Portsmouth, OH (July 2, 2021) – Jonathan Davenport continued his Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series winning streak on Friday Night in the Independence 50 at Portsmouth Raceway Park. With 36 laps in the books, Kyle Bronson moved past Tim McCreadie to hold on to the second position for the remainder of the race. McCreadie led the first eight laps, but came home in third followed by a first-time visitor to Portsmouth Raceway Park, Spencer Hughes. Tyler Erb rounded out the top five. The current series Championship point leader, McCreadie, was looking to complete a perfect night with his first-ever win at Portsmouth. McCreadie led until Davenport, who started fourth, charged around him on the ninth lap to take over the lead. Davenport won over Bronson by 2.5 seconds to record his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win at Portsmouth Raceway Park. “This old car has been really good this year, we have beat it to death. With these racetracks coming up on the schedule they each have a character of their own so that is why we saved the new one we had been running. This car ran as good as the new one.” “This place wasn’t too bad from my view. I had my doubts when we first got here. But from where I was, it was perfect. I got up beside McCreadie there and I knew I had to get by him. He is such a smart racer that he would move down in that line, and it was going to be hard to get by him. I hope I left him enough room over there when I got by him.” Bronson kept himself in the hunt for his first win of the season. “We were off a little tonight but to run second, we’ll take it. Our car has been really good the last couple of months. We are finally getting a good balance on it. Davenport and them Longhorn guys have been really good the last few months. We are close, we just have to do a little more and hopefully we can be outrunning them here soon.” McCreadie will maintain the series point lead heading to Muskingum County Speedway on Saturday Night. “It’s consistent, it’s just not where we want to be. We just will try to work harder. Hats off to JD and Kyle and everybody that was out there. Hats off to the track.” The winner’s Lance Landers Double L Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions, ASC Warranty, Spartan Mowers. Fatheadz Eyewear, Lucas Oil Products, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, and Midwest Sheet Metal. Completing the top ten were Josh Richards, Jimmy Owens, Devin Moran, Jared Hawkins, and Ricky Thornton Jr. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Independence 50Friday, July 2nd, 2021Portsmouth Raceway Park – Portsmouth, OH Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport / 15.026 seconds Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie / 14.867 seconds (overall) Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 5. 14-Josh Richards[8]; 6. 37-Jacob Hawkins[6]; 7. 71C-RJ Conley[5]; 8. 21K-Kirk Phillips[4]; 9. 33K-Kevin Wagner[9] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 3. 81F-Brandon Fouts[5]; 4. 10-Nathon Loney[7]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 6. 4G-Kody Evans[6]; 7. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 8. 17T-Shannon Thornsberry[4] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 2. 11H-Spencer Hughes[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 5. 21H-Robby Hensley[7]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 7. 11J-Jared Hawkins[6]; 8. 71R-Rod Conley[8]

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 25Lap Leaders: Tim McCreadie (Laps 1 – 8), Jonathan Davenport (9 – 50)Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan DavenportArizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 2.513 secondsStop Tech Brakes Cautions: Brandon Fouts (Lap 3); Shannon Thornsberry (Lap 12); Robby Hensley (Lap 13); Shane Clanton (Lap 29); Earl Pearson Jr (Lap 29); Mike Marlar (Lap 32)Series Provisionals: n/aFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisionals: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadiePenske Shocks Top 5: Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, Spencer Hughes, Tyler ErbOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Jared Hawkins (Advanced 12 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadieHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (42 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler ErbEibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Ricky Thornton JrDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport (Lap 6 – 15.279 seconds)Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Mike MarlarOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jason Durham (Jonathan Davenport)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Kyle Bronson (14.891 seconds)Time of Race: 32 minutes 20 seconds

Garcia, Taylor Take Glen SweepNo. 3 Corvette takes GTLM victory over teammates Milner, Tandy in No. 4 C8.R

WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 27, 2021) – Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor won for Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech 240 on Friday, their second GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at Watkins Glen International in five days. Garcia got the jump on Corvette Racing teammate Tommy Milner – sharing the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette with Nick Tandy– on a traffic-filled restart with 28 minutes remaining in a storm-interrupted race.  Taylor led from pole position before Tandy moved ahead in the No. 4 Corvette about 15 minutes into the race. The gap between the teammates constantly ebbed and flowed with traffic – from slower GTD and LMP3 cars and the quicker DPi and LMP2 runners. Taylor was the first Corvette driver to hit pitlane at 51 minutes running. He came in from second place in class and handed over to Garcia, who left with a full tank of fuel and fresh Michelin tires. Tandy carried on for another two laps before stopping just before the pits closed for the race’s full-course caution period. Milner got in the 4 Corvette and returned to the lead behind the safety car. Heavy rain started to pelt parts of the circuit with the field under yellow. Two laps later, race officials halted the race due to a lightning strike in the immediate area of Watkins Glen. The field began rolling again with 50 minutes to go behind the safety car. Another full-course caution period with 36 minutes left forced another reset before the race went green the rest of the way. The next event for Corvette Racing is the Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park on July 16-17. The race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 17 with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold at 3:05 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, Sirius 216, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “We can’t complain, for sure. The main thing is the C8.R is really, really strong and kind of easy to drive in those conditions. Somehow that red flag was kind of a relief. It was going to be a nightmare out there between Turn Six and Turn Eight. Luckily there was a red flag, which made things still interesting because we had to stay on slicks. I knew that was the main thing but I had to take chances there. I knew it was wet, but I had to be a little more aggressive than Tommy. He got caught out in the last corner with some of the P cars, so I had to take advantage. The grip was very, very good. I opened the gap and then just maintained because you never know… there might have been another yellow and I had to have good tires for the end. I’m very happy with the No. 3 C8.R, but obviously Team Chevy and Corvette Racing are doing a great job. I’m looking forward to the next race and especially Le Mans which is coming soon.”It was very challenging for sure. We pitted just before the red flag, and so did the 4 car. That would have been a key part of the race without the red because it would have been interesting to know how Tommy would have dealt with the damp track on cold tires. Those one or two laps of green before the red let me switch on the tires a little bit, at least. Even if we had to wait for a half-hour, somehow I heated up the tires pretty quickly before the start. Tommy was the one who had to take the risks. The first restart after yellow, I knew I could switch on the tire a little bit better than him. So on the second one I was all-out and he got caught up on the last corner with some P cars. I just took advantage. After that, you had to close your eyes. From the Carousel onward, you had to believe the grip would be there. I knew the first two laps would be the main thing in the race. I could pull out those two seconds and kept the gap from that point. From that point, Tommy was the one who had to take the risks to close in. I didn’t want to push so hard because you never know if you’ll go yellow again and I’d need good tires. It was a good battle with our teammates, which is difficult because they have the same car and same tools as you. I’m very happy for Corvette to go 1-2. We’re looking forward to the next few races, and Le Mans is coming closer. We’re looking forward to that too.”THE PASS FOR THE LEAD.“It was green for us but I made the pass basically coming out of the last corner. We weren’t side-by-side into Turn One. I knew after the Bus Stop that it would be a little wet so I took a little more risk than Tommy did to open the gap and hold it. I was lucky that I could keep the car on the track. It can go either way. You can pull out a second or put it in the wall. I was glad for the first option.”WERE THERE OTHER DIFFICULT MOMENTS AFTER THAT?“Oh yeah, but there were for Tommy as well. We were both flat out. The car was really good in those conditions. We realized that all last year with all the wet races we had. The C8.R looks very strong in all conditions.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “I was struggling with tire temp in the beginning. But once I got in a rhythm, the car kind of came to life for the second half of my stint. Once we handed it over to Antonio, the weather hit and we had a red flag. We were happy to see it go green again. Obviously we had a great spot on TV today to get some great racing in. Antonio made a great restart and was able to get by the No. 4 car and then kind of maintain it from there. So another great day for Corvette Racing going one-two and another great day for us in the No. 3 car.”It was a good race all the way through. We had a good battle with the 4 car all day. I ran second most of my stint and then the way the pit cycle worked, it was going to be interesting to see how it fell through with fuel strategy and tire warm-up. Once it went red, we knew we had some practice time and qualifying in intermittent conditions, so we had some good confidence in what the car would be like once it went back green. Antonio got by the 4 car on the restart and maintained that gap through the end. It’s another great day for Corvette Racing with a 1-2 finish and for us in the 3 Corvette to go back-to-back with the Six Hours last weekend.”HOW MUCH FUN IS IT RACING AGAINST YOUR TEAMMATES?“I’d say it’s fun, but it’s stressful at the same time. There are no team orders of who will win the race. They let us race on track, but obviously any contact will be frowned upon. We had a head-to-head battle at Daytona and the last couple of weekends has been head-to-head. The guys in the 4 car are professionals and two of the best in GT racing. Like Antonio said, it’s great to have that rivalry but it’s difficult when you’ve got such great drivers in both cars. You’re competing against the best in the same equipment. We’ve come out on top the last two races but just as easily those guys could have won as well.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “Obviously the long red flag really reset the race. I’m really frustrated. I had some traffic coming to the green, some cars pitting coming to the green and that held me up massively. That was basically the race there. Antonio got by me by start-finish because I had such a bad run out of the last corner. It caught me off-guard. I left a gap just to account to any speed differential but I didn’t expect (the car ahead) to hit the brakes in the middle of the corner. There was traffic up the hill, and Antonio probably had two or 2.5 seconds on me. I think we ended up 2.5 seconds behind. It’s frustrating… we’re doing everything right with the things we can control with the strategy. Nick did an awesome job at the start to get us out front. It’s just not going our way right now. It’s tough. But I’m proud of the guys. I know they’re bummed. We’ve been fast and done everything right that we can control. We haven’t had the luck. On to the next one.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “It’s bitterly disappointing. We put ourselves in position as a team to have what looked like a pretty comfortable 1-2. Up to the point, the way the guys managed the race – the pit stops, how the engineers set the car up for the race – had us absolutely flying. A few laps before the last yellow, I felt something strange on the car and we’ll have to investigate what happened. We’re disappointed, but there are a lot of positives to go into next week with.”

Honda Performance Development Media Availability
Honda Indy 200, Presented by the HPD Ridgeline
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Friday, July 2, 2021

Featured Guest: Dave Salters, President, Honda Performance Development
Media Conference

CHUCK SCHIFSKY: I am Chuck Schifsky, manager of motorsports for American Honda. I’m joined today by David Salters, the president of HPD, Honda Performance Development. Thanks for joining us today here at Mid-Ohio.
I wanted to gather this group together and have David give us some background on how the season is going. To do that I’m going to start off with a question that I think is kind of important:
Of the nine races we’ve had so far this season, Honda has won six of them. David, give us a little background. Is this something that’s just happened or is this something that has been brewing for a while, a little background on how the season is going in INDYCAR from your view.

DAVID SALTERS: So it’s going reasonably well. It’s motorsport, so you have to be very careful and not become complacent. There’s various reasons it’s going well. There’s a team of people – engineers at HPD – who work really hard, and they’re very smart and they work hard. That’s how you get success in this business.
There are our teams, that are working hard. It’s sort of four or five years of building an engineering team, process, models, simulation and validation. You get luckier. The more you understand, the luckier you get. It’s just building it over the last few years really.
We’re seeing some success now. It can always turn around quickly. But it’s through the efforts of our team at HPD who have been working hard for years and years and trying to get smarter for years and years.

CHUCK SCHIFSKY: Thanks, David. Obviously here today we’re running the INDYCAR SERIES. David also oversees our IMSA efforts. We have a race that’s running this weekend, second of two races at Watkins Glen. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that, that there are two HPD-engineered efforts for Acura, Wayne Taylor Racing and Mike Shank Racing.
David, talk a little bit about what’s happened so far this year in IMSA and how things are going with the DPi cars especially.

DAVID SALTERS: It’s going reasonably well. Acura, we historically won our first Daytona 24 Hour outright. That’s a marquee event and a milestone achievement. That’s going well.
Guys are working hard. The teams we work with are brilliant, Mike [Shank] and Wayne [Taylor, team owners of Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing]. We won Mid-Ohio here, it was a nail-biter, a bit too close at the end, so that’s pretty good. We’re leading various championships and stuff.
The other bit to remember is we have fantastic support from inside American Honda with Honda and Acura. The guys in charge there are racers, so we get good support. We go racing. We’re encouraged.
Honda is very authentic with the fact that we’re there to build engineers. It’s people and technology. We don’t just pay people to do our motorsport. There’s more than a hundred people [at HPD’s main facility] in Santa Clarita. They go out, think about how to engineer the cars, then we make stuff, all the things Honda is good at to be honest with you. IMSA is going well. Well poised. So far so good.

CHUCK SCHIFSKY: Can you comment for us today on how the engine development for the new INDYCAR engine is going. I know guys are working hard on that. All of that is still in secret. But what can you tell us about how that’s going?

DAVID SALTERS: That’s secret (laughter). What new engine?
No, we’re working hard. The interesting thing is it’s like a renaissance in American motorsports. The INDYCAR stuff is very buoyant. We have 15 cars here this weekend, which is the most outside an Indy 500 field, the most there’s been for years. We’re supporting that, which takes a lot of supporting. But we’re trying to do that.
Plus we’re trying to work on the new power train. It’s going okay. It’s never where you want it to be. We have very high standards for ourselves internally, but it’s going pretty well.
Then there’s DPi. That’s going okay. Then there’s [the new prototype category] LMDh. We’ve got enough to keep us busy for a little while I think, but it’s going okay.

