Category Archives: Uncategorized

Burton Qualifies 36th At Sonoma

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

June 10, 2023

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang are set to start 36th in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course at Sonoma Raceway.

Burton got that spot with a lap at 89.148 miles per hour in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

He was 32^nd in practice earlier in the day, posting a best speed of 89.439 mph on the third of the seven laps he ran in the session.

Sunday’s 110-lap, 219-mile affair, is set to get the green flag just after 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time (3:30 Eastern) with TV coverage on FOX.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 25 and 55.

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CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Sixteen-Hour Update

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

The drive back through the GTE Am field still under way

LE MANS, France (June 11, 2023) – Dawn broke at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Corvette Racing continuing to scratch and claw and fight its way back onto the lead lap of the GTE Am category.
Ben Keating drove a triple-stint in the middle of the night, and Nico Varrone added a double as the sun came up at the Circuit de la Sarthe with the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and Nicky Catsburg running seventh in class. That was a far cry from 21st barely two hours in when the Corvette went into the garage to replace a broken right-front damper.
That and a safety car miscue by race officials – allowing a group of cars including the GTE Am leader leave the pit exit ahead of the Corvette instead of behind – put the C8.R down more than two laps, but solid driving by all three drivers before, during and out of the night had the Corvette charging toward the class leader and – finally – the lead lap.
The next Corvette Racing update will come after the race.

CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION
Corvette Racing media information in both English and French is updated and available ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Materials include, Le Mans race advance and quotes, Corvette Racing stats and figures, Corvette Racing racecar comparisons, Corvette Racing Fast Facts and driver biographies

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I love doing long runs at Le Mans. I literally think I would do my whole six hours at once if they’d let me. I get into a groove then go and go and go. It’s not a track that’s super physical so I don’t have a problem going a long time. I feel like doing a triple at Sebring is a big deal, but doing a triple here is no big deal. It’s a weird year in terms of the rules. In the all the previous years with the old safety car rules, you never get a chance to make up a lap. I’d always do all of my drive time at the end of the race. Because of the new safety car rules, we decided to try and switch it around. Because of the rain, I did an hour and 15 minutes, and I didn’t want any more! It felt like the car was really hard to drive. The plan was to wait until it got light on Sunday morning to use Nicky and Nico back-to-back-to back to get our lap back because when the sun comes up, I can be quicker than I can be quicker than I can at night. So it wasn’t ideal but we did what we needed to do. Nico wasn’t feeling good (after his first stint). The good news is he is feeling a lot better and is quick in the car. We’re hanging around. At this point in time, you don’t want to give up any time that you have to go give up. I think we would have been in a better position if I had done my drive time in the daylight, but we didn’t have that luxury. We’re rolling with the punches, and we’ll see where that ends up.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s nice out there. I started in the night and now we’re in daylight, which is nice to see the sun come up and us back in this position. I think everyone is pushing and we are doing the same. We are pushing and have to catch up. There is no time to rest or time to do anything except go as fast as we can. Those were two good stints, I think. Our team has done a great job. We need to keep pushing and see where we end up.”

CORVETTE RACING AU MANS: Après 16 heuresLe retour à travers le plateau GTE Am est toujours en coursLE MANS, France (le juin 2023) – L’aube s’est levée sur les 24 Heures du Mans et le Corvette Racing a continué à se battre pour revenir dans le tour de tête de la catégorie GTE Am. Ben Keating a réalisé un triple relais au milieu de la nuit, et Nico Varrone a ajouté un double relais lorsque le soleil s’est levé sur le Circuit de la Sarthe avec la Corvette C8.R Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet n°33 et Nicky Catsburg à la septième place de la catégorie. C’était bien loin de la 21e place occupée à peine deux heures plus tôt, lorsque la Corvette était rentrée au garage pour remplacer un amortisseur avant droit cassé. Cette situation et une erreur des commissaires de course, qui a permis à un groupe de voitures, dont le leader du GTE Am, de quitter la sortie des stands devant la Corvette au lieu de la suivre, ont fait perdre plus de deux tours à la C8.R. Mais la conduite solide des trois pilotes avant, pendant et après la nuit a permis à la Corvette de se rapprocher du leader de la catégorie et, enfin, de la tête de la course. Le prochain update du Corvette Racing aura lieu après la course. BEN KEATING, MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R n°33: « J’adore faire de longs relais au Mans. Je pense littéralement que je ferais mes six heures d’affilée s’ils me laissaient faire. Je me mets dans le bain, puis j’y vais, j’y vais, j’y vais. Ce n’est pas un circuit très physique, donc je n’ai pas de problème à faire de longs relais. J’ai l’impression que faire un triple à Sebring est une grosse affaire, mais faire un triple ici n’est pas une grosse affaire. C’est une année bizarre en termes de règles. Les années précédentes, avec les anciennes règles de la voiture de sécurité, on n’avait jamais l’occasion de rattraper un tour. Je faisais toujours tout mon temps de conduite à la fin de la course. Avec les nouvelles règles de sécurité, nous avons décidé d’essayer d’inverser les choses. À cause de la pluie, j’ai fait une heure et quart, et je n’en voulais pas plus ! J’avais l’impression que la voiture était vraiment difficile à conduire. Le plan était d’attendre qu’il fasse jour le dimanche matin pour utiliser Nicky et Nico dos à dos pour récupérer notre tour parce que quand le soleil se lève, je peux être plus rapide que je ne le suis la nuit. Ce n’était donc pas idéal, mais nous avons fait ce que nous devions faire. Nico ne se sentait pas bien (après son premier relais). La bonne nouvelle, c’est qu’il se sent beaucoup mieux et qu’il est rapide dans la voiture. Nous sommes dans le coup. A ce stade, vous ne voulez pas perdre de temps. Je pense que nous aurions été en meilleure position si j’avais roulé de jour, mais nous n’avons pas eu ce luxe. Nous faisons avec, et nous verrons bien où cela nous mènera. » NICO VARRONE, MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R n°33: « C’est agréable. J’ai commencé dans la nuit et maintenant nous sommes en pleine lumière, ce qui est agréable de voir le soleil se lever et de nous retrouver dans cette position. Je pense que tout le monde est en train de pousser et que nous faisons de même. Nous poussons et nous devons rattraper notre retard. Nous n’avons pas le temps de nous reposer ou de faire quoi que ce soit d’autre que d’aller aussi vite que possible. Je pense que ce sont deux bons relais. Notre équipe a fait du bon travail. Nous devons continuer à pousser et voir où nous en sommes. »

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chevy racing–nhra–bristol– qualifying

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN NHRA

2023 NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS FINALS, 2023 NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS QUALIFYING RECAP

BRISTOL DRAGWAY

BRISTOL, TENNESSEE

TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT

JUNE 10, 2023

JOHN FORCE LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN EPPING FINALS AT BRISTOL WITH

265TH FINAL ROUND APPEARANCE

John Force takes BlueDef Camaro SS to Final Round in Epping Finals at Bristol
Robert Hight claimed the No. 1 Qualifier for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, his 2^nd of the season and 79^th of his career
Brittany Force posted No. 2 Qualifier in Top Fuel for the Thunder Valley Nationals

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 10, 2023) – In a first-ever combined NHRA race weekend to finish the weather-interrupted New England Nationals from New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire while simultaneously running the qualifying rounds for the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, Bristol, Tennessee, John Force led the way for Team Chevy in final eliminations for Epping.

After defeating Tim Wilkerson in Elimination Round One, with a 4.063 seconds , 324.36 mph to Wilkerson’s 4.004, 318.99, Force went on to face Alex Laughlin in Round Two. The 16-time champion downed Laughlin with a 4.090. 318.54 to move to the semi-finals.

JR Todd on deck for the Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history. With a little baby holeshot, Force topped Todd with a 4.105, 319.07 to a 4.098, 319.90 to send Force to his 265^th final round appearance and his first of the young 2023 NHRA season.

Lining up alongside Bob Tasca III, Force staged his Blue Def Camaro SS Funny Car deep and posted a .045 reaction time to Tasca’s .065 and the race was on with Tasca pulling ahead to post a 4.032, 322.96 for the win to Force’s 4.085. 320.51.

For making it into the semifinals of the New England Nationals Force automatically competed in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and finished runner-up to earn two championship points to be added at the conclusion of the regular season and $3,000.

“It would have been nice to have won the Epping, N.H. NHRA New England Nationals race and the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, but I didn’t get the job done,” Force said. “We had a good race BlueDEF race car which keeps Chevrolet, PEAK, and all our sponsors happy. Cornwell was out at the track with a lot of their customers this weekend too. We’ll get back in the game tomorrow morning. It’s a new day and a new race tomorrow morning.”

Robert Hight behind the wheel of his AAA of New England Camaro SS scored a Round One win over Alexis DeJoria 3.938, 321.35 to 3.999, 322.88. Round Two provided drama with both cars hazing the tires and then Bob Tasca III ultimately blowing an engine near the top-end of the track. Tasca took the W with a 4.418, 267.69 to Hight’s 4.441, 202.00.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve crossed the finish line like that. It happens, you’re out here racing for a round win and it’s greasy. We put four cylinders out on one side so it turned on me in a hurry. Usually, you can catch it pretty quick but that one got me,” Hight said. “Anyways, sorry to the fans, to AAA and Cornwell and Chevy, we could have gotten another round win there.”

Defending Top Fuel Champions Brittany Force, Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel car bested Josh Hart 3.747, 334.48 to 4.201, 202.85 in Round One of Final Eliminations. Round Two was a pedal-fest between B. Force and Justin Ashley, eventual winner of the New England Nationals, with Brit going down with a 4.322, 274.05 to Ashley’s 4.097, 255.92.

“Epping, the New England Nationals was a little bit of a struggle for this Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team,” Force said. “We got beat in the second round, but we still had a couple of good laps under our belt that set us up for qualifying for Bristol and hopefully a long race day.”

In Top Fuel Round One Elimination, Austin Prock piloting the Montana Brand Chevrolet Top Fuel car put down a stellar run of 3.787, 326.08. However, he lined up next to Steve Torrence who laid down a 3.753, 329.10 to end Prock’s Epping make-up early.

“It was a tough first-round loss last night for this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team. There was a lot on the line that round and we came up short,” Prock said. “It’s frustrating but we will bounce back.”

THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS QUALIFYING:

When track conditions were optimal, Robert Hight drove the Cornwall Tools Camaro SS Funny Car to the No. 1 Qualifier for Sunday’s finals with a pass of 3.938, 321.35 on Friday night under the lights. The run held on Saturday with much warmer air and track temperatures.

John Force ended the four qualifying sessions in 10^th spot for Sunday’s Finals at the track they call Thunder Valley in his BlueDef Camaro SS Funny Car with a pass of 4.063, 324.36.

Brittany Force piloted the Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel car to the No. 2 qualifier spot, also maximizing the cooler Friday night conditions with a pass of 3.747, 334.48.

Austin Prock will stage in 8^th tomorrow in the cockpit of his Montana Brand Chevrolet Top Fuel car after putting down a run of 3.787, 326.08.

Erica Enders broke through to capture her first No. 1 qualifier of the 2023 NHRA Pro Stock Season. Piloting her familiar red Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance Elite Motorsports Camaro SS a run of 6.627, 205.88.

It is the reigning world champion’s 30th No. 1 of her career.

And closing out a very busy day on-track, Aaron Stanfield claimed his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty win piloting his Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro, going 6.637, 206.32 to claim the additional prize money and valuable championship points. His win came over fellow Team Chevy driver and three time Pro Stock winner this season, Dallas Glenn.

THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS RACE DAY INFORMATION

Due to the threat of inclement weather late in the day, the NHRA has moved the start time to 10:00 AM ET.

Round 2, Semifinals, and Finals of the New England Nationals makeup event will air Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1. A recap of Saturday’s Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying airs Sunday, June 11 at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Thunder Valley Nationals Finals will wrap up the stacked weekend, airing on FS1 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. Coverage streaming live throughout the weekend can be found through NHRA.tv, available via AppleTV, Android TV and Roku devices.

