POMONA, CA (April 1, 2023) — Reigning NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals winner Justin Ashley saved the best for last today at In-N-Out Dragstrip racing to the No. 1 qualifier position and winning the $10,000 top prize in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge outrunning Leah Pruett in the final round. His winning time of 3.707 seconds at 330.15 mph moved him around provisional Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force and earned the 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year three important qualifying bonus points. It was a monster run for the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by National Debt Relief as they head into Sunday looking to defend their Winternationals title and win for the second week in a row after taking the win at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

(from left) Rob Phillips, Justin Ashley, Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge winner, Angelle Sampey (photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

“I think this is probably the best Saturday I think I’ve ever had at the racetrack,” said Ashley, from the Shav Glick Media Center. “It’s amazing to win the Mission 2Fast2Tasty Challenge and go to No. 1. It’s great for the fans, but it’s also great for the teams. It really was a great day for this Phillips Connect Toyota team powered by National Debt Relief, and it is a positive step in the right direction.”

In the first round of qualifying Ashley defeated Steve Torrence in a close race. Ashley was first off the line and his 3.751 second pass held up at the finish line for the win. 

“Arizona really paid dividends for us not only because we won the race, but we got four extra rounds of racing on Sunday,” said Ashley. “We have a new tune up and new combination. Mike Green and Tommy DeLago have obviously done a great job learning and adapting and you saw the results here this last session. Mike and Tommy have been doing a great job and we are seeing the benefits these past two races. You want to find some kind of momentum and maintain some kind of consistency. To be able to take what we did in Phoenix and now apply it here so far, Friday and Saturday really goes a long way. It gives us more data, more information, more to learn from for our Phillips Connect team.”

Justin Ashley and Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by National Debt Relief

This was the third No. 1 qualifier for Ashley and the Phillips Connect team and first of the 2023 season. The last time Ashley was No. 1 he raced to the final round at the Betway Nationals zMax Dragway outside of Charlotte during the 2022 NHRA Countdown. The fourth-year pro gave all the credit to his team and their efforts throughout the offseason and the start of this season.

“We’re resilient. These guys don’t stop until we get it right and. Mike and Tommy have championship winning experience and it really pays dividends. You see it every run. Those guys are quiet, they’re meticulous. They go about their job the right way and I’m just happy with today’s result.”

Ashley will face No. 14 qualifier Krista Baldwin in the first round. A win in the first round would provide a bye run in round two. Ashley and his team are not taking anyone lightly in one of the toughest Top Fuel fields in recent memory.

“Make no mistake about it. We are racing Krista Baldwin in the first round, but we are not looking past that match-up,” said Ashley. “Everybody out here has good stuff and we have got to do our job. The focus will be on round one and we won’t change our focus until we light up a win light tomorrow.”

The first round of the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals will begin at 11 am. Tomorrow following the opening ceremonies at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. The race will be televised nationally on FS1.

POMONA, CA (April 1, 2023) — For the second time in her young career, Pro Stock rising star Camrie Caruso raced to the No. 1 qualifier at an NHRA national event. On the strength of her Friday afternoon pass of 6.518 seconds at 211.79 mph, during round one of qualifying for the NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip Caruso will lead the Pro Stock field into eliminations tomorrow. Caruso and the Powerbuilt Tools Chevrolet Camaro will face Steve Graham in the first round. The 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year will bring momentum into the race looking to keep her win streak alive after her victory last weekend at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. 

Camrie Caruso and Powerbuilt Tools Chevrolet Camaro, photo by SR Driven Media

“We’re really excited to be number one heading into Sunday,” said Caruso. “We wanted to win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, but hopefully we’ll have another shot at it in Vegas. We’ll just focus on winning the race tomorrow. I think we’ll be just fine. My guys are really smart. They know what they’re doing. We were number one coming in today and we didn’t really need to kill it on the performance side. It was way different than it was yesterday. We will be just fine tomorrow.”

The last time Caruso was No. 1 was her fifth start of her rookie year and she raced to the final round at the SpringNationals in Houston. After winning in Phoenix last weekend Caruso has confidence and a strong race car going into race day at the Winternationals.

Camrie Caruso, No. 1 qualifier at NHRA Winternationals, photo by SR Driven Media

“I was really calm on Sunday in Phoenix,” said Caruso, from the Shav Glick Media Center. “I’m just going to continue to try and stay calm and not let anything rattle me. We’re just going to focus on the win lights.”

During the first session of qualifying today Caruso was upset in the opening round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge racing veteran Matt Hartford. Last weekend Caruso got the win light but today Hartford got to the finish line stripe first, then went on to win the Challenge and its $5,000 top prize. In her losing effort Caruso posted the quickest losing time and earned an important championship bonus point.

“We wanted to get that Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win, but we will definitely take that championship point,” said Caruso. “Those points will add up and we just want to give this Powerbuilt Tools Chevrolet Camaro race car every advantage we can. I am excited for tomorrow and going after my second Pro Stock win.”