CHUCK SCHIFSKY: Thanks, David. We’ll open it up to questions.

Q. The fact that a Honda guy and Acura guy, an Ohio guy [Michael Shank, co-owner of Meyer Shank Racing], won the Indy 500, there had to be a lot special about that one. How important and how special was Helio’s win at the 500 especially for Honda and Acura and Mike Shank?

DAVID SALTERS: It was a fairytale, wasn’t it? Literally a fairytale. There was a moment. You get these sporting moments, and people are going to remember that, especially at the end of the pandemic. Everyone has had a pretty horrible time. Just to be there and see it I think was astonishing.
Yeah, Helio [Castroneves, Indy 500 race winner], he raced two races this year. He raced Daytona and he raced Indy. He won them both. His success rate this year is pretty good. We were joking with him (smiling).
We all like human stories. Honda tries to do its racing in a human way. So the human bit was just lovely. Helio is Helio. You could not find a person with more energy. I mean, he went for a run afterwards, you saw. It was fairytale stuff, I think. So lovely.

Q. Chuck, new TV package is being negotiated. If you start the races earlier, the ratings are higher. Honda invests in the TV package for advertising. Where do you see that whole thing going?

Chuck Schifsky: Yeah, you’re right, TV is a really important piece of the puzzle for Honda. On the consumer side, we spend a great deal of money to come out and go INDYCAR racing. One of the reasons we do that is to speak to our customers about durability, the rugged nature of the Honda vehicles and performance and excitement.
So, yeah, a good TV package is important. I think, like everybody here, we’re kind of waiting with baited breath to see where that goes. We’re pretty happy with what NBC has been doing. I think we need to wait and see how that shakes out over the next few weeks I’m hearing.

Q. Back to the new engine. What is the timeline on that? Clearly on the dyno now. When does it lead to on-track testing, getting it out to more teams?

DAVID SALTERS: Some of that is INDYCAR’s news to make. In the first quarter of next year there’s meant to be track testing and stuff. We’ll see how that goes.
That’s INDYCAR’s news to make, to be honest. The precise timing of that… INDYCAR is doing a great job spearheading that. I think first quarter we should be trying to get on the track and stuff.

Q. (Question about multiple teams testing the engine.)
DAVID SALTERS: That’s a good question.
The truth of the matter is all this [new INDYCAR hybrid engine] stuff is new. The most important thing is getting it to work properly to start with. It’s not like you’re looking for the fine points of ultimate drivability, that sort of stuff.
The key bit is getting track miles. If I’m thinking from an engineering point of view and stuff, the key bit is getting track miles.
Like all projects, you want to manage the risk, put the risk at the start. Let’s see if they haven’t thought of something. Just get out there and get miles on it.
If it’s with one team or multiple teams, one driver, multiple drivers, at the start because it’s all new, personally the main thing is checking it functions properly. I have yet to see anybody who gets everything perfect. It doesn’t exist. So you’re going to find some problems. Let’s flush the problems out. I think that’s the main thing. Let’s get working, so… That’s the first bit.
It’s complex. You won’t have thought of everything, so let’s get on track as soon as we can and flush the problems out. The other bit probably comes later when you’re trying to find the fine differences, to be honest.

Q. You mentioned the human part earlier. You’re sporting 15 cars this weekend. How important is it to have the right support engineers with the right teams?

DAVID SALTERS: It is important. We try and help the teams as much as we can. We have a certain amount of flexibility. Then how they liaise with the engineers is important. We got to keep it consistent. You build a relationship. So we try and build on that.
It is human. Honda’s quite human. We do this to grow the engineers. I’m an engineer. We do it to grow the engineers. We’re trying to help the team. We’re trying to help our own people learn, so we give them different challenges.
We’re trying to have some consistency so that we just make sure that they’re always getting the best that they can. We’re trying to balance those things. It’s important. Consistency is important. You have to learn to work together. Different teams work with different engineers in different ways. We try to cater for that, I think.

The Greatest Show on Dirt Visits New York on July 30-31Ransomville and Weedsport Prepare for Only Outlaw Appearances of 2021RANSOMVILLE, NY – July 2, 2021 – After three years away, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is finally returning to New York.The Empire State will host The Greatest Show on Dirt for back-to-back nights to cap off the busiest month of the season, sandwiched right in the middle of the mega “Month of Money.”On the docket for the 900+ horsepower beasts in the northeast is The Big “R” Outlaw Shootout atRansomville Speedway on Friday, July 30, followed one-night later by the Empire State Challenge at Weedsport Speedway on Saturday, July 31.The long-awaited return to New York state ends a more than 1,000+ day absence since the last appearance at Fulton Speedway on October 6, 2018. Mother Nature stole shows in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic kept the Series locked out last year. This year, its full steam ahead.RANSOMVILLE TICKETS (7/30) WEEDSPORT TICKETS (7/31)Although both tracks are relatively young in the grand scheme of World of Outlaws events – Ransomville has hosted five races, Weedsport has hosted nine shows – more than half of the current crop of full-time drivers are familiar with the facilities. In 2018, eight full-timers were in action when the Series last rolled through town.Of all those still-active drivers, only David Gravel of Watertown, CT and Donny Schatz of Fargo, ND have won at either Ransomville or Weedsport in World of Outlaws action.Gravel is the most recent winner at Ransomville, topping the Big “R” in July of 2018. He’s got four top-fives through five combined appearances at both tracks, including a podium run at Weedsport in 2016.Although Weedsport is four hours away, it’s still the closest track on the World of Outlaws schedule to Gravel’s hometown of Watertown, Connecticut.”I love it anytime we can get back up around the northeast,” Gravel said. “That’s where I grew up and I’ve got a ton of great supporters from the region. I’ve always done pretty well up in New York, I’ve already got the one win at Ransomville, I’d really like to add another at Weedsport.”Two other models of consistency in New York are the only two active Series champions – Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet.Each own four top-five finishes in five trips to Ransomville and Weedsport, however, Schatz is the only of the two to win.The driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance #15 topped the 2016 show at Weedsport and all told has an average finish of 3.0 in the Empire State.For Sweet, the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 ran runner-up in both trips to Ransomville and collected a pair of top-fives at Weedsport. The Grass Valley, CA native is anxious to finally snag that first win in New York.Sandwiched in the midst of the “Month of Money,” the New York doubleheader comes at a crucial time with momentum and confidence meaning everything.The dates follow events such as the TWO $175,000-to-win Kings Royals at Eldora Speedway (July 14-17), the $25,000-to-win Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway (July 20), and the $20,000-to-win Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway (July 23-24).It also precedes a pair of huge happenings with the $20,000-to-win Ironman 55 at I-55 Raceway (August 6-7) and the potentially $200,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway (August 11-14) following that.With another 11 events remaining until the Series swings through New York, the current championship outlook remains relatively similar to how its look all throughout spring.Brad Sweet, chasing his third-consecutive World of Outlaws title, has led the points since March. He’s already won 10 NOS Energy Drink Features this season and has a knack for taking his game to the next level through the July and August months.Giving chase to Sweet is David Gravel (-60), Carson Macedo (-120), Sheldon Haudenschild (-172), and Donny Schatz (-190).Fans unable to make it to the track can watch all of the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.RANSOMVILLE SPEEDWAY WINNERS: 2018 – David Gravel on July 27 2017 – Tim Shaffer on Oct. 16 1997 – Andy Hillenburg on July 28 1995 – Stevie Smith on June 8 1994 – Dave Blaney on Aug. 9WEEDSPORT SPEEDWAY WINNERS: 2018 – Brent Marks on July 29 2016 – Donny Schatz on May 22 2015 – Donny Schatz on May 17 1993 – Dave Blaney on Aug. 10 1987 – Steve Kinser on June 2 1986 – Steve Kinser on June 3 1985 – Doug Wolfgang on June 5 1981 – Steve Kinser on June 10 1980 – Lynn Paxton on July 20Photo – Trent Gower

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.

Richard Childress Racing at Road America… While Richard Childress Racing will make their inaugural NASCAR Cup Series start at Road America this Sunday, the Welcome, N.C. organization has a successful history at the Wisconsin road course. In 30 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Elkhart Lake, RCR scored three consecutive victories with drivers Brendan Gaughan (2014), Paul Menard (2015), and Michael McDowell (2016) and posted 12 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.  Catch the Action… The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Road America 180 at Road America will be televised live Saturday, July 3, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series’ Road America 250 at Road America will be televised live Sunday, July 4, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Road America… Although this weekend marks the NASCAR Cup Series’ first appearance to Road America since 1956, Austin Dillon has made three starts total at the track spread out among the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the ARCA Racing Series, earning two top-10 finishes. He also plans to compete in the Trans Am Series this weekend to get additional lap time at Road America. Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team… Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After eight years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sportsand follow us on Twitter @DowSports & @DowNewsroom. By Seeking Together, We Can Solve Anything – Dow Salutes Veterans… Dow’s solutions are reshaping our world. And at the heart of Dow’s solutions are their people. Their diversity is our strength. They reflect the world in which we do business and the communities in which we live. As a diverse community of approximately 37,000 employees worldwide, together we can solve anything.  More than 1,900 U.S. Military Veterans will “ride” with Dillon this weekend thanks to a patriotic No. 3 Chevrolet featuring the names of U.S. Military Veterans and active-duty military members. This year’s No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet features Dow’s commitment to the service and skills that veterans bring to the workforce with a special nod to Dow’s Veterans Resource Group (VETNET) and Military Degree Equivalency (MDE) program, which provides an opportunity for individuals with extensive military background to bring their broad scope of training and education, experience in leadership, and understanding of performing in high pressure situations into a successful career at Dow.  2021 marks the seventh consecutive year that Dow has partnered with RCR to honor U.S. Military veterans. The program began with just over 350 veterans in 2015 to more than 1900 this year. This year’s program also highlights Dow’s relationship with Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:You have experience at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Do you think that will give you an advantage this weekend?“It’s crazy because that was such a long time ago. I don’t know if it will really give me any type of advantage. A lot of other drivers have been there more recently, so I’m sure the track has aged a little bit. I have leaned on some of my old teammates. Brendan Gaughan previously won there and I asked him for some advice and his notes. He printed out a great track map for me and wrote notes on it, so I’m pumped about that. I’m looking forward to Road America. The road courses have been pretty good to us this year and I want to keep improving on those. I’m going up early to try and get a feel for the track and see if I can even remember what it was like when I ran there, which was a long time ago. I know it’s a slick track. I’ve been on the simulator a lot. I’m just trying to do my best to get acclimated. What do you think the key to performing well at Road America will be?“It’s one of those places where you have to have an average lap in order to have a good lap, because there are so many chances to overdrive certain turns. You can lose a lot in one corner and gain a lot in another. You just have to put it all together it seems like. A little bit of racing the track goes on in these kinds of races. The restarts are going to be aggressive and wild. People will be going everywhere. I do expect some attrition in the race because there are some areas where you can wreck some stuff. Runoffs, grassy areas. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. You some really good races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series there so I’m sure the NASCAR Cup Series will be just the same. I’m just looking forward to the challenge. It’s a challenging place. Do you think of yourself as a good road course racer?“I’m getting there. I’m better than where I started going into this year, for sure. I’ve had some consistent finishes this year. I definitely think taking on the 24 Hours of Daytona race was helpful for that. I had to step outside of my comfort zone, and it’s pushed me to be a better racer. I’ve done some other things in the off season, too. We raced in January at COTA. It’s really just about getting more road course racing experience. I’m definitely more comfortable. I’m not going into these races just saying ‘hey can we salvage a day.’ I’ve gone to many races in my career on road courses just wanting to salvage a weekend, and now after Sonoma and some of the speed we’ve shown I think it’s a different conversation. We scored stage points at the Daytona Road Course, Sonoma Raceway, and at COTA we were just hindered by the rain. We’ve been solid at road courses but there’s always room for improvement and I’m pumped for the challenge.” What road course does Road America resemble most?“I think Sonoma relates the most to Road America because of the grip level at Road America, so we will take something similar but try to make our car turn a little better. I thought we had a definite top-10 car at Sonoma. We just had a loose alternator wire cause issues. We had to change the battery every stage and came back to finish 12th or 13th.” You have a very unique paint scheme this weekend. Can you tell me about it…“The Dow Salutes Veterans car has been going on for seven years now. It started out with 350 names on the car, and I think we broke our record. We’re at 1,903. It’s pretty awesome to see all of the veterans on the car from RCR, Dow and Team Rubicon. My buddy Tyler Rader, who used to be the gas man on my team, is on my car now. It’s cool just to see all of the connections to the military that we have across the board. Everyone is getting involved and it’s cool to see the spider web effect of names growing every year.

