NASCAR CUP SERIES CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT OCTOBER 11, 2020 KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the weather and challenges of today’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL, upcoming races at Kansas, Texas, and Martinsville, mentoring his future teammate, Ross Chastain, and more. Full Transcript: IF YOU’RE GOING TO WIN THIS CHAMPIONSHIP, IT WILL BE YOUR SECOND TITLE, 16 YEARS APART. IF YOU EMERGE WITH THIS, IS IT YOUR BEST CASE FOR THE HALL OF FAME?“I feel like you’re going to have to win out in this Round of 8 and the championship race in Phoenix. This group, the elite eight, that will make it, are the best of the best; and can win each and every week. And so, with Kansas not being one of my best tracks, but it is a 1.5-mile, where we have won twice at Chip Ganassi Racing. Texas is a 1.5-mile that we’ve been very good at. And Martinsville has been a nice surprise since I switched to Ganassi. I’ve been running much better with the balance of the car that they have there. And then with Phoenix, if we can get there, that would be huge. It would give me an opportunity to win the championship for Chip Ganassi Racing, my second title. Those things and Hall of Fame talk will all handle itself after my racing career is done. I just keep plugging away and adapting. I’ve got a great sponsor with Monster Energy to help. YOU HAVE NOT WON AT KANSAS. HOW CAN YOU PULL THIS OFF?“It’s been a tough track for me. I’ve got a couple of second place finishes, I believe. And one of them was a set-up that (Kevin) Harvick happily agreed (laughs) to run when we were running with Furniture Row. We were at RCR together. And, that’s what it takes. It takes that comradery and balance of teamwork and also pushing the envelope. Kansas is one of those very aero-dependent tracks. And so, you’ve got to be on top of your game with the aero side of it to win there.” LOOKING AT THE CONDITIONS TODAY, THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF RAIN. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND AT WHAT POINT DO YOU SAY WE CAN’T KEEP DOING THIS AND WE NEED TO STOP?“We had the Daytona Road Course a month or so ago and I didn’t even send my motor home down there as far as pre-race or normal sequence, because I’m like, we have rain tires. We’re going to race. And so today, yeah, this is a little bit different with battling remnants of a hurricane. And if it’s consistent light rain, we’re good to go. If we have our downpours, we’re going to have to red flag the race. I think NASCAR learned a lot watching the Xfinity guys and calling that race. It’s still, again, whatever it takes to adapt and to be there to win. That’s what I’m doing today. I’m ready to race no matter if we’re hydroplaning or if the sun comes out and we’ve got to switch to the dry (tires). You’ve got to be ready for any condition change.” HOW MUCH IS YOUR MINDSET IMPACTED BY THE FACT THAT YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO BE IN THE ROUND OF 8 REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS TODAY?“Yeah, I’m on easy street. Me and Denny (Hamlin) might be the happiest guys to talk to. Harvick is probably pretty good in points. This race was positioned on the calendar for this reason; to be a cutoff and to create all the anxiety and all of this stress. And so that’s what that win at Vegas did for us at Chip Ganassi Racing is that it gave us an ease of operation today; and hopefully that loose, fluid feel will stay with us and we’ll make the right calls to win this.” YOU SEEM TO BE A PRETTY HAPPY GUY RIGHT NOW. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE KURT BUSCH AT THIS STAGE IN YOUR LIFE?“Just racing with Chip Ganassi Racing and a great sponsor with Monster Energy and a manufacturer with Chevrolet, and the teamwork. The team comradery is a different element for me now. I love to teach young engineers and young crew members how to evolve in this sport and to do it at a championship level. And so just being older and wiser, and still having that passion and that drive to adapt to the new technology and the new ways of winning, that’s something that my father instilled in me, that work ethic, from a young age. And with my wife, Ashley, she loves sport. She’s an athlete herself. And her support and her love has been a new direction for me these last five years.” ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MENTORSHIP YOU’LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE TO ROSS CHASTAIN, YOUR NEW TEAMMATE NEXT SEASON?“Yeah, that will be a big part of how this season concludes and how the off-season progresses, and preparations for next year. Ross Chastain is a good kid. He’s worked hard. And he’s gone through some setbacks and he continues to persevere. And he’s put himself in position for a top tier ride at the NASCAR level. So, I feel like it’s a perfect fit to help mentor him, and to coach him, and to give to a driver that I think will have a long career in this sport.” YOU MENTIONED WHAT NASCAR LEARNED FROM THE XFINITY RACE LAST NIGHT. WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THAT AND WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?“This track, even when it’s dry, is like a bull in a china shop. It’s a big heavy stock car with all this horsepower and there are tons of braking zones and tons of turning in and trying to accelerate. And the tires will only handle so much. Sprinkle in the rain, with the rain tires with having hardly any data at all; and then watching the race, you know how there were these slick areas of the track. There was water standing in certain spots that you have to avoid; the treachery of the oval section, it looked like. And our cars have way more horsepower than the Xfinity cars. We have the possibility of looping it on the oval if we’re not careful. Today will be one of the most historic days of NASCAR, with racing these big, heavy cars on a road course; and this isn’t just a normal road course. This is a ROVAL. So, there are lots of things to watch out for and hopefully we protect our car to put it in position to win it.” WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE HARDEST PART ABOUT TODAY’S RACE?“I think the toughest part will be visibility. Our cars generate a lot of heat. And the windshields are prepped as best as they can be, but this is our first time. And throughout Chip Ganassi Racing, we’ve relied heavily on the IndyCar guys to help us. Common sense is the key, as well. But then there are so many areas that these cars aren’t sealed off and I think visibility will be tough with the windshield wiper and the mist and the rooster tail from the other cars; and just how the water gathers in certain spots at this track. And also, the radar. The radar looks relentless right now. It’s not giving up. And so, we’ll see how that plays out.”

Fifth win for GTLM leaders, sixth for first-year Chevrolet Corvette C8.R

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 11, 2020) – Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor’s charmed season continued Saturday as they claimed another victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a victory in their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Garcia passed John Edwards for the lead with 21 minutes left and held on despite a late-race caution on a tricky and treacherous night at the Roval – the first time for Corvette Racing at the venue.. The duo extended their GTLM Drivers’ Championship lead to 24 points over their Corvette Racing teammates Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin, who finished fourth in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R.  Chevrolet also saw its lead grow in the Manufacturers standings to 14 points. Garcia and Taylor have now won five of eight races this year and four of the last five in the first year of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R. Taylor began on pole position Saturday for the second consecutive race, but conditions were much different at the green flag with a steady rain having pelted the track since mid-afternoon. The first 16 minutes featured two full-course cautions, and both Corvettes came in at 20 minutes running for fuel, tires and driver changes – Taylor to Garcia and Gavin to Milner.  On the restart, Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette ran second while Milner made a big move on the inside of the first corner to move from fourth to third. He fell back a few laps later before the track began to dry somewhat, and the Corvettes grew stronger during a long-green flag run. It culminated with Garcia moving in front with a move on Edwards to the inside of Turn 8 just before the infield section rejoined the banked oval part of the track. Garcia pulled away quickly and led by as much as five seconds a handful of laps later. Milner, too, was making a charge back to podium position before part of the No. 4 Corvette’s right-rear suspension broke with 11 minutes remaining. Milner went hard into the outside wall but got out of the car under his own power and later was evaluated and released from the infield care center. The race began again with five minutes to go, and Garcia pulled out to a one-second lead with a lap to go and rain falling again. He crossed the finish line with a 1.474-second margin of victory. Corvette Racing heads back to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for next week’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Oct. 15-17.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE WINNER: “It was super, super stressful. Even if it felt like I was just following the 24, I was really hanging on. I probably crashed four or five times, just like everyone else. Jordan gave me some very good indications before he jumped out and before we went green to give me confidence in following the BMW. They were really strong right away, but I didn’t really give up. As soon as I felt like we stabilized on lap times, I kept pressuring him and using traffic to close up. They were very strong as you saw with their sister car. As soon as I saw they were struggling a little bit with tires – especially the 24 – I stayed patient even when the 25 was coming. I saw my opportunity and went for it. I don’t know if it was risky move or not, but at that point I didn’t think about the championship. I wanted to win the race. As soon as I got past, I put my head down, tried to open a gap and it worked. I’m very happy for Corvette Racing and Team Chevy. I’m glad Tommy is OK. We have a very fast car but also a very safe car. That’s a magnificent combination of car here. It’s great to be driving for the best team out there and keep winning races. We need to keep this mentality and go all the way to the end.” DID THE TRACK IMPROVE FROM THE START? “The first two laps was close to how we finish. It was very difficult at the beginning. There was a massive river going across at Turn Three, and I almost lost it two or three times there. The conditions definitely improved, but lap by lap you know where to place your car, and following someone opens the water a little bit for you. Once we got into a rhythm, the track improved for sure but it started to rain at the end. Being in the wet in the dark also makes it difficult to spot standing water.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE WINNER: “At the beginning of the race, there obviously was a lot of water on the track, and with the lighting it was hard to see where the standing water was. Considering our championship position, it was kind of damage control for me, trying to stay on the track and handing off the car in one piece. It was easy to get caught up in battling with people at that point of the race, but there was really no point. You weren’t going to win the race in the first 20 or 30 minutes. I was glad to get through that phase and hand over the car to Antonio and let him go for it. He did a great job of keeping the car out of the wall for those first few laps and putting the pressure on the BMW. We would have been happy leaving here with a podium given the championship position with three races to go. But he kept the pressure on, never put a wheel wrong and was able to get by. It’s really awesome to maximize the points when we didn’t expect it. We can go into the last three races and race for the win, as well. It’s another great day for Corvette Racing. It’s good to see that Tommy walked away from that big hit at the end. It says a lot about Chevrolet and Corvette Racing and how safe they build the race cars and how strong they are. It give us a lot of confidence when we strap in that we’re going to be safe.” ROLE OF THE CHEVROLET SIMULATOR IN RACE PREP: “If it wasn’t for the simulator, we probably wouldn’t have been able to put it on the pole and been able to stay out of trouble like that. So the simulator was a big tool for us. I’m glad this all worked out.” LOOKING TO PETIT LE MANS: “We’re already thinking about it. It’s at the top of Antonio’s list of races to win. The focus has already shifted. The guys are driving to Atlanta tomorrow to prep the cars, but unfortunately they’ll have a lot to prep on the 4 car. We did a test day there last week where Nicky (Catsburg) and Marcel (Fassler) were able to get some laps. At the Six-Hour, we struggled with a few things and I think we found a few things at the test for some long runs and working on the different compounds of tires. This weekend was good to get in some mixed conditions. We haven’t had a lot of rain and mixed conditions in a race setting other than Road America. It was good to get a bit of everything. Now no matter what we see at Petit Le Mans, we feel pretty well prepared.” DID THE ADDITIONAL INFIELD LIGHTING HELP? “Yes, we tested here about a month ago and the lighting was pretty difficult to see where you were going. They’ve definitely made some nice improvements. If it had been a dry race, the visibility would have been great. When you add in the water with the type of surface they have here, it’s very reflective when there’s a lot of water on it. It’s hard to distinguish what’s a damp section and what’s a deep section. It’s hard to pick out what’s what at night. It took some getting used to, but it probably made a good show on TV. It looked pretty spectacular when I got out and watched all the headlights reflecting off everything. This was definitely a cool event, and I’m glad we were able to win the first one back here.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH: “This whole weekend has been a massive challenge. The format of this race and the way it has happened made for some quite difficult sessions. Then you add in the extra element of the weather conditions, it just seemed like it was culminating in somewhat of a bit of a perfect storm for us. The  start of the race for me was crazy. There were massive amounts of standing weather everywhere. I was just hanging on, just driving the car around and trying not to crash. I had multiple moments every single lap thinking well I could finish the race by doing something daft, so I just got myself into a position where I could sort of survive. Others were spinning off and crashing, and we ended up in third when we came in for the pit stop and hand it over for Tommy to drive. It was looking okay for awhile and Tommy had pretty good pace. Then we had the issue at the right-rear. We still are trying to figure out what exactly happened. It just seems if something can go wrong, it will go wrong for us unfortunately. But I am very happy Tommy was able to walk away. It was a pretty high-speed accident so that’s a great testament to the guys at Chevrolet and Corvette for how well they’ve engineering the road car and the race car. That was a really big hit and Tommy was able to walk away on his own. And of course I’m happy for Jordan and Antonio in picking up another win. It’s another positive outcome for the team.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH: “I didn’t have any indication at any point that there was something going wrong. Everything felt totally normal up until it wasn’t. I had almost finished on the banking, which is more G-loading than Daytona. It doesn’t really explain the problem, it seems like. At first I thought I lost a tire, like it just overheated or something like that for how quickly it went around. The first indications were that wasn’t the case. The track had some pretty gnarly weeps in the seams of the race track that would get you a little bit loose sometimes, but it was never really a huge deal. Upon further inspection it looks like once the car got back to the trucks, we did have something at the right-rear and the wheel came off. Fortunately this is a really strong and safe Corvette that we have and it held up really well. Selfishly I’m glad it is nothing I did wrong, but that doesn’t change the outcome. There is still a lot of work for the guys to get the car fixed and get ready to go to Petit Le Mans in less than a week. I feel bad for the guys for the amount of work they have to do. Obviously the first thing we do as a team is figure out what the failure is, how it happened and make the necessary changes to prevent that from happening again. The guys will go through that in the next couple of days and come up with a good plan.”In the last part there, I don’t know if it was the BMW kind of fading or us getting better. I got a little bit unlucky at the start of my stint with traffic. I got balked pretty bad there going into Turn One and had a little moment and the No. 25 got around me. We knew that was going to be a big deal here. It seemed like the car was getting better toward the end. Once Antonio got around the No. 24, he was able to pull away with a little bit of a gap. I was just trying to put  a little pressure on the two cars in front of me and see if we could make them make a mistake again to get around. Passing is very difficult here, but it never quite got to that point unfortunately for us. It just wasn’t our day today. I felt like we had a pretty good car. We were fast in practice and it looked like we were making decent progress at the end, but we never got there.”

Alvaro Parente, Misha Goikhberg recover from qualifying crash to finish fifth
Late-race contact drops Acura of Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry to seventh

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2020) – The #57 Heinricher Racing with MSR pair of Alvaro Parente and Misha Goikhberg led the way for Acura tonight with a fifth-place finish in a rain-impacted sprint contest on the “Roval” at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The 100-minute, GT-only sprint race, is the shortest on the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, and the second of two GT-only rounds. Changing weather conditions throughout qualifying and Saturday night’s race contributed to multiple incidents on the 2.32-mile road course.

A crash in qualifying left Parente and Goikhberg 12th on the starting grid for the GTD field. Starting driver Goikhberg survived an early-race spin without contact and brought the #57 Acura NSX GT3 Evo up to ninth before pitting and handing the driving duties over to Parente. For his part, Parente made additional gains in the final hour, and took the checkers in fifth.

Teammates, and championship leaders, Matt McMurry and Mario Farnbacher started third and quickly moved up to second with McMurry at the wheel of the Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Typically-quick pit work from their Meyer Shank Racing crew saw Farnbacher emerge from the only scheduled stop of the night in the lead.

Late in the race, Farnbacher lost the GTD lead and served a brief stop-and-go penalty for missing the chicane, then was the victim of contact from Jack Hawksworth that sent the #86 Acura spinning, and an unrepresentative seventh-place result.

Despite tonight’s result, Farnbacher and McMurry still lead the GTD Drivers’ Championship standings with 200 points to 196 for Aaron Telitz, Pat Long and Ryan Hardwick [a three-way tie]. Acura is second in the GTD Manufacturers’ title chase, three points out of first, with three races remaining.

A strong seventh-place qualifying effort from Gradient Racing’s Till Bechtolshiemer came to naught, as the #22 Acura pilot spun exiting Turn One following an early-race restart, and made solid contact with the barriers. The resulting damage ended the race for Bechtolshiemer and co-driver Marc Miller.

