Kaz Grala and the Ruedebusch.com Chevrolet Team Back Up Last Night’s Strong Performance with Second Straight Top-10 Finish of the Weekend at Richmond Raceway

9th    7th  10th

“We had another really solid day at Richmond Raceway in our No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet, bringing home another top-10 finish for our Richard Childress Racing team. It seemed like we were just destined to finish in ninth this weekend, but I’m still very proud of my team. I wish we could have gotten a little more out of today. I think we were just a couple small adjustments away from being a top-five car again. We definitely learned what we need to be good here at Richmond, so hopefully next year the team will have a great direction on what the car needs to compete again. Overall, it was a clean weekend. We didn’t have any damage and didn’t make any mistakes in either race, so I’m really happy we could gain some valuable points towards the owner’s championship for the 21 team this weekend. Thank you to everyone at RCR and ECR, Andy Street, and my partner ruedebusch.com for being on board. I had a lot of fun this weekend and loved running double duty. We’ll go get us a win at the Roval in a couple of weeks.”  -Kaz Grala

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 DOUBLE HEADER MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE LEXINGTON, OHIO TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP – RACE 1 SEPTEMBER 12-13, 2020 WILL POWER PUTS CHEVY ON POLE FOR RACE ONE
For the 60th time in his NTT INDYCAR Series career, Will Power will lead the field to the green flag with his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Power’s winning lap was one minute, 06.3343 seconds.
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET POLE WINNER:THIS IS YOUR 59^TH CAREER POLE. WHAT A GREAT RUN AT THE END OF THE SESSION. WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO KEEP THE NO. 12 CAR UP FRONT IN THE RACE?“Man, I did not expect that because the track keeps getting better; but it was a pretty good lap we did, and it stuck. I’m really happy to have the Verizon Chevy in P1. It makes a big difference here. So, we’ll see if we can finally convert a pole into a win. Man, that’s what we’ve been trying hard to do.” COULD THE TRACK REALLY CHANGE THAT MUCH THAT YOU WER IT WOULD BE THAT DIFFERENT FOR GROUP 2?“Usually it’s way better because it just takes rubber. But it was difficult honestly. Like, it never came in for us. So, I’m guessing it just stayed the same for the other guys.”

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 DOUBLE HEADER MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE LEXINGTON, OHIO TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 12-13, 2020 ROOKIE DALTON KELLETT, NO. 14 K-LINE USA AJ FOYT RACING MET WITH MEDIA VIA ZOOM. FULL TRANSCRIP:T
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to another NTT INDYCAR Series video teleconference with a driver from the series. We are joined today by the driver of the No. 14 K-Line USA for A.J. Foyt Racing, Dalton Kellett.Dalton, welcome to the call.DALTON KELLETT: Thanks, Arni.
THE MODERATOR: We’re headed to a place you’re pretty familiar with, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Raced there a lot in the Road to Indy, maybe an IMSA race there. How excited are you to get back to a road course?DALTON KELLETT: Yeah, I’m really excited. The pacing of this year has been a bit different, right, with big breaks, the staccato rhythm of how the races have been going. A big focus was the 500. We’re through that.At least on my calendar, we have two doubleheaders left. Pretty exciting to get back to developing the road course car, working on that again.I didn’t do the IMSA race. I did Mosport, Laguna.
THE MODERATOR: What do you find as the biggest challenge to a track like Mid-Ohio? There’s a lot of undulations, some of the corners are pretty technical.DALTON KELLETT: Yeah, I think in and of itself the layout is quite technical and challenging. There’s a lot of rhythm sections where you have the setup and entry at the start of the section affects the entire string of corners. An example would be turn five through turn nine. You can even make the case that turn four through turn nine is really one big rhythm section. If you kind of make a mistake in that turn five or six area, it’s going to affect you all the way out of turn nine.I think that makes it challenging, but it makes it really fun. I tend to prefer tracks like that. I’ll take a Mid-Ohio that’s go, go, go, no break, over Road America. I just prefer that flow. This weekend, especially with the doubleheader, it’s going to be physically challenging, as well.THE MODERATOR: Difficult season for you anyway with the way the schedule worked out with you and Sebastien and Tony sharing the 14 car. You really haven’t had a chance to drive the 14 car much since June when Road America happened. How have you been preparing yourself for road course racing?
DALTON KELLETT: Staying up to date with the home sim right there. Staying up to date with the sim on iRacing. Been on the training side physically preparing really hard with the Pit.Fit guys, mentally kind of doing some visualization, looking at old onboard, going over stuff with the team. Kind of that standard quiver of tools that we have to stay sharp.Without testing, obviously it’s a challenging season. Looking forward to getting on track.
THE MODERATOR: We have some media on the call with questions. We’ll open it up for questions for Dalton Kellett.Q.Obviously with the truncated schedule this season, what have you learnt this year that you can take forward for the rest of the season but also into next year? In terms of the road courses, what are you most looking forward to about the challenges of Mid-Ohio this weekend?DALTON KELLETT: So I think, yeah, the answer to the first part of your question, what I learnt the most, kind of a nod to the condensed schedule, it’s really highlighted the importance of being accurate and kind of correct with your feedback with the engineers because we don’t have the time to develop the car as we normally would on a race weekend. We practically have no testing. The importance of being kind of correct and giving good, honest feedback has been highlighted, for sure.As far as what I think, the second part of your question, what am I looking forward to this race?
Q.In relation to Mid-Ohio.DALTON KELLETT: Yeah, so as far as Mid-Ohio is concerned, I really like the flow of the track. It’s fast-paced. You don’t really get much of a break, maybe between the keyhole and turn four, take a bit of a breather. The rest of the track is go, go, go. I really like that. For me, this is one of my favorite road courses.On a normal year, there’s lot of fans camping here, the atmosphere of the race. Being back with 6,000 fans per day, it will be exciting to reconnect with the race fans and see that coming back, as well.
Q.In terms of the car, what are you expecting this weekend?DALTON KELLETT: In terms of the car, obviously it’s been a while since we’ve been on a road course. The engineers have been doing a lot of work on the setup side, dampers, suspension package, all that. I think we’ll start the weekend pretty similar on the 4 and 14 cars, then we each have some testing items to work through, kind of decide on the balance we want for the race.I’m hoping that we’ll roll off with a good package. Matheus has some quick times with practice last year, so I’m optimistic.
Q.This is your first year in INDYCAR full-time. You’ve had many experiences through the years with different teams. What is interesting or new that you’re finding out being with A.J. Foyt?DALTON KELLETT: So for A.J. specifically, the first race that he came to this year was Indy. Obviously that’s a place where he has a lot of experience, more so than I think anybody else. He had lots of great advice to give, especially as a rookie at the Speedway. That was really useful.For the rest of the team, the rest of the races, we have not just A.J., but between T.K., Charlie, Seb at the start of the year, the rest of the organization, there’s a lot of experience there. It’s been very useful for me to kind of lean on the more experienced guys to help me get up to speed.
Q.What new or interesting things have you learned from A.J. Foyt Enterprises over Andretti Autosport or other teams? Is there one new thing?DALTON KELLETT: Obviously with Andretti, I didn’t really have too much experience on the INDYCAR side, aside from a couple half-day tests. It’s hard to comment on their workflow, base structure things. I know the size of the team probably lent itself to a bit more, like, communal debriefs. They have an engineering truck and all that, whereas we’re operating out of our two trailers.The way the team works, it’s a bit different, a bit smaller feeling overall, more time spent with me and my engineer, just me and Charlie, as opposed to a big group. I’ve enjoyed that.I think one thing that we’re doing really well this year is the engineering team that Larry and Scott have put together for the two cars, for the three at the 500, has been very strong. There’s been no egos, no team driver drama on the inside. We’re all just working really hard to make the cars better, kind of raise all of our tides kind of thing. It’s been a great working environment so far.
Q.You’ve been working with Darren Manning for a few years now. Tell us how that relationship came about and how he helped you become a better driver.DALTON KELLETT: The start of Darren and I working together goes back to when I was at Andretti. At the time Poppy – not my dog – Dave Popielarz at Andretti was managing Lights the team. It was Shelby and I and Dean Stoneman that year. We were basically looking to kind of bring on a team driver coach, like a third set of eyes kind of thing. We tried out a few different guys.Poppy suggested we check out Darren’s sim facility. Darren, Shelby and I hit it off. We asked him to come onboard. That’s kind of how that relationship began.Since then, Darren has stayed on working with me on the open-wheel side. His philosophy and kind of what we’re really working toward is getting the most out of having a kind of consistent driving style that we’re approaching every track with, then optimizing the car so that I can get the most out of it. I think that’s been the biggest help to my driving, right?Going from team to team, sometimes you can get lost, just driving to what that team’s engineer wants you to do, how they want you to drive. That can be a bit confusing I think for a young guy.I think it was a good decision to kind of bring someone on to help guide that, What are we actually looking for out of the driving, and build the car setup out of that.
Q.With this part of the schedule so heavily loaded with road courses, your ability to be in the car for all these races, how important is that going to be to putting something together to show some teams for 2021?DALTON KELLETT: Yeah, as we get to the end of the season, obviously everyone’s thinking about what’s happening for next year. A good performance in these closing races would go a long way solidifying plans, getting everything figured out. That’s the goal.We’re not going to change our process of how we’re going about it, right? We’re still focusing on getting the most out of me and the car, letting the results come from that. That’s still going to be the approach.Obviously we’re looking to end the season strong here.
Q.How difficult has it been for you since the July race at Road America? You did have the Indy 500, so that takes up two weeks there, but having that long stretch where you were not in a car?DALTON KELLETT: It’s challenging being out of the car for this long. I’ve been thinking about it the last couple weeks as we’re getting back into road course mode. It’s made more so challenging by the fact we have a condensed schedule. We do have a doubleheader, that’s two chances to get it right. Basically going to have to look at every session as an opportunity to learn and keep making myself and the car better.That’s kind of how we’re going to be going about it.
Q.You came from Indy Lights. How beneficial and important has Indy Lights been to helping you prepare for your rookie season in INDYCAR?DALTON KELLETT: Yeah, I think the experience in Indy Lights, not just there but in the whole Road to Indy, is a great development program to bring guys up. If you look at the stats, they speak for themselves. A large majority of the field came through Lights or Road to Indy. It’s a very impressive record for that program.I think the big thing is you get to race at the same tracks as INDYCAR does. You’re racing against guys that you’re going to move up with. You know some of the competition coming up. You’re at the same events so you get the opportunity to meet the teams, kind of see how the INDYCAR side of the business works.All in all it’s a great training ground for guys that are looking to make that jump.
Q.We’ve talked about the rookie season. The rookie class has been pretty impressive between what Rinus, Oliver and Alex Palou have done. Would it be nice to have success like they’ve had in one of these final three events?DALTON KELLETT: Definitely. I’m looking to end the season on a strong note. I think we were having a great month of May. I think that was going really well. I think obviously it was unfortunate that we didn’t go the full 200 laps in the race. I think we were looking pretty good there.I think as we close up the season, it will just be really about focusing on trying to hit our marks, minimize mistakes, get things done in the race.
THE MODERATOR: Dalton, we appreciate your time, wish you the best of luck this weekend at Mid-Ohio.DALTON KELLETT: Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it.

