Alex Palou claims his career-first INDYCAR pole in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland
Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon complete Honda sweep of top three starting positions
Honda drivers, teams take five of top six in qualifying

PORTLAND, Ore. (Sept. 11, 2021) – In the first half of a Saturday afternoon qualifying sweep for Honda and Acura, championship contender Alex Palou led a 1-2-3 NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying effort for Honda at the Grand Prix of Portland. Further down the Pacific coast in Monterey, California, Filipe Albuquerque led a 1-2 Acura lockout of the front row for Sunday’s Monterey Sports Car Championship round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The pole was the first for Palou in his second season of INDYCAR competition, and the fifth for Honda in 2021. Since winning the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Palou has either led or run second in the championship points standings, and is currently second, nine points out of first, with three races remaining.

In his best qualifying performance of the season, Alexander Rossi will start his Honda Dallara from the outside of the front row, second, for Andretti Autosport. Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, defending and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, completed the 1-2-3 qualifying sweep for Honda in Portland. Graham Rahal and Colton Herta also advanced to the final “fast six” qualifying round, as Honda drivers and teams claimed five of the top six qualifying positions for Sunday’s 110-lap race.

Grand Prix of Portland Honda Qualifying Results
1st Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
2ndAlexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
3rd Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
5th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
6th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
8th Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
9th Oliver Askew Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
10th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
13th James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda
17th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
20th Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda
21st Romain Grosjean-R Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
23rd Jimmie Johnson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
24th Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
25th Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda
R – Rookie

Quotes
Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Pole qualifier, his first career pole in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition: “It’s amazing [to be on the pole], I’m super happy. My first pole in INDYCAR, it’s the best start to the weekend we could possibly have. The #10 PNC Bank Honda was really good. We’re starting from the best position, and we have a really fast car, I can’t wait for tomorrow’s race. We’re fully laser focused for these final three races and to bring the championship home.”

Oliver Askew (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) Qualified ninth in his Honda debut with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: “It’s fantastic to be back in an Indy car and running with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan organization. I also had a lot of help from HPD getting on the simulator, they moved their schedule around so I get run on the sim prior to coming here. I feel pretty good about qualifying in the top 10 [ninth], and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Fast Facts
This weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland marks the return of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to the 1.967-mile PIR road course after a one-year absence, as last year’s event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a strong all-round qualifying showing for the manufacturers, Honda drivers claimed eight of top 12 grid positions after the first round of INDYCAR “knockout” qualifying, with five Honda’s advancing to the “Fast Six” final round and then sweeping the top-three starting positions for tomorrow’s 110-lap race.

Where to Watch Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland
Live network television coverage Sunday’s 110-lap race from Portland International Raceway starts at 3 p.m. EDT on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and carried by SiriusXM satellite radio.

Honda Racing social media content and video links from this weekend can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).

Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 scores fourth consecutive front row start
Filipe Albuquerque notches first IMSA pole position
Meyer Shank Racing, Dane Cameron complete Acura front row sweep

MONTEREY, CA (September 11, 2021) – Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque scored his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole position, and the team’s third pole of the season for Acura, in qualifying at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The reigning Rolex 24 at Daytona winners for Albuquerque and co-driver Ricky Taylor will lead the pack around the 2.238-mile track in their #10 Acura ARX-05 prototype, followed by fellow Acura DPi drivers Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla in the Meyer Shank Racing machine.

The pole position marks the Wayne Taylor Racing team’s fourth consecutive front-row start in 2021, and gives Honda Performance Development a double front row sweep between IMSA and INDYCAR today—following Alex Palou and Alexander Rossi’s front-row lockout in qualifying for the Portland Grand Prix.

In the production-based GTD class, HPD GT3 Academy graduate Jacob Abel led the pack in his very first IMSA WeatherTech weekend. The 20-year-old is partnered with HPD factory driver Mario Farnbacher for his debut in the Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo. The pair will start the race in the 11th position, just one ahead of Magnus with Archangel’s John Potter and Andy Lally in their #44 NSX.

Opting to save tires on the high-degradation Laguna Seca track, Gradient Racing opted not to run in the grid-setting qualifying session and will start the race 13th.
.
Laguna Seca Qualifying Results
1st overall – #10 Filipe Albuquerque, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
2nd overall – #60 Dane Cameron, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
11th GTD – #76 Jacob Abel, Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
12th GTD – #44 John Potter, Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo
13th GTD – #66 Till Bechtolsheimer, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo

Quotes
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05) pole qualifier; race co-driver will be Ricky Taylor: “Pole Position at Laguna: it’s such an iconic track and I’m really happy about it. Starting in P1 at this track is super important. Not only for the championship points, but for the run down to Turn 1. It’s important to be on the inside because starting on the outside here can be really tricky. I’m happy for the team, they did an amazing job. I’m happy for Wayne Taylor, for Konica Minolta, for Acura. We are on it. But still, this is just ten percent of the weekend. Tomorrow is the most important part. We need a clean race. No mistakes. And grab the opportunity with a fast car.”

Jacob Abel (#76 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo) qualified 11th, making his IMSA WeatherTech debut: “It’s been a pretty steep learning curve in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. But, the car has been really good in practice and we have really good race pace, and our qualifying, when we were doing simulations in practice, was also really good. Going into qualifying itself, I just got trapped a little bit in traffic and couldn’t find the perfect gap—and that’s really crucial in this series, since you only get five or six laps. It’s not where we want to [start], but we’ll take it and hopefully improve. I’m so pumped for tomorrow. It’s going to be a challenge, the longest race I’ve ever done—even though it’s not very long in IMSA terms—but it’s long for me. It should be good, a lot can happen in two hours and 40 minutes.”

Kelvin Fu (Director Program Management, Honda Performance Development) on today’s double front row sweep for Acura at Laguna Seca and Honda at Portland: “We had a great qualifying session here in Laguna, congrats to both Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing on their front row starts. This is in addition to the qualifying results in Portland, where we locked out the front row and scored five of the top six starting positions. Just a great day for everyone at HPD!”

Fast Facts
Albuquerque’s pole position is the third consecutive DPi pole for Acura at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Both prior poles were converted to victories.
Acura Motorsports and HPD have a long, successful history at Laguna Seca, recording 17 victories – more than at any other racing circuit – in Camel Lights, LMP1, LMP2, Prototype, GTD and DPi competition from 1992-2020.

Where to Watch the Monterey SportsCar Championship
Live US television coverage from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca begins at 4 p.m. EDT Sunday on the NBC Sports Network.  Live flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Sports Gold TrackPass, on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.

Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.

Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from Laguna Seca can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).

Top Fuel — Billy Torrence, 3.720 seconds, 326.08 mph def. Justin Ashley, 3.784 seconds, 313.22 mph. 

Funny Car — Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger, 3.926, 330.23 def. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.946, 328.54. 

Pro Stock — Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.578, 208.30 def. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.604, 206.73. 

Pro Stock Motorcycle — Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.775, 196.87 def. Eddie Krawiec, Buell, 6.870, 197.16. 

Top Alcohol Dragster — Matthew Cummings, 5.211, 276.69 def. Robin Samsel, 5.267, 268.60. 

Top Alcohol Funny Car — Doug Gordon, Chevy Camaro, 5.445, 269.51 def. Sean Bellemeur, Camaro, 5.489, 266.48. 

Competition Eliminator — Frank Aragona, Roadster, 9.652, 88.29 def. Chip Ippolito, Chevy S-10, Foul – Red Light. 

Super Stock — Bobby Fazio, Ford Mustang, 10.627, 122.54 def. Jonathan Allegrucci, Dodge Challenger, Foul – Red Light. 

Stock Eliminator — Joe Santangelo, Chevy Camaro, 10.456, 117.88 def. Allison Doll, Pontiac Firebird, 10.580, 123.96. 

Super Comp — Taylor Iacono, Dragster, 8.919, 175.14 def. Lee Ream, Dragster, 8.930, 174.37. 

Super Gas — Jason Kenny, Chevy Corvette, 9.899, 166.17 def. Bill Nuzzo, Ford Mustang, 9.882, 120.88. 

Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers — Tom Martino, Dragster, 6.620, 195.31 def. Alan Kenny, Dragster, 6.236, 219.44.

• Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car roared to a win at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at Maple Grove Raceway to launch the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) “Countdown to the Championship” seven-event playoff series
• Johnson earned his 23rd career Funny Car victory while competing on behalf of sidelined DSR pilot Matt Hagan 
• Johnson’s victory moves Hagan’s Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat entry into the No. 2 position in the Funny Car championship standings and within one round win of the points lead
• No. 5 qualifier Ron Capps’ quarterfinal appearance in the first of seven NHRA playoff series events puts his DSR NAPA Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat third in the Funny Car championship battle
• No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon drove his Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the quarterfinals to move him up a spot in the Funny Car standings into seventh
• DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett piloted her No. 8 seeded Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster to the quarterfinals and leaves Maple Grove Raceway fifth in the championship battle

September 12, 2021, Mohnton, Pennsylvania — A Mopar machine roared its way to the winner’s circle at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil as the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) kicked off the “Countdown to the Championship” seven-event playoff series at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pennsylvania. Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. powered the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to victory as a reserve driver for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) after defending Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan was unable to compete as he continues his recovery from COVID-19.

In rising to the occasion, Johnson secured his 23rd career win and took home the Wally trophy while the points earned from the victory were awarded to DSR and Hagan. The result moved the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat entry from fifth to second place on the Funny Car leaderboard with six events left to battle for the world championship.

“Congratulations to Tommy Johnson Jr. for his win at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil,” said Mark Bosanac, North America Vice President, Mopar Service, Parts & Customer Care. “It’s great to see Tommy step in and skillfully drive to the winner’s circle at a key event representing the Mopar and Dodge//SRT brands.”  

Johnson, who finished the 2020 NHRA season runner-up to Hagan in the Funny Car world championship and who had not since been behind the wheel of race car, slipped into the driver’s seat of the HEMI®-powered DSR entry and promptly drove it to the second quickest pass in Friday’s provisional qualifying session with a 3.895-second run at 333.82 mph to record his career-best speed and put himself in the No. 4 position for eliminations.

