April 20, 2024 — LONG BEACH, CA

• Felix Rosenqvist tops Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach qualifying for Honda, Meyer Shank Racing
• Sixth pole for Rosenqvist, first NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole for Meyer Shank Racing
• Honda drivers claim eight of the top-10 qualifying positions

Felix Rosenqvist returned to Honda power in the off-season, joining Meyer Shank Racing for the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and has continued his impressive start to the 2024 season, scoring pole position for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The pole for Rosenqvist comes on the heels of a third-place result in the non-championship Thermal Million Dollar Challenge event last month, and seventh in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Colton Herta, race winner here in 2021, will start fourth in his Andretti Global Honda; with teammate Marcus Ericsson qualifying fifth, and defending series champion Alex Palou starting sixth for Chip Ganassi Racing. In all, Honda drivers and teams claimed eight of the top-10 starting positions for tomorrow’s 49th running of the iconic street race.

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Honda Qualifying Results

1st Felix Rosenqvist	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
4th Colton Herta	Meyer Shank Racing Honda
5th Marcus Ericsson	Andretti Global Honda
6th Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
7th Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
8th Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9th Marcus Armstrong	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
10th Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Global Honda
12th Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
15th Tom Blomqvist-R	Meyer Shank Racing Honda
17th Linus Lundqvist-R	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
19th Pietro Fittipaldi	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
23rd Jack Harvey	Dale Coyne Racing Honda
26th Kyffin Simpson-R	Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
27th Nolan Siegel-R	Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda

R – Rookie

Quotes
Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) pole qualifier, his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole of 2024 and sixth career pole: “It was hard, man. Honestly, I didn’t think I had it as I did a massive ‘tank slapper’ coming out of Turn 5, but it worked out. What was the margin, four one-thousandths of a second? That’s INDYCAR man. Awesome power by Honda today and the whole Meyer Shank Racing team did a phenomenal job. Now let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
 
Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global Honda) will start fourth: “Happy to be starting in the first two rows with Honda power, there’s a lot still in the car that we can build on for the race tomorrow.”

Marcus Ericsson (#28 Andretti Global Honda) qualified fifth: “That’s another Fast Six [final qualifying round] for us. The car felt good, good power today, and good driveability. We can definitely win from P5, so I’m excited for the race tomorrow. I can’t wait to go racing!”

Fast Facts

• This weekend’s return of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to Southern California marks the fifth year of Acura title sponsorship of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, and the 49th running of North America’s oldest and most successful street circuit event.
• The racing arm of American Honda, Honda Performance Development, was renamed Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) in January to reflect the new role of the company in Honda’s global racing efforts. With this change, HRC US will take on an increased role in Honda’s global motorsports activities.
• Honda-powered drivers and teams have won the Grand Prix of Long Beach 16 times in 23 appearances. This includes victories in nine of the last 14 races; and a seven-year victory streak in Championship Auto Racing Teams competition, against multi-manufacturer competition, from 1996-2002.
• Honda’s most recent Long Beach success was scored last year in a dominating performance from Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who recorded his career-first INDYCAR victory from the pole, leading 53 of the 85-lap contest.
• In addition to the featured Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on Sunday, Acura teams will take part in today’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. Wayne Taylor Racing will field a pair of electrified Acura ARX-06 prototypes contesting the overall victory in the premier GTP division; while Gradient Racing will field Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 in the GTD category.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT APRIL 20, 2024 WILL POWER AND TEAM PENSKE WILL START FROM THE FRONT ROW WITH CHEVROLET FOR SUNDAY’S ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, will start on the front row in second for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.Just 0.0039 seconds separated the pole winner from Power in second, in what is the tightest front row on a street course in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history, dating back to 2008.Power, along with Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden represented Chevrolet in the Firestone Fast-Six Saturday.Scott McLaughlin (fourth) and Newgarden (sixth) finished in the top-six of Group 2, transferring to the fast twelve.Power finished fourth in Group 1, transferring to the fast twelve and representing Team Chevy.McLaughlin paced for Team Chevy during second practice with his fastest lap of 1:06.7359 in fifth.Chevrolet completed second practice Saturday morning with five drivers in the top-10, including McLaughlin, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean (seventh), Power (eighth), Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino (ninth), and Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi (10th).Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden 200th NTT INDYCAR SERIES event, with 149 of those coming behind the wheel of a Chevrolet.Sunday sees Team Chevy take to the track for warm-up at noon ET on Peacock. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach takes the green flag at 3 p.m. ET for the 85-lap, 167.28-mile event on USA Network. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 QUALIFYING RESULTS:2nd    Will Power3rd     Josef Newgarden

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:“The Hitachi Chevy was exactly where I needed it to be. It absolutely had pole-winning potential. I just did not nail the lap completely. Still, a great effort by Chevy and everyone on this No. 2 team. Felix (Rosenqvist), Will (Power) and I were so close in time; almost historically close. We can definitely make something happen in the race from the third position.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:“As the race approaches, I’m focused on finding the right strategy to stay at the front. I’ll be sending the Odyssey Battery Chevrolet toward the front on the first lap and making sure we have good stops and in-and-out laps, make the right strategic moves at the right times. While luck and good fortune play a role, if we keep heads down and keep working to hopefully find themselves at the front of the race on Sunday. I’m optimistic about our chances for success.” Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:“I’ll take a top-six. Just getting back into the Fast Six again is a big deal for me. Working hard on my qualifying, been quick all year in practice, so super stoked to transfer. Obviously, it’s a bit when you miss out by that much, but Felix (Rosenqvist) must have done a phenomenal lap. I couldn’t pick anywhere where I made a mistake. It was about as good as I could do, so it’s cool to get the Verizon car on the front row again. It’s been a long time. We can certainly win from there. You’ve just got to be smart. You can never predict what’s going to happen. We’ll try and get a good start. We’ll try and stay in second and go from there.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I wasn’t unhappy with it, to be honest. We’re just slow or not fast enough. No real explanation for that. I thought it was going to be fine, at least, to transfer, but I think we went the wrong way in P2 and went back to what we had yesterday, and I just think we missed the window a little bit. I wasn’t unhappy with the car at all, just not fast enough. The race is a different monster, so you try and get it as good as possible for what this race trends to be, which is usually fuel-save, sitting behind the leader kind of thing, unless it starts getting messy with yellows. We just need to focus on that tomorrow and make our way forward with pit stops and all that stuff. It’s a good thing we’ve got a fresh set of greens to use in the race tomorrow, I’d say. I’d be surprised if it’s a black (tires) race. If our race car is good, I can (win). We just need to make sure we get it at that position, and we get it in that window where I can really take advantage of the tools that I’ve got. For now, we just have to really dive in to see what, where we missed it, because it’s not a tenth, it’s three-tenths. It’s quite a chunk here.” Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“Of course, I’m disappointed because I’m a driver and I always want to do the best job possible. It was my first ever INDYCAR qualifying session. It was really fun. I pushed the limits. That’s not as bad as I thought. Not so far from Pato (O’Ward), and he’s a really good driver. I have to look at the data to understand where I can find some time on him, but overall, of course, it’s the first INDYCAR qualifying. That’s fine. We’ll work hard. We will improve. Tomorrow is the race, so it’s a completely new thing for me.” What goals do you have now?“Starting so far back like this, I will just try to complete the race, learn as much as possible on the strategy, on the tire degradation, on the fuel saving. It will be new for me. Hopefully we can grab some positions. I will try to do my best and I think finishing in the top-15 or close to the top-10, that can be a good goal. Let’s focus on the race now. I will work a little bit on the data to see where I can improve, but overall, that was fun and I enjoyed it.”   Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“We’ve had some moments where it was okay but struggling for grip. Not much we could do. It’s not there yet. We’ve been fighting the same problems since we rolled off, and we’ve had glimpses of it being better. It’s not just quite within the window that we need. We need to keep at it and see what we can do to make it better.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“Tough day for everybody on the No. 14 crew. Just fighting some gremlins inside the car, and in this series, it’s tight. It’s hard to lose practice and then qualify competitively with how tight the field is. Overall, some valuable things were learned to move into warm up and then the race tomorrow. Without a doubt, we should be able to advance without any issues.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“Our balance on the black Firestone Firehawks was pretty good. When we switched to the green Firehawks, I couldn’t feel the car underneath me as well. It is unfortunate, we have had a strong weekend so far. We will focus on the positives and see what we can do about getting a little bit better on the greens. We’ll do our best to move forward during the race!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“I think everyone hoped to be up there a bit further! We were pretty good on the black Firestone Firehawks, but we expected a bit more from the green tires. We have made good decisions so far and have a good plan for the race tomorrow. I look forward to passing some guys!” Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“I think qualifying didn’t really go the way we wanted. I think we had a little bit more pace than where we show on track. It was probably a little bit conservative in the first part of qualifying, and we finished eighth. It was tight, and we didn’t think it would be that tight. We made some set up changes that were not the right ones, but I still think we should have been through. A bit more work to do for the race.”   Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“We were in the worst group because I am only three tenths off on my fastest lap. I made a mistake on the last lap and I lost my fastest lap, but I only lost one position because the next lap was similar. I am three or four tenths off of the leaders. Not bad at all. I think our group is really competitive. We have good cars as we were ninth and 10th in practice. Not as good of a result in qualifying, but I think we have a chance to get good points tomorrow. Both Romain (Grosjean) and I have good cars, but in this INDYCAR it is so competitive.

WILL POWER, DRIVER OF THE NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Qualifying Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up qualifying, we are joined by Will Power (indiscernible). WILL POWER: That’s been the story of the last two years. One of the data engineers said if we added up all the time you missed getting in the Fast Six, it would be 2/10ths. At St. Pete I missed the Fast Six by 21 thousandths. What was this one? THE MODERATOR: 39 10 thousandths. WILL POWER: One day I’m not going to be that far. We had a bunch of poles by 21 thousandths of a second. It ebbs and flows. That’s my experience over time. THE MODERATOR: Is there a section of the track… WILL POWER: There was not much left on the table. Like really, I know, every sector… The only thing I could say is a bit into 10 and the hairpin. You’re in the going to see a chunk anywhere. It’s going to be hundredths. That just shows how good of a lap Felix did, how tight it is in this series. THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions. Q. How long did it take for you to nail turn eight after what you went through this morning?WILL POWER: Pretty much my best on my last lap. Slowly got better and better and better and better. The last lap was the best. Q. Was the car completely back to normal after the repairs?WILL POWER: Yeah. All I was doing was damaging the toe link. I was so sideways, it bent the toe link. Done it three times. Just lights up out of there. It’s been (indiscernible). It’s much nicer. Used to have a big hump there. Now it’s really nice and smooth. A really cool corner. Yeah, not what the boys wanted to do. I felt bad, but yeah. Q. Obviously turn eight, the change to it, has made it a little bit different. How do you anticipate that affecting things tomorrow?WILL POWER: Yeah, it’s made it nicer. It just made it so you can get on the throttle earlier, so you have more power when you’re getting out near the wall. Yeah, I keep testing it. You should lift a little. You’ll crash otherwise. Q. We have seen continual opposite lock seemingly corner by corner practice and qualifying. You describe why we are getting so much of that. Is it tire, track, both?WILL POWER: I actually think it’s the right rear we have now. You can actually get away with being a little sideways and not lose time. It’s a more nimble car. You can hustle it more simply. Q. Will, you come in here clearly having more fun. How much is that a translation into your speed or are you having more fun because you’re faster?WILL POWER: I’m having more fun because I’m going faster, honestly. I’ve been quick all year, even in testing. Everywhere I have been quick. St. Pete qualifying I didn’t put it together. Went the wrong way on the setup. I have been quick. Super stoked to be in the top six. I’ve worked pretty hard in the off-season. I’ve continually worked hard my whole career. I’m still working extremely hard on all my driving details, constantly improving and evolving. It’s never ending for me. Enjoying it. Enjoying it. I love the competition. It’s tough extracting the most out of yourself. Yeah, you get to compete with different eras of guys. The young group will be around for another 20 year. Competing with the middle group, which is sort of Newgarden, Rossi. You have Dixon and myself. Q. (No microphone.)WILL POWER: I’m friends with all of them. I like ’em all. You do get pissed off with them at times. You just know that’s how it goes. It’s just tough competition. There isn’t a guy I dislike in the paddock. I feel privileged to race at this level with these guys. I feel like recently there’s a lot of respect on track. There’s a lot of respect for racing. Yeah, man, it’s a great situation to be in. You get paid to drive. Great community in INDYCAR. Very nice over here. Q. Seemed like in a sense you must feel fortunate to get into the Fast Six because there’s so much stacking up in the early sessions. Were there close calls for you? Did you feel like you were fortunate to get in because of the stacking up and traffic?WILL POWER: There wasn’t any in qualifying. You get a penalty if you do that. Yeah, in practice it’s always like that here. You just can’t get frustrated. It’s just going to be that way. I was in the pits most of the time (smiling). I didn’t have to deal with it. Kind of helped, I think. Q. You talked about the new changes to turn eight. Do you see that as a better opportunity to get a run and move going into nine?WILL POWER: Yeah, it’s hard to say. Will people make mistakes because it has a bit of a weird, like, grip transition? Maybe, yeah. It’s a very open entry. It can do like O’Ward does and just jam it in there, man, jam it in there. You’re going to have to deal with someone after. Yeah, it’s become a riskier corner to make a pass, to be honest. Used to have a curb there, so you had to slow it up and turn later. It’s a brave corner, I would say. That wasn’t your question, but I’m just putting that in there. Q. You talked about the difference in the weight of the car at the moment, waiting for the hybrid. Are we going to see some of that translate into the differences of the car for the 500 this year in terms of weight distribution?WILL POWER: The car we could say will be a long time at the 500 because they’re a bit lighter. Q. (No microphone.)WILL POWER: I think my pole will be like 236.5 will be my quickest lap. Averaging in the 35s. Yeah, that’s quick. Q. Will, what improvements do you feel you have made as a team and yourself in qualifying this year?WILL POWER: Yeah, it’s a couple of things. I think the engine’s better. I think Chevy did some really good work in the off-season. As a team, we’ve worked hard on street course setups and road course. Overall actually we were kind of disappointed with the season, even though the team won the 500. Yeah, we’re just stronger overall. I’ve personally worked hard. I’m sure the other two boys, they’re working hard as well. I think it’s all clicking well.

