LAS VEGAS (November 11, 2024) – Melanie Johnson, daughter of 13-time Top Fuel world champion tuner Alan Johnson, made her competitive debut in the Top Alcohol Dragster (TAD) category at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series regional event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend.

Johnson qualified fifth in the 8-car field during the second qualifying session, running a 5.291-second pass at 274.11 mph among 15 competitors. In the first round, she faced 5-time TAD world champion Joey Severance, gaining a starting line advantage but losing traction just past the 60-foot mark. She ultimately had to shut off as Severance pulled ahead with a 5.309-second run at 273.44 mph.

Melanie Johnson made a TAD strong debut at Las Vegas, photo credit Johnson Digital Media

Reflecting on the weekend, Johnson said, “I’m still wrapping my head around achieving my goals of licensing and racing a Top Alcohol Dragster this year. Huge thanks to Rich McPhillips Sr. and Rich McPhillips Jr. for giving me the chance to drive their ‘green car’ and guiding me through the driving procedures. I couldn’t ask for a better group of racers to work with and learn from.  Although I would have loved to go more rounds, I’m proud of how I handled the car and all the seat time, learning something from each run.”

Ahead of the event, Johnson completed two test runs on Thursday, experiencing severe tire shake on both. However, she managed to step off the gas quickly and maintain control. In Friday’s first qualifying round, the car, set up aggressively, ran a 0.919 sixty-foot time—one of the event’s quickest—but drifted out of the groove, leading her to coast to a 6.759-second pass at 132.99 mph. The second and third qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday allowed Johnson to make smooth passes down the quarter mile, clocking a 5.291 in Q2 and a 5.335 in Q3, securing her the fifth qualifying position.

“Overall, it was a solid weekend. Melanie got test laps, qualifying runs, and an elimination round in a tough field. She competed against other A/Fuel and blown alcohol cars and experienced a lot of different conditions,” commented Rich McPhillips Jr. “She was unfazed, stayed focused, and did her job. Unfortunately, we didn’t give her the best car this weekend, with the severe tire shake, but she handled it well.”

Melanie Johnson looking to race full 2025 TAD schedule next season, photo credit Johnson Digital Media

Johnson dedicated this year to competing in Super Comp, working with Tom Bayer Racing to hone her driving fundamentals and reaction times, participating in six events to date. She had been in discussions with McPhillips Racing for over a year about earning her TAD license, which she achieved in a Monday test session in August following the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. She completed three successful passes in the McPhillips Racing dragster, including a half-track pass of 5.739 seconds at 182.53 mph, followed by full-length passes of 5.289 at 267.53 mph and 5.317 at 269.89 mph, demonstrating her potential as a driver.
Johnson’s father has been supportive of her journey into the TAD ranks. “As I watched Melanie license earlier this year in Brainerd, I was impressed by her track awareness and how well she adapted to the increased acceleration of an A/Fuel dragster,” Alan Johnson shared proudly. “In Las Vegas this weekend, Mel seemed to take the added pressure of competing in her first TAD event in stride as she displayed excellent track awareness, starting line patience, and excellent reaction times. I believe she will develop into a very competitive driver in the TAD class moving forward.”

Johnson has a bright future in TAD racing and is determined to run a full season in 2025. She is currently pursuing sponsorship opportunities and coordinating with McPhillips Racing for additional seat time. Her ultimate goal is to become a Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion, following in the footsteps of her father and her late uncle, Blaine Johnson, who together won four consecutive TAD titles from 1991 to 1994. She is eager to continue the Johnson family legacy in NHRA drag racing.

November 10, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team finished 16th in Sunday’s Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway as their Ford teammates Joey Logano and his No. 22 crew won the season title in their Team Penske Mustang.

Burton started Sunday’s season finale from ninth place and had a steady drive all day to post his seventh finish of 16th or better this season. Burton and the Wood Brothers also secured 16th place in the final points standings, thanks to a win at Daytona in August that put them in the Playoffs.

On Sunday, Burton dropped back a few spots on the initial start and ended the first 80-lap Stage in 14th place.

In the second Stage, Burton and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team continued to race mostly inside the top 20 before ending that segment in 19th place.

In the third and final portion of the 312-lap race, Burton worked his way forward, taking 18th place on Lap 264, 17th by Lap 274 and 16th with 24 laps remaining.

Sunday’s race marked Burton’s final drive in the No. 21 Mustang. Next season will see Josh Berry take the wheel with Miles Stanley as crew chief.

Eddie Wood offered his congratulations to Team Penske and to Ford Motor Company for their championship and added his thanks for those who supported his team in 2024.

 “We congratulate Roger Penske and his organization and everyone at Ford on a hard-fought championship,” Wood said. “They were most deserving.

“And as we close out the season I’d like to thank Harrison and all the members of our 21 team, as well as all of our sponsors and fans for all they do for us.

“We wish all of you a happy and safe offseason, and we are all working hard and looking forward to a successful 2025 season.”

The No. 21 team will return to the track on Feb. 2 for the Busch Light Clash at a familiar venue for the Wood Brothers – Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIES PHOENIX RACEWAY CHAMPIONSHIP RACE TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT NOV. 10, 2024

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:  POS.   DRIVER3rd – William Byron4th – Kyle Larson8th – Chase Elliott10th – Daniel SuarezWITH 36 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE: Wins: 15 Poles: 10 Top-Five Finishes: 71 Top-10 Finishes: 147 Stage Wins: 23

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track at Bowman Gray Stadium with the Busch Light Clash at Bowman Gray on February 2, 2025.

·       In his second career Championship Four appearance, William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 team drove to a third-place finish in the 312-lap season finale race – ultimately ending the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season third in the final points standings.  ·       The 26-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native closes out the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with three trips to victory lane – highlighted by his first crown jewel triumph in the 66th running of the Daytona 500. Byron went on to prove his title potential early in the season, adding two more victories within the first eight points-paying races of the season (Circuit of The Americas – March; Martinsville Speedway – April). In addition to his three victories, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 team tallied 13 top-fives and 21 top-10s at the conclusion of the 36-race season.  ·       Closing out the third season of competition for the Next Gen cars, Chevrolet leads its manufacturer competitors with 15 victories – recorded by eight drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations. Among those triumphs included two crown jewel victories, including the Daytona 500 with Byron and the Brickyard 400 with Kyle Larson. This marks the third-consecutive season that the Bowtie brand has earned the highest win count on the season, with the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 also recording 18 wins in 2023 and 19 wins in 2022.  ·       With 93 races complete across NASCAR’s three national series this season, Chevrolet has earned a winning percentage of 48.4% with 45 victories (NASCAR Cup Series – 15 wins; NASCAR Xfinity Series – 18 wins; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – 12 wins). ·       In 108 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 52 victories – a winning percentage of 48.1%.  ·       With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 866 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 Finished: 3rdIt was a different pit strategy call from crew chief Rudy Fugle. How would you describe that run to the end? Did you feel like you, maybe with a late yellow, you could have had something for Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney? “I don’t know. I know that our No. 24 Axalta Chevy team worked really hard all day, and I feel like we maximized the most part of what we had. We just didn’t quite have enough. Those guys were just faster than us. We would have a short, little surge there in the middle part of the run, and then they would start to drive away on the short and long runs.  We just didn’t have enough, but I’m really, really proud of our team. We fought hard. It was a great strategy there in the final stage to do something different, but we just didn’t have enough.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1Finished: 10th “I’m happy with our day. Just like at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I feel like we maximized the potential of our No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevy, so that’s good. We had a 10th-place car, or so, and that’s exactly where we finished. I’m really proud of this team. We had a good year, and it’s definitely something good to build off of for the future.”  Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1Finished: 23rd “We clawed all day and made the No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet much better there the last few runs. Trent [Owens] made great adjustments as always. I’m proud of the hard work everyone on this team has put in this season. Today was bittersweet, but I can’t thank Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, and everyone at Kaulig Racing for these past few years.”

CONCORD, NC (Nov. 10, 2024) – All dreams, all hopes, all anxieties, all wonders, and all dirt roads led to three drivers being crowned champions at the World of Outlaws World Finals Saturday night.

David Gravel, of Watertown, CT, Brandon Sheppard, of New Berlin, IL and Mat Williamson, of St. Catharines, ON, conquered all paths en route to the 2024 title with their respective series.

Gravel and his Big Game Motorsports  team – consisting of Cody Jacobs, Stephen Hamm-Reilly and Zach Patterson – earned their first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship. He became the 11th different Series champion and first new champion since 2019. Also, his car owner, Tod Quiring, became the first new team owner to win a title since 2013.