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12-hour report: Cadillac in mix at halfway mark

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

Nos. 2 and 3 Cadillac V-Series.Rs in lead pack in early morning at Circuit de la Sarthe

LE MANS, France (June 11, 2023) – Carefully working through a wet racing surface that created issues for drivers in all three classes in the opening stints of the second quarter of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, two Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars remain in contention for the overall victory.
The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, was running a strong third through 12 hours at Circuit de la Sarthe. The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon sharing turns in the seat, was running fifth.
Media resources: Cadillac Racing information, photos, history at Le Mans and much more

The No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R, which encountered a Lap 1 incident that put drivers Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken in a tough spot, was running 14th.
Multiple downpours on different areas of the 8.45-mile course combined with nightfall to make for hazardous driving conditions, which led to numerous incidents and a full-course yellow and multiple local slow zones.
Early in the race, Bamber had the distinction of giving Cadillac its first-ever laps led in the iconic endurance race. Bourdais owns the fastest lap of the race at 3 minutes, 28.298 seconds on Lap 12.
MotorTrend is telecasting the race in its entirety in the U.S. along with Velocity in Canada and Eurosport across Europe. Radio Le Mans has the call, too. Viewers can get a different perspective through in-car cameras of the three Cadillac V-Series.Rs at Cadillac.com/live.

What they’re saying
No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.RRichard Westbrook, No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R: “It’s been a crazy first half of the race. Visibility was so bad; the worst I’ve ever been in at Le Mans anyway. It’s the fist time I’ve ever done a lap in the wet in this car.”
Alex Lynn, No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R: “Tricky conditions out there. We’re fighting for this victory and the No. 2 Cadillac is going great. We just need to stay in the fight and don’t give up.”
No. 3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.RRenger van der Zande, No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R: “Really tricky; I had some big moments, even hydroplaning. Not so much fun when you can’t see anything on the track. The grip feels good and suddenly it’s gone. Hopefully, we can make some moves.”No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RAlexander Sims: “All sorts of conditions out there. Pretty treacherous out there. The car was working quite well but it was just so difficult to judge the conditions and actually see the wet spots on the dark as well. In some places it was full dry and other places it was still damp. I had a few spins and thankfully kept the car out of the barriers. It was crackers. The car, considering the hit that it had, was all pointing in the right direction. I was able to put in some good laps in between the spins. Great effort by the team to get us back out and we can get a load of experience for the team. It’s one I wish we were fighting near the front, but frankly it’s still pretty cool to drive around here.”
Pipo Derani: “The car feels good. It’s nice to get some rhythm. The first stint I did was behind a full-course yellow and slow zones, so that’s worse than driving flat out. Once I got going, second stint and third stint I had some fun driving the car around Le Mans. We’ll see what we can do toward the end of the race.”Cadillac au Mans: Toujours aux avant-postes à la mi-course
LE MANS, France (le 11 juin, 2023) – En dépit d’une surface de course mouillée qui a posé des problèmes aux pilotes des trois catégories lors des premiers relais du deuxième quart des 24 Heures du Mans, deux Hypercars Cadillac V-Series.R restent en lice pour la victoire finale.
La Cadillac V-Series.R n°2, copilotée par Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn et Richard Westbrook, occupait une belle troisième place après 12 heures de course sur le circuit de la Sarthe. La Cadillac V-Series.R n°3, pilotée par Sébastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande et Scott Dixon, est cinquième.
La Cadillac V-Series.R n°311 Whelen Engineering, qui a connu un incident au premier tour qui a mis les pilotes Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims et Jack Aitken dans une mauvaise position, était 14ème.
De multiples averses sur différentes zones du circuit, en combinaison avec la tombée de la nuit, ont rendu les conditions de conduite dangereuses, ce qui a entraîné de nombreux incidents, un full course yellow et de nombreuses slow zones locales.
Au début de la course, Bamber a eu l’honneur de donner à Cadillac ses premiers tours en tête dans cette course d’endurance emblématique. Bourdais a réalisé le tour le plus rapide de la course en 3 minutes et 28,298 secondes au 12e tour.
Ce qu’ils dissent:Pipo Derani, Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R n°311: « La voiture marche bien. C’est bien d’avoir un peu de rythme. Le premier relais que j’ai effectué s’est déroulé pendant un full course yellow et des slow zones, donc c’est pire que de rouler à fond. Une fois que j’ai commencé à rouler, le deuxième et le troisième relais m’ont permis de m’amuser en conduisant la voiture au Mans. Nous verrons ce que nous pouvons faire vers la fin de la course. »
Alexander Sims, Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R n°311: « Les conditions (en piste) sont très variées. C’est assez dangereux. La voiture fonctionnait plutôt bien, mais il était difficile d’évaluer les conditions et de voir les zones humides dans l’obscurité. À certains endroits, c’était complètement sec et à d’autres, c’était encore humide. J’ai fait quelques tête-à-queue et j’ai heureusement réussi à éviter les barrières. La voiture, compte tenu du choc qu’elle a subi, allait dans la bonne direction. J’ai pu faire quelques bons tours entre les tête-à-queue. L’équipe a fait un gros effort pour nous permettre de repartir et d’acquérir de l’expérience. J’aurais aimé me battre aux avant-postes, mais franchement, c’est quand même cool de rouler ici. »
Renger van der Zande, Cadillac V-Series.R n°3: « J’ai eu des moments difficiles, j’ai même fait de l’aquaplanage. Ce n’est pas très amusant quand on ne voit rien sur la piste. L’adhérence est bonne et soudainement elle disparaît. J’espère que nous pourrons faire des progrès. »
Richard Westbrook, Cadillac V-Series.R n°2: « La première moitié de la course a été folle. La visibilité était très mauvaise, la pire que j’ai jamais eue au Mans en tout cas. C’est la première fois que je fais des tours sous la pluie avec cette voiture. »
Alex Lynn, Cadillac V-Series.R n°2: « Les conditions sont difficiles. Nous nous battons pour cette victoire et la Cadillac n°2 fonctionne très bien. Nous devons juste rester dans la bataille et ne pas baisser les bras. »

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ROBERT HIGHT AND CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVY EARN

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

NO. 1 SPOT AT NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 10, 2023) – Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team earned their second No. 1 of the season and 79th Hight’s career and second of the 2023 Camping World Drag Racing Series season Saturday at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac dragster are No. 2 while Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team are No. 8 and John Force will start the BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy from the No. 10 spot.
In the third qualifying session, Hight had his hands full with his Chevy Camaro Funny Car making a move to the left and ultimately crossing the centerline. The mishap disqualified the three-time champion’s run. Still sitting No. 1 from his Friday night run of 3.938 seconds at 321.35 mph, Hight closed out qualifying with a 4.046 at 304.32. With the No. 1 spot, Hight will take on Alex Laughlin in the first round of eliminations.
“I don’t think we’re that far off from having the runs we want. We need to fix a few problems, cylinders dropping. In that last run, it dropped a cylinder early and still ran 4.04 seconds. If we had all eight cylinders, there was a 3-second run out there. Tomorrow is a new day. We’re starting from a good spot. We’re back with Cornwell Tools and we need to get them their first win,” Hight said. “My Cornwell Tools / AAA team has a good handle on all different conditions. We have a lot of data we can look at. We are running a new combination that we’re trying to work through. Once we get the cylinder situation figured out we’ll make three-second runs every run tomorrow, especially the first round and that’s probably what it’s going to take to get the win. When you have Jimmy Prock as your crew chief, it always feels like you’re just one run away from winning the race.”
Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team opened up qualifying on Saturday with a pedalfest. Force would handle the Monster dragster to a 4.322-second pass at 274.05 mph. In the final Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying session, Force handled her hotrod to a solid 3.828 pass at 328.38 mph. Force will face drag racing veteran Antron Brown in the first round of eliminations.
“We came into Bristol with two races in one, the New England Nationals and the Thunder Valley Nationals. Into the Bristol race this Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team is currently qualified No. 2. We face Antron Brown tomorrow and we are still hunting for that first win,” Force said. “We’ve learned a lot this weekend and I feel like we’ve turned our car around a little bit. We’ve made some solid passes and I’m looking forward to race day tomorrow.”
The Montana Brand / RMT team had to shut off early in the third qualifying session after driving into tire smoke early on the run. Prock would cross the finish line to record a 7.412-second pass at 83.99 mph. In the final qualifying session, Prock had a cylinder out at the hit but would get the Montana Brand dragster to the finish line in 4.015 seconds and 276.41 mph.
“We haven’t had the weekend we’ve wanted but tomorrow is a new day. We’ve learned from each session and will get this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist hot rod running with the best of them,” said Prock who will race Cameron Ferre in the first round. “I’m ready to get started bright and early tomorrow morning.”
John Force and the BlueDEF Chevy were consistent during qualifying on Saturday with two solid passes. First a 4.090-second pass at 318.54 mph in the afternoon followed by a 4.085 at 320.51. He stays No. 10 from his Friday run of 4.063 at 324.36 to line up against J.R. Todd in the first round.
“It was a busy day, a lot going on, a lot on the line. We had some decent runs in the mix of everything. So we have some good data,” Force said. “You know, it’s another race day, back-to-back, hopefully we can get the job done and get in the winner’s circle here in Thunder Valley, get the job done for PEAK, Chevy, BleuDEF and all our partners who let us do what we love. Hope tomorrow continues to be a good show for all these fans that have come out.”
The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway continues with eliminations set to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Television coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) continues Saturday with the remaining NHRA New England Nationals coverage at 10:30 p.m. ET. Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET will be a second Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying show and at 7:00 p.m. ET will air the Thunder Valley Nationals eliminations.
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ROBERT HIGHT AND CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVY EARN NO. 1 SPOT AT NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

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JUSTIN ASHLEY WINS DELAYED NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

BRISTOL, TN (June 10, 2023) — For the third time this season Justin Ashley and Maynard Ashley Racing Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster defeated a gauntlet of tough NHRA Top Fuel competitors and world champions enroute to victory. The second-generation driver moved into the NHRA Top Fuel points lead with his win at the postponed and relocated NHRA New England Nationals outrunning Dan Mercier, two-time world champion Brittany Force, four-time world champion Steve Torrence and finally in an all JCM Racing final eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher.

Justin Ashley and Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team, New England Nationals winners, photo by Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

“Everybody out here is tough,” said Ashley, who was competing in his 14th career Top Fuel final round. “I don’t think about it during the race, but after, I think it is important to reflect and appreciate when you go up against some of the best in the world. Each one of these drivers is fantastic. Each one of these teams is great. It’s an honor just to line up next to them, so to turn on a win light with Mike Green, Tommy DeLago (crew chiefs), and the guys is truly special.”

During two days of qualifying last week Ashley was able to get his Phillips Connect Toyota dragster qualified in the No. 10 spot and into a first round race with Canadian Dan Mercier. During the second round of qualifying at the Thunder Valley Nationals on Friday night Ashley began his pursuit of three wins in one weekend. The 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year was first off the line with a strong .038 reaction time and never trailed in the race. It was Ashley’s second consecutive win over Mercier and set up and tough match-up with Force.

In the second round today, Ashley was once again first off the line but his Phillips Connect Toyota dragster ran into problems wounding itself as it powered down the track. Force lost traction but pedaled her race car as she tried to chase down Ashley. He was able to keep momentum and get to the finish line stripe first for a win that came at a cost.

Moving into the semifinals facing Torrence for the second time this season Ashley was looking for another win light. The last time these two drivers faced off was the semifinals of the Arizona Nationals which Ashley won. He was able to repeat history getting his third win light of the day and moving into the New England Nationals final round and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge final round.

“It has been a long week to get to this race,” said Ashley. I feel so grateful. When you come to a race – anytime there is an opportunity to win it is special – but when you have the opportunity to win three races in one weekend, especially at a historic facility like Bristol, it just makes it that much more special. The semifinal against Steve was a big round win because it turned into two final rounds.”

