William Byron Matches Season-Best Finish at Pocono Raceway

NASCAR Cup Series Pocono Raceway Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA Team Chevy Post-Race Report June 14, 2026


 
William Byron Matches Season-Best Finish at Pocono Raceway
Three Team Chevy Drivers Place in the Top-Eight
MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom
 
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, matched his best finish of the season in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 – leading Chevrolet to the checkered flag with a third-place result at the “Tricky Triangle”.   


RACE RECAP: 


Stage One: 
Kyle Larson led Team Chevy in Saturday’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway, with the reigning champion earning a front-row starting position for the Great American Getaway 400. Taking the green flag for Stage One, Larson remained side-by-side with polesitter, Denny Hamlin, for the first-two turns before edging his No. 5 Chevrolet to the top position to lead the opening lap of the race. Larson quickly set the pace, pulling to an 1.2-second lead after just five laps around the “Tricky Triangle”. With a long green flag run to open the race, Larson made his first report from behind the wheel just past the midway point of Stage One, indicating that his Chevrolet was building tight through the tunnel turn as the track rubbered up. The California native went on to lead the first 25 laps, but a hard-charging Hamlin progressively closed the gap en route to a late-stage pass to find Larson ultimately take the first green-white checkered flag in the second position.



Stage Two: 
Alex Bowman was among the six cars that opted to short-pit the opening stage, with the No. 48 Chevrolet team finding themselves in the sixth position to lead Team Chevy to the start of Stage Two. On an opposite strategy with a points-earning stage in mind, William Byron took advantage of his fresh set of Goodyear tires to quickly take his turn as the top running Chevrolet driver – entering the top-five during the opening laps of Stage Two. But a caution on Lap 46 kickstarted a split strategy throughout the field. While the majority of the field opted for a trip to pit road, nine cars chose to stay out to earn valuable track position. The strategy paid early dividends for five Team Chevy drivers, with their respective teams inheriting a spot in the top-10 nearing the halfway point of Stage Two. Among those included Carson Hocevar, who drove his No. 77 Chevrolet inside the top-five to become the third different top-running Team Chevy driver of the race. But shortly thereafter, what was building into a long green flag run saw those on fresher tires start making their way back through the lead pack en route to the next pit cycle. Still under green flag conditions, those on the alternate strategy were on the horizon of a required trip to pit road, with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez leading the pack into the cycle just shy of 20 laps to go in the stage. With the stage continuing on caution-free, it was Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that opted to stay out for points – making his first appearance in the top-five of the day to lead the manufacturer to the conclusion of Stage Two.



Final Stage: 
With a call by crew chief, Alan Gustafson, to stay out under the final stage break, Elliott was welcomed back into the top-five for the start of the final stage of the race. As the race hit 42 laps to go, the leaders began to hit pit road to start the green flag pit cycle. Climbing up to third, Elliott turned in his position just two laps into the cycle to make his final trip to pit road of the day. Just inside 20 laps to go, then-race leader, Christopher Bell, was the only driver that was making the gamble to stretch their fuel mileage to the end. With enough fuel to make it to the end, Byron sat strong in the third position – ultimately going on to hold the position to match his season-best finish.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos.     Driver

3rd – William Byron
5th – Kyle Larson
8th – Ross ChastainChevrolet’s season statistics with 16 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 30Top 10s: 57Stage Wins: 13
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at the Naval Base Coronado with the Anduril 250 on Sunday, June 21, at 4 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
NASCAR Cup SeriesPocono RacewayGreat American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPATeam Chevy Post-Race ReportJune 14, 2026


 
William Byron Matches Season-Best Finish at Pocono Raceway
Three Team Chevy Drivers Place in the Top-Eight
MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom
 
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, matched his best finish of the season in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 – leading Chevrolet to the checkered flag with a third-place result at the “Tricky Triangle”.   


RACE RECAP: 


Stage One: 
Kyle Larson led Team Chevy in Saturday’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway, with the reigning champion earning a front-row starting position for the Great American Getaway 400. Taking the green flag for Stage One, Larson remained side-by-side with polesitter, Denny Hamlin, for the first-two turns before edging his No. 5 Chevrolet to the top position to lead the opening lap of the race. Larson quickly set the pace, pulling to an 1.2-second lead after just five laps around the “Tricky Triangle”. With a long green flag run to open the race, Larson made his first report from behind the wheel just past the midway point of Stage One, indicating that his Chevrolet was building tight through the tunnel turn as the track rubbered up. The California native went on to lead the first 25 laps, but a hard-charging Hamlin progressively closed the gap en route to a late-stage pass to find Larson ultimately take the first green-white checkered flag in the second position.



Stage Two: 
Alex Bowman was among the six cars that opted to short-pit the opening stage, with the No. 48 Chevrolet team finding themselves in the sixth position to lead Team Chevy to the start of Stage Two. On an opposite strategy with a points-earning stage in mind, William Byron took advantage of his fresh set of Goodyear tires to quickly take his turn as the top running Chevrolet driver – entering the top-five during the opening laps of Stage Two. But a caution on Lap 46 kickstarted a split strategy throughout the field. While the majority of the field opted for a trip to pit road, nine cars chose to stay out to earn valuable track position. The strategy paid early dividends for five Team Chevy drivers, with their respective teams inheriting a spot in the top-10 nearing the halfway point of Stage Two. Among those included Carson Hocevar, who drove his No. 77 Chevrolet inside the top-five to become the third different top-running Team Chevy driver of the race. But shortly thereafter, what was building into a long green flag run saw those on fresher tires start making their way back through the lead pack en route to the next pit cycle. Still under green flag conditions, those on the alternate strategy were on the horizon of a required trip to pit road, with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez leading the pack into the cycle just shy of 20 laps to go in the stage. With the stage continuing on caution-free, it was Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that opted to stay out for points – making his first appearance in the top-five of the day to lead the manufacturer to the conclusion of Stage Two.



Final Stage: 
With a call by crew chief, Alan Gustafson, to stay out under the final stage break, Elliott was welcomed back into the top-five for the start of the final stage of the race. As the race hit 42 laps to go, the leaders began to hit pit road to start the green flag pit cycle. Climbing up to third, Elliott turned in his position just two laps into the cycle to make his final trip to pit road of the day. Just inside 20 laps to go, then-race leader, Christopher Bell, was the only driver that was making the gamble to stretch their fuel mileage to the end. With enough fuel to make it to the end, Byron sat strong in the third position – ultimately going on to hold the position to match his season-best finish.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos.     Driver

3rd – William Byron
5th – Kyle Larson
8th – Ross ChastainChevrolet’s season statistics with 16 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 30Top 10s: 57Stage Wins: 13
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at the Naval Base Coronado with the Anduril 250 on Sunday, June 21, at 4 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes: 
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 8th
“We passed some cars today, so it feels really good to be able to do that. On top of that, we had the speed in our No. 1 Busch Light Lime Chevy and the strategy worked out to run Stage Two out and get the points. And then, we were able to run long into the final stage and have a tire advantage there at the end, with the clean air to go with that. It was nice that it ran green. That was our strategy and that worked to drive up into eighth. To start 24th at Pocono (Raceway) and drive forward, that felt really good.” 
 
 
 
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 25th
“We had a strong No. 3 BetMGM x Survivor Triple Challenge Chevrolet this weekend at Pocono Raceway. Unfortunately, we got too tight during qualifying and had to start the race deeper in the field than we would have liked and then strategy didn’t play to our favor during the race. Still, our Richard Boswell-led team never gave up and we did what we could to gain us positions during the race. Our Chevy started out neutral, but handling turned tight pretty quickly before trending loose later in the race. We had top-10 to 15 lap times throughout the day – just needed the track position. Our right-rear started giving out with 18 to go and we salvaged what we could. We’ll turn our focus to turning left and right the next two races on the schedule in San Diego and Sonoma.”
 
 
 
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“It was a solid day for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team. I didn’t have the greatest restarts early in the race, so we kind of paid for that the rest of the race with track position. I feel like I made up for it a little bit on the last two restarts to gain some track position and have a good cycle there. We came home with a top-five finish and a pretty solid race car.” 
 
 
 
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
“I think this is probably the first time in four months that I’ve been able to drive the car this way, just be able to make moves and have the balance stay with me. Just appreciate everyone on this No. 24 Raptor Chevy team and back at Hendrick Motorsports for working really hard, trusting in our tools and the things we can use to prepare. I felt confident throughout the weekend, and I just felt like from Lap One on-track, I could push pretty hard. The strategy makes it tough where you have to restart towards the back, but I felt like with our Raptor Chevy, we could manipulate and work through traffic, so that was awesome.”
 
 
 
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 18th
“Really proud of the entire zone Jalapeño Lime team. It was a solid weekend from start to finish and these guys deserve to have good runs like this. Qualifying 14th gave us a nice pit stall selection and we put together an entire race, even got a stage point. The balance of our Chevrolet was pretty good, but we were just a little tight on throttle down. It didn’t need much though. We will keep working hard and build off of this.”



Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage. 
Finished: 36th
“We just ended up having a loose wheel, which is bummer because with me not having a lot of experience with this car and racing at this track. Looking back on it, we started the weekend way too loose. The car was numb and I just didn’t have a good feel for it. Once we got the car a little tighter every run that we ran, we got way more competitive. There at the end, that last change helped me even more. We had just gotten the car where I felt like I could cruise up there and break into the top-20; maybe have a solid day and get some points. But when the wheel comes off, you’re day is over. It was a hard hit, but I’m okay.”
 
 
 
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 17th
“It wasn’t a great day for this No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet team. I feel like we were just a little bit too tight for most of the day, especially in traffic and we spent most of those last few runs in traffic. We still have a little bit of work to do, but all-in-all, we put together a solid day. We just didn’t have the speed and the balance we needed to contend for a top-10. But we’ll regroup and get ready for two good tracks for us.”
 
 
 
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 23rd
“I’m really proud of everyone on our Roto-Rooter team. We overcame a lot today to score a respectable finish. There are still a few things we need to do make our car better but today was a step in the right direction after the last few weeks.”
 
 
 

JOHN FOrCE RACING–Bristol recap

RACE RECAP – BRISTOLRace 9 of 20
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
UNCHARACTERISTIC EARLY EXIT FOR JOHN FORCE RACING AT THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALSBeckman and Vandergriff bow out in Rd. 2, Hart and DeJoria in Round 1
RACE RECAP – BRISTOLRace 9 of 20
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
UNCHARACTERISTIC EARLY EXIT FOR JOHN FORCE RACING AT THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALSBeckman and Vandergriff bow out in Rd. 2, Hart and DeJoria in Round 1
BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 14, 2026) – Rain wasn’t the only black cloud hanging over John Force Racing on Sunday at Bristol Dragway as all four of its teams were eliminated after the second round of competition in the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. The PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team of Jack Beckman and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car team of Jordan Vandergriff were eliminated in Round 2 while the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team of Alexis DeJoria and the Speedmaster Top Fuel dragster team of Josh Hart bowed out in Round 1. Rain showers between the first two rounds halted the proceedings for a couple of hour before resuming. Beckman was looking for his third trophy of the weekend in Thunder Valley. He won the final round of the rain-delayed NHRA New England Nationals against Vandergriff in the second round of qualifying Friday, doubled up on his John Force Racing teammate in the final round of Saturday’s Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and qualified third for the Thunder Valley Nationals. The 38-time NHRA Funny Car event winner dispatched of Jeff Arend in Round 1, running 4.032 seconds at 320.20 mph to Arend’s 4.246 seconds at 254.28 mph. The first-round victory gave Beckman lane choice in Round 2 against Daniel Wilkerson, who grabbed the holeshot (.061 to .079) and held on to win with a run of 4.041 seconds at 319.52 mph to Beckman’s 4.065-second run at 319.07 mph. “I would say good results over the weekend but not close to the performance that we were expecting out of the PEAK Chevy,” said Beckman. “We were able to close the deal on the Epping win Friday and won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday. But we only made it down the racetrack one out of our 4 qualifying runs. It was just a really tough racetrack. I know a lot of the guys are smiling and winking and saying ‘fresh asphalt and concrete’ but it’s going deeper that. There’s some issue going on this year with the glue on the track that is really throwing the crew chiefs a curveball. Theoretically, it’s the same for all of us so we’ll just have to keep plugging away and collecting data. In the first round today, we threw what we thought would be a safe run and it was enough to give us lane choice. But we easily should have been able to run 4 flat or a high 3.90 on the second run. We haven’t looked enough into the data to find out why the car slowed down that much. It’s a tough one because, on paper we should have been able to win that race. We’re marching up in the points but that halted our momentum. But we’re still going to leave with two trophies this weekend and I think it’s just going to make everybody a little bit more excited to roll into Norwalk.” Vandergriff beat DeJoria in Round 1 with the second-quickest run of the event at the time, 3.999 seconds, but lost lane choice for Round 2 to Ron Capps who ran 3.989 seconds. Vandergriff had a fantastic reaction time (.043 to Capps’ .065) but Capps ran low elapsed time of the meet with his run of 3.980 seconds at 327.43 mph to Vandergriff’s 4.040 seconds at 285.29 mph. “It was an interesting weekend for this Cornwell Quality Tools Funny Car team,” said Vandergriff. “The track was tricky all weekend. The heat was tricky all weekend. I struggled driving so to salvage a round win out of this weekend was huge for us. Unfortunately, that win was over our teammate Alexis in the Bandero Chevy. We had a good running race car on Sunday but it was definitely not the way we wanted to end it with one of the pan pressure switches shutting off the engine early as it started scuffing a piston. We’ve diagnosed the problem and we’re going to work on it this week. So, all in all, good weekend and the end of my first three in a row.” DeJoria and Vandergriff lined up against each other in Round 1, with Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car having lane choice over the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car as a result of DeJoria’s No. 2 qualifying position. Vandergriff’s reaction time was seven-thousandths-of-a-second quicker (.058 to .065) and the Cornwell Tools Chevy ripped off the quickest Funny Car run of the event to that point of 3.999 seconds at 322.88 mph to DeJoria’s third quickest run of the session at 4.028 second run at 326.24 mph. “It was a great drag race and it’s just the luck of the draw,” said DeJoria. “Unfortunately, we had to go up against our teammate. The Bandero Chevy ran great. I didn’t see them all the way down. I thought for sure I was gonna see my win light come on. I asked what he ran and they said a 3.99. That’s a good run against our 4.02 so it was a great race. There’s nothing we else we could have done. We weren’t trying to rotate the earth, just trying to lay down a solid number, and that’s what exactly we did. We’ll get a week off and then go to Norwalk. I’m looking forward to the rest of this year. This is my first year with John Force Racing and we’ve had some really great success. I know that at any one of these races, we’re gonna be leaving with a Wally. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen here.” In the first pair of cars down the track, the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster had lane choice and Hart grabbed the holeshot by 14 thousandths of a second (.056 to .070) over Doug Kalitta. Unfortunately, an engine cylinder stopped firing shortly after the hit, slowing the run to 3.845 seconds at 321.12 mph to Kalitta’s 3.799 seconds at 330.31 mph. “I didn’t get into racing for the fame and I surely didn’t do it for fortune, said Hart. “My motivation has and will always be exceeding my own expectations and conquering the career goals I have for myself. The Speedmaster team wants to win and not just one. We want them all. Thank you for all the love from the John Force Racing and NHRA fans and we’ll be right back at it in Norwalk in two weeks.” The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings after nine of 20 races are: 1. Shawn Langdon, 920; 2. Doug Kalitta, 806; 3. Leah Pruett, 693; 4. Tony Stewart, 533; 5. Antron Brown, 517; 6. Josh Hart, 500; 7. Maddi Gordon, 499; 8. Billy Torrence, 466; 9. Justin Ashley, 419; 10. Clay Millican, 365. The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after nine of 20 races are: 1. Ron Capps, 691; 2. Matt Hagan, 667; 3. J.R. Todd, 634; 4. Jordan Vandergriff, 6195. Jack Beckman, 589; 6. Chad Green, 561; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 524; 8. Spencer Hyde, 459; 9. Austin Prock, 437; 10. Daniel Wilkerson, 391. NEXT RACEThe 10th of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the June 26-28 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

HYDE MAKES NOISE BY ADVANCING TO QUARTERFINALS OF THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS

 BRISTOL, TENN. (June 14, 2026) — Sophomore Funny Car driver Spencer Hyde, the Canadian pilot of the Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals this weekend at Bristol Dragway. Hyde qualified in the top quarter of the field at the No. 4 spot, and was one of the most consistent cars on the property over the course of the weekend.
 
“I feel a lot better coming into this weekend than I felt the last two weekends, just right from the start of qualifying through race day,” said Hyde, who was the 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year. “The car went down five out of six runs we made, and the one that it didn’t go down, it was really close to making it. It feels like we have our race car back, and I think we’re in a good spot going into the next race.”
 Spencer Hyde raced to the quarterfinals at the Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals today at Bristol Dragway, photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography

All the teams came into Thunder Valley blind, with no data for the new track surface. The first round of qualifying was not particularly good for anyone, but after that Hyde made one steady pass after the other. Hyde qualified in the No. 4 position based off his Q2 pass, a 4.030 second, 319.07 mph run.
 
In the first round, Hyde was up against 2-time Funny Car World Champion Cruz Pedregon. The run ended up being a single for Hyde, when Pedregon’s car malfunctioned and his team had to back it up from the starting line. Hyde then went on to make a 4.001 second, 316.52 mph pass, securing the round one win.
 
“I hate for the fans that it couldn’t have been a more competitive race in the first round, but a round win is a round win,” said Hyde. “The data we got for that run was great, and it allowed us to feel pretty good going into the quarterfinals.”
 
While the first round may not have been competitive, the quarterfinals most certainly was. Hyde was able to duplicate his first round elapsed time with a 4.001 second pass, and increased his speed to 323.50 mph. Unfortunately, it was not enough against reigning Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock, who made a 3.986 second, 323.50 mph run.
 
“We lost a tough one there to Austin, but I’d rather lose a good drag race like that then smoke the tires,” said Hyde. “I was a little tardy on the light, but they made a good run. Jim was going to try and go a 3.97 or 3.98, but he backed it down at the last minute, put the same tune up in as E1, it went right down the racetrack, but it just wasn’t enough.”
 
Now that Hyde and the Jim Head-tuned Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car have nailed consistency, they are turning their sights ahead to the Norwalk race in two weeks. This is one of the most important races on the schedule for both Hyde and Head for a variety of reasons.
 
