All posts by ARP Trish

Dyson Racing

Dyson Racing Celebrates 30 Years

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY July 2, 2013 — Thirty years ago, Rob Dyson raced a 1983 Firebird in his first professional race at the IMSA Coca-Cola Three Hours of Lime Rock. He had been racing in the SCCA since 1974 but moved into professional racing on that Memorial Day.  Of the thirty-seven cars entered that day, only one team still racing today: Dyson Racing.  The team will be officially commemorating their thirtieth anniversary at the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park next weekend, July 5 – 6. 

Many of the team’s milestones over the past thirty years have occurred at Lime Rock Park, their home track with their shop less than an hour away.  Two years after first running the 1983 Firebird, Rob Dyson moved up to an IMSA GTP Porsche 962 and debuted the car at Lime Rock in May of 1985 and won the first time out. The following year, the Lime Rock GTP race was the first professional pole for the team. The team also gave Mazda its first P2 victory at Lime Rock in 2009. And Lime Rock is special for Chris Dyson as he began his racing career here at the age of seventeen in the Skip Barber Racing School and scored his earliest SCCA victories.
 
Recent years have seen the continuation of the team’s winning ways at Lime Rock.  Chris Dyson won the P1 pole in 2011, and Guy Smith set fastest lap on the way to a dominant win, the pair leading 165 laps of the 187 lap race.  Last year, Guy Smith set a pole record and Chris and Guy finished second and the team won the Michelin Green X challenge.
From 1985 on, Dyson Racing continued to race the Porsche 962 during the golden years of GTP racing against the factory teams of Nissan and Jaguar and took home twelve wins and twenty additional podiums. In 1995, they moved to a Ford-powered Riley and Scott which netted them thirty-six wins over eight years including two  24 Hours of Daytona victories in 1997 and 1999 and several championships.  From 2002 to 2006, they ran AER-powered Lolas and from 2007 to 2008, two Porsche RS Spyders in the ALMS. 

In 2009, the team partnered with Mazda in the ALMS.  The team won at Mid-Ohio in 2010, giving Mazda its first overall IMSA/ALMS victory.  In 2011, Dyson Racing ran the table of championships, winning a total of five including the Drivers Championship with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith, the Manufactures Championship with Mazda, the Team Championship and the Michelin Green X Challenge.  Last year, Guy Smith’s 0.083 margin of  victory at Road America set the record for the closest ever overall finish in ALMS history. Also in 2012, Chris Dyson celebrated his 100th ALMS start at Baltimore and the team scored their 200th podium at Mid-Ohio

he history of Dyson Racing provides a comprehensive overview of sports car racing in North America for the past thirty years.  The team has won championships and races in the American Le Mans Series, International Motor Sports Association, Grand-Am, World Sports Car, the United States Road Racing Championship, and World Sports Car. All told: nineteen championships, seventy  victories, sixty-eight poles and two hundred and eight podiums.  Past drivers include James Weaver, Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace, Marino Franchitti, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Bobby Rahal, Price Cobb, Drake Olson, Johnny Dumfries, Oliver Gavin, Jan Lammers, John Paul, Jr., Scott Pruett, Dorsey Schroeder, Vern Schuppan, Max Papis, Andy Lally, Hurley Haywood, Ron Fellows, and Scott Sharp.      

“One of my favorite early memories was when we went to Lime Rock with the Porsche 962 for the first weekend and won,” noted Chris Dyson.  “It was such a great win.  We were a small crew back then and to come with a family team and run against the best in the business and win, that  is when we realized we had a future at the highest level.”

Rob Dyson won the first race he competed in, an SCCA regional at Watkins Glen, in a Datsun 510.  “I remember when it was just me and Pat Smith.  We would leave at 5:00 in the afternoon and drive all night to Nelson Ledges or Summit Point.  We would sleep in the truck since we were too late for a hotel.  I smile when I think about how much we did not know and how much we were learning every weekend.  Every chapter of our team’s history has been different, but at all times, there has always been that one constant spark of emotion of absolutely wanting to compete with passion and to win.”  For over three decades, that overriding passion has never wavered.

John Force Racing

John Force Racing Looks Towards Norwalk

BRITTANY FORCE READY FOR 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND CELEBRATION IN NORWALK

NORWALK, OH (July 3, 2013) — After a tough weekend in Chicago, Auto Club Road to the Future Award candidate Brittany Force puts that race behind her as she rolls in to Norwalk for the 7th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

With two blown engines and a first round loss in eliminations throughout last weekend, Force and her Castrol EDGE Top Fuel team take what they learned at Route 66 Raceway and hope to apply those concepts coming into Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. She also believes that having these back-to-back races contribute to the learning process as well.

“I think, as a driver and for my team, having back-to-back races is helpful,” Force said. “It keeps us all in that momentum and in that groove of trying to keep everything consistent. Learning from each run and really just keeping that focus rather than going home for a week and getting out of that rhythm. It helps me as a driver feel more comfortable in the car coming back after only a few days and getting right back in it.”

This will be the first time the John Force Racing Top Fuel pilot will be competing in the professional category at this particular racetrack. Force raced in the super comp class several years back when she first began her racing career.

Another member of the Castrol EDGE team who has had prior experience at this historic track is crew chief Dean Antonelli. He understands that in business, there is no guarantee that track conditions will always be perfect.

“Norwalk actually is hit or miss,” Antonelli said. “We’ve been there when it’s been 95 degrees with 80 percent humidity, but we’ve also been there when it’s been 70 degrees with 50 percent humidity. You don’t know what you’re going to get. Right now the forecast is calling for high 70’s, low 80’s, which that’d be pretty good conditions, but that’s a week away, so we really won’t know what we got. Typically if it’s hot, it’s a very tricky track. If it’s real cool, it’s as good as any place.”

Aside from racing, the 26-year-old Cal State-Fullerton graduate is looking forward to celebrating the Fourth of July with the most important people in her life: her family. 

“I’m excited! My whole family will be coming to Norwalk,” Force said. “My nieces and nephews will be there so that’ll be exciting. We stay at the Kalahari water park hotel, so that’ll be a lot of fun with all the kiddos running around and swimming. I’m looking forward to it and celebrating Fourth of July with my family and going after a win.”      

FORCE AIMS TO KEEP STREAK ALIVE

Sport’s Biggest Winner Seeks First Victory at Summit Motorsports Park

 

          NORWALK, Ohio (July 5, 2013) – Drag racing icon John Force tries to keep his streak of final round appearances intact this week on one of the few racetracks on which he has not yet won an NHRA tour event.

 

          The sport’s all-time winner, who has climbed from 10th to third in the Mello Yello driver standings in less than a month, tries to make it four finals in four weeks when he sends his resurgent Castrol GTX Ford Mustang after the Funny Car Championship at the seventh annual Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.

 

          Force, who is bidding this year for an unprecedented 16th NHRA Funny Car title, has won NHRA tour events at 24 different tracks, but never at Summit Motorsports Park where he is 0-for-6 with only a runner-up finish in 2010 to show for his effort.

 

          The irony is that he is a many-time winner of the track’s largest independent event, the August “Night Under Fire,” and has been successful enough in that race to have had a spectator grandstand named in his honor.

 

          A 2012 inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the 15-time Auto Racing All-American may never have a better chance to end that Norwalk drought than he has this week.  Not only does he have momentum, he also has Mike Neff,

 

          After spending the last two seasons behind the wheel of a John Force Racing Mustang, Neff opted this year to return to what he most enjoys and that is making the mechanical decisions on a 10,000 horsepower race car capable of zero-to-320 mile-an-hour acceleration in less than four seconds.

 

          Nevertheless, while he was driving (and serving as his own crew chief), the former motocross rider earned back-to-back victories in the Summit Nationals in 2011 and 2012.  He is, in fact, the only JFR driver to have won the race.

 

          Technically, then, he is bidding this week for his third straight win at the Ohio track, albeit his first as Force’s crew chief.

 

          “Mike Neff and these kids have given me a fast hot rod,” Force said.  “We can play the game in the heat or we can play when it’s cool.  A good race car gives you confidence (as a driver).  You get a good car and you get natural on the lights.  We were struggling with the chassis, the motor and the clutch but now it seems like it’s all coming together.”

 

          Indeed, after compiling a 6-9 match race record in the season’s first nine events, advancing beyond the second round just one time, Force has gone 10-2 the last three weekends with a win at Bristol, Tenn., that gave him at least one tour victory in 26 of the last 27 seasons.

 

          In addition, that particular win earned the 135-time tour winner a guaranteed berth in this fall’s Traxxas Nitro Shootout bonus race in which he is the defending Funny Car champion.

 

          “They were ready to print up t-shirts that said ‘John Force: Extinct,’” he said of his uncustomarily slow start, one in which his winless streak stretched to 31 races.  “It would have been a big seller, too, but I ain’t dead yet.  I can still drive.  I’ll know when it’s time and it ain’t time, yet.

 

          “The losing is the part that guts you,” Force said of his motivation, “but (losing) makes you want to get back (to the winners’ circle) so much more.  All I could think about (during the first nine races) was getting back.  Winning again is a great feeling, especially being able to share it with all the young guys that work on my hot rod.”

 

-www.johnforceracing.com-

                                                                              

 

About Castrol
BP Lubricants USA Inc. markets premium lubricants and business–building programs directly to independent lube operators, service providers, new car dealers and leading retailers. Our leadership brands include Castrol® GTX® — a premium conventional motor oil; Castrol® GTX® High–Mileage™ – a premium synthetic blend designed for vehicles with over 7
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Showtime Funny Car

Showtime Funny Car–FIA Main Event

FIA
Main Event

Santa
Pod May 24th – 27th

  Official Santa Pod Video

The Main Event was the 2nd
round of the new European Funny Car Series. The 4 cars who had contested Round
One at Easter were joined by a fully fit Leif Helander and newcomer Henrik
Christiansen from Denmark who would be doing observed licensing runs.

The newly re-laid track was getting
“rubbered-in” and was expected to provide some great racing – it didn’t
disappoint – thanks to the staff and track crew for an excellent job in
preparing the surface.

 

Qualifying began on Saturday, the first
run around 2pm, John running with Shockwave. A little slow on the green and a
0.92 sec 60 foot. The racing groove was still quite narrow and when the car
dropped a cylinder just before half track it got out of the groove and spun the
tyres. John idled through the top end in 7.22 seconds. Servicing was routine.
Having got some valuable data it was decided to miss the second qualifier and
look at the tune up options for Sunday when there would be more rubber on the
track.

