Jegs Racing

With most wins among active Pro Stock drivers, Houston race a favorite for Jeg Coughlin Jr.

With most wins among active Pro Stock drivers, Houston race a favorite for Jeg Coughlin Jr.
HOUSTON (April 26) — Five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has collected five of his 76 national event victories at Royal Purple Raceway, making it one of his favorite tracks on the NHRA Mello Yello tour. That’s one of the main reasons he’s pumped up to return for this weekend’s 29th annual NHRA SpringNationals, but it’s not the only one.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been more excited to get to Houston,” Coughlin said. “Elite Motorsports has a special relationship with Stan and Sheila Holt and Stan’s sons and their business, Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurants. They are jumping on board with us once again with my teammate Erica Enders’ race car, and I know we’ll be eating the best Tex-Mex food in the world all weekend. Not to mention the fact we get to hang out and race with Stan and Sheila, who run Stock, so I know we’re going to have some fun no matter what. Continue reading With most wins among active Pro Stock drivers, Houston race a favorite for Jeg Coughlin Jr. →

Allen Johnson Racing

Pro Stock Champion Allen Johnson Turns Page and Hits the Road to NHRA SpringNationals

Pro Stock Champion Allen Johnson Turns Page and Hits the Road to NHRA SpringNationals

GREENEVILLE, T.N. (April 26, 2016) – After an early exit at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Allen Johnson and his Marathon Petroleum Corporation/J&J Racing team are looking forward to putting last weekend’s race behind them and bring home the win at the 29th annual NHRA SpringNationals this weekend at Royal Purple Raceway.

Johnson is no stranger to the final round at the Houston, Texas-based track. Johnson made final round appearances in 2007, 2010 and 2014. He also entered raceday as the No. 1 seed in 2012 and 2014.

Johnson and his team tested his Pro Stock Dodge Dart GT at zMAX Dragway on Monday after the national event before heading west to the sixth of 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. Besides testing early this week, Johnson plans on visiting a Marathon Petroleum refinery before they set their sights on the Wally this weekend.

“I’m excited to visit the Marathon Petroleum Refinery in Houston this week before we race,” said Johnson. “I think that’s going to start our week off right.”

Qualifying at the 29th annual NHRA SpringNationals will begin Friday, April 29 at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Chevrolet Racing

CORVETTE DPs AT MONTEREY: Visit Florida Racing Seeks Second Straight Laguna Seca Win Corvette Daytona Prototypes coming off podium sweep at Long Beach

CORVETTE DPs AT MONTEREY: Visit Florida Racing Seeks Second Straight Laguna Seca Win
Corvette Daytona Prototypes coming off podium sweep at Long Beach

· Dalziel, Goossens at helm of VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP

· Four podiums in two races for Corvette DPs

· Monterey event is 50th for Corvette DP program

DETROIT (April 26, 2016) – Chevrolet’s Corvette Daytona Prototype program, off a podium sweep two weeks ago at Long Beach, will look for continued success in California at the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Monterey powered by Mazda. The fourth round of IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will feature a pair of two-hour races Sunday with the Prototype class competing alongside GT Le Mans (GTLM) entries. Continue reading CORVETTE DPs AT MONTEREY: Visit Florida Racing Seeks Second Straight Laguna Seca Win Corvette Daytona Prototypes coming off podium sweep at Long Beach →

Gary Scelzi Motorsports

Giovanni Scelzi Earns Runner-Up Result during Second Career Sprint Car Race

Giovanni Scelzi Earns Runner-Up Result during Second Career Sprint Car Race

Inside Line Promotions – ANTIOCH, Calif. (April 25, 2016) – Giovanni Scelzi powered to his first career podium finish in a sprint car during only his second career race in the sport.

The 14-year-old topped his fourth-place finish during his sprint car debut by earning a runner-up result last Saturday at Antioch Speedway, where he made a late-race bid to reach Victory Lane.

“Sprint cars are so big and lazy,” he said. “It’s completely different from what I’m used to. It’s just weird being in the driver seat because the last three or four years I’ve been working on them.

“(Antioch Speedway) is really, really small so it’s good getting a variety on my schedule. The track was slick to the fence. It’s good to race on different surfaces so I can hopefully get better quicker. I’ll be going to a few different places this year in a sprint car so hopefully it’ll help me be more versatile.”

Scelzi didn’t have any problems adjusting to the new division or a new track as he rallied from fifth to third place in a heat race to open the night.

“We got into fourth on the start and then about Lap 6 we passed a car on the entrance of turn three and pulled away,” he said. “I closed in on second, but we ran out of laps.”

That lined Scelzi up on the inside of the second row for the 25-lap main event.

