All posts by ARP Trish

Briggs Finding Early Success in New Role Outside the Cockpit

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

BEAR LAKE, PA (May 21, 2025) – As two of the biggest names in the Northeast corner of the dirt Late Model world, Boom Briggs and Tim McCreadie have been fast friends for decades.

They’ve spent their careers trading sliders on the track and busting chops in the pits afterwards. Briggs had always imagined joining forces with McCreadie someday, but it remained a mere idea for years with both men on their own separate paths in the sport.

Then came the end of the 2024 season. McCreadie was looking for a new home after his departure from Rocket1 Racing, while Briggs was considering taking a step back from being a full-time driver. At that point, Briggs knew that “someday” had arrived.

“McCreadie’s only two hours from me, so he can be more involved, it’s more of a family atmosphere here,” Briggs said. “Me and Timmy have been friends a long time. We’re both getting older, and I’m the closest race team to his house. We’re friends, we’re family friends. We always talked about it, and I guess the timing was right.”

Many former drivers have expressed how getting out of the seat and guiding a team to success from the sidelines can present a world of new challenges. But between his experience working for his cousin Chub Frank early in his career, as well as the team he’s assembled to take some of the load off his shoulders, Briggs has fit into his new role like a glove.

“It’s not been that much of an adjustment,” Briggs said. “I knew someday, that’s what was going to happen. And you know, I started my career working for Chub. Honestly, I don’t work that hard when I go with Timmy, I just keep the wheels in motion. The kids that we’ve got working right now are working their ass off. I just kind of oversee everything, keep Timmy’s head on, keep them focused and make sure the kids are doing what they need to do.”

While Briggs had all the faith in the world in his driver and team, the first two months of their return to the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision didn’t come close to meeting expectations. Two top 10s in the first eight races made it clear that something was off in the No. 9M camp.

After becoming one of the faces of the Longhorn Chassis brand during his previous tenure with Paylor Motorsports, McCreadie had spent a year struggling to get accustomed to a Rocket Chassis and find that same speed. Briggs has been a loyal Rocket supporter for much of his career and started the year with no plans to change course, but he knew the only way to get back into contention was to give his driver a machine he felt at home in. Thus, the Briggs Transport hauler rolled into Farmer City Raceway in April with a brand-new Longhorn in tow.

“That’s what Tim’s comfortable in it, he understands them,” Briggs said. “Tim right now is basically doing his own setups. Yes, we talk back and forth and stuff, but Timmy’s probably working harder than he has in 20 years and I think it’s paying off. Like I told him the other day, he’s more involved, he knows exactly what’s going on and his performance has paid off. He’s knocking on fourth in points now and he was sitting 10th. Tim can still get the job done.

“They did the switch to get Tim comfortable and got to where Tim could win races again. I still run my Rocket car; I’ve got no issues with Rocket. Mark Richards is a really good personal friend of mine. It was just a business decision.”

The box score from the first weekend following the switch may have been less than stellar due to some bad luck come Feature time at the Illini 100, but a solid Qualifying effort and McCreadie’s first Redraw appearance of the season on Saturday provided reason for optimism.

They followed that up with a seventh-place run at the Talladega Short Track two weeks later before heading to Wisconsin, where McCreadie finished fourth and fifth at Mississippi Thunder Speedway for his first top fives since January. All of a sudden, Briggs and McCreadie were rolling into a trio of tracks close to home with momentum on their side.

The first stop of the weekend at Raceway 7 was an emotional day from the start. It marked one year since McCreadie lost his father, “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie, while Briggs had been through the passing of Frank’s wife, Mary, the week prior. Their minds could have been on anything but racing that day, but Briggs made sure to keep his team focused on the task at hand.

Given the Conneaut, OH facility’s proximity to Briggs’ Bear Lake, PA home, along with McCreadie’s stellar record there of a win and three top fives in three starts, Briggs knew he had a team capable of contending for the win that night. Midway through the racing program, he started to believe the months of work were about to pay off.

“I watched him in the Heat Race, and I can tell by watching him that he’s comfortable, he’s aggressive,” Briggs said. “I’ve got full faith in Tim McCreadie, I have for 20 plus years. The guy’s a good race car driver. Anybody you talk to in this sport, when Tim McCreadie is confident and comfortable, he wins races.”

When the dust settled in the Great Lake Showdown, Briggs found himself standing in World of Outlaws Victory Lane alongside one of his best friends to cap off one of the most memorable nights of his career. But they weren’t done there.

The bid for a second-straight win two nights later at Marion Center Raceway ended in catastrophe when he was collected in a pileup just before halfway, sending the crew into thrash mode to make repairs in time in time to race at Bedford Speedway the following night.

The car was good as new by the time it hit the track on Sunday. McCreadie qualified second in his group and won his Heat Race to advance to the Redraw, where he drew the Bilstein Pole Award to start up front alongside Series points leader Bobby Pierce. McCreadie came out top of that battle against the fastest Late Model in the country in 2025 for his second win of the weekend, revitalizing Briggs’ outlook on what’s possible in the remainder of the season.

“We were talking today, and he can’t remember the last time he won two races in a weekend,” Briggs said. “So, to win two out of three against the number one guy in the country, the sky’s the limit. What can he do? He put himself in position qualifying good, winning Heat Races. You win Heat Races, you start in the top four, the wins come.

“Bedford was a big deal. Bobby’s good, and Bobby started outside pole and we won. The biggest thing is Tim’s confidence is up. When his confidence is up, the sky’s the limit.”

The Briggs Transport team will resume the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season with the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park on Friday and Saturday, June 20-21. Click here to get your tickets now.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/briggs-finding-early-success-in-new-role-outside-the-cockpit/

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Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Charlotte Advance

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE Charlotte Motor SpeedwayMay 23-25, 2025

Charlotte Motor Speedway, “America’s Home for Racing”, will once again set the stage for NASCAR’s traditional Memorial Day weekend tripleheader event.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

This weekend will mark the only time the sport will contest on the track’s 1.5-mile oval configuration, with all three series returning to the venue during peak playoff competition to take on its 2.32-mile road course layout. Chevrolet returns as the track’s defending winners in both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, with the manufacturer looking to go two-for-two in the crown jewel triumphs this season in the 66th running of the Coca-Cola 600. Chevrolet at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Located within the heart of NASCAR country, Charlotte Motor Speedway has been a staple fixture in the sport for 65 years – hosting its first event, the inaugural World 600, in June 1960. Within that time span, Chevrolet has accumulated a combined 83 victories across the NASCAR national ranks at the track, including 47 Cup Series wins, 24 Xfinity Series wins and 12 Truck Series wins.

Larson’s Mastery on Mile-and-a-Halves: While still new to the INDYCAR world, Larson will be able to hit the ground running upon his arrival to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Chevrolet driver is a three-time crown jewel winner, with his first coming at the 2021 Coca-Cola 600. This season, Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team have been a force on mile-and-a-half tracks. In four events, Larson has tallied results no worse than ninth, including two of his three wins (Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kansas Speedway). Despite missing a trip to victory lane at Las Vegas and Texas, Larson still proved to be a top contender – recording the most laps led in each event. Larson is also the series’ most recent points-paying winner of the season, which came in dominating fashion at the 1.5-mile oval of Kansas Speedway two weekends ago. The victory was accompanied by a sweep of the weekend, with the driver claiming the pole position, both stage wins and a race-high 221 laps led. It was a performance that shot Larson to the top of the series’ points standings, with the No. 5 Chevrolet team heading into the Charlotte race weekend with a 35-point lead over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron.

Regular Season Resumes for Xfinity SeriesAfter back-to-back off weekends, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be back in action this weekend, with Saturday’s BetMGM 300 marking the series’ 13th race of the 2025 season. It’s been a dominating start to the Xfinity Series season for the Bowtie brigade. Over a stretch of 12 races straight, six drivers from three different Chevrolet organizations have earned a combined 10 victories, including an active streak of four-in-a-row. The wins are accompanied by series-leading numbers in a variety of statistical categories including eight pole wins, 19 stage wins, 40 top-fives, 76 top-10s and 1,763 laps led. There’s no better way to add to those accolades than a track where you’ve found a fair amount of recent success. Chevrolet heads into the weekend with a streak of three-straight wins in the series at Charlotte Motor Speedway – earned by a pair of JR Motorsports entries (Josh Berry – 2022; Justin Allgaier – 2023) and Hendrick Motorsports with Cup Series regular Chase Elliott (2024).

Doing the Double: Kyle Larson isn’t the only Chevrolet driver doing double-duty this weekend. Three drivers are set to make starts in NASCAR’s top two divisions at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including Austin Dillon, William Byron and Connor Zilisch. For the first time in nearly two years, Dillon will make his return to the Xfinity Series to pilot the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro SS in Saturday’s 300-mile event. The Welcome, North Carolina, native has found great success in the series over his NASCAR career – highlighted by a championship title in 2013. The Chevrolet driver is a nine-time winner in the series, two of which came at Charlotte Motor Speedway when he swept the series’ two appearances at the track in 2015. Another hometown favorite, William Byron, will make his return to the Xfinity Series this weekend – taking over the driving duties for the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro SS. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has one Xfinity Series start under his belt this season at Circuit of The America, which ended with a strong runner-up result. Byron is a four-time winner in the series, all of which came in his rookie season that ended with a championship title (2017). After being sidelined due to a back injury, Connor Zilisch will return to the driver’s seat at his home track this weekend. Not only will the rising star resume his rookie season in the Xfinity Series, the 18-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native will make his second career start in NASCAR’s top division in Sunday’s 600-mile race. Despite an early exit during his series debut race at Circuit of The Americas, Zilisch proved to settle right into Next Gen Camaro ZL1. Taking the green flag following a strong 14th-place qualifying effort, Zilisch overcame damage sustained on the opening lap to rally to a best running position of 10th before getting collected in an accident just past the halfway marker.

BOWTIE BULLETS:·       Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Kyle Larson – one win (2021)Chase Elliott – one win (2020)Kyle Busch – one win (2018)Austin Dillon – one win (2017) ·       Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 25 all-time Coca-Cola 600 victories, most recently by Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (May 2021).  ·       There have been 10 drivers in history that recorded their first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway – most recently by Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon in the 2017 Coca-Cola 600. ·       Chevrolet has earned at least half of the top-10 finishing results in seven of the 12 points-paying races thus far this season, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.  ·       In 120 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 56 victories – a winning percentage of 46.7%.
·       With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 870 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

FOR THE FANS:·       Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
·       Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Silverado 1500 LD, Silverado 2500 HD, Traverse, Tahoe, Corvette, Equinox EV and Blazer EV.
Team Chevy Driver Appearances at the Display: Sunday, May 25 Austin Dillon: 1:20 p.m. – 1:35 p.m. Carson Hocevar: 2:10 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. Alex Bowman: 2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Ross Chastain & Connor Zilisch: 2:50 p.m. – 3:05 p.m.
Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation: Friday, May 23: 3 p.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday, May 24: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, May 25: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

TUNE-IN:NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600Sunday, May 25, at 6 p.m. ET(Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90) NASCAR Xfinity SeriesBetMGM 300Saturday, May 24, at 4:30 p.m. ET(CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90) NASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesNorth Carolina Education Lottery 200 Friday, May 23, 8:30 p.m. ET(FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

QUOTABLE QUOTES:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletHow would you describe a lap around Charlotte Motor Speedway?“Charlotte is rough, my goodness. The vertical loads when we go into the corners in Turns 1 and 2, I get squished into the bottom of the car in the seat, almost harder than anywhere else we go. I would compare it to Dover, but Charlotte is a mile-and-a-half and really fast when you run the bottom. When you run the top of the track up by the wall, it’s almost like a washboard – if you’ve driven on a dirt road that’s rough and it’s really bouncing really aggressively – that’s what Turn 1 up by the wall feels like. In Turns 3 and 4, it gets way more sun throughout the year than Turns 1 and 2, so it has a lot less grip. When you turn down into Turn 3 there isn’t a lot of grip. Wrapping the line for me is my left-front right down by the apron to have a low exit off of Turn 4, or running right up by the wall.” What does racing on Memorial Day weekend mean to you?“It’s an honor to race on Memorial Day weekend. So many people have sacrificed so we can have the ability to go out here and do something we love. In my case it’s racing cars. It’s obviously a special weekend because we are remembering service members on our cars. I have US Army paratrooper Kevin M. McCrea on my car thanks to Jockey and Folds of Honor and we’ll get to meet some of his family members. That’s always a very special moment. And while there is nothing we can do to bring their family member back, I hope the race gives them a chance to think about something different for a little bit.”   Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletWith the Coca-Cola 600 being the longest race of the season, how do you and your team prepare mentally and physically for such a demanding night?“The Coca-Cola 600 at home in Charlotte is always a favorite. Two years ago, I did the Xfinity race and the Cup race on the same day, which was quite eventful and something I’ll never be able to top. But knowing I’ve come close to completing 900 miles on the same track in one day makes the 600-mile Cup race seem a little less demanding. We’ve had so much speed in our 1.5-mile program and I’m excited to get a handle on it Saturday evening. This is the longest race of the year and where we can score the most points. The biggest thing we need to work on is getting in a better position to execute on restarts and we’ll have a couple of shots at that with four stages in Sunday’s race. This race is always an important one for teams and for the families of the military members that we are honoring.”   Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat do you think it is about the Coca-Cola 600 that make strong drivers end up in victory lane?“The Coke 600 is the Coke 600. It’s the longest race of the year. It’s a demanding race. You work as hard as you can on yourself with your training and whatnot to be able to withstand the elements for that race.” As the sport becomes more competitive each week and you see how close times are in qualifying, does that make a difference in a 600-mile race?“No, it doesn’t. It’s a longer race so you have more time from sunlight to nighttime, and typically you don’t really worry about how your car is until you get to the nighttime because that’s when the money’s paid, so you want to be fast at that time of the day.” There’s been a lot of speed in your racecars here of late. What do you credit that to?“It’s a lot of little things. That’s what you’re dealing with in this day and age. There are so many little details that you can find. If you find 100 small, tiny details, then that’s all going to add up. The guys at the shop have been doing a good job working on all of that, whether it’s car build or little things in the setups.” You look at Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, you’ve had a lot of speed. Do you feel like a win is coming around the corner?“Texas Motor Speedway was good. I didn’t feel that good about Kansas Speedway. I got up to 11th at Kansas and then kind of stalled out. I feel like if you could have taken me and placed me in fifth, then I probably could have ran in fifth. But, I couldn’t get myself there on my own. Texas, though, I felt like I drove my way up to the front the whole time.”   AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet“Charlotte is one of the staples that we have in NASCAR, one of the crown jewels, and it’s fun to be a part of it. This weekend is a long, grueling race, but our mile and a half program has been really solid this year. We have the opportunity to have speed and be competitive. Charlotte’s always been one of my favorite mile-and-a-half racetracks; it’s definitely very heat sensitive, technical, and rough in three and four. We’re looking forward to going there after the All-Star race where we had a break from points racing. We were able to reset knowing that this can be a really good stretch of races for us ahead. We’re looking to kick it off right with a good 600-mile run.”   Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet“The Coca-Cola 600 is one of the biggest tests we face all season – it’s long, it’s demanding, and it really shows you what your team is made of. I’m proud to have FunPops riding with us again this weekend. Their energy and enthusiasm match what we’re bringing to the track. We’re locked in and ready to battle for every position under the lights at Charlotte.”   Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletIs it a little extra preparation for you physically for a race of this length with the heat, and talk about how important the weekend is outside of your physical preparation? “Yeah, I think it is. I just up my calories as far as my intake goes for the day, but other than that, it’s pretty much business as usual. I think the harder part of that is just the time of when you start the race and the track’s transition from day to night paired with the speed differences. Charlotte is just one of those really temperature-sensitive tracks. Even throughout the years—whether it was a repave or going through this Next Gen car—it’s just super, super sensitive to the temperature change and more track temperature. The sun going down and not beating on the racetrack changes the dynamic of the last half of that race. Making good adjustments and all those things—I feel like that’s the hardest part. You can be decent in the beginning and then really bad at the end, and vice versa. You can be bad at the beginning and get to where you need to be, especially with this car, with the heights being so important.
It’s a fun race, but a hard race. It builds, and you can kind of feel that it builds toward the end. Most weekends, you feel like you don’t have enough time—here at Charlotte, you feel like you have a little bit of time. More than anything, it’s just one of the coolest weekends in racing altogether. I love it. I grew up loving motorsports and watching the Indianapolis 500, watching the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Coca-Cola 600. It’s just a fun weekend as a fan and as a competitor. It’s special, being on Memorial Day and always carrying a fallen soldier on the car. I have Specialist James Waters on the car of the United States Army, and it’s always a privilege and honor to do that. It’s a great reminder of what freedom is and what it’s not. So, it’s a special weekend.”   Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletWe’ve seen the No. 77 team come to life on the mile-and-a-half tracks as of late. How can the team capitalize on the extra-long event to find success?“Our intermediate track program has come a long way since even the start of the year. As a whole, the organization has won the pole twice on mile-and-a-halves and we’ve been up front at nearly every race so far. For us, it comes down to having the time to recover from things that happen late in the race. It happened at Texas with a caution that seemed bad but worked out in our favor before we got caught in an incident. Then at Kansas we just ran out of laps with a flat tire coming so late in the game. Hopefully we don’t need to take advantage of having four stages to recover from anything. We have the speed, it’s just about putting all the little pieces together to reach the end goal.”
Last weekend was a big weekend for Spire Motorsports, winning the Pit Crew Challenge with the No. 71 team and advancing to the All-Star Race with the No. 77 team. How does a weekend like that change the environment in the shop?“It’s more positive for sure. Every week we’ve had something to celebrate, and we kept it going. People outside of this building are noticing the payoff of the effort that everyone is putting in and it’s a lot easier to take the disappointment of an 11th-place finish when there is a win to celebrate. It shows a lot of progress that we can even be disheartened by missing out on a top 10, so I think it changes it a lot in a good way, but just makes everyone that much hungrier for the next win.”   Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletWhat does it mean to you to be racing this weekend in Charlotte?“I’m super-excited to be making my second Cup start at Charlotte. The 600 is one of the biggest races in NASCAR and the longest. It’s going to be all about patience and thankfully I’ve got some endurance racing in my back pocket from the last two years that will help prepare me for this race mentally. I’ve done 24-hour races and 12-hour races but racing for five hours in a stock car is another challenge. Nine hundred miles in one weekend can be a lot, but I’ve got a great group of people around me to help keep me settled and prepare me for a weekend like this. The race starts during the day and ends at night, and the track changes a lot, so staying on top of that is going to be really important. That’s also really tough for me just because I’ve never done it before. I’m going to ask as many people as I can for advice and make sure I’m the best prepared I can be for the race.”     Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletIt seems you are running better on oval tracks and last weekend you started on the pole for the first time on an oval. Would you say this is showing your improvement?“Yes, one hundred percent. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like we are making steps, understanding each other, myself and Stephen (Doran), trying to get better. Majority of the races are ovals and we can’t be running at the back every week, so we are working on everything, getting our average finish better and keep working on getting good results. We’ve taken a lot of steps forward recently and last weekend at North Wilkesboro showed that.” Does NASCAR still feel somewhat new for you, or do you feel it’s just racing at the end of the day?“Well, it (NASCAR) feels like a completely different sport to anything else I’ve ever done. On the ovals, the techniques, the way you drive, the way the races are, it’s like nothing else around the world I’ve ever done. It’s so foreign to me, but the road course stuff feels normal. It’s a bit chaotic on the restarts and the way the race is, but the ovals are a world away from anything I’ve ever done.” Are you looking forward to racing 600 miles this weekend?“Yes, we didn’t get to finish it last year because it got rained out. So, looking forward to completing all 600 miles. Should be a fun race going back there for the second time. Hopefully we can keep building on momentum. My WeatherTech Chevy looks epic!”   Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletHow important is Sunday’s race to you?“The Coca-Cola 600 is a very special race for many different reasons. We get to remember all the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice and given us the freedoms we have in the most amazing country in the world. I came from a different country and am now a citizen. To come here and enjoy these freedoms, to enjoy what I am able to do, it’s not by magic. It’s also nice to see all of the work Coca-Cola does to make this event the success it has been over the years.” Thoughts on 300th start on Sunday?“Wow, time flies. It’s such an honor to reach this mark. So many people to thank and so many people who have supported me. I never dreamed I would be celebrating this, but I feel very fortunate.” You recently visited Fort Bragg as part of Coca-Cola’s Mission 600 program.“I have always appreciated the military, and what all the men and women do for this amazing country. But, when you experience exactly what they must do 24/7, it’s a completely different level. Huge respect for them. The level of discipline is pretty high. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to spend time with the military.” How do you prepare for Sunday?“As a human being you try and perform at 100 percent the entire time, but when you’re running a marathon, you’re not going to be as strong in the last 30 minutes. That’s normal. Fatigue is setting in, your muscles are tired, you’re running out of fluid, and you’re hungry. Racing is the same way, especially in the Coca-Cola 600. We start running out of energy and you’re mind gets tired after four hours of racing. But I look to this race as a marathon, and you have to be on top of your game for the last part of this race. So, I always try to keep that in my mind when I’m in the car. This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics Manufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2024): 43First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)Most recent: 2024 Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2024): 33First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most recent: Kyle Larson (2021) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007) 2025 STATISTICS: Wins: 4Poles: 7Laps Led: 1,647Top-Fives: 24Top-10s: 55Stage Wins: 11 CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 870 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 760Laps led to date: 254,358Top-fives to date: 4,393Top-10s to date: 9,062 Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date: General Motors: 1,204 Chevrolet: 870 Pontiac: 154 Oldsmobile: 115 Buick: 65 Ford: 843 Ford: 743 Mercury: 96 Lincoln: 4 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467 Dodge: 217 Plymouth: 191 Chrysler: 59 Toyota: 194

