NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYALSCO UNIFORMS 500TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTESMARCH 28, 2020
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE 4th      RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE 5th      KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE 8th      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE11th    JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)2nd     Denny Hamlin (Toyota)3rd      Ryan Blaney (Ford)4th      Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)5th      Kurt Busch (Chevrolet) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES: CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race WinnerWHEN VICTORY SEEMED RIGHT THERE, NOBODY SNATCHED IT AWAY FROM YOU TONIGHT. AFTER WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH, HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL TO BE STANDING HERE?“It feels awesome. Man, it was a tough week, for sure. We’ve had some tough losses, but that deal on Sunday night was a heartbreaker. It’s not the Coca-Cola 600, but any win in the Cup Series is really hard to get, and I really appreciate everybody at Hendrick Motorsports across the street, Chevrolet, and everybody at the shop have been working really hard. Kelley Blue Book, NAPA, Hooters, Mountain Dew, all our partners that have made this happen – I just appreciate it. I appreciate my team. Alan (Gustafson) made a great call there at the end to get it tuned up and, luckily, the run went long and I think that fell in our favor.” WHAT WERE THE LAST FIVE LAPS LIKE?“I was just waiting for the caution to come out, to be honest with you. I thought either the caution was going to come out, I was going to break something or I was going to crash. Just after the last couple of weeks, I just thought surely it wasn’t going to go green until the end. Just glad it did and glad we’re hopefully back on the right path.” RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th“That was a really solid night for our Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE. I knew we had good speed in our car from the Coca-Cola 600 the other night, we just weren’t able to put the whole race together. We worked really well together and I was happy with the handling the majority of the night. Brian (Pattie) made some really good adjustments that allowed us to make passes and make aggressive moves to gain track position and hold it during the final green flag run. This is exactly the type of momentum we need heading into one of my favorite tracks – Bristol Motor Speedway – this Sunday.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th“Not a bad run! A top-five at Charlotte (Motor Speedway) on a Thursday night. Thanks to Matt McCall and all the guys on this Monster Energy team. We changed a few things our car to learn as much as we could, without practice and without testing. We tried some different things and it raced differently. The car handled loose all night, but we were able to bring home a top-five. We just need to fine-tune a little bit here and there. Thanks to Monster Energy, Chevrolet, GEARWERENCH and everyone else on this effort. That puts us solidly up in the points; moving forward there will be a random draw for the starting line-up, if you’re in the top-12 you have a shot at starting on the pole. We’re making steady progress and had good stage points tonight.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th“Eighth place – it’s what we deserved in the Coca-Cola 600 too. It’s crazy you run 900 miles and we were an eighth-place car all 900 miles of it I feel like. But we had spurts where we were really fast, top-five at times. Justin (Alexander, Crew Chief), the pit crew, my spotter Brandon, everybody did a great job. It was fun; fun on the restarts. I was just a little too free tonight. It was good on the long runs because it was free, but the first ten laps if you don’t get going, you lose a couple of spots and you’re done. We needed to have a little better take off speed. We’ll keep working. Bristol’s next – loving all these miles in a short period of time. It’s a lot of fun!” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“It was a rough night after we got that damage. We really never were the same after that. Obviously, we never had track position or the speed. We could get the handling to be okay but it would really fall off hard on the long run. It was just never the same, but the guys did a good job fixing it, trying to get us back up to the front. The pit crew was phenomenal. We restarted eighth on that last run and ran 10th^h for a while. To finish 12th is not bad after getting that damage. I feel like we got a couple more spots than maybe we should have, which is great. We’ll go on to the next race, execute and have a smooth race hopefully.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 OKUMA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 14th“Man, what an up and down night for our No. 8 Okuma Chevrolet team, but we were able to grab a top-15 finish out of it. Our car was so tough to manage balance-wise tonight. For the first two stages of the race, it was too tight in the entry and exit of the turns but way too loose in the middle, which made it really hard to trust the car as we went into the corners of the track. The adjustment my team made on that final stop of the race was the best one of the night and allowed me to race up through the field and into the top 15. We just lacked some long run speed tonight stay up there and battle within the top 10, so that’s something we’ll go back and look at to improve on for future intermediate tracks like this. It’s been fun racing in our backyard of Charlotte over the past week, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.” MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 23rd“Another tough night for the Credit One Bank Camaro. We had a flat tire early in the race, but managed to get the lap we lost back, then had a loose wheel later in the race which forced a pit stop under green. The penalty for the commitment violation when we pitted for the loose wheel certainly added to the rough night, but we kept doing all we could to gain back as many spots as possible before the end of the race. The handling on the car improved some throughout the night, but we just got too far back with the bad breaks to be able to do much more. A tough race, but better days ahead for our team.” TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 27th “Our GEICO Hump Day Chevrolet was actually pretty good handling wise tonight. It drove well over the bumps, which was an area we struggled with on Sunday, so Matt (Borland) and the guys definitely improved our setup. Unfortunately, from the moment I pulled off pit road before the green flag, I didn’t have any power steering. We tried to fix it under caution, but when we couldn’t diagnose the problem on pit road, I had to tough it out. The pit crew had solid stops all night long and I really think we would have had a strong run tonight if it wasn’t for the power steering issue. When we get back to the shop, we will figure out what the problem was and move forward to Bristol.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 31st “That didn’t end the way we imagined. We had a great car and led some laps and got our fourth stage win of the season. I just got in the wall there at the end and it really hurt the right side. At that point, there isn’t really much we can do. We will finish one of these things here soon. It is a quick turnaround to Bristol on Sunday, but I’m ready for it.” BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined due to mechanical failure; Finished 37th“I know there are a lot of questions to be answered. Obviously, our Richard Petty Motorsports team is frustrated. First thing, hats-off to the guys for bringing an outstanding Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE had a lot of speed – a big improvement from Sunday. We’ll hold everyone accountable, including myself, as a team would do for the problems that we are having right now. It takes a team effort to figure out our struggles. “If it’s bad luck, it’s bad luck. We’ve got to shake it and the best way to do that is to show-up to the next race with our heads held high and keep that chip on our shoulder. We’ll get to the root of our problem and continue to bring a fast race car to the track. We’re showing big improvements and that’s really all we can ask for. But we’ve got to clean-up some stuff. Like I said, if it’s internally, we’ll fix it. If it’s dumb luck, then you’ll have that. On to the Bristol Motor Speedway.”

Austin Dillon and The No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Team Cap Off Strong Charlotte Motor Speedway Run with Top-10 Finish

“We finished eighth in the Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet. A top-10 finish is what we deserved in both this race, and in the Coca-Cola 600 this past Sunday. It’s crazy. We’ve run 900 miles at Charlotte Motor Speedway over the past few days and we were an eighth-place car for all of it. We had spurts where we were really fast – top five at times. Justin Alexander, the pit crew, my spotter Brandon, everybody did a great job. It was fun. I had fun on the restarts, and we were able to pick up some Stage points. We were just a little too free tonight. It was good on the long runs because it was free, but during the first 10 laps if you didn’t get going you would lose a couple of spots.  We needed a little better take off speed. We’ll keep working. Bristol Motor Speedway is next. I’m loving it. A lot of miles in a short period of time.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick Forges to 14th-Place Finish with Okuma Chevrolet at Charlotte Motor Speedway

“Man, what an up and down night for our No. 8 Okuma Chevrolet team. We worked hard and we were able to grab a top-15 finish. The biggest challenge was managing the balance tonight. For the first two stages of the race, we were too tight on entry and exit of the turns and way too loose in the middle. It made it really hard to trust the car as we went into the corners of the track. The adjustment my Richard Childress Racing team made during the final stop of the race was the best one of the night and allowed me to race up through the field and into the top 15. We just lacked some long run speed tonight to stay up there and battle within the top 10. That’s something we’ll go back and look at to improve on for future intermediate tracks. It’s been fun racing in our backyard of Charlotte over the past week, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.”-Tyler Reddick

 Elkhart, IN (May 28, 2020) — Since the postponed AMALIE® Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Terry McMillen has been staying busy in his race shop with crew chief Rob Wendland but in his down time he has let his family go to the dogs. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series has been on hiatus since mid-March and McMillen along with his wife Cori and son Cam have been fostering puppies for a Northern Indiana organization, Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Group. The McMillens already have three dogs and a cat so bringing additional puppies into their family only seemed like a logical idea.

“When we got back from Gainesville, our dog sitter Jen Schwartz, who runs the organization, asked if we wanted some puppies to play with for a couple of days, and it has turned into a constant cycle of fostering,” explained Cori McMillen. “We have had about 15 puppies since we started this. We typically have two puppies at a time.  If one gets a home, then she brings me another that same day.”

Now as an additional commitment to the organization McMillen Racing is auctioning a replica crew shirt designed by ProThings, die-cast dragster, cap and visor all signed by Terry McMillen. The auction launched today on eBay, click here to see auction, with all proceeds going to Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Group.

“Fosters are the backbone to the rescue. The more fosters we have, the more dogs we can rescue,” said Jen Schwartz Founder and Director of Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Group. “I have known the McMillen family for a few years, so when they offered to foster, I was thrilled.  With their family fostering two puppies at a time, it gives me the ability to put more focus into rehabilitating dogs with more serious medical conditions.  I know they are enjoying time with the puppies, so it’s definitely been a win-win situation.” 

Throughout the down time the McMillens have been busy fostering and comforting each puppy they receive. The ability to house multiple animals has made a huge difference and also creates a busy atmosphere at home.

“Our job is to help them transition into home life, since they have never been in a home environment.  We only foster puppies and it has worked out great, because she needed someone to help fostering puppies specifically. The puppies fit best into our lifestyle since we have three dogs and a cat of our own, so bringing an older dog in with an unknown background could cause conflicts.  Our dogs just ignore the puppies,” added McMillen 

Homeward Bound is a non-profit organization that does not receive state or federal funding in turn they rely on fundraising and private donations. They have rescued over 6,000 dogs with the help of a small group of volunteers who are dedicated to helping pets out of less than perfect situations and getting them into their forever homes

“They don’t have a brick and mortar building so, they rely on fosters.  They will take in any dog that needs a home no matter the age or medical condition. They take dogs that are in kill shelters in Indiana and in other states, so that they have a chance at a life.  They also get puppies that are actually puppies from breeders but are considered ‘reject’ puppies that for whatever reason, usually because of a physical or medical condition, can’t be sold to pet stores.  If Homeward Bound didn’t take them, they would either be put back into the breeding cycle or euthanized,” added McMillen. 

Terry McMillen Racing based in Elkhart, Ind., is a Top Fuel drag racing team competing in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The team was founded in 2007 and has shown remarkable determination and dedication. McMillen won the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in 2018 and has qualified for the NHRA Countdown, the end of season playoffs, in 2017 and 2018. Throughout his career with longtime sponsor AMALIE® Motor Oil McMillen has raced to eight final rounds including a career best five finals in 2018.

