August 27, 2023

After a strong run in the first half of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang were swept up in a Lap 95 “Big One” crash that relegated them to a 28th-place finish.

Burton started the regular season finale from third-place after a Cup-career-best qualifying effort. He held his spot for the first 15 laps then remained in the top 10 through the first 25 laps before dropping to 14th at the end of the first 35-lap Stage.  

After a pit stop at the conclusion of the Stage, Burton restarted 17th and ran inside the top 20 for the most part until a round of green-flag pit stops near the end of the second Stage. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to stay on the track while others pitted, a move that saw Burton cycle into the lead on Lap 84 before making his stop.

The strategy worked as Burton was able to maintain the top spot through Lap 87. He battled back to the lead onlap 89, then was running around the 10th place on the final lap of the Stage when drivers began wrecking ahead of him.

A total of 16 cars, including Burton’s Mustang, received damage in the crash, and he had to be pushed back to the pits after a red-flag period.

Rejoining the race in 29th place, two laps in arrears, Burton soldiered on through the final segment of the race. After a pit stop at Lap 160, Burton picked up two spots in an Overtime finish to take the checkered flag in 28th place, three laps behind.

Burton and the No. 21 team now turn their attention to the final 10 races of the season, beginning with next week’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

 

DAVENPORT, IA (Aug. 26, 2023) – Over five months worth of work. Twenty-one Features. Hundreds of laps. And now, finally, Gavin Miller is an Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota Feature winner.

Miller, the 16-year-old Midget rookie from Allentown, PA, had come close to his first career win with the Series multiple times this year but was unable to seal the victory. Four past podium finishes with no wins to show for it was getting old for he and Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) car chief Brandon Selph, and the duo finally came up with the right combination Saturday night at Davenport Speedway to score the win in the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking finale.

“We’ve definitely had a lot of ups-and-downs,” Miller said. “[Selph] never gave up, I never gave up, and I think that’s why we work so well together.

“He gave me a great car tonight. I’ve gotta thank him, thank my family, Keith [Kunz] and Pete [Willoughby] – thanks to all of them.”

What’s more, Miller came all the way from 11th in 18 laps to take the lead and hold on from there for the POWRi National Midget League co-sanctioned Feature win, making him the deepest-starting Feature winner in Xtreme Outlaw competition this season.

His speed-sauce was nothing more than the wet dirt on the bottom around the 1/4-mile oval.

“I saw there was a lot of moisture on the bottom, so I got down there before everybody else,” Miller said. “First person to find that is usually gonna go right to the front, and I happened to find it.”

When polesitter Jade Avedisian jumped out to the early lead in her preferred line, it appeared as though the top lane was going to reign supreme. The young Californian led the first 17 laps of the race until Miller took it from her with a burst of speed on the bottom out of Turn 4, beating her into Turn 1 and hugging the infield tires to secure the spot.

“I went to try to clear him into Turn 1, and we were neck-and-neck, and then he got a great launch off the back straightaway, and that was it,” Avedisian said.

From his perspective, Miller knew the bottom was the place to race, even to make the pass for the lead. He went by high-flying teammate Ryan Timms the lap before to take second before taking the top spot from Avedisian the same way.

“I knew Ryan hadn’t quite seen me yet, and I knew he wasn’t gonna go sniff the bottom,” Miller said. “He was just gonna slide [Avedisian] and get her out of the way. He didn’t really see me on the bottom, and I just swept right by them.”

“I saw him on the bottom, and I knew the bottom was good,” Timms said. “I figured since [Cannon McIntosh and I] were battling and breaking each other’s momentum, [Miller] just got a great run on the bottom and once I got going around the top, the bottom wasn’t gonna be quicker. But sure enough, it was.”

Though he began pulling away from the field as the closing laps neared, Miller was not out of the woods yet. One final restart awaited him with three laps remaining, which he met without struggle. Miller hit his marks and brought the field back around to the checkers to bag the $5,000 grand prize and his third national Midget series victory of the year.

“It feels great,” Miller said. “Last bunch of races, we’ve been top-five or top-six. It feels great to finally get this one done.”

Timms crossed the stripe second after winning the battle with Avedisian and Xtreme Outlaw points leader Cannon McIntosh after the final restart, earning him a bit of redemption after breaking while leading during Friday night’s main event. Avedisian crossed in third to complete an all-KKM podium and keep her points deficit to McIntosh in the 20s with only eight races remaining.

UP NEXT

The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets are back in action next Friday-Saturday, Sept. 1-2, at Paragon Speedway in Paragon, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to the track to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 97-Gavin Miller[11]; 2. 67-Ryan Timms[2]; 3. 71-Jade Avedisian[1]; 4. 08-Cannon McIntosh[4]; 5. 7U-Zach Daum[5]; 6. 40-Chase McDermand[3]; 7. 26R-Corbin Rueschenberg[12]; 8. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[7]; 9. 21K-Karter Sarff[9]; 10. 3N-Mitchell Davis[14]; 11. 25K-Taylor Reimer[8]; 12. 97K-Cooper Williams[13]; 13. 25-Jacob Denney[6]; 14. 13-Elijah Gile[19]; 15. 31B-Kyle Beilman[16]; 16. 17B-Austin Barnhill[10]; 17. 33-Branigan Roark[17]; 18. 81-Dakota Gay[15]; 19. (DNS) 7X-Thomas Meseraull; 20. (DNS) 6B-Andy Baugh; 21. (DNS) 2H-Nick Hoffman

Chris Madden cuts Bobby Pierce’s points lead to 116 with fourth-place finishDAVENPORT, IA – August 26, 2023 – Brandon Sheppard knew he’d face many challenges when he started Sheppard-Riggs Racing in 2023. And on Saturday at Davenport Speedway, the four-time World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series champion overcame one of those obstacles.After going winless in the first 28 races of 2023, the New Berlin, IL driver scored his first Series win of the season in the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking finale. Chris Madden led the field to the green in the 80-lap Feature, but four cautions slowed the field in the race’s first quarter—the fourth coming on Lap 16. That’s when the Gray Court, SC driver had his first challenge. On the Lap 16 restart, Series points leader Bobby Pierce slid under Madden in Turn 1 and nosed out ahead of the #44 on the backstretch. Madden withstood that challenge, driving back around Pierce to keep the lead. Pierce then hounded Madden for the next 20 laps, keeping pace with “Smokey” as they battled around the 1/4-mile bullring,  Eventually, the long green-flag run played into Pierce’s hands, as he pulled even with Madden on the bottom as they clicked off Lap 35. But the next time around, the “Smooth Operator” found the burst of speed he needed, nosing ahead of Madden to complete Lap 36.The Oakwood, IL driver pulled away, seeming destined for a weekend sweep until everything changed on Lap 58. Pierce’s right rear tire went flat, bringing out the caution and handing the lead to defending Series champion Dennis Erb Jr., who had just passed Madden for second.  Erb’s lead was short-lived, though. With the Carpentersville, IL driver choosing the outside lane, Sheppard found the opening he needed on the bottom. When the two Illinois drivers returned to the start/finish line, Sheppard’s momentum allowed him to inch past Erb’s #28 as he wrestled the lead away. From there, not even a late-race restart could keep Sheppard’s #B5 out of Victory Lane, as he held on to win his first World of Outlaws Feature with Sheppard-Riggs Racing and first in a Longhorn Chassis. “It feels awesome,” Sheppard said. “My team’s been working really hard. Everything has been starting to come our way a little bit. We’ve been starting to show consistency in the past couple of months, and Longhorn has been super easy to work with. It’s been a trying year with a bunch of ups and downs, but nobody’s given up on me one bit or questioned me one bit. It just feels good, and it means the world to be standing here.” The $30,000 triumph is Sheppard’s 82nd World of Outlaws victory, and his fourth Series win at Davenport Speedway. It’s a win, “B-Shepp” said, came down to how well he conserved his tires, along with the knowledge of past races at the track. “If you could roll the bottom right, which we could all weekend, I knew if it ever came in, we were going to be there,” Sheppard said. “I was able to keep my speed up good at the beginning of the race and not kill my tire. Not slip it too much up top, and not fall back. Once we were able to start moving around a little bit, that’s when I knew my tire wasn’t going to get hurt, and I could go wherever I needed to.  “I knew at the end of the day that the bottom is the place to be, and the top was just a little too dirty for me to be too tempted to go up there.  So, I went with my gut. And sure enough, Dennis went up there to race guys on the outside, and we were able to win the race.” Tanner English finished second, his third podium in his last five World of Outlaws races at the track. The Benton, KY driver, who started 10th, used the same strategy that led him to victory in 2022, conserving his tires and keeping up his momentum on the bottom. But, he ultimately fell short. “We were conserving the whole race and trying not to spin the tire,” English said. “I had that in the back of my mind the whole time. Just trying to conserve. We went with a hard tire this year, not the softer option like last year. This tire game is different now. But we were right there, and I can’t say enough about this team.” English’s second-place finish also continues his streak of solid runs in long-distance races. In the five World of Outlaws races that were 60 laps or more, he’s finished on the podium four times.  “I wish every race was 100 laps,” English. “We’d spend more money on tires and motors, I think. But these long races are what I like. I like to conserve and be there at the end. And it just plays into my favor a little bit. I’m more conservative of a driver, and that’s where they pay the big money.”   Ryan Gustin, from Marshalltown, IA rounded out the podium after starting 11th. The “Reaper” made a late-race charge in the final 20 laps, moving from seventh to third on the outside lane.  “I saw everybody cut left on a restart, and I figured I didn’t have anything to lose,” Gustin said. “It was getting blacker and blacker up there. But on the flip side of things, that bottom got so, I think they got them tires pushed in or something where it was so short around the bottom where I had to carry a lot of speed.  “I thought we maybe had them there, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Hats off to Brandon and Tanner. They drove a hell of a race.” Madden crossed the line fourth after falling as far back as sixth. He has two top fives in three nights racing a new Longhorn chassis.  He also gained on Pierce in the battle for the championship, cutting the lead to 116 points with eleven races remaining. Pierce rebounded to finish ninth after the flat tire.  Brian Shirley rounded out the top five—his seventh of the season. Todd Cooney was the Germfree Rookie of the Race, finishing 13th. He was also Saturday’s Fox Factory Hard Charger, moving up 10 positions. UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 1, for the Milton Hershey School Back to Class Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, WI. Then, the Series returns to Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, MN, for the Labor Day Duel.  Both Features will pay $20,000-to-win. If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model race live on DIRTVision.   CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Feature (80 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 96V-Tanner English[10]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[11]; 4. 44-Chris Madden[1]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[9]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[16]; 8. 25S-Chad Simpson[13]; 9. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 10. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 11. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 12. 16-Tyler Bruening[17]; 13. 30-Todd Cooney[23]; 14. 25-Shane Clanton[8]; 15. B1-Brent Larson[21]; 16. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 17. 25F-Jason Feger[12]; 18. 14W-Dustin Walker[24]; 19. 32S-Chris Simpson[19]; 20. 32B-Cody Laney[18]; 21. 111-Matt Lux[20]; 22. 18-Shannon Babb[14]; 23. 11-Gordy Gundaker[22]; 24. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[15] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER: Todd Cooney [+10].

The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: CASE Construction Equipment (Official Construction Equipment), CASE No.1 Engine Oil™ (Official Oil and Lubricant), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Fox Factory (Hard Charger Award), Low-E Insulation, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Swift Springs, and Wieland Metal Services (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Capital Race Cars, FIREBULL, Germfree, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, Rocket Chassis, and Sea Foam.