“It’s a dream come true,” Gravel said. “We’ve been working at this for a long time. To do this with Big Game (Motorsports) in our fourth year together feels really really good.”

Sheppard made history by becoming the winningest World of Outlaws Late Model champion in Series history by claiming his fifth Series championship – breaking the tie with Josh Richards. However, this was his first with the Sheppard Riggs Racing Longhorn Factory Team.

“It’s crazy to think about now,” Sheppard said. “These things are not easy to win, and we did it the absolute hardest way possible, that’s for sure. Longhorn and the whole Riggs family gave me everything I needed to get the job done. It’s been a trying year with a ton of ups and downs. We’ve showed a lot of speed but haven’t had the wins that we needed. It was a battle of attrition to keep the thing up front and just be consistent…

“The stars lined up, man. I’ve battled for this a lot of years now. I know how to do it, it’s just a matter of putting together the package to be consistent and be OK when you’re not going to win that night.”

Williamson earned his second Super DIRTcar Series championship – first since 2019 – becoming the eighth driver in Super DIRTcar Series history to win multiple titles.

“It’s unbelievable,” Williamson said about winning the championship. “The second one was way harder than the first one. We worked really hard. The guys do such a good job of getting this thing prepared. I really have to thank them for everything they do. It’s really cool to be sitting here on the front straightaway (at The Dirt Track at Charlotte) celebrating something like this.”

Sheppard and Williamson had to endure the stress of waiting until the final lap of the weekend to be crowned the champion, while Gravel was able to lock up his title on Friday. His championship rival, Carson Macedo, won Friday night’s race, but Gravel’s fourth-place finish gave him enough points to lock up the title – ending the season with 15 wins, 44 top five finishes and 60 top 10s.

Gravel’s championship season started with him winning the second race of the year at Volusia Speedway Park and then taking home his third Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator title. He and the Big Game Motorsports team were then masters of consistency, finishing outside the top 12 only two times in the first half of the season. And in that time, Gravel also picked up his first Kings Royal title and a Summer Nationals win at Williams Grove Speedway.

Their win count dropped in the second half of the year, picking up only two wins in that time span, but only had two finishes outside the top 10 with the worse being 13th.

“We started off really good, but when I started to build a big lead (in points) I crashed and it got close again and then stretched it out a little bit,” Gravel said. “We went through a little bit of a slump. Once we got away from the West Coast, I thought we battled back and ran really good to close off the year. It feels good to get the job done, finally.”

Sheppard’s championship season was tame in the win column, grabbing three Series wins on the year – compared to his other four championship years, which saw him earn 18 wins with his first and second titles, 14 wins with this third title and eight with his fourth. However, he too was a master of consistency. He only had eight finishes worse than eighth in 41 starts – and only one outside the top 20.

Although, one of those finishes outside the top 10 came during the first World Finals Feature of the week, putting Nick Hoffman within 26 points of him. And then Bobby Pierce won Friday night’s Feature, while Hoffman suffered a mechanical failure, moving Pierce to second in points – 22 points behind Sheppard.

The drama continued on the final night as Pierce battled for the lead, while Sheppard fought to stay within the top 10 to hold on to his points lead. But Pierce suffered a flat tire near the halfway point and could only recover to a 17th-place finish. Sheppard finished ninth and clinched the title by 38 points.

“It was a crazy year,” Sheppard said. “We’re super happy and thankful for all the sponsors that have stuck behind us. My dad and my grandpa. The whole Riggs family. The whole Longhorn family. Just everybody that’s involved with this team. It’s wild to think about standing here right now. I know the Riggs family has been trying to get one of these for a while.”

The Super DIRTcar Series had the closest points battle of the three Series entering the World of Outlaws World Finals with Williamson trailing 10-time Series champion Matt Sheppard by 15 points. That points lead evaporated for Sheppard and transferred to Williamson after Sheppard’s engine overheated during the first Feature of the weekend. Williamson then went on to win Friday night’s Feature and finish third on Saturday – securing the championship by 33 points over Sheppard.

“In our first year (as a team with Buzz Chew Racing) we came down to Charlotte and won the championship and it was like, ‘Wow, we did it. Good job guys.’ And then the next year you expect it and the year after you expect it and the year after, and so on and so forth,” Williamson said. “To get the second one finally done is unbelievably cool.”

Williamson ended the season with eight Series wins, 14 top five finishes and 17 top 10s. He also earned his second straight DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator title in February.

The 2025 season for the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series will commence at Volusia Speedway Park for the DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals, Jan. 22-25. Then, the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park will start the new year for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series (Feb. 5-8) and Super DIRTcar Series (Feb. 12-15). For tickets, CLICK HERE.

“Sunshine” pockets $25,000 at the site of his Series debut to close World Finals

CONCORD, NC (November 9, 2024) – In a week defined by uncharacteristically nice November weather, it’s only fitting that “Sunshine” found a way to Victory Lane.

Tyler Courtney was quietly consistent through the first three nights of the World of Outlaws World Finals. Sea Foam Qualifying Night led to him clocking in seventh and 11th in the pair of flights. Then he grabbed finishes of 10th and sixth on Thursday and Friday which set him up on the front row of a Saturday Heat Race.

Then came the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season finale, and Courtney locked himself in the Toyota Dash. Good fortune in the redraw put him P1, and he capitalized.

Courtney won the Dash to set himself up on the pole for the 25-lapper, and he never looked back once the green flag flew at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The Indianapolis, IN native led every lap of the Feature, surviving a brief challenge from Series champion David Gravel to get the win and bank $25,000.

“To end the year on a win like this gives us a little bit of momentum going into 2025,” Courtney said. “Just can’t say enough about all of my guys. Jake, Ron, Bobby, they bust their tails. We struggled a little bit the second half of the season but started to find our footing here in the last month or so. I heard them talking about my debut here with Danny Smith. I think I was racing Jacob Allen for the D-main that year. So 11 years later to come here and get a victory is great.”

It’s Courtney’s third win of 2024 with The Greatest Show on Dirt and his 12th overall this year in a 410 Sprint Car, tied for the third most in the country. It was a full circle night as Courtney got his first checkered flag from the site of his World of Outlaws debut back in 2013.

When the green flag dropped Courtney quickly pulled ahead of outside polesitter Brian Brown. Courtney had the Clauson Marshall Racing No. 7BC on cruise control as he stretched the advantage early.

David Gravel surged from seventh to the runner-up spot by Lap 13 and appeared primed to give Courtney a challenge when a caution came out a lap later erasing his more than five-second lead.

But Courtney refused to let it slip away even as Gravel pressured him on the restart. Courtney kept his NOS Energy Drink ride glued to the bottom as Gravel braved the top. Gravel got the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 wound up and closed in for about a lap, but ultimately Courtney prevailed as he rolled away and took the checkered flag with more than a two-second gap between himself and Gravel.

“I think we proved to not only ourselves but a lot of other people too that we belong on the national tour and that we can compete too,” Courtney said of he and his team’s season. “I haven’t won as many Outlaw races in a year as I did this year, so to go out and do that is really accomplishing for myself and our team and just awesome.”

Gravel’s runner-up gave him a strong punctuation to his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car championship. He and Big Game Motorsports pieced together 15 wins, 33 podiums, 44 top fives, and 60 top 10s on their way to a title. Gravel became the 11th different driver to earn a championship with The Greatest Show on Dirt while Quiring became the 10th different owner.

While they might’ve come up one spot short, the race exemplified why Gravel and the Tod Quiring-owned crew came out on top in 2024. They’ve got a fast race car with one of the most talented Sprint Car drivers in the country who does what he needs to do without taking unnecessary risks. The Big Game No. 2 came home P2 to close out the season.

“The beginning of the race really went my way,” Gravel explained. “A couple of guys missed the bottom, and I was able to get underneath them. “Brownie” (Brian Brown) got messed up on the cushion there, and I was able to get by him. Then a caution came out and kind of had a clean slate. Then we had that run, and he started getting into traffic, I felt like that was a little bit of my chance there. Then we had the caution or the red with five to go. He was really, really good in clean track.”

Rounding out the final podium of the season was Carson Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing team. The Californian got the top going late in the running to work his way into third.

“I think late in the race there it transitioned back to the top,” Macedo said. “These guys (Courtney and Gravel) were actually running the middle which surprised me. But Brownie went to the bottom there on that restart and I think just spun a little bit, and I was able to get a run and get around him. It was a hard-fought race. It changed a lot just like I feel it has the last couple of nights with the way the track prep is. Man, hats off to this team. They’re doing a great job. They’re delivering, Philip Dietz, Adam Zimmerman, and Robby McQuinn.”