“Norwalk is always a tricky racetrack, just because it’s going to be hot, and that track gets tricky when it’s hot out,” said Hyde. “But I am happy with where we are heading into that. And then it’s also both Jim and I’s home race, so it’s a big one for us. Lots of lots of local fans for both Jim and myself coming up to that one. I’m really looking forward to that.”
 
The Head Racing team will be busy on and off the track, hosting their loved ones and being recognized during the 75thanniversary of the NHRA.
 
“I’ve got a bunch of people coming down, a bunch of my old crew guys from the Pro Mod days, and they’re all bringing their motor homes and trailers and coming to hang out, so we’ll have a hospitality setup in Norwalk,” said Hyde. “Jim’s also the local legend for that race for the NHRA’s 75th anniversary. They’re also using me as a Hometown Homie, since it’s the closest we get to my hometown in Canada. It will be the perfect race to represent Hyde Construction, OUTLAW Light Beer and the Caine Group.”
 
Hyde and the Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car will be back in competition in two weeks at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on June 25-28 at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. There will be two qualifying sessions on Friday, June 26 and two qualifying sessions on Saturday, June 27. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Nationals visit nhra.com.
 
Qualifying Results – Funny Car
Q1: 5.596 sec, 124.01 mph; Qual. 10
Q2: 4.030 sec, 319.07 mph; Qual. 3
Q3: 4.184 sec, 299.60 mph; Qual. 4
Q4: 4.104 sec, 310.20 mph; Qual. 4
Bonus Points: +3 (third quickest in Q2, second quickest in Q4)
 
Race Results
First Round
Spencer Hyde, Stratford, Ontario, Head Contractors & Engineers Funny Car, (.077), 4.001 sec, 316.52 mph def. Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg, Ind., Snap-on Tools Dodge SRT Hellcat, No Time
 
Second Round
Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Ford Mustang Dark Horse, (.066), 3.986 sec, 323.50 mph def. Spencer Hyde, Stratford, Ontario, Head Contractors & Engineers Funny Car, (.097), 4.001 sec, 321.96 mph
 
Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Point Standings – Funny CarRon Capps, 691Matt Hagan, 667J.R. Todd, 634Jordan Vandergriff, 619Jack Beckman, 589Chad Green, 572Alexis DeJoria, 527Spencer Hyde, 459Austin Prock, 437Daniel Wilkerson, 393

NASCAR Cup Series Pocono Raceway Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA Team Chevy Post-Race Report

NASCAR Cup Series Pocono Raceway Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA Team Chevy Post-Race Report June 14, 2026


 William Byron Earns Season-Best Finish at Pocono RacewayThree Team Chevy Drivers Place in the Top-Eight
MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom
 William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, earned his best finish of the season in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 – leading Chevrolet to the checkered flag with a second-place finish at the “Tricky Triangle”.   

RACE RECAP: 

Stage One: Kyle Larson led Team Chevy in Saturday’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway, with the reigning champion earning a front-row starting position for the Great American Getaway 400. Taking the green flag for Stage One, Larson remained side-by-side with polesitter, Denny Hamlin, for the first-two turns before edging his No. 5 Chevrolet to the top position to lead the opening lap of the race. Larson quickly set the pace, pulling to an 1.2-second lead after just five laps around the “Tricky Triangle”. With a long green flag run to open the race, Larson made his first report from behind the wheel just past the midway point of Stage One, indicating that his Chevrolet was building tight through the tunnel turn as the track rubbered up. The California native went on to lead the first 25 laps, but a hard-charging Hamlin progressively closed the gap en route to a late-stage pass to find Larson ultimately take the first green-white checkered flag in the second position.


Stage Two: Alex Bowman was among the six cars that opted to short-pit the opening stage, with the No. 48 Chevrolet team finding themselves in the sixth position to lead Team Chevy to the start of Stage Two. On an opposite strategy with a points-earning stage in mind, William Byron took advantage of his fresh set of Goodyear tires to quickly take his turn as the top running Chevrolet driver – entering the top-five during the opening laps of Stage Two. But a caution on Lap 46 kickstarted a split strategy throughout the field. While the majority of the field opted for a trip to pit road, nine cars chose to stay out to earn valuable track position. The strategy paid early dividends for five Team Chevy drivers, with their respective teams inheriting a spot in the top-10 nearing the halfway point of Stage Two. Among those included Carson Hocevar, who drove his No. 77 Chevrolet inside the top-five to become the third different top-running Team Chevy driver of the race. But shortly thereafter, what was building into a long green flag run saw those on fresher tires start making their way back through the lead pack en route to the next pit cycle. Still under green flag conditions, those on the alternate strategy were on the horizon of a required trip to pit road, with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez leading the pack into the cycle just shy of 20 laps to go in the stage. With the stage continuing on caution-free, it was Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that opted to stay out for points – making his first appearance in the top-five of the day to lead the manufacturer to the conclusion of Stage Two.


Final Stage: With a call by crew chief, Alan Gustafson, to stay out under the final stage break, Elliott was welcomed back into the top-five for the start of the final stage of the race. As the race hit 42 laps to go, the leaders began to hit pit road to start the green flag pit cycle. Climbing up to third, Elliott turned in his position just two laps into the cycle to make his final trip to pit road of the day. Just inside 20 laps to go, then-race leader, Christopher Bell, was the only driver that was making the gamble to stretch their fuel mileage to the end. With enough fuel to make it to the end, Byron sat strong in the third position and progressively closed in on second as the race hit a single-digit lap count – going on to make a late-race pass for second to earn his best finish of the season. 
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos.     Driver
2nd – William Byron5th – Kyle Larson8th – Ross ChastainChevrolet’s season statistics with 16 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 30Top 10s: 57Stage Wins: 13
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at the Naval Base Coronado with the Anduril 250 on Sunday, June 21, at 4 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
NASCAR Cup SeriesPocono RacewayGreat American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPATeam Chevy Post-Race ReportJune 14, 2026


 William Byron Earns Season-Best Finish at Pocono RacewayThree Team Chevy Drivers Place in the Top-Eight
MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom
 William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, earned his best finish of the season in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 – leading Chevrolet to the checkered flag with a second-place finish at the “Tricky Triangle”.   

RACE RECAP: 

Stage One: Kyle Larson led Team Chevy in Saturday’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway, with the reigning champion earning a front-row starting position for the Great American Getaway 400. Taking the green flag for Stage One, Larson remained side-by-side with polesitter, Denny Hamlin, for the first-two turns before edging his No. 5 Chevrolet to the top position to lead the opening lap of the race. Larson quickly set the pace, pulling to an 1.2-second lead after just five laps around the “Tricky Triangle”. With a long green flag run to open the race, Larson made his first report from behind the wheel just past the midway point of Stage One, indicating that his Chevrolet was building tight through the tunnel turn as the track rubbered up. The California native went on to lead the first 25 laps, but a hard-charging Hamlin progressively closed the gap en route to a late-stage pass to find Larson ultimately take the first green-white checkered flag in the second position.


Stage Two: Alex Bowman was among the six cars that opted to short-pit the opening stage, with the No. 48 Chevrolet team finding themselves in the sixth position to lead Team Chevy to the start of Stage Two. On an opposite strategy with a points-earning stage in mind, William Byron took advantage of his fresh set of Goodyear tires to quickly take his turn as the top running Chevrolet driver – entering the top-five during the opening laps of Stage Two. But a caution on Lap 46 kickstarted a split strategy throughout the field. While the majority of the field opted for a trip to pit road, nine cars chose to stay out to earn valuable track position. The strategy paid early dividends for five Team Chevy drivers, with their respective teams inheriting a spot in the top-10 nearing the halfway point of Stage Two. Among those included Carson Hocevar, who drove his No. 77 Chevrolet inside the top-five to become the third different top-running Team Chevy driver of the race. But shortly thereafter, what was building into a long green flag run saw those on fresher tires start making their way back through the lead pack en route to the next pit cycle. Still under green flag conditions, those on the alternate strategy were on the horizon of a required trip to pit road, with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez leading the pack into the cycle just shy of 20 laps to go in the stage. With the stage continuing on caution-free, it was Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that opted to stay out for points – making his first appearance in the top-five of the day to lead the manufacturer to the conclusion of Stage Two.


Final Stage: With a call by crew chief, Alan Gustafson, to stay out under the final stage break, Elliott was welcomed back into the top-five for the start of the final stage of the race. As the race hit 42 laps to go, the leaders began to hit pit road to start the green flag pit cycle. Climbing up to third, Elliott turned in his position just two laps into the cycle to make his final trip to pit road of the day. Just inside 20 laps to go, then-race leader, Christopher Bell, was the only driver that was making the gamble to stretch their fuel mileage to the end. With enough fuel to make it to the end, Byron sat strong in the third position and progressively closed in on second as the race hit a single-digit lap count – going on to make a late-race pass for second to earn his best finish of the season. 
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos.     Driver
2nd – William Byron5th – Kyle Larson8th – Ross ChastainChevrolet’s season statistics with 16 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 30Top 10s: 57Stage Wins: 13
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at the Naval Base Coronado with the Anduril 250 on Sunday, June 21, at 4 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 8th“We passed some cars today, so it feels really good to be able to do that. On top of that, we had the speed in our No. 1 Busch Light Lime Chevy and the strategy worked out to run Stage Two out and get the points. And then, we were able to run long into the final stage and have a tire advantage there at the end, with the clean air to go with that. It was nice that it ran green. That was our strategy and that worked to drive up into eighth. To start 24th at Pocono (Raceway) and drive forward, that felt really good.”    Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 25th“We had a strong No. 3 BetMGM x Survivor Triple Challenge Chevrolet this weekend at Pocono Raceway. Unfortunately, we got too tight during qualifying and had to start the race deeper in the field than we would have liked and then strategy didn’t play to our favor during the race. Still, our Richard Boswell-led team never gave up and we did what we could to gain us positions during the race. Our Chevy started out neutral, but handling turned tight pretty quickly before trending loose later in the race. We had top-10 to 15 lap times throughout the day – just needed the track position. Our right-rear started giving out with 18 to go and we salvaged what we could. We’ll turn our focus to turning left and right the next two races on the schedule in San Diego and Sonoma.”   Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5th“It was a solid day for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team. I didn’t have the greatest restarts early in the race, so we kind of paid for that the rest of the race with track position. I feel like I made up for it a little bit on the last two restarts to gain some track position and have a good cycle there. We came home with a top-five finish and a pretty solid race car.”    William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 2nd“I think this is probably the first time in four months that I’ve been able to drive the car this way, just be able to make moves and have the balance stay with me. Just appreciate everyone on this No. 24 Raptor Chevy team and back at Hendrick Motorsports for working really hard, trusting in our tools and the things we can use to prepare. I felt confident throughout the weekend, and I just felt like from Lap One on-track, I could push pretty hard. The strategy makes it tough where you have to restart towards the back, but I felt like with our Raptor Chevy, we could manipulate and work through traffic, so that was awesome.”   Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 18th“Really proud of the entire zone Jalapeño Lime team. It was a solid weekend from start to finish and these guys deserve to have good runs like this. Qualifying 14th gave us a nice pit stall selection and we put together an entire race, even got a stage point. The balance of our Chevrolet was pretty good, but we were just a little tight on throttle down. It didn’t need much though. We will keep working hard and build off of this.”


Casey Mears, No. 62 Beard Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage. Finished: 36th“We just ended up having a loose wheel, which is bummer because with me not having a lot of experience with this car and racing at this track. Looking back on it, we started the weekend way too loose. The car was numb and I just didn’t have a good feel for it. Once we got the car a little tighter every run that we ran, we got way more competitive. There at the end, that last change helped me even more. We had just gotten the car where I felt like I could cruise up there and break into the top-20; maybe have a solid day and get some points. But when the wheel comes off, you’re day is over. It was a hard hit, but I’m okay.”   Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 17th“It wasn’t a great day for this No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet team. I feel like we were just a little bit too tight for most of the day, especially in traffic and we spent most of those last few runs in traffic. We still have a little bit of work to do, but all-in-all, we put together a solid day. We just didn’t have the speed and the balance we needed to contend for a top-10. But we’ll regroup and get ready for two good tracks for us.”   Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 23rd“I’m really proud of everyone on our Roto-Rooter team. We overcame a lot today to score a respectable finish. There are still a few things we need to do make our car better but today was a step in the right direction after the last few weeks.”   

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: TF Sport Corvette Wins!