Next
The Meyer Shank racing team will next be in action next weekend, October 17, at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans 10-hour endurance race. Contesting only the shorter, Sprint Cup rounds on the schedule, Gradient Racing will return to competition for the November 1 Monterey Sports Car Championship event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

Acura Team Penske
IMSA’s Prototype category was not a part of this weekend’s race at Charlotte, which featured the GTD and GTLM classes only. The Acura Team Penske ARX-05s will return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the next weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2020) – Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor won another round in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a victory in their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Garcia passed John Edwards for the lead with 21 minutes left and held on despite a late-race caution. The duo extended their GTLM Drivers’ Championship lead to 24 points over their Corvette Racing teammates Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin, who finished fourth in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R. Chevrolet also saw its lead grow in the Manufacturers standings to 14 points.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – RACE WINNER: “It was very stressful right away. The BMWs were really fast when there was a ton of standing water. But the C8.R ran again perfectly in the end. I got up to the 24 and he started to lose pace. We gained some time and I saw my chance. He was struggling with tires, but so was I. I stayed calm and knew the section at Turn Five, Six and Seven was going to be my chance. As soon as he made a little mistake, I went for it, kept my head down and it’s another victory for Corvette Racing.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It wasn’t easy. It was the same for everyone in that situation. For us leading the championship, it was all about minimal risk at that point. You weren’t going to win the race in those 20 or 30 minutes. It’s all going to be about survival, handing off the car to Antonio and waiting for it to dry out. Thankfully it did, the track conditions came to our Corvette, and Antonio never put a foot wrong to bring home another win. It’s an amazing year for the new C8.R and we’re going to Petit Le Mans with some nice momentum. Six wins for a brand new car, no one would have ever expected this. Hats off to Corvette Racing. I’m sorry to see what happened to the No. 4 car, but I was glad to see Tommy get out.”

31st    12th  9th

“What a crazy race today at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. I’ve never raced a stock car in such wet conditions, and it definitely made for an interesting day in the No. 21 Ruedebusch.com Chevrolet. We started out the race 12th and drove up and won Stage 1, which was really cool. That was my first Stage win. I feel like we had a lot for these guys today, and they all certainly knew that we were there. Unfortunately, at the beginning of Stage 2 we caught a puddle the wrong way and ended up catching the wall at the wrong angle, which broke a bit of the suspension. That eventually ended our day. I hate it for everyone at RCR, because I really wanted to end the year on a strong note. However, I think we can leave the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL with our heads held high. We earned a Stage win and we were a solid contender for the win. It wasn’t our day, unfortunately, but I’m hopeful for the future and appreciate everyone’s support.”-Kaz Grala

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2020) – Jordan Taylor captured his second consecutive pole position Saturday afternoon ahead of tonight’s 100-minute, GT-only race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Taylor set a best time of 1:14.278 (112.442 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia in the 15-minute session for GT Le Mans (GTLM) competitors. It was Taylor’s third pole of the season – Sebring and Mid-Ohio were the others – as he and Garcia look to extend their GTLM Drivers Championship lead. Oliver Gavin was the early pace-setter in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R before a red-flag stoppage halted his momentum. He will start the race fifth and shares his Corvette with Tommy Milner; they sit second in GTLM points heading into tonight. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s race at Charlotte is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with live television coverage on NBCSN and live streaming via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. In addition, IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring. The race also will air on XM channel 202 and SiriusXM Online 972.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “It was a stressful session. Everyone was kind of waiting and knowing that it was only going to take a couple of laps to maximize the tires and then you have a small drop-off. Most everyone was waiting toward the end to go out. We waited one or two minutes and then the red flag came out on our first timed laps. It was very poor timing for us. The 4 car had put in a quick lap; putting a heat cycle in a tire like that can take a knock on the performance. No one knew what they had going back out. Our Corvette performed really well. We haven’t done much light-fuel running; most of it has been race prep. So it really came alive. It’s been good all weekend no matter if it’s dry or wet, so whatever the weather brings tonight, we should be alright.” DIFFICULTY OF MANAGING THE CHANGING CONDITIONS: “It’s tricky, especially here at the Roval. There is no room for error. Everyone has been talking coming into the weekend how it feels like a street course and you’re on the edge everywhere. When you mix in rain and those conditions being on slick tires, it makes it pretty hectic. This morning’s practice gave us a little bit of a warm-up for the race to get an idea of what it will be like. It’ll definitely be tricky. With it being only 100 minutes, I still think it will be about execution and minimizing mistakes to maintain track position. I’m happy that we have the pole and can have some clear track at the beginning and hopefully control it from there.” DO YOU WANT IT TO FULLY RAIN, FULLY DRY OR IS THE CAR IS GOOD IN THE MIXED CONDITIONS? “I think any driver, and they may not admit it, is a little stressed if it’s a little rainy or mixed. I think our Corvette suits all the conditions pretty well. As a driver, I’d rather it either rain or be dry to minimize the risk of being out on slicks in mixed conditions. We had a little bit of running this morning to understand what it would be like. Thankfully the track grip level is pretty good in those conditions, so it should be an interesting race no matter what we see.” DO YOU EXPECT THE TRACK TO CHANGE MUCH AFTER THE XFINITY RACE? “I think everyone has a big question mark of what it’s going to be like. We haven’t run after Goodyear has put rubber down on a track in awhile, so no one knows what to expect. The difference from last night when we were putting our own Michelin rubber down to this morning when it was all washed away, the track was completely different. When you mix the rain with two different types of rubber, it’ll be something new to learn as well.”

It’s hailed as the greatest Ford motorsport spectacle EVER and it returns to Beech Bend Raceway Park in 2021. The Holley NMRA Ford Nationals will once again complete its season with the blowout bash known as the NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival the weekend of September 30 thru October 3, 2021. The NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival combines NMRA championship drag racing, QA1 True Street, and the UPR Products Car Show together with the biggest party in the Ford world including celebrity drifting and special appearances, Grand Champion competition, autocross, legendary burnout contests, and much more. This destination event is a must-attend festival for any Ford or Mustang fan with record-breaking action and the biggest crowds.

“Our partnership with Holley has been awesome feeding off each other’s energy and excitement to bring NMRA and Holley events to another level. Holley’s been a great partner and the record-breaking attendance proves it,” said Rollie Miller, General Manager and National Event Director of the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals. “Beech Bend Raceway’s been NMRA’s home for over 20 years and it’s the perfect location and facility to host the biggest and baddest race on our schedule.” NMRA kicks off its season in grandeur with the Spring Break Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park the weekend of March 4-7. The tour heads north to Atlanta Dragway (Commerce, GA) April 8-11 for the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals. The new home of the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing is World Wide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL) as the team challenge continues May 13-16! In a glorious move for 2021, the NMRA Ford Nationals makes its return to the legendary Summit Motorsports Park (Norwalk, OH) the weekend of June 10-13. US 131 Motorsports Park is once again on the schedule with the NMRA/NMCA Power Festival, going down July 22-25. Racers and fans have a two months to prepare for the finale at Beech Bend Raceway September 30th thru October 3rd with the NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival.

October 9, 2020

With their deal to keep Matt DiBenedetto in the 21 for ’21 signed and sealed, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team now turns its attention to the Roval, the part-road course, part oval-track layout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 will be contested on the three-year-old layout, a 2.28-mile course that features 17 turns. In it’s first two races, the Roval has seen a 14-car crash in the inaugural event in 2018 and four multi-car crashes last year plus one caution in which the eventual winner ran into a tire barrier. 

That brief history has caused the race to be considered a “wild card” event, but it’s one that DiBenedetto looks at as an opportunity to excel.
 
He’s yet to compete on the Roval in the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang, but he ran well there for two previous teams, with finishes of 11^th and 13^th. And he had finishes of sixth and fourth last season on the road courses at Watkins Glen and Sonoma before joining the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team.
 
“I love road racing,” he said. “The Roval is always cool and challenging. Not much room for error there.”
 
DiBenedetto, who will start 20^th on Sunday, also is thinking about a potential wild card within a wild card brought about by the uncertainty surrounding the possible path taken by the remnants of Hurricane Delta. That could mean continuing the race in the rain, with rain tires and windshield wipers employed.
 
“I think it would be interesting if rain gets thrown in the mix since it’s possible in the forecast,” he said.

There will be no practice or qualifying prior to the start of Sunday’s 109-lap, 252.88-mile race. The green flag is expected just after 2:30 p.m., with TV coverage on NBC.
 

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CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA OCTOBER 11, 2020

ROVAL: RACE #32The anticipation and unpredictability heightens as the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) has reached the elimination race for the Round of 12 of the NCS Playoffs. NASCAR’s premier series makes its third visit of the season to its hometown track for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET. The event marks the third time in NASCAR history the series has held a race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Located in Concord, North Carolina, the 2.28-mile road course is comprised of 17-turns, combining the track’s high-banked oval with a road course through the infield. The 109-lap, 248.52-mile race around the North Carolina circuit marks the 32nd race on the NCS schedule and the last chance for Playoff drivers to secure their spots into the Round of Eight of the NCS Playoffs.
The action-packed weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course also features a Saturday doubleheader with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series for the Drive for the Cure 250 gets underway on Saturday, October 10, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Playoff implications are on the line as the 67-lap, 155.3-mile event will be the first-round cutoff race for the series, reducing the Playoff field from 12 to eight drivers. In addition, for the first time in the series’ history, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series will make its debut at the ROVAL for a 100-minute race under the lights Saturday evening, October 10, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
A limited number of fans will be allowed to enjoy the action in-person for both the Saturday and Sunday events, adhering to all safety measures and protocols in place. With approval for up to seven-percent capacity for outdoor sports venues, Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 has been sold out at ‘socially-distanced capacity’.
ROAD COURSE DOMINANCEHendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver, Chase Elliott, is no stranger to success at road course events. Elliott is coming into the race weekend as the defending winner of the annual ROVAL event, after rallying from a wreck while leading the lap-64 restart and working his way back through the field to take the lead with just six laps to go.  Elliott’s most recent road course win came during the inaugural race at the Daytona International Speedway in August. The trip to victory lane was his fourth career road course win and third in a row. Elliott, the youngest road course winner in NCS history, is now just the sixth and most recent driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win three or more consecutive road course races. He also leads the way in active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in road course wins with four, tying previous NCS Champions Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. In addition, Elliott is only one of three to win at more than two different road course venues.  ROUND OF 12: THE CUT-OFF RACEFor the first time in NASCAR history, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course will be the host of the sixth race of the Playoffs, serving as the elimination race for the second of four rounds, cutting the championship contenders field from 12 to just eight drivers. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is the fourth different track to host the sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, joining Martinsville Speedway (2004-2010), Talladega Superspeedway (2011, 2013-2016), and Kansas Speedway (2012, 2017-2019).  Heading into the ROVAL race weekend, four Team Chevy drivers remain, battling to secure their spots in the Round of Eight and get one step closer to their chance of being named the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, has already captured his spot in the Round of Eight after his recent victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Here are where the Team Chevy drivers currently sit in the Playoff standings, as well as key statistics heading into the Bank of America ROVAL 400: 
Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – Round of 12 win (3,048 points)Victories: 1 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway)Top-Fives: 5; Top-10’s: 16; Laps Led: 140; Average Finish: 13.5Stage Wins: 1 At the ROVAL: Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 1; Poles: 1; Average Finish: 12.5 Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 4th in Standings (3,097 points)Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course)Top-Fives: 12; Top-10’s: 18; Laps Led: 783; Average Finish: 12.6Stage Wins: 8At the ROVAL: Wins: 1; Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 3.5 (second-best) Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 1LE – 7th in Standings (3,075 points)Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway)Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 11; Laps Led: 394; Average Finish: 15.9Stage Wins: 4 At the ROVAL: Top-Five’s: 2; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 3.0 (series best) Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE – 10th in Standings (3,053 points)Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway) Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s 9; Laps Led: 135; Average Finish: 16.1Stage Wins: 0 At the ROVAL: Average Running Position: 23.555; Average Finish: 31.0 BOWTIE BULLETS·       There have been a total of 124 NASCAR Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 122 races on the oval track and two races on the road course. Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway include: Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, has eight wins (May 2003, May and October 2004, May and October 2005, October 2009, May 2014, October 2016)Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1, has one win (May 2010)Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1, has one win (May 2017)Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, has two wins (ROVAL September 2019 and Oval May 2020)
·       Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver, William Byron, is the most recent pole winner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course when he scored his first-career road course pole at the 2019 ROVAL event. 
·       Chip Ganassi Racing and Chevrolet driver, Kurt Busch, captured the pole at the inaugural ROVAL event in 2018, setting the current qualifying record of 106.868 mph, with a lap time of 76.805 seconds. He also leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in career road course poles with three, all being captured at different tracks on the NCS circuit. 
·       Career Chevrolet driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Jeff Gordon, leads the NASCAR Cup Series in overall road course wins in his NCS career with nine (five at Sonoma; four at Watkins Glen).  ·       Since the integration of the Playoffs into the NASCAR Cup Series, there have been four times in which the winner of the sixth race of the 10-race Playoff stretch went on to win the Series’ Championship. Three of those four times were done by Team Chevy’s Jimmie Johnson, when he won the sixth race of the Playoffs in 2006, 2007 and 2008 to go on and capture three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series titles. 
STARTING LINEUPFor the remainder of the 2020 NCS season, the starting lineups will be determined by a competition-based formula, combining the following metrics from the previous race event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the Owner points position.  Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400: 2nd     Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE5th      Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 1LE6th      Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE10th    Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE13th    William Byron, No. 24 Hendrickcars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE16th    Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1 1LE17th    Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE18th    Ryan Preece, No. 37 Maxwell Houses for Heroes Camaro ZL1 1LE  TUNE-INNBC will telecast the 109-lap, 248.52-mile Bank of America ROVAL 400 live at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 11th. Live coverage of the Round of 12 cut-off race can also be found on the NBC Sports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  QUOTABLE QUOTES:CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS“I don’t know why the road courses have been good to us thus far. I came from short-track racing, I did a little bit of road course racing in go karts, but I don’t know how much that translates. Most of my years coming along were short tracks around the country, asphalt racing – very different from road-course racing. I do think a lot of the credit should go to Jeff (Gordon). Jeff was a fantastic road racer, as we all know. I really think he and Alan (Gustafson) had a very good understanding of what was important at road races and what they really wanted in the cars and what mattered. As a young driver coming into a situation like that, having a good foundation has really helped me learn and learn faster because that foundation was already close. I think when you step into a situation that is good like that, as a guy that is learning, it does nothing but help you and make you better.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS“This is a very stressful week. I mean the Roval is one thing to be stressed about, but then add a cut off race to it. One of my main goals for the 2020 season with Greg and the team was to make the Round of 8. We are so close and need to put together a solid race on Sunday and capitalize on stage points and a good finish. It is hard to believe that we have the best average finish at the Roval, but we definitely need to put a solid race together this weekend.” “I am excited to move over to the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet next year with Greg (Ives). The support that we have been given by Mr. Hendrick and everyone at Ally is humbling to say the least. I am proud to be the driver Hendrick Motorsports chose to represent the Ally Financial brand and 48 nation. It has been an exciting week, but our focus from now until the end of the year, is making the final four and bringing home a championship to Hendrick Motorsports.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE IVES ON BECOMING THE CREW CHIEF OF THE 48:“It’s pretty special to be able to represent a number that gave me a lot of success early on in my career and actually built my career. (It) allowed me great opportunities to become (a) crew chief and, for a number that has affected my life so much, a team, a way of living, performing – I think it’s going to be hard to exactly put into words what I felt, other than to say it was a lot of emotion.” IVES ON THE LEGACY OF THE 48:“I feel like when it comes to the 48 team, it represents a young kid working hard, going through the ranks of racing, ultimately getting a shot, and that’s the 48 team. Hard work, dedication, being true to yourself, having good character, good on and off the racetrack. That’s somebody who you can look at Jimmie and say, ‘Alex is very similar to that’ and his performance on the racetrack will prove itself. The few wins that we have are quickly going to turn into more.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 10th IN STANDINGSEVALUATE YOUR NASCAR PLAYOFFS PERFORMANCE IN THE ROUND OF 12 SO FAR. “At Talladega Superspeedway, I got into every wreck possible. It was just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for most of the day. The week before that, we had a mechanical issue. But through both of those races, my Richard Childress Racing team has been amazing. The communication is unbelievable. They’ve been able to jump right in and fix the damage the last two weeks. At Talladega Superspeedway, we changed the oil cooler and only lost two laps. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, we knocked the belts off and only lost eight laps. I don’t know how you can make either of those repairs so fast. The communication is great with this team. Even though the last two weeks have been unfortunate, we’re still in the hunt and have a chance to advance to the Round of Eight. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEXT RACE IN THE NASCAR PLAYOFFS, THE ROVAL? “We have the ROVAL left in the Round of 12. We just need some help from some of these guys who are higher than us in the point standings, and we have to be in the position to help ourselves some, too. We’re going to rely on our notes from the Daytona Road Course a lot. Kaz Grala was a fill in driver for me that week, and he did a great job. We will try to use that same setup moving forward. The ROVAL has never been the greatest track for us, but we’ll see what we can do. We’re going to try our hardest.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON THE NO. 24 TEAM AT ROAD COURSES: “With road course racing, we’ve been a solid top 10 team every time we’ve gone to those races. We really just have to figure out that gap between us and guys like Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch. How they run at the road courses is phenomenal. I think really trying to close that gap to the top three is key as we’re about a fourth to seventh-place team on road courses right now. We just have to figure out those little things to take it to the next level.” BYRON ON WHAT HE STUDIES TO PREPARE FOR A ROAD COURSE RACE:“I think I may attention mainly to the way the other guys use the brakes and small details like how they approach each corner. I like to know what they’re looking for to make speed out of those corners. I think for me, road courses have been good overall. I’m honestly probably better in qualifying than in race trim right now. It’s just about me figuring out those details to make me better and have a shot of winning.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 19th IN STANDINGSIS THERE ANY COMPARISON BETWEEN THE CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROVAL AND THE DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE YOU COMPETED ON EARLIER THIS YEAR?“I really thought the two were going to be pretty similar, but they are really nothing alike. The Daytona Road Course is a really challenging track. The chicane we added to the frontstretch has some similarities to what the nature of the Charlotte ROVAL can be like, but to me, the Charlotte track feels a lot more like a street course. I’d be curious what drivers of other divisions would say to that if they ran the ROVAL. To me though, if I imagine running a street course, this is what I imagine it being like. I really enjoy both tracks even though they are nothing alike other than being two ovals we’ve turned into road courses.” 

