day. So, we really have to match that or beat that and make sure that we capitalize on stage points when we can because nobody knows if and when the big wreck is going to happen. And if you lay back all day and then get caught up in a big wreck at the end, then you really have nothing to show, points-wise, for your day. We’ve got to maximize everything we can.” YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE NO. 24. OBVIOUSLY IF THINGS STACK-UP WITH THE NO. 21 BEING ABLE TO MAINTAIN HIS POSITION AND YOU DON’T GAIN THE POINTS, IN THEORY, ON THE NO. 24; AT WHAT POINT DURING THE RACE DO YOU NOT WORK WITH THESE GUYS ANYMORE? HOW DO YOU SEE THAT UNFOLDING?“With facts on the table, and I think you guys have seen this at previous speedway races, if we decide that we’re not going to work with the No. 24 or any other Chevrolets, who are we going to have to work with? The Fords? The Toyotas? Right. That doesn’t put us in a great position to succeed because they don’t want us to succeed. So, I think through it all, the message, at least within our camp right now, is the best position that we can be in to succeed is going to be to capitalize on help from our teammates. And that does include the No.24. Now, coming to a stage end or coming off of Turn 4, are we going to pull out of line with the No. 24 if we’re behind him? Absolutely. But leading up to that point, I don’t think it would be wise for us to think that we’re doing our own program because we’re not going to have their support if we really do need it. And I would assume that would kind of be the case for the other OEM’s and other teams as well. If you’re going to really take care of your core group, that’s what’s called for because otherwise, you’re going to ask on another group that you’re racing against to take care of you, and that’s certainly not going to happen.”

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Aug. 26) — The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series returns to Beech Bend Raceway Park this weekend for a North Central Regional event at one of Division 3’s most historic and beloved facilities. Reigning D3 Top Dragster champ Mike Coughlin will lead a three-car assault from Team JEGS that features his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. and niece Paige Coughlin, who will both compete in Super Comp. “Beech Bend Raceway Park has always been a favorite stop of mine dating all the way back to the 1970s when my brothers and I would go watch our dad (Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin Sr.) race there,” Mike said. “With the amusement park right across the way from the drag strip, the place was a wonderland for kids like us, and I’ve noticed through the years there are many other drag racing families that feel the same way.” Mike raced to his third Division 3 title last year, adding a Top Dragster championship to two previous D3 titles in Top Sportsman. Although it’s been awhile since he’s found the winner’s circle at Beech Bend — he last won in 1989 in Super Comp — he still has a lot of enthusiasm for this weekend’s event, which runs Friday-Sunday. Mike Coughlin “We just had another double-header weekend in New England and this JEGS.com dragster continues to be a perfect ride,” Mike said. “We went to the semis in the first race and the quarterfinals in the other so we gained some good points there. Greg Cody, Tony Collier and Ryan Micke are so driven to win and they always have the car set perfectly for me. Every loss we’ve had has been super close and could’ve gone either way, so there’s nothing to complain about at all. “My hat’s off to (track owners) Dallas and Alfreda Jones for keeping their place so nice. It’s a real joy to race there and it’s a track where Team JEGS has enjoyed a lot of success, so we’re all ready to go.” With four trophies from Beech Bend, Troy Jr. is the most successful Coughlin actually competing this weekend in Kentucky. A two-time Lucas Oil regional champ in Top Alcohol Dragster, having won the North Central Region in 2018 and the Eastern Region last year, Troy Jr. claimed two Top Alcohol trophies here in 2019 and another one in 2018. He also won here in 2014 in the Super Gas class. Only Troy’s uncle Jeg Coughlin Jr. has more Beech Bend wins, having claimed victory five times in the Blue Grass State. “It’s going to be an historic couple of weeks for us racing in Bowling Green and Indianapolis on back-to-back weekends,” Troy Jr. said. “First up is Beech Bend and I couldn’t be happier to go back to a place where we’ve won so many times before, not just me but the whole family. “Justin (Beaver, tuner) and the guys at the shop have all the cars ready and we’re thrilled to continue our dream of drag racing together this year. Above all, racing for us is about family and no place says family like Beech Bend.” Troy Coughlin Jr. Rising star Paige, who is one of Troy Jr.’s three younger sisters, will be taking a long weekend away from her studies at Miami University of Ohio to attend this weekend’s race. As always, she’ll be looking for a victory in her JEGS.com dragster but she’ll also be tuning up for a huge Labor Day weekend in Indy where she’ll represent her family in the JEGS Allstars event, which she qualified for last season. “I’m very much looking forward to being back in the seat after taking a few weeks off to start school again,” Paige said. “Bowling Green has always been one of my favorite races on the divisional schedule and we have had good success there in the past. “The last few races I attended we were trying some new things with the car and my crew chief, Justin Beaver, and (crewman) Tony Collier have this car running really great. I am ready to put the car back in line and go racing and to have some fun with my brother T.J. and Uncle Mike.”

