CORVETTE RACING REWIND: Oliver Gavin, Long Beach 2018Victory was No. 50 with program for Corvette veteran

DETROIT (April 9, 2020) – With racing on hold all over the globe, Corvette Racing is taking a look back at some of its top highlights from its 20-plus years of competitions. In the first of a new series titled “Corvette Racing Rewind”, Oliver Gavin relives the 2018 Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, which he won with long-time teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

The result was extra-special for Gavin as it marked his 50th victory as part of Corvette Racing. Five of those wins have come at Long Beach – three with Milner. “Amazing the way that all came around,” Gavin said after the race. “Yes we had a little bit of luck, but Tommy had to drive brilliantly at the end there and stay out of trouble. There were a number of incidents there. Man, we could have gotten taken out. We could have gotten in the wall. Tommy just navigated through it. We had a great pit stop. The guys did an amazing job. We jumped a number of people and put us in position there we could challenge for that victory. And we got it! That is our first win in season No. 20 for Corvette Racing. And it is my 50th victory with the team. That is pretty amazing… I am just thrilled.” The next edition of “Corvette Racing Rewind” will feature Antonio Garcia reviewing his drive to close the 2017 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Lucas Oil Announces New eSports Involvement

CORONA, Calif. (April  6, 2020) – While the current focus of all Americans is to stay healthy, many race fans and drivers are eager to interact and profess their love of racing. eSports, through a variety of races and broadcasts, has allowed that to happen during a time when this community needs it the most. To further enhance that camaraderie, Lucas Oil Products, the American-based manufacturer and distributor of performance additives and oils, announced today that they are expanding their presence in eSports. Lucas Oil eSports will begin with a focus on the competition surrounding the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.

Lucas Oil has already enjoyed a partnership with iRacing through the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Several of the tracks and the series events can be utilized with the online platform. In fact, the 3/8 mile dirt oval track and the off-road track at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, are scheduled to be scanned for future iRacing competitions.    “Lucas Oil has always tried to be on the cutting edge of all that it involves itself with and eSports is one of the new leading areas of development within racing,” said Morgan Lucas, Senior V.P. of Sales for Lucas Oil. “We have a great family of Lucas Oil supporters and that racing goes hand-in-hand with that. eSports is an important way for us to expand our exposure to new groups while creating a bond with our existing racing community.”   A series of races are currently being planned to create a sense of togetherness for the community of each of the series and events. Lucas Oil eSports will utilize the vastly popular iRacing platform, which many racers currently use to hone their skills.   The first race for Lucas Oil eSports will be the Late Model Knoxville Nationals for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The event is scheduled for Friday, April 10 at 8 pm ET, and will be broadcasted on Lucas Oil’s Facebook page. The series team of MAVTV and Lucas Oil Racing TV commentators, Bob Dillner, James Essex and Dave Argabright, will call the action.   Several of the best Dirt Late Model racers in the country who compete in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series this year will take part in this challenge. They will face-off against others who will qualify through an “Open Race” format the day before the official event. An announcement of which drivers will participate will be coming soon.   “While we all try to do our part in making sure our country overcomes the virus, the anticipation for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series to resume action in 2020 is building,” said series director Rick Schwallie. “After successful Georgia and Florida Speedweeks, which saw impressive car counts, racers and fans now have the opportunity to build on that through series events within Lucas Oil eSports, and we are excited to have the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series be a part of that.” A full schedule for Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and the legendary Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals is coming soon.