TAMPA, FL (May 27, 2020) – Brandon Overton squeezed by race-leader Tyler Erb coming off turn four winning the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event for the second night in a row. With the wild night of racing, East Bay Raceway Park lived up to its reputation on Wednesday Night. In a thrilling ending to the series’ Reopening Tour, Overton came out of nowhere to edge Erb, denying the Texan [Erb] his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season. Mason Zeigler made it a three-car tussle in the closing laps as he finished third after regaining the lead momentarily until Erb got back around him after the two made contact coming out of turn four on the white flag lap. Zeigler was followed by Jimmy Owens and Devin Moran. Owens was awarded a $5,000 check from Riggs Drilling Solutions as the Tennessee racer topped the Reopening Tour points the last two weeks of racing at Golden Isles and East Bay. The tour resumed its 2020 racing season for the first time since February and is looking forward to welcoming back fans in June. Erb quickly moved from his third starting spot to take the lead on the opening lap. Erb was then hounded by Zeigler, who started fifth and took the lead away from him on lap six. It would be the only lap that Zeigler would officially lead as Erb regained the top spot a lap later. Erb then battled through lapped traffic opening up some distance between himself and the second and third-place runners Zeigler and Overton. In the final 15 laps Zeigler and Overton went back-and-forth in the race behind Erb. Zeigler then caught Erb in the final handful of laps but slipped back to third after contact with Erb. Overton then got by Zeigler and caught Erb on the final lap as the two raced to the checkers with Overton barely edging out the Texan at the finish line. Overton was elated in his third trip to in Lucas Oil Victory Lane in his career at East Bay and his sixth career series win, in what turned out to be a fast and furious race. “When I got into third, I saw Tyler and Mason racing each other so hard. I was trying to bide my time and I figured let them burn their stuff up and maybe I would come back to them,” said the 29-year-old from Evans, Georgia. “That strategy worked out in our favor, I got to move around a lot when I was behind them. That is what helped me win the race in three and four when I got back under Tyler. That was a heck of a race. My crew busted their tails all week and we have a really good car under us. Thanks to David and Eric Wells for putting me in top notch equipment. I just want to make them proud.” Erb led 38 of the 40 laps and looked to be in control of the race until the last five laps, as first Zeigler and then Overton made for an exciting finish. “I could hit three and four just right for a long time, but in the last ten laps or so I was just kind of hanging. When Zeigler drove across one and two and I lifted, and I turned underneath him in three and four and he didn’t lift, that kind of got us bottled up. I was trying to get my momentum built up and I saw Brandon got underneath me in two and I beat him into three and four and I couldn’t slow down fast enough like I needed to, and he beat me to the line.” Zeigler was looking for third career win at East Bay but came home in third. “The car was good, the longer the race went on the better I felt like we were getting. I was just waiting and watching the flags in the last ten laps and just waiting for the right time and I took the lead there and I should have protected my line more, it is what it is. I should have got down a little further. We’ll take a third, so we had a good finish.” The winner’s Wells Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Allstar Concrete, Crossfit Overton, Big Dog Stump and Tree, R.W. Powell, Convenient Lube, Top Notch Graphics, Penske Shocks, Dirt Mafia, EZ Go, and Sunoco Race Fuels. Completing the top ten were Rick Eckert, Tim McCreadie, Tanner English, Stormy Scott, and Hudson O’Neal.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
GEICO East Bay Nationals – presented by Brandon Ford
Wednesday, May 27th, 2020
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jimmy Owens / 14.541 seconds 
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton / 14.265 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 3. 9-Devin Moran[5]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[6]; 5. 50-Shanon Buckingham[2]; 6. 311-Ken Monahan[4]; 7. 20B-Todd Brennan[8]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley[7]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 3. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 6. 89-GR Smith[5]; 7. 33J-Jeff Mathews[7]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 6S-Blake Spencer[4]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 5. 111-Steven Roberts[6]; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 7. F15-Jeremy Conaway[5]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 0E-Rick Eckert[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 6. 29-Larry Grube[5]; 7. (DNF) 91S-Blake Naylor[7]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport; 2. 7-Ross Robinson; 3. 89-GR Smith; 4. 50-Shanon Buckingham; 5. 33J-Jeff Mathews; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal; 7. 20B-Todd 

DELAWARE, Ohio (May 21) — It’s always a thrill to buy a new vehicle. It’s dramatically more so if you have the chance to actually drive your new vehicle right off the assembly line. That’s exactly what six-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. got to do in 2018 when he purchased a new Jeep that was assembled in Toledo, Ohio. “It was truly an amazing experience and made that particular Jeep very special to me,” Coughlin said. “I was the first butt in the seat, as they say, and I feel a real connection to my Jeep. I keep it down in Florida, where it’s the perfect cruiser for the beach.” Coughlin’s special opportunity to visit the Jeep Plant at the Chrysler-Toledo Assembly Complex came from his professional relationship with Mopar and a long-standing offer from former Plant Manager Bruce Schabeck. Coughlin competed in a Dodge Avenger and a Dodge Dart in the past, winning the 2013 Pro Stock title in the HEMI-powered JEGS.com/Mopar Avenger. “With the Toledo plant just a few hours away Bruce set up a deal where we could go up and have a tour of the facility the same day my Jeep was being assembled,” Coughlin said. “We actually started the process with our friends at Coughlin Jeep in Marysville. Although we share the same name, we aren’t related, but they are good friends and great people. We’ve done a lot of business there through the years. “As you may imagine, it takes a ton of coordination to order a vehicle the way you want it and then have it come to life before your eyes. We were able to follow the build through the entire process, from the initial plans and scheduling of when all the specific components would come together on through to the build itself.” It actually takes less than one full day for a Jeep to be built. Coughlin was alerted to the day his Jeep would be assembled so he headed north to watch it happen. He was greeted by Jeep’s JK/JT Quality Center Manager Chad Kamm, a drag racer himself who regularly competes in a 23T Altered at nearby Milan Dragway.  “We arrived with about three hours of the build left,” Coughlin said. “Chad took us straight to the assembly line and found my Jeep. It had just reached the point where the body panels were being installed. We watched as they installed the drive-train, the seats, a lot of trim, and the door pieces. It’s incredible to see the professionalism and the coordination of all these different parts coming together right before your eyes. “I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of factories and assembly lines for all kinds of things through the years but this one was just mind-boggling. You could certainly feel the pride the workers there had in what they were doing and in the units they were producing each day.”  During his visit, Camm allowed Coughlin to drive a Jeep Rubicon through the elaborate testing grounds outside, where the full capabilities of the machine are revealed in actual practice. “Until you drive those things to their limits it’s hard to fully appreciate what they can do,” Coughlin said. “The turns they can make, the angles they can traverse, the climbing abilities of that vehicle; it’s all quite remarkable. They can handle way more than you would ever think to take them through in a normal day.”  After having some extracurricular fun, Camm made sure Coughlin was ready at the end of the assembly line at the right moment. “At the very last station they put 12 gallons of fuel in the tank in about four seconds,” Coughlin said. “Then it came forward and they allowed me to jump in there, fire it up, and drive it off the assembly line.  “I’ve always been a fan of Jeeps. I had a couple when I was younger and my friends and I would go ‘Jeeping’ through the woods and what-not. But I don’t know if any Jeep experience can beat that feeling right there. “They also allowed me to write a personal note to all the workers who had touched my Jeep on its way through the plant, which was really neat. I added a photo of our championship-winning Dodge from 2013 and a huge ‘Thank you’ to each of them.”

Inside Line Promotions – TUCSON, Ariz. (May 27, 2020) – Giovanni Scelzi captured a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend during his first time at a new track and with a new team.

Scelzi made only his eighth and ninth starts in a pavement late model during a two-day show at Tucson Speedway, where he piloted a super late model for Nascimento Racing.

“I want to thank everyone at Nascimento Racing as well as Bill McAnally Racing for the opportunity,” he said. “We made gains throughout the weekend and moved forward in each feature. I’m learning more with each lap I get on pavement.”

The action began on Saturday when Scelzi qualified eighth quickest. He advanced a position to finish seventh in a heat race. That lined him up on the inside of the fourth row for the main event.

“We qualified decent and ran decent for most of the race,” he said. “I got up to fifth about halfway, but got tight toward the end of the race. We fell to sixth with about 30 laps to go and that’s where we finished.”

Scelzi timed in 13^th quickest and finished sixth in a heat race on Sunday before he rallied from his 13^th starting position into the top 10 twice.

“I think track position was pretty crucial,” he said. “We got up to around eighth midway, but had an issue and had to go to the work area under caution. We got back out and rallied from the back up to eighth by the end of the race.”

Scelzi has now earned a top-10 result in eight of his nine pavement late model starts.

He is scheduled to return to sprint car competition on June 6 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, where he will make his debut driving for veteran owner Guy Forbrook.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCEALSCO UNIFORMS 500CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA MAY 27, 2020

ROUND TWO AT CHARLOTTE:The NASCAR Cup Series continues its quest of five Cup races in a 14-day span with a return trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday evening, May 27th, at 8:00 p.m. ET with the Alsco Uniforms 500. The event under the lights at the 1.5-mile North Carolina oval will be the series’ second mid-week race in 36 years as NASCAR continues with its revised schedule.  BOWTIE BULLETS:·       Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 45 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier division at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
·       Following Kurt Busch’s recent pole in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, a Chevrolet has sat on the pole 34 times at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 
·       To-date, Chevrolet has scored 206 top-five’s, 415 top-10’s and has led 14,128 laps around the North Carolina oval in NASCAR Cup Series events.  ·       Career-Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads the series in wins with eight victories at the oval (2003 summer, sweep in 2004, sweep in 2005, 2009 playoffs race, 2014 summer, and 2016 playoffs race). He also leads all active drivers in top-five finishes at Charlotte, totaling 16 in his career. 
·       Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway by taking Chevrolet to victory lane 19 times. 
TEAM CHEVY FRONT ROW:With no qualifying to set the field, the starting lineup for Wednesday’s race is based on the finishing result’s from Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600.  Starting positions 1 through 20 will be set by an inversion of the top-20 finishers in the May 24th event, putting William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE, in the pole position. Hendrick Motorsport’s teammate, Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/NOCO Camaro ZL1 1LE, will start alongside Byron to make up the front row. This is the third time this season that a pair of Camaro ZL1 1LE’s takeover the front row starting spots and will lead the field to the green.  The starting order for the remainder of the 40-car field reflect the finishing positions of the Coca-Cola 600.  IN THE REARVIEW MIRRORLeading into race #8 of the season at Charlotte, Team Chevy has 1 win, 3 poles, 733-laps led and two drivers in the top-five in the points standings. Hendrick Motorsport’s Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/NOCO Camaro ZL1 1LE, currently sits third in points standings, with one victory to secure his spot in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Thus far this season, Bowman has three stage wins and has led 318 laps, the most in a single season in his NASCAR career. Accompanied by his teammate, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro ZL1 1LE, is fourth in the points standings. In seven-point races, Elliott has captured an impressive three top-five and four top-10 finishes.  Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Okuma Camaro ZL1 1LE, has taken his rookie year by storm. Currently leading the rookie standings, Reddick has scored two top-10 finishes in the last three races and leads the NASCAR Cup Series in green flag passes with a total of 844.  TUNE-IN:In compliance with the pandemic guidelines, the Alsco Uniforms 500 will run without spectators, but you can view the live competition on Wednesday, May 27th, at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1. Live coverage of the 208-lap, 312-mile race can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. QUOTABLE QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGS“We were strong on Sunday and don’t have the finish to show that. This ChevyGoods.com/NOCO team has put together some fast cars this season and I know that what we unload on Wednesday will be just as good. We have a notebook from Sunday’s race and hopefully we can go back out and put on a good show for everyone at home.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS“The last two weeks have been really tough. I feel like we have put ourselves in really good positions as a team, we’ve made good decisions and we’ve made good adjustments on the cars throughout these races. Those are things you don’t always get right. I think that’s what is frustrating to me, it’s a hard thing to make all the right moves, the right decisions and get the car driving exactly like you want it. When you have those days, those type of runs and those type of cars you want to make the most of it. I think that’s where the frustration is the worst for me, knowing that stuff isn’t forever. It’s not something you get right all the time. We’ve had two opportunities get away. I think that’s the hard thing to swallow. The silver lining is we’ve been running well and that’s encouraging, we’ve just got to keep doing it. It’s still early in the season.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS“The track should be pretty consistent to what we experienced during the 600 with that race being largely run at night. I’m looking forward to being able to build on the setup we had and the foundation we built during the 600. I thought it was a pretty decent starting spot to build off of, and if we make a few minor tweaks we’ll be even better. I also think starting up front will be a great asset. We saw in the 600 that clean air was so important, so this will be our chance to have it and remain up front hopefully. I’m really looking forward to it and I think it’s going to be a really good race based on the racing we’ve seen there the last couple days.” BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 20th IN STANDINGS“Charlotte Motor Speedway round two coming-up. It’s redemption time for Richard Petty Motorsports. Looking at our debrief data from Sunday, we know we brought a really fast Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the track. Our Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 United States Air Force (USAF) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was pretty decent all night until we ended-up having some bad luck with things that were out of our control. I have faith in our team to button everything up and bring another brand-new, fast Chevrolet to go out and compete in Wednesday’s Alsco Uniforms 500. We’ll go out and give it our all, and come back with a couple of changes to get through Turn Three and Four, that was our struggle point. All-in-all, we’re still hitting on some really good notes right now and continuing to build on that momentum. We’ll see what we’ve got!” JERRY BAXTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLGOY CAMARO ZL1 1LE “We have a brand new Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 World Wide Technology (WWT) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Wednesday’s Alsco Uniforms 500 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.”“In Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, our team showed some good speed. Everything was rolling along, and we ended-up having a parts failure. The new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Wednesday – we will take what we learned, and we’ll go on and hopefully run as good as we did at the second Darlington (S.C.) Raceway race.” 
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 24th IN STANDINGS“It’s so great to be back on a normal cadence of racing. I thought the Coca-Cola 600 went alright for us. We had good speed at the beginning of the race, but had a left rear wheel loose that forced us to pit early and we got caught a couple laps down. The cautions just didn’t fall our way to be able and get our laps back. While the 600 is unique in terms of it being the longest race of the year, I think it gave us some good momentum and notes that we can build on for Wednesday night’s race – which is essentially half the distance as Sunday. It took a little bit longer than I think we were going to for that top groove to come in, but I think with the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races this week, it’ll really help rubber the track up and give us a few more lane options. I like racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway and think we can really put a solid race together in our Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE on Wednesday.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS“I’m very curious to see how the shorter race will play out on Wednesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We didn’t start out the Coca-Cola 600 where we wanted to in terms of our setup and handling, but as the race went on Trent (Owens, crew chief) made some really good adjustments and I felt like we had a car that should have been contending at the front as the race went on. We pit just about two laps too early in the final stage before a caution came out that would have given us the Lucky Dog spot and put us back on the lead lap. We’ve got a good starting point for Wednesday night’s race and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can put together in our No. 37 Cottonelle Camaro ZL1 1LE.” 

