Richard Childress Racing–Dollar General 300

Dollar General 300
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Chicagoland Speedway
September 14, 2013
 
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fourth (Austin Dillon), ninth (Kevin Harvick) and 14th (Brian Scott).
Dillon is second in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings, trailing leader Sam Hornish, Jr. by 17 points, while Scott is seventh in the standings, 72 points behind the leader.
The No. 3 Chevrolet team ranks fourth in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 2 team ninth in the standings and the No. 33 team 11th.
According to NASCAR’s Post-Race Loop Data Statistics, Dillon ranked fourth in Average Running Position (4.515), was the Fourth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run (167.403 mph),was fourth-Fastest on Restarts (167.124 mph) and had the fourth-best Driver Rating (114.1).
Harvick ranked third in Quality Passes with 35 and was the fifth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run (167.396 mph).
Scott made 21 Quality Passes.
Dillon and Harvick were among five drivers who spent 100 percent of the race running in the top 15.
Kyle Busch earned his 10th Nationwide Series victory of the 2013 season and was followed to the finish line by Joey Logano, Sam Hornish Jr., Dillon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The next Nationwide Series race is the Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 21. The 27th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPNEWS beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio channel 90.
   
Brian Scott Finishes 14th at Chicagoland Speedway
 
Brian Scott and the No. 2 Shore Lodge team traveled to Chciagoland Speedway for the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ 27th race of the 2013 season with added confidence after a strong finish at Richmond International Raceway last weekend. Scott started the 300-mile affair from the 19th
position, battled a tight condition for the majority of the event and earned a 14th-place finish. The 25-year-old competitor moved inside the top-15 during the early laps using the momentum from the top groove, but reported to crew chief Phil Gould he was extremely tight through the corners. The first caution flag was displayed on lap 23, allowing Scott to bring his Shore Lodge Chevrolet to the attention of his pit crew for two tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. The Boise, Idaho-native restarted second on the ensuing restart after taking two tires. While the field set in for a lengthy green-flag run, Scott reported the adjustments helped the handling of his Chevrolet, but he was still too tight. Gould called the Richard Childress Racing driver to pit road under green-flag conditions for four tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment. Once pit stops cycled through, Scott was shown in the 19th
position. Through the next several laps he battled for track position climbing as high as 12th, but made contact with the outside wall during a late-race restart and suffered right-side damage. The damage caused his Chevrolet to become even tighter and he ultimately crossed the finish line in the 14th spot.
 
Start – 19         Finish – 14         Laps Led – 0         Points – 7th
 
BRIAN SCOTT QUOTE:
“We were just too tight all weekend. From the time we unloaded our Shore Lodge Camaro through the whole race we battled the tight-handling issue, which was really different from our first visit to Chicagoland Speedway earlier this season. I’m proud of the guys on pit road, they were solid all day long. We’ll evaluate and learn from this race and move on to Kentucky Speedway next week.”
 
 

 
Austin Dillon Earns Top-Five Finish in No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet at Chicagoland Speedway
 
Austin Dillon drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet to a fourth-place finish in the Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday afternoon, after starting the 200-lap race from the second position. Dillon reported to crew chief Danny Stockman the black No. 3 Chevrolet was tight in the middle of the corners during the initial run, prompting the team to make a chassis adjustment during the first round of pit stops under caution on lap 26. The Welcome, N.C. driver restarted in the sixth spot on lap 28, but struggled with a loose-handling condition on exit of the corners during the ensuing run, prompting an additional adjustment during a lap-84, green-flag pit stop. Running solidly in the top five for a majority of the 300-mile race, Dillon was scored in the fourth position for a restart on lap 171 and took the opportunity to make a three-wide pass to claim the second position. Several late-race restarts ensued in which he battled side-by-side with fellow championship point contender Sam Hornish Jr. for the second position. Dillon prevailed and maintained the second position before developing a tight-handling condition and dropping to fourth for the race’s finish.
 
Start – 2            Finish – 4              Laps Led – 0             Points – 2nd                          
 
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
“The No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet was just a little bit tight during the final run, which caused us to drop a few spots.  It was fun racing side-by-side with the No. 12 car towards the end of the race. Sam Hornish, Jr. is a great competitor and this championship is going to come down to who is going to make a mistake. If he ends up making one, we will be there.”
 
 

 
Kevin Harvick Collects Top-10 Finish in NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Chicagoland Speedway
 
Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Rheem/MenardsChevrolet team battled handling issues during the Dollar General 300 on Saturday afternoon and finished ninth at Chicagoland Speedway. Starting from the 13th position, the two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion maneuvered his way into the top 10 within the first 10 laps of the 200-lap affair, while battling a Chevrolet that was tight in and loose off of the turns. The Ernie Cope-led pit crew made adjustments to the car during scheduled four-tire pit stops on laps 25, 82 and 109 in an effort to alleviate the handling issue. Harvick was running in the fifth position when he alerted the team the handling of the neon yellow machine had transitioned from loose to tight during the final laps of the event, leaving him to settle for a ninth-place result.
 
Start – 13         Finish – 9         Laps Led – 0         Owner Points – 11th
 
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“This wasn’t the most fun race for our team today. We had a solid run, but struggled all day to find the right handling we needed to get the Rheem/Menards Chevrolet up front.”
 
 

Summit Racing–Line Earns First No. 1 of the Season at zMAX Dragway

Line Earns First No. 1 of the Season at zMAX Dragway
 
Mooresville, N.C., September 14, 2013 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line effectively preserved his position at the top of the pack at the sixth annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals and will start from the No. 1 position on raceday for the first time this season. Line, of Mooresville, N.C., powered the silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a qualifying-best time of 6.541 at 211.86 mph on Friday night to score his first low qualifier award since the final race of the season in 2012.

Line had a true hot rod throughout qualifying and kept his Summit Racing Camaro at the top with a series of carefully executed 6.5-second runs that were consistently among the three quickest in each session. Line earned critical bonus qualifying points for his outstanding performances in every round and will add a total of nine extra marks to the pile in his run for the season title in NHRA’s 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

 “We’re really happy that we got those bonus points every run, and I think we got more points this weekend than I did all year,” laughed Line. “This weekend has already been a big confidence booster, and I’ve got a good car for sure. You have to be steady every run, though, so we just have to keep at it. I’m certainly not going to trade cars with anybody else right now.”

The No. 1 qualifier award is his first of the season, but it is also the 34th of Line’s career as a Pro Stock driver. It is the fifth time that the Summit Racing driver has started from the top spot at Charlotte’s venerable zMAX Dragway, and as the race at his home track signifies the start of the Countdown, Line notes that turning his early weekend success into a victory would contribute to a strong fight for the coveted championship.

“If we want to contend for that big trophy, we have to win here,” said Line. “It’s a must-win deal for Team Summit. I looked at my side of the ladder, and there are definitely a few tough customers there. It’s going to be a hard day.”

Line will race against veteran driver Warren Johnson in the first round of eliminations, a driver he last met in the second round at the fall race in Las Vegas in 2012; Line took the upper hand in their most recent meeting. Another potential match of note would be in the second round when Line could square off with Buddy Perkinson, the diver of the third KB Racing Chevrolet Camaro this weekend in Charlotte.

“It’s good that my teammate Greg Anderson is on the other side of the ladder, but there aren’t going to be any breaks on the way to the final,” said Line. “Buddy is a great driver, and we know what these KB Racing cars are capable of. We’ll just have to see what happens tomorrow, but I’m very happy to have a Summit Racing Camaro at the top.”

Mopar Racing–Mopar Set for First NHRA Playoff Elimination Round at Carolina Nationals

Mopar Set for First NHRA Playoff Elimination Round at Carolina Nationals
 
·         6th annual Carlyle Tools Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway is the 19th of 24 NHRA events and the first playoff event of 2013
·         Hagan qualified second with his three-second pass to pace the Mopar Funny Cars
·         Johnson is top Mopar Pro Stock qualifier in fifth place, Coughlin seeded sixth
·         Sunday’s eliminations is the first of the six playoff events as Mopar drivers work to defend championships in both Funny Car and Pro Stock classes

Concord, N.C. (Saturday, September 14, 2013) – The final day of qualifying at the 6th annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals didn’t produce too many surprises but it set the stage for the first set of elimination rounds in the 2013 edition of the “Countdown to the Championship” with Matt Hagan and Allen Johnson as the top seeded Mopar drivers in Funny Car and Pro Stock classes. Sunday’s eliminations will be the first of the six playoff events as Mopar drivers work to defend world championship titles won in both Funny Car and Pro Stock classes last season.

 

After Friday evening’s qualifying session, which produced most of the fastest Funny Car runs of the weekend including a three-second pass by Hagan and his Don Schumacher Racing Mopar machine, track conditions weren’t quite as favorable for seeing lower elapsed times. In fact, very few clean passes were made in the first session of the day and while better performances were seen in final qualifying, only a few drivers were able to improve their positions on the elimination ladder. Hagan did grab two more bonus points in the first Saturday session with a 4.105 sec (309.63 mph) which was good for second spot on the time sheets and then another point for the third quickest run (4.082 / 310.48) of the final session.

                        

Hagan’s 3.992-second elapsed time was edged out by No.1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon (3.980 sec / 319.22 mph) on the qualifying score sheets, but the Rocky Boots / “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” entry did however come away with the top speed in qualifying at 320.58 mph. As second seed, Hagan will face fellow Dodge Charger driver Jeff Arend in the first round. Fellow DSR teammates Johnny Gray (4.093 / 308.14), Jack Beckman (4.099 / 309.91) and Ron Capps (4.103 / 308.14) found themselves seeded tenth, 11th and 12th respectively. Gray will see John Force as his first opponent, while Beckman will face off against Del Worsham and Capps will race Alexis DeJoria.

In contrast to their Funny Car counterparts, cooler temperatures for Saturday’s first Pro Stock qualifying session promoted quicker elapsed times than the prior evening’s runs. Allen Johnson’s Mopar Express Lane Dodge had the quickest elapsed time run of all the Mopar entries with a 6.549-second (211.59 mph) pass to take up the fifth place spot on the scoring sheets which were topped by adversary Jason Line who set the low e.t. at 6.541 sec (211.93 mph). Jeg Coughlin Jr. was right behind his Mopar teammate in sixth place on the strength of his 6.554 sec / 211.06 mph run.

 

In the fourth and final qualifying session, times didn’t improved but HEMI-powered V. Gaines paced the Mopars in that outing, setting the third lowest e.t. of the session (6.558sec / 211.46 mph) to earn a bonus point. Coughlin (6.569 / 210.87) was fourth quickest with Johnson (6.571 / 210.60) in fifth place.

 

Atop Sunday’s Pro Stock elimination ladder is No.1 qualifier Line who will face Warren Johnson in the first round. Mopar’s top qualifier, Johnson, is seeded fifth and will stage his Dodge against Larry Morgan while Coughlin, the sixth seed, will face Greg Stanfield. Gaines, in eighth spot, will line up next to Buddy Perkinson in a third Summit Racing car while fellow HEMI-powered Vincent Nobile is the tenth seed and will have Greg Anderson as his first round opponent.

