The ARP fixings in the students project cars have ensured total reliability at the notoriously hard, 2 day WRC Ypres Rally on Aug 19 – 20th. They left for Belgium with no expectations in the WRC Rally support event, which was a round of the Belgian National Rally Championship, but shared the stages with the WRC cars. These all went through first, with their deep corner-cutting leaving the lanes covered in dust and rubble. Their 1965 Riley 1.5 was seeded last – number 228 – being around 30 – 40 years older than the rest of the powerful, modern field, but this young team overcame all odds to finish 16th Overall/30. 5 days later, they were back in the UK, with their other Riley 1.5 and the recently completed Sebring Sprite project in the HRDC Jack Sears Trophy and Allstars races at the famous Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire. After a titanic but ultimately successful battle with a Lotus 26R, the OUMF Sebring took its second consecutive win in the GT Class and the OUMF Riley also won the Touring Greats Class in the Jack Sears Trophy.  A quite remarkable string of recent achievements, all underpinned by ARP! 

Driving Hoffman-built chassis, Nicely wins $5K and first event title

LEWISTOWN, IL – Sept. 4, 2022 – Tyler Nicely emerged from his Elite Chassis #25 in Spoon River Speedway Victory Lane to celebrate, checkered flag and Plowboy Nationals belt trophy in-hand. He cracked a smile to show his joy in winning one of Illinois’ biggest UMP Modified races, but couldn’t help from thinking about his longtime friend, competitor and car builder Nick Hoffman, recovering in the hospital from a serious traffic accident Friday morning.

“I really just wanted to get this one for Nick,” Nicely said, reflecting his thoughts after the race. “I know how bad he wants to be here, and I wish he could be here with us.”

Hoffman, Elite Chassis owner/founder and three-time DIRTcar national champion, was slated to compete in each of the three Illinois Labor Day Weekend events. One day after visiting him in the hospital, Nicely went out and bagged a solid third-place at Fairbury Speedway on Saturday, then backed that up with a win in the 32nd annual Plowboy Nationals on Sunday.

It’s Nicely’s 11th DIRTcar-sanctioned victory of the season and his first in the prestigious Plowboy Nationals event. He bagged the $5,000 grand prize and a big boost of confidence in a neck-and-neck UMP Modified world.

“It feels great,” Nicely said. “Any time you can win a big UMP Modified race right now, I feel like you’re doing something. There’s so many guys, and it’s just gotten so competitive and everybody’s so close.”

Nicely, of Owensboro, KY, took the green from inside Row 2 and ran securely in the top-three for the opening laps. He made the move past Trevor Neville for second on Lap 5 an began to run down leader Josh Allen before an incident shook up the field with the first caution on Lap 10.

A three-car spin erupted right in front of the leaders in Turn 1, which Allen got a piece of in the melee, damaging his car and sending him to the work area. By coming to the work area under yellow, Allen was forced to give up the lead, handing it to Nicely.

Now in control of the field, Nicely was able to set the pace of the race. With the lightning-fast and tacky track conditions after the rain delay, he took advantage of the hammer-down speeds and defended the lead with distance, never letting his competitors get close enough to make a pass.

“I usually like just going green flag, but tonight with how the racetrack was – it was dirty from the middle up – so it just made it a lot easier when the cautions fell,” Nicely said. “We never really go into lapped traffic.”

Nicely defended the lead through multiple restarts over the next 40 laps, holding off a hungry Mike McKinney, who pressured him for over half of the race.

“I felt like we were the same speed there, I just wasn’t any better than him,” McKinney said. “I’m pretty sure [Nicely] was on a harder tire, and at the end, my tire wasn’t sticking like it needed to.”

McKinney, the 29-year-old former DIRTcar national champion from Plainfield, IL, had a trying weekend up to this point, posting back-to-back finishes outside the top-10 on Friday and Saturday. After a 1st-to-3rd slip in his Heat Race Sunday, he and his father David went to work on the car and found a good combination, just in time to bag a runner-up finish.

“After that Heat Race, we were really dejected, so we’re just happy to bounce back,” McKinney said. “We tried a bunch of stuff all weekend, taking a big swing at these big shows and it didn’t really pay off. I’m just happy to end the weekend on a good note.”

Crossing the stripe in third was Longhorn Chassis UMP Modified house car pilot Ethan Dotson. The 23-year-old Californian surged through the top-10 from his eighth-place spot on the starting grid, using the high line momentum to make passes in his first big event at Spoon.

“I was just running the top, kinda buzzing it where they weren’t,” Dotson said. “It was kinda one-laned around the bottom. We’d get lucky every once in awhile and then sometimes it would bite us whenever somebody would break our run.”

32nd PLOWBOY NATIONALS FEATURE RESULTS [50 Laps]

1. 25-Tyler Nicely [3]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney [9]; 3. 00-Ethan Dotson [8]; 4. 35R-Brandon Roberts [13]; 5. 12L-Lucas Lee [5]; 6. 777-Trevor Neville [1]; 7. 4L-Victor Lee [12]; 8. A9-AJ May [21]; 9. 1E-Jeffery Erickson [6]; 10. 3-Mike Brooks [10]; 11. 21s-Kenny Shaw [17]; 12. 05-Dave Wietholder [16]; 13. 242-Brandon Bollinger [22]; 14. 2-Mike Chasteen Jr. [18]; 15. 8C-Michael Claeys [24]; 16. 33-Dallas Miller [19]; 17. 99-James Carter [20]; 18. 9C-Russ Coultas [22]; 19. 66-Cole Falloway [11]; 20. 292-Josh Allen [2]; 21. K9-Will Krup [4]; 22. 68-Adam Stricker [15]; 23. 25W-Allen Weisser [7]; 24. 32-Chad Roush [14]; 25. 48-Casey Lappin [23]

CONCORD, NC – August 29, 2022 – The seventh annual World Short Track Championship goes green at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Oct. 27-29, now boasting a record 10 divisions of racing over three days.

In addition to the nine divisions that competed last year, the Mid-East Motorsports Thunder Bombers have joined the card, accompanying their Crate Modifieds that have traditionally helped form the Hoosier Racing Tire DIRTcar Pro Modified division. These Street Stock-like cars, typically found racing around the weekly tracks of the Southeast, are abundant in numbers and are expected to bring several new competitors to the event.

SRI Performance has also renewed its partnership with the event, joining as title sponsor to complete the formation of the SRI Performance Thunder Bomber division.

Competing Divisions
FOX Factory Pro/604 Late Models
Chevrolet Performance 602 Late Models
Summit Racing Equipment UMP Modifieds
Hoosier Racing Tire Pro/Crate Modifieds
COMP Cams Monster Mini-Stocks
DIRTVision Sport Compacts/Hornets
VP Racing Fuels Sportsman Modifieds
SRI Performance Thunder Bombers

Street Stocks
DIRTcar Pro Stocks

The revamped event format unveiled last year returns for 2022, featuring Championship Qualifier Features on Thursday night for the DIRTcar Pro Late Models, UMP Modifieds, Sportsman Modifieds and Pro Stocks. Then, Heat Races, Last Chance Showdowns and the first round of Hornet Features completes Friday night’s program, while the remaining Last Chance races and Features for all divisions closes out the event on Saturday night.

The Driver Appreciation Pit Party also returns to the schedule on Friday night after racing concludes, featuring music and a bonfire to complete the evening.

Pre-registration is now open for all divisions through Tuesday, Oct. 25. Every driver who pre-registers, regardless of division, will receive one additional entry into the drawing for a brand-new Chevy Performance 604 Crate engine at Saturday’s drivers meeting.

DRIVER REGISTRATION

Rules and procedures for all divisions, purses, a complete event schedule, ticket/pit pass/camping prices, and other various event information is now available in the competitor guide, linked below.

COMPETITOR GUIDE

DIRTVision will broadcast all the action at The Dirt Track at Charlotte– one week before the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars, CASE Construction Equipment Late Models and Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds take over the facility for the championship determining World of Outlaws World Finals, Nov. 2-5.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DARLINGTON RACEWAY

COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

AUGUST 29, 2022

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media via teleconference in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Darlington Raceway, where Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 will start the 2022 NCS Playoffs. Press Conference Transcript: 

QUITE A CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR WHERE YOU CAME IN AS THE FAVORITE WITH ALL OF YOUR WINS AND PLAYOFF POINTS. WHAT’S IT LIKE JUST BEING IN A POSITION NOW WHERE YOU’RE BACK TO BEING THE ‘HUNTER’ AND TRYING TO DEFEND THIS CHAMPIONSHIP? 

“I don’t know.. I haven’t put much thought into that. Obviously when you look at the points; I think last year, we had 40-something, maybe closer to 50 playoff points, as we headed into the playoffs. This year, I think we only have 19. It already adds a little bit more pressure on each race knowing that you need to go get stage points, stages wins, race wins, all of that, to help out your post-regular season. 

This first round sets up really nice for us and our team. There are three really great tracks for us, so I think it’s a good opportunity for us to have a good few showings; get some playoff points and try to put ourselves in a better spot as we approach the next couple of rounds.”

LAST YEAR WAS REALLY THE FIRST YEAR THAT YOU HAD A DEEP PLAYOFF RUN, WHERE YOU WENT THROUGH EACH OF THE ROUNDS AND YOU GOT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE FOR THE FIRST TIME. HOW VALUABLE WAS THAT EXPERIENCE TO REALLY SEE IT FIRST-HAND ON HOW THE ROUNDS WORK; WHAT IT TAKES, THE VALUE OF PLAYOFF POINTS AND SO FORTH TO GET TO PHOENIX? 

“Yeah, I think only one other time maybe in my career that I made it to the Round of Eight. I believe anyways.. I might not have, but I think I did one other time. That experience would have probably taught me more and prepared me more for this year’s playoffs. Like last year, I feel like it’s not often that a driver has that many points – I know (Kevin) Harvick has done it in the past – but where you have a lot of points and you can rely on those points and not go into each race with some stress of crashing or having something bad happen. And if it does, you’re still not in terrible shape. I think the second round last year, we had a bad Talladega; we had an alternator issue at the ROVAL and I was stressed out. Where I would have been really stressed out if we had the bad race at Talladega with just that one itself. 

I don’t know.. just go out there, execute and try to run upfront all race long. That should hopefully put you in an OK spot.”

YOUR FIRST FULL-TIME CUP SEASON WAS 2014, SO THE ONLY ERA OF CUP RACING YOU’VE EVER KNOWN WAS THE ‘WIN AND YOUR IN’ FORMAT. IT’S NOT TRADITIONAL RACING, IT’S NOT POINTS RACING. DO YOU ENJOY GETTING TO SEPTEMBER AND THE INTENSITY OF THIS FORMAT? AS A RACER, DO YOU ENJOY THAT PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT? 

“Like you said, I don’t have experience the other way, so this is all I’ve known and it’s the only way of racing in the playoffs. I don’t know if the regular season was that way back then when I was running. The playoffs being like this is the only way I’ve known, so it just kind of is what it is to me. I think if I had raced another way, how it was before, maybe I would have a different opinion. But I don’t know anything different, so it’s just the way it’s always been. 

I think having an emphasis on winning is exciting for the fans. Having the elimination stuff is stressful and that makes things exciting to watch on TV and the storylines developing throughout each race. Hopefully we can win some races and just advance that way. That would make things nice.”

WE HEAR ALL OF THE TIME THAT WINNING IS PARAMOUNT. THERE’S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT IN THE CUP SERIES THAN WINNING. AND YET, WE GET TO THE PLAYOFFS IN SEPTEMBER, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE’RE COUNTING POINTS.. SO IT’S NOT LIKE WINNING IS STILL THE ONLY THING. WHAT IS THE BALANCE WITH YOUR TEAM, IN TERMS OF TRYING TO PUT YOURSELF IN POSITION TO WIN, BUT ALSO COLLECTING MAXIMUM POINTS IN EACH STAGE? 

“Yeah, I don’t know. I feel like in the road courses – and maybe superspeedways a little bit – but mostly the road courses where you have to sacrifice stages for the finishing position. We’ve only got one road course in the playoffs, so aside from that, I think you’re always going to go for the stage points and the race win hopefully comes along with that. Obviously, there are cautions that fall at a certain point at the end of a stage and you have to sacrifice the points for tires and fuel. Then I don’t know.. I think it all kind of depends on where you’re at in the points at that moment. 

But yes, I think everybody always wants to just straight-up go for stage points and the race win.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT DARLINGTON RACEWAY THAT SETS UP WELL FOR YOU? DID YOU LIKE THE TRACK FROM THE FIRST TIME YOU DROVE IT OR DID YOU HAVE TO GET SOME LAPS IN BEFORE YOU REALLY FOUND YOUR GROOVE THERE? 

“I think most of the races I’ve been in at Darlington (Raceway) have been really good. Maybe if I had some bad results it’s because I got into the wall or something like that. But before getting into the wall, I always remember being competitive, having fun and running up front. I have yet to get a win there, but I feel like it’s in my top three or four for best tracks on the circuit, as far as average running position throughout the race and stuff like that. It just seems to fit my racing style. It’s really technical. You have to move your line around a little bit and be patient. 

It’s just fun. I really enjoy it. It gets slick and hot.. it’s just a very demanding race track. I think the more demanding, it sometimes seems to be better suited for me. Hopefully this weekend we can go there, have a really good run and finally crack out a win there.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR REGULAR SEASON WENT? DO YOU FEEL AS PREPARED AS YOU CAN BE FOR THIS PLAYOFF RUN? 

“Well I think our regular season didn’t go very well, to our standards, but I don’t really know if it did for anybody. Even for Chase (Elliott), like I don’t even know if his regular season was up to their standards. There was just a lot of inconsistency this year throughout the regular season. We had three blown engines now in the regular season, so DNF’s with that. But also mistakes on my part or bad pit stops. Yes, we got a couple wins, which was nice.. but we also probably gave away a couple, as well. 

