HEBRON, Ohio (July 18) – One day after winners were crowned in the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event, JEGS Speedweek remained at full speed as the fields were set for the annual JEGS SPORTSnationals race.  Saturday’s packed schedule at National Trail Raceway included qualifying and elimination rounds for Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Comp, Top Dragster and Top Sportsman. Also on the docket was the opening round in Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street drivers, plus class eliminations for Super Stock and Stock drivers. Reigning world champion Megan Meyer and De l Cox Jr. emerged as the respective top qualifiers in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car, two categories making their first SPORTSnationals appearance since 1985. Meyer drove to a 5.225-second elapsed time and also won her first-round race. She’ll be joined in the semifinals by Jackie Fricke, Mike Bucher, and Josh Hart. Cox drove his Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car to a 5.518-second pass to lead Top Alcohol Funny Car. Like Meyer, Cox also emerged as a winner from Round 1 and is joined by two-time world champion Sean Bellemeur, Drew Hales, and Chris Foster in the final four.  The low qualifiers in Comp, Super Stock, and Stock included Greg Kamplain, Andy Kronenbitter, and Bill Dyer.  Kamplain won the first of his eight national event titles at the JEGS SPORTSnationals in 1983. Kronenbitter topped a field of 95 Super Stock entries in his ’08 Cobalt while Dyer drove his ’10 Cobra Jet Mustang to the qualifying lead in Stock over a huge field of 139 drivers. Zach Sackman, a winner at last weekend’s NHRA Nationals in Indianapolis, took the qualifying lead in the Vortech Superchargers Top Dragster class with a run of 6.128-seconds. In Vortech Superchargers Top Sportsman, Boyd Beyer is the top qualifier at 6.461 seconds. Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin, a four-time SPORTSnationals winner, is also solidly in the Top Dragster field with his supercharged dragster. Coughlin drove to a competitive 6.174 to earn the No. 4 starting spot. Coughlin nailed down three-straight SPORTSnationals wins in 2005-2007, and won again in 2009. He’s also got five wins at National Trail Raceway, his home track. A trio of JEGS machines entered eliminations in Super Comp on Saturday with Troy Coughlin Jr., Paige Coughlin, and Makenna Brown each piloting their familiar JEGS.com dragsters. While Troy Jr. suffered a tough loss, Paige and Makenna moved on to Sunday’s final elimination rounds.  The JEGS Speedweek event has been a huge success with upwards of 650 entries for the double-header race that features both a Division 3 Lucas Oil Series race and the JEGS SPORTSnationals. The event will conclude at 8 a.m. Sunday with final eliminations resuming.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESIOWA INDYCAR 250S DOUBLEHEADER IOWA SPEEDWAYNEWTON, IOWATEAM CHEVY WINNER’S QUOTE – JOSEF NEWGARDENJULY 18, 2020
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Race WinnerAFTER LAST NIGHT, TO COME OUT HERE AND WIN THIS ONE FROM THE POLE, HOW GOOD DOES THIS ONE FEEL?“It feels really good. I don’t know what we’ve got to do to keep the bad luck off of us, but hopefully this is a start. Our guys did an amazing job yesterday. I was so disappointed for them because I felt like they had the winning car. They put in the work and we just weren’t able to get rewarded for it. I was so determined to come back today. I think everyone was determined to come back and have a really good race. And we just ran hard. We ran hard all day. I’m so proud to be powered by Chevrolet. I felt like we had the package to beat: fuel mileage, durability, we had the power. And then to have Hitachi back on, they’ve been a good luck charm for us. Thanks to Hitachi. Thanks to everybody at Team Penske back at the shop. I’m just thrilled we were finally able to get this monkey off our back.” YOU ARE THE FIRST DRIVER AT IOWA TO START ON POLE AND END UP IN VICTORY LANE. YOU MADE IT LOOK EASY“I heard that stat. I don’t think I’ve been on pole here before. So, I was sitting there thinking you know, we can do that. I don’t know why we can’t convert from pole. It’s just kind of a silly stat, I guess, that’s kind of run through to this point. I knew we had speed. I felt totally confident. When Tim’s (Cindric) is on my stand and I have my guys doing pit stops, I have complete confidence we can win any race that we go into. That stat wasn’t bugging me.” WHAT CAN THIS DO FOR YOU IN PROPELLING THIS TEAM FORWARD AS THE SEASON PROGRESSES?“Well, we needed to. It would have been nice if we could have had a couple of the finishes where we thought we should have been. I think at Road America, we had a winning car on Saturday. I wasn’t able to secure that. We had a podium to slip away at the GP. I knew we needed a win and we need another one to come soon enough, too. It’s not going to be just one. We’ve got to be able to put consistent finishes on the board.”

CORVETTE RACING AT SEBRING: Gavin, Milner Lead Corvette C8.R Sweep • Garcia, Taylor finish second in pole-winning No. 3 Corvette• Chevrolet, No. 3 Corvette take GTLM Championship leads• Twelfth class victory at Sebring for Corvette Racing• 61st 1-2 team finish in program history

SEBRING, Fla. (July 14, 2020) – Corvette Racing went 1-2 at Sebring International Raceway as Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner took a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Cadillac Grand Prix for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday. The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R took a 0.480-second victory over the pole-sitting No. 3 Corvette of Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia – class winners two weeks ago at Daytona. It was the 12th victory for Corvette Racing at the 3.7-mile, 17-turn road course in central Florida, and the result moves Chevrolet into the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship lead after three races. The team also won its 101st race in IMSA, 109th in program history and finished 1-2 for the 61st time. Gavin won for the seventh time at Sebring, and Milner took his third victory at the circuit. The two Corvettes ran second and third early but took control of the race following the first pit stop just past the half-hour mark. Two GTLM competitors collided in the pitlane, and the C8.Rs emerged 1-2 with Taylor leading Gavin. They continued that formation until the midway point of the race when the Corvettes stopped a lap apart from each other. Fuel-saving by Gavin during his stint allowed Milner to take the lead as the No. 4 C8.R went a lap longer than the team car. Garcia entered the race about three seconds back from Milner as the pair made their final stops separately about 20 minutes later. Garcia closed the gap to Milner over the final 20 minutes but not enough to overtake the No. 4 Corvette. The Garcia/Taylor duo did, however, leave Sebring with the GTLM Driver’s Championship lead, as did the No. 3 Corvette in the Team standings. Saturday’s victory also came on the one-year anniversary of the 2020 Corvette Stingray production car’s public debut. It is the road-going counterpart to the C8.R. Corvette Racing returns to competition July 31-August 2 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It’s been an amazing day. Thanks to Corvette Racing and Tommy for doing a wonderful job to bring the car home at the end. It was the strategy and pit stops that made the difference. Our guys did an outstanding job throughout the race. Our Corvette C8.R has really come alive in the last two races. It was a great result for the No. 3 Corvette to get the 100th victory in IMSA for Corvette Racing at Daytona. For us to get No. 101 and my 49th in IMSA is fantastic. A great day. I do want to dedicate this win to a great friend of mine who passed away just before Daytona – Nick Moss, who supported me throughout all my career. He came to Le Mans with me 15 times and was an amazing, amazing friend. He passed away after a long battle with cancer, and I want to dedicate this win to him.” HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT SETTING UP FOR A SPRINT RACE FOR SEBRING INSTEAD OF 12 HOURS?“It’s a far shorter timespan so you may go more aggressively on your brakes. You’re also not having to factor in that night finish or how the track is going to evolve. You have a very short window where the track is going to improve or not. It’s a tight window. We focused on that. These races are happening very, very quick. You hardly have time to get the cars ready between sessions. Just before the start, our guys were thrashing away to make some changes that in the end made our car really good and led us to standing here talking to you. We have them to thank for that, for making all those changes and the guys working in the engineering room going over all the numbers. This is still a brand new car and we are really trying to learn as we go. It’s a phenomenal car and we want to win more and more. Bring on Road America.” DID YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PORSCHES?“It was only after the race that people started talking to me about it. The guys didn’t mention it to me. I just saw that one of the Porsches had left missing its front bumper. It was all of us trying to leave together and there wasn’t enough room. I was already in the fast lane and had priority.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It’s an amazing achievement to get 100 wins and now 101. The success of this team is incredible, and to be a small part of that is obviously an honor. It took us awhile to get 100 so it’s nice to get over the hump to get 101 and not have to talk about that one! Today was all about strategy and not making mistakes. It looked like we were going to have a pretty good race with the Porsches. It was all pretty close but then all fell apart there as far as that goes. In the end, it was left to myself and Antonio and of course Jordan and Olly at the start. Olly in the end really made the race for us with saving fuel and having a bit better pit stop and get out in front of the 3 car. That was pretty much the end. Antonio got pretty close there at the end. He was there for sure. The plan was with a couple laps to go once he got there, it wasn’t worth throwing away a win and 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing. So he was probably a little bit nicer to me than he could have been! But it was an awesome day. It’s great to drive with Olly and it’s an incredible achievement for him to get 50 IMSA wins. We’ll work on that in the upcoming races.” HAD THE PORSCHES NOT HAD THEIR INCIDENTS IN PITLANE, HOW CLOSE OF A RACE WOULD IT HAVE BEEN?“It was looking like it was going to be very, very close pace wise. I think you saw that in the pitstop as well. We all came in together and we were all going to leave together. It looked like with all the strategy details, it was going to be a close race whether it was on fuel mileage or tires or whatever. They have been fast all season and continue to be quite quick. We’ll for sure have some work to do to find an advantage somewhere if we can and ultimately not make mistakes throughout the race. We saw today how one small one can ruin your race. We’ll have to be extra vigilant about no pitlane incidents or making mistakes on the track…. those little details that aren’t so sexy in some way but that’s what makes the race for you in the end.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTLM: “After going so long without winning race before Daytona, I really wanted another one today. But this was a great result for Corvette Racing with the 1-2 finish and the championship lead. It was a great job by everyone on the team – the crew and engineers. Things went the way for Oliver and Tommy today, and they did a good job managing their race and their fuel. I think we can all be happy with the performance of the team and the Corvette C8.R. We have shown good pace the last two races and have gathered a lot of data both in the dry and in the wet. That’s the main thing for us as we go further in the season. All in all, it was a good weekend.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Another great day for Corvette Racing. I had to start with the P2 cars, and there were a couple of slow guys in their field. A couple of cars got by me at Turn Two or Three. But the Corvette Racing guys got us back out front and we were able to pull a big gap in that second stint to the Porsches and BMWs. Congratulations to Olly and Tommy on the win. They did a great job with the strategy. A 1-2 team finish for the Corvette C8.R and the points lead for me and Antonio is nothing to be disappointed about. WHAT DID YOU SEE ON THE FIRST PIT STOP?“I knew it was going to be messy pitting under yellow because everyone gets stacked up. I think even the 4 car got stuck behind me trying to leave, and then when I saw the Porsches leave they knocked into each other. It’s super tight. The competition in GTLM is so close; to make passes on track is difficult so a lot of times you have to make it happen in the pits. We’ve got the best group at Corvette Racing to get us out front.”

·       Leah Pruett qualifies second in the fiery new-look Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Top Fuel dragster at Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals 

·       Tommy Johnson Jr. follows up runner-up finish last weekend with No. 2 qualifying position in his MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Funny Car at Lucas Oil Raceway

·       Matt Hagan looking to repeat last week’s winning performance with new Mopar Dodge SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed Funny Car in second of two back-to back NHRA national events in Indianapolis

·       Pruett and Mark Pawuk return to Factory Stock Showdown competition behind the wheel of their Mopar Challenger Drag Paks 

July 18, 2020, Brownsburg, Ind. – Coming off a Funny Car event win last weekend at Indianapolis, Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) contingent of Mopar Dodge SRT-sponsored entries came back firing on all cylinders to earn a pair of No. 2 qualifying positions at the Lucas Oil NHRA Summmernationals, as National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competition returns to the “Crossroads of America” as part of the new rescheduled season plan. 

DSR Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett showed off a new demon-red Hellcat Redeye paint-scheme by putting her Mopar Dodge Charger SRT second on the Top-Fuel eliminations ladder, while Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. came close to repeating his top qualifying effort from last week, eventually settling into the No. 2 spot going into Sunday’s competition.