 

Qualifier 3 at 12.25 alongside Leif
Helander. Better RT this time and 0.94 secs to 60 foot. John ahead until just
after the 1/8th when again spun the tyres. Well that’s the first 1/8th
sorted out. Now all we needed to do was get the second 1/8th sorted.

 

Qualifier 4 just after 5 pm would decide
the 4 qualifiers for Monday’s eliminations. Going in to the session John
was  “on the bump” with a 6.39 secs.
Kevin in the West Ten car ran immediately before us, recording a 5.80secs to bump
us out. All down to this run –0.96 to 60 foot, dropped a cylinder before the
half, then flashes of orange flame which disappeared briefly then came back.
Through the top end in 5.669 secs with smoke evident, but we were through to
eliminations.

 

During the service we found we had a
damaged lifter and cam-shaft. So the spare motor was readied and installed for
eliminations on Sunday.

 

Round 1 against No.1 qualifier Jason
Phelps, John was away first and never headed, 5.44 secs at 277mph – that was
more like it! No problems on servicing and a date in the final with Leif
Helander.

 

What a final, Leif cut a light but John
had the better incrementals all the way down. A holeshot win for Leif 5.496secs
at 278.1mph to John’s 5.460 at 278.9mph. Margin of defeat 0.068 secs( just
about 1 cars length)

 

We now go to Hockenheim in August laying
second in the championship, 1 round win behind Jason.

As
you read this our preparations for Hockenheim are well underway.

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Tuesday Teleconference–Tony Gibson

TONY GIBSON, CREW CHIEF FOR DANICA PATRICK AND THE NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW: 
 
AMANDA ELLIS:  We’re going to start with Tony Gibson, crew chief the No. 10 Go Daddy Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing and driver Danica Patrick in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  He was born and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, and earlier this year he led Patrick to her first career pole and an eighth‑place finish in the season‑opening Daytona 500.
 
Tony, growing up in the Daytona Beach area, how special was it to win the pole for the Daytona 500 earlier this year, and what are your goals heading into this weekend’s Coke Zero 400?
 
TONY GIBSON:  Well, it was obviously extremely gratifying to go down there and run well.  To go to your hometown where I grew up and all your friends and family, and to go there and to do something that is pretty amazing, to make history, to just be a part of that is incredible.  It was something that obviously will never be done again, and I feel real fortunate to be a part of that.
 
I’ve got to thank Go Daddy, Danica and Stewart‑Haas Racing and all my guys for sticking through the testing and the building of cars and going and doing all the things it takes to go down there and put those two laps together and make history.  It was pretty crazy, too, with all the media and all the hype going into it, and actually the pressure of actually testing well and going down there and repeating and making it happen, it was a huge relief, but it was also very gratifying and probably ranks up there as probably one of the greatest things I’ve accomplished in my career.
 
Goals for July are the same as they were in February when we went to Daytona:  We want to go down there and we want to make a statement.  We want to try to sit on the pole again, obviously, and this time come up a few spots further up.  We felt like we had a shot to win it, ran in the top three or four all day and had a fast car, and it came down to the last lap and kind of got snookered a little bit there at the end.  But we felt like we were definitely in contention to win it, so we’re going back there with the same mindset, to try to be the fastest car in qualifying and try to close the deal at the end of this thing.
 Q.  With all the spotlight being on you, when you get a good result like a pole and you go through the season and you still have more than average attention being directed to you with Danica, could you kind of explain what that’s like with your team?  Your team gets a little bit more of a microscope than a lot of other teams.
TONY GIBSON:  Yeah, we do, and we knew that going into it.  Most of us on the 10 car, most of my guys were with me when we were with Dale Jr. at DEI, and we’ve been through some of the microscope deal with a high‑profile driver.  So we were kind of used to it.  At least we thought we were.
 
But obviously it’s a little bit more than that with Danica.  The fan base is a little more spread out.  There’s kids and little girls and boys and women and men, and she has a huge fan base now.  You’re dealing with a lot of different folks at the racetrack and talking to different people and things like that.
 
It’s a little different than what we’ve experienced in the past.  So moving forward you want to please everybody.  You want your performance to be good because you don’t want to let your fans down.  You don’t want to let her fans down.  When you’ve got to look a little girl in the eye and she asks you what happened last week or why didn’t Danica win, it’s pretty hard to come up with an answer that’s going to satisfy a little girl.
 
But it’s crazy.  It’s different.  But we approach every week the same.  We want to go in, and we set goals, and we want to do the best we can every week as a team, and we want to build a stronger team and a relationship with Danica because it’s only going to help us down the road.
 
But the demands to perform and run better and to do things like that seem to be a little higher than they were because of the expectations she puts on herself and that the fans want to see her do good.  So that’s a little bit different for us.
 
That’s been a little bit of a struggle for us to get our hands wrapped around and absorbing that and trying to make things ‑‑ try to justify each thing we do and keep ourselves in check, you know.
Q.  And being from the Daytona area, do you believe that there’s anything of a home‑field advantage for a NASCAR team?
TONY GIBSON:  Well, I think there is.  I think for me I have a lot of family down there, a lot of friends, and a lot of history at that place.  And I think it’s kind of like going and playing football or baseball or basketball in your hometown.  You always feel like you’ve got that little ‑‑ you’ve got the eighth man there, and it’s a little bit of a pump‑up and a boost, and knowing that your friends and family are there and rooting for you.  Yeah, I think it’s different, and I think it’s a plus.
Q.  Just want to ask you a couple different things about the organization and such.  Obviously you documented about the early season struggles, but certainly there have been better performances, much more so in the last month or so.  How have things changed?  I know the results maybe at Kentucky weren’t what you guys hoped, but how have things changed and how are things ‑‑ how do you guys feel moving forward compared to maybe earlier in the season?
TONY GIBSON:  Well, I think we’ve definitely made some gains as a company.  We’re nowhere near where we want to be or where we need to be each and every week on every level, from the 39, the 14 or the 10.  I mean, our goals are a little bit less than the other two guys, at least the goals we set for ourselves are a little lower but reachable.  But we have struggled as a company and with the Gen‑6 car, and we’ve worked really hard.  We’ve done a lot of testing here lately, and I think the testing that we’ve done has definitely paid off in her performance.
 
Has it taken us from a 15th‑place organization to a winning organization?  Well, not really.  Dover was a good day and it was a good race for the 14 to win it, but they weren’t the dominant car all day.  They put themselves in a good position.  They were a top‑10 car and put themselves in position to win it and did so.  But the performances have been better, but our expectations and where we need to be is not there yet.
 
But I think the reason that we have been running better is because of the testing and the developing we’ve been trying to do on our 7 posts, our future rigs, and our engineering staff has been working around the clock trying to come up with a solution to what we’ve been fighting with this Gen‑6 car with all three drivers.
 
So I think it’s paid off.  But the bad thing about this is when you pick up two to three steps, they’re still working two, so they’re picking up another one.  So you have to make gains twice as much, twice as fast as your competition just to stay caught up to them like the Gibbs guys seem to be rolling pretty good, so we’re working double time to try to get caught up to them, not so much pass them but just stay caught up.
Q.  And I know you talked about the testing, I know you guys have done three team tests so far this season, the New Hampshire test most recently.  When you’re testing with Danica, is it any different from what you might have done with another driver because of her ‑‑ she doesn’t have as much experience at some of these tracks, and how valuable has that proved to be to have that testing brought back to where you can test at least a few of these Cup trac
ks for somebody like her?
TONY GIBSON:  Yeah, it’s huge.  Any time that we can get to go do a test at the right racetrack on the right tire, even if you’re not on the right tire, but to be at that racetrack that you’re going to compete on is huge.  Any lap behind the wheel of this Gen‑6 car for her is a plus.  You know, it’s definitely been a plus for the seat time side of it.
 
You know, the tests that we have done have been huge, and the biggest thing that’s really helped her is having the data from the other two drivers, the EFI data from the other two drivers as far as breaking traces and throttle traces and steering traces and those things that we really ‑‑ that we can sit down and look at, and she can talk to Stewart or Newman and they can help her if she’s struggling and they can kind of go to some of these racetracks where she hasn’t been.  Some of these tracks she’s never been to in any kind of car.  Having those two guys at a test when we go has been huge for us.
 
And it shows.  I know it doesn’t make us run top 10, but it makes us run 15th to 20th.  That has been huge for her.  That’s been the biggest thing I’d say for us is going to those tests and being able to do that, and if we could do it more, we would, and we go to VIR, we go to Road Atlanta, we go to Nashville, we go to Greenville Pickens, we go anywhere we can go to make laps and learn.  And a lot of these tracks we have ‑‑ even when we go to Nashville, all of our drivers have been there and the Hendrick guys have been there obviously, so we have a lot of data we can look at that helps her on the driving side as well as on the setup side, too.
Q.  You all did the tire test down there at Daytona.  I know they’ve changed the tire setup compared to February.  Do you have any sense of whether that will change in any way the way they race?
TONY GIBSON:  No, it’s not going to make any difference.  Actually the tire when we were on it, we did a lot of drafting.  We did some 20‑lap drafting runs and put the car in several different compromising positions, and everything was good.  But I don’t think any driver there could tell the difference in the tire, and I think that’s what Goodyear wanted to hear.  They didn’t want to hear that they could feel a difference.
 
When we left there, we would have never known that it was a different tire or anything.  I think it’s just a more durable tire, and it’s supposed to be a little bit better for punctures and things like that.
 
I think it’s a plus, and like I said, the good thing is it didn’t change the way the cars drove at all, so I don’t think it’ll change the racing.
Q.  As far as restarts go, we’ve seen a lot of controversy this year on restarts and when people are starting and if people are kind of braking either before or after the zone.  I’m curious as crew chiefs, do you guys look at your own EFI data after a race to see what it says, how fast maybe y’all were going at times prior to restarts to try and figure out what is the best strategy on those?
TONY GIBSON:  We do.  We look at our shifting things that we can do with our transmissions, which is not a whole lot.  NASCAR regulates that pretty good, but there is a few little things we can do ratio‑wise to help that.
 
But on these restarts it depends on ‑‑ these tires sometimes are a little harder than others, and the racetrack, the pavement is different.  So a lot of times you’ll have wheels spin more so than anything to do with the shifting or where the driver fires.  But I think we do work on that when we go test places, we do simulate restarts, but most of that’s working on transmission ratios.
 