The Hanover, PA driver puts on a clinic to reach 40 career World of Outlaws winsWEST FARGO, ND (August 26, 2023) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars don’t near the ocean for a few more days. But that didn’t stop a shark from surfacing far inland this weekend in North Dakota.On Friday Logan Schuchart won in dramatic fashion aboard the Shark Racing #1S at Grand Forks, ND’s River Cities Speedway. Then on Saturday the Hanover, PA native didn’t need a late race pass to find his way to Victory Lane. He simply dominated at West Fargo, ND’s Red River Valley Speedway to complete a weekend sweep in “The Peace Garden State.”Schuchart led from green to checkered in the non-stop 30-lap Feature to top the Gerdau Presents the Duel in the Dakotas for his first Red River Valley triumph. From the moment they unloaded, Schuchart knew they’d be a force through the night.“The car felt good right out of the box tonight,’ Schuchart said. “We made some very small, minor changes. The track stayed pretty quick. I thought it was an awesome racing surface. If we started fourth or fifth or sixth in that area, I feel like we still would’ve had a really good shot at winning the race. I just tried to pick my spots. Move when lapped cars were in the way and go to the top if I needed to. I could even run the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4 there at the end. This car was just awesome this weekend.”The win marked a major milestone for the 30-year-old as he reached 40 career World of Outlaws victories – becoming the 19th driver to reach the feat. The sweep was also Schuchart’s first back-to-back trips to Victory Lane with The Greatest Show on Dirt since 2020. He’s up to five wins in 2023, the fifth straight year he’s hit that number.Schuchart’s path to the checkered flag was paved in large part with his triumph in the Toyota Racing Dash. That sat the Drydene/Duramax machine on the pole for the NOS Energy Drink Feature. When the green lights flashed, Schuchart immediately showed his muscle by darting ahead on the opening circuit.While Schuchart pulled away early, the first lap also signaled the beginning of what would be a race-long war for second. It began with David Gravel and James McFadden going wheel-to-wheel before Gravel secured the spot.Only five laps in to the main event was when Schuchart encountered traffic which would persist throughout the race’s entirety with no yellow flags slowing the pace. While a few slower cars allowed Gravel and the battle for second to close in, Schuchart would always pull back ahead after a lap or two.In the second half of the race, the jockeying for the runner-up position intensified as Giovanni Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid reeled in Gravel. The trio traded sliders and crossovers on the racy surface as the laps wound down. Up front, Schuchart cruised with a comfortable advantage and ultimately crossed the finish line with nearly a three second advantage.“We got out in front, and I just wanted to set a good, clean pace, not push the issue too far and not put myself in bad spots,” Schuchart said. “I tried to just hit my marks, and I thought it would make it pretty tough for someone to run up to us and blow by us. I can’t say enough about our team working so hard.”Behind Schuchart it was David Gravel crossing the line in second when the dust settled on a fierce battle. The runner-up restored some confidence after he and the Big Game Motorsports team endured four straight finishes outside the top 10 entering the night. Gravel upped his Series-leading podium total to 26 for the season. It was an especially tricky result to come by as Gravel felt an early issue and had to hang on with a wounded machine for most of the race.“About Lap 10 something let go in the motor when I was all over Logan, and I was like you’ve got to be kidding me. After these last two weeks, I’m going to DNF here,” Gravel explained. “And luckily it held on, so once that happened I was just in survival mode and was pretty much quarter to half throttle trying not to kill the thing and make it to the end. There was still like 18 or 19 to go. I kept looking, and it got down to seven to go. I thought I just had to make it. I saw Gio kept throwing it in on me and kept showing me to run the bottom. But the slower I went, the worse the motor ran, so I had to kind of keep one pace and try to not hurt the motor anymore.”Standing on the final step of the podium was Buddy Kofoid and his Roth Motorsports crew after starting the Feature in fifth. It marked his seventh World of Outlaws top three of the season and third since joining Roth. The Penngrove, CA native had plenty of speed and left feeling hugely confident in the direction of he and the #83JR crew.“I feel like that’s one of the better cars I’ve had since we’ve been with Roth,” Kofoid said. “I feel like we were a second place capable car. It would’ve been nice if I could’ve got ahead of some of them earlier if we had a yellow. I don’t how good Logan was, but I feel like where I was my car was just very impeccable. I owe it all to these Roth Motorsports guys.”Gio Scelzi and James McFadden completed the top five.A sixth place run allowed Brad Sweet to slightly extend his points lead over Carson Macedo, who came home eighth. Sweet’s advantage now sits at 56 markers, but Gravel’s runner-up moved him closer to Macedo for second. The distance between those two is now only 10 points.After claiming the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown, Tanner Holmes also went on to take KSE Racing Hard Charger Honors with a drive from 19th to 12th. The Jacksonville, OR native was also the recipient of the Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race after mechanical issues in Qualifying put them behind early in the night.David Gravel earned the Simpson Performance Products QuickTime Award for the ninth time this season and the 106th time of his career.CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to James McFadden (46th Heat Race win of career). NOS Energy Drink Heats Two and Three were topped by Logan Schuchart (116th of career) and Buddy Kofoid (12th of career).UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are bound for the Pacific Northwest for four races in five nights. First, it’s three nights (August 31-September 2) at Skagit Speedway (Burlington, WA) for the Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals with $26,000 going to the winner of the finale. Then on Monday, September 4 it’s a one-day stop at Elma, WA’s Grays Harbor Raceway. For tickets, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.RESULTS:NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[2]; 3. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[5]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 5. 83-James McFadden[3]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[7]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz[6]; 8. 41-Carson Macedo[9]; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[13]; 10. 5-Spencer Bayston[12]; 11. 9-Kasey Kahne[11]; 12. 1T-Tanner Holmes[19]; 13. 20G-Noah Gass[14]; 14. 21T-Cole Macedo[15]; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[20]; 16. 14T-Tim Estenson[8]; 17. 3-Tim Kaeding[16]; 18. 7S-Robbie Price[10]; 19. 11M-Brendan Mullen[17]; 20. 17B-Ryan Bickett[18]; 21. 6-Bill Rose[21]; 22. 17M-Zach Omdahl[24]; 23. (DNF) 0-Nick Omdahl[22]; 24. (DNF) 2K-Kevin Ingle[23]

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 26, 2023) – Hudson O’Neal battled his way to the lead with seven laps to go and pulled away in the final laps to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Rumble by the River on Saturday Night at Port Royal Speedway. O’Neal earned $50,000 from the $150,000 feature purse for the Rocket1 Team.  O’Neal’s winning margin of 1.808 seconds was the largest lead anyone had held during the 50-lap event. Mike Marlar came home in second as he passed Jonathan Davenport with two laps to go. Davenport was third with Matt Cosner and Brandon Overton completing the top five. Brandon Overton jumped to the lead at the start of the race as he and O’Neal, who started alongside Overton on the front row tucked into the second spot. Those two ran first and second for the first 16 laps of the race until Davenport was able to secure the second spot on lap 17. Davenport then moved to the lead on lap 21 as the first caution flew with that lap was scored. On the restart Davenport had to contend with O’Neal, Marlar and Overton in a tightly contested battle for the race lead. With O’Neal and Marlar all over Davenport another caution came out with 27 laps complete. All eyes were on the current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader Ricky Thornton, Jr. who was slicing through the field after starting in 25th for having to go to back-up car. Thornton moved to fifth by lap 36 and trailed only Davenport, Marlar, O’Neal, and Devin Moran.  Thornton would not be around at the finish as he slowed on the track under a caution with ten laps to go after just reaching second past Marlar in the running order. Thornton’s night ended after a spectacular run from the tail of the field as he would be pushed back to the pit area after stopping in the middle of the back straightaway with mechanical issues. Davenport was still on the point with Marlar and O’Neal behind him on the single-file restart. O’Neal then got past Marlar and set his sights on Davenport. With seven laps to go O’Neal made his move for the lead getting by Davenport and then going on to win his seventh Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event of 2023. Marlar passed Davenport at the white flag to pick up the second position at the finish. O’Neal described his hard-fought victory in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “It’s awesome. I had to get up on the wheel I was just so tight against that cushion I was afraid to run it. It just came down to the last ten laps and I knew I had a shot at it if I could run it hard enough if I could get enough of a run down the straightaways. The crew gave me a great race car all weekend, we were able to get back into victory lane last night and I knew coming into today we had a great piece we just needed to play our cards right.” Marlar earned $20,000 for his third straight Big River Steel Podium finish. “It was a good race you know we just talked to the man who preps the track he does a phenomenal job on the racetrack really; we owe him a lot of thanks for the awesome racing we saw all weekend. It was fun for sure. My car was balanced really good, but it won’t wheel spin good so when I wheel spin on the cushion, I am just a little wrong there somehow and that’s how a lot of these races are getting won. We are so close it depends on how it all plays out. We got one or two more laps before those cautions; I think we could have got the lead and I would have been gone.”  Davenport’s third-place finish earned the 3-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion $10,000 as he led a race high 24 laps. “Those guys were just a little better than me I thought I was o.k. and then Mikey could run a little bit lower than I could and Hudson could just run around the cushion a little bit better than I can. I gave it all we had. I tried to not tear it up too bad. I just wish it would have been a 40 lapper tonight.”  The winner’s Mark Richards Racing, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ace Metal Works, Gunter’s Honey, Petroff Towing, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, WR1 Sim Chassis, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Sunoco Race Fuels, Integra Racing Shocks, and Performance Grading. Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Devin Moran, Cody Overton, Garrett Alberson, and Logan Roberson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Rumble by the RiverSaturday, August 26, 2023Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 15K-Cody Overton[2]; 4. 111B-Max Blair[5]; 5. 93-Cory Lawler[7]; 6. 11-Spencer Hughes[8]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 8. 59-Chad Julius[9]; 9. 66-Justin Kann[4] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 10-Michael Norris[2]; 3. 89-Logan Roberson[4]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[3]; 5. D19-Dillan Stake[5]; 6. 32J-Shaun Jones[6]; 7. 21-Chad Myers[7]; 8. 10S-Dave Stamm[9]; 9. (DNS) 7T-Drake Troutman Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[4]; 4. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 5. 2J-Justin Weaver[8]; 6. 0-Andrew Yoder[5]; 7. 2JR-Jeff Rine[6]; 8. 25K-Kody Lyter[9]; 9. 32-Travis Stickley[7] AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 0R-Rick Eckert[1]; 3. 45-Kyle Hardy[3]; 4. 20-Trever Feathers[4]; 5. 2T-Kyle Lee[6]; 6. EZ1-Ron Fink[9]; 7. (DNS) 86-Austin Berry; 8. (DNS) 63-Nathan Long; 9. (DNS) 24-Dylan Yoder Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[6]; 5. 06-Mike Lupfer[4]; 6. 9M-Hayes Mattern[5]; 7. 2-Dan Stone[7]; 8. 3-Timothy Wilson[8] Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 48-Colton Flinner[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 4. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[4]; 5. 22-Gregg Satterlee[6]; 6. 4-Gary Stuhler[5]; 7. 11T-Trevor Collins[8]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[7] Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 111B-Max Blair[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 2J-Justin Weaver[6]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[2]; 5. D19-Dillan Stake[5]; 6. 11-Spencer Hughes[7]; 7. 2JR-Jeff Rine[12]; 8. 0-Andrew Yoder[9]; 9. 93-Cory Lawler[4]; 10. 99B-Boom Briggs[10]; 11. 21-Chad Myers[11]; 12. 66-Justin Kann[16]; 13. 59-Chad Julius[13]; 14. 10S-Dave Stamm[14]; 15. 25K-Kody Lyter[15]; 16. 32J-Shaun Jones[8]; 17. (DNS) 32-Travis Stickley UNOH B-Main Race #2 (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[6]; 3. 20-Trever Feathers[1]; 4. 2-Dan Stone[10]; 5. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[3]; 6. 9M-Hayes Mattern[8]; 7. 2T-Kyle Lee[4]; 8. 3-Timothy Wilson[12]; 9. 06-Mike Lupfer[5]; 10. 11T-Trevor Collins[11]; 11. 4-Gary Stuhler[9]; 12. EZ1-Ron Fink[7]; 13. (DNS) 1Z-Logan Zarin Rumble by the River Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race Statistics Entrants: 52Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Brandon OvertonLap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1-20); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 21-44); Hudson O’Neal (Laps 45-50)Wieland Feature Winner: Hudson O’NealArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Hudson O’NealBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Hudson O’NealMargin of Victory: 1.808 secondsGorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: Chris Ferguson, Mason Zeigler (Lap 27); Michael Norris (Lap 36); Ross Robinson (Lap 40); Rick Eckert (Lap 45)Series Provisionals: Spencer Hughes; Ross RobinsonFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: Jeff RineBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Mike Marlar, Jonathan DavenportPenske Shocks Top 5: Hudson O’Neal, Mike Marlar, Jonathan Davenport, Matt Cosner, Brandon OvertonTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Matt Cosner (Advanced 11 Positions)Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Devin MoranDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Tyler ErbEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (24 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Hudson O’NealMidwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Max BlairEtchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton (Lap 1 – 19.677 seconds)MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Danny White (Hudson O’Neal)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (18.365 seconds)Time of Race: 36 minutes 12 seconds The Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP AUGUST 26, 2023

·       In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet collected a manufacturer-leading 13 wins – recorded by five drivers from four different Chevrolet teams.  ·       Since the debut of the 16-driver playoff field and elimination rounds to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014; at least five Chevrolet drivers were represented in the playoffs each season.

