All posts by ARP Trish

The Federated Auto Parts Texas Two-Step takes the tour to the state’s southern half

PAIGE, TX (March 18, 2025) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are ready to two-step in Texas.

The country’s best Sprint Car drivers are partnered with their 900-horsepower machines. The music choice is the roar of the engines. And the venue is Paige, TX’s Cotton Bowl Speedway for the Federated Auto Parts Texas Two-Step.

Cotton Bowl has hosted The Greatest Show on Dirt on eight previous occasions. The Paige, TX facility will equal North Texas Motor Speedway on Friday and then surpass it on Saturday as the seventh most visited Texas track by the World of Outlaws.

Last year, Cotton Bowl delivered a pair of thrillers and expect no different as the sport’s top talent returns for two more nights.

BUY TWO-DAY COTTON BOWL TICKET PACKAGE HERE
BUY FRIDAY COTTON BOWL TICKETS HERE
BUY SATURDAY COTTON BOWL TICKETS HERE

WATCH LIVE ON DIRTVision

Let’s look at the weekend’s top storylines:

HOT SAUCE HEATING UP: After a rough start to the season, Giovanni Scelzi and his KCP Racing team are heading in the right direction.

It began with a top 10 and a podium during Volusia’s Bike Week Jamboree to begin March. Mechanical issues in the Heat Race took him from a likely Dash birth and derailed the Talladega trip. But since then, it’s been an eighth at Magnolia Motor Speedway and a win and third at Kennedale Speedway Park.

As luck would have it, Scelzi now heads to a place that’s been plenty kind to him in the past. Last year’s Texas Two-Step saw the Fresno, CA native take the World of Outlaws point lead for the first time in his career when he finished third on night one. Then, he backed that up with a victory in the finale. He’s only missed the top 10 once in six tries at the Texas track and owns a 6.67 average finish.

COWBOY CARSON: Lemoore, CA’s Carson Macedo has excelled when he’s saddled up, put on the cowboy boots (race shoes) and headed to Texas in recent years.

He’s won once in the “Lone Star State” each of the past three years. Macedo topped a trip to the track on this weekend’s agenda in 2022. Then, it was a Devil’s Bowl Speedway victory during the track’s final weekend in 2023. Last year, he claimed the Series debut at Kennedale Speedway Park.

This weekend offers up Macedo’s final chance of the season to keep the streak alive. He and the Jason Johnson Racing crew are hungry for their first trip to Victory Lane since the season opener. They’ll head to Cotton Bowl on a streak of eight consecutive top 10 finishes including a pair of podiums.

HAUD ON THE HUNT: Another proven driver/team combination righting the ship is Sheldon Haudenschild and Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing.

The exciting Ohio gasser has finished sixth or better in four of the last six races including a season-best third at Magnolia. The recent speed lifted the 31-year-old into the top five in points.

Haudenschild is still chasing his first victory of the season, but the momentum he’s built coupled with his Cotton Bowl résumé suggests the odds are in his favor this weekend. He’s a two-time winner, driving from sixth to victory in 2021 and from seventh to the top of the leaderboard the next year. Another Texas triumph this weekend would make him the first to three Cotton Bowl wins with the World of Outlaws.

STILL STREAKING: David Gravel continues to appear unstoppable in 2025. The 32-year-old just made his 900th career start this past weekend and looks to be entering his prime.

After his first World of Outlaws championship in 2024, he and Big Game Motorsports have upped things to another level this year. The Watertown, CT native is yet to miss the top five through 10 races. Early contact Saturday at Kennedale knocked him back as far as seventh, but he still rallied to fifth by the time the checkered flag fell. The top five streak sits at 16 races dating back to last season.

Like most tracks he’s visited, Cotton Bowl has also been a source off success for Gravel. He’s competed at every World of Outlaws race the track has hosted and boasts a 5.75 average finish. The 2018 visit belonged to Gravel when he led every lap at the 3/8 mile.

TOP ROOKIE SWAP: With nearly an eighth of a season complete, it looks like the 2025 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year is going to live up to all the hype. Of the seven contestants, no driver has been able to take firm control as they all look to write their name in the history books. The first five are separated by a mere 60 points.

Garet Williamson sits atop the class and ninth overall in points thanks to his best weekend of the year in Texas. The Columbia, MO native finally broke into the top 10 on night one at Kennedale with a seventh. The next night he took the Fischer Motorsports No. 23 to an 11th place finish. He’s been the most consistent of the rookies as of late with an 11.3 average finish over the last six races.

Chris Windom slipped to second, just four markers behind Williamson. Hunter Schuerenberg continues to sneak up on both courtesy of three top 10s in the last five races. “Hunter Percent” trails Williamson by 24 points. Then, it’s Zach Hampton (-26 points), Cole Macedo (-60 points), Conner Morrell (-98 points), and Skylar Gee (-122 points).

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE

WHEN AND WHERE
Friday-Saturday, March 21-22 at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, TX

ON 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/month

CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (10/89 Races):
1. David Gravel – Big Game Motorsports No. 2 (1402 PTS)
2. Logan Schuchart – Shark Racing No. 1S (-62 PTS)
3. Carson Macedo – Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 (-64 PTS)
4. Michael Kofoid – Roth Motorsports No. 83 (-106 PTS)
5. Sheldon Haudenschild – Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 (-146 PTS)
6. Donny Schatz – Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 (-146 PTS)
7. Giovanni Scelzi – KCP Racing No. 18 (-170 PTS)
8. Bill Balog – B2 Motorsports No. 17B (-174 PTS)
9. Garet Williamson – Fischer Motorsports No. 23 (-236 PTS)
10. Chris Windom – Sides Motorsports No. 7S (-240 PTS)

NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (7 Drivers):
3 Wins – David Gravel
2 Wins – Kyle Larson
1 Win – Carson Macedo, Christopher Bell, Bill Balog, Giovanni Scelzi, Michael Kofoid

FEATURE LAPS LED (10 Drivers):
75 Laps – David Gravel
51 Laps – Kyle Larson
39 Laps – Giovanni Scelzi
25 Laps – Carson Macedo
21 Laps – Michael Kofoid
19 Laps – Bill Balog
17 Laps – Emerson Axsom
16 Laps – Cole Macedo
9 Laps – Sam Hafertepe Jr.
8 Laps – Christopher Bell

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS QUICKTIME AWARDS (6 Drivers):
5 Quick Times – David Gravel
1 Quick Time – Emerson Axsom, Kyle Larson, Danny Sams III, Logan Schuchart, Anthony Macri

HEAT RACE WINNERS (17 Drivers):
6 Heat Wins – Carson Macedo, David Gravel
3 Heat Wins – Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Bill Balog, Sheldon Haudenschild
2 Heat Wins – Logan Schuchart, Brian Brown, Jacob Allen
1 Heat Win – Emerson Axsom, Hunter Schuerenberg, Austin McCarl, Anthony Macri, Garet Williamson, Bryce Lucius, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Conner Morrell

TOYOTA DASH APPEARANCES (29 Drivers):
9 Dashes – David Gravel, Logan Schuchart
7 Dashes – Carson Macedo
5 Dashes – Bill Balog
4 Dashes – Brian Brown, Emerson Axsom
3 Dashes – Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Sheldon Haudenschild, Michael Kofoid, Giovanni Scelzi
2 Dashes – Danny Sams III, Jacob Allen, Cole Macedo, Garet Williamson, Anthony Macri
1 Dash – Justin Peck, Brad Sweet, Ryan Timms, Tyler Courtney, Parker Price-Miller, Aaron Reutzel, Hunter Schuerenberg, Spencer Bayston, Austin McCarl, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Conner Morrell, Bryce Lucius, Christopher Thram

MICRO-LITE LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (8 Drivers):
2 LCS Wins – Giovanni Scelzi, Donny Schatz
1 LCS Win – Ryan Timms, Garet Williamson, Chris Martin, Anthony Macri, Bryce Lucius, Christopher Thram

KSE HARD CHARGER AWARDS (8 Drivers):
2 Hard Chargers – Ryan Timms, Chris Windom
1 Hard Charger – Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart, Cole Macedo, Zach Hampton, Bill Balog, Skylar Gee

PODIUM FINISHES (12 Drivers):
8 Podiums – David Gravel
4 Podiums – Kyle Larson, Logan Schuchart
3 Podiums – Carson Macedo, Giovanni Scelzi
2 Podiums – Christopher Bell
1 Podium – Aaron Reutzel, Jacob Allen, Bill Balog, Sheldon Haudenschild, Michael Kofoid, Sam Hafertepe Jr.

TOP 10 FINISHES (30 Drivers):
10 Top 10s – David Gravel
9 Top 10s – Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart
7 Top 10s – Michael Kofoid
6 Top 10s – Donny Schatz
5 Top 10s – Bill Balog, Giovanni Scelzi, Sheldon Haudenschild
4 Top 10s – Kyle Larson
3 Top 10s – Ryan Timms, Brad Sweet, Tyler Courtney, Justin Peck, Chris Windom, Anthony Macri, Hunter Schuerenberg
2 Top 10s – Christopher Bell, Aaron Reutzel, Jacob Allen, Cole Macedo, Spencer Bayston
1 Top 10 – Danny Sams III, Brian Brown, Parker Price-Miller, Skylar Gee, Zach Hampton, Conner Morrell, Emerson Axsom, Garet Williamson, Sam Hafertepe Jr.

2025 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)

For the complete 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.

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Racecar Engineering Becomes Official Pace Truck Sponsor of LucasDirt

March 18, 2025 ARP Trish

BATAVIA, Ohio (March 18, 2025) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing is proud to announce Racecar Engineering as the new title sponsor of the Series Pace Truck for 2025 and 2026. The Racecar Engineering Pace Truck will lead the field at all series events across the country, showcasing the nation’s most talented dirt late model drivers. Racecar Engineering in Lakeland, Florida, has become one of the largest sources of racing and performance parts in the Southeast United States. In addition to their showroom and sales offices, they maintain a 17,000 sq. ft. warehouse with over 600 brands of the latest innovative products, the weekly ‘must-have-now’ parts, and many parts considered to be ‘hard to find’ items. “When you ask around about the upper echelon of motorsports series, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is always on top. Many great racers compete in many of the most prestigious races in the world, putting on exciting door-to-door racing action night after night. The series, along with FloRacing, work diligently to take care of its racers and provide an exciting event for the teams and fans. As Racecar Engineering looks to expand our customer base into different regions of the country the partnership with LOLMDS made perfect sense. As we continue building on our unmatched customer service and competitive pricing, it made perfect sense to partner with a series that offers unparalleled marketing benefits and treats the tracks, racers, and fans in the same ways we treat each of our customers. We look forward to partnering with the LOLMDS for the 2025 & 2026 season as the official series pace truck, and we look forward to our brand being represented by such a professional organization,” stated Steve Dorer, General Manager of Racecar Engineering. “Were thrilled to have Racecar Engineering come on board for the next two years as the title sponsor of the Series Pace Truck. The Pace Truck is viewed all across the country not only on the racetracks but across the highways to and from events. This asset is a perfect opportunity to build and expand a company’s brand and we hope to do that with Racecar Engineering,” stated Wayne Castleberry, Corporate Sales and Marketing for Lucas Oil Motorsports. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns to action on Friday, March 21, at Atomic Speedway for an event with a $15,000 winner’s prize and on Saturday, March 22, at Brownstown Speedway for an event with a $25,000 winner’s prize. For the latest news, results, championship standings, and more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, please visit www.lucasdirt.com.

