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THE SUMMER OF MONEY: Crown Jewels, Big Paydays Highlight Summer Swing for World of Outlaws Late Models
CONCORD, NC – July 10, 2023– Temperatures across the country aren’t the only thing going up this summer.
From July to Labor Day weekend, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series will see some of its biggest payouts of the year for eight straight events – totaling over $1 million in combined purses during the “Summer of Money” span.
Those eight events will pay at least $15,000 to win for their main event – two paying $50,000 to win – and at least $1,200 to start. First up will be the doubleheader weekend at Ponderosa Speedway, July 14, and Brownstown Speedway, July 15 – each paying $15,000 to win.
Three events during the “Summer of Money” will boast a more than $200,000 purse with two of them at nearly $300,000. The two biggest are the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway, July 28-29, and USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway, Aug. 3-5 – both paying $50,000 to win and $3,000 to start. And like last year, the Prairie Dirt Classic will also pay $500 for every lap led, allowing one driver to do what Brandon Sheppard did and walk away with a $100,000 payday.
Joining the more than $200,000 purse club is the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 at Davenport Speedway, Aug. 24-26, paying $30,000-to-win for its Saturday finale.
In between the Prairie Dirt Classic and USA Nationals is the $15,000-to-win growing marquee event at Boone Speedway – the Hawkeye 50 on Monday, Aug. 1. After Davenport, the Series will venture to Mississippi Thunder Speedway (Aug. 31-Sept. 1) and Deer Creek Speedway (Sept. 2), which will each feature a $20,000-to-win main event.
The start money continues to impress at each event with Boone paying $1,200 to start, Deer Creek and Mississippi Thunder’s finale paying $1,600 to start, and Davenport’s finale paying $2,500 to start.
That money helps teams big and small like Germfree Labs Rookie of the Year contender Todd Cooney, who’s enduring the grind of the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models season for the first time.
“For a team like us that’s been struggling most of the year, we have a lot of learning to do,” Cooney said. “So, it takes a lot of money to get the parts we need. There’s a lot of trial and error. You’re trying this and trying that. So, we’ve got a lot of money going out every week to try and get better. So, extra money coming in helps a lot.”
Shane Clanton, the 2015 Series champion, of Zebulon, GA, agreed with Cooney’s thoughts, knowing how important that money through the field is to help teams get to each event.
“It feels good,” Clanton said. “It helps us get up and down the road… [When] they add a little bit throughout the whole field that’s good for everybody.”
He’s also eyeing the big paydays too as he’s yet to win either crown jewel.
“I want to get PDC and Cedar Lake both,” Clanton said. “I’ve been close at both of them and just haven’t gotten the checkered flag yet. So, hopefully, we get the chance this year to be competitive and get it.”
Both Cedar Lake and Fairbury have two of the toughest fields dirt Late Model drivers will see in 2023. Sheppard, of New Berlin, IL, is the only full-time World of Outlaws competitor who’s won both.
The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models kick off the “Summer of Money” on Friday, July 14, at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KY, before heading to Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, IN, on Saturday, July 15.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
July 14 – Ponderosa Speedway – $15,000 to win
July 15 – Brownstown Speedway – $15,000 to win
July 28 – Fairbury Speedway – $5,000 to win (Prelim Features)
July 29 – Fairbury Speedway – $50,000 to win (Plus lap money)
Aug. 1 – Boone Speedway – $15,000 to win
Aug. 3 – Cedar Lake Speedway – $6,000 to win
Aug. 4 – Cedar Lake Speedway – $6,000 to win
Aug. 5 – Cedar Lake Speedway – $50,000 to win
Aug. 24 – Davenport Speedway – $10,000 to win
Aug. 25 – Davenport Speedway – $10,000 to win
Aug. 26 – Davenport Speedway – $30,000 to win
Aug. 31 – Mississippi Thunder Speedway – $10,000 to win
Sept. 1 – Mississippi Thunder Speedway – $20,000 to win
Sept. 2 – Deer Creek Speedway – $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.
Cruz Pedregon–Denver Advance
This will be a sentimental weekend for Funny Car veteran Cruz Pedregon at what will be the final NHRA race at Denver’s Bandimere Raceway. Cruz has called it his “favorite track” and it’s the place where he’s set numerous ET records and had multiple wins. The team has been working on the Snap-on® “Makers and Fixers” Dodge® SRT® Hellcat® to get it ready for what is sure to be a memorable curtain call for this high-altitude raceway.
“The way we plan to say ‘farewell’ to the wonderful Bandimere family and Thunder Mountain is by having the Snap-on Dodge tuned and ready for these mile-high conditions,” Cruz says. “We’ve been working on tune-ups we believe will be a winning swan song for this legendary favorite track of mine.”
Cruz’s Funny Car will sport a Snap-on franchise paint scheme to honor the many franchisees of the team’s primary sponsor. Before races, Cruz rides along with franchisees in NHRA cities to visit shops and professionals who love being ‘makers and fixers,’ talking tools and racing. The ‘Own It’ paint scheme is a reminder that the Snap-on franchise opportunity is a way to own your own business, and it’s a ‘thank you’ tribute to current and future Snap-on franchisees.
The weekend will be one to remember for Snap-on Nitro Franchisee Walter Hayes as well. He drove Cruz on his first Denver ride-along with a franchisee, so it’s only fitting he will be around for this final area visit to shops with Cruz. Walter was an auto mechanic in his early career and has had his Snap-on franchise for 26 years. In his free time, he’s a competitive, medal-winning bodybuilder. Walter’s been friends with Cruz for a long time and has done a lot with the racing program here at Bandimere where he’s learned he just can’t say enough good things about the Bandimere family.
Before Denver, Cruz’s “Makers and Fixers” Dodge Funny Car headed south to Atlanta for a special appearance at sponsor Snap-on’s SkillsUSA booth. It was “the largest gathering of America’s future skilled workforce,” where around 15,000 attendees had the opportunity to have an up-close look at a Nitro Funny Car. If you’re a future maker and fixer like the SkillsUSA students or a seasoned pro, be sure to check out “Makers and Fixers” on Instagram and share your stories at makersandfixers.com.
Byron, Chevrolet Takes Victory in Rain-Shortened Race at Atlanta
Byron, Chevrolet Takes Victory in Rain-Shortened Race at Atlanta Team Chevy Sweeps Podium |
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| · The win is Byron’s series-leading fourth NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season; his second career NCS win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; and his eighth career win in NASCAR’s premier series. · The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Atlanta Motor Speedway to 44 all-time victories at the 1.54-mile Georgia oval. · Chevrolet has now won eight of the past nine superspeedway-style races in NASCAR’s top series – recorded by six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams. · The victory marked Chevrolet’s series-leading 12th NASCAR Cup Series victory this season. · The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 845 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series. · Team Chevy drivers swept the podium in the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – recorded by drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. This marks the fifth podium sweep for Chevrolet in NASCAR’s premier series this season. TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS. DRIVER1st William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL12nd Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL13rd AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL15th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL18th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL110th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Slim Jim Camaro ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS. DRIVER1. William Byron (Chevrolet)2. Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)3. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)4. Michael McDowell (Ford)5. Kyle Busch (Chevrolet) |
 HAMPTON, Ga. (July 8, 2023) – Team Chevy’s William Byron added onto an already career season by picking up the victory in the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The trip to victory lane marked Byron’s series-leading fourth win of the season – already doubling his 2022 win count with 19 points-paying races in the books. The victory didn’t come easy for the 25-year-old North Carolina native. Starting the race from the 18th-position, Byron quickly maneuvered his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 to the lead portion of the pack – taking a top-five finish in Stage One. But a safety violation on pit road during the stage break pit stop forced Byron to start Stage Two from the rear of the field. Problems continued for the team after being involved in the race’s third caution – with a spin and flat tire putting the team one lap down. With the threat of weather looming, Crew Chief Rudy Fugle opted for track position – forgoing pit road under the stage break to give Byron the third position for the start of the final stage. Racing against the rain, Byron made a move past fellow Team Chevy driver AJ Allmendinger on lap 167 and maintained the top position until the seventh caution of the day flew on lap 178. With Byron at the top of the leaderboard, rain began to fall, ultimately forcing the race under red flag conditions until the race was made official – with Byron and the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 team delivering Chevrolet its series-leading 12th victory of the season in NASCAR’s premier series. A powerhouse group of six Team Chevy drivers claimed top-10 finishes in the series’ second appearance of the season at the 1.54-mile Georgia venue. Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez took the runner-up position, with Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in the third position to give Chevrolet its fifth podium sweep of the 2023 NCS season. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch drove his Camaro ZL1 to a fifth-place finish, Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley came home in the eighth-position and JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10. The 2023 NCS season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Crayon 301 on Sunday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
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| TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1Finished: Race Winner I don’t even know where to start with your day. You said it was so much fun early on and then the penalty on pit road and the spin – how did you guys come back and make this happen? “Yeah, just team work. Honestly I don’t completely understand this one. It’s a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this. Thank you to Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta, Chevrolet. It’s cool – we went through so much throughout the night; spinning through the infield. Destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic. But Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) made a good call to pit there and then stay out. Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could honestly make the right decisions. Got the lead from AJ (Allmendinger) and just was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.” The guys in the booth were saying some of the most amazing racing they have seen. Behind the wheel, how was the racing tonight? “Yeah, it was awesome. I think that’s all you can ask for on a superspeedway. We want handling to matter. We want to be able to drive the thing. I feel like the first stage was really fun. I was able to make some moves on the bottom. You’d lift in every corner, so it’s different than a 550 old-style race – it’s more packed up, but handling still matters and guys can make aggressive moves. I was certainly edgy back in traffic, but like I said, Rudy made a good call and we got up towards the front. Sometimes that’s what it takes. Just thankful for the whole team and just staying in it. We were a lap down and it could have been over.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Camaro ZL1Finished: 21st“Really struggled all weekend with the handling of our Dow Salutes Veterans Chevy. Hate it for Dow and Team Rubicon. The car looked amazing. We made some adjustments. Just needed all the laps to get the car to the front.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 36thWe saw the spin – what happened and then what ultimately took you out of contention?“Yeah, on the spin – I haven’t seen a replay, but I think I was just late and slow to protect the top, and the No. 43 (Erik Jones) must have been just really close to me and got me loose. I spun and got the flat. And then I thought we were going to get lucky enough to just be able to drive right to my pit stall and change the tire. We changed the right-rear and didn’t get the right-front changed. And then that exploded on the apron and I had to lose a lap for the damage. Just had a little bit of a tire rub still and ultimately it just ended up giving out and I got into the wall. Hate that I made the mistake there to put us in this position, but I was having fun up until the spin. I thought I was doing a decent job – finishing second in the stage. Just wish I could have got to the end. Most of the time I feel like it’s other peoples’ fault why I DNF, but tonight it was my fault. Little bit of a bummer.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1Finished: 5thHow dicey has it been out there tonight? “Yeah, it’s been really dicey. A lot of things kind of been going on – a lot of lanes, a lot of options, which has been pretty good. It’s all about momentum obviously. You break momentum or have something happen, it knocks you back or slows you down, you get blown over by four or five guys. So it’s all about just minimizing your mistakes and minimize those that can get by you while you’re trying to make moves. Definitely a different game, but overall, just really happy with the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro. We’ve adjusted on it every pit stop today. We stayed out on that set of tires and it felt really good. Wish we could have continued. I felt like we had more than fifth.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL1Finished: 3rd“At the end of the day, I am proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. We brought a really, really good Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Chevy. We didn’t quite have the speed, but it really handled well and I could maneuver it like it needed to. We didn’t have enough speed to lead, but it was a lot of fun to drive. I’m proud walking away from this one. We had a good points day, top-five finish, our best finish of year. We rebounded after the disappointment last week and we moved on to the next one.” Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1Finished: 8th “Atlanta continues to be a really strong track for this Kaulig Racing team. We fired off super loose, but Trent (Owens) made some great adjustments that got us back where we needed to be for the start of the second stage. It was a lot of fun running second there for a while and racing in the top five. We knew the weather was moving in, and we thought we might have a good strategy there. Unfortunately, it ended just a little too soon, but overall it was a good day for Kaulig Racing.” Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 33rd “We started out really tight and Luke Lambert and the No. 42 Sunseeker Resort team really took some pretty big swings at the handling. We were making our way up there and were top-10 at one point. The car just came out from underneath me in Turn 3 and it bent the toe pretty good. The guys did a great job by getting it to where I could drive it and make speed, but our day was done after that. We could have probably picked up a few more spots if the race went the duration because it was getting wild.” Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 11th“It was an up and down day for our Allegiant Chevy; we could have been a bit farther up with some of the stuff that we did, but for the most part we made our bed set up wise last night. So, it was a good day. The car is getting faster each week, and hopefully we keep going that way. I think today was overall a good day.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1Finished: 2nd “I feel like I have mixed feelings, but overall, very proud of my No. 99 Quaker State Chevy team. It’s been a little bit rough lately because we’ve had the speed, but we haven’t had the results, so this feels good.” Ty Gibbs had trouble, so this is probably a good points day for you.. “Yeah, it’s a shame – you never want your competition to have trouble and feel happy about it. But it is what it is. We’ve had trouble the last few weeks, as well. I’m just trying to take one race at a time and let it play out. We had the speed today, once again, and we showed that.” |
| WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our race winner today, William Byron. We’ll go straight to questions from the media. Q. I asked Rudy, Rudy had a good idea of the damage to the car when you spun. What were you thinking when you spun, and did the car feel any differently at that point?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, when I spun, I was like, well, here we go, we’re flying through the infield. I was kind of looking towards the right side of the car just thinking about, okay, can I let it roll and not lock the tires up on the asphalt to try to keep them up, but then I saw the wall was coming quick. I kind of let go of the brake for a minute and then locked it down, and I knew at that point I was probably going to have flats, and when I tried to get spun around it was really hard to get spun around, so I knew probably a right-side tire was flat, and it was the right rear. I was trying to catch up, and as you do that, everything gets torn up, so it destroyed some of the floor and the crush panel and everything. It was not good because this car really relies on all that, so it was not good at that moment, but lost a lap, changed tires, and then at that point the conversation with Rudy was just about, okay, we’re probably going to have to make some pretty big adjustments here because the car is not going to drive good. It was pretty balanced before that point. Thought we were one of the better cars, just a little bit free back in traffic after the penalty, but we were making good time. So we made a lot of adjustments. We changed a lot of things, rounds in all four corners and probably air pressure, too, and got it to where it was competitive. It was competitive for 15 laps, and then I was just kind of on pins and needles after that. I would make some mistakes because either I’d put myself in some bad positions aero wise and lose grip or just not trust the car. I knew when we got out front, we were in the probably lower teens, like 12th, 13th running and we were doing okay, but I knew when we got out front we’d have more air on the car and be okay. Then it was just about playing the air game with my spotter Brandon and trying to manage all that. Q. We knew weather from the start of the night was probably going to come into play at some point. From the outside looking in, that was a very chaotic, entertaining race. Behind the wheel as you get closer to halfway and then you get past halfway, how chaotic is it for you to keep constantly getting weather updates, and are you on the edge of your seat, so to speak, is the next call going to be we’re doing? What are you going through?WILLIAM BYRON: I honestly don’t get too excited. I feel like for me, I’ve never had a rain win, so I was like, sure enough, with me leading, this isn’t going to happen like this. So I’m like, just thinking about what lane I’m going to choose. I think as soon as the caution came out, I asked what lane are we going to choose because I didn’t even want to think about the possibility of rain and coming down pit road. All that was secondary to me. I was just thinking about, okay, how can we control the race so when the next caution comes out for rain we’re in a good spot. So I started thinking about that, and then my spotter and Rudy as well — Brandon and Rudy were talking about, okay, it’s starting to rain around the track, and I started to get some drops on the windshield. I was like, okay, we’re probably going to get some drops and then it’s going to stall, and then we’re going to go back again. I just kept thinking that way, and then even when I got out of the car I kept thinking that way, and eventually when we got over there I knew it was official. Then you start to feel better about it.Yeah, it takes a long time. For me I’m just trying to stay locked in the race. Q. Is Jeff going to make you sit in the calendar and count up 3,000 races?WILLIAM BYRON: As long as they’ll have me I’ll keep going. Hopefully I can get to 3,000. Seems like a lot of races. Yeah, I don’t know how many years that is, but I’m willing to do it as long as I can. I love what I do, and hopefully keep doing it. I just like to race. Feel like I’m just this year starting to just kind of understand the flow of everything, and it’s starting to click. It’s been a good year, but like someone told me in a meet and greet today, they’re like, how many races are in a year, and I was like, 38 and a couple exhibition, and we’re on 19. I was like, well, we still have half a season to go. Everything we’ve done to this point is great, but if we suck from here on out, it’s not going to be fun, so hopefully we just keep on going. Q. The last three races we really only saw two-wide racing, attempts to get the third lane going and never could get it running. Tonight we saw that the dominant lane to be in. Were you surprised by that? Did that catch you off guard how well that third lane worked?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, it had to get cleaned off. It was definitely grayer up there, but you can count on Reddick to clean it off. He goes there right away, which is amazing. I think he kind of cleaned off the entry, then it started cleaning it off, center off got a little bit cleaner, a little bit cleaner. I think handling was just a big enough issue — if handling wasn’t an issue, you’re still going to see two wide because the car has so much drag that you can run the bottom two lanes and not ever get a run on the outside. The fact that handling and how much we were lifting made it a three-wide race, and really it was just about trying to find clean air, which was what made your car handle better. Q. I’m kind of surprised you’re six years in and you’re still trying to find your rhythm. It’s not like you’re a rookie anymore.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I just think I haven’t raced a lot in my career, so getting a later start, I think every race is a learning experience. Obviously I’m comfortable with a lot of things, but if I go and race something else, I’m very comfortable, but these are the best guys, and it takes every little detail. I think still inching up on those things, still getting better. There’s a lot — I thought tonight there was a lot of things I could have done better, pit road speed, decisions. I think there’s still a lot of things you can improve. But we’re on the right track. Q. Getting a win this late in the season, what kind of confidence does that give you going into New Hampshire, going into Pocono? New Hampshire you’re still looking for your first top 10.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, New Hampshire is tough for us. It was great all the way until I got to the Cup Series, and I thought, I’m really good at this track, and then I got against all the Cup guys, and I’m like, no, I’m not very good here. I got a truck win early, and I think that kind of helped make me overconfident that I was really good there, and I think just inching up on little details here and there, and I thought we had a really good sim session at Loudon last week. I think we’re confident going in there. I’m sure the 19 is going to be fast. I think there’s going to be a few other guys that were good at Gateway, the 11. I think it’s going to be tough, but yeah, that’s certainly one we circled on the calendar. We’ve done a lot of sim work for it. Hopefully all that stuff pays off and we show up fast. Q. (No microphone.)WILLIAM BYRON: A little bit, yeah. I think it’s probably the closest thing we’ve had lately. I would say that, maybe a little bit at Nashville and then obviously Phoenix, but that was way back.I think a lot has changed since Phoenix, but I feel good about our car. If the sim is close, I think we did a lot of good things. Q. What was your thought process after the infield spin condition of the car, the rain coming? How did you pull off a win, or how did you keep composure with all that?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, first it starts with just the basics, just getting to pit road, not tearing up the car even worse. I think I went a little bit fast at first to try to get caught up, and then tore up some stuff, so then I took it easy around the apron. When I got to pit road I realized they were taking a lot of stuff out of the right side of the car that had been torn up, so I thought, man, it’s probably pretty hurt if they’re trying to peel off parts of the car to clearance it. It was. I think the car was damaged for sure. But we were able to change the balance enough to where it got manageable, and like I said, we were able to get the balance to where we could drive it, and we just weren’t the most aggressive out there, but we could make some moves. Q. When you look back on this race, say a week from now, a month from now, down the road, what do you think you’re going to remember the most about it?WILLIAM BYRON: Just the perseverance by the team. I think it’s easy to give up, kind of pack it in. Just be like, okay, we’re a lap down. But we’ll try to get the Lucky Dog, try to have a solid finish. But we kept working on the car. We got aggressive with the changes to try to make the car have a better balance and then got aggressive with the strategy, too. I think it’s — I could tell in Rudy’s tone, he never gave up and he was constantly pumping me up saying the car is fine, just go drive the heck out of it and see what happens. Some of that motivation was great, and then I get in the corner and it would be loose, and I’m like, still not quite there. But it was okay. I think that we worked together really well. Q. We had Jeff in here earlier, and he had talked about this kind of multiyear narrative about trying to get you to come out of your shell or just showing us something, whatever that something is. I’m curious, what has the process been like with Jeff and really all the marketing people at Hendrick, and what are they trying to pull out of you exactly?WILLIAM BYRON: I don’t know. I’m pretty reserved. I’m introverted. But I think just being more comfortable around the racetrack in my environment. I think being with the team is what drives me. When I get up every day, it’s about how can I get better as a race car driver. I try to focus on that goal. I’m sure a lot of guys have that same goal, but for me, yeah, it’s what I think about. It’s what drove me to get into this sport. That’s really what I follow is just my desire to be a better driver.I think they recognize that. My work ethic and the things that I want to do to get better. Just try to be comfortable with that, and I’ve surrounded myself with people that believe in that and want to nurture that and help support it. I think Rudy and I have a good process during the week, and I think Jeff and I have a great relationship, so it’s just about trying to win more races, and then yeah, be excited and be happy that those moments happen, but for me, it’s all about kind of the process and the work. Q. Speaking of winning races, you’re the defending winner of the Slinger Nationals. You’re headed back there on Monday. What’s so cool about that event and why is it on the radar? How do you feel about your chances?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I feel good about it. So a little bit pissed off at the last race that I ran a super, got moved and finished second. Yeah, excited to get back in those cars. I think the Slinger Nationals is going to be really competitive this year. I think Erik is running well. He’s got his stuff good. Chase is going to be up there, Matt. Then the whole cast of characters up there. Yeah, there’s a lot of local guys that are fast, too, and I think the thing I learned last year is just to try to keep my heart rate in check. It’s easy to get worn out there. Hopefully I don’t fall out of the seat and I can do a good job for the team. I’m excited. I haven’t ran a super late model in a few months. It’s kind of been a couple months of just personal stuff and none of the races really lined up for me to run. But yeah, I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a busy week, but it’ll be fun. Q. I want to say you’re 21 points ahead of Truex now in the regular season. How much have you been looking at these points every week just to see about the regular season title?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, we definitely look at it. There’s no doubt about it. I look at Racing Reference and look at all the top 5s, top 10s, all that stuff. Yeah, I think Truex has been running really well. It’s just a matter of us performing well. I feel like if we can perform at a high level, we put ourselves in position to run up front and get stage points. Yeah, it’s a long — we’ve still got, what, six, seven races until the playoffs, and we’ve just got to keep inching up on it. We can’t have any major bad weeks. This looked like it was going to be a bad week, and we overcame it. It’s a good lesson to learn, but I think we’re coming up on two tough tracks that we’ve got to really hone in on with Pocono and Loudon. I know that the 19 is going to be fast there and all the JGR cars, so we’ve got to keep it up. Q. What is it about Rudy and his personality that is good for you, that works for you?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think he’s just no-nonsense. It’s just facts and it’s what can we do to go faster. I don’t have to worry about him — he just shoots me straight. He just talks about what we need to do better, and I feel like that works really well for me because I’m honestly similar. I think we’re similar in some ways on a professional side, and then on a personal side we keep up with each other, but we’re not hanging out getting beers. But we certainly have grown closer on that side, but I think in a professional sense, we just work really well. |
Thompson Wins After Babb Tangles with Lapped Car in Final Corner at Tri-State
Feger wins Week 4 points championship by 20 over Winger
HAUBSTADT, IN (July 9, 2023) – Speeding out of Turns 1-2 and down the backstretch with the lead, Shannon Babb was only a half-lap away from a record seventh DIRTcar Summer Nationals win Sunday at Tri-State Speedway. And then, crash.