Johnson Jr.’s second qualifying run of 4.017 seconds at 300.86 mph took him to the top of the timing sheets, and while it looked like he might repeat last week’s performance as top qualifier, Bob Tasca bumped the MD Anderson Dodge from the No. 1 spot later in the session. As No.2 qualifier, Johnson Jr. will face Bob Bode as his first round opponent.

DSR teammates Ron Capps and Jack Beckman, winner of the 2020 season opening event, both secured lane choice for their opening rounds of eliminations with their No. 4 and No. 6 positions respectively in qualifying. Beckman will see Chad Green in first round action.

Capps, who was second quickest in the first qualifying session, will be paired up with DSR teammate Matt Hagan, winner of last week’s E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals. With the shortening of qualifying to just two sessions with the new season schedule, Hagan had little room for error to make the field after a difficult first run, but safely put his new-look Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye in the show on his final pass no put him .

Top Fuel No.2 qualifier Pruett earned bonus points for her Mopar Dodge SRT dragster by posting runs that put her in the top-three on the timing sheets in both sessions. She’ll see Lex Joon in the first round of eliminations. 

Pruett will have two opportunities to fight for a Wally on Sunday as she pulls double duty this weekend by getting back into her Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak for Factory Stock Showdown action.

Factory Stock Showdown

The SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) class took to the track for the first time this 2020 season with Pruett, the 2018 champion in the category, and Mark Pawuk get behind the wheel of their Don Schumacher Motorsports-prepared Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Paks. Both drivers return aboard the same factory-built vehicles with which they finished the 2019 season (at Dallas), when Pruett qualified second and reached the final while Pawuk qualified ninth. 

Looking to build off those results, the pair both qualified their Mopar muscle cars for Sunday eliminations. Pawuk qualified 12th on the strength of his first run at 8.078 sec/170.28 mph and will face no. 5 qualifier Arthur Kohn. 

Pruett’s second elapsed time run of 8.146 sec. /168.32 mph put her 16^th on the eliminations ladder and will see her matched up with No. 1 qualifier Chris Holbrook.

Elimination rounds at the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals begin at 9:45 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, July 19, while television coverage will air starting at 12 p.m. (ET) on the FOX national broadcast network and will include LIVE final elimination round action.

NOTES and QUOTES: 

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

(No. 6 Qualifier – 4.059 seconds at 299.66 mph)

Qualifying 1: 4.059 sec/299.66 mph

Qualifying 2: 6.485 sec/113.08 mph

“If you’re going to go one for two in qualifying, this weekend we did it the right way. We unloaded with a good run and then we took a shot and missed it, but that’s ok. We know how to back up from that tomorrow. Last weekend when we missed it on the first run, you go up for the last qualifying session biting your nails and it’s too much stress before race day. Once again, we have a great car and it looks like there will be great competition out there tomorrow. The three cars I fear most all say DSR and the (Bob) Tasca car with DSR parts. We have to beat a lot of good cars and if we can do that, they’ll hand us the trophy.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car  
(No. 13 Qualifier – 4.275 seconds at 283.73 mph)
Qualifying 1: 5.147 sec./145.42 mph

Qualifying 2: 4.275 sec./283.73 mph

“With just two qualifying shots, it’s far more nervous when you get up there to the water box. I’m sure plenty of drivers felt that stress level last weekend like we did today. Dickie Venables did what we needed to do to get in the show and we get to race tomorrow. A hot, greasy race track is always tricky to navigate. We have this awesome brand new paint scheme with the chrome red Hellcat Redeye scheme and it’s a beautiful car. It looks fast and we have to make it fast and we’ll end up in the winner’s circle again.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 2 Qualifier – 4.017  seconds at 300.86 mph) 
Qualifying 1: 4.572 sec./186.41 mph

Qualifying 2: 4.017 sec./300.86 mph

“This two-run qualifying deal puts a lot of pressure on the teams. It’s interesting to see everybody have trouble on the first run and that puts a lot more pressure on that Q2 run to get in the show. To come out and go from fifteenth to No. 1 and end up second is great. Hats off to (crew chiefs) John (Collins) and Rip (Reynolds) and this team. We have a good race car, just trickier track conditions than we saw last weekend. It will probably be trickier tomorrow with the heat, but that 4.01 in the last session was solid and that sets us up for a good race day.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 4 Qualifier – 4.054 seconds at 312.86 mph)  
Qualifying 1: 4.054 sec./312.86 mph

Qualifying 2: 4.440 sec./200.26 mph

“Obviously, it’s a tale of two weekends. We were so disappointed in ourselves for not qualifying better last weekend and putting ourselves in the position of having to run the No. 1 qualifier who was our teammate Tommy Johnson. Today, we finished the first session as the No. 2 qualifier. We tried to push it in Q2, we wanted to go for the pole, we thought we could run a mid-3.90 and that was the time to try it. Unfortunately, we didn’t think the position we were in was going to lands us with a round one matchup with our teammate Matt Hagan. That’s a tough car right now, they’re coming off a win and running great. We start earlier in the morning so the first round will give us the best conditions we’ll see all day. It’s going to be triple digits with the heat index, and usually, the NAPA team is really good in those conditions. First-round is going to be really tough, like a final round, but I’m confident in my team and we’ll go up there and do our best.”

Leah Pruett, Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster  
(No. 10 Qualifier – 3.934 seconds at 306.33 mph)   
Qualifying 1: 3.850 sec./314.31 mph

Qualifying 2: 3.889 sec./311.34 mph

“What I love about racing are the constant challenges that are thrown at you. Todd and Neal, have been putting in the extra efforts on Cory’s dragster, and I had to qualify in Factory Stock (Showdown) with the Dodge DragPak for our first race this weekend in that class. Everything about this operation is elevated this weekend running 10 cars. It’s great to see more fans here today and this has to be one of the humidest races we’re ever run. It’s feels like Florida more than Indy. We’re looking forward to race day, another early start and we’re planning on building on last weekend and going more rounds.”

Factory Stock Showdown Notes & Quotes

Leah Pruett, Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak  
(No. 16 Qualifier – 8.146 seconds at 168.32 mph)   
Qualifying 1: 9.491 sec./104.71 mph

Qualifying 2: 8.146 sec./168.32 mph

“Just like race cars do, sometimes they have a couple of issues. Ours happened to be in the belt power strain, and luckily, we tested yesterday and thought we almost had it cured. We broke a belt on Q1, and it created a very high-pressure situation of leaving just one qualifying attempt to get in the field and I’m very proud of (crew chief) Kevin Helms, Terry Snyder, and this entire Mopar crew for getting this car down the track. We made a moderate Q2 run to get in the show, which made for some scary times, living on the edge, but we thrive on that. Mark’s (Pawuk) car is running well, and we’re going to pick it up from there. I have a really heavy matchup, No. 1 versus 16, and (Chris) Holbrook is not one to take lightly. We came here to compete, and you’re going to see some good competition tomorrow.”

Mark Pawuk, Dodge Challenger Drag Pak  

(No. 12 Qualifier – 8.078 seconds at 170.28 mph)  

Qualifying 1: 8.078 sec/170.28 mph

Qualifying 2: 8.201 sec./168.56 mph

“What I love about racing are the constant challenges that are thrown at you. Todd and Neal, have been putting in the extra efforts on Cory’s dragster, and I had to qualify in Factory Stock (Showdown) with the Dodge DragPak for our first race this weekend in that class. Everything about this operation is elevated this weekend running 10 cars. It’s great to see more fans here today and this has to be one of the humidest races we’re ever run. It’s feels like Florida more than Indy. We’re looking forward to race day, another early start and we’re planning on building on last weekend and going more rounds.”

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY CADILLAC GRAND PRIX OF SEBRING GTLM WINNER QUOTES JULY 18, 2020

SEBRING, Fla. (July 18, 2020) – Corvette Racing went 1-2 in at Sebring International Raceway as Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner took the GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Cadillac Grand Prix for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday. The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R took a 0.480-second victory over the pole-sitting No. 3 Corvette of Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia – class winners two weeks ago at Daytona. It was the 12th victory for Corvette Racing at the 3.7-mile, 17-turn road course in central Florida, and the result moves Chevrolet into the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship lead after three races.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “As always, Corvette Racing did an amazing job in the pitlane to get us out in front of the Porsches on the first stop. I don’t know what their deal was. It was a good job between Jordan (Taylor). I tried to save as much fuel as possible to try to hand the car over to Tommy to finish off and give him the best chance of leapfrogging the 3 car in the pitlane. It’s a great 1-2 for Corvette Racing and a great way to follow up the team’s win at Daytona.””Getting Win No. 100 and 101 means everything. Everyone at Corvette Racing and Team Chevy has been working so hard, and we can’t thank them enough. The Corvette Stingray road car was launched a year ago today, so to win this race is absolutely phenomenal.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It was close there at the end. Olly did a great job of saving fuel and that allowed us to get out ahead of the 3 car. It was a great strategy from Chuck (Houghton, race engineer) and great pit stops from Brian (Hoye, car chief) and the whole crew. To have these Corvette C8.Rs in as good as shape as they were after the long break is a testament to everyone on this team.”

28th    10th  9th

“We had an extremely fast Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet today at Texas Motor Speedway. We were really good early in the race, but struggled to get track position. My crew chief, Andy Street, made a great strategy call to have us pit prior to the end of stage two. That allowed us to stay out and take the lead for the beginning of the final stage. I battled really hard on older tires to keep the lead and then had to give it up because we started over heating from a piece of debris on our grill. Once we got back in the dirty air, I made a mistake by getting too high in the PJ1, which led to us knocking down the wall. Once that happened, we struggled with a bad vibration for the remainder of the race. With 10 laps to go, something broke and I hit the wall again, which ended our day. I hate it for all my Richard Childress Racing guys and Death Wish Coffee. It’s definitely not how we wanted to finish. However, I’m super proud of the speed we brought again and I know it’s just a matter of time before we can put it all together.”  -Anthony Alfredo

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIPSEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAYCADILLAC GRAND PRIXGTLM POST-QUALIFYING QUOTESJULY 18, 2020

SEBRING, Fla. (July 18, 2020) – Corvette Racing claimed its second consecutive pole position in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as Jordan Taylor turned in the best GT Le Mans (GTLM) qualifying time for the Cadillac Grand Prix on Saturday in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Taylor’s best effort was a 1:55.634 (116.436 mph) lap for his first career GTLM pole in the Corvette that he shares with Antonio Garcia. Oliver Gavin was just behind in the No. 4 Corvette that he drives with Tommy Milner – only 0.381 seconds off the lead C8.R.  Garcia and Taylor delivered Corvette Racing’s first victory with the mid-engine C8.R and the team’s 100th win in IMSA two weeks ago at Daytona, a race in which Gavin was the fastest qualifier just ahead of Taylor. The Cadillac Grand Prix at Sebring is set for 5:30 p.m. ET today with live race television coverage on NBC Sports Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE WINNER:“This one was a little bit unexpected. At Daytona, we thought we would have pace because we were there for the Roar and the Rolex 24, and had a lot of data to go by to improve the C8.R. Coming here was a big unknown. We did two of testing in February, but it was private testing so we didn’t know how quick everyone else would be, and where our strengths and weaknesses would lie. There is limited practice time here again, but we had a couple days on the simulator where we worked on a few things. This morning to be honest, we were a little off the pace and bouncing around a little. The Corvette Racing guys made a lot of big changes for qualifying, and the Corvette was super nice to drive. It’s my first pole with Corvette and first one of the No. 3 C8.R, so that’s special to do it at a historic track like Sebring. I’m excited but the race is going to be a much different story with the what type of weather might come later on today.” TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM OF THE TEAM RIGHT NOW.“It’s great to be up front and now trying to follow up our first win. I think everyone was down during the quarantine time – stuck at home and stuck in the shop and hoping all our work would pay off. Now we’ve proven it at Daytona with the win and it’s gotten everyone excited and showing on the track how much work we’ve done. There’s a lot of good momentum and we hope to carry it on throughout the season.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM: “It’s positive result for the team to have both Corvettes up front and get another 1-2 in qualifying. Due to the lack of dry running, both cars went different directions for qualifying to try and learn more in time for the race this evening. Our car was good for a couple laps and I thought there might have been more in it, but the balance just started to go away. It seemed Jordan really managed to nail it and get that lap together for pole. Hats off to him and everyone at Corvette Racing for another good day. We’ll try to carry that forward into the race. The weather will play its part, but we don’t know how or when. We’ll be ready for whatever is thrown at is.”