April 20, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse are set to start 16th in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Burton earned that spot with a lap at 179.963 miles per hour during qualifying Saturday morning. There was no pre-race practice, per NASCAR rules for superspeedway events.

Sunday’s 500-mile, 188-lap is scheduled to get the green flag just after 2 p.m. Central Time (3 p.m. Eastern Time) with TV coverage on FOX.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 120.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIES TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY GEICO 500TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTAPRIL 20, 2024

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway.  Media Availability Quotes:  THERE’S ALWAYS THE EXPECTATION FOR THIS NO. 9 TEAM TO BE COMPETITVE AND BE WHERE YOU GUYS WERE LAST WEEK, BUT WHAT HAS THIS WEEK BEEN LIKE? HAS IT BEEN ANY DIFFERENT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, JUST GETTING THE WIN AND BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE WHEN YOU HAVEN’T HAD THAT MOMENT IN OVER A YEAR? “Yeah, I mean I can’t say that our prep towards the next week was really any different at all. I certainly think it’s important to take a little time to enjoy those moments just because they’re hard to achieve, as I’ve said a lot. It’s just hard to win these races; put yourself in that position and be competitive the way that we expect ourselves to be. It just takes a lot of work; takes a lot of effort. So, whenever you are able to accomplish that as a group, I think it’s worth celebrating. It’s worth enjoying because we all work really hard at it.. not just me, but our whole team. We spend a lot of time traveling and on the road and whatnot, so yeah – I think you have to enjoy those moments. But certainly, when Monday or Tuesday rolls around, whether you like it or not, the next weekend is coming in a hurry and you have to make sure you’re ready to go the next weekend like you were last weekend when it went well.” ON THE LAST LAP, IF YOU’RE NEAR THE FRONT, DO YOU ASSUME THAT IT’S GOING TO GO TO THE FINISH AND THAT’S THE WAY YOU PLAN YOUR STRATEGY, OR DO YOU HAVE TO PLAN THAT THERE’S GOING TO BE, MORE THAN LIKELY, A WRECK ON THE BACKSTRETCH? “Yeah, that’s a $64 question.. I don’t know. I think for me personally, I look at it like it’s going to go to the finish and try to position yourself where you want to be when you get back to the start-finish line. I mean that’s a really hard thing to guess, like when a wreck is going to happen, if it’s going to happen.  So, I don’t know about someone else.. ask (Ryan) Blaney because I feel like he’s won about the last 15 races here and should have won about 14 Daytona 500’s, so whatever he does I feel like is the right thing. But for me personally, I look at it like we’re coming back to the checkered flag, if I’m up in the mix. If I’m leading, I’m obviously OK with it going either way, and I think if you’re anything past that, you certainly want it to go back to the line.” THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE NEXT GEN CAR IN 2022 AND 2023, ONE OF THE THINGS WE SAW WAS WE HAD A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT RACE TEAMS, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS, WINNING RACES. NINE RACES INTO THIS YEAR, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS WON FIVE RACES, JOE GIBBS RACING HAS WON THREE RACES, AND THAT’S ONLY LEFT ROOM FOR ONE OTHER TEAM TO WIN A RACE. HOW EXACTLY DID HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS GET SO FAR AHEAD OF EVERYONE, AND THEN DO YOU FEEL LIKE WE’RE GOING TO SEE MORE OF THIS AND A LITTLE LESS OF THE PARITY THAT WE SAW THE FIRST TWO YEARS? “Yeah, they’re all the same, right? Yeah, I just think it’s silly that we think that we’re going to keep the big teams and that type of power away from winning in the long haul. I think that’s just motorsports. The big teams and the resources behind them are always going to find the advantage, and whatever it is, no matter how small the advantage is or isn’t, I think that it’s always going to be extracted and extracted first by those groups. I think that’s just racing and I don’t think it matters how hard we try to make everything the same.. it’s never going to be the same exactly. I think we are certainly fighting for smaller increments now than we ever have before, but there are still details that you have to push for, search for and everything else to be better than the next guy, and those big teams are always, in my view, going to nine times out of 10 find that first.  I think the first year, nobody knew what was right and what was wrong, so there were a lot of different paths, and I think you could find success in different ways. You might back into a little bit of success not knowing what you didn’t know at that point in time, but everybody has been learning this car for a couple of years now. Everybody is learning what makes it goes fast, and from there, I think you’ll see more of what you’ve seen for the last however many years.”  WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE ADVANTAGES AS A RACE TEAM, HOW DO YOU KEEP THAT ADVANTAGE? WHEN YOU’RE IN THE GARAGE AREA, HOW DO YOU START TO GET AN INKLING THAT – OH, THE REST OF THE COMPETITION MIGHT BE CATCHING UP TO US.. WE’VE GOT TO DO ‘XYZ’ IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN WHAT WE’VE GOT? “Yeah, I don’t think you do. I don’t think you ever can. I think that this sport goes in cycles, and it goes in ups-and-downs. I’ve been around it long enough to see that. Certain manufacturers will have advantages for a certain period of time, and then it will swing a different direction and vice versa. I think that’s just the way it works, and I’m not sure that you can do anything to combat that. I just think that you look at the timeline of when bodies are submitted and not submitted by other manufacturers. Some people, when you get behind, you probably work a little harder in certain areas to make it better, and I think it just creates this natural flow of manufacturers being good and struggling and you just have to ride that wave. I don’t think you can ever stop that.” ALAN (GUSTAFSON) TALKED A LOT THIS WEEK ABOUT THE POSITIVITY, THE TEAM HAD BEEN POSITIVE. HE HAD CONTINUED TO FEEL THE POSITIVITY IN YOU AND KNEW YOU WERE CLOSE TO THAT BREAKTHROUGH WIN. DID YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY THROUGHOUT THE LAST YEAR OR SO WITH THE WINLESS STREAK AS ALAN, EVEN LEADING INTO TEXAS LAST WEEKEND? “Yeah, I think he’s probably referencing more this year and just the work that we’ve done this season; the gains that we’ve made towards the end of last year and certainly the first part of this year. I’ve been fortunate to experience it a couple of times throughout my career – where you just have a really good group of people that are working really well together, and I feel like we have that right now. We’ve had it at other times, too. It just becomes really important to try and take advantage of that because people are going to move on; have other opportunities, take new jobs, get promotions at other teams.. who knows, right? Those things just don’t last forever, so yeah I certainly feel that way about our group. I think we work really well together. Everybody is driven to work for and with each other and push one another to be better. That’s a special thing and it’s really fun to be a part of. I hope that we can all stay together for a long time, but unfortunately that’s just not how it works. But what’s cool about it is that we do have a really good group right now and I think we’re all really driven to make the very most of that while things are clicking.” ALAN (GUSTAFSON) WAS KIND OF EMPATHETIC, SAYING THAT YOU GUYS MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN WINNING, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS, YOU GUYS WERE RIGHT THERE WITH THE BEST. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GUYS WERE IN THAT BALLPARK, AND THEN AFTER THIS WIN, HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GUYS STACK UP AGAINST THE LARSON’S, THE BYRON’S, THE HAMLIN’S, THE GUYS WE KIND OF TALK ABOUT AS THE ‘CHAMPIONSHIP FAVORITES’?“Yeah, I definitely think there’s still room for improvement, for sure. I’m not naïve to the end of the race and the improvements that I feel like we needed to have, or I needed to do a little better to make our car last on those long runs. I mean Denny (Hamlin) passed me under that green-flag run, and in a lot of scenarios, the race would have likely been over unless we would have had those late-race cautions. So, like I know these things.. I’ve been doing it for a while. But I also felt like we were right there in the mix though, too.. much closer than we had been, and we were just like a tiny little fraction of an adjustment, if any, away from being able to get the lead in that scenario and control the race to the finish under a green-flag circumstance. I feel like we’re as close as we’ve been, probably since this car kind of took a different direction in the later part of 2022. I think our balance and how we come to the racetrack and the things that we’re talking about is exactly right. And then I think a lot of it from there is just how I manage a run and making sure I can make it last. It’s really hard to explain some of these things, but I think a lot of it kind of falls in my hands. I think the balance of our car last week was in a really, really good position. I have absolutely nothing to complain about, and I told them the same thing in our meetings post-race.” WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST REGRET FROM THIS PAST SEASON GOING INTO THIS SEASON? “My greatest regret.. I really don’t know. I can’t change any of it, so what’s it matter?” WAS THERE ANY SORT OF RELIEF OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE PRESSURE IS OFF OF YOU NOW THAT YOU HAVE A WIN, OR ARE YOU JUST FOCUSED ON STATUS QUO? “I feel like – I mean like I’ve referenced at the beginning of being in here, I think it’s nice to win, for sure. It’s nice to get a victory, and I think those things you have to celebrate because they’re really hard to achieve, for sure. But for me, it’s always just about being competitive and just being in the mix. I said it after Martinsville (Speedway), like yeah – it sucked to lose the race on a late-race restart. Not that we lost, but we didn’t win. I mean William (Byron) was controlling the race right and we ran second. But also at the same time, were competitive and on the front-row for the last restart. Like that stuff is fun for me.. a lot more fun than getting to the last restart and trying to figure out whether or not you’re going to run 15th or 18th, you know? At that point, it’s like we’re back here just fighting like crazy for what, you know? I think it’s really always been about that for me; just being competitive and being in the mix. Some days are going to go your way and some days aren’t, if you’re around and if you’re upfront. That part has been fun and that’s always been the goal I think – just getting back to that type of position and feeling like we’re among the ones that have a shot each week.”  LAST WEEKEND, TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TOOK DOWN THE SCORING PYLON AND EVERYONE WAS SURPRISED THAT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY TOOK THEIRS DOWN TOO. ARE YOU A FAN OF THAT? DO YOU USE THE SCORING PYLON WHEN YOU’RE RACING? DO YOU THINK THAT HAS AS MUCH OF AN EFFECT THAT IT’S BEEN MADE OUT TO BE ON SOCIAL MEDIA? “I honestly didn’t notice that it was gone at Texas (Motor Speedway). Is it gone here, too? That’s interesting.. why?”  NO MIC. “Was it not functioning? It worked, right?” NO MIC. “They were old? Yeah, I don’t know on that one. That one’s above me, I’m afraid. But I don’t see where it was hurting anything. I mean surely it wouldn’t make the power bill that much higher, right?”  WE SAW IN DAYTONA THAT FUEL SAVING WAS PRETTY AGGRESSIVE AND IT SLOWED THE PACE OF THE RACE DOWN. SHOULD WE EXPECT MORE OF THAT TOMORROW, ALONG THOSE SAME LINES OF HOW AGGRESSIVE IT WAS IN FEBRUARY? “I would say so. You know, you’re just trying to limit your time on pit road for the last stop to a stage or the last stop to the race. Two things have happened – one, the pit stops have gotten really fast because we have one lug nut, so you’re talking sub-10 second stops, and more people are getting in the sub-10 second stop range. So even on a racetrack that we change tires, the amount of fuel you have to take for four, you’re still waiting on gas if you’re all the way out. So you see that at stage ends at race tracks that we would take four tires and then certainly at speedways where we don’t take tires on those green-flag cycles that get you to the stage. It’s all about time on pit road, so how are you going to limit your time on pit road? You’re going to figure out how to save gas. And that’s why you see like – say at Texas or something last weekend, Richmond or wherever.. somewhere that we would take tires, right? A guy comes in, gets off cycle during a run.. maybe has a problem or something and they end up pitting earlier, so they have more fuel at the stage and they can take advantage of their fast pit stop. That’s why you see some people jump like eight spots at a stage or something.. likely because A) they had a good pit stop and B) they didn’t have to fill all the way up from being out.” WINNING TAKES CARE OF A LOT OF THINGS WHEN IT COMES TO THE POINTS AND ALL OF THAT. BUT HOW CLOSELY DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO STAGE POINTS OR PLAYOFF POINTS THAT THE NO. 9 TEAM IS CHASING? “I think it’s a really big deal. To me, the best example that I can give myself is our year in 2022, I think it was. We had a really good summer stretch; won a few races and won some stages. When the playoffs started, we had like.. I can’t remember, it was somewhere in the high 30s, maybe close to 40 points. Someone could maybe tell me or not, but it was a bunch. We ran horrendously through the last 10 races and made the final four and that was why. So, I think that in itself tells you everything that you need to know about how important those playoff points are because it can take a really average final 10 and give you a shot in those last three or four weeks. That’s worth its weight in gold, so I think it’s important to rack up as many as you can while the regular season is going on.”