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WHAT TO WATCH FOR: World of Outlaws Making First Georgia Stop of 2025 with Swainsboro Return

March 18, 2025 ARP Trish

SWAINSBORO, GA (March 18, 2025) – The springtime portion of the season is officially underway, and the second of back-to-back weekends in the southeast is next on the docket.The World of Outlaws Late Models are set to roar into Swainsboro Raceway for the first time in 13 years for the two-night Battle at the Crossroads on Friday and Saturday, March 21-22.Action kicks off on Friday with a 35-lap, $12,000-to-win, Feature before a 50-lap, $15,000-to-win, main event wraps up the weekend on Saturday.The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet will be joined by 602 Late Models and Street Stocks on Friday while Saturday’s program will include Factory Stocks and Crown Vics.GET FRIDAY TICKETS HERE GET SATURDAY TICKETS HEREHere are the top storylines entering the weekend:BOBBY’S BACK: Most drivers wouldn’t call a top five and three top 10s through five races a bad start to a World of Outlaws season, but most drivers aren’t Bobby Pierce.This season was the first time since 2014 in which Pierce attended Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals and didn’t win at least once. The Oakwood, IL driver didn’t let that stat get to him though. He entered the Tennessee Tipoff on a mission to prove he was still at the top of the list of championship favorites.In his debut at Smoky Mountain Speedway, Pierce led all 35 laps of the Feature on his way to his first Outlaw win of the season and the Series points lead. The “Smooth Operator” now has his sights set on Swainsboro, another southeastern track Pierce has yet to visit in his Late Model career.FINDING HIS GROOVE: Twelve points behind Pierce in the standings is Nick Hoffman, who has also been hitting his stride lately with back-to-back podium finishes.“The Thrill From Mooresville” had a fast car throughout the season-opening events at Volusia Speedway Park, but a streak of attrition and bad luck caused him to finish lower than he started in the first three World of Outlaws races of the year. He capped off DIRTcar Nationals on a high note with a third-place run before finishing in the same spot four weeks later at Smoky Mountain to establish a new career-best at the track.Much like the driver he’s chasing in the points, Hoffman will also be making his first Swainsboro laps this weekend. If he can park the NOS Energy Drink No. 9 in Victory Lane, it would be his first Late Model win in Georgia and first in any vehicle in the state since a DIRTcar UMP Modified score at Boyd’s Speedway in 2021.HOME STATE HEROES: The first of three stops in the “Peach State” in 2025 is set to give several drivers the chance to defend their home turf against the best dirt Late Model drivers in the nation.Thomson, GA’s Cody Overton enters the weekend as the highest Georgia driver in the Series standings in sixth. His first chance to battle the Outlaws in his home state as a full-timer will come an hour from home at a track that was instrumental to his development as a driver.Overton has already picked up two Super Late Model wins this year at two other Georgia tracks in Screven Motor Speedway and Senoia Raceway and would love nothing more than to add a World of Outlaws win at home to that total.Overton won’t be the only Georgia Outlaw that fans have to cheer for this weekend, as Hampton, GA’s Ashton Winger is set to return to a track he’s had plenty of speed at in the past. Winger finds himself on a seven-race top 10 streak at Swainsboro between the Spring Nationals Series and the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series – including a Hunt the Front win in 2023 – and will be looking for more of the same with the Outlaws this weekend.Cedartown, GA’s Austin Smith will continue his maiden season on the World of Outlaws trail with his first Series appearance in his home state since a pair of races at Screven in 2016. It’s been a decade since Smith last competed at Swainsboro, as he finished 10th with the Southern Nationals in 2015 in his most recent start at the 3/8-mile oval.REBOUND TIME: Ryan Gustin found himself atop the points table for the first time leaving Volusia, but despite being one of a handful of drivers with a prior win on the reconfigured 3/8-mile track, the Todd Cooney Motorsports team struggled to find their footing last weekend.After transferring in through a Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdown, Gustin’s 19th-place Feature finish knocked him down to fourth in the standings, 32 points behind Pierce. On the same note as every other driver in the top five, Gustin will also be making his first Swainsboro starts this weekend.Only one driver in the field this weekend has a perfect record at Swainsboro – Dennis Erb Jr. In his only start at the track, Erb took the checkered flag in 2013. The 2022 Series champion has yet to crack the top 10 in Outlaw competition this year and is aiming to start his climb up from 18th in the standings this weekend.His fellow Illinois native, Brian Shirley, has only cracked into the top 10 once with the Outlaws in 2025 on the opening night of the season at DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals. “Squirrel” will be looking to turn things around in his first Swainsboro start since 2010 when he finished ninth in the track’s annual Turkey 100.IT’S BEEN A WHILE: A lot has changed since the last time the Outlaws took the green at Swainsboro on May 5, 2012.Pierce was a 15-year-old fresh face trying to win his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals race. Tristan Chamberlain was getting ready to start kindergarten. One thing that hasn’t changed? Chris Madden still has a knack for winning World of Outlaws races, especially in the southeast.“Smokey” has spent more than a decade as the most recent Series winner at Swainsboro, but will have a pack of more than two dozen Outlaws looking to take that crown. One of them is Tim McCreadie, who finished fourth that night and won the first World of Outlaws event at Swainsboro two years prior in 2010. He and Darrell Lanigan are the only two drivers to finish top five in all three Swainsboro races in World of Outlaws history, and if McCreadie can keep that streak alive, it would mark his first top five since Sunshine Nationals.WHEN AND WHERE:
Friday-Saturday, March 21-22 at Swainsboro Raceway in Swainsboro, GA

CURRENT POINT STANDINGS:
1. Bobby Pierce (870 points)
2. Nick Hoffman (-12)
3. Ricky Thornton Jr. (-26)
4. Ryan Gustin (-32)
5. Max Blair (-42)
6. Cody Overton (-48)
7. Brandon Sheppard (-48)
8. Ethan Dotson (-56)
9. Brandon Overton (-62)
10. Drake Troutman (-62)

FEATURE WINNERS (5):
Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2
Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – 1
Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 1
Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 1
Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – 1HEAT RACE WINNERS (15):
Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – 5
Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – 4
Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – 4
Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 3
Garrett Alberson — Las Cruces, NM – 3
Ricky Thornton Jr. – Chandler, AZ – 3
Ethan Dotson – Bakersfield, CA – 2
Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN – 2
Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 2
Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 1
Cody Overton – Thomson, GA – 1
Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – 1
Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 1
Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – 1
Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – 1LANDA PRESSURE WASHERS LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINNERS (13):
Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – 3
Michael Leach – Sun River, MT – 2
Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 2
Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – 1
Dustin Sorensen – Rochester, MN – 1
Cody Overton – Thomson, GA – 1
Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – 1
Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – 1
Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – 1
Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 1
Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 1
Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – 1
Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – 1PODIUM FINISHERS (10):
Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 5
Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2
Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 2
Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – 2
Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – 2
Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – 1
Cody Overton – Thomson, GA – 1
Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 1
Ricky Thornton Jr. – Chandler, AZ – 1
Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – 1FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGERS (6):
Cody Overton – Thomson, GA – 1
Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 1
Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – 1
Dennis Erb Jr. – Carpentersville, IL – 1
Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 1
Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 1SIMPSON RACING PRODUCTS QUICK TIMES (3):
Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – 3
Ricky Thornton Jr. – Chandler, AZ – 2
Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – 1BILSTEIN POLE AWARD (4):
Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2
Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – 2
Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN – 1
Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – 1FEATURE LAP LEADERS (9):
Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 44
Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN – 41
Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – 39
Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – 35
Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – 19
Ricky Thornton Jr. – Chandler, AZ – 18
Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 17
Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – 16
Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 112025 WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODELS SCHEDULE & WINNERS
Friday, Jan. 24 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Ryan Gustin (1)
Saturday, Jan. 25 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Garrett Alberson (1)
Thursday, Feb. 13 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Garrett Alberson (2)
Friday, Feb. 14 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Devin Moran (1)
Saturday, Feb. 15 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Jonathan Davenport (1)
Friday, Mar. 14 / Smoky Mountain Speedway / Maryville, TN / Bobby Pierce (1)
Friday, Mar. 21 / Swainsboro Raceway / Swainsboro, GA
Saturday, Mar. 22 / Swainsboro Raceway / Swainsboro, GA
Friday, Apr. 4 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH
Saturday, Apr. 5 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH
Thursday, Apr. 10 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL (Practice)
Friday, Apr. 11 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL
Saturday, Apr. 12 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL
Friday, Apr. 25 / Talladega Short Track / Eastaboga, AL
Saturday, Apr. 26 / Talladega Short Track / Eastaboga, AL
Thursday, May 1 / Mississippi Thunder Speedway / Fountain City, WI
Friday, May 2 / Mississippi Thunder Speedway / Fountain City, WI
Saturday, May 3 / Mississippi Thunder Speedway / Fountain City, WI
Thursday, May 15 / Raceway 7 / Conneaut, OH
Friday, May 16 / Marion Center Raceway / Marion Center, PA
Saturday, May 17 / Marion Center Raceway / Marion Center, PA
Sunday, May 18 / Bedford Speedway / Bedford, PA
Friday, June 20 / I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park / Pevely, MO
Saturday, June 21 / I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park / Pevely, MO
Monday, June 23 / Independence Motor Speedway / Independence, IA
Thursday, June 26 / I-94 EMR Speedway / Fergus Falls, MN
Friday, June 27 / River Cities Speedway / Grand Forks, ND
Saturday, June 28 / Norman County Raceway / Ada, MN
Sunday, June 29 / Nodak Speedway / Minot, ND
Thursday, July 3 / Deer Creek Speedway / Spring Valley, MN
Friday, July 4 / Deer Creek Speedway / Spring Valley, MN
Saturday, July 5 / Deer Creek Speedway / Spring Valley, MN
Friday, July 11 / Sharon Speedway / Hartford, OH
Saturday, July 12 / Sharon Speedway / Hartford, OH
Friday, July 25 / Fairbury Speedway / Fairbury, IL
Saturday, July 26 / Fairbury Speedway / Fairbury, IL
Monday, July 28 / Wilmot Raceway / Wilmot, WI
Thursday, July 31 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI
Friday, Aug. 1 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI
Saturday, Aug. 2 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI
Wednesday, Aug. 13 / Highland Speedway / Highland, IL
Thursday, Aug. 14 / Spoon River Speedway / Lewistown, IL
Friday, Aug. 15 / Maquoketa Speedway / Maquoketa, IA
Saturday, Aug. 16 / Maquoketa Speedway / Maquoketa, IA
Friday, Aug. 22 / Arrowhead Speedway / Colcord, OK
Saturday, Aug. 23 / Arrowhead Speedway / Colcord, OK
Friday, Sept. 12 / Needmore Speedway / Norman Park, GA
Saturday, Sept. 13 / Senoia Raceway / Senoia, GA
Friday, Sept. 26 / Tri-City Speedway / Granite City, IL
Saturday, Sept. 27 / Tri-City Speedway / Granite City, IL
Friday, Oct. 3 / Humboldt Speedway / Humboldt, KS
Saturday, Oct. 4 / 81 Speedway / Wichita, KS
Friday, Oct. 10 / Boothill Speedway / Greenwood, LA
Saturday, Oct. 11 / Boothill Speedway / Greenwood, LA
Wednesday, Nov. 5 / The Dirt Track at Charlotte / Concord, NC
Thursday, Nov. 6 / The Dirt Track at Charlotte / Concord, NC
Friday, Nov. 7 / The Dirt Track at Charlotte / Concord, NC
Saturday, Nov. 8 / The Dirt Track at Charlotte / Concord, NC ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/what-to-watch-for-world-of-outlaws-making-first-georgia-stop-of-2025-with-swainsboro-return/EVENT INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/schedule/event-info/?event=4547654
TRACK INFO: https://www.swainsbororaceway.com/FAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners. Official partners include, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel). Also supported by : AMKUS, Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Bilstein, Capital Race Cars, Coltman Farms, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Dave Warren Powersports, Dirt King Simulators, Evolve Transporters, FAST 1 Speed Shop, FIREBULL, Fox Factory (Hard Charger Award), Gorsuch Performance, Infinity Chassis, Integra Racing Shocks, Intercomp, Jarrett Rifles, Keyser Manufacturing, Landa Pressure Washers, Lifeline USA, Longhorn Chassis, MD3, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Reliable Painting, Rocket Chassis, STAKT Products, Swift Springs, WELD Racing, and Wieland (Exclusive Racing Aluminum).

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HULL FLYING HIGH COMING INTO PHOENIX

March 18, 2025 ARP Trish

LONG BEACH, CA (March 18, 2025) — Buddy Hull is coming off one of the best weekends of his drag racing career, so he is ready to keep that momentum flowing at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, March 21-23. The driver for Jim Dunn Racing is currently sitting in the No. 8 spot in points for Funny Car, his debut in the Top 10, with plans to keep climbing from there.

“Gainesville was a very good weekend for us,” said Hull. “We made it to the quarterfinals after getting past Daniel Wilkerson in round one, and we made a run that was a career best at the 1/8th mile, which shows how much work Jon Dunn put into the car during the off-season. I think it’s a real indicator of how this season is going to go for us. Seeing real improvement through our results on the track.”