The drop from third to fourth, if it needs to be larger or smaller, we work on that for certain tracks.  Dover is one of those odd tracks that has a first‑gear pit road deal and a second‑gear restart gear, so that’s an odd animal, and a lot of guys ‑‑ we’ve always seen it with Jimmie there, that had the issue there at Dover.
 
So we do work on that, and we look at it each and every week.  In our debriefs we talk to the drivers on restarts, how they thought their car did and is there anything we can do to make it better.  So we look at speeds and we look at accelerations and things like that so we can maximize our performance in that area for sure.
Q.  I had a quick question for you here.  This entire season there have been dramatic changes in the weather say from Thursday to Friday and Friday to Saturday and then race day.  How difficult does that make your life getting the cars ready on race day?
TONY GIBSON:  It’s a little bit challenging because the weather is kind of crazy.  Like in Kentucky there, obviously we were supposed to run at night, and everybody was prepared to start in the daytime and the track be tight and then go into the night and it gets freer.  So I think everybody kind of put some adjustability in the car for that, and obviously that didn’t happen.
 
But again, on Sunday the sun would pop in and out and would change the balance of the race car a lot, so that was quite challenging.  But it is; the weather really dictates how our cars drive, not only from the tire side, but the racetrack I think is the biggest player in this deal because obviously what type of asphalt it is.  Like our new paves, it’s a different asphalt mixture than what we’ve seen like at Kentucky when it was paved; it’s a totally different type of asphalt, so the weather affects those tracks differently.
 
So I think when you go to these tracks, whether it’s a new pave or an old surface, the way you approach it are a little bit different.  So it makes a pretty good ‑‑ it’s a balance changer for sure, and it makes it a little more difficult, especially when you’re supposed to run at night and you end up running in the day.  You pull your hair out trying to get it figured out, figure out where you need to be.  It’s a game changer for sure.
Q.  I wondered if you could talk a little bit, I know that with a rookie driver there is a big learning curve, especially early in the season.  How big a boost is it for you guys morale‑wise to return to Daytona where you did have such a high and things did go so well?
TONY GIBSON:  Well, I think it’s obviously a track that we feel like we can win at.  I feel like that’s right in Danica’s wheelhouse there.  She likes the drafting.  She likes the high speeds, and I think most of that comes from the IndyCar side of it.
 
So yeah, it’s exciting for us.  We went to Daytona ‑‑ and before when she was running the Nationwide car, she was really good at the restrictor plate stuff with the drafting and the air and that kind of deal.  So we were pretty excited for going into this year, and then when we went to Daytona and tested, we knew that we were going to be fairly strong down there.
 
So it’s exciting for us, and we’re working really hard.  We work hard every week, but when it comes to the restrictor plate racing, especially going to Daytona, we go all out.  We put every little thing we can into those cars, because we know that that’s a track that we can win at and we can really do some damage, on the good side.
 
But we’re pretty excited about going to these restrictor plate races.
Q.  Is it something you can even feel the excitement in the shop as you get ready to head down here?
TONY GIBSON:  Yeah, you can feel the excitement in the shop.  The guys are just rubbing and detailing and they’re pumped up and they’re excited. We have our trophy from Daytona for the pole down here, and so that stuff we bring out ‑‑ we brought it out this week just to remind everybody of what we can do when we get down there.  It’s a little bit of a morale booster.
 
The vibe is different.  When we
get ready to go here, everybody gets jacked up, and we know we can go here and we can do really well.
 
AMANDA ELLIS:  Tony, thank you for joining us today.  We appreciate you for spending a few extra minutes with us, as well, and best of luck to you and the team this week at Daytona.
 
TONY GIBSON:  Thank you so much for letting me be a part of it, and I really appreciate it, and thanks to everybody for calling in.
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Corvette Racing–Back in the USA: Corvette Racing Readies for Lime Rock

Back in the USA: Corvette Racing Readies for Lime Rock
Next steps toward title defenses in ALMS
 
LAKEVILLE, Conn. (July 2, 2013) – Two weeks after both its Compuware Corvette C6.R race cars completed the Le Mans 24 Hours, Corvette Racing returns stateside to continue defense of its GT driver, team and manufacturer championships in the American Le Mans Series. Next up is scenic Lime Rock Park and the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 6.
 
The fourth ALMS round of the year will air live starting at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with simultaneous live streaming on ESPN3 beginning with a 2:45 p.m., pre-race show. It’s an event Corvette Racing has won four times but none since 2008.
 
At 1.474 miles with seven turns, Lime Rock Park is the shortest track on the ALMS calendar but offers a surprisingly quick lap with average speeds in qualifying nearing 105 mph. The compact nature of the venue coupled with the two-hour, 45-minute race length means constant overtaking and frequent car-to-car contact.
 
Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen return to ALMS competition as the most recent winners in the GT class at Laguna Seca in May. The pairing – fourth in GTE Pro at Le Mans with Jordan Taylor – drive the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R.
 
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner share the No. 4 Compuware Corvette. The defending ALMS GT champions – seventh with Richard Westbrook at Le Mans – stand second in this year’s drivers’ standings and are three points out of first. Magnussen and Garcia are fifth but just 12 points from the lead. The Lime Rock round pays 20 points to the race-winners, 16 for second and 13 for third.
 
Corvette Racing leads the team standings, as does Chevrolet the manufacturers’ race.
 
“Le Mans was as challenging as ever. We battled the weather as well as the competition and I can tell you we are glad to get back to racing in the ALMS,” said Doug Fehan, Corvette Racing Program Manager. “The crowd is always great at Lime Rock, and the racing is as tough as anywhere else we compete the rest of the season. At just 1.5 miles in length, Lime Rock presents some unique challenges. You can’t make a green flag pit stop without losing a lap, so your strategy there will most likely determine your level of success. Our guys thrive on that pressure and are ready to go racing again.”
 

Honda Racing

Honda Racing–Tigert Wins Class, Pagenaud Stars at Pikes Peak

A record-setting effort from Honda’s North American R&D and motorsport companies – Honda R&D Americas and Honda Performance Development – resulted in one class victory and eight more top-five results Sunday in the 91st running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

A total of 11 Honda-entered drivers and riders in nine classes took part in the 2013 edition of the “Race to the Clouds”, including Honda-powered Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Indy car driver Simon Pagenaud, driving a unique, competition-modified Honda “Pikes Peak Odyssey” minivan. 

With the exception of Pagenaud, all drivers and riders competing at Pikes Peak on Honda equipment were Honda associates. Honda also served as partnering sponsor of the Hill Climb, the first time the company has participated as a corporate sponsor of the legendary event.

In addition, Honda Power Equipment provided race operation support, including generators which supplied electricity and lights to the pit and staging areas.

Driving a highly-modified Honda Odyssey, Pagenaud was a crowd favorite in his Pikes Peak debut, powering up the 12.42-mile course to a second-place finish in the Exhibition Class.  Modifications to Pagenaud’s minivan included a 500+ horsepower, turbocharged and intercooled Honda V6 engine –similar to the engine used in LMP2 competition in the American Le Mans Series – competition suspension and brakes, high-performance tires and a full competition roll cage. 

Posting a new record time of 10 minutes, 32.964 seconds, Honda R&D’s Jeff Tigert won the Pikes Peak 450 category, the largest motorcycle class in this year’s race, featuring 17 entrants.  A Honda associate making his Pikes Peak debut, Erik Dunshee placed third in the Superbike 750 class, riding a Honda CRB600RR.  An otherwise exciting day for Honda was marred by a crash involving Honda R&D’s Alex Moreno, who went off course in his Exhibition Powersport class Honda CBR1000R in the second segment of his hill climb.  Moreno

Making his second appearance at the Hill Climb in his modified 1991 Acura NSX, James Robinson braved deteriorating weather conditions – including rain and heavy fog – to finish fourth in the Pikes Peak Open category.  Robinson’s NSX is also highly modified from its original form, including a twin-turbo LMP2-derived V6 engine, Le Mans-style wide-body kit, competition suspension and roll cage.

Jeff Tigert(Honda CRF450F) finished 1st in Pikes Peak 450 motorcycles, with a new class record of 10:32.964, a full 34 seconds under the previous mark: “Oh man, I can’t believe it!  I hope all the folks at home and everyone at Honda is proud, this was a total team effort.  The bike worked perfectly.  Looking at the tires, we might have been able to go even a little bit quicker.  It’s pretty unbelievable what Honda can do when they put their minds to it.  We also had a teammate [Erik Dunshee] finish third in his class [Pikes Peak Superbike 750] in his first run up the mountain, so I’m really happy for him, as well.”

Simon Pagenaud (Honda “Pikes Peak Odyssey”) finished 2nd in the Exhibition Class with a time of 12:54.325: “It was a win for all the ‘soccer moms’.  For me, it was amazing.  Pikes Peak was always a dream for me, ever since I was a kid in France.  There is a lot of interest in this event in Europe, and I think that’s why you saw so many French drivers this year.For me, it was a great opportunity to learn.  Honda prepared a great car. Really ‘unique’, I have to say.  I have to thank my [Indy car] team and everyone at Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports for allowing me to do this, and thank Honda for the huge effort they made for this year’s event.  With more than 500 horsepower, the conditions [rain, cold and fog] were tricky and kept me busy … very busy!  But I’m actually pretty happy.  I feel very blessed and very proud.I’d like to come back again next year, with something even more crazy!”

Erik Berkman(President, Honda R&D Americas) on Honda’s 11-vehicle, 9-class effort in the 91strunning of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb:  “First and foremost, our thoughts are with our injured associate, Alex Moreno, his family and friends.  As racers, we all understand and accept the risks involved in our sport, but that doesn’t lessen the dismay we feel when one of our own is hurt.I’d like to thank everyone at Honda R&D Americas – in both in Ohio and California – Honda Performance Development and American Honda who participated in this massive effort, including more than two dozen associates on the ground here in Colorado and many, many more back in Ohio and California.  Congratulations to Jeff Tigert on his winning run and new lap record in the Pikes Peak 450 motorcycle category, and to our special guest driver Simon Pagenaud, who gave a great demonstration of the performance capabilities of a Honda Odyssey with more than 500 horsepower!”

