BATAVIA, OH (July 30, 2020) – MAVTV Motorsports Network showcases the third and final night of the GEICO East Bay Nationals – Presented by Brandon Ford, tonight at 10 PM EDT with a re-airing at 1 AM EDT. After a rough start to the A-Main with two multi-car cautions on the first lap, a three-car tussle in the closing laps, contact coming out of turn four on the white flag lap, and a winner that lead only the last lap, made for the perfect end to an exciting night of racing at East Bay Raceway Park. The winner had this to say, “When I got into third, I saw the top two racing each other so hard. I was trying to bide my time and I figured let them burn their stuff up and maybe I would come back to them. That strategy worked out in our favor, I got to move around a lot when I was behind them. That is what helped me win the race in three and four. That was a heck of a race.” The broadcast will include driver interviews, in-car cameras, and various technical segments. Owned and operated by Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network is a television network deeply rooted in the automotive world. MAVTV is available to over 35 million homes on U-verse, DIRECTV (channel 214), Fios by Verizon, Vidgo, TIKILIVE, fuboTV, Spectrum, and other nationwide providers. MAVTV will broadcast 5 live events and 34 original tape-delayed airings. To find a full list of providers, visit: mavtv.com/get-mavtv/providers.

The entire 2020 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series TV schedule can be found on the series website at: www.lucasdirt.com/schedule/tv-schedule/.
GEICO – The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) is an American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland is the second largest auto insurer in the United States. GEICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles owned by more than 15 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For more information, go to www.geico.com.

Brandon Ford, located in Tampa, FL, has won Ford’s prestigious President’s Award 17 years in a row, saluting the top-performing Ford and Lincoln dealerships that pursue excellencein the highest levels of customer satisfaction in both sales and service. Brandon Ford has one of the largest inventories of new and pre-owned vehicles in the Nation. To learn more about Brandon Ford or if you are interested in purchasing a vehicle, visit: www.brandonford.com.
####

NASCAR CUP SERIESNEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAYFOXWOODS RESORT CASINO 301TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTJULY 30, 2020  RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the challenges of racing during the COVID-19 pandemic, his aspirations for the rest of the season, the morale of the team, and more. Full Transcript: HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GET UP TO NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEK?“Oh, I’m definitely excited. New Hampshire is home, right? It’s a place that I would consider that I’ve had more laps than probably most that are in the field. And it’s a short track. So, I enjoy going there once a year and I’ve been racing at New Hampshire since 2007 with the Modifieds twice a year. So, it’s a place that I’m very comfortable with.” THIS YEAR HAS NOT BEEN KIND TO YOU. ARE YOU FRUSTRATED TO THE POINT WHERE YOU JUST WANT TO GO AND RACE MODIFIEDS THE REST OF YOUR LIFE OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WANT TO KEEP DOING THIS?“Ha! No! I want to keep doing this. I don’t think that anybody who gets to this level wants to just pack their bag and go home. You know, that’s interesting. But no. Definitely not. I’m frustrated because….you know, I’ve always been somebody who has been pretty honest or really honest with some things, and a lot of the things, whenever I hear people talk about bad luck or that, I’ve always been a believer of making your own luck. But this has probably been the first time in my career that I really, wrong place wrong time, things that were out of my control happening. I’m not one to make excuses, but it’s been frustrating for sure. The thing that’s even more frustrating is Kansas. I really don’t know what else I could have done. I don’t think there was anything else I could have done.  But we had a fast race car right there, at that point in time when it needed to be and that’s kind of been the case. We’ve struggled at the beginning of the races and then gotten our car better as the Stages have gone on. The only thing you can do at this point is really go and gamble on things. I’ve got nothing else to lose. That’s all I have to say.” DID YOU HAVE ANY SORENESS OVER THE WEEKEND FROM THE KANSAS CRASH AND ARE YOU OKAY NOW?“I’m good. I was ready to go as soon as I got out of that race car.” SOME DRIVERS SAY WHEN THEY’VE HAD A ROUGH STRETCH IN THE CUP SERIES THAT RACING IN OTHER SERIES’ AND TO GET THAT WINNING EXPERIENCE JUST WHEN THINGS ARE KIND OF ROUGH. HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT OR PLANNING TO?“I think it’s hard right now with the way things are to do it and not know if you’re going to be forced into quarantine or whatever it may be. It’s something that I’d like to do. I love racing. I’m used to racing 60 to 80 times a year, but at the same time my focus is on the Cup series. And, as a racer, that winning feeling is what drives us all, right? It’s not something that I’ll ever forget. I wouldn’t say I need to get in a race car to want to remember what that feeling is. A thing that just popped-up in my timeline the other day was actually three years ago when I won Iowa with JGR, and I said that to my wife. You miss that feeling. You miss the feeling of winning because that’s why we do this. That’s why I do this anyway, is to win races. “So, I feel like this year has been a trying year in the sense of we had four races where we were able to practice. And this is my first year working with Trent (Owens, crew chief) and every race has been a practice sent for us, right? At Darlington we got Stage points. We were fast. At Talladega we were contending for the lead with five (laps) to go and had to pit. We’ve had things that have been out of our control for the most part that just take us out of those runs that we’ve had; where they have been good. But, the thing that I look forward to the rest of the season is whatever we found at Kansas, toward the middle of that race, that balance; that’s a balance that I can go contend for races, we can have speed, we can run up-front. Like I said earlier, I’m not somebody who will sit here and say things just to say things. I mean them. So, if we can show up at Michigan and have that speed that we had right there at Kansas, I feel like we could be a threat for a top 10 and just execute. That’s really it. So, I look forward to the rest of the year. That’s all you can do at this point is be positive and turn things around because sitting here and talking about 2020 and how this season has gone isn’t going to do anything for us.” YOU TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO RACE BUT DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE QUARANTINE SITUATION. SOME SPORTS HAVE GONE TO THE BUBBLE. NASCAR IS A DIFFERENT SITUATION WITH DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE LIKE FOR YOU AND HOW DO YOU TRY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE BUT ALSO BE UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU’RE OUT OF THE SEAT IF YOU CATCH THE VIRUS? HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT AS THIS CONTINUES ON FOR MONTH AFTER MONTH?“You don’t put yourself in those situations, I guess. That’s really it, I guess, to a certain extent because I want to race. And that’s it.” IN THESE TIMES WHEN YOU’VE HAD A HARD RUN OF IT, AND YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST RACER TO HAVE THAT HAPPEN. AND THEY COME BACK AROUND. WHO HAS HELPED YOU? WHO TALKS TO YOU AND SAYS YOU’RE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS?“Oh, my wife. That’s certainly somebody. She lives with me and so she has to deal with me every day of the week. But it’s funny. There was a point in time, probably four years ago, that I was in a similar rut. It was different but it was the same. And, it’s so easy to become negative and to just constantly get down. And then, I feel like life as you know it, just continues to follow that trend. I feel like I was starting to get into that negative place. I have a book that talks about positive thoughts and positive things and how when you have those positive thoughts, positive things are going to gravitate toward you. And I believe that. I was in that way in 2016 and I said you know what, I’m not going to live like this. I’m going to go home, and things changed in the snap of the fingers. I saw that book a few weeks ago or a month ago and it reminded me you know what? Things can turn around as quick as they can go bad. “So, you’ve just got to be positive. It’s easier to say than it is to do, but I feel like over the past few weeks of just constantly living that way, things have become easier. My life has become much happier. I’m probably a lot better to be around. And you just put in the hard work, that’s it. Just sitting there hoping things are going to turn around….it doesn’t work like that. Life doesn’t work like that. So, I’m just going to continue fighting and hopefully we can finish 2020 better than we have. Like I said, I am proud of JTG. I’m proud of everything we have done. We’ve had moments of greatness. On our side, we just haven’t been able to finish it. And I feel like the rest of the season, if we can just go and do what we’ve been doing and all the things that we’ve learned, we can be talking two months from now, at the end of October, saying man I wish things went differently early on because the past eight weeks have been fantastic.” THERE’S A BOOK CALLED ‘FAILING FORWARD’ AND IT SAYS THAT YOUR PARENTS TEACH YOU HOW TO SUCCEED BUT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU HOW TO FAIL. AND EVERY FAMOUS PERSON HAS FAILED BEFORE THEY GOT TO WHERE THEY’RE AT. IN RACING, YOU SAY NOW THAT YOU CAN TAKE CHANCES BUT YOU COULD LOOK AT IT TWO WAYS. YOU COULD TAKE THE CHANCES OR YOU COULD BE PRESSURED INTO HAVING EVEN MORE THINGS HAPPEN JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE FRETTING ABOUT IT. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT IN THE TIGHT SPOTS OF RACING?“Well, there are pit calls that we can make. We can choose to stay out when others do. Or, choose to pit. And the way that races have been this year, track position means so much, right? And, between that and just other situations. Myself, putting myself in certain situations or even forcing the issues. And the way I’ve look at it, because week in and week out, I’ve watch races after they’re over and before I go to a track. And I’ve noticed that the aggressor seems to be the one making out in these situations. And you guys (media) sees that, too. The one who usually pushes the issue has been the one that keeps racing. Where the guys that tend to be a little bit more timid or err on the side of hey, I don’t want to wreck my car right now, end up wrecking. So, I think every situation is different, for sure. But at the same time, I told this to Trent a few weeks ago. Back in 2007, I wrecked quite a few race cars early on in my career. And I remember sitting in the infield and watching the race finish. And having to sit there the entire time is the worst feeling in the world for a racer like myself. I don’t want to feel that feeling anymore. I want to finish these races and I want to run good. So, I think New Hampshire would be a great place to start that momentum, and then moving on toward Michigan. I look forward to this 2-mile race track. I look forward to this intermediate because of what we had at Kansas. The only thing you can do is keep moving forward.” YOU SAY YOU TRY TO REMAIN POSITIVE, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN OBVIOUSLY JUST SOME ROUGH MONTHS FOR YOU, BUT ALSO FOR (TEAMMATE) RICKY STENHOUSE, JR., TOO. WHAT IS THE TEAM MORALE LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW AT JTG?“I think it’s fine. You know, it is what it is, right? I think everybody is working hard and to sit there and really just talk about July, it’s one of those things where you’ve just got to pick up and move forward. I think at the end of the day, we’re all thinking positive. We’re all working toward the end goal and that’s all you can do. I think the major thing is to just remove any toxic things from your life, and just be happy.”

Jul 30, 2020 | Featured, Race Results, Rachel Meyer

The Kansas-based team, Randy Meyer Racing, competed at their home track in Topeka, Kansas for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Central Regional event last weekend, taking home a second-place finish with Rachel Meyer. Rachel was backed by two Kansas City-based companies, Aeromotive Fuel Systems and Taylor Cable Products, both are long-time partners of the family-owned team.