TAMPA, FL (May 26, 2020) – Brandon Overton finally fought off several tough challengers as he went to Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Victory Lane on Tuesday Night at East Bay Raceway Park. Overton held the lead for the first 12 laps of the 40-lap main event. Jonathan Davenport shot around him on a restart and led for three circuits, but Overton never gave up and recaptured the lead on lap 16 as he went on for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2020.Davenport had to fight off repeated challenges from Jimmy Owens to hold on to the second spot at the end. Owens came home third to notch his sixth consecutive top five finish. Shane Clanton stayed in the mix the entire distance taking fourth at the finish. Kyle Bronson earned the Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race coming from 18th to finish in fifth.Overton was the Performance Friction Brakes Pole Award recipient of the main event and took the lead at the start of the race over Owens and Davenport. Overton was cruising along until a caution on lap 12 slowed the action. On the restart Davenport went to the outside lane, passing both Owens and Overton to take over the lead.Overton came right back three laps later to regain the lead for good, as he had to battle heavy traffic in the closing laps with cars running three-wide in front of him. In the end, he was able to reach the checkers first for his fifth career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory and his second-ever at East Bay.With the win the 29-year-old Georgia native becomes the fifth different winner in five races of the series’ reopening tour. Overton had led the previous two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races, but a shorted-out coil wire and a broken flywheel knocked him out of contention for the win both times.”I was definitely concerned about lapped traffic at the end. That is the problem about leading here, JD rolled me on that restart, but you just don’t know where to go. It just all worked out for me near the end and they [traffic] were where I needed to be, and I was just trying to be patient. I tried to get as close to them as I could without hitting them and I just held on. Thanks to crew for working all day on the racecar after it was torn up last night. My car owner David Wells is here. It’s always good to get a Lucas Oil win for David and Eric [Wells].”Davenport, the three-time and reigning series champion moved closer to Tim McCreadie in the championship points race with his second-place run. “I was trying to find every inch on the racetrack, and I think I just overheated my left rear tire after the last caution. That is when the car got really loose. We got lucky when we got the lead, but I went back to the bottom and I left the door open for him [Overton] to get back around me.”Owens maintains third in the championship points with yet another podium finish for the Tennessee racer.  “We had a really good race car all night long. On that first take-off, the outside was just a little crumbly and we had to run on the bottom quite a bit. I ran a lot of laps on the bottom and then I decided to go to the top. I also made a bad lane choice on that last restart. Everybody’s crew has been working hard and everybody has had their ups and downs, that is just a part of it.”The winner’s Wells Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Allstar Concrete, Crossfit Overton, Big Dog Stump and Tree, Penske Shocks, Dirt Mafia, Sunoco Race Fuels, Convenient Lube, and EZ Go.Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards, Earl Pearson Jr., Devin Moran, and Tanner English.Owens leads the Riggs Drilling Solution points heading into the final night at East Bay on Wednesday. He leads davenport by 70 points in the chase for the $5,000 first place prize.Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
GEICO East Bay Nationals – presented by Brandon Ford
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton / 14.546 seconds 
Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens / 14.495 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):   1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 3. 50-Shanon Buckingham[3]; 4. 14-Josh Richards[5]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 7. 20B-Todd Brennan[6]; 8. 311-Ken Monahan[8]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 5. 25W-Allen Weisser[6]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 7. 1V-Vic Hill[7]; 8. (DNS) 29-Larry Grube

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 3. 111-Steven Roberts[5]; 4. 33J-Jeff Mathews[2]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 7. 91S-Blake Naylor[8]; 8. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 3. 6S-Blake Spencer[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 89-GR Smith[5]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 7. F15-Jeremy Conaway[7] 

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer):  1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 25W-Allen Weisser[2]; 5. 1V-Vic Hill[6]; 6. 20B-Todd Brennan[5]; 7. (DNS) 311-Ken Monahan; 8. (DNS) 29-Larry Grube

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 3. 89-GR Smith[2]; 4. 91S-Blake Naylor[5]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 6. F15-Jeremy Conaway[6]; 7. (DNS) 25Z-Mason Zeigler

May 26, 2020 | Featured, Megan Meyer, Race Results

2019 Top Alcohol Dragster winner, Megan Meyer, cruised to victory this weekend at the Keurig Dr Pepper Lone Star Nationals presented by Driven Automotive Protection at the Texas Motorplex. Megan was the first winner of a motorsports race in the state of Texas since every major sporting event was postponed or cancelled in early March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Central Lucas Oil Regional event was able to be held after many weeks of conversation between the Texas Motorplex ownership team and Governor Greg Abbott’s office.

After the first day of qualifying, Megan and her sister, Rachel Meyer, sat atop the Top Alcohol Dragster field in the first and third spots, respectively. In the second session on Friday Megan made the quickest pass of the session, 5.270 seconds at 275.45 mph and held on to the top qualifying spot in a crowded field of Top Alcohol Dragsters. In the final Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying session, Rachel jumped to the top spot posting a pass at 5.240 seconds at 272.12 mph. However, Megan reclaimed the No. 1 qualifier in the next pair of dragsters with an event quickest and fastest run of 5.165 seconds at 277.32 mph, to claim the low qualifier bonus money.

The Meyer sisters sat first and second, respectively, going into the opening round of eliminations for prize money and valuable Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series points that contribute to the prestigious JEGS AllStars race later on this year. Rachel was defeated by Dean Dubbin, who was trying to pass her up for the second spot in the AllStars race but fell short to the Meyer sisters. Dean’s 5.416 second pass was enough as Rachel slowed to 5.472 seconds in the heat of the day.

Megan took out Buddy Domingue in the first round in her NGK Spark Plugs powered nitro-dragster when she ran him down with a winning elapsed time of 5.318 seconds to his 5.387 seconds. Her run was the quickest pass of the first round and set up semifinal race with No. 4 qualifier James Stevens. In the semis Megan was nearly perfect off the starting line with a .006 reaction time and combined that with the quickest run of eliminations, a 5.242 second pass.

In the final round she avenged a first round upset loss by her sister Rachel to Dean Dubbin outrunning the racer from Minnesota to the victory. Her winning time of 5.198 seconds was the quickest of eliminations.

“It was such a long, exhausting, fun weekend in Texas,” said Megan. “I think this was the perfect event to restart the NHRA season. The teams wore masks on the starting line, we maintained distance in the staging lanes, and we’re already spread apart by 9′ trailers in the pits. Thankfully spectators were allowed to come watch on Saturday and we got to meet a few friendly faces. This Randy Meyer Racing team wouldn’t be the same without my crew guys. We have the best parts money can buy, but without the camaraderie we have, we wouldn’t be successful. They pushed through the heat and late nights to make 6 test hits, 3 qualifiers and 3 rounds in 3 days.”

The team will take a two-month break before their next outing in Columbus, OH for their next Lucas Oil Regional event. Megan and Rachel are currently first and second in the Central Regional series, and second and third, respectively, in the NHRA National standings.

Myatt Snider Rallies from Late Race Incident to Score Top Ten Finish in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 TaxSlayer Chevrolet at Charlotte Motor Speedway

10th    17th   15th

“What a wild night! I can’t thank my crew chief, Andy Street, and all my Richard Childress Racing guys enough for preparing such a fast TaxSlayer Chevrolet for me. I drove about 180 perfect laps and made a mistake with about 20 laps to go, which unfortunately damaged our TaxSlayer Chevrolet. Despite our damage, we never gave up and were able to fight our way back to a top ten finish. I’m really excited for the speed we are bringing to the racetrack and can’t wait to slay it next week at Bristol Motor Speedway.” -Myatt Snider

Inside Line Promotions – ELDON, Mo. (May 25, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi produced his first feature victory of the season on Sunday evening to cap a busy holiday weekend.

Scelzi led the majority of the ASCS Sooner Region and ASCS Warrior Region event during his debut at Lake Ozark Speedway, recording his first win of the year during what has been an unimaginable start to 2020.

“Rolling into this season back in February my goal was to win 10 races,” he said. “Right now I just cracked 10 races that we’ve raced. There’s no certainty of anything. To be able to get a win during a pandemic and in a time they aren’t allowing a full capacity of fans, it was very different. But it was meaningful to be able to get a win right now.”

Scelzi powered from fifth to second place during his heat race to earn a spot into the feature redraw.

“We’ve been changing some stuff around to help us out in the moisture,” he said. “We’ve struggled getting a balance when the track has grip. Earlier Sunday we changed motors and knew there were quite a few storms coming. We left late and pulled into the track at the drivers meeting. It was waiting on the weather all night wondering what was going to happen. We drew the No. 36, which started me fifth in our heat race. Halfway through the heats it started raining. I only had two heats before mine so the track had some grip for my heat. We went fifth to second, which was great.”

Scelzi pulled the No. 1 during the feature redraw to garner the pole position for the 40-lap A Main.