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WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Memorial Day Weekend Brings World of Outlaws to Three Ohio Tracks

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

The Greatest Show on Dirt will be all over the “Buckeye State” with three races in four nightsATTICA, OH (May 20, 2025) – The Greatest Show on Dirt is back on U.S. soil following a return to Canada, and all eyes are on Ohio.Memorial Day weekend is all about the “Buckeye State” for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Three nights of racing are set to take the country’s best Sprint Car drivers to three different Ohio ovals in three different regions of the state.It begins on Friday, May 23, in the Northwest at Attica Raceway Park. The 1/3-mile dirt track will welcome the tour for the 26th time. Then it’s straight east nearly to the Pennsylvania border, where Hartford, OH’s Sharon Speedway awaits the World of Outlaws’ 15th visit on Saturday, May 24. Sunday is an off day before racing resumes with a Monday, May 26, trip south to the Appalachian foothills for a battle at Chillicothe’s Atomic Speedway.No matter what corner of the state you’re in, there’s a little something for all of Ohio’s Sprint Car fanbase over the weekend ahead.BUY ATTICA TICKETS HERE
BUY SHARON TICKETS HERE
BUY ATOMIC TICKETS HEREWATCH LIVE ON DIRTVisionLet’s look at the weekend’s top storylines:HOME STATE HERO: Sheldon Haudenschild heading home always leads the headlines when the World of Outlaws venture to Ohio. The Wooster, OH native has swaths of fans in the region that are eager to welcome him with hopes of seeing a trip or two to Victory Lane.Haudenschild enters the weekend with the momentum of two top fives at Ohsweken, including his third podium of the year with the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink crew. They’re fifth in points with 11 top fives and 15 top 10s with 23 races in the books.Three times Haudenschild has been victorious at Attica. He topped a local race in 2013 and two with the All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) in 2015 and 2016. He won Sharon’s 2015 Lou Blaney Memorial with ASCoC, and he’s been on the podium there in three of his five attempts with the World of Outlaws. He’s one of only two multi-time World of Outlaws winners at Atomic with scores in 2022 and 2024.HEY, BUDDY: Plenty of focus was fixed on Michael “Buddy” Kofoid entering 2025 after a record-breaking rookie campaign last year with Roth Motorsports. The pairing stumbled slightly out of the gate, but the ship appears to have been righted, and the sophomore is soaring.After an 11.7 average finish in the first seven races of the season, Kofoid has improved that mark to 5.5 in the 16 races since. That stretch includes a trio of victories at Kennedale Speedway Park, Lawton Speedway, and Lincoln Speedway. It’s also allowed Kofoid to climb into the runner-up position in the standings. David Gravel still has a comfortable lead (+178 points), but there’s a long way to go for Kofoid and company.Ohio is familiar territory for the Penngrove, CA native. Courtesy of living in “Linderville” with Mike and Stephanie Linder, he spent plenty of time racing in the state when he first expanded his career to the Midwest. Kofoid won last May’s World of Outlaws visit to Attica in thrilling, last-lap fashion, and he’s been on the podium in 12 of his 25 races there. He owns a best finish of fifth at Sharon in three tries. Last May, the 23-year-old posted a pair of podiums at Atomic.OHIO ACE: Not that there are many states where Donny Schatz hasn’t performed well, but his talents have shone especially bright in Ohio.The 10-time Series champion bagged 32 of his 316 career World of Outlaws Feature victories in the “Buckeye State.” That’s the second highest on his résumé, ranking only behind his tally of 36 in Pennsylvania.He’s won at all three tracks on this weekend’s agenda. Schatz’s five checkered flags at Attica are the most, and he’s only missed the top 10 once in 19 tries. The Fargo, ND native visited Sharon Victory Lane twice, first with a 360 under the hood in a 2008 American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Patriot race and then with the World of Outlaws 15 years later. Of the dozen Series visits to Atomic, Schatz claimed a quarter of them with four trophies from the high-banked oval.Schatz and his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing crew sit sixth in points with top 10 results in four of the last five races.BUSINESS AS USUAL: With more than a quarter of the season complete, there have been no hiccups for David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports in their title defense.They’re fresh off a sweep of two nights at Ohsweken, their third event sweep of 2025 to go along with back-to-back victories at Volusia Speedway Park (March 2-3) and Cotton Bowl Speedway (March 21-22). The No. 2 hasn’t finished worse than sixth in 2025 and boasts a 2.78 average finish.Recent history gives no reason to doubt Gravel and Tod Quiring’s crew this weekend. The Watertown, CT native is the most recent Series winner at both Attica and Sharon. His most recent trip to Atomic dealt misfortune as he got caught up in a crash with lapped traffic, but that came after winning the night before.ROOKIE BACK AND FORTH: The first quarter of the 2025 World of Outlaws campaign has made one thing clear – the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year battle won’t be won easily.Canada gave us yet another top spot swap among the rookies as a pair of top 10s, including a season-best fifth, lifted Chris Windom and the Sides Motorsports team above Garet Williamson. Windom has been in the top five before at all three tracks ahead, including podiums at Sharon and Atomic. The NOS Energy Drink driver is 14 markers ahead of Williamson.Cole Macedo is looking to claw his way into the fight after a forgettable start to the season in Florida. He and TwoC Racing have climbed into third in rookie points, and he’s got plenty of laps in Ohio thanks to making the same stop in “Linderville” that Buddy Kofoid did on his way to the World of Outlaws. The Lemoore, CA driver owns five local wins at Attica.Bradenton, FL’s Conner Morrell is down in sixth, but he’s fresh off posting the best finish of the season for one of the rookies after leading laps and coming home with the runner-up spot at Ohsweken.BUCKEYE BATTLERS: With Ohio having one of the healthiest local Sprint Car scenes in the country, expect many drivers who compete at these tracks weekly to put their best foot forward as they face off with the World of Outlaws.Bellevue, OH’s Cap Henry has already won three times in local Attica action this year. The 1/3 mile is also home to two of his six career World of Outlaws top 10s, including a personal best sixth in 2023.Over at Sharon, Hartford, OH’s own Dale Blaney is fresh off driving brother Dave’s No. 10 to victory. He’s also a seven-time Sharon winner with ASCoC.Atomic is yet to host a Sprint Car race in 2025, but there’s no doubt Lockbourne, OH’s Cole Duncan is a local favorite. He won the track’s final four races of 2024 and picked up a pair of World of Outlaws top fives last May.Expect many more locals including the likes of Craig Mintz (Gibsonburg, OH), Trey Jacobs (Wooster, OH), Creed Kemenah (Alvada, OH), Greg Wilson (Benton Ridge, OH), Bryce Lucius (Findlay, OH), and more to compete in at least one and potentially all three events.THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCEWHEN AND WHERE

Friday, May 23 at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, OH
Saturday, May 24 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, OH
Monday, May 26 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, OHON THE INTERNET
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
X – @WorldofOutlaws
Instagram – @WoOSprint
Facebook – Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsSprintCarSeries
YouTube – Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com – Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/monthCURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (23/82 Races):
1. David Gravel – Big Game Motorsports No. 2 (3282 PTS)
2. Michael Kofoid – Roth Motorsports No. 83 (-178 PTS)
3. Logan Schuchart – Shark Racing No. 1S (-184 PTS)
4. Carson Macedo – Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 (-196 PTS)
5. Sheldon Haudenschild – Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 (-244 PTS)
6. Donny Schatz – Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 (-314 PTS)
7. Giovanni Scelzi – KCP Racing No. 18 (-354 PTS)
8. Bill Balog – B2 Motorsports No. 17B (-458 PTS)
9. Chris Windom – Sides Motorsports No. 7S (-528 PTS)
10. Garet Williamson – Fischer Motorsports No. 23 (-542 PTS)NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (11 Drivers):
8 Wins – David Gravel
3 Wins – Kyle Larson, Michael Kofoid
2 Wins – Carson Macedo
1 Win – Christopher Bell, Bill Balog, Giovanni Scelzi, Logan Schuchart, Rico Abreu, Sheldon Haudenschild, Anthony MacriFEATURE LAPS LED (19 Drivers):
180 Laps – David Gravel
100 Laps – Michael Kofoid
76 Laps – Kyle Larson
73 Laps – Logan Schuchart
51 Laps – Carson Macedo
40 Laps – Sheldon Haudenschild
39 Laps – Giovanni Scelzi
29 Laps – Anthony Macri
19 Laps – Bill Balog
17 Laps – Emerson Axsom, Rico Abreu
16 Laps – Cole Macedo
14 Laps – Dylan Westbrook
12 Laps – Conner Morrell
11 Laps – Jordan Thomas
9 Laps – Sam Hafertepe Jr.
8 Laps – Christopher Bell, Aaron Reutzel
1 Lap – Donny SchatzSIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS QUICKTIME AWARDS (13 Drivers):
9 Quick Times – David Gravel
2 Quick Times – Logan Schuchart, Sheldon Haudenschild
1 Quick Time – Emerson Axsom, Kyle Larson, Danny Sams III, Anthony Macri, Carson Macedo, Aaron Reutzel, Rico Abreu, Michael Kofoid, Chase Dietz, Garet WilliamsonHEAT RACE WINNERS (30 Drivers):
13 Heat Wins – David Gravel
10 Heat Wins – Carson Macedo
8 Heat Wins – Bill Balog
7 Heat Wins – Logan Schuchart, Sheldon Haudenschild
4 Heat Wins – Giovanni Scelzi
3 Heat Wins – Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Michael Kofoid
2 Heat Wins – Brian Brown, Jacob Allen, Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Anthony Macri, Danny Dietrich, Garet Williamson
1 Heat Win – Hunter Schuerenberg, Bryce Lucius, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Conner Morrell, Donny Schatz, Aaron Reutzel, Tanner Thorson, Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, Zach Hampton, Chase Dietz, Skylar Gee, Justin Whittall, Chris WindomTOYOTA DASH APPEARANCES (47 Drivers):
20 Dashes – David Gravel
16 Dashes – Logan Schuchart
13 Dashes – Carson Macedo
11 Dashes – Bill Balog, Sheldon Haudenschild
10 Dashes – Giovanni Scelzi
9 Dashes – Michael Kofoid
6 Dashes – Emerson Axsom
5 Dashes – Brian Brown, Garet Williamson
4 Dashes – Kyle Larson, Cole Macedo, Anthony Macri
3 Dashes – Christopher Bell, Aaron Reutzel, Tyler Courtney, Donny Schatz, Danny Dietrich, Conner Morrell
2 Dashes – Danny Sams III, Jacob Allen, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Austin McCarl, Rico Abreu, Parker Price-Miller, Hunter Schuerenberg, Chris Windom
1 Dash – Justin Peck, Brad Sweet, Ryan Timms, Spencer Bayston, Bryce Lucius, Christopher Thram, Tanner Thorson, Carson McCarl, Brady Bacon, Zach Hampton, Kelby Watt, Ashton Torgerson, Skylar Gee, Lucas Wolfe, Chase Dietz, Justin Whittall, Jordan Thomas, Jonathan Preston, Dylan Westbrook, Cory TurnerMICRO-LITE LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (16 Drivers):
3 LCS Wins – Giovanni Scelzi, Garet Williamson
2 LCS Wins – Donny Schatz, Christopher Thram, Ryan Timms
1 LCS Win – Chris Martin, Anthony Macri, Bryce Lucius, Conner Morrell, Blake Hahn, J.J. Hickle, Zach Hampton, Emerson Axsom, Matt Campbell, Ashton Torgerson, Joe TrencaKSE HARD CHARGER AWARDS (13 Drivers):
4 Hard Chargers – Logan Schuchart
3 Hard Chargers – Ryan Timms, Chris Windom
2 Hard Chargers – Skylar Gee, Garet Williamson, Donny Schatz
1 Hard Charger – Cole Macedo, Zach Hampton, Bill Balog, Hunter Schuerenberg, Michael Kofoid, Lance Dewease, Dylan WestbrookPODIUM FINISHES (24 Drivers):
15 Podiums – David Gravel
9 Podiums – Carson Macedo
7 Podiums – Logan Schuchart
6 Podiums – Kyle Larson, Michael Kofoid
3 Podiums – Giovanni Scelzi, Sheldon Haudenschild
2 Podiums – Christopher Bell, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Anthony Macri
1 Podium – Aaron Reutzel, Jacob Allen, Bill Balog, Emerson Axsom, Donny Schatz, Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon, Tyler Courtney, Donny Schatz, Cole Macedo, Chase Dietz, Danny Dietrich, Conner Morrell, Dylan WestbrookTOP 10 FINISHES (43 Drivers):
23 Top 10s – David Gravel
19 Top 10s – Logan Schuchart, Carson Macedo
18 Top 10s – Michael Kofoid
15 Top 10s – Giovanni Scelzi, Donny Schatz, Sheldon Haudenschild
9 Top 10s – Bill Balog
7 top 10s – Chris Windom
6 Top 10s – Emerson Axsom, Kyle Larson, Cole Macedo
5 Top 10s – Tyler Courtney, Hunter Schuerenberg, Anthony Macri, Garet Williamson
4 Top 10s – Aaron Reutzel, Brad Sweet, Zach Hampton
3 Top 10s – Ryan Timms, Justin Peck, Parker Price-Miller
2 Top 10s – Christopher Bell, Jacob Allen, Spencer Bayston, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Austin McCarl, Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon, Skylar Gee, Danny Dietrich
1 Top 10 – Danny Sams III, Conner Morrell, Tanner Thorson, Kerry Madsen, Brian Brown, Chase Dietz, Freddie Rahmer, Justin Whittall, Troy Wagaman Jr., Jordan Thomas, Dylan Westbrook, Jordan Poirier2025 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CAR WINNERS:
No. / Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Wed, Feb 7 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Carson Macedo (1)
2. Thurs, Feb 8 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Christopher Bell (1)
3. Fri, Feb 9 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Kyle Larson (1)
4. Sat, Feb 10 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Kyle Larson (2)
5. Sun, March 2 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (1)
6. Mon, March 3 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (2)
7. Fri, March 7 / Talladega Short Track / Eastaboga, AL / Bill Balog (1)
8. Sat, March 8 / Magnolia Motor Speedway / Columbus, MS / David Gravel (3)
9. Fri, March 14 / Kennedale Speedway Park / Kennedale, TX / Giovanni Scelzi (1)
10. Sat, March 15 / Kennedale Speedway Park / Kennedale, TX / Michael Kofoid (1)
11. Fri, March 21 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / David Gravel (4)
12. Sat, March 22 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / David Gravel (5)
13. Fri, March 28 / Lawton Speedway / Lawton, OK / Michael Kofoid (2)
14. Fri, April 11 / I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park / Pevely, MO / Carson Macedo (2)
15. Sat, April 12 / I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park / Pevely, MO / Logan Schuchart (1)
16. Sat, April 19 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Rico Abreu (1)
17. Fri, April 25 / Jacksonville Speedway / Jacksonville, IL / Kyle Larson (3)
18. Sat, April 26 / Tri-State Speedway / Haubstadt, IN / Sheldon Haudenschild (1)
19. Fri, May 2 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / David Gravel (6)
20. Wed, May 7 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Michael Kofoid (3)
21. Sat, May 10 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Anthony Macri (1)
22. Wed, May 14 / Ohsweken Speedway / Ohsweken, ON / David Gravel (7)
23. Thurs, May 15 / Ohsweken Speedway / Ohsweken, ON / David Gravel (8)For the complete 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.ARTICLE: EVENT INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/schedule/event-info/?event=4547756, https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/schedule/event-info/?event=4547757, https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/schedule/event-info/?event=4547766
TRACK INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/tracks/?track=Attica%2BRaceway%2BPark, https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/tracks/?track=Sharon%2BSpeedway, https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/tracks/?track=Atomic%2BSpeedwayFAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/

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Berry, eero Team to Honor Cpl. Ian Zook During Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

In one of his most popular songs, Billy Ray Cyrus summed up one of the sad realities of wartime service when he sang, “All gave some, some gave all.”