Rachel, the youngest daughter of Randy, struggled in qualifying and was positioned fifth out of eight with a 5.40 ET pass at 264 mph, while Megan, Randy’s oldest daughter, powered to the top spot with a 5.29 ET at 266 mph. Unfortunately, Megan had her second first-round exit of the 2020 year losing to Christine Chambless after discovering some bottom-end issues with the motor.

However, Rachel got the win in the opening round over James Stevens running a 5.36 ET at 265 mph, then she took down Christine running a consistent 5.37 ET at 268 mph. Rachel moved onto the final round to be defeated by Robin Samsel, the number two qualifier. Rachel had the starting line advantage, but the car slowed to a 5.43 ET with only 7 cylinders lit.

The Meyer Sisters extended their first and second place lead in points for the Central Region, and Rachel will get the chance to collect more points next weekend at the Indianapolis Summer Spectacle. Joining Rachel is teammate Julie Nataas, the girls will get one qualifying session on Friday, followed by two on Saturday before the start of eliminations. You can watch the action LIVE at Dragracer TV on YouTube.

The team was looking forward to competing at the NHRA Heartland Nationals in Topeka scheduled for August 21^st, but the race has now been postponed due to county restrictions for pandemic-related reasons. The new date is currently undetermined.

NASCAR CUP SERIESNEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAYFOXWOODS RESORT CASINO 301TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTJULY 30, 2020 

RANDALL BURNETT, CREW CHIEF OF THE RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING NO. 8 CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the New Hampshire race weekend, the impact the change in stage lengths for the weekend might affect decision-making within the race, working with Tyler Reddick, and more. Transcript:  HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GET THERE? “I’m excited to getting back to doing some short track racing. We look forward to some of that. We’ve had some good runs this year. We ran really well at Phoenix – had an unfortunate tire failure late in the race. But competed up in the top-five all day long there. So, looking forward to getting to a track similar to that – Loudon, really flat one-mile track. We’ve been working hard on this one and we’ll see what happens.”
OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS, WE’VE GOTTEN SOME COOL INSIGHTS INTO THE RCR COMMAND CENTER, WHERE CALLS ARE MADE FOR THOSE STAPLE DECISIONS AT THE END OF THE KENTUCKY RACE. WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH THOSE GUYS THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS? CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THIS PROCESS HAS BEEN THROUGH THE MOST UNUSUAL NASCAR SEASON, IN TERMS OF TEAM COMMUNICATION?“I do think it’s helped a lot this year, for sure. Now that we have a limited roster and not near as many people at the track – we take less engineers, we take a lot less people to the race track in general – being able to have those guys at the shop, analyzing some of the data that we get from the SMT stuff, to our pit road calculations to help us with that. There’s so much information coming in. Having good guys and having people capable of being able to communicate with us what they’re seeing I feel like has certainly helped us, especially at the track when we’re limited on that and we don’t have as many people at the track looking at data as we’re used to.”
THE STAGE LENGTHS HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE COMPARED TO LAST YEAR – IT’S ANOTHER 35 LAPS IN THAT SECOND STAGE. HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS OR HOW MIGHT THAT IMPACT THE DECISION-MAKING?“It will definitely make it a little more interesting I think with the longer stage. You have tire wear, you’re going to have fuel mileage stuff to look at. It’s definitely going to change the strategy a little bit, which we’re going to have to stay on top of. You’re going to have a lap-30 competition caution, which should give you a good read on tires, as far as what kind of wear you’re going to be looking at throughout the race and the lap time fall off. So, I think that’s going to kind of dictate what you do in that second stage, for sure.”
ALSO, IT’S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT TIRE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE FROM LAST YEAR. LAST YEAR’S RACE, WE SAW THE WINNER AND TWO OF THE TOP-THREE FINISHERS RUN THE LAST 74 LAPS ON A SET OF TIRES. DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT BEING THE CASE? “This is the same tire that we ran at Phoenix earlier this year. We kind of saw a little bit of that, as well. The tires don’t wear as much as they have in the past there, especially if you look back at 2018 with the low downforce package that they ran at Loudon. The tires wore out quite a bit. Last year, even with the high downforce stuff, they didn’t wear out as much and now there’s a different tire this year. Looking back at the wear and stuff at Phoenix, I don’t imagine you’re going to see as much wear here as we have in the past. But with that being said, Loudon has always been a huge track position race. It’s really hard to pass here. They put the VHT down, which has seemed to make it racier here the past year or two that they’ve been doing that. But it’s really hard to pass and keep your momentum up, just because you have to slow down so much to get underneath somebody in the corner that they are able to keep the momentum off the corner when they’re on the outside. It’s going to be about timing your passes right, making sure you can get a guy cleared and not give up another spot or two as well while you’re battling with somebody.”
THE RANDOM DRAW FOR STARTING POSITIONS – HOW MUCH HAS THAT IMPACTED HOW YOU AND THE TEAM APPROACH THE FIRST PORTION OF THE RACE, JUST TRYING TO GET SOME TRACK POSITION VERSUS HOW YOU’RE CALLING THE REST OF THE RACE IF AND WHEN YOU GET THAT TRACK POSITION? HOW MUCH HAS THAT RANDOM DRAW REALLY KIND OF HINDERED SOME OF YOUR PERFORMANCES AND FINISHES?“I don’t know if you guys have noticed or not, but we’re really, really bad at qualifying in those random draws right now (laughs). We’ve been 23rd, 24th, 23rd, 24th. It certainly affects, I think more so the guys from 13th to 24th, when you’re in there and battling for the Playoff spots. We don’t have a win secured yet, so when it comes to getting stage points, that goes a long ways in that. The last couple of weeks, we’ve had to battle from 23rd and 24th place starting spots to even put ourselves in position to get some stage points. So, it certainly makes you call the race a little different. I’ve been a little more aggressive lately with some two-tire calls, staying out or whatever to try to put ourselves into position to get some stage points to help us. Yeah, I would definitely say it has a bigger affect, especially for the guys that are close to that cutoff line and the guys that are 13th to 24th in starting spots there in how they call the race.”
GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS, NASCAR HAS SAID THAT THEY ARE LOOKING AT CHANGING THE FORMAT ON HOW THE STARTING LINEUPS WILL BE DETERMINED. ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MIGHT BE OR HOW YOU WOULD PREFER IT TO BE DONE?“There’s been a lot of talk about that. I feel like the guys that are going to be in the top-16 or the top-12 should be up front obviously. How they go about lining those guys up from that aspect, I think there’s a lot of ideas out there, a lot of options to choose from. I know the guys at NASCAR are trying to work all that stuff out. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.”
YOU’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH TWO OF THE TOP DRIVERS TO COME OFF OF THE DIRT – KYLE LARSON AND TYLER REDDICK. WHAT ARE THE COMPARISONS, AS FAR AS CAR CONTROL AND SUCH, AND WHO’S THE BETTER OF THE TWO DRIVERS?“Well, it’s hard to tell. I think Tyler (Reddick) has an incredible amount of car control and talent. I think he knows how to push the car to the extreme limit of it and can manage to make speed with it when the car’s not balanced right. I’ve been really impressed with his demeanor on the radio, too, as far as how he approaches the race. We try to keep it light-hearted, we try to work well together. On the flip side, Kyle Larson, he’s obviously an incredible talent. To see what he’s been doing in the dirt races and stuff like that. Even when he first came into running NASCAR, I was his race engineer for a few years and he has an incredible talent too. I don’t know – I like my man Tyler. He’s got me a championship and several race wins. I’ve really enjoyed working with him, for sure.”
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS HIS POTENTIAL? I THINK HE SURPRISED PEOPLE IN THE XFINITY SERIES. HE WENT IN THERE AND WAS NOT THE FAVORITE, NECESSARILY, THE FIRST OR EVEN PERHAPS THE SECOND YEAR AND JUST STOLE THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOTH TIMES. “I wouldn’t say he necessarily stole it the second time. I feel like him, Christopher (Bell) and Cole (Custer) put on a great race there. Those three battled hard at the end of that race. The first year, I think Tyler – his first full-time year in the Xfinity Series – he’s come a long ways. If you watched the last couple of years, he’s come a long ways from when he first started in the Xfinity cars. He was always really fast, but sometimes he’d overstep his limits, tear up a lot of equipment and things like that. I think in the last year or two, you have kind of seen him grow out of that phase of his racing career and really focused on studying the races, understanding when to push the car and when not to. I think that’s one of the things that’s really helped him in the past year or two and I think you’re kind of seeing that roll over into the Cup Series this season.”