Catsburg, Keating, Edgar take come-from-behind LMGT3 win with No. 33 Corvette
LE MANS, France (June 14, 2026) – TF Sport and Corvette Racing reigned at Le Mans on Sunday as the team’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating earned a hard-fought LMGT3 victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s the first victory at the French endurance class for the Corvette GT3 and 10th for the Corvette Racing program since its first Le Mans win in 2001. A Corvette won Le Mans for the first time since 2023 when Catsburg and Keating won for the Corvette Racing team in the final year of the GTE Am class with a Corvette C8.R. 
“What an historic day for General Motors and Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Mark Reuss, President, General Motors. “To earn Corvette Racing’s 10th class victory at Le Mans is a tremendous achievement for our motorsports, design and engineering teams. Huge congratulations to drivers Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating, and our partners TF Sport. You have earned your place in the history books! It’s an incredibly proud moment for all of us and it shows that, working as one team, GM can beat the best in the world.”
TF Sport also celebrated the victory as part of its 10th appearance at Le Mans, where the team won for the fourth time. In addition, the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey finished sixth in LMGT3 after starting last on the 25-car grid. A third TF Sport Corvette – the No. 2 of Johor Motorsports Racing drivers Ben Green, Lorcan Hanafin and Prince Jefri Ibrahim – placed 14th in the first Le Mans for the JMR crew. Starting 17th in LMGT3, the No. 33 Corvette team established itself as a contender early. After an ironman run in the race’s opening eight hours by Keating – who completed his minimum of six hours driving with five stints and then four stints – Edgar and Catsburg surged to the front of the LMGT3 class by the time the sun rose over the Circuit de la Sarthe. Edgar moved the No. 33 Corvette into the class lead for the first time in the race’s 10th during his second stint. Catsburg also led into the final third of the race by as much as three minutes before a safety car chopped that advantage to only a few seconds. Edgar ended up being the driving force at the end of the race. He drove five consecutive stints and just under four hours to take the checkered flag for his first Le Mans victory. Catsburg won his second and Keating his third. The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette ran out front in the 11th hour as Charlie Eastwood completed a remarkable comeback by the driving trio and team after starting from last on the grid – 25th place. After Yoluc completed his drivetime near halfway, Dempsey and Eastwood were set to drive the rest of the way with Eastwood in the middle of a five-stint run. The No. 2 TF Sport Corvette – crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing – was ninth in class in the Le Mans debut for much of the JMR team. Ben Green and Lorcan Hanafin were as high as fourth in class during their stints, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim kept the No. 2 Corvette in the top-10 into the final eight hours. 13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair.
ANDREA HIDALGO, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “It’s amazing to be able to help bring home such an important win for the Corvette Racing program and add to the long legacy Corvette has at Le Mans. This shows the strength of our Corvette GT3 platform and the strength of our Corvette customer teams to execute and win. Congratulations to TF Sport, Nicky, Jonny and Ben on a nearly flawless race to deliver a 10th Corvette Racing win at Le Mans.”
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – LMGTE WINNER: “If you get to write the story, you would write it this way. We had to come all the way from the back. We had to wait for Ben to heal and be back in shape. Nine weeks after he broke his elbow, so it’s an incredible result for us. A great, great day.“First of all, the Corvette has been great to us first in 2023 and now today. For Ben to do all of his driving before Sunday with no mistakes, that was incredible. Then Jonny Edgar – the man with two first names! – if you asked me, he was man of the match. He had just crazy pace and he did five stints until the end. A big thank you to him as well. Having good teammates makes it a lot easier!”(On Jonny Edgar) “What Jonny showed today was incredible. I feel like this is one of those races that could be a career-changing race. He was unbeatable today and he showed that it’s very nice to have teammates like that. It’s very cool for him. This always means we are doing well in the championship going to Sāo Paulo. You couldn’t ask for a better day than this!”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – LMGTE WINNER: “I knew we had a fighting chance because the car was feeling really good and we seemed pretty fast. I always knew we had a chance to win but in a 24-hour race you need so much to go right. You need some luck with safety cars or to also not be unlucky. There are a hundred things that could have gone wrong but we had a pretty perfect race, I would say. No mistakes, no contact, good pit stops the whole time. It was just a great race.“The plan wasn’t to do five stints at the end. But I think I had to do at least three due to the drivetime rules and how much Nicky had done. I was going to do three but because of the way we did tires, it made sense to do four. Once I was already in for four, I may as well have stayed in again! So it went from two stints to five pretty quickly. But I felt good in the car and it was easy to drive, which changes a lot about how much effort is needed to drive. That made it easier over the 24 hours.” 
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – LMGTE WINNER: “You always believe it can happen, absolutely. I don’t care how good your car or team is. You can’t come into a 24-hour race expecting to do well. You just have to do your job, and we had a perfect race… no penalties, no mistakes. The car is in pretty good shape, and that’s what you need to do to win this race.“It’s so good to be with these guys. I enjoy Nicky. I’m super-proud of Jonny. To win with Corvette is really special again. But it’s even better to have my name on the side of it. In 2023 when we won with the Corvette, I didn’t have Keating Chevrolet! Now I have Keating Chevrolet so I can put my dealership on it. Hopefully we win on Sunday and sell Corvettes on Monday!”(More on the race) “This has to be the best weather I’ve ever seen in Le Mans in the 12 times I’ve done it. It was a clean race. I’d be shocked if we didn’t go further than we ever have before. It made for really competitive racing. The heat was good for our car, so it was an advantage to have that heat, especially in the middle of the day when we got strong.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think it was a super-solid race for us. At Le Mans, if you have a super-solid Silver like Jonny, he can take a lot of the load. It was always going to be difficult for our guys versus him. That’s ultimately the race. When he can do seven or eight hours at pro pace, it’s hard to match it. They ran an unbelievable race. We got lucky with a couple of safety cars to keep us on the lead lap. At the end we had nothing to really to go for so we were just chilling out to the finish. It’s a pity for us that we were sixth but an unbelievable day for Corvette to get a Le Mans victory in LMGT3. A really good day for GM and for TF Sport.”
SALIH YOLUC, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been all right. I mean, the team has done a great job, so have the drivers. But our sister car was faster, so they won the race, which is very good for the team. Our goal was of course to win. I always want to win, so I’ll just have to come back and try again.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “From where we qualified with the penalty and to rebound and drive through the field and have a clean race, you know, penalty-free… I’m happy. Everyone executed the jobs they had to do. I think we had sort of one slow stop at a driver change with me, I think, the second stop in the race, but overall, happy, my first Le Mans done.”I think the pace was good there at the end. I kind of built into the race some safety margin in the first stint, a bit more aggression in the second stint, and then full push from the third stint onwards. And I think the pace was right there to help get the car in a good position before I gave it to Charlie at the end.
”Of course I would have loved to be on the podium, especially since the 33 car is there. That would have been an absolute dream coming true to stand on the podium here in Le Mans. But also, you know, a solid race is also really important. But I’m going to go on to the next one.”
TOM FERRIER, TF SPORT TEAM OWNER: “I think this is one of the best races we’ve ever done as a team. Everything fell in our favor and worked the way we planned it, which doesn’t happen very often. We got breaks when we needed to. The car was fast. These guys were awesome. We didn’t get any track limits penalties, didn’t damage anything. It was really well-executed, and against a grid like that you had to do that to win it. At one point it looked like it was going to be really easy but obviously the safety car brought an end to that. I’m just so proud of everybody who’s part of this team.“The race had 36 pit stops because the stints are so short. I don’t remember it being like that last year; it felt like hard work because you never had time to sit and reset and think because you’re up and down. And Jonny has been incredible since we got here and he really got into it in the race. The professional that Nicky is, he’s happy to put his hands up and say that another guy is faster than I could go, and we needed that to win the race. So Jonny… a young man who drove brilliantly. I never had a doubt about it.”
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: TF Sport Corvette Wins!Catsburg, Keating, Edgar take come-from-behind LMGT3 win with No. 33 Corvette
LE MANS, France (June 14, 2026) – TF Sport and Corvette Racing reigned at Le Mans on Sunday as the team’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating earned a hard-fought LMGT3 victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s the first victory at the French endurance class for the Corvette GT3 and 10th for the Corvette Racing program since its first Le Mans win in 2001. A Corvette won Le Mans for the first time since 2023 when Catsburg and Keating won for the Corvette Racing team in the final year of the GTE Am class with a Corvette C8.R. 
“What an historic day for General Motors and Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Mark Reuss, President, General Motors. “To earn Corvette Racing’s 10th class victory at Le Mans is a tremendous achievement for our motorsports, design and engineering teams. Huge congratulations to drivers Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating, and our partners TF Sport. You have earned your place in the history books! It’s an incredibly proud moment for all of us and it shows that, working as one team, GM can beat the best in the world.”
TF Sport also celebrated the victory as part of its 10th appearance at Le Mans, where the team won for the fourth time. In addition, the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey finished sixth in LMGT3 after starting last on the 25-car grid. A third TF Sport Corvette – the No. 2 of Johor Motorsports Racing drivers Ben Green, Lorcan Hanafin and Prince Jefri Ibrahim – placed 14th in the first Le Mans for the JMR crew. Starting 17th in LMGT3, the No. 33 Corvette team established itself as a contender early. After an ironman run in the race’s opening eight hours by Keating – who completed his minimum of six hours driving with five stints and then four stints – Edgar and Catsburg surged to the front of the LMGT3 class by the time the sun rose over the Circuit de la Sarthe. Edgar moved the No. 33 Corvette into the class lead for the first time in the race’s 10th during his second stint. Catsburg also led into the final third of the race by as much as three minutes before a safety car chopped that advantage to only a few seconds. Edgar ended up being the driving force at the end of the race. He drove five consecutive stints and just under four hours to take the checkered flag for his first Le Mans victory. Catsburg won his second and Keating his third. The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette ran out front in the 11th hour as Charlie Eastwood completed a remarkable comeback by the driving trio and team after starting from last on the grid – 25th place. After Yoluc completed his drivetime near halfway, Dempsey and Eastwood were set to drive the rest of the way with Eastwood in the middle of a five-stint run. The No. 2 TF Sport Corvette – crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing – was ninth in class in the Le Mans debut for much of the JMR team. Ben Green and Lorcan Hanafin were as high as fourth in class during their stints, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim kept the No. 2 Corvette in the top-10 into the final eight hours. 13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair.
ANDREA HIDALGO, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “It’s amazing to be able to help bring home such an important win for the Corvette Racing program and add to the long legacy Corvette has at Le Mans. This shows the strength of our Corvette GT3 platform and the strength of our Corvette customer teams to execute and win. Congratulations to TF Sport, Nicky, Jonny and Ben on a nearly flawless race to deliver a 10th Corvette Racing win at Le Mans.”
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – LMGTE WINNER: “If you get to write the story, you would write it this way. We had to come all the way from the back. We had to wait for Ben to heal and be back in shape. Nine weeks after he broke his elbow, so it’s an incredible result for us. A great, great day.“First of all, the Corvette has been great to us first in 2023 and now today. For Ben to do all of his driving before Sunday with no mistakes, that was incredible. Then Jonny Edgar – the man with two first names! – if you asked me, he was man of the match. He had just crazy pace and he did five stints until the end. A big thank you to him as well. Having good teammates makes it a lot easier!”(On Jonny Edgar) “What Jonny showed today was incredible. I feel like this is one of those races that could be a career-changing race. He was unbeatable today and he showed that it’s very nice to have teammates like that. It’s very cool for him. This always means we are doing well in the championship going to Sāo Paulo. You couldn’t ask for a better day than this!”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – LMGTE WINNER: “I knew we had a fighting chance because the car was feeling really good and we seemed pretty fast. I always knew we had a chance to win but in a 24-hour race you need so much to go right. You need some luck with safety cars or to also not be unlucky. There are a hundred things that could have gone wrong but we had a pretty perfect race, I would say. No mistakes, no contact, good pit stops the whole time. It was just a great race.“The plan wasn’t to do five stints at the end. But I think I had to do at least three due to the drivetime rules and how much Nicky had done. I was going to do three but because of the way we did tires, it made sense to do four. Once I was already in for four, I may as well have stayed in again! So it went from two stints to five pretty quickly. But I felt good in the car and it was easy to drive, which changes a lot about how much effort is needed to drive. That made it easier over the 24 hours.” 
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – LMGTE WINNER: “You always believe it can happen, absolutely. I don’t care how good your car or team is. You can’t come into a 24-hour race expecting to do well. You just have to do your job, and we had a perfect race… no penalties, no mistakes. The car is in pretty good shape, and that’s what you need to do to win this race.“It’s so good to be with these guys. I enjoy Nicky. I’m super-proud of Jonny. To win with Corvette is really special again. But it’s even better to have my name on the side of it. In 2023 when we won with the Corvette, I didn’t have Keating Chevrolet! Now I have Keating Chevrolet so I can put my dealership on it. Hopefully we win on Sunday and sell Corvettes on Monday!”(More on the race) “This has to be the best weather I’ve ever seen in Le Mans in the 12 times I’ve done it. It was a clean race. I’d be shocked if we didn’t go further than we ever have before. It made for really competitive racing. The heat was good for our car, so it was an advantage to have that heat, especially in the middle of the day when we got strong.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think it was a super-solid race for us. At Le Mans, if you have a super-solid Silver like Jonny, he can take a lot of the load. It was always going to be difficult for our guys versus him. That’s ultimately the race. When he can do seven or eight hours at pro pace, it’s hard to match it. They ran an unbelievable race. We got lucky with a couple of safety cars to keep us on the lead lap. At the end we had nothing to really to go for so we were just chilling out to the finish. It’s a pity for us that we were sixth but an unbelievable day for Corvette to get a Le Mans victory in LMGT3. A really good day for GM and for TF Sport.”
SALIH YOLUC, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s been all right. I mean, the team has done a great job, so have the drivers. But our sister car was faster, so they won the race, which is very good for the team. Our goal was of course to win. I always want to win, so I’ll just have to come back and try again.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “From where we qualified with the penalty and to rebound and drive through the field and have a clean race, you know, penalty-free… I’m happy. Everyone executed the jobs they had to do. I think we had sort of one slow stop at a driver change with me, I think, the second stop in the race, but overall, happy, my first Le Mans done.”I think the pace was good there at the end. I kind of built into the race some safety margin in the first stint, a bit more aggression in the second stint, and then full push from the third stint onwards. And I think the pace was right there to help get the car in a good position before I gave it to Charlie at the end.
”Of course I would have loved to be on the podium, especially since the 33 car is there. That would have been an absolute dream coming true to stand on the podium here in Le Mans. But also, you know, a solid race is also really important. But I’m going to go on to the next one.”
TOM FERRIER, TF SPORT TEAM OWNER: “I think this is one of the best races we’ve ever done as a team. Everything fell in our favor and worked the way we planned it, which doesn’t happen very often. We got breaks when we needed to. The car was fast. These guys were awesome. We didn’t get any track limits penalties, didn’t damage anything. It was really well-executed, and against a grid like that you had to do that to win it. At one point it looked like it was going to be really easy but obviously the safety car brought an end to that. I’m just so proud of everybody who’s part of this team.“The race had 36 pit stops because the stints are so short. I don’t remember it being like that last year; it felt like hard work because you never had time to sit and reset and think because you’re up and down. And Jonny has been incredible since we got here and he really got into it in the race. The professional that Nicky is, he’s happy to put his hands up and say that another guy is faster than I could go, and we needed that to win the race. So Jonny… a young man who drove brilliantly. I never had a doubt about it.”

Cadillac finishes solid fourth in 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans


LE MANS, FRANCE (June 14, 2026) – Cadillac finished a strong fourth in the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans today. Having led large portions of the race in their Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, Norman Nato, Will Stevens and Louis Deletraz were ultimately unlucky to be deprived of a well-deserved podium finish.  The Dex WTR Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Ricky Tayor, Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque finished ninth overall. Local veteran Sébastien Bourdais, who shared a Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken, was leading at the midway point but suffered a power steering issue which brought the car into the garage minutes past the midway point. The team investigated and changed key components including the control unit.  The car resumed the race in P17 with over 11 hours remaining, but after further investigation it was deemed that the issue couldn’t be resolved and the car was retired at 8.00 am on Sunday morning.
The next WEC race is at 9:30 am (BRT) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 12 the Autódromo José Carlos Pacewith with the ROLEX 6 Hours of São Paulo. The next IMSA GTP event is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 25. The Six-Hour race starts at 12:10 pm EDT and will be streamed on Peacock and streamed on IMSAs YouTube page (outside United States). IMSA Radio will stream live audio coverage on XM 206, Channel 996 on the SiriusXM app and IMSA.com.
 Cadillac finishes solid fourth in 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans
LE MANS, FRANCE (June 14, 2026) – Cadillac finished a strong fourth in the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans today. Having led large portions of the race in their Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, Norman Nato, Will Stevens and Louis Deletraz were ultimately unlucky to be deprived of a well-deserved podium finish.  The Dex WTR Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Ricky Tayor, Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque finished ninth overall. Local veteran Sébastien Bourdais, who shared a Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken, was leading at the midway point but suffered a power steering issue which brought the car into the garage minutes past the midway point. The team investigated and changed key components including the control unit.  The car resumed the race in P17 with over 11 hours remaining, but after further investigation it was deemed that the issue couldn’t be resolved and the car was retired at 8.00 am on Sunday morning.
The next WEC race is at 9:30 am (BRT) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 12 the Autódromo José Carlos Pacewith with the ROLEX 6 Hours of São Paulo. The next IMSA GTP event is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 25. The Six-Hour race starts at 12:10 pm EDT and will be streamed on Peacock and streamed on IMSAs YouTube page (outside United States). IMSA Radio will stream live audio coverage on XM 206, Channel 996 on the SiriusXM app and IMSA.com.
What they’re saying
No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R:Will Stevens: “It’s pretty disappointing to come away with fourth place. I think, honestly, we deserved more than that. With the pace we showed we should have been on the podium at least. But we were more in the mix than last year, which is a positive. But coming here we had higher hopes than the result we ended up with, so we can’t help but be disappointed. But we’ll come back again next year stronger.” Norman Nato: “We knew coming into this week that we were going to be in a good position. The team has worked very hard and made some big improvements to the car compared to last year. We have the top speed we were missing before, and overall, the package is a step forward. I’m really enjoyed these 24 Hours. We’ve had some great battles out there with the BMW, the sister car and the Toyota, and that’s what we like. For the team and for the fans, it’s amazing to be in this position with a chance to fight for the win.” Louis Deletraz: ”First of all, a huge thank you to Cadillac Racing and JOTA, all the crew, mechanics, engineers, for the hard work last ten days. Obviously, it’s a great result, but after leading so much of the race and being up front the whole week, it’s still disappointing for sure. But I think we did the maximum we could, the circumstances made it that way. We came here to fight for a win, we never gave up, and we’ll be back for more because we are hungry to win this race.
No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R:Sebastien Bourdais: “As we all know, Le Mans can be really cruel. We did everything we could and gave ourselves a chance. So big thanks to GM, JOTA and Cadillac and everybody involved. We had the car to win and the race decided otherwise so it’s a tough one to swallow, but that’s racing.” Earl Bamber: “We had a great number 38 car and led a lot of the race, but unfortunately technical issues put us out, so it’s a shame.” Jack Aitken: “A very sad way to end the weekend after such a strong event for us. It was looking really good. We led the race at various times and were quick. We were really in the fight with the rest of the field, but this is the race that brings out all the small weaknesses in a car and in the end, the power steering issue was not something you could really continue with. We tried everything we could to get the car back out, but we eventually decided against running the car. Really gutting for everyone on the 38 side, but as a team I think we can still be very proud of what we’ve achieved this year.” No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.RWayne Taylor: “We would have loved to be on a podium. This year at Le Mans, we arrived here and we were competitive throughout the weekend. I want to thank Cadillac and General Motors for all the effort and assistance and passion they put into this. They are real partners. The team was awesome, and we had no mechanical failures of the car during the entire week of practice and then qualifying and everything. Though we had issues during the race, the whole Cadillac team worked well with all three cars. Thanks to Dex, our commercial partner, and the drivers, and everybody on the team. It felt like a podium finish, because this team has only been here twice, and got everything right, made no mistakes.” Jordan Taylor: “I think the result is a little disappointing, but I think there’s a lot of positives that we can take away from the whole week in Le Mans. I think, last year, our first year, we struggled a lot, just on pace, and obviously a lot to learn, and this year, we came back with a lot of knowledge, and I felt like we were really prepared for the event. We showed great speed the whole time, which was really exciting, you know, fighting at the front, and every practice, and every qualifying was exciting for the team, and for Cadillac. So, yeah, the race itself, we were kind of put on the back foot early with a poorly timed, full course yellow and then a couple of penalties in the morning, which took us off the lead lap for that safety car. So, unfortunate, but, yeah, good experience for everyone. I think we learned a lot that we can take back to the IMSA side and, you know, hopefully close out the IMSA side with some good results for Cadillac.” Ricky Taylor: “It was another good learning weekend unfortunately. I think the full-course yellow, and a couple of penalties took us off the lead lap and once you lose a lap in WEC, it’s not like IMSA where you can play the yellows and come back, you are kind of stuck. Unfortunately, that was our story from about the early hours of the morning. But we had a good car and everyone at Cadillac did a nice job and it was nice driving with Jordan (Taylor) and Filipe (Albuquerque) again and having the guys here in Le Mans together. Now we’ll go to Watkins Glen and hopefully move on quickly.” Jeromy Moore, Chief Engineer – Cadillac Racing: “I think overall we were pretty happy with our performance. We brought a competitive car to the battle and certainly had a chance to win it. But as always you don’t get selected to win Le Mans, Le Mans selects you. The guys performed well in the car, the crew and the staff, they did an amazing job. The competition was strong as always. I’m just happy that we could put up a fight for so long, almost down to the wire. So pretty happy, exhausted as always, but we’ll look forward to coming back even stronger next yea

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: TF Sport Corvette Wins!

Catsburg, Keating, Edgar take come-from-behind LMGT3 win with No. 33 Corvette LE MANS, France (June 14, 2026) – TF Sport and Corvette Racing reigned at Le Mans on Sunday as the team’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating earned a hard-fought LMGT3 victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s the first victory at the French endurance class for the Corvette GT3 and 10th for the Corvette Racing program since its first Le Mans win in 2001. A Corvette won Le Mans for the first time since 2023 when Catsburg and Keating won for the Corvette Racing team in the final year of the GTE Am class with a Corvette C8.R. 
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: TF Sport Corvette Wins!Catsburg, Keating, Edgar take come-from-behind LMGT3 win with No. 33 Corvette LE MANS, France (June 14, 2026) – TF Sport and Corvette Racing reigned at Le Mans on Sunday as the team’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating earned a hard-fought LMGT3 victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s the first victory at the French endurance class for the Corvette GT3 and 10th for the Corvette Racing program since its first Le Mans win in 2001. A Corvette won Le Mans for the first time since 2023 when Catsburg and Keating won for the Corvette Racing team in the final year of the GTE Am class with a Corvette C8.R. 
“What an historic day for General Motors and Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Mark Reuss, President, General Motors. “To earn Corvette Racing’s 10th class victory at Le Mans is a tremendous achievement for our motorsports, design and engineering teams. Huge congratulations to drivers Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating, and our partners TF Sport. You have earned your place in the history books! It’s an incredibly proud moment for all of us and it shows that, working as one team, GM can beat the best in the world.”

TF Sport also celebrated the victory as part of its 10th appearance at Le Mans, where the team won for the fourth time. 

In addition, the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey finished sixth in LMGT3 after starting last on the 25-car grid. A third TF Sport Corvette – the No. 2 of Johor Motorsports Racing drivers Ben Green, Lorcan Hanafin and Prince Jefri Ibrahim – placed 14th in the first Le Mans for the JMR crew.

