Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series history at Daytona International Speedway… Dating back to 1976, Richard Childress Racing has won 11 poles and collected six points-paying victories at the most-storied racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. RCR owns three Daytona 500 wins (Dale Earnhardt – 1998, Kevin Harvick – 2007, Austin Dillon – 2018), three Coke Zero 400 trophies (Earnhardt – 1990, 1993 and Harvick – 2010) and 14 qualifying races, including a record 10-consecutive victories with Earnhardt (1990 – 1999). In addition, RCR has earned the Busch Clash victory a total of eight times, with drivers Harvick (2009, 2010, 2013) and Earnhardt (1986, ’88, ’91, ’93, and ’95). The Clash… For the first time in 43 years, the Busch Clash will run on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, a 14-turn, 3.61-mile course that was introduced to the top three national series last August. The annual exhibition race will consist of 35 laps with one scheduled caution at Lap 15. The exclusive field of 21 drivers is limited to 2020 Busch Pole Award winners, past Busch Clash champions who competed full-time in 2020, former Daytona 500 champions who competed full-time in 2020, former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full-time in 2020, 2020 Cup Series Playoff drivers, 2020 Cup Series race winners and 2020 Cup Series stage winners. Both RCR Cup Series drivers – Dillon and Tyler Reddick – will compete in the invitation-only event. Time to Duel… The Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona feature two 150-mile races from which the majority of the final starting grid for the Daytona 500 will be set. Dillon and Reddick will find out which Duel their Camaros will compete in, after Wednesday night’s single-car time trials. Catch the Action… The Busch Clash at Daytona will be televised live Tuesday, Feb. 9 beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona, two 60-lap qualifying races, will be televised live Thursday, Feb. 11 beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It’s What for Dinner. 300 at Daytona will be televised live Saturday, Feb. 13 beginning at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The 63rd running of the Daytona 500 will be televised live Sunday, Feb. 14 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Daytona International Speedway… Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 Champion, has 15 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. Former Pole Winner… Dillon earned his career-first NASCAR Cup Series pole award with a lap of 196.019 mph (45.914 seconds) in the 2014 edition of the Daytona 500. It marked the fourth time the No. 3 has won the pole for the Daytona 500, and its 67th Cup Series pole, overall. Dillon also started on the front row for the July 2015 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Dillon’s starting position for this year’s Daytona 500 will be determined by his finishing position in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday (live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 7 p.m. ET). But First, We Clash… Dillon is one of 21 drivers scheduled to compete in the pre-season event. This will be Dillon’s seventh start in the Busch Clash. He finished second in last year’s exhibition event. Dillon starts 19th in the race via a random draw. About Tracker Off Road… Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology. About Bass Pro Shops… Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:You’ve had success at Daytona International Speedway. How do you negotiate staying out of the wrecks throughout the race so that you can be in contention at the end?“It’s tough. It’s a game of putting yourself in position. I call it high-speed chess because you know at some point in time you’re going to be vulnerable. You hope that someone doesn’t take advantage of that too much and cause a big wreck. It’s one of those things where you are constantly moving and trying to guess the flow of the pack. I think the best place to be is in the front most of the time, but it’s impossible now with the way we race to keep yourself up there for the entire race. You see guys do it for long periods of time. Denny Hamlin has been pretty amazing at putting himself in the right position as of late. I’m going to do my best this time around to put ourselves in position for another shot at the Daytona 500.” Do you feel the “big one” coming, or does it happen so fast that you’re just in it?“Sometimes you’re in it, and there is nothing you can do about it because you know time is running out and you’re in it either way. It’s an odd feeling knowing your putting yourself out there and something is about to happen. It’s an issue of timing. You’re hoping you just get through it. I’ve been fortunate to sneak through some of them, or be in front of some of them. You usually know when the intensity is rising and the pack is starting to get a little bit out of control. You try to do your best to give yourself an out or be in front of it.” You were able to get some experience on the Daytona Road Course by competing in the Rolex 24 this year. Did anything jump out at you about the track that you can use for the Busch Clash this year?“It’s not so much of a technical track like some of the tracks that we go to that are road courses. It’s pretty self-explanatory. I like the fact that the tires seem to wear quite a bit at the track. I haven’t gotten to run the new chicane coming off Turn Four, so I need to make sure I try to stop when I get over there this time around from the Rolex to this race. I enjoyed it and I think the experience I got in the 24 was great. We’ll see how it all plays out in the end.”

Reddick and the No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the Clash at Daytona… This week’s Clash at Daytona will be Tyler Reddick’s first start in the exhibition race. Reddick does have one Daytona International Speedway Road Course start, finishing in the top 20 during last year’s NASCAR Cup Series’ debut on the configuration. Reddick and the No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the Daytona 500… Reddick will be making his third start in the Daytona 500 and fourth overall Cup Series start on the oval configuration with this year’s season-opening event. Reddick also has six starts at the 2.5-mile speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, collecting one win, two pole awards and two top-10 finishes. Reddick also found victory lane at Daytona during his NASCAR Truck Series days, winning in 2015. About I Am Second… I Am Second is a non-profit that ignites hope and inspires people to live for something greater than themselves. Launched in 2008, the iamsecond.com website features more than 100 powerful short films of athletes, actors, models, musicians, cultural influencers and everyday people who have found hope through a relationship with Jesus. Watch their stories and find out more at iamsecond.com. About Lenovo… Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$50 billion Fortune Global 500 company, with 63,000 employees and operating in 180 markets around the world. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society. By designing, engineering and building the world’s most complete portfolio of smart devices and infrastructure, we are also leading an Intelligent Transformation – to create better experiences and opportunities for millions of customers around the world. To find out more visit lenovo.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Weibo and read about the latest news via our StoryHub. TYLER REDDICK QUOTES: This will be your debut start in the Clash at Daytona. How are you and the I Am Second team approaching the race?“I’m looking forward to being part of the Clash at Daytona this year. It has been fun in the past watching the drivers and teams go out there every year and kick off the season with an exhibition race, but I’m excited to be part of the action this year. With NASCAR making the change to have the Clash on the road course, it also helps serve as a bit of a test session for our Daytona Road Course race next week. Having no practice that weekend makes the Clash race this week even more valuable as far as on-track time.” You’re kicking off your sophomore year in the Cup Series this weekend with your third Daytona 500. What are your expectations?“It’s hard to predict what will happen in the Daytona 500 just because of the nature of that race, but I’m excited to have another shot at it. I feel like I learn more during each superspeedway race I have in the Cup Series. My team and I worked really hard during the off-season to identify where we struggled last year and how we were going to be better in 2021. Sunday will be the first major test for us, but I’m confident in my No. 8 Lenovo team and our plan for the year.”

Snider and the No. 2 TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro at Daytona… After competing on a part-time basis for Richard Childress Racing one year ago, Myatt Snider now takes over the reins of the No. 2 TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro full-time and will chase after the championship title in 2021. Snider has two previous NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway tri-oval, leading a total of 22 laps and earning the pole position last February. The 26-year-old also has three starts in the NASCAR Truck Series, recording a 10th-place finish in 2017. Going for Seven… RCR’s Xfinity Series program is going for their seventh consecutive pole in the prestigious season opening race at Daytona. The team has achieved this feat with six different drivers in six seasons. Snider captured the pole position one year ago, when the then rookie driver started from the front row to keep the streak alive. About TaxSlayer… TaxSlayer makes online tax filing accessible for millions of Americans, with an easy-to-use platform and unlimited support at a fraction of the cost of the competition. Trusted for over 50 years, the Augusta-based tech company successfully completed more than 10 million federal and state e-filed tax returns in 2020 and processed $15 billion in refunds. TaxSlayer achieved a 4.5/5 TrustScore on consumer review site Trustpilot, with 87% of its customers rating the tax filing platform Great or Excellent. For more information, visit www.TaxSlayer.com. MYATT SNIDER QUOTE: What are your expectations for Saturday’s race at Daytona? “One of my goals right away is to get the seventh consecutive pole in the season opener at Daytona for RCR. Obviously, I got it last year and I am hoping to continue the streak again. I think we are going to have a faster Chevrolet Camaro this year, so it may be even that much easier. This streak says a lot about this team and how they have succeeded season after season. We have a great group behind us with TaxSlayer on board and my crew chief Andy Street leading the guys. I could not be happier with where we are currently and where we are starting from to kick off this season. I feel like it is going to be a good weekend for us. Hopefully, we will go out and get some stage points and win the race.”

February 8, 2021

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed to Daytona International Speedway, where they will kick off their 2021 Cup Series campaign with Tuesday night’s Busch Clash on the track’s infield road course. Once that checkered flag falls the action shifts to the 2.5-mile superspeedway for the Daytona 500 festivities that culminate with the Great American Race on Feb. 14. 

Then DiBenedetto and his Cup Series peers will make an encore run on the road course on Feb. 21 for the second points-paying event of the season. That race was moved to Daytona from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., due to challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Running on a course other than the superspeedway during Speedweeks may seem unique for some, but DiBenedetto’s Wood Brothers team competed on the old 4.1-mile beach-road course in the 1950s, before the “big track” opened in 1959.

Team founder Glenn Wood was one of the stars of the beach-road course. He swept the pole and the class win in the Sportsman division for its final three races on the beach, and in the 1958 finale set the overall fast time in his Sportsman car, outrunning the Modifieds that had an advantage rules-wise.

News reports from the time described Wood’s 139.679 miles per hour pole run as the biggest shocker of Speedweeks time trials. Mr. Wood considered his pole win that day the highlight of his driving career.

DiBenedetto, speaking during a Zoom call with reporters, said he’s hoping to carry forward the momentum he and the No. 21 team enjoyed during the closing weeks of the 2020 season, when they posted four top-10 finishes in the final seven races, three of those coming in the final three races.

He said the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team was able to work through the challenges brought about by COVID, which were especially tough on a new team with its members trying to learn each other.

“It felt like the last half of the season – especially the last third of the season – is where all of a sudden it really clicked for us as a team,” DiBenedetto said. “That’s why you saw us clicking off top 10s consistently, running up front, competing for wins.

“That momentum, I feel confident, is going to carry directly over into the season just because we have all that time together, we have all those notes together and that’s where it’s really coming together.”

DiBenedetto, who earned a starting spot in the non-point Busch Clash due to making the Playoffs last season, said he’s hoping the extra laps on the road course will help him, crew chief Greg Erwin and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team prepare for a 2021 schedule that features seven points-paying Cup races on road courses. In addition to the Feb. 21 race on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile track at Daytona, the Cup Series will compete on the familiar tracks at Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte ROVAL. New to the schedule are the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, Road America in Wisconsin and the infield course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I look at [the Clash] as a great opportunity, because I felt like our road-course program last year was where we needed the most improvement,” DiBenedetto said. “Not that it was terrible, it just needed some work.

“We know the things that we need to work on, so I still feel very good about our chances [on Tuesday]. We basically have a race to evaluate what gains we’ve made and how to continue to get better at those places because our speed on the short tracks, on the intermediates, on those places were excellent, especially the last bit of the year. 
 
“We were really flying at those places, so glad we get an extra opportunity at the Clash to go out there and try and see what we’ve gained on and go try and win.”
 
The starting line-up for the Clash will be determined by a draw on Monday night, and the 35-lap race is set to start Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on Fox Sports 1.
 

