After a promising run in the first 20-lap Stage of Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the streets of Chicago, Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team were knocked out of the race by a crash early in Stage Two and left with a 34th -place finish.After starting the race from 29th place, Berry avoided a multi-car crash in the opening laps of the race and worked his way into the top 15 after just seven laps.The Motorcraft/Quick Lane team elected to pit prior to the end of Stage One and pitted from 14th place.Berry took the green flag for the start of Stage Two from 17th place, but tangled with Erik Jones in Turn Seven on Lap 29 and bounced into the barrier.The damage to the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse from contact with the barrier was too severe to continue, and Berry’s race ended at that point. “Without seeing a replay, I feel like the 43 just kind of overcooked the corner and got us there,” Berry told reporters at the track. “It’s just disappointing. We were having a really solid day and made our way forward. “We were running well, so we’ll just keep on going and trying to get better and go on to Sonoma.” |
All posts by ARP Trish
It’s a perfect 10 for Honda as Scott Dixon wins at Mid-Ohio
July 6, 2025 — MANSFIELD, OH
- Scott Dixon scores first victory of 2025, winning in 21 consecutive IndyCar seasons
- Alex Palou makes it a Honda 1-2 at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport
- Honda takes victory in 10 of 10 NTT INDYCAR races this season
Mr. Mid-Ohio, Scott Dixon, broke through as the third different winner in the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, powering his #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to the win in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport.
Dixon scored his record seventh win at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by utilizing his famed fuel saving prowess to make it all 90 laps on just two pit stops. His other Mid-Ohio victories have come in 2019, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2009 and 2007.
Scott Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Alex Palou, made it a 1-2 for Honda in today’s race. Palou led a race-high 75 laps before running wide in the closing stanzas and allowing Dixon through. The two fought hard through the final laps of the race, but ultimately the six-time champ of Dixon would cross the line ahead of the three-time champ of Palou. Palou has won six times already this season and holds a commanding 113-point lead in the drivers’ standings over Kyle Kirkwood.
Colton Herta finished fourth for Andretti Global, while the Meyer Shank Racing pair of Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong came home sixth and seventh, respectively.
Second place in the championship and a winner thrice already this year, Kyle Kirkwood, crossed the line eighth in his Honda Honda—a special livery for an important race for Honda. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is just over 60 miles from the Honda Marysville and East Liberty Auto Plants as well as Honda Research & Development. More than 400,000 Honda and Acura automobiles are made in Ohio each year, as well as research and design on components for Honda products from lawnmowers to the HondaJet. The Honda livery also comes on a special weekend of NTT INDYCAR SERIES racing as the series has reached the one-year milestone running hybrid power units. Thousands of Honda associates from the Ohio facilities turned out to watch the stars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including Kirkwood in his Honda Honda.
Rinus VeeKay also notched a top-10 finish for Dale Coyne Racing, moving up 17 spots to finish ninth, just ahead of Kyffin Simpson in 10th, giving Honda eight of the top-10 finishers.
Honda has scored a perfect run of victories so far this year, going 10 for 10 in IndyCar competition—a record since the return to multi-manufacturer competition in 2012. Honda sits 214 points ahead of rival Chevrolet in the manufacturers’ championship, 915-701.
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport Honda Race Results
1st Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
2nd Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
4th Colton Herta | Andretti Global Honda |
6th Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing Honda |
7th Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing Honda |
8th Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global Honda |
9th Rinus VeeKay | Dale Coyne Racing Honda |
10th Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing Honda |
12th Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global Honda |
14th Louis Foster-R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda |
20th Devlin DeFrancesco | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda |
22nd Jacob Abel-R | Dale Coyne Racing Honda |
24th Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda |
R – Rookie
Quotes
Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished first: “It was a crazy day for us. Obviously, we got a little bit lucky there at the end. Huge kudos to Honda—to pull off a two-stop there was definitely not easy, both on the tires and also the mileage. We were one of the few that were able to do it, if not the only one. Big thank you to everybody at HRC for enabling us to do that, and very special to get another win here. Victory number seven at Mid-Ohio!”
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished second: “Very good day until I made a big mistake towards the end. We had amazing pace all weekend, we got the pole, led a lot of laps, but unfortunately went off in turn 9 with less than 10 laps to go and lost the lead there. But the car was great and everybody on the team did an amazing job. Honda and HRC gave us the mileage that we needed for Scott to win the race for CGR. It was great that we had two different strategies going on. Really happy overall, could have been a little bit happier, but honestly, overall, it was a very good weekend.”
Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) finished sixth: “If you told me this morning that we finished P6, I’d say we’ll definitely take that. It’s tough to pass here. Historically, it’s been a race where it’s hard to move forward, but the two-stopper came into play and we were luckily already saving a lot of fuel. The team asked me about the strategy and I said let’s go for it! I think it paid off. It was definitely tough at times, especially on the reds we had a bit of a poor stint, but the black tire stints were great. Good day for Meyer Shank Racing overall as well to finish P6 and P7 after coming off a good weekend in Road America. Hope we can keep it up!”
Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Global Honda) finished eighth: “Not an amazing race by us, but nonetheless it was a good points day. We’ll take the points where we can and hold off our competition. We made the fuel strategy work—thanks to the crew on the Honda Honda on that call. I think all of us on that fuel strategy made it look pretty easy, our Honda fuel mileage was great and that definitely helped. I’m happy with the performance overall. It was a 1-2 finish for Honda today, and that makes ten wins in a row. It’s a big milestone to reach double digits this season. Looking forward to Iowa, hopefully we can get win number 11 for you guys.”
Rinus VeeKay (#18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda) finished ninth: “After qualifying 26th, it was not a given to finish in the top 10. We had a really good call by pitting when it was about to go yellow. Unfortunately, Kyffin stalled just past his box a little, so that made our last stop hard, but fortunately Nico—my outside rear tire changer—is okay. Really happy with the result, that’s our sixth top 10 of the season and second time being the Biggest Mover of the race. Super, super satisfied. The car was great and the Honda mileage got us really far. Now I’m going to drive my Acura MDX back to Indy and get ready for Iowa.”
Kelvin Fu (Vice President, Honda Racing Corporation USA): “10 wins in a row! What an incredible run we’ve had in 2025. I keep telling the HRC team to really enjoy the ride because this doesn’t happen every year. Today’s race was awesome. A 1-2 for Chip Ganassi and Honda and Mr. Mid-Ohio himself, Scott Dixon, back on top. You can’t bet against that guy in any race, but especially a fuel mileage race at Mid-Ohio of all places. Seven wins here is such an impressive run. And it’s great that he was able to put on a show in front of so many of our Honda Ohio associates. We aren’t able to go racing without the effort everyone at Honda puts in, and so it’s great that they could see a Honda victory and I want to thank them all for their hard work and for coming out to the race track.”
Van Gisbergen Keeps Chevrolet Undefeated in the Chicago Street Race
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT JULY 6, 2025 |
MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
Shane van Gisbergen capped off a dominating weekend in the “Windy City” by taking the checkered flag in the Grant Park 165 – keeping Chevrolet undefeated in NASCAR’s top division in the Chicago Street Race. The victory marks Van Gisbergen’s third victory in just 33 career starts in the division – two of which have come at the 2.2-mile Chicago street circuit. The victory came after Van Gisbergen defended his race winning title in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the circuit – driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to the win in yesterday’s The Loop 110. The Chicago Street Course provided yet another milestone weekend for the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native with the Team Chevy driver becoming just the second driver in series’ history to sweep the pole and race wins in both of NASCAR’s top-two division on the same weekend. It was a calamity-filled opening stage for the third annual Chicago Street Race. Taking the green flag in the “Windy City”, NASCAR’s top division made just four laps before a several car pileup at the front of the field ensued on the straight leading into Turn 10 – quickly putting the race under red flag conditions. Among those collected included a trio of Team Chevy drivers that posted strong qualifying efforts, including Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon and Will Brown. Michael McDowell turned a front-row qualifying effort into a dominating performance in Stage One. The 40-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, native took the lead from the polesitter and fellow Team Chevy driver, Shane van Gisbergen, on the opening lap and never looked back – taking the green-white checkered flag for his fourth career stage win. With fuel strategy at the forefront, crew chief Travis Peterson opted to keep the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet off pit road to take advantage of prime track position for the start of Stage Two. But a strong run quickly took a turn when an issue with the throttle forced the team back down pit road to diagnose the issue and ultimately behind the wall for repairs. A restart near the halfway point of the race saw a pair of Team Chevy road course ringers, Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger, lead the field back to the green flag. Taking control of the lead at the drop of the green flag, Van Gisbergen went on to pull away to over a three-second lead before crew chief Stephen Doran called the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet down pit road with three laps remaining in Stage Two for a schedule pit stop. With varying pit strategies throughout the field, Van Gisbergen went on to cycle back up to the 12th position at the conclusion of the stage. Progressively inching his way back up through the field, Van Gisbergen found himself in the runner-up position when the race hit 16 laps to go. Making the pass on then race leader Chase Briscoe, the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet went on to hold the top position for the remainder of the race en route to the team’s second victory of the 2025 season. For the 11th time this season, Chevrolet has owned at least half of the top-10 finishing positions with four different Chevrolet organizations driving the manufacturer to six top-10 results with Van Gisbergen leading Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (fifth) and Austin Hill (ninth); Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in sixth; Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in eighth; and Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, in 10th. |
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 1st – Shane van Gisbergen5th – Kyle Busch6th – AJ Allmendinger8th – Alex Bowman9th – Austin Hill10th – Ross Chastain ![]() Wins: 8Poles: 9Top-Fives: 37Top 10s: 76Stage Wins: 17 |
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Sonoma Raceway with the Toyota / Save Mart 350 on Sunday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained after being collected in an accident in the opening stage. Finished: 36th “Disappointing day in the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet at the Chicago Street Race. Crew chief Richard Boswell and everyone on the RCR team brought a really fast Chevrolet to the streets of Chicago. We qualified 10th and thought we would be a contender today in the race. A car spun in front of us on the first lap and it ended our day before we could even get it started. It’s a shame and I’m just at a loss for words at this point. We’ll just keep bringing cars like this and hope our luck turns around for us at some point.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 5th “Our day started out pretty good. We got a good jump on the initial start there and was able to roll forward and get to third. We tried to go long on that first set of tires, and with those couple of cautions, it didn’t fall into our favor. That put us on old tires and I spun out getting into (turn) seven. We just didn’t have any left-rear grip. That’s something we’ve struggled with on this car, and it just bit me there. The No. 8 Slurpee Chevrolet team rallied and we were able to rebound. We pitted a couple of times there at the end and had some fresh tires late for some of the melee that was going on in front of us and made up some spots. Our Chevrolet was definitely a top-two or three car, but it’s good to come home with a top-five finish.” Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing ChevroletFinished: 20th “We survived and advanced! This No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team is just a tough team – we never quit. We don’t even know how to. I’m just so proud of Kaulig Racing and our No. 10 team. I knew in a basketball city, going up against Brad in a game of knock-out, I was going to have a good chance. This race was tough on us. I felt like halfway through the race, we were rolling pretty good and we could have had a chance at a top-15. I clipped the wall again and knocked the toe out and kind of bent the ball joint pretty bad. I was just kind of hanging on and hoping we could get everything we could there at the end. We’re just going to keep working hard; put pressure on who we’re facing next and see if we can keep it rolling.” Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 9th “Massive day for our United Rentals Chevrolet. The Cup Series isn’t easy. To only have five races with the No. 33 team and leave with a top-10 finish is huge for our group. We started 30th, drove up a little ways and played some strategy to gain even more ground. I feel like I won the race honestly. I was upset with finishing fourth yesterday in the Xfinity Series race, but to finish ninth in a Cup race feels like I won it. Hats off to RCR, ECR and everyone on this team. We put our heads together, called a great race, took tires when we needed to, and stayed out when we needed to. At the end, it was good enough to get up there and battle with the guys to finish inside the top-10.” Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 8th Bowman on the late-race contact with Bubba Wallace in the closing laps: “I don’t know.. I passed him (Bubba Wallace) clean, or what I thought was clean. I just followed when the No. 45 passed him. Then he shipped us into (turn) 12; ran us into the fence in (turn) one and ran us into the fence off of (turn) two. And then we just sort of pin-balled off of each other and he ended up on the worse side of it, but we’re just trying to go straight off the corner. I don’t know why we did that… I wasn’t expecting that to happen or to get raced like that, but we did. We just have to move on from it and keep digging. I don’t really know what I could have done much different. I just got into the fence there and you’re kind of along for the ride. It’s just frustrating.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 32nd “The throttle cable just broke. I don’t know what caused it or how it got to that spot, but that’s what happened. I feel like we had control of the race. I think it would have been a battle, no doubt. I felt like any time I could open a gap on SVG, I could. We were just working on our strategy. We knew we were going to one-stop it, so I was taking care of the tires and doing all the things I could. I was behind the pace car and the throttle stuck wide-open. Luckily I got to the switches fast enough before I ran into something, and then a cable broke after that. It’s just a shame. We had a great No. 71 DePaul Chevrolet. We’ve got some good momentum heading into Sonoma next weekend.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 1st“It was a brilliant day for this No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet team. Our car was really, really nice – the best car I’ve had here, by far. The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be today – racing the weather, racing cars and different stops. Stephen (Doran, crew chief) did a really good job on the box all day of just painting the picture in my head of who I was up against. We had two great pit stops. Just so stoked to get WeatherTech in victory lane for their home race.” |
Arrow McLaren Lundgaard and O’Ward lead Team Chevy at Mid-Ohio
CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESHonda Indy 200 at Mid-OhioMid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, OhioRace ReportJuly 6 A pair of Arrow McLaren drivers, Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who finished third, and Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who finished fifth, were the best of the Chevrolet-powered runners in the 2025 edition of the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio that saw a battle of strategies. Winner Scott Dixon, like O’Ward, used two stops to win for the 59th time in his career, while Álex Palou used the same three-stop strategy as Lundgaard to take the second spot on the podium. Lundgaard drove flat out for the 90-lap race on the 2.258-Mile, 13 Turn Mid-Ohio road course, making three stops on the way to his fourth podium of the season. The 23-year-old Dane is one of three drivers to complete all 1,135 laps contested this season and moved into the top five on the championship table. O’Ward utilized the opposite strategy, saving fuel, pitting only twice to come home fifth, his fifth top 5 finish of the season. The 26-year-old Mexican has also completed 100% of the laps this season and moved to within 12 points of second place on the championship table. Up next for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the 14 Team Chevy teams and drivers is a trip to Newton, Iowa and a double header on the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway short oval. Both races will air on FOX, with Saturday’s Synk 275 Powered By Sukup at 5 pm (ET) and Sunday’s Farm To Finish 275 Powered By Sukup at 1 pm (ET). NTT INDYCAR SERIES unofficial race results from the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio: |