“I got the jump and led the first half right around the bottom,” he said. “As the bottom got slower we had to move around. The middle and top were dirty. There wasn’t a defined line. Sam (Hafertepe Jr.) got by me on Lap 24. I got my wing back and ran the middle and top in turns one and two and the bottom in turns three and four. We were able to run him back down and take the lead on Lap 30. From there on it was pretty thick traffic to the end. I was able to put a handful of cars between us. It was special to be able to pass someone like Sam, who is one of the top 360 racers out there.”

The victory tied a bow on a weekend that also featured a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series doubleheader at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. A whopping 61 competitors entered the event.

“On Friday we made good laps in qualifying, but didn’t have mile per hour; we just didn’t have speed,” he said. “With 60-plus cars that put us in a non-qualifier. It was tough to pass and we finished fourth. That put us in the C Main and we drove from 11^th to sixth. I didn’t feel like we were off car-wise; we just didn’t have the speed we needed.”

Scelzi improved his results on Saturday, qualifying eighth quickest in his group and placing fourth in a heat race to lock into the A Main.

“I felt like we were decent in qualifying and we were really good in the heat,” he said. “I raced hard for third, but couldn’t get by him. They reworked the track before the main event and we were just really tight. About midway through the race we had dropped back some and I felt like we were in a position where we didn’t want to tear up equipment so we pulled off early.”

Next up for the team is a World of Outlaws doubleheader at Lake Ozark Speedway this Friday and Saturday.

KESELOWSKI WON THE CROWN JEWEL, COCA-COLA 600    CHARLOTTE, NC – May 25, 2020 – Brad Keselowski won the crown jewel, Coca-Cola 600, last night for the first time in his career while capturing Ford’s 690th all-time win in NASCAR Cup Series competition. The win also marked the Ford Mustang’s fourth win of the season in seven starts.

“Congratulations to Roger, Brad, Jeremy, and the No. 2 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Brad and the team made a last-minute strategy call and it paid off big time. It was a long night, but our teams continued to make adjustments in order to be in position to win at the end. We are blessed to live in this country and honor all the brave men and women that are no longer with us.”

Keselowski started in the back of the field and gradually worked his way up to the front at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in a battle with Chase Elliott at the end. A late race caution came out causing the race to go into overtime. Keselowski and crew chief, Jeremy Bullins chose to gamble and stay out on older tires, as Elliott elected to pit for fresh tires. On lap 404, Keselowski lined up in front of Alex Bowman on the inside line, next to veteran Jimmy Johnson and led eight cars that stayed out on older tires. With a great push, Keselowski was able to get out front, in the clean air to surge ahead of Johnson and take the checked flag by .293 seconds.

“It means a lot to me, but I can’t help but think about the Reep family and Donovan,” Keselowski commented in a post-race interview. “I know the race ran really late, but Memorial Day is about a lot more than racing, but we’re glad to be able to do cool things like racing because of the freedom provided by those willing to make the sacrifices. It’s the Coke 600 and this leaves only one major left for me, the Daytona 500, so we’re checking them off. I know they’re really happy because Miller Lite goes with Memorial Day, but I’m happy for Ford and everybody who just works their butt off at Team Penske. The pit crew at the end, the yellow right before the last lap, had a blazing stop to get us up front and put us in position. All these things just came together, and I’m tickled to death. It’s a little overwhelming to be honest.”

Over the course of the stretched out 607.5 mile race, the Ford Mustangs led 54 out of the 405-laps, led by Stage 3 winner Joey Logano with 26 laps, followed by Team Penske teammate Keselowski with 21, Matt DiBenedetto of Wood Brother’s Racing led six, and John Hunter Nemechek from Front Row Motorsports with one.

Ford Performance finished with four Ford Mustangs in the top-10: Keselowski (P1), Ryan Blaney (P3), current driver points leader, Kevin Harvick (P5), and Chris Buescher in (P10).

To those that have served and made the ultimate sacrifice for our great country, God Bless and Thank you. In remembrance of Memorial Day, SSGT Donovan Reep, was honored on Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford Mustang, in addition all NASCAR Cup teams honored a service member.

NASCAR returns to Charlotte tonight with the Xfinity race and on Wednesday, May 27th for the Alsco Uniforms 500 Cup race. Reference the full 2020 schedule on Roushyates.com.  27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 385 WINS – 357 POLES!  *Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

About Roush Yates Engines   Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.   Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.   With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.   3 Series – 22 Teams – 81 Races

May 25, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/FVP team had an up-and-down day in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway before ending up 17^th at the finish.

The day started on the down side as the Menards Mustang was super loose in the first qualifying session held since the Cup Series resumed racing following a 10-week halt due to the coronavirus. DiBenedetto lost control and bounced off the wall, forcing the team to pull out a back-up Mustang.

That meant he had to start the 600-mile marathon from the rear of the pack.

The drop of the green flag was the start of an upswing for DiBenedetto and the Menards/FVP team. He made up 16 positions before the caution flag flew at Lap 20.

By Lap 30 he was up to 15^th place and was running there on Lap 49 when the race was halted for 68 minutes due to rain.

Back on the track, DiBenedetto continued to struggle with a loose handling condition and dropped to 20^th place, so when the caution flag flew just after Lap 100 for the end of Stage One, he headed to pit road for a series of adjustments to the No. 21 Mustang. 
 
He returned to the track and passed several cars, but at the end of Stage Two was running 23^rd, one lap down.
 
Throughout most of the third 100-lap Stage, DiBenedetto ran in the free-pass position and finally was able to rejoin the lead lap when the caution flag flew at Lap 277 for a spin by Matt Kenseth. 
 
Back on the move forward, he finished the third 100-lap Stage in 15^th place.
  
A call to take just two tires on the pit stop at the end of the Stage propelled DiBenedetto into the lead, and he led Laps 304-306 under the caution flag and restarted as the leader.
 
He led three more laps once the green flag flew again before the drivers who took four tires overtook him.
 
DiBenedetto ran mostly in the top 10 over the final 100 laps. He was in 11^th place when the caution flag flew with two of the scheduled 400 laps remaining for a blown tire by William Byron.
 
That sent the race into overtime.
 
DiBenedetto stayed on the track while other pitted for fresh tires, so he restarted seventh for the green-white-checkered-flag run to the finish.
 
But the final two laps didn’t work out in his favor, and he wound up 18^th at the finish. He picked up one spot when the car of apparent runner-up Jimmie Johnson was disqualified for failing a post-race inspection.
 
Eddie Wood said he was proud of his team’s efforts throughout the day on Sunday.

 “They never gave up,” he said. “We went from having to go to a back-up car to losing a lap to leading the race.

 “We were able to honor Major Lucas Gruenther as part of the 600 Miles of Remembrance, and the sport as a whole did a nice job of honoring all the servicemembers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

 “And we congratulate Brad Keselowski, Jeremy Bullins and Team Penske on their well-deserved victory.”
 
DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team, now 11^th in the Cup standings, return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday night for a 500-kilometer (312-mile) race that will be broadcast on FOX Sports One. 
 

Strong Stage Points Day for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Team in Season’s Longest Race

“The Coca-Cola 600 is one of my favorite races of the year because Charlotte Motor Speedway is my home track, and there is nothing that compares to racing on Memorial Day weekend and honoring our military. I feel so honored to be able to race this weekend for Chief Special Warfare Operator Eric F. Shellenberger with a very patriotic Coca-Cola paint scheme. I feel really good overall, physically, which is a good thing after a 600-mile race. We ran in the top 10 all night, and earned Stage points at the conclusion of Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3. We had a really solid No. 3 Coca-Cola Chevrolet. We ran up front in the top five, and we ran some of the fastest times of the race. I’m bummed that we ran that strong all night long and then gave it away at the end. When the caution flag came out at the end of the race, we decided that if a couple of cars pitted we were going to stay out. I actually said that if all of the cars stayed out, I was going to pit. Not all of the cars stayed out, though. I thought more would stay out. In hindsight, we probably should have came in and got two tires. The No. 18 car was running one position in front of us, came and got two and ended up fifth. You just never know. If you get the outside it makes a difference. My teammate, Tyler Reddick, got the outside and ended up being able to maintain. I should have known. We were too tight at the end of the race. I drove the wheels off of it, and when the caution came out we were just a little overconfident. We wanted another good finish. It worked for us at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. All in all, we had a top 10 car. We ran eighth to ninth on average all night long. It was still a good effort, and I’m excited about having the chance to come back here for a mid-week race on Wednesday. We have good cars at RCR. We have proven that we can run up front. We just have to get those finishes.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick Earns Top-10 Finish in First Coca-Cola 600 with Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Team