“I fell to fourth on the initial start,” he said. “I got back up to third and ran there for a little. On a restart I passed Koen Shaw on the bottom in turns one and two for second probably halfway through. I ran up on the leader. On the last lap going into turn three he went to the bottom and I went to the top and he beat us by only half a car length at the finish line. It was pretty close at the end.”

Scelzi will take the momentum of a second-place result into next Friday’s sprint car race at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., where he will drive for Roth Motorsports. Scelzi will wrap up the weekend on Saturday in a micro sprint at Delta Speedway in Stockton, Calif.

Summit Racing

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT DOUBLES-UP AT NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT DOUBLES-UP AT NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

Concord, NC (April 24, 2016) – Summit Racing Equipment put two drivers in the Winner’s Circle at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods. Jason Line won his third race in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series this year and the fifth race in a row for KB Racing in Pro Stock. Tim Wilkerson drove his Nitro Funny Car to his second win this season.

JASON LINE Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS
Sunday’s victory marks the 40th career Pro Stock win for Line. This was also the fifth straight final round this season for the two-time Pro Stock world champion. Line came into race day the No.3 qualifier with a 6.584 E.T. at 211.10 mph. This is the first time Anderson has won the Four-Wide Nationals. Continue reading SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT DOUBLES-UP AT NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS →

Allen Johnson Racing

Allen Johnson: Down But Definitely Not Out After First Round Loss

Allen Johnson: Down But Definitely Not Out After First Round Loss

CONCORD, N.C. (April 25, 2016) – Marathon Petroleum Co./J&J Racing Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson competed at the Sixth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods but his raceday was cut short when he didn’t advance out of his quad in the first round of eliminations.

The No. 9 spot was where Johnson started his raceday efforts on Sunday; his quad consisted of No. 1 Greg Anderson, No. 16 Shane Tucker and No. 8 Chris McGaha. Johnson made a clean pass down zMAX Dragway with a 6.642-second pass at 207.69 but wasn’t able to reach the stripe before Greg Anderson’s 6.562, 211.99 and Chris McGaha’s 6.615, 209.36.

“We made a good run but I’m disappointed we didn’t make it out of first round,” admitted Johnson. “Losing first round hurt us a little but we continue gaining on the pack with our fuel injection tune-up. We’ll test tomorrow – we’re down but we’re definitely not out.”

Honda Racing

Honda Racing– RealTime Racing Acuras Fight Through Adversity in Alabama

RealTime Racing Acuras Fight Through Adversity in Alabama
• Peter Cunningham claims Hard Charger Award in Saturday’s opener
• Acuras finish in top 13 in both events at Barber Motorsports Park

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 24, 2016) – The RealTime Racing Team Acuras fought through some adversity this weekend, but kept battling to the end of Rounds Six and Seven of the Pirelli World Challenge at Barber Motorsports Park. Continue reading Honda Racing– RealTime Racing Acuras Fight Through Adversity in Alabama →

Wood Brothers

Wood Brothers Racing–Blaney Finishes 28th At Richmond 400

Blaney Finishes 28th At Richmond 400

April 24, 2016

Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway was one of those days in which Ryan Blaney and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team were reminded of the old saying about how close doesn’t count.

The team had the right pit strategy to finish in the top 15 or better, but the breaks they needed seemed to always happen a few laps too late, and Blaney wound up a disappointing 28th at the finish. Continue reading Wood Brothers Racing–Blaney Finishes 28th At Richmond 400 →

Mopar Racing

Hagan and Capps Power their DSR Mopars to Final Quad at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

Hagan and Capps Power their DSR Mopars to Final Quad at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

· Matt Hagan and Ron Capps advanced their DSR Mopars to the final elimination foursome at the 7th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
· Capps moves his DSR Dodge Charger R/T into second place in the Funny Car points standings
· Erica Enders takes Mopar Performance Dodge Dart to the semifinal round at zMAX Dragway

Concord, North Carolina (April 24, 2016) – Two Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopars raced their way into the final foursome at the 7th annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods at the uniquely built four-lane zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C., but while they fell just short of their goal to come away with the coveted prize, both came away with a few intangibles. Continue reading Hagan and Capps Power their DSR Mopars to Final Quad at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals →

John Force Racing

BRITTANY FORCE WINS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

BRITTANY FORCE WINS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

CONCORD, NC — The Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster team and driver Brittany Force were a juggernaut at Bruton Smith’s Bellagio of drag strips today. Over the course of three rounds of Four-Wide racing Force had the quickest Top Fuel dragster in all three quads she raced and when it mattered the most the four year pro used her rapidly improving driving skills to post the best reaction time to secure her second win in three races. Continue reading BRITTANY FORCE WINS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS →

Erica Enders

Two-time Pro Stock champ Erica Enders reaches Four-Wide semi’s

Two-time Pro Stock champ Erica Enders reaches Four-Wide semi’s
CHARLOTTE (April 24) — The results may not be obvious, but Erica Enders and her Elite Motorsports/Mopar Dodge team continue to make progress at the start of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Enders raced to the semifinals of the seventh annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods on Sunday at zMax Dragway, moving up to seventh in the Pro Stock points standings. Continue reading Two-time Pro Stock champ Erica Enders reaches Four-Wide semi’s →

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Barber Motorsports Park

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK (ALABAMA)
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP
APRIL 24, 2016

Simon Pagenaud Wins at Barber

· Second consecutive victory for Pagenaud, who has finished first or second in the first four races of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season
· Pagenaud continues to lead standings as series moves to Indianapolis for the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis
· Josef Newgarden finishes third to give Chevrolet two podium finishers
· Chevrolet IndyCar drivers captured four of top-five and eight of top-10 finishing positions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 24, 2016) – Simon Pagenaud and the No. 22 Chevrolet team are on a roll. Starting from the pole, the driver of the No. 22 PPG Automotive Finishes Team Penske Chevy led 84 laps of the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on the way to his second consecutive victory and sixth of his Verizon IndyCar Series career. Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Barber Motorsports Park →

Honda Racing

Honda Racing–Late Race Contact Costs Rahal Victory at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Late Race Contact Costs Rahal Victory at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
• Charge to the front ends after front wing damage
• Hinchcliffe continues rebound with sixth-place finish
• Rossi recovers to lead rookie field

For the second year in a row, Graham Rahal was the star of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, as the Honda driver charged to the front of the Verizon IndyCar Series field in the closing laps of Sunday’s 90-lap contest, only to suffer front wing damage while lapping Jack Hawksworth and then having to nurse his wounded machine to the checkers as runner-up to race winner Simon Pagenaud. Continue reading Honda Racing–Late Race Contact Costs Rahal Victory at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama →

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Barber Motorsports Park–Post Race

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY OF ALABAMA
BARBER MOTORSPORTS
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
APRIL 25, 2016

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: IT WAS A NEAR PERFECT RACE AND THEN THINGS GOT REALLY INTERESTING. BUT BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN THE VERNON INDY CAR SEASON. “I tell you, that was impressive. Thanks to everyone. We are just on a roll. The car is amazing. I’m so comfortable driving the PPG car. Chevrolet… I always tell Jim Campbell (Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports) after a good race that it’s the best equipment they can give us. Thanks so much for that. I’m just so excited. OK, it was another green flag race. But we made it exciting at the end for the fans, which is great. I’m happy there was some action.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Barber Motorsports Park–Post Race →

Richard Childress Racing

Richard Childress Racing–Richmond 400

Austin Dillon Matches Career-Best Richmond International Raceway Finish in AAA Chevrolet Debut

“We had a better showing at Richmond International Raceway than we have in the past but there is certainly room for improvement. As a team, we just made too many mistakes today and it affected our overall performance. We had a few issues on pit road but we can work on those. We made a wedge adjustment in the middle of the race that put us behind. Once we recovered from that, the AAA Chevrolet was fast and handled well. It was just the small mistakes we made as a team that kept us out of the top-10 today. Today was tough, but encouraging at the same time.”

– Austin Dillon

Paul Menard Finishes 22nd in the No. 27 Duracell / Menards Chevrolet SS at Richmond International Raceway

“This Duracell / Menards team came a long way from practice on Friday and made some gains before the race during Saturday’s practice session. Track position was important today and we just didn’t have it until the end. The handling of our Chevrolet SS was loose in to the turns and tight through the center and despite all the adjustments we made, we were still a little bit off in finding the right balance that we needed. This group of guys will not give up and we’ll regroup to look at what we did and see how we can improve on it.”

– Paul Menard

Ryan Newman Overcomes Cut-Down Tire and Spin to Finish 18th at Richmond International Raceway

“This was definitely not the finish this Grainger team expected, or deserved. We raced solidly in the top 10 until a competitor made contact with us and it cut down our tire with less than 100 laps to go. At first I just thought we had a tire go down but then the team came over the radio and said someone got into us on the restart after watching the replay. At that point all we could do was pit and restart from the 22nd position. We obviously got some of our positions back but certainly not enough. We ran out of laps. Luke (crew chief – Lambert) and the team made solid adjustments on pit road to give me a car very capable of finishing in the top 10. We just need to keep fighting to get those finishes that reflect the quality of car we are bringing to the track. That’s been our biggest challenge so far this season and I feel confident we’ll work it all out.”

– Ryan Newman

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Barber Motorsports Park–Post Race

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK (ALABAMA)
CHEVROLET DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
APRIL 24, 2016
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, won his second straight race in the Verizon IndyCar Series on Sunday by capturing the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

Pagenaud led a vast majority of the 90 laps and beat Graham Rahal by 13.7 seconds in a late-race exchange for the top spot. Pagenaud led a group of four Team Chevy drivers in the top-five and eight in the top-10.