From there, Johnson and the Mopar team made their way through the rounds, defeating Jim Campbell, DSR teammate Ron Capps and J.R. Todd to advance to a final showdown against John Force. With a solid 3.926-second elapsed time run at 330.23 mph, Johnson turned on the win lights ahead of Force’s 3.946-second pass. 

“It’s pretty amazing, actually,” said Johnson. “I got a call a week ago after I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for 10 months, saying ‘we need you.’ To come back and up your game that good, I mean, (Crew Chief) Dickie (Venables) and the guys have been racing all season, while I haven’t been doing anything. I thank them for the opportunity. They rose to the challenge and dove in and made me fit in this car and made everything happen.”

Watching the action live on FS1 from home, Hagan was pleased with the result for both his stand-in and his team.

“I am so proud of my guys,” said Hagan. “They got it done today. T.J. did a phenomenal job in the race car. He’s a wheelman. We battled each other the last two years and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he could get it done. Everybody adapted to adversity and the driver change and I’m just so proud of what these guys accomplished today. We weren’t able to race in Indy and it was a setback, but that just goes to show, you can dig right back.”

The points earned by Johnson’s efforts puts Hagan within one round win of the Funny Car points lead.

“I can’t say thank you enough to T.J. for stepping in and bringing his A-game,” added Hagan, who awaits clearance to return to competition for the balance of the playoffs.

DSR teammate Capps, who came into this first playoff event of 2021 as the top seed in the hunt for the championship after a runner-up finish at last weekend’s Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, qualified his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat No. 5 and drove it to a holeshot win over Blake Alexander in the opening round. For his quarterfinal match up, Capps found himself paired with Johnson and while he took the early lead, the eventual event winner edged him at the finish to dethrone him from the points lead. Capps will drive his HEMI-powered machine to the next event ranked third in points.

No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon began his race day by taking his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car for a solid 3.908 seconds/318.62 mph bye-run win to advance to the quarterfinals where he would battle No. 7 seed Todd. Pedregon put in another respectable pass at 3.981 seconds but it wasn’t enough to pass Todd and his 3.931-second pass to take the win. With this weekend’s performance, the Cruz Pedregon Racing team moved up a spot in the standings to seventh place.

In the hunt for a Top Fuel championship for a sixth consecutive season, Leah Pruett began this playoff series ranked fourth in the points standings and qualified her white and blue Mopar dragster next to DSR teammate and No. 7 seed Antron Brown. While both had traction issues, Pruett stayed with it for the round win. That set up a quarterfinal battle against No.1 qualifier Brittany Force, against whom Pruett lost traction halfway through the run to end her hopes of advancing further. The result puts her Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster fifth in the Top Fuel standings. 

The “Countdown to the Championship” continues next weekend with the second of the seven NHRA playoff series events, the Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, North Carolina, Sept 17-19.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES
 
FUNNY CAR:
Tommy Johnson Jr., DSR Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.895 seconds at 333.82 mph) 
Round 1: (0.083-second reaction time, 3.892 seconds at 333.58 mph) defeats no. 11 Jim Campbell (0.164/ no time/ no speed)

Round 2: (0.050/3.892/332.02) defeats No. 5 Ron Capps (0.047/3.924/331.12)

Round 3: (0.050/3.902/331.53) defeats No. 7 J.R. Todd (0.078/3.905/332.75)

Round 4: (0.043/3.926/330.23) defeats No. 12 John Force (0.026/3.946/328.54)

“After Q1 I thought we had a pretty good chance to win this race. It’s hard to sit out that long. These cars accelerate so fast and to keep up and keep ahead of the car and be able to drive them good. Each run, it just got more and more comfortable, and as the day went on I kept getting more relaxed and more relaxed. By the final round I was like, “oh, okay, There’s nothing to it now.” I was astonished when I threw the parachutes and saw the win light come on. I just burst out laughing because I couldn’t believe it happened. I thought, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding.’ We’ve come a long way in a week.”

It’s a really good car and a really good team, and it makes it easier for the driver to just jump in that thing. I’ve known the guys from the shop. We always interacted with each other so I know I’ve known a lot of these guys for a long time. And so it wasn’t like I didn’t know anybody on the team, so that helped a lot. One of the things that made it real easy was they went back to the shop and grabbed the seat out of my car from last year and they put it in and I fit almost perfectly, It was about as smooth a transition as you could have to make this whole thing happen. Two weeks ago sitting at home, I didn’t think I’d have a trophy from this season, and to come out here and get one this weekend… this race will mean a ton to me later on.”
 
Ron Capps, DSR NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 5 Qualifier – 3.896 seconds at 328.86 mph)
Round 1: (0.069-second reaction time, 3.929 seconds at 327.82) defeats No. 10 Blake Alexander (0.080/5.500/131.65)
Round 2: (0.047/3.924/331.12) loss to No. 4 Tommy Johnson Jr. (0.050/3.892/332.02)

“We hope that (Matt) Hagan returns to competition soon. What else can you say about Tommy Johnson. He was my teammate for several years at Don Prudhomme’s and then over here at DSR. You’re talking about one of the best drivers ever in Funny Car and to be sitting out this long and jump in and seamlessly keep that car running the way it is is amazing. We didn’t have lane choice, but that’s no excuse. These two lanes are great. Like I told (crew chiefs) Guido (Dean Antonelli) and John Medlen, you pat them on the butt and say great weekend. We went down the track each run under power. We did have a little hiccup Q3, but showed that NAPA Know How I always talk about today on race day with two great 3.92 laps. We feel like we can win every weekend and it’s getting tough. Everybody has that Countdown fever. That playoff fever and I can’t wait to get to Charlotte no matter what the points are. I’ve got a great feeling.”
   
Cruz Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 1 Qualifier – 3.875 seconds at 326.00 mph)
Round 1: (0.103-second reaction time, 3.908 seconds at 318.62 mph) wins on a BYE run

Round 2: (0.083/3.981/315.86) loss to No. 7 J.R. Todd (0.068/3.931/328.86)

“After qualifying No. 1 with a great 3.87 (second run) at 327 mph, we went on to run a 3.90 in the first round, and then lost a close race to the DHL car (J.R. Todd) in the quarterfinals with a 3.98. I scrubbed a little bit of time off it with the way I was staged. I inadvertently rolled in a little further than I would have liked and that affected the timing clocks, so it probably ran more like a 3.94 or 3.95, but overall it was a good event for our team. 

“We wanted to go further than that, obviously, but this is the first of the seven countdown races. We did move up a spot (in the standings) so we’re headed in the right direction. If we can continue this great qualifying performance we’ve showed lately, that’s only going to bode well for our chances moving forward. There’s a lot of great racing left. The tracks are going to be fast and it’s going to be a great opportunity to continue our work. It’s coming together at the right time for us. We’re still fairly new as a team as this is our 14th race together. We’re still jelling and there’s still some areas we can improve on, myself included, to be a little sharper. We’ll get ready for the Charlotte race at a great facility, a modern racetrack that is super smooth. It’s going to be a little warmer and we’ll look forward to making some great runs.”

 
TOP FUEL:
Leah Pruett, DSR Pennzoil Mopar Dodge//SRT Dragster  
(No. 8 Qualifier – 3.733 seconds at 323.89 mph)
Round 1:  (0.063-second reaction time, 3.930 seconds at 219.44 mph) defeats No. 7 Antron Brown (0.053/5.755/121.47)

Round 2:  (0.098/4.025/227.23) loss to No. 1 Brittany Force (0.076/3.704/334.48)

“The thing about momentum is that you want it to last as long as possible and we felt like we had it coming into race day. Matching up against our teammate, we expected a great race from starting line to finish line and we smoked the tires way far out and did a great job pedaling to get the win light. We made some adjustments on the tire spin going into E2 against the No. 1 qualifier and we thought we had it tuned up the right way, but we ended up smoking the tires down track and at this very moment we feel like we have a gremlin in this system and we have a few days to figure it out. We’ll work hard to fine tune things for Charlotte and the points will stay tight was we’re early in this Countdown and we’re ready to make up for this weekend in Charlotte.”
 
NHRA Championship Points Standings:
Following the Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at Maple Grove Raceway
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1. John Force – 2,172 (3)

2. Matt Hagan/Tommy Johnson Jr. (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 2,167 (2/1)

3. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 2,157 (1)
4. J.R. Todd – 2,133 (1)
5. Robert Hight – 2,121 (2)

6. Bob Tasca III – 2,106 (2)
7. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 2,083 (1)
8. Alexis DeJoria – 2,063

9. Tim Wilkerson– 2,048 (1)
10. Blake Alexander– 2,032
 
TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)
1. Steve Torrance – 2,179 (8)
2. Brittany Force – 2,167 (1)

3. Billy Torrence – 2,137 (2)

4. Justin Ashley – 2,124

5. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge//SRT) – 2,113 (1)
6. Antron Brown – 2,103 (1)
7. Shawn Langdon – 2,102
8. Mike Salinas – 2,078
9. Clay Millican – 2,067
10. Doug Kalitta – 2,032

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MOPAR EXPRESS LANE NHRA NATIONALS MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY, READING, PENNSYLVANIA SEPT. 12, 2021                                                                                                    Chevrolet makes big moves in Countdown to Championship opener • Greg Anderson ties Warren Johnson’s Pro Stock wins record at 97• John Force takes Funny Car points lead with runner-up finish• Brittany Force sets Top Fuel record with seventh No. 1 qualifier in a row