I would say no, it wasn’t good. But I do still feel like we are prepared for the playoffs. I feel like here lately, our pit crew has been performing well. Our cars have been fast all year long. Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and our guys have been making good calls on top of the box. I’m doing a little bit better job of taking what I can get out of the race car and not overstepping things. So I feel like we’re prepared. We just have to hope that everything comes together and this is the time of the year for that. 

I know we have a championship caliber team. We proved that last year and we just have to do it again.” 

YOU MENTIONED THE INCONSISTENCIES WE’VE SEEN THIS SEASON. IT’S KIND OF BIZARRE FOR YOU TO HAVE SIX DNF’S, AS YOU MENTIONED. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE INCONSISTENCIES, HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE NEW CAR? IT’S REALLY CHANGED THE DYNAMIC IN A LOT OF THESE RACES AND THERE ARE A LOT OF FIRST TIME GUYS THAT ARE GOING TO THE POST-SEASON.

“Yeah, it’s hard to say that it’s not a factor with the unique set of drivers in the playoffs. I don’t know what it is about it.. I think just the cars are more similar than they’ve ever been to one another. There are more things that can go wrong in a race that could take you out of it and put others in contention. 

I don’t know.. I think there is a long list of things that can factor into why it is what it is. But I think it’s cool for the race fans to see a different group of drivers up front all year long; a different group than we’re maybe used to seeing in the playoffs. I think it’s added some storylines for the commentators and for you guys, and I think those are all good things.”

COULD THERE BE SOME BIG UNKNOWN THAT NONE OF US ARE EXPECTING THAT POPS UP, SAY IN THE ROUND OF EIGHT EVEN? 

“I don’t know.. I don’t know. I think we just have to kind of wait and see how things play out because it is an unknown. I don’t even know what is an unknown because we don’t know what the unknown is. 

I don’t know. I can’t answer that for you, I’m not really sure.”

YOU DON’T REALLY FEEL LIKE THERE IS A CLEAR CUT FAVORITE RIGHT NOW GOING INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE? 

“I definitely think there are favorites, but there is a lot of craziness that has happened all year long. So even though I have favorites; I’m not confident in anything, just because of how wild and inconsistent the season has been for so many people. I think you can look at us as being one of the favorites. I think you can look at Chase (Elliott), obviously; and in my opinion, Ross Chastain. I would say us three probably, and definitely the Gibbs guys that are in the playoffs. There are a lot of tracks in the playoffs that I think suit their cars and setups very well. Honestly, I would probably look at them as probably being the ones that could go out there and win. I think there are other teams that can do a better job of executing, but the Gibbs guys probably have the fastest and best handling cars to go out there and really win to advance that way.”

WITH YOUR PLAYOFF HISTORY, THERE WAS ONLY ONE OTHER TIME WHERE YOU WERE ABLE TO GET INTO THE ROUND OF EIGHT BEFORE THE RUN YOU WENT ON LAST SEASON. WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE BIGGEST LESSONS ARE THAT YOU’VE LEARNED THROUGHOUT YOUR PLAYOFF HISTORY THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN CARRY INTO THIS YEAR? 

“If you win, that’s great.. but if you’re not going to win, you just need to maximize your day and make sure you’re finishing the races. I think finishing is the most important thing. If you can finish in the top-10 or 12 every week until you at least get to the Round of Eight, I feel like that should be enough to get you in.. as long as you’re getting stage points, too. Stage points are really important, as well. 

If you get one finish outside the top-20, then I feel like you’ve got reasons to stress. Just not taking yourself out of it has been the biggest thing that I’ve learned over my career of being in the playoffs. I think when you’re young; you think ‘OK, it’s the final 10 weeks and I need to go out there and win’ every week or win at least once a round. That’s not necessarily the case. I think as long as you can just be consistent and finish, let the other guys make those mistakes.”

HOMESTEAD IS ALSO BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR. IS THAT ONE THAT YOU HAVE CIRCLED ON YOUR CALENDAR, AS FAR AS BEING HOPEFUL TO GET BACK TO VICTORY LANE? 

“Yeah, I really like Homestead. It suits me well, being able to run the top and search for different lanes of grip. I do feel like though, with the Next Gen car, it seems to be a lot easier to run inches off the wall. So I’m a little bit worried that the whole field will be running up there and it will be really hard to pass, but we’ll see. It’s going to be great no matter what. Homestead is awesome all of the time. I’m just saying, I think compared to other Homestead races; maybe it won’t be as exciting and as good of racing, just because it could be harder to pass. Just have to wait and see until we get there. 

But I love Homestead and no matter what package that we’ve ran there, I’ve always seemed to love it and run well. I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to go there and contend for a win.”

IS THERE ANY NERVOUSNESS GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR MECHANICAL FAILURES GIVEN THAT YOU GUYS DID HAVE THREE, UNCHARACTERISTIC ENGINE FAILURES DURING THE REGULAR SEASON? 

“I have not really thought about that until we blew up last weekend (at Daytona). Our other two engine failures were early on in the year, so I thought we had it all cured and stuff. Having another issue pop up this weekend – which I think was a totally different issue than I had in the other two – yes, it’s on your mind. But that’s not something you should worry about when you’re on the track. There’s nothing I can do from my position to limit things from happening under the hood. 

I’m confident in Hendrick Motorsports and the engine shop. They are the best in the business and they are going to continue to learn why stuff has happened and make it better for the future. My confidence in them has not gone down at all. I’m still confident that we’re going to have great power and great reliability. 

But yes, it’s more on my mind now than it was, just because it happened the week before the playoffs start.”

WHAT TRACK OR TRACKS PERSONALLY GIVE YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN THE PLAYOFFS? 

“Obviously I think Talladega. I think the ROVAL is in that same round. So I think that’s the round, where us being a dominant team last year, it almost took us out. That’s the sketchiest round for me. 

As far as a track that I don’t do very well at, I would say Martinsville in that final round is a tricky one for me. But I think it’s also Las Vegas and Homestead, maybe, in that round. Those are two really good tracks for me, so hopefully if I do make it to the Round of Eight, we can have a great Vegas and Homestead and find ourselves in a little bit of a better spot once we get to Martinsville. I think still, to me, that second round is the sketchiest.” 

EARLIER, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT SEVERAL GUYS BEING IN THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME. DOES IT WORRY YOU THAT SOME OF THESE GUYS – PARTICULARLY GUYS THAT HAVE BEEN PRONE TO CAUSE ISSUES IN THE REGULAR SEASON – DOES IT CONCERN YOU WITH SOME OF THESE GUYS BEING IN THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THAT THEY MIGHT KIND OF DRIVER OVER THEIR HEADS A LITTLE BIT? 

“No, not really. I don’t think about that at all. You’re going to be racing with them anyways, whether they’re in the playoffs or not, and they’re still going to be hungry for wins no matter what. I don’t think it changes much. Maybe if they’re in a must-win situation to advance to the next round, that’s when you get a little bit more nervous. But your awareness is going to be high for anybody in a must-win situation. 

Honestly, to me, it doesn’t change my mindset at all. I’d be curious what other drivers would have to say. I don’t think it would change their opinions either. I don’t really think too much into it.”

8/29/2022 – Alex Nieten) Placerville, CA… This past weekend a single night at a California quarter mile of red clay summoned decades of memories and the countless miles raced by a pair of Elk Grove brothers.

Saturday at Placerville Speedway Paul and Bobby McMahan put the final punctuation marks on two remarkable sprint car careers. The El Dorado County bullring played an instrumental role in launching those careers, and in storybook fashion the duo returned to Placerville for one final race.

“This is something I’ve been planning for probably three years when I’ve been kind of contemplating to quit racing,” Paul McMahan explained on Saturday. “I always knew I wanted to come back to Placerville. It’s a very special place to me. It’s where I got to race my first full season. I got my first sprint car win here. I’ve got a lot of friends and family that are close to here, so it’s a very special day for me to finish my career here in Placerville.”

After Placerville helped them get started in the 1980s, both went on to build excellent sprint car resumés including becoming two of the best to ever compete with the NARC (Northern Auto Racing Club) sprint cars.

Paul began by driving for his father and establishing a solid presence in California, and then he quickly became one of the state’s strongest forces when he climbed aboard Clyde Lamar’s iconic TRI-C Machine sprinter in the early 1990s, the same car he drove on Saturday. Wheeling Lamar’s No. 3C the younger McMahan competed for multiple NARC titles, earning back-to-back runner-ups in the standings in 1994 and 1995. He collected his fair share of victories during that time frame as well.

After making a name for himself on the West Coast, McMahan decided to expand his racing ventures and competed for World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year in 1997. He then constructed one of the best tenures with the Outlaws among California natives, racking up 27 victories over roughly the next two decades and finishing a best of third in points in both 2013 and 2014.

Bobby earned 1982 Placerville Rookie of the Year honors and parlayed that success into the 1986 NARC Rookie of the Year award. Bobby competed alongside his brother on the NARC tour in the 90s, taking many trips to victory lane. He didn’t race often with the series in the 2000s but returned in the 2010s, finishing in the top-10 in points five more times during the decade, bringing his total to 16 appearances among the top-10 against California’s best.

While the brothers both eventually moved to Tennessee, their friendly personalities led to them becoming beloved within the California racing community. And their reputations made Saturday all the more emotional as they came to their original home to say goodbye.

“It was good. It was a great night,” Bobby said. “It was a lot of emotions all day. All day I’d think about it and start to well up a little bit and try and compose myself. It was just an awesome night.”

“Anytime you can race with your brother it’s great,” Paul said. “We’ve done that a lot over the years but hadn’t done it in a long time, so this is pretty cool to both finish our careers here at Placerville. It all started for both of us here.”

The family, friends, and fans occupying the packed stands welcomed the brothers with cheers each and every time they hit the track. Track promoters Scott Russell and Kami Arnold organized a special presentation for Paul early in the night, and after both of their evenings ended a little early in separate B-mains, each McMahan parked on the front stretch for some closing remarks.

“I was good, and then they stopped me out there on the front straightaway and I lost it,” Bobby said of the moments after completing his final laps in a sprint car. “I really lost it. I had to stop, take some deep breaths, and try and power through that deal. That part was tough. It was really, really tough. Everything just kind of overwhelmed me at that moment.”

Adding to the emotion was the extent of support. The local community came out in strong numbers to see the McMahans, but the outpouring of congratulatory words and encouragement stretched across the nation.

“My phone’s been blowing up,” Paul said. “I got a text from Donny Schatz today, and that meant a lot to me. Joey Saldana flew in from Indianapolis to watch my last race. I’ve got friends from Nebraska that flew in, friends from Illinois, all these different people that came to see my last race is very cool and very special.”

The night also served as a welcome reminder that the same Golden State racing scene that helped shape them is alive and well and could potentially be working on forming the next Paul or Bobby McMahan.

“There’s no slow cars in this field,” Bobby said. “There’s a bunch of really good racecars and a lot of good young drivers coming up through this deal. And it makes me feel good that we have these guys that can hopefully continue to make this sport as great as it is. Sprint car racing is by far the most exciting racing there is anywhere.”

As their time on the racetrack ended on Saturday, the night was only beginning. Once the final checkered flag of the evening flew the stands emptied into the pits where the McMahan brothers waited to greet everyone who wanted to talk.

The massive gathering that surrounded their neighboring pit areas stands as a testament to the impact of these two men. The McMahans were known equally as fierce drivers on track and as two of the most approachable and genuine people to ever grace the sport.

Tears were shed and smiles exchanged, photos were taken, and memories were shared as Saturday night at Placerville Speedway became Sunday morning. And in true McMahan fashion, both Paul and Bobby treated each person as a friend as the brothers called it a career at the place where it all began.

• NHRA’s longest-running specialty race showcases Super Stock 1968 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas in head-to-head battles at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
• Dodge HEMI® Challenge Grand Marshal and renowned Direct Connection drag racer Paul Rossi campaigned one of the original Hurst-built ’68 HEMI Barracuda Super Stock cars
• Winner will be awarded $15,000 and a new-look, custom-made Dodge HEMI Challenge trophy created by local artist and former NHRA fabricator Tom Patsis
• Defending winner Steve Comella and four-time winner and last year’s runner-up Jim Daniels Jr., as well as inaugural winner Bucky Hess II, return to compete in this year’s Dodge HEMI Challenge

August 29, 2022 , Auburn Hills, Mich. – The 21st edition of the longest-running, continuous, specialty race in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history, the Dodge HEMI® Challenge, will take center stage at the 68th annual Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals September 1-2 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The fan-favorite event features heads-up, wheel /*-standing, side-by-side racing of vintage HEMI-powered 1968 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda “package cars” that dominated the NHRA Super Stock (SS/AH) class for more than five decades.
 
Paul Rossi, renowned Mopar drag racer, engine builder, development engineer, team owner and innovator, has been named grand marshal as acknowledgement of his contributions in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s to the development of high-performance products in the Dodge family, which includes building and driving a 1970 Challenger R/T powered by a 440 Six Pack, backed by Direct Connection when the performance brand first launched in 1974, that dominated the Super Stock class for years. Rossi is excited to be called up to lead the parade of iconic HEMI muscle cars along Indianapolis’ fabled return road for this year’s event.
 
“I’m so honored to be called upon as grand marshal,” said Rossi, who campaigned one of the original Hurst-built ’68 HEMI (B029) Barracuda Super Stock cars. “I completely understand the appeal of the Dodge HEMI Challenge. There’s nostalgia there and fans like to see them going fast. It’s just fantastic to have a category that calls these classic muscle cars back out of the garage. I really love that.
 
“I had an original HEMI ‘Cuda and took it to the Super Stock (SS/AA) 1975 NHRA World Finals (Ontario, California) and while I finished runner-up, I was the last standing Mopar and fastest HEMI in the country. I guess I’m now the face of the Direct Connection old guard. I’m happy to see the brand continue with this new generation of clean performance and happy to have Dodge still value their history with the HEMI Challenge and continue to build their legend at the event. My first U.S. Nationals was in 1963 aboard a brand new Plymouth Ramcharger A/FX (Factory Experimental class similar to the Factory Stock Showdown), the first Mopar to enter the class, and coming here to Indy was just the biggest thrill. As a competitor or a fan, it still has that appeal.”
 
