Hot off a second straight win at the Lebanon Valley Dragway regional, Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream team heads to Chicago for two races in one. Saturday, the team runs the prestigious Jeg’s Allstars race, where driver Todd Veney has reached the final in two of the past three years. Sunday is the Route 66 Nationals, annually the toughest race of the season because of all the teams already in town from all over the country for the Allstars race.
“It’s always an honor just to make the Allstars team,” Blake said. “This is our third time, and we got to the final both of the others, so maybe this will be our year. We’re stopping at ITW Headquarters in the Chicago area again this year, and it’s always great to see everybody there.”
All posts by ARP Trish
John Force Racing–HIGHT BRINGING FUNNY CAR CONSISTENCY TO CHICAGO
HIGHT BRINGING FUNNY CAR CONSISTENCY TO CHICAGO
JOLIET, IL (June 25, 2014) — For two-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Rt 66 NHRA Nationals finalist Robert Hight he could not be rolling into Rt. 66 Raceway at a better time. The Auto Club Ford Mustang Hight races to speeds over 300 mph has been running low ETs the past events with a consistency that would make a top tier sportsman racer drool. Last weekend in Epping, New Hampshire Hight ran 3.988 seconds to grab the No. 1 qualifying spot and then his final three runs of the event were all in the 4.06 second range. Unfortunately for Hight low ETs have not equated to winner circle appearances.
“Our Auto Club Mustang has been running as well as any other Funny Car out here. It is consistent and quick. We just haven’t gotten some breaks but we are going to start making our own luck this weekend. Mike Neff, my crew chief, won this race as a driver and has qualified well here too. I am looking forward to making the most of the two night sessions and then doing well on race day,” said Hight, the current Mello Yello Funny Car points leader.
Last year Hight qualified eighth and beat Chad Head in first round before losing to Ron Capps in the second round. His teammate John Force was runner-up at the event and it kept a streak of final round appearance alive for JFR at the Rt. 66 NHRA Nationals.
Since 2009 at least one JFR Funny Car has reached the final round at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rt. 66 NHRA Nationals. That span of five races has also seen Hight’s current crew chief Mike Neff take the win from the No. 1 spot in 2011 as a driver and crew chief of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.
Two years ago it was rookie Courtney Force dropping a close race to Jeff Arend in the final and in 2010 Hight was going for his fourth win in row of the season when he came up just short to Matt Hagan in the final. Ashley Force Hood started the JFR final round streak in 2009 when she raced to the final only to be outrun by former JFR teammate Tony Pedregon.
Hight previous final round appearance was in his sophomore season (2006) when he was defeated by teammate John Force in the final round. JFR has six wins by the team at Chicago with Tony Pedregon winning in 2002 and 2003; John Force in 2000, 2004 and 2006; and Mike Neff in 2011. Hight would like to add his name to that list this season.
“We have four wins and six final round appearances coming into Chicago and we want to add to that list. I have so much confidence in my team I feel like we are contenders as soon as we roll the Funny Car out of the hauler. My crew guys work great together and I just feel like we are right around the corner from another streak,” said Hight.
As the current points leader Hight has led the points after eight of 11 races this year. He has led the points at least one time every season he has raced except 2013.
“I like to be the points leader and I want to keep that No. 1 beside my name all the way through Pomona and the Auto Club Finals. Our goal now is to continue to be consistent and win rounds. Every run down the track is data for us to use in the Countdown. Epping was great because we saw cool temperatures like we will see later in the season. Hopefully we will get some more cool temps in the night sessions in Joliet that we can run quick and get info for the Countdown,” said Hight.
BRITTANY FORCE RECHARGED FOR CHICAGO
Despite a tough first round loss at last weekend’s NHRA New England Nationals, Brittany Force is recharged and pumped up to attack Route 66 Raceway just outside Chicago for the 17th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
With the Route 66 Nationals being the third stop of four-back-to-back races, the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year can’t wait to climb in the cockpit of her 10,000 horsepower Castrol EDGE Dragster and hit the drag strip. Her race car has been strong in qualifying and Brittany’s driven and focused on getting her first Top Fuel win for Castrol EDGE and John Force Racing.
“With back-to-back races, I stay more focused as a driver and my routine stays sharp. I know it can be hard on my guys but we perform better when we’re constantly on the move and it’s that momentum that will help us keep qualifying in the top half of the field and go some rounds,” said Brittany Force.
With her strong qualifying performances at New England Dragway last week, Brittany Force picked up bonus points during three of the four qualifying runs. Unfortunately, she fell from eighth to ninth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel Points standings after last weekend’s first round loss, however the sophomore nitro driver’s performance behind the wheel is improving on every pass. The Castrol EDGE team, led by Todd Smith and Dean “Guido” Antonelli, has also been giving Brittany a very fast, safe and consistent ride. There are still many races left before the Countdown to the Championship begins after the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals, so Brittany’s very optimistic she’ll be in the hunt.
Earlier this season, Brittany Force made a trip to the finals at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, and had a strong finish a few weeks ago at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals, in which she drove her Castrol EDGE Dragster to a top ten qualifying position and quarterfinal finish. She knows her team has the right attitude and energy to go rounds and perhaps even win this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
Her sophomore year in the Top Fuel class has seen a dramatic improvement from her rookie season in both her skills as a driver and the attitude of the team.
“Our Castrol EDGE team has been improving with each race. We are a much stronger team than last year. Todd Smith (crew chief) and Dean Antonelli (assistant crew chief) and the rest of my guys have been doing awesome this season. We’ve been the number one qualifier twice and I know we’ll get our first Top Fuel win real soon,” said Brittany Force.
During last year’s NHRA Route 66 Nationals, Brittany Force and her Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster faced fellow competitor Bob Vandergriff Jr. in round one. Brittany ran a 3.846 second pass at 322.11 mph, but fell short to his 3.843 pass. Going into this year’s NHRA Route 66 Nationals, the Castrol EDGE team will be armed with valuable data recorded at last year’s event and will use this in setting the car up for competition.
Currently ninth in the NHRA Mello Yello points chase, Brittany is still happy in the direction the Castrol EDGE team is heading. Even though she’s still disappointed in her first round loss at the NHRA New England Nationals, she’s not dwelling on it and knows her racecar is capable of running with any other Top Fuel Dragster on race day.
For now, the always-optimistic 27 year-old Brittany Force and her team are looking forward to getting their first win at Route 66 Raceway. Armed with the valuable knowledge they’ve gained these past twelve months, it could happen. Even with back-to-back races, Brittany still finds time to focus on her reaction times and review her routine as a driver. She knows what needs to get done this weekend – qualifying in the top half of the field, getting lane choice and going rounds on race day.
“I’m very proud of my guys and how we’ve been running this year. I know we have what it takes to go rounds and win races,” said Brittany Force.
Summit Racing–Line in good shape and getting better as NHRA tour hits the Windy City
Line in good shape and getting better as NHRA tour hits the Windy City
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 25, 2014) – The Summit Racing Pro Stock team loves Chicago. With four wins shared between them at the esteemed facility, Jason Line and teammate Greg Anderson seem to have a good read on the conditions to be found at Route 66 Raceway, and for this weekend’s 17th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals, the drag racing duo are armed with data and determination.
“I’m not sure what it is, but there is something almost magical about Route 66 Raceway for us,” said Line, who has won three times at the stadium-style dragstrip situated just outside of the Windy City. “I always look forward to going to Chicago, that’s for sure. It seems like if I’ve been struggling, when I get there it turns into a get well weekend for me.”
Through diligent dedication, Line and the Summit Racing team have seen gains in their program as the season has progressed. At the most recent event, the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H., Line made some of the best runs in qualifying on the second day of the race and then made the fastest pass in all of eliminations on Sunday. Teammate Anderson earned his best start of the season so far. The power is evident within the team, and Line relishes the opportunity to bring that power to one of the racetracks where he has achieved success.
Line has claimed three victories in Chicago in five final rounds, including the first win of his career the same year that he was the Route 66 Nationals No. 1 qualifier, 2004. Currently positioned No. 4 in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings, the Minnesota-born racer is looking to repeat the victory he earned earlier this season at the season opening Winternationals.
“We’re in a lot better shape than we were even a month ago,” said Line, a two-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion. “We’re definitely headed in the right direction, and there is a lot of good thinking going on in the KB Racing camp. Everybody is working hard to get better. Nobody is satisfied with where we are, and we are all working as a team to get to the next level.”
Chevy Racing–Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Teams Ready for Second Doubleheader
Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Teams Ready for Second Doubleheader Weekend on Verizon IndyCar Series Schedule
Team Chevy’s Will Power and Scott Dixon Looking to Make Return
Trip to Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Victory Lane
· Chevrolet Leads Series Manufacturer Standings heading into 9th race of 18 race schedule
· Chevrolet IndyCar V6 has won 5 of 8 races held to-date in 2014
· Will Power Continues to Lead Driver Point Standings at Season Half-way Point
DETROIT (June 25, 2014) – This weekend the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 contingent of teams and drivers head to the MD Anderson Cancer Center Speedway at NRG Park, in Houston Texas for the second doubleheader weekend of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston is on deck with two full points-paying races, one Saturday and one Sunday, around the 10-turn/1.683-mile temporary street circuit.
“Last year, the Houston circuit was pivotal in the ultimate outcome of the 2013 Driver’s Championship,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, Verizon IndyCar Series. “This year the event takes place earlier on the schedule and being a double header again, coupled with the new Manufacturer’s points system in place for 2014, carries a serious impact to the championships. The continued refinement of standing starts will be shown on Saturday and the allowed use of optional radiators for the first time will keep the engineers busy this weekend. The added challenge of racing in Houston during the mid-afternoon in late June will definitely test the thermal vigor of the engines, drivers and crews. Team Chevy is up for the challenge.”
Six of the first eight races of the 2014 season have been contested on either a road or street course. Team Chevy driver Will Power scored the first victory in 2014, bringing the Chevrolet 2.2 liter direct injected twin turbocharged powered No. 12 Verizon Team Penske to Victory Lane at the Streets of St. Petersburg. His second victory of the year that propelled him to the lead in the point standings was race one of the Chevrolet Dual at Detroit. Power heads to Houston with a 39 point lead in the driver standings.