FORT WORTH, TEXAS JULY 19, 2020
Race #18: TexasOriginally slated to be a March appearance for NASCAR’s premier series, the revised NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule continues on with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 19th. The 334-lap, 500-mile race at the 1.5-mile Texas oval now marks the 18th race on the tour. 
With NASCAR continuing to take steps in the return of guests to its events, the Texas Motor Speedway event will play a part in the process. With the state allowing 50 percent capacity, the Texas oval grandstands and camping will be open to race fans, subject to social distancing requirements and additional safety measures in place. The NASCAR race weekend will be the first major league sports event in the state of Texas to be open to fans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet has made 13 trips to victory lane in NASCAR’s Premier Series at Texas Motor Speedway. Other statistics of note for the bowtie brand’s history at the 1.5-mile oval include 68 top-five’s, 162 top-10’s and 4,265 laps led.
·       Victories by current Chevrolet drivers include: Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, with 7 wins (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 sweep and 2017), Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE with 2 wins (2002 and 2011), and Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1, with one win (2009). 
·       Of the 38 NASCAR Cup Series events that have been held at Texas Motor Speedway, four different manufacturers have led the field to the green from the pole position, with Chevrolet leading the way capturing 15 poles. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads active drivers in NCS Busch Pole Awards at Texas with three (2015, 2017, 2018).  
·       Chevrolet team Hendrick Motorsports sits on top the leaderboard in NCS wins by teams at Texas Motor Speedway with nine trips to victory lane. 
TEXAS RECORDBOOKCareer Chevrolet driver, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, is no stranger to topping the leaderboard in statistics and his history at Texas Motor Speedway does just that. Of his 33 starts in NASCAR’s premier series at the speedway, Johnson leads the series in wins making seven trips to victory lane – a winning percentage of 21.2%. Three NCS drivers in history have captured consecutive wins at Texas, with Johnson leading the way with three (2014 Playoff race and the 2015 sweep). Johnson also leads the series in runner-up finishes with five, top-five finishes with 16, and top-10 finishes with 22 in his career. Of the 81 different drivers that have led laps at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson tops the leaderboard by leading 1,152 laps thus far. He’s also captured the current title of series-best in fastest laps run with 728 and laps in the top-15 with 7,185.  STARTING LINEUPThe format for this weekend’s NCS event continues on as a one-day show with no practice and no qualifying. Owner points and a random draw have again set the starting lineup. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:
3rd      Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE8th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE12th    Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE13th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE14th    Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Cash App Camaro ZL1 1LE18th    William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE20th    Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-INNBCSN will telecast the 334-lap race live at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 19th. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 L1E – 4th IN STANDINGS“Texas is a hot place. This time of year, I think everywhere is probably going to be hot, it always is. From the hydration standpoint, that’s always important. Preparing to sweat a lot is another big thing. As far as the track goes, I don’t expect the racing to look a whole lot different just because it’s hot. I think it will be really similar to what we’ve seen there in the past. The repave has been a big-time struggle for us. We just need to settle in and try to find some consistency and get going a little better. It’s such a unique place now with the ends being so different and how you want to configure your car.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 9th IN STANDINGSBOWMAN ON WHAT MAKES TEXAS DIFFERENT. “Texas is different because since they reconfigured it, it’s just really tricky down in turns one and two. In turns three and four, you’re just wide open. Turns one and two are just really flat and different. It’s not the normal 1.5-mile track shape. It started widening out there in the fall and hopefully it continues to move in that direction this year.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON HIS SUCCESS AT TEXAS.“I don’t know why I’ve always been so good at Texas Motor Speedway other than it’s one of the tracks I’ve raced at the most in my career. We always bring fast cars which definitely helps especially with the amount of grip the track has. I would say it’s just a bit of luck that Texas just suits me. I really like that place and it seems to like me as well. Hopefully we will have a good run there this weekend.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER/E-Z-GO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGSTELL US ABOUT RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS, SUCH AS KANSAS SPEEDWAY? “Texas Motor Speedway is a bit different from Kansas Speedway in that it has two different ends. You have one end that’s very banked and has high speeds, and then you have a hard end where you have to get turned and get back on the gas. Texas Motor Speedway just has so much grip now. It’s quite a bit different, and the banking has changed a lot from the old track to the new track. I really like Texas and am looking forward to getting there. It’s going to be really important to run well and to have a good finish because we are still battling to make it into the Playoffs. Our cars have been strong on 1.5-mile tracks this year, and we will look to some of that speed to try and get the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER/E-Z-GO Chevy into Victory Lane.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT OIL & GAS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS“Texas Motor Speedway is a fun place to race and a track I’ve come close to winning at in the past in the other series, but always seem to come up one or two spots short. So, I’m really looking forward to this weekend and competing in my first NASCAR Cup Series race there this Sunday with our No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet. Texas is a little similar to Kansas Speedway, where you can have a lot of balance changes in your car during a run. You have to manage your car and its changes during a run really well in order to be successful there. Moving around throughout a run will also still be important at Texas, and we’ve seen the PJ1 open up a couple lanes in the past, so we should be able to put on a good show this weekend.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS“I’m really looking forward to Texas. The hot weather on this track surface is going to be interesting. It is going to take a good car with a lot of grip to be successful. We had a great GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE in Kentucky that we are now turning around to use at Texas on Sunday. Hopefully our Germain Racing team can keep the momentum rolling from the really fast race car we had last weekend.” 
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 28th IN STANDINGS“Texas will be a big challenge this weekend. Day race, in Fort Worth, in the middle of July… you know it’s going to be a really hot and slick race track. Conditions are going to be extremely hot inside the car as well. Like most of the mile-and-a-half tracks we go to these days, track position is going to be extremely important. I feel we’ve made gains over the past few weeks and think if we execute well we can put our McDonald’s McDelivery Chevrolet in the mix on Sunday.” 

GRANITE CITY, IL (July 17, 2020) – Tyler Erb took the lead on lap 22 and then went on to pick up the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory on Friday Night. Tri-City Speedway’s “NAPA Know How 50” marks Erb’s second win at Tri-City Speedway. Billy Moyer Jr. recorded his best LOLMDS finish, coming home in second. Moyer, Jr. led the first 21 laps until Erb passed him for the lead. Jonathan Davenport crossed the finish stripe in third, followed by Shane Clanton and Tyler Bruening. Moyer Jr. started alongside Kyle Strickler on the front row and then survived what was once a three-car battle for the lead until Strickler went spinning into the infield, ending his night with front suspension damage. Moyer, Jr. then held the point until Erb got by him three laps from the halfway mark. Erb quickly stretched his lead over Moyer, Jr. as he went unchallenged to the checkers. Erb visited Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time this season, ninth of his career and said patience was a key to his win. “I knew that surviving out front was going to be half the battle. When we took off, I knew we had a really good car. I expected the track to come back the way it did. They had it rolled in really nice when we started. I almost took the lead when that caution came out. I knew when I was in second to just keep following Billy, he was a hand full tonight until an opportunity presented itself. He had a good car tonight and was going to be tough to beat. Congrats to him and JD on their finishes tonight,” said the 23-year-old Texas racer. Moyer, Jr. was glad about a podium finish to end the night, “I just didn’t judge lapped traffic right. All-in-all to run second here is great, it’s one of my best tracks. I love racing in the St. Louis area. The Lucas Oil Series and the track did a great job on the track considering how much rain they had here a few days ago. Thank you to Marshall Green and everyone at Capital Race Cars. I have never had this great of help from anyone on the chassis-side. We will be contending for wins hopefully for a long-time to come.” Davenport finished third. “It was tough to pass lapped cars. I moved around early on and gained some spots. I think Randall [Edwards], Erb’s crew chief saw me and moved him up the track. I got going pretty good and got by Junior. I felt like I was a little bit better than Junior, but it got hard to pass.  A third-place finish here is good, we have had some pretty bad luck so to get a podium finish feels good for sure.” The winner’s Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Race Engine and sponsored by is sponsored by Roberts Bee Company, First Class Septic, Franklin Enterprises, Industrial Resourcing Group, and Valvoline. Completing the top ten were Rick Eckert, Devin Moran, Johnny Scott, Tim McCreadie, and Josh Richards.

