Category Archives: Uncategorized

Cadillac claims pole start for 2-hour, 40-minite Mid-Ohio race

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

Sebastien Bourdais earns third pole of season in No. 01 V-Performance Academy DPi-V.R

LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 14, 2022) – Cadillac claimed its third pole start in five IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races as Sebastien Bourdais recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 10.439 seconds in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Cadillac Racing from the cockpit
No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.RRenger van der Zande, Sebastien BourdaisBourdais drove in the qualifying session (start first, 1:10.439): “We had to push really hard really early on the green flag because it was drizzling and I wasn’t sure the lap was going to be good enough, but I nailed a good one. The boys did a really good job of giving us some fast cars we got that Cadillac up there. We’re definitely hoping for a clean start and keeping the Cadillac up front throughout the race.”
No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.REarl Bamber, Alex LynnLynn drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:10.995): “I think overall it was a positive day for us getting P4. Congrats to the sister car for pole position. I think we made big improvements on our side of the garage. We are in a nice position for tomorrow and both myself and Earl are looking forward to a fun race.”
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.RPipo Derani, Tristan NunezNunez drove in the qualifying session (start fifth, 1:11.053): “I’m not happy with the result; you always want to be further up the grid for the race, especially at a track like this where track position is so key. But the car is quick and I think we had the car for a top three, but unfortunately with the traffic in trying to get a lap I think I might have lost my quick lap with tire life. For me, personally, I’m just feeling more and more comfortable with this car. It’s confidence-inspiring for me to go into this race. I’m feeling really good about tomorrow. We made it happen last race by ending up on the podium from the back and I have no doubt that we can do even better than that tomorrow.”
No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.RTristan Vautier, Richard WestbrookVautier drove in the qualifying session (start sixth, 1:11.083): “It’s tight. What’s hard is the balance of the car is not out of the window and we’re very close. It’s just frustrating to be P6. I cannot look back and say here’s where I lost it. I feel like I got the most out of it, so that makes it tough. Execution is going to play a lot in the race. We’ll focus on that and try to find a bit more speed.”

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chevy racing–nascar–kansas–tyler reddick

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

ADVENTHEALTH 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

MAY 14, 2022

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 BetMGM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

TYLER, YOU GUYS COMING OFF OF A REALLY, REALLY GREAT SHOWING AT DARLINGTON. FIRST TIME THERE FOR THE NEXT-GEN CAR, SURE YOU GUYS LEARNED A LOT. WHAT CAN YOU TAKE FROM THAT RACE LAST WEEK GOING HERE TO KANSAS?

“Certainly, just seeing where our pace is on some of the higher speed tracks. Darlington may be just a little bit shorter than a mile and a half, but you know you’re still carrying a good amount of speed around that place. Got the be comfortable with your car running up by the wall. That carries over into a place like Kansas. For me, it was good to have the speed there for Darlington. We did the tire test there and we did the tire test here at Kansas. Both times was pretty happy with what we had for pace out of our vehicles. We will see what happens later today. It’s a little bit warmer than when we did the tire test here, but I definitely feel good about where we left the tire test. Should be a challenging day trying to get everything that you can out of the qualifying lap with all of the different lines that I think are going to come into play.”

TYLER YOU WERE TELLING US EARLIER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE PEDAL CAR?

“Well, I didn’t do much. My son, Beau, loves the thing. He is always trying to get in it and reach the pedals. He isn’t quite big enough to touch the pedals in it yet, but he always likes sitting it and playing around with it. It’s sitting in his room, so if I get another one hopefully me and him can maybe race each other in them. That’s the motivation today.”

A LOT OF PEOPLE COMPARE THIS TRACK TO VEGAS, BUT YOU COMPARE IT TO HOMESTEAD. IS THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN RUN THE WALL HERE AND FIND THAT SIMILARITY?

“Well, I’ve compared it to Homestead at some point?”

INAUDIBLE

“Well, the three tracks are kind of similar. Oh yes, I did say that. When he mentioned Vegas it kind of got me thinking, because yes you do need to be comfortable running high like at Homestead for this track. In a lot of ways with how much grip that this place has throughout the run and the lack of fall off, you need to be comfortable running the wall like you do at Homestead. I feel like you don’t have to be quite as close to the wall to still get some of the aero effects and be running a good lap and a good time. It is a lot like Vegas in some ways too. The temperatures are going to kind of warmer than we had at Vegas today. Who knows what happens Sunday, weather wise and everything like that? As it cools off, maybe more lanes open up and the bottom catches up and the middle catches up. Today will be really interesting to see who goes where in practice early and where the track state is at going into qualifying. I truly expect a few different strategies of running low, middle or high in qualifying and seeing how that plays out will be interesting today.”

SINCE YOU DID THE TIRE TEST, HOW WILL THIS TRACK RACE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SEEN IN THE PAST?

“I don’t think it will be very different. I think it will be more of, I mean I think it will be somewhat comparable to like 2018 Cup racing a little bit and closer to the Xfinity racing. What we saw at Vegas for a race will be very similar in a lot of aspects of how the cars race around each other that we will see a little bit in practice today. It will be a lot like Vegas, but everyone is more comfortable with the cars now a little bit. We’ve learned a little bit more information about the cars, so I think there will be a little bit more aggressive side by side racing. I think a lot of the same trends will be there.”

THIS TRACK IS KNOWN FOR BEING WINDY. HOW DIFFERENT DOES THIS CAR REACT TO THE ELEMENTS LIKE THAT, THE WIND, COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS CAR?

“You know, I don’t think I know yet. Certainly, the craziest wind related race that I’ve been a part of was this race here in the fall last year. It was, I don’t even know how to explain it. It was the craziest think I’ve ever done. You get to the middle of Turn 2 and you just get sideways and you think you’re going to crash. You get to the middle of 3 and 4 and it would take off plowing into the corners. It was really wild how much the wind affected that car last year. A little bit smaller spoiler, I think, will help that to some degree. I think the wind gusts could play a role. I don’t know. I didn’t think it was that windy when I was out there a minute ago, but this place the wind can pick up and get gusty, really get blowing. There’s not many places that we go to that the wind moves like it does here. Maybe Vegas a little bit, but the wind will certainly play a role in the balance of the car if it really gets going I feel like above 20 miles per hour or so.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE END OF THE MONTH AT CHARLOTTE. COMPARED TO ALL THE OTHER TRACKS ON THE SCHEDULE, GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT TRACK AND THAT RACE TO NASCAR, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT THAT THAT RACE PUTS ON A GOOD SHOW WITH THIS CAR GIVEN THE RECENT HISTORY OF LACKLUSTER, NOT VERY COMPETITIVE RACES IN THE COKE 600?

“Well, the few that I’ve participated in you know the weather didn’t really help us much with cooler temperatures with that 550 package that we had with that last car. Just a lot of on throttle time and not really having to search around the racetrack for grip. I believe that the resin and compound has all been scrubbed away from the track. It was when we did our test in the fall and it really helped the track just widen out and we were running all over it pretty quickly in our test. I think the potential is certainly there, but you just never know. I’ve seen a lot of stand out performances by drivers just being on it more than their competition on nights and really putting out statement performances. I think with the length of the race, how challenging the car is to drive, a lot of character and bumps at Charlotte, I think you’re really going to have to really work at it all night long inside the car. It’ll be a challenging race. I think, based off of how the test went, it has the possibility to be a really good event.”

TYLER, A LOT OF GOOD RUNS THIS YEAR. ALSO, A LOT OF HEARTACHE ALONG THE WAY, BUT HOW CONFIDENT DO YOU FEEL THIS WEEKEND KNOWING THAT YOU’RE RUNNING SO GOOD THIS YEAR?

“Very confident. I also have confidence from doing well at this tire test and being very happy with where our car was. Finding out a few more things that we’ve been able to learn and pick up on that we think’s going to be better, so practice for us just like everybody is really important. Really excited to see what our on-track performance is like and how our car drives. Confidence and expectations are high, these types of tracks have been fun for me. They have been good for us as a team too. We are in a good place, we just going to see where we shake out here in that 15–20-minute practice session and go from there.”

WITH A LOT OF OTHER SPORTS IN PLAYOFFS RIGHT NOW AND SEEING SOME GAME SEVEN

SITUATIONS COMING UP, WHAT’S THE MOST PRESSURE THAT YOU’VE FELT RACING IN A CAR? I DON’T KNOW IF IT’S YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP RACES, OR IF IT IS SOMETHING EARLIER IN YOUR CAREER WHERE YOU KIND OF WONDERED HOW MUCH FURTHER YOU WERE GOING TO GET IN RACING.

“In regards to game seven type moments, getting to the final race and battling for a championship or those final restarts of a race kind of like what we had at the end of Darlington, I feel like those moments are almost the most calm and I guess easy to approach mentally and go do for me. It’s more of those maybe game five, game one, game two moments where I feel that real pressure of we really got to get up and go at it. By the time we get to the end of the race, the end of the season, like in the Xfinity championship runs by the time we got to Homestead it was just about getting there. We had the confidence, both teams, if we just got there we would be fine. That’s just a product of having a lot of great people around and all believing in one another. Everyone having the same goal, dream. Those moments for me, having been very stressful, they’ve almost been moments that I look very forward to and I have a lot of fun doing.”

DOES THAT SURPRISE YOU?

“That it is those earlier ones? Yeah, I don’t know. Even this year, you know in that first round of the playoffs, well last year, the first race was the most stressful. The second one didn’t go very well either, but it was more annoying than anything. By the time we got to Bristol all of the pressure really seemed to be off. We had one task and that was to try to go out there and win and run up front. It made it pretty easy, when you have so much in front of you still and those playoffs start in each round. That first race is just stressful because there’s so many unknowns. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Something could derail your comfortable point cushion you have, so I feel like those moments when there’s a lot of uncertainty after multiples races after those for me are where more of the stress comes from. By the time we get to that final objective it’s pretty straightforward.”

OBVIOUSLY, YOU ARE KNOWN FOR RUNNING THE TOP LINE AT A LOT OF TRACKS. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RUN HERE AND WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN THE TEST AND HOW DIFFERENT WAS IT WITH THIS CAR?

“I think as we’ve gone down this path of learning about what this car can take, I actually feel like more now than before it’s even more important to not hit the wall. I mean, the steel body if you hit it with the 550 package it was a pretty big detriment. You would lose some downforce, some side force, but you could run the rest of the race. It wouldn’t end your day if you were able to get to pit road soon enough or didn’t hit it that hard. With this car, you don’t have to worry about the body in a lot of aspects of what happens on the racetrack. It’s the suspension underneath it and just if we put a lot of load on these toe links to begin with going through the corner so it doesn’t take a lot to cause them to bend or begin to fail. Some things have to bend right? If the toe link doesn’t bend and something else bends, then it’s better the toe link than something else. If you do bend it, you have that option to come to pit road and maybe lose a lap. If you’re lucky you’ll only lose a lap fixing it, replacing it. I think the risk versus reward is even higher now with the way this car is. I think that’s a good thing. I like that, because more times than not I can run up there and not hit the wall. So, it may seem like I am up there a lot, but I am not making a lot of the huge mistakes and knocking it down that often. It’s a comfortable place for me to be.”

NOT COUNTING ATLANTA, I THINK THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND NORMAL MILE AND A HALF TRACK WE’VE HIT THIS YEAR. YOU HAVE KANSAS THIS WEEK, TEXAS FOR THE ALL-STAR RACE NEXT WEEK AND THEN THE COKE 600. GIVEN THAT WE HAVE FOUR MILE AND A HALF RACES IN THE PLAYOFFS, HOW MUCH EXTRA IMPORTANCE DO YOU GUYS PLACE ON THESE NEXT THREE WEEKS?

“These next three weeks for a lot of reasons are extremely important. They kind of let you know what gains you have made from the west coast swing. Fontana in a lot of ways is a two-mile track, but it races a lot like a mile and a half with the speeds you carry through the corners. Seeing where we’re at and where everyone else has made gains or losses from that west coast swing to now and in this stretch is really important. We have a lot of races in the playoffs with these types of racetracks. It’s important to be good here. There was a time, certainly, where we would put importance on one track over the other and for us as we’ve needed to get better it’s been more about being consistent week in and week out. Not really picking favorites and not having tracks that we don’t look forward to going to, but certainly it’s easy to get motived and easy to get excited coming to a place like this. We do, generally, have a lot of fun racing on them.”

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RCR Event Preview – Kansas Speedway

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

Richard Childress Racing at Kansas Speedway … In 92 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has one win with Kevin Harvick in 2013. The victory was Harvick’s first at Kansas and it came in dominating fashion with Harvick winning the pole and leading the most laps in the race. In 2021, Austin Dillon claimed a pair of 10th-place finishes at Kansas while Tyler Reddick scored a seventh-place finish in the spring event at the 1.5-mile speedway. Richard Childress Racing has five top fives and 26 top-10 finishes entering this weekend’s race at Kansas. Introducing the Next Gen … NASCAR’s Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which officially debuted in 2022, is a collaboration of the brightest engineering minds in racing. With technology at the forefront, Richard Childress Racing has played a unique and critical role in helping to bring this new on-track identity to life, working closely with OEMs, other teams and NASCAR to build and test the initial prototype. Follow Sunday’s Action at Kansas … The AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, May 15 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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BRINGING OUT HIS BEST: SCELZI CLAIMS PETER MURPHY CLASSIC OPENER

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

(5/13/2022 – Alex Nieten) Tulare, CA… The Peter Murphy Classic continues to bring out absolute best out in Dominic Scelzi.

It’s the race named after his friend who encouraged him to keep trying through the days he wanted to quit racing. It’s the race that same friend has worked so hard to grow into one of California’s premier events. And it’s the race where Scelzi continues to make his way into victory lane to honor his friend.