As Babb entered in on the high side of Turn 3, two lapped cars got into each other, sending the 23NZ of Mick Quin washing up the track, directly in front of a full-speed Babb coming to collect the checkered flag. Instead, Babb collected with Quin between Turns 3-4, roughly 50 yards from the finish line.
Right on Babb’s heels getting into Turn 3 was Dylan Thompson – the veteran racer from Paducah, KY – who entered the corner a full lane lower than Babb. As Babb collided with Quin on the top, Thompson sailed it through the middle groove, right underneath the wreck and took the lead out of Turn 4.
The flagman waved the checkered flag in the air as Thompson sped across the finish line to steal the win, completing the last-lap, last-corner pass in dramatic fashion and score his first career Hell Tour victory.
“Coming out of Turn 2 on the last lap, coming down the backstretch, I watched it happen,” Thompson said. “I stood on that damn thing and turned it to the bottom. I looked over and thought, ‘Well, I see the lapped car, I do not see Shannon, and I see the checkered flag.’
“Then they said [over driver radio communication] ‘99 to scales and droop check,’ and I thought, ‘We literally just won.’ It’s still not sinking in, really.”
Babb’s perspective further detailed the situation and how fast it all went down in front of him.
“As soon as we entered Turn 3, I saw the two get together,” Babb said. “There’s just no way I can get down and avoid it. The big opening closed-up really quick. I got on the brakes really hard to keep from getting into [Quin] and had to come to a dead stop.”
Though Babb led most of the 40-lap main event, Thompson led the one and only lap that truly mattered. He said he didn’t expect to be there at the end when the green flag dropped but was glad it worked out how it did.
“I told my guys when we pulled on the track, I said, ‘I just want to finish.’ That was my goal,” Thompson said.
“We finished first.”
Despite the big contact coming to the checkers, Babb was able to gather it back in and take home a runner-up finish. He took the lead from the outside pole in the opening laps and was soon met with heavy pressure from Rusty Schlenk, who took the lead from him on Lap 17 with a big slide job through Turns 1-2.
Babb stayed with it, however, and retook the lead with a slide job of his own on Lap 29.
“I had confidence I could pass [Schlenk] back; my car was really good,” Babb said. “I just started driving harder. I was only doing about three-quarters. Once he got by me, I just turned the week up and ran a little harder.”
Thompson had been stalking both of them from the third position throughout the battle and made the pass on Schlenk to get into position behind Babb on Lap 30. Coming to the white flag, Thompson was only a single car length back, and was there to capitalize on Babb’s misfortune to get the win in the end.
Further back in the field, Jason Feger had advanced to the seventh spot from ninth on the grid, finishing right behind Ashton Winger in the running order. Feger came into the night up 22 points on Winger in the hunt for the Week 4 points championship and retained the advantage at the checkered flag, earning him another $10,000 points fund check after capturing the Week 2 title earlier this season.
UP NEXT
The Summer Nationals Late Models take Monday and Tuesday off before returning to action in the final week of the 38th annual Hell Tour on Wednesday, July 12 at Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming available at DIRTVision.com.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 99-Dylan Thompson[8]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 3. 31AUS-Kye Blight[3]; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 6. 12-Ashton Winger[4]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[9]; 8. 15-Clayton Stuckey[12]; 9. 22-Skyller Lewis[1]; 10. 1-BJ Robinson[14]; 11. 44-Blaze Burwell[13]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker[17]; 13. 17-Lee Williams[21]; 14. 23NZ-Mick Quin[16]; 15. 15T-Cliff Tooley[23]; 16. 27M-Rodney Melvin[11]; 17. 4D-Doug Tye[20]; 18. 17W-Greg Williams[10]; 19. 7-Steven Reinacher[19]; 20. 4-Jason Suhre[7]; 21. 11-Robby Moore[18]; 22. 18M-Jimmy Miller[15]; 23. 78S-Steve Stultz[24]; 24. 16-Brandon Tibaldi[22]
Lamont Wins Tri-State Summit Modified Feature for Second-Straight Year
When it comes to the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals at Tri-State Speedway, no driver has had the field covered more recently than Mark Lamont.
Lamont, 39, of Crossville, IL, won his first career Summit Modified Feature last year at Tri-State, defeating Tyler Nicely in a dogfight. Fast forward one year to Sunday night, and he did it again – this time, in more dominant fashion, leading all 25 circuits around the 1/4-mile to bag his second career series victory at Tri-State in consecutive years.
Like last year, Nicely was right on Lamont’s tail yet again Sunday. A late restart posed a green-white-checkered finish to the field, which Lamont aced and held off pressure from Nicely behind him to secure the win.
“I never saw [Nicely], but I saw Lucas [Lee] a couple restarts earlier,” Lamont said. “I was kinda just cruising, and then my flag guy said to get on it.”
UP NEXT
The Summit Modifieds take Monday and Tuesday off before returning to action in the final week of the 38th annual Hell Tour on Wednesday, July 12 at Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming available at DIRTVision.com.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7-Mark Lamont[2]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely[3]; 3. 12L-Lucas Lee[4]; 4. 81C-Christopher Cole[6]; 5. 10Y-Trent Young[1]; 6. 1S-Brian Shaw[8]; 7. 47-Cyle Forgy[12]; 8. 55-Justin Jones[13]; 9. 91K-Cody Kibby[15]; 10. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[9]; 11. 82-Dalton Lane[7]; 12. 27-Beau DeYoung[21]; 13. 13-Charlie Mefford[17]; 14. 69L-Josh Lemke[14]; 15. 66-Michael Fox[5]; 16. 37-Everett Bradham[18]; 17. 1H-Ben Harmon[16]; 18. 8K-Levi Kissinger[19]; 19. 81-Mark Cole[11]; 20. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[10]; 21. 50-Tyler Weiss[20]; 22. I99-Mikey Kopka[
McPherson Takes Advantage of Late Race Restart to win at Humberstone
Defending DIRTcar Sportsman Champion three-for-three in West Region
PORT COLBORNE, ONT. (JULY 9, 2023) – Cody McPherson continues to make a statement in hopes to repeat as DIRTcar Sportsman champion for 2023. It took two late race, green, white, checkers to pass race long leader Billy Bleich to win his third West Region Series event out of three starts.
In what look to be a non-stop event with Bleich going wire to wire, a yellow on lap 29 for a spun car in turn two changed the entire outlook of the event.
The restart put McPherson’s familiar #7 alongside Bleich and when the green lights shined, he stayed alongside his rival going into turn one. “I needed that restart, this was Billy’s race. I tried everything to get by him but he was so good down in that low lane,” McPherson commented on the event’s unfolding, “When the restart happened I was going to roll the middle and try to maybe pinch him a bit. It worked.”
With McPherson out-front and looking to receive the checkers, a multi-car incident occurred in turn one. Yellow lights were on again which made for another green, white, checker. “Yea, didn’t want to see that second yellow. You just don’t know if he could do the same I did to him,” he said with some concern, “I tried to get a good jump and it seemed to work. The car took off.”
The win extended his lead slightly over Brett Senek who came home in third. In the runner-up slot was Merrittville tough luck finisher in James Michael Friesen. He too used those last two restarts to move himself from fifth to second at the finish.
“I was really just locked in the middle of the field for so many laps. I was trying to make the top work but the bottom was so good,” Friesen summed up, “The restarts I was able to make some moves and get a bit lucky to grab second. We will take it.”
For Senek, It was a bit of a late race charge just like the week prior at Merrittville and this time it resulted in a podium finish. “The restarts helped me also. I was kind of settled in and was going to take what I could get,” Senek quipped, “On the restarts I found a lane to get a couple of cars. That helped some in points, I’m behind Cody be we do have a shot.”
Bleich took fourth at the finish, not the result he wanted. Chad Chevalier came from his tenth place to grab fifth at the end. The next five was made up of Taylor Vanderzanden, Nelson Mason, Curtis Friesem, who also receives a free Hoosier Tire, Justin Sharp and Kyle Richner.
Taking the heat wins were McPherson, James Friesen and Jay Mallory. A total of 24 cars made up the pit log.
DIRTcar Sportsman West Region 30 – Cody McPherson ($1,250), James Michael Friesen, Brett Senek, Bill Bleich Jr., Chad Chevalier, Taylor Vanderzanden, Nelson Mason, Curtis Friesen, Justin Sharp, Kyle Richner, Phil Vigneri III, Matteo Panunte, Rob Pietz, Jay Mallory, Terry Smith, Tom Princiotta, Matt Sharpe, Nathan Peattie, Tyler Pulchalski, Jeff Panunte, Adam Leslie, Chris Hawkins, Doug Walsh Jr.