Fan-Favorite Driver Looks to Build on 2020 Playoff Performance Next Season 
STUART, VA (October 8, 2020) – After a successful first season driving for NASCAR’s longest-running team, Wood Brothers Racing announced today that Matt DiBenedetto will return to compete in the famed No. 21 Ford Mustang in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series.

Since joining Wood Brothers Racing earlier this year, DiBenedetto has earned three top-five finishes and eight top-10 results this season as he qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in his six-year career competing in NASCAR’s premier series.  DiBenedetto finished as runner-up in both Cup Series races at Las Vegas this season, including in the Playoff round at the 1.5-mile track on September 27. He also came within a few feet of earning his first Cup Series victory in last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. 

“It’s such an honor to be able to continue to drive for Wood Brothers Racing and have another year to grow with this organization,” said DiBenedetto. “I am excited to learn from our 2020 notebook and I’m confident that with a full season under our belt and working together as a team, we will produce even better results. I also want to thank Ford Performance and Team Penske for their efforts in making this happen. These types of decisions take a lot of time, as we all know there are a lot of factors in play. All three groups want to make the best decisions for everyone involved and I’m appreciative to have the opportunity to continue to compete for such a legendary race team.”

Wood Brothers Racing, the oldest active NASCAR team and one of the winningest teams in series history, has enjoyed considerable success over the last couple of years. The team has produced 99 victories at NASCAR’s top level as legendary drivers including David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt and Buddy Baker have all visited Victory Lane with the team. The organization will continue its technical alliance with Team Penske in 2021, along with significant support from Ford Performance. 

“Matt has been able to find success this year under very difficult circumstances,” said team President and Co-Owner Eddie Wood. “Since he joined our team, he only had limited time working with our group due to the pandemic. While it’s been an entirely new organization, he found a way to consistently run up front and make the Playoffs. We have learned a lot together this year and we look forward to continuing to build with Matt in 2021.”

DiBenedetto, the 29-year-old Grass Valley, California native, is one of the most popular drivers in the Cup Series and he’s finished inside the top-five in fan voting for both the Most Popular Driver award and the All-Star Race Fan Vote the past several seasons. On the track, he’s earned six top-five and 19 top-10 finishes over the course of his career. 

ELKHART, IND (October 7, 2020) – After 19 years together, Terry McMillen Racing and the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil company have mutually agreed to suspend their sponsorship relationship. Amalie Oil has suspended all motorsports sponsorships effective immediately. The move comes as the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, now Camping World Drag Racing Series, wraps up with three final races in Dallas, Houston and Las Vegas. McMillen informed his racing team of the decision this week and he will be evaluating the future direction of the organization in the coming weeks.
 
“I can’t thank Amalie Motor Oil enough for the support they have shown me over the past 19 years,” said McMillen, the 2018 U.S. Nationals Top Fuel national event winner. “It is not a cliché, this company was part of my family. They stuck by us as long as they could and we are agreeing to suspend this sponsorship with no hard feelings. They have gone above and beyond to be fair with my team financially. We just reached a point where it didn’t make good business sense for either of us to move forward. They are a great company and I can’t say enough nice things about how they have treated me and this team over the years. Starting today we are exploring new opportunities. Right now it is key to keep Amalie employees working and making product so when the economy turns around they will be ready.”

The move was directly related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the global economy. According to a research study conducted by consultant KPMG International, working from home and online shopping have become the new normal and will reduce driving in the U.S. by up to 270 billion miles a year. Additionally, 64 percent of Americans who are not driving said they’re working from home, which equates to 259 billion miles not being driven over the course of a year, dramatically reducing motor oil sales. Moving forward, KPMG is predicting as much as a 10% permanent reduction in the nearly three trillion miles typically traveled every year which has already and will continue to adversely affect the motor oil business and automotive industry as a whole.

“I certainly understand why this happened and I remain very hopeful that we will be back sometime next year,” said McMillen, a two-time national event winner.  “My crew chief Rob Wendland and my entire team have done an amazing job giving us a car that can compete with anybody on any given day.  Anyone that has followed my racing career has seen the struggles I have had over the years.  What Rob has done to turn things around is something that I will never take for granted. Rob, his family, and my entire team mean the world to me.  This certainly is a setback, but I am not going to say it’s the end.”
 
“Amalie has supported us through the good, the bad and certainly the ugly. When other teams were laying off their crew during the height of the pandemic, Amalie made sure that I was able to keep my team intact and employed. I know that this decision was extremely painful for Amalie, as it is for me, but I look forward to what the future has to offer, and I won’t give up hope that I will be back on the track in a competitive fashion again one day.”
 
Terry McMillen Racing based in Elkhart, Ind., is a Top Fuel drag racing team competing in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The team was founded in 2007 and has shown remarkable determination and dedication. McMillen won the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in 2018 and has qualified for the NHRA Countdown, the end of season playoffs, in 2017 and 2018. Throughout his career with longtime sponsor AMALIE® Motor Oil McMillen has raced to eight final rounds including a career best five finals in 2018.

NASCAR CUP SERIESTEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTOCTOBER 7, 2020