OCALA, FL  (February 2, 2021) – Shane Clanton won his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event since September of 2019 on Tuesday Night at Bubba Raceway Park. He wrapped up the win in the finale of the K&N Filters Winter Nationals – Presented by OPTIMA Batteries. The event also marked the conclusion of the 2021 Florida Speedweeks for the series. Clanton took the lead on lap 22 of the 40-lap main event from Bobby Pierce and went on for his fifth career series victory. Pierce finished in second followed by Tanner English, Tim McCreadie, and Jimmy Owens. The race saw three different leaders as Owens, the reigning National Champion, bolted from his pole starting spot to lead the first seven laps of the race. Pierce caught Owens in heavy traffic, passing him for the lead on the eighth circuit. Owens tried to get back by Pierce but made contact with the backstretch wall. Clanton started to use the outside line as he passed Owens for second on lap 21. A lap later he got by Pierce for the lead, which he held the rest of the way. The win for Clanton made him the eighth different winner in the first nine series races of 2021. “Our hats are off to Bubba and his guys, they gave us two grooves and a great track tonight. The top took a while to get run in. It was a little greasy up there, but at the end it came alive. We worked hard to get by Bobby. I  just made the right move at the right time I think.” Pierce’s best LOLMDS finish of the season was just .568 seconds behind Clanton at the finish. “To run second at this track is great. This is just the third time I have ever raced on this track, it’s pretty good. I probably needed to move up there. It is hard to see your guys here in the corner, on where they’re telling you to run. I think overall Shane was just a little bit better. He’s always good racing these kinds of race tracks.” English took his best finish of 2021 with a third-place showing. “You have just got to be up front at end of the race. Last year I ran the series for the first-time, and I learned that these guys don’t mess up. You have to be smooth and you have to take advantage of situations when you can. I passed a few cars that slipped up in turn two, but not enough to get the win. We will take this finish happily after the speedweeks we’ve had.” The winner’s Greg Bruening-owned Skyline Motorsports Capital Race Cars is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and is sponsored by Skyline Materials, Bennett Explosives, Truck Country, Freeman Plumbing, Super K Express, and Olson Explosives. Completing the top ten were Jonathan Davenport, Stewart Friesen, Tyler Erb, Brandon Sheppard, and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
K&N Filters Winter Nationals – Presented by OPTIMA Batteries
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021
Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jimmy Owens / 13.951 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Shane Clanton / 14.127 seconds 

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[3]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 5. 14-Josh Richards[4]; 6. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[8]; 7. 6H-Clay Harris[11]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[12]; 9. 6S-Blake Spencer[10]; 10. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 11. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr[7]; 12. (DNS) 14B-John Baker

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 27X-Jadon Frame[3]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton[8]; 7. 1ST-Johnny Scott[7]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[9]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[10]; 10. 48-Colton Flinner[6]; 11. 14R-Jeff Roth[11]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 5. 0E-Rick Eckert[6]; 6. 2X-Devin Dixon[7]; 7. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[8]; 8. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 9. 385-Mark Whitener[10]; 10. 20B-Todd Brennan[11]; 11. 27J-Joe Denby[12]; 12. 33-Jeff Mathews[9]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[1]; 2. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 3. 9-Devin Moran[4]; 4. 66C-Matt Cosner[3]; 5. 7R-Ross Robinson[5]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[8]; 8. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 9. 1G-Ryan King[9]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening[10]; 11. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[11]

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[3]; 5. 6H-Clay Harris[5]; 6. 2D-Dan Stone[8]; 7. 1ST-Johnny Scott[6]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[7]; 9. 48-Colton Flinner[12]; 10. 6S-Blake Spencer[9]; 11. 14R-Jeff Roth[14]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder[10]; 13. 71-Hudson O’Neal[11]; 14. (DNS) 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr; 15. (DNS) 14B-John Baker

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0E-Rick Eckert[1]; 2. 2X-Devin Dixon[3]; 3. 7R-Ross Robinson[2]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[7]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[12]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[5]; 9. 385-Mark Whitener[9]; 10. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 11. 1G-Ryan King[10]; 12. 27J-Joe Denby[13]; 13. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[14]; 14. 33-Jeff Mathews[15]; 15. 20B-Todd Brennan[11]

BATAVIA, OH (February 2, 2022) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 2022 Georgia/Florida Speedweeks will run from January 27th through February 12th, with visits to four tracks over 17 days, with 14 nights of racing action. The series will once again return to Golden Isles Speedway, Bubba Raceway Park, All-Tech Raceway, and East Bay Raceway Park.  Action will get underway on Wednesday, January 26th, with an open practice at Golden Isles Speedway, in Brunswick, GA. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series teams will be competing on January 27th for $10,000-to-win, January 28th for $12,000-to-win, and January 29th for $15,000-to-win. 
Teams will take Sunday, January 30th off to regroup before spending Monday, January 31st and Tuesday, February 1st at Bubba Raceway Park, in Ocala, FL for a pair of $10,000-to-win events. 
The series will then take the action back North, approximately one hour, to Lake City, FL. All-Tech Raceway will host three nights of racing, starting on Thursday, February 3rd paying $10,000-to-win. Friday, February 4th will pay $12,000-to-win, while Saturday, February 5th will show a top prize of $15,000.  From there, speedweeks will wrap up at the famed “Clay by the Bay”, East Bay Raceway Park, in Tampa, FL with an open practice on Sunday, February 6th, followed by six nights of racing. Monday and Tuesday, February 7th and 8th, teams will compete for $5,000-to-win. Wednesday, February 9th and Thursday, February 10th will see drivers gunning for $7,000 in top prize money. Friday, February 11th, the stakes get higher with teams competing for the $12,000 paycheck. As an end to the week, on Saturday, February 12th, teams will be competing for $15,000-to-win.  Wrisco Industries, Inc. has, once again, agreed to generously sponsor $4,000 for the Wrisco Industries, Inc. Speedweeks Points Fund, allowing teams a chance to earn bonus money at the end of the 13 nights of racing. For more information on Wrisco Industries, Inc. visit: www.wrisco.com 

OCALA, FL (February 1, 2021) – Ricky Thornton Jr. came from the 10th starting spot to take the lead on a lap 14 restart on his way to victory in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned K&N Filters Winter Nationals presented by OPTIMA Batteries. The event was held on Monday Night at Bubba Raceway Park. Thornton Jr. recorded his second career victory in the LOLMDS and he became the seventh different winner in the first eight races of 2021. Mike Marlar had his best series finish of the season. He took second, with Hudson O’Neal crossing the line in third. Devin Moran was fourth and current series point leader Brandon Overton rounded out the top five. Brian Shirley grabbed the lead and held it for the first 11 laps of the race until Jonathan Davenport passed him on lap 12. Davenport’s lead was short-lived as he had trouble on a lap 13 restart when his engine stalled heading into turn one. Thornton Jr. took over the lead with O’Neal and Marlar behind him on the Delaware double-file restart. Thornton Jr. carried his momentum to the checkers to take the win by 1.1 seconds over Marlar. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time in his career, Thornton was elated with how well his first year was going, attempting the 2021 LOLMDS National Tour. “The cautions helped quite a bit and cleared out traffic for us. We struggled at All-Tech and the first part of East Bay, though it was probably more me than the car. The ending at East Bay was a confidence booster and to come here and run as good as we did tonight definitely feels great and says a lot about our team.” Marlar, like Thornton Jr. is competing in his first season with the series and came home in second. “That last caution pretty well did me in as far as a chance to win the race. Ricky was good. Congratulations to him, and thank you to my team and everyone that helps us out. We couldn’t do this without all of them.” O’Neal recorded his fourth top 5 finish of the season with a third. “We’ve had success early and it’s great being up front and competing for wins. Thanks to Roger Sellers for giving me this opportunity and my team for giving me such as great race car.” The winner’s Todd and Vickie Burns-Owned SSI Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engines and sponsored by Hoker Trucking, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Dyno One, Inc., West Side Tractor Sales, Excel, Floor Covering, Certified Inspection Service Company, Inc., D&E Outside Services, and Shelby Materials. Completing the top ten were Mark Whitener, Kyle Bronson, Bobby Pierce, Tanner English, and Tim McCreadie.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
K&N Filters Winter Nationals Presented by OPTIMA Batteries
Monday, February 1, 2021
Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brian Shirley / 13.588 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Kyle Bronson / 13.587 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 4. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[5]; 8. 8-Kyle Strickler[9]; 9. 14B-John Baker[8]; 10. 12-Doug Drown[11]; 11. 6H-Clay Harris[12]; 12. 14R-Jeff Roth[13]; 13. 14G-Joe Godsey[10]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. 385-Mark Whitener[3]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton[7]; 7. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[6]; 8. 11H-Spencer Hughes[9]; 9. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[11]; 10. 44-Stewart Friesen[8]; 11. J8-Jadon Frame[10]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 4. 9-Devin Moran[6]; 5. 7R-Ross Robinson[5]; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening[7]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[11]; 8. 2X-Devin Dixon[4]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[9]; 10. 48-Colton Flinner[8]; 11. 1ST-Johnny Scott[10]; 12. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr[12]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 4. 33-Jeff Mathews[4]; 5. 0E-Rick Eckert[6]; 6. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 7. 6S-Blake Spencer[7]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 9. 1G-Ryan King[11]; 10. 2S-Stormy Scott[8]; 11. 27J-Joe Denby[10]; 12. 354-Chris Nash[12]

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[4]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler[7]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[5]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 7. 11H-Spencer Hughes[8]; 8. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 9. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 10. 6H-Clay Harris[13]; 11. 12-Doug Drown[11]; 12. 14G-Joe Godsey[17]; 13. 14B-John Baker[9]; 14. 4S-Danny Snyder[16]; 15. 14R-Jeff Roth[15]; 16. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[6]; 17. J8-Jadon Frame[14]

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 7R-Ross Robinson[1]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 6. 2X-Devin Dixon[7]; 7. 1ST-Johnny Scott[13]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 9. 6S-Blake Spencer[6]; 10. 2S-Stormy Scott[12]; 11. 1G-Ryan King[10]; 12. 27J-Joe Denby[14]; 13. 20B-Todd Brennan[9]; 14. 48-Colton Flinner[11]; 15. 354-Chris Nash[16]; 16. (DNS) 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr

CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Rolex 24 GTLM Victory for No. 3 Corvette C8.R Garcia, Taylor, Catsburg team for Corvette Racing’s fourth Rolex 24 winMilner, Tandy, Sims finish second in landmark Corvette 1-2 resultTwo Corvettes combine to lead 716 of 770 laps