READING, Pa. (Sept. 12, 2021) – Greg Anderson had heard “When are you going to get the monkey off your back?” ad infinitum since hoisting the Pro Stock Wally on May 2 at Atlanta Dragway.
The four-time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock champion answered that question at Maple Grove Raceway, winning the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals to tie his former boss for the most career victories in the class at 97.
Now Anderson, driver of the HendrickCar.com Chevrolet Camaro SS, will be asked “When are you going to win the big one?” He has a succinct answer.“It’s coming,” said Anderson, who defeated fellow champion Erica Enders in the final.
“It feels pretty cool to make some history today. After the Atlanta race we were on a roll and I kind of dropped the ball and couldn’t find a way to the winner’s circle,” said Anderson, who claimed victory No. 97 in his 164th final. “It just feels fantastic. To tie Warren Johnson for the wins record, that’s saying a lot.”
The opening round of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship also saw John Force move to the top of the Funny Car standings with a runner-up finish in the PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Camaro SS. Force, the No. 11 qualifier, defeated teammate Robert Hight, the No. 2 qualifier in the Automobile Club of Southern California Camaro SS, in the semifinals.
Brittany Force set a NHRA Top Fuel season record with her seventh consecutive No. 1 qualifier – and ninth in 14 races – with a 3.660-second pass in the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster. She also set the track speed record at 335.57 mph.
Force, who was the No. 1 qualifier the last time NHRA competed at Maple Grove Raceway in 2019, was tied with Tony Schumacher (2005) for the most top qualifiers in a row in one season. Gary Beck holds the most Top Fuel No. 1s in a row with nine, set in the 1982-83 seasons.
Force, second in the playoff standings, fell in the semifinals when the dragster lost power with a cylinder out.
Enders, the winner at the U.S. Nationals a week earlier and the No. 1 qualifier in the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro SS, defeated Rookie of the Year candidate Dallas Glenn, driving the RAD Torque Systems Camaro SS. Anderson, the No. 2 qualifier, beat Troy Coughlin Jr. in the JEGS.comCamaro SS on a holeshot in the semifinals.
Anderson, who expanded his championship points lead over Enders with the win, had recorded three runner-up finishes after the Atlanta victory in pursuit of Johnson’s mark. Anderson started in drag racing as a crew member and later crew chief for Johnson during four of his six Pro Stock championship seasons. John Force is the all-time NHRA leader with 154 victories.
“Great day to get the Hendrick Automotive Group their first win and more importantly Rick Hendrick; I don’t think he’s ever won a drag race Wally. Well, now he has,” Anderson said.
Round 2 of the Countdown to the Championship will be contested Sept. 17-19 at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. FOX will telecast eliminations from the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals live at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19.
An interview with Pro Stock winner GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier, 97th career victory in 164th final, surpassed 1,400 career elimination rounds, third win of season, points leader):
BECAUSE ERICA WAS IN THE OTHER LANE WAS IT MORE SPECIAL?“It’s always special. She’s awesome; she does a great job behind the wheel of that race car, and she wins so many races on a holeshot. You’ve got to run your own game up there. You just have to forget who is in that other lane and you’re racing that Christmas Tree and that racetrack. If you do anything other than that, you’re just going to screw up. I was able to focus on that and do a good job in the final. It was my turn today. I guess it hadn’t been my turn. It’s been a tough run the last few races, but I haven’t been that far off. I just had to stick to my game and keep doing what I was doing. It feels pretty cool to make some history today. Obviously, I respect Warren Johnson; I learned a ton from him. That was my other life, this is a new life and we’re tied. It just feels fantastic.”
YOU GUYS OBVIOUSLY MADE ADJUSTMENTS AND MADE THE RIGHT ONES FOR THE FINAL ROUND.“We made a great run first round and then slipped a little second round. Third round we got a little worse yet, so the boys had to make some big changes for the final round. We hit it on the nose. It’s so hard to win out here and the competition is so great, you just can’t make mistakes. We did not make one in the final and neither did the driver and that’s what it takes. I have a great new sponsor on the side of my race car. I believe this is his (Rick Hendrick) first drag race Wally. Pretty good day for me and the Hendrick Automotive Group.”
WHAT DID YOU FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU SAW THE WIN LIGHT?
“I was shocked. I was absolutely shocked. So many races in a row that that light did not come on. You think you’ve got everything going for you and everything is going swimmingly and the light just come on in the final round. There’s nothing better than when that light comes on in the final round of an NHRA national event. That’s what we look forward to; that’s why we do this. It’s everything to us. Huge day. To tie Warren Johnson for the wins record, that’s saying a lot. I have a lot of history with him. It’s a cool story. I’m going to my home track of Charlotte and I can’t think of a better place to break the record. You can’t break the record until you tie it and I just finally got it done today. Starting the playoffs on a high note. There are a lot of great cars in the class and anybody can win, but I think deep down we all know that Erica is going to be the one to beat, that you’re going to have to get around if you’re going to win the championship. She doesn’t make mistakes. I’m so proud of this team that I race for and I’m having a blast. I’m 60 years old and I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had in a race car.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT:
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier, fell in semifinals): “The first race of the Countdown is behind us and our Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy team is in a better position than we were coming into this race. We picked up bonus points and made a semifinal round appearance. We kept our number two position and plan to step it up in Charlotte.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier, fell final): “Well, we got the points lead. That’s important. Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi, they figured this PEAK Chevy our and really gave me a heck of a car today. The whole PEAK team, they worked hard, put things together and all I had to do was drive the car. It was fun today, the crowd, Maple Grove Raceway up here in Pennsylvania. Great way to start the Countdown. Now we get to do it all over again next weekend.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier, fell semifinals to John Force): “It’s tough out there in Funny Car. I knew it was going to be. This Countdown is going to be a fight to the end. Not a bad weekend for this Auto Club Chevy team. We gained some points, went some rounds and made some consistent runs. That’s what we need – to be consistent, to be aggressive and make good runs. Luckily, we get a chance to keep up the momentum right away with the race in Charlotte next weekend.”
PRO STOCK:TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “It turned out to be a great weekend. The guys had the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro running very strong and they certainly made the right adjustments for race day. The car was very fast. It’s a fun time of year with the Countdown underway and it always a good feeling when you’re able to move up the standings. My crew chief, Mark Ingersoll, along with Kyle Bates, Eric Luzinski, Kelly Murphy and Steven Hurley, they know what needs to be done to put us in a position to make a run at the title. This Elite team has been doing exactly that for years.”
KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “It just shows that the KB guys give equal power to everybody out here that rents from there and they make some serious power. Everything felt good going down the track. I go to every single race looking to win, but I’m going to take every round one by one. It’s great to be home; I’ve got lots of friends and family here.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY PORTLAND, OREGON TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP SEPTEMBER. 12, 2021
JOSEF NEWGARDEN TOPS CHEVY CONTINGENT AT PORTLAND PORTLAND (September 12,2021) – Two-time NTT INDYCAR Series champion Josef Newgarden battled from his 18^th place starting position to finish fifth in today’s Grand Prix of Portland on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway that opened in 1961. The top-five finish keeps Newgarden in championship contention leaving Oregon third in the standings, 34 points out of the lead with two races remaining in the season. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, finished a disappointing 14^th when ill-timed yellow flags jumbled strategies for everyone. O’Ward is in the thick of the championship hunt leaving Portland second in points, 25 behind race winner and points leader Alex Palou. A multi-car crash in turn one, lap one jumbled the running order significantly that NTT INDYCAR officials had to carefully sort out prior to the restart. Fourth-place starter Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet driver Felix Rosenqvist was relegated to the back of the field with the other three starters from the front two rows of the field. With great strategy, Rosenqvist battled back to finish sixth. Rookie-of-the-year contender Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, finished ninth to give Chevrolet three of the top-nine finishers. Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon completed the podium. Team Chevy drivers finished as follows:5th – Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske6th – Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Arrow Mclaren Sp9th – Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske14th – Pato O’ward, No. 5 Arrow Mclaren Sp16th – Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force17th – Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek18th – Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing19th – Max Chilton, No. 59 Carlin21st – Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske25th – Callum Ilott, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing26th – Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing Team Chevy drivers in top—10 point standings:2^nd    Pato O’Ward               3^rd    Josef Newgarden8^th    Will Power9^th    Simon Pagenaud Next Sunday, September 19, 2021, the Chevrolet NTT INDYCAR teams and drivers head to the scenic Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey California. DRIVER QUOTES: FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6^TH: “Portland weekend is over and was eventful as always; especially in Turn 1, where we knew it was going to be crazy. We got unlucky at the start of the race when we avoided the collision that was about to happen in Turn 1. I didn’t really have a choice but to go straight. The way the rules are written, you get penalized if you go straight compared to the guys who stayed on the track. I couldn’t have really done anything so it was out of my hands, which is a shame. We were in third and came out 18th after the reorder. The No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP team did a great job. We didn’t let that get us down, kept pushing, had really good pit stops, pit sequences, and the in and out laps were nailed every time. We kept getting ahead of cars each pit sequence and ended up with a sixth-place finish. I think we had a different kind of pace this weekend and it’s coming together more and more every weekend. Let’s ride out this wave and get some podiums the next two weeks.” SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO.3 PPG TEAM PENSKE  CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9^TH: “Pretty good day for us in the PPG Chevy. I led my first INDYCAR races so that was pretty cool. I thought we might get in the top-three, but unfortunately a mid-race yellow put us behind the two-stoppers. Our strategy was pretty aggressive, potentially put us in the top-six or so, but made a couple of little errors that cost us on the out-lap. Getting better and better. Leading our first laps just shows our promise. Good points. We will keep pressing on to Laguna and Long Beach in the next couple of weeks.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET FINISHED  14^TH: “Today was obviously very tough. It just wasn’t our day. We got unlucky with some of the yellows and this race favored the alternate strategy, which you can see when you look at the results. It just goes to show how exciting of a sport INDYCAR is at every race. We gave it everything we had all weekend. The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP crew was solid on every stop. We are up against some great competitors for the championship but we will come back the next two races and fight down to the last lap in Long Beach.” 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET): “Obviously a bit of a sore day here for us at Portland International Raceway. Man, it looked like it was going to be a great day and after avoiding the chaos at the start and getting the lucky break with the reordering and getting fifth out of that, it seemed like we were going to do really good. Unfortunately, we were on the three-stopper with Pato and Ericsson and those guys and the yellows fell at exactly the wrong time for the three-stoppers like us and at the perfect time for the guys that suffered at the beginning of the race on the two-stopper and we could never recover from that. On top of that, we got tangled with Oliver Askew – more of my fault than his fault – and we were fighting with Veekay and he ended up just not quite giving me enough room to be able to make the lap. I was on the curb and just tapped the brakes when I saw him turn and just caught his left rear tire trying to get out of it. Just a shame we’re not getting much out of this weekend when we clearly had some pace, had a pretty decent qualifying and just a shame that we couldn’t transform the essay and we couldn’t get some good points again.”
DALTON Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA AJ FOYT RACING, ChevroleT, FINISHED 26TH: “I’m so gutted for the No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA Chevy team. We were having a great race going and got a little lucky off the start with that melee and the way that the order was reshuffled. Gained some good positions and was able to hold on and be competitive. The pace felt strong compared to where we were in qualifying, so really happy with that. It’s just a shame how this race ended early for us. Looks like we had an electrical issue. We haven’t diagnosed that yet, still waiting for the car to come back. We’ll figure out what it was and make sure it doesn’t happen again. This has been a tough weekend with it kind of being up and down for qualifying, things like that. The race performance, was happy with that. That’s a positive we have to take out of this weekend and just diagnose the mechanical issue and go from there. ”  

