NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SOUTH POINT 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 24, 2020  KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference and discussed the heat and other challenges of the upcoming Las Vegas race, the pressure of the next 2 races at Talladega and the Roval, the importance of points, and more. Full Transcript: GOODYEAR HAS CHANGED THE RIGHT-SIDE TIRE FOR LAS VEGAS FROM WHAT YOU RAN EARLIER THIS YEAR, TO HAVE MORE GRIP. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT?“I feel like each race track we go to and each tire combination, and then the PJ1 spray compound, and even the application of how they spray it, changes it each and every week. And so, we’ve learned to just be on our toes. We researched through the Truck races, the Xfinity races, and it’s not a proven science on what all the combinations led to, and again, you have to adapt and roll with it. So, we’ll see how it plays out. I was hoping the Bristol tire would have a little bit more grip like they had said, but it was fairly close to where we were with the previous race. So, a lot of factors where temperature and other things all come into play.” THE MGM GRAND IN VEGAS HAD A PICTURE OF YOU AND YOUR BROTHER ON THEIR MARQUEE. WHEN YOU SAW THAT, WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS?“Yeah, I thought it was fabulous. As a kid, I always had a dream or vision and a push to try to be on the marquee of any of the hotels. To have that on there and to not have fans at the race track, it’s all kind of the way that all different things are looked at right now with advertising. And so, I saw the NBC Sports logo at the bottom, the MGM Resorts chain of hotels helps with putting that up there, of course. It’s just neat to see the love for the hometown boys. And with NASCAR in town without fans at the track, we’re hoping people tune-into NBCSN. You’ve got to find different ways to advertise and to pump people up and to get the word out. And so that was great from MGM Resorts.” KYLE BUSCH HAS POSTED VIDEO OF HIS SON BREXTON, AND YOUR DAD AND MOM, AND THE WHOLE FAMILY. DOES THAT REMIND YOU OF WHEN YOU WERE LEARNING TO RACE WITH YOUR MOM AND DAD GOING TO ALL THE TRACKS?“Yeah, it’s great memories. Ashley and I were over at the dirt track on the first few of his outings to make sure we were there on the first trip to go watch him drive on the track and hold the pedal down and go fast. It immediately brought me back to when I saw my little brother do the same thing and head out onto the track for his first time. And I know it does that for my dad and my mom when they see a grandchild out there racing. So, it’s just neat to see the timeline. I need to find more time to separate on whether it’s the Tuesdays over at Millbridge (Speedway, in Salisbury, NC) or on Saturdays over at the other track. I just need to find my time to be a better uncle and to be more involved.” WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO FINALLY GET A WIN AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND TO DO IT WITHOUT FANS?“The Vegas track has definitely been one of the tough ones for me over the years with results and finishes not where I would have expected them to be. And, the teams that I’ve race for just have never quite found that right magic set-up or combination. And then for me, It’s a track that I just have that trouble with. There are a few tracks like Indianapolis and Martinsville; those are a few places where I struggle. And so with Vegas, I always put that little extra hometown pressure on myself and I would love to win there. I would love to win through the spirit of the camera and everything on NBC Sports; and I know the fans there, local, will be watching and cheering on the Busch brothers. So, that’s where I would connect. And hopefully do it through the TV side of it. We’ll get fans back one day and we’ll come back and race.” ON ROSS CHASTAIN JOINING CHIP GANASSI RACING IN 2021:“I feel like Ross Chastain is a perfect addition to Chip Ganassi Racing. Ross has done an incredible job to race hard and to promote himself and to battle through this perseverance. Some of the sponsorship changes at Ganassi over the years left him somewhat out of a ride with the Xfinity side of things. The kid is one of those true family-man workers that helps with the family business and has this passion for racing, and he reminds me a lot of myself; and just has true grit and the way that he just keeps pushing and has now landed that first big time contract. So, I’m very proud of Ross and I know he’ll bring that same tenacity and drive to the organization as a teammate. And I couldn’t think of a better kid to try to help out to get him established in the Cup Series.” HOW IMPORTANT IS COMING OUT OF THE LAS VEGAS IN GOOD SHAPE WITH THE UNCERTAINTY OF TALLADEGA AND THE CHARLOTTE ROVAL?“That’s why they’re all in this mix and that’s why they are Playoff race tracks in this round, or in any of the rounds. They are all difficult tracks. They’re all a challenge for their own reasons. And, a 1.5-mile, you could look at as being sort of a standard type of flow with pit calling and pit stop and racing.  But a place like Vegas fits into a track like Texas, as well; where you can change just left-side tires like we saw Austin Dillon do to win the Texas race earlier this year. So, there are all the different strategies and different things playing out. There are two Hendrick cars now not in the Playoffs, but they’re fast. Same thing with Gibbs. You’ve got the No. 20 car, Eric Jones, not in the Playoffs but he’s fast. Those are points that those guys could take away from the contenders that are still left in the situations they’re in. So, you’ve just got to race hard and race smart. There are three ways to get points each and every weekend: Stage 1, Stage 2, and the finish of the race. And, that happens at all the race tracks.” WHERE IS SUPERSPEEDWAY RACING RIGHT NOW IN TERMS OF ALL THESE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS THAT WE’VE SEEN OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS?“I remember winning Daytona a few years ago. I had this Adrenalin quote of something I can’t even remember I said. The more that we race on these restrictor-plate tracks, the more they become unpredictable, to be predictable and to not be predictable. I don’t even know what I said. It kind of sounded right but again, there is no constant in these superspeedway races. I was running fourth behind William Byron with 15 laps to go a few weeks ago for that Playoff cutoff race to get in. And, he peels off and pits, and I’m like, where’s he going? That’s the stupidest call I’ve ever seen. We just now bumped-up a row. After the restart, I was leading the inside lane. And then, I get wiped-out in a wreck the next lap. And there he is with fresh tires, just navigating through everybody, and comes back and wins it after he pitted from third place with 15 laps to go. And that’s what all the restrictor plate races have turned into being.” THE WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO BE HOT AT LAS VEGAS. HOW MUCH HAVE YOU BEEN HYDRATING TO PREPARE? DOES THE HEAT ALSO MEAN THE TRACK WILL BE SLICK?“Yeah, Vegas, I’m glad it’s back a couple of weeks from where it was last year for the first time in the Playoffs. It’s going to be a 105-degree heat index. We had that earlier this year at Texas. And guys had some trouble there. Austin Dillon, the winner, and myself; we needed fluids after the race. At the Daytona road course, tons of guys had trouble in that 110-degree heat index. So, Vegas, it’s dry heat. It’s a little different. But still, it’s one of these races that you have to hydrate, you have to stretch, you have to acclimate your body to the heat going into the race. By sitting in your hot motor home or your hot rental car to try to have your body forewarned that extra heat is coming. And so, it’s a sequence. And I have a great trainer with Josh Wise at Ganassi, that helps all the drivers in the Chevrolet camp be their best when they get to the race track. And the track will be hot as well. It’ll be super-slick compared to where it races in February and March.” YOU HAVE TAKEN ON A LEADERSHIP ROLE AT CHIP GANASSI RACING. HOW MUCH DO YOU EMBRACE THAT ROLE AND DOES IT HELP YOU INSIDE YOUR CAR TO BE THAT ‘VETERAN QUARTERBACK’ FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM?“I figured it was time for some change and to adapt to my age and utilize my experience the best way possible. And that’s to create that level headedness, to create the leadership/mentor role; I feel like it’s this time in my life it’s great to give back to young engineers and young crew members to help them come up through the ranks quicker and better and stronger. And so, it’s just a nice fit as well, with Chip Ganassi. Racing for a legend like him who has that tenacity and who has that fire and desire to win every single week. There’s only so much room for those big egos and he helps me moderate mine. And that’s part of the combination of why it works so well and being able to deliver good results over there.” WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM SITS RIGHT NOW IN THE ROUND OF 12?“What I like is we have had better lap times at all three races so far compared to maybe the five or six races leading into the Playoffs. So, I look at Darlington as a pretty solid result. We had one really good pit stop and one bad one mixed together and that’s where we fell back to eighth place. I feel like our lap times at Richmond were solid; but we were on a pit strategy from our engineering crew. And from our data that said we should go this route, and it took us from running sixth, we led some laps, but it took us all the way back to 13th. So, that was a big mistake on losing points. And then at Bristol, we were running pretty strong. I felt like we were a Top 5 car and then ended up with a loose wheel. And so, we had to battle back. But a lot of other guys had trouble as well at Bristol. So, we’re on to the next round. We know that our cushion is gone. We ended Bristol with 33-points to the good. And now we start Vegas minus four. So that’s just part of the system and now we have to be perfect. We have to get every point possible that we’re able to get on our own at Vegas, Talladega, and the Roval. And, that should help us advance.” YOU ARE A TECHNICALLY MINDED DRIVER. IN YOUR POST-DRIVING CAREER HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF PUTTING ON THE CREW CHIEF HAT?“That is probably the toughest position in NASCAR. I think it’s the most under-rated position. And, for me to be a crew chief, I tried it one time for my little brother when he was in an ARCA car at Charlotte. And I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I had no idea what was going on, all the expectations, all the responsibility. I don’t see myself being a crew chief. I even struggle to this day with pit strategy calls from the race car. And so, I think more of a mentor or a driver coach would be down the right avenue; not a crew chief.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SOUTH POINT 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the first race of the Round of 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, how the temperature change can have an effect on the track, the importance of capitalizing on stage points, and more. Transcript:  WE’VE HAD THE SITUATION WHERE TALLADEGA IS THE CUTOFF RACE AND NOW IT’S GOING TO BE THE MIDDLE RACE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT – NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN POSITION, THERE’S TIME TO RECOVER A LITTLE BIT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG OR BASK IN THE GLORY IF SOMETHING GOES RIGHT AT A PLACE LIKE TALLADEGA? “Yeah, certainly how it plays out is a little different I guess than what we’ve seen last year and in years past. But I look at – you have Vegas and that to me, I feel like, is the first opportunity and you really need to kind of take it a week at a time because I think we would be messing up to already be looking ahead to Talladega. We have an opportunity this weekend to try to perform and try to get a win. And if we can do that, then the rest of (this round) doesn’t matter near as much, as far as pointing your way through. So, that’s the goal right now and we’ll take it as they come.”
ON THIS WEEKEND, IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GOING TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY HOTTER THAN WHEN YOU VISITED EARLIER IN THE YEAR. HOW SENSITIVE IS THIS TRACK TO TEMPERATURE CHANGE?“Yeah, it definitely seems like it’s been some time since we’ve been Vegas. It’s going to be a good bit hotter. I feel like all these tracks can be temperature sensitive, for sure. I think this race, as early as it gets dark out, it will probably end at night like it did last year. So, that’ll be interesting and I’m sure it will have a pretty big swing from the beginning of the race to the end. Hopefully we’re on top of that and try to have things rolling.”
WHAT’S YOUR THOUGHT ABOUT LAP TRAFFIC, FRIENDS ON THE TRACK, AND LETTING PEOPLE GO IF THEY ARE FASTER THAN YOU?“I honestly feel like there are times where if it’s not your day, it’s not your day and that’s kind of the way I see it. If I’m getting lapped, it’s not my day and I get that, I feel like. I know for dang sure that if I’m getting lapped by the leaders and the race is coming to a close, I feel like I have strived to make sure I am out of the way for the simple fact that I would want that returned to me if I was ever in the other position racing for a win and trying to get through lap traffic. I feel like you want all the help you can get. So, I just do it as I would want it done to me on the other end and kind of deal with it that way. It’s really up to the individual. I’m not sure that there’s a written rule or an unwritten rule that says what’s right or what’s wrong. But I think as a racer, you know when it’s your day and you know when you’re struggling, have damage or whatever it may be. So, I think you have to take it case by case, but it’s certainly up to the individual. That’s really all it comes down to – is the person and who they’re dealing with.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT FRIENDS WHO ARE DRIVERS COMPETING WITH YOU ON THE RACE TRACK? YOU’RE A GOOD ONE TO ASK – YOU AND (RYAN) BLANEY ARE FRIENDS. SOME DRIVERS SAY YOU BRING YOUR OWN FRIENDS TO THE RACE TRACK.“I don’t necessarily go to the track to make friends. Ryan (Blaney) and I were friends long before we started racing in NASCAR. So, I think that one’s a little unique. I feel like my friendships that I have around the track were made when I was a kid and it just so happens to be that way because I grew up around the race track. I can’t say I’ve really made any friends since I’ve been racing with the rest of them and I really don’t have a relationship with very many of the guys on the circuit. I definitely can understand the side of no, we’re not there to make friends. And that’s not how we should race each other. I feel like Ryan and I race each other hard regardless. But I try to race him with respect as I feel like he’s raced me with respect over the years. So, it’s really just more of a respect thing, I think, than it is a friendship or not a friendship situation with guys on track. If you respect somebody, I feel like the right thing is to show them that, especially if it’s mutual. And if it’s not, that’s typically where problems come in and there certainly are different views of things and guys have different ways of approaching and solving problems. A lot of times, you can butt heads and whatnot, which is fine – that’s entertainment too. So, I think it’s really not as much of a friendship situation as it is ‘hey, do I really respect this guy or not and how does he race me’ and how am I going to in-turn race him. I think that’s really what it comes down to more so than it is being friends or not.”
YOU TALK ABOUT FOCUSING ON VEGAS. IS THE FOCUS ON VEGAS, AS FAR AS STAGE POINTS, MORE URGENT BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF TALLADEGA AND THE ROVAL? “Stage points are huge and everybody knows that now. Ten or twenty points in a stage – that’s a ton. So, I think everybody knows how important stages are and what they can mean, especially stage wins. Getting that extra bonus point is a huge thing, too. I think everybody knows that and that’s certainly a game that’s been played. I don’t know that it was as much played that very first year that we had this, but really ever since that first year, I think it has been known and everybody really gets that. And it’s just gotten more and more aggressive, I feel like, as time has gone on to perform well in stages. So, I think it makes it important to run good throughout the entire race. I thought that our stage results at Richmond and Bristol were good and that’s really what allowed us to get through. I haven’t moved to the mindset of Talladega next week. The way I kind of look at it is I’m probably going to crash –  I think that’s just the odds probably point that direction. I hope not, but I’d say anything more than crashing would just be icing on top is how I’m going to look at it. I’m going to go into this weekend and really focus on Vegas. I’m not going to dwell on next week yet. We have a whole race here at Vegas this weekend to try to perform, get a win and move on the right way.”
LOOKING BACK AT LAST YEAR AT THE ROVAL – CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH WHERE YOU WERE AS A TEAM PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT, PRIOR TO THAT RESTART, AND HOW THINGS WERE GOING FOR YOU PRIOR TO THAT MOMENT?“Everything was really going really well, I thought to that point. We had a fast car, had got up to the lead, was making laps, and trying to get a little better and push certain areas to try and improve. I felt like the margin to the competitors was certainly going to close up as the race went on. So, both myself and our team, we were just kind of pushing in all the little small areas that we thought we could to get better. That was where my mistake ended up coming. I was trying to find an extra little bit for a late-race restart if we were in that position or whatever it may be. Leading up to all that, things were going good and we were just fine-tuning, which was really nice.”
AT WHAT POINT DID YOU REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE OK ONCE YOU BACKED OUT OF THE TIRE BARRIERS?“I didn’t, really. I pretty well thought it was destroyed, so I didn’t think there was any chance. I thought it was over, initially. And then once we kind of got back going, the thing was still driving pretty good. It still had some damage and it didn’t drive as good as it did, but it was still pretty solid. We started marching our way up through there. There was still a fair amount of time left in the race. Not enough time to mess around by any means, but there was a fair amount of time to march our way back forward. We were slowly clicking laps off and were able to make some passes. At that point, once we got back into the top-five there with the last couple later race restarts, if I recall correctly, I’m like ‘hey, we have another shot at it’. Tried to just mentally reset as much as I could and, luckily, things went our way. I had a couple good restarts, cars stayed together and we got really fortunate to have all those things go our way. To hit the tires as hard as we did and it not tear it up bad enough to keep going was probably a miracle. I don’t take that one for granted. That was definitely a piece of fortune in our direction, for sure.”
NEXT WEEKEND IS GOING TO BE 20th ANNIVERARY OF THE 2000 WINSTON 500, WHICH WAS EARNHARDT’S FINAL VICTORY. I KNOW YOUR DAD WAS IN THAT RACE. DO YOU EVER GO BACK TO WATCH THAT RACE? WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE LASTING IMPACT AND LEGACY OF THAT RACE?“I’ll be honest, I’ve never gone back and watched it. I was very, very young – I don’t remember the race. I haven’t gone back to really see or watch what happened or how it unfolded. I’ve seen a photo of Kenny Wallace there running second to Dale (Earnhardt) as the race was winding down. That’s really about all my memory serves of that event. Like I said, I was so little, I don’t really remember it at all.”
VEGAS HAS BEEN ONE OF THOSE TRACKS THAT HAS BEEN UP AND DOWN FOR YOU. JUST LOOKING AT YOUR PAST RACES AT VEGAS, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO BE THE DIFFERENCE IN YOU GETTING A TOP-10 RESULT/WIN OR YOU POSSIBLY FINISHING NEAR THE BOTTOM?“That’s a great point because I feel like Vegas has been super hit or miss for us. We’ve crashed a bunch out there, I feel like, and had some really bad finishes. I thought we had our best run going here in the spring race this year. I forget – we had a flat tire or something there in the middle of that last stage or towards the end of the race. I think the key would be to run like we were in the spring and not have a flat tire. That would be a fantastic opportunity, I think, to have a solid day.”