Ryan Timms and Brian Brown completed the top five.

Donny Schatz completed a clean sweep of the World Finals KSE Racing Hard Charger Awards by taking the Tony Stewart Racing No. 15 from 18th to ninth for his third in a row.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to Sheldon Haudenschild, Carson Macedo, and Justin Peck. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Buddy Kofoid.

Tyler Courtney topped the Toyota Racing Dash.

Bill Balog won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

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

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars begin the 2025 season at Volusia Speedway Park’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals on Feb. 5-8. For tickets, 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. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[7]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 4. 10-Ryan Timms[9]; 5. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[4]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson[11]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz[18]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen[12]; 11. 26-Justin Peck[8]; 12. 2KS-Cory Eliason[16]; 13. 39M-Anthony Macri[19]; 14. 9-Kasey Kahne[10]; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[14]; 16. 14-Spencer Bayston[15]; 17. 27-Emerson Axsom[17]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog[21]; 19. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[23]; 20. 70-Kraig Kinser[27]; 21. 69K-Logan Wagner[24]; 22. 24D-Danny Sams III[22]; 23. 88-Austin McCarl[20]; 24. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 25. 7S-Landon Crawley[26]; 26. 13-Daison Pursley[13]; 27. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[25]

Allgaier’s First Career Series Title

AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 9, 2024) – As the checkered flag flew for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, a long-awaited dream came to reality for JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier. Driving his No. 7 Camaro SS to a runner-up finish – the best among the Championship Four drivers – in the series’ season finale race at Phoenix Raceway, Allgaier earned the title as the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion.  “We’re so proud that Justin Allgaier, one of our longest members of Team Chevy, is now a first-time champion,” said Dr. Eric Warren, Executive Director, Global Motorsports Competition, for General Motors. “Congratulations to Justin, Jim Pohlman, Mike Bumgarner and the entire No. 7 JR Motorsports Camaro SS team for winning this championship. They worked hard all season long and delivered another strong performance when it mattered the most. What a great way to finish the NASCAR Xfinity Series season for Chevrolet.” The title is the fourth in the series for JR Motorsports’ co-owners Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., all of which have been recorded under the Chevrolet banner. The feat also celebrates Chevrolet’s 22nd NASCAR Xfinity Series Driver Championship since the inception of the series in 1982. “Also, congratulations to Kelley Earnhardt Miller, LW Miller and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on winning their fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series championship,” added Dr. Warren. “We’re proud that they have earned each of their championships in partnership with Chevrolet.”

During the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, the 38-year-old Riverton, Illinois, native piloted his No. 7 Camaro SS to two wins (Darlington Raceway and Michigan International Speedway) en route to his series-leading ninth playoff campaign. Despite a tumultuous opening round, Allgaier once again proved his true championship potential – earning three top-eight finishes in the Round of Eight to point his way into his seventh Championship Four appearance.  “This team never gave up,” said Allgaier. “Jim Pohlman (crew chief) – his leadership skills are second to none. He told me all weekend that we were going to have a chance.”  Allgaier joins 16 other Chevrolet drivers to earn the NASCAR Xfinity Series Driver Championship title. Others on that elite list include Tyler Reddick (2018 & ’19), William Byron (2017), Chase Elliott (2014), Austin Dillon (2013), Clint Bowyer (2008), Martin Truex, Jr. (2004, ‘05), Brian Vickers (2003), Kevin Harvick (2001, ‘06), Jeff Green (2000), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (1998, ‘99), Randy LaJoie (1996, ‘97), Johnny Benson (1995), David Green (1994), Steve Grissom (1993), Joe Nemechek (1992) and Larry Pearson (1987). “Dale (Earnhardt) Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, L.W. Miller, everybody at JR Motorsports, all the men and women, all five of our race teams – just the effort that we’ve put in, I’m at a loss for words,” added Allgaier. “We’re going to celebrate this one for sure. It’s unbelievable.” Chevrolet also led the series with 18 wins this season, with 10 drivers from four different Chevrolet teams taking the Camaro SS to victory lane. The Bowtie brand returns to competition in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15, 2025.

November 9, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team will close out the 2024 season with two-straight top-10 starts as Burton has secured the ninth starting spot for Sunday’s Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway.

That follows a sixth-place start last week at Martinsville Speedway. It’s Burton’s and the team’s third top-10 start of the season, the other coming at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

Like last week at Martinsville, Burton and the team had a strong practice session on Friday at Phoenix. Burton was 12th on the speed chart with a best lap at 131.637 miles per hour. That came on the fourth of 61 laps he ran in the session. Among drivers who ran 10 consecutive green-flag laps he was 14th fastest, averaging 129.962 mph from the 23rd to the 32nd laps he ran.

In qualifying on Saturday, he was fifth fastest in Group B with a lap at 134.645 mph. Then in the final round he was ninth fastest with a speed of 132.188 mph.

“It was a really good day,” Burton told reporters at the track. “Obviously you get in the top 10 and 12th in practice. The last two weeks have just been really good, and Vegas before that was really good for us.

“Homestead, we kind of missed it a little bit, but I just can’t express enough what it means for my race team to bring me fast cars even when I’m on my way out.

“It sucks because we know we can do it. We’ve done it the last two weeks, showing that we’re fast enough.

“Obviously a mechanical failure last weekend took us out, but this is a good enough team to be a winning Cup team, so it’s bittersweet and really sad to be leaving but really proud of the effort and how we keep fighting. It’s really special.”

Burton said he’s hoping for a strong run on Sunday in his final ride in the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse.

“I think we are going to have a good race car,” he said. “We were a little bit tight, and I think that bodes well for long runs in the race.

“I want to run as good as I can, hopefully up front, and try to win this thing.”

Sunday’s 312-lap, 312-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 1 p.m. (3 p.m. Eastern) with NBC carrying the TV broadcast.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 185.

NASCAR CUP SERIES PHOENIX RACEWAY CHAMPIONSHIP RACE TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT NOV. 9, 2024

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP POS.   DRIVER3rd – Ross Chastain4th – Kyle Larson5th – Chase Elliott8th – William ByronIN 35 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES Wins: 15Poles: 10Top-Five Finishes: 69Top-10 Finishes: 143Stage Wins: 23

·       Four Chevrolet drivers posted top-10 qualifying results for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. The defending winner of the series’ season finale race, Ross Chastain, drove his No. 1 Busch Light Camaro ZL1 to a best-lap of 26.812 seconds, at 134.268 mph, in the second round of qualifying to secure a third-place starting position for tomorrow’s 312-lap event.  ·       Joining Chastain in the top-10 includes a trio of Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1’s, including Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team in fourth; Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team in fifth; and Championship Four contender, William Byron and the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 team, in eighth.  ·       Each of Chevrolet’s top-10 qualifiers are past winners in NASCAR’s top division at Phoenix Raceway, with William Byron and Ross Chastain sweeping the 2023 races, and Kyle Larson (2021) and Chase Elliott (2020) each earning a victory in their title-winning seasons.

William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1: Post-Qualifying Quotes  Q. William, do you feel like you have enough in your car this weekend to contend for the championship tomorrow? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I do. Just didn’t quite get the second lap I wanted to there in the second round, so bummed about that. But I feel really good about our race car. Get first pit pick, which is huge. So excited for all those things. We just need to put together a good start to the race, but really it’s such a long race. It’s just going to be about trying to get to the finish and have what you need there. Q. How much does it matter having two non playoff drivers in the front row to start things off like this? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I don’t think it really matters. I think it’s a race just like any other week. You’re going to have to deal with those things. So, yeah, I don’t put too much focus on that, really. Just trying to get the most out of my car and try to just get the most out of the day. Q. How much does the first pit stall assuming you’re picking the first pit stall with the No. 1 pick, how much does it matter? WILLIAM BYRON: We’ll see. The rules have changed a little bit on the lines, so we’ll see. I think I just have to do a good job throughout the day rolling time, and I have the best pit crew out there. So it’s going to be a good advantage for us just doing our jobs. The pit stall hopefully is clean for us and just work from there.  Q. Did you watch the truck race last night at all? They penalized 100 people it seemed like for not starting in the or changing lanes before start/finish line. Will that impact anything that you do or were planning to do tomorrow? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah. I think it was a little bit different than it’s been in the past, just in the way that the restarts were going and the available space on the bottom. I’ll just adjust as needed. But yeah, I feel like I’ve understood the way it is for a while, so I don’t really worry about it too much. Q. Just speed wise alone, where do you think you guys are at this weekend? WILLIAM BYRON: I think we’re plenty capable. I feel like we had some things to improve after practice, and I feel like we did those things. So big credit to everyone – not only on our team, but back at the shop and Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. I feel good about it. I feel like we’re in a ball game. So just have to put together a good first couple of stages; try to get towards the front, and then go from there. Q. Nerves wise, is this just a normal weekend to you? Are you unfazed? WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, qualifying is probably the biggest nerves. I think just trying to get through those laps and put good laps together. But, yeah, once I get in the car, I feel like my nerves are pretty normal. Yeah, I get nervous just like everybody else, but I feel like I’m able to manage it pretty well.

