READING, PA (September 17, 2023) — At the conclusion of the 2023 NHRA regular season Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster team looked to ramp up their success rate for the six race Countdown. Hart, who stormed onto the NHRA scene in 2021 with two wins and opened this season with a dominating win at the Pep Boys Top Fuel Allstar Callout race was looking to grab his first Top Fuel world championship. Through two days of uneventful qualifying at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals Hart entered race day as the No. 14 qualifier.
It was the toughest qualifying position Hart had started a race in his career. The consistently optimistic Hart looked to the previous recent success of one of his competitors for hope before the race day started.

Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster launch at Maple Grove Raceway, photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

 
“We are going to Antron Brown this race today,” said Hart, referring to Brown’s U.S. Nationals win as the No. 15 qualifier. “We are so lucky to be out here I just want to give it my all against Kalitta and see what happens. He is a great racer and I am looking forward to the challenge.”
 
In the opening race Hart was first off the line with a significant starting line advantage, .047 to .091 seconds, and both 11,000-horsepowered Top Fuel dragsters roared down the smooth Maple Grove Raceway track. As the dragsters crossed the halfway mark Kalitta’s race car began pulling away from Hart. At the finish line Kalitta posted the quickest run of race day, a blistering 3.658 second pass at 335.73 mph, getting the win over Hart’s 3.783 second pass at 328.46 mph.
 
“We made our best pass of the weekend in the first round. Unfortunately, we were racing the quickest car on the property,” said Hart. “My hats off to Doug and his team. We need to start quicker during qualifying. We got behind the eight ball this weekend. There are five more races and Charlotte will be critical for us. There is no quit in this R+L Carriers team. Everyone on this team has the other person’s back and we will be ready for the second race of the Countdown.”
 
It was two years ago that Hart won his second career Top Fuel title at the Betway Nationals at zMax Dragway. This year Hart will be looking for his third career win and a major move up the point standings in five days. Hart and the R+L Carriers team will be back on track Friday night for qualifying.
 
Qualifying Results
Q1: 4.339 sec, 185.74 mph; Qual. 8
Q2: 4.219 sec, 198.90 mph; Qual. 13
Q3: 3.824 sec, 328.70 mph; Qual. 13
Q4: 3.798 sec, 327.90 mph; Qual. 14
Bonus Points: 0
Race Results
First Round

Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools dragster, (.091), 3.658, 335.73 mph def. Josh Hart, R+L Carriers dragster, (.047), 3.783, 328.46 mph

A

READING, PA (September 17,  2023) —- Today during the first race of the 2023 NHRA Countdown Camrie Caruso and the Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro raced to a quarterfinal finish and secured the young driver’s first round win of her playoff career. Last year during her rookie campaign Caruso entered the Countdown No. 10 but suffered six straight first round losses in a tough end to a strong rookie campaign. This weekend Caruso’s Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro battled through two days of qualifying and entered race day as the No. 12 qualifier. Camrie Caruso and Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro, photo credit Innovation Creative Experts  In the final qualifying session on Saturday Caruso made her best run of the weekend and gave the team confidence heading into a first round race with fellow Countdown competitor Deric Kramer. In the opening round today the veteran driver was first off the line against the second year pro, but Caruso quickly caught up to him and moved around him at half-track when he experienced severe tire-shake. Caruso made her quickest run of the weekend, a strong 6.537 second run at 209.36 mph to advance to the second round.   “Getting that first Countdown round win definitely helps,” said Caruso, who won her first Pro Stock race at the Arizona Nationals this season. “I didn’t like seeing my teammate Dallas Glenn go out so early, but the points are going to tighten up now. We are looking forward to getting to Charlotte and qualifying better and going rounds on Sunday. There are five races left and we want to do everything we can to try and win this championship.” Camrie Caruso and Tequila Comisario Camaro at Maple Grove Raceway, photo credit Innovation Creative Experts  In the quarterfinals Caruso faced the most recent winner, U.S. Nationals champion Matt Hartford looking to close the gap on the Pro Stock point leaders. The 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year was first off the line and was pulling away from Hartford when her Tequila Comisario Chevrolet that also receives support from Big Jeff Audio, DENSO, Powerbuilt Tools and VP Racing Lubricants began to drift towards the centerline. In a veteran move Caruso opted to lift and keep control of her race car versus risking an on-track incident. At the finish line Hartford drove around Caruso for the win but Caruso knows she will be a contender in Charlotte with a quick and fast race car.   “We had him on the tree and at the 1000 but unfortunately when these cars get out of shape you have to get off the gas,” said Caruso. “If you don’t you going to end up over the wall or on your roof. We got our race car back after Q4 and I didn’t want to do anything to mess that up. We were obviously struggling but now I feel like we have our race car back and we’re ready to go to Charlotte.”   Caruso sits in ninth place but with five races left the deficit from first place and her first Pro Stock world championship is very manageable. The NHRA Camping World Series and Countdown playoffs will continue at the Betway Nationals from zMax Dragway, September 22-24.   Qualifying Results Q1: 6.593 sec, 209.10 mph; Qual. 14 Q2: 6.551 sec, 210.57 mph; Qual. 12 Q3: 8.584 sec, 111.71 mph; Qual. 13 Q4: 6.538 sec, 209.88 mph; Qual. 12 Bonus Points: 0   Race Results   First Round Camrie Caruso, Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro, (.081), 6.537, 209.36 mph def. Deric Kramer, BioFuels Chevrolet Camaro, (.027), 10.932, 82.16 mph   Second Round Matt Hartford, Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro, (.038), 6.542, 209.30 mph def. Camrie Caruso, Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro, (.032), 6.624, 186.77 mph

(Sept. 17, 2023) – Corvette Racing struggled home to a fifth-place GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class finish Sunday in its return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks.  Teammates Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor had hoped to build on their momentum from a victory in the last IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Virginia International Raceway. Unfortunately for Corvette Racing, they were powerless to challenge for a repeat win, much less a class podium finish. The positive out of the race is that the drivers, Chevrolet and the No. 3 squad remain second in GTD PRO Drivers, Manufacturers and Teams points.

Taylor qualified the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R began fifth in class but had a good run into the tight and difficult first corner to take fourth before a first-course yellow on the opening lap. Once the race went back green, Taylor’s day got better as the pole-sitting Porsche was penalized for changing lanes at the start to move the Corvette to third. A large part of Taylor’s 50-minute stint saw him and the three other leading GTD PRO cars stuck behind a slow prototype. That hold-up allowed the Corvette to stay in touch with the leaders and Taylor to save a prodigious amount of fuel before the C8.R’s first stop of the race. He came in with the championship-leading Lexus under the race’s second full-course yellow while the No. 79 and No. 23 entries had stopped 10 minutes earlier under green. Thanks to a speedy stop for fuel, tires and the change to Garcia, the No. 3 jumped the No. 14 Lexus in the pitlane and restarted third in class. With no slower traffic ahead, Garcia was helpless to hold off the challengers behind him. He fell behind the faster Lexus after the restart with the two cars on the same pit strategy to the end. They both stopped with an hour left – one lap after the two other class contenders – but came out with a significant gap behind the eventual winning Mercedes and second-place Aston Martin. Corvette Racing closes the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, Oct. 14 from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “A frustrating day. We had a little bit of track position before the first stop thanks to the slow traffic and Jordan being able to save fuel. Once we went back to green and no one was holding us up, there was no chance to stay with the leaders. The only way for us to create laptime was no traffic and momentum. The others could go whenever they wanted while we struggled to stay up to speed getting through the traffic. And there was a lot of that. Even the GTDs had a pretty easy time getting by. The car was fine and ran well. We just couldn’t fight. I hope that gets better at Road Atlanta.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “I was very surprised at the start (to stick with the GTD PRO leaders). We got lucky with an LMP3 car holding guys up for a good portion of that stint. We were able to sit in the train and save fuel. It was going to be difficult to make a move on anyone, so we saved fuel and hoped jump those guys in the pits, which the guys did with a great stop. The car was decent. Like Antonio said, we had no power to race with anyone. It was wild out there. You could gain and lose a second or two a lap depending on when they get you and how aggressive they are.”

READING, Pa. (Sept. 17, 2023) – Aaron Stanfield and his Stanfield Racing Engines Chevrolet COPO Camaro picked up their second win of the season Sunday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
 
Marking his 23rd overall Wally and 11th Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown event win, Stanfield raced to victory over event No. 1 qualifier Del Holbrook and his Big Pulley No Power Ford Mustang Cobra Jet in the finals. Stanfield would lay down a 7.676-second pass at 165.46 mph to Holbrook’s 9.845 at 128.11 after he bogged down mid-track.

Pep Boys Nationals Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown champion Aaron Stanfield, photo credit Auto Imagery

 
“Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown is just right up mine and my family’s alley. It’s Factory Cars in head up racing, doesn’t get much better than that,” Stanfield said. “I really have to take my hat off to Maple Grove Raceway. I haven’t always done very well here but it’s a heck of a facility. The Koretsky family, we’re lucky to have a family around to keep giving us a place like this to race at. I have to thank my guys. We have been working hard at the shop. We’ve been down and out a little bit, but we’ve been working hard, keeping our heads down, and it paid off this weekend. I’ve got to thank my wife and little girl at home, they’re rooting us on, the Janac Brother’s and everybody else who has helped us out. Thank you.”
 
Before taking the win, Stanfield started eliminations with a 7.684-second pass at 178.52 mph to defeat Scott Libersher and his Chevrolet COPO Camaro’s 7.805 at 175.59. In the second round, Stanfield got the win over Kevin Skinner. Stanfield would have a 7.649 at 178.66 over Skinner’s 11.040 at 93.40 in his Columbus Joint and Clutch Ford Cobra Jet. The semifinals lined Stanfield up with Norwalk event winner Stephen Bell. Bell would leave the starting line first in his Stanfield Racing Engines COPO, but it would be Stanfield’s 7.676 at 178.78 that would get the victory over Bell’s 7.714 second run at 178.96.

Aaron Stanfield, Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Pep Boys NHRA Nationals winner, photo credit Auto Imagery

 
En route to the finals, Holbrook defeated Carl Tasca and his TascaParts.com Ford Cobra Jet in the first round with a 7.727-second pass at 180. 36 to Tasca’s 7.905 at 169.64. The win set Holbrook up with a second-round matchup against David Davies and his DH Davies Racing Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. Holbrook would get the win off the efforts of his 7.652 at 178.12 to Davies’ 7.956 at 175.75.
 
In the semifinals Holbrook had the win before leaving the starting line. Scheduled to run David Janac. The Janac Brothers Racing Ford Cobra would have an issue with the parachute giving Holbrook the single. For the record, Holbrook would go 8.729 at 111.56 after shutting off early.
 
Despite a second round exit, Davies opened up his eliminations with a first-round victory over Jesse Alexandra. Alexandra, who was the most recent event winner at the U.S. Nationals, made a 7.885-second pass at 163.69 mph falling to Davies’ 7.739 at 174.50. The win earned Davies $1,000 through the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program.  Stanfield now has the bounty target on his back as the event winner. 
 
“The bounty program is something that sets the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown class apart,” said Davies. “Everyone is chasing that previous race winner when eliminations roll around. When I saw the ladder and knew that I had Jesse in the first round I really wanted to get that round win. You want to win every round but when the Flexjet bounty is out there too that makes it extra special.”
 
Stanfield will leave Reading with 610 points and a 152-point lead over Stephen Bell, his closest competitor. With three national events left it will be tough one of his competitors to race around the two-time Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown World Champion for the championship. Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown competition will continue at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway just outside of St. Louis, September 20 – October 1.
 