Two weeks ago, at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, Hull made it to the second quarterfinal of his career, the first since his son, Maverick, was born in mid-August. He then fell during the second round to eventual race winner, Chad Green.

“It was super special to have Maverick here for this win,” said Hull. “He slept through it, but just knowing he was on the starting line with my wife, Madi, means a lot. Raising a racetrack kid means he’s going to be here for all the big and small moments of my career, which just makes the whole experience even better. I’m incredibly lucky to be able to do what I do, surrounded by my family.”

This weekend, Hull will be busy on the NHRA Stage on Friday at 11:30 a.m., leading New Fan Orientation with Hannah Rickards. Jim Dunn Racing will also be hosting over 200 USD employees as they attend the event. USD will be featured this weekend on the nitro Funny Car, with a soaring eagle livery. And to top it all off, there will be an in-car camera to further highlight all of the action.

USD has been servicing customers in the southwest for over 45 years, with a commitment to advanced technology and superior customer satisfaction. They are an authorized full-line distributor of ACDelco (General Motors), Motorcraft (Ford) and Mopar (Chrysler) original equipment auto parts and accessories. Their corporate headquarters and largest warehouse is located in Phoenix, Arizona, about 20 minutes north of the track.

“We are so excited to have a large group of USD employees out to the track,” said Hull. “They’ve had a long relationship with both Jim Dunn Racing and the Dunn family, and I loved getting to meet and interact with them last year at this race. This is their home race, so we want to do them proud.”

In addition to USD, Hull will also be repping season-long sponsors Lescure Mechanical Services, Mooneyes, Blaze Exhaust Probes, KGC Construction, Vertex Roofers and General Contractors, Crow Safety, Koppl Pipeline Services, True Brand and Wiley X.

“Being No. 8 in points is a great place to start in for the weekend,” said Hull. “But for the sake of my team, my sponsors, my family and myself, I owe it to everyone to keep going and moving on up in the point standings. Jim, Jon and the rest of the team have given me a great car, and it’s my job to be as aggressive as I can with it and go some rounds. I think Phoenix is going to be another great weekend for us.”

Hull and the Jim Dunn Racing team will have two qualifying runs on Friday, March 21 and then two more qualifying runs on March 22 at Firebird Motorsports Park. The top 16 quickest Funny Cars will advance to race day starting on Sunday, March 23 at 11 a.m. PT with the first round of eliminations live on FS1. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Arizona Nationals visit nhra.com.

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Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP Continues at Atomic and Brownstown

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

BATAVIA, Ohio (March 17, 2025) – The quest for the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP continues at Atomic Speedway (OH) and Brownstown Speedway (IN), March 21 and March 22. Both events, along with many others in 2025, have boosted the purses, with Atomic Speedway offering $15,000 to win and Brownstown Speedway offering $25,000. Over an impressive $800,000 in additional A-Main purse money will be available in 2025 compared to 2024. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing National Champion will earn an industry record $250,000 from a total season-long points fund that was increased in 2025 to over $1.3 million. The year-long format will continue to award teams bonuses at four different intervals throughout the season. However, only bonus points will be granted for feature wins during the season. Drivers can still earn points after each bonus round and remain eligible for additional bonuses as the season progresses down. The Big River Steel Big Four will be determined at the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals on September 20. From there, the four championship contenders will battle for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing National Championship at the remaining five races of the season. “The series is honored to have great sponsors supporting this championship format and the additional bonus money contributed by Big River Steel, ARP, Sunoco Race Fuels, Summit Racing Equipment, and UNOH into the points fund. 2025 is already shaping up to be another exciting season of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series -presented by FloRacing,” stated Wayne Castleberry, Sales and Marketing for Lucas Oil Motorsports. For the latest news, results, championship standings, and more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, please visit www.lucasdirt.com. The four bonuses are:Sunoco Road to Wheatland: May 24 at Lucas Oil Speedway; 33rd Annual Show-Me 100: 1. $2,500, 2. $1,500, 3. $1,500, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,500, 6. $1,000, 7. $1,000, 8. $1,000, 9. $1,000, 10. $1,000, 11. $500, 12. $500, 13. $500, 14. $500, 15. $500 = $16,000Summit Racing Equipment Super Twelve: July 12 at Lucas Oil Speedway: 19th Annual Diamond Nationals: 1. $5,000, 2. $1,000, 3. $1,000, 4. $1,000, 5. $1,000, 6. $1,000, 7. $1,000, 8. $1,000, 9. $1,000, 10. $1,000, 11. $1,000, 12. $1,000 = $16,000UNOH Great Eight: August 23 at Port Royal Speedway; The Rumble by the River: 1. $7,500, 2. $1,500, 3. $1,500, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,500, 6. $1,500, 7. $1,500, 8. $1,500 = $18,000Big River Steel Big Four: September 20 at Knoxville Raceway; Late Model Knoxville Nationals: 1. $10,000, 2. $2,000, 3. $2,000, 4. $2,000 = $16,000 Big River Steel Big Four Championship Events:Date – Venue – Event – To WinSept. 26 – Brownstown Speedway – 4th Annual CJ Rayburn Memorial – $10,000Sept. 27 – Brownstown Speedway – 46th Annual Jackson 100 – $50,000Oct. 3 – Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway – 37th Annual Pittsburgher – $10,000Oct. 4 – Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway – 37th Annual Pittsburgher – $50,000Oct. 17 – Eldora Speedway – 45th Annual Dirt Track World Championship (Prelim; Non-Points)Oct. 18 – Eldora Speedway – 45th Annual Dirt Track World Championship – $100,000 2025 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Fund: 1. $250,000, 2. $200,000, 3. $150,000, 4. $125,000, 5. $100,000, 6. $80,000, 7. $60,000, 8. $55,000, 9. $50,000, 10. $45,000, 11. $40,000, 12. $35,000, 13. $30,000, 14. $25,000, 15. $20,000 Points Fund: $1,265,000Chase Bonuses: $66,000Grand Total: $1,331,000Increase of $281,000

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Michael Faccinto Joins Trifecta Motorsports for 2025 Xtreme Outlaw Rookie of the Year Campaign

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

CONCORD, NC (March 17, 2025) – After two years of racing for Trifecta Motorsports at the Chili Bowl Nationals presented by NOS Energy Drink, Michael Faccinto will join the team full-time in 2025.

The Hanford, CA driver enters his rookie campaign with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota as the gasser of the Stanton-powered Spike Chassis No.5U for co-owners Steve Carbone and Staton Flurry.

“I’ve been lucky enough to drive for Trifecta the last two years at the Chili Bowl,” Faccinto said. “I developed a really good relationship with Steve, they reached out and asked if I would be interested in doing this whole deal and I was all on board. It’s going to be an exciting year, we got great partners behind us, and I’m looking forward to get out there and get going.”

He’ll also have a familiar face by his side, as Bobby “Janky” Milliser will turn the wrenches on Faccinto’s machine as they reunite in their first chance to chase the Series title.

“I’m at a pretty high confidence [level] with Trifecta,” Faccinto said. “Janky and I actually worked together quite a bit, probably seven or eight years ago, and when we got to work at Tulsa a couple of years ago, it just felt right at home.

“Preparing for the 2025 season, I’m excited to know the boys have been putting in the hard work with me being out in California, but I know they’re prepared to tackle the season. They want a championship, so I want to deliver it to them.”

Faccinto has extensive open-wheel dirt racing experience, winning the 2022 USAC Western States Midget title and making various starts with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, American Sprint Car Series, USAC National Midgets and Micro Sprints.

Despite no Xtreme Outlaw starts to his name until the season-opening World of Outlaws Illini 100 changes the stat, Faccinto is savoring every second he gets on the track as his way of being fresh and fast at the start.

“Track time, especially, is huge,” Faccinto said. “The track tendencies, running the curb or running the bottom, it’s obviously different than a Sprint Car or Micro, but that seat time, feeling it in your butt, it’s good to have that time in it. I’m going to spend time with Xtreme, but also running Midgets out in California, Winged Sprint Cars and a Micro on the off nights by just staying busy and staying as sharp as I can.”

The Californian is making his first touring endeavor outside of the West Coast U.S. with most of the tracks being new to him when he arrives for competition. Despite the unfamiliarity, he’s got eyes on the season-opening World of Outlaws Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway, Coles County Speedway for the Xtreme-POWRi Challenge Series doubleheader, and the Pennsylvania Xtreme Appalachian Midget Week.

“To be honest, I haven’t really been to a lot of the places,” Faccinto said. “I’m looking forward to Coles County. I’ve seen a lot of videos of that place, and it looks right up my alley there. Even the season-opener at Farmer City, that track to me kind of fits the style.

“But getting out to Pennsylvania, running those racetracks, you see it out in California, you see all the videos of Pennsylvania tracks and they look [made] for the Midgets. They’re tight bullrings, just like California, so I would say those are what I’m looking toward the most.”

Faccinto gets the newest chapter of his racing career started with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets at Farmer City Raceway for the Illini 100 on Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12. Tickets are available for purchase now:

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How Summer Nationals Has Built, Molded Dirt Racing’s Top Stars: Part II

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Ashton Winger, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Dennis Erb Jr. and Nick Hoffman talk what it takes to survive on the Hell Tour

CONCORD, NC — March 17, 2025 — Running every DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour race is not a task for the faint-hearted.

This year’s edition of the famed tour resembles the schedule of years past with a grueling pace of 31 races in 34 days. Not all have the resources or stamina complete it in full, but those who have took away lessons for their career and life.

In Part I of this series, Summer Nationals champions Ashton Winger, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Dennis Erb Jr., Nick Hoffman and Tyler Erb talked about their path to the Hell Tour. Here, several of them expand on what it took to be successful on the tour.

Learning Yourself Through Hell

The challenge of taking good care of the race car and parts day in and day out teaches drivers about their work ethic and living lessons they’ve used throughout their careers on national dirt Late Model tours.

2022 World of Outlaws Late Model champion Dennis Erb Jr took his lessons of mixing the positive and negatives he experienced from the time spent with the Summer Nationals that helped prepare him better for national dirt Late Model tours.

“There were a lot of things there (to learn),” Erb Jr said. “Going up and down the road, taking care of all the equipment while racing near 30 nights in a row. You obviously had to make good decisions, definitely mixing good and bad, but there’s a lot of things that went on through that time.

“It was a learning curve to be able to learn how to race for points, know where to pick your battles throughout that month or two. There was a lot there that helped me as far as learning how to be consistent, finishing races, and being up front. That was one of the biggest things, where you can group them all together to concentrate on being consistent, because that’s what wins championships.”

Nick Hoffman had a special challenge in 2019 when it was just, he, his two-month-old son, Maddox, and his wife, Lacy, on the Hell Tour. Hoffman got by with only family by his side, recording 13 Feature wins and his second-career Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals title.

“It definitely teaches you to work hard because you ain’t got a choice,” Hoffman said candidly. “Very grueling days, long weeks, but as long as you can put nights together and have a little bit of success, it makes it a hell of a lot easier. It’s very rewarding, but it can also beat you down pretty quick.

“Maddox, my firstborn, the first year I did it with just my wife and him, he was only two months old. So, it was just us three on the road, and that’s a memory that I’ll never forget as we were able to win the championship and race every single race. That will always be special to me.”

Ashton Winger noted the difference in competition from traditional national tours. In 2023, he had to square up against Bloomington, IL’s Jason Feger for his Hell Tour championship while racing against other prominent “Illinois Bad Boys” through the summer.

Winger compares the caliber of drivers to racing against southeastern staples Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, and Chris Madden.

“I definitely think Feger has picked it up in the last few years,” Winger said. “He’s definitely gotten way better, but you’re gonna have to race (Shannon) Babb everywhere, (Ryan) Unzicker’s fast, obviously “Squirrel” (Brian Shirley) and Bobby (Pierce) have gone onto the Outlaws.

“I mean, hell, when I go, I feel like me and Terbo are probably the adopted sons of Illinois. You’re gonna race some guys that are coming up and the usual veterans, it’s like going to race (Brandon) Overton, (Jonathan) Davenport, and (Chris) Madden at Cherokee (Speedway). You go race with (Midwest) guys every single night in their backyard, and we always get to enjoy that.”

Before scoring his first World of Outlaws Late Model championship in 2023, Bobby Pierce made a name for himself on the Summer Nationals tour, collecting five championships – his last coming in 2022. When he moved to the World of Outlaws full-time in 2023 – his first full year with the tour – he was already driving and winning like a champion early in the season due to his experience gained on the Hell Tour.