CHEVROLET AT GAINESVILLE What: Amalie Motor Oil NHRA GatornationalsWhen: Saturday, Sept. 26 – Sunday, Sept. 27Where: Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, FloridaTV: FS1 will telecast qualifying from 5-7 p.m. ET Saturday and eliminations Sunday from 2-5 p.m. ET.  
Chevrolet Pro Stock Drivers in Tight Race at the Top Heading to Gainesville Enders’ win at U.S. Nationals propels defending champ ahead of Coughlin and Line  DETROIT (Sept. 24, 2020) – The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to the site of the first event cancelled due to COVID-19 back in March, the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida.  The event, which was originally scheduled for March 12-15, will be contested with the major portion of the schedule including the Pro Stock division this weekend.  Following her win at the U.S. Nationals earlier this month, reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders is looking for more success from her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro race team. The win in Indy was her second of the season, which matches her win total from all of 2019 when she took home her third Pro Stock title. “Our win at Indy was monumental, especially considering how close we were to sealing the deal last year,” said Enders. “We have a great Chevy Camaro right now and I’m driving well, which should be a mean combination in Gainesville.” Hovering just behind Enders in the standings are two multi-Pro Stock champions who are racing in their final full-time Pro Stock season. Enders’ Elite Motorsports teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr., also a two-time winner this season and driver of the Jegs.com Chevrolet Camaro, sits just seven points behind heading into the “Gatornationals. Coughlin posted his career-best elapsed time of 6.484 seconds and career-best speed (214.62 mph) at Gainesville in 2014. Coughlin is a two-time winner in Gainesville and a five-time Pro Stock champion.  Three-time Pro Stock champion, Jason Line is 11 points behind Enders. Line, driver of the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro, is tied with KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson for four wins at the Gatornationals.    FOX Sports 1 will telecast eliminations from 2-5 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 27.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
PRO STOCK:
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (2019 champion; winner at Phoenix; first in standings): “Our win at Indy was monumental especially considering how close we were to sealing the deal last year. We have a great Chevy Camaro right now and I’m driving well, which should be a mean combination in Gainesville. I look forward to finishing this crazy year really strong. We have five events left and like I always say, my money is on us.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “The good news from the last race is that my Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is back to healthy, and that’s a good feeling going into Gainesville. After a full schedule at the U.S. Nationals, we’re back to two qualifying sessions at this one, and I actually kind of like that. I seem to do better at two-day races. Gainesville has a cool history, and it’s been pretty good to me. I’m a big fan of anywhere you can run fast, and we’ve been able to run fast there in the past. This time is a little different because we’re going there in September, but it’ll be my last time racing there in Pro Stock, so I’d like to do well.” 
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “This weekend will be different; we’ve gotten kind of used to racing Indy. But I think our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros are ready to run no matter where we go. We can run fast – it’s just a matter of maintaining the focus on Sunday. We need to do a better job of driving and adapting to the racetrack on race day. We’ve made a lot of strides in the last three or four months, both engine wise and car wise, and we’ve got fast racecars – but you still have to do it right every time you go out there. You can’t make a mistake. We have to clean up those mistakes, and we’ll be winning races again. We’re close, we’re very close. We just have to put it all together.” 
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS “There’s certainly a lot of exciting things going on. We are looking to rebound from a U.S. Nationals where things didn’t go as planned and after some pretty extensive testing in Tulsa (Okla.) we feel as though we’re back to where we’ve been all season. The Gators is a marque event and it’s the perfect place for us to get back to our winning ways. The Universal Studios Florida design makes the car look very stealthy and aggressive. It’s ready for the fight. We had the chance to visit the park in February and it was an amazing experience. From the old school rides we all remember to the modern day experiences with all the latest technology, I didn’t know what I was stepping into. I was completely blown away and can’t wait to get back.”

BATAVIA, OH (September 24, 2020) – The NAPA Know How 50 – Presented by Lucas Oil from Tri-City Speedway is live tonight on MAVTV Motorsports Network at 9 PM EDT, with a re-airing at 12 AM EDT. As heavy storms passed through Granite City, IL a few days before the race, track crews worked hard and it paid off. 

A three-way battle for the lead ended badly for a front row starter, but one driver walked away with his second win of 2020, and second win at the 3/8th mile track, just outside of St. Louis. The Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the race ended up in the top 10, after taking a Lucas Dirt series provisional and advancing 14 spots. The broadcast will include driver interviews, in-car cameras, and various technical segments.

Owned and operated by Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network is a television network deeply rooted in the automotive world. MAVTV is available to over 35 million homes on U-verse, DIRECTV (channel 214), Fios by Verizon, Vidgo, TIKILIVE, fuboTV, Spectrum, and other nationwide providers. MAVTV will broadcast 5 live events and 34 original tape-delayed airings. To find a full list of providers, visit: mavtv.com/get-mavtv/providers.
The entire 2020 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series TV schedule can be found on the series website at: www.lucasdirt.com/schedule/tv-schedule/.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Championship Battles Reach Critical Juncture in Arizona

CHANDLER, Ariz. (September 24, 2020) – The 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Presented by GEICO kicked off its run to crown this season’s eight champions with another thrilling tripleheader weekend from Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. A brand new, innovative track design greeted the world’s finest short course off road racers for the Super Clean Duel in the Desert Presented by Toyota, and it resulted in a three-day spectacle filled with some of the best action of the year. In the end, each respective championship battle moved one critical step closer to its conclusion, setting the stage for a dramatic end to the 2020 season.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series began its stretch run of the 2020 season  with a tripleheader from Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro 2

Friday   Reigning Pro 2 Champion and point leader Jerett Brooks entered the weekend action at Wild Horse Pass hoping to put more distance between he and Doug Mittag, his main rival who has provided a fierce challenge throughout the 2020 season.   Brooks and Mittag started on the front row to kick things off on Friday morning and as racing got underway on the new clockwise layout Brooks was able to establish himself at the head of the pack, leaving Mittag to deal with Ryan Beat. As the race wore on Mittag lost valuable ground to Brooks and eventually dropped from second to fourth behind Beat and RJ Anderson. Beat then looked to put pressure on Brooks for the lead until a miscue sent him up on two wheels and into the wall.   From there Brooks was able to build an insurmountable lead over Mittag in the closing laps, taking his fourth win of the season by almost six seconds over his rival, with Anderson in third.   Friday Results#77 Jerett Brooks#81 Doug Mittag#37 RJ Anderson#78 Ricky Gutierrez#65 Dave Mason Jr.

Jerett Brooks captured his fourth Pro 2 win of the season on Friday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   As the field returned to the track on Saturday it was Beat who led the field to green from pole position, with Mittag alongside on the front row. Brooks started third on the grid. As the trucks came to life to at the drop of the green Mittag got the jump to move out front, forcing Beat to fend off Brooks for second. A determined Beat battled back and successfully got by Mittag to take control of the top spot.   The top three settled in through the halfway point of the race, separated by about a truck length each. When the second half got underway Beat held off early pressure to keep his challengers at bay. As Brooks looked to challenge the lead duo he encountered loose bodywork that hindered his vision, causing the point leader to lose third to Anderson and drop back even further.   Despite heavy and persistent pressure Beat prevailed with his first Pro 2 victory by less than a second over Mittag, with Anderson in third. Brooks lost another position late to finish fifth.   Saturday Results#51 Ryan Beat#81 Doug Mittag#37 RJ Anderson#78 Ricky Gutierrez#77 Jerett Brooks

An exciting Pro 2 race on Saturday saw Ryan Beat (left) capture his first win in the class. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   With two different winners in the first two days it was anyone’s guess as to who might prevail in Sunday morning’s tripleheader finale. Coming off a less-than-ideal finish on Saturday Brooks was in an ideal position to start the last race, lining up on pole alongside Anderson, with Beat and Mittag in the second row.   As soon as the green flag waved Brooks dropped the hammer and charged out to an early lead on the field. Beat and Anderson battled for second, but after Anderson over-rotated a corner it allowed Beat to assume second and Mittag third. When the race reached its halfway point Brooks enjoyed a commanding lead and looked to reestablish that advantage on the restart.   Despite the best efforts of both Beat and Mittag, they were unable to maintain the pace Brooks was putting down. After making his way by Beat to take control of second, Mittag put in one final push to try and close the gap to Brooks, but it wasn’t enough. Brooks carried on to season win number five by 4.7 seconds over Mittag, followed by Beat in third.   Despite wins in two out of three races over the weekend, Brooks’ fifth-place finish on Saturday caused him to lose control of the point lead to Mittag, who completed an exceptionally consistent weekend with three straight runner-up finishes. The lead duo sit just two points apart with two rounds remaining.   Sunday Results#77 Jerett Brooks#81 Doug Mittag#51 Ryan Beat#65 Dave Mason Jr.#36 Rodrigo AmpudiaPro 2 Points (Round 8 of 10)#81 Doug Mittag – 410#77 Jerett Brooks – 408#51 Ryan Beat – 379#37 RJ Anderson – 356#78 Ricky Gutierrez – 322