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 DOUBLE HEADER MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE LEXINGTON, OHIO TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE SEPTEMBER 12-13, 2020 RACE #10 & 11 OF 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES:
Five-to-go! Chevrolet teams in the NTT INDYCAR head to one of the favorite road courses on the schedule – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The 2.258-mile, 13-turn natural road course is a rhythm race track that requires a driver to develop a flow the get the most out of their Chevrolet 2.2 liter twin turbo direct injected V6 power.
Mid-Ohio has been a good track for Team Chevy.
Team Chevy drivers have won the NTT P1 award seven of the eight races since 2012, and four races. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, won from the pole in 2016.
Teammate Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet has the most poles – 2019, 2027, 2012.
FAN VIEWING AND LISTENINGNBC/NBCSN telecasts: Race 1, 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 12 (live); Race 2, 1 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 13 (live).NBC Sports Gold livestreaming: Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session and Saturday and Sunday’s qualifying sessions will stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer livestreaming produ ct.Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES races are broadcast live on Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying is available on XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
AT-TRACK SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES LOCAL)Saturday, Sept. 1210:45 a.m.-noon: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, NBC Sports Gold (live)2:00-2:30 p.m.: Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award – Race 1 (Two groups), NBC Sports Gold (live)4:30 p.m.: NBCSN on air4:53 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines”5:00 p.m.: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio – Race 1 (75 laps/169.35 miles), NBCSN (Live)Sunday, Sept. 1310:15-10:45 a.m.: Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award – Race 2 (Two groups), NBC Sports Gold (Live)12:58 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines”1:00 p.m.: NBC on air1:05 p.m.: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio – Race 2 (75 laps/169.35 miles), NBC (Live) BOWTIE BULLETS:Chevrolet at Mid-Ohio since 2012

• 7 poles, 4 wins
• Josef Newgarden is second in points, Pato O’Ward is third in points, Simon Pagenaud is sixth in points and Will Power sits eighth.
• Power is the second all-time INDYCAR pole winner with 59 (behind only Mario Andretti with 67).
• Since returning to INDYCAR manufacturer competition in 2012, Chevrolet has amassed 85 wins in 145 races along with six Manufacturer Championships and six driver championships

 
QUOTABLE QUOTES: ROB BUCKNER, CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES:  “After a successful conclusion for our Chevy IndyCar teams and drivers in the final oval race of the season at WWT Raceway, all of the focus turns to the final five NTT INDYCAR Series races which will all be held on a road or street courses. Next on the schedule is Mid-Ohio and we arre going to be allowed to have a limited number of fans. Their presence always creates more energy and excitement for the teams and drivers, Mid-Ohio is a flowing track that requires drivers to finesse their cars around the track. The driver that can maintain a smooth rhythm getting on and off the throttle will reap a good result.  “Although it is another doubleheader weekend, with the cooperative effort of the Chevrolet engineers, along with the technical partners and team engineers, the teams have the tools they need to have a successful weekend”

FROM THE COCKPIT: JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “I’m thrilled that the series has been able to figure out how to race at Mid-Ohio. I really didn’t want to see an extended break following out win at Gateway. With that momentum, the PPG Chevy team and I are feeling really dialed in for this weekend’s races. It’s another doubleheader and the first of several road courses and we feel pretty good about that. Qualifying is so important at Mid-Ohio and we feel great about our plan for that. With the race, it’s all about staying out of trouble in the corners and watching restarts. My guys always put together a fast car and I’m sure that won’t be any different this weekend.” CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:“I’m glad we are able to get the opportunity to race at Mid-Ohio this year, a double header means double the fun around the track which is one of my favorites. I have a lot of confidence in the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet after leaving the last road course at Road America and knowing that will translate into this weekend. Strategically, the 15 lap shorter race adds a wrinkle in the thought process but having won there in 2013 with a healthy dose of strategy the opportunity exists for us to excel.” 
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:“We are returning to road course action this weekend at Mid-Ohio. I think it’s going to be a good change for the championship race, after having five oval races in a row. It will be a good challenge for Arrow McLaren SP and I’m looking forward to building on the success that I had there in 2018 with Indy Lights, getting both poles and both wins. Our objective is going to be the same as it has been the past couple of weeks: qualifying up front and try to score a couple podium finishes. OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:“We are returning to road course action this weekend at Mid-Ohio. I think it’s going to be a good change for the championship race, after having five oval races in a row. It will be a good challenge for Arrow McLaren SP and I’m looking forward to building on the success that I had there in 2018 with Indy Lights, getting both poles and both wins. Our objective is going to be the same as it has been the past couple of weeks: qualifying up front and try to score a couple podium finishes. WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“I’m really looking forward to racing at Mid-Ohio and it’s nice to have a few road course races in a row. We haven’t had one since the Road America weekend – a lot of ovals in a row. But it’s a fun track, a place with so many technical corners. It can be difficult but also really fun to race there. We’ve started on the pole there a few times but it’s one of the tracks I haven’t won at yet. It’s been a goal of mine to get a win there and I’m excited to have two chances to try and make it happen. We have a really fast Verizon Chevrolet ready to go.” DALTON KELLETT,  NO 14 K-LINE USA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET: “I am very excited for the double-header at Mid-Ohio and thankful for the efforts of INDYCAR, Savoree-Green, and the State for surmounting the challenges of rescheduling the race. It’s one of my favourite tracks, I love the technical and fast-paced nature of the layout. This weekend will be physically and mentally challenging, for both crew and drivers. It shouldn’t be quite as hot as the Indy GP, but you can’t discount the physical nature of this place. There’s not much time to relax. “It will be good to jump back in the No. 14 and continue to work on our road course package. Given the condensed schedule, we’re doing more development, during race weekends, than we might on a typical year. That means it will be important for me to give the engineers accurate feedback in practice, so we can get it right for the race. Every session is an opportunity to learn. Be sure to catch updates on the No. 14 K-Line Insulators USA Chevrolet on social and the NBC broadcasts Saturday and Sunday!” CONOR DALY, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “ “I’ve always enjoyed going to Mid-Ohio, such a great track in the Midwest. I’ve had some reasonable success there, qualified decent and led some laps. It feels like forever since we’ve been to a road course so it will be nice to get back to that! Hopefully we’ll qualify up front, finish up front and get a lot of points.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:“I’m very excited we’re finally going to Mid-Ohio! We’ve been waiting a while to find out if it was going happen. I had a very important test with Ed Carpenter Racing there last October. Good memories already with the team! Also good memories in the Road to Indy where I never finished off the podium and have two wins. I love the track and the atmosphere around it. The season is getting close to the end now. We’ve had a few good races and it’s important to keep this momentum going!” SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 DXC TECHNOLOGY TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“I’m so excited to have DXC Technology back on my Chevrolet for Mid-Ohio. For the rest of the season we’ll be racing on road courses or a street course so we have had to shift our thinking from the last few races that were all on ovals. Whatever we learn between the two races at Mid-Ohio can be really valuable for the rest of the season. In that case and my crew has been working really hard with that in mind. We are ready for the fight and aiming for race wins.” MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET: “ “I know how hard everyone at INDYCAR and the track have been working to make sure we get back to Mid-Ohio this weekend and I’m thrilled they were able to not only get us back, but get us a doubleheader with fans! I’m a big fan of Mid-Ohio and we’ve qualified well there in the past, so I’m really looking forward to carrying the momentum the team has from Gateway into this weekend and hopefully getting two more top-10 finishes.”

Kaz Grala and the Ruedebusch.com Chevrolet Team Score Stage Points En Route to Strong Top-10 Finish in Race One of Double-Header Weekend at Richmond Raceway

9th    24th  10th

“It was a solid night for our No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet team in race one at Richmond Raceway. We had a lot of speed tonight and I was excited to add some stage points toward our point total for the No. 21 team owner’s championship standings. I thought we were definitely a top-five car tonight. I was concentrating really hard on saving the tires during that last run and thought we would drive back up inside the top-five but, unfortunately, we really lost the tires as we got deeper into the run. A couple of guys slipped by us in the closing laps, but it was still a great night scoring a top-10 finish for our Richard Childress Racing team. I feel like I learned a lot and I think we have a really good piece to work with tomorrow. We’ll go back to work tomorrow and see if we can grab that top-five finish that I know we are capable of.”  -Kaz Grala

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400 RICHMOND RACEWAY RICHMOND, VA SEPTEMBER 12, 2020

RICHMOND: RACE #28The road to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship continues on as the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) will return to “The Action Track” of Richmond Raceway for the ninth annual Federated Auto Parts 400 on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Due to the halt in the season for the COVID-19 pandemic and the revision of the 2020 schedule, this will be the only appearance by NASCAR’s three national series at the .75-mile Virginia track this year. The 400-mile, 300-lap race under the lights will mark the 28th race on the NCS schedule and the second race of the first round of the NCS Playoffs. Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 is the third time that Richmond Raceway has hosted the NCS Playoff’s second race. The 2020 season is the first since 1958 that the NASCAR Cup Series has made just a single appearance during the year. 
In addition to the NASCAR Cup Series event, the three-day race weekend also consists of appearances by both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series. The action kicked off with the return of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series for the first time since 2005 with the ToyotaCare 250 on Thursday, September 10, to conclude the series’ regular season. Richmond Raceway will also be the host of a NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader, with the Go Bowling 250 on Friday, September 11, at 7:00 p.m. ET, followed by the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 on Saturday, September 12, at 2:00 p.m. ET. In compliance with the pandemic guidelines, all events during the race weekend will be run without spectators.
ROUND OF 16 – RACE #2The Federated Auto Parts 400 marks the second race of the Round of 16, the first of four rounds that will determine the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Following the first race of the Playoffs at Darlington Raceway, two Team Chevy Playoff contenders were the biggest movers in point positions. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, moved up four positions in the standings, while Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Camaro ZL1 1LE, jumped three spots from eighth to fifth.  Heading into the Richmond race weekend, all five Team Chevy Playoff Contenders currently sit above the Round of 16 cutline:  Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Camaro ZL1 1LE – 5th in Standings (2,052 points)Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway)Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s: 9; Laps Led: 389; Average Finish: 16.6Stage Wins: 4; Stage Top-Five’s: 14; Stage Top-10’s: 30; Stage Points: 1798-career starts at Richmond; Average Finish: 25.6 Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 7th in Standings (2,045 points)Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course)Top-Fives: 10; Top-10’s: 15; Laps Led: 644; Average Finish: 13.1Stage Wins: 6; Stage Top-Five’s: 19; Stage Top-10’s: 36; Stage Points: 2089-career starts at Richmond; Average Finish: 12.8 Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW NORKOOL Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings (2,043 points)Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway) Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s 8; Laps Led: 80; Average Finish: 16.3Stage Top-Five’s: 3; Stage Top-10’s: 14; Stage Points: 6012-career starts at Richmond; Average Finish: 18.7 William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE – 9th in Standings (2,042 points)Victories: 1 (Daytona International Speedway)Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s: 10; Laps Led: 97; Average Finish: 15.7Stage Wins: 2; Stage Top-Five’s 9; Stage Top-10’s: 24; Stage Points: 1174-career starts at Richmond; Average Finish: 17.2 Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – 11th in Standings (2,037 points)Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 15; Laps Led: 96; Average Finish: 13.2Stage Wins: 1; Stage Top-Five’s: 6; Stage Top-10’s: 23; Stage Points: 9738-career starts at Richmond; Average Finish: 15.4
BOWTIE BULLETS·       Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Richmond Raceway include:Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, with 3 wins (2007 sweep, 2008)Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE, with 2 wins (2002, 2015)Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, with 2 wins (2005, 2015)
·       A Chevrolet has sat on the pole position at the .75-mile D-shaped oval 46 times, topping all other manufacturers. Of active drivers, Matt Kenseth ties for the lead in poles at Richmond with three. Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon holds the track’s qualifying record, which was set in September 2013, clocking in at 130.599 mph.  ·       Of the 12 different drivers that have scored the victory at the second race of the Playoffs, Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads the way with three wins (2005, 2009 and 2010 – all at Dover International Speedway). 
·       Team Chevy drivers Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE, and Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, are three of only four drivers to finish in the top-10 in both tracks under 1-mile this year. 
LEADING AT THE ACTION TRACKRichmond Raceway welcomed NASCAR’s premier series to its venue when it hosted its first NASCAR event in 1953. Since the inaugural event, this weekend’s Federated Auto Parts 400 will mark the NCS’s 128th race at the .75-mile Virginia venue. Through NASCAR’s history at Richmond, Chevrolet has made its way to victory lane 38 times with 17 different Team Chevy drivers and teams, more than any other manufacturer. GM brands Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile have accounted for an additional 15 wins at the track. The Bowtie Brand has also recorded 234 top-five finishes, 484 top-10’s and led a total of 15,309 laps.  STARTING LINEUPFor the remainder of the 2020 NCS season, the starting lineups will be determined by a competition-based formula, combining the following metrics from the previous race event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the Owner points position.  Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400:3rd      Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW NORKOOL Camaro ZL1 1LE4th      Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Camaro ZL1 1LE5th      William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE8th      Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE12th    Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE18th    Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE19th    Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE TUNE-INNBCSN will telecast the 400-lap, 300-mile Federated Auto Parts 400 live at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 12th. Live coverage can also be found on the NBC Sports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  QUOTABLE QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/TRUCK HERO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 5th IN STANDINGS“We have struggled at Richmond in the past. The last three weeks have been pretty good to us and we have some momentum going into this weekend’s race. We had as strong run in Darlington last weekend and are sitting in a good spot in the playoff standings. As a team, we have to go into Richmond and capitalize on stage points and keeping the car clean. This ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero team have been working hard on our short-track program and I know that we are capable of having a strong race on Saturday night.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS“I think the pressure of being in the playoffs is a good thing. You just have to embrace it and recognize that you’d much rather be in the position of having a chance than not. It’s a good opportunity and we can turn that into motivation to try to do better.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW NORKOOL CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RICHMOND RACEWAY?“Richmond Raceway is one of the tracks the No. 3 team has circled as a definite place where we can gain maximum points and compete for a win. It will be crucial to our Playoff run. It’s funny because there was a time in my career when I did not run well at Richmond at all. It was a thorn in my side, but over the years that has changed. Richmond has become a much better place than it used to be for me. We have a couple of sixth-place finishes there, and had a fast car last September but ran into issues. I think the low downforce package has really helped our team at that track.
HOW DO YOU ANSWER THE FOLKS THAT DISMISS YOU AND YOUR TEAM IN THIS YEAR’S NASCAR PLAYOFFS? A LOT OF PEOPLE DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO MAKE IT PAST THE FIRST ROUND..“I love being dismissed. I think it’s great. I feel like that’s what propels us. We sneak up on people. I was very close to making it to the third round in the NASCAR Playoffs a couple year’s back but missed it by one point to Denny Hamlin. He went on to transfer and we missed it by one point at Talladega. I know from that experience that every point matters, and we just need to go out there and do our job during round one. Each of the three races in Round One – Darlington, Richmond and Bristol – are strong tracks for us. The real key will be Stage points. You have to get points. We’re going to continue to do what we did at Darlington, which is to be very aggressive in getting those points. Hopefully we will mess up a lot of brackets.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 9th IN STANDINGS“Richmond is a difficult track. It’s pretty slow in the middle of the corner and that’s what makes it interesting and a challenge at the same time. You’re fighting for front grip and also rear grip on the exit of the corners. It’s all about getting the car pointed in the right direction and driving straight off the corner. Richmond has very normal characteristics for a short track but at the same time it’s a lot slicker than a lot of places we go. I think with the race being at night, the biggest thing will be keeping up with the track changes.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS“There are three keys to our team being successful this weekend at Richmond Raceway. 1 – gain points in Stage one, 2 – gain stage points in Stage two and 3 – have a chance of winning the race. If we can’t win, we just need to try and have the best finish possible to gain as many points as possible. Richmond is a track that really chews up the tires, really, really bad. As far as the tire strategy goes, we’ve got to find the sequence that we know we want to have as an ideal strategy. We need to make the right calls on what we choose to adjust and when to pit. Richmond is just a couple hours from where my wife Ashley grew up, west of Washington DC. When I come to Richmond Raceway it feels like home. Mainly just because of the cool atmosphere around the race track with the fairgrounds and the way things are set up at the track, it gives you that hometown feel. But when the lights turn on it’s a playoff race.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT RENTAL STORE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 19th IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS HEADING TO RICHMOND RACEWAY WITH THIS CURRENT AERO PACKAGE?“Richmond Raceway is a place I’ve still been doing a lot of learning at. I’ve ran a decent amount of races there, but I still feel like there is a lot of learning left for me to do. It’s a long race on Saturday night, so there’s a lot of time for me to get settled in and try to figure out what to do to be more consistent at that track. We need to be focused and not make any mistakes there, knowing it’s a track I find more challenging. This weekend is a really good opportunity for both myself and the entire No. 8 Cat Rental Store team to take solid notes and learn all we can to be in a really good spot when we kick off the 2021 season next year. That is really our goal for the reminder of the season, to help set ourselves up to be even better next year.”
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 DOORDASH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 23rd IN STANDINGSTALK ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS GOING INTO RICHMOND. “As a team, we struggle really, really bad during the day but as soon as it turns night our No. 43 DoorDash Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE comes to action. It will be fun. It’s a short track, and I’ve always loved racing at the Richmond Raceway – no matter how good or bad we have been. It is just one of those short-track mentalities; getting in there and using the bumper a little bit to move people out of the way.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 28th IN STANDINGS“Richmond is a racetrack I have a lot of confidence at. I think we will see a lot of coming and going throughout the race, with some guys taking off well at the start of a run and then others that get better on the long run. For drivers, that is fun. Knowing when to be aggressive, when to take care of your tires until it’s time to make a move, that’s when the driver gets to shine and show their ability more. Our Germain Racing team is committed to finishing out this season strong. We are going to work hard all night and get the best result possible for our GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE.” 