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS’ DRIVER ALEX BOWMAN AND CREW CHIEF GREG IVES, ALONG WITH ANDREA BRIMMER, CHIEF MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER FOR ALLY, met with media via teleconference to discuss the recent announcement of Alex Bowman taking over the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. Full Transcript:  MODERATOR: We’re joined this morning by NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Contender, Alex Bowman. It was announced yesterday that Alex will drive the No. 48 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports beginning next season. We will be joined very shortly by Crew Chief, Greg Ives, and he will move to the No. 48 with Alex next season. He will be returning to the team where he started his career at as an engineer.
Alex and Greg have earned Cup Series Playoff berths for three-straight seasons and have posted a win in each of the last two. Alex is one of just nine drivers in the Series to have done that, five of those being former Series champions. This weekend, he will be looking to advance into the Playoff’s Round of Eight this Sunday at the Charlotte ROVAL.
We’re very pleased to also be joined by Andrea Brimmer, the Chief Marketing and PR Officer for Ally. Ally, as everyone knows, has been a full-season primary sponsor of the No. 48 team since 2019 and, last year, extended its relationship with Hendrick Motorsports through 2023. 
To get start, Alex, congratulations on the announcement. When you got that call from Mr. Hendrick that you were going to moving to the No. 48 next year with a full-season primary sponsor in Ally, how did you react?
ALEX BOWMAN: “I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. My initial reaction was just being excited and honored to drive the No. 48 car. Jimmie (Johnson) has meant a lot to me throughout my entire career and everything he’s done for me, whether it’s being a friend off the racetrack and just somebody to get advice from or a great teammate. It’s been awesome to get to work with him and to get to know him. To get to drive that car is an honor and I just want to go get it in victory lane and have a lot of fun doing it.”
MODERATOR: Greg Ives has joined us. Greg, I’m going to jump right in with you. You won five championships as a No. 48 engineer. You’ve gone on to be a championship and race winning crew chief yourself. You have a ton of history with the No. 48. What does it mean to have a chance to be a crew chief for the team where you started? 
GREG IVES: “It’s definitely really special for me. The 48 number is pretty close to my heart, just because it’s something that’s helped my career and opened doors for me. The success that Chad (Knaus) and Jimmie (Johnson) have together allowed me to grow, not only as an engineer, but also how to lead a team, how to truly have character on and off the race track. It allowed me to understand what it takes to have a good team around you and great people. And also, it helped build my relationship with the driver. So, I think that’s something that I’ve used over the course of my career since leaving the No. 48 team, starting my own career going to JRM and working with different drivers and coming back to Hendrick Motorsports. I think that team, that number, has built a pedigree that’s known for greatness and known for their competitiveness on the race track. But I know Jimmie is also known for what he does for his teammates and his people. It’s something that’s truly special, kind of full-circle for sure. I still remember that first day when Chad asked me to be his race engineer, so connecting all these dots and connecting what Hendrick Motorsports has meant to me, and the numbers along the way, have truly defined different times in my career. But, all-in-all, as a whole, Hendrick Motorsports has done a lot for my career. It’s truly special and I’m honored to be able to represent Ally and also represent the No. 48 again.”
MODERATOR: Andrea, what is Ally’s approach to this new chapter of the No. 48 Team with Alex as your driver? And, what do you see as Ally’s objectives for sponsorship as we go into 2021?
ANDREA BRIMMER: “First, I want to say I think Greg and Alex both look good in Ally gear. I’m excited to see that. Alex is somebody that I think represents the future of what NASCAR is about. And, he’s an unbelievable driver. We want to win championships. And we know with Greg and Alex that we have great ability to be able to do that. I mean, the No. 48 is a special car. It needs to be honored and the legacy of it needs to be carried forward, and we think that with Greg and Alex we have the best ability to carry that legacy forward in a really strong way. 
“When we entered the sport two years ago, our aim was really to do things differently and to disrupt and to really bring fans a whole new level of engagement and to tell a different side of the sport and the story behind what goes into getting that car on the track every day. And then really working closely with the driver to make sure that, in Jimmie’s case, that he felt really comfortable behind the wheel of the No. 48 and that he really felt like he had a big say in what was happening with everything that we were doing. We want to do the same thing with Alex. We want to make the car his own. We want to let his personality shine through. And, we want to make sure that he knows that he’s got us on board with him so that he can be the best that he can be on the track.”
QUESTIONS FROM THE MEDIA: 
FIRST, CONGRATULATIONS ALEX. YOUR THOUGHTS – YOU TAKE OVER A CAR FOR DALE EARNHARDT JR. AND YOU THING TO YOURSELF, WELL THAT’S KIND OF HARD TO TOP. WELL, NOW YOU’RE TAKING OVER JIMMIE JOHNSON’S CAR. JUST YOUR THOUGHTS ON FOLLOWING THE FOOTSTEPS OF TWO DRIVERS LIKE THAT AND WHAT MADE JUMPING INTO JR.’S CAR WILL HELP YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS OF JUMPING INTO ANOTHER CAR WITH SUCH A GREAT LEGACY. ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, I think for sure the experience of the first one helps for the second one. The biggest thing is I just want to be myself. I didn’t try to be Dale (Earnhardt Jr.), I didn’t want to be Dale. And the same with Jimmie (Johnson), I don’t want to be Jimmie. I mean I want to win seven championships and do all the great things that he did, but I’m my own person. So, I’m just going to approach it like another race car. I’m really excited to work with Ally. The biggest thing for me is I want to go win races and win championships. I think, for me, I’m kind of quiet and reserved, and I want the on-track stuff to speak for me the most and I want that to be wins and championships. So, I’m excited about that. I’m excited about the opportunity to go and do that. And to work with Ally, getting to know everybody over the last week-and-a-half or so has been really neat. The way they do things is really cool and how they disrupt and do things differently is really special. So, to have the same partner on the car for the whole year, to get to kind of grow with them and make it my own with them is going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully, there’s a lot of wins along the way.” 
TO FOLLOW UP, JUST YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS, GOING INTO THE ROVAL THIS WEEKEND AND THE FINAL RACE IN ROUND TWO.
ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, I’m glad we’ve had so much going on this week. It’s kind of kept me from thinking about the Playoffs as much as I probably would, at least getting stressed out about it as much as I normally would. There’s never a comfortable spot going into a cut-off race unless you’re locked in. So, we have 22 points, but it’s not comfortable by any means. I’m still as stressed out as ever. We just need to go out and have a solid day. The ROVAL has been good to us over the last couple of years, even though it’s been some really hard days, we’ve had some really good finishes. Hopefully, we can just have a good, solid day and not have to worry about it too much and move onto the Round of Eight.”
I HAVE ONE FOR BOTH GREG AND ONE FOR ALEX. LET’S START WITH ALEX. YOU’RE STILL AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, JUST A NEW NUMBER, NEW PAINT SCHEME AND NEW SPONSOR. HOW DIFFERENT IS 2021 COMPARED TO 2020? 
ALEX BOWMAN: “I think the biggest difference is the opportunity to work with Ally and to grow with them. I’m excited about that. As far as the on-track stuff, the number is different, like you said, the paint scheme is going to be different. But, still working with Greg (Ives) and still have a lot of confidence in our relationship and what we can bring to the table. So, I don’t think the on-track stuff is much different. Obviously, we’re trying to improve each and every week and get better. But I’m just excited to work with Ally and to try to make that my own.”
FOR GREG, OBVIOUSLY WITH CHAD (KNAUS) TAKING AN EXECUTIVE ROLE, THERE NEEDS TO BE A NEW CREW CHIEF AT HENDRICK. OBVIOUSLY, THAT OPENS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR POTENTIAL CHANGES. I’M CURIOUS, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT YOU CREW CHIEFING ANYONE ELSE? AND, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHAT MAKES IT RIGHT FOR YOU TO STICK WITH ALEX?  GREG IVES: “There were changes with Chad (Knaus), but never was there a discussion about Alex and I losing that relationship that we’ve built over the last three-and-a-half years. Him coming in initially and filling in for Dale (Earnhardt Jr.), I think we hit it off right off the bat. We went to probably one of his least-favorite race tracks at New Hampshire and he had a great showing. I think he showed a lot of poise and comfort back then of coming in and filling in for Dale. We haven’t had a perfect relationship. We’ve had one or two ups and downs, here and there, but the nice thing about us working together is we work through those. You’re going to have that in every serious relationship. There was no question in my mind of who I wanted to be the crew chief for and that was a mutual thing on Alex’s side. For me, one hundred percent no thoughts of anything other than going to Ally with Alex and continuing on our progress of doing great things on the race track, but also looking forward to doing things off of it, as well.”
ALEX, WHEN YOU KNEW YOU WERE ON THE LIST, SO TO SPEAK, AND BETWEEN THE TIME YOU ACTUALLY GOT THE PHONE CALL THAT OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED IT, I’D LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU FELT DURING THAT TIME? WAS IT NERVOUS ENERGY, NERVOUS ‘I HOPE I GET IT’ AND THEN ACTUALLY GETTING THE PHONE CALL, WHETHER IT WAS MR. HENDRICK OR SOMEBODY CALLING SAYING ‘HEY, GUESS WHAT, YOU’RE IN’. HOW DID THAT MOMENT FEEL FOR YOU AS A PERSON? 
ALEX BOWMAN: “There really wasn’t an in-between time there. I obviously signed a contract extension earlier this year that I was going to continue to drive for Hendrick Motorsports next year. I didn’t know that there might be a number change and all that. I really didn’t know what was going on – as far as I knew, I was driving the No. 88 car and everything was staying the same. I got a phone call to go meet with Mr. Hendrick. That was the first thing he said was ‘you’re going to drive the No. 48 next year with Ally and Greg is going to be your crew chief’. So, there wasn’t any nervous energy because it hit me out of nowhere. But, it means a lot to me that they have confidence in me to take over a car like that and to work with a partner like Ally. It means a lot that Ally has confidence in me to do that. It was really special and I just want to go win for them, really.” GREG IVES: “I’d like to add something to that. Performance adds opportunity. I get to see first-hand what Alex does on a weekly basis. How hard he competes not only on the race track, but in his regimen to get ready every week, whether it’s the DiL, willingly spending four hours every week in the DiL; whether it’s working out every morning and every afternoon. I see that from the side of putting in the work, putting in the right effort and that leads to performance on the race track. I always say performance equals opportunity. That’s Alex’s hard work and dedication to his career and trying to make my job a little easier.”
IT USED TO BE THE NORM TO HAVE A FULL-SEASON, FULL-TIME SPONSOR, BUT NOT SO MUCH ANYMORE. WHAT WAS ALLY’S ATTRACTION TO COMING INTO THIS SPORT AND SIGNING ON AS A FULL-TIME SPONSOR? ANDREA BRIMMER: “From our lens, it didn’t make a lot of sense for us to share the car. We just didn’t feel like we would be able to have the presence that we wanted to have if we didn’t come in as a full-time sponsor. And we wanted to have that continuity. We liked the direction that NASCAR was going in. We feel like they’re bringing in a lot of new fans and that there was a big opportunity for us to start to reach a new audience of really loyal fans. Obviously, having a driver like Jimmie for the last couple of years was a really a unique opportunity to be a part of that legacy. And we just felt like if we came in halfway, that we really wouldn’t be showing our best selves. And so, we wanted to come in full-time. And, we also felt from the driver perspective, that it would give Jimmie peace of mind that he didn’t have to worry all season about who the sponsor was on the car. And we wanted to continue with that same theme for Alex so that he and Greg don’t even have to think about it and that they know they’ve got a partner is present that’s with them 24/7 and that we’re on the car and that we’re committed to this long-term. It’s actually why we extended even prior to the driver announcement because we wanted to make sure that the sport, the fans, Hendrick Motorsports, and obviously, Alex and Greg knew that we were in it for the long haul.”
ALEX AND GREG, CONGRATULATIONS ON THE PROMOTION, IF YOU WILL. I JUST WANTED TO GET YOUR FEELINGS ON HAVING THIS NEW DEAL TAKE PLACE AND HAVE IT COMPLETED BEFORE 2021, ESPECIALLY THE YEAR BEFORE YOU GUYS ARE SUPPOSED TO TRANSITION TO THE NEXT GEN CAR IN 2022. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BE DONE NOW SO YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO PLAN AHEAD FOR THE FUTURE?
ALEX BOWMAN: “Greg, you want to take that first?”
GREG IVES: “The last question to Andrea was having the full-time sponsorship all year long and the interaction between the sponsor and the team has to be based around performance and based around a relationship that is able to grow, flourish and have the ability to show not only what happens on-track, but the relationship off of it. Getting that start, understanding and knowing – I’ve worked with Ally over the last two years as a competitor, somewhat, in the same stable, and seeing that car and that team, how they work and operate, and the flexibility they have in performance. So, that’s been really great to see and I’m looking forward to it.”
“As far as the future goes, to go back to performance creates opportunity, that’s going to create our future. Every stepping stone, every door that opens along the way, is based on a team’s performance – not only just Alex, but the team we’ve built over the last few years. This is an opportunity for us to come in, be a part of a great organization like Ally, and grow as a team. I don’t think you’ll find a better group of guys to work with that makes a sponsor feel like they’re at home. For us as a group, it’s going to help solidify just that identity that we have to create and we have to build together. Like I said, performance equals opportunity and with this announcement, with this change, with this adjustment – we know the group of people we have behind us, supporting us, are putting us in the right direction.”
I JUST WANTED TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS AS WELL ALEX ON HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT THIS IS DONE NOW, ESPECIALLY WITH THE TRANSITION PERIOD FOR NASCAR COMING TO 2022 FOR THE NEXT GEN CAR? 
ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, for sure. I think a lot of what Greg said is how I feel. 2020, in general, brought a lot of nervousness to a lot of people. Whether it was anybody throughout any organization, it’s been a hard time for everybody. For our race team, for our group of guys to know that we have Ally behind us – Mr. Hendrick, Ally, and everybody has faith in us as a group to continue to work together. I feel like that enables people to not worry about things and just focus on the task at hand. Whether it’s the guys in the shop, just not having that little bit of nervousness, not having to worry about that and just being able to go do their jobs and do the best job that they can. I think that’s a really important thing. For me, I’m a race car driver. Everything is immediate, in a sense. I’m focused on this weekend and next week, I’ll be focused on the following weekend. The 2022 car seems forever a way, to me, but as an organization at Hendrick Motorsports, the 2022 car probably seems like it’s going to show up tomorrow. So, there’s a lot of work that needs to happen between now and then. I think just having the confidence, not having to worry about anything, and just being more sure about things helps people prepare for that a little bit better.”
EVEN THOUGH WE’RE TALKING PRIMARLY ABOUT NEXT YEAR, YOU STILL HAVE A JOB IN FRONT OF YOU RIGHT NOW. LET’S THINK OPTIMISTICALLY THAT EVERYTHING GOES OK AT THE ROVAL. FOR BOTH OF YOU, TAKE A LOOK AT THAT NEXT ROUND, IF YOU WILL, AND WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE THE TEAM IS AS A WHOLE AND WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO IMPROVE ON GOING INTO THOSE THREE RACES. 
ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, I think we’re in a really good spot. We’ve been really strong over the last month or so. It’s not secret that this summer was rough on us. But our guys worked extremely hard and continued to work well together throughout some tough circumstances. I feel like we grew as a race team because of that and we were able to start the Playoffs really strong and we’ve been strong each and every week. I think going into the next round, there’s a few opportunities to win, between Kansas and Texas. And going to Martinsville, we improved there. We were pretty strong there in the spring, but there’s still things I can learn there and do a better job of. I’m still figuring out the short track thing a little bit. I feel like it’s probably going to take a win to make it to the Round of Four, just where we are in Playoff points and everything. It’s not impossible to point our way in, but we’d have to be perfect each and every week. It would be a heck of a lot easier to win one of the first two. So, I feel like we can do that. We’re very capable of doing that. Our mile-and-a-half program is really strong and I think we have a shot at it, for sure.”
GREG IVES: “Based on what Alex said, I feel like each round, we’ve had our strengths and we’ve had our areas where we need to continue to work on. I wouldn’t say they’re a weakness, but they’re areas that we know we have to improve. We have to run solid, we have to gain points and not beat ourselves. I think we’ve been able to do that over the course of the first five races. Going into the ROVAL as well, you look on paper, we have a great average finish, but that came with a lot of adversity throughout the race – whether it was starting in a backup car, whether Alex wasn’t feeling well at the time. There was a lot of things we had to overcome and that’s the true character of a team. It’s not so much when the average finish looks great and the expectation of winning is there, but on those days, like we’ll probably have when we get to Martinsville, digging down deep, figuring out ways to make that improvement and get the spots that he needs. And that’s what we’re going to have to do when it comes to the ROVAL. Kansas and Texas, like he said, I feel like there’s no doubt in my mind that we can go out there and win the race. Martinsville just has to be one of our best days. Like Alex said, we’ve been improving at Martinsville. Our short track game at Phoenix is pretty stellar, so looking forward to that when we do make the Round of Four. Just continuously improving and continuously building each other up to take on the next challenge and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing.”
ALEX, THIS WEEKEND, THE WEATHER AT THIS POINT LOOKS LIKE THE POTENTIAL FOR RAIN ON SUNDAY. HOW CHALLENGING IS THE ROVAL AND WHAT WOULD BE THE EXTRA CHALLENGES WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR RAIN?
ALEX BOWMAN: “Oh man, that’s going to be interesting, for sure. I like things that are different, whether it’s going to new race tracks or new things. The rain would be pretty different, so maybe I’ll like it (laughs). It’s going to be interesting. It’s definitely a difficult thing to adapt to and a challenge. I think the particular challenge about the ROVAL in the rain is it’s so narrow through the infield that there’s not a lane to run off groove, right? A lot of race tracks you go to, you run off groove to stay out of the rubber because obviously rubber, oil and the rain gets very slick. The ROVAL, there’s not really room for that. There’s a lot of painted sections, which paint in the rain gets really slick. You’re always using a lot of curbs through the infield and curbs in the rain get really slick. In the simulator yesterday, I was kind of just looking at it and trying to figure out where you’d run through each corner, and there’s not a great place run anywhere. So, it’s going to be really interesting. I think it’s going to be very difficult if that does happen. Some of the road course racers that have some rain experience – I think Michael McDowell is probably the most excited person in the world right now. But, I just have to go and try to do the best job that I can. I feel like I’ll be able to adapt to it, it’s just going to be a challenge, for sure.” HAVE YOU EVER RAN IN THE RAIN? I DON’T RECALL THAT YOU HAVE.
ALEX BOWMAN: “No – I ran some practice laps at Road America in Xfinity that was like half-dry, so that was different though. It was really patchy, it was not currently raining. Other than that, I think we all raced at Bristol in the snow that year, but I don’t that you can really count that.” YOU TALKED ABOUT THE ADVERSITY AT THE ROVAL LAST YEAR AND YOU WENT THROUGH A LOT OF THINGS. BUT, TYPICALLY, ON ROAD COURSES YOU WANT TO PIT UNDER GREEN MOST OF THE TIME AND HAVE AS FEW STOPS AS POSSIBLE. IS THE ROVAL DIFFERENT WITH PIT STRATEGY? WHY DID IT WORK SO WELL LAST YEAR? GREG IVES: “Ultimately were in a position of battling for different points. I think that little bit of difficulty that we had early caused us to kind of get off our plan a little bit. That’s where your ability to adjust to the environment that you’re given really comes into play. And we knew that those guys that were having good days in the Playoff points, we had to do something different to take advantage of that in the final Stage. We just adapted to the race that was given to us and we just took advantage of different opportunities. It was a gamble, for sure. Not every gamble plays out and doesn’t always work, but if you don’t take it, you’ll never know. And that’s the confidence I have in Alex to execute when we’re not right on game plan. That’s the confidence on the guys that surround me that make me look good on Sundays, to give me the best information and allows me to make decisions. So yes, it was unconventional. It was effective. And, I think sometimes that’s what it takes when your day is not going perfect. You’ve got to make the most of it.
“To add to what Alex said about driving in the rain, you can say what makes a good driver driving in the dry, right? So, it takes the ability for a driver to understand the limit of the race car and understand the limit of the race track and the scenario. So, we’re going in there with a decent point lead, but nothing that’s comfortable by any means. So, our job is to take the day if it’s raining and get all we can out of the race car, but not take ourselves out of the race. And ultimately, that’s where Alex does a really good job of doing and making the best out of every scenario; just like we did with a 6-stop strategy at the ROVAL last year. So, whatever weather gives us, we’re going to take advantage of whatever it is, whether it’s slowing down a beat just to make sure we’re there at the end of the race and like Alex said, he’s going everything he can, whether it’s the DiL to prep for it, to just mentally understanding what he needs to do to get to the next round.” YOU’VE TALKED PRIVATELY ABOUT SOME OF THE ATTRIBUTES THAT ALEX HAS THAT MAKE HIM A GOOD FIT FOR ALLY. COULD YOU TOUCH ON A FEW OF THOSE? AND, YOU’VE ALSO DESCRIBED ALLY AS A ‘DISRUPTER’ FROM A MARKETING PERSPECTIVE. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW THAT FITS IN WITH YOUR NASCAR PROGRAM? ANDREA BRIMMER: “One of the things that we love about this relationship is that Alex has a lot of the same values that we do. And that’s really important to us. We really only align our brand with people that share the values that we do, both in terms of giving back; around being a good citizen of the world. You heard Alex say it at the onset of this, which is he lets it all speak for itself on the track, and we love that about him. And we want to bring that forward. We want the fans to get to know Alex a little bit better to understand the things that he’s passionate about (like) his passion for cars and his passion for animals, especially dogs, and just the hard worker that he is in the time that he puts in and I think the quiet confidence he and the team with Greg have. We love that. And, I think it reflects a lot of what our brand it about. So, from that perspective, that’s a big part of the story that we want to tell as we go into next year and let the world get to know Alex a little bit better. 
“In terms of the disruptive piece, for us, whether it was having a hundred people from Ally fly out and cheer Jimmie on as he ran the Boston Marathon, or doing things like introducing Ally Fuel and Futures, where we brought in kids from schools before every race and taught them the technology behind what goes into a team and really got them to know the sport from that perspective, to help bring those casual fans in kind of from the sidelines, to all of the different things like even just the way that we introduced Jimmie’s car with the Easter eggs when we launched. We’re always looking for different ways to get people interested and intrigued. And I think we’re going to do some fun things with Alex as well, really leaning into those passions and really kind of getting people to think differently about the sport. So, that’s really going to be our focus as we go into 2021.” ALEX, YOU’VE HAD A RELATIVELY SHORT, BUT VERY EXTENSIVE, TENURE AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS. STARTING OUT RISKING STAYING THERE WITH NO GUARANTEE OF A JOB AND DOING ALL THE SIM WORK. I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD DESCRIBE A LITTLE BIT YOUR JOURNEY AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND DID YOU EVER FATHOM IT WOULD COME SO FAR SO FAST? ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, it’s been really interesting, for sure. To start in 2016, to get a phone call from Kenny Francis to come drive the simulator because every other driver was in Daytona and I got fired on Twitter, so I wasn’t there (laughs). To go through that, I drove the simulator for them quite a bit that year. And then, ended up filling in for Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) when he was hurt – kind of splitting that car with Jeff Gordon. To going back to the simulator in 2017 and then full-time in 2018, it was definitely a whirlwind. Everything happens for a reason and to have 2016 go the way that it did and to end up driving for Hendrick Motorsports because of it is pretty amazing to me. I definitely never would have thought that any of that would have happened. Since 2018, I’ve just been focused on trying to win races and perform the best that I can and represent our partners the best that I can. But those couple of years were definitely a whirlwind and very life-changing. I think to look back at it all is pretty crazy, for sure.” DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR JOURNEY IN MOTORSPORTS, IN GENERAL, MIGHT HAVE LED SOME HOPE TO OTHER YOUNG GUYS THAT THERE ARE PATHS UP THE LATER BASED ON WHAT KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE AND YOU’RE PERFORMANCE, NOT JUST ALL ABOUT MONEY?
ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, for sure. That’s the biggest motorsport’s problem right now, right? That it’s so hard to make it without a bunch of money behind you. Obviously, my family did absolutely everything they could and sacrificed a lot to try to get me opportunities. In the end, it ended up being enough, but it didn’t look like it was going to be enough for quite a while. Hopefully, my story provides some hope to people. I think the moral of the story is to never give up. There were times in 2015 and really 2016 where I was like ‘man, I need to go to college, get a degree and find something to do’ because it’s just not working. I was close, but I never gave up and to end up here is really cool, for sure.” IN TUCSON, WE HAVE AN AUDIENCE THAT AREN’T EXACTLY HARDCORE NASCAR FANS OR EVEN HARDCORE SPORTS FANS, SO MY QUESTION IS, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEBODY WHO’S NOT THAT FAMILIAR WITH THE SPORT WHO MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND WHY NUMBERS AREN’T RETIRED IN NASCAR THE WAY THEY ARE IN OTHER SPORTS?
ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, that’s an interesting question. I feel like the number becomes really important as a brand to the organization, the partners, kind of everybody involved. You put so much behind a number and obviously it means a ton to the driver. So, the No. 88 meant a ton to Dale Jr. The No. 48 means a ton to Jimmie Johnson. Obviously, Jimmie made the 48 what it is, but Hendrick Motorsports was also a big part of making the 48 what it is. And Ally for the past couple of years has become a big part of what the 48 is. The 48 means a lot to everybody and it’s definitely necessary to keep it going. From my side, it’s an honor to get to drive that car and I want to go win races, do that car proud and make it my own. I’m never going to be Jimmie Johnson, but I think we can definitely add to the legacy, add to the wins column and hopefully the championships column, as well.” GREG, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD TO THAT? 
GREG IVES: “What Alex said is definitely spot-on. It takes such a group of people to make success on a race track and just because they’re not in the headlines doesn’t mean that they’re support and what they do day in and day out, doesn’t contribute to the legacy and the meaning of that number. For me, like I said, that was a career-builder for me to work under the No. 48 banner and to be able to come back to it has definitely come full circle for me. But if not given that opportunity, potentially, you know, it definitely would be something that I would want to continue to try to achieve. So, yeah, retiring numbers, I think it’s something that we’ve got to continue to honor, the history of the sport and the history of the number; and then that way it’s about going out there and doing that number proud and also the sponsor and the team that it represents.” FROM A SPONSOR PERSPECTIVE, WHY IS THE CAR NUMBER IMPORTANT IN STAYING WITH THAT CONSISTENCY WITH THE NO. 48? ANDREA BRIMMER: “For us, there’s a huge fans base that comes along with the No. 48. Granted, you have people that are fans of the No. 48 because of Jimmie, but there’s a legacy with the car itself and with the number. And as a sponsor, you invest a lot of time and money and energy into building the fandom around the car number. And so, making sure that carried on with Alex and Greg was important from our lens, just given how much effort we’ve put into extending, like I said, the fan base around that in the last couple of years. So, I think that piece is important. To me, I think the best honor you could do it is to continue the legacy and to win and to get additional championships behind the No. 48 and make sure that we’re doing everything as a sponsor to enable that.” HOW CHALLENGING WAS IT TO PUT THIS PROGRAM TOGETHER DURING A PANDEMIC? THERE’S PROBABLY A LOT OF FLYING BACK AND FORTH, FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING AT CANDIDATES FOR A ROLE AS LARGE AS THIS. WE ALL KNOW ALEX’S PASSION, BUT I’M JUST KIND OF CURIOUS, WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WERE FACED TRYING TO GET THIS DONE AND JUST IN GENERAL DURING THE PANDEMIC, THE CHALLENGES FOR SPONSORS IN NASCAR?
ANDREA BRIMMER: “Yeah, it’s definitely been a challenging year across every aspect of marketing, not just NASCAR. There were a lot of phone calls with Rick (Hendrick). We started early-on. We have a great relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and a great relationship with Hendrick Automotive; we have for a long time. I’ve known Rick for a long time. He picked-up the phone very early on, this year; and we started having driver conversations. And, we have a lot of faith in him and just given the history of the relationship, really leaned in heavily into Rick’s recommendation and Rick’s bias toward Alex right from the beginning. And so, there really wasn’t flying back and forth or any of those things necessary. I think I had two or three conversations with Rick. My boss, Jeff Brown, had a couple of conversations. Our CEO had a couple of conversations with Rick. And, that was it. We agreed that Alex was the right driver for us. Obviously, we did our homework to make sure that we knew Alex and that his values aligned with our values. And see Alex, all this stuff was going on without you even knowing it in the background. And it became an easy choice for us. And the more we watched him kind of grow on the track all season long, the more and more excited we got about it. 
“In terms of the challenges, yeah, huge pivots. We are used to engaging fans, literally, at every race. And so not having the ability to be on track; we’ve got all of our people working from home, so we certainly aren’t going to send our folks out to the track to do things. So, we really had to get creative in terms of how we could use things like iRacing to bridge us when the guys weren’t on the track and then really do a lot content to interest people and keep people engaged. We just did a big content play with Danny Koker with Count’s Kustoms, where he designed a car for Jimmie, and we filmed a lot of that and put that out there. We’re doing a lot of different things in terms of trying to engage people just in social and online, as opposed to being on the track. And so, from that perspective, it’s definitely been a challenge. But I’ve got to give kudos to NASCAR. I think they have led, really, of all the sports’ platforms that we work across, in terms of the way that they’ve approached making sure that the sponsors really get the value and it’s been pretty impressive; and I think we’ve actually seen our numbers grow quite a bit this year. Rating have been up. So, it’s been great from all of those aspects.” ALEX, FOR YOU, ANDREA KIND OF SET UP MY QUESTION PERFETLY – WHEN YOU HEAR YOUR SPONSOR TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH SUPPORT YOUR SPONSOR HAS FOR YOU, HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL KNOWING YOU WERE CHOOSE FOR THIS POSITION IN THE ORGANIZATION? ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, it’s definitely a big confidence booster for me. To know that Mr. Hendrick has faith in me and our partners at Ally have faith in me as well, it means the world to me. I think obviously getting the No. 88 back in victory lane was a big part of that and I feel like being able to show my work ethic. And I had to earn that, it wasn’t given. To have Mr. Hendrick have that much faith in me and have noticed everything that I’m doing is really special and I’m very appreciative for it.” THAT PHOTO THAT WENT OUT IN THE RELEASE YESTERDAY, THERE LOOKED LIKE THERE WAS SOME ATTITUDE IN YOUR POSE AND YOUR STANCE THERE. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN EXPECT – THIS TAKE CHARGE TYPE OF ATTITUDE GOING FORWARD?
ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, I’m here to win races. I’m not here to hang out, make friends, hang out in the bus lot and do all that. I’m here to win and that’s really all there is to it. So, whatever it takes to get that done, I’m willing to do and I’m really excited for the future.”  JUST REPRESENTING ARIZONA, ESPECIALLY JUST TO HEAR YOUR STORY ABOUT ALMOST CALLING IT QUITS AND GOING BACK TO COLLEGE, WHAT’S IT MEAN TO REPRESENT ARIZONA THROUGH ALL THAT?  ALEX BOWMAN: “Yeah, it’s really cool. There are a lot of racecar drivers from Arizona over the course of the years that were extremely successful. Maybe not particularly in NASCAR, but throughout open wheel stuff and other forms of racing. I feel like there were some really big names and I don’t want to take away from that at all. I think I’m the first driver from Arizona to win a Cup race, so that’s something that means a lot to me. It’s something that’s really cool, just considering everybody that’s come from there and how many great racecar drivers have. It’s cool to represent Arizona. Obviously, there are some more Arizona guys in the Cup Series with (Michael) McDowell, but it’s really cool, for sure.” 