Second GT3 Academy session focused on set-up and electronics
Mixed track conditions provided experience with Acura NSX GT3 Evo vehicle systems, including traction control
NSX GT3 Champions Mario Farnbacher and Kyle Marcelli served as coaches
Lexington, OH (July 29, 2020) – The second of four planned 2020 HPD GT3 Driver Academy events took place last week at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with drivers Taylor Hagler, Jacob Abel, Dakota Dickerson and Karl Wittmer taking part in the two-day training session, utilizing the Acura NSX GT3 Evo. This second Academy event focused on understanding vehicle electronics, and interaction with team engineering personnel.
The Mid-Ohio location, near the Acura Performance Manufacturing Center that produces the NSX production car along with the frame and engine for the NSX GT3 Evo race car, offered a unique opportunity for the drivers to visit the PMC factory prior to commencing events on track. The NSX, designed with competition in mind, has proven to be a capable foundation for the championship winning NSX GT3 Evo, and its Ohio-built space frame chassis is nearly unmodified for the racing. Academy drivers could view the chassis being built and met the Acura associates that build (and repair) the racing cars.
“This past week was filled with activities and experiences that you rarely get as a race car driver,” noted JAbel. “Wednesday evening, we had the chance to pick the brains of some very experienced engineers in Ryan McCarthy and Jim Pattin. This was a very informative meeting as drivers typically do not have the opportunity to do this during the hustle and bustle of a race weekend or test.”
Once at the race track, the Academy drivers set sights on gaining knowledge and track time. The mixed wet and dry conditions over the two days offered ample opportunity to experience the NSX GT3 Evo’s traction control systems and wet weather handling. The four drivers all improved their times throughout the event.
Hagler noted that “the weather conditions at Mid-Ohio were fairly rainy, and it allowed me to see how well the Acura NSX GT3 Evo performed in those conditions. I also learned a lot about the relationship between engineer and driver; and the best way to effectively communicate about the car. Mario [Farnbacher] and Kyle [Marcelli] were very helpful and gave us great guidance throughout the two days.”
The Academy instructors for this event included two current NSX GT3 Evo drivers and series’ champions: Farnbacher, winner of the IMSA GTD title in 2019; and reigning SRO GT champion Marcelli. As with the first event at Road Atlanta, one instructor set baseline laps in the race car and assisted with video reviews, while the other provided insight into data analysis and the information it reveals.
In addition, Meyer Shank Racing Team Engineer Ryan McCarthy was on-hand to explain how proper communication and feedback assist the team in vehicle set up and race strategy.
“It felt great to get back into the Acura NSX GT3 Evo for the second event of the HPD Academy. We got a mix of wet, damp, and dry conditions around a challenging circuit; which was great to experience in such a short time frame, said Dickerson. “The off-track side of the program has also been invaluable. Working with the Racers Edge Motorsports and Acura Motorsports engineers has certainly added to my knowledge of the technical side of racing. I’m really excited to get to the next event to continue our progress!”
The two days went by quickly, focusing on a series of vehicle setup adjustments that allowed the drivers to feel what these changes do with the car, and understand how it can benefit in various track conditions and driving styles.
“Mid-Ohio was interesting in terms of the weather, and positive in terms of the progression made as both a team, and a driver. Rain was present throughout most of the testing, which forced us to react quickly while driving, and to really utilize the technology the Acura NSX GT3 EVO has to offer,” said Wittmer. “It’s incredible how advanced this car is at providing direct feedback to the driver, allowing us to adapt fast to the changing conditions. I learned a lot about the car, on and off track, especially in the Engineering and Communications Departments. It was a very positive test week, and I’m definitely looking forward to our next event!”
The successful GT3 Academy on-track sessions were conducted by the Racers Edge Motorsports team, who, with drivers Martin Barkey and Marcelli, captured the 2019 SRO World Challenge GT Pro/Am Drivers’ Championship in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo.
For more on the HPD GT3 Academy, go to: https://hpd.honda.com/Articles/Acura-Motorsports/HPD-Racing-Academy
About Acura Motorsports
Acura Motorsports programs have been integral to the Acura brand since its launch in 1986. The rich legacy of Acura sports car racing includes the 1991, 1992, and 1993 IMSA Camel Lights manufacturer/driver championships, and the 2009 American LeMans manufacturer, driver, and team championships in both the LMP1 and LMP2 classes. Acura currently campaigns the ARX-05 DPi with Team Penske in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and won the team, manufacturer, and driver championships in 2019. The NSX GT3 Evo, available through HPD for North American customers, won multiple championships in 2019 in both the IMSA and SRO World Challenge series.

July 30, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed to New Hampshire Motor Speedway hoping to put some recent bad luck behind them in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301.

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team ran in the top 10 – and often in the top five – throughout the month of July but the overall results of those four races don’t reflect that.

They did get a third-place finish at Kentucky Speedway but a wreck on the last lap at Indianapolis, contact with a driver trying to make a sudden move to pit road at Texas and being swept up in a multi-car crash at Kansas left DiBenedetto and the team thinking about what might have been had their luck been better.

DiBenedetto remains in contention to be one of the 16 drivers who start the Playoffs, which begin after seven more regular season races. That quest begins anew on Sunday at New Hampshire, where DiBenedetto finished fifth last year driving for his previous team.
 
Eddie Wood said he’s optimistic about the prospects for his family’s race team.
 
“We’ve had some unfortunate things happen the last couple of weeks,” he said. “We hope to turn that around beginning this weekend at Loudon.”
 
Wood said DiBenedetto and the team are in a good place when it comes to performance.
 
“They have speed, which is the most important thing,” he said. “Matt’s been doing a great job behind the wheel, especially on restarts where he really stands out.

 “Greg [Erwin] has been making good calls from the pit box, and the crew has been solid on pit road.
 
“We just need to get to the end of these races, and we’ll wind up where we need to be in points.”
 
DiBenedetto is 13^th in the points standings and 15^th in the Playoff standings heading into Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, which is set to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on NBCSN. 
 

###

About Motorcraft:

Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln Dealers, independent distributors and automotive parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.

About Omnicraft:

Omnicraft is part of the Ford lineup of parts brands: Ford Parts, Motorcraft and Omnicraft. Omnicraft is the exclusive non-Ford/Lincoln parts brand of premium aftermarket parts. With over a century of parts heritage to build upon, Omnicraft provides excellent quality and fit and is a preferred choice of professional automotive technicians. To find out more about Omnicraft, visitwww.omnicraftautoparts.com or contact your local Ford or Lincoln Dealership.
 

About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center

Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine vehicle maintenance including tire repair and replacement with a Low Tire Price Guarantee and a full menu of automotive services including oil and filter, brakes, alignments, batteries, and shocks and struts on all vehicle makes and models. Service is performed by certified technicians at more than 1,000 locations worldwide while you wait, and no appointment is necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 200,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formedin 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

Reigning Pro 2 Champion Jerett Brooks Begins Title Defense with Weekend Sweep

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 29, 2020) – It was long overdue, but the 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Presented by GEICO is officially underway, and it was worth the wait. The opening weekend of the season kicked things off in the off road hotbed of Southern California, with a doubleheader from Glen Helen Raceway. The OPTIMA Batteries SoCal Shootout Presented by K&N Filters was limited to participants only, and while the presence of fans was certainly missed, the action on the track was as competitive as ever. As an added challenge for the weekend, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series made slight changes to the course layout from Saturday to Sunday, which made the racing even more exciting. All eight classes, from the Pro divisions to the UTVs and Juniors, saw exceptional battles all weekend long. After the dust settled on Sunday afternoon it was reigning Pro 2 Champion Jerett Brooks who left the opening weekend brimming with confidence on the heels of the best outing he could ask for to begin his title defense.

The premier Pro 2 class highlighted the opening round of the 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series from Glen Helen Raceway. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro 2Saturday All eyes were on the Pro 2 field when the trucks rolled onto the track for the first time in 2020, where reigning champion Jerett Brooks would begin his title defense. Brooks rolled off the line in fourth and would need to do some work to get around polesitter Ricky Gutierrez, former champion Brian Deegan, and perennial contender RJ Anderson. When the field roared to life at the drop of the green Gutierrez was able to maintain his position at the front of the field, leaving his rivals to duke it out for track position. Gutierrez had a comfortable gap in the early laps but a slight bobble allowed Deegan and Brooks to close in, from which Brooks snuck under Deegan to take over second. The champ’s persistence carried him to the rear fender of Gutierrez, where he fought his way into the lead a few laps before the halfway point. When they returned to action for the second half of the race, Brooks put the hammer down and quickly established a cushion over the field. He never looked back and carried on to take an emphatic opening round victory by nearly six seconds over Gutierrez, who captured his first podium result. Deegan completed the podium in third.   Results 1.     #77 Jerett Brooks 2.     #78 Ricky Gutierrez 3.     #38 Brian Deegan 4.     #51 Ryan Beat 5.     #81 Doug Mittag

Reigning Pro 2 champion Jerett Brooks (front) opened the season with an impressive win on Saturday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday After a thrilling race on Saturday, the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon was destined to carry the same level of excitement as Brooks chased the weekend sweep. The champ’s ability to do so would be somewhat influenced by his starting spot, where he lined up alongside polesitter Ryan Beat on the front row. When the field charged down the front stretch at the wave of the green it was Beat who emerged with the lead, with Brooks in second. Beat, a Pro 2 rookie and two-time Pro Lite Champion, looked like the veteran that he is leading his first laps in the premier class, where he paced the field through to the halfway point. When racing resumed for the second half Beat came under fire from his fellow Pro Lite titleholder immediately. Brooks attempted to slide under Beat for the lead, but the rookie didn’t flinch. On the following lap Beat pushed wide in the final corner and dug into the cushion, which pushed his right rear tire off the rim. That gave Brooks the opening he needed to seize control of the lead, while Doug Mittag moved up to second. For the second straight day Brooks nailed the setup on his truck and ran away from the field in the closing laps to solidify the weekend sweep by more than four seconds over Mittag, while Beat managed to recover with his first podium result. The near perfect weekend for Brooks allowed him to already establish a double-digit lead in the Pro 2 standings, where he holds a 13-point lead over Beat after two rounds.   Results 1.     #77 Jerett Brooks 2.     #81 Doug Mittag 3.     #51 Ryan Beat 4.     #38 Brian Deegan 5.     #67 Erik Jacobus   Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #77 Jerett Brooks – 110 2.     #51 Ryan Beat – 97 3.     #38 Brian Deegan – 95 4.     #81 Doug Mittag – 93 5.     #78 Ricky Gutierrez – 88

Brooks capped off a dominant start to his title defense by sweeping the weekend doubleheader on Sunday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro Lite Saturday  With a vacant title up for grabs, the Pro Lite class is expected to be one of the most competitive divisions in Lucas Oil Off Road, and it lived up to that billing in Glen Helen. On Saturday, a fierce battle at the front of the field saw rookie Mason Prater go door to door with title hopefuls Christopher Polvoorde and Ronnie Anderson. Prater started from the pole and controlled the early laps, but soon both Polvoorde and Anderson applied heavy pressure for the top spot, with Polvoorde pushing his way to the front of the field just before the halfway point. When the second half of the race got underway, Polvoorde was able to put a firm grasp on his hold of the lead, while Prater suffered his first miscue while running second, causing both he and Brock Heger to drop to the tail end of the field. With the field slowed up, Polvoorde proceeded to check out behind the wheel of his new Ford backed truck, cruising to an easy opening round victory more than two seconds ahead of Anderson, while Madix Bailey rounded out the podium in his first start driving a Lucas Oil backed Pro Lite.    Results 1.     #94 Christopher Polvoorde 2.     #52 Ronnie Anderson 3.     #29 Madix Bailey 4.     #59 Jimmy Weitzel 5.     #35 Cole Mamer

Christopher Polvoorde (front) made the first statement of the Pro Lite season with a victory on Saturday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday  With the Saturday victory under his belt, Christopher Polvoorde found himself in a position to sweep the weekend by starting from pole position on Sunday. However, as he attempted to assert himself as the leader on the opening lap Polvoorde over rotated in the second turn and lost valuable track position, which handed the lead over to Cole Mamer. Polvoorde would drop out of the race soon after. With a clear track Mamer was able to build a comfortable lead over the field, which he carried through to the halfway point. When racing resumed, Mamer looked to reestablish his advantage but a hard-charging Brock Heger applied pressure on the top spot. The lead duo stepped up the pace to pull away from the field and as the laps wore down Mamer gradually distanced himself further and further from Heger, eventually taking his first win of the season by three seconds. Madix Bailey capped off a stellar debut weekend in Pro Lite with back-to-back podium results. The win puts Mamer atop the championship standings after two rounds, where he holds an eight-point lead over Bailey.    Results 1.     #35 Cole Mamer 2.     #12 Brock Heger 3.     #29 Madix Bailey 4.     #59 Jimmy Weitzel 5.     #65 Dave Mason Jr. Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #35 Cole Mamer – 103 2.     #29 Madix Bailey – 95 3.     #12 Brock Heger – 93 4.     #94 Christopher Polvoorde – 89 5.     #59 Jimmy Weitzel – 88