Byron, Chevrolet Takes Victory in Rain-Shortened Race at Atlanta
| NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY QUAKER STATE 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES JULY 9, 2023 Team Chevy Sweeps Podium |
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| · The win is Byron’s series-leading fourth NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season; his second career NCS win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; and his eighth career win in NASCAR’s premier series. · The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Atlanta Motor Speedway to 44 all-time victories at the 1.54-mile Georgia oval. · Chevrolet has now won eight of the past nine superspeedway-style races in NASCAR’s top series – recorded by six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams. · The victory marked Chevrolet’s series-leading 12th NASCAR Cup Series victory this season. · The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 845 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series. · Team Chevy drivers swept the podium in the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – recorded by drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. This marks the fifth podium sweep for Chevrolet in NASCAR’s premier series this season. TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS. DRIVER1st William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL12nd Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL13rd AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL15th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL18th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL110th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Slim Jim Camaro ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS. DRIVER1. William Byron (Chevrolet)2. Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)3. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)4. Michael McDowell (Ford)5. Kyle Busch (Chevrolet) The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Crayon 301 on Sunday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1Finished: Race Winner I don’t even know where to start with your day. You said it was so much fun early on and then the penalty on pit road and the spin – how did you guys come back and make this happen? “Yeah, just team work. Honestly I don’t completely understand this one. It’s a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this. Thank you to Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta, Chevrolet. It’s cool – we went through so much throughout the night; spinning through the infield. Destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic. But Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) made a good call to pit there and then stay out. Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could honestly make the right decisions. Got the lead from AJ (Allmendinger) and just was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.” The guys in the booth were saying some of the most amazing racing they have seen. Behind the wheel, how was the racing tonight? “Yeah, it was awesome. I think that’s all you can ask for on a superspeedway. We want handling to matter. We want to be able to drive the thing. I feel like the first stage was really fun. I was able to make some moves on the bottom. You’d lift in every corner, so it’s different than a 550 old-style race – it’s more packed up, but handling still matters and guys can make aggressive moves. I was certainly edgy back in traffic, but like I said, Rudy made a good call and we got up towards the front. Sometimes that’s what it takes. Just thankful for the whole team and just staying in it. We were a lap down and it could have been over.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Camaro ZL1Finished: 21st“Really struggled all weekend with the handling of our Dow Salutes Veterans Chevy. Hate it for Dow and Team Rubicon. The car looked amazing. We made some adjustments. Just needed all the laps to get the car to the front.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 36thWe saw the spin – what happened and then what ultimately took you out of contention?“Yeah, on the spin – I haven’t seen a replay, but I think I was just late and slow to protect the top, and the No. 43 (Erik Jones) must have been just really close to me and got me loose. I spun and got the flat. And then I thought we were going to get lucky enough to just be able to drive right to my pit stall and change the tire. We changed the right-rear and didn’t get the right-front changed. And then that exploded on the apron and I had to lose a lap for the damage. Just had a little bit of a tire rub still and ultimately it just ended up giving out and I got into the wall. Hate that I made the mistake there to put us in this position, but I was having fun up until the spin. I thought I was doing a decent job – finishing second in the stage. Just wish I could have got to the end. Most of the time I feel like it’s other peoples’ fault why I DNF, but tonight it was my fault. Little bit of a bummer.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1Finished: 5thHow dicey has it been out there tonight? “Yeah, it’s been really dicey. A lot of things kind of been going on – a lot of lanes, a lot of options, which has been pretty good. It’s all about momentum obviously. You break momentum or have something happen, it knocks you back or slows you down, you get blown over by four or five guys. So it’s all about just minimizing your mistakes and minimize those that can get by you while you’re trying to make moves. Definitely a different game, but overall, just really happy with the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro. We’ve adjusted on it every pit stop today. We stayed out on that set of tires and it felt really good. Wish we could have continued. I felt like we had more than fifth.” Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1Finished: 8th “Atlanta continues to be a really strong track for this Kaulig Racing team. We fired off super loose, but Trent (Owens) made some great adjustments that got us back where we needed to be for the start of the second stage. It was a lot of fun running second there for a while and racing in the top five. We knew the weather was moving in, and we thought we might have a good strategy there. Unfortunately, it ended just a little too soon, but overall it was a good day for Kaulig Racing.” Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 11th“It was an up and down day for our Allegiant Chevy; we could have been a bit farther up with some of the stuff that we did, but for the most part we made our bed set up wise last night. So, it was a good day. The car is getting faster each week, and hopefully we keep going that way. I think today was overall a good day.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1Finished: 2nd “I feel like I have mixed feelings, but overall, very proud of my No. 99 Quaker State Chevy team. It’s been a little bit rough lately because we’ve had the speed, but we haven’t had the results, so this feels good.” Ty Gibbs had trouble, so this is probably a good points day for you.. “Yeah, it’s a shame – you never want your competition to have trouble and feel happy about it. But it is what it is. We’ve had trouble the last few weeks, as well. I’m just trying to take one race at a time and let it play out. We had the speed today, once again, and we showed that.” |
Acura Conquers Competition at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
July 9, 2023 — BOWMANVILLE, Ont., Canada
- Meyer Shank Racing duo of Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist claim their second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of 2023
- Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor bring Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura home secon
- Brake issue blunts Gradient Racing run in GTD
Playing their energy management strategy to perfection, Meyer Shank Racing led an Acura 1-2 sweep of today’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport finishing second for Acura.
In GTD, Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk appeared headed for their second consecutive top-five result – and third of the season – in their Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, until a late-race brake issue dropped the pair to an unrepresentative 11th-place finish.
Acura ARX-06 GTP
In the premier GTP division for hybrid prototypes, Blomqvist and Braun had their #60 MSR Acura ARX-06 at the front of the field for the majority of the two-hour, 40-minute contest, despite a flurry of incidents and late-race caution flags turned the race into a contest of pit stop strategies.
Stretching their final run for an impressive 78 minutes, MSR held on for the victory; with the sister WTRAndretti Acura of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque coming home second.
The victory is the second of the season for Acura, both 1-2 results, with the previous win coming at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. In scoring their first overall win today at CTMP, the Meyer Shank organization became the first GTP team to win multiple WeatherTech Championship races in 2023 in the new hybrid prototype era.
Today’s victory moves Braun and Blomqvist to sixth in the championship after six of nine races; while Albuquerque and Taylor are third in the standings, just 29 points out of first.
Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 GTD
In the production-based GTD category, Gradient Racing saw their chance for a podium finish evaporate when Katherine Legge was forced to make an unscheduled late-race pit stop to repair a left-rear brake caliper.
Prior to issue, Sheena Monk had made up seven positions during her opening stint, pitting from seventh in GTD; while Legge took advantage of the team’s off-sequence pit strategy to take over the class lead with just over an hour remaining. Despite losing seven laps to complete the brake repair, Legge resumed to garner an 11th-place finish for the team, which enabled the pair to move up to sixth in the GTD championship standings after six of 11 rounds.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Acura Race Results
- 1st GTP – #60 Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun; Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06
- 2nd GTP – #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06
- 11th GTD – #66 Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk; Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
Quotes
Colin Braun (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06): Race winner with co-driver Tom Blomqvist: “It was tough. The other guys were good on fuel, so for me it was just about getting a good restart and building a gap and then going into fuel save mode. I was surprised with the great pace the Acura had on the fuel save. Then, once we got through the traffic, I knew I could probably pull a gap and we did. I’m just super proud of everyone here with Meyer Shank Racing, Acura, and HPD. Everyone did a great job. You know, obviously, we’ve been close [to another victory]. We’ve had good pace all year. So, great is it converted to a win and we definitely had to work for it this week.”
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06) finished second with co-driver Ricky Taylor: “What a crazy race!” We started really well with Ricky [Taylor] putting pressure and pulling a big gap on everybody. Then I got in the car and was actually feeling good, just saving the tires and controlling the position. At one point with the strategy, the safety car went out when we just pitted. So, it’s like ‘perfect’ and by then we thought it’s going to be an easy win. But then it was so chaotic with so many yellows. It turned out that the Meyer Shank car got to the end. It’s so hard to pass around here and whoever was in front were going to pull away. We’re happy with P2 today. It’s a start, we’ve been having a rough season with amazing pace. Congrats to HPD for the pace and the car we had today. So, let’s continue with this momentum.”
Katherine Legge (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 11th in GTD with co-driver Sheena Monk: “It looked like we had a very promising race going for us. I think we had the car for a top-five finish, at the very least, but then we had the long stop to repair a brake caliper. It’s unfortunate. At least we were able to return to the race once the problem was fixed and salvage a finish and some championship points. All our thoughts right now are with [team owner] Andris Laivins as he deals with a serious illness in his family.”
Lee Niffenegger (principal engineer, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Acura 1-2 result at CTMP: “Today turned into a race with two possible strategies, but we had both options covered [with Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor with Andretti Autosport], and it turned into a fantastic 1-2 for Acura and HPD. We’re really proud of both our teams and everyone at HPD today. We fought back after some less-than-desirable results recently, and now we’re in the thick of the championship with three [GTP] races to go. It’s ‘Game on!'”
Fast Facts
- This is the seventh prototype victory for Acura Motorsports at CTMP, in both IMSA and American Le Mans Series championship competition.
- Acura’s first win at what was then called Mosport Park came in 2008, when David Brabham and Scott Sharp took their Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b to the LMP2 class victory.
Next
The GT classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO and GTD, travel to Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park for the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix Presented by Liqui Moly, July 20-22. The full IMSA field next runs August 4-6 for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Acura Motorsports social media content and video links can be found on:
- Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd)
- TikTok (www.tiktok.com/hondaracing_hpd)
- Twitter (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_Hpd)
- Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD)
- YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV)
Lucas Oil Late Models Ready for Showdown at Davenport Tuesday, July 11
| BATAVIA, Ohio (July 9, 2023) – The stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series are ready for a mid-week showdown at Davenport, Iowa’s 1/4-mile bulling. The annual Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series stop at Davenport Speedway presented C & J Trucking / HD Equipment will be a complete program of Dirt Draft Hot Laps, Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Main. The IMCA Late Models and IMCA Modifieds are also on the racing card for Tuesday, July 11. The pit gate will open at 2:00PM with the general admission gate opening at 5:00PM. On track action will begin at 6:30PM. All times are Central Time. In 2022, Hudson O’Neal narrowly held off Brandon Overton in a thrilling battle at Davenport that saw four different lead changes during the 40-lapper. O’Neal took the lead for good on lap 34 and beat Overton to the line by just .589 seconds. Mike Marlar, like O’Neal and Overton, led during the race but finished in third followed by Jimmy Owens and Spencer Hughes. Davenport Speedway is located on the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds at 2815 West Locust Street in Davenport, Iowa. Tickets to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event presented by presented C & J Trucking / HD Equipment can be purchased at the gate on race day. For more information about Davenport Speedway, visit www.davenportiaspeedway.com. Ricky Thornton Jr. leads the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP to Davenport Speedway – with a 175-point advantage over Hudson O’Neal. Brandon Overton is third, followed by Tim McCreadie and Jonathan Davenport. For the latest news, results, championship standings and more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, please visit www.lucasdirt.com. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Purse: 1. $10,000, 2. $5,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,700, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,000, 15. $950, 16. $925, 17. $900, 18. $875, 19. $850, 20. $825, 21. $800, 22. $800, 23. $800, 24. $800 = Total $48,575 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rule:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT2, (90) NLMT3Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT3, (92) NLMT4 *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials and Heat Races |
chevy racing–nascar–atlanta–kyle larson
NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
QUAKER STATE 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 9, 2023
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Press conference transcript:
YOU’VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR ESPN’S BEST DRIVER ESPY AWARD FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW. YOU WON IT LAST YEAR. WHAT DOES THIS INCREDIBLE FEAT MEAN TO YOU?