In the final round of the day Ashley was first off the line again and used that advantage to squeeze out a small hole shot win over Schumacher with his 3.846 second run getting to the finish line first in front of Schumacher’s quicker 3.835 second pass. Ashley’s reaction time was .041 to Schumacher’s .061. The was a complete team effort according to Ashley as he spoke to the assembled media after a long and productive day.

“The key word for today’s success is team,” said Ashley. “You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. I feel more than confident in saying I have the best group of people behind me. I am just grateful for everybody on this Maynard Ashley Racing, Phillips Connect, Toyota team. Even going into the third round, it was a little wacky. It was a quick turnaround, and we did some damage, which we never normally do, but thankfully we got the win. I just have to credit the guys for putting everything together in time. The job that they always do is phenomenal, but especially this weekend working in the heat and getting it done on a Saturday, really is just amazing.”

With the Thunder Valley Nationals looming tomorrow the possibility of three wins is on the horizon. Ashley was philosophical about the prospect of sweeping the weekend. He knows that the support he gets from all his partners like Toyota, KATO Fastening Systems, Strutmasters.com, Lucas Oil and Mac Tools all play into race day win lights.

“Our plan and our objective coming in – was to win everything, like it is every race, but it is so, so difficult out here,” said Ashley. “Now our focus is just on the here and now, in the present, enjoying this win because they are so hard to come by, but come tomorrow, it’s in the past. We can only enjoy this for a short period of time, but yeah, I think we have a great opportunity to win tomorrow, but there are 15 other cars that feel the same way. I know we are going to put on a really good show for the fans.”
Qualifying Results
Q1: 4.807 sec, 155.61 mph; Qual. 9
Q2: 9.632 sec; 68.78 mph; Qual. 10
Bonus Points: 0
Race Results
First Round
Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster, (.038), 3.755, 327.74 mph def. Dan Mercier, Ross Pistons/Amalie Motor Oil dragster, (.084), 3.768, 317.72 mph
Second Round
Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster, (.058), 4.097, 255.92 mph def. Brittany Force, Monster Energy dragster, (.083), 4.322, 274.05 mph
Semifinal Round
Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster, (.051), 3.892, 319.29 mph def. Steve Torrence, CAPCO dragster, (.096), 3.915, 311.13 mph
Final Round
Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster, (.041), 3.846, 324.12 mph def. Tony Schumacher, SKAG Power Equipment dragster, (.061), 3.835, 323.66 mph
Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel
1.         Justin Ashley             518
2.         Steve Torrence           510
3.         Brittany Force             472
4.         Leah Pruett                 462
5.         Austin Prock                443
6.         Mike Salinas               414
7.         Antron Brown             408
8.         Josh Hart                     378
9.         Shawn Langdon          335
10.       Doug Kalitta                325

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HART OUT EARLY AT POSTPONED EPPING NATIONALS

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

BRISTOL, TN (June 10, 2023) — A week later Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team were able to complete the 10^thNHRA New England Nationals. After battling the elements in Epping, New Hampshire for four day and only reaping two qualifying runs the championship contending team from Florida moved south with the rest of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series to Bristol Dragway to wrap up the seventh national event of the season.

Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster, photo credit Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery

Hart’s two runs at New England Dragway had the two-time Top Fuel national event winner sitting in the No. 4 qualified spot. On Friday at Bristol Dragway the team was afforded one qualifying run to get a baseline to go into elimination rounds Friday night. Hart posted the quickest run of the first session and was ready to take on two-time Top Fuel champion Brittany Force.

Under drastically different conditions Hart and Force launched together and as they approached halftrack Hart’s R+L Carrier Top Fuel dragster lost traction as Force powered past him on a clean run for the win. Hart was able to immediately turn his attention to the Thunder Valley Nationals today and made two quality passes. He will head into his second race of the weekend sitting No. 12 and looking at a first round match-up with Mike Salinas tomorrow.

“I am glad we didn’t try to finish the race in Epping,” said Hart. “It was cool to go right into eliminations on Friday night, but I would have of course wanted a better result. This R+L Carriers team isn’t going to hang our heads. We have the Thunder Valley Nationals tomorrow, so we put Epping behind us this morning and moved on.”
Qualifying Results
Q1: 3.902 sec, 317.27 mph; Qual. 3
Q2: 6.838 sec, 93.54 mph; Qual. 4
Bonus Points: +1 (3^rd quickest of Q1)
Race Results
First Round

Brittany Force, Monster Energy dragster, .050, 3.747, 334.48 mph def. Josh Hart, R+L Carriers dragster, .051, 4.201, 202.85 mph

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel
1.         Justin Ashley               518
2.         Steve Torrence           510
3.         Brittany Force             472
4.         Leah Pruett                 462
5.         Austin Prock                443
6.         Mike Salinas               414
7.         Antron Brown             408
8.         Josh Hart                    378
9.         Shawn Langdon          335
10.       Doug Kalitta                325

Uncategorized

JOHN FORCE AND BLUEDEF CHEVY REACH 265TH FINAL ROUND AT NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 10, 2023) – John Force and the BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS team raced their way to the final round of the postponed NHRA New England Nationals contested at Bristol Dragway. Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team as well as Robert Hight with the AAA Northern New England Chevy had quarterfinal finishes while Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team had a first round exit.
After picking up a first-round victory on Friday night over Tim Wilkerson, Force and the BlueDEF Chevy matched up with Alex Laughlin for the quarterfinals. Laughlin was the 150th different driver Force has faced in his career. The 16-time champion driver would have a 4.090-second pass at 318.54 mph to defeat Laughlin’s 5.204 at 153.06 after he smoked the tires.
In the semifinals, Force lined up next to J.R. Todd. With a .049-second reaction time and 4.105-second pass at 319.07 mph, Force and the BlueDEF team defeated Todd on a holeshot. Todd would have a 4.098 at 319.90.
Racing against longtime rival Bob Tasca III in the finals, Force would classically stage deep looking for the starting line advantage. His starting line strategy wouldn’t be enough for Tasca. Force would cross the finish line at 4.085 seconds and 320.51 mph but fall short to Tasca’s 4.032 at 304.32. For making it into the semifinals of the New England Nationals Force automatically competed in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and finished runner-up to earn two championship points to be added at the conclusion of the regular season and $3,000.
“It would have been nice to have won the Epping, N.H. NHRA New England Nationals race and the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, but I didn’t get the job done,” Force said. “We had a good race BlueDEF race car which keeps Chevrolet, PEAK, and all our sponsors happy. Cornwell was out at the track with a lot of their customers this weekend too. We’ll get back in the game tomorrow morning. It’s a new day and a new race tomorrow morning.”
Already with the first-round win over Alexis DeJoria, Robert Hight and the AAA Northern New England Chevrolet Camaro SS finished the NHRA New England Nationals in the quarterfinals with a 4.441-second pass at 202 mph which wasn’t enough for eventual race winner Bob Tasca III’s 4.418 at 267.69.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve crossed the finish line like that. It happens, you’re out here racing for a round win and it’s greasy. We put four cylinders out on one side so it turned on me in a hurry. Usually, you can catch it pretty quick but that one got me,” Hight said. “Anyways, sorry to the fans, to AAA and Cornwell and Chevy, we could have gotten another round win there.”
After defeating Josh Hart in the first round on Friday, Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team wrapped up the New England Nationals with a quarterfinal exit running a 4.322-second pass at 274.05 mph that was bettered by eventual race winner Justin Ashley’s 5.097 at 255.92.
“Epping, the New England Nationals was a little bit of a struggle for this Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team,” Force said. “We got beat in the second round, but we still had a couple of good laps under our belt that set us up for qualifying for Bristol and hopefully a long race day.”
Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster had their try at the NHRA New England Nationals victory come to an end on Friday night. They lined up against Steve Torrence and came up short with a 3.787 at 326.08 to Torrence’s 3.753 at 329.10.
“It was a tough first-round loss last night for this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team. There was a lot on the line that round and we came up short,” Prock said. “It’s frustrating but we will bounce back.”
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season continues with eliminations for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway Sunday, June 11 at 10 a.m.
-30-

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Lee Hartman Wins Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Bounty with First Round Win at Bristol Dragway

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 10, 2023) – For the first time in two races, Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown will have a new winner on Sunday at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Lee Hartman and his Carrier Services Group Dodge Drag Pak ended Lenny Lottig and his ITI Trailer & Truck Bodies COPO Camaro win streak with a first-round victory Saturday.

Lee Hartman, winner of $2,000 Flexjet bounty, photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

Qualified No.16, Hartman would pick up the first-round win against Lottig before leaving the starting line. Lottig would move too early by .006-seconds for a redlight start. Officially, Hartman ran 7.953-seconds at 172.81 mph, the quickest pass of the round.

“Getting that first round win was awesome. We have been struggling but we have been chipping away at this tune up for a while. We had the power we were just trying to get it to the ground. We have a fast racecar and you saw that in the first round,” Hartman said. “Lenny has been tearing it up the last couple of races. This was a great win, and I am looking forward to going after three more win lights tomorrow. We won best appearing car this race too, so I would love to get a double win.”

The victory came along with a $2,000 pay day thanks to the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program.

“I knew the bounty was out there when I pulled up beside Lenny. Lenny has been running really well but this Dodge can run with anyone out here. When I saw my win light, I was pretty excited. I am not sure what I will do with the $2,000 bounty money but I am sure I will find a way to put it back into this race car. There is always something. I want to thank everyone that has been helping me. This was a great way to get the race started.”

Coming into the session, Lottig had picked up his third consecutive No.1. qualifying position thanks to a 7.803-second pass at 175.48 mph on Friday afternoon.

Lenny Lottig, Thunder Valley Nationals No. 1 qualifier, photo credit NHRA

“It’s all thanks to my guys, Tommy and Dave. They have been so great, and the Ray Barton Racing engines have been running so strong for us,” Lottig said. “I had never been on a roll like this, the wins and No.1s. It was a first-time experience, and I was really liking it. Hopefully, we can pick it back up again at the next one.”

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chevy racing–nascar–sonoma–qualifying

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES SONOMA RACEWAY TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350 TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT JUNE 10, 2023