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 31 2021) – For the fourth time in its history, Corvette Racing stood on the top step of the podium in the Rolex 24 At Daytona as Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. The No. 3 Corvette trio led a 1-2 finish for the mid-engine C8.R, which scored its first endurance victory. Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims placed a hard-fought second in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette in the biggest race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The two Corvettes combined to lead 716 of 770 laps during Saturday and Sunday around the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway. Sunday’s result came 20 years after the Corvette Racing’s first Rolex 24 win in 2001 and five years after another 1-2 team finish. Garcia and Taylor each won their third career Rolex 24, and Catsburg claimed his first. The trio also provisionally lead the GTLM Drivers Championship with the victory. A year ago, Garcia and Taylor won five times, claimed the Drivers’ Championship, and helped Chevrolet score its 13th GT Manufacturers title and Corvette Racing its 14thTeam Championship. The two Corvettes were the class of GTLM and ran 1-2 for much of the race. Milner, Tandy and Sims combined to lead 478 laps and ran out front with 45 minutes left in the race before the two Corvettes made their final pit stops. Taylor and Milner waged a close but clean battle that reminded many of the 0.034-second margin of victory for the No. 4 Corvette team at the 2016 Rolex 24. The two cars swapped spots three times in four laps as they jockeyed for position to capitalize on the then-class leading Ferrari’s final stop with 20 minutes left. This time, things went the way of the No. 3 Corvette as Taylor led the final 13 laps. Unfortunately, he and Catsburg could not celebrate their victory with Garcia, who was informed of a positive COVID-19 test following a double-stint with about six hours to go. Per IMSA Event Operations protocols, Garcia was removed from competition for the remainder of the event. Upon consultation with IMSA, the series determined Corvette Racing met all conditions under the IMSA event protocols, which allowed the team to compete in a safe and responsible manner. Corvette Racing’s next event is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring from Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway on Saturday, March 20. JIM CAMPBELL, CHEVROLET U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PERFORMANCE AND MOTORSPORTS: “Winning the opening race in the 2021 IMSA season keeps momentum going from the end of last season,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president Performance & Motorsports. “What a difference a year makes! I am so proud of the progress Corvette Racing team has made since last year’s race to win the 2021 Roles 24 At Daytona with the Corvette C8.R. It so special to win this endurance race at Daytona for the fourth time in our class.” LAURA KLAUSER, CHEVROLET SPORTS CAR PROGRAM MANAGER: “What an amazing team effort by everyone at Corvette Racing to get the Corvette C8.R to Victory Lane with a one-two finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. It was a hard-fought battle for this incredible result. The months of work and preparation by everyone associated with this program were evident today on both sides of the Corvette garage. This truly is One Team. I’m proud and pleased for the teams, our Corvette owners and our fans. This is the best possible way to start a new season, and we are going to work hard to capitalize on this momentum.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “This is both one of the best days of my career but also one of the most frustrating and disappointing. I did have COVID in late December with some symptoms. I isolated until I fully recovered, and followed all Spanish and CDC protocols to be cleared for traveling. It’s frustrating but there are protocols that are in place for this. It’s painful not to be able to celebrate with Jordan, Nicky and the rest of the team. We worked so hard over the past months and weeks to achieve an endurance win like the Rolex 24. We didn’t make mistakes, we had good pace with the Corvette. After winning the championship a year ago, this was the type or result we all wanted for the start of a new season.”Ever since we started at Daytona with this new car, we knew it would be fast and competitive. Obviously, the preparation we had last year wasn’t enough to win this race. But after the lockdown, that gave us an opportunity to develop the C8.R and we went on to win six races as a team and the championship. Last year, we didn’t manage to win a long race so it was still in our minds to get this, and now we’ve started with a big one like the Rolex. We proved today that Corvette Racing was the strongest team.”I have to say this was a flashback to the 2016 race (a runner-up finish in a Corvette 1-2). It was pretty nerve-wracking when it looked like it could happen again but I’m glad we came out on top this time.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It was an amazing day. All 24 hours in this class are always intense. I think every year you kind of forget how intense it is until it starts again. All the cars were within 10 seconds all race long. No one could make a mistake; any little mistake would put you on the back foot. For us, we had a flawless day at Corvette Racing. The No. 3 I don’t think missed a beat the whole race. All the drivers did a perfect job, the team did a perfect job, and it’s great for Corvette Racing to get its first endurance win with the Corvette C8.R. Last year, we won six sprint races and the championship but one thing that was missing was an endurance win. To start off 2021 with the Rolex 24 win is amazing. To do it with Antonio and Nicky… it’s our first win as a trio so that was definitely special and makes us want to be a little more hungry to win the Sebring 12 Hours on our next time out.”ONCE YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT ANTONIO, WERE YOU CONCERNED YOU WOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO FINISH: “No, I wasn’t too concerned. Corvette Racing takes safety and health very seriously. The protocols we have are super serious. The drivers don’t really interact. I didn’t see Nicky all race long. We pretty much just pass the car off to the next guy and then we see each other after the race. For me and Antonio, I saw him before the race and that was the last time. We’re always social distancing. We’re always observing the correct protocols. Surface-to-surface, we’re wearing gloves, we’re wearing balaclavas and helmets in the cars. So nothing in the car could be at risk for us. We didn’t have too much concern. We took the lead from IMSA and NASCAR to trust ourselves. We’re here to compete. They gave us this platform to race and to be here, so the last thing we want to do is break their protocols and do something unsafe and unhealthy. We stick to what they say. It’s definitely disappointing and sad that Antonio wasn’t there for the end. He was a huge part of our victory today. He leads this 3 car and has been here for years. He started the race off so well for us. It was sad he couldn’t share it with us at the podium, but we’ll definitely see him in a couple of weeks when he’s clear and we can go celebrate.”WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO NOW: “I’m fine to go sit in my house by myself for as long as it takes and caress my Rolex for awhile! I’ll get tested and make sure I’m safe. I just live with my dog we’ll be alright.”WILL YOU QUARENTINE? IF YOU WANTED TO DO GO KNOCK ON YOUR DAD’S DOOR AND CELEBRATE WITH THEM, WOULD YOU? “Tonight I probably won’t. Every year after the Rolex, the tradition is our family gets pizza together. I think that one will be broken this year, which is unfortunate since we both won. But it’s better to be safe than sorry. I’ll go home and celebrate in the quiet, make sure I’m healthy and safe, and then I’ll go knock on my parents’ next door and congratulate them when I’m all clear.”MORE DETAILS ON TEAM PROTOCOLS: “We’re in the same room part of the time, but not for an extended period of time. We wear our masks. Everyone sanitizes when then enter and exit the trailers. Safety is a huge concern. When we meet with the engineers, it’s super brief. It’s actually kind of odd how little interaction there has been in the past year with our engineers. A lot of it is via text, email and exchanges like that. We try to get in a couple of quick meetings throughout the weekend in-person. Even those are quick with masks, and we stay as safe as possible.” WINNING IN THE NO. 3 CAR ON 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EARNHARDTS DRIVING FOR CORVETTE RACING: “It is amazing. I think everyone is a fan of Dale Sr., and Dale Jr. When I joined Corvette Racing in 2012, I was in the No. 3 car and obviously the No. 3 is so symbolic and historic, especially here at Daytona. Doing it in a Chevrolet it is super special. Dale Sr. had unbelievable success here at Daytona. Today we were making our passes on the high banks so maybe we had a little bit of Dale Sr. in the car with us this weekend.”GETTING A ROLEX WIN THE SAME WEEKEND YOUR BROTHER DOES, AS WELL AS COMING 25 YEARS AFTER YOUR DAD’S FIRST WIN: “I didn’t realize it was 25 years. For me and Corvette Racing, it’s awesome to get a win. From a family point of view, it is amazing that my Dad and my brother won overall. I don’t know what that is…like three out of four years they’ve won or four out of five. It is amazing what my Dad has built over there at Wayne Taylor Racing and the success they’ve had, especially at this event. They are so strong in at Daytona and in endurance races. They’ve only had those cars for a month or two to prepare them with no testing except for the Roar last week. I think that speaks volume to the personnel there – the engineers, the mechanics, the crew, and all the drivers obviously did a great job. I don’t think they had the ultimate pace in the race, but it came down to strategy and execution. That is what that team is known for. So it’s an amazing day for the Taylor family. These days are so rare that it’s hard to imagine them; it could easily be the last time it happens that we both win on the same weekend. You have to savor these moments.”IMPACT ON DRIVER ROTATION WHEN ANTONIO GARCIA COULDN’T CONTINUE: “It wasn’t great news, to be honest. I had finished my triple stint in the morning or whenever it was. I got out and was supposed to be done, go have a massage, relax and watch Nicky and Antonio go race. I was so excited to go just relax and then they said Antonio can’t get back in the car. To be honest, I was in shock. I was like, there is no way. Antonio is our guy and our finisher. That’s who we want in the car at the end. I was so disappointed for Antonio because I know how much this races means to him, how much he wanted to win it and finish the race. It was sad, but thankfully we train well. We have good support from the doctors here and keep us healthy and keep us fit. The physicality of it wasn’t too bad. It was more the mental strain that was difficult.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It means a lot to win this race, to be honest. Last year I joined Corvette, and they won the championship and races, but every time I was there we didn’t win! So I’m really happy to get this out of the way. I have my win so we can continue doing that! In all seriousness and like Jordan said, the team did an amazing job. The drivers did well, the strategy was nice, the C8.R was great. So it was a great day for us and I’m really proud of winning this great event.”WINNING IN THE NO. 3 CAR ON 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EARNHARDTS DRIVING FOR CORVETTE RACING: “To be very honest, obviously I know about Dale Earnhardt and Junior, as well. I didn’t know so much about the history of the No. 3 car. I do now, and it is definitely a special feeling. I am very proud to be part of this. I always dreamed about racing in America. Now I’m here with a big race under my belt now and just looking forward to getting more.”WINNING AT DAYTONA COMPARED TO 24-HOUR RACES AT SPA AND NÜRBURGRING: “I think it fits right in line with the other big events. It’s a race which is part of this lineup of big races: Le Mans, Spa, Daytona, Sebring, and now I have a couple of them. So hopefully we will do Sebring as well, then Le Mans later in the year. So I am just happy to write this one off the list.”FINDING OUT ABOUT ANTONIO GARCIA: “I think it was after the 17th hour in the race. I’m not exactly sure, but I think it was the 17th hour. Me and Jordan did the rest of the race. For me, I also tested on Saturday and I tested negative. I will do another test tomorrow before I can go back to Europe. For me, I feel safe and I never felt any threat from his positive result.”IMPACT ON DRIVER ROTATION WHEN ANTONIO GARCIA COULDN’T CONTINUE: “I fully agree with Jordan. To be honest, I was kind of tired from the triple stints. I also think we are one of the only crews that drives with three drivers, and then all of a sudden we were two. So it is definitely heavy. I must say, in the last bit of the race, I asked if I needed to do another stint and they said, ‘Yes, you need to do another stint.’ I thought,  ‘Oh no, here we go again.’ But obviously it was it super nice and we made it happen. We had some support from a physio here. I feel fit actually.”IT WAS VERY CLOSE WITH THE 4 CORVETTE BEFORE THE BALANCE CHANGED SUNDAY. DO YOU KNOW THE REASONS? “I think the 4 car was better suited to the softer compound tire. I think their car balance was a little bit different compared to ours, and that kind of has to do with what drivers like and what they prefer. Our car really came alive on the medium tire in the warmer conditions. Obviously that is when it needs to be done. I guess we got lucky there. It was super cool to fight our teammates the whole race. I remember in one of my stints during the night fighting Alexander Sims, who I also know from other places than Corvette Racing. I had a good fight with Philipp Eng as well, and it was just super cool to be so close for the whole race. That’s what GTLM is about – close racing and the best race drivers in the world. It’s so much fun to be part of it. It’s such a shame that we are going to have to say goodbye to it.”ISSUE WITH A SLOW STOP LATE: “The car didn’t want to rev up. It’s almost like we had an engine issue and we weren’t really sure how to solve it. I just kept trying to start it up and eventually it worked. I think we got quite lucky there. A 24-hour race is always a big stress on your equipment and material. Corvette Racing builds great race cars, and this one survived and we won the race.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “The race for us in the No. 4 Corvette and for us as a team really couldn’t have been better. Maybe on our side it could have been a little bit better in the last two hours… but we had a really, really fast car. We probably we had the car to beat for the first 20 hours of the race. Then the last four hours of the race, for whatever reason, we lost some of that pace in the car. We still did everything right. We had good pit strategy. Alexander and Nick both drove fantastic races. In the end when a yellow bunched us all back up again, the No. 3 car once the sun was beating down on the racetrack, it seemed like they were just a little bit better than us and everybody else. They had a great car at the end and definitely executed in the end. Congratulations to Jordan, Antonio, Nicky and all the No. 3 car guys. They did an awesome job.“Certainly it stings a little bit to be that good for that long and not come away with first place. For us, we’ve at times spent time a little bit behind the eight-ball in certain situations. Today we were at the front for pretty much the whole race, so we can be proud of that and all the work and the effort that goes into trying to find what we were missing in the past. We’re just making sure we are doing everything right from every angle. Obviously we have new teammates, but it’s not just that. They are obviously did a great job today. I’ve had fantastic teammates in the past with Olly (Gavin) and Marcel (Fässler) and you go down the list… Simon Pagenaud…  we’ve had phenomenal guys in the Corvette here. It was good to see the hard work from the crew guys and our engineers… to see the fruits of that labor with the car up front for so long. We can absolutely be proud about that. We can take that, go to Sebring and get a win there.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “There are a whole loads of positives to take out. After one weekend, I already feel fully part of the team. Not that I didn’t expect to, but I feel part of the team and part of the Corvette Racing family. Of course everyone wants their car to win or their side of the garage to be victorious. We worked with the other drivers and the other crew  on the No. 3 Corvette as much as our guys on the No. 4 car. To be part of a winning weekend, it’s been an awesome start. I’m happy to say my first weekend with Corvette Racing has been super successful – first and second in qualifying and first and second in the Rolex 24. It doesn’t get much better than that.”BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM DAYTONA: “I’m pleasantly surprised  how well we gelled and worked together so quickly. From getting an understanding on how the car works and getting an understanding from the engineers of what we like out of a race weekend and a race car. Everything has gelled so smoothly that it makes me excited about the future and what this relationship can build on between us all as part of the team and lead to future successes. As I said, being new to the team but having sampled a faultless weekend with the results over the course of two weeks, I hope it’s a good omen of things to come. It’s obviously awesome to get the first away our endurance victory for the C8.R, and to have a 1-2 and double victory is pretty awesome, and it vindicates all the work that has gone on behind the scenes since last year.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “I think it is just massive for the whole team. Yes, from a sportsman’s point of view, there is obviously disappointment it couldn’t be us on the top step. But looking at the bigger picture, it is 1-2o for Corvette and that is what we came here to achieve. I’m just really, really proud of the whole team’s efforts. Having only coming into this team as a newbie as such and to be a part of the operation and to be part of the effort here at Daytona was a real privilege. Everyone worked their absolute socks off. I’m really pleased to be a part of it. We come here to win, all of us, but in the end there is only one winner. So if it can’t be you, then you want it to be your teammates so that the team does well.  So, it’s a good day.”

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA CORVETTE RACING 18-HOUR REPORT ANUARY 31, 2021

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 31, 2021) – Corvette Racing found itself locked in a fierce five-car GT Le Mans (GTLM) battle and continued to run 1-2 in the category as the Rolex 24 At Daytona entered the final six hours. Nick Tandy held a five-second lead in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he took over from teammate Tommy Milner inside seven hours to go. Milner, Tandy and Alexander Sims combined to lead 407 of the 574 laps at the 18-hour mark of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s biggest race. Their biggest challengers so far have been No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette teammates Jordan Taylor – who ran second behind Tandy – Antonio Garcia,  and Nicky Catsburg, who have combined to lead 133 laps heading into the final six hours. The result is far from over as the top four GTLM cars were within 14 seconds of each other entering the final stretch run.  A victory this afternoon would be Corvette Racing’s fourth at the Rolex 24 and first since 2016.