The first oval was the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Three time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves, came within just six one-hundredths of a second from claiming his fourth victory in the iconic track.
However, Castroneves took the momentum to Detroit and scored a top-five finish in race one in the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit, and a dominating victory in Sunday’s race two of Chevrolet sponsored weekend. He is second in the standings behind his Team Penske Chevrolet teammate, Power.
Despite having nearly three weeks away from competition none of the Chevrolet powered teams have sat on their laurels and rested on recent success. Teams have been hard at work testing and preparing themselves for the final stretch to finish out the season.
As the teams resume competition at Houston, two Chevrolet powered drivers are looking to repeat last year’s success. Power was victorious in the second race at the track last season. Scott Dixon, new to Team Chevy this season, is also looking to capture a repeat win at Houston and turn his 2014 season around and place his No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the first time carrying the Chevrolet banner.
While these two drivers look to repeat as winners, Castroneves is looking for redemption. Last season the driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet watched his championship hopes fade away at Houston as two mechanical issues ended his pursuit of victory early. He hopes this season he can ride the momentum from his win at Detroit and conquer Houston to add to his championship quest in 2014,
The most recent Team Chevy winner, Ed Carpenter – Texas Motor Speedway – will return to the role as owner at the GP of Houston. Long Beach winner Mike Conway returns to the cockpit of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
Race number one of The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston is set to start on Saturday, June 28th at 3:00 p.m. ET with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network. Race number two is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 29th with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network.
Chevy Racing–CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: One Word…FINALLY!
CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: One Word…FINALLY!
Landmark first trip to historic road course for ALMS champions
· Corvette C7.Rs face new challenge at Six Hours of The Glen
· Garcia, Magnussen go for third straight win in TUDOR Championship
· Coming off second, fourth in class at Le Mans
DETROIT (June 25, 2014) – It’s only about an hour’s flight from Detroit to Watkins Glen International. But over the years, the two have been worlds away from the perspective of Corvette Racing. With the advent of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship however, that distance is no more. America’s leading production-based racing team gets its first shot this weekend at the famed road course during the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
The event is the second endurance race in two weeks for Corvette Racing, which finished second and fourth in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen – runners-up at Le Mans with Jordan Taylor – are on a two-race winning streak in the TUDOR Championship and stand second in GT Le Mans points in their No. 3 Corvette C7.R.
Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette are tied for third in the championship and look for their first victory of the season. They were fourth at Le Mans with Richard Westbrook.
Although the team has not raced at The Glen, the four Corvette Racing drivers aren’t complete strangers to the circuit. At the fore is Garcia, who hasn’t missed the Six Hours since 2010 when he finished third overall for Spirit of Daytona. Magnussen was a GT winner in 2005, and Gavin (2000 overall) and Milner (2011 GT) have runner-up finishes.
Climbing back on the podium – much less the top step – will require plenty of skill with a little luck. Sunday’s race marks the first since Sebring in March where all four TUDOR Championship classes will share the track at the same time. The grid stands at 55 cars for the 3.37-mile, 11-turn circuit.
The construction and performance of the Corvette C7.R gives Corvette Racing a key advantage. Based on the 2015 Corvette Z06 production car, the C7.R’s rigid frame gives the car improved cornering ability and stability. Those factors plus the Corvette’s impressive braking performance and throttle response along with Corvette Racing’s strategy and execution will be keys to success.
The Watkins Glen round also doubles as the third race of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. It is a special four-race competition made up of the TUDOR Championship’s true endurance rounds. Gavin and Milner are tied for second in GTLM with Garcia and Magnussen standing seventh.
Corvette Racing’s No. 4 Corvette is second in team points, as is Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings.
Live television coverage of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen starts at 11 a.m. ET, Sunday on FOX Sports 1.
The TUDOR Championship is the result of a merger between the ALMS and GRAND-AM’s Rolex Sports Car Series. Corvette Racing will compete in 11 races around North America plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Corvette Racing Display: For the Fans at Watkins Glen
Corvette Racing’s visit to Watkins Glen also means fans can take in a number of activities and at Chevrolet’s Corvette Racing Display in the Fan Midway Area:
Production vehicles such as the North American Truck of the Year, the Chevrolet Silverado, as well as the Camaro, Sonic and Impala
Showcars on location include a Corvette C7.R, and both a Corvette Stingray coupe and convertible, the North American Car of the Year
Fans can see a sample of engines, parts and accessories available for purchase from Chevrolet at their local Chevrolet dealer
Other activities at the Corvette Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
Fans who sign up with Corvette Racing will receive a special commemorative t-shirt
The Corvette Racing display opens 9 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It is a short turnaround after a difficult race like Le Mans, but I am happy to go back to Watkins Glen and race the Corvette C7.R for the first time. Certainly it will be much different competing with the C7.R than a DP. This track has a good blend of high-speed parts and technical areas, so Corvette Racing should be able to challenge for another win. Things won’t be so easy with a six-hour race and lots of traffic. However, Corvette Racing has shown that we produce good strategies and excellent pit stops. It would be great if Jan and I could win our third straight TUDOR Championship race after a second-place at Le Mans. Regardless, a good finish would help us in the points race.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It will be the first time for me in a Corvette at Watkins Glen. It’s an interesting place with a lot of history. The times that I’ve been there in other cars, I’ve enjoyed it a lot. So I’m looking forward to go back there and get back into the TUDOR Championship where we have won consecutive races. We’ve proven the car is good in all conditions. I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to fight for a win. It’s longer than a standard TUDOR Championship race and puts a lot more importance on pit stops and strategy. In the past, Corvette Racing has been very, very good in those areas and absolutely have been one of the team’s strongest points.”
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“It’s very much what you’d call an old-school track. It’s got three or four corners on it that are fast and really challenging. You get a huge amount of satisfaction from doing them well. It’s a circuit where you need courage and be fully committed all the time. If you’re at all timid or hesitant with it, then it can bite you. Generally the surface has a high level of grip. You can make a case for many different spots on the track being crucial for lap time, but I would stick my neck out and say that coming out of Turn 1 and uphill to the Esses is one of the biggest influencers.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“If you’re going to put together a calendar for sports car racing in the U.S., you have to have Watkins Glen. It’s one I’ve been looking forward to for awhile. I haven’t won there but definitely want to add it to my résumé. I feel pretty confident going there. We have some experience with the car in a low-downforce trim, so if we need to go in that direction we have some knowledge to build from. And we typically run max downforce in the U.S. So no matter what, we should have a good car there. For some of our competitors, a six-hour race will feel a little long. But for us having just come back from Le Mans and doing 24 hours, it will feel like a breeze!”
DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“It has been a long time coming but I am personally thrilled to see Corvette Racing finally compete at Watkins Glen. It is an iconic track with such a rich global history, and everyone on the team is excited by the opportunity to see and hear our Corvette C7.Rs make their Glen debuts. As the fans know, it’s a very short turnaround time for us following our strong showing at Le Mans. Rest assured, we readily accept that challenge and are welcoming the opportunity to showcase some ‘Ground Pounding American Thunder’ to all the Corvette and TUDOR Championship fans!”
Summit Racing–Anderson Recharged and Ready for Route 66 Raceway
Anderson Recharged and Ready for Route 66 Raceway
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 25, 2014) – NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is in high gear, and the tireless competitors are right in the middle of four races in a row as the tour hits Chicago for the 17th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals this weekend. For Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson, the furious pace is nothing of concern. In fact, it is welcomed.
“Well, I know it’s going to be hard to believe, but we actually like racing every weekend,” admitted Anderson. “We’re racers, and we feel we can learn more on the racetrack than off of it. It’s a good thing for us, the trick is just to make sure that you keep your battery charged.”
Anderson’s batteries were recharged as he took some time on the Monday afternoon following last week’s event in Epping, N.H., and on Tuesday morning he was back at the shop with the rest of the team, focused as ever on gaining horsepower and fine-tuning an already strong program that is only gaining as time presses on.
Last week, Anderson enjoyed his best qualifying position of the year, and starting from the No. 7 spot he dug deep to drive with heart on Sunday in a quest for the title. Although he did not return to the winner’s circle, the race in Chicago would be an ideal setting for his long awaited 75th career victory.
The Summit Racing crew has a strong history at Route 66 Raceway. Although a win at the stadium-style facility eluded Anderson until 2011, he has a total of seven final-round appearances there – including a final round finish last season. He also has six low qualifier awards in Chicago, and Summit Racing teammate Jason Line holds a record of three wins in five final rounds.
“Jason and I both really like racing there in Chicago,” said Anderson. “I’ve always liked it a lot, and I don’t really have a reason as to why it took me so long to crack that place. It’s a great racetrack, just for some reason it took me a long time to close the door. It’s a good-feeling place for us, and we like it because you don’t have to tiptoe down the racetrack; you can put all the power to the ground. We love racing there.
“We struggled with the first 10 feet of the racetrack last weekend in Epping, but that will not be an issue in Chicago. The starting line is great, and we’re making up ground and getting better. Everything should play into our hands.”
Casey Currie Update
Solid weekend in Utah for Currie
Corona, Calif. (June 25, 2014)—Drivers and their crews made their way North for rounds 7&8 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Little did they know that they would be making their way into a war zone. This weekends races were held at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, just outside of Salt Lake City. With a tight course that provided countless action packed moments for fans that packed the stands full. Summertime is in full swing in Tooele and with 90 degree heat filling the air and the hot sun beating down on the course, this would cause the track to dry out quickly and leave dust hanging in the air, which provided fans a course that turned into a war zone just laps into the races.
Currie started round 7 in the back of the pack in his #2 Monster Energy/Jeep ProLite. 14 laps of full throttle racing gave Currie enough time to make up numerous positions. Dust in the air and a class full of 20 trucks that are so close in time, didn’t make this an easy task. Currie crossed the finish line with a 9th place finish.
“Starting in the back means you have to work harder for that win. Everyone else is looking for the same thing and this is when you prove that your truck can handle the constant thrashing and you as a driver can stay focused.” Stated Currie after Saturdays race.