Final eliminations will begin for Pro Stock at noon with the race being televised on FS1.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 1, 2023) – Progressive American Flat Track TT master JD Beach(No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) added another chapter to his legend by reigning supreme at Saturday’s ZO CBD Arizona Super TT presented by RideNow Powersports at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. Beach, who has now claimed victories in seven of the most recent eight Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle TT Main Events, ultimately proved worthy of his status as the heavy favorite coming into the weekend. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have to work for this one. That work started in the race’s opening corner after initially getting displaced to third behind reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing/SDI Racing FTR750) and points leader Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT). The biggest danger moment for Beach came when Daniels took control of the lead two minutes into the Main. The on-form Daniels – who actually out-qualified Beach earlier in the day – looked to rip open an advantage while his teammate was stuck behind Mees on a track that presented few opportunities to pass and plenty of opportunities to mess up. Almost exactly a minute later, Beach (literally) flew by Mees over the start-finish jump to slot into second. And almost exactly one minute after that he pulled a carbon-copy of the high-flying move on Daniels to take the lead for himself. Daniels did well to keep Beach honest as they left the remainder of the field in their wake. However, he ultimately gave up the chase with a couple minutes remaining on the clock, content to cruise to second. When asked how he managed to charge around a racetrack that almost everyone else had to tiptoe around, Beach joked, “Growing up, I was told you either had to be smart or dumb, and I chose dumb. I was going for it. No, it was a great race. I knew Dallas had my number all day long. He’s been riding so good. All season, he’s been hauling the mail. It’s been frustrating for me because we’re on the same bike, and he’s been whupping my butt. Today, I’ve got to thank my crew. They worked so hard all day long. We were kind of on the back foot, but they didn’t give up. They kept working, and that’s what I did in the Main Event too.” Behind the Estenson Racing 1-2, Mees ran in third with Briar Bauman (No. 3 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 890 Duke) in determined pursuit. That is until Mees’ machine became unsettled over the bumps and then lost the rear. While Mees did an admirable job to pick up and remount his factory Indian as quickly as was humanly possible, he still lost a few positions in the aftermath of the mishap. That elevated Bauman to his second podium in four starts on the Rick Ware Racing KTM. It also rewarded Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Mission Foods Indian FTR750) and Johnny Lewis(No. 10 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) with fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively. Mees salvaged sixth and was joined by Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750), Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing/2 Wheelz KTM 890 Duke), Kolby Carlile (No. 36 G&G Racing/Yamaha Racing Yamaha MT-07), and Ryan Wells (No. 94 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) in the bottom half of the top ten. Title hopeful Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750) was a Main Event scratch after suffering a fall during practice at the start of the day. Following four of 18 races, Daniels leads with 92 points, followed by Beach (73), Mees (71), and Bauman (62). Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER 2019 Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER champion Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 D&D Racing/Certified KTM 450 SX-F) closed to within one point of the ‘23 points lead with a precise and patient ride to victory at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Gauthier established himself as the favorite going in with his strong pre-race performance but ended up corralled behind Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450) in the early going after Cose dove down from the outside of Row 1 to claim the lead coming out of the race’s opening corner. Gauthier sat close on Cose’s rear wheel as they circulated the slick, one-line track, hoping to either find or force a mistake from the leader. All the while, Gauthier faced similar heat from behind, with a long string of riders jammed up behind them, spearheaded by Kody Kopp (No. 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F), who himself was flanked by Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) and Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F). Just as the race approached mid-distance, Gauthier made his move, landing along- and inside of Cose as they completed a jump and slid into the subsequent left-hander. Kopp attempted to slip underneath Cose at the same time but was denied. While Kopp and co. regrouped to map out another assault, Gauthier opened a two second lead at the front. The reigning champ did finally push his way up the inside of Cose a couple minutes later and was joined in the overtake by Whale and Brunner. A late red flag added the potential for some unexpected drama to a race that appeared all but settled when Andrew Luker (No. 11 Rackley Racing/Keeran Racing Yamaha YZ450F) crashed with just 10 seconds remaining on the clock. That set the stage for a staggered restart and three-lap shootout. However, Gauthier successfully survived the second launch and cleared off to grab his first checkered flag of the season. The win was his third career TT victory and sees him remain the only rider in the field to have finished on the podium in every race this season. “We worked our butts off this offseason putting this program together,” Gauthier said. “It’s going great. I’ve been on the podium every round and KTM has won every race so far. I’ve got to thank my whole team… There’s so many people that help our program out. It’s only going to keep getting better, and I’m super stoked on this one.” Kopp held for second to retain his points lead over Gauthier (86-85) despite third-placed Whale and fourth-placed Brunner applying maximum pressure over the final laps. Chase Saathoff (No. 88 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) completed the top five, followed by Hayden Gillim (No. Comstock Energy/Vance & Hines KTM 450 SX-F), who made his way from a crash in his heat to the LCQ to an eventual sixth-place ride. Cose was the biggest loser in the red-flag reshuffle, winding up ninth after leading the opening half of the race and running in the top-two for the bulk of the contest. Next Up: The world’s premier dirt track motorcycle racing series will tackle its first Half-Mile of the 2023 season on Saturday, April 22, with the Mission Dallas Half-Mile presented by Roof Systems at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas.Visit https://www.tixr.com/promoters/americanflattrackto secure your tickets today. For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FansChoice.tv is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://www.fanschoice.tv. FOX Sports coverage of the ZO CBD Arizona Super TT presented by RideNow Powersports, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, April 9at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT). For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com.