“I feel like Summer Nationals makes you better when you’re racing all the time like that,” Pierce said. “Everyone gets into the routine more, and it’s like a muscle memory thing too when you’re racing every time and it’s like riding a bike the next time you race. When you can do it, I think it just makes you better and gave me the confidence to go out and win.”

Since scoring his lone Summer Nationals championship in 2013, Brandon Sheppard has gone on to hold the most victories and championships with the World of Outlaws Late Models. He too cited his acceptance of the grind on the Hell Tour as a key factor for his success on the national tour.

“Basically, the experience [helped me],” Sheppard said. “What it takes to go up and down the road, and race night after night with no breaks, no days off, and even the days off were harder work than the days we raced. At the end of the day, it is the experience that if you’re a young racer getting into the sport and need to gain experience in a short amount of time, [Summer Nationals] is a good way to do it for sure.”

There’s no easy road on the Hell Tour. Not all can do it, but those who do find they leave a better driver and a better person. In Part III of this series – out Monday, March 24 – these champions share what it meant to win their first Hell Tour race and title and what those milestones meant to their careers.

The 2025 edition of the Hell Tour begins at the Brownstown Bullring in Brownstown, IL on Tuesday, June 10 – kicking off a stretch of 31 races in 34 days. For the full series schedule, visit the Summer Nationals website. 

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How Summer Nationals Has Built, Molded Dirt Racing’s Top Stars: Part II

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Ashton Winger, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Dennis Erb Jr. and Nick Hoffman talk what it takes to survive on the Hell Tour

CONCORD, NC — March 17, 2025 — Running every DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour race is not a task for the faint-hearted.

Learning Yourself Through Hell

Winger compares the caliber of drivers to racing against southeastern staples Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, and Chris Madden.

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CRUZ PEDREGON–ARIZONA ADVANCE

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Cruz Pedregon

Arizona Nationals – Firebird Raceway

Pre-Race Report

News Note: 2025 Season Primary paint scheme images.

Quotes for Arizona Nationals, Firebird Raceway

Cruz Pedregon, two-time Funny Car World Champion

Firebird Raceway is one of my top five all-time favorite races & tracks. It’s where I won my first race in an Alcohol Dragster. Fast forward to this weekend in the Snap-on^® Dodge^® Hellcat^® Funny Car, we’re looking for fast runs on the Raceway’s newly resurfaced track.

We hoped to do test runs in Gainesville, but the weather didn’t cooperate. So, when we’re out west, we look forward to getting our full complement of runs in to get the car consistent. The team is fired up, and so am I. The group we’ve put together, plus all the new components on the car, has us very excited. We’re ready for the season, and I feel really good about the team as a whole.

One thing I love about this race is its close proximity to where my dad was born and raised in nearby El Paso, Texas. We get a lot of family and friends who attend, making their way from Western Texas through New Mexico to the track. It’s a great opportunity for them to come watch us race, and I say there’s nothing like having family cheer us on and support our team.

Snap-on has a great group of franchisees around the track that supports our double Pit-side hospitality. We’re going to make sure we’re hitting on all eight cylinders and letting it rip, trying to win one for the home crowd.

Name on the side of Cruz’s car – Snap-on Nitro Franchisee Jason Tatarski

● The name of this week’s Snap-on Nitro Franchisee on the side of Cruz’s car is Jason Tatarski.

● Jason used to go to the Pomona races with his dad growing up and will get to meet Cruz for the first time when they do a ride-along Thursday prior to the race in Arizona. They’ll be visiting local automotive shops owned by NHRA fans.

● Jason says one of his favorite things about his Snap-on^® franchise is that he gets to include his family in his work, and his children get to see what it’s like to be a business owner.

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JOSH BERRY WINS FIRST CUP RACE AT LAS VEGASLAS VEGAS, NV – March 17, 2025

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry won Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, earning his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. The triumph marked Ford’s 742nd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and the 101st Cup Series win for the iconic Wood Brothers Racing team — all achieved with Ford Motor Company.

“Congratulations to Leonard, Len, Eddie, Jon, Kim, Miles, Josh, and everyone at Wood Brothers Racing on the race win at Las Vegas” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “For Josh to capture his first Cup win in the iconic Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford Performance Dark Horse Mustang during their 75th anniversary is incredibly special. Our team at Roush Yates Engines works hard to deliver the power and reliability needed to win at this level, and today it all came together. We couldn’t be more excited.”

“I’m just really proud of everybody on this team. This is a great group. They build great race cars and it’s just been a privilege to drive for them. I’m just so really thankful to be here. There are so many people I could thank for this moment, but to be a Cup Series winner is really special,” commented Berry.

Four Ford Performance drivers started Sunday’s race in the top 10: Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P2, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in P3, Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry in P7, and Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith in P9. Team Penske’s Joey Logano quickly took the lead after battling with Michael McDowell in the opening laps. After an early caution, teammate Austin Cindric surged to the front, leading over 40 laps and winning the first stage of the race. Multiple cautions in the second stage created various pit strategies, shuffling the drivers at the end of the stage. Ryan Blaney finished the stage in P6 and Josh Berry finished in P8. The action-packed race featured 13 different race leaders, a record 32 lead changes and nine cautions for 53 laps. During the ninth and final caution of the race, Josh Berry pitted and took four fresh tires. When the race restarted with 18 laps remaining, Berry battled Daniel Suárez side-by-side for 3 laps until Berry took the lead on lap 252. After clearing Suárez, Berry widened the gap in clean air and crossed the finish line 1.358 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

A total of three Ford Performance drivers finished in the top-10: Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry in P1, RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece in P3, and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in P6.

The Xfinity Series also raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, where four Ford Performance drivers finished in the top 10. Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer finished in P5, RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg finished in P7, AM Racing’s Harrison Burton finished in P8, and Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed finished in P10.

Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to Homestead, Florida this week and race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

41 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 478 WINS – 437 POLES

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NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT MARCH 16, 2025

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Suarez Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Result at Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayChevrolet Claims Seven Top-10 Finishes

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS: POS. DRIVER2nd – Daniel Suarez4th – William Byron5th – Ross Chastain7th – Alex Bowman8th – AJ Allmendinger9th – Kyle Larson10th – Chase Elliott

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

· Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez drove his No. 99 Chevrolet to his best finish of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – leading Chevrolet to the checkered flag with a runner-up result in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. · A series of cautions in the final stage made pit strategy the name of the game. With a caution on lap 244, the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet pit crew put down a monster performance on pit road to give Suarez the win off pit road and a front-row starting position for the restart with 20 laps remaining. Suarez battled side-by-side with race winner, Josh Berry, for a handful of laps before settling into the runner-up position. · The Bowtie brand had a monstrous presence in the top-10 of the final leaderboard, with Suarez leading the manufacturer to seven top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval – a season-best for Chevrolet with five points-paying races complete. Among those results were representation by three different Chevrolet organizations including two top-five finishes for Trackhouse Racing; all four Hendrick Motorsports entries with top-10 results; and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in the eighth position. · Larson proved to be a contender all race long, with the 32-year-old Elk Grove, California, native also collecting his second stage win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, making the Chevrolet driver the first repeat stage winner in the division with now five points-paying races complete. · In just his fifth points-paying start with Spire Motorsports, Michael McDowell earned the pole position for today’s 267-lap race – laying down a lap of 28.883 seconds in his No. 71 Chevrolet. The lap delivered Chevrolet its second-straight pole win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, as well as Spire Motorsports’ first-ever pole win in NASCAR’s top division.

UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on Sunday, March 23, at 3 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Post-Race Driver Quotes:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Finished: 5th“Yeah, it got him (Daniel Suarez) clear to the lead. I was fully committed to him and happy to do it. Got him a good push down the frontstretch and through the restart zone; another one into (turn) one and another one into three. We stayed connected well. It was aggressive, but it got him to the lead. And then he just bottomed out too hard with his car and let Josh (Berry) inside of him a couple laps into that run. Bummer because he had a better car than we did and had a shot to win. It just slipped away from us.”  How important was this day for Trackhouse Racing to get both cars into the top-five here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway? “Yeah, it’s huge. That’s what I said to Daniel (Suarez) – it’s pretty cool to be talking about what we could do better than second and fifth and legitimately running up there. It’s so frustrating though because you could see how close Daniel was. He had the better Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet today, and for him to be so close, it’s a bummer.”

Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing ChevroletFinished: 21st“Our Sea Best team battles and fights and gets better and better every time, every minute we work together. We’re developing a trend of getting stronger as we go, so that’s exciting for the future. We had some opportunities to probably have a better finish there, but from where we were at the beginning of the race to the end, it was a lot better. I’m very happy with our effort. We’ll keep going and getting better. I’m very pleased.”

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 4thHow much of an issue were tires today, and how much were you conserving it? How much did that strategy play into your finish today? “Yeah, when everything got flipped with the fuel strategy – not really pit strategy, but you had to pit to make it to the end of the race. Everything just got flipped around and we were on the bad side of that, having to restart in the 20s and then have to drive back through the field. I thought we did a good job getting back through the field. Our car was a lot tighter in traffic. There’s definitely some things for us to improve and work on because I feel like once we lost the first couple of rows, it was a completely different race car. We just have to continue to improve on that.  Overall, happy with the result for the No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet team. We had a good car. We definitely had one of the best cars, if the race would have played out normally. We just didn’t really have a chance to get back up there at the end.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 16th“It was an up-and-down day for the No. 71 Group 1001 Chevy team. We had a little issue there early on with the diffuser flap falling down. We didn’t figure it out until about the end of Stage Two. Once we got that back, we were kind of back in the game but just a couple adjustments behind. I thought we would have a shot at the top-10, but on the last run, the car just got really tight. It’s unfortunate to lose spots there at the end.. you never want to do that. But we’ll keep building and keep working on it; keep making notebooks and get it right.”

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 34th “Our day was going pretty good there at the start. I was learning to move around and started to go forward. Just made an adjustment that didn’t go our way and never recovered. It’s a shame, my Red Bull Chevrolet had plenty of potential and I felt like I could’ve been okay. My teammates ran really well, so our car was good. Just learning to put myself in the right spots. We’ll be ready for Homestead next weekend.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 2nd“Definitely a little disappointed, but first of all, congratulations to Josh Berry and the No. 21 team. They did a great job and they’ve been fast. The No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy team did everything right. The pit crew did an amazing job with the pit stops. We did everything right with the strategy. Our Chevy was fast, but we just struggled a little bit on the short runs. I mentioned to my crew chief – before the last run, I told him that if we’re going to be up front, we’re going to need a better car for the short run. I was having too much contact over there in (turns) one and two. Unfortunately, I think that’s why we lost the race. We just had a little bit too much contact. I almost wrecked in one and two.  But overall, just very, very proud of everyone at Trackhouse Racing. The entire organization has been working very hard and it’s showing. Thank you to Chevrolet, Freeway Insurance, Coca-Cola, Quaker State – all of our partners that help us to get to the track every weekend. It was a solid effort.”

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BUDDY’S BACK: Kofoid Bests Hafertepe Jr. in Traffic for First Win of Season

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

The Series sophomore comes out on top of a Kennedale barnburner for his 11^th career win

KENNEDALE, TX (March 15, 2025) – The 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season didn’t start the way Michael “Buddy” Kofoid would’ve liked, but he’s quickly turning things around.

The Penngrove, CA native entered 2025 with many viewing him as a championship contender after a stellar ending to 2024. He and Roth Motorsports closed out last year’s campaign with six wins in the final 16 races, but the pairing missed the top 10 in the first three nights of this season.

Kofoid rolled into Saturday’s Cowtown Classic finale with some momentum built back up courtesy of six straight top 10s, and the recent strides culminated in his first trip to Victory Lane of the year at Kennedale Speedway Park.

The 23-year-old started on the front row of the 30-lap Feature, but it was Sunnyvale, TX’s Sam Hafertepe Jr. taking the early advantage from the pole. After a fierce battle with Logan Schuchart for second, Kofoid chased Hafertepe down and cleared the Texan with a Lap 10 slider, but the race was far from over. Hafertepe refused to go down without a fight in front of home state fans. The pilot of the Hills Racing No. 15H hounded Kofoid as the two ripped through heavy traffic, but Kofoid had enough to hold on and secure an encouraging checkered flag.