Round 8 was set for another hot day, but with a breeze rolling through the valley, this would help clear the dust quickly from the track during the races. The team made some changes to the truck for Sundays qualifying session and the changes helped Currie qualify in the 4th row. The start of the race would have Curries BFGoodrich tires hooked up and fighting to make up positions with hopes of making it to the podium. With all trucks finding it hard to make a clean pass, the race didn’t see many position changes. One full course caution gathered all the trucks back up but once the green flag dropped again it was still a single file race all the way to the checkered flag. Currie finished round 8 in 6th place.
Currie and his team will be making large changes to the #2 ProLite in July along with numerous testing sessions. Rounds 9 & 10 will be held under the lights of Glen Helen Raceway where it is guaranteed to have a sold out venue.
Be sure to like Casey Currie on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated with pictures, results and the team.
World of Outlaws
Darrell Lanigan Overtakes Chub Frank at Big Diamond for Fifth World of Outlaws Late Model Series Win of the Season
Stage set for Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com Thursday-Friday-Saturday at Lernerville Speedway
By Kevin Kovac
FORESTVILLE, Pa. – June 24 – Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., overtook race-long pacesetter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., for the lead on lap 25 and marched on to capture Tuesday’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series Diamond Shine 40 at Big Diamond Raceway.
The 43-year-old Lanigan continued his relentless pursuit of a third career WoO LMS championship, padding his already healthy points lead with his series-leading fifth victory of the 2014 season and the 58th of his career. He earned $8,650 for his second triumph in three career starts at the 3/8-mile oval in Pennsylvania’s coal region, which hosted the national tour for the first time in five years.
“We’ve got an A-plus season going right now,” said Lanigan, who has 13 top-10 finishes in 14 WoO LMS starts this season. “The piece (Club 29 Race Car) we built and designed has been unbelievable since we brought it out of the box in February, so I couldn’t ask for nothing better.”
Lanigan, who won the inaugural WoO LMS event at Big Diamond in 2008, swept Tuesday night’s program. He set fast time in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, won a heat race and stormed to the feature win, which kept him as the only repeat winner on the tour this season.
Starting third in the 40-lap A-Main, Lanigan passed Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., for second on a lap-11 restart and settled in behind the 51-yearold Frank, who started second and grabbed the lead at the initial green flag. Finally, on lap 25, Lanigan surged by Frank to assume command for good.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., sailed around the outside of Frank to take second place on a lap-26 restart and drew close to Lanigan for a short time, but Lanigan’s inside line was too much for Eckert to overcome. The home-state driver finished second, 1.430 seconds behind the winner.
Frank settled for a third-place finish, with 10th-starter Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., placing fourth and Wells, who started from the pole, completing the top five.
“I just had to wait to get to (lapped) traffic there,” said Lanigan. “Chub was pretty good, but our car was pretty good and it was getting better toward the end of the race. Then he kind of chose the wrong line when he got to traffic and we got by him.”
Eckert, 48, made a gallant attempt to challenge Lanigan riding the high side of the track, but his bid fell short.
“The bottom started picking up by the time I got to Darrell,” said Eckert, who was seeking his first WoO LMS victory since joining the Rocket Chassis house car team in late April. “It started to rubber a little bit, and I just couldn’t keep running up there anymore. That end (turns three and four) got so dirty too that I’d just float the whole car on exit.
“We had a great car, and I found something up top to get up to second. We just couldn’t get all the way to the front though.”
Seeking to end a WoO LMS winless streak dating back to August 2009, Frank led the race’s first 24 laps but couldn’t stay up front to the finish. He still recorded his second consecutive podium finish on the tour.
“I really didn’t feel that good, but nobody was catching us for the first half of the race,” said Frank, who finished second in the Jackpot 100 on May 25 at West Virginia’s Tyler County Speedway. “I think when I got in behind somebody (in traffic) it was dirty (air), and I didn’t feel right and Darrell got by us.
“I could see where we could adjust the car, so at least we held on to get a good finish.”
Three caution flags slowed the race: for Ben Whitaker’s turn-four spin on lap 11; Boom Briggs slowing on lap 26; and Chase Junghans slowing with a flat tire on lap 36.
Thirty-one cars entered the event.
Lanigan was fastest in qualifying with a lap of 15.968 seconds, and he joined Wells and Shane Clanton as heat winners.
Chevy Racing–CORVETTE DPs AT WATKINS GLEN: A Big Challenge for Six Hours
CORVETTE DPs AT WATKINS GLEN: A Big Challenge for Six Hours
Five Corvette DPs among field as Chevrolet leads Prototype championship
· Action Express Corvette DP a winner the last two years at Watkins Glen
· Chevrolet looking to expand Prototype manufacturer championship lead
· Third round of Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup
DETROIT (June 24, 2014) – After a short break following a victory on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Chevrolet’s Corvette Daytona Prototype teams return to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship this weekend at one of America’s most historic circuits.
Watkins Glen International plays host to the full field of TUDOR Championship entries – including five Corvette DPs – for the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen. The Bowtie brand is on a three-race winning streak at Watkins Glen. That includes consecutive 1-2 finishes for Corvette DPs the last two seasons – both by Action Express Racing.
Another victory would add to Chevrolet’s championship lead in the Prototype Engine Manufacturer standings. The lead is six points over Ford.
Joao Barbosa was part of the last two victories at Watkins Glen including last year with Christian Fittipaldi. Winners this year of the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the season, the Barbosa/Fittipaldi duo stands second in the TUDOR Championship’s Prototype standings behind Wayne Taylor Racing’s Jordan and Ricky Taylor. The brothers assumed the championship lead with a victory in the previous round at Detroit and drive with Max Angelelli at Watkins Glen.
Spirit of Daytona’s Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante, coming off a runner-up finish at Detroit, also drive a Corvette DP. Burt and Brian Frisselle return in Action Express’ second entry along with Jon Fogarty, and Marsh Racing’s trio of Eric Curran, Boris Said and Guy Cosmo round out the Corvette DP contingent.
The race will be the first since March where all four TUDOR Championship classes will race at the same time. A preliminary entry list of 55 cars – sharing 3.37 miles around the 11-turn circuit – means there will be no time to relax.
“Watkins Glen is one of the classic road-racing venues in America,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet’s Corvette Daytona Prototype Program Manager. “Six hours around The Glen is an incredibly difficult task. There is a good mix of high-speed straights and corners along with demanding technical sections. It will take a well-balanced car to have success in this year’s race. With the Daytona Prototypes running in a different configuration than in years past, preparation will be key. Our simulations and having multiple Corvette DPs test at Watkins Glen should benefit all our teams. But the main issue will be managing traffic. A grid of 55 cars is considerably more than we’ve seen the last few years. It only adds to the challenge of winning this important race.”
The Watkins Glen round also doubles as the third race of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. It is a special four-race competition made up of the TUDOR Championship’s true endurance rounds. Barbosa and Fittipaldi lead the driver standings with Action Express’ No. 5 Corvette DP leading the team category.
Camaro Z/28.R Continuing Strong Debut Season
In the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, four Camaro Z/28.R race cars dot the entry for the series’ sixth round. On the strength of three podium finishes in the last four races for the Camaro in its debut season, Chevrolet stands second in the Grand Sport (GS) manufacturer standings – just one point out of first place.
Stevenson Motorsports and CKS Autosport each have two Camaros on the entry list. CKS’ duo of Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach were runners-up two years ago at Watkins Glen. Sebring race-winners Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis from Stevenson Motorsports are the highest-placed Camaro drivers in the driver’s standings at sixth.
“To be second in the manufacturer championship in our first year with the Camaro Z/28.R is a fantastic achievement,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet’s Camaro Z/28.R Program Manager. “It’s a testament to the teamwork between our engineers, the group at Pratt & Miller Engineering and our partner teams. Watkins Glen is an historic circuit and it would be fantastic for a legendary name like the Camaro to score a second victory.”
NHRA Epping Results
Top Fuel — Tony Schumacher, 3.824 seconds, 323.27 mph ARP Car def. Doug Kalitta, 3.813 seconds, 323.89 mph.
Funny Car — Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.095, 315.19 ARP Car def. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.121, 309.98.
Pro Stock — Dave Connolly, Chevy Camaro, 6.536, 213.23 def. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.577, 213.16. Both ARP Cars
Pro Stock Motorcycle — Angie Smith, Buell, 6.905, 191.89 def. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.230, 145.99. Both ARP Bikes
Super Stock — Joe Santangelo, Chevy Camaro, 10.903, 93.11 def. Dan Fletcher, Camaro, foul.
Stock Eliminator — Ron Infantino, Chevy Camaro, 11.060, 116.70 def. Joe Lisa, Camaro, 10.962, 116.99.
Super Comp — Timmy Markoglu, Dragster, 8.924, 176.49 def. Kyle Cultrera, Dragster, 8.920, 178.83.
Super Gas — Ray Balian, Ford Probe, 9.924, 162.90 def. Brian Khoury, Chevy C-10, 9.943, 153.74.
Super Street — Art Gardner, Chevy Nova, 10.922, 149.81 def. Frank Quarno Jr, Nova, 10.893, 135.40.
Pro Stock Snowmobile — Tina Duncanson, Ski-Doo, 8.289, 156.52 def. Mark Case Jr., Ski-Doo, 9.534, 149.46.
Top Sportsman — Matt Harper, Pontiac Grand Prix, 7.544, 183.10 def. Marc Caruso, Chevy Cobalt, 6.986, 192.44.
Richard Childress Racing–Save Mart 350
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Save Mart 350
Sonoma Raceway
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard, Ryan Newman and Austin Dillon finished fifth, 11th and 17th, respectively.
Newman ranks eighth in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, trailing current leader Brad Keselowski by 107 points, while Menard ranks 12th and Dillon is 18th.