 
Flexjet Bounty Program
Gatornationals (Gainesville, FL)
$1,000 bounty collected by Joe Welch, defeated Aaron Stanfield, Dallas winner
Four-Wide Nationals (Charlotte, N.C.)
$1,000 bounty collected by Lenny Lottig, defeated Joe Welch, Gainesville winner
Route 66 Nationals (Chicago)
Bounty not collected
Thunder Valley Nationals (Bristol)
$2,000 bounty collected by Lee Hartman, defeated Lenny Lottig, Charlotte and Chicago winner
Summit Racing Equipment Nationals (Norwalk, Ohio)
$1,000 bounty collected by Stephen Bell, defeated Aaron Stanfield, Bristol winner
U.S. Nationals (Indianapolis)
$1,000 bounty collected by Jesse Alexandra, defeated Stephen Bell, Norwalk winner
Pep Boys NHRA Nationals (Reading)
$1,000 bounty collected by David Davies, defeated Jesse Alexandra, Indianapolis winner
 
2023 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Results
Gainesville – Joe Welch, winner; Aaron Stanfield, runner-up
Charlotte – Lenny Lottig, winner; Aaron Stanfield, runner-up
Chicago – Lenny Lottig, winner; Doug Hamp, runner-up
Bristol – Aaron Stanfield, winner; Del Holbrook, runner-up
Norwalk – Stephen Bell, winner; Lee Hartman, runner-up
Indianapolis – Jesse Alexandra, winner; Stephen Bell, runner-up
Reading – Aaron Stanfield, winner; Del Holbrook, runner-up
 
Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Top Ten Points Standings
 
1. Aaron Stanfield              610
2. Stephen Bell                  458
3. Lenny Lottig                  390
4. Del Holbrook                 380
5. Mark Pawuk                  368
6. David Davies III             330
7. Lee Hartman                 317
7. Doug Hamp                   317
9. Jesse Alexandra            315
10. David Barton               297
10. Joseph Welch              297
 
 

The Penngrove, CA native comes out on top of thrilling battle with fellow Roth Motorsports driver – James McFadden – to claim Placerville winPLACERVILLE, CA (September 16, 2023) – Four years had passed since the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars last visited Placerville Speedway. But the wait proved to be worth every minute.In a race that featured battles all over the quarter mile, none could match the intensity of the war that waged for the win. Roth Motorsports teammates – Buddy Kofoid and James McFadden – threw absolutely everything they had at each other. Dramatic slide jobs. Searching different lanes for grip. The two gave it their all as they each hoped to give their California car owner a taste of home state glory.In the end, it was Kofoid who made his way to Victory Lane when the checkered flag waved on the Federated Auto Parts 49er Gold Rush Classic. The Penngrove, CA native climbed all the way atop the wing of his Roth #83JR as chants of “Buddy!” rang out from the Placerville grandstands.“That’s badass for sure,” an ecstatic Kofoid said. “It’s even more special to do it here at Placerville where I cut my teeth in Sprint Cars. Man, I’m just so fortunate to have Dylan Buswell in my corner. He’s a wizard. Actually, I felt not great in the beginning of the day, and we just got better and better and better. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time with Roth Motorsports.”While Kofoid won last week’s Gold Cup prelim, the Placerville score is his first official World of Outlaws victory since joining forces with the historic California team. The 21-year-old became the 16th different driver to top a race with The Greatest Show on Dirt for Dennis and Teresa Roth. Kofoid now owns a trio of World of Outlaws wins, and he became the eighth different competitor to win at Placerville in the Series’ 10th visit.After topping the Toyota Racing Dash, it was James McFadden leading the field to green with Justin Sanders to his outside. McFadden managed to power ahead when the race began to lead the opening circuit.Kofoid started the 40-lap tilt in third and quickly challenged Sanders in the opening laps. On the fifth trip around, Kofoid slid Sanders to put the Roth duo atop the scoreboard. A few cautions interrupted the pace inside the opening 10 laps.A green flag run as the race neared halfway allowed the battle between the Roth cars to ignite. Kofoid reeled in McFadden and attempted a slide job on Lap 15 in Turns 3 and 4 to no avail. A lap later Kofoid tossed another slider in the same set of corners and again came up short.On the 18th lap, Kofoid pulled alongside McFadden heading to the finish line, and then on the next lap, Kofoid used the bottom to take the top spot. McFadden responded by heading to the low side in Turns 3 and 4 to slip right back by Kofoid. The back and forth continued on the next lap as the two swapped lines again, and Kofoid rolled under McFadden in Turns 1 and 2. Down on the other end of the racetrack, Kofoid’s slider attempt on a lap car came up short allowing McFadden to peek to the inside. The two came down the front straightaway side by side but Kofoid held on.“I figured out the top down in (Turns) 1 and 2 pretty early I felt like,” Kofoid explained. “I started third, fell back to fourth, and got right back to second running the top and sliding people into (Turn) 3. When I got to James, it had already gotten dirty to where I’d fire one off and get really loose across and kill my momentum. It wasn’t going to clear, and I wasn’t going to send one off into anyone especially James. It was a really good race. I moved back to the bottom and felt really good on the bottom.”“Those guys have done a lot of laps around here growing up,” McFadden said of the battle. “You could pick which line to get on, and I had absolutely no idea of where I needed to be. The cushion was tricky and really dirty up there. You sort of had to lean against it then get away from it at some points.”After taking over the top spot, Kofoid began to inch away from the rest of the pack, adding a tenth or two to his lead each time around. He gave McFadden hope a couple times as the cushion tripped him up, but ultimately Kofoid stayed comfortably ahead on his way to the checkered flag.While the prelim win at Silver Dollar Speedway was nice, the one that’ll officially go in the record books tasted a little sweeter for Kofoid.“Happy to get a full Outlaw win and to do it kind of at a home track for me,” Kofoid said. “Man, that was a tough race but such a fun race.”Carson Macedo capitalized on a late mistake by McFadden to claim the runner-up spot aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41. The Lemoore, CA native worked his way forward from the sixth starting spot to post his 17th World of Outlaws podium of 2023.“I felt like the restarts kind of went my way,” Macedo noted. “When I started on the top, I was able to get off the corner nice. Even when I started on the bottom, I could get through (Turns) 1 and 2 nice on the bottom and get down the backstretch and slide guys in (Turns) 3 and 4.”After leading the opening 19 laps, McFadden wound up completing the top three. Even though losing out left him feeling slightly disappointed, McFadden felt proud to be a part of a special night for Roth Motorsports in their home state.“What a night for Dennis and Teresa Roth,” McFadden said. “We’d like it to be the other way around, but it’s still cool for the team, unreal for the team. They put a lot in it, so it’s cool to get a first and third in California for them… I feel like I’ve struggled a bit on short tracks over the past couple months, and we turned it around tonight. Happy with our performance.”Justin Sanders and Corey Day rounded out the top five.For the second night in a row and fifth time in his career, Buddy Kofoid claimed Simpson Performance Products QuickTime.A 17th to eighth run gave Sheldon Haudenschild the KSE Racing Hard Charger Award.CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to Kalib Henry (first Heat Race win of career). NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four were topped by Corey Day (third of career), Rico Abreu (43rd of career), and Justin Sanders (fifth of career).Noah Gass won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Michael Faccinto after a mechanical issue ended a potentially strong night early in the Feature.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head east for two nights in “The Buckeye State.” First is a one night stop at Rossburg, OH’s Eldora Speedway on Friday, September 22 for the BeFour the Crowns Showdown. The next night brings the final Ohio stop of 2023 as Hartford’s Sharon Speedway hosts the Federated Auto Parts Showdown. For tickets, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.RESULTS:NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[3]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 3. 83-James McFadden[1]; 4. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]; 5. 14-Corey Day[5]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 7. 5-Spencer Bayston[13]; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 9. 17W-Shane Golobic[12]; 10. 57W-Chase Randall[9]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet[10]; 12. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[8]; 13. 2-David Gravel[14]; 14. 17M-Kalib Henry[7]; 15. 5V-Colby Copeland[22]; 16. 21-Cole Macedo[20]; 17. 15-Donny Schatz[16]; 18. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 19. 24X-Chase Johnson[18]; 20. 20G-Noah Gass[21]; 21. 83T-Tanner Carrick[24]; 22. (DNF) 1S-Logan Schuchart[23]; 23. (DNF) 42X-Justyn Cox[19]; 24. (DNF) X1-Michael Faccinto[15]

Avedisian drives out of Last Chance Showdown, 18th-to-3rd in Feature, ties McIntosh for points lead

HIGHLAND, IL (Sept. 16, 2023) – In their hour of need, Chase McDermand and Mounce/Stout Motorsports came through when it mattered most.

With the season winding down and time running out to make a run for the championship, McDermand urgently needed a good finish to stay in the thick of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota points battle. Twenty-four hours after their perfect night went awry in the Feature, the 22-year-old Illinoisan redeemed himself with a clean sweep of Saturday night’s program at Highland Speedway.

Garnering the Whitz Racing Products Quick Time Award and a win in Toyota Racing Heat 1, McDermand led the final 21 laps of the main event to secure his fifth Series victory of the year.

“Being able to win so close to home with a [home-state crowd] – that means a lot added on top of it,” McDermand said. “These are really hard races to win with these guys that we run with, so to be able to do it for the fifth time this year means a lot.”

The night prior, McDermand also had a clean sweep going, and sat on the pole for the 30-lap main event. He and car owner/crew chief Jay Mounce made some adjustments to the McDermand Plumbing, Spike/Stanton #40 before leaving the pits to take the track, but those only hindered their performance. McDermand was in-and-out of the work area on multiple occasions after spinning out, though he was able to battle back to finish 12th.

The team put their heads together on Saturday, learned from their past mistakes and applied it, bringing them another $4,000 winner’s check.

“It’s bittersweet to lose one like we did last night,” McDermand said. “I feel like we definitely had the fastest car. To be able to learn what we did really helped us pick up the win tonight.”

When Gavin Miller jumped out to the early lead, McDermand kept pace with him through the first 10 laps, ripping the top side around the 1/4-mile. Miller soon entered heavy lapped traffic and stumbled when cars checked-up in front of him through Turns 3-4, opening the door for McDermand to slip by underneath for the lead on Lap 10.

From there on out, McDermand was able to race his race at his pace. Which was hammer-down on the top, running away from and gapping his opponents – nearly three seconds at its largest ahead of Zach Daum.

After the final restart with nine laps left and McDermand checked-out up front, Taylor Reimer was hot on Daum’s case, throwing a big slide job on the Trifecta Motorsports #7U in Turns 3-4 to take second on Lap 24.

“I was just waiting to time it perfectly,” Reimer said. “I knew I was faster than him, but I was just waiting for the right time. I knew if I threw it too soon, we were just gonna lose ground.”

The 23-year-old Oklahoman held her ground the rest of the way and crossed the stripe runner-up, tying her best finish of the season thus far. Despite being denied of a win yet again, she knows she was fast in the closing laps.

“We were gaining on him,” Reimer said of McDermand. “We were looking at the lap times, and we were a couple tenths faster than him. I think he started to catch lapped traffic, eventually.”

In the bigger picture, Saturday’s win brought McDermand 41 points closer to the lead in the standings. Now sitting 109 points out of first place, he knows a run for the title will be difficult, but still possible with four races remaining.

“If you win, that just takes care of everything else, and you know that’s all you could do,” McDermand said. “Tonight was really the perfect night, we did as much as we could do as far as points go.”

Securing the final spot on the podium was 17-year-old Jade Avedisian, who drove from out of the Last Chance Showdown for the first time this season, started 18th on the grid and raced her way to third by the checkered flag.