Cpl. Ian Thomas Zook, a United States Marine, is among those who gave all. He was killed in action in Iraq on Oct. 12, 2004, at the age of 24.

Originally from Peoria, Ill., Zook later moved to Florida with his family. According to published reports, he was valedictorian of his high school class and initially pursued missionary work before joining the Marines in 2001 with aspirations of becoming a law enforcement officer.

This weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing team will honor Cpl. Zook as part of NASCAR’s 600 Miles of Remembrance program with Zook’s name being displayed on the windshield of the No. 21 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

The Coca-Cola 600 marks eero’s second primary race on the No. 21. In its debut at Phoenix Raceway earlier this season, Berry qualified inside the top five and delivered a strong run, contending inside the top 10 for much of the afternoon before delivering an impressive fourth-place finish, one week before scoring his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

A strong showing on Sunday would be a meaningful way for the team to honor Zook’s legacy, and they’re confident in their chances. The No. 21 car has shown impressive speed on intermediate-length tracks this season.

“It’s the longest race in our sport, and that opens up a lot of opportunities for comers and goers,” Berry said during a recent media availability. “You obviously have to have a good balance to start the race, but then it cools off and you’ve got to stay up with the track. It’s just a grind.”

“I’m really excited to get there with the speed we’ve had on the intermediates,” he added. “The 600 is a crown jewel. The pre-race is a lot of fun and really special. We’re excited to get there.”

Practice at Charlotte is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 2:40 p.m. Sunday’s 400-lap, 600-mile race will go green just after 6 p.m., with stage breaks at Laps 100, 200 and 300. Coverage of the on-track activity will be carried on Prime Video.

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THE MONTH AHEAD: June Highlighted by Season’s Biggest Payday, Northern Swing

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

A dozen races await the World of Outlaws, including a quarter of a million dollars at Huset’sCONCORD, NC (May 21, 2025) – Summertime is almost here, and a big June awaits the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.The northern region of the country will receive a heavy dose of The Greatest Show on Dirt as next month features five nights in Wisconsin, a lucrative four-day stretch in South Dakota, and more.June will also bring a pair of six-figure paydays in a single week at Huset’s Speedway, including the largest winner’s share of the 2025 season.Here’s where to find the World of Outlaws in June:Jackson Motorplex | Fendt Showdown (June 4): The month of racing begins in the middle of the week as the tour invades Minnesota’s Jackson Motorplex for the Fendt Showdown on Wednesday, June 4. It’ll mark the first time the Series has visited Jackson in June since 2021.Jackson is by far the most visited Minnesota track in World of Outlaws history with 33 races in the history books. There’s a four-way tie for the most victories at the track as Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart, Carson Macedo, and Brad Sweet have all topped four apiece.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.Plymouth Dirt Track | Badger State Triple (June 6): A big weekend in the “Badger State” begins with a highly anticipated return to Plymouth Dirt Track. It’ll mark the first time since 2005 the World of Outlaws have made a trip to the Wisconsin oval. Plymouth will also serve as the kickoff to the Badger State Triple.Joey Saldana won the Series debut at Plymouth in 2004, and the following year Tim Kaeding was victorious in the only other visit to date.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.Beaver Dam Raceway | Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial (June 7): The middle leg of the Badger State Triple takes the tour to Beaver Dam Raceway. The Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial serves up a $20,000 payday to the winner.The World of Outlaws has been to Beaver Dam 35 previous times, and current full-timer Sheldon Haudenschild has won most often with five checkered flags. All five of Haudenschild’s wins have come in the last seven visits. The other two races belonged to Giovanni Scelzi.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.Angell Park Speedway | Badger State Triple (June 8): Three consecutive nights in Wisconsin at three different tracks closes out with a Sunday stop at the historic Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, WI.The Badger State Triple finale brings the World of Outlaws to Angell Park for only the second time ever and first trip since 2016. Donny Schatz topped the Series debut nine years ago.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.Knoxville Raceway | Premier Chevy Dealers Clash (June 13-14): All eyes will be locked on “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” in mid-June as the World of Outlaws head to Knoxville Raceway for the second leg of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash. It’ll be The Greatest Show on Dirt’s last visit to Knoxville before August’s NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s.Mother Nature trimmed the first leg of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash down to one night in April, and it was Rico Abreu coming out on top. Last June, David Gravel and Corey Day split Knoxville Victory Lane visits.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.Huset’s Speedway | BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards (June 18-21): It’s a huge week of racing at Brandon, SD’s Huset’s Speedway when the World of Outlaws come to town for the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards. Not one, but two six-figure paydays are on the line.The week delivers two events in one as the Huset’s Hustle kicks things off. The opening night (June 18) will serve as a prelim for a $100,000-to-win race on Thursday, June 19. Then it’s a clean slate for a June 20 prelim that sets the stage for the season’s biggest payday – a $250,000-to-win finale on Saturday, June 21. More than $800,000 in purse money overall is up for grabs at Huset’s that week.Sheldon Haudenschild won the inaugural event in 2022. David Gravel got the job done in 2023. Last year belonged to Michael “Buddy” Kofoid.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.Cedar Lake Speedway | Independence Spectacular (June 27-28): June closes out with the World of Outlaws annual trip to Wisconsin’s Cedar Lake Speedway. The Independence Spectacular gives fans two evenings of premier Sprint Car racing and a huge fireworks show on the final night.Cedar Lake is the most visited Wisconsin track in Series history with 53 races. Logan Schuchart is the most recent winner.For tickets and more event information, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/the-month-ahead-june-highlighted-by-seasons-biggest-payday-northern-swing/FAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/

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Shake and Bake Show Add Drag Race Bracket Bonanza League

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

DALLAS (May 21, 2025) — The wildly popular Shake and Bake Show broadcast on Steve Jackson Racing’s YouTube channel has built a massive audience by throwing out raw drag racing takes, showcasing elite guests and taking smack talk to the next level. The show hosted by Steve Jackson, Lyle Barnett and Courtney Enders, announced during last night’s show they will be putting their collective drag racing expertise on display for all their loyal viewers with the formation of the Shake and Bake Show Drag Race Bracket Bonanza league. This free league will be open to any and all listeners, viewers, haters and pretenders who want to match picks with the trio of drag racing experts.

“We have been making picks on the show for a long time and people give us crap when things don’t go our way or we make a pick that they think is dumb. Well now thanks to Drag Race Bracket Bonanza we can give our fans the chance to put up or shut up,” said Enders, a long-time support of the Drag Race Bracket Bonanza movement. “Since Drag Race Bracket Bonanza started, I have loved the game and how much fun it is for drag racing fans and the sport. This is just a natural progression, and we can’t wait to start kicking butt in the Shake and Bake league.”

Fans can sign up starting today by logging into www.dragracebracketbonanza.comand clicking the league tab. By using the Shake and Bake DRBB league code “fajitas” they can join the league and start making picks starting with the upcoming New England Nationals, May 30-June 1. The brackets will open for all classes when qualifying concludes on Saturday, May 31.

“The league feature for Drag Race Bracket Bonanza has been a big hit for fans, tracks and drag racing programs. Getting the Shake and Bake league up and running is so cool,” said Elon Werner, Drag Race Bracket Bonanza creator. “Part of the reason I started Drag Race Bracket Bonanza was so fans could bust each other chops about their drag racing bracket skills. Lyle, Steve and Courtney are top-tier ball-busters, and I can’t wait to see how their brackets play out.”

Since launching the free bracket game for drag racing fans at the 2023 U.S. Nationals, Drag Race Bracket Bonanza has sent prizes to 42 states and five countries outside of the U.S. Those prizes include the DRBB event plaques sponsors this year by Summit Racing Equipment, that are sent to the Overall winner, Top Fuel winner, Funny Car winner, Pro Stock winner and Pro Stock Motorcycle winner at each national event. So far, all DRBB event plaques have been signed by the drivers who won each event.

2025 prizes will also include three trophies designed by Katie Buttera of @applegirlart for winners of The Majors series, a custom Impact Racing helmet signed by all drivers in the Countdown, plans are also in the works for more opportunities for players to pick against NHRA legends and drag racing celebrities.

About Drag Race Bracket Bonanza
Drag Race Bracket Bonanza is the first dynamic bracket competition for drag racing fans. Launched during the 2023 U.S. Nationals and improved for the 2024 season, fans could fill out brackets for all four professional categories at the conclusion of professional qualifying. The free game includes league play, text notifications and a robust stats package to make playing even easier for fans. Developed and owned by Werner G+E, Drag Race Bracket Bonanza is the first fan-centric offering from the Dallas-based production company.

About Shake and Bake Show
The Shake & Bake Show brings raw drag racing takes, elite guests, and top-tier smack talk with Stevie “Fast” Jackson, Lyle Barnett, and Courtney Enders. Live every other Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET on Steve Jackson Racing’s YouTube!

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DYSON COMES HOME TO LIME ROCK, AIMS FOR 2ND STRAIGHT 2025 TRANS AM WIN

May 21, 2025 ARP Trish

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (May 21, 2025) – Don’t bet against Chris Dyson at Lime Rock Park, especially if it’s a Trans Am race. Of the five times America’s longest running road racing series has visited the beautiful New England facility in the modern era Dyson has won three times. And the two times he didn’t win, he finished second.

Dyson arrives at Lime Rock Park hot off success on the Trans Am by Pirelli Series’ recent West Coast swing. At the wheel of his #16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang Dyson won at Laguna Seca earlier this month after finishing a close second the week before at Sonoma. The Sonoma race marked a successful return to the series for the three-time champion after injuries suffered in a crash at the season-opening race at Sebring that forced Dyson to miss the next race at Road Atlanta.

“Lime Rock is such a special place for our family and we have had so many memorable moments here,” Dyson said. “This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of our team’s debut race and win in the IMSA Camel GTP series. It inspired me as a boy and I’ve been fortunate to be able to enjoy lots of success here since my earliest driving days. And we always have lots of family and friends attending which only adds to the excitement.

“I can’t say enough about the facility and its recent upgrades,” Dyson continued. “This track layout just generates excitement. Like an oval it is a momentum lap and there is zero let-up here. It is maximum commitment with very little room for error. In a Trans Am car it’s sensational because with the horsepower we have, the corners come up very quickly. I can’t wait to be back racing ‘at home’ again. We have a lot of racing ahead of us this Memorial Day weekend, and I’m honored and humbled to have these opportunities.”

Brabham Back for Lime Rock

This weekend Matthew Brabham will be making his second start of the season for CD Racing. Standing in for the injured Dyson, Brabham drove Dyson’s #16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang to victory at Road Atlanta. This weekend Brabham will be piloting the team’s #21 Ford Mustang. It’s the same car Brabham drove to second place at Lime Rock in 2022.

Matos & Concord American Flagpole Look to Extend TA2 Point Lead

Rafa Matos is the defending TA2 class series champion and Lime Rock Park race winner. Matos’ victory at Laguna Seca, the first of the season for him and his #57 Concord American Flagpole Chevrolet Camaro, boosted him to the top the championship standing following 11th, 4th and third-place finishes in the first three races of the season.

“I’m grateful that Concord American Flagpole colors followed me when I changed teams for the 2025 season,” Matos said. “It was an honor to win the championship showcasing the ‘stars and stripes’ branding last year. We’ve got some real momentum building after the recent races. A win at Lime Rock on Saturday would be a big help in winning a second straight championship for Concord American.”

Matos is the TA2-class all-time race-win leader and in addition to his title last year was also the championship winner in 2021 and in 2018, his rookie year in the series. It’s a mark of Matos’s consistency that his four other TA2 seasons he has never finished lower than third in the championship standings.

Concord American Flagpole USAC Sprint Car Team Has Busy Memorial Day Weekend Schedule

CD Racing’s open-wheel short-track team is racing three times over the Memorial Day weekend. Brady Bacon will be behind the wheel of the #20 Concord American Flagpole red, white and blue liveried winged sprint car for the Bob Weikert Memorial meet at Pennsylvania’s half-mile dirt surface Port Royal Speedway.

Following the races at Port Royal the team will head west to Iowa’s legendary Knoxville Raceway for a pair of USAC non-wing races, May 30-31. Driving the #20 Concord American Flagpole car Bacon recently scored his 60th USAC sprint car feature win. That victory left Bacon just two tallies shy of the all-time USAC sprint car win record established by the retired legend Dave Darland, a mark Bacon could possibly match at Knoxville.

For more on Chris Dyson Racing.
TA Lime Rock Park Schedule

Qualifying takes place Monday, May 26, 8:45 – 9:00 AM ET

The 100-mile race takes the green flag Monday, May 26, at 12:00 PM (NOON) ET

TA2 Lime Rock Park Schedule

Qualifying takes place Saturday, May 24, 9:05 – 9:40 AM ET

The 100-mile race takes the green flag Saturday, May 24, at 1:20 PM ET

Broadcast Schedule

The race will be live-streamed on both SpeedTour.TV and the SpeedTour TV YouTube channel.

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Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Honda Message Points

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

May 16, 2025 — Speedway, IN

Speedway, IN
Saturday, May 17, 2025 11 AM FS1 | 1:30 PM FS2 | 4 PM Fox
Sunday, May 18, 2025 4 PM Fox
All times Eastern

What to Watch for in Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500

Practice Makes Perfect: Honda teams and drivers completed four days of practice this week leading up to qualifying. Alex Palou led the NTT INDYCAR SERIES combined practice times across the first three days with a speed of 227.546 MPH. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood led the non-tow speeds in his #27 Honda with a speed of 222.760 MPH. Honda drivers notched the top four fastest non-tow speeds on Friday—running with increased boost levels—led by Scott Dixon, followed by Palou, Kirkwood and Kirkwood’s Andretti teammate Colton Herta.
Pushing for Pole Position: Honda has 14 poles in 25 Indianapolis 500 races, most recently with Palou in 2023. Prior to 2024, Honda drivers had qualified on the pole for the previous four consecutive Indianapolis 500s. The streak started in 2020 with Marco Andretti leading the field. Scott Dixon qualified on the pole in both 2021-22, followed by Palou in 2023. Other Honda Indy 500 pole winners include Buddy Rice (2004), Tony Kanaan (2005), Sam Hornish Jr. (2006), Helio Castroneves (2007, 2009, 2010), Scott Dixon (2008, 2017), Alex Tagliani (2011) and James Hinchcliffe (2016).
Qualifying at the Indianapolis 500: Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 operates differently to the other NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. With only 33 spots and 34 qualifiers, the fight is to make it into the field as much as it is to qualify up front. Positions are determined by the highest average speed over four laps of the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Qualifying on Saturday will lock in positions 13-30, as well as determining who will advance to Top 12 qualifying show, and those that will be fighting for the last positions on the grid. Sunday begins with the Top 12 shootout, determining positions 7-12, as well as those moving on to the Firestone Fast Six. That is followed by Last Chance qualifying, where the final row of the grid will be determined—as well as the driver that will not partake in next week’s Indy 500. Finally, Sunday will close with the Firestone Fast Six, where the six fastest drivers will vie for pole position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The Alex Palou Show: The reigning and three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has started his 2025 championship run with an impressive four wins in the first five races. His worst finish this year is a second place at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach—finishing behind Honda driver Kyle Kirkwood, giving Honda five wins in a row to start the year. However, the driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda has yet to win on an oval. He came close to winning the Indy 500 in 2021—finishing second to Helio Castroneves—and sat on the pole here in 2023. The Spaniard is looking for 500 glory and to continue his impressive start to the year.

2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Honda Lineup

Andretti Global	#26 Colton Herta (W) #27 Kyle Kirkwood (W) #28 Marcus Ericsson (I) (W) #98 Marco Andretti (W)
Chip Ganassi Racing	# 8 Kyffin Simpson # 9 Scott Dixon (C) (I) (W) #10 Alex Palou (C) (W)
Dale Coyne Racing	#18 Rinus VeeKay (W) #51 Jacob Abel (R)
Meyer Shank Racing	#60 Felix Rosenqvist (W) #66 Marcus Armstrong #06 Helio Castroneves (I) (W)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	#15 Graham Rahal (W) #30 Devlin DeFrancesco #45 Louis Foster (R) #75 Takuma Sato (I) (W)

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

Where to Watch

Television coverage of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 begins Saturday, May 17th on FS1. Continuing coverage will air at 1:30 PM at FS2, and then on Fox at 4 PM ET.
Sunday’s Top 12, Fast Six and Bump Day qualifying will air on Sunday, May 18th on Fox beginning at 4 PM ET.

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INDYCAR-Team Penske NewS Conference

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Friday, May 16, 2025

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Team Penske Press Conference

· Tim Cindric

· Rick Mears

· Will Power

· Josef Newgarden

· Scott McLaughlin

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the DEX Imaging Media Center here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Obviously a big day ahead. We’ll get started with our Fast Friday news conferences leading off with Team Penske, followed by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing around 9:15, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing at 10:00 a.m. this morning, followed by Louis Schwitzer Award at 10:30, and then at 11:00, an Indianapolis 500 event update as well. A busy day. We’ll get started here shortly with Team Penske.

So many traditions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Fast Friday and team news conferences are certainly among those. We’re starting this morning with Team Penske, and Tim Cindric, Team Penske’s INDYCAR president joins us this morning. Also Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. Scott McLaughlin is here, driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, Will Power, driver No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, and it’s always great to welcome back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rick Mears, four-time winner of the Indy 500 presented by Gainbridge. All four wins with Team Penske.