Brooks (77) outlasted Doug Mittag (81) to end the weekend with a big Pro 2 win. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro Lite

Friday    Brock Heger couldn’t have captured a wave of momentum at a more opportune time in Pro Lite than coming into the weekend tripleheader in Arizona. He entered Chandler with a six-point lead over Christopher Polvoorde, thanks largely to Heger’s four-race podium streak anchored by a pair of wins.   As the trucks rolled onto the track for the first time Friday morning Heger found himself exactly where he wanted to be on the front row alongside Polvoorde. As the race got underway it was Polvoorde, who overcame some electrical issues prior to the start, who seized control of the lead, with Heger all over his rear fender. Unfortunately, after leading the first handful of laps of the race the electrical gremlins returned for Polvoorde and dropped him out of contention, handing the lead over to Heger, with Ronnie Anderson in second.   Heger led the field to the halfway point and picked up where he left off when racing resumed. He continued to build on that lead and easily brought home his third win in the last four races by 3.9 seconds over Anderson, with Madix Bailey in third.   Friday Results#12 Brock Heger#52 Ronnie Anderson#29 Madix Bailey#59 Jimmy Weitzel#50 Mason Prater

Brock Heger was impressive on his way to the Friday Pro Lite win. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday    It was Heger and Polvoorde once again on the front row to start Saturday’s action, this time with Heger on the preferred inside position. Both trucks got great jumps and entered the first turn side-by-side, but Heger emerged with the lead. Polvoorde stuck with his championship rival and was able to stay within one or two truck lengths, while Cole Mamer attached to the leaders from third as the race reached the halfway point.   When racing got back underway Heger was able to maintain his hold of the lead, but behind him the battle for second reached a tipping point when Mamer over-rotated a corner, causing Polvoorde to run into him. Polvoorde got the worse end of the incident, losing several spots, while Mamer continued in second, with Anderson in third. Out front, Heger carried on to his third consecutive victory and fourth win of the season by less than a second over Mamer, with Anderson in third.   Saturday Results#12 Brock Heger#35 Cole Mamer#52 Ronnie Anderson#29 Madix Bailey#50 Mason Prater

Heger made it back-to-back Pro Lite wins with another impressive drive on Saturday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday    Heger entered Sunday’s third and final race in search of the weekend sweep, and he was in a favorable position to do so by starting on the front row alongside Mamer. As the field came to green things got wild almost immediately as Heger got sideways and nearly went off the track. Anderson experienced similar issues, but wasn’t as fortunate and was forced off track. The early excitement allowed Bailey to move into the lead, while Heger recovered to assume second.   Bailey looked poised at the head of the pack, holding off Heger to lead the field to the halfway point. When racing got back underway Bailey once again withstood early pressure from Heger to hold onto the lead. As the laps wound down, Heger came under fire from Mamer, who successfully made the pass for second and set his sights on the lead. A late caution bunched the field up one last time and Mamer took advantage of the opportunity to make the pass on Bailey on the restart, while Heger encountered trouble and soon pulled off the track.   Mamer charged to the checkered flat to take his third win of the season by 1.7 seconds over Bailey, while Jimmy Weitzel finished third.   Heger’s pair of wins over the weekend helped him maintain his lead atop the Pro Lite standings, where he holds a 22-point lead over Bailey with two rounds remaining.   Sunday Results#35 Cole Mamer#29 Madix Bailey#59 Jimmy Weitzel#8 Carson ParrishBronsen ChiaramontePro Lite Points (Round 8 of 10)#12 Brock Heger – 402#29 Madix Bailey – 380#35 Cole Mamer – 367#94 Christopher Polvoorde – 367#52 Ronnie Anderson – 347

Cole Mamer prevailed with his third Pro Lite win of the season on Sunday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Pro Buggy

Friday   After a dominant outing at the previous event reigning Pro Buggy Champion Eliott Watson entered the Wild Horse Pass weekend in control of the division. A comfortable 23-point lead accompanied Watson into Friday morning’s action, where he started one the front row alongside polesitter Matthew Brister.   When the action got underway Brister was able to take advantage of his starting position to quickly establish a big lead over Watson and the rest of the field. He maintained that advantage through to the halfway point of the race, and when racing resumed Brister was able to maintain his hold of the lead. However, Watson started to pick up his pace as well and soon started to apply pressure on Brister. The pair engaged in a tight battle for the position, with Watson eventually getting the upper hand after Brister suffered a flat rear tire.   Watson went unchallenged the rest of the way and took his fourth straight win by two seconds over Darren Hardesty Jr., while Trey D. Gibbs took advantage of Brister’s misfortune to capture third.   Friday Results#1 Eliott Watson#99 Darren Hardesty Jr.#15 Trey D. Gibbs#5 Matthew Brister#24 Bradley Morris

Eliott Watson extended his Pro Buggy winning streak to four races on Friday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   Saturday’s race saw Brister and Gibbs occupy the front row, while Watson was forced to start right behind them from the fourth starting spot. When the green flag waved to kick things off Brister mirrored his efforts from Friday by charging out to an early lead over Gibbs, Dale Ebberts, Watson, and the rest of the field. The action intensified from there as Watson made his move to the front, eventually finding his way into second. Once there, the champ was able to put the pressure on Brister, who successfully fended off the challenge through to the halfway point.   When the field came back to life Brister got the jump he needed to put a gap on Watson, but with just a couple laps to go Brister again suffered a flat rear tire, which allowed Watson to close the gap and make the pass on the final lap. Watson captured his fifth consecutive victory by just over a second ahead of Brister, with Ebberts in third.   Saturday Results#1 Eliott Watson#5 Matthew Brister#7 Dale Ebberts#74 Brady Whitlock#24 Bradley Morris

Watson’s dominance continued on Saturday with a fifth consecutive Pro Lite win. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   Watson found himself in a position to earn back-to-back tripleheader sweeps entering Sunday’s weekend finale, and he would do so starting from the front row alongside his weekend rival Brister. When racing began for the final time at Wild Horse Pass it was Watson who came away with the early lead, while Brister gave pursuit. Watson established a comfortable margin over Brister, who appeared to encounter trouble with his buggy after just a handful of laps, allowing Ebberts to move into second and Gibbs into third.   The excitement ramped up in the closing stages of the race as Gibbs was able to make a run on Watson and looked for a way around, but Watson ultimately extended his reign of dominance over the division with a sixth straight win. The champ took the checkered flag by less than half a second over Gibbs, with Brady Whitlock in third.   Watson now enjoys a commanding lead atop the Pro Buggy standings, 50 points ahead of Gibbs with two rounds to go.   Sunday Results#1 Eliott Watson#15 Trey D. Gibbs#74 Brady Whitlock#56 Zachary Drapkin#24 Bradley MorrisPro Buggy Points (Round 8 of 10)#1 Eliott Watson – 434#15 Trey D. Gibbs – 384#5 Matthew Brister – 372#74 Brady Whitlock – 348#99 Darren Hardesty Jr. – 344#7 Dale Ebberts – 344

Watson wrapped up his second tripleheader sweep and extended his Pro Buggy win streak to six races. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Turbo UTV & Production 1000 UTV

Friday   A hotly contested Turbo UTV title fight saw the duo of defending champion Corry Weller and Ronnie Anderson lead the way into the tripleheader at Wild Horse Pass. Both drivers had been a picture of consistency in 2020, but Weller brought in some added incentive coming into her hometown race.   The action on Friday morning saw Anderson start on the front row with Weller lining up right behind him. As the green flag waved Anderson quickly opened up a big lead on the field while Weller had to fight her way through traffic. Out front, Anderson looked impressive and had the setup on his Polaris dialed in. He cruised to his first win of the season by a significant margin over Chance Haugen in second, while Weller followed in third.   In Production 1000 UTV a similar rivalry has been unfolding all season long between former champion Brock Heger and Myles Cheek. The pair have traded wins all season long and both looked to gain an edge on the other coming into Chandler.   Both drivers had their work cut out for them on Friday morning starting on the second row behind Robby Hornsby and Dallas Nord. As the green flag waved both Heger and Cheek pounced and quickly took control of the race, passing both Nord and Hornsby, who flipped before the end of the opening lap. With a clear track the championship rivals went at it in a head-to-head battle. Cheek put heavy pressure on Heger for the lead and made the pass happen. From there Cheek pulled away to take his fourth win of the season by 6.6 seconds over Heger, with Nord in third.   Friday Turbo UTV Results#752 Ronnie Anderson#718 Chance Haugen#1 Corry Weller#703 Trevor Leighton#704 Dan KellyFriday Production 1000 UTV Results#957 Myles Cheek#912 Brock Heger#974 Dallas Nord#988 Anthony Santos#912 Lance Root

Ronnie Anderson (left) took his first Turbo UTV win on Friday,  while Myles Cheek (right) took his fourth Production 1000 UTV win. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   With a win under his belt Anderson was in search of more as Turbo UTV returned to the track on Saturday. He started on the front row while Weller started right behind on Row 2 and when the field came to take the green flag Anderson was able to move into the lead, while Weller once again had to come through the field. Anderson nailed the setup again on his Polaris and easily controlled the pace of the race, dominating en route to a second straight victory by 12 seconds over Weller, with Robert VanBeekum in third.   After his dominant win on Friday Cheek carried all the momentum into Saturday’s Production 1000 UTV race, looking to build on his advantage over Heger. The pair once again started on the second row and when they green flag waved they settled in behind Nord, who jumped out to the early lead. Heger soon made his way to the front and Cheek followed through into second, setting the stage for another showdown. Much like Friday, Cheek was able to find a way by Heger and pull away for a second straight win by a margin of 1.9 seconds, with Hornsby completing the podium in third.   Saturday Turbo UTV Results#752 Ronnie Anderson#1 Corry Weller#764 Robert VanBeekum#718 Chance Haugen#715 Trey D. GibbsSaturday Production 1000 UTV Results#957 Myles Cheek#912 Brock Heger#916 Robby Hornsby#912 Lance Root#929 Orion Rodriguez

Anderson (left) took another big Turbo UTV win on Saturday,  while Cheek (right) went back-to-back in Production 1000 UTV. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   By stealing the momentum in the title fight Anderson came into Sunday’s final Turbo UTV race of the weekend with an eye on positioning himself for a championship run. While Weller hadn’t shown the pace of her rival, she was doing what she needed to minimize the damage and looked to turn things around Sunday. Fittingly, the pair started on the front row for Sunday morning’s battle and when the race got underway Weller was able to take advantage of her pole position to jump out to the early lead over Anderson. Weller held onto the top spot for the first few laps but Anderson was able to patiently wait for his opportunity and make the pass happen. Once out front Anderson never looked back and completed the weekend sweep by a margin of 5.1 seconds over Weller, with Trey D Gibbs in third.   Anderson’s three-race win streak moved him to the top of the Turbo UTV standings at a critical juncture in the season as he now holds a seven point lead over Weller with two rounds remaining.   While Cheek has gotten the better of him after the first two Production 1000 UTV races, Heger came into Sunday’s tripleheader finale ready to leave it all out on the track in hopes of stopping the momentum surge. Heger and Cheek led the field to green on the front row for the weekend finale and Heger once again put his Yamaha out front early on. As he had all weekend long, Cheek bided his time and waited for his opportunity to make the pass, which he did in the early laps. From there Cheek was able to log consistent laps and bring home the weekend sweep for his fifth win in the past six races. He took the checkered flag 4.6 seconds ahead of Heger, with Orion Rodriguez earning a podium finish in third.   Cheek’s hot streak has allowed him to build a 25-point lead over Heger in the Production 1000 UTV standings and he’s put himself in a comfortable position to potentially wrap up his first division title with two rounds remaining.   Sunday Turbo UTV Results#752 Ronnie Anderson#1 Corry Weller#715 Trey D. Gibbs#733 James Maki#777 Chelsea HaugenTurbo UTV Points (Round 8 of 10)#752 Ronnie Anderson – 414#1 Corry Weller – 407#703 Trevor Leighton – 350#718 Chance Haugen – 346#715 Trey D. Gibbs – 327Sunday Production 1000 UTV Results#957 Myles Cheek#912 Brock Heger#916 Robby Hornsby#929 Orion Rodriguez#919 Kenny HoltProduction 1000 UTV Points (Round 8 of 10)#957 Myles Cheek – 441#912 Brock Heger – 416#916 Robby Hornsby – 356#974 Dallas Nord – 331#923 Jim Price – 286

Anderson (left) and Cheek (right) each wrapped up weekend sweeps  of Turbo UTV and Production 1000 UTV, respectively, on Sunday. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Mod Kart, JR2 Kart & RZR 170