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

In-N-Out Raceway

Race 3 of 21

During the second round of qualifying at the In-N-Out Raceway on Saturday afternoon, the Kalitta Motorsports DHL GR Supra was involved in an on-track incident after crossing the finish line. Driver J.R. Todd was okay following the accident as well as driver John Force who was the that crossed the center line ultimately making contact with Todd. Below are quotes from Todd after the incident. Of note, the team had to go to a backup chassis and body for the remainder of the race weekend.

TOYOTA QUOTES

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

What happened in the incident with John Force in the second round of qualifying?

“Honestly, I still don’t know. I haven’t seen the video, but just normal run. I was trucking down through there pretty good, get the chutes out before the finish line like normal – like you’re pretty much taught as a young driver and that time I feel like I paid the price for doing it. At first I thought maybe he just got into my chutes of something, but next thing I know I see him on my left side and we’re in the left lane. You’re not supposed to be there. After that, just sort of hanging on and steering away from him, steering away from the wall and trying to get on the brake to get the thing stopped. But when the chutes are tangled up like that, you’re just along for the ride. It’s really unfortunate because it was a brand new car for us, beautiful car and worked really well. There’s nothing long with our car that we pulled out for Q3, but just new body and new car. I hate creating extra work for the guys, especially something silly like that.”

What is the feeling in the cockpit when something like this happens?

“It’s a helpless feeling. You’re not really in control at that point when the other guy is wrapped in your chutes or his chutes are wrapped around your car. I haven’t seen any video so I can’t really tell you exactly what happened. I just know he was dragging us along for the ride. It sucks. I don’t like tearing up stuff especially when it’s out of my control.”

Is there anything that could be done differently to avoid this from happening in the future?

“If I had a rearview mirror, I would have swerved to have gotten away from him. I don’t know. I can’t critique what he did or didn’t do because I haven’t seen the run. We made a nice, solid 393 run and got the chutes out and the next thing I’m getting run over.”

What do you need to do with a new car and body to get ready for Sunday?

“Now we need to shake this car down and I’m sure it will be just fine. It’s the car we finished the season with last year and it ran really well. Hopefully we can go rip off a good run in Q3 and get ready for Sunday.”

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

PPG 375

TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

FT. WORTH, TEXAS

TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING REPORT

APRIL 1, 2023

FELIX ROSENQVIST PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT TEXAS

SECOND CONSECUTIVE NTT P1 AWARD AT 1.5-MILE TRACK

• Four Team Chevy Drivers in Top-Five Qualifiers for PPG 375
• Fourth Career NTT P1 for No, 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet Driver

FT. WORTH – (APRIL 1, 2023) – For the second consecutive year, Felix Rosenqvist put his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the pole at Texas Motor Speedway. It is the fourth NTT P1 Award of his INDYCAR Series career. This is the seventh pole for Chevrolet since 2012 when the Bowtie Brand returned with the 2.2 liter Twin Turbocharged Direct Injected V6.

With a two-lap average speed of 220.264, Rosenqvist leads four Team Chevy drivers starting in the top-five for the 250-lap on Sunday.

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet starts third; Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, rolls off fourth and Pato O’Ward, No, 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet will start fifth

The PPG 375 will take the green flag Sunday, April 2 at 12:00 p.m. ET live on NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 160.

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 6 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET:

“Waiting for most of the field to run is kind of what we went through last year. It was funny how similar that was to 2022. We have a great, great car! Thanks to McLaren, NTT DATA, Chevrolet and all our partners for just doing a phenomenal job to put us in this position. All three of us are quick and it’s always in the details by the team you know. It’s flat out just trying to shorten that track distance. And it worked out.

“It’s nice. I don’t know if you will really want to lead this race because of fuel. So maybe I’ll drop back a couple of sessions. We will kind of have to figure that out tomorrow, depending on how the car feels and race trim we have.  It’s nice man. It’s nice to be in the beehive. Big field nowadays and fun.

“Great car. Arrow McLaren just gave us a weapon today again. I think we kind of just built on last year. Maybe it’s a good thing to start out early, I don’t know. The track kind of warmed up, so we’ll take it. Big thanks to all of our partners. Velo, NTT, Arrow, they’ve done just a phenomenal job. I think we’ve always been good here, but this is a whole different confidence level compared to last year. Let’s try to wrap it up tomorrow.”

On team confidence with him and the team…

“I think it is. It’s definitely a calm, and we’re all pretty nice and calm. Everyone at the No. 6 car, especially, I think we’re just kind of doing our thing. Not looking much at the others, and we were chatting there ‘Let’s not celebrate too early here.’ You never know if there’s a magic wind putting Marcus (Ericsson) into P1, but it was an amazing qualifying. I don’t think we could have done much better with what we had. Big thanks to everyone.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES RICHMOND RACEWAY TOYOTA OWNERS 400 TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT APRIL 1, 2023