Richard Childress Racing at Richmond Raceway … In 175 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond Raceway, Richard Childress Racing has scored nine wins, 37 top-five, and 71 top-10 finishes. The Welcome N.C. organization has also found success in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Virginia short track, capturing six wins, 10 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes. NASCAR Playoffs … Austin Dillon is in the midst of his fourth NASCAR Playoffs appearance and currently ranks eighth among the 16 Playoff-eligible drivers following a second-place finish at Darlington Raceway. Dillon is 10 points above the cut line with two races remaining (Richmond & Bristol) in the Round of 16. Catch the Action …The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway will be televised live Friday, September 11, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway will be televised live Saturday, September 12, beginning at 2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series’ Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway will be televised live Saturday, September 12, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Dow NORKOOL Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Richmond Raceway … Austin Dillon’s best NASCAR Cup Series finishes at Richmond Raceway are a pair of consecutive sixth-place results in April 2019 and September 2018. He has 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Richmond Raceway, acquiring seven top-10 finishes and one pole award. Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team …Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After 7 years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sportsand follow us on Twitter @DowSports & @DowNewsroom. NORKOOL Gas Compression Coolants … Are you an operator or engineer at a gas compression station? Are you struggling with corrosion or frequent coolant changes? This weekend, the No. 3 Dow Chevrolet will feature NORKOOL Gas Compression Coolants. The enhanced corrosion protection and anti-scaling technology of NORKOOL Coolants can keep them running for 25 years with proper care and lower total costby guarding against repairs, early equipment replacement, and degraded coolant changes. Just like Austin Dillon, you can also count on a pit crew to help with troubleshooting coolant issues at your gas compression station and finding a solution. Go to www.dow.com to learn more. NASCAR Playoffs … Dillon is in the midst of his fourth NASCAR Playoffs appearance and currently ranks eighth among the 16 Playoff-eligible drivers following a second-place finish at Darlington Raceway. The four-round postseason consists of eliminations after the Round of 16 (Darlington, Richmond, Bristol), the Round of 12 (Las Vegas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval) and the Round of 8 (Kansas, Texas, Martinsville). The Championship 4 will compete for the title at Phoenix.  AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:What are your thoughts on Richmond Raceway?“Richmond Raceway is one of the tracks the No. 3 team has circled as a definite place where we can gain maximum points and compete for a win. It will be crucial to our Playoff run. It’s funny because there was a time in my career when I did not run well at Richmond at all. It was a thorn in my side, but over the years that has changed. Richmond has become a much better place than it used to be for me. We have a couple of sixth-place finishes there, and had a fast car last September but ran into issues. I think the low downforce package has really helped our team at that track.”How do you answer the folks that dismiss you and your team in this year’s NASCAR Playoffs? A lot of people do not expect you to make it past the first round …“I love being dismissed. I think it’s great. I feel like that’s what propels us. We sneak up on people. I was very close to making it to the third round in the NASCAR Playoffs a couple year’s back but missed it by one point to Denny Hamlin. He went on to transfer, and we missed it by one point at Talladega. I know from that experience that every point matters, and we just need to go out there and do our job during the first round. Each of the three races in Round One – Darlington, Richmond and Bristol – are strong tracks for us. The real key will be Stage points. You have to get points. We’re going to continue to do what we did at Darlington, which is to be very aggressive in getting those points. Hopefully we will mess up a lot of brackets.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cat Rental Store Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Richmond Raceway … This weekend will mark Tyler Reddick’s first NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond Raceway. Reddick does have five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, collecting one top-five and four top-10 finishes there. The Cat Rental Store … A combined global network of more than 1,300 dealer-owned locations makes The Cat® Rental Store a convenient source for the largest construction equipment rental fleet in the world. From our well-known Cat earthmoving machines, excavators, skid steer loaders, backhoes, pavers and compactors, work tools and power generators to equipment from more than 70 other top-tier brands including aerial work platforms, compressors, concrete equipment, HVAC and dumpers, we have the equipment customers need to get the job done. Since 1997 the team knows how hard customers work, and they are always ready to prove they will work just as hard. At every store, customers have access to an extensive offer of short-term rentals, leasing options, technology, training and a complete team of equipment experts committed to their success. For more information visit: CatRentalStore.com TYLER REDDICK QUOTE: What are your expectations heading to Richmond Raceway with this current aero package?“Richmond Raceway is a place I’ve still been doing a lot of learning at. I’ve ran a decent amount of races there, but I still feel like there is a lot of learning left for me to do. It’s a long race on Saturday night, so there’s a lot of time for me to get settled in and try to figure out what to do to be more consistent at that track. We need to be focused and not make any mistakes there, knowing it’s a track I find more challenging. This weekend is a really good opportunity for both myself and the entire No. 8 Cat Rental Store team to take solid notes and learn all we can to be in a really good spot when we kick off the 2021 season next year. That is really our goal for the reminder of the season, to help set ourselves up to be even better next year.”

Kaz Grala and the No. 21 Ruedebusch.com Chevrolet Camaro at Richmond Raceway … Kaz Grala will return to the seat of the No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet Camaro for a double-header weekend at Richmond Raceway. This weekend’s double-header will mark the Boston native’s third and fourth starts of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing. Grala most recently made his Cup Series debut a few weeks ago at the Daytona Road Course, where he finished in the seventh position. About Ruedebusch Development & Construction … At Ruedebusch, we have the ability to combine commercial real estate development, design-build construction, commercial real estate brokerage, and commercial real estate consulting services or contract them individually. Ruedebusch has knowledge and experience in all aspects of the commercial real estate field. From locating new rental space for your business, to finding the perfect piece of land for your new corporate headquarters; from the turn-key facility, to the architectural and interior design that will best reflect your company’s culture, Ruedebusch is with you every step of the way. Let Ruedebusch assist you with your project; we handle the details so you can concentrate on your business. For more information visit ruedebusch.com. KAZ GRALA QUOTES: Talk a little bit about the advantages and disadvantages of a double-header weekend.“I’m really excited to run two races at the same track in a weekend. I think that will help me get warmed up, especially before the second race on Saturday. I think it will definitely take away some of the disadvantages I usually face while only running part-time. Richmond is a fun place, which I really enjoy racing at. To me, Richmond Raceway is such a rhythm track. I think having the opportunity to run two races and 500 laps total is really going to benefit us. The only unknown or disadvantage I can think of is, I have never raced at Richmond during the day. It will be interesting to see how much the track changes in the heat of the day. I’m really not sure what to expect. I know it will be a lot different, but I’m confident my team will prepare for that and we’ll have a really fast ruedebusch.com Chevrolet for both races.”  You’ve had a strong start to the 2020 season in the races you have competed in. What are the expectations for this weekend at Richmond Raceway? “The goal is always to contend for the win. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to. I have all the confidence in my crew chief, Andy Street, and my entire No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team. I think if we can just go out there and have a solid top-five day in our No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet, we can put ourselves in position when it matters most. If we can have a strong performance in the first race, I think that will translate to the second race as well.”

BATAVIA, Ohio (September 10, 2020) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series stars are in the spotlight on two networks this week. Florence Speedway’s General Tire Summer Sizzler – Presented by E3 Spark Plugs airs on MAVTV Motorsports Network tonight, I-80 Speedway’s 10th Annual Optima Batteries Silver Dollar Nationals – Presented by K&N Filters on NBC Sports Network on Sunday. The broadcasts will include driver interviews, in-car cameras, and various technical segments.
Tune into MAVTV Motorsports Network tonight at 9:00 PM EST, with a re-airing at 12 AM EST, for the General Tire Summer Sizzler – Presented by E3 Spark Plugs from Florence Speedway in Union, KY. A Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series regular and a local hot shot came across the finish line in the closest finish in series history, with a margin of victory of just .002 seconds. 

The 10th Annual Optima Batteries Silver Dollar Nationals – Presented by K&N Filters from I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE will air on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, September 13th at 6:00 PM ET. Over $180,000 in A-Main prize money alone had 46 Lucas Dirt Late Models trying to make their way into the main event for their chance at the $53,000 top prize. Four different drivers lead laps, one looking to become the third repeat winner of the event, the other three with hopes of becoming the 8th different Silver Dollar victor.  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, YouTubeTV, 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. Dedicated to serving passionate sports fans in over 90 million households, the NBC Sports Network will feature 14 pulse-pounding Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series episodes. Find your local listings by visiting: nbcsports.com/tv-listings. 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/.