“Well, the longest night of racing is in the books. I’m proud of the effort our No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team gave tonight. We fought hard all night to make our car better, and we took a gamble at the end, which almost paid off for us. The track just didn’t do quite what I hoped it would do tonight, but we still found a way to get a top 10 out of the race. We fired off really strong tonight and had a shot at the pole in qualifying. After the brief rain storm, it was tough to get the balance nailed down to where we needed it to be. I was too loose in Turns 1 and 2 but then too tight in Turns 3 and 4. We tried a lot of different adjustments and strategy calls to try to adjust the handling, and hit on something during that second to last caution of the night. Randall Burnett and my team were able to get our car loosened up just enough for me to run up through the field from 15th to 10th. From there, we decided to stay out and go for it on that green-white-checkered, and almost got a top-five finish out of it. I learned a lot tonight that I think we can take into account when we return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday to help with our long run handling and speed. This is definitely a finish we can build on. 400 laps and 600 miles are done, and we’ll be ready to come back on Wednesday night. It was an honor to have SGT. Norman L. Tollett’s name above my windshield tonight, and I hope we made his friends and family proud.”-Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTESMAY 25, 2020 
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER2nd     JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE 3rd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE8th      KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE 9th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE15th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Brad Keselowski (Ford)2nd    Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)3rd     Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)4th      Ryan Blaney (Ford)5th     Kyle Busch (Toyota)  The NASCAR Cup Series season continues with a return visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Alsco Uniforms 500 on Wednesday, May 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2ndYOU’RE BRINGING HOME SECOND. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU SAW YOUR TEAMMATE DUCK DOWN AND GO TO PIT ROAD? “When that pit stop happened at the end, it’s so hard to know what the right thing to do is. We were talking about it too maybe for ourselves, but Cliff (Daniels) had a great sense of the right call to make. I feel for Chase (Elliott). He had such a great car on Wednesday, and to be leading here and have the caution come out with a couple to go, I feel bad for him. But I’m very proud of my team, very proud of everybody on this Ally Chevrolet. Second is OK – I’m very proud of the effort we’re putting in. But second, stinks. It’s tough being this close to victory lane, but we’re knocking on the door and we’ll get there.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd“Just trying to make the best decision you can and those guys are going to do the opposite of whatever we do. That’s just part of it. You make decisions and live with them. It wasn’t the pit call – I think being on offense is fine. Like I said, those guys are going to do whatever the opposite of what you do. It’s part of it.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th“We got the pole with the GEARWRENCH Chevy and lead some laps; it was great to be up front and had good pace early. After the rain delay we just got buried in some dirty-air back in traffic. We just got to get our car a little better to maneuver in traffic. We just need the front tires front aero to be a little better in dirty-air. I know Matt McCall my guys are going to work on it; I’m gonna work on it, but a top-10 after all that, I will take it. Thanks again everybody at Ganassi, GEARWRENCH, Chevy and Monster Energy. Top-10 we will take it!” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“Well, the longest night of racing is in the books. I’m proud of the effort our No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team gave tonight. We fought hard all night to make our car better, and we took a gamble there at the end, which almost paid off for us. The track just didn’t do quite what I hoped it would do tonight, but we still found a way to get a top 10 out of the race. We fired off really strong tonight and had a shot at the pole in qualifying. After the brief rain storm, it was tough to get the balance nailed down to where we needed it to be. I would be too loose in Turns 1 and 2 but then too tight in Turns 3 and 4. We tried a lot of different adjustments and strategy calls to try to adjust the handling, and hit on something during that second to last caution of the night. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and my team were able to get our car loosened up just enough for me to run up through the field from 15^th to 10^th. From there, we decided to stay out and go for it on that green-white-checkered, and almost got a top-five finish out of it. I learned a lot tonight that I think we can take into account when we return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday to help with our long run handling, but this is definitely a finish we can build on. 400 laps and 600 miles are done, and we’ll be ready to come back on Wednesday night. It was an honor to have SGT. Norman L. Tollett’s name above my windshield tonight, and I hope we made his friends and family proud.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“I feel really good, overall, physically, so that’s a good thing. We ran in the top-10 all night. We had a really solid car. We showed sometimes when we were up front in the top-five, we ran some of the fastest laps of the race at times. Bummed when you go all night long running like that and give it away at the end. Our call was if a couple pitted, we were going to stay out. I actually said if all of them stay out, I’m pitting. Not all of them stayed out; I thought more would stay out. Probably should have came and got two tires. The 18 (Kyle Busch) was running one position in front of us, came and got two, and ended up fifth. You never know – my teammate Reddick had the outside and ended up being able to maintain and run ninth. We were too tight at the end and I kind of drove the wheels off of it, and the caution came out. Just a little over-confident, I wanted to get another good finish. It worked for us at Vegas. But all-in-all, we had a top-10 car. I want to say we were eighth or ninth all night on average. I’ve got to thank Coca-Cola, all of our partners at RCR, Dow, Bass Pro Shops – 600 miles in remembrance today was really cool. Wednesday should be a good one for us. We’ll turn it around. We have good cars. We can prove that we run up front, we just need to get those finishes.”  ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 20th“That finish does not show how great of a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE we had today in Charlotte. We won two stages, led over 160 laps and really had a solid car. We would get loose or tight in certain areas, but Greg (Ives) and the guys made some good adjustments on pit road. At the end there, it just went straight. Not much I could do with that and unfortunately don’t have a finish to show how strong we were today. We learned a lot and hopefully can come back strong on Wednesday.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 21st“We just shredded a left rear tire there. We had a bit of a tire rub when we went green with almost 50 to go, so I don’t know why it gave out with only a couple laps left after making it that long. I feel really bad though that it cost Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team. We had a fast Liberty Chevy up until that point.” TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 26th“First and foremost, the Coca-Cola 600 is about so much more than ourselves and it was an honor to have SPC Richard C. Emmons III on our car. While we missed having his family at the track with us, hopefully we were able to honor them the best we could. Tonight wasn’t what we were looking for. The balance of our GEICO Military Camaro ZL1 1LE was pretty good, but unfortunately, we had to make an unscheduled pit stop under green in Stage 1 and never were able to recover. We usually don’t see a lot of cautions at Charlotte and that trend proved to be the same again. Just couldn’t dig ourselves out of the hole. It’s a shame, because I thought we were going to have a good night after a solid qualifying effort. The positive is we do have a good baseline setup for Wednesday night and we will try to have a better result then.” BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by mechanical issue; Finished 39th “Well, what a bummer. Tonight wasn’t our night. We burned-up a hub, and it put us way behind. I don’t know if we had other issues going on with the car or what, but it wasn’t worth the risk. I thought we had a really good car, especially before all this stuff happened. We were running some really good lap times, so I was excited to try and get some track position and go race with our Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1 1LE. But sometimes you’re the bat and sometimes you’re the ball; tonight we were the ball. I think we have a good baseline of what we need for Wednesday when we come back. I know it’s going to be a little different circumstances and conditions during the day, but all-in-all, I’m proud of the effort. It’s just one of those things that are out of our control and freak stuff happens. We’ll come right back here Wednesday – a little bit different setup to get this thing underneath us and get all the bad juju out of the way. We’ll rebound from this and go get them!” 

NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING NOTESMAY 24, 2020 
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE 2nd     JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE3rd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE 4th      MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE 5th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE 6th      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE10th    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Kurt Busch (Chevrolet)2nd     Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)3rd     Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)4th      Matt Kenseth (Chevrolet)5th      Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet) KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Pole WinnerIT WAS A VERY FAST RACE CAR FOR KURT BUSCH – 28th CAREER POLE. JIMMIE JOHNSON DOWN HERE GIVING YOU A HARD TIME, YOU BUMPED HIM OFF THE POLE THERE. IS THIS CAR IN MORE RACE TRIM OR QUALIFYING TRIM WITH ALL THAT SPEED?“I’m just so proud of Matt McCall and all our guys and the way we have to communicate right now, and get through everything as far as those last-minute details and those fine adjustments. But, wow, what a Chevrolet brigade up front. This is pretty sweet! GEARWRENCH is on our car only a few times a year and I really want to push them up front. This is an awesome pole. I was more geared up, in my mind, towards downforce and being ready for 600 miles, so this means Matt McCall has something up his sleeve and we should be good tonight. This is a great run and happy birthday, Chip.!”  BOWTIE BULLETS·       This marks Kurt Busch’s 28th career pole in the NASCAR Cup Series and his first for Chip Ganassi Racing.·       The 2020 Coca-Cola 600 pole is the third for the Camaro ZL1 1LE this season. ·       This is Chevrolet’s 34th pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway and 717th all-time in NASCAR’s premier series.  FOX will telecast the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway live tonight at 6:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage of the 400-lap, 600-mile race can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCECOCA-COLA 600CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA MAY 24, 2020
BOWTIE BULLETS:·       In what was originally called the World 600, Joe Lee Johnson won the inaugural 600-mile race on June 19, 1960 in a Chevrolet Impala.  ·       Since then, Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with 24 victories in the annual Coca-Cola 600, one of the NASCAR Cup Series crown jewel races. ·       Team Chevy drivers have led the field to the green 33 times at the annual Memorial Day event. The most recent pole-winner was William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Patriotic Camaro ZL1 1LE, at last year’s race in 2019. The 2019 Coca-Cola 600 pole makes him the youngest Charlotte Motor Speedway pole winner to date (21 years, 4 months, 27 days).  ·       Chevrolet has won the longest NASCAR Cup Series race on the circuit with multiple models including Monte Carlo, Lumina, Monte Carlo SS, and most recently the Chevy SS. 
LONG DISTANCE ACHIEVERS:·       To date, Darrell Waltrip has the most Coca-Cola 600 victories of all drivers with five – all in Chevrolets (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989). ·       Jeff Gordon captured his first NASCAR Cup career win at the Coca-Cola 600 in 1994. He went on to win that event two more times (1997, ’98). All three victories were in Chevrolets. ·       Career-long Chevrolet driver and seven-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, leads all active drivers with four Coca-Cola 600-mile race victories to his credit (2003, 2004, 2005, 2014).
MULTIPLE TEAM CHEVY WINNERS:·       Hendrick Motorsports has the most Coca-Cola 600 victories of any team with 11 in Chevrolets (1988, 1989, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2003–2005, 2007, 2012, 2014). Jimmie Johnson’s most recent win of this race was in 2014. ·       Richard Childress Racing ranks second with six Coca-Cola 600 wins in Chevrolets (1986, 1992, 1993, 2011, 2013, 2017). Most recently, Austin Dillon took the checkered in 2017. TUNE-IN:FOX will telecast the 400-lap Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway live at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, May 24. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 
QUOTABLE QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGSBOWMAN ON THE TRANSITION FROM DARLINGTON TO CHARLOTTE:“This weekend will be a little different since we are able to qualify. That will give us a little more knowledge about the car before taking the green flag. We had strong cars in Darlington, and I am confident that everyone back at Hendrick Motorsports is building dominant Chevrolets for the Charlotte events.”  BOWMAN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RACING ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND:“It is always special honoring the men and women in the Armed Forces, and we will have United States Army Staff Sgt. Scott W. Brunkhorst on our ChevyGoods.com/NOCO machine. Scott passed away in 2010 from injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an IED. It will be an honor having him on board and hopefully we can put the car in victory lane for his family and friends.”  CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 5th IN STANDINGSELLIOTT ON THE TRADITION OF RACING ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND:“The 600 is a race I always look forward to. It’s great to be a small part of what NASCAR does around Memorial Day. The sport has done a great job recognizing the real heroes. The very least we can do is show appreciation for all the men and women who are serving our country. We can never say thank you to them enough. I look forward to continuing the tradition this weekend.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGS“I look forward to the 600, it is always a challenge mentally and physically for the drivers and the crews. I tend to break-up the race into two sectors; daytime and nighttime, the race starts at 6pm, sunset around 8pm and finish around 10pm. With the 600 miles and the way the stages are broken into 100 lap segments, that’s the pit strategy side of things. You don’t know when a caution will come out, but the pit strategy is pretty straight forward on what you would do through those segments. You stay busy, focusing on the tire wear the fuel burn-off, gaining positions on-track and you’re always looking forward to that next pit stop to make adjustments, because the track changes throughout the run with the transition from day to night. It is a challenge all the way through.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON RACING AT CHARLOTTE AND THE NO. 24 TEAM’S MENTALITY: “The races at Charlotte are going to be critical for our team. There are a lot of points up for grabs at the 600 and we need to keep building those points to overcome misfortune from earlier in the season. It’s a home race for me as well so there’s a bit of added motivation to run up front. We ran well there last year in both the All-Star Race and the 600 so I’m excited that we’ll have back-to-back races there. I think we will definitely be in contention for the win and that’s an exciting feeling.” BYRON ON THE MEANING OF RACING ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: “Racing on Memorial Day weekend is always special. It’s a time for us to try do something small to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can continue to do what we love. It’s also special for me, not only because I’m racing where I grew up, but because I’m able to honor those who share connections to Liberty University. It gives me even more motivation and satisfaction to be able to run well, and I hope I’m able to make them proud again on Sunday.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGSTHIS WILL BE YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE RACING IN THE COCA-COLA 600, ON OF NASCAR’S LONGEST RACES. HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THAT?“I’m looking forward to my first attempt at the Coca-Cola 600 and the challenges it will bring. I’ve never experienced a race that long before, so it’s going to be a big learning experience for me, especially with how the track will change over the course of the race. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a temperature-sensitive track, so we need to be ready since the way the track is at the start of the night likely won’t be the same at the end of the night. We’ll need to be able to adjust our car for that. I’m excited to be part of the show. It’s an honor to be carrying SGT Norman L. Tollett’s name across my windshield for the race, and I hope we can make his family and friends proud.” YOU THEN TURN AROUND AND RACE CHARLOTTE AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. HOW HAVE THESE MID-WEEK RACES GONE FOR YOU? “It has been really interesting and fun to have these mid-week races. They keep us on our toes, even though it’s the same track being raced so close together. Both Darlington and Charlotte are tracks affected by temperature and day versus night conditions, so it almost comes off as two different places. For this week, we should be able to pull some additional notes from the Coke 600 for Wednesday’s race since we will have a big portion of that race ran in the nighttime, as long as the temperature is close to the same on both nights.” BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 18th IN STANDINGS“To be able to honor Captain Lawrence E. Dickson at the Coca-Cola 600 is remarkable. It’s truly an honor hearing his story – how he was a pioneer, a warrior, and an all-around great American hero. It is our job, and our duty at Richard Petty Motorsports to perform at the best levels that we can know how to represent him, and make his family proud for everything that he has done. We will showcase just how big he was to this country at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. I’m excited, I cannot wait!”
JERRY BAXTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE“After The Real Heroes 400 at the Darlington Raceway, we re-grouped – our Richard Petty Motorsports team did a better job in the Toyota 500 with the No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, did a better job driving, the pit crew was on it, and we had our best run of the year. We have a new Chevrolet going into the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Everybody’s moods are up and Bubba’s excited. Updates to follow, hope it’s good!”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 21st IN STANDINGSBIG WEEKEND FOR YOU GOING TO YOUR HOMETOWN TRACK WITH A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME.“It is really cool to have a brand like Coca-Cola behind you at the Coke 600. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity. This is special to me. It’s in my backyard. I have a lot of friends and family watching this race. A couple years back, winning the Coca-Cola 600, there was nothing like it. Being tied with Coca-Cola from the beginning of my Cup Series career and getting to represent Coca-Cola in a full paint out with a patriotic scheme, it’s special. We have an awesome looking car for the 600 that spotlights the true meaning of the holiday.” HOW HARD IS IT TO CHASE TRACK CONDITIONS IN THE COCA-COLA60? IT’S THE LONGEST RACE OF THE SEASON.“It is difficult. It’s a long day, and you’ve really got to stay up-to-date with your car and be ahead of the adjustments. Anything can happen in 600 miles, so you are always in the race. That is the good part of it. Stage racing is fun and interesting there also.” WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE ABLE TO RACE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY?“I’ve been so fortunate to be able to have come here since I was a little kid and watch races right inside turn one from my grandfather’s condo. I’ve seen so many laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway and have seen a lot of guys from RCR run well at the track. I watched Jimmie Johnson dominate for years. It’s been a good track for me and I always enjoy coming to Charlotte Motor Speedway. This year, it’s even more special to have the opportunity to race and I have to commend NASCAR for all of the steps they’ve taken to put protocols into place that get us back racing safely.” TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 22nd IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HEADING INTO CHARLOTTE AND THE LONGEST RACE OF THE SEASON?“The Coke 600 is every bit of five and a half hours, starting in the daytime and ending in the nighttime. There will be a lot of changing positions, depending on if you set up your car for the day or night. I expect quite a bit of excitement on restarts and NASCAR has done a good job of adding the traction compound to help the racing. Last season in this race, my heart rate averaged 150, which is about the same as running or doing a solid workout for five plus hours. I’ve been putting in a lot of work and preparation of my body to go this many races in a row, and that is an important part of being a race car driver. The goal on Sunday for our GEICO Military team is to be consistent and continue the positive momentum we have been gaining.”
YOU WILL RUN A SPECIAL GEICO MILITARY PAINT SCHEME THIS WEEKEND, HONORING OUR COUNTRY’S SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY? “Our GEICO Military paint scheme – in a cool new desert tan color – was built to honor those men and women who serve our country. It is so much fun being part of a sport that honors those outside of ourselves. From the last two races of honoring those on the medical front lines to now honoring those in the military, it’s a privilege to highlight the real-life heroes. It is special every year to have a fallen soldier’s name on our front windshield, and this season to have another connection to our shop is special. Specialist Richie Emmons (honoree) actually served in the Army with one of our shop fabricators and while we normally have the family at the track with us for the race, we will still honor them the best we can.” RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 23rd IN STANDINGS“The Coca-Cola 600 is a really special race for a lot of reasons. While we aren’t able to host families of fallen soldiers, to still be able to have PFC Barrett Austin on our No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE for 600 miles is very humbling. I’ve had a lot of success at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 600 specifically and I’m looking forward to continuing that at JTG Daugherty Racing this weekend. While the Darlington races may not have felt normal to us being earlier in the season and during the day versus during at night, the 600 is a race that’s been continuously on Memorial Day Weekend throughout my whole career. We’re definitely getting back into the swing of the season and continuing so work on the speed we have on our intermediate track program. It’s been so great to get back to racing after so many weeks off and while we miss the fans, we hope we can put on a good show on Sunday afternoon.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 SCOTT PRODUCTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 32nd IN STANDINGS“We’re still searching for that rabbit’s foot, but I’m really proud of the work that everyone has put in at JTG Daugherty Racing this season. Our finishing positions may not reflect how our races have gone, but in all of our DNF’s this season, we’ve been running in the top-10 before our bad luck struck. Running third in the Daytona 500 on the second to last lap before getting wrecked, running second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before a blown engine, and running tenth after restarting 14^th when our engine failed at Darlington on Wednesday night. Our speed is there, our determination is there, and we just need a little bit of luck to show for it. I’m proud to continue with the Memorial Day Weekend Coca-Cola 600 tradition of having Cpl. Kyle Schneider on our No. 37 Scott Brand Camaro ZL1 1LE. We’ve got an awesome paint scheme to honor the weekend, and I’m ready to get back on track on Sunday afternoon for the longest race of the season with a great run.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 33rd IN STANDINGS“The Coke 600 is one of the toughest races we run all year. It’s usually hot and slick to start the race, and then we finish late into the night when the track usually picks up speed and grip, and you have to keep up with the handling through all those changes to be good. It’s one of those races where you have to run hard all day to keep your track position, and then be ready to keep up with the changes to still be good at the end. The second Darlington didn’t go quite as good for us, but we continued to learn some things and I’m looking forward to getting on track at Charlotte for another chance to learn as a team.”