Richard Childress Racing-EnjoyIllinois.com 225

EnjoyIllinois.com 225
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Chicagoland Speedway
September 13, 2013
 
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fifth (Ty Dillon) and 25th (Brendan Gaughan).
Dillon is third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings, 59 markers behind the leader; while Gaughan ranks 10th in the standings, 126 points out of the top spot.
The No. 3 Chevrolet team is fifth in the Camping World Truck Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 62 team 13th in the standings.
According to NASCAR’s Post-Race Loop Data Statistics, Dillon earned the third-best Average Running Position (4.700), was the third-Fastest on Restarts, earned the fourth-best Driver Rating (111.2), had the fourth-Fastest Green-Flag Speed and Speed in Traffic, was the fifth-Fastest Driver Early in a Run and fifth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run.
Dillon was one of three competitors in the 36-truck field to spend 100 percent (150 laps) running in the Top 15.
Gaughan was the Fastest Driver Early in a Run and Late in a Run that didn’t finish within five laps of the leader, earned the fifth-best Average Running Position (6.847) and was the fifth-Fastest on the Restarts.
RCR teammates posted eight of the Fastest Laps Run, Dillon earned five and Gaughan three.
Kyle Busch took the checkered flag and was followed to the line by Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Matt Crafton and Dillon.
The next scheduled Camping World Truck Series race is the Smith’s 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 28. The 17th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
 
   
Dillon Earns Second-Consecutive Top-Five Finish in Chicago
 
Ty Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops team finished fifth under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night despite battling a tight-handling Chevrolet for the majority of the 150-lap event. After posting the second-fastest time in qualifying, Dillon took the initial green flag and immediately reported his black and orange machine was too tight. Crew chief Marcus Richmond called for chassis adjustments during routine two and four-tire pit stops under caution periods on laps 68 and 100. Quick work by the Richard Childress Racing pit crew allowed the North Carolina native to maintain track position within the top-10 for the entire 225-mile race. Due to multiple long green flag runs, the handling on the No. 3 Chevrolet didn’t improve causing Dillon to battle handling issues until the checkered flag waved when he crossed the finish line in the fifth position. Friday night’s result marks Dillon’s second-consecutive top-five finish.
 
Start – 2          Finish – 5          Laps Led – 0        Points – 3rd
 
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“I’m glad we could bring home a fifth-place finish tonight. We battled a tight-handling condition all night. It was a lot worse on long green flag runs, but the Bass Pro Shops team never gave up. I hope we can continue this momentum and turn these top fives into wins before the season ends.”
 
 
 
Solid Run by Gaughan Spoiled by Misfortune at Chicagoland Speedway
 
Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino team fell victim to another round of bad luck Friday night when overheating issues relegated the team to a 25th-place finish in the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway after a solid run by the Richard Childress Racing team. Starting from the fifth position, the Las Vegas native maintained a spot within the top 10 during the majority of the 150-lap event while battling a tight handling Chevrolet. Gaughan was scored fourth when he radioed to crew chief Shane Wilson that the temperature of the black and gold machine suddenly skyrocketed, forcing the team to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 141 to assess the issue. The pit crew pulled tape from the grille in an attempt to bring down the engine temperature. Gaughan returned to the racing surface, only to come back down pit road the following lap. After final evaluation, Wilson determined the issue could not be remedied, forcing the team to settle for a 25th-place result. Following the 16th race of the season Gaughan remains 10th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings.
 
Start – 5         Finish – 25          Laps Led – 0          Points – 10th
 
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“It just seems like we can’t shake this bad luck lately. We had an incredibly solid run going tonight, and the South Point Hotel & Casino crew did a great job working on the truck and keeping us up front. This is not the way I wanted tonight to end, but we’ll move on and focus on the next race at my home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway.”

Mopar Racing–Mopar Ready to Roll at NHRA Carolina Nationals and the ‘Countdown to the Championship’

Mopar Ready to Roll at NHRA Carolina Nationals and the ‘Countdown to the Championship’
 
·         6th annual Carlyle Tools Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway is the 19th of 24 NHRA events
·         The Carolina Nationals is the first of six NHRA playoff events in the ‘Countdown to the Championship’
·         Hagan paces the Mopars with a sub four-second run for the provisional second place spot in Funny Car qualifying
·         Hagan, Capps, Gray and Beckman start 1-2-3-5 in the Countdown standings
·         Johnson, Coughlin and Nobile get the Countdown started in 2-3-4 in Pro Stock standings
·         Gaines in eighth but is on a hot streak with three final round appearances in the last 5 events (Denver, Brainerd, Indy)
·         Mopar –powered Pro Stock drivers have advanced to the final round in 8 consecutive events leading up to the playoffs

Concord, N.C. (Friday, September 13, 2013) – A new season begins for Mopar teams and drivers this weekend at the 6th annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first of the six-event playoff series called the “Countdown to the Championship”. Following the last regular season event of the year at the 59th annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, the championship points were reset to help bunch up the top ten candidates in each professional category vying for a NHRA world title and setting the stage for an exciting showdown. Mopar Dodge drivers are at, or very near, the top of those standings in both the Funny Car and Pro Stock classes entering the playoffs.

 

All four Don Schumacher Racing Mopars begin the battle in the top five Funny Car positions with Matt Hagan leading the fray in his “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” / Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T. His teammates Ron Capps and Johnny Gray are hot on his heels in second and third place, along with defending Funny Car World Champion Jack Beckman rounding things out in fifth spot.

 

In Pro Stock competition, the 2012 World Champion Allen Johnson is within striking distance of the leader with his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Avenger as second seed in the Countdown, while his teammates Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Vincent Nobile are breathing down his neck in third and fourth place respectively. The HEMI-powered Dodge of V. Gaines, while sitting in eighth place, has been on a hot streak as of late, cutting a perfect 0.00 second reaction time in eliminations at Indianapolis and making three final elimination appearances (Denver, Brainerd, Indy) in the last five events. Mopar –powered Pro Stock drivers have advanced to the final round in 8 consecutive events leading up to the playoffs.

 

“This is the most pressure-packed time of the season but it’s also the most fulfilling and rewarding if you can find some success,” said four-time Pro Stock champ Coughlin who is hoping to get things going in that direction by taking his JEGS.com Mopar to the winner’s circle at Charlotte for the first time, only one three venues he has yet to earn a victory. “The Countdown does everything a playoff format is supposed to do; it stacks all the fun into the end of the year. We’ve got six races to make it happen.”

 

To start things off at zMax Dragway, Hagan followed up the second quickest run of the first Funny Car session with a sub four-second pass (3.992 seconds / 320.58 mph) in the cooler Friday evening conditions to pace his Mopar teammates and remain in second place and earn four valuable bonus points after two qualifying runs. Competitor Cruz Pedregon stole the provisional pole from him with a 3.980 e.t (319.22 mph). Gray was tenth on the strength of his first run (4.093 sec / 308.14 mph) after hazing the tires in the evening session. Beckman endured a similar fate and was right behind in 11th (4.099 sec / 309.91 mph), while Capps was on the outside looking in 14th place after his two difficult sessions.

 

In Pro Stock, Nobile topped the first session to earn three bonus points, but by the end of the day it was Coughlin (6.552 sec /210.31 mph) who led the Mopar contingent with a provisional fourth place spot in qualifying. Johnson was close behind with the fifth quickest run of the day posting an e.t. of 6.555 sec (211.06 mph). Gaines and Nobile ended up seventh and eighth while adversary Jason Line (6.541 sec / 211.86 mph) earned the provisional No.1 qualifier position.

 

Summit Racing–Anderson Friday in Charlotte

Anderson Friday in Charlotte
                                                                                     
Mooresville, N.C., September 13, 2013 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson enjoyed a good opening day at the sixth annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals, and the three-time zMAX Dragway winner is looking for more on day two at the annual event that takes place at his home track, a facility just a few miles from the KB Racing engine shop.
 
In his first effort, Anderson was a swift 6.597 at 210.11 mph in his white Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to take over the No. 6 position in the lineup, and he came back with a charging 6.556, 210.44 in the later round to preserve the position. Anderson will have two more sessions on Saturday to move up in the qualifying order.
 
“The runs my Summit Racing Camaro made today were decent, but really, they weren’t as good as we know they can be,” said Anderson. “We have a little bit of tune-up to do before we come out here tomorrow, but the good news is that my teammate, Jason Line, is the No. 1 guy right now – and that shows we can run really well here. There really isn’t any reason for one car to be faster than the other, so the project now is to figure out why we weren’t able to run with Jason. It wasn’t a bad day; in fact, it was a good day for KB Racing to put a car on the pole.
 
“The weather is supposed to be cooler tomorrow, and it’s going to be fast. We’re excited to come back out here and see what we can do to improve. The bottom line is that there are a lot of good cars out here, and they’re all separated by just a hair. We’re going to have to be perfect if we want to qualify in the top of the pack, but the Summit Racing team is absolutely capable of it.”
 
One of the tough cars in the field this weekend is one of their own. Young gun Buddy Perkinson is behind the wheel of the third KB Racing car in Charlotte, and Perkinson is currently ninth in the line-up.
 
“Buddy is a great driver, and we’re happy to have him with us this weekend,” said Anderson. “We’ve got three good cars between us, and I think tomorrow we should really have something to show for it. I don’t know if the pole will hold, but we’ll all be gunning for it, that’s for sure.”
 

John Force Racing–J. FORCE, HIGHT EXCEL ON SATURDAY AT CARLYLE TOOLS CAROLINA NHRA NATIONALS

J. FORCE, HIGHT EXCEL ON SATURDAY AT CARLYLE TOOLS CAROLINA NHRA NATIONALS

CHARLOTTE, NC (Sept. 14, 2013) – On the eve of the Countdown to the Championship’s first race John Force and Robert Hight served notice that they will be ready for race day. The tandem posted the quickest or second quickest runs in both sessions today at the Carlyle Tools Carolina NHRA Nationals.

Robert Hight and his Auto Club Ford Mustang earned five qualifying bonus points today and wound up as the No. 8 qualifier. In the first session Hight was the quickest Funny Car tripping the lights in 4.091 seconds; the only Funny Car to run in the 4.0 range. In the second session, still in the heat, Hight’s Mike Neff tuned Funny Car crossed the finish line in 4.081 seconds, .001 seconds quicker than Don Schumacher Racing rival Matt Hagan.

“We gained five points today, so that’s big. It would have been nice to qualify a little higher Saturday night, but seeing that we didn’t make it down the track the first run we did what we had to do. Basically we’re going to be racing in conditions like this tomorrow and I think I had the two best runs today,” said the 2009 Carlyle Tools Carolina NHRA Nationals winner.

“The left lane is not as good as the right lane and we were quick when we were in the right and we were second when we were in the left. Mike Neff has a really good handle on this thing. If we need to step up a little bit like he said tomorrow, it’s plenty safe. If we have to step up, we’re racing somebody tough I think we can. I’m excited and I’m ready to get this Countdown started.”

Hight is excited about the prospects of racing tomorrow especially since they made two good runs in race day conditions.

“It’ll be fine. It’s going to be similar tomorrow. The conditions, if you look at the weather forecast, it’s going to be very similar to today. Today really was what counted. When we got out of here first and second in our two runs, can’t do much better than that,” said Hight.

John Force ended the day with the quickest run of any Funny Car on the property. His Jimmy Prock tuned Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car blasted down the track in 4.064 seconds and was far and away the quickest Funny Car under the Carolina sun.