“All year we’ve just been off a little bit,” Kofoid admitted. “We just kept working hard at it, and we just want it really bad. We weren’t going to let it get to us. Obviously, it’s a long, grueling, so it’s nice to get a win somewhat early on and change some things for this to happen today. I just want to thank them (team) for their hard work. It goes into a lot. We changed cars today, and this was actually the car we ended the year with last year, so I’m really happy about that.”

Kofoid’s first win of the season gave him 11 for his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt and made him the seventh different winner through 10 races. The first of the year for Roth Motorsports was the 115th for Dennis and Teresa Roth’s team and made it 15 consecutive seasons in which they’ve won at least one World of Outlaws Feature.

The No. 83 could move all around the Texas bullring on Saturday, and Kofoid was quick to credit his crew for the maneuverability that guided him to victory.

“A really good one,” Kofoid said of his car. “Going into today, even yesterday even though the track was vastly different, with seeing how heavy it was probably going to be, I told Dylan (Buswell), ‘I think to be good you’re going to have to be able to move around and be able to run lines that are kind of goofy.’ I was running a big diamond in (Turns) 1 and 2 or could run in the middle through the holes. I was just really good anywhere. That’s just a testament to Dylan, Nate, and John. They’ve been doing a really good job.”

Hafertepe Jr. held on to the runner-up spot, marking his first World of Outlaws podium since March of 2022. He badly wanted to win in front of a his home state fans that made Saturday the largest crowd in Kennedale Speedway Park history, but overall he was happy with the impressive outing against the sport’s toughest competition.

“I just didn’t get through traffic the first time right,” Hafertepe Jr. said. “I didn’t pick my spots right then got too tight off of (Turn) 4 here and gave him a pretty good lane to get by us there. Nothing to hang our head about. I really wanted to win this race starting up front like that and leading a lot of laps. We don’t run with these guys all the time. Two California guys running first and third, this is a California-style racetrack. Definitely not a track that I’m used to racing on.”

Completing the podium was Giovanni Scelzi in the KCP Racing No. 18. “Hot Sauce” capped a stout weekend in Texas with Friday’s win coupled with Saturday’s third. After a rough start to 2025, the Fresno, CA native has now bagged podiums in three of the last five races.

“I felt a little free in the Heat Race,” Scelzi explained. “And then we snugged up for the Dash, and it really got tighter. I felt like there was more mud on the race car in the Dash than there was in the Heat Race, so I don’t know if the moisture kind of came back or we finally blew all that slime off where it got to grip. Hats off to the track crew. I feel like they worked really hard through the night and today to give us a racetrack to race on.”

Logan Schuchart and David Gravel completed the top five.

A 26th to 13th run gave Skylar Gee the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

David Gravel grabbed his 127th career Simpson Quick Time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Two, and Four belonged to Bryce Lucius, Sam Hafertepe Jr., and Conner Morrell. WIX Filters Heat Three went to David Gravel.

Sam Hafertepe Jr. topped the Toyota Dash.

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Logan Schuchart.

Donny Schatz won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Bryce Lucius.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars finish up a two-week stay in the “Lone Star State” with a trip to Paige, TX’s Cotton Bowl Speedway on March 21-22 for the Federated Auto Parts Texas Two-Step. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

For the complete 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. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 5. 2-David Gravel[4]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[14]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell[6]; 8. 41-Carson Macedo[16]; 9. 39M-Anthony Macri[9]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[12]; 11. 23-Garet Williamson[17]; 12. 6-Zach Hampton[10]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee[26]; 14. 15-Donny Schatz[21]; 15. 22M-Rees Moran[13]; 16. 40-Howard Moore[11]; 17. 7S-Chris Windom[19]; 18. 2KS-Cory Eliason[20]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[18]; 20. 24T-Christopher Thram[7]; 21. 6G-Cody Gardner[15]; 22. 2C-Cole Macedo[22]; 23. 27-Emerson Axsom[24]; 24. J2-John Carney II[23]; 25. 17B-Bill Balog[25]; 26. 32-Bryce Lucius[8]

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CORVETTE RACING AT SEBRING: From Hopes to Heartbreak

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Late-race dramas bite Corvette contingent in 12 Hours SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2025) – Corvette Racing’s quartet of Corvette Z06 GT3.R teams suffered cruel ends to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday with misfortune ruining chances for GTD PRO and GTD victories in America’s oldest sports car race.

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 3 Corvette was the highest-finishing Z06 GT3.R with a seventh-place GTD PRO finish for Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella. The result marked an unfortunate turn of fortunes for the group of four Corvettes – all of which led their respective classes on multiple occasions.
The No. 4 Z06 GT3.R of Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone – also in GTD PRO – ran a clean race for the first three-quarters and ran second when it had to stop for a repair to the IMSA-mandated scrutineering logger. It cost the Corvette three laps and dropped Varrone to 10th in class. Catsburg made up a spot near the end to move himself, Varrone and Milner to ninth at the end.
DXDT Racing appeared set to challenge for its first podium in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition. However a late-race mechanical issue knocked the No. 36 Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Alec Udell and Salih Yoluc – who drove a triple-stint to start – from the top-four in GTD down to eighth at the finish.
AWA’s hopes of a second straight GTD victory took a huge hit with damage to the right-front of the No. 13 Corvette on a restart with a little less than three hours remaining. Orey Fidani drove three of the first four stints, and Lars Kern and Matt Bell steadily worked their way forward and into the class lead on multiple occasions.
Subsequent stops for repairs dropped Bell from seventh to 12th but the Corvette remained on the lead lap up until being hit late by the leading LMP2 entry. It relegated AWA to 10th in GTD.
Perhaps the Corvette in the best position late in the race was the No. 3 of Alexander Sims, Antonio Garcia and Daniel Juncadella. After a strong run through the day and some clever strategy, Sims worked his way up from sixth to fourth inside the final 90 minutes and was on a fuel strategy that likely would have had him challenging for the victory.
However, the Sebring circuit bit the Corvette as Sims had to pit for a rear with a little more than an hour with a broken right-rear suspension component. It knocked him from third in class and in the podium fight to seventh and two laps down.
Corvette Racing’s next event in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Long Beach Grand Prix from the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit on April 11-12.

SELECT CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R DRIVER QUOTESALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:“A bit of a bummer, this one. Our Corvette had pretty good pace to be honest. Going into the night, it seemed to come alive a bit. We had good pace and I was able to get up to third before we had the rear suspension problem. It did seem the leaders at the end had pace that we didn’t, to be honest. I don’t think we would have gotten any better than that. Even holding on to third would have been a struggle. Full credit to the Pratt Miller guys for getting it turned around quick and salvaging what we could. We didn’t give up and still managed seventh place, which could have been worse if they weren’t as quick in the pits as they were. On to the next one.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “An unlucky race. I think we had an OK Corvette but not fast enough to challenge for the win. I feel like we are on a bit of an unlucky streak at the moment. It’s not anyone’s fault. We have to take things as they come and ride those waves. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We had a great race. We got a little unlucky with the second-to-last yellow because we had a good fuel advantage and it got wiped out. We hung in there and crept from eighth to third. It was very enjoyable being in the middle of the fight. We just got very unlucky at the end when what we thought was a comfortable P4 – which turned out would have been a podium with the Ferrari boxing on the last lap. I’m gutted for the team. They’ve worked so hard since Daytona. We just didn’t have the pace there and came here with a lot more. They deserved more, unfortunately. They worked tirelessly between now and then to make sure we had the Corvette that we had in the race. Such a shame but we have to look at the positives. We were in the mix for the podium and the win, and we executed a good race. We just need Lady Luck on our side and we’ll be right there.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We were having a good race once again up until we had the little incident in the final stages. We had a very strong car, and I’m proud of the team and their efforts. We know what we’re capable of. We’ll take this finish and move forward to the next one.”

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Cadillac battles for 12 hours at Sebring

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R finishes fourth after starting 13th in GTP class

SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2025) – After 12 hours of hard-fought, entertaining and occasionally chaotic racing, Cadillac Racing finished 7.6 seconds short of a podium finish in the 73rd edition of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Media resources: Photos for editorial use | 2025 Cadillac Racing IMSA statistics

The Nos. 10 and 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.Rs effectively fell out of contention in the first five hours because of various on-track issues.
The No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, which qualified eighth in the 13-car GTP roster, was handed a stop and hold penalty by IMSA Race Control for incident responsibility in the second hour that dropped it two laps down and mired in 12th place in the running order. Drivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens clawed back to finish a solid seventh.
The No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R that qualified seventh slid into the Turn 17 tire barrier with 7 hours, 43 minutes left, necessitating a swap of the nose assembly and front tire change. But the GTP entry incurred a stop and hold penalty for more than emergency service in a closed pit, which dropped the hybrid racecar to 13th in class. Drivers Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Brendon Hartley recovered to finish 11th.

After two endurance races totaling 36 hours to start the season, Cadillac Racing teams will be in action next April 12 for the 100-minute race on the 1.968-mile Long Beach (California) street circuit.
Cadillac Racing swept the top two spots in 2024, with the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R leading the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R across the finish line by 0.564 of a second. The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R earned the pole – its third in a row to start the season. Cadillac has won six of the IMSA races in Long Beach since joining prototype competition in 2017.
What they’re saying
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.RJack Aitken: “The race started really well for us today and we managed to stay in those top positions for the majority of the race. Unfortunately, we were just a little bit off sequence to the leading Porsches and it just caught us out a bit at the end when we had to take a splash. I think when they night came around, we didn’t have that extra gear that the others did. We missed out on the podium; it’s tough to take. But there are positives from this – coming from the back to the field is still not a bad result.”
Earl Bamber: “We had to come in for a splash with about 40 minutes left and we tried to take the alternate tire strategy, but we thought it might work but the dirty air was just too much. We just didn’t make our way forward. The car was good, so it is bittersweet that we didn’t get a podium. We’ll just have to roll into Long Beach.”
Frederik Vesti: “IMSA just keeps impressing me with how chaotic and crazy it is to race this year. I really enjoyed my time in the car today. I left everything out on the track and it’s painful not to get the podium. I really felt like we had the car to win or be on the podium today. Really proud of Cadillac Whelen. Having the issue in quali starting out, I think Jack did a great job in stint one to get us in the lead. I enjoyed lots of laps in the lead today and I had a lot of restarts from the lead, which is fun and I learned a lot. We’ll be back. I’m already looking forward to Laguna.”No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Ricky Taylor: “Another tough day. It started off really bad and we were hopeful that it was a long day and that we would get back in it. The yellows just didn’t come our way. I think know if we had the winning car, we had a car maybe for the podium, the Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing team did a great job and never gave up. We will go to Long Beach and hopefully get some success there.”
No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Louis Delétraz: “A difficult race, obviously not the race we wanted. We had to retire the car early at the end due to an issue that will have to be investigated. A little bit disappointed bit I think we had a rough first day then improved the car a lot for the race, but still not enough to fight for the win. But we were there for good points and running at the front then had a couple of issues in a row which put us at the back and ultimately retiring. So, not much positive but we definitely learned a lot and will be back stronger in Long Beach.”

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McDowell to Lead NASCAR Cup Series to the Green Flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT
MARCH 15, 2025

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st – Michael McDowell
4th – Kyle Busch
6th – Alex Bowman
8th – William Byron
10th – Kyle Larson
MEDIA RESOURCES:
Photo Gallery | Race Advances
Chevrolet Newsroom

· For the second-straight weekend, Chevrolet earned the pole position in NASCAR’s top division. Laying down a lap of 28.883 seconds, at 186.961 mph, Michael McDowell and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team earned the top position of the qualifying speed chart and will lead the field to the green flag in tomorrow’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.

· The feat – McDowell’s seventh career pole in the division – marks his first pole win in just five starts with Spire Motorsports after joining the Chevrolet organization at the beginning of the 2025 season.

· McDowell delivered Chevrolet its sixth all-time NASCAR Cup Series pole win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with this marking the manufacturer’s second pole triumph in the Next Gen era at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval.