TF Sport Corvettes seek to make their way through GT3 field after qualifying IMOLA, Italy (April 20, 2024) – TF Sport and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will look to race their way through the LMGT3 field following Saturday’s qualifying session ahead of the Six Hours of Imola for the World Endurance Championship.

Tom Van Rompuy led the TF Sport qualifying results with the 11th-fastest class time in the No. 81 Corvette that he will share with Rui Andrade and Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood.  Van Rompuy’s best lap of 1:43.897 (105.695 mph) was less 0.2 seconds from making the 10-car Hyperpole session to set the first five rows of the grid. He was the pole-winner for the season-opening race in Qatar. Teammate Hiroshi Koizumi will start the No. 82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R directly behind Van Rompuy in 13th after his best lap of 1:44.108 (105.509 mph). He will drive with Sebastien Baud and factory driver Daniel Juncadella – the trio having finished 10th after 10 hours at Qatar. TF Sport tested at Imola in the weeks leading up to this weekend’s event at the 3.05-mile, 19-turn circuit. The Corvettes were 1-2 in Friday’s two practice sessions, but changing temperatures and track conditions Saturday swung the momentum away from the TF Sport entries.

CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION Corvette Racing media information is updated and available throughout the IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach and FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Imola.  Materials include Corvette Racing event advance and quotes, Corvette Racing stats and figures, Corvette Z06 GT3.R racecar comparisons, Corvette Racing Fast Facts, driver biographies and Corvette Racing photography, among other items.

The FIA WEC’s Six Hours of Imola is set for 1 p.m. Central European Time / 7 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, April 21. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage of the race, as will the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of the race.

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – QUALIFIED 11TH IN LMGT3: “This weekend, we didn’t have the package to go for pole. But let’s hope we can have a package for good race pace. It’s a bit of the opposite from last time (Qatar) where we had good qualifying pace but not such a good race pace and some technical issues. We have done quite a bit of work with some small changes or updates from Qatar. One is working better than the other, but we need to keep putting some work on it. For now we are missing a bit of top speed but we will do the best we can as drivers and as a team to make a good effort and try to put a good result together.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Yesterday was amazing. We came here testing and hit the ground running pretty nice. We’re working through a few things on our end so maybe it looked slightly better on paper than it really was. Final practice was a little struggle, but as a team we are learning this new Corvette with every session. The track changed quite a bit today with a lot more rubber down and temperatures increased. We’re adapting with that. Once we start to do more running and get a better picture, we’ll be able to adapt having that experience in this scenario again for the races later in the year. There are a few bits to work on for the long stuff but there is still a lot to play for.”

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “There have been some ups and downs. Yesterday we were quite strong, and I think today we took a slight step back with the balance. Besides that, I think we have a strong car and we showed it all day long Friday. I think we have a good package for the race after our testing here. It’s only the second race of the season and the second race for the team with this car, so we are finding things all the time. If we put everything together, we can have a strong race.”

HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – QUALIFIED 13TH IN LMGT3: “The feeling of the car isn’t that bad at all. I couldn’t quite get my best lap in during qualifying. But I’m not giving up for the race and I’ll try to get the best position I can in the race. Rather than the car being one that can put in one really fast lap, it’s a car that has good pace over a longer run, so I think we can have a good finishing position tomorrow.”

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Today was a bit harder. We’re still sorting out some little hiccups here and there. We’re working on the driveability of the engine and still developing further things. We’re getting close to the limits of the power levels. We are still learning. It’s been a difficult weekend for sure because with the curb striking and so on, the torque is very inconsistent but that is the same for everybody. Other than that, everything else feels great. The car balance is very good in the corners and the Corvette is very nice to drive.”

SEBASTIEN BAUD, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was a good couple of free practices yesterday. I drove a lot and we all improved. I’m happy because the car is very good and the setup is good for this track. This is my first race in Europe for the WEC, and I really like this track. There are a lot of sponsors and partners here with me. On the track, it’s very difficult because we have a lot of traffic for a track as short as Imola. For the race, it will be very important to be careful in the traffic with both Hypercars and the LMGT3 cars. The car is very good and very fast. The goal for the race is a top-five and I hope the podium.”

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R making progress on technical circuit in heart of Italy

IMOLA, Italy (April 20, 2024) – The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R will start on the sixth row Sunday for the 6 Hours of Imola.Alex Lynn, who will co-drive the Cadillac Racing Hypercar, in the second race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 31.397 seconds in the 12-minute qualifying session on the 3-mile (4.9 km), 21-turn (12 left) Autodromo Internazionale Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit.The facility, which hosted its first race in 1953 and last Intercontinental Le Mans Cup — precursor of the WEC — race in 2011, replaced Monza on the WEC calendar this year as the latter is undergoing scheduled work. Lynn, who qualified seventh in the season-opening race last month at Qatar, improved by 1.5 seconds upon the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R’s best lap time in the three free practice sessions. Antonio Fuoco, driving the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse in its home race, earned the pole with a lap of 1:29.456 in the 10-minuite Hyperpole session reserved for the top 10 cars from the first session. The field will take the green flag at 1 p.m. Central European Time / 7 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, April 21. MotorTrend, Max, discorvery+ and the FIA WEC app will provide coverage of the race in the U.S. Radio Le Mans will broadcast the race.

Ride alongWatch the race from the drivers’ perspective in the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R HERE. Media resources* Drivers CV: About Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn* ’24 WEC statistics* ’23 WEC statistics

EVENT RECAP: Round 1 [Long Beach]

It feels great to be competing in Formula Drift again! RAD Industries race program has a few new partners that have come on board since our previous 2022 season in Formula Drift. We are happy to welcome SUNEX Tools, LOCTITE, AMSOIL and Fluidampr to the team! We showed up to Round 1 in Long Beach recharged and hungrier than ever knowing that we needed to accumulate points, especially with the new implemented ranking system. The new system eliminated the traditional qualifying, so going into Round 1 was based heavily on standing points from 2023. Dan battled through the Top 16 Seeding Bracket on Friday finishing 4th place which matched him up with Aasbo for the Top 32 on Saturday. The combination of Dan’s additional seat time in 2023 and the Supra being the most competitive it has ever been was evident in Dan’s performance. Dan was like a magnet to Aasbo’s car in chase until he found himself in the tire BB’s where he lost traction out of the 3rd outer zone giving Aasbo the win. Dan stood out through practice, warm up, seeding battles and Top 32 earning compliments from the judges on his comeback and his exciting, aggresive driving style throughout the race weekend! We are pumped for a great season ahead, next stop will be ROUND 2 on May 9-11 in Braselton, Georgia.

CHATHAM, LA (April 19, 2024) – When Seth Bergman got the call from former ASCS National champion Wayne Johnson to come and drive the TwoC Racing ride, he knew he had to make an impact right away.

Consider the impact made. The Snohomish, WA-racer scored the win in the 2024 ASCS National Tour opener at Super Bee Speedway Friday night, leading all but one lap en route to his 19th career National Tour victory in his first start with the Oklahoma-based team.

“I think I was able to gel as quick as I did just because I’ve been friends with Wayne for a long time,” Bergman said. “I was able to come into a team being familiar with the guy in charge.

“I just felt instantly a level of comfort and ease; I didn’t feel like they were down my back to do anything. I felt like they had a great team here with a lot of pieces in place to perform well.”

Johnson, the 2000 ASCS National champion from Oklahoma City, OK, was injured in a crash during an event in Texas last weekend, rendering him unable to race while he navigates his recovery process. He soon phoned Bergman – a longtime friend and fellow competitor – and asked him to fill the seat in his absence. Bergman accepted the offer and wasted no time in representing of the nation’s most accomplished Winged 360 Sprint Car drivers, winning in his first night out.

“Getting an opportunity like this – it feels great to put the hard work in and be noticed and have the phone ring for an opportunity like this,” Bergman said. “The phone rang too because I’ve known Wayne for a really long time. We’re friends. Part of this sport is about networking and who you know.

“It’s very unfortunate to see what happened to Wayne. I honestly get a little emotional thinking about it. He’s a friend, and seeing him in the condition he’s in and not knowing when he’s gonna return, if he is, is a lot to wrap your head around.”

While he led most of the race, Bergman’s second lap was most notable. He charged into Turn 1 with a full head of steam and got underneath Andrew Deal to take second, then powered around the outside of polesitter Brady Baker for the lead out of Turn 4.

“I knew from the warmup lap, I was gonna be sporty early,” Bergman said. “Just experience. Andrew’s very experienced too, but he kinda got snookered on the start – Baker looked like he came up and got into [Deal], so he was maybe feeling his car out for a lap or two after that. I was able to pounce on opportunities quick.”

From there on out, it was smooth sailing for Bergman and the No. 2C. He fended off all challenges from Deal and Baker on restarts and cruised to the $4,000 payday.

After chasing Bergman nearly the entire race, Deal crossed the stripe second – a new career-best finish on the National Tour. The Rookie of the Year contender from Caney, KS, challenged for the lead around the halfway point but was unable to get close enough to make a move in the end.

“It was kinda sketchy first lap – polesitter got a little wide on the get-go and put us in the fence, so it took me 3-to-4 laps to recover from that just to make sure nothing was torn up,” Deal said. “After a big hit like that, you don’t really go into the next turn too terribly hard.”

After battling back-and-forth with Deal for the runner-up spot in the first half of the event, Baker crossed the stripe third. Deal wrestled the spot away for good on Lap 8, and then came a hard-charging Koty Adams who raced from eighth on the grid and passed Baker for third on Lap 22. Adams later blew a tire on Lap 27, ruining his podium run and handing the spot back to Baker, who drove it home with his first Tour podium finish of the season.