“Honestly, it’s cool to be acknowledged. I was super surprised by it. I know there was a lot more deserving drivers – at least in American auto racing – than I was last year. But regardless, it’s an honor. I don’t think I should win it (laughs), but either way, it’s cool to be on the list. I feel bad for guys who didn’t get acknowledged for this award because, like I said, there’s a lot more that are deserving of it than me.”
TALKING ABOUT THE LIST OF DRIVERS THAT YOU’RE NOMINATED ALONG WITH – YOU ARE NOMINATED IN GOOD COMPANY ALONG WITH BRITTANY FORCE, JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND MAX VERSTAPPEN. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BEING NOMINATED FOR THIS AWARD WITH THOSE DRIVERS?
“Yeah, they’re the best – or one of the best – in all of their forms of racing. Anytime you can join a list with names like that is special. But again, I think a guy like Joey Logano probably should be on it more so than me. But hey – if I win, I’m going to stick the trophy right next to the other one, too.
It’s cool.. it’s cool, for sure. But a fluke, in a way.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY HAS MATURED AS A SUPERSPEEDWAY-STYLE TRACK?
“Well we’ve only made two laps, so I don’t know how it’s different than earlier this year. It seemed like the Chevy’s had their hands full yesterday just to complete a lap. I don’t know if that’s the surface or just teams trying to make their car better; not making it better and making it tougher to drive. But we’ll see once the race starts. Visually, it doesn’t look like it’s aged much. Just the times I went through (turn) two, I felt like the patch was rougher than I remembered, so curious of what that’ll feel like as we move up the race track because in qualifying we just run low. We’ll see – but yeah, pavement ages and I hope this place ages quickly to make the racing different each time we come back.”
(NO MIC.)
“I have no clue. I’ve been in NASCAR for 10 years and aside from Darlington (Raceway), I haven’t seen really any track get super abrasive over time. Yes – the groove might change here or there. Kansas (Speedway), for example, is good but I wouldn’t say it’s abrasive. It’s nice that you can move around the track. It was repaved all that long ago. But then you know a track like Daytona (International Speedway), Talladega (Superspeedway), Pocono (Raceway), Phoenix (Raceway) – places that like, I don’t foresee those tracks ever getting abrasive. I just think the – I don’t know the engineering behind it, but pavement nowadays must be a lot more durable than what it used to be. I would love for all of these tracks to get more abrasive. I think that’s when the racing gets better. These places seem so perfectly paved that I don’t see it getting abrasive, ever.”
CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT YOUR EXPECTATIONS ARE AT LOUDON? THEY ARE GOING TO DO A TEST AFTERWARDS, BUT WHAT DO WE NEED TO SEE ON THE FLATTER ONE-MILE TRACKS LIKE THAT TO GET A LITTLE MORE SIDE-BY-SIDE RACING AND MAKE IT EASIER TO PASS?
“I don’t know – I saw just a quick kind of overview of the changes, I guess, that they’re going to try at New Hampshire (Motor Speedway). I don’t know much about race cars, so I don’t know what it is exactly – but it sounds like on the runs that they’ve made on the computers, it seems like it should be better in traffic. I hope that when they go to the test that it correlates well and the guys that are there feel better behind cars.. all of that. I don’t know – that’s the goal for every race track and race car, is if you’re faster than a guy, it would be a little easier to pass them. We’ll see.
But yeah, with these cars, I feel like we’ve made improvements on the 1.5-mile tracks compared to the previous model car. For sure, the short-track stuff has struggled for passing. But overall, I would say the cars are more fun to drive because you have your hands full of it more, but it’s definitely a little harder to pass.”
FROM A GUY THAT COMES FROM THE GRASSROOTS, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO A TEAM THAT’S IN WORLD OF OUTLAWS OR THE ALL-STARS TO HAVE A GUY LIKE TONY STEWART, OR A PROMOTOR LIKE THAT, PUT UP A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A WIN?
“Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s honestly really cool.. it’s a lot of money. It’s way more money than any dirt racer gets to race for. It’s life-changing money, for sure. For a World of Outlaw guy, it might take him four or five years to make that much.
Yeah, it’s awesome. Tony (Stewart) and his whole staff.. FloRacing, they’re a big part of it, too. To promote a race last year with the late model million and then give the sprint car guys their chance this year, it’s pretty neat. I’m obviously happy I get to compete in it, too (laughs).
We’ll see. It’s going to be a really tough race. I think there’s a few guys that have a great shot to win. But then it’s also a unique format that will open the door for others, too. We’ll see, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity, as well as everybody else is.”
WHAT’S YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO A SUPERSPEEDWAY RACE LIKE THIS? DO YOU TRY TO HOLD BACK AND AVOID THE WRECKS, OR DO YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN UP FRONT ALL DAY LONG?
“Well I would like to get up front – stay up front and have a better chance of not getting caught up in a crash. But I feel like I’ve crashed at superspeedways more than anybody probably ever has in their career (laughs). I’ve crashed in the front. I’ve crashed in the middle. I’ve crashed in the back. And I haven’t figured out how not to crash.
I don’t really know. I’ve tried studying these places a lot to figure out how to not crash and where all that happens. But I don’t know – I think a lot of times, you have to get a little bit lucky, but it’s decisions that lead up to those moments when crashes happen that are the reasons why you got in it or didn’t get in it. So just trying to make the right decisions. I would love to be up front though all race long.”
REMEMBERING THE FINISH IN LAST NIGHT’S XFINITY SERIES RACE, WE SAW THINGS GO AWRY WITH THE STRATEGY THE KAULIG RACING CARS HAD. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE HAD YOUR COMPETITION MEETINGS YET, WHETHER IT’S BEEN WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS OR CHEVROLET, BUT HAS THERE BEEN ANY REFERRAL TO WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT AND ANY MESSAGE OF ‘DON’T DO THAT’ WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO DRAFT AND WORK WITH YOUR TEAMMATES?
“Well I think there was more that went into the moves that were made last night than just Justin (Haley) not working with (Daniel) Hemric. It sounded like he was running out of fuel, so I don’t think it necessarily was him not working with his teammate. But yeah, I mean every week, you talk about the upcoming race and what you can do to help each other. Daytona (International Speedway), Talladega (Superspeedway) and Atlanta (Motor Speedway) are a little more extreme, I guess, in conversations.
But yeah, you want to give your team the best opportunity to win. You want to give Chevrolet the best opportunity to win. So yes – I think working together is key, but you also have to lookout for yourself and how to get yourself the best finish sometimes, too.
And also, it’s hard to make the decisions at 190 mph, quickly. It’s easy to look at something happening in the moment or look at it afterward and really critique somebody. But when you’re not behind the wheel, those decisions have to be made in under a second.”
IN 2001, WHEN KEVIN HARVICK DROVE THE NO. 29 TO HIS FIRST WIN HERE – FIRST OF ALL, DID YOU HAVE MEMORIES OF THAT RACE OR WATCHING IT AS A KID? WHAT IS YOUR VANTAGE POINT, SEEING CARS LIKE THAT, LEADING YOU GUYS AROUND TO THE GREEN TODAY?
“Yeah, I was – gosh, I was only nine (years old) then, so I don’t remember if I watched it live. But I’ve obviously seen the highlights a lot of times. It was just an epic finish; an epic moment. A moment that meant a lot to the sport and to that race team, and the legacy that Dale Earnhardt, Sr., had and the start of Kevin Harvick’s amazing career. It’s pretty neat in Kevin’s final time here at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) to have Richard (Childress) pacing the field in that car. I think Atlanta has been Kevin’s best track his whole career until they repaved it, so it’s pretty neat. Those cars and the track – everything was just way different back then. It’s not even the same place – it might have the same address, but it’s not the same track as it was then. But no, it’s definitely cool to have that car leading the field.”
GOING BACK TO THE CRASH TOPIC – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RECOVERY PROCESS AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN ONE OF THOSE WRECKS.. KIND OF LIKE THE ONE AT TALLADEGA (SUPERSPEEDWAY)? WHAT IT DOES TO YOUR BODY AND KIND OF WHAT YOU DO, SPECIFICALLY, TO RECOVER FROM SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
“Thankfully, I’ve never had anything too serious happen to me. I’ve never been diagnosed with a concussion. I’ve never had anything like that happen. Typically, I mean for me – in some wrecks, you’re not even sore at all. Even the Talladega (Superspeedway) one, I wasn’t really sore the next day. I think me being hit from the side; my body didn’t really have anywhere to go. So my neck wasn’t stiff.. nothing hurt. So I think that’s just a testament to the cars and the safety. You always want to see it getting safer. But yeah 10 years ago, I might have felt differently.. or maybe longer ago than that.
But I’ve been fortunate, knock on wood, to not have anything serious happen to me yet. I know there’s an opportunity every weekend for that. I’m sure if the situation ever comes up where I am injured, I know that Hendrick Motorsports has great people, resources and contacts for whatever I’m sure you’re dealing with. Alex (Bowman) had his injuries. Chase (Elliott) had his earlier this year. They have, unfortunately, a lot of experience with it. But yeah, hopefully I don’t run into anything like that.”
CORVETTE RACING AT CTMP: Winners in Canada!
| Garcia, Taylor, No. 3 Corvette C8.R claim season’s first GTD PRO victory |
| BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 9, 2023) – Corvette Racing broke through with a long-awaited victory Sunday at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the team’s first win of the season in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor teamed for the victory in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which was racing for the second time at CTMP. It’s the first win for Corvette at the circuit since 2014 and gave the team an even dozen victories at the historic Canadian venue. It’s also the 126th win all-time for Corvette Racing and 114 in North American competition. The victory capped a day where Corvette Racing clinched the FIA WEC GTE Am Drivers and Teams World Championships at the Six Hours of Monza. The groundwork for the Canadian Corvette victory began early. Taylor began from fourth and held his position until diving in for a pit stop at the 33-minute mark. He got out and Garcia got in as the Corvette Racing crew changed tires and added fuel. The move set off a chain reaction with three other GTD PRO cars following suit, and the C8.R emerging after the cycle in third place – but second among cars in class that stopped early. An even more critical moment came with 70 minutes remaining. Garcia moved to the lead on a restart with 70 minutes left as the two cars ahead of him fought off-track at the exit of the first corner. The Corvette held the proper line and moved by each. The championship-leading 14 Lexus suffered damage in the incident while the No. 9 Porsche emerged behind Garcia. The top three cars ran within less than four seconds apart for the final 24 minutes with the Corvette taking the win under yellow after a late-race safety car period – the fourth of the day. Corvette Racing’s next event is the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 22 from Lime Rock Park. |
| LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “I can’t think of a better weekend for Corvette Racing. A World Championship in the WEC and a race win in IMSA on the same day is something we all will remember. It shows how strong this program is in both series and how much both sides work together to get the most out of these Corvette race cars. I’m incredibly proud of both the No. 33 and No. 3 Corvette teams on this unbelievable day.” |
IMSA at CTMP: Tough day for Cadillac in Canada
| No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R retains championship points lead |
| BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 9, 2023) – The silver lining Sunday for Cadillac Racing in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is that the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R retained the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype driver and team points lead. |
 Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims, who started on the inside of Row 2 in the hybrid Cadillac racecar for the scheduled 2-hour, 40-minute sprint, finished seventh in the race that ended under caution due to an incident with 4 minutes, 50 seconds left involving the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R.The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, which qualified fourth with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel, was pushed off the racing surface into the grass and made heavy nose-first contact with the tire barrier in Turn 8 on the 2.459-mile course. |
 Renger van der Zande exited the car under his own power and was checked at the infield care center. The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R was classified ninth. The No. 60 Acura ARX-06 took the checkered flag.Sims recorded the fastest lap of the race of the GTP contenders at 1 minute, 07.422 seconds on Lap 96 of 120. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R holds a 10-point lead over the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8. Cadillac paces the GTP Manufacturer standings by 47 points. The next IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP race is Sunday, Aug. 6, on the 4-mile, 14-turn Road America course. Cadillac Racing will participate in a two-day IMSA-sanctioned test July 28-29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the mid-September race on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course that incorporates sections of the famous oval. |
| No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani: “We just weren’t lucky with the yellows today. We proved we had the pace, were quick in every sector of the track, but after being pushed wide on the final restart we weren’t able to recover in time to challenge for the podium. Tough hit on championship points, but we’re still in the lead and we’ll move on to Road America to try to increase the lead.” Alexander Sims: “We had a good car throughout the race and were very competitive but got caught by yellow flags today. It was just one of those days that you have to fight through to stay on course for the championship.” No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RRenger van der Zande: “This was a tough result today for our Cadillac team. You never want to retire late in the race, but thankfully I’m OK and we can look to what lies ahead. Our team has made it clear that we will always dust ourselves off and push forward, no matter the circumstances.” |
CORVETTE RACING AT MONZA: A Corvette Championship!