The racing legend, who in addition to his many successes in NHRA also won multiple IMSA championships and Pike’s Peak endurance races, will join Direct Connection spokesperson Chuck Spieser for a question-and-answer session with performance enthusiasts on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 3:30 p.m. at the Dodge//SRT and Mopar exhibit in the NHRA’s Manufacturers’ Midway.
 
This year’s Dodge HEMI Challenge victor will be awarded $15,000 and a new-look, custom-made Dodge HEMI Challenge trophy created by Tom Patsis of Cold Hard Art, a local Brownsburg, Indiana-based artist, former NHRA welder-fabricator and winner of the 2021 Netflix competition series “Metal Shop Masters.”
 
More than 20 entrants are expected to vie for the new trophy and bragging rights this year. Among them will be defending winner Steve Comella who had a dominant performance in his HEMI Barracuda driving from No.1 qualifier to the winner’s circle as a follow up to his runner-up finish in 2020. Four-time Dodge HEMI Challenge winner Jim Daniels Jr. (2016-2019) will also be back to compete aboard his vintage HEMI-powered ’68 Dodge Dart after finishing runner-up to Comella in last year’s close and exciting final elimination battle. 
 
A number of the legendary staples competing in the long-standing event include the winner of the first Dodge HEMI Challenge, Bucky Hess II (2001), aboard his ‘68 Plymouth Barracuda, Jim Pancake and his ‘68 Dodge Dart, and Joe Teuton at the wheel of his ’68 ‘Cuda.
 
The Dodge HEMI Challenge will be streamed live on NHRA.TV with subscription-based video-on-demand coverage of qualifying on Thursday, Sept. 1, and elimination rounds on Friday, Sept. 2, with highlights of the parade and final eliminations expected to be part of the FS1 qualifying show on Sunday, Sept. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m. ET.DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.
 
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with a lineup that delivers unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT Hellcat versions of the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Dodge Durango, as well as an R/T plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version of the all-new 2023 Dodge Hornet, representing the brand’s first-ever electrified performance vehicle. Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock; the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world; and the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever; and best-in-class standard performance in the compact utility vehicle segment with the Dodge Hornet. Combined, these four muscle vehicles make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2022, the Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market), making it the only domestic brand ever to do so three years in a row. In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). 

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

• NHRA’s longest-running specialty race showcases Super Stock 1968 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas in head-to-head battles at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
• Dodge HEMI® Challenge Grand Marshal and renowned Direct Connection drag racer Paul Rossi campaigned one of the original Hurst-built ’68 HEMI Barracuda Super Stock cars
• Winner will be awarded $15,000 and a new-look, custom-made Dodge HEMI Challenge trophy created by local artist and former NHRA fabricator Tom Patsis
• Defending winner Steve Comella and four-time winner and last year’s runner-up Jim Daniels Jr., as well as inaugural winner Bucky Hess II, return to compete in this year’s Dodge HEMI Challenge

August 29, 2022 , Auburn Hills, Mich. – The 21st edition of the longest-running, continuous, specialty race in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history, the Dodge HEMI® Challenge, will take center stage at the 68th annual Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals September 1-2 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The fan-favorite event features heads-up, wheel /*-standing, side-by-side racing of vintage HEMI-powered 1968 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda “package cars” that dominated the NHRA Super Stock (SS/AH) class for more than five decades.
 
Paul Rossi, renowned Mopar drag racer, engine builder, development engineer, team owner and innovator, has been named grand marshal as acknowledgement of his contributions in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s to the development of high-performance products in the Dodge family, which includes building and driving a 1970 Challenger R/T powered by a 440 Six Pack, backed by Direct Connection when the performance brand first launched in 1974, that dominated the Super Stock class for years. Rossi is excited to be called up to lead the parade of iconic HEMI muscle cars along Indianapolis’ fabled return road for this year’s event.
 
“I’m so honored to be called upon as grand marshal,” said Rossi, who campaigned one of the original Hurst-built ’68 HEMI (B029) Barracuda Super Stock cars. “I completely understand the appeal of the Dodge HEMI Challenge. There’s nostalgia there and fans like to see them going fast. It’s just fantastic to have a category that calls these classic muscle cars back out of the garage. I really love that.
 
“I had an original HEMI ‘Cuda and took it to the Super Stock (SS/AA) 1975 NHRA World Finals (Ontario, California) and while I finished runner-up, I was the last standing Mopar and fastest HEMI in the country. I guess I’m now the face of the Direct Connection old guard. I’m happy to see the brand continue with this new generation of clean performance and happy to have Dodge still value their history with the HEMI Challenge and continue to build their legend at the event. My first U.S. Nationals was in 1963 aboard a brand new Plymouth Ramcharger A/FX (Factory Experimental class similar to the Factory Stock Showdown), the first Mopar to enter the class, and coming here to Indy was just the biggest thrill. As a competitor or a fan, it still has that appeal.”
 
The racing legend, who in addition to his many successes in NHRA also won multiple IMSA championships and Pike’s Peak endurance races, will join Direct Connection spokesperson Chuck Spieser for a question-and-answer session with performance enthusiasts on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 3:30 p.m. at the Dodge//SRT and Mopar exhibit in the NHRA’s Manufacturers’ Midway.
 
This year’s Dodge HEMI Challenge victor will be awarded $15,000 and a new-look, custom-made Dodge HEMI Challenge trophy created by Tom Patsis of Cold Hard Art, a local Brownsburg, Indiana-based artist, former NHRA welder-fabricator and winner of the 2021 Netflix competition series “Metal Shop Masters.”
 
More than 20 entrants are expected to vie for the new trophy and bragging rights this year. Among them will be defending winner Steve Comella who had a dominant performance in his HEMI Barracuda driving from No.1 qualifier to the winner’s circle as a follow up to his runner-up finish in 2020. Four-time Dodge HEMI Challenge winner Jim Daniels Jr. (2016-2019) will also be back to compete aboard his vintage HEMI-powered ’68 Dodge Dart after finishing runner-up to Comella in last year’s close and exciting final elimination battle. 
 
A number of the legendary staples competing in the long-standing event include the winner of the first Dodge HEMI Challenge, Bucky Hess II (2001), aboard his ‘68 Plymouth Barracuda, Jim Pancake and his ‘68 Dodge Dart, and Joe Teuton at the wheel of his ’68 ‘Cuda.
 
The Dodge HEMI Challenge will be streamed live on NHRA.TV with subscription-based video-on-demand coverage of qualifying on Thursday, Sept. 1, and elimination rounds on Friday, Sept. 2, with highlights of the parade and final eliminations expected to be part of the FS1 qualifying show on Sunday, Sept. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m. ET.DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.
 
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with a lineup that delivers unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT Hellcat versions of the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Dodge Durango, as well as an R/T plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version of the all-new 2023 Dodge Hornet, representing the brand’s first-ever electrified performance vehicle. Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock; the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world; and the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever; and best-in-class standard performance in the compact utility vehicle segment with the Dodge Hornet. Combined, these four muscle vehicles make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2022, the Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market), making it the only domestic brand ever to do so three years in a row. In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). 

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
  
Mopar
This year marks the 85th anniversary of Mopar.

A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar  expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com and the newly redesigned Mopar blog at blog.mopar.com. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

The World of Outlaws versus PA Posse battle rages on with a $75,000 payday on the line

MECHANICSBURG, PA (Aug. 29, 2022) – When the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series makes its final trip to the Northeast this season, another crown jewel title and large check will be waiting.

The historic Champion Racing Oil National Open at Williams Grove Speedway will again be a massive two-day event – Friday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 1 – with more than $80,000 available if someone can sweep the weekend ($10,000-to-win on Friday and $75,000-to-win on Saturday).

Both nights will see a race within a race as the iconic battle between the World of Outlaws and PA Posse rages on. They’ll enter the event 2-2 for the year with Brad Sweet and Jacob Allen having picked up wins for the World of Outlaws and Brent Marks and Lance Dewease having won for the Posse.

Tickets: GET HERE

CHAMPION RACING OIL NATIONAL OPEN – Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30-Oct.1
Track: Williams Grove Speedway
Location: Mechanicsburg, PA
To Win: $10,000 (Friday), $75,000 (Saturday)
2021 Winner: Carson Macedo

Notables: The National Open will be the Series’ third weekend at the historic half-mile track this year. In the three previous races, Brent Marks won the Morgan Cup in May, Lance Dewease returned to Victory Lane with the Series for the first time since 2019 during the Summer Nationals opener and then Brad Sweet broke his winless streak at Williams Grove in a big way, winning the Summer Nationals.

While the PA Posse enters the National Open with the upper hand on wins at Williams Grove this year, the World of Outlaws shut them out of the podium last year. Carson Macedo won the marquee event for the first time last year with Pennsylvania’s Logan Schuchart in second and Sheldon Haudenschild in third.

In the three Series events at Williams Grove this year, Haudenschild and Marks were the only two drivers to find the podium multiple times. Marks, of Myerstown, PA, already learned what it’s like to win the National Open in 2019, while Haudenschild is searching for his first.

Ten-time Series champion Donny Schatz will be on the “to-watch” list again this year, having won his 11th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals. With a newfound level of comfortability with the Ford FPS 410 engine, the six-time National Open winner will be poised to add another page to the novel of his crown jewel victories.

MARSTONS MILLS, Massachusetts (August 30, 2022)  It was a fantastic weekend racing for the Follow A Dream team at their home track in Epping, NH this past weekend. The weather was beautiful, the racecar was running perfectly, and the team’s precision and positive energy carried over from their last race in Atco, NJ. “Let’s not change a thing.” said racecar tuner Anthony Terenzio at the pre-race meeting on Friday morning“The car was running great at Atco and the team couldn’t have performed better, let’s do that again!” Team owner and crew chief Jay Blake echoed Terenzio’s sentiments,“I was so proud of the teamwork I saw both at Atco and at New England Dragway, of course we were hoping for a big win here at home.” There is always a lot going on when you race at you home track, lots of family and friends to cheer you on, but that also means lots of distraction for the team. That didn’t seem to be an issue for The Dream Team though. The added optimism really did benefit the team when the funnycar rolled out of it’s second round of eliminations with their best run, a 5.61 at 262 mph landing them in the position of second qualifier. The Dream Team was thrilled when they scored a first-round win against Matt Gill. Gill had won his last race against Burkart on a holeshot victory when they faced off in in Atco just three short weeks ago. It was a tough loss, but vindication was swift. Burkart easily bested Gill with a 5.53 at 264 mph to his 8.71 at 146 mph. This was an important win for the Follow A Dream team as it momentarily secured their spot as points leader in their division. It also earned them a bye run to the finals.  For the teams semifinal run, Blake, Terenzio and Team Consultant Rich Bozzelli decide the best course of action was to have the racecar cross the starting line under its own power and skip the pass down the track. This earned the team an automatic win and saved the crew and the racecar the grueling post-pass maintenance routine. Unfortunately, the finals didn’t bring the same satisfaction. Burkart red lit by .002 giving DJ Cox the automatic win. This could line up the three-point leaders for a winner takes all season deciding race at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, VA where, Gill, Cox and Burkart will compete for the division championship. “It’s amazing how much difference a couple thousands of a second had over the last two races.” Burkart said shaking his head.Life really is all about timing. We will see if the timing is right for the Dream Team when they head to Virginia on September 30th.“We have all the right pieces we need going down to Virginia and that’s the good news.” said Blake “We have the right people, we have a fast racecar, so really we have everything it takes to win.”

Follow A Dream Tuner Anthony Terenzio and Team Consultant Rich Bozzelli looking at the spoilers

Follow A Dream Driver Phil Burkart getting suited up

Team owner and Crew Chief Jay Blake using NGK spark plugs and Scott Shop Towels

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 29, 2022) – Progressive American Flat Track is excited to announce that actor Butch Patrick will serve as the Grand Marshal for the Mission Springfield Mile I & II presented by Drag Specialties at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois, on September 3-4. Among his extensive list of acting credits that spans more than six decades, Patrick is best known for his role as Eddie Munster in The Munsters, which aired for two seasons from 1964-1966. Despite its relatively brief initial run, The Munsters has since been widely syndicated and remains firmly locked in the public consciousness to this day. That special status is destined to be further elevated with the release of Rob Zombie’s film, The Munsters, which will be released on September 27. “It’s really amazing,” Patrick said. “I did a lot of work in Hollywood, and I was on several other shows and series, but for some reason, this little two-year show from the mid-’60s in the black-and-white era was magic. It’s just got this extended family of fans who love it so much.” Patrick is a life-long motorsports fan who called Geneseo, Illinois, his home at the time he was cast in The Munsters. He now owns replicas of the show’s iconic “Munster Koach” and “DRAG-U-LA” vehicles and will have the Munster Koach along with him and on display in the Fan Zone at this year’s Mission Springfield Mile doubleheader. He said, “I’ve spent a lot of time in Illinois and was in Springfield last year for a big car show, but this will be my first time at the race. I’m really looking forward to it, and the Koach is coming with me. You know something, you could park that car anywhere and just sit back and wait for people to turn around and get their cameras out. It’s very identifiable and always puts a smile on everyone’s face. “I’m looking forward to seeing the fans, and I can’t wait to get out to the Springfield Mile and witness some crazy good motorcycle racing.” Visit https://store.americanflattrack.com/ebooking/ticket/view/id/3668 to reserve your tickets today. Infield Standing Room Only tickets start at just $20 (kids 12 and under free with a paid adult ticket), and fans are offered a large variety of upgraded tickets to choose from, including General Admission – Bleachers, Reserved Grandstand, Premium Reserved Grandstand, and Premier Reserved Grandstand, along with an extremely limited number of remaining VIP Experience tickets. Paddock Access Upgrades are also available for purchase, which provide all-day access to the pits where fans can scope out the world’s fastest dirt track motorcycles and get up close and personal with the stars of the sport. Gates will open for fans at 10:00 a.m. ET/7:00 a.m. PT on both days with Opening Ceremonies scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT ahead of Saturday’s and Sunday’s race programs. You can catch the livestream of all the weekend’s racing activities on FansChoice.tv. FansChoice.tv provides free-to-view livestreaming of Practice and Qualifying. FansChoice.tv subscribers will then be able to watch the drama unfold from Opening Ceremonies through the Semis, Main Events, and podium celebrations. FansChoice.tv offers two subscription options, granting unlimited access to premium AFT content. Monthly subscriptions start at just $7.99, while a six-month subscription is available for $44.99. The Mission Springfield Mile I will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, September 11, at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT. The Mission Springfield Mile II will air one week later, on Sunday, September 18, at 11:00 a.m. ET/8:00 a.m. Both broadcasts will include exclusive features, cutting-edge aerial drone and onboard footage, and expert commentary. For more information on Progressive AFT visit htt

Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 fights at the front of IMSA field
Penalty halts potential strong result

ALTON, Va. (August 28, 2022) – The #51 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 from Rick Ware Racing had an encouraging start to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race Sunday at VIRginia International Raceway, fighting at the front of the field, before a pit lane penalty hampered their promising run. 