Richard Childress Racing at the Charlotte ROVAL… The Charlotte ROVAL made its debut on the NASCAR circuit in 2018.In five NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Charlotte ROVAL, Richard Childress Racing has a best finish of 11th in 2018 with Ryan Newman. The Welcome N.C. organization’s NASCAR Xfinity Series program also secured one top-five and three top-ten finishes in just four starts.  NASCAR Playoffs… Austin Dillon is in the midst of his fourth NASCAR Playoffs appearance and currently ranks 10th among the 12 drivers attempting to advance from the Round of 12 into the Round of Eight at this weekend’s cut off race at the ROVAL. Dillon is just 21 points below the cut line despite mechanical issues at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and being involved in several on-track incidents at Talladega Superspeedway.  Catch the Action… The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at the Charlotte ROVAL will be televised live Saturday, October 10, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series’ ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte ROVAL will be televised live Sunday, October 11, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s TRACKER Off Road/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at the ROVAL … Dillon has two NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, with a best finish of 23rd in last year’s event. TRACKER Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.  Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/. E-Z-GO … E-Z-GO is an iconic, world-renowned brand in golf cars and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, E-Z-GO Express™ personal utility vehicles, and the 2Five® street-legal low-speed vehicle. Known for innovation in electric-vehicle technology, E-Z-GO’s newest offerings include the ELiTE series of lithium-ion powered golf cars and PTVs, and the company’s exclusive 72-volt AC electric powertrain found in its latest Express series vehicles. Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960, and today operates as part of the company’s Textron Specialized Vehicles division. NASCAR Playoffs … Dillon is currently competing for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, where he ranks 10th in the standings and 21 points below the cutoff line to advance to the Round of Eight after a mechanical issue at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and an on-track incident at Talladega Superspeedway. The four-round postseason consists of eliminations after the Round of 16 (Darlington, Richmond, Bristol), the Round of 12 (Las Vegas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval) and the Round of 8 (Kansas, Texas, Martinsville). The Championship 4 will compete for the title at Phoenix.  AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:Evaluate your NASCAR Playoffs performance in the Round of 12 so far …“At Talladega Superspeedway, I got into every wreck possible. It was just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for most of the day. The week before that, we had a mechanical issue. But through both of those races, my Richard Childress Racing team has been amazing. The communication is unbelievable. They’ve been able to jump right in and fix the damage the last two weeks. At Talladega Superspeedway, we changed the oil cooler and only lost two laps. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, we knocked the belts off and only lost eight laps. I don’t know how you can make either of those repairs so fast. The communication is great with this team. Even though the last two weeks have been unfortunate, we’re still in the hunt and have a chance to advance to the Round of Eight.” What are your thoughts on the next race in the NASCAR Playoffs, the ROVAL?“We have the ROVAL left in the Round of 12. We just need some help from some of these guys who are higher than us in the point standings, and we have to be in the position to help ourselves some, too. We’re going to rely on our notes from the Daytona Road Course a lot. Kaz Grala was a fill-in driver for me that week, and he did a great job. We will try to use that same setup moving forward. The ROVAL has never been the greatest track for us, but we’ll see what we can do. We’re going to try our hardest.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL… This weekend’s race will mark Tyler Reddick’s first NASCAR Cup Series start on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL configuration. Reddick has two NASCAR Xfinity Series top-10 finishes in two starts on the ROVAL configuration, capturing his best finish of second during last year’s event. Tyler on Twitch… Join Tyler Reddick and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen for an exclusive virtual Q&A session on Cheddar’s new Twitch channel this Thursday, October 8, at 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans can hang out with Reddick as he tries his hand at a couple of video games, ask him questions through the chat and be entered to win prizes throughout the stream, including a grand prize of autographed, race-worn gloves.  Watch the Race with Cheddar’s… To celebrate the debut of the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro this season, Cheddar’s is offering 15% off all To Go orders with the offer code RACEDAY placed on 10/11 and every Cup Series race day for the remainder of the 2020 season! Whether you’re watching the race on a Sunday afternoon or on a weekday under the lights, watch with all your Cheddar’s favorites for 15% off. Terms & conditions apply, visit cheddars.com/offer/race-day for full offer details. About Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen… Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is the homestyle casual dining restaurant where guests always ‘Get a lot, for not a lot’ in a place that feels like home. After being welcomed with a signature Honey Butter Croissant on the house, guests can enjoy favorite dishes like hand-breaded Chicken Tenders, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and House-Smoked Baby Back Ribs. For an even greater value, guests can pick up Family Bundles To Go featuring guest favorites designed to feed the whole family (or Pit Crew!) starting at only $24.99 with contactless curbside pickup. Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen operates more than 160 restaurants in 28 states. See the full menu and order online at cheddars.com. TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:Is there any comparison between the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL and the Daytona International Speedway Road Course you competed on earlier this year?“I really thought the two were going to be pretty similar, but they are really nothing alike. The Daytona Road Course is a really challenging track. The chicane we added to the frontstretch has some similarities to what the nature of the Charlotte ROVAL can be like, but to me, the Charlotte track feels a lot more like a street course. I’d be curious what drivers of other divisions would say to that if they ran the ROVAL. To me though, if I imagine running a street course, this is what I imagine it being like. I really enjoy both tracks even though they are nothing alike other than being two ovals we’ve turned into road courses.”You also have a unique event coming up on Thursday where you and your partner, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, will be streaming live on Twitch with fans. What can you tell us about that?“I think this Thursday’s event on Twitch is going to be a lot of fun. Everyone knows we haven’t been able to interact with fans as much face-to-face this year due to the restrictions, so I’m excited to hang out on the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Twitch channel and answer some fan questions and have some fun. I’m going to get to play the new NASCAR Heat 5 game and take the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet around the ROVAL before this weekend, so maybe I’ll pick up some tricks on that. But overall, this is all about the fans and getting some time to interact with them. Plus, we have some cool prizes to give away during the stream, including a grand prize of autographed, race-worn gloves, so it should be a fun evening.”

Kaz Grala and the No. 21 Ruedebusch.com Chevrolet Camaro at the Charlotte ROVAL… Kaz Grala will return to the seat of the No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at the Charlotte ROVAL. Grala has one career start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Charlotte ROVAL, where he finished eighth in 2018. The Boston native has scored one top-five and three top-10 finishes in four NASCAR Xfinity starts this season. Grala also made his Cup Series debut in August at the Daytona Road Course, where he finished in the seventh position. About Ruedebusch Development & Construction… At Ruedebusch, we have the ability to combine commercial real estate development, design-build construction, commercial real estate brokerage, and commercial real estate consulting services or contract them individually. Ruedebusch has knowledge and experience in all aspects of the commercial real estate field. From locating new rental space for your business, to finding the perfect piece of land for your new corporate headquarters; from the turn-key facility, to the architectural and interior design that will best reflect your company’s culture, Ruedebusch is with you every step of the way. Let Ruedebusch assist you with your project; we handle the details so you can concentrate on your business. For more information visit ruedebusch.com. KAZ GRALA QUOTES: You are heading into the Charlotte ROVAL this weekend for your last start of the year. Talk a little bit about your 2020 season. “It’s been another great year here with everyone at Richard Childress Racing. This year has been short, but sweet for me. I haven’t run that many races this year, but I feel like I’ve shown myself well in the races that I did run and have raised my stock as a driver. It’s been an awesome season, and I don’t think there is any better place to finish this year out than the Charlotte ROVAL. We’ve had some really strong performances this year at places like Road America and the Daytona Road Course, so I definitely feel like we’re capable of going out and winning this weekend in our No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet.”  What are some of the unique challenges at the Charlotte ROVAL that make this track so difficult compared to the Daytona Road Course? “The biggest challenge at the Charlotte ROVAL, in my opinion, is a lot of the braking zones are not straight-line braking zones, whereas, the Daytona Road Course, most of the braking zones are straight line. So, you really have to make an effort to float the car in more gently in the infield portion at Charlotte because, as we’ve seen in the past and in testing, you can tear up a lot of equipment very easily. You really have to be careful and take care of the car early in the race to make sure you have something to race with by the end. I think you’ll see a little different of a race here than the Daytona Road Course. I’m predicting this race will produce more chaos, especially with it being the cutoff race in the NASCAR Playoffs to get inside the Round of 8. My goal is to ultimately get this No. 21 Chevrolet inside that next round, so we can continue to pursue the Owner’s championship for Richard Childress and everyone at Ric

Exchange of information between Corvette Racing, Chevrolet NASCAR engineering

DETROIT (Oct. 7, 2020) – This weekend’s event at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course venue for Corvette Racing and Chevrolet’s NASCAR Cup Series teams is a unique opportunity for the manufacturer with two of its premier programs at the same track on the same weekend. Corvette Racing competes in a 100-minute, GT-only race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday night on the Charlotte Roval, with the NASCAR Cup Series hitting the 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course Sunday afternoon.