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Road America… This weekend marks the return of the NASCAR Cup Series to Road America for the first time since 1956, but Tyler Reddick has some experience under his belt at the 4.048-mile road course. Reddick has two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, with a best finish of third coming with Richard Childress Racing during his 2019 championship season. About Kalahari Resorts & Conventions… Plan a getaway they’ll never forget at America’s Largest Indoor Waterparks. The nearby Wisconsin Dells, WI location has a 125,000 sq. ft. indoor waterpark and massive outdoor waterpark with thrilling rides and slides, a wave pool and lazy river, a virtual reality experience, specially designed kids’ areas and an adult-only swim up bar. Beyond the waterpark, the resort offers nearly 760 guest rooms and suites and a world-class spa, as well as the 100,000 sq. ft. indoor Tom Foolerys Adventure Park. Experience a six-story Ferris Wheel, aerial ropes course, lighting-speed zip line, mini golf, laser tag, adventurous climbing walls, bowling and a whole lot more… all under-one-roof. After the fun, take a break for a meal at one of the delicious on-site restaurant experiences. Visit kalahariresorts.com to plan your adventure. Get Special Offers & insider Exclusives… Follow Kalahari Resorts and Conventions on social media @KalahariResorts for special offers. #LoveKalahari #BestSummerYet TYLER REDDICK QUOTE:Heading into Road America this weekend, you have some experience on the road course that some Cup veterans may not. How does that affect your preparation and expectations for the race weekend?“Yeah, it’s nice going into the weekend with that experience. It makes me wish we weren’t having practice or qualifying so the Cup veterans could feel a little bit of what I felt heading into the Sonoma race weekend without turning a lap there! This weekend is going to be a great opportunity for our team. I feel like the approach you have for Road America is similar to that of COTA, and I felt really good about where we were with our car on the dry at COTA. We learned some things about our road course program at Sonoma Raceway a few weeks back, but that course isn’t as similar to Road America as COTA is. Road America is all about attacking the entry and nailing the apex. You don’t have to worry about drive-off as much as you do at Sonoma. I’m excited about the opportunity for my team and know we are bringing a great No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet to the track.”

Myatt Snider and the No. 2 Shore Lunch Chevrolet Camaro at Road America… Myatt Snider has one career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Road America, coming last year during the 2020 campaign. Despite having a minimum amount of experience at Elkhart Lake, the 26-year-old has a plethora of familiarity with left and right turns. Snider competed in the NASCAR Euro Series in 2019.  About Shore Lunch… For generations, fishing guides handed down their homemade recipe for fish batter. Beloved by fishermen and everyone alike, it became known as the Old Guide’s Secret™. Using this secret today, Shore Lunch offers the perfect soup, breading and batter mixes to complement any meal or enrich the flavor of your favorite recipes. Rich and savory, all of the mixes are intended to make it easy to serve up delicious, homemade meals in a fraction of the time.  About Summit Hill Foods… Summit Hill Foods is a fourth-generation, family-owned food company headquartered in Rome, Georgia. Founded in 1941, the company’s core strength is the development and manufacture of ingredient systems used to deliver texture and superior flavor. Summit Hill Foods is an ingredient supplier to food service manufacturers and restaurants. The company also markets nationally distributed brands including Better Than Bouillon®, Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce™, Southeastern Mills®, Shore Lunch® and Better Than Gravy®. Southeastern Mills operates six manufacturing facilities located in Rome, Georgia; New Iberia, Louisiana; and Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more, visit www.SHFoods.com. MYATT SNIDER QUOTE:What are the keys to success at Road America this weekend? “Road America is a really tricky road course with lots of bumps and elevation changes, but it’s also one of my favorite tracks on the Xfinity Series circuit. Having a good day in Elkhart Lake takes a few things – hitting your marks right, keeping the car on the race track, having a good car and using the right strategy. We have a really good Shore Lunch Chevrolet Camaro for this weekend and Andy Street (crew chief) has been making great strategy plays all year. I feel really confident that we can keep our good momentum from Pocono going this weekend in Wisconsin.”

The Marshalltown, IA driver is seventh in the Series standingsCONCORD, NC – July 2, 2021 – Albert Einstein once said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”When a new team joins the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series, keeping that balance is tough throughout the grueling schedule.Ryan Gustin, from Marshalltown, IA is on his maiden voyage with the World of Outlaws, and he’s learning what it takes to keep up with his competitors. But he’s not the only one gaining knowledge. It’s also a learning curve for his crew.Crew Chief Bret Ladehoff and Tire Specialist Noah Bushman are the two crew members who travel with Gustin across the country. While the World of Outlaws are a new venture for the team, a national travel schedule isn’t.Gustin’s time running United States Modified Touring Series – which spans from Texas to Iowa to Minnesota – prepared him for his rookie season.“It’s a lot of traveling but so is USMTS stuff and any national tour you put a lot of miles on,” Gustin said. “It’s just a lot of new racetracks and we haven’t had hardly any laps around a lot of these tracks we’ve been to.”The prior experience running a national tour allowed Gustin’s team to hit the ground running with the Late Model.“We’re not close to home but we’ve done it long enough that we’re used to being away from home for an extended period of time,” Ladehoff said. “That’s the nice thing is that we didn’t jump into this feet first and not really knowing what we’re getting ourselves into.”While traveling isn’t new to them, the crew still needed to make some changes around the shop. One of those changes is sticking to a routine to make sure certain jobs are done.There’s a lot of things that are definitely different about what we do here,” Ladehoff said. “The one thing we’ve all kind of gotten together on is a set schedule for what we do. I’ve got a set schedule of what I do with the car every day.”One step of the process is making sure they don’t run into problems at the racetrack. Ladehoff’s goal every time he touches the car is to point Gustin in the right direction.“I try to give him a car that’s not going to fall apart, something he can go out there and trust,” Ladehoff said. “That’s the big thing if he can trust the car, he’ll be better in it.”The work doesn’t end with fine-tuning the setup. One of the new learning experiences is tires, and it’s been a teaching moment for Bushman who’s been learning on the fly.“It’s a lot to do and the compounds are different,” Bushman said. “Some of them I’ve never even cut up before so it’s basically a shot in the dark, but I’ve got it figured out now and it’s going pretty good.”Even though the team is starting to find a rhythm, the crew knows they must hit their marks in the pits and on the track.“In the modified, [Gustin] could kind of horse it around if [the car] wasn’t right and make it work,” Ladehoff said. “With these things everybody’s good so you have to be on top of your game every night.”“It’s a lot more work and everything that you do you have to make sure it’s right and have your ducks in a row when you show up,” Bushman said.While having the right setup is important to beat their competitors, the team enjoys the comradery they have with the other drivers.“It’s a blast, you learn a lot and it makes you be better,” Ladehoff said. “At the end of the day we all want to see everyone get out there and race so if there’s something that we have, and somebody needs it and vice-versa we try to help everybody out.”Although the first year on tour’s been fun for Gustin he’s still looking toward the future.“We just hope to get this year out of the way,” Gustin said. “We’ll hopefully get rookie of the year, get a year under our belt, and have a notebook built for a lot of these tracks we haven’t been to before for next year.”Gustin has a hill to climb if he wants to be the Series’ top rookie. He’s 136 points behind Tyler Bruening with 28 races to go. He’s also seventh in the overall championship standings with four top-fives and 12 top-10s in 23 starts — 352 points behind Brandon Sheppard.No matter how they finish the season, Gustin and his crew are showing they’ve have found the perfect balance with the grueling Series schedule. They just keep moving.The next stop for the World of Outlaws Late Models is a doubleheader at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, MN July 9-10.TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3pxJSHjIf you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award), and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, FireAde, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, and Rocket Chassis.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS® Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.

Heckenast rebounds to finish second, Babb moves 21st-to-fifth after provisional start

DAVENPORT, IA – July 1, 2021 – Four wins in nine races. Not bad for the three-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Bobby Pierce, who’s off to one of the best starts to a Hell Tour campaign in his young career.

His latest trip to Victory Lane came Thursday night at Davenport Speedway, where he took his Pierce Platinum Race Car to the high side of the quarter-mile configuration and put on a clinic, crossing the stripe with a near five-second lead over Frank Heckenast Jr. and Brandon Sheppard for his 31st career Summer Nationals Feature win in back-to-back fashion.

But to get the lead, Pierce was forced to go a different route. Polesitter Tony Jackson Jr. jumped out to the lead through the middle while Pierce held off Tanner English for second in the opening laps. A quick caution restacked the field and gave Jackson the opportunity to switch to the preferred top lane, which he did and began to open up a gap.

But on Lap 12, Jackson darted to the bottom in Turn 3 and slid up to the high side at the exit of Turn 4, leaving the door wide-open for Pierce down low.

“He got a little loose off of Turn 2, and I had a pretty good run. I thought, ‘well, we’ll see if he goes to the top,’ and he did. He left the door open, I shot in there and just stayed in the gas and kinda blocked him coming off the corner,” Pierce, of Oakwood, IL, said of the move for the lead.

Now with the advantage out front and lots of room to maneuver through traffic, Pierce grabbed the lead after a second restart and checked out, weaving up to a six-second lead at one point while the rest of the field was left to duke it out behind him.

Included in that crowd was one of the fastest cars on the track in the closing stages of the race – Frank Heckenast Jr. The Summer Nationals veteran had just come off a heartbreaking end to his night on Wednesday at Beaver Dam, where a battery malfunction forced him to retire while leading. Looking for a night of redemption in the Hawkeye State, he found it, climbing back from as low as eighth at one point to finish second.

“Last night, we break the track record, win the Heat, feeling like nothing can go wrong, and then we finish 18th,” Heckenast, of Frankfort, IL, said. “Tonight, nothing went right. The car wouldn’t start before Hot Laps, barely got out for Hot Laps… Heat Race was a disaster, I don’t know what the heck was going on there, so we got put back and that cost us a lot.”

While he endured those struggles early Thursday night, Heckenast came roaring back to life in the second half of the Feature. Having faded back to eighth after the final restart on Lap 14, he gassed it up on the bottom lane and advanced six positions over the next 19 laps to take second.

“Cade [Dillard] gave me about 10 percent life on the bottom when I looked up, and he hung with them guys coming off Turn 4, and I was like, ‘wait a second, there might be something here,’” Heckenast said.

Heckenast battled with Dillard, Dennis Erb Jr, Tanner English and others in his drive to the front before meeting Jackson, who had again found his mojo on the top side and engaged in a lap-after-lap struggle with Heckenast in the final stages. Back-and-forth the two swapped spots for four laps before Heckenast took it away permanently with five laps remaining.

Looking back on the finish and the cars he passed to get there, Heckenast was quite pleased with he and his team’s effort with the big guns in the house. A grand total of 35 DIRTcar Late Models packed the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds pit area to take part in the Summer Nationals’ 21-year awaited return, and the core Illinois drivers showed their toughness right from the drop of the green.

“It was a great rebound run for us with all of these cars here,” Heckenast said. “MLRA, there’s some World of Outlaws here… it just shows that Bobby, Brandon [Sheppard], and a lot of us guys can do this deal. There’s no slouches.”

With his fourth win of the year, Pierce now has a comfortable lead in the points standings and is well on his way to the Week #3 points bonus. Although he may not be as worried about points as he has been in the past, he’ll take a check for $5,000 any day.

“For sure, it’s definitely been a good start,” Pierce said. “We haven’t really been worrying about points that much because we came into it figuring we’re not going to run it all. I’m still not going to run it all, but we’re still gonna go out there and win as many races as we can.”

Brandon Sheppard, the 2013 Summer Nationals champion from New Berlin, IL, crossed in third after a charge from 13th in the family-owned #B5 Rocket Chassis. Tony Jackson Jr. faded back to fourth before the checkers, while four-time tour champion Shannon Babb completed an amazing climb from 21st (a provisional spot) to fifth to earn the Hard Charger honors.

UP NEXT

The Hell Tour rolls into The Dirt Oval at Route 66 for race #10 of the 2021 campaign Friday night, July 2, alongside the return of the Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals to the card. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (40 Laps) 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[13]; 4. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 5. 18- Shannon Babb[21]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[11]; 7. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 8. 81E-Tanner English[3]; 9. 11H-Spencer Hughes[5]; 10. 12-Ashton Winger[7]; 11. 25-Jason Feger[17]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley[16]; 13. 48-Tim Lance[19]; 14. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[18]; 15. 10-Paul Parker[14]; 16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[12]; 17. 14G-Joe Godsey[22]; 18. 29-Spencer Diercks[10]; 19. 59-Garrett Alberson[9]; 20. 00-Jesse Stovall[8]; 21. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[15]; 22. 16-Rusty Griffaw[20]

Ricky Taylor’s Wayne Taylor Racing Acura on the pole
Olivier Pla notches front row strart in his Meyer Shank Racing ARX-05
Till Bechtolsheimer for Gradient Racing and Jeff Kingsley for Compass Racing both score top-five starts

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 1, 2021) – Acura scored their second front row sweep in as many races, with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky Taylor taking pole position for the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Watkins Glen. Fellow ARX-05 driver Olivier Pla will start alongside for Meyer Shank Racing to complete the second consecutive all-Acura qualifying sweep.

In damp, but drying, conditions for qualifying, Taylor edged Pla by 0.346 of a second—with the entire six-car DPi field was covered by just over one second.

In the production-based GTD category, Till Bechtolsheimer led the charge in his #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo, qualifying in the fourth position. Bechtolsheimer will start just one spot ahead of another Acura NSX, the #76 Compass Racing machine piloted by Jeff Kingsley.

Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen Qualifying Results
1st overall – #10 Ricky Taylor, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
2nd overall – #60 Dane Cameron, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
4th GTD – #66 Till Bechtolsheimer, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
5th GTD – #76 Jeff Kingsley, Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo

Quotes
Ricky Taylor (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05) pole qualifier; race co-driver will be Filipe Albuquerque: “Watching the other [qualifying] sessions, it seemed like the track was improving all the time, since it was drying out [from earlier rain]. We [DPi] were the luckiest ones of all the classes as the track was really quite dry for the start of our session. I think everyone decided to run the entire session to make sure they got a good lap in. So we went out right away and obviously, the track continued to improve throughout. That alone gave you some pace as the laps increased. But I think the biggest factor is that, after a week [since the six-hour race here last Sunday], everyone has a little bit of data on how to go a bit faster, but it was still very much a game of ‘how much tire do I have left’ vs. ‘how much is the track drying’. Luckily, we got it right on that last lap [for pole].”