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s really tough out there, and it’s not going to be easy to the end. You can tell BMW and the Ferrari are coming fast. I expect a pretty close fight all the way to the end.”INTER-TEAM BATTLE: “No question that just as good as our Corvette has been, they (the No. 3 C8.R) has the same package that we do. They are certainly quick and we’ve been basically nose to tail in one form or another for the entire race. That will be a big fight at the end, there’s no question about that. As we saw in 2016, the team is OK with some racing at the end. With an hour or two to go, they’ll let the guys race a little bit than we have been. At the moment, the pace of the two cars seems to be almost dead-on. There hasn’t been a point in the race where I’ve had to maintain by them or the 3 car has to maintain behind us. It’s been really good racing. It’s easy in these situations when you have guys that are so close to you all the time to keep your focus. It’s been a 24-hour race that has gone by pretty quickly.”MORE ON THE 2016 FINISH: “It’s looking that way right now, for sure. There is still quite a ways to go so there’s a lot that can still happen. There’s a lot going on the track and a lot that can go wrong on the track, through traffic, on pitlane, with some car gremlins. It looks like the 25 is having some issues. We’re definitely not counting our chickens. We have a long way to go to get to 3:40. It would be fun if we could have two Corvettes up front at the end racing hard. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a red or black car up there, too.”ANY FURTHER SHIFTING PROBLEMS: “We haven’t had the same problem as at the start of the race where I lost drive for a moment. It’s just a function of us knowing what to do if it does get to that point. It is a concern for us, but it seems like for the last 10 hours or so that the three of us have been able to manage the problem a little bit. It doesn’t really hurt us on pace and laptime. If the problem does occur, then it costs us some time but we all know what to do quickly to get the car back in gear. As long as it stays like it is, I don’t think it will be any problem for us. But in a 24-hour race, you’re always concerned about these little issues that could potentially get worse. We’re all that we can as drivers to minimize the problem area. Let’s see what happens.”PACE OF BMW IN THE FINAL HOURS: “It’s definitely in the back of my mind. On one of the restarts recently, they certainly had quite a bit of horsepower and were able to drive right past me. We’ll see how it goes. It seems like our long-run pace is a little bit better than the BMWs and possibly the Ferrari as well. I think they’re both a little quicker at the beginning of the stint. It’d be nice if it would go green all the way to the end because I think that would benefit us. But I’d be very surprised if there weren’t a couple more cautions.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We had some hard racing last year between the Corvettes. Mid-Ohio was one in particular that I remember well. This is the staple and style of racing that we see from Corvette Racing, like 2016 when Oliver (Gavin) and Antonio (Garcia) battled over the last hour nose to tail just like this. I think it’s going to come down to the wire again. It’s nice to see Corvettes battling 1-2 but everyone else is still fast. It will be tough to the end.“Last year was an amazing race for Corvette Racing as a whole coming out with the C8.R in its first year and being so dominant. It was great to win the championship but coming in 2021, it’s like a full reset for the team. Last year was great but now it’s all starting again, and everyone wants to win a Rolex. A win last year would have been a tough order in the car’s debut race. We came back strong and won here in July. We won six races but they were all sprint races. We definitely want to get one on the endurance side.”

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIPnDAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA CORVETTE RACING HALFWAY REPORT JANUARY 31, 2021

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 31, 2021) – Corvette Racing continued its strong showing past the halfway point of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The pair of mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs ran first and second in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Nick Tandy ahead of Jordan Taylor entering the race’s second half. The GTLM field was in the midst of a nearly 90-minute, green-flag run as the Rolex 24 moved into the final 12 hours. Tandy, in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, led by a little more than five seconds over Taylor and the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette. The pair of Corvettes led all but two laps in the first 12 hours, a testament to the development and execution by the group of six drivers, the engineering team and crew members. Tandy took over in the No. 4 Corvette after a triple-stint from Tommy Milner. The No. 4 Corvette moved into the lead on pit strategy near the nine-and-a-half-hour mark as Tandy was able to get out of the pitlane and up to speed before Taylor could come around at speed. He had taken over two laps earlier from Garcia, who finished a triple-stint of his own. Both Tandy and Taylor were in the middle of their own triples at the halfway mark before handing over to Alexander Sims and Nicky Catsburg, respectively.

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s going fairly well so far, I would say. I had my first two stints in the Corvette at Daytona, and I feel like I’m learning a lot still. Those were the first two full stints I’ve done, and I learned a lot about the evolution of the car over that stint. So we’re at the front of the field. It may look like it’s all under control, but we’re pushing hard and not leaving much on the table. We’re in the right position at the moment.”STAYING OUT FRONT: “Minimizing mistakes is the first crucial point that we need to execute properly. Beyond that, the class is so incredibly competitive despite there only being five cars on the lead lap – all five are absolutely in the hunt. It’s going to be about that… making sure we don’t make any major mistakes and keeping the car in one piece for the end.”BALANCE OF THE CAR FROM DAY TO NIGHT: “I didn’t drive in the day yet, but from the laps we did in practice I wouldn’t say things change a huge amount. The track temperature dictates what tire spec we can run. But no the car seems be reacting well to the temperatures in the night and I think the other guys were pretty happy with the Corvette in the day at the start of the race.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Things are going OK at the moment. We are fighting hard with our teammates as well as with the Ferrari and two BMWs not far behind. The cautions bunch us all up again so it will stay close all the way to the end. We are struggling with a gearbox gremlin which hasn’t become more than a nuisance yet, but it’s something we need to keep an eye on. The crew are making great pit stops, and Alexander and Nick have hardly missed a beat. We have a really good Corvette. I hope we can keep up this fight all the way to the end.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We’re doing OK. We are 1-2 in class, which is always good. And I feel like I am learning still. The first stint I did wasn’t the best one. I was struggling with car balance, but we made some changes and the second one was better. So we are still working on the car even during the race. I feel like we are making improvements. It was fun to be following Alexander for almost two hours. We did OK but we need to keep our heads cool and focus on the last couple hours of the race. For that, we need to make it there.”ON THE RACE START: “As far as I can judge, if you’re the leader then you are deciding the pace. So whatever happens behind you is not your fault. Obviously you should not slow down, but I don’t think we did. The BMW was going a bit too soon and touching the Porsche. It was very unfortunate. I don’t think it was no one’s intent to hit anyone there before the actual green flag, but these things happen in motorsport. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I don’t think the two Corvettes were over-slowing, and I think the BMW meant to hit anyone there. It happened, so let’s focus on the race ahead of us.”STAYING OUT FRONT: “We really need to focus now on keeping our heads cool. It’s nice to be ahead now but it really doesn’t mean anything. There are going to be so many yellows and more incidents. We need to stay out of trouble and make sure we have a Corvette to be fast at the end of the race.”BALANCE OF THE CAR FROM DAY TO NIGHT: “I do feel a slight change when the temperature drops. It’s nothing huge and nothing we don’t know. We can make some small adjustments to the car to help that, so no big surprises for us.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We just keep running and changing the car. The track conditions have been changing quite a bit… the temperature, especially. We are trying to react to that. There were a few stints where the car felt good and some others where it wasn’t as good. We are still up there, which is the main thing. It’s difficult not to push and wanting to be up front, but there is a long way to go. We’ll see, but so far I think we can continue this. I don’t know what our competitors have for us in the end. They may be good, too. We’ll continue to be as clean as possible.”FUTURE CHANGES TO THE CAR: “The guys will carry on making their changes. The track will continue to develop. I don’t think it’s going to be any colder the rest of the way. We’ll continue to follow the track. I don’t know what to expect yet. I’ll probably get the sunrise stint depending on the schedule. We will see where we are then.”

Feb 1, 2021 | Featured, Rachel Meyer, Special Announcements

Randy Meyer Racing didn’t have to look far to find a new primary driver when Megan Meyer announced her retirement last year, as her sister, Rachel, has been named Megan’s replacement. Rachel will drive the newly rebranded NTK Sensors A/Fuel dragster tuned and owned by her father, Randy Meyer. 

“This is something I have always dreamt of doing with my family and I’m excited I finally get the chance,” said Rachel Meyer, a product design engineer. “I’m lucky to have bosses who will work with my work schedule and allow me to take off to go racing, as well as NGK and Lucas Oil for helping me out this upcoming season.”

NTK Sensors, the world’s largest OE oxygen sensor manufacturer, is the sister brand to NGK Spark Plugs, which served as Megan’s primary sponsor from 2018 through the end of her second NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world championship season in 2020. 

“NGK is pleased to sponsor the Randy Meyer Racing team for the 2021 season,” said Beth Skove, General Manager-Marketing, Aftermarket Division, NGK Spark Plugs (U.S.A.) Inc. “It has been an honor to help support Randy’s team over the years, and last year was especially exciting with Megan Meyer breaking two (elapsed) time records and holding the world champion title for the second year in a row. We know Randy has a talented race team and crew, and we’re looking forward to another winning year with Randy Meyer Racing and Rachel Meyer.”

Racing on a part-time basis, Rachel won the 2020 NHRA Central Region championship on the strength of two wins and a runner-up finish. She also reached the semifinals in her second JEGS Allstars appearance. 

“Winning your first championship is something everyone dreams of and I can’t believe I finally got it done,” Meyer said. “I knew it would be hard to win one, especially with only racing part time, but thanks to my dad and crew for giving me a great, competitive car I got it done. I’m hoping one day I can win a world championship, then maybe try for a championship in other classes.”

Meyer’s 2021 schedule will be her most ambitious season yet, with 10 national events and six regional races on the itinerary. She’s chasing her first national event victory and her fifth win on the Lucas Oil Series regional level while trying to improve on a No. 11 finish in the national points standings. 

“My biggest goal is to finally get that national event win,” Meyer said. “I came close in my first-ever national event and made it to the finals, but I have never been able to get that Wally. Another goal would be placing top 10 in the national points. I came close a few times, but since I was limited to just a few national events each year it made it hard to place top 10.”

On top of racing the NTK Sensors A/Fuel dragster, Meyer also plans to continue bracket racing at local tracks like Mo-Kan Dragway, where she started the 2020 season with a win. 

“It’s going to be a hectic year working and racing full-time, as well as finishing my truck and racing it on the weekends I’m not racing the alcohol car, but I’m very excited,” Meyer said. 

Meyer, who services the clutch in addition to a number of other driver duties between rounds, will work alongside her dad and the team he’s assembled to work on Randy Meyer Racing’s A/Fuel cars. Megan will also join the team at a few races to handle media duties, while the sisters’ mom, Mary, helps out as well. 

“I would like to thank my mom, dad, and sister Megan for everything they do for me on and off the track,” Meyer said. “I couldn’t do this without any of them. I also want to thank all the crew guys who have helped me in the past – Ted, Howard, Craig, Kevin, Kris, Roy, JJ, Rob, Jeff, and Rich – for helping me at the races.”

Meyer will begin her 2021 season in the NTK Sensors dragster at the NHRA South Central division’s season opener, Feb. 26-27, at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, La.