Given the Chevrolet NASCAR team’s experience with the Charlotte Roval, data and information has been flowing between Cup Series engineering and that of Corvette Racing.  It’s a similar situation to the teamwork between programs ahead of the Cup Series’ race on the Daytona International Speedway road course in August. Corvette Racing driver Jordan Taylor assisted Hendrick Motorsports drivers in getting up to speed at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) racing simulator. Chase Elliott went on to win that race in his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Corvette Racing team manager Ben Johnson explains how the flow of data and information goes back-and-forth between the two programs…

BEN JOHNSON, CORVETTE RACING TEAM MANAGER: “Everywhere we go, our primary goal is to come up with the best setup and tire selection so the drivers can maximize the performance of the car. In 2020, we’re doing that everywhere we go. There are a lot of tracks that we haven’t previously tested the C8.R before. We’re building up the notebook at all times. So while coming to Charlotte is a bigger challenge because we don’t have prior experience with the C7.R, we have the tools and methodology. They are applied the same no matter where we go.” “The biggest crossover between what we do at Corvette Racing and the Chevrolet NASCAR teams are the tools we use from primarily the simulation space – desktop simulations, lap-time simulations and all the way up to the Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) rig. We wanted to learn as much as we could from the NASCAR group to see how we can best utilize the track model. Is there anything specific about the track model that we want to learn from while we’re in the DiL rig before we go to the track and then go back to the DiL rig? Ultimately the cars are very different, but within Chevrolet we use quite a bit of the same technology so you can learn a lot from someone who has used those tools for Charlotte.” “We tried to learn as much as we could from the NASCAR team in terms of the track itself. That’s where they have a lot of experience in understanding the grip profile of the track. Regardless of the car or the tire, you can use that to accelerate our learnings here at Corvette Racing.” The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s race at Charlotte is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with live television coverage on NBCSN and live streaming via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. In addition, IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring. The race also will air on XM channel 202 and SiriusXM Online 972.

• First race at Charlotte Roval for Corvette Racing• Program remains first and second in GTLM Drivers Championship• Team to use Chevrolet simulator day before and day of official practice• Data exchange between Corvette Racing, Chevrolet NASCAR engineers a key• Corvette Racing hoping for second GT-only race win of IMSA season

DETROIT (Oct. 6, 2020) – As a team that has been competing around the world for more than 20 years, very rarely does Corvette Racing experience anything new. That’s not the case this weekend as the long-standing program races for the first time at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in a 100-minute sprint race. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will hold its second GT-only event of the season Saturday night at Charlotte with Corvette Racing among the favorites to take its second overall victory of 2020. In the first year with the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, Corvette Racing has claimed five victories in the last six races since the COVID-19 lockdown period ended in July. One of those was a GT-only win at Virginia International Raceway for Corvette Racing teammates Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. The pairing shares the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and holds the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Drivers Championship lead with four victories, including the most recent IMSA round at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner sit second in points with one victory and three runner-up finishes – including in the last two races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and Mid-Ohio in their No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Those efforts have Chevrolet ahead in the GTLM Manufacturers’ Championship heading to a new, unique venue. Corvette Racing participated in a single-day test on the 2.28-mile, 17-turn Charlotte Roval circuit a month ago to gain much-needed experience at the facility. Just as key to the preparations have been multiple sessions at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulator and exchanges of track data between Corvette Racing engineers and t Chevrolet’s NASCAR Cup Series engineering team. Chevrolet has race-winning experience at Charlotte with Chase Elliott’s victory a year ago in NASCAR competition. Despite the drastic differences in the mid-engine Corvette C8.R and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the Cup series, track surface insight from the NASCAR program provided Corvette Racing with data to establish a baseline setup ahead of the Charlotte test. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s race at Charlotte is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with live television coverage on NBCSN and live streaming via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. In addition, IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring. The race also will air on XM channel 202 and SiriusXM Online 972.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We will be racing into the unknown. It’s a new track for everyone, although all of the GTLM manufacturers tested there for a day. It will be different… feeling like a single-day event with just two practices and racing at night with some potential poor weather coming, too. Things could be very unpredictable. It feels kind of similar to a street circuit in some parts. There are few places where the walls go by very fast because you are so close to them. There won’t be much resting, especially on the infield.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “This will be pretty intense. The test was important to do considering how little track time there is. It’s definitely a unique track with the layout and not much room for error. There aren’t a lot of passing opportunities, so qualifying will be pretty important. It’s a 100-minute race so it’s going to come down to execution with the one pit stop. Limiting mistakes on track, in the pits and on strategy… everything is going to have to go our way to have a good result. Going in there with the championship lead and four races to go, we will continue to treat it as we have all year-long – race for the win and if it’s not in the cards then go for the best result we can get.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “All three of my teammates came back from the test and said, ‘Whoa… that place is intense!’ I’ve not actually been on the track yet. I’m doing some simulator work a day or two beforehand to familiarize myself, and I’ve had a look at it on iRacing. In talking to the other guys about Charlotte, it feels quite tight and intense. It has a street circuit feel to it. I did a little bit on the simulator that I have at home, and I’ll be going to our Chevrolet simulator Thursday and Friday before the race. We’ll be at the simulator Friday morning and then at the track Friday afternoon – going from the virtual world to the real world all in one day.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Our approach is that we will focus on trying to execute in a situation that isn’t normal for us – a new track, racing late at night, not having our normal setup and not using the pitlane until the race comes. It’ll be a big test to see who can execute the best. The track can be punishing on mistakes. In some ways, it’s almost worse than a street track. The grip level is so high that you’re going pretty good through some of those corners with zero margin for error. Racing at night throws another wrench into the game. It’ll be a big challenge. Ultimately, we have to keep our cars in one piece and get a good result. It’ll be tricky with the traffic and night-time conditions.”

(10/6/20) Sacramento, CA … The high powered 410 sprint cars of the NARC King of the West Fujitsu Racing Serieswill be back in action on Saturday, October 10th when it invades Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford for the inaugural Morrie Williams Legends Tributerace.  The event honors the late great legendary car owner who claimed four series championships with the sanctioning body.

This marks only the third scheduled event of the NARC season.  As with previous event, the racing facility will continue to follow state-mandated COVID-19 protocols, which means the main grandstands will be closed to spectators.  However fans are allowed in the pit area as long as they wear a mask and practice proper social distancing.  The event will be available on PPV at Floracing.com.

The event will be very unique in that it will feature two 20-lap main events in honor of Morrie Williams, a car owner who loved to watch cars charge from the back of the field.  The first event (see format below) will be lined up straight up by qualifying times for cars that transferred through their heat races.  The starting line-up for the second 20-lapper will line up completely inverted based on the finish of the first race (with the exception of any lapped cars.)  That means the top finishers will be charging from the back.

There will be a 10-minute intermission between the two events when crews can make adjustments to their car race cars – except change tires.  Any car that changes a tire would have to go to the very back of the field (behind lapped cars).

More than $27,000 in prize money is up for grabs including $2800 for each winner.  The overall points champion will pocket an additional $1000.

“It’s an personal honor to present this race for the great Morrie Williams,” said Peter Murphy, the promoter of the track, and former longtime driver with the man.  “He was the perfect mate to drive for and earned legend status in my book.  It will be a great night of racing.”

Williams passed away last year after battling cancer, but his legacy continues to live on today.

Some of the other notable drivers who have driven for Williams over the years include Jonathan Allard; Canadian Jimmy Carr; Greg DeCaires; Dennis Moore Jr., Bud Kaeding (2018 championship); and four-time series titlist Kyle Hirst.  Both Kaeding and Hirst will be competing in the event.

Allard, who won three championships with Williams (2006, 2008 & 2012), feels that this race is a perfect addition to the NARC racing schedule.  “Morrie was an amazing car owner and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of an amazing team. The championships came due to Morrie’s ability to believe in all of us. He was always able to get the best out of his team.”

“He was different that most car owners,” continued Allard.  “He was patient and allowed (crew chief) Ashley Smith and I to work in whatever direction we needed with the belief we would achieve many race wins and our championships. I have many amazing memories of Morrie because he taught me so much. The one thing about Morrie that I think about every day is how he treated people. Everyone that has met him has walked away a friend.”

Other registered entries include both Tim Kaeding of San Jose; Rutherford’s Rico Abreu; Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi and Craig Stidham; Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto and 2019 NARC/KWS champ DJ Netto; Auburn’s Andy Forsberg; Sean Watts from Clovis; Roseville’s Sean Becker and Jodie Robinson; Iowa’s Austin McCarl; Blake and Tanner Carrick from Lincoln; Morgan Hills JJ Ringo; AJ Bender from San Diego and many more!There will also be a full racing program on Friday night (October 9th) with a Kings of Thunder 410 sprint car show.

The NARC King of the West portion of the program will consist of individual qualifying, three 8-lap heat races, a four-lap trophy dash, and a pair of 20-lap main events.

Also on the racing card are the King of Thunder 360’s and the Legends of Kearney Bowl.

Pit gates open at 1:00 p.m. The drivers meeting starts at 4:00 p.m., with the first session of hot laps taking place around 4:30 p.m.

Keller Auto Speedway is located at the Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford.  The address is 801 S 10th Ave, Hanford, CA 93230.  The track can be reached at 559-584-7223.

For more information, call Jim Allen at 714-397-7417.

ED NOTE:  The main grandstands are closed to the general public and no tickets will be sold to the event.  Race fans are allowed to enter the pit area.  All race attendees and participants are required to sign a COVID-19 release form, wear face masks and practice social distancing in the pit area.

The King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires.  Associate and product award sponsors include ATL Racing Cells, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Autometer, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bullet Impressions, FK Rod Ends, Hooker Harness, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, PAC Racing Springs, Pyrotect, Racing Optics, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, FloRacing/Speedshift TV, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Light Brakes, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Winters Performance Products.

NASCAR CUP SERIES /CORVETTE RACING CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT OCTOBER 5, 2020

TEAM CHEVY’S CHASE ELLIOTT, DRIVER OF THE NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, AND CORVETTE RACING’S JORDAN TAYLOR, DRIVER OF THE NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R, met with media via teleconference to discuss the anticipation going into the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, the sharing of technology and information across multiple programs within Chevrolet to prepare, and more. Full Transcript