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 12, 2021) – Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy won for Corvette Racing in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Sunday, the first victory for the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R since Detroit in June. It also marked Corvette Racing’s first victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca since 2014. Sunday’s race marked 23 consecutive years of the program competing at the famed circuit near the Monterey Peninsula. Milner drove the first 58 minutes of the two-hour, 40-minute race before handing over to Tandy, who drove a double-stint to the end. He finished a lap clear of the GTLM championship leaders Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette. Each car in the category made two stops due to a two-hour, 26-minute, green-flag run to the finish.

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It’s awesome… finally! We finally get a points win for the No. 4 Corvette. We’ve been close so many times and just had problems. To finally get it is awesome. Nick did an awesome job there at the end. He didn’t have A/C for a bit but he did a great job soldiering through. We’ve been close and had great racecars all year long. Just little things here and there caused us to just miss out. It feels good to finally get that monkey off our back and use this momentum going forward.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “The Corvette was fantastic. It’s finally great to finally get a points-paying win. We’ve run so well at so many places, it was frustrating not to get the final result. To finish it off here and stand on the top step to get big points is a great feeling.”

READING, Pa. (Sept. 12, 2021) – John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car made their 260th final round appearance Sunday at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway and come away from the weekend with the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series points lead. Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team as well as Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Camaro team had semifinal finishes. Following a difficult two days of qualifying that put them in the No. 11 spot, John Force and his PEAK Chevy team found their race day mojo. In the first round of eliminations, Force handled his Chevy hot rod to a 3.875-second pass at 334.65 mph to defeat most recent event winner Tim Wilkerson’s 3.892 at 322.81. In the second round, Force took on Paul Lee and managed to run an event best time of 3.861-seconds and speed of 334.65 mph to out-run Lee’s 3.909 at 333.99. The second-round victory would line the 16-time champion up against three-time champion and president of John Force Racing, Robert Hight. It would be a close drag race with both drivers going 3.909-seconds. Force’s reaction time of .054 would give him the win, the points lead and set the stage for a final round against Tommy Johnson Jr.. Filling in for Matt Hagan, Johnson Jr. would go 3.926-seconds at 330.23 mph to better Force’s 3.946 at 328.54. “Well we got the points lead. That’s important,” Force said. “Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi, they figured this PEAK Chevy out and really gave me a heck of a car today. The whole PEAK team, they worked hard, put things together and all I had to do was drive the car. It was fun today, the crowd, Maple Grove Raceway up here in Pennsylvania, great way to start the Countdown. Now we get to do it all over again next weekend.” Brittany Force and her David Grubnic and Mac Savage led Flav-R-Pac team opened race day with a bye run thanks to their No. 1 qualifying position and a 13-car field. The track speed and E.T. record holders took full advantage of the pass going 3.655-seconds at 333.49 mph to give them lane choice in the second round. Force would make a 3.704 second run at 334.48 mph to defeat Leah Pruett’s 4.025 at 227.23 after she ran into trouble in the quarterfinals. The win lined her up with eventual race winner Billy Torrence in the semifinals. The Flav-R-Pac dragster would put a cylinder out down track for Force’s 3.777 at 318.84 to come up short to Torrence’s 3.725 at 328.46. “The first race of the Countdown is behind us and our Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is in a better position than we were coming into this race,” Force said. “We picked up bonus points and made a semi-final round appearance. We kept our number two position and plan to step it up in Charlotte.” After entering the day at the No. 2 spot, Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevy team raced their way out of the first round with a 3.889-second pass at 330.72 mph while Cory Lee went 4.239 at 296.37 mph. With the 13-car field, winning in the first round of eliminations gave Hight a bye in the second round. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham sent the Auto Club Camaro on a 3.880-second run at 332.92 mph and into the semifinals to face owner and CEO John Force. It would be tight side-by-side drag race that came down to reaction time. Hight and his 3.909-second run at 329.42 mph with a reaction time of .084 would be bettered by Force’s 3.909 at 32910 with his reaction time of .056. “It’s tough out there in Funny Car. I knew it was going to be. This Countdown is going to be a fight to the end,” Hight said. “Not a bad weekend for this Auto Club Chevy team. We gained some points, went some rounds and made some consistent runs. That’s we need. To be consistent, to be aggressive and make good runs. Luckily we get a chance to keep up the momentum right away with the race in Charlotte next weekend.” The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship continues Sept. 17-19 with the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte in Concord, N.C.

READING, Pa. (Sept. 12) — Sophomore Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin Jr. posted a very solid weekend at the 36th annual Mopar NHRA Nationals to start the six-race Countdown to The Championship with some upward momentum. Coughlin made a modest move from seventh to sixth place with his semifinal finish, but due to earlier losses by some of his rivals, he now finds himself just 15 points out of third place. “It turned out to be a great weekend,” Coughlin said. “The guys had the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro running very strong and they certainly made the right adjustments for race day. The car was very fast. “It’s a fun time of year with the Countdown underway and it always a good feeling when you’re able to move up the standings. My crew chief, Mark Ingersoll, along with Kyle Bates, Eric Luzinski, Kelly Murphy and Steven Hurley, they know what needs to be done to put us in a position to make a run at the title. This Elite team has been doing exactly that for years.”

It could have been an even better weekend but Coughlin came up a few inches short in a super-close semifinal race against points leader and eventual race winner Greg Anderson, losing by just .001 seconds. Anderson’s win will go down as a holeshot, with his 6.614 at 208.01 mph bettering Coughlin’s 6.613 at 207.05 mph, due to the reaction time difference of .026 to .028. “We were glued together all the way down the track and it was impossible to tell who crossed the finish line first. I had to look up to see the light on the wall. It was very close. That would have been a nice one to get but, no regrets, we gave it our all.” After qualifying sixth, Coughlin was certainly amped up for race day, with an average reaction time of .020 in three elimination rounds. It started with a “James Bond” launch of .007 seconds in Round 1 against Vincent Nobile, who shook his tires. Coughlin legged out a 6.588 at 206.76 mph anyway.

It was a good move as 6.588 was quick enough to give him lane choice over higher-ranked Aaron Stanfield in the quarterfinals, which helped Coughlin post a 6.613 at 205.98 mph to Stanfield’s 6.632 at 207.40 mph. Coughlin’s margin of victory was .0375, or about four feet. Then came the race against Anderson. “I could have helped myself and my teammate Erica (Enders, who is second overall) at the same time, but Greg is a legend and he did what needed to be done,” Coughlin said. “But we’ll have another chance next weekend so we’ll focus on that and be ready to do it again.” The tour moves directly to the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals, to be held Sept. 17-19 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C.

September 12, 2021

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team had a fast start to Saturday night’s Salute To First Responders at Richmond Raceway but wound up 18^th, two laps down at the finish.

DiBenedetto lined up 28^th for the start of the 400-lap run on the 20^th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the United States. Some aggressive driving at the drop of the green flag propelled him to 19^th place by the fourth lap.
 
He faded a bit as the opening run went on but still was in 20^th place when the Competition Caution flag flew at Lap 32.

The Menards/Dutch Boy Mustang continued to show speed just after restarts, and DiBenedetto drove it up to 13^th place by Lap 67 and ended the first Stage in 13^th.

Problems on pit road during the caution period following the first Stage led to a second stop and left him 29^th for the ensuing restart.

DiBenedetto ran long during the next round of green-flag pit stops and moved to the head of the pack before heading to pit road. When those stops cycled out, he was a lap down. 
 
Despite running in the free pass position for a long stretch, he was never able to rejoin the lead lap and ended up losing a second lap before the checkered flag fell.
 
DiBenedetto said the pit-road issues and a lack of caution periods to work on the Menards/Dutch Boy Mustang led to a disappointing night.
 
“We had a definite top-10 car, had good speed, but the pit-stop issue kind of ended our day where we couldn’t recover since the whole race was green flag,” he said, adding that the response to the track’s tribute to the heroes of Sept. 11, 2001, was the most memorable part of the night. “The patriotism at the track for 9/11 was incredible.  The pre-race ceremonies were touching, and it was awesome to hear fans screaming ‘USA’ in the stands.”
 
Next up for DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team is another Saturday night race – a 500-lapper at Bristol Motor Speedway. 
 

Kahne, Carrick, Sweet & Schuchart Exchange Lead in 40-Lap “Race of Champions”

CHICO, CA – September 11, 2021 –Saturday’s 67th Gold Cup Race of Champions had just a little bit of everything at Silver Dollar Speedway.

The intensity was overwhelming; the vengeance tasted sweet; the heartbreak felt sour; the elation was pure.

A 40-lapper with four different leaders saw the pace transition from superstar polesitter Kasey Kahne to teenage sensation Tanner Carrick to reigning champion Brad Sweet to redemption-driven Logan Schuchart.

