Pierce Collects Record-Extending 20th World of Outlaws Win of 2026 at Adams County

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

CORNING, IA (August 28, 2026) – Bobby Pierce has developed quite an affinity for Adams County Speedway this season.

Prior to 2026, the Corning, IA facility had not hosted a national Late Model event since a Hav-A-Tampa race in 2000 won by Scott Bloomquist. That changed with last month’s Half Mile Hustle, a race Pierce attended and won on an off week from World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision competition. The $15,000 prize that came with the win was nice, but so were the laps he got to turn in advance of Adams County’s first World of Outlaws race on Friday night.

The “Smooth Operator” put those notes to good use in his return trip, leading the final 18 laps on the way to his second Adams County win in as many starts and his 20th World of Outlaws win of the year, extending the single-season win record that he set last weekend at Maquoketa Speedway.

A month ago, Pierce rode behind Nick Hoffman for most of the race before the No. 9 broke a piston and Pierce’s eight cylinders powered him past Hoffman on seven. The early stages of Friday’s race looked like a rerun, with Hoffman leading the way and Pierce in tow close behind. But Pierce didn’t need any misfortune for Hoffman to pass him this time. On a Lap 6 restart, Pierce threw a slider from second on Hoffman in Turn 1 and grabbed the lead off Turn 2, but a caution for Jesse Sobbing over the banking in Turn 3 negated the pass and handed the lead back to Hoffman.

Pierce tried the same move two laps later, but struggled for grip on the exit of Turn 2 and let Hoffman get back around down the backstretch. After a brief duel with Daulton Wilson for second, Pierce came knocking once again. On Lap 28, Pierce ripped the Turn 3 cushion while Hoffman rolled the bottom, but a bobble for Hoffman down low sent him bouncing up the track and gave Pierce the opportunity to cross low off of Turn 4, drive around Hoffman and cruise away to the win.

Adams County is the third different Iowa track Pierce has won at with the World of Outlaws this season, joining Independence Motor Speedway and Maquoketa Speedway, and the seventh of his career. Pierce’s 62nd World of Outlaws win further strengthened his hold on fourth on the all-time wins list, and brought him within a dozen wins of Darrell Lanigan in third with 74.

“I was devastated when I-80 [Speedway] went away, I think this is I-80,” Pierce said of his initial impressions of Adams County. “It’s pretty cool, it’s a lot of fun. I loved I-80, and we’re kind of in this area, too. It’s cool how that happens. It’s just got them long straightaways with them tight corners. A nice amount of flat on the bottom and then progressive banking on up. It always gives us, at least the two times I’ve been here now, it gave us a heck of a Feature. Heat Races are a little single-file, but sometimes that’s what it takes to have one of the best Features. This track definitely performs.”

A pair of No. 9 machines finished behind Pierce on the podium, as Tim McCreadie worked his way from his 13th starting spot up to second ahead of Hoffman in third. Wednesday’s winner at Southern Iowa Speedway, Tyler Erb, finished fourth ahead of Iowa native Ryan Gustin in fifth.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision wraps up the Iowa swing at Shelby County Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 29. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

Want to watch the World of Outlaws? Stream every race live on DIRTVision.

RACE NOTES:

Tyler Erb set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Nick Hoffman won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Nick Hoffman won STAKT Products Heat 1.

Bobby Pierce won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 2.

Dustin Sorensen won Jarrett Rifles Heat 3.

Nick Hoffman won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Trey Mills won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Trey Mills won the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Tim McCreadie was the Air National Guard Second-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Tyler Erb was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Ryan Gustin was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Trey Mills was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Daulton Wilson was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Brent Larson was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

JC Wyman was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Dallon Murty was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Logan Zarin was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Chris Spieker was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

Feature (45 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 2. 9M-Tim McCreadie[13]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[16]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[11]; 6. 14-Trey Mills[23]; 7. 58V-Daulton Wilson[3]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 9. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[15]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[5]; 11. 4-JC Wyman[17]; 12. 19-Dustin Sorensen[4]; 13. 13-Dallon Murty[7]; 14. 1Z-Logan Zarin[20]; 15. 74X-Ethan Dotson[8]; 16. 53-Andrew Kosiski[21]; 17. 35D-Dylan Sillman[18]; 18. 56-Chris Spieker[19]; 19. 55E-Eli Johnson[14]; 20. 15D-Justin Duty[2]; 21. 15C-Curt Schroeder[25]; 22. 04-Tad Pospisil[12]; 23. 99-Jesse Sobbing[10]; 24. 62-Justin Zeitner[24]; 25. 1X-Aaron Marrant[22]

Pierce Collects Record-Extending 20th World of Outlaws Win of 2026 at Adams County

CORNING, IA (August 28, 2026) – Bobby Pierce has developed quite an affinity for Adams County Speedway this season.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision wraps up the Iowa swing at Shelby County Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 29. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

Want to watch the World of Outlaws? Stream every race live on DIRTVision.

RACE NOTES:

Tyler Erb set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Nick Hoffman won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Nick Hoffman won STAKT Products Heat 1.

Bobby Pierce won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 2.

Dustin Sorensen won Jarrett Rifles Heat 3.