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 STARTING LINEUP: POS. DRIVER5th AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GABRIEL GLAS CAMARO ZL19th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL110th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL111th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL112th KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 MCLAREN CUSTOM GRILLS CAMARO ZL113th RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL114th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY PRIDE CAMARO ZL115th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 KUBOTA CAMARO ZL116th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL119th COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 SCHLUTER SYSTEMS CAMARO ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP: POS. DRIVER1. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)2. Tyler Reddick (Toyota)3. Michael McDowell (Ford)4. Christopher Bell (Toyota)5. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 10th ELLIOTT ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN: “It was really good to get into the second round (of qualifying). I feel like the first lap of our session was solid. I missed a couple of areas. That was going to be the big thing – was if you were going to be able to get it done on the first lap and not have to run again. I made a pretty big mistake on my second run and I was honestly surprised we got through, so that was encouraging. And then I about wrecked there in (turn) four on our last lap. I wish we could have gone a little faster, but I’m glad I didn’t wreck it because I was very, very close to not driving this car tomorrow. But like I said, definitely good to get through. We haven’t had a nice second round in a while, so that was nice.”
GRANT ENFINGER, NO. 42 SUNSEEKER RESORTS CAMARO ZL1 – Filling in for Noah Gragson at Sonoma Raceway this weekend, Enfinger made his first-ever laps in a Next Gen Camaro ZL1 ahead of his first career NASCAR Cup Series start. Post-qualifying quotes: OVER THE RADIO, THE TEAM SAID YOU WERE DOING A GOOD JOB WITH YOUR PACE. WHAT WAS IT LIKE FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT? “Yeah, it definitely took awhile to get comfortable with things just with it being a new car. I was really concentrating on the tire – just trying to feel the tires and trying not to do anything incredibly dumb early on. Definitely taking it slower to get up to speed. I felt more and more comfortable the more laps I ran. I felt like we were struggling a little bit on the backstretch there, but I got more and more comfortable there on my side, and I feel like we’ve made it a little bit better in qualifying, as well. Definitely need a few more laps before I can give them some good feedback, but overall, just getting more and more comfortable. I’m concentrating on my shifting, especially from second to third gear there. But overall, had a fun day here. I want to send a big ‘thank you’ to Noah (Gragson). He’s been trying to walk me through this for the last couple of days – about kind of transitioning from the truck to here and what that experience will be like, and how close the simulator world would be to where we are. I appreciate all of his help.” DID YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE IN THE SEAT? “Yeah, definitely I felt comfortable in the seat. Overall, the way the pedals feel, the throttle and the brake pedal – everything is a lot different than what I’m used to in my truck, but I’m comfortable in there.” WAS IT LIKE YOU’RE DRINKING FROM A FIRE HOSE WITH THE DIFFERENCES WITH THE SHIFTER AND ALL OF THE OTHER FACTORS YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH? “I think anytime you’re racing in the Cup Series for your first time is drinking from a fire hose. But to me, I think the biggest thing I’ve been concentrating on, that Noah (Gragson) wanted us to hone into during practice and go back and look at data on, is the tire. I remember right at the beginning of last season; I feel like you couldn’t slip these things at all. Obviously the crew chiefs and these teams have made those cars better and better. You still have road blocks you have to worry about and stuff like that in different parts of the track. I was trying to get used to the curbs and trying to see what I could and couldn’t take advantage of. And yeah, I definitely know already without looking at SMT, a problem spot I have. And then I’m sure Luke (Lambert) and the guys on the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team will be able to help me dial in some of the other little fine tunes.” WAS IT STRESSFUL OR WAS IT MORE LIKE – I FEEL SO GOOD IN THIS VEHICLE. “I think it was stressful leading up to it. But yeah, once practice started, it was like – let’s feel this thing out. Mike Beam, Luke Lambert and everybody did I think as good of a job as they could about not putting any extra pressure on me and just trying to let me learn a new car. It’s obviously an overwhelming experience through the course of the last few days, but Noah (Gragson) told me a few times and my wife told me a few times to just try to enjoy it. So I’ve been trying to do that and I was out there in practice.” WAS SHE STRESSED FOR YOU? “I think she didn’t like seeing me a little stressed. I think she could see that I was just trying to prepare as much as I could. I wasn’t spending quite as much time with her in the evening times – just been a little bit of an overwhelming last couple of days. But like I said, the first lap of practice, all of that kind of went away. It’s just a race car and trying to learn a new car. So thank you to Maury (Gallagher), Mike (Beam), Sunseeker Resorts and Jimmie (Johnson) – who’s ever there at Le Mans – and everybody that allowed this opportunity. Incredibly unfortunate circumstance with Noah (Gragson), but appreciate his help through this whole transition, as well.” WOULD YOU SAY THAT NOAH GRAGSON WAS MOST GIVING IN ALL OF THIS? I KNOW HE HAS TO FEEL TERRIBLE.. “He definitely feels terrible for missing the race, but I feel like above all, he’s been the most genuinely happy that I get to experience this opportunity. He’s mentioned that to me a few times about just soaking in the moment and enjoying it. He means that from the heart, so that’s pretty cool.” ENFINGER ON THE OPPORTUNITY: “I don’t think anything can really prepare you for this, but I’ve been racing my whole life and it’s just a new race car. I’ve very much enjoyed practice and qualifying. And like I said, I have a lot to learn for tomorrow, but I’ve enjoyed everything to this point.”

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JUSTIN ASHLEY EARNS DELAYED EPPING VICTORY

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

Torrence, Capps lead Toyota in qualifying

BRISTON, TENN (June 10, 2023) – Justin Ashley’s continued strong performance at the starting line came in clutch as the New York-native delivered a hole-shot victory over Top Fuel legend Tony Schumacher in the rain-delayed New England Nationals. Ashley defeated Canadian Dan Mercier in the first round that was ran on Friday, before besting Brittany Force, Team Toyota teammate Steve Torrence and Schumacher on Saturday. It is Ashley’s third win of the season, and helps Toyota get ever closer to the 200-win mark as Ashley’s victory is Toyota’s 197th NHRA win.

In Bristol qualifying, Torrence, Ashley and Doug Kalitta all will pick their lanes in the first round of eliminations that will now begin at 10am local time.

In Funny Car action, J.R. Todd earned his first semi-final round appearance since advancing to the final round in Gainesville. Todd defeated Cruz Pedregon and points leader Matt Hagan before coming up just short of John Force in the semi-finals. Todd qualified seventh for Sunday’s Bristol eliminations. Ron Capps (second) and Alexis DeJoria (fifth) also will have lane choice in the first round tomorrow.

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

Bristol Dragway

Race 8 of 21

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Leah Pruett*	Rush Truck Center Top Fuel Dragster	1st (3.745)	S. Massey
Steve Torrence	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	3rd (3.753)	S. Langdon
Justin Ashley	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	4th (3.755)	D. Foley
Doug Kalitta	Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	6th (3.764)	C. Millican
Shawn Langdon	Bounty Hunter Kalitta Air Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	14th (3.842)	S. Torrence
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	15th (3.907)	B. Force

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Robert Hight*	Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro Funny Car	1st (3.938)	A. Laughlin
Ron Capps	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	2nd (3.962)	D. Richards
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	5th (3.999)	C. Pedregon
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	7th (4.025)	J. Force

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Race Winner – Epping

TF Qualifying Result: 4th

What have the past two days been like?

“It has been a long week to get to this race. I feel so grateful. When you come to a race – anything there is an opportunity to win it is special – but when you have the opportunity to win three races in one weekend, especially at a historic facility like Bristol, it just makes it that much more special. It has been a whirlwind of a two days already – a little bit exhausting, a little bit tiring, but it is so, so worth it for our Phillips Connect Toyota team.”

Do you even think about all of the world champions that you beat today?

“Everybody out here is tough. I don’t think about it during the race, but after, I think it is important to reflect and appreciate when you go up against some of the best in the world. Each one of these drivers is fantastic. Each one of these teams is great. It’s an honor just to line up next to them, so to turn on a win light with Mike Green, Tommy DeLago (crew chiefs), and the guys is truly special.”

This was a team win. Can you talk about what that means to you?

“The key word there is team. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. I feel more than confident in saying we have the best. Just grateful on everybody on this Maynard Ashley, Phillips Connect, Toyota team. Even going into the third round, it was a little wacky. It was a quick turnaround, and we did some damage, which we never normally do, but thankfully we got the win. I just have to credit the guys for putting everything together in time. The job that they always do is phenomenal, but especially this weekend working in the heat and getting it done on a Saturday, really is just amazing.”

Do you think it is in the cards to sweep this weekend?

“I don’t know. That was our plan. That was our objective coming in – was to win everything, like it is every race, but it is so, so difficult out here. Now our focus is just on the here and now, in the present, enjoying this win because they are so hard to come by, but come tomorrow, it’s in the past. We can only enjoy this for a short period of time, but yeah, I think we have a great opportunity to win tomorrow, but there are 15 other cars that feel the same way. I know we are going to put on a really good show for the fans.”

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

Epping Result – Semi-Final

FC Qualifying Result: 7th

Did today feel pretty good, being able to get a couple round wins?

“Yeah, it was nice to go some rounds. We’ve definitely been struggling on that end. The car has gone down the track every run, just need to be a tick quicker. We didn’t qualify like we had hoped, but at the end of the day, we’ve gone down the track every run so far. That is something to build off of. You learn every time you go down the track.”

Is it nice to feel some consistency starting to show up?

“For sure. It is something that we’ve been lacking here lately. Going down the track like that, you learn every time. Our DHL Toyota GR Supra has definitely been consistent. That’s a good thing, just hoping we can put some consistent runs together on race day when it matters.”

Are you fired up with your rematch with John Force tomorrow?

“I get fired up whoever I race. It doesn’t matter. It’s race day. I don’t care if it’s John Force or Laurie Force, I want to beat whoever is in the lane next to me.”