The Fresno native slid past Shane Golobic with seven laps to go and held off a hard charging Colby Copeland to win the NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car Feature at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway on the opening night of the Peter Murphy Classic and take home a $3500 check. The triumph marked some impressive milestones.

It was Scelzi’s fifth straight sprint car victory in the Peter Murphy Classic after sweeping all four in 2021, his 16th career NARC Fujitsu Feature victory and first of 2022, and he joined Brent Kaeding, Jason Meyers, and Kyle Hirst as the only drivers to win three consecutive NARC races at the Thunderbowl.

“Last year we had an amazing year,” Scelzi said. “Now everyone’s gotten better. Everyone’s worked their butt off. Nobody wants to come in here and run second or third, us included. We’ve been doing a lot of second and thirds this year. I felt like that was a hell of a race. Last year it was pretty great to get the eleven grand here, and it’s great to start off one-for-one so far.”

The field was led to green by Sunnyvalley Bacon Dash winner, Bud Kaeding, with Golobic on his outside.

The opening lap of the race was halted by a pair of yellows as Michael Faccinto spun in turn four, and then on the next attempt a pileup on the backstretch including Justin Sanders, D.J. Netto, Robbie Price, and Nick Parker brought out the caution. All drivers were okay.

On the next complete restart Golobic rolled his NOS Energy Drink/Elk Grove Ford No. 17W under Kaeding to lead lap one. Behind Golobic, Kaeding, and the fourth-starting Scelzi battled for the runner-up spot until the race’s first red flag flew for a flipping Burt Foland Jr. Foland was unharmed. The length of the early cautions necessitated an open red for teams to refuel.

A quick yellow for Corey Day again slowed the pace on the restart attempt.

Once the race resumed again Kerry Madsen and a charging Mitchell Faccinto passed Kaeding to take the third and fourth spots, but then Madsen slowed with an issue on lap eight to bring out another caution.

The race finally got into an undisturbed rhythm with less than 20 laps to go. Golobic distanced himself as Scelzi had to fend off challenges from Faccinto and Kaeding. Behind them 13th-starting Colby Copeland clawed his way into fourth in the Antaya Motorsports/Fire Management Protection No. 16A.

“The racetrack turned out great,” Scelzi said of his mid-race battles. “I was really bummed early with how wet it was and the ruts, but it actually turned out really good. There was a top and a bottom.”

Scelzi managed to get away from Faccinto and began to track down Golobic as traffic thickened inside 10 laps to go. In one set of corners a move on a slower car cost Golobic momentum, and Scelzi pounced.

Scelzi looked to Golobic’s inside down the front stretch as they crossed the line with seven circuits to go. Golobic protected, and the two nearly touched. Golobic drifted high in turn two, but Scelzi kept his Whipple Superchargers/Red Rose Transportations No. 41 glued to the bottom and caught the moisture out of turn two, launching him down the backstretch. Then in turn three Scelzi threw a slider, making slight contact with Golobic’s left front as they exited turn four.

“I don’t think we were better than Shane. I think we were equal,” Scelzi noted. “He just got to a lapped car at the wrong time.”

Scelzi drove away after making the move. A late yellow and red bunched the field back together, but Scelzi went unchallenged as he cruised to a 1.285 second victory over Copeland who passed Faccinto and Golobic on a late restart.

“We got him (Golobic) in lapped traffic,” Scelzi said of what ultimately made the difference. “He didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes it’s just better to be running second.”

Copeland’s runner-up result marked his second straight top-two finish with NARC after winning the season opener last month.

“That yellow there definitely saved me,” Copeland said. “It let me gather my marbles a little bit and it worked out good for us. Dominic was just in his own league tonight.”

Golobic’s third-place run was his seventh consecutive top-five finish at Tulare with NARC. While it was a strong effort, he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed after leading laps and the contact with Scelzi.

“Yeah I think there was a little contact on the left-front,” Golobic commented. “He kind of put me in a spot where I had to make a decision to try and circle around him and hope for the best. And it wasn’t going to happen so I lifted. Had I made a decision sooner to maybe diamond it might’ve been better.”

Completing the top-10 was Mitchell Faccinto (from 15th), Craig Stidham (from 19th), D.J. Netto, Bud Kaeding, Chase Johnson, Michael Faccinto, and Mitchel Moles

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (30 laps): 1. Dominic Scelzi 41 2. Colby Copeland 16A 3. Shane Golobic 17W 4. Mitchell Faccinto 21 5. Craig Stidham 36 6. D.J. Netto 88N 7. Bud Kaeding 69 8. Chase Johnson 24 9. Michael Faccinto 56 10. Mitchel Moles 11. Garen Linder 22 12. Willie Croft 29 13. Landon Brooks 5V 14. Robbie Price 21P 15. Billy Aton 26 16. Max Mittry 2X 17. Nick Parker 115 18. Logan Forler 2L 19. Geoffrey Strole 09S 20. Tim Kaeding 42X 21. Kaleb Montgomery 3 22. Steven Kent 37 23. Kerry Madsen 83JR 24. Corey Day 14 25. Burt Foland Jr. 4 26. Justin Sanders 57

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS: Golobic 1-23, Scelzi 24-30

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER: Craig Stidham 19th to 5th

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (28 Cars): Justin Sanders 12.612

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 laps): Scelzi, Croft, Sanders, Madsen, Mittry, Aton, Kent

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 laps): Netto, Price, Faccinto, Copeland, Kaeding, Foland Jr., Myers Jr.

DIRT.TRAVEL CLUB HEAT THREE (8 laps): Moles, Montgomery, Golobic, Faccinto, Stidham, Forler, Strole

KAEDING PERFORMANCE HEAT FOUR (8 laps): Johnson, Day, Brooks, Kaeding, Parker, Linder

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (6 laps): Kaeding, Golobic, Moles, Scelzi, Sanders, Faccinto

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BRITTANY FORCE AND FLAV-R-PAC HAVE RECORD SETTING RUN FRIDAY AT VIRGINIA NHRA NATIONALS

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

DINWIDDIE, Va. (May 13, 2022) – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team now own track records at 15 of the 19 facilities on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule. Force set both ends of the Virginia Motorsports Park track record on their way to the provisional No. 1 spot Friday at the Virginia NHRA Nationals. Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team sit No. 7, John Force with his PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS are No. 4 and Robert Hight has the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro No. 12. After battling Mother Nature for much of the day, Brittany Force rocketed the Flav-R-Pac dragster to a 3.710-second pass at 335.82 mph. Force is now the elapsed time record holder at 11 tracks and the speed record holder at eight and owns nine of the top 10 quickest runs in Top Fuel history. “This Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team, we were just excited to get a run in. The weather cleared up and David Grubnic had a goal set and we hit that mark,” Force said. “We’re happy about that. It was a good, solid run and we’re hoping for two more, or at least one more run tomorrow. It was great to make that run here at Virginia Motorsports Park. It’s been since 2019 that we were here last, so to be able to come out here for the fans who waited out the rain and make that run and put a show on for them, that was great. We just want to keep improving and see what we can do on race day.” John Force pedaled the BlueDEF Chevy to a 4.094-second pass at 323.58 mph to land in the No. 4 spot. The PEAK / BlueDEF Chevy lost traction mid-track but the 16-time champion got the tires hooked back up to set-up for a decent run. “Well that worked out. Especially with how conditions look for tomorrow, we needed to make sure we got a run in and had a decent position. So, this PEAK Chevy is in, and we’ll just have to see how tomorrow goes,” Force said. “We’re coming off the win and that gives you some confidence but it’s a new weekend and we have to put in the work to be consistent.” Austin Prock handled the Montana Brand / RMT dragster to a clean 3.780-second pass at 328.38 mph to land in the No. 7 spot. “It was a good start to the weekend. Just trying to make a nice clean A to B pass to get set up for Sunday. We had all the clutch settings reeled way in to try to get a good baseline for when it’s hot on Sunday, when it counts. We did exactly that. Sitting around wasn’t too bad today. I’m just happy to be back at the racetrack. Two weeks off, a weekend off, is a long time away from doing what you love to do.” Sitting second in the points standings, Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevy had to shut-off early to coast to an 8.517-second pass at 84.37 mph to end up No. 12. “Obviously not what we wanted to do. Hopefully things clear up for tomorrow and we get another chance at it, but if we don’t, we’re in and I’m confident we will be fin on race day,” Hight said. “I’m not worried, I know we can go out there and get the job done. Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham and this whole team, we’ll pull together, and we’ll see how it goes.” Qualifying at the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park continues Saturday at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Eliminations are slated for Sunday at noon. The Virginia NHRA Nationals will be televised on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) beginning with a qualifying show Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET and a second qualifying show Sunday at 9:00 a.m. ET. Finals coverage will air Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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chevy racing–indycar–gmr grand prix of indianapolis–qualifying recap

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GMR GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS

ROAD COURSE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

MAY 1, 2022

WILL POWER PUTS CHEVY ON POLE FOR GMR GP AT INDY ROAD COURSE

NTT P1 AWARD IS 64^TH OF POWER’S CAREER

INDIANAPOLIS – Team Chevy completed the first step of the month of May with five drivers earning spots in the Firestone Fast Six and Team Penske driver Will Power capturing his 64^th NTT P1 Award. The driver of the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet will lead the field to green for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix on the Indy Road Course.

Today’s pole is the first for Power this season and his sixth on the Road Course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On Saturday, Power will go for his sixth victory on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course layout as Chevrolet looks to collect its 100^th win with the 2.2 little twin turbocharged direct injected V6 purpose-built engine used exclusively in the NTT INDYCAR Series.

The remaining four Team Chevy drivers in the Firestone Fast Six will start as follows:

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet 3^rd

Conor Daly, No. 20 BitNile Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 4^th

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 5^th

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 VUSE Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 6^th

Alex Palou will start second alongside Power.

Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 14 from the Indianapolis Road Course. The race will air live on NBC, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160). Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.

TEAM CHEVY QUOTES

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – POLE WINNER:“That is the fun of this series. It’s so tight. When you get a pole these days, you know you’ve done a really good job. The team has done a great job. I’m super stoked. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a pole on a road course. Yeah man, I worked hard for that one!”

YOU’RE THREE SHORT OF MARIO ANDRETTI’S RECORD OF CAREER POLES: “I feel so privileged to get so close to him. I never thought I’d get there. Yes, three away… he’s an absolute legend of the sport. It would be such an honor to match or surpass him. To be up there with names like Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt is something I wouldn’t have imagined when I started my career.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED THIRD: “It was a good day here at the GP of Indy and qualifying day at IMS. We qualified P3 and our teammate Will Power is on the pole, which is fantastic. I feel a little bad because I felt like our car was capable of winning the pole. We missed it by literally half-a-tenth so I’ll put that on me. I didn’t get everything out of the car. It was really capable and everyone did a great job. The strategy was right. Now we can focus on tomorrow. We’ve got two cars in the top-three. We’ll see if we can race from there with PPG and Team Chevy.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – QUALIFIED FOURTH: “In the previous run, we had just given up a little bit out of Turn 13 and we finally nailed it. We were up on our best lap. The tires are going off pretty quick here so you have to nail it on that first lap. We tried to get a little too much from it. You’re fighting for a tenth-of-a-second around here. Being two-tenths off Will Power for a pole position at Indianapolis, he’s one of the best to do it here. It feels great. This team has done a lot of work and I don’t think they’ve gotten the credit they deserve so far this year. We’ve not had a great start to the season but there’s a lot that hasn’t been their fault or our fault at all as a group. This is where we want to be moving forward and it’s a great way to start May, for sure.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 McLAREN VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP – QUALIFIED FIFTH: “We had a very good day today. We didn’t quite get it done in the Firestone Fast Six. We were as quick as anybody on fresh reds but we missed it a little bit on used reds. I think we could have been a bit faster but in the end, we didn’t have enough for pole. I’m happy that we are starting toward the front, that’s important in IndyCar. I’m also happy to have Felix up there with me. We are going to look to have a good race tomorrow.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 McLAREN VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP – QUALIFIED SIXTH: “It’s a good qualifying streak for the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. It’s always frustrating when your last lap isn’t good, I screwed it up in the last corner. It felt like we were really good on the new tires but we took a lot of life out of them. I think we had a little bit more today but it was another solid qualifying, which is what we need. It will be fun.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING – STARTING SEVENTH: “I knew it was going to be close, so it’s a bit of a shame but overall that was a much more rewarding run. I tried everything. We made a mega effort. I just drive at the end of the day, and that’s what I’m paid to do. Where we’ve come from, it’s more about putting it together and building the team together. It’s the small differences in getting it right. We’ve got a good road-course guys. These guys put together a mega effort to make it happen but there’s still a lot more to come. I think we’ve only just started the development. Hopefully we can do a bit more later on.”

FIRST TEST WITH THE TEAM AT INDY LAST YEAR AND RUNNING A SPORTS CAR RACE IN THE FALL: “You can get an idea about how to race around here in a GT car, although it’s massively different. That was a long race and this one will be more of a sprint. We’ve got a lot to learn. The race pace is something we need to improve quite a bit. The first stint at Barber was really good, so we’ll see here.”