CONCORD, NC (Nov. 9, 2024) – The 2025 season finale for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota is coming home to Millbridge Speedway for a two-night program, Monday–Tuesday, Nov. 3–4.The move brings the Series’ championship finale to its birthplace and places it among the biggest week for dirt racing in North Carolina — the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, which is 30 minutes south of Millbridge.Titled as the Xtreme Outlaw Midget World Championship: The Kickoff to World of Outlaws World Finals, the inaugural event will help commence a massive week of championship celebrations for the premier dirt racing series.“The World of Outlaws World Finals is one of the biggest events in dirt track racing, and with Millbridge’s short drive from Charlotte, we all knew we wanted to make the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series part of this special week,” said Tyler Bachman, Xtreme Outlaw Series Director. “Our relationship with the Millbridge staff has grown so much over the past three years, and what better way to grow one of our biggest events on the schedule than to put it in front of fans that travel into the area for World Finals.”For the past three seasons, the Xtreme Outlaw Series has made its annual Millbridge stop during the week leading up to Memorial Day — coinciding with the NASCAR weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway — and will now move into the fall, giving Millbridge a fall Midget program for the first time since the track’s last presentation of the Carolina Midget Showdown in 2021.“We think that the track, with the red clay, is going to bring some better racing in November than it would in the middle of the summer,” said Ashly Burnett, Millbridge Speedway co-owner and promoter. “We love our NASCAR fans, but we really want to bring some good racing to our dirt fans as well.”While the 2025 World Finals runs Nov. 5–8, the Xtreme Outlaw Midget World Championship will get the week’s racing festivities started with a $4,000-to-win Feature on Monday, Nov. 3, and a $5,000-to-win main event on Tuesday, Nov. 4.A Series championship coronation will follow the completion of Tuesday’s program, after which all attendees are encouraged to spend the rest of the week at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series and Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified action.Historically, multiple drivers from non-open-wheel racing disciplines have had cars prepared to compete during Millbridge’s two-day Midget event, which has been contested every year since 2020 in both the spring and fall.“We see that every week at Millbridge; you never know who’s going to show up,” said Burnett, who hosts several NASCAR stars and their family members as competitors in the track’s weekly Micro Sprint program. “When you present them with a big race, especially with the Midgets and bring Xtreme in, you really never know — not only NASCAR, but any form of motorsports — we always get surprised who shows up and who enters our events.”NASCAR Cup Series stars Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe won the first-ever Midget events contested at the 1/6-mile oval in December 2020, followed by USAC champion C.J. Leary’s sweep of both Midget events on the red clay in October 2021.The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series began its inaugural season at Millbridge the following spring with multi-time track champion Gavan Boschele taking the first-ever Series checkered flag in May 2022. History was then made at the next Millbridge race as Taylor Reimer was deemed the winner, becoming the first woman to earn a win in national Midget competition.Cannon McIntosh — the 2024 Series champion — swept the two-day show in May 2023. And Karter Sarff and Zach Daumsplit this year’s shows.Tickets for the inaugural Xtreme Outlaw World Championship: The Kickoff to World of Outlaws World Finals will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be at the track to watch, stream every lap from every 2025 Xtreme Outlaw Series event live on DIRTVision.ARTICLE: https://xtremeoutlawseries.com/news/millbridge-speedway-to-host-xtreme-outlaw-midget-championship-finale-during-world-finals-week-in-2025/EVENT INFO: https://xtremeoutlawseries.com/schedule/event-info/?event=4547705 TRACK INFO: https://millbridgespeedway.com/ FAN 101: https://about.dirtcar.com/