CHEVROLET FILLS FRONT TWO ROWS AT RICHMONDPast Richmond winners Bowman, Busch to start first, second in Camaro ZL1s Due to morning rain and storms Saturday, race officials cancelled NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions. The starting lineup for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway has been determined by the NASCAR rule book. TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  POS.   DRIVER1st      Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL12nd     Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL13rd      William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL14th      Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Camaro ZL18th      Ricky Stenhouse, No. 47 Kroger/Kraft Mac & Cheese Camaro ZL19th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL116th    Corey LaJoie, No. 7 BlueGreen Vacations Camaro ZL120th     Daniel Suárez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL122nd    Erik Jones, No. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE Camaro ZL123rd     Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Camaro ZL125th     AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL127th     Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Aerosphere Camaro ZL129th     Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL130th     Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL135th     Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 DUDE WIPES Camaro ZL136th     Ty Dillon, No. 77 NationsGuard Camaro ZL137th     Chandler Smith, No. 13 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Camaro ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  POS.  DRIVER1st      Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)2nd     Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)3rd      William Byron (Chevrolet)4th      Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)5th      Tyler Reddick (Toyota) ·       FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday, April 2, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – POLE WINNERWHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE IN STARTING FIRST VERSUS STARTING FIFTH?“Pit stall selection, I think, is probably the biggest thing. You’d probably still have a pretty good pit stall at fifth, though. So not a huge difference. Having clean air and all that at the start is important. Hopefully we’ll take advantage of a good pit pick and have a good, solid day. This has been a hard place for me to get a hold of in the past, even with a win here. So just trying to maximize the day and keep chipping away at it.” IS IT ANY DIFFERENT WALKING INTO THE GARAGE TO THE FIRST PIT STALL RATHER THAN THE 16TH?“It’s definitely nice. It’s something I haven’t done in my career. So it’s cool to lead the points with this crew. Obviously we’re a handful of races in, so it’s a small sample size. But we have had a good start to the season, which feels really good. It’s my job to keep that going.” WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR WIN HERE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO THAT YOU CAN APPLY TOMORROW?“We’ve had some strong runs here. Honestly last year in the spring, we had a really strong run. We had a tire issue on one run that probably made our day look worse than it was. Really the day we won, we were really good on long runs. We struggled a little bit on the short run and had an uncontrolled tire to start Stage Three, so I had to start at the back and still drove to third before we got that late caution. We’ve kind of been hit and miss here a bit, but hopefully I can apply some of that long-run knowledge that I have or what I’m looking for in the racecar to help us tomorrow. I feel like you’re going to see a lot of long runs for the most part. With no downforce on the thing, it’s going to be a lot about taking care of your tires.” WE’VE SEEN THIS BE A STRATEGY RACE IN THE PAST WITH THE WORN-OUT SURFACE. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR TOMORROW?“Long runs and a ton of tire fall-off… kind of the same Richmond we’ve always seen. This is the one place that I don’t think that the downforce package is going to really change much. The tire fall-off always has been so high since this place has gotten worn out; it’s always been kind of what it is. I don’t even really feel like the race changed much when we went from the previous gen car to this car, so it’ll be interesting to see. I could be totally wrong but I think we’ll hopefully have a good day tomorrow.” ON BEING BACK WITH GREG IVES.“It’s been cool. He had a short retirement, right? I’m glad to have Greg back and glad to have that depth at Hendrick Motorsports to have a guy like that to fill in when needed. I enjoy working with Greg, and it’s been good to have him back.” LEADING THE POINTS, BEST AVERAGE FINISH AND SO ON… WHAT’S BEEN GOING RIGHT FOR THIS TEAM?“Execution. We’ve maximized our bad days. We struggled a little bit at Phoenix but still ended up in the top-10. At Atlanta, if the last lap goes a little different then we finish in the top-10 there, too. I feel like just maximizing our bad days and maximizing each little part and piece of everything throughout the races. This is a small sample size. It feels good to be leading points and to have this season that we’re having so far. We’re six races in and so much can change. We’re trying to continue that each and every week to keep that going.” WHAT HAS IT BEEN AT RICHMOND THAT HAS BEEN A STRUGGLE?“It’s been tough. We’ve had good days here and then we’ve had really bad days. You have a good day here and I’ve kind of left… Like last spring or even the race we won, I’m like ‘Man, I know exactly what we need and I know the feel that I want to have.’ Then we come back for the fall and be confused and can’t find that or can’t get the racecar to do the same things or feel the same way. So we’ve been a little more hit-and-miss than we want to be. We didn’t practice so it’s hard to say, but I think we identified some things that can help me. Hopefully with the right direction in the racecar we’ll be strong tomorrow.” ON THE RESPECT BETWEEN DRIVERS ON-TRACK.“They’re completely right. There’s no way around it. That second-to-last restart at COTA was a good example of that. I did not want to go down there and run into the 99 and the 19. The problem is that if I follow the 99 into the corner, then I get absolutely run over by everybody. So I get left just to try and defend that, but I still get runover by everybody and shoved into the corner. Fortunately it worked out for us but didn’t for those guys. If you are the super-clean guy and you’re not aggressive or anything, you’re typically going to be the guy getting used up. The cars are about indestructible at this point. The old car, you’d have tire rubs or knock the radiator out of it. We hit each other so hard all the time. At the Coliseum, it felt like you were crashing on every restart. It’s kind of crazy how hard we run into each other. I don’t like it. I’ve always tried to race super clean and I feel like I’ve been one of the cleaner, more fair guys at times – almost to a detriment. I don’t love racing like that but at some point if you’re not aggressive, you’re going to just finish bad every week. It’s also my job to maximize my finishing position for my race team and doing the best I can to achieve that and not be in the drama; we were in the drama a little bit last week but it’s a pain in the butt.” WHAT’S THE FIX FOR THAT?“I don’t think you can blame a racecar when we have three pedals, a steering wheel and a shifter. Everybody has the same thing and can avoid that. We don’t do it on the initial start of the races. We just do it at the end. So at that point, I don’t think you can just blame the car. I think the problem is that that gets rewarded. That style of driving absolutely gets rewarded where we are right now. I don’t know what the fix is. I think it’s a tough spot. I personally would love to see us do restarts in a different manner at road courses, whether that’s how F1 does it or just something different. The Turn One stuff at COTA and at Indy and possibly at Chicago is a bit much, but I think it’s a shared blame between the drivers and cars. It’s the situation we’re in. Every driver here is paid to maximize their finish and everybody sees that being aggressive and doing that stuff is going to help you. At some point, you’re just stuck in a corner where you have to or you’re just giving up positions, which if you give up positions, your team isn’t going to be happy with you. It’s an awkward box that we’re all in. Trying to tiptoe around that and be on the right side of things is tough sometimes.” THIS THREE-RACE, SHORT-TRACK SWING COMING UP… YOUR THOUGHTS ON GOING INTO THOSE RACES AND IS THERE A STRATEGY FOR NEXT WEEK?“For next week, I don’t know. It’s obviously an interesting race. I’m interested to see how it plays out. I unfortunately looked at the weather (for Bristol) today, and I’m a little nervous. Hopefully that changes. I think it’s a bit different. It’s somewhat fun depending on how the racetrack is and how the race goes for you. I love short-track racing. This place and Martinsville are super-technical. This place, especially, in trying to keep the rear tires on it and trying to find little bits of grip and trying to be smart when you’re racing guys is difficult at times but technical and fun. I like this stretch. It’s some good tracks for us. Hopefully racing the sprint car a little more helps me at Bristol even though they couldn’t be more different. At least I’ll have some dirt laps. I don’t know… we’ll see how it goes.” THOUGHTS ON THIS PACKAGE AND HOW IT WILL PRODUCE AT MARTINSVILLE.“I don’t think it’ll change much here. Hopefully it changes Martinsville because last year was not what we all wanted for Martinsville. It wasn’t what we all came to love about that place. Hopefully it improves the racing there… getting the tire to fall off, getting the rear tires to wear out, creating forward drive issues to where you can’t just downshift and accelerate off the corner and stop in the center of the corner and beat the guy behind you. We’ll see. I’m hopeful. It’s a step in the right direction. I think it’s really going to be about the weather, how the rubber lays down and how the tire falls off more than anything.”