NASCAR CUP SERIES FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400 RICHMOND RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
MATT MCCALL, CREW CHIEF, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE met with media via teleconference and discussed the upcoming races at Richmond and Bristol, how he and the team have adjusted to the season with COVID-19 challenges, schedule changes, and more. Full Transcript:
GIVE US AN OVERVIEW FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A CREW CHIEF OF WHAT THE SEASON HAS BEEN LIKE NAVIGATING INTO COVID-19 AND NOW, AS WE ENTER THE NASCAR PLAYOFFS AND HOW YOUR TEAM HAS DEALT WITH ALL THE CHANGES AND CHALLENGES.“Obviously, there are a lot of changes and challenges, for sure. There are a lot of unknowns going to the track and a lot let people. The biggest thing is the scheduling process for us, trying to work at the shop as a road crew and having to work what I consider different hours than normal. I don’t mind working late, but 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning is not really my cup of tea when you have kids. But we do what we do. We try to make all that work. It’s become somewhat normal now. Not that it’s that spectacular. We’re doing whatever it takes to prepare the cars as good as we can. But throughout the season, we started off three Darlington races ago. We started that race pretty good. We had a few decent races and then managed to have some consistency. We never had the overall speed we were looking for to try to put Kurt (Busch) in position. I don’t know that we’ve actually put a race together yet to give him a shot to win a race. We’ve had one or two chances probably, and probably stepped on our hand there with a couple of mistakes here and there, but overall, it’s been okay. We’re still looking for more, obviously. Last week was an okay start for us to see where we stack up in the Playoffs to start and I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot there. All-in-all, I would give us maybe a seven out of 10; and need to be three more.”
LOOKING AHEAD ONE WEEK TO BRISTOL, DO YOU KNOW YET WHERE THE TRACTION COMPOUND IS GOING TO BE AND IF IT’S GOING TO BE ANY DIFFERENT, AND HOW WILL IT BE DIFFERENT WITH A COUPLE OF RACES ON THAT TRACK BEFORE YOU RUN?“From my understanding and the team’s understanding, it’ll be the same as they’ve put down for the first Bristol and the All-Star. But the biggest part of that is the amount of races before our race. That’ll play a big role in how that is. The first Bristol, we had two competition cautions at 20 and 60; the track never really was somewhat raceable. But yeah, it should be similar from my understanding. A lot of times we don’t get that information sometimes until we’re actually unloading the car. Right now, they’re prediction is the same.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE, NOT HAVING BEEN TO RICHMOND THIS YEAR, AND BRISTOL, HAVING BEEN THERE TWICE BUT PROBABLY UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF WHAT THE TRACK IS GOING TO BE LIKE, AND HOW TO SET-UP THE CARS?“Richmond, with this package, you can revert back to 2018 a little bit. Obviously, we had a different driver then. And so you change a little bit of the information but you’ve still got to find a way to correlate what we had last year and try to work through the different grip levels of the track because obviously there are a lot of races this weekend, hopefully before we race. So, that will dictate a lot of how you try to unload for your balance. And Bristol will be, at least for us, we didn’t make a ton of laps at the first Bristol. We got tore up, probably around lap 200, I think; unfortunately. I don’t know how we salvaged the finish we got. We got an okay finish out of it at the end there. Not a ton of notes to work off this year, but obviously history still comes into play. This weekend, the tire is going to be the biggest. It’s been many, many years since you’ve ran the same tire from Phoenix and Loudon that you would run at Richmond. I think that will come into play, for sure.”
YOU SAW RYAN BLANEY GET DOCKED POINTS FOR HAVING A FIVE POUND BAG OF LEAD IN HIS CAR AND ALSO WHAT HAPPENED WITH KYLE BUSCH AND CLINT BOWYER WITH HAVING THEIR CREW CHIEFS SUSPENDED FOR THIS WEEKEND FOR LUG NUT ISSUES. WHAT KIND OF MESSAGE AND WAKE-UP CALL DOES THIS SEND TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING WITH THE NO. 1 CAR IS ON THE UP AND UP SO YOU DON’T END UP HURTING YOURSELVES?“Yeah, for sure. That type of stuff, if it does happen; I think it’s probably been more frequent this year. You’ve seen lead come out of cars just from not having the same personnel final set the car and stuff like that. From the No. 1 car standpoint, I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot. Hopefully you’re not jinxing us here. I feel good about the guys we have. As far as changing the message, I don’t think there’s much to do there because the amount of effort that’s put in by my team, I feel really good about. Obviously, you pay attention to stuff that goes on around you and want to make sure you’re not put in the same boat to make a mistake like that. But I feel like there’s not a ton of change in the approach because I feel like every week we prepare the same way.”
GOING BACK TO LAST WEEK AT DARLINGTON AND THAT DECISION NOT TO PIT AT THE FIRST STAGE WHICH LED TO GETTING THE STAGE POINTS. HOW MUCH OF A GAMBLE WAS THAT? CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH THAT THOUGHT PROCESS?“Yeah, obviously we had run long there. And you’re not really always banking on a caution. But our falloff had been pretty good to start with. So, I felt like that put us in a spot, you know, if we could run a little bit longer; obviously the race engineer is giving us a lot of information as far as how it would prove out toward the end of the stage there. And when the caution fell, it’s one of those things, it’s like you’re at Darlington, there were four or five green flag laps; yes, that’s getting on the verge of everyone else pitting. And it was one of those things if we thought we could get the lead, not that it was a no-brainer, but it put us in a pretty good spot. Also, I thought there would be more takers. And then when that happens and there’s only one taker, you’re like oh lord, Kurt’s got his work cut out for him. Obviously, he was the one that made it work in the end; choosing the right lane to start with, the No. 19 (Martin Truex, Jr.) got us there to start with, but then it took about, I’ll call it like 20 laps, and then I feel like it honestly leveled out right there. I think some of that was due to our long run speed seemed to be okay. And a lot of that is dictated as to where your track position is as well. It got spread out enough there to know sort of what you thought you had, balance-wise. There’s never a call you make that you always know oh, this is going to work. But it was one of those that I didn’t really feel bad about making. It thought it was going to be to our benefit, for sure.”
YOU ARE ONE OF THE TEAMS THAT HAS AN ENGINEER THAT COMES TO THE TRACK. SOME TEAMS KEEP THE ENGINEERS AT HOME. EVERYBODY HAS COMMUNICATION WITH THE SHOP. BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU FEEL IT HELPED OR DID IT HELP HAVING AN ENGINEER BESIDE YOU AS OPPOSED TO TRADING INSTANT MESSAGING OR DOES IT MATTER AT THAT POINT?“I guess the biggest thing for me is, I’m probably harping on my team a lot; but I have two engineers that know how to work on my cars. Not to beat engineers up, but I’m in a pretty good spot there that allows our team to sort of mobilize a position that still is not wasted on one end or the other. It’s still getting used on both sides. So, that makes some of it easier. Now once you’re on the box, I don’t know that necessarily that’s an area; you’re talking communicating back to the shop or sitting beside an engineer, I feel like that’s sort of how we started and we weren’t sure how it was going to work and we try to keep our consistency with how our process works and we’ve sort of stuck with it. I don’t know that it’s the end all be all, but it’s just sort of how we rolled out those first eight or so races and it’s like okay, this is pretty okay right now. We’re not making any mistakes that are glaringly obvious. So, we just try to fine-tune on all that.”
WHEN YOU GET A TALENT LIKE KURT BUSCH BEHIND THE WHEEL DOES IT MAGNIFY THE WEAKNESSES OR DOES IT GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHERE YOU NEED TO WORK ON TO JUST TRY TO MAKE THE TEAM BETTER?“For sure. I think he brings everyone up to the next level. He holds himself accountable, which I think allows every person, myself included, to be okay to admit when there’s a weakness. His caliber is above and beyond. It’s pretty impressive. I’ll give you an example. Last weekend, and we sort of make fun of at time and I don’t think he takes it the wrong way, but like last week we did a very small air pressure adjustment. And when we ran three laps, he’s like I think the tire is a lot softer. And I’m like man, there’s no way this guy gets it. But it’s about 90 percent of the time, he’s correct. So yes. It’s a great benefit to have a guy like him.”
OVER THE PAST FOUR RACES AT RICHMOND, KURT BUSCH HAS BEEN UNABLE TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10. AS A CREW CHIEF, HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE RACE ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S A PLAYOFF RACE?“Yeah, I think obviously I can talk more about last year’s races and I know what we did wrong and I know what happened. But I think it’s a mindset that obviously he’s had success at Richmond before in trying to get what he’s looking for. I feel like right now, the communication we’ve been able to have is increased a decent amount the past four or five weeks. And with some stuff not that you push to the side, but obviously trying to get further ahead. Honestly some of the scheduling has allowed us to try to work more tracks further ahead. And I feel like Richmond is one of the ones we’ve been able to do that on. Honestly, we thought we were going to run it earlier in the year. We did a lot of prep work then of stuff we were looking to pinpoint to get Kurt happy and get better results. So, I feel like all that’s been rolling in the right direction. Now, once the race rolls around, we’ll know that for sure.”
ON THE NEWS THAT AUTO CLUB IS BEING RE-CONFIGURED TO A SHORT TRACK FOR 2022, WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON IT?“I think it takes away a really good race track. It was a good two-mile track. I think we beat-up some of these 1.5-mile races, but I feel like Fontana was a really good track for a two-mile, no matter what the package was, honestly. I feel like you go there and there’s a lot of good racing throughout the field. But, I’m a short track guy. So, I’m not going to complain about more short tracks, for sure. To me, that’s encouraging that maybe that’s the direction that we’ll end-up going as a sport, to more short tracks. So, I’m not going to be upset about that.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400 RICHMOND RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the second race of the Playoffs at Richmond Raceway, how his team is preparing for the NASCAR Cup Series’ first visit to the track this season, the pressure that comes with Playoff racing, and more. Transcript:  I THINK YOU’VE ONLY LED SOMETHING LIKE 34 LAPS AT RICHMOND THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR. WHAT HAS IT BEEN ABOUT THE RACING AT RICHMOND THAT HAS PREMITTED YOU FROM RUNNING OUT FRONT?“I don’t know, to be honest. I was really optimistic going to Richmond once I got to Cup. We had some really good runs there on the Xfinity side – was solid there for two years. Got over there to the Cup side and it’s just been horrific for whatever reason. But it hasn’t been for the lack of effort. Man, we’ve worked super hard at it to try and get better. We’ve put a lot of effort into it this week already – just trying to make the right decisions, have a good game plan for the event, and setup wise, try to have our car driving as good as we can. I don’t know why it’s stuck out so much for me. The track, in general, I think brings challenges and the fact that it’s boring – not that it’s boring to watch, but from a driver’s standpoint – everyone is doing just the exact same thing. It’s very hard to be different at that track. Everywhere is a game of inches, but that place is like a game of centimeters it seems like. Just tiny little adjustments here and there can make a huge difference. So, for whatever reason, we’ve just struggled with that or I have struggled with that personally – whatever it may be. But man, we’ve put a lot of effort into this week. I hope this is the one that makes us different and can get things back on the right track there – or get on the right track. Not that we were ever there, but get there, for sure.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR. DOESN’T HAVE A REPUTATION, AT LEAST WITH US, OF MAKING WILD OR RISKY MOVES. I’M CURIOUS IF THAT IS ACCURATE AND IF SO, DOES THAT CHANGE ANY WAY ABOUT HOW YOU FELT ABOUT THE WAY THE FINISH ENDED SUNDAY.“No, I feel like Martin (Truex Jr.) and I both have a lot of respect for each other. I know from my end, I respect him – he’s a champion. I feel like we’ve had some really hard battles together, so I would hope that’s mutual. And if it’s not mutual, I still have respect for him either way. I do think that situation was a racing incident. I think we were both battling really hard for a win. I think any other time in the race, I probably would give him the position. But in that situation, you have to know that nobody is going to let anybody in for a race win with 15-laps left. I hate that it happened – it hurt both of us. So, like I said, I don’t think it was something he did on purpose. I think we were both being aggressive and when you’re coming to a race like that and a potential win of the Southern 500, I mean I think I’d be foolish not to push for every last inch that I would have an opportunity to get. It was just an unfortunate end to a solid comeback for us.”
SO, THAT’S A LOT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT HAPPENED WITH KYLE (BUSCH) IN MAY?“I do think that was a little different than the May thing. Similar and different, I guess. But definitely the situation was different.”
AT DARLINGTON, IT WAS RATHER CALM – THE DRIVERS WERE RATHER CALM. DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THE SAME THING AT RICHMOND OR DO YOU THINK THE AGGRESSION WILL RATCHET UP AS WE GET CLOSER TO BRISTOL? “I think the aggression is always there, whether you see it on TV, hear it on the radio, or watch it in person. I think it’s always there – we’re always pushing, always trying to get all that we can get. I mean just because we don’t hit each other, move somebody out of the way, crash somebody, or somebody gets wrecked, that doesn’t mean that the aggression level is not there. I think it’s always around and we’re always pushing. Even throughout the regular season, there’s points, wins and things that all mean way too much just to leave aggression in the bank for this time of year. I think it’s there, I think it’s been there and I think it will always be there.”
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT AT RICHMOND?“I never know what to expect, as you can see by my results at Richmond. But I think for us, we just want to be solid. I’m not so much worried about everybody else – just trying to be solid, try to get the areas of the track that I think we really struggle in to be better. And hopefully if we can improve those areas, we can improve our finish and running position throughout the event.”
SINCE YOU DIDN’T RUN HERE IN THE SPRING WITH THE DOWNFORCE PACKAGE, WHAT HAVE YOU ALL LOOKED AT AND HOW MUCH GUESS WORK IS IT GOING TO BE?“Yeah, we’ve just looked back at races past, the event last year and just trying to find any type of trend that maybe we’ve done good with or trends that have led to poor finishes or poor runs. So, we’ve looked at a lot of data and just trying to understand that. But there are certainly things I complain about with the car that have always been there, so we’re just trying to nail down those things and trying to make them better. It’s been a struggle, as I’m sure you all know, and we know, for sure. But we’re working hard and I hope this is the week where we can get on track there.” 
CALLING IT JUST A RACING INCIDENT WITH WHAT HAPPENED TO MARTIN TRUEX JR., DOES THAT MEAN THAT ANY ON-TRACK PAYBACK IS OFF THE TABLE? YOU CONSIDER THE TIME OF YEAR AND IT BEING THE PLAYOFFS, DOES THE IDEA OF ANY TYPE OF PAYBACK EVEN CROSS YOUR MIND WHEN YOU’RE SO FOCUSED ON ADVANCING?“I’m going to race people how they race me. I think that’s fair in all respects and the same in the other direction, for sure. But the way I look at those situations is this: I think the people that win in this series and win a lot don’t find themselves in the type of position that we were in on Sunday night because they don’t let the guy in second ever get to that point to have a chance. So, the way I view it is I can’t control what a guy does when he’s up next to me and he can’t control what I’m going to do. But I can certainly control my decision-making prior to something like that happening to do a better job in extending the gap to that person behind you to where they don’t have the opportunity to be up there by you to make a mistake, to run you over or whatever the situation may be. So, I’m a believer in that and I certainly think I can do a better job in extending a lead in that situation to not allow an opportunity to present itself and that is the focus I have moving forward – just trying to be better, be faster and get far enough away from the people behind you where they can’t get to you.”
GIVEN THAT THE TIRE SETUP IS SIMILAR TO WHAT HAS BEEN RAN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE AND PHOENIX, HOW MUCH CAN YOU USE THAT DATA FOR SATURDAY? WHAT DIFFERENCES ARE EXPECTED, GIVEN THAT IT’S GOING TO BE AT NIGHT AND IT’S GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE? “Man, I’ll be honest with you, I gave up on the tire thing a long time ago, as far as what tire was run where. I felt like it confused me more than it helped. It’s rubber, it’s on asphalt and that’s really all I care about that. We’ll focus on getting our car driving good. The temperature – it seems like things are cooling off a little bit right now, which is great. The fall, a beautiful time of year. All kinds of sports on TV, so a good time to be Playoff racing.”
I’M CURIOUS ABOUT THE NEWS THAT BROKE OUT EARLIER THIS WEEK – WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY BEING RE-CONFIGURED TO A SHORT TRACK?“Yeah, it’s super interesting, for sure. I think, much like everybody, I enjoy short track racing. I think it’s a good thing – I don’t see any negatives to it. Certainly that race track was old and abrasive. I think it might have been the oldest asphalt surface on the tour, or one of, for sure. But nonetheless, I don’t see any negatives to it. I think short track racing is a plus. I think we need more of it. I thought Fontana was a good track – one of the better bigger, 1.5 or 2-mile tracks that we go to, so you can kind of look at that and find a thing to complain about. But I feel like we all do enough complaining as is, so yeah I think it’s great.”
“Ultimately, I think the bigger picture that we should all be really excited about is the leadership at NASCAR is doing something different nowadays and it’s becoming a trend. It’s really been a trend all year. I think instead of finding the negatives in some of the things that they’re doing, I think we should all be super excited that they’re actually changing and doing some things different – have some different ideas and they’re putting them to work. That’s something that I don’t think has happened probably ever until right now. So, just excited to see them trying different things. If something works out or it doesn’t, I think we should be excited that they’re trying them and I think that will be a great addition to our schedule.”
HAVING PRESUMABLY USED YOUR MULLIGAN OF THE ROUND WITH THE INCIDENT AT DARLINGTON, HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL PRESSURE DOES THAT PUT ON YOU TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU PERFORM THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS TO ADVANCE?“I don’t know that you can ever be comfortable in this Playoff format, really. I honestly think that the more that you keep that mindset, the better off you’re going to be. We see it – if a guy has a bad round and get’s in positions to have to win, we’ve seen people get in that position and win. And if you ever make it to the last race, that’s a must-win anyway. So, I think the more you enjoy that position in having to perform and not ever feeling comfortable, I think the better off you will be and the better you’ll be prepared if you ever get to that last race.”
SPEAKING OF ADDING SHORT TRACKS TO THE SCHEDULE, YOU’VE RAN A BUNCH OF THEM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WHAT TRACK DO YOU FEEL WOULD BE A PERFECT ADDITION TO THE NASCAR SCHEDULE?“There’s a lot of really great short tracks, I feel like. My favorite one over the years was the All American 400. I thought that was such a cool event, cool city. That was a great race track I enjoyed going to in Nashville and I think it would be a great place. Not just the track itself, but there’s just not a lot of locations like that left in the United States. There’s not a lot of tracks, in general, that we go to that are close to a city like that. I think the fact that there’s still a working short track that’s asphalt, that’s in town, we definitely need to not let it go away as an industry, for sure, to whatever level that may be. But that would be a great venue and hopefully one day we can find ourselves there.”  