John Force Racing

John Force Racing–Chicago Post Race

JOHN FORCE RUNNER-UP IN CHICAGO

 

JOLIET, IL—- John Force raced to his 219th final but came up a few hundredths of a second short of picking up his 136th NHRA Funny Car win at the 16th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway today. In a tremendous final with Matt Hagan Force’s Castrol GTX Ford Mustang ran 4.113, his slowest run of the weekend, beside Hagan’s winning 4.065 second run. Force’s Mustang began chucking spark plugs at half-track bleeding off power as the 10,000 hp Funny Car tried to accelerate down the race track.

 

Prior to today’s final Force was 2-1 in final rounds against Hagan who he outdistanced for the 2010 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series title, his unprecedented 15th NHRA Mello Yello world championship,  on the last day of the season. Today Force was masterful on his way to his third consecutive final round defeating Tony Pedregon, Del Worsham and Ron Capps to reach the final.

 

After his semi-final round win over Capps Force’s parachutes became tangled with Capps’ NAPA Dodge Charger R/T as the Funny Cars turned off. Luckily, no one was injured and neither Funny Car sustained damage.

 

Over the first nine races of the 2013 season Force’s round win record was 6-9 but since a remarkable turnaround led by crew chief Mike Neff and Force the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang is 10-2 over the last three races. He has moved up from 9th in the Mello Yello point standings to 3rd over that span and he is less than two rounds of racing 36 points behind No. 2 Cruz Pedregon.

 

Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team held onto their Top Ten position but Bob Tasca III closed the gap to three points as he sits in 11th place heading to the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, next weekend. Hight defeated rookie Chad Head in the first round with a 4.059 second run. Over the course of the weekend Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang posted runs of 4.055, 4.052, and 4.059 and in a losing effort to Capps, 4.096. His lone off-run was the final run of qualifying last night when there was a Christmas Tree malfunction that forced a restart.

 

Hight’s 4.059 second run was the quickest of the first round of eliminations. In the second round his 4.096 second run against Capps would have trailered eventual semi-finalist Bob Tasca III (5.056) and eventual winner Matt Hagan (4.105) in that same round.

 

“We made a great run in the first round our third 4.05 run of the weekend. This Auto Club Ford Mustang is turning around. We slowed down a little bit in the second round against Capps but we know how to make it run quicker in Norwalk,” said Hight. “The tracks are going to get hotter and I think we have a race car that can run in different conditions. We are still in the Top Ten and you need to hang onto those spots to get into the Countdown. It was good to see John get to another final.”

 

Courtney Force made a brief appearance today in eliminations before she was dismissed in an upset against No. 10 qualifier and Ford racer Tim Wilkerson. Force posted a 4.123 ET to Wilkerson’s 4.090.

 

“It was a little bit of a rough start this weekend. The rain didn’t help either. We only got one run on Friday because of it and we smoked the tires later in the evening. I mean, right as I hit the throttle it just went up in smoke. We probably should have put some newer tires on. The track was a lot better than we thought it was going to be,” Force said.

 

Force made her best run of the weekend in the second session on Saturday when she posted a 4.04 second run.

 

“Coming out on Saturday, we just had a malfunction in the electrical system in the car and the battery went dead. We were just having some bad luck. We finally got our car in the show on the last run. We went out and ran a 4.04, which is a great run; close to being one of my career best runs. It was such a great track on Saturday. You saw some great numbers on the board. But that 4.04 shot us up to the top half of the field, which was good for us,” said Force.

 

Force qualified in the No. 7 spot for race day, but got outrun by Wilkerson in their 6th career match-up. Force is now 5-1 against Wilkerson in previous events.

 

“Going up first round today, our car just went slower than we expected it to early on in the run. We started to drive around him down at the end. We were definitely gaining on him, but just ran out of real estate. He got the win over us, which was unfortunate for our team.”

 

“It’s just one of those days. You have to go through it. We came here off a win last weekend, and then we went out first round, but it’s all part of NHRA drag racing. Our Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car has been a pretty good car. We can run some good numbers. We can put 4.0’s on the board so I know we have a good car and we’re up there in the points so we just have to get back at it next weekend,” said Force.

 

After three tough runs in qualifying with engine failures a plenty, Top Fuel rookie Brittany Force laid down a solid run in round one of eliminations Sunday at Route 66 Raceway.

 

Facing fellow competitor Bob Vandergriff Jr., Force ran a 3.846 second pass at 322.11 mph, but fell short to his 3.843 pass. Amidst an early round loss, Force and her Castrol EDGE team are proud of the work they had accomplished in overcoming those engine issues.

 

“It was a close run against Vandergriff,” Force said. “I had never run him before, so I was excited to go out there and run against him. He had a great car all weekend. We finally stepped our car up and didn’t blow it up like we had been doing the entire weekend. Glad we stepped it up. We had a good run, but it just wasn’t quite good enough. I saw him right next to me, so I knew it was close. We’ll just have to give it another shot next weekend.”

 

Crew chief Dean Antonelli felt the heat all weekend long as well as he and co-crew chief Eric Lane called the shots to get the 26-year-old down track smoothly. It was no easy task, but entering the first round of eliminations, they hit on something golden.

 

“Our weekend started out not too bad the first qualifying session,” Antonelli said. “We ran an .84, but nicked the motor a little bit down track. We lost the night session that night. In Q2, we put a hole out early and probably should have had her shut it off and the motor got real unhappy and blew up. Last night in Q3, we thought we’d go for it, but something unhappy in the engine, but we haven’t really found any one particular thing. We made several changes and it responded good. We were trying to run .84 and ended up running a 3.84 in the first round, but we just kind of got clipped in the lights. It was a good race and a good recovery from how qualifying went. Hopefully we’re on track and look forward to Norwalk.”   

 

Even with the set-back today the Castrol EDGE team has confidence in their abilities. Brittany has qualified for the two quickest fields in NHRA history this weekend and Pomona1 (quickest field in history).

 

Mopar Racing

Mopar Racing–Mopar Doubles up on Wins at Route 66 NHRA Nationals with Hagan and Coughlin

Mopar Doubles up on Wins at Route 66 NHRA Nationals with Hagan and Coughlin
 
·         Mopar doubles up by earning both Funny Car and Pro Stock title wins at 16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals
·         Hagan posts third title win in his sixth final round appearance of the year to extend his lead in Funny Car Championship standings with six races left in regular season.
·         Coughlin earns his fifth career Pro Stock win at Route 66 Raceway and his second of the season
·         Just two points separate Coughlin and Johnson in second and third spot in the Pro Stock standings as they chase down the leader

Joliet, Ill. (Sunday, June 30, 2013) – Mopar drivers Matt Hagan and Jeg Coughlin Jr took top honours at the 16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals “doubling-up” at the Chicagoland area track with title wins in both Funny Car and Pro Stock classes for a third time in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series season. Hagan extended his lead in the Funny Car championship standings by posting his third victory of the season in the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Charger R/T in his sixth final round appearance for Don Schumacher Racing. For his part, Coughlin earned his second win the year aboard the Jegs.com Mopar Dodge Avenger by taking his fifth career “Wally” trophy at Route 66 Raceway to jump into second place in the Pro Stock standings.

 

“It was great to have Matt Hagan and Jeg Coughlin Jr. add two more wins in their Dodge vehicles today with their efforts at the Route 66 Nationals and everyone at Mopar is very proud of the strong first half of the season we’ve had,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “Earning wins in both Pro Stock and Funny Car classes at the same event for the third time this year, is a great way to showcase all the hard work that Mopar HEMI-powered teams and drivers are putting in to defend both world titles this season.”

 

Drivers to previously double-up on National wins in both categories this year for Mopar were Johnny Gray and Allen Johnson at the GatorNationals, and then Gray again with Coughlin at the Kansas Nationals.

 

Hagan earned his Route 66 title win by defeating two of his Don Schumacher Racing teammates; After turning the win lights on in his first round match-up his against Gray, Hagan went on to run an incredible side-by-side, Mopar versus Mopar, showdown against defending world champion Jack Beckman, emerging the victor on a holeshot. His final round victory against John Force was earned by posting his best elapsed time of eliminations with a 4.605-second pass at 315.34 mph, to his competitor’s 4.113-seconds (304.80 mph) attempt.

 

“I don’t think you could put together a tougher line-up,” said Hagan in reference to having to battle two teammates, and veterans Bob Tasca III and Force to earn his eighth career victory. “We’re doing good things right now and we want to keep it up, but I want to stay humble. This is such a humbling sport. Things can change fast, so we’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

 With six races left in the regular season, Hagan leads the championship over Cruz Pedregon and Force while his DSR teammates Gray, Ron Capps and Beckman are all right there in the closely contested battle in the top six spots.

 

In Pro Stock action, Coughlin took home his fifth win from the Route 66 venue for his second win of the 2013 season, bringing his victories total to 54 titles. He won this one in a final elimination match against opponent Greg Anderson after having to face his Mopar teammate Allen Johnson, winner of the previous event at the New England Nationals, in the semifinals.

 

“When I let out the clutch, the car didn’t feel the best that it had all day, and by the time I got into second and third gear I was just cracking the whip on the thing as hard as I could,” said Coughlin, who moved into second place in the standings just two points ahead of Johnson with the win and closing the gap on the leader Mike Edwards. “You look at the guys we had to race and there were certainly no easy rounds. To see that win light come on in my lane and to have such a huge win here feels amazing. I feel very fortunate to be standing here clutching this Wally (trophy).”

 

The next stop for Mopar teams and drivers is the fourth NHRA event in as many weeks taking place at this upcoming weekend at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, marking the halfway point of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series with the 7th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on July 4-7.

Richard Childress Racing

Richard Childress Racing–Kentucky Speedway Sprint Cup Post Race

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Quaker State 400
Kentucky Speedway
Sunday, June 30, 2013

Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished 10th (Kevin Harvick), 19th (Jeff Burton) and 30th (Paul Menard) in the Quaker State 400.
Following the event at Kentucky Speedway, Harvick remains fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, trailing leader Jimmie Johnson by 66 markers, while Menard ranks 15th, 151 points back, and Burton sits 21st, 182 points out of the top position.
The No. 29 Chevrolet SS team ranks fourth in the Sprint Cup Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 27 team 15th and the No. 31 team 22nd.
According to NASCAR’s Post-Race Loop-Data Statistics, Harvick completed 33 passes while running in the top 15, ranking him fifth in Quality Passes.
Harvick made 61 Green-Flag Passes, ranking him fifth in that category.
Burton was the ninth-Fastest Driver Early In a Run and made 62 Green-Flag Passes ranking him third overall.
Menard was credited with two of The Fastest Laps run and made 13 Green-Flag passes during the event.
Matt Kenseth earned his fourth victory of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season and was followed to the finish line by Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, July 6. The 18th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio.