Starting a best-ever second in GTD in the hands of Aidan Read, the RWR NSX held station for the first half of the race, with Read maintaining his second-place position until lap 38 of 86 in the GT-only event. 

A miscue while pitting under a full-course cauti0n to hand over to co-driver Ryan Eversley is ultimately what hurt the team’s chances of continuing their promising run when the team inadvertently had too many people working on the car during the stop. The action cost the #51 a drive-through penalty, dropping the team to an eventual ninth-place finish in their final planned run of 2022. 

VIRginia International Raceway Acura Race Results
9th GTD – #51 Aidan Read, Ryan Eversley, Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

Quote
Ryan Eversley (#51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) finished 9th: “A frustrating way to end the season, with a ninth-place finish with a car that could have been on the podium. I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to Rick Ware Racing and everybody on the #51 program that’s helped us go from a brand-new team to a podium contender. But, unfortunately, it wasn’t our weekend at VIR. During the driver change we had a little miscommunication that eventually led to a drive through [penalty] — the vent hose mechanic, who is not allowed to touch the car, grabbed the drink bottle to stop it from falling off. That caused the problem. In the end, we were going to have to save fuel like crazy anyway, and we were actually able to pick off a few people at the end by doing that better than anybody else. It’s a testament to HPD and Acura for such great fuel mileage, it made our life easy, we did that better than anybody. And big thanks to Matt Harvey for coming on board and engineering our car, to Rick and Lisa Ware and everybody at Nurtec for the opportunity, and to everybody at HPD for supporting it and getting me back in a GTD car.”

Fast Facts
Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the second of two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship stand-alone events for the GTD Pro and GTD classes. The first GT-only race took place at Lime Rock Park in July.

For 2022, Acura’s IMSA GTD effort in the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup – the eight non-endurance rounds of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – will be headed by Rick Ware Racing’s #51 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22.

Next
The full IMSA field next runs October 6-8 for the season ending, 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.