At the top end Force was excited about how well the Castrol GTX race car performed and the prospect of racing under similar conditions on Sunday.

 “We absolutely love this track here in Charlotte. Jimmy Prock got after that thing,” said Force. “I can’t wait to see what Courtney and Robert are going to do. I felt like I was shot out of a cannon. I thought it ain’t gonna hold but it was holding at 100 feet, 200 feet and then at the finish line. It kept on trucking right to the lights. I have a race car that is like a rocket ship so now I have to win a race.”

For the 25th time in her two year Funny Car career, Courtney Force will start in the top half of the field on race day, this time occupying the No. 4 spot. She will face Ford competitor Bob Tasca III in the opening round. This will be the 8th time the pair has met in eliminations and she is currently 6-1 against him. Three of those meetings were in the first round and Force is 3-0 to Tasca in those match-ups.

Force’s Traxxas Ford Mustang smoked the tires and therefore posted a 5.138 ET at 145.25 mph in the third qualifying session, the first to begin Saturday’s events.

 “For me, this is one of the more challenging tracks on the NHRA circuit, just because the first part of the run is going uphill a little and then for the rest of the run it kind of evens out. In my case, this last run I let it move a little to the left on me and when I went to correct it, it was too big of a correction and it spun the tires. Unfortunately we lost out on that run. I’m obviously really hard on myself as a driver. You want to have every run perfectly straight going down the race track and sometimes things happen. Lucky for us, I’ve got a great, supportive team behind me and we’re looking ahead to race day tomorrow,” said Force.

In the fourth and final qualifying session, Force posted a 4.142 ET at 310.98 mph in the heat. The 25-year-old did not improve during Saturday’s qualifying efforts, but the Traxxas Ford Mustang team held tight to their 4.021 ET at 319.37 mph from Friday’s night session

“We were looking to run a little better and a little closer to our teammates running in the 4.0’s, but, you know what, we got our car down there and I think that’s all that matters is having a consistent race car going into race day. We’ll have a tough first round match-up with Bob Tasca III in his Ford, so it will be two Fords, but hopefully our Traxxas team can move on to the next round. It’s pretty crucial now because it’s the start of the Countdown, this is where it all begins and it starts tomorrow,” said Force.

Auto Club Road to the Future candidate Brittany Force remained strong in the final two qualifying sessions at zMax Dragway as she was tenth on the qualifying ladder at the end of the day.

In round three of qualifying, Force was third quickest of the session with a 3.816 elapsed time. With rising track temperatures, it was going to be tough for any team to improve in the fourth session. Midway down the track, Force had to lift off the throttle and coasted down the track. Despite not improving, she was able to qualify her Castrol EDGE dragster inside the top ten.

“We ended up tenth at the end of the day,” Force said. “We actually moved down two spots from the previous runs. Our first run of the day was a good one. We ran a 3.816 elapsed time. On the last run we wanted to improve, but unfortunately we didn’t. I had to lift early and we didn’t get the car all the way down the track like we wanted to. You know, we ended up tenth and we get to race in the show tomorrow, so I’m excited about that.”

Force posted her career best elapsed time this weekend and earned two qualifying bonus points.

“That’s exactly what we want,” said Force. “We got the best ET we’ve had all year and got to gain bonus points from that. It’s not like we’re in the Countdown and can move up, but this Castrol EDGE team is going to go after that No. 11 spot in the points. That’s the highest spot we can possibly get, so we’re going to go for that.”

Going into Sunday’s elimination rounds, the 27-year-old Southern California native will once again square off against Don Schumacher Racing’s Spencer Massey. They have faced each other three different occasions throughout the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Force remains optimistic that anything can happen going into eliminations.

“He’s an awesome guy,” Force said. “I talk to him on and off the track and he loves being out here just as much as I do. He’s excited to be out here and he’s such a great competitor. He has beaten me three times this year, so I’m thinking it’s the Castrol EDGE teams turn to get the win. Anything can happen on Sunday.”

Summit Racing–Line No. 1 at the Conclusion of First Day of Qualifying in Charlotte

Line No. 1 at the Conclusion of First Day of Qualifying in Charlotte
 
Mooresville, N.C., September 13, 2013 – The first day of qualifying ended on a high note for Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line as he raced to the provisional No. 1 spot in his streaking silver Chevrolet Camaro at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Line, of nearby Mooresville, N.C., took over the top spot with a breathtaking 6.541 at 211.86 mph on Friday, the opening day of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series 2013 Countdown to the Championship, bettering by a bunch his 6.586 at 210.24 that was second-quickest in the opening session.

“It’s a big deal to get those little points that are out there,” said Line, of the bonus qualifying points he earned as a reward for his excellent performances on Friday. Line earned two extra points in the first session and three in the later round.

“Somebody is going to get them, and I’d rather it was one of the Summit Racing Camaros. If you get those bonus points, it means you have a good hot rod. We can say that today, that’s for sure.”

If it holds, the No. 1 qualifying position would be his first of the 2013 season. Line’s most recent start from the pole came at the 2012 season-closer in Pomona last November. This season has been out of character for the driver who has claimed 33 No. 1 qualifier awards over the course of his career. Last season, Line started from the top of the pack nine times, and the year before that he was low qualifier at seven events.

“It’s been a strange year for the KB Racing/Summit Racing crew, but we’re finally righting the ship,” said Line. “Obviously, like everything in life, timing is everything. We’re not where we need to be, but we’re a heck of a lot closer, that’s for sure.

“I’m excited because this is the best track for me to start the Countdown, for sure,” continued Line, who has been the No. 1 qualifier at zMAX Dragway four times before. “The last two years we’ve had very good efforts here, and it’s looking like we can do the same thing again this time around. Bruton Smith’s tracks are always the best, and this one is absolutely the best of them all. It’s fun to race here and it’s also nice to sleep in my own bed. It’s also good because all the guys from the KB Racing shop were here, and for them to see the fruits of their labor is a big deal. This is a great place, and we’re all looking forward to tomorrow and then racing for the trophy on Sunday.”

Chevy Racing–Geico 400–Jeff Gordon

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS, met with media following NASCAR’s ruling that has given him a berth in the now, 13-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field.  Full Transcript:
 
THE MODERATOR:  Joining us now is Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  He qualified sixth out here today for the 13th Annual Geico 400.
 
 
But, certainly, Jeff, it’s been an eventful day for you, just talk a little bit about that and your outlook for Sunday’s race here at Chicagoland Speedway?
 
 
JEFF GORDON:  Well, I mean, we came into the day really just focused on doing what we do.  This is actually a really ‑‑ had a really great race going here last year and had our issues.  So, to me, that was all we were focused on doing was putting together another solid race regardless of what was going on.  Of course, it was hard to not hear rumblings about what may occur, what may not occur.  We just tried not to get our hopes up or get our mind focused on that.
 
 
But I’ll admit, it’s been a rough week.  It was a lot of up‑and‑downs of emotions for this entire team this week.  They’ve been through a lot.  They never gave up.  Not only Saturday night, but this entire week, and I’m proud of that.  I’m very appreciative, very thankful to be in, and I know it’s under the most unbelievable circumstances I’ve ever been a part of in my racing career, and I wish that all of this hadn’t happened.  I wish that we could have just raced for it on Saturday night, but that wasn’t the case.
 
 
Now here we are as a 13th car and in.  Now we just try to take that opportunity and make the most of it.
 
Q.  Number one, you’ve seen a lot of things in NASCAR, but I imagine you’ve never seen anything like this before.  So did you at any point think you had a shot at getting this overturned this way and getting into the Chase?  Two, earlier this week you tweeted that you felt bad for Martin, so in any sense do you kind of wish there had been a ruling that maybe he could have gone into the Chase?
 
 
JEFF GORDON:  Well, what I felt bad about with Martin was the circumstances which he got in under then for that to be taken away.  To be on that stage after the race is over, to feel like that pressure was off, that they made it in.  I know what that’s like.  He drove his butt off.  I raced with him in the closing laps and he raced hard.  You could tell what he was racing for.  The guy didn’t do anything wrong.  For that, I felt bad for him.
 
 
But we didn’t get to see the race play out.  We don’t know what the results were going to be because of the circumstances of that spin changed everything.  That, to me, is the only reason I’m accepting being in in the 13th, because under normal circumstances I would say no, that’s not right.
 
 
But under these circumstances, I feel there is enough reason for us to be in.  I know how hard we worked and that we earned the right to be in.
 
Q.  When did you find out and what were your emotions?  I talked to Alan Gustafson earlier, and he said that he felt even to the closing laps that you guys were Chase contenders and should have been in and expected that to be the case.
 
JEFF GORDON:  I found out when you guys found out.  Well, maybe not.  Maybe you guys found out before me.  I was watching on FOX Sports One. That’s when I found out.  You know, we haven’t had the best of seasons, and I think that’s not an unknown thing.  We all know what we’ve gone through this year.  But we went through a lot last year, and we got to play it out to the final lap of the race last year and we made it in.  This year we had that same scenario being played out and were fighting to the checkered flag and basically doing the similar thing to somebody else’s misfortune.  The 22 was just having a bad day and we were going to make it in.
 
 
So to me, the previous races, this team really started to turn the corner and started putting a string of races together that really put us in that position as well as taking advantage of that opportunity that was there Saturday night.  Even though we got two laps down and had our issues and had to fight back from it, we were still doing what we needed to do.  That, right now, is the thing that stands out the most to me of how proud I am that this team just never, ever gives up.  That’s what we did in the race on Saturday.
 
 
I’ll be honest, by Tuesday of this week, I was letting go of my anger and the things that I felt like kept us from being in it and was ready to move on. I had the most unbelievable support from my fans this week.
 
 
That’s the beauty of Twitter.  We all know Twitter can work both ways on you, and in this case what I love about social media is years ago back when I won my last championship, I had no connection to the fans to this level other than being at the racetrack, going to an autograph session, going to an event for sponsors.  And now I’m able to see what everybody was thinking and what they’re saying and it’s unbelievable.  I never felt so much support that I did.  And also anger as well.
 
 
Like our fans were feeling it right along with me, and it was pretty wild and crazy to watch how that was all playing out this week.  I was ready to move on and when I saw the stuff with the 22 and the 38, I was like, hmm, what’s going to come of this?  And it brought some new hope.
 
Q.  Where do you think the integrity of the sport stands and what do you want to find out tomorrow at that meeting and how vocal will you be?
 
JEFF GORDON:  One thing I want to bring up on this is I’m excited about that meeting tomorrow.  I am.  Even though I think we’re going to get reprimanded a little bit because it doesn’t all lie on NASCAR.  We all have a responsibility in this.  But we are fierce competitors.  I don’t think a fierce competitor can ever be torn down by trying to do everything they possibly can to win a race, to be in a championship battle, to win the championship and in some ways even to help out their teammates who helped them get to that point.
 
 
That is what you’ve got to understand.  It’s not just giving up something for a friend or something like that.  You work as a team.
 
 
In our situation, it’s one of the most unique because of the multi‑car teams.  It is one of the most unique.  So because of that competitive drive, it pushes us sometimes to do things that even we question.  I think that through all of this I think that, yes, the integrity of the sport has been put at question.  I think we have one of the greatest sports that exists.  To see our integrity get questioned is very upsetting to me, and I think we, along with NASCAR, have to solve this.  I’m glad that we are going to get this opportunity to do this.
 
