Menard Finishes 18th At Pocono

July 28, 2019

Monster Energy Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway more often than not boil down to fuel-mileage gambles and pit strategy plays. Sunday’s Gander RV 400 was no different. Continue reading Menard FInishes 18th at Pocono →

Austin Dillon and RCR’s No. 3 Freightliner Chevrolet Team Show Resiliency at Pocono Raceway

“I’m so proud of this team. We had a major setback today after having to start at the rear of the field. However, these guys didn’t let that dampen our spirits or prevent us from working on a plan to get the No. 3 Freightliner Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up front. For a little while, it looked like fuel mileage was going to work in our favor, until the caution came out and leveled the playing field. There were a couple of restarts at the end of the race that simply shuffled us out of the top 10. The outside line was definitely preferred, but we just couldn’t catch a break to be positioned up there for those last restarts. This is still a huge improvement over some of the misfortune we’ve had the last several weeks. We have a few opportunities to earn a win and punch our ticket to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and we’re going to do all we can to get us to that point.”
Continue reading RCR Post Race Report – Pennsylvania 400 →

Dixon Leads Honda Podium Sweep at Mid-Ohio
• Scott Dixon scores second victory of 2019, sixth career Honda Indy 200 victory
• Felix Rosenqvist fills out 1-2 for Chip Ganassi Racing
• Ryan Hunter-Reay completes 1-2-3 sweep for Honda’s sixth win of 2019

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 28, 2019) – The “Master of Mid-Ohio”, Scott Dixon, scored his sixth Honda Indy 200 victory Sunday, dominating the middle stage of the 90-lap contest and then holding off teammate Felix Rosenqvist on fading tires in the closing laps, taking the checkers by the narrow margin of 0.0934 seconds. Ryan Hunter-Reay completed a 1-2-3 sweep for Honda, finishing third, and his Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi closed to within 16 points of championship leader Josef Newgarden with a fifth-place finish. Continue reading Dixon Leads Honda Podium Sweep at Mid-Ohio →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE, LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP
JULY 28, 2019

Three Chevrolet drivers finish in top 10 in Mid-Ohio race
Will Power leads way with fourth place; Newgarden retains points lead

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 28, 2019) – Will Power drove the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to a fourth-place finish in the caution-free Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio to lead three Chevrolet drivers in the top seven.

Power, who registered his 57th NTT P1 Award, has finished in the top four in the 90-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course for the fourth consecutive year.

Teammate Simon Pagenaud finished sixth in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. Spencer Pigot advanced six positions relative to his starting spot in the No. 20 Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet to finish seventh.

Josef Newgarden, who started third in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, was headed toward a top-five finish but made contact with another car on the final lap and fell to 14th place. Newgarden, the 2017 winner at Mid-Ohio, retained his NTT IndyCar Series championship points lead through 13 of the 17 races.

Scott Dixon recorded his sixth career victory in the event.

Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, will host the 14th round of the season Aug. 18. NBCSN will telecast the ABC Supply 500 live at 2 p.m. ET.

Power won two of the past three races on the 2.5-mile tri-oval in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. In 2018, he started from the pole and finished second.

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (finished fourth): “
“It was a tough race, honestly. It was difficult to predict the tire strategy – the (Firestone) red tires were way better when the track temps came up and unfortunately we used them at the beginning so it just didn’t play into our strategy. It was a pretty frustrating end for Team Penske, really frustrating to see Josef (Newgarden) in the tires at the end. So, overall, not a great team day but it was a solid finish for the Verizon Chevy. We’ll take it and move on.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (finished sixth): “From a championship standpoint it was a good say. From a team standpoint I feel sorry for Team Penske. I think we were the dominating cars this weekend. We tried as hard as we could today. It was pretty difficult for us to keep up the pace at the end because our car started getting very loose but overall, it was a good race and I thought we got the best finish we could with the Menards Chevrolet. We committed to a three-stop strategy and we got caught behind traffic after pretty much every pit sequence so that cost us quite a bit. It’s unfortunate because I think that strategy could’ve worked well. The good news is we picked up some points and we’re definitely still in the hunt for the championship.”

SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET (finished seventh): “It was an interesting race. It was a tough race for sure. Coming home seventh is not a bad result. We would have liked to have started a bit higher up this afternoon, but to pass the cars that we did and have the pace we did was encouraging. The car was great, everyone at Ed Carpenter Racing did a great job with the calls and pit stops. So lot of positives throughout the race.”