| Catsburg, Keating, Varrone wrap up GTE Am title in No. 33 C8.R MONZA, Italy (July 9, 2023) – Campionato, Corvette! Corvette Racing clinched the GTE Am Drivers and Teams titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship on Sunday with a fourth-place finish at the Six Hours of Monza for the trio of Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone. The No. 33 Corvette C8.R team finished ahead of its closest championship competitors to wrap up the program’s first title in WEC competition. |
| LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “How cool is this? The Corvette Racing team joined the WEC full-time last year to learn the championship and had some great successes. We enjoyed it so much and had an opportunity this year with Ben, Nicky and Nico to have a Corvette in the GTE Am class. This group couldn’t say no! Now to be able to walk away champions and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the final year of GTE and the C8.R is a dream come true.” |
Cadillac Racing at Monza: Arrivederci to tough day
| No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finishes 10th overall, adds to championship points total |
| MONZA, Italy (July 9, 2023) – A promising start to the 6 Hours of Monza didn’t pay out with the desired result as the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finished 10th overall Sunday in the FIA World Endurance Championship race. Timing of a safety car period at the start of the third hour impacted the strategy of Cadillac Racing, which was among the handful of teams that pitted early in the race under the first safety car period. For the fifth consecutive race on its maiden tour of the WEC schedule, the prototype powered by the all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter, DOHC V8 ran without mechanical issue. |
 Starting fifth in the 13-car Hypercar field on the 5.793-kilometer, 11-turn Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit, Alex Lynn took advantage of contact between two cars in the early minutes to advance his position. The team pitted behind the safety car with 31 minutes expired for 55 seconds of fuel/energy, joining four other Hypercars on the alternate strategy.Richard Westbrook took over driving duties with 4 hours, 39 minutes left and was running third when the second safety car was deployed 46 minutes later. Westbrook inherited the lead through pit stop cycling but was called in for emergency fuel under yellow. Three minutes later, under green, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R returned to pit lane for full fuel/energy, which dropped the hybrid racecar to 10th in class. Earl Bamber, marking his 33rd birthday, relieved Westbrook with 3 hours, 24 minutes left and held track position during his stints. Lynn returned to the seat with 59 minutes left and brought the car home. Twelve Hypercars were running at the finish led to the checkered flag on Lap 200 by the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry.The WEC moves to Fuji, Japan, for the penultimate event in the championship. The six-hour race will be contested Sunday, Sept. 10, on the 4.563-kilometer, 16-turn course. |
| No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.RRichard Westbrook: “My stint in the car was really good. We were fighting at the front and on a different strategy to half the cars, so it was good, classic sports car racing with different strategies playing out. And it was working for us. Unfortunately, the timing of the safety car was bad for us and we had to pit for emergency fuel and once that happens you’re pretty much out of the game. It’s a real shame. We have a good racecar, good on tires and were looking forward to this race. But when stuff like the timing of the safety car happens, you’re in the lap of the gods and it didn’t quite work out for us today. But in the future it will.” Earl Bamber: “Overall, a pretty tough day. I think we executed everything perfectly until qualifying and things in the race just didn’t go our way. From chassis, engine and everything like that I think we’ve made gains since Le Mans. We just needed to execute it better as drivers with a bit of strategy. But you have one of those days and we still scored points. I think we know where we can improve for Fuji. Huge congrats to Corvette Racing for winning the world championship.” Alex Lynn: “The start was pretty chaotic, but we got through unscathed and had a good start. And then we were battling it out with the Peugeots, the Ferraris, the Porsches and the car was performing well. It hasn’t swung our way, but we’ll pick up points where we can.” |
Burton Qualifies a Cup-Career-Best Fifth at Atlanta
July 9, 2023
Harrison Burton, in the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang, is set to start a Cup-career-best fifth in Sunday night’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Burton earned that spot with a lap at 176.803 miles per hour in qualifying on Saturday evening as Ford drivers swept the top six starting spots and eight of the top 10. His previous best Cup qualifying effort was a sixth in last year’s season finale at Phoenix.
Burton was fourth fastest in the opening qualifying round, turning a lap at 176.893 mph in his first lap on the track, as no practice was held prior to qualifying.
The 260-lap Quaker State 400 is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7 p.m., with TV coverage on USA Network. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 160.
DYSON STRETCHES TRANS AM SERIES LEAD WITH HARD-FOUGHT SECOND AT ROAD AMERICA
| POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (July 9, 2023) – At Wisconsin’s Road America this weekend Chris Dyson got everything there was from his #16 GYM Weed Ford Mustang. But after twice leading the race over the course of a sometimes tooth-and-nail battle with Justin Marks, Dyson came up just a bit short in a race that ended a lap early due to time constraints. “It’s never nice to finish second,” Dyson admitted after the race. “But congratulations to Justin and his team. His car was an absolute rocket this weekend and he drove a strong race. Our team had some technical problems during the weekend, but on race day my guys gave me an excellent race car. I wish I could say that if the race had run the full distance I might have had another shot at Justin, but unless he made another mistake it really wasn’t going to matter. Second was the best we could do today on pace alone.” From his starting spot on the outside of the front row Dyson led the first third of the 25-lap Denny Lammers Tribute 100 race after polesitter Marks got too hot into the first turn after the green flag and briefly dropped to third place behind Dyson and Boris Said. “Justin got past Boris very quickly and was on my tail,” Dyson reported later. “I knew it was going to take everything I had – and maybe a little more – to hold Justin off for the whole race. I was good early in the stint on full tanks and was able to conserve tires a bit more and control the pace. I knew if Justin got past and had open road ahead of him I was going to be in a tougher spot.” Eventually Dyson got a bit loose braking in Turn Six and Marks got by. But Dyson got another shot at Marks after a red-flag period at the race’s two-thirds point. Marks made another small error early in the first green lap and again Dyson and Said briefly got by. The next lap Marks drafted by Dyson on the front straight and retook the lead, this time for good. For Dyson the disappointment of not winning the race was somewhat assuaged with an increased point lead in his campaign for a third consecutive Trans Am National series championship. “The points situation still looks good,” Dyson said. “But we are looking to win the national championship by winning more races. We need to make our cars a bit faster. Fortunately, it’s two months till the next TA race, at Watkins Glen, though I think we will need all that time.” For Dyson’s teammate, Matty Brabham, it was an even tougher weekend; after setting fast times in practice, his #20 GYM Weed Ford Mustang suffered terminal electrical problems. Brabham was unable to qualify or race. Fortunately for Brabham he had enough of a points cushion that despite going pointless at Road America he remains second in the championship. Next Up: Watkins Glen The Trans Am Series’ next event for the headline TA class is September 6-10 at Watkins Glen International. Dyson, a two-time Trans Am winner at the classic Central New York circuit, finished second there last season. Dyson looks to dethrone defending Watkins Glen race winner Justin Marks. Road America Rebroadcast Schedule A 60-minute feature on the Road America race, will be broadcast this Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET to MAVTV’s 22 million North American linear households and 175 million connected devices. For more on Chris Dyson Racing, visit chrisdysonracing.com |
Winger Holds off Harrison, Feger at Highland to Win Fifth Hell Tour Race of 2023
HIGHLAND, IL (July 8, 2023) – Ashton Winger’s been on one mission this summer – win more races. His relentless drive and determination to do that was tested Saturday night at Highland Speedway as he battled to keep the lead against some of Illinois’ best racers.
He took the lead in the opening laps, lost it, got it back, then lost it and regained it once more before holding off Mike Harrison and Jason Feger on a green-white-checkered finish to score the $10,000 grand prize and his fifth DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win of the season.
From the outside pole, Winger jumped out to the lead and looked strong through the first half of the 40-lap main event. He first denied five-time Hell Tour champion Shannon Babb on Lap 14 with a slide job pass for the lead, taking back the top spot after Babb got it from him on the previous restart.
Further back in the field, hometown hero and multi-time UMP Modified track champion Mike Harrison was mounting his charge to the front, advancing all the way to third from 12th on the starting grid by Lap 11. He picked up the battle for second with Babb on Lap 16 and swiped the spot from him at the line, blasting the high side around the 1/4-mile.
“I just slowly started venturing up toward the top, and I just figured out how to make that top work,” Harrison said. “There wasn’t really much up there; just more or less momentum.”
Harrison quickly closed in on the back of Winger, and with a big run off the top side of Turn 2, Harrison drove it hard down to the bottom in Turn 3 in a bid for the lead on Lap 24.
“I finally got to where I felt I had position and I drove in underneath [Winger],” Harrison said. “I don’t know if he just turned and went to the bottom or what happened there. We made a little contact there, but I fully intended on driving right past him into the corner.”
Harrison’s right-rear smacked Winger’s left-front, bending several front-end components on Winger’s car and opening the door for Babb to go by underneath him to take second.
“I’m not making excuses, but I was swatting flies down the straightaway, not knowing where my front tires were gonna land,” Winger said.
Winger had fallen back a bit with his handling now hindered but wasn’t ready to give up. When a flat left-rear tire forced Babb to pit under yellow with six laps left, Winger’s hopes were renewed.
“When Shannon had that flat, I knew Harrison was gonna try the top,” Winger said. “Then on that restart, it looked like he didn’t know where he wanted to go. So at the last second, he tried to run the bottom, and he left just enough open to where I could get my nose in there.”
Winger grabbed hold of the bottom lane for the restart while Harrison stuck to the top. With bent suspension parts and all, Winger still found the speed on the bottom to scoot past Harrison at the line coming to two-to-go to retake the lead.