More details to follow…

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Sixteen-Hour Report

No. 33 TF Sport Corvette surges into LMGT3 lead as sun rises over Le Mans LE MANS, France (June 14, 2026) – TF Sport’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R established itself as the car to beat as the 24 Hours of Le Mans transitioned from nighttime to daylight Sunday morning. After an ironman run in the race’s opening eight hours by Ben Keating, teammates Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg surged to the front of the 25-car LMGT3 class by the time the sun rose over the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Edgar moved the No. 33 Corvette into the class lead for the first time in the race’s 10th during his second stint. That followed Keating’s quadruple stint to meet his minimum drivetime of six hours; he started the race by doing five consecutive stints to start the race. Catsburg led into the final third of the race by as much as three minutes. The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette ran out front in the 11th hour as Charlie Eastwood completed a remarkable comeback by the driving trio and team after starting from last on the grid – 25th place. After Salih Yoluc completed his drivetime near halfway, Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood were set to drive the rest of the way with Eastwood in the middle of a five-stint run. The No. 2 TF Sport Corvette – crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing – was ninth in class in the Le Mans debut for much of the JMR team. Ben Green and Lorcan Hanafin were as high as fourth in class during their stints, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim kept the No. 2 Corvette in the top-10 into the final eight hours. 13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair. Corvette Racing’s next report will come following the finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R IN-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: (After his first stint) “I think things went exactly to plan. We all discussed and agreed that the highest chance of a safety car was highest in the night. Any incident in the day would be a slow zone; that’s why Ben wanted to do all of his time as soon as he could. He did a great job of doing his six hours within the first eight, which was impressive. The safety car came at the perfect time; on the restart Ben boxed and I got in. It was a long wait from the start! But it seemed to go quite well. I didn’t see that many other cars on track so it was difficult to judge the pace but it seems like we are in a decent position. Some other teams still have some Bronze time so I think we’re in a good position.”(After second stint) “It’s going well at the moment. Honestly I don’t fully know how we got into the lead. When I got back in the car, we were cycling between P1 and P4 depending on when people were stopping. It seems now we have a decent lead but I didn’t know where I was and what the pace was. I was just trying to do consistent laps. I think one of the big things is getting Ben’s drivetime done early. That really helped us because a lot of people have had to put their Bronze drivers back in. We’ve been able to do it with just me and Nicky. It’s great Ben was able to do so much time in one go because I know a lot of people aren’t able to do that, especially coming back from his injury. It was impressive.”(Progression of the Corvette) “It feels the same as my first run, honestly. I don’t know the pace that other people are doing. We seem to be in the lead by a bit so I don’t know if other people have gotten slower. To me it felt a bit better maybe. The car feels very nice and things are going good and well.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think we’re in a good spot. My stints there were better than my first run, so that was positive. We were able to drop the Ford and one of the Lexus behind us. The pace felt alright. I’m never going to be as fast as Charlie (Eastwood), Nicky (Catsburg) or Jonny (Edgar). They’re so good and all I can do is the best for the team. Charlie is going to be in the car a lot here to the end. I think he can drive us to the front. A safety car would be nice, and if it comes then we’ll be back in the fight.”(Difference between first and second run) “I didn’t look at data at all. Honestly it was more about understanding that I need to be more aggressive with traffic. I was so worried about just looking after the car and getting in clean stints with no penalties. That’s what I wanted to do to settle into the race. Now that we’re getting to the end of the race, I need to be more aggressive. That time with traffic I definitely did a much better job than I did before.”
BEN GREEN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “That run into morning went pretty well. I did four stints, with the final stint warming up a new set for Prince Jefri to use those hot tires on first stint. I’m happy with the pace and how we’re managing everything. The car is in good shape. From our starting position it was always going to be a challenge, but we had a plan and we’ve followed it well so far. So we just have to keep going step by step. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out at the end. Overall, it’s looking good for GM which is exciting for all of us!”
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Sixteen-Hour ReportNo. 33 TF Sport Corvette surges into LMGT3 lead as sun rises over Le Mans LE MANS, France (June 14, 2026) – TF Sport’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R established itself as the car to beat as the 24 Hours of Le Mans transitioned from nighttime to daylight Sunday morning. After an ironman run in the race’s opening eight hours by Ben Keating, teammates Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg surged to the front of the 25-car LMGT3 class by the time the sun rose over the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Edgar moved the No. 33 Corvette into the class lead for the first time in the race’s 10th during his second stint. That followed Keating’s quadruple stint to meet his minimum drivetime of six hours; he started the race by doing five consecutive stints to start the race. Catsburg led into the final third of the race by as much as three minutes. The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette ran out front in the 11th hour as Charlie Eastwood completed a remarkable comeback by the driving trio and team after starting from last on the grid – 25th place. After Salih Yoluc completed his drivetime near halfway, Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood were set to drive the rest of the way with Eastwood in the middle of a five-stint run. The No. 2 TF Sport Corvette – crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing – was ninth in class in the Le Mans debut for much of the JMR team. Ben Green and Lorcan Hanafin were as high as fourth in class during their stints, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim kept the No. 2 Corvette in the top-10 into the final eight hours. 13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair. Corvette Racing’s next report will come following the finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R IN-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: (After his first stint) “I think things went exactly to plan. We all discussed and agreed that the highest chance of a safety car was highest in the night. Any incident in the day would be a slow zone; that’s why Ben wanted to do all of his time as soon as he could. He did a great job of doing his six hours within the first eight, which was impressive. The safety car came at the perfect time; on the restart Ben boxed and I got in. It was a long wait from the start! But it seemed to go quite well. I didn’t see that many other cars on track so it was difficult to judge the pace but it seems like we are in a decent position. Some other teams still have some Bronze time so I think we’re in a good position.”(After second stint) “It’s going well at the moment. Honestly I don’t fully know how we got into the lead. When I got back in the car, we were cycling between P1 and P4 depending on when people were stopping. It seems now we have a decent lead but I didn’t know where I was and what the pace was. I was just trying to do consistent laps. I think one of the big things is getting Ben’s drivetime done early. That really helped us because a lot of people have had to put their Bronze drivers back in. We’ve been able to do it with just me and Nicky. It’s great Ben was able to do so much time in one go because I know a lot of people aren’t able to do that, especially coming back from his injury. It was impressive.”(Progression of the Corvette) “It feels the same as my first run, honestly. I don’t know the pace that other people are doing. We seem to be in the lead by a bit so I don’t know if other people have gotten slower. To me it felt a bit better maybe. The car feels very nice and things are going good and well.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think we’re in a good spot. My stints there were better than my first run, so that was positive. We were able to drop the Ford and one of the Lexus behind us. The pace felt alright. I’m never going to be as fast as Charlie (Eastwood), Nicky (Catsburg) or Jonny (Edgar). They’re so good and all I can do is the best for the team. Charlie is going to be in the car a lot here to the end. I think he can drive us to the front. A safety car would be nice, and if it comes then we’ll be back in the fight.”(Difference between first and second run) “I didn’t look at data at all. Honestly it was more about understanding that I need to be more aggressive with traffic. I was so worried about just looking after the car and getting in clean stints with no penalties. That’s what I wanted to do to settle into the race. Now that we’re getting to the end of the race, I need to be more aggressive. That time with traffic I definitely did a much better job than I did before.”
BEN GREEN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “That run into morning went pretty well. I did four stints, with the final stint warming up a new set for Prince Jefri to use those hot tires on first stint. I’m happy with the pace and how we’re managing everything. The car is in good shape. From our starting position it was always going to be a challenge, but we had a plan and we’ve followed it well so far. So we just have to keep going step by step. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out at the end. Overall, it’s looking good for GM which is exciting for all of us!”
CORVETTE RACING au Mans: Après 16 heures de courseLa Corvette n° 33 de TF Sport prend la tête de la catégorie LMGT3 alors que le soleil se lève sur Le Mans LE MANS, France (le 14 juin 2026) – La Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R n° 33 de TF Sport s’est imposée comme la voiture à battre alors que les 24 Heures du Mans passaient de la nuit au jour dimanche matin. Après un relais de fer réalisé par Ben Keating pendant les huit premières heures de la course, ses coéquipiers Jonny Edgar et Nicky Catsburg se sont hissés en tête de la catégorie LMGT3, qui comptait 25 voitures, au moment où le soleil se levait sur le circuit de la Sarthe. Edgar a propulsé la Corvette n° 33 en tête de la catégorie pour la première fois de la course lors de la 10e heure, au cours de son deuxième relais. Cela faisait suite au quadruple relais de Keating, qui lui a permis d’atteindre son temps de conduite minimum de six heures ; il avait débuté la course en effectuant cinq relais consécutifs. Catsburg menait avec jusqu’à trois minutes d’avance à l’entame du dernier tiers de la course. La Corvette n° 34 de Racing Team Turkey by TF a pris la tête à la 11e heure, alors que Charlie Eastwood achevait un retour remarquable du trio de pilotes et de l’équipe après être parti en dernière position sur la grille – la 25e place. Après que Salih Yoluc eut terminé son temps de conduite vers la mi-course, Peter Dempsey et Charlie Eastwood se sont relayés pour le reste du parcours, Eastwood effectuant cinq relais consécutifs. La Corvette n° 2 de TF Sport – pilotée par Johor Motorsports Racing – était neuvième de sa catégorie pour les débuts au Mans d’une grande partie de l’équipe JMR. Ben Green et Lorcan Hanafin ont occupé la quatrième place de leur catégorie pendant leurs relais, et le prince Jefri Ibrahim a maintenu la Corvette n° 2 dans le top 10 jusqu’aux huit dernières heures.  La Corvette n° 13 du 13 Autosport a malheureusement dû abandonner à la cinquième heure après qu’une collision en piste a endommagé la voiture de manière irréparable. CE QU’ILS DISENT JONNY EDGAR, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: (Après son premier relais): « Je pense que tout s’est déroulé exactement comme prévu. Nous en avions tous discuté et conclu que c’était la nuit qu’il y avait le plus de chances de voir la voiture de sécurité entrer en piste. Tout incident pendant la journée aurait entraîné une zone de ralentissement ; c’est pourquoi Ben voulait effectuer tout son temps de course dès que possible. Il a fait un excellent travail en bouclant ses six heures dès les huit premières, ce qui était impressionnant. La voiture de sécurité est intervenue au moment idéal ; au redémarrage, Ben est rentré aux stands et j’ai pris le relais. L’attente a été longue depuis le début ! Mais tout semblait bien se passer. Je n’ai pas vu beaucoup d’autres voitures en piste, il était donc difficile d’évaluer le rythme, mais il semble que nous soyons en bonne position. Certaines autres équipes ont encore du “temps Bronze” à faire, donc je pense que nous sommes bien placés. »(Après son deuxième relais): « Ça se passe bien pour l’instant. Honnêtement, je ne sais pas vraiment comment on a pris la tête. Quand je suis remonté dans la voiture, on oscillait entre la P1 et la P4 selon le moment où les autres s’arrêtaient. On dirait qu’on a maintenant une bonne avance, mais je ne savais pas où j’en étais ni quel était le rythme. J’essayais juste de faire des tours réguliers. Je pense que l’un des points importants a été de faire passer Ben au volant assez tôt. Ça nous a vraiment aidés, car beaucoup d’équipes ont dû faire revenir leurs pilotes Bronze. Nous avons pu nous en sortir juste avec Nicky et moi. C’est génial que Ben ait pu rouler autant d’un seul coup, car je sais que beaucoup de pilotes ne sont pas capables de le faire, surtout après une blessure. C’était impressionnant. »(A propos du progrès de la Corvette): « Honnêtement, j’ai la même impression qu’à mon premier relais. Je ne sais pas à quel rythme roulent les autres. On a l’air d’avoir un petit peu d’avance, donc je ne sais pas si les autres ont ralenti. Pour ma part, j’ai peut-être eu l’impression que ça allait un peu mieux. La voiture se comporte très bien et tout se passe bien. »‘PETER DEMPSEY, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°34: « Je pense qu’on est bien placés. Mes relais ont été meilleurs que lors de ma première sortie, ce qui est positif. On a réussi à distancer la Ford et l’une des Lexus derrière nous. Le rythme semblait correct. Je ne serai jamais aussi rapide que Charlie (Eastwood), Nicky (Catsburg) ou Jonny (Edgar). Ils sont tellement bons que tout ce que je peux faire, c’est donner le meilleur de moi-même pour l’équipe. Charlie va passer beaucoup de temps au volant d’ici la fin de la course. Je pense qu’il peut nous propulser en tête. Une safety car serait la bienvenue, et si elle intervient, nous serons à nouveau dans la course. »(Différence entre le premier et le deuxième relais): « Je n’ai pas du tout regardé les data. Honnêtement, il s’agissait surtout de comprendre que je devais me montrer plus agressif face au trafic. J’étais tellement préoccupé par le fait de ménager la voiture et d’enchaîner des relais sans encombre, sans écoper de pénalités. C’est ce que je voulais faire pour trouver mes marques dans la course. Maintenant que nous approchons de la fin, je dois me montrer plus agressif. Cette fois-ci, face au trafic, j’ai vraiment mieux géré la situation qu’auparavant. » BEN GREEN, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°2: « Ce relais matinal s’est plutôt bien passé. J’ai effectué quatre relais, le dernier servant à roder un nouveau train de pneus pour que le prince Jefri puisse les utiliser dès son premier relais. Je suis satisfait de notre rythme et de la façon dont nous gérons les choses. La voiture est en bon état. Compte tenu de notre position de départ, cela allait forcément être un défi, mais nous avions un plan et nous l’avons bien suivi jusqu’à présent. Il ne nous reste plus qu’à continuer pas à pas. Ce sera intéressant de voir comment ça va se terminer. Dans l’ensemble, ça s’annonce bien pour GM, ce qui est passionnant pour nous tous ! »

Tyler Erb Scores Second Win of 2026 in RACEFEST Finale at West Virginia

MINERAL WELLS, WV (June 13, 2026) – Tyler Erb had to wait until the 26th race of the 2026 World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season to get his first win, but he only needed three more to get his second.

Two weeks after the biggest win of his career, a $100,00 score in the Blaster 57 Special at Mansfield Speedway, “Terbo” returned to Victory Lane at West Virginia Motor Speedway to collect another $30,000 as the winner of the RACEFEST Summer Championship.

It was a dominant performance from the driver of the Best Performance Motorsports No. 1, as Erb led all but one of the 60 laps in Saturday’s Feature. That one lap he missed out on was the first one, which was led by Erb’s fellow Rocket Chassis pilot, Brandon Sheppard, who started on the Bilstein Pole.

After Sheppard took the lead off of Turn 2 on the opening lap, Erb dove to the bottom of Turns 3 and 4 and tried to slide up in front of Sheppard off the corner, but he wasn’t clear and let Sheppard slip back by. Erb did the same thing going into Turn 1, and that time, he made the move stick. Sheppard gave the low line a try in the next set of corners, but Erb defended the slider line in what turned out to be the winning move.

It was all Erb the rest of the way, as he remained committed to the top through to the finish whether he was in clean air or stuck in thick traffic. Several other competitors, including Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal and Drake Troutman kept Erb honest and got several restarts to take a shot at him, but none were able to find a way around. The new short-track layout at West Virginia put on some excellent racing for second on back, but Erb maintained a comfortable margin at the front to claim the sixth World of Outlaws win of his career.

“That was a lot of fun,” Erb said. “Elbows up, hard racing. It really worked out into our favor. Last night, I felt really good, just probably wasn’t as committed to the top as I was tonight. Just was able to get the lead, Shepp kind of beat me there and then I slid him. I ran really hard, I felt like, for a minute, just trying to get going. Once we hit lap cars, I was like, ‘Well, the lap cars are on the bottom, that’s good, they can’t pass me down there.’ It definitely makes you feel a little bit easier just having clean air, not having to worry about anybody doing anything crazy.”

Troutman came out ahead of O’Neal in their battle for second in the closing laps. Behind them, Bobby Pierce and Ethan Dotson completed the top five.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision opens a three-week northern swing with a two-night visit to 141 Speedway on Friday and Saturday, June 19-20. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

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

RACE NOTES:

Dennis Erb Jr. set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Hudson O’Neal won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Hudson O’Neal won Heat 1.

Brandon Sheppard won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Drake Troutman won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Tyler Erb won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Carson Ferguson and Chris Ferguson won the Last Chance Showdowns.

Brandon Sheppard won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Tyler Carpenter won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Trey Mills won the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Drake Troutman was the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher.

Hudson O’Neal was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Bobby Pierce was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Josh Rice was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Tim McCreadie was VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Ryan Montgomery was the Lifeline Ninth-Place Finisher.

Chris Ferguson was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Tyler Carpenter was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Brandon Sheppard was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Carson Ferguson was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Brent Larson was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

Tyler Erb Scores Second Win of 2026 in RACEFEST Finale at West Virginia

MINERAL WELLS, WV (June 13, 2026) – Tyler Erb had to wait until the 26th race of the 2026 World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season to get his first win, but he only needed three more to get his second.

Two weeks after the biggest win of his career, a $100,00 score in the Blaster 57 Special at Mansfield Speedway, “Terbo” returned to Victory Lane at West Virginia Motor Speedway to collect another $30,000 as the winner of the RACEFEST Summer Championship.

It was a dominant performance from the driver of the Best Performance Motorsports No. 1, as Erb led all but one of the 60 laps in Saturday’s Feature. That one lap he missed out on was the first one, which was led by Erb’s fellow Rocket Chassis pilot, Brandon Sheppard, who started on the Bilstein Pole.

After Sheppard took the lead off of Turn 2 on the opening lap, Erb dove to the bottom of Turns 3 and 4 and tried to slide up in front of Sheppard off the corner, but he wasn’t clear and let Sheppard slip back by. Erb did the same thing going into Turn 1, and that time, he made the move stick. Sheppard gave the low line a try in the next set of corners, but Erb defended the slider line in what turned out to be the winning move.

It was all Erb the rest of the way, as he remained committed to the top through to the finish whether he was in clean air or stuck in thick traffic. Several other competitors, including Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal and Drake Troutman kept Erb honest and got several restarts to take a shot at him, but none were able to find a way around. The new short-track layout at West Virginia put on some excellent racing for second on back, but Erb maintained a comfortable margin at the front to claim the sixth World of Outlaws win of his career.

“That was a lot of fun,” Erb said. “Elbows up, hard racing. It really worked out into our favor. Last night, I felt really good, just probably wasn’t as committed to the top as I was tonight. Just was able to get the lead, Shepp kind of beat me there and then I slid him. I ran really hard, I felt like, for a minute, just trying to get going. Once we hit lap cars, I was like, ‘Well, the lap cars are on the bottom, that’s good, they can’t pass me down there.’ It definitely makes you feel a little bit easier just having clean air, not having to worry about anybody doing anything crazy.”

Troutman came out ahead of O’Neal in their battle for second in the closing laps. Behind them, Bobby Pierce and Ethan Dotson completed the top five.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision opens a three-week northern swing with a two-night visit to 141 Speedway on Friday and Saturday, June 19-20. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

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

RACE NOTES:

Dennis Erb Jr. set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Hudson O’Neal won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Hudson O’Neal won Heat 1.

Brandon Sheppard won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Drake Troutman won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Tyler Erb won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Carson Ferguson and Chris Ferguson won the Last Chance Showdowns.