POMONA, Calif. (March 31, 2023) – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster team currently sit in the No. 1 spot Friday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Funny Car points leader Robert Hight has the Automobile Club of Southern California / Cornwell Tools / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet Camaro SS No. 3 with John Force and the BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy sitting No. 9. Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster tentatively sit No. 10. Brittany Force handled the Flav-R-Pac dragster to a 3.712-second pass at 328.86 mph despite having a cylinder out and heavy tire shake. “Honestly, it didn’t feel like a great run to me, so when we got down to the top and they told me it was a 3.71 and we were currently low, it was exciting, but it surprised me a little,” Force said. “It kind of rattled half-track to the thousand-foot mark. I just thought at any second this thing is going to pop behind me and it’s going to get me in trouble. Right before the thousand-foot mark, it shut off.” Force will be looking to earn her second No. 1 qualifying position of the season, 44th of her career with two more qualifying tries on Sunday. Her provisional No. 1 also earns her three bonus points. Coming off a win in Phoenix, Robert Hight took the Auto Club Chevy to a 3.892-second pass at 329.99 mph to be the third quickest of the first qualifying session and earn a bonus point. John Force and the BlueDEF Chevy made it to mid-track in their first pass down Pomona Dragstrip before smoking the tires and clicking it off. They went 4.162 seconds at 230.61 mph to end up in the No. 9 spot. Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster ran into tire smoke on their first qualifying attempt landing them with a 4.273-second pass at 189.76 mph in the No. 10 spot. The Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals continues with qualifying Saturday at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. with eliminations slated to begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Television coverage of the event begins with qualifying shows Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will begin on FS1 Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. -30-

AUSTIN PROCK, 27, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:10th; 4.273-seconds; 189.76 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0 BRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:1st; 3.712-seconds; 328.86 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+3 (quickest Q1) JOHN FORCE, 73, BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:9th; 4.162-seconds; 230.61 mphBonus Qualifying Points: 0ROBERT HIGHT, 53, Auto Club Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:3rd; 3.892-seconds; 329.99 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+1 (third quickest Q1)