![]() |
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES): Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 3rd: “Obviously, happy to be on the podium, but still a little disappointed. I think we had much more. We need to take the positives from this weekend. We didn’t get any points in Road America when we had a car to win the race. That was a pretty easy podium for us there, and we threw it away. So here, there’s a little bit of redemption, but I really wanted that win today. So, a little disappointed. On the physicality of the race: “A full push race around here is physically tough, mentally tough. Honestly, in the car, it isn’t really that big of a problem. It’s really more once you get out. I think once the adrenaline kind of falls off, it’s that’s when it hits you.” How good does the water taste? I don’t drive with a cool suit or a drinks bottle, so I need a lot before and after. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 5th: “Extremely close, we missed by just a little bit. We would like to have been fourth, but it was a crazy race for us today. The strategies flipped. Guys that weren’t planning on full pushing, ended up full pushing. And the guys that were going to full push, like myself, ended up on a fuel save. Made some great moves there fought our way forward. We were aggressive and calculated. Great job by the boys. I personally thought we were hosed there for a bit. I never really felt threatened in the way of having a bad yellow fall our way.” “I was confident in the car. You really treasure these weekends where you can put the car where you need to and attack when you want to. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a road course where it feels that way. It’s just too bad we didn’t start further up front; we put ourselves on the back foot yesterday to fight at the front today. These are really, really fun. It was a good job today by Arrow McLaren and it’s good to see the No. 7 on the podium.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 11th: “It was a very disappointing day for us. I think we had a car that could have run in the top five, and fought for a podium. We ended up just losing pace through every sequence, and I’m not exactly sure where we lost it. We will look into it, and fix our issues for Iowa.” Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet finished 13th: “A really strong race. We had a bit of contact at the beginning and we were off track. I was just put in a bad position on the outside. We gambled and did an early stop onto the Reds and the first stint wasn’t anything special but once we came in and got going again on the next set of Reds it was it was super fast. The car was really strong. There’s nothing to complain about from there, so I just moved forwards; we overcut some people, undercut some others and unfortunately had to do another stop but I think for us it would have been tough to commit to the effective two-stop strategy. I think we did the best result possible, had some really good pitstops and we maximized everything from P24.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Sexton Properties/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 16th: “Long day honestly. Really proud of this Sexton Properties Chevrolet crew. Really great stops. Even with a fumble on pit lane, awesome recovery. Kind of kicking myself because I know we were top-10 capable, I just made a mistake in turn five getting into the No. 76. Totally my fault there which cost us on track, then reverting positions which was more time. So overall could have been a good day. Happy to salvage that. Come out of here 10th in points. Looking forward to the ovals.” David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 17th: “Finished up here in Ohio, and, we just can’t have luck this season. Things are just going up, down, up, down. We just can’t get consistency, which is just all I really want, and we’re just struggling to get it. We had a really bad strategy call from the start and kind of just had to put our heads down and deal with it throughout the rest of the race. Had a big fuel-save number. Things didn’t really go our way, unfortunately. Been saying that a lot this season. Hopefully, things can turn around.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet finished 23rd: “It was a long, hot day inside the Odyssey Battery Chevy, for sure. Felt like we could have finished somewhere between eighth and 12th but had a tire de-laminate on the final run. I don’t know, this has obviously been a very tough year for everyone, but this team doesn’t quit. Team Penske doesn’t have these years often, but we will be stronger because of it, that’s for sure. We are going to Iowa with absolute confidence that we will win there.” Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 26th: On what happened: “An engine failure there. I got hit at the start as well, which should damage the floor, but I think it was going to be okay. It didn’t feel like it’s handling badly. Oh, man. Tough, tough year. On resetting for the next race:“Well, we’re doing that every weekend at the moment. Just every weekend at something, but people go through these ones. See it all the time. It’s just, one of those things.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet finished 27th: What happened? “I either had a massive rear lock up and spun, or I got touched. Initially, it felt like I just locked the rears all of a sudden out of nowhere unexpectedly — or, I got touched. If I didn’t get touched, just a weird freak massive rear lock, which is bizarre. Tough to not be out there. Hopefully, we can fix the car. I don’t think there is a lot of damage. I’d like to get back out there even though we’re out of this thing. It’s a shame having a fast PPG car and support from Team Chevy. I want to be in the mix.” How do you recover after a string of bad luck? “You just move onto the next one.” |
![]() |
Christian LundgaardPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Joined by Alex Palou, who led 75 laps this afternoon, driver of the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, the second runner-up finish of 2025, eighth podium of the season, 39th career, and joined by Christian Lundgaard who started second, came home third, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, fourth podium of the season and seventh of his career. Q. Christian, another podium for you. Your thoughts on your day today? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, we saw Mr. Perfect here make a mistake. You don’t see that very often. I think the day was pretty good. Alex seemed to have a little bit more pace than we did. This morning I woke up kind of thinking it was going to be a two-stop race. I think obviously Dixon kind of proved that. This morning, I think we showed that we were able to get the number that we needed with the pace, but again, you need the rest of the race to fall your way for that to work out, and we were unsure what Alex was going to do, and we decided to kind of follow him, and I think if we would have stayed with our gut, we could have potentially come away with a better result, but at the end of the day, we’re on the podium. I nearly went off the same lap, same corner as he did. I don’t know what I was looking at, trying to see the 10 car. But yeah, still on the podium, so that’s good. Q. Christian, do you feel like things are really clicking now? We talked about yesterday halfway through your being able to show your potential, which I think we saw with the other team and maybe it was a little bit behind where you thought you should be. Do you feel like now we’re ready for the — Iowa coming up next week, somewhere you’ve been fast but the results haven’t been there? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I think you look at Indy Road Course, we were one of the fastest cars. We missed the pit out commit line, had a drive through, the results gone. Road America we were on the same strategy as Felix but ahead of him and he finished second. So clearly I think the pace has been there and the results were going to be there. We’ve made some silly mistakes. So I think this weekend it’s just nice to have it on paper and stack up those points. But I think going into Iowa next weekend, it’s going to be all about qualifying, and I think the two of us here can kind of agree on that, and I think both of us will agree on that. It’s about having a good qualifying car and just being fast enough in the race and obviously score as many points as possible during those two races in Iowa. Q. Christian, because you’re on a different team and because that race has a different sponsor this is going to be your first trip to Iowa where you’ve got plenty of free time to do stuff instead of sponsor appearances — CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Let’s see. Let’s see. Q. But that’s got to be a unique thing for you to not be the face of that race? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I made the mistake once of winning the race before that weekend. That didn’t help my freedom, I would say. But I would say going back, I think all of us at least used to like the racing. I don’t know about you, but at least before they repaved it, I thought the racing was quite awesome, and I think after the repave, I think it’s a lot more just single-file racing, and I think we would prefer some more double-lane racing in that sense. ALEX PALOU: I hope so, yeah, but I think it’s going to be single file unless something changes. |
Chevrolet at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Chevrolet wins at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 12 2024 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren2022 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske2014 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske1992 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing 1988 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick Racing Chevrolet poles at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 13 2022 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske2019 – Will Power – Team Penske2017 – Will Power – Team Penske2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske2015 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing2014 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global2012 – Will Power – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing 1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 34 Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (7), Emerson Fittipaldi (4), Michael Andretti (3), Josef Newgarden (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Mario Andretti (2), Scott McLaughlin (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Sebastien Bourdais (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Rick Mears (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Bob Rahal (1), Danny Sullivan (1) and Paul Tracy (1). Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (19), Newman Haas Racing (6), Galles Racing (4), Arrow McLaren (2), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), KV Racing Technology (1) and Patrick Racing (1) Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 1034 Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (178), Emerson Fittipaldi (168), Michael Andretti (152), Scott Dixon (67), Pato O’Ward (52), Scott McLaughlin (49), Mario Andretti (44), Sebastien Bourdais (38), Ryan Hunter-Reay (30), Juan Montoya (30), Simon Pagenaud (23), Paul Tracy (23), Al Unser Jr. (11), Helio Castroneves (6), James Hinchcliffe (2), and Danny Sullivan (2) Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (573), Newman Haas Racing (196), Chip Ganassi Racing (67), Patrick Racing (63), Arrow McLaren (52), KV Racing Technology (38), Andretti Global (32), Galles Racing (11), and Ed Carpenter Racing (2) |
TF SPORT, CORVETTE SCORE LANDMARK ELMS VICTORY AT IMOLA
First European Le Mans Series win for Corvette Racing, Corvette Z06 GT3.R |
JESSICA DANE, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “It’s very rewarding to see TF Sport deliver the first win in the European Le Mans Series for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The team and each of the drivers made the right decisions and strategy calls in changing weather conditions throughout. Congratulations to Charlie, Rui, Hiro and all of TF Sport on this landmark victory for Corvette Racing.” CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 82 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We had a really strong race. Hiro’s stint to get us into the lead, everyone else was making mistakes throughout the race and what we’ve shown this year is that we’ve executed really well and just at times didn’t really have the pace. Today we did and again executed a close to flawless race on that side. As always, though, in ELMS it gets a bit busy. I saw the VSC come out and thought ‘OK, this is all going to be a little bit harder.’ But yeah, it was good. (Miguel) Molina was chasing me down once nobody had to fuel save anymore. The gap started to get a little bit twitchy, to say the least. But the car just came alive when the fuel started to burn off. By the end, I was able to then just maintain the gap to them.”I’m so delighted for both of these guys, the team, and it’s my first win with Corvette. It hasn’t been the easiest start to a change of manufacturer. I’m really happy to sort of get this off our back.”(On late-race FCYs) “I was actually speaking with our engineer, when you’re trying to be a little bit conservative, of how early you slow down and how early you release the button because you think you’ve got a margin, you kind of blink and you end up losing three or four seconds when you know somebody like Molina is going to be pushing that to the limit. So by the last one, you’re just attacking as much as you can, cutting every corner as much as you can under FCY. And yeah, we were able to maintain the gap to the end.” RUI ANDRADE, NO. 82 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was very tricky conditions, obviously, coming out. The rain had just started. Obviously, Hiro had done a really good job at that point in tricky conditions to bring himself so high in the order. From there on, the pressure was on because I started to feel like I could get a really good result. I went out of the pit lane with cold right-hand side tires. It was very tricky, because as soon as I went out, the FCY was activated, so I didn’t really have much time to get temperature in and then the rain got harder. So when it was time to go back to green I had no temperature in the tires. For two or three laps it was very tricky. A lot of cars were going off and making mistakes so I was happy to keep it on track. Then from there I was just surviving until the conditions improved and was lucky to be in a good place and build up the rhythm in the end and give the car to Charlie in a good position.”It’s always a pleasure to represent (Angola), but this win is even more special. I’ve been sharing a car with Charlie now for a year-and-a-half, and it felt like we’ve been quite close a few times. To get the win now is really special and also with Hiro; we were also teammates in different cars but teammates at TF last year in WEC. So for us all to come together and get this win not only for ourselves, but for the team and also for Corvette… the first win for Corvette in ELMS is really special. So hopefully this is a turnaround and we can keep the momentum going for the next rounds.” HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I knew the opening lap would be a little bit dangerous, and on the first lap I had to stop the car to avoid an accident. But in the end I felt like I did a good job and knew that something big was going to happen for us so I was really happy to do a good race. This is the best team and the best car with the best drivers, so I was really happy to give my teammates the car in a good condition. They did a great job.” |
#10 Honda of Alex Palou on pole for Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
July 5, 2025 — MANSFIELD, OH
- Championship leader Alex Palou scores his third pole position of 2025 in his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- Kyffin Simpson qualifies P3, earns career-best starting position
- Honda powers seven of top-10 qualifiers in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport
Alex Palou kicked off the Mid-Ohio weekend right where he left off, by leading the field in qualifying for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport.
Palou and the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team have scored wins in six of the first nine races to open the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season as the Spaniard goes for his third-consecutive championship title and fourth in five years. Palou’s wins at St. Petersburg, Thermal, Barber, the Indy GP, Indianapolis 500 and last time out at Road America have him sitting 94 points ahead of second place in the drivers’ championship.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Kyffin Simpson, scored his career-best qualifying result—making his first Firestone Fast Six and ultimately lining up third for tomorrow’s race.
Andretti Global’s Colton Herta will line up fifth, while the polesitter for the last race at Road America, Louis Foster, made his second-consecutive Fast Six and will line up P6.
Kyle Kirkwood, currently sitting second in the drivers’ standings, will line up seventh in his #27 Andretti Global Honda Honda—narrowly missing the Fast Six after getting bogged down with traffic on his fast lap.
Marcus Armstrong qualified eighth for Meyer Shank Racing, and Scott Dixon made it three Chip Ganassi Racing cars in the top-10 with a ninth-place qualifying result.
Honda teams and drivers will be fighting to win the 10th-consecutive race for the manufacturer in the 2025 season, a record since IndyCar returned to multi-manufacturer competition in 2012. Palou has scored six race wins this year, while Kyle Kirkwood has won the remaining three races—at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Detroit Grand Prix, and World Wide Technology Raceway.
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport Honda Qualifying Results
- 1st Alex Palou
- 3rd Kyffin Simpson
- 5th Colton Herta
- 6th Louis Foster-R
- 7th Kyle Kirkwood
- 8th Marcus Armstrong
- 9th Scott Dixon
- 11th Marcus Ericsson
- 16th Felix Rosenqvist
- 20th Graham Rahal
- 23rd Devlin DeFrancesco
- 25th Jacob Abel-R
- 26th Rinus VeeKay
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Andretti Global Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Andretti Global Honda
Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Andretti Global Honda
Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Dale Coyne Racing Honda
R – Rookie
Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified 1st: “Number one! Super, super great qualifying for us. It was very tight, which we knew it was going to be before heading into it. We were missing a little bit of speed in Q2, but we found it in the Fast Six. We went aggressive with the tires and the strategy that we’re using, so we know we’re not going to be in the best position in terms of tire conditions tomorrow, but we’re starting from the front row, which is the most important thing. Couldn’t be better.”