Menard Finishes 30th at Kentucky Speedway After Early Involvement in Multi-Car Incident
 
Paul Menard started the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway from the 24th position after persistent rain showers postponed the originally scheduled Saturday night event until Sunday afternoon. In the early laps, Menard relayed to the crew that his SYLVANIA/Menards Chevrolet was loose on entry and tight through the middle of the corners. A competition-caution on lap 30 allowed Menard to come down pit road for fresh tires, fuel and spring rubber and wedge adjustments. The chassis adjustments seemed to help the handling of the No. 27 machine and Menard had worked his way up to 20th at lap 42. Just five laps later, the Eau Claire, Wis., native was involved in a multi-car incident, which ultimately brought out the red flag on lap 48. Menard sustained significant right-front fender and front bumper damage during the on-track melee and the crew went to work making repairs during multiple pit stops once the red flag was lifted. Restarting in the 36th position, four laps down to the leader, Menard struggled with a tight condition for the reminder of race. Though he had a battle-scarred race car, Menard and the crew never gave up. By virtue of not having to take the car to the garage, Menard was able to gain six positions in the remaining laps of the event to finish 30th, earning valuable points in his quest to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Menard now sits 15th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings heading into Daytona International Speedway next weekend.
 
       Start – 24th               Finish – 30th            Laps Led – 0          Points – 15th
 
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“It’s unfortunate we got caught up in a wreck early at Kentucky Speedway. We never really got a chance to see what our SYLVANIA/Menards Chevrolet had. I have to thank my guys though, they did a great job of getting the car patched up, which allowed me to stay on the racetrack and gain several positions over the course of the event. We’ve got to keep our heads up and hope our luck changes next weekend at Daytona International Speedway.”
 
  
 
After being rained out Saturday evening, the NASCAR Sprint Cup engines fired back to life on Sunday with Kevin Harvick and No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team rolling off the grid 22nd at Kentucky Speedway. NASCAR mandated a competition caution at lap 30 to allow teams to check tire wear and address handling issues because rain washed rubber off the track following Saturday’s heavy storms. Harvick started the first run by quickly picking off several spots, moving up to 17th place in just the first five laps.  With the competition yellow out on lap 30, crew chief Gil Martin dialed up a few quick adjustments to fix the tight handling No. 29 car and opted to only take two two tires for track position on the first stop of the day.  The strategy paid off with some ensuing caution laps pushing the team up to 11th place on lap 38.  On the next restart, Harvick was able to squeak by a big wreck that put the field under a red flag condition.  After making it to fifth by lap 60, the car began to develop a loose condition that would ultimately play a factor for the rest of the race.  The following green flag stop saw a slew of cars get caught by an ill-timed caution, which included Harvick and the Budweiser Chevrolet SS. The team rallied back to the lead lap with a few fortunate cautions going their way. Through laps 214 to 243, Harvick maintained a tough battle for a top-10 spot with the No. 5 and No. 24 cars, until the yellow came out again and put the spotlight back on Gil and the crew for one final strategy call to take the team to the end.  Right side tires and fuel with a small air pressure adjustment sorted the No. 29 Chevy back to ninth when the field took the green on lap 246.  When the dust settled, Harvick brought home a 10th place finish and maintained his fourth place slot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points Race to the Chase.
 
Start – 22nd                  Finish – 10th              Laps Led – 0            Points – 4th 

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:  “We were loose in and fairly free through the corners for most of the day.  Kentucky Speedway is a great place to race, but gave us all we could handle on getting our Budweiser Chevrolet to grip the turns.
 
 
  
Jeff Burton Overcomes Adversity to Finish 19th at Kentucky Speedway
 
Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS team lined up 15th for the 400-mile race at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday. After waiting an extra day because Mother Nature washed out racing action on Saturday evening, the 43-car field took the initial green flag on Sunday afternoon. From the start, Burton and the Luke Lambert-led team battled a tight-handling condition through the corners of the 1.5-mile oval, but still managed to race up to 11th in the first 30, of 267, laps. That was when a pre-determined competition caution was displayed because rain washed so much rubber off the track the prior two days. After pitting for tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments, NASCAR penalized Burton for exiting pit road too fast in sections seven and eight. Taking the green flag at the tail end of the field in 34th, Burton picked up six positions before the caution waved again on lap 39. This time, Lambert called Burton to pit road for tires and additional adjustments. Once again, Burton was penalized for being too fast exiting pit road. This time, it was for sections two, three and eight. At this point, driver and crew chief realized there was a problem with the car’s tachometer. For the remainder of the race, Burton used extreme caution upon entry and exit of pit road, which resulted in no more penalties. After another caution restart on lap 46, Burton was scored 35th. A multi-car wreck on lap 48 brought out the red flag. Electing not to pit allowed the team to restart 20th. From there, Burt
on raced his way up to fifth and then ran in and near the top-10 for the middle stages of the race. Towards the latter stages, Burton let Lambert know he was tight through the turns and lost some of the grip he had earlier in the race. More stops for adjustments didn’t work to the team’s desire and they ended up finishing 19th. Burton is now 21st in the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings as the team heads to Daytona International Speedway for next Saturday night’s scheduled race.
 
 
Start – 15th            Finish – 19th          Laps Led – 0        Points – 21
 
JEFF BURTON QUOTE: “This was not the finish this Caterpillar team deserved. We were good in the early part of the race, then got way too tight before the car went to loose. It was very frustrating. Those speeding penalties on pit road cost us some, but we ended up racing our back into the top-10 for a while. The last part of the race just didn’t go the way needed it to for this team. I hate it, but I know we’re going to be good when we get to Daytona (International Speedway) next weekend.”
 

Summit Racing

Summit Racing–Line Marking Progress as Series Leaves Chicago

Line Marking Progress as Series Leaves Chicago
 
JOLIET, Ill. (June 30, 2013) – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line was able to identify areas of success as well as a few trouble spots that need a little more fine-tuning over the course of the weekend at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago. The Mooresville, N.C.-based competitor had one of the quickest cars at the critical early incremental markers on the racetrack throughout qualifying and on raceday, and the important progress should be a building block as Team Summit continues their journey towards refreshing a championship-worthy program.
 
Line tucked away a 6.590 to 6.722 victory over Mark Martino in round one at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals and got the jump start on Jeg Coughlin in their second round meeting but fell into tire shake and gave up the advantage. Coughlin inched ahead for the 6.595 to 6.642 win, but Line counted the positives and is aiming to continue his consistent progress as the Countdown to the Championship comes into view.
 
“I was pretty happy with the 60-foot times we saw with my Summit Racing Camaro,” said Line, who qualified the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the No. 6 position with a best time of 6.584 at 209.33 mph. “That was good, and if we hadn’t shaken in the second round, we would have won that round and it would have made all the difference in our day. We would have gone down a decidedly different path. But still, the Summit Racing team took a step forward. We didn’t have the performance that we were looking for this weekend, but we made some strides.”
 
Line was particularly pleased to see his Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson make progress this weekend with the new white Summit Racing Camaro. Anderson recorded his best qualifying performance since the race in Atlanta earlier this year and finished in the final round – his first of the season, while Line won the race in Houston. 
 
“This didn’t start out to be a very good year for us in terms of what this KB Racing team is used to,” admitted Line. “We’ve both struggled, but maybe Greg has struggled a little bit more, so it’s good to see him have a weekend like this. It certainly helped his situation points-wise, and anytime you get to the final, it’s a good day.”
 
Anderson moved up to the No. 7 position in the Pro Stock standings, and Line preserved his possession of the No. 4 spot. The Summit Racing duo will have another chance to move up in the series standings in just a few days, when the circuit makes its annual stop in Norwalk at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, their title sponsors main event.
 
“The Summit Racing team is pretty excited to get back to Norwalk,” said Line. “It’s a race we look forward to all year. Every team goes through a little bit of a slump, but thankfully, it looks like we’re working our way out of this. It’s a gradual process, but hopefully, we’ll make Summit Racing proud next weekend. This race in Chicago was a good warm up, and we’re sure going to try to go a couple of steps further.”
 

Summit Racing

Summit Racing–Anderson Wheels Summit Racing Camaro to the Final Round in Chicago

Anderson Wheels Summit Racing Camaro to the Final Round in Chicago
 
JOLIET, Ill. (June 30, 2013) – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson returned to familiar form at Route 66 Raceway this weekend at the 12th race of 24 on the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The four-time Pro Stock world champion and 74-time national event winner qualified his three-race-new Summit Racing Camaro in the No. 4 position and took out some serious competitors en route to his first final round of the season.
 
“I had a good day,” said Anderson, who competed in the 113th final round appearance of his career. “I certainly can’t argue that. It was a good day for the Summit Racing team, and hopefully we can build on it when we get to Norwalk next week for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.”
 
Anderson launched into raceday with a qualifying-best 6.569 at 209.30 that would count as his best start since Atlanta earlier this season. Scheduled for a first-round meeting with veteran competitor V. Gaines, Anderson arrived at the Chicago-area racetrack in full race-mode and wearing his game face. The Mooresville, N.C.-based driver had a cool .016-second reaction time to Gaines’ .055 and sealed the deal at the top end on a holeshot, recording a slower e.t. but crossing the finish line ahead of his opponent thanks to a very strong start. Anderson’s scoreboard flashed a winning 6.619 at 208.94 mph to a 6.602 with an identical 208.94.
 
The victory set the stage for a repeat of last year’s final at Route 66 Raceway, when Anderson forfeited the win to Erica Enders-Stevens. Again, Anderson was first off the starting line, and his .002-second advantage was the deciding factor in his 6.662 to 6.660 win. The margin of victory was an incredible .0008-second, and with No. 1 qualifier Mike Edwards waiting in the wings, Anderson took a breath and steadily continued the charge. He wheeled his Summit Racing Camaro off the starting line with a psychic .002-second reaction and parlayed the tremendous advantage into an astonishing third consecutive holeshot win. Edwards was .076 at the starting line and a quicker but losing 6.640 at the finish line stripe.
 