AEight Chevrolet Drivers in the 2022 NCS Playoffs ·       Entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway under the playoff cutline; Austin Dillon scored his first win of 2022 in the rain delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400. ·       Dillon became the 15th new winner of 2022, securing a spot into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       This marks Dillon’s second NCS win at Daytona International Speedway; and his fourth career victory in 326 NASCAR Cup Series starts. ·       In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 15 wins, recorded by eight drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. ·       Becoming the eighth Chevrolet driver to win and secure a playoff spot; Chevrolet occupies 50 percent of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history; Chevrolet now has 829 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 28, 2022) – Austin Dillon took on the always unpredictable Daytona International Speedway race weekend with a win standing between the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team and a spot in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) playoff field. With the task at hand, the 32-year-old North Carolina delivered; scoring not only his first win of the 2022 season, but shocking the field to take one of the two remaining spots in the 16-driver playoff field.  “I have to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that makes this thing happen,” said Dillon. “Dow, who has been with me since my start. We have so many great partners. Chevrolet, Chevrolet, Chevrolet.” Dillon is no stranger to victory lane at the 2.5-mile Florida venue, adding a crown jewel win to his resume as the winner of the 2018 Daytona 500. Entering the race weekend as a strong contender for a playoff upset, the Chevrolet driver proved his superspeedway racing talent from the drop of the green flag. With looming weather heightening urgency throughout the field to get to the front, Dillon maneuvered his No. 3 Camaro ZL1 through a massive wreck in the lead pack on lap 138, taking the lead when the rain began that ultimately forced the race to undergo red flag conditions for over three hours. Restarting the race with a 15-lap dash to the finish, Dillon lost the lead, but powered back to the top spot with three laps to go with drafting help from fellow Chevrolet drivers Tyler Reddick and Noah Gragson. Dillon held off the field to take the checkered for the fourth time in his NCS career, holding off his teammate Reddick to give Richard Childress Racing a 1-2 finish. The bowtie brand went on to take four of the top-five finishing positions, with Landon Cassill, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Camaro ZL1, in fourth; and Noah Gragson, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Camaro ZL1, rounding out the top-five.  “I felt like I had good Chevrolet teammates behind me,” continued Dillon. “If I could get the lead, the 2 (Austin Cindric) would not be able to hold onto the draft. We’ve done it in practice enough to know that you’ll lose the tail and it’s hard to get back to it. I’m so proud of these guys and I’m glad to be going to Victory Lane.” Since the competition debut of the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 at Daytona in February, Chevrolet has now made its way to victory lane for the 15th time in 26 races for NASCAR’s premier series. The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR history at Daytona, Dillon’s win extends the bowtie brand’s series-leading win record at the track to 49 points-paying wins, with 22 coming during the series’ summer race.  The 2022 NCS playoff field is now complete, with 16 drivers set to compete for the coveted championship title. Dillon became the eighth Chevrolet driver to take a playoff position, giving the bowtie brand 50 percent of the playoff field as the manufacturer looks to make it three in a row in NCS Driver Championship titles. The Chevrolet playoff contenders come from three different teams, including: Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron; Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez; and Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick and the series’ most recent winner Austin Dillon.  “Congratulations to Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 team on winning the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona and locking into the 2022 playoffs,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance and Motorsports. “It’s great to have regular-season champion Chase Elliott and seven other Chevrolet drivers in the playoffs this year. Now, Chevrolet and its teams will direct their focus on final preparation for the first race and the first round.” The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will get underway next Sunday, September 4, at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500 at 6 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1, Press Conference Transcript:  THE MODERATOR: We’ll go ahead and continue with our post-race media availability as we’re joined with our race winner, Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Austin, made the Playoffs for the fifth time in your career. Won your way in. How does it feel? AUSTIN DILLON: Feels amazing. I prayed before, let God have all the glory and light shine through me. Today getting through that wreck, I mean, it was — I don’t know what you call that. We went from 15th to first. I know what it’s called. It’s called the good Lord was looking after us. It was cool to go through that whole cycle of thinking that the race was going to be called for rain. My first reaction when I got out of the car was, stay focused. I was just happy to be in the position that we were in, and I said that in my interview. I was, like, whatever happens from here, it’s a win. We’re in a good spot, and that’s all you can ask for. You go in that room where they make you sit and put the camera on you forever, and it’s like you’re thinking in the back of your head that somebody is going to walk around the corner and say, Hey, congratulations, you’ve won, but you don’t let your mind drift to that. You still have laps to go. And I knew after that second storm, had to get my mind right. If they didn’t call it then, we were going back green. When they went back to replaying the race, I went to my bus and went over there and watched “Paw Patrol” with Ace because he needed a nap. He never went down. He is like me. He don’t sleep. Just chilled with him and watched our Carolina Cowboys. I watched them up until the time I got in the car, and I knew they had won the game, so it was cool that we won and they won in Austin, Texas. Pretty sweet day. It’s our first event win for the PBR team. They won and we did too. It’s an amazing day. Thank you, Jesus. THE MODERATOR: Let’s go ahead and open it up to questions. Q. I think it’s safe to say one of the key moves after we got going again was the either contact or near contact with Austin Cindric running for the lead. I was wondering if you could walk me through what was your intention there, and how did that play out?AUSTIN DILLON: Laps are clicking down, and I knew I could get to the 2’s back bumper pretty good. The 62 and the 8 did a good job of getting up through there, so I felt like three Chevys in a row was an advantage. In the back of my mind I knew that the 12 car was still out there, and before I didn’t know where he was points-wise. If I waited until the white flag to make the move, possibly if he wrecks or someone wrecks back there, it could take our shot away. I wanted to make it before the white. Truthfully, that was — it just kind of happened. I was kind of planning on getting a bigger run than that before and pulling out to the right. And I figured that the 2 was going to be a sitting duck because they were going to go with me, the Chevys would, and then we would race it out from there. He kind of got loose as I got to his back bumper into one, and I kind of have been giving him that same shove. I don’t know if I just caught more momentum that lap than the others, but when he got free, I just kind of moved up the track. Then I got way out front. It’s very hard to tell yourself to hit the brake pedal when you are driving away from the guys that are behind you to not give up that huge gap. When I saw Tyler got there and they were all splitting up, I was, like, Man, I can’t let them go too big of a run. I knew Tyler would have my back. He has been a good teammate to me, and I enjoyed working with him. Hit the brake pedal. He got on my back bumper and from then on it was managing the gap to him in my mirror. We were able to bring it home. Q. As best you can tell, was there an actual impact between your bumper and Austin Cindric’s?AUSTIN DILLON: No harder than I had been the last ten laps pushing and pushing. You see them flaps come up in the front. We’re pretty much connected. I’m pushing him. It wasn’t any more than what I had been, I felt like. Q. This is probably as close to a ‘ball don’t lie’ moment in NASCAR in terms of it looked like you were going to get it, and then you had to still go out and earn it. Was there any sense of pride in pulling that off after the circumstances?AUSTIN DILLON: It definitely does feel like that. I say that a lot in our basketball league when I get fouled, and everybody in the league complains that I get fouled because I run the league. It’s like when I knock down the free-throws, ball don’t lie. For me it’s one of those things that my wife, she was upset when I came back because I got mad at her. She was dancing on pit road during the rain delay. I didn’t say anything to her personally, but I had Craven reach out and say stop that, we’re probably going to go back out racing. She said, When you have faith, you don’t — you just — you do. You enjoy those moments.That was a happy moment to be up front either way. It was kind of like, Okay, you’re right. Have faith. Coming down to the choose, when I had to choose top or bottom, I knew the 51 had a clean car. Brandon and I discussed it with the 19. Is his car going to be better on the push? We didn’t get going great, but I was able to get to second, and I think second was key right there because of everything going on behind me. I never got shuffled, and I could determine the lines and the pushes that were going on. So it was written. It was pretty awesome to just be behind the wheel today. I feel like it was a good day. Q. Austin, in 2019 you were leading this race, and then the big wreck happened that ultimately gave Justin Haley the win, just how full circle is the moment now three years later, you got the win because of a big wreck also in turn one?AUSTIN DILLON: That’s actually very funny about Daytona, and I didn’t even think about that. But I’ve always thought about I tore down the fence, probably one of the worst wrecks in NASCAR history, come back and win the Daytona 500. 2019 I did feel about as confident as you could feel out front leading that pack. Clint got a run to me and turned me in front of the field. And I looking back I made an aggressive move cutting left on him. It was like, Whose fault was it? Doesn’t really matter. It’s over now. It’s cool how this place just — I don’t know. There’s something about Daytona. When you pull through the tunnel, things just happen here. It’s an exciting place. Always creates some kind of drama for sure. Q. Going into turn one, you’re behind Austin. Was the intention of getting to his bumper and getting him loose? Were you going to move him?AUSTIN DILLON: Truthfully, it was trying to get him out there. Kept pushing him out. He would do a really good job of I think he was on the brake pedal because it wasn’t getting him far enough out. The 62, he could kind of get to my back bumper and get a run, and we got a decent run through the tri-oval. My intention was to get the lead before the white, so it worked out the way I wanted it to. But I’m not going to just say that that was the time I really wanted it to happen. I was actually just trying to get him a little further out, and he got free right there into one. Q. Any concern, though? He gets a little loose or sideways?AUSTIN DILLON: I’m glad he didn’t come back up the track at a high rate of speed. He did a good job saving it. It wasn’t any more than what I had been doing. So I don’t know if he just kind of was turning left as I was touching him and it made him get freer, but that was it really. Q. We were talking yesterday over at McDonald’s, and saw you working through the drive-through. That was pretty cool.AUSTIN DILLON: Served some Coca-Colas in the drive-through at McDonald’s. Q. As one of the Coca-Cola drivers, to win the Coke Zero 400, to put the 3 car in victory lane, you’ve won the Daytona 500, to win this race too, is this a great day or what?AUSTIN DILLON: The Lord has blessed me a lot of happy days. This is definitely going to be one of them. I will cherish it and thankful to have my son in victory lane and Whitney and my whole family here.We love Daytona. We come down early to enjoy this area. It was cool because my first win, Ace was too little. He was just born in Texas so he could not come. Here is his first time he got to go to victory lane.I don’t know what he expected of it and seeing him thrown around a little bit of confetti. At first he was really tired because he hadn’t napped, but he got the gist of it after a while, was and running around. I was terrified he was going to slip in all the champagne and Coke. He made it through. (Smiling). Q. Is there any extra satisfaction to winning it in kind of — if they had called it, it would have been a little bit controversial.AUSTIN DILLON: Yes. Q. Is there any extra satisfaction to winning it kind of straight-up?AUSTIN DILLON: For sure. I’ve got four wins in the Cup Series. Each one of them mean something different to me for different reasons. But the Texas one where I had multiple restarts and had to win and cross the checkered flag was probably one, from the driver’s standpoint, one of the most important wins to me. Then now this one, too. To go through all that and to be able to be, I guess, clutch in a moment that mattered is important. To us in all sports, right? To deliver when you have the opportunity to deliver…This year I’ve had some moments that were very close. Charlotte being one of them. I mean, I didn’t sleep a lick after the 600 just knowing that we had put ourselves in a position with a tire advantage.I made a heck of a move, and everybody was, like, Man, that move was amazing, blah, blah, blah. I thought that I kind of gave that away in turn three because I overdrove it. I got loose. It hadn’t done that the whole race, but I was carrying a lot more speed than I had the whole race. That one hurt me, and it kept me up a long time. I’ve always prided myself to finish races when I have the opportunity. Today it feels good to finish it off. Q. Tyler Reddick obviously was behind you there for the last few laps. Everyone knows what happened over the last month. Was there any concern of yours that he wouldn’t play teammate at all?AUSTIN DILLON: No. When Tyler made his decision a couple of months ago, I called him and congratulated him. For me being an owner’s son sometimes comes with caveats, and I wanted to make sure that I had nothing to do with the reasons that he was leaving. When I called him, I was, like, Hey, man, I just want make sure I’ve been a good teammate to you.He said, No, you have been an amazing teammate. Me and Alexa really enjoyed being around you guys.I said, Look, man, congratulations on your deal. Let’s go try and win some races for RCR over the next year and a half. For me, I was in none of his negotiations, talks, or anything. So it was more like he has been in a way inspirational to me to pick up my game because he has so much speed, and he shows it constantly. Tyler has been good for me. Then I think I’ve been good for him in some consistency aspects. We’ve rubbed off on each other in different ways to really help. When he got to my back bumper, I knew that I could trust him. Now, earlier in the race he made a heck of a move getting on pit road, and I thought I beat, like, four or five people getting on pit road on the outside. That little fart drove around me and Stenhouse and somebody else and got himself in a good position.But I was, like, Dude, where were you going? Did you get scared at all about making pit road? He was, like, No, I felt good about it. That’s just how Tyler is. It doesn’t matter what position he puts himself, he is confident, and that confidence shows. I’m thankful that he has been my teammate for this long, and hopefully together both of us can keep progressing our share forward, and it feels good to have us both in the Playoffs. Q. What kind of or is there a validation to being a Playoff driver, or are you to the point with your career you’ve been in it enough that validation is going to come more in your mind with finishing top ten and being somebody like that as opposed to just getting in the Playoffs in some years?AUSTIN DILLON: I think every time you make the Playoffs it’s validation to yourself that you’re one of the guys. You know what I mean? I think somebody said we’ve made it five times now. I don’t know how many years I’ve been doing this, but every time you’re not in it, it doesn’t feel good. You’re not going to the banquet at the end of the year. You feel like you let your guys down, you let your company down. For me it’s everything. It feels good to get a car that I felt like we should have been in earlier than this, but it doesn’t matter how you get in, you got in. 15 winners or 16? 15? 15. That’s a testament to this car and Next Gen and how competitive the field is. I don’t think there’s any other form of motorsport that has this type of competitiveness week in and week out. You go to qualify at Watkins Glen, and from first to 20th, you look at the time sheet, and you are holding your breath for a hundredth to move you up five spots. It’s what the Cup Series is supposed to be. It’s challenging. You never give up because that’s kind of what this year has told me. Q. How do you do it? It’s easy to get beat up?AUSTIN DILLON: I’ve got a great support him. We’ve done a lot this year. Having faith in our background, I talk about religion a lot because I feel like it’s a big part of who I am, so for me the Lord has blessed me with a great family that can keep me grounded and I can lay back on something. Morals mean a lot to me. Coming back to that and having that support system is probably — when you go through ups and downs and the wrecks like at Charlotte this year or Atlanta, I mean, I hit the wall a ton in Atlanta, twice. Sore neck every now and then. But I’m not going to complain because I’ve been around those cowboys that ride bulls. Those guys live hurt. I can tough it out. I’ll be all right. It’s a different type of tough when you get to go around those guys. I think they’ve been inspirational to me too. It’s kind of drove me to have a little bit more fire just being around them. I did a training camp with them with some Navy SEALS, and I did the first day, and I had to leave for an appearance. Those guys are scrappy. They have to love what they do to do it to justify it. If you lose the love for your sport, you’re not going to perform at the highest level. You’ve got to find why you’re coming out here each and every weekend and doing it. For me it’s family. Q. When you group this win with all the wins you’ve had over the last four years and Tyler’s wins this year, when you look at it big picture-wise for RCR, is this the most significant that shows where your program is right now?AUSTIN DILLON: I think the next one is. You know, that’s the next time — this is a big win. It’s, obviously, awesome, and I’m going to enjoy it and celebrate it and enjoy the fact that we’re going to get to go compete with the top 16 drivers. But it’s the next moment, right? You have to look forward to that next one to really see where the company is at because this sport, you just level yourself off of everyone constantly. You’re constantly being judged against the guy next to you. So right now it feels really good. We came out on top, but we got ten more weeks of this. Q. When you are sitting back there in the room just waiting and they’re parading competitors in there to do interviews in front of you, and you are sitting there alone waiting, what’s the worst part about that?AUSTIN DILLON: I was cold. I didn’t have a dry shirt for a little while, so that was getting to me.Then just kicking the back of my feet on the little wall there the whole time just trying to act cool, and inside you’re just chilling, waiting. Q. Is that why you changed fire suits, because it was wet?AUSTIN DILLON: For sure. This one is actually a photo shoot fire suit, so I had to cut a hole in it for my water deal that we plug up to to keep ourselves cool. I didn’t even realize it when I walked out there that it was, like, not ready. I had to take a box cutter and cut the side of it to let the hole out (Laughing). Q. You talked about this being a clutch moment. obviously, very big day for the team to win your way in. This race and the way that it unfolded with someone winning their way in is really what this format and what this race becoming the cutoff race is all about, right, so it’s what the sport wanted. What is this moment like from an adrenaline standpoint, to be a part of that, like immediately afterwards to be, like, we did that because, again, it’s what the sport wants, and everybody talks about coming down here and doing it, but we haven’t seen it until today?AUSTIN DILLON: There’s such a balance of harnessing adrenaline and staying in the moment because your mind plays tricks on you constantly. You’re trying to stay focused on what’s at hand and not get too excited. If you get too excited, you’re going to make a mistake. You’re trying to keep a level playing field in your mind of stay aggressive, make the right move when it counts. I felt really calm over those last couple of laps. Just the position we were in, I felt confident. You don’t always feel that at speedways. There’s certain moments when I feel really good out there, and I’m, like, Okay, I feel like I can control the momentum of the pack. That pack was a little bit smaller, obviously, but I have been in bigger packs and felt the same way. Xfinity racing, 2019 we had that car that was unbelievable, and it felt like I was in control of what was coming out on the track. It is so hard to not let your adrenaline get too high. You have to harness it and use it to your advantage as well. Q. Immediately after crossing —AUSTIN DILLON: After crossing the finish line? Q. — did it hit you? What was that like?AUSTIN DILLON: I don’t feel like it yet. It’s hard to, like, enjoy it. It’s crazy because there’s a constant, like, weight or pressure. Even though we’ve crossed the win, I’m going to enjoy it when I get out of here at some point. It’s going to be, like, Ah. My adrenaline is still high right now, so I’m, like, trying to come down off of whatever that is that we get when we’re running 200 miles an hour out there. Q. We’ve looked at the replay a dozen times, and you went to the apron immediately when the big wreck happened.AUSTIN DILLON: Yes. Q. Was that your only choice, or was it instinct? You know, it looked like you knew what you were doing.AUSTIN DILLON: I had no clue it was raining from where I was. I was just enough back from where you can see my end car, and there’s some sprinkles, but I thought that was oil because the 99, when he kind of got turned and up in the air, I saw that. So my immediate reaction was get to the flat because I knew he was headed up the hill. You start to understand certain things of which way cars are going, momentum is going to take cars. So he is going up the track. The next thing that’s going to happen is somebody is going to get clipped and turn back left. You are hoping you make it far enough forward before that car comes back across the apron or my direction change is really going to hurt when I get clipped and go up the hill. So the bottom is advantageous because you always have an out, but in the same sentence, some of the hardest hits you’re going to take are when you get right-reared and shot into the fence. When I hit the apron, the first thing that goes through your mind is you’re coming off of a ton of banking at a high rate of speed to a flat, so you’re back-steering instantly as you hit the flat. I’m starting to decelerate ever so slightly because you can’t carry that same amount of throttle. I made it to where I could see out of the peripherals. I didn’t know it was the 4, but I knew a car was coming down the hill. He did a good job of not coming to the apron. The next thing I gassed up for a second to kind of clear him. The next part is the 21 is in front of me. For a split second, it was, like, Oh, I’m going to hit the 21, and I got to the brake pedal, and the car settled in just enough time to get the right front out of the 21’s way and underneath it. Then, it was clear skies from there to kick the gas back up, down-shift, and keep your momentum up. Q. You say it’s your fourth win in the Cup, and this means a lot to you, but how about for the whole family? Richard just said it that it’s been a long time that one of the family members have won here in Daytona.AUSTIN DILLON: Yes, for sure. Any time I can bring Pop Pop a win, it feels good. He is the reason that RCR is where it’s at. When you can go make the boss man happy, it feels good. He has been pushing me hard these last couple of weeks. Like, Hey, we have got to get in this Playoff race, We have to do what we can. Another point that I didn’t bring up, that was all of our key alliance for Chevrolet are in the Playoffs. That’s pretty cool for Chevrolet. Proud to be a part of that group that’s in it for the Chevys. Q. Now that you’re in the Playoffs, how do you feel about the first round?AUSTIN DILLON: Actually, the first round for history looking back has been a good round for us in the 3 team. We’ve done a good job of upsetting some teams in that first round. Darlington is a good place for me. So it’s a great starting point. I think we finished second the last time I was in the Playoffs in that race. I feel good at Darlington. We’ve got to improve on what we took there earlier this year. That’s a slow, slick place. When those long runs happen, I feel like that’s some of the best driving I do is when the tires wear out. I don’t know the next place off the top of my head because I was so focused on only getting in the Playoffs. I didn’t even worry about the first round. Darlington, and Then what’s next? Q. Kansas and Bristol.AUSTIN DILLON: Kansas and Bristol. Kansas was a decent track earlier this year. We’re just going to have to go to work and really rely on the sim at Chevrolet and at RCR. It won’t be from a lack of effort over the next three weeks to progress and try to get another win. Q. Austin, I don’t know if you know this, but it’s been 32 years since the last time a cup race here in the summer started at 10:00 a.m., 1990. Would you care to know who won that race?AUSTIN DILLON: Somebody already said it. Was it Earnhardt?Q. Yes. AUSTIN DILLON: That’s pretty cool, 10:00. I’m telling you, this place has connections. It’s crazy. Q. I wanted to kind of talk about the restart where the cars all kind of wrecked. Did you see any rain? Secondly, on that last lap move to Austin Cindric, did you do it for Dale?AUSTIN DILLON: (Laughing). No, it was more about just figuring out how to get to the front, and I was thinking about the teammates I had behind me. And I knew that if I made a move, that I was going to have a little bit of help. It just kind of played out that way. The restart I did not see the rain. My spotter told me immediately after we got through the wreck, it is pouring, and I was, like, Oh. I truthfully thought that the 99 got turned because that’s all I could see from my perspective. Then I watched the replay, and I actually did have fluid. I thought it was probably — it happened so fast that I didn’t know that there was any fluid even. I was just going to the apron to miss the wreck. So I never really lost traction like those first guys that hit it did. That probably was an advantage too that when they hit it, it might have dried it up. When I got to the flat, it wasn’t as wet when I got there. I didn’t feel any dampness on the flat. I don’t know. Q. Your last win here, you went out and I think there was a tattoo involved (Laughing). What are your plans? What special is going to happen here tonight? Didn’t have you a golf tournament or something you were supposed to be playing in today?AUSTIN DILLON: I do. I have a golf tournament, and I was working on a plane flight the entire time because the plane I was going to use broke down. I was going to use my grandfather’s plane. He said after it rains, I’m going home. Then I’ve been working on a flight, and my good buddy, Johnny Morris at Bass Pro Shop, that’s where we’re headed. We’re going to Big Cedar to play Payne’s Valley and it’s for the Dilly Cup. It’s a tournament that my dad and I started last year. It’s just a fun Ryder Cup style format. It looks like Johnny has waited around for me, so we’re going to possibly go there, I guess. I don’t know. Are we not? Or we are? I guess we might be going there. I don’t know. Q. That takes care of the post-celebration?AUSTIN DILLON: We’ll have some good times there for sure. Q. No tattoo shops?AUSTIN DILLON: No tattoo shops in Big Cedar in Missouri. If there is one, we might find one. THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming in, and good luck in the Playoffs. AUSTIN DILLON: Thank you, sir. JUSTIN ALEXANDER, CREW CHIEF, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1; and RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING, Press Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: We’re going to get started with our post-race media availability. We are joined by crew chief Justin Alexander and car owner Richard Childress. Richard, we’ll start with you. Two cars in the Playoffs this year. How does it feel? RICHARD CHILDRESS: Feels great. Our guys have worked so hard. Austin has been involved in several crashes, got him behind in the points. We knew this was our shot to be able to win a race. He has always been good here, and we knew if we could dodge all the bullets and be there, we could have a shot at the end to win with him. THE MODERATOR: That’s great. Let’s go ahead. Justin, let’s go to you next. With all the damage to the car, quite a bit of mutilation to the cars out there today, how did your guys pull it through and get to the end? JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Teamwork. We didn’t have a ton of damage. We got involved in incidents on pit road early and then got involved in another incident where we had fender damage. The guys did a good job taping it back up and getting the car fixed back up. I think we did a backwards pit stop at one point today, but it was good. It was just a good team effort, everyone on the team, the pit crew, all the guys and girls back at the shop that build these cars, just team effort. THE MODERATOR: We’ll go ahead and open it up to questions. Q. At the end there you had Austin Dillon up near the front. You had Tyler Reddick, another RCR car, and you had Noah Gragson who is an RCR affiliate. Was there any communication between the teams about setting the 3 up for success when he needed the win the most?RICHARD CHILDRESS: I didn’t hear it. They may have been listening more than I did. I was hoping it wouldn’t. They’re racing for the win as well. Tyler was in, and I know he helped push Austin some there. You know, I didn’t hear any communication. JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Tyler is already in the Playoffs, and he knew we needed the win. He did a good job of staying on the bumper and helping out the guys behind us and helping out the guys behind us. Helping out the 62 as well. Hats off. Appreciate those guys helping us out. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Richard, was there any sort of chip on your shoulder, the fact that they took three and a half hours and didn’t declare you the winner to get back racing? First off, were you upset that they kept trying to dry the track? Does it make the win any sweeter the fact that they didn’t call it, and yet you were able to still win it?RICHARD CHILDRESS: You take a win any way you can get it, but to come back and win it like that, it was special. It was a great team effort from everyone. It gave me time to go watch the PBR, and Carolina Cowboys won. Q. Richard, obviously it seems like there’s been a little bit of tension since Tyler made his announcement, but here he played the loyal company guy and pushed Austin into the Playoffs to make sure he protected him. Does that help his standing at all within the walls of RCR?RICHARD CHILDRESS: I think I talked to all of those guys after his announcement, and I said we’re going to give him 100% chance to win races and 100% chance at winning the championship.Now, we’ve got two in there, so we’ve got to give both of them the same advantage to try to win the championship. Q. Will Tyler be looked at more favorably at all that he didn’t try to pull out a line; he did his job in pushing Austin?RICHARD CHILDRESS: They were all just working together, I think. I didn’t talk to any of them. I didn’t hear any communication on the radio. I was just standing up there, old heart beating fast and watching it. Q. Richard, from the outside people were looking at, are they going to race, are they going to not, and people are maybe looking at it from their personal point of view of, do I stay and watch the race, or do I go and do something else? For you this is a business, this is a financial situation. Can you kind of, I guess, explain maybe some of the financial implications of this, getting into the Playoffs, what can help you with the charter system, how one moment, one decision, one race there’s so much wrapped up into it and what this could mean for RCR as a business entity?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Yeah, it is. It was really big to be able to get this car in the Chase. There’s bonus points. There’s other things that go along with winning. The financial aspect of it is a lot better than running second, for sure, and not making the Chase. So, again, just like Justin says, a great team effort. ECR Engines did a great job, and all of our guys back at the shop and the gals did a wonderful job, for sure. Q. Is it something like this could be worth $1 million down the road, particularly if you finish well or win the championship, that this could have been a million dollar day or $5 million day for the organization?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Yes, for sure. It can be for sure $1 million day. Just getting in the Chase, our drivers have bonuses by getting into the Chase, and crew chiefs. Justin, you made a little bit today too (smiling). I don’t know how much I’ll end up with after I get done paying all the bonuses, but it was worth it. It was worth it. Q. How has having an affiliation with Kaulig and a lot of the other teams helped with the engine program exactly?RICHARD CHILDRESS: It’s good. We did a deal with Hendrick, HMS. We created an entity called HCD, which it’s Hendricks and Childress, and we built a recipe for the engines and all of us have the same engines. Kaulig, RCE, the 43, the 42, today the 62. We did eight or nine engines and Hendricks had four or five, six in it, I think. Q. This question is for Richard. Your team has been linked with Kyle Busch, speculation that he could be a potential landing spot. Any comment on that?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Not really. Kyle is a great race driver. He and I have talked. We put all our differences behind us a while back, and he is a great race driver. He will land him a good ride somewhere for sure. Q. Could it be with you?RICHARD CHILDRESS: You said that, I didn’t (Smiling). Q. Richard, you’ve been coming to Daytona for a lot of years, and you’ve got a lot of wins here. How does this one compare, with the rain delay, with everything that happened today? It’s got to be a great day to see your grandson in victory lane here again at Daytona. Tell us a little bit about the history and the feeling about today.RICHARD CHILDRESS: Daytona has always been special. The first time I came here was 1965, and I slept in a tent out here on Nova Road. I was working another guy’s car. Came back in ’69 and ran a Grand American Race. Came back and raced myself here several races. Came back with Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick. We’ve won three here. Earnhardt, which was a great win. Kevin had a great win right there at the end. To see Austin win 20 years later to the day was very special when family wins. Q. Richard, were you concerned at all that NASCAR was waiting a long time to either call it or what? I mean, it seemed like they don’t generally wait over three hours for a rain delay. Did it bother you at all?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, I thought they would call it earlier. We had been here quite a while, and the race fans have been here quite a while, but I understand they wanted to really put the show on.You had two guys trying to get in the Chase, the 19 and the 12, and they wanted to give them a good, fair chance. I wanted to see us have a fair chance of getting in. We would have took it if it would have rained it out, but winning it like we did, hats off to Justin and his whole crew and the calls that they made to get us where he was. Q. Justin, can you give me a sense of the difference of being in the Playoffs and not being in the Playoffs? I’m guessing for most organizations when you are not in the Playoffs, suddenly you become the car that is the test car. Those teams still go to the race to win each week. How do you pick your guys up, what is it like being classified the B team and the test team and what that means and how that’s different from what you guys get to do this year?JUSTIN ALEXANDER: There’s only 16 guys that go to the Playoffs, so I think it’s pretty special to get there. We knew we had to come in here and win to do it, and we did it. It’s good. I mean, we know we get to run for a championship, just like the other 16 guys, or 15 guys with us. It’s obviously, from our position, from the team position, from RCR, it’s a great opportunity to have two cars that have a shot at winning the championship. So for us we’re going to go back, and we’re going to — we’ve been prepared for Darlington, but we’re going to go back and get ready and hopefully put on a show like we did a few years ago. I don’t know. Obviously, it’s much better to go to Darlington with a shot to win a championship than it is to go there as a guy that can finish 17th at best. We’re going to go there and do our best and give it everything we’ve got. Q. Richard, Austin Dillon’s move on Austin Cindric looked like a superspeedway version of the bump-and-run. As somebody who has a history of drivers who perform the bump-and-run, I kind of wanted to know what your reaction was at the time, especially with everything that was on the line.RICHARD CHILDRESS: He kept running up behind him. I think he was trying to get him loose. I didn’t see that move. I don’t know if he got so close, he got him loose, or if he bumped him a little to push him and got him sideways. When you are racing for the win, that’s what all of them is going to be doing. Q. Justin, for you, how weird was it to watch those final 16 laps with just 15 or so cars in various states of condition just going all-out as much as they could for the win? How strange was that last 16 laps for you?JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Well, when you come to a place like Daytona or Talladega, it’s not very strange. These races play out a little bit crazy sometimes. So we knew the 2 car was going to be strong, and we knew we had some Chevrolets and some guys that were going to help us that could help us. We knew it wasn’t just going to be given to us. Austin had to go out there and drive, and Brandt spot and do their deal. We spent five minutes trying to figure out where we were going to line up on the top or the bottom on the restart and who was going to help push us. Without all the guys that are in there, it’s certainly different, but certainly we had to battle just as hard as we would with 15 or 20 guys behind us. Just hats off to everyone. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you for coming in, and congratulations. Good luck in Darlington. RICHARD CHILDRESS: Thank you. JUSTIN ALEXANDER: Thank you, guys.