Kyffin Simpson (#8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified 3rd: “Feeling really good, it was a great drive! It was a very tough one, especially being very close in the first couple of segments of qualifying. Huge thanks to the crew on the #8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It has been just an incredible car to drive all weekend so far and it just got better and better as we got through qualifying and got more comfortable with it. Now we’re just focused on the race and trying to make sure we can maximize that extra set of reds.”
Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global Honda) qualified 5th: “Happy to have another Honda-heavy Fast Six. The #26 Gainbridge Honda was really nice and fast. I had a small mistake on my quick lap, but we’re still up there and able to fight tomorrow. It’s been quite a tremendous season for Honda, great to see them on pole again and I’m hoping to get another win for them.”
Louis Foster (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) qualified 6th: “I’m really, really happy with that. Obviously, it’s super important to start up at the front at this place. It’s hard to overtake here. We just want to have a really clean race tomorrow and we want to get some good points. We’re in a great position to do that. The main focus right now is making sure we choose the right strategy for the race and have the right setup on the #45 Honda.”
NARC INVADES PETALUMA SPEEDWAY FOR $5,200 TO WIN DAVE LINDT MEMORIAL
(7/7/25 – Andrew Kunas) Petaluma, CA … After a well-earned break following a very busy month of June, the NARC 410 sprint car series kicks off another busy stretch of racing on Saturday night, when the series makes its annual visit to Petaluma Speedway for the 2nd Annual Dave Lindt Memorial.
The event honors Lindt, who was Petaluma Speedway’s winningest driver ever, scoring 48 feature victories and earning five track championships along the way as he dominated weekly action at the track in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Lindt was known for his blue No. 52 sprint car, matching his high school colors and his football jersey number. Saturday’s NARC main event will pay $5,200 to win in his memory.
Saturday’s show marks the first of four consecutive weeks of racing for NARC, the stretch nicknamed by some as the “cooler weather tour” as it is all at tracks along the Pacific coast, which should feature more comfortable weather conditions for racers and fans while the California interior bakes in summer heat.
Former NARC champion Sean Becker of Oroville won the inaugural Dave Lindt Memorial last July after a late race battle with young Oakley driver Dylan Bloomfield. It was the last time the “Shark” visited victory lane in NARC competition.
POINTS BATTLE & WHO TO WATCH
After an eventful trip last month to the Pacific Northwest, there is a tie at the top of the NARC point standings, with reigning “King of the West” Justin Sanders of Aromas and former series champion D.J. Netto of Hanford neck and neck at 1,890 points apiece. Both drivers have multiple NARC victories on the season, Sanders with four and Netto with two, and both had their share of bad luck this year, including Netto getting upside down on consecutive nights during the Fastest Five Days in Motorsports. After their respective roller coaster rides, they are both at the top as NARC begins its summer swing.
Sanders has had momentum on his side of late, picking up two NARC wins last month including a $10,000 preliminary night win at the Super Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway before taking fifth in the Saturday finale against a tough field of racers. Sanders finished second to Becker at last year’s Dave Lindt Memorial.
Things are tight in general toward the top of the point standings, with just 20 points separating the Top 5. Former NARC champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell, though winless, is quietly having a solid season and is only 11 points out of the lead. Just three points behind Kaeding is Harrisburg, Oregon’s Tyler Thompson, who is leading the NARC Rookie of the Year chase and has shown some flashes as well, picking up multiple fast qualifier awards, twice earning the hard charger nod, and challenging for a win at Ocean Speedway in May.
Becker is only 20 points behind the leaders and at times has shown himself as a threat to win this season, most notably at Antioch Speedway in May when he led laps in the main event before a crash knocked him out of contention. Having last won at last year’s Dave Lindt Memorial, Becker looks to get back in the win column this Saturday with a second straight Lindt triumph.
Dominic Gorden of Clovis got his second career NARC victory on May 31st at the Dave Bradway Jr Memorial at Placerville Speedway. Gorden currently sits sixth in the point standings and hopes to get a second 410 victory for the season Saturday in Petaluma.
A full field of 410 sprint cars are expected to compete at the 16th event on the ultra-competitive 27-race NARC schedule. To date, 15 races have produced nine different winners!
FAN INFO
Petaluma Speedway is located on the Petaluma Fairgrounds at 100 Fairgrounds Drive. Front gates open at 4:00 p.m. with racing scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. General admission for adults is $25, with juniors 12-16, seniors 65+ and military in for $22. Kids ages 6 to 11 are in for just $10. The Redwood Dwarf Cars, mini-stocks and hobby stocks are all scheduled to race on Saturday night with NARC.
ABOUT NARC
The Northern Auto Racing Club is the premier 410 winged sprint car series in the western United States. Since 1960, the traveling organization has thrilled fans at dirt tracks up and down the West Coast and crowned a “King of the West” champion. For more information on the NARC 410 sprint car series, including race results, points standings, and upcoming events, go to www.narc410.com. You can also follow on various social media platforms.
The NARC 410 Sprint Car Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires and Floracing.com. Associate sponsors include Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Beacon Wealth Strategies, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bullet Impressions, Jim Allen Promotions, Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash, Mettec Titanium, MyRacePass, Red Rose Transportation, Tarlton & Son, Wedg High Performance Karts, Williams Roofing, and Winters Performance Products.
2025 NARC 410 SPRINT CARS SERIES
(AFTER 15 EVENTS IN 27-RACE SERIES – 7/6/25)
- DJ Netto, Hanford – 1890
- Justin Sanders, Aromas – 1890
- Bud Kaeding, Campbell – 1879
- Tyler Thompson, Harrisburg, OR (R) – 1876
- Sean Becker, Roseville – 1870
- Dominic Gorden, Clovis – 1852
- Gauge Garcia, Lemoore – 1825
- Mariah Ede, Fresno (R) – 1780
- Dominic Scelzi, Fresno – 1772
- Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR – 1760
- Caeden Steele, Fresno – 1695
- Landon Brooks, Rio Oso – 1478
- Max Mittry, Redding – 1437
- Billy Aton, Benicia – 1392
- Shane Golobic, Fremont – 1260
- Nick Parker, Tucson, AX – 1185
- John Clark, Windsor – 1107
- James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, AUS – 1004
- Jess Schlotfeldt, Arlington, WA – 972
- Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 670
- Levi Klatt, Langley, BC – 914
Upcoming Events
July 18 – Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, CA (Howard Kaeding Classic – Night 1, $5,000 to win)
July 19 – Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, CA ($10,000 to win Howard Kaeding Classic)
July 26 – Santa Maria Speedway – Nipomo, CA
August 2 – Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, CA (Johnny Key Classic)
NARC 2025 Winners
March 8 – D.J. Netto at Stockton Dirt Track (Salute to Leroy Van Connett)
April 12 – Justin Sanders at Silver Dollar Speedway (Mini Gold Cup)
May 10 – D.J. Netto at Antioch Speedway (Contra Costa County Clash)
May 16 – Justin Sanders at Ocean Speedway
May 17 – Tanner Holmes (Race 1) & Caeden Steele (Race 2) at Thunderbowl Raceway (Morrie Williams Memorial)
May 31 – Dominic Gorden at Placerville Speedway (Dave Bradway Jr Memorial)
June 7 – Justin Sanders at Silver Dollar Speedway (David Tarter Memorial)
June 11 – James McFadden at Southern Oregon Speedway
June 12 – James McFadden at Douglas County Dirt Track
June 13 – Jesse Schlotfeldt at Cottage Grove Speedway
June 14 – James McFadden at Willamette Speedway
June 15 – James McFadden at Grays Harbor Raceway (Timber Cup)
June 19 – Levi Klatt at Skagit Speedway (Super Dirt Cup – Night 1)
June 20 – Justin Sanders at Skagit Speedway (Super Dirt Cup – Night 2)
June 21 – Trey Starks at Skagit Speedway (Super Dirt Cup finale)
O’Neal Claims Second Freedom 60 in Three Years
![]() |
ZANESVILLE, OH (July 5, 2025) – Hudson O’Neal started sixth. He passed race leader Jonathan Davenport on lap 44 to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, Freedom 60 on Saturday night at Muskingum County Speedway. O’Neal’s third series victory of the season paid $25,000 from a total purse of over $82,000. Davenport crossed the finish line in second, just 0.515 seconds behind O’Neal, but he failed post-race tech when his droop limiter chain was not tight, which moved him to 25th place in the finishing order. Garrett Alberson, who finished third, moved up to second in the final rundown. Brandon Sheppard, the previous night’s winner at Atomic and the leader for the first 8 laps of the 60-lap main event, rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 32nd time in his career, the 2023 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion returned to victory at Muskingum County for the second time. He held off a slider by Davenport in the closing laps to secure the win after Davenport led from laps 9 through 43. “That was the advantage of not being out in the lead like Jonathan was. I was able to kind of drive some lines there, and I found that bottom. At first, whenever I tried, it didn’t quite have the speed to drive all the way to the lead, but as that top slowed down, I got a little better. This car was amazing. Hats off to Jason Durham and my crew; they gave me an outstanding race car, making all the right decisions on tires and everything else things,” said the Martinsville, Indiana native. “I was really good at getting into third place and being able to get out there and come back down the hill. It was awesome; everything played out right tonight. I was able to drive up through there in the heat race, and having a good starting spot in the feature was the main thing for us. I appreciate all of the fans who came out tonight, and the Moran Family and Muskingum for giving us a great race track to race on.” Alberson ran as high as second during the race after a side-by-side battle with Sheppard for several laps. “I had a very small balance issue, but our car was really close, and I am so proud of these guys. We have been working our butts off trying to develop a longer run program. We are really close. I am sure the battles (with Sheppard and O’Neal) hurt us, but Hud was really good; he just kind of worked over that bottom on me and did his job. I am just really happy to be here. I hate it for JD; I don’t know if it was a mechanical failure or what it was. That’s a tough deal, but I guess it happens to all of us at some point.” Sheppard, who earned his first series win of the season 24 hours earlier at Atomic Speedway, stayed in the hunt for most of the race and finished third. “I definitely felt like I was battling with someone for most of the race. I was pretty much the same all the way across the track. I was just a little bit snug. The track was super slick tonight, it was awesome, and I thought it put on a great show for all of these fans. This new car has been phenomenal since we unloaded it.” The winner’s SSI Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Wheeler Metals, Merrill Bonding Company, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Professional Concrete, Cutting and Drilling, West Side Tractor Sales, Dyno One Inc., O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Indiana USSSA Fast Pitch Softball, Bob and Tammy Burton, Houchens Insurance Group, Bobcat of Batesville, and Sunoco Race Fuels. Completing the top ten were Nathon Loney, Donald McIntosh, Brandon Overton, Logan Zarin and Carson Ferguson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Freedom 60Saturday, July 5, 2025Muskingum County Speedway – Zanesville, OH Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard | 16.058 secondsFast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport | 16.001 seconds (Overall) Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[7]; 6. 10-Nathon Loney[5]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[6] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 2. 20B-Todd Brennan[1]; 3. 4-Tripp Gerrald[2]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 5. C4-Freddie Carpenter[5]; 6. (DNS) K54-Kenneth Rucker; 7. (DNS) 0-Steve Prince Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 5. 66C-Matt Cosner[3]; 6. 156-James Dennis[7]; 7. R54-Shane Greco[6] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 1Z-Logan Zarin[2]; 3. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 5. 57-Caiden Black[5]; 6. W1-Cory Workman[6]; 7. K11-George Klintworth[7] Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (9 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 6-Clay Harris[1]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 3. 57-Caiden Black[4]; 4. 156-James Dennis[6]; 5. R54-Shane Greco[10]; 6. C4-Freddie Carpenter[3]; 7. W1-Cory Workman[8]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[9]; 9. K11-George Klintworth[12]; 10. (DNS) 10-Nathon Loney; 11. (DNS) K54-Kenneth Rucker; 12. (DNS) 0-Steve Prince Freedom 60 Feature Finish (60 Laps): Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay1 – 6 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $25,8002 – 4 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $10,7003 – 1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $6,7004 – 5 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $5,1005 – 10 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $4,2006 – 25 – 10 – Nathon Loney – Danville, OH – $2,7007 – 3 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – $3,3008 – 15 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $3,0009 – 8 – 1Z – Logan Zarin – Hookstown, PA – $2,20010 – 12 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $2,80011 – 18 – 66C – Matt Cosner – Ridgeley, WV – $2,00012 – 16 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $2,60013 – 14 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – $2,50014 – 11 – 4 – Tripp Gerrald – Versailles, KY – $1,70015 – 20 – 156 – James Dennis – Lower Salem, OH – $1,60016 – 9 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $2,50017 – 13 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $2,20018 – 23 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $2,20019 – 19 – 57 – Caiden Black – New Concord, OH – $1,50020 – 7 – 20B – Todd Brennan – Zanesville, OH – $1,50021 – 22 – C4 – Freddie Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – $1,50022 – 24 – W1 – Cory Workman – Gratiot, OH – $1,50023 – 17 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $2,20024 – 21 – R54 – Shane Greco – Midway, WV – $1,50025 – 2 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $2,800 Race Statistics Entrants: 28Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Brandon SheppardMD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1-8); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 9-43); Hudson O’Neal (Laps 44-60)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Jonathan DavenportWieland Feature Winner: Hudson O’NealMargin of Victory: 1.663 secondsColtman Farms Racing Cautions: Daniel Hilsabeck (Lap 11); Freddie Carpenter (Lap 14); Todd Brennan (Lap 17); Freddie Carpenter, Cody Workman (Lap 17 restart); Caiden Black (Lap 30); Carson Ferguson (Lap 52)Series Provisionals: Cory LawlerFast Time Provisional: Cory WorkmanEmergency Provisional: n/aTrack Provisional: Nathon LoneyBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Garrett Alberson, Brandon SheppardPenske Shocks Top 5: Hudson O’Neal, Garrett Alberson, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Daulton WilsonPEM 4th Place Feature: Ricky Thornton, Jr.DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Daulton WilsonWilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Donald McIntoshWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Matt CosnerDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Spencer HughesMD3 24th Place Feature: Shane GrecoHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Nathon Loney (Advanced 18 Positions)MD3 Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (35 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Hudson O’NealMidwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan DavenportO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntoshPro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport | Lap 19 | 16.877 secondsSlicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Hudson O’NealFresh Roof Hard Luck Award: Devin MoranOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jason DurhamARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Cory Lawler | 15.952 secondsTime of Race: 32 minutes 42 seconds Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Pay1 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 4845 – $264,2502 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 4825 – $246,2003 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 4585 – $184,3494 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 4525 – $136,3755 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 4310 – $94,5506 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 4280 – $117,5007 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 4145 – $90,5008 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – 3935 – $75,2259 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 3740 – $62,42510 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – 3625 – $49,70011 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 3510 – $45,22512 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – 3275 – $44,62513 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 3245 – $37,60014 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 3050 – $36,75015 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 2840 – $27,925 |
Shannon Babb Topples All-Time Summer Nationals Wins List at Tri-State Speedway
HAUBSTADT, IN — July 5, 2025 — For the second time in Shannon Babb’s career, he stands alone at the top of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals all-time wins list.