Nick Hoffman won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Trey Mills won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Trey Mills won the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Tim McCreadie was the Air National Guard Second-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Tyler Erb was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Ryan Gustin was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Trey Mills was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Daulton Wilson was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Brent Larson was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

JC Wyman was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Dallon Murty was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Logan Zarin was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Chris Spieker was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutla

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Thornton Continues Port Royal Dominance with fourth straight win at the speed palace

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 28, 2026) – Ricky Thornton Jr. made it four straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victories at Port Royal Speedway, leading all but two laps of Night One of the Rumble by the River presented by FK Rod Ends. The win earned him $10,000 and marked his 62nd career series victory. Thornton, who won three times at Port Royal a year ago, went to Wieland Victory Lane for the sixth time this season after taking a 1.392-second victory over Devin Moran. Jonathan Davenport rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. Chris Madden, who led the first two laps, finished fourth, with Max Blair completing the top five.Making his fifth career visit to Wieland Victory Lane at Port Royal, the defending winner of the $50,000-to-win Rumble by the River set his sights on a repeat victory Saturday night. “I felt good all night. It’s just hard whenever you are never behind anyone to gain on them. That first lap behind Madden, he was just far enough out where I could keep my nose in clean air so I could roll around the bottom, and luckily we got by him. It’s good to be out front. Obviously, it felt like once I got to within about half a straightaway of the lapped cars, I just, like, stalled hard, so I think that’s going to be good for tomorrow,” said the Chandler, Arizona, native. “Once a couple of guys did move and I started moving around, I got, like, a little bit of clean air. I felt like my pace picked back up, so at the end, I figured I would live or die by the wall here in one and two. In four, I didn’t really know. I kept touching the wall, and I’m like, ‘Man, that opening is going to bite me.’ So, I started cheating a little bit, and I was waiting for Devin to get next to me. I knew he was getting close. I could hear him every now and then. My car is so wheeled up on the right rear, you can’t really see if a guy gets under you.” Moran, who ran in second place from lap four until the finish, closed on Thornton late in the race as the leader battled heavy traffic. “Congrats to those guys. They have had the unluckiest year of anybody. I wish we could have beaten them, but I’m glad they got it done. Ricky was railing that top, and, man, I thought his tires were eventually going to have to slow down. As he was doing that, I was driving a little bit harder. The car wasn’t quite where we needed it to be, but obviously, it was really good to finish second. There are just a couple of things we need to tweak, and my guys are going to work hard to be sure we do that.” Davenport, who started 13th, charged to third to round out the Big River Steel Podium. “I don’t know what we needed to do. We were really good in the feature. The heat race didn’t go our way. Chris (Madden) beat me into turn one, and then he pushed on the first lap. I wasn’t smart enough to follow him into three, so I tried to slide him, and he wasn’t quite clear. I gave him a lane, and that let (Dan) Ebert get a run on us. That put us starting 13th, but we had a really good hot rod. I thought we were going to get there when they caught lapped traffic. I could see Ricky and Devin right in front of me, but they scooted through those lapped cars pretty quickly, and I just couldn’t quite get through there. I had melted my stuff by the time I got there.” Thornton’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Knight’s Companies, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Capital Waste, Certified Inspection Services, Elite Ready Mix, Strange Oval, SI Towing and Recovery, Sunoco Race Fuels, and D&E Outside Services. Completing the top 10 were Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Mason Zeigler, Michael Norris, and Dan Ebert. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Rumble by the River presented by FK Rod Ends | Night 1Friday, August 28, 2026Port Royal Speedway | Port Royal, PA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport | 18.793 seconds (Overall)Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran | 19.230 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 44M-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 5. 15K-Lane Snook[7]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 7. 24-Rick Eckert[5]; 8. 4-Gary Stuhler[9]; 9. 0-Andrew Yoder[6] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1C-Alex Ferree[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 4. 9M-Hayes Mattern[5]; 5. 11-Josh Rice[7]; 6. 27E-Dylan Yoder[4]; 7. 2J-Justin Weaver[6]; 8. 5J-Chad Julius[8]; 9. (DNS) 2-Jason Schmidt
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 5T-Drake Troutman[2]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[6]; 5. 8K-Kyle Strickler[3]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 7. 24M-Kenny Moreland[8]; 8. 03-Brenden Queen[7]; 9. (DNS) 11M-Greg Moore
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[2]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 1K-Gene Knaub[5]; 5. 48F-Colton Flinner[6]; 6. 32J-Shaun Jones[9]; 7. 15-Scott Flickinger[7]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[3]; 9. 80D-Greg Diehl[8]
Lucas Oil Products Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[5]; 3. 93F-Carson Ferguson[2]; 4. 17SR-Brody Smith[8]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 6. 27-Trever Feathers[6]; 7. 11AC-Trevor Collins[7]; 8. 6M-Matt Martin[9]; 9. 22G-Gregg Satterlee[3]
FloRacing Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[2]; 3. 17SS-Brenden Smith[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 4S-Danny Snyder[4]; 6. 121-Tristin Neiderer[9]; 7. 21-Chad Myers[8]; 8. 55-Jamie Lathroum[7]; 9. 86-Austin Berry[6]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 9M-Hayes Mattern[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 3. 24-Rick Eckert[10]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[3]; 5. 11-Josh Rice[5]; 6. 15K-Lane Snook[4]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. 8K-Kyle Strickler[6]; 9. 27E-Dylan Yoder[8]; 10. 2J-Justin Weaver[11]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 12. 4-Gary Stuhler[13]; 13. 03-Brenden Queen[15]; 14. 0-Andrew Yoder[16]; 15. 5J-Chad Julius[14]; 16. 2-Jason Schmidt[17]; 17. 24M-Kenny Moreland[12]; 18. (DNS) 11M-Greg Moore
UNOH B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 6-Clay Harris[5]; 2. 48F-Colton Flinner[4]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 27-Trever Feathers[8]; 5. 17SR-Brody Smith[2]; 6. 11AC-Trevor Collins[11]; 7. 32J-Shaun Jones[7]; 8. 121-Tristin Neiderer[9]; 9. 21-Chad Myers[12]; 10. 86-Austin Berry[18]; 11. 93L-Cory Lawler[13]; 12. 15-Scott Flickinger[10]; 13. 80D-Greg Diehl[16]; 14. 4S-Danny Snyder[6]; 15. 1K-Gene Knaub[1]; 16. (DNS) 6M-Matt Martin; 17. (DNS) 55-Jamie Lathroum; 18. (DNS) 22G-Gregg Satterlee Rumble by the River presented by FK Rod Ends – Night 1 | Feature Finish (40 Laps):Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings1 – 3 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $10,0002 – 2 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $5,5003 – 13 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $3,5004 – 1 – 44M – Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC – $2,7005 – 8 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,5006 – 15 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,3007 – 5 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $2,3008 – 4 – 25Z – Mason Zeigler – Chalk Hill, PA – $2,1009 – 12 – 72 – Michael Norris – Sarver, PA – $2,05010 – 23 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $2,00011 – 7 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $1,60012 – 6 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $1,40013 – 17 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $1,20014 – 26 – 24 – Rick Eckert – York, PA – $1,00015 – 11 – 5T – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $95016 – 21 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $92517 – 16 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $90018 – 20 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $87519 – 14 – 7 – Ross Robinson – Georgetown, DE – $85020 – 25 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $12521 – 18 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $80022 – 24 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $80023 – 10 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $80024 – 9 – 1C – Alex Ferree – Saxonburg, PA – $80025 – 19 – 9M – Hayes Mattern – Beavertown, PA – $80026 – 22 – 48F – Colton Flinner – Allison Park, PA – $800 Race Statistics Entrants: 54Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Chris MaddenMD3 Lap Leaders: Chris Madden (Laps 1-2); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 3-38)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Margin of Victory: 1.392 secondsHellraizer Jacks Cautions: Colton Flinner (Lap 3); Chris Ferguson (Lap 10); Alex Ferree (Lap 15)MyRacePass Series Provisional: Josh Rice; Kyle BronsonFast Time Provisional: n/aEmergency Provisionals: Daniel HilsabeckTrack Provisional: Rick EckertBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan DavenportPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden, Max BlairBehrent’s One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan DavenportPEM 4th Place Feature: Chris MaddenDiversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Max BlairWilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Brandon SheppardWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Dan EbertVelocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: Brian ShirleyXS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Drake TroutmanHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Josh Rice (Advanced 13 positions)MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (38 Laps)Sunoco Race Fuels Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon SheppardO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Josh RicePro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | Lap 12 | 19.697 secondsFK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Colton FlinnerVictory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Hudson O’NealOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony BurroughsARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | 18.0489 secondsTime of Race: 23 minutes 37 seconds Big River Steel Championship Standings Presented by ARP:Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Earnings1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 6135 – $263,7002 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 6045 – $236,4003 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 6000 – $303,5744 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 5635 – $145,2005 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 5560 – $218,3256 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 5545 – $146,7757 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – 5285 – $187,2758 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 5245 – $119,0759 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – 5245 – $105,50010 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – 4930 – $85,17511 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 4905 – $97,07512 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 4850 – $89,25013 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 4780 – $137,80014 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – 4660 – $107,82515 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 4270 – $65,50016 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – 3930 – $48,27517 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 3670 – $34,475

Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, and Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:

Shane, with the points positioning you’re in, what’s the game plan for this weekend?Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, there’s a lot going on. Not really sure how it’s going to play out. I think, you know, 30 points is a lot until it’s not, until he (Ryan Preece) has two good stages, then we’re probably under a lot of pressure. So, yeah, as everyone knows, there’s a lot of anticipation, I guess, around the new rules and how the cars are going to be. I think we plan to be pretty conservative, and then see how his race is going and react to that. If he’s scored well in Stage One, we probably need to get amongst it in Stage Two and start pushing the issue a bit. It’s going to be fun. It’s a pretty cool feeling to have the pressure on us and see how we go.” Can you compare the pressure that you’re under, the feeling of the championship kind of, because it’s got to be a different feeling, right? You’re not just coming for a race and going for the win, you’ve got the Chase to focus on. Can you compare that to when you were in Supercars? Is there a comparison, or is it just totally different? Do you maybe have some lessons that you could bring over from there?Van Gisbergen: “I mean, it’s definitely different. I’ve had it come down to the last round for the win of a championship and this definitely does not compare to that. But there’s still definitely a lot of pressure. You know, it’s a whole year’s work that’s gone into this. Every week, we’ve sat in our Monday morning meetings analyzing the cutline, how many points we need per race average and what the gap is. That’s been a massive focus all year. So, yeah, still a lot of pressure. It makes our year if we get in, and then once we’re in the Chase, you know, it’s only up from there. It’ll be a fun 10 weeks or so if we get in.” Ross, to start, to come in here and not have a shot to be in the Chase this year, what is that like as you just look at what this season has been like and where you guys are?Chastain: “We definitely scheduled this media availability pre-being eliminated out of contention, but I wanted to stay true to our word though and come in here (laughs).” Shane, on the flip side of that, if somebody had said to you at the start of the year you’d be the only Trackhouse car represented in the Chase, what would your reaction have been? Would you have taken that bet?Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, of course I would have taken that. But obviously, you want the whole team to be in because that means the team is doing well. The reality is that we have struggled a bit, but I’m happy on the No. 97 side, personally, to have matched Ross (Chastain). We know how good he is on the ovals, and I think I’ve made a big jump this year to be able to match him most weeks. And obviously Connor (Zilisch), as well, is a huge talent, so to be comparable to those guys has been really cool for me this year. But yeah, I want all three Trackhouse cars to be in. That would mean, as a team, we’re doing the right things, and we don’t quite seem to be there at the moment. There’s a lot of hard work and frustration going on, but we definitely need to improve.” I know in the past, you’ve kind of wanted less chatter on the radio during races, but with you guys kind of keeping track of where Ryan Preece is, how do you balance that? Do you kind of want occasional updates on where he’s running compared to you or what the point situation is?Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, I’d probably ask for that after the first stage. I think there’s going to be a lot going on at the start of the race, trying to figure out how the cars are handling, what people are doing and what techniques they’re using to be good. But yeah, certainly if it comes down to it in Stage Three; yeah, I’d want to know where he is and what’s happening. Especially, as I said, if he’s had two good stages and that points gap’s evaporated, we’ll be really mindful of where he is.” Shane, there must be some comfort in knowing what a great speedway racer Ross is, and Connor has certainly had success on the big tracks too. Does that kind of give you a little bit extra something of goodwill as you’re racing?Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, I’ve certainly learned a lot from Ross on these type of tracks, and especially here at the start of the year, it was pretty awesome. We were sort of controlling both lanes for a period of the race in the DAYTONA 500, which was cool. And then if it does race like Atlanta, we’ve led at Atlanta a few times and managed that. The way Ross controls the lanes, moves his car around and gives air to the following car; I think I’ve learned a lot, and hopefully, we can work together well, especially at the end if we’re under pressure. So yeah, it’d be pretty fun trying to make that. It’s cool to have the attention on us and us being the focus point, but it’s easy saying the words, too. It’s going to be hard to execute it when everyone’s trying to do it as well.”