Macedo makes it a dozen wins in 2024 with Jason Johnson Racing after compelling duelCONCORD, NC (November 9, 2024) – Carson Macedo came into the World of Outlaws World Finals knowing he wouldn’t leave anything on the table. The odds of climbing back in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car championship fight were slim, but that didn’t mean he’d give less than maximum effort. And that kind of attitude brought him to Victory Lane on Friday night.Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing crew earned the pole for the 25-lap finale and came out on top of a spirited battle with Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for a $15,000 score at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.Macedo led early before Kofoid roared by on the outside, but the Lemoore, CA native refused to be beaten by his fellow Californian as Macedo came back with a slide job that proved to be the winning move.Only three spots behind him, David Gravel came home fourth to secure a World of Outlaws title and end Macedo’s outside chance. But the 28-year-old had nothing to hang his head about. He did everything he could by picking up the win, but Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports team continued the consistency they showed all season long.“I think it takes time to win a race here,” Macedo explained. “It’s definitely a chess game. As the lines and stuff move around, you’ve got to be able to move around with them. I think your car, obviously, being good helps a lot, too. I felt really confident when Buddy got by me that I could maybe get back by him.“Feels good to win the battle tonight, but obviously we kind of lost the war. That’s a little bit bittersweet, but congrats to the 2 team and David on winning the championship. Man, we fought all year. We fought as hard as we could. Someday maybe we can be sitting in that spot.”The Charlotte win made it a dozen overall in 2024 for Macedo with The Greatest Show on Dirt. That marks a new personal best for him. It was also his first ever checkered flag from the North Carolina facility. His 47th career victory moves him within four of equaling Jeff Swindell for 17th all time.As previously noted, a fourth place result locked up the championship for David Gravel. He becomes the 11th driver in Sprint Car history to own a World of Outlaws title. Big Game Motorsports team owner, Tod Quiring, is only the 10th owner to claim the championship and becomes the first new one since 2013 when Kasey Kahne got his first with Daryn Pittman behind the wheel.“It feels good to go into tomorrow just racing for a win,” Gravel said. “I want to touch that trophy and raise that trophy above my head because I’ve been doing this for a long time. We’ve been close a lot of years and been on the podium a lot in the points. To finally get it done and do it with Levi, being a dad, and having a family and everything feels really, really cool. There’s a small list of World of Outlaws champions, and I’m just proud to be one of them.”Macedo and Kofoid led the field to green, and Macedo jumped right out to an early lead.The early part of the race allowed Macedo to inch away from Kofoid and Gravel as he rolled the bottom of the freshly prepped surface, but lapped traffic threw him a curveball.Once traffic became a factor near the halfway point, Macedo’s lead started to shrink as Kofoid started to get the cushion going around the 4/10 mile. Kofoid finally found the momentum he needed to blast by for the top spot on Lap 16 out of Turn 2. Macedo came back at him with a slider in the next set of corners, but Kofoid calmly crossed him over to keep the lead.It was a short-lived stint atop the leaderboard as the tricky cushion caught Kofoid. The Roth Motorsports driver tripped up outside of Turn 2 allowing Macedo back to his tail tank. He wasted no time looking to reclaim the top spot as he tried to throw a slider in Turn 3 but couldn’t clear him. However, one more set of corners was what Macedo required as he tossed a slide job that stuck in Turns 1 and 2.From there, Macedo drove away with ease to his 12th World of Outlaws victory of the 2024 campaign.“I was just the leader and didn’t really know where to be,” Macedo said of his race. “I was running the bottom at the time and felt like it was slowing down. My pace was just getting so low. I kept getting my wing back I tried it the one time and felt like I was on ice skates it was so dirty. I just never thought that it would’ve been that good. Then I could hear Buddy get to my outside, I thought, ‘Man, he must just be running just behind me.’ Then I see him leave my left rear off of (Turn) 2. I tried to slide him in (Turns) 3 and 4 and got over the cushion a little bit. But overall, my car was incredible.’Kofoid came home in the runner-up spot for his second straight second place finish in the Roth Motorsports No. 83. He continues to make some final additions to his unbelievable rookie season résumé with the World of Outlaws.“Obviously, Carson and the 41 guys were really good,” Kofoid said. “I just had my wing back to be really good down there (Turns 3 and 4) kind of through the dust before it cleaned up. And then I was kind of running across (Turns) 1 and 2, middle-up and kind of was just getting my wing back every lap. Then it looked clean enough, so I moved up more on top into (Turn) 1 and just plugged it a little bit too hard and let Carson back by.”Like Kofoid finished up second both nights, the third position belonged to Justin Peck once again on Friday. The Monrovia, IN native continues to prove he’s quickly adapted to wheeling his new ride, the Rudeen Racing No. 26.“Two nights in a row we’ve kind of started a bit free as we started that Feature. My car is awesome. After we get a couple laps into the race it starts coming in. The longer the race goes the faster I seem to get. The car is really good man.”David Gravel and Kasey Kahne completed the top five.A 23rd to 15th run earned Donny Schatz back-to-back KSE Racing Hard Chargers.NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to Giovanni Scelzi, Carson Macedo, and Justin Peck. Milton Hershey School Heat went to Buddy Kofoid.Carson Macedo won the Toyota Racing Dash.Logan Schuchart won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Danny Sams III.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars wrap up their 47th season with the $25,000-to-win World of Outlaws World Finals finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. For tickets, 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. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 3. 26-Justin Peck[4]; 4. 2-David Gravel[3]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[8]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[13]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 9. 13-Daison Pursley[6]; 10. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[10]; 11. 23-Garet Williamson[11]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen[17]; 13. 21-Brian Brown[9]; 14. 17B-Bill Balog[18]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz[23]; 16. 1S-Logan Schuchart[21]; 17. 10-Ryan Timms[16]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[25]; 19. 2KS-Cory Eliason[24]; 20. 27-Emerson Axsom[22]; 21. 23W-Justin Whittall[19]; 22. 24D-Danny Sams III[15]; 23. 7S-Landon Crawley[14]; 24. 7N-Darin Naida[20]; 25. 99-Skylar Gee[12]For complete results, CLICK HERE.ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/giving-his-all-carson-macedo-out-duels-kofoid-for-charlotte-win-gravel-locks-up-title/EVENT INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/schedule/event-info/?event=6174 TRACK INFO: https://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/FAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Nov. 4, 2024) – John Force Racing swept the postponed 24th NHRA Nevada Nationals on Monday, claiming victories in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. Austin Prock, driving for the Cornwell Tools team, and Brittany Force, piloting the Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel Dragster, each secured wins from the No. 1 qualifying position, while their teammate Jack Beckman earned a semi-finalist result in his PEAK Chevrolet.  Prock’s victory marked a significant achievement, tying the record for the most Funny Car wins in a single season since 2000, when team owner and Hall of Famer John Force captured 11 victories. The win with teammate Brittany Force also marks the first double-up win since Prock and Robert Hight shared the winner’s circle at the Charlotte 4Wide on April 30, 2023.  In the final round of Funny Car, Austin Prock’s Chevrolet Camaro SS faced Paul Lee, echoing their matchup at the Northwest Nationals in Washington earlier this year. He  maneuvered his Camaro to the 1,000-foot mark, in combat with Lee, and secured a decisive victory outperforming Lee in every metric on NHRA’s official timeslip. Prock recorded a reaction time of 0.065 seconds and an elapsed time of 3.830 seconds at 327.33 mph, surpassing Lee’s 0.089-second reaction time and 3.982-second elapsed time. “I mean, this team has just been lights out this year.” said the former NHRA Rookie of The Year,  “Outstanding job by each and every one of the Cornwell Crew. They all carry their weight and pick up weight from, you know, if a guy’s behind or struggling. They all got each other’s back, and that’s what makes a team. We win and lose as a team, and we won as a team today.” The victory all but secures the first championship of the 29-year-old’s career. He enters the final race of the 2024 season just points shy of a perfect race over teammate Jack Beckman. “That’s our main goal this year, is to win the championship. When I got in the race car, at the beginning of the year, my dad [crew chief Jimmy Prock] said, I want a world championship, so we’re getting really close. And to do it with my dad and brother [co-crew chief Thomas Prock], you know, all three of us Procks, would be really special, along with this whole Chevy team.” Prock’s cross-class teammate Brittany Force was also victorious in Vegas. With guidance from crew chief David Grubnic, her Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel team earned Force her third Nevada Nationals win and fourth overall at “The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The victory marked a return to form for a team that once dominated the class, breaking a two-year absence from the winner’s circle since their last win at this event in 2022. “This is definitely a special one, and it’ll always be a special one in our book.” said the 2x NHRA Top Fuel Champion, “Not just for me, but all of John Force Racing. It’s been a difficult season for us all. And I’ve been out of the winner’s circle for two years since this event here in Vegas. I felt good coming into this race. You know, our team’s really been pushing hard, and we’ve been seeing the progress on the track. It’s just incredible for our entire Chevrolet team, and all our sponsors. Monster Energy, Cornwell Tools, HendrickCars.com, all of them. To get them back in that winner’s circle is incredible, and a really special one because it was my dad’s first race back since his wreck. To be able to celebrate with him in the winner’s circle and a double up, I mean, this is one of the biggest wins in our camp, for sure.” Force’s 3.703-second pass at 332.59 mph, moved straight down the groove as reigning champion Doug Kalitta smoked the tires off the line and shut it down early. The victory marked the 17th of her career and moved her team from eighth to seventh in the overall championship standings.  The Chevy dragster now sits  118 points behind leader Justin Ashley heading into the NHRA World Finals. When qualifying begins Nov. 15th for the In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, Calif., she will be only 34 points out of fourth place in an event that pays 30 points for each round win instead of the usual 20.Jack Beckman, filling in for sidelined team owner and driver John Force in the PEAK Chevrolet Funny Car, proved to be one of the fastest in their class.   Qualifying second overall, Beckman and his team had aimed to face teammate Austin Prock in the final round but ultimately settled for a semi-final finish. Lee claimed a holeshot win over Beckman with a career-best 3.834-second pass at 330.23 mph, edging the PEAK Chevy at the stripe by just 0.0024 seconds.  “Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for me and my PEAK Chevy Team.” said the winner of 2024’s Midwest Nationals. “It was really frustrating to lose. Paul Lee’s car was gonna run a mid-81 against us, we still laid down an .82 with the cylinder out. Even when our car is not perfect, it is still one of the best hot rods out here, and it gives me nothing but excitement pulling into Pomona for the last race. Our push right now is to close the season with a win, 1-2 for John Force.” Beckman holds second place in the Funny Car championship standings behind teammate Austin Prock, trailing by 188 points with 191 points still up for grabs. To secure the title, Beckman will need a standout performance and some missteps from Prock, setting up an all-John Force Racing showdown in the season’s final stretch.

CHEVROLET IN NHRA2024 FORD PERFORMANCE NHRA NATIONALS THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY LAS VEGAS, NEVADA TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP | NOTES & STATS NOVEMBER 4, 2024  Aron Stanfield Captured Chevrolet’s 400th Pro Stock Win Since 1970 While His Father Greg Stanfield Won the Factory X Championship in Las Vegas

Notes:Doubling up at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Monday, Austin Prock, competing in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, and Brittany Force, driving the Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, both won their respective categories in team owner John Force’s first return to the track since his incident in Richmond earlier this season.Prock, who leaves Las Vegas leading the championship over teammate Jack Beckman, racing on behalf of John Force in the Countdown to the Championship, won his eighth event this season and 12th of his career by defeating Paul Lee in the final round.Force raced to her 36th career final round and faced off against Doug Kalitta in Monday’s final round, making a 3.703-second E.T. lap at 332.59 mph pass to win her 17th career Wally trophy and first this season.With a strong performance by both John Force Racing Funny Cars on Sunday up to semifinals, Prock and Jack Beckman, competing on behalf of John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, ensured the team will compete for the World Championship, its 21st in team history, in Pomona. All three John Force Racing cars raced to the semifinals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before racing was suspended Sunday for cold temperatures. The Top Fuel Finals and Funny Car semifinal and final rounds were completed Monday in Las Vegas.Heading into race day atop the qualifying leaderboard, Force captured her fifth No. 1 qualifier of 2024 and 51st in her career, by running 3.660 seconds E.T. at 334.98 mph.Prock secured his 14th No. 1 qualifier this year, breaking the record of team owner and 16-time world champion John Force for most No. 1 qualifiers in a single season. First taking the provision No. 1 qualifier spot with his Q2 run of 3.843 seconds E.T. at 333.33 mph, Prock then bested his qualifying result in Q3 with 3.817 seconds E.T. at 327.98 mph.Prock secured the record as Force looked on during his return to the track at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time since his accident in Richmond.Beckman raced his way to the semifinals against Paul Lee but faced a close drag race determined by .002 E.T. and fell to Lee.Qualifying No. 2 for Sunday’s NHRA Nationals, Beckman ran a career-best elapsed time during Q4, a stout 3.821 seconds E.T. at 330.41 mph.Aaron Stanfield, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet Camaro SS Pro Stock with Elite Motorsports, captured Chevrolet’s 400th win since 1970 in the category by defeating Greg Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.comChevrolet Camaro SS. Stanfield captured his sixth win of 2024 and 14th career in Pro Stock, beating Anderson with a .023 reaction time on a 6.606 seconds E.T. run at 206.31 mph. Anderson finished runner-up behind Stanfield by just .08 mph on a run of 6.591 seconds E.T. at 206.39 mph.With Dallas Glenn eliminated in Round 1 on Sunday in Las Vegas and Aaron Stanfield racing to the Finals on Monday, Stanfield leaves Las Vegas and heads to Pomona the Pro Stock points leader in a tight world championship battle.Concluding four qualifying sessions, Greg Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro SS Pro Stock, captured his seventh No. 1 qualifier this season and 131st of his career. Dallas Glenn, who leads the championships standings over Aaron Stanfield and Anderson, qualified No. 5 heading into race day in Las Vegas.Reaching the final round in Holley EFI Factory X, Greg Stanfield, driving the Rod Shop Chevrolet COPO Camaro, secured his sixth NHRA world championship on Friday and the inaugural in Factory X. Stanfield won the season-opening Las Vegas race, and additionally captured victories at Chicago and Dallas to win three times in 2024. Friday saw Jesse Alexandra break the six-second barrier to become the first competitor in the Holley EFI Factory X category to do so behind the wheel of his Chevrolet COPO Camaro. Alexandra raced to the feat by running a stout 6.988-second E.T. pass at 192.44 mph in his 2024 Camaro.