In the end, the hardware went to the Hanover Gang as Schuchart used a little bit of luck to get the lead and then a whole lot of determination to fend off Sweet’s late-race efforts at the Chico, CA 1/4-mile bullring.

Saturday’s score marked the fifth of 2021 for the Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S, and officially made Schuchart the 21st winningest driver (28 career wins) in World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series history.

“It’s pretty awesome to win such a prestigious race like this in California,” Schuchart said to a nearly sold-out crowd. “Being a Pennsylvania boy growing up out there we’re not used to this kind of stuff, but it’s something I’ve grown accustomed to being on the road and all these different tracks. It’s awesome to get back up here in victory lane.”

For Schuchart, his Gold Cup victory is even sweeter considering the preliminary fireworks. He failed to complete a single lap in Friday’s Feature following contact with fellow full-time Outlaw Brad Sweet, which resulted in a brief post-race altercation. Only 24 hours later and the duo was exchanging sliders for the win.

“Sometimes I wish it was like the NHL and they’d just put us on the front stretch,” Schuchart spoke openly. “I’m happy we got this win the right way, though. Didn’t do anything dumb or put ourselves in a bad spot, we just raced hard the way it’s supposed to be. Winning is the best form of payback.”

Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw, WA, and Tanner Carrick of Lincoln, CA owned the spotlight first, though. Both drivers in pursuit of their first-career World of Outlaws win led laps and Carrick specifically was in a position to stun the Outlaws at one of his home tracks.

In only his third career World of Outlaws start, the 19-year-old drove by Kahne to lead Lap 9 and was more than ready for a challenge when Sweet passed him on Lap 21. He promptly got up on the wheel and slid right back by the reigning champion and continued to lead four more circuits until disaster struck.

With his tail tank rattling loose and falling off the #83T, Carrick was sent to the work area on Lap 26 and had his chances at a monumental victory ripped away in a devastating fashion.

Schuchart was gifted the lead and proceeded to go slider-for-slider with Sweet until he established command with ten to go. The duo ran through lap traffic down the stretch and it came down to a last-lap bonzai into turn one, which fell just short for Sweet and gave Schuchart a 0.954-second margin of victory.

Capitalizing on Sweet’s hail mary attempt, James McFadden slid by his Kasey Kahne Racing teammate on the final lap to give the Karavan Trailers #9 a second-place finish.

“That was fun,” McFadden excitedly said. “You have to be committed to the top, but there are monster holes and big ledges out here, so it’s a bit sketchy and I like that. I’ve watched this place a ton and played it on the video game, so it’s cool to finally be here and run well. We’ve got a lot of confidence in this team lately.”

For Brad Sweet, who hails from nearby Grass Valley, his wait for the elusive Gold Cup will have to wait another year.

“I think both nights we were just one corner away from winning,” Sweet said. “That’s on me. I need to step up and make some better moves. That was good, hard racing, though, and I’m sure the fans were excited. I hated giving up second on the last lap, so that’s a bit disappointing. One of these years I’ll get a Gold Cup.”

Rounding out the top-five on Saturday night was 10-time champion Donny Schatz in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 and early leader Kasey Kahne in the Roth Motorsports #83.

Closing out the top-10 in the 67th running of the Gold Cup was Foresthill, CA’s Ryan Robinson with a career-best sixth, Jason Johnson Racing pilot Carson Macedo in seventh, former Outlaw winner Kyle Hirst in eighth, Sheldon Haudenschild in ninth aboard the NOS Energy Drink #17, and Kraig Kinser in the tenth spot.

UP NEXT (Sat): The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will conclude the west coast swing next Saturday, September 18. The Greatest Show on Dirt will compete for a $21,000 top prize in the Tom Tarlton Classic at Hanford’s Keller Auto Speedway. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE or watch from home on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (40 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2][$10,000]; 2. 9-James McFadden [6][$6,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$3,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [9][$2,800]; 5. 83-Kasey Kahne [1][$2,500]; 6. 56-Ryan Robinson [3][$2,300]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo [8][$2,200]; 8. O-Kyle Hirst [15][$2,100]; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [13][$2,050]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7][$2,000]; 11. 88N-DJ Netto [24][$1,600]; 12. 2-David Gravel [11][$1,400]; 13. 21P-Robbie Price [14][$1,200]; 14. 93-Kalib Henry [23][$1,100]; 15. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [10][$1,050]; 16. 37-Mitchell Faccinto [19][$1,000]; 17. 21-Parker Price-Miller [18][$1,000]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [20][$1,000]; 19. 7S-Jason Sides [22][$1,000]; 20. 83T-Tanner Carrick [4][$1,000]; 21. 16A-Colby Copeland [12][$1,000]; 22. 2K-JJ Ringo [16][$1,000]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [21][$1,000]; 24. 38B-Blake Carrick [17][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Kasey Kahne 1-8; Tanner Carrick 9-20, 22-25; Brad Sweet 21, 27; Logan Schuchart 26, 28-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 88N-DJ Netto[+13]

NEW Championship Standings (68/80 races): 1. Brad Sweet (9,008); 2. David Gravel (-140); 3. Carson Macedo (-188); 4. Donny Schatz (-254); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-298); 6. Logan Schuchart (-354); 7. James McFadden (-734); 8. Kraig Kinser (-1036); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-1314); 10. Jacob Allen (-1588).

Marlar runner-up after epic charge from 26th, Overton third, McCreadie 18th-to-fourth

ROSSBURG, OH – Sept. 11, 2021 – Thinking back to when he started his Dirt Late Model racing career, Jonathan Davenport said he couldn’t have imagined winning one World 100, let alone four in his career.

But that’s exactly what he accomplished Saturday night, taking the lead from Brandon Overton just past halfway and leading the final 45 laps to win the 50th World 100 at Eldora Speedway.

“To me, I couldn’t have ever dreamt it up like this,” Davenport, of Blairsville, GA, said. “We’re only as good as our last race – that’s the way I always feel. I didn’t win the last one, so I feel like I’ve got to win the next one.”

Superman now joins an elite class of Late Model drivers at Eldora, becoming only the fourth man in history to win the World 100 at least four times – a feat previously accomplished by Billy Moyer (6), Scott Bloomquist (4) and Donnie Moran (4).

The $53,000 winner’s check now makes it six events Davenport and the Double L Motorsports team have won with winner’s shares of $20,000 or higher this year. In short, they’ve been just plain dominant when the money, and prestige, are on the line.

“It’s been a hell of a year, for sure,” Davenport said. “It’s probably been the best I’ve ever had, if not, the best so far against this competition.”

While he was all smiles in Victory Lane, a look of determination was painted across his face on pit road as the engines fired to start the 100-lap showdown. Rolling off P6 after a win in Heat 1, Davenport let the field get away from him a tiny bit in the early going, dropping back as far as 10th at one point. But this was all part of his plan.

“We got to start sixth, so I thought I had a big enough buffer that I could fall back a little and run my pace,” Davenport said. “Probably 10-15 laps into that run, I never really changed my pace, and then everybody started coming back to me.”

Fifteen laps later, Davenport had cracked into the top-five and had his sights set on the leaders. Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Overton and Johnny Scott were all still ahead of him, but it didn’t take long for him to crack the whip.

While Davenport began to pick cars off one-by-one, Overton decided it was time to make a move for the lead and did so on Lap 42, getting around Scott on the backstretch. He led the field around the half-mile for the next 12 laps, until the caution was displayed on Lap 55.

Overton chose the top lane for the ensuing restart, and right to his inside was none other than Davenport. He had made the climb and knew it was his moment to pounce, and he did with a slide job into Turn 1 to take the lead.

“He chose the top on the restart, and I got a decent run on him, and then I just tried to clear him getting into Turn 1,” Davenport said. “I figured he would slide me back, but I was just wanting to dirty his air up, make him slide his tires or something, get him out of rhythm.”

“I should have been able to carry enough speed to block him, but I couldn’t,” Overton said. “It wouldn’t have mattered if [Davenport] would’ve passed me on that restart; he would’ve got me on one of ‘em.”

Getting the jump on that restart was critical, and Davenport made sure he did just that by anticipating Overton’s takeoff when the green was thrown.

“The way they’ve got us boxed-in now, the other guy knows exactly where you’re gonna take off, so there’s no way you can really get a true jump on him,” Davenport said. “That’s what happened with Brandon – I knew exactly where he was gonna take off, within a half-car-length or so.”

Now with the lead, Davenport set it on cruise control. Meanwhile, another driver was on a mission.

Mike Marlar was forced to get into the show via Last Chance Showdown after getting caught-up in a Heat Race incident. He made repairs during the break, went out onto the track and put on a passing clinic, advancing to third from 17th and getting the final transfer spot into the 50th World 100.

Marlar said that the wreck in the Heat actually gave him a chance to work on his car and fine-tune it a bit more before the Last Chance. This enabled him to become a passing machine over the next two races.

“My car had good lateral grip. When they would all go down in the corner and drift up the track, I could stick it in there and get ‘em,” Marlar said.

A third-place finish in the Last Chance put him 26th on the Feature starting grid. For the first half of the race, he passed even more cars, advancing all the way to fifth by Lap 53. One by one, Marlar picked off the cars in the top-five and was sitting second with just over a quarter of the race left.

Marlar held his spot until the final restart on Lap 92, where he had one chance to score his first globe after starting 26th. He gave Davenport a good race down the straightway, but the #49 was just too fast.

Davenport drove away in the final laps and took the win by over 1.7 seconds to claim his fourth World 100 title.

“I’m grateful for it,” Marlar said of his run from the back. “Tonight, to actually have a shot with five-to-go, me and Jonathan drag racing down the front straightaway, door-to-door… he barely got me, but I was really grateful to get to run good.”

Overton hung on for third after bagging his first globe on Thursday night. While he was one man to beat all weekend long and missed the setup for Saturday, he knew what he and the Wells Motorsports team accomplished at Eldora this season was still impressive, even if they came up short of another sweep in the end.

“Honestly, I just got a little too tight and couldn’t steer in there,” Overton said. “It’s bound to happen. You can’t win ‘em all.”