“You can’t let your guard down out here at any time,” said Anderson, who moved up one position to occupy the No. 7 spot in the Pro Stock standings. “Second and third round, running Erica and Mike and not having lane choice – those were big rounds. You have to have a lot of luck to win those rounds, and I got lucky. But those were big wins for me; I haven’t had many wins like that this year. I’m realistic and I know we have to keep digging, but I’ve got to be happy about those wins.”
 
The charge came to an end in the final round of eliminations, when Anderson’s starting line advantage wasn’t quite enough against challenger Jeg Coughlin. Anderson was out of the gate first with a respectable .027 light to Coughlin’s .036, but he soon fell into tire shake and had to give up the run. Coughlin turned on the win light, 6.603 to 11.680.
 
“I think we had a lot of luck today, and even though we had a decent day, the reality is that we still have a lot of work to do to get our Summit Racing Camaros living up to their potential,” said Anderson. “I ran very well during qualifying, and that definitely put a smile on all of our faces over here in the KB Racing camp. Today, though, I was a little disappointed. I was happy to get the win light three times today, but it didn’t quite happen the way we wanted it to. We just weren’t able to get near where we were yesterday – there was a little bit of extra heat and sun on the racetrack and that crossed us up again. We are working to make sure that doesn’t continue.”
 
The final round in Joliet was the third consecutive final for Anderson at the event. Notably, Anderson was challenged at Route 66 Raceway for most of his career, and it was the only venue on the NHRA tour where he had not won before he closed the deal in 2011.
 
“It was the one I couldn’t get for a long time,” said Anderson. “But it’s a great racetrack, one where you can consistently go out there and make good, quality runs. I’ve raced quite a lot of years at this place, and nowadays it’s a lot of fun to come out here.
 
“What happened here this weekend is a morale booster, nobody on this team is going to leave here dragging their lip. The bottom line is that we did this as a team, and that’s good. A lot of good happened today, and we have to build off of that. Right now, I’m glad we go to Norwalk next week. The more we’re on the track, the better we’ll be.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Action Express Racing and Stevenson Motorsports Repeat as Winners in Six Hours of the Glen to Give Team Chevy Double Victory

Action Express Racing and Stevenson Motorsports Repeat as Winners in Six Hours of the Glen to Give Team Chevy Double Victory
The Victory is the Second Consecutive in 2013 for Barbosa and Fittipaldi in Corvette DP and Fourth Win in Five Races for Camaro GT.R Piloted by Liddell and Edwards
 
WATKINS GLEN, New York (June 30, 2013) – Action Express Racing driver Joao Barbosa battled his way to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International last year in the difficult and prestigious GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Six Hours of The Glen. Today, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) with his new co-driver, Christian Fittipaldi, Barbosa made a return trip to the Winner’s Circle to occupy the top step on the podium and once again collect the winner’s trophy for the overall win.
 
The pair combined to lead 30 of the 171 laps completed in the six-hour race that saw bright sunny conditions quickly replaced with heavy rain that was just as quickly replaced with blue skies and warmer temperatures. Fittipaldi held off all challengers in the final stint of the race to bring the Corvette DP to the checkered flag first.
 
It is the second consecutive win and the third consecutive podium finish for Barbosa and Fittipaldi this season. The victory moved the team from fifth in the DP team standings to third.
 
Not to be outdone, John Edwards and Robin Liddell powered the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to the win in the Rolex Series Grand Touring Class (GT), also for the second consecutive year. The pair combined to lead a race-high 67 laps of the 164 run by the leaders in the GT class.
 
It is the fourth victory in the last five races for Edwards and Liddell, and closed the team to within six points of the leaders in the GT class standings.
 
“Our Chevrolet teams rose to the occasion today, and dealt with some changing and sometimes difficult circumstances throughout the Six Hours of the Glen,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. “It is always a rewarding experience for everyone associated with the Team Chevy program in the Rolex Series to score a win in both Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring as we did today.  Congratulations to the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP team and the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro team on their repeat victories in this prestigious race.”
 
Equaling its best finish of the season, a runner-up run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP gave Chevrolet the first and second spots on today’s DP  podium.  Team owner Enzo Potolicchio started the race, and then Stephane Sarrazin and Michael Valiante shared the driving duties for remainder of the event. Valiante was in the cockpit for the final stint to make a charge for the win in the closing laps.
 
The two Corvette Daytona DP teams that came into today’s race holding the first and second spots in the standings suffered setbacks early in the race. The No. 10 Velolcity Worldwide Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP had a mechanical issue with the shifter linkage on the opening lap of the race.  The team was able to make repairs and the car driven by Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor returned to competition. The team was credited with a 10th place finish and now sits in a tie in the standings for the top spot.
 
The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP piloted by Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney came into the race second in the standings, but also had to battle back from a mechanical problem early in the race. Something went awry in the steering and sent it on an off-course excursion.  The team made repairs in the paddock and got the “Red Dragon” back in competition, but on the long track in a race that didn’t see a great deal of attrition, the team was relegated to a 14th place in class finishing position. They now sit fourth in the team standings.
 
In Saturday’s GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R led the way for Team Chevy posting a sixth-place finish.
 
Next on the schedule for both the Rolex Series and the Continental Tire Challenge will be the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25-26, 2013.
 
 
DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES:
 
NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE, OVERALL AND DP RACE WINNER:
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: ON HIS THOUGHTS AS THE RACE CAME TO A CLOSE: “I don’t know. I was on the limit all the time.”
 
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE RACE. THAT WAS A FANTASTIC FINAL FEW LAPS. WERE YOU MORE CONCERNED ABOUT MICHAEL VALLENTE CATCHING YOU, OR THOSE LAPPED CARS THAT BOTH OF YOU WERE STARTING TO APPROACH ON THE FINAL LAP?
“I guess both. I knew that the No. 3 car had a very strong piece. They showed it a couple of times during the race. They were definitely stronger than us. But I think we played the game better than they did. And we, as a team, won the race today. Hats off to Joao, who drove an outstanding stint. And man, I’m very happy. Two in a row is a very nice feeling. We led at the three-hour mark and won the race, so it couldn’t have been a better weekend.”
 
YOU ALMOST HAD A FLAWLESS BECAUSE THERE AT THE END WHEN YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THE BOOT, YOU GOT SIDEWAYS. WHAT HAPPENED THERE? AND DID YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE THROWN AWAY THE WIN?
“I was under limit. I was very heavily under limit every single lap that I could do and maybe I ran a little bit over a little bit. But I managed to catch it, I guess. That’s where 42 years of age and 20-some years of 30 years of racing counts a little bit. And I’m happy that that came into the play. That definitely helped me a little bit like experience over there and it was a great week and a great day. We didn’t have the quickest car on the track today. And I just think that the whole group as a team did an excellent job.”
 
JOAO BARBOSA: TALK ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN YOU AND CHRISTIAN AND THE TEAM: “It is working isn’t it? It’s like they say ‘We are in it to win it’. This was a great points day for us. We led at the three-hour mark. We led at six hours. We won the race overall. It is looking great for us in the points now. I think we made a great click.  This Action Express team, man…the chemistry that is going on is unbelievable. The car is running excellent. Christian did a fantastic job. He is a little worn out, but he’ll get over it (SMILES). What can I say, this group of guys has done a tremendous job, and the car drove awesome today.”
 
HOW SATISFYING IS THIS TO HAVE TWO WINS IN A ROW? LAST YEAR, YOU WERE USUALLY AT TEAM AROUND FOURTH OR FIFTH. NOW, YOU ARE SHOWING UP AND WINNING RACES.  “I don’t agree with that. We won the Six Hours last year. So, this team has been doing phenomenal. Obviously the chemistry is working so well and we were able to make the car go fast and these guys are awesome. They did a tremendous job. Every pit stop was great and we were able to bring the car home again in first place. Two wins and a second-place in the last three races and it is looking good. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”
 
 
NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, GT CLASS WINNER:
JOHN EDWARDS: YOU HAD TO SIT THERE AND WATCH ROBIN WORK SO HARD THAT LAST STINT, HOW HARD IS THAT?  “It was really tough, especially with the changing conditions. I’ve always said I prefer to be in the car at the end, because sitting on the pit stand I just get a nervous twitch going on with my leg. That is the worst part of the race for me. When I got out of the car, that was the most nervous part for me. Ultimately the car was good in the dry, and we were hoping it wouldn’t rain because those conditions are really tough, and you might throw it off even if you are as good of a driver as anyone can be.”
 
ROBIN LIDDELL: THE PRESSURE WAS ON THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH WASN

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Kentucky Speedway–Post Race

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 30, 2013

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 HELLMANN’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED SECOND
ON HIS RACE AND RUN THAT GOT SECOND PLACE FINISH:
“Yes, it was a really good day for us. I wasn’t sure after Happy Hour what we had. We’ve had really quick cars for the last two months, and have not been able to capitalize on it. We’ve had really unfortunate luck. But cool to have a really good run. I was quite a bit quicker than him (Clint Bowyer), and I guess the No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) wasn’t on tires, so you are just fighting to get by as quick as you can because you never know when a caution is going to come out, or how it is going to play out.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED EIGHTH
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“We had an awesome fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet that is for sure.  I think we passed more cars than anybody.  These pit stops just aren’t going our way.  If we try to stretch it doesn’t work our way.  If we try to pit early it doesn’t work our way.  I don’t know, you just have to keep working hard at it and hope they fall your way eventually.  Pit stops were great when we had them.  The car was awesome on the race track.  It took a little while for it to come in and that last restart I kind of timed it and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) spun his tires and stacked us up, then cars were four-wide.  That didn’t certainly work out in our favor.”
 
WITH THE BAD LUCK YOU HAVE HAD THIS YEAR YOU GUYS HAVE BATTLED BACK TO 12TH IN POINT’S ONLY TWO POINT’S BEHIND 10TH.  TALK ABOUT HOW THE TEAM CONTINUES TO FIGHT TO GET IN THE CHASE:
“I’m happy the way we are running.  The last two weeks have been very promising.  That is going to help us as we move forward.  We are doing the right things.  We’ve got to continue to qualify better, execute better, hope some things go our way and then I have to be able to get those restarts.  The first one actually wasn’t that bad.  We were going to come out pretty good.  The last one, yeah, I could have done a better job.  I’m just happy with the way the car is working right now.”
 