Quotes:AUSTIN PROCK, DRIVER OF THE CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR FOR JOHN FORCE RACING:“I’m feeling amazing. Me and Brittany (Force) have been talking about doubling up all year long, and to get it done when John (Force) is finally back at the racetrack, the good Lord was looking down on us, blessing us today. It’s been a wild weekend, a long weekend, but it’s going to be a (dang) long day. Thank you Cornwell Tools, thank you, Chevrolet, thank you GHX, Rick Hendrick, HendrickCars.com, thank you, everyone. Let’s go!” BRITTANY FORCE, DRIVER OF THE CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER FOR JOHN FORCE RACING:“It means everything. We’ve been chasing this win for two years at this event. It has been a long road this whole season, but I’m really proud of these guys right here. They’ve never given up. The hard work that has gone into this team, their patience, until we got back here, their fight to never give up, I’m proud of all of them. I have to thank my sponsors Chevrolet, Monster Energy, HendrickCars.com, Cornwell Tools, GHX, all of them. It took all of us to get here. This win right here, like I said, I believe, I always believe, that everything happens for a reason and I believe that God has a plan. This was his plan, to win, to double up because it’s the first race my dad (John Force) has come back to since his wreck in Virginia. It’s been a long road. I’m so proud of him. This win right here, this win is for him.” DAVID GRUBNIC, CREW CHIEF FOR BRITTANY FORCE AND THE CHEVROLET TOP FUEL TEAM:“The track is excellent. We probably didn’t get enough in it to compensate for that, but either way it got the job done. We’ve had a struggle this year, and one win isn’t going to be enough to get us back to where we need to be. I’ve got to thank all of our sponsors, the Force family, they’ve been very patient with me. But we’re turning it around. We can see where we’re going.” JOHN FORCE, TEAM OWNER OF JOHN FORCE RACING, ON TODAY’S DOUBLE-UP IN LAS VEGAS:“Well, Brittany (Force) drove the Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster and got the win, and (Austin) Prock of course, he drives the Cornwell Camaro. He got the win, too. So, I’m really excited. Brittany has struggled all year, but I think they got it figured out, and we’ll see where it goes. But I just want to thank Chevrolet for everything, and I want to really thank HendrickCars.com, all of our great partners. I got to see both of my teams win today with their support and with our entire family at the track this weekend. I’m glad to be back.” JACK BECKMAN, DRIVER OF THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE AND COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR FOR JOHN FORCE RACING:“Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for me and my PEAK Chevy team. It was really frustrating to lose, and we lost to what was the quickest run of the weekend. Paul Lee’s car was going to run a mid-81 against us. We still laid down a .82 with the cylinder out. Even when our car is not perfect, it is still one of the best hot rods out here and it gives me nothing but excitement pulling into Pomona for the last race. Our push right now is to close the season with a win, 1-2, for John Force.” AARON STANFIELD, DRIVER OF THE JOHNSONS’ HORSEPOWERED GARAGE/MELLING PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS PRO STOCK FOR ELITE MOTORSPORTS:“They (his Elite Motorsports team) all went back and studied what happened, and they made the right calls here. It’s a little tricky when you don’t have as many race cars on the racetrack. Man, I’ve got the greatest guys out here at the racetrack, and thank you to (Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage), Jason and Nikki Johnson, the Melling Brothers, Joe Janac, and all these Elite Motorsports boys. This was a big day for us, and it’s Vegas baby!”

Up Next:The final race of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series takes place at the famed In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip Nov. 15-17. The In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals air first with Friday qualifying on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Sunday’s finals air following, also on FS1, at 4 p.m. ET. Coverage streams live throughout the weekend on NHRA.tv, and is available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.

Toyota Top Fuel Dragsters hold the top five in points heading to NHRA finale

LAS VEGAS (Nov. 4, 2024) – In his quest to defend his Top Fuel World Championship, Doug Kalitta fell just short of a season sweep at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, coming home as the runner-up in the Las Vegas Fall Nationals. Kalitta had to go through Toyota teammates and championship competitors, Antron Brown and Shawn Langdon, on his way to his sixth final round of the season and 118th of his career. He fell to two-time world champion, Brittany Force, in the postponed final round on Monday. 

Kalitta’s performance during the weekend’s eliminations moved him up three spots in the Top Fuel points standings to be tied for fourth position as Toyota now owns the top five in the category points heading to the final race at Pomona in two weeks. Also, with Kalitta making the Top Fuel finals, Toyota has now reached 42 consecutive NHRA event final rounds in either Top Fuel and/or Funny Car.

Looking to close the gap in the Top Fuel standings himself, Langdon went rounds on Sunday and faced Kalitta in a hotly-contested semifinal. Unfortunately, Langdon suffered a blown rear tire as he approached the 1,000-foot mark that led to a center line violation and gave the round win to Kalitta, who also faced trouble. By making the semifinals, however, Langdon has pulled within one point of Brown for second place in the Top Fuel points standings.

Justin Ashley, Brown and Steve Torrence were the other Toyota Top Fuel Dragsters to advance out of round one on Sunday. Ashley still holds a 44-point lead over Brown in the Top Fuel points standings, while Langdon inched closer to only now trail by 45 points. Torrence marginally lessened his deficit to Ashley, now sitting 85 points back of the lead in the fourth position, tied with Kalitta.

In Funny Car, Ron Capps defeated Alexis DeJoria in round one of action on Sunday but fell in round two. By making it to the quarterfinals, Capps moved up to third in the Funny Car standings, now ahead of Matt Hagan by seven points. Like DeJoria, J.R. Todd was defeated in the first round of Funny Car action on Sunday.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series concludes its 2024 season at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, with eliminations set for Sunday, November 17.

Toyota Post-Race Recap

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas Fall Nationals

Race 19 of 20

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS 

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Doug Kalitta	Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Finalist	W (3.861) v. I. Zetterstrom (7.019) W (3.692) v. A. Brown (3.728) W (No time) v. S. Langdon (Center line violation) L (6.147) v. B. Force (3.703)
Shawn Langdon	Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Semi-finals	W (3.680) v. J. Salinas (3.744) W (3.701 – holeshot) v. J. Ashley (3.698) L (Center line violation) v. D. Kalitta (No time
Justin Ashley	SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Second Round	W (3.711) v. S. Massey (3.735) L (3.698) v. S. Langdon (3.701 – holeshot)
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Second Round	W (3.724) v. T. Stewart (3.735) L (3.728) v. D. Kalitta (3.692)
Steve Torrence	CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Second Round	W (3.700) v. T. Schumacher (3.738) L (3.719) v. C. Millican (3.726 – holeshot)
Billy Torrence	CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	First Round	L (3.741) v. C. Millican (3.727)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS 

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Ron Capps	NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Second Round	W (3.917) v. A. DeJoria (4.209) L (3.878) v. J. Beckman (3.853)
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	First Round	L (5.338) v. C. Pedregon (3.924)
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero CaféToyota GR Supra Funny Car	First Round	L (4.209) v. R. Capps (3.917)

*= Non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DOUG KALITTA, Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports

TF Final Result: Finalist

How would you describe this weekend for you and your team?