Inside Line Promotions – BRANDON, S.D. (Sept. 10, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi captured his season-best result with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Sunday at Huset’s Speedway, where he recorded a seventh-place showing.

The top-10 run gives him two top 10s and four finishes in the top 11 in his last six starts with ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt.’

“We had a great weekend and I felt like we had a car capable of finishing on the podium both nights at Huset’s,” Scelzi said. “Some misfortune and a couple of things didn’t fall in our favor, but I was really pleased with our car.”

Scelzi qualified fifth quickest out of 19 drivers in his group on Sunday before he advanced from third to second place in a heat race, which earned him a spot into the dash.

“We qualified really good,” he said. “I felt really good and ran good in the heat race to get into a dash spot. We drew the No. 7, which was not the draw we wanted. We ended up eighth in the dash. In the feature we started working up through there. I got to fourth at a time and was fighting for third. I felt like we were as capable of running in the top three as anyone. When we were running fourth and competing for third I felt like we were the best we’ve been all year. We were really good around the top and the bottom.

“Later in the race I started on the outside on a double-file restart and that cost me a spot. Then on another double-file restart I was on the outside and we lost two spots before we got to the flag stand. Those three spots lost dropped us to seventh, but the car was extremely strong.”

Scelzi’s seventh-place result was his best with the World of Outlaws since a seventh-place performance at Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2019.

The top 10 capped a weekend that began the previous night when Scelzi qualified 15^th quickest overall out of the 37 drivers. He finished fourth in a heat race to lock into the 15^th starting position for the main event.

“We lost a tire in the middle of the race and had to restart at the back,” he said. “We rallied back into the top five. Unfortunately, a scoring error sent me to the back with five laps to go.”

Scelzi finished 11^th.

He plans to race with the World of Outlaws this Friday and Saturday at Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kan., during the Boot Hill Showdown. Scelzi placed 11^th and 16^th, respectively, during his debut at the track last year.

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 DOUBLE HEADERMID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE LEXINGTON, OHIO SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
Oliver Askew, No, 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, and Rinus Veekay, No.21 SONAX Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet met with media prior to heading to Mid-Ohio. Full transcript:
THE MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone, to the first of a series of video news conferences we’re going to have in the next few days previewing the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. My name is Arni Sribhen from INDYCAR. We’ll welcome in the drivers who will be here to talk to you. The driver of the No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, Rinus VeeKay, and the driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP, Oliver Askew. Thanks for taking the time to join us today.
Oliver, we’ll start with you. Heading to a road course; we really haven’t done many in the last few months. Heading back to your first road course since Road America, how much are you looking forward to getting back to turning left and right?OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, very much looking forward to it, like you said. It’s kind of weird to think that the season is heading into the final quarter and we’ve only done two road course events this year. Yeah, more time for me to get used to running on ovals and to get better on ovals, as well.Yeah, Mid-Ohio is a special track for me. I’ve always loved going there. We’ve had a lot of success there in the Road to Indy and Indy Lights last year, as well. It’s a very technical track, and I think it suits me and I think it suits the team Arrow McLaren SP and Chevrolet, as well.
THE MODERATOR: Rinus, Mid-Ohio is a special place for you and Oliver; you guys both have wins in the Road to Indy; you won in Indy Pro 2000, Oliver won last year in Indy Lights. It’s also where you did your first test with Ed Carpenter Racing, so how much are you looking forward to getting to Mid-Ohio?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to Mid-Ohio. Of course it’s a track where I’ve never finished off the podium in my whole Road to Indy. It’s quite a track. I love it there, and yeah, finally after a long time of ovals, we go to a road course again. Really enjoy the ovals, but yeah, I’m looking forward to turning right this weekend.Yeah, I’ve had a very important test with Ed Carpenter Racing at Mid-Ohio, so yeah, good memories.
Q.Question for both of you guys. Just wondered with the sort of not knowing when or if Mid-Ohio was going to take place, obviously that affects your training regimen with it being sort of popped back into the calendar and just wondered how much of a challenge you’re expecting it to be this weekend because it’s already one of the hardest tracks for you guys physically. What are you expecting from this weekend?OLIVER ASKEW: I think it’s going to be really tough, although for me last year in Indy Lights, I felt pretty good. Both Rinus and I are kind of used to doing double-headers coming from the Road to Indy and Indy Lights, but the races aren’t nearly as long. They’re about maybe half as long or a quarter as long. So it’s going to be a big challenge. I’m sure Rinus has been training very hard and just trying to get — we don’t really have any rest days. We’re just trying to get the most out of our bodies and to prepare on the nutrition side, as well.It’s going to be a hot one. I think every race this year, that’s just how it’s been with the aeroscreen, it’s going to be very hot, and just with the double-headers, it’s important to recover as quick as possible Saturday night to feel as fresh as possible Sunday morning heading into qualifying, too.It’ll definitely be a big challenge for all of us and maybe especially for the rookies.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I feel good going to Mid-Ohio. I know it’s a hard track, but with the aeroscreen it will be warm, but I’ve been training very hard, and I’m fitter than I’ve been in previous road courses. I’m not really worried.Of course it’s two days back-to-back, so you’ve got to be fit on both days, and I think all the rest you can get is going to be important for Sunday. But yeah, I feel good.I think, yeah, for now, the last few races it all felt really good. I’m looking forward to going out there and putting some rubber down.
Q.I just want to ask you how confident are you going into this weekend? Obviously, Oliver, from your point of view with McLaren doing so well and racing races, but also Rinus, from your point of view coming off a really strong performance in race 2 a couple of weeks ago, how excited and confident are you guys going into the weekend?OLIVER ASKEW: I feel fairly confident going into every race weekend, really, because we know that our engineering group at Arrow McLaren SP and on the McLaren side, as well, they have a lot of software and technology that we’re putting into it so try and make sure we roll off the trailer in the best possible way with the best possible setup. There hasn’t really been a race weekend this year where we show up and we just kind of feel lost, especially with having Pato. He’s been really strong the past couple races and we can compare. It seems very hard for us to get lost at the moment and not understand where we can gain and where we can improve.I think that in itself is very confidence boosting, and I feel like I can show up and drive as hard as I can and everything is going to be all right. So that’s the plan.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I feel very confident. I know the team has had a great car at Mid-Ohio in the last years. I think Mid-Ohio is going to be one of their strongest road courses, and I know everyone works extremely hard and is very motivated.I had the test there last October with Ed Carpenter Racing, and the car felt really amazing. I’m not worried at all, and I’m just very excited.
Q.What is it about Mid-Ohio that has been such a great show case for the Road to Indy? Both of you have done very well there. Oliver, you had back-to-back victories last year. Rinus, you’ve never finished off the podium. Guys like Felix Rosenqvist had their first INDYCAR test there, turned into full-time INDYCAR Series rides. What is it about Mid-Ohio that serves as such a great show case for the Road to Indy?OLIVER ASKEW: I’m not sure. I think it’s just a common racetrack, common racetrack to test at. It’s always one of our most attended races of the year, and it is in close partnership with Cooper tires, as well. So they’re obviously a huge partner and sponsor of the Road to Indy, and we’ve put a huge emphasis on that track and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course through our Road to Indy careers. I think that has a lot to do with it. We both have quite a bit of time on that circuit.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, yeah, we always got a lot of practice there. It’s just a great old-school track. Coming from Europe or seeing guys coming from Europe going into Mid-Ohio, it’s quite a step from having run-offs, having grass. Yeah, crazy track, but it’s a lot of fun, very technical, and I think if you can be fast at Mid-Ohio, you can be fast everywhere.
Q.There’s a big rookie award out there for the Rookie of the Year, and right now, Rinus, you have a 21-point lead over Alex Palou and five points behind him is Oliver. How do you look at that with five races to go, that if you finish this thing off well, you could be Rookie of the Year, and Oliver, what does it take to catch him?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it’s of course nice to be leading the rookie championship, but there’s way more than that. I’m just trying to make sure I do the best job I can do. And then yeah, it’s quite crazy, I’ve had quite a weird season, I think, and then having one good weekend and you’re leading the rookie championship.You never know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to give it my all.OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, like Rinus said, if you have — everything is so close right now, even between all the veterans, you have one good weekend and you jump so many places in the championship, so honestly I had no idea what the points deficit was between the rookies. I just need to make sure that we do our homework and show up and be fast right away because on these condensed weekends if you’re not on it in practice one, it just kind of snowballs into the rest of the sessions. That’s what I’m focused on right now, and I’m sure the other guys are thinking the same.
Q.If you had to grade your season so far since we’re getting close to the end, what kind of grade would you give yourself?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I’m not familiar with American grades, so —Q.Out of 100 percent what would you give yourself?RINUS VEEKAY: One out of ten, so let’s say I think a seven. It’s been a hard year. I’ve made quite a few mistakes, but after all, I’m learning a lot.OLIVER ASKEW: What’s that, C-?RINUS VEEKAY: I think seven. I think it’s a good number. It’s not perfect at all, but I think I’m doing a good job so far.OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, I’d say — I think I’m pretty hard on myself, so I’d give myself a six, 60 percent — well, 67 percent.
Q.Any reason why?OLIVER ASKEW: Nothing in particular. I just think I’ve lacked a little consistency. I mean, I know the speed is there. We were in the Fast Six right away in Indy GP qualifying and we had a really good weekend in Iowa, we just need to make sure we put it — like Rinus says, it’s such a weird season and you just need to kind of capitalize and make sure you’re on it all the time because it’s such a close series, so if you feel a little bit off one day, it looks like you’re having a really bad weekend because everyone is so close together.So I think, yeah, I just need to be a little bit more consistent and the results will be there.
Q.A question for both of you: Last year you guys were like racing each other for the top of the heap. I think if one misstepped and the other one didn’t, it could have been either one of you being the champion. Certainly looked that way. But now you’re in this INDYCAR season, and you’re used to racing against each other, but now you’re racing against the rest of the field. I’d like to get your feeling or reaction to now joining a field with the rest of the drivers when you’re so used to racing against each other.RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, of course. I’ve always driven against Oliver. He’s always been a benchmark. But now there is, well, 24 more Olivers, so you’re not just looking to Oliver. There’s so many fast guys.You’re eventually just making sure you do the best you can because there’s always going to be fast guys around you. You know you’re not going to be a few tenths ahead of anyone else. It’s super tough, but yeah, it’s nice to see that in those years battling with Oliver. It really helped me preparing towards INDYCAR.OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, I think I can agree with what Rinus said. I honestly, unbiased opinion, my unbiased opinion is that this series is the most competitive in the world at the moment. You know, to come in as a rookie, there’s a lot to learn, and if you don’t take a stand against the veterans, they’re going to understand that and use you up as much as they can.It’s super tough, and probably more tough than many people realize.
Q.Oliver, you mentioned that teammate Pato O’Ward’s success the past few weekends helped you guys in some ways, I’d imagine from an engineering perspective. I know you guys have gone back and forth at times with your own successes. He’s had maybe a little bit more consistency, as you mentioned, but we’ve still seen a lot from you in your first full time INDYCAR season. What have you been able to take and maybe how has Pato’s successes particularly at Gateway this last race weekend, how has that driven you or motivated you as his teammate?OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, definitely. It definitely motivates me, and I think it can go both ways, as well. I feel that where Pato is really good at the moment is in practice 1 and qualifying, and like I said before, that’s the whole weekend, really, especially at a place like Texas Motor Speedway or like we saw at Gateway. It’s so hard to pass, and I kind of expect it to be the same at Mid-Ohio. It’s going to be very difficult.When you don’t qualify well and you don’t have a good first practice, it kind of sets you on the back foot. I think that’s a really strong area of Pato’s at the moment, and you can see it in the results. I’ll try to pick up on that a little bit and take advantage of having such a strong teammate at the moment.
Q.How would you describe you guys’ relationship as teammates kind of from a collaborative standpoint? I know this is both your first full-time seasons in INDYCAR. How do you guys use that teammate relationship? I know you’re obviously competitors in a lot of ways once you get on the track, but off the track how do you guys try to utilize that relationship?OLIVER ASKEW: Well, we have a job, and we race for the team. We’re not very selfish people, I don’t think. Pato seems to be the kind of driver who just shows up and drives the wheel off the thing, and I think I’m a little bit more — I have to be a little bit more in depth with what’s going on to become successful. But I think there’s just two different approaches, and we can feed off each other in that way, as well.It’s been a pleasure for sure. We’re continuing to get along well and continuing to build our relationship. It’s been great.
Q.Rinus, you’ve got a sixth, a fifth and a fourth now. I think, what do you say, is it time for a podium this weekend?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it’s coming close. Of course race 2 in Gateway I was on podium course, so really sucked that it just grabbed next to the podium. But yeah, fourth was already amazing, but the podium is really a place I want to go to now. Of course there’s only one rookie season, and I want to get a podium in my rookie season, so that’s a big goal for me.THE MODERATOR: That’s all the time we have with the drivers today, so we appreciate everyone for joining us.