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational SeriesVirtual Bristol Motor Speedway Food City Showdown Team Chevy Press Conference TranscriptApril 5, 2020
WILLIAM BYRON SCORES VICTORY AT VIRTUAL BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAYCHARLOTTE, NC (April 5, 2020) – William Byron adds his name to the record books by taking his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet to victory lane in the Food City Showdown at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, the third race of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.  With the postponement of all NASCAR on-track activity through May 3rd, NASCAR and iRacing joined forces to start the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. The sim racing series features competitors from the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, and other NASCAR dignitaries. The 150-lap simulation race virtually took place at the half-mile oval of Bristol Motor Speedway, where the NASCAR Cup series was scheduled to be in-action this weekend. Byron won heat number one in dominating fashion, leading all fifty laps and securing the pole position for the main event. Leading 116 of 150 laps in the main event, Byron’s victory adds to his impressive career iRacing stats, now totaling 309 wins. “It was a lot of fun. We had to work through some track position and really just keep ourselves up towards the top-five. Luckily, we were able to do that and make the pass on Chris Buescher, and really just manage the restarts,” says Byron.  Ryan Preece finished sixth in his No. 37 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet, Tyler Reddick finished eighth in his No. 31 Alsco Chevrolet, and Garrett Smithley finished ninth in his No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet to give Team Chevy four of the top-10 finishing spots.  John H. Nemechek (Ford) was second, Timmy Hill (Toyota) was third, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was fourth and Matt DiBenedetto (Ford) rounded out the top-five finishers of the race.  Live coverage of the remaining eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series season can be found on FOX, FS1, and the FOX Sports app.  WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET TRANSCRIPT: 
THE MODERATOR: Thank you to all of you for joining us. We are now joined by William Byron, driver of the No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet and the winner of today’s Food City Showdown at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. William, congratulations. Tell us a little bit about those final laps.            WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I appreciate it. I thought we had a pretty solid race. Obviously, there was a lot to kind of decipher through and try to get through, but I thought we stayed up close to the front. We had the one tire strategy call that got us back to the top 5 and then we just had to work through the top 5 methodically after that. Was really proud of how we kind of did things, and thankful for Nick Ottinger, who kind of helps me on my esports team, and AXALTA for letting us run this cool paint scheme. It looks awesome. Hopefully we can it run it sometime in the real Cup car. I had a lot of fun.             Q. I’d like to start with a question about the aggressiveness on the track and kind of an overview of the race that we saw. The cautions and the parking and the drivers being really aggressive, did you expect all that? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I kind of expected it a little bit. You know, considering what guys were good and what guys were maybe not as experienced, racing on there is the same, but it really comes down to how you value how you race others, and I treat it like I would ‑‑ I race others the same way I would in the real car, and that’s kind of what it takes to be good on there.            I think you just saw some guys that weren’t maybe as experienced at it maybe in the back, but I’d say the top five or ten guys really know what they’re doing, and those were the guys I was worried about racing the whole time.            Q. How frustrated were you last week after getting punted out of the way, and what does this win mean to you on the virtual side of things? You’ve been so strong on the virtual racing and obviously a very good sim racer. What does it mean to you, and were you frustrated at all during the week? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, you know, it’s for fun, so I get that part of it. But like I said, I treat it ‑‑ for me mentally, I try to treat it as a race when the race is going on. After that obviously ‑‑ during the week I wasn’t worried about Texas. I got over it pretty quick. But I think that it was just frustrating because we hadn’t closed one yet and we had led the most laps, so to finally close the deal this week was really awesome, and yeah, I think it just is cool to see the hard work kind of pay off from obviously myself but the guys behind the scenes that are working with my esports team and stuff like that. It’s cool and it’s great for AXALTA and gives me some confidence, so I like that.             Q. It’s interesting seeing how this has sort of taken on a new intensity at times. I don’t know if it’s just Bristol or the fact that this has gone on a few weeks, but you had Bubba quitting in the middle of today and Larson and Suárez both getting booted. Is that something that is sort of easier to have happen in this virtual environment? Like have you ever rage quit something, or is it a sign of just the intensity of this picking up? What do you attribute all that to?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think the easy excuse is to say, oh, it’s a game and all that, but at the end of the day, everyone is racing, and seeing how much time some guys have put in, I know that it means something to them.           You’ve got to race. It’s race craft, and I feel like race craft is the same no matter what you’re racing; whether it’s on a computer or at the dirt track or at an asphalt race, it’s the same. I think that’s what I try to do, just stay patient, really race the top seven or eight guys. Denny is really good on here, Timmy Hill is pretty good, and John Hunter Nemechek seems pretty fast. So just try to worry about those guys.           But yeah, obviously some of the guys further back were obviously causing some wrecks and stuff. So, you just have to get through that and try to keep yourself clean through the race.             Q. A young guy like you that has time to practice, put the hours in, it’s kind of not surprising that you would get up to speed in a quick way. For guys like the Busch brothers who this is their third race, how long is it going to take before we see those guys get more into the mix in the future? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think Kyle was pretty fast this week, Busch. I thought he was ‑‑ in the practice races, I did a couple on Friday I guess it was, and Denny was really good and Kyle was pretty fast, too. I think the people that have strengths at certain racetracks are going to show up, and ultimately, it’s just about kind of knowing the little nuances that are going to make you faster.           Yeah, it’s just ‑‑ I wish we would have a little bit longer runs because I think you would have seen the guys who really had it figured out. I think Kyle and Denny and some of those guys would have come to the front. But unfortunately, it’s kind of a short‑run race, but really, I think those guys are starting to get it. Hopefully if I can give them some tips or whatever, then get them rolling with some of the little nuances here and there.             Q. And just kind of curious, what are you doing to entertain yourself in addition to iRacing these days? WILLIAM BYRON: I mean, honestly, just kind of trying to have a somewhat normal routine. I stay at home, obviously, I try not to be around a bunch of people, but my family is in town. My sister, she lives in New York, but she’s been in town for a few weeks now, so I’ve been having fun with that, just kind of seeing my sister, and that’s been great.            I feel fresh, and I feel like when we do go back racing, I’m excited for it because I use iRacing as just kind of a mental training, and I feel like I’m excited for when we do go back because we have fast cars there, too.             Q. I know you talked about it being for fun and everything, but do you think you feel any more pressure to win these races because everybody knows your history in iRacing? WILLIAM BYRON: A little bit, yeah. I think that like the first week, I was I feel like the most nervous, and I think everyone gets nervous when they iRace just because you don’t have the sound of the engine and some of those little adrenaline things that actually kick the nervousness down in the real car. So that is a little bit there, nerves for everybody, but I’d say so, yeah, just because people are like, oh, well, this is your thing and all that. Yeah, I think the first week that kind of showed. I was a little bit overaggressive knowing who I was going to race, and then this week I just tried to be patient, and it worked out pretty good.             Q. You mentioned Nick Ottinger, and I know he’s been a big part of what you’ve done with establishing William Byron Esports. What kind of things were you leaning on him for and working with him on, and do you think anything that you guys are working on together will be able to translate for those guys when they go back and compete in the Coca‑Cola Series? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think that those guys have helped me a lot. John is a great sim racer, too, and really, I’ve kind of built that relationship with Nick to learn from him. He’s a cool guy. I like the way he thinks. Honestly the way he thinks is similar ‑‑ we think similarly, I guess.            When I watch him drive, I feel like I’m watching somewhat of the same things that I would do, and obviously he’s really good. Yeah, I think that I just try to watch him on Tuesdays when they run the Coke Series, but hopefully ‑‑ I think he’s like sixth or seventh in points right now. He finished second in the first race, so hopefully he can get a win here soon.            Q. And in regards to your race, if they’d had a late‑race caution ‑‑ you had been getting away pretty good on the restarts. Were there any nerves if you’d had one more caution to worry about?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, we were just worried about the tires because I had been out there for 60 or 70 laps on the same tires, so I was a little worried that I didn’t have a lot of tire left, so I just tried to keep saving until really the last two laps. But I think the tire strategy worked out perfectly. We were able to pit there about halfway, cut the race in half, which is what we wanted to do, and a couple guys stayed out but we were able to methodically work our way back to the top 5 from ninth, I think, so that was great.             Q. You mentioned on your interview with the TV booth I think a few minutes ago that when you generally do iRacing these days, it’s to learn or kind of improve your race craft, and you talked about how different it is to being in a competition with a much different group of guys. Could you just explain a little bit the differences between what you normally experience when you decide to do iRacing and what the last three weekends have been like?WILLIAM BYRON: Well, I think that you’re basically ‑‑ how iRacing works is there’s a rating for each driver, and that goes from like 1,000 to basically 9,000, so I’m like a 6,300 rating, so I usually race with guys that are around that range or better, and so you’ll have less cautions or you’ll have more quality of like race craft, and I feel like when we put our race together, it’s a wide variety of experience levels, so I think that’s just tough to kind of manage.            But yeah, I try to use iRacing because it improves my race craft, and I feel like we’ve been doing a good job of promoting it the right way. We just have to make sure that everyone understands that there’s races that you can do on there, and I try to do those races and not just run laps of practice by myself. The races that you can practice on kind of help improve my race craft, and that’s why I use it to try to help me on the real car.            Q. You mentioned how you race people the way you want to be raced; do you get to see that in the same sort of fashion during the iRacing as you do ‑‑ maybe not the same way, but do you see some of the same traits that you would when you are racing someone on a real track?WILLIAM BYRON: I think so, yeah. Definitely the tracks that you can maybe move someone out of the way or bump them out of the way are very similar. Last week obviously getting moved out of the way, I learned something there and kind of applied that towards this week. I got a little bit more aggressive with some of my moves during the week and tried to do that back to the guys so that I can kind of establish position on them.            So, I think, yeah, really that stuff is the same. You just ‑‑ it’s just a matter of kind of understanding the little nuances that are obviously going to be different than a real car. You know, you don’t have the sense of smell and noise and maybe feel, but you have vision, and your vision is really critical in there.             Q. Have the mid‑week practice races legitimately helped you get ready for Sunday’s races, and if so, in what ways?WILLIAM BYRON: I think so. I think what really helps me a lot is running ‑‑ they have these races that are called A‑fixed races, and it’s Class A, which is the Cup cars, so I run those. I probably ran a handful of them, less than 10 this week, but somewhere around that number. They’re very similar length of race to what we just ran, so I feel like those help me. Knowing the competition, knowing who’s good and fast, and Denny Hamlin was obviously my biggest threat today I feel like, so I was kind of looking out for him and what he was doing through the week.            Yeah, I think those races are what help me kind of get better.             Q. And then how much did shifting to the single‑file restarts change the race for you, if at all? Do you feel like that was a benefit for you in the late restarts? WILLIAM BYRON: It was tough. I mean, I think that double‑file restarts I think would have been a similar result. You know, if you were a bottom‑lane guy it’s a little tough to get clear of the outside guys, so I would have had my hands full with second in a lot of instances if I didn’t get a good jump. It just comes down to how good a restart you get. I feel like the single‑file restarts kind of brought the strength of certain guys to the front.            I don’t really know if it changed everything that much. It was just a little bit hard to time and try to figure out. It kind of was like running short‑track races.             Q. What was going through your head there when you lost the lead for a little bit with the various pit strategies and everything because obviously it was a new position for you than the rest of the race after leading the first 73 laps. I know you had fresher tires, but it looked like once you were able to get a run on Smithley, you made pretty quick work of Bowman and DiBenedetto on the bottom, which isn’t something we really saw today. WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, honestly the biggest heart‑stopping moment was when Landon Cassill cut spun or whatever and he was coming back up the track and I had to kind of go to the bottom and I was sideways for a bit. Luckily nobody was on my bumper and I was able to save it. Yeah, I’ll probably look back at that moment as like the race‑winning moment, missing that and kind of able to work my way back through the field. I think I started ninth and Kurt Busch raced me really clean and Alex raced me pretty clean, and then once I got to like second I knew that all I had to do was just manage my tires to make them overcome the older tires that I had in front of me, so I just kind of hung out for a while and let Buescher, knowing that his tires were going to give up after 10 or 15 laps just because they were older, so yeah, then we had a restart there and I was able to get by him, and we ran side‑by‑side for a couple laps, so he raced me good there, too.           Yeah, it was definitely ‑‑ things worked out to get back to the front. Luckily didn’t ever really have to start in the back. I think the furthest back we were was ninth, so luckily it worked out on pit strategy.             Q. Seeing more of the virtual world in racing and the talents that are displayed, how much of a recruiting tool or a development tool do you see this in the entrance into actual real‑world racing? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think that for me, I used it obviously to get started in my racing career, and I feel like I did that because I saw guys like Dale Jr. promoting it. If I were a young kid right now and I was 10 or 12 years old and didn’t have the money to get into a real race car or didn’t know anybody that has a real race car, then I would definitely get into iRacing. I was a race fan that would watch NASCAR on TV, and we’d go iRace after the race was over to try to figure out what it’s like to be those guys.            I’m really fortunate that now I’m able to run the real race cars, but I definitely never forget about iRacing, kind of what it taught me.             Q. The number of laps y’all are running, I noticed it went from 100 to 125 last week and then we had the heat races and the length of the race today. Do you think the number of laps is about right for driver attention span and viewer attention span? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I think it could be a little shorter. The heat races, we probably didn’t really need those today. But I think that honestly it was good. I definitely would be a fan of like at Bristol there, it’s obviously a 50‑lap heat race and then a 150‑lap race, that’s a long time. If we ran maybe 50 laps in a heat laps and then 80 laps in the race, that would be probably good, too.           Yeah, I think it’s just a factor of the fact that it’s Bristol and it’s going to be a shorter race if it goes green.             Q. Can you just kind of take me through the emotions and how different they are this week from last week and if it was even a case ‑‑ is this stuff so serious, how upset you got last week, and is it a case that you and Timmy actually had to talk?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I think that the biggest difference is the time that it takes for your mind to recover from what happens. I mean, obviously when the race is going, I think anybody would be dumb to tell you that they don’t take it seriously because it’s a race, but it took me probably an hour after the race to really cool off and realize that I was just racing on the computer and I could get over it.           No, I didn’t really think about Timmy all week. He actually sent me a message on Twitter on Thursday, and I was like, hey, it’s all good. Granted, would I have raced him the same if he had been in front of me, for sure, because I kind of know the tone that he set with that move, but I wasn’t worried about it after, I guess, Sunday night around 7:00.             Q. You’re involved in the Coca‑Cola Racing Series with your own team; at some point sports are going to come back. You guys are going to go back to racing, the focus is going to be what happens on the track. You’re involved in this in the Coca‑Cola Racing, the iRacing team. How does this carry forward once sports return, because obviously there will be more focus on that? What do you guys do and how does that keep going and try to build this alternate audience?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think what I like about this racing is that anybody can go do it, and I think that’s similar to the appeal of golf and really everyone can go play golf or everyone can iRace at their own level. Like that’s what I want the appeal of this to be. I want it for to be kids, and I want people that want to see what we’re doing on Sundays to be able to go on there and race, and then ultimately what the Coke Series should be about is that those guys are the best at it, and I feel confident some of those guys would do well in a real car, too.           I think that’s understanding the skill level that they have, and that should hopefully bring an audience and the relatability that it has, the fact that anyone can go and try it.             Q. What were your thoughts on the restarts going single file in the middle of the race both last night and today? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think that it was kind of necessary just because of the wrecks that were going on. Bristol is a tough track, and I really think it just comes down to ‑‑ it takes some laps to kind of understand what’s going on, so yeah, it’s a tough track, so I didn’t ‑‑ I wasn’t surprised.             Q. You mentioned Nick Ottinger and John Gorlinsky. How much time did you spend practicing with them this week?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, they were pretty helpful. They’ve been helpful since this deal got going a couple weeks ago, so it’s been good to work with them. I feel like I’ve learned ‑‑ obviously I’ve raced on everything, but I’ve learned a lot about the little nuances that those guys do really well. I feel like that’s what they’ve helped me with, and I’ve definitely grown an appreciation for how good they are.             Q. How much of an advantage have they been compared to maybe some of the drivers who don’t have the Coca‑Cola Series drivers to lean on? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think really everyone has kind of found one of those guys to really reach out to. I know that Denny has a team and Austin Dillon has a team, so all those guys really know what’s going on. That’s the best resource that we all have is to use those guys, so I feel like everyone has figured that out pretty recently.             Q. You spoke about your sim craft and mentioned earlier this week that Bristol wasn’t your best track in sim and in real life. Can you talk a bit more in depth about what you can take away from today’s race that may help you at Bristol later this season?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think that honestly in Bristol recently, I’ve tried to work on the way that I drive the track, and I feel like the first time that I went there in the real car, everything from iRacing translated really well, and I did well, but then when I got into the Cup car I was a little bit lost. I worked on it a little bit this week, and I feel much better about it. I’m kind of excited to go back there here soon.             Q. The restarts, wheel spin kind of is a big factor. What did you necessarily do to try and remedy that, especially when it came to single‑file restarts?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think just working on them throughout the week to know what was going to happen and how it was going to feel. It really just comes down to having a clean launch. You get wheel spin at the top of the gear in second gear, so I just tried to keep my launch smooth and get through the gears well, so all that stuff worked really well, so definitely excited about how the restarts were, and hopefully can carry that over to the next race that we have.             Q. When it comes to Bristol, in previous races the addition of PJ1 has been added to the bottom line, but what we noticed throughout the iRacing race, the outside line proved to be prevalent. Do you think that iRacing will eventually add that patch of PJ1 so there’s a little bit more traction on that inside line?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think so. I think they’ll learn that from this week. I was able to run the middle and make that work pretty well, so we just worked really hard on being able to run the middle throughout this week, and I’m fortunate that that paid off for us.            THE MODERATOR: William, thank you again for joining us today.            WILLIAM BYRON: No problem. Thank you.            THE MODERATOR: And thank you to all the media for joining us, as well.  