“Yeah, don’t necessarily know exactly how we completely shake out points-wise, but would’ve definitely been nice to get those extra 20 points (by winning the final round). We were trying to throw down. Yeah, unfortunately, we didn’t make it (down the track), but like you said, we’re in a good spot hopefully going to Pomona. That place is usually really good to us. We’re all hungry here and obviously, it’d be nice to get this thing to the winner’s circle for sure (at Pomona).”

SHAWN LANGDON, Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports

TF Final Result: Semi-finals

Can you take us through what happened there in your semifinal run?

“You know (pause), I just hit the gas, and the car was making a great run. Just, from the time I hit the gas, it kept trying to pull me left so I was trying to give a little bit of input in it. I know the right lane, it likes to suck you to the inside, and that’s a common thing, so I tried to cheat it just a little bit right, pointing the car just a little bit right and run that right edge and let it bring me back in. And just from the time I hit the gas, it kept pulling me left, pulling me left, but I kept trying to put input into it and you know, the dragsters, if you get your hands up around 12 and six, that’s a lot of input for a dragster. And when it catches, it going to shoot you across the lane so you have to keep that in mind. I just kept putting more input to it and it wasn’t coming back. By the time (pause), you’re hauling like crazy and next thing I know, shoot, there’s a lock and I run over (the block) and the tire blows and at that point, you try to salvage what you can. Dang, I hate it for the guys. Man (pause), it stinks. First time I’ve ever hit anything in my career – never hit a cone, never hit a wall. (Have) taken pride in that for a long time. Feel bad for the guys, they’ve worked their butts off. We’re a championship team, just tried to get that one (win) light and I feel terrible, going to be honest with you. Just, trying to hold it together. Hope I didn’t do too much damage to it. We’ve still got a shot at the championship, that’s the most important thing. Just, I don’t want to be the cause in not winning it. Love the support, love everything about it. (I) want to be a champion and (pause).”

Category leader elevates its diesel exhaust fluid purity guarantee with new triple-filtration process

LAS VEGAS (November 5, 2024) — Old World Industries announced today that America’s number one brand of diesel exhaust fluid, PEAK® BlueDEF®, has further set the standard of purity by investing in a new triple-filtration process. PEAK® BlueDEF® and the premium PEAK® BlueDEF PLATINUM® will also debut new packaging in Q1 2025, highlighting the purity and performance benefits that set its product line apart.

“As even the smallest contaminant can create significant issues for your vehicle, it is critical that your diesel exhaust fluid is of the highest purity. BlueDEF® has always been manufactured to the highest quality and purity standards but this new process offers consumers an extra layer of assurance,” said Randy Turner, director of product management. “Every batch of PEAK® BlueDEF® and PEAK® BlueDEF PLATINUM® is now triple-filtered, lab-tested and secure-sealed to provide ultimate protection from contaminants.”


PEAK® BlueDEF® and PEAK® BlueDEF PLATINUM® are compatible with all diesel SCR systems and the non-flammable formula with easy-pour dispensing nozzle makes handling safe and easy. BlueDEF PLATINUM® contains a proprietary additive package to help prevent deposit build-up, optimize fuel economy and extend the life of the SCR system. 

The triple-filtration process and new packaging were announced during the AAPEX Show which runs November 5-7 at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center. If you would like to learn more about PEAK® BlueDEF® and PEAK® BlueDEF PLATINUM®, visit the Old World Industries display in booth #A2245 or peakauto.com. Link to show map.

LAS VEGAS (November 3, 2024) — The Funny Car class has never been more competitive, and the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals made that very clear this weekend with a crowded 21-car field. But what has made Jim Dunn Racing an iconic team for so long is how they never back down from a fight. That includes their driver, rookie Funny Car driver Buddy Hull. 

“Vegas has proven to be a tough track for us this year, but it’s nothing we can’t handle and learn from,” said Hull. “We made four runs this weekend that gave us a lot of data that we can use going into the World Finals in Pomona. We have two weeks to go to work and continue to get better before one of the biggest events of the year.”

Out of two runs on Friday and two more runs on Saturday, Hull’s best pass of the weekend came during the fourth and final round of qualifying, with a 4.090 second, 311.27 mph run, handedly outrunning fellow competitor Jeff Diehl in the other lane. Unfortunately, this run was not enough to get the Jim Dunn Racing nitro Funny Car in the show, but the team is still optimistic about what they can take away from this weekend.

Buddy Hull and Jim Dunn Racing will be back in action in two weeks after a challenging weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, photo credit Dirty Blonde Motorsports

“It’s really satisfying when your best run is the last one, because it shows that you’re picking up on what you learned in the first couple of passes,” said Hull. “What this year has taught me is that every run down the racetrack matters, because nothing beats repetition and time in the car, when it comes to improving by leaps and bounds.”

This weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hull highlighted sponsors Kindness General Contractors, LLC, and Crow Safety Gear, a local company owned by Jon Dunn. 

“When we have 20 dates on a schedule, it’s easy for race weekends to feel like they will blend together,” said Hull. “What helps make every race unique is the sponsors we represent, particularly when they are in the area. When they can attend and see their marketing dollars put in action at such an exciting event, that really puts it into focus for them why they continue to support the sport of drag racing and Jim Dunn Racing.”

After this weekend’s performance, Hull is already looking forward to the World Finals in Pomona, California to finish out the season on a high note. It will be his first time competing at this event since his Top Fuel debut in 2021.

 “We are going to put this race behind us and get excited for the finals,” said Hull.  “It’s going to be a reflective weekend for me, as I wrap up my first Funny Car season, and my first time competing in the Countdown. Even with the ups and downs, this will be a year I will never forget.”

Hull and the Jim Dunn Racing team will be back in competition for the last race in the Countdown at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals on November 14-17 at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. There will be two qualifying sessions on Friday, November 15 and two qualifying sessions on Saturday, November 16. For tickets or more information on the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals visit nhra.com.

Qualifying Results
Q1: 4.207 sec, 275.34 mph; Qual. 13
Q2: 13.082 sec; 67.99 mph; Qual. 16
Q3: 4.316 sec; 267.37 mph; Qual. 18
Q4: 4.090 sec; 311.27 mph; Qual. 18
Bonus Points: 0

Points
Following a lengthy oil down at the conclusion of the Top Fuel semifinals in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series the NHRA announced they would be finishing the event tomorrow with eliminations resuming at 11 a.m. PT. Updated points will be available on www.nhra.com at the conclusion of the event.

RIDGEWAY, VA – November 4, 2024  – Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won Sunday’s Xfinity 500, earning a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Round of 4 alongside teammate Joey Logano. This weekend’s win marked Blaney’s third win of the season, 13th of his career, and 100th NASCAR Cup Series win with Ford for Team Penske.

“Congratulations to Roger, Tim, Jonathan, Ryan, and everyone at Team Penske on the race win at Martinsville and advancing to the Championship 4,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Ryan’s victory is a testament to his talent, dedication, and the team effort at Team Penske and Ford Performance. 100 wins at the NASCAR Cup level is a significant milestone and our team is proud to power 73 of these.”

“Yeah, a lot of momentum. It’s nice to have two Penske cars in. It’s nice to join the 22 and have a decent shot to bring Roger another title, a third title in a row, so these guys are the best at what they do and it’s been so much fun to get to run with them and share wins and championships. It’s super strong right now in our organization and hopefully it carries over,” commented Blaney.

Three Ford Performance drivers started Sunday’s race in the top 10: Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe in P4, Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton in P6, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece in P8. Stage 1 ended with five Ford Performance drivers in the top-10: Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece in P3 and P4, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano in P5 and P9, and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P10.

Brad Keselowski won the second stage of the race, holding off Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Keselowski took the lead from Blaney following a restart on Lap 203 and maintained it until the end of the stage on lap 261. After a caution on lap 398, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney pitted from the front of the pack for four tires, while Denny Hamlin took two tires and William Byron and Kyle Larson stayed out. With less than 100 laps remaining in the race, Larson and Byron restarted on the front row with Elliott, Blaney and Hamlin in the Top 10 on new tires. Blaney passed Chase Elliott for the lead on Lap 486 of 500 and pulled away to win by 2.593 seconds. Blaney joins fellow Round of 8 winners Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick along with William Byron in the race for the 2024 title.

A total of four Ford Performance drivers finished in the top-10: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P1, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in P4, RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski in P9, and Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P10.

The Xfinity Series also raced at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday where Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer finished in P4, advancing to the Championship 4.  Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to Phoenix Raceway this week for the final race of the 2024 season.