TEAM CHEVY RACE 1 NOTES & QUOTESJULY 17, 2020
TOP CHEVROLET UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.   DRIVER1^st       SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET3^RD      OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET4^thPATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET5^th       JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET 8^th       CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET
TOP SIX UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.  DRIVER1^ST      Simon Pagenaud (Chevrolet)2^nd      Scott Dixon (Honda)3^rd       Oliver Askew (Chevrolet)4^th       Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet)5^th      Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet)From last to first, Pagenaud claims victory in Iowa Race OneChevy drivers claim four of top-five finishing positions
Newton, Iowa – Simon Pagenaud sat quietly poised in his No.22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, set to be almost last car to qualify for both races of the NTT INDYCAR Series Doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. But a problem with the fueling system prevented the car from firing, so Pagenaud did not qualify and had to start dead last (23^rd) for the first of the two 250-lap races. He will also start last in Race Two. 
But in his usual cool manner, the 2016 Series’ champion worked in sync with his team and when the checkered flag flew, it was Pagenaud that took his bright yellow Chevrolet to victory lane. He led twice for total of 83 laps. 
Scoring his first NTT INDYCAR Series podium is third place finisher Oliver Askew, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Askew started 14^th in the 23 car field. 
Scott Dixon (Honda) completed the podium.
Askew’s teammate, Pato O’Ward, brought his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in fourth. 
Josef Newgarden, who will start on the pole of Saturday night’s 250-lap race, finished fifth. Newgarden started second and grabbed the lead early, and would be credited with leading twice for 68 laps. But the team’s strategy was shuffled when a long caution flag scrambled the field on lap 144. 
The caution was caused when teammate Will Power made contact with the backstretch wall, and at the restart a two-car crash kept the field under caution for 26 laps. Team Chevy driiver Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet was involved in the accident but emerged uninjured.
Pole sitter Conor Daly, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, finished eighth to give Chevrolet five of the top-eight finishers. 
NBCSN will telecast Race 2 of the IOWA INDYCAR 250’s Doubleheader live at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 18. Live coverage can also be found on the INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR MOBILE APP powered by NTT DATA.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Race WinnerFROM WORST TO FIRST! IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO NOTCH YOUR FIRST WIN HERE AT IOWA?“Wow, this place is tough! What a night! What a day for us. First of all, it was an amazing group effort from the whole Team Penske to recover from Road America. I made a mistake. We unloaded really well. This morning was a lot of fun. Qualifying was disheartening, but these guys never give up and that’s what this team is all about. It’s amazing to get the Menards car to be shining here in Iowa is awesome. So, I’m really proud for John and everybody at Menards and Chevy. Obviously, we had the horsepower and the fuel conception, but most importantly, I can’t believe it. I have to re-watch the race. How did I get there? I don’t know. The last 50 laps were certainly a lot of tension. A lot of tension. When (Scott) Dixon is chasing you, you’d better hit your marks.”
TAKE US THROUGH THAT AND HAVING THE FIVE-TIME CHAMPION BREATHING DOWN YOUR NECK AT TIMES AND TRYING TO STRETCH THE FUEL AND KEEP HIM IN YOUR REAR VIEW MIRROR AND DEALING WITH LAPPED TRAFFIC, HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH ALL OF THAT?“Yeah, it’s certainly not easy with lapped traffic. I knew we had a really good car on long runs, so that was really my chance. I was really keeping up with the tires and they behaved really well. I was a little worried about the (Arrow) McLaren guys because they pitted for new tires, and new tires were so much speed, so I was a little worried. In the end, I had my hands full. Thanks for everybody at Team Penske and everybody who supports us. It was an amazing team effort.”
YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT ALL AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT, STARTING FROM THE REAR. DO YOU HAVE IT IN YOU?“I do, I do. I never give up. If I’ve got to do it again, I’ll do it again. This we certainly a pretty cool win on an oval. Indy will always be the top, but this one was pretty cool, too.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 3^rdWHAT A NIGHT IT WAS FOR YOU IN PICKING UP YOUR FIRST CAREER PODIUM. TALK ABOUT THAT TEAM STRATEGY ON PURE OFFENSE WITH THOSE TIRES LATE IN THE RACE. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?“I wish you could see my smile right now (wearing a mask). This Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet absolutely came alive once the track started to get cooler. We were really, really good on new tires and when they were very used. So, if that yellow didn’t come out at the restart, I think we would have had a really good shot at finishing at least one-two with Pato (O’Ward) and I. We’ll get at them again tomorrow. Honestly, that’s probably one of the most fun races I’ve ever done in my life. Hats off to everybody at Arrow McLaren SP and thanks to everybody who showed up tonight and watched at home, my family. It was an awesome night.”
THIS WAS NO EASY TRACK TO COME TO TERMS WITH. AND WHILE YOU HAVE RACED HERE ONCE BEFORE EARLIER IN YOUR CAREER, YOU SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE LEARNING A WHOLE NEW TRACK IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES. HOW DID YOU COME TO GRIPS WITH IT SO QUICKLY?“Well, I think a lot of it comes down to preparation and spending some time in the Chevy simulator. I was here four years ago but the track feels a lot shorter and smaller now running in INDYCAR. I love this track and can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow.”
MAYBE SOME OF THAT SPEED CAME FROM YOUR NEW DO, A LITTLE BIT SHORTER?“Yeah, it might be a little more aero-efficient and a bit of weight reduction, and it’s a bit cooler in the car, too. Maybe I should keep it short.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 4thIF NOT FOR THAT PIT STOP THERE THE LAST TIME YOU CAME DOWN, YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN RIGHT UP THERE CHALLENGING. BUT YOU HAD A FAST CAR. HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THE DAY OVERALL?“Yeah, I think you said it. Arrow McLaren SP gave us fantastic cars. We were really up on the pace. Unfortunately, that last pit stop really put us some time behind and it made us fight harder, but I’m super happy for my teammate, and his first INDYCAR podium. We’re going to be pushing for one-two tomorrow. We’ve got very fast cars and these guys deserve a win. So, hopefully we can give it to them tomorrow. But I’ve got a race under my belt at Iowa. What a fun race! What a cool race! It’s definitely one of the craziest ones I’ve ever done.”
YOU FOUGHT HARD TO GET TO A POSITION WHERE YOU’RE CONSISTENTLY CONTENDING FOR WINS AND OBVIOUSLY LAST WEEK AT ROAD AMERICA YOU HAD A STRONG SUNDAY. TONIGHT, ANOTHER STRONG NIGHT. HOW EXCITING IS THIS FOR YOU?“Oh, for sure. I have so much faith in the group of guys that are behind me that are engineering these cars. They are way smarter than me. My job is to drive the car. Honestly, they’ve given me great cars everywhere. We’ve been out of the box very fast. We need to continue doing that and our pre-race conditions need to keep improving and I know we’re going to be up there fighting for wins and podiums. I think we’re making big strides. Last weekend was a big step. Today was a great result for the team but we’re close to that first win and I hope it comes soon.”
HOW VALUABLE WAS TODAY JUST FROM A LEARNING PERSPECTIVE?“The stints are so long. It’s really good to just kind of get a feel for what the car is going to start doing after 40 or 50 laps. And yeah, obviously it’s up to the guys to do the strategy and my job is to listen to instructions and push, push, push. But, I’m so happy for Simon (Pagenaud). Great job on his part and Scott Dixon as well, and my teammate there. It’s a great result for the team, but I want three positions there!”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 5^thYOU LED 68 LAPS TONIGHT AND THERE WAS PERHAPS A SLOW STOP AND AN UNTIMELY CAUTION, BUT WHERE DID THIS ONE ULTIMATELY GET AWAY FROM YOU GUYS?Multiple points. The caution was certainly was the nail in the coffin. Without sounding too over-confident, I think we had the car to beat tonight, hands-down. So, it’s frustrating. I’ve got to be honest, I’m so angry about the way that this all transpired. Some of it is just bad luck. The yellow coming out when it came out, you can’t predict that stuff. You weigh out the pros and cons when you’re trying to go long, when you’re trying to go short on your pit windows. And, I can’t fault my guys. I think they did a great job. I had a rocket ship. I mean, I had a car above, in my opinion. I’m sad that we weren’t able to put our car in Victory Lane because I felt like we had that potential. But, like I said, I’m very proud of my guys. They always do a great job for me. I think it’s just chalked up to bad luck tonight. I’ve got to try and make-up for it tomorrow.”
AND YOU’LL BE STARTING ON THE POLE FOR TOMORROW’S RACE“Yeah hey, look, all you can do is go forward. This is racing. Some days the racing gods shine down on you and some days they don’t. And today they definitely didn’t, but that’s how it works. You’ve got to take the good days when you get them and accept the bad days when you have them. We’ll try to regroup for tomorrow. But Chevy has done a great job for us. We had the package to beat tonight in my opinion and having Hitachi’s support always means the world. So, we’ll try again tomorrow and try to get ‘em.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Finished 8^th“It was definitely a rollercoaster of a day for us. Obviously, we were so excited to win the pole for tonight’s race in the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet. That’s just such a major accomplishment for myself and this team. We’ve all been working so hard and the guys gave me a great car to qualify, so I was pretty excited that I was able to get that pole. We started the race tonight okay, but just really struggled with keeping the rear underneath me and trying to figure it out as we went. It was just tough and we just didn’t have the pace that we needed. The yellow really killed us. Some people just got so lucky with that, but unfortunately it didn’t fall our way. We chose to extend the last stint and make the tires last, but it was really tough driving absolutely to the limit on older tires and trying to hold people off there at the end. It was tough end to the day, but it was seriously awesome to get the first INDYCAR pole for both Carlin and myself and I’m looking forward to tomorrow night’s race where we’ll start up front again in third.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 15^th“This has always been one of my favorite tracks, but I don’t remember ever having as difficult of a night here. I was excited to run the U.S. Air Force colors and want to do a good job for them. I’m embarrassed about the performance tonight. The good thing is we have another chance tomorrow, so long as it’s not a repeat. It was pretty brutal. It’s hot in the cars, it’s uncomfortable and with a poor performance, I am pretty disappointed.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 17th “I think it was a disappointing night for both AJ Foyt Racing cars. The No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet was not what I wanted to feel underneath me but I know the engineers will do really good work making it better tonight. I felt like everyone did a good job with what we had. Today was busy, practice, qualify and straight into the race—especially racing what you qualify. We had to compromise on gears, ride heights and setups and stuff but it was the same for everyone and we just didn’t maximize it. But we’ll review it and be ready to go for another 250 laps tomorrow night.”
TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BRYANT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 18^th“It was a shame. I think we had a consistent car but the tire deg for us was more than other people, so we need to figure out what’s causing it. It’s on the setup. We’re pretty decent halfway through the stint and then the car will fall off really quick and in one of those I got loose, and not to spin I went wide, got in the marbles, brushed the wall a little bit, so that cost us 18 laps, but track position is really important so we have that for tomorrow. [starts 8^th] I think we have overnight to think about it and another hour session tomorrow to try to make the tires last a little bit longer and then go from there. I truly believe we have a top 10 car for tomorrow.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Sidelined on lap 157 in accident with Colton Herta – Finished 20^th “There was nothing I could have done. I had a good start, but I was told it was a no-start so I went off the throttle. I think the other car was too late getting that information, I really don’t know. I got hit, that’s clear. It’s very tough. We could have gone for a podium or a win today. We’ve got to go for it tomorrow. I’m happy that we’ll have a Take 2.”
WE BET YOU’RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT AERO SCREEN WHEN COLTON HERTA WENT OVER YOU“Yeah, I’m very happy; especially with the safety. I stepped out. I saw the whole row. So yeah, the screen was destroyed. Thank you to INDYCAR for the great safety and let’s go for it tomorrow.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Sidelined on Lap 143 with left front wheel issue – Finished 21^stYOU HAD A BIT OF A WILD RIDE WHEN THE WHEEL CAME OFF. WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE?“Obviously, the front just took off straight into the wall. Yeah, not a good feeling.”
YOU HIT THE WALL AND IT WAS THE LEFT FRONT THAT CAME OFF. YOU SAID THIS HAS BEEN A SEASON SO FAR WITH A LOT OF PROMISE AND YOU JUST HAVEN’T LIVED-UP TO THE POTENTIAL. THIS LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THAT“Unbelievable. I don’t know what I’ve got to do. It’s so, so, so frustrating. It’s just unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. The guys will get it back together and we’ll have another shot at it tomorrow.”
WE’VE JUST SEEN A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF THE AERO SCREEN AND YOURS IS ONE OF THEM WITH THAT WHEEL COMING BACK OVER THE TOP OF YOU. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE ADDITION OF THIS SAFETY IMPLEMENT?‘Man, I’ll tell you, you can’t thank INDYCAR enough for everything that they’ve done, safety-wise with that aero screen and inside the aero screen. It’s just a tremendous job and it’s better than any other series that have implemented something like it. A very, very good job.”

First Division 3 race crowns winners as JEGS Speedweek powers forwardHEBRON, Ohio (July 17) – Ronnie Bohn, Michael Volkman, and Doug Duell were among the winners crowned Friday night as part of the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event at National Trail Raceway. Bohn won in Comp Eliminator, Volkman earned the Super Stock title, and Duell won in Stock Eliminator.  The other champions crowned Friday evening included Michael Handras (Super Comp), Greg Slack (Super Gas), Robert Bauer (Super Street), Danny Nelson (Top Dragster), and Curt Fredrich (Top Sportsman).  The North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event marks the first of two races that make up JEGS Speedweek, an event that has attracted more than 600 of the nation’s best sportsman drag racers.  Bohn drove his six-cylinder powered dragster to a victory over past JEGS SPORTSnationals winner Mike Farrell in the final round of Comp. Bohn, was the No. 2 qualifier in the quick field while Farrell was sixth quickest at the start of eliminations. Volkman drove his Dodge Sebring to the Super Stock title by defeating Brina Frank in the final round. Volkman posted a dial-in time of 10.68 seconds and ran a 10.73 for the win. He entered the Columbus event as the No. 5 ranked Super Stock driver in NHRA competition. Duell outlasted 139 other racers to take home the Stock title. Paired with Kevin Wells in the final, Duell drove his vintage Plymouth Barracuda to the win when Wells fouled at the start. Handras outlasted a big field of Super Comp entries to earn that title. Handras defeated Rick Huges in the final round, which was decided via a double-breakout. Slack kicked off the 2020 season with a win and a runner-up in Gainesville, Fla., and he found the winner’s circle again here by beating Tommy Turner in the Super Gas final. Slack, in his ’70 Ford Maverick, ran right on the 9.90-second index for the victory.  Bauer had a nearly-perfect reaction time in the final round of Super Street, and parlayed his starting line advantage into a victory over Mark Smith. Bauer drove to a 10.93 elapsed time for the victory.  Fredrich is the reigning series champion in the Oakley Motorsports Top Sportsman class, and he bolstered his title defense with a final-round win against Glenn Butcher. Fredrich drove his ’68 Camaro to a 6.632-second run for the win, which was highlighted by an almost-perfect .007 reaction time. Nelson, defending JEGS SPORTSnationals winner and reigning NHRA Top Dragster world champion, continued his winning ways by besting Anthony Bertozzi in the final of Oakley Motorsports Top Dragster. Nelson drove to a 6.14 elapsed time on his 6.13 dial to take the victory. JEGS Speedweek will continue on Saturday, July 18 with qualifying rounds for the JEGS SPORTSnationals. Racing will get underway at 8 a.m. Saturday’s program will also include class eliminations for Super Stock and Stock drivers as well as final qualifying rounds for racers in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Lundqvist fastest in Friday’s practice

Alton, Virginia (July 17, 2020)- A fleet of Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda drivers invade Virginia International Raceway for the third-annual Andy Scriven Memorial Race Weekend July 17-19. 

Sixteen drivers from eight countries make up the grid for the first triple-header event of the season. The weekend honors the late Ligier Automotive chassis designer Andy Scriven. Scriven was instrumental in the Ligier JS F3 and bringing the first Halo-equipped chassis to North America.  

Linus Lundqvist’s FR Americas perfect run in the season debut at Mid-Ohio netted the 2018 BRDC British F3 champion an early championship lead. But, this weekend the Global Racing Group rookie faces a challenging new circuit with hungry competitors nipping at the chance for victory.