Brandon Sheppard won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Tyler Carpenter won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Trey Mills won the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Drake Troutman was the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher.

Hudson O’Neal was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Bobby Pierce was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Josh Rice was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Tim McCreadie was VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Ryan Montgomery was the Lifeline Ninth-Place Finisher.

Chris Ferguson was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Tyler Carpenter was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Brandon Sheppard was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Carson Ferguson was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Brent Larson was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

Feature (60 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[3]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 5. 74X-Ethan Dotson[11]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 7. 11-Josh Rice[12]; 8. 9M-Tim McCreadie[7]; 9. 12-Ryan Montgomery[13]; 10. 22-Chris Ferguson[18]; 11. 28C-Tyler Carpenter[20]; 12. 9-Nick Hoffman[16]; 13. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 14. 93-Carson Ferguson[17]; 15. 17SS-Brenden Smith[10]; 16. 53C-Colten Burdette[25]; 17. 14-Trey Mills[23]; 18. B1-Brent Larson[22]; 19. 71R-Rod Conley[26]; 20. 1Z-Logan Zarin[24]; 21. S21-Seth Daniels[27]; 22. 19R-Ryan Gustin[14]; 23. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[9]; 24. 58V-Daulton Wilson[8]; 25. 49-Luke Morey[15]; 26. 19-Dustin Sorensen[21]; 27. 55E-Eli Johnson[19]

John Force Racing–Bristol Saturday Recap

SATURDAY RECAP – BRISTOLRace 9 of 20
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
PEAK SQUAD GOES 2 FOR 2 IN THUNDER VALLEY WITH #2FAST2TASTY WINDeJoria (2nd) faces Vandergriff (13th) in Round 1, Beckman 3rd and Hart 6th in final qualifying
SATURDAY RECAP – BRISTOLRace 9 of 20
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
PEAK SQUAD GOES 2 FOR 2 IN THUNDER VALLEY WITH #2FAST2TASTY WINDeJoria (2nd) faces Vandergriff (13th) in Round 1, Beckman 3rd and Hart 6th in final qualifying
BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 13, 2026) – Jordan Vandergriff had a quicker reaction time and elapsed time against John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the final round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge but Vandergriff’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car crossed the Bristol Dragway centerline just before the finish line, disqualifying the run and handing the win to Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD. It was the second win for Beckman against Vandergriff during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals weekend. The two met in Q2 Friday afternoon to decide the Funny Car winner from last week’s rain-delayed NHRA New England Nationals. It was Beckman’s 38th career NHRA Funny Car title and the 58th time there has been an all John Force Racing final round. Today’s #2Fast2Tasty win was Beckman’s first in three appearances this season. Saturday in Thunder Valley was also the final day of qualifying. Alexis DeJoria and her Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car jumped up to the No. 2 spot in Q3 with a run of 4.010 seconds at 326.00 mph. In Sunday’s first round of eliminations, unfortunately, she’ll face No. 13 qualifier Vandergriff whose best time was 4.548 seconds at 191.73 mph in his Q3 run. Vandegriff’s disqualified run against Beckman in Q4 clocked in at 4.185 seconds and would have placed him 11th. Beckman used his Friday Q2 run of 4.017 seconds at 318.54 mph to qualify third and will face Jeff Arend, who qualified 12th with a best run of 4.429 seconds at 212.86 mph, in Sunday’s first round of eliminations. Hart and the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team qualified sixth with their Friday Q2 run of 3.815 seconds at 327.03 mph. They will face No. 11 qualifier Doug Kalitta, who ran 3.872 seconds at 313.29 mph, in the first round of eliminations. Dillon Elkins, the bottom-end mechanic for John Force Racing’s PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team, received the Grunt of the Race presented by Vizion One Award for the team’s NHRA New England Nationals victory last week. The new NHRA initiative rewards the bottom-end mechanics whose work is critical to the success of Top Fuel and Funny Car teams. Elkins, a native of Kalida, Ohio, was presented with an oversized check for $250. Sunday’s final eliminations have been moved up two hours and are now scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET. Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “Sometimes these cars are amazing to drive, and sometimes they’ll do anything except what you ask them to do. I think both of us experienced that in the final. To close out the Epping race, win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and still have a shot at the Bristol trophy tomorrow — it’s an unbelievable opportunity. I’ve never been in a position where I could win three trophies in one weekend. I vote yes on trying it. It’s just an absolute blessing to be surrounded by people who are great at what they do and have a chance to win three trophies in one weekend.” Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “I’m feeling really charged going into tomorrow’s first round though, unfortunately, against our teammate Jordan Vandergriff. But there are a lot of wins coming out of the John Force Racing camp right now so we’re charged. We have a good Bandero Café Chevy race car and we’re excited to go rounds tomorrow. Tomorrow’s 10 a.m. first round is going to make things a bit different than the heat we had to deal with today. The morning temperatures will be cooler so the track temperature is going to be lower. We’ll be able to lean on it a bit more than we have so far this weekend so it will be a totally different racetrack tomorrow.” Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster: “Well, somebody’s got to take out Doug Kalitta so I guess it’s just gotta be me. You can’t get excited about who’s in the other lane. You just run your own race, cut a good light and, inevitably, you have to beat them all anyway so let’s start at the top and we’ll hopefully claw our way to the finals. Cooler temperatures with tomorrow’s early start will definitely be more in our favor but we have to be able to adjust on the fly as it progressively gets hotter. We laid down one good run in the cooler conditions and we laid down one good run in the hotter conditions so I have confidence that the Speedmaster / Burnyzz Speed Shop team can get it done.” Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “We had the race won and I think maybe I wanted it a little too bad and stayed it in a little too long. We were in the right lane, and I felt that was the better lane so thank you to Jack and the PEAK team for letting us have that lane. The Cornwell Tools Chevy left the starting line clean and I felt it start to move over toward the center line. I gave it some wheel but, looking at the data, just not enough early. It felt like it corrected and I was looking back at the center of the track, but the car was way out of the groove. I think it dropped another cylinder and it shoved me way over again. I gave it a lot more wheel after the second hole dropped but, by then, it was pushing the head gasket out. I saw some fire, lifted, and clicked it off but the momentum of the second hole dropping kind of whipped me into the two cones. There was a lot happening on the run, with the hot temperature, the slick track, and it just bit me. You have to learn from making mistakes. You learn from it and move on.” 

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Eight-Hour Report

TF Sport Corvette trio on lead LMGT3 lap in tough class battle LE MANS, France (June 13, 2026) – Three of TF Sport’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs each spent time in the top-10 of LMGT3 after driving from the back of the field in the opening eight hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The No. 33 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating was the highest-placed of the three remaining Z06 GT3.Rs in the race. Keating was eighth in class and wrapping up his final stint of the race as the clock struck midnight. 
After missing the first two races of the year, the Corvette favorite drove five stints at the start of the race from 17th at the start and was on his fourth stint into the ninth hour. Nicky Catsburg drove the middle three stints of the opening stanza and got as high as third in class.
The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF had dropped to 16th at the eight-hour mark but only because the team pitted Salih Yoluc and put in Charlie Eastwood for his second run in the Corvette. The Corvette Racing factory driver drove the first and last stints of the opening eight hours in the No. 34, which he raced from 25th and last in class at the green to as high as seventh. Yoluc and Peter Dempsey each took a turn at the wheel in the early parts of the race, as well.
TF Sport’s No. 2 Corvette, largely crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing personnel ran in the top-10 as deep as the seventh hour before falling back on its 10th pit stop of the race. Ben Green was in the car at the eight-hour mark and ran 11th after a fortunate break where the No. 2 was able to stay out during the race’s first safety car period. Both Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Lorcan Hanafin drove multiple stints in the Corvette, which went from 19th to 11th at the eight-hour mark.
13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair.
Corvette Racing’s next report will come at the 16-hour mark.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R IN-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think we’re good but I don’t think we have an advantage. We need other people to make mistakes. We need stuff to happen really because we are a little far behind. Obviously we are front-loading Ben a lot so it also makes sense that we are a little behind. So far so good. No mistakes. The car is clean. The pit stops are good, and Ben has done a good job so you can’t ask for more.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was good for the most part. On that last stint, I lost it one time in Tertre Rouge and really scared me. When you’re driving the car, you have no idea what’s going on in the race around you. I feel like I was driving the car very hard but I did not feel I was very fast. It’s hard. Yes I passed some people and I got passed by others. I have no idea where we are! I’m just trying to do the best job I can.”(On his first stints of the season) “I’ve been here enough that it’s OK. The good news is that my elbow doesn’t hurt nearly like did Wednesday. So that’s a good thing. I wasn’t 100 percent sure I would be able to do five stints to start the race. But I feel pretty good.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “You have to be at the front here so we wanted to be pretty aggressive. Fortunately there wasn’t a single bump in any corner which is pretty hard to do when you’re trying to through 15 or 16 cars. But we got into the top-10 which is a solid result. We felt that was a good time to get Salih in the car and get him into a good rhythm. Smooth as butter. As the driver level got better as I got farther ahead, I started to maybe take less risk and got into a nice rhythm. We have to double these tires so in the heat we can’t go too aggressive on them.”
LORCAN HANAFIN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “First stint done, which is kind of the hardest part. You sort of know where you stand and how the track conditions are. The last time I drove was late Thursday, so it’s been a couple of days. It’s in quite a good window, I think. It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game at the minute. Some people are pushing for 10 laps and others are trying to save and do 11. Right now it’s about trying to play the strategy right, staying nice and clean, not making mistakes, keeping our noses dry until the morning when the sun comes up and the race really starts. Everyone has been OK on track, so far. There have been a couple of incidents but no slow zones or safety cars yet. It seems that everyone is playing nice but I’m sure as the race progresses, tensions rise and tempers shorten. So we’ll see how it goes.”
HH PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve done a triple before at Spa and I thought it would feel quite long. But the car felt great. I was trying to keep up the pace, maximizing the tires and learning as it goes… trying to adapt to the car and the tires. The plan was to do a double-stint, but the team told me if I wanted to do a triple then I could. They asked me and I felt pretty good about it and was confident. Because the stints here are shorter here it’s a little easier compared to Spa. There it’s constant corners and high-Gs. But I wouldn’t say it’s easy here at all. You’re having to push as hard as you can to keep the pace up. The Hypercars were quite nice, to be honest. They are easier to drive than with the P2. It’s great seeing all the Hypercars – especially the Cadillacs – flying past on the Mulsanne Straight is great. They sound amazing too!”
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Eight-Hour ReportTF Sport Corvette trio on lead LMGT3 lap in tough class battle LE MANS, France (June 13, 2026) – Three of TF Sport’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs each spent time in the top-10 of LMGT3 after driving from the back of the field in the opening eight hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The No. 33 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating was the highest-placed of the three remaining Z06 GT3.Rs in the race. Keating was eighth in class and wrapping up his final stint of the race as the clock struck midnight. 
After missing the first two races of the year, the Corvette favorite drove five stints at the start of the race from 17th at the start and was on his fourth stint into the ninth hour. Nicky Catsburg drove the middle three stints of the opening stanza and got as high as third in class.
The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF had dropped to 16th at the eight-hour mark but only because the team pitted Salih Yoluc and put in Charlie Eastwood for his second run in the Corvette. The Corvette Racing factory driver drove the first and last stints of the opening eight hours in the No. 34, which he raced from 25th and last in class at the green to as high as seventh. Yoluc and Peter Dempsey each took a turn at the wheel in the early parts of the race, as well.
TF Sport’s No. 2 Corvette, largely crewed by Johor Motorsports Racing personnel ran in the top-10 as deep as the seventh hour before falling back on its 10th pit stop of the race. Ben Green was in the car at the eight-hour mark and ran 11th after a fortunate break where the No. 2 was able to stay out during the race’s first safety car period. Both Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Lorcan Hanafin drove multiple stints in the Corvette, which went from 19th to 11th at the eight-hour mark.
13 Autosport was an unfortunate retirement in the fifth hour after a collision on track damaged the No. 13 Corvette beyond the point of repair.
Corvette Racing’s next report will come at the 16-hour mark.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R IN-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think we’re good but I don’t think we have an advantage. We need other people to make mistakes. We need stuff to happen really because we are a little far behind. Obviously we are front-loading Ben a lot so it also makes sense that we are a little behind. So far so good. No mistakes. The car is clean. The pit stops are good, and Ben has done a good job so you can’t ask for more.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was good for the most part. On that last stint, I lost it one time in Tertre Rouge and really scared me. When you’re driving the car, you have no idea what’s going on in the race around you. I feel like I was driving the car very hard but I did not feel I was very fast. It’s hard. Yes I passed some people and I got passed by others. I have no idea where we are! I’m just trying to do the best job I can.”(On his first stints of the season) “I’ve been here enough that it’s OK. The good news is that my elbow doesn’t hurt nearly like did Wednesday. So that’s a good thing. I wasn’t 100 percent sure I would be able to do five stints to start the race. But I feel pretty good.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “You have to be at the front here so we wanted to be pretty aggressive. Fortunately there wasn’t a single bump in any corner which is pretty hard to do when you’re trying to through 15 or 16 cars. But we got into the top-10 which is a solid result. We felt that was a good time to get Salih in the car and get him into a good rhythm. Smooth as butter. As the driver level got better as I got farther ahead, I started to maybe take less risk and got into a nice rhythm. We have to double these tires so in the heat we can’t go too aggressive on them.”
LORCAN HANAFIN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “First stint done, which is kind of the hardest part. You sort of know where you stand and how the track conditions are. The last time I drove was late Thursday, so it’s been a couple of days. It’s in quite a good window, I think. It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game at the minute. Some people are pushing for 10 laps and others are trying to save and do 11. Right now it’s about trying to play the strategy right, staying nice and clean, not making mistakes, keeping our noses dry until the morning when the sun comes up and the race really starts. Everyone has been OK on track, so far. There have been a couple of incidents but no slow zones or safety cars yet. It seems that everyone is playing nice but I’m sure as the race progresses, tensions rise and tempers shorten. So we’ll see how it goes.”
HH PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve done a triple before at Spa and I thought it would feel quite long. But the car felt great. I was trying to keep up the pace, maximizing the tires and learning as it goes… trying to adapt to the car and the tires. The plan was to do a double-stint, but the team told me if I wanted to do a triple then I could. They asked me and I felt pretty good about it and was confident. Because the stints here are shorter here it’s a little easier compared to Spa. There it’s constant corners and high-Gs. But I wouldn’t say it’s easy here at all. You’re having to push as hard as you can to keep the pace up. The Hypercars were quite nice, to be honest. They are easier to drive than with the P2. It’s great seeing all the Hypercars – especially the Cadillacs – flying past on the Mulsanne Straight is great. They sound amazing too!”
CORVETTE RACING au Mans: Après huit heures de courseLe trio de Corvette de TF Sport dans le tour de tête de la catégorie LMGT3 au terme d’une lutte acharnée LE MANS, France (le 13 juin 2026) – Trois des Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R de TF Sport se sont tour à tour classées dans le top 10 de la catégorie LMGT3 après avoir remonté le peloton au cours des huit premières heures des 24 Heures du Mans.
Les Corvette n°34 du Racing Team Turkey et n°33 – les deux voitures engagées par TF Sport pour l’intégralité du championnat du monde d’endurance FIA – occupaient les 12e et 13e places après le premier tiers de la course, mais se trouvaient en bien meilleure position qu’au départ. Charlie Eastwood, pilote officiel de Corvette, a effectué le premier et le dernier relais des huit premières heures au volant de la n° 34, qu’il a fait passer de la 25e et dernière place de sa catégorie au départ à la 7e place avec Salih Yoluc au volant.
Ben Keating était en pleine phase de son dernier relais de la course à la huitième heure, pour sa première course de la saison au volant de la Corvette n°33. Après avoir manqué les deux premières courses de l’année, le favori au volant de la Corvette a effectué cinq relais en début de course, partant de la 17e place, et en était à son quatrième relais à la neuvième heure. Nicky Catsburg a piloté les trois relais du milieu de la première partie de la course et s’est hissé jusqu’à la troisième place de sa catégorie.
La Corvette n° 2 de TF Sport, dont les membres d’équipage provenaient en grande partie de Johor Motorsports Racing, a couru dans le top 10 jusqu’à la septième heure avant de reculer lors de son 10e arrêt au stand de la course. Ben Green était au volant à la huitième heure et occupait la 11e place après un coup de chance qui a permis à la n° 2 de rester en piste pendant la première période de voiture de sécurité de la course. Le prince Jefri Ibrahim et Lorcan Hanafin ont tous deux effectué plusieurs relais au volant de la Corvette, qui est passée de la 19e à la 11e place à la huitième heure.
La n° 13 d’Autosport a malheureusement dû abandonner à la cinquième heure après qu’une collision en piste a endommagé la Corvette n°13 de manière irréparable.
Le prochain rapport du Corvette Racing sera publié à la 16e heure.
CE QU’ILS DISENTCHARLIE EASTWOOD, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°34: « Il faut être en tête ici, alors on était plutôt agressifs. Heureusement, il n’y a pas eu aucun problème dans les virages, ce qui est assez difficile à éviter quand on essaie de se faufiler entre 15 ou 16 voitures. Mais on a réussi à se hisser dans le top 10, ce qui est un bon résultat. On a estimé que c’était le bon moment pour faire monter Salih dans la voiture et lui permettre de trouver un bon rythme. Tout s’est passé comme sur des roulettes. À mesure que le niveau des pilotes s’améliorait et que je prenais de l’avance, j’ai peut-être commencé à prendre moins de risques et j’ai trouvé un bon rythme. On doit faire durer ces pneus, donc avec la chaleur, on ne peut pas les malmener trop. »
NICKY CATSBURG, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: « Je pense que tout va bien, mais je ne crois pas que nous ayons l’avantage. Il faudrait que les autres commettent des erreurs. Il faudrait vraiment que les choses bougent, car nous sommes un peu à la traîne. Évidemment, nous misons beaucoup sur Ben dès le début, donc c’est normal que nous soyons un peu en retard. Jusqu’ici, tout va bien. Pas d’erreurs. La voiture est en bon état. Les arrêts au stand se passent bien, et Ben a fait du bon travail, on ne peut pas demander mieux. »
BEN KEATING, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: « Ça s’est plutôt bien passé dans l’ensemble. Lors du dernier relais, j’ai perdu le contrôle une fois à Tertre Rouge et ça m’a vraiment fait peur. Quand on est au volant, on n’a aucune idée de ce qui se passe autour de soi pendant la course. J’ai l’impression d’avoir piloté très fort, mais je ne me sentais pas très rapide. C’est difficile. Oui, j’ai dépassé certains pilotes et d’autres m’ont dépassé. Je n’ai aucune idée de notre position ! J’essaie simplement de faire de mon mieux. »(À propos de ses premières relais de la saison) « Je suis déjà venu ici suffisamment de fois pour que ça aille. La bonne nouvelle, c’est que mon coude me fait beaucoup moins mal que mercredi. C’est donc une bonne chose. Je n’étais pas sûr à 100 % de pouvoir enchaîner cinq relais pour démarrer la course. Mais je me sens plutôt bien. »
LORCAN HANAFIN, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°2: « Le premier relais est terminé, c’est en quelque sorte la partie la plus difficile. On a une idée de notre position et de l’état de la piste. La dernière fois que j’ai ropulé, c’était jeudi soir, ça fait donc quelques jours. Pour l’instant, c’est un peu un jeu du chat et de la souris. Certains poussent pour faire 10 tours, d’autres essaient d’économiser leurs pneus pour en faire 11. Pour l’instant, il s’agit d’adopter la bonne stratégie, de rester prudent, de ne pas faire d’erreurs et de garder nos nez au sec jusqu’au matin, quand le soleil se lèvera et que la course commencera vraiment. Tout le monde s’en est bien sorti sur la piste jusqu’à présent. Il y a eu quelques incidents, mais pas encore de slow zones ni de safety cars. On dirait que tout le monde joue le jeu, mais je suis sûr qu’au fur et à mesure que la course avance, la tension monte et les esprits s’échauffent. On verra donc comment ça se passe. »
SA LE PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°2: « J’avais déjà fait un triple relais à Spa et je pensais que ça allait me paraître assez long. Mais la voiture se comportait très bien. J’essayais de maintenir le rythme, d’exploiter au maximum les pneus et d’apprendre au fur et à mesure… en essayant de m’adapter à la voiture et aux pneus. Le plan était de faire un double relais, mais l’équipe m’a dit que si je voulais faire un triple, je pouvais le faire. Ils m’ont demandé et j’étais plutôt d’accord, je me sentais en confiance. Comme les relais sont plus courts ici, c’est un peu plus facile qu’à Spa. Là-bas, ce sont des virages enchaînés avec des forces G élevées. Mais je ne dirais pas que c’est facile ici pour autant. Il faut pousser à fond pour maintenir le rythme. Les Hypercars étaient plutôt sympas, honnêtement. Elles sont plus faciles à vivre avec que les P2. C’est génial de voir toutes ces Hypercars – surtout les Cadillac – filer à toute allure sur la ligne droite de Mulsanne. Et elles font un bruit incroyable ! »