Cole Mamer (35) held off all challengers to take his first win of the season on Sunday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro Buggy Saturday   After a wild end to the 2019 season, reigning Pro Buggy champion Eliott Watson came into Glen Helen with a target on his back as a lot of challengers were prepared to make a statement during the opening weekend. The first race of the year saw Matthew Brister start on pole alongside Darren Hardesty Jr., with Watson lining up fourth. When the race got underway, Brister was able to take advantage of his track position to grab hold of the early lead. As the field jockeyed for position behind him, Watson was forced to take evasive action and went off course, leaving the No. 1 to fight his way from the back. Out front, Brister continued to build on his lead through the halfway point of the race. When the second half of the race got underway, Brister continued to control the pace out front and went unchallenged through to the checkered flag. He took his first career Pro Buggy win just under a second ahead of Hardesty, who prevailed in an intense battle for the runner-up spot. Watson recovered well from his early excursion to follow in third.    Results 1.     #5 Matthew Brister 2.     #99 Darren Hardesty Jr.  3.     #1 Eliott Watson 4.     #15 Trey D. Gibbs 5.     #7 Dale Ebberts

Matthew Brister (front) broke through for his first career Pro Buggy win on Saturday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   Matthew Brister’s hope for a weekend sweep faced a stiff challenge from the get go on Sunday, when he lined up third on the grid behind polesitter Trey D. Gibbs and Darren Hardesty Jr. When the green flag waved, Gibbs quickly jumped out to a multi car length lead over Hardesty while Brister slotted into fourth. After making the pass on the No. 1 of Eliott Watson for third, Brister lost traction in the final corner and spun. Out front, Gibbs built a huge lead over the field, while Watson settled into a firm hold of second. Brister, meanwhile, was on a mission back to the front and worked his way up to fourth at the halfway point. When the field roared back to life for the second half of the race, Gibbs was forced to fend off pressure from Watson, while Brister faced even more adversity battling for third as contact with Dale Ebberts sent him off track. The battle for the lead in the closing laps was exceptional, as Gibbs and Watson were never separated by more than a car length. Despite the constant pressure, Gibbs never wavered and held on for his first career win. Brister’s strong start to the season has him atop the Pro Buggy standings over Watson after two rounds.    Results 1.     #15 Trey D. Gibbs 2.     #1 Eliott Watson 3.     #7 Dale Ebberts 4.     #5 Matthew Brister 5.     #74 Brady Whitlock

Trey D. Gibbs (front) made it back-to-back first-time winners in Pro Buggy with his win on Sunday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Turbo UTV & Production 1000 UTV Saturday   With back-to-back Turbo UTV titles under her belt, Corry Weller has been the standard bearer for the division and she found herself in a familiar spot to start the opening race of the season from pole position. As the green flagged dropped she put the pedal to the floor and opened up a comfortable lead over Ronnie Anderson in second, which Weller easily maintained through the halfway point. When the racing resumed, Anderson did well to keep his Polaris RZR on the rear fender of Weller’s Can-Am, which allowed the lead duo to pull away. While Anderson kept Weller honest, the champ was dialed in and she stormed to a Round 1 victory over 10 seconds ahead of Anderson. Chance Haugen finished in third. In Production 1000 UTV, defending champion Robert Stout was unable to compete in Glen Helen, which meant one of his many challengers would have the chance to make the first statement of the 2020 season. In Stout’s absence, Robby Hornsby put himself on pole alongside Myles Cheek. When racing got underway, Cheek jumped into the top spot to open a gap on the field in the early laps. He continued to build on that lead as the battle for second ensued behind him, and was in firm control as the race reached the halfway point. A series of cautions slowed the pace of the race over its second half, but Cheek successfully withstood heavy pressure from former champion Brock Heger on each restart, eventually holding on for a wire-to-wire victory over Heger in second and Hornsby in third. Turbo UTV Results 1.     #1 Corry Weller 2.     #752 Ronnie Anderson 3.     #718 Chance Haugen 4.     #703 Trevor Leighton 5.     #742 Keith Brooks Production 1000 UTV Results 1.     #957 Myles Cheek 2.     #912 Brock Heger 3.     #916 Robby Hornsby 4.     #927 Cody Hodgson 5.     #923 James Price

(Left to right) Corry Weller opened up her Turbo UTV title defense with a Saturday win, while Myles Cheek earned his first career Production 1000 UTV victory. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   The key to Corry Weller’s success in Turbo UTV has been her ability to start the season off strong. With a dominant win on Saturday she was once again in a position to capture a wave of momentum that she could carry throughout the season. After starting from pole position for Sunday’s race, Weller assumed her familiar spot out front with Ronnie Anderson in tow and cruised through the first half of the race. When they got back racing Anderson made sure to take advantage of the opportunity and made an impressive pass to take the lead. The Polaris RZR driver was able to pace the field for a couple laps, but Weller responded with a savvy pass of her own and checked out to secure a clean sweep of the weekend. She holds a six-point lead over Anderson in the Turbo UTV standings after two rounds. In Production 1000 UTV, Myles Cheek was going to have his work cut out for him in his attempt to take the win on both Saturday and Sunday. Cheek started Sunday’s race in sixth, behind a slew of tough challengers, led by Robby Hornsby on pole. From the moment the green flag waved the jockeying for track position ensued, with both Brock Heger and Cheek making moves forward to join the lead pack. Out front, Hornsby paced the field for a few laps before Heger powered his Yamaha into the front and led the field to the halfway point. When the racing resumed, Heger maintained his strong performance and brought home his first win of 2020 over Cheek. With his consistent weekend Cheek sits as the early Production 1000 UTV point leader, where he holds a slim three-point margin over Heger.   Turbo UTV Results 1.     #1 Corry Weller 2.     #752 Ronnie Anderson 3.     #764 Robert VanBeekum 4.     #703 Trevor Leighton 5.     #715 Jessica Gibbs   Turbo UTV Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #1 Corry Weller – 111 2.     #752 Ronnie Anderson – 105 3.     #718 Chance Haugen – 89 4.     #764 Robert VanBeekum – 89 5.     #703 Trevor Leighton – 88   Production 1000 UTV Results 1.     #957 Myles Cheek 2.     #912 Brock Heger 3.     #916 Robby Hornsby 4.     #974 Dallas Nord 5.     #923 James Price Production 1000 UTV Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #957 Myles Cheek – 104 2.     #912 Brock Heger – 101 3.     #916 Robby Hornsby – 96 4.     #923 James Price – 84 5.     #974 Bronsen Chiaramonte – 80

(Left to right) Corry Weller earned the weekend sweep in Turbo UTV while Brock Heger captured the Sunday win in Production 1000 UTV. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Mod Kart, JR2 Kart & RZR 170 Saturday As the stepping stone into full size vehicles, all eyes are usually on Mod Kart to find the sport’s future stars. Based on the performance put forth by Connor Barry at the opening round, there could be another bright career in the making. Barry had the perfect setup on his kart for the first race of the season and simply dominated Saturday’s race, leading every lap en route to his first win. JR2 Kart has also emerged as a proving ground for up-and-coming young drivers, and that was on full display during Saturday’s race. After starting from the pole, Dane Culver looked to be the driver to beat as he successfully maintained a hold on the top spot despite constant pressure from both Brodie Martin and Rhyan Denney. However, on the final lap Culver pushed wide in a corner and it gave his rivals the opening to pounce. Martin moved into the front late and led the only lap that matters to take the first checkered flag of the season.   After an exciting debut season one year ago, the RZR 170 class is already known for its incredibly tight and intense competition. Reigning champion George Llamosas came into Glen Helen in search of more success, but he got a stiff challenge from TJ Siewers in the opening round, where these two budding rivals duked it out over the entirety of the race. Llamosas found a way to rebound from some adversity in the closing laps to make a late pass on Siewers and capture the win.   Mod Kart Results 1.     #528 Connor Barry 2.     #590 Trey Eggleston 3.     #573 Braden Chiaramonte 4.     #514 Brody Eggleston 5.     #577 Ethan Ebert   JR2 Kart Results 1.     #413 Brodie Martin 2.     #460 Rhyan Denney 3.     #401 Dane Culver 4.     #411 Talan Martin 5.     #415 Chaden Zane Minder RZR 170 Results 1.     #188 George Llamosas 2.     #101 TJ Siewers 3.     #102 Ian Torfi 4.     #164 Ryder VanBeekum 5.     #161 Daxton Ruane

(Clockwise from left) Mod Kart’s Connor Barry, JR2 Kart’s Brodie Martin, and RZR 170’s George Llamosas emerged victorious after a highly competitive Saturday in the junior divisions. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday Following his impressive drive on Saturday, Connor Barry had everyone’s attention going into Sunday’s Mod Kart action. Barry started on the front row, but found himself in a heated battle for position as Braden Chiaramonte stormed to the early lead. Barry looked to mount a charge to the front until a flip took him out of contention. That allowed Chiaramonte to continue his dominance out front, where he raced to victory over the Eggleston brothers. The win put Chiaramonte atop the Mod Kart standings, where he holds a seven point lead over Trey Eggleston. With an opening round win under his belt from Saturday, Brodie Martin entered Sunday’s JR2 Kart action with an eye on the sweep. He started the race in third and was able to jump into the lead early, but his time out front was short lived as Logan Leggitt moved out front and controlled the middle of the race. As the laps wound down, Rhyan Denney successfully battled her way into the lead, where she held on to take a big win. The victory moved Denney to the top of the JR2 Kart standings, where she sits 13 points ahead of Dane Culver. After letting a win slip away on Saturday, TJ Siewers entered Sunday’s RZR 170 race looking to rebound, and he did just that. After starting up front, Siewers had a perfect set up for Round 2, which allowed him to dominate the entirety of the race. The youngster led every lap and even held off some late pressure from Ian Torfi and Ryder VanBeekum to take his first win of the season, while George Llamosas quietly finished just off the podium in fourth. Siewers sits atop the RZR 170 point standings after two rounds, where he holds a nine point lead over Torfi.   Mod Kart Results 1.     #573 Braden Chiaramonte 2.     #514 Brody Eggleston 3.     #590 Trey Eggleston 4.     #577 Ethan Ebert 5.     #554 Luke Knupp   Mod Kart Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #573 Braden Chiaramonte – 106 2.     #590 Trey Eggleston – 99 3.     #528 Connor Barry – 98  4.     #514 Brody Eggleston – 93 5.     #577 Ethan Ebert – 91   JR2 Kart Results 1.     #460 Rhyan Denney 2.     #481 Logan Leggitt 3.     #415 Chaden Zane Minder 4.     #497 Jessie Owens 5.     #411 Talan Martin   JR2 Kart Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #460 Rhyan Denney – 108 2.     #401 Dane Culver – 95 3.     #415 Chaden Zane Minder – 90 4.     #481 Logan Leggitt – 89 5.     #411 Talan Martin – 86    RZR 170 Results 1.     #101 TJ Siewers 2.     #102 Ian Torfi 3.     #164 Ryder VanBeekum 4.     #188 George Llamosas 5.     #124 Zoe Easton   RZR 170 Points (Round 2 of 10) 1.     #101 TJ Siewers – 110 2.     #102 Ian Torfi – 101 3.     #188 George Llamosas – 98 4.     #164 Ryder VanBeekum – 94 5.     #161 Daxton Ruane – 87

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

The 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series will return to action in late August with a historic weekend from Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. The anticipated return to the track for the first time since 2018 will feature the series’ first ever tripleheader with three afternoon showcases in the heart of the midwest. The first race of the weekend will take place on Friday, August 21, followed by back-to-back races over the weekend on Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23. Tickets for Rounds 3, 4, & 5 are now available, while live streaming coverage of the weekend can be seen on Lucas Oil Racing TV.