Carl Edwards earned his second victory of the 2014 season and was followed to the finish line by Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jamie McMurray and Menard.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, June 28, which is scheduled to be televised live on TNT beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and is scheduled to be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Austin Dillon Earns Top-20 Finish in Career-First Start at Sonoma Raceway
Austin Dillon drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Dow Powerhouse Solar Chevrolet to a 17th-place finish in the Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday afternoon, marking the rookie of the year contender’s first career start at the 1.99-mile road course in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Dillon started the 110-lap event from the 26th position and utilized strategic driving, spotters Billy O’Dea and Max Papis and pit strategy to advance his position on the 11-turn course. He noted a tight-handling condition throughout the event, which was alleviated through air-pressure adjustments during routine pit stops. Dillon was running 13th when he made his final pit stop of the event after the caution flag was displayed with just under 20 laps remaining. During the stop, he took four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Restarting in the 15th spot on lap 94, Dillon continued to face a tight-handling condition and ultimately finished 15th.
Start – 26th Finish – 17th Laps Led – 0 Points – 18th
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
“I’m really proud of this team today. We were just a little front end tight. I learned a lot and had a blast out there. I can’t wait to try road course racing again.”
2011 CC Team Icon 27 NSCS Menards
Paul Menard Earns Second-Consecutive Top-FiveFinish at Sonoma in No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet
Paul Menard drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet SS to a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s 218.9-mile event at Sonoma Raceway in California. The Eau Claire, Wisc., driver started ninth and raced in the top 10 for 21 laps of competition. Menard radioed in that he needed more “drive off” and suggested a track bar adjustment during the team’s scheduled pit stop. The Slugger Labbe-led team called for Menard to come down pit road during the lap 30 caution. After a stop for four tires, fuel, air pressure and track bar adjustments, Menard felt more comfortable in the Richmond/Menards Chevy. From there, he was able to race within the top 20 for the remainder of the 110-lap event with only three additional pit stops. In the closing laps, Menard was able to race his way into the top five with fresh tires and a fast Chevrolet. This finish marks the No. 27 team’s third top-five finish, second consecutively after finishing fourth last week in Michigan and ninth top-10 finish. Sunday afternoon’s finish was also Menard’s personal best at Sonoma Raceway. Up next for the No. 27 team is Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
Start – 9th Finish – 5th Laps Led – 0 Points – 12th
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“Today was another good call today by my team. I think if we had another caution come out there at the end, we could have contended for a top-three finish for sure. My guys gave me great stops on pit road and helped us be where we needed in regards to track position. Overall, it was a good weekend for our Richmond/Menards team.”
Mopar, DSR Earn Back-to-Back Funny Car Titles with Capps Victory at NHRA New England Nationals
Mopar, DSR Earn Back-to-Back Funny Car Titles with Capps Victory at NHRA New England Nationals
· DSR’s Ron Capps drives Mopar to winner’s circle at 2nd Annual NHRA New England Nationals
· Capps’ Funny Car title win at New England Dragway gives Mopar and DSR consecutive wins in last two NHRA national events
· Allen Johnson is top Mopar finisher after he takes Dodge Dart to Pro Stock semifinal appearance
Epping, New Hampshire (Sunday, June 21) – Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Ron Capps drove his Dodge Charger R/T from a tenth place qualifying position to a Funny Car title victory at the 2nd annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) New England Nationals earning a 42nd career win, his first of the season, and enabling him to move up into fourth place in the championship standings.
Capps’ efforts at New England Dragway also gave DSR and Mopar back-to-back victories after teammate Tommy Johnson Jr.’s scored the team’s first win of the 2014 Mello Yello Drag Racing series season last weekend at Bristol Dragway.
“Congratulations to Ron Capps from everyone at Mopar on the win at the New England Nationals,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “It’s wonderful to see the HEMI-powered Dodge Charger R/T package in the winner’s circle at consecutive events, and we appreciate Ron and the Don Schumacher Racing team’s continuing efforts to contend for wins and a championship to celebrate the 50 year legacy of the 426 Race HEMI.”
“The guys have been working so hard and we struggled on race day at Bristol and (crew chief) (Rahn) Tobler was real upset with himself after qualifying here yesterday and he stayed here late with Eric (Lane) until they got it sorted out in what they wanted to do today,” said Capps who knew his Mopar was back in the hunt after laying down a 4.064-second run in the first round for a hole shot win over Tim Wilkerson.
Capps chased down Cruz Pedregon and beat Courtney Force to advance to his first the final round showdown of the season to face Alexis DeJoria. He led the race from start to finish earning his first Wally since the Brainerd national event in 2013.
“This is a car that will go down the return road if we have to,” Capps said of the confidence he has in his Dodge Charger R/T’s ability to adapt to race track conditions, “and it’s going to be a lot of fun the next few races.”
While Capps carried the banner for DSR through the elimination rounds, his teammates didn’t fair quite as well.
After beating Bob Tasca III, loss of traction in the second round of eliminations ended Tommy Johnson Jr.’s hopes of repeating his winning performance from last weekend. He sits fifth in points right behind Capps.
In a marquis first round match-up, Matt Hagan who qualified his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T eighth, posted a 4.119-second pass with a .062 second reaction time only to lose to John Force who beat him on a hole shot with a 4.129-second lap and a .048-second reaction.
“He (Force) was in deep and it comes up on the board as a hole shot loss but the reality is that they just out ran us a little bit and that’s how it goes,” said Hagan who finished runner-up to Force in the 2013 NHRA championship but currently sits tenth in points. “It was a close drag race but that’s how it falls sometimes. We’ll just regroup and get ready for the next one. There’s no doubt that we have a good car, a good team but we just need to get some round wins and get our season turned around.”
Mopar teammate Jack Beckman similarly missed out on advancing past the first round with a hole shot loss (.094 to 0.74 sec. reaction time) to Del Worsham with an e.t. of 4.123-seconds to his competitor’s 4.127-seconds.
Defending Pro Stock title winner, Allen Johnson, had a rough road through qualifying to find himself 12th on the eliminations ladder, his lowest starting position in three years, and pitted against his HEMI®-powered teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. for the first round of competition at New England Dragway. While Coughlin’s JEGS.com Dodge Dart had the starting line advantage, Johnson’s “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart crossed the finish line first with a 6.551 elapsed time run at 213.43 mph after his teammate’s car broke a clutch finger while transitioning between fourth and fifth gear to run a 6.563 at 208.59mph.
After his Mopar made a move towards centerline in a second round match-up against Shane Tucker, Johnson benefitted when his opponent had a problem of his own, giving him a chance to get back on the throttle for the round win to set up a semifinal match-up against Jonathan Gray. Johnson would lose to Gray on a hole shot but finds himself within 13 points of his second place Mopar teammate, Coughlin, in the Pro Stock standings.
“It wasn’t our greatest weekend but we had a little luck here and there today and made a good run on that last one,” said Johnson of his 6.525 second (213.60 mph) pass in a losing effort after posting a .074 second reaction time to Gray’s.006 light and 6.583-second e.t. “I just made a mental mistake on the starting line, had to reposition my foot on the gas pedal and the yellow was already on. That’s totally on me but we’ll take this semifinal finish to the next two and hopefully get our Dodge Dart back on target and in the winner’s circle.”
While V. Gaines and his HEMI-powered Dodge Dart did not advance past the first round, he remains eighth in the standings. The New England Nationals Pro Stock title was won by Dave Connolly.
Summit Racing–Anderson moving in the right direction with New England Nationals performance
Anderson moving in the right direction with New England Nationals performance
EPPING, N.H. (June 22, 2014) – Greg Anderson and the white Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro had a good outing this weekend at New England Dragway, and it showed not only on the scorecard but also in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock points. Anderson enjoyed his best start of the year and advanced to the semifinals on raceday at the 2nd annual NHRA New England Nationals, and he moved up two positions in the points to come within 26 marks of a coveted position in the top 10.
Anderson, starting from the No. 7 spot thanks to a very strong 6.512-second pass at 213.10 mph in his Summit Racing Camaro, knocked out Chris McGaha in the first round of eliminations on a holeshot. His .019-second reaction time edged a .064 with ease, and Anderson surged ahead for a 6.547, 212.56 win over his opponent’s 6.532, 213.43.
Round two brought the four-time NHRA Pro Stock champion up against Erica Enders-Stevens, last weekend’s Bristol winner who was the one to oust him in the quarterfinals. Anderson was not going to have a repeat of the previous weekend’s outcome and launched .012-second ahead of Enders-Stevens, and he put the advantage to good use at the top end as identical 6.551s appeared on the scoreboard. Again, his win would go down in the books as a holeshot.
“I got a break there, and it all comes down to timing,” said Anderson. “For some reason, that round they didn’t have the performance that they had the rest of the weekend, and that certainly worked in our favor. Those are the kind of breaks you need sometimes.”
The victory came with a ticket to the semifinals and a match with Dave Connolly for the first time this season. Anderson picked up elapsed time but didn’t quite have enough for his challenger, who took the win with a 6.517 to 6.549.
“I had a good day, it just wasn’t a great day,” said Anderson, now No. 12 in the points. “We actually had a good weekend with our Summit Racing Camaro, but we need to get some more performance out of the racecar. There are just too many cars out there that are really, really fast in this class right now, so you can’t take anything for granted.
“Overall, I think we’re on the right track. It felt really good to come out here and have the best qualifying performance of the year so far, and I think we can better that when we get to Chicago. Without a doubt, we have a team that works hard and knows what to do. We’ll keep digging – it’s just what we do.”
Chevy Racing–Sonoma Post Race 2
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 22, 2014
CHEVROLET SS DRIVERS COLLECT SIX OF TOP 10 FINISHING POSITIONS AT SONOMA
Jeff Gordon Maintains Points Lead with Second Place Finish
SONOMA, Calif. – June 22, 2014 – Jeff Gordon came within 0.591 seconds of earning his sixth win at Sonoma Raceway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Save Mart 350, but crossed the finish line in second. The driver of the No. 24 Panasonic Chevrolet SS led a contingent of Chevrolet power in the top-10, seven teams strong. Gordon led three laps in the 110-lap race to capture his 18th top 10 finish in 22-races at the 1.99-mile road course in Napa Valley. The strong run extended the four-time champion’s lead in the 2014 point standings to 20 markers over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.
“I was making some ground up on (race winner) Carl (Edwards),” Gordon said following the race. “I was good in the fast sections and he was pretty good in the slow sections. So, I was having to hit everything so perfect. And I just overdrove it into (Turn) 4 one time and went real wide off and that gave him enough of a gap that I had to close it back in and I just couldn’t put enough pressure on him. And I think had I put some more pressure on him; I saw him really struggling with the grip level. He drove a clean race and he did everything you need to do.
