Chevy Racing–NASCAR–North Wilkesboro– Chase elliott

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR CUP SERIES NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 17, 2026

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado RST, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

NASCAR CUP SERIESNORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTESJULY 17, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes: You have a very busy schedule this weekend. A lot of racing for you in different series. Just talk a little bit about why you’re looking forward to this weekend.“Yeah, it’s definitely been a been a busy couple days, for sure, but it’s been fun. I haven’t done a lot of short track racing, like late model cars, in a while, so it’s just kind of neat to have that opportunity and go and run. Appreciate Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) asking me to drive his late model stock, and then obviously the FR8 Racing guys for letting me get in their straight rail car. I figured if I was going to be here, might as well try and do them both. And then, yeah, totally separate from that, the truck opportunity came up to run that, as well. So yeah, I’m going to have plenty of laps on track this weekend, and hopefully they go alright. We’ll see.” Now that you’re potentially just two rounds away from the million-dollar prize, how much attention are you going to pay to Todd Gilliland this weekend?“Oh, yeah, it’d be nice to win, for sure. You know, over the last couple of seasons being involved in the In-Season Challenge, it’s not something that I’m overly consumed over, you know? I can say that with a lot of confidence. You just know in the back of your mind, kind of similar to the points situation in general, if you’re going out and you’re doing your job and you’re performing at a high level, then you’re likely going to take care of the other things. So I kind of look at that in a really similar light, but I do think it is really fun. I think it’s a really good thing for just the sport, in general, to kind of have something else going on in the middle of the year. I know we’re getting close to the Chase cutoff, but still, it’s kind of neat to have another little side quest going on. I think it’d be cool to win it. We made a good run at it last year, but couldn’t quite get it done, so hopefully we can make it happen this season.” We mentioned earlier the quadruple-header, the two CARS Tour races, the Trucks tomorrow, and obviously, the Cup car on Sunday. How are you kind of handling the weekend physically and mentally as far as preparation and compartmentalizing the four races?“Yeah, I mean, definitely the Cup stuff has my main focus, right? That’s just kind of where my head is at mentally and just making sure that I’m not letting anything else pull me away from what I’m kind of looking for in my car for Sunday night. So, I’ve kind of been using it a little bit as just extra laps on track and just helping me think about how I can be better Sunday, I think, more than anything else. But certainly, you know, all the cars drive different — like the pro car drives different than the late model stock, and the truck is going to be different than both of those. And then certainly, the Cup car drives like nothing out there that they have to offer. So, I think all those things, it’s a fun challenge and one that I haven’t really done a lot of. I did some of it early on. I remember jumping back and forth between, you know, Saturday and Sunday cars there early in my Cup career, but I don’t know that I’ve ever done four in a weekend and in four different cars. So, yeah, just trying to balance all that.” It’s been a while since I’ve driven a late model stock car – like, I don’t even know, probably 10 years. It’s been a minute. The last time I did it, Denny used to do his showdown race back in the day. He did it once at Richmond that I ran, and then he did it a couple times at South Boston, if I’m not mistaken, and I ran two or three of those and that was it. I had a lot of fun with it. It was cool, it just wasn’t the path that I came up on. The pro cars, the straight rail late model cars, that’s more of kind of my background and what I grew up racing the most of. So, it’s been kind of fun jumping back and forth; seeing the difference in those two cars directly during the same day. I had a lot of fun with that yesterday. It’s been a challenge. It’s been tough. Those guys are really good. You know, they do it all the time. They’re really, really, really good drivers and teams that are super competitive, and all that’s been a lot of fun. So, yeah, just kind of figuring out as I go. I haven’t driven a truck in a minute either. I’m not sure why I got hired for all this, but I’m here and I’m going to give it my best go.” I know for Cup car and the Truck, with Chevy, you have plenty of sim time and things you can do to prepare. This late model stock deal, Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) talked about how it came about when Kyle (Busch) was supposed to be in the car, and you mentioned this Fr8 Racing deal was almost completely last second. How have you been preparing for the late model side of things?“Really, just yesterday. It’s a little easier, I think from my standpoint, coming into it knowing that – hey, we have two or three practice sessions that I can get acclimated with the cars, actually get some laps on track and get myself up to speed. I know with the Truck stuff, we have more of a full practice today, but normally it would be like 20 minutes or something on the Cup side. So I think that probably drives some of those things a little more than anything else… the amount of time on-track. So for me, it was fine. I knew I was going to have some laps to kind of get myself readjusted. I leaned on that more than anything.” Did you feel comfortable going from the pro straight rail to a late model stock chassis throughout practice yesterday? Do you feel comfortable through tonight, Saturday and the rest of the weekend with jumping constantly to completely different cars? “I do, yeah. I mean, it’s been a challenge, like I said, for sure. But I’ve had fun with it. Again, I think for me, my mindset is all about Cup car. In the back of my mind, I’m like, okay, how can I be better on Sunday? Just the extra laps and all that I think will hopefully help. But yeah, the rest of it has just been kind of learning as I go. I felt like by the end of the day yesterday, I felt a lot better about jumping back and forth and kind of what I needed to do differently between the two cars to at least do the best I could. Certainly wasn’t where I wanted to be, but it was an improvement throughout the day, so hopefully tonight is another step of that.” There’s a new front bumper package in place on the Cup side this weekend that’s designed to have a little bit more give to it on contact. Do you have any anticipation of how you’ll manage that and how it’ll react, or is it just going to be kind of wait and see once you get out there?“Yeah, I think probably a wait and see situation. I mean, they’re pretty stout. You know, I had to remind myself a couple weeks ago at Chicago running the Saturday race just how fragile those cars are and how easy it used to be to destroy a front bumper, like on a restart stack, or even just hitting somebody too hard, trying to give them a shove. I remember going into that race thinking, you know, I need to not just run over somebody like we can on Sunday. It’s crazy how hard you can hit someone on a restart or bump drafting at the speedway’s. Atlanta was a great example of that. I mean, you’re running over the person in front of you and you would think it would destroy your car, but it doesn’t. The harder you hit them on a drafting track like that, the further you push them out. So, I’m not sure. I think the margin was so far down the road of just durability and really strong. I’m not sure how far you have to detune that to make a difference, but we’ll see.” There are several adjustments for Daytona next month to try to improve the racing. Do you wish you had a little bit of a practice maybe before the race, instead of just going out and qualifying and racing?“Not being super familiar with all the details, I think it’s a little hard for me to say. But it just seems like every time we have practice at the speedways, everybody will run for a few minutes and then you wind up sitting there for 45 minutes or something. So I can see both sides of that. To your point, you know, maybe with a change, it might be a good idea. But also at the same time, I could also see people not participating, which obviously leads us down the road of being on TV and not having cars on track. That ends up being a bad result, which has led us to where we are today, which I totally understand that too. So see both sides of the coin. For me personally, I’m good either way. Do you have any expectation of how Sunday’s race is going to unfold in terms of tire wear, just the cautions, anything like that?“I mean, I would have to imagine pretty similar to the All-Star Race last year. You know, the top became super dominant and it became really hard to pass. You saw that with kind of how (Christopher) Bell won the race and he had to get pretty aggressive there to do it. But look, I think that the racetrack is going to promote that type of physicality, just by the way it’s shaped. When you get these racetracks that the top lane and momentum becomes king throughout a run, I think you’re going to have some of that. As far as the tire wear goes, you know, the marbles on the racetrack last year, I remember that kind of being a big thing and how dirty the grooves got that you weren’t running in. That became a challenge because as we started pushing the groove up, you were doing it at pretty high risk because if you got just a little too high, you were going to get sucked up into the dirt. So, yeah, I’m not sure what the cutoff is of when tires are going to become more important. I don’t think you’re going to pit from the top-five; put on four tires, start last and drive back up to the lead. I could be totally wrong, but I think at some point in time you will have a period of tire wear and heat that will equalize some older tires to some fresher ones. So, as always, that’s a balance every week. That’s just something you have to kind of figure out as we go and see what the race feels like. But it’s hot and that’ll play a factor, as well.” Historically, races at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and even in the All-Star Race, there’s been long green flag runs, so I’m curious if you guys had any conversations about maybe going to have to make some green flag pit stops and what that’s going to be like here because that’s not something you guys have done here…“Yeah, I think we will, for sure, at some point in time. I mean, it’s 450 laps, right? That’s a lot of laps, so I would have to imagine at some point in time, you’re going to have to have a green flag stop in there. Might not, but I could see it. I mean, we have them at Martinsville, and that’s a 500 lap race. It’s doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen from time to time. And on a racetrack like this too where, again, you kind of get that outside lane motoring, you get some momentum rolling and we get strung out a little bit; I could see some green flag stops coming into play. I kind of hope it does. I feel like it ends up being a pretty good race when you have that and you’re taking the risk. It seems like the risk is always higher at short tracks to come and stop and be one of the first guys to put on tires because you’re exposed for so long, right? And I think that’s why you see people avoid that for a longer period of time because you’re going to go two laps, maybe more, down if you’re doing a four tire green flag stop. And if a caution flies during that period of time, you’re up the creek pretty bad, right? A wave around doesn’t fix that, where at a lot of mile-and-a-halves, a wave around would fix your problem because you’re only one lap down versus being more than one. That’s why I think the risk reward becomes a little bit more of a question, but I think it also makes it entertaining. You’ll have guys that are aggressive on that and rightfully so.” Are you pleased that the Indy race is back on the oval as opposed to the road course? And secondly, what would it mean to you to be the first father son, if you won the Brickyard, to have that accolade?“First off, I’m glad it’s back on the big track. I certainly understood the reason for the change, and I respect the effort to try and do something different. It just kind of felt, from my seat at least, that the Brickyard is a really big deal and it always has been in our sport ever since I was a kid. I just felt like that race belongs on the big track. I just think it feels better. Whether the race is good or not, suck it up and we’ll just run it on the big track. And if it’s a good show, it’s a good show. And if it’s not, it’s not. And at the end of the day, I think that race winner should come from the big track itself. I totally support that decision, regardless of what the race looks like. That was one of the very few races that I was old enough to even have a few memories from or even just be in the pictures of dad’s wins, which was really, really neat. Even then, I knew how big of a deal that was. It was evident in the way he acted and in the way that race was portrayed. Even as a child, you could telling the meaning behind it. So I think for that reason, it always has carried a little more weight than some of the others. I would love to check that box for a lot of reasons, with that one being the number one. But I have never won a big crown jewel race. I’ve been close on a handful of occasions, but never gotten across that bridge, so it would be as good of a place, if not the best, to make that happen.”

You were on Bussin with the Boys, and while you were there, you stumped for more Saturday night races as opposed to Sunday night races, which we’ve kind of come to have here. You mentioned in particular how it puts fans in a pretty tough spot. Could you just expand on that? Have you heard things from fans like that directly, or I guess, what are your overall thoughts on Saturday night versus Sunday night?“Yeah, honestly, those comments came directly from people that I know personally that either went to the race and weren’t super thrilled about their Monday morning and probably won’t do it again, or people that chose not to go because they had to go to work on Monday morning. So it stemmed directly from fans of our sport; people that aren’t just watching on TV, people that are spending their money to come support us at the track in-person and in the stands. That was why I said that, just because I have heard it directly. And while I totally get that TV runs the show in a lot of ways, there are still a lot of people that like coming to the races and also probably would like a day at home to recover and kind of get their affairs in order to go back to work on Monday. So I think there’s room for middle ground in that. I think Saturday night races have always been a really big deal. Growing up, for me, I always thought they were the most fun, like as a kid, as a fan, coming to the races. I mean, heck, even if I wasn’t there, I was watching it on TV and I was at home. I was fired up to have a Saturday night race. I thought it was great. The only downside was I didn’t have anything to watch on Sunday, but that was part of it, right? Like you were bummed about that when Sunday afternoon rolled around and the race wasn’t on, but the lead in, the excitement and energy for a Saturday night show, I thought, was pretty darn elite. You know, right now, you’re up against regional baseball and I think it would be a great time for us to take advantage of Saturday night races, especially in the summer. It’s hot, so we need to be under the lights. There’s no need to be racing during the day? Do you think that hurts Atlanta, in particular, given the things that you mentioned, like the Braves, and the fact that we’re in a market where people have to go to work the next morning, or is it more general? “I think it’s just in general. I mean, I think people travel from a lot of different areas for our races, and the further they travel, the harder that is to do. No one has told me what the exact reason is for that, so I’m reaching a little bit there. I’m assuming it’s for TV. But yeah, I just think it makes a lot of sense. I think there’s room for it in our sport. We don’t have a lot of Saturday night races, in general, so if you had a couple extra, I’m not sure what that’s hurting really at the end of the day. And again, you’ve had the World Cup on TV, which it’s winding down right now. There are some other sports here and there, but you know, baseball is probably the biggest thing that’s kind of going on right now and the push to their playoffs. But it can be difficult to watch. Like even as a Braves fan, it may be on TV at certain points in time. Maybe if they’re on the west coast, they have some kind of weird TV stuff, so if you’re not living in that particular region, you’re probably not even eligible to watch. So I think we have a unique opportunity with the networks that we’re on to take advantage of the ability to watch this across the country on the good broadcast partners that we have. I think a Saturday night race is super healthy for people at home watching. And also, the people that are here, it’s an opportunity for them to get home on Sunday and reset and go back to work on Monday.” You haven’t ran a truck since 2023, but you’ve always done pretty well in that series. When the opportunity from Spire Motorsports came, were you excited? Hesitant? What was the initial reaction?“Yeah, excited. I mean, it’s one of those opportunities where I wish I wasn’t considering the circumstances. But when Jeff (Dickerson) reached out to me, I don’t know, a few weeks ago about it, he just said, hey, would you have any interest in doing this? Kyle (Busch) was intended to run this race. And I said, yeah, I’d be honored to run it and I would love to do it. If I can help, let me know. And he said, okay, we’ll do it… done. So that was really about it. It was a short exchange. I don’t get asked a lot to do that stuff, so I appreciated him thinking of me and being willing to let me come drive their stuff.”