August 28, 2022

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team brought a fast Ford Mustang to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, but after being among the contenders for the win for the majority of the race, Burton was among a host of drivers eliminated by a wreck caused by a quick downpour with 23 of 160 laps left to run.

Burton came close to steering his DEX Imaging Mustang past the crash but was collected anyway. He wound up 19^th in the final running order.  

Burton started the race from 29^th place on Sunday morning after rain postponed the scheduled start Saturday night. He began moving forward not long after the drop of the green flag. He was in 16^th place after 15 laps and inside the top 10 on Lap 28. 
 
He dodged a wreck with five laps remaining in the first Stage. Lining up in third place for a one-lap sprint to the finish of the first Stage, he ended that 35-lap segment in third place, earning eight points.
 
After making a pit stop during the Stage break, Burton was in 20^th place when the green flag flew to restart the race. Twenty laps later he was back in the top 10 and by Lap 68 he was back in third place.
 
He moved up one spot after a green flag stop for two tires and fuel at Lap 79.
  
He returned to the track in sixth place but was shuffled to 14^th at the end of Stage Two. Burton avoided serious damage to his DEX Imaging Mustang as several multi-car crashes occurred around him, until the biggest of those incidents occurred with 23 laps to go. Burton was among the 12 drivers knocked out of the race when rain hit the track just as the pack entered Turn One.
 
Eddie Wood said that despite the disappointing finish, he was proud of Burton, crew chief Brian Wilson and the rest of the No. 21 team.
 
“Brian and the crew did a great job,” Wood said. “They unloaded with a lot of speed, and Harrison did a good job of putting it to work on the race track.”
 
Wood said that while Burton and the team will not be among the 16 teams that start the Playoffs, which begin next weekend at Darlington Raceway, there still are goals to be accomplished.
 
“There are still some points positions that can be gained, and they’re important to us,” Wood said. “And we want to keep building this team.”

 

###

About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

3 Corvette C8.R nearly claims third straight overall VIR victory

ALTON, Va. (Aug. 28, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor finished second in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR on Sunday, their second consecutive podium finish this year in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Taylor made a last-lap charge to finish 0.823 seconds behind the race-winning Pfaff Motorsports entry. He and Garcia were going for their second overall win at Virginia International Raceway in three years and Corvette Racing’s third consecutive victory at the fast and flowing 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit. The runner-up result was the second for the No. 3 Corvette on the season.