“To be honest, I’m not really sure [the issue], but we were off our game early in the night,” Avedisian said.

The Californian struggled early in the program, Qualifying dead-last in her group and finishing seventh in her Heat. She got it together for the Feature, taking third on Lap 25 and holding on for her 10th podium finish of the year. With that, she now sits tied with Cannon McIntosh for the Series points lead.

“In Hot Laps, we timed in last, and I was like, ‘Alright, I can’t turn, I’m so tight,’” Avedisian said. “Jarrett [Martin, car chief] made a few changes and it was kinda the same way for Qualifying. Heat Race was not very good. We just had to put our heads down and get to work.”

Miller, who was sent to the tail for his involvement in an incident on Lap 11, climbed all the way back to finish fourth, while Daum hung on to round out the top five.

UP NEXT

The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets close out the Illinois tripleheader with a visit to Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, IL, on Sunday, Sept. 17. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; live stream available on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[1]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer[7]; 3. 71-Jade Avedisian[18]; 4. 97-Gavin Miller[3]; 5. 7U-Zach Daum[5]; 6. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[4]; 7. 43-Gunnar Setser[9]; 8. 55-Trevor Cline[11]; 9. 08-Cannon McIntosh[6]; 10. 77W-Joe Wirth[8]; 11. 1K-Brayton Lynch[16]; 12. 31B-Kyle Beilman[13]; 13. 50-Daniel Adler[17]; 14. 97K-Cooper Williams[19]; 15. 3N-Jake Newman[12]; 16. 35-Tyler Robbins[15]; 17. 31K-Alex Midkiff[21]; 18. 21K-Karter Sarff[10]; 19. 53R-Sean Robbins[20]; 20. 16-Kyle Jones[2]; 21. 56-Mitchell Davis[14]; 22. 53-Miles Doherty[22]

KNOXVILLE, IA (September 16, 2023) – Ricky Thornton Jr. brought out the broom on Saturday Night at Knoxville Raceway as the current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship leader completed the weekend sweep of the 19th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals. It was Thornton’s first win in the crown jewel event as he collected more than $64,000 for the weekend after winning Thursday and Friday night’s preliminary races and the $50,000 finale. Thornton became only the second driver to win all three nights of the Late Model Nationals joining Billy Moyer who did it in 2010. Mike Marlar earned $25,000 for his second-place finish as he was attempting to win his fourth Late Model Knoxville Nationals. Marlar led seven laps of the 75-lap race as he and Thornton traded the lead four times in the first 23 laps of the race. Hudson O’Neal coming off his first World 100 victory at Eldora Speedway last weekend came home in third rounding out the Big River Steel Podium. Jonathan Davenport, the defending race winner, was fourth after starting 18th with Brandon Overton rounding out the top five drivers. Thornton and Iowa native Chad Simpson started on the front row as Thornton sprinted to an early lead over Simpson, who settled into second. Marlar, who started fifth quickly made his way to the front taking over the second spot by lap six from Simpson. Marlar then was able to run down Thornton taking his first lead of the race on lap 11. But two laps later Thornton was back out in front recapturing the lead on lap 13. Thornton and Marlar then continued their battle for the lead as Marlar once again went to the top of the scoring pylon on lap 18. Marlar would hold the lead until Thornton was able to wrestle it from him on lap 23. Kyle Bronson, who had started seventh was using the top line to quickly move into second around Marlar on lap 35. Bronson stayed glued to the top of the racetrack as he held the second position until contact with the wall in turn three on lap 59 resulted in a rollover for the Florida veteran ending his night. Bronson escaped uninjured from the accident. On the restart Thornton had Marlar again behind him, but Thornton was pulling away to a huge advantage when the final caution flew on lap 67 for Ryan Gustin. On the single-file restart Thornton would pull away for the win. The 32-year-old Martinsville, Indiana resident picked up his 20th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2023 and became the 14th different driver to win the event which began in 2004. “It’s awesome honestly, you try to be the best you can I mean it’s been a dream season for me. I didn’t know if we were going to be good enough honestly. I saw [Kyle] Bronson coming and [Christopher] Jayco was telling me to move up. I saw him [Bronson] getting closer and closer and I thought man I’ve got to move up. I don’t know, but after that I drove my heart out and it worked out.” Thornton had to patiently wait through several red and caution flag breaks during the race. “I had big time concerns because you never know. When we got back racing, I tried to get the tires as hot as I could. I figured if mine was going to seal up everyone else’s was too. Hats off to this team they bust their butts.” “It’s pretty cool to have the Lucas Oil season we have had to break’s Scott’s [Bloomquist] season record for wins and to tie Billy [Moyer] for sweeping the weekend, he is the greatest of all-time in our sport. It’s pretty awesome. I think we are going to celebrate and get right back to work for Brownstown next weekend.” Marlar, who had won three out of the last seven Late Model Knoxville Nationals had one last shot at Thornton after a caution with 13 laps to go, but could not stay with Thornton as the winner went on for a 4.781 seconds advantage over the Tennessee racer at the end. “The only thing up my sleeve I had left was that last restart. He [Thornton] went where I wanted him to, but he kind of slid up a little early in the corner and I couldn’t get that run I wanted to. He was better. He deserves to win, early on I passed him twice and he passed me back and drove away. You can’t blame the man for that. He done a good job. He is on a hot streak and his team is really doing good right now. He’s the man to beat, but we’re close though. I love Knoxville, you can use the whole track; you can race all over it. I thought it was a really good race. I love coming up here and, the fans are awesome.” O’Neal, who remains second in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points came from tenth to third in the final rundown. “I felt like I had something a little bit for them. I just couldn’t quite get a good enough run leaving the corner to get close enough to be able to clear him [Marlar]. I could get off there and get to his door, but that was about the extent of it. Man, we’ll take it. We had a trying week all week. We didn’t have the greatest of nights in our prelims, but I felt like we made gains all weekend long which is what I am really proud of.” The winner’s Todd and Vickie Burns-owned, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Coltman Farms, Hoker Trucking, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Dyno One, Inc., West Side Tractor Sales Company, Certified Inspection Service Company, Inc., Sunoco Race Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, Midwest Sheet Metal, Excel Floor Covering, and Murty Farms Completing the top ten were Chase Junghans, Brian Shirley, Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie, and Brandon Sheppard. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville NationalsSaturday, September 16, 2023Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 62-Justin Zeitner[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 48-Tim Lance[3]; 5. 51-Matt Furman[6]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[11]; 7. 17-Tim Simpson[8]; 8. D45-Dan Battaglia[9]; 9. 7W-Ricky Weiss[5]; 10. 21M-Luke Merfeld[12]; 11. 1X-Aaron Marrant[10]; 12. 99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 13. 10W-Junior Coover[14]; 14. 6-Al Humphrey[13] Knoxville Late Model Nationals Feature Finish (75 Laps):

Race Statistics  Entrants: 41Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 1-10); Mike Marlar (Lap 11-12); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 13-17); Mike Marlar (Laps 18-22); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 23-75)Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Margin of Victory: 4.781 seconds Gorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: Spencer Hughes (Lap 27); Daulton Wilson (Lap 40); Chris Ferguson, Daulton Wilson, Tyler Bruening, Cory Hedgecock (Lap 40 Restart); Kyle Bronson (Lap 59); Ryan Gustin (Lap 67)Series Provisionals: Boom BriggsFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Mike Marlar, Hudson O’NealPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Mike Marlar, Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport, Brandon OvertonTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Tim McCreadie (Advanced 17 Positions) Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Brian ShirleyDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Chad SimpsonEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (68 Laps) Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr. O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Max Blair Etchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Chad Simpson (Lap 3 – 18.689 seconds) MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Kyle BronsonOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony Burroughs (Ricky Thornton, Jr.) ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ross Robinson (17.244 seconds)Time of Race: 60 minutes 12 seconds  Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:

·       Kyle Larson capped off a strong performance in the opening round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs – driving his No. 5 Valvoline / HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to a runner-up finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Team Chevy driver earned top-five finishes in all three races of the Round of 16, including a win in the opening race at Darlington Raceway.  ·       With the playoff standings reset heading into the first race of the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson regained the top position of the points standings with an 11-point lead over second-place Denny Hamlin. ·       Joining Larson in the Round of 12 is his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.                                                                                                                        TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER2nd     Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline / HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL17th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Gold Filters Camaro ZL19th      William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL110th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1.        Denny Hamlin (Toyota)2.        Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)3.        Christopher Bell (Toyota)4.        Chris Buescher (Ford)5.        Ty Gibbs (Toyota)  The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 begins at Texas Motor Speedway with the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sunday, September 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1Finished: 23rdYou finished 23rd today, but more importantly, you’re onto the Round of 12. What were you battling tonight that ultimately prohibited you from getting up to the front? “We were just too tight for our No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevy. Aside from the very first run, we were just too tight all night. We were catching up to it running the bottom, and then when we moved to the top, we were just too tight again. Just not quite enough speed for our Chevy.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1Finished: 17th“We had a fast Bass Pro Shops/Ranger Boats Chevrolet but didn’t get the chance to capitalize on it tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. We struggled with a tight-handling condition for much of the race, but a lot of that was due to traffic. Track position is just so important. Our Chevy got pretty decent as the race went on. We just ended up too loose at the end of the race. Proud of the effort of this RCR team. On to Texas Motor Speedway.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline/HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Finished: 2ndBy the end of Stage One, you were able to collect points and you were a factor in the top-five all day. Runner-up finisher, how tough is that or is this a happy second-place finish? “I’m definitely happy to finish second. The race went a lot better than I thought it would. Thankfully, the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) and the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) went a lap down – they were pitted behind me and in front of me, and had they been on the same lap as us, that would have been very difficult for all of us. So got fortunate there, which made pit stops much easier. And our No. 5 Valvoline Chevy was good, too. I feel like we had the second-best car and we finished second with it. We just didn’t have the pace that Denny (Hamlin) had. He was really, really fast and got through traffic really well. I thought maybe his balance was fading when we got to traffic, but as soon as he got clear of them, he took back off. Just didn’t quite have the balance that I needed to really charge through the corners and be aggressive on the throttle and exit. We made it better on that final run, but just not quite enough.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s / ALSCO Uniforms Camaro ZL1Finished: 20th“I’m glad we advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs, but it just wasn’t a strong showing for the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen/Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team tonight. We didn’t have any front grip in the beginning of the run, or any rear grip in the later run. It was a struggle to go anywhere, and to make passes. I just felt mired in traffic and dirty air. Even when we had clean air, we weren’t passing anybody because lap times were just so stagnant. It’s not the race we wanted, but we’ll move on at go to Texas Motor Speedway.” William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1Finished: 9thGood run tonight with a top-10 finish. What are your thoughts heading into the Round of 12? “We’re really happy with 500 good laps here. A top-10 finish is good, but definitely wanted more. After practice, I felt like we could have a little bit more today, but I’m happy with it. I think our No. 24 Relay Payments Chevy was good tonight.” Are there any tracks you have picked out within the next round that you have circled that you think you have a better chance of winning? “No, I think just steadily work through them. We have a good points position. We need to try to keep getting bonus points, but we just need to keep trying to run better. Two of the three weeks (in the Round of 16) were really good, and even Kansas (Speedway) was really good. Just need to do a little bit better job executing and we should be in good shape.” Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 11th “We had a really fast No. 42 Sunseeker Chevy. It was a lot of fun. We were running fifth at one point and I think that’s where we finished in Stage Two. Our car was so fast. Luke (Lambert, crew chief) and this whole LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team has worked so hard. They were so excited to come here. This is Luke’s favorite race and it was huge to get a strong finish. We had a lot of speed; we were just too free there at the end. We wanted to get a top-10, but we were really close.”  Erik Jones, No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1Finished: 24th“Just not a very good day for the No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevy team. We just kind of struggled on balance all weekend. We had a loose wheel that just put us a couple of laps down and we caught a yellow during that. It just didn’t cycle out very good and got kind of trapped. We’ll go onto Texas (Motor Speedway). We’ve had a good past couple of weeks. It wasn’t our day today, but we’ll hopefully rebound next weekend.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro ZL1Finished: 10th “We executed in the race really well, but just didn’t execute on Saturday good enough to put us starting up front and get some stage points early. That’s kind of where we’ve been lacking, I would say most of the year – just with qualifying and being able to set ourselves up for the beginning stages of the race. I’m proud of the effort and another top-10 finish. Our No. 47 Scott Brand Camaro was really fast and really good there at the end when I needed it to be. We went as far forward as we could, but it just wasn’t enough. We’ll keep learning and trying coming back better next year.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES: STAGE ONE ·       For the 19th time this season, William Byron put his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 in the top-10 of the starting lineup – taking the green flag for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16 elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway from the third position. ·       After a brief delay due to light precipitation, NASCAR’s premier series finally took the green-flag for 500 laps around the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile”. Byron settled his Chevrolet into the fourth position in the opening laps – closing in on third as the leaders started to hit heavy lap traffic by the 40-lap marker. ·       Under caution for the first time this evening on lap 69, Byron reported that his Chevrolet was “tight at the three-quarter mark” as Crew Chief Rudy Fugle called the Team Chevy driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment – restarting in the 12th position. ·       Varying pit strategies throughout the field came early with the threat of incoming weather. A small group of drivers that elected to stay out during the first caution period including Team Chevy’s Corey LaJoie – giving the No. 7 NEGU Camaro ZL1 a front-row position for the restart on lap 77. ·       LaJoie went on to pace the field until another caution came out for rain. Choosing track position once again, Crew Chief Ryan Sparks kept LaJoie out when pit road opened to put LaJoie back on the front-row for the restart with 12 laps to go in Stage One. LaJoie regained the lead before ultimately taking the green-white checkered in the second position to lead Chevrolet to the end of the stage. ·       Joining LaJoie in collecting points at the end of Stage One included three Team Chevy playoff contenders: Byron (fourth), Ross Chastain (sixth) and Kyle Larson (eighth). 4th      William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL16th      Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL18th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 STAGE TWO ·       While under the stage break, a brief rain cell overcame the Tennessee short-track, forcing the field to bring their cars to pit road as the race was brought under red-flag conditions. ·       Getting the signal to return to competition, a handful of the top-10 finishers in the stage elected to stay out for track position including Team Chevy’s Kyle Larson after driving from the rear of the field to an eighth-place finish in Stage One. Larson chose the third position for the start of Stage Two. Quickly making gains on the top-two positions as the leaders hit lap traffic, Larson ultimately took the lead for the first time on lap 179. ·       Continuing to work traffic during a long green-flag run, Larson lost the lead on lap 200, but was able to hold onto the third position to close-out Stage Two. ·      Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-103rd      Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline Camaro ZL15th      Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL18th      William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL110th     Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Gold Filters Camaro ZL1  FINAL STAGE / POST-RACE NOTES ·       Following top-10 finishes in both stages, William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 team clinched a spot into the Round of 12. ·       After a third-place finish in Stage Two, Larson reported to the No. 5 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 team that he was fighting loose conditions with his Chevrolet. Crew Chief Cliff Daniels called for a pit stop for four tires, fuel and an adjustment – maintaining the third position in the race off pit road. Larson elected the outside lane of the second row for the start of the final stage. ·       Larson remained in the third position as the race continued under green-flag conditions for nearly 100 laps. Closing in on the top-two drivers, Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin, Larson was looking to setup a pass for the lead when a caution flew at lap 361 that nearly collected the leaders. ·       Scored in the second position, Daniels called Larson to pit road for four tires and fuel under the caution. Second off pit road, Larson opted for the inside lane of the front-row for the restart with 131 laps to go.  ·       Battling side-by-side with Hamlin on the restart, Larson got loose while entering the corner, forcing the driver to settle his Chevrolet into the second position. The Team Chevy driver maintained the position as the leaders were once again faced with lap traffic – progressively closing the gap to then-race leader Hamlin to under a one-second margin with 50 laps to go, but ultimately took the checkered flag in the runner-up position.  

READING, Pa. (Sept. 16, 2023) – Brittany Force in the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster team locked into the No. 2 qualifying spot in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS secured the No. 3 spot while John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS went No. 7 and Austin Prock in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster went No. 8. Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team didn’t miss a beat coming out in the first session of the day to run a clean 3.790-second pass at 330.39 mph. In the final session, Force laid down a 3.712 at 333.33. She locked in the No. 2 qualifying spot with her 3.689 pass from Friday evening. She’ll start her chase for a first win at Maple Grove Raceway with a matchup against first-time opponent Jacob Opatrny in the first round. “Good two days of qualifying for the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team. We qualified in the number two spot and face Jacob Opatrny first round during Sunday’s eliminations,” Force said. “We really made use of every four of those qualifying runs. We got down the racetrack with solid passes and we were low in two of the four sessions. This car is running well. This team is ready for race day and ready for the rest of the Countdown.” Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools team stayed consistent from their high performance Friday. The Cornwell Tools Chevy would go 3.909 seconds at 332.02 mph. In the final session, Hight and his Jimmy Prock-tuned Camaro would push a bit too hard and smoke the tires for a 4.597 at 178.71. Hight and the Cornwell Tools team would shift into the No. 3 qualifying position with his 3.879 pass from Friday and will try to repeat as the event winner with a first-round race against Jim Campbell. “Pretty good weekend so far for this Cornwell Tools team. Jimmy Prock and his son Thomas and Nate Hildahl have gotten a handle on this Chevy Camaro. It’s exciting to get in the seat,” Hight said. “We had three good runs getting down the racetrack, we just need to carry it over to tomorrow. I think we’ll do that. It’s going to be really cool conditions starting so early so things could be interesting. I’m confident, this whole Cornwell Tools team is confident.” John Force and the PEAK Chevy had tire smoke mid-track for a 4.679-second pass at 174.84 mph in their first attempt of the day. In the final session, Force and the PEAK team had their third solid run of the weekend with a 3.947 pass at 320.20. They weren’t able to improve from their 3.898 pass from Friday night and locked in the No. 7 spot. In the first round of eliminations Force will face Cruz Pedregon for the 121st time in their careers.  We came out and ran well, ran a 3.92 and then we went out there and ran a 3.89. Then we pushed it and it didn’t go. But we got it back, ran a 3.94,” Force said. “Bottom line I stayed in that top half so at least I get that right lane, I like it. Cruz is a great racer but this PEAK Chevrolet we’ve got a lot of customers out here, NK Seeds, Baldwin Filters, PEAK, and everybody so I have to perform, it’s what I’ve got to do and this PEAK Chevrolet, we will.” Opening day two at Maple Grove Raceway, Austin Prock hazed the tires and shut off the Montana Brand dragster for a pass at only 5.321 seconds at 125.89 mph. Prock turned things around in the last session with a 3.764 pass at 321.19 despite dropping a cylinder. His No. 8 starting position is thanks to the 3.728 pass from Friday night. He’ll line up alongside veteran Tony Schumacher in round one. “It’s been a decent start to our weekend. This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster was competitive enough to qualify in the top half but it has so much more potential left in it,” Prock said. “My crew chiefs, Chris Cunningham and Joe Barlam, are really close to making this thing absolutely fly and I hope we see that tomorrow.” Competition at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway continues with eliminations Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Television coverage of the first of six NHRA Countdown to the Championship events continues with a second qualifying show Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will be covered by FOX Broadcasting Network with shows Sunday at either 4:30 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. ET, check your local listings. -30-

AUSTIN PROCK, 28, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragsterQualifying:8th; 3.728-seconds; 329.83 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0BRITTANY FORCE, 37, Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac dragsterQualifying:2nd; 3.689-seconds; 336.57 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+8 (quickest Q1&Q4; 2nd quickest Q2) JOHN FORCE, 74, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:7th; 3.898-seconds; 334.32 mphBonus Qualifying Points: 0 ROBERT HIGHT, 54, Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:3rd; 3.879-seconds; 329.34Bonus Qualifying Points:+5 (quickest Q1; 2nd quickest Q2)

Kalitta, Torrence, Brown and Capps also qualify in the top five

MOHNTON, Pa. (September 16, 2023) – Toyota Top Fuel driver, Justin Ashley, will start from the top spot in tomorrow’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Sitting atop the Top Fuel standings to begin the Countdown to the Championship, Ashley heads a Top Fuel top five dominated by Toyotas with Doug Kalitta qualifying third, Steve Torrence in fourth and Antron Brown in fifth.

In Funny Car, Ron Capps led the way for Toyota by qualifying fourth with Alexis DeJoria in eighth and J.R. Todd in 10th. 

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

Maple Grove Raceway

Race 16 of 21

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Justin Ashley	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	1st (3.687)	S. Farley
Doug Kalitta	Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	3rd (3.696)	J. Hart
Steve Torrence	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	4th (3.698)	M. Salinas
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	5th (3.716)	D. Foley
Shawn Langdon	Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	6th (3.719)	D. Mercier

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Bob Tasca*	Motorcraft Ford Mustang Funny Car	1st (3.874)	C. Lee
Ron Capps	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	4th (3.879)	A. Laughlin
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	8th (3.915)	B. Alexander
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	10th (3.923)	T. Wilkerson

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA QUOTES

JUSTIN ASHLEY, Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Maynard-Ashley Racing

TF Qualifying Result: 1st

How good do you guys feel starting off the Countdown with the No. 1 qualifying position?

“We feel great. Obviously, qualifying is very important. Once race day comes, it’s all behind you, but nonetheless, theoretically, you’re putting yourself in the best position to win on Sunday and I think we accomplished that. We went down the track three out of four times. Obviously, we had the 3.687, the quickest time of the weekend, but tomorrow is going to be different and faster than we’ve seen. Nonetheless, we feel very good about the position we’ve put ourselves coming into this race and the reminder of the Countdown, and obviously so far this weekend.”

You talked about the three out of the four runs, with the first not being what you wanted. I’m sure you were confident you guys would bounce back in a hurry from Q1 on Friday.

“Absolutely, I think it’s a good problem to have when you don’t make it down in the first session and you’re wondering why it happened. That’s always the position you want to be in. It’s going to happen. We have four sessions and you’re not going to make it down each and every time, but one of the amazing things about Mike Green and Tommy DeLago (crew chiefs) is how consistent they are and how they’re able to find a way wherever we qualify. They make sure the car goes up and down the racetrack and they have a very methodical approach in how they tune this race car.

RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports

FC Qualifying Result: 4^th

Can you describe your qualifying runs today?

“What a great ending to qualifying! I can’t say enough about Guido (Dean Antonelli crew chief) and the NAPA Auto Parts team. They had a plan going up there and we discussed with the Toyota engineers, and we felt like we could improve on our time earlier today. With the sun still out, a lot of people would’ve questioned if we could have improved. It’s what makes this team great. The data we get from our Toyota engineers at the racetrack, Guido’s confidence in going up there and my ability to try to keep the car in the groove and go 3.87 seconds and over 330 mph really makes this Toyota GR Supra really fun to drive, especially when you’re trying to improve on qualifying and throw down your quickest time of the day. Great job by the guys and looking forward to Sunday! It’s going to be an early start and great conditions, and we’ll probably see the quickest time of the weekend, so we have to be on our game.”