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Chevy Racing–NASCAR–North Wilkesboro–Carson Hocevar

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

NASCAR CUP SERIES NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 17, 2026

Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Camaro ZL1 and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Silverado RST, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

NASCAR CUP SERIESNORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTESJULY 17, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:
What was your trip to New York like? It looked like you did a lot and met a lot of cool people…“It was fun. There were a lot of cool people – like LeBron (James) walked by and I was like, should I get a photo? And then I was like, no… I walked over and he was at his table. I sat at a table far away from him and some guy came up to ask for a seat. He happened to know who I was and I knew him. He was like, hey, I’m taking this seat over to LeBron, why don’t you walk over? And so, I walked over and you could tell his security guards just started to swarm in, and then all of a sudden, the guy put his hand up and that’s when LeBron stood up, took his glasses off and then we talked for a while. And then I was like, man, I have to get a photo. It was cool. And then, I met Prince Harry. I think I was like, man, I wouldn’t make my mom proud if I didn’t ask for a photo. That’s who she loves.”
In these instances, are you introducing yourself and saying who you are? Did LeBron have an idea after hearing your name?“Yeah, he mentioned that his train’s kid races and he’s starting to get into big cars and stuff. He knew who I was, so I thought that was super cool.”
You’ve been North Wilkesboro Speedway a couple times now. Last week, you kind of talked about the nostalgia. What do you like about the racing here?“I like that the track seems like it moves around a lot. You can run like right against the fence or you can run the bottom and move around. This place tends to rubber up too, so I just enjoy that there’s so many different ways to go about it. If your car is not very good, there’s probably about four or five different options you can try to go find to make your stuff at least a little bit better because there’s just so many ways to attack the track. It goes downhill and uphill. Part of it is more banked than the other. It just does a lot of weird things that allows us to do different things.”
  I saw a video of you on racing simulators, as well. Just beyond who you got to meet, what was the whole Fanatics Fest experience like?“Yeah, it was just fun to just walk around. I did a bunch of podcasts and ran around New York. Just got to enjoy it. Unfortunately, with all the smoke, it wasn’t super pretty or anything, but it was just fun. I’m not a big city guy, but when you fly private, roll in and have a chauffeur, it’s really not that bad at all. I enjoyed it.”
I know you went to the Met Gala before you were at this event. You’re kind of being the main person going all these, I guess you could say, high-key events, representing yourself and NASCAR. What’s it like going from being this kid running on short track ovals to becoming one of the faces of the sport or true superstar?“Yeah, it’s great for me. You know, like I say all the time, my favorite driver was Dale Jr. I saw him everywhere, right? You saw him on MTV, the music awards and doing all these really cool things, so I just always thought that’s really what NASCAR drivers do. In the 2000s, it was probably a lot more realistic that they all do it.  It’s really cool for me that. There’s a lot of times where I’m like, I don’t understand why I’m invited to these, but I’m definitely taking advantage of it, enjoying it, embracing it and just trying to have as much fun with it as possible, knowing that obviously it’s a really cool and once-in-a-life experience for me at a lot of these events. But also, too, it’s obviously great for the sport.”
With you running double-duty this weekend, are you taking any extra precautions with the heat this weekend?“I’ll probably just drink a little bit more water. I’m probably more reactive than proactive at a lot of this stuff. But luckily, I’m reminded a lot that I’m 23 and I can get away with it now. I was like, yeah, but it’s right now. I think I’ll be just fine. I’m excited to run both races this weekend.”
You were in the TIME100. What is it like kind of emerging as a face of the sport and how are you kind of dealing with that?“It’s been super cool for me. I think Denny (Hamlin) and Michael (Jordan) were in it, as well. But, you know, being the solo (NASCAR driver) in it, I guess, is super fun for me. Obviously, I want to win more, but I think it’s been proven a lot within the sport that you can win multiple races in a row and that doesn’t make you outside the NASCAR bubble, right? If our viewership was based off the racing production, we’d have 10 million live viewers for Atlanta every single time, I think. Ultimately, it’s just getting people to care who’s in the cars. You can have the greatest finish of all time, but if you don’t care who’s involved in the finish, you might as well go watch iRacing, AI Racing, an animation, any kind of motorsport. It’s been super humbling for me to have a lot of people ultimately care about who’s in my car.”
You did the t-shirt exchange thing. Were you surprised by how many people turned in shirts? What was your reaction to how that went?“Yeah, I was surprised a little bit. I was more so surprised of the numbers for each driver. I was shocked how many it was just for almost everybody. But ultimately, I was just hoping it was going to be a cool experience. I had some buddies that were out there that kind of handled it for me. And I was like, man, I think you guys would enjoy doing it. They were kind of like, I don’t know. And by the end of it, when they came back, they were like, that was so much fun. They had people chanting. When people would walk up with a different shirt, it was like a viewing party just to watch. They would start chants to trade it in, take it off, the whole thing. It seemed like everybody that was there just had a lot of fun with it.”

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Sheppard Seizes Control Late in Shelby County Sizzler

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

HARLAN, Iowa (July 16, 2026) – Brandon Sheppard capitalized on a fierce battle between Ryan Gustin and Devin Moran, slipping past both drivers with six laps remaining to capture Thursday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Malvern Bank Go 50 at Shelby County Speedway. Much like the previous two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events at Shelby County Speedway, the outcome wasn’t decided until the closing laps. Sheppard pocketed the $15,000 winner’s prize while earning his series-leading eighth victory of the season. Nick Hoffman, who ran fourth for much of the race, charged to second during the closing laps. Gustin, who paced the field for 42 of the race’s 50 laps, rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third.Moran, who briefly wrestled the lead away from Gustin on laps 40 and 43, finished fourth, while Brian Shirley completed the top five. The victory marked the 43rd Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph of Sheppard’s career and extended his championship points lead. It also marked the fourth consecutive LOLMDS event to feature at least three different race leaders during the feature. “I was getting a heck of a show watching those two (Gustin and Moran) out front,” Sheppard said. “They were racing each other hard there, and I just felt myself slipping in the top. At some point, I knew I was going to have to move down, and there was no better time than when those two were racing each other like that. I was running around trying to see if there was anything in the bottom because, in turns one and two especially, I was losing time up there. Then we got so deep into lapped traffic that it became harder to pass on the top. The bottom started to come in, and that’s when I found a clean spot in turns three and four.” Hoffman rebounded from a heartbreaking finish Tuesday night at Adams County Speedway, where he led the majority of the race before trailing smoke over the final 10 laps and finishing third in Corning, Iowa. “It was getting pretty western up there,” Hoffman said. “I looked at the board, and we had about 10 laps to go, and I thought we still weren’t out of this deal. Depending on what they were going to do, they were throwing some haymakers and elbows. It was getting pretty aggressive. Sheppy was able to snooker them there to get by them, and then I was there a couple of laps later. I just wasn’t good enough. Once I cleared them, I fell in line behind Sheppy. Our stuff was really good. I don’t know what we could have done differently. We were fast around the top early, and then finally we got to move around. Man, that was one of the funnest races I’ve run all year.” Gustin, who was looking for his second career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory, settled for third after battling Moran throughout the second half of the race. The pair ran one-two for much of the feature before Sheppard capitalized on their side-by-side fight during the closing laps. “It was just really full-contact late model racing,” Gustin said. “It’s not the way I try to race. I try to race clean, but man, he (Moran) didn’t really do anything wrong. You’ve got to log that stuff in the back of your head when you get run over time and time again, and when it’s time to give it back, you give it back.” The winning Mark Richards Racing, Rocket Chassis was powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ace Metal Works, Performance Grading, Petroff Towing, Franklin Enterprises, Sunoco Race Fuels, FOX Shocks, Gunter’s Honey, Stiles Marine and Maintenance, and Collins Brothers Towing. Completing the top 10 were Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Josh Rice, Max Blair, and Dennis Erb Jr. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Malvern Bank Go 50Thursday, July 16, 2026Shelby County Speedway | Harlan, IA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Devin Moran | 14.264 seconds (Overall)Fast Time Group B: Ryan Gustin | 14.408 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[3]; 4. 99 18-Jesse Sobbing[4]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 6. 22M-Charlie McKenna[8]; 7. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 8. 4-JC Wyman[6]; 9. 10-Junior Coover[9] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 17SS-Brenden Smith[2]; 3. 53-Andrew Kosiski[3]; 4. 18J-Chase Junghans[4]; 5. 17SR-Brody Smith[5]; 6. 35D-Dylan Sillman[8]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[6]; 8. 4TW-Tim Ward[7]; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 111-Max Blair[3]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 3. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 5. 10T-Jeff Tharp[7]; 6. 32X-Chris Simpson[4]; 7. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[6]; 8. 80-Allan Hopp[8]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 15D-Justin Duty[3]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[6]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson[5]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 7. 93-Carson Ferguson[7]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart[9]; 9. 51W-JT Wasmund[8]
MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 9H-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 4. 13-Dallon Murty[5]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 6. Z76-Zach Zeitner[7]; 7. 9-Tim McCreadie[6]; 8. 21H-Brett Hopp[8]; 9. 3-Mike Collins[9] Lucas Oil Products Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil[3]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[7]; 5. 11-Josh Rice[4]; 6. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[6]; 7. 15C-Curt Schroeder[8]; 8. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5] Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 17SR-Brody Smith[5]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 5. 32X-Chris Simpson[9]; 6. 93L-Cory Lawler[11]; 7. 10T-Jeff Tharp[6]; 8. 6-Clay Harris[10]; 9. 4-JC Wyman[13]; 10. 99 18-Jesse Sobbing[1]; 11. 35D-Dylan Sillman[8]; 12. 4TW-Tim Ward[14]; 13. 22M-Charlie McKenna[7]; 14. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[12]; 15. 80-Allan Hopp[15]; 16. 45D-Dan Battaglia[17]; 17. 10-Junior Coover[16]
UNOH B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 2. 15-Clay Stuckey[1]; 3. 11-Josh Rice[6]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 5. 13-Dallon Murty[2]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 7. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[9]; 8. 9-Tim McCreadie[11]; 9. 93-Carson Ferguson[10]; 10. Z76-Zach Zeitner[8]; 11. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[15]; 12. 43-Derrick Stewart[13]; 13. 51W-JT Wasmund[16]; 14. 21H-Brett Hopp[14]; 15. 15C-Curt Schroeder[12]; 16. 3-Mike Collins[17]; 17. 25-Chad Simpson[4] Malvern Bank Go 50 | Feature Finish (50 Laps):Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings1 – 6 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $15,0002 – 4 – 9H – Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – $8,0003 – 2 – 19R – Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – $5,0004 – 1 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $3,5005 – 3 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $3,0006 – 23 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $2,7007 – 14 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,5008 – 24 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $2,4009 – 5 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,10010 – 10 – 28 – Dennis Erb Jr – Carpentersville, IL – $2,00011 – 7 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $1,90012 – 9 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $1,80013 – 25 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $60014 – 11 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $1,60015 – 20 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $1,50016 – 22 – 15 – Clay Stuckey – Shreveport, LA – $1,45017 – 19 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,40018 – 18 – 4 – Tad Pospisil – Norfolk, NE – $1,35019 – 13 – 44M – Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC – $1,30020 – 17 – 76N – Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD – $1,25021 – 26 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $10022 – 28 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $10023 – 12 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,20024 – 27 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $10025 – 8 – 15D – Justin Duty – Molalla, OR – $1,20026 – 15 – 53 – Andrew Kosiski – Lavista, NE – $1,20027 – 16 – 16 – Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – $1,30028 – 21 – 18J – Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS – $1,200 Race Statistics Entrants: 52Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Devin MoranMD3 Lap Leaders: Ryan Gustin (Laps 1-44); Brandon Sheppard (Laps 45-50)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ryan GustinWieland Feature Winner: Brandon SheppardMargin of Victory: 0.606 secondsHellraizer Jacks Cautions: Tyler Bruening (Lap 12)MyRacePass Series Provisional: Ricky Thornton, Jr.; Josh RiceFast Time Provisional: n/aEmergency Provisionals: Kyle Bronson; Clay Harris; Carson Ferguson; Dan EbertTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Brandon Sheppard, Nick Hoffman, Ryan GustinPenske Shocks Top 5: Brandon Sheppard, Nick Hoffman, Ryan Gustin, Devin Moran, Brian ShirleyBehrent’s One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Brandon Sheppard, Nick Hoffman, Ryan GustinPEM 4th Place Feature: Devin MoranDiversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Brian ShirleyWilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Hudson O’NealWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Mike MarlarVelocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: Kyle BronsonXS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Garrett AlbersonHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Advanced 17 positions)MD3 Most Laps Led: Ryan Gustin (44 Laps)Sunoco Race Fuels Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon SheppardMidwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon SheppardO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Josh RicePro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Ryan Gustin | Lap 4 | 14.517 secondsFK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Tyler BrueningVictory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Brandon SheppardOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Danny WhiteARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: | secondsTime of Race: 26 minutes 39 seconds Big River Steel Championship Standings Presented by ARP:Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Earnings1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 5405 – $228,9002 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 5280 – $205,5503 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 5180 – $268,9244 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 4955 – $113,7005 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 4865 – $122,4756 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 4725 – $133,6257 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 4685 – $104,7258 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – 4560 – $91,2759 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – 4550 – $81,95010 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – 4360 – $68,57511 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 4265 – $80,95012 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 4220 – $68,90013 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – 4090 – $91,40014 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 4055 – $66,55015 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 3720 – $51,37516 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – 3445 – $38,92517 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 3185 – $25,475

Sheppard Seizes Control Late in Shelby County Sizzler

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CHA-CHING: Kyle Larson Charges by Rico Abreu & Corey Day for $100,000 Joker’s Jackpot Title at Eldora Speedway

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

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HAVING FUN: Haudenschild Ready for Prime Shot at Coveted Kings Royal Crown

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

The Wooster, OH driver is enjoying every night at the track heading into the event he craves the most

ROSSBURG, OH (July 16, 2026) – Sheldon Haudenschild couldn’t have picked a better time to ride one of the best stretches of his career.