The week’s overall top point-getter, Tim McCreadie, came home fourth after a drive from 18th, while Chris Ferguson bagged his second-straight World 100 top-10 in fifth.

Polesitter Scott Bloomquist led the first 18 laps before fading back and eventually coming to pit road under yellow. The four-time globe winner was part of two more cautions, and eventually decided to call it quits on Lap 72.

Pierce, who started on the outside pole, ran up front for most of the race before fading late and bringing out the race’s final caution on Lap 92. He pulled into the pits and retired with an apparent internal issue.

50th World 100 Feature (100 Laps) 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[26]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[18]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[14]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 7. 17M-Dale McDowell[19]; 8. 44-Chris Madden[16]; 9. 66-Kyle Bronson[7]; 10. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[25]; 11. 25S-Chad Simpson[28]; 12. 0E-Rick Eckert[12]; 13. 14-Josh Richards[17]; 14. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 15. 8-Kyle Strickler[9]; 16. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1]; 17. 23-John Blankenship[15]; 18. 1ST-Johnny Scott[3]; 19. 11K-Austin Kirkpatrick[21]; 20. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[10]; 21. 9-Devin Moran[27]; 22. 7-Ricky Weiss[11]; 23. 29-Darrell Lanigan[8]; 24. 11H-Spencer Hughes[13]; 25. 22-Gregg Satterlee[24]; 26. 72-Mike Norris[23]; 27. 6-Ashton Winger[22]; 28. 0NH-Nick Hoffman[20]

Round one of Weedsport Speedway’s Cavalcade Cup doubleheader goes to Matt Sheppard ahead of Max McLaughlin and Tim Fuller

WEEDSPORT, NY – The seven-time Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard showed the fast way around Weedsport Speedway to pick up round one of the Cavalcade Cup and a big $7,500 paycheck. Polesitter Max McLaughlin failed to fend off Sheppard’s early-race charge and settled for second place. A fast and furious Tim Fuller finished third to complete the podium.

At the drop of the green flag, Max McLaughlin got the hole shot and took the lead. That left third-place starter, Matt Sheppard, to battle side-by-side with Stewart Friesen in his black #44 Halmar Racing Big Block. While the #32C Carl Myers Enterprises sponsored machine drove off into the Weedsport night, Sheppard hooked up on the low side and powered away from Friesen. 

The Waterloo, NY native in the cool blue #9S got into a rhythm following McLaughlin for the first seven laps. Then Sheppard found something and started angling his car for a run on the outside of the #32C. 

“I road behind him and was running the same speed for a little there,” said Sheppard. “Then I don’t know if he slowed down or if I gained speed, but I felt like he was holding me up. I gave the top a shot and everything worked out. I rolled around the top and cleared him.”

It was lap nine that Sheppard made the move around the outside and stuck the pass for the lead. After that, it was a game of lapped traffic management as the race went on without a single caution flag. 

Sheppard is one of the great lapped traffic managers of all time. It’s a skill that only the elite will ever have a chance to hone over time. Drivers must be fast, consistent, and able to make decisive, confidant moves to properly move through lapped traffic as the leader. 

“You gotta keep cars between you and the second-place guy. Then it’s pretty much clear sailing,” noted Sheppard. “I knew the race was short enough that I wasn’t overly worried about the wear. We were able to put the car where we needed to.”

The #9S led the rest of the way and mounted Victory Hill to celebrate Super DIRTcar Series win 82. 

As fast as polesitter Max McLaughlin, from Mooresville, NC, was throughout the race sessions, he was always chasing Super Matt. 

“Sheppard was really good all day,” said McLaughlin “He was consistently a tenth or two ahead of us. We changed a lot of stuff tonight. Even though we had speed, we knew we weren’t fast enough to beat him. We changed shocks. We changed springs. We changed all sorts of stuff to get better, but we were just a little bit off of him. We definitely gotta get better for tomorrow. We’ve been chasing the #44 all year and now it seems like it’s the #9S now. He’s tough to beat. They are two of the best and any time you can beat one of them is usually a good day.”

After giving up the lead to Sheppard, McLaughlin hit his marks and was able to hold off Friesen until he faded and then Tim Fuller who was charged to the front.

“I don’t think about who is behind me,” McLaughlin said of his challengers. “I keep my eyes forward. Friesen must have tried to make something work back there and slipped back. I knew Fuller was better than us. He’s one of the best in the slick.”

Tim Fuller, from Watertown, NY, in the #19 St. Lawrence Radiology Big Block was fast but was forced to settle for third. He made a desperate move for second but had to bail out. 

“I had to ride it out,” Fuller said. “I went outside once and lost four car lengths going for second.”

Few drivers are able to coax their Big Blocks around slippery tracks as well as Fuller, but he came up short in a run for the win. 

“I was running half throttle at most,” Fuller noted of his racing line. “All the crumbs above the bottom line made it hard to venture out there. I wanted to take a run but what can you do?” 

Mike Mahaney, in the Adirondack Auto #35 Big Block, picked up the Billy Whittaker Cars Fast-Time Award with a time of 16.372 around Weedsport Speedway. That’s over a full second off the Super DIRTcar Series track record of 15.156 set by Demetrios Drellos in 2019. 

NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Weedsport Speedway for round two of the Cavalcade Cup. This time the Big Blocks race for 100 laps, $10,000, and a guaranteed starting position for NAPA Super DIRT Week at Oswego Speedway Oct. 6-10. 

Feature (60 Laps)

1. 9S-Matt Sheppard [3][$7,500]; 2. 32C-Max Mclaughlin [1][$4,000]; 3. 19F-Tim Fuller [5][$2,500]; 4. 44F-Stewart Friesen [2][$1,800]; 5. 91D-Billy Decker [4][$1,600]; 6. 25R-Erick Rudolph [9][$1,400]; 7. 5H-Chris Hile [7][$1,300]; 8. 44P-Anthony Perrego [11][$1,200]; 9. 121T-Gary Tomkins [13][$1,100]; 10. 35M-Mike Mahaney [10][$1,000]; 11. 22W-Brandon Walters [6][$800]; 12. 21A-Peter Britten [12][$700]; 13. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [15][$600]; 14. 99L-Larry Wight [19][$575]; 15. M1-Dave Marcuccilli [8][$550]; 16. X-Chad Phelps [14][$525]; 17. 3H-Justin Haers [17][$500]; 18. 42P-Pat Ward [18][$500]; 19. 88W-Mat Williamson [21][$500]; 20. 27J-Danny Johnson [20][$500]; 21. 83X-Tim Sears [25][$500]; 22. 111D-Demetrios Drellos [24][$500]; 23. 34R-Kevin Root [23][$500]; 24. 2L-Jack Lehner [26][$500]; 25. 32R-Ronnie Davis [16][]; 26. 28M-Jordan McCreadie [22][]

Hard Charger Award: 99L-Larry Wight[+5]

Austin Dillon And The No. 3 Roland Chevrolet Team Show Speed En Route to 11th-Place Finish at Richmond Raceway

11th

19th

17th

“We came to Richmond Raceway this weekend to finish what we started last year, when we had a great run but didn’t win. Even through we came up a little bit short in the Roland Chevrolet this weekend, I’m proud of the entire team for hanging in there. We started off the race with a very loose handling machine, but we made a big swing at adjustments at the end of Stage 1. Those adjustments helped the handling tremendously. The No. 3 Roland Chevrolet was strong tonight through the middle portion of the race, but we lost forward drive in Stage 3 and never got it back to where we wanted it. All-in-all, 11thisn’t horrible. We’ll head to Bristol Motor Speedway with the goal of winning.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick And The No. 8 Childress Vineyards Team Rally To Top-15 Finish Under the Lights at Richmond Raceway

15th

11th

14th

“Tonight didn’t go as planned for our Childress Vineyards team, but this Richard Childress Racing team never quit fighting. We spent the first half of the race too loose on entry and tight in the center. Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE struggled to rotate the middle. Once we made adjustments that positively changed the handling, we had already lost track position and the cautions didn’t fall our way to get back on the lead lap. The positive coming out of tonight is that we are still in contention to advance to the Round of 12 next weekend. We will give it everything we have in Bristol to see if we can keep our Playoffs run going.”  -Tyler Reddick

• Cruz Pedregon powered the Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to the No.1 qualifier position at Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil to kick off the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) “Countdown to the Championship” playoff series
• Tommy Johnson Jr. qualified fourth aboard the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat as the fill-in driver at Maple Grove Raceway for sidelined defending series Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan who continues to recover from COVID-19
• Ron Capps followed up his runner-up finish at the Dodge//SRT U.S. Nationals last weekend with a top-five qualifying effort aboard his DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat at one of the fastest tracks on the NHRA circuit
• DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett qualifies No. 8 aboard her white and blue Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster 

September 11, 2021, Mohnton, Pennsylvania — Cruz Pedregon powered his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to the No. 1 qualifier position to kick off the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) “Countdown to the Championship” playoff series at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil near Reading, Pennsylvania. It was his 62nd career pole position and the first time since 2015 that Cruz Pedregon Racing will start from the top rung of the eliminations ladder.

Pedregon came out of the gate fourth quickest in Friday’s evening qualifying session at the fastest track on the circuit with a 3.914-second pass which he then improved upon in Saturday’s Q2 with a 3.912-second effort to record the second quickest run of that session. In final qualifying, Pedregon jumped to the top of the timing sheets by driving his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to an impressive 3.875-second elapsed time at 326 mph to earn the No. 1 qualifier position and five valuable bonus points. The run brought Pedregon within a hair of his best career elapsed time run, posted just a few weeks ago at Brainerd with a 3.874 second /324.67 mph pass in the final session for the No. 2 spot from which he drove to a runner-up in an all-Dodge final against Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) Matt Hagan. Pedregon’s reward for the No. 1 qualifying effort at Maple Grove Raceway is a first round bye.