JUSTIN MARKS, OWNER AND FOUNDER OF TRACKHOUSE RACING; BILL ANTHONY, PRESIDENT OF SPIRE MOTORSPORTS; and ZANE SMITH met with the media at Bristol Motor Speedway to announce that Trackhouse Racing has made a multi-year driving agreement with Zane Smith, beginning in January of 2024. Press Conference Quotes:  Justin Marks: “This is a really, really exciting moment for us at Trackhouse. Expansion is something that has been important to us since we first got on the racetrack, getting to a place where we felt like we could be the most competitive organization as possible. Expansion can look a lot of different ways. With our alliance with Spire and the opportunity to have Zane drive over there next year gives us the ability to grow in 2024 to an organization where we can put three cars on the racetrack full-time in 2025 and beyond. As that conversation started happening and conversations around the garage area about what growth looks like for Trackhouse, there was a short list of names and Zane was pretty much at the top of that list the whole time. Huge fan of him, what he’s accomplished in the racecar, his talent and his grind. Probably most importantly and a core tenant of what we do at Trackhouse is he’s a good human and a good person. We try to have good people in our company no matter what they’re capable or not capable of doing. Zane proved that to us really, really quickly in our early conversations. I’m really excited to facilitate a Cup ride for him in 2024 and then go to work as Trackhouse Racing to expand and put three racecars on the racetrack in ’25 and beyond and have Zane be a part of that for a while.” ZANE, TELL US WHAT THIS DAY MEANS TO YOU.“Obviously it’s a huge day. I can’t thank both you guys enough. It’s been a crazy road… I had held it together during the championship speech but I thought I was all good today. This just means the world to me. I almost didn’t have anything a couple of years ago. This is the place I want to be. Three hundred sixty-five days ago, I sat at Bob Evans with a very close friend, and he had asked me where I want to race someday. I think he expected maybe some different answer, but my answer was Trackhouse. Almost 365 days later, I’ve signed a contract with them. It means the world to me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted do to. The sacrifices that have been made are where the emotion comes from and how bad I want it… I’ll do whatever it takes to win on Sunday and I have that chance thanks to Justin Marks. I’m just so, so thankful for the people that are around me. I’m ready to go compete on Sunday. It’s crazy to say.” BILL, TALK ABOUT THE EXPANSION FOR YOU AS WELL.“There are a lot of ties. It’s actually pretty interesting how close we’ve been over the years, and that makes this a special moment. When Justin was a driver, we had a close relationship with him as a management agency. Ty (Norris) actually worked with us for a couple of years. We also had a connection through Ross (Chastain). You think of all those connections and ties and being members of the Chevy family, a lot of this made sense. It’s unique in many regards. You don’t see this type of alliance and collaboration. We’ve had the great fortune of being affiliated with some pretty special companies and people over the years. Hendrick Motorsports and all they’ve done for us… We really relish this opportunity to offer support to someone in the garage that is important. Our ability to offer support tells a lot about our organization. TJ (Puchyr) and Jeff (Dickerson) have made some bold decisions to stay the least. They’ve taken some big swings. I think that they’ve proven step after step that they are willing to take the chances and make the decisions that you need to progress in this sport. This collaboration and affiliation shows everybody’s commitment to the sport. It shows that we’re optimistic about the future of NASCAR and what it can be and what we can be in it. There’s no doubt that Trackhouse has set the standard for coming out of the block as a new competitive team. It challenges people like us, and we accept that challenge and we embrace that challenge. In fact, we want to be a part of that challenge as well. It speaks very well to our ownership, the willingness and transparency to do that. I will say that the ties for Spire also really go back to their driver management days. It means a lot to help very talented drivers and to help them progress in the sport and do things that help push the sport forward. Part of this also is giving a little bit of a nod to Zane and allowing him to move up and achieve his dream. I know that’s important to us as well.” MORE ON ZANE SMITH JOINING TRACKHOUSE…Justin Marks: It’s been an interesting story arc for Trackhouse from the beginning. It’s a reuniting of people. I think it shows that when you build something and you operate authentically and you stay committed to the vision and who you are, things just kind of work out. We’ve told the story ad nauseum about Ross buying his first racing seats for me when he moved up to North Carolina, the fact that I raced for Ganassi and the way the CGR thing went and we put Ross in the car and he won his first race for us and all that. It’s fascinating. This is another really interesting anecdote about this journey… the fact that we didn’t know Zane was under any kind of contract or anything with Chip. When I got the text I was like, ‘Oh… ok. We’re not in a spot right now to do anything.’ It was a moment that went on Ty’s world-famous whiteboard and sat there for a long time. It’s that kind of thing. It’s like when Ross texted me after we announced the CGR thing, and he said ‘I want this.’ When someone like Zane reaches out and says ‘How can I be a part of this, whatever you’re doing?’ at that stage of Trackhouse, it shows the drive that he has and the commitment that he’s got and how he’s constantly thinking about how to create opportunities for himself. It’s another element to a great story that we’re all writing together.” ZANE, WHAT ABOUT THAT TEXT?“Yeah. I haven’t recovered, now that I got it out. I mean, it’s crazy how this has all gone, and full circle. Not many years before that, I was walking through the gift shop getting (Chip Ganassi Racing) diecast cars, and now it was the gym, and I went there a couple of days ago. What attracted me to Trackhouse, obviously, I want to be a part of it. I feel like every driver is always winning a race on Sunday. It’s so dang hard to get there. I don’t know. I said it over and over again to the people that were around me of ‘Man, that’s a group I really want to be with and I don’t know how we’re going to make it happen, but I want to be there. I see the leadership Justin (Marks) has. I see the sponsors and the people; it’s such a people sport. I believe those are some of the best people at that race team. I just wanted to be a part of it. Unfortunately, it was a weird situation we were all in but truthfully, I don’t know if I was ready as a driver to take on Sunday now that I’ve got my feet wet in the Cup series. I truly do believe I’m ready now. I’m excited for next year with Spire to learn. Sunday is a whole different ball game, and I’m just ready to attack it and take advantage of the opportunity in front of me. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Just really believe what (Trackhouse) is doing and thankful it’s a big enough word to be a part of it.” Bill Anthony: “Speaking of thankful, I’m not getting out of this room without thanking Shawn and Lucy Holt. Shawn Holt has been there since the spring when we started talking about things with Zane (Smith), and obviously he has relationship with Zane. Going to dinner, having conversations, keeping up with him, he’s been an huge part of keeping us up to date and being a part of this future. So Shawn, thank you for that.” Justin Marks: “I just want to thank BJ McLeod and Matt Tifft, and everyone over at LiveFast and everyone working on this transaction with us. I appreciate everything they’ve done and what they’ve contributed to this sport, and are still involved in this sport, but I just wanted to put that out there that they’ve been really great to work with.” JUSTIN, YOU’RE NOT AFRAID TO SWING FOR THE FENCES, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THE LAST COUPLE OF DECISIONS HAVE BEEN METHODICAL AND THOUGHT OUT. IT SHOWS THE PRECISE PLAN YOU HAVE. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT?“I think it depends on the opportunity and what we’re trying to do. Every project or development scenario within the company is unique, and the players and what we’re trying to do. Growth and expansion in this sport is difficult. There are a lot of moving pieces and there’s a lot of different ways to envision what growth looks like. I think it’s no small feat to grow to a third team. We have to be very methodical and cerebral about how we approach all of the elements to get something like this. All I know is we didn’t want to get all that stuff put together and then go, ‘Okay, who is our driver? Who’s at the end of a contract?’ To me, it’s the driver that has been the most important part of the puzzle. And at the end of the day, it’s always been about the 147 people working in the shop. It’s one guy holding a steering wheel at the end of the race. So that has to be the tip of the spear, and I wanted to make sure we started this journey knowing who our driver is going to be and then filling in kind of everything around it. We were able to do it with great friends at Spire (Motorsports), to be looking at experience next year as we work intelligently and methodically about growing the business.” JUSTIN, YOU HAVE FOUR DRIVERS NOW WITH SHANE (VAN GISBERGEN) CAN YOU EXPAND ON BEING FOUR, OR DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE THREE FOR 2025?“Shane’s (van Gisbergen) program is about 2024. There’s a lot of unknowns around Shane and how he’s going to do on the ovals, if he’s even going to enjoy it. There’s so many unknowns around him, but I’m really excited about that program but that’s one where we’re going to have to see how things play out and see how things go. We’ll be able to make some more announcements and talk about that, but I’m just really excited about what we’ve got with Zane (Smith).” JUSTIN, TRYING TO CONNECT DOTS, WITH SPIRE ACQUIRING THIS CHARTER, WAS THERE EVER A THOUGHT IN YOUR MIND TO LEASE THE CHARTER AND RUN IT UNDER THE TRACKHOUSE BANNER? WHY PUT ZANE (SMITH) IN A TRACKHOUSE CAR?“Because of where we are at, with expanding to a third team, it takes time and a lot of money. We have to be strategic in how we capitalize that third team. It sounds stupid, but Featherlite Trailers are eight months out and there’s none in the used market. We have to take our time in doing this stuff. Where it makes sense for us, is putting Zane (Smith) in an established team where he can focus on the driving and we can focus on everything we can to support him and that car over there while we expand over the course of the year. We can’t rush it, and we didn’t want to throw it together late. It’s a process that’s going to have to take course over time.” JUSTIN, THIS ALLIANCE WITH SPIRE, IS THIS JUST WITH ZANE’S CAR OR IS THIS MORE ORGANIZATIONAL TYPE OF THING INCLUDING INFORMATION FROM THE NO. 7 AND NO. 77?“This is just mainly focused on Zane (Smith). Zane has signed a contract with Trackhouse. Zane will have a presence in our shop and in our systems, meetings. Zane is a driver we have placed with the help of Spire in another car that we’re going to be supporting. It’s really to make sure all of Zane’s opportunities develop in experiences. Everything next year is in the context of him learning in the first year in the Cup series and becoming a Trackhouse driver under our roof.” BILL, SPIRE HAS BEEN A PLAYER THROUGH THE YEARS WITH THE CHARTER SYSTEM. SOME TEAM OWNERS WERE HESITANT MOVING FORWARD ON THIS AGREEMENT WITH THE TEAMS. WHAT LED TO GOING OUT AND PURCHASING THIS, AND MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT NUMBER THAN FIVE, SIX YEARS AGO?“I was just talking to Justin (Marks) about this on our walk over. I think if you look down the list of organizations in the Cup series, you’d be hard pressed to find any that are more transparent about their ambitions and intentions than these two organizations. Jeff and TJ have consistently, I think this move is consistent with their prior ambitions and intentions. People question, there was cynicism when there was one charter, and there was cynicism when there were two charters. Corey (LaJoie) signing and re-signing. We’ve proven and come through in each of those circumstances; that is certainly a double-down on the future of the sport. My guess is it’s a triple-down now and a showing of belief in the sport. That’s not to say there isn’t work to be done with NASCAR and the charter agreement, but I think we believe in all the people in the garage and all the people in the NASCAR.” ZANE, WITH BEING SO CLOSE TO THE CUP SERIES FOR SO LONG NOW, TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE FOR SURE COMING TO A CUP SERIES RIDE IN 2024, HOW MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT DOES THAT MAKE TODAY FOR YOU?“I mean, yeah, for me it’s all I’ve ever wanted, but to have that weight lifted off my shoulders and knowing that I’m doing next year is huge. I feel like it’s just so nice to have clarity in this industry. But then again, it’s another weight added on my shoulders because these are my final three races left in a Truck, and I want to make those the best races I’ve ever had and hopefully get into this Final Four, and walk off into the sunset with a back-to-back championship.”