Garcia began second but ran third after the opening lap as fuel-savings began almost immediately for the top three cars. He ran anywhere between 0.3-0.6 seconds behind second-place Matt Campbell before the No. 3 Corvette team called in Garcia for the first time at 48 minutes running. The No. 3 Corvette was the first GTD PRO car to stop and took fuel and four fresh Michelin tires as Garcia handed off to Taylor. The call and stop were perfect, as was Taylor’s outlap, as the C8.R went from third and nearly two seconds back to a nine-second advantage after the first pit cycle completed. Taylor maintained that gap while saving fuel up to the race’s first full-course yellow near the 80-minute mark. It wasn’t what the team was hoping for as the Corvette needed more fuel than the rest of the GTD PRO field due to its early stop. The race went back to green with 66 minutes to go and Taylor fourth in class – seventh overall. He picked up one spot in the overall standings at the start and diced his way through the regular GTD field to challenge for third in class 10 minutes later. He moved to second overall with 55 minutes to go before stopping for a final splash of fuel to get to the end of the race. He trailed Mathieu Jaminet by as much as five seconds before running down the fuel-starved leader late. Slower GTD cars impeded Taylor in the closing laps but he charged back to finish within an eyelash of the No. 3 Corvette’s second victory of the season. Corvette Racing closes its IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, Oct. 1 from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND: “I think we had a good race. We didn’t get lucky with the yellow, for sure. We were the ones taking the gamble on the earliest first stop. From that point on, that 10-second lead we had didn’t last. Over the last few years, I don’t think we had a yellow here. It was the right choice to get up there with that strategy. It’s a shame in that respect. But we showed more pace and performance today. Great job by Jordan and the team. Let’s take this on to Petit Le Mans.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND: “I knew Antonio wanted an easy day today! He’s had a lot of long days this year! The Corvette was so good. The team did a great job with the strategy. That first call was the right one. At the time, we jumped ahead and had a nice lead. We were controlling it at the front but that yellow was really unfortunate; otherwise I think it would have been an easy day. Once that came out, we had to battle back past and passed some guys on track. After the last stop, I was trying to take care of the tires as long as possible, knowing it was going to be a long stint. Some of the Am cars lapping through there made it difficult to pass. That was frustrating or else I think we could have had a shot to win, especially seeing how close it was at the end. It was a tough day but it was nice to be back in a competitive spot. Hopefully we can go to Petit Le Mans with similar performance.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES AUGUST 28, 2022   TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1 2nd   TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 4th    LANDON CASSILL, NO. 77 VOYAGER: CRYPTO FOR ALL CAMARO ZL15th    NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 62 BEARD MOTORSPORTS / SOUTHPOINT CAMARO ZL114th   ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 17th   ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 18th   TY DILLON, NO. 42 THORNTONS CAMARO ZL1  TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)2nd    Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)3rd      Austin Cindric (Ford)4th      Landon Cassill (Chevrolet)5th      Noah Gragson (Chevrolet) The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will get underway next Sunday, September 4, at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500 at 6 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.                                                                                                                                           TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1 – Race WinnerAustin Dillon, welcome to the Playoffs. More gratifying to do it this way by racing for it versus the rain?“100%. Crazy faith. My wife was in there. She was dancing in the rain. I got upset. I said, ‘Don’t be doing that’. She said, ‘Lord, when you have faith like me, you don’t have to worry about it.’ I was like, Okay, okay. I got you, baby. But Ace was back there with me. We were watching Paw Patrol, watching the Carolina Cowboys winning the PBR event. They said, get ready. We stayed ready. And I have to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that makes this thing happen. Dow, who has been with me since my start. We have so many great partners. Chevrolet, Chevrolet, Chevrolet. Man, we’re in the Playoffs.” Also what will be talked about is the move to get the lead. Walk me through going into turn one with Austin Cindric.“There was a lot going on there. I knew that if we got to the white; I was afraid that if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it. I had a big run to him and then I had my teammate, the 8 (Tyler Reddick), back there. I knew we were in good shape there to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. Just a little too much push there and got him loose.” How hard was it to stay patient there? I know Pop Pop told you on the radio, ‘Hey, don’t go until the white flag lap. I knew you wanted to go earlier.’“I felt like I had good teammates and Chevrolet behind me. If I could get the lead, the 2 would not be able to hold onto the draft. We’ve done it in practice enough to know that you’ll lose the tail and it’s hard to get back to it.” How crazy is it that a body of work of a season, Austin, comes down to getting back on the lead lap right before a rainstorm, dodging a wreck, and then making this happen in the final 21 laps?“It’s crazy. You just never give up and have faith. We had some tough finishes this year, like Charlotte. I beat myself up over that. I made a good move and just didn’t finish it off. Today we finished it off.I’m so proud of these guys and I’m glad to be going to Victory Lane.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 2ndYOU AND AUSTIN WENT 1-2 TODAY. WHAT WERE THOSE LAST 21 LAPS LIKE?“Because we had to pit before pit road was open, before the rain came; I never got to line up behind all the lead lap cars when they started to pull up for the restart. I knew I was going to have to try really, really hard on that restart. Thankfully, the 18 and some of those cars let us go and we were able to get in the mix. Just had to fight really, really hard when everyone singled out and there weren’t many cars left at the end there and tried to get to Austin (Dillon). I knew he was going to need some allies there at the end of the race to go make the move on the 2. As it just kind of turned out, he didn’t really use his teammates for that move, but after everything kind of happened with the second pack catching us, I was really glad to be on his rear bumper to pretty much keep anyone from really creating that energy to pass the lead car. A lot of energy comes from that second car and when you have a teammate in that position to be that car absorbing those runs, you can really kind of control what is happening in front of you.” LANDON CASSILL, NO. 77 VOYAGER: CRYPTO FOR ALL CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4thYou just said this is awesome; how awesome is it? “It really is awesome. We were sitting in a good spot with the rain delay; and even if they would have called it, we would have been happy with that finish. But we wanted to race for it and earn the top-five finish at the end. We did have to survive. There were a lot of fast cars that weren’t in contention at the end, but it’s pretty cool to see the checkered flag that close.” How were you able to stay clear? “I don’t know. I have done a lot of these races, so I feel like I know where to be to try and stay out of trouble. Sometimes in superspeedway racing, you just never know. I missed a couple of really big wrecks, made some good decisions, and the team did a good job of putting together the whole strategy today.” NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 62 BEARD MOTORSPORTS / SOUTHPOINT CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5thThis was the little team that could and you found your way up into the top-five today. Tell us about that run. “It was strong run for this team, considering that we have one employee at Beard Motorsports. To come home with a top-five, that is big for us. We were in a good spot running third there when the 2 was out front and the 3 was running second. It seemed like the 2 got loose and started down the racetrack and it was a hell of a save by Cindric, but that killed all our momentum. We were in a four-car breakaway; I thought I was going to set myself up to be in a pretty good spot and it just didn’t transpire. We had to regroup and come back for a fifth-place finish and we will take it.  Congrats to everybody at RCR and the ECR motor department. They help us out tremendously on this Beard Motorsports team and with one employee, this is a pretty big deal to go up against these organizations with 500-600 employees. So, for the goals that we have, the budget that we are on and the race team that we are; it’s pretty rewarding to be kicking yourself over a fifth-place finish in the Cup series. Very grateful for the opportunity and appreciate all the fan support and for NASCAR in letting us go to the end. I just want to say congratulations to Austin Dillon and his team. It was a lot of fun.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 17th “We had a really fast FOCUSfactor Chevy today and were able to run up front, lead laps and thought we had a really good shot at winning. Unfortunately, we had damage from the caution that brought out the red flag and couldn’t make the repairs to meet minimum speed and finish the race. I hate we aren’t in the Playoffs this year, but proud of everyone on the 43 team and the hard work they’ve put in this year. We’ll keep building and use these next 10 weeks to continue to learn this car and try to get the FOCUSfactor Chevy in victory lane.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 137; Finished 24th What do you do.. do you stop the race before it rains? “We knew the rain was coming.. it was raining next door. It was just a matter of time. Why would we wait for that.. I don’t know. Maybe I’m a little biased because I was in the front, but there’s nothing you can do. Sometimes you are running 200 mph and you’re able to turn left. And then you see a few drops hard and you’re just spinning.” Do you think they should have called cars to pit road earlier? “I feel like they have a lot of technology to know that the rain is very, very close. I don’t think it’s hard to not put us in that position.” JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 CELSIUS CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 137; Finished 28th As you went off into turn one, was there just no grip? “Yeah, it was raining for a good lap before we got into turn one my spotter said. Coming out of (turn) two the previous lap, it was raining and we just lost traction. It’s pretty unacceptable. I thought we did a good job all day with our Celsius Chevrolet and we put ourselves in position. Brett Griffin (spotter) and Trent Owens (crew chief) called that; we stayed out hoping for rain earlier. It’s just tough. I fight for my ride, fight for my life, every day. We take these small opportunities and try to make something of it.” ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 103; Finished 33rd “I’m proud of the effort by our No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet team and Trackhouse Racing. It’s been an incredible 26 weeks. Now we can reset and be ready for 10 weeks of experiencing something I’ve never experienced with the Playoffs; my crew chief, my spotter and my team haven’t experienced.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 103; Finished 34th“It just looked like they checked up in front of us. I don’t know exactly what happened in the front of the line. I hadn’t checked up and was just going to keep rolling straight through, but they came across me from the top. It’s just unfortunate. We had just gotten our No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 a little bit better. I felt like we were in a good spot. I was happy with how the car was handling and it felt good to be in the mix.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, was sidelined with engine issues during Stage One; Finished 37th. We saw that issue where Kyle Larson pulled to the side and was talking about the engine and water temperatures. What were the issues here and did you have any indication that it was failing? “I guess it was the timing belt maybe or something like that. I didn’t really have much of an indication. I’m sure they’ll dig through the data and see if it was happening earlier than when it really let go there. Bummer. I’m sure we’ll drop a few spots in the points, so that will hurt for the playoffs. But I guess there’s one positive.. that I didn’t get caught up in a crash. We’re safe, good to go race next weekend and get our playoffs started.” TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTESStage One:·       With inclement weather canceling qualifying; the lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway was determined by the rulebook, with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott making an all-Chevrolet front row to lead the field to the green. ·       From his front row starting spot, Elliott powered his No. 9 A SHOC Camaro ZL1 to the front of the pack to lead the opening lap of the 400-mile race. ·       Early in the run, Larson pulled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to the garage, with engine problems ending the day for the reigning NCS champion. ·       Chevrolet led 34 of the 35 laps in Stage One, with Elliott leading 28 laps and Erik Jones leading 6 laps. ·       Team Chevy Stage One: Top-102nd     Chase Elliott, No. 9 A SHOC Camaro ZL17th      Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Built.com Camaro ZL18th      Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / NOS Camaro ZL19th      Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1 Stage Two: ·       Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-107th      Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL19th      Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / NOS Camaro ZL110th    Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1 Post-Race Notes: ·       Entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway under the playoff cutline; Austin Dillon scored his first win of 2022 in the rain delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400. ·       Dillon became the 15th new winner of 2022, securing a spot into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       This marks Dillon’s second NCS win at Daytona International Speedway; and his fourth career victory in 326 NASCAR Cup Series starts. ·       In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 15 wins, recorded by eight drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. ·       Becoming the eighth Chevrolet driver to win and secure a playoff spot; Chevrolet occupies 50 percent of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history; Chevrolet now has 829 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

NASCAR CUP SERIESDAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAYCOKE ZERO SUGAR 400TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUOTE & NOTESAUGUST 28, 2022  AUSTIN DILLON TAKES THE WIN AND A PLAYOFF SPOT AT DAYTONAEight Chevrolet Drivers in the 2022 NCS Playoffs·       Entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway under the playoff cutline; Austin Dillon scored his first win of 2022 in the rain delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400.  ·       Dillon became the 15th new winner of 2022, securing a spot into the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       This marks Dillon’s second NCS win at Daytona International Speedway; and his fourth career victory in 326 NASCAR Cup Series starts. ·       In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 15 wins, recorded by eight drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. ·       Becoming the eighth Chevrolet driver to win and secure a playoff spot; Chevrolet occupies 50 percent of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history; Chevrolet now has 829 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories. AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1, Race Winner Quick Quote:Q. Austin Dillon, welcome to the Playoffs. More gratifying to do it this way by racing for it versus the rain?“100%. Crazy faith. My wife was in there. She was dancing in the rain. I got upset. I said, ‘Don’t be doing that’. She said, ‘Lord, when you have faith like me, you don’t have to worry about it.’ I was like, Okay, okay. I got you, baby. But Ace was back there with me. We were watching Paw Patrol, watching the Carolina Cowboys winning the PBR event. They said, get ready. We stayed ready. And I have to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that makes this thing happen. Dow, who has been with me since my start. We have so many great partners. Chevrolet, Chevrolet, Chevrolet. Man, we’re in the Playoffs.” Q. Also what will be talked about is the move to get the lead. Walk me through going into turn one with Austin Cindric.“There was a lot going on there. I knew that if we got to the white; I was afraid that if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it. I had a big run to him and then I had my teammate, the 8 (Tyler Reddick), back there. I knew we were in good shape there to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. Just a little too much push there and got him loose.” Q. How hard was it to stay patient there? I know Pop Pop told you on the radio, ‘Hey, don’t go until the white flag lap. I knew you wanted to go earlier.’“I felt like I had good teammates and Chevrolet behind me. If I could get the lead, the 2 would not be able to hold onto the draft. We’ve done it in practice enough to know that you’ll lose the tail and it’s hard to get back to it.” Q. How crazy is it that a body of work of a season, Austin, comes down to getting back on the lead lap right before a rainstorm, dodging a wreck, and then making this happen in the final 21 laps?“It’s crazy. You just never give up and have faith. We had some tough finishes this year, like Charlotte. I beat myself up over that. I made a good move and just didn’t finish it off. Today we finished it off.I’m so proud of these guys and I’m glad to be going to Victory Lane.”

English scores back-to-back wins and Bobby Pierce earns third straight runner-up finish in Quad Cities 150DAVENPORT, IA – August 27, 2022 –After waiting 45 races before claiming his first World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series win, Tanner English said he thought the path to his second victory would be easier.The Benton, KY driver didn’t wait long to prove himself right.Less than 24 hours after scoring his first career Series win during the second night of the Quad Cities 150 at Davenport Speedway, he returned for the event’s epic $30,000-to-win finale, passing Ryan Gustin for the lead, and holding off Bobby Pierce for back-to-back wins.Despite finding the winning formula for the second consecutive night, his journey to Victory Lane was very different.English started on the pole of Saturday’s 70-lap Feature but lost the lead to Ashton Winger early on. He fell out of the top five and bided his time until his car came to life with less than 20 laps left.That patience paid off as English worked his way to third on a restart with 11 laps remaining.When the green flag flew, he dropped to the bottom, sprinting past Ryan Gustin as Lap 62 clicked off the scoreboard.It looked like he’d be on cruise control to the checkered flag, but a yellow slowed the field with six laps to go, pitting English against a surging Shannon Babb and a familiar foe—Pierce.The two drivers pulled away from Babb on the restart and waged war for the final six laps. Pierce swung his car to the top, hoping to find momentum while English stayed the course on the bottom.As they came to the checkered flag, English found the speed he needed in Turn 4, beating Pierce to the line by a few car lengths.The Rookie of the Year contender said his patience in the race’s first half set the stage for his rise to the top at the end.“At the start there, I was just biding my time and trying to not spin the tires because I knew what I had,” English said. “I knew they needed to last, and we just made it last, and with about 10 or 11 to go, I had caught back up to them. I don’t know if their tires just went away or what happened.“Mine just stayed the same the whole race, and I didn’t really lose any time. So, I don’t know. The car was just awesome.”English’s second straight win moves him closer to Dennis Erb Jr. in the championship standings. The Carpentersville, IL driver finished 19th after being involved in the caution with 11 laps left.Erb’s points lead has been cut to 98 points with 12 races remaining, while English leads Blair by 84 points in the Rookie of the Year race.Pierce crossed the line second for the third straight night. Like English, the Oakwood, IL driver came on late in the Feature before falling short of the $30,000 prize.“Tanner drove a hell of a race, I was trying all I could to catch him,” Pierce said. “The cushion was very, very thin and there was a little left in Turn 3 but not enough out of 4.“This place provides such good racing all the time. It was a little more dirty tonight than I preferred, but it eventually got there. It just took a long, long time to get there. The last five laps, I was trying all I could because I knew Tanner was so good on the bottom that it was going to be hard to beat him without being ahead of him on the restart.”Shannon Babb, from Moweaqua, IL crossed the line third after starting last in the Feature. The “Mowequa Missile” praised Davenport Speedway’s track crew and how well his Longhorn chassis ran in his charge to the front.“They did a hell of a job of preparing that track and reviving it,” Babb said. “We were able to work on our car and make a few adjustments. And starting last, I was like, man, these guys are going to lap me in a hurry, so I got to get my ass going.“They did a great job with the track, and we were able to go everywhere that I needed to go. I’m just impressed with this new car. This Longhorn chassis is really fast, this Vic Hill engine is really good, and I’m just really tickled to death to get by a lot of those cars.”Shane Clanton, the 2015 Series champion, finished fourth—his best finish of the weekend.The “Georgia Bulldog” credited how well his Capital Race Car has been running of late as one of the reasons he’s started to get better finishes at the 1/4-mile track.“I feel way better than I’ve ever been here,” Clanton said. “Yes, they changed the shape of the racetrack a little bit, but also, my race car is a little better, too. So, that makes me feel real good.”Justin Kay from Wheatland, IA, rounded out the top five. The son of track promotors Ricky and Brenda Kay stated he was thrilled to get his first top-five finish with the World of Outlaws Late Models.“It’s great doing it at home, at Dad’s racetrack, and with everyone I know that’s here, it’s awesome,” Kay said. “I’ll take [a top-five] anywhere.”Gustin and Winger, who led laps in the Feature, both went to the pits in the final 12 laps. The Marshalltown, IA driver finished 20th, while Winger crossed the line in 15th.English’s confidence continues to rise after scoring his second straight World of Outlaws win at Davenport. However, he knows he can’t let that confidence climb too high as the Series returns to the Southeast on Labor Day weekend.“I think if we keep on doing what we’re doing and staying consistent, we’ll be alright,” English said. “Some of these tracks coming up are a little harder for me. The red dirt tracks I’m not the best on.“We need to learn a little bit down there and maybe lean on our guys at Longhorn a little bit and see if we can get some more information and get a little bit better.”UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet head to the Southeast for a Labor Day Weekend doubleheader. First, the Series returns to Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN, on Friday, Sept. 2, for the Smoky Mountain Showdown.Then, the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models travels to Georgia for a trip to Lavonia Speedway in Lavonia, GA, on Saturday, September 3.TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3CGldJgCASE Construction Equipment Feature (70 Laps): 1. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[25]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[6]; 5. 15K-Justin Kay[5]; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening[21]; 7. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 8. 25F-Jason Feger[8]; 9. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 10. 42-Chad Finley[18]; 11. B1-Brent Larson[15]; 12. 99-Jeff Larson[13]; 13. 111V-Max Blair[17]; 14. 11-Gordy Gundaker[10]; 15. 58-Ashton Winger[2]; 16. 29-Spencer Diercks[7]; 17. 99B-Boom Briggs[24]; 18. 1-Josh Richards[23]; 19. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[14]; 20. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 21. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[12]; 22. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[16]; 23. 10-Paul Parker[22]; 24. 7R-Kent Robinson[20]; 25. 32S-Chris Simpson[19] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER: Shannon Babb [+22]

The World of Outlaws Case Construction Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Case Construction Equipment (Official Construction Equipment), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Fox Factory (Hard Charger Award), MSD, My Place Hotels, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Swift Springs, and Wrisco–Wieland Metal Services (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including Dirt Car Lift, Capital Race Cars, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, FIREBULL, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, Rocket Chassis, and Sea Foam.