BATAVIA, OH (April 3, 2020) – On Sunday, March 29th, President Donald Trump extended federal social distancing guidelines through the end of April due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This announcement forces the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series officials to postpone and cancel additional events.
This extension now also affects events at Hagerstown Speedway, Port Royal Speedway, Tri-City Speedway, and Macon Speedway. The series hopes to resume the original schedule on May 1st at Ponderosa Speedway and May 2nd at Florence Speedway.
Port Royal Speedway’s Rumble by the River, originally scheduled for April 19th, has been postponed until Thursday, August 27th. 
The Nininger Tribute at Hagerstown Speedway, scheduled for April 18th, has now been canceled. Also canceled are the Budweiser 50 at Tri-City Speedway scheduled for April 24th and the April 25th event at Macon Speedway. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series officials look forward to the return to Tri-City Speedway on July 17th for the NAPA Know How 50; and to Hagerstown Speedway and Macon Speedway in 2021. 
With the ever changing guidelines set forth by the federal, state, local, and public health officials, along with information that is based on guidelines from the CDC, the series has begun discussion with promoters to create alternative dates for races through the end of May. Please note, at this time, all May series events are set to take place as originally scheduled, the alternative dates are only there in case the need were to arise. The alternative dates can be viewed by visiting:  https://lucasdirt.com/events/schedule.

BATAVIA, OH (April 2, 2020) – Join us tonight on MAVTV Motorsports Network, to see the third different driver and team take the checkers on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2020. The original airing on MAVTV from Tuesday night of the Wrisco Industries Winternationals, happens at 6 PM EST, with a re-airing at 9 PM EST. 
The February 4th event from “The Clay by the Bay” saw passing all throughout the field, with the Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race, passing an average of two cars per lap. The broadcast will include driver interviews, in-car cameras, and various technical segments.
Owned and operated by Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network is a television network deeply rooted in the automotive world. MAVTV is available to over 35 million homes on U-verse, DIRECTV (channel 214), Fios by Verizon, Vidgo, TIKILIVE, fuboTV, Spectrum, and other nationwide providers. MAVTV will broadcast 5 live events and 34 original tape-delayed airings. To find a full list of providers, visit: mavtv.com/get-mavtv/providers.
The entire 2020 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series TV schedule can be found on the series website at: www.lucasdirt.com/schedule/tv-schedule/.

Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway … Richard Childress Racing boasts 18 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway spread out among the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. The Welcome, N.C.-based organization will make it’s first attempt at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. The Format … NASCAR, iRacing and FOX Sports are teaming up to deliver the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, a selection of simulation-style esports races that include current and former NASCAR Cup Series drivers. The series heads to the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway for a fixed set-up race this Sunday, April 5. Drivers will compete in a qualifying session to set the grid for two 50 lap heat races. These heat races will determine the starting order for the featured 150-lap eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. The race will include two resets, manual cautions and three attempts at a Green, White, Checkered flag finish. All current NASCAR Cup Series drivers are locked into the 35-car field, including Austin Dillon (No. 3 Dow Chevrolet) and Tyler Reddick (No. 31 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet). But Wait, There’s More … In addition to Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on Sunday afternoon, RCR will compete in the inaugural Saturday Night Thunder at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. The race features NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series drivers competing in a true short track-style showdown, complete with qualifying times to set heat races and a last chance qualifier race to round out the starting lineup. RCR’s roster of NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers, including Anthony Alfredo (No. 33 Realtree Chevrolet), Myatt Snider (No. 93 TaxSlayer Chevrolet) and Kaz Grala (No. 29 HotScream Chevrolet) are scheduled to compete and fans can watch all the action at eNASCAR.com. The Car Designs … Each RCR driver’s paint scheme was designed in-house by the RCR Graphics Center Powered by Roland, an in-house full-service design and production facility located on the Richard Childress Racing campus in Welcome, North Carolina. Local graphic artist John Dragonetti then rendered these designs for the iRacing platform. Learn more about Dragonetti’s designs at twitter.com/JohnRDragonetti. Did You Know … Seven of RCR’s NASCAR Cup Series wins at Bristol Motor Speedway came with the legendary Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel. Interactive RCR … For up-to-date news and exclusive content, visit RCR’s corporate Twitter page – @RCRracing – along with the RCR eSports team Twitter Page – @RCR_eSports, the RCR NASCAR Cup Series team Twitter page – @RCRCup and the RCR NASCAR Xfinity Series team Twitter page – @RCRNXS. Information about the 16-time championship winning organization can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardChildressRacing and on Instagram at Instagram.com/rcrracing. Visit www.RCRracing.com. Catch the Action … The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, April 5 beginning at 1 p.m. ET on the FOX broadcast network (where available), FS1 and the FOX Sports app. Races will be available in Canada through FOX Sports Racing. Also make sure to tune in for Saturday Night Thunder via a livestream at eNASCAR.com.