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 SNAP-ON CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED 11TH: “The Snap-On Chevy felt awesome. I just made one mistake on that first lap on red tires. That’s key and that’s everything. We did two laps there and the second lap wasn’t fast enough. It’s so tight that you can’t afford to let go of that. It’s unfortunate for Snap-On and Team Chevy but I think we have a fast car. It might rain tomorrow so we’ll see. You’re always trying to get every inch but you get punished more if you miss it. That’s the beauty of IndyCar racing. It’s so competitive I’m upset but I also know we have a fast car. It’s just a matter of putting it together. Unfortunately this time we didn’t but we’ll keep pressing on and be proud of where we’re at.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BUILDING TOMORROW CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – QUALIFIEID 15TH: “I honestly don’t know. We were fastest on the blacks by a mile in qualifying here, right now. We went to reds and I was honestly pretty happy with the car and pretty happy with my lap. I’m very confused about being eighth right now. We’ll have to look into it. I don’t know what we did wrong. There are a few little tweaks that could have been better. I have no words for it. We should have at least passed through. There are some things we have to improve for tomorrow. I don’t know what went wrong here.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 6 ARROW McLAREN SP CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP – QUALIFIED 23RD: “It’s hard because we didn’t do any testing. I’ve been out of this car for a year. I’ve been racing different things but everything I’ve driving the last five years has had traction control. So you get the snaps but you know the traction control is going to catch you. Here you get the snap and nothing is going to catch it. I’m a little behind the car there, but we are making steps. The car drives a lot better than last year. Everyone with the Lucas Oil car has done a great job. I screwed up my lap on reds. I could have done a better job but it’s hard. I got one lap in practice and one lap in qualifying, and that’s all the red running before the race. We’ll have 85 laps tomorrow and we’re probably going to do 70 laps on reds.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 22ND: “Not our best qualifying. We were just outside the top-20 and starting alongside Scott Dixon. The car actually felt really good. I thought we had the time in it. We were a lot better on blacks than we were on reds, and I’m not sure why that is. We’re going to go to the drawing board to figure that out. There is some weather on the way for tomorrow and we’re hoping that will shake things up. We have a great group of guys here and we’ll work to get this car back toward the pointy end of the field.”

TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 25TH: “It was a busy day today. We had a little issue in Free Practice One so I missed a little bit of running, but we managed to make some good steps in Free Practice Two. In qualifying, I think we are closer to the pace. Hopefully we have some good weather tomorrow and we can fight for some positions. I’m starting just behind Juan Pablo Montoya, so that’s going to be quite a good race.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 26TH: “A bit of a tough qualifying session for the team overall. We’re not starting where we want to but we’ve made some improvements in the cars. This has historically been somewhere where we have struggled. There are some things we can learn tomorrow and figure out. We have a warmup tomorrow to work on the car and go from there. That’s the gameplan. Last year was a bit of a red (tire) race with three stops so we’ll be working on some mileage to see what we have for race pace.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS:

WILL POWER

CONOR DALY

THE MODERATOR: Joined by the pole setter for tomorrow’s GMR Grand Prix. 64 career poles and counting. Sixth on the IMS Road Course where he has won a total of four races from pole position here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. By the way, it’s the fifth different pole winner in 2022 for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver of the No. 12. Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Congratulations, Will. 64 and counting. How does this one feel?

WILL POWER: Pretty good. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a pole on a road course. Super stoked to get that one. As usual, it was crazy close with everyone.

If you look at practice, it was six-tenths. I think it was 23 cars, so couldn’t leave anything on the table. Any time you get a pole on this series these days, you’ve done a really good job. I think the team and everyone has put it together because any time you are leaving anything on the table, one-tenth moves you a lot of spots.

Q. Literally saving the best for last. Did you know on that final lap that maybe I’ve got what it takes to win pole here?

WILL POWER: No, I didn’t. I did my absolute best and put it all together and didn’t know where it would stack up. I just knew it was not that far off my quickest time on new tires. I thought it was a pretty good time to have done on used tires. So, yeah, it was a good lap.

Q. Will, a couple of times on the podcast I’ve asked you about a pole record, and you said that you honestly didn’t know whether you had three poles left in you to catch them. Do you really believe that, especially after a day like today where you were able to come back? I mean, that was vintage Will Power out there today.

WILL POWER: Yeah, it was. I mean, no, I don’t disbelieve it. It has become incredibly hard to get poles. It’s just a different guy each week who gets it all together, so it is hard.

It’s hard to get more than two a year. Two or three you would be doing a good job. Yep, we’ll keep chipping away. Don’t really think about it all that much. I just try to do the best I can, and I know it’s there. I know there’s that record there, but honestly, I feel pretty blessed to have got so close. I never expected to get that close, but, yeah. To be amongst Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt in pole records is something I never expected.

Q. Will, I think I’ve asked you this 100 times, but I’m going to ask it 101. What is it you summoned when it comes to running the fastest lap on a weekend? What comes over you? Can you explain to people why it’s so important to be the fastest guy on the track even though everybody else is trying to do the same thing? What do you think is special that comes over you?

WILL POWER: I’m going to say to put a really good lap together in this series there is just so much that goes into it before you even get in the car or just throughout practice and everything before you even get to qualifying, and then it’s up to you to really dig deep and put it together.

But, yeah, I mean, I originally early in my days I used to say anyone can learn to do this, but after 20 years of high-level driving or more, I don’t believe that anymore. I think you have to have some sort of fire in the belly, which you see so many drivers have that in this series now. You see it in Formula 1 and in every series. Just some guys have that whatever it is in them and some don’t.

The people that don’t may be exceptional in another area, but, yeah, it’s everything about looking at data and the video and putting all that in your mind, but then when it comes down to the nitty gritty, you’ve got to put it together, and it takes a lot of everything to do that.

Q. When did you know or notice that you had that in your career? When did you notice that you could be special in that regard especially?

WILL POWER: It’s never a point. You are digging and clawing whole career trying to stay in the right. I would say when I was in Champ Car or World Series by Renault, I was very good at putting laps together. It wasn’t really any particular time that I thought —

I’m not really any faster than I was when I was 17 years ago, honestly. I’m not. I’m the same pace. You have just added so much more to your tool box of putting things together and weekends together and knowledge of the car and setting it up. The ultimate speed in you, you see it in kids as early as go-carts. You just can pick them.

Q. I wanted to ask, on that final run we saw you a bit more than one-tenth up, and then there was a little kind of twitch, and it dropped to half one-tenth up. Did you think that it all disappeared at that point?

WILL POWER: Where was the twitch? In 7?

Q. Yeah.

WILL POWER: I actually backed 7 up more to be better through 8, 9, 10, which I hadn’t been in the previous rounds. I slowed the minimum of 7 down. I probably got more of an exit, which might have been a twitch, but it was a pretty neat lap. It was pretty neat.

I can’t really fault anything on that lap. If anything, I felt like I under-drove 4 where I had struggled as well. Yeah, not really — I can’t go back to that lap and fault it anywhere.

Q. Then I wanted to ask, obviously, we saw on second lap on the reds, like in fall-off by anything up to three-tenths or whatever.

WILL POWER: Yeah.

Q. If it stays dry tomorrow and it stays hot tomorrow, is tire life going to be a major factor, or is it going to be more down to fuel?

WILL POWER: Tire life. Definitely going to be a typical race here where if you can hold to the tires a bit better, you’re going to race well.

Q. Top four all four of your races this year. Now a pole. Do you feel like you’re driving as good now as you ever have?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I’m right there. Right there. It’s so competitive these days. You can’t leave anything to chance. You can’t just rock up.

Like I said, before you ever even get to the race track let alone qualifying for the race, there’s just so much that has gone into it with simulated time, video, data, and analysis. It’s endless.

Yeah, I’m there with a lot more experience. I’m still as quick as I was. I just have so much more available if my toolbox.

Q. 64. You’re now three shy of Mario. Do you savor these now as you get them since they’re harder to come by?

WILL POWER: I do, yes. Yes, I really, really enjoy them. I know that you don’t even know if you’ll get another one, so you’ve got to be — any win or anything I get in this series now I feel very bless and happy to have got it because it’s tough. Obviously, I’m not 20 anymore either. Yep, got to keep digging.

Q. You’ve got a few rough starts to the year the past couple of years, but this year you are consistently good. Is there anything that’s different that you can pinpoint this year?

WILL POWER: Not really. I mean, man, when I look back at the previous two years, it’s just so many weird things that happened. Whether it’s a spark plug gone bad or at the 500 we had a brake issue or the car doesn’t start at Detroit. These sort of things really hampered me the last couple of years and even before that in 2021 was the same. ’20 was the same.

I just felt like if we could just put a season together of kind of not being the best, just mistake-free. Don’t have to be the quickest on pit lane. Don’t necessarily have to be the quickest on track. I feel like we could be riding the championship home.

Q. Not necessarily anything you or the team is doing differently. Just kind of working out that way?

WILL POWER: No. I’m for sure more of a mature driver. There’s no question. That’s just slowly happened over 17 years of INDYCAR, so I make less mistakes and know when to go, when not to go more than I used to. There will be a little bit of that playing into it as well.

Q. For tomorrow would you welcome the rain if it comes?

WILL POWER: It will be what it will be. I don’t mind driving in the wet. I think that the tires have been a bit iffy lately. Sometimes you get a really good set. Sometimes you don’t.

A dry race for us would be good. To start at the front, that’s what you want. A very straight forward race. Unfortunately for fans, you want a boring race. No yellows or anything. Just straight forward.

Q. Will, last year Team Penske had their issues at the 500. They spent a lot of time trying to figure out what went wrong and things like that. Put a lot more focus on it to fix it. Is it difficult to remember, hey, we still have this race to go on? We can’t focus on the big oval just yet. We still have 90 laps to run on Saturday before we look at going down this main straightaway southbound.

WILL POWER: Yeah, exactly. You don’t even give the oval a thought right now. Saturday night, that’s when you start the whole switch-over, but yeah, it’s not even a thought. We know we’ve done our homework for the oval. If we’re not quick this time, I don’t know what it would take.

Q. Is there anything you can particularly pinpoint to your success here at the road course in Indy?

WILL POWER: No. It’s a track I really enjoy. There’s nothing particular. I’ve struggled here before as well. Obviously, I’ve had a lot of good days, but definitely clicks with me. It’s quite a technical track. Very European style, which I enjoy. Yeah, nothing more.

Q. Obviously, INDYCAR have introduced these new LED light panels for the flags and stuff. What’s your thought on that?

WILL POWER: My thought? Yeah, actually, I experienced them once already. Very bright and good, yeah. Definitely a good system to adopt and hopefully that brings some more control of the yellow situations where eventually maybe they can leave the pits open or do some blue flag stuff.

Q. As you continue to rewrite the record books, I just wonder what it means inside a team such as Team Penske and what it means to Roger and Tim to have a driver of your caliber helping contribute to the history of Team Penske?

WILL POWER: Honestly, I feel so lucky to have had a career and a team like that. You are given a car week in and week out that’s capable of pole positions and race wins, so you can’t — man, I have so much appreciation for that at this late stage in my career having been in the series for so long.

I think struggling at Indy last year gives you an understanding of what some people go through all the time, and just fortunate to have a team that can have a struggle like that and go away and come back and I feel like rectified immediately just because they’re so resourceful. Just have quality people. Yep, very fortunate. Very fortunate.

Q. It’s hotter today than usual in Indy. How much of a bearing has that had on setup and keeping the tires alive?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it definitely changed the setup from this morning when it was cooler. Definitely was a lot more difficult than the two sessions. The second practice and qualifying. It changed the car quite a bit, so you had to chase that.

Q. And how important will the out lap be tomorrow, of course, not to take too much of the tire life too early?

WILL POWER: It’s going to be a tight race if it’s as hot as this tomorrow and doesn’t rain. Yeah, that always plays a bit of a part around here. I think the tires always drop off, and I think tire selection plays a big part as well. Yeah, it’s kind of tough starting up front because tire selection. You are kind of in a tough position. Especially the pole sitter.

Q. You said several things that make you sound like you’re old. You keep talking about being experienced. Also, frankly, I expected more jovial Will Power in here today.

WILL POWER: I was on the radio.

Q. Was this pole a relief or fun?

WILL POWER: It was fun. No, I was very emotional on the radio or very ecstatic. Yeah, you have to remember you have a race tomorrow. You don’t want to use up any of that. You don’t want to use too much of your mojo up just celebrating a pole position, but any time I get one these days, I’m so happy. So, so happy.

Q. Is that part of it that you have had all these poles, and you want to focus on races?

WILL POWER: I actually have focused more on races, especially this year, going into this year. Maybe the last two years. Just really perfecting how to approach a race and tire deck and all the little things that add up.

Q. It sounds like it’s more of a mental thing of not getting too excited on Saturday or Friday.

WILL POWER: I was always a bit that way. You just know how the races go. I am extremely happy. I am. It’s so difficult to get a pole these days in this series, so I am over the moon.

Even if the race doesn’t go well, I’ll come away from this weekend knowing that I added to that pole list and ticked another box for the season, you could say.

THE MODERATOR: Driver of the Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Conor Daly, joins us after his best qualifying effort of the season starting fourth. I know you are just trying to catch your breath, Conor. How happy are you with starting fourth tomorrow, top-row finish?

CONOR DALY: It’s much nicer fighting with these guys than not. You know what I mean? As Will Power says all the time, some of the most talented drivers in the world. I truly right now.

When you have a good qualifying, especially at — this is an incredible track. I truly believe that. It’s so close. It’s insane how the gaps are so small. It’s nice to be able to just put three solid runs together.

Would have been nice to maybe be on the front row, but I just had one moment on the lap, and that’s all it takes. It’s still a great day for us.

Q. As the fastest driver most of today, were you surprised or shocked that Will was able to get it at the very end the way he did?

CONOR DALY: A lot.

Q. 64 careers.

CONOR DALY: The math is correct on that.

Q. Alex, surrounded by a lot of bow ties up front. Do you feel there’s a big difference between Honda and Chevy right now? You’re the only one in the top seven.