Batavia, OH (August 26, 2020) – Recently, the announcement was made by Knoxville Raceway that the remainder of their 2020 season (including the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals) had been canceled due to COVID-19. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will now be back in action at I-80 Speedway for three full events, with the Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals on September 17th – 19th.

Thursday, September 17th and Friday, September 18th will feature two complete shows with 30 lap A-Main events paying $7,000-to-win. On Saturday, September 19th, there will be B-Mains to complete the lineup for the 80 lap Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals A-Main paying $30,000-to-win. There will also be a $2,000-to-win Non-Qualifier race. 

Tickets are now available online at www.i-80speedway.com (all seating will be General Admission). Three day tickets are on special until Wednesday, September 9th. Reserved camping is also available for the weekend, with a limited number of backstretch camping spots available. Racing action will begin at 7:15 PM CDT each day, support classes to be announced. To make purchases over the phone, please call the speedway office 8:30 AM-5:30 PM CDT 402-3423453.
The Kokomo Late Model Shootout at Kokomo Speedway has been canceled. Brownstown Speedway has stepped up and added a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win event on Friday, September 25th prior to the 100-lap, $15,000-to-win Jackson 100 on Saturday, September 26th.
I-80 Speedway Information:Phone Number: 402-342-3453Location: 13909 238th St Greenwood, NE 68366
Directions: Located off Interstate 80 at exit 420, Greenwood, NEWebsite: www.i-80speedway.com

Batavia, OH (August 26, 2020) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series finally returns to Port Royal Speedway for the first time since 2018, after a weather cancellation in 2019 and postponement due to COVID-19, earlier this year. This will be the largest three-day purse in the history of the Port Royal Speedway for the late model division, with a total of $150,000 on the line.

Thursday, August 27th is $10,000-to-win for 30 laps; Friday, August 28th is $12,000-to-win for 40 laps; and 50 laps on Saturday, August 29th that will pay $15,000-to-win. The Lucas Dirt series will be joined by Limited Late Models on Thursday, who will be taking part in a pair twin-20’s – make-up features from earlier in the year, paying $1000 to win each. The Modifieds will be the support division on both Friday and Saturday, competing for $1000 to win in a 20-lap feature event Friday, with a 25-lap feature for a $1500 winner’s pay day on Saturday.

There will be no reserved seating offered and all tickets can be purchased day of at the speedway ticket offices. Regular season reserved seating will be honored for all three days of racing. Camping is available on a first come-first serve basis.

Port Royal SpeedwayPhone Number: 717-527-2303Location: 308 W. 8th St., Port Royal, PA 17082Directions: Two miles south of US Rt. 322 just off of PA Rt. 75 in Port Royal. Pit entrance on Fourth St., General Admission on Sixth and Eighth St.Website: www.portroyalspeedway.com Port Royal Tire Rule: Rumble by the River August 27th-29thLeft Rear/Fronts – Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1300, Rib (28.5) 1425Right Rear – Hoosier (29.0) 1300 NRM, (29.0) 1300 NRMW, (29.0) 1425 NRM, (29.0) 1425 NRMW*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Main.*For the A-Main, competitors may use 3 new tires.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. 