TAMPA, FL (January 30, 2021) – Tyler Erb became the first repeat winner this season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour as he won the Saturday Night finale at East Bay Raceway Park before a packed house. The 24-year-old Texas native stormed to the lead after a lap 32 caution and held off Jonathan Davenport for the win. Davenport finished .322 seconds behind Erb at the finish line. Brandon Sheppard was third, followed by Tim McCreadie, and Hudson O’Neal in the Wrisco Industries Winternationals. Sheppard led the first 13 laps of the race until Erb was able to get by him on lap 14. Erb held the point until a lap 19 restart when McCreadie took over the lead. McCreadie started to pull away from the field when a caution appeared with 32 laps scored. On the restart Erb went from third in the running order to the lead. A caution for debris on lap 35 halted the action one final time. Erb stretched his lead out over Davenport, but Davenport made it close at the end, coming to within one car length of the winner at the checkers. Erb made his way to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 11th time in his career after starting fourth on the grid. “The top was pretty hard to run and I gave up the lead on a restart by running up there. I was like man, that could have been the race! McCreadie drove off and he was good. I really didn’t have much traction on the restarts, and I picked the top. I had a really good run on those guys, but needed a little luck. He [McCreadie] just kind of missed the bottom getting into one and I was able to get by him.” “Randall [Edwards] was showing me that my lead was getting a little close at the end, so I just tried to hit my marks. I got real wide on that last corner and hoped for the best. I just tried not to burn my stuff up.  This is the first time we ever put a different tire on here and it worked out. I am just super excited to win.”  Davenport recorded his best LOLMDS finish so far during Florida Speedweeks with his runner-up placing.  “He [Erb] was pretty good. We were reeling him in at the end and I should have moved around a little bit earlier. I thought we could get by him on the last lap. I just tried to throw a Hail Mary at him, but I came up short. We’ve got something wrong with the other car, so I didn’t want to tear this one up.” Sheppard, who ran most of the race up top came home in third. “We had a good car at the beginning of the week and then we struggled in the middle of the week. We finally got it going again here at the end. I am proud of my guys for sticking with me and working their tails off to give a fast race car. We had fun out there tonight. We got into heavy traffic when I was leading and then Terbo and McCreadie passed me. Congratulations to Terbo, he did a great job. We never got in to lapped traffic again so we could dice it up, but the cautions kept coming out.” The winner’s Eric and Kelly Brock-owned Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and is sponsored by Industrial Resourcing Group, Roberts Bee Company, First Class Septic, Go Lithium, Bazell Race Fuels, Sunoco, Keyser, Lucas Oil Products, Franklin Enterprises, KBC Graphics, Boxo, and Corey Frazier State Farm Insurance. Completing the top ten were Bobby Pierce, Boom Briggs, Brandon Overton, Josh Richards, and Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Wrisco Industries 45th Annual Winter Nationals – Presented by Lucas Oil
Saturday, January 30, 2021
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton / 14.544 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Sheppard / 14.644 seconds 

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 5. 12D-Doug Drown[11]; 6. 111-Steven Roberts[6]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[5]; 8. 6B-Adam Boyd[12]; 9. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[8]; 10. 311-Ken Monahan[9]; 11. 1G-Ryan King[7]; 12. 18J-Chase Junghans[10]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 99B-Boom Briggs[4]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 4. 6S-Blake Spencer[11]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 6. 11H-Spencer Hughes[9]; 7. 20B-Todd Brennan[8]; 8. 81-Jason Riggs[10]; 9. 27J-Joe Denby[12]; 10. 2X-Devin Dixon[5]; 11. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[7]; 12. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[6]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 385-Mark Whitener[2]; 2. 14B-John Baker[3]; 3. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 4. 22-Gregg Satterlee[9]; 5. 94M-Jason Miller[7]; 6. 6T-Zack Dohm[6]; 7. 58-Ross Bailes[10]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[5]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[11]; 10. 00H-Wil Herrington[8]; 11. 00R-Richie Stephens[12]; 12. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 3. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 4. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 6. 51-Dean Carpenter[12]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 8. 36-Matt Irey[7]; 9. 8A-Rob Anderzack[9]; 10. 111M-Matthew Lux[10]; 11. 3W-Brennon Willard[11]; 12. 24D-Michael Brown[8]
MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[9]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott[7]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[6]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth[11]; 10. 995-Manny Falcon[10]; 11. 33-Jeff Mathews[8]; 12. (DNS) 7R-Ross Robinson
Fast Shafts Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 4. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 5. 0E-Rick Eckert[7]; 6. 212-Josh Putnam[6]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler[5]; 8. J8-Jadon Frame[8]; 9. C4-Freddie Carpenter[9]; 10. KB0-Kerry King[10]; 11. 29-Larry Grube[11]

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 6S-Blake Spencer[2]; 3. 81-Jason Riggs[10]; 4. 12D-Doug Drown[3]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 6. 2X-Devin Dixon[14]; 7. 20B-Todd Brennan[8]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[7]; 9. 6B-Adam Boyd[9]; 10. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[18]; 11. 311-Ken Monahan[13]; 12. 27J-Joe Denby[12]; 13. 111-Steven Roberts[5]; 14. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[16]; 15. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[11]; 16. 11H-Spencer Hughes[6]; 17. (DNS) 1G-Ryan King; 18. (DNS) 18J-Chase Junghans

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 22-Gregg Satterlee[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 4. 6T-Zack Dohm[5]; 5. 00H-Wil Herrington[13]; 6. 58-Ross Bailes[7]; 7. 94M-Jason Miller[3]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[9]; 9. 111M-Matthew Lux[14]; 10. 36-Matt Irey[10]; 11. 3W-Brennon Willard[16]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder[11]; 13. 3S-Brian Shirley[8]; 14. 51-Dean Carpenter[6]; 15. (DNS) 8A-Rob Anderzack; 16. (DNS) 24D-Michael Brown; 17. (DNS) 20-Jimmy Owens; 18. (DNS) 00R-Richie Stephens

Wrisco Industries B-Main #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 2. 48-Colton Flinner[2]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[7]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 5. 0E-Rick Eckert[4]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[8]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 8. 212-Josh Putnam[6]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth[11]; 10. C4-Freddie Carpenter[12]; 11. KB0-Kerry King[14]; 12. 29-Larry Grube[16]; 13. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 14. J8-Jadon Frame[10]; 15. 33-Jeff Mathews[15]; 16. (DNS) 995-Manny Falcon; 17. (DNS) 7R-Ross Robinson

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA CORVETTE RACING SIX-HOUR REPORT JANUARY 30, 2021 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 30, 2021) – Corvette Racing ended the first quarter of the Rolex 24 At Daytona just as it started: first and second place in its class. Alexander Sims led Nicky Catsburg by less than two seconds as the pair of Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs flexed their muscle in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Both Corvettes swapped the lead in the first six hours as they avoided much of the same trouble that befell other cars in the opening portion of the race. A total of 46 cars took the green flag, which saw Tommy Milner hold the lead from the GTLM pole in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette for the first 20 minutes before Antonio Garcia moved ahead in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R for the bulk of his stint.  Both Milner and Garcia drove three stints before handing over respectively to Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. The two Corvette teammates took turns in the lead before Tandy regained the advantage for the No. 4 Corvette team just past the four-hour mark. The two C8.Rs ran in that position through the six-hour mark.

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It was a pretty eventful start for some of the cars behind us, and we had some good racing for two or three stints. There is a long way to go, but so far the Corvette C8.R is fast and comfortable. Our guys are doing a great job in the pits so far. We need to keep all this up and see where we are in 18 hours or so.”ANY SURPRISES IN THE OPENING STINT: “I think with the P3 cars we maybe expected a little bit more trouble with them in some sense. But so far on the restarts when we’ve been close to them, it’s been hectic for sure but everyone is driving within their limits it seems like. We haven’t had too many problems. Hopefully it stays that way.”ON THE UPSHIFT GLITCH EARLY IN THE RACE: “Coming out of Turn 6 we had a false neutral with the gearbox. We had changed some procedures in the car where if that did happen to make it faster for us to get it back in gear. We’re still struggling with that so it took me a little bit longer to figure out how to get the car back in gear. Once I was able to do that, I didn’t lose too much time and I was able to close the gap again with traffic. All in all, it wasn’t too bad. It could have been worse but for sure it’s something we’ll have to keep an eye on.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “My stint was pretty much the same as Tommy. We went through every single position, I think – leading, second, third and fourth. Everything has been decent so far… no big deals. There is still quite a long way to go, and as we have seen there will be lots of mistakes out there with a lot of traffic. We need to be fast and keep track position, but we also need to be very smart, too.”ANY SURPRISES IN THE OPENING STINT: “Not really. Everything is running as we expected. GTLM is pretty close. We didn’t know how the contraction would be with LMP3. We seem to be a little bit faster. So far it hasn’t been too super difficult with them. Once the good guys in the P3s get to drive, maybe the pace will be a little bit closer. Other than that, it’s a close battle as always in GTLM and it will probably stay that way all the way through.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Generally that stint was OK. I was just sort of seeing how things were in the first stint. Definitely we are having to be careful on traffic this year with some of the new drivers and cars out there. I think we’re in a good spot right now, taking minimal risk and trying to take care of the C8.R to make sure we’re in for the fight at the end.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “The Corvette is great. This is the first time we really put a full stint on a set of tires in race conditions. We didn’t really know what to expect. The car is good and the tire is good. The day is a very different thing as we look ahead to tomorrow. It’s a new toy for me and it’s fun.”ON TRAFFIC: “The trouble comes when you get a certain class that comes around on a pit sequence. So you might get two or three GTDs that come out on cold tires or a couple of P3s out on cold tires, and that’s when it gets really nerve-wracking. You can kind of get stuck in there in a big group with eight or 10 cars together. So that’s something new and something to look out for. But so far it’s been pretty good.”IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT STINT: “We need to work a bit on how the car is over the course of a stint. So we might have one type of balance in the chassis in the beginning when the tire is fresh and then an evolution of that as the tire gets older through a stint. We can work with the engineers and try to trim the car to be more consistent over a longer run. This is something we can look for.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2021) – Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Sunday for the first long-distance victory for the mid-engine Corvette race car. Taylor led a 1-2 Corvette C8.R finish to the checkered flag ahead of Tommy Milner’s No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R that he drove with Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims. This is the fourth Rolex 24 victory for Corvette Racing and first since 2016.  JIM CAMPBELL, CHEVROLET U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PERFORMANCE AND MOTORSPORTS: “Winning the opening race in the 2021 IMSA season keeps momentum going from the end of last season,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president Performance & Motorsports. “What a difference a year makes! I am so proud of the progress Corvette Racing team has made since last year’s race to win the 2021 Roles 24 At Daytona with the Corvette C8.R. It so special to win this endurance race at Daytona for the fourth time in our class.” LAURA KLAUSER, CHEVROLET SPORTS CAR PROGRAM MANAGER: “What an amazing team effort by everyone at Corvette Racing to get the Corvette C8.R to Victory Lane with a one-two finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. It was a hard-fought battle for this incredible result. The months of work and preparation by everyone associated with this program were evident today on both sides of the Corvette garage. This truly is One Team. I’m proud and pleased for the teams, our Corvette owners and our fans. This is the best possible way to start a new season, and we are going to work hard to capitalize on this momentum.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “This is both one of the best days of my career but also one of the most frustrating and disappointing. I did have COVID in late December with some symptoms. I isolated until I fully recovered, and followed all Spanish and CDC protocols to be cleared for traveling. It’s frustrating but there are protocols that are in place for this. It’s painful not to be able to celebrate with Jordan, Nicky and the rest of the team. We worked so hard over the past months and weeks to achieve an endurance win like the Rolex 24. We didn’t make mistakes, we had good pace with the Corvette. After winning the championship a year ago, this was the type or result we all wanted for the start of a new season.”Ever since we started at Daytona with this new car, we knew it would be fast and competitive. Obviously, the preparation we had last year wasn’t enough to win this race. But after the lockdown, that gave us an opportunity to develop the C8.R and we went on to win six races as a team and the championship. Last year, we didn’t manage to win a long race so it was still in our minds to get this, and now we’ve started with a big one like the Rolex. We proved today that Corvette Racing was the strongest team.”I have to say this was a flashback to the 2016 race (a runner-up finish in a Corvette 1-2). It was pretty nerve-wracking when it looked like it could happen again but I’m glad we came out on top this time.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It is definitely different. My two previous ones were in prototype with my Dad’s team. I never had a chance to finish the race when we won, so I think that part of it was definitely daunting and intimidating. I was extremely nervous the hour leading up to my last stint, just knowing what was at stake and how big of a deal this race is for Corvette Racing and to Chevrolet. To have everyone here and seeing the history of the team at this event… the success is kinda down to your hands in that last couple of hours when you are in the car. I wanted to do my job well and hit my marks and not make mistakes. I had an amazing battle with Tommy (Milner)… super respectful. I thought it was a great race. I’m just so happy. It’s my first class win at Daytona and third Rolex. So unbelievable and I never could have dreamed it any better to be honest.“It is just a testament to Corvette Racing. It just speaks volumes about the team and proof of what they’ve done in the past and how well they execute these big events. The Corvette C8.R has only done one 24-hour race, and that was last year. So to come back in their second year and finish one-two with no issues is just unbelievable. We had perfect strategy, perfect pit stops and none of the drivers made mistakes. It’s all down to the team and execution and teaching the drivers what they need to do to win these events. It’s an honor to be a part of it. The driver is just a small piece of the whole puzzle. We get to stand on the podium but all the people on the team deserve it. They are the ones that put in the hard work in the offseason to make it all possible. “It was bittersweet to end the day like we did with Antonio having to leave the track after the test. I was super upset and disappointed for him when I got out of the car after what I thought was my last stint and was told he couldn’t get back in the car. He lives for these events, especially this one.  He really wanted to finish this race to capitalize on when they finished second in 2016 to kind of make up for that. So I felt bad for him in that respect, but he should be unbelievably proud of this whole team. He is the leader of this No. 3 car. He’s the one that drives the setup of it which is why we were so quick at the end of the race. He’s taught me so much as a driver, understanding the tires, how to do drive the car and understanding this new GT world that I’m in. If it wasn’t for Antonio, there’s no way I would have driven that last stint the way I did. Huge thanks to him. I know I’ll see him in a couple weeks when he can come back into the country and we can hang out and celebrate in person. I know he will hold this Rolex proud. I’m so honored and happy to be a part of this with him. We’ve never won an endurance race as teammates so this is the first one and very special.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “This feels amazing. The Rolex 24 is a race I always wanted to win, and now we did it. It’s a little weird with what has happened with Antonio, but we still did it together and it is an awesome victory. It’s the first endurance win with the Corvette C8.R so yes, this is amazing!”DID THIS COME AS A SURPRISE: “It doesn’t come as a surprise but you still need to make it happen, drive for 24 hours and make no mistakes. The C8.R showed it could do it. It won the championship last year. After a year of development and coming back to Daytona, I always knew we were going to have a shot at this one. The team, the car, the drivers… everything needed to work perfectly and it did.”