Till Bechtolsheimer (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo): Qualified fourth; co-driver will be Marc Miller: “We’ll see how the conditions are for tomorrow’s race. If it’s a dry race, I am a little bit worried because most of the teams were here for the six-hour last weekend and we haven’t done a single dry lap yet at Watkins Glen, but if it’s similar to today’s conditions or fully wet, we’re feeling really good. The car felt great during qualifying, it’s pretty well-known that the Acura NSX is good in the wet. It was really confidence-inspiring once we got some temperature into the tires—it felt great! This team has made such huge strides; last time out we ended up with our first podium in WeatherTech, which is a huge achievement, and to qualify P4, that is far and away the best position I’ve qualified in WeatherTech. It just feels like every time we’re out, we’re learning a bit more and getting more confident and just making huge strides.”

Fast Facts
The pole position is Ricky Taylor’s 23rd in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.
Gradient Racing is coming off of their strongest-ever finish, and first-ever podium, in IMSA WeatherTech competition at the last Sprint Cup round last month in Detroit.

Where to Watch the IMSA WeatherTech 240
Live television coverage from Watkins Glen begins at 6 PM EDT Friday on the NBC Sports Network. Live flag-to-flag race coverage will also be available on NBC Gold Track Pass and the NBC Sports App.

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 Watkins Glen International Raceway 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).

CNo. 3 Corvette just beats out Tandy, No. 4 C8.R in dynamic qualifying session

WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 26, 2021) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor followed up a victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen with the GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole position Thursday for the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Watkins Glen International.  A winner with Antonio Garcia on Sunday, Taylor set a time of 1:43.821 (117.895 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R ahead of Friday’s two-hour, 40-minute sprint race. The time was a scant 0.224 seconds quicker than Nick Tandy in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R that he drives with Tommy Milner. Like Taylor, Tandy’s best lap – 1:44.045 (117.641 mph) – came on his final time around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit on a quickly drying track. It was the second GTLM pole in less than a week for the No. 3 Corvette with Garcia claiming the honors ahead of the Six Hours. Rain pelted Watkins Glen throughout Thursday afternoon. The day’s lone practice session featured a mix of light and more moderate showers that left the track damp throughout. Conditions dried out for qualifying with both Corvettes opting for slick Michelin tires for qualifying. Weather for the race could mirror what Corvette Racing experienced Thursday, giving team strategists and engineers plenty to think about before Friday evening’s green flag. Friday’s race will air live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “It’s great to be out front again. We were all glued to the TV watching Madison (Snow’s) qualifying trying to decide whether to go wets or drys.  We knew he was on wets and a couple other guys were on drys, and they were way out for most of it. Then they bridged the gap on the last lap but not enough to get him. We thought maybe if they had a couple more laps, slicks would have been the way to go. So we committed to it. The first couple of laps were a little git sketchy but as soon as you built some temperature, the grip level was pretty high, other than (turns) 9, 10 and 11. You needed a nice rhythm to keep building temps, finding brake points and how much speed you could carry. I caught someone with two to go, which kind of broke the rhythm and kind of had me stressed the last lap. But thankfully everything worked out. When you are head-to-head with a guy like Nick Tandy, you really need to make the most of it. He’s a guy I’ve grown up watching and respected. So to go head-to-head with him, I knew I would be nailing everything and had to be on my A-game. I’m glad it worked out. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow, but it’s nice to have Corvette Racing with another one-two.” WAS THE RACING LINE DRY AND COULD THE SLICK TIRES WORK ALL THE WAY AROUND OR WERE THERE WET SPOTS? “To begin with, there were definitely wet spots in some of the short chutes between corners. Turn Nine was still pretty slick and 10 seemed a little slick. Everywhere else, it looked damp but you had to commit and trust that the grip was there. It was more of a mental game than anything. There definitely was a very narrow line. On a couple of laps, I got maybe six inches to a foot wide and you lose the front end of the car. You definitely had to be precise. By the end, everyone knew where the grip was and you could carry speed.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM: “It was an interesting day today because we got to run in the full wet conditions, we got to run with the wet tires in the dry conditions and then we got to run a slick tire in a wet to dry condition. You don’t often get that sort of thing in one day. It makes it difficult to plan what you are doing, or to make any plans. It’s kind of interesting in some regard because it is different. For the qualifying session, when it is like this you go out on slicks and you know every lap is getting quicker and quicker. It’s always difficult to know how hard to push the car on the tire. But that is why we are in the car to find out. The good thing is we have both cars with decent lap times and in one piece. I think it’s given us all good experience of what the weather could bring tomorrow.”

WATKINS GLEN, NY (July 1, 2021) – Jordan Taylor put Corvette Racing on pole position Thursday for the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Watkins Glen International. A winner with Antonio Garcia on Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Taylor set a time of 1:43.821 in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. The time was a scant 0.224 seconds quicker than Nick Tandy in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R that he drives with Tommy Milner. Friday’s race will air live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage of the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “It was a good lap, obviously. This session was a bit different and stressful with different conditions leading into it. We didn’t know whether to go slick or wet (tires). Thankfully the guys made the right call with slicks, and then it was all about building temperatures in the tires and nailing it at the end. The track was getting faster at the end. There are only three cars in our class but any time you can be on pole and maximize the points from qualifying is a big part of the championship. I’m glad we’ve gotten that and now we can focus on the race tomorrow.”FIRST POLE OF THE SEASON: “It’s good. I think we’re four races in and Antonio has two poles and now I’ve had one. It’s going well for the 3 Corvette so far but we’re still early in the season. The momentum doesn’t hurt so we’ll keep on going.”DIFFERENCES IN FRIDAY’S RACE FROM SIX HOURS: “It’ll be way different. There were a couple more cars overall on the grid Sunday and traffic was tough. I think this week we’ll see similar stuff. The race will be stressful with traffic. It will be about track position and fuel mileage but that’s always a part of these IMSA races. So we’ll start from pole and try to maintain that track position. You never know what will happen.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO TEAM CHEVY DRIVER CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT RINUS VEEKAY ZOOM TRANSCRIPT JULY 2-4 THE MODERATOR: It’s been a rather interesting couple weeks for Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, from a top-3 starting positing at Detroit to deciding to ride to Road America on a bike, which didn’t exactly go as planned. Regardless, Rinus rejoins the NTT INDYCAR Series this weekend for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the HPD Ridgeline, back in the No. 21 Sonex Autogeek Chevrolet as he continues his pursuit of an NTT INDYCAR Series championship, and Rinus joins us before traveling to central Ohio later today.
First off, Rinus, how are we feeling?
RINUS VEEKAY: I’m feeling good. Feeling strong. I got quite a good range of motion in my left shoulder again. No pain. I’ve been on the simulator and just felt great. No distractions from any weird feelings or pain.Yeah, ready to race and ready to win.
THE MODERATOR: We saw on social media yesterday you already spent some time in the sim. How did it go, and how about the wear and tear on the shoulder this week, and what do you expect?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I’m already in the gym like every day trying to use the arm and like strengthen the muscles. I think it’s not going to be an issue. Like the movement I need to turn the wheel is a movement that’s not painful to me. Luckily that’s all right for me.Yeah, I just feel very strong like on the simulator, we were I think four tenths faster than I was last year with the progression of the car and me driving a little bit better, I think.I think we keep improving, just like every race this season, so I’m ready.
THE MODERATOR: I know you’ve got good memories at Mid-Ohio. No one can forget the pass on the outside of Colton Herta in race 1 last year. What did you learn from Mid-Ohio last year that maybe you can use going into the weekend this year?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, it’s going to be very close. Hopefully it’s not going to be half wet in qualifying just like last year. But I think it’s going to be fine.Of course it was a double-header, which I’m not a huge fan of, because I like the buildup to just one race. So I think a single-header is going to be great for me.I like the track, and yeah, I think just like last year, you’ve got to stay out of trouble because it’s quite close. Like maybe the front three get away, and you want to be part of the front three and just fight it out there on track.
Q.I’m just wondering, the simulator, as you approached that, did you try to do a full race kind of like mode, or how did you approach it to make sure that you’re basically A-ok to drive a full race, if you follow my drift?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, we did like all short stints just to get the car better, but I’ve been in the car like driving for 10 minutes and like a two-minute break in between for like two hours at a time, and I had no issues.We did take it easy with tightening the belts because normally I have my Hans device there which kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off the set of the belts just being directly over. Took it a little easy, didn’t take any risks, but I’m 100 percent confident that it’s going to be no issue.With all the heavy corners in Mid-Ohio, they all go left, so it’s not going to be an issue.
Q.Does the simulator give you — how does it give you the sensation of driving Mid-Ohio? Was that what you were doing? How does it figure in, factor in or throw in the physical nature of it, or can it do that?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I think Mid-Ohio on the simulator from Chevy, it’s one of the best correlated tracks. Like the whole feeling of oversteer you have is the actual feeling I have in the real car.You’re really working on that track. I always get out of the car super sweaty, so no, it’s not just driving on a simulator for fun, it’s definitely tough but also very, very good help to getting into the mode for that weekend and also going through some procedures you never have time for on the race weekend.
Q.Are you being forbidden from riding a bicycle by your team? Have they looked at the Tour de France crashes and gone, wait a minute, maybe you shouldn’t do this?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, we haven’t really talked about it. I think it’s — I’ve got to build it up slowly. I might step on the bike again in the off-season when I have time to recover if something crazy happens, but this was just a stupid accident.Many of the other INDYCAR drivers, they’re on the bike, and it’s a good way to work out. I bought like a virtual rear wheel form of bike so I can ride on Zwift, which also many drivers do, and then I can ride inside without falling off.
Q.I kind of wanted you to walk me through what happened and what went through your mind when you went down? Did you know instantly you were hurt? And what part of your bike ride were you on and what was the decision to go from where you were to Chicago that day?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, so I was riding with my trainer Raun, and we were just side by side on a bike trail, very safe actually, nothing crazy. I don’t know what caused it. I think my steering wheel went sideways and threw me over the bike. I knew I fell hard, but then I was on the ground — actually no pain but just little shocks.And then I feel my shoulder and I feel the bone not being where it’s supposed to be. I immediately knew that was going to be a problem.But yeah, had no pain at all until I got to the hospital. Lucky and happy with that.And then yeah, we were going to ride from Indiana Dunes State Park, so we drove from Chicago to there. My parents dropped me off, and Raun, and then we would drive from there to our hotel in Chicago, which was going to be around 70 miles, and yeah, we crashed around mile 15.Didn’t even get a good workout in, but that’s not a problem. Good thing is I can be in the car this weekend.
Q.What were you doing during the race that you weren’t able to race, and was it hard for you? What was your role that weekend instead?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I just tried to be a part of the team, so be in the pit stand during the race and be at the pre-race meetings and just be around and learn from what the team was doing and use the opportunity to have eyes like from outside and look at things from another perspective.
Q.That race that you missed with Oliver filling in for you, I know you guys have been Road to Indy rivals I guess you would say for a couple years now, what was your impression of what he was able to do just hopping in and putting together a top-12 finish, and how did you guys’ relationship evolve over the weekend, being able to work together rather than against each other a little bit?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, I think he did really well. Of course it’s not easy to step into a brand new team, brand new car on Road America; it’s a hard track. But just like he told me, the car was very good to drive, so that made it a lot easier. You kind of have the same feeling in the car.Yeah, I think he did really well, and yeah, I think it was a great opportunity for him, and then in race weekend it was pretty cool working with him instead of against him.But yeah, he was doing well on the team and looked very professional. Also I think like everyone saw, we had some fun and some non-intended puns, but no, it was a lot of fun. Definitely could have been a lot worse missing a race.
Q.Looking forward now that you’re back in the car with seven races to go, I know missing out on a race certainly with Alex winning one isn’t ideal for your championship hunt. You’re a little bit more than 100 points back now. We’ve only seen a couple two-time race winners so far this year. It looks like for someone anywhere from fourth beyond who’s going to hope to make a championship run, you’re probably going to have to win two or three of these next seven races. With how tight we’ve seen the championship be this first half or so of the season, do you feel like a run like that is possible or doable either for you or anyone else beyond second or third place?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, we’ve seen Scott Dixon do it last year, so I think it’s definitely possible. You’ve got to be lucky yourself and other guys got to be a little unlucky.But I’m not really focused on that. I just want to get back in the top 5 in the championship and just do the best I can and show some great racing and of course try to win every weekend.You know, as much as — you can work as hard as possible, but it’s almost impossible.Yeah, it’s definitely going to be tough to catch up, but that’s not really any of my worries. I’m just going to give it all and see where I end up.
Q.Going from your rookie season to fighting to be top 5, maybe even top 3 in the championship by season’s end through eight races this year, in what way do you feel like you’ve made the biggest improvements from your rookie season to now?RINUS VEEKAY: I think just the teamwork. My way of working together with the team and just the whole atmosphere and I can just be myself, and I think now like my engineer Matt Barnes can really read what I am doing. Like he can really take everything out of my words and use it as a valuable change on the car, and every change we do is perfect.I feel like the whole car team has improved but also the whole teamwork, and of course I get more comfortable every day in the car.
Q.Obviously this weekend it’s a very kind of packed field with 26 drivers on the grid. How important is it to kind of roll off really well tomorrow?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it’s going to be important, just like my first race when we started off practices I think P3, P2. When you feel you’re right there when you start the weekend, you’re going to have a good weekend. Even the simulator it felt better than average.I think we can have a good start and go for a podium and hopefully win again. I think it’s definitely possible.Even though we have two practices now, which is very nice, it’s still going to be not that much time, so got to give it all.
Q.In terms of the track itself, is there any particular section of the track that you particularly enjoy, or is it just the whole thing in general?RINUS VEEKAY: I kind of enjoy Turn 9. It’s always a nice corner, turning in fully on the curve and then falling off the track where you’re always like fighting the oversteer. I think it’s definitely a very — yeah, a very sensational track. It just feels great to drive there, especially with a good car.
Q.Back in Road America, you had made a comment that you had talked to Josef about sort of how it went for him when he had a similar situation when he was at ECR; have you been leaning on anybody else for advice during this time?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, yeah, I’ve talked with Josef a little bit, but yeah, also in the team, they know him very well, so everyone still has memories from how that went.He only drove, I think, nine days after surgery. I’m already way past, two weeks, so I’m not worried at all. I got a message on Instagram from a V8 Supercar driver Shane van Gisbergen about hyperbaric oxygen treatments that have really helped his clavicle recover. He drove eight days after surgery.I immediately searched for a clinic that did that, and I did three hours of hyperbaric chambers a day. Yeah, I think it really helped and like sped up the recovery process.
Q.What was some of Josef’s advice and what were some of the things you guys talked about?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, he told me it might feel good now after surgery because it’s super strong, but take it easy. You don’t want to hurt yourself even more. Yeah, just be responsible. That’s definitely good advice, but also he told me — yeah, when he was driving he had no pain, and they worked around with a few different Hans device pads to relieve the pressure that’s on there. We’ve done that last Monday, and we’ve found really good ones. I’m able to be in the car with belts super tight and have no pain.
Q.How has your training regimen changed with all of this, and do you foresee it getting back to normal in the near future, or are you sort of in a new mode for the rest of the season as far as training goes?RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I did a lot of like upper body like bench press, shoulder press, that kind of stuff, and now it’s tough, I’m still recovering. Yesterday I could finally do some push-ups, but overhead I’m still — it’s still very tough.With strength training, I’m building it up and doing lots of stretching, too. But then cardio-wise, yeah, no cycling of course right now, so trying to do a bit of running. I did a 5K run yesterday without pain, so that’s good. Possibly going to do a run while everyone is doing the track walk today.Trying to get some cardio in, but I think I’m ready for the race weekend.
Q.I just heard that you said that something that helped you this year was the connection with the team. What did you learn staying in the wall with the team the last race that you can improve your driving?RINUS VEEKAY: So I think definitely strategy-wise. Normally they just tell me, pit this lap, and they got to change the strategy when there’s a yellow or a red flag or anything. I just listened to them.But now when I was on the wall I learned — I got to see how they think and why they make certain decisions, so now I can think with them and possibly decline some of their strategies when they say something, because yeah, I learned some stuff that I definitely would have struggled with in the race.Yeah, it’s definitely good to learn that. Even makes me stronger for the future.
Q.I already heard what you said about all your training, all your process from healing. What do you think will be the challenge for this return for you, this middle sector with fast corners? Do you think it will be a problem from something specific or just you have to try?RINUS VEEKAY: I think it’s not going to be a problem. I feel confident. I was first a little bit worried about maybe my neck would be painful with the pressure, with the G-forces, but I’ve done some neck training and felt nothing, feel super strong. Definitely no worries, and as long as I don’t go overhead with my arms, it’s going to be fine. So if I cheer going past the checkered flag first, I’ve got to do it like — got to throw up my right hand instead of my left hand.
Q.I know you talked about what you did and how Oliver did, but how did you feel watching someone else drive the No. 21?RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it’s definitely weird to see your own car leave pit lane and you not being there in the car. That was weird, but no, I felt okay once I accepted it, of course.I tried to see everything from a positive perspective, and I think I really did well that weekend. Yeah, I’m very excited to be in the car again this week.
Q.Did you feel like left out when someone else was driving the No. 21?RINUS VEEKAY: I didn’t feel very left out. I was still in the meetings with the team and doing everything I normally do, just not driving. I still tried to be part of the team and not leave them alone, so I just tried to be with them and learn as much as possible and still give the team a good feeling that I’m still there.
Q.After Mid-Ohio we have a summer break of sorts. I was wondering what your plans were and if the injury changed what you were going to do over the next month?RINUS VEEKAY: No, I’m still going to do what I was supposed to do. I’m going to go to Curaçao, the Caribbean, after Mid-Ohio, where I’ll see my girlfriend for the first time since January 4th. Then she’s going to come to Nashville, so she’s going to stay for a long time.Yeah, just going to relax a little bit, and yeah, try to build up the recovery in my shoulder and try to build up all the workouts.
Q.Has your girlfriend been to an INDYCAR race before?RINUS VEEKAY: She has not. Unfortunately with COVID it’s hard to get her across from Europe, but right now if she stays 14 days in the Caribbean, she can get into the U.S.That’s our plan, and I think she’ll love it, definitely.
THE MODERATOR: Great to see you back up and at it and already training and ready to go this weekend. Thank you so much for doing this this morning, and safe travels to Ohio.