NASCAR CUP SERIES RICHMOND RACEWAY TOYOTA OWNERS 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 1, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Richmond Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:  AFTER LAST WEEK, THERE WAS MORE TALK ABOUT RESPECT IN THE FIELD. WHY IS IT THAT WAY?“I think there’s a culmination of a lot of different things, too many to list or that I can dream up and think of. Some of it stems from how these younger guys are trained to race, what they do and how they are told what to do from a young age, how to be aggressive and things like that… go out there and a take-no-prisoners kind of thing. But then I feel like there are a lot of guys that just… I don’t know. It’s crazy. A lot of them are friends off the track, too, and then they’re running over each other on the track and even teammates are running over each other. I guess there’s not enough payback per se, even though you look at the Denny (Hamlin) and (Ross) Chastain thing and they’ve continued to go back and forth a few times. It’s just not good. I think the road courses kind of (lend) to a more aggressive nature. I think it’s a little bit of the car, too, where you can just bash into the back of somebody and you don’t have anything that hurts your racecar, where the old car you’d crush a nose in or break a radiator or something like that if you were too dumb about it. Now you can flat-out punt somebody and nothing happens to your racecar. There are a lot of different variables.” THERE’S SOME TALK ABOUT CHANGING DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS ON ROAD COURSES TO SINGLE-FILE. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE TO SEE?“We talked a lot about respect last year at Indy. The Indy road course is super-terrible for it because you have that long straightaway where we’re all bunched up two-by-two then you fan out four-wide and you have to come down to two-wide or even single-wide trying to get through Turn One or Turn Two. The same kind of thing happens at COTA and the Chicago road course, who knows what the hell is going to happen there. If somebody gets turned sideways in one corner, it’s going to be a track block. That’s going to be interesting. Single-file for Chicago, I think there’s no question that you can’t go without it. You have to go single-file. It would probably help a little bit just to spread some out. You’re still going to get some guys that dive-bomb and go three-wide if they’re at least relatively close enough because the car allows you to do that. The car allows you to take that chance of throwing it in on somebody and knocking into them and you don’t care.” YOU MENTIONED THE FIRST CORNER AT THE INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE. IS THERE A SOLUTION FOR THAT OR IS THAT AMONG THE REASONS WHY THE OVAL WOULD BE BETTER?“The solution obviously could be single-file restarts. A solution also could be that when you leave – I think Turn 13 is the sweeper before the front straightaway – so between turns 12 and 13 if the leader was allowed to leave there and start building speed, you’re still going to have the tail of the field that’s braking getting into Turn 10 and have to come through that S-section before getting onto the frontstrech. So to me, that could be a solution where you’re going to break up the field a little bit and get some separation so you don’t have as much calamity.” WOULD YOU PREFER TO GO BACK TO THE OVAL?“Yeah. I don’t know why we ever went to the road course, to be honest with you. I don’t think it really did an up-tick or change a thing at Indy. If we can’t do a good enough job getting enough people to Indy to suffice us staying on the oval, then we need to go somewhere else. I’ll say that about any track.” YOU’D LIKE TO WIN EVERY RACE, BUT HOW IMPORTANT IS TO THE SPORT AND TO FANS THAT OTHER MANUFACTURERS HAVE FINALLY WON RACES?“Parity is always good, right? Last year we had 19 winners (from) every manufacturer. I think the guy who won the most races – I think it was four or five – so it’s been awhile since it’s been that few of races by the top winner of the series. Typically you see seven, eight, nine, 10 races of a guy who wins. It just showed good parity. I think a lot of that has more to do with this Next-Gen racecar than it does the manufacturers. They’re all working hard and doing the best with what they’ve got, and we continue to build on what our program is with RCR and Chevrolet. Hopefully we can keep heading in the right direction.” IS PARITY A GOOD THING IN RACING?“If you look at F1, I don’t think there’s much parity. You could argue that if you turn on NASCAR races, you kind of don’t really know who’s going to win each week. You know who’s good at particular racetracks and sometimes those guys – myself – will only win one race a year, so they’re not winning every single week. You turn on an F1 race and you wonder if anyone is going to beat Red Bull right now; it was Mercedes so there’s obviously a distinct difference between our two series.” YOU MENTIONED LAST WEEK THAT YOU HADN’T HAD ISSUES WITH TYLER REDDICK AND YOU RACED HIM CLEAN. WHAT IS IT THAT HE HAS DONE WHERE YOU HAVEN’T HAD THOSE ISSUES?