The Sprint Car world has converged on Rossburg, OH’s Eldora Speedway for the 43rd running of the Kings Royal, and Haudenschild is operating at a level above the rest. He’s taken the KCP Racing No. 18 to four victories in the last eight World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series races and 10 podiums over the last 13 Features. Outside of a night he got upside down, his average finish over that stretch is an impeccable 2.17.

So, what’s been going right that’s allowed Haudenschild to go on such a tear during his first season with the Matt Barbara and Bret Nehring-owned operation? It starts with simply enjoying the experience.

“I’m honestly just having fun and pretty stress free,” Haudenschild said. “I don’t really pay attention to the stretch of anything. I just kind of take it night by night, just stay focused each night and try to be fast right off the get go. Even if we get behind a little bit, I just try to make the most of it and keep going forward.”

But it’s a lot more than fun that makes a Sprint Car go fast. It’s a puzzle that must be put together. Haudenschild’s longtime crew chief Kyle Ripper made the move to KCP with him. Adam Clark has been a part of the organization for multiple years and continues to be an important piece. They added Dauson Heitritter for 2026. This group has taken little time to gel and are riding momentum into the Kings Royal.

Like most “Buckeyes” born in the Sprint Car world, Haudenschild’s ties to Eldora trace back to his earliest days. He grew up watching his father carve a legacy on the high banks of “The Big E.” Jac racked up nine of his 72 World of Outlaws victories at the Rossburg, OH track. The “Wild Child” is also a three-time Kings Royal champion. Fast forward to present day, and the fanbase Jac built thanks to his daring driving style now cheer for Sheldon as he cements his own place in the sport’s history.

“Eldora, I just grew up going there watching my dad,” Haudenschild said. “The fans have always been such a big part of it for my dad, and just to see them support me is awesome.”

The connection between Haudenschild and the iconic 1/2 mile has only grown as the years pass by. He’s picked up a pair of victories there, but the Kings Royal has eluded him thus far. He’s been in the top five four times, highlighted by an eighth to second drive in the 37th running. The hunger for the crown grows with each passing July. It’s the race he wants more than any other.

“For me, it is my Knoxville Nationals in a sense,” Haudenschild said of the Kings Royal. “It’s the race I want to win the most. They’re doing a great job there. They’ve got the pay up. It’s a big week of racing. It’s not like the Knoxville Nationals where it’s a prelim night and a night off. It’s full tilt for four nights straight. It’s just a lot of work too. It’s hot, and things can go downhill really quickly there. I’ve been on both sides of it at Eldora. It’ll teach you really quick. You’ve got to respect that place.”

The stage is set. Eldora awaits. Thousands of passionate fans that would erupt if Haudenschild were to win await. He may be looking at his best shot yet at being crowned King this weekend at “The House that Earl Built.” Haudenschild is ready to go out and do what he’s been doing – have fun.

“I think I’m just in a spot right now where I am having a lot of fun, and I think it shows on the racetrack,” Haudenschild said. “I’ve always known I’m capable. It’s just putting the pieces together and having the right people around you and all the right parts and pieces. It takes a village to run at the top level every single night. I think that’s what showing here at the 18 team. We’ve got a great group of people, a great group of sponsors. It’s just really enjoyable for me to show up at the races.”

Haudenschild and the KCP Racing crew take on Eldora Speedway’s 43rd Kings Royal this weekend (July 17-18) with a shot to win $200,000. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

HAVING FUN: Haudenschild Ready for Prime Shot at Coveted Kings Royal Crown

The Wooster, OH driver is enjoying every night at the track heading into the event he craves the most

ROSSBURG, OH (July 16, 2026) – Sheldon Haudenschild couldn’t have picked a better time to ride one of the best stretches of his career.

“Eldora, I just grew up going there watching my dad,” Haudenschild said. “The fans have always been such a big part of it for my dad, and just to see them support me is awesome.”

Haudenschild and the KCP Racing crew take on Eldora Speedway’s 43rd Kings Royal this weekend (July 17-18) with a shot to win $200,000. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/having-fun-haudenschild-ready-for-prime-shot-at-coveted-kings-royal-crown/

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Silver Dollar Nationals Set to Take Center Stage This Weekend at Shelby County Speedway

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

BATAVIA, OH (July 16, 2026) – The countdown is over as the 16th Annual Al Belt Custom Homes Silver Dollar Nationals takes center stage at Shelby County Speedway this weekend, bringing three nights of premier dirt late model racing to western Iowa and some of the sport’s biggest stars to the 3/8-mile oval. Thursday’s Malvern Bank Go 50 features a complete Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series program, highlighted by a $15,000-to-win feature event. On Friday, one of the event’s most popular traditions returns as the Silver Dollar Nationals goes back to its original, fan-favorite format featuring passing point heat races. Every position gained and every spot lost during the heat races will carry significant weight as drivers accumulate passing points to determine Saturday night’s lineups. Championship Saturday concludes with the prestigious 80-lap Al Belt Custom Homes Silver Dollar Nationals A-Main, where the sport’s elite will battle for the coveted Silver Dollar Nationals title. Saturday’s championship finale features one of the most unique payouts in all of motorsports. The winner of the 80-lap Al Belt Custom Homes Silver Dollar Nationals will earn $52,000, while the runner-up will receive an incredible $53,000. The unprecedented payout structure gives drivers an added incentive to race for every position until the checkered flag, making the battle for second just as lucrative as the fight for the victory. Adding even more drama to championship night is the All Makes Collision Center Non-Qualifier Race. Drivers who fail to qualify for the Silver Dollar Nationals A-Main will compete for a $3,000 winner’s prize. However, the winner will have the option to forfeit the $3,000 payday and start at the rear of the Silver Dollar Nationals feature. Fans can expect a stellar field of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competitors, including championship contenders and many of the biggest names in the sport, all looking to add their name to the prestigious list of Silver Dollar Nationals champions. In addition to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, support divisions will provide a full weekend of racing entertainment, making the Al Belt Custom Homes Silver Dollar Nationals one of the Midwest’s premier motorsports destinations. Pit gates open daily at noon, spectator gates open at 3 p.m., and hot laps are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. each evening. Located in Harlan, Iowa, approximately 60 miles northeast of Omaha, Nebraska, Shelby County Speedway has quickly established itself as one of the Midwest’s premier dirt racing facilities. The high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval has hosted some of the nation’s biggest touring series and major special events, earning a reputation for producing multi-groove racing and thrilling side-by-side action. For tickets, camping information, event schedules and additional details, visit RaceSCS.com. The championship battle entering the Al Belt Custom Homes Silver Dollar Nationals is shaping up to be one of the closest of the season. Brandon Sheppard leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings following Tuesday night’s event at Adams County Speedway, holding a 70-point advantage over Hudson O’Neal. Devin Moran sits third, followed by Brandon Overton and Max Blair to round out the top five. For the latest news, results, and championship standings from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, please visit LucasDirt.com. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Purses:Malvern Bank Go 50 (Thursday): 1. $15,000, 2. $8,000, 3. $5,000, 4. $3,500, 5. $3,000, 6. $2,700, 7. $2,500, 8. $2,300, 9. $2,100, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,900, 12. $1,800, 13. $1,700, 14. $1,600, 15. $1,500, 16. $1,450, 17. $1,400, 18. $1,350, 19. $1,300, 20. $1,250, 21. $1,200, 22. $1,200, 23. $1,200, 24. $1,200 = $66,150
Friday Heat Races: 1. $2,000, 2. $1,000, 3. $500, 4. $400, 5. $300, 6. $100, 7. $100, 8. $100, 9. $100, 10. $100 = $4,700 (x number of heats)
All Makes Collision Center Non-Qualifier: 1. $3,000, 2. $2,000, 3. $1,500, 4. $1,400, 5. $1,300, 6. $1,200, 7. $1,150, 8. $1,100, 9. $1,090, 10. $1,080, 11. $1,070, 12. $1,060, 13. $1,050, 14. $1,000, 15. $900, 16. $800, 17. $700, 18. $600, 19. $550, 20. $500 = $23,050 16th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals: 1. $52,000, 2. $53,000, 3. $15,000, 4. $10,000, 5. $9,000, 6. $8,000, 7. $7,000, 8. $6,000, 9. $5,000, 10. $4,800, 11. $4,700, 12. $4,600, 13. $4,500, 14. $4,400, 15. $4,300, 16. $4,200, 17. $4,100, 18. $4,000, 19. $3,900, 20. $3,800, 21. $3,700, 22. $3,600, 23. $3,500, 24. $3,500 = $226,600

Silver Dollar Nationals Set to Take Center Stage This Weekend at Shelby County Speedway

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Chevy Racing–InDYCAR–Nashville Advance

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-oval Lebanon, Tennessee Race AdvanceJuly 18-19, 2026
DETROIT, Michigan (July 16, 2026) – Stop 12 of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the dozen Team Chevy drivers and teams is the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, just east of Nashville. The third of five short oval races, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix has added 75 laps of additional action on the 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-oval, making it the second longest of the year at 390 miles.
Team Chevy has won the last four short oval (ovals under 1.3 miles in length) races, going back to Christian Rasmussen’s (ECR) maiden win at the Milwaukee Mile last year, and including a trio of wins by Josef Newgarden Team Penske) at Nashville Superspeedway (2025), Phoenix Raceway (2026), and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (2026).
Team Chevy is currently on a three-race win streak, where drivers wearing Bowties have stood on nine of the 12 possible podiums. Four of the top-six drivers in the season-long points standings represent the Chevrolet Bowtie, with Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren), David Malukas (Team Penske) and Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) within 100 points of the championship lead. Malukas leads all drivers on ovals, scoring 116 points across the first three oval races of the season (Phoenix Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway), nine more than his teammate Newgarden. Chevrolet-powered cars have won twice at the Nashville Superspeedway, Newgarden (2026) and Alex Barron (2002) for Blair Racing, driving to victory lane. General Motors adds a third win with Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn Racing), winning with Oldsmobile power in 2001. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (2025) and Tomas Scheckter (2005) for Panther Racing have the two Team Chevy poles at the track in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greg Ray (Team Menard) was a pole sitter with an Oldsmobile in 2001, giving General Motors a trio of poles. Josef Newgarden leads all Team Chevy drivers with a pair of podiums, while Team Penske’s four podiums lead all teams. O’Ward’s 137 laps led over the past two years are the most for drivers with Chevrolet power, and his Arrow McLaren team leads the way with 169 laps led.