This Week’s Dow Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway … Dillon owns one top-five and two top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway and is a former race winner at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He will make his first virtual start at the track in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series this Sunday. Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team … Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After 7 years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sports and follow us on Twitter @DowSports & @DowNewsroom. A Commitment to eSports … Dillon is a long-time iRacing team owner. For the past two years, he has fielded two cars in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, which is a $300,000 eSport World Championship series officially sanctioned by NASCAR featuring the world’s most elite oval simracers. Dillon’s two drivers, Blake Reynolds (No. 30) and Michael Guest (No. 33) compete on simulated versions of the actual real-world NASCAR tracks and Gen6 cars available on iRacing. The rounds run every other Tuesday night and is broadcast live on Twitch, Facebook and YouTube.  The Crew … From Team Dillon Management’s offices on the campus of Richard Childress Racing in Welcome, North Carolina, Dillon will be competing in a rig provided by Sim Seats. Dillon will have a talented support system on Sunday, including Dillon’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver, Blake Reynolds (@breynolds_66). Reynolds was a Champ 4 contender in 2019. NBCSN Short Track Challenge … If you enjoy Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on FOX, make sure to tune into NBC Sports Network at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, April 6 to see Dillon race the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet in the inaugural NBCSN Short Track Challenge. Dillon will join his teammate, Tyler Reddick, along with Parker Kligerman, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and William Byron at the virtual Rockingham Speedway. The drivers are virtually racing via iRacing simulation for a spot in the championship race, which takes place at the virtual Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, April 9. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:Are you looking forward to competing at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend?“I’m really looking forward to racing at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend because the real Bristol Motor Speedway is always a fun time for racers. It’s going to be interesting racing in the virtual race. I think it’s going to be a wreck-fest because it’s really hard to race on the track virtually. We’ve all been practicing a lot but it will be interesting to see what happens because they are still making changes to the track to apply PJ1 traction compound to the bottom groove. I’m really excited to compete in this race for Dow and plan to have some fun with it.”

This Week’s Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway … Reddick is a former race winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Bristol Motor Speedway. This weekend’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race will mark his first virtual start at Bristol Motor Speedway. ALSCO Official Uniform Provider of Race Fans … Alsco is a fourth-generation family owned and operated business, founded in 1889, that was recognized by 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 20,000 employees, Alsco provides world-class service to over 355,000 customers in 14 countries. Learn more at alsco.com. The Crew … From his home in North Carolina, Reddick will be competing in Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro invitational Series race in a rig provided by Sim Seats. His spotter, Derek Kneeland, will be assisting Reddick during the race. NBCSN Short Track Challenge … If you enjoy Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on FOX, make sure to tune into NBC Sports Network at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, April 6 to see Reddick race the No. 31 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet in the inaugural NBCSN Short Track Challenge. Reddick will join his teammate, Austin Dillon, along with Parker Kligerman, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and William Byron at the virtual Rockingham Speedway. The drivers are virtually racing via iRacing simulation for a spot in the championship race, which takes place at the virtual Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, April 9. TYLER REDDICK QUOTE:What’s been your experience racing at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway so far? “So far, I’ve noticed that if you can run right next to the wall the track is really fast, I’m wondering if that will change at all though because iRacing is working on adding a traction compound. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway this Sunday. I love the track and have had a lot of success there in the past so I’m looking forward to the race.”

This Week’s Realtree Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway … Anthony Alfredo has not yet made a Bristol Motor Speedway start in one of NASCAR’s top-three touring divisions, but does have a handful of starts at the half-mile oval in the K&N Pro Series East and in a Super Late Model. Virtually, he has competed at Bristol Motor Speedway several times in a Super Late Model and a Modified. He’s a former virtual race winner at the track in a Modified.  Realtree … Realtree is the world’s leading camouflage designer, marketer, and licensor with over 2,000 licensees utilizing the Realtree camouflage brand. Thousands of outdoor and lifestyle products are available in Realtree camouflage patterns. In addition, Realtree is committed to supporting individuals and groups that work to ensure our outdoor heritage, the conservation of natural places, and the wildlife that resides there. Realtree promotes its products and relationships widely on television, as well as through Realtree.com and many other outlets. Happy Birthday, Fast Pasta! … Alfredo celebrated his 21st birthday on Tuesday, March 31 by following North Carolina’s stay at home order with a birthday live stream on his Twitch account (Twitch.com/Fast_Pasta). He included live streams of practice for this weekend’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on iRacing and Call of Duty. The Crew … From his home in North Carolina, Alfredo will be competing in Saturday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race in a rig provided by Sim Seats. Alfredo has a talented support system on Sunday, including last year’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Zack Novak and his teammate Jimmy Mullis, who will serve as crew chief and spotter, respectively.  ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTE:What will it take to be successful at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway?“It will take a lot of practice to be successful at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. I won five races last week at virtual Texas Motor Speedway and had a lot of confidence heading into the heat race but I still put in about 10 hours on top of those races to practice. I expect to put in even more time than that this week to make sure I get comfortable and have the confidence I did last week. Racing online this week will help a lot, too, in order to practice long run speed and race strategy.”

This Week’s TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway … Snider has one start at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Truck series and is entered for Saturday Night Thunder at the virtual track. 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 4.6/5 TrustScore on consumer review site Trustpilot, with 85% 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. Plus, when you enter promo code MYATT21 at checkout, you’ll save 21% off the cost of your federal return. Start for free at TaxSlayer.com NBCSN Short Track Challenge … If you enjoy Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on FOX, make sure to tune into NBC Sports Network at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 8 to see Snider race the No. 93 TaxSlayer Chevrolet in the NBCSN Short Track Challenge. Snider will join Dale Earnhardt Jr., Timmy Hill, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Preece and Landon Cassill at the virtual Myrtle Beach Speedway. The drivers are virtually racing via iRacing simulation for a spot in the championship race, which takes place at the virtual Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, April 9. MYATT SNIDER QUOTE:What are your thoughts on racing at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night? “It’s just so cool to be representing RCR and TaxSlayer in an awesome event like this. I’m really proud of NASCAR and the racing community as a whole for rallying behind this method of racing when we all can’t physically race. It’s going to be tough racing against drivers who have a lot of iRacing experience, but I think with enough practice I’ll be able to compete. I can’t wait to take my TaxSlayer machine to virtual Bristol.”

This Week’s HotScream Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway … Grala has a total of six starts under his belt at Bristol Motor Speedway, spread out among the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Truck Series and K&N Pro Series East. He is entered for Saturday Night Thunder at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. HotScream … HotScream takes two concepts, dessert and spicy food, and combines them to form a product that can only be described as ‘HotScream The Spicy Ice Cream’. By taking ice cream with its cool creaminess and incorporating a spicy swirl, HotScream has created a new taste sensation, one that almost defies one’s own senses. At first, you taste the pureness of the vanilla, followed quickly by the sweetness of one of seven flavor swirls. As you continue to enjoy HotScream, things change: You feel a warming sensation that starts in the back of your mouth, creating a rush that only can come from spicy foods. The warming continues to linger but doesn’t engulf your mouth with fire. Taking another bite, you again taste the cool, creamy vanilla and the respective flavor profile while the heat dissipates, only to come back time and time again. HotScream is currently available at ACME Markets, Big Y, select ShopRites, Stop & Shop and 400 Walmart locations from Maine to Texas. For more information, visit HotScream.com. The Setup … Grala has spent much of this week working with FURY Race Cars on developing the prototype for a simulator chassis. Although the rig will not be ready in time for the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway race, he expects it to be in operation and ready for competition in the eNASCAR iRacing iPro Invitational Series soon. FURY Race Cars is a manufacturing company based in Mooresville, North Carolina that designs and builds race cars for competition in numerous racing series around the world. https://furyracecars.com/about KAZ GRALA QUOTE:You’re relatively new to iRacing. How do you prepare for the virtual race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway?“I just got my iRacing subscription on Tuesday of last week prior to the virtual Texas Motor Speedway race, so it’s been a fun learning curve for me. I’ve been practicing all week in my No. 29 HotScream Chevrolet at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. I’m pumped about it because Bristol Motor Speedway has always been one of my favorite tracks to race on in real life and the virtual track is almost as good as the real thing. You’re going to see lots of action out there this weekend, just like you do in real life. Hopefully not too much action on my end. I’d like to have a clean race.”

After a disappointing finish in the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday, Matt DiBenedetto now turns his attention to the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, where he’ll pilot the No. 21 REESE/Draw-Tite Mustang in the third round of the NASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series.