IT WAS A NEAR PERFECT RACE AND THEN THINGS GOT REALLY INTERESTING. BUT BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN THE VERNON INDY CAR SEASON. “I tell you, that was impressive. Thanks to everyone. We are just on a roll. The car is amazing. I’m so comfortable driving the PPG car. Chevrolet… I always tell Jim Campbell (Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports) after a good race that it’s the best equipment they can give us. Thanks so much for that. I’m just so excited. OK, it was another green flag race. But we made it exciting at the end for the fans, which is great. I’m happy there was some action.”

TELL US WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU WERE ABLE TO REPASS GRAHAM RAHAL: “I was dealing with traffic pretty much all the way through the race. It’s so hard in with this aero to pass
people, especially (Connor) Daly. He was pretty fast so it’s not like I was two seconds faster a lap. We’re talking eight-tenths of a second so that’s not enough to pass him. Then Graham (Rahal)… that was a good piece of driving from him, but that was a late pass. It’s not a corner where you can pass. I went off but in the end it made me really upset, I have to say. I said I was going to pass him back, and that’s what we did.”

HOW WERE THE FIRESTONE FIREHAWKS TODAY? “Amazing. A lot of people were expecting tremendous degredation but our PPG car was so good that we could keep going and I barely had any degredation whether it was red tires or black tires. They were amazing tires to be on.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Richmond–Post Race Press Conference

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNER’S 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 24, 2016

JIMMIE JOHNSON LEADS TEAM CHEVY AT RICHMOND WITH THIRD PLACE FINISH
Four Chevy SS Drivers In Top 10

RICHMOND, Va. – (April 24, 2016) – Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet SS, led the way for Team Chevy at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) with a third-place finish in Round 9 of the 2016 season. Johnson paced the field for 44 circuits early in the 400-lap contest. Traditionally held under the lights, but now a schedule day event, the race had eight different leaders and 23 lead changes, the most at RIR since 2007. The third-place effort is Johnson’s 12th top 10 finish in 29 races at the .75–mile Virginia short track, and his fourth top 3 finish of the year. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Richmond–Post Race Press Conference →

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Richmond–Post Race

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNER’S 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
APRIL 24, 2016

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PRO SERVICES CHEVROLET SS – Finished 3rd
A STRONG TOP 5 FINISH TODAY. WHEN YOU LOOK BACK, IT SEEMED LIKE EVERYBODY WAS HAVING FUN, BUT YET IT WAS A CHALLENGE TRYING TO CONNECT THE CORNER
“Yeah, it was. I think this tire was perfect for what we’ve been asking for. We had multiple lanes that laid the rubber in the race track and we didn’t have all those marbles build-up on the outside, where it really limited your opportunities up high. It was fun. The cars were slipping and sliding; there was a ton of fall off. I enjoyed the long runs. I really like sizing-up guys that I’m racing with and seeing how that works out. And then, at the end we had a bunch of short runs. Thankfully we got our Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet tuned-up at the end. We kind of lost our way in the middle part of the race, but we had good pit stops and some great adjustments at the end got us into the top 3.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Richmond–Post Race →

Jegs Racing

Glory at Four-Wide NHRA Nationals will have to wait for Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Glory at Four-Wide NHRA Nationals will have to wait for Jeg Coughlin Jr.
CHARLOTTE (April 24) — After qualifying 12th at this weekend’s seventh annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods, five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. knew he needed to squeeze everything he could out of his Magneti Marelli offered by Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Dart to have a chance at advancing. Continue reading Glory at Four-Wide NHRA Nationals will have to wait for Jeg Coughlin Jr. →

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Richmond–Pre-Race

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNER’S 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRE RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
APRIL 24, 2016
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1 ADVANCED FUEL ECONOMY CHEVROLET SS, spoke with the FOX broadcast team prior to the start of today’s race at Richmond International Raceway. Transcript:
FOX: FOX NASCAR live from Richmond International Raceway. We thank the three-time champ Tony Stewart for joining us down on the track. it’s great to have you back. what do you expect from yourself in today’s race?

Tony Stewart: Honestly, I just expect to go do what I have always done for the last 36 years since I started racing. just get in and do the best I can. Mike and all these guys on the Mobile 1 Chevy team, they have done an awesome job. They had long hours starting Wednesday afternoon switching this thing over from Brian Vickers being in the car to getting my seat and everything set up for me. so they had a late, late night Wednesday night. I appreciate that. This is exactly what — if I could script this, this is what I want. it’s a day race, my favorite track, no clouds in the sky. It’s going to get warm. that’s every piece of every variable I could ask for. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Richmond–Pre-Race →

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