ED JONES, NO. 20 ED CARPENTER RACING SCUDERIA CORSA CHEVROLET (finished 13th): “On the start, I tried to optimize as much as I could to make up as many positions as possible. I think we did a good job with that. We executed everything well, there were no mistakes on track, I never got passed on track and the guys did a good job in the pits. Ultimately, we just weren’t quite quick enough today. We’ll make some improvements to get better pace for Portland, then we’ll be up there.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (finished 14th): “I just forced the issue probably. I was trying to get on the podium there. I got inside of (Ryan Hunter-Reay) and looped it around and lost power. We had a great car today with PPG on board. Chevy did a wonderful job. I wish we could have done a bit more there at the end. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CHEVROLET (finished 16th): “It’s always a physical race here, especially when there aren’t any yellows at all. We had solid pace for most of the race in the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, but we really just struggled on the scrubbed reds in that third stint. It’s just so difficult to overtake at Mid-Ohio, especially without any restarts. We started out on a two-stop strategy, but ultimately switched over to a three-stop. We were able to make it work, but we just couldn’t get around the cars in front of us. We definitely had a quicker car than our results showed, but that’s just how it worked out for us unfortunately.”

RC ENERSON, NO. 31 LUCAS OIL SCHOOL CARLIN CHEVROLET (finished 17th): “It was a pretty good race for us. We finished P17, so not too bad. We struggled a little bit at the start to find pace and we weren’t 100% sure what we wanted to do on strategy, but once we got out into clean air we started to pick up some pace in the No. 31 Lucas Oil School Carlin Chevrolet. We were able to make up some spots and pick off some of the stragglers who didn’t quite have the pace, moving us up about five spots from where we started. I’d say it was a pretty good weekend and it felt really good to be back in the car and get comfortable again.”

MATHEUS LEIST, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET (finished 18th): “It was a very difficult race here at Mid-Ohio, and disappointing considering we had a good pace in the practices. The pace was not good, the tire degradation was not good, so I think it was a combination of factors that didn’t allow us to move forward up the grid.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 14 ABCC AUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET (finished 20th): “I honestly don’t have much to say. Starting all the way back we had to gamble on some strategy moves. Without a yellow during the race there was no gain on what we planned so we raced by ourselves the whole time.”

ROBERT HIGHT WINS FOR THE 50TH TIME WITH AUTO CLUB
SONOMA, Calif. (July 28, 2019) — Racing on a Sonoma Raceway track that as a youngster nurtured his passion for drag racing, Robert Hight became just the 13th driver to win 50 times on the Mello Yello pro tour, repeating as Funny Car Champion by driving his Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS past Matt Hagan in the final round of at the 31st annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
Continue reading ROBERT HIGHT WINS FOR THE 50TH TIME WITH AUTO CLUB →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
GANDER RV 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 28, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
4th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
5th Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1
7th Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Caterpillar Camaro ZL1
15th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
2nd Eric Jones (Toyota)
3rd Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota)
4th William Byron (Chevrolet)
5th Kyle Larson (Chevrolet) Continue reading Chevy Racing—NASCAR—Pocono—Post Race →

ROBERT HIGHT LANDS AUTO CLUB CHEVY EIGHTH NO. 1 OF THE SEASON AT NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2019) — Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SS team locked in the No. 1 qualifier spot for the eighth time of the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Season at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. Teammate John Force moved his PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevy Camaro into the No. 7 spot, and in Top Fuel, Brittany Force moved up the ladder into eighth with her Carquest Brakes team, and Austin Prock is in sixth with the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster. Continue reading ROBERT HIGHT LANDS AUTO CLUB CHEVY EIGHTH NO. 1 OF THE SEASON AT NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS →

JEGS pro Jeg Coughlin Jr. begins Sonoma title defense from No. 3 qualifying spot
SONOMA, Calif. (July 27) — Six-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. will begin the defense of his NHRA Sonoma Nationals title from the third position on the elimination grid after an impressive four rounds of qualifying, highlighted by a Friday evening pass of 6.533 seconds at 210.41 mph. Continue reading JEGS pro Jeg Coughlin Jr. begins Sonoma title defense from No. 3 qualifying spot →

Menard Set To Start 21st At Pocono

July 27, 2019

Paul Menard and the No. 21 Menards/Duracel Optimum Batteries Ford Mustang are set to start 21st in Sunday’s Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway. Continue reading Menard Set to Start 21st at Pocono →

Tyler Reddick Claims 14th Top-Five Finish of Season with American Ethanol / Novozymes Team’s Return to Iowa Speedway