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Chevy racing–NASCAR–Daytona–Ross Chastain

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona International Speedway Team Chevy Driver Quotes August 28, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

NASCAR Cup SeriesDaytona International SpeedwayTeam Chevy Driver QuotesAugust 28, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

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Chevy racing–NASCAR–Daytona–Carson Hocevar

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona International Speedway Team Chevy Driver Quotes August 28, 2026

Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

NASCAR Cup SeriesDaytona International SpeedwayTeam Chevy Driver QuotesAugust 28, 2026

Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:

You’ve obviously been known for being willing to make an aggressive move. Do you think the uncertainty around the new superspeedway package kind of plays into that?“Yeah, I think so. I think it’ll help, if anything. I was just pumped we had less meetings, less data to go off of and I didn’t fall asleep in a meeting this week, so I was pumped about that. That’s progress right there.”

I was at your guys’ shop on Wednesday talking to Michael McDowell. And he said that going into this season, you said that you wanted to be the guy pushing at super speedways, whereas he wanted to be the guy up front. Then that seemed to have changed after you won at Talladega and had that opportunity out front leading. So what is your mindset now? Are you still wanting to be the pusher in the last couple of laps or do you want to be out front kind of controlling everything?“No, I still want to be the pusher. Talladega is a little different though. I mean, there’s a lot of differences. Like here, I want to be a pusher. Talladega with what we have for a package, you definitely want to be leading. You don’t want to be, you know, it’s a tough pass there. And then Atlanta, I don’t know what I’m doing. Just left, right, everywhere. You don’t even need to push anybody there. But here, I feel most comfortable pushing. And just for whatever reason, I feel like we just go faster with myself pushing, whether it’s my car or me. It’s advantageous for me to be pushing because it’s just going to help me.”

At the Daytona 500, you were leading right till the very end, and then you weren’t. And I’m wondering, because you weren’t leading at the end at Talladega until you were, was there something you learned here, perhaps, or something you studied from watching what happened at Daytona that you were able to kind of put in the mind and use it to your advantage to get that Talladega win?“Yeah, well, when I got spun at Daytona, there was no one to the left of me. And I almost got spun at Talladega, but there was someone to the left of me, and it spun them, and it didn’t spin me. So I figured, if you’re going to get spun, just have someone to the left of you and you can keep it straight. And that was the difference maker, which, ironically enough, I kind of laughed and thought after that last caution that we were going to win, just because what Jeff Dickerson’s taught me is that superspeedway racing gods exist.
The 43 was behind me at the DAYTONA 500, the 47 was pushing me, and I spun off the 43. And at Talladega, the 47 pushed me and I got loose and wrecked the 43. So just a little bit of irony there. So hopefully we have– I don’t know, hopefully I picked up enough trash, went to church on time and everything that I built up good karma and hopefully we’ll be fine this week.”

You’re currently 66 points back from Christopher Bell, who sits fifth in the standings. If all goes well, you could potentially move up to fifth in the standings. So what would that mean for you to kind of have a bounce back weekend here?“I don’t know. How many points is that? It’d be worth about 35 points. That’s how good it would feel when the Chase starts, I guess. I don’t know. I mean, he’d have to wreck pretty early and I’d have to pretty much max out to make that happen. So I don’t know. Maybe I’ll buy a lottery ticket and see which one hits.”

Were you shocked to hear that you are the driver with the number one amount of retail sales in NASCAR?“I was a little shocked. I was appreciative of it, for sure. But yeah, I was a little shocked. I would say I’m more shocked that I’m in the top-five for at-track sales because we don’t have my own merch trailer or anything, and there’s limited options there. They do a good job selling and pushing them out. But I was more shocked of that, honestly. But for me, I feel like we’re just kind of getting started, so hopefully that trend can continue. But for me, I’m just appreciative of that. That means a lot to me.”

Do you think that maybe there’s a realistic chance that you could be in the running for the most popular driver?“I mean, it’s possible. It’s possible, for sure. But I feel like if anybody should get it this year, I think it should be Kyle (Busch). So maybe I’ll wait for next year.”

What do you want to hear from your spotter? What do you want to know because of certainly these unknowns? You’re going to figure some things out in the car, but he’s also going to have the wider view. What are you going to ask him for and would it be any different from any other drafting type of race.“Truthfully, I hope he’s just saying, ‘get all the way to the line, congrats, you just won Daytona’. That’s what I’m hoping to hear. But I don’t know. Honestly, I just hope to hear that it was a good or bad move. I’ll have probably more of a gauge of the draft and the feel of it than he would, honestly, from the outside. But it’s just about us getting on the same page of everything. Hopefully when he says that was a bad move or good move, we’re lining up in our thought process.”

You said in a post earlier this week, “I’m back” heading into this weekend. So how important is it to have a good weekend this weekend to reset for the chase?“I think for us, we’ve had speed a little bit. But ultimately, we have to just get comfortable, or me especially. I feel like I take a lot of responsibility of it. Our expectations probably shifted, too, quickly when we were about fifth as the top Chevy, and I felt like I was trying to all of a sudden go faster than we need to go. So for me, it’s that we need to just go back to just running and laughing that somehow we were up in the top-five in points. Laughing that we’re up front and enjoying it, rather than have to try and take cars that just aren’t as fast as seemingly the Toyota’s right now, or at flat tracks right now, the Penske cars. For us, I think this is our strong suit, so I’m excited for it. Hopefully, we can just show speed, be a contender, and play to our strengths. There’s a lot of mile-and-a-halves coming up that are good for us, too. But ultimately, we just kind of need to go back to how I want to race and not put as much pressure on trying to force anything to happen, really.”