“The car was just really loose the whole race,” Baker said. “Ran the wing about as far back as it would go and was still way free. But all-in-all, I think we had a good night.”

Reigning ASCS National champion Jason Martin finished fourth and captured the night’s Hard Charger honors in his drive up from 22nd on the starting grid. Oklahoma racer Brandon Anderson completed the top five from 11th on the grid.

UP NEXT

ASCS National Tour racing continues Saturday, April 20, at Super Bee Speedway in Chatham, LA. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming available on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2C-Seth Bergman[4]; 2. 15D-Andrew Deal[2]; 3. 71-Brady Baker[1]; 4. 36-Jason Martin[22]; 5. 55B-Brandon Anderson[11]; 6. 95-Matt Covington[5]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[7]; 8. 71T-Channin Tankersley[23]; 9. 10-Landon Britt[17]; 10. 45X-Kyler Johnson[19]; 11. 88-Terry Easum[3]; 12. 2J-Zach Blurton[18]; 13. 91-Michael Day[12]; 14. 88K-Jordan Knight[16]; 15. 2-Brekton Crouch[13]; 16. 6G-Bryan Gossel[20]; 17. 88B-Brandon Blenden[24]; 18. 26-Jacob Harris[10]; 19. 6-Koty Adams[8]; 20. 14-Jordon Mallett[21]; 21. 24-Tyler Harris[9]; 22. 9-Josh McCord[15]; 23. 9L-Lane Whittington[6]; 24. 121-Jan Howard[14]

Knowles, Overton, Mills, McLaughlin, Thornton, and Seawright among the drivers to lock their way into Saturday’s finale at Talladega Short Track

TALLADEGA, AL (April 19, 2024) – Two first-time winners in the same night opened the Alabama Gang 100 at the Talladega Short Track Friday night. 

With the night split into two 25-lap Prelim Features, Dylan Knowles and Max McLaughlin each scored a prelim victory – their first time in Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models. 

The top-three finishers in each race also locked into Saturday’s 75-lap, $35,000-to-win Alabama Gang 100 finale, which includes Brandon Overton, Trey Mills, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Sam Seawright. 

Feature 1 – Dylan Knowles

Throughout Friday’s program, Lanett, AL native Dylan Knowles controlled the night from the top spot. He started by winning the Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap of the Night, then followed up with his first Simpson Quick Time Award. 

Rolling off from the pole, Knowles commanded the duration of Feature 1 with ease – keeping reigning Alabama Gang 100 winner Brandon Overton at bay to claim the win.

“I knew Brandon was back there,” Knowles said. “I said to myself that I’m not getting off this bottom and I’ve been known to hit the Yuke tires. I never been in a situation leading like this before, so I feel really confident heading into tomorrow night.”

Overton finished second to Knowles after attempting each lane possible to get by the #66K of Knowles. With the result, Overton places himself in contention to go back-to-back at the 3/8-mile “Hornet’s Nest.”

Locking into his first World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Feature on Saturday night with a third place finish is St. Augustine, FL driver Trey Mills. The 15-year-old driver managed to keep in line with the two in front of him while managing to fend against the veterans to lock in the final spot in Feature 1.

Gray Court, SC driver Chris Madden finished fourth and Hyndman, PA driver Drake Troutman completed the Feature’s top five.

Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 66K-Dylan Knowles[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 3. 14JR-Trey Mills[2]; 4. 44-Chris Madden[12]; 5. 7-Drake Troutman[7]; 6. 17M-Dale McDowell[9]; 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 8. 19M-Spencer Hughes[8]; 9. 9-Nick Hoffman[17]; 10. 19-Dustin Sorensen[16]; 11. 3S-Brian Shirley[18]; 12. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[10]; 13. 11-Cruz Skinner[20]; 14. 78-Matthew Brocato[14]; 15. B1-Brent Larson[15]; 16. 157-Mike Marlar[13]; 17. 96-Tanner English[4]; 18. 25-Tim Roszell[23]; 19. 6JR-Parker Martin[21]; 20. 18X-Michael Page[5]; 21. 54-David Breazeale[6]; 22. 31-Tyler Millwood[22]; 23. 17-Justin Hammett[24]; 24. 30-Todd Cooney[19]

Feature 2 – Max McLaughlin

Looking to solidify his place in the ranks of the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models, Mooresville, NC driver Max McLaughlin took it one step closer with his performance in Feature 2.

Starting on the outside of the front row, McLaughlin quickly took over the top spot from Newport, TN driver Jimmy Owens on Lap One and never relinquished the lead – despite constant attempts from Martinsville, IN driver Ricky Thornton Jr. to get by the GR Smith-owned #22*.

Rain around the Talladega area made its presence known in Feature 2, as the race was called due to the weather that had impacted the track.

With the win, McLaughlin will roll off from his best start in a dirt Late Model in Saturday night’s 75-lap Feature.

“This is only my fifth or sixth time in a Late Model,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been an up-and-down year, but I gotta learn. It’s a different world here and I gotta get up to speed as fast as I can. We got a great race team and a great race car makes the driver’s job a lot easier. It makes me excited for the rest of the year.”

Thornton finished the Feature in second, keeping his #20RT in contention to win throughout the race while making any attempt in any lane around the track to overtake McLaughlin.

Fort Payne, AL driver Sam Seawright completed the Feature podium after racing his #16S into the final transfer position to lock in for his chance at a first Series win on Saturday night.

Reigning Series champion Bobby Pierce finished fourth by climbing up five positions by using the high line of the track. Owens came home to finish fifth.

Feature 2 (25 Laps): 1. 22*-Max McLaughlin[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[5]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 6. 6-Kyle Larson[6]; 7. C6-Oakley Johns[12]; 8. 97C-Cody Overton[15]; 9. 12-Ashton Winger[11]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 11. 40B-Kyle Bronson[10]; 12. 05-TJ Brittain[18]; 13. 22F-Chris Ferguson[24]; 14. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[22]; 15. 187-David McCoy[16]; 16. 5-Chase Oliver[17]; 17. 99-JR Moseley[13]; 18. 11S-Austin Smith[23]; 19. 38-Dillon Tidmore[20]; 20. 14W-Dustin Walker[21]; 21. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 22. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 23. 4-Ryan Wilson[19]; 24. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[14]

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models race for one more night at the Talladega Short Track to close out the Alabama Gang 100 weekend on Saturday, April 20. The 75-lap Feature will provide a race of attrition as one driver goes home with $35,000 in the bank. For more information and tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model race live on DIRTVision.

Derani drives No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R to top at Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 19, 2024) – The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R earned its third consecutive pole position to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) season. Reigning GTP champion Pipo Derani guided the hybrid Cadillac racecar to a best lap of 1 minute, 11.388 seconds on the tight 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary downtown street circuit to top the 10-car field for the 100-minute race Saturday.

Cadillac has earned four poles and an additional five front row starts at Long Beach since joining the IMSA prototype class in 2017. Cadillac Racing will seek its sixth victory in seven races at Long Beach. “I put in the lap in early and it was enough, apparently,” said Derani, who has driven to the pole in each race and upped his career IMSA record to 12. “Today the car was on rails. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac was fantastic. We took it off rails a little bit on the last flying lap but came back to it. It’s great to be on pole.” Sebastien Bourdais qualified third in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R with a best lap of 1:11.411. Bourdais, a four-time winner at Long Beach, was limited to five laps because of a hybrid system issue at the start of the 15-minute session. Bourdais and van der Zande started on the front row at Daytona and Sebring. Both Cadillac Racing entries topped the time chart in the two pre-qualifying practice sessions.

“Congratulations to the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R team for their efforts in winning the important pole position for the sprint race,” said Mark Stielow, GM director of motorsports competition. “Pipo Derani drove another great qualifying session on an exceptionally technical street course. We’re looking forward to Cadillac Racing teams being in contention for the victory tomorrow.” Both the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (Rolex 24 At Daytona) and No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R (Mobil1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Present3ed by Cadillac) have recorded runner-up finishes this season. A Cadillac DPi won five consecutive races at Long Beach through 2022 (no event in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), including podium sweeps in ‘22 and ’21, to extend GM’s victory streak to seven in the event. A Chevrolet Corvette DP won the 2015 and ’16 races. Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, who will co-drive Saturday, won in 2022. Derani will share the seat with Jack Aitken. USA and Peacock will have flag-to-flag action starting at 4:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, April 20. Peacock and IMSA.tv will stream qualifications at 8 p.m. ET, Saturday, April 19. All sessions will be broadcast on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com. SiriusXM will also broadcast the race (Sirius 211, XM 206, Web/App 996).No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais: “It’s a testament to the car. I think we were on the money. Just obviously had a hybrid fault and couldn’t start the car. The guys managed to find a default position that disabled something and managed to get us going. I got impeded on two of those three laps that we had, and particularly the quick lap. It’s a shame but at the same time it’s mixed feelings. For most of the time I was in the car, I thought that we weren’t going to get going. Starting P3 is a lot better than not putting a lap in and starting P10. We still have a chance to do something tomorrow. We have a quick car, so hopefully we can put one in the bank for Cadillac.”

No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani: “I put in the lap in early and it was enough, apparently. On that last flying lap, I didn’t have any information from the team; I actually requested them not to talk too much over the radio. I was going a little bit quicker, so I said I was going to try it to make sure I have an extra gap in case it’s necessary. We always know that at the end of qualifying, things start to get a little bit quicker. Then I just locked up and went straight into the barriers. I knew I needed to come off the barriers quite quickly because of a red flag. I quickly reminded myself how to get it done. Nevertheless, we knew how important it was to be on pole here for this race. We can swap the nose but in a race here it is important to start on pole, so I’m happy with that.”Being on pole for a 100-minute race: “This race can have it turn upside-down quite quickly with a yellow. But if it’s a clean race, if you start from the front, it can win you the race. We knew coming here that it would be important to start up front. We saw last year what happened into Turn One. It’s always complicated here to pass. We don’t have as many cars as the first two races, so it makes it even harder for you to try and find your way by somebody with less traffic. Today the car was on rails. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac was fantastic. We took it off rails a little bit on the last flying lap but came back to it. It’s great to be on pole.”

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT APRIL 19, 2024 CHEVROLET STARTS OUT STRONG ON THE STREETS OF LONG BEACH WITH SIX FINISHING IN THE TOP-10 AFTER FIRST PRACTICE Continuing the trend established in St. Petersburg, Chevrolet occupied the first three positions on the leaderboard after first NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, with six of the top-10 representing Team Chevy.Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, led first practice with his fastest lap of 1:06.6875 seconds.  All three Team Penske Chevrolets finished in the top-five, with Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet, finishing second, Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, finishing third, and Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, finishing fifth.Christian Rasmussen, driver of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Chevrolet, finishing his first practice session on the Streets of Long Beach 10th, with his fastest lap of 1:07.2773 seconds.Saturday sees Team Chevy take to the track for second practice at 11:25 a.m. ET, as well as qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six at 2:25 p.m. ET for Sunday’s race on the Streets of Long Beach. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 FIRST PRACTICE RESULTS:1st      Pato O’Ward2nd    Will Power3rd     Scott McLaughlin5th     Josef Newgarden8th     Alexander Rossi10th   Christian Rasmussen