Sep 8, 2020 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Megan Meyer, Race Results, Rachel Meyer

For the first time in the Randy Meyer Racing Team’s history, all three Top Alcohol Dragsters driven by Megan Meyer, Rachel Meyer, and Julie Nataas competed at the same national event.

Usually contested at the Chicago national, the 2020 JEGS Allstars event was ran on Friday of the U.S. Nationals. In the first round, sisters Megan and Rachel Meyer in their NGK Spark Plugs dragsters staged up against each other as dad Randy stood between the two cars as the tree dropped. Rachel had an impressive .022-second reaction time and drove her dragster to the win with a 5.279, 271.57. Megan experienced fuel issues as soon as she stomped on the gas and coasted to a 16.832, 44.31. Julie Nataas clocked in with a troubled 15.811, 43.75 with backing from local Indiana companies Huntingburg Machine Works and Thieman Realty, in her first round pairing as Jackie Fricke’s 5.234, 276.13 advanced to the second round. 

Second round of the Allstars, Rachel got the starting line advantage over Jackie Fricke by .030-seconds and clocked in with a stout 5.316, 274.00 but it wasn’t enough to outrun Fricke’s 5.200, 276.35.

For the first round of the main event, Randy Meyer Racing once again had a teammate matchup between Julie Nataas and Rachel Meyer. Rachel crossed the finish line with a 5.295, 269.03 but Julie bettered that performance with a winning 5.235, 272.56. Notably, Megan had one of the most intense rounds of racing of her career as she had a pedal fest with Joey Severance in the first round. Both competitors had trouble putting their power to the racetrack and it was a battle to get to the finish line first. At the stripe, Megan’s 5.574, 274.66 edged out Severance’s 5.594, 265.80.

The second round of eliminations was held late at night at Lucas Oil Raceway and track conditions were in prime condition. Julie’s competition, Matthew Cummings, broke before he was able to stage and she cruised right down the boulevard with a 5.215, 270.86 to advance to the next round. Megan shattered the Top Alcohol Dragster world record when she lit the scoreboards on fire with a 5.097, 278.81 and took out Friday night’s Jegs Allstar champion Jackie Fricke, who ran a 5.190, 278.35. The previous record was a 5.10 pass posted in 2007 by Bill Reichert.

“That run was incredible,” Megan said. “I had no idea we ran that quick for the win until the team drove up to the top end with the time slip. It was a pretty smooth pass and I didn’t feel any cylinders go out, so I figured it was a 5-teen or 5-20 pass. When they told me it was a 5.09 I didn’t believe them at first! I had to look at the time slip for proof to see that big fat zero next to the 5. We had a great time celebrating the run Saturday night, and the fact that we were able to repeat, and beat, the time in the semi-finals shows how much time and hard work this team has put into this car to make it the best of the best. I’m honored to have my name in the drag racing history book next to Bill Reichert – he is a racing legend and it’s humbling to continue the strides he has made in the sport.”

In the semifinals, Julie took on fellow A-Fuel dragster driver Josh Hart. Nataas slowed to a 5.508, 263.77 as a result of dropping cylinders down track and Hart’s 5.268, 274.50 advanced to the final round. 

Showing her record-setting run from the previous night was no fluke, Megan lowered her national elapsed time record with the quickest pass in Top Alcohol Dragster history with a 5.090, 280.54 and used an impressive .017 light as an added bonus for the victory over Shawn Cowie. For the finals, Megan came into the round with a win-loss record of 3 – 2 against Hart in prior events. Hart got the starting line advantage at the beginning of the race, but Megan showed the pure horsepower of the Randy Meyer-tuned team by crossing the finish line first with a 5.148, 271.13. 

“We would like to thank Shawn Collins and his team at Technician.Academy for bringing two college interns to work with the crew this weekend. We needed all the hands we could get in the pits, and our interns, Michael and Connor, did an excellent job for their first time. This is the fourth year in a row that we’ve hosted automotive college interns at the U.S. Nationals, and each year we are very pleased with their work ethic and willingness to learn. We like to stay in touch with our previous interns and their families and are happy to hear that each of them have moved on to have a professional career in the automotive industry with the experience they learned from working with the Randy Meyer Racing Team. We encourage other teams and brands to create similar programs to help expand the reach of automotive and motorsports, and bring in more interest to our sport by reaching out to younger generations. We are thankful for MotoRad continuing their support with us and seeing the growth of this educational program,” Megan said.

The U.S. Nationals was Megan’s first National event win of 2020 and the 11th national event win of her career. Megan is now tied for first place of the National points standings. Due to COVID-19, the points structure has changed to only count 5 national events plus 2 regional events. Megan plans to continue out her 2020 season at full-throttle to defend her National Championship before retiring.

Megan and Julie will compete next in Earlville, Iowa for the team’s fifth and final Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Central regional event, held at Tri-State Raceway this weekend.

September 9, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto has 10 career Cup starts at Richmond Raceway but none in the Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Mustang that he’ll drive in Saturday night’s 400-lapper on the three-quarter-mile oval.

Richmond normally hosts two Cup races a season, but this year’s April event was run at Darlington due to the coronavirus.

So, in addition to the pressure of trying to advance in the Playoffs after a disappointing result in the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, he’ll have to adapt to a first ride at Richmond in the No. 21 Mustang.

“That will be interesting,” DiBenedetto said. “We haven’t been there this year, so we don’t know what to expect.”  
  
Richmond, with its relatively short length and low banking, has similarities to tracks like Phoenix Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where DiBenedetto has driven the Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Mustang. 
 
“The track fits the mold of the ones where we’ve shown strength,” he said. “Short tracks have been good for us, and flat tracks.”
 
DiBenedetto finished 13^th at Phoenix and sixth at New Hampshire, races which were won by drivers from Team Penske, which as an alliance with the No. 21 Wood Brothers team. Joey Logano won at Phoenix and Brad Keselowski at New Hampshire.

“Hopefully we will hit the set-up and be close when the race starts,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s a little bit of a guess, but I think it will fall into our team’s strength.”

There will be no qualifying or practice prior to the start of Saturday’s 400-lap race, which is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time with TV coverage on NBCSN.
 

Twin-race format will feature 75-lap races on Saturday and Sunday
Honda drivers have won nine of the last 13 Indy car races at Mid-Ohio
Honda lineup includes three former Mid-Ohio winners

TORRANCE, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2020) – Honda drivers and teams will have two chances to add to the manufacturer’s already impressive victory total this weekend at The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as the weekend schedule for the Honda Indy 200 now includes a pair of NTT INDYCAR SERIES races on the challenging 2.258-mile road course.
Five-time Mid-Ohio race winner – and current championship leader with four wins this season – Scott Dixon comes to central Ohio as the defending race winner. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver this weekend chases a sixth Mid-Ohio victory, a fifth win in the 2020 season, and a sixth Indy car Drivers’ Championship.
Alexander Rossi used a two-stop strategy to win at Mid-Ohio in 2018 for Andretti Autosport; while home town favorite Graham Rahal was victorious in 2015. Other Honda-powered winners have included Ryan Briscoe in 2008, Dario Franchitti in 2010 and Charlie Kimball in 2013.
In all, Honda drivers have won 10 of the 13 Indy car races since the series returned to Mid-Ohio under the Honda Indy 200 banner in 2007; including a 1-2-3 podium sweep last year as Dixon scored his fifth Mid-Ohio win, followed by teammate Felix Rosenqvist and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Dixon’s other Mid-Ohio wins have come in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012, leading his nickname “Mr. Mid-Ohio.”
“We had a heart-stopping 1-2-3 sweep last year at the Honda Indy 200, our second IndyCar Series podium sweep of the season,” said Ted Klaus, president of Honda Performance Development, Honda’s North American Racing arm. “It was a big part of our successful effort to achieve a second consecutive INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship. With the doubleheader format this year’s event, it’s also shaping up to be a key event in our chase of a third consecutive title.”
In the Championship Auto Racing Teams era, Honda drivers won five of the nine races from 1994-2002, more than any other manufacturer. Alex Zanardi led a 1-2 finish for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 1996 with Jimmy Vasser second. Zanardi won again in 1997. Juan Pablo Montoya led a 1-2-3-4 result for Honda in 1999, being followed to the checkers by Paul Tracy, Franchitti and Jimmy Vasser. Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran finished 1-2 for Honda and Team Penske in both 2000 and 2001.
American Honda has a long history of involvement in central Ohio and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Honda was the first Japanese company to establish auto manufacturing operations in the United States, opening Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio, in 1982. The company has had an Official Vehicle relationship with Mid-Ohio since 1994.
Today, Honda operates multiple manufacturing facilities and a major Research & Development center in Ohio. Combined, they employ more than 13,000 associates and have the capacity to produce more than 650,000 vehicles and 1.18 million engines annually.
Honda’s Indy car win total of 251 in 26 years of North American open-wheel racing – including 12 Indianapolis 500 victories since 2004 – is unmatched by any other manufacturer in the same period.
Eleven wins from 17 races in 2018 brought Honda the company’s seventh IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship, highlighted by a 1-2 finish in the Drivers’ Championship for Honda-powered Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. Another eight victories for Honda highlighted the company’s second consecutive manufacturers’ title, and eighth overall, in 2019.
Seeking a third consecutive Manufacturers’ Championship, and on the strength of six wins from nine races this season, Honda comes to Mid-Ohio a 73-point lead in the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship, with 747 points to 674 for Chevrolet. Dixon currently holds a 96-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship, with 416 points to 320 for Josef Newgarden in second.

September 7, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team fought hard from start to finish of Sunday’s Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway but ended up with a 21^st-place finish.