· Chevrolet earned five of the top-10 starting positions for tomorrow’s 267-lap event, with McDowell leading the hometown hero, Kyle Busch, who qualified fourth in his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Hendrick Motorsports’ three past Las Vegas Motor Speedway winners also posted top-10 qualifying efforts, with Alex Bowman qualifying in the sixth position, William Byron in eighth and Kyle Larson rounding out the top-10.
Chevrolet’s all-time NASCAR Cup Series statistics at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

Wins: 13
Poles: 6
Top-Fives: 72
Top 10s: 137

Chevrolet’s season statistics heading into the fifth points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race:

Wins: 1
Poles: 2
Top-Fives: 8
Top-10s: 18
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – Pole Win Press Conference Quotes

Looking at the ghost car, you did something in three and four that no one else could come close to matching. What was it?
“Well, this is where I always say being a student and studying matters.

Christopher Bell, last year in round two, just kept it a little bit lower off of turn four and that’s how he was able to get the pole. And so when my car went through (turns) one and two and it had a lot of grip and I didn’t feel like I used it all up, I knew that I had an opportunity to potentially do that without scrubbing speed and without putting myself into a bad spot. Because that’s the chance you take, right? You put wheel into it; it gets loose and you start tracking up. The car had a lot of speed and, obviously, a lot of grip. And just from studying and seeing how C-Bell was able to do that last year in round two, and that was the difference between him getting the pole and not, I felt like it was the right move to make.”

Spire Motorsports has had speed all year. Specifically in qualifying, the organization has had a lot of good results. To finally get a pole, how important is it for the team’s momentum?
“Well, I mean, anytime you’re building positive momentum, it’s great in our sport. And it does matter. I mean, all of it matters. And last week was good for that, too. We got all three cars in the top-10.

You know, the race didn’t go well, right? I mean, two of our guys crashed in the same crash, so that’s no fun. And we had to go to the back with that steering rack change that we made. And then we ended up cutting a tire and that kind of ended our day. And, you know, when you look back at Sunday last week, you’re like — oh man, we had such fast cars and we don’t have anything to show for it. But that’s what’s great about our sport, is you get to re-rack them and get ready the next week.

And, you know, this was the true test for us. I really felt like that. I think I talked about it a little bit last week — this will be the test because Las Vegas, places like this, they challenge everything, right? Aerodynamics, engine, setup.. you have to hit everything just right to be fast here. And so this was kind of that unknown coming into it of — you know, will we have the speed that we’ve shown at other places? And obviously we did.

I’m just really proud of everybody at Spire Motorsports. We’re building something and we know that. And that’s kind of the mindset that we have. This is just one of those next steps that help us get to the next step that’ll help us get to the next step.”

Michael, this is now your seventh career pole, seventh in the last two seasons. What does it mean just to have kind of found that speed during qualifying and start getting these poles?
“Yeah, it’s cool. It’s great. I mean, it’s a lot of fun to come here and have a shot at being at the pole and executing everything perfectly, which is really tough in our sport. You have to hit everything perfectly. You guys saw how tight the times were. You know, one little mistake and that’s it. I’m proud of the effort that goes into making these cars fast. I think that one of the funny things that my crew chief, Travis Peterson, said like — you know, we got a pole at Gateway. We got obviously a lot of poles at the superspeedway’s. And then we got a pole in a mile-and-a-half. The only place I haven’t got a pole is a road course, which that’s supposed to be my thing, you know? We’ve been close. Hopefully this will be the year, right, that we can go get a pole at a road course as well and try to close out all types of tracks. But poles are fun and it is fun. Today will be great and everybody’s going to go to the hotel; be excited and be pumped up for tomorrow. But wins are what matter, right? And so tomorrow’s what matters. And so, you know, it’s a much tougher challenge to go win that race tomorrow, but that’s the goal. And I think we’ll have a race car to contend.”

I’m watching you on the TV as the other drivers are all going through their laps. You were exhaling and inhaling constantly and stressing out. What was the mood like when it finally was over and you were in?
“No, it’s great. I mean, it’s hard to watch when you go out early just because you know so many fast cars are coming. And with the times as close as they were — I mean, it’s literally hundreds and thousands of a second as you’re watching the tracker. And, you know, the tracker’s not always 100 percent. So you’re watching on TV and you’re seeing guys start to slide wide and things like that.

I’ll tell you one thing that was nice is normally you go out there and you put up a big lap, right? And you’re shaking and, you know, you got the adrenaline pumping and you execute it. And then you have to get ready to do it again because we used to have two rounds, right? And so when I got out, I was like — whew, I don’t have to do that again. So there’s a little bit of relief, as far as that goes. I think that over the years, too, we’ve been really good round one. I think that we’d probably would have a lot more poles if it was just round one. And then round two, we seem to, you know, slip back. So I think this new format might help us a little bit or help me. Maybe I’m good at executing it once but not twice. But, yeah, it’s nerve wracking watching everybody go. I think once the Penske cars went, I sort of felt a little bit of relief because typically they’re the fastest, as far as, trimmed out and straight line speed. And so once we had beat those guys, I felt like we were in a pretty good spot.”

Michael, the transition from Front Row to Spire Motorsports with Travis, is there any surprise from where you guys are already, speed-wise? What you are bringing to the team this year is already translating into speed on the racetrack. Just because you guys are, you know, different manufacturers, different teams, different processes..
“It’s so hard to answer that because as racers, we’re so unrealistic. Yes, we thought we would do this. We thought we’d sit on the Daytona pole, you know? I mean, that’s just the mindset. It doesn’t mean that it’s right and it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen because it is a lot to learn the tools and the processes.

What I would say is that Spire Motorsports had a really good baseline before we got there. I mean, you guys saw last year, at the end of last year — Carson (Hocevar) was rattling off top-10s, and him and Luke (Lambert) were qualifying in the second round and doing all the things. So, it’s not like we came there and we had a lot to go forward to be in this spot, you know? It’s details and it’s people and processes, and we still have a lot to do. I mean, we are not where we want to be. I mean, today the speed is where we want to be but there’s so many things that have to happen over the next 30 days, 90 days, six months, year to put us in a real position to contend week in and week out. But we’re moving in that direction. And so, I’m glad we are where we are but I’m not surprised by it. But I probably should be, if that answers it.”

You may not know yet but last fall the polesitter didn’t pick pit stall one, they picked pit stall six. And I’m curious if you know which one you’re going to pick..
“You know, it’s one of those things that I study all aspects of driving. I do not study aspects of strategy or pit stall selection. I let the smart people do that and they tell me where we’re going to be and how we’re going to go. And so, I’m not sure what Travis’ game plan is on that. But I do know that he’s prepared and he always thinks we’re going to get the pole, so he’s not surprised by it. He already has a plan, so we’ll see which one he picks here.

Honestly, I stay out of those types of things, unless I have an opinion with just track history and things like that. So, we’ll see.”

There’s been a conversation this year ongoing about the approval process between Mike Wallace, Helio Castroneves and Katherine Legge. Casey Mears is now also involved. Where do you see the approval process at NASCAR? You’ve obviously raced multiple different kinds of cars. You made the leap from ARCA yourself to Cup. Do you think there needs to be a different process? Are you fine with how things are? How do you see it?
“Well, I can tell you what my process was, as far as back then and I don’t know if it’s the same now. I signed my Cup deal with MWR before I ever stepped into a truck or Xfinity car or a Cup car, right? So, I knew I was going Cup racing. We just didn’t know how we were going to actually get there.

And so, I had to run a truck race at Martinsville to be approved to run an Xfinity car or Nationwide car or whatever it was at the time at a bigger track. And I think I ran Phoenix in the Xfinity car. And then I ran Texas in the Xfinity car.

And before I could run the Cup car at any of those other tracks, I had to run Daytona in an Xfinity car. Like, that was the process. I had to do all the different tracks in lower series in order to do that. And so, that was the approval process then. And I don’t know if it’s the same.

And, you know, I know what you’re asking. It’s a tough question to ask because, you know, Helio (Castroneves) is a world-class race car driver, and he should be approved. I mean, it would be crazy to think that he wouldn’t.

Now, does that mean that he has a ton of experience in our cars and is prepared for every single situation and every single dirty air situation and all those things? No. But either was Kyle Larson at the Indy 500, right? There are certain things that, if you don’t do it all the time, you’re just not going to know and you’re not going to have. Mike Wallace, he’s a tremendous speedway racer. Out of all the places that you could run him, you could probably run him there pretty confidently and not think about it. It’s just the amount of experience he has in all the different situations. Casey Mears, I mean, I have no problem with Casey Mears driving. He’s done 490 Cup starts and is a great race car driver. And he’s not that far removed from it. So I don’t think we’ve missed it. I don’t think it’s an issue. But you’re putting a lot on a driver to know all these different aspects in a one-off situation. Same with Katherine (Legge), too. She’s a world-class race car driver. Driven all over the world in all different types of race cars. I don’t feel like she’s underqualified.

But she doesn’t have the experience, situationally, in our cars. And I don’t know how much racing would — if she did an Xfinity race at Phoenix, I don’t know if that would change anything.”

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NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MARCH 15, 2025–KYLE BUSCH