Get ready for one of the biggest drag races of the year on SpeedVideo, the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing!  This event combines both the NMRA and NMCA into one event PLUS these sanctioning bodies square off at the end of the event to see which can win the Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing. SpeedVideo will bring all of the action to you LIVE from World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend. Existing SpeedVideo subscribers can watch by logging in on SpeedVideo.com. Your account will soon transition to FLORacing. Click here for more info. If you’re not a subscriber, you can subscribe at FLORacing and watch the entire event LIVE this weekend! See below for more details.

The NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl is the biggest race of the season with the best from both organizations ready to square off. Combining the best of both series, NMCA and NMRA will compete head to head. This live stream is brought to you by ARP.

EVENT INFO: NMRA/NMCA SUPER BOWL

Starting on July 23, SpeedVideo and FloRacing will join forces. That’s right! All the best in drag racing you’ve come to know from SpeedVideo combined with incredible dirt track and grassroots motorsports from  FloRacing — LIVE & ON DEMAND. Current SpeedVideo subscribers will soon have complete access to thrilling motorsports action including programming from Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car tour as well as a full schedule of United States Auto Club (USAC), Interstate Racing Association (IRA) events and more! Over 800 racing events every year! If you are a current subscriber, you will continue to login and watch all SpeedVideo races for now. More information about your access to FloRacing is coming soon. If you are new to SpeedVideo and are considering a subscription, you can sign up at FloRacing for an annual membership starting today!

SUBSCRIBE TO FLORACING / SPEEDVIDEO

• Team arrives with back-to-back victories at Daytona, Sebring• Chevrolet, Garcia, Taylor enter as GT Le Mans Championship leaders• Sebring winners Gavin, Milner team’s most recent Road America victors• Mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray to serve as Official Pace Car for first time• IMSA Road America round to air live on NBC network

DETROIT (July 28, 2020) – Corvette Racing will ride a two-race winning streak in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship into one of North America’s greatest tracks: historic Road America. The program will look to extend its GT Le Mans (GTLM) championship lead in the class’s Manufacturer, Driver and Team categories before a national NBC audience Sunday afternoon. The first-year, mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R has been on a roll following the IMSA shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The work done by the whole of Corvette Racing – drivers, crew and Chevrolet and team engineers – has been evident with back-to-back class victories and pole positions at Daytona and Sebring earlier this month. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor arrive at Road America carrying the GTLM Driver’s Championship lead on the strength of a victory at Daytona in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. That win was  the first for the mid-engine racing Corvette and also was Corvette Racing’s 100th in IMSA competition. Garcia and Taylor also were runners-up two weeks ago at Sebring, where Taylor also set a GTLM track record en route to pole position. He and Garcia finished second in class at Sebring behind winning teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R. The paring claimed Corvette Racing’s most recent Road America victory: 2016 when Milner passed five cars in the last 15 minutes. Milner set the fastest race lap a year ago, and Gavin leads all active IMSA drivers with four class victories at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn “National Park of Speed.” Road America and the Corvette brand have a lengthy history dating back nearly 60 years. Chevrolet routinely used the track to test and validate the performance of early-generation Corvettes with that tradition continuing today. Road America was the site of the first on-track running of the Corvette C8.R in 2018, and another chapter of the eighth-generation Corvette will be written this weekend. The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will serve as Official Pace Car for the IMSA rounds of the WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge at Road America. Named by MotorTrend as 2020 Car of the Year, the 2020 Stingray is Chevrolet’s first mid-engine production Corvette. It features a 6.2-liter V8 engine with an output of 495hp, goes from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds and achieves a top speed of 194 mph. Both the Corvette Stingray and Corvette C8.R were developed simultaneously with a deeper level of technology transfer between the race car and a production Corvette than ever before, which helps contribute to many of its advancements. As a result, the C8.R shares the highest percentage of parts between the production and race car than any previous generation. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with live network coverage on NBC plus streaming options on the NBC Sports App. IMSA Radio will broadcast all practice and qualifying sessions as well as the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It will have been two years since I drove the C8.R for the first time at Road America. Things have improved so much on it since that day. It will be very nice to go around and feel how far the car has come. Road America is one of my favorite tracks in the IMSA championship. I’m pretty sure this car will make a difference in our results from past years. I’m looking forward to seeing how we perform. If a car is good, it makes going around Road America that much more fun.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “When people talk about Road America, you’re talking about long straights, big brake zones and a lot of high-speed corners. Looking at what we experienced with C8.R in testing and racing at Daytona and Sebring, the car seems to suit a lot of different types of corners. It will be a lot different from our experiences at Daytona and Sebring with the layout of the track and how it flows. The Corvette should suit Road America quite well. It’s very well-balanced, drivable and predictable. This is a place where you’re on edge at a lot of parts around the track. You want to be comfortable with your car and trust in it. You have to do that lap after lap.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We will have that little bit less racing experience under our belt going to Road America than we thought we would have when we were looking at the schedule at the start of the season. Road America is a great track with a lot to really like and enjoy about it. It’s a driver’s favorite for sure. You go up and down the pitlane and everyone raves about it. It generates great racing. Having tested the Corvette C8.R there for the first time and now what we’ve achieved with the team and our partners at Michelin, I think we’ll have a solid car there and it’s something I’m really looking forward to driving in and competing with.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s crazy that it’s been two years since we drove the C8.R for the first time. I’m definitely excited to get back to Road America. I didn’t have a lot of laps for that first test, but I still remember it pretty well. Obviously, the C8.R has moved on development-wise quite a bit since that first test. It’s not like we’re going there with a completely brand new car, but going there with the testing we’ve done, the racing we’ve done and knowledge that we’ve gained, it will be fun to back there with this new car. We were really excited at that first test with what the potential of what the car had to offer at that point and what it could be. Now with all the development that’s gone on, that excitement hasn’t gone away. It’ll be fun to go back to Road America with this car that has moved on with all the updates we’ve done. Any opportunity to drive a race car like this after the five months is exciting for sure. It’s even better go drive it at a place like Road America.”

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 27, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi scored a podium finish at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday night.

Scelzi tackled the 360ci winged sprint car division and made progress throughout the night in preparation for the upcoming 360 Knoxville Nationals.

“We worked out some bugs throughout the night and figured out where we need to be better,” he said. “We qualified strong. In the heat race we had a little stumble on the start. It cost us a spot, but we were able to make it back to fourth.”

Scelzi timed in fifth quickest in his group. A fourth-place run in the heat race lined Scelzi up on the inside of the sixth row for the main event.

“We fixed the stumble for the main event and were able to go from 11 ^th to third,” he said. “The car felt really good. We had good speed. There’s some small things we have to work on to dial in for the 360 Nationals, but I was really pleased with last Saturday.”

The third-place effort marked Scelzi’s 11^th top five of the season.

His focus now shifts to four straight Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 races this weekend. It begins on Thursday at Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., for the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race. Next up is a race on Friday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, before Knoxville Raceway hosts an event on Saturday. Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., re-opens on Sunday.

This weekend will be Scelzi’s debut at Plymouth Dirt Track and at Huset’s Speedway. Both events pay at least $20,000 to win.

“I’m super excited,” he said. “The last time we ran with the All Stars we had some good runs. Any time you can run four nights in a row it seems you can get some momentum going. I feel like I can get around Knoxville well and I feel comfortable at 34 Raceway. Hopefully we can make all four nights really successful.”

QUICK RESULTS –

July 25 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 4 (4); Feature: 3 (11).

SEASON STATS –

33 races, 2 wins, 11 top fives, 16 top 10s, 23 top 15s, 27 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Thursday at Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., for the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race; Friday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa; Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa; and Sunday at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 27, 2020) – Giovanni Scelzi produced a runner-up result during only his second start behind the wheel of the KCP Racing No. 18.

A partnership between the 18-year-old and the top-notch sprint car organization was created early last week, giving Scelzi an opportunity to race in marquee events throughout the Midwest and East Coast while still prioritizing his prospects on pavement.

“It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” he said. “They know how to win races. You have all of the tools and everything possible to win. It’s up to me to make it happen. Me and Tyler (Swank) worked well together the first two races last week. It’s about talking to each other. Communication is the biggest thing in racing. I think we’re going in the right direction.”

Scelzi made his debut with the team last Tuesday during the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series’ Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup hosted by Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. He qualified seventh quickest in his group, placed fourth in a heat race and ended the night 20 ^th in the feature after pulling off early.

“I didn’t know what to think going into the night,” he said. “It’s a first night with a new team, new guys, new everything. It was also my first time at that track. We came in in one piece so that’s positive.”

The team headed to Knoxville Raceway on Saturday and speed was evident from hot laps. Scelzi qualified second quickest and he gained two positions in a heat race to finish fourth.

“Knoxville is a place I’m really comfortable at,” he said. “I felt like I had a car that could win the race. We were the high-point driver going into the main and the inversion was six so we started sixth. In hindsight I needed to run the bottom a little better. Toward the end of the race I started figuring it out. I drove by Ian (Madsen) and passed Austin (McCarl) with two laps to go for second.

“It’s huge. I feel comfortable. I really like Tyler and Adam, who work on the car. We have the tools a driver could want so I’m looking forward to the future.”

Scelzi plans on racing this Thursday at Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., during the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race; Friday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa; Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa; and Sunday at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1.