“I knew when I got out front and could use the whole racetrack, I’d be alright,” Winger said.
The caution was thrown as the leaders were headed for the white flag, setting up a green-white-checkered dash to the finish. Try as they may, Harrison and a hard-charging Jason Feger – who had driven all the way back up to third from 17th on the starting grid – were unable to catch Winger as he held his damaged ride together and crossed the finish line to score his 11th career Summer Nationals win.
Though he crossed in second after leading 10 laps, Harrison stood proud with his second Late Model podium of the summer aboard the Steve Lampley Motorsports #33.
“In the end, I’m almost glad it came back down to me and [Winger], because that’s the way it was,” Harrison said. “I would rather lose the race to him for the way it all happened than win it and take it from him because we crashed together.”
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models will wrap-up Week 4 of competition Sunday, July 9, with a visit to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming is available at DIRTVision.com.
FEATURE RESULTS
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[2]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[17]; 3. 33-Mike Harrison[12]; 4. 7-Chad Zobrist[1]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[14]; 6. 91-Rusty Schlenk[11]; 7. 96V-Tanner English[10]; 8. 16-Rusty Griffaw[20]; 9. 14-Paul Kuper[15]; 10. 26H-Kyle Hammer[18]; 11. 31AUS-Kye Blight[19]; 12. 17-Todd Rehg[7]; 13. 44-Blaze Burwell[4]; 14. 18-Shannon Babb[6]; 15. 51-Dean Carpenter[13]; 16. 15-Clayton Stuckey[23]; 17. 1-BJ Robinson[8]; 18. 27M-Rodney Melvin[3]; 19. 10-Daryn Klein[5]; 20. 38-Thomas Hunziker[16]; 21. 6K-Michael Kloos[9]; 22. 22-Dan Jacober[21]; 23. 23NZ-Mick Quin[22]
Harrison Holds off Steinkoenig to Win Eighth Career Summit Modified Feature at Highland
A victor so many times at Highland Speedway, there aren’t many situations Mike Harrison hasn’t prevailed in his career at the 1/4-mile bullring. Still, he put another on display for a packed house Saturday night.
With track points leader Owen Steinkoenig right on his tail for nearly the entire 25-lap Feature, Harrison fended off the pressure from behind and trekked his way through lapped traffic on the bottom to win his eighth DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature at Highland in the last 12 years.
“I knew [Steinkoenig] would be good here because he’s been really good here,” Harrison said. “He and Nicely – I knew they were the two I was going to have to contend with. I just had to keep my head on and stay down on that bottom; not necessarily protect, but just run my race and not worry about who was behind me.”
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds will wrap-up Week 4 of competition Sunday, July 9, with a visit to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming is available at DIRTVision.com.
FEATURE RESULTS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[3]; 3. 25-Tyler Nicely[4]; 4. 0-Tim Hancock Sr[5]; 5. 1D-Dean Hoffman[9]; 6. 3E-Robbie Eilers[2]; 7. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[10]; 8. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[6]; 9. 24S-Jacob Steinkoenig[8]; 10. 128-Zach Schantz[7]; 11. E55-Chad Sellers[16]; 12. 787-Cody Zobrist[13]; 13. 15-Chris Smith[18]; 14. 21M-Willy Myers[14]; 15. 27R-Steve Rex[19]; 16. 94-Mark Clary[11]; 17. 14C-Rick Conoyer[15]; 18. 87Z-Zeb Moake[21]; 19. I99-Mikey Kopka[24]; 20. 9-Chad Cornett[12]; 21. 51M-Joe Mercurio[20]; 22. 12T-Dave Thornton[17]; 23. 95-Rick Salter[22]; 24. 69L-Josh Lemke[23]
BADGER 40 BACK-TO-BACK: Revitalized Carson Macedo Earns Second Straight Wilmot Win
| The Lemoore, CA native moves by Schatz early and holds on for fourth victory of the yearWILMOT, WI (July 8, 2023) – Carson Macedo admits he hasn’t been himself over the past few weeks. A frightening crash at Knoxville in early June left him rattled both physically and mentally.He and his Jason Johnson Racing team stayed dedicated. Macedo battled pain. A large supporting cast kept his spirits up. Since the incident, his finishes in the next nine races were solid with eight top 10s but not quite on the championship level he showed early in the season.And heading into the 10th race after Knoxville, Macedo was beginning to feel like himself again. The result was a revitalizing triumph at Wilmot Raceway on Saturday night. Macedo rolled by Donny Schatz shortly before the halfway point of the Federated Auto Parts Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40 and held off multiple challengers on his way to Victory Lane for the second straight year at the Wisconsin oval.The Wilmot win moved Macedo up to four World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car triumphs this season and 32 for his career. The Lemoore, CA native joined David Gravel as the only driver with multiple checkered flags at Wilmot. And most importantly, the win served as a much needed confidence boost. A reminder to Macedo and the entire team of their capabilities as they pursue a championship.“I’m just thankful more than anything,” Macedo said. “It’s been a tough few weeks. I’ve had a lot of really good people reach out and be supporters. When you’re young you think you’re invincible, but the other week kind of knocked me back a little bit, that wreck. I feel like my guys have never given up on me – Philip Dietz, Clyde Knipp, Nate Repetz. They’ve been trying to give me the best car they possibly can. I just haven’t been 100% right. “Coming into this week, I worked out all week and was just in a much better mind and place in my head. I felt pretty good about our chances. We were fast early in the night. I felt like we had a really good Heat Race. We were outstanding in the Dash, and they just delivered again in the Feature. These guys did an incredible job.”When the green flag waved on the 40-lap main event, Macedo was on the pole, but it was Donny Schatz powering into the lead around Macedo’s outside.While Schatz was the one who grabbed the early lead, Macedo refused to let him pull away. Macedo kept the Albaugh #41 a few car lengths behind Schatz. As the two entered traffic, Macedo was forced to fend off a challenge in the form of a charging Bill Balog. “The North Pole Nightmare” slid Macedo for the runner-up spot, but he was able to cross Balog over.Balog’s challenge forced Macedo to elevate his game. Only a few laps after he’d briefly slipped to third, Macedo closed right back up to Schatz’ tail tank as they navigated slower cars. On lap 16, Schatz left an opening on the top side, and Macedo promptly took advantage. He ripped the cushion right around the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15.After taking the lead, Macedo began to put some distance between himself and Schatz. Then Schatz slipped back a spot as Balog maneuvered by him for second.A restart that came a lap beyond the halfway point gave Macedo a close moment as Balog got a strong restart. He attempted a slider but couldn’t clear Macedo. The #17B drifted up and above the cushion causing him to lose some spots and gift Brad Sweet the runner-up position.“I was most nervous with Bill. I knew he wants to win really bad and was willing to throw a flyer to try and win the race,” Macedo said of the restart. “I kind of spun a little bit off the bottom and could hear him behind me. I went to the top thinking I’ll get a run, and he threw a big bomb and I just barely snuck around him.”Once he cleared Balog, Macedo cruised ahead and worked his way expertly through traffic. A couple close moments where the cushion tripped him up caused some drama as Sweet closed in, but ultimately Macedo never allowed “The Big Cat” to have a legitimate opportunity at moving ahead.The checkered flag flew to a very happy recipient. It’s not only a victory to boost the entire team’s morale. It’s also a boost heading into a massive week in Ohio that includes the Brad Doty Classic and Kings Royal.“I’m thankful to be standing up here,” Macedo said. “When things are going good, you really kind of take for granted just how tough this is out here on the Outlaw tour. It felt really good to be back after lacking performance. Hopefully we can build on it. It’s good to have a little bit of momentum rolling into this week coming up. It’s definitely a big one.”The runner-up spot belonged to Brad Sweet aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing/Napa Auto Parts #49 as he fell just short of his 13th Series win in the state of Wisconsin. Sweet is up to 16 World of Outlaws podiums this season and put a little distance between himself and David Gravel in the championship hunt. Sweet enjoyed the 40-lap finale, and the racing surface even reminded him a bit of his west coast roots.“It was a tricky track,” Sweet explained. “It was actually a lot of fun. Lapped traffic was kind of wild there. I had a few close calls. The track was changing a lot… Once the curb got built up, it got a lot trickier. It was kind of a fine line between you either you’d enter with your right-rear too out in front of you and you got loose or you could get yourself too tight, and then you could get it right sometimes. It was a really fine line. It was kind of old school, kind of like a California track. My Napa Auto Parts guys gave me a great car.”Rounding out the top three was a charging Sheldon Haudenschild. The Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing gasser drove from 10th up to third aboard the NOS Energy Drink #17. Haudenschild’s feelings mirrored that of Sweet’s regarding the puzzling track conditions at times.“I feel like I only made one big mistake over in (Turn) 3, but it was just tricky,” Haudenschild said. “It was hard to get runs and throw sliders. The top was really fast. I felt really good early, though. We were able to move around, I feel like, probably more than anybody.”Donny Schatz and Kasey Kahne completed the top five.Brad Sweet’s lead in the standings is up to 12 markers. With his win, Carson Macedo closed in slightly back in third as he’s now 38 behind Gravel and 50 back of Sweet.KSE Hard Charger honors went to Caden Englehart. In his first career World of Outlaws Feature start, the Terre Haute, IN native drove from 24th to 15th.For the second time in the last three races, Bill Balog earned the Simpson Performance Products QuickTime Award as he set a new Wilmot Raceway track record.The Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown was claimed by Noah Gass.CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to Bill Balog (seventh Heat Race win of career). NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four were topped by Carson Macedo (105th of career), Jacob Allen (57th of career), and Donny Schatz (516th of career).The Smith Titanium Brake Systems “Break of the Race” went to Bill Balog after he challenged for the lead early before slipping to eighth.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars make their way to Ohio for a massive week. On Tuesday, July 11 Attica Raceway Park will host the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by Racing Optics with $15,000 on the line. Then it’s off to Eldora Speedway for two nights at “The Big E.” First, The Knight Before on Friday, July 14 pays $20,000-to-win. Then the 40th Kings Royal on Saturday, July 15 awards a huge $175,000 payday. For tickets, CLICK HERE. If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.RESULTS:NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 6. 2-David Gravel[7]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston[8]; 10. 83-James McFadden[12]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[15]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 14. 20G-Noah Gass[21]; 15. 71M-Caden Englehart[24]; 16. 3N-Jake Neuman[20]; 17. 23-Russel Borland[22]; 18. 6-Bill Rose[16]; 19. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann[18]; 20. (DNF) 7S-Robbie Price[14]; 21. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech[23]; 22. (DNF) 7N-Darin Naida[13]; 23. (DNF) 49J-Josh Schneiderman[17]; 24. (DNF) 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg[19] |
CHASE JOHNSON GETS THE JOB DONE IN NARC SPRINT CAR ACTION AT PETALUMA SPEEDWAY
(7/8/23 – Ben Deatherage) Petaluma, CA … Chase Johnson brought the house down at Petaluma Speedway Saturday night with an impressive NARC 410 Sprint Car Series victory at the Salute To Baylands Raceway Park. Johnson won his first series race since 2019 after powering his way to the front on lap 19 of the 30-lap headliner aboard the potent Toyota of Marin, Walnut Creek, and Sunnyvale/Price Family Dealerships #24 Maxim.