“For me and Reddick, we’ve always raced around each other, we’ve always been cordial with each other and given each other room. If you kind of lay on a guy a little bit, no big deal. You give the benefit of the doubt, but you haven’t had guys that have flat-out run over you. Reddick was one of those so you kind of remember those. There are a few others on the opposite end of the spectrum that if it had been them in front, you’d throw it off in there and you don’t care if it sticks. You’d rather you stick and they don’t. So that’s just the nature of our sport and what racing has been forever. I talked about it weeks ago with the past generation of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and all those guys on how they did things and how I remember growing up watching that and seeing that. Yeah, you had your Earnhardts out there and some of the other guys who were a little rough sometimes and you’re going to have that occasionally. But the week-to-week nature of it and the same guy being in the headlines running over somebody every single weekend is a bit tiresome. I remember Ernie Irvin back in the day who obviously did a little bit of that and had to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with the whole garage area of basically admitting his mistakes. You’re never going to see that in this day.” IS IT ANY DIFFERENT ON HOW YOU MEND FENCES WITH TEAMMATES VERSUS NON-TEAMMATES?“I think that has to do more with the team owner. When I had an issue with Jeff Gordon a long time ago, Rick (Hendrick) brought us in, sat us down and we talked. Myself and Denny once or twice; once for sure in the All-Star race but then after that there were a couple of speedway racing incidents where we had to agree to disagree on our philosophies on speedway racing. Obviously he’s won a hell of a lot more than I have at those, so he’s better at that. But that was where Joe (Gibbs) had to get involved and kind of talk us through our differences. That’s kind of where it lies in my opinion. When I’ve had drivers at KBM that don’t get along or whatever, I talk to them individually, then I bring them together and I talk to them together to try and go over that stuff. Last week looking at the Suarez incident and just the replay incident I saw – I didn’t go back and watch – Chastain dove it in like anyone would and ran into the back of a guy who ran into the back of Suarez. It wasn’t maliciously intent for the 1 to hit the 99; it just happened that way through chain reaction.” WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT YOUNG GUYS COMING UP SPENDING A LOT OF TIME IN SIMULATION. DO YOU SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN SIMULATION AND DO YOU FIND IT A BENEFIT?“I have been in the Chevy sim more in the last two months of me being allowed in it than I had been in three years in the Toyota sim. Trying to get intertwined and engrained in the system and how our setups are, how it feels and how it drives. I did the COTA tire test and then I went in there and had to model the tire and build the tire to what I felt like the tire should feel like. We have a rotation of drivers that go in after races so I did Phoenix a little bit and I did COTA again. There’s a bunch of stuff that happens behind the scenes. What’s been most useful for us probably I would say is Fontana. Fontana was really close. It was probably closest to the sim that we had on a real track with laptimes and everything. Our car feel was right on point. We won that one, so that was really rewarding. Then we go to Vegas and Phoenix and you struggle and you can run seventh to 10th. It has a similar feel but you don’t have the same speed. Like your laptimes are off. If we were running the laptimes that we ran in the sim in real life, we’d be up front and leading all the races. But it’s just about finding that grip. Something’s not correlating between the sim and the shop and the car that gets built and brought to the track. We need to work on that.” SO THAT’S WHERE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF RACING AS LONG AS YOU’VE BEEN DOING IT WOULD BE MORE BENEFICIAL TO YOU THAN THE SIM IS TO A YOUNG DRIVER?“I’m the best sim we’ve got. I’m the most expensive one, too! I take pride in that because I feel like I give very detailed (information) and can explain a lot about the feedback of the racecar and what it’s doing, it’s attitude, it’s nature, what happens on a short run and a long run, all of that stuff. That’s really where you get a lot of information – the post-race meetings we have and dissecting me and basically downloading me and getting the information so the crew chiefs can go back. Last year we struggled on sim and not seeing the correlation. So a lot of times we would just go off our last race notes, what the setup was, what I said needed to be better and then just change the car around some of those ideas, not validate it on sim and go to the track and we were OK. That right now is not how we’re doing it. This year, we’re going to sim and trying to make that tool as representative as we can.”