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE:  OBVIOUSLY, YOU’VE ALREADY HAD SOME SUCCESS ON THE ROAD COURSE THIS YEAR AT DAYTONA, WHERE YOU RECEIVED SOME HELP AND FEEDBACK FROM JORDAN (TAYLOR) AHEAD OF THAT AT THE CHEVROLET SIMULATOR IN CHARLOTTE. HOW HELPFUL WERE THOSE SESSIONS TO YOU AHEAD OF THAT RACE?Chase Elliott: “Yeah, it was a big help for us and for me, personally. That was obviously a very unique thing, with not having any practice and then going into a race like that. I talked to Jordan (Taylor) a lot. He was kind enough to share a lot of his notes and things from his past experience at the track, which I found to be helpful. He shared a lot of rain insight too, which I’m kind of glad we didn’t have to tackle that hurdle during that weekend for the first time. But, nonetheless, it worked out. I really appreciated the help from him and everybody that contributed. Obviously, there was a lot of effort that went into that, being such a green situation for most drivers in the field. It was a fun challenge. I enjoyed it and glad it worked out the way it did. Definitely a lot of prep work went into it and I think that showed.” WITH THE ROVAL COMING UP THIS WEEK, I WAS JUST CURIOUS TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW YOU ATTACK A ROVAL-STYLE COURSE VERSUS A TRADITIONAL-BUILT ROAD COURSE, SAY LIKE WATKINS GLEN OR SONOMA. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES THAT YOU NOTICE FROM THE SEAT?Chase Elliott: “Yeah, I think Jordan (Taylor) touched on it. I think what makes the Roval really unique is it’s kind of like trying to fit a whole bunch of stuff in a very small area, I feel like. The place just does not flow very good. That thing probably wasn’t meant to be a road course, I would say, when they built it. It’s just unique and there’s just a lot of places around the racetrack that are really tight with not a lot of flow. I feel like most road courses around the country, that I’ve been to at least, have a flow to them. You kind of get in a groove and it’s really hard to find that groove, I feel like, at the Roval. I even think going back there this time, it’s going to be a challenge to find it. I felt like last year, throughout practice and throughout the weekend, I never felt like I got into a flow very well. I felt like our car was driving pretty good, but I just could never find a groove to get in and find any consistency. It really wasn’t until that very last run in practice and then when the race started, I felt like I found some consistency to be able to back things up and do it over and over again. So, I think to me, the key for myself personally is going to be finding that and trying to get that dialed in. Hopefully, it’s good enough.” IN THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE RACE THIS YEAR, YOU PROVED THAT IF YOU’RE FAST ENOUGH, IT IS POSSIBLE TO COMPETE FOR BOTH STAGE WINS AND THE OVERALL RACE WIN. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT IS A DUAL-FOCUS, SOMETHING THAT OTHER PLAYOFF TEAMS ARE GOING TO ATTEMPT TO REPLICATE THIS WEEKEND OR DO YOU THINK THAT WAS SOMETHING ISOLATED TO THE DAYTONA ROAD COURSE?Chase Elliott: “That’s such a tough thing – I don’t really know that you can ever plan for that or know exactly how to attack it. I think once the race starts, you kind of have to feel out who the players are and how fast or slow you are, kind of compared to the competition, and figure it out from there. And two, I think it depends on what position you’re in from a points-perspective on how you want to approach the race. It’s tough and like I said, I don’t really know that you can plan for that ahead of time until you start the race, kind of see where you stack up, and get a first-look at what your day is looking like. And then, make that decision, as far as how you want to attack it from there.” SCHEDULES PERMITTING, WOULD YOU WELCOME THE CHANCE TO JOIN CORVETTE RACING FOR AN ENDURANCE EVENT? Chase Elliott: “Yeah, I think it would be a blast. I’ve always enjoyed watching the 24-hour race. I know that’s one of their bigger events every year and it kind of kicks off the racing season, so that’s always an exciting one. Yeah, I think it’d be fun to give it a shot sometime down the road. If the opportunity ever presented itself, I think I would enjoy the challenge, for sure.” TAKE ME THROUGH LAST NIGHT. FIRST, YOU GETTING PENALIZED – YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FACT THAT NASCAR RESCINDED IT. SECOND, THE DIFFERENCE OF 17-POINTS GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND FOR YOU AFTER RESCINDED THAT PENALTY, I’D ASSUME, IS HUGE. Chase Elliott: “Yeah, for sure. Obviously, that’s a huge deal for us. I credit Jay, NASCAR and those guys for taking another look at it. I think the tough thing, for me in that situation, is your kind of a put in a position where you either cause a wreck or don’t cause a wreck and that’s a tough spot to be in. I feel like we wrecked enough throughout the day – I’m not sure that I felt like we needed to wreck once more because that’s what was going to happen had I not driven where I did. So, I appreciate them looking at it from that point of view and understanding that. It’s so tough because everybody is put in such a tough situation racing in the guidelines we have and we had already crashed enough as it is, like I said. They’re in a tough spot – that’s a tough call to make on either side. But, like I said, I think just from my position, it was a big deal obviously to go from finishing 5th or 6th to the last car on the lead lap. That’s massive when you’re talking these three-race rounds and where we are in the points situation. So, to your point, yeah a very big deal and I do feel like they got it right. Obviously, it was me and I’m biased, but I do think that when you’re put into a position where you have to decide whether or not to cause a wreck, that’s a tough one to be in.” WHEN IT COMES TO THE ROVAL, WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?Chase Elliott: “What Jordan (Taylor) and I touched on a few minutes ago, I just think the track is really kind of choppy, doesn’t flow very good and it’s a really hard thing to find a rhythm at that track. I feel like road racing is a lot about rhythm and a lot about consistency – finding your markers, pushing yourself to go to those markers each lap and things of that nature. So, when you have a hard time finding a flow, it’s hard to continue to repeat and repeat, and do things consistently lap after lap.” LAST YEAR, YOU WON, BUT IN A BIT OF A DRAMATIC FASHION WITH GETTING INTO THE TIRE BARRIER THERE. TALK ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AT THAT POINT AND THROUGH YOUR WAY BACK THROUGH.Chase Elliott: “Yeah, just a crazy event, for sure. A lot of good fortune. Obviously, a big mistake on my end and we were fortunate that our car wasn’t tore up very bad, somehow, and was able to fight back up through there. We had just enough time to kind of get back to the front and have a shot at it. First off, I had a really fast car. And, secondly, I made a really big mistake. Third, our car wasn’t tore up as bad as I thought it should have been. So, just had a lot of things go in our favor with the way the rest of the race went – the cautions how they fell, a couple of good restarts, and things just went our way. I’m glad it did, for sure. I’d like to eliminate running into the tire barriers if we have a fast car like that again.” IN YOUR CAR AROUND THE ROVAL, DO YOU FIND YOURSELF HAVING TO BABY THE BRAKES A LITTLE BIT TO MAKE IT LAST THROUGH THE ROVAL RACE? DO THEY FADE AS THE RACE PROCEEDS AND HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT?Chase Elliott: “I feel like the race last year, I don’t remember us having a ton of brake fade. A little bit – I felt like the worst spot was probably into that backstretch chicane. That was probably about as hard as we would brake in a straight line. The rest of the track is kind of just awkward. The turn four area coming into that little chicane on the frontstrech is kind of curved, so it’s hard to use max brake pressure through that section. The rest of the track is just really kind of slow, to be honest. So, that backstretch deal was the worst spot I remember. Best I recall, I don’t remember having a bunch of brake fade issues last year, so hopefully not.”  NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE POINTS BACK, YOU’RE PLUS 44 GOING INTO THIS RACE. HOW DO YOU VIEW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO? I KNOW YOU WANT TO WIN THE RACE, BUT PLUS 44, DOES THAT GIVE YOU A CUSHION TO BE AGGRESSIVE?Chase Elliott: “Yeah, I don’t know. It’s such a tough thing. I feel like when you get in these rounds and whatnot, I feel like the worst thing you can do is just sit there and play the numbers game. It’s like I had a teacher tell me in high school one time – don’t come into my final exam just figuring out what you have to make to pass. I feel like that’s what I’m doing when I start sitting here and thinking about what to do on points. So, I’m going to take her advice and try not to do that this week and just focus on trying to run good. If you’re going to go out and beat the people that are champions and who’ve been running well – we see the same five or six people in the Final Four every year, so unless you want to run behind them like we have been doing, we need to focus on trying to beat them. To get there, you’ve got to be amongst them and put yourself in position to win because they are winning every week – one of just a handful it seems like. So, we need to be amongst them more often. I think we’re very capable of doing that. I think we’ve shown that this year, especially at times. We just need to do it more often and we don’t need to treat this week any different.” AFTER YOU HAD THE SITUATION LAST YEAR WHEN YOU RAN INTO THE BARRIER, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO FIGURE OUT THE CAR WASN’T HURT BAD? WERE YOU SURPRISED? Chase Elliott: “Yeah, it was I don’t know, eight or 10 laps I guess after we went back green, and it was OK. It definitely hurt it, but it was still very good. So, just very fortunate there. I feel like a mistake of that magnitude, you deserve to not only destroy your car, but probably not keep going at the same time. I’m not sure what I did that week to earn that gift, but I certainly appreciated it.” LET’S SAY THIS WEEKEND GOES ACCORDINGLY – WHAT TRACK IN THIS NEXT ROUND ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING TO?Chase Elliott: “Heck, I don’t know. We need to focus on this week and I feel like much like the final exam example I used, I think worrying about next week is also a no-no. So, let’s just worry about Charlotte right now and we’ll see where we stack up after that.” WHAT DO YOU VIEW ARE YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCES IN COMPARISON TO THE COMPETITION RIGHT NOW, KNOWING HOW YOU GUYS HAVE PERFORMED THIS YEAR?Chase Elliott: “I feel like when we’ve been at our best, I feel like we run with the guys that have been winning a lot and are in great positions. So, I feel like when we bring our A-game and things are where they need to be, we’ve competed and I think that’s the main thing. I hope we can continue to bring that A-game all the time and try to get a little more consistent. I feel like the past four or five weeks have been a little more consistent for us. We’ve had some better runs and been doing a better job – having more pace in our cars and being up towards the front. I think if we can keep doing that, I feel confident that we can run with whoever.” WITH YOU GUYS HAVING SO MANY MORE ROAD COURSES NEXT YEAR, WOULD YOU BE COMFORTABLE IF NASCAR STARTED USING LOCAL YELLOWS INSTEAD OF FULL-COURSE YELLOWS ON A ROAD COURSE?Chase Elliott: “Yeah, that’s a really good question. I do feel like sometimes the full-courses are probably a little unnecessary. I know that’s a NASCAR thing versus a typical road race style. I don’t know – I don’t know what the right thing is to do there. I feel like there’s times in the past where it’s worked in my favor to have a full-course yellow. And there’s time in the past where I wish it would have just gone green. So, I feel like it can go either way. I’m not sure – I feel like it’s all discretionary, I guess, on how bad a wreck is and whether or not they have to put out a full-course or not. But, I don’t know – that’s a great question, but I’m not sure I’m the right person to answer it.” WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE PLAYOFFS, HOW DOES THAT EXPERIENCE HELP AND WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED FROM YOUR PREVIOUS PLAYOFF EXPERIENCES IN THE POSITION YOUR IN AT THIS TIME?Chase Elliott: “I definitely don’t think it hurts anything, you know as you go through these situations. I feel like we’ve been through some tough situations in the Playoffs over my first handful of years – been in some tight scenarios, been in some tough losses and I think all of those situations help you learn and kind of help you just keep a middle ground through a lot of it, which I think is really helpful. I definitely don’t think it hurts. I still think we’re going to be faced with challenges and things I’ve never seen before and, as you do that, you just have to be dynamic and learn through those as well. But I do think having a little experience in seeing some of those tough days in these final races can help you just have a better mindset and understand that anything can happen and nothing is really over until it’s over. I think that’s something you always have to keep in mind as we go through these last 10 races.”  JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: YOU WERE PART OF A SINGLE-DAY TEST PROGRAM AT CHARLOTTE ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE GTLM CARS HAVE BEEN ON THE TRACK THERE. HOW QUICKLY WERE YOU AND THE REST OF THE CORVETTE PROGRAM ABLE TO GET UP TO SPEED DURING TESTING? AND, DID THOSE FINDINGS FROM THE NASCAR SIDE OF THE HOUSE HELP YOU AS DRIVERS AND THE ENGINEERS IN GETTING TO A STARTING POINT?Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, it definitely was a big help. We were able to do it in the simulator for one day before that test. So, Antonio and Tommy (Milner) and I were able to do some laps and got a feel for the track. It’s a very unique layout. Some sections don’t flow super-well. It’s just the way it kind of decreases at apex. So, the flow of it was kind of difficult to figure out. But, I think having a day at the simulator to kind of figure that out definitely sped up the learning process by the time we did get to the track; in understanding what kind of curbs you can and what curbs you can’t use and where you kind of want to line up and set up for other corners. So, it was definitely a big help. I think that’s kind of been a big part of our whole season this year is having the Chevy simulator to use. It’s a brand-new car. In going to a lot of these tracks that we’ve never been to for testing and having a shortened weekend with less practice really puts a lot of emphasis on preparation leading into these weekends well-prepared. The best case was this last race for us at Mid-Ohio, where we had not tested the car and rolled off the truck super-strong. We got the pole and won the race. So, it says a lot about the team, and I think leading into Charlotte and having that simulator usage is pretty crucial again.” HOW HAS THE SIMULATOR BENEFITTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE C8.R IN A YEAR WHERE ON-TRACK TESTING AND TRACK TIME IS MORE LIMITED THAN USUAL FOR OBVIOUS REASONS?Jordan Taylor: “It’s been huge. I was kind of in a simulator through the development process of it through the C7.R. Then a lot of the C8.R was designed through simulation before the car hit the track. Having all that data and development from the simulator was pretty incredible. My first impressions of the C8.R came last year on the simulator leading into Daytona. We did some differential changes in the simulator and then I gave my feedback, and then a month later when we were at the track, we did those same exact changes. Obviously, I had forgotten what my feedback was the month prior, but my feedback was identical. So, the correlation between the two are extremely accurate, which is really nice now that we’re in the meat of the season where you aren’t getting that testing time that we’re used to getting and going to tracks we’re not used to being at, like the ROVAL and some of these other races that have popped up on our schedule where we can’t test. It’s been important from the engineering side, but also from the driver’s side just to get that feel and understanding what it’s going to take to be competitive at these tracks.” WITH NASCAR INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ROAD COURSES ON THE CUP SCHEDULE TO SIX, DOES THAT LEND ITSELF ANY MORE TO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A GUY LIKE YOU TO PITCH RUNNING ALL SIX?Jordan Taylor: “I’d like to say yes but I think it’s going to be the same story as whether there’s one road course or 10 road courses. I think it’s going to be difficult to get in a car, especially a competitive one. But yeah, I’m going to keep trying. I think I’ve tried the last five or six years to get in a Xfinity ride at Road America or Mid-Ohio. Now they’re doing Daytona and COTA and Road America. They’re all great tracks that obviously we have a lot of history at. I’d love to get the opportunity but it’s going to take a good opportunity to get that chance.” ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE THE CHANCE TO DO ANY SIMULATOR WORK BEFORE THE RACE AT CHARLOTTE THIS WEEKEND?Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, we’ll be in there Thursday and Friday, I think. Antonio and I are there most of Thursday and then Oliver (Gavin) and Tommy will come in Friday and then we actually practice Friday night. It’s nice to get a little refresher course right before the weekend as a driver. And then as a team, I’m sure after our last on-track test, they’ve got a lot of items that we’re going to see how to properly optimize the setup; whether it’s geometry changes or springs, downforce levels, toes and camber. So, I’m sure there will be a lot of laps in the simulator, but hopefully it will all pay off in the weekend.” CHASE MENTIONED THAT THE TWO OF YOU WERE TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND. WHAT WAS THE INTERACTION LIKE BETWEEN YOU TWO BEFORE TODAY AND ALSO GOING BACK TO AFTER THE DAYTONA RACE?Jordan Taylor: “I don’t know if we’ve talked much between the events, but I think we talked a little bit about the ROVAL when I was there at the simulator working for Daytona just because their focus was all on Daytona that weekend. It was good, I’m sure. Chase had a big part in developing the ROVAL stuff on the simulator, which was a big help to us just getting the track grip level correct so that when we go there, everything is kind of in-tune and on-pace where it’s going to be in real life. So, I’m sure as the weekend unfolds for us, we’ll have some questions and maybe we can play on top of those guys and vice-versa.” YOU TALKED ABOUT MAYBE WANTING TO FIND A NASCAR OPPORTUNITY. ONCE UPON A TIME, ROAD RACING SPECIALISTS COULD FIND HALFWAY DECENT RIDES IN THE CUP SERIES. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO FIND A COMPETITIVE RIDE ON THE XFINITY SERIES AND THEN MAYBE GET A CUP OPPORTUNITY?Jordan Taylor: “Yeah, I just think it would be important to get in the right car and the right opportunity. I’ve spoken a lot with Jeff Gordon about it. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to do some of the road courses in the past, but he’s steered me away from it just from the equipment point of view just explaining how important it is and it might not be worth just jumping in to be in the race, but you want to be competitive and at the front to at least show well to have a second chance at it. We’ve had a long relationship with Childress. We used their engines in all my prototype career pretty much and we’ve won a couple of championships together and a lot of Rolex 24s. So, they’ve definitely been at the top of my list for Xfinity. I think Cup is a different animal completely. They guys there are definitely all switched on. They might not be like road course guys, but whenever they come over and do the Rolex 24, they are definitely competitive in anything they jump in. So, for sure, for Cup, you’re definitely going to want to be in the right equipment to be anywhere near the front, no matter how good you are.” HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT YOU COULD DO IT?Jordan Taylor: “I’d like to think I’d do well. But, at the same time, I’ve never driven a stock car like that. The closest thing I’ve driven was a V8 Supercar. But I love that style of racing; and sport cars now are having so much development with traction control and such higher levels of downforce and the Michelin tires we use now are so impressive. I enjoy that kind of old-school driving style where it’s no ABS, no traction control, no driver aids; it’s all down to what you can do with the pedals and steering wheel. I think my driving style kind of suits that so I’d like to think that it would suit me somewhat well, but you never know until you get that opportunity.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASERace Wrap— 2020 NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival

The 22nd Annual NMRA World Finals & Holley Intergalactic Ford Festivalat Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, wrapped up a crazy 2020, and yet a rather successful Holley NMRA Ford Nationals season for racers and enthusiasts alike. Great racing and great weather made for an excellent combination as event winners drove to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle and NMRA Champions collected their hard-earned Edelbrock Victor trophies and Nitto Tire Diamond Tree rings. As this was the second year that Holley injected its infectious Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival into the event, event goers were treated to asphalt-ripping drifting that included Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chelsea DeNofa, auto-crossing, burnout mayhem, a Grand Champion competition, and of course the Festival 50 Crown Victoria race put on my YouTuber Cleetus McFarland and his crew who were responsible for all sorts of shenanigans on the course. And we can’t forget the towering Bigfoot 5, which was on display for photo ops. VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw rookie Steve Halprin made a strong showing from the beginning of the event to the end, with elapsed times regularly in the 4.3-second range. Tony Hobson took the top spot in qualifying with a 4.26, but it was Halprin who consistently charged through eliminations and met Dom DiDonato in the final round of competition. When the race was over, it was Halprin who had turned on the win light at the top end of the track, and grabbed his first NMRA event win and took his first trip to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle.

Joel Greathouse was the man to beat all weekend in Edebrock Renegade, regularly posting times in the 4.50s. He was number-one qualifier with a 4.58 and after getting to the final round, Greathouse drove to victory when Eric Bardekoff’s Mustang failed to start. Bill Putnam has led the charge in JDM Engineering Limited Street, regularly posting the quickest times of the class. He proved that once again at Beech Bend Raceway Park with an 8.300 run to top the qualifying sheets. From there, he eliminated opponent after opponent straight through the final round, where he defeated Chad Wendel, 8.33 to 8.43. The high-flying wheelies from the G-Force Transmissions Coyote Stock racers did not disappoint in Bowling Green, with Kevin McMullin even putting his Mustang on the bumper and then the retaining wall during eliminations. Chester Drake, though, grabbed the top spot in qualifying with a 9.98—the only other racer in the class to post a 9-second run aside from Frank Paultanis—and he would meet Drew Lyons in the final round. Lyons drilled the tree with a .006 light, and shifted what might have been all four gears of his G-Force transmission in the air, but the driving effort cost him time and Drake to stormed past him for the win, 10.02 to 10.48.