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD AMERICA IMSA SPORTSCAR WEEKEND PRE-RACE MEDIA AVAILABILITY TRANSCRIPT JULY 27, 2020

Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor (No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R) met with members of the media during a Zoom conference call Monday to discuss their GT Le Mans championship lead, progress of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R and the outlook for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend event at Road America, among other topics. FULL TRANSCRIPT: ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RROAD AMERICA WAS THE FIRST TRACK WHERE YOU TESTED THE CORVETTE C8.R. CAN YOU CONTRAST WHAT THE CAR FELT LIKE BACK IN 2018 AND HOW IT IS NOW?“I hope it’s very different, although back then it was already very good. I saw this morning an in-car video of the C8.R around Road America, and that makes you think about how much the car has developed in almost two years. It already was really good back then so obviously now it should be even better. So I’m really looking forward to Friday and the first practice to see what it feels like. I was at the Chevy simulator late last week, and it felt really good. We need to doublecheck and see how it feels come Friday on the racetrack.” WHAT HAS TRANSPIRED SINCE THE BREAK, AND WHY HAS THE TEAM BEEN ON SUCH A HOT STREAK?“At the Rolex 24, we were good but that was hidden by little mistakes and issues we had toward the finish. We had been competitive for the first 20 hours but had a few little things going on with the car because it was very new. The pace was there but we weren’t able to fight for the win at the end. Each month, there is a ton of development and we continue to show that. Even when we weren’t on the track, we continued to develop the C8.R.” DOES RUNNING THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE WITH NASCAR INTEREST YOU?“Definitely it does. I love racing and I love racing in different series, so I’d like to have a go in this one. With no practice or anything until the race, maybe it would be a little bit of risk for the driver or the team. But I think we should open up our minds a little bit to see if it leads to more IMSA guys going to NASCAR. It would be very good for both series.” IN THE U.S., WE KIND OF GO BIG FOR A 40TH BIRTHDAY. WERE YOU ABLE TO DO ANYTHING BIG WHEN YOU WERE IN SPAIN OR IS IT NOT AS BIG A DEAL?“It is for sure. I had a little party because back then in June we were open a little bit in Spain. The amount of people you could gather was very small. We had a little dinner and little party with not even 20 people. It was good fun but as you said, this is a new chapter. I didn’t really have time to really enjoy what happens when you turn 40 but so far, I’m just living my new life here in America over the last five weeks! But I’m looking forward to getting back to Spain next week and seeing my family.” WAS IT FIVE WEEKS SINCE THE LAST TIME YOU WERE ABLE TO BE HOME?“Yes. We flew here on June 18 so it’s already five-and-a-half weeks… if not more. I’ve lost track of that! For sure it’s the longest amount of time I’ve been away from my family and kids. Luckily, we’ve had good results to go with that and show the kids some trophies! But yeah, it’s been tough. My kids are six and four… at least I didn’t miss their birthdays! Luckily my oldest had a birthday right before I left Spain, so at least I managed to be there for that. I’m looking forward to getting back.” TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE IN DYNAMIC WHEN YOU’RE RACING YOUR TEAMMATE FOR A WIN COMPARED TO A BMW OR PORSCHE. HOW MUCH RISK DO YOU TAKE?“For sure you need to be more careful than when you fight another manufacturer. The car was feeling really good and I just kept doing my job. I knew I was closing up to Tommy (Milner) and I’d get to him with almost no laps left in the race. Fighting your own car is probably the worst because your weakness is their weakness, and you don’t have anything on top of the other car, whereas you might when you fight another manufacturer. We might find ourselves in that situation again later on the year, but this is what Corvette Racing wants. I hope we can fight more in those positions and I hope for it to be the other way around and defending from the 4 Corvette. It felt nice to be chasing the leader and it being a teammate.” AT ROAD AMERICA, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR FROM THE SETUP AND IT IS IT IN THE CAR’S WHEELHOUSE FROM WHAT YOU’VE SEEN?“As Jordan said earlier, tire degradation is always a key thing at Road America. This new Corvette should be a little bit better on that compared to the C7.R. Porsche was strong last year and they obviously are going to be strong again. At Sebring, they showed really good pace behind us. With BMW getting a break, it will be difficult to fight them. That will create different speeds at different parts of the track where each car will be strong. We will see where everything lines up, but for sure that should be interesting.” JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RTALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM YOU AND ANTONIO HAVE GOING INTO ROAD AMERICA AND LEADING THE GTLM CHAMPIONSHIP.“It’s amazing that we’ve come out so strong after the quarantine period. No one really knew what to expect after being off months; it was longer than a normal offseason without any real testing or racing. Everyone went in with that unexpected feel. It shows a lot for what Corvette Racing is about and the preparation it does behind the scenes. Even though no one could go to the race shop, the engineers were working from home and made huge strides on the C8.R… and doing development on it from home. We went back to Daytona and obviously had a good race there with the win and then went back to Sebring where we were able to do a two-day test there before the quarantine and one simulator test when that period opened back up. For us it was an unknown for us because it was the first non-Daytona track where we were competing against all the other teams. Daytona is so unique in that you can stack up well at that track and have that not be relevant anywhere else. So it was promising that we were able to get the pole. The car was amazing all race weekend, and I think we’ve shown we can be competitive on all different kinds of tracks. I’m really looking for this one at Road America.” ANY UPDATES ON YOUR EFFORTS TO RUN NASCAR ON THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE?“Nope, I’m still in the same spot. I’ve tried for the past six or seven years. I had a close relationship with Childress for six years in running their engines in prototypes and having a lot of success with them. Unfortunately nothing worked out in any of these years but I’m still trying. It would be nice. Like Antonio said, it would be risky now with no practice but anytime an opportunity comes up to do one of the road courses then it would be a lot of fun.” WE’VE SEEN THE BOP COME OUT FOR ROAD AMERICA. ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE BMWs IN PARTICULAR? THEY SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN QUITE A BREAK IN BOTH POWER AND WEIGHT.“Road America is definitely a power track, so I think that will be pretty major when we go there. We saw at the Rolex that they had a pretty big power advantage where they were able to drive around most competitors. I’m not sure where their loss of performance was at the Daytona and Sebring sprint races compared to the Rolex but going to Road America that change should benefit them. I feel like we had a good car over the long run as well at Sebring. Road America often has a big tire degradation part to it, so for us that could be a big part of the race strategy-wise. I have a lot of faith regardless in everyone at Corvette Racing.” DO YOU THINK PORSCHE WOULD BE YOUR STRONGEST COMPETITOR OR THE BMW? OR IS IT TOO EARLY TO SAY?“It’s too early to say. For us in the Corvette, as Antonio said we tested a couple of years ago at Road America with this car. At Sebring we were able to test, and obviously we had a lot of laps at Daytona. Road America is a new one for us and we are going in open-minded with a bit of an unknown. Friday will be a big test for us.” AFTER THE POLE RUN AT SEBRING, THERE WAS SOME CROSSOVER BETWEEN THE GTLM CARS AND THE TAIL-END OF THE P2 FIELD WITH SOME LESS-EXPERIENCED DRIVERS STARTING THAT RACE. HOW FRUSTRATING WAS THAT, AND HOW CAN YOU MANAGE THAT ANY DIFFERENTLY IF YOU’RE ON POLE AGAIN?“It’s definitely frustrating. We qualified within a second of the back two guys in P2. As soon as I saw that result, I talked to Beaux (Barfield, IMSA Race Director) to see what we could do or even separate the field a little bit… not even have separate starts but get a gap, but he said we couldn’t do that. I knew someone was going to take a risk to try and pass one of those P2s at the start. I was hoping to get one going into Turn One but he was able to carry a bit more speed into the corner but braked very early for Turn Three, which bottled me up and allowed two guys to get by me. It’s definitely frustrating but at the same time they’re out there having fun and supporting the sport and helping it grow. But it would be nice if there was some separation or a way to get around that issue.” WHEN YOU WERE RUNNING WITH YOUR BROTHER FOR YOUR DAD’S TEAM, YOU ALWAYS RAN WELL AT ROAD AMERICA BUT SOMETHING ALWAYS HAPPENED TO KEEP YOU FROM VICTORY. WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO GET THAT WIN AT ROAD AMERICA WITH CORVETTE?“I’d definitely like it. The sad part with Wayne Taylor Racing is that one of our mechanics who had worked with my dad since the early 1990s and still does the driver changes had never won at Road America, either. That was always a big one on our list every year – the Rolex 24, Sebring, Petit Le Mans with Road America up there to get him that win. We finished on the podium a few times, and a lot of those were fuel mileage races that never worked out. Looking at the last two races for Corvette, we’ve had pace and strategy on our side. I have a lot of confidence going in there. The BoP will be interesting to see how it plays out, but also having Antonio in the car is something I couldn’t ask much more going into it.” TRADITIONALLY THIS RACE FALLS IN THE STRETCH RUN OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IT’S A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS TIME AROUND. DOES THAT CHANGE THE DYNAMIC AND APPROACH?“For me, it’s been a bit different for me in GTLM already. With how close the points are, you can’t afford to take a big risk. There are few cars so if there is a big points swing, it’s hard to gather that back. Maybe running these consistent finishes and going for podiums is a smart way to go. If you take a risk and end up sixth, the points swing to the guys you’re racing for the championship with is pretty big and hard to claw back. For us, we have to race smart and take the wins if they are falling their way but not fight for a victory if it’s not in the cards and is too risky.” DO YOU TYPICALLY ALWAYS FIND YOURSELF IN A SITUATION WHERE ONE DRIVER IS SAVING FUEL SO THE OTHER CAN GO, OR ARE YOU BOTH SAVING FUEL SO AT THE RIGHT TIME EITHER ONE CAN GO?“At Daytona we saved a lot of fuel on the 3 car side and the 4 went on a different strategy and obviously it fell our way. If there had been a yellow late in the race, it would have gone the 4 team’s way. That’s kind of how we play it inside the team, where the engineers are communicating during the race what we want to do. At Sebring in that first stint when I was running third, I wasn’t going to be able to pass anyone so I did my own fuel savings. When I was out front, I did a little bit less to maintain the lead. Depending on where you are on track position, you run it a bit different. We’ve seen already this year how important fuel saving can be; we’ve seen that here and the last couple of years in IndyCar how powerful a fuel-saving stint can be.“Thankfully we have a lot of smart guys in the pitlane who can do a lot of that for us. As a driver, you can do it as well when you’re in traffic. The drivability from the engine and the other work from the engineers during the quarantine period showed big results of performance gains not just in speed but also in efficiency.”