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 Llumar Camaro ZL16th      Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Arena Camaro ZL17th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL18th      William Byron, No. 24 Raptortough.com Camaro ZL110th    Corey LaJoie, No. 7 NEGU Camaro ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:POS.  DRIVER1.        Chris Buescher (Ford)2.        Brad Keselowski (Ford)3.        Aric Almirola (Ford)4.        Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)5.        Joey Logano (Ford)  The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin next weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out 400 Sunday, September 3rd, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on USA Network, MRN and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:  Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1Finished 17thYou are back in the playoffs and now can concentrate on next week at Darlington, how does that feel?“That feels really good to hear – in the playoffs again. I have to go back to 2021 and missing it in my first real attempt in a quality Chevrolet. Missed it with CGR in the No. 42 car and that hurt. But now I get to have the day off tomorrow and be ready Monday morning to walk into that Tech Center and continue to prepare for Darlington. We have already been preparing, we have already been running in the DiL, working with Josh Wise and the Wise Performance Group that GM uses to prepare the drivers.  And Trackhouse has been preparing the cars. It feels good and feels good to bring this one home clean and put it right back in the rotation. There is one small donut on it, but it feels good right now.  Life is good.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1Finished 33rdSidelined by damage sustained in an accident on the last lap of Stage Two.“We just had a suspension fail on the left-front from a little contact. It’s so frustrating. You try and go have a little fun out there and get some stage points, but really it pays nothing for that. I’ve won races not racing for those. We made some decent moves, and then some not so great moves. I have to go back and look to figure out why we didn’t keep ourselves toward the front, just in front of that. But that happened at the front, so I don’t know – other than just lifting coming to the checkered there in Stage Two, I don’t know what we could have done differently.” Is it just a result of being too aggressive, too early, from some others?“Yeah, I think everybody is pushing and shoving a little bit. The No. 20 (Christopher Bell) got to the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) and turned him. It’s part of it if you push in a corner.” How do you attack the next 10 weeks?“Progress. Look for the simple wins.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Camaro ZL1Finished 27th“Yeah, there are some good tracks for us in the playoffs and just ready to get started and hopefully get some momentum going.  You guys had good speed at Darlington in the spring, how does that make you guys feel?“Yeah, I mean you just hope you have got the same speed this time around that you had earlier this year. We were really strong and I would like to get off to a good start.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1Finished: 7thWhat do you expect during the playoffs?“Yeah, just put it all together and make these races happen. Tonight, we had a lot of that up-and-down, as well – going to the back, coming to the front, going to the back. I was really proud of the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro. The RCR Chevy and the ECR engines that we had – they were good, they were fast. I just needed some help behind me at times. We got it – led some lanes, led some laps. And then there at the end, we were just trying to make some more happen with those guys at the end. It was just too short of a run to get up towards the front where we wanted to. But overall, proud of the effort. We know we just have to cross our T’s, dot our I’s and be a little bit more perfect, and not let some things happen during the races that have taken us out. A lot of it hasn’t been our fault, hasn’t been our doing, but just circumstantial. Better luck, I guess. I used it all up about eight weeks ago.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Llumar Camaro ZL1Finished: 4th“I feel like we had an OK chance there, but Brad (Keselowski) and the No. 17 (Chris Buescher) just worked so well together there and they were able to stay locked-on. They were so locked-on there.. they just had a strangle-hold on the top lane. Unfortunately I just couldn’t get to Kevin (Harvick) and stay there like that, and just make the bottom lane work. I kind of bottled it up there and just couldn’t get enough momentum going forward.  But it was a valiant effort and I appreciate the effort from everybody – from the No. 9 team, Team Chevy, Hendrick Motorsports. I thought we all worked really well together tonight. Obviously we came up a little short, but nonetheless – I hate the way the season has gone, but proud to get the car into the owner’s championship. It’s a big deal to get in on the owner’s side, so hopefully we’ll try and go make some noise on that front, and just keep progressing and pushing to be better for next year. We’ll be better through all of this down the road.” Chandler Smith, No. 13 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Camaro ZL1Finished: 15th“I think we had a good solid weekend. We were up front in both races, maybe didn’t get the result we probably deserved based on our speed in the Xfinity race. But we moved on to the Cup race, ran up front, showed decent speed, and hopefully got a lot of TV time. I’d call that a success.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1Finished: 29th“I can’t thank my guys enough for the No. 16 Action Industries Chevy we had today. This was the best speedway car we have had, it handled well and had a lot of speed. We got caught up in a wreck running near the front of the field and that ultimately ended our day, but I’m proud of all the effort, we’ll keep making gains and hopefully get some finishes to show it.” William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1Finished: 8thYou’re entering the playoffs as the top-seed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Can you keep this going in the playoffs?“Yeah, it feels good. Just thank you to everyone at Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports, our whole No. 24 RaptorTough.com team. We had a solid night. In the pack, we were just struggling to advance forward, just kind of one move behind all of the time. But it’s good to get a top-10 and going into Darlington with some momentum. That’s a really good racetrack for us, I feel like. We have a couple little things to work on at Darlington, just to get a little bit better, but I feel like the first round sets up well. We just need to have a solid first couple of races and put ourselves in a good spot. It feels good. It looks like we’re tied with Martin (Truex Jr.) for playoff points. That’s a lot better position than we’ve been in the past, so we’ll try to take advantage of that. Last year, I think we were in the teens for playoff points, so I feel good about. The good thing is we can still get some more in the first round, so hopefully we can maybe get a stage win or a victory in the first couple races and see how it plays out.” Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1Finished: 21st“We had a super-fast No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. We stayed clean and raced in the top five for a while there. Unfortunately, nothing transpired for us at the end.” Josh Berry, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 22nd“It was a decent finish for the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. We picked the wrong lane on the last restart and gave up some spots. But overall, we learned a lot and brought the car home in one piece. At Daytona, that’s always not a bad thing.”  Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 18th“It was just an OK day for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy team. Just never really got in a good position to capitalize. We got a little flipped around on our last pit stop there and lost way too much ground to the second pack that pit. We were just too far back, too far late in the race and couldn’t really go anywhere with it. It’s a bummer. Obviously the end of our playoff hopes, but we’re going to 10 good tracks for us here coming up and hopefully we finish out strong.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Boost by Kroger / Entenmann’s Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on the last lap of Stage Two. Finished 34thAre you OK and what happened? “Yeah, I’m good. I just wish I would have stayed high there. I saw the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) spin the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) – just pushing at the wrong spot of the racetrack, which I’ve done here before. Just part of it. I was having a blast. Our No. 47 Entenmann’s Kroger Camaro was really, really fast. I felt like we worked our way from the very back to the very front and got ourselves some good track position, so I was really happy. I was having a blast. It was a lot fun racing three-wide and pushing each other. I felt like everybody was doing a good job of putting on a good race for the fans. It just looked like Christopher just got him maybe a little too hard, a little too soon. He should have probably waited until we got on the straightaway, but that’s part of it. I had fun, at least.” We saw more three-wide racing today compared to the other superspeedway races with this car. Are you guys just learning how these cars work better in the draft, or is it just the intensity of the regular season ending? “No, I mean everyone thought they wanted the bottom lane for some reason. I feel like with this race car, the middle and the top lanes, the cars just perform better. It seemed like everybody that moved to the bottom was getting too tight off turn four and off of two and having to lift, so it brought the top lane and the middle lane in. The No. 8 (Kyle Busch), 16 (AJ Allmendinger), 31 (Justin Haley) and myself – we ran from the back to the front in that third lane. We made it all the way to the front until we got our track position. But yeah, I’ve always felt like these cars run better on the top.” How do you feel about the next 10 weeks?“I feel good. We’re going to take it week-by-week. I feel like Darlington was a good racetrack for us, and that’s what we’ve been focused on was Darlington before we ever got here to Daytona. I feel really good about where we are as a race team. It was awesome to come back to Daytona and having a car that I felt like was capable of winning, and hopefully we can go to Darlington with that same mentality.” Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Arena Camaro ZL1Finished: 6th“If we had the opportunity to win, take it. If not, obviously help the No. 9 (Chase Elliott). I feel like we worked together well, just didn’t work on that opportunity. It’s a bummer the last restart just didn’t work out. I feel like we could have been in a little better spot prior to that caution. But the No. 6 (Brad Keselowski) and the No. 17 (Chris Buescher) are phenomenal at being able to push each other. Hopefully we can figure out how to get our stuff there. But it’s not lack of effort from anybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Just appreciate everybody on this No. 48 Ally Chevy team. Wish we could have come out a little bit better.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway.com Camaro ZL1Finished 20thI know this may have been disappointing, what more did you need to get it done tonight?“I feel like the car had good speed and we showed that in coming from the back.  We came from the mid-20s in stage one and I think finished fifth in stage two. We just didn’t execute well in stage three and stage three is the most important one. We had a lot of conversations about setting ourselves up for that final stage and things played out in a way that we didn’t react properly. Unfortunately, we were not able to make up the difference. It is what it is, and I felt like we did an okay job in the first three quarters of the race, but in the last quarter and most important, we didn’t. I can’t thank everyone enough. Trackhouse, all the sponsors, Freeway.com, Worldwide Express, Coke-Cola, and so many people that help us out to be in this position. Quaker State and Comm Scope. It’s been a lot of fun and we have ten more races to go out there and continue to fight.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP AUGUST 26, 2023

Five Chevrolet Drivers Set to Compete for 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship

·       In the 26-race NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Chevrolet collected a manufacturer-leading 13 wins – recorded by five drivers from four different Chevrolet teams.  ·       Since the debut of the 16-driver playoff field and elimination rounds to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014; at least five Chevrolet drivers were represented in the playoffs each season.

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 Llumar Camaro ZL16th      Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Arena Camaro ZL17th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL18th      William Byron, No. 24 Raptortough.com Camaro ZL110th    Corey LaJoie, No. 7 NEGU Camaro ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:POS.  DRIVER1.        Chris Buescher (Ford)2.        Brad Keselowski (Ford)3.        Aric Almirola (Ford)4.        Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)5.        Joey Logano (Ford)  The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin next weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out 400 Sunday, September 3rd, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on USA Network, MRN and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Boost by Kroger / Entenmann’s Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on the last lap of Stage Two. Finished 34thAre you OK and what happened? “Yeah, I’m good. I just wish I would have stayed high there. I saw the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) spin the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) – just pushing at the wrong spot of the racetrack, which I’ve done here before. Just part of it.  I was having a blast. Our No. 47 Entenmann’s Kroger Camaro was really, really fast. I felt like we worked our way from the very back to the very front and got ourselves some good track position, so I was really happy. I was having a blast. It was a lot fun racing three-wide and pushing each other. I felt like everybody was doing a good job of putting on a good race for the fans. It just looked like Christopher just got him maybe a little too hard, a little too soon. He should have probably waited until we got on the straightaway, but that’s part of it. I had fun, at least.” We saw more three-wide racing today compared to the other superspeedway races with this car. Are you guys just learning how these cars work better in the draft, or is it just the intensity of the regular season ending? “No, I mean everyone thought they wanted the bottom lane for some reason. I feel like with this race car, the middle and the top lanes, the cars just perform better. It seemed like everybody that moved to the bottom was getting too tight off turn four and off of two and having to lift, so it brought the top lane and the middle lane in. The No. 8 (Kyle Busch), 16 (AJ Allmendinger), 31 (Justin Haley) and myself – we ran from the back to the front in that third lane. We made it all the way to the front until we got our track position. But yeah, I’ve always felt like these cars run better on the top.” How do you feel about the next 10 weeks?“I feel good. We’re going to take it week-by-week. I feel like Darlington was a good racetrack for us, and that’s what we’ve been focused on was Darlington before we ever got here to Daytona. I feel really good about where we are as a race team. It was awesome to come back to Daytona and having a car that I felt like was capable of winning, and hopefully we can go to Darlington with that same mentality.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1Finished 33rdSidelined by damage sustained in an accident on the last lap of Stage Two.“We just had a suspension fail on the left-front from a little contact. It’s so frustrating. You try and go have a little fun out there and get some stage points, but really it pays nothing for that. I’ve won races not racing for those. We made some decent moves, and then some not so great moves. I have to go back and look to figure out why we didn’t keep ourselves toward the front, just in front of that. But that happened at the front, so I don’t know – other than just lifting coming to the checkered there in Stage Two, I don’t know what we could have done differently.” Is it just a result of being too aggressive, too early, from some others?“Yeah, I think everybody is pushing and shoving a little bit. The No. 20 (Christopher Bell) got to the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) and turned him. It’s part of it if you push in a corner.” How do you attack the next 10 weeks?“Progress. Look for the simple wins.” Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1Finished 17thYou are back in the playoffs and now can concentrate on next week at Darlington, how does that feel?“That feels really good to hear – in the playoffs again. I have to go back to 2021 and missing it in my first real attempt in a quality Chevrolet. Missed it with CGR in the No. 42 car and that hurt. But now I get to have the day off tomorrow and be ready Monday morning to walk into that Tech Center and continue to prepare for Darlington. We have already been preparing, we have already been running in the DiL, working with Josh Wise and the Wise Performance Group that GM uses to prepare the drivers.  And Trackhouse has been preparing the cars. It feels good and feels good to bring this one home clean and put it right back in the rotation. There is one small donut on it, but it feels good right now.  Life is good.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Camaro ZL1Finished 27th“Yeah, there are some good tracks for us in the playoffs and just ready to get started and hopefully get some momentum going. You guys had good speed at Darlington in the spring, how does that make you guys feel?“Yeah, I mean you just hope you have got the same speed this time around that you had earlier this year. We were really strong and I would like to get off to a good start.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway.com Camaro ZL1Finished 20thI know this may have been disappointing, what more did you need to get it done tonight?“I feel like the car had good speed and we showed that in coming from the back.  We came from the mid-20s in stage one and I think finished fifth in stage two. We just didn’t execute well in stage three and stage three is the most important one. We had a lot of conversations about setting ourselves up for that final stage and things played out in a way that we didn’t react properly. Unfortunately, we were not able to make up the difference. It is what it is, and I felt like we did an okay job in the first three quarters of the race, but in the last quarter and most important, we didn’t. I can’t thank everyone enough.  Trackhouse, all the sponsors, Freeway.com, Worldwide Express, Coke-Cola, and so many people that help us out to be in this position. Quaker State and Comm Scope. It’s been a lot of fun and we have ten more races to go out there and continue to fight.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1Finished: 7thWhat do you expect during the playoffs?“Yeah, just put it all together and make these races happen. Tonight, we had a lot of that up-and-down, as well – going to the back, coming to the front, going to the back. I was really proud of the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro. The RCR Chevy and the ECR engines that we had – they were good, they were fast. I just needed some help behind me at times. We got it – led some lanes, led some laps. And then there at the end, we were just trying to make some more happen with those guys at the end. It was just too short of a run to get up towards the front where we wanted to. But overall, proud of the effort. We know we just have to cross our T’s, dot our I’s and be a little bit more perfect, and not let some things happen during the races that have taken us out. A lot of it hasn’t been our fault, hasn’t been our doing, but just circumstantial. Better luck, I guess. I used it all up about eight weeks ago.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Llumar Camaro ZL1Finished: 4th“I feel like we had an OK chance there, but Brad (Keselowski) and the No. 17 (Chris Buescher) just worked so well together there and they were able to stay locked-on. They were so locked-on there.. they just had a strangle-hold on the top lane. Unfortunately I just couldn’t get to Kevin (Harvick) and stay there like that, and just make the bottom lane work. I kind of bottled it up there and just couldn’t get enough momentum going forward. But it was a valiant effort and I appreciate the effort from everybody – from the No. 9 team, Team Chevy, Hendrick Motorsports. I thought we all worked really well together tonight. Obviously we came up a little short, but nonetheless – I hate the way the season has gone, but proud to get the car into the owner’s championship. It’s a big deal to get in on the owner’s side, so hopefully we’ll try and go make some noise on that front, and just keep progressing and pushing to be better for next year. We’ll be better through all of this down the road.” Chandler Smith, No. 13 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Camaro ZL1Finished: 15th“I think we had a good solid weekend. We were up front in both races, maybe didn’t get the result we probably deserved based on our speed in the Xfinity race. But we moved on to the Cup race, ran up front, showed decent speed, and hopefully got a lot of TV time. I’d call that a success.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1Finished: 29th“I can’t thank my guys enough for the No. 16 Action Industries Chevy we had today. This was the best speedway car we have had, it handled well and had a lot of speed. We got caught up in a wreck running near the front of the field and that ultimately ended our day, but I’m proud of all the effort, we’ll keep making gains and hopefully get some finishes to show it.” William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1Finished: 8thYou’re entering the playoffs as the top-seed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Can you keep this going in the playoffs?“Yeah, it feels good. Just thank you to everyone at Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports, our whole No. 24 RaptorTough.com team. We had a solid night. In the pack, we were just struggling to advance forward, just kind of one move behind all of the time. But it’s good to get a top-10 and going into Darlington with some momentum. That’s a really good racetrack for us, I feel like. We have a couple little things to work on at Darlington, just to get a little bit better, but I feel like the first round sets up well. We just need to have a solid first couple of races and put ourselves in a good spot. It feels good. It looks like we’re tied with Martin (Truex Jr.) for playoff points. That’s a lot better position than we’ve been in the past, so we’ll try to take advantage of that. Last year, I think we were in the teens for playoff points, so I feel good about. The good thing is we can still get some more in the first round, so hopefully we can maybe get a stage win or a victory in the first couple races and see how it plays out.” Justin Haley, No. 31 Celsius Camaro ZL1Finished: 21st“We had a super-fast No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. We stayed clean and raced in the top five for a while there. Unfortunately, nothing transpired for us at the end.” Josh Berry, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 22nd“It was a decent finish for the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. We picked the wrong lane on the last restart and gave up some spots. But overall, we learned a lot and brought the car home in one piece. At Daytona, that’s always not a bad thing.” Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 18th“It was just an OK day for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy team. Just never really got in a good position to capitalize. We got a little flipped around on our last pit stop there and lost way too much ground to the second pack that pit. We were just too far back, too far late in the race and couldn’t really go anywhere with it. It’s a bummer. Obviously the end of our playoff hopes, but we’re going to 10 good tracks for us here coming up and hopefully we finish out strong.