“We had a perfect start to the season, surely, but I can’t rest on my laurels in this sport and I don’t intend to,” said Lundqvist. “I am absolutely certain that our rivals have done their all to close the gap we enjoyed at Mid-Ohio. I will try to go for wins again, of course, but I do expect a tough fight. It should be good fun.”

Although VIR is new to Lundqvist, the native Swedish pilot wheeled his No. 26 Paytrim machine to the top of practice times early on Friday, with a pair of fast laps. (Practice 1:44.419-seconds, Practice 2: 1:44.380-seconds)

“It is my first time around VIR and all I can say is it’s a great track and really amazing,” said Lundqvist. “Very happy with today’s results. My car felt mega here. We have some fine details to manage before qualifying tomorrow.”

A driver looking to dethrone Lundqvist from the top step happens to be one of his Global Racing Group teammates, Danish-American pilot Benjamin Pedersen. Pedersen is the winningest driver at VIR on the FR Americas roster.

In his last visit to the 3.27-mile, 18-turn track, Pedersen finished fastest in qualifying, setting the new track FR Americas record (1:43.486-seconds) which lead to a succession of wins. Driving the orange No. 24 DirtFish machine flatout around the fast and flowing Virginia circuit, Pedersen also holds the record for smallest margin of victory at VIR in both the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (.122-seconds) and FR Americas (.5 34-seconds). 

Pedersen will have a lot of ground to make up from practice to qualifying, though, as his times in both Friday sessions were nearly a second off Lundqvist’s pace. (Practice 1: 1:45.108, Practice 2: 1:45.315-seconds)

“I’m really excited to be returning back to VIR this weekend with Global Racing Group,” said Pedersen. “We had very strong pace here last year with a near sweep of the weekend and we have worked extremely hard to be best prepared for VIR. We are learning so much every session. We took good advantage of the promoter test day and have some adjustments to make before qualifying on Saturday.”

After playing runner up to Lundqvist at Mid-Ohio in both rounds, HMD Motorsports driver David Malukas is on the hunt for his first win. Malukas’ best lap in Practice 1 (1:45.476-seconds) slotted him mid-field, but in the final practice of the day, Malukas shot to the top of the lap times halfway through the 30-minute session. He held the top time for a few laps before an off in Turn 12 ended his day prematurely. That left the door open for Lundqvist, who laid down consecutive fliers in the final two laps of practice. 

“After a short break since Mid-Ohio and with a bit more testing under my belt, I’m excited to try and do another good showing with the HMD Motorsports team at VIR,” expressed Malukas, who will mad his VIR debut today. “I’m ready to get going again and see what we can do with the ultimate goal being to win!”

Soler-Obel (Velocity Racing Development) had a break-out weekend last season at VIR, claiming his maiden FR Americas victory while also setting the track record for the fastest in-race lap (1:44.015-seconds). 

The Columbian driver faced several challenges at Mid-Ohio and is looking to rebound this weekend on a track that has been good to him in the past. Soler-Obel finished the day, turning his fastest time in the first practice (1:45.111-seconds).  

“VIR is a track the team and I are very comfortable on,” Soler-Obel said. “We’ve worked out the kink’s from the last race and expect much better results at VIR than Mid-Ohio.”

Other drivers to watch this weekend are Joshua Car (Crosslink Competition), Nicky Hays (Global Racing Group), James Roe Jr. (Global Racing Group) and Danial Frost (Andretti Autosport).

Both Car and Hays were only separated by a tenth of a second in the opening practice while Frost and Roe Jr. traded positions several times in the final practice.

New to the field this weekend are Relentless Motorsports and its drivers Mitch Egner and Andrew Dobbie. The first full Canadian FR Americas squad missed the season opener due to boarder restrictions, but are eager to get to work at VIR. 

“I am just glad to be here with everything going on in the world,” Dobbie said. “We were finally able to make it through the boarder. It’s a big day for the team since it’s the first race weekend for us. I am super happy and anxiously excited for Saturday.”

A field of 16 drivers open Saturday with a 30-minute qualifying (10:25 a.m. Eastern) with Race 1 at 2:55 p.m. Eastern. The Andy Scriven Memorial Race weekend culminates on Sunday with two 35-minute rounds of racing (10:35 a.m. Eastern and 3:05 p.m. Eastern). All three races will be streamed worldwide available at FANRacing.Live.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESIOWA INDYCAR 250s DOUBLEHEADERIOWA SPEEDWAYNEWTON, IOWA TEAM CHEVY NTT P1 AWARD WINNERS QUOTES-CONOR DALY & JOSEF NEWGARDENJULY 17, 2020 In a very unique qualifying session where a driver’s first lap secured his starting position for tonight’s Race One of the Iowa IndyCar 250s, and lap two was the lap of record for his strarting position Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, Conor Daly made a very strong statement he was going to be contender. 
Not only did Daly score his career first NTT IndyCar Series P1 award, but he also won the first pole for his Carlin team. Daly powered the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet to the Race One pole with a lap of 175.188 mph.
Newgarden, winner of last year’s Iowa race and defending series’ champion, picked up his third NTT P1 Award of the season with a lap 175.333 mph to grab the pole for Race Two. Newgarden will start his No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet second alongside Daly.
Race One is scheuled to start at 8:30 p.m.ET with live coverage on NBCSN and IndyCar Radio. 
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Pole Winner, Race 1:WHAT’S GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW?“Man, it’s just way better than last weekend, that’s for sure. I’m just super happy to be here. I’ve struggled at Iowa, personally; and I’ve learned a lot lately. Carlin and this team has done an incredible job. We’ve improved exactly where we needed to from last year. We did the same at Texas. So mission one is accomplished; obviously starting up front is super, super helpful. So, we’ve just got one more mission left tonight and hopefully we can come out of here with some trophies.” DID YOU THINK YOU COULD EVER ACHIEVE A POLE, ESPECIALLY HERE AT IOWA SPEEDWAY?“At Iowa, absolutely not! I’ve started on the last row here pretty much every time I’ve run here. So, that’s quite a difference. If I have the car to do what I just did, I thrive it seems to be like. So, I’m super thankful that these guys have worked with me and have listened to what I’ve said, and we’ve all worked together as a team. And, we’re the only one-car team out here, so it’s nice to have us up front.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Pole Winner, Race 2:“It’s going to be physical. You know, this place is very short and very fast. This is my favorite type of INDYCAR racing. If we ran here ten times a year, I’d be all about it. But, absolutely 2 races is a big order for all of us. So, we’ll try and get through tonight’s Race 1, and have a good race, and then get ready to go again tomorrow. But, I’m so excited. This Is one of my favorite tracks.” YOU ARE THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER HERE. YOU’VE WON HERE BEFORE. BUT YOU’VE NEVER STARTED ON THE POLE. HOW WILL THAT CHANGE YOUR RACE?“I don’t think starting on the pole is going to change things too much. We’ve normally been close to the front row in qualifying here. You want to take your time at the beginning of this race. Your race car is really be the thing that matters at the end of the day. So, it’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. But I feel confident that our Hitachi Chevrolet car is good off the truck and feels good behind other cars in dirty, which is critical. So, I think we’re going to be able to make something happen.”

Richard Childress Racing at Texas Motor Speedway … Richard Childress Racing has a storied history at Texas Motor Speedway that includes a NASCAR Cup Series win with Jeff Burton (1997), five NASCAR Xfinity Series wins with Kevin Harvick (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012)  and two NASCAR Truck Series wins with Jay Sauter (1999) and Ty Dillon (2013). COVID-19 Relief … Own a piece of history by participating in an auction and sale of Richard Childress’ personal collection of memorabilia. All proceeds will assist COVID-19 relief efforts. Thousands of rare, hard-to-find and exclusive items from Richard Childress’ 50+ years in NASCAR are up for bid or sale. Visit https://www.ebay.com/str/RichardChildresscollection. Catch the Action … The NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, July 18, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, July 19, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Texas Motor Speedway… Dillon is an accomplished driver at Texas Motor Speedway with 30 starts spread out across NASCAR’s Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series. He has even competed virtually at the track on iRacing. The Welcome, North Carolina driver has earned pole awards in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series while competing at Texas Motor Speedway and has led laps in three of his 14 Cup races there. In his most recent NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas in November 2019, Dillon finished 13th. Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.  Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit  http://www.basspro.com/. E-Z-GO … E-Z-GO is an iconic, world-renowned brand in golf cars and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, E-Z-GO Express™ personal utility vehicles, and the 2Five® street-legal low-speed vehicle. Known for innovation in electric-vehicle technology, E-Z-GO’s newest offerings include the ELiTE series of lithium-ion powered golf cars and PTVs, and the company’s exclusive 72-volt AC electric powertrain found in its latest Express series vehicles. Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960, and today operates as part of the company’s Textron Specialized Vehicles division. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:Tell us about racing at Texas Motor Speedway and how it differs from other 1.5-mile tracks, such as Kansas Speedway?“Texas Motor Speedway is a bit different from Kansas Speedway in that it has two different ends. You have one end that’s very banked and has high speeds, and then you have a hard end where you have to get turned and get back on the gas. Texas Motor Speedway just has so much grip now.  It’s quite a bit different, and the banking has changed a lot from the old track to the new track. I really like Texas and am looking forward to getting there. It’s going to be really important to run well and to have a good finish because we are still battling to make it into the Playoffs. Our cars have been strong on 1.5-mile tracks this year, and we will look for some of that speed to try and get the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER/E-Z-GO Chevy into Victory Lane.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Texas Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick will be making his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday. Reddick has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 1.5-mile speedway, with his best finish of second coming in both October 2018 and March 2019. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender also has six starts, one pole award and four top-five finishes at the track in the NASCAR Truck Series. Cat Oil and Gas … Caterpillar Oil & Gas, with headquarters in Houston, Texas, consolidates all the sales and service activities for Caterpillar Inc.’s oil and gas power solutions. Since the 1930s, Caterpillar has manufactured engines for the oilfield and today provides premier power solutions with outputs from 31 to 16,000 kW. The sales and service network includes more than 2,100 dealer locations world-wide dedicated to support customers in the drilling, production, well service and gas compression segments. More information is available at cat.com/oilandgas Watch the Race with Cheddar’s… Don’t miss out! Cheddar’s is offering 15% off all To Go orders with the offer code RACEDAY placed on 7/19 and every Cup Series race day for the remainder of the 2020 season! Whether you’re watching the race on a Sunday afternoon or on a weekday under the lights, watch with all your Cheddar’s favorites for 15% off. Terms & conditions apply, visit cheddars.com/offer/race-day for full offer details. TYLER REDDICK QUOTE: How does Texas Motor Speedway compare to other 1.5-mile speedways we visit?“Texas Motor Speedway is a fun place to race and a track I’ve come close to winning at in the past in the other series, but always seem to come up one or two spots short. So, I’m really looking forward to this weekend and competing in my first NASCAR Cup Series race there this Sunday with our No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet. Texas is a little similar to Kansas Speedway, where you can have a lot of balance changes in your car during a run. You have to manage your car and its changes during a run really well in order to be successful there. Moving around throughout a run will also still be important at Texas, and we’ve seen the PJ1 open up a couple lanes in the past, so we should be able to put on a good show this weekend.”

This Week’s No. 21 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet Camaro at Texas Motor Speedway … Coming off a couple of strong performances at Kentucky Speedway, Anthony Alfredo will make his first appearance at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend. The 21-year-old made two career NASCAR Truck Series starts in 2019 at he track. Solid on 1.5-Mile Tracks … In five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on 1.5-mile racetracks, Alfredo holds an average finish of 7.4. He recorded his best finish of fourth at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June. About Death Wish Coffee … In 2012, Death Wish Coffee Co. started a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY. Founder Mike Brown saw a need for coffee that was both strong and delicious to serve his groggy morning customers. After creating the perfect blend of beans and combining it with his unique roasting technique, the ‘World’s Strongest Coffee’ was born. Today, thousands of people trust Death Wish Coffee to wake them up and keep them going every day. For more information visit deathwishcoffee.com. Fast Start for Fast Pasta …  In his first nine NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured six top-10 finishes and has an average finish of 9.2. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition. ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTE:You’re coming off two very solid performances at Kentucky Speedway. How excited are you to carry that momentum into Texas this weekend?“I am pumped to head to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with our No. 21 Death Wish Coffee team. I learned a lot at Kentucky that I believe will translate well to Texas. The solid runs we had will definitely allow us to carry some confidence and momentum into the weekend.” It seems like you’re getting closer and closer every week to contending for wins. What slight adjustments do you and the team need to make in order to secure your first career win this weekend?“I honestly don’t think we need to make any adjustments to be competing for wins. I simply believe if we continue our consistency, keep learning every race, and improving together, we will find ourselves in contention very soon, maybe even this weekend.”