Friday   A hotly contested title fight accompanied Mod Kart into the Wild Horse Pass tripleheader, as Braden Chiaramonte, Trey Eggleston, and Connor Barry had all enjoyed victory this season and sat separated by just 11 points entering Arizona. Friday’s opening race proved to be an opportunity for Barry to gain some ground on his rivals as he dominated the action with a wire-to-wire performance that saw him capture his third win of the season by 2.8 seconds over David Gasper, with Ethan Ebert in third.   Rhyan Denney was the focal point of JR2 Kart coming into Chandler, where her consistency allowed her to carry a double-digit point lead into the tripleheader weekend. The point leader was going to have her work cut out for her on Friday morning, starting mid pack, while her closest rivals started closer to the front. When racing got underway it was Olive Hoover who controlled the lead all the way until the final lap when Talan Martin made an impressive pass to steal the win just ahead of Hoover, with Logan Leggitt in third.   The rivalry in RZR 170 between point leader TJ Siewers and defending champion George Llamosas was destined to continue at Wild Horse Pass, in what has been one of the most exciting classes to watch all season long. On Friday morning, both drivers would have their work cut out for them as they started on the third row. As the racing got underway it was polesitter Declan Shields who seized control of the lead and paced the field for nearly the entirety of the race until a miscue with two laps to go handed the lead to Llamosas, who carried on to his third win of the season ahead of Siewers in second and Ryder VanBeekum in third.   Friday Mod Kart Results#528 Connor Barry#576 David Gasper#577 Ethan Ebert#584 Karaston Hernandez#507 Cade MartinFriday JR2 Kart Results#411 Talan Martin#488 Olive Hoover#481 Logan Leggitt#486 Tyli Olsen#460 Rhyan DenneyFriday RZR 170 Results#188 George Llamosas#101 TJ Siewers#164 Ryder VanBeekum#155 Carson Greco#176 Jaxon Leaming

(Clockwise left) Connor Barry captured his third Mod Kart win on Friday,  while Talan Martin (middle) made a late pass on Olive Hoover (front) to win JR2 Kart, and George Llamoasas took his third RZR 170 win. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Saturday   As the Mod Kart field returned to the track on Saturday morning there was a lot of excitement surrounding what kind of action would unfold. Barry had the momentum after his Friday win and would have the opportunity to start on the front row for the second race. As soon as the green flag waved Barry put himself at the head of the pack again and comfortably paced the field for the majority of the race. The battle up front tightened considerably in the closing laps but Barry withstood the challenge to take his second win of the weekend by a half second over Gasper, with Braden Chiaramonte in third.   The second JR2 Kart race featured even more unpredictable action. After starting on the front row Lake Adler was able to grab control of the early, with Denney right behind. Unfortunately for Denney she found herself upside down shortly thereafter. That proved to be the help Adler needed as he went unchallenged for the remainder of the race to capture his second win of the season ahead of Hoover and Talan Martin.   As the RZR 170 field returned to the track for Saturday’s race all eyes were on Llamosas and Siewers to see if the defending champ could continue to close in on the current point leader. When racing got underway it was Carson Greco who capitalized on his front row starting spot to take the early lead, but Llamosas applied pressure immediately. The persistent pressure to hold off Llamosas caused a miscue by Greco that resulted in a tip over, which allowed Llamosas to move out front and charge home to his second win of the weekend ahead of Siewers in second and VanBeekum in third.   Saturday Mod Kart Results#528 Connor Barry#576 David Gasper#573 Braden Chiaramonte#514 Brody Eggleston#511 Talan MartinSaturday JR2 Kart Results#499 Lake Adler#488 Olive Hoover#411 Talan Martin#497 Jessie Owens#401 Dane CulverSaturday RZR 170 Results#188 George Llamosas#101 TJ Siewers#164 Ryder VanBeekum#158 Declan Shields#124 Zoe Easton

(Clockwise left) Connor Barry (front) went back-to-back with a ModKart win on Saturday, as Lake Adler (front) prevailed in JR2 Kart, while George Llamoasas (front) won again in RZR 170. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

Sunday   As Mod Kart entered Sunday ready to close out the tripleheader weekend Barry was eager for the chance to wrap up the weekend sweep and give a big boost to his title hopes. He started on the front row for Sunday’s race but gave way to Gasper as the green flag waved. Gasper had been the only driver to really threaten Barry’s dominance all weekend and the clear track provided the kind of advantage he’d been looking for all weekend. Despite heavy pressure from multiple drivers Gasper prevailed with his first win of the season by 1.5 seconds over Barry, with Brody Egglesotn in third.   Barry’s stellar weekend vaulted him to the top of the Mod Kart standings, where he now holds a 23-point lead with two rounds remaining.   After tight battles for the win through the first two days, the weekend finale in JR2 Kart was up for grabs for whichever driver could take the biggest advantage of their track position. When the green flag waved it was Brodie Martin who capitalized on his front row starting spot to take the early lead and pace the field. Despite pressure from his cousin, Talan Martin, all race long, Brodie never put a wheel wrong and became the third different JR 2 Kart winner of the weekend ahead of his cousin, with Chaden Zane Minder in third.   With such a diverse collection of results from the weekend, the JR2 Kart title fight is tighter than ever. Talan Martin’s consistency has put him atop the standings, where he holds a slim six point lead with just two rounds remaining.   After a pair of late passes George Llamosas was hoping to make things easier on himself for the third and final RZR 170 race of the weekend. Llamosas started on the second row to start the Sunday finale, with Siewers right ahead of him on pole position. When the green flag waved both Siewers and Llamosas quickly grabbed control of the top two spots, with Siewers out front. The top two were never separated by more than a car length and a patient Llamosas waited for his opportunity before making the pass happen just past the halfway point. Once out front the champ never looked back and successfully wrapped up the weekend sweep ahead of Siewers, with VanBeekum in third.   Llamosas’ winning weekend paid big dividends in the championship standings, where he closed his deficit to Siewers. Just 11 points separate the lead duo with two rounds to go.   Sunday Mod Kart Results#576 David Gasper#528 Connor Barry#514 Brody Eggleston#554 Luke Knupp#577 Ethan EbertMod Kart Points (Round 8 of 10)#528 Connor Barry – 402#573 Braden Chiaramonte – 379#514 Brody Eggleston – 349#576 David Gasper – 347#590 Trey Eggleston – 338Sunday JR2 Kart Results#413 Brodie Martin#411 Talan Martin#415 Chaden Zane Minder#460 Rhyan Denney#429 Irie BaileyJR2 Kart Points (Round 8 of 10)#411 Talan Martin – 370#460 Rhyan Denney – 364#413 Brodie Martin – 357#481 Logan Leggitt – 349#401 Dane Culver – 348 Sunday RZR 170 Results#188 George Llamosas#101 TJ Siewers#158 Declan Shields#124 Zoe Easton#195 Tatum FoersterRZR 170 Points (Round 8 of 10)#101 TJ Siewers – 425#188 George Llamosas – 414#102 Ian Torfi – 354#164 Ryder VanBeekum – 335#124 Zoe Easton – 329

(Clockwise left) Barry (left) and David Gasper (right) battled for the ModKart win on Sunday  with Gasper prevailing, while Brodie Martin (front) took the JR2 Kart win, and George Llamoasas (right) outlasted TJ Siewers (left) to sweep RZR 170. Photo: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series

The 2020 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series will return to action in October with one more three day tripleheader to close out the season in dramatic fashion from Southern California’s Glen Helen Raceway. The final two rounds of the season will ultimately see eight champions crowned on Friday, October 16, and Saturday, October 17. On Sunday, October 18, the highly anticipated Lucas Oil Challenge Cup will bring the year to an emphatic conclusion with a series of special showcases for big prize money and bragging rights.   For information about the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series please visit LucasOilOffRoad.com and be sure to follow all of the LOORRS social media channels for exclusive content and additional information on the latest news:

September 23, 2020

With seven races left on the 2020 Cup Series schedule, the goals have shifted a bit for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Duracell team, but the determination to succeed remains unwavering.

They were among the four teams eliminated from the Cup Series Playoffs at the end of the Round of 16, but there are still significant accomplishments to pursue, among them a race win and a choice spot in the final points standings.

The work begins this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sunday’s South Point 400. It was at Las Vegas back in February, where DiBenedetto, riding on older tires but having track position due to a strategy call, scored a runner-up finish in his second race in the Wood Brothers Mustang.

“I can’t wait for Vegas, especially after finishing second there earlier this year,” DiBenedetto said, adding that he’s ready to put the disappointment of dropping out of championship contention behind him. “I’m bummed we didn’t make it through the first round of the Playoffs and had a few rough races, but I’m excited to go to a strong track for us and to finish the season strong in this Menards/Duracell Mustang.”

DiBenedetto will have some extra motivation this weekend as the Menards/Duracell Mustang will be honoring a cancer hero, Marnie Howiler, as part of the Nominate a Cancer Hero program spearheaded by the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation.
 
Howiler, from Cornelius, N.C., is the granddaughter of the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Isaac. She was diagnosed with Stage IV Wilms Tumor at five years old and underwent eight months of treatment.
 
Howiler was nominated by Robbie Isaac, daughter of the late NASCAR champion, who said she reconnected with the Wood Brothers at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and now cheers, along with her family, for DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Mustang.
 
In her nomination, Isaac wrote: “Since there isn’t a No. 71 [her father’s car number], in the field, being with Matt, the Wood Brothers and the No. 21 car is the perfect place for Marnie. They are all survivors and winners.”
 
Isaac described DiBenedetto as “a person everyone would love to see win.” 
 
She had similar praise for Howiler. “Marnie is my cancer hero because she chooses to be happy every day and enjoy life. She is a wonderful person, and I couldn’t love her more.” 
 
Sunday’s South Point 400 is set to get the green flag just after 7 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on NBCSN.
 

Troy Jr. will have a special ‘passenger’ in Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Sept. 23) — Five-time Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a laundry list of reasons why he’s excited about this weekend’s 51st annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, and perhaps the most exciting one of all involves his teammate and nephew Troy Coughlin Jr..  At the top of the list is the recent announcement that Troy Jr. and his beautiful wife Brenna are adding another member to the Coughlin family in the months ahead, and it’s a girl! Secondly, Jeg Jr. is just seven points off the NHRA championship points lead, meaning he has a great chance to regain the No. 1 spot he’s held for the majority of the 2020 season at this event. Next, his powerful JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will have a special design this race promoting Universal Studios Parks & Resorts in Orlando & Hollywood, his family’s No. 1 go-to theme park destination.  Finally, both Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. have the honor of flying the colors of Mia’s Miracles on their respective hot rods, bringing worldwide attention to PGA Tour professional Camilo Villegas and his wife Maria’s very special charity that honors their daughter Mia, who passed away in July after battling tumors on her brain and spine. Jeg Coughlin Jr. “There’s certainly a lot of exciting things going on,” Jeg Jr said. “We are looking to rebound from a U.S. Nationals where things didn’t go as planned and after some pretty extensive testing in Tulsa (Okla.) we feel as though we’re back to where we’ve been all season. The Gators is a marque event and it’s the perfect place for us to get back to our winning ways. “The Universal Studios Florida design makes the car look very stealthy and aggressive. It’s ready for the fight. We had the chance to visit the park in February and it was an amazing experience. From the old school rides we all remember to the modern day experiences with all the latest technology, I didn’t know what I was stepping into. I was completely blown away and can’t wait to get back.” In the first five races of the year, Jeg Jr. has raced to two victories in three final-round showings. Dating back to last year’s playoffs, Jeg Jr. has been to six finals in eight races, collecting three wins along the way.  “We don’t know what the future holds so we’re very focused on regaining the top spot from our Elite teammate Erica Enders with a big-time showing this weekend,” Jeg Jr. said. “We’ve had an aggressive mindset dating back almost a year now, since the start of last year’s playoffs, and we’re going to stick to that program. “Having a chance to bring attention to Mia’s Miracles is another huge motivator for us. Our friend Camillo Villegas and his wife Maria’s loss has staggered all of us and we’re hoping to get as much TV time as possible and get the word out about their charity, which helps others in similar situations to the tragic situation they endured. “I’m actually wearing a special Nick Pastura-designed helmet with a Mia’s Miracles theme this weekend and I’m going to present it to Camillo and Maria after the race. “On a much brighter note, we’re all celebrating Troy and Brenna’s big news. I know my nephew is going to be a great father and Brenna is always awesome. We can’t wait to see her.” Jeg Jr.’s special Universal Studios Parks & Resorts in Orlando & Hollywood design Troy Jr. will have a constant reminder of his daughter’s pending arrival in his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Ford Mustang as he plans to adorn the dashboard with the latest 3D ultrasound images of his little girl. “Talk about motivation,” Troy Jr. said. “It’s just such a blessing to have a little baby coming into our lives. We can’t wait to see her 20 weeks from now. My dad (three-time Pro Mod champion Troy Coughlin Sr.) says having a kid changes everything and I’m starting to realize he’s right. I’m excited and nervous at the same time.” Troy Jr., who collected two regional championships in Top Alcohol Dragster in the last two years, has competed at four of the five Pro Stock races this year. His best outing came at the third Indy race where he surprised everyone by reaching the finals, eventually taking runner-up honors behind his uncle Jeg Jr. “I’m trying to keep everything simple,” Troy Jr. said. “I’m focusing all my attention on the next pass and not thinking beyond that. The idea is to be the best I can be in the car each time I go down the track. I want to hit my shift points and bring good data back to my crew chiefs, Rick Jones and Mark Ingersoll. “Last week we went testing and I was the only driver able to go so I got to make 13 passes in one day. That’s by far the most driving I’ve done at one time. I tested my car, my Uncle Jeg’s car, and Bob Benza’s Camaro. It was a ton of work for the crew guys — Eric Luzinski, Mike DePalma, Robert Freeman and Kelly Murphy — and to see their dedication made me that much more determined to race hard this weekend. “Being at Elite is like playing basketball with Michael Jordan. There’s so much about it that naturally elevates your game.”