CONOR DALY: You’re the only one, bro.

Q. For both of you, as close as this field is and time charts and in practice, do you feel a lot of strategy is going to come into play if it stays dry?

CONOR DALY: I think it always does, right? And everyone is so close here and so competitive, so we hope to be the smartest people out there, right?

When you are this close to the front, all you need is just one lap, but whether it’s an in-lap or out-lap to kind of change your race. I hope it stays dry now that we’re starting up front. But if it’s wet, we do have less spray starting up front, so that’s nice.

CONOR DALY: Who knows?

Q. Conor, I think you qualified sixth for this race last year, eighth for the August race. What is it about the IMS Road Course that you seem to grasp so well for qualifying?

CONOR DALY: It’s a great question. The Ed Carpenter Team has a great handle on this circuit for sure. We have done a lot of work on the simulator here as well, but I’ve obviously — there’s no question I’ve struggled with this generation of car.

There’s certain places where every driver has there better tracks and their worse tracks. Apparently here I remember how to drive. I don’t know. It’s one of those things that this car here just it feels fast. You can drive it fast, and it does what I want.

So I feel like it’s been a difficult window to find at other circuits, but for whatever reason here, it suits my style more than a few other places for sure.

CONOR DALY: It is the jacuzzi, yes. That too.

CONOR DALY: Oh, man, yeah. I feel good. (Laughing).

Q. Last year your race almost ended before it really got started with the collision at turn one. Any special good luck charm or thing you’re going to try to do to keep everything away from you this year?

CONOR DALY: Who knows, man? Me and luck at this place and getting — I don’t know. It’s interesting. We’re just going to go charge down to that first corner and avoid all the other people with four tires on their car, and hopefully the people avoid me too. I don’t know. We’ll see.

You can’t hope for anything. You’ve just got to do your best to pass the guys in front of you, and I’m going to just hope that he gets a nice jump, and we can follow each other down in turn one nicely.

Q. When watch qualifying, and everybody is sliding all over the place in different spots, but then you wind up so close. That doesn’t seem like it makes any sense. You would think if everybody is slipping and sliding, you would have a big gap. How does that happen?

CONOR DALY: I think everyone is, honestly — it’s such a high level I think here that even though everyone is driving on the edge, I think everyone has realized that here you have to be on that limit to be fast.

In no way today have I ever been happy or comfortable, but that’s how you have to go fast here. You know what I mean? It’s interesting.

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chevy racing–indycar–gmr grand prix–pole winner quotes

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GMR GRAND PRIX

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE

TEAM CHEVY POLE-WINNER QUOTES

MAY 13, 2022

Team Penske’s Will Power captured his 64th career pole position in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with his first NTT P1 Award of the season Friday ahead of the GMR Grand Prix. Power put the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet on pole position for Saturday’s race with a lap of 1:09.7664 (125.854 mph) around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Power moved within three of Mario Andretti’s all-time mark of 67 for most IndyCar pole positions. Friday was the sixth time that Power has claimed fastest qualifier honors on the Indianapolis Road Course, and he’ll go for his sixth victory at the venue Saturday.

Power led five Chevrolet-powered IndyCars in the Firestone Fast Six on Friday as Team Chevy goes for its 100th IndyCar victory since 2012 with its 2.2-liter, twin-turbo engine.

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – POLE WINNER: “That is the fun of this series. It’s so tight. When you get a pole these days, you know you’ve done a really good job. The team has done a great job. I’m super stoked. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a pole on a road course. Yeah man, I worked hard for that one!”

Uncategorized

chevy racing–indycar–gmr grand prix–pole winner quote

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GMR GRAND PRIX

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE

TEAM CHEVY POLE-WINNER QUOTES

MAY 13, 2022

Power led five Chevrolet-powered IndyCars in the Firestone Fast Six on Friday as Team Chevy goes for its 100th IndyCar victory since 2012 with its 2.2-liter, twin-turbo engine.

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – POLE WINNER: “That is the fun of this series. It’s so tight. When you get a pole these days, you know you’ve done a really good job. The team has done a great job. I’m super stoked. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a pole on a road course. Yeah man, I worked hard for that one!”

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Lucas Dirt Heads to the Hawkeye State

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

Batavia, OH (May 13, 2022) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series heads to the Midwest with a duo of races in the Hawkeye State of Iowa this weekend. Friday, May 20th – Saturday, May 21st the Series returns to 300 Raceway and 34 Raceway in Farley and West Burlington, IA. 300 Raceway, the 3/8-mile oval, will host the stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the Truck Country 50 on Friday, May 20th. There will be a complete program of: Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains – highlighted by a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. Modifieds and Sport Modifieds will also be in action. The action doesn’t stop with racing at 300 Raceway as there will be a live band playing from 10:00 PM CT – 1:00 AM CT. On Friday, the pit gate will open at 2:00 PM CT, followed by general admission gates at 5:00 PM CT. A drivers meeting will take place at 6:00 PM CT, with on-track action beginning at 6:30pm. To learn more, visit: www.300Raceway.com. The $15,000-to-win CRST, The Transportation Solution 50 at 34 Raceway on Saturday will feature a complete program of: Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $15,000-to-win main event around the 3/8-mile, semi-banked, clay oval. The Stock Cars and Sport Mods will serve as support divisions. 34 Raceway’s pit gate will open at 2:00 PM CT, with general admission gates opening at 4:00 PM CT. A drivers meeting will take place at 5:45 PM CT followed by hot laps at 6:15 PM CT. To purchase advance tickets, visit: www.myracepass.com/events/383865/tickets/ or find more information concerning 34 Raceway, visit: www.34Raceway.com. Brandon Sheppard currently leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points, with Devin Moran within striking distance, just 15 points behind. Tyler Erb currently holds down the third position in points followed by reigning series champion, Tim McCreadie. Track and Event Information:300 RacewayPhone Number: 563-744-3620Location: 27317 Olde Farley Rd. Farley, IA 52046Directions: Located just west of Highway 20 in Farley.Website: www.300raceway.com 34 RacewayPhone Number: 319-752-3434Location: 10463 S Prairie Grove Rd. West Burlington, IA 52655Directions: Located about 6 miles west of Burlington, just North of Hwy. 34Website: www.34raceway.com Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rules:300 Raceway:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) LM30s, (90) W30sRight Rear – Hoosier (92) LM30s, (92) W30s, (92) LM40*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains*For the A-Main, competitors may use a new right rear tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. 34 Raceway:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) LM20Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM30s*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains and A-Main*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. Event Purses:300 Raceway Event Purse (50 laps): 1. $12,000, 2. $6,000, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,800, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,100, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000,18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $52,800 34 Raceway Event Purse (50 laps): 1. $15,000, 2. $6,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $3,000, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,400, 7. $2,300, 8. $2,200, 9. $2,100, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,300, 14. $1,200, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000, 18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000. = $57,050

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chevy racing–nascar–kansas advance

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE

ADVENTHEALTH 400

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

KANSAS CITY, KS

MAY 15, 2022

RACE #13 – KANSAS SPEEDWAY

NASCAR heads to the heartland this weekend to Kansas Speedway, where the 1.5-mile tri-oval will host the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) for the first trip to the Midwest in 2022. Kansas Speedway holds two spots on the NASCAR schedule, with the return trip in September making the venue one of the 10 tracks to hold a Playoff race for all three NASCAR touring series.

Chevrolet looks to become back-to-back winners at Kansas Speedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400. The series’ last appearance at the Kansas venue in October 2021 saw Kyle Larson capture his ninth win of the season. The victory also marked the second time in the 2021 season that Larson won three-consecutive races; a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Dale Earnhardt set the record in 1987. Of the 32 NCS races held at Kansas Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 13 wins, including the track’s inaugural NCS race, a win that was captured by career-Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon (September 2001).

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) kicks off the doubleheader race weekend under the lights with the Heart of America 200 on Saturday night. The Silverado RST is coming off of a strong runner-up finish at Darlington, with eyes set on its first victory of the season. Kansas Speedway has held 23 NCWTS races since the venue was built in 2001, with Chevrolet visiting victory lane eight times in the series. Those triumphs include the series’ first race at the track, captured by Ricky Hendrick in a Chevrolet-powered machine for Hendrick Motorsports, which also marked his first-career NASCAR win.

THREE IN-A-ROW FOR CAMARO SS

At the track where he captured his most recent win one year ago, Justin Allgaier returned to victory lane at Darlington Raceway, driving his No. 7 JR Motorsports Camaro SS to his 17th-career NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) win and a spot into the NXS Playoff field. After being forced to start at the rear of the field due to a battery change during the pace laps, strong pitstops throughout the day put the Chevrolet driver in position to contend for the lead. With a fresh set of tires on a two-lap dash to the finish, Allgaier powered to the lead on the final restart to give Chevrolet its sixth NXS win of 2022, extending its season win count lead over all manufacturers. The feat also marks JR Motorsports third-consecutive race win, with all three captured by different drivers (Noah Gragson at Talladega; Josh Berry at Dover; Justin Allgaier at Darlington).

With its now six wins in 11 races for 2022, Justin Allgaier is the fifth Chevrolet driver to secure his spot into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff field and his chance at battling for the championship title. The other Chevrolet drivers already locked into the Playoffs by virtue of a win includes NXS rookie, Austin Hill; Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger; and Allgaier’s two JR Motorsports teammates, Noah Gragson and Josh Berry.

Entering into the NASCAR Xfinity Series off-weekend, Chevrolet continues to lead in both the driver and manufacturer points standings. Atop the NXS driver standings is AJ Allmendinger, who continues to hold onto the lead by 25-points over second place. Allmendinger’s eighth-place finish at Darlington continued his record as the only driver in the series to have placed in the top-10 of every race thus far this season. Joining Allmendinger in the top-10 is all four of the JR Motorsports drivers (Noah Gragson – second; Justin Allgaier – fourth; Josh Berry – fifth; Sam Mayer – sixth) and NXS season opener winner, Austin Hill, in tenth to give the bowtie brigade four of the top-five and six of the top-10 in the driver standings.

Also extending its lead in the NXS manufacturer standings, Chevrolet now sits at a 43-point advantage over second. With six wins, 37 top-five’s and 73 top-10’s, the bowtie brand is continuing in the right direction in pursuit of its 24th NXS manufacturer championship title. The series will be back in action at Texas Motor Speedway with the Texas 250 on Saturday, May 21, at 1:30 p.m. ET.

CLOSING IN ON HALFWAY

The trip to Kansas Speedway marks the 13th points-paying race of the season for the NASCAR Cup Series, also indicating the halfway point of the regular season. Chevrolet has taken the debut season of the Next Gen car by storm, sitting at seven victories for a winning percentage of over 50 percent for the Camaro ZL1. Chevrolet also continues to lead all manufacturers in top-five’s (35), top-10’s (59), laps led (1,789) and stage wins (12).

With eyes set on defending its NASCAR Cup Series driver and manufacturer championship titles, Chevrolet continues to lead in both the driver and manufacturer points standings. Chevrolet’s most recent NCS winner, Chase Elliott, extended his points lead to 65-points following a top-five finish at Darlington; his ninth top-10 finish in 2022. Five of the top-10 of the driver standings are occupied by Chevrolet drivers, including Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates (William Byron – second; Alex Bowman – eighth; Kyle Larson – ninth) and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in fifth, all of which have recorded at least one victory in 2022 to secure a spot in the 16-driver NCS Playoff field.

Falling just one spot short of another victory at Darlington Raceway, the bowtie brand made a strong showing in the final running order of the Goodyear 400 last weekend. The Camaro ZL1 placed three in the top-five and six in the top-10 finishing positions, with five different Chevrolet teams contributing to those finishes:

2nd Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing)

3rd Justin Haley (Kaulig Racing): season-best finish

5th Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

8th Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (JTG Daugherty Racing): second-consecutive top-10 finish

9th Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)

10th Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing)

This marks the seventh race this season that Chevrolet has placed six Camaro ZL1’s in the top-10, with at least three different Chevrolet teams represented in each. Looking to keep that momentum going, Chevrolet enters the Kansas race weekend atop the NCS manufacturer standings, building its lead to a 40-point advantage over second.

BOWTIE BULLETS

· Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway include:

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 (2021)

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 (2018)

· In addition to its 13 manufacturer-leading NASCAR Cup Series wins at Kansas Speedway, Chevrolet has also recorded 11 pole wins – the most of all manufacturers – as well as 64 top-five’s and 137 top-10’s. Chevrolet drivers have also led 3,011 laps at the 1.5-mile Kansas venue.

· With 12 NASCAR Cup Series races complete in the 2022 season, Chevrolet continues to lead all manufacturers in NCS wins (7), top-five’s (35), top-10’s (59), laps led (1,789) and stage wins (12). Chevrolet’s NCS wins, top-five’s, laps led and stage wins count are more than double its manufacturer competitors.

· In seven of the 12 NASCAR Cup Series races in 2022, Chevrolet has placed six Camaro ZL1’s in the top-10, with at least three different Chevrolet teams represented in each.

· The title of the youngest NASCAR Cup Series winner at Kansas Speedway belongs to Chase Elliott, who took the win in the October 2018 event at the age of 22 years, 10 months, 23 days.

· Career Chevrolet drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, are among five drivers tied for the most NASCAR Cup Series wins (3) at Kansas Speedway.

· Only four drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history have captured consecutive wins at Kansas Speedway, one of which being career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon. The NASCAR Hall of Famer also recorded the win in the inaugural race at Kansas Speedway in 2001, behind the wheel of a Chevrolet-powered machine.

· Justin Haley recorded a season-high third-place finish at Darlington Raceway, also marking a career-best finish since moving to full-time NASCAR Cup series competition with Kaulig Racing this season.