HEBRON, Ohio (July 20) – Anthony Bertozzi, one of NHRA’s most decorated sportsman drag racers, passed another milestone Monday when he drove to the Top Dragster title during the rain-delayed final rounds at the JEGS SPORTSnationals. Bertozzi is now the most successful driver in the history of the event with five titles.  A total of 11 champions were crowned out of a starting field of more than 600 drivers who attended JEGS Speedweek at historic National Trail Raceway. In addition to Bertozzi, Chad Voges (Comp), Jeff Dona (Super Stock), Eric Campolito (Stock), Phillip Oakley (Super Comp), Dwight Nuest (Super Gas), Mark Smith (Super Street), John Benoit (Top Sportsman), and Bruce Sauer (Sportsman Motorcycle) all racked up wins.  Top Dragster winner Anthony Bertozzi Earlier in the weekend, Megan Meyer and D.J. Cox, each earned titles in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car, respectively. All of the SPORTSnationals champions received a coveted copper NHRA Wally trophy. Bertozzi earned his 24th NHRA national event title when he defeated Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin in the final round. Like Bertozzi, Coughlin also has experienced a tremendous amount of success in SPORTSnationals races with four previous victories. In one of the best side-by-side races of the weekend, both drivers were nearly perfect off the starting line, but the win light shone in Bertozzi’s lane after Coughlin broke out with a 6.16 on his 6.18-second prediction. Despite the loss, it was hard for Coughlin to call the weekend anything other than a success. “We had a darn good time but we just came up a little short in the final,” said Coughlin, a five-time national event winner at National Trail Raceway. “I just took a little more than I wanted at the finish line but when you race a guy like Anthony, he’s one of the best, so you have to be on your game. It was close but I’m not disappointed one bit.  Mike Coughlin, Top Dragster finalist “This was my first national event of the year and my car was awesome. It was a good start to the season and if I had a chance to go back and re-run the final, I don’t think I’d change a thing. “As a whole, JEGS Speedweek was great. This is the best turnout they’ve had in many years and the new management has done a great job with National Trail Raceway. They understand what it takes to succeed, and I was happy to see them have such a successful event.” Meyer and Cox earned their titles in the North Central Regional event that was the first part of JEGS Speedweek. The reigning NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, Meyer was the low qualifier and reached the final where she defeated Mike Bucher with a run of 5.260 seconds. Cox also was the top qualifier in his Chevy Camaro-bodied Top Alcohol Funny Car and defeated two-time and reigning class champion Sean Bellemeur in the trophy round with a 5.468-second elapsed time.  Voges earned the fourth national event title of his career, and his first since 2007, when he stopped Greg Kamplain in the final of Comp Eliminator. Driving his ’32 Bantam roadster, Voges was first off the starting line in his final against low qualifier Greg Kamplain and held on for the win with a 7.613, his quickest run of the weekend.  Comp winner Chad Voges Dona is now a three-time winner in national event competition after claiming the Super Stock title over Todd Frantz. Dona, racing in his eighth national event final, was able to cruise to the victory after Frantz fouled at the start. The final was a rematch of the 2013 NHRA U.S. Nationals, which was won by Frantz, a two-time JEGS SPORTSnationals champion. Super Stock winner Jeff Voges The Stock Eliminator class featured a first-time winner after Campolito outlasted a field of 140 entries before parking his ’96 Caprice in the National Trail Raceway winner’s circle. Campolito posted a dial-in prediction of 11.73 seconds and matched it perfectly in the final to beat opponent Bryan Merkle, who posted a 10.76 on a 10.73 dial-in. Stock winner Eric Campolito  In 2014, Oakley won the Top Dragster title at the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals and returned six years later to add another title after winning the Super Comp crown here. Facing world champion John Labbous Jr. in the final, Oakley gained a slight lead at the start and held on for a razor-thin victory with an 8.928 to Labbous’ 8.932.  Super Comp winner Phillip Oakley Nuest collected his second title in Super Gas following a final-round win against Sarah Becker. Driving his unique ’82 Dodge Rampage, Nuest matched the Super Gas index with a 9.906 to Becker’s 9.866-second breakout. Nuest’s only other national event win came in St. Louis in 2017. Super Gas winner Dwight Nuest Smith lost last year’s Division 3 Super Street title via a tiebreaker but he’s now a SPORTSnationals champion after driving his ’82 Mustang to a perfect 10.90-second run in the final to stop Rocky Van Note, who had an early advantage, but broke out at the finish line. Smith’s only other national event final was a runner-up at the 2018 JEGS SPORTSnationals. Super Street winner Mark Smith In Top Sportsman, Benoit claimed his second title when he topped Chris Osborn in the final round. Benoit gained an early lead and then drove his ’15 Corvette to a 6.57 on his 6.56 dial-in for the win. Osborn matched his dial with a 6.68 but couldn’t catch Benoit. Top Sportsman winner John Benoit A pair of local racers met to decide the Sportsman Motorcycle title with Sauer, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, riding to a victory against Zanesville’s Anthony Moore, who fouled at the start.

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA Summernationals – Indianapolis

Pre-Race Report

Cruz Pedregon and team are looking forward to getting back together in Indianapolis this weekend with the NHRA family for the second official racing event since the pandemic shutdown. The team tested on Friday and was pleased Saturday with the back-to-back 4.09 passes in qualifying.

“It felt good to get those solid runs in qualifying but we knew the early Sunday start conditions on race day were going to be different. It was cooler, so we made changes to try to grab some additional power out of the Snap-on Dodge^®,” Cruz says. “The car didn’t adapt well to those adjustments, so we ended up hurting about halfway down the track. That’s what we’ve been working on this week and you’ll see improvement when we hit the track this Saturday.”

The team took the time to disassemble the pit and move back to the shop in nearby Brownsburg where it has been going through components to better understand what caused issues with the car and how to push through it at the upcoming Summernationals.

“It is so great to be back out on the track, and we are grateful to all the fans who came out to support us,” says Cruz. “Everyone is following the social distancing and protective rules. And, for those who can’t make it out to the track, we’re excited for them for them to be able to enjoy NHRA racing again on FOX Sports and online.”

Cruz’s Dodge^® will again pay tribute to the Snap-on 100^th with its paint scheme and logo. Fans are encouraged throughout the season to post pictures of the car with the hashtag #Snapon100. 

July 16, 2020

After a mid-week trip to Bristol Motor Speedway where Matt DiBenedetto won the NASCAR All-Star Open, earning his first appearance in the NASCAR All-Star Race, it’s back to work in the points-paying races on the Cup Series schedule.

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed to Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday, hoping for more of the same from the past few weeks. 
 
 “We’ve been having a lot of fun lately as far as our car speed and stuff, so that’s been great,” DiBenedetto said. “I’m excited to get to Texas and hopefully continue on this roll that we’re on where we’ve gotten stage points in the last eight stages in a row.
 
“That just shows we’re running in that front group consistently from start to finish of these races, so that’s awesome. I’m excited.”
 
DiBenedetto finished 13^th in the All-Star main event after sustaining damage to the No. 21 Mustang in an early incident, but the car was competitive before then, continuing a string of recent strong runs, including a third-place finish this past Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.
 
“We’ve really been building and getting better and better, running up there in that front group consistently from start to finish in a lot of these races lately,” he said. “We’re continuing to get more and more points, climbing up there, catching guys in front of us.
 
“If we keep running up there consistently, that puts us in a position to have a shot at winning one of these things.”
 
He and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team also have a shot at being one of the 16 teams that will start the Playoffs, which begin after nine more regular season races. He’s now 12^th in points and 13^th in the playoff standings, 44 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who holds the 16^th spot heading into Texas.
 
 “Going in, Goal Number One was making sure to make the playoffs, which is never easy,” DiBenedetto said of the 10-race, season-ending race for the Cup Series championship. “Knowing the strength of the team, I know we can work at it and do it, especially now that we’ve been on this good streak lately of having a lot of speed and racking up stage points.”
 
He said he not only wants to make the playoffs, he wants to prove that he and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team belong among the elites in the sport. 
 
“If we keep improving like we have been, I think we can turn a lot of heads,” he said.

 Due to the coronavirus, there will be no practice or qualifying before Sunday’s 500-miler at Texas, whic