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes):Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:“It was a good first session. I felt like we had good speed right away, which is positive for a Friday. But the track is going to change a lot tomorrow. It’s going to build a lot of grip, but feeling in the mix in qualifying, which is going to be critical for the race. Qualifying up front here is always critical. I got a lot of confidence in the Hitachi crew, and Team Chevy has really brought us something good to work with. All around, I think we’re really encouraged for the weekend.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:“Pretty good day for the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Chevy team. We rolled out of the truck really strong and that makes the whole day heaps easier. We are in a really good spot for the weekend. Obviously, we showed a lot of pace at St. Pete to start the year. Street circuits were a big focus of ours in the off season so it’s nice to see that work paying off. The goal is to continue building on that, qualify well tomorrow and be up front on Sunday when it matters.” Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:“It was a good Friday at Long Beach. Very happy with the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. We certainly can improve in some areas, driving-wise. I think we are right in the window. Now we have to take that base that we had in practice and apply it in qualifying because that has been an issue. We are really focused on that.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I think there’s been some track progression. I think it’s a solid half-second at least. The car is in the window, and we’ve been making small tweaks here and there. Some things worked; some things didn’t work. (We’ll) debrief and see where we want to be for P2 tomorrow.” Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It felt incredible. I’m super happy to be back driving. The car felt great. Pato (O’Ward) did the fastest lap. I was pretty good on the alternative tires. Unfortunately, I didn’t complete any laps due to traffic, so it’s alright. I’m learning. I think it could have been a good position at the end. It’s good, track is great. The track is really bumpy. It’s really hard physically as well, so I’m really happy.” You mentioned on the radio you felt your driving getting better, grip improving. Is that a big deal for you?“Yes, sure. It’s super important for me lap after lap to understand everything. I also pushed the limits a bit, I did one small mistake in Turn 8. It’s good to be able to feel the limits. I love the street course. I enjoy it so much, and I feel like tomorrow is going to be a better day, again as I’m learning quick. I’m happy. The team is helping me a lot. Without the traffic, I think it could have been a great position the end. It doesn’t really matter at the moment, I’m just trying to learn, but I’m super happy. You can tell on my face, I’m smiling all the time.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It’s good to be back in Long Beach. The car is in the window; I just think we need to fine-tune a couple things to find a little bit of speed. But overall, that was a really good start, and I’m just happy to be back here. I can’t wait to get back out tomorrow and see what we can do in qualifying.” Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:“That was a good and very productive session. It’s great to see Pato put up a good time on the Firestone Alternate tires, but you have to take that with a grain of salt in a busy, crowded session like that. It’s still a good reference point for the other guys to learn off of, which is always nice. We have a couple things to figure out to unlock a touch more speed out of Alexander, but I think he’s in the mix. I’m really impressed with Théo’s approach through the session. He just kept building up to it. There are a couple corners where I think he’s going to improve on as we keep going, but I’m very encouraged with his approach. There’s a lot for him to learn today, and I told him to just enjoy it, find a rhythm and just keep building. I think he did that.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“I feel great about it. First top-10 is very nice, especially on a track I haven’t been to before. I think we rolled out strong. I feel like I got up to speed quick. I got comfortable quick. Thanks to all the time we’ve spend in the Chevy sim. The prep has been good for this weekend, and I think it pays off. I think just having one weekend under my belt, a lot of the firsts are out of the way. My first practice session on an official weekend, my first race, all of that stuff, that kind of takes some of the nerves away. Love being here, love the track, and obviously we were decently quick.” Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“The car felt okay (in Long Beach practice one) in the beginning. We had a mechanical issue towards the end so we didn’t get to run the green tires at the end, but I think we have a decent balance to start the weekend, and I’m excited for tomorrow.”    Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“Much better, much better. This track honestly is really, really tricky. I remember last year the session on Friday, it was complicated, honestly. I’ve been enjoying it a lot. This tricky track because the braking zones are very demanding and you have the wall in front of you, waiting for you. It’s a good track, and we were really good. We were P12 with the blacks. My lap wasn’t good, honestly, with the greens. I can get two or three-tenths more. I’m really happy with the start of the weekend. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET – First Practice Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up day one, practice today. Joined by Pato O’Ward, P1 at practice session. Pato, your thoughts on day one today. PATO O’WARD: Really solid start for us in the 5 car. I wouldn’t say it’s quite different to last year. We were really, really strong. Just every other INDYCAR weekend, you have to execute every single session. Every opportunity you have, you have to really see what way you want to go. There’s quite a bit of track evolution, I’d say. Although the times were quicker than I thought. Q. Pato has said he’s very happy to see the start of the season that you’ve gotten off to, Felix. Now you’re competing against each other, but you always had that bond. How important is that, to be able to share that relationship?FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think it’s pretty simple. We’re always competing against each other. I think still, like if he does a good lap, I can kind of read into it. Like, I know his strengths and weaknesses in a way. Yeah, like he did his lap today. It’s kind of a good benchmark, when I’m in another team, how you want to set the car up, those kind of things. Yeah, it’s pretty straightforward: you go out there, you try to beat them. PATO O’WARD: No, I mean, what he said. I think it’s important to have competitors that have mutual respect for each other. I wish I could say the same for everybody, but it’s clearly not (smiling). Yeah, he’s one of the good ones. Q. Pato, you were quickest first session last year, this year as well. Is there any particular style of track where you have found you can make time over your teammates? Is there a spot to attack?PATO O’WARD: Honestly… FELIX ROSENQVIST: Turn eight. That’s the corner. PATO O’WARD: Did you like turn eight? You’ve been watching telemetry.There used to be a bump there last year. You have to wait after the hump, then come into power. Now that the hump is gone, it’s a lot quicker. That is definitely somewhere where I found quite a bit of lap time compared to last year. I don’t know, man. I feel like I approach every corner the same. I’m always just kind of flirting with the limit of the car. I mean, I went over it significant amount of times in practice. You have to explore. If you never get there, you leave it to qualifying, there’s more chances for you to screw your lap. You don’t want to be doing that in qualifying.

Bell, Fidani showing pace, potential of No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 19, 2024) – AWA’s No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R is set to make its debut at the famed Long Beach Street Circuit after Friday’s qualifying session for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Orey Fidani piloted the Corvette that he will share with Matt Bell to the eighth row of the GT Daytona (GTD) grid for Saturday’s 100-minute race.

This is the first race on a street circuit for AWA and the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, and the first time at Long Beach for Bell and Fidani, whose best lap in qualifying was a 1:20.072 (88.480 mph). Friday began well for AWA as Bell set the fastest GTD lap in the opening practice – a 1:18.911 (89.782 mph) lap, good enough to put AWA on the top of the time sheets for the first time with Corvette. Bell backed that up with the fourth-fastest time in the afternoon’s final practice. The AWA duo is coming off ninth-place class finish in last month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac. This time around it’s an all-out sprint race for the No. 13 Corvette with close-quarters racing the norm between the concrete barriers along the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit. Chevrolet and the Corvette brand have been a fixture at Long Beach since the Corvette Racing program first visited Long Beach in 2007. In 15 visits, Corvette GT cars have captured eight victories with two others in the Corvette DP era.

CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION Corvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of the IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach and FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Imola.  Materials include Corvette Racing event advance and quotes, Corvette Racing stats and figures, Corvette Z06 GT3.R racecar comparisons, Corvette Racing Fast Facts, driver biographies and Corvette Racing photography, among other items.

Combined with results from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Chevrolet boasts a total of 22 victories in the Grand Prix’s two premier events.The Grand Prix of Long Beach for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 20. The race will air live on USA Network starting at 4:30 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage also on Peacock. IMSA Radio will have coverage of the race at IMSA.com with Sirius 211, XM 206, SiriusXM Online 996 also providing radio coverage of the race.

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – QUALIFIED 15TH IN GTD: “It was a challenging but overall positive day on the demanding streets of Long Beach. I feel like every corner tests the limits of our car. Qualifying was tough but it sets us up for a day of fighting hard, learning and pushing forward. We’re ready to take on the challenges of this iconic urban track. From here, the only way is upwards, and we’re excited to show what we can do in the race tomorrow.”

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R (after Practice 1): “The team’s first P1 in the Corvette era, so I’m really happy with that. It’s nice to roll out very competitive. The Corvette Racing guys have given us a lot of help coming into here. They’ve passed on a little bit of their knowledge of this place onto us. They’ve been very successful here in the past, and we’ve rolled out pretty good. I wasn’t expecting that in my first time here. I have heard a lot of stories about how daunting this place is, and on my first couple of laps I was in 100 percent in agreement! But I got a clear lap later on and the car was hooked up and I could put something together. Hopefully we can continue in the vein and find another couple of tenths yet.”

2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PointsGTD Drivers Standings1. Indy Dontje/Philip Ellis/Russell Ward – 7252. Antonio Fuoco/Giorgio Sernagiotto/Roberto Lacorte – 5893. Adam Adelson/Elliott Skeer/Jan Heylen – 5704. Albert Costa Balboa/Cedric Sbirrazzuoli/Manny Franco – 5455. Francois Heriau/Miguel Molina/Simon Mann – 48519. Lars Kern/Matthew Bell/Orey Fidani – 347 GTD Teams Standings1. No. 57 Windward Racing – 7252. No. 47 Cetilar Racing – 5893. No. 120 Wright Motorsports – 5704. No. 34 Conquest Racing – 5455. No. 21 AF Corse – 48518. No. 13 AWA – 347 GTD Manufacturers Standings1. Mercedes-AMG – 7512. Porsche – 6343. Lamborghini – 6164. McLaren – 5505. Lexus – 5277. Chevrolet – 505 CORVETTE RACING BY THE NUMBERS: Long Beach• 3: Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in competition this weekend – No. 13 of AWA at Long Beach, No. 81 and No. 82 of TF Sport at Imola• 4: Generations of Corvette ZR1 (C3, C4, C6 and C7). The eighth-generation Corvette ZR1 will be revealed this summer• 6: Iterations of Corvette GT entries at Long Beach since 2007 – Corvette C6.R GT1 (2007-09, Corvette C6.R GT2/GT (2010-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019), Corvette C8.R GTE (2021), Corvette C8.R GTD (2022-2023) and now the Corvette Z06 GT3.R• 8: Number of drivers who have competed at Long Beach for Corvette Racing – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Johnny O’Connell, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. That list grows this year with addition of Orey Fidani and Matt Bell in the No. 13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R• 8: Number of Long Beach victories in 15 appearances for the Corvette Racing program• 10: Number of Long Beach sports car victories for Chevrolet. Throw in 12 IndyCar wins, and Chevrolet has claimed 22 victories in the event’s two premier races.• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001• 19: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 45: Number of drivers in Corvette Racing entries since 1999. Rui Andrade, Sebastien Baud, Hiroshi Koizumi and Tom Van Rompuy joined the list at Qatar to open the WEC season• 71: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year• 127: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 115 in North America, nine at Le Mans and three in the FIA WEC• 287: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999• 4,225.27: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 15 previous trips to Long Beach. That represents 2,147 laps around the 1.968-mile street circuit.• 371,612.71: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing entries since 1999. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles Corvette Racing at Long Beach (wins in bold)2007No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole) 2008No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2009No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap) 2010No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 9th in GT2 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2011No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT (Magnussen fastest race lap) 2012No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2013No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap) 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 9th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM 2021No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM 2022No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in GTD PRO (Taylor pole) 2023No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTD PRO

CONCORD, NC (April 19, 2024) – First wins are memorable. Especially when they make a statement like the one Ashton Torgerson’s did.

In only his ninth career start, the 17-year-old from Glendale, AZ, scored his first career Feature win with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota last Saturday at Farmer City Raceway. A performance that displayed the progress he’s made only one month into his rookie season on the national Midget scene, Torgerson led all but one lap and held off Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammates Cannon McIntosh and Ryan Timms to capture the checkered flag.

But that win did much more than just add another trophy to his collection – it established him as a serious contender in the national Midget ranks, and more prominently, took a big step in changing the way he’s viewed in the motorsports world.

In January 2023, Torgerson was competing in his first Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, OK. A 16-year-old newcomer to Midget racing at the time, he was involved in a rollover incident that ejected him from his car during a race event which sent him to the hospital to be treated for injuries. While he made a full recovery in the following weeks, the incident became increasingly more attached to his name over the next several months.

“It’s an incident that I don’t think anyone wants to ever witness and something I don’t want to go through again,” Torgerson said. “Everyone thinks they know what happened and everything, but I’ve just gotta keep my head [on straight], keep moving forward. That’s in the past.

“Racing is just racing for me, so I’m just going to keep chasing those wins and see what I can do.”

Now, he’s a two-time national Midget Feature winner. Less than 10 starts into his new partnership with KKM – the defending Xtreme Outlaw Series championship team from Columbus, IN – Torgerson has the win with Xtreme and one with the POWRi National Midget League, taking the checkers during the tour’s season-opening weekend in March.

All of this he’s done while the negative comments and speculation about the cause of his accident continue to fly around the internet. But Torgerson knows – the more times he goes to Victory Lane, the quieter those voices get.

“It really doesn’t bother me with the hate or the vulgar comments,” he said. “If it makes them feel good to talk about a 17-year-old – if that’s what they want to do, they can do it. It’s not gonna bother be or stop me from racing or anything. It just adds fuel to the fire.”