Driving a Mustang with a paint scheme based on the 1963 1/2 Galaxie Fastback that the Wood Brothers used to win the 1963 Cup Series Owners title, Benedetto took the green flag the first race of the 2020 Cup Series playoffs from ninth place.

It was evident from the start that the handling was off on his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang.
 
“If there ever was a place where having no practice would bite us, we found it,” DiBenedetto said. “We started the race and were out in left field, not even close, no grip.
 
“We had to make big adjustments on every stop.”
 
Throughout the first two thirds of the race, DiBenedetto ran outside the top 20 and had to drive hard to remain on the lead lap.
 
But he and the No. 21 team never gave up, and midway through the race’s third and final stage, he began working his way forward, moving into the top 20 on Lap 264 of 367. 
  
DiBenedetto continued to advance through the field, but luck was not on his side. Crew chief Greg Erwin opted for a one-pit-stop strategy for the final stage and the move was within a few laps of working out in the team’s favor when a caution flag for debris spoiled that plan.
 
“Finally late in the third stage, we got it driving OK, and could have salvaged something out of it,” DiBenedetto said. “When we finally had a glimpse of hope, a poorly timed caution flag came out and ruined it for us.”
 
Forced to take the wave-around to stay on the lead lap, DiBenedetto had to try to make the most of a set of older tires on a track notorious for its tire wear.
 
He wound up 21st, with just two Playoff drivers behind him and leaves Darlington 15^th in the Playoff standings.
 
On the positive side, he’s headed to Richmond Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway, the two remaining tracks in the first round of the Playoffs.

DiBenedetto is expecting much better results going forward.
 
“I’m bummed about the lack of points we got at Darlington, but I’m excited about the next two tracks,” he said.

·        Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) Jack Beckman drove his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a coveted Funny Car win at the 66th annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis

·        Beckman’s second win of the season moves the HEMI®-powered driver into the Funny Car Championship points lead with five nationals event remaining in the revamped 2020 NHRA season.

·        DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett piloted her Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster to a runner-up finish in her first career final elimination round at the world’s most famous drag race

·        No.2 qualifier Mark Pawuk took his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to a runner-up result in the “Big GO” edition of the Factory Stock Shootout

·        Three DSR HEMI-powered Dodge machines contended for wins with three final rounds appearances in three different categories

September 6, 2020, Brownsburg, Ind. –From his seventh-seed position, Jack Beckman drove his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat through the eliminations ladder and to a coveted win at arguably the most famous and prestigious drag race in the world, 66^th annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

Beckman and his crew’s consistent efforts this season and throughout the weekend afforded them a chance to advance to a fourth final round appearance in six events thus far this year. The veteran Funny Car driver began his charge through the field with a solid 3.909-second elapsed time run to defeat Cruz Pedregon. He added a clean pass for a quarterfinal win over DSR teammate Ron Capps before deposing Tim Wilkerson with a holeshot win in the semifinals. For the final elimination round, Beckman staged his Mopar machine next to J.R. Todd then took it straight down the track for a 3.908-second winning effort to beat his opponent’s 3.960-second pass.

The win propelled Beckman back atop the NHRA Funny Car world championship leaderboard with just five races left on the 2020 calendar. With his second victory of the year, Beckman also captured a second national event title at the historic race affectionately known to drag racing fans as “the Big Go” to accompany the one he earned in 2015.

“This is my second U.S. Nationals Funny Car title and I don’t know if we can ever top your first win but today we showed that we can kill it with consistency, we can have issues and rally back,” said the 2012 Funny Car world champion. “The crew chiefs made great decisions and the crew guys found a couple anomalies in the pants and jumped right on it. Nobody panicked and we made this car go down the track all four times today. We learned this trophy. We are back in the Funny Car points lead. That’s for final rounds this year. It has been a crazy 2020, but I’m thinking we can get a couple more of these with our Dodge Charger.”

Beckman was one of three DSR drivers to contended for wins in final round appearances in three different classes on Sunday. The second in DSR’s stable with the chance to add more U.S. Nationals hardware to the team’s trophy case was Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett who drove her fierce new-look Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster from the No. 6 spot to her first final elimination round appearance at the famed event.

To get there, Pruett powered her way past Terry McMillen in the opening round to meet DSR teammate Tony Schumacher in the quarterfinals. Lady luck played a part in providing her an opportunity to advance as Schumacher dropped a cylinder early in his run while Pruett’s dragster smoked the tires, requiring some pedaling to get back on track and across the finish line to move on to the semifinals against Steve Torrence. 

Pruett’s 0.053-second reaction time against her opponent’s 0.093, gave her the edge she needed to turn on the win lights with a 3.743 sec /322.34 mph pass to Torrence’s quickest run of the event at 3.724/325.14 capturing the holeshot win with a margin of victory of 0.0215-seconds.

Pruett then faced Shawn Langdon for the first time in a final round match-up, but saw her opportunity to battle for the win go up in tire smoke at halftrack, settling for a runner-up finish. As a consolation prize, her efforts this weekend moved her into second place in Top Fuel Championship standings. 

“This Big Go did not disappoint on the intensity meter from needing to make a good lap in Q4 just to make the show to throwing down a .70 in the first round against Terry (McMillen) who brought a .72. Those are the conditions we love to flourish in,” said Pruett. “After the second round they moved up the session 35 minutes and in one of the most impressive moments was the preparation for the semifinal round. To see this Dodge SRT team stay cool and calm and deliver what we did in the semis makes me very proud. We fed off of that and tried to duplicate that for the final and had clutch wear issues. Leaving here second in points is incredible. The team faced a lot of challenges today mechanically, mentally and time-wise and we are going to take this as a building block for Gainesville.”

The third DSR contender for a win was in the Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) category, as No. 2 qualifier Mark Pawuk strung together a solid series of sub-eight second passes aboard his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak through each round of eliminations including his final round battle against Aaron Stanfield. 

While Pawuk had the starting line advantage and posted a 7.979 sec./172.83 mph pass, it wasn’t enough to beat the winning 7.918/172.98 run by Stanfield. This was Pawuk’s third FSS runner-up performance at the U.S. Nationals with a previous one coming against his Mopar Drag Pak teammate Pruett who went home with that 2018 FSS national title win.

Pruett, for her part, was seeded sixth for this year’s opening round of FSS eliminations but after winning that first outing, she was on the losing end of the sprint to the finish against Jesse Alexandra in her second round match-up.

The rest of the DSR Funny Car lineup found themselves looking forward to the next stop on the NHRA circuit after seeing their day prematurely shortened. Matt Hagan moved past Paul Lee, to take a holeshot victory over Bob Tasca III by posting a 3.939 E.T. behind the wheel of his red-hot Hellcat Redeye versus his adversary’s 3.940. His side-by-side semifinal battle with J.R. Todd, ended with a loss of grip late in his run to allow Todd to move on. The result however, moved Hagan into second place in the points behind his DSR teammate and event winner, Beckman. 

Still riding the momentum of his win at the Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals at the previous event, Ron Capps drove his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a provisional No.1 qualifier run on Friday and into race day as the No. 2 seed. With a record of 38-4 in an opening round when qualified second, Capps came out firing on all cylinders and advanced easily with a 3.924 E.T. at 328.06 mph to defeat Jim Campbell and move on to face Beckman in the quarterfinals. Following identical reaction times of 0.067, Capps took the lead early, but lost traction at the 300-foot mark and eventually ceded the run to his DSR teammate.

The Funny Car points leader heading into race day and No.1 qualifier for a third time this season, Tommy Johnson Jr., took the early lead with the Riley Kids Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the first round against No. 16 qualifier Dale Creasy, but when his DSR machine suddenly quit on the final approach to the finish, the result was an upset. Johnson crossed the stripe to register a 0.065-sec. reaction time, and 4.011 sec./276.58 mph just behind Creasy’s 0.062 sec reaction / 4.009 sec./315.64 mph wining effort and now sits third in the points standings behind his DSR teammates, Beckman and Hagan.

Five national events now remaining on the revamped 2020 NHRA schedule with the next stop set for Gainesville, Fla., from Sept. 25-27 for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES: 

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

(No. 7 Qualifier – 3.940 seconds at 325.53 mph)

Round 1: (0.067-second reaction time, 3.909 seconds at 327.74 mph) defeats No. 10 Cruz Pedregon (0.039/7.734/ 87.81)

Round 2: (0.067/4.003 /316.01) defeats No. 2 Ron Capps (0.067/5.454/137.79)

Round 3: (0.075/3.915/329.10) defeats No. 3 Tim Wilkerson (0.083/3.914/324.59)

Round 4: (0.069/3.908/327.35) defeats No. 8 J.R. Todd (0.054/3.960/324.28)

“This may be the last time I race at Indy, and that Infinite Hero Dodge Charger team left nothing on the race track. This is what drag racing is all about. A huge thank you to Terry Chandler for starting this program, and Doug Chandler for keeping it going. We had six wonderful years, a whole lot of Wally trophies, and a whole lot of amazing fans. I also want to give a special shout-out to Judy Pittman. It’s her birthday today. She’s the Chandler family representative and is by our side at every race, and we were glad to be able to get this done on her birthday. I hope I can keep racing next year but I’m going to revel in this. Our team was awesome today.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car  
(No. 5 Qualifier – 3.919 seconds at 328.54 mph)
Round 1: (0.081 second reaction, 3.942 seconds at 326.63 mph) defeats No.12 Paul Lee (0.082/4.737/169.13)

Round 2: (0.061/3.939/327.03) defeats No. 4 Bob Tasca III (0.099/3.940/328.46)

Round 3: (0.057/4.132/273.05) loss to No. 8 J.R. Todd (0.076/3.946/327.03)

“We had a really great weekend. It was a great points weekend for this Mopar Dodge SRT Hellcat team by winning that race on Saturday night. We covered a lot of ground. We brought home another trophy for DSR. A milestone trophy, win No. 350. This Hellcat race car is running great. I’m hating to leave Indy, we did so well here. We’ve got great data, it’s hard to want to leave. We’re going rounds and turning on win lights. Our team and Beckman are throwing down and battling it out, and it’s going to be a fight all the way to the end and that’s what I love. I love being a part of that. I’m really excited to try and bring it home for Mopar. Let’s keep winning races.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 1 Qualifier – 3.878 seconds at 326.40 mph) 
Round 1: (0.065-second reaction time, 4.011 seconds at 276.58 mph) lost to No. 16 Dale Creasy (0.062/4.009/315.64)

“That was a heartbreaking loss for this team and Riley (Hospital for Children). We’ve had such a great weekend in qualifying and a great performing car. You can’t predict parts failure and some event happened late in the run. It was on a really good run. It was going to be a nice, solid run in the first round to take the win and move on. Something happened on the top end of the track and we’re still trying to figure out what it was. It was so late in the run I was ready to reach over for the parachute levers and it breaks loose. It’s heartbreaking. The year’s not over yet. We just have to move on to the next one in Florida in three weeks. We have a solid race car. If we can get some luck to go our way, we’ll be good.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 2 Qualifier – 3.881 seconds at 327.19 mph)
Round 1:  (0.085 reaction time, 3.924 seconds at 328.06 mph) to defeat No. 15 Jim Campbell (0.109/4.902/166.25)      

Round 2: (0.067/5.454/328.06) lost to No. 7 Jack Beckman (0.067/4.003/316.01)

“Another U.S. Nationals in the books and you come into race day with such confidence. Our NAPA guys did such a great job qualifying. Came off the trailer No. 1 on Friday and went down the track in all conditions. It was sunny out on Saturday and we went down again. It gives you great confidence. We made a great run first round. Our DSR teammates are so good, you don’t want to run into them until the final round. The way the ladder lined up, we had to run the Infinite Hero car and we both went up there to go low ET and that’s the way it works. Especially with the weather that came in, the track cooled off and we felt we needed to repeat what we did in qualifying. Unfortunately, the car shook and pulled the tires loose. It’s rare for this car to do that. Tobler is looking at the data now and we’ll figure out what happened and get after it at the next race in Gainesville. We have five races to run for a championship. It’s exciting. Vegas has points-and-a-half, but we want to get a run on it these next races. It sort of feels like a Countdown and we’ll fight back to the top.”

Leah Pruett, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Top Fuel Dragster  
(No. 6 Qualifier – 3.742 seconds at 326.24 mph)   
Round 1: (0.060-second reaction time, 3.703 seconds at 325.61 mph) defeats No. 11 Terry McMillan (0.067/3.726/320.13)

Round 2: (0.092/4.312/211.89 defeats No. 14 Tony Schumacher (0.057/9.048/79.71)

Round 3: (0.053/3.743/322.34) defeats No. 2 Steve Torrance (0.093/3.724/325.14)

Round 4: (0.091/5.141/145.75) loss to No. 1 Shawn Langdon (0.015/3.705/326.32)

“This Big Go did not disappoint on the intensity meter from needing to make a good lap in Q3 just to make the show to throwing down a .70 in the first round against Terry (McMillen) to run a 3.72. Those are the conditions we love to flourish in. After the second round they moved up the session 35 minutes and in one of the most impressive moments was the preparation for the semifinal round. To see this Dodge SRT team stay cool and calm and deliver what we did in the semis makes me very proud. We fed off of that and tried to duplicate that for the final and had clutch wear issues. We leave here second in points and that is incredible. The team faced a lot of challenges today mechanically, mentally and time-wise and we are going to take this as a building block for Gainesville.”