GREENWOOD, NE (July 25, 2020) – Brandon Sheppard led the final 14 laps to win Saturday Night’s 10th Annual Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway. Sheppard passed race leader Chad Simpson on the 88th lap and pulled away to take his first career win in the crown event. He pocketed $53,000 for the Rocket House Car Team in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned race. Ricky Thornton Jr. got by Simpson in the closing laps to take the $20,000 second place prize. Simpson finished third, earning $10,000. Tim McCreadie was fourth with Ricky Weiss in fifth. Sheppard dedicated his win to the family of Tim Hitt, who passed away on Friday. Hitt was the original house car driver for Rocket Chassis in the early 1990’s. Sheppard’s fourth visit to Lucas Oil Victory Lane in 2020 made him the eighth different winner in ten Silver Dollar Nationals.  “I had it in the back of my mind that I was going to wait as long as I could to get to the top of the track. I knew I was abusing my equipment up there. I hit the wall a few times off of two. It was a crazy race,” said the 27-year-old Illinois native. Current LOLMDS point leader Jimmy Owens led the first 43 laps of the race until he began having problems under the hood of his car and Tyler Erb took over the top spot. Erb started to pull away from the field as the caution for Owens came out with 64 laps scored. Owens entered the hot pit area and retired from the event. He was credited with a 23rd place finish. Simpson grabbed the point from Erb on the restart and then held off Sheppard until the reigning Dirt Track World Championship winner became the fourth different leader of the race. Sheppard took the lead on lap 88 and held it to the finish.  Thornton, Jr. grabbed the runner-up finish in his debut weekend at the Nebraska track. “Congrats to Brandon on the win. Thanks to Todd and Vickie Burns for giving me a chance to drive their car.” Simpson came home third. “The car was really, really good mid-race. I could roll through the middle good with my momentum. The guys told me under caution to keep rolling the middle, my laps times were really good. My crew guys were telling me to use top when I was coming down the frontstretch once. As soon as I came off of turn two Brandon went by me on the topside and I knew it was over.” The winner’s Mark Richards Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Gunters Honey, Ace Metal Works, Integra Racing Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, and Rocket Pre-Owned Motors. Completing the top ten were Josh Richards, Tyler Erb, Jonathan Davenport, Chris Ferguson, and Tanner English.

Kaz Grala and the Ruedebusch.com Team Recover from Pit Road Penalty to Score 13th-Place Finish in 2020 Season Debut

13th    3rd  10th

“We earned a hard-fought 13th-place finish today in our No. 21 Ruedebusch Development and Construction Chevrolet. We had great track position and speed early in the race. Unfortunately, we got a bit behind and lost track position. Once we were in dirty air we could never quite make it back up to the front. My crew chief, Andy Street, made some really great adjustments to our Chevy and the RCR team never gave up all day. Our Chevrolet definitely handled the best it had all day at the very end of the race, but we ran out of time to get the track position that we needed. Overall, it was a great day. It was good to be back in a racecar today. I’m really looking forward to strapping back in a few more times, starting at Road America in a few weeks.” -Kaz Grala

GREENWOOD, NE (July 24, 2020) – A pair of car number 20’s will make up the front row for the 10th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals on Saturday Night at I-80 Speedway as Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jimmy Owens will lead the field to green in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned $53,000 to win event.  

Thornton Jr. and Owens earned top spots in passing points from Friday Night’s 10 heat races that were contested. Devin Moran and Brandon Sheppard will make-up row number two for the richest winner’s purse offered so far in 2020. The first heat of round one saw Scott Bloomquist, the all-time winningest driver in series history, bolt to the lead at the start and lead the entire distance to take the win. Billy Moyer, Jr. finished a close second to Bloomquist with Jonathan Davenport and Jimmy Owens trailing. The second heat featured a solid performance by Kansan Chase Junghans who earned the heat race victory. Jake Neal finished in second followed by Brandon Sheppard and Tad Pospisil. The third heat race saw a terrific between Mason Zeigler and Shanon Buckingham. Zeigler caught and passed Buckingham on the final lap of the race to take the win. Buckingham finished in second followed by 17-year-old Colton Horner and Tim McCreadie. Chad Simpson got by Justin Zeitner in the closing laps of heat number four to take the victory for the two-time Lucas Oil MLRA champion. Zeitner came across the line in second. Tyler Erb came from the tail to finish in third followed by Nick Deal. The fifth and final heat of round one went to Ricky Thornton Jr. who charged from the fourth starting position to take the lead as he pulled away to take the checkers. Devin Moran ran second the entire distance with Stormy Scott and Kyle Bronson rounding out the top four. The second round started off with Ricky Weiss taking the victory in heat number one. Shane Clanton gave Weiss a good run early on, but Weiss pulled away for the win. Clanton took second followed by Ricky Thornton Jr. and Bobby Pierce, the defending Silver Dollar Nationals winner. The second heat of round two saw current LOLMDS point leader Jimmy Owens roar from the eighth starting spot to get the win. Earl Pearson, Jr. came from the fifth starting position to grab second with Tyler Erb placing third as Chris Ferguson rounded out the top four. Josh Richards took command of the race lead from Cory Dumpert in heat three as he ran away for the win. Tanner English finished second to Richards with Kyle Strickler and Chad Simpson claiming third and fourth at the finish. The fourth heat of round two went to Kyle Bronson, who came from the fourth starting spot for the win. Johnny Scott, driving his brothers second entry, came home in second with Devin Moran charging from the tail to pick up third place at the checkers. Jonathan Davenport was fourth. In the fifth and final heat of round two Tim McCreadie, who started on the inside of row number two bolted to the lead around Chris Simpson to take a lead he never relinquished. Brandon Sheppard made a late-race charge from seventh to nab the second spot over Simpson and Ben Schaller.

July 24, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto has become a master at gaining positions on restarts of Cup Series races, and he was able to do that numerous times on Thursday night at Kansas Speedway.

But a Lap 176 restart ended badly for DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team.

When a flat tire caused Joey Logano to abruptly slow down ahead of a pack of oncoming cars, DiBenedetto was swept up in the melee, slammed into the wall, bounced back across the track and was hit again before finally coming to rest.

He was uninjured, but the Menards/Dutch Boy Mustang was too damaged to continue, and he was left with a 36^th-place finish. 

“I couldn’t tell what was going on,” DiBenedetto told a TV audience. “I just tried to go low. 

“I saw guys checked up off of [Turn] Two… I just got clipped in the right side. Nothing I could do different.”

Compounding his frustration was the fact that it was the second straight race, the first coming at Texas Motor Speedway, in which DiBenedetto and his Menards team have been collected in a late wreck while in position to score a strong finish.

“We have had garbage luck the last couple of weeks,” he said. “The Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang was fast, and we deserve better. 

“We are racing for the playoffs, and this is just annoying.”
 
The finish dropped DiBenedetto one spot in the points standings to 13^th, which means he won’t be among the drivers who draw for the top 12 starting positions next week at New Hampshire. 
 
And it leaves him 15^th in the Playoff standings. Only 16 drivers will begin the Playoffs, which start after seven more regular season races.
 
Even amid his disappointment, DiBenedetto cited reasons to be optimistic going forward. At Kansas, he and the Menards/Dutch Boy team were able to improve on a car that lost ground on green-flag runs despite DiBenedetto’s ability to drive it into the top 10 on early race restarts.
 
“We made 700 adjustments there and put about 40 rounds of wedge in it I think,” he said in an obvious exaggeration. “Got the balance about right and then we crashed.
 
“I need an off weekend [then] go to one of my favorite tracks, New Hampshire, and rebound and get a dang finish that we deserve.”
 

ustin Dillon and the No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet Team Battle Hard at Kansas Speedway

27th   16th  17th

“We headed into Kansas Speedway with goals of backing up RCR’s 1-2 finish from Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, and I really think we could have done it if it weren’t for the wreck we were involved in. Our handling was off to begin with, but we stayed in it and kept making the American Ethanol Chevrolet better and better. We finally got it dialed in and were battling for 12th on a restart in Stage 3 when chaos broke out in front of us. We had nowhere to go and ended up with a lot of damage. We were missing a lot of parts, but we did the best we could to nurse our Chevy to the finish. It’s just a shame because we were just as good, if not better, than the cars who finished up front. We could have had a top 10, easily, if it weren’t for that wreck. That’s how it goes sometimes. I am proud of everyone on this team for making the right adjustments all night and going back out there to get a few more points.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the I Am Second Team Earn Stage Points En Route to Top-15 Finish at Kansas

13th    23rd    15th

“We had a fast No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet on the long runs tonight at Kansas Speedway. We just needed a little more on the short runs. It was a tale of two extremes almost, where we fired off extremely loose but about halfway through the race built way too tight. I was able to run the top during Stage 1 before anyone else really could, and that allowed us to climb well up into the top 10 to get some valuable stage points. As the night went on and our car got tighter, I wasn’t able to run up there as well and had to search around for speed to try to keep up with the changing track conditions. Luckily, we were able to avoid a handful of wrecks during Stage 3 and started to climb back up through the field once we were able to loosen our Chevrolet back up a little bit. In the end, we just needed a couple more longer runs to really be able to get back into the top 10 tonight. We’ll circle back at the shop on how to get better short run speed out of our cars over the course of the next few races and be ready to get back after it at New Hampshire next Sunday.” -Tyler Reddick

GREENWOOD, NE (July 23, 2020) – Jimmy Owens got back on track on Thursday Night as he captured the caution-free Optima Batteries Dirt Track Bank Go 50 – Presented by K&N Filters at I-80 Speedway.  Owens had to fend off late challenges from both Ricky Thornton, Jr. and Brandon Sheppard for his series-leading seventh win of the season. Ricky Weiss came home in fourth followed by Josh Richards in fifth. Richards took the lead at the start of the race and held the point for the first four laps of the race. Owens started fifth on the grid and charged to the lead on lap five surpassing Richards for the top spot, but the 2017 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion [Richards] roared back to the lead around Owens on lap 11.   Richards led until lap 27 when Owens caught back up to him to regain the lead for good. Owens then saw Thornton Jr. and Sheppard close the gap on him in the last five laps. Owens, the 3-time series champion held off the challengers for his 71st career LOLMDS victory. “I could hear him [Thornton], he got a run off of four and left me plenty room on the high side, and I appreciated that. It’s good to race with guys like that, but man thanks to Leon Ramirez, he’s here and it’s great to get a win in front of him. Thanks to my crew for busting their rear ends in this heat. This car is rolling pretty good; we are looking forward to tomorrow and Saturday. I was concerned a little bit when Josh got around me. He has been really good the last few weeks. I know there was a lot more talent behind us as well. I was able to move around the racetrack and I was hardly losing any time. Then finally he [Richards] started moving back towards me and we were able to capitalize,” said the 48-year-old Tennessee native. Thornton was in the hunt for his first career LOLMDS victory but came home in second. “He [Owens] started to get into one and cut across. I was just a little too tight when I got to him. I probably could have done a slide job in turn three, but I didn’t want to wreck us both. Jimmy’s been my hero growing up and to win this race would have been awesome. We had a really good car. I don’t know how much of a cushion we left; we were scrapping the wall there. About halfway through the race we got going good.” Sheppard entered the race with three LOLMDS wins in 2020 and made it close in the final stages. “In the heat race everybody was hurting tires, especially the left rear. I was trying to save as much as I could in the feature. Towards the end, we really got it going. We felt really comfortable at the end, we passed some cars so hopefully I will give us some momentum for Friday and Saturday.” The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tommy Pope Construction, Boomtest Well Service, General Tire, Red Line Oil, Ohlins Shocks, Champion Spark Plugs, and Midwest Sheet Metal. Completing the top ten were Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Strickler, Chad Simpson, Chris Ferguson, and Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Optima Batteries Dirt Track Bank Go-50 – Presented by K&N
Thursday, July 23rd, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE
Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Stormy Scott / 16.836 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Josh Richards / 17.070 seconds 