Chevrolet’s Short Oval Success
WinsIncluding George Follmer’s surprise victory at Phoenix Raceway in 1969, and Josef Newgarden’s win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in June, Chevrolet-powered cars have visited victory lane on short ovals 57 times.Twenty-five drivers have driven to victory for Team Chevy on short ovals, with one driver winning accounting for a quarter of those wins. Newgarden’s June victory was his 15th on short ovals since his first win at Iowa Speedway in 2016.Seventeen teams have won races with Chevrolet power on short ovals, with Team Penske collecting 56.1 % (32 of 57) of those wins.
PolesChevrolet-powered cars have also won 56 poles on short ovals, starting with Jim Hurtubise at Langhorne Speedway through David Malukas’ first career pole at Phoenix Raceway in March.Eighteen drivers have earned Team Chevy poles on short ovals, with Rick Mears and Will Power tied at 11 each to lead all drivers.A dozen different teams have earned poles for Team Chevy on short ovals, but one stands out as dominant. Team Penske drivers have won 73.4% (42 of 57) of the short oval poles for Team Chevy.
Even better recently
Since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012, Chevrolet-powered drivers havedominated on short ovals (Iowa Speedway, Milwaukee Mile, Nashville Superspeedway,Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway. In those 15 seasonsTeam Chevy has:Won 78.6% (33 of 42) of the racesStarted on 75.6% (31 of 42) of the polesStood on 73.2% (90 of 123) of the podiumsLed 76.3% (8206 of 10760) laps

Short oval podiums by driver since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012

RANKDRIVERPODIUMS1Josef Newgarden192Will Power143Pato O’Ward124Scott McLaughlin105Tony Kanaan66Simon Pagenaud47Ryan Hunter-Reay48Helio Castroneves39Christian Rasmussen310Scott Dixon211JR Hildebrand212James Hinchcliffe213David Malukas114Juan Montoya115Sebastien Bourdais116Marco Andretti117Spencer Pigot118Ed Carpenter119Sage Karem120Conor Daly121Oliver Askew1

Josef Newgarden celebrates short oval wins at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway (2021), Iowa Speedway (2023) and Phoenix Raceway (2026).Dominance
While Team Chevy as a whole has had fantastic short oval success recently, one driver in particular has stood out. Josef Newgarden, driving the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet this weekend, is aiming for a fourth straight NTT INDYCAR SERIES win on a short oval (ovals under 1.33 miles in length), going back to his win at this same Lebanon, Tennessee track to end the 2025 season, and includes trips to victory lane at Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway this season.
The local driver has made 42 starts on short ovals since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012, including 36 with Team Chevy starting in 2015. The 35-year-old’s average short oval starting spot is 4.8, and his average short oval finish is 6.6.
Over those 36 Chevrolet-powered races, Newgarden’s impressive record on short ovals includes: 15 wins, giving him a win percentage of 41.7%19 podiums, giving him a podium percentage of 52.8%30 top tens, giving him a top ten percentage of 83.3%3095 laps led, giving him a laps led percentage of 40.2%6 poles, giving him a pole percentage of 16.7%22 starts in the first two rows, giving him a top-four start percentage of 61.1%Tune-In Guide
Saturday, July 18NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice #1 – 10am (ET)/9am (CT)/8am (MT)/7am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying – 3pm (ET)/2pm (CT)/1pm (MT)/noon (PT) –FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice – 6pm (ET)/5pm (CT)/4pm (MT)/3pm (PT) – FS2/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Sunday, July 19
Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix (Pre-Race Show) – 4:30pm (ET)/3:30pm (CT)/2:30pm (PT)/1:30pm (PT) – FS1Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix (300 laps)– 5:30pm (ET)/4:30pm (CT)/3:30pm (MT)/2:30pm (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Josef Newgarden crosses the under the checkered flags at Nashville Superspeedway to win the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale

Media Resources: Images | Media Advances | Chevrolet Newsroom

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESBorchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-ovalLebanon, TennesseeRace AdvanceJuly 18-19, 2026
DETROIT, Michigan (July 16, 2026) – Stop 12 of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the dozen Team Chevy drivers and teams is the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, just east of Nashville. The third of five short oval races, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix has added 75 laps of additional action on the 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-oval, making it the second longest of the year at 390 miles.
Team Chevy has won the last four short oval (ovals under 1.3 miles in length) races, going back to Christian Rasmussen’s (ECR) maiden win at the Milwaukee Mile last year, and including a trio of wins by Josef Newgarden Team Penske) at Nashville Superspeedway (2025), Phoenix Raceway (2026), and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (2026).
Team Chevy is currently on a three-race win streak, where drivers wearing Bowties have stood on nine of the 12 possible podiums. Four of the top-six drivers in the season-long points standings represent the Chevrolet Bowtie, with Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren), David Malukas (Team Penske) and Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) within 100 points of the championship lead. Malukas leads all drivers on ovals, scoring 116 points across the first three oval races of the season (Phoenix Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway), nine more than his teammate Newgarden. Chevrolet-powered cars have won twice at the Nashville Superspeedway, Newgarden (2026) and Alex Barron (2002) for Blair Racing, driving to victory lane. General Motors adds a third win with Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn Racing), winning with Oldsmobile power in 2001. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (2025) and Tomas Scheckter (2005) for Panther Racing have the two Team Chevy poles at the track in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greg Ray (Team Menard) was a pole sitter with an Oldsmobile in 2001, giving General Motors a trio of poles. Josef Newgarden leads all Team Chevy drivers with a pair of podiums, while Team Penske’s four podiums lead all teams. O’Ward’s 137 laps led over the past two years are the most for drivers with Chevrolet power, and his Arrow McLaren team leads the way with 169 laps led.

Short oval podiums by driver since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012

Chevrolet and General Motors history at Nashville Superspeedway Chevrolet wins at Nashville Superspeedway: 2
2025 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske2002 – Alex Baron – Blair Racing
Oldsmobile wins at Nashville Superspeedway: 1
2001 – Buddy Lazier – Hemelgarn Racing
Chevrolet poles at Nashville Superspeedway: 2
2025 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren2005 – Tomas Scheckter – Panther Racing
Oldsmobile poles at Nashville Superspeedway: 1
2001 – Greg Ray – Team Menard
Chevrolet podiums at Nashville Superspeedway: 7
Chevrolet podiums at Nashville Superspeedway by driver:  Josef Newgarden (2), Alex Barron (1), Gil de Ferran (1), Sam Hornish (1), Scott McLaughlin (1), Pato O’Ward (1)
Chevrolet podiums at the Nashville Superspeedway by team: Team Penske (4), Arrow McLaren (1), Blair Racing (1), Panther Racing (1)
Oldsmobile podiums at Nashville Superspeedway: 3
Oldsmobile podiums at Nashville Superspeedway by driver: Billy Boat (1), Buddy Lazier (1), Jaques Lazier (1)
Oldsmobile podiums at Nashville Superspeedway by team: Curb-Agajanian-Beck Motorsports, Hemelgarn Racing (1), Sam Schmidt Motorsports (1)
Chevrolet laps led at Nashville Superspeedway: 481
Chevrolet laps led at Nashville Superspeedway by driver: Pato O’Ward (137), Josef Newgarden (114), Sam Hornish (99), Alexander Rossi (48), Tony Renna (35), Scott Sharp (16), Alex Barron (11), Scott McLaughlin (7), Will Power (7), Conor Daly (2), David Malukas (1)
Chevrolet laps led at Nashville Superspeedway by team:  Panther Racing (103), Team Penske (54), Arrow McLaren (53), Kelley Racing (51), Blair Racing (11)
Oldsmobile laps led at Nashville Superspeedway: 200
Oldsmobile laps led at Nashville Superspeedway by driver: Sam Hornish, Jr. (86), Buddy Lazier (71), Billy Boat (26), Eliseo Salazar (8), Greg Ray (6), Robbie McGehee (2), Jaques Lazier (1)
Oldsmobile laps led Nashville Superspeedway by team: Panther Racing (86), Hemelgarn Racing (71), Curb-Agajanian-Beck Mortorsports (26), A.J. Foyt Racing (8), Team Menard (6) Cahill Racing (2), Sam Schmidt Motorsports (1)

Manufacturer History at Nashville Superspeedway Wins (with competition):
3 – Honda (2024, 2005, 2004)3 – General Motors (Chevrolet/Oldsmobile)2 – Chevrolet (2025, 2002)1 – Oldsmobile (2001)1 – Toyota (2003)
Poles (with competition):
3 – General Motors (Chevrolet/Oldsmobile)2 – Honda (2024, 2004)2 – Chevrolet (2025, 2005)1 – Infiniti (2002)1 – Oldsmobile (1)1 – Toyota (2003)

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Josef Newgarden crosses the under the checkered flags at Nashville Superspeedway to win the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESBorchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-ovalLebanon, TennesseeRace AdvanceJuly 18-19, 2026
DETROIT, Michigan (July 16, 2026) – Stop 12 of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the dozen Team Chevy drivers and teams is the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, just east of Nashville. The third of five short oval races, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix has added 75 laps of additional action on the 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-oval, making it the second longest of the year at 390 miles.
Team Chevy has won the last four short oval (ovals under 1.3 miles in length) races, going back to Christian Rasmussen’s (ECR) maiden win at the Milwaukee Mile last year, and including a trio of wins by Josef Newgarden Team Penske) at Nashville Superspeedway (2025), Phoenix Raceway (2026), and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (2026).
Team Chevy is currently on a three-race win streak, where drivers wearing Bowties have stood on nine of the 12 possible podiums. Four of the top-six drivers in the season-long points standings represent the Chevrolet Bowtie, with Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren), David Malukas (Team Penske) and Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) within 100 points of the championship lead. Malukas leads all drivers on ovals, scoring 116 points across the first three oval races of the season (Phoenix Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway), nine more than his teammate Newgarden. Chevrolet-powered cars have won twice at the Nashville Superspeedway, Newgarden (2026) and Alex Barron (2002) for Blair Racing, driving to victory lane. General Motors adds a third win with Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn Racing), winning with Oldsmobile power in 2001. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (2025) and Tomas Scheckter (2005) for Panther Racing have the two Team Chevy poles at the track in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greg Ray (Team Menard) was a pole sitter with an Oldsmobile in 2001, giving General Motors a trio of poles. Josef Newgarden leads all Team Chevy drivers with a pair of podiums, while Team Penske’s four podiums lead all teams. O’Ward’s 137 laps led over the past two years are the most for drivers with Chevrolet power, and his Arrow McLaren team leads the way with 169 laps led.

Short oval podiums by driver since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012

Josef Newgarden crosses the under the checkered flags at Nashville Superspeedway to win the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale

Media Resources: Images | Media Advances | Chevrolet Newsroom

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESBorchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-ovalLebanon, TennesseeRace AdvanceJuly 18-19, 2026
DETROIT, Michigan (July 16, 2026) – Stop 12 of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the dozen Team Chevy drivers and teams is the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, just east of Nashville. The third of five short oval races, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix has added 75 laps of additional action on the 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway tri-oval, making it the second longest of the year at 390 miles.
Team Chevy has won the last four short oval (ovals under 1.3 miles in length) races, going back to Christian Rasmussen’s (ECR) maiden win at the Milwaukee Mile last year, and including a trio of wins by Josef Newgarden Team Penske) at Nashville Superspeedway (2025), Phoenix Raceway (2026), and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (2026).
Team Chevy is currently on a three-race win streak, where drivers wearing Bowties have stood on nine of the 12 possible podiums. Four of the top-six drivers in the season-long points standings represent the Chevrolet Bowtie, with Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren), David Malukas (Team Penske) and Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) within 100 points of the championship lead. Malukas leads all drivers on ovals, scoring 116 points across the first three oval races of the season (Phoenix Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway), nine more than his teammate Newgarden. Chevrolet-powered cars have won twice at the Nashville Superspeedway, Newgarden (2026) and Alex Barron (2002) for Blair Racing, driving to victory lane. General Motors adds a third win with Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn Racing), winning with Oldsmobile power in 2001. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (2025) and Tomas Scheckter (2005) for Panther Racing have the two Team Chevy poles at the track in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greg Ray (Team Menard) was a pole sitter with an Oldsmobile in 2001, giving General Motors a trio of poles. Josef Newgarden leads all Team Chevy drivers with a pair of podiums, while Team Penske’s four podiums lead all teams. O’Ward’s 137 laps led over the past two years are the most for drivers with Chevrolet power, and his Arrow McLaren team leads the way with 169 laps led.

Short oval podiums by driver since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012

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Dyson & Brabham Do the Watkins Glen Trans Am Double; Aim to continue CD Racing’s Domination at Historic New York State Circuit

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (July 16, 2026) – Hot off wins last month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road America, CD Racing’s Matthew Brabham’s goal this weekend at Watkins Glen in his #16 GYM SODA Ford Mustang is to expand his lead in the 2026 Trans Am by Pirelli season championship. CD Racing team owner and leader Chris Dyson, who has dominated the Trans Am races this decade at the historic New York circuit, is racing in select events this season. Dyson is entered in the team’s #20 RACER/GYM SODA Ford Mustang, the same chassis with which he has taken two of the three of his victories in the six most recent Trans Am races at the Glen.

For Dyson it’s a return to a circuit he’s known all his life, and the site of many of his own racing successes.

“I love the Glen and any time I have the opportunity to race at that track I’ll be there,” Dyson said. Watkins Glen will mark the three-time Trans Am champion’s third and fourth races of the season. On-track misfortunes earlier this year dropped him to fourth-place finishes at Lime Rock and Indy. “I’ve got the rust off now, and I’m feeling good about the weekend.”

Dyson noted that double-header weekends represent a challenge for drivers and for teams. “Modern Trans Am cars are designed for 100-mile sprints, followed by several days of maintenance in the shop. That critical work has to get done overnight between the Saturday and Sunday races. So it’s important for the driver to take particularly good care of the car, not using up more of it than necessary to win. And while it’s always important not to wreck the car, it’s super-important not to have a big crash on Saturday and then not to make the start on Sunday!”

Dyson & Brabham Family Histories at Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen figures prominently in both the Dyson and Brabham families’ motorsport history.

Dyson Racing traces its origin back precisely to Watkins Glen in 1974, where Rob drove a Datsun 510 sedan in his first SCCA race, which was also his and the team’s first win. In 1987, at the height of IMSA’s GTP era, Price Cobb and Vern Schuppan drove a Dyson Racing Porsche 962 to victory in the prestigious Camel Continental. In addition to his recent domination of the Trans Am at the Glen, in 2002 Chris Dyson won the Glen’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series 6-Hour race, one of five race wins that season on his way to the series rookie-of-the-year award.

Finally, Rob Dyson gave a candid and fascinating 30-minute talk on Watkins Glen at a recent International Motorsports Research Center symposium: A driver’s reflections on Watkins Glen at 75

While this weekend will mark Matthew Brabham’s Trans Am debut at Watkins Glen, the third-generation racer in 2017 won the Glen round of the SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Series, an off-road event with jumps and crash landings – nothing like racing on the traditional road circuit. (Brabham was the series champion 2018-2020.)