Uncategorized

chevy racing–nascar–sonoma–kyle busch

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES SONOMA RACEWAY TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT JUNE 10, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 MCLAREN CUSTOM GRILLS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Sonoma Raceway. Press Conference Transcript: THE LACK OF STAGE BREAKS ON ROAD COURSES.. HOW WILL THAT IMPACT WHAT WE SEE HERE AT SONOMA RACEWAY? “Yeah, I mean to hear whether or not it’s a two-stop or a three-stop race, I think is still kind of to be determined based on pace fall-off and things like that. But that’s what the guys are initially looking at and see where that kind of falls. But yeah, you would always jump the stages and then you’d have the cautions, and then you’d have to go back green and all that sort of stuff. So I feel like making it a more traditional road course race lends itself – and we kind of saw it at COTA too – where there was actually still a lot of cautions, where maybe guys kind of knew or felt the pressure that if it gets too strung out, there’s no chance for me to keep it closed up and they’ll run into somebody and create a yellow. So that could certainly sometimes be the case as well here at Sonoma (Raceway). The leader here, until he runs into lap traffic, typically has a good advantage of just having that clean air and everything else to kind of walk away a little bit. So it makes it a lot tougher to try and come from the back without restarts.”
NASCAR ANNOUNCED SOME CHANGES TO THE CARS EFFECTIVE AT ATLANTA (MOTOR SPEEDWAY) BASED ON WHAT THEY SAW FROM THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NO. 5/NO. 41 ACCIDENT. I’M CURIOUS WHAT YOU THINK OF THOSE AND ANY LINGERING CONCERNS AS FAR AS REAR IMPACTS WITH (NOAH) GRAGSON BEING OUT THIS WEEK?“Yeah, bummer for him. We saw a few big impacts last weekend and his seemed to be the worse, just after the brunt of how it all transpired – not being able to just get up beside the wall and not take a huge hit. The safety advances of the car and things like that – that’s all great, right. We needed to withstand big hits and hits like that and whatnot. I feel like we keep adding material and keep adding material and keep making these things heavier. We used to run 3,400 pound cars and now we’re at 3,600 pound cars, so what’s the limit? What’s the level of how heavy is too heavy?
Just talking to some of the engineers that I’ve spoken to – there are a few areas of the car that are really, really, really stiff and don’t have any sort of crush zone like the old car used to, and that’s why those bars broke. And so we didn’t look at any of that.. we didn’t cut any stuff out to soften up the frame rail, for instance, to let the frame rail flex. All we did was add stiffeners to make it even heavier and stiffer. So again, I’m not a genius, but at some point we all have to reimagine some things.”
YOUR WIN AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY WAS YOUR 63RD. NEXT ON THE LIST ABOVE YOU IS DALE EARNHARDT SR. WITH 76 AND JIMMIE (JOHNSON) AND CALE YARBOROUGH WITH 83. DO YOU LOOK AT THAT AS REALISTIC GOALS THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE?“Yeah, I mean I would have said during the 2015 to 2019 timeframe, when I was winning five or six a season, that it was definitely attainable. And then we kind of slowed down the last few years and I would have probably told you I didn’t know if I’d get there. And then this year, we’ve got three and I feel like there’s plenty more. So hopefully we can continue to showcase that at RCR and with the No. 8 Chevy to go out there and win some more. I think anything is possible. I think it would be more fair to talk about it when I at least hit 70, which that could probably happen by the end of next year, so hopefully it does.”
NOW THAT YOU’VE GOT THREE WINS, PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO SAY THAT WE THOUGHT AUSTIN DILLON WOULD LEARN MORE FROM KYLE (BUSCH) OR HE WOULD WIN. IS IT HARD FOR HIM AND THEN HOW DO YOU BOOST HIM AND HELP HIM? “Yeah, I would say Austin (Dillon) is actually – given his finishes and they’re probably not as good as he wants them to be – but where he comes from in a race, starting deep in the field, he’s been in some unfortunate circumstances on Friday’s or Saturday’s to get himself not qualified well. He flat out out-ran us at Bristol (Motorsport Speedway) Dirt, Martinsville (Speedway), North Wilkesboro (Motor Speedway).. the places with the low downforce stuff that us on the No. 8 are struggling with. Like last weekend, for instance, he ran in the teens for a while and he was slated to run probably eighth to tenth. So I don’t think that’s out of the ordinary for him and those guys. They are with a new crew chief with Keith (Rodden) coming over and getting ingrained into the system.. it’s probably a little bit more difficult on that side with those guys. But I still think there’s time and Austin is fine. He’s a competitor. He’s got a lot going on behind the scenes, as well. But I really enjoy working with him. He’s been a great teammate. We say a lot of the same things and talk a lot about how to continue to improve and make our stuff go, so that part of it has been really fun.”
I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE CURVE IS OF YOU BRINGING STUFF UP.. “No.. I mean I would say obviously he looked to me and wanted me to help elevate RCR and also help elevate himself. I feel like I’ve been able to do both of those things. I just don’t know the results are necessarily indicative to Austin’s (Dillon) standards or maybe to our other stands, and I think they’re still a work in progress on that front.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CHICAGO STREET COURSE RACE? “(laughs).. to hit the walls minimally, where you don’t create too much damage and you can still continue, and hopefully you don’t get pile-driven into a wreck if the track gets blocked.
I don’t know.. it’s going to be tight; it’s going to be narrow. So we’ll just kind of have to see when we get there about what exactly it looks like. Looking at it on the simulator is probably entirely different than what it might feel like or be like when you get out there on the race track.”
AS THE ONLY ACTIVE DRIVE IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES WITH TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS RIGHT NOW, HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE PLAYOFFS? WITH THREE WINS, YOU’RE LOCKED-IN, BUT CAN YOU TAKE EVERYTHING THAT YOU’VE LEARNED FROM THE OTHER TWO, EVEN THOUGH YOUR WITH ANOTHER ORGANIZATION, AND HAVE YOUR STRATEGY MENTALLY GOING IN THERE TO KNOW HOW YOU WANT TO APPROACH IT THIS YEAR? “Yeah, I mean I feel like the consensus of how we’ve done things when I had Adam was always really good. We came up with a good system, good format, that we looked at and kind of followed and it seemed to work really well. I need to talk to Randall (Burnett) about that.. haven’t really gotten that far ahead yet. But it would be a good discussion point to look at some of that stuff; some of the same things we did there.
It’s all about maximizing stage points, whether you’re winning stages and getting those points, which is awesome. Or just maximizing your stage points throughout a race to get the best finish possible all day long to get those all-important points. That’s probably one thing that we really executed well with at World Wide Technology Raceway – going one, two, one. But weeks prior to that, we’ve kind of been on the struggle bus with being able to maximize our stage points through the year. If I could have gone back and recalculated all of the stage points that we’ve probably lost, we’d be the points leader, you know what I mean. So it’s just a matter of hitting it perfect.”
WE’VE GOTTEN TO SEE SOME OF THE PARTS THAT HAVE BEEN CONFISCATED RECENTLY WITH NASCAR DISPLAYING THEM. FROM A DRIVER’S PERSPECTIVE, ARE YOU GUYS INTERESTED IN SEEING WHAT OTHER TEAMS HAVE BEEN DOING, LIKE THE PART FROM THE NO. 14? “(Laughs).. I wish we had a ‘what an idiot’ award. I mean even if you can’t find that part, you know you can call one of the other race teams and say – hey, do you guys have this.. can we buy it from you? That blows my mind.. I don’t get it. For as little as that probably meant, that was a huge fine to the pocket book and points book.
So yeah, anyways – I think it’s kind of cool that they show all of that stuff; show exactly what’s going on and what guys are doing. What’s crazy about it, though, is all the penalties that have come out of the R&D center – I guarantee you that you could take 15 of them after every single race and there would be something wrong with 14 of them, you know? It’s all the tricks and what you’re trying to do and what you can get away with, all of the time.”
DID YOU ENJOY INDUCTING KURT (BUSCH) INTO THE WEST COAST HALL OF FAME THE OTHER NIGHT? “Yeah, thank you for bringing that up. Congratulations to Kurt (Busch) to being inducted into the West Coast Motorsports Hall of Fame. That’s really, really cool. Something special I remember years ago was seeing some of the names that were getting enshrined and inducted in. It’s really neat to have Kurt be a part of that and hopefully one day obviously me be a part of that.
But growing up in Las Vegas as two little punk kids and making it big time with not a lot of money and just a lot of talent – it was certainly really special. He did a great job of kind of paving the way for me through other circumstances also to get to the levels that he was able to get to, and beat the doors down that he was able to beat down and become a champion and a driver with a bunch of success. It’s been fun to see that, although I’m sure he kind of wished he could have ran out the rest of his time in his Cup career like he wanted to, but I think he’s made a lot of the right decisions in all of that. It’s good to see him rewarded for his time spent here in NASCAR.”

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6-hour report: Cadillac leads first-ever laps

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

Nos. 2 and 3 Cadillac V-Series.Rs in lead pack on changeable Circuit de la Sarthe

LE MANS, France (June 10, 2023) – Cadillac led its first-ever laps in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday.
Earl Bamber had the distinction of driving the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, to the front of the 62-car field in the second hour of the endurance classic.
Media resources: Cadillac Racing information, photos, history at Le Mans and much more

What they’re saying
No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.REarl Bamber: “It was great to finally get the big race underway. The whole team at Cadillac Racing has been working toward this since mid-2021 and to be at the front and fight is fantastic. It’s been a long, hard race already. There are a lot of cars that have fallen out. Hopefully we’ll stay clean through the night and can fight for the lead and chase some of our dreams.” (About his stint): “Tough start to the race. We led off and were about P5 or P6. It was difficult with the track as green from the rain earlier, but second and third stint we know our Cadillac is really strong in those stints. So, as we started to get there, we started to move forward and led the first ever laps for Cadillac at Le Mans. Proud of that.” (About the No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R incident): “It was a real shame for the 311; I think they were going to be a really strong car. The guys did an amazing job repairing it. They are going to stay in the race and help us out with tire compounds and stuff and give us maximum info because the most important thing is one of these Cadillacs wins. It doesn’t matter which one because we’re all here as Cadillac Racing’s three-car effort.”
No. 3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais: “We have a good car and it’s just a matter of running a clean race, and we did but we can’t control the outside factors. It’s a shame. The right-rear puncture didn’t seem to impact us so much with the slow zone and the tire deg on the first stint is always pretty high, so putting new tires on helped us catch up pretty quickly. And then the real bummer is the GT car that got it all wrong in between the slow zones, drove right through and hit us in the right rear.”
Scott Dixon: “Definitely a tough first stint just with weather and a lot of slow zones. Pretty much the only drive time I had was in slow zones. With that massive downpour, I actually spun the car and was worried I was going to get hit from behind like two or three other cars behind me. Luckily, I just grazed the wall and I had a flat tire. We had to pit that lap anyway. Nothing really lost there, and the next hour or so was just under the Safety Car. Hopefully we get some dry running and show what this Cadillac can do. The car is great.”No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RChris Mitchum, No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R director of operations: “I commend the guys for their composure. We’ll just keep working at it and see what we get. These things happen and we’re regrouping. Unfortunately, heavy suspension damage to the left-front, bodywork also had to be replaced and some things under the car were knocked loose.”Après six heures: Cadillac mène ses tous premiers tours au Mans
LE MANS, France (le 10 juin, 2023) – Cadillac a mené ses tout premiers tours aux 24 Heures du Mans.Earl Bamber a la distinction de conduire la Cadillac V-Series.R n°2 en tête du peloton de 62 voitures dans la deuxième heure de la classique d’endurance.
Après six heures de course dans des conditions changeantes, la Cadillac V-Series.R n°2 occupait la sixième place avec Alex Lynn au volant. La Cadillac V-Series.R n°3 – qui a dû s’arrêter une fois pour changer l’aileron arrière et une seconde fois pour changer l’avant après des incidents et une pénalité d’une minute pour une infraction technique concernant la pression des pneus – est neuvième avec Renger van der Zande au volant.
La Cadillac V-Series.R n°311 de Whelen Engineering a été endommagée lors d’un incident au 1er tour à la sortie de la chicane de Daytona. L’équipe a travaillé rapidement et sans interruption pour remettre la voiture sur la piste. Les réparations et le remplacement des pièces ont duré environ 1 heure et 18 minutes. Avec Alexander Sims aux commandes, l’Hypercar comptait 17 tours de retard.
Earl Bamber, Cadillac V-Series.R n°2: « Cela a été formidable d’entamer enfin la grande course. Toute l’équipe de Cadillac Racing travaille dans ce sens depuis le milieu de l’année 2021 et c’est fantastique d’être aux avant-postes et de se battre. La course a déjà été longue et difficile. Il y a beaucoup de voitures qui sont sorties. J’espère que nous resterons ‘clean’ toute la nuit et que nous pourrons nous battre pour la tête et poursuivre certains de nos rêves. »« Le début de la course a été difficile. Nous avons pris la tête et étions aux alentours de P5 ou P6. C’était difficile avec une piste verte à cause de la pluie, mais dans les deuxième et troisième relais, nous savons que notre Cadillac est vraiment forte dans ces moments-là. Nous avons donc commencé à avancer et avons bouclé les tout premiers tours en tête dans l’histoire de Cadillac au Mans. J’en suis fier. »« C’est vraiment dommage pour la 311, je pense qu’elle allait être une voiture très forte. Les gars ont fait un travail remarquable pour la réparer. Ils vont rester dans la course et nous aider avec les compounds des pneus et nous donner un maximum d’informations parce que le plus important est que l’une de ces Cadillac gagne. Peu importe laquelle, car nous sommes tous ici dans le cadre de l’effort des trois voitures de Cadillac Racing. »
Sebastien Bourdais, Cadillac V-Series.R n°3: « Nous avons une bonne voiture et il s’agit juste de faire une course impeccable, ce que nous avons fait, mais nous ne maîtrisons pas les facteurs extérieurs. C’est dommage. La crevaison à l’arrière droit n’a pas semblé nous affecter outre mesure avec la slow zone et la dégradation des pneus lors du premier relais est toujours assez élevée, donc le fait de chausser des pneus neufs nous a permis de rattraper notre retard assez rapidement. Et puis, ce qui est vraiment dommage, c’est qu’une voiture GT, qui s’est trompée entre les slow zones, a roulé à fond et nous a percuté à l’arrière droit. Nous aurons une vraie Cadillac une fois que nous aurons repris la course. »
Scott Dixon, Cadillac V-Series.R n°3: « Le premier relais a été certainement difficile à cause de la météo et des nombreuses slow zones. C’est à peu près le seul temps de conduite que j’ai eu dans les slow zones. Avec cette pluie diluvienne, j’ai fait un tête-à-queue et je craignais de me faire percuter par deux ou trois autres voitures derrière moi. Heureusement, j’ai juste frôlé le mur et j’ai crevé. De toute façon, nous devions rentrer au stand ce tour. Il n’y a rien de vraiment perdu, et l’heure suivante s’est déroulée sous la safety car. J’espère que nous pourrons rouler sur le sec et montrer ce que cette Cadillac peut faire. La voiture est géniale. »Chris Mitchum, Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R director of operations: « Je félicite les gars pour leur sang-froid. Nous allons continuer à travailler et nous verrons ce que nous obtiendrons. Ce sont des choses qui arrivent et nous nous regroupons. Malheureusement, la suspension de l’avant gauche a été lourdement endommagée, la carrosserie a dû être remplacée et certains éléments sous la voiture se sont détachés. »

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CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Six-Hour Update

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

No. 33 C8.R driving back through field after early-race mechanical, safety car issues LE MANS, France (June 10, 2023) – Corvette Racing on a mission – attempting to drive back through the field after a couple of issues in the opening quarter of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Ben Keating was back in for his second run the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which ran 15th in the GTE Am class as the Centenary Le Mans race entered the seventh hour. Keating, Nico Varrone and starting driver Nicky Catsburg rotated through the Corvette as dusk began to fall on the 8.5-mile track.
Catsburg established a strong pace early from the lead before the first of two safety-car periods in the first six hours. The team elected to take fuel early to gain an advantage in the first stint and re-emerged in 12th. Disaster struck not long after as the Corvette crew had to replace the right-front damper after Catsburg radioed in that something didn’t feel right.
The service in the garage was a quick change but it still put the C8.R down two laps. Class pole-winner Keating – who got in the Corvette while the damper was still being fixed – began to claw back time before heavy rain pelted parts of the circuit.
Keating survived the deluge, and Corvette race engineers called him to the pitlane for wet tires. The race’s second safety car period came out moments later, giving the team hope of gaining a lap back because the C8.R would be ahead of the class leader in a train behind one of the three safety cars. For reasons unknown to the team, a group of cars – including the GTE Am leader – were allowed to exit pit lane before the next of the three safety cars came around. The mistake meant that the Corvette was trapped behind the class leader and couldn’t advance around the track to catch back up after all the safety car queues moved.
Undeterred, Varrone drove a speedy triple stint that saw him make up more than a half-lap on the field with times between four and seven seconds quicker than the rest of GTE Am.
The next Corvette Racing update is scheduled for 4 a.m. CT/10 p.m. ET.

CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION
Corvette Racing media information in both English and French is updated and available for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Materials include Le Mans race updates and quotes, Corvette Racing stats and figures, Corvette Racing racecar comparisons, Corvette Racing Fast Facts and driver biographies

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It was very strange. Everything was going fine. The car was running great and was all good. Out of nowhere, prototypes passed me and after that I had a weird feeling. Maybe this was because I had to go off-line and had some pickup, but it wouldn’t disappear. The car was moving around a lot and it wouldn’t disappear. The car was moving around a lot under braking and at all speed. So I told the guys that I think we had an issue. When we got it into the pitlane, it was the damper and we lost two laps. The crew still did an awesome job and couldn’t have done it quicker. It’s really tough, though, to come back from this spot. It seems like a disastrous race with the safety cars. But our main competitors in the championship are out of the race, so even with zero points we will still lead the championship. So we need to focus and get as many points as possible. Maybe we can get back on the lead lap. I kind of doubt it, but we will never give. Let’s see. The car is definitely fast, and everything went well. So I know we have a good car.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We had a great start but also an unexpected mechanical issue on the car. We are racing back. The team decided that I should get some of time out of the way. It was so treacherous. There were cars going off everywhere. Before they said anything about rain, I went into the Porsche Curves and it was a downpour. I just went straight and didn’t want to turn the wheel because I was afraid I’d be afraid. The next time around there, I was tip-toeing around and told the guys that I thought I was giving up too much time. They told me I was going to box and have a driver change, and I was very grateful for that news! The moved looked brilliant at the time. We put wet tires on and everyone else should have had to stop for wet tires. But the long safety car and the officials’ messing up the safety car procedure at pit exit didn’t help us and we didn’t get our lap back. But there’s a lot of time left. We’ll keep going.”

CORVETTE RACING AU MANS: Après six heuresLa C8.R n°33 revient dans la course après des problèmes mécaniques et de sécurité en début de course LE MANS, France (le 10 juin 2023) – Le Corvette Racing a une mission – tenter de revenir dans le peloton après avoir connu quelques problèmes dans le premier quart d’heure des 24 Heures du Mans.Ben Keating était au volant de la Chevrolet Corvette C8.R Mobil 1/SiriusXM n°33 pour son deuxième relais. La Corvette C8.R était 15ème de la catégorie GTE Am à la septième heure de la course. Keating, Nico Varrone et le pilote de départ Nicky Catsburg se sont relayés dans la Corvette alors que le crépuscule commençait à tomber sur le circuit. Catsburg était en tête avant la première des deux périodes de voiture de sécurité au cours des six premières heures de course. Le team choisissait de prendre de l’essence tôt pour prendre l’avantage dans le premier relais et repartit en 12ème position. La catastrophe survient peu après, lorsque l’équipe de la Corvette doit remplacer l’amortisseur avant droit après que Catsburg ait signalé par radio que quelque chose ne tournait pas rond. L’intervention dans le garage a été rapide, mais la C8.R a tout de même perdu deux tours. Le poleman de la catégorie, Keating, qui était monté dans la Corvette alors que l’amortisseur était encore en cours de réparation, commençait à gagner du temps avant qu’une pluie battante ne s’abatte sur certaines parties du circuit. Keating survit au déluge, et les ingénieurs de course de Corvette le font entrer au stand pour chausser des pneus pluie. La deuxième période de voiture de sécurité de la course est apparue quelques instants plus tard, donnant à l’équipe l’espoir de gagner un tour car la C8.R serait devant le leader de la catégorie dans un train derrière l’une des trois safety cars. Pour des raisons inconnues à l’équipe, un groupe de voitures – dont le leader de la catégorie GTE Am – a été autorisé à sortir de la voie des stands avant l’arrivée de la prochaine des trois safety cars. Cette erreur signifiait que la Corvette se retrouvait coincée derrière le leader de la catégorie et qu’elle ne pouvait pas progresser sur la piste pour le rattraper avant la fin de l’intervention des safety cars. Sans se décourager, Varrone a réalisé un triple relais rapide qui lui a permis de gagner plus d’un demi-tour sur le peloton, avec des temps au tour de quatre à sept secondes plus vite que le reste de la catégorie GTE Am. NICKY CATSBURG, MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R n°33: « C’était très bizarre. Tout allait bien. La voiture fonctionnait très bien et tout allait bien. Des prototypes m’ont dépassé et j’ai eu une sensation bizarre. C’est peut-être parce que j’ai dû sortir de la ligne et que j’ai pris un peu de ‘pickup’, mais ça n’a pas disparu. La voiture bougeait beaucoup et ça ne disparaissait pas. La voiture bougeait beaucoup au freinage et à toute vitesse. J’ai donc dit aux gars que je pensais que nous avions un problème. Lorsque je suis arrivé au stand, nous avons constaté qu’il s’agissait de l’amortisseur et nous avons perdu deux tours. L’équipe a tout de même fait un travail formidable et n’aurait pas pu aller plus vite. C’est vraiment difficile de revenir de cette position. La course semble désastreuse avec les safety cars. Mais nos principaux concurrents au championnat sont hors course, donc même avec zéro point, nous restons en tête du championnat. Nous devons donc nous concentrer pour marquer le plus de points possible. Peut-être pourrons-nous revenir dans le tour de tête. J’en doute un peu, mais nous ne renoncerons jamais. Nous verrons bien. La voiture est vraiment rapide et tout s’est bien passé. Je sais donc que nous avons une bonne voiture. » BEN KEATING, MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R n°33: « Nous avions pris un bon départ, mais nous avons eu un problème mécanique inattendu sur la voiture. Nous sommes en train de revenir. L’équipe a décidé que je devais prendre mon temps. C’était tellement dangereux. Il y avait des voitures qui partaient dans tous les sens. Avant qu’ils ne parlent de pluie, je suis entré dans les virages Porsche et il pleuvait des cordes. J’ai continué tout droit et je n’ai pas voulu tourner le volant parce que j’avais peur d’être effrayé. La fois suivante, j’ai avancé sur la pointe des pieds et j’ai dit aux gars que je pensais que je perdais trop de temps. Ils m’ont dit de rentrer au stand pour changer de pilote, et j’ai été très reconnaissant de cette nouvelle ! La manœuvre semblait brillante à ce moment-là. Nous avons mis des pneus pluie et tous les autres auraient dû s’arrêter pour cela. Mais la longue voiture de sécurité et l’erreur des officiels dans la procédure de la voiture de sécurité à la sortie des stands ne nous ont pas aidés et nous n’avons pas récupéré notre tour. Mais il reste beaucoup de temps. Nous allons continuer. »

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chevy Racing–nascar–sonoma–kyle larson

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

NASCAR CUP SERIES

SONOMA RACEWAY

TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 10, 2023

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Sonoma Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:

YOU WERE FASTEST IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES’ PRACTICE YESTERDAY. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN TODAY FOR XFINITY AND FOR CUP?

“I don’t know.. I mean obviously I get excited about qualifying here because we’ve done so well in it the last handful of years. And then excited to run the Xfinity race later on, just to try and learn as much as I can. I qualify well here, but I don’t typically race the best. So yeah, there’s still a lot of areas to improve on and get better. I’m excited for the opportunity and hoping for a good weekend.”

I KNOW YOU’RE A HUMBLE GUY, BUT AFTER XFINITY PRACTICE YESTERDAY, A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE SAYING EVERYBODY WAS PICKING KYLE LARSON TO WIN HERE. DID YOU THINK THE EFFORT WAS REALLY GOOD YESTERDAY IN XFINITY, AND ARE YOU FEELING LIKE YOU’RE GOING TO BE REALLY STRONG TODAY?

“Yeah, I know we’ll have a shot, for sure. I don’t get too overly excited because I think I was like 1.2-seconds faster in practice at Road America too, and I wasn’t even the fastest car in the race and got beat.

Yeah, I don’t know. This is the first time for a lot of the guys here (in the Xfinity Series), so I know the spread will get much tighter after they’ve had a night to sleep on it. But yeah, regardless, I know that No. 17 Chevy is fast every time it hits the track, so we’re going to have a good shot to have a good run.”

WITH NO CAUTIONS AT THE STAGE ENDS, DOES THAT MAKE THINGS A LOT SIMPLER FOR YOU, OR DO YOU NOT REALLY GET INTO TIRE STRATEGY AND JUST PIT WHEN CLIFF (DANIELS) TELLS YOU?

“Yeah, I don’t know.. I just go until they say to come in. But I think, yes – it makes it simpler. It makes qualifying even more important I think because hopefully you qualify well and the race could potentially run out.. I know that won’t happen, but yeah you just have a better shot of staying towards the front. Rather than with the stage breaks before – if you stay out, then you’re restarting like 20-something and it’s just hard and you’re in the hornet’s nest. So it should be a little bit more straight forward, hopefully. But depending on when cautions fall, it can still get kind of mixed up.”

NASCAR ANNOUNCED MORE CHANGES TO THE CARS THAT ARE EFFECTIVE FOR ATLANTA (MOTOR SPEEDWAY) BASED ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF YOUR WRECK WITH RYAN PREECE. HAVE YOU SEEN THE CHANGES AND ANY THOUGHTS ON HOW NASCAR WENT ABOUT FIGURING THOSE OUT?

“Yeah, I mean not an engineer, so I don’t know. I can’t look at it and really give you an opinion on how well they did with the changes or what not. But I am very happy that me being in that wreck at Talladega (Superspeedway) and seeing how close it got to being really bad – seeing them go straight into action, compile data and make quick moves on improving the safety was something I was happy to see.

Yeah, I think it’s a great thing and great for them to move along quickly.”

FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, IT APPEARS THAT THE DRIVERS HAVE A LITTLE MORE EXCITEMENT ABOUT SONOMA RACEWAY BECAUSE IT DOESN’T HAVE THAT INHERENT CHAOS OF LIKE INDIANAPOLIS. IS THAT TRUE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, AS WELL?

“Sure.. I mean I think there’s a little bit of that, yeah. I mean there’s no 90 degree corner directly after restarts, so yeah I think this is more of a true road course race than the newer ones on our schedule. But I think everybody looks forward to Sonoma (Raceway) because of the area – the region that we’re in and the stuff to do outside of the race track, as well. But then yeah, the the race track is flowy. It’s got pace fall-off, which is a lot of what we like as drivers. Yeah, it’s just a good track.”

AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WON HERE, DO YOU HAVE A LAYOUT THAT YOU PREFER?

“I like the layout with the carousel, personally. But I think for viewership-wise for the fans, I think this layout is a little bit better maybe. I don’t know.. I like the carousel because you can kind of reshape that corner a few different ways and set people up either for the next braking zone and stuff like that. Where with turn four and how it is now, it’s not really very easy to pass. It’s kind of a fast corner, too. And then that leads into turn seven, which is a passing zone.

I just feel like there’s a little bit more room for mistakes with the carousel with it being really bumpy getting in and you can kind of reshape that corner and setup some passes. But like I said, I think viewership-wise, it sounds like it’s maybe better this way.”