109th Indianapolis 500 marks the 51st year Team Penske has entered the race, first coming back in 1969 with Mark Donohue driving a McLaren, the team’s first win then just three years later in 1972. From there, names like the aforementioned Rick Mears, Unser, Hornish, de Ferran, Castroneves, Will Power have all won victories for the captain, of course the last two by Josef Newgarden. 14 different drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske. Newgarden, as mentioned, delivering the last two. Last year’s win also accomplishing the feat with Roger getting No. 20.

This weekend Team Penske has a chance at capturing its 700th pole, as well, with almost half of those, 306, in fact, collected in INDYCAR competition. McLaughlin leads the way for Team Penske with 70, all told in the organization, power a close second with 64 for Team Penske, part of his INDYCAR record 70. All told, this team, Team Penske, has over 720 years of experience at the Indianapolis 500.

Tim, we’ll open things up for you. Your first win came back in 2001 and I believe the story goes Roger came up to you and said, hey, we’re going to go for 20. I don’t know what your reaction was at the time, but now you guys sit here with that number, if not more, for years to come. How much pride have you taken in the run that Team Penske has had here?

TIM CINDRIC: It’s hard to believe that we’ve got to that point. For me, just winning one race here was kind of a dream come true. Sitting there in Victory Lane with Roger in 2001 with he and Helio, I just said to Roger, because that would have been his 11th Indy win, and I said, look, I know this is kind of old hat for you, but for me this is a big deal. He said, I’ve never finished first and second here, but I want 20. I thought he said 12, because it was 11. He’s like, no, 20.

Anyway, to be sitting here knowing that we accomplished that is pretty cool.

THE MODERATOR: Rick, welcome back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’m hoping you’ve had a chance to visit the newly renovated Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. Yes?

RICK MEARS: Yes, I have.

THE MODERATOR: What are your thoughts on that?

RICK MEARS: It’s unbelievable. It really is. Everybody, great congratulations. Just a tremendous job, everybody involved in that that had a hand in it, it’s just tremendous.

I think the section we’re talking about with the four-time winners, that was — first of all, I never dreamed of being included in a list like that to begin with, period, so to be there with all four winners and the way it’s done up and to be able to sit there and watch all the videos of each race and everything, to be able to be involved with it just brings back a lot of memories to begin with.

Just such an honor to be in that section.

THE MODERATOR: Will, for you, big announcement during the open test last month that depending on where you finish, going to help out some veteran debt, as well. Here we are a week out from the 500. Any pressure now? What are you going to do with the veteran debt? You’ve got to finish in the top 10 to double that.

WILL POWER: I do, yeah, a million dollars if I finish in the top 10. They’re going to wipe way $6 million worth of veteran debt —

TIM CINDRIC: Is that what you offered?

WILL POWER: The 6 or the 1?

TIM CINDRIC: The 1.

WILL POWER: If I win — I think we can all put in, right? No, seriously, I shouldn’t say that.

But yeah, it’s a great initiative between Penske, Verizon, Colts, IMS. It’s a tough position to be in for these guys, these veterans, to rack up so much debt through no fault of their own because it’s all medical debt. I’m really proud to be a part of it.

I actually have a veteran on my car, Blaine Hardy. He’s been on my car for more than a decade, and some of the stories you hear about these guys that went and fought for our country and ended up in a terrible position, I think it’s a very cool initiative.

THE MODERATOR: And the car is running well, too, so who knows on race day, right?

WILL POWER: Yes, sir, that’s the plan. Not top 10, the plan is to be No. 1.

THE MODERATOR: Josef, stop me if you’ve heard this before. No one in the 108-year history of the 500 has gone three in a row. You’ve gone two in a row. Getting that second one, I feel like you come in maybe relaxed going for the third? How would you describe your week so far for you?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m just happy to be here. You have no idea. I know that sounds like a line just to state, but I wake up happy. It feels like Christmas. It’s just the best. I love living here for three weeks. I almost wish it was longer. It’s definitely one of my favorite times of the year if not the favorite. It just gets better when you win it.

I feel like I’m already — I’m looking back in my life while still living it. I know we’re going to look back on this and feel so cool about what we were able to do as far as being able to drive for Team Penske with this group. It’s been so fun. We have a really, really good team across the board.

Yeah, excited to go racing. Look, we have an opportunity, obviously, to set history next weekend, which would be tremendous. I’m not focused on that. I think it’s circumstantial in a lot of ways. I want to win the race, and I think all of us do sitting up here. We all want to win the race, and that’s what we’re focused on.

If we win the race, everything you just spoke about kind of falls in line. But we’ve just got to focus on doing our job every year and enjoy that process. That’s what I’ve kind of brought myself back to the last two seasons. Yeah, like I said, I’m happy to be here. I’m happy it’s the month of May.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, you seem more and more comfortable around here, as well, obviously last year fastest four-lap average, winning on ovals and other tracks now. How much confidence do you have coming into this month of May for you?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel every time you come here, you just take that next little step. These guys have been coming here a long time and I’m still leaning on them a little bit throughout that stage. But yeah, I feel super excited for what’s ahead.

I think having the experience of running up in front last year was crucial for me in my development and how I learnt from that, and I feel like I’ve sort of judged on what I did wrong and what I did right last year and just trying to mold into a better person and a better driver as we work forward.

Really proud of the group. The team has worked so hard. We were fast last year, but at the end of the day, we haven’t rested on our laurels and we’ve worked even harder to be better again.

That’s what it takes in INDYCAR. It’s so tough out there right now. The margins are so tight. You’ve just got to dot your I’s, cross your T’s, and hopefully at the end of it you’ve picked the right settings and you make the moves at the right times.

Q. Two, like always. One question for Rick Mears and one for Tim. Rick, from the very first time you sat in an INDYCAR cockpit until nowadays, what do you think personally for you is the most significant technology development in INDYCAR racing or INDYCAR motorsport? And question for Tim, a couple of weeks ago I got a media release that you want to cut back your activities with Team Penske. Can you describe what you’re doing now?

RICK MEARS: Yeah, as far as the biggest change to me is the safety. I think that’s one of the largest things.

When I started, the cars that we ran, say the ’79 car, it was state-of-the-art, the safest car out there, and I look at the cars before me and think, wow, how did they drive those things.

But again, you can go from where I was at in ’79, if I get in that car today and look around, I’m thinking, how did I ever hit the wall with this. It just keeps progressing, and today the safety is the biggest thing.

That and electronics as far as measuring everything that the car is doing, all the data readout and that kind of thing, to be able to fine tune in small areas, which we couldn’t do back then. But really safety is probably the biggest thing.

TIM CINDRIC: Yeah, for me, I guess it was after the first of the year. I’m basically doing the INDYCAR program that I’ve always done. I started in the INDYCAR world and then spent the last 20 years doing whatever Roger decided he wanted to do in the racing world.

I looked after it. Just decided it was time for me to maybe have some time for myself and a bit more flexibility and go INDYCAR racing exclusively, really. Yeah, I still look after the car collection and archives and all that kind of stuff for Roger, but beyond that, it’s business as usual on the INDYCAR car. But don’t really have responsibilities beyond that.

Q. Rick, what does Josef do that would allow him to win a third consecutive 500?

RICK MEARS: We talked a little bit about this the other day. All I can do is kind of go off what I felt I should do. I can’t really speak for Josef. But to me, it’s just treat it as another race.

Myself, if I had two or whatever, it didn’t matter. Each year you go into this race as a new race, and you’re here to win it. That was all my focus was on this day. It had nothing to do with whether it was No. 2 or No. 3 or No. 4 or whatever.

But I think to me, that helps keep it just as another race. This is Indianapolis; it’s almost impossible to keep it as another race. But that’s the frame of mind I tried to keep when we were running.

That way I’m not pressured into doing something that I shouldn’t do possibly. I just think that’s the best way. That’ll be up to him how he wants to approach it.

Q. For Josef, you’ve obviously used the word “perfect” quite a lot in kind of what it takes to win here, but can you define what perfect means at Indy and what it takes to get there, whether that’s something in the team, your approach? What does it take to be perfect after all those years to get over the line, not once but twice?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, maybe “perfect” is the wrong word. I don’t know that you can have a perfect day any day, but you have to be as close to it as possible. I guess the way I would sum it up, Indy magnifies the team effort more than anywhere. I’ve stated that a lot, and I think it’s very true, abundantly true here at this speedway. Everybody has to pull forward and really perform in an excellent way.

I don’t know how you win this race without the complete team.

It’s the same thing sitting on the pole. It just magnifies the team effort through and through.

On race day, you can have all the ingredients. You can feel like you have the winning car underneath you. You can feel really good about the moves you’re making. But if everything is not complete from a team side, you will not win the race. It just has to be almost as close to perfect as possible.

I think that’s what I’ve tried to just continue to repeat, is that it’s such a team effort here. It is everywhere, but it’s magnified at Indy to another level that we don’t see for the rest of the year.

Q. For Rick, you obviously did this four times, so you had to be, quite unquote, kind of perfect four times to win this race. Looking back, how did you manage to achieve that feat, and how much did it mean to you to be remembered in that exclusive club?

RICK MEARS: You know, having the right team and the right equipment and the tools you need to get the job done is what it takes, everything being in place at the right time, no mistakes. The old saying is you’re only as strong as your weakest link, and try to control all the variables and then have a lot of lady luck with you, also. There’s always a little lady luck involved. You control your own destiny to a point, but there’s a little lady luck there, too.

It’s just all got to come together on the day. It’s like I’ve always said, you never know about this place until you see the checkered flag. We were talking about that the other day. Somebody asked me after my first win, when did you realize you had it sewed up, and I said once I came off of Turn 4 heading for the checkered flag, not until I got by pit end because once I got by pit end, then I knew if all the wheels fell off the thing I could slide the rest of the way. But that’s as soon as I let myself feel I had it won.

Q. For Scott, we’ve obviously seen Simon Pagenaud with you again. What areas has he helped you the most, and what more has he helped you with this year, as well, and is this solely an Indy thing or is he helping you in the wider season, as well?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We’re talking the whole season, but I think Simon has been just really helpful in a lot of ways, just how I look at things outside the box.

I’m probably — a detriment to my own career throughout the years is I haven’t been as intricate with looking at little details, and I think Simon is the professor in that regard. Like he’s very, very — strives for perfection in a lot of ways in how he sets up his car and what he feels.

It’s probably allowing me to look into more details and just the way I look at myself and the driving, the lines and what I’m doing with weight jacker and bars. It’s really helped sort of accelerate my progress here, and really am enjoying working with a friend, as well.

Q. I’ve got one question for Josef. How do you handle stress and pressure when you know that you can make history, like winning three Indy 500s? No one ever did that before, so how do you feel about it?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, there’s two ways you can look at it. One way it could be very low stress. The odds of us winning it three times in a row are astronomical. They’re not in our favor. So what’s the stress then. Just go out and enjoy the day.

To me that’s one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is, to Rick’s point, this is still Indy. You feel the same stress every year when you show up here regardless of the circumstance. There’s a lot of effort that goes into every single season. This is a 12-month process, building these cars, strategizing for what we’re going to be doing throughout this month, and you want to perform every year for the team. All of us do.

All of us feel that pressure on race day. I don’t know that that changes, to Rick’s point, whether it’s the first time or the fourth time or whatever time it is. You feel the pressure regardless.

So when you’re here for many years, you either end up enjoying that pressure or you let it sort of break you down. I enjoy the pressure of this race day. I think it’s fun to go and perform when it’s really going to matter on the race.

From the pressure standpoint, I don’t think it changes year over year, and then if you just want to really simplify it, I don’t know that the odds are very good for us to win it three times in a row, so what does it matter; let’s just have a good time running the race. For me, it’s easy going.

Q. For Rick, as somebody who’s a young racing fan myself, I want to know how tricky was it driving in Indy in those days, particularly when it was so dangerous? Obviously we had Gordon Smiley’s accident in ’82. What was it like knowing when you get on to that track that anything could go wrong with the car? Nowadays it still happens, but what was it like back then knowing that the chances of something going wrong were so high?

RICK MEARS: Really, you never really think about that. Driving a car is what I love doing, and that’s the whole reason I got into it. It started as a hobby just because I loved driving the cars.

You always try to keep it — I always felt like if I stay within my limits and the car’s limits, there’s not a problem. Don’t have to worry about it. But there’s always things that can happen. Things end up happening around you from time to time, but the old saying, you just kind of put that out of your head and continue on down the road.

But the main thing for me is because it’s what I enjoyed doing. Now, obviously if I wasn’t having fun at it and it wasn’t what I loved doing, you couldn’t make me get in one. I think that is the main thing is if you enjoy what you’re doing, you just put it out of your head and go on.

Q. For all three of the drivers, trueing out, turning up the boost, qualifying mode at Indy is always tricky. New circumstances this year; is it slightly trickier, significantly more difficult? How will the next 48 hours be here for you or 72 hours be?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think with the weight, it is more difficult or it’s more on a knife’s edge. You saw a couple of crashes on the test we had here.

I think the wind is the thing that will play the biggest part in how difficult it’s going to be. Yeah, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. The temperature will be a bit cooler, but you’re going to have big winds, and these cars are affected a lot by that.

Q. I don’t know if maybe Tim’s best for this question, but Simon has really enjoyed working with you, Scott, and it’s a role that he thinks that he would like to expand if possible. Is there maybe something at Team Penske that he could do that involves him with the team and he can work with your drivers?

TIM CINDRIC: Simon is always welcome within our team. We spent some time together last night, and obviously how Scott wants to approach the race and how these drivers approach the race, my experience is every driver is different.

So I think it really depends on where the benefits are from an individual perspective.

But Simon has a lot going on on his own, beyond our team. I know Simon has been offered some really good things to do, but there’s only so much that Simon really wants to do. I think he can be a benefit for anybody around this place. I don’t think there’s any limit in terms of what he does, but at the same time, he wants to be productive.

Just hanging around probably isn’t what he wants to do, either. I think we have a pretty good balance, and we’re always open to him within our team. We always look at all the drivers that have been here as kind of part of our team, and I think that’s what makes us special.

Q. Everybody up there was part of the 2018 Indy 500 win except for Scott, who wasn’t here yet. Do you think that with the added weight from the hybrid we’ll see more of a 2018 style of race than what we’ve seen the past couple of years, which is more passing?

WILL POWER: Only if it was like a 90-degree day. It seems pretty similar to last year at the front, just switching back and forth. Yeah, I don’t see anyone just driving away. It would have to be a very hot day for that.

Q. Josef, do you remember back in 2018, it seemed that track position was extremely valuable; once Will was in the lead it was very hard for anybody to pass him because of the way the aero was at the time?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I’ve answered this earlier in the week, too. Just to echo Will, it’s going to be, in my opinion, a very similar show to last year, bearing the weather isn’t crazy hot. If it’s a 90-degree day, then it can string out more.

I think the cars in a lot of ways drive in a similar fashion to last season. There’s a new element with the hybrid. That’s going to change up the way you race. But I think the ability to pass is not going to deviate that much from last year.

Q. But at the end of the race, I believe you were telling me you need to be in the top 3 because if you’re any lower than that you’re not going to be able to fight it out.

WILL POWER: Yeah, the top 2, to be honest. Yeah, top 3 if these two get together type thing. But yeah, I think you kind of get locked out if you’re not in the top 2. Those guys are going to go back and forth, back and forth, sort of the same situation as the last lap last year.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: As far as positioning, you’re going to have to watch to see. I don’t know yet. You can start studying during the race. I can tell you that.

Q. Do you guys think it’s better on race day to soak in all the pageantry and absorb all the crowd and all that stuff or try to block it out and get into the zone and focus? What’s better for you at this place?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I mean, coming here my first time in ’21, it was like 50 percent, and I thought that was pretty crazy, and then the next year after that was where I saw a full-blown 500. I enjoy just soaking it in. I think it’s our one time a year where it generally feels like our Super Bowl and it’s our biggest race. You don’t know how long you’re going to do this for; it’s just really cool just to be a part of it. That’s how I approach it. I enjoy having some friends come out and watch, and yeah, soaking in what’s going to be a pretty cool day hopefully.

Q. Will, at Long Beach last year you looked in the crystal ball and predicted a Team Penske front row lockout. I know we haven’t had Fast Friday practice yet, but what do you think this weekend? Are you three going to be sitting here Sunday night?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Hold on, this is very important what he says because Will has an incredible crystal ball. I don’t know how. He, like, can predict the future. It’s really weird.

TIM CINDRIC: He predicted his draw number last —

WILL POWER: A couple years ago.

Q. What’s your outlook this week?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think one of our cars will be on pole, and I’m not sure about the front row lockout. We have the potential to do it, but the wind is going to play a part. Yeah, I think one of our cars will be on pole.

Q. All three in Fast Six?

WILL POWER: Yes.

TIM CINDRIC: We settled this a while back. It was unanimous that the drivers are going to draw from here on out, and they’ve done a good job.

WILL POWER: My wife did mine last year. She will do it again.

TIM CINDRIC: I should say the drivers are going to decide who draws for them from here on out. Certainly I’ll decline.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I was just thinking as you asked that, like, what if I ask Tim to do it. He’ll probably say no.

TIM CINDRIC: No, we’re in a good place. I got booed. I deserved to be booed.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Your last one was a bad one.

WILL POWER: That was crazy. I can’t believe you got all three just like —

THE MODERATOR: With that, we’ll wrap it up. The three drivers will be briefly available for one-on-ones, Rick and Tim a little bit longer than that. Thanks for leading us off here on our Fast Friday news conferences, and have a great day today.

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Cruz Pedregon–Joliet advance

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

Cruz Pedregon and Primary Sponsor Snap-on Unveil Paint Scheme that Pays Tribute to

“The Makers and Fixers”

JOLIET, IL (May 16, 2024) – Cruz Pedregon and team are debuting a new “Makers and Fixers” paint scheme this weekend in Joliet. The team’s primary sponsor, Snap-on, designed the car to encourage those essential workers, like many fans at the track and watching from home, and the crew members who tune the cars to share stories of their work. You’ll see images of real Makers and Fixers on the hood and side-panels.

“It’s important to Snap-on and to us as a team to shine a light on the professionals who keep race teams, and the world, running every day,” Cruz says. “I get to hear from so many of these professionals about the important work they do when I ride-along with Snap-on franchisees to visit their customers’ shops before races and when they stop by the pits on race weekends. Their stories are truly remarkable, and we want to pay tribute to those who make and fix things critical to us all.”