RAYMOND NASH SECURES FIRST CAREER NO. 1 IN FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN

BRISTOL (June 13, 2026) — For three years Raymond Nash has raced the Team Underdawg Racing Dodge Mopar Challenger in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series chasing his dream of victory. Today at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway Nash ran to his first career No. 1 qualifier. Nash leads a stacked field of qualifiers that includes points leader Jonathan Allegrucci, reigning world champion Mark Pawuk, and rookie standout Matthew Hartman.
 
“Jonathan’s a longtime friend,” said Nash. “I had my first round win ever against him. He’s a hell of a driver. He’s good on the tree and he’s consistent. Mark and his team have done a really good job improving that Dodge Charger. That car is going to be an animal when it comes around, there’s no doubt about it. We intend to give him a good run for the money.”


Raymond Nash ran to the No. 1 qualifier at Bristol Dragway during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Nationals,
photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography

RAYMOND NASH SECURES FIRST CAREER NO. 1
IN FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN

BRISTOL (June 13, 2026) — For three years Raymond Nash has raced the Team Underdawg Racing Dodge Mopar Challenger in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series chasing his dream of victory. Today at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway Nash ran to his first career No. 1 qualifier. Nash leads a stacked field of qualifiers that includes points leader Jonathan Allegrucci, reigning world champion Mark Pawuk, and rookie standout Matthew Hartman.
 
“Jonathan’s a longtime friend,” said Nash. “I had my first round win ever against him. He’s a hell of a driver. He’s good on the tree and he’s consistent. Mark and his team have done a really good job improving that Dodge Charger. That car is going to be an animal when it comes around, there’s no doubt about it. We intend to give him a good run for the money.”


Raymond Nash ran to the No. 1 qualifier at Bristol Dragway during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Nationals,
photo credit AJ Bohlander Photography

Nash has a tremendous support system behind him. He gives the credit for his success this weekend and throughout the season to his family and being a part of Ray Barton Racing Engines.
 
“We’ve worked hard on this racecar. David Barton has done a great job. The guys at Ray Barton Racing Engines,” said Nash. “Ray Barton himself and all the guys back at the shop, they’ve done an awesome job of working hard on the car. My family has been amazing supporting me from my son to my dad and especially my wife. They are moving a car back and forth and we have lots of support back at home. Thank goodness, my wife, who allows us the opportunity to do this, and she’s a big help. She cleans the rig, loads food, and does the whole thing. That’s why my name’s not on the top of the car. It says Nash Family for a reason.”

Allegrucci and his Ford Mustang Cobra Jet have dominated the past two national events. Nash, who is a lifelong Dodge Mopar supporter, is excited to get this race underway and see if that streak can be stopped. The Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series has seen solid representation from Dodges, Ford and Chevrolet COPO Camaros.
“My dad started the whole Mopar thing,” said Nash. “He had a 70 Charger, and he’s the one who got me hooked on Mopar. And as a kid, I remember Little Red Express in my driveway. I remember Chargers, Challengers and all these cool cars. I’ve been blessed in life. I’ve been able to own a lot of everyday drivers but my driveway and my garage is full of Mopars.”
Bristol Dragway has a long history of drag racing going back over 60 years. The fans in the area have long supported factory stock and door-slammer racing. Nash is proud to be part of a series that is continuing the grassroots and professional racing series. He is also excited to represent a host of sponsors as the No. 1 qualifier.
“It’s awesome. The fact that we were fans walking around the racetrack not long ago, and now we can race this car in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown class,” said Nash. “I feel blessed. We work really hard, and we have great sponsors that we work with. RaceTech did a good job of helping us lighten up the seats and move some weight around. Impact has done a good job of keeping us safe. We’ve had an opportunity to work with some really good providers, like Ray Barton Racing Engines. Slowly, but surely, we’ve worked really hard. We’re not here for number one qualifiers, we’re here to win a race. We only want to win a Wally, and that’s what I care about most.”
 
In the final qualifying session Nash and his Nash Family backed racecar posted the quickest elapsed time, 7.827 seconds at 176.30 mph to move into the top spot. Allegrucci posted a run of 7.843 seconds at 177.14 mph to leapfrog the Friday provisional No. 1 qualifier Pawuk.
 
Nash will face No. 12 qualifier Richard Bierie in the first round with lane choice and momentum on his side. No. 3 qualifier Pawuk will have a tough first round opponent racing No. 10 qualifier and 2024 Thunder Valley Nationals winner David Janac.
 
Allegrucci will head into the first round of eliminations with the Flexjet Bounty up for grabs. The bounty has doubled to $2,000 and Mike Llyod the No. 11 qualifier will be the first driver with the chance to grab the bonus money.
 
The first round of eliminations at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway will begin Saturday evening with eliminations concluding tomorrow. Fans can follow the racing action at www.nhra.com.
 
First Round Match-ups
 
No. 1 Raymond Nash vs. No. 12 Richard Bierie
No. 2 Jonathan Allegrucci vs. No. 11 Mike Lloyd
No. 3 Mark Pawuk vs. No. 10 David Janac
No. 4 Matt Hartman vs. No. 9 Doug Duell
No. 5 David Davies II vs. No. 8 Kim Shirley
 
No. 6 Scott Libersher vs. No. 7 Lee Hartman
 
Flexjet Bounty Program
Gatornationals (Gainesville, Fla.)
$1,000 bounty collected by Jonathan Allegrucci, defeated Mark Pawuk (2025 Flexjet world champion)
 
NHRA 4-Wide Nationals (Charlotte, N. C.)
$1,000 bounty collected by Raymond Nash, defeated Ricky Hord (2026 Gatornationals winner)
 
Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals (Chicago, Illinois)
$1,000 bounty was not claimed with Allegrucci’s victory
 
 
2026 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Results
Gainesville – Ricky Hord, winner; David Janac, runner-up
Charlotte – Jonathan Allegrucci, winner; Jason Dietsch, runner-up
Chicago – Jonathan Allegrucci, winner; Jason Dietsch, runner-up
 

Pierce Beats Illinois Foes Sheppard, Erb Jr. in RACEFEST Opener at West Virginia

MINERAL WELLS, WV (June 13, 2026) – There was an Illinois feel in the air on Friday night at West Virginia Motor Speedway.

When the 5/8-mile layout was reconfigured into the current 3/8-mile short track, the goal was to create the kind of elbows-up racing found at places like Fairbury SpeedwayFarmer City Raceway and other bullrings across the state. The track brought in Chad Bauman, who has handled track prep at Fairbury and other major events, to give them the best possible racing surface.  And when the Feature went green, some of the best from the “Land of Lincoln” were at the front chasing a trophy.

Bobby Pierce, Dennis Erb Jr. and Brandon Sheppard all started in the top four on the first night of the RACEFEST Summer Championship, but they all trailed Martinsville, IN’s Hudson O’Neal on the pole. The “New Deal” led the first half of the 40-lap Feature until Pierce came knocking with a Turn 1 slide job. O’Neal fended off that move and got the lead back, but Pierce tried the same move again the following lap and made it stick.

Moments later, O’Neal’s chances of victory were dashed when he spun while working his way through slower traffic. That moved Erb and Sheppard up to second and third, respectively, setting up the all-Illinois battle to the finish.

The final 10 laps saw Sheppard trade several sliders with Pierce, while Erb gave Pierce everything he could handle running his signature low line. Neither of them could find a way around the No. 32 though, as Pierce pocketed his 10th win of the season with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision, the 52nd of his career and his first at West Virginia.

“The owner [Mike Hurley], I’m pretty sure he told me last night you’ve kind of got to get up on the wheel, and that’s definitely what it was tonight,” Pierce said. “Had to get up on the wheel and get it done, it was a lot of fun. Had some hellacious racing there between Hudson and Brandon and Dennis on the bottom there. I told Dennis before the race, ‘Hey, this is right down your alley, right? It’s on the bottom.’ The top really came in tonight, towards the end I think you probably could have been about anywhere.”

Erb crossed the line in a season-best second ahead of Tyler Erb, who worked his way to third at the finish. Sheppard and Ethan Dotson rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision wraps up the RACEFEST Summer Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway with the $30,000-to-win finale on Saturday, June 13. Tickets will be available at the gate.

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

RACE NOTES:

Nick Hoffman set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Brandon Sheppard won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Brandon Sheppard won Heat 1.

Dennis Erb Jr. won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Hudson O’Neal won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Bobby Pierce won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Ryan Gustin and Brent Larson won the Last Chance Showdowns.

Hudson O’Neal won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Chris Ferguson won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Trey Mills won the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher.

Tyler Erb was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Brandon Sheppard was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Chris Ferguson was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Tim McCreadie was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Drake Troutman was VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Lifeline Ninth-Place Finisher.

Zack Dohm was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Trey Mills was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Eli Johnson was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Brenden Smith was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Tristan Chamberlain was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Eddie Carrier Jr. was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 6. 22-Chris Ferguson[21]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[7]; 8. 22*-Drake Troutman[8]; 9. 9-Nick Hoffman[13]; 10. 17-Zack Dohm[19]; 11. 14-Trey Mills[9]; 12. 55E-Eli Johnson[23]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[24]; 14. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[22]; 15. 19-Dustin Sorensen[20]; 16. 12-Ryan Montgomery[14]; 17. 71R-Rod Conley[26]; 18. 75-Eddie Carrier Jr[6]; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 20. 1Z-Logan Zarin[11]; 21. 11-Josh Rice[12]; 22. 58V-Daulton Wilson[15]; 23. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 24. B1-Brent Larson[18]; 25. 93-Carson Ferguson[16]; 26. 53C-Colten Burdette[25]

Pierce Beats Illinois Foes Sheppard, Erb Jr. in RACEFEST Opener at West Virginia

MINERAL WELLS, WV (June 13, 2026) – There was an Illinois feel in the air on Friday night at West Virginia Motor Speedway.

When the 5/8-mile layout was reconfigured into the current 3/8-mile short track, the goal was to create the kind of elbows-up racing found at places like Fairbury SpeedwayFarmer City Raceway and other bullrings across the state. The track brought in Chad Bauman, who has handled track prep at Fairbury and other major events, to give them the best possible racing surface.  And when the Feature went green, some of the best from the “Land of Lincoln” were at the front chasing a trophy.

Bobby Pierce, Dennis Erb Jr. and Brandon Sheppard all started in the top four on the first night of the RACEFEST Summer Championship, but they all trailed Martinsville, IN’s Hudson O’Neal on the pole. The “New Deal” led the first half of the 40-lap Feature until Pierce came knocking with a Turn 1 slide job. O’Neal fended off that move and got the lead back, but Pierce tried the same move again the following lap and made it stick.

Moments later, O’Neal’s chances of victory were dashed when he spun while working his way through slower traffic. That moved Erb and Sheppard up to second and third, respectively, setting up the all-Illinois battle to the finish.

The final 10 laps saw Sheppard trade several sliders with Pierce, while Erb gave Pierce everything he could handle running his signature low line. Neither of them could find a way around the No. 32 though, as Pierce pocketed his 10th win of the season with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision, the 52nd of his career and his first at West Virginia.

“The owner [Mike Hurley], I’m pretty sure he told me last night you’ve kind of got to get up on the wheel, and that’s definitely what it was tonight,” Pierce said. “Had to get up on the wheel and get it done, it was a lot of fun. Had some hellacious racing there between Hudson and Brandon and Dennis on the bottom there. I told Dennis before the race, ‘Hey, this is right down your alley, right? It’s on the bottom.’ The top really came in tonight, towards the end I think you probably could have been about anywhere.”

Erb crossed the line in a season-best second ahead of Tyler Erb, who worked his way to third at the finish. Sheppard and Ethan Dotson rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision wraps up the RACEFEST Summer Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway with the $30,000-to-win finale on Saturday, June 13. Tickets will be available at the gate.

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

RACE NOTES:

Nick Hoffman set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Brandon Sheppard won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Brandon Sheppard won Heat 1.

Dennis Erb Jr. won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Hudson O’Neal won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Bobby Pierce won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Ryan Gustin and Brent Larson won the Last Chance Showdowns.

Hudson O’Neal won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Chris Ferguson won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Trey Mills won the MD3 Rookie of the Race Award.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher.

Tyler Erb was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Brandon Sheppard was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Chris Ferguson was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Tim McCreadie was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Drake Troutman was VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Lifeline Ninth-Place Finisher.

Zack Dohm was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Trey Mills was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Eli Johnson was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Brenden Smith was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Tristan Chamberlain was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Eddie Carrier Jr. was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 6. 22-Chris Ferguson[21]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[7]; 8. 22*-Drake Troutman[8]; 9. 9-Nick Hoffman[13]; 10. 17-Zack Dohm[19]; 11. 14-Trey Mills[9]; 12. 55E-Eli Johnson[23]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[24]; 14. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[22]; 15. 19-Dustin Sorensen[20]; 16. 12-Ryan Montgomery[14]; 17. 71R-Rod Conley[26]; 18. 75-Eddie Carrier Jr[6]; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 20. 1Z-Logan Zarin[11]; 21. 11-Josh Rice[12]; 22. 58V-Daulton Wilson[15]; 23. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 24. B1-Brent Larson[18]; 25. 93-Carson Ferguson[16]; 26. 53C-Colten Burdette[25]

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/pierce-beats-illinois-foes-sheppard-erb-jr-in-racefest-opener-at-west-virginia/

MISSILE ON A MISSION: Marks Charges from Eighth to Knoxville Victory Lane

The Pennsylvanian comes out on top for his first win of the year after a frantic final few laps

KNOXVILLE, IA (June 12, 2026) – A win was only a matter of time for Brent Marks.

He’s spent the last several weeks racking up close calls. Entering Friday’s Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway, Marks’ stat sheet showed six podiums in the past seven races including five runner-ups but no victories. A mere step away from Victory Lane for the first time in 2026 over and over.

At Knoxville, Marks finally made that elusive final step, and he did it with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars.

The Myerstown, PA native came out on top of a wild 25-lapper at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” with a determined drive from eighth. Marks worked his way forward from row four to set himself up for a frantic final sequence.

Right after taking over second from Logan Schuchart on Lap 22, race leader Rico Abreu slowed with an expiring engine to hand the lead to Marks. But Schuchart capitalized with a slide job in Turns 3 and 4 to take the top spot and lead the lap. Marks returned the favor the next time around in the same set of corners with a slider of his own to retake the top spot. Sheldon Haudenschild surged into second on the last lap and nearly made a run for the lead, but Marks held on to put his No. 19 in Victory Lane.

“I was just driving the hell out of the thing,” Marks said. “The car got so good, and it got so grippy that there were times to where it would twitch really bad, and I was fighting it because it had that much grip. What a hell of a run there. Actually, crossing the checkered I think we ran out of fuel. I’m not sure, it just kind of died on me. Hopefully that’s all it was. What a way to get our first win of the year. This is just awesome.”

Marks’ first triumph of 2026 is the 16th of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It’s his second time visiting Knoxville Victory Lane to go along with a 2022 score. He’s the 14th different winner through 28 races in 2026 with the World of Outlaws.

Sheldon Haudenschild brought the KCP Racing No. 18 home second to notch his third consecutive podium and seventh top five in the last eight races.

Logan Schuchart rounded out the podium after contending for the win late aboard the Shark Racing No. 1S.

David Gravel and early leader Aaron Reutzel completed the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

Garet Williamson grabbed his third Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night in 2026.

Logan Schuchart set Simpson Quick Time for the third time this season.

Heat Races belonged to Logan Schuchart (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Rico Abreu (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Aaron Reutzel (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Brent Marks (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Logan Schuchart.

Schuchart also topped the Toyota Dash.

Garet Williamson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Cole Macedo marched from 25th to 12th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Kyle Larson was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.

Emerson Axsom earned Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race honors.

Rico Abreu set the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

Abreu also took home the Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars finalize the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, June 13. 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.