· Following a runner-up finish at Dover Motor Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. powered his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Camaro ZL1 to an eighth-place finish at Darlington Raceway for a second-consecutive top-10 finish.

· A special place to Erik Jones, Kansas Speedway is the site of his first-career Cup Series start where he filled in for an injured Kyle Busch on May 9, 2015. Jones started the race from the 12th position and ran in the top-10 most of the day, leading one lap. Unfortunately, a rookie mistake late in the race cost Jones a solid finish after he made contact with the outside wall and was credited with a 40th-place finish.

· Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 12 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins:

Tyler Reddick 2 – (Fontanax2)

Alex Bowman 1 – (Las Vegas)

Ross Chastain 2 – (Las Vegas), (Darlington)

William Byron 3 – (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega)

Daniel Suarez 1 – (COTA)

Chase Elliott 2 – (Martinsvillex2)

Kyle Larson 1 – (Bristol)

· Chevrolet leads in the driver points standing in both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Chase Elliott remains in the top position in the NCS standings with a 65-point advantage over second place; and AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the NXS standings by 25-points. Chevrolet remains atop both the NCS and NXS manufacturer points standings.

· With its 40 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships; 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships; and 821 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR.

TUNE IN

The NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 will air on FS1 on Sunday, May 15, at 3 p.m. ET. FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Heart of America 200 on Saturday, May 14, at 8 p.m. ET. Live coverage of both events can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1

HOW IMPORTANT IS KANSAS TO YOUR CAREER?

“Kansas brings back so many memories. I think back to my Truck Series win there in 2019 and winning is the ultimate goal. I think that win saved my career, honestly. Everything went away with my Xfinity Series ride and Chip Ganassi kept me on as a reserve driver and just to be nice is what it basically came down to. Doug Duchardt told me to just race whatever I could and we would figure it out. When things got serious about the No. 42 car going into the 2021 season, Doug brought up the fact that even though they didn’t have anything for me to drive and Niece gave me the opportunity to drive their truck and we were able to win, Doug said it told him more about me than anything else, and I put a lot of stock in what Doug says. If I didn’t go win those races with Niece, I don’t know if I am in the Cup car where I am today.”

WHAT DO YOU FIND CHALLENGING ABOUT RACING AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY?

“It’s wild because it is a mile-and-a-half and it has some of the same bones that most mile-and-a-half tracks have but there are intricacies at each intermediate track. The progressive banking at Kansas really rewards running higher on the track. It’s windy at Kansas and when you run up high you’re almost hidden from the wind a little bit and blocked from some of the cross winds.”

NOW THAT YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF WINS UNDER YOUR BELT AND YOU’VE CHECKED OFF GETTING THAT FIRST CAREER WIN, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR SEASON SO FAR?

“This year has been incredible. I feel grateful, but I also realize that we deserve to be where we are at. We’ve put in the effort and this car has been the greatest reset this sport has ever seen. Never before have you been able to take a car raced at a road course and change some suspension parts, run the same chassis and same body, and some of the same suspension, and pass tech and compete for wins.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1

WHAT IS IT ABOUT KANSAS SPEEDWAY THAT YOU’RE FOCUSING ON TO GET TO VICTORY LANE THIS WEEKEND?

“I think it’s running the top. Everybody is going to be up there running right against the fence and ripping the wall this weekend. From what I heard at the test, the rubber really laid down up there and there was a big difference in speed from the top to the bottom. I feel like I’ve just been focused on making my car in the simulator handle up by the wall. I think the next thing that’s on my mind is where to make a pass; where to attempt to make a pass. When you pull out of line, you have to get yourself clear and then back in line. It will be important to do a good job of making your car have the ability to run against the wall, but also when you need to make a move to slide someone, that it can happen.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

LARSON ON THE RACING GROOVE AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY:

“At Fontana, we were able to run really close to the wall, so I would imagine it’s pretty easy to run next to the wall at Kansas. I love Kansas – it’s definitely one of my favorite tracks. It does have multiple lanes, typically. If that top lane gets going really fast, it does make it hard to pass. I hope we can run the bottom, middle and top.”

CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

DANIELS ON IF 2021 SUCCESS TRANSLATES TO THIS YEAR:

“We had success there last year, but this weekend is another track we are visiting for the first time with the Next Gen car so there is still a lot to learn. Kansas is just one of those tracks where you have to respect the track because it can draw you into thinking it’s pretty straightforward, but the lanes can change a lot throughout the race. Everybody thinks you can run up top, then everybody does and it’ll fall off, so you have to be good enough to move down the track. And right as you think the strategy will be simple, a caution will come out and change everything you’re doing. You really have to be on your game in the moment and respect the track and the race. Past success always gives you confidence, but it’s still the new car at a track we haven’t competed on with it yet.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 BETMGM CAMARO ZL1

DO YOU THINK THIS WEEKEND’S RACE AT KANSAS WILL BE LIKE THE RACE WE SAW EARLIER THIS SEASON AT ATLANTA?

“I think this weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway is going to be a lot like the races we’ve seen at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will be a very unforgiving one. There will be a lot of running the wall with little to no room for error. The margin of error is so small and if you make one mistake, you could take yourself and others out of the race. It’s going to be a lot of strategy and deciding when the right time is to take a risk. Certainly, with my driving style, running the wall is going to be a huge part of my race but it’s also important to listen to my crew chief and spotter and weight the risk versus reward. You don’t want to get out there in the first stage and dive into the wall and end up finishing 38th.”

WE’RE A HANDFUL OF RACES INTO THE SEASON. HOW CAN YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE NEXT GEN CAR AT THIS TIME?

“The Next Gen car is super fun to drive but is also extremely challenging. We’ve seen how much it’s leveled the field for all the drivers. The tracks are so different with the new car, and you’re pretty much using all the practice and qualifying time to take notes and let your team know how the car is running. The practice sessions aren’t very long so you want to use all that time to feel the car and the track out. Our team has gotten out on the track and the car has been completely wrong and then you have to go back to the drawing board and decide what you can and cannot fix. The racing is so competitive and there’s still so much to learn, it makes every weekend even more crucial and also exciting. I think every race is giving the fans a great show.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1

ELLIOTT ON RACING AT KANSAS:

“We’ve had some pretty good finishes at Kansas in recent years and had built up a solid playbook, but I feel like a lot of that is out the window with this new car. We weren’t that great at Vegas earlier this year, but we were pretty decent in Atlanta. I think we’ve learned a lot more about the car in general since those races and the changes that we can make to get the most out of it. Each track presents its own set of challenges, but I think our team as a whole has done a good job of adapting and I don’t think that will be any different this weekend.”

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1

GUSTAFSON ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEXT GEN CAR AS TEAMS CONTINUE TO HEAD TO TRACKS FOR THE FIRST TIME:

“It’s a big challenge. Probably a bigger challenge than what’s conveyed, just watching the races and what the fans would see at home. There’s a huge amount of unknowns and there’s a lot of pressure and focus for us to get the car right off the truck, because with just 15 minutes of practice there’s really few things you can do. And then I think for the drivers too, there’s a lot of pressure.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

BYRON ON WHAT HE EXPECTS THIS WEEKEND AT KANSAS:

“While most of these tracks this year we’ve had to re-learn because of the Next Gen car, I think I’m a bit more confident on what to expect heading to Kansas this weekend. Not all mile-and-a-half tracks are the same but I feel like Kansas and Las Vegas are the most similar to each other. We raced at Vegas earlier this year and ran really well. The only real difference is I feel like Kansas is a more temperature sensitive racetrack and has less grip. We’ve ran well at Kansas over the past couple years, so I think with the notebook we’ve built so far and our past experiences there, we should have a good shot at the win this weekend.”

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

FUGLE ON PREPARING FOR KANSAS:

“We’re continuing to build on our intermediate package as the season goes with the Next Gen car. Since the second Charlotte test, we’ve raced at Las Vegas and Atlanta and been able to add those notes in. I think we can really use some of our notes from Vegas for this weekend especially since we will be using the same right side tire we ran there. I also think some of our notes from the fall race at Kansas last season will correlate as well. With its progressive banking and with how sensitive it is to temperature, we’ll have to keep up with the track not only throughout the weekend but throughout the race on Sunday to be in contention at the end.”

TY DILLON, NO. 42 CHEVYLINERS.COM CAMARO ZL1

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET AROUND KANSAS SPEEDWAY? WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE TRACK?

“For me personally, in the early years of my Cup career, I really wished they would have turned Kansas into a parking lot. It honestly has been one of my biggest struggles as a track. What’s frustrating is that to me it’s not that hard of a track to get around and it’s very simple, but it takes minor, finite details to be strong there. My focus this week has been putting in a lot of time in the simulator on running right against the wall and getting myself comfortable in that line. I want to have that line down pat so I can use it to my advantage all day on Sunday. That’s my go to. Hopefully, we turn it around and I’ll have a different opinion about the racetrack when we leave. Going to Kansas with a new organization and a new car has given me new life and new blood for going out there and making the most of it.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT AT KANSAS WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR?

“I think it’s going to be a great race. I want to compare it to Vegas, but there is something about it that doesn’t sit right with me that it’s going to be like that. It’s going to be interesting to see how it races. I think it’s going to race well. Kansas is always fun with as wide as it gets and where you can run. This car I think will be challenging there. I think back to the low-down force package with the old Cup car and it was easy to make mistakes and I think it will be pretty similar with this car.”

DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE A RACE OF “RIM RIDING”?

“I think so. Between the gear ratios we’ve had, they’ve been a little low I feel like, and you have to kind of keep these cars wound up. They’re just “draggy,” you have to keep the momentum going. If you really have to slow them down and get on the bottom, it hurts your speed a lot, so just keeping them wound up has been the name of the game.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 DILLONS / LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE CAMARO ZL1

“Kansas always has been a good track for me. I’ve won there in the Xfinity Series. We’ve ran really well there in the Cup car. I felt like 2013, I was going to get a win there and a caution came out at the wrong time. All in all, I enjoy Kansas and I feel we’ve learned a lot over the past couple of weeks that we will hopefully have a fast car like we’ve been having. You can move all around at Kanas. I assume we’ll run the top of the race track a lot, but with downshifting and things like that different lines come into play. It should be a good race and we’re definitely looking forward to getting there with our No. 47 Dillons/Louisiana Hot Sauce Camaro.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

BOWMAN ON HEADING TO ONE OF HIS FAVORITE TRACKS:

“Kansas Speedway has always been a place I feel like I run well at. Getting the win at Las Vegas this season helps our confidence at a similar track. We have to stay focused and take it one race at a time and this week, it is a place that I enjoy racing at.”

GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

IVES ON RESETTING HIS FOCUS FOR KANSAS:

“We had a tough weekend in Darlington and didn’t get it right when it came time to adjust the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but that stays at Darlington. We have a brand new weekend ahead of us at a track that Alex (Bowman) really likes. We will go back to what works for us and get the car in a place that we think will give Bowman the best chance to be competitive and work on it during practice to get the little details right.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON KANSAS AND THE ADVENTHEALTH 400?

“Darlington (10th) and Dover (13th) finishes have both come despite us having lots of issues we had to overcome. Air guns jamming, things like that. So our car has been fast. If we can get by those issues, we have a fast enough car to do really well. I hope that happens Sunday in Kansas.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2021): 40

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2021): 33

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2022 STATISTICS:

Wins: 7

Poles: 2

Laps Led: 1,789

Top-five finishes: 35

Top-10 finishes: 59

Stage wins: 12

Tyler Reddick (Fontanax2)
Alex Bowman (Las Vegas)
Ross Chastain (Las Vegas), (Darlington)
William Byron (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega)
Daniel Suarez (COTA)
Chase Elliott (Martinsvillex2)
Kyle Larson (Bristol Dirt)

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 821 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 725

Laps led to date: 243,125

Top-five finishes to date: 4,173

Top-10 finishes to date: 8,614

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

General Motors: 1,155

Chevrolet: 821

Pontiac: 154

Oldsmobile: 115

Buick: 65

Ford: 814

Ford: 714

Mercury: 96

Lincoln: 4

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

Dodge: 217

Plymouth: 191

Chrysler: 59

Toyota: 164

Uncategorized

Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Returns to Virginia Motorsports Park for Virginia NHRA Nationals

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

DINWIDDIE, Va. (May 12, 2022) – Making just the second appearance at Virginia Motorsports Park, the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown class that puts Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jetsand Dodge Challenger Drag Paks against each other in heated battle, is making its third of eight stops on their NHRA schedule, the Virginia NHRA Nationals.

Coming off a victory at the most recent event, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Bill Skillman and his Ray Skillman Ford head into this weekend’s Virginia NHRA Nationals as the current series points leader.

“I think the Charlotte win has sunk in. I am ready for this weekend. Your accomplishments are short lived. You always have your next journey coming up. It was great to win but that is in the past. It is time to go win the next race. You want to try and get as many points as you can at the next race,” Skillman said. “You have some tough racers out here. This deal for the championship will go down to the wire. I don’t think anyone is going to run off from the field. The cars are too competitive. I think you will see a lot of different winners this year.”

Bill Skillman, Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals winner, photo by Auto Imagery

One of those hoping to dethrone Skillman is David Barton driving his Saw Mill Auto Chevrolet. Barton looks forward to returning to the Virginia Motorsports Park after several years away.

“We had the Factory Stock Showdown there at Virginia Motorsports Park a few years ago and when we raced there it was a really nice turnout,” Barton said. “It was the first time NHRA was back at the track there and it was packed. It was really cool because there were just loads of people. The weather was nice then too. This weekend looks a little sketchy.”