“I tell you what, there’s nothing better than winning in front of you fans,” said the pumped-up Sonoma County native. “I travel all across the country racing cars, and to do it in front of the home fans, there’s nothing like it.”
“I just really wanted to win,” he continued. “I was waiting for traffic, I love traffic here, but clean air is what you need with these cars, and that helped us out a ton. As I said, it’s so awesome to be here, and I’m blessed for this opportunity.”
Polesitter and Sunnyvalley Bacon dash winner Dominic Scelzi set the tone of the main event on the initial green flag. Two caution periods slowed the field down in the first five laps of the race, but once the field came back to green, Scelzi was electric on the restarts. The driver of the Scelzi Motorsports/Whipple Superchargers #41 Maxim set a wicked pace and reached lapped traffic first as a long green flag run developed, which got the entire field elbows deep with slower cars.
Slowly but methodically, the ninth starting Johnson began to reel in Scelzi. Johnson would pounce on the two-time defending series champion with only 11 laps remaining to secure the coveted top spot. The only thing to slow him down would be one more caution flag. However, Johnson answered the call with the back of the running order one last time to secure his third NARC 410 Sprint Car Series win, all of which came at Petaluma. He also earned the Williams Roofing Hardcharger award.
Justin Sanders, who also earned the ARP Fast Qualifier award, was the runner-up in the Demo Mittry-fielded Farmer’s Brewing/North County Plastering #2X Maxim.
“I tried making something happen on the top,” explained Sander. “I got next to Dominic on the restart and tried to keep up there, but I stayed up there too long. When (Chase) got by me, it looked like a slot car. It would have taken something miraculous to get around him.”
Despite dropping out of the top five briefly, Corey Day roared back in the Jason Meyers Racing-owned Meyers Constructors/Four C’s Construction #14 KPC, to finish third. Sean Becker scored his best NARC run of the season aboard the Bjork Construction/Kaeding Performance #7B Maxim with a fourth-place effort. The Dave and Debbie Vertullo-owned Starr Property Management/Air One Racing #83V Maxim, chauffeured by Dylan Bloomfield, scored his second career NARC top five finish.
Justyn Cox rallied in the Bates-Hamilton Racing entry from fourteenth to end his evening in sixth. Billy Aton beat out 2017 champ Bud Kaeding for seventh. John Clark made a home track appearance for his first career NARC top ten by finishing ninth. Nick Parker rounded out the top ten.
Heat races were picked off by Becker, Scelzi and Stephen Ingraham.
A-FEATURE (30 Laps): 1. 24-Chase Johnson [9]; 2. 2X-Justin Sanders [3]; 3. 14-Corey Day [4]; 4. 7B-Sean Becker [5]; 5. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [2]; 6. 42X-Justyn Cox [14]; 7. 26-Billy Aton [7]; 8. 69-Bud Kaeding [11]; 9. 12J-John Clark [10]; 10. 115-Nick Parker [8]; 11. 2R-Richard Brace Jr. [17]; 12. 551-Angelique Bell [18]; 13. 93-Stephen Ingraham [6]; 14. 41-Dominic Scelzi [1]; 15. 92-Andy Forsberg [15]; 16. 7H-Jake Haulot [11]; 17. 4-Burt Foland Jr. [16]; 18. 51-Gary Paulson [15]
METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: Dominic Scelzi 1-18; Chase Johnson 19-30
WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Chase Johnson +8
ARP FAST QUALIFIER (18 Cars): Justin Sanders, 12.690
BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 Laps): 1. 7B-Sean Becker [3]; 2. 2X-Justin Sanders [4]; 3. 115-Nick Parker [1]; 4. 7H-Jake Haulot [2]; 5. 42X-Justyn Cox [5]; 6. 4-Burt Foland Jr [6]
KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 Laps): 1. 41-Dominic Scelzi [1]; 2. 26-Billy Aton [2]; 3. 12J-John Clark [5]; 4. 14-Corey Day [4]; 5. 92-Andy Forsberg [3]; 6. 2R-Richard Brace Jr [6]
BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES & RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL HEAT THREE (8 Laps): 1. 93-Stephen Ingraham [3]; 2. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [4]; 3. 24-Chase Johnson [2]; 4. 69-Bud Kaeding [1]; 5. 51-Gary Paulson [5]; 6. 551-Angelique Bell [6]
SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (6 Laps): 1. 41-Dominic Scelzi [1]; 2. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [2]; 3. 2X-Justin Sanders [4]; 4. 7B-Sean Becker [5]; 5. 14-Corey Day [3]; 6. 93-Stephen Ingraham
Pierce Edges O’Neal to Win NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 at Deer Creek
| SPRING VALLEY, MN (July 8, 2023) – Bobby Pierce edged Hudson O’Neal at the finish line to win the NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 on Saturday night at Deer Creek Speedway. The winning margin was 0.002 seconds which equaled the closest finish in Lucas Oil Late Model Series history. Pierce earned $50,000 for his biggest win thus far in 2023 and earned an additional $1,000 from NAPA Auto Parts for his first career victory in the crown jewel event. O’Neal was ahead at the white flag, but he bobbled in turn two allowing Pierce to close on him heading into the last two turns. Pierce through a slider on O’Neal heading into turn four to take the lead. O’Neal would turn down the track and the two-drag raced to the finish with Pierce scoring the victory. Brandon Sheppard came home in third followed by Chris Madden and Jonathan Davenport. Madden, the 2018 NAPA Gopher 50 winner, sprinted to the lead from his pole starting spot ahead of his fellow front row starter in Davenport, who was looking for his first win in the crown jewel event. Madden and Davenport ran first and second for the first 21 laps of the race when O’Neal grabbed the second position from Davenport. O’Neal then hounded Madden for the race lead until he was able to make the pass for the top spot on lap 37. O’Neal then had to deal with Tim McCreadie as he moved into second, but Pierce was the car on the move as he came from his outside fifth row starting spot to take second by lap 41. Sheppard then started to show some strength as he and his fellow Illinois competitor raced hard for second with Sheppard gaining the spot from laps 49 through 55 when Pierce got back by him. A caution with ten laps to go set up what would become a showdown between O’Neal and Pierce. Just when it looked like O’Neal was opening enough breathing room Pierce would close the gap. When O’Neal stumbled in turn on the final lap it was the opportunity that Pierce was looking for as he slid O’Neal heading into turn four to take the lead heading to the checkered flag. Pierce in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time this season and for the 14th time in his career came from the tenth starting spot to get the lucrative win. “I think everything had to play its part there. All the glory to the Holy Spirit and everything there. I had to have everything go my way. It was just one of those deals where Hudson just pushed, it was just bad timing on the last lap. I have had it happen to me plenty of times when you get to those last couple of laps and you’re leading, and you just want the race to be over. He [O’Neal] made a little push and every time he would pull me off two I knew three and four was going to be the one I was going to slide him. I am not going to lie I was scared to send that slider in there after what happened Thursday night.” Pierce referring to Thursday night’s preliminary feature where he got into the wall while going for the lead on Daulton Wilson ending his night. Pierce, who only led the final lap went for it in the final corner. “It was like well he bobbled, and I’ve got to go for it, it’s the last lap like people were going to ask me why I didn’t do it if I didn’t take it like I did. I took it in there, I am sure I was slow, and I might have bottled him up in turn four and I got the cushion pretty good. I was worried about the wall because it kind of sticks out. I got the cushion, and the car was pointed down the hill and then I thought I was going to go for it and shoot it straight and gas it to the line. I heard Hudson to my left and we were both probably turning 9500 rpm’s coming to the line,” said the 26-year-old Oakwood, Illinois native. O’Neal was heartbroken in his post-race interview as he had led from lap 37 to the last lap. “I knew I had a good enough lead, and the top was so dominate. I knew if I didn’t mess up that I was probably going to have it and that’s exactly what I did. I was going down the front straightaway and thought about it too much and I don’t know it’s the biggest heartbreak I have ever had in my life. I don’t really have any words. I definitely gave one away. In this big of a race to be leading and in that position, you don’t get those very often. I don’t hate it for me I hate it for my team. We’ve had a good race car and I felt like we had potential there and every time we got on the racetrack, we would get a little bit better and better. We had a heck of a hot rod all weekend.” Sheppard, who was the first driver among the top three finishers to have won the race before rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. “We definitely had a really fast race car we were really maneuverable around the racetrack. I was a little bit snug around the cushion. I couldn’t really keep up with them two once they got their speed picked up when they were able to rip around the wall. Overall, we had a great weekend I feel like. The car’s phenomenal.” The winner’s Longhorn Chassis is powered by Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Mesilla Valley Transportation, Rio Grande Waste Services, PureMax Racing Oil, Toyota of Danville, Leka Tree Service, Carnaghi Towing and Repair, Extreme Electric, A Plus Vacuum, Ted Brown’s Quality Paint and Body Shop, and Bloomington-Normal Truck Performance. Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Garrett Alberson, Earl Pearson Jr., Dustin Sorensen, and Chad Simpson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 – Night 3Saturday, July 8, 2023Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, MN Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[2]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 32C-Chris Simpson[3]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 6. 77-Jordan Yaggy[7]; 7. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[10]; 8. 11L-Lance Hofer[8]; 9. 15-Nick Anvelink[6]; 10. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 11. 90-Lance Matthees[11] UNOH B-Main Race #2 (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 4. 15J-Justin Duty[5]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[10]; 6. 10-Garrett Smith[4]; 7. 55C-Chad Mahder[8]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 9. 10P-Paul Parker[9]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm[2] NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 Night 3 Feature Finish (75 Laps): |
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| Race Statistics Entrants: 38Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Chris Madden Lap Leaders: Chris Madden (Laps 1-36); Hudson O’Neal (Laps 37-74); Bobby Pierce (Lap 75)Wieland Feature Winner: Bobby PierceArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Bobby PierceBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Bobby PierceMargin of Victory: 0.002 secondsGorsuch Performance Solutions Cautions: Stormy Scott (Lap 18); Spencer Hughes (Lap 26); Shane Clanton (Lap 35); Ross Robinson (Lap 37); Max Blair (Lap 38); Tyler Erb (Lap 41); Dillon McCowan (Lap 48); Devin Moran (Lap 55); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 65)LOLMDS Provisionals: Ross Robinson; Boom BriggsLOLMDS Emergency Provisionals: n/aMLRA Provisionals: Chris Simpson; Daniel HilsabeckMLRA Emergency Provisionals: Trevor Gundaker; Justin DutyTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Bobby Pierce, Hudson O’Neal, Brandon SheppardPenske Shocks Top 5: Bobby Pierce, Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Chris Madden, Jonathan DavenportTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Justin Duty (Advanced 13 Positions)Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Garrett AlbersonDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Chris SimpsonEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Hudson O’Neal (38 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: Chris Madden (Lap 8 – 14.485 seconds)MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Ricky Thornton Jr. Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Bob Pierce (Bobby Pierce)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Vic Hill Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (14.567 seconds)Time of Race: 42 minutes 49 seconds The Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings: |
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