Forms Alliance with Spire Motorsports, Moving Smith to Full Time Cup in 2024

CONCORD, N.C. – Zane Smith is in the House.Trackhouse Racing today announced a multi-year driving agreement with the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion and its aim to operate three full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries in 2025.Smith will officially join Trackhouse in January of 2024, teaming with a talented stable of Trackhouse drivers which includes 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship runner-up Ross Chastain, the only foreign-born touring series champion in NASCAR history, Daniel Suárez, and Shane van Gisbergen, the New Zealander who shocked the NASCAR world in July by winning his Cup Series debut at the Chicago Street Course.In 2024, Smith will race full time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving a Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in an alliance with Trackhouse. “Expansion is not something to be taken lightly, but we feel Trackhouse is commercially and technically positioned for growth,” said Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks. “You need good timing, very good partners and great drivers. Adding Zane is like signing the No. 1 draft pick and we are proud that he is now a member of the Trackhouse family.”Smith is a nine-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner completing his fourth full-time season this year. He has also run seven Cup Series races in the last two seasons highlighted by a 10th-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May.

“This is an incredible moment for me,” said Smith. “Trackhouse is one of the most progressive organizations in the garage. I told some friends a year ago that I wanted to be a part of what Trackhouse is doing and I just can’t believe this is all coming true. I am very excited and thankful to have a future with the organization.“The Cup series is the pinnacle of racing in America, and I cannot wait to compete, learn and hone my skills against the best in the world. I am really looking forward to working with the Spire Motorsports team in 2024 and believe the alliance with Trackhouse will help continue Spire’s ascent up the grid.”

The Huntington Beach, California native began racing go-karts in 2004 and won championships five consecutive years before moving to legends car racing and super late models. He recorded victories in the World Series of Asphalt, Pro All Stars Series and the CARS Tour, as well as garnering a runner-up finish in the Snowball Derby. He moved to ARCA racing winning four races and finishing second in the standings in 2018. He ran 10 Xfinity Series races in 2019 scoring two top-five finishes and moved to the truck series fulltime finishing second in the standings in 2020 and 2021. He won the 2022 title and is still in the truck series playoffs as he seeks a second consecutive championship. Spire Motorsports was founded in 2018 by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. The team currently fields two full-time NASCAR Cup Series teams with drivers Corey LaJoie and Ty Dillon and fields select entries in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series competition. The team earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 20, 2023 when Kyle Larson took the checkered flag in the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.“Spire Motorsports will acquire a NASCAR charter from Live Fast Motorsports prior to the 2024 season and we’re thrilled to offer our support to Trackhouse Racing, a key member of the Chevrolet family,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “Spire has a longstanding relationship with Justin Marks and we are proud of everything he and all the men and women at Trackhouse have accomplished in a relatively short time. “This cooperative agreement is also proof-positive of the hard work of everyone at Spire Motorsports. We certainly wouldn’t be in this position without Mr. Hendrick and the competition group at Hendrick Motorsports so we continue to be grateful for that relationship. T.J. and I are also grateful to B.J. McLeod and Matt Tifft for working with us on the charter acquisition. We’re looking at a watershed moment for our organization that further demonstrates our commitment to the sport.” Smith joins a Trackhouse Racing team that began when Marks retired from a fulltime driving career in NASCAR and sports car racing to create Trackhouse Entertainment Group in 2020 with the goal of creating a racing brand that transcends the sport. Marks formed Trackhouse Racing that took to the track in 2021 with Suárez behind the wheel. In January 2021, the team announced a partnership with international superstar entertainer Pitbull who has been a frequent guest at NASCAR races and elevated Trackhouse’s presence through inclusion in several of his songs, music videos and named his upcoming album “Trackhouse.” Midway through the 2021 season, Trackhouse Racing bought the NASCAR assets of Chip Ganassi Racing and began the 2022 season as its own two-car team with Suárez and Chastain as drivers. Chastain gave the organization its first victory at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on March 27 and won again at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 24. Suárez became the first Mexican (Monterrey) driver to win a Cup race when he dominated the Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway race in June 20. In 2023, Chastain won the Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway race on June 25 and van Gisbergen won the inaugural Chicago Street race on July 2 driving for Trackhouse’s PROJECT91 program Marks created to offer NASCAR opportunities to international driving stars. Trackhouse Entertainment Group operates out of Nashville, Tenn. while the race shop is in Concord, North Carolina

READING, Pa. (Sept. 16, 2023) – Del Holbrook and his Big Pulley No Power Ford Mustang Cobra Jet secured their second No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
 
Holbrook, who is in his rookie season driving in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown class, earned his No. 1 position in the third and final qualifying session on Saturday. Coming into the session sitting in the No. 14 spot, Holbrook handled his Cobra to a stout 7.642-second pass at 181.20 mph to top the competition.

Del Holbrook, Pep Boys NHRA Nationals Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown No. 1 qualifier, photo courtesy of Werner Communications

 
“I knew the conditions were out there to run well, but I didn’t think we really had the shot to go No. 1. I was really kind of surprised at the top end. But the whole ride I’m like, ‘This is going to be a good one.’ It felt fast but I didn’t think it was going to be that good,” Holbrook said. “This is my first time here at Maple Grove Raceway, so racing in front of packed grandstands is awesome. It’s a nice atmosphere around here, and it’s going to be great getting to race eliminations in front of so many people.”
 
Holbrook opened qualifying on Friday with a 7.858-second run at 176.07 mph before improving to a 7.797 at 178.57 later in the evening. He’ll match-up against No. 16 qualifier Carl Tasca in the first round of eliminations.
 
“I mean, it’s always cool to be number one, but at the end of the day you really want to qualify and then get into the winning mindset for eliminations,” Holbrook said. “You have to be ready when it is time to race. I am looking forward to the first round.”

Del Holbrook and his Ford Mustang Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown entry at Maple Grove Raceway, photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

 
Sitting No. 2 after also having a jump in performance in the third session is veteran racer Mark Pawuk and his Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. Pawuk started qualifying with a 7.816 at 178.35 before improving to a 7.797 at 178.97. Ultimately, it would be a 7.667-second run at 181.67 mph on Saturday that would land him No. 2 and set up a first-round match up with reigning world champion and defending Pep Boys Nationals Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown winner David Barton.
 
“We had a new motor we put in for this weekend. It looked really good, but it just didn’t seem to accelerate. We made two decent looking runs yesterday, but the car just didn’t pick up. We ended up going over to David Barton’s shop last night until 1 a.m. in the morning and we put the motor in we ran in Indy,” Pawuk said. “I need to do a better job of driving, but I got the car under me to do well. I’m happy with my crew and with Barton Racing. David Barton has been a huge asset to this program along with Michael Viaro and my son Kyle. NHRA did a really nice job of prepping the track.”

Mark Pawuk, No. 2 qualifier at Pep Boys NHRA Nationals in Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown, photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

 
Due to impending weather, Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown action at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway continues with eliminations beginning Saturday and continuing as needed on Sunday.
 
Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown First Round Matchups
No. 1 Del Holbrook vs. No. 16 Carl Tasca
No. 2 Mark Pawuk vs. No. 15 David Barton
No. 3 Lee Hartman vs. No. 14 Kevin Skinner
No. 4 David Janac vs. No. 13 David Hamp
No. 5 Anthony Troyer vs. No. 12 Ricky Hord
No. 6 Aaron Stanfield vs. No. 11 Scott Libersher
No. 7 Lenny Lottig vs. No. 10 Stephen Bell
No. 8 Jesse Alexandra vs. No. 9 David Davies III
 

Cadillac V-Series.Rs qualify fourth and eighth for 2-hour, 40-minute GTP race

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 16, 2023) – Cadillac Racing’s Grand Touring Prototype racecars qualified fourth and eighth Saturday for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — the penultimate race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Sebastien Bourdais, driving the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 13.939 seconds during the 20-minute session on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course to place fourth in the 10-car field. The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R has started in the top half of the field in all but one of the eight races.

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Pipo Derani qualified eighth with a best lap of 1:14.284 for the 2-hour, 40-minute race Sunday. It will mark the first time the premier North American sports car racing series competes on the IMS road course since 2014. The event will expand to a six-hour race in 2024. Bourdais was 0.267 of a second off the pole-winning lap time of the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports entry. The field was separated by 0.960 of a second. Bourdais is no stranger to the Brickyard. The four-time CART champion has made 10 INDYCAR starts on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course (best finish of fourth in 2014, ’15 and 2018) and nine Indianapolis 500 starts. He also co-drove a Daytona Prototype with Alex Popow to victory in the 2012 NASCAR Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race and co-drove a Chevrolet Corvette DP to 11th place in 2013 on the previous (2.534-mile) circuit configuration.

NBC will telecast the race live at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 17. Peacock streaming in the U.S. begins at 1 p.m. ET, while viewers outside the U.S. can tune in to IMSA.com. IMSA Radio will air the race at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.What they’re sayingNo. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais drove in qualifying: “We had a really great car at the test in July and then I saw the temperatures on the forecast and said this is going to be a tough one. I wish it was hotter because if it was I think we’d be in a better spot. But the conditions being what they are, we’ll get on with it. A little sad about that but the team is executing well and I think we’re doing everything we can maximize the result. Tomorrow will be a chaotic day. I think the weather is going to come into play as well. We’ll try to stay out of trouble and see what comes our way.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani drove in qualifying:“Considering what happened in the (first) practice, when we were basically one practice session behind everybody else, the field is so tight that it’s hard to catch up if you lose 90 minutes (sorting out a brake issue). All in all, we improved from practice 2 but it didn’t look like it was enough. Balance-wise, the car is OK, but we were just not able to extract what we wanted out of it in qualifying conditions. For race conditions, I thin our car is fast. Last time we qualified first and finished sixth, so we’ll try to reverse that this time out. Hoping we can come out with some good points.”

(Sept. 16, 2023) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor qualified fifth in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class Saturday ahead of the team’s return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

It’s a key weekend for Taylor and teammate Antonio Garcia in the GTD PRO title race. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R won in its last race at Virginia International Raceway to solidify the Corvette program’s second-place standing in the Drivers, Manufacturers and Teams points battle with two races left in the season. The weekend marks the first time in nearly a decade that Corvette Racing has turned laps around the famous Yard of Bricks but first trip with the mid-engine C8.R. The engineering and crew teams spent practice sessions Friday and Saturday tuning and tweaking the Corvette to the track surface and the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit. The goal was to validate the pre-event virtual work, much of which was focused on efforts in the Chevrolet Driver in the Loop simulator. That – plus feedback from the manufacturer’s IndyCar program, which raced twice this year on the IMS Road Course – aided the team in establishing its baseline setup along and looking at the effects of predicted changes to help bridge the gap to the rest of the GTD PRO field.  Corvette Racing finished fourth and fifth in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in 2014 in the team’s only previous IMS appearance. The TireRack.com Battle of the Bricks is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept.17. The race will air live on NBC beginning at 1 p.m. ET and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.comoutside

CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION Corvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of IMSA’s TireRack.comBattle of the Bricks. Materials include Corvette Racing event advance and quotes, Corvette Racing stats and figures, Corvette Racing racecar comparisons, Corvette Racing Fast Facts, driver biographies and Corvette Racing photography, among other items.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Not what we wanted but what we kind of expected. Practices were tough and that carried over to qualifying. The car feels good and pretty solid. We’ve gone quicker each session and we’re getting closer to the front. But the gap in performance between us and the rest of the class is evident, though. We will see. It will take a perfect race, which we are capable of doing. After that, things are out of our control.”