I wanted to ask you how different life feels coming to Daytona this time versus when you came in Daytona. So much has happened for you. I think it’s fair to say that your personality is more out there, that you are more out there in general. Does life feel a lot different six months later?“It does. I don’t know what aspects feel that much differently. It just all feels differently, which I’ve enjoyed. And it’s been fun. And yeah, I mean, you get to walk a little taller, which I’m already tall. But you get to walk a little bit firmer with how we’ve ran this year and everything that we have clicking for us right now. I think we all do that as a company, too. I think we’re really early in this, kind of, plan they have developed for our race team and how fast we can go. So, I’m confident in the trajectory. We get to walk a little bit prouder knowing that we’re pretty fast right now. But tomorrow, the next day and every day after, hopefully we just continue to get a little bit better every time. I’ve always tried to enjoy it because it’s been a dream of mine to do it. I’ve watched other drivers do podcasts, interviews or whatever and talk about how they just were miserable the whole time. I was like, that doesn’t sound very fun. I just try not to have that happen so in 20-30 years and I’m telling those stories, I can be like, we had so much fun… here’s all the stories we got.”

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Chastain Drives Chevrolet to Pole Position for Regular Season Finale at Daytona

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona International Speedway Coke Zero Sugar 400 Team Chevy Post-Qualifying Report August 28, 2026

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP: 1st – Ross Chastain3rd – Austin Hill6th – Shane van Gisbergen7th – Connor Zilisch10th – Kyle Larson

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

· For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Ross Chastain will lead the field to the green flag at Daytona International Speedway. Clocking in a lap of 48.808 seconds at 184.396 mph in the second round of this afternoon’s qualifying, the Florida native topped the leaderboard to earn his third career pole in NASCAR’s top division. · The pole – Chevrolet’s 55th all-time pole in NASCAR’s premier series at “The World Center of Racing” – was accompanied by a strong showing by the Bowtie brigade with the manufacturer earning half of the top-10 of the starting lineup for tomorrow’s regular season finale. ECR-powered Chevrolet’s earned four of the top-10 qualifying efforts with Chastain leading Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill in third, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch in the sixth and seventh positions, respectively, with the Hendrick Engine Department-powered Chevrolet of Kyle Larson rounding out the top-10.

NASCAR Cup SeriesDaytona International SpeedwayCoke Zero Sugar 400Team Chevy Post-Qualifying ReportAugust 28, 2026

Chastain Drives Chevrolet to Pole Position for Regular Season Finale at Daytona International Speedway

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP: 1st – Ross Chastain3rd – Austin Hill6th – Shane van Gisbergen7th – Connor Zilisch10th – Kyle Larson

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – Pole Win Quotes
This is your first pole at Daytona and on a drafting track, in general. Can you kind of talk about what that means to you?“Yeah, it’s almost indescribable. I think I should probably start with, like, I grasp that it doesn’t have much bearing on knowing what tomorrow is going to bring, but for tonight and today for a new package, for Trackhouse to go and pick the right things for car build to come here and to execute through two rounds, it’s incredible. We’ve been good in one round before, but not the second. So, yeah, it’s very important to note that we chose the right things as a team to come here and execute through qualifying. I’ll start this with — I do not know what that means for tomorrow. I’m being honest, I have no idea what it means for tomorrow.” As a Floridian, what does this mean to you?“Life achievement. I was a kid sitting in the grandstands. We camped outside of turn one, gate 40. For those that remember back in, I don’t know, late 90s, 2000s, early 2000s, it was not the nice, beautiful gate 40 with dry grass that you see now. It was a mud pit. We camped over there, rode our bikes around and had other families that were family and some that were more than family that were such close friends and my buddies that I grew up with. So, yeah, I mean, from the race pools, like getting the race day paper and drawing names out that they would cut up and hoping you got the pole sitter, that was a big deal. And as I got older, I realized how much little or just less it means, as far as how the car is going to draft. But, still, it’s a big deal. It’s a life achievement that I will never forget. This is a moment I’ll never forget.” I realize that you’re saying you can’t guess how it’s going to go in the race, but it’s still significant that Trackhouse had all three cars qualify in the top-10. Could you just talk about the team’s effort?“Yeah, I mean, it’s just incredible because all the cars are bouncing. All the cars are not driving well, and we made our car go faster while not driving well. I asked on Monday in our competition meeting if we were sure that what we were taking, what I had been told, like are we sure? We don’t know. I know we don’t have wind tunnel data. We don’t have on-track data. But does anybody in the room have anything they’d like to tell me, I’m asking, that they want to raise their hand about? And they went around the room and each really smart person told me ‘no’… here’s my reason why I think this part of the car is right, each of their departments. And I left the room going, okay, I believe you. Like, I just wanted one more sanity check. It’s great with the season we’ve had. And the seasons, like even over the second-half of last year; to hear them be confident, I could tell they were sincere in what they were saying. And then to translate it to on-track, that’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we’ve been looking for at Trackhouse. It’s a really good feeling.” With Shane in his precarious spot, what is your strategy in kind of working with him? And are you making him a priority?“When there’s an opportunity of two cars in front of me, I think everybody in the field knows that I’ll push the 97. I am OEM loyal and specifically 97 loyal. So when there’s opportunity, any momentum I have, any push I have, will go to the 97. The crew chiefs will be talking. You know, there’s little differences, and if we find something air pressure wise or something, the 97 will be the first to know.” I know we are a long way away from the Clash and the DAYTONA 500, but with this qualifying performance where all three Trackhouse drivers will start in the top-10, do you think that qualifying performance will potentially carry over to the start of next season? “I don’t know. I mean, you have to be better coming back. This is the first crack at it. For Trackhouse and Chevy, clearly we made the right decisions coming into a new package. We’ve done that before. You know, we’ve seen that early on in packages. So proud of that, that we can continue to do that. We want to be better and we want to continue to stay here. I think that depending on how we race tomorrow, if we can make the right adjustments going into the race – it’s an impound race, but there’s still major adjustments we can make. In my world, this would not be a major needle mover, but with this car, they are major needle movers. I don’t know what this will mean for Talladega. I don’t know if this is the package we’ll run at Talladega. I think we’ll see what NASCAR sees. I’ll listen to what NASCAR decides, and then be ready for Talladega.”