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:
Kyle, many consider you the king of restarts in NASCAR. For a track like Las Vegas, where restarts are so hectic and crazy, just take me through a restart here on a race weekend..“Yeah, I mean, restarts are sort of the name of the game, I guess, now, because once you get single-filed out and spread out a little bit, it’s hard to make up time and make up ground unless you’re really, really good. And to get by guys that you’re around or in front of you, as well. So you try to get as many as you can and whatever you can. It’s kind of tough, you know, with the defense being as good as the defense can be with guys, where they pull up in front of you and block your air and things like that, where you’ve got to, you know, get out of the gas and whatnot. So, you know, it’s definitely changed over the years. This car has changed it again. But it seems like, more and more times, guys are more amped up and more — not amped up, but more ramped up to just be ready to defend and make it harder for guys to make ground as much as you used to when we first went to some of the double-file restart stuff.” This is your home track. You’ve won here once before.. all the way back in 2009. What are some of the most challenging things about getting it done here at Las Vegas? “I would say Vegas is challenging just because of the time of the year. You know, we’re coming off of winter time for this race, obviously, so we cold weather, things like that. So the track reacts differently versus the fall race here, where you’re coming off of summertime; all the summer heat, the ground being hotter, the track being different, the bumps being different. So, just kind of getting accustomed to all of those things and getting reacclimated with all of that. You know, the springtime, the speeds are very high. I feel like you run a faster lap time in the springtime, and I feel like the aero deficiencies become greater in the springtime. So, you know, the track doesn’t quite widen out as much as you want it to. I feel like we have a greater sense of track wideness more so in the fall. But, you know, that could always change, just depending on if it gets upwards in temperature on race day.” There was a lot of discussion this week on the approval process to race in Cup after what happened last week. I’m curious if you feel like there needs to be more structure, and how do you balance or how should NASCAR balance it? You know, you have SVG come in. Granted, it’s a road course, but in his first race, he was able to win. How do you balance, you know, somebody who’s so accomplished in another series and trying to figure out if they’re able to race Cup?“Yeah, I don’t have a great answer. I feel like I’ve questioned the approval process for a long, long time. Being an owner in the Truck Series and seeing some young drivers get opportunities at different tracks versus my drivers that I was trying to get them opportunities at some of those same tracks getting denied. So I was very confused, and probably I’m even more confused now on how it all works. I think it’s broken. I think there’s a lot of work that could be done to make it better. I also do feel as though it shouldn’t be ‘suit and ties’ making the decisions always. Certainly there can be some that need to be involved, but I do feel like there needs to be fire suits involved in some of those decision-making processes on those that need to be approved or not approved for various activities. And I’ll even go so far to say, too, that I feel the same way on driver penalties. The Austin Cindric deal.. I don’t think ‘suit and ties’ should be making that. I think you should get penalized by your peers.” We talked extensively at COTA and you really felt like things were going in the right direction. In that period of time, you’ve had three top-10s. Do you feel like the No. 8 team has kind of turned the corner? “A little bit, yeah. I mean, certainly we’ve had some good races, so far. We’ve had some good speed. We’ve had the cars driving much more to my liking than what we’ve had in past. So I’ve been able to get more from the race car as well, too. So that’s all a net positive. Everyone at RCR should be proud of the efforts and all the things that we’re doing behind the scenes to get us to where we’re at right now. So I’m grateful of that. I do feel like there’s more to go get. You know, if we had the gains that we made at Phoenix from last year to this year — if we could have another step of that, you know, then there’s going to be reason for us to race for wins. And so I’m optimistic about here this weekend and seeing what we can do this week in putting ourselves in position to race up front; challenge for stage points, challenge for a win, put ourselves in a position to go out there and continue our decent start to the season of top-10s.” Given the gains you mentioned at Phoenix, does that kind of, you know, portend well for when you go to Martinsville, which is another shorter, flat track? Since you’ve been in the No. 8 car, that is one of the places where you had had lots of success but struggled with RCR. “Yeah, each week’s different, right? We have a small sample size right now with the start of the season and only having a few races. So as we continue to add to that sample size of Las Vegas, Homestead and go to Martinsville.. you know, hit a Bristol, a Darlington, I feel like then you’ll really start to see where you stack up. The seasons change so fast also. You don’t want to start hot and then, you know, have NASCAR looking over you with a microscope, and then you have different issues getting through tech each week that then kind of derail your summer. So, you know, you’ve got to be careful and be patient with everything that you’ve got going on. But that sometimes can be a defining factor, as well too, to your season and how you play it out.” Given that it’s been a while since you won a race, is it difficult to keep your emotions in check and not push too hard when you feel like you’ve got a car that’s capable of winning?“It is. I would say, you know, when I was winning a lot, you were doing it quite often. You were in position quite often. And so you could harness those emotions and those feelings; be able to go out there and just do your job and kind of let it come to you. Kansas last fall, I felt rushed. I felt hurried. I felt like I needed to get through the traffic as fast as I could, and I put myself in a bad spot; we hit the wall and lost the race. So, you know, those things are certainly on your mind as you come to them, especially with as close as the competition is today. It’s rare that you see — I guess unless you’re tiny Kyle (Larson), it’s rare that you see, you know, three-second gaps to the next guy behind you. You know, you’re always kind of fighting within that one-second gap that you have to a guy behind you. You can lose a half a second in one lap, if you get the wrong lane through a corner and you get in somebody else’s wake. So, you know, you don’t have much room to breathe.” When you were talking about the approval process, does the sport need to go back to looking at how much practice that includes on a race weekend when somebody is in a car for the first time, as well as the testing policy where teams being able to take someone and put them in a car during the week and run laps with them beforehand?“Yeah, I agree. That can definitely be a good piece of what we can do with individuals that, you know, want to come run. Testing is tough because, obviously, I would say that if we’re talking about Katherine’s (Legge) situation, I don’t know how much extra funds there are there with that situation to be able to go out to Phoenix a week early and go test, you know what I mean? But that obviously would be beneficial to not only the team, but also the driver in that case to just go out there and get some reps; get some laps, get some seat time, feel the car out, get it more comfortable than probably what she was able to do in just the short practice that we have. So how that all works, I’m not exactly sure. If it’s a four-hour session on Thursday or Friday or, like, the day before or something, I think that that could certainly be a waiver piece that is allowed for, you know, some first-timers.” Talking about your performance, the three straight top-10s and the direction this team is going – how much do you want to see from this team or have early season success as it pertains to then when you start weighing your future and what you’re seeing from this team and how much that’s going to weigh in?“Yeah, I mean, obviously having good runs and solid race cars; cars that feel like they should and drive like they should is a big important piece to all of that. So, so far so good. I mean, from last year to this year — just, you know, Legos being the same, apparently they’re not because we’re doing something different and cars are driving much better. So, again, I just appreciate the efforts and values of everyone at RCR putting all that in. And so, you know, there’s not a team out there that will outwork us, that’s for sure. We’re going to continue that grit and continue to go out there and make sure that we have good pieces and, you know, keep performing.” With Auto Club Speedway gone and the loss of so many tracks in Southern California, how important is it to you to keep Las Vegas thriving for NASCAR? And do you think that maybe you miss Fontana or that NASCAR might have to do something to fill that gap now that it’s not on the schedule?“This is a really tough question to answer. Fontana was always one of my favorite places. I love that track. Even though it started off really rough for me, of getting kicked out of there when I was 16 years old, it certainly ended very well winning the final race there a couple years ago. So that place has a special meaning in my heart and, you know, all of Southern California does. You know, I remember Irwindale. I remember Orange Show. I remember Blythe. I think Blythe is still there. You know, you’ve got Madera. You’ve got Altamont. I don’t know if Altamont is still going or not.. that’s more Northern California. But, you know, there’s some really good racetracks that have been through California that I’ve been around and at least have been to or Kurt has been to. And I don’t know how to make it go. There’s so many people around that area that, you know, for a local short track with 5,000 seats to not fill those seats, it’s just not the interest of the fan in those areas. So that’s why they die. I mean, if you’re full every week and you’ve got standing room only like Eldora in Ohio, there’s no problem that you’re going to keep your doors open, you know? But I understand the Fontana piece — the land value is worth much more than what you were ever going to make in ticket sales. So, you know, eventually there becomes an economic decision and it overpowers us being racers that want to go race at those tracks. It overpowers that.” Regarding your season, and you and Randall (Burnett) sitting down at the beginning of the year and figuring out which tracks you’re going to –- I know you’re going to try to win every week, but do you focus on certain tracks that you may have a better shot at? And does that morph throughout the year? As you perform well here, you might think that — hey, we learned something that we can apply at X track down the road..“No, we don’t circle any venue or anything like that to say — hey, this is a place that we want to go win. We know we can win here. Nuh-uh, no. Like, we just try to elevate the whole program. If you elevate the whole program, the whole program is going to, you know, bring yourself to the front and being able to capitalize on good runs. And honestly, like a lot of times, with the way pit stops are, with the way sometimes strategy goes, with the way restarts are, with the way calamity is — if you are running between fourth and seventh every single week, you will at one point or another in the race be eligible or be racing for a win. And so, yeah, obviously you’ve got to race for the win at the end. But, you know, if you’re within that position, there’s going to be some guys that falter. Literally a lot more times than not, guys beat themselves out of a win. So you just can’t be that team that does that. So I feel like getting to that level of, you know, that fourth through seventh, fourth through eighth range, where we’ve been just on the outside brink of last week at Phoenix, then we’ll have a shot.” And a follow-up, this week is the last Cup race for Chris Powell, also Jeff Motley leaving. You built your career here racing around this area. What does that mean for the track, the community, to lose those guys? And for you personally, knowing what you’ve done? “Yeah, I mean, obviously, a great career for those two guys. So I’m probably a little closer to Jeff than Chris. But, you know, it’s cool to see their tenure here as long as it’s been, as great as it’s been, and for the success of this racetrack; seeing all the different peaks and valleys that it’s been through has been really, really cool. So congrats to them. I wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors. I’ve heard some cool things that Jeff’s looking at doing. So, you know, it’s going to be neat to see whoever comes in next to keep this place going and keep it where it’s at or grow it.”

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NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MARCH 15, 2025–KYLE LARSON

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race Advances Chevrolet Newsroom

Media Availability Quotes:
A lot of discussion this week on the approval process to be in a Cup race after last weekend. I’m curious, like for High Limit, do you get involved in like – should this person be allowed to race or should they not? Do you feel like there needs to be a little more structure for Cup? “Yeah, at least on the sprint car side of it, I don’t know if there’s anything in place. There could be at times, but I feel like most of the time — sprint cars are crazy (laughs). So if you’re not capable of it, you usually don’t get in it. I think in NASCAR, I don’t know what the approval process is, so I can’t really speak on what needs to change. But it is surprising sometimes when some drivers are not allowed to run and then others are. So yeah, I don’t know.. maybe there just needs to be a better something in place. I know when you’re a rookie, you have to go run an ARCA race or you’ve got to build up to the size of the track and stuff like that. So you have to run like three or four races before you can run an Xfinity car or something on an intermediate or superspeedway. So yeah, maybe there needs to be more of that.” Curious about Travis Pastrana.. how did that all came about and what were your early thoughts?“Yeah, that was pretty neat to have him get to check something off of his bucket list, especially a guy that’s done so much in action sports, motorsports and all that. So yeah, I’m not exactly sure how it all started. I think there was a connection between the Ridge & Sons Racing Team and Travis. I think they have a mutual sponsor maybe or something. So yeah, I’d heard about that, and then JP and I were able to just call Travis and kind of organize the logistics of it and get the ball rolling a little bit faster. Yeah, so that was neat to have him come out and have some fun in his sprint car. Yeah, he looked smooth. I mean, the track was obviously in not great shape, just with it being during the day and all that. But he was smooth, built up to speed and had a good time. So that’s great.” You’ve won two of the last three races here. What’s the key to getting around this place?“Yeah, I don’t know. I think as far as getting around the track and being fast, your car’s got to obviously be fast, have a lot of grip, but get through the bumps, I feel like, really well in (turns) one and two to just kind of carry momentum around the whole track. Three and four are really slick corners, as well. And then to win, you got to have all of that, but your team has to execute. I feel like when we have won the races here, our team’s done a really good job, on pit road especially. So more of all that and hopefully we’ll have a good shot.” Kyle, for most teams, like two third place finishes in the first month of the season is a pretty good start. But you mentioned last week like it hasn’t been a good start. So what is your perspective on where the No. 5 team sits a month in?“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I think like Daytona just was rough. Like we just were buried in the back the whole time. So that was frustrating to start your season off like that. I would have rather been up front and got crashed, but never got to see the front. And then, yeah, Atlanta was good. You know, I was happy. I was like — oh, great. You know, I expected to go there and crash, and we got a good finish. So I felt like we were a week ahead of schedule. And then, you know, we went to COTA and had good speed and all that. I just didn’t do a great job behind the wheel. And then we had the right front wheel fall off and that buried us. And then finally had a chance to overcome it and then got spun. And then Phoenix last week, we just weren’t fast. Like we weren’t very good. But our team did an amazing job executing — pit stops, restarts, all of that stuff kept us in the hunt. And yeah, I don’t know.. I just feel like we haven’t had consistency really to start, whether that be kind of everything coming together. So I’m hoping that this week, a track that we have success at in the past, you know, we can kind of put it all together and you have a solid weekend. And then go to another track next week where I’m really confident at and try and just put a few good races in a row together.” With the High Limit, you just happened to have the track in the backyard. I understand Texas is similar. Do you have like a blueprint going forward where you might be able to have, you know, tracks that are somewhere close to where you’re racing in NASCAR and kind of have some cross-promotion or be able to appear at more races? Is that part of your blueprint? “I don’t know. I mean, I think when it works, like it works. You know, here getting our season started across the street. And then, when we go to Texas, as well. I believe when we’re at Kansas Speedway, we get to race at Lakeside one of the nights.. maybe Thursday or Friday night. But then, I mean, it’s hard. There’s already races in place, you know, events in place throughout the year. So, like, logistically it doesn’t make sense. And you don’t want to piggyback off NASCAR, you know, all the time. So, there’s great sprint car fans throughout the country. So, no.. we don’t have to rely on coming to venues like this. But it is nice, you know, when you can get the cross-promotion and all that. But it’s not something that we look at trying to do a ton of.” Kyle, when one of your competitors has won three-straight races, how much do you look at that with respect, as well as — okay, we need to stop this guy?“I don’t know. I mean, I think we had a great season in 2021 and was able to win three points-paying races in a row, twice, that year. And four in a row once, you know, with the All-Star race in there. So, I think having lived through it on my own, I can respect it a lot more and it doesn’t bother me. You know, when I see somebody else having success like that. So, if he wins this weekend, maybe it’s like — all right, this is getting annoying. But I think for me, as like a competitor and a fan, I think it’s really neat because this sport is so tough, especially in the Next Gen era. So, I respect it more than anything currently. But if it keeps going on too long, it’ll get annoying.” If the third-place finish at Phoenix was a struggle, do you have any concerns about Martinsville, where you’ve been great in the Next Gen era with a win and five top-six finishes in the last five races?“I don’t know. I would say as a team and organization, we’re much better at Martinsville than we are at Phoenix. So, yeah, we had hopes of being better than we were at Phoenix across the board, you know, the four of us. William (Byron) was pretty decent, but the rest of us were pretty average. Where I feel like when we go to Martinsville, we have a package that we can probably look back on and build our car off of that and be competitive. So, I don’t have as much concern going to Martinsville as I do Phoenix right now. But Martinsville is Martinsville, and it is a tough track still for me, even though it’s crazy to think that it’s probably our statistically best track on this circuit. So, we’ll see. But, yeah, Martinsville is still not a place where I’m like — I can go there and lead every lap. You know, I feel like I can come to Vegas or Homestead and I can lead every lap. But Martinsville is a tough place. Even if I had the best car in the field, which I probably do have the best car in the field, and I’m bringing it down to sixth.” You did just bring up Homestead. Your last win there came I think two, three races ago. You had a consistent string of top-fives for a while. How do you feel going in next week for Homestead? “Yeah, I mean, I feel good. I always feel good going to Homestead. It’s probably the track that suits me the best, you know, being comfortable running against the wall and stuff like that. So, yeah, I mean, the last two finishes we’ve had there don’t reflect how we’ve ran. You know, we’ve been the best every time we go there. We were stupid fast there the second- half of the fall race last time we were there with a bunch of damage underneath the car that you can’t see. So that was a satisfying run to almost have a shot to win there. But, yeah, hopefully this year it goes smooth; we have a good handling race car, which I know we will, and we can just hammer away at the wall and be fast.” So if Christopher Bell wins here this weekend, you can break the streak next weekend? “I’m hoping to break the streak this week.”