2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After nine of 11 events)Driver Standings1. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 3,1652. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3,0213. Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 2,9154. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 2,8865. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 2,774 Team Standings1. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 3,1652. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 3,0213. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 2,9154. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 2,8865. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 2,774 Manufacturer Standings1. Lexus – 3,1652. Chevrolet – 3,0213. Porsche – 2,9154. Mercedes-AMG – 2,8865. Aston Martin – 2,785 CORVETTE RACING AT INDIANAPOLIS: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette• 5: Combined starts for Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor at Indianapolis in IMSA competition. Both placed fourth in their class in the 2014 event• 9: Years since Corvette Racing’s only other appearance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014 with the C7.R• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship• 47: Combined victories for Chevrolet at Indianapolis in stock car (23), open-wheel (21) and sports car racing (three)• 127: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 115 in North America, nine at Le Mans and three in the FIA WEC• 281: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999• 360,480.64: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back! Corvette Racing at Indianapolis2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM

JACKSONVILLE, IL (Sept. 15, 2023) – Jade Avedisian crossed the finish line a second ahead of her opponents. Animated fist pumps soon followed.

At only 15 years old, she’d made history. National history. With her car parked in Victory Lane in front of a packed Jacksonville Speedway grandstand, and a shower of confetti around her, Avedisian became the first female to take the checkered flag in a national-level Feature event, winning with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.

Over one year later, she can still recall her jubilation in the moment.

“It meant the absolute world to me,” Avedisian said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve seen all these kids get on top of the cage and celebrate. It’s always been a dream of mine to get on top of the cage and celebrate as a Midget winner.”

The Series returns to the 1/4-mile oval in Western Illinois for the first time since that evening on Friday, Sept. 15, in the first of a three-day stretch of racing that also includes visits to Highland Speedway on Saturday (Sept. 16) and Red Hill Raceway on Sunday (Sept. 17).

Avedisian, the 17-year-old Californian now residing in Mooresville, NC, has seen and won at several other bullring-style tracks this year, but Jacksonville is one that’s been circled on her calendar since the start.

“I’m super excited to get back to Jacksonville,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks and it will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Looking back, she said it’s still a surprise that she was able to pull off the win that night, considering the three-straight DNFs she suffered that week.

“To pick that week as a bad week and then end it on such a high note on Saturday night was truly just the best feeling,” she said.

The win at Jacksonville, which was co-sanctioned by the Xtreme Outlaw Series, fell on the fifth night of the POWRi National Midget League’s annual Illinois SPEEDWeek event. After a 12th-place run in the opener at Charleston Speedway, Avedisian did not finish the main event in any of the next three nights due to on-track incidents, forcing her to go to a backup car later in the week.

After a third-straight DNF at Macon on Saturday, she drove the backup Spike/Toyota #84 for Chad Boat Industries in for the finale in Jacksonville and turned her fortune around in dramatic fashion, fending off the field for all 30 circuits to secure the win.

“I think I just wanted it so, so bad,” Avedisian said. “At the beginning of the week, we flipped almost every single night. Just realizing that, and kind of backing myself down for Saturday night… going out there and clearing my mind from the past week because it wasn’t a good week, and just retrying on Sunday night.”

This time around, she’ll make the trek back to site of that historic moment for the first time with her new team at Keith Kunz Motorsports, aiming for another win to kick off a crucial stretch of races that will set the scene before championship weekend in Oklahoma next month.

“It’s going to be up to me to make sure I put myself not in bad situations on the racetrack,” Avedisian said. “Thirty laps in the Feature may not seem like a long time, but 30 laps – I feel like it is.”

Seven points is all that separates her from the Series points lead. With six races to go and several opponents within striking distance in the points standings around her, any of the top-five drivers can make a run for the championship.

“I feel pretty confident going back there, just because I’ve won there before,” Avedisian said. “I’m gonna go in there with my best foot forward and be super smart.”

Tickets for each of the remaining races on the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series schedule can be purchased at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to your favorite track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.

JACKSONVILLE, IL (Sept. 15, 2023) – Jade Avedisian crossed the finish line a second ahead of her opponents. Animated fist pumps soon followed.

At only 15 years old, she’d made history. National history. With her car parked in Victory Lane in front of a packed Jacksonville Speedway grandstand, and a shower of confetti around her, Avedisian became the first female to take the checkered flag in a national-level Feature event, winning with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.

Over one year later, she can still recall her jubilation in the moment.

“It meant the absolute world to me,” Avedisian said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve seen all these kids get on top of the cage and celebrate. It’s always been a dream of mine to get on top of the cage and celebrate as a Midget winner.”

The Series returns to the 1/4-mile oval in Western Illinois for the first time since that evening on Friday, Sept. 15, in the first of a three-day stretch of racing that also includes visits to Highland Speedway on Saturday (Sept. 16) and Red Hill Raceway on Sunday (Sept. 17).

Avedisian, the 17-year-old Californian now residing in Mooresville, NC, has seen and won at several other bullring-style tracks this year, but Jacksonville is one that’s been circled on her calendar since the start.

“I’m super excited to get back to Jacksonville,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks and it will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Looking back, she said it’s still a surprise that she was able to pull off the win that night, considering the three-straight DNFs she suffered that week.

“To pick that week as a bad week and then end it on such a high note on Saturday night was truly just the best feeling,” she said.

The win at Jacksonville, which was co-sanctioned by the Xtreme Outlaw Series, fell on the fifth night of the POWRi National Midget League’s annual Illinois SPEEDWeek event. After a 12th-place run in the opener at Charleston Speedway, Avedisian did not finish the main event in any of the next three nights due to on-track incidents, forcing her to go to a backup car later in the week.

After a third-straight DNF at Macon on Saturday, she drove the backup Spike/Toyota #84 for Chad Boat Industries in for the finale in Jacksonville and turned her fortune around in dramatic fashion, fending off the field for all 30 circuits to secure the win.

“I think I just wanted it so, so bad,” Avedisian said. “At the beginning of the week, we flipped almost every single night. Just realizing that, and kind of backing myself down for Saturday night… going out there and clearing my mind from the past week because it wasn’t a good week, and just retrying on Sunday night.”

This time around, she’ll make the trek back to site of that historic moment for the first time with her new team at Keith Kunz Motorsports, aiming for another win to kick off a crucial stretch of races that will set the scene before championship weekend in Oklahoma next month.

“It’s going to be up to me to make sure I put myself not in bad situations on the racetrack,” Avedisian said. “Thirty laps in the Feature may not seem like a long time, but 30 laps – I feel like it is.”

Seven points is all that separates her from the Series points lead. With six races to go and several opponents within striking distance in the points standings around her, any of the top-five drivers can make a run for the championship.

“I feel pretty confident going back there, just because I’ve won there before,” Avedisian said. “I’m gonna go in there with my best foot forward and be super smart.”

Tickets for each of the remaining races on the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series schedule can be purchased at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to your favorite track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.

JACKSONVILLE, IL (Sept. 15, 2023) – It takes guts to challenge some of the best Midget racers in the country. It takes even more guts to try and drive around the national points leader on the top for the win in the final laps, but Karter Sarff never thought twice about going for it.

From over a second behind with 10 laps remaining, Sarff reeled-in leader Cannon McIntosh in five laps, ripping the top side around the 1/4-mile Jacksonville Speedway. With the momentum wound-up through Turns 1-2, Sarff zipped past McIntosh and led the final five circuits to bag his second Feature win of the year with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota.

“I’ve always wanted to win a national Midget race at Jacksonville, it’s basically my home track,” Sarff said. “To finally be able to get it done, to win an Xtreme race with everyone here and passing Cannon for the win is a huge deal for us.”

The 20-year-old from Mason City, IL, won for the first time with the Series in August, driving around defending Series champion Zach Daum for the win at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. While he admits that one was sweet, Sarff said winning at Jacksonville is something different.

“Jacksonville – it’s everything,” he said. “You’ve gotta be hammer-down, balls-to-the-wall. It’s just so cool to win here.”

From sixth on the starting grid, Sarff gradually made his way up through the field in the first half of the race, advancing to fourth by the halfway point, putting himself in position to make a late-race dash for the lead. A multi-time Feature starter at Jacksonville, Sarff figured out the best line right away and used it to his advantage.

“Everyone was running the bottom, so I wasn’t gonna follow them down there,” Sarff said. “I just kept working it and working it until I finally figured out how to rip around there with a bunch of momentum and not make mistakes.”

Out front, McIntosh had taken the lead after finding a magic lane on the bottom, zooming by both Jade Avedisian and Hayden Reinbold to take control of the race on Lap 11. But after several caution periods, McIntosh said the track began to dry-out, and the struggle for grip became a factor for the Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports #08.

“I tried to hit my marks better and better, but I just started to slow down a little bit,” McIntosh said. “[Sarff] was just living and dying by the top. He just made it work.”

Following the final restart with 16-to-go, McIntosh soon dipped back into lapped traffic. He reached the back of a slower car on Lap 24, who was running right in front of him. Though McIntosh held his line and drove by down the backstretch, so had Sarff.

“As the bottom got worse and worse and I got in traffic, he just ripped by us,” McIntosh said. “I think by then he had enough momentum, it didn’t matter what I did. He was just going to get away.”

McIntosh gave it everything he had on the bottom to try and fend Sarff off but was unable to escape the #21K’s wrath the next time by in Turns 1-2. Sarff used the momentum from the top side and completed the pass out of Turn 2.

Though he settled for runner-up, McIntosh did consider what moving up a lane earlier in the race might have done for him in the end.

“I knew in the back of my head that the top is always good here, and I should’ve known that more in the Feature,” McIntosh said. “I didn’t really know if it would come in or not – it seemed so built-up and hard against the wall.”

Crossing the stripe with the final podium spot was 16-year-old Pennsylvanian Gavin Miller, who came all the way from ninth on the grid to finish third. Avedisian held on for fourth while Daum completed the top five after having to restart from the tail, following contact with Avedisian early in the event.