39 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 473 WINS – 436 POLES

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 4, 2024) – A calculated and relentless drive brought Chris Dyson and his #16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang victory Sunday at Circuit of the Americas in the final race of the 2024 Trans Am by Pirelli season. The win at the Austin, Texas, circuit, Dyson’s third in a season marked by too much bad racing luck, secured second place in the championship point standing for the three-time and defending champion. “I’m just full of emotion right now,” Dyson said after being greeted by his wife Joy in the GYM WEED Winners Circle. “Coming down here we had a really good feeling about this weekend. I felt prepared, I felt mentally calm. The team and I came with our winning mentality. We had nothing to lose. Great execution from everyone. It feels good to put a line through the 2024 season. Let’s move on to 2025!” Dyson started the 100-mile sprint race from third on the grid, but quickly dispatched 2023 COTA race winner Gar Robinson for second place behind newly-crowned TA champion Paul Menard. “The weather was hot and I knew it would be tough on drivers, cars and tires,” Dyson said. “I was confident the race was going to come down to the last segment and we set the car up for that.” After Menard dropped out with mechanical problems at the halfway point, the second half of the race came down to a tight duel between Dyson and TA2 regular Thomas Annunziata, who was making his second TA-class start of the season. Dyson hounded Annunziata for five laps before finding his way into the lead for the final third of the race. “Thomas drove a fine race, but I knew we were just a bit stronger,” Dyson said. “He was driving really hard. I knew all we needed was for him to make a small mistake. He did, and I took my shot. Thomas didn’t give up. He kept attacking until his engine broke. But I knew once I was past him we were in good shape.” “This has been a character-building season,” Dyson added. “We’ve had so many superb races where circumstances just didn’t cooperate and a few sure-fire race wins slipped away for unusual reasons. Still, three race wins, four poles and setting fastest race laps at more than half the events underlined our performance this year. Let’s just say we didn’t lose the championship this year because we weren’t fast enough. All that said, results like today’s to close out 2024 really energize the whole organization, and we will carry this positive momentum into the off-season.”  Matos Takes TA2 Title With 8th-Place Finish Rafa Matos basically just needed to finish the COTA race with his Concord American Ford Mustang to secure his third season TA2 title. And that’s what Matos, who arrived in Texas with five race wins already and a big point lead, did. In a wild race that saw numerous collisions – one competitor smashed in the driver-side door of Matos’ race car – a heady race to 8th place was more than sufficient to secure the title. “What a crazy race!” Matos exclaimed afterward. “Everybody had their elbows out. I’ve never seen so much contact in a Trans Am race. Thanks to Concord American Flagpoles for its support and to Chris Dyson for getting us together.” For more on Chris Dyson Racing.COTA Rebroadcast Schedule In addition to the livestream, 60-minute feature produced by Greenlight TV will be broadcast the following Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET to MAVTV’s 22 million North American linear households and 175 million connected devices.  Additional Broadcast Coverage On MAVTV In addition to the livestream, highlights of the race will be broadcast the following Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET to MAVTV’s 22 million North American linear households and 175 million connected devices.

Racing Suspended in NHRA Nevada Nationals; Will Resume on Monday

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Nov. 3, 2024) – With a recovering John Force watching from the sidelines, Austin Prock and Jack Beckman delivered the ultimate “get well” message Sunday, driving their respective Chevrolet Camaros into the semifinals of the 24th NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and assuring JFR of its 21st NHRA Funny Car Championship. A lengthy cleanup operation following an incident involving the Top Fuel dragster of reigning World Champion Doug Kalitta, coupled with cooler air and track temperatures, compelled NHRA officials to suspend racing and postpone completion of the event until Monday. Competition will resume with Prock opposing Blake Alexander in one Funny Car semifinal and Beckman facing Paul Lee in the other. After qualifying No. 1 for the second straight tour event, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force authored her own “welcome back” message to her dad by driving her Chevrolet Accessories dragster into the final round for the first time this season with a chance to win a Mission Foods tour event for the first time in two calendar years. She will oppose Kalitta. “This Chevrolet Accessories team has been running strong all weekend long,” said the 2x Top Fuel Champion, “And we are in the finals. Unfortunately, it’s delayed to tomorrow. But we will be ready for it.” By reaching the penultimate round, Prock, the 29-year-old driver of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS, and Beckman, driving the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro in relief of Force, insured that one or the other of them will win the Funny Car championship and become the fourth different JFR driver to do so. It will be the team’s 21st Funny Car title and its 23rd overall. Prock will leave LVMS with no less than 2622 points; Beckman with no more than 2514. The next closest driver in points is Ron Capps with 2411, not enough to offset Prock’s 211-point advantage even with extra points available at the season-ending In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, Calif. The most points Capps could earn in that race is 191. “We were racing smart today,” said an elated Prock, “just trying to get it done for the boss. Credit to this Cornwell Tools team, my dad (crew chief Jimmy Prock), my brother Thomas, Nate Hildahl and everybody else that makes it happen.” Prock’s teammate, 2012 NHRA Funny Car champion Jack Beckman, was just as focused. “It’s been an odd weekend of racing,” Beckman said. “I’ve had plenty of late rounds postponed to the next day due to weather. I can’t think of any postponed due to excessive track cleanup. And what happened out here this weekend is kind of unprecedented. But we want to race our PEAK Chevy when the conditions are fair and adequate for us. It will just be a Monday trophy. I’ve got a bunch of those at home, and they’re the exact same size as the Sunday trophies.”

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November 3, 2024 A promising start to Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway ended in disappointment for Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team.Burton, who started a season-best sixth suffered a transaxle failure on Lap 346 of 500 and was unable to continue. He was scored 36th.Prior to that time, the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse showed some good speed. Burton fell in line in seventh place after the drop of the initial green flag. He was in eighth place when the race’s first caution flag flew at Lap 77.After a pit stop he fell in line in 19th place and ran there until the final laps of the first 130-lap Stage, which ended with Burton in 20th place.He moved back into the top 20 after a pit stop at the end of the Stage but spun after contact from Carson Hocevar on Lap 158.After a pit stop during the caution period for his spin, Burton worked his way from 28th place up to 24th. When the caution flag flew at Lap 187, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team elected to stay on the track while others pitted and he moved up to eighth place for the restart.The disadvantage of older tires was apparent as he dropped to 23rd place by the time Stage Two ended at Lap 260. Back on the track after a pit stop, Burton moved up to 18th place before pulling off the track at Lap 346.Burton and the No. 21 team now head to Phoenix Raceway for next Sunday’s Cup Series championship-deciding season finale.

LAS VEGAS (November 3, 2024) — At the conclusion of the penultimate NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals, Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will have one more chance to end their season on a high note. This weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Hart’s team never got a strong handle on the tricky track conditions at the track located fifteen minutes from downtown Las Vegas. Through four rounds of qualifying Hart struggled to transfer the power generated by his R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster to the all-concrete track. His best effort was a 3.801 second pass during the first qualifying session on Saturday held up to secure him the 16th spot in a tight Top Fuel field. “There were 19 Top Fuel dragsters on the property, so we knew it was going to be super competitive,” said Hart, a two-time Top Fuel national event winner. “We just never got over the hump.” Josh Hart faced Brittany Force in the opening round of the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals, photo credit Auto ImageryOn race day Hart was paired with No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force in the first round. The R+L Carriers team knew they had a tough opponent, but they were up to the task. Hart grabbed a slight starting line advantage with a .056 second reaction time but by half-track Force was pulling away with a solid 3.721 second smooth pass. “We just had to go up there and hope we could catch a break,” said Hart. “We are looking to finish the season in a strong points position and we’ll have to wait for Pomona. We are still looking for consistency and we have one more race this season.” Hart will leave The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to make up ground in two weeks when the tour heads to In-N-Out Burgers Drag Strip at Pomona. The fourth year pro will be looking to race into the top ten at the final race of the season. The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will have two qualifying runs on Friday, November 15, and then two more qualifying runs on Saturday, November 16. The quickest 16 Top Fuel dragsters will look to race for the final win of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series on Sunday, November 17 from Pomona. For tickets or more information visit www.nhra.com. Qualifying Results Q1: 3.852 sec, 326.08 mph; Qual. 9 Q2: No Time; Qual. 12 Q3: 3.801 sec; 328.46 mph; Qual. 14 Q4: 3.823 sec; 317.79 mph; Qual. 16  Bonus Points: 0 Race Results First Round Brittany Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Chevrolet Accessories dragster, (.062), 3.721 sec, 329.26 mph def. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster, (.056), 4.133 sec, 209.07 mph