Matthew’s dad, Geoff Brabham enjoyed success at Watkins Glen, winning twice there during his 1979 Formula Super Vee championship season. He also twice won the Six Hours of The Glen (1988 and 1989) driving for Nissan. And from 1961 until his retirement following the 1970 season, Matthew’s grandfather, three-time F1 World Champion Jack Brabham raced in the series’ U.S. round at Watkins Glen. No race victories, but in 1966, the year of his third title, Jack did win the pole in his own car, a Brabham-Repco.Click here for more on Chris Dyson Racing.

Watkins Glen Schedule

Qualifying takes place Friday, July 17, 2:40 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. ET

The first 100-mile race takes the green flag Saturday, July 18, at 10:30 a.m.

The second 100-mile race starts Sunday, July 19, at 2:05 p.m. ET

Broadcast Schedule

All Trans Am races are live-streamed on the Trans Am YouTube channel.

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Wood Brothers Racing–North Wilkesboro Advance

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

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All Makes Collision Center Named Title Sponsor of Saturday’s Silver Dollar Nationals Non-Qualifier

July 17, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

All Makes Collision Center Named Title Sponsor of Saturday’s Silver Dollar Nationals Non-Qualifier

BATAVIA, OH (July 15, 2026) – Officials with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing are proud to announce All Makes Collision Center as the title sponsor of Saturday night’s Non-Qualifier Race during the 16th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals at Shelby County Speedway. The All Makes Collision Center Non-Qualifier offers drivers who narrowly miss transferring into the Silver Dollar Nationals championship feature one final opportunity to compete for a $3,000 winner’s prize. In a unique twist, the winner will also have the option to forfeit the $3,000 payday in exchange for the final starting position in the Silver Dollar Nationals A-Main, giving teams one last chance to race for the coveted Silver Dollar Nationals title. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, All Makes Collision Center has built a reputation for exceptional collision repair, quality craftsmanship, and outstanding customer service. Their commitment to excellence and support of motorsports makes them a natural fit for one of dirt late model racing’s premier events. “We’re excited to welcome All Makes Collision Center as the title sponsor of Saturday’s Non-Qualifier,” said Rick Schwallie, Series Director for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “The Non-Qualifier is an exciting part of the Silver Dollar Nationals because it gives drivers one final opportunity to make the feature event. The added decision of taking the $3,000 winner’s check or giving it up for a spot in the A-Main creates a dramatic storyline for both the competitors and the fans.” The All Makes Collision Center Non-Qualifier will be contested prior to Saturday night’s Silver Dollar Nationals championship finale, adding another layer of excitement to an evening that culminates with one of the most prestigious crown jewel events in dirt late model racing. For more information about All Makes Collision Center, visit AllMakesCollisionCenter.com. For the latest news, results, and championship standings from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, please visit LucasDirt.com. All Makes Collision Center Non-Qualifier Purse: 1. $3,000, 2. $2,000, 3. $1,500, 4. $1,400, 5. $1,300, 6. $1,200, 7. $1,150, 8. $1,100, 9. $1,090, 10. $1,080, 11. $1,070, 12. $1,060, 13. $1,050, 14. $1,000, 15. $900, 16. $800, 17. $700, 18. $600, 19. $550, 20. $500 = $23,050

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Newest World of Outlaws Winner Wilson Chasing First Taste of Crown Jewel Glory at Fairbury, Cedar Lake

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

FAIRBURY, IL (July 15, 2026) – When Daulton Wilson took the checkers at Stateline Speedway, it was more than his first win with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision. It was the fulfillment of a promise.

Big Frog/Viper Motorsports brought Wilson into the fold for one primary reason – they believed in his ability to make them winners at the highest level of dirt Late Model racing. For the past several years, the No. 58 has been a revolving door of short-term drivers. Everyone from Tim McCreadie to Jimmy Owens, Drake Troutman, Ross Bailes, Ashton Winger, Tyler Clem and even Super DIRTcar Series star Matt Sheppard have made appearances in the Big Frog car in the past half-decade.

Wilson became the latest addition to that list last fall when he joined the team for a few races after departing JRR Motorsports in October. But Wilson soon began to hit it off with team owners Augie Burttram, Shawn Martin and the rest of the crew, and by the end of the year, the team realized that Wilson might be the driver they could build around long-term that they had been looking for.

By mid-January, the deal was done for Wilson to drive the car for the full 2026 season on tour with the World of Outlaws, and that mutual commitment paid off on their perfect night in New York.

“It’s a pretty big relief,” Wilson said. “We’ve been in position and had a few that kind of slipped through. You wonder when that breakthrough’s going to happen. To finally get that win is definitely a big relief and a big sense of satisfaction for everybody. That’s what we set out to do, and we were finally able to get one. Hopefully we can get us some more.”

As Wilson alluded to, the first win could have come much earlier in the season had things gone differently on a couple of occasions. The most notable examples were East Alabama Motor Speedway, where Wilson jumped the cushion when he was two laps from victory and let Nick Hoffman get by, and Bedford Speedway, where he led the first 29 laps before Mason Zeigler passed him and went on to win.

However, those weren’t the only two commendable showings from the MD3 Rookie of the Year contender in the first half of the season. In the 18 races between Hendry County Motorsports Park in February and Marion Center Raceway in May, Wilson had seven top fives and only missed the top 10 five times.

But as spring turned to summer, the No. 58V team’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. Prior to Stateline, Wilson cracked the top 10 only twice in 11 races. He rolled into Busti, NY in dire need of a momentum shift, and it came in the form of a trophy and a $15,000 check.

“You know, it’s racing. We’ve had a lot of bad luck,” Wilson said. “The early spring there was some racetracks that I had been to, and then we went through a stretch there where we went to places that were totally new to me and all of us. Just a combination of everything. Everything’s so close now, if you’re off just a little bit, you run 10th. We’ve had a good car, and Stateline, everything just went our way, we did everything right and it all worked out.”

After following up his win in 13th in his debut at Sharon Speedway, Wilson’s attention has turned to the biggest weekend of the season, the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway (Friday-Saturday, July 24-25). For a North Carolinian who enjoys the red clay 1/2-miles across the southeast, “Big Perm” has been a formidable challenger at Illinois’ signature bullring.

The 2024 PDC will always be remembered for Bobby Pierce’s last-lap pass on Hoffman to score his first win in the event, but it’s easy to forget that the driver lurking behind both of them in third that night was Wilson. That run stood as his World of Outlaws career best before he joined the tour full-time in 2026, and it was far from a fluke. Wilson has finished in the top five in all three Friday Showdown Features he’s competed in, and he also ran second at Fairbury as part of Illinois Speedweek in 2023.

“That place, the atmosphere and everything is just completely different there,” Wilson said. “That is one of the races that we’ve gone to in previous years even though we weren’t full-time. It’s one of those places that we enjoy going to, and it seems to fit me pretty good. I’ve never won there, but I’ve had some really good runs there.”

Once the party wraps up in Fairbury, Wilson will set sail for the next destination of New Richmond, WI, for the second of back-to-back crown jewels. Wilson has only been to Cedar Lake Speedway once for the 2023 USA Nationals and finished 25th in the 100-lapper, but the contagious energy alone was enough to make him excited to return this season.

“That place is cool,” Wilson said. “It’s really fun and a really good racetrack. In the past, we always tried to go, and it only worked out for us to go that one time. But at least having been there one time, it still gives us a little bit of an idea for what we’re in for.”

Now that Wilson’s first World of Outlaws triumph is in the books, winning one of the sport’s crown jewels has become the next item on his career agenda. Last year, Ryan Gustin checked that box at Cedar Lake with his first USA Nationals victory. Whether it’s at Fairbury, Cedar Lake or somewhere else down the line, Wilson is confident that his turn is coming.

“We’ve been close at the PDC before,” Wilson said. “You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, and that’s kind of where we’re getting our feet under us. Definitely, I’d love to win one of them, any of them. Any race is a big deal, but a crown jewel, that’s the goal for sure.”

Wilson will continue his season with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision in the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway on Friday and Saturday, July 24-25. General admission tickets will be available at the gate.

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

Newest World of Outlaws Winner Wilson Chasing First Taste of Crown Jewel Glory at Fairbury, Cedar Lake

By mid-January, the deal was done for Wilson to drive the car for the full 2026 season on tour with the World of Outlaws, and that mutual commitment paid off on their perfect night in New York.

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

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/newest-world-of-outlaws-winner-wilson-chasing-first-taste-of-crown-jewel-glory-at-fairbury-cedar-lake/

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Chevy Racing–NASCAR–North Wilkesboro Advance

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE North Wilkesboro Speedway July 18-19, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

It was just three years ago that one of the sport’s most iconic venues, North Wilkesboro Speedway, was revived to welcome NASCAR back to its hallowed grounds. After a three-year stint of hosting the All-Star Race, North Wilkesboro Speedway has earned its long-awaited spot back on the Cup Series’ regular season schedule with Sunday’s Window World 450 marking the first time in three decades that the North Carolina short-track will host a points-paying race for NASCAR’s premier series. But first, it will be the Craftsman Truck Series that will take on the .625-mile circuit Saturday afternoon in the Faith Fest 250 – bringing the countdown to just four races remaining in the series’ regular season. Along with its full-time competitors, Team Chevy Cup Series regulars – Chase Elliott, Shane van Gisbergen and Carson Hocevar – will complete Spire Motorsports’ three-truck roster for a double-duty weekend.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro: Enriched in history as one of NASCAR’s first tracks, the .625-mile oval has hosted 93 points-paying races for the sport’s premier series. Chevrolet has collected a series-leading 32 all-time Cup Series victories at North Wilkesboro Speedway, with its first coming in Oct. 1957 with Jack Smith’s win in the Wilkes 160. Over four decades of racing at the historic venue, Chevrolet’s victories include its milestone 300th all-time Cup Series win with Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Childress Racing in 1986, as well as wins in the final two points-paying events courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports’ season sweep in 1996 with Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon. Since its revival, Kyle Larson is one of just three active past winners at the track – an effort completed during the 2023 season when he cashed in on his third career All-Star Race victory.

BOWTIE BULLETS:·        In 93 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races held at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded a series-leading 32 victories. Since its revival season, Kyle Larson is the only active driver to earn a victory in both the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series – an effort completed in a weekend sweep during the 2023 season.

·        With Grant Enfinger’s win at Lime Rock Park, Chevrolet sits just two wins away from its milestone 300th all-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.

·        With seven-straight victories to start the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Chevrolet set the record for the longest season-opening streak by a single manufacturer in the division’s history.

·        In 163 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 73 victories – a winning percentage of 44.8%.

·        Chevrolet is coming off its 29th all-time sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series championship titles – capturing its 34th driver championship and 44th, and fifth consecutive, manufacturer championship in 2025.

·        With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 887 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

TUNE-IN:NASCAR Cup Series Window World 450Sunday, July 19, at 7 p.m. ETTNT Sports, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250Saturday, July 18, at 12:30 p.m. ETFS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

QUOTABLE QUOTES:Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhen did you first hear about North Wilkesboro Speedway? “Probably when I was really young. I remember driving up toward Boone and we always passed it while we were on our way to the mountains to go snowboarding. My dad has a win at North Wilkesboro Speedway so my knowledge of that place probably first came from my dad telling me about the track. He took an elevator ride at North Wilkesboro Speedway and I haven’t done that yet, so he holds that over my head. So, that’s one thing I need to do – win at North Wilkesboro so that I can take an elevator ride.”  If someone has never been to a NASCAR race before, why is North Wilkesboro Speedway a great place to experience a race for the first time? “North Wilkesboro Speedway has a ton of history behind it. You feel the nostalgia when you walk into the track. It’s really cool how tight the racing is. The track is probably one of the best repaves that I’ve ever been a part of. We’ve already moved up to the top of both ends, and then you’re also going to see guys digging around the bottom. I think you’re going to see two and three-wide racing there during the long runs. We don’t know what to expect when we really get into a long tire run, but I think it’s going to be an impactful race.”  What does old school NASCAR mean to you, and how does North Wilkesboro compare? “To me, old school NASCAR is seeing the sights, smelling the smells, and you know, walking into some of the history of a track and experiencing it first-hand. The faded paints, the nostalgia of it all. We’re fortunate enough to play in the playground of some of the greatest drivers of all time, and experiencing some of the old school stuff that you see at historic tracks like North Wilkesboro Speedway is just special.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletNorth Wilkesboro has always been a special venue for NASCAR, and now it becomes even more significant as a points race. What are your expectations and goals heading into this weekend?“North Wilkesboro is a special place because you can feel the history the moment you get there. The fans, the atmosphere, and the meaning behind racing at a track like that make it different from anywhere else we go. Last year was a tough night for us at the all-star race after we were caught up in an accident, but that’s part of racing. You learn, you move forward, and you come back stronger. I’m excited for the opportunity to come back, compete, and be part of bringing great memories back to a track that means so much to NASCAR.”   AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet“I think North Wilkesboro Speedway is probably the most unique short track that we go to. Both ends are completely different from each other—the way you drive them, the way they feel, and the way they look. So it’s definitely a really unique racetrack. The conditions will be quite different this time. Hopefully, we can use some of our notes, even though the conditions will not be the same. I feel like our short-track program is getting a little bit better, but yeah, I feel like it’s going to be another race we’ve got to grind out. Hopefully, we can run inside the top 20 and have a good day.”

Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat are your thoughts about racing at North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time in your career?“I’ve never raced at or even been to North Wilkesboro before, so I’m leaning heavily on Austin Dillon and the No. 3 team entering this weekend. I’ve watched a lot of SMT, in-car camera footage, and race coverage of past All-Star races there. This group was good last year in the All-Star race, so we will use that package as something to build off of for our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet. I don’t know what I don’t know right now, but we will learn quickly in the 25-minute practice session on Saturday and do our best to adjust during the race.”   Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet“I’m excited to have Jack Link’s back on our No. 47 Chevrolet this weekend at North Wilkesboro. It’s a fun, old-school short track where track position is everything. Hopefully we can stay up front, have a clean race, and give Jack Link’s a strong finish.”   Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing ChevroletYour experience at North Wilkesboro consists of the 2025 All-Star Open. From those 100 laps, what did you learn about the racetrack?“It’s definitely a driver’s track, where it’s a lot about managing your car with the right foot, not burning off your rear tires, and just how important consistency is and the different ways the rubber builds up in different lanes of the track, to just making sure you’re hitting your same marks every time because it’s easy to overdrive, easy to get two tires out of the place where you want them to be. So, consistency definitely pays off at a track like North Wilkesboro.” Did you notice going downhill down the frontstretch and uphill up the backstretch? More specifically, did the layout affect your respective entries into turns one and three?“It definitely was interesting. We don’t really have any tracks like that, so we had to get used to just how different both entries were on either side of the track.” 450 laps will North Wilkesboro’s longest race – ever. Do you expect it be a bit of a wrestling match inside the car, where your leg is getting a workout punching the brake pedal, and your upper body is getting a workout turning the wheel and shifting?“Yeah, absolutely. I do believe that even though it’s 50 laps shorter than our long Martinsville or our Bristol races, I think it’s going to be more physically demanding. I don’t believe you can make as many mistakes as you can make at a place like Martinsville or Bristol, so you’ll just be punished with losing lap time too aggressively at North Wilkesboro compared to like Martinsville and Bristol. I think overall, from a mental and physical standpoint, it’s probably going to be one of the toughest races of the year. You throw in a hot day on top of that, it could be pretty brutal.”   Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletTalk about the history of North Wilkesboro and the importance of qualifying well at short tracks.“North Wilkesboro is a fun weekend and it’s a cool racetrack. Obviously, we have been there for All-Star Weekend. Having a longer race is going to be different, but it is a track that has been a lot of fun. The lines move around and you have to manage tires. It is a cool weekend all together. North Wilkesboro is a great town. The city embraces us. It feels like a little time capsule and we get back to the grassroots of the sport. The scoreboard, the walls, the fans – it’s just fun. Every lap counts and everything matters when it comes to short track racing. It’s an elbows-out kind of grind at North Wilkesboro and I am looking forward to it.”   Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow do you think a points race at North Wilkesboro will race differently than the All-Star Races we have seen in the last couple years?“I think we are going to be running an inch off the wall or all the way at the bottom when the track rubbers up. If it goes green, there’s going to be a lot of cars either off the lead lap or the whole field will be on top of each other because the leader will be stuck in lap traffic. I think it will look like a sprint car race.” How does the track’s elevation changes affect how you approach the corner?“You definitely get free into Turn 1 because you’re going downhill, but then you catch the banking. When you get into Turn 3 you’re uphill so you can drive it in further, but the banking falls away a little. You’re constantly racing the elevation more so than you are grip.”   Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletWhat do you expect from North Wilkesboro Speedway this weekend and how excited are you to be racing there? “I’ve raced late models at North Wilkesboro, and I’ve always enjoyed the history of the place. This is the first points race in the Cup Series at North Wilkesboro in 30 years, so that’s really cool. It’s going to be a long race. I remember racing 125 laps in my late model and thinking that was a lot so I can only imagine what 450 laps is going to feel like. I’m excited to see what we can do at Wilkesboro. I was pretty good there at the test we had earlier this year and I feel like that will be a help for me to be able to fire off in practice with a little bit of knowledge and experience.” Do you expect the groove to widen out over the course of the weekend?“At the test we were running up near the fence in Turns 1 and 2. Turns 3 and 4 are a little bit different and it’s going to take a little longer for that side to widen out. We saw at the All-Star race last year that when the groove widens out that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to pass.” Is there a chance you might be at the track early this week to watch the Craftsman Truck Series and late model races?“It depends on how my schedule is, but I’d love to go watch the late model races on Friday. My teammate Shane (van Gisbergen) is in the Truck race on Saturday, so it’d be cool to cheer him on. I’ll probably get up there at some point to hang out and watch some of the racing.”   Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletAre you looking forward to North Wilkesboro this weekend?“Yeah, I had a good time there last year. It was a fun track, cool with the elevation and stuff, with the breaking, gear changing sometimes. I enjoy that place. I’m doing the Truck race there this weekend too, so it will be really cool.”  How important is the sixth-place finish at Atlanta last weekend and the momentum it gives your team heading into North Wilkesboro?“Oh, it’s everything. I was thinking about it at the end of the race, there was no one around me that I was racing for points so really needed to consolidate where I was. It didn’t change my approach. Got a P6 out of it and it gives us really good momentum heading to North Wilkesboro. It’s a short track, those seem to be good for us, so hopefully we are able to grab some points and get a good result.”

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCENorth Wilkesboro SpeedwayJuly 18-19, 2026

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturer Championships:Total (1949-2025): 44First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)Most recent: 2025 Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Driver Championships:Total (1949-2025): 34First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most recent: Kyle Larson (2025)Driver and Manufacturer Championship Sweeps: 29 Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2025 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007) 2026 STATISTICS: Wins: 6Poles: 4Laps Led: 1,548Top-Fives: 37Top-10s: 71Stage Wins: 15 CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 887 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 770Laps led to date: 258,282Top-fives to date: 4,473Top-10s to date: 9,222 Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date: General Motors: 1,221 Chevrolet: 887 Pontiac: 154 Oldsmobile: 115 Buick: 65 Ford: 850 Ford: 750 Mercury: 96 Lincoln: 4 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467 Dodge: 217 Plymouth: 191 Chrysler: 59 Toyota: 215

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Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Honda Message Points

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

July 15, 2026

Lebanon, TN
Sunday, July 19, 2025 4:30 PM CT / 5:30 PM ET
Live on Fox

What to Watch for at Nashville Superspeedway

Taking Aim at Alex: Everyone is chasing Alex Palou, yet again, in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship fight. Palou is the reigning and four-time series champion—having taken the crown in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Palou leads the championship this year by 56 points at this point in the season, with four wins to his name—St. Pete, Barber, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and in the HRC-branded ‘Honda Honda’ at the Detroit Grand Prix. Palou is hoping for his fifth title in six years, all before the age of 30.
The World Cup Bump: Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race from Nashville Superspeedway will immediately follow the completion of the World Cup final. IndyCar has seen a fantastic bump in audience viewership from World Cup lead-ins and lead-outs on Fox so far this season. Road America drew an average of 1.8 million viewers, and a peak of 2.9 million viewers, following a Spain Group Stage match. While Mid-Ohio saw viewership averages of 1.3 million, and a peak of 1.5 million, in a race that preceded the Norway vs. Brazil match. IndyCar viewership is up 18% compared to 2025—a season which already saw record audience growth for the series.
Ten Top 10s: Kyle Kirkwood has reclaimed second place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship following his first-career road course podium finish at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio last time out. The Andretti Global driver has scored 10 top 10 finishes in 11 races so far this season, a remarkably consistent string of results that has put him solidly in the championship discussion in the second half of the season.
Music City Madness: 2024 marked IndyCar’s return to Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2008, however the series raced on a downtown temporary street circuit from 2021-2023. Marcus Ericsson won the inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix in spectacular fashion—recovering from an airborne accident to take the checkered flag. Ericsson’s then-Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon took the win in 2022, while his current teammate at Andretti Global, Kyle Kirkwood, found victory lane in 2023. Andretti Global’s Colton Herta was victorious at the first race on the Nashville Superspeedway oval at the 2024 season finale. Herta’s win kicked off an 11-race winning streak for Honda—the last race of 2024 and the first 10 races of 2025.

2026 Honda IndyCar Lineup

Andretti Global	#26 Will Power (C) (I) (W) #27 Kyle Kirkwood (W) #28 Marcus Ericsson (I) (W)
Chip Ganassi Racing	# 8 Kyffin Simpson # 9 Scott Dixon (C) (I) (W) #10 Alex Palou (C) (I) (W)
Dale Coyne Racing	#18 Romain Grosjean #19 Dennis Hauger (R)
Meyer Shank Racing	#60 Felix Rosenqvist (I) (W) #66 Marcus Armstrong
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	#15 Graham Rahal (W) #45 Louis Foster #47 Mick Schumacher (R)

C—Series Champion I—Indianapolis 500 winner W—Race Winner R—Series Rookie

Where to Watch the Music City Grand Prix

Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Honda Message Points

July 15, 2026

Lebanon, TN
Sunday, July 19, 2025 4:30 PM CT / 5:30 PM ET
Live on Fox

What to Watch for at Nashville Superspeedway

Taking Aim at Alex: Everyone is chasing Alex Palou, yet again, in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship fight. Palou is the reigning and four-time series champion—having taken the crown in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Palou leads the championship this year by 56 points at this point in the season, with four wins to his name—St. Pete, Barber, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and in the HRC-branded ‘Honda Honda’ at the Detroit Grand Prix. Palou is hoping for his fifth title in six years, all before the age of 30.
The World Cup Bump: Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race from Nashville Superspeedway will immediately follow the completion of the World Cup final. IndyCar has seen a fantastic bump in audience viewership from World Cup lead-ins and lead-outs on Fox so far this season. Road America drew an average of 1.8 million viewers, and a peak of 2.9 million viewers, following a Spain Group Stage match. While Mid-Ohio saw viewership averages of 1.3 million, and a peak of 1.5 million, in a race that preceded the Norway vs. Brazil match. IndyCar viewership is up 18% compared to 2025—a season which already saw record audience growth for the series.
Ten Top 10s: Kyle Kirkwood has reclaimed second place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship following his first-career road course podium finish at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio last time out. The Andretti Global driver has scored 10 top 10 finishes in 11 races so far this season, a remarkably consistent string of results that has put him solidly in the championship discussion in the second half of the season.
Music City Madness: 2024 marked IndyCar’s return to Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2008, however the series raced on a downtown temporary street circuit from 2021-2023. Marcus Ericsson won the inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix in spectacular fashion—recovering from an airborne accident to take the checkered flag. Ericsson’s then-Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon took the win in 2022, while his current teammate at Andretti Global, Kyle Kirkwood, found victory lane in 2023. Andretti Global’s Colton Herta was victorious at the first race on the Nashville Superspeedway oval at the 2024 season finale. Herta’s win kicked off an 11-race winning streak for Honda—the last race of 2024 and the first 10 races of 2025.

2026 Honda IndyCar Lineup

Andretti Global	#26 Will Power (C) (I) (W) #27 Kyle Kirkwood (W) #28 Marcus Ericsson (I) (W)
Chip Ganassi Racing	# 8 Kyffin Simpson # 9 Scott Dixon (C) (I) (W) #10 Alex Palou (C) (I) (W)
Dale Coyne Racing	#18 Romain Grosjean #19 Dennis Hauger (R)
Meyer Shank Racing	#60 Felix Rosenqvist (I) (W) #66 Marcus Armstrong
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	#15 Graham Rahal (W) #45 Louis Foster #47 Mick Schumacher (R)

C—Series Champion I—Indianapolis 500 winner W—Race Winner R—Series Rookie

Where to Watch the Music City Grand Prix

Television coverage of Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix will air at 4:30 PM CT / 5:30 PM ET on Fox, following the completion of the World Cup final. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
Saturday’s first practice and Sunday’s warm up show will air on FS1. Saturday’s final practice will air on FS2, and NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying on Saturday will air on Fox at 3 PM ET.

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PEAK SQUAD POISED FOR STRONG REGULAR SEASON STRETCH RUN

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (July 15, 2026) – Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD have moved up four spots in the 2026 NHRA MISSION FOODS Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings in just the past four races and have their sights set on continuing that success in the July 17-19 NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

Beckman is fourth in the Funny Car point standings heading into the Sonoma Nationals after the season’s first 10 races, now just seven points behind Matt Hagan in second place.

The John Force Racing team has made it to the final round in three of those four races (Maryland, Epping, Norwalk) but only winning one (the rain-delayed Epping win that took place at Bristol) has the PEAK SQUAD motivated for more.

Friday night’s qualifying session will have added incentive with the Deecell Power Systems “After Dark Low Qualifier” bonus. The top qualifier of that session In Top Fuel and Funny Car will each earn $4,000. Last year, Brittany Force dazzled the huge crowd with a record speed run at the time, going 3.645-seconds at 343.16 mph.

The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after 10 of 20 races are: 1. Ron Capps, 812; 2. Matt Hagan, 691; 3. J.R. Todd, 689; 4. Jack Beckman, 684; 5. Jordan Vandergriff, 651; 6. Chad Green, 633; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 608; 8. Austin Prock, 526; 9. Spencer Hyde, 490; 10. Daniel Wilkerson, 443.

Quotes

The PEAK SQUAD has moved from eighth to fourth in the Funny Car point standings in the past four races. What’s the mood heading into Sonoma with just four races left in the regular season?

“We’re frustrated because, in three of those four races, we were in the final round, and we only have one trophy to show for it. The guys are ticked off and motivated. We found our smoking gun, why we had lost the consistency from last year. I think Maryland was a very visible turn in our season for getting back our consistency. The records show it. That’s just not me being overly optimistic. It’s a factual statement that the PEAK Camaro is arguably the best Funny Car over the last four races. So right now, we just want to capitalize on our progress. Getting to the final round gets you a lot of points but there’s only one round win that gets you the trophy. We’ve only closed the deal once on that, so the objective moving forward is to be as close to perfect as we can be on race day.”