 
I wish it had not happened under these circumstances.  I really do wish we could have come to this conclusion sooner, but sometimes that’s just not the case.  But we are going to move forward and we are going to be a better sport tomorrow and on Sunday and in the future because of this circumstance.
 
 
You’ve got to take a negative and turn it into a positive, and I believe that’s what’s going to happen.
 
Q.  A quick follow‑up.  I know your fans were just so upset and stood up for you big time, like I’ve never seen.  You were angry, we knew that.  Did you contact NASCAR and ask them for anything or you found out about it through the media.  But were you that angry that you got involved in saying I
want something out of this?
 
JEFF GORDON:  No.  I heard from NASCAR about what the penalties were going to be on whatever it was ‑‑ Monday.
 
 
THE MODERATOR:  Monday night.
 
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah.  As I’m sure that, you know, they were reaching out to probably a lot of individuals, especially those that probably were somehow affected by this.  You know, I gave my opinion.  Some of it I agreed with; some of it I didn’t agree with, and I told them that via text.  Then I called Mike Helton on Wednesday to tell him that I know he has tough decisions to make and we might not always agree with them, but I support him and I’m ready to go to Chicago and go race.
 
 
We didn’t talk about anything else other than that.  That’s it.  That’s all I’ve done this week, and a few Tweets here and there.  And my very supportive wife.
 
Q.  That’s more than she’s tweeted in the last six months too.
 
JEFF GORDON:  My wife is very passionate and supportive.  Trust me, I said no to her a lot more than the ones I said yes to.  So I’m just glad that these days she seems to at least run it by me before she says it.  Not every time, but…
 
Q.  Kind of a follow‑up to the previous question.  You talked about you guys will probably get reprimanded tomorrow.  NASCAR will address with the participants what it expects to see going forward.  For the fans mostly and even anyone who follows the sport right now, there seems to be a lot of doubt about what or maybe some growing doubt about what they see on the track, is it legitimate.  NASCAR, of course, will address with you guys your actions going forward.  How difficult will it be do you think to undo that skepticism that may have crept in the minds of fans or even kind of casual people who just happen to pay attention?
 
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, you know, when it comes down to making it in the Chase and it comes down to ‑‑ it seems like it’s the final race where it really comes into play and then the final race of the season for the championship, there is no doubt that for as many years as I’ve been part of the sport there are circumstances in which a teammate can try to help out.  If that is you’ll race a guy maybe a little bit hard or move over for somebody.  I mean, that’s just kind of been standard practice in the sport.
 
 
But it continues to get more and more competitive.  There is more on the line.  There is more prestige, more money, just more competition that is driving the sport all the time.  As long as things like that have been acceptable ‑‑ and I love what Mike said in that press conference, there are times when things need to change.  This has probably been coming for a couple years now and needed to change sooner.
 
 
But I just liked the fact that some things are going to change because all we all want to do is race our guts out every single lap.  None of us want to go out there and give up a spot or race somebody different because our teammate is running for a championship.  We want to go out there racing for every position, every lap, as hard as we can.
 
 
But anybody in our position as a team owner, when you know what all is on the line, as a driver, as a crew chief, you know there are extreme circumstances where we’re in that position to be able to help.  That, to me, doesn’t necessarily make it right, and there are boundaries still even with those moves.  But the boundaries have been continuing to be pushed further and further and lines are being crossed.  I’m more looking forward to the future than looking and bringing back things in the past.
 
Q.  You touched on it a little bit, but clearly a lot of this was magnified because it was Richmond, and as you mentioned this type of thing has been going on for a while.  How concerned are you that at the meeting tomorrow we may go too far the other direction and not be able to let a teammate pull up on your bumper and get paper off or in the middle of the season not fight so hard for a teammate to get by?  Is there a concern this is a very fine line and it needs to be gotten exactly right?
 
JEFF GORDON:  There is a concern for that, and I think it’s a good question.  But there is more concern to me that we get to Homestead and have this come up again.  So it needs to be addressed.  Usually what happens in a situation that gets to this magnitude, there is going to be an overreaction and you understand that and accept that.  It might need to be modified over time, but I think right now an overreaction is probably the acceptable reaction.
 
Q.  Monday night you noted that you felt like the person that triggered the entire chain of events here got nothing.  What would have been an acceptable penalty to you to the 15 car?  And I’ll stop there.  What is an acceptable penalty to you?
 
JEFF GORDON:  I do see it differently when it comes to that.  I do think that event is what started all this.  What really magnified this to a whole other level.  I also know that NASCAR ‑‑ I can’t see what all they’re dealing with.  I’m not in that room.  I’m not hearing all of the different sides to it.  So I do give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these types of decisions because they have a lot to think about and what affects those decisions.  But to me, yeah, it seemed like they did an overall penalty for MWR that sort of dealt with it but not really, and turned the focus over to what they could prove with the 55 and the radio communication.
 
 
But what’s acceptable?  I don’t know.  But something.  I mean, me a 50‑point fine pre‑Chase was no penalty.  That is all I was upset about.  I felt like it was pretty clear.  I felt like that’s what started all this and that didn’t really get addressed.
 
Q.  Do you think it was purposeful?
 
JEFF GORDON:  That’s going to be addressed tomorrow though.
 
Q.  Do you think it was purposeful?
 
JEFF GORDON:  I do, yeah.  I feel that way.
 
Q.  You were talking about integrity.  Beyond just being pro‑active and having this meeting tomorrow and coming out and trying to explain what’s going to be different, what else can the sport do to reestablish what might have been lost and what do you think has been lost?  Is it just a matter of NASCAR saying we’re addressing this?  We’re going to try to fix it?  Does that go a ways in terms of restoring that?
 
 
JEFF GORDON:  No, I think actions speak louder than words always.  It’s us going on Sunday and racing as hard as we possibly can for every position, battling it out for a championship, and making sure that when we leave here on Sunday there is no radio communication that the media gets ahold of that they’ve recorded that can say anything otherwise, other than we’re out there with the intensity and just the passion and excitement that this sport is built on, that it’s known for, and what it’s all about.
 
 
I don’t see any reason why that shouldn’t be the case prior to this meeting, but certainly after this meeting I think it’s going to be clear for the next ten weeks and on.
 
Q.  Now that you’re in the Chase and playing with house money, so to speak, can you write the rest of the script and win the thing?
 
JEFF GORDON:  I always like to say that you’ve got to walk before you can run.  But I will say this has lit a fire under us.  I mean, just to go through what we went through Saturday night.  Really, I look at last year too.  We went through that wild and crazy race and made it in the Chase under those circumstances. 
We came here ready to go.
 
 
I loved the way we handled ourselves, even though we had the throttle issue. We were running third or fourth in that race, and to me we had a shot at either winning or Top 5.  And in some funny way this has kind of given us that same fire that we had last year.  And we have ten or at least eight, I’d say, good racetracks that are in the Chase that I really like, that we run well at, and it starts right here in Chicago.  This is a good track for us.  We qualified well.  New Hampshire is a great track for us.  Martinsville is a great track for us.  Obviously, Homestead is a great track.  We ran great in Charlotte.  I mean, I would say Kansas and Phoenix are the two that are probably on our radar that we need to do better at.  Texas is another good track for us.
 
 
So I’m excited.  I know we haven’t shown it yet this year, but this team is ready to show it now.  So I think that’s the one thing is when you get yourself in this position, you want to show the world and our racing community, the ones that support us and the ones that didn’t, that we belong here and there is a reason why we’re in this thing.
 
Q.  Jeff, we hear a lot of stories in the garage area through the years.  From your personal side of things, over 20‑plus years of racing, have you ever been helped by a teammate?  Has a teammate ever helped you?  What is acceptable and what is not?
 
 
JEFF GORDON:  Absolutely.  Absolutely, I’ve helped a teammate by either helping him at Talladega or helping him by ‑‑ I mean, I’m trying to think in my mind thinking of a circumstance where somebody said move over for this person.  I don’t remember that, but I’m sure it has happened because honestly it hasn’t been out of line, in my opinion.  It’s been sort of a this is what happens, especially in championships.  If you’re not in it, you see what you can do to help your teammate.
 
 
But you don’t go cause a caution.  You don’t go wreck another guy out there to win the championship for them.  There are certain lines, and I think that the lines have been, obviously, crossed in this situation.
 

Chevy Racing–Geico 400–Juan Pablo Montoya

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
GEICO 400
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 13, 2013
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET/KRAFT CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED THIRD
ON HIS LAP:
“It was close got tight in (turns) three and four and had to bail a little bit out of the gas, but gave it a good go.  Our Target Chevy has been pretty good so I’m pretty excited.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED FOURTH
WHERE DID YOU FIND ALL THE SPEED FROM PRACTICE?
“I must have had a pretty good car in practice and just didn’t drive it hard enough. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and the guys made a couple of small changes but nothing big.  I looked at some things; they gave me a little information and did a better job there than I had been.  I felt good about that lap.  It should be pretty close.  I think Ricky (Stenhouse) has been really fast qualifying on these mile and a half tracks lately so I feel like to beat him we should be in a pretty good spot hopefully top five, maybe pole that would be awesome to start here in Chicago.”
 
YOU ARE SHAKING. DID YOU GET EVERYTHING ON YOUR LAP?
“Well, I think it’s a pretty good lap. I maybe gave up a little bit in (Turn) 1. When I landed, I maybe didn’t get wide-open quite soon enough. But in (Turns) 3 and 4, I thought I hit that pretty good. And the guys did a nice job today with our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. We’re in a good spot. We’ll definitely be in the top-5, I think. I felt like that was a really solid lap. Maybe front row; definitely top-5.”
 
DO YOU HOPE TO GET ANY CLARITY OUT OF THIS MEETING TOMORROW?
“I feel like I have plenty of clarity.  I feel like I know what you are supposed to do and what you are not.  I don’t understand why it’s so difficult.  I think we all know where it started at Richmond and I just don’t understand all the rest.  I feel like I have plenty of clarity.  I’m going to go tomorrow and sit in and make sure I know what I’m thinking is correct, but I don’t think I’m missing too much right now.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SIXTH
ON EARNING A SPOT IN THE CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP:
“Oh, it’s been a roller coaster ride this week and an unusual set of circumstances. I’ve never been a part of anything like this before. But for my team and my fans that that have been overwhelming supportive this week, for the tough decisions that NASCAR has to make, and for Drive to End Hunger, I’m extremely happy about this. We’re proud to be in it, and now an incredible set of opportunities lie on our shoulders to go out there and show that we belong in this Chase.”
 
WHEN WE INTERVIEWED YOU AFTER THE RACE AT RICHMOND, YOU WERE TOTALLY UNAWARE, AS WERE MANY, WHAT HAD TRANSPIRED THAT YOU DIDN’T GET IN. NOW THAT YOU’VE SEEN WHAT HAPPENED ALL WEEK WITH THE MEDIA; AND NASCAR’S DECISIONS, IS THIS IN YOUR MIND JUSTICE SERVED?
“Well, certainly from where I’m standing now and all that we’ve been through this week and looking at that race and how hard we worked, it would be easy for me to say that. But we’ve got some issues that need to be addressed. I’m looking forward to this meeting tomorrow; to work through some of those and to interact with NASCAR and hear what they have to say as well as come up with long-term solutions of how we get around these types of events ever occurring again. And I know we’re going to leave that (meeting) with hopefully a crystal clear set of guidelines to make sure that we’re only going out there and racing as hard as we possibly can the way this No. 24 was last week.
 
CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING IN. NOW GO OUT AND MAYBE GET YOUR FIFTH CHAMPIONSHIP:
“Well we had a good car today. And speaking of fans, we’ve got 516 contributors to Drive to End Hunger on my hood that are all going to be riding around here with us on Sunday; and now for a Chase for the Championship in Sprint Cup. Thank you.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED NINTH
ONE LAP IS ONE THING WHAT ABOUT 400 MILES HERE ON SUNDAY WHAT DO YOU NEED TO GO TO VICTORY LANE?
“We haven’t done any race runs yet, so I don’t have an opinion there just yet.  We do have a lot of great history here at this track.  It has been a very good race track for me even all the way back to my Nationwide days winning my one and only Nationwide race here.  I’m excited about our race on Sunday and we will get into practice tomorrow and see what we have.”
 
HOW HAS THIS PLACED CHANGED OVER THE COURSE OF TIME?
“The groove has moved around a lot.  There are a lot of bumps and the track is really a lot of fun to drive right now.  I think we are going to have a great race with a lot of racing lines to choose from once it gets going.”
 
YOU WERE OH SO CLOSE. WHERE DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU LOST IT THERE?
“That was a really good lap. I had it in the bag and then something happened on the front stretch, but I’m not really sure. I didn’t have any problems on the exit of Turn 4. The car drove great and so I’m excited about that. And we’re on the early side, so that might hurt us a little late in the going with some other cars coming out, but all-in-all it should be a great start for the Lowe’s Chevrolet.”
 
HOW ABOUT A REACTION TO THE DECISION THAT JEFF GORDON WILL NOW BE IN THE CHASE:
“Of course I’m very happy that Jeff is in the Chase.  In my opinion though I believe there should be 12 cars.  One in one out should be the deal.  It’s not, but there are a lot of things to consider and look at.  It’s been an interesting week to say the least.  From conversations I’ve had from things I’ve seen, read, speculations, truth.  Truth lies somewhere in the middle of all this that we keep talking about.  Very happy for the No. 24 to be in the Chase though.”
 
WHO SHOULD BE OUT?
“Whoever was 12th, ones in ones out is the way I see it.”
 
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OUT OF TOMORROW’S MEETING?
“I don’t really know.  I’m sure a lot of threats and things along that side of life, but I just don’t know to be honest with you.  This is something that I have never seen or been a part of in my career.  To watch the sanctioning body react and respond and how they are going to police in the future this is all new territory.  It will be a start of the process tomorrow and I think as the weeks come and the months come following it we will continue to evolve the changes that are going to be put in place and do a better job policing it.”
 
DOES IT HURT NASCAR’S IMAGE TO JUST KIND OF THROW ON AN EXTRA DRIVER LIKE THAT WHEN EVERYBODY THOUGHT THERE WAS GOING TO BE 12?
“I think some people are going to feel it was right.  Some are going to feel that it’s not.  I think the arguable point most will have is that the penalties to MWR are far different than the penalties to the No. 38 and the No. 22.  I think through all of this we all are just looking for consistency.  I think there is probably more argument in that than in 13 cars being in the Chase.  As a competitor and one of the 12 that was in the Chase you just changed the odds and the ratio tremendously by adding a 13th car.  It’s not like… and I feel Jeff should be in so I guess the No. 22 would be the one on the outside looking in if they removed one.  That is a good team. They won the championship last year with the No. 2 car and Joey (Logano) is doing a great job and earning a lot of points.  It changes the dynamic of the Chase quite a bit to have 13 cars in there.”
 
YESTERDAY YOU WERE SAYING THAT YOU DON’T CARE WHAT NASCAR SAYS IN REGARDS TO RESTARTS AS LONG AS THEY JUST MAKE IT CONSISTENT.  DO YOU THINK THIS IS A STEP TO MAKING THINGS CLEAR AND CONSISTENT IN WHAT THEY
WANT?
“In the restart area we still haven’t even crossed that bridge yet.  I think we are all eagerly awaiting for that opportunity too.  I know I am as a competitor.  Certainly want consistency in that area as well.  I haven’t gotten a good clear explanation as to why there wasn’t a call at the end of the Richmond race on that final restart either.  I’m just going to sit back and watch and just see what happens.  We have a lot of voices and a lot of people’s opinions right now.  My phone rings and NASCAR wants my opinion I’m more than willing to give it, but I’m not going to go marching up in there with ideas anymore.”
 
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 QUAKER STATE/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
YOU HAVE A LOT OF LAPS ON THIS RACE TRACK IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF CARS.  HOW HAS THIS PLACE CHANGED SINCE THE FIRST TIME YOU CAME TO CHICAGOLAND?
“Every year it just keeps getting better.  The grip level goes down which means that the drivers search around a little bit more and the track is really wide.  You are seeing guys qualify in the middle of the race track right now. In the race on Sunday we are going to up by the fence all over the place.  It’s a great race track it’s coming into its own.  That was a good qualifying lap for us.  I wasn’t really sure how it was going to go.  We only did two mock runs in practice.  Trying to work on race trim and try and save some tires for tomorrow.  The guys did a good job making some good adjustments.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 23RD
ON HER LAP:
“It was a little tight in (turns) 3-4, but not bad. I’m proud of the GoDaddy guys. We picked up a lot from practice, which it always a good thing. Our qualifying has gotten better, especially on the 1.5 mile ovals. We want to continue to get better.”
 
 

Chevy Racing–Geico 400–Danica Patrick

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
GEICO 400
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 13, 2013
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Chicagoland Speedway and discussed the first practice session, helping teammates and other topics. Full Transcript:
 
HOW DID PRACTICE GO FOR YOU GUYS?
“Practice was relatively productive got a little bit better, got a little bit better in race trim which leads to qualifying trim.  Still feel like we have a fair amount to improve on.  I felt like I was tight enough through (turns) three and four that I was sure that I was losing a couple a tenths.  So if we can find that it would be awesome.  We will see what that leads to in qualifying.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION IS THIS WEEK TO ALL THE CONTROVERSY? RYAN NEWMAN GETTING INTO THE CHASE BECAUSE OF THE MWR (MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING) FINES AND STUFF LIKE THAT? 
“Well you just said that Ryan Newman got in due to the fines.  He was my understanding leading the race.  So I don’t envy NASCAR’s position whatsoever.  That is a tough place to be put in when you are trying to sort all of that out and you have so many different entities that are involved.  And put so much into it and it means so much to get in the Chase, but at the end of the day Ryan (Newman) is in and he was running in a position that he would have been in if it would have stayed green.  I think that he has a lot to be proud of for that.  I don’t know.  Makes it exciting to see what the heck is going on, on Twitter everyday though.”
 
YOU ARE A DRIVER WHO IS NOT IN THE CHASE AND YOU HAVE A TEAMMATE THAT IS IN THE CHASE.  ARE YOU CONCERNED AT ALL ABOUT ANY SORT OF PERCEPTION THAT IF YOU GIVE UP A SPOT YOU ARE HELPING HIM?
“I mean at the end of the day you run as hard as you can and you get every single position that you can.  When it comes down to one or two drivers next to each other on the track it is one thing especially if you are teammates.  But I can say that my team has never asked me to do anything at all on the track.  There were no orders for last weekend, nothing, and I don’t believe they would ever make me do anything.  It’s a really gray area and it’s a really sticky situation.  I believe that if you want to give a spot to somebody on the track and they are right behind you, you can do that.  That is your decision, but you are also not affecting the entire outcome of the race.  That is just one spot.  There were things done on this past weekend that involved more positions than just the immediate one next to you.”
 
I DON’T KNOW IF YOU WERE IN CHARLOTTE THIS WEEK, BUT HOW HAS THE MOOD CHANGED IN THE ORGANIZATION?
“I wasn’t.  I was in sunny Phoenix.  Actually rainy Phoenix if I may be honest.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THE GUYS WERE?  VERY DISAPPOINTING THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO GETTING ONE CAR INTO THE CHASE LAST SATURDAY NIGHT AND THEN IT TO CHANGE ON MONDAY?
“I wasn’t there.”
 
HAVE YOU HEARD THE GUYS TALK ABOUT IT AT ALL?
“Look teams work so hard to make the Chase it’s everything.  Shoot from the outside looking in it looks like there is almost more pressure coming down to that last race than there even is at the end of the season.  A lot of that has to do with the fact that there are so many more people involved in those positions as opposed to the end of the year where usually it’s down to two or three drivers.  A lot is on the line.  I’m sure that there is a lot of relief and also a refreshed determination to be in the Chase, but I wasn’t there to exactly witness everyone’s mood, but I know what kind of effort gets put in to get there.”
 
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A GOOD TEAMMATE.  HOW DO YOU DISCERN WHAT IS APPROPRIATE, WHAT’S INAPPROPRIATE AND WHERE THE LINE IS WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO BE A GOOD TEAMMATE TO WHOEVER THAT MIGHT BE?
“I mean like I just said I feel like when you do things that affect entire outcomes of the race and many positions on the track then that is a pretty big move.  When you are involving one person around you in giving up a spot then that’s I feel like that’s a whole different thing.  You know a lot of that comes down to relationships on the track with other drivers, manufacturers; sure you are always trying to help.  It’s no different than you go to Talladega or Daytona and you try to get in line with other Chevy’s.  It’s no different than that trying to help each other, but it really just comes down to the individual and what they feel comfortable doing.  At the end of the day this has been going on forever and ever and ever in racing.  There have been people that have given up spots here and there.  There have been teams that have asked drivers to do certain things and it’s probably never going to go completely away it’s just trying to figure out how far you can go before you get punished for it.  It’s a gray area there are no rules for it, but I’m glad I’m not in the middle of it.”
 
YOU SAW PROBABLY THE SAME THING IN INDYCAR DIDN’T YOU?
“Yeah, sure, in IndyCar it happens too.  I remember getting told what to do in certain situations or who to be helping out there and when I could pass and when I couldn’t.  Looking back at the end of the day I think some of it is fair and I think some of it’s a little unfair.  I might do some of it different going back in time, but the attitude in general is for the greater good and what allows a team to get the highest result possible.”
 
YOU’VE BROUGHT A LOT OF FANS TO THE SPORT. WHEN YOU HAVE AN INSTANCE LIKE THIS, DO YOU THINK THIS HURTS THE CREDIBILITY BY TURNING FANS OFF? OR, DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BRING MORE FANS IN?
“This is somewhat negative attention, but it’s still attention on the sport. And there is a negative side to every sport at the end of the day; and every job, essentially. So, we’re just doing it on a televised stage. So, I don’t think it’s the best of things, but I think that when people are talking about NASCAR racing and paying attention to see how it goes, I think that ultimately if they end up loving the sport, it’s a good thing. But, you try and do it with positive attention as opposed to negative.”
 
REGARDING CREDIBILITY (INAUDIBLE):
“Well, I think so and I think that it can have an effect as well on the sponsors involved and not wanting to be part of a negative swirl of attention. I think that’s probably one of the most negative sides to it because our sport is driven on sponsorship. But yeah, I think at the end of the day it’s probably a little bit negative. But if we generate fans because they watch the sport and love it and want to keep watching it, then that’s also a positive.”
 