“Well, we got a little bit of redemption at Iowa Speedway this time around after the tire issue we had during our first visit this season. We had a really good No. 2 American Ethanol / Novozymes Chevrolet Camaro all weekend long. It was snug enough for me to run the bottom well right from the start, so we really just focused on building some rear grip so I could run the top like I wanted. We got it handling right where I needed it to be during the final stage, and I was able to start chasing down the 20 for the lead. The two of us were able to keep up with each other and had really stretched out a lead until that late-race caution came out. We didn’t want to see that caution at all since it didn’t go with the strategy we were on and we had already taken our last set of sticker tires. We got shuffled back after that restart, but we lucked out a little bit once another caution came out, and we were able to use a set of 25-lap scuffed tires to our advantage to take back a couple spots. The strategy didn’t fall our way today, but we showed we had the speed we needed to contend and we’ll keep building on that. It shows how strong our team is that we are coming away from this weekend disappointed with a top-five finish.Thanks to American Ethanol and Novozymes for coming on board this weekend. I hope we put on a good show for them today.”

-Tyler Reddick

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE, LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFICATIONS RECAP
JULY 27, 2019

Will Power puts Chevy on Pole at Mid-Ohio
Chevy drivers claim three in top 4 for Mid-Ohio race

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 27, 2019) – Will Power claimed his fourth NTT P1 Award at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and 57th of his career to lead three Chevrolet drivers qualifying on the first two rows for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Continue reading Will Power puts Chevrolet on Pole at Mid-Ohio →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
GANDER RV 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JULY 27, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
5th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Freightliner Camaro ZL1
6th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
8th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro Zl1
9th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1
15th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kevin Harvick (Ford)
2nd Joey Logano (Ford)
3rd Aric Almirola (Ford)
4th Erik Jones (Toyota)
5th Austin Dillon (Chevrolet) Continue reading Chevy Racing—NASCAR—Pocono—Qualifying →

Continue reading Front-Row Start for Rossi, Honda at Mid-Ohio →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING QUOTES
JULY 27, 2019

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (NTT P1 Award winner with lap of 1:05.5317 in Firestone Fast Six; fourth pole at Mid-Ohio, third of season and 57th of career):
THAT LAST LAP WAS ‘TAKE THAT’
“It’s been such a bad year; so disappointing, but I have such a fire burning in me when I do a lap like that. It just beats you down when you have these bad runs. So happy to get the pole. So happy.”

HOW MUCH DOES THIS RESTORE YOUR CONFIDENCE FOR THE RACE?
“It’s great for confidence for my guys. I feel so bad for my guys. I’ve made some mistakes, so it was good to pay those guys back with some positive energy. And for our supporters as well for all the effort they put in. It’s been a tough year. I had a lot of energy to get pole today. I really want to win a race now. The things that haven’t gone our way. It just starts to wear on you. For me, it just makes me faster and more aggressive that leads to mistakes.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (qualified third): “Good day and good qualifying result for us on the PPG Chevy team. To qualify first, third and fourth is about as good as you can do, so great job overall by Team Penske. You could see how our work from the test we had here made a difference. Chevy’s done a phenomenal job — the last three or four weeks we’ve just been on it. That gives us a lot of confidence on the PPG car that we can tap into that consistency and have a strong result tomorrow.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (qualified fourth): “Awesome result for Team Penske to have three cars in the Fast Six and congratulations to Will for winning the pole. I really thought we would be able to get a front row starting spot with the Menards Chevy, but I think I affected the strategy a little too much and we didn’t have the right tires on the car at the end. Tomorrow, we’ll go racing hard. It’s going to be an exciting race with all the championship contenders starting at the front, so it should be a lot of fun to watch.”

SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET (qualified 13th): “Qualifying was really frustrating. We seemed to be really quick through the weekend, but we obviously didn’t have it there on red tires. We didn’t get a run on them yesterday, so that did not help us. We’ll have to take a look at it and see where we can improve for tomorrow. The car was really good for the most part up until qualifying. We’ll go back and look at all that and hopefully get the Autogeek Chevy back up to where it’s supposed to be.”

MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CHEVROLET (qualified 16th): “Obviously, compared to last year where we got through to the Firestone Fast Six, it looks like we’ve made a step backwards but I think last year we just kind of scraped through because of red flags. I truly believe we had more pace today than we did last year. It’s just super close out there. You know three tenths would’ve gotten me comfortably into the Firestone Fast Six. I really maximized everything I could. We didn’t get a run on reds yesterday, so that was really my first red run of the weekend. I think if I knew what I know now on the reds, we might’ve been able to get Dixon with those two tenths we were just shy of. When we’re only two tenths off of a Ganassi car, I think we can be proud of the job we did. We’re in a good place for tomorrow and I’m hoping we can bring home a good result for the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet.”