Standing behind him are some of the best mechanical talents on one of the most decorated teams in open-wheel dirt track racing history. KKM has built a modern-day dynasty of winning national Midget championships, taking some of the country’s most undiscovered racing talents and giving them a platform to develop and showcase their skills.

Torgerson is one of the next up-and-comers in the open-wheel world. He garnered the biggest win of his career in December at the Tulsa Shootout, winning the ‘A’ Class division Feature as part of the famed Micro Sprint event, and proved he was ready to jump up the ladder into Midgets where he now receives coaching from the best KKM has to offer.

“KKM, Keith and Beau [Binder, crew chief] – they’re just such a great team to work with and I’m beyond glad I’m with them,” Torgerson said. “The experience that I’m getting with them helps me out so much.”

With multiple Micro Sprint championships to his name but less than 15 Midget races in his career, Torgerson has leaned on his leaders for ways to improve and adapted quickly to his new motorsports discipline.

“Working with Beau, I’m able to learn how much more I can drive the car or where to set the car at,” Torgerson said. “I’ll say it’s different from a Micro, so the feeling of the car is kind of what I’ve been learning the most.”

Despite his rapid success, Torgerson’s road hasn’t been easy. He missed the first Feature of the season in March, falling short of a transfer spot in a Last Chance Showdown event. But in the five races since then, he’s ascended all the way from 29th in the points standings up to fourth, where he now sits 133 points behind the leader.

“I look back at that quite a bit and realized that if I could have done better that race, it could be different for the points standings,” Torgerson said. “Each time I get on the track, I learn more and more. After driving the first time, I knew I definitely had to step-up my game.”

The season is still early, but Torgerson is ready to step-up his game more than ever in pursuit of his first national Midget series championship.

His season continues with the next Xtreme Outlaw Series events – Friday, May 10 at Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, KS, and Saturday, May 11 at 81 Speedway in Wichita, KS.

Tickets for both events will be on sale at the track on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

BATAVIA, Ohio (April 19, 2024) – The much-anticipated Mid-Atlantic swing is on the horizon, where the stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will journey to the northeastern region of the country for three events across three states, spanning from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28.  Each night will include a complete program of Dirt Draft Hot Laps, Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and their respective A-Mains.  The weekend will get under way at the historic Georgetown Speedway for the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial, which will include a complete program for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, culminating in a 49-lap, $19,049 main event for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.   For the April 26 Melvin L. Joseph Memorial, pit gates open at 3:00PM ET. Grandstand gates unlock at 4:00PM ET with Hot Laps set for 6:30 PM ET. The Delmarva Chargers, Delaware Super Trucks, and Little Lincolns are also on the racing card. Tickets for the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial can be purchased at the gate on race day.  Georgetown Speedway is a half-mile clay oval that produces high speeds and thrilling racing action. The facility has spacious grandstands, ample parking, a large, flat pit area, room for overnight camping and more. Georgetown Speedway is located at the intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road in Georgetown, De. – a 40-minute drive from Ocean City, Md. To learn more, visit www.thegeorgetownspeedway.com.   Hagerstown Speedway is where the action will take place on Saturday, April 27. The stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will join a strong contingent of regional standouts to tackle the half-mile oval for the annual Conococheague 50 in pursuit of the $15,000 top prize. The Semi Late Models will also be a part of the program as the support division.  Hagerstown Speedway is located six miles west of Hagerstown, Md. On U.S. Route 40 (Old National Pike). The pit gate will open at 3:30PM ET with the general admission gate opening at 4:00PM ET. Hot laps will begin at 6:00PM ET to kick off the on-track action. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.lucasdirt.info/hagerstown or onsite the day of the event. For other information, visit www.hagerstownspeedway.com.   The weekend will close out at Port Royal Speedway, better known as “The Speed Palace,” on Sunday, April 28. The Battle in The Borough, boasting a $10,000 top prize, will be highlighted by a 40-lap feature for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. In addition, the Limited Late Models will be chasing a $2,000 winner’s check.  Port Royal Speedway is a half-mile oval located on the Juniata County Fairgrounds in Port Royal, Pa. The pits will close and be cleared at 2:30PM ET before re-opening at 3:00PM ET. General admission opens at 4:00PM ET with Hot Laps slated for 5:00PM ET. Tickets can be purchased at the gates on race day. To learn more about Port Royal Speedway, visit www.portroyalspeedway.com.     Ricky Thornton Jr. is atop the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship – presented by ARP standings, followed by Jonathan Davenport and Devin Moran. Hudson O’Neal and Mike Marlar round out the top five in championship point standings.  For the latest news, results, championship standings and more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, please visit www.lucasdirt.com.  Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Event Purses: Georgetown Speedway – April 26th                                          1. $19,049, 2. $7,000, 3. $5,000, 4. $4,000, 5. $3,000, 6. $2,500, 7. $2,400, 8. $2,300, 9. $2,200, 10. $2,100, 11. $2,000, 12. $1,800, 13. $1,600, 14. $1,500, 15. $1,400, 16. $1,300, 17. $1,200, 18. $1,100, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $67,449   Hagerstown Speedway – April 27th                                          1. $15,000, 2. $7,000, 3. $5,000, 4. $4,000, 5. $3,000, 6. $2,500, 7. $2,400, 8. $2,300, 9. $2,200, 10. $2,100, 11. $2,000, 12. $1,800, 13. $1,600, 14. $1,500, 15. $1,400, 16. $1,300, 17. $1,200, 18. $1,100, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $63,400   Port Royal Speedway – April 28th                                             1. $10,000, 2. $5,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,700, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,000, 15. $950, 16. $925, 17. $900, 18. $875, 19. $850, 20. $825, 21. $800, 22. $800, 23. $800, 24. $800. = $48,575   Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rules: Georgetown Speedway – April 26th Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT2, (90) NLMT3 Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) NLMT3, (92) NLMT4  Hagerstown Speedway – April 27th Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT2, (90) NLMT3 Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) NLMT3, (92) NLMT4  Port Royal Speedway – April 28th  Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT2, (90) NLMT3 Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) NLMT3, (92) NLMT4

April 18, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team head into Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with confidence in their superspeedway program and encouraged by a strong mid-race surge at Texas last Sunday.

Burton was fast in the qualifying races in the season opener at Daytona, Talladega’s sister track. He qualified fifth for his Duel and finished fifth, only to be collected in a multi-car crash on the fifth lap of the Daytona 500. Then at Atlanta, a high-banked intermediate track that races like a superspeedway, he scored a season-best 11th-place finish.

At Texas, Burton finished seventh in the second Stage, earning four Stage points, but was involved in a late-race crash that cost him several finishing positions.

“It was nice to put some Stage points on the board last week, and that’ll be a big priority for us this week at Talladega,” said crew chief Jeremy Bullins. “Obviously, the Daytona 500 was a huge disappointment, getting wrecked before the race barely got underway, but we felt confident going into the race.

“Running well at Atlanta in basically a superspeedway race also has us looking forward to this week.”

Bullins said there will be important decisions to be made from atop the pit box, but the veteran crew chief expects to be up for the challenge.

“Fuel mileage will be the topic I’m sure, but I feel like we have a great car for this race,” he said. “We are looking forward to another opportunity to get some positive momentum going.”

Per NASCAR rules for superspeedways, there will be no pre-race practice. Qualifying is set for Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Central Time (10:30 Eastern Time) with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

Sunday’s 500-mile, 188-lap race is scheduled to start just after 2 p.m. (3 P.M. Eastern), with TV coverage on FOX.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 120.

SUMMERTOWN, TN (April 18, 2024) – With weather models showing hazardous weather conditions and up to an inch of rain in the Summertown, TN area, World of Outlaws and Thunderhill Raceway officials have agreed to postpone the event to Thursday, June 20.

The decision comes after monitoring the severity of the weather with Precision Weather Service and keeping the safety of traveling fans and teams in mind.

The focus for the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models now shifts to the Alabama Gang 100 at the Talladega Short Track, April 19-20. The massive two-day show will see drivers compete in split Features on Friday and then the $35,000-to-win Feature on Saturday.

The United Sprint Car Series will join the World of Outlaws both nights, featuring drivers like 2023 Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe.

Thunderhill Raceway’s new June 20 date for the Summertown Showdown makes it the new kick off for the World of Outlaws’ summer swing, starting with eight races in 10 days.

Tickets for the Alabama Gang 100 and other World of Outlaws events are available at WorldofOutlaws.com/schedule.

By Bryan Hulbert CONCORD, NC (April 18, 2024) – A name that has become synonymous with the American Sprint Car Series, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington will return for his 12th overall season chasing the National Tour.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Covington said. “Excited to see how it goes with World Racing Group taking over. I think it will be good for the Series going forward. It’s going to be different, but we’ll adjust and get it figured out, and really just looking forward to seeing what Cody [Cordell] and Lonnie [Wheatley] can do with the Series.”

Not the first season that Covington has been in contention for a championship, the driver of the Missile Motorsports/T&L Foundry No. 95 fought to the last lap with Jason Martin for the 2023 title.

Missing it by 46 markers, Covington reflected on the season and shared his thoughts on 2024.

“We didn’t have a bad year last year, but it wasn’t spectacular, where the No. 36 had a great year,” he said. “Certainly, it wasn’t a failure. We won three National Tour events and had a lot of top-five finishes, but we know we need to step it up if we want to win the championship, and that’s what our goal is this year. Luckily, we didn’t need to make a lot of changes during the off-season. Steven Lane is back with me working on the car. This will be his second season, and we’ve really gotten into a good rhythm.”

Getting behind the wheel in Quarter Midgets at the age of five, Covington collected over 100 feature wins and three national titles before being inducted into the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame in 2004.

Moving into Sprint Cars in 2008, he took on the National Tour for the first time in 2009. Returning to ASCS Lone Star and Sooner Region competition in 2010, Covington collected five titles between the two tours before returning to the National Tour in 2014.

In his time on the road, Covington has made 377 Feature starts, putting him sixth all-time, and made it to Victory Lane 18 times across 14 states. His record also includes 129 top-five and 229 top-10 finishes, plus 34 ASCS regional triumphs.

Fans can keep track of Matt Covington at www.mattcovingtonracing.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mattcovingtonracing, or follow him on X @mattcovington95, as well as Instagram @mattcovingtonracing, and TikTok at @mattcoivngtonracing.

The 2024 American Sprint Car Series National Tour begins on Friday-Saturday, April 19-20, at Super Bee Speedway in Chatham, La.

The 2024 season marks the 33rd season of competition for the American Sprint Car Series. Spearheaded by the American Sprint Car Series National Tour, the ASCS Nation includes Regional Tours encompassing Wing and Non-Wing competition.

Live coverage of the National Tour can be found exclusively at http://www.DIRTVision.com.

For other news, notes, and information on any of the tours under the ASCS banner, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ascsracing).