ST. LOUIS (Sept. 22) — This drag racing season has been very different with schedule constrictions necessitating more double-up weekends than ever before. But for reigning Division 3 Top Dragster champion Mike Coughlin and a few others, this weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway will present three chances to visit the victory circle. Due to a late-round rainout on August 30 at the last D3 race in Bowling Green, Ky., Coughlin and his fellow remaining survivors from Beech Bend will start this extended weekend by finishing the last few rounds of the previous race. Together with the regularly scheduled double-header, Coughlin knows this year’s Division 3 championships will likely be decided under the famous St. Louis Arch.  “It’s going to be a really exciting four days,” Coughlin said. “I’ve always enjoyed double-header weekends because they’re like bracket races where you’re just constantly on the go. This weekend will be even more crazy with three races. I’ve never had three NHRA races in a weekend before. I actually doubt it’s happened very often. I just know we won’t have a chance to catch our breath until Monday. It’ll be awesome.” After qualifying No. 1 with a stout 6.108 at 224.77 mph in Bowling Green, Coughlin used a bye run and wins over Phillip Oakley and John Biagi to reach the semifinals before rain drove everyone back to their pits. Several delays later, the race was postponed, leaving Coughlin and fellow D3 championship hopefuls Danny Nelson, Al Peavler and John Strassweg dreaming of finishing the job in St. Louis. “It’s great to still have a chance and considering the four of us that are left are all in the top five in the current standings, it’s obviously very important to finish this one off with a win,” Coughlin said. “”Then we need to turn right around and go deep into eliminations in the other two races. It’s all or nothing at this point.  “My crew chief Greg Cody, along with Tony Collier and Ryan Micke, have been very pleased with the JEGS Dragster and how it’s been responding so we don’t have any plans to change what we’ve been doing. We like to stay within our plan and race one round at a time, which is what we’ll be doing again in St. Louis.” Currently, Coughlin is third in the D3 Top Dragster championship points. He trails Nelson by 45 points and Patrick Forester by 20. Peavler is just 11 points behind Coughlin in fourth, and Strassweg is 10 more back in fifth place. “We’ll keep racing until they tell us to stop,” said Coughlin, who also has two D3 titles in Top Sportsman, earned in 2007 and 2009. “We’ll know a lot more about where we all stand by Sunday afternoon and then we’ll go from there. I’m planning on coming back to St. Louis next weekend for the national event and maybe we’ll go to Dallas also. We’ll have to see how everything shakes out. It’s a very exciting time.”

·       The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) returns to Florida for the 51st annual Amalie Oil Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway after a six-month delay

·       The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed livery remains on Matt Hagan’s Funny Car and Leah Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster for the Gatornationals

·       Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) quartet of Funny Car drivers look to extend their streak of nine-consecutive event wins at the Gatornationals

·       DSR driver Leah Pruett arrives in Gainesville second in the Top Fuel Championship standings with a runner-up finish at NHRA U.S. Nationals

·       Mark Pawuk drives Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to Gainesville staging lanes second in Factory Stock Showdown championshipSeptember 22, 2020, Auburn Hills, Mich. – After four National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events were held consecutively in Indianapolis following the mid-July restart of the revamped 2020 season, the championship battle now moves to Florida this weekend for the 51st annual NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals. The Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge SRT race cars were headed to the staging lanes at Gainesville Raceway when the pandemic brought a sudden halt to competition, but even a six-month delay hasn’t lessened the anticipation and excitement that comes with competing at the historic event.
Ron Capps has put his DSR Dodge Charger in the winner’s circle at the Gatornationals three times, including back-to-back Wally trophies in 2006-2007 and a victory in 2015, Jack Beckman won in 2018, and Matt Hagan and Tommy Johnson Jr. are hoping to be first-time winners. Leah Pruett is also looking for her first Gatornats event win in either Top Fuel or Factory Stock Showdown competition.
Also returning to the drag strip is the “Demon-possessed” Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed DSR race cars of Hagan and Pruett. For a fifth straight event Hagan’s Funny Car and Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster will feature the fierce-looking red, black and chrome paint scheme in tribute to the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world.
Adding to the anticipation of competing at the Gatornats this weekend is the opportunity for the DSR quartet of Dodge Charger Funny Cars to extend a nine-event winning streak that dates back to the October 2019 FallNationals at Texas Motorplex with Hagan’s victory aboard the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody. All four DSR Dodge entries have contributed to the continuous string of victories with Hagan leading the charge with four wins, Beckman adding three, while Johnson and Capps each providing a Wally trophy to the count. Three of those occasions featured an all-DSR Dodge final round battle for the win.
The only previous time in series history that a team swept 10 consecutive race wins in a single NHRA category was during the 2017 season when the same lineup of DSR Funny Car drivers contributed to that streak. Capps posted six of those 10 wins, with Beckman adding two, while Hagan and Johnson had one each.
The chance to claim a 10th consecutive win in the Funny Car category at the GatorNats comes after the team achieved an unprecedented milestone of 350 NHRA national event victories at the U.S. Nationals with Beckman’s winning drive behind the wheel of his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. It also comes with just five national events left to fight for the 2020 NHRA Funny Car Championship title and all four DSR drivers in a fierce battle atop the top five positions in the standings. Beckman leads with a pair of wins and has Hagan on his heels with a 35-point deficit and two victories of his own. Johnson stays close in third place just 22 points behind Hagan, while Capps rounds out the top five.
Battling for a championship title in the Top Fuel category is Pruett, who has positioned her Mopar dragster in second place between competitors Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrance. She is challenging for the lead based on her runner-up finish at the U.S. Nationals and while she hasn’t yet hoisted a Wally trophy yet this season, she has won a round at every event this year, something that points leader Kalitta can’t say. 
Pruett is pulling double duty again this weekend as she will compete in the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) class aboard her Mopar Drag Pak alongside teammate Mark Pawuk, with qualifying scheduled to begin on Friday. Pawuk comes into Gainesville Raceway second in points with four events left after driving his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to a No.2 qualifying effort and runner-up finish at the U.S. Nationals. 
NHRA qualifying highlights will be broadcast on FS1 on Saturday, September 26, at 5 p.m. ET, while television coverage of the elimination rounds, including LIVE finals at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, will air on Sunday, September 27, on FS1 beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES: 
Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny CarBeckman is the current Funny Car points leader with two wins and two runner-up finishes in six races this season. He won the Gatornationals Funny Car Wally in 2018.
“With a maximum of 20 rounds of eliminations left, and the fact that this championship is the first since 2006 that will be determined based on cumulative points, a win at Gainesville could prove essential to winning this year’s championship.”
Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car  Hagan is second in points with two wins and two No. 1 qualifier positions. While he did make it to a final round of eliminations, he has not yet won at Gainesville Raceway.
“I have never won Gainesville. I’ve been to the final there, Jack Beckman beat me in 2018, so I really want to put a Gainesville Wally (trophy) on the shelf. We definitely have the car to do that this year. Our Dodge Hellcat Redeye is really responding well to the adjustments (crew chief) Dickie Venables has been making. I’ve got a really strong race car underneath me, my lights have been great, and I’ve been pretty shallow and making sure we keep lane choice.
“The package we’re creating this year has been great. We’ve won a few races. The points battle is always a dogfight, but especially this year with no points reset. Everything is coming down to these last few races, and it’s going to be a battle to the end. Our DSR team cars are tough, there’s just no way around it. My teammates are good drivers, good leavers, they have good race cars, good tuners, and all of the same parts and pieces that we do, so it’ll come down to who will have the best tune-up/driver combo. I’ve won a championship with Dickie (2014), and my first in 2011, so I understand the pressure and what it takes to get there. Sometimes you just have to sit back and trust in your team and allow all of the hard work they’ve put in over the year and the winter to come to you, so I’m just going to drive this Dodge Hellcat as best as I can, and focus on putting on four win lights this weekend.”
Tommy Johnson Jr., MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny CarJohnson has one win and one runner-up finish this season along with three No.1 qualifier positions to sit third in points behind his DSR teammates Beckman and Hagan.
“The points battle has come down to three of us from the same team and the pressure is on. We know what the remaining schedule is going to be, we know how many races are left to gain as many points as we can. The U.S. Nationals didn’t go the way we had planned. We had some unfortunate parts damage first round that cost us the win and really hurt us with points. We had been looking so good. “Gainesville isn’t necessarily a must-win, but it’s a ‘must do really well’ weekend and we need to get a lot of good points so we can come out of there and still be in the race with my teammates. They’re going to be tough. I know what kind of competition they are, and what they have, and we’ll have to bring our best. It’s just like any other year; when it comes down to crunch time, you have to be on your game, and hopefully, we’ve got all of our bad luck and misfortune out of the way and we can make a real run at it these last five and see what we can do.”
Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny CarCapps has one win, one semi-final appearance, and a No.2 qualifier position to put him fifth in points. His runs in eliminations have been ended by DSR teammates in five of six events this season. Capps has three wins at the Gatornationals including back-to-back wins in 2006-2007 and 2015.
“We have a great streak going with the DSR Dodge Funny Cars, but one of the things I love about Don Schumacher is that you’d never know it. He is throttle down and when you talk to him, you’d think that we haven’t won a race in two years, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I mean it as in, he wants you to go up there and just absolutely crush your competition, and that’s what we’re trying to do. He’s ultra-competitive. “I think with the NAPA team, you’re going to see more of what you saw at the last two Indy races, and that is, pushing it. We’re going to push it quite a bit more than we would have before. We won Indy 3 which was great, and we made up a lot of points there. Qualifying No. 1 during the first session of the U.S. Nationals, and then every other session we gathered those qualifying bonus points. We were one of the top three cars during every run, and I think that’s what you’re going to see at these last five races because really, it’s like a mini Countdown, and that’s how you have to approach it. Our teammates and J.R. Todd are ahead of us, but it doesn’t matter. When a world championship is on the line, we know we’re going to have to defeat the best cars anyways. I’m looking forward to this championship chase because I think you’re going to see a different mentality from (crew chief) Rahn Tobler and our NAPA team, and a little more aggressiveness.”
Leah Pruett, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Top Fuel Dragster  Pruett is second in points on the strength of her runner-up finish at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, three semi-final finishes, a No.2 qualifier position and three No.3 starting positions in six races to date.
“Indy is great, and we’re all very fortunate to have been able to run there as many times as we did, but the essence of traveling and seeing our various fan groups across the country is something I’ve truly missed. We traditionally have not had a great deal of racing success at the Gatornationals, which brings me to my favorite overall Gainesville memory, which was setting the stock Dodge Demon record on a cool late evening with the talented SRT team back in 2017. Now that we are continuing to adorn the Hellcat Redeye livery at the Gatornationals, I hope to create our very best memory there yet, by putting the themed dragster of Dodge’s most currently available, highest HP factory produced car, the Hellcat Redeye, in the winners circle. Something I feel we are outrageously close to doing.
“The championship math is simple. We are basically in what some would call ‘countdown weather’ without a countdown. We are aware of our position two-and-a-half rounds (50 points) behind Doug (Kalitta) and with Steve Torrence half of a round (10 points) behind us, but that is not our focus. They and the other strong competitors are not our focus. Qualifying low, heightening our adaptability and staying focused on our hot rod is what we believe will yield us the results we want.”
Mark Pawuk, Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak– Factory Stock ShootoutComing off his Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) No. 2 qualifying effort and runner-up finish at “the Big Go,” Mark Pawuk drives his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak into the NHRA Gatornationals second in the FSS championship battle.
“After qualifying No. 2 and going to the finals at the U.S. Nationals, we definitely have shown that we have revived our program. I’m looking forward to the Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger Drag Pak having another nice, long Sunday and going rounds in Gainesville this weekend. The team is going to test with Leah (Pruett) before the race to try out some new parts and pieces which we think will make us be even more competitive. (Crew chief) Kevin Helms did a great job turning our performance around from that first showing in Indy this year, and we look forward to continuing it this weekend.”
Leah Pruett, Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak – Factory Stock ShootoutPruett sits just outside two points out of the top-10 in the FSS standings with four events left.
“We have been unable to test for months until this week, which brings me great joy leading into this race. Heading into to South Georgia Motorsports Park now with some setup changes Kevin Helms has been wanting to try that will hopefully bring Mark (Pawuk) and I even closer to that win we are both hunting for. I’m proud of Mark and his success in Indy and couldn’t ask for a better teammate.”

Sep 22, 2020 | Featured, Megan Meyer, Pre-Race Releases

Megan Meyer has had a season full of ups and downs this year, collecting wins in Dallas and Columbus for the regional events, and winning the U.S. Nationals at the beginning of this month while setting a new national record time. But she also has four first-round losses, which has hindered her efforts of winning the Regional Championship for the fourth year in a row. Despite having her worst outing of the year at her last event in Earlville, Iowa, she is looking forward to this weekend’s NHRA GatorNationals race.

“I am really excited to returning to Gainesville Raceway one last time. Winning this race last year meant so much to me – it’s been on my bucket list for years. I’m really hoping to take home this year’s Wally for my final GatorNationals to get a lead on the national points standings, and because this is the track where I got my Super Comp license, Top Alcohol Dragster license, and competed in my first National event. This track is sentimental to me and it would mean the world to win one last time,” Megan said.

Megan is currently sitting second in the National standings, tied for first place with rival Shawn Cowie. Both racers have one national event win this season and NHRA has revised the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series points structure this year. As a result of limited races due to COVID-19, Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car classes will be able to count their best two regional events plus their best five national events.