ED JONES, NO. 20 ED CARPENTER RACING SCUDERIA CORSA CHEVROLET (qualified 18th): “We certainly made improvements on the black tires over the course of the weekend. However, not being able to run the reds yesterday really cost us quite a bit as we didn’t know what to expect. It’s not usually very easy to overtake here but hopefully we are able to make some positions up.”

MATHEUS LEIST, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET (qualified 21st): “Disappointing qualifying today, very disappointing, considering we were running in or near the top 12 most of the time here. The car felt pretty good for most of the run but we are lacking getting the speed out of the car. We have one more practice tomorrow to figure it out before the race.” Continue reading Chevy Racing—Indycar—Mid-Ohio—Qualifying →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
GANDER RV 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 27, 2019

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:

HOW WAS YOUR PRACTICE? OBVIOUSLY, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF CARS THAT CRASHED DURING THAT FIRST PRACTICE.
“Yeah, I don’t know if it was due to the PJ-1 or not. I don’t really think so. I think it was just people pushing it to the edge to go faster and faster. We’ve kind of seen it the last couple of weeks, so everyone has figured out that you kind of have to be freer with these cars to gain speed. I think people were just pushing that limit. On our Geico Military Camaro, we just weren’t really happy with the balance on it. Hopefully in this second practice, we’ll hit on something and get better.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Ty Dillon →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
GANDER RV 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 27, 2019

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:

WHAT ADJUSTMENTS DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS SEASON TO BE A LITTLE MORE SUCCESSFUL?
“We just need to finish the race where we are running. In Kentucky, we were 18th with six or seven laps to go and we ended up 23rd one lap down. We’ve been having great runs ever since the All-Star weekend. It seems like the stars have lined up for us at the end of the race. Once that happens, we will start clicking off some spots in the points. But we were just behind the eight-ball for so long at the beginning of the season and we just need to climb our way out of it. We will continue to fight.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Bubba Wallace →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
GANDER RV 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 27, 2019

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SEASON LIKE THIS WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE JUST BEEN MAKING SO MANY MISTAKES?
“No, I mean 2015 I don’t really remember that year, I don’t really want to remember that year. But I just remember it being bad. I don’t know if we crashed a lot then or what. Lately, it’s just been a lot of mistakes on my part. Earlier in the year, it was just bad luck or whatever you want to call it. But lately, it’s just been my fault.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Kyle Larson →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
GANDER RV 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 27, 2019

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights:

INAUDIBLE
“I think the tires got really hard. Obviously, the tracks have changed a little bit with the PJ-1. It seems like the last couple of weeks, people have been crashing in practice. We just unloaded really loose and a little poorly, but hopefully we’ll gain on it and get better throughout the day.”

IT SEEMED LIKE YOU WERE LIFTING A LITTLE MORE THAN YOU DID IN THE SPRING RACE. WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND THAT?
“I don’t think anyone was wide open in June, except through the tunnel. For us, we are just freer. I think the cars are a little faster this time around. The 24 is really fast right now; he was still wide open in the tunnel. I don’t really think anything has changed. Nobody is running in the PJ-1, that stuff is just going to get slimey all weekend. I don’t know, it definitely seems like there is less grip, but the cars are going faster.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Pocono–Alex Bowman →

ROBERT HIGHT AND AUTO CLUB SIT NO. 1 FRIDAY AT THE NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA, Calif. (July 26, 2019) — Two-time Funny Car world champion Robert Hight powered his Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS to the No. 1 spot Friday night under the lights at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. Teammate and John Force Racing owner, John Force and the PEAK machine sit in the No. 8 spot, and in Top Fuel, first-year driver Austin Prock is in sixth with his Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster, and Brittany Force and Carquest Brakes are currently in the No. 10 position. Continue reading ROBERT HIGHT AND AUTO CLUB SIT NO. 1 FRIDAY AT THE NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE, LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DAY ONE RECAP AND DRIVER QUOTES
July 26, 2019

Two Chevrolet entries in the top three in Mid-Ohio practice
Simon Pagenaud, Will Power pace the Bowtie brigade on road course

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 26, 2019) – Team Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud and Will Power, who have had past success on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, were among the top three on the time sheet after two practice sessions for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Mid-Ohio →