HARTFORD, OH (April 18, 2024) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will make an early-season stop at Attica Raceway Park and Sharon Speedway during its Spring Ohio Swing. Attica will welcome The Greatest Show on Dirt for the $12,000-to-win Attica Sprint Car Showdown on Friday, May 17. Then, the Series will venture to Sharon Speedway – owned by 1995 World of Outlaws champion and former NASCAR driver Dave Blaney – for the $12,000-to-win World of Outlaws Sprint Car Showdown on Saturday, May 18.The two fan-favorite Ohio tracks will see the World of Outlaws stars contend against Ohio’s local talent. Last year, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz swept the May Attica-Sharon weekend.Ohio-native Sheldon Haudenschild will be on the hunt for his first win at both tracks. He came close to winning at Sharon in 2021, but a late-race misstep allowed Dave Blaney to pass him for the win.EVENT INFO FOR ATTICA Date – Friday, May 17 Location – Attica, OH Track Record – 11.306 sec. by Butch Schroeder on Sept. 7, 1998 Times (ET) – 3pm Pit Gates Open 3pm Grandstands Open 5:45pm Hot Laps & Qualifying -Racing to follow Tickets – Available at WorldofOutlaws.com/tix How to Watch – If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.Last Race Video Recap (Attica, July 11, 2023) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVw0CQ3tTiY Previous World of Outlaws Winners at Attica – 2023 – Donny Schatz on May 19, Kyle Larson on July 11 2022 – Kyle Larson on May 20, Kyle Larson on July 12 2021 – David Gravel on May 21, Spencer Bayston on July 13 2020 – Kyle Larson on July 14 2018 – Donny Schatz on July 10 2017 – David Gravel on July 11 2016 – Donny Schatz on July 12 2015 – Dale Blaney on May 29 2014 – Dale Blaney on May 30 2011 – Donny Schatz on May 20 2009 – Dale Blaney on May 29 2008 – Donny Schatz on May 30 2007 – Joey Saldana on April 20 2005 – Stevie Smith on July 13 1994 – Sammy Swindell on May 21 1993 – Joe Garte on May 21 1992 – Joey Allen on Aug. 7 1991 – Steve Kinser on Aug. 9 1990 – Steve Kinser on May 18EVENT INFO FOR SHARON Date – Saturday, May 18 Location – Hartford, OH Track Record – 12.704 sec. by Danny Holtgraver on Aug. 20, 2013 Times (ET) – 2pm Pit Gates Open 4pm Grandstands Open 6:30pm Hot Laps & Qualifying -Racing to followTickets – Available at WorldofOutlaws.com/tix How to Watch – If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision. Last Race Video Recap (Sharon, Sept. 23, 2023) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8CKvcZRwjYPrevious World of Outlaws Winners at Sharon – 2023 – Donny Schatz on May 20, Brad Sweet on Sept. 23 2022 – Brad Sweet on Sept. 24 2021 – Dave Blaney on May 22 2007 –Steve Kinser on June 1 2006 – Jac Haudenschild on May 20 2005 – Jason Meyers on June 3 2004 –Danny Lasoski on June 4, Steve Kinser on July 28 2003 – Steve Kinser on July 30, Steve Kinser on July 30 2002 – Danny Lasoski on May 31, Joey Saldana on July 31

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY RACE ADVANCE APRIL 19-21, 2024 TEAM CHEVY CARRIES EARLY NTT INDYCAR SERIES SEASON MOMENTUM WESTWARD TO THE STREETS OF LONG BEACH DETROIT (April 18, 2024) – Carrying a strong start to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season and momentum from the Streets of St. Petersburg, Team Chevy next heads west to Southern California for the second points-paying event of 2024. Capturing the NTT P1 Pole Award and Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg victory with Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, as well as sweeping the podium, Chevrolet is set up for success on the Streets of Long Beach following the solid showing. With five wins in the 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected V6 era since 2012 on the Streets of Long Beach, as well as five NTT P1 Pole Awards, Chevrolet looks to return to victory lane after Newgarden last did with Team Penske in 2022. Additionally, Newgarden was the last Team Chevy driver to lead the field to the green flag, doing so in 2021 after capturing pole. Despite a break between St. Petersburg and Long Beach from early March to mid-April, Chevrolet drivers and teams have been busy with this year’s addition of the $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club, a non-points exhibition event, as well as this past week’s open test on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Looking ahead to the weekend with winning on his mind, Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet said, “I love going back to Long Beach. It hasn’t been our best race as a team, but it means we have another opportunity to change that around this year. We had very fast cars there last year, so I expect to have similar pace there this year. A nice, clean race is the objective for us this weekend. I’m looking forward to getting out there.” Making his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut this weekend, Théo Pourchaire will fill in for David Malukas, driving the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “I’m looking forward to racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the first time in my career with Arrow McLaren and it will be special to do so in Long Beach. There’s a lot to learn and discover, but I’m ready for the challenge. It’s an amazing opportunity for me. Of course, I’m thinking about David as he recovers from his injury, but I hope I can help the team as much as possible in his place. I will have to adapt quickly to everything, but I’m ready. I’m smiling every day because it’s an amazing opportunity. It’s a legendary team and brand, and I’m excited for a great weekend.” Currently holding eight manufacturer championships, 112 wins, and 128 earned pole awards (133 total with five based on weather) in 200 races in the V6 era since 2012, Chevrolet looks to add to their legacy on the Streets of St. Petersburg this weekend. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend on the Streets of Long Beach, Calif. kicks off with first practice Friday, April 19, at 5:50 p.m. ET. Saturday sees second practice at 11:25 a.m. ET, with qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six at 2:20 p.m. ET. A final warm up will kick off race day at 12 p.m. ET, with the 85-lap, 167.28-mile Grand Prix of Long Beach at 3 p.m. ET live on USA Network. All practice sessions and qualifications will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 160.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYINGAlexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren:“It feels like forever since the first race in St. Pete as so much has happened since then, but we’re excited and ready to get to Long Beach. It’s one of the flagship races on the calendar and my favorite for a lot of reasons, primarily because of the amazing fan turnout that we always have. I feel confident in where we’re at as a team and can’t wait to get on track to show that to the world.” Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:“We’re headed west for an incredibly exciting and important race weekend in Long Beach. It’s been a while since we’ve raced for points, so this is a big one as we continue pushing towards a championship and the Month of May. We know we have the pace to compete at the front of the pack this weekend, but it will be about sticking with our plan through the weekend and then having a clean race on Sunday. This is such an iconic venue, and we love seeing all the fan and partner support in Long Beach. On top of all of the INDYCAR racing, we’re thrilled that Tony will also have the unique opportunity to drive the M16, McLaren’s first Indy 500 winner from 1974. We’re looking forward to seeing all the papaya out and about this weekend and hopefully, we give them a reason to celebrate.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:“I’m looking forward to going to Long Beach for the first time! It will be one of the few events where I haven’t been on the track in the lower categories. I have spent a lot of time driving the track on the simulator, I am excited to drive it in real life!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:“Long Beach is coming up! I think it will be a good weekend, looking back at St. Pete and how we started the year. We will be bringing that same work we did over the offseason to Long Beach. It feels like we are way farther into the season than just Race 2, so I am very excited to head west and get back to racing! Let’s back up St. Pete with another strong finish!” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:“(Long Beach is) a very fun street race with solid strategy behind it. I also enjoy the racing we can have there as long as we have the proper amount of tire degradation. It’s nice to be out in SoCal for the weekend!” Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:“Long Beach is a great street circuit. There are very characteristic parts of the track that we don’t get to have at any other event on the calendar; such as, the fountain turn, the hairpin and the front stretch that makes for great passing down in to turn 1. It is also a West coast race which I love just from growing up in the Pacific Northwest. There’s usually great weather and a great crowd!” Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:“Long Beach was my favorite street course. I’ve had already two podiums there. I’m excited to go back next to the beach in California. An amazing city, amazing vibe, great fans around there. A very fast street course and I always have a lot of fun, so hopefully we can be good in Long Beach.” Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:“Long Beach is one of the most difficult tracks because it’s really, really demanding. It’s very challenging to manage the pace there, but it’s exciting. My goal for Long Beach is try to, why not, battle for a top ten. I want to get my first top ten of the season in Long Beach.”

CHEVROLET IN LONG BEACH:Wins in Long Beach (since 2012): 52012: Will Power2014: Mike Conway2015: Scott Dixon2016: Simon Pagenaud2022: Josef Newgarden Earned Pole Awards in Long Beach: 52012: Ryan Briscoe2015: Helio Castroneves2016: Helio Castroneves2017: Helio Castroneves2021: Josef Newgarden Number of Team Chevy Podiums on the Long Beach Street Course (since 2012): 15 Number of laps led by Team Chevy on the Long Beach Street Course (since 2012): 309

2024 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS:200: NTT INDYCAR Series races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.  112: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012.  128: Earned poles since 2012. Chevrolet holds 133 pole awards in total, with five recorded based on points for weather. 8: Manufacturer Championships since 2012.  7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.  12: Indianapolis 500 victories by Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 5: Indianapolis 500 wins by Chevrolet since 2012 in the V6 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected era. 26: Wins by Will Power since 2012 – all with Chevrolet power – most of any driver with the same manufacturer.   9: Wins from the pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver.  46: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver.*Will Power’s career total of 70 poles makes him the all-time pole winner in INDYCAR.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE: TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAYLincoln, AlabamaApril 20-21, 2024

DOUBLEHEADER AT ‘DEGAComing off yet another tripleheader sweep, Chevrolet’s drivers and teams in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will head to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend to embark on their third superspeedway race of the season. The Bowtie brand sits undefeated in superspeedway-style racing this season, with the manufacturer sweeping the wins across all three NASCAR national series at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.

CHEVROLET IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAYSunday’s GEICO 500 will mark the NASCAR Cup Series’ 110th race held at Talladega Superspeedway. Chevrolet holds the title as the winningest manufacturer in series’ history at the 2.66-mile Alabama venue, with Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch taking the Bowtie brand to its 44th all-time NCS victory at the track one year ago.  The Bowtie brand’s first trip to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway came with Darrell Waltrip and the No. 88 DiGard Racing Chevrolet in May 1977. A big piece of Chevrolet’s winning legacy at the Alabama superspeedway started in April 1999 when Dale Earnhardt, Sr., drove the famed No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to victory lane – starting an impressive run that saw the manufacturer reel-off 17 wins in 18 races.  Chevrolet has lived up to its winning ways at Talladega Superspeedway during the Next Gen era, with the manufacturer owning wins in three of the four races held at the Alabama superspeedway since the debut of the Next Gen cars at the beginning of the 2022 season. Each victory was earned by a driver from a different Chevrolet organization, including Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain (April 2022), Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott (Oct. 2022) and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (April 2023).

Ross Chastain No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Apr. 24, 2022

Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Oct. 2, 2022

Kyle Busch No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletApr. 23, 2023

SUPERSPEEDWAY STUNNERSChevrolet has undeniably been the manufacturer to beat on superspeedway-style tracks during NASCAR’s Next Gen era. Since the debut of the Next Gen car at the beginning of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chevrolet has earned a winning percentage of 71.4% on superspeedways with 10 victories in 14 races. The Bowtie brand enters the weekend with back-to-back superspeedway victories in NASCAR’s premier series this season, with wins courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (Daytona International Speedway) and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez (Atlanta Motor Speedway).

NASCAR Next Gen Era – Superspeedway WinnersDaytona (Feb. 20, 2022) – Austin Cindric (Ford)Atlanta (March 20, 2022) – William Byron (Chevrolet)Talladega (April 24, 2022) – Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)Atlanta (July 10, 2022) – Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)Daytona (Aug. 29, 2022) – Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)Talladega (Oct. 2, 2022) – Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)Daytona (Feb. 19, 2023) – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)Atlanta (March 19, 2023) – Joey Logano (Ford)Talladega (April 23, 2023) – Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)Atlanta (July 9, 2023) – William Byron (Chevrolet)Daytona (Aug. 26, 2023) – Chris Buescher (Ford)Talladega (Oct. 1, 2023) – Ryan Blaney (Ford)Daytona (Feb. 19, 2024) – William Byron (Chevrolet)Atlanta (Feb. 25, 2024) – Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)

Suarez became the seventh different Team Chevy driver to reach victory lane at a superspeedway-style track in NASCAR’s Next Gen era, with his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway delivering the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 its 10th superspeedway triumph.  Among those victories, Chevrolet earned no worse than four top-10 finishes in each event – including a manufacturer-leading six top-10s on three different occasions (Atlanta – March 2022; Talladega – April 2022; Atlanta – July 2023) and five top-10s twice (Atlanta – July 2022; Daytona – Feb. 2023).

EYEING DOUBLE-DIGIT ‘DEGA STREAKChevrolet is on the horizon of a double-digit win streak in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Talladega Superspeedway. Heading into Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300, the Bowtie brand is sitting at nine-straight NXS victories at the 2.66-mile Alabama venue – a streak that started with a victory by Spencer Gallagher and GMS Racing in April 2018. Within the last six years, seven different drivers have carried the Bowtie brand to victory lane in the series at the track – including two of Team Chevy’s current NXS full-time contenders (AJ Allmendinger – Oct. 2022; Jeb Burton – April 2023).  In the series’ 35-race history at Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet has earned a winning percentage of 65.7% with 23 all-time victories at the track – more than double its current manufacturer competitors combined.