“But of course, on that last lap, I gave it my best effort and closed up on him, but I just drove into (Turn) 11 as hard as I could,” Gordon continued. “We weren’t good in 11 anyway. He didn’t overdrive it. I was hoping he might slide up and I’d get a run underneath him. But all in all, it was a great weekend for this Panasonic Chevy and I could have been more proud of the calls made and everything the team did. We didn’t qualify good, but we had a great car in the race.”
Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. piloting the No. 88 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet SS, earned his best career finish at Sonoma Raceway in the third position. Pole sitter Jamie McMurray had a solid day in his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet SS by finishing fourth. Paul Menard, aboard the No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet SS, rounded out the Chevy power in the top-five with a fifth place run.
Kasey Kahne came back from mid-race contact with Casey Mears (No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS) to take his No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet inside the top-10 to finish sixth. Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Johnson had a solid day at Sonoma and navigated his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS up through the field from a 22nd-place starting spot to a seventh-place finish.
The day ended in disappointment for AJ Allmendinger in the No. 47 Kingsford/Clorox Chevrolet SS. He led a race high 35 laps, but was involved in an on-track incident with 24 laps remaining and was relegated to a 37th-place finish.
Carl Edwards (Ford) was the race winner, his second victory of the season.
The Sprint Cup Series heads to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky next week to compete under the lights on Saturday night June 28th.
CASEY MEARS, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 13TH
ON HIS DAY:
“We had a pretty good day. We started out real strong. We got bottled up with the No. 5 and No. 15 ran into the back of us and it knocked our hood up. I think we were running seventh at the time and it put us out of sequence. The guys did a good job putting us with an option to get good track position there at the end. We were able to kind of catch back up to I think around 25th or 24th and got new tires and had a good run all the way up to about 10th. With about 13 (laps) to go I was passing the No. 41 and he kind of pinched me into the tires and it knocked the tow out of the right-front really bad. The car just didn’t turn as well from there on out. But we had an eventful day and after everything that happened we ended up with a pretty good result and it turned out pretty good.”
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PANASONIC CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD:
KRISTI KING: We’ll get started with our post‑race press conference following today’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 here at Sonoma Raceway. We are joined by Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet who finished third in today’s race. Your best finish at Sonoma Raceway, third in points. Talk about your race out there today.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, I had a fast car all weekend, and we figured that our best opportunity to run well here would be to pit and get newer tires more often than everybody else, so having the two wins in the season, it allowed us to really kind of gamble and go ahead and get back there in the mess and have newer tires, and it paid off. We were able to drive up through there.
The two leaders, Jeff and Carl, didn’t fall off as much as the 1 did, so I was hoping they might, but they were strong right at the end, all the way up until the end there.
Q. Dale, could you talk a little bit about the race that you had, an eventful day I guess it would be fair to say, and also I heard you saying on pit road to Stevie, drive every time like this is your last. It seems to be working.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, I told Steve I think I figured out what the trick is to being a really, really good crew chief is to run every ‑‑ to call the season like it’s your last because his strategy is aggressive and a little bit out of the box, and that pays off in most cases because if you do everything everybody else is doing, you kind of fall into ‑‑ you’re racing a lot more people trying to do everything else they’re doing. So when you do something different and get off the pattern pit‑wise, get off the strategy and stuff, it allows you to be a lot more aggressive.
My car had the tires and I was able to drive by those guys at the end, but I had an eventful race, and I tore Matt Kenseth’s car up pretty bad jumping that curb. I was racing him a little hard there coming out of Turn 7. He probably had the preferred line and I probably should have yielded to him, but I was ‑‑ I thought I was a little bit faster than him and didn’t want to be stuck behind him. I straddled a curb, and it just lost my car in the air right into his car. I hope he’s not too sore today.
Other than that, we got tangled up with the 47 somehow. He wheel‑hopped my left rear tire and that spun him out. Other than that we beat and banged a little bit, everything that you normally see here. I had a lot of fun other than the deal with Matt made me pretty sick. But other than that it was a fun day.
KRISTI KING: Joining Dale, our second place finisher, Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Panasonic Chevrolet, who is our all‑time winningest driver here at Sonoma Raceway. Talk a little bit about the race out there today and your second place finish.
JEFF GORDON: Yeah, it was a fun race, a tough one, certainly tough for the guys making the calls in the pits. You know, tire strategy as well as us on the track, because the cars just drove unbelievable on new tires, and you just felt like King Kong. You could just drive it so aggressively.
And then eight laps later, it was where did all the grip go, and you were on ice. There was some tire management, which I love. I think that’s really cool to have that kind of a race and all the different strategies, and I mean, Carl, me and Dale were all on different tires as far as laps on them, and it made for a very interesting race.
Gosh, I wish I could have had those last five or six laps to do over again.&nbs
p; I started overdriving it a little bit trying to catch him a making a few mistakes, and I made one in particular that really cost me, and I think if I had just stayed smooth and stuck with it ‑‑ looked like his car really started falling off those last couple laps and I might have had a shot at least putting more pressure on Carl to force him to make a mistake or maybe get a run inside of him.
Our car was great today. I felt confident it was going to be in the race, and it was exciting when they dropped the green that we did have a car like that.
Q. Is the strategy now for the road courses to stay away from VIR and Road Atlanta?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, I think even on Friday practice was going so well, Steve said we weren’t going to do anything preparing for Watkins Glen since we were so good, or since it was going so well. We weren’t the best car, but…
Yeah, I mean, I’ve been doing this a long, long time. If you know what you’re doing driving these cars on a road course, you can go places and test and learn, but if you’re not a great road course driver, if you’re just kind of run‑of‑the‑mill going over there to Road Atlanta, you’re just going to work your guts out for nothing. We sort of relied on our teammates a little bit that tested, and all that helped the most, really leaning on Jeff and those guys and what everybody learned when they came out here, and anybody that went to Road Atlanta or Kershaw, kind of leaning on that and just trusting what we were seeing in the data.
We went through ‑‑ it really gave us a bit of a better attitude when we got here, and I think that helped us be more productive on Friday, which that’s really important during those two practices to get everything you can, and if I get frustrated, Steve gets frustrated, we just don’t really figure anything out. We stayed calm and I felt like we put a good car on the racetrack today.
Q. Jeff, watching on the TV, it looks like friends or enemies, you were banging around pretty good. You and Jimmie had a couple of tussles towards the middle of that race.
JEFF GORDON: Those restarts when you’re double‑file like that, the first few corners get pretty hairy, and there’s not really enough room to go side by side, and so if you’re on the outside you’ve got to squeeze the guy on inside; if you’re on the inside you’ve got to push the guy on the outside.
I got a run off of 4, and I went to go to the outside of Ambrose, and I don’t know if Jimmie dove in there or if he was protecting from somebody else trying to dive in there on him, but as I made the corner, he got into my right rear pretty hard, and I almost went around. At the moment you’re just mad that it happened, so I took it out on my right front fender, but it did more damage to my car than it did to his.
Then I calmed down and we just went back to racing, and I was able to get ‑‑ he kind of got into it with whoever, Ambrose in front of him, and I got a run on him, but I was able to make a clean pass.
You know, I don’t like to make judgment until you see the video, but we raced hard, and we had a great race and banged with a bunch of guys, but I thought it was all just in good racing.
Q. Jeff, it looked like that last lap, Turn 11, you made it pretty close, got a little close to him. Did it feel like a possible pass or was there just too much ground to make up at that point?
JEFF GORDON: I mean, that particular area, my car was really good. I could really get into Turn 11. I was just trying to get him to overdrive the corner and get up off the bottom. There’s such an advantage to hook around those tires that had he missed it, which he did about two laps before that, I thought that I might be able to make it interesting. But no, he did lock up going in there, but he made the corner, and that was it. At that point it’s a desperate move. It’s not one worth wrecking the guy on because hey, if you’re racing the guy and you get a couple runs on him, he blocks you and he blocks you here and he blocks you there and you’re faster, then you might not give an inch. You might go in there and you might use the bumper.
But I really had just caught him, and so that’s why I wish I could have had those last five laps to do over again because I think if I could have not made a couple mistakes, I would have been on him with more like two laps to go, and I think I would have had a shot. But hey, that’s the way it goes, and we finished second.
Q. Dale, you mentioned the incident with the 47 here at 11. Is that just one of those things that happened and the hairpin as far as the contact there?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, I thought I gave him enough room on the outside. He had a lot of wheel, we’re coming out of that corner and his right front poking out like that jumped the left rear of my car, and I felt it yank on the car real hard and looked in the mirror, and I thought he and about 10 other cars were wrecking, and I thought the caution was coming out. I don’t know how bad it was for him, but I had just got around him and we got down into that corner and I ran low protecting my line, he shot to the outside and that’s his prerogative. But I thought I gave him enough room. I didn’t think I ran him in the fence.
Q. Jeff, we’ve been seeing you in here a lot lately. Is this the most optimistic maybe you’ve been about how you’ve been running maybe the last five, six years?
JEFF GORDON: Absolutely. It’s certainly the most consistent, great cars that I’ve had going week in and week out, to have cars that are capable of either winning or running up front. I’m very confident in what I’m getting behind the wheel of every weekend, and that just is because of all the hard work that’s going on at Hendrick and all the data and work that everybody behind the scenes is doing as well as Alan and our engineers. I’m just working really well with them, clicking with them, but the cars are just really, really good, and that’s making a lot of fun for me.
Q. Dale, just the meaning of getting a top 5, is that beyond the expectations coming into this weekend, and what does it mean for you and your team to get this type of performance at this type of track?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Well, aside from holding a trophy, this is like a win for us. We came in here and knew we had a good car throughout practice, and I’ve been in the top 10 in a lot of these races with two or three laps to go, but we’ve just never been able to finish. So to be clear of the mess and just have an advantage with the tires at the end, there was a lot of confidence, and knowing we were going to be able to wrap it up or feel like we were in good position to wrap it up and really good. The car was fun to drive all weekend, had a great time in practice, qualifying was fun, a little frustrating to get hung up there. I thought we could have qualified a lot better, but still, the cars have been fun to drive. We’ve been one of the better cars, and that certainly makes it fun with me not having to be defensive and root and gouge for every little spot.