The Moweaqua, IL driver took his seventh win at the track where he won his first career Hell Tour Feature in 1999, and overtook Billy Moyer for the No. 1 spot with his 102nd overall on Saturday night.
“It means a ton,” Babb said. “I got my first ever Hell Tour win right here in 1999, and the Helfrich family gets us one heck of a place to race at. The effort and the (perspective) they see of what a racetrack should be like is unreal. I’ll tell you one thing, I’m getting way too old for that, but it’s a torture test. It’s pretty cool my family’s here with me, and it just means a ton.”
Babb began the 40-lap Feature around Haubstadt, IN’s Tri-State Speedway as the polesitter with Parkersburg, WV’s Colton Burdett to his side for the start. Babb took the lead by hitting the top of the cushion while Burdett stayed even on the bottom lane, but could not overcome Babb’s speed on the straightaway.
Babb kept running the cushion of the track to hold Burdette from making a slide job attempt on him, while stray lapped cars had Babb adjust to the bottom lane to block Burdette’s momentum.
The “Moweaqua Missile” targeted the open lanes around him to squeeze by the lapped traffic while Burdett followed Babb’s shadow to stay in contention for his first career win with the Summer Nationals.
When Babb caught a larger group of lapped cars in his fold, he could not gain any ground as Burdette and Mark Whitener crept up to Babb’s bumper.
Moments before Burdett attempted to go for the winning pass, the caution was flown with four laps to go to keep Babb at the top of the leaderboard.
Babb executed a perfect restart aboard the No. 18 Longhorn Chassis while Whitener took over second place with a slide job through Turns 1-2. While he attempted the move on Babb with two laps remaining, Whitener was unable to get clearance for the spot as the four-time Summer Nationals champion broke the tie with Billy Moyer for No. 1 on the all-time wins list.
“I’ve watched enough races from a long time ago,” Babb said. “Don O’Neal showed me how to get around this place. The top coming down the hill, getting your wheel straight, and making long drag strips out it is hard to beat. I had that in the back of my mind the whole time.
“I’d seen Whitener there, and he probably could’ve slid me at some point if he really wanted to, but I could have crossed back over and got back going. I had the tires on fire, so I did get to slow down. I was just fortunate to be at the front.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals finish Week 4 in the tour’s debut at Duck River Raceway Park on Sunday, July 6.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 2. 5-Mark Whitener[8]; 3. 53L-Colten Burdette[2]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[6]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 6. 15-Clay Stuckey[20]; 7. 75-Dillon McCowan[15]; 8. 91-Rusty Schlenk[10]; 9. 31M-Tyler Millwood[11]; 10. 25F-Jason Feger[16]; 11. 20-Tyler Neal[14]; 12. 14JR-Trey Mills[19]; 13. 8-Rob Anderzack[9]; 14. 17SS-Brenden Smith[5]; 15. 71R-Rod Conley[21]; 16. (DNF) 27M-Rodney Melvin[3]; 17. (DNF) 14-Haiden Cowan[7]; 18. (DNF) 5S-Kyle Hammer[12]; 19. (DNF) S21-Seth Daniels[23]; 20. (DNF) 29-Christian Hanger[22]; 21. (DNF) 81-Jason Riggs[17]; 22. (DNF) 81F-Jadon Frame[13]; 23. (DNF) 388-Jackson Hise[18]
Zach Fair Wins First Career Summit Modified Nationals Feature at Tri-State Speedway
In the opening 2025 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals race in Indiana, a Hoosier State native claimed his first career tour win on Saturday night.
Petersburg, IN’s Zach Fair took his first career tour win at Tri-State Speedway as he used experience and knowledge of his local racetrack to keep the tour’s top drivers out of reach.
Fair began the night with a win in his Heat race, then drew the Pole Position for the night’s 25-lap battle around the 1/4-mile bullring.
Behind Fair was 2023 Summit Modified Nationals champ Tyler Nicely, who followed behind the No. 35S around the bottom lane of the track. While he attempted to run the middle and high lines of the track to create momentum, Fair extended his lead to over six seconds until the caution on Lap 13 brought the field back together for the final run to the finish.
Fair withstood the challenge of Nicely while John Clippinger battled Nicely for second place. As Nicely and Clippinger battled, Fair rebuilt to a four-second interval over his opponents as he scored his first career win after a 14-year wait since his first start at Haubstadt in 2011.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Fair said. “It’s been a long time coming, so this is awesome. We’re definitely gonna soak this one up. I can’t thank Dave and Junior (enough). We had a motor go down at Highland (Speedway). So last night, they picked this engine up and got it in there for us. I kind of thought I was done in 2018, but here we are, and we got it done.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals finish Week 4 in the tour’s debut at Wheel, TN’s Duck River Raceway Park for the Independence Day Special on Sunday, July 6.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 35S-Zach Fair[1]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely[3]; 3. 16C-John Clippinger[7]; 4. 81K-Kyle Cole[11]; 5. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 6. 99T-Tyler Loughmiller[8]; 7. 50-Tyler Weiss[2]; 8. 67-Chris Moore[18]; 9. 98-Zac Harris[12]; 10. 27G-Jason Garver[14]; 11. 1S-Brian Shaw[17]; 12. 2X-Wes Harms[20]; 13. 00-Troy Gay[22]; 14. (DNF) 10Y-Trent Young[9]; 15. (DNF) 45H-Chase Holland[4]; 16. (DNF) 12B-Eric Brantley[5]; 17. (DNF) 81C-Christopher Cole[10]; 18. (DNF) 95K-Levi Kissinger[13]; 19. (DNF) 327-Dustin Bruce[16]; 20. (DNF) 711B-Jerry Bland Jr[19]; 21. (DNF) 23B-Ethan Boomsma[21]; 22. (DNF) 24-Jarod Deckard[15]
Daniels Pulls a Rabbit Out of His Helmet to Win Magic Mile
Dallas Daniels (32) races down the straightaway ahead of other Mission AFT SuperTwins riders at the DuQuoin Mile. [Photo: American Flat Track/Tim Lester] DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 5, 2025) – The “Magic Mile” lived up to its nickname by delivering yet another last-lap stunner as Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) claimed a scant-yet-pivotal victory in Saturday night’s Memphis Shades DuQuoin Mile, Round 8 of the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. Daniels’ win at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in DuQuoin, Illinois, wasn’t assured until the checkered flag flew, which confirmed an official 0.037-second margin of victory following a hectic five-rider showdown to the very end. An early eight-rider scrap whittled down to six after a few minutes of fighting. It then took its final form of five – which included Daniels, title rival Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R), James Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07), Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Corbin/OTB Racing Yamaha MT-07), and Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) – after Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) was forced out due to mechanical issues. Bauman kept himself relevant with some impressive cornering and line choice, but as the laps wound down, it became more and more apparent that the Yamahas of Daniels, Ott, and Bender had the steam on this night. With less than two minutes left on the clock, Bauman dropped back from first to fifth and then struggled mightily in his attempts to claw his way back into winning contention from that point forward. Ott, meanwhile, gave Daniels all he could handle, while Bender looked more than capable of springing a massive upset with a perfect final lap. But Daniels did what aspiring championship winners do, countering Ott’s final lap Turn 2 pass with a counter of his own, running back up the inside entering Turn 3. He then put his head down and narrowly outraced his challengers’ draft-pass attempts as the three completed a Yamaha lockout of the podium. Ott earned his maiden Mission AFT SuperTwins podium 0.037 seconds off the win while Bender claimed the first of his Progressive AFT career a further 0.092 seconds adrift. Daniels said, “That was huge… Not even just the win, but how we felt on the motorcycle today. It’s no secret that at the beginning of the season we’ve been struggling a little bit, just with some stuff. It’s not for lack of effort. My team has been busting their butts so much. This track – with the way that the corners are – is one where we’ve always lacked on the Yamaha the last few years. We’ve been making headway, and last year we were close to Jared (Mees), but not that close. This morning, I didn’t really feel the greatest, but I had a quiet confidence. I knew we were going to figure it out. I can’t give a big enough of a thanks to my whole Estenson Racing Monster Energy Yamaha team… “It was an amazing day. It’s the first time I’ve won a Grand National in my home state. It’s something special.” Robinson, meanwhile, held Bauman off for fourth just back of the top three. As a result, Daniels and Bauman now boast 162 points and four wins apiece, with Bauman technically in the championship lead as a result of his three runners-up to Daniels’ two. It doesn’t get much closer than that with the Grand National Championship fight now officially at its halfway point. Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 Racing Unlimited/Parts Bros/D&D Kawasaki Ninja 650) finished a lonely sixth, while Jarod VanDerKooi (No. 20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown Racing KTM 790 Duke), Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Transalp), Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Suzuki GSX-8S), and Max Whale (No. 18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) rounding out the night’s top ten in that order. AFT Singles presented by KICKER In just over the span of a week, Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) took a protracted wins drought and vulnerable AFT Singles presented by KICKER championship position and transformed them into a three-race victory streak and a commanding 20-point advantage. The Australian did so in an intense Main Event that saw an eight-rider lead freight train storm past the checkered flag separated by a combined 0.342 seconds. As it went, the heated rivalry between Drane and Chase Saathoff (No. 88 RWR/Parts Plus Honda CRF450R) got that much hotter Saturday night. Saathoff came up just 0.020 seconds short of defeating Drane after spending the entire race in a struggle just to prevent the Estenson Racing ace from making an escape and instead forcing him to fight it out in a pack war. The two gestured angrily at one another following the conclusion of the race after being locked in ultra close quarters combat, including one particularly perilous moment in which Saathoff’s boot contacted Drane’s handlebar as they railed around a corner in tight proximity. Afterward, Drane said, “I just wanted to get out there straight to the front and do everything I could to win that one, because that was dangerous coming off the last corner doing that. It is what it is, and I guess I just have to put my head down and do what I did and come out on top.” In response, Saathoff said, “I thought I set myself up good (on the final lap), but it seems to me that Tom Drane doesn’t know how to go in a straight line sometimes. But, that’s okay. We’re going to look past it and move on to the next (race).” Saathoff was joined in the joint attempt to overcome Drane’s day-long speed advantage for the bulk of the Main by eventual third-place finisher Trevor Brunner (No. 21 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) and Bradon Pfanders(No. 83 Hannum’s HD/Pfanders Racing KTM 450 SX-F), who was shuffled back to sixth at the flag despite finishing just 0.252 seconds back of the win. Despite his impressive form, Pfanders was displaced in that final rush to the stripe by Hunter Bauer (No. 24 Vinson Construction/Reel Medics Yamaha YZ450F) and Evan Renshaw (No. 65 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450), who rounded out the top five. Meanwhile, Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450) and Tarren Santero (No. 75 Mission Roof Systems Honda CRF450R) were rewarded with just seventh- and eighth-place results despite being in with a shot at the win as late as the race’s final corner. Drane’s recent surge has granted him a significant advantage over Saathoff at the title fight’s halfway point, as he now leads 153-133. Brunner sits third at 114, while Santero is well back in fourth with 87 points. Next Up: Progressive American Flat Track will at last make its debut at the Short Track at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, on Friday, July 18. Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/2025-lucas-oil-short-track-141381 to secure your tickets today. For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FloRacing 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://flosports.link/aft. |
Daniels Pulls a Rabbit Out of His Helmet to Win Magic Mile
Dallas Daniels (32) races down the straightaway ahead of other Mission AFT SuperTwins riders at the DuQuoin Mile. [Photo: American Flat Track/Tim Lester] DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 5, 2025) – The “Magic Mile” lived up to its nickname by delivering yet another last-lap stunner as Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) claimed a scant-yet-pivotal victory in Saturday night’s Memphis Shades DuQuoin Mile, Round 8 of the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. Daniels’ win at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in DuQuoin, Illinois, wasn’t assured until the checkered flag flew, which confirmed an official 0.037-second margin of victory following a hectic five-rider showdown to the very end. An early eight-rider scrap whittled down to six after a few minutes of fighting. It then took its final form of five – which included Daniels, title rival Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R), James Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07), Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Corbin/OTB Racing Yamaha MT-07), and Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) – after Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) was forced out due to mechanical issues. Bauman kept himself relevant with some impressive cornering and line choice, but as the laps wound down, it became more and more apparent that the Yamahas of Daniels, Ott, and Bender had the steam on this night. With less than two minutes left on the clock, Bauman dropped back from first to fifth and then struggled mightily in his attempts to claw his way back into winning contention from that point forward. Ott, meanwhile, gave Daniels all he could handle, while Bender looked more than capable of springing a massive upset with a perfect final lap. But Daniels did what aspiring championship winners do, countering Ott’s final lap Turn 2 pass with a counter of his own, running back up the inside entering Turn 3. He then put his head down and narrowly outraced his challengers’ draft-pass attempts as the three completed a Yamaha lockout of the podium. Ott earned his maiden Mission AFT SuperTwins podium 0.037 seconds off the win while Bender claimed the first of his Progressive AFT career a further 0.092 seconds adrift. Daniels said, “That was huge… Not even just the win, but how we felt on the motorcycle today. It’s no secret that at the beginning of the season we’ve been struggling a little bit, just with some stuff. It’s not for lack of effort. My team has been busting their butts so much. This track – with the way that the corners are – is one where we’ve always lacked on the Yamaha the last few years. We’ve been making headway, and last year we were close to Jared (Mees), but not that close. This morning, I didn’t really feel the greatest, but I had a quiet confidence. I knew we were going to figure it out. I can’t give a big enough of a thanks to my whole Estenson Racing Monster Energy Yamaha team… “It was an amazing day. It’s the first time I’ve won a Grand National in my home state. It’s something special.” Robinson, meanwhile, held Bauman off for fourth just back of the top three. As a result, Daniels and Bauman now boast 162 points and four wins apiece, with Bauman technically in the championship lead as a result of his three runners-up to Daniels’ two. It doesn’t get much closer than that with the Grand National Championship fight now officially at its halfway point. Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 Racing Unlimited/Parts Bros/D&D Kawasaki Ninja 650) finished a lonely sixth, while Jarod VanDerKooi (No. 20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown Racing KTM 790 Duke), Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Transalp), Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Suzuki GSX-8S), and Max Whale (No. 18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) rounding out the night’s top ten in that order. AFT Singles presented by KICKER In just over the span of a week, Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) took a protracted wins drought and vulnerable AFT Singles presented by KICKER championship position and transformed them into a three-race victory streak and a commanding 20-point advantage. The Australian did so in an intense Main Event that saw an eight-rider lead freight train storm past the checkered flag separated by a combined 0.342 seconds. As it went, the heated rivalry between Drane and Chase Saathoff (No. 88 RWR/Parts Plus Honda CRF450R) got that much hotter Saturday night. Saathoff came up just 0.020 seconds short of defeating Drane after spending the entire race in a struggle just to prevent the Estenson Racing ace from making an escape and instead forcing him to fight it out in a pack war. The two gestured angrily at one another following the conclusion of the race after being locked in ultra close quarters combat, including one particularly perilous moment in which Saathoff’s boot contacted Drane’s handlebar as they railed around a corner in tight proximity. Afterward, Drane said, “I just wanted to get out there straight to the front and do everything I could to win that one, because that was dangerous coming off the last corner doing that. It is what it is, and I guess I just have to put my head down and do what I did and come out on top.” In response, Saathoff said, “I thought I set myself up good (on the final lap), but it seems to me that Tom Drane doesn’t know how to go in a straight line sometimes. But, that’s okay. We’re going to look past it and move on to the next (race).” Saathoff was joined in the joint attempt to overcome Drane’s day-long speed advantage for the bulk of the Main by eventual third-place finisher Trevor Brunner (No. 21 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) and Bradon Pfanders(No. 83 Hannum’s HD/Pfanders Racing KTM 450 SX-F), who was shuffled back to sixth at the flag despite finishing just 0.252 seconds back of the win. Despite his impressive form, Pfanders was displaced in that final rush to the stripe by Hunter Bauer (No. 24 Vinson Construction/Reel Medics Yamaha YZ450F) and Evan Renshaw (No. 65 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450), who rounded out the top five. Meanwhile, Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450) and Tarren Santero (No. 75 Mission Roof Systems Honda CRF450R) were rewarded with just seventh- and eighth-place results despite being in with a shot at the win as late as the race’s final corner. Drane’s recent surge has granted him a significant advantage over Saathoff at the title fight’s halfway point, as he now leads 153-133. Brunner sits third at 114, while Santero is well back in fourth with 87 points. Next Up: Progressive American Flat Track will at last make its debut at the Short Track at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, on Friday, July 18. Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/2025-lucas-oil-short-track-141381 to secure your tickets today. For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FloRacing 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://flosports.link/aft. |
Arrow McLaren duo lead Chevrolet-powered drivers in qualifying at Mid-Ohio
CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESHonda Indy 200 at Mid-OhioMid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, OhioQualifying Report July 5 The Arrow McLaren duo of Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Nolan Siegel in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet will lead Team Chevy to the green flag for the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Sunday afternoon. Lundgaard’s outside front row matches the best of the season for the Danish driver, who also qualified second at The Thermal Club. The 90-lap race will be the fifth time he starts in the front three rows this season. Siegel’s fourth-place qualifying effort is the best of his short career and the second time he has advanced to the Firstone Fast Six in 2025. Lundgaard, with a lap at 65.2835 seconds, was over three-tenths of a second quicker than his competitors in the first qualifying group, and was joined by Siegel and Christian Rasmussen in the No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet in advancing to the Fast 12. In the second group, the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet, with Alexander Rossi behind the wheel, transferred to the Fast 12, in a group that saw positions six through twelve seperated by less than 0.05 seconds. The Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will air on Sunday (July 6) at 1:30 pm (Eastern) on FOX, following the NTT INDYCAR SERIES morning warm-up on FS1 at 9:30 am (Eastern). |
TUNE IN ALERT Sunday NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up – 9:30am (ET)/8:30am (CT)/7:30am (MT)/6:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (90 laps) – 1:30pm (ET)/12:30pm (CT)/11:30am (MT)/10:30am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 NTT INDYCAR SERIES QUALIFYING RESULTS FOR THE INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO |
![]() |
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES): Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 2nd: The last few races, we’ve tried to think about the long game and try to be focused on a better tire strategy going into the race. I think this weekend, we felt we didn’t need to do that, so we knew that could go for it. It wasn’t quite enough. That No. 10 car seems to be too strong. Is it going to be fun to challenge Palou? Do you want to put pressure on him? We had Nolan (Siegel) in the Firestone Fast Six. He had an incredible qualifying, I think the best for him in INDYCAR. Proud of him for that, but that also means we have an extra car. I know they have Kyffin (Simpson) as well, so it will be a two-team battle. Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 4th: I’m happy. P4 and running the used reds. I think we could have given a Christian (Lundgaard) a run for the front row on new reds, which would have been fun. Really happy to be starting fourth. Best INDYCAR starting position and nice to be in the fast six again. We’ve had a few rough weekends and things are really turning around. We’ve got some new faces on the No. 6 Arrow McLaren/NTT Data Chevrolet, but it’s all working well. On the addition of Kyle Moyer Obviously, this is a great start to our relationship. I had never met Kyle until the setup day for our Iowa test on Tuesday. Really happy to have Kyle on board. Not just on this stand, but in general. Having him on the radio with me and on the stand, and having Scott Harner as oversight, we’ve got great experienced people on this stand. We’ve got a great mix of youth and experience. With Kate (Gundlach) in her first year as a race engineer. Eric’s (performance engineer) first weekend was my first weekend with the team at Laguna. We’ve got young people that are hungry for it and experienced proven faces, so obviously excited for the rest of the year. Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet qualified 10th: “It is wildly tight. I was fairly happy with my lap. I made a small mistake in, in turn nine, which cost us a little bit. So I think it maybe could have been a little bit better, but don’t know if we had it much for the fastest six. I don’t know. But, feeling good with the car balance. We’re just working away. We’ve been fairly okay all weekend long. So I have that six grid penalty for for tomorrow, so that’s gonna put us back a little bit. So I’m glad that we at least made it into the fast 12 so we don’t start all the way at the back. I feel good about my car.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 12th: Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet qualified 13th: “I was just trying to hustle so much out of the first set of reds. We just kind of missed the the tire pressure window. And, for us it seemed to be just lap two was the only one that was going to work and and just in turn six I tried just too hard to get too much out of it and I mean we’re talking three- hundreds, right? So, it was a pretty mighty lap other than that. I mean we picked up almost seven-tenths from the run before. Just thankful for this team and we’ve been slowly getting there. Road America, we were like two seconds off the pace. So, this is a good step forward for us on the road course package and and we’re certainly in the fight for tomorrow.” David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet qualified 14th: “So really unfortunate. We actually did a really good job getting the car where it needed to be. Went to the top of the hill to finish off the lap in eight, and we had a little bit of a fuel pressure issue and it kind of shut down on us. So probably about half a second on top of that hill, whatever it may be, and we didn’t transfer by 1,000ths of a second (.0117 second). Really unfortunate, because we were there. The guys did a fantastic job, the whole crew, everybody, to get it there. But these things happen. And I think it comes down to us missing practice one, not being able to do the alternate tire to test all these things. So it’s a little bit of a guessing game, trying to go in fresh. Still kind of circles back to my mistake in the beginning of the weekend, but we’re starting off P-13. I think when everything filters out (with one car receiving an unapproved engine change penalty), so we’ll be on the inside row for four which I think is better. Outside of four is a bit scary, plus we have an extra set of new tires compared to everybody in front of us! So you know what? We planned this! (joking)” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 15th: “We’ve had a really fast car all weekend. Gapping issues in Q1 kept us from advancing. It’s a shame because we had the pace, so now we get to have fun from the back tomorrow.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Sexton Properties/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet qualified 17th: “I think as a group, we’d be qualifying better than seventeenth at the moment; just unfortunately missing a ton of rotation mid-corner for myself. I thought I drove well, and engineering, they’re doing a great job. The car felt really quick, but it’s also just really tight time-wise. We’ve got to figure out what we’re missing to get up to the top step in quals. But I have a feeling that our race car is going to be good, and we’ll continue to move forward.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 18th: “Honestly, we were just on the wrong side of close there. The PPG Chevy was great and the traffic was obviously better with the split groups in the first round. It’s just that this series is very tight and it doesn’t take much to end up where we did without having any issues.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet qualified 19th: “I felt like we had a really good car today. The field is just so tight that, like, little things make a big difference, and I feel like we could have transferred if I just finished the last few turns on our lap. So it’s unfortunate that we’re starting where we’re starting, because we have a really good car.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 21st: “I was getting held up. You get into a bad spot, you have to back off and you can’t use the tire at the right spot. I’m really bummed for the Odyssey Battery team. I generally feel like it should have been easy to transfer there. It’s pretty bad.” Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 22nd: On getting clear track during qualifying? “Much much better. There’s only 12 cars on track. Oh, man-our whole season would be different if we just had half-a-tenth in a bunch of qualifying sessions this year.” “Which goes to show how competitive this series is. When you get it right, it’s rewarding. But when you get it even just that little bit wrong, it can bite you. Not even what you feel is wrong. Like, there’s no mistakes in there. But, when you go from p six to P12 was on the same tenth, it’s amazing. It shows the series, man. It’s no joke.” On different strategies with the extra set of red tires? “I think so. It definitely is nice that we saved some reds and, maybe we do something else, some sort of a different strategy. We’ll see how it plays out tomorrow.” Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet qualified 24th: “It was a super tight qualifying, we missed out by half a tenth to the top six in the Group and we were P12. So, it was an incredibly tight group. I think we just drew the short straw on that one. If we were in the other group, we were transferring with time. The car was good on reds, but we still have a bit of work to do to find time on blacks. We’ve improved quite a bit; it’s just a shame that the result of the position doesn’t show the improvement that we have made throughout the weekend.” Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet qualified 27th: “I struggled incredibly with the car so far this weekend. From yesterday to today the car, we made a lot of changes but it’s still not quite where we want it to be. We took the risk; it didn’t work out. In my run I also had traffic, but even then, if I did do a lap I was quite far away. We will look to understand why we have these things happening and why especially we’re struggling so much on the road courses. We’ll be starting from the back tomorrow, the task in the race is to work on finding a better balance and to have the right strategy. We hope to make some places up but today was a difficult one.” |
Christian LundgaardPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Joined by Christian Lundgaard, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet with his second front-row starting position of the season, matching a second-place starting spot at Thermal. Best starting position here at Mid-Ohio in now his fourth start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Tell us about your qualifying session, Christian. CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, pretty straightforward I would say. Really wasn’t the most entertaining. I think we were one of the few cars that decided to run a new set of primes in Q1 and Q2 as a bank lap. We knew we were going to be on the alts anyway, so we were in debate if we were going to use the third set or not. We ended up doing that in the Fast Six. Yeah, the worst that could happen was we started sixth, so at least we’re in a good spot to fight for it tomorrow. Q. For both of you guys, I know you both mentioned that you used three sets of reds during qualifying. I look at a guy like Kyle Kirkwood who just barely missed out on the Fast Six who only used two sets and has an extra set to use tomorrow. Some guys that have that extra set of new reds, what kind of an impact could that potentially make in how tomorrow’s race plays out? ALEX PALOU: Even Kyffin has — he’s starting third and he has one more set of alternates than us. It’s big. It’s big. It’s a huge advantage. We were debating. I think everybody was in the same boat of do we try and shoot for pole, start up front, try and keep position during the first couple stints and then try and be okay, or do we give the pole away or fighting for pole away and start from fifth or sixth. So we decided to go that route. But yeah, he’s starting third on another set of alternates. I think Siegel — CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I think Siegel has two alts, too. ALEX PALOU: So there’s three guys that have better tires than us. CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I kind of agree with that. Q. Christian, he doesn’t work directly with you but he directly works over all of the drivers at Arrow McLaren, Kyle Moyer seems to have been an instant success with Nolan Siegel. From what you’ve seen of what Kyle brings to the team, what is it that helps benefit the operation? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: From my side there is really no difference. Really whatever goes on behind the scenes, I think, is sometimes also some of the stuff that us drivers don’t really — we mind our business, and he’s on the 6 car, so he helps Nolan, but I don’t think anything is different for me this weekend. The 7 car has had the speed all year, and there’s been weekends where we’ve executed and we haven’t, and I don’t think this has really made a difference for us. I think that’s too early to say. Q. Hot start for you for the season, kind of up and down since. Is this kind of the reset button to start the second half, do you feel that coming into this weekend, especially knowing this team won here last year? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, obviously we’re going to try to replicate that. But no, I think ultimately we’ve had a very good season with ups and downs, as you mentioned, but there’s so much good and there’s very little bad and obviously the small mistakes are expensive in this kind of championship. We see the run that Alex has been on as well. Someday it’s going to be someone else, and I think we all know that. It’s kind of trying to grind on that momentum, and we’ve been a little out of it, I think, in certain parts it’s been expectations. In other parts it’s just been simple, stupid mistakes that have cost dearly. I think this weekend is just trying to replicate what we were doing at Road America but just do it better. Q. We saw some big names out early on in qualifying and some of the younger guys are going to be starting further up the front. How much of a difference do you think it’s going to make in the race starting with a bit of a mixed-up grid? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, I don’t know. I feel like there’s more and more young drivers that are kind of showing potential, I would say, throughout this year, and I think Kyffin is definitely one of them. He’s been very competitive lately. I know what Nolan is capable of. I know he’s fast, and it’s nice to finally see him do it this weekend, get into the Firestone Fast Six. But racing in the front is kind of a different animal, and I think Alex will agree with this. As soon as you’re starting to check out, it’s the small details that matter. Some of them haven’t been exposed to that in the past, and that’s why I think you see the veterans always kind of making their way forward in the race even if they’re having a bad qualifying. Q. Just curious how the Iowa test went last week and what’s the challenge going to be to do back-to-back races there next week? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: It’s going to be hot. I mean, I don’t know. I think all of us are going to think that it’s going to be very similar to last year, in a sense, and even with the race being a little longer than last year, I still think we’re going to see a pretty straightforward single-lane race. At least that’s my opinion. Do you disagree? Q. You said you have one set of new red tires, but you still have used reds for tomorrow’s race. If you’re on the blacks, though, is there anything you can do to defend from someone on the reds, maybe used Push-to-Pass or the hybrid or together because I don’t think it’s that easy to pass here? CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I think it depends. I don’t know, did you see that big of a difference between the tires? I was surprised how big of a difference there was on a new set of alts versus a used set. We didn’t really run a used set but we saw the difference from the other cars, and I think that helped us make the decision to put a third set on in the Fast Six. But how they’re going to do in the race, I don’t think we really know yet. I think some cars are very strong on primes, some cars are very strong on alts. Again, I think you can make both strategies work. |