AJ AllmendingerNo. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Oct. 1, 2022

Jeb BurtonNo. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing ChevroletApr. 22, 2023

BY THE NUMBERS: Since the beginning of the 2021 season, the NXS has contested 17 races on superspeedway-style venues, with the Bowtie brand earning 14 victories within that time span. Eight drivers from six different Chevrolet organizations contributed to those victories, led by Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill with six NXS superspeedway wins – including Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway in February to start the 2024 season.

NXS Superspeedway Winners (Since 2021)Daytona (Feb. 13, 2021) – Austin Cindric (Ford)Talladega (April 24, 2021) – Jeb BurtonDaytona (Aug. 28, 2021) – Justin Haley Talladega (Oct. 2, 2021) – Brandon BrownDaytona (Feb. 19, 2022) – Austin HillAtlanta (March 19, 2022) – Ty Gibbs (Toyota)Talladega (April 23, 2022) – Noah GragsonAtlanta (July 9, 2022) – Austin HillDaytona (Aug. 26, 2022) – Jeremy ClementsTalladega (Oct. 1, 2022) – AJ AllmendingerDaytona (Feb. 19, 2023) – Austin HillAtlanta (March 3, 2023) – Austin HillTalladega (April 22, 2023) – Jeb BurtonAtlanta (July 8, 2023) – John H. Nemechek (Toyota)Daytona (Aug. 25, 2023) – Justin AllgaierDaytona (Feb. 19, 2024) – Austin HillAtlanta (Feb. 24, 2024) – Austin Hill

TRIO OF TRIPLEHEADER TRIUMPHSChevrolet tallied yet another tripleheader sweep last weekend with victories at Texas Motor Speedway by three different organizations: Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1) in the NASCAR Cup Series; Sam Mayer (No. 1 JR Motorsports Camaro SS) in the NASCAR Xfinity Series; and Kyle Busch (No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado RST) in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Already the only manufacturer to accomplish the feat this season, the Texas trio of triumphs marks the Bowtie brand’s third weekend sweep when all three NASCAR national series are contesting on the same weekend.  The victories were celebrated by an overall near dominate performance by Chevrolet drivers at the 1.5-mile Texas oval – with the manufacturer also claiming the pole, sweeping the stages and leading the most laps in all three events.

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Race Win: Kyle Busch Pole Win: Nick SanchezStage Sweep: Kyle BuschLaps Led: Team Chevy Drivers led all 167-laps of the event (Kyle Busch – 112 laps; Christian Eckes – 31 laps; Nick Sanchez – 16 laps; Zane Smith – eight laps) In the NASCAR Xfinity Series: Race Win: Sam MayerPole Win: Jesse LoveStage Sweep: Justin AllgaierLaps Led: Team Chevy drivers led 154 of 200-laps (Justin Allgaier – 117 laps; Austin Hill – 25 laps; Sam Mayer – fives laps; Parker Kligerman – four laps; Brandon Jones – two laps; Jesse Love – one lap) In the NASCAR Cup Series: Race Win: Chase ElliottPole Win: Kyle LarsonStage Sweep: Kyle Larson (Stage One) and Ross Chastain (Stage Two)Laps Led: Team Chevy drivers led 150 of 276-laps (Kyle Larson – 77 laps; Chase Elliott – 39 laps; Ross Chastain – 33 laps; Austin Hill – one lap).

BOWTIE BULLETS:·       With 24 races complete across NASCAR’s three national series this season, Chevrolet has a winning percentage of 66.7% with 16 victories (NASCAR Cup Series – six wins; NASCAR Xfinity Series – four wins; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – six wins). ·       Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to accomplish a tripleheader weekend sweep in the NASCAR national ranks this season, with the Bowtie brand earning its third tripleheader sweep at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend.  ·       Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway: Kyle Busch – two wins (2023 & 2008)Chase Elliott – two wins (2022 & 2019)Ross Chastain – one win (2022) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – one win (2017) ·       In 109 NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet has recorded a series-leading 44 victories – including three of the four events since the competition debut of the Next Gen cars (Ross Chastain – April 2022; Chase Elliott – Oct. 2022; and Kyle Busch – April 2023).  ·       In NASCAR’s Next Gen era, Chevrolet has recorded 10 victories in 14 NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway races – recorded by seven drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations. ·       Team Chevy’s William Byron is the only driver to have a double-digit win record in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen era – with his victory at Martinsville Speedway marking his 11th all-time victory in the Next Gen Camaro ZL1.  ·       In 81 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 43 victories – a winning percentage of 53%.  ·       Within the first three points-paying races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series races season, each Chevrolet organization had already recorded at least one top-10 finish.  ·       With its 42 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 857 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Manufacturer Points Standings Chevrolet: 338Toyota: 322 (-16)Ford: 297 (-41)

Manufacturer Points Standings Chevrolet: 295Toyota: 294 (-1)Ford: 244 (-51)

Manufacturer Points Standings Chevrolet: 273Toyota: 240 (-33)Ford: 224 (-49)

TUNE-IN:NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 Sunday, April 21, at 3 p.m. ET(FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90) NASCAR Xfinity SeriesAg-Pro 300 Saturday, April 20, at 4 pm. ET(FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

QUOTABLE QUOTES:ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY OUTDOORS BY LUKE BRYAN CAMARO ZL1How do you feel heading to Talladega?“(Laughs) Fine. There’s a lot of one-time winners at that track and I’m in that group, but a lot more wrecks and hurt feelings leaving there and last fall stings really hard. I made an aggressive move and crashed in Stage 1. I want to be running at the end and then we’ll race it out.” Bubba Wallace said that once he had the mindset of enjoying superspeedway racing that his performance improved. How do you fall into that group? Do you enjoy racing in close quarters?“I do. In the Truck Series I was the same way; I was so nervous and just trying to survive and I would ride in the back and then I would go race at the end and then I would get torn up. I finally just decided that when I got to a team that was okay with me crashing…that was the other thing, I drove for teams that didn’t want me to crash because that was their opportunity to make money if you could just finish the race – so when I got to the Xfinity Series and the 10 car, they told me to go win and it doesn’t matter if you crash it or not. I’ve crashed a lot on superspeedways but I also have two superspeedway wins (Xfinity and Cup). Not a great percentage but the two wins do go a long way. Yes, I had a mindset change and I agree with Darrell (Bubba) that it makes the week a lot more enjoyable versus dreading going into it.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS CAMARO ZL1Talk about racing at Talladega Superspeedway. What kind of race do you expect we will see at Talladega Superspeedway?“You can do certain things throughout that race to put yourself in a better position, but it’s one of those tracks you go into knowing that there’s probably a 75 percent chance that you could be in a wreck. You have to take that 25 percent and make it yours. I have Talladega Superspeedway circled on my calendar. I love racing there and I can’t wait to get on track in the Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off-Road Chevrolet Camaro. Talladega Superspeedway is a little bit different real estate than Daytona International Speedway. At Daytona, you’re packed in there and it’s hard to get to someone’s inside or outside, and there is less movement in the draft. At Talladega, there’s a lot of movement in the draft, the packs are big and wide, and with the way this package works, there is more two-lane racing around the bottom. It’s going to be interesting to see if we can make that third lane work at some point and move around. You’re kind of holding on at times waiting to see what happens. Everybody is pushing, and you’re hoping you can get through the mess.” COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 GAINBRIDGE CAMARO ZL1You’ve had Talladega circled on your calendar since last October. After a tough stretch of races, you’ve got to be eager to see the green flag on Sunday. “I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Gainbridge Chevrolet this weekend. We’re looking to keep up the momentum we’ve had on superspeedways, so it’s time to shake that monkey off our backs and put together a solid finish like we all know our team is capable of.” KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1How cool was it to win a fuel mileage race last year at Talladega?“Winning is always cool. You strive to get to victory lane every single weekend and celebrate with your team and it’s great when you get there. I’ve not been known as a great speedway racer, so it was especially gratifying to score the win at Talladega, my first there since 2008.” Do you anticipate the same kind of race at Talladega that we saw in the Daytona 500 back in February?“I do think we will see similar racing as we did in Daytona with guys trying to modulate their fuel consumption as best as they can to minimize their time on pit road and make their next stop as short as possible.” You won a Talladega last spring and ran well at both Daytona and Atlanta earlier this season. Does that give you any optimism entering Talladega?“There’s definitely some optimism entering the speedway races with RCR. Both ECR and RCR have been strong at the restrictor plate races for as long as I can remember and it’s nice when we can continue that trend like we have last year and again this year.”  DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 CIRKUL CAMARO ZL1“Talladega is the place that we all feel like we have equal opportunity. That style of racing has changed, as we learned back in Daytona, especially fuel saving with this car. Our No. 31 Cirkul car was really strong in the first superspeedway race of the year, so I’m excited to get there. I’m also really pumped up to have Cirkul back on the car and hosting them this weekend. Hopefully we can put on good show for them.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1Bowman on racing at Talladega Superspeedway: “Things certainly didn’t go as planned last weekend Texas (Motor Speedway), but our team turns to Talladega (Superspeedway) hungry for a strong finish. Our Ally racing team has certainly seen some good finishes this season and we’re ready to get back on track and compete for another (one). At Daytona (Superspeedway) we were really close to a win, and that’s what we want. Our No. 48 team has shown we have what it takes to perform well, we just need all the pieces to come together. You never know what’s going to happen at these superspeedways, but hopefully we can work as a team to come out good at the end of it Sunday.” BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1Harris on racing at Talladega Superspeedway: “I think the superspeedway races have been kind of solid for us honestly- even last year when things weren’t going so well. As a company, I feel like Hendrick Motorsports is able to run well working together amongst our teammates at drafting tracks. Our No. 48 Ally racing team expects to bring another fast chevy to Talladega (Superspeedway), just like we did at Daytona (International Speedway). ZANE SMITH, NO. 71 FOCUSED HEALTH CAMARO ZL1How do you feel after that great run at Texas Motor Speedway?“I told my team that was the best car we’ve had all year. It’s a bummer that the result doesn’t match the day that we had. It felt great to run and compete in the top five for part of the race and it was just a solid day, in general. Unfortunately, we were on the other side of luck during that late restart. Overall, I’m super proud of my team. That was the boost we needed. I’m looking forward to Talladega.” CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 ZEIGLER AUTO GROUP CAMARO ZL1What is the key to a good day at Talladega?“Of course, the thing is just surviving to the end. I felt like we did a good job with that in Texas and with the Duels at Daytona. Obviously, the Daytona 500 was a different story but I feel like we did everything we possibly could there. I am going try to be a good citizen and help people when I can and, hopefully, people will help me out when they can. We just want to be on the right end of it at the end of the race.” How do you feel going into this week’s race after your first top-10 finish? “I feel pretty good. I wish we could take advantage of the metric for qualifying and be able to qualify later, but Talladega is obviously a little different. I am excited to build on that finish and have some positive momentum, especially with Zeigler Auto Group coming on for their first full primary of the year.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1How would you assess Trackhouse so far?“We are top five and top-10 on the mile and a half and road courses. The short tracks are where we have the most work to do. I feel like we are just outside the top-10. Hopefully we can close that gap in the next couple of months.” Are you looking forward to Talladega?“Honestly, I’m the kind of guy that is looking forward to the next race regardless of where we are racing whether it is on dirt or a superspeedway. I feel like that’s the mentality you have to have. I have learned that if you hate something you will suck at it forever, so you have to change your mindset. In Daytona we ran well, scoring points in every stage including the Duels. I think our Tootsie’s Chevrolet will be just as quick Sunday in Talladega.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics Manufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2023): 42First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15) Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 33First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)                2024 STATISTICS:                                                                                                    Wins: 6Poles: 4Laps Led: 992Top-five finishes: 19Top-10 finishes: 33Stage wins: 7·       Chase Elliott: 1 ·       Kyle Larson: 5·       Ross Chastain: 1  CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 857 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 747Laps led to date: 250,167Top-five finishes to date: 4,317Top-10 finishes to date: 8,894                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,191           Chevrolet: 857           Pontiac: 154           Oldsmobile: 115           Buick: 65            Ford: 828                                                                      Ford: 728           Mercury: 96           Lincoln: 4            Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467           Dodge: 217           Plymouth: 191           Chrysler: 59            Toyota: 183