$30K is on the line between two Features at Jackson MotorplexJACKSON, MN– July 1, 2021 –The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models are one week away from kicking off a six race swing through three states. It starts when the Series visits Minnesota for the first time this season on July 9-10 at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, MN.The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet will run two complete shows starting with a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win Feature on Friday, July 9. Then, the Series returns to Jackson Motorplex on Saturday, July 10 for a $20,000-to-win 50-lap Feature.Fans can enjoy a pre-race party, including happy hour in the beer garden, music, cornhole, and a driver meet and greet on Saturday afternoon.TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3pxJSHjCamping is available to fans at the track with hundreds of hookups available.To reserve a camping spot: Call 507-849-7100.The Tri-State Late Models will join the Series on both nightsOnce the World of Outlaws finish their doubleheader at Jackson Motorplex, they’ll head north to Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, WI for their first midweek show of the season on Tuesday, July 13.The Northern swing finishes with a three-day weekend spanning three states.A trip to North Dakota starts the weekend on Friday, July 16 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. Then, the Series heads back to Minnesota for a trip to I-94 Sure Step Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN on Saturday, July 17. The final race of the weekend is the Rumble at the Red Cedar at Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, WI on Sunday July 18.Brandon Sheppard’s quest for a fourth championship continues during the Northern swing, as he tries to fend off challenges from his biggest rival Chris Madden. The New Berlin, IL driver leads Madden by 58 points.Fans will also have a front row seat to the chase for Rookie of Year between Tyler Bruening and Ryan Gustin. Bruening is currently the top rookie—136 points ahead of Gustin. Both drivers are looking for their first World of Outlaws victory, as well.Brent Larson, of Lake Elmo, MN is another driver searching for his first Series triumph. He’ll have two chances to find Victory Lane in his home state during the six race swing.If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award), and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, FireAde, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, and Rocket Chassis.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS® Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250 ROAD AMERICA ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSINJULY 4, 2021
 RACE #20 – ROAD AMERICAChevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) return to road course competition this holiday weekend, looking to create fireworks at the 4.048-mile venerable circuit of Road America. Team Chevy, which has won seven of the past eight NCS races and sits atop the Manufacturer Standings, will aim for its 10th victory of the season in the Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip. The 62-lap race on the 14-turn multi-elevational road course is Sunday, July 4. It will be the NASCAR Cup Series first visit to Road America since the track’s inaugural season in 1956. In the first and only NCS race held at the Wisconsin road course, four Chevrolet drivers finished in the top-10 of the 63-lap race, led by Paul Goldsmith’s fourth place finish in a 1956 Chevy owned by Smokey Yunick. AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Kaulig Racing in the NCS event, has the distinction of visiting Victory Circle at Road America in two different series. He won the 51-lap Champ Car Series race in 2006 from the fifth starting spot; and in 2013, won the 50-lap NASCAR Xfinity Series race from the pole. Allmendinger, who will also drive the No. 16 Hyperice Camaro SS in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Henry 180 on Saturday, July 3, was runner-up in 2020 NXS race at Road America and started from the pole in 2019. Chevrolet has won seven of the 11 NXS races at Road America. Other Team Chevy drivers who have raced in NXS at Road America include Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece and James Davison. With a third-place finish, Justin Allgaier led three Team Chevy drivers in the top five in the June 27 NXS race at Pocono Raceway. Allmendinger, who finished fifth at Pocono, remains second in the Driver Standings. Chevrolet continues atop the Manufacturer Standings.
Chevrolet NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) drivers will next race in the 200-lap Corn Belt 150 presented by Premier Chevy Dealers on Friday, July 9, in Knoxville, Iowa. Team Chevy’s Zane Smith is fourth in the Driver Standings.
CHEVROLET REMAINS ATOP STANDINGSChevrolet is first in the NCS Manufacturer Standings. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson moved  to just two points of the top of the Driver Standings following his second- and ninth-place finishes at Pocono Raceway.
Larson has placed first or second in seven of the past eight points races in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 1LE, including three wins in a row. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron remains third and reigning NCS champion Chase Elliott is sixth.
ROAD MASTERSChevrolet drivers have won two of the three NCS road course races this season and paced all manufacturers with 151 laps led of the 216 total. Kyle Larson won the Series’ most recent road course race at Sonoma Raceway; and Chase Elliott won in NASCAR’s debut at Circuit of The Americas, capturing Chevrolet’s 800th victory in NASCAR’s premier division. Elliott is seeking his seventh career road course victory. Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon is the NASCAR Cup Series leader with nine, including five at Sonoma Raceway.
TAKING IT IN STAGESChevrolet drivers have amassed 17 stages wins, including a field-high 12 by Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville). Others contributing to the total are Chase Elliott (Daytona RC); William Byron (Homestead, Pocono2) and Kurt Busch (Nashville, Pocono1). BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet leads manufacturer with 804 NCS victories.·       Chevrolet tied its 2020 win total of nine through only 19 races thus far this season.·       Chevrolet leads manufacturers in laps led (2,182) of the 4,861 total and top-10 finishes with 87.·       Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,441 laps led. His previous career best was 1,352 in the 36 races in 2017.·       Austin Dillon is tied for most laps completed 99.92% (4,857).·       Kurt Busch holds the final provisional Playoff spot. Tyler Reddick is one place above in 15th and Austin Dillion is 14th with seven races left in the NCS regular season. ·       Kyle Larson’s 12 stage wins are more than twice as many as any other driver.
TUNE INNBC will telecast both the NASCAR Cup Series Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, July 4, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 live at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, July 3. Live coverage of the races can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
QUOTABLE QUOTESKYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 2nd IN STANDINGSLARSON ON WHAT HE THINKS OF ROAD AMERICA: “I’ve raced there before in an Xfinity car in 2013. I remember it was a really fun racetrack – a really long racetrack. I’m definitely excited to get back there this weekend because it’s a really cool place. Whether on the simulator or iRacing, it’s good to get visuals of elevation changes ahead of time.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LEDANIELS ON HIS PREVIOUS ROAD AMERICA EXPERIENCE: “Kyle has raced there before and I did in Xfinity, as well, but there’s not much you can pull from those past experiences. It’s been such a long time, so we’re trying to take a fresh look at understanding the race. We’ll go back and watch some Xfinity races from the past couple of years to try to get a feel for what is important there, what do we need to attack and what we need to tune.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 3rd IN STANDINGSBYRON ON RETURNING TO ROAD AMERICA: “I’m excited for this road course. I finished sixth there in the Xfinity Series in 2017. I had a good run and felt like it was one of my best road course races in that series overall. I expect more of the same this weekend in the Cup car. You just want to make sure that the car turns well and that you’re good in the braking zones. For us as a team, I think we will start off getting back to the basics of road course racing. We’ve had some bad luck recently but normally we’re really good at this style of racing. I’m excited that it’s another new track for the series and I think it will race really well for our cars.”
RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE FUGLE ON RETURNING TO ROAD COURSE RACING: “Honestly, this weekend we’re looking to set the reset button on our road course racing program for the No. 24 team. After Sonoma and how things ended and some misfortune at the DAYTONA Road Course, we really want to get back to the speed and execution we had at COTA. Even with suffering damage there, we were able to make it back through the field and on a strategy that set us up well for the end before the weather picked up. William feels like road course racing has become one of his strengths over the last couple years and we want to keep him confident in that. So, the plan is to have a nice, basic weekend of executing like we need to and having a solid plan should any misfortune arise. We know what we’re capable of – it’s just a matter of maximizing where we can and there’s potential for that this weekend.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGS“I’ve raced up at Road America a couple times in the Xfinity Series and I always really enjoyed going there. It’s a cool racetrack. There are a lot of race fans up there – a lot of people that enjoyed having us racing there. I’ve always felt very welcome and I don’t anticipate this weekend being any different. I am looking forward to getting back up there.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS“The morale is obviously super high at Hendrick Motorsports. It’s really cool to see it that way. I think there’s not one thing. It’s each and every individual at Hendrick Motorsports from top to bottom in every department, it’s everybody at Chevrolet. Our engines are strong, bodies are great, chassis are great. The guys putting them together are doing a great job. Having Chad in a new role is really good. Mr. H and Jeff and everybody are giving us all the tools we need to put the parts and pieces together to go win races. Yeah, it’s not one thing. It’s a culmination of everybody’s hard work. It’s cool to be a part of it and be the guy that gets to drive ’em.”
“I am excited to get to Road America this weekend. I raced there in the Xfinity Series back in 2013, so getting back there is going to be a lot of fun. It is a long race track and really long lap times, but it is a fun place and really technical.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE“It was definitely odd to win and then have to get ready to race again the next day. Very thankful that we were able to have a good car again on Sunday and able to come home seventh. Saturday kind of was going as planned, obviously we knew that the No. 5 car had four tires and we had two tires. You never want to see your teammate have an issue like that, but we were in the position we needed to be in and it just worked out. On the last lap we were talking about what we needed for Sunday’s race to be better. So, when we crossed the line first, it was a roller coaster of emotion and a surprised celebration for me on the box.”
“It is definitely an advantage having track time at a place like Road America. The hardest part is probably only remembering the corners that were most prevalent. Hendrick has great cars right now and the power has been strong from the Hendrick engine shop, so I know that we can get another good finish this weekend.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW SALUTES VETERANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 12th IN STANDINGSTHE SPECIAL PAINT SCHEMES – THAT’S SOMETHING THAT RCR STARTED YEARS AGO WITH (DALE) EARNHARDT IN THE ALL-STAR RACE. “I think RCR does a great job of changing it up and bringing in different paint schemes. This No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Camaro ZL1 1LE and putting all the veterans on it, it’s really grown over the years that we’ve had it. I think six or seven years now that we’ve been doing this car. It started with 350 names and now it’s 1,900 names. It’s just a spiderweb effect of everyone that really enjoys seeing their name on the car. But more than anything, it’s for our veterans and the people that allow us to go race on the weekends that have made this country what it is today.” THE SEASON TO THIS POINT, YOU GUYS ARE ABOVE THE CUTLINE IN THE PLAYOFFS. ARE YOU PLEASED WITH WHERE YOU ARE? GIVE US A RECAP OF HOW YOU FEEL YOUR SEASON IS. “I’m pleased with the consistency. We show up each and every weekend and have strong, consistent cars that withstand the races. I think the next part of that evolution is just getting a little bit more speed. We would like to be where some of our other Chevy teammates are. Getting a win would be nice; that would lock us into the Playoffs. With seven races to go though, points-wise, it’s a pretty good position. You just can’t have another person win, so you’re always on edge. You want to be that person that locks yourself in.” ANOTHER ROAD COURSE RACE THIS WEEKEND. ANOTHER WILDCARD RACE? “Yeah, for sure. The road courses have turned into wildcard races. Taking care of your stuff, trying to make it to the end of these things becomes a demo-derby out there. This is going to be one of those ones that if you stay on track, you’re going to have a pretty good run.”
“Road America is just a big place. A lot can go on in one lap. You can have one good corner and be proud of it and then the next one could be really terrible. By the end of the lap, you haven’t put together anything. You really just have to be consistent, put yourself in a good position to capitalize on other peoples’ mistakes.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS AND CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGS“It’s nice going into the weekend with some experience that Cup veterans may not have since I’ve raced at Road America in the Xfinity Series. It makes me wish we weren’t having practice or qualifying so the Cup veterans could feel a little bit of what I felt heading into the Sonoma race weekend without turning a lap there! Regardless, this weekend is going to be a great opportunity for our team. I feel like the approach you have for Road America is similar to that of COTA, and I felt really good about where we were with our car on the dry at that track. We learned some things about our road course program at Sonoma Raceway a few weeks back too, but that course isn’t as similar to Road America as COTA is. Road America is all about attacking the entry and nailing the apex. You don’t have to worry about drive-off as much as you do at Sonoma. I’m excited about the opportunity for our team this weekend and know we are bringing a great No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet to the track.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 GOOD SAM PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 18th IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ROAD AMERICA? “I am thrilled with going to Road America. I have raced there a few times and looking forward to having some fun. It’s a very tricky race track. We won’t have to worry about rain delays this weekend since we will have rain tires.” 
SEASON SO FAR? “We are moving in the right direction. Seventh-place at Nashville was nice and we had two decent finishes in Pocono but we know we can do even better. We just have to keep working, keep communicating and eliminate the mistakes.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 SCAG POWER EQUIPMENT CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 26th IN STANDINGSAT 4.048-MILES, ROAD AMERICA IS NOW THE LONGEST CUP SERIES COURSE ON THE SCHEDULE. HOW DOES THAT TRACK COMPARE TO OTHER ROAD COURSE CIRCUITS ON THE SCHEDULE?“Road America is tough. I have only been there twice with the NASCAR Xfinity Series and it is a tough place. It is such a big track. There are a lot of places to gain and lose time. You can really get behind on your laps pretty quickly. You have to be focused and really make sure you are executing every part of the race track; making the most lap time as you can that entire lap and there are always places that you can do better. It is challenging as a driver, but it is fun. 
“Plus, it is an awesome location. I love going up there because the fans are always excited. I am excited to see what the turnout is going to be for the NASCAR Cup Series race.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 DIAMOND CREEK WATER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS“4th of July weekend at Road America will be a race you don’t want to miss. It will be my first time seeing this track, which is the longest one on the cup schedule, so it will be a steep learning curve. I’ve spent a bunch of time watching film and turning iRacing laps so hopefully it applies. The name of the game will be to stay on course, maintain some track position at the end of the race and bring home another solid finish in the Diamond Creek Water Chevy Camaro.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE JULY 2-4 RACE 10 OF 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES SEASON Chevrolet aiming to add to road course victory totalTeam Chevy welcomes VeeKay and Rosenqvist back to lineupDETROIT (July 1, 2021) – Team Chevy will be buoyed by the return of talented drivers Rinus VeeKay and Felix Rosenqvist for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. The 80-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is scheduled for Sunday, July 4. VeeKay was cleared by the INDYCAR medical staff to drive the No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. VeeKay, 20, who in May earned his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory and became the youngest front-row starter in the history of the Indianapolis 500, underwent outpatient surgery June 15 to repair a collarbone fracture sustained in a cycling accident June 14. “I am very excited to race this weekend at Mid-Ohio, especially after missing the last race at Road America,” VeeKay said. “I have been working incredibly hard on my recovery, doing all kinds of treatment. I feel I will be right back at the level I was before.” Rosenqvist was cleared by the INDYCAR medical team to drive the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet after missing the past two races because of an on-track incident June 12 at Belle Isle. “I am fully ready to get out there and push to the limit again, and I really can’t wait,” he said. Said Chevrolet INDYCAR program manager Rob Buckner: “We are first and foremost thankful that Rinus and Felix have no lingering effects of their incidents and are cleared to compete for Team Chevy this weekend. They are important members of their respective teams, and we look forward to continuing the prosperous relationships we have built and supporting both drivers to the best of our abilities.” Rosenqvist’s teammate, Pato O’Ward, a two-time winner and two-time pole sitter this season in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, will look to retake the championship points lead at the venerable road course.                                                       Team Chevy has four wins, eight poles and 20 top-five finishes in the 10 races at Mid-Ohio since its return to manufacturer competition in 2012. Will Power won the first race of the 2020 doubleheader, and since 2012 the diver of the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet has accrued four pole starts and seven top-five finishes – including an agonizing three runner-up finishes. Teammate Josef Newgarden, who closely followed Power across the finish line in Race 1 last year, won in 2017. Both are looking for their first victory of the season. Mechanical issues at Detroit and Road America in June stymied strong runs for both NTT INDYCAR SERIES champions. “The good news is over the last few events is we’ve shown up with quick race cars,” Buckner said. “Having been involved in motorsports for such a long time, if you keep showing up with fast race cars, eventually it’s going to be your day. We’re so close to getting a win with them; it just seems like the last few events haven’t unfolded in our favor.” Newgarden, who will drive the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, earned the NTT Pole Award and led the most laps in each of the past two races. On-track issues arising late in both races relegated the Tennessee resident to second- and 21st-place finishes. “I think we have fast cars; it’s just not working out right now. But now we will claw. We will claw our way back,” said Newgarden, who has collected three runner-up finishes this season.  Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, placed third at Road America to buoy his spirits after an issue during a red flag period in Race 1 at Belle Isle negated the impressive drive to his 40th career victory. NBC will telecast the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio live at noon ET Sunday, July 4. The 80-lap/180.6-mile race will 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. Practice and qualifications will stream on Peacock.
Team Chevy will be represented by:A.J. Foyt EnterprisesDalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt RacingSebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt RacingArrow McLaren SPPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SPFelix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SPCarlinMax Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher CarlinEd Carpenter RacingConor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air ForceRinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/AutogeekTeam PenskeJosef Newgarden, No. 2 XPEL Team PenskeScott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team PenskeWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team PenskeSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske
Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Year-By-Year Results since 20122021 ­– 3 wins, 4 poles in 9 racesWins – Pato O’Ward (Texas2, Detroit2); Rinus VeeKay (Indy RC1). Pole – Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park, Detroit); Josef Newgarden (Detroit2, Road America).2020 – 7 wins, 11 poles in 14 racesWins – Simon Pagenaud (Iowa1); Josef Newgarden (Iowa2, St. Louis2, Indy RC2, St. Petersburg); Will Power (Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3, St. Petersburg). Poles – Josef Newgarden (Texas, Road America1, Iowa2), Will Power (Indianapolis road course, St. Louis1, Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3; St. Petersburg), Pato O’Ward (Road America2), Conor Daly (Iowa1), Rinus VeeKay (Indy road course October)2019 – 9 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesDriver/owner championship (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske); Indianapolis 500 win (Simon Pagenaud)2018 – 6 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesIndianapolis 500 win (Will Power)2017 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 17 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske)2016 – 14 wins, 13 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Simon Pagenaud/Roger Penske)2015 – 10 wins, 16 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Scott Dixon/Chip Ganassi);Indianapolis 500 win (Juan Pablo Montoya). First manufacturer to capture all titles since Chevrolet returned to INDYCAR in 20122014 – 12 wins, 14 poles in 18 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Will Power/Roger Penske)2013 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 19 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; Indianapolis 500 win (Tony Kanaan)2012 – 11 wins, 10 poles in 15 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Ryan Hunter-Reay/Michael Andretti)Total – 92 wins, 103 earned poles in 158 races