Richard Childress Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway … Richard Childress has earned a total of 17 race wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including eight points-paying victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, four non-points-paying All-Star race wins and five NASCAR Xfinity Series wins. The organization’s most recent victories came in 2019 when Tyler Reddick won the Alsco 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race during his championship run, and in 2017 when Austin Dillon captured the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend to earn his career-first Cup Series victory. 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 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, May 24, beginning at 6 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  The NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will be televised live Monday, May 25, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The NASCAR Cup Series Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway will be televised live Wednesday, May 27, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Austin Dillon at Charlotte Motor Speedway … Austin Dillon earned his career-first win in the NASCAR Cup Series with a victory in the Coca-Cola 600 in May 2017. A native of North Carolina, Dillon has competed in 10 NASCAR Cup Series races at his hometown track, earning two top-10 finishes. He is a two-time winner at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Dillon grew up watching races at Charlotte Motor Speedway from his grandfather’s condo, which overlooks the racetrack. Honoring Our Heroes With Coca-Cola … Every Memorial Day, Coca-Cola is proud to support America’s frontline heroes and their families, especially the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. The No. 3 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 features a poignant quote from President James Garfield’s speech in Arlington Cemetery on the first-ever Memorial Day in 1868. This quote speaks to the courage and dedication all servicemen and service women have as they protect us each and every day.  “We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”- James A. Garfield With this car design, Coca-Cola is not only paying tribute to the long-standing traditions of Memorial Day, but also shining a spotlight on the true meaning of the holiday by honoring all the military men and women who died in service for their country and the families they left behind.  The design of the car represents the strength and courage of America’s military heroes. From the red, white and blue color scheme, to the five stars around the car representing the branches of the military, to the bottle wrapped in a ribbon, to the future-President Garfield’s speech at the first Memorial Day remembrance at Arlington Cemetery, we wanted to pay homage with symbols of reverence for those service members who sacrificed their lives for our great nation. To support frontline heroes across the nation, The Coca-Cola Company is partnering with the USO and the American Red Cross by donating $500,000 to support frontline heroes battling COVID-19. While we can’t be together to celebrate Memorial Day, together we can honor America’s frontline heroes. For more information, visit https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/coca-cola-returns-to-airwaves-to-support-nations-heroes 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 Teams up with GM BuyPower Card to Help Local Community … Through his collaboration with the GM BuyPower Card, Austin Dillon is coming to the aid of his local community with a contribution to Pit Stops for Hope. Pit Stops for Hope is a charitable collaboration within the racing community focused on addressing educational and nutritional needs among the youth. Funds from the contribution will provide meals and educational materials to families struggling with various hardships associated with COVID-19 in the Piedmont-Triad and Charlotte areas. To learn more about Pit Stops for Hope or to make a contribution, visit  www.pitstopsforhope.org. 600 Miles of Remembrance … Dillon and the No. 3 team will participate in 600 Miles of Remembrance on Memorial Day Weekend. Dillon’s name will be replaced on his race car windshield header with the name of a fallen military service member for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 3 team will feature Chief Special Warfare Operator Navy SEAL Eric F. Shellenberger. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:Big weekend for you going to your hometown track with a special paint scheme …“It is really cool to have a brand like Coca-Cola behind you at the Coke 600. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity. This is special to me. It’s in my backyard. I have a lot of friends and family watching this race. A couple years back, winning the Coca-Cola 600, there was nothing like it. Being tied with Coca-Cola from the beginning of my Cup Series career and getting to represent Coca-Cola in a full paint out with a patriotic scheme, it’s special. We have an awesome looking car for the 600 that spotlights the true meaning of the holiday.”How hard is it to chase track conditions in the Coca-Cola 600? It’s the longest race of the season …  “It is difficult. It’s a long day, and you’ve really got to stay up-to-date with your car and be ahead of the adjustments. Anything can happen in 600 miles, so you are always in the race. That is the good part of it. Stage racing is fun and interesting there also.” What does it mean to you to be able to race at Charlotte Motor Speedway?“I’ve been so fortunate to be able to have come here since I was a little kid and watch races right inside turn one from my grandfather’s condo. I’ve seen so many laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway and have seen a lot of guys from RCR run well at the track. I watched Jimmie Johnson dominate for years. It’s been a good track for me and I always enjoy coming to Charlotte Motor Speedway. This year, it’s even more special to have the opportunity to race and I have to commend NASCAR for all of the steps they’ve taken to put protocols into place that get us back racing safely.”

Tyler Reddick at Charlotte Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick will be making his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway during this Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Reddick and his crew chief, Randall Burnett, found success at the 1.5-mile speedway last year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and won the June race there together. The two-time Xfinity Series champion has two additional series starts and one additional top-10 finish at the track. Reddick also has two NASCAR Truck Series starts at Charlotte, both resulting in top-five finishes. NASCAR Salutes … During this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, Reddick and his No. 8 team will be honoring fallen Army SGT Norman L. Tollett by carrying his name across Reddick’s windshield as part of NASCAR’s salute to our nation’s military during Memorial Day weekend. Tollett was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC, and died April 28, 2007, in Baghdad of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small-arms fire during combat patrol operations. About Alsco … Alsco is a fourth-generation family owned and operated business, founded in 1889, that was recognized by the prestigious Hohenstein Institute for having invented the linen and uniform rental industry. Celebrating over 130 years of business, Alsco provides linen and workwear rental services to customers that include restaurants, healthcare, automotive industry and industrial facilities. With over 180 locations and more than 20,000 employees, Alsco provides world-class service to over 355,000 customers in 14 countries. Learn more at alsco.com. Alsco and RCR Salute … Alsco and RCR have come together to design a paint scheme to help honor and salute our nation’s fallen soldiers. Reddick’s No. 8 Alsco Chevrolet will have a special patriotic paint scheme for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 that highlights fallen soldier, Norman L. Tollett, and his chosen branch of the military, the Army. The scheme highlights the Army’s desert digital camo pattern and includes the crests of each division of the army Tollett was in. About Okuma … America Corporation Okuma America Corporation is the U.S.-based sales and service affiliate of Okuma Corporation, a world leader in CNC (computer numeric control) machine tools, founded in 1898 in Nagoya, Japan. The company is the industry’s only single-source provider, with the CNC machine, drive, motors, encoders, and spindle all manufactured by Okuma. The company also designs their own CNC controls to integrate seamlessly with each machine tool’s functionality. In 2014 Okuma launched the Okuma App Store, the industry’s only centralized online marketplace for machine tool apps and related content. Along with its extensive distribution network (largest in the Americas), and Partners in THINC, Okuma is committed to helping users gain competitive advantage through the open possibilities of machine tools, today and into the future. For more information, visit https://www.okuma.com/ or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:This will be your first experience racing in the Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s longest races. How are you preparing for that?“I’m looking forward to my first attempt at the Coca-Cola 600 and the challenges it will bring. I’ve never experienced a race that long before, so it’s going to be a big learning experience for me, especially with how the track will change over the course of the race. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a temperature-sensitive track, so we need to be ready since the way the track is at the start of the night likely won’t be the same at the end of the night. We’ll need to be able to adjust our car for that. I’m excited to be part of the show. It’s an honor to be carrying SGT Norman L. Tollett’s name across my windshield for the race, and I hope we can make his family and friends proud.” You then turn around and race Charlotte again on Wednesday night. How have these mid-week races gone for you?“It has been really interesting and fun to have these mid-week races. They keep us on our toes, even though it’s the same track being raced so close together. Both Darlington and Charlotte are tracks affected by temperature and day versus night conditions, so it almost comes off as two different places. For this week, we should be able to pull some additional notes from the Coke 600 for Wednesday’s race since we will have a big portion of that race ran in the nighttime, as long as the temperature is close to the same on both nights.”