ALTON, Va. (Aug. 26, 2023) – Corvette Racing and driver Antonio Garcia weathered intense heat Saturday to qualify on the second row for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway – the second of two GT-only races this season for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Garcia posted a best lap of 1:45.133 (111.972 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to qualify third. It was a close and intense 15 minutes with the top seven cars within 0.667 seconds – almost a mirror of the final practice where the five fastest cars had just 0.172 seconds between them… with Garcia part of that group. Saturday was another scorcher of a day at VIR with air temperatures approaching 100 degrees by the start of qualifying and high humidity. Sunday’s peak ambient temperature is expected to be about 10 degrees lower than Saturday. Corvette Racing is hoping to improve on last year’s runner-up finish and record its seventh class victory at the highly challenging 3.4-mile, 17-turn circuit. Garcia and teammate Jordan Taylor were overall winners in 2020 and finished second the last two years. Garcia and Taylor won earlier this year at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in GT Daytona (GTD) PRO, their lone win so far this season. They’ve been on the class podium in four other races. Returning to Victory Circle also would keep championship hopes alive for the No. 3 Corvette drivers, their team and Chevrolet. The group is second in points and badly in need of victories in any of the remaining three rounds to challenge for the GTD PRO Drivers, Teams and Manufacturers titles. The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 27. The race will air live on USA beginning at 2 p.m. ET and stream live on Peacock inside the United States and IMSA.comoutside the U.S. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning with Friday morning’s practice at IMSA.com with the race call also on XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED THIRD: “These were tricky conditions. The track is warm, and it was difficult to gauge the lap and the grip together with the setup we decided to go with in qualifying. We probably didn’t do the correct thing. The car wasn’t doing as I was expecting, so that led to a few mistakes. Instead of leaving the car the way it was to try and do something different, we ended up losing time to how it felt in FP2. It’s only qualifying but we should be there for the race. We are still close.”

2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After eight of 11 events)Driver Standings1. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 2,8102. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,6413. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon – 2,5944. Klaus Bachler/Patrick Pilet – 2,5875. Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn – 2,468 Team Standings1. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 2,8102. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,6413. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 2,5944. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 2,5875. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team – 2,468 Manufacturer Standings1. Lexus – 2,8102. Chevrolet – 2,6413. Mercedes-AMG – 2,5944. Porsche – 2,5875. Aston Martin – 2,479 CORVETTE RACING AT VIR: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at VIR since 2012 – Corvette C6.R (2012-2013), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and the mid-engine Corvette C8.R, which races at VIR for the final time in IMSA competition this year• 4: Overall VIR race wins for Corvette Racing – 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. Antonio Garcia was part of the first three• 5: Class wins at VIR for Corvette Racing, the most among IMSA entrants. Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin won in ALMS GT competition in 2012, and Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won overall in 2016 and 2017. Garcia and Jordan Taylor drove the C8.R to a win in 2020 with Milner and Nick Tandy victorious in 2021.• 9: Number of VIR victories for Chevrolet since 2002 covering both ALMS and the Rolex Series; that’s the most among manufacturers• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001• 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship• 126: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America, eight at Le Mans and one in the FIA WEC• 279: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999• 6,183.57: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its nine previous trips to Virginia International Raceway. It surpassed 6,000 miles after 30 laps in last year’s race• 359,619.37: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back! Corvette Racing at VIR (wins in bold)2012No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 8th in GT (Garcia fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Clinched ALMS GT title) 2013No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GT (Clinch GT team, manufacturer titles)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GT 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 7th in GTLM (Taylor replaced Magnussen – injury)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GTLM 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 6th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GTLM (Gavin fastest race lap) 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM 2020No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM  2021No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM (Milner pole) 2022No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTD PRO (Taylor fastest race lap)

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 25, 2023) – Hudson O’Neal and Brandon Overton each won a 25-lap preliminary A-Main on Friday Night at Port Royal Speedway. O’Neal led wire-to-wire in the first 25-lap main event for his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season. Rick Eckert, the current track points leader at Port Royal came from fifth to take second with current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader Ricky Thornton Jr. rounding out the Big River Steel Podium in third after he had started eighth. Cody Overton came home fourth followed by Tim McCreadie. Brandon Overton was able to fend off the challenges of both Jonathan Davenport and Mike Marlar to win the second 25-lap main event. Michael Norris was fourth with Chris Ferguson rounding out the top five drivers in the nightcap. O’Neal, who enters the weekend second the championship points standings behind Thornton set himself up for a good starting spot in Saturday’s heat race. “I thought I was making a lot of time difference going to that top; there was a time there when a lapped car slowed way up in front of me and I just misjudged how much faster I was getting off the corner. I was happy to see no cautions out there. If we had a caution, it might have played out differently. We had a good race car all night long, it qualified good, and it heat raced good. It’s refreshing to come out and get a win, it’s been a long couple of months.”  Eckert, a member of the National Dirt Late Model Hall-of-Fame came home in second-place behind O’Neal. “That second place was very important, we really haven’t qualified well here all year. We heat race really good, and we hadn’t feature raced very good. Mark Richards gave me some hints for the feature. It drove way better in the feature than I have been. I think our car is pretty close for tomorrow night’s big race realistically until we got to heavy traffic I was coming back to Huddy, and he just manned up on that cushion and I am an old guy. I was trying not to do it and finally I guess I had no choice.”  Thornton, who on Thursday Night at Georgetown Speedway rallied from sixth to win came from the outside of row four to finish third in the caution-free race. “In the grand scheme of things, you just wanted to run in the top six tonight in this feature to put yourself in a good position for tomorrow. I took off there and I didn’t think I was going to be very good; I fell back to about tenth or so. I just started running a little harder and the car got a lot better. The biggest thing for me here is to try to pace, but not pace too much where you can’t do anything early and get way behind.” O’Neal’s Mark Richards Racing, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ace Metal Works, Petroff Towing, Rocket Pre-Owned Motors, Gunter’s Honey, WR1 Sim Chassis, O’Neal’s Salvage and Recycling, Sunoco Race Fuels, Integra Racing Shocks, and Performance Grading.  Completing the top ten in the first feature were Daulton Wilson, Ross Robinson, Earl Pearson Jr., Mason Zeigler, and Justin Kann.

Brandon Overton got his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win since January, but he had to work for this one. “It’s about time something went my way. The caution come out as soon as JD [Davenport] passed me and let us get back out front. I might have not had the best car. I said the way we have been going it’s like we’ll take it and keep on working. I was starting to wonder whether I was going to win another race. He [Davenport] slid me so obviously I wasn’t going into three hard enough. As soon as he passed me, he went to the top to try and protect. I just wasn’t good no matter where I went. That’s how it is sometimes.” Davenport gave Overton all he wanted for the lead as he came home in the runner-up spot. “It just wasn’t meant for us to win tonight. We had a really good car; Brandon obviously was a little better than us through the middle. We just have to work on it to get it better for tomorrow night, but once the middle started dying the top starting coming in. I was driving pretty hard there and the caution came out and I then got squeezed on the back straightaway and I lost quite a bit of ground there. I just could never get the timing right when I would catch Brandon. I would catch him at the wrong part of the corner.”  Marlar, who took third the previous night at Georgetown rounded out the Big River Steel Podium for the second night in a row. “I hit a hole wrong in three and got really sideways, luckily, we got it straightened up there. It was good racing there. We raced all over the racetrack. If not for those cautions, we would have been out there; it really would have been an awesome race. You could have thrown a blanket over the top three at the finish for sure.” Brandon Overton’s Wells and Sons Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Garnto Southern, Muscle Factory, Victory fuel Flavored Electrolyte Water, R.W. Powell Construction, Penske Racing Shocks, Convenient Lube, Dirt Mafia, Boswell Oil, H&A Development, EZ-GO, and Earnhardt Technologies. Completing the top ten were Garrett Alberson, Devin Moran, Kyle Hardy, Colton Flinner, and Logan Roberson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Rumble by the River – Prelim Night 1Friday, August 25, 2023Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal | 18.110 seconds Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton | 18.007 seconds (overall) Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 66-Justin Kann[2]; 5. 06-Mike Lupfer[4]; 6. 4-Gary Stuhler[7]; 7. D19-Dillan Stake[6]; 8. 86-Austin Berry[8]; 9. 63-Nathan Long[9] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 2-Dan Stone[2]; 2. 0R-Rick Eckert[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 5. 2JR-Jeff Rine[5]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 7. 24-Dylan Yoder[7]; 8. 32J-Shaun Jones[8]; 9. 10S-Dave Stamm[9] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 15K-Cody Overton[1]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 4. 22-Gregg Satterlee[4]; 5. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 6. 2J-Justin Weaver[6]; 7. 11T-Trevor Collins[8]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler[7] AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 4. 111B-Max Blair[5]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 6. 9M-Hayes Mattern[6]; 7. 3-Timothy Wilson[7]; 8. 59-Chad Julius[8]; 9. EZ1-Ron Fink[9] Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 89-Logan Roberson[4]; 4. 48-Colton Flinner[7]; 5. 20-Trever Feathers[6]; 6. 2T-Kyle Lee[9]; 7. 21-Chad Myers[8]; 8. 58-Garrett Alberson[5]; 9. 0-Andrew Yoder[3] Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 10-Michael Norris[1]; 2. 1Z-Logan Zarin[2]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 45-Kyle Hardy[3]; 5. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[5]; 6. 32-Travis Stickley[7]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 8. 25K-Kody Lyter[8] Rumble by the River Prelim Night 1 Group A Feature Finish (25 Laps):

Rumble by the River Prelim Night 1 Group B Feature Finish (25 Laps):

Race Statistics  Entrants: 61 Group A Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Hudson O’NealGroup B Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Brandon OvertonGroup A Lap Leaders: Hudson O’Neal (Laps 1-25) Group B Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1-25) Group A Wieland Feature Winner: Hudson O’NealGroup B Wieland Feature Winner: Brandon OvertonArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a Group A Margin of Victory: 4.182 seconds Group B Margin of Victory: 0.338 seconds Group A Gorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: n/aGroup B Gorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: Drake Troutman (Lap 12); Ron Fink (Lap 15)Series Provisionals: n/a Fast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/a Track Provisional: n/a Group A Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Hudson O’Neal, Rick Eckert, Ricky Thornton, Jr.Group B Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, Mike MarlarGroup A Penske Shocks Top 5: Hudson O’Neal, Rick Eckert, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Cody Overton, Tim McCreadieGroup B Penske Shocks Top 5: Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, Mike Marlar, Michael Norris, Chris FergusonGroup A Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Ross Robinson (Advanced 10 Positions) Group B Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Garrett Alberson (Advanced 17 Positions) Group A Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Ross RobinsonGroup B Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Devin MoranGroup A Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Dillan StakeGroup B Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Max BlairGroup A Earnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Hudson O’Neal (25 Laps) Group B Earnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Brandon Overton (25 Laps) Group A Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Hudson O’NealGroup A Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Garrett AlbersonMidwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr. O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/a Group A Etchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Hudson O’Neal (Lap 2 – 19.194 seconds) Group B Etchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton (Lap 1 – 19.490 seconds) Group A MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Austin BerryGroup B MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Drake TroutmanGroup A Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Danny White (Hudson O’Neal) Group B Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Kent Fegter (Brandon Overton) Group A ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Race EnginesGroup B ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesGroup A Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisGroup B Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Mike Marlar (17.822 seconds) Group A Time of Race: 10 minutes 04 seconds Group B Time of Race: 19 minutes 14 seconds  Rumble by the River Saturday Line-Ups

Rumble by the River Saturday Preliminary Points

August 25, 2023

Harrison Burton, in the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang, has qualified a Cup-career-best third for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the final race of the 26-race regular season.