FEATURE RESULTS:

MISSILE ON A MISSION: Marks Charges from Eighth to Knoxville Victory Lane

The Pennsylvanian comes out on top for his first win of the year after a frantic final few laps

KNOXVILLE, IA (June 12, 2026) – A win was only a matter of time for Brent Marks.

He’s spent the last several weeks racking up close calls. Entering Friday’s Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway, Marks’ stat sheet showed six podiums in the past seven races including five runner-ups but no victories. A mere step away from Victory Lane for the first time in 2026 over and over.

At Knoxville, Marks finally made that elusive final step, and he did it with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars.

The Myerstown, PA native came out on top of a wild 25-lapper at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” with a determined drive from eighth. Marks worked his way forward from row four to set himself up for a frantic final sequence.

Right after taking over second from Logan Schuchart on Lap 22, race leader Rico Abreu slowed with an expiring engine to hand the lead to Marks. But Schuchart capitalized with a slide job in Turns 3 and 4 to take the top spot and lead the lap. Marks returned the favor the next time around in the same set of corners with a slider of his own to retake the top spot. Sheldon Haudenschild surged into second on the last lap and nearly made a run for the lead, but Marks held on to put his No. 19 in Victory Lane.

“I was just driving the hell out of the thing,” Marks said. “The car got so good, and it got so grippy that there were times to where it would twitch really bad, and I was fighting it because it had that much grip. What a hell of a run there. Actually, crossing the checkered I think we ran out of fuel. I’m not sure, it just kind of died on me. Hopefully that’s all it was. What a way to get our first win of the year. This is just awesome.”

Marks’ first triumph of 2026 is the 16th of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It’s his second time visiting Knoxville Victory Lane to go along with a 2022 score. He’s the 14th different winner through 28 races in 2026 with the World of Outlaws.

Sheldon Haudenschild brought the KCP Racing No. 18 home second to notch his third consecutive podium and seventh top five in the last eight races.

Logan Schuchart rounded out the podium after contending for the win late aboard the Shark Racing No. 1S.

David Gravel and early leader Aaron Reutzel completed the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

Garet Williamson grabbed his third Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night in 2026.

Logan Schuchart set Simpson Quick Time for the third time this season.

Heat Races belonged to Logan Schuchart (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Rico Abreu (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Aaron Reutzel (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Brent Marks (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Logan Schuchart.

Schuchart also topped the Toyota Dash.

Garet Williamson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Cole Macedo marched from 25th to 12th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Kyle Larson was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.

Emerson Axsom earned Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race honors.

Rico Abreu set the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

Abreu also took home the Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars finalize the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, June 13. 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.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[8]; 2. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 4. 2-David Gravel[11]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[16]; 7. 57-Kyle Larson[6]; 8. 5-Brenham Crouch[7]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid[14]; 10. 41-Carson Macedo[12]; 11. 88-Austin McCarl[9]; 12. 2C-Cole Macedo[25]; 13. 11-Justin Henderson[4]; 14. 15-Donny Schatz[23]; 15. 10-Ryan Timms[17]; 16. 27-Emerson Axsom[18]; 17. 23-Garet Williamson[21]; 18. 21-Brian Brown[15]; 19. 26-Justin Peck[19]; 20. 17-Spencer Bayston[24]; 21. 69K-Daryn Pittman[22]; 22. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[13]; 23. 7S-Chris Windom[20]; 24. (DNF) 24A-Rico Abreu[3]; 25. (DNF) 55-Kerry Madsen[10]

JOHN FORCE Racing–Bristol Friday recap

FRIDAY RECAP – BRISTOLRace 9 of 20
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
BECKMAN GRABS DELAYED EPPING FUNNY CAR CROWN DURING BRISTOL QUALIFYINGBeckman second in Day 1 of qualifying, Hart sixth, Vandergriff 11th and DeJoria 12th
FRIDAY RECAP – BRISTOLRace 9 of 20
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
BECKMAN GRABS DELAYED EPPING FUNNY CAR CROWN DURING BRISTOL QUALIFYINGBeckman second in Day 1 of qualifying, Hart sixth, Vandergriff 11th and DeJoria 12th
BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 12, 2026) – It was a double dose of delayed gratification but, after rain rescheduled the Funny Car final in last week’s New England Nationals to today’s second qualifying session during the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, and then a three-hour rain delay today, Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD earned their first victory of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Beckman grabbed the holeshot (.066 to .083) and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car streaked to a run of 4.017 seconds at 318.54 mph while his John Force Racing teammate Jordan Vandergriff’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS lost traction before halftrack and slowed to a run of 6.291 seconds at 106.68 mph. It was Beckman’s 38th career NHRA Funny Car event victory, the fifth of his John Force Racing tenure and first since the Route 66 Nationals outside Chicago last May. The PEAK SQUAD had been to two previous finals in 2026, finishing runner-up at the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte in April and the Potomac Nationals in Maryland in May. It was Vandergriff’s second final round of the season, having earned his career first NHRA Funny Car event in the Southern Nationals at South Georgia Speedway in early May. The New England Nationals final was the 58th time John Force Racing teammates have lined up against each other in an NHRA final round and the fourth time it happened in the New England Nationals, despite it officially taking place at Bristol Dragway. Beckman’s elapsed time in the Epping final round was good enough for second overall. Vandergriff’s Q1 Friday run of 5.375 seconds at 136.07 mph was good enough for the No. 11 spot while Alexis DeJoria used her Q1 run in the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car of 5.455 seconds at 133.67 mph to earn the No. 12 spot in Funny Car. Josh Hart’s Q2 run of 3.815 seconds at 327.03 mph put the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster in the No. 6 spot. NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying on Sat., June 13, will feature the final two rounds at 12:30 and 3 p.m. ET. Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday, June 7, at 12 p.m. ET. Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “Before you can be quick, you have to be consistent and to be consistent, you have to be predictable. I think we’re back in that window right now. To get a win like this, it was very gratifying.I wouldn’t have cared if we ran this final round Friday night or next Tuesday. Our PEAK team left with the trophy and that’s all that matters. We hadn’t won in over a year. We had some struggles, but now we’ve made it down the track on 14 of our last 17 runs. That’s the kind of consistency that wins races. I’ve never raced a final round at a completely different venue a week later. I’ve raced late Sundays and Mondays, but never this. It was definitely unique.” Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster: “I was happy with that Q2 run. My crew chief was not but we always want a little bit more on the Speedmaster team so I’m good with that. We all came here to win. That’s what we’re gonna do. We have a lot of new things that we’re trying. We’re testing and we’re pushing as hard as we can to get this car where we know it needs to be, and that’s the fastest car on the planet.” Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “It was tough to lose but the silver lining is that our teammate Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD got their first Wally of the season. They all told me they wanted their own diamond Wally so they have it now. But still, looking back into last week, it was still a great overall weekend for the Cornwell Quality Tools Funny Car. Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker (crew chiefs), and all of my guys made our second final round of the year. It was a strong point day, as well, because we moved into third place. We come here to Bristol with a chance to win the Mission Foods  #2Fast2Tasty Challenge tomorrow and move up in points and get another win here Sunday. My goal is to leave here No. 1.” TV ScheduleTelevision coverage on FS1 includes qualifying action at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, June 12, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, leading into eliminations at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday on FS1.

Cadillac powers to front-row start for second consecutive year at Le Mans 

LE MANS, FRANCE (June 11, 2026) – For the second consecutive year, Cadillac will start on the front row for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. Will Stevens, co-driver of the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, who drives with Louis Deletraz and Norman Nato, clocked in with a lap of 3 minutes, 23.078 seconds, just behind pole winner Dries Vanthoor who was .514 of a second ahead. Filipe Albuquerque, who is co-driving the No. 101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R for Wayne Taylor Racing with Ricky Tayor and Jordan Taylor posted the fifth best time of 3 minutes and 23.778 seconds. Jack Aitken, co-driver of the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and local native Sebastien Bourdais posted a lap time of 3 minutes, 26.865 seconds. Aitken had initially set the fastest lap, but due to a procedural error when leaving the pit lane, that lap time was subsequently deleted and the No. 38 will start 10th in the Hypercar field. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for 10 a.m. (EDT) / 4 p.m. (CEST) on Saturday, June 13. Live streaming coverage is available through a subscription on FIA WEC Plus with additional live streaming on the HBO Max app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will provide live streaming audio coverage.
 Cadillac powers to front-row start 
for second consecutive year at Le Mans
LE MANS, FRANCE (June 11, 2026) – For the second consecutive year, Cadillac will start on the front row for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. Will Stevens, co-driver of the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, who drives with Louis Deletraz and Norman Nato, clocked in with a lap of 3 minutes, 23.078 seconds, just behind pole winner Dries Vanthoor who was .514 of a second ahead. Filipe Albuquerque, who is co-driving the No. 101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R for Wayne Taylor Racing with Ricky Tayor and Jordan Taylor posted the fifth best time of 3 minutes and 23.778 seconds. Jack Aitken, co-driver of the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and local native Sebastien Bourdais posted a lap time of 3 minutes, 26.865 seconds. Aitken had initially set the fastest lap, but due to a procedural error when leaving the pit lane, that lap time was subsequently deleted and the No. 38 will start 10th in the Hypercar field. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for 10 a.m. (EDT) / 4 p.m. (CEST) on Saturday, June 13. Live streaming coverage is available through a subscription on FIA WEC Plus with additional live streaming on the HBO Max app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will provide live streaming audio coverage.
What they’re saying No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R: Will Stevens: “It was a good day for the team. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in improving the package compared to last year. We know we are in a better position. It’s going to be a very exciting race, and I think it will be a battle. It was a good effort by the team and now we need to have a good rest and get ready for the race.” No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R Filipe Albuquerque: “I think it’s still good. P5, for a 24-hour race, especially at Le Mans. Staying out of trouble is the most important thing here. We have great cars. I think we just did a not ideal strategy. We went with a medium compound when everyone else was on softs. We keep learning. I guess we are the only outliers from WEC. They know how to choose between tires I guess. So, we keep learning. But again, I’m happy with the car, with the team. They did great qualifying always on the top. Again, with top five. And again, the race is long. We have a fast car, so no mistakes for now.” No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R: Jack Aitken: “Yeah, unfortunately, the lap was deleted due to a procedural error. However, it does show that we had fantastic pace to be quickest, third quickest and three Cadillacs all in the Hyperpole 2. And, you know, even if we don’t get to start in the pole position, we’re still going to work our way through on the weekend and have shown that we have great pace. The car felt really, really strong. The guys did an amazing job to just improve it step-by-step over the last couple of days. And yeah, to put a lap together like that is always something kind of special and even more at a track like this. So, it was very enjoyable for the 20 minutes that I had the pole. And even now it’s still, you know, still a cool lap to have done.”To download our 2026 Le Mans media materials, please visit: https://tracksideracingnews.egnyte.com/fl/3hRX8hpW9QqY
About General MotorsGeneral Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. 
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.

Cadillac Racing Honored with 2026 DHL Sustainable Endurance Award

Cadillac Racing Honored with 2026 DHL Sustainable Endurance Award
Hypercar program recognized for measurable sustainability actions, operational credibility and community impact at Le Mans
Cadillac Racing Honored with 2026 DHL Sustainable Endurance Award
Hypercar program recognized for measurable sustainability actions, operational credibility and community impact at Le Mans
LE MANS, France, June 12, 2026 — Cadillac Racing has been named the winner of the 2026 DHL Sustainable Endurance Award in the Hypercar category, a recognition presented in connection with the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the FIA, ACO and DHL. The award recognizes Cadillac Racing for a sustainability program built on measurable actions across race logistics, hospitality, waste reduction, procurement and community engagement.
Cadillac Racing’s submission stood out to the organizers as one of the most complete, structured and measurable dossiers received this year, covering all areas with concrete actions directly tied to Le Mans operations.
Among the strongest elements cited by the jury was Cadillac Racing’s operational approach to reducing the environmental impact of race logistics. That included increasing the use of sea freight for Cadillac WTR equipment from 70 percent in 2025 to 90 percent in 2026, using train travel between Paris and Le Mans for U.S.-based staff, implementing road transport from the UK for JOTA, and storing or sourcing equipment locally in Europe where possible.
The jury also recognized Cadillac Racing’s hospitality and waste reduction efforts, including reuse of the hospitality structure, installation of energy metering to establish a 2026 baseline, use of LED lighting and efficient appliances, and measures designed to reduce air conditioning demand.
Cadillac Racing’s catering program was highlighted for its measurable progress. The average carbon impact per meal was reduced from 7.13 kg CO2e in 2024 to 6.49 kg CO2e in 2026 through menu redesign, reduced beef use, expanded plant-based options, local sourcing and surplus food donations to Les Restos du Cœur.
The submission also detailed meaningful progress in reducing single-use plastics, including five BWT water stations, water meters, distribution of 1,000 reusable bottles for fans, elimination of single-use plastic in hospitality, and the avoidance of approximately 4,000 plastic bottles. These initiatives were estimated to save 114.8 kg of plastic and 319.3 kg of CO2.
Beyond environmental performance, the jury cited the strength of Cadillac Racing’s broader sustainability approach, including responsible procurement practices, references to environmental and ethical standards, support for women in motorsport and STEAM, and community engagement through its project with Gaston Bachelard School in Le Mans.
Accepting the honor on behalf of the team, Keely Bosn from Cadillac Racing said the award reflects the work happening behind the scenes across the organization.“Thank you to the FIA, ACO and DHL for this award. On behalf of Cadillac Racing, we are extremely honored to receive the 2026 Sustainable Endurance Award.
“What makes this recognition special is that it celebrates work that happens behind the scenes. While endurance racing is about performance on track, it’s also about continuous improvement in everything we do, including our commitment to the environment and the community.
“This award is a true team effort. Thank you to everyone across Cadillac Racing, Wayne Taylor Racing, JOTA, General Motors, our suppliers, and partners who helped make these initiatives a reality.