HOW HAVE YOU GROWN AS A ROAD COURSE RACER THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? OBVIOUSLY YOU GOT THE POLE HERE (SONOMA RACEWAY) A COUPLE OF TIMES AND YOU’VE WON HERE AND AT WATKINS GLEN (INTERNATIONAL). HOW HAVE YOU ADAPTED AS A ROAD COURSE RACER – FROM WHERE YOU STARTED TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’ve always qualified well at road courses. COTA (Circuit of The Americas) is probably the only one that I don’t really qualify that good at, for whatever reason. But I don’t know.. I’ve always qualified well. And when I was at Chip Ganassi Racing, I didn’t race good at all, especially here (at Sonoma Raceway). We would qualify on the pole and then run like 20th in the race. At Watkins Glen (International), I would qualify good and we could race better there.

But since I got to Hendrick Motorsports, I still qualify well and our race car is good. I’m not sure where I’ve developed. I think our race cars are just really good and can kind of handle me being crazy, abusing my tires and stuff.

I don’t know.. I look forward to road courses just because it’s different – it’s fun and it’s something I feel like I’m good at.”

ON THURSDAY, ONE OF THE DRIVERS SAID THAT BECAUSE THIS HAS SO FEW PASSING OPPORTUNITIES, THAT YOU ALMOST HAVE TO BE AGGRESSIVE TO TRY AND CREATE SOME PASSING ZONES SOMEWHERE ON THE TRACK. HOW DO YOU BALANCE BEING AGGRESSIVE ON A RACE TRACK WITH BEING CAUTIOUS ON A TRACK WHERE IT’S PRETTY NARROW AND YOU HAVE A LOT OF TIRE WEAR?

“I don’t know.. every road course is tough to pass on, so I’m not sure. Honestly, I feel like maybe there’s a little more passing zones here (at Sonoma Raceway) than some others. Like Watkins Glen (International), kind of turn one, maybe.. the bus stop is really tough to pass in (turn) two. That’s it, really. Turn one is really the only good passing zone. Where here, you kind of have a little bit in (turn) four. (Turn) seven is obviously really good. (Turn) 11 is obviously really good. Restarts and stuff, you can make some moves. Off of (turn) eight to nine.. and off of (turn) two to three. So I feel like there’s more passing zones here if your car is good. But hell, ovals are tough to pass on, too. It’s just racing.”

THEY KIND OF PATCHED AN AREA IN TURN THREE AND BY THE CURB IN TURN EIGHT. DURING XFINITY PRACTICE, DID YOU NOTICE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THOSE AREAS?

“I thought that in (turn) three that you would feel it.. feel the new patch. But I didn’t really feel a grip change there, which was kind of nice. And then yeah, (turn) eight is where I think they added it right next to the curb, and again, you don’t really have much weight in your left-front tire right there, so you don’t feel the grip of the patch.

But yeah, I don’t know. Maybe as it rubbers in (turn) three, maybe you’ll feel some grip there, but it didn’t feel any different. So, it was fine.”

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BROWNIE BAKES ‘EM: Flawless Feature Leads Brian Brown to Knoxville World of Outlaws Victory

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

The Knoxville regular defeats the World of Outlaws for the second straight JuneKNOXVILLE, IA (June 9, 2023) – The Knoxville Raceway résumé continues to grow for Brian Brown.In his more than two decades of driving a Sprint Car, the Grain Valley, MO native has mastered the historic half mile. And that mastery was on full display Friday night at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. Brown took the lead from Austin McCarl on lap two of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash and never looked back on his way to victory.Not only did Brown never look back. He never let off the throttle for all 25 laps of the Feature.“That’s why I go to the gym three or four days a week because I ran my last lap as hard as I did my first lap,” Brown said. The win was the seventh of Brown’s career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. A trio of those triumphs have come at Knoxville including another last June. The 44-year-old now owns 63 overall Knoxville victories, good enough for second all-time as he continues to chip away at his uncle, Danny Lasoski’s, record of 112.But the most important fact from Friday night’s glory had nothing to do with numbers for Brown. It was about pride. It was about being a Knoxville regular beating the best competition in the nation.“I came into this weekend, and I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself to make you guys (the fans) proud,” Brown admitted while gesturing toward the crowd. “I can come up here and win on the weekends sometimes. Then the Outlaws come and sometimes I lay an egg. I was so proud to see Austin (McCarl) on the pole and me being third. I’ve said all along that in order to have a rivalry, you’ve got to beat these guys. The PA Posse beats them. I feel like we don’t do it enough, but I feel like I did my part tonight.”As Brown said, he began the main event third on the grid. When the green flag flew, he wasted no time roaring by outside pole-sitter – James McFadden – heading into Turn 1. “Blackjack” slid ahead of the Roth Motorsports #83 and quickly got to work chasing down McCarl.McCarl held on to lead the opening circuit, but Brown blasted around his outside coming off Turn 2 on the second circuit. Once he put the Casey’s General Store #21 out front, Brown immediately began to flex his muscle.“Brownie” pulled away from McCarl as he clicked off the early laps, growing his advantage to more than two seconds as he approached traffic. Even lapped cars stood no chance of slowing down Brown. He put his machine anywhere necessary thanks in large part to some fine tuning by crew chief – Chad Morgan – ahead of the Feature.“Chad made some good changes before the A-Main,” Brown said. “He came back this year, and we’re really clicking on all cylinders. Everything we’re doing, we’re doing it good.”With the level of competition on the grounds, Brown knew maneuverability behind the wheel would be key to coming out on top. He’s felt comfortable this season moving wherever he needs to be, and it showed.“I feel like I’ve been known to run the top probably more than I should,” Brown explained. “I think I’ve run the bottom this year just as good as I have in the past. I just felt like when I went down there (the bottom) and passed a lapped car, I felt like, ‘Man, that was pretty good.’ And I knew Brad (Sweet) normally runs the bottom, and he runs it as good as anybody in the whole world. I knew, if nothing else, maybe we’d mess up his timing a little bit.”But Brown didn’t need to worry about messing up anyone’s timing as the battle for second raged on far behind him. Sweet, McCarl, and Rico Abreu all traded blows for the runner-up spot as the laps faded. Brown went on to claim the checkered flag with nearly a five second advantage much to the delight of the Knoxville crowd.“Most importantly, tonight’s about us,” Brown said. “I’m proud of our whole team. Proud to win a World of Outlaws race again. Proud to be a Knoxville regular and come back tomorrow and see if we can do it again.”Rico Abreu came out on top of the scramble for second as he slipped by Sweet late. The St. Helena, CA native continued his recent hot streak with his 14th consecutive top five in overall Sprint Car competition. Abreu is up to seven World of Outlaws podiums this year (most among non-full-time drivers) and the 35th of his career. Abreu continues to be appreciative of how well his team has gelled this season.“The last 10 laps or so I could hit my marks a whole lot better,” Abreu noted. “Thank you to my team. They do an incredible job. Ricky (Warner) and his critical thinking and just the way he adapts to my driving style and my race cars. Hats off to them. They work really good together, and it’s quite a sight to see on my end as a team owner and driver.”Completing the podium was four-time and defending champion, Brad Sweet. The result marked his 12th top three of the season – enough to equal him with David Gravel for the most. The driver of the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 felt comfortable throughout a majority of the race and remained encouraged despite losing the runner-up spot late.“I felt really good in the middle part of the race,” Sweet said. “I kept looking up because I felt like I was making really good time and good laps. I could see Brian was pretty far out front. I just kind of got hung up in lapped cars at the end. I had a really good rhythm and had my lines working and felt like when I had to move off that I wasn’t as good as I needed to be to get by the lapped cars. I struggled the last four or five laps to kind of link it all together. But I think we made progress all night long, and there were parts of that A-Main where I felt like we were probably as good as anybody.”Austin McCarl and Carson Macedo rounded out the top five.Donny Schatz came from 15th to ninth to earn the night’s KSE Hard Charger Award.By finishing two spots ahead of Macedo, Brad Sweet trimmed the points lead down to only six markers. Gravel remains a close third 32 points back.The night’s Simpson Performance Products QuickTime Award went to Carson Macedo for a fifth consecutive race and the 10th time this season.Macedo also topped CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One for a milestone 100th career Heat Race victory. NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four went to David Gravel (225th of career), Rico Abreu (39th of career), and Brian Brown (77th of career).Aaron Reutzel won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are back at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, June 10 for night two of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash. For tickets, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.RESULTS:A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[5]; 4. 88-Austin McCarl[1]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 6. 83-James McFadden[2]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[11]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz[15]; 10. 2-David Gravel[6]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[10]; 12. 14-Corey Day[14]; 13. 39M-Anthony Macri[8]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[12]; 15. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[20]; 16. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[13]; 17. 5-Spencer Bayston[18]; 18. 2M-Davey Heskin[22]; 19. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[19]; 20. 1A-Jacob Allen[23]; 21. 9-Kasey Kahne[24]; 22. 3J-Dusty Zomer[17]; 23. 7S-Robbie Price[25]; 24. 8-Aaron Reutzel[21]; 25. 2J-Lynton Jeffrey[16]

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ROBERT HIGHT AND CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVY HOLD PROVISIONAL NO. 1 AT BRISTOL DRAGWAY

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 09, 2023) – Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team are the provisional No. 1 qualifiers Friday night at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Brittany Force has the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac dragster sitting No. 2 with teammate Austin Prock and the Montanan Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster No. 8 and John Force in the BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS No. 10. Hight, B. Force and J. Force also picked up first-round wins in the postponed NHRA New England Nationals that began in the second session of qualifying.
Robert Hight, who is running the Thunder Valley Nationals in the Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro and the completion of the New England Nationals from Epping, N.H. in the AAA Chevy Camaro, kicked off the busy race weekend by running a clean 4.039-second pass at 318.17 mph to be the second quickest of the first session.
In the second qualifying session and also the first round of the New England Nationals, Hight handled the AAA Chevy to a 3.938-second pass at 321.35 mph defeating Alexis DeJoria’s 3.999 at 322.88 mph. The round win also put the Cornwell Tools Chevy into the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot.
“This is all new for all of us, running an entire race within another race. We’ve done a couple of rounds before but never an entire race. It’s a different mindset going up there in qualifying. You have to cut a light, be ready, still try to shallow stage and put up the best elapsed time,” Hight said. “This is exciting for the fans and also exciting to race at night. There’s not a better setting in all of motorsports than Thunder Valley here in the evening as the sun is going down. It’s beautiful. Fans got their money’s worth.
“Good job to the Cornwell Tools / AAA team. Bit of a different situation for us. We felt that AAA didn’t get much coverage last weekend in Epping, N.H. So, we worked with Cornwell Tools. I really want to thank them for letting us run the AAA car during qualifying and giving AAA what they deserve from missing out on all of Sunday racing in Epping,” Hight continued. “We’ll be back in the Cornwell car on Sunday. It’s a little different, feels like I’m changing sponsors almost every weekend, we started the year with four races with Flav-R-Pac. I’ve got to look down, check my hat, see what uniform I’m wearing but we got plenty of bodies. It’s all just different but I’m having fun working with these great companies.”
Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team dropped cylinders in the first run of the weekend. Despite not having all eight candles lit, Force managed to make it down the track without incident for a 3.892-second pass at 318.47 mph to sit fourth. In the combined second qualifying session of the Thunder Valley Nationals and the first round of the New England Nationals, Force laid down a 3.747 pass at a track record-tying 334.48 to defeat Josh Hart’s 4.201 at 202.85. Her round win also put her in the No. 2 spot.
Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster had a wild end to their first qualifying try. Prock was holding on for a decent run as the Montana Brand hot rod put a couple of holes out and eventually blew up at the finish line recording a 3.934-second pass at 298.01 mph. On their second chance at Bristol Dragway, Prock would line up against Steve Torrence for an exciting side-by-side drag race. Prock would come up short for the New England Nationals round one win with a 3.787 at 326.08 to Torrence’s 3.753 at 329.10. Despite not getting the victory, Prock would end the day in the No. 8 qualifying spot.
John Force and the BlueDEF Chevy started off on a good pass in the first qualifying session but spun the tires mid-track before his Camaro made a move to the left and he had to back off the throttle for only a 4.199-second run at 255.73 mph, the eighth quickest of the pack. Lined up against Tim Wilkerson in the first round of the New England Nationals, Force would stage deep for a .006-second reaction time that, combined with his 4.063-second pass at 324.36 mph, gave him the holeshot win over Wilkerson’s 4.004 at 318.99. He ended the night in the No. 10 qualifying spot.
The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway continues Saturday with qualifying at 2 p.m. that will include the quarterfinals of the NHRA New England Nationals. The New England Nationals semifinals will take place at 4:15 p.m. and the final qualifying session as well as the New England Nationals final round will be at 5:30 p.m. Eliminations for the Thunder Valley Nationals are set to begin at noon on Sunday.
Television coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) continues Saturday with the remaining NHRA New England Nationals coverage at 10:30 p.m. ET. Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET will be a second Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying show and at 7:00 p.m. ET will air the Thunder Valley Nationals eliminations.
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Racers Quickly Turn Focus from Dirt Late Model Dream to Summer Nationals

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

Former champions detail how Eldora Speedway’s crown jewel prepares drivers to kick off next week’s 28-race Summer Nationals tour

ROSSBURG, OH (June 9, 2023) – For 29 years, drivers have rolled into Eldora Speedway in early June trying to live out a dream — DIRTcar Racing’s Dirt Late Model Dream with a $129,000 payday. Then, when the Dream ends, The Hell Tour begins.