Ryan Eversley, Todd Lamb and Greg Strelzoff score second place in caution-marred season opener
16-year-old Noaker stars with pole position before the #84 suffers mid-race contact

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 29, 2021) – Atlanta Speedwerks kicked off the 2021 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season with a qualifying pole and podium finish for their Honda Civic Type R TCRs in Friday’s four-hour race at Daytona International Speedway.

Just 16 years old, Robert Noaker scored pole position for Friday’s event in the #84 Civic Type R TCR, but it was the sister #94 car out of the Atlanta Speedwerks stable that crossed the line second and took home the hardware for the team. Driven by team owner Todd Lamb alongside Ryan Eversley and Greg Strelzoff, the #94 started the race in 12th place, working their way through the field, and utilizing a well-timed splash of fuel with just over an hour to go to secure their podium finish.

Though they started on pole position and led for much of the early part of the race, the #84 of Noaker and Brian Henderson did not share its sister car’s luck, getting taken out with just over an hour left to run in a multi-car incident, resulting in the sixth of seven yellows during the four-hour event. The #73 LA Honda World entry of Mike LaMarra and Mat and the new-to-IMSA #88 Civic Type R TCR from VGMC Racing of Victor Gonzalez and Ruben Iglesias both exited the race early with mechanical issues.

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Daytona Race Results
2nd TCR – #94 Todd Lamb, Ryan Eversley and Greg Strelzoff, Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR [led race-high 60 of 104 laps]
11th TCR – #84 Robert Noaker and Brian Henderson, Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR
15th TCR – #88 Victor Gonzalez and Ruben Iglesias, VGMC Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR
16th TCR – #73 Mat Pombo and Mike LaMarra, LA Honda World Honda Civic Type R TCR

Quotes
Ryan Eversley (#94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR) finished second: “We had a really great Roar [pre-race test], the car was really fast every session. I was proud of how fast I got up to speed, and how fast Greg [Strelzoff, co-driver] got up to speed. The Atlanta Speedwerks guys were fast all last year, I saw that when I raced against them [in previous seasons]. They were always tough to beat. So I knew when I got to join them that we would have fast cars. We proved that here by having one of the fastest Hondas. We just lost the win at the end, but [due to the late caution] I don’t think we got beat by anything in our control. We did the best job we could, and I’m proud of everybody on this team. We’ll go to [the next race at] Sebring and try to win!” 


Todd Lamb (#94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR), finished second: “We’re extremely happy to be running two Hondas this year, full time, it’s a big step up for the team. We couldn’t do this without the support of HPD, Sabelt, Lemons of Love and all of our other supporters that have been there for us. I’m really proud of everybody on the team. We thrashed and thrashed and thrashed in that very short off season and the guys did a great job prepping the cars. We’re looking for big things this year. Very excited to get this season going.”

Greg Strelzoff (#94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic Type R TCR), finished second: “Not only first race of the year, it’s my first professional race in five and a half years, coming out of retirement. I was able to work with a great team in Atlanta Speedwerks. They were able to get me up to speed quickly, even faster than I thought I could. At the start of the race I was able to make a lot of moves, the equipment really worked well, the team really worked, the strategy was really well called and I felt super comfortable in the car. I love racing the Honda Civic, it was a great car to drive.” 

Next
The Michelin Pilot Challenge travels to Sebring International Raceway, in central Florida, March 17-19 for the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120. The race can be streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car. Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring

TAMPA, FL (January 29, 2021) – Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Point Leader Brandon Overton picked up his first win of the season on Friday Night at East Bay Raceway Park. Overton grabbed the lead from Tim McCreadie on the 27th lap and went on to claim his eighth career series win. A spirited battle for the lead consumed over half the race with more than five different race leaders. Tyler Bruening started 11th and charged to second at the finish for his best career LOLMDS finish.  McCreadie came home in third followed by 21st starting Devin Moran, and Shane Clanton. Brian Shirley started on the pole and led the first eight laps until Jimmy Owens took over the lead, but a few laps later Shirley regained the point. Shirley stayed in front until lap 26 when Mike Marlar took over the lead. Marlar’s lead was short-lived as he held the lead for just one circuit until McCreadie charged ahead after a restart. McCreadie could not hold off Overton who charged around him with 22 laps to go. Overton, in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fourth time, became the sixth different winner in six LOLMDS events in 2021. “After the heat race, I said this one is going to require a lot of luck. I got the lead at the right time. I knew if I just kept hanging around the top three that I would get a win before the end of the week. I started to feel like I was going to leave here without winning and that wasn’t going to sit well with me.” Bruening was elated on the podium with his highest finish in LOLMDS competition. “We have been really good, but we’ve gotten tangled up in some stuff that wasn’t our doing this week. We have had some really good speed. Now it’s up to the me to put it all together as the driver, because this car is fantastic. Thanks to my dad [Greg] and Marshall Green at Capital Race Cars. I am thrilled to be up here on the podium.” McCreadie had his best finish of the 2021 campaign as he rounded out the podium. “We have all been chasing our tails all week and we’ve just been behind in our plans. We had a good run tonight, so that’s cool. We just need to be a bit better.”  The winner’s Wells Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by Clements Racing Engines and is sponsored by Allstar Concrete, Crossfit Overton, Garnto Southern, EZGO, Big Dog Stump and Tree, R.W. Powell Construction, Hurst Construction, Dirt Mafia, Clean Way Clearing and Grading, and ATC Site Construction. Completing the top ten were Mark Whitener, Hudson O’Neal,  Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer, Jr., and Josh Richards.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Wrisco Industries 45th Annual Winter Nationals – Presented by Lucas Oil
Friday, January 29, 2021
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brian Shirley / 14.548 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton / 14.673 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 4. 81-Jason Riggs[5]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[8]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott[7]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 8. 6S-Blake Spencer[12]; 9. 94M-Jason Miller[10]; 10. C4-Freddie Carpenter[11]; 11. 29-Larry Grube[9]; 12. 14R-Jeff Roth[13]; 13. 48-Colton Flinner[6]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 5. 33-Jeff Mathews[7]; 6. 12D-Doug Drown[6]; 7. 14G-Joe Godsey[5]; 8. 8-Kyle Strickler[8]; 9. 1G-Ryan King[9]; 10. 8A-Rob Anderzack[10]; 11. 51-Dean Carpenter[12]; 12. 4B-Richie Edwards[13]; 13. 311-Ken Monahan[11]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 3. 385-Mark Whitener[2]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[6]; 6. 58-Ross Bailes[12]; 7. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[9]; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard[10]; 9. 18X-Michael Page[11]; 10. KB0-Kerry King[13]; 11. 311A-Ashton Winger[5]; 12. 00H-Wil Herrington[8]; 13. 54-David Breazeale[7]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 3. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 4. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 5. 22-Gregg Satterlee[9]; 6. 111-Steven Roberts[2]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[12]; 8. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[8]; 10. 995-Manny Falcon[13]; 11. 14B-John Baker[10]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder[11]; 13. 2X-Devin Dixon[3]
MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[7]; 3. 81E-Tanner English[3]; 4. 9-Devin Moran[4]; 5. 66C-Matt Cosner[6]; 6. 212-Josh Putnam[8]; 7. 27J-Joe Denby[12]; 8. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 9. 00S-Jesse Stovall[11]; 10. 40C-Joel Callahan[10]; 11. 18J-Chase Junghans[5]; 12. (DNS) 6B-Adam Boyd; 13. (DQ) 1T-Tyler Erb[1]
Fast Shafts Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 3. 11H-Spencer Hughes[4]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 5. 7R-Ross Robinson[5]; 6. 6T-Tim Dohm[7]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[9]; 8. 36-Matt Irey[11]; 9. 111M-Matthew Lux[8]; 10. J8-Jadon Frame[10]; 11. 18S-David Seibers[12]; 12. 24D-Michael Brown[6]

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 4. 81-Jason Riggs[1]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 6. 12D-Doug Drown[6]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler[10]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[8]; 9. 48-Colton Flinner[19]; 10. 51-Dean Carpenter[16]; 11. 4B-Richie Edwards[18]; 12. 311-Ken Monahan[20]; 13. C4-Freddie Carpenter[13]; 14. 8A-Rob Anderzack[14]; 15. 33-Jeff Mathews[4]; 16. 14R-Jeff Roth[17]; 17. 29-Larry Grube[15]; 18. 1G-Ryan King[12]; 19. 94M-Jason Miller[11]; 20. 6S-Blake Spencer[9]

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 4. 22-Gregg Satterlee[4]; 5. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[10]; 6. 00H-Wil Herrington[17]; 7. 3W-Brennon Willard[9]; 8. 111-Steven Roberts[6]; 9. KB0-Kerry King[13]; 10. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[7]; 11. 58-Ross Bailes[5]; 12. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[3]; 13. 20B-Todd Brennan[12]; 14. 18X-Michael Page[11]; 15. 54-David Breazeale[19]; 16. (DNS) 995-Manny Falcon; 17. (DNS) 311A-Ashton Winger; 18. (DNS) 14B-John Baker; 19. (DNS) 2X-Devin Dixon; 20. (DNS) 4S-Danny Snyder

Wrisco Industries B-Main #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 3. 7R-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 6T-Tim Dohm[6]; 5. 66C-Matt Cosner[3]; 6. 36-Matt Irey[10]; 7. 40C-Joel Callahan[13]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[8]; 9. 111M-Matthew Lux[12]; 10. 18S-David Seibers[16]; 11. 24D-Michael Brown[18]; 12. 27J-Joe Denby[7]; 13. 212-Josh Putnam[5]; 14. (DNS) 6B-Adam Boyd; 15. (DNS) 1T-Tyler Erb; 16. (DNS) J8-Jadon Frame; 17. (DNS) 18J-Chase Junghans; 18. (DNS) 76B-Blair Nothdurft; 19. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall

Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 to start fourth, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura fifth, for 24-hour endurance racing contest
Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo starts 12th in GTD
2021 IMSA season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona begins Saturday

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 29, 2021) – The 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship kicks off tomorrow with a new look for the Acura Motorsports effort, as two championship-winning teams – Wayne Taylor Racing and Magnus with Archangel – make their debut for the manufacturer. They join reigning GTD champion Meyer Shank Racing, which continues with Acura in 2021 but now in the premier prototype division.

Defending two-time Rolex 24 winner Wayne Taylor Racing will join two-time Acura GTD series champion and 2012 Rolex winner Meyer Shank Racing to field Acura ARX-05 prototypes in this weekend’s season-opening endurance contest. Completing the Acura lineup for 2021 is Magnus with Archangel, fielding an Acura NSX GT3 Evo in the production-based GTD class.

Acura Rolex 24 Starting Positions
4th overall – #60 Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
5th overall – #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
12th GTD – #44 John Potter and Andy Lally, Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo

Magnus with Archangel Video
To mark their switch to Acura Motorsports and the start of the 2021 season at Daytona, Magnus with Archangel co-owner/driver John Potter has produced a cartoon video, shot in the style of the famous “Speed Racer” animated racing program of the 1960s.

Acura Rolex 24 Fast Facts
Acura comes to this year’s Rolex 24 as two-time defending Manufacturers’ Champion in the premier DPi category with the Acura ARX-05 prototype, and defending Manufacturers’ Champion in the production-based GTD class with the Acura NSX GT3 Evo.

All three Acura teams at this year’s Rolex 24 are previous winners of the endurance racing classic. Wayne Taylor Racing won the Rolex 24 in 2017, 2019 and 2020; Meyer Shank Racing was victorious in 2012; and Magnus with Archangel have combined for three wins in production-based GT categories.