Pierce Capitalizes on Heckenast’s Misfortune to Win at Beaver DamSheppard runner-up in first Summer Nationals appearance of 2021 BEAVER DAM, WI – June 30, 2021 – Keeping pace with the leader, under half the race still to go, Bobby Pierce was unsure if he and his car had enough to make the move for the lead. Until a bit of good fortune bounced his way. Polesitter Frank Heckenast Jr. had led every lap around Beaver Dam Raceway to that point and appeared to be well on the way to his sixth career DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win. But an ill-timed mechanical failure soon reared its ugly head and sent him slowing into Turn 3, giving up the lead to Pierce as he brought out the yellow and took his #99jr pit-side, out of the race. “I don’t know if I had enough to pass Heckenast,” Pierce said of the situation. “I saw something sparked out of his header right before that happened. I don’t know what happened with it, but it was probably electrical.” Indeed, it was an electrical issue. Back in the pits, a reported battery malfunction was the culprit, explaining the loud popping noise heard from Heckenast’s car before he slowed to bring out the caution. Now with the lead, Pierce opened up a small gap after the restart, just enough to relieve the instant pressure from behind, provided by none other than the 2013 Hell Tour champion, Brandon Sheppard. “It’s a bit nerve-wracking when you’ve got one of the best drivers right behind you,” Pierce, the three-time tour champion from Oakwood, IL, said. “Sometimes, being in that catbird seat is better. I was kinda confused on exactly where to go on the racetrack to get the best line.” Sheppard, of New Berlin, IL, had been lurking in the top-five throughout the race and was ready to strike when Pierce slipped up. But that moment never came. Pierce held strong in traffic and led the field back to the checkers for his 30th career Summer Nationals Feature win. Pierce had not been to Victory Lane since the second race on the schedule at Peoria two weeks ago, and was relieved to be back on top, slowly increasing his points lead over Tanner English. “To get the win… it’s been a while, it feels like, since the first two races. So, it feels great,” Pierce said. In the end, it was a true heartbreaker for Heckenast, of Frankfort, IL, who ended up 18th in the final running order. The Summer Nationals veteran started off the night perfect, shattering his own track record in Qualifying by almost four-tenths, clocking in at 13.104 around the third-mile oval. A Heat Race win then set him up to redraw the pole for the Feature, where he led the first 23 laps before suffering the bitter fate. Ashton Winger, of Hampton, GA, posted his second consecutive third-place finish with a solid charge from eighth on the starting grid. Defending Summer Nationals champion Brian Shirley drove the Bob Cullen Racing #3s to a fourth-place finish, while Kentuckian Tanner English rounded out the top-five. UP NEXT The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Thursday night, July 1, with their first and only visit to the state of Iowa this season at the quarter-mile configuration of Davenport Speedway. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene. ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results) Feature (40 Laps) 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 3. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 5. 81E-Tanner English[9]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[7]; 7. 48-Tim Lance[12]; 8. 10-Paul Parker[14]; 9. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[5]; 10. 25-Jason Feger[10]; 11. 16-Rusty Griffaw[16]; 12. 98-Jason Rauen[11]; 13. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[13]; 14. 14R-Jeff Roth[18]; 15. 14G- Joe Godsey[22]; 16. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 17. 38-Thomas Hunziker[21]; 18. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 19. 9-Lyle Zanker[15]; 20. 8R-Bill Rezutek[19]; 21. 248-Brandon Lance[17]; 22. (DNS) 148-Tim Lance Jr.