Berry Qualifies 29th At Chicago
![]() |
Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse are set to start 29th in Sunday’s Grant Park 165, which will be contested on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn course through the streets of Chicago. Berry took that spot with lap at 86.416 miles per hour on the second of three laps he ran during qualifying on Saturday afternoon.That represented a significant increase in speed from practice earlier in the day.Among drivers who ran 10 consecutive green flag laps, Berry was 10th fastest, averaging 83.511 mph from the second through the 11th lap he ran.Sunday’s 75-lap, 165-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag at 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. Eastern) with Stage breaks planned for Laps 20 and 45. TNT will carry the TV coverage. |
Van Gisbergen Sweeps Pole Wins at Chicago
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING REPORT JULY 5, 2025 |
Team Chevy Qualifies One-Two-Three |
MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
· Returning to the circuit that started his NASCAR career, Shane van Gisbergen started his double-duty weekend by driving Chevrolet to a sweep of the pole wins for the Chicago Street Race weekend. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race winner laid down a monster best-lap of 89.656 seconds in his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to earn the pole position for the third rendition the event. · Van Gisbergen’s pole – his third all-time in NASCAR’s top division – came after he drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to the pole position for the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, natives first start of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Van Gisbergen is the last driver to sweep the pole wins in a doubleheader weekend for NASCAR’s top-two division – accomplished at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in 2024. · Van Gisbergen led the Bowtie brigade to a sweep of the top-three starting positions with the pair of Spire Motorsports teammates, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, driving their Chevrolet-powered machines to second- and third-place qualifying efforts, respectively. · Having to qualify her way into tomorrow’s Grant Park 165, Katherine Legge drove her No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet to a best-lap of 92.368 seconds to earn her spot in the starting lineup for tomorrow’s event – making her the first woman to make a start in NASCAR’s top division at the Chicago Street Course. |
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUPPOS. DRIVER 1st – Shane van Gisbergen2nd – Michael McDowell3rd – Carson Hocevar6th – Kyle Busch 10th – Austin Dillon ![]() Wins: 7Poles: 9Top-Fives: 37Top 10s: 76Stage Wins: 16 |
Post-Race Driver Quotes: Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – Pole Win QuotesWhere did you find that extra time when you went back out? “Yeah, that was epic! Our team did a great job. The No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet was ripping really good. I’m a lucky boy, I’ve got some great cars today — both the Cup and Xfinity car. This is pretty special. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. Practice wasn’t that great for us, but when we went out for qualifying, the car felt really good. We turned in two pretty good laps.” We heard you mention that the field has picked up its game. How do you do that for yourself? How do you up your game? “You can always do something better, right? You’re always learning. I learned a lot in the Xfinity Series car this morning, and that just gives you a great leg up for the Cup car. I think it’s great running both cars, it certainly helps.” Katherine Legge, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet “It’s a lot of pressure to come in with only 20 minutes of practice on a street course where there’s no room for error to put it in the show. I actually feel pretty good about it now. We would have been a lot faster, I think, had I not kept nicking the wall. I’ve given my crew a lot of work to do from that, but we had to keep pushing to put it in the show. I’m really proud of this team, and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow.” Shane van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell – Front-Row Press Conference QuotesHow did you feel about your car’s race trim? Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, my practice went okay. It’s very hot, so it’s slick out there at the times. They’re a lot slower than previous years. My car felt pretty good. I probably took it too easy. I had too much left at the end of practice, but yeah, I feel like my race car was pretty good. I liked a few things, and then in qualifying, I sharpened it up. My first lap was a pretty good banker and I knew I had a lot left. And then the next lap went pretty decent… probably had two- or three-tenths left, and pretty cool to lay it down.” We saw quite a few drivers making mistakes or coming close to making mistakes today. Can you describe how on edge you guys are, and how little margin of error may be out there? Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, I think that’s the temperature. We’re over a second off, I think, from what we managed last year. The track’s just treacherous, and when it’s that hot and slick, the margin for error is just so small. On a track like this with no run-offs, you’ve really got to be — like I hit the wall two or three times, I think, on my qualifying lap. You’ve got to be that accurate and that close to the walls, and you have no margin left. I don’t blame the guys crash, it’s a very, very tough track, this one.” You guys mentioned the heat, but how do you feel like the track looks compared to the last two years – similar or different, anything stand out to you guys? Van Gisbergen: “It’s the same for me.” McDowell: “Yeah, I think everything looks the same. I mean, for a street course, it’s miraculous how good they get the corners the same every year. I think some of that is because there’s some hard stops too, right, like there’s curves on the other side, and street markers there that kind of get it that way. There’s a couple little bumps that are slightly bigger, but for the most part, it’s the same. They do a good job of having the barriers in the same spot. Visual references — I feel like they’re the same. In the first couple of years, it was a little different. But I felt like this was really consistent.” Brad Keselowski was saying that he thought there were areas of the track that were repaved last year, and they’re just much more treacherous this year…Van Gisbergen: “Yeah, I think it’s turn 12, turn 1, it’s lost a little grip and some color. But I still think that they’re the highest grip parts of the track. And there’s no bumps there, so yeah, I find it okay.” McDowell: “I think, overall, the day was just hotter. I mean we were about a second slower in qualifying and in rac, , so everywhere was a bit slicker. But yeah, there’s some new asphalt that we have to use too on the inside of turn 11. I don’t know — well SVG will use it for passing, he did last year there. But that’s about the only spot I feel like that’s much different.” You two were among the fastest at Mexico, so are either of you surprised that the other one’s on the front row with you?McDowell: “I’m not surprised at all. As Jeff Gluck said this morning, asking what I was going to do to beat SVG, obviously I didn’t do enough… he still got me about a half second there (laughs). We still got some work to do, but our race trim was good. Tomorrow will be a mixed bag with potential weather in and out, so a lot of variables to go out there and navigate.” Van Gisbergen: “He (Michael McDowell) is a good road course racer. But you never know in NASCAR. There’s 15 guys that can turn up on a road course, and that’s the beauty of this series. Everyone’s so good, so you never know on a given weekend who’s going to be the challenger, so I’m not really surprised by anything in this sport.” |
CHEVY RACING–NASCAR–CHICAGO–ALEX BOWMAN
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025 |
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and defending winner of the Chicago Street Race, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course. |
Media Availability Quotes: WHAT IS IT LIKE TO HAVE BEEN IN CHICAGO, THE WIN LAST YEAR, AND REALLY JUST WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, for sure. This is a super fun event. Always look forward to it just from the standpoint of it’s so different than what we normally do, right? Like we do a lot of the same thing for most of the year. So, you know, walking through the city to get to the racetrack, kind of the lack of having buses and being in hotels with the teams and stuff like that, makes it different and a little more enjoyable. And then the challenge of a street course in general is super fun. So very technical, very little room for error. Yeah, and then obviously got here Thursday morning and had a little media tour, went to an animal shelter with Bob, tried to get Bob to adopt a dog. I think his wife is now trying to get him to adopt a dog as well. Super fun. Don’t try to get Bob to take a photo with you because he gets really mad. And, yeah, it was fun. It’s been a good time so far, so I’m ready to, I feel like I’ve been here for a year, so I’m ready to get on the racetrack.” ALEX, AFTER YOU WON THIS RACE LAST YEAR, I GUESS THE PERCEPTION WAS, HEY, MAYBE THIS SAVED YOUR JOB. YOU GUYS, JEFF GORDON, EVERYBODY’S LIKE, NO, ALEX, IS GOOD. I HAVE A CONTRACT. LOOKING BACK NOW, HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THIS VICTORY WAS TO CONTINUING AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FOR THE FUTURE? “Yeah, I mean, I think there was a lot of rumors started by people that maybe don’t really know what they’re talking about in a sense, but at the same time, you know, I think it was really important to make the Playoffs and to finish the year strong, right? Like, we were able to have a really strong Playoff run. A little drama there that kind of ruined it, but you know, in general, like we did a really good job through the Playoffs, did what we needed to do. Wish we could have gone further, but we didn’t. So yeah, I mean, I think that was just important in general for the race team to end the season strong and obviously, you know, start this year strong as well, which I feel like we’ve been able to do. Had a rough two months there, but the last couple of weeks have been good for us and things are pointing in the right direction. So yeah, I think it was just important for the team, and it was definitely a good day for us.” HOW MUCH DOES THE THREAT OF RAIN CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY DURING PRACTICE OR QUALIFYING AND TRYING TO SET UP THE CAR FOR YOUR BALANCE? “Yeah, it’s difficult because I feel like most things that you would do for the car in the rain, are really going to hurt the car in the dry so trying to manage that the best you can and understand what those things are what the weather is really going to do. There have been so many times that we’re sure it’s going to rain and it doesn’t rain and sure it’s not going to rain it does rain so I wish I could be wrong about my job as much as the weatherman. But yeah I mean I think it’s continued to look like more rain tomorrow, so certainly have to be cognizant of it and, kind of know where we need to be with the race car to capitalize on that. You still have to qualify in the dry and probably looks like maybe start the race in the dry, so going to need to have a compromise of both worlds for sure.” INAUDIBLE QUESTION “Yeah, for sure. I think it’s a very important market for the teams and for all the partners involved. I would love to keep coming back here. I think this place is a lot of fun. I would also love to go back to Chicagoland and run the oval. I think that track would present huge challenges with a next-gen car with how rough it is. I’m sure it’s only gotten rougher. So, yeah, it would be a huge challenge but obviously would be a lot of fun. I think with those challenges typically come some pretty exciting races, and unique things. So, yeah I love coming up here and hopefully we can continue to do that um obviously none of us know what the schedule does or doesn’t look like but um I think street course racing is super fun and that track’s cool as well.” IF WE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, WHERE WOULD YOU WANT THAT TO BE? “Gosh I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of cool places I feel like you could put a street course. Obviously, there’s a lot of rumors flying right now about where that will or won’t be. I think the street course thing has been really fun from the driving aspect of it. Just because it’s so technical like trying to make lap time around this place is so hard. So I’ve really enjoyed it, I think there’s a lot of great places you could put it. I think you could rotate it around. You could do a lot of different things. So, I think continuing with the street course on the schedule is pretty important.” YOU HAVE A BUBBA WALLACE MATCHUP THIS WEEK. YOU GUYS OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY FROM HERE LAST YEAR. DOES THAT ADD TO THE MATCHUP, AND IS THAT KIND OF WHY THIS IN-SEASON THING WAS CREATED, TO HAVE THESE TYPE OF SUBPLOTS ON THESE RACES? “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know that it adds to it. Maybe we’ll get on stage and, like, fake fight like AJ and Michael did last week. But, no, I think he and I are totally good. But yeah, I mean, he’s been really fast here in the past. Like, you don’t tend to think of him as a road course guy, but here last year, he was really fast. So, definitely going to be a tough one, but yeah, I think, you know, adding excitement, it’s probably more for the fans, right? And from where I sit, like, I just try to go to work and do the best I can throughout the weekend and kind of not super focused on it. Obviously, I think if we get down to the final round, you’ll probably fixate on it a little bit more. But if it gives the fans something to talk about and be excited about, I think it’s really good.” WHERE ARE YOU ON THE PLAYOFF LEVEL AND HOW YOU WON THIS RACE LAST YEAR? DO YOU FEEL THERE’S ANY SIMILARITY WITH HOW YOU’RE COMING INTO THIS RACE? AND THEN WINNING, DO YOU HAVE ANY CONFIDENCE THAT YOU CAN COME BACK AND DO IT AGAIN? “As far as confidence coming into this race, like, I feel like we’re plenty capable. Like, we’re typically pretty good at the road courses, have a lot of confidence coming into these places. You know, obviously the weather looks similar, so that adds a layer of confidence. I thought we were pretty good in the rain. We were really good as it started to kind of dry out and get patchy. So, yeah, I think we’re definitely confident. Hopefully it’s dry. I feel like the fans here deserve to just get a normal race, and I think we could put on a great show in the dry. Probably a little better than we do in the rain. But, yeah, we’ll have to wait and see.” ALEX, HOW DO YOU MANAGE THIS PRACTICE SESSION? IT SEEMS LIKE XFINITY HAS BEEN PRETTY EVENTFUL WITH GUYS PUSHING AND GETTING IN THE TIRE BARRIERS. BUT WITH SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, RIDE QUALITY IS HUGE. WHAT’S ON YOUR CHECKLIST AS FAR AS THIS PRACTICE SESSION? “Yeah, I think qualifying is massively important here. So, trying to make pace early, understand what you need for your car in qualifying and have the ability to make pace to lay down a lap there is really important. And then you know trying to figure out where your long run stuff is with longevity of the rear tires. Obviously, the next gen car really burns the rears off more than the fronts kind of different than the Xfinity car. I think the Xfinity practice was a little bit chaotic last year too, so hopefully Cup practice is a little calmer and hopefully we’re on the good side of all that. I think that just shows how difficult this track is and how easy it is to you know overstep the line at a at a street course. Like it’s so narrow, so bumpy, and it’s only continuing to get rougher and rougher. Chad Knaus looked at me like I was dumb when I said it got rougher. He’s like, ‘of course it did, it’s Chicago. There was a winter here, like it’s going to continue to get rougher every year’. So, yeah I think it’s going to be tough but hopefully we’re on the good side of it.” |
Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Chicago–TY DILLON
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025 |
Ty Dillon, driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course. |
Media Availability Quotes: LAST WEEK WAS A BIG RACE FOR YOUR TEAM AND YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE IN THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE. MAYBE JUST HIT ON LIKE LAST WEEK IN GENERAL, BUT ALSO WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR YOUR TEAM TO BE ABLE TO PULL THAT OFF. “Yeah, you know, obviously we’re quite overlooked going into that race, probably rightfully so coming in as a 32 seed against a one seed. But I think we’re pretty confident coming in. We’ve been running strong in a lot of these races and just haven’t been able to finish them out. And part of getting the recognition is finishing out the race is strong. It doesn’t really always matter if you’re running up front at most the race. Most people are just paying attention to the end result. Our race at Talladega earlier in the year was really strong and probably would have finished in the top 10 there. And I think that was a bit overlooked as well. And I knew we were going to be able to put pressure on Denny last week, and it wasn’t a place that he’s really pumped about racing around the last couple of years. But you know, he was going to put up a good fight by the end of the race. And I think whether he was in that crash or not, we were going to give him a good fight for knocking them out. So it was big for us. Our Kaulig Racing team, big for our sponsors, to have that moment, have kind of a fun moment after the race with Denny and his fans. Just carrying some good momentum in here to Chicago, a place that I’ve only raced at once. I came and spotted for my brother here last year in the rain. And so, I enjoy road course racing. I enjoy this unique style of it. And I think it’s another opportunity for our Sea Best team to go knock Brad out.” TY, WITH THE POST-RACE MOMENT, THE INTERVIEW LAST WEEK, OBVIOUSLY THAT HELPED A LOT. IT WENT VIRAL, SOCIAL MEDIA TOOK OFF. JUST IN GENERAL, WHETHER IT WAS THAT MOMENT OR JUST BEATING DENNY IN GENERAL, CAN YOU EXPAND UPON JUST HOW MUCH YOU THINK THAT BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THE TEAM, TO THE SPONSORS THIS WEEK? “Yeah, for sure. We’ve been getting a lot of comments, calls, and even walking around here in Chicago, I feel like the fan enthusiasm. I usually get a couple, hey, Ty, but like some more enthusiastic fan interaction already. So that’s been fun. You know, I think a lot of credit goes to Denny as well. He’s leaned into the Denny versus the world thing the last year or so and built up a bit of a villain role, and it’s been fun. And when drivers kind of lean into some kind of entertainment part of our roles, it opens up doors for us other guys to show some of our personality. And I think without Denny opening up to his fans a little bit or opening up to the sport a little bit, there’s not that opportunity for people to see me when we excel in a situation. And NASCAR also adding to it, doing the bracket challenge to add something interesting throughout the year that gives us a little chance to talk trash and go at each other a little bit and in a good fun (way). So, it was just a good moment. Everything culminated together. And then on our team’s credit, we’ve ran good all year. There just hasn’t been the moment that we’ve gotten a chance for everybody to really see it. We’ve got to continue to get better so that the broadcasters and you guys continue to talk good about us, and that only helps. And having a moment last week for sure helped that, and hopefully we continue that momentum.” YOU SAID, ADMITTEDLY SO, YOU WERE KIND OF AN UNDERDOG GOING UP AGAINST DENNY LAST WEEK, BUT HE WENT ON THE SHOW AND SAID, HEY, LET TY HAVE HIS MOMENT. I’M NOT PISSED AT HIM. APPARENTLY, YOU CALLED HIM. WHAT WAS THAT MOMENT LIKE TALKING WITH DENNY AND WITH HIM? HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL FOR HIM TO GO ON THE SHOW AND SAY WHAT HE DID ABOUT, GIVE IT TO THIS GUY. HE DESERVES IT. “Yeah, I sent him a text afterwards and just said, hey, man, just having fun with your friends. I hate that you got taken out. We didn’t get to race straight up as much as we probably wanted to, but he was like, man, I loved it. That was cool. And Denny gets it, you know, and I think that’s something for our drivers to continue to grow. Denny’s grown, I think, in his comfort level of who he is in the race car and around the track to where he’s leaning into that little, bit of a villain role, and I think we should all see that a little bit. I think we get so focused, as drivers on our own performance, and we beat ourselves up, but we don’t lean into the fact that so much of what we do isn’t just about us. It’s about the entertainment level that we provide to our fans, and Denny has done a great job of that, like I said, and given me also the opportunity when I excel, playing off of him to show some of my personality. I like trash talking. When I play sports, it’s kind of the fun thing that I do. Like, I don’t mean anything by it, but I like to see where people’s minds are inside the game, and so that was just a fun moment. He gets it, which is cool, and there’s a level of people that kind of understand there’s another level to this whole game once you’ve been around long enough that really matters as far as leaning into the fan side of this thing.” SO, TWO QUICK ONES. WAS THAT REMARK PLANNED OR SPONTANEOUS? It was planned when I knew he was eliminated. When I knew we had him, I told Mamba for the interview, I said, hey, give me a second after this interview, I got something to say. So, somewhat spontaneous, I guess you could call it that, but it was there. It was always there, and I just wanted to lean into it a little bit.” AND HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR CHANCES AGAINST BRAD ON THE CHICAGO STREET COURSE? Honestly, I feel good. You know, we’re going to do our best starting today and all through the race tomorrow to put pressure on him. This is a place that if you feel like you can pressure people, they can make mistakes. Obviously, you’re seeing in practice in Xfinity cars, a little bit more can get you in a lot of trouble. And I enjoy road course racing. We ran really good in Mexico City, another one of the races that we ran up front. A lot of people credit it to being good in the rain, but we also ran really well when it turned dry, too. We were probably going to be staring at a top ten run there. And I think on the last restart when Truex got spun, it knocked our right front down, and we never got another caution to come back. So we have some confidence coming from Mexico City. Obviously, this is a little bit of a different animal. It’s been a cool week for me. We have Will Brown come over from the V8 Supercar, so I’ve been studying as much as I can from that guy. He is just as solid, it seems, so far as SVG and knowing his way around getting these street courses. So just learning. Went to a humbling school this week underneath Will Brown, just learning from him. So we’re going to try to get better every time we get on the track this weekend and finish strong. I think that if we do what we know we’re capable of, we execute our race, don’t put ourselves in trouble, we’re going to put a lot of pressure on Brad to knock him out too.” YOU TOUCHED ON IT A LITTLE BIT. YOU LOOK AT THE RESULTS OVERALL, MAYBE THEY’RE NOT WHERE YOU WANT, BUT RUNNING POSITION, THINGS LIKE THAT, YOU GUYS ARE MUCH MORE ATTUNED AND MORE COMPETITIVE THAN MANY PEOPLE REALIZE. HOW WOULD YOU KIND OF CHARACTERIZE YOUR SEASON ON THAT FRONT? Yeah, it’s been frustrating in a sense, but the main ingredient, to future success is there and that’s the speed and the ability to run up front. Now the execution is something that we have to grow in, finishing out these races we’re running seventh in Talladega and run out of gas come to the white flag. We ran I guess twice at Bristol killed our finish there, get ran into at Mexico City probably would have finished somewhere in the top-12, I believe, if that thing runs out without losing a flat tire. I can go back to so many races where just silly things happened, and we made mistakes. Maybe it’s just being a young team all the way through driver, crew chief, and pit crew where we’ve just made mistakes that have not finished the races out. At Phoenix earlier in the year we’re running really strong, I speed on pit road probably take a fifth or sixth place finish and end up 14th. Just these opportunities that we got to grow in, and I think we’re getting there. I think last week was a good, testament to that and you know our goal is to make sure people know that and see how we continue to progress as a team. It’s been so fun working with this Kaulig group and, we’re only going to get better.” |
Chevy racing–NASCAR–Chicago–Michael McDowell
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025 |
Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
Media Availability Quotes: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT A SPECIAL SPONSOR YOU HAVE THIS WEEK AND WHAT YOU THINK OF THE COURSE “Yeah, it’s great to have DePaul University on the 71 Chevy. You know, obviously a new partnership for us and NASCAR. To have a local brand and a brand that fans recognize, is cool, and it makes coming to this race extra special. Going to get to meet a lot of the DePaul people this weekend starting today and tomorrow and looking forward to that. A unique partnership and glad to be a part of it. As far as the track goes, just like Chase (Elliott) was talking about, everything looks and feels as it has the last two years. Watching this Xfinity practice has definitely given me anxiety. Just because there have been a lot of mistakes and extra, but this track is just like that. You are right at the edge and as you saw, Connor Zilisch, one of the best, make a little bit of a mistake. That can happen so easy here. I mean it’s, there’s spots to this track where it’s very narrow and you feel right on the edge and you are getting as close to that wall as you can and trying not to clip it. It’s just very easy to get it wrong. It’s a tough place. So, I like the challenge, and I feel like it requires you to be aggressive, but also very technical. And I think it separates the good road racers to the guys that are maybe just good at Watkins Glen or Sonoma or places like that.” HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOUR CONFIDENCE FROM MEXICO CITY TO HERE? “I think its interesting. Confidence isn’t something that you can fake or fabricate. For me, it comes from results and analytics and understanding where we are at, and where we are not at. I think Mexico went okay. You know the strategy didn’t work out great for us, but qualified I think in the top three and felt like we were a top three car and ended up finishing fourth or fifth. I don’t know which one. And so we were in the game, but not quite where we wanted to be. But I am optimistic because just like it takes time, and its taking time, to figure out what I need in the 71 car and what package that is going to take. Believe it or not, it’s been different than years past. Mexico was one step forward from COTA where I felt like, ‘hey, I like this, I like that, but I still need to do this, this, this’. And if we can make it do this, we are going to be really good. And so you just keep building that and building that, and its nice to have road courses here, and I don’t want to say back-to-back, because we had a race in between Mexico. But now we go to Chicago, Sonoma and these are our opportunities to try to win. This race has been……I don’t know what the right word is, but with the rain and the dry, it’s been hard to get a rhythm in the race. So, I feel like we have had speed and had opportunities here, and if we catch this strategy right, catch the tires right, and all those things. So, it’s a unique race and I think if you are in the game, like in that top three or top four, you are going to have a shot at it depending on when those cautions fall or if the race gets shortened. There are things that have caught us out the last two years where I felt like we were in contention. So, I like it. I like the challenge of this track, and I like the conditions changing and I feel good about what tomorrow could bring.” IS THERE MORE STRESS HERE BECAUSE THERE IS NOT MUCH ROOM FOR A RUNOFF HERE AS OPPOSED TO ANOTHER TRACK LIKE WATKING GLEN? “Oh yeah for sure. I was telling my wife as we were listening and watching practice there, it’s like you roll out to practice, and you want to get into a good rhythm and you want to be close to the limit, but you don’t want to really challenge yourself a ton. Because you see what happens and there is really no time to get a backup ready, and you don’t want to start in the back. There’s just a very condensed schedule. So, I feel like you are at that 80-85% in practice, and you are getting your rhythm, and you are getting your marks, then you are pushing yourself a little bit more and a little bit more, then you go qualify. And you throw all that out the window and just put it on the edge. You have to do that for a few laps here I feel like. So, it is an adrenaline rush, but it is stressful though to answer your question though. You never feel like you put your guard down, you stay very tense, you stay very locked in that high level of concentration because it’s an inch left our right and you miss it. But it’s fun though when you get it right.” HOW IS THE JELL BETWEEN YOU AND THE TEAM COMING ALONG NOW AT SPIRE? “Yeah, I think the jell is good, that is fine. I feel like the chemistry is good and keeping Travis Peterson with me is a big part of that. And not just Travis, but the car chief, mechanics and engineers, and the spotter. So, there are multiple guys that have stayed with me and that continuity and chemistry is good and is not really the issue. I think the bigger issue for us, and I wouldn’t even call it that as an issue, but more the growing process of learning new tools and how that correlates to what we are used to. It’s just been a bit of a transition. You know, some of the things that worked for us in the past don’t work as well, and that is surprising. Its not something you would expect, but we have learned through that, and I feel like we have had more ups and downs than we had wanted to, but I also feel like our cars have potential and have speed. I was looking at one of the charts someone posted, and it was like when we finish with no problems, we typically finish in the top 10 and are in contention. Or there are 30s. That has been the struggle this year, we have had a decent amount of mechanical issues, we have had a decent amount of random season racing stuff where you make a mistake or something happens. But on the races where we execute and everything goes pretty well, I feel like we are in that top 10 contention. Now we don’t have a lot of top 10s to show for it, I realize that. I feel like we have like three for four 11th and 12ths that are just right outside the top 10. And I feel like our speed has been there to contend, but there is still a lot to clean up. And it’s hard. Like I said, it’s hard for the number 9 to win races – Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports to win Cup races. Could you imagine how hard it is for the 71 team to win races? It’s tough and this is a tough sport. And you have to have everything go your way. And when you see guys that have done this a long time and won a lot of races, it’s not easy. So, I feel like we are on a good path, and I am very happy with where our program is, and our team is. Obviously, we need a win, and we know that.” IF THIS IS THE LAST EDITION OF THIS CHICAGO RACE, DID THIS CONCEPT WORK AND WAS COMING HERE A SUCCESS? “I think it’s been a huge success, especially with some of the adversity that everyone has had to overcome. Whether it be weather, and you guys remember that first year on the Saturday, the amount of people that were coming in here for the concert was insanity and it was going to be a giant success and then obviously the weather and thunderstorms. I think it’s had to go through a lot of adversity, but the race itself and the city and the track and all the things are awesome. I’ve enjoyed the whole process, and I feel like it accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and that is engaging with new fans, bringing the race to the fans and not the fans to the race. I think we have checked all the boxes and honestly until the last two days, maybe it’s because I am not on social media as much or whatever it is, I didn’t know that there is a possibility that it would be the last one. But I am thankful if it is, for the time that we had here and you know I think it has expanded and opened the industry’s eyes as to what we can do well. Right? I mean the Colosseum did that, Bowman Gray did that, and Mexico City. As we do new things more often and people get more comfortable in that uncomfortable space, I feel like our sport will continue to grow and expand. We talked a little bit about that in Mexico. I think we are positioned pretty well to do that and I think we have the right product on the racetrack and we have the right race car to do that and put on a good show. We have the right personalities and drivers to do that as well, so I hope we keep expanding and keep trying new things because I feel like its been a success. I think we need to look at each area geographically and when their rainy season is and when they are not go there during the rain season. We need to head that up. It feels like when we go somewhere new, we are always fighting that weather element. So, I don’t know where that is. |
Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Chicago–Will Brown
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025 |
Will Brown, driver of the No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, met with the media ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course. Making the crossover as the reigning Australian Supercars Champion, Brown will be making his second career start in NASCAR’s top division in Sunday’s Grant Park 165. |
Media Availability Quotes: TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY AND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO“Really looking forward to coming back and racing in the Cup Series. For me, I got a run last year at Sonoma and probably didn’t end up the way we wanted it to end, so we tried putting a deal together to come back this year. I was talking with Richard Childress and Austin Hill was running with them this weekend, so I was lucky enough that he was able to put me in touch with Ty (Norris) at Kaulig and put together a deal to come race here in Chicago. Obviously, a lot of us Supercar drivers after watching Shane (Van Gisbergen) in 2023 loved the look of Chicago and the event, so a lot of us wanted to come over and try this event. Very lucky to be here.” ARE AUSTRALIAN SUPERCAR FANS WORRIED ABOUT LOSING ALL OF YOU GUYS TO NASCAR? “There have been some comments about it, but I am not so sure from a fan point of view. I think its been great for us because it’s Monday morning and a lot of us wake up in the morning and watch Shane. Nearly everyone on our team, and definitely a lot of fans – watching NASCAR on Monday. So that has been amazing, and a lot of people will be tuning in tomorrow, but I am not sure so much. I think losing Shane from our series was a hit at the time, but there has been a lot of young guys come up through and kind of take that place and are really competitive now. So, yeah, not sure.” WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CIRCUIT SO FAR AND HOW DO YOU COMPARE IT TO OTHER STREET COURSES YOU HAVE BEEN ON? “Yeah, it’s very similar to a couple of our street courses. It’s really just like a concrete jungle at the end of the day and you don’t want to make a mistake. Yeah, for us we have places like Gold Coast and the Gold Coast 600 that we race is a very similar circuit. Extremely tight, and can’t make a mistake and also Adelaide. The circuit looks great, and the surface looks a little rough where you can make a few mistakes and it will bounce you around a bit. I noticed that in the simulator and watching a bit of footage. So yeah, it’s probably just a little bit rough in places and I will be making sure to limit mistakes. For me, I just need to get through to the race and make no mistakes in practice and qualifying.” FOR THE BUILD OF THE CIRCUIT, IS IT AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN ANY OTHER STREET COURSE YOU HAVE SEEN BEFORE? “Yeah, its pretty much the same as how we build them in Australia. There’s very little differences. We have escape roads at the end of each high braking zone like such as turn one. You would be able to run down an escape road if you overshot one, but here, you hit tires. So, the consequences are higher here if you make a mistake. So, you might pull back that couple of a percent to make sure you don’t.” WITH JOINING KAULIG THIS WEEKEND, WHAT INFLUENCE HAS AJ (ALLMENDINGER) BEEN FOR YOU? “Yeah, obviously I have watched AJ a lot while I have been watching Shane. He is a very good road course racer, so it will be interesting to work with him this weekend and see if there is anything I can learn from him or vice versa. I have done a lot with Ty (Dillon) actually, mostly in the simulator sessions quite a bit heading into this weekend. It’s been good to work with these guys.” WHEN TAILGATING WITH PEOPLE IN ATLANTA, WAS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT STOOD OUT AND WHAT IMPRESSED YOU WITH THEIR TAILGATING ABILITY? “I think the whole thing was impressive to be honest. In Australia we don’t have our fans roll in early and tailgate ahead of the event, they just come for it. I was always interested in how over here with all the sporting, everyone rolls in and has a barbecue, drinks and then heads into the event. I wanted to go and experience it, so we put a tweet out and we got some great fans to respond. We went and met a couple of them, had a few beers with them, had a few drinks and just experienced that side of it which I enjoyed. It’s just amazing how into it the fans are and love it. It was amazing to experience that before.” WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU ATE OR DRANK THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS? “Yeah, I had a Jello shot. And I was like ‘what is it made of? Vodka?’ and they were like, not its moonshine. So that was my first time experiencing moonshine.” |
Chevy racing–NASCAR–Chicago–Chase Elliott
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025 |
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course. |
Media Availability Quotes: Besides extra media, was this week different than any other week? “No… you know, you’ve been around me and Alan (Gustafson) long enough to know that by Tuesday, really even Monday, it’s kind of back to work. I feel like we did a good job enjoying it. I try to embrace those moments, you know, as I’ve told you guys a lot and tried to slow it down as much as I could, just because that’s an important time to cherish and remember. All of those things are extremely special, but there’s another race in a week and the train keeps rolling. We got back to work and just kind of started on our Chicago prep like a normal week would have been.” Is there anything that you saw, if you saw any sort of highlights of the celebrations or anything, that you feel like really either kind of struck you or made you think, wow, that’s what made it really cool?“Yeah, I mean just having lived it, right? Having lived it and the experience with Rhealynn there after the race and just seeing her kind of open up and see her excitement. You know, go from this shy little girl that didn’t know anything about racing to celebrating in victory lane with us at the end of the night. It was just really, really special to kind of see that transition. To have my mom there and other family members and friends — those things just make those moments unique and I’m grateful for them. Just the whole experience was incredible. So, yeah, couldn’t really have asked for any more last week. You know, obviously, it all worked out in our favor and hopefully we can do this more often.” Whether it’s talking about advocating for the Nashville race near the city or you were praising the L.A. Coliseum or praising here when we first started the Chicago Street Race — you’ve been one of the biggest advocates for racing near city and bringing it to the people. We don’t know if this is the last one of this race or not. But what do you think the legacy of bringing the street race has been? Was this proof of concept in drivers minds that this can work at other places? “Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a great idea, for sure. And I’m all for that. The biggest reason I’m such a big advocate of Nashville is because it, to me, oval track racing is kind of our bread and butter, right? So we have that there. This is a great second choice to get to a city, but there’s nothing that’s going to top giving people a true short track… ‘What is NASCAR… Here it is’. You know, take an Uber from Broadway to the racetrack and go watch. Like to me, that is the biggest home run waiting to happen that we’ve had a long time. But this is a good second choice, as far as getting inside a big city market. It’s been a lot of fun from my perspective to come do it. It’s been a lot of fun for friends and family and people to come to this race, like just from my personal side, because it’s so different than what they typically see. You know, they go get nice dinners. If I’m busy at the racetrack on Saturday, they have things to go do. So all that stuff, selfishly, has been has been a lot of fun. You know, look, I if I lived here and I wasn’t a NASCAR fan, I could totally see the frustration of roads being blocked and traffic and all that sort of thing. So look, I get it. I get it. But it’s been fun for us. I hope there’s been more positive than there has been negative for the people of Chicago. Whether this is the last year or not, I appreciate them having us, even the ones that didn’t want us. I look forward to wherever it goes next. I hope that somewhere down the line, we can take it to a different city, you know, just to switch it up… just like the championship race rotating. I think a city street course moving around would be really healthy and good. If this is last year, you know, I don’t think there’s any bridges burned. I just think maybe we move it around and, who knows, maybe come back another time.” What lessons do you think this sport has learned from racing in downtown Chicago that could be applied maybe elsewhere?“Well, you know, I kind of look at it more from a competition perspective when I’m thinking about your question. One thing that, which obviously I’m careful with this because I haven’t been on the track today, but I know and I can attest from last year or I’m sorry, the first year to last year, the way they repeated the track and just the measurements and the corner angles and braking zones – all the things were extremely similar. Where they had walls placed, like all that stuff was done really, really well. So I don’t know what process went into that, if it’s track scans or some sort of virtual representation or virtual model that they made up, but that’s the first thing that’s come to my mind that I’ve been most impressed by is how we’ve had the ability to recreate the track year to year. And I think if you have street courses and things from a driver’s side, it is nice to not have massive changes on the road from year to year because it can be tough to adapt to that stuff. But that’s been fun. Obviously the marketing side is a whole other answer. But yeah, it’s been fun from a competition perspective, and I think they’ve done a good job with it.” |
Jason Feger Extends Overall Points Lead with 35th Career Summer Nationals Win at Red Hill Raceway
SUMNER, IL — July 4, 2025 — In the final 2025 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models race held in Illinois, it was a home-state native who boosted his chances of winning the overall title.
Through 40 laps of racing around Sumner, IL’s Red Hill Raceway on Independence Day, Jason Feger drove to his fifth victory of the tour as he sits nine races away from his second career championship with the Hell Tour.
Dillon McCowan and Tyler Millwood led the field to the green flag, with McCowan’s No. 75 flying around the top of the cushion around the Thursday night winner to take the lead.
Feger used the bottom while Millwood used the top in their battle for second place. However, Feger’s pace on the low side helped him prevail ahead of Millwood on Lap 3 as he eyed McCowan’s position.
Feger crept up to McCowan after making up a one-second deficit by keeping his car stuck to the bottom lane. McCowan stuck to the cushion while Feger stayed low as they battled side-by-side for the Feature lead. Feger threw a slide job through Turns 3-4 to take the lead until McCowan countered his move in Turns 1-2 to retake the position.
McCowan held onto the lead, but Feger kept the Adam Family Motorsports No. 75 within reach with a 0.5-second interval between the two. When McCowan attempted to use the bottom to squeeze Feger, he was unable to keep the car planted as Feger secured the lead on Lap 19 off of Turn 4 with speed from the bottom lane.
McCowan charged back at Feger, riding the cushion, but the “High Side Hustler” kept McCowan out of an opportunity to take the lead with a 0.8-second distance as lapped traffic on the bottom prevented McCowan from passing Feger.
While lapped traffic kept to the bottom of the 0.4-mile oval, Feger grew the lead to 1.3 seconds over McCowan as he planted the No. 25 Feger Racing Longhorn Chassis towards his 35th career Hell Tour win.
The final Illinois triumph helped Feger get away from Tyler Erb by 82 points entering the final eight races, and leads Erb and Mark Whitener in the Week 4 standings by 24 markers.
“I was just patient,” Feger said. “This place is really hard on tires. And Dillon, I wanted to get in the top of (Turn 2), but I didn’t think my car would be as good as it was around the bottom. and drove around it pretty effortlessly. I felt really good, so I was gonna stay down there as long as I could. I just kept pressuring Dillon and kept running harder and harder, and I could see his grip starting to give up. Just a wily veteran and patient, so it makes my job easy.”
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 25F-Jason Feger[3]; 2. 75-Dillon McCowan[2]; 3. 5-Mark Whitener[10]; 4. 14JR-Trey Mills[7]; 5. 1-Tyler Erb[4]; 6. 90-Brian Rickman[17]; 7. 28B-Carson Brown[5]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[6]; 9. 14-Haiden Cowan[15]; 10. 81-Jason Riggs[12]; 11. 388-Jackson Hise[14]; 12. D48-Derek Groomer[13]; 13. 15-Clay Stuckey[20]; 14. 17SR-Brody Smith[22]; 15. 31M-Tyler Millwood[1]; 16. (DNF) 5S-Kyle Hammer[8]; 17. (DNF) 11G-Gordy Gundaker[11]; 18. (DNF) 17SS-Brenden Smith[16]; 19. (DNF) 18-Shannon Babb[21]; 20. (DNF) 29-Christian Hanger[19]; 21. (DNF) 47-Cyle Forgy[18]; 22. (DNF) 4-Cody Mahoney[9]
Will Krup Scores First Win with Summit Modified Nationals in 2025, Second Consecutive at Red Hill
Will Krup has cracked the code at Red Hill Raceway.
In his first start with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals in 2025, the Mt. Carmel, IL driver revisited where he last took a victory with the tour, as he secured a second consecutive win at the Sumner, IL track.
Krup kept his No. K9 Elite Chassis at the top of the leaderboard in every UMP Modified event that he participated in by going fastest in his Qualifying group, then won his Heat race to draw the Pole Position for the night’s 25-lap Feature.
He led the field to the green flag and mixed his strategies by switching from the bottom lane to the high side of the 4/10-mile racetrack as 2023 champion Tyler Nicely and current points leader Trevor Neville followed behind Krup, but could
Krup found his pace around the top of the track while he held Nicely to a 0.9-second advantage while the two drivers distanced themselves from Neville in the race for the night’s win.
In the final stages, Krup broke away from Nicely’s grasp as he drove towards a 2.2-second lead for his ninth career Summit Modifieds win. Krup’s flag-to-flag win gives him sole possession of ninth on the all-time tour wins list, leaving the Independence Day race.
“I think the biggest key is that whoever got in the lead definitely had the advantage,” Krup said. “So, it was going to be hard to get around Tyler if he ended up getting the lead early. Good redraw put me on the outside front row, got to take the lead, and the car was really good.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals visit Indiana for the first time in 2025 with a trip to Haubstadt Speedway on Saturday, July 5.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. K9-Will Krup[2]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely[3]; 3. 777-Trevor Neville[5]; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum[8]; 5. 45H-Chase Holland[6]; 6. 75-Daniel Adam[4]; 7. 37-Everett Bradham[1]; 8. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[10]; 9. 27G-Jason Garver[12]; 10. 16C-John Clippinger[15]; 11. 67-Chris Moore[9]; 12. 50-Tyler Weiss[11]; 13. 81-Kevin Cole[14]; 14. 95K-Levi Kissinger[13]; 15. 95-Ed Roley[16]; 16. 86A-Kevin Burns[20]; 17. 55M-Blaze Melton[7]; 18. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[17]; 19. 2X-Wes Harms[24]; 20. 1S-Brian Shaw[21]; 21. 91K-Cody Kibby[18]; 22. 55-Justin Jones[19]; 23. 69L-Josh Lemke[26]; 24. 81K-Kyle Cole[22]; 25. 81C-Christopher Cole[23]; 26. (DNS) 77-Jim Shipman; 27. (DNS) 73X-Matt Duvall