As tradition has it, many will head off to battle in the DIRTcar Summer Nationals — a 28-race journey from June 14 through July 16 broadcast live on DIRTVision and affectionately known as The Hell Tour by those who have both conquered and succumbed to it. Peoria Speedway will be the first to welcome Late Model contenders on Wednesday.

Seven former Summer Nationals champions are chasing the massive payout this weekend at Eldora: Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Jason Feger, Billy Moyer, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley, and Brandon Sheppard. Plus, five-time DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals champion and current World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Rookie of the Year contender Nick Hoffman is also chasing his biggest Dirt Late Model victory this weekend.

Each found their own path to Summer Nationals glory, but they all agreed momentum from the Dream weekend can carry over into the rest of the summer.

“This week is a huge telltale of what’s coming for you, it’s probably one of the toughest weeks of the year, but if you can run good that’s huge,” said Hoffman, who earned his first World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series victory last month. “The Dream definitely kicks off the summer. This is our first crown jewel for Late Model racing, and I’ve been lucky enough to make this race a couple of times. At first you come here with a goal to just make the show, now I come here with a goal to run in the top 10. The biggest thing is this could set up your whole summer. If you run good here it carries you a long way.”

But three-time Summer Nationals champion Erb warned drivers to be prepared before even heading to Eldora in the first place.

“You got to look at this separate,” Erb said. “If you’re going to go out and run the whole Summer Nationals, before you come to Eldora for the Dream you better be prepared for that. I think you have to look at it totally different. If you come here and things don’t go well, you have to forget about it because you have to focus on what you need to do. If you have a good run here, or anywhere, you can get going and get on a roll.

“When I won the Dream we came back and won some Summer Nationals races, but it was just like another race again. The focus is different. This place here, you have to leave everything here. Things can go well, or things can go bad, but you can’t let that get you down when you’ve got five weeks of racing ahead of you.”

Four-time champion Brian Shirley is a believer in momentum, but he also said a bad night at Eldora doesn’t signify a bad road ahead on the Summer Nationals tour.

“Any time you have momentum, if you come here and you run really well and you’re moving on to 28 days of racing, that momentum is going to be a high that keeps the team motivated to get going and could carry on to that deal where it’s night in and night out,” said Shirley, who was riding a wave of momentum into this weekend at Eldora as the most recent World of Outlaws CASE Late Model winner. “Running good here is going to pick you up and keep you wanting to go race three days after the Dream and then continue racing for 28 days. Any time momentum is on your side things are easier, but this place here is such a different animal. We haven’t won a crown jewel race here at Eldora, but we’ve been so successful on the Summer Nationals so it shows that it doesn’t matter how you finish here.

“For me, when we were successful on the Summer Nationals, it was one day at a time, get through one night at a time and don’t overload yourself about racing for 28 nights in five weeks. It’s just not getting overwhelmed. It’s a grind. You have to take it one day, one week at a time and hope you’re more on the easy side of it. We’ve done the deal where it can wear you out in a week and we’ve done it where it seemed like the month went by really fast. When everything’s going good it’s pretty easy, but when you have those tough nights and the odds are against you it forces you to decide whether or not to keep going.”

Adding further proof to his point, Shirley noted how in 2021 Ashton Winger struggled out of the gate on the tour but kept fighting and wound up second in the championship standings.

“He got off to an awful start, that first week I think they destroyed everything they had, but he stuck it out and stuck it out and probably had two of the best weeks of his career finishing it out,” Shirley said. “There is a reward at the end of the day.”

Winger posted a top-five run Thursday night in his opening round of Dream competition, a boost heading into Friday at a track where he’s still looking for success. While Winger has his sights set on the $129,000 prize Saturday night, he knows he’s stocked and loaded to roll into Peoria Speedway on Wednesday for the 2023 Summer Nationals opener. No matter how he finishes Saturday night, he’ll put it out of his mind quick.

“For me, I leave it here,” Winger said. “There’s just so much that goes into putting yourself in position to be at the front, and having a fast race car isn’t everything here. It’s good to come here and run good but if you run bad it kind of makes you want to quit racing for a minute. If you run good it feels like you’re on top of the world. It’s one of those things you got to leave here. It’s kind of its own animal in a sense.

“The Summer Nationals has been our goal the whole time. I’m loaded down with bodies, front suspension parts, rear suspension parts and we’re going to pick up another motor on Monday. I’m really excited about this year because this is the first year I feel like I’m going to do it right. I have the stuff and I’m prepared to do it. In 2021, I just threw a bunch of stuff in the truck and went and did it.”

A new championship points setup that pays drivers each week rather than at the end of the tour is expected to benefit drivers who may struggle once or twice without costing them a chance at the overall title. Jason Feger, who won the 2010 Summer Nationals title, noted that as a positive for Winger.

“With the new points championship, I feel like it’s going to suit a guy like Ashton a lot better,” Feger said. “He’s a pretty aggressive driver and when you points race for a whole month, one bad night can win you the championship or cost you the championship. Now if you have one bad night, it still resets the next week. It’s definitely going to help some guys, but it’s still a lot of work if you’re tearing up equipment. I guess I always have the mentality you have to know when it’s your night and when it’s not your night. You have to know when it’s not your night to just take the best you can and know you’re going to fight tomorrow, but if you think it’s your night and you have a good car then go for it.”

Bobby Pierce, now a World of Outlaws regular, has won five Summer Nationals championships since 2015, including the past two. He noted that while the Dream can be demanding, there’s nothing at Eldora that can prepare a young driver for what they might encounter on — or even off — the track during Summer Nationals competition.

“You get used to racing on those types of tracks,” Pierce said. “You get used to the heat … well, not really. For a first timer, you just have to keep plugging away. Every night is a new night. There’s always going to be something unexpected. I can guarantee you that at some point during the Hell Tour something’s going to throw you for a loop.

“Two years ago, first week of Summer Nationals we hit a deer heading to the next track and it killed the front of the truck. You’ll be faced with stuff like that more than the typical maintenance on the car. You just have to be as prepared as you can but know that it’s going to be hard. If you can get off a win here or there, or even a good solid run it makes it worthwhile. That’s kind of the big reason to do the Hell Tour, to continue getting better.”

The Dream at Eldora concludes on Saturday with the $129,000-to-win main event.

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals begins next week with races Wednesday (June 14) at Peoria Speedway, Thursday at Kankakee County Speedway, Friday at Tri-City Speedway, Saturday at Fairbury Speedway, and Sunday at Sycamore Speedway. Follow the entire five-week tour by watching all the action on DIRTVision. For more info, visit DIRTcarSummerNationals.com.

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GENERAL MOTORS IN SPOTLIGHT AT 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

June 12, 2023 ARP Trish

Entries from Cadillac Racing, Corvette Racing and Garage 56 Camaro ZL1in world’s biggest motorsports endurance race
LE MANS, France (June 9, 2023) – General Motors is a prominent figure at the Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans with entries in three different categories of the world-famous French sports car classic.

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Chevrolet and Cadillac each are well-represented in this weekend’s twice-around-the-clock race:Three Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes for the top Hypercar class – Nos. 2, 3 and 311 from Cadillac RacingThe No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the GTE Am category as Corvette Racing goes for its ninth Le Mans class victoryThe No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the innovative Garage 56 entry – a partnership between Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR, Chevrolet and Goodyear. It’s the first time a NASCAR stock car has raced at Le Mans since 1976.
GM is the only manufacturer to have brands and entries in three different categories at Le Mans this year.
“I’m thrilled to have five racecars representing General Motors at the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Mark Reuss, president, General Motors. “Cadillac is returning to Le Mans in full force with three V-Series.R prototypes on the grid, Corvette Racing is aiming for its ninth class victory and the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – in partnership with NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, IMSA and Goodyear – is something that will live in the memories of all those who see it run, for generations to come. Motorsports is core to us at GM, so I’m thankful for the many people across our company and our partners who have worked so hard to get these cars race-ready.”
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for 4 p.m. CET / 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 10. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage on radiolemans.com with the race call also on Sirius 136 and XM 202.

ARP Racing News

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Burton Qualifies 36th At Sonoma

June 10, 2023

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Sixteen-Hour Update

chevy racing–nhra–bristol– qualifying

12-hour report: Cadillac in mix at halfway mark

ROBERT HIGHT AND CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVY EARN

ROBERT HIGHT AND CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVY EARN NO. 1 SPOT AT NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS

JUSTIN ASHLEY WINS DELAYED NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS

Justin Ashley and Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team, New England Nationals winners, photo by Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

HART OUT EARLY AT POSTPONED EPPING NATIONALS

Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster, photo credit Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery

JOHN FORCE AND BLUEDEF CHEVY REACH 265TH FINAL ROUND AT NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS

Lee Hartman Wins Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Bounty with First Round Win at Bristol Dragway

Lee Hartman, winner of $2,000 Flexjet bounty, photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

Lenny Lottig, Thunder Valley Nationals No. 1 qualifier, photo credit NHRA

chevy racing–nascar–sonoma–qualifying

JUSTIN ASHLEY EARNS DELAYED EPPING VICTORY

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6-hour report: Cadillac leads first-ever laps

CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: Six-Hour Update

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BROWNIE BAKES ‘EM: Flawless Feature Leads Brian Brown to Knoxville World of Outlaws Victory

ROBERT HIGHT AND CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVY HOLD PROVISIONAL NO. 1 AT BRISTOL DRAGWAY

Racers Quickly Turn Focus from Dirt Late Model Dream to Summer Nationals

GENERAL MOTORS IN SPOTLIGHT AT 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

Racer News and Results

June 10, 2023

Justin Ashley and Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team, New England Nationals winners, photo by Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster, photo credit Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel1. Justin Ashley 5182. Steve Torrence 5103. Brittany Force 4724. Leah Pruett 4625. Austin Prock 4436. Mike Salinas 4147. Antron Brown 4088. Josh Hart 3789. Shawn Langdon 33510. Doug Kalitta 325

Lee Hartman, winner of $2,000 Flexjet bounty, photo credit Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery

Lenny Lottig, Thunder Valley Nationals No. 1 qualifier, photo credit NHRA

Racer News and Results

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel
1. Justin Ashley 518
2. Steve Torrence 510
3. Brittany Force 472
4. Leah Pruett 462
5. Austin Prock 443
6. Mike Salinas 414
7. Antron Brown 408
8. Josh Hart 378
9. Shawn Langdon 335
10. Doug Kalitta 325