“If we could walk away with the 2020 World Championship, it would really show how dedicated our team is to this sport. We made some crew changes after winning the championship last year and I have an even better group of guys on my team this year. It’s a bummer we haven’t been able to flex our stuff at more races, and defend our championship, but I have a really good feeling we will be able to have some quick and fast runs in Gainesville this weekend. The weather calls for low 80’s with some cloud cover on Sunday, which is perfect conditions for our NGK Spark Plugs car to show what it can really do,” Megan said.

Joining Megan at the GatorNationals is teammate Julie Nataas, who is sitting fifth in national standings and first in the North Central Region. The Randy Meyer Racing Team will get two qualifying passes on Friday, with one on Saturday followed by two rounds of eliminations. The race will be concluded on Sunday.

: A New Stop for Corvette C8.R • First visit to Mid-Ohio for mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R• Corvette Racing first and second in GTLM Drivers Championship• Gavin, Milner back at site of 2012 ALMS GT victory• Chevrolet simulator key in Mid-Ohio prep for Corvette Racing drivers

DETROIT (Sept. 22, 2020) – Corvette Racing takes the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to its first new track in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this weekend as the series visits Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Acura Sports Car Challenge. It’s the seventh round of the championship for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class and sixth since racing returned from the COVID-19 break in July. The Corvette Racing program came out hot following the restart with four wins in five races. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor have won three times in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and lead the GTLM Drivers Championship, as does Chevrolet in the Manufacturers standings. A runner-up finish at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta earlier this month moved Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner to second in GTLM points in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R. The teammates were victorious in class at Sebring and placed second at Road America to start their march up the championship order. Unlike the previous seven IMSA events, Corvette Racing has not tested the new-generation Corvette at Mid-Ohio – a highly technical track with significant undulation and directional changes. As a result, the team and its drivers will rely on data analysis and correlations from sessions at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulator to arrive at effective baseline and aero setups for the first of a pair of one-hour practice sessions before Sunday’s qualifying and race. Corvette Racing leads all IMSA entrants with eight class victories at Mid-Ohio dating back to 2001 in the American Le Mans Series. Gavin is tied for most victories by an active driver at the circuit with four and also shares the lead for career Mid-Ohio poles with four. Taylor has two career pole positions at the track – one each in the prototype and GT ranks. Since making its return to Mid-Ohio in 2018, Corvette Racing has scored consecutive GTLM podiums with Garcia part of each – third in 2018 and runner-up last year. The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday with same-day coverage on NBCSN at 11 p.m. ET. Live streaming coverage begins at 2 p.m. 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.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It will be a challenge to figure out what will be the best baseline at Mid-Ohio in a very short amount of time. With this new schedule of running just a couple of practices, it makes things very challenging – not only for us to get up to speed in a very short time but also to put down a decent test program. It feels much too short compared to what we are used to. So far this year, it has been very difficult to get data and improve the car in two hours, but also for Jordan to learn these tracks in new car. He knows all the circuits but it may have been a long time since he’s run a GT car. He’s doing a great job so far but it is extra work for him. Cutting down practice by an hour isn’t making those things easy.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It will be difficult going to Mid-Ohio. It’s a track where we haven’t tested the new Corvette. It’s a situation where we can rely on the simulator, which has been a great tool for us. It’s shown great results where we can develop the car and then it shows up well on the track. Personally, every track we’ve gone to this year has been a learning curve. At Daytona and Sebring, we had test days. At Road America and VIR, just jumping in trying to figure it out has been tough. It’s great to have my teammates to rely on. They’re very open; I can ask any question and they’ll give me an honest answer. That really accelerates the learning curve.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Mid-Ohio is going to be a challenge. That track is always one where you’re always searching for grip. It’s a great track, one that I enjoy, and it seems to create good racing. I think by that point, we should have a reasonable data set with the C8.R and knowing what we can achieve with the car and the tires we have from Michelin. The simulator is a huge resource that Corvette Racing has been using. We know what we can get from that. I think we feel confident that we should be able to generate some pretty good data from that to make sure we are coming into Mid-Ohio as prepared as possible. I feel we will be strong and good but it is another new track for this car. We’re learning every weekend with this car, and that’s a good challenge.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Without having a ton of real-world data to go off of, you have to lean on your simulation tools – whether it’s the Driver-In-The-Loop resource or other tools the team has at the race shop. But we also are taking lessons learned from this year as well – setup things that have worked so far at some tracks and on certain surfaces. We’ll use all the tools we have in our toolbox to put us in a good spot heading into the weekend. These events have been compressed and shortened quite a bit. Trying to get all those little details figured out beforehand can make a huge difference ahead of race week.”

 ·     World Champions Presentation in Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle·     Champions are presented their Nitto Tire Diamond Tree Champion Rings·     Champions receive the Edelbrock Victor Championship Trophy·     Expanded Video and Fastest Street Car Magazine Coverage for Champions The Holley NMRA Ford Nationals will celebrate the 2020 World Champions during a special Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle party on Sunday October 4, 2020, at the conclusion of the NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival, held at the scenic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Class champions will be presented with the special Edelbrock Victor Championship Trophy and prestigious Nitto Tire Diamond Tree Champion ring. This special celebration is the replacement for the cancelled Performance Racing Industry trade show that has hosted the NMRA Awards Ceremony since 2001. NMRA racing officials will be processing points in near real-time in order to declare category champions as quickly as possible. A second Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle will be used to properly honor the 2020 champions, their family and friends, and sponsors. The NMRA Media Division will be recording exclusive interviews with the champions, giving them an opportunity to present their champion’s speech. These videos will be produced and circulated across social media, giving our champions a platform to properly recognize their biggest supporters. In addition to the champion interviews, Fastest Street Car Magazine will be expanding its coverage to include a written speech by the champion and several pages of photos. As usual, Chris Simmons Photography will offer a special photo in the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle to the 2020 champions. If a category is too close to call or protested under the guidelines in the NMRA rulebook, the video interview will be done off-site using a streaming platform once that category winner is declared. “We aren’t going to let COVID-19 keep us down, this is where having an in-house Media Division sets us apart from other sanctioning bodies. Our champions deserve to be celebrated in a grand fashion and their efforts showcased for the motorsport community to see,” said Steve Wolcott, Founder and CEO of the NMRA Ford Nationals. The special Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle celebration will be cranked up higher and louder with champion celebrations and a wider assortment of adult beverages. Please note, you must be 21 or older to consume alcoholic beverages and social distancing is required. For more information about the NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival, please visit www.NMRAdigital.com/KY

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE ACURA SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE PRE-RACE MEDIA AVAILABILITY TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor (No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R) met with members of the media during a Zoom conference call Monday to discuss the upcoming Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. Topics included the pairing’s championship lead in GT Le Mans, expectations for Mid-Ohio, preparation for the next two events on the IMSA calendar and other items. FULL TRANSCRIPT: ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RYOU’RE COMING OFF A RUN OF FOUR STRAIGHT TOP-TWO FINISHES AND BACK-TO-BACK WINS AT ROAD AMERICA AND VIR, BUT THINGS DIDN’T GO THE SAME WAY AT ROAD ATLANTA. HOW CAN YOU REGAIN THAT MOMENTUM YOU HAD EARLIER IN THE SUMMER?“Obviously go faster. That’s the biggest thing. In the last race, we were lacking a little bit of pace. We saw in qualifying that all the cars were separated by only a tenth-of-a-second or two, and that really hurt if you don’t have track position. We led the race for quite a few laps but being back in the pack with about two hours to go wasn’t going to be an easy task to go by the rest of the GTLM cars. Plus on top of that, we had a puncture. When that final yellow came, I thought maybe we had a chance to flip things around but it ended up being a green-white-checker finish anyway. It’s a shame that I wasn’t really in a good position and there were many GTD cars between us and the back of our field. That’s how things go. A few races will go your way and a few others don’t. We have to forget what happened at Road Atlanta, although Corvette Racing did finish second with a strong race from the No. 4 car. We need to carry on while focusing on that while keeping up the fight.” DOES A SUBSTANTIAL LEAD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP IMPACT YOUR APPROACH TO THIS RACE?“It’s a mistake to start thinking about the championship this early. We just went to halfway. If someone scores the same amount of points as we did in the previous five or six races, then they will end up winning, mostly likely. We need to carry on and focus race-by-race while still being aggressive. If you plan things a little too conservative, other teams will notice that and take advantage. You end up being that much more vulnerable. You need to carry on and fight for it and let everyone know you are fighting for wins and not just a good position.” THERE HAS BEEN NO BoP CHANGE FOR THIS WEEK. DO YOU FIND IT FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU’RE BEHIND A CAR THAT HAS A LOT MORE STRAIGHTAWAY SPEED BUT YOU’RE BETTER IN OTHER PARTS OF THE TRACK?“Road Atlanta showed that it was difficult to either defend from the BMWs or be aggressive and pass them. Mid-Ohio is not any different. There will be a ton of acceleration zones. I don’t know if we will have time enough to place ourselves going into Turn Three or Turn Four. It’s not easy to balance out different cars to a laptime. As you saw, between BMW and our Corvette, we achieve our laptime in different ways. That also creates very good fights with everyone very close. Let’s see if we are all close as we were at Atlanta; a good lap or a bad lap was a difference of two-tenths. We will see if tire degradation is a little more effective and we can make a tiny bit more difference against our competition.” WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE POINTS, YOU HAVE A 14-POINT LEAD BUT EVERYONE ELSE IS SO TIGHT. IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER AVERAGE WEEKEND, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE 10 DRIVERS WITHIN SIX POINTS. HOW DO YOU VIEW THE CHAMPIONSHIP GOING FORWARD?“We are still in the position where we are leading. If someone else wants to take risks, it’s not on us. For sure we need to remain aggressive enough to carry on with what we have been doing. We aren’t even close to the last race of the year. Someone could score the same amount of points as we did in the first half of the season. So far we have three wins but I wouldn’t mind one or two more. That would make things way easier.” DOES WORK ON THE SIMULATOR GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE COMFORT IN GOING INTO A TRACK LIKE CHARLOTTE WHERE I PRESUME YOU HARDLY HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OTHER THAN THE TEST?“It was really good to be able to test there. As Jordan said, the track felt a little like Long Beach for the first five to 10 laps. It was a little stressful with how fast you can go around there and how many walls you could fly by and come very, very close. Once you get into a rhythm, it’s just another racetrack. With traffic, it will be very tricky. I anticipate there will be a ton of mistakes and probably more yellows than usual. There is no room for error at certain points. Tire degradation probably is another key thing there. We also are running into the night, and we were able to run at night during the test, and it wasn’t easy. The infield was almost completely dark and wasn’t easy. It will be a question mark for everyone. I hope the preparation we did during that day and after that is enough to be competitive.” WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE A RACE LIKE THIS INSERTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP STRETCH RUN?“You just need to carry on as it is. It’s like having a 12-hour race as the last race. Sebring won’t be like a usual Sebring 12 Hours where it’s just the second race of the year. This year, some races have taken place at different dates. We just need to adapt and race according to that.” WITH THE SEASON BEING HALFWAY, WHERE CAN YOU IMPROVE DESPITE THE SUCCESS OF EARLIER THIS SUMMER?“I think I always have areas to improve on during the season, like being on cold tires in this new car. As drivers at Corvette Racing, we always try to improve. There is always a big point to analyze all the data we have available each time we finish a race to try to improve. Even if you win a lot as we did this year, you can still do things better and that’s the focus of the upcoming races. We need to be as prepared as possible because the rest of the field will be doing the same.”  JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RYOU HAVE A PRETTY SIZABLE LEAD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP BUT QUITE A NUMBER OF RACES TO GO. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ATTACK THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON STARTING THIS WEEKEND AT MID-OHIO?“So far, so good. The points gap is decently big, but it’s never big enough. Our season has 11 races, and we’re just past the halfway point. There are five races to go, and lot can happen – good and bad. We will go at it the same way we have been going at it all year, and that’s race-by-race and maximizing our efforts at each event. If you look at races like VIR or Road America, we didn’t have the quickest car and were racing for podium positions. We stuck to our program and those led to wins. We’re taking those as they come, and that will be the way we look at it the rest of the season. It’s been a great year so far with the Corvette C8.R in its first year. We’re going to go to some new tracks where it hasn’t tested, so it will be interesting.” WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE KEY TO SUCCESS AT MID-OHIO?“Well I haven’t won there yet, so I’m not too sure! It is a tough track to pass on, so track position is a big deal. It’s been awhile since I’ve raced there in a GT car, but traffic is always a big part of it there, especially when you get to the back side of the track. I’ve been watching a lot of last year’s race and the year before that. It looks tricky in a GTLM car. If you’re stuck behind a GTD car off the backstraight, you could be stuck there all the way to the frontstretch. Strategy-wise, staying out front is going to be a big part of it. Tire wear isn’t usually a huge thing there, but tire warm-up is usually pretty key. So there are lots of little details, but staying out of trouble is a big one. Hopefully we can start out the weekend strong in qualifying to start out with good track position and go from there.” PORSCHE HAS BEEN AWFULLY STRONG AT MID-OHIO. THEIR CAR CHANGES DIRECTION REALLY WELL AND WORKS REALLY WELL THROUGH THE TWISTY PARTS. WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN WITH THE C8.R IN TERMS OF THOSE TYPES OF CORNERS AND HOW YOU CAN COMPETE WITH THEM THERE?“. In talking with our guys about the strengths and weaknesses of the old car, we know how much more user-friendly the C8.R is in especially battling other cars, and the raceability of it when you get into traffic and when you have a long run on the tires. Overall the C8.R a much better package at a lot of tracks so far. Porsche obviously has been strong at Mid-Ohio in the past. It’s always been interesting weather-wise at Mid-Ohio; there’s always rain at some point on the weekend. It should be good. We did some good testing at the sim last week for two days, so I think that gives us a good lea-in to the weekend.” LOOKING AT THE TRACKS LEFT ON THE SCHEDULE, YOU TESTED AT CHARLOTTE. HAVE YOU TESTED AT MID-OHIO OR LAGUNA SECA?“I have not, and the car hasn’t been tested there either. We did do the day at the Charlotte Roval. Laguna and the Roval will be interesting. The Charlotte track was pretty unique and surprising to a lot of guys with the characteristics of the track. It’ll definitely be interesting when we go back with a full field of GT cars. By the end of the day, it was a fun track to drive on so I think it will be a fun weekend.” CAN YOU PASS THERE?“It will be tough. It’s a lot narrower than it seems on TV. We had a couple other cars that were there for the test. When you were around someone else, it seemed like those cars took up a lot of the track. It could be tough to pass, but at least we will have another class there to mix it up.” WITH THE SERIES SLOWING DOWN THE GTD CARS AND CREATE SOME SEPARATION BETWEEN GTLM AND GTD POWER-WISE, DID YOU NOTICE IF THERE WAS ENOUGH ROOM TO SQUIRT BY IN SOME OF THE AREAS?“I didn’t notice. Coming from prototype, it still needs to be a lot more (of a separation) just to make it easier. I remember racing around them in a prototype and thinking about how much of handful it looked like to pass a GTD car. It’s proving to be that way this year. It can be frustrating when you come up on one of the pro drivers in one who can drive well through the corners and has ABS. It makes it pretty difficult to pass.” FOLLOWING UP ON THE CHARLOTTE TEST, WHAT SURPRISED YOU AND WHAT WERE YOU IMPRESSED BY?“I had tested there in 2017 when we were doing our endurance testing for the Cadillac prototype. Back then, it was more like a makeshift infield. Since then, the track has obviously upped it to what the Roval is now for NASCAR. It definitely was different than what I remembered, and the flow was different. A lot of it on the infield feels like a street course with a lot of walls and not a lot of room for error. That’s a lot different compared to Daytona where you have some grass and exit curbs, whereas at Charlotte some of the apexes and exit curbs are concrete walls. Learning the track was pretty stressful because there are some bumps in odd places and the flow feels a bit funny. The chicanes with the big blue curbs… we can’t really touch those. One of the other cars there in testing crashed twice just from clipping the blue curbs. Definitely there will be some attrition.” IN A SEASON WITHOUT STREET COURSES, IS THIS THE CLOSEST THING YOU’LL HAVE TO ONE?“Maybe. It’s definitely going to be one of the tougher races. We were lucky to test there, and I’m sure a lot of other teams won’t be able to. We’ll have some of the GTD amateurs trying to learn the track on a race weekend with a tight schedule. There could definitely be some yellows. Coming up a lapping some of those guys who may not know the track as well could make it pretty interesting.” RACERS ARE USUALLY CREATURES OF HABIT. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE A ONE-OFF INSERTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP STRETCH RUN?“I think it’s cool. It definitely keeps everyone on their toes. It suits the team well. Corvette Racing operates at a pretty high level and can prepare for something like this pretty quickly. We tested there on Wednesday, and our guys from the Chevrolet simulator were there that day. They took pictures of the first chicane where there was a change made from a couple years ago on the NASCAR track. The next day, they had already updated the track in the simulator for the changes to the exit curbs. It was really impressive to see that happen overnight. That’s a big strength of Corvette Racing and Chevrolet where they have these tools we can use to help prepare us better than a lot of the other teams.” WITH THE SEASON BEING HALFWAY, WHERE CAN YOU IMPROVE DESPITE THE SUCCESS OF EARLIER THIS SUMMER, ESPECIALLY TRANSITIONING FROM PROTOTYPES TO THE NEW CORVETTE?“There’s definitely a lot to learn and improve on. Atlanta wasn’t easy. Each track you go to will have a different level of difficulty. If this was last year, you would have twice as much practice. This year is pretty limited. Understanding all that and maximizing the new tire and how to make it last over a stint… there isn’t a lot of time to practice that at each event. Each track has different variables. Some don’t have any tire degradation, some wear the front tires more and some wear the rears more. It’s definitely tricky. But having good guys like Antonio and the rest of Corvette Racing to bounce questions off of and learn from has been a big help. Each track we go to is a new experience. When we come back around to Atlanta and Sebring, it will be nice to go back to those places with some experience.”