The second of three HEMI®-powered machines to qualify in top-five for the Mopar Express Lane Nationals was driven by Tommy Johnson Jr. who is filling-in this weekend for DSR’s sidelined defending series Funny Car world champion Hagan as he continues to recover from COVID-19. Johnson will start fourth after recording a career-best speed with his Friday night qualifying run of 3.895 seconds at 333.82 mph that put him in the provisional No. 2 spot and awarded two bonus points to the DSR Mopar Dodge SRT Hellcat entry. He will see No. 11 Jim Campbell in the opening round.

Last weekend’s runner-up finisher at the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, Ron Capps qualified fifth after driving his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the quickest run in Q2 with a 3.896-second pass. He added three bonus points to his lead atop the NHRA’s Funny Car championship standings and will see No. 10 seed Blake Alexander as his first match-up of race day.

In Top Fuel action, Leah Pruett’s quickest drive aboard the white and blue Mopar dragster came on Friday evening with a run of 3.733 seconds at 323.89 mph, which she followed up with another pair of 3.74 sec. passes on Saturday. She’ll start from the eighth seeded position and face-off against No. 7 seed Antron Brown who has lane choice. 

Coverage of the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil, the first of seven events in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) playoff series “Countdown to the Championship”, will be broadcast on FS1 on Sunday, Sept. 14, with qualifying highlights 12-2 p.m. ET and race coverage 2-5 p.m. ET.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES
 
FUNNY CAR:
Tommy Johnson Jr., DSR Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.895 seconds at 333.82 mph) 
Qualifying 1: 3.895 seconds at 333.82 mph (Two bonus points for No. 2 run of the session)
Qualifying 2: 4.426 seconds at 187.65 mph
Qualifying 3: 3.917 seconds at 325.85 mph
 
“With each run I get more comfortable and it feels more natural in this Mopar Dodge. This team is doing such a great job. We have a great race car and I’m just looking forward to tomorrow. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out here on a race day Sunday. I’ve been at home watching on the computer on NHRA.TV and Fox and now we get to do it for real and make our mark.”
 
Ron Capps, DSR NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 5 Qualifier – 3.896 seconds at 328.86 mph)
Qualifying 1: 3.932 seconds at 325.06 mph
Qualifying 2: 3.896 seconds at 328.86 mph
Qualifying 3: 5.480 seconds at 133.55 mph
 
“This race ups the ante with it being the start of the Countdown and the feeling you get in the pit area, not only just the drivers but the crew chiefs and the teams as well. You definitely have the playoff fever floating around. We went out with that typical NAPA Know How today and went out in Q2 and got three qualifying bonus points with the quickest run in the heat at 3.89. And, tomorrow, Sunday, is going to be just like that. We didn’t qualify as high as we would have liked, but we were still in the top half and it’s a strange ladder. Any car in that ladder is one that can win a race; it’s so tight in Funny Car. We’ll concentrate on one round at a time and it’s going to be warmer tomorrow. The track is going to be great and we’re looking forward to seeing what ‘Guido’ (Dean Antonelli) and (John) Medlen and our NAPA AutoCare team can put together for us.”
  
Cruz Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.912 seconds at 327.03 mph)
Qualifying 1: 3.914 seconds at 321.42 mph
Qualifying 2: 3.912 seconds at 327.03 mph (Two bonus points for second-quickest run of session)
Qualifying 3: 3.875 seconds at 326.00 mph (Three bonus points for quickest run of session)
 
“I didn’t even realize it (last No. 1 qualifier position) was that long ago (2015). We’ve been steady and knocking on the door this year and we were definitely trying. My crew chief, John Collins was definitely fighting for it because with the brackets the way they are he knew that it would pay off to get that No. 1 spot. You’ve got to get on the right side of the ladder to avoid the big hitters until the later rounds and it couldn’t have worked out better for us today. The car was responding and has been for the last six races. I don’t know that I’ve driven a car as consistent as this Snap-on Dodge Hellcat. It’s not easy to drive as it wanted to hunt around there, but it’s going places, that’s for sure.
 
“The points are important and it’s a nice feather in the team’s cap that we can, after three runs, when everybody had the same track conditions, for us to come out on top. It really says a lot about the team and JC (Collins) that we have the parts, equipment, the car and as a single car team to be able to go head to head with some of these guys. From that perspective getting No.1 is great. But it’s going rounds that will be key, and having a consistent car wins rounds. There will be guys going after us but we’ll answer the bell and keep coming out swinging.
 
TOP FUEL:
Leah Pruett, DSR Pennzoil Mopar Dodge//SRT Dragster  
(No. 8 Qualifier – 3.733 seconds at 323.89 mph)
Qualifying 1: 3.733 seconds at 323.89 mph
Qualifying 2: 3.748 seconds at 323.66 mph
Qualifying 3: 3.743 seconds at 282.54 mph
 
“I really like to go back to the foundation of a great weekend, and that started for us with a great run on Friday. We were shooting for a low 3.70 and that gave us something to work off of. When we look at Sundays where we’ve done well, ultimately, we’ve always had a great start to the weekend. So, we have that in our corner going into race day. Going into Q2, we were shooting for a high 3.60 and we missed it in the clutch department a little bit so we made some major changes. We’re in Amish country and for Q3, we were putting all 12,000 HEMI horses to it, and it took it to halftrack. We were on track for that high 3.60 we were shooting for but then the car kicked a belt at halftrack and we missed it. The most unfortunate part of qualifying is that we’re up against our teammate Antron Brown. We would’ve loved nothing more than to meet him in the final but we are so close in points that someone is going to get a leg up on the other one, and hopefully, it’s us.
 
“Our Mopar Dodge dragster is running exceptionally well and we feel good about tomorrow. For me personally, I haven’t had the best luck here at Reading, and because of that, I’ve gotten to know a lot of the fans and spend a lot of time with them. It’s an awesome group, and I’m really taking their energy and their vibe and enthusiasm into race day, and will hopefully carry that deep into the elimination rounds. We’re looking for great results here at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil.”
 
NHRA Championship Points Standings:
Following qualifying at Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at Maple Grove Raceway
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 2,137 (1)
2. John Force – 2,112 (3)
3. Bob Tasca III – 2,106 (2)
4. J.R. Todd – 2,093 (1)
5. Matt Hagan/Tommy Johnson Jr. (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 2,087 (2) 
6. Robert Hight – 2,081 (2)
7. Alexis DeJoria – 2,063
7. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 2,063 (1)
9. Tim Wilkerson– 2,048 (1)
10. Blake Alexander– 2,032
 
TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)
1. Steve Torrance – 2,139 (8)
2. Brittany Force – 2,127 (1)
3. Antron Brown – 2,103 (1)
4. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge//SRT) – 2,093 (1)
5. Shawn Langdon – 2,082
6. Mike Salinas – 2,078
7. Justin Ashley – 2,064
8. Billy Torrence – 2,057 (1)
9. Clay Millican – 2,047
10. Doug Kalitta – 2,032

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY PORTLAND, OREGON TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP SEPTEMBER. 11, 2021
FELIX ROSENQVIST LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN QUALIFYING FOR PORTLAND GRAND PRIX
PORTLAND – (September 11, 2021) Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, led Team Chevy in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland. After advancing to the Firestone Fast Six, Rosenqvist captured the fourth starting position for tomorrow’s 110-lap/216-mile Grand Prix of Portland on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway that opened in 1961.
Chevrolet-powered championship contenders Pato O’Ward, No.5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, will start 7th and 18th respectively. O’Ward and team weren’t happy with performance on red tires, and Newgarden and team were lacking pace of this morning’s practice.
The remainder of the Team Chevy drivers qualified as follows:

• 11th – Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin 
• 12th – Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKIT AJ Foyt Racing
• 14th – Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske
• 15th – Scott McLaughlin, No.3 PPG Team Penske
• 16th – Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing
• 19th – Callum Ilott, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing
• 22nd – Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing
• 26th – Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske
• 27th – Dalton Kellett. No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing

Alex Palou won the pole. Alexander Rossi Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal and Colton Herta completed the Firestone Fast Six. 
VeeKay will have a six grid position penalty for an unapproved engine change as a result of damage his engine received in an accident at Gateway.
NBC will telecast the 110-lap Grand Prix of Portland at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 12. Sept. 11, will stream on Peacock Premium. The racewill also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.
Driver quotes:FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH:“It’s been a good day. The car felt good all day. Every session it felt like it was solid top-five which is where you want to be. We didn’t have quite the car to win the pole in the Firestone Fast Six. When you make the Fast Six, you always want to go for pole. But overall it is satisfying to have good qualifying. To be up there to help Pato’s situation in the championship to race hard against those other guys. So happy with where we are so far!”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH: ON HIS QUALIFIFYING: “Honestly, its not too bad. Our pace on reds was horrendous. We made significant steps forward in Q2. But it wasn’t enough to have us go to the Firestone Fast Six. We can do a lot from here honestly. We are starting inside of row four. We need to make it clean through turn one, and then run our race with the strategy. We will work on the race car in warm-up. It is what it is I guess. We need to pass the other contenders contenders in front of us.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT“We just didn’t have any pace. It wasn’t a bad lap, it just wasn’t fast. So, I don’t know. I’m not sure. We’ve got a lot of fights, so we’ll fight back. I was really happy this morning, so I’m not quite sure why we didn’t have the speed there, we just didn’t. We’ll just have to figure it out. We’ll get together as a team and try and make the most of it and we’ll battle tomorrow, for sure.” YOU HAD TO BACK OFF TO FIND ANOTHER GAP AFTER YOUR FIRST FAST LAP ON THE REDS. DID THAT IMPACT ANYTHING?“It wasn’t ideal, but I don’t think that’s the reason. I think I was within a tenth or a tenth and a half of what I could do. So, we just didn’t have speed for some reason. It’s definitely odd.”