This Week’s No. 21 TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro at Charlotte Motor Speedway … This weekend will mark Myatt Snider’s return to the No. 21 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Snider will be making his debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He has one career NASCAR Truck Series start at the track in 2018.  About TaxSlayer … TaxSlayer makes online tax filing accessible for millions of Americans, with an easy-to-use platform and unlimited support at a fraction of the cost of the competition. Trusted for over 50 years, the Augusta-based tech company successfully completed more than 10 million state and federal e-filed tax returns in 2019 and processed $12 billion in refunds. TaxSlayer achieved a 4.5/5 TrustScore on consumer review site Trustpilot, with 87% of its customers rating the tax filing platform Great or Excellent. For more information, visit www.TaxSlayer.com. Tax Day … The IRS has extended the federal tax filing deadline for 2020. Tax Day is now July 15, 2020. This extension is automatic and applies to all taxpayers. For up-to-date information and advice, check out TaxSlayer.com/blog. Save Now … When you file with TaxSlayer, the savings are around every turn. All the deductions, all the credits, and all the money you deserve comes back to you in your refund. Start for free at TaxSlayer.com. Did You Know … Myatt Snider cut his teeth racing Legend cars in the Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway. MYATT SNIDER QUOTE:This will be the first time you have raced an Xfinity Series car at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Being from Charlotte, how special will it be racing at your home track, especially for an iconic team like Richard Childress Racing?“It will be such an honor to compete under the Richard Childress banner at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. The Charlotte race has always been a marquee event to me. I love having a short commute to the racetrack and having my family close by. It will be a very exciting weekend all around. I’m super excited to have a strong performance for both TaxSlayer and Richard Childress Racing at my home track. It’s time to slay it.”

NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTMAY 22, 2020 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media and discussed the return of NASCAR to racing at the two Darlington events, the fitness aspect of the upcoming Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, his relationship with the GM BuyPower Card and Pit Stops for Hope, and more. Transcript:
YOU HAVE A COLLABORATION WITH THE GM BUYPOWER CARD. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING WITH THEM LATELY DURING THE TIME-OFF WE’VE HAD?“We created a relationship last year with the GM BuyPower Card from Capital One. We started off with a good year and this year, with everything that’s going on, obviously, with the coronavirus, we wanted to figure out a way to come together and partner and give back to our local community. Ray Wright, who is also on this call, is a good friend of mine. He’s our pit coach here at RCR and started Pit Stops for Hope a while back. I’ve always enjoyed working with him and seeing the work that he has done throughout our community for education and the local Piedmont Triad, and then has also been providing meals for kids. I’m getting ready to have my first kid and seeing what fatherhood is about. It’s kind of my mission to help support other children. Ray has always been really good with our racing community and bringing them together to find ways that we can give back. And so it was really cool that GM BuyPower card, Capital One, to help us out here and it’s made our relationship tie together closer and has really brought that family atmosphere to it.”
FROM A REALLY WIDE VIEW, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS PAST WEEK AND HOW NASCAR GOT BACK TO RACING? FIRST, THEY HAD TO HANDLE JUST THE RETURN ITSELF WITH ALL THE HEALTH PROTOCOLS AND SUCH. AND THEN YOU GUYS GOT GOOD RACES OUT OF IT AND HAVE SOME MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE 600. HOW DO YOU THINK THE WEEK HAS GONE?“I was sitting at home last night and I had the TV on ESPN and I saw Chase Briscoe’s amazing victory and his interview. Seeing that on ESPN, it’s been a minute since our sport has really been featured on that channel, and that just kind of made me proud of NASCAR for the efforts they went through to be the first big sport to come back. I think NASCAR, a lot of people were watching, because of the amount of people that we have to bring to the track. It’s huge for our sport. I’m really proud of all the guys and girls from NASCAR that made it happen and they’ve done a good job of bringing it back safely. I felt like it ran super smooth. Obviously, it was awkward for the first time sitting and waiting and not being able to do things leading up to the race. That was kind of tough. But, as far as going out and getting in the race car and getting back on track, it felt so good just to be in a race car again. As soon as the green flag dropped, it was a race. And you saw that. It was good racing. And yes, we do have big momentum going into the 600, one of our best races as a sport that we have. I’m looking forward to that race.”
WITH ALL THESE NEW EYES ON YOU AND PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE NEW TO NASCAR, HOW DO YOU GET THEM TO SIT THROUGH THE 600, WHICH IS NOT ALWAYS THE MOST EXCITING RACE?“Well, I think the package that we are bringing to the track now for 1.5-mile races, makes it more exciting. This weekend at Darlington, if you would have told me of those two races that we would have only gotten one green-flag stop in, over two races, that would have surprised me. I feel like it was pretty action-packed when it came to cautions and people wrecking and spinning out. Some spinning out I feel like can bring a caution out. That’s a different subject. But, I do feel like the racing will be action-packed this weekend at Charlotte. They’ll be good action on the track to be able to follow along and obviously re-starts and the stages have definitely brought more excitement throughout our races.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL PHYSICALLY? DO YOU THINK ANY DRIVERS WILL BE KIND OF FALLING OUT OF THE SEAT FOR THE 600 DUE TO THE FACT THAT THERE’S NO PRACTICE? THEY’VE GOT TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE“Yeah, I’ve spent a lot of my time early in the mornings during this coronavirus pandemic working out. So, I feel like I’m in the best physical shape I’ve ever been because I’ve had time. Usually, during this timeframe, I just can’t find the time to really get on a routine and focus on working out because I have a lot more obligations than I currently do. So, I’ve been able to really focus on my physical fitness. That’s been a good thing for me. I hope some of the guys have been lazy and played video games a lot and they fall out of the seat on Sunday because I feel like I’ll be one of the guys who is in a good position to hold onto that steering wheel for all 600 miles and put myself in a good position when it comes down to it at the end. It’s a quick turnaround because each race, the lingering affects of a long race, you definitely feel the dehydration factor and you can get that back quick. But, I feel like there’s also just time that your muscles and stuff take to kind of recover. You can get the hydration back quick; but I used to run two or three races on a weekend, and I know how I’ve recovered from those. So, I think this is the same as just kind of going back in time when I was running both Xfinity and Cup and sometimes Truck. And you’ve got the guys that just know how to deal with that and how to keep themselves in good hydration that helps in the long run.”
WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN AS FAR AS THIS ACCELERATED SCHEDULE AS FAR AS THE EQUIPMENT AT RCR? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GUYS ARE IN GOOD SHAPE FOR ALL THESE RACES IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME?“Well, as long as we don’t tear anything up. I feel like we did a good job in these first two races. It definitely can put a burden on your team if you wreck cars. Some of them lost two cars in two races. That’s not a good start, obviously, to a couple months worth of races packed-in. It just creates longer hours with a smaller group of guys who are able to work on the cars. You don’t give the road crew an ability to go help your mechanics work on the car because you’re separating them. So, you just don’t want to put your team behind by wrecking cars. And we’re in a pretty good spot right now, I feel like, at RCR, where we are able to turn both those cars around and be able to run them again.”
YOU HAVE PEOPLE FIRED UP ABOUT THE ‘CHOOSE CONE RULE’ ON TWITTER. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA AND SOMETHING THAT NASCAR NEEDS TO ADOPT?“My thoughts are that as a sport, we’re always changing. We’ve done a really good job with the 1.5-mile program and brought it back to life. I think the next thing is trying to make it better for the fans and create more drama than it already has. The ‘choose cone’ is something that is utilized throughout short tracks in America, asphalt, you name it. You see it on a weekly basis at places when I was heck, racing Legends cars at age 14, with no radios, you could figure out how to make a choose cone work. You just chose and that was your line that you had to make. This puts it in the drivers’ hands. It kind of allows us to decide our fate when it comes down to restarts. You can’t just be bummed because you got the bottom and you lost four spots on the last restart and you’re really a 10th place car or a fifth-place car, you lose spots because of your line you’ve had to choose. This makes it where you get to that choose cone, and the first three cars have chosen the outside, that guy in fourth can pull all the way up to the inside pole and try and make it work. And it’s the same throughout the back of the field. You’ll have guys that will take the outside three or four rows worth of it, and it gives that guy, all right, go see if you can make it happen and keep those spots that you think you can gain on the bottom. I think you’ll see the announcers in the booth will have something else to talk about. And after the race they’ll be questioning, man, I should have chosen a different line. I should have chosen the top or the bottom instead of I was given the bottom. And also, I was watching the Xfinity race yesterday and those guys literally were brake-checking to get off the end of pit road. It takes out pit crews’ fast stops. Your pit crew could have gained you a couple of spots there, but instead, you’re giving up two spots because you’d rather start on the outside. That’s got to stop. I think it’s going to knock somebody’s nose in at the end of pit road before too long so that’ll end a guy’s race.
“I don’t feel like it is a hard thing to do. I know that the cone with the rope is a little outdated. I just want a painted area in the restart line. A bunch of the drivers got together and talked about it. I feel like we can accomplish it as a group. We’ve been able to bring our sport back through a pandemic. I think we can make a choose rule work. It’s not that complicated in my eyes. I don’t want to be the guy up there in the booth the first time because I feel like it would be a little bit hard. But there are certain tracks like Michigan, where you’ve got a long time before you get back around to the start/finish line. I think that would be a great place to practice it for the first time. It’s also a place where the top line is dominant. You lose three or four spots by the time you get to Turn 1 because of the draft there. So, it would create a long time for them to be able to straighten it out by the time we got back around. I think, personally, the drivers can straighten it out themselves. If you choose a line, you must stay in that line after that mark. If you swap lanes, you’re automatically black-flagged and brought to the back. And if you don’t give up your position before the start, it’s a lap penalty. I think that will create a way that no one is going to mess around and change lanes. You get to that line, you’ve got to make a decision. And that’s what it is.”
DO YOU GET THE SENSE THAT NASCAR IS OPEN TO THIS AND SOMETHING THEY’LL CONSIDER?“I think they’re definitely open to it. From the discussions I’ve had, I just feel like there’s a lot going on right now, so I can’t push too hard because they have a lot on their plate. But it is something I wish they would put on the drivers’ plate to kind of handle a little bit because I kind of feel like given that responsibility, we can do a good job as a group. Have a meeting about it, like this, and talk about it as drivers and try and make it happen for our sport because I know it will be more exciting and give you that, like I said, put it back in our hands at the end of the race to be able to decide our fate.”
FOR RAY WRIGHT, CAN YOU TALK A BIT ABOUT PIT STOPS FOR HOPE AND THE DONATION BETWEEN AUSTIN DILLON AND THE GM BUYPOWER CARD?“Basically, Pit Stops for Hope started in 2013. It started right here at RCR when we found out the North Carolina, our home state, has a major problem with children and being food insecure. One in four kids in North Carolina go to school hungry. A lot of these kids are elementary school age, middle-age school age, so a lot of kids aren’t getting the proper nutrition and they’re brains aren’t developing. So when you get more into schools, you find out that the teachers in the school system are actually putting snacks in the kid’s backpacks and trying to help them get through the day. They’re putting school supplies in their backpacks. And the teachers do not have a budget for that in our state. The teachers are amongst the lowest-paid teachers in the country. So our society is really continuing a cycle of poverty. We’re sending hundreds of kids to school and then they’re going into a classroom that’s not properly funded by a teacher that’s not properly paid. So, what we’re doing is we’re paving the way for poverty. And that’s been Pit Stops for Hope’s mission since 2013 to raise awareness for these kids and for better education. We help them find food and we help these teachers provide a better atmosphere to learn.
“I’ve known Austin since he was in high school. We’ve had a great relationship through the years. I was the minister at his wedding and he has been with Pit Stops for Hope since the day we started. He loved the idea and loved that it is a local charity because he knows the need that’s in this area. And it’s a big need. What we’re doing now with the GM BuyPower Card is something that can’t come at a better time. Kids were in trouble before this pandemic. Now schools were cancelled, so you have kids who have to do online learning in their houses, who might not have a parent at home. They definitely don’t have a Chromebook to learn online. A lot of kids went to school just to get food. So now they’re at home. They don’t have nutrition at their house and they don’t have the tools to learn online. Before the pandemic is was a problem and now, during the pandemic there is a bigger problem.
“So, this is perfect-timing. We got with local officials in our county and the counties that surround us, and you try to find out who needs Chromebooks and who needs tablets. We’ve done two food giveaways in the parking lots at these schools. We posted some of those pictures on our social media. The lines were out onto the road for people waiting to pick-up a sandwich. So, I’m always proud of Austin and who he is and how he represents himself and his home state and his hometown. And, we’re just very happy at Pit Stops for Hope that we have this money to go help the community with.”