You won at Sonoma in 2015, finished runner up in 2010 and were the No. 1 qualifier both those years. Is there anything other than that which that stands out from racing at Sonoma?

“My best win at Sonoma was a divisional race there in 2004. I was the defending NHRA Super Comp World Champion so the number ‘1’ was on the side of my car and I was still going through chemotherapy. I was completely bald. I was pale, and I was 30 pounds lighter because of the chemo, but I was able to win, I was able to win a trophy after I wasn’t sure I was going to be breathing anymore, so that one would be tough to beat. But, in terms of my pro career, 2015 was amazing. We just came off a win at Denver. We put the laid back headers on the car for good in the second round at Denver, and that changed the face of Funny Car racing. Starting with Sonoma, we came out and lowered the boom on the national record. I think we ran four-hundredths-of-a-second quicker than the national record on the hero run Friday night and then we came out Saturday needing a one percent backup. It was a hot day and a very warm track, and we still ran quicker than the national record in the heat on Saturday. It was amazing to get to do that, and then we did it four times on race day and left there with the trophy.”

How did you celebrate the Fourth of July?

“I met Captain Steve Mann years ago at the drag races. He’s a hot rod guy and he responded to some random social media post Christine had done months ago. He invited us to take a cruise and we did one on Valentine’s Day in Newport Bay. One of the ships that he occasionally uses for tours is John Wayne’s Wild Goose yacht, which is a converted World War II minesweeper built in 1942. We stayed in touch and recently he asked if we wanted to do something really cool, which was to take a Fourth of July cruise on the Wild Goose. We were given a full tour of the ship, got to go down to the engine room, saw John Wayne’s bedroom. It was just awesome.”

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?

“I don’t like change for the sake of change, and I don’t like tradition for the sake of tradition. If there’s a better way to do something, by all means change it, but don’t change something just to say you’ve done something different. That being said, something didn’t seem right with the world, especially as a Southern California native, in not having a season book ended by the Pomona events. When things got crazy in 2021, they had to run the Winternationals in July or August because there was still Covid shutdowns but I wasn’t racing then. The last time I had run the Winternationals was 2020 when it was the first race of the year, and I won it but then I wasn’t driving at the end of the year. So, when I came back to driving, it just seemed so foreign to me to start the season in Florida run Pomona as the third race of the year. So the traditionalist in me likes it, and the Southern California fan in me loves it.”

Weekend Appearances

Beckman will be signing autographs in multiple sessions on Fri., July 17: from 3-3:30 p.m. at the Misssion Foods display on the midway; and from 3:45-4:15 p.m. at a kids-only event under the main grandstand. On Sat., July 18, he will be signing autographs from 10-10:30 a.m. at the Bandero Cafe display on the midway.

Track Schedule

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:55 and 6:55 p.m. PT on Fri., July 17, and the final two rounds on Sat., July 18, at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. PT on Sun., July 19.

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results

Sonoma	Race Result	Round by Round Results	Qualified	Event Record
2005 (TF)	1^st round	Lost to M. Lucas	13^th	0-1
2006 (FC)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2007 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to C. Pedregon	2^nd	0-2
2008 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Force; lost to G. Densham	13^th	1-3
2009 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to R. Hight	6^th	1-4
2010 (FC)	Runner Up	Beat J. Diehl, R. Hight. B. Tasca; lost to R. Capps	1^st	4-5
2011 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to J. Gray	6^th	4-6
2012 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Force; lost to M. Hagan	4^th	5-7
2013 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat T. Lesenko; lost to C. Force	2^nd	6-8
2014 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to T. Wilkerson	4^th	6-9
2015 (FC)	Winner	Beat T. Pedregon, C. Head, R. Hight, T. Johnson Jr	1^st	10-9
2016 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat T. Johnson Jr.; lost to D. Worsham	9^th	11-10
2017 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat J. Lindberg, D. Worsham; lost to J. Todd	3^rd	13-11
2018 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Todd; lost to T. Johnson Jr	2^nd	14-12
2019 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Diehl; lost to M. Hagan	3^rd	15-13
2020 (FC)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2021	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2022	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2023	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2024 (FC)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2025 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat J. Rupert, H. Green; lost to S. Hyde	3^rd	17-14

Wins: 1 (2015)

No. 1 Qualifiers: 2 (2010, 2015)

Event Record: 17-14

2026 Results

PEAK SQUAD POISED FOR STRONG REGULAR SEASON STRETCH RUN

Beckman is fourth in the Funny Car point standings heading into the Sonoma Nationals after the season’s first 10 races, now just seven points behind Matt Hagan in second place.

Quotes

The PEAK SQUAD has moved from eighth to fourth in the Funny Car point standings in the past four races. What’s the mood heading into Sonoma with just four races left in the regular season?

How did you celebrate the Fourth of July?

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?

Weekend Appearances

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results

Sonoma	Race Result	Round by Round Results	Qualified	Event Record
2005 (TF)	1^st round	Lost to M. Lucas	13^th	0-1
2006 (FC)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2007 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to C. Pedregon	2^nd	0-2
2008 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Force; lost to G. Densham	13^th	1-3
2009 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to R. Hight	6^th	1-4
2010 (FC)	Runner Up	Beat J. Diehl, R. Hight. B. Tasca; lost to R. Capps	1^st	4-5
2011 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to J. Gray	6^th	4-6
2012 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Force; lost to M. Hagan	4^th	5-7
2013 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat T. Lesenko; lost to C. Force	2^nd	6-8
2014 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to T. Wilkerson	4^th	6-9
2015 (FC)	Winner	Beat T. Pedregon, C. Head, R. Hight, T. Johnson Jr	1^st	10-9
2016 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat T. Johnson Jr.; lost to D. Worsham	9^th	11-10
2017 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat J. Lindberg, D. Worsham; lost to J. Todd	3^rd	13-11
2018 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Todd; lost to T. Johnson Jr	2^nd	14-12
2019 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat J. Diehl; lost to M. Hagan	3^rd	15-13
2020 (FC)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2021	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2022	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2023	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2024 (FC)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2025 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat J. Rupert, H. Green; lost to S. Hyde	3^rd	17-14

Wins: 1 (2015)

No. 1 Qualifiers: 2 (2010, 2015)

Event Record: 17-14

2026 Results

Event	Qualify	Round by Round	Round Record	Points Position
Gainesville	9	Lost to Jordan Vandergriff	0-1	11
Phoenix	2	Lost to Daniel Wilkerson	0-2	10
Pomona1	8	Beat Jim Campbell; lost to J.R. Todd	1-3	10
Charlotte	6	Advanced Rounds 1 & 2; runner-up to Ron Capps	3-4	8
Valdosta	11	Lost to Matt Hagan	3-5	8
Chicago	1	Beat Chris King; lost to Matt Hagan	4-6	8
Maryland	1	Beat Joe Morrison, J.R. Todd, Jordan Vandergriff; lost to Austin Prock	7-7	7
Epping	2	Beat Phil Burkart Jr., Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, Jordán Vandergriff	11-7	5
Bristol	3	Beat Jeff Arend; lost to Daniel Wilkerson	12-8	5
Norwalk	4	Beat Spencer Hyde, Daniel Wilkerson, Austin Prock; lost to Ron Capps	15-9	4

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VANDERGRIFF WANTS OWN SONOMA NATIONALS TITLE

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (July 15, 2026) – Jordan Vandergriff has yet to turn a wheel in competition at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway but he has been part of a winning team there and is looking at the July 17-19 NHRA Sonoma Nationals as a perfect opportunity to write his name into the Northern California track’s history book while earning a second Diamond Wally during NHRA’s 75^th anniversary season.

The Southern California native was a crew member on his family-owned Top Fuel team in 2018 when current Funny Car competitor Blake Alexander earned the NHRA Sonoma Nationals title after winning at Norwalk just three races before.

Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car team is currently fifth in the point standings after 10 races and just 40 points behind Matt Hagan in second place with four races remaining in the regular season.

Quotes

What did you do during the extra week off the road?

“The two weekends away from the track feels like a long time now. I took some time in the first week to disconnect a little bit. With it being the halfway point of the year, I reflected on the first half of the season and where I am in my career so far this year. Now I’m back in race mode but it’s been good, reflecting on the year and really my whole career and everything that got me to this place. I’m super grateful to be the driver of the Cornwell Quality Tools Funny Car for John Force Racing.”

What are your favorite memories of Sonoma Raceway?

“I haven’t race there but I was a crew guy on my family’s Top Fuel team when we won there with Blake Alexander in 2018 against Tony Schumacher in the final round. I was rat guy, floater, whatever-needed-to-be-done guy for my family team.

“I love Sonoma. Growing up in SoCal when my uncle raced. It was one of the tracks our family would always take a trip to. Some of my early memories as a kid was staying at the hotel in Sonoma, getting breakfast, and then heading to the track. So, Sonoma’s a very near and dear place in my heart being a California race.”

Is there any place special you like to go when you’re in the Sonoma/Napa area?

“I know that a lot of people go to wineries and take tours of the region and all that stuff, but I’m all business. Going to the racetrack is what I like to do. My favorite place in Sonoma is Sonoma Raceway.”

You’re currently fifth in the Funny Car point standings but only two rounds (40 points) out of second place with four regular season events to go. to go with a regular season. What’s the mindset?

“The mindset for our Cornwell Quality Tools Chevy team has switched. I think the first half of the year has been about getting me comfortable, meshing as a team, and seeing what Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker (crew chiefs) can do together. I would say we’ve exceeded expectations so far and now we are a player in this championship race. We have a great race car and a great team, and I’ve done pretty well as a driver. We’re contenders so we have to have that contender mindset and go for full force. I think we’re gonna be a contender in the regular season championship and in the season championship, as well.”

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?

“I LOVE IT! I grew up going to Pomona. The Winternationals was always the start of the NHRA season for me so it’s back on the schedule where it’s meant to be. Gainesville was great for the years that we started the season there, but Gainesville has a long-standing tradition as the third race on the schedule. If I’m fortunate enough, I’ll be driving this Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet when we start the 2027 season in Pomona.”

Weekend Appearances

Vandergriff will be signing autographs Sat., July 18, from 10-10:30 a.m. at the Bandero Café display on the midway.

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

2026 Results

VANDERGRIFF WANTS OWN SONOMA NATIONALS TITLE

Quotes

What did you do during the extra week off the road?

What are your favorite memories of Sonoma Raceway?

Is there any place special you like to go when you’re in the Sonoma/Napa area?

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?

Weekend Appearances

Vandergriff will be signing autographs Sat., July 18, from 10-10:30 a.m. at the Bandero Café display on the midway.

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

2026 Results

Event	Qualify	Round by Round	Round Record	Points Position
Gainesville	8	Beat Jack Beckman, John Smith; lost to Chad Green	2-1	4
Phoenix	5	Beat Alexis DeJoria, lost to Matt Hagan	3-2	7
Pomona1	3	Beat Daniel Wilkerson, Chad Green; lost to Ron Capps	5-3	5
Charlotte	2	Won 1st quad; lost in 2^nd quad	6-4	5
Valdosta	3	Beat Jeff Arend, Spencer Hyde, Hunter Green, Ron Capps	10-4	4
Chicago	10	Lost to Chad Green	10-5	5
Maryland	4	Beat Dave Richards, Chad Green; lost to Jack Beckman	12-6	5
Epping	2	Beat Jeff Arend, Chad Green, J.R. Todd; lost to Beckman	15-7	4
Bristol	13	Beat Alexis DeJoria; lost to Ron Capps	16-8	4
Norwalk	11	Lost to J.R. Todd	16-9	5

Uncategorized

DEJORIA FOCUSED ON SONOMA WINNER’S GOBLET

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (July 15, 2026) – The second half of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season starts with the July 17-19 NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria seeks nothing more than to sip red wine from the raceway’s traditional winner’s goblet Sunday afternoon.

The John Force Racing driver is currently seventh in the Funny Car point standings after the season’s first 10 races and has the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. She earned more round wins (13) in the first 10 races than all of last season (11) and is a mere two rounds and change (43 points) out of fifth place with four races remaining in the regular season.

The Mike Neff/Jonnie Lindberg-led team qualified seventh or better in six of the first 10 races, including third/second/second in the previous three races.

Quotes

What are your best memories of competing at Sonoma Raceway?

“I’ve been racing in Sonoma for quite a long time as a California native and running NHRA Division 7 during my Super Comp years. I have great memories as far as family and friends attending and who doesn’t love wine country.”

Where do you like to go in the Sonoma/Napa area when you’re in town?

“Vineyards I’ve gone to in the past and thoroughly enjoyed are Three Fat Guys Winery, Robert Mondavi Winery and Caddis Wines Sonoma. I love a good pinot noir.”

What did you do during the extra week off the road?

“We had a 4th of July pool party at my home in Newport, Rhode Island. We grilled steaks and fired off lots of fireworks. Other than that, I paid bills and spent lots of time with family and friends.”

How do you approach Sonoma and the three races after that before the playoffs start being just 43 points out of fifth place?

“We will treat Sonoma like any other day at the drags and put everything we have into making more consistent passes and qualifying well. It’s all about going rounds on Sunday.”

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?