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 27, 2022) –  Earl Pearson Jr. raced to the top position on lap 10 and held on for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win since July of 2020. Pearson held off Ricky Thornton Jr. to take the richest dirt late model race in the history of Port Royal Speedway, earning a $50,000 payday in the Rumble by the River main event. Thornton took home $20,000 for second place, as the defending Dirt Track World Champion finished just .612 seconds behind the 4-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion. Gregg Satterlee came from the 12th starting spot to finish third, with Jonathan Davenport and Daulton Wilson rounding out the top five drivers. Thornton took the lead at the start of the race as Pearson, who started fourth, started making his move early and had climbed to second by lap five. Pearson then outdueled Thornton in the race for the lead to grab the top position on lap 10. Pearson looked to be in control until Thornton started to close the gap with less than 10 laps to go. The green flag stretch of racing reached 44 consecutive laps before a caution with six to go would set-up a shootout between the two Lucas Oil regulars. When the race restarted, Thornton made every effort to get by Pearson, but the 50-year-old Florida native was able to hold off the defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year to take the victory.  Pearson, in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 40th time in his career, dedicated his win to his father who passed away last year. “It’s awful emotional for me, I lost my dad last year and this is for him and my mom and everybody up in Heaven looking down on me today. There’s no doubt they have been a huge part of everything I have done. This is for all of my family and friends back home and everybody that’s pulling for us. What a heck of a show that was. Thornton ran me awful clean, he got into me a little bit down there in four, but hey that was a heck of a race and I done all I could.” “I didn’t know if I needed a caution or not,” Pearson added. “I have run good here several times. I like the big tracks and it paid off tonight. I absolutely had to change my line. I knew I had to go in low and let it drift up because he [Thornton] is a master of the slide jobs so if I didn’t block the line, I knew what he was going to do. He done a heck of a job. We were fast here in the spring and had speed last night. I love this place, it’s a beautiful place to come to. You can race all over it. They done a heck of a job with the racetrack last night after the rain. They do a heck of a job here.” Thornton, who sits third in the championship points standings, had tracked down Pearson before the only caution of the race. “I really didn’t want that yellow. I felt like I could move around pretty good before that. I tried a Hail-Mary kind of slider, and I knew I wasn’t going to clear him. I wasn’t going to run him over. Earl raced all of us clean, so I made sure I left him a lane. We just didn’t have enough. I felt good in one and two and I could move around. He was kind of committed to the bottom. Overall, I mean it was a brand-new car for this weekend and we had a couple of good runs; we are excited for the rest of the year.” Satterlee, who captured the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Port Royal in April and came into the race with nine overall wins at eight different tracks, charged from the outside of row number six to round out the podium. “We did nothing different there in the last part of the race. There were less cars in front of us and that allowed us to maneuver a little a bit more and we could race better. We had a good car tonight. We are happy to come up through there to get third. I was disappointed with myself in that heat race. I just needed to get a better starting spot.” The winner’s Jason Papich-owned, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Tegeler Wrecker and Crane, Papich Construction, Etchberger Trucking, E3 Spark Plugs, Bilstein Shocks, Midwest Sheet Metal, Sunoco Race Fuels, Sierra Pacific Materials, C&D contractors and Developers Bonding, Duvall Electric, Millard Family Chapels, Remi Realty. Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Chris Ferguson, Brandon Sheppard, and Hudson O’Neal. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Rumble by the RiverSaturday, August 27th, 2022Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 15K-Dale Hollidge[4]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[3]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[6]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 7. 21M-Chad Myers[8]; 8. 11J-Jason Schmidt[9]; 9. 22R-Russell Erwin[7] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[5]; 4. 2JW-Justin Weaver[6]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 7. B2-Brian Booze[8]; 8. 25K-Kody Lyter[9]; 9. (DNS) 32J-Shaun Jones Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 72-Michael Norris[2]; 4. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[9]; 6. 94-Jason Miller[7]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]; 8. 06-Mike Lupfer[5]; 9. 3-Tim Wilson[8] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[4]; 5. 9M-Hayes Mattern[7]; 6. 32-Travis Stickley[5]; 7. 05-Roy Deese Jr[8]; 8. (DNS) 27-Jim Yoder Wrisco Industries Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 4-Gary Stuhler[2]; 3. 0E-Rick Eckert[3]; 4. 2J-Jeff Rine[5]; 5. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[4]; 6. 10G-Garrett Smith[6]; 7. (DNS) 10M-Jared Miley; 8. (DNS) 15C-Jason Covert Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 86-Austin Berry[5]; 5. 72T-Tyler Emory[6]; 6. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[7]; 7. (DNS) 18*-Dylan Cecce; 8. (DNS) 112-Brandon Little FAST Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 2. 2JW-Justin Weaver[2]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 4. 11-Spencer Hughes[6]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[5]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[8]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[7]; 8. 94-Jason Miller[9]; 9. 2D-Dan Stone[4]; 10. 21M-Chad Myers[10]; 11. 06-Mike Lupfer[15]; 12. 1Z-Logan Zarin[12]; 13. 22R-Russell Erwin[16]; 14. 3-Tim Wilson[17]; 15. B2-Brian Booze[11]; 16. 25K-Kody Lyter[14]; 17. 11J-Jason Schmidt[13]; 18. (DNS) 32J-Shaun Jones UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. D19-Dillan Stake[1]; 2. 9M-Hayes Mattern[4]; 3. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[5]; 4. 10G-Garrett Smith[8]; 5. 2J-Jeff Rine[2]; 6. 72T-Tyler Emory[6]; 7. 32-Travis Stickley[7]; 8. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[9]; 9. 18*-Dylan Cecce[14]; 10. (DNS) 86-Austin Berry; 11. (DNS) 05-Roy Deese Jr; 12. (DNS) 27-Jim Yoder; 13. (DNS) 10M-Jared Miley; 14. (DNS) 15C-Jason Covert; 15. (DNS) 112-Brandon Little Rumble by the River Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 51Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 1-9); Earl Pearson, Jr. (Laps 10-50)Wrisco Feature Winner: Earl Pearson, Jr.Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Earl Pearson, Jr.Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Earl Pearson, Jr.Margin of Victory: 0.612 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: Tyler Erb (Lap 44)Series Provisionals: Spencer Hughes; Ross RobinsonFast Time Provisional: n/aEmergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisionals: Colton FlinnerBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Earl Pearson, Jr., Ricky Thornton, Jr., Gregg SatterleePenske Shocks Top 5: Earl Pearson, Jr., Ricky Thornton, Jr., Gregg Satterlee, Jonathan Davenport, Daulton WilsonOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Colton Flinner (Advanced 10 Positions)Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Earl Pearson, Jr. (41 Laps)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadieSunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Earl Pearson, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Daulton WilsonDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 1 – 20.852 seconds)DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Russell ErwinOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Tim Douglas (Earl Pearson, Jr.)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Kyle Strickler (18.7876 seconds)Time of Race: 21 minutes 54 seconds Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:

Results are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day

Wiedeman is Third Winner for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports This Year

DAVENPORT, IA – August 27, 2022 – Another new winner emerged with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota on Saturday night at Davenport Speedway.

This time, Bryant Wiedeman of Colby, KS was the driver flashing the checkered flag and soaking up the confetti in Victory Lane. He’s the seventh different winner in Series history through the first seven races – joining Gavan Boschele, Taylor Reimer, Jade Avedisian, Chance Crum, Michael Pickens, and Chase McDermand.

The 17-year-old pilot quickly made his presence known from the third spot, rocketing by polesitter Kyle Jones to lead the second of 30 laps at the Davenport, IA 1/4-mile. He controlled the final 29 laps en route to the win, but it wasn’t without a late charge from 10th-starting Zach Daum to make things interesting.

It’s the third Xtreme Outlaw win for Toyota Racing powerhouse Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, bringing Wiedeman along with Millbridge victors Boschele and Reimer. Saturday’s triumph brings Wiedeman to five career POWRi National Midget League wins as well.

Falling short by 0.402-seconds on the final lap was Zach Daum, who rolled the bottom from 10th-to-2nd aboard the Bundy Built Motorsports, Whitz Racing Products #9M. The Pocahontas, IL native continues to lead the Xtreme Outlaw championship as the most consistent car on tour. Although winless, he’s finished in the top-10 of all seven races and owns four podium results.

Earning a special P3 finish was Kyle Jones, of Kennedale, TX, after starting from the pole position and leading the first lap. He delivered the first-ever National Midget podium finish for the Trifecta Motorsports #7U, and a season-best result for himself.

Rounding out the top-five on Saturday was a pair of Mounce/Stout Motorsports entries with Jacob Denney, of Galloway, OH, in the fourth spot and Chase McDermand, of Springfield, IL, coming home fifth.

Closing out the top-10 at Davenport was Oklahoma’s Daison Pursley in sixth, Texas’ Brenham Crouch in seventh, Illinois’ Mitchell Davis in eighth, Pennsylvania’s Gavin Miller in ninth, and Oklahoma’s Cannon McIntosh in tenth. 

Xtreme Outlaw Midget Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 01-Bryant Wiedeman (3); 2. 9M-Zach Daum (10); 3. 7U-Kyle Jones (1); 4. 61-Jacob Denney (6); 5. 40-Chase McDermand (2); 6. 71-Daison Pursley (8); 7. 97-Brenham Crouch (5); 8. 56-Mitchell Davis (13); 9. 71M-Gavin Miller (4); 10. 08-Cannon McIntosh (7); 11. 26-Chance Crum (22); 12. 87-Jace Park (19); 13. 71K-Dominic Gorden (9); 14. 50-Daniel Adler (20); 15. 72J-Sam Johnson (21); 16. 25K-Taylor Reimer (12); 17. 84-Jade Avedisian (16); 18. 71E-Mariah Ede (15); 19. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold (17); 20. 57-Maria Cofer (11); 21. 31-Kyle Beilman (24); 22. 21K-Karter Sarff (14); 23. 19M-Ethan Mitchell (18); 24. 21E-Emilio Hoover (25); 25. 3-Adam Taylor (DNS).

UP NEXT (October) – The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota will be sidelined until mid-October when a three-race weekend through Oklahoma concludes the inaugural season. The “Sooner State” swing showcases Port City Raceway in Tulsa, OK on Thursday, October 14, and I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma City, OK on Friday & Saturday, October 15-16.

Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 shines in qualifying for GT-only VIR race
Aidan Read qualifies second in GTD, best result to-date for Rick Ware Racing

ALTON, Va. (August 27, 2022) – Rick Ware Racing scored their best-ever GTD qualifying result with the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 this weekend and will roll off from the front row for tomorrow’s GT-only Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.

In the hands of Aidan Read, the #51 set a fastest time of 1:45.077. Read will contest tomorrow’s two-hour, 40-minute event at VIR alongside co-driver Ryan Eversley, a previous race winner at VIR aboard both the Honda Civic Si and the Honda Civic Type R TCR.

VIRginia International Raceway Acura Qualifying Results
2nd GTD – #51 Aidan Read, Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

Quote
Aidan Read (#51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) qualified second: “This feels good! It’s rewarding as there’s been quite a bit of hard work on the car recently to get to this position, on the front row. I’m glad to have been able to back up the speed we had this morning and I think we have more in it, I don’t think this is the end of the story for us. Ryan showed really good race pace in practice this morning and we’ve podiumed from further back than this. We’ve brought our best package here so I’m really optimistic about tomorrow. It’s a credit to everyone at Rick Ware Racing, HPD and Acura to get this Acura NSX really fired up and hopefully we can go win this race tomorrow.”

Fast Facts
Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is the second of two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship stand-alone events for the GTD Pro and GTD classes. The first GT-only race took place at Lime Rock Park in July.

The RWR driver lineup includes Ryan Eversley, the 2018 SRO Touring Car American TCR champion and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race winner in 2021. He is partnered by Aidan Read, a 2021 GTD race winner in IMSA at Watkins Glen last year. The pair also joined forces last year when Read engineered Eversley’s NASCAR Cup Series debut, with RWR, at Road America.

The #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 driven by Read and Eversley finished third at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the first podium result for the duo and RWR, in the team’s first year of IMSA GTD competition.

Where to Watch the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
Flag-to-flag coverage from VIRginia International Raceway will be available on CNBC starting at 2 p.m. EDT Sunday, with live streaming on NBC Peacock.
Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.