Burton earned that spot with a lap at 181.404 miles per hour in Friday’s qualifying session.

He was sixth in the opening round of qualifying, with a lap at 181.068 mph, which put him in the final qualifying round.

There was no practice prior to qualifying.

Friday’s effort was Burton’s second top-five start of the season. The first, a fifth-place, came at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month. 

With a win in Saturday’s race, any Cup regular driver not already assured of a berth in the 10-race Playoffs can join the elite 16 that will compete for the series championship. 

The Coke Zero 400 is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7 p.m. Saturday with TV coverage on NBC. 

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 35 and 95.

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY COKE ZERO SUGAR 400TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 25, 2023

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway. Media Availability Quotes:  HAVE THERE BEEN CONVERSATIONS AT TRACKHOUSE ABOUT DRAFTING AND HELPING YOUR TEAMMATE? “I am there for my amigo all the time man.  We have already had those conversations and have had them with GM and Chevrolet, and we know the bigger picture of the bowtie and what is important. We can do a lot of good for the 1 car and help people where we can. Tomorrow night will be a key moment to do that.” WHEN WERE THE CONVERSATIONS WITH GM AND WHAT WAS SAID IN THERE? “Monday, and just getting everybody together to talk and just hear what people’s plans are and philosophies. There are a million ways you can go about this race. I know for me, and I can’t speak for anybody else, but my mind kind of sways with the wind on what I think is going to work.  You look at statistics and the history of it and you can read it one way, and you can read it the complete 180 of what is successful here. It was just getting us in a room and hearing everybody out.” HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE NEEDS FOR THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION AND ALSO YOUR PERSONAL AMBITIONS TOO? “Personally, I am in Darlington already.  I don’t hate to stay it because it’s the truth. We have put effort in, and we think we have a car that can go and be competitive and play the race out as it comes.  I have learned to not come here with any grand plan, but yes, if there is a stage point or a win, then I am going to go for it. I have said it before and I plan on being backwards in the grass at 200 miles an hour and if I don’t hit anything too hard and I can get back to pit road, with minimal damage to the bottom of the car, I will still have a shot to win. So, I don’t get upset when stuff happens at these places anymore. I used to be so on edge through the Truck Series and then I heard an old veteran say that and it made a lot of sense, and it made my weeks leading up to these races a lot easier.  So, mentally, we have already been preparing for Darlington.” HOW DO YOU FEEL BEING A PART OF THIS PRESSURE COOKER PLAYOFF YEAR AFTER YEAR? DO YOU ENJOY THAT? “I actually do think about that because I was a fan, and I did follow the points whenever it was five points for a position and season-long points.  And you got points for being last and you have all this other stuff. And now it’s easy to see over the past weeks we have fallen from being the points leader, to being 100 points out now. I don’t think with 11 races to go we would have a realistic shot to win a championship. So, I love it because it gives us a real shot. It gives Chase (Elliott) a shot, Alex (Bowman) a realistic shot and guys that are hundreds of points back and have missed races, would never have a shot. So, I love it because it allows for me to have a shot. I have had the points lead, lost it, and given up over a 100 points. We wouldn’t have a shot without it.” IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS YOU HAVE ONE TOP FIVE AND THREE TOP TENS. IN THE PLAYOFFS, THAT IS NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH AS YOU KNOW. WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE THAT YOU GUYS CAN PICK IT UP FROM HERE? “Yeah, I see the stats and we have looked at it. We looked at it with GM just this week of just how the season played out compared to last year and its just a very glaring thing when you look at finishing position. But there is a lot more to be said for average running position and I am not finishing where we are running. The pace can be argued (that it) was better last year, but running position was similar. There are a lot of things and details that you can dig into and see, and we just did that this week. Honestly, it made me feel okay because I know where we can be better. I know that I can be better at finishing these races and I have got to tell you that I was a whole lot more nervous sitting up here last time I was at this desk announcing our contract extension and new contract than I am right now going into the playoffs. That is a really cool feeling. Those were nerves and pressure for another reason in getting it out and another worst kept secret, second worst kept secret that we had this year.  I had more pressure sitting up here then than I do now with Darlington, Kansas and Bristol coming up this month.” WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS RACE AND IS IT DIFFERENT THAN THE DAYTONA 500?  “I think Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) was just up here and he argued that it set his playoff field in February. And he got to win the Daytona 500.  That is nothing to not look at in coming here in February and it’s a great reminder for everybody that you can just set your season to a permanent win for the year if you win the Daytona 500.  That is a lifetime achievement like Ricky was able to accomplish. But here, what do I expect? I expect all of it. I expect everything, all the highlights we are going to see, all the highlights we know. I don’t expect a ton of cars to be running at the end and that probably may be the only thing I can confidently say I expect. Everything else I can expect – all of it. For me, I can only control my variables. Things I can directly control are saving fuel, getting on and off pit road, staying with my group that we pit with the best I can, staying in the pit stall long enough while Brooke our gas man fuels the car to get the right amount of fuel in it each stop, so we don’t have to take more fuel late. Those are the things that I can control.” WHAT DID YOU LEARN LAST YEAR IN GOING THROUGH ALL THE PLAYOFF ROUNDS AND GETTING ALL THE WAY AS FAR AS YOU DID IN THE PLAYOFFS THAT YOU CAN TAKE WITH YOU THIS SEASON? “Yeah, a lot. I learned a lot and learned a lot about myself and our group at Trackhouse. Because I had questions of if we could step up. There were some similar comments to what Jeff said last year about some stats that were looking a little lower. And we went to those races like Darlington, and we were fast, and we did what we needed to do. We kept air in the tires at the Texas race where everybody was blowing tires.  My group did everything right not to blow a tire.  We weren’t the fastest car, but we did the things we needed to do to survive and advance. Survive and advance. Its no different now and I can’t let the Nashville win or everything that has happened since the playoffs last year affect the fact that I know we need to just go week by week. And then the Roval haunts me. That wreck, partway through that race, should have taken us out. We were by some gift given another chance and we took full advantage of it in that Round of Eight. So, minimizing those mistakes. We did so good those other nine races and the Roval stands out as the one, and I got away with it. But yeah, all that plays into the count. There is a corner that I won’t crash at, at the Roval this year. I have worked really hard, not saying it won’t happen, but in turn two at the Roval, I should go slow enough through there this year that I won’t crash because that could have been really bad.” GIVEN WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED AT DARLINGTON IN THE SPRING, WHAT WILL YOU CARRY FORWARD NEXT WEEK THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT? “What happened in the spring, caused me not to win and I don’t like to lose.  So, I am not going to do that again, but I am still going to go race.  And (Kyle) Larson and I have had some great battles this year. We were side by side a couple of times late in the race at Watkins Glen and then at the end of the race it wasn’t me that was running into everybody at the end. I was watching my camera laughing.  The rear-view camera. Because I was like, ‘yes, it’s not me. It’s them’.  So, I did have some sleepless nights afterward.  So, I learned a lot from that too and talking to Mr. Hendrick was some really cool conversations and he was great, and he had some great advice. I live by some of the words that he was nice enough to give me that early morning we talked. I will never forget that conversation, good or bad. I don’t like the reason that it came about, but I liked that talk and I listened. I have taken what he said to heart, and I am better for it.”

DIRTcar Sportsman Regional play has concluded, with four different winners finishing on the top of the leaderboard in each region, launching the division into its Championship Series.

Andrew Buff (Central Region), Nick Heywood (Eastern Region), Cody McPherson (Western Region), and David Rogers (Northern Region) took home the top prize in the points battle for their respective division.

Buff scored a win at Land of Legends in Canandaigua, NY, on June 24, after starting on the outside of row one before jumping out in front to lead all 30-laps. Four days later, he headed to Can-Am Speedway in La Fargeville, NY where he recorded a fifth-place finish. His two solid performances gave him a 10-point advantage over second place Tyler Corcoran, making him the Central Region champion.

“It’s definitely huge (winning the Region),” Buff said.  “You have to stay on top of it and try to not have bad nights and have consistent finishes.”

The Latham, NY driver has continued with that same winning consistency transitioning over into DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series competition. After a repeat win at Land of Legends on Aug. 16, and then another at his home track, Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, four days later, Buff has built attention-grabbing momentum moving towards the end of the season.

“We’ve really been consistent over the past couple months here with a lot of these races coming up, it’s all about the Time Trials,” Buff said. “You have to start the night off well; get yourself in the redraw to put yourself in position in the Feature. It really just comes down to the consistency of doing that. And, staying on top of everything during the week and planning ahead.”

Veteran driver Nick Heywood was the winner in the Eastern Region, edging out Derrick McGrew Jr. by two points. His visits to Bear Ridge Speedway and Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, two tracks he had never previously visited, netted him a top-five finish and a top-10 finish.

“There was a lot of really good cars,” Heywood said. “Bear Ridge had their weekly contenders; those guys are tough. The Buff brothers, Derrick McGrew Jr., are all really good at Glen Ridge. To come in the first time and be an outsider and be able to keep up with those guys is a feat in its own, and we were fortunate enough to be able to do that.”

While he wasn’t able to commit to running every Championship Series race due to off-track commitments, Heywood will attempt to make every remaining race starting at Can-Am Speedway on Sept. 8.

Defending Super DIRT Week Chevy Performance 75 winner Cody McPherson had a near flawless run, notching three wins in four starts. He credits his continued cycle of winning with staying locked in in his approach to racing.

“I try not to think too much when I show up to a race and just do the same thing every time,” McPherson said. “It doesn’t matter where I am or what event it is, I just want to win. That’s the whole goal. There was a lot of good talent in the West Region. But we just try to show up and do the same thing every time and see what happens.”

McPherson scored a fifth-place finish during the Championship Series matchup at Ransomville Speedway on August 22 and will continue battling for wins in the upcoming matchups before heading back to Oswego Speedway, Oct. 2-8, to defend his title at Super DIRT Week 51.

Over in Northern Region Series action, La Fargeville, NY native David Rogers reigned supreme at at the conclusion of competition, using his home track advantage to come out on top of the points battle by 12 points over runner-up Tyler Corcoran.

“It just a good feeling to know that when the Series comes to town, you’re at the top of your game,” Rogers said.

Recently a new father for the second time, Rogers will be selective going forward about what races he puts on his schedule. He’ll battle again for another win when the Championship Series makes a visit at Can-Am Speedway, on Sept. 8, and will then go westbound to Weedsport Speedway for the Sept. 9 showcase.

He does have end of the year plans to make it to Oswego Speedway for Super DIRT Week 51, Oct. 2-8, and for the World Short Track Championships at the Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina, Oct. 26-28.

Rogers scored a win on the opening night of the 2022 World Short Track event.

“Backing off my race schedule a little bit and being more prepared when I show up to the racetrack has helped,” Rogers said. “(Being successful) has just been because of being well prepared, I think, when those big shows do approach. And just kind of having fun with it.”

The Championship Series for the DIRTcar Sportsman started at Land of Legends Raceway on Aug. 16 and will run through the fall to the World Short Track Championship in October. Along the way, the Series will stop at Oswego Speedway for the Chevrolet Performance 75 during Super DIRT Week 51 on Sunday, Oct. 8.

The Sportsman Classic at Weedsport Speedway on Sept. 10, the Hurricane Harvey 75 at Brewerton Speedway on Oct. 4, Super DIRT Week and the World Short Track Championship will be available to watch live on DIRTVision.

MORE: Chevrolet Performance Adding More Incentives For Super DIRT Week DIRTcar Sportsman Drivers

UP NEXT: The next stop on the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series schedule is Can-Am Speedway on Friday, Sept. 8, for a 30-lap, $2,000-to-win, spectacular.