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TEXAS HOT SAUCE: Scelzi Fends Off Gravel for First 2025 World of Outlaws Victory

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

The Californian comes out on top at Kennedale for his 10^th career win

KENNEDALE, TX (March 14, 2025) – Texas might be known for barbecue sauce, but it was all about “Hot Sauce” on Friday night in the “Lone Star State.”

Giovanni Scelzi wasn’t about to let victory slip away as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars kicked off the Cowtown Classic at Kennedale Speedway Park. Less than two weeks ago he and his KCP Racing team were forced to settle for second at Volusia Speedway Park after leading the opening 14 laps. It was the defending Series champion David Gravel prying the win away that night, and a similar situation looked to be shaping up Friday.

But Scelzi wouldn’t let it happen again.

The Fresno, CA native led from the pole as the 25-lap main event began, but the second-starting Gravel wasted no time mounting a charge. The driver of the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 found some speed in the middle and began to pressure Scelzi. Gravel put his nose next to Scelzi down the back straightaway several times, but Scelzi closed the door. Ultimately, Scelzi had just enough to hold on for his first win of 2025.

“I feel like the outside lane was better in (Turns) 1 and 2 than it was in (Turns) 3 and 4,” Scelzi explained. “The bottom of 3 and 4 had so much grip that it was kind of no man’s land to get out of it. I thought I heard someone at one point down the backstretch, but I didn’t know if I should risk it and try to get around him and get hung out or just follow them. Glad it went there from five laps on to the end. I’m just proud of my guys.”

Scelzi’s score bumped him up to 10 career victories with The Greatest Show on Dirt, making him the 51^st different driver to reach double digits. KCP Racing climbed to a dozen World of Outlaws wins as a team. It’s the second straight year Scelzi has won in the state of Texas to go along with his Cotton Bowl Speedway checkered flag from 2024.

“Adam (Clark) has worked extremely hard,” Scelzi said of his crew chief. “It’s been I feel like a lot of swings here. We’ve only raced eight or nine times and went from DIRTcar (Nationals) to being fast at Bike Week to then being fast at Magnolia and making mistake and got one back in the Heat Race. Just super proud of Blake and Harley and getting, I think, both of their first Outlaw wins. Very cool.”

Gravel settled for second as his incredible start to 2025 continued. The Watertown, CT native still hasn’t missed the top five, and Friday’s runner-up gave him seven consecutive podiums. His point lead is now at 58 markers.

“I ran hard there for a while on that one restart, and I was really close, and he was using up the whole racetrack,” Gravel said. “He obviously heard and saw me and just was racing defensive and did what he had to do to win the race. We had a couple shots. During the last corner I drove in a little bit too hard and slid up in the middle and thought I was going to be able to try something there at the end. But I didn’t want to risk blowing a tire or risk crashing there.”

Rounding out the podium was Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. It was back-to-back top threes for the Lemoore, CA native has he looks to build some momentum and erase Gravel’s early advantage atop the standings.

“Hats off to Philip Dietz, Adam Zimmerman, and Robby McQuinn” Macedo said. “I thought we were decent there early. We were able to sweep into third right away and try to transition. It’s tough to know where you’re at, so I started getting my wing back forward because I was getting tight.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and Bill Balog completed the top five.

Balog wheeled his way to fifth from 12^th to earn the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Anthony Macri earned the seventh Simpson Quick Time of his career in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Two, and Four belonged to Anthony Macri, Garet Williamson, and Carson Macedo. WIX Filters Heat Three went to Sheldon Haudenschild.

Gio Scelzi topped the Toyota Dash.

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to David Gravel.

Christopher Thram won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

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

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars complete the Cowtown Classic at Kennedale Speedway Park on Saturday, March 14. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

For the complete 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 (25 Laps): 1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[2]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[12]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri[8]; 9. 27-Emerson Axsom[7]; 10. 83-Michael Kofoid[10]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz[13]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[16]; 13. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 14. 7S-Chris Windom[15]; 15. 6-Zach Hampton[11]; 16. 28M-Conner Morrell[9]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[17]; 18. 2KS-Cory Eliason[18]; 19. J2-John Carney II[23]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee[20]; 21. 52-Blake Hahn[22]; 22. 24T-Christopher Thram[21]; 23. 17GP-Landon Crawley[24]; 24. 20G-Noah Gass[19]

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Pierce Snags First World of Outlaws Win of 2025 in Smoky Mountain Debut

March 17, 2025 ARP Trish

MARYVILLE, TN (March 14, 2025) – In 11 previous World of Outlaws Late Models races at Smoky Mountain Speedway, no driver from the Midwest had ever rolled into Victory Lane.

That was until Bobby Pierce came to town.

In his first trip to Maryville, the driver of the No. 32 led every lap of the Tennessee Tipoff on the way to win number 32 with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.

“A lot went through our minds coming here, thinking if we could come away with a top 10, that would be good, top five would be great,” Pierce said. “Definitely would not have imagined winning this race. I’ve never been here, but on top of that, it is red dirt, that’s not what I’m from and everyone knows that. We had a good car, that’s all I can say.”

Pierce began the 35-lap showdown from the outside of the front row next to Bilstein Pole Award winner Nick Hoffman. A strong run around the outside propelled the “Smooth Operator” to the early advantage while Hoffman raced Devin Moran for second behind him.

The gap between Pierce and Hoffman began to close once Pierce caught the tail of the field, but by that point, all eyes were on Jonathan Davenport, who drove from eighth to third in nine laps and was quickly running down the leaders.

Twelve laps in, “Superman” dove to the bottom entering Turn 3 and slid up in front of Hoffman to take over second. At that point, a head-to-head duel between two of dirt Late Model racing’s winningest drivers over the past decade was on.

Davenport got within range of Pierce on multiple occasions in the closing laps, but as the racing groove began to narrow late in the going, he ran out of opportunities to make the winning move as Pierce cruised to his first World of Outlaws win of the season.

Despite a winless start to the Outlaw season at Volusia Speedway Park, the win netted Pierce the Series points lead by 12 markers over Hoffman. Given the circumstances of racing on a new track that was wildly different than anything the Series typically faces, the win proved that Pierce and team have both the speed and versatility to vie for a second title in three years.

“If we can win on tracks we don’t think we’re going to be good at, that’s what it takes,” Pierce said. “I just want to be top five on tracks I’m not good at and then hopefully win the tracks I’m good at, that’s how you win the points.”

After an unlucky Redraw, Davenport took his chances with his tire choice in an effort to get to the front as soon as possible. He did just that, but was ultimately unable to get past the last car on his list in Pierce.

“I was just going where they weren’t,” Davenport said. “We went for a little bit different tire combination, started so far back. Short race, I didn’t figure there would be a lot of cautions with how slick the place was. We gambled a little bit and it paid off, got us close. I just needed the lap cars to work out a little bit different a time or two.”

Hoffman rounded out the podium in third for the second-straight race. After a week that included a last-minute trip to Illinois to pick up a substitute toter home, the strong run and subsequent second spot in points was exactly what Hoffman needed to make the extra effort worthwhile.

“I felt decent at the beginning of the race, just keeping pace with Bobby,” Hoffman said. “JD just blew my doors off and slid me there and then we just got in a train. I peeked the nose a couple times, got him to move down and debated on going back to the middle to try and roll back around him and it just didn’t play out.”

Dale McDowell finished fourth in his first start of the year in the Shane McDowell Racing No. 17M, while Devin Moran completed the top five.

RACE NOTES:

Jonathan Davenport picked up the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap and the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Jimmy Owens won Heat 1.

Devin Moran won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Bobby Pierce won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Nick Hoffman won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Brandon Overton and Ryan Gustin won the two Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.

Jonathan Davenport won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Brandon Sheppard drove from 24th to 17th for the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Carson Ferguson was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Jonathan Davenport won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Dale McDowell was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Devin Moran was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Jimmy Owens was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Mike Marlar was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Carson Ferguson was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Garrett Alberson was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Camaron Marlar was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Models season resumes next Friday and Saturday, March 21-22, with the Battle at the Crossroads at Swainsboro Raceway. For more event information, click here.

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

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[8]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 4. 17M-Dale McDowell[5]; 5. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 7. 16-Sam Seawright[6]; 8. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 9. 93-Carson Ferguson[10]; 10. 58-Garrett Alberson[12]; 11. 96-Tanner English[11]; 12. 57M-Camaron Marlar[14]; 13. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[9]; 14. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[20]; 15. 2-Cody Overton[16]; 16. 111-Max Blair[15]; 17. B5-Brandon Sheppard[24]; 18. 76-Brandon Overton[17]; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin[18]; 20. 9M-Tim McCreadie[13]; 21. 3S-Brian Shirley[26]; 22. 12-Ashton Winger[19]; 23. 74X-Ethan Dotson[21]; 24. 22*-Drake Troutman[23]; 25. 40B-Kyle Bronson[25]; 26. 6-Hudson O’Neal[22]

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Progressive AFT Announces New Schedule for Senoia Short Track, Featuring Mid-Event Break and an Enhanced Fan Experience

March 14, 2025 ARP Trish

(Pictured: Senoia 2024 – Dallas Daniels #32, Brandon Robinson #44, & Johnny Lewis #10) Daytona Beach, Fla. (March 14, 2025) – Progressive American Flat Track is excited to unveil a brand-new schedule for the 2025 Yamaha Senoia Short Track, set for March 29. Developed in close collaboration with riders, team owners, and promoters this innovative schedule aims to provide the best possible racing surface, particularly for the night program—while immersing fans in America’s Original Extreme Sport like never before. New Mid-Event Break for Fans The heart of this pilot program is an extended break between daytime and nighttime action. This pause not only allows track crews to perform effective prep work but also sets the stage for a high-energy fan experience. Whether it’s chatting with riders, exploring the pit lane, or simply soaking up the excitement in the paddock, fans will have unparalleled access to all the behind-the-scenes action in the pits and much more with details coming on the “Fan Party”. Grandstand & Trackside Parking Gates Gates will open at 2pm EST on March 29, giving attendees first dibs on prime seating and trackside parking. Arrive in time to feel the electricity in the air as Practice begins at 2pm, teams fine-tune their machines, and the riders prepare to push the limits on Senoia’s legendary clay. Open Paddock – Pit Pass Included Further underscoring the sport’s devotion to fan access, Progressive AFT is continuing its open paddock policy for the Senoia Short Track. Every admission doubles as a “pit pass,” granting you a close-up view of the teams, bikes, and the personalities fueling the sport of Progressive American Flat Track. The Paddock opens at 4:30pm but there are plenty of activities before then along with Practice and Qualifying. Yamaha Continues as Official OEM Partner This fresh format at Senoia is also supported by Yamaha’s ongoing role as an Official OEM Partner. Their involvement ensures even greater excitement throughout the day, though the spotlight remains firmly on the new schedule and its fan-focused enhancements. Stay Tuned With this new program, Progressive AFT is pushing boundaries to deliver the highest-quality racing and the most fan-friendly event experience possible. Keep an eye on AmericanFlatTrack.com and our social channels for forthcoming announcements, including ticket details and additional fan activities. Tickets can be purchased for the 2025 Yamaha Senoia Short Track event taking place on Saturday, March 29 by clicking HERE.

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Progressive AFT Announces New Schedule for Senoia Short Track, Featuring Mid-Event Break and an Enhanced Fan Experience

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