Whatever the guys learned throughout testing and trying to prepare for this race really, I think, helped out the whole organization. All the cars were real quick today.
Q. For both of you, the tire testing here got rained out in March, and since tires were a big issue this race, I was wondering if you could tell me how you made up for that. Second question is for Jeff Gordon: It’s about when you got a chance to test over at New Smyrna Beach. I was wondering what you learned at some of these short tracks.
JEFF GORDON: I’ll take the first one since Dale wasn’t here during the tire test. It was just the 24 and the 14 and a couple other guys. It only rained out the first day. The sec
ond day we actually pretty much got the full day in. So we were able to learn something anyway, and even though we didn’t actually test on the tire that they brought here, we tested on similar ones, and maybe the 14 tested on this exact one. But it was close to the one that I liked the most that had good grip at the beginning and it did fall off. We knew it was going to fall off, but it seemed like some of the other ones fell off just as much or more.
You know, I like this tire. I think it’s not easy to drive at the end, which can be good and bad. But it’s got a lot of grip at the beginning. I think it switches up the pit strategy where it’s not always just about fuel mileage. We’ve been racing fuel mileage races out here for the last several years, and I think it’s nice that tires make a difference. I like it. I wish we had tires like this more places.
New Smyrna, I mean, we’re just short track testing stuff, just seeing what we can learn. We go to all the tracks that we can’t race on, and if there’s someplace that’s close to Charlotte with good weather that might be able to teach us a little bit, then we’ll go there.
I thought that it was more for fun than learning anything, I’ll be honest. There’s not another track that we go to that’s anything like that. Not to mention that there was water seeping out of the track that we were driving on. It was a fun day, but I don’t know if ‑‑ maybe Dale and those guys learned some things, but I didn’t think that we did.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: It’s a fun track, to be able to go run somewhere. We’re going to have to test. The drivers don’t line the tests up, the crew chiefs do. So when you go somewhere fun, at least it makes it go by a little quicker.
Q. Jeff, I seem to recall a conversation yesterday with you after qualifying and you said to me, you weren’t really one bit worried and I should talk to you today when all the Hendrick cars finish, and you had four in the top eight. Is that how much confidence you have right now in the team and the program? And Dale, you improved your finish here by quite a substantial deal, and you were running fast in practice and looking at your Twitter account it looked like you may have even surprised yourself a little bit how well you were running on Friday. How big a boost is this for you personally in how you feel about road courses? Are you starting to love them a little bit more now?
JEFF GORDON: You like them when the cars are working good. I’ve had some good cars over the years.
Yeah, I mean, you always say that when you qualify 15th. You always say, hey, talk to me tomorrow when it’s all over. I mean, I had confidence that we were much better than that, and that was just based on how our car drove in practice. And I think that’s kind of what Dale is alluding to, as well. You have a certain feel that you’re looking for and you look at the lap times and I thought our lap times were competitive and the car had a pretty good feel. I didn’t feel like we were going to stay back there all day long, and I was hoping that all the Hendrick cars would ‑‑ that didn’t qualify good would come to the front, and I thought that they would. It wasn’t being like so confident just in everything. I mean, things are going well for us, but it was really just solely looking at the lap times and how my car felt.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: I really enjoy running at Watkins Glen, and I feel like that I understand what I need to do, not whether I do it every lap but what I need to do to get around there and what I’m looking for in the car to be competitive. This is a real technical track where the corners are lined up one after the other, and if you make a mistake in Turn 2, you really don’t clean it up until Turn 4. So everything sort of has to line up and the really need to put the corners together in succession, and that takes a certain mentality and a certain understanding of road course racing that guys like myself don’t have coming from late models and oval tracks and stuff like that.
You have to go to school. You have to study. You have to listen to people. You have to run as many laps as you can at practices and tests and stuff like that early in your career to adapt and understand. You know, just certain guys have certain backgrounds. McMurray ran all those CART races and I think that paid off for him. He’s very competitive at the road courses, especially this place, but the Glen has always kind of been fun. It’s an equalizer because it has so many long straightaways. You run down a straightaway and get through a turn and run down a straightaway and get through a turn. Pretty much everybody can kind of figure that out. But this place is really technical, and if the car is just a little bit off, I sort of get lost as to what I need and what I want the car to do and how I need the car to drive and what I’m looking for in the car. We sort of ‑‑ when we get off the path in practice, we really never recover throughout the weekend, but we were fast all weekend and just kind of put it together.
KRISTI KING: Jeff, Dale, congratulations on your run today. Thank you very much for your time.
Chevy Racing–Sonoma Post Race
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 22, 2014
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PANASONIC CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
YOU SAID YOU MADE ONE MISTAKE ON THAT LAST LAP THAT COST YOU THE WIN, AND YOU NEEDED ONE MORE LAP. WHAT WAS THAT?
“Well, it was actually maybe five or six laps to go. I was making some ground up on (race winner) Carl (Edwards). I was good in the fast sections and he was pretty good in the slow sections. So, I was having to hit everything so perfect. And I just overdrove it into (Turn) 4 one time and went real wide off and that gave him enough of a gap that I had to close it back in and I just couldn’t put enough pressure on him. And I think had I put some more pressure on him; I saw him really struggling with the grip level. He drove a clean race and he did everything you need to do.
“But of course, on that last lap, I gave it my best effort and closed up on him, but I just drove into (Turn) 11 as hard as I could. We weren’t good in 11 anyway. He didn’t overdrive it. I was hoping he might slide up and I’d get a run underneath him. But all in all, it was a great weekend for this Panasonic Chevy and I could have been more proud of the calls made and everything the team did. We didn’t qualify good, but we had a great car in the race.”
CARL EDWARDS SAID IT WAS AN HONOR TO BEAT YOU BECAUSE HE GREW UP WATCHING YOU WIN HERE
“Yeah, I’m starting to hear that a lot more where somebody was born when I won my first championship or was watching me as a kit. But I love racing here. I love being competitive and leading the points and having a shot at winning races, at 22 years into my Cup career. It doesn’t matter; we’re having fun.”
DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A WAY AROUND CARL EDWARDS ON THAT LAST TURN?
“On that move, you just want to make the guy overdrive the corner, because if you miss the bottom down there, there is a real opportunity for someone to get inside of you. Carl (Edwards, race winner) was driving a really good race, and the tires were definitely falling off bad. So were mine. At that point, I was just trying to keep the wheel spin to a minimum, and see if I could inch up on him every little bit. Those last couple of laps I really did. I made one mistake with about six (laps) to go where I overdrove – maybe five to go – where I overdrove (turn) four. I really think that was the difference. I think if I could have got to him, I probably would have had him. But, he was better in the slower sections; I was better in the faster sections. I would have liked to have a little bit closer shot at him going into (turn) 11 on that last lap. Can’t thank Panasonic Tough Book enough. Great having them on board. What a great way to finish this weekend out with a second place finish. Congrats to Carl. He did a great job.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
WHAT STANDS OUT TO YOU THE MOST ABOUT YOUR RACE TODAY?
“Just putting the tires on and getting the strategy right. I told Steve (Letarte, crew chief) the secret of being a great crew chief is calling every year like it’s your last because he’s had the best strategy every week. The Kelley Blue Book Chevy was fast all weekend, really. And I tried to screw it up there a couple of times in the race but calmed down and was able to get a good finish out of it.
“I got into Matt (Kenseth) and jumped that curb and just jumped in there and ran into him. It was totally my fault. It’s kind of like what happened to him last year at Watkins Glen. Just racing a little too hard through there with him and probably should have let him have the spot. Other than that, we had a pretty good day. We’ll cut the shell of this thing and put it in the woods and go to Watkins Glen.”
ON HIS RACE:
“I am sick at my stomach getting into Matt (Kenseth) there. I just hopped that curb, and it threw me right into him. I shouldn’t have been running him hard I guess, I just got up on that curb and it just launched me over into the side of his car. I really hope he isn’t hurt too bad. I’m proud of my team. Kelly Blue Book sponsored this race. We had a fast car all weekend. The guys did a good job on the strategy, and gave me great tires at the end so I could be on the offense. Proud of Steve (Letarte); the whole job the team did. The car was fast all weekend. It was a lot of fun.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
YOU WERE ABLE TO KEEP IT IN THE TOP 5, TOP 10 ALL DAY LONG AND HAD A VERY CONSISTENT DAY
“I’m happy that I’m mad that I finished fourth, if that makes any sense. I thought I had a chance to win but when the last caution came out I was working Carl (Edwards) there a little bit, and I was just waiting on him to make a mistake. I felt like I was better than he was. And when we went back green, after the caution, I just used up too much car in (Turns) 1 and 2 and spun the tires really bad and paid the penalty for that the remainder of the run. But it was a really good day. Our pit crew did a really good job. We had a huge group of people with Cessna here today. So, overall, I’m mad that we finished fourth, but we had a great weekend.”
WHEN DALE JUNIOR CAME BY, WERE YOU LIKE MAN, TIRES DID MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE, DIDN’T THEY?
“Well, I could see how fast he was catching me and I came on the radio and I’m like, is he on a different strategy than we are? And it was like, yeah. So, when he caught me, I didn’t really put up a fight because I knew that he was going to get by. I was more worried about the No. 27 (Paul Menard). He was another ten seconds back, if he was going to be able to catch me at the end. It was a good race. I thought they had a great tire because it gave up a lot. And putting new tires on made a huge difference and it made it a lot of fun to pass.”