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: The Final Words

Pre-race thoughts from Corvette Z06 GT3.R drivers ahead of 24 Hours of Le Mans LE MANS, France (June 12, 2026) – Friday is the proverbial calm before the story at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are undergoing final pre-race preparations in their garages ahead of the annual French endurance classic. The Corvette quartet at the twice-around-the-clock classic is the largest group of Corvettes at Le Mans in 10 years. Although the four cars will start in the back half of the LMGT3 grid, optimism exists the group can race toward the front in the 25-car field. Here are a few thoughts from a collection of 12 drivers that will race through daylight, nighttime and daylight again this weekend…
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R PRE-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We made some changes to get away from some of the issues we had Wednesday. Toward the end of the last session, I felt competitive and it felt nice. We had the car balance where we want it to be. If that means we are a bit slower, all we can do is find a nice car to drive and deal with it. I have all the trust in the world in the team and in my engineer Tyler (Neff), who is also my engineer in IMSA. I can interfere but they are always smarter than I am! So I’m just going to drive to create a balance that we all like, and I’m sure we will figure it out.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s my first race of the WEC season and it’s a double-points race. I’d have to look back a really long way to see when the last time someone won the championship but did not win Le Mans. It hasn’t happened in the last five years or so. So if you asked me to choose, I would choose Le Mans. But I also want to win the championship for the 33 car for my co-drivers, for my team, for Corvette. Since I personally no longer have the opportunity to win the championship, I want to win Le Mans. And if we win Le Mans, I think that will put my teammates, my car, my team and my manufacturer all in the best spot to win the championship.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: ““I’ve seen firsthand the pace that you find year on year. The biggest thing is you don’t actually really know it. If somebody said to me, ‘Where did you find a half-second from Year One to Year Two, and another half-second from Year Two to Three?’ I literally couldn’t tell them. But it’s just something about having a bit more confidence and a bit more understanding of the importance of the exits and these little bits of bumps here and there. And so many people say, ‘Oh yeah, there are tracks with just loads of straights,’ and I think it’s one of the most complex tracks in the world. And to really nail it at a proper level, it takes a lot of knowledge.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve loved motorsport with every ounce of my body since the day I was born. My dad owned a racing team for 30 years. I now own a race team myself. I don’t enjoy anything else in life. I try to, but it’s just not the same. It’s a dream opportunity to go to an event like this and see all the different events that take place, with the drivers parade and scrutineering and everything. And to get time to interact with the fans, which I’ve kind of been lucky enough to experience… The first two events, there were fans coming up to me with old pictures of me when I was racing back 15 or 20 years ago and wanted autographs on that. So it’s crazy to think that I’ve been out of a seat for as long as I have. And there are still people there that want my autograph from such a long time ago. So get the chance to interact with the fans that come to these, I love it. I absolutely love that part of it.”
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s the race. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. Every single series that we take part in, the goal is to win your entry there, and it’s for a reason. Above everything else, it’s the race that I desperately want to win. I’ve stood on the podium one step behind the winner, and it was amazing, but I have more hunger than ever to get on the top step.”
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Everybody wants to try to win, but let’s try to at least do better than we did last year. You’re always trying to move forward, not backward. We’ll go out there better prepared than even last year and with a better understanding of the whole event and how it works. All that’s left is to try and get further up the order there.”
BEN GREEN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “For me, Le Mans is a track that you never get to drive at unless you race there. I love learning new tracks. I love going to new environments like this. I actually went to Le Mans in I’d say 2013 or around then for a karting championship world final, and we had our end-of-season dinner in one of the rooms overlooking the start line. And it’s crazy to come back around more than 10 years later after something like that and about to be on track racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a pretty surreal experience.”
CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: The Final WordsPre-race thoughts from Corvette Z06 GT3.R drivers ahead of 24 Hours of Le Mans LE MANS, France (June 12, 2026) – Friday is the proverbial calm before the story at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are undergoing final pre-race preparations in their garages ahead of the annual French endurance classic. The Corvette quartet at the twice-around-the-clock classic is the largest group of Corvettes at Le Mans in 10 years. Although the four cars will start in the back half of the LMGT3 grid, optimism exists the group can race toward the front in the 25-car field. Here are a few thoughts from a collection of 12 drivers that will race through daylight, nighttime and daylight again this weekend…
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R PRE-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We made some changes to get away from some of the issues we had Wednesday. Toward the end of the last session, I felt competitive and it felt nice. We had the car balance where we want it to be. If that means we are a bit slower, all we can do is find a nice car to drive and deal with it. I have all the trust in the world in the team and in my engineer Tyler (Neff), who is also my engineer in IMSA. I can interfere but they are always smarter than I am! So I’m just going to drive to create a balance that we all like, and I’m sure we will figure it out.”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s my first race of the WEC season and it’s a double-points race. I’d have to look back a really long way to see when the last time someone won the championship but did not win Le Mans. It hasn’t happened in the last five years or so. So if you asked me to choose, I would choose Le Mans. But I also want to win the championship for the 33 car for my co-drivers, for my team, for Corvette. Since I personally no longer have the opportunity to win the championship, I want to win Le Mans. And if we win Le Mans, I think that will put my teammates, my car, my team and my manufacturer all in the best spot to win the championship.”
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: ““I’ve seen firsthand the pace that you find year on year. The biggest thing is you don’t actually really know it. If somebody said to me, ‘Where did you find a half-second from Year One to Year Two, and another half-second from Year Two to Three?’ I literally couldn’t tell them. But it’s just something about having a bit more confidence and a bit more understanding of the importance of the exits and these little bits of bumps here and there. And so many people say, ‘Oh yeah, there are tracks with just loads of straights,’ and I think it’s one of the most complex tracks in the world. And to really nail it at a proper level, it takes a lot of knowledge.”
PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’ve loved motorsport with every ounce of my body since the day I was born. My dad owned a racing team for 30 years. I now own a race team myself. I don’t enjoy anything else in life. I try to, but it’s just not the same. It’s a dream opportunity to go to an event like this and see all the different events that take place, with the drivers parade and scrutineering and everything. And to get time to interact with the fans, which I’ve kind of been lucky enough to experience… The first two events, there were fans coming up to me with old pictures of me when I was racing back 15 or 20 years ago and wanted autographs on that. So it’s crazy to think that I’ve been out of a seat for as long as I have. And there are still people there that want my autograph from such a long time ago. So get the chance to interact with the fans that come to these, I love it. I absolutely love that part of it.”
MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s the race. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. Every single series that we take part in, the goal is to win your entry there, and it’s for a reason. Above everything else, it’s the race that I desperately want to win. I’ve stood on the podium one step behind the winner, and it was amazing, but I have more hunger than ever to get on the top step.”
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Everybody wants to try to win, but let’s try to at least do better than we did last year. You’re always trying to move forward, not backward. We’ll go out there better prepared than even last year and with a better understanding of the whole event and how it works. All that’s left is to try and get further up the order there.”
BEN GREEN, NO. 2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “For me, Le Mans is a track that you never get to drive at unless you race there. I love learning new tracks. I love going to new environments like this. I actually went to Le Mans in I’d say 2013 or around then for a karting championship world final, and we had our end-of-season dinner in one of the rooms overlooking the start line. And it’s crazy to come back around more than 10 years later after something like that and about to be on track racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a pretty surreal experience.”
CORVETTE RACING au Mans: pensées avant la courseLes impressions des pilotes de la Corvette Z06 GT3.R à l’approche des 24 Heures du Mans de cette année
LE MANS, France (le 12 juin 2026) – Ce vendredi, c’est le calme avant la tempête aux 24 Heures du Mans. Les quatre Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R sont en pleine phase de préparation finale dans leurs boxes avant cette classique française d’endurance. Le quatuor de Corvette engagé dans cette course de 24 heures constitue le contingent le plus important de Corvette au Mans depuis 10 ans. Bien que les quatre voitures s’élancent depuis la deuxième partie de la grille LMGT3, l’optimisme règne quant à la capacité du groupe à remonter vers l’avant du peloton de 25 voitures. Voici quelques réflexions d’une sélection de 12 pilotes qui courront de jour, de nuit, puis de jour à nouveau ce week-end… DÉCLARATIONS DES PILOTES CORVETTE AVANT LA COURSENICKY CATSBURG, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: « Nous avons apporté quelques modifications pour remédier à certains des problèmes rencontrés mercredi. Vers la fin de la dernière séance, je me sentais compétitif et ça faisait du bien. Nous avions trouvé l’équilibre de la voiture que nous recherchions. Si cela signifie que nous sommes un peu plus lents, tout ce que nous pouvons faire, c’est trouver une voiture agréable à piloter et faire avec. J’ai une confiance absolue en l’équipe et en mon ingénieur Tyler (Neff), qui est également mon ingénieur en IMSA. Je peux donner mon avis, mais ils sont toujours plus malins que moi ! Je vais donc simplement piloter pour trouver un équilibre qui nous convienne à tous, et je suis sûr qu’on y arrivera. » BEN KEATING, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°33: « C’est ma première course de la saison WEC et c’est une épreuve à double points. Il faudrait remonter très loin dans le temps pour trouver la dernière fois où quelqu’un a remporté le championnat sans avoir gagné Le Mans. Cela ne s’est pas produit depuis environ cinq ans. Donc, si vous me demandiez de choisir, je choisirais Le Mans. Mais je veux aussi remporter le championnat pour la voiture n° 33, pour mes coéquipiers, pour mon équipe et pour Corvette. Comme je n’ai plus personnellement la possibilité de remporter le championnat, je veux gagner Le Mans. Et si nous remportons Le Mans, je pense que cela mettra mes coéquipiers, ma voiture, mon équipe et mon constructeur dans la meilleure position pour remporter le championnat. » CHARLIE EASTWOOD, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°34: « J’ai pu constater de mes propres yeux les progrès réalisés d’année en année. Le plus étonnant, c’est qu’on ne s’en rend pas vraiment compte. Si quelqu’un me demandait : “Où as-tu trouvé un demi-seconde entre la première et la deuxième année, puis une autre demi-seconde entre la deuxième et la troisième ?”, je serais littéralement incapable de lui répondre. Mais c’est simplement une question d’avoir un peu plus confiance en soi et de mieux comprendre l’importance des sorties de virage et de ces petits reliefs ici et là. Et beaucoup de gens disent : « Oh oui, il y a des circuits avec plein de lignes droites », mais je pense que c’est l’un des circuits les plus complexes au monde. Et pour vraiment le maîtriser à un bon niveau, il faut beaucoup de connaissances. » PETER DEMPSEY, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°34: « J’adore le sport automobile de tout mon cœur depuis le jour où je suis né. Mon père a dirigé une écurie de course pendant 30 ans. Aujourd’hui, j’ai moi-même une écurie. Je n’apprécie rien d’autre dans la vie. J’essaie, mais ce n’est tout simplement pas pareil. C’est une occasion en or de participer à un événement comme celui-ci et de voir toutes les différentes activités qui s’y déroulent, avec le défilé des pilotes, les vérifications techniques et tout le reste. Et d’avoir le temps d’échanger avec les fans, ce que j’ai eu la chance de vivre… Lors des deux premières épreuves, des fans sont venus me voir avec de vieilles photos de moi datant de mes années de course, il y a 15 ou 20 ans, et m’ont demandé des autographes dessus. C’est fou de penser que ça fait si longtemps que je ne suis plus au volant. Et il y a encore des gens qui veulent mon autographe d’il y a si longtemps. Alors avoir la chance d’échanger avec les fans qui viennent à ces événements, j’adore ça. J’adore vraiment cet aspect-là. » MATT BELL, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°13: « C’est LA course. C’est le summum de notre sport. Dans chaque championnat auquel nous participons, l’objectif est de se qualifier pour cette épreuve, et ce n’est pas sans raison. Plus que tout autre chose, c’est cette course que je veux absolument remporter. Je me suis déjà retrouvé sur le podium, juste derrière le vainqueur, et c’était incroyable, mais j’ai plus que jamais envie de monter sur la plus haute marche. » OREY FIDANI, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°13: « Tout le monde veut gagner, mais essayons au moins de faire mieux que l’année dernière. On cherche toujours à aller de l’avant, pas à reculer. Nous aborderons cette épreuve mieux préparés que l’année dernière et avec une meilleure compréhension de l’ensemble de la compétition et de son fonctionnement. Il ne nous reste plus qu’à essayer de remonter dans le classement. » BEN GREEN, CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R n°2: « Pour moi, Le Mans est un circuit sur lequel on ne roule jamais à moins d’y courir. J’adore découvrir de nouveaux circuits. J’adore me rendre dans de nouveaux environnements comme celui-ci. En fait, je suis allé au Mans en 2013, je crois, ou à peu près à cette époque, pour la finale du championnat du monde de karting, et nous avions notre dîner de fin de saison dans l’une des salles donnant sur la ligne de départ. Et c’est fou de revenir plus de 10 ans après un tel événement et d’être sur le point de courir sur ce circuit lors des 24 Heures du Mans. C’est une expérience assez surréaliste. »

Wood Brothers Racing–Pocono advance

Event: Great American Getaway 400Date/Time: Sunday, June 14, 2026, 3 p.m. ETLocation: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PennsylvaniaLayout: 2.5-MilesTV/Radio: Prime Video, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR RadioJosh Berry is set to reach a career milestone this Sunday at Pocono Raceway, making his 100th NASCAR Cup Series start when he takes the green flag in the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which will carry the colors of new partner Capgemini.Capgemini is an AI-powered global business and technology transformation partner that helps organizations create tangible business value through AI, technology and people. Capgemini is headquartered in Paris, France, and employs more than 420,000 team members across more than 50 countries and delivers services spanning strategy, technology, design, engineering and business operations. Berry, who has made 51 of his previous 99 starts in a Wood Brothers Ford, said on a teleconference Wednesday that he hasn’t really kept up with how many career starts he’s made.“You hear the 100th race a lot in Cup racing just when they refer to people starting out their careers and the amount of time it takes to get things figured out and get your feet under you,” he said. “So I guess I finally made that and at least have been to victory lane once before that time.“I’ve just been really fortunate to drive for four or five teams throughout the 100 starts, a bunch of different car numbers…. and I’m excited for Pocono.“Honestly, it’s one of my favorite tracks to go to. It’s a really fun place to drive and hopefully we can have us a good weekend.”It was announced Wednesday that Berry will not be returning to the No. 21 car in 2027, but he said that while he’s disappointed to be leaving the team, he vows to do his best to make the most of the remainder of the 2026 season.“First and foremost, we are going to do our best to finish this season strong and leave in a good place,” he said.Practice for the Great American Getaway 400 at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 2:10 p.m. ET.Sunday’s 160-lap, 400-mile race on the Tricky Triangle is scheduled to start just after 3 p.m. ET with stage breaks at Laps 30 and 95.Prime Video will carry television coverage all weekend.Josh BerryAge: 35 (Oct. 22, 1990)Hometown: Hendersonville, TennesseeCrew Chief: Miles StanleyIG: @joshberry88X: @joshberryAbout Capgemini
Capgemini is an AI-powered global business and technology transformation partner, delivering tangible business value. We imagine the future of organizations and make it real with AI, technology and people. With our strong heritage of nearly 60 years, we are a responsible and diverse group of 420,000 team members in more than 50 countries. We deliver end-to-end services and solutions with our deep industry expertise and strong partner ecosystem, leveraging our capabilities across strategy, technology, design, engineering and business operations. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.1 billion. Make it real | www.capgemini.comTaylor SmithNo. 21 Team and Josh Berrytaylor@woodbrothersracing.com

Covington Holding ASCS Title Fight Within Reach Entering Summer Stretch

LOCUST GROVE, AR (June 11, 2026) — Matt Covington has seen this script before. 

Sam Hafertepe Jr. leads the American Sprint Car Series points, while Covington remains on his tail for the title fight entering the summer stretch. 

In years past, that story has ended with Covington having to watch Hafertepe or another driver run away with the title. This year, the Glenpool, OK driver wants to flip the script. 

Sitting second in points – 22 points behind Hafertepe – with one win, five top fives and eight top 10s in the first 11 races, including three straight top fives, the veteran is primed to keep his stout run going throughout the summer, starting this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway, June 13. 

“We’re pretty par for the course if you look at years past,” Covington said. “We’re kind of right where we always are, but I think the real difference is going to be what happens from here forward. Being in the same place we are, it doesn’t sound great because we seem to be pretty decent at running second and third in the championship. We’re hoping to be where we are right now, but the points are real close, and I feel like it depends on where we go from here.” 

Hafertepe’s recent engine issue at Creek County Speedway, helped Covington keep a close points gap, but capitalizing on others’ woes and minimizing his own will be key to determining this year’s champion, he said. 

“It’d be nice to have more of a lead on Sam,” Covington said. “I’ve seen him do it before, but come mid-summer, the guy goes on a tear. I know he and Bergman are capable of doing it. You can go back over 10 years, where he goes on a four-win streak, and that’s in the back of our minds. Sam is not a guy that typically DNFs a lot, and if you took his whole career, he’s not a guy that does so very often.  

“We’ve been good at not taking a DNF; some of that goes back to my sponsorship situation, where we got to be a little more conservative. Because not only are we trying to win the championship, but we’re trying to stay out there all season. We’ve tried to not be so much of a points racer, but at the same time, I know who we’re doing battle with, and we can’t let them get away from us.” 

Covington is the meat in the three-driver points sandwich entering Batesville, with Seth Bergman also in the title hunt, only one point behind Covington. While the Series has not reached the halfway point, the urgency to secure the lead and reach his five-win goal is prominent. 

“The urgency is already there,” Covington admitted. “Sam’s got us by (22) points, and we’re going into mid-summer, which seems to be his part of the year. If I had a 100-point lead at this point, then maybe I’d approach points races a little bit differently. But right now, we have the sense of urgency where we still need to win at least four more Series races to get to our five-win number. We better bring a fast car to Batesville because we need to rack off a few more wins, and they’re not easy to come by. 

“At 81, we didn’t have the car to win, but we put ourselves in a position to win. We’re only going to be able to get away with that so many times before we start falling back to the No. 15H. You don’t want to lose the title from something stupid or taking chances that weren’t necessary, but we’re not in that spot right now. We just need to show up, win, and get in their heads like, ‘Hey, the 95 car is the fastest right now,’ and make these guys think they need to do something different.” 

After Batesville, the Series will close out June with The Big One at Belleville High Banks. While Covington has never won at either facility, he knows the balance of having speed and maneuverability at the tracks, with career-high finishes of third at Batesville (2024) and fourth at Belleville (2025). 

“I think it’s been proven before that if a guy’s car is good, you’re going to be able to drive around some people,” Covington said. “There’s certain conditions that make it tougher than others, so you can’t beat the track position. But it’s not impossible. A guy can have a car with front-running speed, but isn’t maneuverable enough to get through traffic good. 

“Qualifying brought a different element to the Series. We used to do a blank field draw, but you could get stuck in a bad draw, and it’d be damn near impossible to recover. There’s a car that is better in clean air than a car that is maneuverable in traffic, and I hear some of the younger guys struggle with that. Eventually, these guys are going to figure it out, but right now, it’s me, Sam, and Bergman that have it figured out, and it’s why you see us consistently qualifying in the front.” 

Covington will get back to work with the American Sprint Car Series on Saturday, June 13, to chase a $4,000 payday at Batesville. 

Covington Holding ASCS Title Fight Within Reach Entering Summer Stretch LOCUST GROVE, AR (June 11, 2026) — Matt Covington has seen this script before. 

Sam Hafertepe Jr. leads the American Sprint Car Series points, while Covington remains on his tail for the title fight entering the summer stretch. 

In years past, that story has ended with Covington having to watch Hafertepe or another driver run away with the title. This year, the Glenpool, OK driver wants to flip the script. 

Sitting second in points – 22 points behind Hafertepe – with one win, five top fives and eight top 10s in the first 11 races, including three straight top fives, the veteran is primed to keep his stout run going throughout the summer, starting this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway, June 13. 

“We’re pretty par for the course if you look at years past,” Covington said. “We’re kind of right where we always are, but I think the real difference is going to be what happens from here forward. Being in the same place we are, it doesn’t sound great because we seem to be pretty decent at running second and third in the championship. We’re hoping to be where we are right now, but the points are real close, and I feel like it depends on where we go from here.” 

Hafertepe’s recent engine issue at Creek County Speedway, helped Covington keep a close points gap, but capitalizing on others’ woes and minimizing his own will be key to determining this year’s champion, he said. 

“It’d be nice to have more of a lead on Sam,” Covington said. “I’ve seen him do it before, but come mid-summer, the guy goes on a tear. I know he and Bergman are capable of doing it. You can go back over 10 years, where he goes on a four-win streak, and that’s in the back of our minds. Sam is not a guy that typically DNFs a lot, and if you took his whole career, he’s not a guy that does so very often.  

“We’ve been good at not taking a DNF; some of that goes back to my sponsorship situation, where we got to be a little more conservative. Because not only are we trying to win the championship, but we’re trying to stay out there all season. We’ve tried to not be so much of a points racer, but at the same time, I know who we’re doing battle with, and we can’t let them get away from us.” 

Covington is the meat in the three-driver points sandwich entering Batesville, with Seth Bergman also in the title hunt, only one point behind Covington. While the Series has not reached the halfway point, the urgency to secure the lead and reach his five-win goal is prominent. 

“The urgency is already there,” Covington admitted. “Sam’s got us by (22) points, and we’re going into mid-summer, which seems to be his part of the year. If I had a 100-point lead at this point, then maybe I’d approach points races a little bit differently. But right now, we have the sense of urgency where we still need to win at least four more Series races to get to our five-win number. We better bring a fast car to Batesville because we need to rack off a few more wins, and they’re not easy to come by. 

“At 81, we didn’t have the car to win, but we put ourselves in a position to win. We’re only going to be able to get away with that so many times before we start falling back to the No. 15H. You don’t want to lose the title from something stupid or taking chances that weren’t necessary, but we’re not in that spot right now. We just need to show up, win, and get in their heads like, ‘Hey, the 95 car is the fastest right now,’ and make these guys think they need to do something different.” 

After Batesville, the Series will close out June with The Big One at Belleville High Banks. While Covington has never won at either facility, he knows the balance of having speed and maneuverability at the tracks, with career-high finishes of third at Batesville (2024) and fourth at Belleville (2025). 

“I think it’s been proven before that if a guy’s car is good, you’re going to be able to drive around some people,” Covington said. “There’s certain conditions that make it tougher than others, so you can’t beat the track position. But it’s not impossible. A guy can have a car with front-running speed, but isn’t maneuverable enough to get through traffic good. 

“Qualifying brought a different element to the Series. We used to do a blank field draw, but you could get stuck in a bad draw, and it’d be damn near impossible to recover. There’s a car that is better in clean air than a car that is maneuverable in traffic, and I hear some of the younger guys struggle with that. Eventually, these guys are going to figure it out, but right now, it’s me, Sam, and Bergman that have it figured out, and it’s why you see us consistently qualifying in the front.” 

Covington will get back to work with the American Sprint Car Series on Saturday, June 13, to chase a $4,000 payday at Batesville. 

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