Brad Sweet Rolls to Victory on Night One of Federated Auto Parts Texas Outlaw NationalsThe four-time champion earns back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-2021After knocking down the door to his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car win of the season last week, Brad Sweet made sure it stayed down in Texas.On Friday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, the “Big Cat” patiently waited for the right moment to pounce, and after taking the lead on Lap 10, Sweet never looked back on his way to victory on night one of the Federated Auto Parts Texas Outlaw Nationals.The four-time and reigning Series champion now owns two straight wins after topping last Saturday’s event at Magnolia Motor Speedway, marking his first back-to-back triumphs since July of 2021. He’s now only three victories shy of equaling Stevie Smith (84 wins) for 10th on the all-time World of Outlaws win list. The Kasey Kahne Racing driver has also only missed the top two once in the last six races, giving him a 2.33 average finish over that span.It’s clear that the dynamic between he and the KKR crew consisting of Eric Prutzman, Tye Wolfgang, and Andrew Bowman is as strong as ever as Sweet chases his fifth straight title.“It’s an unbelievable team right now,” a grateful Sweet said in Victory Lane. “We’re just making such great decisions all night long. We didn’t unload that great. I think we threw four bars at it, changed everything under the sun. We went sixth to third in the Dash, but I still wasn’t that good, so we still even made some pretty big changes for the [Feature]. I’m just really impressed with our decision making. We’re really just working well together and trying to figure these tires out. It seems like we’ve got a good handle on it, really working for me right now. I’m just excited to keep it rolling.”Sweet started the 25-lap Feature from row two but quickly jumped into the runner-up spot behind pole-sitter, Brent Marks, on the opening circuit.As the early laps unfolded, Sweet made it clear he would have something for the Murray-Marks #19. The Napa Auto Parts #49 stayed glued to Marks’ tail tank, and Sweet showed him a nose a few times, making Marks aware that he had company.Finally, a slight slip from Marks exiting Turn 2 on Lap 10 gave Sweet the run he needed. As the lead duo navigated Turns 3 and 4, Sweet ripped the cushion to take the lead as Marks rolled the bottom.“I got Brent moving a little, and I felt like my car was way better,” Sweet explained. “I was just kind of waiting until lapped traffic or the right opportunity. I didn’t really want to show him a nose until I thought I could clear him, but he slipped up and I just didn’t quite get there but kept my cool. I honestly just felt really under control the whole time and felt like we just had a really good handling car. I could do a lot with my feet and brakes and everything.”Once Sweet snagged the lead, it simply became a question of how far would the gap grow?The veteran sliced through slower cars with ease as Marks and third-running Jacob Allen watched him drive away. When the checkered flag waved, Sweet’s lead was north of a whopping five seconds.Friday banked $10,000 for Sweet and served as a strong opening statement heading into Saturday’s $20,000 to win Federated Auto Parts Texas Outlaw Nationals finale.“This gives us a good starting point for tomorrow night, and hopefully we’ll be standing here again,” Sweet said.Behind Sweet, last year’s Texas Outlaw Nationals champion, Brent Marks, held on to the runner-up spot after leading the first nine laps, marking his first Series podium of the year and the 28th of his career. Traffic hindered the Myerstown, PA native’s hopes of winning, but he admitted that even with a clear track, Sweet would’ve been tough to top.“The 49 was really good, and I just couldn’t get through lapped traffic,” Marks said. “I wasn’t able to move around to try different stuff to try and catch Brad again, but they were just so good I don’t know if I was going to be able to. All in all, it was a great night. We just ended up being too tight there and just had to muscle the car into the corner a little too hard.”Rounding out the top-three and equaling his Devil’s Bowl personal best was Shark Racing’s Jacob Allen. The Hanover, PA driver now owns 24 career World of Outlaws podiums. Like Marks, Allen found himself struggling at times with traffic.“It was a good race,” Allen noted. “I did struggle with a couple lapped cars there. I think that kind of hurt me with maybe getting to second. Brad ran a good race, got through lapped cars and off he went.“It feels good to have my second podium of the year. I’m feeling good on the new tires. I feel like it took a couple of races to figure that out, and it feels good to have an understanding of them and get my car adjusted to them.”UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are back at Devil’s Bowl Saturday, April 1, for the Federated Auto Parts Texas Outlaw Nationals finale. For tickets, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action on DIRTVision.RESULTSA Feature (25 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]; 4. 2-David Gravel[9]; 5. 11-Michael Kofoid[5]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston[6]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn[8]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu[10]; 11. 7S-Robbie Price[12]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[15]; 13. 83-James McFadden[19]; 14. 9-Kasey Kahne[14]; 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[16]; 16. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[18]; 17. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[17]; 18. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[13]; 19. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[20]; 20. 88-Austin McCarl[21]; 21. 17B-Bill Balog[22]; 22. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[11]; 23. 20G-Noah Gass[25]; 24. 21-Brian Brown[24]; 25. 2C-Wayne Johnson[23]Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 83-James McFadden[3]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]; 3. 88-Austin McCarl[2]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson[6]; 6. 21-Brian Brown[4]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[8]; 8. 6M-Blake Mallory[11]; 9. 1J-Danny Jennings[7]; 10. 1-Brenham Crouch[9]; 11. 4-Austin Mundie[10]; 12. (DNS) 24W-Garet Williamson; 13. (DNS) 2B-Brett BeckerToyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[4]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[5]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen[2]; 5. 11-Michael Kofoid[6]; 6. 5-Spencer Bayston[3]Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[7]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 9. 1J-Danny Jennings[8]; 10. 4-Austin Mundie[10]; 11. 2B-Brett Becker[11]Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1A-Jacob Allen[2]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 4. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[5]; 7. 83-James McFadden[9]; 8. 88-Austin McCarl[7]; 9. 20G-Noah Gass[8]; 10. 6M-Blake Mallory[10]Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 3. 2-David Gravel[3]; 4. 7S-Robbie Price[4]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[6]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 7. 21-Brian Brown[8]; 8. 2C-Wayne Johnson[9]; 9. 1-Brenham Crouch[7]; 10. 24W-Garet Williamson[10]Qualifying: 1. 11-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.943[5]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.967[16]; 3. 19-Brent Marks, 00:14.014[3]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:14.020[2]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:14.023[18]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:14.031[8]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:14.095[28]; 8. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:14.150[1]; 9. 2-David Gravel, 00:14.182[10]; 10. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:14.188[15]; 11. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:14.203[13]; 12. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:14.238[17]; 13. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:14.257[4]; 14. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:14.259[6]; 15. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:14.263[25]; 16. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:14.289[11]; 17. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:14.310[31]; 18. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:14.312[21]; 19. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:14.339[7]; 20. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:14.341[27]; 21. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:14.351[23]; 22. 1J-Danny Jennings, 00:14.363[22]; 23. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:14.370[9]; 24. 21-Brian Brown, 00:14.391[20]; 25. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:14.401[30]; 26. 83-James McFadden, 00:14.430[26]; 27. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 00:14.446[12]; 28. 4-Austin Mundie, 00:14.475[14]; 29. 6M-Blake Mallory, 00:14.780[24]; 30. 24W-Garet Williamson, 00:14.845[19]; 31. 2B-Brett Becker, 00:15.263[29]