A LOT OF GUYS COMPLAINED ABOUT THE TRACK HOW BUMPY IT IS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON IF THEY SHOULD REPAVE IT OR JUST LEAVE IT THE WAY IT IS?
“I would rather it stay the way it is.  I don’t like repaves.  I think a smooth new pavement that they are putting on these race tracks now is worse than that.  Yeah, it’s rough and it beats the cars all up.  I don’t think we should be going down on the apron here on restarts.  I think that is pretty dangerous.  Other than that I like everything about the track.  It’s just trying to find a tire that works well here.  That is a challenging thing to do for this surface.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
ON FINAL RESTART:
“I don’t know. We were kind of in an awkward situation in that restart there. And then we were like three and four wide going in the corner, then something happened with the air and just kind of turned me around. Unfortunate, but at least we rallied back for a good finish.  The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) broke the pace car speed, which you aren’t supposed to, but, they aren’t calling guys on that so I need to start trying that in the future.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD YOUTH FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 12TH
ON HITTING THE TIRE DEBRIS AND DAMAGING HIS CAR:
“You just fix it and keep going. The guys did a good job on pit road all day long working on it and trying to fix everything. I’m not sure we got everything back where it is supposed to be, but we did well-enough to get a decent finish out it. Just proud of how hard the team worked. Did a good job for qualifying, and put a good car out there for the race. Can’t do anything about what happened out there on the race track with that casing.  They worked hard on it to get it right, and get it good enough where we could run well. So, they deserve a lot of credit today.”
 
ON HITTING THE TIRE DEBRIS AND DAMAGING HIS CAR:
“You just fix it and keep going. The guys did a good job on pit road all day long working on it and trying to fix everything. I’m not sure we got everything back where it is supposed to be, but we did well-enough to get a decent finish out it. Just proud of how hard the team worked. Did a good job for qualifying, and put a good car out there for the race. Can’t do anything about what happened out there on the race track with that casing.  They worked hard on it to get it right, and get it good enough where we could run well. So, they deserve a lot of credit today.”
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Kentucky Speedway–Jamie McMurray

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 30, 2013
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY LEADS TEAM CHEVY AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
Five Team Chevy Drivers in the Top-10
 
 
SPARTA, Kentucky (June 30, 2013) – Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Hellman’s Chevrolet SS, recovered from early issues to finish second in today’s Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at Kentucky Speedway.  McMurray, who rallied from a mid-race tire problem, had one of the fastest cars in the field at the end of the 267-lap event.  With fresher tires, the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver was gaining on the leader in the closing laps, but was unable to catch him for the win.
 
The race, which was originally scheduled to run Saturday night, but postponed until noon Sunday due to rain, was dominated by Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson until an incident on the final restart.  Johnson, who led a race-high 182 laps in his No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet SS, lost control of the car and spun on a restart with less than 25 laps to go. After a pit stop for tires, Johnson made a furious charge from the back to finish ninth in the race and maintain his position as the series point leader. He now holds a 38-point advantage over second place.
 
Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet SS, scored his second straight top-ten finish and came home sixth.  The finish helped Busch move up three positions in the standings to 14th.  
 
Jeff Gordon gained more valuable points with a solid eighth-place finish in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS, which enabled him to move up one spot in the standings to 12th.   Richard Childress Racing driver Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS, finished 10th in today’s event and remains fourth in the overall standings.
 
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet SS, started on the pole for the race, but hit debris from a shredded tire early in the race.   After several repairs by the crew and some determined driving, Earnhardt Jr. came back to finish 12th. 
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was the race winner, Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was third, Joey Logano (Ford) was fourth, and Kyle Busch (Toyota) was fifth to round out the top-five finishing order.
 
Next stop on the circuit will be Round 18 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, July 6th.  Green flag is set for 7:30 pm ET and will air live on TNT, Sirius/XM Channel 90, PRN Radio and

Mopar Racing

Mopar Racing–Record Setting Run by Capps Gives Mopar No.1 Qualifier Honors at Route 66 NHRA Nationals

Record Setting Run by Capps Gives Mopar No.1 Qualifier Honors at Route 66 NHRA Nationals
 
·         Mopar is competing at 16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals this weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., the 12th of 24 national events
·         Capps sets both track e.t. and speed records with the third quickest pass in NHRA history to earn Funny Car No.1 qualifier position
·         DSR teammates Capps , Beckman are two of four drivers to run under the four second barrier
·         Johnson and Coughlin Jr. earn second and third qualifying spots in Pro Stock competition

Joliet, Ill. (Saturday, June 29, 2013) – A record setting run by Don Schumacher Racing’s Ron Capps in his Dodge Charger R/T earned him No.1 qualifier honors for the 16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals. Saturday evening’s cool temperatures and perfect track conditions set the stage for Capps’ run of 3.988 seconds with a top speed of 320.28 mph, the third quickest pass in NHRA history, setting both the Funny Car elapsed time and speed records at the Chicagoland area track.

 

The Mopar driver posted the first three-second pass in the track’s history during the final qualifying session where three more entries, including his teammate Jack Beckman, would also run sub four-second elapsed times, but none were able to beat it.

 

“I really didn’t think it would hold since we ran so early in the session,” said Capps who’s record setting pass gave him his first top qualifier position of the season, his first at Route 66 Raceway, and the 15th of his career. “It was a great run. I thought [Matt] Hagan or [Jack] Beckman would go quicker than that, but we’ll take it. I’ve been hit or miss at this place, so maybe we can get one tomorrow. It’s great for the fans to have two night sessions. Funny Cars racing at night, it doesn’t get a lot better than that.”

 

Capps will face Bob Bode in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations.

 

Jack Beckman’s elapsed time pass of 3.993-seconds (319.52 mph) was good enough to put his Mopar in third spot and will give him lane choice over Alexis DeJoria in the opening round.

 

After sitting second in the sole Friday session with a 4.040 seconds (317.19 mph) pass, Matt Hagan ended up sixth in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” machine after a mechanical problem with the lighting tree delayed his final qualifying attempt against Robert Hight. Once they restaged their Funny Cars, neither were able to complete the run or take a shot a adding their names to the list of drivers breaking the four second barrier that evening.

 

For his first round showdown, Hagan, who has two wins this year and is the current Funny Car points leader, will face the Mopar of his teammate Johnny Gray, who is third in those championship rankings with three wins of his own so far and who qualified 11th with a 4.064-second (310.70 mph) effort.

 

The 70 degree track temperature for Saturday’s final Pro Stock qualifying session also helped Allen Johnson and his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Avenger initially set a track record with a 6.556-second run to go to the top of the qualifying score sheets, but his efforts were short lived as current points leader Mike Edwards earned his tenth No.1 qualifier position of the season with his own record low e.t. of 6.542 seconds and 210.64mph. That put Johnson second overall in qualifying and matched him up with Steve Kent for the first round of eliminations.

 

Johnson’s Mopar teammate and driver of the Jegs.com entry, Jeg Coughlin Jr., ran his own impressive 6.565-second e.t. with a speed of 209.92 mph to put him third on the qualifying score sheets, pitting him against Roger Brogden in the opening elimination round.

 

Fellow HEMI-powered entry of Vincent Nobile qualified eighth and will start against Greg Stanfield, while V. Gaines will pit his own Mopar against Greg Anderson in the first elimination round battle.

 

Summit Racing

Summit Racing–Line Encouraged by Early Numbers, Set for Strong Raceday in Joliet

Line Encouraged by Early Numbers, Set for Strong Raceday in Joliet
                                                                                                   
Event:  16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Location: Route 66 Raceway, Chicago, Illinois
Day/Date: Saturday, June 29, 2013
 
The final day of qualifying at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Chicago’s Route 66 Raceway was one of the best of the 2013 season of Mello Yello Drag Racing in terms of elapsed time and speed, with a remarkable series of 6.5-second blasts in the ultra-competitive Pro Stock category, including the 6.584 at 209.33 mph recorded by Summit Racing campaigner Jason Line, who will start sixth on raceday.
 
The first day of the event, the 12th of 24 on the 2013 schedule, allotted only a single qualifying session due to looming stormy weather. Line cleared the finish line with a 6.637 at 208.30 mph and ended the first day in the No. 6 spot, and in Saturday’s first session, the Mooresville, N.C.-based driver improved to a 6.611 at over 209 mph.
 
After the first session, the final round of qualifying was projected, accurately, to be the best. Line and the rest of the Pro Stock class watched as the air improved and the track temperature dropped dramatically, creating prime conditions for mind-blowing runs. Line was among those in the category to make their best run of the weekend so far in the later session.
 
“The conditions changed between the time we left the trailer and we got up there to the staging lanes,” said Line. “The session was fun, and it was good because you usually just kind of know who is going to go fast – it would be hard to bet against certain people right now – but there were a couple of surprises in there.
 
“Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but in my particular case we used the run as a test. My car did not make a great run, it shook really hard [through] second gear, but we learned something – and it 60-footed phenomenal. I don’t know that I ever went faster than that [to the 60-foot timer].”
 
Although the final timer on the racetrack is the critical decider in terms of round wins, the 60-foot marker is a carefully watched increment in a category where victories are often recorded by mere thousandths of a second.
 
Line’s .965-second dash to the first timing block was the quickest of all the Pro Stock cars, and the Summit Racing team proved that they certainly have the first part of the smooth racing surface figured out better than most as Line’s KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson wasn’t far behind (.968).
 
“All in all, things ended up pretty good today,” said Line, who will race Mark Martino in the first round of eliminations for the first time this year. “We got the Summit Racing Camaros to run a little bit better, and I have a good starting spot for tomorrow. I’d say we’re all looking forward to tomorrow morning.”

Summit Racing

Summit Racing–Anderson Rejuvenated and Ready for Raceday at Route 66 Raceway

Anderson Rejuvenated and Ready for Raceday at Route 66 Raceway
 
Event:  16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Location: Route 66 Raceway, Chicago, Illinois
Day/Date: Saturday, June 29, 2013
 
Greg Anderson wasn’t satisfied when he left Route 66 Raceway near Chicago on Friday night, but the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro pilot returned on the second day of the Route 66 NHRA Nationals and quickly made amends with his racecar. The powerful combination of seasoned driver and improving hot rod clocked one of the quickest runs of the day in the closing session of qualifying to launch all the way up to the No. 4 position.
 
The first day of qualifying was abbreviated by one session when storms in the area surrounding Route 66 Raceway became a threat, and Anderson was deeply disappointed to forfeit a round after a 6.636 at 208.17 mph. The four-time Pro Stock champion seemed to realize that the pass was really just a warm-up to what was ahead. Sitting fifth after day one, Anderson improved in the first session on Saturday to a 6.621 at 208.23 and prepared for the final round of qualifying with optimism. The conditions were predicted to be ideal for incredible numbers, and the session certainly lived up to expectations.
 