David Barton (foreground) in Charlotte final, photo by CAFSS

In order to come out on top, Barton has no plans on holding back, and knows what’s required of him to get the job done.

“We have to get down the track every time and cut a better light and use every trick there is to win a round. It is working between us and (defending champion Aaron) Stanfield. In the last two years a Chevrolet has won every single race except (Chuck) Watson won Norwalk and (Bill) Skillman won last week. That is the big argument. They say you guys are still winning so what are you complaining about. We have to work way harder.”

With his win at the Virginia NHRA Nationals, Skillman now has the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program target on his back worth $1,000.

The bounty on Skillman will increase until another driver defeats him during eliminations.

Qualifying for Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown at the Virginia NHRA Nationals will begin Friday with a session at 6:15 p.m. and continues Saturday with sessions at noon and 3:00 p.m. Eliminations are set to begin Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Constant Aviation Bounty Program

Gatornationals (Gainesville, FL)

$1,000 bounty collected by Anthony Troyer, defeated Aaron Stanfield, Las Vegas winner

Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals (Charlotte, NC)

$1,000 bounty collected by Stephen Bell, defeated Lenny Lottig, Gatornationals winner

2022 Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Schedule/Results

Gainesville – Lenny Lottig, winner; Anthony Troyer, runner-up

Charlotte1 – Bill Skillman, winner, David Barton, runner-up

Richmond, Virginia Nationals, May 13-15

Bristol, Thunder Valley Nationals, June 17-19

Norwalk, Summit Nationals, June 23-25

Indianapolis, U.S. Nationals, August 30- September 5

Reading, Dodge Nationals, September 15-18

Dallas, Fall Nationals, October 13-16

Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Top Ten

1. Bill Skillman 166

2. David Barton 165

3. Lenny Lottig 163

4. Anthony Troyer 123

5. Stephen Bell 110

6. Warren Walcher 109

7. Mark Pawuk 93

8. Aaron Stanfield 89

9. Ricky Hrd 86

10. Scott Libersher 74

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chevy racing–nascar–kansas–austin dillon

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

ADVENTHEALTH 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

MAY 12, 2022

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1, met with the media via teleconference in advance of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE ALL-STAR RACE NEXT WEEK, DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO IT WITH IT AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SINCE THAT WAS THE PLACE WHERE YOU LAST WON? ALSO, DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE ALL-STAR RACE MOVE AROUND SOME; OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT FIND A PERMANENT HOME?

“Yeah, I think it’s good to move it around. It’s not bad also to give it a permanent home. It was pretty awesome when we had it at Charlotte (Motor Speedway) for so many years because you knew where you were going to be.

I like it when it was at Charlotte because it was close to home; you knew what it was. Texas (Motor Speedway), it’s cool going there for one year. I think you should move it around a couple of times. Plus, Texas hasn’t provided the best of racing yet. So, I would be voting for another track, possibly. But you never know. I think as the surface wears out, Texas could be a better race for the All-Star race. It just needs to lose some more grip and then maybe that will create more of an exciting All-Star race.”

HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE FORMAT AT ALL; OR IS THAT SOMETHING YOU START PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DAY OR TWO BEFORE?

“The week of, probably. I’m focused on Kansas (Speedway) this week. I’ve been in the simulator a lot. Hopefully we get through Kansas and get a win so that we’re locked into the All-Star race. Then, I’ll really focus on the format. Other than that, I know we have to race our way in or get voted in. Right now, I’m focused on Kansas.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE COCA-COLA 600, YOU’VE HAD THREE TOP-10 FINISHES THERE IN THE LAST THREE COCA-COLA 600’S. IS THAT A TRACK THAT YOU GUYS ARE CIRCLING THIS YEAR AS ONE OF YOUR POTENTIALLY BEST RACES WHERE YOU CAN LOCK-IN A WIN? WHAT HAS MADE THE NO. 3 TEAM SO STRONG THERE?

“I don’t know what it is about Charlotte (Motor Speedway). I’ve always had really good success there. I enjoy the track. I understand what it takes to be fast there in a race car and I have a feel for it. Obviously, I won my first Cup race at Charlotte, so I definitely circle it every year as a place where we go and compete well at. Last year, we were really fast. One of our pit crew members went down leading into that race, so we kind of struggled on pit road that week.

I’m really excited about it and taking the Next Gen car there. We did get one test there this off season when it was really cold. I’m always excited to go to Charlotte. It’s a good place for me.”

LOOKING BEYOND THE RACING AND THE EVENT OF THAT WEEKEND, THERE’S BEEN SO MUCH CHANGE IN THE CUP SCHEDULE AND SO MUCH INNOVATION. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BENEFIT OF KEEPING SOMETHING LIKE THE COCA-COLA 600 A CROWN JEWEL EVENT ON THE NASCAR SCHEDULE? DO THEY TAKE IT OFF THE SCHEDULE AT SOME POINT?

“I hope not. To me, it’s an iconic weekend – being Memorial Day weekend and seeing all the different military branches; the men and women that protect our country out there. I always get excited for that race – the national anthem, the show that goes on before and really paying homage to all of those that have fought for this country. To me, I hope it doesn’t change. It is a crown jewel. Being 600-miles, your preparation changes a little bit because you know you’re going to be in the race car for such a long period of time. I think it’s a very special race and I hope it never goes away.”

I THINK THERE IS A FEELING THAT THE ORGANIZATION THIS YEAR IS STRONGER AT THIS POINT OF THE SEASON. BUT LOOKING AT WHAT YOU DID LAST YEAR COMPARED TO THIS YEAR AT THIS TIME, LAST YEAR YOU HAD SIX TOP-10’S AND YOU WERE A LITTLE HIGHER IN POINTS. FIVE TOP-10’S THIS SEASON AND SOME RUNNER-UP FINISHES. HAS MUCH REALLY CHANGED? ARE YOU GUYS REALLY THAT MUCH STRONGER?

“We were pretty strong last year and we kind of got overlooked because we didn’t make the Playoffs. We were a consistent team all of last year. This year, I do feel like we’ve had way more opportunities to win races. I think the disappointing part is that we’ve had more bigger catastrophes at the race track, like getting wrecked at Phoenix (Raceway) and finishing 21st in that race; getting wrecked at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) coming to a stage end for a possibility of top-three points there; and blowing up at Daytona (International Speedway) and Bristol (Motor Speedway).

We didn’t have those types of bad days at this point last year. We had a couple more average days, but we’ve also had some bigger days with two second-place finishes (Auto Club Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway) and a third (Martinsville Speedway). We’ve definitely had more opportunities to win than last year. My teammate (Tyler Reddick) has two or three second-place finishes, as well. If you look at the total of it, we’ve done a good job and should be in victory lane at this point. That’s the disappointing part – I feel like we’ve had some really close calls and not been able to capitalize. That’s why you see us where we’re at in points. I feel confident that we can go to victory lane this year and I think it will happen.”

THREE OF THE LAST SIX RACES, THERE HAS BEEN SOME SORT OF CONTACT AT THE END OF THE RACE AMONG THE LEADERS. WE SAW IT LAST WEEKEND AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY. WITH AS TIGHT AS THE COMPETITION IS AND WITH WHAT WINNING MEANS, ARE BIGGER TRACKS MORE IN-PLAY NOW FOR SOME SORT OF CONTACT; OR IS DARLINGTON A UNIQUE CASE?

“I think at Darlington (Raceway), you’re constantly fighting tire wear and you see guys come and go. So, the ability to make a run is a bit easier. But you’re asking about 1.5-mile tracks and the contact part of it – if you get a run and you can get a guy up the track, you’d probably do it. But it’s much tougher at a 1.5-mile track to not take yourself out of the race, as well. I feel like there’s usually plenty of room at a 1.5-mile. You’ve seen some slide jobs go wrong at 1.5-mile tracks. Those types of opportunities are kind of the only way to make something happen, when it comes to a last lap moving a guy for a win. I think that’s what NASCAR has put together with this Playoff system, that wins mean so much and you do what it takes when it comes down to it to go to victory lane. I think everybody’s organizations would be upset if they didn’t.”

WILL THERE EVER BE A POINT WHERE YOU WIN A RACE AND FEEL BAD ABOUT IT THEN?

“I don’t know – I guess that’s for everybody else to worry about. I’m under the opinion that, there’s 36 to 40 of us out there every weekend – if you have the opportunity to make it happen, you probably will. I didn’t think Chase Briscoe had a shot to win at Bristol (Motor Speedway) and he took out (Tyler) Reddick and himself. If you’re going to do it, you better win. That was a boneheaded move, if you ask me, and it didn’t work out. But he was trying to make something happen. I don’t think he ever had a shot of making it happen, that’s the part that sucks about that kind of a deal. When you’re within range and you’ve got an opportunity with the way it is to pass and what wins mean, you’ve got to do it. It just sucks when it doesn’t work out. It’s part of the game and how much importance has been put on winning races. Yeah, some might feel bad if it comes down to that. But if you take home a trophy to your organization and all the guys that put in hours on hours on hours of time into these race cars, they’ll probably have your back in the end.”

I KNOW IT’S STILL EARLY IN THE SEASON, BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU WORRY ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS AT THIS POINT IN TIME OF THE YEAR?

“I think it’s on your mind no matter what. It stays there because that’s kind of the measuring stick when it comes to your end of the season. You can have a good season and not make the Playoffs. I did that last year. I felt like I had a decent season, but it didn’t matter because I didn’t make the Playoffs. The Playoffs are what starts clicking off those bonuses and contracts. It changes your end of the year for your entire organization. So, to me, the Playoffs is everything. It’s always on your mind. No matter how much you try to conceal it, it’s what determines a solid season, a good season. Getting a win, getting in the Playoffs and making progress.”

IS THAT SOMETHING YOU PAY ATTENTION TO MORE THIS YEAR BECAUSE YOU MISSED THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR?

“No – every year I pay attention to it, really push for it and want to be in it. I’ve been able to make it to the next round of the Playoffs a couple of times. Every year it’s on your mind. I definitely know where we are in the points situation, but I truly think that the way this year has gone, you’re going to need a win. I think there could be 16 winners. I feel like it’s important to win.

From a points standpoint, once you get in the Playoffs, I think things change a little bit. Winning always stays important, but points-racing in the Playoffs is more important, I feel like, than right now in the regular season because I do feel like in the regular season, we’re going to have right at 16 winners.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT KANSAS SPEEDWAY THAT YOU’RE FOCUSING ON TO GET TO VICTORY LANE THIS WEEKEND?

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Team Chevy Takes Momentum to Indy for Month of May

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

Victory at GMR Grand Prix would be 100th in INDYCAR for Chevy since 2012
DETROIT (May 12, 2022) – Chevrolet continues its roll in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as the calendar has turned to the month of May and the countdown to the Indianapolis 500.
First up is Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix, the fifth round of this year’s championship. Momentum is clearly on the side of Team Chevy with victories in the season’s first four events. It’s the first time since 2016 that the Bowtie Brand has started 5-0 and opens the door for the 100th Chevrolet victory since rejoining INDYCAR in 2012.
There couldn’t a much better venue to continue the streak than Indianapolis Motor Speedway… particularly the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course layout. Chevrolet is unbeaten in May at the Indy Road Course since 2015 and enters Indianapolis leading the series’ Engine Manufacturer Championship.
“The month of May takes on more importance year after year,” said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet Program Manager for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. “We feel that way this season with the phenomenal start our Chevrolet-powered teams have experienced. The GMR Grand Prix is beneficial to ease our teams into what is a very significant month coming up. Another victory this weekend would be a great start to our month in Indianapolis.
“While there isn’t much direct correlation between our road-course and speedway packages, there are little things we can pick up such as surface conditions and degree of tire degradation that can help us prepare for the Indy 500 later this month,” Buckner added.Three different drivers have won using the 2.2L, V6 twin-turbo Chevrolet engine including Team Penske’s Will Power three times (2015, 2017, 2018) and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay in 2021.
VeeKay was the pole-winner in the last INDYCAR race at Barber Motorsports Park in mid-April, a race where Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward claimed victory. He joined Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin (St. Petersburg) and Josef Newgarden (Texas and Long Beach) in Victory Lane this year.
In addition to an unbeaten start and attempt at its 100thh win, Chevrolet can watch one of its drivers – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden – take the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge, which rewards the first driver to win on an oval, street circuit and road course in the same season.
That driver will share $500,000 with his or her team and donate $500,000 to that driver and team’s chosen charity.
On the way to the green flag, the field for the GMR Grand Prix will follow a red Corvette Stingray, which will serve as Official Pace Car.
While at the GMR Grand Prix, Team Chevy fans can enjoy all that the Chevrolet display, located near the Pagoda plaza, has to offer. Included in the display activities will be two Q & A sessions with some of the star Chevrolet drivers.
Friday· 12:00-12:15 p.m.: Team Penske – Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power· 2:15-2:30 p.m.: Ed Carpenter Racing – Rinus Veekay and Conor Daly· 2:30-2:45 p.m.: AJ Foyt Racing – Dalton Kellet, Kyle Kirkwood, Tatiana Calderon· 3:00-3:15 p.m.: Arrow McLaren SP – Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Juan Pablo Montoya Saturday· 12:00-12:15 p.m.: Juncos Hollinger Racing – Callum Illott
The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 7:30 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include: • The Corvette Stingray R concept• Additional Chevrolet products such as Blazer, Silverado, Trailblazer, Traverse, Tahoe, Camaro and Bolt • A cutaway chassis of the 2023 Corvette Z06 and IndyCar showcar• An opportunity to receive a 2022 Chevrolet Racing t-shirt
Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 14 from the Indianapolis Road Course. The race will air live on NBC, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160). Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.
TEAM CHEVY QUOTESJOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: “We’re trying to keep our eye on the ball and make sure we are staying concentrated on the next race. We can have a good run at the Indy GP. We’ve had good cars there the last couple of years. May is the biggest thing for us, and for the 500 specifically. We’ve worked really hard as a team and with Chevrolet to maximize this year. I hope that comes true.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING: “The GMR Grand Prix of one of my favorite events in the schedule. I love getting into the Month of May and starting it off on the road course. We were obviously very, very fast there this time last year. We made it into the Fast 6 so we definitely want to do that again, but not be taken out in the first corner this time! I can’t wait to get May started off right, we already had a strong oval test a few weeks ago. All signs point to us being able to have a great weekend and start the Month of May strong!”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ALZAMEND NEURO CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING: “Going back to the Racing Capital of the World is always awesome and starting the Month of May is always a very exciting time. I have a very good feeling! The Indy road course a place where I have had a lot of success. I had my first pole position, first-ever podium and eventually first-ever NTT INDYCAR SERIES win! I am very happy with how the season is progressing, we are only improving and we’re heading into the Indy GP stronger than ever. ECR has been putting in a lot of work and it’s really paying off. It makes me even more eager to defend my race win in the GMR Grand Prix!” CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING: “I’m excited to start my month of May her in Indy for the GMR GP. I have a bit of experience of the road course as I conducted my first NTT INDYCAR SERIES test here towards the end of last year. Also coming off of the improvements we made last time in Barber, I’m excited to show what we can do with the Chevy Juncos Hollinger car.”
BY THE NUMBERS: CHEVROLET IN INDYCAR· 1: Chevrolet’s position in the INDYCAR Engine Manufacturer standings after three races· 3: Career GMR Grand Prix wins for Will Power in the month of May. All have been in Chevrolet-powered entries· 4: Consecutive victories by Chevrolet to open the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the pole and race at St. Petersburg. Penske teammate Josef Newgarden won at Texas and Long Beach, and Pato O’Ward was victorious at Barber Motorsport Park for Arrow McLaren SP.· 5: Wins and pole positions for Will Power on the Indianapolis Road Course since 2015, including races in the spring, summer and fall.· 6: Wins for Chevrolet IndyCar teams in May at the Indianapolis Road Course – all consecutively dating back to 2015.· 6: Different Chevrolet drivers to win races dating back to the start of 2020. Scott McLaughlin was the most recent at St. Petersburg· 6: Number of Manufacturer Championships in the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012· 6: Number of Team Chevy Driver/Entrant championships since 2012· 8: Wins by Team Penske on the Indianapolis Road Course – all with Chevrolet power.· 9: Wins from pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver· 13: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 10 with Chevrolet· 25: Wins by Will Power since 2012. All have come with Chevrolet, giving him the most of any driver with same manufacturer· 39: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver· 99: Chevrolet victories in NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012· 110: Earned poles by Chevrolet since 2012· 169: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR

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Inaugural St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff June 24-25 Showcases Dirt Late Models, Non-Wing Sprints, and UMP Modifieds

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

Huge Weekend Set for Federated Autoparts Raceway at I-55 in Midwest’s Sports MeccaPEVELY, MO – May 12, 2022– St. Louis is one of the biggest sports cities in the country, with some of the most ardent fans anywhere. The Blues are once again skating toward another the Stanley Cup and the Cardinals are seeking a 13th World Series title, but this summer in the “Gateway to the West” motorsports is playing a huge part in the region’s sports landscape.From NASCAR and INDYCAR returning to World Wide Technology Raceway to major dirt racing events at Federated Auto Parts Raceway and Tri-City Speedway, the motorsports scene in St. Louis has never been bigger. With that in mind, a massive new event June 24-25 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway aims to draw fans of multiple disciplines of racing. Do you like Dirt Late Models? Check. Like Non-Wing Sprint Cars? Check. Like DIRTcar UMP Modifieds? Check. Like a good time with friends at the track? Check. The one event that checks all the boxes for dirt racing fans is the all-new St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff. It features a showdown with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models taking on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models for $10,000 on Friday, June 24, and $20,000 on Saturday, June 25. In addition, the new Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Cars presented by Low-E Insulation and the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds will also be in action with their unique styles of racing on the fan-favorite high-banked, 1/3-mile oval just down Interstate 55 from Busch Stadium. Current World of Outlaws CASE Late Models championship leader and three-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Dennis Erb Jr. aims to capture the magic again on the 1/3-mile oval, having won there in 2012. Plus, a couple of other drivers with roots in the DIRTcar Summer Nationals who are now competing on the World of Outlaws tour — Gordy Gundaker and Kyle Hammer — hope to score their first wins at the track and with the World of Outlaws. They’ll battle DIRTcar Summer Nationals stars past and present, which are expected to include Shannon Babb, Brian Shirley, and Frank Heckenast Jr. While the Late Model showdown will be in the spotlight, the Xtreme Outlaw Sprints presented by Low-E Insulation will make its debut at the iconic track with two chances for drivers to etch their names in the record book. The Non-Wing Sprint Car drivers will battle for a potential $11,000 payday with $5,000-to-win on Friday and $6,000 on Saturday. After three races in the Series’ inaugural season, C.J. Leary has a leg up on the competition, scoring two Xtreme wins and three top-five finishes. The Greenfield, IN driver, hopes to keep that momentum rolling in Pevely. Then, the most popular racers in Illinois hit the track as the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals stars complete the four Series extravaganza in Pevely. Modified drivers throughout the Midwest hope to try and end defending champion Nick Hoffman’s reign with a star-studded win at I-55. Don’t miss your chance to see the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models take on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals to see who takes home bragging rights from the first-ever St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff. TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3P7r3qS If you can’t make it to the tracks, watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App.

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

Uncategorized

CHEVROLET AT VIRGINIA

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

What: Virginia NHRA NationalsWhen: Friday, May 13-Sunday, May 15Where: Virginia Motorsports Park in North Dinwiddie, VirginiaTV: FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6:30 p.m. ET May 15 Chevrolet seeks to carry momentum to Virginia trackJohn Force Racing has recorded five victories in six Top Fuel and Funny Car events

DETROIT (May 12, 2022) – John Force doesn’t plan to slow down.
When the 16-time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car champion can crack a .05-of-a-second light, blast off to a 335.07 mph run in the 11,000 horsepower PEAK BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS and keep winning, why should he? Even at age 73.

Force enters the Virginia NHRA Nationals this weekend with renewed confidence after winning the four-wide race May 1 at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, adding to his amazing career. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to Virginia Motorsports Park for the first time since 2019.
“I’m excited to go to Richmond, but I’m going with a little different attitude. My race car has found consistency,” said Force, a four-time winner at the track.
Driver and Camaro were consistently at peak performance at zMAX Dragway, where Force won in the four-wide format for the second year in a row. He qualified No. 1 for the 164th time with a track-record run of 3.850-seconds, set the track speed record with the 335.07 mph pass and went on to post his 155th career win.
“Things just seem to happen where you’re destined to win,” Force said. “It was amazing. On some days, magical things just happen. Things went right and we were able to win the race. It was like it was destiny and it was a great weekend for my team. To finally get a win this year gives me a lot of confidence.”
The next Funny Car victory by Force or teammate Robert Hight, driver of the Auto Club of Southern California Camaro SS who sits second in championship points entering the seventh of 22 events, will be the 150th for Chevrolet since 1967. The Camaro has been to the winner’s circle 69 times.
John Force Racing owns both ends of the Funny Car records at Virginia Motorsports Park — 3.899 seconds by Force and 326.32 mph by Hight – both in May 2019.
The four JFR drivers have recorded five victories in the six races – two by Hight to start the season, two in a row by Brittany Force in the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster and one by her father. Austin Prock, driver of the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, was runner-up at Pomona and shown promise as he returns to full-season competition for the first time since 2019 when he was voted NHRA rookie of the year.
Hight was runner-up in the four-wide final at zMAX Dragway, and Brittany Force enters the race weekend as the Top Fuel points leader.
The event will also feature the third round of the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown. Len Lottig won the opener at Gainesville in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro and former series champion David Barton was runner-up in his COPO Camaro in the four-wide event two weeks ago at zMAX Dragway.
FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, May 15.
Pro Stock competitors return to NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series competition June 3-5 at New England Dragway in New Hampshire. Erica Enders, a three-time winner this season in the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, tops the standings.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPITTOP FUELBRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (winner at Las Vegas and Houston; first in points): “Richmond is next on the list and after a couple of years away, our Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is excited to return. We head into the Virginia Motorsports Park in the points lead after back-to-back wins and are looking to leave in the same position. Our goals are to qualify in the top three, make three consistent qualifying runs and have a long race day so we can grow that points lead.”
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (runner-up at Pomona opener): “It was a good weekend off celebrating Mother’s Day, always nice to spend time with family and friends, but this Montana Brand team is excited to get back to business. We’ve been getting this car back into winning form and can’t wait to see what our performance looks like this weekend. Hoping the weather holds off, and we can put on a showing for our awesome NHRA fans. We haven’t been back to Richmond since my rookie season, so it’ll be great to be back.”
FUNNY CARJOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (four-time winner at track; five-time No. 1 qualifier; holds track Funny Car elapsed time record, set in 2019): “We’ll be really trying to put on a show, maybe set some more records. I’m feeling good coming off a win. The credit really goes to Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi who run the PEAK BlueDEF Chevy. I know drivers always get all the credit, but it really is those guys and the whole team that help get the job done, couldn’t do it without them.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (two-time winner this season; second in points; holds track Funny Car speed record, set in 2019): “It’s been a decent start to the season for this Auto Club team. We’ve had some consistency which is what we lacked last year. We just need to keep it going. There’s room for improvement, there’s always room for improvement and I think this team has high expectations. Jimmy Prock and Christ Cunningham are two of the best, so it’s hard not to be confident with them on your side. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in Richmond. Really glad to be heading back after a couple years. Hopefully, we can pull out a win and get this Auto Club Chevy in the winner’s circle and back in the points lead.”

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LINCOLN LEGACY: Jacob Allen & Shark Racing Score Special Win at Home Track

May 16, 2022 ARP Trish

Jacob Allen is Fourth Family Member of Shark Racing to Win at Lincoln Speedway

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA – May 11, 2022 – The Fabulous Lincoln Speedway has been hosting Sprint Car races for 60 seasons in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Pigeon Hills, and the Allen family has been winning at the track for more than five decades.

On Wednesday night, that synonymous relationship of Shark Racing stars at the Abbottstown, PA 1/3-mile took the next step with the next generation.

Leading the final 12 laps thanks to brilliant craftsmanship in lap traffic, Jacob Allen of nearby Hanover, PA earned his first-ever victory at his home track, located a whopping six minutes from the Shark Racing shop. To make it even sweeter, he did it against arguably the toughest field of the year with 55 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars in action.

Allen’s win in the Dura MAX Oil / Drydene Performance Products Gettysburg Clash is already his second of the 2022 season, and the third of his storybook career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. He’s the fourth member of his legendary family to win at Lincoln Speedway with his dad Bobby Allen (75 wins), nephew Logan Schuchart (2 wins), and uncle Joey Allen (1 win) previously tasting victory at the local land.

In the 50th Series race at Lincoln, Bobby & Jacob Allen also became the third father/son duo to win with the World of Outlaws at the track, joining another pair of iconic Pennsylvania racing families in Steve & Stevie Smith and Fred & Freddie Rahmer.

“I feel like the moral of my entire racing career is never give up,” Allen told an ecstatic crowd at Lincoln Speedway. “If anyone has followed me, you know I could have easily called it quits through all the struggles, all the bad times, all the poor finishes, but I never did. This shows that with a great family, a great team, and a great attitude you can make it happen one day.

“This is just so amazing. I can’t tell you how surreal it feels to look around and see all of these people cheering for me. I’m so damn happy. It makes me feel even better knowing I can share this with all of you.”

[Before Allen sent the hometown fans into a frenzy, the Pells Tire Service #1A was forced to maneuver from fifth to first with Outlaws, Posse, All Stars & Invaders blocking his path. The 27-year-old pilot rode around in fourth for the first 10 laps, but it was a Lap 12 restart that changed everything.

After leading laps 1-8, Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, PA succumb to Justin Peck of Monrovia, IN amid lap traffic just prior to the first restart of the race. It was that launch back to the green where Macri struggled on the high side and allowed Allen to soar into contention with Peck thanks to a big move. It was a clash of three fairytale stories with Macri & Peck both eyeing their first-career World of Outlaws win, but Allen going for his first-career Lincoln Speedway win.

The breaking point was Lap 24 as traffic ramped up and Allen closed on Peck for the top spot. He set him up through turns one and two as Peck rode high and then Allen aced the bottom of turns three and four to slide up and take it away with 11 to go. He had to survive a final restart with five laps left, but there were no issues at all as Allen cruised to a 1.336-second margin of victory.

“I knew it would be a tough call on where to go at the end,” Allen noted on the mounting pressure. “I passed Justin [Peck] on the bottom in traffic, but I knew he was super good up top. I’m glad I made the decisions that I did and we got this done. This is such a huge win.”

Although that first-career win will have to wait, it was still a phenomenal night for Justin Peck and the Buch Motorsports #13. The Monrovia, IN native set a new career-best World of Outlaws finish with his runner-up result, worth $6,000 to the All Star Circuit of Champions full-timer.

“We put a whole night together against the Outlaws, that’s big for us,” Peck added afterward. “I told Sean [Strausbaugh] that were three-to-four laps prior to getting passed that I had terrible exit and no straightaway speed, so I think that’s what hurt us the most. I knew starting up on the front row you’re kind of playing victim to be that sitting duck. It’s tough when you can’t search around, but this is a step in the right direction for us.