DIRTcar Summer Nationals is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Chevy Performance, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), FireAde, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Indiana Decal Company, Intercomp, iRacing, Racing Electronics, SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Summit Racing Equipment, and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fox Factory, Hoosier Racing Tire, MSD, Quarter Master, Summit Racing Equipment, VP Racing Fuels, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum).

Summit Modified Nationals is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including : Summit Racing Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, Chevy Performance, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), FireAde, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Indiana Decal Company, Intercomp, iRacing, Racing Electronics, SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Bassett Racing Wheel, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Shafts, Fox Factory, Hoosier Racing Tire, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, K1 Race Gear, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Mulit FireX, Schoenfeld Headers, Summit Racing Equipment, Velocita USA, VP Racing Fuels, Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum), and Xceldyne.

Tyler Corcoran Outmuscles Janczuk, Rogers, and Reome for Can-Am Glory

DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region round three at Can-Am Speedway goes to Tyler Corcoran followed by Matt Janczuk and David Rogers

LAFARGEVILLE, NY – Tyler Corcoran capitalized at Can-Am Speedway in the third round of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region schedule. Corcoran, driver of the #64 Halmar car, worked by Central Region round two winner Matt Janczuk plus the driver who lead the most laps, David Rogers. Two other race contenders, Mike Fowler and Josh Reome finished fourth and fifth respectively after 40 laps of tooth and nail battling on track. 

But it only took one slip from leader David Rogers for Tyler Corcoran to pounce. 

“Rogers was running the top and he screwed up with traffic just once and I had to take full advantage,” said Corcoran of his race-winning move. “Once I made it around I never looked back. We want wins and good points finishes and we want to be racing with the top Series guys. To come out here to my Friday night track and win a Series race is pretty special.”

Corcoran showed veteran poise in the extra-distance 40-lap Series Feature. 

“I was patient, “ noted Corcoran. “I waited and waited for my car to come in. Forty laps at Can-Am is a long race. It can really abuse your tires. Normally I push myself too hard here but tonight I just stayed back and let the track and race come to me.”

Besides the race-winning pass on Rogers, the #64 got around Matt Janczuk, who has had a lights-out 2021 season including a Series win at Brewerton Speedway. 

“I was able to pick where I wanted to run on the track,” said Corcoran. “I was testing a lot of different lines out. When I caught up to Janczuk and lapped traffic I had to look everywhere. Lapped traffic is the toughest because when you are racing them and for position, you have to make sure you put the car in the right spots.”

Matt Janczuk may have been looking to flip on his police sirens when the #64 got by but he stayed patient despite falling to fourth with Mike Fowler all over him. Incredibly, he managed to make up those two spots on the final restart to finish in second, which was important for overall points. 

“I think the right car won tonight,” said Janczuk. “We were a little bit off but we’ll take a second-place finish and add to our notes. We’ve been really consistent all year with a lot of wins. You can’t win them all. I felt like I was really good on entry to the middle but coming off I lost ground. We’ll keep working on it.”

Janczuk retains his points lead while Nick Guererri, who came into the event second in points, finished 20th. Guererri is still looking for a Can-Am set up he can find success with. 

David Rogers picked up his first DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series podium after 40 laps of hard battling with the top drivers in the Series. He led the most laps in the race but just fell short. 

“At the beginning, I drove around the bottom but it was too hard down there,” said Rogers. “Everyone was there. I drove up from fifth to the lead at the top and lead for over 30 laps. They got me at the end in lapped traffic. The track was really racy. It was just the lapped cars that used up the top on me and he got me on the bottom.”

The next DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region race is at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, NY on Tuesday, August 3 followed by Land of Legends Raceway the next night, Wednesday, August 4. Both races are paired with the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds.

DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region – Can-Am Speedway Feature (40 laps) results

1. Tyler Corcoran (64) 2. Matt Janczuk (33x) 3. David Rogers (1r) 4. Mike Fowler (410) 5. Josh Reome (91) 6. Tyler Murray (34m) 7. Eric Nier (34n) 8. Chris Mackey (3) 9. Ryan Shanahan (32rs) 10. Zach Payne (7z) 11. Trevor Gibbons (621) 12. Dustin Hutton (7d) 13. Dustin Bradley (83) 14. Gavin Eisele (18e) 15. Jack Meeks (1m) 16. Dalton Rombough (41) 17. Ricky Thompson (1r) 18. Tyler Stevenson (ox28) 19. Kristan Smoke (9) 20. Nick Guererri (25g) 21. Ryan Dolbear (31b) 22. Mike Arnell (2x) 23. Bentley Gray (9s) 24. Remington Hamm (57h) 25. Fire Swamp (88)  26. Frank Sibley (92) DNF Brian Hudson (6) DNF Brent Joy (17j) DNF Justin Gadbaw (18g) 

Tyler Corcoran Outmuscles Janczuk, Rogers, and Reome for Can-Am Glory

DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region round three at Can-Am Speedway goes to Tyler Corcoran followed by Matt Janczuk and David Rogers

LAFARGEVILLE, NY – Tyler Corcoran capitalized at Can-Am Speedway in the third round of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region schedule. Corcoran, driver of the #64 Halmar car, worked by Central Region round two winner Matt Janczuk plus the driver who lead the most laps, David Rogers. Two other race contenders, Mike Fowler and Josh Reome finished fourth and fifth respectively after 40 laps of tooth and nail battling on track. 

But it only took one slip from leader David Rogers for Tyler Corcoran to pounce. 

“Rogers was running the top and he screwed up with traffic just once and I had to take full advantage,” said Corcoran of his race-winning move. “Once I made it around I never looked back. We want wins and good points finishes and we want to be racing with the top Series guys. To come out here to my Friday night track and win a Series race is pretty special.”

Corcoran showed veteran poise in the extra-distance 40-lap Series Feature. 

“I was patient, “ noted Corcoran. “I waited and waited for my car to come in. Forty laps at Can-Am is a long race. It can really abuse your tires. Normally I push myself too hard here but tonight I just stayed back and let the track and race come to me.”

Besides the race-winning pass on Rogers, the #64 got around Matt Janczuk, who has had a lights-out 2021 season including a Series win at Brewerton Speedway. 

“I was able to pick where I wanted to run on the track,” said Corcoran. “I was testing a lot of different lines out. When I caught up to Janczuk and lapped traffic I had to look everywhere. Lapped traffic is the toughest because when you are racing them and for position, you have to make sure you put the car in the right spots.”

Matt Janczuk may have been looking to flip on his police sirens when the #64 got by but he stayed patient despite falling to fourth with Mike Fowler all over him. Incredibly, he managed to make up those two spots on the final restart to finish in second, which was important for overall points. 

“I think the right car won tonight,” said Janczuk. “We were a little bit off but we’ll take a second-place finish and add to our notes. We’ve been really consistent all year with a lot of wins. You can’t win them all. I felt like I was really good on entry to the middle but coming off I lost ground. We’ll keep working on it.”

Janczuk retains his points lead while Nick Guererri, who came into the event second in points, finished 20th. Guererri is still looking for a Can-Am set up he can find success with. 

David Rogers picked up his first DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series podium after 40 laps of hard battling with the top drivers in the Series. He led the most laps in the race but just fell short. 

“At the beginning, I drove around the bottom but it was too hard down there,” said Rogers. “Everyone was there. I drove up from fifth to the lead at the top and lead for over 30 laps. They got me at the end in lapped traffic. The track was really racy. It was just the lapped cars that used up the top on me and he got me on the bottom.”

The next DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region race is at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, NY on Tuesday, August 3 followed by Land of Legends Raceway the next night, Wednesday, August 4. Both races are paired with the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds.

DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Central Region – Can-Am Speedway Feature (40 laps) results

1. Tyler Corcoran (64) 2. Matt Janczuk (33x) 3. David Rogers (1r) 4. Mike Fowler (410) 5. Josh Reome (91) 6. Tyler Murray (34m) 7. Eric Nier (34n) 8. Chris Mackey (3) 9. Ryan Shanahan (32rs) 10. Zach Payne (7z) 11. Trevor Gibbons (621) 12. Dustin Hutton (7d) 13. Dustin Bradley (83) 14. Gavin Eisele (18e) 15. Jack Meeks (1m) 16. Dalton Rombough (41) 17. Ricky Thompson (1r) 18. Tyler Stevenson (ox28) 19. Kristan Smoke (9) 20. Nick Guererri (25g) 21. Ryan Dolbear (31b) 22. Mike Arnell (2x) 23. Bentley Gray (9s) 24. Remington Hamm (57h) 25. Fire Swamp (88)  26. Frank Sibley (92) DNF Brian Hudson (6) DNF Brent Joy (17j) DNF Justin Gadbaw (18g) 

June 30, 2021

NASCAR’s elite Cup Series is set to spend Independence Day weekend at an appropriately named track – Road America  – where the Cup Series will be returning for the Jockey Made In America 250.  It’s the first race at the Elkhart Lake, Wisc., track for NASCAR’s top circuit since a one-off event in 1956.

For Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team – and lots of others – there’s no better place to run on the Fourth of July. The track is the home venue for sponsor Menards, which is based in Eau Claire, and the 14-turn, 4.048-mile course is one where DiBenedetto has performed well in the past.
 
In 2019, driving in an Xfinity Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing, he started second, led the most laps and was running second and chasing down eventual winner Christopher Bell when he was taken out in an incident on the last lap. He also has three other Xfinity starts there.

“Road America is one of my favorite tracks in the country,” DiBenedetto said, adding that coming so close to a win there in 2019 is still on his mind. “We led a bunch and had trouble on pit road and other things going wrong that cost us the win.”
 
He said the track surface has changed significantly since his first Xfinity race there in June of 2010.
 
“I couldn’t believe how slick that track has gotten over the years,” he said. “It’s a blast to drive, very technical and the best part is how passionate the fans are out there. 
 
“I can’t even imagine how crazy it’s going to be with those passionate fans and it being the Fourth of July weekend, which is extremely special.”
 
DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team will get a chance to tune on their No. 21 Mustang during a practice session Saturday at 11:35 a.m. (12:35 Eastern Time).
 
Qualifying will be held Sunday at 10:05 a.m. (11:05 Eastern), and the Jockey Made In America 250 is set to get the green flag just after 1:30 p.m. (2:30 Eastern) with TV coverage on NBC.
 