In his white Summit Racing Camaro, Anderson got a hold of the racetrack and jetted to a head-turning 6.569 at 209.30 that was fourth-quickest in the category.
 
“That run felt a lot better,” said an enthused Anderson. “The racetrack and air were significantly better, and the whole class picked up. We gained on the pack, and that’s good; it’s definitely a good feeling going into Sunday. We think we can learn from what happened today and apply that towards tomorrow, so we’re going to bed feeling a little happier tonight.
 
“We’ll see how much sunshine we get tomorrow, and how the racetrack holds up, but it’s great out there and the surface just seems to be getting better every run.”
 
Anderson’s start from the No. 4 position is his best qualifying performance since the race in Atlanta earlier this year, and with a new car performing well in only its third event, the Mooresville, N.C.-based driver is looking forward to Sunday.
 
“We went into that last session thinking, ‘here is our opportunity, we have to capitalize on it,’ and I think we did,” said Anderson, who will race V. Gaines in round one on raceday. “We’re making forward progress, and we’re happy. Tonight was fun – these are the kind of race conditions we enjoy, and I wish we could do that more often. Now tomorrow we’ll see if we can negotiate the racetrack, take what we learned, and apply it.”
 

John Force Racing

John Force Racing–Chicago Qualifying

CAREER BEST ET HAS FORCE 5TH GOING INTO CHICAGO ELIMS

 

JOLIET, IL – The conditions were some of the best the NHRA has ever seen and the Funny Cars took advantage as four drivers made three second passes, a record for an NHRA Mello Yello Series national event, in the final qualifying session. John Force had the quickest Funny Car on Friday and in the first session today but in a long final session the 15-time champion Force’s career quickest ET, 4.010 seconds, was only good enough for the No. 5 qualifying spot. Ron Capps recorded the first three second pass at Route 66 Raceway and will be the No. 1 qualifier on Sunday with his 3.988 second run. Force will race former teammate Tony Pedregon in the first round tomorrow at the 16th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

 

“We ran 4.0s every run this weekend. Three runs in a row in the 4.0s out of three qualifying runs. Courtney got in on the last run with a 4.04. The Don Schumacher Racing teams stepped up and put a bunch of threes out there and so did Del Worsham (Kalitta Motorsports),” said Force.

 

“The conditions were there and it was trying to run a three right there at the end but it dropped a cylinder and still ran 4.01 seconds. We are OK and I will have to race Tony Pedregon in the first round. He threw a 4.09 out there. This was a great race for the fans. We found the consistency that we want. (Auto Club crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) right there at the end just like (Matt) Hagan didn’t get to do a burnout. You can’t look at performance from that run. Tomorrow will be a different situation.”

 

When Force is talking about consistency he can look back at the previous two races where his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang has posted the quickest ET five out of seven sessions and was 5th quickest in the other two sessions. He has also had a consistently quick Funny Car on race day earning seven round wins over the past two weeks.

 

Force’s 4.010 second run tonight was a career best for the winningest Funny Car driver in NHRA history. His previous quickest run was 4.011 seconds at the Reading national event in 2011.

 

Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team stepped up in the first session on Saturday running 4.052 seconds and grabbing the No. 5 qualifying spot. It also earned the 2009 Mello Yello Funny Car champion one qualifying bonus point as the third quickest run of the session. The run was quick enough to put Hight at the back of the pack for the night session. His two runs this weekend of 4.055 and 4.052 seconds show the team has the consistency to go rounds.

 

As the second session came to a close Hight was paired with Matt Hagan right in front of John Force and Jack Beckman. As Hight and Hagan staged the Christmas Tree staging system remained dark and as each team brought this to official starter Mark Lyle’s attention fuel was being consumed rapidly in each Funny Car. The decision was made to push each team back and let them add fuel then run after Force and Beckman. It was a reasonable solution to a terrible situation. Both teams smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle bringing a tremendous night of performance to an anti-climactic end.

 

“I am just glad we got two runs in today. When you looked at the forecast it was a shaky deal. I am glad we got all three Funny Cars in the top half so we will all have lane choice. We could get three Funny Cars to the semi-finals tomorrow,” said a dejected Hight. “The conditions tomorrow will not be anything like tonight so it will be anybody’s race. I have Chad Head and I know Jim Head his dad and crew chief will give him a good race car. We will be ready. We want to keep the John Force Racing winning streak alive.”

 

Courtney Force and her Traxxas Ford Mustang team made one of their best runs to date tonight at Route 66 Raceway. The team ended the day in the No. 7 spot and will have lance choice over fellow Ford driver Tim Wilkerson in the opening round on Sunday.

 

“I’m very proud of my team. We struggled a little bit during qualifying, but the fact that we could make such a big come back and run such a good number in the last qualifying session, especially under that pressure, says a lot for our Traxxas Ford Mustang team,” said Force, the winner of last weekend’s inaugural race in Epping, New Hampshire.

 

Force came into Saturday not in the show after qualifying was shortened to just one round on Friday. The Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car team had traction issues and ran a 9.742 second pass, leaving them in the No. 18 spot.

 

“We only got one qualifying run in yesterday due to the rain, which is a little unfortunate. The track cooled down and was actually a lot better than we expected it to be. It cooled down quickly. The sun went down and when we got out there to run we probably should have switched to a different set of tires,” said Force. “We went there and didn’t realize how good the track was and struck the tires immediately. We didn’t get a good run out of it, but luckily we got two more chances today.”

 

Since the 25-year-old Funny Car driver did not make the top 12 after the first qualifying session, she had to enter Saturday with a clean slate.

 

In the first session today, the Traxxas Ford Mustang had a short in the electrical system and that, in turn, drained the battery. The car shut off on the starting line after the burnout and the team went back to their pit area to prepare for the final session to qualify.

 

“First run we had a little bit of bad luck. We couldn’t make a pass on that run so there was definitely some pressure getting our Traxxas Ford Mustang qualified in the final session. It was a lot of pressure on me as a driver. I was nervous, but I felt okay. I know we have a great car tuned by Ron Douglas, it’s just a matter of getting it down there and my team came through in a big way,” said Force.

 

Force drove her Traxxas Ford Mustang straight down the track to make a 4.04 second pass and jumped up to the top half of the field.

 

 “I have all the faith in the world in my guys, so I knew that we would be able to get the job done. If not, I was planning on just pedaling it all the way down there to make sure we got it in the show. Luckily we went out there and ran a 4.04 and it took us to the top half of the field,” said Force.

 

Brittany Force, driver of the Castrol EDGE dragster, wound up 14th on the ladder going into Sunday’s elimination rounds.

 

With a run of 3.849 seconds at 317.49, she will face fellow Top Fuel competitor Bob Vandergriff in round one for the first time in her career.

 

“This is the first time I’ll be running Bob Vandergriff. He’s an awesome driver, so I’m excited to go up against him. Hopefully we can make some changes to our car and go some rounds tomorrow.”

 

Despite having two engine failures in her final two qualifying attempts, Force managed to make consistent runs, allowing her to qualify for her 11th race of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Series season.

 

“We were able to get two runs today. The first run it threw the rods out and the second run it had a hole out, so it caused the engine to blow up right before the lights. I’m hoping we can make those changes before tomorrow because we completely destroyed the engine. That’s not good for this Castrol EDGE team, but I know we’ll figure it out and make those changes.”

Summit Racing

Summit Racing–Anderson Plans More Aggressive Approach After Friday at Route 66 Raceway

Anderson Plans More Aggressive Approach After Friday at Route 66 Raceway
 
Event:  16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Location: Route 66 Raceway, Chicago, Illinois
Day/Date: Friday, June 28, 2013
 
The first day of qualifying at the highly anticipated Route 66 NHRA Nationals turned into an abbreviated affair when weather moved in around Route 66 Raceway near Chicago. In the single available run for the pro racers in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, Greg Anderson piloted his white Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a 6.636 at 208.17 mph and secured a first-day finish as the provisional No. 5 qualifier.
 
“The track was great,” said Anderson, who has qualified in the top five four times this season and has been a top-half player at all but two races in 2013. “It was fantastic, and we have absolutely no complaints there. I think we probably underestimated how good it would be. We knew it would be decent, but the humidity shot right back up before our run, so we lost a little bit of air and a little bit of power. But this racetrack has always been very good, and when the clouds came out and we had a little rainstorm, all it did was clean off the racetrack and make it better.
 
“Now we know what we’re dealing with out there, and we have a great race surface and we can pretty much throw everything we’ve got at it. We’ll get more aggressive tomorrow with our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros, and we’re hoping we can run faster.”
 
Qualifying will continue on Saturday with two more passes before the fields are set for the 12th race of 24 on NHRA’s Mello Yello Series 2013 tour.

Summit Racing

Summit Racing–Line Laments Loss of Second Qualifying Pass, Eager for Day Two in Chicago

Line Laments Loss of Second Qualifying Pass, Eager for Day Two in Chicago
 
Event:  16th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Location: Route 66 Raceway, Chicago, Illinois
Day/Date: Friday, June 28, 2013
 
Jason Line was eager to get the most out of the first day of qualifying at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals and get the initial two passes under his belt at favorable Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, but weather pressed in and cut qualifying short by one round. Line, driving the brilliant blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, clocked a 6.637 at 208.30 mph to nearly match his KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson’s 6.636, 208.17. Line ends the first day in provisional possession of the No. 6 spot, while Anderson is 5th in the line-up.
 
“Greg and I both made good, safe runs, but those are pretty ho-hum numbers,” said Line. “We’ll work on it and try to find some more speed for tomorrow. The racetrack was good, very nice and very smooth, so it will be interesting to see how things go tomorrow for the Summit Racing team.
 
“I was really disappointed that we only had one run today. You’re supposed to get two, and that’s what the fans paid for, so it’s a disappointment for everyone – but the truth is that I just enjoy driving my Summit Racing Chevy Camaro as often as I can. It is what it is, and tomorrow we’ll just have to make the most of the two runs that we have left. Team Summit is a very capable group, so we’ll take those two runs tomorrow and try our best to be good and fast so we can move up before Sunday.”
 
Qualifying will continue on Saturday with two more passes before the fields are set for the 12th race of 24 on NHRA’s Mello Yello Series 2013 tour.