Cruz’s sponsor Snap-on is celebrating 105 years of providing tools, equipment, and diagnostics for technicians around the world, supporting drivers here at the track, and NHRA fans in the stands and watching the broadcasts.

Snap-on has been active in racing for decades and is proud to support Cruz’s commitment to its customers, and this Makers and Fixers livery celebrates those who do real work for the real world and are essential to our daily lives.

With this reveal, Snap-on sends its thanks to the crews that tune the cars and the fans in the stands who make the National Hot Rod Association what it is today, the largest auto racing organization in the world.

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Chevrolet Power Represented by 18 Teams and Drivers as Preparations Continue for Qualifying to Make 33-Car Field of 109th Running of Indianapolis 500

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2025) – After consistent results during the first three days of practice for the Indianapolis 500 for the Team Chevy drivers and teams, the boost gets turned up for Fast Friday presented by Turtle Wax and PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying. The boost on the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 goes from 1.3 bar to 1.5 bar, which equates to 70 extra horsepower and lap speeds over 230mph. As the “Month of May” rolls on, Team Chevy is proud to introduce (listed by organization) the 18 drivers and their cars ready for Fast Friday:

A.J. Foyt Enterprises

No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet:

No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet

Arrow McLaren

No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

No.23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES

No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST

Ed Carpenter Racing

No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet

No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet

No. 33 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet

Juncos Hollinger Racing

No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

PREMA Racing

No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet

No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet

Team Penske

No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet

No.3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet

No.12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet

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Thornton Tames Thursday Night Opener at Eagle

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

EAGLE, NE (May 15, 2025) – Ricky Thornton Jr. regained the lead for good on lap 35 and maintained it to win night one of the Malvern Bank High Bank Heist on Thursday night at Eagle Raceway. This victory marked Thornton’s eighth win of the season in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing and his first at Eagle, after finishing second the previous year to Hudson O’Neal during the series’ inaugural visit to the Roger Hadan-promoted facility. In the final ten laps of the race, Thornton stumbled briefly in turn four while leading, allowing Jonathan Davenport to slip by for the lead on lap 34. However, Thornton quickly recovered and regained the top spot, going on to win over Davenport by 1.341 seconds. Kyle Bronson came from 11th to secure third place on the Big River Steel Podium. Devin Moran finished fourth, and Garrett Alberson took fifth. Hudson O’Neal was trying to win for the second time in less than a year at Eagle, bolting to the lead at the start of the 40-lap main event. He paced the field for the first 11 circuits until Thornton grabbed the lead from him on lap 12. Thornton maintained a steady lead until Davenport emerged as a contender in the final 10 laps of the race. Davenport had multiple chances in the closing stretch, but a caution flag each time cost him the opportunity for the race lead. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 50th time in his career, the defending champion came from the sixth starting spot to get the win in a race that saw three different leaders and four lead changes. “I just slowed down too much going into four, I didn’t realize the groove was getting as big as it was out there. I tried to pace myself, but I got close to the 15 car, and I thought, alright, I am just going to ride for a lap right here, and I got over the berm. I could barely hold the steering wheel, and it ripped it out of my hand. I thought I was going to destroy the wall, and I was going to spin out down the race track. I had a vibration, and I figured that my right rear wheel cover had to be destroyed. On the restart, I had a terrible start, and then the yellow came back out again, and I thought JD was going to slide me and probably going to win it.” Davenport had a glimmer of hope leading lap 34, but a couple of cautions kept him from possibly stealing the win from Thornton in the closing laps after Thornton got back around him on lap 35. “It was just bad timing on the cautions, really. I wouldn’t have had a chance if Ricky hadn’t made that mistake on the cushion, and we got to him. I made a mistake, I should have gone around the top whenever I got past him, but I thought I could hug the bottom and break his momentum coming back to me. It didn’t work, and he got back by me, and then I got another run on him and was going to slide him in three and four, and then somebody had a flat. I got going again and was going to pass him again, and then another caution came out, and then he knew to go to the top. He doesn’t usually make two mistakes in a row. He did a good job, congratulations to him.” Bronson came from the inside of row six to take the third spot at the finish. “We brought a different car out today. The scariest moment was when I got a little too low on one of those restarts and got in that slime and slid across the race track. It’s nice to have a track that you could make up for something like that; there was a big ‘ole cushion there. I am just looking forward to tomorrow, it’s been a while since we have been on a track with a lot of grip.” The winner’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Elite Ready Mix, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Knight’s Companies, Capital Waste, Sunoco Race Fuels, EMD Wraps, Certified Inspection Services. Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Dillon McCowan, Brandon Overton, and Carson Ferguson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Malvern Bank Presents High Bank Heist | Night 1Thursday, May 15, 2025Eagle Raceway – Eagle, NE Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal | 13.513 seconds Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson | 13.409 seconds (overall) Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 4. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 6. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 7. 19M-Spencer Hughes[7]; 8. 7D-Dusty Leonard[9]; 9. 18-Jesse Sobbing[8]; 10. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[6]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 14S-Collen Winebarger[7]; 7. 28W-Ian Whisler[3]; 8. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 9. 10-Junior Coover[9]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish ( Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[4]; 5. 28-Sam Mars[5]; 6. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 7. 04-Tad Pospisil[7]; 8. (DNS) 30G-Jordan Grabouski; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 6. 35D-Dylan Sillman[6]; 7. 6J-Jake Neal[8]; 8. 07-Ben Sukup[5]; 9. 71M-Michael Morton[9] Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 18C-Chase Junghans[3]; 3. 14S-Collen Winebarger[4]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 6. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 7. 18-Jesse Sobbing[9]; 8. 10-Junior Coover[10]; 9. 28W-Ian Whisler[6]; 10. (DNS) 7D-Dusty Leonard; 11. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 2. 35D-Dylan Sillman[4]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 4. 28-Sam Mars[1]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 6. 6J-Jake Neal[6]; 7. 07-Ben Sukup[8]; 8. 71M-Michael Morton[10]; 9. (DNS) 30G-Jordan Grabouski; 10. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Malvern Bank Presents High Bank Heist | Night 1 Feature Finish (40 Laps): Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay1 – 6 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $10,2002 – 5 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $5,5003 – 11 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $3,5004 – 9 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $2,7005 – 2 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,5006 – 7 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $2,3007 – 1 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,2008 – 22 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $2,1009 – 10 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,05010 – 8 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $2,00011 – 13 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $1,60012 – 15 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,40013 – 3 – 38T – Dylan Thornton – Orcutt, CA – $1,20014 – 16 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – $1,10015 – 18 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $95016 – 23 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $92517 – 20 – 35D – Dylan Sillman – Alvo, NE – $90018 – 14 – 15 – Clay Stuckey – Shreveport, LA – $87519 – 21 – 14S – Collen Winebarger – Corbett, OR – $85020 – 19 – 18C – Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS – $82521 – 17 – 16 – Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – $80022 – 12 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $80023 – 24 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – $80024 – 4 – 76N – Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD – $800 Race Statistics Entrants: 37Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Hudson O’NealMD3 Lap Leaders: Hudson O’Neal (Laps 1-11); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 12-33); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 34); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 35-40)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Margin of Victory: 1.341 secondsColtman Farms Racing Cautions: Blair Nothdurft (Lap 1); Spencer Hughes, Blair Nothdurft, Dan Ebert (Lap 2); Chase Junghans (Lap 7); Brandon Sheppard (Lap 20); Daulton Wilson (Lap 35); Debris (Lap 36)Series Provisionals: Daniel Hilsabeck; Spencer HughesFast Time Provisional: n/aEmergency Provisional: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Kyle BronsonPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran, Garrett AlbersonPEM 4th Place Feature: Devin MoranDMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Garrett AlbersonWilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Hudson O’NealWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Cory LawlerDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Dylan ThorntonMD3 24th Place Feature: Blair NothdurftHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Dillon McCowan (Advanced 14 Positions) MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (28 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntoshPro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 7 | 13.990 seconds)Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Jonathan DavenportFresh Roof Hard Luck Award: Spencer HughesOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Zach FrieldsARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Carson Ferguson (13.6982 seconds)Time of Race: 26 minutes 43 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 – 3215 – $164,9502 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 3065 – $120,2003 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 3055 – $143,0494 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2795 – $55,6505 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 2725 – $55,6756 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 2720 – $60,9007 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 2660 – $63,3008 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – 2550 – $47,5009 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 2335 – $35,17510 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – 2280 – $31,70011 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 2205 – $24,97512 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – 2180 – $23,10013 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – 2145 – $27,35014 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 1965 – $22,00015 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 1960 – $17,45016 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 1780 – $12,175

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OHSWEKEN SWEEP: Gravel Charges from Fifth to Win Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken Finale

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

The champion completes his third event sweep of the 2025 with a drive from the third row

OHSWEKEN, ON (May 15, 2025) – Even when David Gravel looks like he might be out of contention for victory, he’s not.

The defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion lined up fifth for Thursday’s 35-lap Feature at Ohsweken Speedway, and on the opening circuit he slipped a spot to sixth.

The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 cruised around the 3/8 mile in that position for the first several circuits, unable to crack the top five. Finally, the time came for a pivotal restart.

The Watertown, CT native blasted into third when the green lights flashed again, and then only six laps later he took over the runner-up spot from early leader Dylan Westbrook. The hunt of Conner Morrell began as the Series rookie was out front in search of his first win. Gravel wasn’t about to let Morrell pull off a major upset.

Gravel rolled the bottom to perfection in the second half of the race and motored by Morrell on Lap 27, and that was the end of that battle. He built up more than a four-second advantage on his way to sweeping the Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken.

“I had a good restart there starting sixth, that was our whole race there going sixth to third on the start,” Gravel said. “It just gave me some more clear track to work with. The guys continue to give me great race cars every time we hit the racetrack. Cody (Jacobs) is on his game. Zach (Patterson) is on his game. Pete (Stephens) is on his game.”

Victories on Wednesday and Thursday made it three clean weekend sweeps this year for Tod Quiring’s team as Gravel also topped two in a row at Volusia Speedway Park (March 2-3) and Cotton Bowl Speedway (March 21-22). He joins Donny Schatz (four), Jason Sides (three), and Tony Stewart (two) as a multi-time Ohsweken winner with The Greatest Show on Dirt. His eight wins this season are more than double the second most. It was also a noteworthy night for Big Game Motorsports as their 117th World of Outlaws win as a team equaled them for fifth all-time with Roth Motorsports.

Gravel admitted it didn’t come easily as Morrell had speed behind the wheel of the Bill Rose Racing No. 28M. After having a run in with the Bradenton, FL native early in the year, the champion was complimentary of the rookie’s efforts of Thursday night.

“He did a great job. Hats off to him,” Gravel said. “I chewed his ass earlier in the year for driving a little wild, and he did a great job tonight as a race car driver. Hats off to him. He showed speed here on and off. He almost had a win here tonight on an extremely tricky track. They obviously got his car pretty good and just faded a little bit late, and we came on there at the end.”

Morrell held on for second as he claimed his first career World of Outlaws podium and posted the best finish of any of the seven Series rookies this year so far. The 21-year-old was emotional after coming so close to becoming a winner with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

The car kind of went away, and the driver kind of went away. I should’ve had it, but it is what it is, and I’ll try again at Cornwall,” Morrell said. “It’s tough being out here on a limited budget with three engines and limited equipment, but it is what it is. We’re going to keep pushing on.”

The final step of the podium belonged to Canada’s own Dylan Westbrook. The Scotland, ON native made the home fans proud by leading the first 14 circuits before posting a career best finish with the World of Outlaws.

“We were just a little loose there in the last half after that caution and started to fade a little bit,” Westbrook said. “I tried to move my line a little bit, but they just had their cars a bit better and could roll the middle more and just kind of park on the bottom to get the grip coming out. Still really happy, and it’s definitely my best Outlaw finish, got to lead some laps, and I’m really happy to do it here at my hometown track.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and Chris Windom completed the top five.

Donny Schatz rolled from 23rd to 10th in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 to grab the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Garet Williamson earned his first career Simpson Quick Time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to Garet Williamson (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Sheldon Haudenschild (Real American Beer Heat Two), David Gravel (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Chris Windom (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

The #SPATechnique #1 Redraw went to Dylan Westbrook.

Westbrook also topped the Toyota Dash.

Joe Trenca won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Giovanni Scelzi.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars close out their trip to Canada with a visit to Long Sault, ON’s Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 18 for the PartSource World of Outlaws Invasion. Tickets will be available at the track.

For the remaining 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[5]; 2. 28M-Conner Morrell[6]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[1]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[8]; 5. 7S-Chris Windom[2]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier[15]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[4]; 8. 6-Zach Hampton[17]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid[11]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz[23]; 11. 52-Stewart Friesen[13]; 12. 17X-Cory Turner[3]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart[19]; 14. 41-Carson Macedo[12]; 15. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 16. 17B-Bill Balog[10]; 17. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[7]; 18. 15T-Ryan Turner[16]; 19. 79-Jordan Thomas[22]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee[18]; 21. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 22. 77X-Alex Hill[24]; 23. 98-Joe Trenca[21]; 24. 22-Jonathan Preston[20]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

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McCreadie Returns to Victory Lane in Dominant Fashion at Raceway 7

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

CONNEAUT, OH (May 15, 2025) – Tim McCreadie has won everything there is to win in dirt Late Model racing.

He’s a former champion of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision. He’s won at Eldora, Fairbury, Knoxville, and every other showplace of dirt track racing under the sun. But Thursday night’s victory in the Great Lake Showdown at Raceway 7 will forever be one of the most memorable of his illustrious career.

At the start of the 2025 season, McCreadie unveiled a throwback to his father, “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie’s No. 9 with one mission in mind – bringing it back to Victory Lane. One year to the day after Bob’s passing, “T-Mac” led every lap on his way to the checkered flag.

The McCreadie-Briggs pairing didn’t get off to the start that either of them expected, as they finished top 10 twice in the first 10 races of the year. But a seventh-place run at the Talladega Short Track in April signaled that the tide was shifting back in their favor. McCreadie followed that up with a pair of top fives at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, making it clear that his first World of Outlaws win in four years wasn’t far away.

That win coming at Raceway 7 didn’t come as a surprise – in four Late Model starts at the track, McCreadie has now won twice and has never finished worse than fourth.

“I don’t know, I’ve never really run here that much,” McCreadie said. “Maybe the way the style is, keeping the car straight and not spinning so much kind of lends itself to what I like to do. When I was younger I liked to spin the tires a lot, now that I’ve gotten older, I like to keep the car underneath me.”

Not only is Conneaut one of McCreadie’s favorite places to race, it’s also one of Briggs’ home tracks and a place he’s been turning laps around for decades. That combination proved to be unbeatable as the No. 9M spent the 35-lap caution-free Feature driving away to a 2.6-second margin over the field.

“He told me where to be in Qualifying, he ran over and told me where he thought I needed to be and it was good,” McCreadie said. “He’s just positive. Since driving with him, the whole deal, it’s been amazing. He keeps me focused, and with everything going on today, he was just there for me.”

Behind McCreadie, Ashton Winger collected his second runner-up finish of the season in his Raceway 7 debut. The Georgian’s season got off to a nightmarish start with five missed Features at Volusia Speedway Park, but the Jeff Mathews Motorsports team have found their stride as of late with two top fives in their last three World of Outlaws starts.

“I knew from the Heat Race, you probably wanted to start on the top, I got a better launch than I thought I’d get here leaving four,” Winger said. “About halfway down the back straightaway, I could kind of hear him. Two choices, you kind of block and take a chance on crashing or just blow off down into three and try to get crossed over. I knew I slid getting into one, I think we all knew it was going to be important to get out front. It’s cool, we needed good runs. Didn’t do anything too stupid tonight.”

Much like McCreadie and Shirley, third-place runner Brian Shirley has also been finding his footing after a slow start to the season. “Squirrel” failed to crack the top five on the first eight nights of the year; he’s now done so in four of his last six starts.

“I feel like we’ve got to be just a little bit more tight,” Shirley said. “I feel like we’re just really, really loose. Just can’t get in the corner. But all in all, it was a good night.”

Drake Troutman extended his MD3 Rookie of the Year lead with a fourth-place run while Bobby Pierce notched his fifth-straight top five in the fifth spot.

RACE NOTES:

Cody Overton set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Drake Troutman earned the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Tim McCreadie won Real American Beer Heat 1.

Bobby Pierce won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Ashton Winger won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Brian Shirley won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Ryan Gustin won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdown.