Championship Series Full Schedule:
Wednesday, Aug. 16 / Land of Legends Raceway / SummerFAST
Sunday, Aug. 20 / Glen Ridge Motorsports Park
Tuesday, Aug. 22 / Ransomville Speedway / Summer Nationals
Friday, Sept. 8 / Can-Am Speedway / John Burr Memorial-Showdown in September
Sunday, Sept. 10 / Weedsport Speedway / Sportsman Classic
Friday, Sept. 22 / Albany-Saratoga Speedway / Malta Massive Weekend
Wednesday, Oct. 4 / Brewerton Speedway / Hurricane Harvey 75
Sunday, Oct. 8 / Oswego Speedway / Super DIRT Week 51
Saturday, Oct. 14 / Brockville Ontario Speedway / Fall Nationals
Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 26-28 / The Dirt Track at Charlotte / World Short Track Championship

NASCAR CUP SERIES DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY COKE ZERO SUGAR 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 25, 2023

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 BOOST BY KROGER / ENTENMANN’S CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway. Media Availability Quotes:  You’re locked into the playoffs with your win here in February, so you don’t have to race for your season like other guys do. It would be hard to not have a sense of confidence after that win, so with all that in mind, how hard do you plan on pushing it tomorrow night to try to do the Daytona sweep? “Yeah, I mean that’s what we’re here for is to be back in victory lane; get my second Summer race win here. For us, we’re looking at the playoff points that we could take to the playoffs – either by stage wins or obviously another five points winning the race. Those are the benefits that we can take out of Daytona and the things that we’re looking for. How we do that? I’m not sure yet. On one hand, this race generally is kind of crazy. Obviously last year was a little bit different with kind of one incident taking everybody out of the race, but not really anybody’s fault.  I don’t know.. I know the cars that have to win, have to make it to the end of the race, right? So they don’t really care about stage points. I mean there’s a couple that care about stage points, so hopefully that leaves us racing the ones that are already locked-in for maybe some stage wins or something. Just going to see how it plays out and kind of adjust our race lap-by-lap, stage-by-stage, and see where we shake out.” You won your two Xfinity Series Championships the old-school, season-long way. You’ve also been in a couple of these elimination-style format years. Now that we’ve done this for a decade or so, how do you kind of weigh the pros and cons of the way we used to do it versus the way we do it now? “Yeah, I don’t know. It’s exciting. I think it keeps the fans engaged the way we have it. But with that being said, it’d still be a great points battle right now going in with 11 races left. I think it would still be a really good championship battle. I’m watching the tour championship right now and looking at the way they eliminate guys and set themselves up for a golf tournament at the end of the season – it’s handicapped, but they have four guys that go for a championship at the end of the year.  I think every sport has done something to make it exciting.. make their playoffs a little more intense over the years. I enjoyed the Nationwide Series Championships. I loved that it was a season-long deal. But at the point I’m in now, I’m looking forward to the playoffs and the opportunity to race for a championship that way.  Yeah, I don’t know. I’ve not been leading going into the playoffs to really have a strong feeling one way or the other, I guess.” Five playoff points to win the race.. maybe two more for the two stage wins. Do you view this race as binary for you – it’s either put ourselves in the position to win the race and get the five points, or because people are trying to survive, it’s a chance to get the two points? “Yeah, we talked about that in our meeting this week at the shop. You look at the cautions in this race and you look at how many finish this race, and it’s not near as many as other speedway races, it seems like. But again, kind of like I said earlier, I feel like there’s a lot of guys that know that they have to make it to the end of the race to have an opportunity to make the playoffs. I’m hoping that gives us a way to kind of get some track position – stay upfront, battle for those stage wins. Seven points would go a long ways for us in the Round of 16 and so on.  For me, that’s really what we’re focused on and I hope that’s how it plays out – that it won’t be so chaotic at the end of those stages and we’re battling for those stage wins and ultimately the win at the end of the day.” You’re looking at the first two rounds and you’re saying – ‘I can definitely win at Bristol. I can definitely win at Talladega.’ And if the stars align, you move onto the Round of Eight. Do you think those are your two best shots?“Yeah, I think going into the first round, I really like all of the racetracks. I love Darlington, Kansas and Bristol. I still feel like we’ve been so close at Bristol, so many times, and I would love to get my first win there this year and then obviously move on.  For me, I’m focused on the first round. I did not know Talladega was in the second round, honestly. I have no idea what’s in the second round (laughs). But for us, just really kind of honed in on Darlington right now. I feel good about where our car is for Daytona. My guys have been kind of looking at Darlington this week and trying to prepare for that. We were good at Darlington earlier in the year. We had kind of a misfortune with a flat left-rear tire that we lost time under green pitting. I feel really good about where we are as a team. I don’t think we have to win in the first round to make it through by any means, so we’ll go do our jobs each and every week – try to be perfect and let others make mistakes to move on through that round.” Where do you feel like your team is now? Your team got your win so early in the season and now, all these months later and the playoffs starting, where do you feel like you guys are? “It’s going to be real in a week, right? Or I should say after tomorrow, it’s real. I feel like we’ve grown a lot as a team. We’ve gotten better in certain areas of our race team throughout the year and really things have stuck out where we need to be better, and I feel like we’ve corrected some of that. I still feel like we have some issues that we’re still working on and trying to clean up. Some of that is me as a racecar driver – getting to pit road, things on pit road, some race strategy calls that we’ve probably been a little bit off on. And then car speed.. we’ve struggled on that at some racetracks.  I like the information that we have and the things that we’ve learned lately, and I feel like that’ll put us in a good spot going forward. But I like where we are. It’s real now. We’ve made the playoffs. We have one more kind of relaxed, kind of freebee race, and then it’s gametime.” You’ve talked about having that relaxed attitude and this is really the last race for that. Have you guys started to kind of pivot and get ready to have that different kind of attitude and get that more serious, or is that going to be when you get to Darlington? “We’re serious every week. It’s just the reality is that next week is everything matters. Like when we have a bad Saturday, it matters. We’ve had some bad Saturday’s, as far as qualifying goes, and it set us back. It hasn’t been super detrimental. I think a bad Saturday in the playoffs is difficult to overcome. So I think for us, it’s we know there’s no mulligans once we start next week. We’re done with the driving range.. done goofing off (laughs). We’ll step-up on the first tee next week and make sure that we’re ready to go.” Obviously you want to go all the way, but realistically, how deep would you be satisfied to go or is that off the table – it’s all or nothing?“No, it’s not ‘all or nothing’. I think for me – say we were eliminated in the first round, we could still finish fifth in points, right? So there’s a ton left to race for, no matter what happens in the first round. I think for us, in 2017, we finished 11th in points. We had a really good shot at finishing ninth in points after getting eliminated in the third round, I believe. So for us, there’s a lot to race for no matter what happens in that first round.” This is the first time since February when you won the Daytona 500 that you’re coming back to Daytona. What are the emotions like? You’re back in the media center for the first time since that winning press conference? “It was a lot more fun coming back in here after that (laughs).  But yeah, it’s been special. Our pilot let us fly over the track – we did a circle around the track before we landed, so that was pretty cool. Going over to the museum and seeing the car in there, checking all the things out in there, was special. And then unveiling our Walk of Fame there out in front of the museum. This race is so big when you win the Daytona 500, and you do a lot of things throughout the season based off of winning this and it’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed every second of it – being able to promote our team, promote our win, promote the sport. For me, it doesn’t get old.  It’s been nice to come in here and kind of take it all in – look around, walk through the garage. It was so chaotic after the race. You’re trying to celebrate. You’re trying to somewhat get some sleep knowing you have to get up the next morning early. So it’s been nice to kind of come in here, know that you’ve accomplished something great as a race team. Now that that’s over, we can try to get another one.” Obviously you have incentive to win this race and win the stages. You have points on the line, and also a rare sweep, which hasn’t been done all that many times. But can you allow yourself awareness of what’s going on around you and try not to effect who gets in the playoffs and who doesn’t?“Definitely something that you think about. You don’t want to be the reason somebody gets in over somebody else, right? Points-wise and other cars, you will definitely – or at least I will – be a little more cautious around some of those cars that are right there on the cutoff line for points. Some Chevy guys are racing for a win. You have buddies that are trying to make the playoffs and things like that. So you try to be respectful of those guys, but know that we still have a job to do and try to take some points away from other people, as well.” How did it feel putting your hands and feet in the concrete, and what does it mean to you, personally, to be part of that Walk of Fame at Daytona? “It was cool. Yeah, I mean I’ve never at any construction sites, I’ve never put my hands or feet in the concrete. I don’t think I’ve done that as a kid (laughs). But no, that was really cool. And then I’d say it gets more real every time something happens or you go into the museum and see your face on the wall there with all of the other winners of the Daytona 500 and knowing that’s going to stay there. Just like the Walk of Fame out there – to know that’s going to be there, I guess until they decide to tear it up (laughs), is really special. I feel like that’s what the Daytona 500 is, right? It’s something that sticks with you in your career for the longevity of it, and I think no other race does that, except for winning a championship in the sport. So that was one that we’re super proud of, but that’s also what makes it so important and so special to everybody. For me, I’m glad that we accomplished that already, and now coming back to Daytona, we’re more relaxed, but also more confident. That’s something nice to go along with it, as well.”

DAVENPORT, IA (Aug. 24, 2023) – One evening of practice in, and the stars of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, in conjunction with the POWRi National Midget League, are ready to do battle at Davenport Speedway.

The Series is coming off a two-week pause in the action following Appalachian Midget Week – a miniseries points championship won by one of the hottest drivers on the Xtreme Outlaw roster as of late, Chase McDermand.

McDermand, 23, of Springfield, IL, continued the momentum flow from the two-win week in Pennsylvania by topping the overall speed chart in Thursday night’s practice sessions at Davenport with a best lap of 14.146 seconds around the 1/4-mile – .085 under the Midget track record of 14.229, set last year by Cannon McIntosh.

That same night of McIntosh’s track record establishment, McDermand went to Victory Lane with the Xtreme Outlaws for the first time in his career. He’ll get two chances to win Davenport again as the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking continues Friday and Saturday night (Aug. 25-26) alongside the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series.

“I think we definitely have a car capable of doing that,” McDermand said of his thoughts on winning Davenport again. “We’ve just gotta stay on top of the track with the Late Models. They tend to do a little bit different things to the track compared to the type of cars that we usually race with. We’ve just gotta focus on the track and make sure that we’re making changes for what the track is allowing.”

This weekend, several of Midget racing’s toughest competitors not regularly found on the Series roster are expected to race at Davenport, including Thomas Meseraull, Ryan Timms and Jacob Denney. Despite their skills, McDermand said he’s not fazed.

“We’ve been fast enough to where we’ve just gotta worry about ourselves and put ourselves in a good spot from the beginning of the night until the end,” McDermand said. “That’s all I’m worried about.”

Also taking part in practice was defending Series champion Zach Daum, who clocked in a ninth-quickest lap on the chart at 14.987. Riding high on the back of three Toyota Racing Feature wins this season, Daum said he and the Trifecta Motorsports team were experimenting with the Blackjack Express, Stanton/Spike #7U during practice.

“You don’t get to test very often, so we were just throwing something at it that we thought would work, just not under the circumstances,” Daum said. “It did what we thought it would do, given the circumstances we went out in.”

After a sound showing during Appalachian Midget Week – posting finishes of second, eighth and fourth in the three-race stretch – Daum and his new friends at Trifecta have shrunken their deficit in the championship standings down to 103 points; a far cry from where Daum once stood, 278 points behind leader McIntosh.

“We’ve just gotta keep fine tuning the package; that’s all we’re doing,” Daum said. “Realistically, we still haven’t raced that much together. We’re maybe 10-12 races into our tenure together. Luckily, I have a decent idea of what I want in a racecar and Bobby [Milliser, crew chief] has a good idea of a setup.”

The Series’ all-time winningest driver, Jade Avedisian, was second-quickest overall with a best lap of 14.162. She and the Keith Kunz Motorsports stable will work to close their seven-point gap in the standings to McIntosh this weekend.

McIntosh, the current Series points leader, turned in a third-best lap time of 14.254. He’s aiming for redemption at Davenport from last year, where a mechanical failure sidelined him Friday, and on Saturday, finished 10th in the Feature.

UP NEXT

The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets go racing with the POWRi National Midget League at Davenport Speedway Friday night, Aug. 25, in a $4,000-to-win program. Tickets are available at XtremeOutlawSeries.com/Schedule. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

PRACTICE RESULTS (of cars that took time)

1. Chase McDermand (14.146)
2. Jade Avedisian (14.162)
3. Cannon McIntosh (14.254)
4. Hayden Reinbold (14.307)
5. Taylor Reimer (14.354)
6. Gavin Miller (14.504)
7. Corbin Rueschenberg (14.681)
8. Thomas Meseraull (14.738)
9. Cooper Williams (14.812)
10. Zach Daum (14.987)
11. Elijah Gile (15.020)
12. Dakota Gay (15.036)
13. Nick Hoffman (15.804)

QUAD CITY OPERATOR: Bobby Pierce Opens Quad Cities 150 At Davenport With Ninth Victory of 2023

Former Series Champion’s Dennis Erb Jr., and Brandon Sheppard round out the podium

DAVENPORT, IA – August 24, 2023 – Bobby Pierce has tried and tried to score a win at the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking—finishing second five times in six starts. But on Thursday night at Davenport Speedway, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series points leader finally broke through. 

Pierce thundered around the outside of Dennis Erb Jr. and Shane Clanton on Lap 5 and led the final 30 laps to earn the $10,000 victory.

Erb led Lap 1 of the 35-lap affair before Clanton wrestled the lead away from him on Lap 2. But as the two former champions battled for the top spot, Pierce closed in.

On Lap 5, the Oakwood, IL driver moved to the outside. As the three drivers entered Turn 3, Pierce’s Longhorn Chassis found a burst of speed through the corner, passing Erb and Clanton to take the lead away at the start/finish line. The “Smooth Operator” led the final 30 laps to score his ninth World of Outlaws win of the season and third consecutive Series win in Iowa.

Despite his win, Pierce didn’t get off to the start he wanted to. However, he said what happened on the first lap showed him where he needed to be on the track.

“I was a little worried at the start,” Pierce said. “I don’t know if I missed Turn 1 or what. I didn’t want to jump up top that soon, but we did what we had to do. We got up on the wheel. It went caution-free. And got it done.”

Even though he led the final 30 laps, traffic was still challenging on Davenport’s bullring. He said his experience paid off, knowing what happened to him at the track in the past.

“You want to get by lap traffic as quick as you can, because here in the past it’s bit me,” Pierce said. “Tanner [English] snuck by me to get one last year, and that was somewhat to do with lap traffic. I was hammer-down all the time, and it stayed green. I didn’t have to worry about a restart, so it was a lot of fun.”

Along with the win, Pierce extended his Series points lead to 122 over Chris Madden, who finished seventh.

Erb crossed the line second, his 11th top-10 finish in his last 13 races. The Carpentersville, IL driver said he was happy with his Rocket Chassis despite coming up short.