The 62-lap race will have Stage breaks at Laps 14 and 29.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIES TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT JUNE 30, 2021
Justin Marks, Founder, Trackhouse Entertainment Group; Chip Ganassi, CEO Chip Ganassi Racing; Ty Norris, President, Trackhouse Racing – Press Conference Transcript: NOTE: On June 30, 2021, Justin Marks, Founder of Trackhouse Entertainment Group, announced the purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation. The transfer of all CGR NASCAR assets to Trackhouse Racing will take place following the NASCAR Cup Series final race of the 2021 season on November 7, 2021. Trackhouse Racing will field two full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries in 2022. Daniel Suarez, driver of the Trackhouse Racing No. 99 Chevrolet, will continue with the organization, with the second driver to be named at a later date. 
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for taking your time out today. My name is Ty Norris. I’m the president of Trackhouse Racing. We know we pulled this together very late, so thank you so much for the time to come out here and hear what we have to say.  Pretty landmark day for Trackhouse Racing. We’d like to welcome the viewers watching on NASCAR.com‘s live stream. Also, to the listeners who are listening live on Sirius XM radio. As you see up here with me, I have the CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing, Chip Ganassi, and the founder and co‑owner of Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks. Our friend Pitbull is in Miami and he sends his regards. We would have loved to have him here. He brings some energy. We are proud to announce that Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Trackhouse Racing has purchased the NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing. Trackhouse has acquired all of the NASCAR assets of Ganassi Racing, including all equipment and its two charters. Trackhouse will take ownership of the assets at the conclusion of the 2021 racing season. Daniel Suárez, who is a current driver for Trackhouse Racing in the No. 99 Chevrolet, will continue as one of our drivers, and we will be discussing a second driver at a later date, which is a confirmation that Trackhouse Racing will be fielding two full‑time NASCAR Cup Series entries starting in 2022 and moving deep into the future.  All financial terms ‑‑ no financial terms will be discussed. It is a private business transaction. So appreciate all the questions that may be coming about that, but these will not be addressed today.  I want to turn it over first to Mr. Ganassi for his comments.  CHIP GANASSI: Thanks, Ty. Good morning. It’s nice to see all of you here. I must say our team was not for sale. Justin simply came to me with a great offer and even a better vision for racing.  There’s a lot of new blood in NASCAR, as you’ve heard or read of recent, people like Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, the Spire people, Kaulig Racing, a lot of new blood, and they all seem to be bringing a new perspective, and more importantly a new vision.  The sport I think needs people with vision, and today NASCAR continues to build on its successes and by most accounts continues to grow.  There’s much to be excited about, I think, if you’re involved in NASCAR. I actually owe a lot of thanks to some of the NASCAR leadership because I’ve felt they’ve been some of my greatest mentors, people like Jim France and Bill France Jr., Mike Helton and some of these people have become even better friends of mine over the years.  If I was trying to sell my team, I would have talked to everybody that was looking for a charter or looking for a team or looking to get involved in the sport. I did not. I talked to one person, and that’s this guy right here. I didn’t talk to anybody else.  I want you to know I’m still dedicated to motorsports and the sport of auto racing. In my opinion it’s the greatest sport in the world, and it still seems to be on an upward trajectory. We will still be involved ‑‑ I’m not getting out of racing. I still have three other teams in the INDYCAR series, IMSA, sports cars and Extreme E. So our days by no means are getting out of racing.  I wish Justin well in this business. I’m here to help him at any time. With that, I want to turn it over to Justin Marks. Thank you.  JUSTIN MARKS: All right, big day. I want to thank the media that showed up, everybody tuning in. I want to thank NASCAR for their help in putting all this together and all the fans that are tuning in right now, some here in person and others over the internet.  I want to thank Chip, his executive team in working with professionalism and candor and diligence through this whole process, which has happened pretty quickly, but it’s been the honor of my professional career to work with them through this process.  This is obviously a great day for Trackhouse, but we’re going to be in the news for a long time to come. We’re going to be able to talk about races and sponsors, we’re going to be able to talk about drivers and everything for years and years and hopefully decades to come. I think today is about honoring the legacy and the contributions that Chip has made to NASCAR over the last 20 years. Over 1,300 Cup races, won every marquee event in the sport, helped launch the careers, stock car careers of drivers like Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ross Chastain, a number of others, and they’ve executed numerous groundbreaking partnership programs, companies like Havoline, Target, Bass Pro Shops, Miller Coors, McDonald’s and more, and all that hard work and legacy, everything that has been built at CGR over the past two decades, that will serve as the foundation for the Trackhouse vision moving forward. I can’t think of anybody better than Chip to go through that process. CGR has been a big part of my life and a big part of my career. I remember standing on the hill ‑‑ and I’ve told Chip all this so it’s a little redundant, but I remember standing on the hill at Laguna Seca at the INDYCAR race in 1996 with my father watching Alex Zanardi make that amazing pass in the corkscrew to win on a day when Jimmy Vasser won the INDYCAR championship. I remember being in my college weight room with my best friend doing a workout watching Jamie McMurray win at Charlotte in his second ever start. When I started racing myself for BMW in the Rolex Sports Car Series every weekend, I watched Chip’s prototypes win races, win championships. One of my best friends in racing that I’ve ever met, Joey Hand, I watched him race for Chip and reach the pinnacle of his career, winning in the Ford GT at Le Mans, and the highlight of my personal driving career was winning my Xfinity Series race at Mid‑Ohio in 2016 in Chip’s No. 42 car. Being at this moment right now, it truly does just feel like another part of a great motorsports story. There’s lots of work to do for us at Trackhouse, but there’s also a lot of enthusiasm to do that work.  I want to thank, again, everybody that helped make this come together on this project. I want to congratulate Chip on the indelible mark that you’ve made in the sport. TY NORRIS: I’m glad you clapped. I was hoping somebody would. That was great. We’re going to open it up to questions now to some of the members of the media who are here. 
Q&A’s:Q. Chip, I’m sure this was a heartfelt decision for you; even though you have lots of racing, you are all about racing all the time. What was the difficult part of this and what was the part that just made perfect sense? You alluded to it a little bit, but go to the heart of it if you would. 
CHIP GANASSI: Well, like I said, the team wasn’t for sale. Justin called me up one day, and I think I probably turned him off after the first phone call or something; I said leave me alone or something. You know, I just ‑‑ he came back with an offer that required my attention, I guess, and so I think I had to take a look at it. Like I said, I didn’t talk to anybody else. I didn’t call anybody else. I didn’t call anybody. It just came together very fast. It was very easy. Obviously as you know we’ve worked with Justin in the past, and it seemed like a good fit, and his vision for going forward seemed to match ours, I think whether it was watching out for the current employees or just what he wanted to do in racing going forward. Like I said, there’s a lot of new blood coming into the sport right now, and it’s time for someone else to take over. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, going every weekend, every weekend, every weekend for 20 years. This will give me an opportunity to turn the RPM down a little bit and take a look at it from another perspective and help make this ‑‑ help Justin with his vision. Q. Was there a part of this that was hard? CHIP GANASSI: Well, it’s somewhat bittersweet when you look back on 20 years of your life of something you’ve been doing, but it’s time for new blood and time for a change. I’ve always accepted change with a positive attitude.  Q. When did Justin come to you? CHIP GANASSI: Less than a month ago. Yeah, I would say ‑‑ it seems to be less than a month ago. JUSTIN MARKS: I think it was about two months but it went fast.  Q. What was it about this offer? Was it the financial component? Was it not interested in continuing as a NASCAR owner that made this an intriguing proposition for you? 
CHIP GANASSI: No, I don’t think the financial component was nearly as important as just his vision about where he wanted to go, what he wanted to do, how he wanted to handle it, how he wanted to do a deal or how ‑‑ just basically the way he wanted to do it I think was maybe more compelling than the financial component.  Q. Justin, you’ve talked about wanting to get more charters, those kind of things. We know the cost of those is going up. Did it reach a point where you look at what the cost of a charter was and you said, wait a second, why don’t I maybe shift gears and look at an existing team instead if I’m going to spend the money? 
JUSTIN MARKS: Look, this is so much more than a charter acquisition, this is an investment in an entire enterprise. For Trackhouse, it was always the vision of Trackhouse to go through this process of establishing itself in the sport in a responsible way. That’s why this year we’re working with RCR the way that we’re working and being very intelligent about our capital outlay and about the investments that we make, and this was an opportunity to be able to make an investment in something that can be a foundation for decades to come. Multiple car teams, Chip has amassed a great set of assets at that shop that can be applied to the Next‑Gen car in a way that we can start doing more and more on our own at Trackhouse, and there’s a lot of processes and IP and things in place over there that have been developed for a long time that are going to be really, really valuable to us. So it’s a very sort of wholistic deal. It’s just kind of looking at everything and asking ourselves, what is Trackhouse’s best move that we can make to set up intelligently and responsibly for the future, and this was it.  Q. Just kind of curious, Justin, will you continue to have a satellite in Charlotte and the main deal in Nashville, and do you plan on using the current Chip Ganassi Racing place in Concord for your base? 
JUSTIN MARKS: The Trackhouse Entertainment Group, which is the parent company of our race team, is based and always will be based in Nashville. We’ve had discussions about having race operations based out of there would look like. There’s no plans in place at the moment to do that. I think there’s a lot of really valuable infrastructure that’s been built in Concord at Chip’s building that we want to take advantage of it, so the plan right now is to operate out of that building in 2022, and we’ll start looking to the future after that.  Q. How frustrating was it just the struggles that your two cars have gone through the last couple of years where you’ve been extremely more successful on the INDYCAR and IMSA side, and then there’s always been NASCAR, and you’ve just never really reached that level of success that you’ve enjoyed in the other –
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I don’t know that I would characterize it as a struggle. I mean, it’s just the normal ins and outs of racing, whether it was pandemic driven or driver issues or sponsor issues, so sort of the stuff that goes along with the sport that you get. Hey, I think we did well. We’ve been in the playoffs every year, and once you get in the playoffs, it’s a jump ball, so I’m very proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished.  Q. Justin, it was a year ago you started Trackhouse. Was getting involved with an established team ‑‑ how did you formulate that? Was it suddenly or was this your long‑term plan all along? JUSTIN MARKS: Well, that’s an interesting question. I mean, it definitely happened ‑‑ we got to this point quicker than I thought we would be. We’re 19 races into Trackhouse’s history, and this is obviously a monumental moment already for the company. It’s happened very quickly, but I think that a transaction like this or getting to this kind of moment was certainly probably always in the plan, and when you’re talking about ‑‑ obviously to solidify your future in the sport, the charter is an important thing. When Ty and I were constantly auditing the charter landscape, the conversation started going, is there something bigger or something more meaningful to look at out there. Let’s not lose sight of our plank a little bit and just take a bigger look at the entire industry, and in those conversations I just immediately went to Chip.  I’ve raced for him, obviously, for a number of years. I know a lot of the great people there, and I just ‑‑ he was the first person I could call to have a conversation with.I think our first conversation went great.  So, I guess it was a very pleasurable experience, but to answer your question, it’s a big moment very quickly in the life of Trackhouse, but I build companies to try to do great things. Q. Chip, how will you spend your spare time now?
CHIP GANASSI: Well, it’ll give us an opportunity to focus on our other racing operations in IMSA and INDYCARs and Extreme E, so I don’t have many weekends off still. Not too many.  Q. Justin, a question for you. Trackhouse tweeted out a picture with you, Pitbull, Tony Robbins before this announcement. Has there been a recent infusion of new ownership interest or investment to make this possible?  JUSTIN MARKS: There hasn’t. Tony came to visit us in Charlotte. Armando has obviously a big network of people, and as he’s gotten to learn more and more about NASCAR and he’s become more and more involved in our team, he’s kind of spreading that message in his network. Him and Tony are close, and Tony came to visit us in Charlotte. I think Tony wants to get involved at some level, but this is not the result of any new equity infusion or new ownership or anything like that. We will continue on our trajectory on that ownership and marketing and business development side like we have and then obviously on the competition side this just gives us a lot of support and a lot of big foundation for the future.  Q. Was there any alternative ‑‑ in terms of acquiring a charter in any other way besides basically doing this deal?  JUSTIN MARKS: No. No. I mean, I made the decision to pursue this with Chip, and if it didn’t get to a place that worked for both of us, then at that point I was just going to pivot and see what else is out there, but I was all in on this from day one. It was the only thing I was focused on.  Every time we talked we had great conversations. I felt like momentum pushed forward, and there wasn’t really any point during this process where I thought I was going to need a backup plan or anything like that.  Q. You’ve spoken of Chip in glowing terms and how much respect you have for him and all he’s meant to you. Is there a sense of pressure that you’re carrying on his legacy now with this and trying to build upon the foundation that he has laid down and try to, for lack of a better description, make Chip proud of what you’re going to do forward? JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, I think some people, pressure can also be thought of as opportunity, and I think that’s kind of how I view it personally. There is a legacy there, but that’s a tremendous opportunity for Trackhouse. That’s a tremendous opportunity for the future, and so I welcome that pressure. I welcome those expectations. We’re in the business of putting great people together and letting them do their jobs to achieve great things. That’s not going to change.I think at any point ‑‑ when you get to this level of this business, there’s going to be a lot of pressure involved in anything that you do, but you have to be willing to look yourself in the mirror and charge full ahead into that, and we at Trackhouse are.  Q.  Justin, Daniel really seems to have grasped what you guys are doing, both on and off the track. What kind of driver do you think will accentuate his gifts and help make Trackhouse stronger as a whole? 
JUSTIN MARKS: That’s a great question, and that’s an exercise that we have to go through. We have kept this very, very quiet through this process with respect to Chip and with respect to everybody that’s working at both organizations to try to limit any kind of distractions or anything through this process. As we start thinking about what the future looks like, that question will be one of the first ones we have to ask ourselves and we have to go through that process.At this point this whole process has been about getting to this moment and this announcement, and like I said earlier, that’s just one element of a lot of work ahead of us this summer.  Do I have a short list? I do have a short list, yeah. TY NORRIS: No driver list is ever long. It’s always short.  Q. Chip, what do you take away from NASCAR right now? What did you feel as being a part of NASCAR? And what is the situation for owners in NASCAR right now? What advice would you have for Justin Marks? You’ve been doing this a long time, been successful. What’s the state of the affair, do you know? 
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I think it’s an on uptick. I look at my 20 years and I say, hey, I’m 63 years old; what am I going to do? Am I going to do this for 10 more years or something? I just think ‑‑ we seem to be in a period of time here where there’s some movement going on and some new fresh young blood coming in, and like I said, our team wasn’t for sale, I wasn’t planning on selling it.  Quite frankly no one ever offered to buy it in 20 years, so I was just ‑‑ I thought it was something I should listen to. I think it’s an on uptick. I have a lot of friends in NASCAR, a lot of friends in the garage area, I’ve got a lot of friends in management at NASCAR, and I’m not going away from racing. I’ll be around.  TY NORRIS: Just a couple comments sort of off the list here, but when we started all this, I owe a personal thank you from Justin and myself to TJ Puchyr and the guys at Spire for helping us land the charter to be able to race this year. That was a very important moment for us. And Richard Childress Racing and Andy Petree and Dr. Eric Warren when he was at RCR, they were first believers in us. Those people were very, very important to get us here, as is Daniel and some of the sponsors that came on board with us with CommScope, with Coca‑Cola, Freeway Insurance, Camping World and the iFLY Group. Those were all early believers in what we were doing and the process through coming into the sport, the way NASCAR has approached it with us, from Mr. France all the way through the system, has been remarkable. This is my 30th year in the sport. I’ve never seen it better. I’ve never seen them communicate better. I’m very proud to be a part of this organization going forward. We do want to send a sincere apology to some of the media folks who had other commitments today. We just could not, out of respect for the partners and the employees and all the businesses, we had to keep this under wraps until today for that reason we will make Justin and Chip available for Zoom calls. 

Round 3 was Formula Drift’s big debut at Englishtown, New Jersey. The new track layout was specifically designed for drifting and did not disappoint! Although it is smaller and slower than the majority of Formula Drift tracks, it definitely presented its challenges when running a high horsepower drift car on it. This made for a lot of fun to tandem with other drifters and really push the limits of proximity on the tight track. As we entered Top 32 battles, the track was wet and it continued to rain into the competition. Dan had great, aggressive entries and managed to fill the zones but he had some trouble keeping the car from over-rotating out of the slick, first outer zone. He saved it, but the correction resulted in an “unchaseable lead” giving his opponent the win. Team RAD was reaching for much better results in New Jersey but we are taking that and bringing it to our next round in Pennsylvania NEXT WEEK!