Ashton Winger won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Max Blair won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Ashton Winger won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Drake Troutman was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Bobby Pierce was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Tristan Chamberlain was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision heads south into Pennsylvania to Marion Center Raceway for the Connor Bobik Memorial on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. Tickets will be available at the gate.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 9M-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman[7]; 7. 2-Cody Overton[13]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[8]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 10. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[5]; 11. 111-Max Blair[19]; 12. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[12]; 13. 96-Tanner English[14]; 14. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 15. 11-Austin Smith[15]; 16. 9Y-Levi Yetter[11]; 17. 49-Jake Timm[21]; 18. 57-Matt Tifft[20]; 19. B1-Brent Larson[23]; 20. 9S-Breyton Santee[22]; 21. 99B-Boom Briggs[16]; 22. 22B-Darrell Bossard[9]; 23. 555-Brock Pinkerous[24]; 24. 44-Dave Hess Jr[18]

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Josef Newgarden Topped Speed Charts on Practice Day Three Heading into Fast Friday

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2025

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NITRO Team Penske Chevrolet topped the speed charts at the conclusion of day three practice for the Indianapolis 500 with a top speed of 226.632 mph/39.7120 secondsThe two-time and defending winner has been in top-three fastest since practice opened on TuesdayNewgarden also posted the fasted non-tow time of the day – 222.55 mphConor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, continued to impress. during practice leading into the Greatest Spectacle in Racing posting the third fastest speed of 224.893 mph/40.0191 secondsPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES Chevrolet, completed the top-five in the final orderTony Kanaan, team principal for Arrow McLaren and stand-by driver for Kyle Larson in the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, completed his veteran. refresher protocol after weather postponed the required program for two daysUp next for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR Series is qualifying for the. 109 th Indianapolis 500 May 17-18, 2025, with Fast Friday up first when the boost is turned up from 1.3 bar to 1.5 adding approximately 60 additional horsepower. Saturday will see teams and drivers run for a starting position in the Indianapolis 500. At the conclusion of the day, the Fast 12 and positions 13-30 will be set. Sunday will see the battle for the final three starting positions, as well as the pole run from the Fast 12 to the Firestone Fast Six. Indy 500 qualifications will be televised on the FOX Network on Saturday, May 17, at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and. Sunday, May 18, at 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., as well as practice runs on FoxSports 1 and 2 both days
Indianapolis 500 Thursday Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 Thursday Non-Tow Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 practice tune-in alert Friday, May 16·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – noon-4pm (ET)/11am-3pm (CT)/10am-2pm (MT)/9am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Indianapolis 500 qualifying tune-in alert
Saturday, May 17 (PPG Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend)·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 8:30am-9:30am (ET)/7:30am-8:30am (CT)/6:30am-7:30am (MT)/5:30am-6:30am (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 11am-1:30pm (ET)/10am-12:30pm (CT)/9am-11:30am (MT)/8am-10:30am (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 1:30pm-4pm (ET)/12:30pm-3pm (CT)/11:30am-2pm (MT)/10:30am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FOX/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Sunday, May 18 (PPG Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend)·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice –1pm-3pm (ET)/noon-2pm (CT)/11am-1pm (MT)/10am-noon (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 4pm-7pm (ET)/3pm-6pm (CT)/2pm-5pm (MT)/1pm-4pm (PT) – FOX/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE (QUOTES)
Arrow McLaren
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“There are two different beasts you’re trying to make go fast, to be honest with you. Just because you have a good car in traffic doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good Qualifying car, and vice versa. I’ve done no Qualifying stuff because the car changes a lot with the boost. It could feel good today trimming wise but then tomorrow you put the boost on and it’s like, “What the hell happened to the car?” We had a read at the Open Test that I was somewhat happy with, so tomorrow we’ll see what we’ve got once the boost comes on. In traffic, I think we’ve gotten better, but there’s still a handful of other cars that I believe are a lot stronger than we are. There’s still work to do.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet: “We worked into traffic, and I think we made a lot of progress there. I’m very comfortable there. Now we’re shifting focus to Qualifying, and hopefully we have a good Fast Friday. I’m looking forward to more boost and more speed. I think the car will continue to be comfortable. The team is making good changes, and I have no doubt we’re going to have a fast race car. I’m excited to show what we have.”
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“Today was thankfully a good day. It was interesting running on the hotter track and seeing what that does to the car. I think tomorrow will definitely be different with colder weather and potentially more wind. We’re just trying to dial in the race car, verifying things that were good early in the week, and we’re moving around some things. We’re finding good items and applying them to see what works further down the road. I think where we are now is a pretty good spot. I’m looking forward for this weekend.”
Kyle Larson, No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“Practice went pretty good today. I thought our car was a little bit more competitive in dirty air, so I’m happy with that.”
DRR-Cusick Mostorsports
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No.23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES:“It was definitely hotter today and there were challenging conditions. But we are going to have challenging conditions for the next few days. Again, we were trying some big swings at the car today. One of them didn’t work so we had to go back to the garage to reset the car. We validated that and went back to where we like the car. Then we went back and reset the car for qualifying trim. And we got out and got some runs in qualifying trim. So, we got the big boxes checked off today. Friday is going to be very interesting with the wind and added horsepower for qualifying. We were able to work on pit stops today again and those seemed better. We just have to get ready for qualifying now.”
Jack Harvey, No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST:“It was a good day on the whole. I don’t think we are the fastest car, but I don’t think we are slowest either. Knock on wood. I think Ryan and I are super close in speed which is encouraging. We ran at different times of the day, and you can make an argument on who had the worst conditions in the afternoon. We did some qual setup early and then ran race settings later. I really appreciate the hard work of the INVST crew today. We went out late with some 45 minutes to go and baselined everything in the car. I think we have found something that works pretty well. Now we feel like we have good baselines for qualifying and race trim. Today was the hottest we have had this week, and we will be looking for more mechanical grip now. I think that will be our focus moving into Friday.” Team Penske
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet:“Pretty solid week so far. The team has being doing a lot of work and we’ve shown up really prepared. We’re sort of going through the motions, and can’t ever get ahead of ourselves. We’re excited for Fast Friday. It’s going to be quite hot tomorrow, so we’re going to be trying to work around that and forecast the change going into Saturday and Sunday as the temperature is going to fluctuate quite a bit. Feeling good so far, the car is in a great window. The team is feeling good so I’m excited for the weekend and to turn up the boost tomorrow.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet:“It was a pretty smooth day for me. The last couple of days we’ve run through race settings today and qual today. We’ve already done 20 something laps. I feel really strong and Chevy feels really strong. Playing with the different hybrid settings has been fun.”
Pato O’WardConor DalyPress ConferencePato O’Ward joins us, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Fourth quick overall. Best finish of a couple of years. 2022, 2024 as well. You feel pretty good heading into past Fast Friday tomorrow? Your thoughts?
PATO O’WARD: They’re two different beasts you’re trying to make go fast, to be fairly honest with you. Just because they have traffic car, doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good qualifying car and vice versa.So I have done no qualifying stuff, yeah. It changes a lot with the boost, so it could feel good today like trimming-wise, but then tomorrow you put the boost on, and you are, like, What the hell happened to the car?We had a read at the test. I was somewhat happy with it. Tomorrow we’ll see what we’ve got once the boosts come up.In traffic I think we’ve gotten better, but there’s still a handful of other cars that I believe are a lot stronger than we are. Still work to do.
THE MODERATOR: Checkered flag is out. Wrapping up the session. It looked like a number of teams are trying qual sims out there. Were you surprised by that today?PATO O’WARD: I mean, I’m not surprised, but also, I don’t know how much everyone will be able to read into what today was for them because, like I said, the boosts really change how the car behaves a lot.It can be as big as, like, I’m loose now, but with the biggest boost, you’re destroying right front, and now you have to understeer. The wall is a approaching a lot faster, so yeah.
THE MODERATOR: We will open it up to questions.Q. If you are happy with your car now and it does not react well to the boost, are you then extremely worried, or are you like, Okay, we may not qualify as well, but I feel good for what I have for the following week?PATO O’WARD: I mean, you try and qualify as far up as you can. For some reason I’ve never had I would say the speed or my car has never really had the speed in qualifying, to be honest, for the front row. I would love to be able to challenge for the front row. I think that’s a really neat experience. I’ve always been in the neighborhood of sixth, eighth, tenth, ninth.We usually race really well. So, yeah, I mean, I’m not so worried about it until we really see what we’ve got just because we really don’t know how it’s going to go tomorrow. It’s never right to panic even if you might not have the speed the other cars do.Sometimes it’s just unexplainable, and I’ve had to deal with it every single year of qualifying here because all my teammates’ cars have always been quicker than mine. I always know that I race really well, and putting the car in a decent place in qualifying gives you that opportunity to drive forward.It’s important to qualify well. It’s a cool experience, but also, it’s not the end of the world.
Q. How do you show up at a place that’s broken your heart and has so much emotion around it and some of you want so bad, but then avoid letting that get into your head or letting the pressure build or letting how badly you want it affect what you are doing on the track?PATO O’WARD: I treat it as a new thing every time I come back. You can’t plan just like you can never plan a start. You can never plan an Indy 500. You depend on other people’s decisions and mistakes as well, so that plays a lot into how your race is going to go, to be honest.I just really enjoy it. Obviously as the race starts falling and you see where you are at and stuff, that’s where it can get a little bit more interesting or intense, but all my Indy 500s, they’ve all been different.I would say the one last year would be the last one that I would have expected to be fighting, but somehow managed a way to get the car there. It’s a really long race. A lot of things can happen, but yeah, I’m focused on what we can do to put ourselves into a position to win, and the strive is obviously to get that right. We have a pretty good track record here in the past.
Q. Nolan obviously had an unfortunate mishap last year, but sometimes the most trying times will cause the most growth. In what specific ways have you seen Nolan grow over the past year, not only as a driver, but as a young man?PATO O’WARD: I mean, I think it’s safe to say that I went through the same thing. In 2019 I got bumped. Well, the whole team that I was in kind of got bumped.To be honest I actually told him after he got bumped, and I said, You’re lucky that you actually got bumped because it’s miserable to drive out here with a car that sucks. I would much rather not be in the race and not race with a car that’s just horrendous rather than having to do the 200 laps with a car that just is fricking miserable.The speeds are so high, and it’s not enjoyable when it’s really there, and I feel like that’s what Nolan’s position was last year. The car obviously didn’t seem strong, but I think this year he’s with a team that obviously gives him a lot more tools to showcase what he’s got in a superspeedway. He’s obviously in good hands in that regard.I still tell him, You look like you’re 12, but he’s a good kid.
Q. Pato, you’ve said several times you just don’t know what to expect out of tomorrow. Yet, some of the Andretti guys feel very, very confident that they are the favorites for the pole.PATO O’WARD: They look confident for sure. Oh, yeah.
Q. That’s the question. They look good?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think they look very strong both speed-wise and traffic running. I would say at least two in their camp are super strong. Yeah, I would say Kirkwood, Herta. Don’t count the Penskes. They’re going to have rockets just like they did last year.For us, I don’t know. I don’t want to assume before we really see what to expect, but Ganassi seems to have taken a step forward as well just from kind of playing around with them in traffic. Yeah, the speed feels a little bit like ’22, to be honest, us against Ganassi. It’s hard to say right now.You don’t know who is hiding what or are both manufacturers showing everything? Not sure, but they do look very strong, I would say.
Q. Does it make a difference that Honda will do its engine changes tonight and Chevrolet will wait until post-qualifying?PATO O’WARD: I did hear about that, but I have no idea why each one kind of prefers to do it that way. I’m assuming we’re doing the best decision for our camp. That’s probably what’s best for their camp. Why? No idea, but they seem to have brought a very strong package, I would say.I’m confident that our Chevy power is going to be pulling us forward.
Q. Pato, I have a personal question for you. Regardless what happened in the race, where you finished, if you win, I hope you do, you seem to be very ultra popular already here in Indianapolis. You are on the front cover of the “Indianapolis Monthly Magazine?”PATO O’WARD: Did you like the pictures? They make me look way too good (laughing).
Q. Then also I’m in the Krieger’s Supermarket, your picture is hanging from the wall.PATO O’WARD: My cardboard Patos, yeah.
Q. Do you have an explanation why you have been so popular here in Indianapolis?PATO O’WARD: Do I see it?
Q. Yeah.PATO O’WARD: I keep getting tagged people wanting to steal my cardboard Patos, but it’s grown a lot really. Last year’s Indy 500 was a big step in that, I would say. I definitely felt the difference. It’s amazing to see. It’s great to see.It’s always a great feeling seeing your shirts walking around and people smiling to support you. It’s got to be a sold-out event, isn’t it? Pretty much. It’s going to be.THE MODERATOR: If you want a grandstand ticket, good luck. Buy it quick.PATO O’WARD: I bought 300 to give away, bro.THE MODERATOR: Nice.PATO O’WARD: People don’t have to pay for it. I give away for free, 300. I’m so generous. No, anybody that buys stuff in Pato Shop gets free tickets. Buy a shirt, buy whatever. Make sure it adds up to more than $100, and you’re getting a ticket.I think it’s great. It’s just such a phenomenal event, and I have my own suite for the first time here at the Indy 500. I’m super stoked about that one. Definitely haven’t sold out in that one, but it’s okay.
Q. (Off microphone)PATO O’WARD: No cousins are coming this year. Can you imagine? One guy is getting married, and the other one is, like, No, sorry, I can’t. Apparently they’re all on unavailable for me now, so…THE MODERATOR: This will be the year you win when they aren’t here, right?PATO O’WARD: I’ll send them a selfie when I’m pouring myself with milk (laughing).
Q. When you see where you are now and what you had to endure in 2019, does that almost seem like a nightmare, or are you where you are now because you survived 2019?PATO O’WARD: No, I mean, I didn’t make the race in 2019 because the car sucked.
Q. Also, there was the uncertainty with the team. You were going to be —PATO O’WARD: Yeah, that was a blessing in disguise to GTFO out of there. That ultimately ended up being a blessing in disguise.I love the position I’m in right now. I love the people that I get to work with day in, day out. Yeah, I mean, I’m a believer that things do happen for a reason. I don’t think timing is always — timing doesn’t always seem like it’s on your side, but then when you look back, sometimes you’re, like, Huh, well, that worked out a lot better than I thought.Yeah, I guess it’s just part of the journey, man. It’s such a high and low. It’s just you got to ride with it. You got to ride with it. You got to just flow and, you know, make the best decision that you think you are doing at that time. Those will lead you to success.THE MODERATOR: Funny how things work out sometimes, right?PATO O’WARD: I guess (laughing).THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming up. Good luck tomorrow.

Conor Daly joins us, driver of the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. Third quick overall. Seventh on no tow in the 77 laps turned today, qualifying this weekend for your 12th Indianapolis 500. Things are looking pretty good here, no?CONOR DALY: Yeah. I don’t want to get too overly excited about things. These last two days have honestly been two of the most fun days I’ve had here. I don’t know why. I mean, these guys have obviously given me a great car, and that really makes the driver’s job a lot easier, and it’s just got a lot of raw speed.That’s also thanks to Chevrolet. I think Chevrolet has done an amazing job for us. Yeah, it’s been fun. I feel like we’re quite competitive in traffic. Then our first qualifying run was seventh of the no tow, so I feel pretty decent about that. We haven’t even trimmed as much as the Penske cars.I don’t know. We’re just going to keep our expectations in check. We’re going to keep our belts tightened a little bit and see what happens.THE MODERATOR: Did you go through more than one qual run today?CONOR DALY: We tried. Yeah, we ran into some stuff at the end, but we sorted that out just with kind of like a safety lap at the end just to make sure we had everything taken care of.THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Conor, when you sat down, Dave said, third fastest today. How good does that make you feel coming down here after having what you’ve had in the past before coming here?CONOR DALY: I mean, people seem to — if I end up close to the front here, it’s like, Nice tow lap. Guess what Josef and Scott are doing every day. They are timing these huge tow laps to get these huge media runs. I don’t want to be given any crap about it because those guys are doing way more than we are. I was lifting on my lap. We’re in traffic.It’s just luck of the draw a lot of the times when you get a good lap here, but we’ve been two days in a row here now up at the sharper end of the grid. That’s not a mistake. I’ve been here enough years to know that if it’s much easier to just pop up there, then you’re probably in a good car, and when you are up with the Ganassis and Penskes, that’s not a bad thing.I feel really good. This isn’t anything like, Oh, we got lucky. We’ve had speed all day long and the last two days, so it feels good. It’s just something that, again, measure everything to the smallest degree. Just execute tomorrow. Don’t get too frustrated with anything because obviously you’re going to have tough days here too.Tomorrow Fast Friday is a tough one because you’re adding boost. It’s probably going to be windy. I think realistically we have got good speed in the car, and it’s been awesome to drive in traffic.
Q. Growing up in Indiana, obviously this race meant a lot to you. There’s also additional specialness with the Pacers doing well. How much more fun is it coming here in the month of May knowing that they’re doing well, everyone is in such a better mood, does it affect the team at all or you or anybody else?CONOR DALY: It’s just cool. I love the Pacers, so let’s keep winning. That’s all. It’s the greatest month of the year, and there’s so much excitement around this event. I think this year more than ever. Yeah, it feels awesome just all across the board.
Q. As the Indiana guy and as someone who has had this up and down career, to be where you are after three days here and to know that you’re probably in good shape this weekend, just emotionally how does that make you feel?CONOR DALY: Well, I mean, qualifying here I’m always pretty honest with everyone. I’ve struggled here in qualifying, without a doubt. The Andretti car that I drove here was actually the most — that was the best qualifying that I’ve had. I was comfortable, but we had a good draw too, you know what I mean? A lot of it’s about the draw.It would be awesome to have like my best qualifying. I would love to make the Fast 12. That would be awesome. That’s goodbye to be super dependent on the draw and the weather and stuff like that.But this car kind of gives me a little bit of a feeling that I had in 2021, which was the best car that I’ve ever had here for sure. Again, it’s a big statement to say. That was definitely one of our strongest races, but it kind of — I get that feeling that I’m, like, Man this thing sucks up really well in the tow and the draft, and it’s just got the ability to race well.Again, the race is the most important part. Josef Newgarden started 21st when he won. I’m not too upset about where we start. It’s just nice to have that confidence, I would say. These guys have done a great job preparing.This team has done a fantastic job, just all the meticulous detail. We’ve had a lot of small things go wrong so far this year. Just tiny little things here and there. When it comes to the speedway car, they’ve done a great job executing and bringing a fast machine.THE MODERATOR: Who is going to draw for you?CONOR DALY: I think Ricardo’s daughter.THE MODERATOR: That’s cool.CONOR DALY: I’m certainly not drawing. No one is going to draw well that way.
Q. Josef is very much embracing going for three in a row, right?CONOR DALY: Heck yeah, I would do.
Q. Why is that? I mean, this place, it’s so hard to win. We see over and over again, but he’s not running from it. He’s not being, like, I don’t know, anything can happen. He’s, like, I’m going to go take this and win three in a row, you know?CONOR DALY: When we know what we know and we see what we see and how fast those cars are and how well those cars can just go fast, I would be confident too. I mean, those guys are — like, the Penske cars are without a doubt the most impressive cars when it comes to a speed performance platform.I would be confident too. They’ve obviously won two in a row for a reason, and they got all the special information from Michael Cannon too, so then they got a little bit quicker. I was predicting a Penske front row lockout again. I don’t know. Kyle Kirkwood looks fast, though. I think Kyle Kirkwood might fight him a little bit. Maybe I would like to as well.Josef is so good here. He knows exactly what he wants. His engineer, Luke, is an awesome dude and obviously really smart too because I know he’s very smart. I enjoyed working with him. He’s got the whole package.Josef knows exactly what he wants. He’s a great champion, and he’s very smart. Yeah, can’t fault him for being confident.
Q. I’m doing a story on Buxton. I know you guys go back a long ways. What do you think he’s brought to INDYCAR in terms of helping gain attention for the series or bridging that gap between F1 fans and you guys?CONOR DALY: I think what’s interesting is Will has such a great respect for this series, and he did forever. He was commentating when I was racing in GP3. When I did the 500 for the first time, I was racing in GP3 full-time. He immediately was following it and already knew so much about it. Loved coming to America, going to INDYCAR races.I think the interesting part about the Formula 1 world is I think a lot more of the people in the paddock and the drivers maybe behind the scenes have a lot more respect for what we’re doing over here than maybe the public acknowledges or the fan base, F1 Twitter accepts.I was trying to get Daniel Ricciardo here next weekend, but I think he’s just enjoying life away from the world right now. Those guys I think have more of a respect for I think what we’re doing than maybe the fan base might, and Will is exemplifies that. He has so much love for this series. The guy is full of energy, and I think he’s a great addition for us here in Fox. I think it’s awesome.
Q. One of the questions that was asked to the previous drivers was were they surprised that some teams were racing — were practicing qualification setups. You mentioned that you were earlier. What made your team decide to do that today to get ready?CONOR DALY: I think at least in my history here there’s always a few runs at the end of Thursday just to kind of get a feel for low downforce for tomorrow.Yeah, I can’t remember a year where I haven’t done a couple of qualifying runs just before Fast Friday. It’s just to get yourself ready, get yourself mentally prepared.I mean, we were really happy with the race car as well, so yeah, I think it’s important to at least get a couple of runs and to know where you’re at. Just a quick read on, Hey, are we really struggling, or are we actually not in a bad spot?
Q. You never competed here for the pole under the old format that Rick Mears and those guys used to do where they had to get it right on one attempt if they were going to win the pole. Is the low draw more important now, or was it more important then?CONOR DALY: I obviously don’t know what it was like back then because I didn’t really get to experience it.
Q. Once you qualified, the only way you would have to pull the time, and basically that car was done.CONOR DALY: I mean, I remember seeing last year a car that was in the first three runs never had to run the rest of the day. I think it was Kyffin Simpson ran really early and just literally never ran again the rest of the day. I think the early draw is for sure very important.With the way the tires are going to deg I think with the heavier car, I think that’s going to be more important. And it depends on the wind. It depends on the sun and the air and the humidity.Yeah, it will be interesting, but I would love — we’re all crossing our fingers for that early draw.
Q. Would you have liked to have tried that old format?CONOR DALY: I don’t even know honestly.
Q. It was one attempt.CONOR DALY: I’ll race any time, anywhere, any era. Why not?