DOES THIS BUILD UP EXCITEMENT FOR THE CHASE?
“Before Richmond, I, as a driver, could definitely feel the tension. There’s a lot on the line. And people, like I said, put so much effort into making the Chase and I feel like it’s a pretty cool format. I’m sure that when it was introduced, I wasn’t around, but I’m sure there were some people that didn’t like it but at the end of the day it creates a lot of buzz for NASCAR and creates a lot of storylines, clearly, and brings people back to the sport if they’ve drifted away over the summer. And like I said, or it generates new fans. So it’s still racing at the end of the day and you still have to race at this point to get in and you still have to race to the end to get a championship or your finishing positions, so I think it creates a very interesting layer of entertainment.”
 
DO YOU PROJECT AHEAD AS TO WHEN YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO COMPETE FOR A CHASE SLOT?
“I think that realistically, not necessarily for the Chase in particular, but I think to really understand the car and feel comfortable i
n the car and be able to start to have some more established expectation levels, I think it takes at least three years to get to that point. And some people say five years. So, I really hope it doesn’t take that long, but I feel like in my mind it’s realistic to think it could take at least three years to at least feel comfortable in the car; and then it’s about being in the right situation where you’re in the right group and you have the right car and your manufacturers are good. It comes down to a lot of other things. But I think as a driver, after a good few years, you as a driver are probably pretty ready to take the car to the limit.”
 
ON SPENDING TIME IN PHOENIX THIS PAST WEEK:
“This was ‘old friends week’ back in Arizona. It was nice. I saw a lot of people an A/C unit was out, which was very uncomfortable to sleep in a hot house. I think it was about 80 – 88 degrees throughout the house. But that’s okay; I can get everything fixed before we go back in November. It actually rained three days in a row out there. It was terrible. I tried to play golf. It’s really hard to play golf when it’s pouring rain. But I came back to Chicago on Wednesday night and Ricky’s dad came into town and had dinner. So that was nice; got some friends and family coming to the race this weekend. So I definitely make the most of the times when I get back to my home bases.”
 
RACING HERE ON THE WEEKEND ISN’T THAT MUCH DIFFERENT FROM BEING HERE?
“No, it is nice to wake up in your own bed, and spend some more nights with your own kitchen and ‘fridge and whatnot and have a nice view. But it’s not too much different than every other weekend.”
 

John Force Racing–Changes Ahead

JFR ADDS OCTAGON & ROGERS AND COWAN TO
ENTERTAINMENT TEAM

            CHARLOTTE,
NC (September 12, 2013) – At a press conference today at which he announced a
strategic partnership with JMI to pursue new sponsorship for his race teams,
John Force also announced his intentions to go back to Hollywood with a reality
television show and a more aggressive public relations push to entertainment
and lifestyle media outlets.

            Moving
forward, John Force Racing, Inc., and John Force Racing Entertainment will be
working with John Ferriter and Octagon Entertainment along with Rogers &
Cowan in an effort to increase the team’s visibility in non-traditional media.

            “We are going back to Hollywood,”
said John Force, CEO of JFR.  “We loved
doing the Driving Force Show in 2006 and 2007 but we had to change direction
after we lost Eric Medlen and I had to teach my daughters how to become
professional drivers. We worked with my friend John Ferriter then and we are
back together with a new concept.” 

            “We are going in a different direction
for this show,” said Force.  “It won’t be
about learning the ropes on the race track. 
I have taught my kids how to drive, but now I need to teach them how to
chase money and get in the boardroom with corporate America.  Our goal is to work with Octagon and John
Ferriter to produce an entertaining show.”

            Formerly
Executive Vice-President, Worldwide Head of Non-Scripted Television at the
William Morris Agency, as well as a member of the agency’s Board of Directors,
Ferriter is an award winning and Emmy Nominated producer who has been
instrumental in packaging and selling some of the most popular shows on
television including “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Piers Morgan
Tonight,” “Erin Burnett Outfront,” “LeAnn & Eddie,”
“Dr. Drew,” “Driving Force,”  “Project Runway,” “The
Biggest Loser,” “The Weakest Link,” “The Man Show,” numerous Garth Brooks
specials, “Chelsea Lately,” “Blue Collar TV,” “The Tom Green Show,” “Pop Stars”
and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” to name a few.

            Ferriter
also has been instrumental in signing, developing and expanding the careers of
countless personalities including Piers Morgan, Ryan Seacrest, Nancy O’Dell,
Dr. Drew Pinsky, Arsenio Hall, Larry King, Mario Lopez, Donny and Marie Osmond,
Holly Robinson Peete, Curt Menefee, Erin Burnett, Orlando Jones, Carson Daly,
Nick Cannon, Chelsea Handler, Mark Wahlberg, Jeff Foxworthy, “Larry the Cable
Guy,” Jimmy Kimmel, Montel Williams, Jerry Springer, Adam Carolla, Tom Green,
Leeza Gibbons, Mark McGrath, Chuck Woolery, Topher Grace, Bob Saget and Jeff
Probst.

            “I
love John and Courtney, Ashley, Brittany and Laurie.  We look to replicate
the success we had with ‘Driving Force’ with the new series.  With
Courtney’s emergence we hope to capture a whole new audience and help to bring
them along with the Force family,” said Ferriter. 

            In
an effort to continue to grow the JFR brand and extend its influence outside of
motorsports, Los Angeles-based Rogers & Cowan will begin reaching out to
entertainment media outlets on behalf of the stable of JFR drivers.  The agency will expand the JFR brand into
traditional mainstream media.  Rogers
& Cowan’s objective is to position the Force family into mainstream
entertainment personalities by securing significant national media and expose
at entertainment focused events.  The
firm’s goal is to reach out to major television outlets such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday, and Entertainment Tonight.  In
the national print area, the Rogers & Cowan will pursue USA Today, Parade, The New York Times, and Wall
Street Journal
among other notable outlets. 

            Rogers
& Cowan will be developing tailored press releases and custom media
campaigns for JFR drivers to enhance JFR’s image in the entertainment
community. Led by Sandy Friedman who during
his 40 plus years at Rogers & Cowan, Friedman has worked with a number of
illustrious clients including LeAnn Rimes, The Beach Boys, Shania Twain, Tim
McGraw, Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Selena, Leann Womack, Toby Keith, Billy
Ray Cyrus, and 19 Entertainment to name a few. 
In the sports realm, Friedman has worked with Tommy John, Bill Madlock,
Brandon Phillips, Ronnie Lott, Antonio Cromartie, Terrell Suggs, Matt Leinart,
Jason Taylor, Reggie Bush, Ken Norton, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, and Rashad
Evans. 

            “Rogers
& Cowan is very excited to be associated with John Force, his family and
racing team. We are working closely with John and his team to execute a
strategic marketing communications campaign to reach JFR’s goals and expand
their brand and image into the entertainment mainstream and increase the team’s
visibility,” said Sandy Friedman, Rogers & Cowan Executive Vice President,
Music & Sports.

Summit Racing–Line Looks to Defend Event Title in First Race of Countdown

Line Looks to Defend Event Title in First Race of Countdown
 
Mooresville, N.C., September 11, 2013 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line has a very strong recent record at zMAX Dragway, the esteemed facility located in Concord, N.C., just a handful of miles from the KB Racing shop in Mooresville. As the defending event titlist at this weekend’s sixth annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals, Line is focused on a two-fold goal: defending the win and securing solid footing at the first of six races in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.

Line was somewhat stymied by zMAX Dragway until last fall and had never been able to cross the finish line first in the final round at the racetrack that the Minnesota-transplant now considers his home turf. Line had regularly qualified in an exceptional manner and to date possesses four No. 1 qualifier awards in Charlotte, but on raceday, he was consistently stopped just short despite an impressive tally of three final round visits. The tide turned, however, at the fall race last season when the now 30-time national event titlist qualified in the No. 2 spot and topped then-points leader Allen Johnson in his fourth Charlotte final round to finally grab the trophy.

“The Summit Racing team gave me a Chevrolet Camaro that was bad to the bone that day,” said Line. “We went through our fair share of struggles leading up to that win, but the car was just phenomenal that weekend, and it went down the track almost every run without any issues. Thankfully, we were able to come home with a huge win, and that’s certainly something we hope to replicate this weekend.”

The forecast for the weekend ahead is a pleasing departure from the extreme temperatures and oppressive weather felt in recent weeks as the Mello Yello tour finished out the regular season, and Line, who tested relentlessly over the past several weeks, believes that Team Summit will be able to take full advantage of the optimal conditions.

“The weather looks like it could play right into our hands,” stated Line. “It should be cool and there really doesn’t look like there is much of a chance for rain. Hopefully, we’ll have low humidity. If everything comes together like it looks like it will, we think we can perform really well this weekend. It’s a good forecast that should work nicely with the KB Racing playbook, and as long as it holds up, we will have every opportunity to excel. That’s important because no matter what cards are dealt to us, Greg [Anderson, Summit Racing teammate] and I need to do well this weekend if we want to gain ground and start the Countdown right. Our game plan is definitely to put a Summit Racing Camaro in the winner’s circle.”

Enhancing the KB Racing stable of trusty steeds will be the addition of a third car driven by young gun Buddy Perkinson, a 21-year-old competitor who resides in Prince George, Va.
 
“Buddy may be young, but he has already proven his abilities as a driver out there,” said Line. “He got his start in the Jr. Drag Racing League and did pretty well in Comp, and when he moved up to Pro Stock a few years back, we knew he’d be a tough competitor. We’re excited to have him racing with us at what we consider our home track this weekend, and it will be interesting to see what he can do in a KB Racing Chevrolet Camaro.”

Perkinson, understandably enthusiastic about racing in Charlotte with a team that possesses a collective 104 national event wins and six world championships in the Pro Stock category, said, “We’ve been working on this for quite awhile. The KB Racing team is running up front where they belong, and that helped everything fall into place. The time was right, and I really appreciate that I get to be the guy to drive the third car this weekend.”

Line’s victory in Charlotte last season provided a great springboard toward what would have been his third world title. He ultimately finished second in the nation, but this year, the hungry driver is fired up to push even harder and finish one better.

“Once again it looks like it’s going to be a battle all the way until the end for the championship, and there are a lot of cars capable of winning the race this weekend,” said Line, whose teammate Anderson has three Charlotte victories. “The best we can hope for is to put a Summit Racing Camaro in the winner’s circle this weekend at zMAX Dragway, and we’ll take it from there. Right now, the focus is on winning this race – something we have proven we are very capable of.”

Kraig Kinser Racing–Right Back At It: Kraig Kinser Returns to Action at Clay County & Deer Creek

Right Back At It: Kraig Kinser Returns to Action at Clay County & Deer Creek
By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
 
 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Sept. 12, 2013— After a stretch of eight races in ten nights, what do Kraig Kinser and the rest of his fellow World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series competitors do for an encore? Travel over 1,800 miles from California to Iowa and get right back to racing just a few days later.
 
First up for Kinser in his Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim will be a visit to Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa, on Friday, Sept. 13 for the Arnold Motor Supply Shootout. The series then makes a trek north to Minnesota on Saturday, Sept. 14 for the Asgrow/DeKalb Clash at the Creek at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley.
 