“Shane and I were racing there, and he just got by us on the outside,” Erb said. “Once I got cleared of [Clanton] and I started rolling up through there, the car was really good. I thought one time we were going to get up underneath [Pierce], but lap traffic really played a factor.

“He’s been really good. His car’s been good all year, so we’re just happy with a second here, and we’ll try again tomorrow.”

Four-time Series champion Brandon Sheppard finished third—his eighth podium of the season. The New Berlin, IL driver snuck past Nick Hoffman in traffic with 10 laps to go to take over third but ran out of laps to get to the front.

“We had a really good car,” Sheppard said. “We were very maneuverable. We could run top, middle, bottom, wherever we wanted to. In these short races, you have to get them where you can in lap traffic. I was really good on the bottom. I was definitely better than those guys on the bottom, but when everybody’s down there, you have to move out. We were able to get out to the middle and move around them guys. 

“Like I said, we had a really good car. Bobby’s just on it this year. He’s been really good.”

Germfree Labs Rookie of the Year contender Nick Hoffman finished fourth, and Kyle Bronson rounded out the top five.

Brian Shirley was Thursday’s Fox Factory Hard Charger, moving up 10 spots to finish sixth.

Clanton, who led four laps, finished 11th.

Pierce’s win on Thursday adds to his impressive World of Outlaws CASE Late Models season, scoring his seventh win in the last 12 Series races. He hopes to keep that consistency as long as he can.

“I’m just going to ride that wave,” Pierce said. “Ride that wave as long as possible.”

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to Davenport Speedway for night two of the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking along with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets presented by Toyota. Another $10,000 is on the line in a 35-lap Feature. FOR TICKETS: CLICK HERE.

CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Feature (35 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[16]; 7. 44-Chris Madden[8]; 8. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 9. 96V-Tanner English[12]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[9]; 11. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 12. 19R-Ryan Gustin[23]; 13. 25F-Jason Feger[10]; 14. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[19]; 15. 25S-Chad Simpson[17]; 16. 18-Shannon Babb[14]; 17. 16-Tyler Bruening[18]; 18. 1ST-Johnny Scott[25]; 19. 30-Todd Cooney[13]; 20. 11-Gordy Gundaker[24]; 21. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[11]; 22. 49-Jake Timm[15]; 23. 98-Jason Rauen[21]; 24. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[22]; 25. 29-Spencer Diercks[20] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER: Brian Shirley [+10]

GEORGETOWN, DE (August 24, 2023) – Ricky Thornton Jr. rallied from sixth after a lap 35 restart – storming to the lead on lap 41 and leading the rest of the way to pick up his record-setting 16th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the 2023 season on Thursday at Georgetown Speedway. It was the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series’ first-ever visit to the 1/2-mile oval to honor the late Melvin L. Joseph who built the track in 1949. Thornton’s victory broke a tie with Scott Bloomquist, who had previously set the single season record for wins in 2016 with 15. Brandon Overton, who led laps 18 through 40 finished in second with Mike Marlar completing the Big River Steel Podium in third. Tyler Erb was fourth and early race leader Garrett Alberson rounded out the top five. Alberson had led the first 17 laps of the race. Thornton, who started fourth on the grid and ran outside the top five for several laps blasted through the field in the final 14 circuits to win the 49-lap race. “I really didn’t know how I did it. I started running the top down there in three and four and I felt like I could run with those guys in front of me. I didn’t know if I needed to restart on the top or the bottom. I was kind of glad I restarted on the bottom. I got a good start, and I was able to get by a couple of cars down in one and two and then we got to third. I didn’t know if those guys knew I was up there. I kind of just rolled around the outside of them and once I was out in front, I really didn’t know what to do. I ran as hard as I could.” Overton, who was looking for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win since January almost completed the clean sweep for the night but came home in second. “Honestly it shouldn’t be, but it’s awesome to be up there. Obviously, we want to win, and our team is plenty capable of winning. We’ve got great car owners that get us everything we need; things just haven’t been going our way. We have been struggling here lately you know just everything going wrong.” Marlar, who was in the hunt the entire race came home in third. “It was a really fun racetrack. I would like to thank all of the fans for sticking it out during those rain delays. It was a long night for sure. I think it worked out for everybody. Congrats to Ricky, he is just so fast. I thought Overton and I were having a really good race until he [Thornton] came along. I almost got the lead there a couple of times and I felt like I was going to get it and those cautions came out. The cautions didn’t play in my favor, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.” The winner’s Todd and Vickie Burns-owned, SSI Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Dyno One, Inc., West Side Tractor Sales Company, D&E Outside Services, Certified Inspection Service Company, inc., Midwest Sheet Metal, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, Excel Floor Covering, and Murty Farms. Completing the top ten were Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie, Gregg Satterlee, Hudson O’Neal, and Jonathan Davenport. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary The Melvin L. Joseph MemorialThursday, August 24, 2023Georgetown Speedway – Georgetown, DE Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Brandon Overton | 17.117 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson | 17.201 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 6. 0-Rick Eckert[7]; 7. 11T-Trevor Collins[6]; 8. 41-Ross Chastain[8] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 111B-Max Blair[2]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 4. 66C-Matt Cosner[3]; 5. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 7. 15K-Cody Overton[6] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[2]; 3. 45-Kyle Hardy[4]; 4. 11-Spencer Hughes[3]; 5. 92-Nick Davis[6]; 6. 2-Dan Stone[5]; 7. KB-Kerry King[7]; 8. (DNS) 41M-Matt Sheppard AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman[3]; 4. 55L-Donald Lingo Jr[5]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 6. 93-Cory Lawler[6]; 7. (DNS) 4S-Danny Snyder Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 0-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 11T-Trevor Collins[9]; 6. 2-Dan Stone[6]; 7. 15K-Cody Overton[11]; 8. 92-Nick Davis[2]; 9. 93-Cory Lawler[8]; 10. 99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 11. KB-Kerry King[10]; 12. 41M-Matt Sheppard[12] The Melvin L. Joseph Memorial Feature Finish (49 Laps):

Race Statistics  Entrants: 30Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Brandon OvertonLap Leaders: Garrett Alberson (Laps 1-17); Brandon Overton (Laps 18-40); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 41-49)Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 0.303 seconds Gorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: Matt Cosner (Lap 10); Nick Davis (Lap 15); Drake Troutman (Lap 17); Earl Pearson, Jr. (Lap 26); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 35)Series Provisionals: Boom BriggsFast Time Provisional: Cody OvertonSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: Nick DavisBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Overton, Mike MarlarPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Overton, Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb, Garrett AlbersonTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Cody Overton (Advanced 12 Positions) Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Tim McCreadieDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Max BlairEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Brandon Overton (23 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr. O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Max Blair Etchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Mike Marlar (Lap 12 – 17.624 seconds) MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Hudson O’NealOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony Burroughs (Ricky Thornton, Jr.) ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (17.226 seconds)Time of Race: 26 minutes 46 seconds  The Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:

After sudden transition to the proven team, Holmes is already proving he belongsLess than two weeks ago, Tanner Holmes was nearing the end of his Midwest swing and prepared to head home to the west coast. That same night, the immediate future of his racing career changed drastically.Holmes and his family-owned operation hauled their #18T Sprint Car out from Jacksonville, OR earlier this summer to gain more experience in the Midwest. The centerpiece of their stretch was the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals. And on the final night of The Granddaddy of ‘Em All, Holmes suddenly found himself no longer a regional racer who occasionally traveled, but a competitor on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car tour.Bobby Allen, owner of Shark Racing and one of the most legendary figures of the sport, cruised over on his scooter to Holmes’ pit to see if the 19-year-old had any cemented plans for the duration of the year. The two had never talked. But by the end of the night, they agreed Holmes would join Shark Racing to finish out the 2023 World of Outlaws tour in the #1a, vacated by Jacob Allen.“I’d never spoke with him before but said hello and introduced myself,” Holmes recalled. “Quickly, we started chatting, and he had mentioned that they were needing a driver to fulfill the seat of his car for the rest of the season. Of course, with that opportunity, I had to jump on it. My dad happened to be there as well, and we just quickly all kind of talked about it. I made sure [Bobby] knew how interested I was, but we just quickly needed to talk about it together as a team. I got back to him that night basically and shook his hand and said, ‘I’m in.’”For Allen, the talent of the rising racer was clear. “Scruffy” had a simple message upon hiring Holmes: drive to his own capabilities and don’t try too hard.“There’s no doubt about it. The kid is good. He’s got great potential,” Allen said. “I told him when he started. I said, ‘Let me tell you how I am. I don’t want someone ramming and crashing and all that. I want you to drive within your limits because I know everybody wants to win. And when you want to win and you feel good, you run as hard as you want to run.’ I said, ‘That’s how I like a driver. I don’t want somebody trying to impress me by going out there and driving over their head and crashing the car up. I want you to race.’”Holmes took Allen’s words to heart, and the reward was a statement debut in the Shark Racing #1T at last weekend’s Jackson Nationals.The three-night event began as strong as possible for Holmes who earned his first Simpson Quick Time on Thursday. He followed that up by landing on the podium at the conclusion of the 25-lap Feature. Over the next two nights, he tallied another pair of top 10s to complete the weekend at a track he’d never been to before. Holmes credits the team for being quick to adapt to his style.“Quickly, they’ve made me feel comfortable,” Holmes said. “Little things in the cockpit that you have to change to make the driver feel at home. After a couple nights, this just feels like I’m running my own car. Even though it’s different engines, different frame, different setup, and what not, it still feels really, really good. What these guys are doing is, I think, transferring also with my driving style.”The timing of Holmes joining the team was nearly perfect. After this weekend’s North Dakota doubleheader at River Cities Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway, Holmes gets to head to familiar territory. Next weekend brings Skagit Speedway’s Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals in Burlington, WA before a visit to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, WA the following Monday. Following that will be two weekends in California to complete the west coast swing.The Oregon driver has turned plenty of laps at each track that’s a part of the left-coast tour, and he views the stretch as an opportunity to make some noise with his new team. Shark Racing won half of the six west coast races last September.“I think it’s little things even like rolling into the racetrack and you know where you’re at. You know how things might go. You know what you might see with the racetrack,” Holmes said of being at tracks he’s familiar with. “When they do things at Jackson, for example, I don’t know when they work the track what is going to happen. I’ve never seen it before… But maybe going to a place like Skagit or Chico, running many shows there you see tendencies that happen. You see what the racetrack does, what lines come into play. All of that comes from experience. That’s really big and I think could really help us.”After the swing close to home, it’s off to primarily new ground for Holmes as the Series ventures back east. There will undoubtedly be challenges as he takes on this new chapter of his career, but it’s clear he’s already fitting in and fully supported by his new team.“It seems like right now we’ve got a good team going with him,” Allen said. “The boys are happy with him. We’re happy with him. Jacob called him to congratulate him. We’re all happy with him.”To see Holmes in action this weekend in North Dakota or at any of the west coast wing races, CLICK HERE for tickets.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.

1 MONTH ALERT: Eldora, Sharon Setup Exciting Ohio Doubleheader in September
The Greatest Show on Dirt returns to Eldora Speedway on Sept. 22, and then Sharon Speedway on Sept. 23

ROSSBURG, OH (Aug. 24, 2023) – For the final time in 2023, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will set course for Ohio, targeting two of the most exciting tracks on the schedule.

First, Eldora Speedway for the BeFour The Crowns Showdown, on Friday, Sept. 22, and then Sharon Speedway for the Federated Auto Parts Showdown on Saturday, Sept. 23.

It’ll be the Series’ fifth visit to Eldora – owned by Tony Stewart – this year and second to Sharon – owned by Dave Blaney. In the last race at both tracks, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz was hoisting another trophy. At Eldora, he was crowned king for the sixth time in his career during the Kings Royal Victory Lane ceremony.

While different sizes, with Eldora sitting at .500 miles long and Sharon at .375 miles, both tracks have become fan-favorites, producing close racing and eye-widening passes. 