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Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Daytona –Daniel Suarez

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona International Speedway Team Chevy Driver Quotes August 28, 2026

Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

NASCAR Cup SeriesDaytona International SpeedwayTeam Chevy Driver QuotesAugust 28, 2026

Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:

Are you officially on baby watch yet, or are you a few weeks out?“It is funny you ask that question because we were just talking that last night I had my official hospital tour, and I’m ready to drive as quick as possible, whenever the moment presents. Hopefully I’m home for that. I already know which floor I have to go, where I can park, where I’m going to chill, where I’m going to stress. I had an hour-and-a-half tour last night. I think it’s considered already full term because we are getting into 38 weeks, so it can happen anytime. She can call me right now and say, hey, you have to come back. We’ll see how things happen. Hopefully, things work out for me to be there.” Speaking of that, what’s the plan? Do you have a plan to leave the team and have a backup driver? Are you going to be here? What’s the strategy?“Honestly, I haven’t really had a conversation with anyone about this besides with myself. My strategy, in my mind, is that if baby was coming like right now, I think it will be okay for me to skip qualifying. That’s just me saying that, just because it’s a superspeedway. Any other weekend, I don’t think that would be the case, especially being in the Chase. If it’s Saturday or Sunday, I think it’s going to be tough. Julia and I, we already had a conversation, but hopefully it’s a Monday through Friday baby (laughs).” Do you have any idea who the team may have as a standby?“I have no idea. Do you want to sign up? We’re looking for someone. He has to speak Spanish now (laughs).’ With these new superspeedway changes for tomorrow, do you have any idea of what the racing will be like potentially?“Personally, I love unknowns. I love the challenge of something new. I find that actually quite exciting. I don’t think anyone really knows. We study data and we study information, but the reality is that – it has happened several times in the past where we study all the different things and then sometimes the numbers, the data, it doesn’t match exactly with real life. My mind is just to be open-minded; try to have fun and try to adapt. If we get lucky, we’re going to have one lap in qualifying, if it doesn’t rain. And then, we go tomorrow for racing. Nobody’s going to know what to expect. I think that we have a great group of engineers that have worked very hard during the week to try to prepare for as much as adjustability on the car as possible to be prepared for any scenarios. But the reality is that we don’t really know. We don’t know if it’s going to be a super tight pack or if everyone is going to be spread out. We don’t really know. We’re going to have to wait and see.” Can you just kind of describe your comfort level now? Last year, the system was so different, as far as how you got into the playoffs. But you did this on merit. You did this on just the type of numbers that you put out. To be able to do that, what’s your comfort level now going into the Chase?“Yeah. It’s everything about the people. You have to have the right people around you and everything clicking at the right time, as well as the right manufacturer time. Right now, we know that Chevrolet has been working very, very hard to try to improve our packages, especially on short tracks. Overall, I feel pretty good about our team. We know our strengths, and we also know our weaknesses. We’ve been working hard and trying to improve those weaknesses. We still have a lot to improve. I believe that we’re a very young team still with a bright future ahead, but we’re still very young. Jonathan, my engineer and I, we talk about this all the time that him and I, we don’t have a notebook built yet. Most of the racetracks, 90% of the racetracks that we’ve been this year, it’s our first time ever working together. We’re building the notebook and I promise you that the second time around on some of these tracks, we’re going to be better just because now we have an experience, not just basing things off previous experience with a different driver, with a different package and things like that. I believe that the potential of this team is big and we are only seeing the beginning of it.” You’re wrapping up your first regular season with Spire tomorrow night and you’re already locked in the Chase. What has the move to Spire and the success you’ve had with the 7 team meant for you at this point in your career?“It’s not a secret that last year, the 7 team was struggling and Daniel Suarez was struggling in different places, in different situations, with different circumstances. But we both were struggling. I know how good I am. I know what I’m capable of and Spire Motorsports is the same way. They have great people and they have a good structure. They have a good system. They knew that they can make the team successful. When we started having conversations at the end of last year, about this year, I knew that they had the pieces of the puzzle within the team to be successful, but we needed to build the puzzle. We worked very hard for that. Obviously, it’s been a lot of fun to see some of the results of that hard work. With that being said, we still have a long ways to go. We’re not winning on a weekly basis yet. We still have a long ways to go. I like to be very honest with myself. I would be lying if I told you that right now we’re championship favorites. We’re not, but we are working towards that. We just have to keep pushing, keep learning, keep getting better and stay humble because it’s very easy to not stay humble in this sport. I have seen many horror stories when it comes to that. We just need to keep moving forward.” Coming into this weekend with the aero changes, should there have been practice of some form, even just a few minutes, for everybody to get a feel for it?“That’s a great question, Kelly. But I think that even if there was practice, I feel like NASCAR knows this — even if there was practice, I feel like it would have helped, yes. But we’re not going to experience what we’re going to experience tomorrow night because there were going to be packages of maybe 10 cars, 12 cars, 15 car max, and that’s kind of like maybe. And tomorrow, it’s going to be 36, 38 of us. It would have been nice, but I don’t think that we’re going to learn everything that we’re going to learn tomorrow. Sometimes a little bit is better than nothing, but who knows? Like I said, personally, I believe very highly on my engineers. I feel like I have a great group of guys, and they’ve been working very hard all week long to try to make our car as versatile as possible because we don’t know if the adjustments are going to ask for left or right. So just trying to be versatile is going to be important because there is going to be a lot of cars, especially if we don’t qualify today, there’s going to be a lot of cars making adjustments in Stage One tomorrow.”