BRISTOL, TN – September 21, 2020 – Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines win both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick from Stewart-Haas Racing had their work cut out for them throughout the race and during the final laps at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile”, both battling elite competition for the win.

“What a weekend in Bristol! Congratulations to Kevin, Chase, Tony, Gene, and the entire Stewart-Haas Racing Organization for the weekend sweep. These teams were well prepared and worked their strategies for the race wins,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Our team at Roush Yates Engines is looking forward to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series playoffs and the start of the Xfinity Series playoffs this weekend at Las Vegas.”

Brad Keselowski led the field to green in the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race and led a total of 82 laps before a power steering issue sent him to the garage. Team Penske racing teammate, Joey Logano, had a strong run finishing in the top ten in both stages while spending most of the night inside the top five. A loose wheel forced Logano to pit early and trapped him laps down, ultimately finishing P11.

The final laps at Bristol Motor Speedway surely did not disappoint, with two stock car racing champions, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, in a fierce battle for the win. Harvick and Busch swapped the lead multiple times before Harvick took the lead with 31 laps to go and crossed the finish line .310 seconds over Busch earning his ninth win of the 2020 season.

When asked about his battle with Busch, Harvick commented, “To beat Kyle Busch at Bristol, I kind of got myself in a little bit of a ringer there. I hit a lapped car and got a hole in the right-front nose, but just kept fighting. We don’t have anything else to lose. We were here to try to win a race. I know how much Rodney really enjoys coming here and, hell, how can you not enjoy coming here with all this enthusiasm.”

Five Ford Mustangs finished in the top-10. Following Harvick was Stewart-Haas teammates Aric Almirola in P5 and Clint Bowyer in P6. Roush Fenway’s Chris Buescher had a great run finishing P8 as well as Michael McDowell from Front Row Motorsports finishing P10.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race was just as exciting this past weekend at Bristol. Both Ford Performance drivers, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe, finished inside the top five in both stages in the Food City 300. The final stage saw Austin Cindric take a comfortable lead at lap 253, until a power steering issue surfaced just 17 laps later. Cindric did a great job of hanging onto the lead until six laps to go when Briscoe made the winning pass.

This was Briscoe’s seventh time in victory lane in 2020, but winning at Bristol was special due to the fact that there were a limited number of fans back in the stands. Briscoe commented, “I am so thankful that we are back with the race fans. You guys are the best. It’s not the same without you guys. We can’t wait to get you back all the time, but, man what a race.”

The NASCAR Playoffs head out West to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the Round of 12 kickoff for both series. In the Cup series there are five Ford drivers still in the hunt for the championship (Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, and Clint Bowyer). In the Xfinity series both Ford drivers, Briscoe and Cindric, will be competing for the championship over these next seven weeks. Reference the full 2020 schedule on Roushyates.com.  27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 408 WINS – 364 POLES!

Boehm, Smithson Score Touring Car Americas Wins in HPD Civic Si, Type R TCR
Kevin Boehm takes his HPD Civic Si to a pair of victories and TCA points lead
Scott Smithson earns his third TCR win of 2020 in Civic Type R TCR
Victor Gonzalez scores two TCR podiums, as Honda drivers earn six on weekend

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2020) – Continuing to gather late-season momentum, Honda team and drivers racing the three Civic race cars available from Honda Performance Development – the Type R TCR, Type R TC and Si – scored three wins, three poles and six podiums at the SRO Motorsports Touring Car Americas penultimate event of 2020 this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.

Kevin Boehm opened a strong weekend at COTA by piloting his Civic SI to wins on Friday and Saturday, while the DXDT Racing Honda Civic Type R of Scott Smithson dominated Saturday’s TCR race, winning by more than 11 seconds for his third victory of the season.

Boehm, who previously earned a sweep of the Road America weekend, won his fourth race in a row on Friday with a flag-to-flag win; and then backed it up by besting the field by more than 22 seconds in a Saturday romp. He finished fourth in Sunday’s finale of a triple-header weekend, but did enough to take the series points lead heading into the October 1-3 season finale in Indianapolis.

“With these front-wheel drive cars, the trick is to find a way to make it turn, we finally found a way to make it turn really well,” Boehm said. “We have the car in a real ‘sweet spot’ right now. Everything seems to be coming together at once, and it doesn’t get any better than this.” 

Jonathan Newcombe backed up his Honda stablemate in his VGMC Racing Civic Si, claiming his second podium finish of the season with a third-place result on Saturday.

In the TCR races, Smithson led the Honda contingent early in his Civic Type R TCR, using a last-lap pass to place second in Friday’s lid lifter. He spun while leading on Saturday, but shook it off and stormed to his third win of the year in Sunday’s closer, coming home more than 11 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

“We had a rough start to the weekend, but the team was able to get my car back together and give me a great machine today,” Smithson said. “It’s taken me a little time to get used to a front wheel drive car, but thanks to DXDT and Honda for getting me here!”

Victor Gonzalez earned a pair of podium finishes in his VGMC Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, placing third on Saturday and Sunday.

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

Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock seal Silver Class SRO Motorsports GT Title
Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo finishes second overall in both weekend races

AUSTIN, Texas. (August 30, 2020) – The #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo took Silver Class honors in Rounds 9 and 10 of 2020 SRO Motorsport GT World Challenge America series, as the driver pairing of Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock won Saturday’s and Sunday’s races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The wins sealed the season championship in the Silver category for the Blackstock and Hindman, giving the Acura NSX GT3 Evo a GT class championship for the second consecutive season, as the pair finished second overall in both races around the demanding Texas road course.

“They [race winners Martin Fuentes and Rodrigo Baptista] didn’t put a wheel wrong the whole race and drove a heck of a race,” said Blackstock after finishing 6.7 seconds behind the leader on Saturday. “We will go back to the drawing board and hopefully put some setup changes on for tomorrow and go back at it.”

The #93 duo were reunited with the defending Pro/Am champion entry from a year ago as the #80 Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo returned to the track for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Defending Pro-Am champion Kyle Marcelli was joined in the cockpit of the #80 for the weekend by Zaid Ghandour, making his first start in the Racers Edge NSX.

On Sunday, Hindman an Marcelli saw as much of each other on the track as they did in the garage as the duo went literally wheel-to-wheel in the early stages of the race. The two Acuras battled with former Champ Car World Series drivers Jan Heylen and Ryan Dalziel for position prior to the mid-race driver change, which saw the #93 of Blackstock emerge in fourth place.

Blackstock wasted no time in making up ground, climbing into second with eight laps to go and coming to within seven seconds of the front running Ferrari at the end of the day.

“Overall, we are happy with two podiums this weekend,” Blackstock said. “So thankful for the Racer’s Edge team, they worked their tails off this weekend to get us on the podium. We’ll take the points and look forward to Indy.”

The class wins this weekend are the 10th and 11th in the Silver and Pro-Am categories through 10 rounds of GT World Challenge America competition for the Acura NSX GT3 Evo, which won team championships in both IMSA GTD and SRO GT in 2019. The car, sold and supported by HPD in North America, runs in both Sprint and Endurance GT3 competition around the world.

Next
The SRO GT teams will wrap their season October 2-4 on the infield road courase at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the SRO Motorsports campaign ends with Rounds 11 and 12 at the 2.439-mile road circuit.

Social media content and video links from this weekend’s Acura Motorsports activity at Circuit of the Americas are available on HPD’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD). 