At Texas, DiBenedetto was running 11th and poised to move up when he bounced off the wall and damaged his car on a long green-flag run late in the race.

Still he managed to salvage a 15th-place finish, one spot better than where he qualified.

“I was saving my right-front tire, driving smart and smacked the wall all by myself,”

DiBenedetto said. “I was faster than a big group ahead of me and had a top-five car, but I messed it up.”

Now he’s focused on Bristol and preparing himself to race the No. 21 adorned in the blue and white REESE and Draw-Tite colors for the first time, on the virtual version of the track where he finished second in last year’s night race after leading 93 laps late in the race.

 “Bristol is my best track in real life,” DiBenedetto said. “But iRacing has a different feel to it.

“It takes a lot of practice to get more comfortable with it and to have the precision you need.”

He said that in addition to working out to keep himself in shape for his eventual return to traditional racing, he’ll spend hours this week in front of his computer preparing for Sunday’s virtual run on the high-banked, half-mile asphalt track.

“I’ll definitely put a lot of practice into it,” he said.

Eddie Wood said he and his family team are proud to have their virtual Mustang carry the universally known REESE and Draw-Tite brands, which have been providing heavy-duty and custom hitches and towing equipment since their inceptions in 1952 and 1946.

“As NASCAR’s oldest continuously operating race team, it always feels special to be associated with companies that have similar histories to ours,” he said.

The Bristol race is set to get the green flag on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, with TV coverage on FOX, FOX Sports 1 and the FOX Sports app. 

DELAWARE, Ohio (April 2) — Six-time drag racing world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will always pick the familiar confines of his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as his preferred mode of go-fast transportation. But for three years, from 2008-2010, Coughlin enjoyed the unique experience of hitting breakneck speeds driving an Olympic bobsled as part of the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge.   “As I think back on those three events, that was actually pretty crazy,” said Coughlin, who will pullback from full-time racing at the end of the year. “At the time, the competitor in you comes out and the way they set it up was NASCAR versus NHRA so we just kind of dove into the fight. It probably was a bit insane but it was also a lot of fun.   “You’re in these things with no roll cage, no safety belts and no brakes really, except for one the brakeman uses after the run is over. It’s all about gravity and once they release you in that tube, you’re fully committed. The sled and its occupants are going to the bottom of the mountain. How you get there is up to you. If you crash and turn it over, you’re still going all the way down, just on your head, and that happened.”   Coughlin got involved in the charity event after hearing the story of former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine, who had learned of the struggles of the United States bobsled team in the 1990s. Bodine discovered the American athletes were far behind countries like Germany and Russia because they were using old, second- and third-hand bobsleds from their European counterparts.    Thinking the technology in the USA was equal to or even superior to most other countries, Bodine put a group together and started building bobsleds at his racecar shop. Almost immediately, the fortunes of the Americans soared and by 2002, the team collected its first Olympic medals since 1956. The Bo-Dyn Project took off from there.   “Geoff put quite the effort together to help our athletes and it was great to see the success they had attained after his involvement,” said Coughlin, who was a torchbearer for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. “Both the men’s and the women’s teams jumped way up in the world rankings. Of course, funding was critical and they put together the Challenge both to raise money and awareness for our U.S. athletes.   “When Woody (Scott Woodruff, director of media and motorsports at JEGS) asked if I wanted to race as part of the NHRA team going up against the NASCAR guys, I jumped at the chance. I figured not too many civilians would ever have the chance to pilot a bobsled with our Olympic athletes serving as coaches. I knew nothing about bobsleds other than watching on TV but we decided to go for it.”   The Bobsled Challenge had actually taken place for two years prior to the NHRA drivers getting involved but despite their lack of experience, an NHRA contingent of Coughlin, Morgan Lucas, J.R. Todd, Melanie Troxel, Shawn Langdon and Bob Vandergriff attacked Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y., with wide-eyed gusto.