NASCAR CUP SERIESCHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAYCOCA-COLA 600TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTMAY 22, 2020 
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE, spoke with media via teleconference to discuss the anticipation leading into this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, what it means to race at his hometown track, and more. Full Transcript:  YOU’RE PILOTING THE NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET THIS WEEKEND. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT PAINT SCHEME THAT YOU WILL BE FEATURING IN THE COCA-COLA 600 THIS WEEKEND?“We have the patriotic paint scheme again this year, so we kind of did something a little bit different with the way that it looks. It looks really good – I think they modeled it kind of after Captain America. It looks really cool; hopefully we can get Sgt. Billings a good run and just have a great 600. Obviously, it’s the longest race of the year. It takes a lot of patience, a lot of adjustments, a lot of pit stops, things like that, so you just have to progress your way through the event.” THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE CHOOSE CONE RULE LATELY, JUST BECAUSE DARLINGTON OBVIOUSLY HAVING SUCH A DOMINATE GROOVE AFFECTED A LOT OF GUYS AND AUSTIN DILLON WAS TWEETING ABOUT IT. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON WHETHER THAT SHOULD BE A THING IN NASCAR?“I think it should be, especially with how critical restarts are with this package and just the shear track position you can gain or lose in one restart alone is pretty huge. And how close the field is, too. The top-10 to 12 cars are typically reasonably the same or close in pace to each other, so I think a choose cone would allow you to have some different options to be able to make a run. Let’s say you lost track position on a pit stop, you could have the potential to gain that back. I could see something that’s maybe for the top-20 cars and maybe the next 20 doubles up like normal so it’s not a huge confusion coming to a restart. But it would definitely be welcomed for us.” HOW ARE YOU FEELING PHYSICALLY AFTER TWO RACES IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME AND ARE THERE ANY CONCERNS GOING INTO 600-MILES ON SUNDAY?“I just got done training, so I hope I’m doing physically well (laughs). It’s been different for me. I train probably twice a week now. Given the fact if there’s two races, I kind of take the day after the race just to recover. Then, the following day is whatever training that my guys have lined up for me in terms of what they put on the app that we use. Really, I’ve just tried to stick to that schedule so far. The 600 is going to be tough just because of the humidity in North Carolina, so it’s not going to be easy.” HAVE YOU GUYS LEARNED ANYTHING ABOUT PROCESSES OR HOW TO GO ABOUT THINGS DIFFERENTLY THAT YOU WOULD KEEP WHEN THINGS GO BACK TO NORMAL?“We have. We run a little different interior components, like I have a drink bag that attaches to the left side of my seat, which is different than what I’ve had in the past. I usually just run a polar water bottle, so it’s a little bit different there. I run some extra fans inside the car just to get some air flow to my upper body and everything like that. So, a little different processes there inside the car. Everybody is carrying their helmets and stuff to the car, so that’s much different. I’ve got my suit in my car right now from this past weekend, so I have to wash those. It’s unique, but I love it honestly. It kind of feels like back to the roots of what we all grew up doing – going to the race track, bringing your own stuff and going to race.” DARLINGTON WAS KIND OF A MIXED BAG FOR YOU GUYS, SO I’M JUST CURIOUS AS TO WHAT YOU TOOK OUT OF THOSE TWO RACES? “We had some issues to work through in the Wednesday race that we didn’t really figure out until after the race, so that was kind of is what it is. But the Sunday race, we had a really good car and obviously had the misfortune there with the loose wheel. Like you said, kind of a mixed bag. We weren’t as good on Wednesday, but I think we know why and we just have to work towards getting ready for the 600. We had a really good car there last year; we qualified on the pole. We just have to try to carry over what we’ve been doing speed-wise at HMS. We’ve had some really good cars this year. We just have to put together solid races and have good execution. It sounds kind of boring and simple, but it’s really what it comes down to. Hopefully we’ll get to the end of the race and have the opportunity.” HOW DOES THE STRATEGY CHANGE GOING INTO AN ENDURANCE RACE LIKE THE 600? “Charlotte has become an interesting race track because you have the PJ-1 that they put down in the second groove. So, you have a much different balance over the course of the race. As that stuff starts to come in towards the middle part of the race, it creates a much different balance. As it wears off, the car, at least for us, progressively gets tighter. You’ve got to keep up with the race track to have a good car at the end because once that stuff wears off, it seems to have rubber that sticks to it and it gets pretty slick at times. It’s just a constant battle with that stuff on the race track and trying to figure out what your car needs to do and how to setup passes because a lot of guys can maintain a lap time up there. So, it makes it twice as hard to pass or complete the pass at least. You can run side by side pretty easily. It’s just a constant evolution throughout 600 miles.” AS A CHARLOTTE-NATIVE AND THIS WEEKEND, YOU’RE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE MORE EYES ON THE SPORT THAN EVER BEFORE, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU?“It’s awesome – it’s great every year running the 600. Honestly, what’s cool about it is just waking up in your own bed, driving to the race track and feeling like you’re in your own space. Again, it kind of goes back to the roots of where I grew up racing, what I grew up doing, so it makes it really cool. I will say, it’s a little bit easier this year because I don’t have anyone going to the race, unfortunately. I don’t have family or anything there, so we can spend time together away from the track, but not at the track. So, it’s going to be pretty seamless there.”
NOW THAT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN BACK IN THE CAR FOR TWO RACES GOING INTO CHARLOTTE, ARE THERE GOING TO BE ANY NEW CHALLENGES CONSIDERING YOU’RE GOING TO GET QUALIFYING THIS WEEKEND OR WILL IT FEEL LIKE A REGULAR RACE AGAIN?“I think that with qualifying taking place, it’s hopefully going to be easier to have track position at the start of the race and kind of have the normal players, I guess you could say, towards the front. So, I guess that’s going to be an easier way to go about the start of the race. Hopefully, we qualify well and we’re up towards the front, and we can have a smooth start to the race. Yeah, I think that’s going to honestly be an easier process than the inverts have been and things of that nature. But still your pit selection goes back to last week, so that’s critical. I just look at the 600 as a long evolution of a race and it takes adaptation each run that goes by.” WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WE’VE BEEN RUNNING UNDER AND THE FACT THAT THE 600 IS BASICALLY THE ONLY SHOW IN TOWN WITH NO MONOCO AND NO INDIANAPOLIS 500, IS THAT GOING TO BE WEIRD OR HOW UNIQUE WILL THAT BE FOR YOU GUYS TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND?“Yeah, it’s different. It feels different. Usually at this time of the race weekend of the 600, you kind of know what to expect and you’ve been through practice. Typically, actually this day is a day off because they do the Thursday qualifying and Saturday practice, so it’s much different. Having not even sat in the car physically yet to know what’s going to happen, it feels much different. But in some instances, like a normal race like we’ve been having, you just kind of roll with the next one because we’ve had a series of races here every few days. So, it’s starting to get a little bit of a rhythm of just racing a lot.” WITH THE 600 RUNNING ON SUNDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S RACE, BOTH RUNNING UNDER PRETTY SIMILAR CONDITIONS, DIFFERENT THAN DARLINGTON, DO YOU EXPECT THAT THE SAME FRONT RUNNERS WE’LL SEE WEDNESDAY NIGHT COMPARED TO THE 600?“You’re going to have a different field just because of the ability everybody has, not just the driver’s ability, but the team’s ability to learn from the previous race and get better. I guarantee you’ll probably have five or six guys that run well in one race that won’t run well in the other or a new player that’s a dominant factor in each race is probably going to be different. I think you saw that at Darlington. Obviously, some of the players were the same at the front, but there were some different. So, I think that’s going to continue with these double-header type races where you have a couple of days to go back, review what happened, what went well, what didn’t go so well and make adjustments to your car or make adjustments as a driver to get better.” WHAT IS THE ROUTINE LIKE IN THE MOTORHOME SINCE YOU’RE ISOLATED FOR ALL THAT TIME?“It’s honestly not as complex as people probably think. I really just sit there, try to eat well, eat whatever meal I had planned on before the race. But you obviously can’t be with anybody else, so there’s not much going on like there would be at a normal race weekend where you have appearances, you talk to your team and all those things. In some ways, it’s kind of easier to kind of get yourself in that zone that you want to be in. I typically try to shut technology down, try to not look too much at what’s going on in the outside world and that seems to be working OK. Just try to find something that occupies by mind for a couple of hours if I can before the race.”
WITH YOU GUYS NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT LIKE YOU REFERENCED, I KNOW THAT’S A LITTLE DIFFERENT BECAUSE TYPICALLY A LOT OF THAT STUFF WAS CARRIED ON THE HAULERS OR HANDLED BY INTERIOR PEOPLE. HAVE YOU COME CLOSE TO LEAVING ANYTHING BEHIND?“Yeah, so it’s funny, I actually use my racing shoes on iRacing. I just started doing this because of the new format, but I’ll test a little bit on iRacing the night before the race typically. So, I try to run in the shoes I’m going to wear on race day. Obviously, they change every week with the sponsor changes and things of that nature. I’ve come close to leaving those a couple of times at home, so hopefully that doesn’t happen anytime soon. I try to leave them right in front of the door the night before so I don’t forget. That’s the closest I’ve come is just leaving gloves or shoes at home on my iRacing rig.”