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Chevy racing–NASCAR–Daytona–Austin hill

September 1, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona International Speedway Team Chevy Driver Quotes August 28, 2026

Austin Hill, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro SS, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Daytona International Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

NASCAR Cup SeriesDaytona International SpeedwayTeam Chevy Driver QuotesAugust 28, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:
Did you have a timeline of moving up to Cup next year? If that wouldn’t have happened, did you have a personal timeline where you would want to move up to Cup? And how close was it to that?“Yeah, that’s a really good question. I would say I had been wanting to go to Cup for a little while now, but I wanted to make sure it was the right opportunity for me and not just jumping… any Cup car, and just to say I’m a cup driver, right? And that was something that I have always thought of for a very long time. I didn’t just want to jump in any type of Cup car just to say I’m racing in Cup now. I wanted to do it for the right organization, for the people that I wanted to be surrounded by. And I’ve always thought that since being at RCR for the last five years now, that that was the organization I wanted to be at. “You know, I was kind of just biding my time. At the time, I didn’t know for sure what Kyle was going to be doing going into ’27. Obviously, there was a lot of speculation, rumors, all those things, and so I didn’t know what he was doing. Then with everything that’s transpired over the last several months, things quickly changed, and I had to kind of question myself on like, did I still want to do this? Do I still want to be in the Cup car, did I want to be taking the place of Kyle Busch? A lot of things were going through my head, and then I just kind of kept reminding myself that someone was going to be in the car. You know, they weren’t going to just retire that team. Someone was still going to run in that car, and so I just was like, ‘Well, I’ve been here for five years.’ You know, I feel like I’ve been extremely loyal to RCR. And roles reversed, kind of the same way. So I thought this was a great opportunity for me. If it wouldn’t have happened and they would have gone a different route, that would have been totally fine, too. I would have stayed in the O’Reilly Series and stayed in the 21 car for another year or two and just seen where that progressed and where that went. I haven’t been rushing it by any means on trying to get to the Cup level, but yeah here we are now. We’re going into the rest of the season trying to learn as much as I can, trying to balance both series and be ready and prepared as I can going into 2027.” How nerve-wracking is that to know that there’s a possibility you’ll take a green flag never having raced this package here?“Yeah, so qualifying, if it gets rained out, that’s not a huge concern to me because they have the car set up so much different in qualifying. Honestly, the car doesn’t drive very good in qualifying. It doesn’t matter if you’re the guy that’s sitting on the pole or you’re the guy that’s 36th, 38th on the grid. They just don’t drive very good in qualifying here. You know, they have them as low as they can possibly get them. They’re hitting the stops, the limiters, all those things, and so they kind of move around a lot. The car drives a lot different when you are in the draft and you are not in qualifying trim. So not having that lap really doesn’t concern me. What does concern me is that it is a totally different package, and we aren’t practicing. There’s a lot of different agendas. You’re going to have guys that are fully trimmed out for just straight raw speed, and you’re going to have guys that are full downforce and want to have a lot of balance in their car. We’re not going to know until that green flag drops on Saturday night what’s going to be the right case scenario. The only thing I am a little bit excited about with the Cup package is that from everything that I’ve been told and all of the data that I’ve gotten from GM, it seems to be as close as it can get to the O’Reilly side, and that makes me really excited. So I’m hoping that’s how it all is. But until the green flag drops, none of us are really going to know.” What would it mean for you to get your fifth O’Reilly Series win here and potentially your first Cup Series win here, and potentially sweep the weekend?“Yeah, I think that opportunity is definitely there. We’ve been good here at Daytona. Daytona’s been good to us, right? There’s been situations where we’ve won a race here and we didn’t think it was going to happen. The next thing you know, we just kind of find ourselves in the front at the very end, and the right runs happen or the right things happen. So yeah, I have a lot of confidence going into this weekend. I would love to check that box of getting a summer Daytona win. That’s something that’s kind of eluded me for a little while now. I can’t tell you the rhyme or reason why because it’s still Daytona. The only thing that I’ll say is, I think when you start out in February, people might be a little more reserved. I don’t know the exact answer to that, but when it comes down to the last race before the Chase… They want to get that last win and get all the points they can, and the intensity level picks up. “On the Saturday night Cup deal, I think we have as good a chance as anyone. RCR has been very well-known for being fast on these super speedways, whether it’s the O’Reilly Series or the Cup Series. And it’s hard to win in Cup. You see it time and time again. Guys going on droughts and not winning races and things like that. So it’s going to be hard to get it done, but I think we have a really good shot at getting it done and going for Number Five on the O’Reilly side and getting the first one on the Cup side. That would be a perfect weekend for us. So yeah, hopefully that ends that way on Saturday night.” You’re in your fifth full-time season with RCR in the O’Reilly Series. Looking back on that time, what do you think that’s taught you?“Anytime you make a jump from one series to the next, it’s all always a transition. It’s a little bit of a jump, right? When I went from the truck level to the O’Reilly level, we obviously started off with a bang, winning here at Daytona. But then we kind of had some roller-coaster finishes where we’d have some decent days, and then other days wouldn’t be so good. “I would say within these five years, just the effort and everything that I put into racing has went up. I’ve always felt like I put a lot of effort in, but I didn’t realize how much more effort I could be putting in and more time that I could be putting into the racing side of things… learning the cars better, figuring out setup packages and things like that that I like to drive because every driver is a little different, and I think that’s going to help me going into the Cup level. With me getting these opportunities of running the Cup car like I’m doing. I’m going to be a little bit ahead of the game going into next season, but in this offseason coming up, just figuring out exactly what I need in a Cup car to go fast. Now it might take a while throughout the season. Once it gets started, we might have those roller-coaster finishes. But I think where my mindset is now versus in 2022 when I got in the O’Reilly car, I think it’s a lot higher in my broad spectrum that I have of how I think about things is a lot greater, and I think that’s going to help me when I get in the Cup car. “