In a new format for 2021, starting positions for this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona were set according to the results in a one hour, 40-minute race that concluded the “Roar Before the 24” series open test last weekend.

Acura Motorsports Rolex 24 Pre-Race Quotes
Mike Shank (co-owner #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05): will start fourth in Saturday’s Rolex 24 at Daytona: “We’re really happy where the car is right now from a handling/balance perspective. All the drivers like the car, and they’re all incredibly fast. I don’t think we could be happier at this point. We even had time to practice some ‘bad scenario’ pit stops – what to do if things go wrong during the race. To have that kind of relaxation is really valuable going into the race. We’re ready.”

Wayne Taylor (owner, #10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05) will start 5th: “I think, relative to the [qualifying] race last weekend, we’ve improved quite a bit. I feel as if we have a car now that is competitive enough to win the race. It’s been a pleasure to receive such great support from HPD, it just pushes all of us to do a better job. Obviously, lots of things can happen during the course of a 24-hour race, but I’ll put our four drivers up against any other lineup in the field. They’ve got the experience and the knowledge, and there’s no egos involved at all. So now we’re just waiting for the start, but we’re going into the race feeling good.”

David Salters (President, Honda Performance Development) on this weekend’s season-opening Rolex 24: “Firstly, before we get to the Rolex, we need to give a huge ‘thank you’ to Team Penske and their great people, for three years of awesome racing, helping us develop the ARX-05. They helped us achieve enormous success in our IMSA program and were great in assisting us in the transition [to Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing]. Right now, there’s been a huge amount of work from everyone at HPD, and on the part of WTR and MSR getting us ready, despite the shortened off-season. We’ve got a fantastic driver lineup and some awesome cars. Now, let’s go race. Anything can happen in a 24-hour race, and probably will.”

Where to Watch the Rolex 24 at Daytona
Television coverage of the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona starts Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST on NBC, and continues on the NBC Sports Network from 4:30 – 8 p.m.; 11 p.m. – 3 a.m.; and 6 a.m. – 2 p.m. Coverage concludes with the final hours of the race on NBC from 2 – 4 p.m. Sunday. Live flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App and NBCSN Gold with NBCSN Trackpass authentication.

Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.

Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from Daytona are available on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter at (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD).

TAMPA, FL (January 28, 2021) – Josh Richards joined both Tyler Erb and Stormy Scott as drivers who started ninth but came home with the win at East Bay Raceway Park. The 2017 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion started inside of the fifth row to score a feature win this week. Richards took the lead on lap seven from Mark Whitener and then proceeded to lead the rest of the way to score his 32nd career win on the LOLMDS tour and his eighth career triumph at East Bay Raceway Park. Brandon Overton crossed the finish line a little over a second behind the winner, in second. Hudson O’Neal finished in third followed by Brian Shirley and Devin Moran. Whitener was looking for the biggest win of his super late model career and bolted to the lead at the start on the second main event of the night. Richards quickly went to the front and was second by the fourth circuit. Richards made his move on Whitener, grabbing the lead with seven laps scored. Overton moved to second on lap nine while Whitener remained in the top three until he suffered a flat tire with five laps to go. A caution with one lap to go set-up a dash to the finish with Richards holding off Overton for the victory. Richards went to Lucas Oil Victory Lane piloting a brand new race car. “I was really frustrated in that first race. I felt like we had a really good car, but we had to take a provisional and we moved up a little and then we just ended up destroying our primary car in a wreck. I can’t thank the Mason Zeigler crew enough for all of their help in getting this thing ready for the second feature. I felt like in then first few laps it was going to be critical to get to the front and it paid off.” Overton is the current series Point Leader heading into the final two nights of racing this week. “I tried to not make any mistakes and then had to hope we still had enough air in the tires to make it to the end. I was worried about my left rear tire, we went soft on it, but it held up. I was scared to death I was going to get a flat. So, I just eased up on the restarts to try and save them.” O’Neal earned his second podium finish for Double Down Motorsports so far this week. “I was very concerned about my tires. You try to drive it straight and keep my tires underneath of me for a good part of the race. We didn’t have a very good first feature tonight, but we rebounded nicely in the second round.” The winner’s Clint Bowyer Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by iRacing, Rush Truck Center, Big River Steel, Cometic Gasket, and Ford Performance. Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton Jr. Frank Heckenast Jr., Kyle Bronson, Brandon Sheppard, and Jimmy Owens.

West coast swing to Sonoma Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca canceled for F4 U.S. and FR Americas

INDIANAPOLIS (January 27, 2021)- Parella Motorsports Holdings announced amendments to both the Honda-powered Formula 4 United States and Formula Regional Americas Championships 2021 calendars today, canceling the early season west coast swing for both series due to challenges presented by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

PMH will revert to a more traditional schedule for the championships in 2021, comprised of six tripleheader events at top venues located on the Eastern half of the United States and Canada.   

The back-to-back events at Sonoma Raceway (April 23-25) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (April 30-May 2) have now been replaced with F4 U.S. and FR Americas both opening their seasons at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as part of the Atlanta SpeedTour March 26-28.

The championships will then run in tandem with the Road America SpeedTour May 14-16 for the next three championship rounds. The visit to the 4.048-mile, 14-turn Wisconsin road course will be a first for F4 U.S. teams and drivers. 

With the reshuffling of the schedule, FR Americas will now also join F4 U.S. at Brainerd International Raceway July 16-18 to complete its revised 18-round calendar. Brainerd is currently undergoing FIA certification to become the country’s newest FIA graded circuit to host both F4 U.S. and FR Americas this summer.

Preseason testing, the championships’ visits to Virginia International Raceway and Circuit of The Americas, the tripleheader event for F4 U.S. at Mid-Ohio and FR Americas’ international street-race fixture at Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières will remain on the previously announced dates.

“The decision to realign the 2021 race schedule for F4 U.S. and FR Americas was an extremely difficult one,” said PMH CEO and President Tony Parella. “We were really excited to take both championships out west for the first time this season to create a true National Championship, but with the increased number of COVID-19 cases, California has implemented gathering restrictions for events which will close the gates to fans and limit the number of event entries. Sonoma and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca have some of the best fans in the world and PMH is excited to introduce its newest junior open wheel championships to them. Our goal is to add a west coast visit back to the championships’ schedules in 2022.”

All SpeedTour events will still include a built-in track test day for F4 U.S. and FR Americas drivers, and all national rounds for both championships will be live streamed to a global audience. 

The SpeedTour events at Sonoma and Laguna Seca in April will still continue without spectators, featuring SportsCar Vintage Racing Association and Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli on the program. 

For tickets: www.SpeedTour.net/events

For more information: www.F4USChampionship.com or www.FRAmericas.com

F4 U.S. REVISED 2021 Schedule

·         VIR: March 6-7 (Rookie School)

·         VIR: March 8-9 (Official Test)

·         Road Atlanta: March 26-28 (Test day March 25)

·         Road America: May 14-16 (Test day May 13)

·         Mid-Ohio: June 24-27 (Test day June 23)

·         Brainerd: July 16-18 (Test day July 15)

·         VIR: September 24-26 (Test day Sept. 23)

·         COTA: November 5-7 (Test day Nov. 4)

FR Americas 2021 REVISED Schedule·         Sebring: February 18-21 (Winter Warm Up, non-points)·         VIR: March 8-9 (Official Test)·         Road Atlanta: March 26-28 (Test day March 25)·         Road America: May 14-16 (Test day May 13)·         Brainerd: July 16-18 (Test day July 15)·         Grand Prix de Trois-Riveres : August 13-15·         VIR: September 24-26 (Test day Sept. 23)·         COTA: November 5-7 (Test day Nov.

Cancelled in 2020, the FIM-Europe Drag Bike Championship is set to resume in 2021 with six provisional rounds:
Rnd.130 April-2 MayKunmadaras, Hungary (SuperStreet Bike only)
Rnd.229-31 MaySanta Pod Raceway, UK
Rnd.310-13 JuneTierp Arena, Sweden (to be confirmed)
Rnd.48-10 JulyKauhava, Finland (to be confirmed)
Rnd.527-29 AugustHockenheimring, Germany
Rnd.69-12 SeptemberSanta Pod Raceway, UK
The FIM-Europe Drag Bike Championship is contested in four classes:
Top Fuel BikeSuperTwin BikePro Stock BikeSuperStreet Bike.
The Junior Drag Bike Cup will also be contested at the Swedish, Finnish and both Santa Pod rounds.
With the 2020 championship cancelled owing to Covid, 2019’s reigning FIM-Europe champions are:
Top Fuel Bike:  Filippos Papafilippou (Greece)SuperTwin Bike:  Marcus Christiansen (Denmark)Pro Stock Bike:  Fredrik Fredlund (Finland)SuperStreet Bike:  Steve Venables (UK)Junior Drag Bike Cup:  Blade Dummer (UK).

TAMPA, FL (January 26, 2021) – Tyler Erb made a late-race pass on Brandon Overton to win Tuesday Night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at East Bay Raceway Park. A caution flew on the final lap for Brandon Sheppard just before the checkered flag, setting up a duel between Erb and Overton for the top of the podium. The victory for Erb was his 10th career win in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Competition, his third career win at “The Clay by the Bay”, and his third overall win of 2021. Shirley jumped to the lead at the start of the race and led the first nine laps. Overton moved up from his fifth starting spot to grab the lead. A three-car battle for the lead ensued between Overton, Shirley, and Erb for the remainder of the race. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the first time this season Erb commented that the finish would have made for a great television ending. “I thought that would have made a great tv thing. We were able to pull through. It made my heart skip a beat when I headed to the checkered and then the caution came out. I was not happy about that. We definitely had to work for everything we have gotten this week. I can’t thank the crew enough for all they do. Eric Brock gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to drive his car and we hope to be in for a long time.” Overton was in the hunt once again for a victory at the 1/3 mile oval track. “It’s just hard to make that right call every night on the car because the track changes so much. We just want to keep it on the podium.” Shirley was the overall fastest qualifier for the 74 entrants and was looking for his first career win in the series and at East Bay but came home third. “I don’t have a ton of experience here. We have run just a few times up front. It is not one of my better tracks. I was set up for the track to get a little blacker where I could steer a little better. I couldn’t hug the corners where I needed to.” The winner’s Eric and Kelly Brock-owned Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and is sponsored by Industrial Resourcing Group, Roberts Bee Company, First Class Septic, Bazell Race Fuels, Lucas Oil Products, Sunoco Race Fuels, Keyser, Franklin Enterprises, KBC Graphics, Boxo, and Corey Frazier State Farm Insurance.  Completing the top ten were Tanner English, Johnny Scott, Hudson O’Neal, Devin Moran, and Tyler Bruening.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Wrisco Industries 45th Annual Winter Nationals – Presented by Lucas Oil
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