Another top qualifier and another win came from John Leslie Jr. in Richmond Gear Factory Stock, who clicked off a 10.12 to top the qualifying sheets. Leslie Jr. met Justin Fogelsonger in the final round of competition, took the starting line advantage and then took the trip to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle with a 10.15-to-10.17 victory. Sporting a fresh set of RC Components wheels, Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle competitor Gary Parker won four elimination rounds to meet Jason Henson in the finals. Once there, Parker was quick to the tree and quick to the win light. The ARP Open Comp class is full of tough competitors and anyone can win at any time. At Beech Bend Raceway, the final round came down to Greg Cole and Chad Scholten. Both drivers did their jobs well off the line in the battle of Fox-Body Mustangs, but it was Cole who was victorious. Dave Cole grabbed the top qualifying spot in Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning competition with a 0.002 reaction time, and he continued to be on the winning side of the elimination rounds until the finals, where Fred Wade got the better of him from the start to the finish to take the win. Many NMRA racers choose to tow their cars to the track for various reasons, but ROUSH Performance Super Stang racer Kevin McKenna has proven time and again that he can drive to the track, no matter what state it’s in, and blast to competitive, low 10-second runs, and then drive it home. The Indiana resident drove to Kentucky for the final NMRA event of the season and drove to the win after defeating Pete Espeut in the final round of competition. Fastest Street Car Magazine Ford Muscle brings a wide variety of vehicles to the class, and Clyde Dunphy’s 1972 Mustang Mach 1 is one of the coolest rides to win a round. Dunphy did far more than that at Beech Bend Raceway Park, as he defeated Llyod Mikeska in the final round of competition and celebrated in the Aerospace Components Winners Circle. The Mickey Thompson Cobra/Terminator vs. GT500 Shootout class continues to be a favorite addition to the NMRA season opening and ending races, with racers running regularly in the 7s. Ryan Aycock was the man to beat, as he posted the quickest time in qualifying with a staggering 7.56. He would make it to the finals where he met Dwayne Hickman, who was doing well with the new supercharged combination in his Shelby GT500. Hickman ran the slower of the two times with a 7.75 to Aycock’s 7.68, but he grabbed a .223-second starting line advantage that allowed him to take the holeshot win. Many competitors in the Hellion Turbo Battle often compete in other classes during the NMRA races that the special class is held, and Donato Sierchio was entered in both Turbo Battle as well as the King of the Street competition with his 7-second, registered for the street Mustang. Sierchio qualified on top of the Hellion Turbo class with a 7.31, and took the first of two wins at this event after defeating James McCord, 7.28 to 7.44 in the heads-up eliminator. QA1 True Street always turns out in droves at the NMRA finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and this year was no exception with over 140 cars teching in. Chock full of 7- and 8-second machines, the majority of ultra quick cars bowed out early, leaving Jason Wagoner to take the overall win with an 8.964 average. Dan Saitz in his 2011 Mustang GT took runner up honors with a 9.019 average while Daniel Rosner rocketed to the 9-second win. Bob Myers banged the gears in his Mercury Capri to the 10-second win, Tim Apple took the 11-second award with an 11.043 average, and Gary Johnson went 12.005 for the 12-second prize. Leading the 13-second charge was Clint Plummer with a 13.015 average, Richard Shannon Doyle collected a 14.009 average for the 14-second win, and Brian Flanagan narrowly beat out multi-time 15-second winner Belinda Moore with a 15.026 to her 15.093 average. The exclusive GForce Performance Engineering King of the Street brings together the overall winners from each True Street competition, along with the winner of the Spring Break Shootout and the runner up from True Street at the finals for a heads-up brawl to find out who truly is the King of the Street. The final round came down to Spring Break Shootout winner Donato Sierchio and St. Louis True Street winner Randy Thomas, with Sierchio rocketing to the win in his turbocharged Fox-Body Mustang. TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout pits the eight quickest manually shifted cars from True Street against each other in their own speed contest. In the final round, Tim Casto defeated 2019 Stick Shift Shootout winner Mike Niehaus for the win and the trip to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle. The Capri Club of North America has once again found a home with the NMRA, and while the Ford Capri, of which the club is based on, may not be a Mustang, the club members’ enthusiasm is just as energetic. As part of their attendance, Capri Swarm owners were able to take part in a bracket race, which was settled on Saturday with Chris Rolls taking the win over James Meredith after Meredith turned on the red light at the start. The RacePagesDigital.com Bracket 3 featured racers from True Street as well as local bracket racers. In the final round of competition on Sunday, it was Michael Crass who drilled the tree with a .009 light and then took the win over Danny Towe, who wasn’t far behind with a .019, in the tough final round. Because the Performance Racing Industry show, where the champions ceremony is annually held, had to be canceled for this year, NMRA champions were honored for all of their accomplishments in the special champion version of the Aerospace Components Winners Circle as the sun began to set on a sensational weekend and season. Please visit www.nmradigital.com and www.racepagesdigital.com, and the series’ social channels, in the days to come for stories and videos that feature the champions.

·        Wild day of racing at Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals Presented by Pennzoil ends with all-Dodge Funny Car final and a record 11th consecutive national event win for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis

·        Tommy Johnson Jr. drives DSR MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to second win of season and contributes to tightening up of the DSR Top-3 battle for Funny Car championship

·        Matt Hagan’s runner-up finish puts the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the lead for the Funny Car world championship with three national events left in NHRA season

·        DSR’s Leah Pruett walks away unhurt from wild ride in Top Fuel quarterfinals

·       Factory Stock Showdown eliminations postponed to Monday for No.1 qualifier Mark Pawuk and fellow Mopar Drag Pak pilot Pruett due to unusually cold and windy track conditions

October 4, 2020, St. Louis, Mo. – It was wild action-packed day of racing at the Mopar Express Land Midwest Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis that concluded with an all-Mopar Funny Car final round showdown, a record 11^th consecutive national event victory for the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) team, and a shuffling atop the leaderboard for the final stretch in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car world championship.

Tommy Johnson Jr. earned his second Wally trophy of the 2020 season by defeating DSR teammates Jack Beckman in the semifinals and then Matt Hagan in the final, both of whom he is battling in a tight Funny Car championship fight with just three national events remaining. Johnson did it decisively by posting the quickest run of the weekend in the final, a 3.884-second, 326 mph effort aboard his MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, to edge out Hagan’s 3.886-second pass at 330 mph. 

“The last couple races have been “must do well” races and you look over there (at DSR teammates Beckman and Hagan) and they’re still going rounds, so when you do face-up against them, it’s a must-win,” said Johnson. “You can’t let them keep going rounds or you fall a round behind. It was huge to be able to take out both of them today and keep ourselves securely planted in it and make it a solid three three-man race right now”.

While Johnson remains third in the standings, the win keeps him in contention with just 34 points separating the three teammates atop the leaderboard. His win also extends the DSR’s unprecedented streak of victories to a record 11 national events since October 2019.

“It’s incredible that we won that many races in a row as a team and that I won the race today,” added Johnson. “It’s a tribute to all the hard work, even through the lockdowns and everything. These guys are at the shop working and trying to make everything better even not knowing when we would race again. They continually worked hard to keep that advantage. It’s extremely hard to make these cars run that good, that long, and that many runs in a row, so to be able to do it for this long is incredible.”

The runner-up finish by Hagan moves the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver into the championship lead ahead of Beckman and Johnson. He advanced to his 63rd career final elimination with round wins against Bob Bode, teammate Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria.

“As tough as it is to lose a close final like that, we gained ground and took the points lead, Said Hagan. ”We had a good weekend and it’s hard to complain when you make a final round. That was the bad side of a really good drag race for our Mopar team. It’s a Mopar-sponsored event and we wanted to win for Mopar and Express Lane, but at least another DSR Dodge Hellcat won again with Tommy (Johnson). I just can’t say enough about my guy working so hard with no mistakes. (Crew Chief) Dickie Venables is really tuning a mean race car. We’ve had such a fast car all season long. We’re making ground and that’s what matters. We’re used to this thing being tight and most of these championships are won on the final day of the season by one or two points. I’m extremely proud of my guys. It was a good day and weekend at St. Louis.”

Capps saw his race day end prematurely along with any hopes of remaining close to the fight atop the standings as a result of a second fiery run in two events; this one resulting in “oil-down” that cost him 10 valuable points and a quarterfinals loss to Hagan.

Race day at the Mopar Express Lane Midwest Nationals was also marked by a frightening Round 2 incident for Leah Pruett and her Mopar Top Fuel dragster. After qualifying ninth, she started her day with a solid first round pass at 3.676 sec./ 328.38 mph over eighth seeded opponent Pat Dakin (0.057/11.817/70.73), but hopes of adding a few more round wins were cut short on her next run. Halfway through her drag race against DSR teammate Tony Schumacher, Pruett went for a wild ride as her dragster broke in two and went airborne before landing back on track and coming to a stop. The Mopar driver exited her vehicle unaided and walked away unhurt but disappointed.

“The was the most intense round of competition I’ve ever had and the wildest ride I’ve ever had, that’s for sure,” said Pruett who, despite the setback, remains third in the standings behind points leader Steve Torrence and Doug Kalitta. “We’re still taking time to process and look at the parts and put a plan together for how to move forward. For me, my body is fine. My mind is fine. The DSR chassis and Impact safety equipment did everything it was supposed to. As a drag racer this is what we do. There’s a risk. I think the quicker you can get back on the track, the better. Let’s not ever do that again. I thank the lord, my team, the chassis shop, Don (Schumacher), and everybody that helped. Not a great start to October and that was an early Halloween surprise. That’s for sure.”

The brisk temperatures and windy conditions made it more difficult for low downforce vehicles to compete safely on the dragstrip and as such, the NHRA made the difficult decision to postpone racing for all other classes and categories including Factory Stock Showdown. No. 1 qualifier Mark Pawuk and fellow Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak driver Pruett, who qualified seventh, will have to wait until Monday to head to the staging lanes for FSS eliminations at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The Mopar Dodge SRT contingent will head west in two weeks for the 35^th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals on Oct. 14–18 at Texas Motorsplex near Dallas. NHRA qualifying highlights will be broadcast on FS1 on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7:30–8:30 p.m. ET, and Sunday, Oct. 18 from 1–2 p.m. ET. Television coverage of the elimination rounds, including Live finals from the FallNationals, will air on Sunday, Oct. 18, on FS1 from 2–5 p.m. ET.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES: 

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 5 Qualifier – 4.750 seconds at 185.03 mph)
Round 1: (0.084-second reaction time, 3.885 seconds at 332.10 mph) defeated No.12 Blake Alexander (0.150/6.630/95.37)

Round 2: (0.089/3.890/329.50) defeated No. 4 Dan Wilkerson (0.092/3.976/314.97)

Round 3: (0.083/3.903/330.80) (0.068/3.896/327.98) loss to No.  Tommy Johnson Jr. 

“It’s not the way I thought the day would end. I really thought we had the car to beat. Guido (Dean Antonelli) and (John) Medlen tuned perfect for today’s conditions. We were low ET, low ET and in the semis second low ET. The problem was the car we pulled up next too, Tommy Johnson, was low ET. The silver lining is a DSR Dodge Funny Car wins for the 11th straight race for Don (Schumacher). The upside for us is that we have three more chances to get trophies and the way our car is performing I wouldn’t put it past us.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car  
(No.6  Qualifier – 5.105 seconds at 148.15 mph)
Round 1: ( 0.094-second reaction time, 3.959 seconds at 319.98 mph) defeated No. Bob Bode (0.031/4.080/266.21)

Round 2: (0.080/4.085/249.58) defeated No. 14 Ron Capps (0.090/5.182/113.44)

Round 3: (0.102/3.935/328.62) defeated No. 2 Alexis DeJoria (0.121/8.043/87.47)

Round 4: (0.058/3.886/333.00) loss to No. 8 Tommy Johnson Jr. (0.047/3.884/326.08)

“As tough as it is to lose a close final like that, we gained ground and took the points lead. We had a good weekend and it’s hard to complain when you make a final round. That was the bad side of a really good drag race for our Mopar team. It’s a Mopar-sponsored event and we wanted to win for Mopar and Express Lane, but at least another DSR Dodge Hellcat won again with Tommy (Johnson). I just can’t say enough about my guy working so hard with no mistakes. Dickie Venables is really tuning a mean race car. We’ve had such a fast car all season long. We’re making ground and that’s what matters. We’re used to this thing being tight and most of these championships are won on the final day of the season by one or two points. I’m extremely proud of my guys. It was a good day and weekend at St. Louis.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 8 Qualifier – 7.220 seconds at 118.97 mph) 
Round 1: (0.084-second reaction time, 3.919 seconds at 324.05 mph) defeated No. 9 Terry Haddock (0.115/4.174/283.31)

Round 2: (0.078/3.943/324.51) defeated No. 1 Paul Lee (0.184 /3.892/330.72)

Round 3: (0.068/3.896/327.98) defeated No. 5 Jack Beckman (0.083/3.903/330.80)

Round 4: (0.047/3.884/326.08) defeated No. 6 Matt Hagan (0.058/3.886/333.00)

“What a different set of circumstances from last weekend at Gainesville where it was hot humid, to come to St. Louis where it’s cold and the track is tight. My guys did a great job of adapting. It’s really hard to make your cars run well in these conditions. The cars want to run good, but it’s hard to get them down the track. The team did a great job of adjusting and made the right changes and it kept getting better and better with each run. Racing teammates (Jack) Beckman and (Matt) Hagan in the final was some of the best drag races all weekend. It was close and it was tight and if you want to win this championship you have to step up to the plate. Today this MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat stepped up to that plate. It was just an outstanding car and the fans got a show at the Mopar Express Lane Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil with the win.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 14 Qualifier – 12.851 seconds at 71.93 mph)
Round 1: (0.110-second reaction time, 3.894 seconds at 331.77 mph) defeated No. 3 Cruz Pedregon (0.046/14.145 /65.73)

Round 2: (0.090/5.182/113.44) loss to No. 6 Matt Hagan (0.080/4.085/249.58)

“I’m not sure what to say at this point. The NAPA guys are tearing the car apart to see what went wrong. That’s two pretty good ones in two races. We have to figure out what the issue is. We have a great running car. We had lane choice. It hurts worse when you see your opponent go out and run 4.08 when you have an issue like that. It’s depressing when we have such a great car. The good thing is I know they’ll dissect the problem and find out exactly what the issue was and we’ll have it fixed for Dallas in two weeks.”

Leah Pruett, Mopar Top Fuel Dragster  
(No. 9 Qualifier – 4.310 seconds at 249.07 mph)    
Round 1: (0.037-second reaction time, 3.676 seconds at 328.38 mph) defeated No. 8 Pat Dakin (0.057/11.817/70.73)

Round 2: (0.060/No Time/ No Speed) loss to No. 1 Tony Schumacher (0.071/3.750/291.13)

“That was the most intense round of competition I’ve ever had and the wildest ride I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. We’re still taking time to process and look at the parts and put a plan together for how to move forward. For me, my body is fine. My mind is fine. The DSR chassis and Impact safety equipment did everything it was supposed to. As a drag racer this is what we do. There’s a risk. I think the quicker you can get back on the track, the better. Let’s not ever do that again. I thank the lord, my team, the chassis shop, Don (Schumacher), and everybody that helped. Not a great start to October and that was an early Halloween surprise. That’s for sure.”

Mark Pawuk, Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak– Factory Stock Shootout
(No. 1 Qualifier – 7.814 seconds at 175.48 mph)

Leah Pruett, Mopar Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak – Factory Stock Shootout 
(No. 7  Qualifier – 7.955 seconds at 172.32 mph)

NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS:

(Following the Mopar Express Lane Midwest Nationals) 

FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)

1. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 659 (2) 

2. Jack Beckman (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 643 (2)

3. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 625 (2)

4. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 527 (2)

5. Tim Wilkerson – 480

6. J.R. Todd – 473 

7. Bob Tasca III – 465

8. Alexis DeJoria – 375

9. Paul Lee – 319 

10. Cruz Pedregon – 303

TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)

1. Steve Torrance – 642 (3)

2. Doug Kalitta – 640 (2)

3. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge//SRT) – 562

4. Billy Torrance – 506 (1)

5. Terry McMillen – 436

6. Justin Ashley – 433 (1)

7. Antron Brown – 425

8. Shawn Langdon – 415 (1)

9. Clay Millican – 347

10. Tony Schumacher – 234

October 4, 2020

The record will show that Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Tuscany Faucets Ford finished 21^st in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

But what Eddie Wood – and lots of others – will remember most is the strong drive from DiBenedetto, who led three times for 10 laps and was in contention to win all the way until the final straightaway, and the smart pit calls by crew chief Greg Erwin, who chose to top off the fuel tank with 38 laps remaining.

That decision by Erwin put DiBenedetto in position to stay on the track through three overtime runs to the checkered flag while other contenders had to stop for fuel in a race that ran 12 laps past the advertised distance.

But a dramatic win, or even a heart-breaking close runner-up finish wasn’t meant to be. DiBenedetto led Laps 193-199 and most of the 200^th and final lap, but was nipped at the finish line by Denny Hamlin.

Then it was announced that DiBenedetto had been assessed a penalty for yellow-line violation, which relegated him from second place to 21^st.
 
“I can’t emphasize enough how proud I am of Matt, who did everything you’re supposed to do in a superspeedway race, and of Greg, who made the exact right call to top off after our last pit stop,” Wood said. “We all appreciate the support from Menards, Tuscany Faucets, Motorcraft/Quick Lane and Ford.
 
“We just came up short.”
 
DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team move on to the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway next Sund