ON HIS RACE:
“We had a really good car. Before the last caution, I thought I was going to be able to work Carl (Edwards – race winner) over. He was struggling and I really did not have to drive that hard to keep up with him. I’m like ‘Well, I let him use his car up, and then I will get him when he starts sliding around’. But, then the next caution came out and we took off – it was like he had my car and I had his all of a sudden. I just couldn’t make it happen. But we had a good day, we qualified well. Really solid weekend. The guys did a good job on pit road. We were close, just didn’t have enough.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 RICHMOND/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
ON HIS RACE:
“It was a good day. We unloaded fast on Friday, and we qualified ninth. We were disappointed with ninth actually. We felt like we had a little bit better car than that actually. The first run was pretty brutal actually. We got really loose, and the guys tightened it up with some air pressure, and we got a lot better. From then on, we were a 10th place car probably and then drove up to top-five with tires.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 6TH
ON HIS DAY:
“We had a fast car from the start. Our Great Clips Chevy was good. I could pass cars early just a little bit, but definitely after like five laps I felt really good and competitive. Then we started hurting the car. We just didn’t have track position after that. We fell back and luckily we got back to sixth. We easily had a top-five car. I don’t know how good it was definitely better than that. I had a great car today.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 7TH
“Had a great car just got drilled by the No. 14 (Tony Stewart) and my steering was off from there. We had a great car and the guys with fresher tires got us at the end.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 OUTBACK/BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 20TH
“Today was just another day with the fastest car. We had a chance to win the race and kind of flubbed it up again. Ju
st got ourselves bad track position and crashed.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KINGSFORD/CLOROX CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 37TH
“We led a lot of laps today and we were good enough to win the thing no doubt. It’s just disappointing the way our day ended and to leave Sonoma with a car that’s tore up. I’m proud of my guys and all the hard work they put into this weekend. It’s just tough. We were hoping to bring home a win today for Kingsford and all our partners.”
John Force Racing– FUNNY CAR FORCES RACE TO SEMI-FINALS IN EPPING
FUNNY CAR FORCES RACE TO SEMI-FINALS IN EPPING
EPPING, NH — The reigning NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car World Champion drove his Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car to a semifinal finish at today’s NHRA New England Nationals with skill and horsepower. Despite not having lane choice, John Force used his starting line advantage to go rounds over his opponents. Even though last year’s runner-up couldn’t repeat today, he still very happy that he was able to get back in the groove and start going rounds again.
“Things were starting to look desperate for a round win. I’m going to nuts out here because I built my name on these race tracks. Years ago, I came here with junk and no help and I was expected to be a loser. Now, to come back here with great sponsors like Castrol and Ford, crews and equipment, we’ve been struggling to past the first round. I don’t care who it is, I’m getting whipped by everybody,” said John Force.
The John Force fighting spirit began in round one in which he faced his archrival Matt Hagan. With lane choice in Hagan’s favor, the Castrol GTX High Mileage crew had to make sure their 8000 horsepower Mustang wouldn’t overpower the track and send the enormous Goodyear slicks up in smoke. John also knew he’d need a good reaction time to gain a starting line advantage as his opponent’s car was running strong and qualified better than John’s Mustang.
Just as the Christmas Tree was transitioning from three amber lights to green, John’s Castrol EDGE High Mileage Mustang launched off the starting line with a .048 reaction time to Hagan’s .062. The Mustang charged right out of the gate and never looked backed. It stopped the timers with a 4.12 second pass to Hagan’s quicker but losing 4.11 effort.
“Matt Hagan is tough and we’ve faced each other a lot and here I am screaming after I won first round. It’s unbelievable, I’m excited, and I want to stay in this sport. It’s like I won Indy and yet we didn’t do nothing, just won the first round, said John Force.
In the quarterfinals, John Force would go up against his son-in-law and fellow teammate Robert Hight. Once again, John staged deep to gain a starting line advantage as he knew new Hight’s Mustang was faster. Force parlayed a great reaction time with a strong run of 4.09 to Robert’s much quicker but losing 4.06. John got the win light which would advance him to the semifinals.
“I doesn’t matter what the tire or the tree says, I stole all the light and almost put the top bulb out. When you’re racing Matt Hagan or Robert Hight, those two are the best leavers out here and in the business; it’s the only way I can get them until my race car can start running faster. Jimmy Prock (crew chief, Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang) and the guys are working on it,” said John Force.
In the semifinal round, John went up against Alexis DeJoria. Force knew he’d have to cut a good light again and Force’s Castrol Mustang left first with a .050 reaction time to her .087. Unfortunately for John, DeJoria just caught his Mustang at the finish line and ended his day of racing.
“I was rolling in deep all day to get a better reaction time but it actually slows the car down. It worked against Matt (Hagan) and Robert (Hight). I was hoping I could get around Alexis (DeJoria) but it was close. I’m just excited my hot rod is running consistent and we can go rounds and stay in the top of the points chase,” said John Force.
Even though Force didn’t make it to the finals as he did at last year’s New England Nationals, he broke his string of first round losses that have plagued the Castrol GTX High Mileage team for the last few races. Other than the first qualifying run on Friday, John’s Mustang made a total of six solid, consistent runs at New England Dragway.
The Castrol GTX High Mileage team leaves the NHRA New England Nationals with 713 points and in third place in the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car standings. The team will head right to Joliet, Illinois for the 17th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals. John Force will keep the momentum going as he once again has a consistent race car that can go rounds and win races.
Courtney Force, driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car, qualified in the No. 7 spot this weekend and took her hotrod to the semi-finals before bowing out on race day. Force took the win over Dave Richards in the opening round, followed by Del Worsham in the second round to get paired up beside Ron Capps in the semi-finals.
In eliminations, Force posted a 4.089, a 4.124 and a 4.10, proving to be one of the most consistent Funny Cars on race day.
“It was cool just to have a good weekend out here. We have a great car and I think we showed that throughout qualifying and eliminations,” said Force.
The 26-year-old celebrated her birthday on Friday with top speed and set a track speed record at 323.35 mph.
“It was great racing my Traxxas car this weekend. Traxxas being The fastest Name in Radio Control and we were able to set the track speed record out here in Epping. It was great coming back to a track where I had won in the past, last year, and to go all the way to the semi-finals. You know what, my team gave me a great car, we just didn’t have it. We were right there at the finish line with Capps in the semis, but it wasn’t enough and he went around me and got the win. It was a great race. We were right there next to each other the whole way down. We had identical leave times and identical incremental times at the start,” said Force.
The Auto Club Ford Mustang team had one of the most dominant Funny Cars on the property at New England Dragway. On Friday they made the first three second run crossing the finish line in 3.988 second for Robert Hight’s 46th career No. 1 qualifier.
On Saturday in the last session they made the quickest run of the day running 4.06 seconds to solidify their position as the team to beat on race day. In the first round against Mike Smith Hight and his Mike Neff tuned Auto Club Funny Car ran 4.06 seconds again to get their 26th round win of the season. They ran their third consecutive 4.06 in a losing effort to teammate John Force in the second round but that did not take away from the momentum the team is carrying into Chicago next weekend.
“Mike Neff has this Auto Club Mustang dialed in. Three 4.06s in a row was pretty impressive. We will get two night sessions so you could see a lot of three second runs. We will be ready and I have nothing but positive things to say about this weekend especially all the great fans. This is one of the best race tracks in the country and I am glad we put on a good show for everyone here in AAA of Northern New England country,” said Hight, who holds onto the Mello Yello Funny Car points lead for the eigth consecutive race.
Even though Brittany Force lost in the opening round today the highly motivated 27 year-old driver is still optimistic and determined to put her Castrol EDGE Dragster in the winner’s circle. With the runs she made in qualifying, today’s early departure will not dampen Brittany’s or the Castrol EDGE team’s spirits in going rounds and pursuing a NHRA Top Fuel victory.
“I’m definitely a little disappointed to go out in the first round, we had four great runs in qualifying all weekend and then to come out and not be able to make it down the track today is a bummer. However, I have a great group of guys behind me and I love my Castrol EDGE team. We’re getting there, it’s definitely a challenge bringing a Top Fuel Dragster into John Force Racing as we’ve been racing Funny Cars for decades so we’re learning and we’re definitely getting there,” said Brittany Force.
In Sunday’s opening round, Brittany Force lined up next to Clay Millican. Brittany, who had qualified fourth, had lane choice over Millican. At the first hint of green out of the Christmas Tree, Brittany’s dragster leapt off the starting line s
lightly ahead of Millican’s race car. For Brittany, she has been practicing her reaction times and it’s starting to payoff.
“I haven’t been feeling good all weekend but when I was on the starting line for round one, I was really focused and concentrated on cutting a good light and found some energy. I got on it and had a good tree and I’m happy about that,” said Brittany Force.
Unfortunately, Brittany’s dragster started to shake the tires just past the starting as the massive Goodyear slicks were struggling to maintain traction for the 10,000 horsepower on New England Dragway’s surface. Brittany had to get off the throttle as not to lose control of her race car and let the chassis settle down. Once it calmed down, Brittany did an excellent job of jumping back on the throttle and chasing down Millican.
“The car just shook right past the tree at about 100 feet. I thought I could drive through it but it rattled the tires too hard. I got out of it, but then stepped back on the throttle and it hooked back up and drove right down the track. Unfortunately Millican was too far ahead and he was on a good run so there was no way I could catch before the finish line,” said Brittany Force.
The 2013 NHRA Auto Club Rookie of the Year did move down one spot to ninth place and has 540 points. With the Countdown to the Championship looming in the not so distant future, Brittany is confident the team will get a firmer foothold in the points chase by the next race.
Brittany Force and the Castrol EDGE team won’t dwell on today’s first round defeat or their current point’s standings. There’s no time and it serves no purpose when chasing points, going rounds, and winning races. They will leave the majestic rolling green hills of the Northeast and head to the Midwest for 17th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.
Richard Childress Racing–Gardner Denver 200
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Gardner Denver 200
Road America
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Race Highlights:
Brendan Gaughan won the Gardner Denver 200 Fired up by Johnsonville at Road America, his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory in 98 races. Gaughan’s victory marked back-to-back victories for Richard Childress Racing in the Nationwide Series.
Brendan Gaughan qualified fifth and was the top Richard Childress Racing qualifier for the Gardner Denver 200. Brian Scott qualified sixth and Ty Dillon seventh.
Brian Scott earned a 16th-place finish and Ty Dillon a 19th-place finish.
Ty Dillon currently leads the RCR drivers in the Nationwide Series driver point standings in fourth, Brian Scott, fifth and Brendan Gaughan seventh.