UP NEXT 

The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets are back in action Saturday night, Sept. 16, in the Series debut at Highland Speedway in Highland, IL. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; stream will be live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 21K-Karter Sarff[6]; 2. 08-Cannon McIntosh[7]; 3. 97-Gavin Miller[9]; 4. 71-Jade Avedisian[3]; 5. 7U-Zach Daum[4]; 6. 56-Mitchell Davis[13]; 7. 25K-Taylor Reimer[8]; 8. 16-Kyle Jones[10]; 9. 1K-Brayton Lynch[18]; 10. 97K-Cooper Williams[11]; 11. 50-Daniel Adler[5]; 12. 40-Chase McDermand[1]; 13. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[2]; 14. 7X-Korey Weyant[17]; 15. 31B-Kyle Beilman[14]; 16. 81-Dakota Gay[19]; 17. 17B-Austin Barnhill[20]; 18. 16C-David Camfield Jr[16]; 19. 55-Trevor Cline[12]; 20. 53-Miles Doherty[21]; 21. 17C-Devin Camfield[23]; 22. 43-Gunnar Setser[15]; 23. 51R-Patrick Ryan[22]

KNOXVILLE, IA (September 15, 2023) – Ricky Thornton Jr. made it back-to-back in preliminary features at Knoxville Raceway as he led wire-to-wire in the 25-lap $7,000-to-win event on Friday night. The win was his 19th of the season for the Martinsville, Indiana racer and former Iowa resident. Thornton will try to become only the second driver in the history of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals to sweep the weekend if he can capture the 75-lap A-Main on Saturday night. Billy Moyer is the only driver to do so in 2010. Chad Simpson, the current Lucas Oil MLRA points leader finished in second followed by 12th place starter Devin Moran who rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. Brandon Overton, who ran as high as second in the race was fourth with Kyle Bronson completing the top five drivers. Thornton jumped to the lead at the start of the race and the only time he was slowed was for the lone caution of the race with 16 laps complete. Chad Simpson held the second spot for 24 of the 25 laps as the only time he didn’t was when Overton got by him on lap 16, before the caution came out. On the restart Overton fell back to fifth which allowed Simpson and two other drivers to get by. Overton was able to get by Bronson on the final lap to salvage fourth. It was Thornton’s 24th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of his career as he looks to complete a possible $64,000 weekend out of a $262,000 total purse. Thornton’s winning margin was a convincing 3.815 seconds when the checkers flew. “I didn’t know if I needed to stay around the top. I got to [Todd] Cooney and [Daniel] Hilsabeck and I went to the bottom, and I felt like I made a better lap, but [Christopher] Jayco said lap time wise I was better where I was. It’s cool to win on Burroughs’ [crew chief Anthony] birthday so hopefully we will party a little bit tonight. We were thinking about just testing earlier tonight after last night, but we were going for it. We went with a completely different set-up from last night and I think we picked up a little bit of speed there. I think we know what we need to do tomorrow.” Chad Simpson, who won a preliminary night race in 2015, took back the second spot from Overton after a lap 17 restart. “We were chasing it all night long last night we chased it early tonight, but everything then fell through and the car got good. We started so deep then tonight we put ourselves in a good position we timed better and raced better,” said the three-time and reigning Lucas Oil LMRA champion. “Man there at the end of that race I was really good, so we can go a little longer tomorrow night and see what happens. It would be awesome to win here tomorrow night. To be honest with you it’s probably the best feeling race car we have had in a long time. So, it’s exciting and we are pumped up, that’s what we come here for.” Moran, who comes into the weekend sixth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings rallied from his outside sixth row starting spot to take third. “You’ve got to drive hard every lap you know. It’s obviously not like Volusia, but these big half-miles, you’ve got to hit the grip. I love racing on these kinds of tracks. This place is awesome, it was a lot of fun tonight. We’ve got to conserve ourselves tomorrow night you can’t drive that hard for 75 laps around here, we need to stay in the top five,” said the Ohio native who is making just his second start at Knoxville. He finished fourth in 2019 in his only other appearance at the Marion County Fairgrounds track. The winner’s Todd and Vickie Burns-owned, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Dyno One, Inc., West Side Tractor Sales Company, D&E Outside Services, Certified Inspection Service Company, Inc., Sunoco Race Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, Midwest Sheet Metal, Excel Floor Covering, and Murty Farms. Completing the top ten were Daulton Wilson, Spencer Hughes, Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, and Ryan Gustin. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Knoxville Late Model Nationals | Prelim Night 2Friday, September 15, 2023Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Brian Shirley | 17.294 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton | 17.344 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 5 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 30-Todd Cooney[2]; 6. 8S-Brian Shirley[6]; 7. 7W-Ricky Weiss[8]; 8. 39-Tim McCreadie[7]; 9. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 10. 10W-Junior Coover[10] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 5 Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[5]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 4. 98-Cory Hedgecock[7]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 7. 32-Chris Simpson[4]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[9]; 9. 17-Tim Simpson[1]; 10. 22M-Charlie McKenna[10] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 5 Transfer): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 111B-Max Blair[2]; 3. 11-Spencer Hughes[5]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 4-Brandon Overton[6]; 6. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 7. 62-Justin Zeitner[7]; 8. 51-Matt Furman[8]; 9. 21M-Luke Merfeld[9]; 10. (DNS) 6-Al Humphrey AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (12 Laps, Top 5 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans[1]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[7]; 8. D45-Dan Battaglia[9]; 9. 99B-Boom Briggs[8] Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 8S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 3. 7W-Ricky Weiss[3]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 5. 32-Chris Simpson[4]; 6. 1X-Aaron Marrant[7]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 8. 10W-Junior Coover[9]; 9. (DNS) 17-Tim Simpson; 10. (DNS) 22M-Charlie McKenna UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 62-Justin Zeitner[3]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 51-Matt Furman[5]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 6. D45-Dan Battaglia[6]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[8]; 8. 21M-Luke Merfeld[7]; 9. (DNS) 6-Al Humphrey Knoxville Late Model Nationals | Prelim Night 2 Feature Finish (25 Laps):

Race Statistics  Entrants: 39Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 1-25) Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.rizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 3.815 seconds Gorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: n/aSeries Provisionals: n/aFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Chad Simpson, Devin MoranPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Chad Simpson, Devin Moran, Brandon Overton, Kyle BronsonTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Advanced 10 Positions) Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Spencer HughesDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Chase JunghansEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (25 Laps) Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr. O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Max Blair Etchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 2 – 18.358 seconds) MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Tim SimpsonOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony Burroughs (Ricky Thornton, Jr.) ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jonathan Davenport (17.083 seconds)Time of Race: 11 minutes 27 seconds Fast Shafts B-Main Line-Up (15 Laps, Top-6 Transfer):

Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals A-Main Line-Up (75 Laps):

Knoxville Late Model Nationals Prelim Points Breakdown

**Ties Broke by Combined Points Total**

NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NEGU CAMARO ZL1, met with the media ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Media Availability Quotes:  YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME HONORING PEDIATRIC CANCER AWARENESS. WHY IS THAT CAUSE SPECIAL TO YOU?“The paint scheme is the same, it’s just the number to gold foil number. The gold ribbon signifies Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month which is September. We were at a Pediatric Cancer center giving out some joy jars, so it was fun doing that, interacting with the kids and giving out some stickers. Passing out some smiles. That was good stuff. It actually helps me, too, keeping in perspective how much of a blessing it is to do to what I do each weekend. We’ve got families with kids that are fighting for their lives. It’s a nice perspective adjustment before rolling into the racetrack for a race weekend.” LAST WEEK, YOU HAD YOUR 18TH LEAD LAP FINISH OF THE SEASON WHICH IS A NEW CAREER HIGH FOR YOU. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU’VE BEEN RIGHT AT THE FINISH OF EVERY RACE THIS SEASON. THE WAY SPIRE IS GROWING, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE STATUS OF THAT AS YOU APPROACH THE END OF THE SEASON?“It’s certainly something I’m proud of, being the only car so far, knock on wood, sitting here at Bristol where anything can happen in a split second. That was our biggest objective in the offseason leading into this season, where we ran only eighty-three percent of laps last year. That’s part driver mistake, a lot mechanical issues with the new car trying to figure out the weak links there. The growth of the small team, there’s a lot of growing pains there we’ve ironed out. We’ve got the right people in the right positions to negate all of those mechanical failures we had. If we continue that, keep executing, not putting ourselves in bad spots, I feel like I’ve been as focused as I’ve ever been in my career and getting more experience. We’ve had some decent pace over the last six or seven weeks, and we just need to do a better job of executing when we do have pace. I think that starts this weekend. If, for us, to be the only car so far 28 weeks in, we’re certainly proud of that as a team.” “It’s certainly not all that we’re looking for. We’re looking for some better runs, better qualifying efforts. I feel like a normal day for us right now should be top-20. If we execute, we have the pace to generally to finish between 16th and 18th, and that’s a big step from where we were the last couple of years. If we continue that trend in that direction, there’s a lot of growth to be had within Spire Motorsports and I’m excited to be a part of it.” THE NO. 77 HAS ALSO HAD SIGNIFICANT PACE THIS SEASON. HOW HAS THAT HELPED THE NO. 7 OUT?“It’s something I realize more so than ever, when I was getting a cup of coffee over at Hendrick (Motorsports) driving the No. 9, all four of those teams, the engineers, drivers and crew chiefs are consistently setting a higher watermark. When you’re in an environment like that where every team is pushing the entire team forward, that’s where the biggest growth and biggest development happens. I feel like, for us, the business model that Spire has had to have with part-time guys on the No. 77, it kind of slowed our rate of how much we collected data. It’s been nice to have a veteran guy like Ty (Dillon) and refine our baseline setup. I think that having more points of data over the course of the week and the course of a 20-minute practice session, you have to collect data fast and be efficient with applying it in your race car. That’s nice to be able to see improvements over the last two months.” YOU LOOK THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENSE BEING THE SON OF A CHAMPION. TALK ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO KNOW YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH A PINNACLE OF WHAT YOUR DAD REACHED. OR MAYBE NOT, MAYBE YOU JUST WANT TO BE COREY. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT?“It’s not like we’ve all sat around a campfire and sang Kumbaya and talked about it. But you look at certain guys, there are so many father and son relationships in this sport that have been prominent. The biggest one was Chase (Elliott) and the driver, son complex. I can relate somewhat, and even though Dad (Randy LaJoie) was voted in the top 75 greatest NASCAR drivers. Bill (Elliott) was known as ‘Million Dollar Bill.’ In my case, specifically in my opinion, no matter what I do in this sport, it’ll never be up to as good as my dad. My dad is my idol, my hero growing up. There’s a little bit of no matter what you achieve in this sport, you’re not going to be as good as your dad.” “I feel like that’s some of the things where Chase (Elliott) is the way he is, Ryan (Blaney) is the way he is. Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) has been pretty vocal about that as well of his dad (Dale Earnhardt). I think as much as you’re under a microscope growing up as the son of a famous racecar driver, you still put that as much pressure and expectations on yourself to try to live up to what people expect you do being the son of somebody who has an established career. I’d be interested in hearing what those guys have to say on it, if it affects their psyche or not, but I think whether or not they acknowledge it, it shapes who you are and what kind of career you have.” THIS WEEKEND, EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM IS PAYING ATTENTION TO THE PLAYOFF AND THE CUTOFF POINTS AND SO FORTH. YOU’RE KIND OF IN A BATTLE FOR 25TH. THAT’S NOT AS SEXY AS OTHERS, AND YOU’D LIKE TO BE HIGHER. HOW DO YOU VIEW WHAT THAT MEANS?“I don’t feel like our place is under any pressure. The guys we are in striking distance of shouldn’t be back there with us anyway. A lot of those guys get eaten up a spot, it’s more fire under their seat. I’ve challenged our team, even though we’re not in the top-16 and resetting those points for a championship, I challenge my guys to reset the points of those four or five guys in front of us and the couple behind us, and have our own little Playoff points structure and see if we can chip away at them with the time with 10 races left. I don’t know for certain, but there is a big monetary difference at the end of the year with points payoff between 25th and 26th. Our car, too, is in different spots as the No. 7 finished last at (World Wide Technology Raceway) when it broke a rotor, so it’s 20 points behind where I am in drivers’ points. So I naturally look at drivers’ points because that’s where I compare and see my name on it, but the one that pays is the one that I need to go get a little more effort and get 20 more spots throughout the year. There are certainly three cars in the crosshairs that I feel like, when we execute, we can beat each and every week and we’re going to have to, we can’t have any off weeks if we want to go get those guys.” BRISTOL DIRT IS NOT COMING BACK. WHAT DO YOU THINK?“Halleluiah.” “I was at the Trackside Live stage earlier, and Alex Weaver mentioned that. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, but it was the first official announcement and there was a majority of fans were excited. I said ‘Guys, you guys have to come to the race or else they’ll put ice or gravel or some sort of funky substance to make it a flash in the pan. So the people who are clapping, you better be here in the spring with your butt in a seat so the race doesn’t move somewhere else or they don’t figure out some other substance to put (on the track).’”