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/ TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Team Advance to Round of 12 in NASCAR Playoffs with Solid Showing at Bristol Motor Speedway

12th   5th  8th

“We did what we had to do tonight in our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/ E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. We started off really strong, but our Chevy ended up getting extremely tight in Stage 2. We recovered from that and were running in the top 10 when Harvick slowed on the track to make a green-flag pit stop. I got on my brakes as hard as I could to avoid hitting him, but a lapped car was in the middle of the track and I had nowhere to go. My RCR team did a great job making repairs, but we were never able to catch the break we needed to get back into the top five. Our car was fast overall tonight, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish during the remainder of the season. We’ll go to Las Vegas next week and try to get a win.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Childress Vineyards Team Show Speed En Route to Fourth-Place Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

4th   17th   19th

“Our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro was a fast one tonight, and we had a great finish to show for it at Bristol Motor Speedway. It took a couple adjustments to get our car to where I needed it to be, but our communication as a team on what adjustments to make has been a big focus for us over the past few weeks and that paid off during tonight’s race. I fired off a little loose on the bottom and tight on the top, so our team had a decision to make on what to focus on. I felt that the top was the better groove for our car, so we chose to work on loosening up our Chevrolet a little bit throughout the night and got it in a really good spot for the final stage. Those adjustments made it so I was able to cut through traffic during that last stage and race our way into the top five for the last 100 laps or so. I think I may have pushed my front tires a little bit too much on that final run, but this was a really good night for our team. We’re chasing wins in these remaining races while also working on building a strong notebook for next year, and this is a solid step in the right direction for both of those goals.”-Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIES BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE14th    MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Kevin Harvick (Ford)2nd     Kyle Busch (Toyota)3rd      Erik Jones (Toyota)4th      Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)5th      Aric Almirola (Ford) UNOFFICIAL CURRENT PLAYOFF RANK (Following Round 3 of 10 / Entering into the Round of 12)POS.   DRIVER (* = Chevy Contender)        1st      Kevin Harvick (Ford) – 3,067 points2nd     Denny Hamlin (Toyota) – 3,048 points3rd      Brad Keselowski (Ford) – 3,035 points4th      Joey Logano (Ford) – 3,022 points5th      *Chase Elliott (Chevrolet) – 3,021 points6th      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota) – 3,016 points7th      * Alex Bowman (Chevrolet) – 3,009 points8th      * Austin Dillon (Chevrolet) – 3,005 points9th      Aric Almirola (Ford) – 3,005 points10th    Kyle Busch (Toyota) – 3,004 points11th    Clint Bowyer (Ford) – 3,004 points12th    * Kurt Busch (Chevrolet) – 3,001 points
The NASCAR Cup Series seasons continues at Las Vegas  Motor Speedway with the South Point 400 on Sunday, September 27th,^, at 7:00 p.m. ET to kick off the Round of 12 for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, the NBC Sports Gold app, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th“Our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro was a fast one tonight, and we had a great finish to show for it at Bristol Motor Speedway. It took a couple adjustments to get our car to where I needed it to be, but our communication as a team on what adjustments to make has been a big focus for us over the past few weeks and that paid off during tonight’s race. I fired off a little loose on the bottom and tight on the top, so our team had a decision to make on what to focus on. I felt that the top the better groove for our car, so we chose to work on loosening up our Chevrolet a little bit throughout the night and got it in a really good spot for the final stage. Those adjustments made it so I was able to cut through traffic during that last stage and race our way into the top five for the last 100 laps or so. I think I may have pushed my front tires a little bit too much on that final run, but this was a really good night for our team. We’re chasing wins in these remaining races while also working on building a strong notebook for next year, and this is a solid step in the right direction for both of those goals.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“Definitely excited to move on in the playoffs. I thought the NAPA team had a solid race tonight. It’s unfortunate the way the pit cycle went there, but I felt like we were close. Not sure if we were as good as the 4 and 18, but I thought we were close to them. I am proud of the effort and I hope this next round is good for us. It’s definitely not going to get any easier as it goes. Nice to get the stage point and stage win and we will try again in Vegas.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“That was a really fun night at Bristol Motor Speedway. This year has obviously had its challenges for us, and we’ve worked so hard to try and make the strategy play in our favor and get JTG Daugherty Racing the finish we deserve and it feels really good to be able to put it all together. Our BUSH’S Beans Chevrolet was really good on the long run, and Trent and the guys did some great work on pit road to get our handling where we needed it to be to maintain those fast laps at the end of the long run. The cautions finally fell our way and we were able to capitalize on it. Every week for the rest of the season is so important to keep focusing on the positives and get as many good finishes as we can and to be able to get BUSH’S Beans as top-10 finish at their home track is something we’re all proud of.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“We did what we had to do tonight in our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/ E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. We started off really strong, but our Chevy ended up getting extremely tight in Stage 2. We recovered from that and were running in the top 10 when Harvick slowed on the track to make a green-flag pit stop. I got on my brakes as hard as I could to avoid hitting him, but a lapped car was in the middle of the track and I had nowhere to go. My RCR team did a great job making repairs, but we were never able to catch the break we needed to get back into the top five. Our car was fast overall tonight, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish during the remainder of the season. We’ll go to Las Vegas next week and try to get a win.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“It was a good day, we had a loose wheel and we battled after that, but our stage points are what really helped the Monster Energy Chevy tonight. That gave us the cushion we needed to absorb the problem that we had. All-in-all we advanced and that’s what we expected to do and that is what we have to continue to do. We will do it through teamwork and execution. The next round we have a mile-and-a-half Superspeedway and then the Roval. We’ve just got to be on our toes, keep adjusting and adapt to all the things that are coming our way in the next round.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th“That was pretty eventful. We had a really good car all night. Our Axalta Camaro was really fast. Probably going to end up somewhere in the top five, at least the top 10. We just had a tire issue under green there in the last stage and had to pit. Unfortunately, we were not in our window to pit. Once the caution did come out, we weren’t able to take the wave around. We were just kind of trapped there and unfortunately couldn’t recover from that. I think we finished 16th. So awesome to advance to the next round. Proud of my team. This is the strongest we have been going into the Round of 12. I feel like we have some great tracks for us coming up. This is the most consistent we have been as a race team. I am bummed we lost our streak of top-10 finishes, but we have plenty more opportunities throughout the year to have great cars and contend for wins. Wish we would have ended up a little better, but we are ready for Vegas.” TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th“Our Germain Racing team battled all night long. It was a really good night for our GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE. Everyone on our team executed throughout the entire race, from Matt (Borland) making good calls, the pit crew having great stops and Chris (Monez) on the spotter stand helping me navigate traffic. We all worked hard and it paid off. The car was its best at the end of the race, which is all you can ask for as a driver. I’m proud of our effort and we will keep digging to finish strong.” 
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 CASH APP CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 22nd“We had a pretty fast No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE tonight – probably the best car we’ve ever brought to Bristol (Motor Speedway), so that was a positive. We got a stage point in the Stage 1. I thought the guys were doing a really good job throughout the night. Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was on the tight-side a little bit. We didn’t really seem to help it, but we didn’t really hurt it all either – kind of just stayed the same balance from the start of the race to the finish. A little frustrating, but super frustrated that we just can’t seem to get some luck on the strategy side. Unfortunate that we got trapped three-laps down, or whatever it was, and you’re just stuck, especially that late in the race. We’ll go onto the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and see if we can turn it around.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by accident on lap 232; Finished 38thABSOLUTE HEARTBREAK FOR WILLIAM BYRON, WHO WILL NOT ADVANCE TO THE ROUND OF 12. HE’S OUT OF THE CAR. THEY’RE TRYING TO ASSESS EXACTLY ALL THE DAMAGE ON THE NO. 24 CAR, BUT IT IS GOING TO END HIS EVENING. WHAT HAPPENED, WILLIAM, ON THE TRACK? EVERYTHING WAS GOING FINE AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?“I think the No. 51 car (Joey Gase) checked up in the middle of the straightaway. As fast as we were running the top, I was right behind the No. 95 (Christopher Bell) and I had literally nowhere to go. You can’t stop in the middle of the straightaway when everybody is so committed to the top like that. Just ridiculous that that’s what takes us out. I thought honestly we had a shot to run top-five or seven. The car was really, really good. We just needed a couple good pitstops. We were running probably ninth or tenth there. Just super disappointing – I’ve got to go back and watch that because that was kind of ridiculous.” 
GIVE US A LOOK AT THE INCIDENT THROUGH YOUR PERSPECTIVE.“Yeah, we were running tenth, I believe, and trying to get a couple of stage points. We had gotten a few in the first stage. Our car was really good, just needed a little bit of track position I feel like. Probably went the wrong way on the last adjustment – tried to get myself turning a little better and it got too free. (inaudible) Really the incident, the No. 51 (Joey Gase), I think it was green and black car, was coming off the corner and the No. 95 (Christopher Bell) and I were both running the top. The No. 51 just checked up in the middle of the straightaway and had nowhere to go. And the No. 95 slammed on the brakes to try to not hit him and I slammed into him because I was on his bumper. So, just a terrible situation, but not really sure why that happened or what really transpired for him to stop like that. But, go back on SMT like we can now and look at what happened and move on.”  DESCRIBE THE EMOTIONS OF WHAT YOU’VE GONE THROUGH THE LAST MONTH WITH THE WIN AND THE WAY YOU FALL OUT TONIGHT.“I think they’re two separate things. It would have been worse if we just completely ran horrible this first round, but I think outside of Richmond, we were going to have two top-seven finishes. I feel like we were well capable of finishing in the top-five tonight. It was only halfway through the race and we were going to finish top-10 in both stages, probably, and move on from there. So, yeah I don’t really know – things like that, I don’t know, you’ve just got to be more aware I guess than that to check up like that. But I don’t know – I don’t know what happened that would cause that really.” HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THIS SEASON? OBVIOUSLY, YOU GOT YOUR FIRST-CAREER WIN AND THERE’S STILL SEVEN RACES LEFT THIS YEAR. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THIS SEASON, EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE OUT IN THIS FIRST ROUND?“Yeah, I think it’s been a great season. I think that we’ve performed well. I think we would have liked to perform better, based on how we ended last year. But we got a win and I feel like really the last five or six weeks, we’ve had all top-10 runs, besides Richmond, which is our worst track. I don’t know – hopefully continue being fast the next few weeks.” 

GREENWOOD, NE (September 18, 2020) – Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Leader Jimmy Owens continued his spectacular 2020 racing season by winning Friday Night’s preliminary 30-lap event at I-80 Speedway. Owens took the lead from Tim McCreadie on lap 27 and went on for his 11th series win of the season. Brandon Overton who led early in the race finished in third followed by Devin Moran and Darrell Lanigan.Overton led for the first nine laps of the race before the only caution flag in two nights of feature racing changed the complexion of the race. On the restart McCreadie cleared Overton for the lead. McCreadie pulled away from both Overton and Owens as he encountered lapped traffic, allowing his two nearest pursuers to close the gap. Owens was finally able to track down McCreadie, taking the lead with three laps to go. Owens made his way to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 75thtime in his career, setting himself up for a good starting spot in Saturday’s $30,000-to-win finale. “I was moving around quite a bit on the track and we were in the catbirds seat for once, running in second. Timmy was just a sitting duck up there; he didn’t know where to go. I was able to move around enough to get this Ramirez Rocket up front. This should give us a lot of momentum for tomorrow night. This win says a lot for our crew, they busted their tails all week to get ready to come out here. We had to work for three days straight to get everything ready to come out here. It’s like a 16-hour drive out here and everybody pulled together and here we are.” McCreadie was more than satisfied with his second place finish. “It’s so hard to lead here. It’s such a big track and wide, the grooves come and go. Brandon’s out there leading away, I thought he wouldn’t change up much. On the restart it looked like that little bit of dust off of two cleaned up to where it wasn’t dirty any more. We were good for a while once we got the lead, I didn’t find the line on the track until I was passed. We work hard every night to try to get better. We took a stab at it tonight. I don’t know how we will run tomorrow, but the car’s pretty comfortable.” Overton led the first seven laps of the race before yielding to McCreadie. He was seeking his 20th overall win of the season, but came home in third. “On the restart that top there in one and two and three and four started to clean up. There was a fine line there, then Jimmy moved up and got by me. He got me going into three and I just got up there too late. Our car was good, it was way better than last night. We should be locked into tomorrow night with a good starting spot.”   The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and is sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tommy Pope Construction, Boomtest Well Service, General Tire, Red Line Oil, Ohlins Shocks, Champion Spark Plugs, and Midwest Sheet Metal. Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton, Jr., Ryan Gustin, Kyle Strickler, Josh Richards, and Brandon Sheppard.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Optima Batteries I-80 Nationals – Presented by General Tire
Friday, September 18th, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton / 14.529 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie / 14.554 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer):  1. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 2. 29V-Darrell Lanigan[5]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[8]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[4]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[7]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[9]; 9. 98J-Jason Rauen[2]; 10. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[11]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer):  1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[3]; 7. 43-Jeremy Grady[9]; 8. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 9. 62-Justin Zeitner[7]; 10. 14J-Jake Neal[10]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. 1C-Chad Simpson[2]; 5. 8-Kyle Strickler[5]; 6. 777-Jared Landers[3]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[8]; 9. 29D-Spencer Diercks[9]; 10. 3C-Mike Collins[10]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[11]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[6]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 44M-Chris Madden[7]; 6. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 7. 81E-Tanner English[8]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton[2]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 777-Jared Landers[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 62-Justin Zeitner[8]; 7. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 8. 98J-Jason Rauen[5]; 9. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[12]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[13]; 12. (DNS) 25-Shane Clanton; 13. (DNS) 14J-Jake Neal

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[5]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[3]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 8. 29D-Spencer Diercks[9]; 9. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 10. 43-Jeremy Grady[6]; 11. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 12. L88-Larry Clawson[12]

6th    19th  11th

“We had another strong performance tonight in our No. 21 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet. I believe that was our fifth sixth-place finish of the season. I was fighting really hard for that top-five finish, but also had to play a little defense on the car behind us. Our car was super fast tonight. Everyone at RCR and ECR have done a phenomenal job. I’m just so proud of everyone on our No. 21 team, especially the pit crew tonight. It was tough starting mid-pack and having to drive through everyone to get to the front. We just needed some track position and I really think we could have contended for the win. Overall, I am extremely pleased with our performance. It’s hard to be disappointed with another sixth-place finish, but with a car this fast, I know we are capable of more. I’m looking forward to trying to be a few spots better next week at Las Vegas.”