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESIOWA INDYCAR 250s DOUBLEHEADERIOWA SPEEDWAYNEWTON, IOWA TEAM CHEVY TEAM PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTJULY 16, 2020 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET DRIVERS PATO O’WARD AND OLIVER ASKEW AND MANAGING DIRECTOR TAYLOR KIEL met with members of the media and discussed racing at Iowa Speedway, the 2020 season to date and other topics. Full transcript:
MODERATOR: Today we’re joined by drivers Pato , Oliver Askew and Managing Director Taylor Kiel from Arrow McLaren SP.  Thank you everybody for joining today. Please raise your hand or say in the chat whether or not you have a question we’ll get to as soon as we can. So I’ll start off asking some intro questions from each of our individuals today, and then we’ll get to the media question so first let’s start with Pato,Q.- Pato, you secured your first podium of your IndyCar career last weekend at Road America. What did that race mean to you? And how will you build on that momentum this weekend at Iowa?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, thanks Thomas. Yeah, I think we ended the Road America weekend very strong . Not just with the podium but I think performance-wise, we were basically leading the race though the whole way through until the last two laps. The lap cars didn’t really help all help our tire situation and and we just really fell back to Felix and gave him an opportunity to strike. We fought but I think we executed. Well, I think we you know, we really showed our potential and we were fighting where we were where we want to be fighting where we’re supposed to be fighting. We want to win races. We want to be on the podium and at the end of this we want to be contenders in the Championship so, you know, I’m excited to carry this momentum into Iowa.  Iowa has a very unique oval and its own way and I’ve had lots of success there in Pro Mazda and in Indy lights. So, you know, hopefully I can carry that on into IndyCar and and have a good couple races this week and then get ready for August.
Q. – Great. Thank you Pato Oliver. You’ve had success at Iowa Speedway in the past in US 2000 in 2017 and then other short oldest as well with Gateway in Indy lights. So do you think this success will translate well to an Indy car?OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, thanks Thomas. I think it will and I know Aaron McLaren SP has had really good cars there in the past. They won a race there and finished third last year. So in the past two years so looking forward to it for sure looking forward to putting Road America behind us. I love short ovals have to like you said some success there last year in Indy Lights and felt pretty good on the oval in Texas as well. So we wish the the tire stint was longer because we felt like our cars were much better than everyone else is at the end of a stint. So hopefully that’s the case in Iowa as well. It’s a race of a lot of tiredeg. So that’s going to be important to kind of figure out as early as possible in practice Friday morning.
Q. Taylor. How will the team is past success at Iowa Speedway? Help Pato and Oliver this weekend. And what do you think the biggest challenge will be for them on their first short oval? TAYLOR KIEL:  Thanks for everybody for joining. The team’s past success is just that it’s in the past. Right? So we have ad good cars there before but a lots changed. We’ve got the aero screen now likely a different tire.  A lot of different variables the weekend schedule those types of things. So we’re certainly going into it Eyes Wide Open we feel like we’ve done a lot of good pre-event work like we have through the first few races of the year. So we’re looking for more success. Certainly. I think Pato and Oliver both have had success here in the past as well. But it but it’s a new challenge for all of us. I think the schedule is going to be the biggest thing for them and for everybody. But otherwise, I think it’s going to be fast paced. It’s not gonna be a whole lot of time to think of that and we’re going to go we’re going to go on there on the aggressive on the front foot and try to try to capitalize on the momentum we left Road America with.
Q. It’s just a question for Taylor. Taylor. How confident are you going into this weekend? Obviously off the back of the success and Road America, but also obviously it’s a different setup with a being an oval and just how confident are you going ahead into this weekend?KIEL: Short answer-Very. I think our team’s really coming together working well. Our pit stop performance last week was the best that it’s been we’ve continued to get to get better and better as we continue to race. We have Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew driving our cars and that gives me a tremendous amount of confidence. We have great support from our partners and our fans. So having a limited amount of fans there will feel like we’re getting back to normal a bit and certainly the momentum that we carried from Road America will help so I’m excited to get there and I’m just kind of excited to get to work.
Q. A quick follow-up to Pato same question please.O’WARD: Yeah, I’m Taylor’s boat. I think we keep getting better and better; we keep improving. This weekend it is going to be very important to use our time efficiently to really prepare ourselves for qualifying and for the race. It’s a very long race and very long stints. So more than anything  we need outright speed but we need to use our heads. So I think if we make no mistakes keep everything nice and tidy I think will be will be in it at the end, you know to be able to to challenge for wins and for podiums. We first have to be there at the end. So, you know, I’m very much looking  forward to it Iowa. Like I said, it’s an oval that I that I look very much forward to going to so yeah bring on this weekend. 
Q. just quick ones Oliver as well same question.ASKEW: Looking forward to just putting Road America behind us that’s been there was a difficult weekend. I think you know the series is so tight. It doesn’t doesn’t allow for a small mistakes that any point through the weekend. So looking forward to executing every single time. We’re on track and like Pato said it’s important to to really good on a window to make sure that we’re the quickest at the end of the stint,  quicker than anybody else at the end of the stint. So I’m looking forward to just going out and having fun. Like Taylor said the pit crews been working flawlessly through adversity no matter what happens, you know, they’re not making any mistake so that builds confidence in both Pato and myself, and you know, the guys are going to give us great strategies as well. So look forward to it as look this weekend guys. Thank you. 
Q. I have a question for Pato – Pato first of all congrats on your Podium and on your pole. Awesome job, and I want to say one thing really stuck out with me and I was impressed when after race one at Road America. You said that we definitely have the car to be upfront and I want to say so you seemed to be really in tune with your car and there’s some drivers that aren’t as in tune as you are or on. I’m wondering where are you getting this confidence? Are you spending more time? Like in the garage with the mechanics with the strategists or what are you doing differently?O’WARD: Yeah, thank you. I just think I have a lot of faith in my team Arrow McLaren SP. We have a great group of engineers and in the car has felt good everywhere we’ve been. Obviously Texas was new to me. So I kind of had to be cautious and we didn’t want to have a tiny hiccup in qualifying that could really put us in a bad position for the race, so I had to be in a different mindset like going to a road course, you know road courses that I know, we’ve been very strong in practice and in qualifying which has it never everything never really went perfectly until all fine-tuning at Road America and we put it on the pole. So I’ve always known the speed is there I know the guys will always give me the tools to be able to be fighting up front. So I think was just getting everything together and to execute. In race one. we had a little issue with it something mechanically in the race one at Road America. So, you know, it is not the same whenever you start mid packed and when you start up front, you know, you make your life way easier when you start up front and  I was tired of starting in the middle. I wanted to start up front and I wanted to run up there. So I pulled a good lap out and put it on the pole and you know, we started the race and I think we we control the pace the whole way through, you know, until two laps to go but you know, I just I have lots of faith in the team and I know they are all pushing the same as I am and we’re also hungry for wins and for podiums and I think that’s what’s most important here is just that everybody is rowing towards the same way and pushing, you know with the same amount of energy and motivation. So I think that’s so important and to win these IndyCar races you have to execute perfectly because if you don’t then you just won’t win it because it’s so tight. But yeah, I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season and I just I want to continue improving and getting better and better and better and I know the chemistry with the engineers is just going to improve every single race with
Q. Taylor just wondered about the kind of I guess you’ve had time to reflect on on Road America now and crunch some of the numbers and go through things. So I just wondered you know with the last stint love with the last stop you went for the for the Reds. And you know, would you have done anything differently, they’re you know going back with with hindsight. Obviously all of us would love to have the the knowledge of what to do before the race happens, but just kind of assessing things now and looking back. Would you have done anything differently there or do you think you made the right call? And you know, it’s just important so it worked out then.KIEL:  Yeah. Thanks Jack. Like we do every event our engineering team and our leadership team dig into the good the bad the ugly what we found is that we’re very confident that that was the right call for us in the moment. We did not have Felix’s pace on primary tires. We knew that we saw that in the previous two stints. Frankly, the reason we were able to maintain our gap was the pit sequence on our end was so much better than theirs both the in and out laps on the Pato’s side and then the actual pit stop itself. So we were able to continue to maintain that gap to Felix but we felt that our car was better on alternate tires, and we felt to give ourselves a fighting chance we needed to have a really mega out lap and to do that was going to be on the red tires from there hopefully we could pull a gap over the first few laps and then just hold on tight and make it to the end. So, you know hindsight is 20/20. We’ve looked at it a hundred different ways and I think that a hundred different times we would do the same thing.
 Q. Pato Obviously last year was it up and down for you? And you know, I’m sure you’ll pick out some strong positives and some downsides as well. Just how important is it been having Arrow McLaren behind you, you know to start the season and have that kind of support from them because I guess they kind of questions surrounds, you know, last year was so unusual for you and you were jumping around teams and going to different countries and doing so many different things and obviously a bit of consistency to start the season. So how was that been as the team support been?O’WARD: Yeah, thanks, man. I think one of the biggest things in success is having your team supporting you and having people behind you, you know pushing for the same objectives that you want to achieve. You know, last year was it was just so up and down it was a huge learning year, but more than anything is that it really makes a difference when when you know, the guy when you know the car when you know, what’s coming for you but whenever everything is a blur and also letting you you get a call and you have to meet new people new car new team owner. You have no testing. No nothing, you know, it’s so much harder and this year with you know, with a proper schedule Proper testing and really lots of time to be able to interact with Engineers, you know, make the chemistry and create relationships and make them, you know stronger and stronger every day. I think that makes a huge difference, especially when the weekends are so condensed as they’ve been.  Will and I are still learning from each other. We’re still working on how I like things, you know, he has an idea of how I drive now, which is completely different to to what James want, you know in the past. So it’s definitely a learning curve in its own but I think we’ve we’ve been very efficient. We’ve been you know, very hands-on and in trying to really come out strong out of the gate and I think we have so that’s going to continue being our focus and you know the better we get at that and then the better shots were going to have a qualifying and then, you know having a strong race. 
Q. Good morning Taylor. We talked before the season started and you mentioned, you know wanting to join the big big three teams, right? But make it big four. Have you taken a step towards that so far in the first four races?KIEL: I think you know relative to that group. All we can do is focus on ourselves and what we’re doing day-to-day and I believe that day to day we were making progress. There’s so much work so much effort going on behind the scenes with our group McLaren, Arrow, Chevy really working to push our package to the next level and we’re doing that and I think that that Road America finally gave us a little bit of result to prove that. But the speeds been there all year long. We just haven’t been able to put the total package together. So now we’ve seen it. We’ve done it. We’ve seen it. We know how it’s done and we can build off of that and continue to put those results together in a consistent manner. That’s what’s going to get us there. We see a lot of people struggling through the first handful of races this year. So for us, it’s all about consistency and closing that gap and I think we’re on our way.Q. You’ve obviously had good pit stops and a couple other teams have struggled. A couple that you wouldn’t expect a struggle. What did you guys do? I know you’ve always been good at pit stops. Did you change anything in the offseason? You know, I know it’s obviously hard, you know to get going late. You didn’t get the practice probably you needed. How do you explain your guys pit stops?KIEL: It’s simple Steve. It’s the buy-in from from the guys and girls on the team and working out everyday eating right drinking water doing the things that you need to do to show up at these events and a condensed with hundred degree ambient temperatures and being able to perform on the pressures on.  We give our pit crews all the tools they need to succeed and with that were able to look them in the eye and say hey now it’s on you to perform and they all do they do it everybody takes a lot of pride in it and everybody works really really hard. Even when there’s when there’s no time in the schedule. We make time for pitstop practice. We make time for physical and mental wellness. And we do the things we need to do to make sure that that our groups are ready to perform when the lights are on.
 Q. For the drivers along the same line, you’ve obviously got these guys working so hard on the pit stops how much confidence extra confidence is that bring you guys as drivers knowing you’re going to come into the pits and it’s going to be as quick as stop as possible. They’re going to get everything right as much as they can.O’WARD: Yeah, I think it’s huge not just for us but you know for everybody just works in sync. I think that’s very important especially in IndyCar races. The driver has to hit its marks in and out laps have to be perfect and then you know the guys in the pit stops have to do have to do their part. So the driver can get some help either if it’s an over cut and undercut or just maintaining lead. So I think you know from our side. It’s In a way not a relief, but you know, we we have so much faith in them and we know that you know, they are pushing as as much as we are to get everything perfectly and and you know, like like it is in many forms of motor sports, you know, you win and lose as a team, but you know pit stops are so important and the guys have been flawless and I have lots of respect.After I actually tried changing a tire and in like Oliver was driving the car and he was actually coming into the box and I thought that was the most terrifying thing. I’d ever seen and to like change it on that speed like those tires are so heavy man. Like they are so heavy in these guys lift it up like it’s a feather and I think that’s just it’s an art in its own and I don’t think there’s there’s I don’t think people appreciate it as much as they should because it’s truly something. And as important as the driver, you know driving on the track. So, you know that the guys really work hard in and I can’t thank him enough for that.
ASKEW: Thank you. I echo what Pato said it’s just it’s one more thing that I get to take off of my mind when I go into a race weekend knowing that we’re going to be strong in the pits. You know my crew. They think they’ve won the pit stop challenge Taylor you can you can chime in on this, but they won last year.  Right. They won last year at the pit stop challenge. So I know that you know that.My crew is going to be the most consistent at track and that just builds confidence in myself. You know, that’s just one less thing to worry about going into the weekend and the more more practice. I get coming into the box, you know going to the pit lane pushing the pit lane push in the box, you know, the less I have to think about it. So yeah, just echoing on what Pato a huge confidence boost and I think that’s one one of the many strengths that this team has is the work that we’ve done in the middle.
Q. Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time. I got a question for both Plateau. When all over Zac Brown said a few days ago to these willing to give you a running an F1 car when the time in the opportunity is right, and I know Pato you have recently had the taste of some open-wheel action outside of the US, but for both of you your career has been largely focused on American open-wheel, so there’s wonder if you can please elaborate on where the prospect of F1 is on your radar if at all?O’WARD: Thanks, man. You know for me is you know, my job in front of me right now is to succeed and win races try to win championships, you know, and try to win the Indy 500 those are my goals right now and I’m fully focused on that, you know, obviously in the future if something comes up in Formula One and opportunities there, you know, we will see what what what I’m going through at that time. But you know for now I’m fully focused on our Mclaren SP giving them results giving them championships and you know giving them race wins. I think they really deserve it. You know, it’s such a hard working group of guys and girls and you know, and I love IndyCar. I love IndyCar racing. But you know, like I said, obviously if a test comes up or something, you know, if the time is there, you know, I would for sure I would for sure consider doing it because you know, I think those cars are spectacular.ASKEW: Right now like am full focus on what I’m doing here, you know, I’m not going to get the opportunity to experience something like that. You know, if I don’t perform in my current space. Yeah right now just focus on the task at hand and obviously McLaren is done very very well for the past couple seasons and especially this year in Formula One, so they’re definitely a growing force and I think you know when the when the new regulations come out they’re going to be stronger, so it’s fun. It’s fun following them and their success in being a part of that family now, but like like Papa said it’s the most important thing for us now is to do our job and then the present moment.
Q. My first question for Taylor. I you mentioned that the schedules being may be the biggest challenge this weekend. Just you know at this point of maybe just past halfway of five races and 15 days is that would have what’s the schedule been like and consecutive double headers? And you know, how is it stressed your team?KIEL: It’s been intense. I think that’s kind of the general word. We’ve been using just intensity from the moment that you step in the car or the plane to go to the track until the moment The Checkered Flag waves. You don’t have a whole lot of time to think it’s it’s very fast-paced. The amount of time between sessions is reduced dramatically compared to what we’re used to so how that’s changed us is the pre-event work. It’s always been a priority for us. It is absolute necessity now. If we unload or the package, that’s not quick. You’re not going to get any better by the time the race shows up, right? So it’s the precedence is on making sure that you unload quickly. So all of your simulation work to pre event stuff that is an absolute priority. So that’s something that we’ve really I feel have done a good job. So that’s been a plus. The physical fitness have everybody on the team is a big thing. You don’t consider when you’re when you’re watching on TV and you’re seeing the cars go around but there’s a whole team of people that have to make that happen and they’re standing outside for 12 13 14 15 hour days. sometimes when ambient temperatures in the middle of the summer in the Midwest are a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, right? So it’s it takes a lot from everybody. So pre-event work, team chemistry the work ethic and the discipline and the toughness of everybody in the paddock and then likewise we haven’t even mentioned Covid-19 and the pandemic and everything that’s going on and associated with that that requires its own set of challenges with masks and protocols and those types of things. So really comes down to the guys and girls and the IndyCar Paddock taking care of each other and working hard through this tough stretch. I think the ultimate goal here is to get through these races to race for ourselves and our fans and our partners and do the best that we can so that we can we can continue to keep our product on track and in front of in front of all our loyal IndyCar fans. So that’s that’s the goal. 
Q. Just to follow up on that last part Taylor with its team footage is point about how teams have been made. Some errors on pit stops, you would expect to see from talking to some people. It sounds like routines have sort of been disrupted by the protocols and restrictions that track and then also you don’t have the routines of the schedule. Like normally the month of May is given to be a lot of repetition. Do you have any thoughts on that and like how your team is maybe been able to avoid those kind of errors that we’ve seen in some other teams made? KIEL: Well routines definitely disrupted. It’s something that you can’t hide from what the schedule the way it is and Shop base protocols being what they are. I mean a lot of teams have now changed out ways of working completely back at base. Right? So it doesn’t just begin and end in the paddock. It’s different from every facet of the operation for us. It’s really all about prioritizing it. That’s what it boils down to you can in the time find any number of ways to fill your time and the amount of time you have to prepare for a race event, but we feel that it stops are just as important. As our previous simulation work or our car builds or anything that we’re doing from an RD perspective. So we prioritize it make time for it. That’s really that’s really what we’ve done to make sure that what we can control is under our control 
Q. One for the drivers is Taylor just mentioned that the Midwest summertime temperatures. I’m sure 250 Laps on consecutive nights at Iowa. Speedway will be a little bit different and I know green flag temperatures for Saturday or like 90 degrees so I know both you guys are physically fit but are any concerns going into that kind of grueling Marathon session over the weekend at Iowa, I guess starting with Pato.O’WARD: Yeah, yeah, thanks man. I think we’re in for a treat this weekend because it’s going to be hot and it’s just not one race. It’s two races. So the recovery after the first race is going to be key. It’s going to be very important to be nice and fresh for for Saturday. You don’t even if they’re at night the humidity and the heat is still there. So I think you know, we’re all kind of going into it like well, you know, we’re going to get thrown in there and you have to survive it’s not like oh, you know you can give up no not you have to survive. So I think we’re just we’re going in it as prepared as possible. Just very hydrated. Make sure your food is very clean and everything and then, you know, just, you know, hang on to it for the whole race because it is going to be a long one.
ASKEW: Yeah, thanks for the question. I think being worried about it is the biggest part of preparation, you know. For me this is going to be the hardest race of the year so far because because it’s a doubleheader because the track is so short. There’s not much time to rest because it’s going to be hot because it’s bumpy. So there’s a lot of a lot of variables being thrown at us a lot of different variables every single weekend for the past three weekends that we’ve been on been on. Both Pato and I have been have been training as best as we can and we’ve been hydrating as best as we can trying to recover from the last wwekend at Road America and I think it’s going to be very difficult at the end of the stints and the tires are going away and you’re in you’re mentally drained and super hot. So you need to have this voice the back of your head to remind yourself to not make any crucial mistakes or really really pay attention to what’s going on because very easy to lose that you lose the car in that state of mind. So the looking for of the challenge for sure. It’s going to be difficult for everybody. We’ve got to be more prepared.
Q. I need to some details about of the race after read the race oad America battle from the radio the car will be on front tomorrow. Could you tell some more details about that attitude and how can them to expand it this attitude to the team to be the same level?Of course to be an on a Podium and the question for the drivers part of you wat two years ago, and now we’ll have a you have a reference from that the victory two years ago Oliver the reference its faculties Wicked on double-header. Thank you so much.KIEL: This is something that we talk a lot about as a team is a winning mentality is you know being aggressive in taking what’s yours? We all work very very hard. I don’t know what the other teams do. I’m sure they work hard too, but we work really really hard to make sure that we build a team in a package that can compete for ones and championships week in and week out.What Pato was saying from the car at that moment was I know that we have that we just didn’t execute today. We’re going to do it tomorrow because we have another chance and we did just right. So if that doesn’t give you confidence as a crew member or as a member of this team, generally then you’re probably in the wrong place. We take a lot of pride in that. We do a lot of work beforehand in the moment and post analysis to see that a man we do have a good car and we didn’t execute or we had a good car and we did execute we can see that we have data to prove it. So the entire time even first qualifying we had a we had a small mechanical issue that probably left us off of the front row, you know, frankly, or at least more towards the front when you start that far back in a race like Road America with such small windows and limited strategy plays you’re handcuffed. So we knew what weup against them race one and we knew we had an opportunity to qualify and redo that scenario again and we made the most of it and Pato certainly has that mentality to just go and attack and take what’s his so as a group if that doesn’t give you confidence and then I don’t know what will.O’WARD: Yeah, thanks Louise. Yeah, I think you know, I’ve had very good memories at from Iowa and and I’m looking forward to you know, just to continue the momentum with you know, with with a group of guys that I have, you know supporting me and I know that you know, we will have the tools to to be competitive. So I think it’s just to you know to finalize everything in to really have something, you know, very fast. And that last long I think that’s going to be very important. But I’m looking forward to trying to continue my set my success in Iowa. It’s a it’s an it’s an oval that I enjoy. So yeah, I’m excited for the weekend.
ASKEW: Yeah, I think that Pato has been a great reference for me for the past for the past couple race weekends. Even pre-season testing. I think we work together really. Well. I don’t I don’t expect I don’t expect to you know, take too much time to get up to speed in Iowa. I think it’s important with the condensed weekends to you know, really like light the match and be at the speed right away. So that’s going to be my main focus for tomorrow. It’s crazy to say that we’re already racing tomorrow. But yeah, it’s going to be a challenge for sure. But you know addicts have had some success at Iowa and us have two thousand four years ago. That’s obviously completely different. It’s going to be a different track that completely different car. So looking forward to the challenge.