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Berry, Woods to Run Retro Scheme at Wilkesboro All-Star Race

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers are headed to historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race. The DEX Imaging Mustang will carry a paint scheme based on the one Michael Waltrip drove to a dramatic victory in the 1996 running of the non-points spectacular, then known as the Winston Select.As the Woods celebrate their 75 years in the sport, the win by Waltrip is one of the all-time highlights. Waltrip and the 21 were not considered a contender entering the weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They had to run the preliminary Open and barely squeaked into the starting field for the main event, finishing fifth to take the final transfer spot to the main event.In that 70-lap race, Waltrip drove through the field, taking the lead from Dale Earnhardt in the final segment with nine laps remaining. He then drove away from the pack to take the win over Rusty Wallace, Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Terry Labonte.The win was a big boost for the Woods at a time they needed one, and it gave Waltrip the funds to buy his mother a new home.As the team heads into the current All-Star Race, Berry and the DEX Imaging crew are guaranteed a starting spot in the main event, thanks to a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.“I’m excited for this weekend,” Berry said. “It’ll be my third trip to North Wilkesboro. I was fortunate to win the Open race in 2023 in the 48 car and race my way into the big show, which was really cool. This time, knowing you’re already locked in adds a different kind of excitement. I’m looking forward to taking part in more of the actual racing and qualifying, especially with the Pit Crew Challenge. It’s a great opportunity for our crew to go out there and showcase what they can do. With the heat races as well, there’s going to be a lot more on-track time for me, and that just makes the weekend even more fun.”Practice at North Wilkesboro is set for Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time to be followed by qualifying at 7 p.m.The qualifying session includes the Pit Crew Challenge. Drivers will take the green flag and run one lap at speed then come onto pit road for a four-tire stop. Back on the track they will run to the checkered flag. The fastest team earns a $100,000 bonus and the pole for the first heat and the All-Star race.Two 75-lap heat races are set for Saturday, with the opener getting the green flag just after 5:20 p.m.On Sunday, the 100-lap Open, for drivers not already in the All-Star Race, is set to get the green flag just after 5:30 p.m., with the 250-lap main event getting under way just after 8 p.m. FS1 is carrying the TV coverage.

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Airport Raceway Built on Passion, Made For Garden City Community

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets will make their debut at Jack Crook’s Airport Raceway, May 23-25

GARDEN CITY, KS (May 15, 2025) – Airport Raceway in Garden City, KS was built from a love for racing.

When the city closed down the area’s dirt track to build a landfill, Jack Crook and a few of his friends were determined to keep racing alive for local racers and fans. Their answer was the construction of Airport Raceway – less than a mile from the Garden City Regional Airport – in 1990.

“We just all loved racing,” Crook said.

That love has allowed for the growth of Micro and Midget racing in the area and for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota to make its debut at the track during Memorial Day weekend for the Midget Roundup, Friday-Sunday, May 23-25.

Airport was built as a 1/6-mile dirt track, which at the time, Crook said he and the other owners thought might be big for a Micro track, but has turned out to be the perfect size for Micro and Midget racing.

“We’re hoping with the geometry and the banking, they’ll enjoy it,” Crook said. “Out on the outside, I would guess it is real close to a quarter mile. We’re right inside of there. It’s about a quarter at the top. It’s not quite, but it’s almost there. It’s wide. I promise you, the looks of it… matter of fact, I think our track has a little more banking than the Chili Bowl, but you wouldn’t know the difference from one or the other.

“I’m telling you, it’ll be wall to wall… there will be a lot of good side-by-side action… It’ll be, I don’t know how better to say it, dynamic.”

The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will race in association with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association (RMMRA), which has had a fundamental impact on Airport Raceway.

RMMRA is the oldest Midget association in the country, having been founded in 1940, and was one of the first groups to race at Airport when it opened.

“As far as keeping the Midget series alive, they’ve been the backbone,” Crook said about their involvement with the track. “Without those guys, I wouldn’t have kept running Midgets. They are still what I call old school… a club. I have good relations with all their club presidents. With those guys, I appreciate them, and I know they do us as well.”

Crook left the ownership group of Airport for about 15 years to support his son’s Sprint Car career. During that time, those left in charge of the track decided to no longer run Midgets. But when Crooks returned 10 years ago, becoming the sole promoter of the track, his first goal was to bring Midget racing back to Airport and did so with the help of the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association.

Between the cars RMMRA and Xtreme will bring, Crook expects a healthy car count for the event, which will also feature Micro classes.

When Airport Raceway opened in 1990, Crook said about five cars showed up for the first race. But since then, he’s seen it grow into his original vision of a haven for local racers, now bringing in over 30 cars on race night.

Adding an Xtreme Outlaw Midget event to the schedule has brought his vision to a level Crook said he has a hard time putting into words.

“It’s a dream to be honest,” he said. “I can’t say it any other way. How else can you word it when you have the premier Midget series, in my opinion, coming to your track? Everybody is talking about it. It has been a cool deal for our community.

“It’s important to myself and my crew to pull this off because we want them back. There is no doubt in my mind I want them back. We’re going to try and pull out all the stops.”

The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will be hosting a cookout for drivers and teams on Saturday night, sponsored by Honest Abe Roofing, with nearly $6,000 in prizes to give away from CSI Shocks ($500 in product) DIRTVision (annual FASTPASS), DMI ($1,000 in product), Driven Midwest, FK Rod Ends (four complete sets of rod ends), FK Shocks, Sharp Advantage (two knee guards), Ultra Shield Race Products (three boxes of tare-offs), VP Fuels (one set of fuel jugs), and Wilwood Brakes (complete Midget brake package).

Don’t miss the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, along with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association, at Airport Raceway for the Midget Roundup, May 23-25. Friday will be a practice night with Saturday’s Feature paying $4,000 to win and Sunday’s Feature paying $5,000 to win.

Get your tickets now by CLICKING HERE. Get $5 off your ticket when using code MCINTOSH71K.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

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ZIZZO RACING LOOKING TO TAKE NEXT STEP IN CHICAGO

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHICAGO (May 15, 2025) — This weekend at the Gerber Collision & Glass Rt. 66 Nationals, May 16-18, TJ Zizzo and his Rust-Oleum sponsored Top Fuel dragster will be looking to build on the success they showed last year when they captured the No. 1 qualifier and raced to the quarterfinals. Zizzo Racing has been steadily building a race-winning program for over two decades and this season the team and Zizzo feel they are coming into the season with all the pieces needed to race into the winner’s circle.

“We have worked throughout the off-season making our race car better. This Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster has been so close, and I think we can get there. Last year we were consistently one of the quickest race cars in qualifying,” said Zizzo, from his Chicago-based shop. “Everything about drag racing is evaluating your progress and adjusting. I think we have all the parts and experience to turn on more win lights on race day.”

They raced with a new race car two years ago and continued to fine tune their tune-up last year thanks to their success throughout the 2024 season. Crew chief Mike Kern and the Rust-Oleum team have been working diligently over the off-season to make sure Zizzo Racing is positioned for success once again when the season starts this weekend.

“I can’t say enough great things about Mike and our Rust-Oleum Zizzo Racing crew,” said Zizzo. “We did so many things right last season I can’t wait to get on the track in Chicago this weekend. For years we would go to every race with the mindset of winning. Now I truly feel like we are a team that can run low ET and turn on win lights.”

Prior to last year’s No. 1 effort Zizzo’s best qualifying effort came in 2018 when he raced to the No. 5 spot only to be upset in the first round by Scott Palmer. In 2017, Zizzo qualified No. 8 and took out Pat Dakin and Brittany Force in the first two rounds only to be ousted by eventual winner Steve Torrence in the semifinals. Zizzo has raced to the semifinals twice in Chicago in 2017 and 2023. In four of his last five appearances at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals the Rust-Oleum Top Fuel team has raced to at least the quarterfinals.

TJ Zizzo 2024 Route 66 Nationals No. 1 qualifier

“Last year was huge for our team but we want to make more memorable moments,” said Zizzo. “We will have several marketing partners at the race, and we’ll be hosting our Saturday morning pancake breakfast once again for the fans. I have missed seeing the fans the most since we wrapped up our season last year. We love racing in Chicago. It is our hometown track. The guys from the body shop get to come to the race which is cool.”

Qualifying for the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals will begin on Friday, May 16 with two sessions of the three professional categories. On Saturday, fans will be treated to two more qualifying sessions. The quickest 16 race cars, dragsters and motorcycles will race for the famed Wally trophy beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. The race will be broadcast nationally on FS1 Sunday evening.

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WORTH THE WAIT: Gravel Tops Ohsweken Thriller in World of Outlaws Return to Canada

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

The defending champion outduels Carson Macedo late for his seventh victory of 2025

OHSWEKEN, ON (May 14, 2025) – There’s a reason so many circled the return of Ohsweken Speedway when the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series schedule was released. Wednesday night showed exactly why.

The Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken brought The Greatest Show on Dirt back to Canada for the first time since 2017. Ohsweken was a staple of the schedule from the late 2000s to 2017 before the hiatus. The slick 3/8 mile delivered thrillers without fail whenever the tour rolled to town. Hype was off the charts heading into Wednesday, and Ohsweken didn’t let us down.

First, an all-time World of Outlaws upset looked to be brewing as Harding, PA’s Jordan Thomas, making only his fifth Series appearance, rocketed out to the early lead from the pole. But David Gravel did what David Gravel does and patiently reeled Thomas in and snatched the top spot on Lap 12.

The defending Series champion was in control after grabbing the lead, but a Lap 19 restart set the stage for a thrilling conclusion. The green flew, and Carson Macedo used a monster restart to surge from fifth to the lead as he slid Gravel in Turns 1 and 2. The two titans of the sport then waged war over the next several laps. Gravel fought back with sliders, and Macedo countered with crossovers. Gravel finally delivered the dagger on Lap 23 with a perfectly executed slide job that Macedo couldn’t fight back from.

That was all she wrote. Gravel drove the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 comfortably ahead on the route to his Series-leading seventh checkered flag of 2025.

“I think you could race on every square inch of this track, and you can’t ask for anymore,” Gravel said. “I thought I was good here, and then I looked back at the results, and my best finish was fifth out of six times and that was about it. But I had a lot of confidence coming in, had a lot more laps here than a lot of the other guys that are on tour. It’s a slick racetrack Cody (Jacobs) and I were really excited for.”

Ohsweken made it 110 career World of Outlaws wins for Gravel, and he’s now only a dozen behind Danny Lasoski for sixth all-time. He’s the seventh driver to claim a race with The Greatest Show on Dirt at the Ontario 3/8 mile. The victory also stretched his point lead to over a full race’s worth of security as the gap between he and Logan Schuchart sits at 158 markers.

“It just feels really good,” Gravel said. “That 79 (Jordan Thomas), man, he had a hell of a pace. He was doing a great job, and the air really slowed him down in lapped traffic and kind of came to us. We just bided our time, and it all worked out. I’m really proud of my guys. They gave me a great race car all night long.”

Sheldon Haudenschild stole the runner-up spot from Macedo with only a few laps remaining, completing a strong charge from sixth to second over the final 10 laps. The driver of the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 17 felt he might’ve had a shot at Victory Lane if the main event had stayed green.

“I just got a little bit more wing in it as we were rolling,” Haudenschild explained. “I was really good on that long run, just on that restart Macedo went from fifth to the lead and just took advantage of the local guy there. I still feel like we had the best car tonight. We ran David down there at the end. We just lost 12 laps there with that restart.”

After his incredible restart and battle with Gravel, Carson Macedo came home third in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. The Lemoore, CA native gave the fans a show but didn’t quite have the speed to hold off Gravel at the end.

“I think the 79 fired off a little bit up, and there was a strip of grip right next to the wall on the bottom, and I was able to squeeze next to him there,” Macedo said. “I just kind of used that grip all the way down the frontstretch and just propelled me into Turn 1. Then I tried to get on defense mode. I felt really confident and good in (Turns) 3 and 4, but in (Turns) 1 and 2 I was struggling just a little bit to get off of (Turn) 2.”

Bill Balog and Jordan Thomas completed the top five.

Dylan Westbrook earned the KSE Racing Hard Charger with a run from 20th to 11th.

Sheldon Haudenschild claimed the 39th Simpson Quick Time of his career in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races went to Carson Macedo (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Bill Balog (Real American Beer Heat Two), David Gravel (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Giovanni Scelzi (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

The #SPATechnique #1 Redraw went to Chris Windom.

Jordan Thomas topped the Toyota Dash.

Garet Williamson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Conner Morrell.

UP NEXT: The Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken Speedway on Thursday, May 15 serves up a $20,000-to-win/$1,500-to-start finale for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

For the remaining 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 5. 79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[12]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[13]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton[15]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom[3]; 11. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[20]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 13. 2C-Cole Macedo[11]; 14. 28-Jordan Poirier[19]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[14]; 16. 94-Todd Hoddick[18]; 17. 45-Nick Sheridan[22]; 18. 17X-Cory Turner[17]; 19. 15T-Ryan Turner[24]; 20. 28M-Conner Morrell[10]; 21. 52-Stewart Friesen[16]; 22. 22-Jonathan Preston[6]; 23. 23-Garet Williamson[21]; 24. 98-Joe Trenca[23]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

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Team Chevy drivers post four of the top six fastest speeds in Day Two of practice for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESINDIANAPOLIS 500INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANATEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORTWEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2025

For the second straight day, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, was the fastest Team Chevy driver with a quick lap of 225.584mph, the second fastest lap of the day.Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO Team Penske Chevrolet at 225.545mph, Conor Daly, Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet at 224.931mph and David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet at 224.618mph rounded out the top six. Ed Carpenter Racing were fast on the non-tow list, with Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet at 221.116mph, and Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet at 221.277mph.Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet at 237.724mph, led a Team Chevy top six in the speed trap at the Yard of Bricks. Heavy overnight rain delayed Indianapolis 500 practice for the second straight day, which began an hour late and was interrupted twice by sprinkles. The track was green for three and a half hours, enough for the 34 drivers to complete 2555 laps. Kyle Larson in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was the busiest Team Chevy driver, completing 107 laps, over half the race distance.Tony Kanaan, designated standby driver for the No.17 Hendrickcars.comArrow McLaren Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, who is attempting the Indianapolis 500/Coca Cola 600 double, had his refresher course rained on for the second straight day, and will take place at 10 am Thursday.
Indianapolis 500 Wednesday Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 Wednesday Non-Tow Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 practice tune-in alert
Thursday, May 15· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – noon-4pm (ET)/11am-3pm (CT)/10am-2pm (MT)/9am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 Friday, May 16· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – noon-4pm (ET)/11am-3pm (CT)/10am-2pm (MT)/9am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE (QUOTES) A.J. Foyt Enterprises David Malukas, No. 4 AJ FOYT RACING Chevrolet:All right day two is a wrap and another very good day for us. We went in a very good direction with the car overnight. Then we even finished the day a bit early. I’m kind of just preparing for some bigger changes going into tomorrow but extremely happy with the work we’ve managed to do with these short windows from day one and into today with the rain, but it’s easy with the car being unloaded in a good spot. So very happy with the way things are going so hopefully we keep the streak going in the next few days. Arrow McLaren Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet: “Good to be out turning laps, but we’re not quite where we want to be yet. We have some work to do, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“We had a solid day two. We’re happy with the balance and have made some small gains, chipping away at that. We’re working our way into traffic and that changed the balance quite a bit. We still have a bit to find there, but overall it’s still comfortable. The main thing is having a smooth few days into Qualifying and we’ll continue finding more speed every day.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It was a good second day from where we left off. We’re moving in one direction, which is the right way. We’re leaving Wednesday as happy as Tuesday, which is a step up compared to the Open Test. There’s a lot of momentum being built. The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is great running out front. There’s more work to be done deeper in the traffic, but there’s a simple way to do that by qualifying and racing up front. Looking at it realistically, we need to work on getting the car better deeper into the pack and we should be in pretty good shape.” Kyle Larson, No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I’m glad we were able to get some race runs today compared to yesterday. That’s really what I wanted to focus on mainly today. We were able to try running in the front of the pack and the middle and get an idea for the balance especially with the cars we were running around.” DRR-Cusick Mostorsports Ryan Hunter-Reay, No.23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES: “Today was super useful despite the rain delay. We got through a lot of stuff and we found a good direction with the Wedbush Chevy. In terms of racing running. And I’m looking forward to more of it on Thursday. I’m thankful for the hard work of the team in finding the proper direction. I feel good with the race car right now. But we to find a little more on Thursday.” Jack Harvey, No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST: “Overall, it was a well-executed day for the INVST crew. We verified the changes we made overnight that worked today. We actually stayed out in pit lane as a rainstorm was coming. And we ran some additional laps. We wanted to get as many laps as possible if it did rain. We did a good job minimizing the time in the garage today. We tried various things, and we went back to the direction we like and made me more confident. All the years here at IMS, confidence is a big thing for me with the race car. For the race setup, we have made improvements each day.” Ed Carpenter Racing Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet:“They are all good days at the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway. It ebbs and flows, but we’re learning things we need to learn. You always feel like you never have enough time here. Two more, obviously, important days ahead of us.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet:“That is practice day two done here at IMS. Good day for us. Ended up P10 overall, and P2 on the no-tow list. We will keep working on all the traffic running, but I think we are in a good spot. Excited to see what this month brings.”
Juncos Hollinger Racing Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“I feel good. Today was a nice reset after yesterday. Got through a couple things that we wanted to. I feel quite confident in this car, honestly. It feels really good. I think we have some good natural speed, but we just have to keep dialing in the balance. But don’t want to over-react too much, but it feels good. Today was a good day for us.”
Team Penske Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet: “It’s showing good signs to begin. It’s a long process. You can have the quickest car in the field, and that doesn’t mean you’re going to win the race. I think it takes a lot of ingredients, clearly, to win at this place. I think we have a few of them that are starting to show themselves in favorable conditions.Right now I think the car is in a really good place. We just have to continue to go through the motions. Qualifying is going to be its own thing. We’re going to find out exactly where everybody else is at as we get to Friday, and hopefully we’ll be in a good spot there.”
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet: “Yeah, I felt pretty good in traffic. I just sat in a line of, I don’t know, ten cars or something. Just sat there going about the same speed. It was kind of, yeah, hard to tell, which the race is a completely different story to qualifying. Almost speed doesn’t quite matter. It’s more about handling, which looks like everyone’s car is handling well too. Everyone is doing long stints. The car is fine. It’s crazy. I think the cool temps help as well.”