NASCAR CUP SERIESTEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTMARCH 31, 2020 
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, spoke with media via teleconference to discuss the upcoming eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, the Richard Petty Motorsports 43 Crew Challenge presented by U.S. Air Force, and more. Full Transcript: CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE UPCOMING 43 CREW CHALLENGE YOU HAVE GOING ON?“That is different from iRacing; that’s actually on Nintendo Switch. We have been playing religiously about every weekend. We’ve actually gotten super competitive, almost unhealthy the way we play. We decided to make it fun. We’ve always kind of had this idea in the back of our heads, but it was always tough throughout the regular work week before all this coronavirus stuff happened. Now that we have some downtime, we decided to create a little challenge where fans get to race myself and five of my guys that are on my Richard Petty team. We feel like we’re pretty good. We definitely give each other a run for our money, so it’s tough for us to become teammates because all we want to do is talk crap to each other. At the end of the day, it makes it fun. We are going to change it up a little bit. I think we’re going to try to get the other competitors in our chat room as well and be able to stream that to hear everyone’s audio. So, it’ll be pretty cool.” WHAT IS THE FOCUS THAT IT TAKES TO RACE ON THE VIRTUAL TRACKS? “It’s kind of crazy how focused and determined we are. On a sim, I don’t know if it’s my setup or my combination of wheel and pedals, but it’s super sketchy. You can make one little twitch in the wheel in real life and you know what’s going to happen. On this, you don’t know when it’s going to spin out. So, it’s kind of hard to judge that. By the time you find out, it’s almost a little too late. My wrists hurt so bad on virtual versus real life because I’m just trying not to do anything crazy or stupid with the wheel. Like I said, I don’t know what it’s going to do. You saw Ryan Preece go through the grass there and it was crazy how he saved in. I did the same thing, I don’t know at what point of the race it was, and I was about to break my whole simulator because I was shaking so hard to keep it underneath me. You definitely have to be focused. You saw Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) hit the wall in turn 4 and I was doing that a lot in the practice races, just because you’re like ‘OK, I’m going to exit the corner, I’m good’, but no it’s different. You have to stay focused the whole time.” WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE FOR BRISTOL? IF BOUNCING OFF THE WALL IS SO DIFFERENT ON THE SIMULATOR, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR BRISTOL?“Bristol is going to be tough. You can kind of get away with it in real life. It’s tough; you hit the wall, you’re cutting a tire quick. But here, it depends on where you hit with the car, it really affects your performance pretty bad. So, it’s going to be tough. There are going to be a lot of close quarters racing. The guys on the bottom may have a little bit of an advantage because it’s so easy to get in contact. Still looking back at the replay of my wreck last weekend at Texas, it was so close that you’re dealing with lag and I felt like I wasn’t there underneath him, and all of a sudden, he was spun around. It’s those things that will take you out of contention quick. There’s definitely going to have to be a lot of give and take.”  LOOKING AT YOU GUYS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, IT SEEMS LIKE THIS IS SOMETHING THAT’S CREATING A GOOD DISTRACTION AND POSITIVE DISTRACTION THROUGH THIS. DO YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO MOVE THE DRIVER COMRADERY FORWARD IN THE SERIES AT ALL?“No, because you’re still going to get mad at each other. You see (Danial) Suarez, for an example, when he spun, he pulled right back up on the race track. Obviously, he wouldn’t do that in real life, so it’s like why in the heck are you doing it on virtual. Yeah, it’s not going to hurt anybody, but you ruin somebody’s race. I don’t know if it’s going to make the comradery better. We still get mad and frustrated, so it’s just virtually versus real life.” WHAT DOES YOUR NORMAL DAY LOOK LIKE NOW?“Man, it’s been tough. I’ve been very, very bored. I’ve been getting a lot done around the house actually. Amanda (Carter) has been here and she’s been working; she has to work everyday from home. So, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., she’s on the computer downstairs. She gets a little time away. In the last few days, we’ve been able to go out on walks throughout the neighborhood here. My allergies are really bad and it’s pollen season. I told her I’m not going outside again for like the next week; let me get through my allergies and we’ll be alright. Other than that, it’s a lot of time on iRacing. There are a bunch of different leagues that I’m joining in. I’m playing a lot of Call of Duty. I’m still kind of being a big kid at home. We’ll try to come up with dinner and lunch plans. We stay at the house as much as possible. I think we’ve quarantined ourselves pretty good. We were able to go over to her mom’s house yesterday for Amanda’s birthday. That’s about the only time we get out of the house, unless we need to go to the grocery store or something. Other than that, just trying not to go crazy. Keep your options open on whatever there is to do. We’ve been working on photography. I’ve been asking Amanda if I can take pictures of her. She was like ‘I brought some cute clothes’, so we were able to do that and just have fun. At the end of the day, you start to run out of ideas. You can only watch so many TV shows, you can only watch so much Tiger King. I only watched like thirty seconds of that and I was like ‘this is ridiculous’ (laughs). But all in all, just trying to keep it fun and light-hearted.” WHEN THIS IS OVER THIS, BACK TO RACING AND THE WORLD IS WORKING IT’S WAY BACK TO NORMAL, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE NEW NORMAL?“Yeah, it’s tough. Obviously, just interacting with people, whether it’s pit crews, fans, whatever it is. We spread germs like no other. Before this pandemic, we were washing our hands and trying to be as clean as we could. But still, it’s crazy just how quick this spread and how quick the outbreak was, I think we’re going to be a lot more on top of things now. So, the interactions may decrease a little bit, which I think people understand that. We don’t want to shoo away anybody, but when you’re not feeling alright or something, we’ve got to do a better job of social distancing ourselves to not let this happen again. I think as far as racing, it’s going to be action-packed. NASCAR is doing everything they can to get a full season in. I know states are pushing different boundaries and adding new rules. Virginia just announced theirs until June 10th, which is crazy, but that’s what we’re following. We’re following the CDC and what the government says. So, it’s going to be tough, but hopefully we can get it all in and get going.” AS THE IRACING GOES ON, IT SEEMS TO BE GETTING MORE COMPETITIVE. DO YOU THINK TEMPERS MIGHT FLARE A LITTLE MORE?“Yeah, for sure. At the end of the day, we’re all competitors. It’s funny, I can sit there and try to become third perspective for a second while I’m driving, and be like ‘Man, we’re taking it super serious’. But at the end of the day, I hope the next time we interact with somebody in real life, that’s not going to carry over. It would be like ‘Hey man, you wrecked me on iRacing’. But it’s like, ‘Cool bro, you had a reset button. Did you get hurt? Did it cost you any money?’. No, so at the end of the day, it’s a video game and there’s no blood, sweat or tears. But you do put a lot of time into it, so to have somebody wreck you out or cost you a race is frustrating. But we’re putting on a show for the fans and doing some things that wouldn’t really happen in real life, so it’s a little bit different. Definitely a lot of people are getting more serious, practicing every day. So, it’s pretty cool and shows how competitive we are.” WITH NASCAR INTENDING TO GET ALL THE RACES IN, THAT LIKELY MEANS SOME COMPRESSION IN THE SCHEDULE. JUST CURIOUS OF YOUR ANTICIPATION OF TRYING SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN TALKED ABOUT FOR AWHILE, BUT NOW IT MIGHT BE FORCED UPON US. MAYBE MID-WEEK RACES, MORE DOUBLEHEADERS.“Yeah, for sure. I think it would be sick, honestly. Just for example, Martinsville, obviously with the new rules throw that out the window, but say start at Martinsville. Then, that Wednesday we go to Atlanta and come back and run Charlotte. Then, the next Wednesday, run Bristol or something. I know we have to keep it in the same area because it would be really tough on teams getting to and from the race track. If we went from Martinsville to California, that would not work. But yeah, it’s going to be tough. I definitely don’t want to be in NASCAR’s shoes and the tracks’ shoes trying to figure all that out. All kudos to them for going through that headache. But I think the plan they will come up will be good and best suited for us and the fans. I think it would be cool; action-packed and worn out. But that’s kind of how it was. I remember during the summer months, being 9 or 10 years old, we were in Charlotte Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we were in Atlanta, and Friday and Saturday it was either Kentucky or Nashville. Those were the fun days of just sleeping in the back of the pickup truck and the next thing you know, you wake up at a new race track and do it all over again.” CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH ALL THE PIECES TO YOUR SIM SETUP AND HOW MUCH DID YOU GET THAT FOR?“I had a room above my garage that was completely empty when I bought it from the previous house owner. They were like we didn’t really know what to do with it, and I was like ‘Man, I can turn this into a game room’. It’s isolated for the rest of the house, so I can be as loud as I want. I had bought a counter-top from IKEA. My neighbor actually helped me cut it up and get the dimensions right so I could have one part of my desk where I can sit down and play Call of Duty and stuff like that. Then, off to the side in the corner, there’s another part of the desk with another monitor set up for iRacing. I have my sim rig over there. I bought my rig a couple of years ago. I can’t remember the exact brand of it, but it was a couple hundred bucks. Then, my steering wheel and stuff is pretty expensive. That’s up in the couple grand or so. All in all, I’m in the $4,000 to $5,000 range, if you think about my computer and monitor setup. It’s funny, because you see these guys’ sims. I was actually able to meet Chad Wheeler and he does a lot of rigs for a lot of guys; Clint Bowyer, he does the FOX one, he’s got Dale Jr.’s. I was able to meet him and I was like ‘Man, I might need to be talking to you’. My rig is completely fine, but these are super nice. But we’ll see.” WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM YOUR FRIENDS IN ALABAMA ABOUT THE SIM RACING?“Alabama, I have no idea. I haven’t been to Alabama since I was two-years-old. My uncle still lives down there, and him and my aunt tune in every Sunday to watch it virtually. It’s crazy; I was sitting here talking to Amanda. The first race that was at Homestead, all we knew was FOX was going to air it and whatnot. We sat there and watched the broadcast of the race; they’re doing the National Anthem, they have Billy from MRO come through and do the invocation. We were like ‘holy cow, this is serious, this is awesome!’. It’s cool how we are transitioning into the world and putting on a show. We were really doing it just to have fun and give the fans something to watch. We’ve been doing this for a while, but for FOX to step up and broadcast it. You joke about it now, but TV runs the schedule in real life. We’re sitting there waiting for command and commercial breaks. It’s the same thing. All in all, it’s good for the sport and a good time. They enjoy it.” IS THERE A TRACK THAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VIRTUALLY? “The road courses are a lot easier on virtual because you can crash, reset, know what to do now and get new tires every time. It’s definitely not that easy in real life. But it’s different; some of the favorite tracks I have in real life are based off of the feel, speed and whatnot. Examples would be Bristol and Dover. Going through the corners there at Martinsville, you can show up there, have a lot of success and feel good. It’s different, going against guys that I know I can out-run in real life. You jump on the sim and they’ve been doing it everyday for the last three years, they go out and out-run you. So, it’s different; it’s totally different. You figure out the ins and the outs of being fast and good at these tracks virtually. But all and all, all of them are fine because you get the reset button and you get to try new things that you wouldn’t try in real life.” THE NUMBER OF LAPS IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A FEW MORE LAPS OR DOES IT SORT OF TIGHTEN UP THE INTENSITY OF THE COMPETITION?“No, I think the number of laps have been good. To be honest with you, I hadn’t been on iRacing in about six to eight months. It’s been kind of the cycle where I’ll jump on for a week and then I’ll get burnt out, and I won’t jump on for six to eight months. It’s been like that for a couple of years. That’s the point where I’m getting right now. I jumped on when we first announced that we were going to run for Homestead. I started racing every night with sprint cars, late models, all that stuff. Now, the only time I’ll get on is to practice a little bit and run the official races that we run on Sunday’s. It’s definitely good for me; I like the number of laps. It’s just long enough because you get to play a little bit of strategy, so we go 100 percent for the full race.” DO YOU SEE THIS AS A VENUE TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH DRIVERS THAT HAVE HAD SUCCESS IN THE SPORT, BUT NOW YOU CAN DO IT VIRTUALLY WHEN IN THE REAL WORLD, IT WOULDN’T BE PRACTICAL?“Yeah, it gives them an opportunity to jump back in and jump into the sim world to give them a taste of that. It’s cool to have Bobby (Labonte) in there and whatnot. Racing against Dale (Earnhardt Jr.), I know he’s been doing it for a while. Still, it’s cool to see that. It just gives them a chance to be a kid and get the action for racing underneath them.” A FEW WEEKS AGO, AT CALIFORNIA, YOU AND A COUPLE OTHER DRIVERS WERE ABLE TO HONOR KOBE BRYANT AND THE OTHER VICTIMS OF THE HELICOPTOR CRASH. OVERALL, WHAT DID THAT TRIBUTE AND THAT WHOLE WEEKEND MEAN TO YOU? “That was a special weekend. (Ryan) Blaney had his car, and so did (William) Byron. We had the names and decals on our car. It was special. I remember when it happened, my mom had called me. You could tell she was very upset with just the tone in her voice. She was like ‘hey, did you hear the news’, and I was like ‘no, what happened’. I think I had just woken up from a nap to be honest. She was like Kobe Bryant died and I hung up immediately, got on social media, saw the news and immediately started sobbing. Seeing all the hits on Sport Center and all the news outlets about Kobe Bryant, how it impacted globally, just really makes you think about how big of an icon and person that we was to everybody, not just the sports world. We definitely lost a great one; one of the greatest of all-time for sure. It was super sad to see and just unfortunate. All of the other victims and his little girl, that was tough to swallow. The whole accident was just super tough, so we thought it would be cool for us to honor everybody there on our race car and show that we’re still thinking about them. There’s not a day that goes by that you get on Instagram or Twitter and there’s some Kobe highlight or some kind of Gigi highlight that brings you back and puts you in your feels again. So, it’s still tough to think about. It was cool to see the impact that he had globally; it just makes you want to try that much harder to be that type of person when you retire and leave your legacy behind.” ABOUT THESE MID-WEEK RACE POSSIBILITES, TALK ABOUT PHYSICAL FITNESS OF DRIVERS AND ENDURANCE, DO YOU THINK THAT MIGHT BREAK YOU DOWN A LITTLE BIT OVER THE COURSE OF TRYING TO SQUEEZE IN ALL 36 RACES IN?“Yeah, it will for sure wear you out. It’s definitely going to be tough on the physical side of things and mental side of things too. You’re really going to have to position yourself to have the endurance. I’ve definitely been hitting the gym here at the house more than I have in a year or so. We don’t know the exact schedule yet and what’s going to happen, but we have to plan for the most strenuous schedule as possible. Getting the upper body right, getting the cardio right and just making sure we can last. It shouldn’t be a problem; we’ll get that day or two reset in between to gain your stamina, confidence and your physical abilities back. It’ll definitely be tough, but it’ll get myself in shape and that’ll be nice.” TALK ABOUT THE MARIO KART RACING.“You definitely learn a lot. It’s funny; it’s like who are we racing against this week? You’ll seem them take a shortcut and it’s like ‘whoa, where did that come from?’. Or they’ll somehow get to that corner better than you. So, for me, I’m always analyzing the people I’m racing around, how they’re doing this and how they’re doing that. When are they drifting, when are they using their mushrooms, you’re always analyzing. It’s almost unhealthy how much we’re taking a game like Mario Kart into consideration of how to be better at, but hey I’m competitive and I want to win in everything. I don’t care if it’s Mario Kart, iRacing or real life, it’s a racing game that I have a huge passion for.”