August 25, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy head to Daytona International Speedway with a Playoff berth on the line in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400.

DiBenedetto is 15^th in the Playoff standings with just a nine-point cushion on the cutoff line for being one of the 16 drivers who will start the 10-race, season-ending run for the 2020 Cup Series championship.

Races at Daytona and its sister track, Talladega Superspeedway, often are affected by “Big One” multi-car crashes, and surprise winners aren’t really that surprising given the uncertainties that come with racing in large packs at high speeds.

DiBenedetto said that given the Playoff implications, this Saturday night’s 400-miler likely will be even more of a crap shoot than usual.

“If I was a guessing man I would say probably quite a bit more chaotic and a whole lot of desperation because this is the last attempt or opportunity for a whole lot of people to make the Playoffs,” he said. “A lot of people can win at Daytona, so I would assume it might be quite chaotic.”

In his only start on the superspeedway at Daytona in the No. 21 Mustang, DiBenedetto showed that he and the team are capable of doing what he needs to do to earn a Playoff berth.

For 185 of the scheduled 200 laps of this year’s Daytona 500, he ran in the top five at times, then backed off when the bumping and blocking got especially aggressive.
 
But before he could make it to the checkered flag, he was swept up in a 19-car crash on the backstretch. He was able to return to the race and salvage a 19^th-place finish, but that’s the kind of outcome he’s hoping to avoid this time around.

“We will have to go to Daytona and do the best job we can,” he said, adding that he will be relying on his fellow Mustang drivers to work with him in the draft. “We have really good teammates, and the Fords are fast.”
 
Avoiding the expected chaos will be the challenge, and sometimes that is more a matter of matter of luck than skill at tracks like Daytona and Talladega.
 
“Sometimes it doesn’t really matter how smart you race and what you do and all the things you do right, even if you are running first or second,” DiBenedetto said. “A lot that is out of your hands at those places.”
 
There will be no practice or qualifying prior to the start of Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, which is set to get the green flag just after 7:30 p.m., with TV coverage on NBC.
 

Inside Line Promotions – WEST FARGO, N.D. (Aug. 24, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi posted his season-best World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series result last Saturday during the Red River Rumble.

Scelzi capped a two-race weekend with ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt’ in North Dakota by placing ninth at Red River Valley Speedway. It was his 23 ^rd overall top 10 of the season and second with the World of Outlaws.

“We were really, really good,” he said. “The guys in front of me were equally as good. It was about track position.”

Scelzi qualified ninth quickest and he finished fourth in a heat race to give him the 12^th starting spot for the main event.

“We went out really late and qualified ninth, which was really good,” he said. “Then in the heat race we had a run at Kyle (Larson) and I should have followed him instead of raced him. We lost a spot there. My whole game plan was if I could slide him and slow him down I knew (David) Gravel was behind me. If he and Gravel could get to racing maybe I could hold onto a dash spot. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but you have to take the shot.

“In the feature I ran the bottom a little bit, but mostly focused around the top. It was so far around up there. Guys that could sneak around the bottom could make up more time. But if they missed it a little we were right there to capitalize. Sixth to 10^th place were all right there bumper to bumper. It was really good racing and we ended up ninth.”

The weekend began on Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks during the Second Leg of the Northern Tour. Scelzi timed in 17^th quickest and he gained a position in a heat race to place fifth. He continued to move forward in the A Main, advancing from 14^th to 11^th.

“I think it was pretty good,” he said. “We didn’t time in well and that was frustrating. We were okay in the heat and we were decent in the main event. I felt like we could have run anywhere between eighth and 12^th. I think we were a little on the free side. In the heat we were too snug and we tried to not go overboard and stay on the free side. It might have hurt us a little, but I don’t think we were bad.”

Two more World of Outlaws shows are on the horizon this weekend. Scelzi will make his debut at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., on Saturday before he returns to I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., on Sunday for the first time since his debut in 2015. He placed eighth and third, respectively, during a doubleheader at the high-banked oval.