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[6]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 5. 75-Terry Phillips[5]; 6. 57-Mike Marlar[3]; 7. 50-Shanon Buckingham[4]; 8. 32B-Cody Laney[8]; 9. 6D-Cory Dumpert[10]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm[9]; 11. 1D-Dylan Schmer[11]; 12. 112-Tyler Smith[12]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[7]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb[6]; 7. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 8. 39-Tim McCreadie[8]; 9. 53-Andrew Kosiski[11]; 10. F15-Jeremy Conaway[10]; 11. 52-Brian Kosiski[9]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 1C-Chad Simpson[3]; 4. 62-Justin Zeitner[7]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[4]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 7. 56C-Colton Horner[10]; 8. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 9. 40-Joel Callahan[9]; 10. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[5]; 11. 0-Scott Bloomquist[6]; 12. (DNS) 10C-Junior Coover

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 7W-Ricky Weiss[3]; 3. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 4. 98-Ben Schaller[11]; 5. 18J-Chase Junghans[7]; 6. 14J-Jake Neal[5]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 24X-Bill Leighton[9]; 9. 80-Allan Hopp[10]; 10. 81E-Tanner English[8]; 11. 25-Shane Clanton[4]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer):  1. 50-Shanon Buckingham[5]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 5. 57-Mike Marlar[3]; 6. 04-Tad Pospisil[6]; 7. 6D-Cory Dumpert[9]; 8. 39-Tim McCreadie[8]; 9. F15-Jeremy Conaway[12]; 10. 53-Andrew Kosiski[10]; 11. 32B-Cody Laney[7]; 12. 49T-Jake Timm[11]; 13. 112-Tyler Smith[15]; 14. 52-Brian Kosiski[14]; 15. (DNS) 1D-Dylan Schmer

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[1]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 5. 14J-Jake Neal[4]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton[14]; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[11]; 8. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 9. 24X-Bill Leighton[8]; 10. 56C-Colton Horner[5]; 11. 80-Allan Hopp[10]; 12. 40-Joel Callahan[9]; 13. 81E-Tanner English[12]; 14. 0-Scott Bloomquist[13]; 15. (DNS) 10C-Junior Coover

NASCAR CUP SERIES SUPER START BATTERIES 400 KANSAS SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES JULY 23, 2020
 TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER8th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM / NOCO CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE10th    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE13th    TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 I AM SECOND CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Denny Hamlin (Toyota)          2nd     Brad Keselowski (Ford)3rd      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)4th      Kevin Harvick (Ford)5th      Erik Jones (Toyota) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday, August 2nd, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold app, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM / NOCO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th“Rough night. We threw about every adjustment at our Camaro that we possibly could. Thankfully, we were able to finally get it a little better there towards the end and go back towards the front a little bit. Hate that we lost a bunch of spots on that last restart – just wide open and some people drove around us. We’ve got some work to do, for sure, we know that. But getting a good, solid finish this week was good and a good momentum-builder back in the right direction. It’s been pretty painful here lately. We’re working hard to get our Chevrolet’s back up front.”  KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“The car was a little tough at times throughout the race. We struggled on some of the restarts with tires on heat cycles, but thanks to my guys on this Monster Energy Chevy. We battled hard together and never gave up on working to make it better and try to find the sweetest spot to run. We just need to keep after it and turn these top-10’s into better results”.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 10th“It was a solid finish for us – we needed that for sure for the playoffs. We started the race way off. We were really loose – just really struggling. The guys, Keith (Rodden, filling in as Crew Chief) and everybody made a lot of great adjustments throughout the race. It really got us in a position where we could attack. As soon as we got probably 10 laps on our tires, the car felt pretty good. We just stayed out there on no tires, really ran there with the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and was able to pass him back for the lead. I thought we were looking really good. Unfortunately, the two tires didn’t really work out for us there at the end. I think we just had too many laps on the left side and struggled there. But overall, was really happy with probably 40 to go in the race. I thought we were in a really good position leading the race. We’ll take a top-10 with what we had there at the end and move forward to the next race. Looking forward to it.”  CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“Man, that was a long night. I appreciate the effort of my NAPA team. We just need to clean it up and are going to move on to New Hampshire.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 I AM SECOND CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th“We had a fast No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet on the long runs tonight at Kansas Speedway. We just needed a little more on the short runs tonight. It was a tale of two extremes almost, where we fired off extremely loose but about halfway through the race built way too tight. I was able to run the top during Stage 1 before anyone else really could, and that allowed us to climb well up into the top 10 to get some valuable stage points. As the night went on and our car got tighter, I wasn’t able to run up there as well and had to search around for speed to try to keep up with the changing track conditions. Luckily, we were able to avoid a handful of wrecks during Stage 3 and start to climb back up through the field once we were able to loosen our Chevrolet back up a little bit. In the end, we just needed a couple more longer runs to really be able to get back into the top 10 tonight. We’ll circle back at the shop on how to get better short run speed out of our cars over the course of the next few races and be ready to get back after it at New Hampshire next Sunday.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“My GEICO guys fought for it tonight. We had a rough start to the race, but we never stopped chipping away at it. Everyone on this Germain Racing team kept digging, Matt (Borland) made our Camaro ZL1 1LE better with adjustments and we brought home another top-15 finish. This is our third top-16 finish in four races and I’m proud of our team for working hard. We will look to keep this momentum rolling in Loudon.”  RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sideline due to accident on lap 181; Finished 34th WHAT A GREAT SIGHT TO SEE RYAN PREECE OUT OF THE CAR. RYAN, HOW ARE YOU FEELING FIRST OF ALL? AND WHAT DID YOU SEE DURING THAT WRECK THERE?“To be honest with you, we had a fast race car right there at the end. It’s frustrating for all of us at JTG Daugherty because we’ve been working really hard and probably had a top-10 car there at the end. I’m alright, just ready for this year to turn around. Thanks to Bush’s Beans, the No. 37 and JTG Daugherty – we’ll be back next week. 
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 170; Finished 37th “It was a frustrating ending. I thought our Richard Petty Motorsports team could overcome our obstacles today at the Kansas Speedway. We were really free – I think we had a tire going down right before we spun. And then got it too tight, so we kind of went through the full end of the spectrum. Started to get our way back right and just got caught up in someone else’s mess with nowhere to go. Unfortunate day for our Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, but we’ll go onto the New Hampshire Motor Speedway after this awesome off weekend.” RICKY STENHOUSE, JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by mechanical failure on Lap 59; Finished 40thWHAT DID YOU SEE AND WHAT DID YOU SMELL IN THE CAR?“Man, at the start of the race our Kroger Camaro was really good. We’ve had some really bad weeks as far as results go and drove up into 14th there on the first start. We lost the balance there a little bit, but it felt like we were still pretty close and then I don’t know. A fire started in the cockpit. Something electrical under the dash. So, it’s a bummer to end the day like that for our Kroger team. I felt like we had a really good shot at a top 10 if we kept dialing our car in. I really like Kansas. I’m glad we’ve got kind of an off-week now before New Hampshire so we can regroup.” HOW UN-NERVING IT MUST BE TO BE IN THE COCKPIT WHEN YOU SMELL FIRE“Yeah, I could see the fire. It was right beside me and then all up under the dash and by my left foot. The fuel pressure quit at first and then the whole screen went black after that. I don’t know exactly what caused that or what can cause it, but a bummer of a day for sure.”

Fans Can Watch the Action Unfold on Facebook and  on Lucas Oil Racing TV

CORONA, Calif. (July 23, 2020) – As the days turn to hours before the anticipated start of the 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Presented by GEICO, series organizers have announced that coverage of this weekend’s doubleheader from Glen Helen Raceway will be streamed live online. In the absence of spectators at the opening two rounds of the championship, fans across the country will be given the opportunity to watch the action unfold, as it happens for FREE via Facebook, as well as the Lucas Oil Racing TVsubscription service. “From the moment we knew our fans would have to miss out on the action at Glen Helen Raceway due to COVID-19, we began looking for a way in which we could still give our passionate audience the racing they deserve,” said Dave Wonser, Vice President of Brand Development. “These have been challenging times for everyone, but we’re doing all we can to get back on track and provide a sense of normalcy. In doing so we needed to make some sacrifices. Fortunately, that also meant there was an opportunity to facilitate some unique opportunities that serve the interest of the very people who support the sport of short course off road.”

Racing from Glen Helen will kick off at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET on both Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26. Fans can simply log onto the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series’ official Facebook page and follow the link to watch the FREE live stream. For subscribers of Lucas Oil Racing TV, simply sign in with the proper account login information, go to “Live Events” and click on the Glen Helen events to view the live stream. No matter which options fans tune in from, they’ll receive commentary from the talented Lucas Oil Racing TV broadcast team, which consists of host Brent Smith, analyst Jack Korpela, and pit reporter Derek Pernesiglio. This trio will guide fans through all the unpredictable action on the track from all eight classes of competition. The exciting junior divisions of RZR 170, JR 2 Kart, and Mod Kart will take to the track first before giving way to the highly competitive pro classes, beginning with the high intensity of Pro Lite and followed by Turbo UTV, Pro Buggy, and Production 1000 UTV. Each afternoon will come to a dramatic conclusion with a showcase of the power, speed, and precision of Pro 2.

Fans can watch the action of Pro 2 and all eight classes of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series from Glen Helen live, either FREE on Facebook or via Lucas Oil Racing TV. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

While viewers will be given the chance to watch all the action for FREE this weekend on Facebook, live coverage of the remaining rounds of the 2020 season will be exclusive to Lucas Oil Racing TV. For just $6.99 per month, or $99 for the entire year subscribers receive exclusive access to a wide array of live racing events, including the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, the annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series, the Lucas Oil WAR Sprint Car Series, and more. Additionally, subscribers have access to watch hundreds of motorsports focused programming of all kinds, fulfilling the needs of any gearhead.