READING, Pa. (Sept. 11, 2021) – For the seventh consecutive time, ninth time this season and the 29th time in her career Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel dragster team have secured the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS landed in the No. 2 spot while John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro are No. 11. Brittany Force’s seventh straight No. 1 start is the most by any pro drivers since 2007 when Greg Anderson qualified No. 1 seven straight times in Pro Stock and makes her just the fourth driver ever to qualify No. 1 seven straight times in one season. It also equals her dad’s John Force Racing team record for consecutive No. 1 starts. Already with a tight grip on the No. 1 qualifying position after going 3.666-seconds at a track record speed of 335.57 mph, Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team continued to flex their muscle improving their performance to a 3.660-second pass at 334.07 mph during Saturday’s opening qualifying try. In the third and final qualifying session, Force had another solid pass at 3.689-seconds and 331.77 mph. “This Flav-R-Pac Monster Energy team, we’re feeling good. Seven straight No. 1s, that’s pretty impressive. Looking at today and yesterday, though, that Q2 run that we had today, to be able to step it up to a 3.66, that’s pretty outstanding. That was a big run for us, in the heat of the day, that’s what we’re going to be up against tomorrow on race day. So that’s the run I’m most excited about,” said Force who’s track record speed goes with her national record elapsed time of 3.623-seconds set at the facility in 2019. “We laid three solid passes down the race track so I’m proud of this team and ready to get this countdown going. We’re in a great place and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow” “ Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevy entered the day No. 1 off their Friday evening run of 3.883-seconds and 330.39 mph. The three-time world champion drove into tire smoke during Saturday’s first session for only a 5.068-second run at 149.55. The Auto Club team found their stride again in the last session of the day going 3.899-seconds at 322.27 mph. Unfortunately, Hight was bumped from the No. 1 qualifying spot just before his final qualifying try.   “I feel you’re going to have to win at least three races in the Countdown to win this championship. And this Auto Club team needs to start right here at Maple Grove tomorrow,” Hight said. “We have to be aggressive. There’s a lot of good cars both in front and behind us. There’s no time to play defense, we’ve got to play offensive. Be aggressive but make good runs. My guys know how to do that. If we go out there and do what we know how to do, we can win this championship but we have to put it all together and we have a short amount of time to do it.” John Force and the PEAK Camaro, sitting No. 11 after Friday, continued to struggle during Saturday’s opening session once again driving into smoke to record a 4.907-second run at 164.81 mph. Force and his Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi tuned Chevy picked things up in the final session to go 4.096-seconds and 256.84 mph but had issues down track. Force will start race day from No. 12. “We had some problems but we’re figuring it out. We’ll be okay for tomorrow, it’s a new day, weather will be warmer. We just have to go out there and do our jobs,” Force said. “Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi and all the guys, this PEAK Camaro team, they’ll give me a good car and I just need to drive it, go rounds and get in the winner’s circle for PEAK, Chevrolet, Cornwell Tools, Baldwin Filters, ParkerStore and all my sponsors.” The Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway eliminations are slated for Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage begins Sunday at noon ET with qualifying and continues with eliminations at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).

All-Corvette front row in GTLM after tight battle with Milner, No. 4 C8.R

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 11, 2021) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor won his second straight GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole position at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, setting a track record in the process. Taylor, driving the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R with Antonio Garcia, set a lap of 1:21.151 (99.281 mph) ahead of Sunday’s Hyundai Sports Car Championship to best his qualifying mark from 2020 by 0.332 seconds. Tommy Milner made it a 1-2 for Corvette Racing and just missed claiming pole position for he and Nick Tandy in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R. Milner’s best lap was a 1:21.267 (99.139 mph) and also below last year’s pole time as well. Taylor and Garcia lead the GTLM Drivers Championship as they seek to repeat their title win from 2020. The pairing have won four times this year including the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the year.  Milner and Tandy are second in GTLM points, and they were quickest in the two practice sessions leading up to qualifying. Both Taylor and Milner stressed the importance of race setup to help conserve their Michelin tires over the course of a full stint instead of going for single-lap pace. This is Corvette Racing’s 23rd consecutive start at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The program has won seven times in Monterey but is seeking its first victory there since 2014. Corvette Racing will contest the Hyundai Monterey SportsCar Championship at 4:10 p.m. ET on Sunday. Live television coverage from NBCSN will start at 4 p.m. ET with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, Sirius 219, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “It was good. We were a little bit behind the 4 car all weekend. They seemed to be a little bit stronger throughout practice. We made some big changes in Practice 2 and even into qualifying to separate the two setups (for qualifying and the race). We found some things for pure laptime but I don’t think they’re going to work for a race setup. It’s nice to get the pole and get those points. We have an idea of what we need to do for the race from a setup point of view. So it’s nice to start out front but at the same time, I think tomorrow is going to be a different picture.”KEYS TO WINNING THE RACE: “Last year was our first year here with this new Corvette. Having that under our belt and understanding more about tire degradation, what tire compound to be on and the strategy of when to pit when we’re catching GTD cars (are important). Every year we are learning new lessons. We learned a lot last year and already have learned a lot through yesterday and today. We’re in good shape but at the same time, you never know what’s going to happen in these races with yellows and the different strategies. We’ll have to stay on top of our game.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM: “All things considered, the cars are good. We were fastest in the two sessions that don’t count and on the one does kind of count, we were a little bit off. It was a good lap from Jordan. I was happy with our car, though. I didn’t put it all together but I think we have a good Corvette for the race. This track is super-tricky with tires and strategy. You can get cars stuck in the gravel pretty easy, so cautions play a big role in the outcome of the race, as well. We need to be on top of our game and do whatever we can early on in the first part of the race to build as big a gap as we can to hold off the Porsche.”HAPPY WITH RACE SETUP? “You definitely have to manage the tires at this track. The surface is pretty low-grip but it’s also pretty high-wear, too. It makes our job pretty difficult but it’s the same for everyone. We saw in the GTD class that some of those guys did only one lap for their qualifying and parked it. (In GTLM), we don’t have to start on our qualifying tires, so we were able to push for the whole session. We definitely have an eye toward making the car and tires maybe not fastest over one lap but fastest over one stint.”

2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTLM (After Six of 10 Events)Driver Standings1. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2,2072. Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1,9933. Cooper MacNeil – 1,9844. Matt Campbell – 1,3725. Augusto Farfus/Jesse Krohn/John Edwards – 1001 Team Standings1. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 2,2072. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 1,9933. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 1,9844. No. 24 BMW Team RLL – 1,0015. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 966 Manufacturer Standings1. Chevrolet – 2,2302. Porsche – 2,1083. BMW – 1,0524. Ferrari – 330 CORVETTE RACING AT LAGUNA SECA: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 23 years at Laguna Seca: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 22 previous years: Sebring, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2020).• 7: Number of Laguna Seca victories for Corvette Racing dating back to 2004.• 10: Laguna Seca victories for the current Corvette Racing for the current driving lineup – Oliver Gavin (four), Antonio Garcia (three) and Tommy Milner (two) and Jordan Taylor (one).• 11: Victories at Laguna Seca for Chevrolet in IMSA competition.• 12: Drivers who have competed for Corvette Racing at Laguna Seca. Of those, seven went on to win at Monterey.• 13: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.• 26: Number of GT Le Mans wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.• 117: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 109 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 246: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 12,795.65: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 21 previous trips to Laguna Seca. That represents 5,800 laps… or more than 750 trips around Carmel’s famous 17-Mile Drive.• 330,467.26: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history – covered “just” 248,655 miles. Simply put, the program has raced to the moon and back… and then some. Corvette Racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (wins in bold)1999No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel – 2nd in GTS 2000No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim – 2nd in GTS (Fellows pole)No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Justin Bell/Kelly Collins – 4th in GTS 2001No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS 2002No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 5th in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS 2003No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GTSNo. 4 Corvette C5-R: Oliver Gavin/Kelly Collins – 3rd in GTS 2004No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 1st in GTS (O’Connell fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GTS (Beretta pole) 2005No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2006No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell – 3rd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 2nd in GT1 (Beretta fastest race lap) 2007No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 2008No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 2009No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2 (Magnussen pole, fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 10th in GT2 2010No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 6th in GT2No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 3rd in GT2 2011No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 5th in GT 2012No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2013No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 9th in GT 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 7th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 8th in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM (Gavin pole) 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap) 2020No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 6th in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)

25th

9th

12th

“First and foremost, with today being the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, our thoughts remain with all those affected. That day changed our nation and I’m thankful for all the men and women who serve our country. They allow us to race each weekend. As for our day here at Richmond, racing is a tough sport and some days are harder than others. Today was one of those days for our Superior Essex team. We started the race inside the top-10 with track position, but our No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro struggled to roll the center of the corner. We were able to steadily stay inside the top-15, while my team continued to make adjustments to help the handling. My crew chief Andy Street tried a lot of different changes, which definitely helped, but overall I still struggled to turn in center. When the caution came out with about 20 laps to go and those teams who still had sticker tires left had fresh rubber behind us, we had ourselves in a tough position. We will learn from today, regroup and head to Bristol next week.”  -Myatt Snider

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 11, 2021) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor captured the GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole position Saturday for the Hyundai Sports Car Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Taylor claimed his second straight pole in Monterey and a track record with the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia. The two were runners-up in last year’s race and claimed the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTLM title. Taylor set a lap of 1:21.151 (99.281 mph) to best teammate Tommy Milner by just 0.116 seconds. Corvette Racing will contest the Hyundai Monterey SportsCar Championship on Sept. 10-12 from WeatherTech Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. Live television coverage will air at 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 10 with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, Sirius 219, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “In practice we were on our own program in working on race setup, and we had some ideas on what would work for qualifying, as well. The name of the game here is getting points for the championship so the main focus is the race. In qualifying you do get a couple of points, so we had a couple of changes in mind for this. Thankfully they worked for qualifying, but for the race we’ll have a completely different racecar in itself. We have the right direction and the right guys at Corvette Racing working on it. It should be a good race tomorrow.”It was a good session. Through the practices, we weren’t the quickest car but we had some changes in mind we wanted to make for both qualifying and the race because this is such a unique track. We put the changes in for qualifying, and I’d say it was an improvement for one-lap pace. When we go to the race, we’ll have a different car and setup to make sure it’s good for the long run. We’re in good shape. It’s great to get another pole position for Corvette Racing. It’s our 23rd year here so it’s nice to keep that tradition.”