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang will return to competition on network TV this weekend as the sport’s iRacing wing steps up to deliver live content to a sports world starved for entertainment due to the coronavirus.

Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway is the second event held this season featuring mostly Cup drivers but the first to be carried on FOX. Last week’s race at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway was broadcast on FOX Sports 1, which also is airing this week’s race.

The Invitational races might seem on the surface like a hastily assembled affair, but they are made possible by iRacing’s infrastructure already in place.

Drivers participate via computers in their own homes, with their consoles varying from $40,000 rigs to some costing just a few hundred dollars.

The Wood Brothers, with backing from the dockless electric scooter rental company Spin, a Ford Motor Co. property, already were involved in on-line racing and fielded four drivers last year.

Two competed in the 18-race NASCAR Peak iRacing League, and two more in the 16-race season for the NASCAR Heat Pro League.

Jon Wood, senior vice president and co-owner of the Wood Brothers team, said the foundation already laid by iRacing is the reason NASCAR fans can watch Cup drivers in action even though the traditional cars are idled indefinitely. 

 “iRacing took a chance before anyone else in being a NASCAR eSports league,” Wood said, giving much of the credit to iRacing Executive Vice President and Executive Producer Steve Myers, and to Otto Szebeni, who is iRacing’s director of sales and marketing. “We met them at Homestead in 2018 and they mentioned the idea of having an esports league. 

 “We really knew nothing about what they were planning, but the notion of an iRacing league, made up of some Cup teams seemed like a really good idea. 

“We joined in and were actually the first team to commit, not knowing if it would be a total flop or a booming success.”

After some initial difficulties explaining the concept of online racing to the old-school members of his family’s race team, Wood said his team now fully supports a venture that has become a leader in a sports world scrambling for ways to deliver content.

And, as with their traditional Cup team, the Woods have strong support from Ford in their iRacing venture.

Wood credited Brett Wheatley, who once oversaw the Motorcraft sponsorship and now oversees the company’s mobility and autonomous vehicle businesses including Spin, with recognizing the potential of esports like iRacing.

“Brett wanted to be a part of our esports venture, seeing it for what it could be at some point down the road,” Wood said. I think he accurately called that shot.”

Now, with few sports broadcasting options other than re-runs, the vision of folks like Wheatley and the iRacing execs is paying off.

 “The shutting down of all of America has kickstarted the e-sports revolution, but iRacing was already there and totally killing it long before this virus took hold,” Wood said. “If not for last year’s Peak Series and this year’s Coca-Cola iRacing Series, I can almost guarantee we wouldn’t be talking about iRacing in the way we are now.” 

 “The infrastructure and relationships were already there because of team involvement.”
 Wood said it took no more than a single text message relating to last Sunday’s Homestead race. From letting the team know the race would happen to making sure Matt and his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang would be involved was a single back and forth text. No contracts, no delays.  

 “That level of trust and knowing whatever they do, we know it will be done right.  That wouldn’t exist had it not been for the already existing relationships we have, and I think many other teams probably have very similar experiences,” Wood said. 

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 125 race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway takes place on Sunday, March 29, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time and is available on FOX, FS1, and the FOX Sports app.

NARC NEWSLINE – March 25, 2020, By Jim Allen …  And just like that, racing season and every other sport in America gets slam dunked by a China-borne virus named after a popular Mexican beer, which is hawked by a former Dallas Cowboy quarterback!  What are the odds?  Who saw that one coming?  I didn’t!  You didn’t!  And that unique scenario led to school closures, mass panic, pantry raids at Costco, the instant demise of the travel industry, shelter in place, and toilet paper being hawked on the streets like it’s crack!

So how does that effect all of you fanatic sprint car fans?  Just scroll through the social media site of your choice and it rates somewhere between totally pissed off to predicting an open wheel apocalypse (whatever that is!)   Many have wanted to revolt and race no matter what politicians and safety officials preach.  That got even more complicated when many fans lost their minds after watching California’s very own Carson Macedo win at Williams Grove in Pennsylvania.  If they’re racing, why can’t we race?  I get it.  We all get it.  But on the other side of the coin, nobody wants to actually get “it” – most specifically the COVID-19 virus.

The bottom line is it’s pretty hard to stage a “successful” open wheel event with less than 250 people, all of whom must be social distanced by at least six feet, while all of the veteran (older) race fans are quarantined at home surfing Amazon for hand sanitizer and face masks.  Yes, several promoters and sanctioning bodies have considered running renegade and staging racing events anyway.  But deep down, short track promoters know they will take a financial bloodbath in the process and that is probably more dangerous for our sport than the actual coronavirus itself. By the way, in the time it took to read that, the recommended group body count has already dropped to 100 …, no wait …, make that 50.  Now another press conference by the governor and it’s down to 10 people, who now have to prove they haven’t sneezed since the third grade.  Heck, by the time you’re done reading this piece, it will be highly recommended, suggested and legislated that you and your significant other can’t sleep in the same bed.

At this point, promoters are between a hard place and a harder place because while we do this for fun and an entertaining break from reality, their livelihood is probably at stake.  They are being forced to cancel everything, batten down the hatches, cut every expense, and sit tight and hope they can outlast the storm.  That is pretty depressing because a lot of work goes into preparing a track, negotiating a schedule and sponsorships and gearing up for any season.  And this knife cuts on both sides, because as of right now, the State of California is still expecting their facility lease payments to be mailed in a timely fashion.  If a concession isn’t made, we might be worrying about ALL tracks like we perpetually do about Calistoga (which may now be the most stable track of the pack after contracts were signed.)

Which brings us full circle to the slam dunk portion of the NARC King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series.  Two races schedule, two races postponed indefinitely (which is Latin for cancelled.)  And now that the State has mandated that no activities are to take place on any fairgrounds until May 10th, that officially scrubs the 30th Annual Dave Bradway Jr. race at Silver Dollar Speedway until 2021.  Keep in mind that the May 10th date is the “best case scenario” timeline.  That would tentatively make the May 16th Peter Murphy Classic the season opener, which is coincidental because it’s Mr. Murphy who has been preaching for years to “Bring a Friend” to the track.  Motorsports is going to need a lot of friends to recover from this.  Let’s hope that all of your friends are still employed by then.

Speaking of Murphy, everybody figured that Peter Murphy was one of the luckiest men alive when he took over the reigns at Keller Auto Speedway.  I did!  You did, we all did!  He marched in with a new vision and passion, new paint, new sponsors, and a healthy bounce in his step.  That resulted in an awesome season opener in front of a packed house at the Kings Fairgrounds.  He also has some great plans lined up to help grow 410 sprint car racing in California with some additional non-KWS competing races.  Fast forward a month and now he is in a permanent holding pattern over the Central Valley until the Fair Board and Health Department deems he can turn the lights on again.  That stinks worse than being stuck on a quarantined cruise ship.