“I think going back to Pomona for the start of the season feels right. That’s how it’s been and that’s how we should keep it. Now, if we could go back to quarter-mile racing, I’d be even happier.”

Weekend Appearances

DeJoria will sign autographs Fri., July 17, from 3-3:30 p.m. PT at the Mission Foods display on the midway and from 4-4:30 p.m. PT at the Bandero Café display on the midway. On Sat., July 18, she will sign autographs at the Bandero Café display from 10-10:30 a.m. PT.

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results

Sonoma	Race Result	Round by Round Results	Qualified	Event Record
2012 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat M. Neff; lost to J. Beckman	7^th	1-1
2013 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat M. Hagan, R. Hight; lost to J. Force	16^th	3-2
2014 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat R. Capps, C. Pedregon; lost to J. Force	10^th	5-3
2015 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to C. Pedregon	6^th	5-4
2016 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to J. Force	11^th	5-5
2017 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to J. Todd	7^th	5-6
2018	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2019	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2020	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2021 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat C. Pedregon, T. Wilkerson; lost to M. Hagan	2^nd	7-7
2022 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat T. Haddock, C. Pedregon; lost to J. Force	3^rd	9-8
2023 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to P. Lee	2^nd	9-9
2024 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to P. Lee	8^th	9-10
2025 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to S. Hyde	15^th	9-11

Wins: 0

No. 1 Qualifiers: 0

Event Record: 9-11

2026 Results

DEJORIA FOCUSED ON SONOMA WINNER’S GOBLET

The Mike Neff/Jonnie Lindberg-led team qualified seventh or better in six of the first 10 races, including third/second/second in the previous three races.

Quotes

What are your best memories of competing at Sonoma Raceway?

Where do you like to go in the Sonoma/Napa area when you’re in town?

“Vineyards I’ve gone to in the past and thoroughly enjoyed are Three Fat Guys Winery, Robert Mondavi Winery and Caddis Wines Sonoma. I love a good pinot noir.”

What did you do during the extra week off the road?

How do you approach Sonoma and the three races after that before the playoffs start being just 43 points out of fifth place?

“We will treat Sonoma like any other day at the drags and put everything we have into making more consistent passes and qualifying well. It’s all about going rounds on Sunday.”

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?

Weekend Appearances

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results

Sonoma	Race Result	Round by Round Results	Qualified	Event Record
2012 (FC)	2^nd round	Beat M. Neff; lost to J. Beckman	7^th	1-1
2013 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat M. Hagan, R. Hight; lost to J. Force	16^th	3-2
2014 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat R. Capps, C. Pedregon; lost to J. Force	10^th	5-3
2015 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to C. Pedregon	6^th	5-4
2016 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to J. Force	11^th	5-5
2017 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to J. Todd	7^th	5-6
2018	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2019	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2020	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2021 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat C. Pedregon, T. Wilkerson; lost to M. Hagan	2^nd	7-7
2022 (FC)	Semi finals	Beat T. Haddock, C. Pedregon; lost to J. Force	3^rd	9-8
2023 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to P. Lee	2^nd	9-9
2024 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to P. Lee	8^th	9-10
2025 (FC)	1^st round	Lost to S. Hyde	15^th	9-11

Wins: 0

No. 1 Qualifiers: 0

Event Record: 9-11

2026 Results

Event	Qualify	Round by Round	Round Record	Points Position
Gainesville	11	Beat Cruz Pedregon, Spencer Hyde, J.R. Todd; lost to Chad Green	3-1	2
Phoenix	12	Lost Jordan Vandergriff	3-2	6
Pomona1	7	Beat Dave Richards; lost to Ron Capps	4-3	7
Charlotte	5	Won 1^st Quad; lost 2^nd quad	5-4	6
Valdosta	10	Beat Cruz Pedregon, Matt Hagan; lost to J.R. Todd	7-5	6
Chicago	12	Beat Spencer Hyde, Dave Richards, Matt Hagan; lost to Chad Green	10-6	6
Maryland	7	Lost to Ron Capps	10-7	6
Epping	3	Beat Cruz Pedregon; lost to Ron Capps	11-8	7
Bristol	2	Lost to Jordan Vandergriff	11-9	7
Norwalk	2	Beat Blake Alexander, Chad Green; lost to Ron Capps	13-10	7

Uncategorized

HART LOVES GREAT FAN ENERGY AT SONOMA NATIONALS

July 15, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (July 15, 2026) – Josh Hart’s home base for years has been sunny Florida but it’s the positive California vibes of Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway’s NHRA Drag Racing fans he’s looking forward to enjoying when he pulls his John Force Racing Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster to the starting line during the July 17-19 NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Hart and the David Grubnic/John Collins-led Speedmaster team are currently seventh in the point standings after the season’s first 10 races but know their performance over the next four regular season races and six playoff races is all that matter at this point.

The team is just 33 points behind Tony Stewart in sixth, 49 to Antron Brown in fifth place and 55 to Maddi Gordon in fourth.

The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings after 10 of 20 races are: 1. Shawn Langdon, 1,010; 2. Doug Kalitta, 860; 3. Leah Pruett, 731; 4. Maddi Gordon, 614; 5. Antron Brown, 608; 6. Tony Stewart, 592; 7. Josh Hart, 559; 8. Billy Torrence, 498; 9. Justin Ashley, 450; 10. Clay Millican, 439.

Quotes

Do you have any special memories of competing at Sonoma Raceway?

“There are some racetracks that just have more positive fan energy than others and Sonoma, for me, is one of them. They have always been supportive of me. At one time, it was questionable whether we were going to continue racing there and, hearing the stories from the fans about what it would do if they if they stopped that event was almost heartbreaking. So, the fact that it’s going strong, I can only imagine that the energy out there is going to be epic.”

Were you and the family able to do anything special with the extra weekend off?

“I feel like I’m very good at siloing each part of my life, like I can completely turn it on and completely turn it off. So, when I’m at the racetrack, I focus on the racetrack. When I’m in at Burnyzz Speed Shop, I focus on Burnyzz Speed Shop. But, over the last weekend, especially the 4th of July, I spent a lot of good quality time with my family. So, when home, I focus on being No. 1 dad and No. 1 husband.”

With just four races remaining in the regular season and the regular season championship on the line, what is your team’s approach going into those races?

“I think that it’s awesome what NHRA has done by promoting the regular season championship and, at this point, that’s a goal for maybe next year. With us starting Sonoma with a brand new car, I’m going to take it one round at a time. I continue to just pinch myself that I drive for John Force Racing, I work with David Grubnic and John Collins (crew chiefs) and have an awesome sponsor in Speedmaster and all of our other sponsors. I’m extremely blessed. I don’t take it for granted and excited to get out there and represent properly.”

What are your thoughts on the Winternationals back as the season-opener in 2027?
“The season has always started with the Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) during my Top Fuel career but I think it’s cool that NHRA is following their own traditions in starting with the Winternationals again. We’ll still continue with the Burnyzz Fan Fest to kick off the Gatornationals, which is always huge.”

Weekend Appearances

Hart will have two autograph appearances on Fri., July 17: from 3:45-4:15 p.m. for kids only under the main grandstand; and from 6:30-6:45 p.m. at the Launch Pad near the starting line. He’ll also be signing autographs at the Bandero Cafe display on the midway on Sat., July 18, from 10-10:30 a.m.

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results

Sonoma	Race Result	Round by Round Results	Qualified	Event Record
2021 (TF)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2022 (TF)	2^nd round	Beat C. Millican; lost to D. Kalitta	7^th	1-1
2023 (TF)	Semi finals	Beat T. Schumacher, S. Langdon; lost to J. Ashley	4^th	3-2
2024 (TF)	1^st round	Lost to B. Force	12^th	3-3
2025 (TF)	2^nd round	Beat T. Stewart; lost to D. Kalitta	6^th	4-4

Wins: 0

No. 1 Qualifiers: 0

Event Record: 4-4

2026 Results

HART LOVES GREAT FAN ENERGY AT SONOMA NATIONALS

The team is just 33 points behind Tony Stewart in sixth, 49 to Antron Brown in fifth place and 55 to Maddi Gordon in fourth.

Quotes

Do you have any special memories of competing at Sonoma Raceway?

Were you and the family able to do anything special with the extra weekend off?

With just four races remaining in the regular season and the regular season championship on the line, what is your team’s approach going into those races?

Weekend Appearances

Track Schedule

TV Schedule

Television coverage of the event includes qualifying and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Sat., July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Elimination coverage begins Sun., July 19, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results

Sonoma	Race Result	Round by Round Results	Qualified	Event Record
2021 (TF)	Did Not Compete	N/A	N/A	N/A
2022 (TF)	2^nd round	Beat C. Millican; lost to D. Kalitta	7^th	1-1
2023 (TF)	Semi finals	Beat T. Schumacher, S. Langdon; lost to J. Ashley	4^th	3-2
2024 (TF)	1^st round	Lost to B. Force	12^th	3-3
2025 (TF)	2^nd round	Beat T. Stewart; lost to D. Kalitta	6^th	4-4

Wins: 0

No. 1 Qualifiers: 0

Event Record: 4-4

2026 Results

Event	Qualify	Round by Round	Round Record	Points Position
Gainesville	1	Beat Dan Mercier, Tripp Tatum, Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta	4-0	1
Phoenix	10	Beat Justin Ashley, lost to Leah Pruett	5-1	2
Pomona1	2	Beat Cameron Ferre, lost to Tony Stewart	6-2	4
Charlotte	4	Lost in 1st quad	6-3	5
Valdosta	9	Lost to Leah Pruett	6-4	5
Chicago	4	Beat Justin Ashley, Tony Stewart, lost to Shawn Langdon	8-5	5
Maryland	7	Lost to Clay Millican	8-6	5
Epping	3	Beat Rit Pustari; Lost to Billy Torrence	9-7	4
Bristol	6	Lost to Doug Kalitta	9-8	6
Norwalk	2	Beat Scott Farley; lost to Clay Millican	10-9

Uncategorized

Dominic Scelzi Rides Consistency to Top-10 Finishes Along West Coast

July 13, 2026 ARP Trish Leave a comment

Inside Line Promotions – BILLINGS, Mont. (July 13, 2026) – Dominic Scelzi was a consistent top-10 car throughout the month of June, which showcased races in California, Oregon, Washington and Montana.

“We’ve been racing really well and passing cars this summer, but haven’t been timing in well,” he said. “When you have to start in the back, it’s getting more and more difficult to drive through the field.”

Following a 10^th-place result on June 6 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., Scelzi recorded five straight top-seven finishes in five days during the Fastest 5 Days with the NARC King of the West Sprint Car Series. He advanced to seventh on June 11 at Southern Oregon Speedway in White City, Ore.; on June 12 at Douglas County Dirt Track in Roseburg, Ore.; and on June 14 at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.

Scelzi highlighted the speedweek with fifth-place finishes on June 13 at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., and on June 15 at Grays Harbor Raceway, where he rallied from the 17^th starting position.

“We have a maneuverable race car, but needed to start further up front,” he said. “We are maneuverable, but have been struggling to find speed. That was the story line from June.”

Scelzi ventured to Skagit Speedway in Burlington, Wash., for the 54^th annual Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup. After ending in the B Main during the opening night (on June 18), Scelzi charged from 21^st to a sixth-place showing the ensuing evening. He then locked into the main event via a heat race during the final night, when he placed 14^th out of the more than 50 competitors who entered the event.

“I think our highlight was going 21^st to sixth on the Friday with such a stout field,” he said. “We had a really good shot at continuing to drive through the field with more laps. That was a lot of fun.”

The long month of traveling wrapped up on June 26 at Big Sky Speedway, which hosted Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing. Scelzi progressed throughout the night to garner a 15^th-place result, marking his 18^th top 15 in 21 starts this season. The event finale rained out the next night.

“Going out last in qualifying hurt us and without the speed in the car, we went a lap down early in the feature,” he said. “We passed a lot of cars even after we were a lap down, but once that happens you’re not picking up the positions.”

Scelzi plans to return to NARC King of the West Sprint Car Series competition this Friday and Saturday at Watsonville Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., during the Howard Kaeding Classic.

“I’m looking forward to going back to Watsonville, where we won to start the season,” he said.

QUICK RESULTS –

June 6 – Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. – Qualifying: 14; Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 10 (10).

June 11 – Southern Oregon Speedway in White City, Ore. – Qualifying: 15; Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 7 (11).

June 12 – Douglas County Dirt Track in Roseburg, Ore. – Qualifying: 17; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 7 (10).

June 13 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 22; Heat race: 4 (8); Feature: 5 (10).

June 14 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 6 (7); Feature: 7 (18).

June 15 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 17; Heat race: 6 (6); Feature: 5 (17).

June 18 – Skagit Speedway in Burlington, Wash. – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 6 (3); B Main: 6 (8).

June 19 – Skagit Speedway in Burlington, Wash. – Qualifying: 15; Heat race: 2 (2); B Main: 1 (5); Feature: 6 (21).

June 20 – Skagit Speedway in Burlington, Wash. – Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 14 (14).

June 26 – Big Sky Speedway in Billings, Mont. – Qualifying: 19; Heat race: 7 (7); Feature: 15 (19).

SEASON STATS –

21 races, 3 wins, 9 top fives, 15 top 10s, 18 top 15s, 20 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Watsonville Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., for the Howard Kaeding Classic with the NARC King of the West Sprint Car Series

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.DominicScelziRacing.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41

Dominic Scelzi Rides Consistency to Top-10 Finishes Along West Coast