“It’s good to be back in the Midwest,” said Kinser. “The last few weeks have been pretty busy, and while I enjoy racing every night, it’s tough on all of the crews and they are the ones that need a few days to catch their breath, especially after the long drive to Iowa this week. We are looking forward to getting back to the shop after the weekend and getting caught back up on things next week.”
 
Kinser has raced six times at Clay County Fair Speedway in his career. He led 26 laps in his debut at the three-eighths-mile in 2008, finishing second in that race to five-time series champion Donny Schatz. Kinser made a pair of starts at Clay County last year, coming home ninth in June and 15th in September. The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals has recorded top-10 finishes four times in his career at the track.
 
“We’ve always run pretty well at Spencer (Clay County Fair Speedway), and came pretty close to winning in my first race there,” he shared. “There is a lot of racing room at that track and you also carry quite a bit of speed. It’s a pretty neat atmosphere out there with the fair going on at the same time, and a lot of the people there only see us race once a year.”
 
Kinser finished sixth at Deer Creek Speedway last season, which marked his best-career finish at the high-banked three-eighths-mile located just outside of Rochester, Minn. The third-generation driver made his debut at the track in 2009, the same year that the World of Outlaws made their first visit to the venue. Kinser has finished among the top-10 in each of his last two visits to Deer Creek. The native of Bloomington, Ind., finished fifth earlier this season in Minnesota at I-94 Speedway, which is also a three-eighths-mile.
 
“Deer Creek usually has a couple of grooves and is a very racy track,” Kinser said. “We’ve run pretty well there each of the last two years and it’s a track that really suits my driving style. It’s a three-eighths (mile), but it drives more like a smaller track and you carry a lot of momentum around the top by the wall when you run up there.”
 
Heading into the last 10 races of the season, Kinser is 12th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has one win this season and has recorded 30 top-10 finishes, of which eight are top-five showings.
 
“We’re back to racing just on the weekends now as the season wins down and we want to finish the year on a strong note,” he stated. “We’ve had some stretches this year where we have been very strong and then some where we have struggled. Our goal is to find consistency as the year winds down so that we have some momentum going into the off-season as we prepare for next year.”

Summit Racing–Anderson Eager to Kick Off Championship Chase on Home Turf

Anderson Eager to Kick Off Championship Chase on Home Turf
 
Mooresville, N.C., September 11, 2013 – This weekend marks a shift into high gear for competitors in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series as the sixth annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals launch the 2013 Countdown to the Championship, the six-race run for the coveted series title. Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson is entering the Countdown as the No. 7 seed, and he hopes to immediately set himself apart from the pack as a fearsome player. With a notable history at zMAX Dragway, the Mooresville, N.C.-based four-time world champ is starting the chase with statistics on his side.
 
“The KB Racing shop is just right around the corner in Mooresville, and have done a lot of testing here,” said Anderson, whose three Charlotte wins tie him with fellow Pro Stock competitor Mike Edwards as the driver with the most titles earned at the premier facility. “In the beginning, we kind of struggled with this racetrack, and so we devoted ourselves to figuring it out. It’s very important to the Summit Racing team to do well here in front of our whole crew and their families. These are the guys who put in the blood, sweat and tears every day, and they don’t get to travel to all the races across the country. This is a chance for them to see the product they work so hard on in action. We want to do well for them and make them proud, as well as all of our family and relatives and neighbors and friends.
 
“It adds a lot of what some might call pressure, but I call it excitement. It’s just a big, supportive group, and if there is ever such a thing as that intangible ‘home-court advantage,’ this is it for us. You have to make the most of it, and luckily, we’ve been able to do that.”
 
Anderson will begin the weekend on Thursday night with the annual B.R.A.K.E.S. Benefit Dinner, a gala fundraiser to support B.R.A.K.E.S., a non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent injuries and save lives by training and educating teenage drivers and their parents about the importance of safe and responsible driving (putonthebrakes.com).
 
On Friday, the Countdown to the Championship will officially begin, and Anderson, who has finished in the semifinals in each of the most recent four events, is looking to go two steps further.
 
“We aren’t going in seeded where we would have liked,” admitted Anderson. “We’re starting a little bit behind the eight ball, and that puts extra emphasis on the first race for the KB Racing team. We cannot afford to go out and make a bad start. We have to make up some ground this weekend with our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros. You can’t wait or you’ll run out of time. It’s got to happen for us this weekend, and I feel great about our chance of excelling. We’ve put in a lot of time at zMAX Dragway in the last few weeks testing, the weather looks great and is playing into our hands, and I think the deck is set. Now it just comes down to executing, and Team Summit is very capable of getting the job done.”

John Force Racing–Charlotte Ahead

HIGHT: WINNING INDY CREATES COUNTDOWN MOMENTUM

CHARLOTTE, NC (September 10, 2013) — Robert Hight walked into the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals winner’s circle with a huge smile and a big sigh of relief. It had been 35 races since the 2009 NHRA Funny Car champion was able to hoist the fabled “Wally” winner’s trophy. For the crewman turned test driver turned world champion the drought created a sense of doubt that was easily erased with four win lights on Labor Day.

“You start asking yourself if I am the problem. Right before first round on Monday (crew chief Mike) Neff came up to me and said, ‘Listen regardless of the outcome we are in this together. We are going to believe in each other and we are going to stick together.’ It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I am up there trying to do a good job for him and his team. They were doing well until I stepped into the seat. It was the perfect time to win,” said Hight, a three-time U.S. Nationals winner.

With his first round win over Cruz Pedregon in Indy combined with a Bob Tasca III first round loss Hight locked up his spot in the 2013 Countdown. Hight went on to defeat Johnny Gray in a tire smoking pedalfest, then Del Worsham and finally Jack Beckman. It was Hight’s first win of 2013 and one of the most memorable of his eight year career against some of the toughest competition.

“This is definitely the biggest win of my career. In fact I think competition is tougher now than when I won the championship in 2009. You don’t see people going out there and winning three races in a row any more. It just doesn’t happen,” said Hight. “From the No. 9 position we are going to have to put together a hot streak. If we want to win the championship we are going to have to win at least two or three races and go to the semi-finals in the rest of the races.”

Hot streaks are nothing new to Hight. Last season he drove the Auto Club Ford Mustang into four consecutive winner’s circles including the winner’s circle at zMax Dragway at the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals. In 2009 Hight was winless in the regular season before winning three of the last six races including the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals. Hight jumped from 10th place to 1st place in two races in 2009.

“I look back at 2009 and winning four in a row in 2012 and that definitely gives you confidence. History can repeat itself but a lot has changed since those streaks. I am with a new team and the competition is definitely better. I am excited to get to Charlotte and start the Countdown. I love starting with four races in a row too,” said Hight.

“You get into a groove racing back to back. I know as a crew guy I liked to race every weekend. These guys on this Auto Club Funny Car do a great job and I have been lucky to work with two great crew chiefs and two awesome teams for my career. The hardest part is the competition from our own teammates. John Force has 15 championships and Courtney Force could go on a tear and win this thing as well with the Traxxas Ford Mustang,” added Hight.

Starting this Friday at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals Hight will have 24 rounds of racing over the next six races to try and win his second NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car championship. The first two rounds of qualifying will begin at 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. under the lights at zMax Dragway.

 C. FORCE ONLY FEMALE IN MELLO YELLO CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 10, 2013) – Piloting the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car, Courtney Force is ready to get the 2013 NHRA Countdown to the Championship underway beginning this week at the 6th annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals presented by NAPA Auto Parts, Sept. 13-15.

“zMax Dragway is one of the best race tracks out here, not only because their facility is great, but their staff and the fans who show up to this race are amazing,” said Force. “Bruton Smith built the Bellagio of drag strips here in Charlotte so it’s always fun competing here. Everyone is really excited, especially because it is the first race of the Countdown.”

Force will start No. 7 in points going into the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Series Countdown to the Championship, just 80 points (four rounds) out of first place.

“Our Traxxas Ford Mustang team is really looking forward to it and we want to get a good start in order to get a lead on these guys to go after the championship. This is the time where all the pressure is on and you really gotta make some moves early. We’re going to try to pick up those points during qualifying and hopefully we can move on up the ladder,” said Force.

The 2012 Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future award winner for NHRA’s top “Rookie of the Year” qualified No. 6 at this event last year and for the second year in a row, will be the only female driver in a nitro class to race for the championship.

“Going into the Countdown for the championship this weekend, I’m feeling confident and excited. Last year as a rookie my main focus was on the basics of the car, but this year I’m trying to push my own limits to improve myself as a driver.”

“I work closely with my crew chief, Ron Douglas and Dan Hood and my Traxxas team, in order to be more consistent for them and not make mistakes. I’m tougher on myself this year as opposed to last year, but I’m very eager to get this countdown started. I think we have a Championship-ready car to battle it out with the rest of the boys,” said Force.

This event in 2012 also marked the third time the then 24-year-old raced against her father, John Force. She brought a 2-0 record against the 15-time champ to the starting line, but lost the round when her Traxxas Ford smoked the tires at the hit.

AUTO CLUB ROAD TO THE FUTURE NOMINEE BRITTANY FORCE LOOKS TO CONTINUE STRONG SHOWING AT ZMAX DRAGWAY

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 10, 2013) – Coming off a strong weekend in Indianapolis, Top Fuel rookie Brittany Force returns to the Charlotte area for a second time this season in search of her first career win at zMAX Dragway for the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Force, the third oldest daughter of 15-time Funny Car world Champion John Force, was No. 1 qualifier twice out of four qualifying runs at Lucas Oil Raceway, the highest she has been on the qualifying ladder in her rookie season. She’s hoping to continue riding that momentum heading to the “Bellagio of Dragstrips”.

“I’m glad to be going back to Charlotte,” Force said. “I love Charlotte. Bruton Smith has a beautiful track out there. I’m glad it’s not going to be four-wide this time around and it’ll be just a normal drag race with only one car in the other lane. I can’t wait to get back there.”

Prior to the previous event, the first ever Top Fuel team at John Force Racing added a new member to the roster. John Medlen, who oversees JFR’s research and development program, will now be assisting Force’s crew chiefs, Dean Antonelli and Eric Lane for the remainder of the season. Jimmy Prock, current crew chief on the Castrol GTX Funny Car team, will also be assisting the team.    

“We did make some changes before the Indy race and even though we have had our struggles, there’s only one direction to go and that is up,” said Force. “We’re hoping to move forward and advance some rounds and go for our first win before the season ends.

“I love working with John Medlen. He’s family to me. My whole family has been close to the Medlen family for years. It’s really great to be working with him and I love having him on our Castrol EDGE team. Working with Jimmy Prock is great, too. My entire year of testing was pretty much with Jimmy and his team, so I’m excited to have both of them come over and be working on the first top fuel dragster at John Force Racing,” Force continued.

During the off week, the former schoolteacher and her team were able to test prior to the Carlyle NHRA Carolina Nationals. R
unning a new setup, they learned a few things that will help the team in future races. Crew chief Dean Antonelli believes this will help the Castrol EDGE team coming into Charlotte and the five races that follow.

“Testing went pretty well and we learned some things,” Antonelli said. “Hopefully we got the motor a little happy in the last 400-500 feet of the run. The car ran pretty good on a hot track and was very competitive. We still have room for performance beyond what we did.