Rounding out the podium at Lincoln Speedway was Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41. The Lemoore, CA native used another consistent night to cut Brad Sweet’s championship lead down to only eight points entering Williams Grove.

“Phil [Dietz], Clyde [Knipp], and Nate [Repetz] just keep delivering some incredible race cars for me,” Macedo mentioned. I think we might’ve had a car capable of winning if some things played out better. I had to go into defense mode on that last restart and got caught up battling Spencer [Bayston]. I’m excited to get to Williams Grove and hopefully keep this momentum rolling.”

Closing out the top-10 finishers in the Gettysburg Clash was Spencer Bayston, Anthony Macri, Rico Abreu, David Gravel, Danny Dietrich, Brad Sweet & Lance Dewease.

NOS Notebook (Lincoln Speedway, 5/11/22)

Jacob Allen has now won more (twice) in six starts over the last 33 days than he did in his first 449 starts (once) over 10 years. He’s the 245th driver to add his name to the Lincoln Speedway All-Time Win List, and the fourth member of his family to do so. His victory also makes it 11 different winners in the past 11 runnings of the Gettysburg Clash.

Wednesday’s massive field of 55 entries is easily the new season-high record for car count with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Championship leader Brad Sweet finished outside the top-five for the third straight race (9th tonight) and allowed Carson Macedo to cut the gap down to eight points in the early-season chase. David Gravel also narrowed his margin to the #49 down to -26 points.

Justin Peck earned his first-career Slick Woody’s QuickTime Award on Wednesday, topping My Place Hotels Qualifying with a lap of 13.027 seconds at Lincoln Speedway. He earned a NOS Energy Drink Heat Race win as did David Gravel, Rico Abreu & Anthony Macri.

Anthony Macri won his first-career DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, thus earning his first-career pole position, and then led his first-career lap (8 total) with the World of Outlaws.

For the second year in a row at the Gettysburg Clash, former Lincoln Speedway track champion Alan Krimes claimed the KSE Hard Charger Award with a +14 performance in the Wayne Corini CPA #87.

UP NEXT (Fri-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will move the battle against the Pennsylvania Posse down the road to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA this Friday & Saturday, May 13-14 for the annual Morgan Cup. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (35 Laps) – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen [5][$10,000]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [2][$6,000]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [6][$3,500]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston [3][$2,800]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri [1][$2,500]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [4][$2,300]; 7. 2-David Gravel [7][$2,200]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich [18][$2,100]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$2,050]; 10. 69K-Lance Dewease [13][$2,000]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [11][$1,600]; 12. 83-James McFadden [20][$1,400]; 13. 15-Donny Schatz [21][$1,200]; 14. 87-Alan Krimes [28][$100]; 15. 27-Devon Borden [22][$1,050]; 16. 44-Dylan Norris [26][$]; 17. 16-Gerard McIntyre [19][$1,000]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [15][$1,000]; 19. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [16][$1,000]; 20. 71-Buddy Kofoid [10][$1,000]; 21. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$1,000]; 22. 9-Kasey Kahne [23][$1,000]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [25][$]; 24. 6-Bill Rose [27][$]; 25. 8-Freddie Rahmer [14][$1,000]; 26. 55K-Robbie Kendall [12][$1,000]; 27. 39D-Chase Dietz [24][$1,000]; 28. 19-Brent Marks [17][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Anthony Macri 1-8, Justin Peck 9-23, Jacob Allen 24-35. KSE Hard Charger Award: 87-Alan Krimes[+14]

NEW Championship Standings (After 18/79 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (2,502); 2. Carson Macedo (-8); 3. David Gravel (-26); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-92); 5. Logan Schuchart (-106); 6. Spencer Bayston (-130); 7. Donny Schatz (-150); 8. James McFadden (-158); 9. Jacob Allen (-206); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-310).

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World of Outlaws Late Models Kick off June with Illinois Doubleheader

May 11, 2022 ARP Trish

The Series Visits Tri-City Speedway and The Dirt Oval at Route 66 June 3-4

PONTOON BEACH, IL – May 9, 2022 – As the calendar turns to June, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series visits The Prairie State for the first time in 2022.

Two nights of high-octane action in Illinois start Friday, June 3, as the Series visits Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL. $10,000 is on the line in a 40-lap CASE Construction Equipment Feature.

It’s only the second time the Series will race at the facility—the first in 2004 when three-time Series Champion Darrell Lanigan scored a victory on its 1/2-mile configuration.

Tri-City Speedway is also the home of current World of Outlaws full-time driver Gordy Gundaker. The St. Charles, MO driver is excited to race in front of his home fans.

“Man, I can’t wait,” Gundaker said. “It’ll be so nice to go home and race my home track in front of home fans and go to a place I know. I’m obviously super excited to get there and hopefully find a way to get our first Outlaw win.”

The event at Tri-City will also be the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models debut of NASCAR star Chase Briscoe.

He plans to pull double-duty in a Late model and Sprint Car as the MOWA Sprints and UMP Modifieds join the card.

The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet finish the weekend with a trip to the Dirt Oval at Route 66, in another 40-lap affair paying $10,000-to-win.

It’ll also be the second appearance for the Series at the Joliet, IL track after Chris Madden dominated 2017’s Chi-Town Showdown.

TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3wi1evN

Illinois driver Dennis Erb Jr. leads the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models into his home state. The Carpentersville, IL driver has a 98-point lead over Max Blair on the strength of a win, six top fives, and 11 top-10’s through 15 races.

Fellow Land of Lincoln competitor Kyle Hammer will also be in action. The Clinton, IL driver has shown he can hang with some of the best drivers in the country with a top-five at Volusia Speedway Park during DIRTcar Nationals.

Erb, Hammer, Gundaker, and the rest of the World of Outlaws hope to keep their momentum rolling as they battle toward the 2022 championship.

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Cruz pedregon virginia advance

May 11, 2022 ARP Trish

NHRA^® Team Report

Virginia NHRA Nationals

Pre-Race Report

Cruz Pedregon and team are ready to win in Virginia again and have been putting in the work during the week off from the NHRA schedule to ready the car and make it happen. The Snap-on^®“Makers and Fixers” Dodge^®SRT^®Hellcat^®has been in the top five, five out of the first six 2022 races with Cruz in fifth place in the Funny Car standings.

“It’s like a prize fight, a lot of these rounds we’re trying to work our way up and get better every week…I’m getting better as a driver, the team’s getting better, so we’re really looking forward to going back to Virginia this weekend and getting after the business of winning,” says Cruz. “It will be great to be back in Richmond again, so many good times there through the years and really great events in the late 90’s. We won there in 2008 and it’s time to win again.”

During the off week, the team re-grouped at the shop while Cruz and a couple of team reps took the Snap-on Dodge to a Cleveland-area STEM high school and fired up the car to demonstrate for students the “cutting edge technology used in Funny Car drag racing vehicles.” Cruz’s quote from the event was, “I’m passionate about STEM Programs, so it was a privilege to meet the students today and explain a little more about the boundary-busting technology that we use to get our car to hit zero to 100 in under 0.8 seconds. With the quickest acceleration on the planet, Nitro Funny Cars are the king of the drag racing world.”

These future Makers and Fixers can now watch the car they saw in person this weekend during the NHRA on FOX broadcasts and check out Snap-on’s makersandfixers.com to find out more about STEM careers from hundreds of professionals already in the field who share their stories on the site.

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Burton Finishes 14th at Darlington

May 11, 2022 ARP Trish

May 8, 2022

On Sunday afternoon at Darlington Raceway, rookie Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team were able to make significant mid-race gains at one of the toughest tracks in motorsports.

After starting 25^th, Burton and the No. 21 Mustang were mired in 30^thplace at the end of the first 90-lap Stage of Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at the “Track Too Tough To Tame.” But when the checkered flag fell, they had rallied to finish a season-best 14^th.

Burton didn’t gain much ground until the second Stage got underway. By Lap 185, the end of that segment, he had moved up to 20^th place and was showing more speed as the race progressed.

He was running solidly inside the top 20 when a multi-car crash on a restart with 33 laps remaining scrambled the line-up.

Burton steered clear of trouble as the incident unfolded ahead of him, but flat-spotted his tires in the process, resulting in a trip to pit road for fresh rubber.

He rejoined the race in 12^th place and wound up 14^th at the finish, giving him the honors for being the highest finishing rookie.

Crew chief Brian Wilson described Sunday’s work by the DEX Imaging crew as “an outstanding result for the team.”

He said he, the crew and Burton are figuring out which adjustments to the No. 21 Mustang are best suited for Burton’s driving style.

“We are continuing to build the team and making progress on giving Harrison the feel he’s looking for,” Wilson said, adding that a successful performance at Darlington comes at a good time for the team. “It’s something we can build on heading into a stretch of similar, intermediate tracks at Kansas, Texas and Charlotte.

And, Wilson said, a top-15 finish also gives the team a bump up in the points standings, from 31^st to 29^th.

Burton and the DEX Imaging team now head to Kansas Speedway for the AdventHealth 400 on May 15.

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TENNESEE THUNDER: Marlar Nets $50,000 in Dairyland Showdown Finale

May 11, 2022 ARP Trish

It’s the Winfield, TN driver’s 9th Career World of Outlaws Victory

FOUNTAIN CITY, WI – May 7, 2022 – Mike Marlar found himself in a position to capitalize Saturday at Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

The 2018 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series Champion was in second with seven laps to go when heartbreak struck race leader Tyler Bruening.

As the 2021 Rookie of the Year caught the tail of the field, he tangled with Lance Mathees, sending them both spinning in Turn 2.

Marlar inherited the lead from Bruening and held on to win the $50,000 prize in the Dairyland Showdown finale.

The Winfield, TN driver started on the pole and tried to conserve his Longhorn chassis early in the 75-lap Feature. That strategy almost cost him as Tyler Erb swung around the outside to take the lead on Lap 19.

“I was kind of milking it there the first part of the race, trying to conserve my tires,” Marlar said. “I was just trying to keep a distance and not kill my tires, and I just messed up. I was driving too easy, and I just let [Tyler Erb] get to my outside and pass me, and after that, it was a long race.”

The “Winfield Warrior” admitted luck played into the race’s outcome, being in a position to strike after he passed Erb back with 16 laps to go.

“[The win] fell back in my lap; I definitely got lucky to end up winning it,” Marlar said. “I hate it for Tyler Bruening, he definitely was deserving of the win there, and it just didn’t work out for him.

“Hopefully, if he stays after it and keeps working hard, he’s definitely going to get some [wins].”

The Dairyland Showdown win is Marlar’s 10th career World of Outlaws win and first of 2022.

Tyler Erb crossed the line second, his second podium finish in as many days. The New Waverly, TX driver battled with Tyler Bruening for the lead before relinquishing the top spot.

“I knew Bruening was underneath me there, and we really raced hard and clean,” Erb said. “I kept getting lower in [Turns] 3 and 4, and then in [Turns] 1 and 2, I’d kind of washout, and never got quite low enough to where I needed to be.

“We raced back and forth for four or five laps, and I finally got clear, but I drove in too hard into 1 and 2, and that’s how I realized how rubbered it was. I just got back in line and unfortunately had a caution, and Mikey [Marlar] got by me on the [Lap 59] restart.”

Josh Richards finished third, his first top-five of the 2022 season. The four-time Series champion stated he feels it’s a step in the right direction for the Boom Briggs-owned team.

“It feels like a win,” Richards said. “This year’s been a struggle, to say the least. The team hasn’t stopped, there’s a lot of heart and determination, and thankfully we’re able to have a nice, solid run tonight, and hopefully, we have something to build on.”

James Giossi, from Hudson, WI, crossed the line fourth—his first top-five with the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models. “Nitro” was happy just to make the Feature, let alone score a top-five finish.

“I would’ve taken the [$2,000] just to start,” Giossi said. “We got lucky there at the beginning, and the cards kind of went our way. Our car was pretty good; our pro-powered MB Customs was rolling along pretty well.

“It still hasn’t set in yet, but anytime you can run in the top five or top 10 with these guys, they do it for a living, and they’re the best at what they do, so coming home fourth tonight really made the weekend.”

Series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. finished fifth. The Carpentersville, IL driver started 18th, needing every lap to crack the top five.

“We didn’t have a good heat race, but we made some adjustments, and the car was real good in that [Last Chance Showdown],” Erb said. “Starting that far back, I was getting nervous, but we had a good enough car to work our way up through there, so we’re just glad to get up into the top-five for sure.”

Erb also extended his points lead for the third straight night—98 points ahead of Max Blair.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models make their first Northeast swing of the season with a three-race weekend in Pennsylvania. The Series visits Bloomsburg Fair Raceway on Thursday, May 19, Marion Center Raceway on Friday, May 20, and Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, May 21.

CASE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT FEATURE- 75 Laps- 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 3. 1-Josh Richards[21]; 4. 11J-James Giossi[9]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[18]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[7]; 7. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[13]; 9. 49T-Jake Timm[10]; 10. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 11. 18C-Chase Junghans[14]; 12. 25S-Chad Simpson[19]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[24]; 14. 18-Shannon Babb[17]; 15. 81E-Tanner English[23]; 16. 7X-Jesse Glenz[22]; 17. 45-Kyle Hammer[26]; 18. B9-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 19. 32P-Bobby Pierce[6]; 20. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 21. 99B-Boom Briggs[27]; 22. 77-Jordan Yaggy[11]; 23. 90-Lance Matthees[25]; 24. 58-Garrett Alberson[20]; 25. 111V-Max Blair[15]; 26. 2S-Stormy Scott[16]; 27. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[12] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER: Josh Richards [+18]

ARP Racing News

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