BATAVIA, Ohio (July 16, 2020) – With nearly $170,000 in purse money up for grabs, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has three races in three days. Teams will be traveling to Tri-City Speedway for the NAPA Know How 50 and to Lucas Oil Speedway for both the 28th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 – Presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com and the CMH Diamond Nationals – Presented by Super Clean.  On Friday, July 17th, the series visits Granite City, IL for the NAPA Know How 50 for a full program, which includes: Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. The pit gate will open at 12:00 pm CT at Tri-City Speedway. The general admission gates will open at 5:00 pm CT with on-track action beginning at 6:30 pm CT. Also on hand will be the B-Mods and Modifieds.  For more information, visit: www.tricityspeedway.net. The nation’s top dirt late model drivers will storm into Lucas Oil Speedway, the state-of-the-art 3/8-mile oval, July 18th for the 28th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 – Presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com. The event is co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil MLRA. On Saturday night, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series/Midwest Latemodel Racing Association (MLRA) will have a complete program of: Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and the 100 lap Show-Me 100, paying $20,000-to-win.  The festivities in Wheatland, MO will shift on Sunday to the 14th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals – Presented by Super Clean. There will be a full program of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series/Lucas Oil MLRA Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and the $12,000-to-win feature.

On Saturday and Sunday, at Lucas Oil Speedway, the pit gate will be open all day, before being closed and cleared at 3:30 pm CT. All gates will re-open at 4:00 pm CT, with on-track action beginning at 6:30 pm CT.

For tickets and more information, visit: www.lucasoilspeedway.com. Jimmy Owens currently stands atop of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Point Standings. Jonathan Davenport sits in second, followed closely by Tim McCreadie, with Josh Richards, and Tyler Erb in a tie for fourth.  Track and Event Information:Tri-City SpeedwayPhone Number: 618-931-7836Location: 5100 Nameoki Road, Granite City, IL 62040Directions: I-270 to exit 4, then 0.5 mile south on SR 203Website: www.tricityspeedway.net Tire Rule July 17thLeft Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) LM20Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM20, (92) LM40*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Main.*For the Feature, competitors may use a new right rear tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

More than 600 racers fill National Trail Raceway as JEGS Speedweek begins

HEBRON, Ohio (July 16) — Build it and they will come.  The NHRA North Central Division and JEGS Mail Order worked together to organize JEGS Speedweek, which kicked off Thursday with more than 600 of the nation’s best sportsman drag racers getting to work at National Trail Raceway.  The historic event combines the first Lucas Oil Series Division 3 race of the season with the annual JEGS.com SPORTSnationals. The Division 3 race will take place Thursday and Friday, followed by the JEGS SPORTSnationals on Saturday and Sunday. After Thursday’s opening rounds of qualifying, Frank Affronti (Comp), Rich South (Super Stock), Gary Summers (Stock), Lester Johnson (Top Sportsman) and J.B. Strassweg (Top Dragster) lead their respective fields. Racers in Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, and Sportsman Motorcycle also made time trial runs in preparation for Friday’s eliminations. Affronti drove his Chevy Cobalt to a run of 7.337 seconds to lead the Comp Eliminator field. A finalist at the 1999 U.S. Nationals, Affronti was able to hold off Ronnie Bohn, Scott Chamness, and Greg Kamplain, who all made solid qualifying runs themselves. Defending JEGS SPORTSnationals Comp winner Terry Smith is seeded No. 10 in the field. Smith can earn the coveted JEGS Crown trophy should he prevail during Sunday’s final eliminations. Comp leader Frank Affronti Racing in his home state, South, who hails from of Pickerington, Ohio, topped a 98-car field of Super Stock drivers with a run of 9.908 seconds in his Pontiac G5. South’s closest pursuers include Bill Rink, Andy Kronenbitter, and Tony DePillo. Defending race winner Dan Steed, of Radnor, Ohio, is solidly in the field with his vintage ’66 Chevy II and will have an opportunity to score back-to-back SPORTSnationals titles this weekend.  Super Stock leader Rich South In Stock Eliminator, a massive field of 140 drivers is competing for 128 qualifying spots and the current king of the hill is Summers with a run of 13.74 seconds in his ’77 Ford Mustang. The top four qualifiers include Bill Dyer, Jim Marshall, and Dave Walther. The defending event winner is four-time world champion Jeff Taylor, who is driving the JEGS.com Dodge Challenger Drag Pak normally raced by Pro Stock ace Jeg Coughlin Jr. Taylor ran a best of 9.713-seconds to secure the No. 12 starting spot. Stock leader Gary Summers  Johnson is the qualifying leader in the Oakley Motorsports Top Sportsman category after a run of 6.237 seconds at more than 234 mph in his unique ’55 Chevy. Johnson holds a sizable lead over No. 2 qualifier, Jeff Melnick, who ran a 6.434, and Eric Burnett, who is third with a 6.445. The 27-car Top Sportsman field includes four drivers who earned top-10 finishes last season.  Top Sportsman leader Lester Johnson Strassweg earned the top seed in his Oakley Motorsports Top Dragster class following a run of 6.137 seconds. He was able to hold off defending world champion and JEGS SPORTSnationals winner Danny Nelson, who recorded a best of 6.168 seconds. Danny Waddle Jr. and Phillip Oakley round out the top four qualifying spots, while Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin is the No. 9 seed after a 6.244-second run. Coughlin, the reigning Division 3 champion, is one of the most successful racers in the history of the JEGS SPORTSnationals with four career victories. Top Dragster leader J.B. Strassweg The JEGS Mail Order team also includes Troy Coughlin Jr., his sister, Paige Coughlin, and cousin, Makenna Brown, who are all racing in the Super Comp category. All three JEGS.com branded dragsters took aim at the 8.90-second Super Comp index during Thursday’s time trial runs.  JEGS Speedweek continues at 8 a.m., Friday, with final eliminations for the North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event. The event schedule also will include qualifying runs for competitors in the Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car classes, which are making their first SPORTSnationals appearance since 1985.