Josef NewgardenWill PowerPress Conference
THE MODERATOR: Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. As noted, the two-time Indy 500 champion and reigning champion. Third quick overall. Eighth quick no tow. Josef, you got your stuff done early and can watch this practice end, I guess, today?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I was watching. I was watching and then I got called over here.
THE MODERATOR: It happens.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m missing the last ten minutes. I’ve been watching. This guy is going right here. I had my commentary ripping on the bus, which was good. I was watching like everybody else.
Been up and down with the weather, but for the most part we’ve had really good running. Even yesterday where some rain interrupted the beginning, we still got a lot of track time, and we got a lot of track time today. No complaints so far. I think we’ll get good sunny days for the rest of the week.
THE MODERATOR: Clearly very quick yesterday. Again, very quick today. Does that bode well for this coming weekend and maybe on the ranks?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s showing good signs to begin. It’s a long process. You can have the quickest car in the field, and that doesn’t mean you’re going to win the race. I think it takes a lot of ingredients, clearly, to win at this place. I think we have a few of them that are starting to show themselves in favorable conditions.
Right now I think the car is in a really good place. We just have to continue to go through the motions. Qualifying is going to be its own thing. We’re going to find out exactly where everybody else is at as we get to Friday, and hopefully we’ll be in a good spot there.
Then the race will be a whole other animal, and we’ll figure that out next weekend.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Josef, Chevy seems fast, and maybe a little bit of speed that they haven’t shown yet through five races. Do you feel that way as well?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think we’re definitely quick. Honda is a tough competitor. This is racing. It goes up and down, so you can never be too confident when you are going into something.
I said this earlier in the week. Every single one of my INDYCAR victories have been Chevrolet-powered. All 31 of them. I always feel I have a shot when I go into the race.
Certainly with Team Penske, the conjunction of those two, I always feel like I have the opportunity to win every single weekend. Where the ultimate performance is going to lie is going to be Saturday and Sunday this weekend and then Sunday the weekend after.
We’ve been here many times where we thought we were pretty quick going into the weekend, and then we were nowhere. So I don’t ever get ahead. I’ve learned to never get ahead of myself here.
I think Chevrolet has done a good job. We were in a great place last year. They definitely got to make a step because we knew Honda was probably going to make a step, and I think we’ve tried to. So far it looks good this week. It’s just going to be a matter of how does it progress into the weekend is what we’re going to need to look for.
Q. My second question comes from Twitter.
THE MODERATOR: Or X.
Q. X. It’s a high-level —
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Is it an AI question?
Q. No, it’s a real person. Obviously Kanaan is having some trouble getting out there to do his refresher course. They said if you polled all the drivers, would any of the drivers have an issue with Kanaan not getting the refresher course?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I saw this. Is he running?
THE MODERATOR: It’s a backup plan.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: In case they need him for Larson. Would he jump in… Oh, for the race. Not necessarily to qualify the car. Yeah.
You know, I’m a big fan. It’s hard to answer these questions. I love the traditions of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I would want to be very respectful of them. There are some things clearly that should stay traditions.
You know, the refresher thing, I’m not as positive on. I was actually just talking to another driver about it this morning. I mean, someone like Tony Kanaan doesn’t need a refresher. It’s up to the team. If the team wants to put Tony Kanaan in the car, then put him in the car. If he wrecks the car, then that was the team’s decision to do that.
I think when it’s big-time auto racing, there should be some oversight. It’s not necessarily, hey, just let the teams do whatever they want, but I think there’s some parameters that could be put in place where a guy like Tony Kanaan who clearly could jump in a car no problem tomorrow, should probably be allowed to do that.
I certainly have no issue with it. There might be some room for improvement there in the future in my opinion, but with staying respectful to the traditions of the speedway, I think you can make something where it satisfies both sides.
Q. I’m having trouble understanding what the hybrid is really doing out there for you guys. Is it making the car feel more twitchy? Can you even tell a difference? I hear, Okay, it drives differently, but how? What are you feeling out there that’s making it drive different?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: The big reason it’s driving differently is not necessarily the hybrid interacting with the car. It is the weight of the hybrid. That’s where you are getting all the comments.
Why is the car different? It is just the weight is up. You’re 100, 110 pounds heavier. That’s a lot of mass percentage-wise that you are adding to this car. It’s saturating the tires more. It’s just moving around. The CG changes a little bit. It raises slightly. Your weight distribution is shifted depending on where teams are putting it. That’s what people are trying to figure out right now.
You add 100 pounds to this thing, it’s almost like adding 200, 250 pounds to a stock car. If you said, Hey, guys, we’re going to bolt 250 pounds to these stock cars, see what you think, I bet they would all go, Okay, this drives differently, and now we have to counteract it.
The hybrid itself and the utilization, I have said this. I do think it’s very important here. It’s more important at this track than anywhere we’ve gone because of the drag level. We’ve not run in a superspeedway configuration yet with this hybrid, so it’s very, very low drag on the cars. Because of that, they’re very power-sensitive.
Any time you use something to add power, you feel the magnification of it here more than anywhere else. When you are using the hybrid on the straightaway, it makes a very big difference.
Where are you are regenerating it and where you are using it, to either pass or defend or for whatever situation, I think there’s repercussions for burning it, and there’s certainly reward for utilizing it correctly.
Q. At the open test the last couple of years you’ve been very confident with how your car was handling. Are you at that level of confidence now? How far along are you all in progressing, figuring out how to get the setup just right with the hybrid weight in the back?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, the great thing about the open test the last few years is you get this big head start coming into the month. If you are fortunate enough to show up with a pretty good car and get that dialed in in the test, then you don’t have a lot of work to do by the time we get to this week.
I feel like we got on top of the hybrid pretty quickly so far. This is only a certain set of conditions that I’ve felt. If it gets much hotter, say it’s 85, 87 and the track temp shoots through the roof at 120, 125, you know, I think that changes the condition and feel of the car.
I’m still open-minded that we don’t have everything checked, but the early signs of where we’re at I think is great. I think we’re in a really good window. My car feels fantastic. That’s only one piece of the puzzle.
Q. What we’re seeing the first couple of days obviously is race running, but as far as when you start trimming it out for speed, I get asked this on the radio network earlier, if we could see a repeat of what you guys did here last year by sweeping the front row. Do you think you can do it a second year in a row?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s possible, definitely. We’re coming from a very good spot last year, so everyone is going to have to make a big jump, which is possible. We know that everyone gets better every year. So we’ve tried to make a step too to retain hopefully a speed advantage.
It’s definitely possible. You know, we can do it. I don’t know that that’s going to materialize, but we’re trying to put our best foot forward and put three fast cars on the track.
They look quick. We’ll see what it brings on Saturday and Sunday.
Q. Do you think Team Penske has crept ahead just a little bit over Chip Ganassi Racing because they used to have a pretty good handle on qualifying here?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think last year for sure. This year is to be determined. It’s so hard to give you an absolute. I just don’t know until we get to Saturday. When it’s for real, we’re going to see where everyone is really at.
THE MODERATOR: Checkered flag is out. Palou, Power, and Josef, the top three.
Q. You’ve experienced a lot of great success here the last couple of years. What would a first-time Indy 500 pole mean to you here on Sunday?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know. I’ve never gone through it. I’ll say this, though… I’ve talked about Indy as it’s this magnification of the team effort more than anywhere else that we go, and I mean that.
It’s a team sport more than people realize when you watch racing. Indy is like the greatest example of it. Here more than anywhere else everything has to go perfectly as a team and a unit, and I think that’s on the greatest display in qualifying.
So when you qualify well here, it a reward for the total team. I think that’s why you saw such satisfaction last year amongst the whole team. When you lock out the front row, I signed more front row photos than anything else for the team because that’s gratifying for everybody involved. It shows the work that’s been put in.
I think from a team standpoint it’s more satisfying. The win is still very much a big team thing, but you get a little more personal satisfaction out of it. I guess to answer your question, being on pole here, I would like to see it again for the team. I liked to see what happened last year for the team. It was really cool to see that in the garage. If we can do it again, I know what it’s going to look like.
Q. As we’ve gotten this additional weight added to the car, do you have a feeling yet on what is possible in those late race situations? If something really late on the back stretch going into three is still possible with the car as it is now?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It seems possible. In my head, you know. I wanted to try some things out today, and itself, like, you probably need to park me, just let me sit out. I’m getting a little too excited out here. Things can work out here and be magical until they’re not.
It goes so quickly from fantastic to disaster, and you’re just flirting with that line. I think the racing style is going to be very similar this year to what we saw last year. That’s what the early indication advisory shown me.
What I felt today, I don’t think it will be a dramatic departure to what people saw at the end of the race last year, unless it’s crazy hot. If we somehow get like a 90 degree day, super high track temp, that’s just going to string the field out. You sort of can’t do anything about that. It is what it is.
I think if it’s a normal, typical 75, 80 degree Indiana day, I think you’re going to have a similar show to what we had last year, with the similar ability to do what you’ve seen.
Q. You know better than I do. The heavy rain it in the morning, I suppose cools the temperature down. Is a different setup required for cold temperature than for very hot temperature?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yes, definitely, definitely. The rain contributed to cooling it before we started, so it was a fairly — I think it was probably 95 degrees when we started practice today, so it came from a lower level. Especially it being whatever it was, 1:00, 1:15 when we rolled out.
You run the car very differently if it’s 120 degrees versus 90 or 95. The car, the tires, they react very, very differently. That’s why I said earlier, in certain conditions my car feels pretty solid. We don’t know what it could be like in extreme conditions. At least extreme on the other end of the temp spectrum.
Yeah, you’ve got to be ready to combat that. Some guys have cars that are really good in the heat. Some guys have cars that are really good in the cold. Some have both. Ideally you like to have a car that’s flexible because you need different cars in different conditions.
Q. (Off microphone)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t care. I normally like the harder condition. Typically hot is tougher around this place, so make it cold, make it hot, but yeah, when it’s harder, it’s more fun.
Q. Earlier you said you learned to never get ahead of yourself. With success and it can be so easy and human nature to build pride or get complacent, but what keeps you humble as you head for three straight?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I almost think winning the race was more humbling for me. I feel just so grateful to have been here. I kind of got there 24 months ago. I was so enamored with trying to win in this race. It seemed like it was like a needed thing. Like you have to win here. Otherwise, your career is a failure. That’s what people have always kind of painted it as. I think I got too consumed by it.
Then winning it has just made it very gratifying. If anything, I just feel more thankful now to have been here. I’ve told people too, if you focus on the end result, the winning the race, you’re missing the point that you have already succeeded so much by just being here.
You get here. You qualify. You’re on the grid. You’re already winning in so many ways. That’s what I feel when I show up. I try and remind myself of that. It doesn’t matter that we’ve won it a couple of minutes. I’m just still thankful to be here this year and to have another shot. That’s what I’m focusing on is just the next opportunity, which we have in front of us right now.
Q. You mentioned earlier about Chevy making gains, Honda making gains. We’re talking about engines that have been running since the fall of 2011. How much more do you think is there to get out of these engines?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You would be surprised. We’re still finding stuff. Chevrolet made a great jump last year. They’re still making it happen. I think we’ve made another — I think we can make another step this year.
As much as they’ve been — you’ve kind of rung the thing out as much as you can, there’s still just a little bit left in there it seems like. We’re searching for it.
It’s becoming more detail-specific. You really have to be fantastic on the details these days. Not just as a manufacturer, but as a team. The field is so compressed that if you don’t nail the details, you will not win, and you will not find the next step in front of the competition.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Josef.
Joined now by Will Power, driver the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Of course, the 2018 winner of the Indianapolis 500. Currently seventh in points. Second quick in the overall session. 13th I think, the last time I looked. Tell us about your day. What did you get done?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think we’ve got a reasonable package right now. Seems very difficult to pass when you are in the back of the pack, but car stayed really consistent through the rounds, yeah.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Same question I asked Josef. Chevy looks pretty good and has not looked so great through the first five races. How are you feeling about what they’ve brought so far?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I actually haven’t looked. It’s so hard to tell right now. We won’t know until maybe Friday. We’ll start to see some sort of indication. Really Saturday, to be honest.
Q. (Off microphone)
WILL POWER: Yeah, I felt pretty good in traffic. I just sat in a line of, I don’t know, ten cars or something.
Just sat there going about the same speed. It was kind of, yeah, hard to tell, which the race is a completely different story to qualifying.
Almost speed doesn’t quite matter. It’s more about handling, which looks like everyone’s car is handling well too. Everyone is doing long stints. The car is fine. It’s crazy. I think the cool temps help as well.
Q. (Off microphone)
WILL POWER: If it gets hot, it’s more difficult, but it looks like race day is about this temp. It’s going to be similar to last year. Very similar.
Q. (Off microphone)
WILL POWER: It might rain first and then hopefully dry. It would suck to have to do a Monday or Tuesday, yeah.
Q. Seven of the eight fastest cars today were either Ganassi or Penske or one of their affiliates. Is this kind of coming down to one of those Ganassi versus Penske weeks?
WILL POWER: I don’t know. Maybe both the bosses are, like, You better get out there and get a big tow, or you’re going to be at the top of the Times. I don’t know.
Yeah, usually. Yeah, I think even with tows it is an indication of car speed for sure or car handling and speed. It’s so hard to tell, man. It hasn’t been as many full-tank pack runs this year as there have been. Maybe it’s because of the rain and so on.
THE MODERATOR: Tomorrow looks dry, but there’s going to be a ton of that tomorrow, do you think?
WILL POWER: No. No, I think a lot of people switch to quallie tomorrow. Yeah. Start with a bit of race and then quickly get into quallie stuff.
Q. With the added weight of the hybrid in the back, how much does this feel like a brand new car, or does it just feel slightly different than last year?
WILL POWER: It feels very similar. Very similar. Honestly, the biggest changes are the changes you actually do suspension-wise to make the car better or worse. Yeah, honestly in racing it’s very similar.
Q. So your level of comfort now compared to what it was at this time last year, how would you gauge that?
WILL POWER: Mine is a lot more, yeah. I’ve actually found a pretty good setup.
Q. So why is that? You guys obviously had a fast car last year. Why are you feeling a lot more comfortable at this point already than last year?
WILL POWER: I had a fast car in qualifying. Definitely not in the race. I just went backwards the whole race on any restarts. It feels a lot better.
It is quite a different setup. Quite different from last few, so it’s what sort of direction we needed to go.
Q. When we were talking Wednesday after second practice, we’ve had a little bit of delays. In your experience does a confident week and a half before the race, does that typically still follow through and get you into feeling confident on race day, or how much can things change from now until Sunday when we’re rolling out on May 25th?
WILL POWER: Hard to say, man. You just have one session. It tips over a bit, and you start getting a bit uncomfortable, but yeah, I think you’ve got to be on top of your tools.
I think once you’ve got your round-about philosophy, you just sort of go on minor changes. That should keep you in your window, if you know what you’re doing.
Q. I guess you were talking a little bit about the people you were running with, and you felt like you were maybe stuck in line a little bit. Were there any cars in particular you felt were really strong?
WILL POWER: I think my two teammates look really good. Palou looked good. He was running trying to get a big tow lap, I suppose. Maybe he was on light fuel.
Rosenqvist. I sat in a line, man. Everyone looked about the same. No one was really passing. Some cars were closer. Yeah, it’s difficult to tell. Very hard to tell.
Q. You’ve got a gap of 120 points to Alex Palou in the points standing, which is obviously quite a big deficit already. Do you feel your season rides even more on the 500 now considering the points gap you do have?
WILL POWER: You most certainly have to start beating Alex. I mean, yeah, I haven’t beaten him once this year. I would like to start slowly chipping away at that.
It’s funny, how quickly things can turn around. It would be nice if it was double points and he had a bad day. I’m not joking. It would be crazy if that was the case and it switched around like that.
Yeah, two bad races for him and two good for me, and you start getting back within a race worth of points. There’s a lot of guys very close from second all the way back to where I am, I suppose, or eighth.
Q. I remember last year you sort of came into qualifying having such confidence that Penske would lock out the front row. Do you have a similar confidence going into this year, or do you think you’ll have more competition?
WILL POWER: I think it will be closer, yeah, for a number of reasons. Not just people caught up. It’s probably a bit of a different — it looks like it’s windy. It’s going to be more difficult because of the weight. I think that’s more pronounced in qualifying trim when you are on lighter downforce.
Yeah, I can see it being a little less about the speed of the car, but more about the handling.
THE MODERATOR: Forecast is for less rain. Thanks for coming up, Will.

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