What you need to know:

ELDORA SPEEDWAY, Sept. 22 (BeFour The Crowns Showdown)
More Event Info

Track:
1/2 mile in Rossburg, OH
Track Record: 12.599 seconds by David Gravel on Sept. 23, 2020

Times (ET):
1:30 p.m. Pit Gates Open
2 p.m. Grandstand Gates Open
6 p.m. Hot Laps/Qualifying
-Racing to follow

Tickets: Available HERE

Last Year’s Race Recap Video (9/23/22):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1yxcDC-UYg

Previous Winners:
2023 – Logan Schuchart on May 5, Rico Abreu on May 6, Carson Macedo on July 14, Donny Schatz on July 15
2022 –David Gravel on July 13, Brent Marks on July 14, David Gravel on July 15 (Day), Brent Marks on July 15 (Night), Rico Abreu on Sept. 23
2021 – Brent Marks on May 8 (Day), Sheldon Haudenschild on May 8, Carson Macedo on July 14, Tyler Courtney on July 17 (Day), Kyle Larson on July 17, Carson Macedo on July 18, Logan Schuchart on Sept. 24
2019 – Donny Schatz on May 10, Donny Schatz on July 17, Brad Sweet on July 18, Donny Schatz on July 19, Brad Sweet on July 20, Logan Schuchart on Sept. 27
2018 – Donny Schatz on May 11, Donny Schatz on May 12, Shane Stewart on July 12, Donny Schatz on July 13, Donny Schatz on July 14, Brent Marks on Sept. 21, Christopher Bell on October 14
2017 – Logan Schuchart on May 12, Donny Schatz on May 13, Kerry Madsen on July 13, Christopher Bell on July 14, Donny Schatz on May 15, Tim Shaffer on Sept. 22
2016 – Kerry Madsen on May 6, Kerry Madsen on May 7, David Gravel on July 14, Daryn Pittman on July 15, Donny Schatz on July 16, Shane Stewart on Sept. 23
2015 – Donny Schatz on May 8, Donny Schatz on May 9, Shane Stewart on July 17, Shane Stewart on July 18, Greg Wilson on Sept. 25
2014 – Shane Stewart on May 2, David Gravel on May 3, Sammy Swindell on July 11, Kerry Madsen on July 12, Joey Saldana on Sept. 19
2013 – Kerry Madsen on May 3, Daryn Pittman on May 4, Kerry Madsen on July 12, Brad Sweet on July 13
2012 – Chad Kemenah on May 4, Sammy Swindell on May 5, Joey Saldana on July 13, Sammy Swindell on July 14
2011 – Joey Saldana on May 8, Tim Shaffer on July 15, Tyler Walker on July 16, Joey Saldana on Sept. 23
2010 – Joey Saldana on May 8, Paul McMahan on May 9, Joey Saldana on July 16, Steve Kinser on July 17, Jac Haudenschild on Sept. 24
2009 – Donny Schatz on May 9, Terry McCarl on July 17, Donny Schatz on July 18, Jason Sides on Sept. 25
2008 – Craig Dollansky on April 11, Donny Schatz on May 31, Joey Saldana on July 11, Daryn Pittman on July 13, Joey Saldana on Sept. 19
2007 – Jason Meyers on April 13, Paul McMahan on June 2, Steve Kinser on July 13, Donny Schatz on July 14, Joey Saldana on Sept. 21
2006 – Sammy Swindell on April 7, Sammy Swindell on April 8, Craig Dollansky on June 3, Craig Dollansky on July 14, Joey Saldana on July 15, Joey Saldana on Aug. 4
2005 – Sammy Swindell on April 8, Steve Kinser on April 9, Sammy Swindell on June 4, Steve Kinser on July 15, Steve Kinser on July 16, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 5
2004 – Steve Kinser on April 9, Steve Kinser on April 10, Danny Lasoski on June 5, Dale Blaney on July 16, Jason Sides on July 17, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 6
2003 – Donny Schatz on April 18, Sammy Swindell on April 19, Steve Kinser on May 31, Steve Kinser on July 18, Steve Kinser on July 19, Jason Meyers on Aug. 8
2002 – Craig Dollansky on April 13, Steve Kinser on June 1, Daryn Pittman on July 19, Joey Saldana on July 20, Steve Kinser on Aug. 2
2001 – Stevie Smith on April 13, Mark Kinser on April 14, Andy Hillenburg on June 2, Andy Hillenburg on July 20, Mark Kinser on July 21, Steve Kinser on Aug. 3
2000 – Steve Kinser on April 22, Mark Kinser on June 3, Johnny Herrera on July 13, Sammy Swindell in July 14, Dale Blaney on July 15, Tim Shaffer on Aug. 4
1999 – Steve Kinser on April 2, Tim Shaffer on June 5, Mark Kinser on July 15, Greg Hodnett on July 16, Sammy Swindell on July 17, Stevie Smith on Aug. 6
1998 – Joey Saldana on April 10, Sammy Swindell on April 11, Sammy Swindell on June 13, Jac Haudenschild on July 17, Jac Haudenschild on July 18, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 7
1997 – Sammy Swindell on April 4, Dave Blaney on June 14, Dave Blaney on July 18, Steve Kinser on July 19, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 8
1996 – Sammy Swindell on April 5, Steve Kinser on June 15, Mark Kinser on July 19, Johnny Herrera on July 20, Mark Kinser on Aug. 9
1995 – Dave Blaney on April 14, Jac Haudenschild on April 15, Steve Kinser on June 10, Dave Blaney on Aug. 11
1994 – Jeff Swindell on April 16, Kenny Jacobs on April 17, Kenny Jacobs on June 11, Dave Blaney on Aug. 12
1993 – Dave Blaney on Dave Blaney on April 17, April 18, Dave Blaney on June 11, Steve Kinser on June 12, Dave Blaney on Aug. 13
1992 – Sammy Swindell on April 12
1991 – Doug Wolfgang on April 20, Steve Kinser on June 7, Sammy Swindell on June 8
1990 – Steve Kinser on April 21, Steve Kinser on April 22, Rickey Hood on June 8, Steve Kinser on June 9
1989 – Lee Brewer on April 22, Jeff Swindell on April 23, Bobby Davis, Jr. on June 9, Doug Wolfgang on June 10, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 4, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 5
1988 – Sammy Swindell on April 9, Doug Wolfgang on April 10, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 26, Steve Kinser on Aug. 27
1987 – Steve Kinser on April 12, Dave Blaney on Aug. 7, Steve Kinser on Aug. 8
1986 – Sammy Swindell on Aug. 7, Kenny Jacobs on Aug. 8, Bobby Allen on Aug. 9
1985 – Doug Wolfgang on April 13, Doug Wolfgang on April 14, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 8, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 9, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 10
1984 – Sammy Swindell on April 7, Ron Shuman on April 8
1983 – Steve Kinser on May 21, Brad Doty on May 22
1982 – Danny Smith on May 8, Sammy Swindell on May 9, Doug Wolfgang on June 12, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 4, Ronnie Daniels on Aug. 5, Rick Ferkel on Aug. 6, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 7, Steve Kinser on Oct. 17
1981 – Sammy Swindell on May 16, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 6, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 7, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 8, Sammy Swindell on Oct. 17, Steve Kinser on Oct. 18
1980 – Sammy Swindell on April 13, Steve Kinser on May 3, Steve Kinser on May 4, Steve Kinser on May 24, Steve Kinser on July 5, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 7, Sammy Swindell on Aug.8, Steve Kinser on Aug. 9, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 30, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 31, Steve Kinser on Oct. 19
1979 – Ron Shuman on April 15, Dub May on May 27, Steve Kinser on July 3, Sammy Swindell on July 14, Steve Kinser on Aug. 2, Steve Kinser on Aug. 3, Steve Kinser on Aug. 4, Doug Wolfgang on Sept. 1, Shane Carson on Oct. 21
1978 – Bobby Allen on April 16, Rick Ferkel on April 30, Steve Kinser on May 21, Rick Ferkel on July 3, Randy Ford on Aug. 3, Rick Ferkel on Aug. 4, Rick Ferkel on Aug. 5, Steve Kinser on Sept. 3, Shane Carson on Oct. 29

SHARON SPEEDWAY, Sept. 23 (Federated Auto Parts Showdown)
More Event Info

Track:
3/8 mile in Hartford, OH
Track Record: 12.704 seconds by Danny Holtgraver on 8/20/13

Times (ET):
2 p.m. Pit Gates Open
4 p.m. Grandstand Gates Open
6:30 p.m. Hot Laps/Qualifying
-Racing to follow

Tickets: Available HERE

Last Year’s Race Recap Video (9/24/22):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQZDs-Zbed0

Previous Winners:
2023 – Donny Schatz on May 20
2022 – Brad Sweet on Sept. 24
2021 – Dave Blaney on May 22
2007 –Steve Kinser on June 1
2006 – Jac Haudenschild on May 20
2005 – Jason Meyers on June 3
2004 –Danny Lasoski on June 4, Steve Kinser on July 28
2003 – Steve Kinser on July 30, Steve Kinser on July 30
2002 – Danny Lasoski on May 31, Joey Saldana on July 31

Inside Line Promotions – COOS BAY, Ore. (Aug. 24, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi pocketed a pair of wins and two second-place finishes during the last week, giving him six victories and eight podiums during his last nine starts.

“I think we’ve been really good all year,” he said. “We’ve had some stuff happen that led to some bad results, but I never felt we were in panic-mode. It’s nice to see all of the hard work paying off recently.”

Scelzi kicked off back-to-back nights at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., last Friday. He qualified eighth quickest and won a heat race before placing second in both the dash and the main event.

“We were really good and just caught lapped cars at the wrong time,” he said. “I took the lead on Lap 3 and led most of the race. I got caught behind a lapped car running the top. The kid behind me got a run and slid me. That messed me up enough to not stay on his bumper. I ran him back down and was on his bumper at the finish line. We just didn’t get through traffic as well as we needed to win.”

Scelzi rebounded at the bullring the following evening as he timed in second quickest in his group. A heat race win advanced him into the dash and a fifth-place outing in it lined Scelzi up on the inside of the third row in the Johnny Key Classic A Main.

“We had great speed again and the track was a lot slicker,” he said. “I fell back to seventh or eighth at one point. Restarts were a nightmare. It wasn’t very clean. Once I was able to get up the track we worked our way forward. We got to second on a restart. Being in that second spot it was easier to gauge what I needed to do. The leader got over the cushion in turn four and we were able to sneak by him with about eight laps to go. Then a couple laps later it started to lay rubber and we were in the right place.”

Scelzi’s victory was his 10 ^th of the season.

The team headed north to Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., for a Western Sprint Tour race on Monday. Scelzi continued his undefeated record at the track as he swept the night by setting quick time during qualifying before winning a heat race, the dash and the feature.

“We were really good all night,” he said. “We lost a u-joint in the dash and luckily limped it to the finish. We scrambled and barely got it changed to get it out there for the feature. The track was really slick and I was searching. Once the rubber came in we followed it down the track and did our best to save as much tire as we could. Luckily for us we were able to. It was really cool to win after what I thought was going to be the end of our night with the u-joint problem in the dash.”

Scelzi made his debut at Coos Bay Speedway on Tuesday. He was fifth quickest and rallied from fifth to second place in a heat race. A sixth-place finish in the dash started Scelzi on the outside of the third row in the main event.

“We went out late in qualifying and the track slowed down so we were fifth quick,” he said. “We went from fifth to second in the heat race running the top. In the dash we drew the No. 6 and I felt like I wanted to clean the top off so I committed myself to it to get it run in. That just didn’t work. In the main even the top got going pretty good. We worked our way to third and battled (Logan) Forler the last 10 laps for second and we were able to get it.”

Scelzi’s second-place showing was his 25 ^th top five of the season.

Next up for the team is a trip to Montana to race in the Harvey Ostermiller Memorial this Friday and Saturday at Big Sky Speedway in Billings with the ASCS Frontier Region. Scelzi last competed at the track in August 2018.

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 18 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 2 (2); Feature: 2 (2).

Aug. 19 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 5 (7); Feature: 1 (5).

Aug. 21 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 1 (6); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (1).

Aug. 22 – Coos Bay Speedway in Coos Bay, Ore. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 2 (5); Dash: 6 (6); Feature: 2 (6).

SEASON STATS –

35 races, 11 wins, 25 top fives, 28 top 10s, 32 top 15s, 34 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Big Sky Speedway in Billings, Mont., for the Harvey Ostermiller Memorial with the ASCS Frontier Region

Hoker has been a long-time supporter of Davenport Speedway and several drivers

DAVENPORT, IA (Aug. 24, 2023) – Jeff Hoker’s son brought him to his first dirt race about 10 years ago. The experience was an instant bonding moment between the two and the birth of a new venture.

Hoker, his family, and their Hoker Trucking business became long-time supporters of Davenport Speedway and several local and national drivers. For his contributions to the sport, Hoker is being honored as the grand marshal during the opening night of the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking at Davenport on Thursday.

“In my mind, Jeff is one of those guys that has, for lack of a better word, has put his money where his mouth is,” said Steve Francis, World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series Director. “He’s helped tremendous, tremendous, amounts of racers and events in that area. Just look at the cars that have his name on them, from a Jason Feger, to a Chris Simpson, to a Bobby Pierce, to a Ricky Thornton.

“[Jeff and his wife Penny] work and want to help the racers. Their Toys for Tots event, all the things they’re involved in, even not racing oriented, just shows what a stand-up guy he is.”

The more Hoker and his son, Michael, went to races, the more his interest in the sport grew. Already life-long friends with the Kays that promote Davenport Speedway, Hoker dipped his toes into the sponsorship relm by supporting their son Justin Kay, who ran a Modified.

Then, his interest continued to grow. Hoker wanted to sponsor a Super Late Model.

His son already had a driver in mind – Bobby Pierce, now the current World of Outlaws points leader.

“We were talking about sponsoring a Super, and [my son] was like, ‘Listen, you’ve got to watch this kid, you’ve just got to watch him.’ That was the very first Super Late Model we sponsored was Bobby then,” Hoker said.

Now, Hoker’s name can be seen on multiple cars and as the presenting sponsor of the Quad Cities 150 (Aug. 24-26). For him, the initiative has been a success in terms of marketing to customers and attracting drivers. But the best part is the same reason why he fell in love with the sport: the connections.

“The bonus of it is, we enjoy doing it,” Hoker said. “I love going to races. I’ve gotten now to where I’m buried in it. We’ve gotten to meet so many great people, honestly. The guys we sponsor, it’s more than a close business deal, they’re all friends of ours really. It’s more than a business deal at that point.

“The bonus part to begin with was being able to spend time together with my son that wasn’t business related. It was just something we did. It was something him and I got to do on our own. It wasn’t business related. It wasn’t work related. It took all that work pressure, stress, at least for the weekend, it was gone. That’s how it started and then it… it kind of went from there.”

The three-day My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 presented by Hoker Trucking will feature the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models and the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota. Fans can also participate in the Hoker’s Haul for Toys for Tots each day, enjoy a pre-race show in the midway (at 6 p.m CT on Thursday and 5 p.m. the rest of the weekend), and see a Semi-Truck Light Show following the races.

Hot Laps will begin at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Thursday and then 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

For tickets to the event, CLICK HERE.