“Charlotte has a real good race surface. The starting line is a little tricky I understand for dragsters. We raced there earlier in the year and the way the starting line is configured it makes the dragsters produce a little more driveshaft speed, but other than that it’s pretty much landmine conditions if the temperature is in the 80’s or less, so we’ll be real good there,” continued Antonelli.

The return to zMAX Dragway marks the beginning of a six-race battle known as the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s playoffs. Despite not making the Countdown, the 27-year-old Yorba Linda, Calif. native still has her eye on one particular prize: her first Wally.

“There are six races left in the season and unfortunately we didn’t make it into the Countdown,” Force said. “The Castrol EDGE team and I are still going to go after our first win. With the changes we’ve made with Medlen coming on board, we think we are moving in the right direction.”

For Immediate Release

FORCE LAUNCHES BID FOR ANOTHER TITLE

First Step is to Reverse Fortunes at Carlyle Tools Carolina Nationals

 

          CHARLOTTE, N.C. – From his best starting position in the last three years, John Force launches a new title bid this week in the sixth annual Carlyle Tools Carolina Nationals, first of six races in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Mello Yello championship.

 

          After starting the Countdown from seventh and eighth the last two seasons, the iconic 64-year-old will start this year behind only three other Funny Car drivers, all of them driving Don Schumacher Racing Dodges.

 

          For Force, that is motivation enough to get his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang back into the winners’ circle and himself back to the podium as series champion for the 16th time in a 36-year NHRA career. 

 

          However, if he is to add another chapter to his growing legend, the former truck driver likely will have to reverse his fortunes in the Carolina Nationals, an event in which he has won just one racing round in five tries and for which he failed to qualify in 2008.

 

          That’s because every champion crowned in the Countdown Era advanced to the semifinals or beyond in the opening race.

 

          Force was runner-up at the U.S. Nationals when it kicked off the Countdown during 2010 championship run.  Robert Hight and Matt Hagan both won at Charlotte en route to their 2009 and 2011 championships and Jack Beckman (2012), Tony Pedregon (2007) and Cruz Pedregon (2008) all opened with trips to the semifinals.

 

          It is impossible to pinpoint an exact cause for Force’s struggles in the fall race, especially since he has excelled in the 4Wide Nationals, the spring event contested on the same all-concrete track at zMAX Dragway.

 

          Whatever the issue, it isn’t high on Force’s current list of concerns.

 

          The 135-time tour winner is far too busy pursuing new sponsorship opportunities in the aftermath of announcements by Ford and Castrol that they are leaving the sport after the 2014 season.  He also has been consumed with preparing his family for their likely return to reality TV in a new and as-yet-untitled follow-up series to Driving Force, which last aired on the A&E network in 2007.

 

          That is not to say that he is ambivalent about what happens on the racetrack.

 

          In fact, in light of recent developments, the 15-time Auto Racing All-American has admitted that “I’m more motivated to win now than ever.”

 

          Of course, if he does win another title, it will be with a different crew and different crew chief.  After winning 14 championships with Austin Coil making the tune-up decisions, Force won in 2010 with Mike Neff.  Now, he’s going after another $500,000 Mello Yello bonus with Jimmy Prock on point.

 

          Although the two have yet to win a race together (since hooking up six races ago), it’s through no fault of Prock, the veteran who tuned Hight to the title in 2009.  Force admittedly just hasn’t been on his game at the starting line.

 

          “I know what’s wrong,” said the 2012 inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, “and I’ll fix it.  The big thing is we have a fast hot rod.  Jimmy Prock swings for the fence with this ‘Prock Rocket’ and I like that. We’ve got a car that can win and that’s all you can ask for.”

 

Kraig Kinser Racing–Kraig Kinser Earns Five Top-10 Finishes During the Gold Rush Tour

Kraig Kinser Earns Five Top-10 Finishes During the Gold Rush Tour
By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sept. 9, 2013— Kraig Kinser had one major objective during the recent Gold Rush Tour for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series and that was to turn in consistent runs. He was able to achieve this, recording five top-10 finishes in eight events over a 10-day span at six different tracks in three states on the West Coast aboard the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim.
 
In the opener of the Monster Energy Meltdown at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., on Friday, Aug. 30, Kinser finished sixth. He ran as high as second during the 25-lap main event, which was marred by several caution flags. Kinser opened the night by recording the eighth-quickest lap in time trials, which put him on the front row of the second heat. He would finish second to earn a spot in the dash, where he also finished second. In the finale of the Monster Meltdown on Saturday, Aug. 31, Kinser finished 11th
 
The native of Bloomington, Ind., charged from the 19th starting spot to finish eighth at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., on Monday, Sept. 2. After finishing seventh in the second heat, Kinser came home third in the B-main to earn a spot in the 30-lap A-Feature. A total of six yellow flag and one red flag slowed the main event, providing several restart to make up positions.
 
In his second-ever visit to Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., on Sept. 3, the third-generation driver finished 10th. Kinser ran as high as seventh over the course of the 30-lap main event, which saw the yellow flag fly four times and the red flag displayed twice. He was fifth-fastest in qualifying to open the night.
 
Kinser finished 10th at Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon, on Wednesday, Sept. 4. He opened the night as the fastest qualifier of the 31 entrants. He finished fifth in the first heat race to earn a spot in the dash. With an inversion of eight, Kinser lined up on the outside of the fourth row for the dash and finished ninth. In the 40-lap feature, which was plagued by three cautions and two red flag periods, Kinser ran as high as seventh before finishing 10th to earn his fourth career top-10 finish at the quarter-mile bullring.
 
On the opening night of the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 6, Kinser was caught up in a wreck on the opening lap of the B-main and had too much damage to restart the race. He opened the night 27th-fastest out of 53 entrants in time trials. Kinser came home sixth in the second, 10-lap heat race, with just the top-four transferring to the A-Feature.
 
The finale of the Gold Cup on Saturday, Sept. 7, saw Kinser turn in the ninth-fastest lap in time trials of the 52 drivers that hit the quarter-mile. He finished fourth in the fourth heat race to earn a spot in the 40-lap main event. The third-generation driver took to the grid on the outside of the ninth row and wound up finishing 17th.
 
Kinser wrapped up the Gold Rush Tour with a ninth-place finish at Antioch Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 8. He kicked off the night as the second-fastest qualifier of the 33 drivers that took to the one-third-mile. He finished third in the second heat race to earn a spot in the dash where he came home eighth. Starting on the outside of the fourth row for the 30-lap main event, Kinser ran among the top-11 for the duration of the contest, crossing the finish line ninth to earn his 30th top-10 performance of the season.
 
The event at Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Ore., scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5, fell to rain and was not rescheduled.
 
Kinser will be back in action this weekend at Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa, and Deer Creek Speedway in Minnesota. He is currently 12th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings and had accumulated 30 top-10 finishes. Kinser has one victory on the year, with that coming at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York in the spring.

Hairston Motorsports–#1 Qualifier Competition Eliminator

HMR Goes to the Big Go….#1 Qualifier Competition Eliminator


 

Indianapolis, IN (September 2013) – HMR and Elite Motorsports joined together and entered the HMR Small Block Twin Turbo Pontiac GTO at the 2013 U.S. Nationals running in the Competition Eliminator AA/AT class.

 

Clint graciously gave the driving duties up to Mike DePalma since grade points are required to enter a NHRA race.  Of course Mike needs no introduction  since he has been one of the most successful Competition Eliminator drivers around.  Testing with Mike in the seat before Indy certainly showed that he was more than capable of handling the car even though the little GTO was “faster than anything I have ever driven by a bunch”, commented Mike.  With Jake Hairston’s tuning skills and Mike’s driving the car qualified #1 running an incredible .926 under the 7.04 index (6.114 ET).   Although confidence was running high that this was our race to win, the Semi-Final loss was hard to take.  The car had been making great runs up until “uncontrollable” wheel spin caused Mike to abort the run.  Our congratulations go to Jason Coan and his team for winning the race.

     

Hairston Motorsports & Racing would like to give special thanks to Lucas Oil for being our title sponsor this year and Elite Motorsports for making the Indy experience possible and our many other loyal sponsors; Pertronix Performance Brands, Duttweiler Performance, Precision Turbo, XS Power, Powermaster, Racepak, Hoosier Tire, K&N, Crower Clutches, Lenco, Comp Cams, Dart, T&D Machine, Scat crankshafts, Hogan Manifolds, Accufab,  Jesel, Strange, Motive Gear, Inland Empire Driveline, SCE Gaskets, Starside Design, Specialty Fasteners, Russell, Brodix, Embee Performance Coatings and ARP for their continuing support and our great crew including Doug Stewart, Tom Esbri, Tracy Holmes, Dustin Lee and Bill Hickok.

 

Ross Hoek Motorsport–Hoek Concludes 2013 Season with Solid Finish in the AMSOIL CUP!

Hoek Concludes 2013 Season with Solid Finish in the AMSOIL CUP!

Holland, MI (September 5, 2013) – The Crandon Off-Road World Championships would be the final event for Ross Hoek Motorsports and their Motive Gear, ATD, Toyota PRO-4×4 race truck. The team used the limited 2013 schedule as a season long test session to become more acquainted with the 900 horsepower four-wheel drive hot rod as the summer progressed. When Ross Hoek took the checkered flag in the AMSOIL CUP, the team felt a great sense of accomplishment as their 2013 goals were met with a competitive race!

After installing a brand new 430 CID Goodwin engine at the race track Thursday and two successful Friday test sessions the Saturday morning qualifying session saw the silver Toyota qualify ninth quickest among one of the largest nationally represented PRO-4×4 starting grids of the year.
Later that afternoon the nine lap Round 13 race saw Hoek run a solid race to finish seventh out of the sixteen competitors that took the green flag.  Unfortunately an oil cooler broke during the lineup for Sunday’s race and engine oil began dumping out the back of the race truck. Fortunately a TORC official caught Hoek’s attention and he was able to shut the engine off before any damage could occur. The team did miss Sunday morning’s TORC round of racing, but a quick change of the leaking oil cooler had Ross Hoek ready in plenty of time for the AMSOIL CUP.

The ten lap AMSOIL CUP saw Ross Hoek run the best race of his PRO-4×4 season. The Motive Gear, ATD, Toyota PRO-4×4 was definitely turning the quickest lap times of his PRO 4×4 career.  The added incentive of passing the PRO-2WD trucks made this a great experience for Ross.  There was a great battle between Hoek and Todd LeDuc that saw the two racers pass each more than once. In the end Hoek claimed the position and finished on a flat tire in eight place overall, the fourth place PRO-4×4 in the field.
As Ross Hoek climbed out of his #10 PRO-4×4 race truck for the final time this season, you could see a smile on his face. Looking back at his “rookie” PRO-4×4 season of competition, Hoek met his expectations and is looking forward to a very competitive 2014 season for his team.

“I bought this chassis from Johnny Greaves and I didn’t know what to expect,” explains Ross Hoek. “ I knew the PRO4x4’s are fast, I knew they were expensive, I realized you have to drive them differently than a PRO-2WD, but until you get behind the wheel in race conditions you really don’t realize what a different “animal” a PRO-4×4 can be. Basically everyone in the PRO-4×4 class came over to help us this season with set-ups, driving advice, parts, and every kind of help imaginable. We made sure we took one more step forward at every race, and by the time we came to Crandon for the second time, everything began to click.”

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