Mark Pawuk, Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak– Factory Stock Shootout

(No. 2 Qualifier – 7.903 seconds at 174.41 mph)   

Round 1: (0.108-second reaction time, 7.965 seconds at 173.49 mph) defeated No. 23 Kim Shirley (0.423/8.795/154.90)

Round 2: (0.019/7.957/173.99) defeats No. 14 John Cerbone (0.003/8.107/169.32)

Round 3: (0.076/7.967/173.56) defeats No. 17 Richard Bierie (0.173/8.160/168.05)

Round 4: (0.063/7.966/172.96) defeats No. 9 Dave Condon (0.027/8.057/169.49)

Round 5: (0.027/ 7.979/172.83) loss to No. 1 Aaron Stanfield (0.047/7.918/172.98)

“It was a great weekend for the DSR Drak Pak Challengers. We came up just a little short in the final. It was my third Indy final and I was hoping this would be the charm, but we gave it our all. We’re definitely back on track to go rounds. Kevin (Helms) and Terry (Snyder), Kyle (Pawuk) all worked very hard. Our teammate, Leah (Pruett), also ran great. We’re looking forward to going to Gainesville and keeping the momentum going.”

Leah Pruett, Mopar Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak – Factory Stock Shootout 
(No. 6 Qualifier – 7.958 seconds at 172.08 mph)   
Round 1:  (0.067-second reaction time, 7.969 at 171.64 mph) defeated No. 19 James Jeschke Jr. (0.012/8.207/161.98)

Round 2: (0.076/8.031/170.95) loss to No. 7 Jesse Alexandra (0.040/7.988/172.70)

“It was like a Barnum & Bailey Circus. Running, not running. Changing firesuits. We thought we’d run back-to-back after Top Fuel. Our competition knows they need to play some games on the line. They know we have good Drag Paks that can run solid numbers now. We ran great this weekend and just got flat beat in the second round. It was great to see Mark (Pawuk) go to the final round. With no testing, to come to the U.S. Nationals and go rounds and qualify well and prepare for the Gatornationals is great. We need to find a little more in the tune-up and we can do that in the next few weeks.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500 DARLINGTON RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES SEPTEMBER 6, 2020
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER2nd     Austin Dillon, No. 3 American Ethanol Camaro ZL1 1LE5th       William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Throwback Camaro ZL1 1LE6th       Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Camaro ZL1 1LE8th       Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE14th     Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE          TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:POS.  DRIVER                                                                     1st      Kevin Harvick (Ford)2nd      Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)3rd       Joey Logano (Ford)4th       Eric Jones (Toyota)5th      William Byron (Chevrolet)UNOFFICIAL CURRENT PLAYOFF RANK (Following Round 1 of 10)POS.   DRIVER (* = Chevy Contender)        1.    Kevin Harvick (Ford)2.    Denny Hamlin (Toyota)3.    Joey Logano (Ford)4.    Brad Keselowski (Ford)5.*Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)6.    Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota)7.*Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)8.*Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)9.*William Byron (Chevrolet)10. Kyle Busch (Toyota)11.*Kurt Busch (Chevrolet)12. Aric Almirola (Ford)13. Clint Bowyer (Ford)14. Cole Custer (Ford)15. Matt DiBenedetto (Ford)16. Ryan Blaney (Ford)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Richmond Raceway with the Federated Auto Parts 400 on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage will air on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd“Man, it would have been nice to get that win and lock ourselves into the next round, but it was a heck of a finish for our entire No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet team. I’m proud of our second-place finish, especially after dropping to the rear of the field at the start of the race and recovering from that setback. We battled. We had a really good long run car and Kevin Harvick was getting tighter and tighter. I caught him earlier in the run, but he took my low line in Turns 1 and 2 and that was where I was really good. I’m really happy that we had a great run for Junior Johnson during NASCAR Throwback Weekend. He’s one of my heroes so it was an honor to run a tribute paint scheme to him this weekend. We showed up when it mattered. A lot of people count us out, but I don’t count myself out, or this team. I feel like we’ve brought good race cars all year and have been able to progress throughout races to make good changes. Sometimes things don’t fall our way, but we got that win at Texas and it provided the momentum that we needed. We’re just going to keep doing our thing. Chevy has been awesome, along with Dow, AstraZeneca, Bass Pro Shops, RigUp and everyone else involved with RCR. I can’t thank American Ethanol enough. We’ve been running with E15 and it’s great for our engines. It’s been fun. We just have to keep plugging. Richmond Raceway is next week, and we have a good short track car for them.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/TRUCK HERO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6th“Sixth place isn’t terrible, but man we had a fast Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE tonight in Darlington. We had some issues on pit road that hurt us and we had to recover from that. I really feel like we were a car capable of winning. We just got buried there, but thankfully recovered from it. Sixth place isn’t the end of the world, but you know you had a fast car when you are bummed about sixth. This car looked amazing tonight and hopefully we can go to Richmond next weekend and do the same thing. It is a good feeling to have a good start to the Playoffs.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th^“I’m happy with our run tonight with the Monster Energy Chevy. I know it’s not a win, but we got everything out of the race that we were hoping for; except maybe the alternate strategy that we were trying with one stop in the final stage. I was hopeful for the long run. I like dancing with the Lady!”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th“That was not the result we wanted, we had a fast Ally Chevy until that last stage and it just kept getting tighter, but my guys just keep fighting. We will just focus on Richmond.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 20thYOU WERE IN PERFECT POSITION. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE RACING WITH MARTIN TRUEX, JR.?“He (Truex) had a run on me there, off of four and he just kind of cleared himself into one. He was close, but he wasn’t all the way clear, obviously. I hate it, obviously we had a fast NAPA Camaro – fast enough to contend. We needed a little pace there to extend our lead instead of playing defense, but regardless I thought we were in a good spot. I ran the bottom in three and four to see if there was anything left down there, that’s what kind of gave him the run and then he just slid up in to my left front, I felt like and on we went.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT POWER CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 23rd“I’ve gotten to run a lot of cool races, but the Southern 500 has always been towards the top of the list for me, so it was really special to be able to make my first start in it tonight. I love NASCAR’s Throwback weekend, and our No. 8 Cat Power Chevrolet honoring Jeff Burton’s No. 8 scheme that he accepted Rookie of the Year honors with looked great out there. We fired off really fast tonight and was just a touch loose. My team made some good adjustments early in the run to tighten me up, but then the rear security of our Camaro became really unstable, which made it tough to manage the handling through the turns on both sides of the track. During the start of Stage 3, the field got really stacked up on the restart and I received some damage to the nose of our car, right above the grill. That affected the handling a lot for the rest of the night; and kept the temps up high too. We kept digging though, made repairs when we could and tried to get every spot possible out there. It just wasn’t our night tonight, but we’ll keep after it. There are still nine more races for us to go out and challenge for a win.”
BUBBA WALLACE, JR., NO. 43 CASH APP CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 38th“Coming into tonight, there was a lot of optimism. We were looking forward to running the Southern 500 in our Cash App Chevy. It just didn’t work out for us. We had some back luck on our side. I don’t really know what the main issue was that ultimately led us to not finish the race. But we started out decent. Our guys made some good adjustments on the car and then got it better, and I was really happy with it. After we had our mishap and went to the garage we came back out and I thought our car was really good. We just had to survive until it went to night time and I thought we could have put a decent race together by that time, but it didn’t work out. So, we’ll go on to Richmond and try to claw back what we lost tonight.”

Austin Dillon and the American Ethanol Chevrolet Team Battle To Strong, Second-Place Finish at Darlington Raceway 2020 NASCAR Playoffs Run Off To A Solid Start

2nd   12th  8th

“Man, it would have been nice to get that win and lock ourselves into the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs, but it was a heck of a finish for our No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet team. I’m proud of our second-place finish, especially after dropping to the rear of the field at the start of the race and having to recover from that setback. We battled really hard all night for every single spot we could get. We had a really good long run car and towards the end of the race I knew Kevin Harvick was getting tighter each lap. I caught him earlier in the closing run, but he took my low line in Turns 1 and 2, which was where I was running the best, and stopped the momentum that I had going. I gave it everything I had though, and I’m really happy that we had a great run for Junior Johnson during NASCAR Throwback Weekend. He’s one of my heroes, so it was an honor to run a tribute paint scheme for him this weekend. We showed up when it mattered tonight. A lot of people count us out of the Playoffs, but I don’t count myself or this team out of anything. I feel like we’ve brought good race cars all year and have been able to progress throughout these races to make good changes. Sometimes things don’t fall our way, but we continually take chances and that led to the win at Texas. We’re just going to keep doing our thing. Team Chevy has been awesome this year, along with our partners at Dow, AstraZeneca, Bass Pro Shops, RigUp and everyone else involved with RCR and ECR. I can’t thank American Ethanol enough for their support either. We’ve been running with E15 for a while, and it’s great for our engines. This year has been fun. We just have to keep plugging. Richmond Raceway is next week, and we have a good short track car ready for them.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick Battles Through Mid-Race Contact with Cat Power Chevrolet in First Southern 500 Start

23rd   24th   19th

“I’ve gotten to run a lot of cool races, but the Southern 500 has always been towards the top of the list for me, so it was really special to be able to make my first start in it tonight. I love NASCAR’s Throwback weekend, and our No. 8 Cat Power Chevrolet honoring Jeff Burton’s No. 8 scheme that he accepted Rookie of the Year honors with looked great out there. We fired off really fast tonight, but our handling was just a touch loose. My team made some good adjustments early in the run to tighten me up, but then the rear security of our Camaro became really unstable, which made it tough to manage the handling through the turns on both sides of the track. During the start of Stage 3, the field got stacked up on the restart and I received some damage to the nose of our car, right above the grille. That affected the handling a lot for the rest of the night and kept the temps up high, too. We kept digging though, made repairs when we could and tried to get every spot possible out there. It just wasn’t our night tonight, but we’ll keep after it. There are still nine more races for us to go out and challenge for a win.”-Tyler Reddick

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION DENSO U.S. NATIONALS LUCAS OIL RACEWAY AT INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Erica Enders Grabs Second U.S. Nationals Title Greg Anderson posts 105^th career pole

INDIANAPOLIS – Three-time NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Erica Enders did not come Indianapolis to run the Denso U.S.Nationals and lose. She came to win. The driver of the bright red Elite Motorsports Melling Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS,   made one of the most impressive runs in her Pro Stock career to capture her second U.S. Nationals Wally.
Lining up against Matt Hartford in the final, Enders did what she does best; leave the starting line with a nearly-perfect .009 reaction time and her Chevy Camaro SS did the rest with a 6.606 through the traps. Enders remains one of just 25 drivers that have won the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Pro Stock.
“This is really sweet,” said an elated Enders.”This means the world to me. You never know when you are at your last Indy. A lot of people have made this possible. First and foremost my Dad. The Good Lord above. Elite Motorsports and Richard Freeman as well as Melling Performance with Mark and the Melling Brothers. They want to renew with us and I am so excited. But this Chevy Camaro is mean. Rick Jones, Mark Engersol and Ricky Jones – I have the three badest crew chiefs on the property. And the best team in the world. This is amazing.” 
Enders trip to U.S. Nationals winner’s circle came through defeating Kenny Delco, Deric Kramer and rookie Mason McGaha to reach her 53rd final round. She is now third in the standings. 
Jeg Coughlin, Jr., current points leader in Pro Stock, had a very uncharacteristic red light in round one. Coughlin maintained his points lead.
Pole Sitter and multi-time Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson made it to quarter finals before he went down to his teammate Jason Line. Line was bested by Hartford in the Semi-Final round. Line is second in points while Anderson sits in fourth. 
Last year’s winner Alex McLaughlin got taken down by Bo Butner in Round One. Butner got put in the trailer in the quarter finals by Hartford.
Aaron Stanfield brought home the Wally in the Factory Stock Showdown piloting his COPO Camaro. 
Next on the NHRA schedule will be the famed Gatornationals, September 25-27 in Gainesville, Florida
DRIVER QUOTES:JASON LINE, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CAMARO SS : “My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is fantastic. We had a little glitch here, and that hurt us for sure. We did finally figure it out, but not until second round. The good news is the silver Summit Racing chevy is back to healthy again.” GREG ANDERSON, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CAMARO SS: “We just didn’t execute well today and that meant we didn’t win the race. We had the horses with our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros, but we just didn’t keep them under us. I lost by a thousandth in the second round, but it might as well have been a mile. We’ve made a lot of strides lately with our engine program and our cars, and they’re fast – but you have to be perfect.”  BO BUTNER, STRUTMASTERS/JIM BUTNER AUTO GROUP CAMARO SS: “I’m excited – we have a good car with my Strutmasters/Jim Butner Auto Group Chevy Camaro, and that means a lot. I would have liked to have done better today and this weekend overall, especially here. But you can’t really go back, you can only move forward. So we’ll do that. I see better days for us in the future.”