Next up for the Nationwide Series is the John R. Elliott Hero Campaign 300 presented by Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over at Kentucky Speedway. Catch all the action live on Friday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
Brian Scott Finishes 16th at Road America
Brian Scott and the No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet Camaro team started the Gardner Denver 200 presented by Johnsonville in the sixth position at Road America. The rain halted the delay of the event by over an hour but when the green-flag waved, Scott found his way inside the top-five racing in the fourth position by lap 10. The No. 2 Shore Lodge pit crew won the race off pit road twice during 53-lap race, including the mandatory pit stop by NASCAR to put on rain tires. Scott spent the majority of the race inside the top-five and was racing in the third position when the final caution flag flew with two laps to go. The Shore Lodge team gambled on fuel mileage and was forced to pit in order to complete the green-white-checkered finish. After three-final laps around the 14-turn road course, Scott crossed the finish line 16th. The finish moved the team up one position in the driver point standings to fifth. The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Kentucky Speedway next week for a Friday night showdown.
Start – 6th Finish – 16th Laps Led – 0 Pts – 5th
BRIAN SCOTT QUOTE:
“Just a really disappointing day for our Shore Lodge Chevrolet Camaro. We had a great car and we needed it to go green to the end. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in our favor.”
Ty Dillon finishes 18th at Gardner Denver 200
Ty Dillon drove the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet Camaro to a 19th-place finish Saturday afternoon at Road America. Dillon qualified seventh before a rain-delay prior to the race’s green-flag. After nearly an hour delay, Dillon finessed his way to fourth-place and remained inside the top-10 for the race’s first 26 laps. On lap 28 a steady rain fell at the four-mile, 14-turn track, and NASCAR called for teams to put on Goodyear rain tires. For the remainder of the 53-lap race, Dillon used rain tires and a windshield wiper to guide him to the finish line. Toward the end of the race a mechanical problem cost the team some speed and the 22-year-old driver crossed the finish 19th. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender remained fourth in the driver point standings leading into next Friday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway.
Start – 7th Finish – 19th Laps Led – 0 Points – 4th
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“This was one of the most difficult races I’ve been a part of. We had a few issues throughout the race that we battled through. I’m proud of my team for sticking with me and I couldn’t be more excited for my teammate Brendan Gaughan on his victory today.”
Brendan Gaughan Earns First Career NASCAR Nationwide Series Victory at Road America
Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino team had a strong Chevrolet Camaro all weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., qualifying fifth for Gardner Denver 200. The Las Vegas-native faced many challenges at the 14-turn road course, first collecting debris from sliding of the track on lap seven. By lap 17 Gaughan battled his way back to the second position. His second challenge came when the rain began. The Richard Childress Racing team’s windshield wiper would not function, crew chief Shane Wilson decided to gamble and not repair, but instead wipe the windshield down with Rain-X. When the full course caution fell on Lap 39, Gaughan came down to visit his No. 62 RCR team for four tires, fuel and to wipe down the windshield once again. Restarting in 16th position, the 38-year-old veteran battled up through the field and by Lap 44 was fourth. Gaughan had taken over second-place when the final caution fell on lap 50, resulting in a green-white-checkered restart. Restarting first after the leader ran out of fuel, Gaughan found himself fighting to maintain the lead with one lap to go. Gaughan held off the opposition and earned his first victory in 98 Nationwide Series starts. He earned his third top-10 of the season and remained seventh in the driver point standings, 43 points behind sixth-place as the team goes to Kentucky next Friday night.
Start – 5th Finish – 1st Laps Led – 8 Points – 7th
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“I can’t thank Richard Childress and Shane Wilson enough. I tried to give this race away three times today, I was fully embarrassed and not focused enough, but RCR gives us great equipment and my team did not give up on me. This is such a great feeling after all the years of trying, we did it. I am so happy I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
World of Outlaws–Crockett Hangs On for Dramatic First World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Win After Tire Blows on Last Lap at I-94 Speedway
Crockett Hangs On for Dramatic First World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Win After Tire Blows on Last Lap at I-94 Speedway
Limps to checkered flag for first time as Sweet, Madsen bear down
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – June 21, 2014 – It’s hard enough to win your first World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series race when everything is working perfectly, but when your right rear tire lets go more than half lap from the checkered flag and you still earn your first victory, well, that’s a win you won’t soon forget.
That’s what happened to Roger Crockett on Saturday night at 3/8-mile I-94 Speedway. He grabbed the lead from Brad Sweet on lap eight and started to build his advantage in a caution-free 30-lap feature run under the constant threat of rain.
Crockett slid up to the turn four wall repeatedly during the closing laps as he pushed hard in his Buffalo Wild Wings car to extend his advantage over Sweet and Kerry Madsen. Those knocks on the wall apparently took a toll on his right rear tire because just after the white flag waved, he rolled into turn two and the tire came apart.
“I take the white flag and I come off of turn two and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, after all these years I’ve finally won an Outlaw race’ and the tire blows right there,” said Crockett, of Medford, Ore., who was making his 66th World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series start since 2002. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ So I go into turn three and I see a lapped car I passed eight laps ago go by me and I think, ‘Man, we might have enough of a lead to do this.’ … I’m not one to give up, and there’s a perfect example. You never give up until you cross that line or until she won’t go no more.”
Sweet started the race by jumping out to a quick advantage in the SureTestSupplies.com car and setting the pace early, but he was held up in heavy traffic down the front stretch on lap 8 as Crockett blasted to the top in turns one and two and drove into the lead down the back.
Crockett continued weaving through traffic while Madsen and his American Racing Custom Wheels car charged forward to pressure Sweet. Crockett worked through the traffic to build a straightaway advantage, which he needed on the last lap to get the biggest victory of his career.
“Obviously, winning an Outlaw race, there’s nothing bigger in sprint car racing,” Crockett said. “It’s my first one. I’ve been close, run second, run third.”
It will no doubt be a victory Crockett won’t ever get tired of recounting.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars invade Iowa and Wisconsin next weekend for events on Friday, June 27 at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa; Saturday, June 28, at Beaver Dam (Wis.) Raceway; and on Sunday, June 29, in the FVP Outlaws at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.
Summit Racing–Line sees Summit Racing Camaro come to life in New England Dragway qualifying
Line sees Summit Racing Camaro come to life in New England Dragway qualifying
EPPING, N.H. (June 21, 2014) – Jason Line was somewhat displeased on the first day of qualifying at the 2nd annual NHRA New England Nationals, but all of that changed on the second day of the event. Powering the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, Line made the quickest run of the first round on Saturday to wheel his way to three bonus qualifying points. He will start from the No. 9 position and square off with Jonathan Gray in the first round on Sunday at New England Dragway.
Line launched into qualifying with a 6.558-second pass at 212.79 mph and immediately moved into the No. 8 position. The second session provided much more pleasing conditions that allowed the 500 cubic inch Pro Stock engines to thrive, and Line improved to a 6.523 at 213.70, but the rest of the class also improved and his quicker pace held him at No. 9 in the qualifying order.
After a night of rest and some careful tuning by the Rob Downing-led KB Racing crew, Line’s Summit Racing Camaro came alive with a brilliant 6.521 at a big 213.94 that was low of the round and came with three of those always-coveted bonus qualifying points. Line rounded out qualifying with a consistent 6.524, 213.84.
“Those were two of the best runs I’ve made in months,” said Line. “We had a fast car today, and I am actually pretty stoked because it’s the best we’ve run in a long time. The good thing about this place is that NHRA is doing a great job prepping the racetrack and making both the lanes about the same. I don’t think lane choice will be a big factor tomorrow. If there is any difference between the lanes, it isn’t by much.
Line enters raceday in Epping looking to add more points to his tally as NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship nears. At the conclusion of qualifying, Line was No. 4 in points and just three marks behind fourth-place Allen Johnson. Although points leader Erica Enders-Stevens has a substantial lead on the competition, Line is just 56 points away from second place. That’s just three rounds with four up for grabs on Sunday.
“The goal is always to get points, but we aren’t thinking about that tonight,” said Line. “We’re just thinking about round one on Sunday, and then we’ll take it from there. We had a good day today with the Summit Racing Camaro. We want more of that tomorrow.”
Summit Racing–Anderson to make best start of season on raceday at New England Nationals
Anderson to make best start of season on raceday at New England Nationals
EPPING, N.H. (June 21, 2014) – Last season, Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson really wanted the trophy at Epping’s New England Dragway, the location of the inaugural NHRA New England Nationals. This year, the Mooresville, N.C.-based competitor is heading into raceday with lane choice due to another top half start – his best start of the season – and he means to get that trophy.
Anderson, wheeling the white Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, ended the first day of qualifying with one of the best passes he’s made so far this season, a 6.512-second journey down the quarter-mile at a fast 213.10 mph that launched him into the No. 7 position.
Although the second day of the event proved warmer and allowed no improvement, he effectively protected his position and will start seventh on Sunday with Chris McGaha in the other lane. Anderson last raced McGaha on Sunday in Englishtown, when he defeated him in the quarterfinals en route to his second final round of the season.
“That was a great run for us with our Summit Racing Camaro, and we were very, very happy last night,” said Anderson, a 74-time NHRA Pro Stock winner. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to better it today, and we just couldn’t seem to get a hold of the starting line.”
Many drivers were unable to improve upon the quick numbers seen in the great conditions of the Friday session, and Anderson raced to a 6.545 at 212.63 mph in the first round on a warmer Saturday. He came back with a 6.554 at 213.16 in the final qualifying round to solidify his No. 7 start.
Anderson is perhaps most enthused and encouraged by the wildly surging crowds at New England Dragway, where Pro Stock fans are as hungry to see quarter-mile racing as Anderson is to get back to the winner’s circle.
“The fans up here just love Pro Stock racing. They’re an enthusiastic bunch of people, and it’s really fun to interact with them at the ropes,” said Anderson. “When you pull up to make your runs – the stands are packed. That is absolutely a bright spot when it comes to racing up here; it’s just very cool. Tomorrow we’ll have our work cut out for us, but if we can accomplish what we set out to do, it’s going to be a lot of fun with so many fans in those stands.”