In the meantime, we all need to be patient and go out of your way to support all of those in your family and our racing family – while properly maintaining social distancing.  Let’s get through to the other side of this global catastrophe without having to perform any memorial laps for anybody.  If you want to do something nice, send your local track promoter lunch (DoorDash or GrubHub); try to support the people and sponsors whose names adorn your favorite racing heroes cars, and with some luck, the 2020 season will not have a big asterisk next to it.

NARC NOTES:  I nominate car owner/former NARC president Walter T. Ross to be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.  #justsaying  …  We are planning to honor the legendary LeRoy Van Conett at our March 21st event.  That doesn’t mean we can’t acknowledge him now!  The eight-time NARC champion claimed 65 feature events and was a dominating force any time he slipped into a sprint car. Those are some great memories, even if one can only remember a portion of them. … Geoffrey Strole recently announced that he will be chasing the NARC King of the West schedule this season.  The “G-Man” from Hanford cut his teeth as a series rookie in 2012 and finished 12th in points.  He’s aiming to improve that to the top 10 this season! …  While we are on the subject of nicknames, “Wild Bill” Anton will also be a frequent flyer this season. …  The cancellations have actually helped a few NARC-KWS teams.  Chico’s Kenny Allen wasn’t going to be ready for the NARC season until May.  Now he will be rolling in with with a new racing program, car and updated motor. …  Same thing with car owner Clayton Snow, who was tooling around in Arizona. …  And one of the newest teams who really appreciated the extra time was none other than Willie Croft.  The Roseville driver has literally built a new team from scratch for the 2020* season.  This includes everything from building a new hauler to buying the wrenches to put inside it. …

RANDOM THOUGHTS:  iRacing may become the most popular sport in America this year.  Desperate times bring desperate measures. … Do we take it for granted that every driver who buckles up in a sprint car has some kind of medical insurance?  Not to single anyone out, but why would anyone even consider getting into one without insurance?  All of us are invincible – until we get hurt – and then hindsight is the worst kind of reality check.  For those of you without an option, take a look at stida.com, which stands for the “short track independent drivers and associates.”  For less than $300 bucks you can buy a policy.  If you need it, I’ll lend it to you.  If you don’t pay me back, I’ll send Vinnie to break your kneecaps, which means you’ll need insurance anyway. …  Have you every wondered how Cornhole Tournaments get televised on ESPN, but not many, if any dirt track races? …  Since most of us are spending a ton-o-time on social media these days, start posting some of your favorite racing memorabilia and photos. … Wishing new Antioch Speedway promoter Chad Chadwick the best in his efforts to improve that facility.  Like Peter Murphy, he has big plans to take motorsports to the next level at his Contra Costa Fairgrounds race track. We would like to plan a return trip. …

… What do you with all of your spare time?  I agree, you can only watch Netflix reruns of Breaking Bad, Rake, Dexter and Narcos so many times before you go bats**t crazy!  For that reason, your NARC King of the West racing series entertainment guide highly recommends a subscription to SpeedShiftTV.com and/or MillsVideo.tv.  Pick a random race, pour yourself a beer in a plastic cup and see if you can predict (if you are young) or remember (if you are old) the top three finishers.  Make sure you throw some dirt in your face every few minutes for the full effect.  Or take it to the next level and do it naked when the kids are in bed.  What?  I just threw that in to see if you were still paying attention! … This is also a good time to surf the libraries of some of our great photographers; many of who have websites showcasing their work.  Others you can reach on social media.  I’m sure they would love an order for a nice photo of 2019 series champion DJ Netto to mount above your bed. …  There are also some great podcast available, a couple of which I’ve been on recently (sprintcarunlimited.com & Across the Groove.) … Support those who support sprint car racing.

So let’s steal a page from the Disney playbook, which is to end every story/movie on a positive note.  There will be good news ahead – if we’re patient.  We will still be alive if we do the right thing.  Race cars will be ready to go and your favorite dirt track(s) will be anxious to open their ticket booth.  And when we finally take the first green flag in qualifying, we will have an 80-way tie for the NARC King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series championship point lead late in the racing season.  A battle for the ages!

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA.  See ya!  Stay healthy and start lining up your friends for when this show gets on the road again.

Giovanni Scelzi Earns Back-to-Back Runner-Up Results in California and Arizona

Inside Line Promotions – PEORIA, Ariz. (March 2, 2020) – Giovanni Scelzi produced a pair of top-notch performances in his family owned sprint car during the last two weekends.

Scelzi earned a runner-up result on Feb. 22 at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., before duplicating that result last Friday at Canyon Speedway Park, which hosted a Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour doubleheader that featured more than 50 drivers. Continue reading Giovanni Scelzi Earns Back-to-Back Runner-Up Results in California and Arizona →

Race Wrap: 26th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout

(March 2, 2020 Santa Ana CA) Kicking off the Holley NMRA Ford Nationals season in fine style, the 26th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout roared into Bradenton Motorsports Park, drawing a crowd of fans and a horde of racers. All in attendance enjoyed cool weather, fast race cars and everything an NMRA event has to offer, including a huge car show and a manufacturer’s midway brimming with performance parts. Racers established a foothold in the season’s championship points chase and an elite group headed for the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle to celebrate the spoils of victory. Continue reading Race Wrap: 26th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout →

Rachel Doubles-Up at Lucas Oil Regional Event in Louisiana

Mar 2, 2020 | Featured, Race Results, Rachel Meyer

For the second year in a row, Rachel Meyer dominated the Top Alcohol Dragster class at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana this past weekend. Rachel defeated number one qualifier, Jackie Fricke, in the final round. Continue reading Rachel Doubles-Up at Lucas Oil Regional Event in Louisiana →

DiBenedetto Finishes 13th In Auto Club 400

March 1, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Quaker State team capitalized on some mid-race adjustments to earn a 13th-place finish in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. DiBenedetto picked up six positions on the final green-flag run of the race and moved up to eighth place in the Cup Series standings.
Continue reading DiBenedetto Finishes 13th In Auto Club 400 →

DiBenedetto, Menards/Quaker State Team Set To Start 12th At Fontana

February 29, 2020
Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang qualified 12th fastest at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday as Fords swept eight of the top 15 starting spots for Sunday’s Auto Club 400.

“I held it wide open and didn’t lift,” DiBenedetto told reporters at Auto Club after his qualifying run. “That is good.”

He pointed out that the Menards team’s main goal on Saturday was to have a Mustang that would be fast in the race, not just for one lap in time trials. Continue reading DiBenedetto, Menards/Quaker State Team Set To Start 12th At Fontana →

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
FEBRUARY 29, 2020

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
3rd Alex Bowman, No. 88 Cincinnati Camaro ZL1 1LE
4th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
9th Kyle Larson, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1 1LE
10th Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE
Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Auto Club Speedway–Qualifying →

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:

ON THE ‘KYLE BUSCH CHALLENGE’, WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT YOUR ‘CHERRIES TWEET’ SPARKED ALL THIS?
“Yeah, I guess. It was really a joke. I’m not offended with Kyle Busch wins Truck races. I actually like it a lot because I feel like it helps expose the guys that are good and the ones who aren’t. I think when he does win and he has to battle for the wins, I think it shows which kids are really good. So, I just dropped some cherries on there because when I do win dirt races, I do get a lot of that as well. It was more of a dig at the NASCAR fans and dirt fans who give me crap also, but in a different series. But, I guess it upset (Kevin) Harvick enough that he put a bounty up, which is cool. I think it’s great for the sport and great for the Truck Series. Hopefully the ratings are even better for these races coming up and hopefully it’s exciting, too.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Auto Club Speedway–Kyle Larson →

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW COATINGS CAMARO ZLI ILE MEDIA BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:

ABOUT RUNNING TRUCKS FOR GMS THIS YEAR: “I don’t have a relationship with GMS. I never ran one of their trucks. It would be fun to run five or six races this year but I don’t have the sponsorship it takes to run a truck and no one has come to me about it.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Auto Club Speedway–Austin Dillon →

NASCAR CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
FEBRUARY 28, 2020

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA 24 TRIBUTE CAMARO ZL1 1LE BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:

WOULD YOU EVER SLEEP IN A TEEPEE LIKE RYAN BLANEY, OR IS THAT NOT YOUR SCENE?
“No. That’s not my scene. I went back home. We’re testing the Next Gen car here on Monday and Tuesday. So, I’ll be out West the rest of next week.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR– Auto Club 400–William Byron →