Is there one area that you really feel like you need to improve? What’s lacking from your repertoire that you feel you really need to buckle down on before you go full-time Cup racing?“It’s a tough question because we’ve won at a lot of various different tracks on the O’Reilly series. But the only thing that sticks out to me, time and time again, is some of the short-track stuff that we run. Even though we’ve won at Martinsville with that chaotic finish, and I’ve had signs of running well at Bristol. I’m either running top-five at Martinsville or Bristol, or I’m running 20th. There’s no in between. “I think that’s been our Achilles’ heel as a team and maybe me as a driver. Maybe I’m producing some of that. I’m not sure. So I would say effort-wise, I probably put even more effort into when we go to short-track racing than I do anything else. That’s one area that going into the Cup level, you’ve got to be good at every single racetrack, right? You’ve got to be good at various different things. So I think that’s something that I can work on, get better at, and then figuring out the way these Cup cars are in the dirty air. That’s one thing that’s kind of caught me off guard, especially with the C3 package that the Cup car runs on the mile-and-a-halfs and stuff. I think it’s tough for everyone, but it’s extremely tough for me right now on just how to position the car and the things that I need to do with the car on restarts. You see guys that’ll drive really deep in the corner, and they’re not really trying to pass you, but they’re trying to drive close enough to you where they can put dirty air on the car and get dirty air underneath the diffuser. The next thing you know, you are like getting tight off the corner and having to lift. All those things, I am still trying to learn on the fly, and I think throughout the rest of the season, that’s something I really need to hone in on and get a lot better at —how the dirty air and everything works to be better going into next year.” When you stepped into the Cup car, going back several months, you stepped into a very emotional situation that was beyond anybody’s control. What have you done, and how have you worked with the team to be a comfort to everyone and be a leader and team building? And how will that help going into next season?“I think for me, I’ve just been trying to show a ton of effort, right? I’m trying to just give all I can in both series, but especially on the Cup side – being at any type of simulator time that needs to be done. I’m in the simulator a few times a week, and then if I don’t feel like we’re in a good spot, I go up to RCR, run some more sim time on their static rig up there. So there’s things that I’m constantly doing, trying to get to know the team a lot better. A lot of these guys that I’m working with are kind of first time working with these guys. The one thing that’s been a little bit easier transition for me, I guess you’d say, is I’ve worked with Andy Street before. He’s my crew chief, right? So I’ve worked with him in the past. We’ve won races together on the O’Reilly side, so that kind of helped with things when I was coming over and doing this deal. And then Derek Nealon, my spotter, having that familiar voice on the radio spotting me, that’s kind of made everything a little bit easier for me. And then the pit crew. Most of the pit crew I know from the 21 team, so that’s kind of been an easier transition. But the rest of the team, you know, just trying to get to know them on a personal level because it’s always business related, right? We’re always working each and every week. It’s seven days a week. We’re just constantly going, going, going. I’m trying to get to know these guys on a personal level outside of the racing world, and just to show them that I care about these guys more than just what the results are on the racetrack.” You’ve talked about the conversations that you had with Kevin Harvick after being thrust into the situation, and kind of tying it back to the situation that he was in as well. Are there any specific examples of you putting something into practice that he told you, and it helping the 33 and 8 teams?“The biggest takeaway that I got from Kevin was just to be mentally tough and not to show your emotion in front of everyone. If you’re going to have a breakdown moment or anything like that happen, do that behind closed doors. You need to be the tough guy when it comes to driving the race car and being in the shop and being prepared and showing those guys that you mean business… that you’re here for them and you’re here to be that shoulder to lean on. That’s kind of one of the biggest takeaways for me. I’ve had to get a lot more mentally sharp than what I feel like I was, and I think that’s helped me as a person as a character.“As a human being, I really appreciate the conversation that Kevin and I had. I could sit here and talk all day about some of the takeaways from it, but one of the biggest things that stuck with me is that you’ve just got to be that guy. You’ve got to be that leader. I’ve been trying to do that as best I can.” And how would you describe the current morale on your team right now? How are Andy and his guys doing given the circumstances?“I think everyone’s doing well for the situation at hand. It’s still very new. I saw Samantha (Busch) this weekend at afar, and it’s very emotional when you see her. I haven’t gotten to see her up close and have a conversation with her yet this weekend. But just seeing her, there’s a lot of things that go through my mind, and the biggest thing is family. You just hold your loved ones tighter at night and check in on people that maybe you haven’t checked in on for a while. I think the team’s doing good for the situation at hand, but they still need a shoulder to lean on every now and then. We’re kind of trying to have that bond and everything within the entire 33 / 8 team.”

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THE MONTH AHEAD: Huset’s Tripleheader, Kansas Weekend, Western Swing Await in September

August 26, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

CONCORD, NC (August 26, 2026) – September might signal the end of summer, but that’s not slowing down the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

The Greatest Show on Dirt is full speed ahead into a month that features 11 races at eight tracks in four states. The stretch includes a big Labor Day weekend in South Dakota, tracks and states making popular returns to the schedule, and a freshened California swing.

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Let’s look at where to find the World of Outlaws next month.

Huset’s Speedway | L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout (Sept. 4-6): September starts in a big way at Huset’s Speedway. The L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout has grown to three nights of World of Outlaws action in 2026. A pair of $15,000-to-win prelims will set the stage for Sunday’s $25,000-to-win finale on Labor Day weekend, under a new special event format.

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid has proven to be the man to beat at Huset’s thanks to an incredible stretch with Roth Motorsports. He’s taken the Toyota Racing No. 83 to seven wins in the last 11 races there, including four six-figure paydays. Kofoid may take the headlines, but David Gravel can’t be overlooked at Huset’s. He’s won there five times, most notably in June for the richest payday in Series history of $300,000.