ZOOM CONFERENCE TEAM PENSKE TEAM CHEVY INDYCAR DRIVERS JANUARY 26, 2021

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:YOU HAD A GREAT YEAR IN 2020. YOU HAVE A PRETTY SPECIAL RACE COMING IN AUGUST ON THE INDYCAR SCHEDULE WITH RACING ON THE STREETS OF YOUR HOMETOWN IN NASHVILLE. TALK ABOUT THAT A BIT.“Yeah, I’m extremely excited about Nashville. I think the NASCAR guys are, too. Obviously, they are different tracks but it’s certainly a city that supports events I think almost better than anywhere. It’s growing in population and popularity among sports fans and it’s a perfect destination as far as visiting a city for tourism and to see an event like INDYCAR and NASCAR for that matter, I think it’s just the best destination. So, I’m very excited about INDYCAR coming back. I would never have dreamed of that happening when I was a kid, growing up in the northside of Nashville, that we would one day have a street course race in the downtown streets of Nashville. So, it’s going to be fun. I think it has big potential to become one of the marquis events on our calendar and certainly a blockbuster for a street course race.” YOU’VE BEEN WORKING A LOT WITH GAVIN WARD RECENTLY. IS HE GOING TO BE YOUR RACE ENGINEER AGAIN THIS YEAR? AND HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DOES THAT BRING YOU GOING INTO THE SEASON GIVEN YOUR STRONG YEAR LAST YEAR?“Yes, confidence is big. I agree with Ryan (Blaney) in saying you’ve got to feel good about your ability in the car and the people around you. Gavin Ward is stellar. I’m such a fan of Gavin. He’s brought a lot to our team specifically being in the Formula 1 world. In a lot of ways, INDYCAR and Formula 1 are very similar and in other ways they’re very different. They approach a race car a little different than we do. They’re both open-wheel cars, so a lot of it transfers, but they may be focusing on one area of the car that we would never look at. “So, for me, that’s brought a lot of confidence to our team to try and open up our scope in how we’re developing the cars in the off-season and what we’re thinking about over race weekends. And when it just comes to race day execution, he’s really good. He’s a great collaborator for me, to figure out what we need on the car specifically for each session and then maximizing race day. So yeah, he’s going to stick around. We’ll have the same program as last year and obviously just trying to up our game in all areas. That’s the goal every season. I’m hoping we can find that extra that we need.” YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT SMALL DETAILS IN THE OFF-SEASON AND THERE’S NO ONE THING YOU CAN DO TO FIX EVERYTHING. BUT IS THERE A PARTICULAR AREA YOU HAVE FOCUSED ON WHERE YOU FEEL YOU CAN IMPROVE DURING THE OFF-SEASON?“Yes, we definitely have. We’ve put a ton of emphasis on the Indianapolis 500 as far as the way we build the cars, what we’re looking for in qualifying; I think we’ve definitely marked that even as we always do, even if we won the race by a mile, I think you’d be looking at how to be even better at Indy. I think after last year we really want to up our game. When it comes to qualifying, we want to be up higher. We know we can do that. We know that we have people to make it happen. So, we’ve spent a tremendous amount of time on that, which I think is very encouraging. I’m really excited to get to the month of May, to be honest with you. So, that’s number one.  “Then with myself, I think the biggest area that I can improve is qualifying. There are some places where maybe we were just a little behind as a team and ultimately, we got what we got out of a particular qualifying session. But then there’s other times I think that I can still contribute a little bit more. And I can still maximize those starting placements just a bit better. It’s not that we were bad in 2020, but if there’s an area to improve I think that’s the place to push forward. I think our race performances were very strong. Circumstances didn’t always fall in our favor, but if we can just give ourselves a little better starting spot every single weekend, I think that’s going to go a long way in helping our cause for the championship.” ALONG WITH YOUR TWO INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORIES IN YOUR CAREER, YOU HAVE BEEN SEMI-CLOSE SOME OTHER TIMES, BUT HAD NEVER FINISHED SECOND PLACE AND BEEN QUITE AS CLOSE AS YOU WERE AS RUNNER-UP IN 2020. AFTER HAVING SOME TIME TO REFLECT OVER THESE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS, HAS THE REFLECTION AND DRIVE YOU’VE GOTTEN ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHERE YOU FINISHED?“I think for me, if anything, in all honesty, I was really just disappointed. I felt like we had a championship performance last year. Circumstances didn’t always fall our way. It was one too many times that circumstances went against us. And I think ultimately that’s what kind of decided our fate with the title. But we fought all the way. We got pretty close. We fought our way back every time. It was just too big of a deficit at the end of the day to make up, especially with a competitor like Scott (Dixon). I think if you give him too much of a window sometimes you dig a hole that’s too big to claw your way out of. But yeah, I was disappointed. For me, as a competitor, it would have been nice to knock off the third championship and then this year I would like to be working on the fourth. And so now you’ve got to re-set. We didn’t win the third; we’ve got to try and win the third this year. And that’s the way my mind works.  “For me I want to figure out how we can win as many championships as possible. And the Indy 500 is still on that list. I have not been able to personally knock that race off and get one on the board. So, I’m focused on that, but I’m definitely focused on us trying to find this third championship. I thought we had the performance for it last year and we’ve just got to maintain that and continue to up our game. That’s the mentality ever season. So, I’m just more determined and more focused after the disappointment of falling short last year.” SCOTT MCCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: TALK ABOUT COMING TO INDYCAR WITH A PENSKE LEGACY PARTNER SUCH AS PPG: “I think it is fantastic that we were able to announce that PPG will join us for 10 out of 17 races in 2021. For me, to race car No. 3 was very special from what Rick and Helio have done for the team, but also to carry on a 37 year legacy with PPG and be a part of that in some way is going to be very cool, and hopefully I can add to what has already been achieved in the P, PG INDYCAR with people before me. We went though video on the announcement which I thought was very cool. It brought back some goosebumps. Danny Sullivan then Al Unser, Jr., Rick Mears , Juan Montoya, Josef (Newgarden) who have run these colors. To be a part of this legacy is very cool for me and it is starting in my rookie season. I appreciate the trust that PItPG put in me and my program.” WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON IN THE OFF SEASON TO GET READY FOR INDYCAR? “A lot of things. Trust in the car and what it does. Trust the aerodynamics. It’s the first race car I have ever driven that relies on the aerodynamics and trusting within the car. The grip level you get. It can also bite pretty quick so learning that and learning the limit is quite difficult, but I’ve had some good analysis with my engineers and working a few things out. Making sure I am comfortable in the car. Another thing as well, and I noticed this in St. Petersburg, learning the tire in qualifying conditions, it takes time for the tire to come up to temp and it is a very short window where you can get the ultimate grip for the fastest laps. That is something I think I am going to have to learn over the race period, over the journey. We only get to run the red tires in qualifying or at the race track at the race meeting so I am going to have to learn that over time and test in them. I think our learning develop[ment has been going okay but time will tell and we will try to learn as much as w can.” WHAT ARE Y0UR EXPECTTIONS? “It’s one of those of those deals to say exactly what my expectations until we get on track and see where we are at. Like Will said, I think we are going to have a real strong race car and three strong teammates to push me. I think that will accelerate my process. If I get to the end of the year and I’m in the top-10 of the championship or the top-eight in the championship that would almost be a win for me. I am realistic about my expectations. But I am impatient. I’m competitive and I want to make sure we get to the front as quick as we can. I’ve got a massive amount of expectations from the sponsors that partner with us including PPG and some to be announced. It’s an exciting period but there is a pressure there and I am excited to take that on board and move forward with it.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON HIS RECORD SETTING CAREER SO FAR BEING LISTED ALONG SOME OF THE GREATS IN THIS SPORT: “It’s amazing. It’s something that I would have never thought when I first started my career. To be five poles away from equaling Mario Andretti for all-time poles. Up there with Michael Andretti-three wins away from him to be fourth on the list. It’s reall cool-the Andretti name is such a legendary name in the sport. I’m still as motivated as ever. Love it as much as I ever have. So I expect to keep going here and have a real shot at the championship this year. Planning on having a good start to the season I think that is what has made it difficult for us the last few years. I have a very good crew. Obviousuy being with my engineer (Dave Faustino)  for over a decade, we know each other so well. I have three very good teammate. Three very strong guys so I expect the team to be very strong this year as a whole.” WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE GIVEN SCOTT? “I told him when he was initially getting into it was just to creep up on it all. Because there is nothing worse than going into the wall, having a crash and losing your confidence. That certainly puts you back a few steps.   He’s driven in a very high-profile series at a very professional level for a number of years so he knows all that. I think he knows the process he needs to take. There’s not really much you can give him. He’s got to really take from real-life experiences from here out honestly.” WITH THE NEW ENGINE WHAT WILL CHANGE WITH PUSH TO PASS. HAS INDYCAR TOLD YOU IF YOU CAN DO IT DEFENSIVELY AS WELL OFFENSIVELY?  “No, I don’t think they know how that is going to work until we get around the engine to see how it all going to work when it is actually physically on the track. I’m guessing-I expect them to use the electric motor for the curves for push-to-pass. Not the engine, not the boost. Because I think you will have plenty of options for push-to-pass in two different ways obviously amounts of horsepower. What I’ve been for is when we go to a track like Mid-Ohio or St. Pete where there are short straights to me you should have a no reply system. Maybe on some of the bigger tracks where it is easy to get around. Them you could tailor that to the amount of horsepower you get. Because you don’t want to make it a brainless pass where it is easy like DRS in Formula One. I think you want to make it where it is still difficult but you can get a legitimate run on someone.” HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TOLD THAT THEY AREN’T GOING TO USE THE ENGINE POWER TURBO BOOST FOR PUSH TO PASS ANYMORE? “No, I haven’t been told that. I expect them to use the electrical engine for push-to-pass for practical reasons and it has to make sense to the manufacturers. If they are talkimg about the electrical side being used as a device during the race, its good for the manufacturers.” WHEN WE HAVE SUCH A CONDENSED AT BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. WHAT ARE SOME THINGS TO PREPARE FOR THE SEASON EARLY ON? “After reviewing the previous seasons, we’ve made adjustments. Obviously we struggled in the pit quite a bit. I’ve reviewed the mistakes I’ve made as well and I have a slightly different crew this year. I think the cars will be better as well. I’m pretty confident in that, the team has done very good development in the off season. The first three tracks, I feel like they are difficult tracks for us.  The are strong Honda tracks.  It’s going to be a very tight first three races. I think, as we do every year to win the championship and for me personally, I just have to make sure we are in the hunt. Properly in the hunt.  Not clawing my way back from a terrible start to the season. For one reason or another, you can’t really pinpoint the same reason we have lost too many points in the first four races. That is a big focus.” IS THE BROAD AGE BAND IN INDYCAR WITH TALENT YOUNG AND OLD,. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? “I think it is a sign of the times, If you look at football, Tom Brady is going to the Super Bowl at 43 years old. I feel like you can be as competitive and strong until you are 45 or so. I’ve been there so I know but certainly in your early 40s.  But also drivers starting so young now. There are kids getting in cars when they are 12 or 13 years old. It’s crazy. So by the time they are 18 it’s a matter of experience of racing cars as we have seen with Colton Herta. Yes, it is a huge spread in age, but not in competitiveness as far as the level of skill. It is a very competitive series over a 20 year or more age group. Which bodes very well for those young guys. They can have a really long career. It certainly put us in pretty big numbers if you look at Colton Herta starting where he is.”  SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS CHEVROLET:YOU ARE BUSY GETTING READY FOR DAYTONA FOR THE ROLEX 24. YOU ARE A BIG PHYSICAL FITNESS GUY. DO YOU FIND IT AN ADVANTAGE TO START YOUR SEASON WITH AN ENDURANCE RACE. DO YOU SEE AN ADVANTAGE TO THAT?“Yes, I think it’s mostly just having a calendar in place and being able to have deadlines and knowing when you’re going to be in the car. It’s an assessment, Daytona is for me. It’s really an assessment of my work that I’ve done over the winter mentally, and also physically. It’s also, you’re kicking off a new season and it’s exciting. New car. New gears. New everything. You just get going. I’m very excited for 2021. I feel very refreshed. Obviously, the only advantage of COVID is really to stay home and really rest and focus on training. So, I really feel ready for 2021.” HOW BENEFICIAL IS IT FOR YOU, OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE RACING THIS WEEKEND LIKE A KANAAN SEASON IN INDYCAR?“Yes, anytime you’re in the race car it is beneficial. The sports cars, the prototypes, the way they are these days, they’re pretty close to an INDYCAR. The braking power and downforce level are similar. Obviously different tires and a bit of a different feel, but the driving is very close. And the fact that you’re passing people really allows you to work on those details. At the end of the day, I think the work of a race car driver is all about working on the little crafts, the little details for your craft. So, the more you think about it and practice it, the better. I really enjoy doing it. You know, my roots originally, came from sports cars. So, it’s good to go back and forth and keep me current in sports cars.” HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT APPROACHING THE SEASON NOW WITH YOUR WORK DURING THE OFF-SEASON? ARE YOU CONFIDENT MOVING FORWARD?“Yes, it’s been an interesting off-season, for sure. I think as a team we were able to re-center on the No. 22 car. I’m pretty excited about this season coming up, really. There’s a big focus on Indianapolis. Personally, I want to go back there and try to go for another win. We know its Team Penske’s number one goal and the whole team has put a lot of effort into it. So, let’s cross fingers and hope that we get the speed that we want out of the cars. Certainly, on the road course, we just need to find some speed in qualifying for us. We’ve been working hard on that with my engineer, Ben Bretzman. We can’t wait to go to Sebring and get to test the car. We’ve got a few items that we want to try and see if that gives me feel that I want from the car to just extract the best out of it every time we go out on track. I think St. Pete was pretty good for us. We improved the car massively, so I think we’re on the right path. We just need to get going quite frankly. It’s been a long off-season and I just hate not driving. So as soon as we get to Sebring we’ll have a better understanding.” AS YOU LOOK AT THE INDYCAR SERIES DRIVER LINE-UP FOR THIS YEAR, WHAT STANDS OUT TO YOU MORE? THE YOUTH AND TALENT OF THE DRIVERS OR THE NUMBER OF GUYS STILL RACING AT LATE 30’S EARLY 40’S CONTINUING TO RACE AT A HIGH LEVEL?“Straight answer is I don’t care. I’m focused on myself (laughs). That’s it.”